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Petronas Twin Towers top half

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Date: 1st October 2010

After two wonderful days in beautiful Langkawi, it was now time for the last leg of our journey. We reached Langkawi airport for our morning flight to Kuala Lumpur. After having our breakfast at Kenny Rogers Roasters (not a whole lot of options at the airport), we checked in and waited for our 11:45am flight.

Langkawi airport runwayLangkawi airport flying school hills

Langkawi airport Air Asia morning flight
Our flight was on time (Above photos taken on Nokia E72)

We all sat together but Ramesh chose the window seat. The following are his photographs.

Leaving Langkawi Malaysia by flight

Langkawi wave breaker from plane Malaysia
That’s a wavebreaker

Langkawi islands from Air Asia flightLeaving Langkawi for KL Air Asia flightAir Asia Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur cloudsKuala Lumpur Malaysia river from skyKuala Lumpur Malaysia river from planeKuala Lumpur outskirts Malaysia from planeKuala Lumpur palm forest from sky MalaysiaLanding in Kuala Lumpur budget terminalAir Asia landing runway LCCTKuala Lumpur airport budget LCCT terminal

We landed at Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Terminal nearing 1pm and was out in 30 minutes. There were plenty of buses from KL LCCT to KL Sentral, which is the main transportation hub in Kuala Lumpur city.

KL LCCT to KL Sentral bus Manchester United believe
We got a ManU fan for a driver
LCCT to KL Sentral Kuala Lumpur bus journey
The bus ride costs RM8 (Rs. 117/$2.7)
LCCT to KL Sentral Kuala Lumpur heavy rain
Soon after, it began to rain heavily
Kuala Lumpur city highway powerlines
But halfway through the journey, the rain stopped

Kuala Lumpur airport to city roadKuala Lumpur city airport highway

Kuala Lumpur city highway Petronas in distance
Malaysia’s landmark in the distance
Kuala Lumpur construction near KL Sentral
After nearly an hour, we arrived at KL Sentral

After reaching KL Sentral, we then hired a taxi to where were staying.

Kuala Lumpur city Proton taxi
It cost us RM35 from KL Sentral to Berjaya Times Square

Kuala Lumpur city apartmentKuala Lumpur city overbridge

Kuala Lumpur luxury building
(Above photos taken on Nokia E72)

After a 15 minute journey, we reached Berjaya Times Square. There is a metro service from KL Sentral to Berjaya Times Square, but with our luggage, we decided to just take a cab.

Kuala Lumpur Irsia bed and breakfast hostel
The tiny white building was where we would be staying: Irsia Bed & Breakfast

We chose Irsia after much deliberation and researching on the location. We made our booking for a triple room.

Irsia bed breakfast hostel triple room Kuala Lumpur
Which by the way, looks like this

After freshening up and making our payments, we headed to Berjaya Times Square for lunch.

Berjaya Times Square is relatively old but still remains one of Malaysia’s biggest and popular shopping destinations. It’s pretty huge, with 7 floors of shopping — high ends brands in the lower floors and more affordable stuff in the higher up floors. There’s also a 5-star hotel, Berjaya Hotel — among other things.

Kuala Lumpur Berjaya times square mall info lobby

Berjaya Times Square hotel escalator floors
(Photograph by Loiyumba)

We headed all the way up to the 10th floor to the food court. We chose our meals from a place selling ‘mock non-veg’ food.

Kuala Lumpur Berjaya Times Square soya food court
Pick and choose

By that I mean, stuff that looks like chicken and fish but are actually vegetarian because they are essentially soya-filled made to look like non-veg items.

Berjaya Times Square mock chicken fish

Kuala Lumpur city SJK Julimbi building
The view from up here

When I mentioned “among other things” earlier…

Berjaya Times Square indoor roller coaster
… there’s also an indoor theme park with a rollercoaster inside the building

Berjaya Times Square indoor roller coaster ride

Berjaya Times Square indoor theme park
I tried to the get the whole theme park section of the building in one frame
Berjaya Times Square mall Kuala Lumpur
We stepped out
Kuala Lumpur Times Square monorail line
And decided to check out the area we were in

We chose to stay at Irsia because it was close to a lot of places we wanted to go. One among them being Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur’s famous IT mall.

