Bangkok Shopping Spree

In a moment of haste, Dan purchases a baggie of grilled chicken

It usually takes an effort to get Dan to go shopping. For this instance, "shopping" is not defined as driving to Walmart for a set of microwave-safe Tupperware. Rather, we are referring to the type of "shopping" that is a glamorous swagger through a big city. Shopping as a walking meditation. Shopping as a prolonged fantasy of the "new yous" that might emerge inside a new pair of stiletto heels, a Gucci handbag or some green suspenders; a purposeful pressing of fashion items onto one's torso, performing quarter-turns in front of large, slimming mirrors. A sensory spectacle of textured clothes, fiery tastes, healing tinctures and overbearing perfumes. Bangkok must have done something very special to Dan because we shopped for four days straight.



Chatuchak Market
The largest market in the world; its basically a hyperbolic flea market; 15,000 stalls spread out over 35 acres. It is only open weekends, and sees approximately a quarter million shoppers each day. Passersby whisper mantras like "you can get anything at Chatuchak." After two now-blurry days wading through a universe of cheap, mostly useless objects, we imagine this statement to be true. For a few Baht you can buy an endangered flying squirrel, used Converse All-Stars, self-heating body balm, a newborn puppy, a life-size golden Buddha and a leather belt buckle with your name in capital letters. We drank Thai iced tea, sympathized with the animals, slipped on some fancy leather sandals and ultimately bought two belts and some baggy fisherman pants.

MBK Mall
Five, six, twelve floors, who knows. MBK is the mega mall of knockoff crapola. Every imaginable brand of designer handbags, watches, jeans... its exhausting just thinking about how many items there must be in this place, most of them trying desperately to be something they're not. Our mission was to find some handbags for "personal use" (OK, our mothers). Every store had bags with different quality leather or vinyl exteriors, different textured cloth or suede interiors, seemingly arbitrary prices and unique sneaky tactics of hiding the counterfeit designer logos from roaming police. To make a decision of this magnitude, we took photos, did Internet research, rested, exercised, prayed, slept on it, returned in two days, bargained, smiled and ultimately traded Bhat for leather.

Cheap Suits
Cheap tailors everywhere; tiny stores fronted by pairs of abused mannequins in business wear. Sidewalk-signs offer cheap deals on custom suits. We got a tip-off on an Indian tailor with comparatively high prices and renowned quality. Dan spread his limbs and let Zerutti measure his parts. For three fittings over four days, the tailor, Nick, and his staff (a guy named Zed), continued to offer us cans of Beer Chang and fluff us with dramatic complements about how handsome and fashionable Dan looked. The suit looks good. Real good.

Siam Square
A maze of boutique shops teeming with fashion-hungry Thais. Located between MBK Mall and Siam Paragon (the uber-chic designer mall with the real-name brands like D&G, Gucci and Balenciaga; the overstaffed, air conditioned stores cater almost exclusively to window shoppers). In a swanky boutique called Poem, Kim truly felt like a woman for the first time when she tried on a hot vintage-inspired suit with sexy high heels. She strutted from the dressing room with a firm, confident: "I'll take it." Dan's heart fluttered wildly in his chest.

With the seams of our suitcases buckling outward from the pressure of our new purchases, we sped back to the airport, waved an emotional goodbye to Thailand and flew to Hong Kong for our five remaining days in Asia... see you there!

Love,
Dan&Kim

Best mortgage savings account posted on 2008-08-25 at 11:19 am

Cool blog Thanks, webmaster.

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Auntie Wendy posted on 2008-05-07 at 6:16 pm

How can you spend 5 days in Hong Kong when your are already back here in Phoenix? WOW! The last bit of your tour has certainly been a whirlwind. Isn\'t it amazing that after several months you discover that there is just not enough time to get in everything that you want to do?! Can\'t wait to catch up with the two of you and hear more stories of your fabulous adventure. Welcome Home!!!!

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Adam Graves posted on 2008-05-01 at 8:11 pm

hey man, keep up the good work & the good vibes. At this very moment you are still up "on stage" at the ADIM. I think it is pretty incredible that you're 28-29 (who's counting) & you have done something that so few people have ever even dreamt about doing. & the fact that you are still living your dream every single day, that's truly something to be proud about. Best of luck in life man, & thanks for sharing this with all of us. It's cool to see that your way of living is all about how you want to live it, props on that. & best of luck to you and Kim. Life is short, but its all about living in the moment, and you two definitely understand that. -Adam G (the new guy)

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Lacy Wurster posted on 2008-04-24 at 12:46 am

Aloha Kim!!! Your trip looks like so much fun!! Hope you are enjoying every minute. I am still living on Maui. Just wanting to send a warm aloha your way. Lacy

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Kev & Katy posted on 2008-04-09 at 8:35 am

Hello guys, how are you both ? Absolutely brilliant blog and video, please keep them coming. Dan, that is a proper piece of video editing - makes me feel ashamed of our blog now :-) Shopping in Bangkok - I miss it. Wear my Oakeys (aka Oakleys) in the car and Katy is well proud of her Couch (aka Coach) handbag. We're glad to see you haven't replaced your trademark hat Dan. Life for us now, inevitably, is more based around work. But thankfully we're holding our heads up and looking at our year away as an amazing experience. I don't think work will ever be the same again - no-one can take this glint out of our eyes. Katy is back at the bank, but was succesful with her teacher training application so is due to commence upper primary (7-11 year olds) training in September. She will start in a school Sep 09. All going well for me, currently on an Administration (similar to US Chapter 11) of the UK's largest umbrella frame manufacturer. I know, isn't it exciting. Its crazy how a UK umbrella manufacturer can be struggling in the UK with the amount of rain we get. Anyway, the phone rings - another creditor moaning probably - better go. Take care, keep enjoying travelling Hopefully see you one day soon. Kev and Katy ps. long live the Siem Reap bar where we played pool

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Mom posted on 2008-03-28 at 1:58 am

Those bags look really cool! Can't wait. See you in Hong Kong. With love hugs and kisses. oxoxoxoxox

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