Shopping the Bangkok Way
Well, I’m fairly certain I look ridiculous! I’m wearing the skirt I purchased yesterday (uneven hem line Mum!) and because my feet are blistered from wearing the other two pair of sandals, I’m wearing my walking shoes (with sox). But aside from my feet, I am cool in this skirt and tee shirt.
Yesterday I got excessively hot walking around Khao San Road in my Kathmandu trousers – the ones I bought especially for this trip on the understanding they would be cool to wear – huh!
Today I’m going to Siam Square which is the home of many shopping complexes. I caught the boat again and after a 45 minute (15 baht or about 60cents NZ) leisurely trip down the river I reach the Central Pier. The boat gets very full as we make stops all the way down the river but it empties out somewhat as we reach the major tourist attractions of the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha.
My destination and termination point for the boat is Central Pier and this is the home of some of the luxury hotel chains like The Oriental, Peninsula, Marriott and Hilton. They each have faux boats made to look like mini pagoda and are fitted with individual padded chairs in an old style i.e. turned legs of wood and straight high backs. They are staffed by immaculate Thais dressed in formal whites, the creases in their trousers pressed knife edge sharpness. A far cry from my boatman dressed in scruffy khakis, whistle ready with a different call to alert the skipper when to stop, reverse the boat, when he’s tied it up and when all the passengers are on and another to alert him that it's time to go. Unlike the pagoda style boats of the hotel chains, on my boat I am lucky if I can get a seat and when I do it’s a yellow plastic one. Occasionally I am lucky enough and if I’m very quick, to get a seat on the side so its easier to take photographs as we journey down the wide river.
From Central Pier it’s a short walk up to the BTS (overhead rail) station to get on the Silom Line (one of two lines). Following the signs to get my ticket is very easy and it’s cheap - 30 baht for my journey. The trains are very clean, air conditioned and have TV screens announcing the upcoming stop – in English and Thai. Once I get off, I’ve found it’s much easier if I take the time to look at the signs as the exits are all numbered and going out on the correct side means I avoid having to cross a road which is always a good thing in this crazy city.
From my stop at Siam Square, I have my choice of shopping centres. The first one (via a covered overhead walkway) is CentralWorld. This is a pristine centre with over 500 shops and 50 eateries. It houses many named brands but it’s sterile and I’m keen to leave after a short time.
My next stop is the MBK Centre which is also massive but much more to my liking as I feel like I am now in a different country. Many of the shops are tiny. It’s more like a market with many of the stalls no more than 1.5 metres square. There is much to look at and buy – jeans, scarves, jewelry, shoes, bags, belts, watches etc etc. There is a whole floor devoted to electronics – a techo’s dream. Although I wasn’t buying (and you bargain in this store), the prices of a couple of things I checked out – a Canon camera and a Toshiba laptop seemed more expensive than NZ. Of course I’m not sure what the final price would be after some keen bartering.
Floor 5 houses eating places and I had a scrumptious lunch here for about 200 baht.
Another wonderful shopping centre in the vicinity I went to (and I’d recommend it for retail therapy) is the relatively new Paragon Siam. The cosmetics area is several acres in size and has brands I’d never heard of. The department store has such fantastic clothes I almost (?) wished I was buying for a job as a professional! It also has a great book store and I was excited to see two books by New Zealander’s – Joe Bennett’s “Mustn’t Grumble” and Lloyd Jones “Mister Pip” in a different cover to the NZ editions. I bought a book highly recommended to me by a couple of friends by Elizabeth Gilbert “Eat, Pray, Love” (thanks Nola and Robyn) and am looking forward to devouring that soon.
The ground floor of this centre is a definite must visit for "foodies". It is noisy busy and every spot has its food beautifully displayed making selection easier. It has good clean food places from just about every style of cuisine imaginable. I didn’t see bacon and eggs anywhere but I’m sure I would have if I looked long enough. Had I felt like coffee and cake or desert – I was spoilt for choice. I confess, I whimped out on local cuisine this time and had a cheese and spinach pie – well I don’t know when I’ll get the chance again. Also worth some time and a visit is the big international gourmet supermarket.
Khao San Road has a huge reputation to live up to as a shoppers paradise and so of course I had to check it out. It’s busy, crazy and fun. The pavements of several streets are jammed, not on one side, but two with market style shops and eateries. This leaves a narrow walkway and for much of the walk (and they go for a long way) it’s airless and there is room for just one person to walk. Naturally it can be rather frustrating to negotiate because people want to stop and look at the displays and so everyone behind them must wait.
I saw a skirt I wanted, but not in the colour I wanted (surprise, surprise). The sales lady looked through two huge bags of skirts but couldn’t find “my” colour. She then got on the phone and called someone. Was that about my skirt? I couldn’t tell; she spoke only Thai. I thought she was telling me to wait and so I did. In a matter of minutes, the skirt arrived and the deal was done NZD8. Mind you, I have no idea what it looked like on me as I had to try it on in the shop, over my trousers and there was no mirror to check it out. However, it is nice and cool to wear and even if I do look ridiculous, who cares.