After crossing the road, it was a short walk to Low Yat

Kuala Lumpur Plaza Low Yat side entrance
This isn’t the main entrance
Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza five floors
6 floors of gadgets

I couldn’t get to spend much time in Singapore’s IT malls to pick up the things I wanted, so I consoled myself assuming I could get them at Low Yat.

Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza IT store cafeSadly, the selection of camera tripods weren’t very exhaustive and I couldn’t really find everything I wanted. Also, more importantly, the prices we found for some items were far more than what we saw in Singapore. There isn’t an incentive for tourists either via a tax refund scheme like Singapore has with its GST refund and Thailand has with its VAT refund scheme.

Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza stores
I checked out pretty much every floor

After lingering around for nearly 30 minutes, we left.

Kuala Lumpur Plaza Low Yat entranceKuala Lumpur street food hotel capitolWe were soon on Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur’s popular shopping district.

Kuala Lumpur Changkat Bukit Bintang streetA short walk from here is Jalan Alor, also nicknamed ‘Food Street’.

Kuala Lumpur Jalan Alor food street Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur Jalan Alor evening
Not buzzing just quite yet

Kuala Lumpur alley near Jalan Alor

Kuala Lumpur city CBD traffic
Quite a lot of malls in Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur Lot 10 mall junction

Kuala Lumpur monorail train
KL’s monorail service (Photograph by Loiyumba)
Kuala Lumpur monorail HSBC branch
We were walking towards Malaysia’s world famous landmark
Kuala Lumpur Hotel Istana Menara KL tower evening
It’s tall, but it isn’t KL Tower
Kuala Lumpur Petronas towers Monorail
That’s where we were headed — Petronas Twin Towers
Kuala Lumpur Menara KL Malaysia
I had plans to go to Menara KL too

Kuala Lumpur CBD road sign

Kuala Lumpur Menara Shangri La hotel Malaysia
Menara KL (or KL Tower) is in fact taller than Petronas towers, but that’s because it’s perched atop a hill
KL Petronas Tower Canon street ad
Even half of one tower is impressive to look at

Kuala Lumpur street to Petronas TowersPetronas Tower single tree shadow night

Kuala Lumpur Suria KLCC shopping mall
Suria KLCC is the shopping mall (KLCC is the convention centre I believe)
Public Bank AmBank headquarter building KL
Plenty of bank headquarters in and around Petronas Towers
Petronas Tower KL side angle
Stunning

We walked into Suria but there was a sign saying at certain sections of the mall, photography is prohibited. So we just kept our cameras in and walked through the mall and out the main entrance of Petronas Towers.

Petronas towers 1malaysia 1matlamat fullPetronas is the Malaysia’s national oil company — and one of Asia’s largest companies.  Petronas Towers is the company’s headquarters, thought I’m not sure if all 88 floors are Petronas’ offices.

Petronas Twin Towers bottom angle
But what an office to work in!
Petronas Towers building entrance lobby
The lobby is quite nice
Petronas Towers observation deck bridge at night
That’s the Skybridge observation deck. We planned to go check it out in the morning.

The reason why we we didn’t want to go up to the skybridge is because, one, we were already late as the skybridge closes at 5pm and two, there is a particular method to which you need to get the tickets to visit the observation deck — which I’ll get to in a later post.

Petronas Towers higher floorsPetronas Twin Towers top half

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Twin Towers Malaysia
I had to step back a bit to get the whole building in my wide angle

Petronas Twin Towers top floorsWe attempted a portrait shot of all three of us in front of the Petronas Towes, but because we didn’t have a tripod with us, Ramesh fit the tripod on his camera and used his Kata bag to stand the camera.

