Chatuchak weekend Market - Everything is on here

The Chatuchak (or Jatujak; Thai: : จตุจักร) weekend market in Bangkok is the largest market in Thailand and the world's largest weekend market. Frequently is called J.J. It has reached a landmark status as a must-go place for tourists. Its sheer size and diverse collections of merchandise will bring any seasoned shoppers to their knees. This is where you can literally shop ‘till you drop’. The local brochure says 1 in 1,000 places to see before you die.

art and home decoration stall at Chatuchak market

The Chatuchak  market covers over 35 acres (0.14 km²) and contains upwards of 15,000 stalls. It is estimated at the market receives 200,000 visitors each day. Most stalls only open on Saturdays and Sundays though Jatujak Plaza, the western section is open daily.

cool staffs at Chatuchak market

The Chatuchak Market is definitely a worthwhile experience for those looking to buy just about anything from household items, clothing, Thai handicrafts, religious artifacts, collectibles, foods, live animals, to souvenirs for folks back home. You name it and you can find it here. For tourists, there are a number of onsite companies who will send purchases abroad.

colorful flower decoration at Jatujak market

Chatuchak Weekend Market is the perfect place for bargain hunting. Brush up your negotiation skills and be prepared to walk away when the deal fails to go your way. It also helps to do a few practice runs before you actually start buying. Note that a friendly attitude and big smile are your biggest allies in securing the best possible deal. Then, you’ll either be offered a lower price or simply find the same merchandise at another stall. Although whatever you buy here is probably no longer the best deal you can find, but you can use the average price for the same item at several stall as a best deal price.

lamps and accessories stall at Chatuchak Market

You can save your time if you know exactly what you want or which stall to go to. However, many expect to be surprised and let the sights of all the goods take them through a journey down the maze of stalls. Most often, shoppers arrive with a rough idea of what they want, then are hypnotized by what they see and end up going home with more than a few extra shopping items.

gate 1 chatuchak weekend market

Alleys are number and in sections, however what they say is in the section isn't always consistent with what is there. Here is the list of stall at Jatujak market with section number .

1. Miscellaneous & secondhand clothes 2. Trees & Home Furniture 3. Trees & accessories 4. Home furniture 5. Handicraft & Miscellaneous 6. Pets and animals accessories 7. Trees and gardening accessories

8.    Arts and crafts. Clothing & wickerwork 9.    Pets and wickerwork 10. Handicraft, clothing and miscellaneous 11. Wickerwork and ceramics 12. Dried food, hiking equipment and clothing 13. Pets and animals accessories 14. Clothing, hiking equipment and leather

15. Food and drink, clothing and miscellaneous 16. Food and drink, clothing and miscellaneous 17. Food and drink, ceramic and furniture 18. Clothing, food and drink 19. Dried food, gift and benjarong 20. Clothing, gift and hiking equipment 21. Clothing, shoes and miscellaneous

22. Food and drink, clothing and miscellaneous 23. Food and drink, clothing and miscellaneous 24. Trees & agricultural equipment 25. Handicraft, antiques & collectibles 26. Antiques, dried food & clothing 27. Food & drink, book & miscellaneous

Map of Chatucak

Jatujak market map

Here is some tips:

• Remember this is a weekend market so if you are in Bangkok on Saturday or Sunday, this makes a great shopping attraction to consider
• A lot of stalls also have fans or even aircon, so you can strategically plan your purchases with nice free cooling. The air-conditioned JJ Mall next to it is worth checking out, lots of small shops selling interesting things.
• Food & drinks available all over and exchange office at all entrances! Bottled water was only 10 baht so no worries there. Coconut ice cream, fried chicken, coconut water, shrimps, durian sticky rice, pineapple ginger smoothies, Wanton Noodles.....everything delicious. You can also find Chatuchak a prominent place to find skilled Thai iced tea makers practicing their trade.

