Sunday, September 19

On Saturday, we planned to take a water taxi to Wang Lang market, but when we got to Sathorn Pier, there were no other people waiting for the express boat.

An empty pier is a bad sign...

When we backtracked a little, we saw a sign stating that the express boats were temporarily not running on weekends and public holidays. We talked to a long boat operator who offered to take us to the Wang Lang pier for 700 baht (he eventually dropped it to 600), but since we’d been planning on a 15 baht express boat ride, not a leisurely long boat tourist cruise, we declined.

We ditched our plans to head to Wang Lang, and decided to wander the neighborhood around the pier instead. The area, near the Saphan Taksin BTS stop, has a distinctive feel for Bangkok—narrow streets, older architecture that’s a mix of colonial-style buildings and skinny colorful houses, and people out picking up produce or Chinese medicines or meals to go.

It feels local and relatively busy, with many fruit stalls, bakeries, and eateries—but because the streets are narrow, there isn’t a ton of car traffic.

We stopped for lunch at a local eatery serving stewed pork leg, where a kid in a spiderman costume ran around our table while we ate.

I posed in front of a pretty green door…

We stopped at a tiny sidewalk café for cold coffee drinks…

And I watched the strange, tense movements of a cat that I couldn’t parse, until I noticed the orange tail sprouting from a nearby plant…

Once we started buying cheap bakery items, we couldn’t stop, and we arrived home with two mochi balls, a tray of the thinnest little brownies, and three crepes rolled around whipped cream and a sweet filling.

The mochi was, by far, the best selection. The brownies were not a great choice.

I also bought a cheap, fluffy loaf of bread from a woman selling them from a holding cabinet set up in a little alley…

Admiring my loaf of bread back home. As you do.

On Sunday morning, I made French toast with the little loaf of bread, and a grape compote to go on top. Then we headed to Chinatown, where we checked out the pretty murals in the MRT stop…which were furnished by Nescafé.

We wandered up and down the back alleys, checking out local wares and old temples.

We picked up some already-cooked crispy pork, ginkgo nuts, things I thought were caramelized peanuts but turned out to be a savory fried snack, and dried egg noodles. Now someone please tell me what to do with ginkgo nuts.

For lunch, we headed to Hong Kong Noodle, our favorite hidden dim sum spot in Chinatown. We ordered shu mai, sweet and sour shrimp, Chinese chive dumplings, and pork and shrimp bao. We also ordered fried radish cakes, but they never came and we had them taken off the bill.

On Sunday evening, we had First Cake for my birthday. We will also have cake on Tuesday, my actual birthday, but one cake day just didn't seem like enough, you know? (And yes, it's possible you could say I already celebrated First Cake with that array of desserts from Saturday, but I wouldn't really call any of that cake). Anyway, for First Cake day, I ordered a slice of "death by chocolate" (Belgian chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache) and a "party cake square" (vanilla sponge, buttercream, sprinkles) from Holey Artisan Bakery, and we shared them both. They were excellent.