Seoul Searching

this just shows how i'm starting to get my life back, cos i'm starting to post entries in all my three blogs! *beams* anyway, this travelogue is actually a year late IKR? it was one of those most-memorable and best-trips-i-ever had with friends! and i just looove this city! Seoul currently is my favorite city in Asia! that i could skip HongKong & Shanghai at a heartbeat! hehehe

anyway, enough blabbering, here's Seoul Searching Diary Part 1. we went there last Autumn, just few days before Halloween :) so the weather was perfect :)

 

morning sunshine! 

grabbed some coffee and breakfast near the Seoul City Tour Bus to start the day.

hello Cheska and Rey :)

  

good morning BJ

 

monopod's are a traveller's bestfriend!

 

trying to get the hang of reading captions in a museum.

 thank God for wifi! :)

 

playing with the natural light :)

a mandatory pose inside the modern museum

  

on the way to Namsan Tower

 

 as seen from Boys Over Flowers, padlocked lovers. i would want one for myself too!

  

sunset at Namsan Tower

 

Teddy Bear Museum

 

Teddyfied much

 

nice view of the cityyy :)  

tiled love letters... again, i want one! :)

while waiting for the bus...

 exhaustion at its best :)

  

goodnight :)

will be posting more :)

2011 Kia Sportage Compact SUV Revealed in Official Patent Filings

The next generation of Kia's Sportage compact SUV has been given away through a series of designs that were made for the European Union's patent office. Note however that there's a small chance that the patent images could be depicting an almost production-ready study destined for either the Geneva Salon in March or the Seoul Motor Show in April.

The reason why we're saying this is the use of some specific styling features such as the chrome trim, the tail lamp arrangement, the alloy wheel designs and the styling of the lower part of the front bumper, all of which look suspiciously conceptual (see the spy shots here).

But even so, what you're looking at here is what you'll get more or less when the 2011 Sportage arrives at the Korean automakers dealers either towards the end of the year or early 2011.

Like all Kias penned under the guiding hand of former Audi designer Peter Schreyer, the new Sportage is a much more attractive proposition than the outgoing model.

Under the bodywork, the Sorento's smaller sibling shares its hardware with the new Hyundai Tucson (called iX35 in Europe and other markets).

That said, don't expect any surprises under the hood with the North American Sportage being offered with the same 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter four cylinder engines coupled to six-speed transmissions as the Tuscon.

Likewise, the European market Sportage will get three diesels including a 115HP 1.7-liter unit, and a 2.0-liter engine with 134HP and 184HP, and two gasoline units with a displacement of 1.6-liter and 2.0-liters producing 140HP and 166HP respectively.

Source: EU Patent Office , Via: RyanoKeefe

Hyundai Gives Azera /Grandeur Sedan a Mid-Life Facelift

Here's our first look at the 2010 Hyundai Grandeur facelift that was revealed in its home market in South Korea today. The revised Grandeur sedan, which is sold as the Azera in North America and other international markets, has received some minor cosmetic tweaks to keep it looking contemporary in a line-up of newer Hyundai products.

Most of the styling upgrades concern the mid-size sedan's front end which gains new headlamps, a redesigned bumper and larger grille.

At the back, changes are limited to the modestly revised LED tail lights, the reshaped bumper and the new chrome tail pipes.

Aside from some new options and standard features, the only difference inside concerns the introduction of a new package with Alcantara seats.

It remains unclear if or when Hyundai will redesign the North American Azera.

KDM 2010 Hyundai Grandeur Facelift

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U.S.-Spec 2010 Hyundai Azera

Kia Records 53% Increase in Global Sales in November, 17.3% Plus YTD

Crisis, what crisis? The global recession doesn't seem strong enough to stop Kia's momentum as the South Korean automaker announced today that global sales figures for passenger cars and commercial vehicles for November 2009 have recorded a total of 152,826 units sold. This represents an increase of 53.2 per cent over the same month a year ago.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, President Kia Motors Corporation, said: "November has proven to be another tremendously successful month for Kia. This month we saw growth across all markets and we will seek to continue to satisfy customers with our ongoing rollout of new, stylish and fuel efficient products, including the recently launched Cadenza."

Hyundai's sister company said that during the first eleven months of the year (from January through November), the firm's global sales increased by 17.0 per cent year-on-year to 1,489,204 units.

Kia's highest gains during the first eleven months of the year were in China as the company recorded a 65.2 per cent increase with 221,722 units sold to date.

In other markets, Kia saw a YTD sales increase of 26.8 per cent (366,229 units sold) in Korea, 14.7 per cent (275,105 units sold) in general markets and 9.5 per cent (322,488 units sold) in North America.

In 2009, the firm's best selling model in international markets has been the C-segment Forte, also known as Spectra or Cerato in certain markets, with 269,864 units sold.

The Forte is followed by the B-segment Rio and Sportage 4x4 with 159,385 and 157,312 units sold respectively, while the European only Cee'd comes in Forth with 114,498 units sold.

The Korean firm's range (depending on the market) will be enhanced with new models in 2010 including the recently revealed Cadenza mid-size sedan and the Venga mini MPV.

2011 Hyundai Sonata Makes N.A. Debut at LA Show, Gets 2.4L, 2.0L Turbo and Hybrid Powertrains

The much anticipated and talked about 2011 Hyundai Sonata made its North American premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The all-new mid-size sedan (although EPA classifies it as a large sedan) represents a dramatic departure from the previous generation Sonata models both in terms of design and technology.

Despite the fact that the sixth-generation Sonata is aimed price-wise at the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Chevy Malibu, its so-called 'four-door coupe' styling with the sleek roofline and sculptured body surfaces brings it closer to the likes of the VW Passat CC.

And even if the design is not to everyone's taste, few will disagree that it offers the Sonata what the previous models lacked: personality.

The same can be said about the interior that's distinguished by the swoopy lines of the dashboard and the deeply set gauges of the instrument panel.

At 189.8 in (4,820mm) long, 72.2 in. (1,835mm) wide and 57.9 in. (1,470mm) tall with a wheelbase of 110 in. (2,795mm), the new Sonata is slightly longer and wider but a tad lower than the current model.

Surprisingly, 2011 Sonata is 130 pounds lighter than the existing model thanks to several weight saving measures such as the increased use of aluminum in the four-wheel independent suspension system and the ultra-high-strength steel in the body.

Furthermore, according to Hyundai, the new Sonata is 25 percent stiffer in torsion and 19 percent stiffer in bending rigidity than its predecessor.

When the 2011 Sonata goes on sale in the States in January 2010, it will be offered with Hyundai's newly developed Theta II GDI 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with direct injection that makes 198 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 184 lb-ft of torque at 4,250 rpm. In the SE trim, which includes a standard dual exhaust, the engine delivers 200 horsepower.

Power is sent to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC manual control.

Hyundai estimates that the automatic version will get 23mpg in the city and 35mpg on the highway, beating all of its four-cylinder competitors in the U.S.the debut of the 2.4-liter version in the States

While there are no current plans for a V6 model in the States, in the second half of 2010, Hyundai will add a 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged GDI four-cylinder engine and a 2.4-liter Hybrid Blue Drive model featuring the firm's lithium polymer battery pack. The Korean automaker said that more details about these powertrains will be released at the 2010 New York Auto Show in April.

Depending on the model trim, the new Sonata will be offered with various goodies including a high-end Infinity audio system with a 400-watt amplifier and a touch screen navigation system.