Resto at Chatuchak Market

• Be advised that if you make an offer, be prepared to pay. If you back off you will create a tense situation.
• It is very hot in the market due to enclosed areas, due to lack of ventilation. Dress in cool clothing, and take it easy, even if you get excited about all of the stuff you can buy
• There are many pick pockets and petty thieves watching, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The local said theft is common here!

art and antique stall

• Go as early as you can as it does get hot and very crowded (risking missing most shops if they are not opened) or late afternoon so at that time local sellers also joins as a street vendors and they are much cheapers in the rates.
• When you get tired or hungry there are lots of stalls where you can sit and eat or you can go next door to the Railway Park which has lots of benches to sit on. Try foot massage for 100 baht!

foot massage at chatuchak market

• The BTS stops right at Chatuchak and is probably the easiest way of getting there.. My favorite sections were the art area and the housewares/furniture area. Each vendor had unique pieces in these areas
• Bring a few empty big shopping bags & and haggle away!

T-Shirt for souvenir

• This is a place where you can't find any honey with your credit card. and it can be a long walk to the next ATM. Money changer is quite crowded so get your Baht ready.
• Protect yourself against the sun, by wearing sunglasses, a hat and use sunscreen
• Make sure you get a map at one of the entrances. If you venture right into the centre of the markets where you can find pets, ducks, chickens etc. it may take you a little while to find your way back without a map.

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The world’s largest aquarium of S.E.A Aquarium Singapore

S.E.A Aquarium, the world’s largest aquarium accredited by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™. It contains a total of 45,000,000 liters of water for more than 100,000 marine animals of over 800 species. The aquarium comprises 10 zones with 49 habitats. The centerpiece of the Aquarium is the Open Ocean tank with more than 18,000,000 and 50,000 animals. It has the world's largest viewing panel, 36-metre wide and 8.3-metre tall, which is intended to give visitors the feeling of being on the ocean floor.

colorful fishes and corals

The S.E.A Aquarium has a collection of manta rays, including the only giant oceanic manta ray in captivity. It also houses scalloped hammerhead sharks, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, the Japanese spider crab, including the guitarfish, the chambered nautilus, enormous goliath grouper, napoleon wrasse, and other gentle giants of the sea

You can find over 200 sharks and uncover the of myths about these ocean predators. Sneak a peek at a moray eel in a rocky crevice or tour an underwater reef community. Discover and unfold the endless wonders of our blue planet at S.E.A. Aquarium.

Here some thematic aquarium you can find out when walking trough it.

Strait of Karimata & Java Sea
You can endeavor through the fascinating world beneath the Strait of Karimata that located on the lower-eastern side of Sumatra. It is astounded by a shipwreck with a splintered hull that has evolved into a marine habitat.

Here, you can see how squadrons of pompano, threadfin trevally and batfish and other marine animals such as goliath grouper and Napoleon wrasse seek refuge within and near the shipwreck as they cruise through the waters of the Java Sea.

From once carrying treasures across the ocean, to now harbouring the ocean’s marine life treasures, shipwrecks continue to shape the world beneath the oceans and seas.

Strait of Malacca & Andaman Sea
You can continue walking across a floor of glass to underwater journey through the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman and watch the predators and other ocean denizens swim right beneath your feet.

a floor of glass

Further ahead, you can explore the waters of Singapore and sea-grass habitats of Malacca, home to lively leopard and blue flasher wrasses.

Here, your children will find an interactive learning experience about  sea cucumber,  the knobbly sea star, pencil sea urchin and more at Discovery Touch Pool.

Bay of Bengal & Laccadive Sea
Walk further, you will discover the mysteries of the Sundarbans Mangrove, home to a myriad of endangered plants and animals found along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.  You will see mangrove inhabitants such as spotted scats, mudskippers, silver batfish and archerfish that use the mangrove tree roots as nesting and nursery areas.

