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Goodness, we are nearing the end of our trip already and I can‘t believe it. It simultaneously feels like we arrived yesterday / we‘ve been here for a month. We spent today meandering through Chatuchak Market. Mia girl is in bed and we are winding down from another physically exhausting day.
It was a rough night last night. Didn‘t want to go to bed / woke up a ton / woke up early crying. Today was a free day though, so we had no pressure to wake up early and laid in bed until about 7. If only the rest of our hotels had this amaaaaazing bed and these pillows. It is the first place I‘ve ever stayed in Thailand with a comfortable, squishy bed. If there weren‘t a crying girl keeping us awake at night, it would be the best sleep ever, but she‘s kind of the reason we‘re here. 🙂
Weird note, we are on the 34th floor and your ears pop when you are in the elevator (which is huge – also not very Thai). Breakfast in this place is absolutely insane. There are people staying here from all over the world and I‘m pretty sure that they were all at breakfast when we arrived. A hostess seated us at a gorgeous table in a massive dining room and then directed us to the buffet where you can find everything from cereal to a traditional Asian breakfast, croissants to sushi, “normal“ American fare to dumplings, and pre-made smoothies all ready for you. They have cucumber water. This is not my thing.
The only goal that we had for today was to conquer Chatuchak Market one more time. We had visited this amazing weekend-only market when we came to meet Ty for the first time and loved it and we definitely wanted to repeat it on this trip. One difference – we went before meeting Ty last time. This time, we had the weight of one little girl to add to the weight of souvenirs and gifts we‘d purchased.
On the way to the market, little Miss Mia decided that she didn‘t want anything to do with me again, physically pushing me away if I came near. I saw that as an opportunity for some mandatory bonding time. 🙂 She was less than thrilled and let us and our taxi driver know it most of the way to the market. With about 5 minutes to spare on a 30 minute trip, I got her to settle down on my lap and I carried her through the market for the next two hours and she did great.
Aaron took the second shift, so that I could give my back a break. I think we were there for about 4 hours and I‘m fairly certain that we covered maybe a 20th? of the market. It‘s insane – goes on forever – vendor after vendor selling hot food, ice cream, fresh fruit, souvenirs, hedgehogs (which were absolutely adorable climbing out of their little box they were in and I kind of wanted to bring one home), all kinds of clothes, antiques… if you can imagine it, it is probably at Chatuchak Market.
It is brilliant if you aren‘t looking for anything – you‘ll find amazing things that you love. I, on the other hand, went in with a list this time and came up with only about half of my items checked off. Where in all of Bangkok do you buy a little boy‘s traditional Thai outfit?! Like the formal kind? I‘ve been to 2 malls and the largest flea market in the world and can‘t find one for the life of me. Mia was awesome at the market, having a great time holding things for us, picking things out, pointing at all of the food she wanted to eat. She even fell asleep on Aaron‘s back at one point. Loved our time there, but by 4 hours in, we were just about shot between the heat and the weight of baby girl.
We came back to the hotel and went for a swim with Mia and sooooo much more progress. She didn‘t koala-climb Aaron the whole time she was in the pool! She sat on the edge and played with her toys and splashed around! We took her to the kiddie part that was maybe 1‘ deep and she was walking everywhere by herself, dumping water on herself, playing with the stacking cups we had brought – completely different girl than the one that was at the beach just one week ago. There is so much more independence in her – still with us close by – but amazing.
I‘ve noticed that she kind of shuts down every time a Thai person notices her and speaks to her in Thai (which is a lot). This girl gets all kinds of smiles from complete strangers who light up when they see her, but they also feel the need to come over and get in her space and talk to her and you can just see her bottom lip start to quiver – she‘ll be having a great time and then get really sad the instant someone reminds her of who she is. I LOVE the Thai people so, so much, but I can‘t wait to get this lady home where we can just be us.
Room service again tonight to keep things low key. We ordered and ran down to the 7 Eleven to get drinks (a lot cheaper than the hotel‘s) and came back for dinner out on the balcony to watch the world pass by on the river below. Facetime tonight with Ty again so he could see the happier version of his sister. Can‘t wait for these two to be together! Mia was again not thrilled with me by the time it was time for bed. I tried rocking her a bit, but she would have none of it. I laid her in her crib and tried rubbing her back and she fought me. I pulled away and said, “goodnight Mia – I love you“, and she quit crying immediately. Thanks, Kid. Makes a mom feel really good when you‘d rather be alone than snuggled to sleep. Ah well. Another new day tomorrow and we have a little girl who is fast asleep right now, so success… right?
It‘s another clear night in Bangkok. Got lots of “mom” and a “da” today when she was looking at photos of us. Adorable. She won’t do it for a camera.
Tools to document your day…
- Camera Phone (for easy photos and video)
- Wide angle moment lens (for the tight spaces you’ll be in)
- Osmo Pocket (for adding smooth movement to your video)
- Insta 360 (for unique photo and video perspectives)
- Mirrorless Camera (for wide angle & zoom options to add quality video and photos)
We were so hot, carrying a little girl and camera gear around Chatuchak Market. I’d go lightweight on this day with camera gear that travels well. Your phone, Osmo Pocket, and Insta 360 could all fit in your pockets, although I would recommend carrying something like a shoot sac to protect them. Both times we were at the market, we bought some inexpensive luggage to bring souvenirs home in, which we also used to carry our purchases around the market.
Technology changes quickly, so we’ll try to keep you up-to-date with what is currently in our camera bag and the tools we are now using to document travel.
