Bangkok - Day 2 (Saturday, 24 August 2013)

The first thing we do when we awake each morning is to decide where to go for breakfast, or if we are up late, lunch. We are in the middle of everything. Food surrounds us. We are spoilt for choice and it's quite a mind boggling exercise to decide. So we settled on Greyhound (no surprise) cafe's special Surf n Turf menu - for a limited time only - but when we got to the cafe located at Siam Center on the 3rd flr, the line was so long we didn't even bother. Siam Center has many restaurants, not to mention Singapore's very own Food Republic but who goes to Bangkok to eat at a Singapore local food court?! The simple decor at "On The Table" drew us to it and since there was no queue, we were seated quite quickly and the food arrived in double quick time.

I had their Japanese Curry Gratin, rice in curry gravy (non-spicy) topped with a layer of cheese and baked. It was simply delicious! I felt a bit guilty eating rice but it was very satisfying!

Both MJ and I love clams so ordering this in garlic white wine sauce was a no brainer!

Neither can we resist calamari...yes, it's as crispy as it looks!

Simple decor, simple design, simple food. Simply good!

After lunch we strayed to Siam Discovery Center next door and went to LOFT. They have cool stuff there and we rarely leave the place without buying something. It's worth a visit. We wanted to get this innovative mobile water dispenser which can fit any pet bottle with the universal sized mouth (970B = S$40) but discovered that tourists get 10% discount if they present their passports so I put off buying it until I had my passport with me. 

One of the places we wanted to go to on our last trip but didn't get round to is Talad Rod Fai. This is the weekend night market which carries lots of vintage and retro ware and they were originally located at a former railway station (Rod Fai means railway) about 15 mins walk from Chatuchak. They moved to a much further location a few months back so we made the trip out, thinking we might snag another good deal like we did the last time with our old radio. 

To get there, we had to take the BTS to Punniwithi station, two stations from On Nut (which used to be the last station before they added five more), take exit 1 and walk against the traffic flow to Soi 101/1. Along the way, we saw a woman grilling salt covered fish.

The fish looked interesting. We saw another hawker selling the same thing, and noticed they use the same fish. This particular one was located just next to a petrol station.

We took a cab along soi 101/1 to Seacon Square which is about 2km away. The cab snaked through the little sois and we would've gotten lost if we had tried to find our own way. We passed by a CHIJ and I was excited to see its name and badge at the entrance. 

It's always comforting to see a CHIJ overseas. I'm proud of my convent education and will always be proud to be an IJ alumni.

Also saw a father kissing his baby...

... and another hawker preparing sausages at her cart.

After we had disembarked from the taxi across from Seacon, and as were making our way across the overhead bridge, we suddenly heard a thunderous bang that sounded like a huge explosion. Everyone was shocked and turned toward its source and it was this moment that I snapped what's probably my best pix of the trip...

I had my camera pointed at this woman because I was about to take a photo of her. I was struck by the environment in which she was selling her food. The background was a messy sight/site and there she was dressed in red with her colourful dishes. This was when the loud sound exploded and she instinctively put her hands to her mouth in shock and fear. The 'explosion' turned out to be nothing. It was probably some part of a heavy crane that had slipped and created the loud sound upon impact. Everyone kept looking in its direction trying to figure out what happened. The crane driver hopped out, did a quick check round the vehicle and hopped back in and went on his way. So that was that.

Talad Rod Fai is just behind Seacon Square but it only opens just before sundown and since we were there slightly early, we popped into the huge mall where we chanced upon the tail end of a national cheerleading competition. 

The top prize was 150,000B (about S$6200) and the kids were still on adrenalin high even after the competition had ended. They hung around the stage hoisting each other up, obviously not having had enough of the action earlier. 

And finally, we arrived at Talad Rod Fai...

It occupies a huge area. This row of shops faces Seacon. Behind them are probably hundreds of stalls and open areas where vans just drive up, park and display their stuff by the side of their vehicles.

Would love to get me one of these!

This shop was empty except for the lights. The lady in charge was sitting at one corner.

Rows and rows of tentage housed little shops. It was more like a night market, rather than a retro market. They had lots of foodstalls, and clothes and knick knacks. 

The crowd mainly consisted of youngsters.The crowd was swelling by about 7pm.

This is the stuff we came to see...

Only that we can't possibly buy them for now. Maybe later when we move.

Old tins and enamel coated pots!

\

Ultraman?

What a cool seat! That's design for you! Only by the Thais...

Cool Cadillacs and Harleys filled this space... 

and outside...

Can you imagine how long it took the owner to lay these out so neatly?!

Nice way of displaying umbrellas...lit, on a ladder. 

That's what I ended up with after spending about 2.5hrs there. Not very fruitful but I was quite happy with the square switches. Please disregard the TV base on the top right. Got the Kodak camera for about S$80, the light switches for about S$5/piece, the heavy copper taps were S$4/each, and the musical instruments were a few bucks each. Not a great haul but it wasn't too bad. The original Talad Rod Fai was much better though. More vintage and retro stuff. This one is more like a night market and it's not really worth going all the way out there to visit... at least that's my opinion...I mourn the loss of the original Talad Rod Fai... Sob!