My first week in my new Seoul neighborhood has been going great! As a new resident of Daerim-dong, I’ve been trying to get acquainted with the area as fast as I can, so that I can figure everything out and be as productive as possible with running errands etc. This week I’ve been pretty busy making trips to the post office, bank, emart, homeplus, lotte supermarket, printing shop…. I feel like I already know my neighborhood pretty well. hehe.

Anyway, possibly one of the best things is that there’s a wonderful outdoor market where I can get the freshest veggies and fruit!

I just love strolling through this market, even if I don’t have anything to buy. Just seeing the vibrant colors of fruit and veggies is like therapy for me. :)

Gosh, I love ddeok stalls.

I didn’t know this about the Daerim area before I moved, but I’ve noticed that there’s a huge Chinese community here! :) Within and around this market, there are loads of authentic-looking Chinese restaurants and street-food stalls. I also often hear people speaking Chinese around me and even most of the shop owners are Chinese themselves. In some ways, I feel like I’m not actually in Korea. I love that I get to experience a little of another culture.

Lots of steamed buns and other traditional Chinese fried treats. There are several stalls selling these seriously huge pancake/crepe/omelet things that people can buy slices of, kind of like getting a slice of pizza.

The only sad part is that in addition to all the wonderful, vibrant fresh produce, there are also a lot of exotic meat things on display that can be quite jarring to look at because there are all kinds of organs and body parts that have been deep-fried beyond recognition. I didn’t take any photos, but you can use your imagination. I try to avoid looking at them when I walk by…. So yea, that’s the worst part about this market, but other than that, I’m really so happy to have such bountiful fresh produce nearby.

Oh, and since this market caters to a lot of non-Korean Asians, there’s loads of fresh cilantro everywhere! You can get a bunch for 2,000won, which is way cheaper than what you’ll get at the Foreign Food Mart or any department store. Pho! Burritos! Yessss!

Daytime-shopping

Evening-shopping. It looks like it’s late at night in this photo, but it’s only around 7pm, cuz the sun sets so quickly now! :(

Directions to this market: Daerim Station, Line 2 & 7, Exit 12. When you come out the stairs, turn right and walk about 400m and you’ll start to see the market area.