Weekend Market

Saturday in the park with friends. From left to right:
Janice, Pao, me, Risa, Jen, (Pao's girlfriend) Ju.

The weekend market in Bangkok, colloquially known as “JJ Market” for reasons I've forgotten (having something to do with the actual name in Thai sounding something like "jay-jay," maybe?) is one of the best places to find fun snacks and great bargains on everything from clothes to silks to indigenous plants.

Flowers for sale at the weekend market.

In certain ways, the market reminded me of the markets I used to frequent in Wudaokou, the student district in Beijing where I lived two summers ago. Stall after stall after stall jostle up against each other to form a structure composed at its edges of a maze of tarp ceilings above narrow cement pathways carved with canals to carry away rain- and waste-water. Toward the market center, however, linoleum replaces cement and a real roof appears overhead, with some vendors offering goods in clean and even stylish stalls.

One of the market artisans hard at work.

What else can I say about the weekend market? Three words: It. Was. Awesome. We shopped until we just about dropped, then shopped some more. We met up with Pao’s girlfriend and ate ice cream on the street. We clambered through the dripping stalls in the plant bazaar just to goggle at the mosses and orchids that seemed to hang from or cling to every surface (and perhaps also to enjoy a somewhat dank respite from the heat outside). We bought gifts for friends and family members. We reluctantly dragged ourselves away only because we knew we had to be back at the university by 2pm for a group expedition to Ampawa… and even then we barely gave ourselves enough time for lunch!

Meat on sticks -- one of the most
popular street snacks all over Asia.
(Admittedly, they have never been my thing.)

Lunch was curtailed by more than just shopping, however. When we finally emerged from the market and out into the blazing sun of the parking lot, I was shocked to see not one but two closely-parked lines of cars boxing in Pao’s car. Pao and Ju exhibited no concern at the sight as we drew nearer, but I was already fretting. How on earth were we going to get out of the parking lot in time to make the bus to Ampawa?

The parking lot.
Pao's car was parked in the row on the far left of this shot.

My question was soon answered as Pao calmly approached one of the nearby cars and began to push on it. To my horror, it began to roll – no emergency brake – the vehicle wasn’t even in park! “Can you go behind and make sure I don’t bump the next car?” he asked me, just as naturally as could be. Stunned, I complied, and before long I, too, was helping to roll the other cars in line, one by one, to clear a path for Pao’s car to exit. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

The bus! We made it with time to spare.

We did make it back to Salaya in time for the trip, thanks in no small part to my newly-honed car-pushing skills. I expected to come back from this trip with some new experience in international bioethics – now I can also proudly point to my expertise as a parking relocation engineer!