We wound our way around through stalls of tourist trinkets, silk scarfs, dish ware, street food, jewelry, hats, t-shirts, used clothing and more in search of those items we couldn’t live without.
You name it, I’m sure JJ Market has it.
My favorite section was the artist stalls. Matt and Melissa found a stall of photo collages that were incredible. They spoke to the artist and bought one of his prints. Yves was a trooper as we pushed him and carried him from one hallway through another. It was so hot and sticky. It probably helps that he creates a sensation wherever he goes. People love Yves! It is like they have never seen such a cute baby before. I know I’m biased but he is exceptionally adorable. We could have stayed longer to explore. It was delightful. But we were dripping with sweat, thirsty and hungry. We headed over the busy street in search of a place to eat inside an air conditioned mall.
Instead, we found ourselves in another outdoor market.
We headed for the food court.
I couldn’t do warm or spicy food today. So Matt and I shared some fried chicken and rice. We got freshly opened coconuts but they must have been overly ripe.
Chinda bought durian fruit for us. Durian fruit smells a bit like sulfur, sewage and rotting onions. It is so smelly that the subway here posts signs that durian is not allowed on the subway cars. It was creamy and fleshy. It didn’t stink too bad but I would say I’m good now. I’ve tried it. Chinda loves it.
We went back to our place to cool down and take naps. The heat really takes it out of you! We set our alarms so we would be ready to see Chinda’s maternal cousin and her family for dinner. We met them at a restaurant serving Southern Thai dishes. I had squid, grilled fish, shrimp paste that was so spicy it burned my mouth, pork belly, fried pork, shrimp and an egg dish with green veggies.
Chinda’s cousin and her husband have three sons. One of them is married and has a three-year-old daughter, Fin. Yves doesn’t usually take much notice of other children but he would squeal with delight when Fin came close. He wanted to eat, pinch and pull Fin’s hair. She was wonderfully patient with him.
What a delightful family this is. Of course there were presents. They gave Matt and Melissa a 2024 calendar and every month had a different photo of Yves. Some of them had been taken as recently as Christmas. I loved watching Melissa and Chinda catch up with family they don’t get to see often enough.
We returned to our AirBnB and began to pack up our suitcases. We have a car scheduled to pick us up at 4:45 a.m. to take us to the airport. We are flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We will be there for four nights. Brett and Brendon are joining us there.
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