03 August 2008 - OTOP Market Round II

03 August 2008 Sunday - OTOP Market Round II

We made it to the OTOP Market as planned. Fortunately the rain was in the afternoon today so we had no problems with it.

As Duang had informed me the previous day, tonight's entertainment was Thai rather than Lao. The MC and his Lady Boy friend were the same. The dancers were the same. However rather than an electric band, tonight's band was more of an acoustical 14 musician orchestra with traditional Thai instruments. The music was much more sedate - the type that you would expect to hear in the background at a temple. It definitely lacked the energy and drive of the Lao based music.

Monday night's scheduled entertainment is mahlam gongsing - which the type of show that Duang's brother performs. It will be more energetic than the Thai program in that it indicative of Isaan culture (a fusion of Lao and Thai)

I did manage to shoot 90 photos and will edit them on Monday. We left at 8:30 due to a lack of energy - our's and the entertainment's.

The other highlight of the day is we took a walk and found the "Ngee Soon Super Store". Ngee Soon Super Store is a ethnic Chinese run store that is a combination of Costco, Dollar Store, and Flea Market. It is about one square block with 6 stories. The upper 4 stories are reserved for storage and are not open to the public. The second floor has about 10% of it's space open to the public to buy clothing and household goods. The interesting aspect of the facility's architecture is that there is a central atrium from floor to roof.

The fame of this store is that it stocks some falang (foreigner) foods. I found tomato sauce so I will be able to make spaghetti when we move into our house. It is hard to believe but after two months in Udon, I have finally found tomato sauce. I was beginning to think that I would have to travel to Pattaya (8 hours each way) to get it.

There is no shortage of toothpaste - brands, sizes and quantities at the Super Store. There were two regular store aisles of toothpaste! The same is true for hand soap. The place is also packed with cosmetics. True to the rumors the store also has some falang foods. It will definitely be one of my resources. However the store is more of a dry goods store - it does not have fruits, vegetables, or fresh meats. It has a small refrigerated case with milk, butter, and processed cheese - not the good type of cheese.