Seoul Animation Center / Cartoon Museum & Getting Business Cards in Seoul

So first off the bat... I am posting this a little earlier this week because I have a lot to cover this week and my goodness! Its another short week coming up :)

So this week we shall visit the Seoul Animation Center and Cartoon Museum which are located right next to each other and are free!

I also have a simple map that will guide you there :)

Getting or making business or name cards in Seoul Korea? Wondering where to go? Where to get them made? Well I may just have a solution for you if you don't mid a trip to Hongdae :)

So to start us off... The Animation Center and Cartoon Museum:

Located just up the road from Myeong Dong Station this place could easily be overlooked by the casual tourist because it hidden away just enough not to be noticeable. However I have a map I will share so you can find it just as easy as jam on bread... or something like that :)

Both places are quite small and is good for a drop in and look on your way up the tower or doing some shopping. You can see both places in perhaps half an hour or so. Open Tuesday to Sunday 9am to 6pm.

Lets check out some photo's:

Check out all the interesting pictures set to music in this youtube video :)

Don't miss the cafe right across the street Aven Pace.N Design Gallery and Cafe where you can get a delicious brunch and a lovely cup of tea... or coffee.

So here is the map: Exit 1 Myeong Dong Station Line 4. Immediately turn around after exiting the number 1 station exit and head up the hill. You will see Namsun tower and then a little further the Cartoon Museum. Cross the road at the crossing and you are almost there!

Getting business cards in Seoul South Korea

Making business cards in Seoul South Korea

Sometimes they are referred to as name cards as well....

Well you have got to the stage of needing to get some business cards for yourself, either a blog, business or so that when you meet some people out and about you can give them your contact details in a professional manner.

try searching for some information on this on google and you wont find much to help you. However I do know of two places in Hongdae that you can go to.

1. M blue Graphic Design

www.mblue24.com

02 324 1714

This is where I went to get a custom made business card for this blog. I drew the picture myself and colored it as well.... which was a long process so I was pleased at the care and effort this designer took in cleaning up the black border and text for me :)

Here is what the original picture and the card look like:

Yes I did notice I made a small mistake in the address. It reads

htpp://rawrkorea.blogspot.com

it should read http://rawrkorea.blogspot.com

However this will be remedied tomorrow since I have almost run out of cards and I am going to just change the address to www.rawrkorea.blogspot.com and add a youtube user address also.

**EDIT** 11 March 2012

Fixed the card so it is all correct and I have added a youtube link too :)

Well here is the map from Hongdae station. You will have to have someone with you who speaks Korean or have some written instructions because as far as I can tell he does not speak English but probably understands some :)

You will see this building just after the service station go in and its on the second floor first door on the left.

The other place I have heard about but have not used is:

Peakee

www.peakee.com

Give them a call for opening hours. I believe they open at 2pm at the moment although their website says 10am.

You can locate this store by leaving exit 9 of Hongdae station, walking along to the main road that heads up to the university. On the right side of the road you will see Lotteria. There is a small alleyway just before Lotteria walk down there and on your right you will see a building with lots of business cards outside... Well here is some pictures and a map to help :)

Phew... that was a long post!

Well a few weeks back I got myself a new lens. Previously i had been using a Canon 28 - 90mm plastic lens, now I have a Canon EF 70 - 300mm f4-5.6 L IS USM which is super fantastic! I used it first at the Cosplay event and again at the Animation Center. I am still getting used to it but wow you can get some good close up shots with it!

Here it is in comparison with my old lens. Its fitted with a lens hood in this picture.

Well as i mentioned the coming week is a short one so I will be having a relaxing 4 days or so soon. Maybe I will have something interesting for you next week :) Until then have a fantastic time! :)

Paju Light Festival

This weekend it was time to brave the cold and go and see the Paju Light Festival.

Arriving just before dusk there was little to see that was impressive but as soon as the sun went down out came the lights!

Millions of little lights lit the landscape and many couples enjoyed the atmosphere of walking around and sitting in to have coffee or bread.

The festival runs until April 1st and tickets cost 3,000 won for children and 5,000 won for adults.

You can check out this website for more: www.provence.co.kr

However bring some gloves because my fingers have never hurt so much in my life! Not to mention my feet as well!

Well here are some pictures and a youtube slide show for you to see just how many lights there were!

Also last week I uploaded some English counting songs and the like. Ironically when I could have used these I didnt but now that I have no use for them I uploaded them to Youtube....? Hmmm Anyway here are a few so You get the idea and if you want to check out more (a dozen or so...) visit my Youtube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/RawrKorea?feature=mhee#p/u

Until next week stay warm and have a great time :)

Buying Gold and Silver in South Korea *Update* Komsco

(1/2) Ok, so this week I will be posting twice, once specifically for my silver purchase from Komsco and another for my general goings on for the week.

So after some playing around with internet transfers on Monday (It seems that there are several security features or hoops you have to jump through to transfer monies here like a specific file that needs to be downloaded to your PC to verify that you are you and so on...but this is another story perhaps for later) I managed with some help to purchase some silver coins from Komsco (the link I have posted in a previous blog entry http://www.koreamint.com/index.jsp). I was lucky that thay were having an, what I assume to be, end of run sale so I managed to get the coins for less than originally listed. The other thing I noticed that soon after I placed the order these coins were withdrawn from their site and only the full 8 coin display set can still be purchased at 600,000 won (as at 1 May 2011).

Delivery was free as the total purchase was over (if I remember correctly 30,000 won) and I received them 2 days after purchase in a box 2 to a bubble wrap bag.

So to get into specifics:

The coins are stamped Ag999 on the back with the Komsco logo...