Well, I’m fairly certain I look ridiculous! I’m wearing the skirt I purchased yesterday (uneven hem line Mum!) and because my feet are blistered from wearing the other two pair of sandals, I’m wearing my walking shoes (with sox). But aside from my feet, I am cool in this skirt and tee shirt.
Yesterday I got excessively hot walking around Khao San Road in my Kathmandu trousers – the ones I bought especially for this trip on the understanding they would be cool to wear – huh!
Today I’m going to Siam Square which is the home of many shopping complexes. I caught the boat again and after a 45 minute (15 baht or about 60cents NZ) leisurely trip down the river I reach the Central Pier. The boat gets very full as we make stops all the way down the river but it empties out somewhat as we reach the major tourist attractions of the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha.
My destination and termination point for the boat is Central Pier and this is the home of some of the luxury hotel chains like The Oriental, Peninsula, Marriott and Hilton. They each have faux boats made to look like mini pagoda and are fitted with individual padded chairs in an old style i.e. turned legs of wood and straight high backs. They are staffed by immaculate Thais dressed in formal whites, the creases in their trousers pressed knife edge sharpness. A far cry from my boatman dressed in scruffy khakis, whistle ready with a different call to alert the skipper when to stop, reverse the boat, when he’s tied it up and when all the passengers are on and another to alert him that it's time to go. Unlike the pagoda style boats of the hotel chains, on my boat I am lucky if I can get a seat and when I do it’s a yellow plastic one. Occasionally I am lucky enough and if I’m very quick, to get a seat on the side so its easier to take photographs as we journey down the wide river.
From Central Pier it’s a short walk up to the BTS (overhead rail) station to get on the Silom Line (one of two lines). Following the signs to get my ticket is very easy and it’s cheap - 30 baht for my journey. The trains are very clean, air conditioned and have TV screens announcing the upcoming stop – in English and Thai. Once I get off, I’ve found it’s much easier if I take the time to look at the signs as the exits are all numbered and going out on the correct side means I avoid having to cross a road which is always a good thing in this crazy city.
From my stop at Siam Square, I have my choice of shopping centres. The first one (via a covered overhead walkway) is CentralWorld. This is a pristine centre with over 500 shops and 50 eateries. It houses many named brands but it’s sterile and I’m keen to leave after a short time.
My next stop is the MBK Centre which is also massive but much more to my liking as I feel like I am now in a different country. Many of the shops are tiny. It’s more like a market with many of the stalls no more than 1.5 metres square. There is much to look at and buy – jeans, scarves, jewelry, shoes, bags, belts, watches etc etc. There is a whole floor devoted to electronics – a techo’s dream. Although I wasn’t buying (and you bargain in this store), the prices of a couple of things I checked out – a Canon camera and a Toshiba laptop seemed more expensive than NZ. Of course I’m not sure what the final price would be after some keen bartering.
Floor 5 houses eating places and I had a scrumptious lunch here for about 200 baht.
Another wonderful shopping centre in the vicinity I went to (and I’d recommend it for retail therapy) is the relatively new Paragon Siam. The cosmetics area is several acres in size and has brands I’d never heard of. The department store has such fantastic clothes I almost (?) wished I was buying for a job as a professional! It also has a great book store and I was excited to see two books by New Zealander’s – Joe Bennett’s “Mustn’t Grumble” and Lloyd Jones “Mister Pip” in a different cover to the NZ editions. I bought a book highly recommended to me by a couple of friends by Elizabeth Gilbert “Eat, Pray, Love” (thanks Nola and Robyn) and am looking forward to devouring that soon.
The ground floor of this centre is a definite must visit for "foodies". It is noisy busy and every spot has its food beautifully displayed making selection easier. It has good clean food places from just about every style of cuisine imaginable. I didn’t see bacon and eggs anywhere but I’m sure I would have if I looked long enough. Had I felt like coffee and cake or desert – I was spoilt for choice. I confess, I whimped out on local cuisine this time and had a cheese and spinach pie – well I don’t know when I’ll get the chance again. Also worth some time and a visit is the big international gourmet supermarket.
Khao San Road has a huge reputation to live up to as a shoppers paradise and so of course I had to check it out. It’s busy, crazy and fun. The pavements of several streets are jammed, not on one side, but two with market style shops and eateries. This leaves a narrow walkway and for much of the walk (and they go for a long way) it’s airless and there is room for just one person to walk. Naturally it can be rather frustrating to negotiate because people want to stop and look at the displays and so everyone behind them must wait.
I saw a skirt I wanted, but not in the colour I wanted (surprise, surprise). The sales lady looked through two huge bags of skirts but couldn’t find “my” colour. She then got on the phone and called someone. Was that about my skirt? I couldn’t tell; she spoke only Thai. I thought she was telling me to wait and so I did. In a matter of minutes, the skirt arrived and the deal was done NZD8. Mind you, I have no idea what it looked like on me as I had to try it on in the shop, over my trousers and there was no mirror to check it out. However, it is nice and cool to wear and even if I do look ridiculous, who cares.
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