February 14th alone in Bangkok…

After breakfast, I asked the ladies at the hotel concierge to recommend me places to go for shopping. They recommended some places. Knowing I am alone there, they comforted me by saying that I can still feel the love on valentines’ day even when alone, “coz love is in the air”. I certainly hope so…

** She sent me an sms this morning:
“Hey happy vdae! I bet no one’s celeb w you so I decided to b nice n drop you a msg to ease e pain. Haha! Anyway have fun!”
I hope she doesn’t know about my feelings for her, or else this sms will seem so cruel. **

After work, I took the Bangkok skytrain to Siam station again. Destination this time: Pratunam night market. I went to MBK’s food court to have dinner. It was a nice place with good ambience, even with a live jazz band. Since it was valentine’s day, every table had rose petals and candlelights on them, and some service staff were wearing red dresses, giving roses to couples. I must have seemed out of place there: I was the only customer who is dining alone.

I had a decent and authentic Thai tom yam goong dinner. I wanted to complete the meal with a Thai dessert: sticky rice with durian, but it seemed that durian was out of stock. Oh well, I would satisfy this craving somewhere else.


My tom yum goong dinner... Only remembered to take the shot after I took a bite... haha

I journeyed through the posh shopping centres to reach my destination: Discovery Centre, Siam Centre, Siam Paragon, Central World, etc. The price tags of their products are as posh as these places.


One of the buddhist shrines I saw along the streets. Many couples are praying for blessings on valentines' day.

Pratunam night market was not as interesting as I imagined. There are many roadside food stalls (which I never did dare to try anyway…) and low end fashion clothing which are not very interesting to me. I took about one hour to finish my tour of the place without buying anything.

Next destination: Suan Lum night market via skytrain(BTS) and subway (MRT) to Lumphini. They call their subway MRT as well! They are much stricter than in Singapore, checking everyone’s bag before allowing entry. Believe it or not, their pass to entry is a black round plastic token which I would have mistaken for a carom piece if my colleague did not tell me in the afternoon!


The MRT token: a carrom piece lookalike.

Suan Lum is a great place! I fell in love with the place the moment I arrived. The layout of the stalls here are similar to the Bugis Market in Singapore, where all of them are well arranged in rows. There are many stalls here that sell only art pieces, and there are quite a variety of genres ranging from traditional Thai to post modernist impressionist art. Phototaking is not allowed by the owners, or I would love to take pictures of the art pieces.


The ferris wheel at Suam Lum... I would have tried it if not for the huge crowd (consisting of mostly couples) queueing for it.

There are some minimalist shops with only about 5-6 art pieces hanging on the white-washed walls and a large bean bag for furniture. The shop owners will just lie on the bean bags, waiting for appreciative customers. They are what I would call real artists, and I can only envy their lifestyle.


A pavilion in Suan Lum looking majestic at night.

Apart from art pieces, there are many furniture stores, unique fashion stalls, and of course trinket stores. Too bad I am on business trip, or else I would have brought back a cargo box of the things here with me. If I were to buy a house in Singapore, I would definitely come here again to shop for decorative items for the house. Not allowing myself to leave here empty handed, I bought some tasteful T-shirts and decorative lamps, at good bargains of course!


The alfresco "food court" in Suan Lum. There are 2 large tv screens in the front and back of the large area, showing soccer games. The stage below one of the tvs had a live band playing Thai ballads.

I would have stayed here till the wee hours if not for work tomorrow and so I caught the last train back to Silom, back to the hotel at one in the morning.

So ends Valentines’ Day 2007 for me. Till next time, Bangkok. I will definitely be back again.


A large display in the Suvarnabhumi Airport depicting a scene from a Thai epic.

talked more trash @ 6:03:00 PM

*******