Petronas Towers glowing Mithun Loiyumba charity girl
Me donating some money to some Chinese school girl
Loiyumba Ramesh Mithun in front of Petronas Towers full
After a few attempts, we managed to get the shot

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers fountainsPetronas Towers entrance fountainsPetronas Towers KL angle shotPetronas Twin Towers glow treeThe Malaysian MotoGP was happening the following week, and they had some competing superbikes on display.

Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha bike Petronas MalaysiaFiat Yamaha superbike MotoGP display Petronas MalaysiaPublic Bank head office in front Petronas TowersKuala Lumpur BSN Bank headquarters Menara KLAfter nearly an hour just staring at this beautiful building, we finally left the base of Petronas Towers.

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers full shotThe Petronas Towers are a symbol of modern day Malaysia. Just like Burj-Al-Arab signifies Dubai, and now Burj Khalifa, the Petronas Towers are an architectural icon. Inaugurated in 1998, even to this day, the Petronas Towers design stands as ‘modern’ – and yet, truly Asian in its influence as it can be. No visit to Malaysia is complete without having seen what was once the tallest building(s) in the world.

Kuala Lumpur KLCC Suria parking entranceEven though Taipei 101 took over the throne of “Tallest building in the world” in 2004 (until Burj Khalifa did the same in 2010), the Petronas Towers are still one of the best looking skyscrapers in the world in my opinion. It shows how important good architecture is in creating a true global landmark. You can play the game of attempting to build the tallest structure in the world, but unless it looks good, the investment is futile.

If you disagree, just go around and ask people if they are aware of ‘Taipei 101’.

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers night sky cloudsKuala Lumpur Convention Center building MalaysiaKuala Lumpur Prince Hotel Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur city TANGS store
TANGS is a department store

We walked back and through some of the malls in Bukit Bintang district.

Kuala Lumpur Pavilion Mall street musicians
Musicians performing in front of Pavilion Mall
Pavilion Crystal Fountain, the Tallest Liuli Crystal Fountain in Malaysia
Pavilion Crystal Fountain, the Tallest Liuli Crystal Fountain in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur Uniqlo store Bukit Bintang
Japan’s UNIQLO is now in Kuala Lumpur’s Fahrenheit 88 mall
Ferrari F430 parked in front of Fahrenheit 88 mall Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
This Ferrari F430 was parked in front of Fahrenheit 88 mall

Ferrari F430 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Bukit Bintang street performers at night
There are a few street performers at Bukit Bintang
Bukit Bintang street dancers Kuala Lumpur at night
These guys were trying to perform street dancing but looked nervous when the crowd grew big
Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang monorail station
Bukit Bintang monorail station

From Bukit Bintang other KL landmarks

Bukit Bintang street KL at night
It was time for us to now figure out what to eat
Jalan Alor food street Chinese restaurant tourists
So we headed to Jalan Alor a.k.a ‘Food Street’
Jalan Alor food street Kuala Lumpur at night
Quite a change of scene from earlier isn’t it?

Jalan Alor food street KL Malaysia nightlifeJalan Alor food street beef street food

Jalan Alor food street water sprinklers
These restaurants even sprinkle water in the air to cool off its guests

Jalan Alor food street Vietnam food KL MalaysiaJalan Alor food street food courtJalan Alor food street Budget Inn Kuala LumpurJalan Alor food street Kuala LumpurWhile myself and Loiyumba found enough options for dinner, as was the norm on this trip, Ramesh didn’t. So I ordered what I wanted to eat, so that we could head to some place Ramesh could get his dinner.

