Market stalls, shopping malls and massages!

With Maria occupied with Leah, her Australian friend from Perth, Gaby & I spent the next two days shopping, eating and getting massages.

Siam Paragon - the most bonkers shopping mall ever! Ice sculptures and live music outside plus a Jazz band and a huge Christmas tree inside that was about three levels tall. It is full of designer stores like Hermes, Bally, Paul Smith, Burberry, Chanel, etc. It has a 4,000 sqm gym complex and an Imax Cinema on the top floor plus an aquarium in the basement. Furthermore there are car dealerships for Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche, amongst others scattered throughout the complex!

Limphini Night Market - we finally got to ride the skytrain, using it to get to Limphini. Although we did end up paying 15 baht to cross a road after we took a wrong turn at the changeover and exited the station instead boarding the connecting train! However, it wasn’t a long distance to walk to the market. Limphini Night Market was great - full of local designers selling there wares and overpriced foot massages. We ate dinner at a restaurant at the market - an extremely tasty seafood, vegetable and chilli paste soup plus a 1,000 baht bottle of wine - we had decided to 'splurge' a little! (During the taxi ride back to Khao San to get a massage before bed, we again got to do our 'married couple on their honeymoon' routine when the taxi driver mistook us for a married couple!)

Chatuchak Weekend Market - consisting of over 8,000 stalls - the Customer Information desk hands out a map! - selling all sorts of goods - clothes, furniture, silk, artwork, jewellery, kitchenware - it’s no surprise that Gaby & I spent all day there. It also gave Gaby ample opportunity to use her "Cheap cheap for you!" followed by "Do you know the meaning of the word 'compromise?'" bartering technique. It never failed to work, even with the tuk-tuk drivers.


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Every night was concluded with a massage - either Thai or Swedish oil - barbecued corn-on-the-cob and a bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice. It became our ritual.