Navigating the shopping maze of Chatuchak Weekend Market can be an entirely overwhelming experience. Without any purpose or sense of direction your big shopping extravaganza can quickly devolve into doing anything possible to find your way out. While it may not seem it at first glance, the market is broken down into highly thematic sections … read the full post

Daydreaming of Thailand involves images of mountains and elephants and beaches. No one loses their train of thought in a business meeting imagining lugging their bag into Bangkok from the airport on a local bus. In the words of a Friend-of-Travelfish who lives in Shanghai, “Yes, yes, cultural melange and city-in-transition and all that — … read the full post

It is not terribly hard to wander through Bangkok and stumble upon a restaurant serving some mangled variation of the non-Thai food of your choice, but at the end of the day there is comfort in knowing where the Western food meccas are when you need them. Villa Market Villa Market, a Western-style supermarket chain … read the full post

Ever feel like not having a night in Southeast Asia? No really, I love it here and all, but every once in a while I want something that doesn’t involve fish sauce or karaoke or being sweaty. Whether you have been travelling for awhile and need a break from beer and buckets, or are just … read the full post

The ability to free yourself from your heavy pack, even for a few hours, is a luxurious treat. Bangkok’s international airport has an excellent left luggage service. Using left luggage can allow you to enjoy a quick tour of Bangkok unencumbered or leave those conical hats you bought in Vietnam for someone else to care … read the full post

For the record, before I moved to Asia I hated karaoke. Hated with a capital H. I grew up on the prairies where karaoke was someone named Lurleen screaming a country song about divorcing a dog into a microphone while everyone drank themselves to heaven. There’s something supremely unsettling about having a bunch of drunk … read the full post

Ba mee cap kang is not a meal for the dainty. And while it’s available at other places in Chinatown, Thais flock to the food stall bearing the same name, Ba Mee Cap Kang, with weekends seeing queues of people wanting a seat or some take-away. At Ba Mee Cap Kang, chewy, springy egg noodles … read the full post

After pretty much just a few hours in Thailand, you will notice that Buddhist amulets are everywhere. People wear them around their necks, hang them from their rearview mirrors, keep them on desks, on tables, at home, at work, and everywhere in between. Carrying an amulet on you is meant to invite good fortune, protect … read the full post

Bangkok is crawling with markets and malls so it shouldn’t be as hard as it is to find quality souvenirs in this town. Of course, there is always Chatuchak weekend market, but sometimes relentless sweat and a maze of stalls can be frustrating when looking for the perfect gift. During a pre-Christmas panic I stumbled … read the full post

Real vegetarian food in Bangkok can be hard to find. Lurking behind every plate of Chinese kale or mound of vegetable fried rice are vegetarian-eating’s ninja assassins: fish sauce and oyster sauce (and sometimes, inexplicably in a “vegetarian” dish, fried slices of pork belly), which makes the food at BP Vegetarian all the more of … read the full post