Shopping in Bangkok

Bangkok is a shopper's heaven if you know where to go. I still remember some good retail and wholesale outlets since I lived in Bangkok over 30 years ago. Of course there are new shopping malls popping up every time I go back. The area I know well is Sampeng Lane in China Town. Every time I visit Bangkok I go there. I don't really know how to get there, but every taxi knows where to take you. It was comforting because when you are ready to leave you can jump on a taxi and get out of there. Because DDIL was with me on this trip I thought I would let her experience Sampeng Lane with me. Sampeng Lane market is very large. I found some YouTube videos here and here in case you are interested to see the place. Sampeng Lane is as interesting now as it was 30 years earlier. You can stroll along looking at everything and anything; there is no pressure for you to buy. You would feel the heat at this time of year, but you can make stops at well air-conditioned shops along the way. You can also get refreshment from the many vendors pushing their carts along every few minutes. Please come along to a mini tour of Sampeng Lane in Bangkok with me...

There are drawbacks to shopping in Bangkok, especially in Sampeng Lane. There is so much choice that it is difficult to pick something to buy. You tend to postpone making decisions so that you can  think about it before you buy, but the trouble is, later when you decide, you can never find what you saw before! It happened to us many times. You can see in the above photo of handbags that the choice is amazing. And no, we did not buy one!

You see what I mean about too many choices! I love these string of beads. I only want just one string, but which one do I choose? I came away with half a dozen of them, I think!

I think these are amazonite stone. They come in all shapes and sizes. I thought these were interesting but they must he heavy to wear around your neck!!! I really wanted to bring one home, but I would have had a problem with the weight. 

These hand held mini sewing machines actually work. I thought afterward that it would work well with small pieces on the go. Sadly I didn't get one because I'm trying to downsize not to collect more...!

The lady showed us how this little machine works. You can also use it as a bobbin winder. I should have got one now, dang!!! 

One fifth of Thai community are Chinese from mainland China. They moved south during the famine years. My Grandfather was also from China so I'm quarter Chinese. What would my children be then? Too complicated! Why did I talk about Chinese? Oh, I just wanted to say that the Chinese also brought in the tradition of tea drinking to Thailand. Thais generally drink coffee, the traditional antique-style coffee. I will tell you about that later. Above are the many wonderful tea cups and also tea pots you can get at Sampeng Lane market. I did bring the selection of these home with me.

Out of all those wonderful choices here is my little pile of purchases. Though I did get them in multiple items. They are great for gifts. Inside the woven tote bag is 3 meters of indigo dyed fabric from North-eastern Thailand. Those little strawberry shaped felted purses and some with folk designs on them are so adorable. The blue cords made from recycled paper and the roll of antique trim with cross stitched design is a treasure and some leather broaches. The woven tote bag gives me fond memories every time I use it. I got it from an elderly lady sitting at the bottom of the steps at a Skytrain station. She had many of them for sale, but I chose this one with red stripes on it. I'm glad I got it when I did because on our way back she was no longer there! 

DDIL and her treasured leather hand bag. We walked far and wide in search of the bag she was looking for. Once we found them, there was so many to choose from. After many "yes no, yes no" later she found the one she liked. The brown woven leather handbag to die for...

I spent too much time in Bangkok among the glitzy and glamourous. I bought myself a new iPhone case cover with Swarovsky diamond studs. It's unlike me to carry a phone full of diamonds, but I thought it is now or never!!!

Here are more like it. I also bought some plain covers. Couldn't decide which one I like better so I bought all five of them! At the moment I'm using the Maneki-neko (lucky cat) cover and I am just thrilled with it.  

We were hot and tired by 1:00pm. It was time to get out of there. When we arrived at the end of one section of the market we stopped for a drink and we were ready to go back to our hotel. We tried to hail down some taxis, but none of them would take us where we wanted to go because the traffic was so heavy. Mid afternoon is also the time when taxis change shifts. After half a dozen or so one stopped and he must have felt sorry for us sweating away in the heat. He offered to take us to the nearest Skytrain so we could return to our hotel. That was a fun and adventurous shopping trip we had in Bangkok! 

If any of you happen to venture to South-east Asia, I highly recommend Bangkok as a stopover. Drop me an email if you need any travel tips to Bangkok. 

See you again soon.

Nat

Japan Shopping Expedition

When I travel I always throw in some shopping expeditions to make the trip more interesting. Shopping is part of the fun of travelling. You get to see what is available locally. If I get a chance I like to visit local markets and supermarkets as well. I enjoy seeing what the local markets have to offer. Some markets are a real treasure trove too. 

