Bangkok Smiles

It's a long weekend here in Bangkok and one filled with so many activities. The largest department store, Siam Paragon, reopened and the Silom Street Market was organized to help merchants who had been affected by recent events. Life was finally back to normal in the city of angels. I couldn't just stay in and miss out on all the fun, so I went out to have some fun.

My first stop was the Silom Street Market. The roads through the main business district today was closed to traffic and turned instead into a massive walking street. I got off the skytrain and was amazed at the number of people who came out in droves. There were over a thousand stalls and over a thousand visitors. Everywhere I turned there were people. Black heads wobbled left and right. Stalls were so busy selling, some couldn't sell their goods fast enough.

Everything you could possibly want was at Silom today. There were clothes of all styles and sizes, shoes, jewelry, house decorations, and of course the all essential food. There were so many things to see and do, you could easily get lost in the crowd. It was like Bangkok's famous weekend market (Jatuchak) had moved to Silom. People were happy, hands filled with shopping backs and tummies full. Everyone came out to help each other recover.

My next stop was Siam and a new Ramen franchise called Chabuton owned by the Japanese winner of the TV program "TV Champion." I loved the atmosphere the moment I went in. It wasn't anything spectacular, but I liked the fact that it felt like I was in Japan. It was small, simple and clean, with fast and polite service. Wonderful.

The menu was simple with 7 kinds of ramen to choose from. I tried the recommended one and was not disappointed. The ramen noodle was mouth watering. Its texture was a perfect balance of chewiness, density and flavor. I could not have enough of it. It was served in a pork based soup with a bacon-like slice of pork which was intense with flavor, but slightly too salty for my taste. Dessert was green tea ice-cream. I have to say it's one of the best green tea ice-cream I've ever had. It wasn't overly creamy or overwhelmed with green tea flavor. It wasn't too light or watery. It was perfect for me. There were even some nice chewy bits inside.

Next was Siam Paragon. The mall was filled people and shoppers didn't have enough time to get all their shopping done by the 9pm closing time. Bakeries ran out of bread. Everyone was smiling, both the customer and the seller.

Today Bangkokians all came out to celebrate and to shop. Life was back to normal at last in the city of angels. :)

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