Jeongja Market

One Saturday I decided to venture out to try and find a new drying rack for laundry, because mine broke (right after I pulled the second load out of the washing machine!) Andrew was in Seoul, shopping with Lainy, so I was roaming around on my own. I accidentally stumbled upon a street market which is very close to our house. Its kind of amazing just how many people are packed into such small areas. Our little block alone probably has at least 1,000 people living in it.

So it is very easy to be walking and every few blocks you find completely new things. The market I stumbled upon is called Jeongja Market. It is about a 4-5 minute walk from our apartment. It was the first very cold night in Korea, dipping below freezing. (I later saw about 15 snowflakes) There were also strong winds, which made it feel even colder. I loved the area so much, I couldn't help but dawdle.

Once I got to the market I wished I had my new camera on me... but I did have my regular digital camera and took a few pictures. I will for sure be going back to take better pictures another time!

Farmers brought their trucks loaded with food to sell on the side of the road.

Lettuice...

Mandarin oranges...

A meat shop!

There was stand after stand of fruits and veggis on the road.

Eggs anyone? I really don't think I want the eggs on the bottom! All of the eggs here are brown. They also sell a lot of robin's eggs. They are sold in containers a lot like these, but are much smaller. I'm not really sure of any recipes that call for teeny tiny robin's eggs...

This is a seafood restaurant. There are a ton of the restaurants that have the tanks on the outside. As I was walking back a second time past this restaurant, I saw a worker come out with a big net and catch two fish. It was kind of fun to watch.

The tank on the upper right had a bunch of squid swimming around!

Again, I don't think I want the lettuice that's on the bottom of the pile!

Another meat shop...

Once I got to the end of the market, I crossed the street and found a little bakery shop. I was feeling a bit chilled and wanted to thaw a bit; I also thought I might find something for breakfast the next day.

Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours are two very big chain bake shops in Korea. I was happy to find a smaller named place. I fell in love with it instantly. (Partly because everything had taste samples!) There was also a very nice lady working (I'm assuming she is the baker because she kept running back to tend to the oven).

This is the shop from the outside.

One wall had a ton of beautiful cakes. I asked her if I could take a picture, and she said yes. This is a cake model of the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress wall that we love!

This is also a cake! Even the branch and flowers were made out of frosting.

I decided I wanted to buy Andrew a cake, just because. So I took a look at the small cakes and chose one that looked like it had a coffee flavor. She pulled it out of the case to wrap it up. She showed me a birthday candle, asking if I would like one. I tried to whip out some of my Korean skills...

"Ah nee yo" (no)

She looked at me, confused.

"Uh... sah rong hahm nee dah... cake." (It's an I Love You Cake).

"Ah... sah rong hahm nee dah... hmm..."

She seemed genuinely confused as to why I would buy an I love you cake. Maybe people just don't buy random I love you cakes in Korea. So, with out any more questions, she whipped out a "Happy Birthday" sign, and put it on the cake, anyway. I decided not to press the issue and took home my Happy Birthday Cake.

When I got home, I sang Happy Birthday to Andrew (three months early) and we enjoyed the delicious cake.