Shopping Heaven

Bangkok is shopping heaven, here's no doubt about it. Anything you've ever thought (or not thought) of buying, you can find it here. There are your traditional upscale shopping malls, featuring name brand stores you can find in the states, then the luxury malls with Versace and Prada, the slightly seedier and more fun outdoor markets, such as the Chatuchak weekend market, and then the craziest of all, the electronics emporiums. I went to an electronics emporium called Fortune something yesterday because Jon needed a new router. It is an entire shopping mall filled with nothing but hardware, accessories, mobile phones, MP3 and MP4 players, CD's and DVDs, and unbelievably cheap computer software. You can buy a copy of the new Windows VISTA operating system for 120 Baht (about $3.50). The prices for computers and laptops are comparable to the US, although they have more Taiwanese brands that I haven't heard of (like Acer, for example).

After this electronics fest, Tap and I went to the Chatuchak weekend market, which contains something like 20,000 stalls selling merchandise from pork parts to high end furniture. We got there via Taxi, which cost about $1.40. It is extremely affordable to take taxis (at least for short distances) in Bangkok; I could get used to this!! I wound up buying a t-shirt with a picture of a dove composed of many smaller bird silhouettes, and the most comfortable wide legged black pants in the world (I should have bought 2 pairs). Not all shops carry western sizes, but these did. Tap was looking for a traditional Thai outfit to wear to work (she works at the UN, and everyone was supposed to come in native dress). That meant an entertaining bargaining session with the old lady who owns the stall. I bought a whole cut up mango for 0.50 and was quite happy.

I cooked a veggie and shrimp stir-fry for dinner, which wasn't bad except that it could have used some more seasonings. Then Tap and I went to a beauty salon in the Soi (street) next door where she got her hair done and I got a foot massage. Ah, bliss :) You can buy anything in this street. There are internet cafes, copy centers, beauty parlors, a photo store, three 7-11's, more food vendors than you can shake a stick at; even a small supermarket. There are guys on motos waiting to take you to the sky train station for 10 baht (0.30). Except for the congestion and insane traffic, there's a lot to be said for the area.

I bid SE Asia farewell this evening with an overnight flight to Sydney. I've been doing some preparatory reading for this trip with Bill Bryson's hysterical book on Australia, appropriately entitled Down Under. I just have to share this one passage about Cricket (which in all fairness, I have never seen).

"It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavors look interesting and lively; that was merely an unitended side effect. I don't wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game. It is the only sport that encorporates meal breaks. It is the only sport that shares its name with an insect. It is the only sport in which spectators burn as many calories as players (more if they are moderately restless). It is the only competitive activity of any type, other than perhaps baking, in which you can dress in white from head to toe and be as clean at the end of the day as you were at the beginning."