HatYai, Thailand Trip (Part 2)

 So on the second day, is a jalan-jalan day.

We went breakfast at a Muslim restaurant called Rocky Muslim Restaurant. There, we asked about Municipal Park and Floating Market when the owner offered to bring us there by van for only 1000 baht (RM100). Malas to fikir banyak, we said ok. Later on, since another group of Malaysian joined us, the price lowered to 800baht/2 person. If you want a nicer ride (which I think our van is just fine), you can rent a taxi or ask a travel agency to arrange it

Breakfast.

 The trip was around 1pm. With 4 hours to spare, we went for mosque hunting.

We walked, and walked to the north side of the city for 1 hour with only the city map as our guide.

We got lost.

Then it started to rain. Really really heavily. Luckily, we were near a musholla/Muslim Hatyai Association centre. We run there, and rest for a good 40 minutes. You know how when an unexpected event happens (may it be because of nature or human error), and you can't do anything about it, but to just enjoy it? Well, this is one of it. Layann.

On our way to mosque-hunting when we've been attack.

Men with guns. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Motorbike biking.

Thailand's king. His Highness pictures were everywhere. I thing maybe our PM were inspired by him lah.

Musholla/Hatyai Muslim Association Centre.

Chillex-ing, waiting for rain to stop.

When it's near 1pm, we decided to leave and continue our search for the mosque. A helpful Muslim Thai help us, and within minutes, we were there. We took some pictures, and headed back (we didn't go inside, since many guys were there for Jumaat prayer).

As we walked back, we heard the call of prayer. Loud and clear.

"Allahu akbar, Allaaaaahu akbarr!"

It was still drizzling.  Lailah and I looked at each other, and just smile. Smile.

mosque hunting

Masjid Jama'

Sooooo off we go. We were joined with a family of 5 from Langkawi. Friendly bunch of folks.

First, we went to Ice Dome. For 300 baht, you can enjoy (and feel) a cold ice sculptured exhibition inside. Not really our thing, we just waited outside.

Then to Chang Puak Camp. It is an activity camp which has elephant riding, archery and ATV rides. Lailah chose elephant rides (500 baht for 30 minutes) whereas I chose to try Indian archery (150 baht for 10 arrows). The highlight for me there, was feeding the elephants. No elephant's snot are too big for me to handle. Hehe.

Then, we went to Buddha and Guan Yin temple. Located at a hill, it gives you an amazing view of Hatyai City. Well worth it. There's also a cable car there for 400 baht. We chose to walk between the Buddha and Guan Yin temple. Along the trek, you can find other statues, though it's not well maintain compared to the ones in the temple.

Thais pouring water to Buddha statues

At outside Ice Dome Park

Chang Puak Camp

elephant riding

Hasil archery saya!

Buddha temple

people praying.

Bells

View of Hatyai City

Kami!

Mari ber-trek ke bawah!

Guan Yin temple. See the Buddha statue? That is how far you have to come dowm from Buddha temple to here.

Statue on the way to Guan Yin temple

 So the last pit stop, is the Floating Market.

It is an attempted floating market like in Bangkok. They sell food from their sampan, which is kinda cool for someone who haven't experience that. Food price range between 20-50baht and sellers were mostly Muslims. My favourite is definitely their drinks. Instead of plastic or paper container, they use a designer clay thingie. The have a varieties of food to chose. So don't worry, and just eat.

Makan Lailah makan,

Buah shaped dessert

Sampan

Drinks!

Dinner. Yang last, ice cream kelapa dalam clay pot tak ambil gambar.

makan!

Then we headed back.

The city  was jammed pack with people. Traffic was crazy. Water was everywhere. It was Songkran Eve anyways.

When we arrived, Lailah chose to call it a day. I on the other hand, headed to the muay thai ring -again.

I will say this. There's something about watching live muay thai fights . The shirtless oily fighters, their pre-dancing ritual, those high kick ass kicks, the live instrumental music, the "hooo! hoo! hoo!" cheers from the crowds..ahhhh..I was glued there. Never did I thought I will enjoy such painful 'sport'.

And, that was the end of our 2nd day Alhamdullilah.

Hatyai, Thailand Trip (Part 1)

Salam,

So my friend and I decided to go for a weekend budget getaway.

We chose Hatyai in southern Thailand because it is accessible by train. We booked our train 3 days prior our departure. At first, I tried to book it online, but after 3 times of unsuccessful transactions, I just gave up and went to KL Central to buy our tickets.

After more research on Hatyai, I found out the date we chose falls on Songkran Festival, Thailand's New Year or famously known as the Water Festival. I just thought, "Cantek lah!".

We meet up at KL Central. And by 9.30pm we boarded the train.

We chose the sleepers seat. Which btw, the main reason why we wanted to take the train. Ehe! It was surprisingly very comfortable. There's a clean pillow, a thin sheets act as blanket and a small long curtain which easily turns your seat into a personal private space. Our neighbors were made of a group of Indonesian Chinese seniors, another group of Kl-ites ( whose sole purpose is to participate in the Songkran Festival) and a Mat Salleh couple, who seems confused to be trap with a bunch of noisy makers.

