It’s slightly overdue but wanted to express my gratitude to LG Electronics Singapore especially Wayne Tang for being kind enough to send my LG 1 TerraByte External Hard Drive which I won for being team MVP when we were designing our own dream mobile at the LG Blogger Forum in Seoul.

Here’s the LG 1TB HDD before we were separated (I still have to review this btw):

I left on the top shelf of this bus.

Again thanks to Wayne and LG Electronics Singapore for shipping to Australia so fast!

After 3 action packed days in Seoul, Sunday would be the day where the Australian bloggers would part from their new found friends. And what better way to end a visit to the magnificent city of Seoul than to one of its most regal locations, the Gyeonbok Palace.

About Gyeonbok Palace:

Built at the beginning of the Chosun Dynasty when the Yi Dynasty moved the capital to Seoul, this palace remained the main seat of power for Korea kings throughout much of the time to the present. Gyeongbok means Shining Happiness. The main gate (Kwanghwa-mun) separates Gyeongbok Palace from one of the busiest areas of Seoul. Gyeongbok Palace was built as the primary palace of the Chosun Kingdom by its founder, King Taejo in 1395, the fourth year of his reign. (Ref: LifeInKorea Website)

By this point we had been all BimBimBapped out and missing our loved ones and family back home. But we rallied up our remaining energy reserves and jumped on the tour bus to be amazed by another bit of Korean history.

Here are the last batch of photos:

Here's our friendly tour guide already briefing us on Korean's rich history

In the bus and so far not motion-sick

On the path to the palace. I couldn't help but noticed this tree. Seemed like a very large manicured bonsai.

Palace with the lovely mountainous backdrop

Other tourist admiring the palace atmosphere

Another perspective of this once grand palace

The front of the palace. Imagine, hundreds of years ago there would be far more guards protecting the entrance. I'd have to use supreme ninja skills to get this close in reality.

Here they come - palace officials of some sort?

Flying the flag high. These guys seemed to like wearing the color red.

And here are the green guards!

Filing in - archers ready for action.

Flag before the palace.

This is my friend Rannie aka @photojunkie from Canada. You'll see some of his handiwork in the photos further down.

This is Nick from Gizmodo.com.au. Too much glare in this one. Sorry buddy.

Ceremony over and now headed back out again.

New guard meets old guard.

That's one big weapon man. You should be smiling...

I'm at the palace, I'm at the palace!!

Singaporeans meet their new Korean friend.

As you can see it was quite a busy tourist morning.

And so it begins - this is where @photojunkie started showing his photography skills. I love how captured the mountain and palace in this frame.

And of course I had to return the favor

Canadian posers!

Alone in the snow

I forgot what this read. Any helpers please?

Here's the whole gang getting their photo taken - Canada, Australia & Singapore. Frank actually invited some other tourists to join us in the photo. Funny man.

Golden dragons emblazoned on the ceiling.

Stonified chicken? Magic spell cast as punishment for not laying eggs?

Patterns in the wall

See what I mean? @photojunkie kicks ass!

@photojunkie applying for his new role...

I too tried to get a role in the Korean Imperial Guard - failed though due to not perfect eyesight.

The lovely Beatrice as captured by me! This place in the palace was perfect for glamor shots!

Even the great @photojunkie wanted a piece of the camwhoring action

Even Singapore's LG Manager asked if he could get his photo taken! LOL - Look at that serious pose...

Another sub-section of the palace - I'm sorry for not listening to you guide!

This guy rawks. Frank from LG Canada.

What is it with all the LG Managers?! Here's Wayne wanting another photo of himself. He really needs to learnn how to smile...is this a Singaporean man thing to be so serious?

Aah, here's Beatrice showing the guys how to smile

And of course, I had to get a profile shot here too. Hey it was MY camera!

Each of those little statues represented an animal of some sort with a benefit to the household - again I apologise to our tour guide for being distracted by my freezing toes...

Believe it or not, but this is a chimney.

More chimneys that decorated the Queens own personal garden (yes I was listening at this point)

I am not vain ok? It's just not everyday you got a proper photographer with you in your tour group. Gotta make the most of it!

Mini-palace gate

Palace tour ended and we were headed for last minute shopping at tech place. Looks like the whole river is frozen over. Never seen anything like it.

TechnoMart, home of shop keepers who will call you over and try to sell you all types of warez. Pity I couldn't understand Korean...

Interesting people statues at the front of the TechnoMart

Shopping Mall elevators!

Lunch at TechnoMart food court - BimBimBap!!!

Having BimBimBap with my new found Singaporean buddies. I think I have too many Singaporean friends now - it's affecting my speech la.

