A Bunch of Bests in Bangkok

Best discovery - cooling powders!

While we're at a stop with our guide, Kiwi, I saw a few women spreading white powder on their faces.  I ask her if it's to prevent bug bites, but she tells me it's cooling powder.  Cooling powder??  I'd never heard of it.  She brings me to a convenience store and shows them to me.  My baby powder isn't up to the Bangkok heat - it may save me 5 seconds before my clothes are soaked with sweat.  I immediately buy some to see if they'll work better.  (Post Note:  Back in Japan, I can tell they're better than the baby powder.  It may be 40 degrees outside, but the subway stations are well heated (78 degrees) so I always start sweating, and my clothing bands get soaked....which is uncomfortable as I've just left the apartment for a day of running errands.  The cooling powder doesn't prevent sweating completely, but it does save me those 5 minutes as I walk through the subway station.  Definitely worth the purchase!)

We debate whether to go to the Chatuchak Weekend Market - normally we love markets, but we've been seeing a lot of them and it seems like they're all selling the same kind of thing - cheap stuff or knock offs.  I had heard there are supposed to be handmade crafts here, and maybe bolts of fabric and souvenirs (which, strangely, I had not seen any typical tourist souvenir shops in Bangkok itself), so we decide to go and if we hate it we'll leave after a bit.

This is our meeting place if we get separated.
You know I'll find my way to a bathroom!

I'm so glad we go!  It's the best market I've ever been to - it beats the Rosebank Sunday Market in Johannesburg, which had been my favorite.  This one is huge - it claims to be the biggest open air market in the world, with over 15,000 stalls.  The sections we wander through are full of well crafted, handmade items.  In four hours we only walk around about a quarter of it.

The signs you (sometimes) see at the end of the row.

It's very, very loosely organized - it's possible in one section you might see four or five booths with the same kind of thing (like pet supplies), but there might be a hundred more spread out in one of the 30 other sections. Most of each section and row are labeled, but it doesn't really help you to find something (maybe if you really paid attention you could make it back to the same place). 

"Make sure you get my good side!"

The one exception was section 7 - it has all the paintings, including artists at work!  I love seeing the dog modeling for the painter.  There are some good pieces, and I end up purchasing two different oil paintings.   

There are paper maps of the market - I think Steve picked up ours from one of the workers there.  

2017 map

One of the aisles - it's not very wide!

On the map in the upper right hand corner they nicely translate where you might find certain categories of stuff.  We spend most of our time in sections 7 - 10.  I was told there are vendors selling fabric by the yard, but we never found them. That wasn't really one of my goals for the trip to Thailand (buying fabric) so I wasn't too upset. Plus we find lots of other goodies and it's fun just walking around and seeing everything!

Checking out the merchandise...without being pestered! :)

One interesting observation - the vendors don't solicit you to buy their products. I love that! I'm not the kind of person who likes to have a sales person standing over me while I shop, and I don't like being pressured to buy. So being able to browse and look at the products without someone saying, "Look at this," or "Good price," etc etc, and distracting me from what I want to see, is very refreshing. I think this is the only place we've been to in southeast Asia that is like that.

We'd been having trouble finding the time to change US dollars to Thai baht, so we investigate the money exchange booth near exit 2 of the market.  The rates are good - the same as Super Rich in town (from my research, Super Rich has the best reputation and has good exchange rates). We're able to do the exchange, but we notice it closed by early afternoon.  I guess they're out of money!  There are ATMs, and they're still working at that time, but I'm sure they run out of money, too.  I didn't notice any of the vendors taking credit cards (Square is not here), so make sure you have plenty of cash!  

If you need a break from all the shopping, there are also plenty of food carts, small restaurants, and (mostly foot) massage places set up throughout the market, too!  Some of the massage places even have walls up so they can provide air conditioning.

