What I read
According to "Bangkok's forgotten shopping", Courtney Lichterman (2018) says that Aroon Niyomvanich who is 96 years old is working in a department store called Nightingale Olympic. Her family opened the store in 1930, and then it gradually change to a modern store. Durning the war, the store moved to the Chinatown. It's a seven floors building, and her family and she also live there. But now the store like a history museum, even an abandoned salon was kept on the third floor. She thinks everywhere is her memory. Maybe there are staffs’ number higher than customers’, her business is selling goods to some people who resell to villages. Lichterman didn't find inheritor and opportunity to change.
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My response
I am not familiar with Bangkok. So I introduce a place in Beijing. There has a special market named guishi. The meaning is ghost market because it opened at 3 am on Wednesday and end at sunrise. At first, only a few locals knew about the market. It originated selling antiques. Why the market just open at night? There had an interesting custom that sellers thought antiques cannot be exposed to sunlight. So many years later, people kept this rule. Now it has become a flea market. A year ago, a famous brand made a marketing campaign in guishi, and published some articles to introduce the interesting campaign. So lots of people were knowing about this special market. Some people bought some goods in guishi for their previous memories, and young people went there just for fun. The market is outdoor, and the only light is moonlight, so we need to take a flashlight to saw the goods. I never go there because I usually stay in bed at this time, but I want to try, I think it's a special experience.
In my country, cities are growing fast, but I still think it's good to keep histori buildings of cities. I don't agree that it has to demolish old buildings and build skyscrapers. Some time-honored buildings represent memories.
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My question
Do you know some interesting places in your city?
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Reference
- Lichterman, C. (2018, May 25). Bangkok's forgotten shopping. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180524-bangkoks-forgotten-shopping-centre
Thank you Na. I remember reading about that department store before when the BBC published the story. I also like the way you respond with a Chinese example. I can't think of any Sydney example that matches your example of a ghost store that opens at 3:00 AM, when I am also in bed these days. But thinking about it, my mind wandered to some of my favourite old places in Sydney, and I thought of a cafe called Piccolo, which was a great place to visit at 4:00 AM when I was a student. There wasn't much else open then after a night out, but Piccolo, in the Kings Cross, was also busy with late night party people on their way home, or very early risers having a coffee before work. It looked like it had been there forever, and the walls had photographs, records and other other things that had been signed by some of the famous visitors who had popped by. It's not a ghost store, but it was pleasant remembering this as I'm having my morning coffee right now. It brought back happy memories of fun times with some very old friends. Sadly, but laws that force almost all places to close earlier have killed that healthy night life, even though I wouldn't want to enjoy it these days.
ReplyDeleteI think this cafe is like a convenience store of 711. When I overtime late, the 711 is always opened and I saw the light would feel at ease.
DeleteI saw some posts about the Nightingale Olympic mall before on my Facebook feed. It became sensational after a lot of people shared about its story. I think it's a very interesting place to visit in Bangkok for people who's not into the mainstream attraction sites. It's incredible how they can maintain the place in a very good condition and how they can keep the business running among those modern malls in Bangkok.
ReplyDeleteThere is a music video on Youtube that shot in the Nightingale Olympic mall. If you want to see the mall in motion picture, here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRQXFiAc8yQ
There is another mall that also gives you a nostalgic feeling like the Nightingale Olympic. The Old Siam locates very near to the Nightingale Olympic. They are less than 5 minutes walk to each other. The Old Siam mall is a mixture between the new and the old shops. You can find american fast food shops and also the traditional Thai dessert shops there. The most well-known product in this mall is Thai silk and jewelry. Here is the official website for The Old Siam. http://theoldsiam.co.th
Thank you, Boss. The song is good. Maybe I will go to the Nightingale Olympic mall and the Old Siam next week.
DeleteThe news article that you bought in here reminded me about vintage fashion style that has become very popular. My brother has collected T-shirts that he wore them when he was in high school. So they were produced in 1980s. He collected these 1980s T-shirt style because he thought the design was cool. Music bands that influenced his clothing styles were rock brands such as AC/DC, Queen, Def Leppard and Kiss. Now that 1980s T-shirt has been reproduced—I went to ZARA shop at Siam Paragon for buying some cloths last week and the brand were selling 1980s T-shirts and denim jeans. The fashion style is Vintage T-shirt style. First time I saw it I thought that looked like my brother’s T-shirts that he worn when he was teenage. I loved that fashion style, but I did buy any of the vintage T-shirts. I went home and picked out some of my brother’s 1980s T-shirts to wear. By the way I think people love to copy or be inspired by the style of a previous era that they were belong to—it is like they have memory of their old things.
ReplyDeleteYes, It's a cycle of fashion trend. A few years ago, I find a skirt of my mum, it's beautiful and popular. I asked my mum where was buy it. She told me that it bought before 30 years.
DeleteI think I might know some interesting place around this city. About two or three years ago, I went to Khao-Yai with my family and visit one place that is adapt in the 'old-fashion' theme. One of the reasons that I love that restaurant is a souvenir shop.
ReplyDeleteI think it is called 'Waterside House resort'
Here is the link if you are interested in : http://www.banmaichaynam.com/
ps. I am so sorry because this website are written in Thai.
Wow! It is such an interesting topic. For me, I fall in love the ancient thing including the old market like this. When I feel it, I appreciate how precious it is by itself and time. In Thailand, I realise many places have this old feeling in common such as Lido theater. Lido Siam is well-known in Bangkok. This place had a famous period that people in previous generation used to go. In addition, Lido still keep its original system such as the method of paying ticket, I remembered the staff write the ticket himself. So it fulfilled with warm and ancient smell. But I am very sad, the Lido had closed already. It became the memory of one popular theater forever.
ReplyDelete