Farewell my Singaporean comrades. It was a blast! Hope to see you in SG soon! (Beatrice, Wayne, Shawn and Andy)

Tim from www.gizmag.com couldn't help but pick up this Microsoft Arc Mouse. Nice and red!

Last photo of Korea. Tribute to the guy who took awesome photos and helped make the whole trip fun -> @photojunkie . Smile dude?!

Again I would like to thank LG Electronics for giving me the chance to attend the 2010 Seoul LG Blogger Forum. Special thanks especially to Mr.Chang Moon and Kelly Choi for organising the trip and for the fantastic hospitality.

Life’s Good.

Here is the second last post on my trip to Seoul, Korea courtesy of LG Electronics.

LG Blogger Forum Day 3 Schedule
On this day, we were shepherded into the LG GW620 bus, bound for LG Offices in Seoul.

Our schedule for the day included:

• discussing LG’s first Android phone
• designing our own LG dream device
• Q&A time with LG tech heads
• cultural show in the city (Nanta)
• some good ol’ fashion Korean BBQ for dinner
• then late night shopping.

Yes all of the above in one day. Amazingly, some of the guys went out for Karaoke afterwards too. Not me. I hit the sack to catch up on some much needed rest – maybe I’m just getting old…

If you haven’t had the chance to read the others you can find them here:

- Seoul LG Blogger Forum – Day 1
- Seoul LG Blogger Forum – Day 2 – N Seoul Tower
- Seoul LG Blogger Forum – Day 2 – Amazing Race

Singaporean Bloggers ready for a big day at LG Offices

Bottom perspective of one of the LG Office Buildings

This is Mr.Chang Moon who was the one who made sure we felt welcome in Seoul and to the LG company. Superb work sir!

Would be grateful if someone could translate this for me. As far as I know it's the mini-graveyard of the LG guinea pig mascot...

Had to include this girlie girlie pic amongst all the tech / serious shots. Soooo purple!

Yes yes, we had our own LG GW620 Bus to make sure all onlookers knew were here in Seoul for some serious business! Eat your heart out Partridge Family!

Never underestimate Wooly-capped Canadian photography bloggers...

Yannick who is a tech blogger from France - Bonjour Monsieur!

The United Nations Conference Room at LG - not the real name but you get my drift...

Invading LG R&D Campus section at LG Headquarters

Commencing the LG GW620 Discussion Forum where we would give our feedback on LG's first Android phone. I was impressed at how open LG was to our feedback - signs of a company that will succeed.

Beatrice, capturing the moment on her Canon

This was supposed to be the Confidentiality Agreement that we were ALL supposed to sign. It was obvious that some didn't with secret LG news hitting the web later that afternoon. Pretty poor form considering the hospitality that LG gave all of us.

These little screens were really useful considering that I left my glasses in the hotel room.

I like how these Starbucks Thermoses were strategically stationed outside the meeting rooms. We were all very grateful for their presence

Here's Mr.Chang Moon giving us an overview of what to expect for the day.

A LG Product Manager gives us a matrix to consider when creating a new device. Reminds me of university.

I love how the Korean's think. Every meeting room should have these condiments readily available

Thinking of what to put on the blank piece of paper set before us...once we got going though there was no stopping us!

See what I mean.

Another group decided to put their post-its on the glass wall! Showoffs...

Voila! This is our device. We named it "King Kong" because it was big, powerful, was banana-shaped and could kick T-Rex's ass.

Sun glistening off the LG Building - good omen?

Lush green fake bamboo trees line the outside LG meeting rooms - the analogy of entering a jungle with wild animals applies many times in my meetings...

Danijel, a prominent tech blogger from the Netherlands, gives us his input.

Here's Karin from Sweden who did the funniest and most engaging presentation of the day. Her team's device incorporated a social-physical-touch concept which meant that the power of devices increased when they touched eachother. Interesting...

Nick from Gizmodo.com.au asking the final question at the LG discussion

Once the workshops were all done we headed into town for some R&R. If you're ever in Seoul you must see NANTA! It's a traditional Korean live show. Awesome beats, dancing and all-round entertainment.

This show is spectacular! They also get the audience involved which makes it doubly fun.

Outside the theatre where Nanta is being shown.

I had some very cool people on my table...

This was the winning team for the day. They all received some LG goodies.

I got an LG 1 Terrabyte Hard Drive!!

Here's the Aussie LG Blogger Team - Me, Tim Scanlon from Gizmag.com and Nick from Gizmodo.com.au.

Then LG give us all a largish LG Photo Frame!