They come with a pamphlet describing what the coins means in English and Korean with a certificate of authenticity on the inside cover...

The coins can be removed from the cardboard cover and are set in a fabric and wood display mount from which the coin itself can be removed.

There are 8 coins in the set, each with a different animal or mythological being etched onto it:

Now if you read Korean you may have noticed on the certificate that the material is translated to Sterling Silver. What is the difference you ask... well here is a link but I will also explain it simply:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_4899976_difference-between-silver-sterling-silver.html

Basically pure silver is 99.9%

Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver with another metal (e.g. nickel, zinc or copper) added for strength.

So the question is are these coins 1 oz (Troy Ounce) of silver... lets see :)

*updated correction*

Each coin weighs 31.1g so multiplying that by 92.5% gives you 28.76g of pure silver roughly.

1 oz is equal to 28.34g

However 1 Troy ounce is equal to 31.1g

So in effect you are getting what looks like by my calculation 28.76g of 99.9% silver.

Why the coin is stamped Ag999? I will need to confirm this with Komsco.... hmmm. I will keep you informed.

So I hope this helps out some of you interested in getting fine metal from the Korean mint and remember they do sell gold coins, jewellery and bars there too.

I will no doubt be looking at other coin places around Seoul in the near future and will keep you up to date with any unique places and finds!

Buying Silver and Gold in South Korea

Gold and Silver are exploding and all indications are that it is going to keep going on into the future. So I hear you say "Where can I get some gold or silver in South Korea?"

What a fantastic question!

Here is what I found while searching google for the answer to this question...

How do I invest in gold in South Korea?

2 COMMENTS

in KOREA

ej105 asked:

I really am frustrated when it comes to investing in South Korea. I want to buy some gold coins or gold bullions but here in Korea, there are no gold coin shops. Banks don’t sell gold. The Korean mint does not make gold coins. Of course this is just the top of the iceberg compared to the problems I am having with investing my money while I am working in South Korea. Did you know that Korean brokers do not give you a prospectus on each stock before you buy it? Also, some dealers just give you a handful of stocks and you don’t know the companies. Yeah, that’s South Korea for you.

Anyway, does anyone know how I can buy or invest in gold in South Korea? Or how about Asia, I am willing to travel anywhere in Asia for great deals in gold, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, anywhere in Asia.
(search for pharmacy technician colleges)

Sorry for being long winded but Korea’s investments strategies are a$$-backwards

Well I agree somewhat. It is not an easy thing to do finding where to buy bullion or coins. And if you are not into buying keys, turtles and pigs you will be hard pressed to find gold in coin or bar form. However after a bit of footwork and internet research I may have a few answers for you.

Jongno 3 (sam) ga - station. This is where "everyone" goes for "wholesale" jewellery. Personally I would rather look elsewhere for fine jewellery as I saw nothing of interesting or unique quality but I digress...

I did find 2 places selling 1000g or 1kg silver bars and another store selling 3.75 - 1oz bars of gold.

This is the store selling silver bars - I was given a price of 2,530,000 W as of 24-04-2011. $US1,518.16 is the spot price today which is roughly 1,639,000 won so that price is a little bit more than I expected over the spot price but considering I was not buying I did not attempt any negotiation.

The gold store gave me a price on 3.75g of gold 245,000 w spot is $US 48.45 = 196,243 w so again more expensive than it should be over spot but I was not intersted in the least.

Outside Namdaemun market next to Namdamunro (?) underground shopping centre. Now this is where Korea becomes interesting because this store has many gold coins in the window from all over the world and yet when I enquired (the store attendant didn't speak much English but a long story short the store manager (who was not there) is not selling the coins......... ?....... what is the purpose of displaying something you are not selling?

If you are into collecting or getting some 90% US silver coins (Liberty ect...) or .999 troy oz Korean coins e.g. APEC or G20 then you may... find some deals here:

By Shinsegae Mall just up from Namdaemun market is this underground shopping centre with perhaps a dozen coin dealers, some with australian gold coins or US coins. My pick is this guy:

There are also guys that deal in coins like this:

1 Troy ounce .999 Made in USA stamped on it with the queens head....... hmmmmm that's interesting : /

Here is that store might be worth a laugh or keep well away from?

There is also the Seoul Flea Market in Sinseol-dong with a couple of coin dealers with an occasional rarity e.g. a mercury dime.

However.... this week I am going to see if I can get some silver ounces from Komsco (the Korean Mint). The Korean mint site however is bordering on impossible to use as a foreigner and if you think clicking on "English" will help, as with many Korean websites you are sorely mistaken as it takes you somewhere that you dont want to be.

So to make things easier for you I have this link which will take you to the Korean Mint coin collection where you can buy silver or gold. You may have to play around a little and it would definitely help to have a Korean buddy help you!

http://www.koreamint.com/index.jsp

I will see how things go this week, see if I can buy and get something delivered and report back on how easy the process was next week so stay tuned.

If you are not into gold and silver, sorry I do apologise for boring you... have a sandrich :)

I almost forgot this one... taken from www.trademe.co.nz (New Zealand's equivalent of eBay)... for a 1978 "silver dollar:...

Hi, I think these are copper/nickle and do not contain any silver, cheers xxxx 3:43 pm, Sun 24 Apr

I have a $2 reserve/start price on this "Silver Dollar" I have NOT said it is made of silver but I do know that

it is known as a silver dollar and that is the colour of the coin which is what I have said in the auction. If

someone buys it for $2 what does it matter what it is made of? I may sound a bit terse but this is the 5th time

someone has told me that the coin is not silver. Frankly I think after this I will withdraw the auction and throw

the coin away. 5:47 pm, Sun 24 Apr

Got to love that "kiwi" spirit! :D