泰 Fantastic Thai Market on 12 September - Long Overdue Post @ Old Tanjong Pagar Railway Station [Singapore]

I have reservations to publish this post on the 泰 Fantastic Thai Market as it happened almost a month ago and was just a one-day event. But i had like a hundred over photos and it would be such a waste if i just hid them in the hard disk...

So here comes the journey to the defunct Tanjong Pagar Railway Station; walking was necessary as i no longer have a car and had to take a train to Tanjong Pagar MRT station and then strolled over. 

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station - the last time i was there in June 2011, the trains to Malaysia were still operating and i had wanted to record down the journey before its closure a month later.  

Vintage cars galore with ample photo taking opportunities! Click here to find out what other retro cars were there! 

Main ticketing hall was transformed into a wonderland for the kids; an old school arcade with claw machines, racing games machines etc.

Oh, i remember the daytona machines well as i was consistently ranked the last few racers whenever i raced with friends! Bet i can perform better now since i have more experience as a "manual" driver. I think.

Tokens - gone were the days when one token was priced at 20 cents. Although "part of the proceeds will go to Community Chest", the inflation of 1000% was still a stunner. 

Last look before we ventured to the railway tracks. 

I doubt any one actually paid any attention to the sign even though it was placed in a prominent location! Nowadays, people are relatively "text blind" and would only take notice when the area was cordoned off.

The perfect place to take a selfie! 

This kid was seemingly bored amidst the excitable crowd and took to playing with the granite rocks surrounding the tracks. 

Let's now go into the flea market sections known as megafash and fleawhere. As they formed the main bulk of the pictures, i shall let the pictures do MOST of the talking.

Before then, i would like to advise the organiser that for future events, please either provide more dustbins or engage more cleaners as unsightly rubbish was piling up on many tables!

Foot Loops -  now that i don't have a car, i am considering investing in a bicycle instead for convenience. The few worries i have were deterring me from doing so; space to park the bike, effort to maintain the bike and the fact that it's easier to steal a bike (mine, if i purchase one) than a car. 

Freda 'D - featuring both men and women fragrances,  these perfumes were handmade and if you want, you can choose to customise one to call your own. 

White is so boring and it's more fun to have colours, patterns and flowers adorning your canvas shoes! More for the ladies i presume. 

It Takes Balls - knit your own stuff and it takes balls of yarns to do that! Why not start with the recent fad; knit your own poke balls with a DIY kit at S$59 nett.

Accessories are a favourite in any flea market, especially one that's supposed to emulate the Thai street / night markets. Key difference was the price obviously.

However, there's a Singapore element and you may find local variances like the tee shirt with a "huat" character; likely auspicious to wear it when one goes for a game of mahjong. 

Another example (partially hidden); the bo jio tee shirt with a banana. Jio is banana in Hokkien but the word bo jio is used to describe "never invite". The local context is as follows: "Wah. You went Sentosa yesterday! Bo jio!"

Cushion covers, 100% silk ties. 

This Is Not An Original Store - can you guess which two brands are the company mocking at? If i am not wrong, it should be Adidas and Nike. The "just do it" has been replaced by "just f*beep* it".

Craft work accessories, notebooks, wax seal stamps - none of which is used by me as i suck in craft work, prefer emails and have unintelligible handwriting. 

Children Holding Guns - the name sounds so wrong although the designs of the green, handy notebooks would be familiar who have been through Singapore's national service! 

Painting  / Photographs on canvas - i think it's high time i should do something about the "photo wall" i wanted for my house. As i get used to staying on my own, laziness has also slowly crept in...

The blue allure of the ocean and the pretty gal brought us to the "beach" booth! 

Some of the visitors brought their dogs too; not sure if is allowed as there were quite a number of Muslim visitors. Back when i had a dog, i wouldn't bring my Rubee to such events unless the organisers specifically indicated they welcome dogs. Must be mindful mah...

The Owl shop where you can write your name; i should have bought a few to fill up the void on top of the air-condition trunking.

Flower tea, i presumed.

A nice bbq aroma brought me to this booth where corn and seafood were grilled on wire mesh over a garden wheel barrow! Smelled delish! 

Pricing of grilled items; S$5 for king prawn, S$6 for marinated squid and S$2.50 for corn. Damn, the Gang of Four would do a roaring business if they were to bring their BBQ expertise to this market! 

