Monday, July 25, 2016

RM300 for a 2D1N Hatyai Trip: Day 2 Itinerary

Let's continue with Day 2 Itinerary for 2D1N Hatyai Trip (Click here to read on Day 1 Itinerary)

FIRST STOP: Kim Yong Market

We woke up early in the morning and walked to Kim Yong Market, which is located about 800m away from our hotel. It is a local market, so expect to see people selling vegetables, fruits, kuihs, etc....

Uncle, why you photobomb me. =(
Outdoor area, Kim Yong Market.

Huge mangoes are everywhere! 

Indoor areas of Kimyong market.

Sis bought a corn as breakfast. Our all-time favourite - corn!

Barbeque pork! Must have for all Thailand trip of mine. XD

We also bought some kuih (dessert) to try. Some are different from those in Malaysia. Yumzz... You need to walk and see carefully to look out for hidden gems. Coincidently, we met our cousin and family there! Had a walk with them and ate our food in their hotel room @ Asian Hotel, which is just 2 minutes walk from the market.

After that, we planned to go to another market to buy nuts and chips back. However, no Tuk Tuk driver is willing to fetch us there because there are only 2 of us T_T. Hence, we decided to cancel that plan and proceed to Lee Garden area for last minute shopping. 

SECOND STOP: Burapha Bird's Nest-Shark's Fin (东方燕窝-鱼翅)
It is walking distance from Lee Garden and we stopped by here for a bowl of bird's nest. Shark's Fin is a BIG NO NO. We ordered the cheapest bird's nest to enjoy as our morning tea break. Haha! The main reason that we stopped by Burapha is that the shopping malls are not open yet and we need something to pass time. Clothes aren't attractive out there hence we decided to EAT!

The menu. Oh man! The shark >.< Poor thing

Here's our bird's nest (RM10 each) and they served us some ginseng tea as complementary drink. Nice. =)

They are selling different type of bird's nest and you can purchase if interested. 

THIRD STOP: Last minute shopping!!
At 10am, we left for last minute shopping at Odean, 7-11 and Watson. After that, we rushed back to hotel to clean up and pack our luggage. We checked out at 12 noon sharp! XD After keeping our luggage at the lobby, we walked to our lunch place.

FOURTH STOP: Kan Eng Restaurant (甘英餐室)
Kan Eng Restaurant is a famous restaurant for Thai food among tourists. We wonder how good is it hence we decided to give it a try. This restaurant is located on the way to our brunch place on the first day (Chok Dee Dim Sum). We spotted it on the first day hence we have no problem to find our way there for lunch.

Small shop with yellow signboard

It was so crowded when we reach. Luckily we found an empty table to fit 2 of us.

We ordered 4 dishes to share. Yes. 2 girls, 2 rice, 4 dishes. =P 

Seafood Tom Yum. 
This is quite a decent bowl of  Tom Yum as it suits my taste (spicy, but not too much)
Minced pork with basil leaves. This is a typical thai dish and it is very well cooked. Nice.

My all-time favourite stir fried coconut (椰心) with prawns. 
Sweetness of the coconut melts my heart away. 


Seafood Otak-otak (60baht)
This is quite spicy. Not as good as the one I had in Alor Setar, but this is good too!

Happy face with the food.

We really stuffed our tummy full with all these! So full after eating and it's so hard to move. XD We rested for few minutes then I went over to the counter to pay the bill. Another shocking bill! Guess what, the total bill was only 300 baht for all these!! Wow Wow... Now I know why so many people visit here. Cheap option for lunch. 

After eating, we spotted a vendor outside of the shop selling dodol. 
Was so tempted and bought some back home! =D *fresh dodol is chewy good*

Address: 50, Kimpradit Rd, Hat Yai, Songkhla.
Opening hours: 10.30am-2pm; 5pm-9.30pm

FIFTH STOP: E.P's Artisan Bakery
Did I just said that I was very full after lunch? But the next place that I went after lunch is a cafe. Oopss... That's how I gain weight! 

While doing research online prior to this trip, I found a cafe with good review. Coincidently, it is just located on the same road as Hotel Aloha. So, we decided to chill there before we make a move to Padang Besar. 

The main entrance of E.P's Artisan Bakery. It has very royal design. Look at the lamp!

At the counter. I love the design of this cafe. Looks very grand but the price is affordable.

Variety of cake selection. We had a hard time choosing one to try. 

Menus on the table.

I ordered a cup of cappucino as my caffeine dose. This cup satisfied my tastebuds. It has been a while since I last had a cup of nice coffee. 

The cake is not that good as it is a bit hard. But I like the flavour of the cake a lot. They gave so much fillings. 

Feeling royal. LOL! I should dress up to come here!

Enjoyed the street view while walking. Cute colourful buildings with quiet street.

Around 3.45pm, we catched a Tuk Tuk to bus terminal, which is near Central Festival, to look for van service that can bring us back to Padang Besar. The Tuk Tuk trip again costs us 100 baht. Fair enough this time as we have our luggage on board too!

Terminal 24 is the terminal for people to buy ticket to Padang Besar. Different terminals selling tickets for different locations. 
The van waiting at the terminal. Passengers will just hop on when it is your turn.

We have to wait 3 vans in order to get on board. We are required to purchase an extra seat for our luggage. Each ticket costs us 50 baht.

After waiting for about 45 minutes, finally its our turn to get on the van. The journey to Padang Besar immigration took us about an hour plus. The road on the way to Padang Besar from Hatyai is a bit scary, mostly jungle. We arrived safely at Padang Besar Thai immigration and queued up to get our passport stamped. Then, we walked to Malaysia immigration counter. KTM station is just on the right after the Malaysia immigration counter. Quite convenient. 

We arrived at Padang Besar around 6pm and still have 2 hours to our boarding time at 8pm. We still managed to walk to the Pekan Padang Besar to get some snacks for mom. However, the market there is about to close that time. Guess they close at 6pm. But luckily, we managed to get what we want =D

The ETS train arrived pretty early and we get to board at 7.30pm. ETS is really punctual and we reached Taiping in 2 hours. Surprising. 

Not to forget to mention my favourite banana cake bought in 7-11 back in Hatyai. It is only 12 baht each and it is comparable to Tokyo Banana. Hmmm... Craving starts again... =D

This ends my 2D1N Hatyai Trip Itinerary. Hope it may be beneficial to people who are planning to go to Hatyai by train =) CHEERS!!

3 comments:

  1. Hi,
    May I know where will the van from HatYai Bus Terminal to Padang Besar Train Station? Is it directly at Padang Besar Train Station and we will just need to cross immigration at train station or CIQ building next to train station?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi e, sorry for the late reply.
    The van dropped us at the immigration at train station. The road opposite. We did tell the driver we wanted to go to train station when we get on board.

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