Singing the Russian National anthem!

After dinner we head out to the Dongdaemun Market area for some late night shopping.

Place where guy tried to sell me kid's Panda cap for 50,000 Won. Inside the shopping centre it sold for 10,000 Won. Beware if you don't look like a local!

Tarot Reading place that I didn't go into because I don't believe in it and always seek future advice from a higher authority.

More buildings around the Dongdaemun Market area.

Back at the hotel after a long long day and we're greeted by the weather board telling us it's going to be another chilly one the following day.

I knew that this was going to be the start of a hectic yet fun day. After an hour or so checking out the N Seoul Tower and having a delicious traditional Korean Ginseng Chicken it was time to head back to the hotel to get our brief for the next part of the day.

We were huddled into the boardroom on level 19 of the Ibis Hotel and given instructions on the Amazing-Race-type event where LG would help us learn about Seoul in a fun and interesting way. It was a day I’ll never forget. Particularly as it involved losing one of our team mates (Arnoud!!!) on the Korean subway line.

As you can imagine, I slept like a little baby that night.

Check out the photos below:

In case you missed the other days, here are the links:

Seoul LG Blogger Forum 2010 – Day 1

Seoul LG Blogger Forum 2010 – Day 2 – N Seoul Tower and Ginseng Chicken

After getting some decent rest, it was time to start touring the beautiful city of Seoul. (In case you missed Day 1, click here)

Adjusting my sleepy eyes to snow flakes carelessly floating past my window was captivating given I haven’t seen snow for 10 years or so and that I had come from Melbourne which was in the middle of summer.

Isn’t modern travel amazing?

Our schedule for Day 2 of the Seoul LG Blogger Forum included (bold items are covered in this post) :

• City Bus Tour
• N Seoul Tower
• Ginseng Chicken Lunch at Korea Samgaetang Restaurant
• Amazing Race (will be covered later)
• Dinner at Samchunggak
• Welcome Part at Gangnam Night Club

Here are my favorite snaps from the day : -

Link for Seoul LG Blogger Forum, Day 1

I’m back! Actually I was back yesterday but did not have time to blog at all due to work (went from airport to meeting!) and catching up with family.

Below are some of the photos that I took on Day 1 of my 4 day trip to Seoul, Korea for the LG Blogger Forum where we discussed the latest LG news (looks like some of it was leaked already) and share our feedback on LG’s first Android phone the LG GW620.

In summary, I’ll say that we had a blast.

Huge Thank You To LG Electronics

LG showed us exemplary hospitality thanks to the organisation of Mr.Chang Moon and other LG representatives from France, Sweden, Netherlands, Canada, Russia, SINGAPORE (thanks Wayne) and of course the ever so lovely Kelly Choi from LG Australia. They did everything to make sure that we thoroughly enjoyed both our Seoul and LG experience. Thank you all!

So here are photos from Day 1 of my Seoul adventure:

With ticket in hand, I was all set to make my first trip to Seoul.

Snow In Korea!

Our first meal in Korea was at Marisco Restaurant Seoul Korea

Quirky decor, great food and awesome company made the night memorable.

The Ibis hotel where the internet died within an hour of the LG Bloggers checking in. Coincidence?

Welcoming reception inside the Ibis reception

Welcome Pack from LG Electronics

Ibis Hotel Room 1801 Bokeh Party

I’ve completed 85.6% of my packing for my Seoul trip tomorrow. For those who don’t know, I’ll be attending the LG Blogger Forum where 35 other international power bloggers from around the world will be gathering to talk about the LG GW620 and to have a workshop where we’ll provide concepts that make up our dream phone

I just realised that I haven’t written a review on the LG GW620 despite making a YouTube Video a couple of days ago. So below are some of my honest thoughts on what I liked about the phone and how it can be improved.

What I liked about the LG EV / GW620:

• Compact size: Even though the screen is smaller than the iPhone (which I am currently using) I liked the size of the phone. It seems to fit better in my hand and therefore I feel more like it’s in my grip – less chance of accidentally
• QWERTY Keyboard: I’m fairly confident that people who didn’t know that the GW620 came with a physical keyboard would be surprised it did due to its slimness. The keys are of a decent size and I like how LG have incorporated up, down, left and right arrow keys. Takes a little getting used to but once you know where everything is, I believe one can type faster than via a touch screen
• Android OS: Although the phone I got was running version 1.5, I had a personal glimpse of what has attracted so many people to the Android platform. Menu and interface are intuitive and despite having a slower processor than many of the newer Androids was still reasonably fast. Having everything like calendar, email and maps all Google isn’t bad either
• 3.5mm Stereo Audio Port: For obvious reasons such as I can use my favorite Sennheiser headphones with the GW620
• MicroSD Expansion Slot: the LG GW620 can accommodate up to a 32GB MicroSD memory card which means you’ll be able to load heaps and heaps of your favorite photos, music and files
• SNS Manager: Being able to get a unified view of your Facebook, Twitter and Bebo (who uses Bebo?) is the way that things should be. Incorporating social media accounts with address book contacts also makes a lot of sense
• 5 Megapixel Camera with LED Flash: Takes decent photos and with the LED flash lowlight conditions are no longer a no-no.