The Hunter's - The Better Nut Buter Company; with almond, pistachios, hazelnut, macadamia, cashew, there's a tendency to buy everything from the point of a nut lover! 

I still couldn't understand why people love Thai milk tea! The amount of sweetness was just too much to handle and this is coming from a person who loves sweet stuff. 

Fairy Floss - candy floss on crepes and in addition to the aforementioned, the stall also offered fairysmores and fairypuff ice cream!

Visitors lapped up the unique offerings and the queue was insanely long! Singaporeans have a high threshold for anything new and aesthetically nice and these traits have resulted in many food fads. 

Bean bags - i had to pull Alex away as he was on the roll to get one! The last time he bought one; it was practically unused yet took up a big space in my room. 

Airmocks - If not for the fact that my house was just a tiny three-room HDB flat, he would have purchased the freestanding hammock.

My purpose would have been different from Alex; i see the airmock as the perfect vessel to keep my niece and nephew out of trouble. Not now when they are so much heavier though....

It started pouring at this time! 

While many were scrambling to get out of the open areas and complaining about the crowd that built up under the sheltered sections, some were nonchalant about the rain and took it in their stride to enjoy the day. 

This screen in the middle was for the movie at night - personally, it was too small for the long stretch along the platform and i doubt those at the back can see anything. 

Photo of what appeared to be a comic character taking part in an official photo shoot. Bad day for a photo shoot with so many photo bombs attending the thai market. 

I am so not going to walk all the way to the beginning of platform just so that i can check out the other platforms. For a man who dislikes wasting time, running across in the rain would be the best course of action.

Here i am, on the other platform! 

The photo shoot from the other side. 

How i wish i can relax just like this gentleman in the picture. I did realise i can never quite relax in urban settings; there are always so many things to do and my conclusion was that only a beach vacation can truly put me in a relaxed mood. Speaking of which, i didn't plan for any trip to the beach this year and the monsoon season is coming! 

Lady in traditional Thai costume carving a watermelon.

Frankly, that's a bloody waste of good tasting fruits even though i couldn't deny that the display did draw curious stares from visitors. 

As this was a Thai market, of course there would be some Thai elements. How i wish the market was a permanent mainstay or at least held over a few weeks / months / weekends, in Singapore.

Retro tin toys - just wondering if this would appeal to the kids nowadays. My feel is that only those from my generation and / or earlier would appreciate the memories these toys bring. 

Old school hair cuts that were the rage in Bangkok when i last visited! 

I had to get a drink as the place had gotten relatively stuffy after the rain and chanced upon a booth selling Steward's bottled drinks! What's the best? Cream soda; i still remember the first time i had the amazing beverage was at Melody's Kitchen! 

Mak Mak Ice Cream - ice cream rollies! 

Beer - a necessity for night markets in Thailand. Not for me and Alex since we seldom drink alcoholic drinks. The cans of Carlsberg i had in my fridge remained untouched for months! 

The never-ending crowd.

One of the recent food fads - anything with salted egg and this one focused on just crispy fish skin! Those interested can check out the website here. In case you have been missing the hyperlinks, i would link up the text of the companies taking up the booths so long they have a valid web address. 

I almost came up with a separate post on this mango sticky rice as it was, simply put, not worth the money! I think it was about S$4-5 a serving which would have been fine given we are not in Thailand.

However, the skin was unpeeled and this would have made it difficult for people to eat. Anyway, why should i bother to be flustered when it seemed that business was quite good? Unless the customers only realised when they got their order. 

Chang Beer - a definitive brand for Thai beer! This reminded me of the Chang Carnival i went to back in April this year. 

Macaroons, biscuits and spontaneous owners! Sorry mates, i am not so much into macaroons and biscuit wise, i am still trying to hone my baking skill and hence, have plenty of biscuits at home.  

Flash Juice - nutritional vegetable / fruits drinks in light bulb containers. This would have looked cool in many events. 

And to have them placed in such a manner totally destroyed the image it was supposed to have! For the operators, put them in a wooden vessel or bring in a bath tub, fill up with ice and place the drinks. It would be visually more appealing to the customers. 

