Seoul's biggest market

Last weekend I went to Seoul with Leah, a knitting buddy. We stayed in Insadong - a touristy area with a lot of traditional style buildings. Here is the view from our hotel.

We went up on Friday night so that we would be able to get to Dongdaemun Market before the crowds. It opened at 10am and we had arrived a bit early, so sat and ate sandwiches and drank coffee to fortify us.
It looks like everything is transported to the vendors like this.
The market is a series of buildings - each selling their own specialties. We were actually headed for the basement of this building where the yarns were.
And also threads ...
...and buttons.
The yarn stalls advertised their products by displaying made-up items. I loved the way this was shown on an umbrella. It was stunning.
...and tassles...
We started by doing a reconnaissance and noting stalls of interest. Then coffee and we worked out a plan of attack. Then we went back and bought our goodies. I had become very preoccupied by this stage and forgot about taking photos. By avoiding the crowds and being organised we actually were finished by midday (we had allowed all day) so then we found some lunch and wandered back to Insadong.
The brown mass is some nutty toffee mixture - it is cut up and sold in small packets - on the left. That's Leah in the blue T-shirt.
This is Starbuck in Insadong. Apparently its claim to fame is that it was the first Starbucks in the world NOT to have a Starbucks sign in English. But as this is a traditional area the rules stipulate that signage must be mostly in Korean.