World's Biggest Flea Market

After cleaning our living space, we went out for an amazing breakfast at one of the street restaurants. For 3 people to eat, the meal cost less than $5. We each had a plate of rice and then were served pork made is soya sauce, eggs with pork (sort of like an omelet) and pork with vegetables. Yes there is a lot of pork in there, and we did not realize we ordered all of it until it arrived. Next time we need to plan that better.

Misty and I headed to the Jatujak Weekend Market for the afternoon. This place is known as the world’s biggest flea market, and it did not disappoint. From the sky train, the market looked like the size of Wolfville, Nova Scotia! We shopped the whole day and I do not even think we saw 1/10th of the place. Thankfully today the weather was a lot cooler than it has been for the past few days, and it was somewhat bearable. This market sells everything from food, clothing to pets and decorative household items. I bought a beautiful dress and some gifts for people at home. Price wise, it was not that expensive, but they would not bargain down a lot with you.

We do not have any real plans for tonight. We are going to have supper with the boys and then probably just hang around here. Tomorrow is a holiday for people in Thailand. It has something to do with religion, but my students were not able to explain it in English.

Since I do not have too much exciting news, I will try and answer some of the questions you have been sending me via email.

The Canadian Dollar vs. Thai Baht

The Baht has been closing at a much higher value lately, which is great for Thailand, but it means that our dollar is worth less. The past couple of days have shown a rate of 30 baht for every $1.

Clothing

As you can see from my post, I have bought a few things here. However, shopping in Thailand is much different than shopping at home. If you venture into the high-so shopping complexes, you can expect to spend the same as you would at home for brand names such as Prada, Calvin Klein, DKNY, etc. To me, I say this is more window shopping, as these brands are not in my budget. Also, it seems funny to spend hundreds of Canadian Dollars on something, when you can buy the knock off of the same thing for a few dollars down the road.

At the markets you can expect to pay around 200-300 baht for a shirt. You can also bargain at the markets, something I would not dare to do at the mall. There is also a shopping mall geared towards teenagers, called MBK which has some pretty good deals. The downside to the markets is there is only one thing of everything, so if it is not your size, you are out of luck. Also, some places will not let you try anything on, so you buy it without ever knowing what it looks like on you. Other places will let you try it on, but this often means putting it overtop of your clothes or stripping down right there. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to wear a tank top under your shirt so you can always try it over a tank.

Most things in the market are one size fits all. However, it seems to fit all Asian bodies, and not ours. Shirts have an elastic in the back so they adjust to body sizes. Most of the clothes are made for petite bodies, so we do not even bother looking at pants.

Shoes generally run all the way up to a size 8. Sizes are in European, so you should know your conversions. If you have bigger feet, your only real hope is to go to a shop in the mall.