A few weeks ago the embassy sponsored a weekday trip for the spouses to the local Flower and Vegetable Market here in Bangkok. It is located just on the edge of ChinaTown. I have never seen flowers so colorful and bright and in such an abundance. They were quite cheap cheap too. You could get a large bouquet of fresh orchids for 40 Baht which is just barely over $1.
Can you guess what these are..............Mushrooms!
Ahhhh the hotness in all their glory!
A close up of the little devilish hot peppers that are in EVERYTHING here!
I spy cucumbers but I am not sure what all the others are!
An interesting looking flower - almost didn't look real!
I really liked the speckled ones...
These have got to be the bluest flowers I have ever seen in my life.
This was such a colorful array of flowers that I could not pass up a picture!
I've no idea what these are either but they were interesting looking!
This is a shot down the street/sidewalk of the flower market. It spans a couple blocks.
This is inside one of the tunnels (as I call them) down the side from the flower market and back here they do flower arrangements for funerals, weddings and such.
So everyone loves the food pictures so here are a few more for you!
This is Tom Yum Goong which is a spicy soup with shrimp. It is made with red curry and I believe coconut. Most of what you see in the soup is non edible. You basically just eat the broth and the shrimp. The shrimp were fantastic but the red curry broth is a bit too spicy for me!
This is seabass with basil and is my favorite dish. I found it while out to lunch with the American Women's Club. The restaurant is called CafeIce and it is literally right around the corner from our home - we had no idea it was there. Now we go all the time!
This is also from CafeIce and it is fresh mango juice - Yummm!
This was my dinner while at the Sheraton in Krabi over Labor Day weekend. Notice the fried egg on top. Most dishes in Thailand come with a fried egg on top.
Joe's fish - I forget what kind - think it was a snapper of some sort though.
Our dessert in Krabi - mango with sticky rice! Yummm!
The day we went to Wat Pho, the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew we enjoyed lunch at the difficult to locate but highly recommended DECK. It was well worth the search. I had grilled river prawns and they were delicious!
Joe had fettuchini with ham and he really enjoyed it!
And for dessert - surprise surprise - we had mango and black sticky rice! This one also came with a scoop of coconut icecream! Soooo good!
To quote wikipedia, "Chatuchak Market covers over 35 acres of land and includes upwards of 5,000 stalls. It is estimated that the market receives between 200,000 and 300,000 visitors per day! Most stalls are only open on Saturdays and Sundays. The market offers a wide variety of products including household items, clothing, Thai handicrafts, religious artifacts, collectibles, food and live animals. In recent years the market has gained considerable notice among conservationists and the World Wildlife Fund; Chatuchak has become a notorious hub for trafficking illegal and endangered species. This activity was covered on CNN's "Planet in Peril" series. Despite publicity, Thai law is rarely able to pursue a course of action in preventing the illegal trade."
I have made many trips to Chatuchak so far and each one gets easier. It is amazingly overwhelming when you make your first visit there. It is blazing hot on the outside and stuffy on the inside due to lack of airflow. It is exceptionally crowded and it is seriously a maze. You can easily get lost and have difficulty finding your way out. If you find something you like and don't buy it because you want to think about it - when you go back you either cannot find it or you they simply left! On our last trip Joe took his handheld GPS and made waypoints at stalls that I might want to return to sometime. I have been making so many trips to Chatuchak due to visitors in town and because I am helping my best friend Katrina find her wedding favors for her wedding in January in North Carolina. So I bought her a small collection of items and mailed them to her as samples and got the business card from the stalls. She has made a decision and now it is time to go back with my Thai instructor who will make sure I get the Thai price! Most westerners get the American price which is sometimes twice as much.
While there we had banana roti with chocolate sauce - this is our favorite dessert here - well next to mango and sticky rice that is! We took a little video of them making our banana roti. Enjoy!
Me and my friend Christina's head while looking at red organza favor baggies!
This is pretty neat - these characters are all made out of tools and scrap metal. Pretty amazing - they had a really neat spider man with a web, star wars characters, wall-E, transformers etc.
Here are the soaps that I think Katrina has decided on for wedding favors!
Christina (in red hat) and I checking out the soaps.
This is one of my favorite places - the Benjarong stall. I did a factory tour with the American Women's Club in August and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE all their stuff.
This was another stall that had fancy soaps and gift sets. Check out the he/she - we are quite positive that this is what they call a kathoey: a male to female transgender person in Thailand.
Here is the video we took of them preparing our banana roti - yummmm!!!!
Joe and I went with my friend Frieda on a river taxi up the Chao Phraya River. We wanted to take it to the end but once we had been on it for a good hour and were at stop 22 we decided to turn around and go back as we weren't sure how far it goes. We later found out that it goes up to stop 30. You pay 13 Baht ($0.38) to ride it each time you get on it. On our way back we paid the same and we stopped at Exit 10 and had lunch. We then got off at Exit 8 and then took a river ferry across to the other side for 3 Baht ($0.08) and visited Wat Arun (aka the "Temple of Dawn"). Here I was approached by a monk asking if I spoke English. I responded yes and then he asked Joe and I if we had 10 minutes to answer some questions. He explained that they were studying English and needed to practice with people. So Joe and I were invited into the temple with the monks to sit down and get interviewed while another monk video taped it. We were asked questions about what sports we like, what we like about Thailand etc. The monks were very nice. Sometimes if they did not understand the English I would answer them in Thai and they did not like this - they said NO THAI. Later on they asked me about my Thai and how I knew Thai and how long I had been studying it and where I was taking it. They said I spoke it very well. Below are some pictures from our day. Enjoy!
A monk waiting for the river taxi.
A temple along the river (maybe Wat Pho?)
Wat Arun as seen from the river.
Another temple....
This picture was taken on the river taxi. If you look closely the sign above the monks heads reads "Space for Monks." I watched a Westerner get scolded by a Thai for standing in that space. The man was really rude. Then a few minutes later the monks invited Joe over to talk with them. Joe made some new friends - they even requested to have their picture taken with Joe.
Joe and his new Monk friends. One was named Sanjrit and I have no clue as to the other guys name - it was a traditional LONG Thai name.
Walking thru the markets at Exit 10 to go eat lunch.
Sweet and Sour fish (I forget which fish it was though).
Greens - believe morning glory and something else - oh and also mushrooms.
Yummm - Garlic River Prawns
This street vendor was all smiles when we started taking his picture.
Dried squid - you think they got enough?
Egg rolls!!!
Grilled bananas - these are everywhere!
On board the river taxi...
The temple at Wat Arun
An interesting statue around the temple grounds.
One of the guards of the temple...
And the second guard.....
Some buddha's at the temple...
Many interesting statues...
Joe and I inside the temple being interviewed by the monk.
Wat Arun
I think he has had too much sun - he is peeling!
Frieda climbing the steep stairs up Wat Arun - this was quite a workout!
The next set of stairs requires both hands for climbing. This is Frieda again and I am behind her in the red shirt.
This is me - I am almost to the top and nearly out of breath and about to lose my knees!
