Since my check-in at Anantara, a staff member, Cho, engaged me in conversation at every opportunity. He seemed to be a very earnest young man with a thirst for knowledge and any chance to help improve his English. He was very helpful with any of my needs, however. Not only did he bring my luggage to my room, he also dropped off a wine opener/bottle opener and held my luggage after check-out. In fact, he was the one who drove their shuttle to the Chong Nonsi BTS station. He instructed me to change at the Siam station in order to go to the Chatuchak/JJ weekend market. The BTS ticket cost me 42 Thai baht and the time it took to get to Chatuchak was around half an hour. The BTS system is quite clean and efficient.
My ex had taken me to Chatuchak last year, but he’s not an avid shopper, in any sense of the word. He kindly put up with me for a few hours, then we’d gone to Ayuthaya. This time I arrived by about 9:45 a.m. on Sunday morning and could take as long as I wanted. Then again, not exactly, as I had to meet the condo owner at 4:00 p.m. Chatuchak is HUGE. The only things I was interested in buying were clothing and jewelry made by ethnic tribes such as the Hmong. It took me about an hour and a half of wandering in circles aimlessly until I found the area where most of those things were sold (roughly Sections 22-25). Then I was in Hmong heaven! Since it’s at the start of my trip and I still have presents to carry to my Italian friend in Bali, I didn’t want to get too crazy with shopping. I ended up with modern heels with Hmong inspiration, a Hmong dress and a Hmong top, though. There were even baby Hmong shoes; I grabbed a few pairs of those for future baby gifts. I didn’t attempt to do much in the way of serious bargaining. I’d just grab something to look at, decide to take it and they’d give me a discount, without my even asking!
There are tons of food and drink opportunities at Chatuchak. Though I didn’t eat anything (after having had the breakfast buffet at Anantara), I merely drank a Pepsi (20 Thai baht) and a black iced coffee (25 Thai baht). They have the most fascinating foods, though.
When the heat and humidity finally got to me, I took a foot/shoulder massage break in an air-conditioned room. The cost was only 200 Thai baht for 45 minutes (about US$6 or less).
I lugged my purchases on to BTS, then back to Anantara. Cho and another kind staff member got my luggage ready and called a cab, then I was on my way to the condo. The cab driver cracked me up; he was funny and happy, though he barely spoke a word of English and kept rambling in Thai.
The condo is the same one that I stayed at on my last trip to Thailand, but the apartment (for the first part of this trip) is a different, smaller one, as the other wasn’t available for these days. The owner met me quickly to give me the keys and show me around. I then made myself comfortable (i.e. threw my things everywhere) and went out to find something for din-din. I ended up at Breizh crepes, kitty corner from the condo. The young man working there seemed to be Tunisian or something similar, though I couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t Thai and had an accent, but I couldn’t quite tell if it was a French one; he was too soft-spoken. I ordered one of their most popular galettes, the Tuk Tuk – the main ingredient being merguez. It was fine; nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about, either.
My evening ended with a few drinks at Smalls, a French-influenced bar. The ground floor is a bar, the second floor houses the restaurant and the third floor has a “rooftop” bar. I had a drink on the ground floor, then moved to the third floor. Both bars have those absinthe servers, as they offer 15 different types of absinthe. The entire place was quite on a Sunday, but it was nice relaxing there; no pressure.
Thai “street” food
Upstairs Bar at Smalls