Jalan Alor food street KL kitchen
I ordered some duck dish, forgot what it was called
Jalan Alor food street fried fish
Was tempted to order some seafood too
Jalan Alor food street Chinese restaurant
A lot of the restaurants on Jalan Alor are Chinese

Jalan Alor food street KL crowds at nightJalan Alor fresh fish seafood on iceIt maybe a bustling place by night, but if you feel like staying amidst all the food, here are some hotels on Jalan Alor:

Hotel Alor street restoran yan kuala lumpur

Jalan Alor food street Apple Inn hotel KL
Apple Inn (http://www.appleinn.com.my/)

Once I got my takeaway, we headed back to our rooms only to stop at the 24-hour Subway store on Bukit Bintang where Ramesh picked up his dinner. (There’s also a 24-hour KFC on the same road)

We also pick up a few drinks from a convenience store on the way and had our dinner outside our hotel, where Irsia had put up a few tables for its guests.

KL street food duck meat Anglia shandy
My dinner
Berjaya Times Square from behind at night
When I say we stayed right behind Berjaya Times Square, I’m not kidding

Dinner over, we hit the bed early. Our plans were to go see the famous Batu Caves tomorrow, which we knew were on the outskirts of KL… which meant getting up a bit early.

So what was our first impression of KL? Not so good, to be honest. In fact, after a whirlwind 3 days in Singapore during a buzzing F1 weekend, it’s understandable we were a bit disappointed with Kuala Lumpur. But the fact is, things are a lot cheaper in KL, so it’s no surprise Malaysia’s capital city isn’t as glamourous as glitzy Singapore. Unfair comparison I’d say.

Oh well, we still had two more days in the city to change our minds about the place.


Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

MBK Center, Bangkok

Thailand 2009: Day 9 – MBK, Siam Paragon… and ‘little Arabia’?

Date: Dec 22nd, 2009

Woke up at a reasonable time after sleeping properly for the first time since I arrived in Thailand a week ago.  I wondered what to do today. I still had sights to go see but looking at the battery power left in my camera made me realize I need to get my charger fixed or at least find a new one (my Canon 7D batter charger had gotten wet in Ao Nang) before I could click again.

So I decided to head back to MBK Center and visit the Canon showroom I picked up my camera from.

Bangkok grafitti BTS Skytrain Nana
This was taken from the Nana BTS station

I took the BTS, got off at the Siam stop and reached MBK by around 10am. Stores were just opening for business and the Canon store unfortunately wasn’t going to open until 11am. So I decided to explore all the levels of MBK Center to kill time.

MBK was once the biggest mall in Asia. Even though it has long lost that title, it still remains one of the most popular shopping centers in Thailand. Mostly because you get a good mix of branded stores and independent small ones selling stuff you probably find in less-posh street stores or at flea markets.

Like I mentioned in the last post, just because you find something in a small store or a flea market, doesn’t mean you got a good deal. Case in point, the 80 litre bag I picked up from Ao Nang. When I bought it for 1500 baht/Rs. 2000 (bargained down from 2000 baht), I thought I got a good deal. Until I saw it for 890 baht (Rs. 1,200) in one store on the ground floor at MBK 🙁

Oh well.

MBK center Bangkok
MBK Center (Taken on the Nokia E72)

MBK’s fourth floor was dominated by mobile phone stores. Be it handsets or accessories, there were plenty of them. Selling everything from the genuine to even the fake Nokias and Apples. You name the brand, they had it. You want customization options, there’s plenty to choose from. Worth checking out if you want to deck out your mobile.

As I entered the 4th floor though, I smelled something sweet in air and I followed the trail which led to this:

MBK breakfast pastry
Yum

I tried the pancake with coc0nut filling and had coffee. Funny thing is, the coffee cost more than the pastry!

Done with “breakfast,” I had some time to kill before the Canon store opened. So I went to the 5th floor which had the food court on one side and (mostly) clothes stores on the other. Like Chatuchak, you had stores selling all sorts of gear for more or less the same prices. I picked up some more t-shirts and then went around looking for good deals on PlayStation 3 games.

MBK video game store BangkokTrouble is, finding original games in Thailand is very, very difficult. Pirated discs pretty much rule the home entertainment market and very few stores stocked a good collection of original video games.

By 11am, the Canon store opened and I went to meet Kosin, the sales guy I mostly dealt with. He saw me and even remembered my name. I told him what happened to my battery charger and asked him if I could get it repaired.

