Day 4 - Exploring
We slept in (woke up at 8) and took our time heading for JatuJak Market (or JJ market, to the locals).  This was our first experience on the Skytrain.  Two all-day passed were 260bt and the train to Mo Chit station, although crowded (it was rush hour) was cool and efficient.

JJ Market is a huge, crowded sprawling flea market that covers some 40 acres.  It is shady and covered (though not indoor) so it is bearable.  

We did a fair bit more shopping here than we expected to.

Hard to find fault, really. Some of the deals are incredible on everything you can think of.  We bought some purses, cushion covers and an ornate wall fabric. We also landed in the artist section where we agonized over and finally bought a beautiful painting from the original artist.  It was expensive perhaps by Thai standards (bargained from 7000 to 5000 bt over the course of an hour.   To me it was worth spending that amount  on an inspiring piece of original art.  The artist spent the better part of a half hour wrapping his artwork for us.

The fun was not to end there.  As we walked to the outer edge, we saw many aquariums selling brightly coloured fish, and stalls selling deep fried worms, beetles and crickets.   As we were taking a few photos of the deep fried grub an Englishman came by and nonchalantly popped a fried worm into his mouth.  He immediately said "it's buttery" and then ordered himself a small bag of fried crickets.  We struck up a conversation and he offered me one.  I nearly gagged looking at the brownish, lightly seasoned, but perfectly preserved two inch long cricket.  But he insisted that I try one, and handed it to me.  He asked "well, why did you come here?".  I looked at it and made the kind of face I used to when I was a kid and mum made spinach for dinner.  I looked long at its curved antennae, black eyes and spikey legs.

Then I popped it into my mouth and chewed furiously.

There was no juices; it tasted like some kind of roasted nut, hardly any substance.  It had a slightly buttery aftertaste as well.   I swallowed it all down but felt (or perhaps imagined)  small cricket parts in my mouth for some time. 

Afterwards we had a late lunch at a popular and busy diner with lots of cooling fans and loud Mexican music.  We briefly experienced a short power failure, and the coolness became stifling hot within a few minutes, but there were soon cheers as the power was restored.  Simmi ordered a delicious and fresh lychee and mint smoothie.

We walked around some more but decided that we'd filled our appetite of the vast flea market, and took the cool train back to our hotel. 

We freshened up and went back for another full body Thai massage at the same place of yesterday.  Although not as good as the Thai massage at Wat Pho, it was nonetheless enjoyable and refreshing.

That evening, we decided to be a little more adventurous and we found an alley full of locals and outdoor food vendors.  We enjoyed some fried chicken and a bit of chicken and liver curry.  All for less than $2.

We stopped into a cafe where we saw free WiFi and took the opportunity to "Face-Time" (why isn't it called 'iFace'??) with mum and pa in Vallarta.  We didn't realize it was so early, but enjoyed touching base.

I had some Pad Thai there and didn't realize it had shrimp until I was nearly halfway through.  But after a few nervous moments (I did have my Epipen on myself) I did not notice any ill effects.  

We hopped back on the train and headed for the nightlife area: Sukhumvit.   This was yet another incredibly large and upscale shopping district, with shops and music on multiple levels, and bright lights and glowing ads reminiscent of Times Square in NYC.  The major hotel towers were here as well (Sheraton, Westin Grand).

After taking in the sights (which included many old white guys often with much younger Thai girls on their arms) we ventured off the main road in search of a bar or lounge at street level.

And then we stumbled upon a shocking alley of neon and loud music.  This was a little slice of Bangkok's red light district, and the street was brightly lit in pink and green neon, and lined with Thai girls in skimpy outfits, along witha plethora of middle aged men.  We ventured into a strip bar out of curiousity and hopped back out.  We had a beer at a sports bar (Man City defeating Newcastle) and then headed out.  

We finally found a nice outdoor lounge with a hookah bar, and enjoyed drinks while watching local Thai born Indian kids enjoying themselves and speaking perfect Thai.  We have seen many Indians (including Gianis) here.

We briefly spoke and they informed us of another neighborhood we had initially planned on seeing - Silom - which apparently is quite seedy.

It was getting late and we decided to pack it in, as we had to pack and be up by 530am for our taxibus to Cambodia.