Thailand - Day 2

Floating Market & Siam Paragon

Simple omelet rice.

We hired a taxi in the morning to take us to the Floating Market, the Palace, then drop us at MBK. But before that, breakfast was an omelet with rice. It was simple, but amazingly delicious (for those staying at First House, it's right opposite the hotel, a couple mans the stall).


We did a little bit of shopping before the taxi arrived, and we had a really long drive to the location, and the poor taxi driver got stopped twice by police for not being in uniform.


When we got there, we were presented with three different "packages": one for the basic round around the Floating Market, one inclusive of stops at a temple and a coconut honey factory, and the last one inclusive of the aforementioned stops, plus elephant rides. Each package is more expensive than the other.

Sister and I at the front part of the boat taking us through the Floating Market.

We got the 2nd one (inclusive of the two stops) for the price of the 1st one (just the trip through the Floating Market). The first thing that struck me was the sidewalks connecting all the little houses that lined the waterway - if you're a Mapler who has visited the Thailand world, you'll understand why the map paths were designed in that sloping way (and made it hard as sh!t to hunt).

Every unit is almost the same - clothes, trinkets, hand-carved items, sometimes food, and occasionally a hand-carved phallus in various sizes. =P

I guess there wasn't much to shout about at the Floating Market, except for seeing how tourists boats, as well as the market boats maneuver around each other without heavy collision. The temple was a normal one, and the coconut honey factory was just a souvenir store with a stove and fireplace at the back.

Bees - both dead and alive.

Not sure how the did it, but they were boiling what I assume is the coconut water in woks with a rattan basket in it, and the entire set up was swarming with honey bees. The product is sold at a corner of the store, which is a sweet coconut nectar. No, you can't buy them back in packages, like we thought we could.


To enter the palace, you have to be wearing a skirt, and since we didn't actually know what our itinerary until we left the hotel, we just had a drive around the palace, then stopped at MBK.


MBK Center is a mall which is adjoined to the railway station, and houses Tokyu, a Japanese department store. We had some light lunch there, before doing a little window shopping, and heading to Siam Paragon, which I think is the equivalent of Pavilion in KL, except it felt more like Takashimaya Ngee An City.

Attempt at an artsy, somewhat hipster photo.

Bitter melon salad.

Squid ink pasta with crayfish.

Chicken with REAL mashed potatoes.

Dinner was Western, at Coffee Beans by Dao, not to be confused with CBTL. We shared a bitter melon salad, and my sister and I shared a squid ink pasta with crayfish in a creamy sauce, and a breaded chicken filet with cheese and mashed potatoes. All washed down with a glass of green tea milk blended.