Tickets. Never lose it. They'll checked twice in the whole 12 hour journey

Loving it!

Lailah and her space.

How the place looks like.

I will say, I absolutely love my bunk/upper berth private section. Even more, was the sound of the moving train. It sounded like a lullaby! Tidoq habis la kami.

We reached at Padang Besar, Perlis around 930am for our immigration process. Unlike Johor-Singapore immigration, here they do things the simpler way. One building, 2 immigration office, side to side. It took us less than 30 minutes to go through both immigration.

After finished, we rest for awhile at the only food stalls there. Usually there will be a gap of 30 minutes before continue boarding the train to Thailand. So yes, no rush if you want to eat there. That 30 minutes is actually used to release some of the train coaches. From 7 coaches, only 2 coaches will enter Thailand. A rule made by the Thailand governmen

Morning. Lepak di luar.

At Padang Besar, Perlis after the immigration process.

Passenger waiting the train to Hatyai

When we reached, we took a tuk-tuk to the city center. There'll be plenty of tuk-tuk drivers, so no worries for transportation. Paid 20 baht and off we go. But after I stayed there for awhile, did I realized the city center is actually walk-able from the train station, only a 20-30 minutes of walk. If say, you're like to walk lah.

We drop at Lee Garden Plaza Hotel (which supposedly to be in the middle of city center), and start to find a place to stay. Beside Lailah and I, we were with another 2 guys, who we made friends during our train-break-time. So the 4 us wander from one hotel to another. Now, the thing is most of the hotels we went were fully booked on the eve of Songkran. We then decided to go to a travel agency (which is plenty there) and asked them to help us find a less than 1000 baht per night hotel. Maka, Rado Hotel jadinya!

Rado Hotel if I may say, is perfect for us. It is at the city center, cheap (1st night 550 baht, 2nd night on Songkran eve 1200 baht-which is around RM125/2 nights, and it should be cheaper on non-festive season), have the basic necessities (clean room, tv, fridge, fresh towels everyday) and because it doesn't provide with breakfast (another factor why it's cheap) is just perfect for us!

So yeah, eventhough it's such a gamble to go there without prior booking (esp on a festive season), I guess we were lucky. I do not recommend it for others though, since we met a family who had to stay outskirt from the city because they couldn't find a room. But on a non-festive day, go ahead, and just find a hotel there.

Beds. A bit hard actually. Layan.

Clean bathroom, except for the constant 'blop' sound from the toilet

We rest for awhile, and meet up with the guys for lunch. Muslims restaurants are everywhere around Hatyai city center, so a yay yay for us!

After that, we went our separate ways, the guys wanted to go to Municipal Park, whereas Lailah and I opt for walking around City Center. The city is busily preparing for Songkran festival, so you can see tents and stages are putting up, waterguns are sell everywhere (from small to big guns), roads aew block from vehicles, and big blue water reservoir are at every corner of the streets.

Lunch. Tom yam!

Water supplies are everywhere

Waterguns

Songkran festival

We took our time at Suntisuk markets (which has a Sungai Wang vibe to it), and then afterwards aThai Massage at the Graden Plaza Hotel. For 36 baht (around RM36), we had our 2 hours session.

It was my first Thai massage. It went something like this: "press, press, press, hold, bend my limb in an awkward position, hold, press, press, press, hold". It was oke larh, for a first time experience.

Simple clean bed.

Looks a bit creepy. For a moment, I thought I'm in a brothel. Wahaha!

Lailah who's the one excited with the massage.

By the time we finished, it was Maghrib. Hawker food are everywhere, and most of it were Muslim sellers. So again, no problem in finding food. Oh btw, some Thai Malay Muslims can't speak Malay so start with English, if he/she replied in Malay, then continue with Malay.

Sotong kering

I chose pulut mangga!

Eventhough it is not yet Songkran (not even the eve!), lots of people already start to play with waterguns. They have no mercy, attacking whoever passes by, even those watergun-less (like us!). Beside that, they'll put scented white water powder mix to you, preferably your face.

So a a bit of history. Songkran is the Thai's New Year. So during this time, people will pour water on Buddha statues/images for a prosperous year. Throwing of water to people on other hand, originated as " A  way to pay respect to people. By capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder" (wikipedia) .On other words, bringing good luck.

Isi peluru dulu

Crowds

Watch your back!

A small Buddla Statue for people to pour water on it.

We walk, and walk. Got ourselves wet. Eat, and walk again.

Food!

Otw back to our hotel, we saw a fighting ring in the middle of a road junction. To be specific, a muay thai fighting ring. So we hang out there for awhile, and watched a muay thai fight. A first timer, I watched it with aww. Lalat definitely boleh masuk mulut.

Muay Thai!

So yeah, a good Alhamdullilah first day.