Canon showroom Fotofile MBK
Inside the Canon showroom at MBK

I had Thai warranty on the camera and even though water damage isn’t covered, he still took me to the service center which was behind the showroom and gave it for service. They said they couldn’t promise anything because the Canon 7D was so new that they didn’t have the parts for everything just yet. But I still filled up the papers and was asked to come back in the evening.

Since there was a good chance I wouldn’t get the charger repaired, I wondered if I could get a new one. Kosin told me they hadn’t received stock of the new charger so I decided to head to Pantip Plaza and try there.

I took a taxi and made my way to Pantip, which is around 2 kms from MBK.

Bangkok schoolgirls
Saw more girls in uniforms than boys

I had written about Pantip in my Day 1 post but for the sake of a quick reminder, Pantip Plaza is pretty much the most popular IT destination in Bangkok (and also famous for being the largest grey market mall as well).

I went around asking every camera equipment store if they had the particular battery charger in stock but none did. So I ended up having to buy a third party battery charger for 600 baht (Rs. 830) — which is a lot cheaper than what the genuine Canon charger costs.

I went back to the room, put my battery for charging and prayed that the third party device wouldn’t blow up.

Since I had to wait a while before the battery had enough charge for use and that it was already noon, I realized I wouldn’t be able to do any of the sight-seeing I had planned for in Bangkok while the sun was still up. So I headed back to MBK.

I had lunch at the food court and decided to watch ‘Avatar‘ in 3D. My take on the film? Technically brilliant, visually stunning… but so damn cliched and predictable that it got boring and some what annoying after a while. Sorry James Cameron, I still like you but ‘Avatar‘ wasn’t really worth all the hype and years of anticipation. (And it totally doesn’t deserve all the critical praise and record-breaking financial return its getting!)

By the time the film was over, it was already past 5pm. I went back to the Canon service center to collect my charger and find out if they repaired it. Unfortunately, they couldn’t as they said they didn’t have the parts needed.

So I collected it and left MBK. I figured if there was no tourist attraction to see today, I rather just cross over to the other side and check out the place that now holds the crown for being the largest mall in Thailand.

MBK Center, Bangkok
MBK Center, Bangkok
Bangkok night traffic near MBK
Night traffic near MBK
BTS Skytrain Siam Discovery
Siam Discovery, one-third of Siam Center

Siam Center is now the biggest shopping complex in Bangkok, consisting of Siam Discovery, the Siam office tower and Siam Paragon, the newest and the most posh of the bunch. MBK and Siam Center are conveniently accessed by a large over bridge and a BTS station above that!

BTS Skytrain Siam ParagonBTS Skytrain Siam ParagonChristmas tree Siam ParagonSiam Center is your typical international standard mall. The usual big brands and using every major festival, like Christmas, to deck the place up all nice — even though Thailand is a Buddhist majority. Siam Center houses several well-known (and slightly more affordable) brands while Siam Paragon mostly caters to luxury goods.

Emporio Armani Siam Paragon
Inside Siam Paragon

So as expected, they was hardly anybody inside the shops.

I went down to the food court to catch some grub and was happy to see a Mos Burger outlet. Being a Japanophile, I’ve always wanted to try one.

Mos Burger Siam ParagonI got my takeaway and checked out the rest of the mall. Fairly standard international mall affair.

Except for this.

Maserati showroom at Siam Paragon
Maserati showroom at Siam Paragon
Lotus showroom Siam Paragon
Lotus showroom at Siam Paragon

This was the first time I saw a car showroom, and that too, luxury cars being sold on the second floor of a mall! There were a series of them. But the coolest of them was the Lamborghini showroom. Just two cars – an orange Gallardo and a white Murcielago SV (or it could have been the other way around, don’t exactly remember) – in an all black showroom. Sexy.

Sadly, photography was prohibited.

