So Crazy Catea (a.k.a. the greatest travel companion) and I sneaked away to the land of smiles – Hatyai, to be specific – over the weekend.
For this first trip of ours, we had to put up with a 13-hour bumpy train ride on KTM’s Senandung Langkawi, which was impossible to sleep comfortably but a highly recommended experience nevertheless.
See the “compartments” in the sleeping class:
Well, not luxurious but what you pay is what you get right? RM60 (or RM54 if you opted for the upper berth) per person to me is rather reasonable.
Train departed from KL Sentral at 9.20pm and we were supposed to reach Hatyai the next morning at 10.30am.
One advantage of traveling by train is that you don’t have to deal with traffic hassle, unless you travel overnight by bus.
On our way back to Malaysia by bus, we we trapped in the traffic jam for 3 FREAKING HOURS MORE because everyone was hurrying back to Kuala Lumpur towards the end of the Hari Raya Haji day.
Anyway, back to the train…
Wanna know the width of the sleeping berth?
About my height.
So my feet chun-chun kena the barrier lor. After putting my luggage I practically had no leg space left.
I can’t imagine a person over 185cm tall sleeping in a berth like that.
The lower berth comes with a bigger window and part of it can be pulled open to about 40 degrees. That would make the berth more airy compared to the upper one.
Being a kiasu Cina, I printed out three copies of the train tickets and the ticket checker went like, “Kenapa print banyak-banyak?”
And I said, “Two copies (by two copies, my original intention was to give Catea one, which I never did) without the bar code and another copy with the bar code.”
And the ticket checker’s reaction to that was WTF.
Woke up in the middle of the night to the this sight…
.
.
.
JU-ON COMING DOWN FROM THE UPPER BERTH!
JK.
It was Catea’s hair strands.
I woke up at 7 or so the next morning to be greeted with these amazing scenery of the paddy fields in Kedah:
We arrived at the Hatyai station about an hour and a half later than the scheduled time due to a delay at the Padang Besar custom and immigration checkpoint.
KNN.
Upon arriving at the station, a few Thais came barging in the train from behind like siao. This freaked us out lor, as we thought we were so suey even before stepping out of the train in Hatyai already got greeted by a robbery.
It turned out they were from local travel agencies trying to promote to us their services. LOL.
It was a great feeling seeing Thai words on signboards and signages!
Catea and I checking into Louise guesthouse.
Guess how much it cost us per night?
Only 300 Thai baht, or RM30! If you think that is cheap, there are other guesthouses (on top of shops) that change only RM20 per night!
The policeman in the picture reminds me of something worth mentioning about Hatyai. There were policemen patrolling around major areas at night so that made me feel very secured as a tourist.
Good thing about Louise guesthouse is that it was situated RIGHT BESIDE Robinson.
Catea and I are not quite a fan of shopping centers in foreign countries but still if we were trapped in a rain, shopping centers would be the next awesome places to kill time!
We went to some market places, including the ASEAN market, Kim Yong market, and Suntisook Market about 10 minutes’ walking distance from our guesthouse and had lunch there.
See the big umbrellas in pink?
That was around where various market places were located. By “market places” they were actually three-story shops each compartmentalised into small units selling things like imported foodstuffs, electrical appliances, clothes, and even pornographic DVD’s.
Catea loved the chapfan there so much that she insisted to gaoguan the same store twice in two days! And this crazy chick could really eat, WTH!!!
Unlike Peninsular Malaysia, pork is widely available in Hatyai and cooked in many different styles. AND AND AND, it is also generously served in huge slices and portions, so if you’re a pork lover, Hatyai is probably your kind of place.
I remember Catea telling me there were McDonald’s pork burgers in Thailand but I forgot to check that out when I walked past the McDonald’s at Lee Garden Plaza.
Young Thai coconut I bought at 40 baht, of which after conversion cost me about RM4.
Which was freaking expensive, because afterwards Catea bought one for just RM3 from another stall. FML.
The coconut water was heavenly though!
After that, it was about to rain heavily so we went loitering at Lee’s Garden Plaza, a shopping center Catea insisted had to visit because it has her childhood memories.
That was when we got to see the Idea Market, which only opened over the weekend. People were very creative and made all sorts of creative and innovative crafts and sold them there at really reasonable prices.
Catea bought a pair of manmade (though I think it was more like semi-manmade) red polka dot shoes at RM20 or so and the lady customised them by knitting some decent knots around the shoes.
People in Hatyai were generally very friendly! You bargain with them for the 100th time and they would still smile at you, unlike our Ah Bengs at Petaling Street who would probably swear at you and chase you away.
Anyway, guess what this place was:
Mind you it wasn’t not a registration counter.
It was…
A FREAKING CYBERCAFE.
Why the hell was their cybercafe so sophisticated-looking one??
Last but definitely not least, the following picture was taken outside a hotel. Look at their flood-presenting measure.
And here comes the end of the first blog post on my Hatyai trip with Catea.
More to come, very soon.
Part II: A Hatyai Escape: When Floating Market Fails to Excite