Around the corner, note on curious spotted garden eels popping in and out of their sand burrows and “find Nemo” as well as white-rayed antenna gobies, long-nose hawkfish,  reef lobsters  and other jewels of the Coral Reef.

coral reef and colorful fishes

Further along, there are the Patch Reef of Brain Corals and majestic Staghorn Corals, leading to a reef drop similar to those found in the Laccadive Sea, crawling with unique fish species such as yellowface angelfish,  the queen angelfish and others.

Ocean Journey
As you make your way further, you will see indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins. You can learn the surprising facts about these speedy swimmers as they enthrall you with their underwater grace and prowess.

bottlenose dolphin at sea aquarium

You can find out too the cool marine life in the Cold Water habitats such as chambered nautilus, giant spider crab and other unique species.  There are the electrifying pulsating dances of the translucent sea jelly species too such as long-tentacled lion’s mane sea jelly, neon blue sea jelly and the larger-than-life moon sea jelly.

 sea jelly

Open Ocean

It calls open ocean since there are diverse collections of marine life here.  This magical realm is home to gentle giants of the sea including the leopard shark, goliath grouper, saw fish, mahi mahi and a squadron of magnificent manta rays.

 goliath grouper

More Tips

• Better to purchase the entrance tickets online to avoid the long queue. 
• Try to plan your trip at weekdays. This would prevent long Queue at the entrance
• If you buy tickets there, show your passport  and you will receive a tourist discount
• There is a food court in the main entrance, but there are not a lot of choices.  As you walk through the resort of Santosa, there are plenty of local and well known food outlets before reaching the Aquarium. 

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Life_Park

http://www.rwsentosa.com/

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Visit The Coins and Notes Museum while shopping at Chinatown Singapore

The Singapore Coins and Notes Museum is located at 40 Pagoda Street, Singapore.  While shopping at Chinatown, you can also visit it as a one of your destinations in your itinerary.  It is the Singapore only museum dedicated to displaying currency. Through their exhibits, you will have a journey through a world of coins and notes from the earliest objects used for barter trade to the latest cutting-edge polymer notes.

Coins and Notes Museum at night

The museum has 2 floors. At first one you can find ancient currencies, the history of currency used in Singapore, and the coins & medallions of today, whilst the other features the different cultural usage of coins as well as a video presentation on the minting of coins. They also offer a minting service whereby visitors can obtain their own souvenir coin for some prices.

The museum also showcases the earliest coins used in Singapore, which were foreign in origin and brought here through trade. These came from as far such Holland, and remained in use even after indigenous coins surfaced in the region. Some consider the Spanish dollar, widely used in the East Indies and other parts of the world during the 19th century, was the first truly global currency.

showcase of Coins and Notes Museum Singapore

The museum also exhibits more recent currencies such as that produced in 1938 by the Board of Commissioners of Currencies of Malaya. Following the onset of the Japanese Occupation in 1942, this production was stopped abruptly.

The highlight of the exhibition, however, are the uniquely designed Singapore coins and notes that have been produced for circulation since Singapore’s independence in 1965.

The Board of Commissioners of Currency was set up in 1967, for there was great urgency to produce Singapore’s own currency at the time. Since its inception, two series of coins and of notes have thus far been issued for national circulation.

level 1 - Coins and Notes Museum Singapore

The smallest coin in the museum is a Majapahit gold coin-like piece with a stamped design.
It is suspected to have originated from as far back as 800 years ago, a product of the Majapahit empire centred in Java, Indonesia, from the 13th to 16th centuries. Until today, ‘coins’ like this are still being uncovered throughout Southeast Asia, proof of the empire’s bygone influence.

Coins and Notes Museum Singapore

Spare some time for the museum’s shop, as it is literally a treasure trove. There you can purchase commemorative coins and medallions, currency memorabilia and other souvenirs.

sources: http://www.myonlinetour.com/poi/scnm/index.htm ; 

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