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Today, I went to gwagjang market which is surprisingly easy to get to from where I live. I'd been there before last year to have some mung bean pancakes, but this time around I wanted to visit the shops. I started out on the opposite side of the street/river from the marketplace since I'd found a blog mentioning that that was where all the knitting shops were. Sure, enough, after passing a store where you could get rubber bands in all sizes including your dream person-sized catapult, I hit a long line of yarn shops, some of them filled with ahjummas and halmohniis (grandmothers) knitting away with a lot more skill than I possess. I picked up some really soft yarn I shouldn't have, but it was so cheap compared to the US, then I picked up the blue and white yarn I want for my next project once I finish the scarf for my father.
That accomplished, I crossed the street, paused to admire the river, then headed into the actual marketplace which is huge, covered and two stories tall. There's barely enough room to walk in some places since the corridors are full of bolts of cloth. This is the place where everyone goes when they want traditional clothes made and/or bedding. I wandered around, staring at fabrics, but I hate sewing so I was safe from the urge to buy things... that is until I wandered out of the fabric areas. I ended up buying a soft memory foam pillow with patterns of owls all over it. It was very cute. I then proceeded to wander the rest of the market, checking out what food was available. They sell fresh fish, kimchi, misc beans and a few other things there as well, but the market is well known for its various food stalls. I told myself I should eat some mung bean pancakes, but I wasn't in the mood so I ended up at a knife cut noodle and kimchi dumpling stall where I got quizzed by a chatty ahjumma while I ate. I really liked the knife cut noodles and the kimchi dumplings, though it was hard to eat at first because it was steaming hot after being freshly made in front of me. (It cost $5.) I was then stuffed so I leisurely wandered back to the subway. I climbed down into the park along the river (the Cheonggyecheon 청계천 river... this isn't quite as much of a mouthful in Korean thankfully). It was gorgeous and there were tons of fish visible in the clear water. I snapped a picture of the sunset, walked across the stones they leave at intervals for people to cross and headed back to the subway. It was rush hour, but I caught a seat anyway and ended up entertaining a lot of people as they watched me play PuzzleCraft on my phone.
That accomplished, I crossed the street, paused to admire the river, then headed into the actual marketplace which is huge, covered and two stories tall. There's barely enough room to walk in some places since the corridors are full of bolts of cloth. This is the place where everyone goes when they want traditional clothes made and/or bedding. I wandered around, staring at fabrics, but I hate sewing so I was safe from the urge to buy things... that is until I wandered out of the fabric areas. I ended up buying a soft memory foam pillow with patterns of owls all over it. It was very cute. I then proceeded to wander the rest of the market, checking out what food was available. They sell fresh fish, kimchi, misc beans and a few other things there as well, but the market is well known for its various food stalls. I told myself I should eat some mung bean pancakes, but I wasn't in the mood so I ended up at a knife cut noodle and kimchi dumpling stall where I got quizzed by a chatty ahjumma while I ate. I really liked the knife cut noodles and the kimchi dumplings, though it was hard to eat at first because it was steaming hot after being freshly made in front of me. (It cost $5.) I was then stuffed so I leisurely wandered back to the subway. I climbed down into the park along the river (the Cheonggyecheon 청계천 river... this isn't quite as much of a mouthful in Korean thankfully). It was gorgeous and there were tons of fish visible in the clear water. I snapped a picture of the sunset, walked across the stones they leave at intervals for people to cross and headed back to the subway. It was rush hour, but I caught a seat anyway and ended up entertaining a lot of people as they watched me play PuzzleCraft on my phone.
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