What Can Be Improved on the LG Eve / GW620:

• Latest Android OS: My Eve came with Android 1.5 and the current version is 2.1. The latest version has incorporated many bug fixes as well as some nifty functionality like speech-to-text and living wallpapers!
• Get Rid Of Resistive Screen: Screen seems much less responsive than the iPhone’s. I also don’t see the need for that physical feedback. One only has to look at the iPhone to see how little that means to users. Surely it also places unnecessary burden on the battery too
• Faster Processor: How about a 1Ghz Snapdragon?
• Even More Slimmer: If LG could make the device even more thinner with the keyboard I think it would appeal to more people
• Multi-touch Screen: It will allow users to do tasks on the LG GW620 more naturally using multi-touch gestures. I found it a eye-opening experience going from my iMate 8502 Windows Mobile device to the iPhone interface
• More Powerful Battery: Although it comes with a 1500mAh, bumping this up higher and giving users more talk-time, surf-time and play time will definitely keep them smiling longer
• Front Side Video Camera: To allow users to take video logs since it seems to be the way things are going

Again these are my own personal points of what I liked and what can be improved on the LG Eve / GW620. If you have any other ones that you feel should be included please let us know via the comments below.

I’ve been having some internet issues at home so it took a while to finally upload my video of the LG Eve (aka LG GW620) Android Phone.

In this video, you’ll see me talk about some of the highlights of LG’s first Android phone and what’s inside the box. I’ll do a full write-up in the next couple of days – just wanted to give you a glimpse of what I’ll be talking about. This very phone will be one of the main points of discussion at LG headquarters in Seoul next week, so if you have any ideas on how to improve the phone or what you liked about it, I’m very keen to pass your feedback on.

Can you please help me by rating and leaving a comment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Andf7anj198) on what you thought about the phone?

I have always wanted to visit Seoul and Korea in general. Ever since watching the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games which showcased the beauty of the city and more recently my brother marrying a lovely korean lady, it’s been on my top 10 places to visit.

This month I will get my chance!

Two weeks ago I received an email from LG Electronics, asking if I would like to participate in the LG Blogger Forum in Seoul to talk about LG’s first Android phone, the LG Eve (aka GW620) and more. I replied fairly quickly indicating my keen interest.

The dates of the forum are the 14th – 17th of January. I’ve had a look at the schedule and it’s pretty jam-packed from the minute we touch down. For example, I like how they have a “Singing Together Party” that kicks off at 10:30pm and goes till Midnight then we’re expected to have breakfast at 7:00am! Fortunately I’m an early riser anyway. I’m already anticipating zombie like behavior at that breakfast.

As far as I know there were three invited from Australia to join other prominent international bloggers. The other cool Aussie gadget guys are from famous sites like Gizmodo.com.au and Gizmag.com – two sites that I check out frequently because they push out so much content on the latest and greatest. I feel honored to be in their company.

Reviewing the LG Eve / LG GW620

Part of the duties including receiving an LG Eve / LG GW620 for review before the event. I’m doing an unboxing video and also researching  all the other Android phones on the market so I get a good feel of where this LG Android sits in the scheme of things.

You’ll see a couple of Android comparison posts going up that will also serve as a memory aide as I begin to be more intimate with all things Android. (I must admit I’ve been very “iPhone” for the last couple of months).

Our Mission at the LG International Blogger Forum

So I thought I’d warn you about the ensuing LG posts to follow in the next couple of days. All in the name of fulfilling our given mission which is:

• Get to know more about LG
• Get to know more about Seoul
• Blog about both of these
• Share our experiences with the LG Eve / LG GW620 with the LG Team
• Design a concept Android phone and share it with the LG Team

Wonder if I do a good enough job if they’ll offer me a position in their R&D deparment…enough dreaming.

So there you have it. Thank you to LG Electronics for letting me participate and I look forward to exploring more of the LG gadget range. Another wish: Please have a LG Phone Watch prepared for me!

Life’s Good!