thailand: bangkok is sensory overload
we arrived and were picked up by our dear friends karina and narit. they serve as bethelites in thailand. the thai bethel is small and from the front gate looks like someone's personal home, but it spreads out behind and is soo pretty. their little garden is, for lack of a more manly word, adorable.
likewise their caleb and sofia display which has them dressed up in traditional thai dress. actually the entire bethel display is exceptional. interesting, informative, well thought out displays. with extra points for having an actual motor scooter in their historical display!
we attended the convention for a day, but sadly we couldn't understand thai, so the next day we hit the streets. karina had promised that thailand was a shoppers paradise, and so it turned out to be. since it was the weekend, we went to chatuchak, the largest open air market in the world. i am not sure if that last fact is true, but it definitely is a ginormous market. we went back a couple of times and each time it was like going into a totally different place, just because we took a wrong turning somewhere.
forgot to mention: its right next to chatuchak park - a beautiful little park to provide a nice contrast to the madness that it is chatuchak market.
generally speaking, the market is divided into 27 sections, although they are more like guidelines since you can find everything everywhere! including creepy mannequins.
no seriously, when i say you can find anything....furniture, animals (apparently including illegal ones, though i didnt see this), antiques, clothes, furniture...if you can imagine it, chatuchak has it. there are 8,000 (!!) stalls in the 27 acre (!!!) market. as you can see mama sandi was serious about her shopping and had a list.
thai people are extremely friendly, kind and polite. there was only one slight problem - they dont speak english! but with lots of sign language and calculator bargaining, we were able to make the purchases we wanted.
actually thailand has shopping for everyone. this is moving towards the more upscale shopping area. one luxury mall had 'supercars - floor 4'. i thought they were kidding, but sure enough, when i got to the fourth floor....
also, this...
...and a whole bunch more - just that not tooo much space left here. anyway, as sandi and her mom were shopping for girly things, this kept me entertained for a while. then i went walkabout and discovered this incredible building.
its right in the middle of all the shopping malls, and all the more refreshing for it. the bangkok art and culture center, before we even talk about the contents, is a stunning piece of architecture. you walk up the spiral walkway round the inside of the building stopping occasionally to look down at the concentric geometric patterns.
its hard to describe, and the pictures don't even do it justice. you will just have to go there yourselves. to give you an idea of the scale, see the person's head as he walks up in the picture below?
the place itself has a series of arty shops, galleries, coffee shops, sometimes with the actual artists working in their shops. it is not just touristy tat, either, there is some exceptional artwork in there. then at the top are 2 large galleries. one was devoted to pratuang emjaroen a thai artist who had a huge body of work shown over time. it was a bit like van gogh - his style changed hugely over the years, starting dark and scary and ending up happy and sci-fi-y (yes daleann, i just made that word up). you can see one of his happier ones here and also get an idea of how huge his paintings were.
ironically, after writing that paragraph, i just did a bit of research on him, and he started painting after watching a movie in 1956 movie named lust for life, that was a biography of van gogh.
the 2nd gallery, had an absolutely intriguing display of photos. so interesting in fact, that i had to come back with sandi. and that is why that will be the subject of another blog post in the future....
i leave you with one last shot of the excellent bangkok art and culture center:
