KTO Seoul Walking Tour App

Korea Tourism Organization has just released it's Seoul Walking Tour app which will guide you through the sightseeing spots of Seoul. It provides both audio and text information for 16 (and counting!) tourist attractions around Seoul including Gwanghwamun Square, Insadong, and Jogyesa Temple. The voice guide is available in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese. The application uses GPS (Global Positioning System) to easily guide visitors through the tourist attractions in downtown Seoul. Seeing that the app is updated regularly by KTO, it seems the app is just going to get better by the day with increased content and sightseeing spots. The app also contains maps and pictures of every travel spot. Try it out for yourself for free by searching for "Seoul Walking Tour App" at your respective phone's app store.

Touring Andong

To develop their tours, tour companies in Korea sometimes conduct test tours for people who have experience in judging the quality of tour itineraries. Toward the end of April, I was lucky enough to be contacted by ModeTour http://www.modetour.com/ which is one of the biggest tour companies in Korea. They had developed a new tour which focused on hands-on-experiences in a rural environment in Andong and its outskirts. Together with Korean prominent bloggers and various tour company employees we set out on a 2 day 1 night trip which I will not soon forget.

Rural touring seems to be the new trend in town, with the Rural 20-project http://www.rural20.kr/en/ attracting tourists from Korea and abroad to visit rural towns all over the country. People seek to escape the daily routine but also desire something other than the regular take-a-photo-and-go type of sightseeing. Therefore these type of new tours come as a refreshing wind with all kinds of activities to try on, such as harvesting crops, pottery, glassblowing and whatnot.

The name of the tour was “Green farm produce experience tour” and it stayed true to its name. Starting at 7.30AM outside Mode Tour’s office near City Hall, it was an early morning indeed. The bus provided a comfortable three hour ride to Andong where we visited the Andong fruit wholesale market where live auctions on fruit pass by by the second and subsequently delivered to Seoul or other areas to be sold on. The auction leader’s pace of negotiating would leave even rapper Eminem in awe. The buyers can also follow the auctions on a screen which gets updated live. At the auction place, mainly apples and red chili peppers were on sale - two products that are the pride of Andong. The tour then took us to the Andong Agriculture Technology Center which boasts the world’s largest grasshopper as seen in the picture. They also have more than 50 different species of chicken with some resembling raggy dogs more than birds. The center finally hosts a botanical garden which greenhouses to let various tropical flowers and fruit trees bloom and thrive. Except for things to see, research on agriculture technology is also conducted here. 
 





The lunch offered was bibimbap with the unique feature of including Chrysanthemum. I am still not accommodated to eating flowers, but since the Chrysanthemum had been soaked or even pickled for a while, the scent was not very strong. Right after lunch we visited the Bongjeongsa temple on the slopes of Mount Cheondeung. This is the largest temple in Andong and also the site of the oldest wooden building, Geuknakjeon, in Korea. The temple is believed to first have been established in 672 by monk Uisang or a disciple of the monk. Just as we got to eat Chrysanthemum in the bibimbap for lunch, we got to drink it after the temple visit. While drinking the tea, we were taught the etiquette of tea drinking and the importance of clearing your mind and letting the flavor of the flower flow through the body.


Before arriving at our lodging for the night, namely a Korean style traditional hanok house, we got to try our hands on mug painting. As you can witness the results varied and applying the thick paint was harder than it might seem at first glimpse. At times I was questioning whether I was doing a better job at painting than the two kindergarten kids that were sitting close to me… Foodwise, I believe the dinner was the culinary climax of the trip. Succulent meat barbequed on oak tree with Korean condiments rounded up an eventful day. Since the travelers were from all kinds of age and nationality groups coming from totally different backgrounds, it made for a very special gathering. In particular, one Korean lady who was not even a staff member kept on providing us with meat fresh off the grill, which barely left her time to eat herself. Korean hospitality at its best!


The homemade, buffet style breakfast was also a sight even Jamie Oliver would be proud of. We could even go into the kitchen and see the ladies at work, using lots of local produce in their cooking, one of which is the red pepper paste made in Andong. Straight after breakfast we actually got to visit one such factory where the paste is made from red chillies. Soon it was time again for food, this time Hanwoo meat boiled in a bean paste soup. Hanwoo meat refers to a Korean native breed of cattle and is preferred by Koreans to cheaper imported beef. The Andong bean paste is fermented for a long time in urns similar to the ones used for fermenting kimchi. The long fermentation time gives the bean paste a strong smell and flavor which might be hard to stomach for the first-timers.