I did do a bit of homework before I went to Japan. I learned that there are markets in every city in Japan. Generally both fresh food and general markets are joined together in the same location. I went to the markets in Osaka, Kamakura, Nogoya and a few in Tokyo including Sugamo street market which the locals call the 'oldies' market, and Nippori  Textile Town in Tokyo. The markets I wish to visit next time are the shrine markets at Toji and Kitano in Kyoto on the 21st and 25th of each month.

There are lot of photos to share again in this post. I will keep the writing to a minimum. Usually pictures tell all. Enjoy and thanks again for reading my Japan journal. 

I was at the vintage kimono shop Komehyo in Nagoya. The shop was part of a market. There were all types of kimono there. I couldn't choose which one to get. I was looking for silk jacket (hoary) and not too expensive. I finally found one. 

More full length kimonos on display. It was a hard choice to make. I had to narrow my choices by price, kind of fabric, colour and the space I had left in my luggage! They were just beautiful to look at even though I couldn't bring them all back.

You would find sweet treat and knic knack shops everywhere in Japan. This one sells old fashion candy and sweets. My friends told me she used to buy them when she was at school. I'm glad they still make the old fashion sweets instead of sweets you get these days. 

A supermarket in Shiga where my friend's family shops. I spotted durian on the shelves. Durian is a famous Thai's fruit. I was surprised it is sold in Japan.

It was our last day in Osaka and Ayako and I both love markets so what better place to spend on our last day. We found nice snacks stalls and tried most of them. Having Ayako to explain what they all are helped a lot. Half of Osaka is built underground in and around train stations. It was a good thing too because it rained for most of the week I was in Osaka. 

A friendly shopkeeper in Nappori. I got chatting with him and found that he came from Isfahan, Iran. I have been to Isfahan, so we got talking and reminisced about what we remember in Isfahan.  His shop sells braid of every kind and leather supplies.

The antique sewing caddy made with cane base and fabric body and draw string. I have seen them before, but didn't know that they were used as a sewing caddy.  I love the idea so much I bought a book on how to make them. The second book is on quilts made from recycled and vintage kimonos. 

If you haven't heard of sakabukuro before this might be interesting for you. Sakabukuro is a bag used to filter out the remaining sediment of the fermented rice sake brew. The bag was first dyed with kakishibu (persimmon dye). I found a good link if you want to read further. 

My friend's mother had a bag made from sakabukuro that I fell in love with. She told me what it was and that it was hard to find these days. When I was at Arimatsu Shibori Festival one of the ladies told me she had some and would bring them the next day. I got two from her and I cut one up and made two bags from it. I will keep the other one to use as display on the wall. 

Shibori tote bags found at the "shotengai" in Nagoya. These are cotton bags and they are natural dyed. I could have easily bought one in every colour, but space in the luggage was the problem again! 

These cute little bags were as common as paper bags. They can be used for anything like tissue napkins, glasses, cosmetics, jewelry, cameras, you name it.  They are great little gifts from Japan. 

The photos below are of fabric I brought back. Some of them are new, but most of them are vintage in both cotton and silk. I'm looking forward to using them in my online workshop starting next week. 

Some silk products I found on the tour. I hope to make magic thread out of the cream and blue yarns, but first I have to wind them onto bobbins before I can ply them on my spinning wheel. A long process, but it shouldn't be too hard. 

I really enjoyed writing about my shopping expedition today. I do miss these places and wish I was walking through them again right now! I hope I haven't bored you with my ramblings. Travelling is one big book of knowledge. To think that before this trip to Japan I didn't know anything about kakishibu, the natural dye that has been used for 100's of years. I feel that there is a right time for everything. 

I'm glad to hear that you have enjoyed reading my Japan journal so far. Don't miss out my next post on natural dyes. 

Savers favourite find

Some of these stuff are so cute, but they are better off where they are! Tins, you know me and tins? I have to love and leave them, I think!

Savers saving

It is Kitiya last day today. This morning we went to Savers in Dandenong on Princes Hyw. for the last time before she leaves tonight. We had a good day Kitiya'd found some cute things and I also found some craft stuff including a bag of braid and hand crochet laces.

Bargain at Diva

Diva might not be your usual stop for shopping. I like to go there when the sale is on. Their stuff is good quality and very chick. In the photo are the plaited black bracket for Bron and the owl ring I've got for Barbi.