Bangkok, Thailand

ตลาดสด

ตลาดสด, or Wet Market, is a market in Bangkok. This is the only place in South East Asia where I have actually felt overwhelmed. As we entered the market, it all seemed relatively fine. As we started going deeper into the market, it got more and more eccentric. Alive and dead frogs were piled in bags. Chicken feet were poking out of baskets that ladies were carrying. And, turtles were laying in buckets with a centimeter of water. We headed down an alleyway that had red umbrellas and tarps that hid the sky and that gave everything a red glow. Flies swarmed around the slaughtered fish in alarming numbers. The heat was intense, yet it seemed the locals were never slowed by it. Crowds shuffled around. A hoard of people pushed me unsettlingly close to animal hearts that were laid out in rows on a table. My heart jumped at this sight. The sound of large knives hitting cutting boards echoed all around me. But, this chaos was not what the locals saw. They possibly saw a reasonably priced heart here or there, or a good-looking chunk of meat. I could only imagine what this would be like – to see the market through that lens.

Four Malls

Bangkok is definitely the shopping capitol of the world. There are four main malls, Siam Discovery, Central World, Siam Paragon, and the MBK Center. So, first on one side of the street, you have the MBK Center. The MBK has cheap t-shirt stores, a non-reliable big department store and bad food. Next, on the other side of the street, there is Siam Discovery, my favorite mall. It has a cube decorating theme going on. Inside you can find Jamie Oliver’s Kitchen (delicious!) and other tasty but kind of expensive restaurants. And, you can find the trendiest and most fashionable clothes stores. Farther down is Central World; it’s a tube shaped mall. It mostly has athletic shoe brands and wax figures. Last, but not least is Siam Paragon. Siam Paragon is ginormous. After awhile you will start hallucinating where the exit is. It’s like the size of a two-story football field. WARNING: Trust me once you get in, you will never get out.