I didn't have fond memories of Suan Lum night bazaar, back when it was next to Lumpini Park, partly because the pricing was relatively high compared to my favourite Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Now that the night market had reopened, albeit at a different location, i guess it would be fair to check it out and determine if it were crappy as it used to be.
There were distinct changes and if you have looked at the first photograph carefully, you would have noticed a high rise building that appeared to be surrounded by the bazaar; it's a shopping, hotel mixed development complex!
More shall be mentioned later in the post and in the meantime, let's just enjoy the great outdoors for which we were fortunate to have caught a windy evening that made strolling an amazingly leisure affair.
Limited items at this vendor - my mom had worked in a coffee shop and she told me before that drinks are the main income generator with a profit margin of close to 400%!
Competitors abound though; unless i am craving specifically for soft drinks, as i am recently with a soft spot for A&W root beer, i would likely go for healthier drinks like ginger tea etc.
Food truck which i honestly hope would take root in Singapore! It's gaining popularity in the little red dot although their presence is limited to big, outdoor events. Having smaller trucks, like the above, and allowing them in parks etc might reduce the barriers to entry.
No idea why there's a brachiosaurus and it doesn't gel with the atmosphere. Maybe it was there as a promotional gimmick for the Dinosaur Planet theme park.
The massive structure did draw a lot of attention and i was wondering if i could probably scale up the ladder for a better position to take nicer photos of the bazaar.
Back to the outdoor bazaar - see this stretch? The bazaar covered only this stretch and for those expecting to be overwhelmed by thousands of stalls; not yet.
What to expect from the vendors along the street - frankly, i was getting bored and if not for the super good weather, i would have called it a day and have an earlier night at Park Plaza hotel.
Another dinosaur - the Triceratops which had a moving head! The obsession humans have with the Jurassic period and the advanced science nowadays could only infer a likelihood for Jurassic Park in a few more decades!
Hm........ my rebellious streak told me to buy a pair, wear it and then have the coach buses run over my feet to prove that they are really strong. The stingy soul in me rejected my proposal.
Do keep in mind that the street wasn't closed to motor vehicles and coach buses continue to enter to drop off tourists at the hotel's entrance (denoted by the positions of the air-blown god of fortune dolls).
Reborn steak kind of translates into re-cook steak; i might be wrong and for only 129 bath for a slab, i shouldn't be complaining!
This black and white cupboard on the left would so fit into the decor of my house! Actually another objective for this Bangkok trip was to source for decorative items for the house but my intention wasn't bulky furniture.
Thirsty and got interested in the longan bottled drinks with flavours like chrysanthemum, pandan, red dates and beetroot. According to the owner, the longans were sourced from a local farm.
At 40 baht each and three for 100 baht, Alex insisted on buying! I opted for red date which tasted disgustingly sweet; Alex's chrysanthemum was much better.
More on the stalls.
I suspect Alex has a sock fetish - he couldn't resist socks and would insist on checking socks on sale. These ankle socks were honestly quite cute and he bought about eight pairs even though he has a few dozens in my house!
These tees appealed to me more! The designs with baby superheroes were really adorable and i did regret not buying a few pieces since each was less than S$10.
Lantern festival? I couldn't quite pinpoint a theme for the night bazaar and guess the mish mash decorations were there simply to draw attention and possibly as photo points for visitors to upload to their social media. Such publicity is crucial in the age of social media.
A row of food trucks on artificial turf!
Nearing the end of the bazaar - i was almost motivated to cut my hair in the old style since i am seldom that adventurous. Pity Alex didn't dare to agree to my stake for taking up the dare. For those who have yet to know me well, i can bet on almost anything so long the stakes are high enough.
The end; at least for the outdoor bazaar. We attempted to take the lift to the shopping mall but it brought us up to the car park instead. It was baffling as we did notice that renovation was still ongoing and i did read somewhere that the complex wasn't 100% complete.
A U-turn would be needed then.
Instead of the dangerous road, we took to the side of the building just in case there were interested shops to be found. Aside from a smattering of restaurants, pharmacy, small stalls, the takeup rate for some shops seemed to be slow.
Managed to gain entry to the shopping complex via the world's most famous fast food restaurant; MacDonald's!
Bloody Alex wanted MacDonald's for dinner and got his wish! I didn't say too much as his purchase would allow me access to the fast food restaurant's WiFi! And i wasn't hungry anyway.
