My Time Capsule: Hua Hin: PlearnWan Eco Vintage Village

14.6.17

Hua Hin: PlearnWan Eco Vintage Village





Shopaholic alert!

I super love night markets (okay, you may have heard this a thousand times already). While exploring Hua Hin I had a chance to visit a night-market-inspired shopping area. The name PlearnWan is derived from a combination of the English words, Play and Learn. Also in Thai words, Wan means yesterday. The initial concept is to bring back the retro atmosphere of Hua Hin in 1950s. As soon as I walked through the main entrance, I was welcomed by a yard-like with 2 storey wooden planks building on both side. There are several bridge that connects the both sides of the upper level. Every tiny ornaments are in classic retro theme. An atmosphere that contrasts with the modern city I was in some moments ago. It felt like I was flown by a time machine into the era when my grandmother was a mere teenager.


PlearnWan Hua Hin




For a while I was busy taking pictures of the surrounding before some adorable shops started to distract me. While I'm not crazy over expensive branded stuff, from time to time my heart melts when I see cute trinkets or hand-made traditional thingy at night markets. I would then started to have a conversation with myself, such as:

"Awww this is so cute! Sister would love this."
"This one would definitely look good on Mom! Don't you think so? Yes, just buy it now."
"Ohhhh these are the toys that Adrian (my nephew) has been looking for. He will be really happy!"
"Wow I really love this hand-made shirts. I don't know who would suit this but I'll buy it anyway and decide later who to give it to"

- and so on and so on until my shopping bags get so full it could burst anytime. *sigh* This is why travelling with a small suitcase never works for me. I just love buying stuff and love feeding people. LOL.

clock shop



As I walked towards the other end, some flavours wafted up my nose tickling my senses. I knew I wasn't far from my kind of nirvana. Food vendors! Thailand's wonderful cuisine perfumes the air with the sweet, sour and spicy aromas overflowing the deck. A row of wooden traditional food carts lining on my right and a row of food stalls on the left side. Now, what to eat first?


a retro food stall

Khanom Buang

fried goodies!

The list of Thai traditional food that were waiting to be savoured was endless. From Khanom Buang (the famous Thai crepe with meringue filling), Hoi Tod (fried mussel omelette), Mae Chud (steamed fish balls in spicy sauce), Thai roasted banana, Fried Chicken, Moo Ping ( pork satay), Khanom Krok (coconut cake) and a ton more. I'm fairly salivating right now while typing and imagining all these food :(


pork satay and pork sausage



After sampling some (a lot!) of the traditional food, I went down to browse around more shops on ground floor. Uh oh! Wrong move! I started the 'this cute, that cute' again. Besides souvenirs, there's accessories, beach essentials, antique watches, Shabby Chic decoration, hand-made bags, mugs and only God knows what. There's certainly a little something for everyone. I even found a corner stall full of dog themed merchandise! So sorry to drain you, dear wallet. But we are doing this to help the local economy, y'know.


great spot for taking pictures

What I love about PlearnWan besides fulfilling my inner shopaholic and satisfying my (then) happy tummy; there's abundance of photo spots. Cute colourful vintagey decorations that reminds me of my grandmother's house. Also even though there were quite a lot of visitors, it's not as crowded as the night market where people need to jostle each other just to walk through.


back to the 50s

Piman PlearnWan, picture from http://www.asiawebdirect.com/

When I posted a picture of PlearnWan on my Instagram, someone commented that there's actually some rooms to rent on the upper floor. I googled right away and went ga-ga over the room interior! Every rooms have different design which are too cute it looks like a doll house, a vintage one of course. Dang! Have I known it earlier, I would have extended my stay in Hua Hin. Oh well I might as well save the best for next time, right :D


PlearnWan, Hua Hin

I wish I had more time to spend at PlearnWan, unfortunately there was a dinner reservation waiting for us. With a heavy heart, heavy tummy and so much heavier shopping bag carrying all the items I bought, I bid goodbye to PlearnWan. I'll definitely bring my family to shop here on my next visit to Thailand.


PlearnWan
Open daily from 10am to midnight
Pethkasem Road, between Hua Hin Soi 38 and 40
(not far from Klai Kang Won Palace)


PS: the setting of this area (some of it) reminds me of Museum Angkut or the Transportation Museum that we had back in my home town Malang, Indonesia. Please do read my review 'A Haven For Vehicle Lovers' and let me know what you think :D


37 comments:

  1. Cool doc, Debb, as always.

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    Replies
    1. Merci, Jeffe! Comment allez-vous Mr. ZING ? hahaha :p

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    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't normally like shopping but this place looks and feels like a true cultural experience from eras gone by. But with such amazing trafitonal food, you really can't go wrong. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I really love PlearnWan because it's so unique :)

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  4. This market looks so cute! Love the bright colors and the food looks delicious!

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    Replies
    1. Absolutely! It's like a mall inside a museum :D

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  5. Everyone's pocket would drain on visiting this beautiful market. I like how the stall have been structured and its so neat. The food stalls certainly look inviting Yummy! :)

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    Replies
    1. well, at least my pocket was drained here, hahaha

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  6. As a shopaholic, I'd love to explore PlearnWan! It looks so colorful, vibrant and full of life!

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    Replies
    1. it is indeed! You will love it there, Ana :D

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  7. Oh my gosh, I've never heard of PlearnWan, it's darling! So cute and colourful.

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    Replies
    1. this is also my first visit to PlearnWan and I loved it so much :D

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  8. Such a well-maintained village. It is looking gorgeous. All pics are fabulous.

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  9. I have a dear friend who collects clocks of all kinds. I bet she would love to go shopping in that clock shop! I'll have to send this post to her so she can see it.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cher! I'm sure your friend would love that clock shop. I've seen some really unique clocks there :)

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  10. Love the bright market colors specially the first pic is fantastic. Would love to visit this place someday.

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    Replies
    1. it felt like I was in the middle of some kind of festival. So lively! :D

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  11. Never heard of this place before today. And now I'm hungry.

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    Replies
    1. There're some really amazing food there!

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  12. Wow, such vivid colors! I'd love to go shopping there. The shops are adorable, and you did a great job capturing them!

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  13. I love how colorful it all is! It looks like such a lively place to go shopping in.

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    Replies
    1. and you won't be home empty handed I suppose? lol :p

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  14. What a shopping area with all the vintage style and kitschy items to buy!

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    Replies
    1. yes, I really love the vintage details there

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  15. THat is a really cute place to stay. I recently met a lot of people from Hua Hin. I am actually looking at tickets now to go visit. They said I should go now or until the end of July. I would really love to see all this.

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    1. Isn't the hotel so cute and lovely? Hopefully you'll have a lot of fun in Hua Hin, Karina :D

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  16. I love a good market...especially in Thailand. I love the sounds, smells , characters and colours. Hua Hin sounds like an awesome place to scratch that retail therapy itch. Great article!

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    1. Thanks, Guy! Night markets in Thailand is one of my favourite in the world. I'd travel all the way to Thailand just because I miss their food and the night markets, lol :))

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  17. This place looks amazing! I was in Hua Hin a few years ago, but I guess it didn't exist then. Wow!

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  18. I'm originally from Taiwan and we have a huge night market culture there. Needless to say I absolutely adore night markets. I'm planning a trip to SE Asia for Jan and definitely can't wait to visit this one. Thanks for sharing!

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  19. Great place with great ambience... Hope I can visit Hua Hin

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