Monday, March 13, 2006

To Market, To Market

hot & humid at chak-tu-chak


I love Bangkok! And guys, despite what you hear you can still go to Bangkok with the family and have a ball. Heh.

Bangkok is all about shopping. And here, you can buy just about anything, at any budget. First stop for us, was some bargain-hunting at the Chak-Tu-Chak Weekend Market. It's a big-ass bazaar of things ranging from seedlings to clothing, animals to jewelry and goodness knows what else. For the two days that we were there, we didn't even manage to cover half the place.


Food here is excellent. Mae and I decided that we would sample the stuff that everyday Thai folks eat - their hawker fare. The thing about the Thai food in Bangkok is, it's like a there's some kind of Pig Festival going on - so it's pork, pork, pork everywhere!

Brunch at Chak-Tu-Chak was a bahkuteh-ish Pork Rice, which is a delicious oily rice with a sumptious serving of pork basted in Chinese herbs. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's excellent, but it's pretty good eating. Another specialty here is also their Rice Noodle in Pork Balls soup. Pork balls, not pig balls! The rice noodles are not unlike our Kuey Teow noodles, except this stall serves theirs in broader sheets of the stuff. Springier too. Every eatery in Bangkok serves their food with 4 condiments. My favourite is the ground dried chilli. I forget the other three. Hehh. This stall is in Section 26, in case you're interested. :)

Bangkok is hot and humid. And Chak-Tu-Chak is practically an oven. So it's not ideal for toddlers or babies. Or adult crybabies. Jesse was great throughout the entire trip, though we spared him the agony of enduring another day of his mother's shopping frenzy at the place on Day 2. I swear the woman will buy the whole damn Bangkok if she could afford it.

12 comments:

  1. she will probably put your car into mortage to buy half of Bangkok :P
    so for you is like a food trip ah? LOL!

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  2. Wow. You managed to bring a stroller too. I am impressed!

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  3. as long as it's a food trip uncle james is very happy.

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  4. The four condiments are dried chilli, light soya sauce, sugar, and....
    Darn, I forgot.
    Was it oil?

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  5. My family went to Bangkok 2 months ago and I didn't get to go.

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  6. Hee hee, I'm like Mae, I can shop till I drop at Chatuchak as I love everything there. Luckily the last time I was there we drove up so I had the whole car to fill up.

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  7. I love Cha-tu-Chak. If not because of .. the news of the dead friend - I would have shopped the entire Cha-tu-Chak in my pocket! Love it! LOVE it!

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  8. It was extremely hot and crowded when I was there. Great place to shop but bad place to meet up with people because you'll never find them!!!
    I kinda like how they serve soft drinks there. They come in bottles and they put it in small metal cups...cute

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  9. yeah, u brought a stroller too. Is the market 'stroller-friendly'? as in crowded?

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  10. Second that. Food, shopping...bangkok is the best! And the ppl are really nice. Super nice!

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  11. It's all food trips, Egghead! Muahahah.
    I'm always happy, Leo.
    And hence you must remember to never pick the most sophisticated stroller over the most lightweight one, Bonnie. :)
    Zemien, I think you're right. As for the fourth one, I think it's a vinegar with cut chillies floating in it.

    Jason, you need a new family. How could they!??! :lol:
    Hmm... I shall consider driving there next time, Boo!
    Ok, Gina, next time we go one gang.
    Ah, yes Simmie, I thought the tin cups were nice too.
    Papi, it's crowded like crazy but you can manoevre a stroller through the place. Though the heat there will probably bake your kid. If you really wanna knock yourself out shopping, leave the kids at home.
    Yes, the ppl are extremely courteous, MOTT. Lovely place.

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  12. how far didja go into chatuchak? hehehehe :P my msian fren (who was working in BKK at dat time) took me around chatuchak. skipped the less important stuff in the front, went straight to the centre and rite to the back.

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