Shopping in the Market in Anjeong-ri

The Market at Anjeong-ri (really close to our house!)

Anjeong-ri is the area located right outside the pedestrian gate of Camp Humphreys.
The market is right off the main road leading to the main gate of Camp Humphreys next to Hwa Hwa, a local Korean BBQ place that is so tasty!

The market is open every 5 days: on the 3's and 8's => the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, 28th :)

Most places don't open until a little later in the morning, say 9 at the earliest.

In general, Koreans like to sleep in and stay up late. I usually wait until at least 11 to start shopping (a.k.a. walking down the street, gawking at everything and wishing I could speak more Korean than "hello" and "thank you").

You have to be careful where you park on market day, because locals will gladly block you in by double parking on main roads! They just leave the inside lane open and no one seems to mind! Mopeds and even some vehicles are parked on the sidewalk by shopkeepers. I'm just glad I can walk to this market!

 Those are parked cars...yes, they are double parked and their drivers are nowhere to be seen ;)

 And this gentleman brought his four-wheeler and cart and parked at the corner...

convenient...

I was so excited to see all the activity and culture just spilling out of this alley!

I wish I was a chef...creativity would really be flowing to see all these fresh ingredients!

Alas, I am not. I am struggling to switch from frozen (everything) to fresh (anything ;).

Well, there were normal things...like beautiful fruit and vegetables!

Including Del Monte pineapples!

You can buy purses and clothing too! There are a ton of knock-off Coach purses, as well as many other name brands.

Then you have the gents playing a game, sitting on the sidewalk.

Plenty of clothing to choose from too.

One stall had some of the leggings/skirt combos I've fallen in love with here. They are lined with fuzzy material that is so warm! And they're cute and it's cold here ;)

...but you never know what sizing is going to be like...so I decided to wait.

There are numerous locals who are older and only have a few things to sell. I'm not sure what a lot of it is, but I think this lady was selling bean sprouts (among other things).

I wish I knew more of the language so I could ask questions!!

Rosetta Stone, here I come...

One stall had several sweet things like wafers and sugar cubes (sorta -- they are solid sugar and often provided by restaurants like peppermints are in the U.S.) and plenty of things I am unfamiliar with.

Some vendors are cooking food...some are cooking what amounts to Korean hotdogs - but often include fish cakes...not sure about that yet.

One of my favorite things to have (well, the only thing I've bought thus far) are hotteok, or a sugar filled pancake. The filling is crushed peanuts and brown sugar and it's pan-fried.

At 700 won, or about $0.70, it is awesome!!

Another vendor had roasted chestnuts, or gunbam, which a friend of mine bought and let me try.

I'm not normally much of a nut person, but these were great...slow roasted and so tasty on a cold day.

Then there's the seaweed! The smell definitely takes some getting used to. 

There are all kinds! Dried, frozen, fresh, and a million different kinds!

Seaweed is salty and of course a little fishy tasting...not my favorite thing, so I haven't tried any here.

Then there are plenty of fish to choose from...the cold weather helps keep them fresh sitting out on the sidewalk...wonder what they do in summer...

So many fish!! And I don't have a clue which are which...need to learn some Korean...then make friends with some of these locals to learn the dish on these fish! (yeah I know, pretty lame joke ;)

Some fish are already fileted and ready to be thrown on the grill!! Wish I knew something about cooking fish...

Now we get to the more exotic stuff (ok exotic to me!)

Pretty sure those are chicken feet...or maybe turkey feet?

Korea is surrounded by water on three sides. As such, the fishing industry is huge here!

There were all kinds of fish available at this tiny market...crabs, eels, shrimp...

Even mussels and clams...

Even squid! I would have no idea what to do with these!

I like sushi, but I'm definitely not this adventuresome yet...

The most interesting thing of all - live octopi!!

Proof!! The little suckers were still swimming around! Eeeek!!!

Hope you've enjoyed!! 

One day, I will learn what more of this stuff is and post again ;)