Market Friday: stumbling on a coffee shop at the local bazaar.

This year the atmosphere around shopping centers and local markets seemed to be more lively than last year. Shopkeepers made quite an effort to decorate their shops and stalls with Santa and fake Christmas trees with all the colourful decorations. In big shopping malls, we could hear ‘Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells… dashing through the snow…’. These customary songs were out of sync with our reality of very warm and humid weather. I often had a good laugh whenever I heard this song. I wondered how local Thai people would react if the song was sung in Thai language.

This year the weather was much cooler than last year so the festive month became much more enjoyable and put people in much lighter mood. The increase flow of tourists into our country has made small and big businesses very hopeful and optimistic. It seemed people had more money for taking holidays far away from their home bases. Though I couldn’t afford a holiday, I was quite content with my time in the countryside being surrounded with green trees and peaceful nature. I couldn’t stand being at popular holiday locations with all the crowds.

Quiet life among nature and many old trees seemed to be the best nourishing holiday for me. So, I looked foreward to enjoying life in the city without traffic jams for a change. Then I could plan my visit to a few old temples in Bangkok and walk calmly around the city while most people were traveling up north or to the beaches.

I dropped by the flea market at the back of the old Robinson Mall, called Bangrak Bazaar. The atmosphere was quite cheerful and relaxing. The foodhall was quite busy with tourists and local shoppers. This market area reminded me of Covent Market in London. Though the fast food stalls and street food were much more affordable. The little shops around the market were very diversified ranging from gift shops, barbershops, tarot reading, tattoo shop, coffee shops and beauty salons.

I had a quick walk inside the foodhall and along the little shops just to see how their businesses were coming along. I wished there could have been more shoppers and tourists as the atmosphere was rather quiet. A few new shopping centers have opened with a lot of promotions lately, so customers were attracted to new locations. But the prices at these new and modern shopping centers were very expensive as they tended to be very upmarket and selling top quality merchandise. Most ordinary working people wouldn’t be spending their hard earn money at those super plush shops.

I noticed a new coffee shop with very nice Christmas decorations. It’s the only shop that put so much effort and money into creating lively atmosphere. I had to take a walk around and waited until the previous customers left. I liked to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee in quiet space. It should be nice to sip my coffee peacefully while observing other people getting on with daily activities in their lives. I could understand why the cafes in Paris were so popular and became an integral part of Parisienne culture. I could never understand why people would be drinking coffee by the roadsides when I was a young student in Europe.

The owner of the coffee shop was a young Thai-Chinese lady who was quite experienced in her trade. We had a good discussion about coffee beans and the sudden increase in prices on the international market. I thought all the coffee shops would have to close in the near future as coffee beans would become very expensive and scarce. She was quite surprised that I could appreciate the situation. I thought she still didn’t understand the severity of the situation; bad weather has destroyed lots of coffee plantations around the world. Some traders had started hoarding coffee beans to make more profits in the near future. The situation seemed equally bad for chocolate beans.

I have thought about stocking up on some coffee and chocolate for myself, to last me a whole year! Nowadays, most coffee shops served coffee in paper cups which spoiled the taste of coffee altogether. These cups were actually very toxic and unfriendly to the environment. So, I requested a proper cup and saucer. The lady was quite surprised as I was the only Thai customer to make such a request. She told me that I was lucky as she brought one set from home for serving a regular foreign customer. This expat asked to have his coffee in proper porcelain cup and saucer. He would have two cups of coffee there everyday!

I was quite impressed by the taste of the hot cappuccino. It was very smooth and slightly strong with nice aroma at the end. The price was very cheap for this good quality coffee. Now I knew where to have a nice treat of coffee around the Bangrak Bazaar. The lady owner told me that she selected the blended coffee beans herself. The taste of coffee was much nicer and fuller when drank from a porcelain cup. I was very thankful to this lady for understanding of my request for not using the paper cup. This meant I had to do more good work to deserve a nice coffee break at Pao’s coffee shop.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.

#marketfriday hosted by @dswigle