Smart Korea!

Since I've arrived to Korea I've seen some smart things, simple but usefull. Maybe not invented here, but I haven't seen them before.

In the upper holes the umbrella is placed (one hole for long umbrellas and another for short ones) and it gets inserted inside a plastic bag, so the umbrella does not going wetting all the way. This is something very usefull for someone as me because, as with my bad memory I've forgotten thousands of umbrellas in the boxes at the entrance of places. Anyway it is not everywhere, so I won't forget the experience of losing umbrellas... It is not much ecologic, but here it seems that doesn't minds too much (in general, because there is ecologist and commited people too), seeing the huge screens around all the city and running 24h, and the lights there is everywhere at night.

Some subway exits have this lane to upload the bicicle comfortably.

'I need to clean a gout of coffee fallen to the table. Oh! I have to waste an entire paper napkin for this? '. 'To wrap sandwich I need a paper napkin and a half . One is not enough and two is just too much!'. Here the paper napkin roll are divided by the half leaf. It has its usefullness, as cutting paper napkin leafs by the half its something impossible.

Before coming my phone was stolen (thanks Beneyto for borrow me one, still using it with my Yoigo SIM) so I bought one second hand here. It brought an accessory that seemed to support the phone and recharge it, but the hole to put the phone had no connection. It had the word 'open' written in the cover and when I opened it there was a battery inside. Phones here are sold with two batteries, so while one is charged in that accessory you can take out the phone anyway.

First time I went to a Coffee Shop, besides the coffee price (it was more expensive than the full meal I lunched) I was surprised because they give me this thing. 'I asked for a coffee, not a cyberfrisbee!' I thought. They told me to sit and after some minutes the cyberfrisbee started to light up and vibrate, and as I was taking a look what people was doing I knew that my order was ready. That way you don't have to be waiting standing for it. But sometime when I went to other floor to sit as soon as I sit I have to return back because it is ready...






   
The conical ice cream wrappers are divided into sections, so as you go forward eating it you go removing the paper with order andelegance, not with torn amorphous and difficult torns.

Subway stations are huge. Many have big malls or at least some stores (as I've been said in Tokyo is even more exaggerated). Something very useful are these maps in the stations to guide you and, also it has the exists numbered so you know where to exist and the buses near to each exit. When people meet or go somewhere they always say what station and what exit. Who has not ever experienced to meet in Barcelona at the subway exit and be twenty minutes waiting because the other person is in the subway exit in the other corner?

If you want to know more about Seoul subway look at:
http://bitsandbeats.blogspot.kr/2010/01/10-coses-sobre-el-metro-de-seul-10.html

But here it's missing wastebasket (I always have my pockets full of papers), containers (they left the garbage piled in the street at night amuntunada) and street names in the corners (it would be usefull to be oriented)!