Plan for the day
We had two destinations for the day, a corgi cafe and a night market. In between the two destinations we would be back to our hotel for a rest to escape the scorching heat of Bangkok.
Getting to Corgi Cafe
We drove to the Corgi Cafe, it was supposed to be a 20 minutes drive for a distance of 18 km. We left our hotel at about 9.45 am which should give us ample time to be at the Corgi Cafe by its 10.30 am session with the dogs. The route to the corgi cafe looked pretty straight forward.
route to Corgi Cafe
Unfortunately we had underestimated the roads of Bangkok and overestimated the ability of our Tom Tom car GPS! We got into a couple of one way narrow roads that forced us to do several detours, then we missed the same turn-off twice on huge highway because there were several exits too close to each other. In between we ended up taking a route to the wrong corgi cafe when we switched from our car-gps Tom Tom to google map.
Finally we reached our destination at 11.19 am about an hour late! The Corgi Cafe was located in a set-in area by the side of the road. There was an in-progress heavy road construction work just on the main road so we had to drive slowly not to miss the signboard that pointed to the set-in.
Area outside the Corgi Cafe
The next corgi session was 12.30 pm, we placed and paid for three entry tickets. Each ticket costed 250 baht which covered an entry for one person and a drink. We ordered two more cakes for 100 baht each so all in it was 950 baht ($41.70 sgd)
Lunch
In the set-in were a couple of eateries, the Corgi Cafe and a dog hotel (owned by the same owner of the Corgi Cafe}. We went to the eatery on the inner side which was recommended by the cafe owner,
A great lunch place near Corgi Cafe
The prices showed on the menu were very inexpensive. We ordered three items thinking that for those prices we probably would get only a small amount on each plate. Surprising the amount was not small, reasonably sized. We had a green curry, a fried rice and another fried vege dish and the three items came up to only 150 baht ($6.60 sgd), wow!
Delicious lunch at a eatery near Corgi Cafe
Corgi cafe
At 12.30pm we were back into the Corgi Cafe, we were assigned to specific seats. There was a full crowd, every table and seat was taken. We were served our drinks and cakes that we had ordered earlier when we placed the reservation. Soon about ten corgi were guided into the cafe. They were super cute, bouncy and agile. The only way to get them coming our way was to hand out “dog snack”, sold at 100 baht ($4 sgd) for a small bowl of it. The corgi session lasted about 1 hour. Yat Thong and I enjoyed the “corgi session” but If we were travelling on our own we would not care to visit a corgi cafe. This trip we had Lin Ying accompanying us and “corgi cafe” was just one of the things that thrilled “young people” so thanks to our daughter we turned “young” for an hour!
At Bangkok Corgi Cafe
Weekend night market
We were debating which of the two weekend markets to visit in the evening. There were Ratchada Rod Fai Train Market and Talad Rod Fai Train Market. “Rod Fai” meant “Train Market” which got the name from the original Rod Fai night market located next to a train track on the outskirts of Bangkok. Though Ratchada Rod Fai Train Market was nearer we decided to go to Talad Rod Fao Train Market because it was larger.
route to Talad Rod Fai Weekend Night Market
For the second time in the day we drove to our destination and this time we had better luck. The journey was pretty smooth going and as straight forward as that indicated by the map. Near the destination there was a bit of traffic congestion. There was several carparks around the night market and parked our car easily.
This night market was amazingt It was large (so many stores), quaint, clean, colorful and full of interesting stuffs.
Talad Rod Fao Train Market
We moved to the food sector of the market and there were so many stores selling all kinds of Thai street food. We decided not to have one heavy meal but to eat tiny bites of this and that! We had fruit drink, fresh fruit, dumpling, crepes, meat sticks, cakes, sushi, tarts, shave ice, meat balls, etc etc. We even packed a pork knuckle for our breakfast the next day because our stomachs just did not have any more space for it and the knucke looked too good to be left behind.
Yummy Yummy
The night was cool and it was such fun to move from one store to the next. Unlike our Chatuchak Weekend Market visit which was done in the morning (the day before) this walkabout was fantastic. There was no unbearable scorching heat to deal with. We were able to shop leisurely, picking up the pieces (ear rings and assessories) we liked, bargained a bit and bought many things.
Talad Rod Fai Weekend Night market