This morning we headed straight out the door… without even stopping for breakfast! Our destination, the JJ Mall and JJ Weekend Market (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.J_Mall). According to the guidebooks, the mall opens at 8:30 AM and our tuk-tuk driver told us 9:30 AM; we arrived just after 9:30 AM to find out it was mostly “9:30-ish”. Most of the shops and restaurants were still either shuttered or just setting up for the day but a few were open; just the excuse we needed to go find breakfast. By about 10 AM, most everything was open for business. So, we spent the next while just wandering through the almost intimidating number of shops and services. After we had enough of mall-wandering, we headed outside and across the street to the JJ Weekend Market. This thing is HUGE! It’s listed as covering about 26 acres. There was no way to see it all in the time we had. So, we ended up doing our wandering over about half of it. It truly is, “the world is for sale” here. They had everything from household gadgets, to fine art, to furniture, to clothing, and just about the largest live pet and pet accessories/supplies market we have ever been to. Available for sale was just about every small animal you could envision as a pet – from the usual cute puppies and kittens, to exotic freshwater and reef fish, and even baby squirrels and primates. Now before the more ignorant people start sending “flames” in the comments section; we didn’t buy any exotic animals nor do we condone their sale (or methods of capture), we are merely reporting on the fact that they were for sale in the market.

The JJ Weekend Market.

One of the first displays we see.

Some of the market is permanent structures, some not so.

When we walked across the street from the mall, we had noticed that the air was “thick” (well, thicker than usual) and clouds had rolled in. Now, the skies just burst forth in that type of downpour that can only be achieved in the tropics. There were several inches of water on the streets in mere minutes.

Shortly after arriving, the skies opened up.

This was not a negative thing. In fact, the lightening storm brought with it a feeling of “freshness”, a cooling breeze, and shower-temperature rains. So, our explorations of the market, although slightly soggier, were made much more pleasant.

After about 2 1/2 hours, we were “marketed-out”. So, off we went. However, the rains brought out some unusual critters along the way…

Pretty big snail, eh?

So big, we actually spotted it from the tuk-tuk.

“Mario Sawandretti”, our tuk-tuk driver, must’ve thought we needed to go to our second stop at near light-speed.

The centre-line is merely a suggestion.

Next on the agenda (yep, we actually had a plan for today), was the Jim Thompson House Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thompson_House). This museum is dedicated to the memory of Jim Thompson and the role he played in the revitalization of the Thai Silk industry. He was an architect by profession but had been posted into Thailand during the later part of WW II by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner to the CIA. He fell prey to the exotic charms of Thailand and he made it his post-war home. He made his fortune by rediscovering the by-then nearly extinct native Thai Silk industry; by the end of the war, it had been reduced to a tiny cottage-industry only practised in the rural villages. It was through his efforts, diligence, and contacts in America that the world again “discovered” Thai Silk… it also helped that the Hollywood Blockbuster, ‘The King and I” featured these very silks. Mr. Thompson went missing (now long-presumed deceased) under mysterious and never-resolved circumstances; this museum complex (his former home) is an indication of the level of esteem the Thai people have continued to hold for him.

Jim Thompson House Museum

One of the many water features scattered about.

Main path to house complex.

Koi Pond in front of the restaurant.

Lush garden behind house.

Looking into bottom floor of the house.

Looking into interior hallway of the house.

Pond hidden in garden.

Elaborately carved wooden panel.

Celestial Dog statue.

Note: the museum does not allow photography inside the buildings.

Another warp-speed flight on (over?) the streets of Bangkok and we’re in Chinatown.

We found Bangkok’s Chinatown.

Chinatown street in the rain.

Everyone walks on the road; they have to, the sidewalks are too full of “stuff”.

By this time our automated “gastro-chronometers” were going off so we went in search of lunch. We were in Chinatown, so having a Dim Sum Bakery literally pop up in front of us must’ve been a sign. Inside, the ambiance was definitely “Hong Kongesque” and brought out a very deja vue-like feeling of being back home in Richmond for us. The staff even spoke a Cantonese dialect and understood us perfectly when we ordered Ha Gow and Shu Mai (two varieties of Cantonese-style steamed dumplings). Biased as we admittedly are, we definitely felt better dim sum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_sum) was to be had in the Metro Vancouver area. It wasn’t even bad here, just not nearly as good.

Dim Sum Bakery where we had lunch.

Our tummies now full, we ventured back out into the fray.

It’s a walking market here EVERY day.

Chestnut roasting machine.

Street-foods galore.

Avian-flu? What avian-flu?

Sidewalks are just jam-packed with merchandise.

The street traffic is non-stop.

Anything and everything can be found for sale.

Brass tea dispenser at a tea shop.

More “stuff” for sale.

Eron checking out some jade.

Strings of just about every type of stone.

Striking a deal for some cut stones; the duelling calculators.

We hit the food-part of the market.

Tea, tea, and more tea.

This place has been in business selling “Pepper and Spice” since 1954. So, naturally we needed to go in…

Pepper and Spice Since 1954.

Open bags of spicy-stuff.

Just a “little” bit of Saffron.

More spicy-stuff I can’t identify.

Spelled phonetically?

Ringing up our haul of spices.

The cash register; coins on top and the paper money in the bucket.

The three sisters are firmly in charge of the operation.

All stocked-up on spices.

This meant we had to go in search of another carry-on bag for the spices… we dove ever deeper into the twisted warren of streets and alleys…

Further down the rabbit-hole.

We wandered, ambled, and stumbled around for so long I’m pretty sure we passed by a rater large, weird looking rabbit wearing a top-hat and holding at a pocket-watch. By the time we were finally spit out onto a main street and were able to see the sky again, I was damned sure we had walked long enough to come out somewhere in Yunnan Province (China). Sweaty, bedraggled, and loaded down with spices; we flagged down a passing tuk-tuk and headed back to the merciful embrace of our air conditioned room.

After a shower and some intensive siesta-rescusitation, we went out for dinner. Fortunately, dinner was only across the bridge and a short walk down the far bank of the canal to the, “Canal View Restaurant” (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293916-d3843816-Reviews-Canal_View_Restuarant-Bangkok.html).

Night-view of the canal.

The food, although largely unremarkable, was decent and obviously palatable to the large number of ex-pat locals seated at the tables. The most remarkable thing about our experience happened when tried to order beer with ice in glasses. We were told at first, “No beer tonight in glass.” Which was clarified to mean they couldn’t sell beer in glasses this evening. Why? “Because there is election tomorrow and police check.” Apparently, there is a Thai law forbidding alcohol sales on the eve of elections and because of it’s Farang-clientele, this establishment in particular is targeted for police checks and “fines”. We were disappointed and said, “No beer then?” The owner then says, “No beer in glass, you can have coffee.” That’s when it dawned on us about just how many of the patrons were all drinking coffee out of tall paper cups at 10 PM. So, we ordered our (nudge, nudge, *wink*, *wink*) coffees and all was well.

Our coffee glasses for the evening.

Then it was an after-dinner cigar and back to the hotel for a quick shower and into bed.

Night-view of the Korbua House Cafe.