Had a few fries and read the above notice while washing my hands. This same notice should be copied and pasted at places like Starbucks in Singapore! To think that i used to hog seats at Burger King for my studies when i was still a student.
Another commercial entity that i need to prevent Alex from seeing aside from socks vendors; the fish spas! Again, it has to do with feet and this compounded my suspicions further.
As the fish spa was along the route to check out the interior of the shopping complex, Alex would of course notice it and do his best to persuade me to join him in getting my legs tickled by hundreds of sucking fishes.
Price - 150 baht for 15 minutes.
Now to check out the rest of the shopping complex in comfort; clean feet (thanks for the fishes) and in an air-conditioned environment well loved by many, if not all Singaporeans.
There were a lot more things suitable for my house in the complex even though pricing wise, i thought they were almost comparable to Singapore. Knowing i didn't have the luxury of space, i had to be extremely selective in what i buy.
These fruit cushions were bright and cheery and i am unsure if they would be suitable for the black white concept at home. Coincidentally, i saw them at a restaurant near Haji Lane earlier this morning!
Wall decors that would help to brighten up my plain, white walls. The bar stool was quite nice too but i had already ordered one from Taobao.com which turned out to be quite wobbly; definitely not something i want to use to reach for the higher shelves in my kitchen.
Decision, decision, decision - hard to make one when you are spoiled for choice. There were so many to choose from; vintage, modern, chalkboard one, wordy one etc.
The bar soccer game could be found in Singapore; metro if i remember correctly. Anyway, my purpose of this photo was to show acrylic (i think) wall portraits with meaningful quotes; almost got a huge one of Batman with the statement, i am not insane. Pity the price was too hard to swallow for a miserly soul.
Do you know that we have a terrible time selecting stackable chairs in Singapore as we wanted something more inline with our theme. Eventually we got something simple although these were the kind i would love to sit on.
I abhor dust and even if i like such figurines (like the cat above), i know for sure i would get frustrated with the continuous collection of dust. The solution? Glass cabinets that i am still considering; built in or buy ready-made?
More furniture!
Oh, i had yet to show you the layout - as you can see, the concept was almost Chatuchak style with stalls facing each other with a narrow strip for customers. In an open concept, i think it's fine although in a building, i am a bit more apprehensive with concern on evacuation in event of emergency.
Shops within the air-conditioned section of Suan Lum night bazaar.
I think it's dangerous to bring along a bag with the tagline cash; isn't that a blatant and direct invitation for criminals?!
Uppercut underwear at 250 baht each; if you buy three, it would be considered as wholesale and each would be priced at 175 baht. Alex loved the pattern and quality and bought three without any hesitation.
I judged night markets by the number of purchases i made and i got three tee shirts from this shop! They were a bit tight fitting and i do need to get in shape if i ever want to wear them!
Segregated by zones which were floors to me, shutters were pulled down when we ventured a bit further into Zone B. Honestly, the navigation at Suan Lum (indoors) was bad and i wondered if it would turn out well. Seems that i would have to return for a visit in due course.
A resting chair for tired shoppers. For someone who manages facilities, i can tell you that fabric chairs can be a real pain; you just need a careless person to spill a bottle of coke and the fabric would be up for a costly replacement! Plastic is still the best!
Expensive marble flooring with classy crystal chandeliers, coupled with noisy kids on moving animal rides; an out of place scenario that most hoteliers would frown upon.
Food bazaar - a handful of restaurants and a supermarket that was still in the midst of stocking up when we visited in late April 2016.
A glass aquarium on the ground floor; with murky green water, it's an eyesore in my opinion.
As you could probably see from my photos so far, the feeling i gathered was that the bazaar had no strong focus / theme with decor that appeared to be out of place; factors that would likely disadvantage it in the long run.
The outdoor section can be excused as the lanterns, the dinosaurs might be a temporary measure to draw in the crowds and you can't deny that kids would likely enjoy the good old carousel and maybe the dinosaurs too. To be fair, i visited two times and both were on weekdays when the crowd was expected to be thin.
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How To Get There
-Take MRT to Lat Phrao MRT Station
-Walk to Exit 1
-Turn Right Upon Exit
Opening Hours
From 4pm to Midnight
For the itinerary of my relaxing six days, five nights visit to the City of Angels, please click here.