There's no problem using the (air conditioned) sky train to and from the market, though budget extra time when you are leaving!  The (Mo Chit) station only has two ticket kiosks open to people entering, so there's a long line extending down the two flights of stairs and along the sidewalk (and it's not Japan, so people are cutting in front of you all the time).  It took us almost 10 minutes from when we got in line until we reach the platform.  The good news is the Mo Chit station is the last stop on the line, so if you're at the front of the platform you can board the empty car first and definitely get a seat and rest your feet!

Overall, the prices of the artworks are inexpensive - except for the mug.  It's comparable to what I pay at galleries in the US.  Clay must be hard to find in Thailand!  Here are some of our purchases:

Pressed flower bags - yes, if you
receive a bottle of wine from us, it will
be in this gift bag!

Cute little 6" square painting - lots of oil so the leaves are 3-D

I didn't find fabric, but I did find stamps used
to make the patterns on batik material!

Handmade soaps - because who can resist
Pandanus and Ampawa scents - it's not
what you usually find in the US.

Carved lamp - I'd been admiring these for months in
Tokyo, but I hadn't bought one. This cost less than
25% of the Japanese one.

Another mug for the collection!

I thought this 16" x 24" oil painting was small enough to fit in our duffle bag, but I was wrong. Steve took it off the frame so we could bring it home, and says he will put it back...of course, he never said WHEN he'd put it back...  This reminds me of the cherry trees in Japan.

On our walk back to the hotel we're able to see why the Flower Market in Bangkok is the biggest in the world.  The street is lined with vendors selling flowers and arrangements.  There's a small temple on the corner and there must be a festival today, because it's crowded with people (and offerings).  This is just a tiny temple - what must it be like for the important celebrations and large temples?

Flower vendors - bet they
got their flowers at the Market!

People making offerings at the temple.  See all the marigolds?

The street food in Bangkok is excellent, but we decide to go out for one nice dinner while we're here.  We choose Issaya Siamese Club, which is rated as one of the top 20 restaurants in Asia.  It deserves its reputation.  

Best cocktail ever!

We arrive exactly on time for our reservation (not due to picking up habits from the Japanese, but because of a taxi mix-up at our hotel).  We had wanted to arrive a little early to take photos, but we go straight in so we're not late for our dinner.  The restaurant is in a 2-story Thai villa surrounded by tropical gardens.  While looking over the menu, I ask the waitress for her recommendation on a drink.  She suggests the signature passion fruit martini, and I follow her advice.  It's probably the best cocktail I've ever had.

Our menu

Steve and I have learned from Japanese restaurants that when a chef offers a tasting menu - pick that.  We try 12 signature dishes.  Including tax and tip (but not the drinks) it's $85 a person - which after Tokyo prices feels like a bargain.

bonus amuse bouche course - not on menu

I start to feel full around number dish #8, but I keep eating because it's all so delicious.  As we're having our final dessert (there is a bonus sweets course, so you end up with multiple servings), I ask if the spice rub on the ribs is a secret recipe (the ribs were one of our appetizers - and even though I'm completely stuffed I'm still thinking about them).  She says no, it's in their cookbook.  They have a cookbook?!?  I ask to see it, and I end up buying it. We've never made ribs before, because normally I'm not a fan. But we'll be making them now!

The best ribs - I wonder if I can do this kind of presentation, too.  Can you get banana leaves in the US?

Some of the items from the main course

We're sitting inside Issaya on the second floor, so there's only 4 tables, nicely spaced apart.  Next to us is a group of four Americans, who probably sat down thirty minutes before us.  I can tell I've gotten used to Japanese restaurants - their voices seem very loud to me. We easily listen to their entire conversation, and Steve and I actually have to lean in to hear each other speak.  But it gets to be fun when they're finished and have their wine - they start to talk national politics. We generally only know what we read on the news, so it's interesting to hear people talking about it (they're interrupted after a few minutes by dessert, just as it got interesting). As they get up to leave we all end up saying hello to each other and we find out they're from Atlanta. It's a small world! 

The broken bucket dessert - fun presentation!