The afternoon was brimful with events and activities. First we became calligraphy artisans for an hour and drew a flower with calligraphy brush. Just outside that same building there was a small archery range where we tried our hands on Korean archery. The shooting pose, breathing, aim and power are all of utmost importance and archery surely requires much more skill and training than one might expect before trying. Sadly we had no time to visit the Hahoe Folk Village which is listed with UNESCO as a World Heritage site and perhaps the most notable folk village in Korea. Preserved here are the Joseon period-style architecture, traditions, books and the old tradition of clan-based villages. The village takes the shape of a peninsula almost completely covered by water. We went up a small mountain to at least get a good bird’s eye view and scenic pictures of the folk village. At the same time, when I go sightseeing I like to leave the place not fully discovered so I have a valid reason to visit the place again in the future.

Before riding the bus back home we got to pick and eat fresh strawberries grown inside greenhouses. Thanks to Mode Tour I got some new insights into the history of Korea and tried different handicrafts that would be hard to try elsewhere. Next time I will make sure to devote more time for Hahoe Folk Village and perhaps I will see you there? :)


Lenovo ThinkPad E535 3260-A65

Introduction: The online marketplace 11Street is getting more and more fame as we speak. Perhaps you have seen their advertisements in the Seoul subway, for example at Seoulleung station on the green line (Line 2). There are loads of reasons that the site is gaining in popularity, but for me the two biggest attracting factors are the short delivery times and the low prices. Results on price comparison sites like www.danawa.com often has 11Street as one of the cheapest alternatives.
Just like for my last product review, this order arrived safely in the mail in about a day after placing the order. I ordered the Lenovo laptop Thinkpad E535 3260-A65 for a very reasonable price http://english.11st.co.kr/product/SellerProductDetail.tmall?method=getSellerProductDetail&prdNo=693790885&xfrom=&xzone= Now, a few weeks later the price has dropped and is a superb deal. The product comes with an added 4GB of RAM memory (making it 8GB in total) which can be installed by yourself or by the staff before delivery if you lack confidence in opening the interior of the laptop. I added a keyboard cover to protect the keys from dust, spilled liquids and other dirt.
Design: I choose the Lenovo laptop since I have heard only good reviews about laptops from this company, especially the ThinkPad series. ThinkPad was sold by IBM to Lenovo and the IBM-feeling is totally there! The computer sports this old-school design which attracted me. The design is well planned down to the smallest detail, like the dot over the “i” in ThinkPad lighting up in red when the computer boots and runs. The computer is all black with small red and silver features and looks sleek and sturdy without feeling heavy at all.
Keyboard: The keyboard has all the necessary buttons and even includes the full NumPad to the right. The F1-F12 keys are pushed by holding down the Fn-key at the bottom left of the keyboard and pressing the respective top key at the same time. The same top keys are used to mute or adjust volume, turn the camera, mic or video on/off, adjust brightness, use Wi-Fi and finally to control the playback of videos or music. Since the laptop is bought in Korea it also features the key to change from Korean Hangul letters to the English alphabet and vice versa. The keys feel good and are quiet enough while typing. In the middle of the keyboard is the classic red mouse button to control the cursor. There is also a fingerprint swipe protection system for added security.
Screen: The screen comes in at a native resolution of 1366x768 and is of the matte type and therefore not glossy. The matte type reflects less light and can therefore be used in environments with many lamps and direct light toward the screen and also outdoors. Gloss type screens reflect the background lights and can be annoying to use outdoors. Instead, matte displays are not as crips and colorful as its gloss counterpart. The screen of the Lenovo E535 is good and can be used in any type of environment.
Capacity: With 8GB of RAM all Windows features I have tried up till this date feel very fluid and fast. The 500GB hard drive is just the right size and it will take quite some time before I will feel the need for added hard drive space. A 720p video camera is located at the top for flawless Skype-calling. I have yet to try any games with the computer but there is a video of a few games such as Warcraft 3 with lots of units on the product order page. The computer comes in its basic form without Windows installed if you do not add it for a certain cost. However an extra, unofficial CD with drivers are included for fast installation.

Connections: 4.0 Bluetooth, WLAN, HDMI port, 4-in-1 card reader, 3 ports for USB 3.0 and an always on, always powered USB port will keep most of your needs covered.
 Flaws: The material attracts a lot of stains from your hands, but then again, which laptop does not? I do not find this annoying at all but some pedantic users might. I would like to have the Fn and Ctrl-keys change place, which could probably be done easily with some software program in Windows.
Conclusion: A very good laptop for office or study use which just might handle a few computer games as a bonus. The design is sleek and I love to own a laptop which looks like an updated version of the old-school IBM-laptops from 10-15 years ago. The low price for a computer with such high capacity was a very attractive point for me and there’s a lot of bang-for-the-buck indeed!
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