Seoul's Garage Sale: Ttukseom Resort Flea Market

That is a picture of my lunch that I had at a Vietnamese restaurant near the Tteokssom Resort in Seoul. But before I take you into this weekend's adventure I first want to remind you of one of the best parts of modern culture, and that is the garage sale.
 
I have always enjoyed going to garage sales as a kid. It gave me great pleasure to look at other people's stuff and wonder why they were giving it away and if it could have a special place in my life. Along with garage sales I also was very fond of thrift stores. I lived off of clothing finds from thrift stores all the way through college until the trend caught on and things started to get more expensive. Even when I go back home to visit family, I find myself at a garage sale or thrift store taking in those musky smells and used items. 
 
After coming to Korea I wondered where people sell their used and unwanted items since no one seems to have "garages" or "yards" here. I have been to the Folk Flea Market but that seemed more like an antique's shop than an actual flea market. 
 
I have heard from others that apartment complexes usually hold little flea markets now and then, but never really found one. 
 
That is why to my pleasant surprise I found myself at a genuine market of used goods yesterday at the Ttukseom Resort Station. You will see later what I am talking about, but for now let's go back to lunch.



It was a nice spring day, except for a strong river wind blowing down the park. Families and couples were out with picnic gear and bicycles. 


 The cherry blossoms have already come and gone, but there remained full flower boxes among the path.



I always try to get a picture of JH but the guy is camera shy and often does the following gesture.

However, I don't mind my picture being taken.

That second one is me nagging JH to ride the paddle boats, but we both decided that with the wind it was a bad idea. 


 It might be hard to tell, but in the picture below the boat #47 was being bad since the folks (kids) inside were leaning to one side and making it nearly capsize.





 On our way, to the area under the bridge, the wind was pretty fierce but I managed to get some pics.



 Once up the stairs we made it to the flea market, where people were busy selling and buying. Mostly there was for sale clothing and shoes, but there was a good mix of random household items, electronics and jewelry. It seemed people were mostly trying to sell off things unwanted from their homes, but there were a few that looked like they had collected odd stuff from here and there.


 Not settling for the spoken price was common as people haggled down items that only cost 3,000 or 1,000 won to begin with. JH and I found a nice little tote bag, an English study book and a cat toy.




It was a lot of fun and after looking around we headed over to a sunny spot to soak in some rays.




Lastly, of course, a trip to the park wouldn't be complete without a stop at the public restroom.

I highly recommend you get out to the flea market one of these Saturdays and see if you can find a great treasure. I hope to someday sign up and sell a few unwanted things from my own home.
 

I leave you with this video I made of the market: