A Glodok store with gadgets galore (The Jakarta Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)from THE JAKARTA POST -- MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2006 -- PAGE 17 Where can you find a USB data cable that will recharge your cellphone's battery as you synchronize your data? Believe me, it can save you a lot of hassle when you are traveling, especially if you forgot to take the charger along

Just keep one of these handy USB cables in your notebook's carrying bag, and you can recharge your cellphone using your notebook

And what about a cassette adaptor that can connect your MP3 player to your car audio system? Or your portable CD player if your car doesn't have one yet? You know, the kind of dummy cassette that has a cable you plug into the portable music player -- once the cassette is inserted you can listen to your favorite MP3 tunes or your CDs

Or would you prefer an FM transmitter? Connect this small device to your portable music player, pick out one FM frequency that is not used by any of the local FM radio stations, tune in your FM radio and you can select and play back your own music even though you are sitting way back in the third row of your MPV

But don't expect an audiophile result, though. These components won't deliver the high-fidelity music you get from the Mark Levinson sound system in the new Lexus LS 430. A store in Glodok My most interesting find last week was that all these interesting gadgets -- and perhaps a thousand others -- were offered at a small shop in Glodok. Of course, this being Glodok I don't believe the merchandise was necessarily of the highest quality, but the range was impressive

One of the things I bought was a USB data cable for my beloved, battered but still 100-percent operational Nokia 6800. It came with a CD. Another type of USB cable was also available for this model, but it would not recharge the battery

Later, at home, I prayed a little and then I played with it. When I finally figured out how to plug the cable to the 6800, the cellphone flashed the following message on the screen: "This enhancement is not supported." I had a lot of faith in my prayer, so I just went ahead and installed the software and plugged in the USB cable. It worked well

The battery was recharged, I was able to upload my phonebook from the cellphone to my PC and I was even able to successfully send out an SMS message that I typed on my computer. The Rp 175,000 (US$19.4) Handset Manager from Mobile Action Technologies also came with 500 ringtones and 500 pictures that I could use to personalize my cell phone

I had to erase the ones already stored in its memory, though, as this three-year-old handset did not come with a lot of memory megabytes

The USB data cable/recharger also works with other compatible Nokia cellphones, including the Nokia 7200, 7250 and 7260

Back in the shop, there were cables for Motorola, O2, Sony-Ericsson and other cellphones as well. You can buy car chargers, handsfree kits and screen protection film for a wide variety of cellphone models

And, when it comes to mouses, you have more choice in this shop than in a typical computer accessory store in Mangga Dua Mall or Dusit Mangga Dua

Interestingly, the price of a brand-new Logitech cordless and optical mouse with an original warranty card from the main distributor would cost the same as the price I got when buying a new mouse at a shop in Ratu Plaza -- after a lot of haggling

I came across this shop on the ground floor of Pinangsia Plaza, Glodok, while waiting for my wife, who was doing her own shopping. It is located in the far left corner at the back

There was one other amazing product available at this air-conditioned shopping center besides the computer and automotive accessory shop -- but I might let you check this out for yourself

At the shop I had continued my seemingly unending quest for a special liquid to clean my monitor and TV screens. Each time I asked around in the other computer trade centers in Jakarta, the shop attendants would invariably offer me Philips contact cleaner. That was not what I wanted

But when I asked the owner of this shop, he immediately went to a row where bottles of screen cleaner were hanging and handed one to me

Time stood still while I browsed the rows of computer gadgets and devices. Suddenly my cellphone rang. It was my wife, and she was looking for me. I hoped she would not look inside the two big plastic bags I was carrying as we left