The Wicked Cream Co Singapore - torched marshmallows and others! Wickedly sinful indeed! 

Our Mini Posh House - the rainbow macaroons tree definitely blew our mind as it was so pretty and would be a nice feature in a child's birthday party! 

When the mass media was talking about the market, they featured a few shops and i recalled one of them was the raindrop cake! Honestly, it didn't appear that difficult to make but i am keen to try it.

It was sold out for the day and it's not even 1.30pm. As i had no wish to stay till 7pm, i guess i either have to wait for another opportunity or make it myself. 

Thai coconut ice cream at S$6.90. To think i paid about S$2 or less for a much better one with generous toppings at Chatuchak Weekend Market. Ya ya ya, the air ticket there is not worth the savings; that's the irritating phrase i often heard from people but put it this way, the cheaper prices for almost everything plus the fact that you are out of the country is SO WORTH the air fare. 

Old school snacks. 

Tio Smoke - edible balls infused with liquid nitrogen that would make you "smoke" from your mouth and nostrils! Something i would actually buy to scare the kids if they were there with me.

I regretted not buying the 'fart zone".... Family members would know i have a nickname unknown to friends and others in the public and it includes the word "fart". I am not going to announce it but you are free to ask my family members. hahhaaha.

JingScent - aroma products with an option for you to customise your own essential oil.

Vintage skirts / dresses for the ladies and gender neutral individuals.

Matchaya - Japanese tea blends and spread. This company was also featured in Sunday Times today for "eateries that sell their in house products".

Dresses for the girls.

Made with vintage comics, i believe serious comic collectors would be incensed by the apparent waste of maybe good quality comic books to decorate the rings, pins and pendants.

Nestled Ellipsis - a local stationery brand with a hidden meaning. Check out the link at the beginning of this statement to find out more! Aside from giving readers the option to know more about the company, i put up the link so that you can also check if they have ongoing events that you can attend to check out their products physically.

Partly sponsored by Thailand Tourism Authority, i guess.

This needs no further introduction even though the discount of a mere S$2 if you buy two big ones isn't anything to scream about.  

Kerbside Gourmet - food truck concept that has yet to gain much traction in Singapore! 

Plain Supplies - simple watches that would never go out of fashion and the pricing was really economical. I was expected at least about a hundred but according to the website, nothing's more than S$59! 

A graffiti filled billboard for the "Faces of Singapore" 

Tee-Sarus - products with an innovative local twist! I am going to bookmark this as many products are fantastic as gifts for the upcoming Christmas! 

Pottery products - you know what? I have been searching for a decent sized mugs for chawanmushi and didn't realise there was a suitably sized one in this picture! 

Float on Air - my house was devoid of any plants and i have been thinking of livening up the space by having plants but only plants with minimal maintenance. Air plants seem to meet my criteria! 

Crafted Edition and Co - personalised leather crafts that were aplenty in Bangkok. 

Henna - i was more intrigued by the lady's rainbow hair.

Bags with designs from popular snacks. This would be something i would buy in school as it was perfect for my pens, pencils, highlighters, eraser etc. 

Cacti - I mentioned having low / no maintenance plants in my house and a cactus would have been suitable. Strangely, they have died under my care. 

Fayy Terrarium - terrariums too have suffered a fate similar to the cactus. 

Handmade and customisable pouches, bags, passport covers etc. Pity i didn't capture the company's name in my photos... 

Buy a bottle of plain water (1 for S$1.50, 2 for $2.00) and support people with disability. I am guilty to have splurged on a bottle of Steward's Cream Soda when it's so much more meaningful to buy a bottle from the above booth. 

Pagonia Bleu - lavender products for a good night sleep! Hm..... the plush toys would look good on top of the air-condition's trunking...

Books! Now that i have started picking up on reading again, i again regretted not checking out the bookings on sale. 

After i moved in to my new house, i have actually gotten a lot lazier (household chores can take up a lot of time) and would not have ventured to such events when there are so many people! In addition, i am no longer blessed with a car! 

Vintage motorbikes! Nevertheless, i enjoyed myself at the 泰 Fantastic Thai Market and look forward to its next event; hopefully one that is not just a one-day occurrence.

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Location

Old Tanjong Pagar Train Station

Map

As above 

[NOTE]

This event was only for one day; 

12 September 2016