Bangkok Day 4: 8 Aug 2015

Not a good night's rest, with visible panda eye bags when leaving the apartment.  Today I met my Thai friend for a trip to a very local floating market.  The journey saw us taking the BTS all the way to Bang Wa station before hitching a cab ride to the market.

breakfast near Siam BTS: Katsu-don with Kiwi yogurt slushy

After 15 min ride, we eventually arrived at Klong Lad Ma Yom market.  We had a spread of local delights made freshly by the river before exploring the larger parts of the market. 

market selling all sorts of things imaginable

canal hawker

Big Lunch

 

baking in the boat

This market was beyond my expectation!  It was not touristy, very much localized.  The narrow canal was flanked on both sides with shops and local eateries, offering a potpourri of choices from Thai to western dishes.

Thai sweets

Before the scheduled boat ride, we took some time off for some traditional artwork, Batik painting.  This is actually more Indonesian but it was still great fun creating my own piece of art!

Me and my Batik work

The boat ride next was a peaceful one, instead of the motorized version we took the paddle rowing one.  It was quiet and serene, a very good opportunity to observe how the river people live their daily lives.  A highlight was the lotus pond where we were within touching distance to the beautiful pink blossoms.  The only complain would be the heat as everyone on board was dripping with sweat!

all onboard

 

lotus pond

 

residential area

As we approached the disembarking dock, the waters began to stir and come alive with hundreds of river carps!  We threw in the remaining chunks of bread and the stirs became fountains of activities as the fishes wrestled with each other to get a morsel of food!

hungry carps

It was back to Siam for some supermarket shopping and dinner at Siam Square One.  Dinner was at Chinatown Scala, and the set for 4 pax was ordered, including many local Chinese delights!

After another round of massage, it was straight to the Train Market for supper!!!  The Train Market used to be located beside the Bangkok Railway station, thus the name.  However, due to development of the transport hub, the market was forced to relocate to its current location beside the Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station.  

 

it gets busier the later the hour went!

The supper was a BIG bowl of wanton noodles with lots of crispy wanton skin and meatballs, good enough for 3-4 pax!  

A quick walk about in the market saw me munching on fried maggots and soaking in the live band atmosphere of this vibrant market at 11.30pm..  But good times end and it's time to head back before the last train.

me and my fried maggot

live band