Muy Thai and Chatuchak Market

Continuing with my adventures in Bangkok -- on Sunday, we went to get a two-hour traditional Thai massage at Health Land Asoke, a clean, professional and huge complex/spa that offered a great deal.

It's not a spa, it's a "medicine clinic"!

With the ten coupon pack, a massage came out to about 350 baht, plus some additional gratuity.  US$13 for an amazing two hour massage?? Sign us up!  I was surprised at how sore my legs were though.  I'd always heard that Thai massages could be so relaxing that you fall asleep - and my previous Thai massage was pretty gentle and soothing.  Well, not this time.  There were times when the woman's elbows and arms pressed into my legs with such strength that I wanted to whimper.  But afterwards it all felt delicious.  My favorite part was when she bent me over her leg and twisted by body such that my entire back cracked.

After that, my sister and I indulged in delicious noodles (how do they make their noodles so silky and soft here?) then headed to the BTS train station.

Noodles are hidden below the toppings.  This was the thick noodle (sen yai), which I preferred

You can see the thin noodles (sen lak) better here.  

Then we met up with some of her friends to hit up a free Muy Thai match sponsored by Channel 7 out by Mo Chit, which also just happens to be right next to the famous Chatuchuk weekend market (JJ market for short).

Entrance to the match

The Muy Thai match was something else.  I don't think I've sweated so much from just standing still in a long time.  The entire arena, a nearly windowless room, was crowded to the rafters, with men and women (mostly men) standing on stools and benches, crowded and pressed up right against each other, each trying very hard to get a good view of the ring.  Bets were placed before each match.  The atmosphere was pretty electric.  The fighting was really intense.  My view was not as good as these pictures make it seem - I obnoxiously stuck my blackberry upward, into someone else's line of vision, to capture these shots:

I remember thinking, at least it doesn't look like a fire could start too easily here, which is good, because we would definitely be trampled to death.  We couldn't see very much and the locals were not eager to let us push through.  The atmosphere was also a bit claustrophobic.  After a couple of rounds, we gave up and smushed our way back out.  We got a picture with the champion of the previous fight.  He was not very tall, probably about my height actually, tanned, heavily tattooed, sporting a bloody cut above his left eye, slender but so muscular that he looked like he had been shaped out of a mold.  He seemed resigned to getting his picture taken with a group of giggling females.

We then walked to JJ market, a hopping spot on the weekends.  

A view from outside the market

Before we even made it into the market, I stopped and had a great banana roti pancake, smothered in margarine, oil and condensed milk.  Not for the health conscious and I tried not to wince as she kept flicking on the grease, but ohhhh, YUM.  

Heaven.

I tried to limit my purchases at the market, so didn't buy anything except two miniature benjarong (hand painted porcelain which were traditionally used to serve food to royalty but now primarily serves as decoration), which my sister helped me pick out.  I love them - they are so darling.

Currently residing on the wine rack

Even JJ Market is not immune:

impromptu Gangnam Style!

My sister and I wrapped up the night with dinner at a vegetarian place near Siam, where we had some deliciously smokey pad see ew and spicy and sweet tofu curry.  (I happened to be visiting during the vegetarian festival in Bangkok, when many restaurants do not serve any meat dishes -  more on this in a later post).