Thailand Scrapbook: Day Three

at the Skytrain after our shopping at Chatuchak

Its shopping time! I usually stay in bed until 11am on a Saturday but this weekend is different since I’m in Bangkok. It’s actually our most awaited day because it’s when the weekend market of Thailand opens its doors to the buying public. Chatuchak is the largest of its type in the world. And it is probably the most diverse. It is over 26 acres and 100,000 square meters in area. It’s so BIG, my feet sore already and we haven’t covered one fourth of the market yet. We went there in groups but eventually lost track of each other. Good thing I was with Baet and Maya and my phone was on roaming so we just sent SMS message to meet up at the Skytrain by 2pm. I bought some of my "pasalubong" there, some dried squid with chili and honey, T-shirts with "Thailand" printed on them, Adrian and my brother’s backpacks. I also bought a fancy ring for myself :-) So many great finds there, anything you can think of buying is there. I also discovered how the Thais are so creative, most of the shirts (for women) are hand painted or have beads on them (all hand made) I even saw this lady painting on a black shirt and selling them for 250 Baht. Some goods are cheap and some are not, you need to bargain if you want to buy the items for less. All sweaty and drained, we head to Mo Chit station to meet our friends. Kimchi and Kim still want to shop so they went to Pratunam and we went back to the hotel and had dinner. Take out some food from KFC and brought it to the hotel. After freshening up and changing into new shirts, we headed to the malls near our hotel, Robinsons and Central. Afterwards we went to MBK again and meet up with Kim and Kimchi who has not yet eaten lunch.

Anna's Cafe, delicious dining in Bangkok

Its already 7:30 and we went to Anna’s Café to eat dinner. A highly recommended restaurant by my friends who already have eaten there. We actually asked personnel from the hotel for directions on how to go to the restaurant but for some reasons we ended up in All Season, which is a condominium. We went inside and asked someone around where the nearest Anna’s Café and luckily a walking distance from where we are there is an Anna's Café. As we enter the building, its seems to be a fine dining restaurant but after looking into the menu the prices are affordable so we went ahead and ordered. We are so excited and eager to taste an authentic Thai food and we didn’t fail our tastes buds because the food was so delicious. I’m definitely going back here in my next visit.

Last minute shopping at Suan-Lum

After filling our stomach with yummy dinner. We continued our shopping spree at Suan-Lum Night Bazaar. Where I did my last minute shopping. I actually bought more stuff here than in Chatuchak. Prices are just the same; you just need to learn how to haggle. And my spiel that worked from me so I can get a big discount is that” I’m leaving tomorrow and I really want to get this for my friend/family back home” and with some sweet innocent smile, they gave in to the price that I haggled for. :-) Some merchants even recognize that we are from the Philippines and when I asked how come they could tell, some said its how we speak and some says how we haggle for the goods…always at 50% or even lower. For me, Thailand is not just a neighboring country rich in culture but a country of great, softspoken people, and a Shopping mecca to all Shopaholic. Becky Bloomwood-Brandon will surely love this country.. right Sofie?

And now the challenge! How to fit all the things that I bought in my luggage and not go over the required limit? Good Luck to all of us!