Buddhism and boribap 보리밥

Every time I come across a Buddhist store I like to go inside and see what they have available. So far I've come across three stores in Chungju, two close to each other by the market. One of them featuring some pretty nice prints for 15,000 won or less than $15 or better quality ones for 50,000 won.

Big statues at the back. I don't even want to know how much they cost.
                                            Simple Buddhist clothing selection to the right.

 

Lanterns and smaller statues. The orange statue was 150,000 won, definitely out of the price range of someone that is interested in the aesthetics of Buddhist art, but not willing to break the bank on it.

And later on, we went for some boribap at the market. boribap is a bowl of rice and barley with additional sides that you place in your bowl, mix up and eat. Of course with 고추장 / gochu jang / red pepper paste. It's similar to bibimbap 비빔밥, but generally doesn't come with an egg and has better sides / 반찬 / banchan.

Starting from seaweed and going clockwise you have peppers, bean sprouts, shredded radish, gochu jang, mini cabbage kimchi, and water kimchi. Everything was spiced or fermented, nothing fresh or without additives which was disappointing. It was still a good deal for 3,000 won though.

And this was where we ate. It was a tiny little restaurant at the market. Basically a hole in the wall that doubled as a restaurant and home. As we were leaving, there were some people eating 칼국수 cut noodles that looked delicious, even after eating all that food, so I'll have to try that next time.