Shopping in Bangkok!
Dear Wilson,
Yesterday we went shopping. I know that sounds super boring but in Bangkok as an American, it's far from boring. If anything, it's overstimulation. The markets are full of weird smells and the food is for the most part pretty scary to imagine ingesting. That's what makes it so fun honestly. We went to an open market called Or Tor Kor. Basically it's seemingly endless private vendors in rows under a canopy. Like a grocery store and a farmers market had a baby to sum it up.
When we first arrived, we bought some Durian. (Stinky fruit is its nickname). The lady asked if I would like it sliced and I said sure. After she sliced it, she gave each of us a mini plastic fork and told us to try it. At this point I'm nervous. I have no water and we are being watched by locals as if they are curious if white people like this weird ass fruit. I took the Durian and walked away so she couldn't see us try it. That turned out to be the right move. I will explain it like this… Da fuq is that taste and why the fuck would anyone eat that. It's like a fermented pineapple taste with the texture of 50% pineapple, 30% pulled pork, and 20% I don't fucking know. Oh, it's bad… Like really bad. All of us almost threw up from just a nibble haha. So we proceeded to the closest trash can to throw away their delicacy.
We tried the anticipated Mangosteen fruit which was delicious. Might be my favorite fruit of all. Then we saw the biggest prawns I have ever seen. At least 10" long, no exaggeration. $6.50 each in USD so apparently they are quite the delicacy. I couldn't help myself so I bought 8 of them. I couldn't pass on the biggest shrimp in the world. I was too scared to buy chicken at an open market. Once I see flies, I'm no longer a potential buyer.
Next we went to a huge shopping mall that dwarfs any mall I have ever been in. It's called Siam Paragon. Probably about 5 times bigger than the mall of Louisiana at least. The crazy thing is, this mall is small compared to the other mall about 5 minutes away by taxi. Central World is #11 biggest mall in the world and bigger than the mall of America. Plus there are at least 2-3 more huge malls in the area. Pretty crazy that there is that much demand for malls but they are slammed with people. Every store you can imagine including a Bentley and Porsche dealership on the 3rd floor. Still not sure how the cars got up there.
Anyway, we didn't go for the malls. I was there for the Gourmet Market. Before we went to the market, I have a confession to make… We have been struggling to find food that we were willing to eat and today, we were wanting a break from the struggle… So… Well… We were in a nice mall and in nice malls, they may or may not have American comfort food. So fuck it, we got Subway and Taco Bell 🤣🤣🤣. My dad would want to take my "man card" if he saw me in a Taco Bell in Bangkok. Sorry Dad, idgaf. I wanted some Taco Bell!
Now that we had some real food, it's time for the Gourmet Market. It's probably the most upscale supermarket in Bangkok. (Operation: Find good chicken lol.) You know you're in a nice market when they have LIVE King crab. It's hard enough to find frozen, but live? Pretty amazing. 6000 Thai Baht per kilo. That's about $83 per pound. No I didn't buy it just so you know… However, I did find what I deemed as safe chicken breast. Bingo! We got the rest of our groceries, stopped and got the family a Boba tea (except me, Boba is gross) and headed back to the Airbnb. In Bangkok for us, even grocery shopping is a long and eventful process. Especially when you don't have a car. Everything is tram, taxi, or walk. Not as simple as hopping in the personal car. So that was a wrap for that day.