I headed home and on the way, stepped into a tour agency to inquire about how to get to the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and the Floating Market, which were the sights I wanted to see. In the map, the Grand Palace seemed far off and the tour agency told me the Floating Market is a two hour drive away from the city (or at least from Sukhumvit). I went back to the room and had to decide which I wanted to see because I could only do one the next day. The woman who runs Thai House Inn told me I can just take a taxi to the Grand Palace for around 100 baht and assured me that it wasn’t as far as I thought it was.

I had only the day to spare, so Grand Palace and Wat Pho it was. I really wanted to capture the Floating Market on video but I just couldn’t take the risk of being late for my flight back to Bangalore later that evening. Disappointed, I decided to walk one final night instead of hitting the bed just yet.

And I was glad I did. Turns out the area I was in was popular with Middle Easterners and North Africans. There were so many restaurants run by Egyptians, Lebanese and other Arabs serving Middle Eastern cuisine (a favourite of mine!) as well as some Indian.

Bangkok Arab Middle Eastern areaBangkok Arab Middle Eastern restaurantsThere were joints popular with Africans and enough shawarma joints to go around. It was kinda cool. Reminded me of walking through the bylanes of Manama growing up. I picked up a mutton shawarma (which was tad spicy) from a Nigerian-run joint and went back after picking up some chocolates to take back to Bangalore.


Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket

Day 6 – Leaving Phuket for Ao Nang by bus (via Phang Nga)

Day 7 – Touring Koh Phi Phi (Maya Bay, Monkey Island & Bamboo Island)

Day 7 (Part 2) – Exploring Railay, Krabi

Day 8 – Flying from Phuket to Bangkok

Day 8 (Part 2) – Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

Day 10 – Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

Day 10 – Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and finally leaving Thailand

Figures, lessons learned, and things I couldn’t do

Chatuchak weekend market girl

Thailand 2009: Day 8 (Part 2) – Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

Date: Dec 21st, 2009

As soon as I was done with lunch, I headed to the nearby BTS station (this stop was called Nana) and stood in line to get coins.  The fares range from 10 baht (Rs. 13) to 60 baht (Rs. 83) and it essentially works like so:

– get 5 and 10 baht coins from the manned counters

– each stop is number coded, so you first choose your destination by selecting the number on the machine

– put in the required number of coins

– your card is issued

You need the card to get past the gates and only then can you go up to the platform. Once there, you generally don’t have to wait long. I had to get down at the last stop heading north on the Sukhumvit line, Mo Chit, to get to Jatuchak park.

Bangkok BTS skytrain inside

Siam Paragon, Bangkok
Taken from inside the skytrain on the Nokia E72

It costs 60 baht but my god! The time you save! A ride which would have taken me an hour in Bangkok traffic took me just over 10 minutes. I can’t wait for Bangalore Metro to open! This service is such a time-saver.

Chatuchak Jatujak park Bangkok
Jatujak Park in Bangkok

Chatuchak (also called Jatujak or even JJ) Weekend Market is located near Jatujak Park.

Chatuchak Jatujak park Bangkok
Walk ahead and you enter the weekend market

Now, I’m not much of a shopaholic but while I was doing my research for my trip, JJ Weekend Market claimed to be the largest flea market in the world with thousands of stalls! I wasn’t going to count but it still intrigued me enough to go check it out.

I didn’t even know if there even was a “main entrance” so I just entered one of the lanes.

Chatuchak weekend market
She was promoting a product

Chatuchak weekend marketI immediately realized why JJ was popular. You get everything! From clothes, fashion accessories, home furnishings, cutlery, food, fake brands, stationary, cool crap… wholesale as well as retail.

Chatuchak weekend market
He was drawing quite a crowd

The guy in the pink shirt you see above was selling every bag inside his store (even the big ones) for 199 baht (Rs. 270). He kept calling every non-small eyed guy (including me) “Michael” and pointed towards his store in the hopes of luring us in. The tourists did find it funny hearing him go “M-O-I-kaal!” and I did step inside to see what the fuss was all about. There was a fairly large trendy looking Puma bag (good looking fake) I thought of picking up but I reminded myself that just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean I have to buy it. Especially if I’m really not going to use it. So I just walked away without buying it.

