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Seoul LG Blogger Forum – Day 4 – Gyeonbok Palace

Posted By:   Published in Events

7

Feb

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.

9 comments

Seoul LG Blogger Forum – Day 3 – Designing Our Own Mobile Phone!

Posted By:   Published in Events, Life

1

Feb

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… :P

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 LG Electronics building in Seoul

Bottom perspective of one of the LG Office Buildings

This is Mr.Chang Moon from LG Electronics Korea who was the co-ordinator of all our activities. He did an awesome job of making us feel welcome to the country and to the company.

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!

This was a inground plaque at LG Headquarters. If anyone can translate I would be highly appreciative. Maybe it's a mini grave for a the LG Mascot?

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...

I had to include this girlie image amidst all the tech / gadgetie photo montage.

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

Yes yes, we had our own LG GW620 Blogger Bus! :)

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!

At LG Offices after battling traffic for almost an hour. Thankfully I was able to catch up on some much needed Zzzz's.

This is Rannie aka @photojunkie on Twitter. A famous Canadian Photography / lifestyle blogger with attitude!

Never underestimate Wooly-capped Canadian photography bloggers...

Yannick - the cool french tech blogger from France - Bonjour Monsieur! :)

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

The United Nations room at LG Headquarters (not the real name just looks like it eh?)

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

Invading the R&D Campus section of LG Headquarters.

Invading LG R&D Campus section at LG Headquarters

The LG GW620 forum was about to commence followed by workshops where we would work in teams to create our dream LG device.

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.

Beatrice, capturing the moment on her Canon

This was the Confidentiality Agreement that we were all "supposed" to sign. Evidently, many didn't as we saw many pieces of news float onto the web minutes later...poor form from some of the bloggers considering the hospitality that was shown us.

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.

Considering that I left my glasses in the hotel, these mini screens were very helpful!

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

I loved this! Two huge Starbucks Coffee containers positioned strategically outside the LG Meeting rooms :) We were all very happy to oblige!

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 explaining what our task for the afternoon was. Basically to create a dream mobile device! I was going to draw an iPhone but I thought it'd be too cheeky...

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

Here's a matrix showing the different attributes of a device to consider when creating from scratch.

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

Meeting / Workshop Fooooood. I love how Koreans think!

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

Getting our thoughts together - armed with post it notes, Starbucks and above-average intelligence...

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

The post-its slowly find their home on the blank sheet. These represented different features we wanted to see on our dream LG device.

See what I mean.

One of the other groups decided to put their post-its on the glass walls!

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

This is our design. We called it the "King Kong" because it was banana-shaped, was powerful and kicked T-Rex's ass.

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 on an LG building - good omen for future LG devices?

Sun glistening off the LG Building - good omen?

Lush green fake bamboo trees line the LG workshop meeting rooms...

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, provides his thoughts on our gadget and also shared his opinion on the Nokia N900 which he had in his bag :)

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

LG Sign at the front

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.

After LG Blogger Forum at the LG Offices and the Nanta Korean cultural show it was time for dinner! :) What better way to end the day than with some Korean BBQ :)
Rannie from Canada, was fairly hungry as you can deduce from the photo.

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!

Here's Mr.Chang Moon singing the Russian National Anthem with the Russian LG representative :)

Singing the Russian National anthem!

After dinner it was time to hit the Seoul shopping district. It was very very very cold....my toes were freezing and I couldn't feel my nose...

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

This is the market where a guy tried to sell me a Panda hat for 50,000 Won! Ripoff merchant! We saw the same thing at the shopping center for 10,000 Won...

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!

No I didn't go in here but I liked the little shop front decore...

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.

5 comments

Seoul, Here I Come – LG International Blogger Forum Jan 14-17

Posted By:   Published in Events, google, Mobile Phones, smartphone

2

Jan

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!

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