Which was a good thing because just down the road there was another store selling bags for 189 baht (Rs. 260) — but without any fuss [picture can be found below]. I realized what a clever marketing move it was that the 199 baht store was employing. Get people’s attention with a lot of noise and the notion that everything must go with 199 looking like the rock bottom price. Once people are in, take a hit on bags that may actually cost 250 selling for 199 baht but make up for lost profit by selling bags that may actually cost him 100 baht for 199 there by evening it out anyway. Clever.

Chatuchak weekend market singer

Chatuchak weekend market lampsChatuchak weekend market

Chatuchak weekend marketChatuchak weekend marketTip: Try and do all your shopping from Bangkok. I realized Bangkok is the hub and main distribution point for pretty much every other city in Thailand. Take for example the cool looking lanterns you see above. I saw the silver one first on the streets of Ao Nang — for around 1600 baht (Rs. 2,200). Obviously I didn’t buy it because I thought it was quite pricey. But here? Prices start from 300 baht (Rs. 410).

Chatuchak weekend market shoesJust because JJ calls itself a ‘flea market’ doesn’t mean you don’t get genuine products here. There are authorized dealers for original Converse shoes (very popular in Thailand) and several other brands. But the thing is, I’d still pick up a good looking fake for hundreds less. The imitation is just that good!

Chatuchak weekend market rockersAnother cool aspect of JJ I really liked was the sub-cultures that existed within the place. You had various sections dedicated to different fashion. A series of stores specializing in hip-hop fashion, gear for rockers, reggae, etc.  It was really cool.

Chatuchak weekend market girl
That’s no wig, that’s really her hair. She let me touch it.

I really want to profile the various sub-cultures at Chatuchak the next time I come here.

So did I shop much at all? I had already picked up a funky T-shirt (for 90 baht/Rs. 125) and I was looking for a Def Leppard t-shirt at all the stores selling rock gear. Some stores had genuine second-hands (the official merchandise but already worn) but those were selling for over 1000 baht (Rs. 1,300). Now, I love me some Def Leppard but I wasn’t going to spend that kind of money for a second hand t-shirt unless it was worn by Joe Elliot himself!

I had spent nearly 3 hours here and I could have checked out more stores but a lot of them began closing by 6pm itself.

Chatuchak weekend marketI decided to leave JJ and so… puppiiiiiesssss!

Chatuchak weekend market puppies
Awwww… yet so cruel

They even had puppies for sale! I felt sad seeing them being sold like this. But when I heard 3000 baht (Rs. 4,100) for some breeds, I was more “Hey, that’s not bad” than “Awww, poor thing”.

Chatuchak weekend market food
Those are quail eggs
Chatuchak weekend market bag
The store that was selling bags for 189 baht

There was a lot of stuff I could have bought from here, especially clothes and shoes. But I had already spent enough and my bag was full enough.

Also, don’t cave in and splurge at JJ thinking everything is cheap here. Some items you’ll get in air-conditioned malls such as MBK Center for more or less the same price. So do go around Bangkok a bit before you decide to spend.

Bangkok city night trafficBangkok city night trafficIt was past 8pm by the time I finally left JJ market. Yet another place I’m definitely coming back to.

I took the BTS back to my hotel room and called it an early night after dinner as I had woken up very early today.

Nana BTS station Bangkok skytrain


Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket

Day 6 – Leaving Phuket for Ao Nang by bus (via Phang Nga)

Day 7 – Touring Koh Phi Phi (Maya Bay, Monkey Island & Bamboo Island)

Day 7 (Part 2) – Exploring Railay, Krabi

Day 8 – Flying from Phuket to Bangkok

Day 9 – MBK, Siam Paragon… and ‘little Arabia’?

Day 10 – Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

Day 10 – Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and finally leaving Thailand

Figures, lessons learned, and things I couldn’t do

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