HATYAI TRIP - PART 1

HATYAI TRIP - PART 1

"This has been a long over-due post. How long? Since December 2017."


Last Christmas, my mates and I decided to explore and enjoy the food of Hatyai. Unlike the Langkawi trip, we came up (them really - I was useless as usual) with a plan on transportation, places we wanted to visit, and most importantly the food to EAT as if there was no tomorrow. We were there on a budget and had no intentions to shop or do the things people do in Thailand (if you know what I mean - jk :P). We just wanted to end the year eating amazing food, with great friends and reset for 2018!

You can also watch it here!

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1. From Arau, Malaysia.
Soon after Fajr prayer, we took the KTM from Arau - Padang Besar (RM3.20, one -way) to get to the Malaysia-Thailand border. The plan was to arrive there early to avoid the long queue.  We reached immigration about 20 minutes to 7 am which we thought was pretty early.

Our plan didn't work LOL. I blame all the selfies we took while walking to immigration. We spent about an hour to get through.

*Please bring a pen with you as you are required to fill a form there.

2. We then scrolled downhill towards Padang Besar Train Station. We reached at around 8 am and bought our tickets to the city (50 Baht/ ticket). We were told that the next train was scheduled to arrive at 8.30 am but it didn't. What did we do while waiting? Well, we talked, we heard Syuk sang Adele, we learned a couple phrases in Thai (which I would be using frequently later on the trip - Yan would agree :P) and of course took some more photos.

3. The train only arrived at 10.30 am. We got on the train and tried looking for our seats (numbered according to the ticket) but it was hopeless. The numbering system was not applied. It was on the "first-come, first-serve" basis. The condition of the train was quite bad and needed refurbishment. It was not a comfortable 1-hour ride. But what do you expect - a bullet train?

4. Once we arrived at Hatyai Junction, the first thing we decided was to grab something to eat. That would be the first proper meal we were about to have in Hatyai.... and we got ourselves... burgers. LOL. We were too hungry and that's the fastest thing we could get at the station.

Halal and pretty good

5. After our meal, we agreed to WALK to our hotel. I couldn't recall the distance but trust me it was definitely not that short. Not at all. Tut tut drivers were all over us offering to take us on a ride but we refused as we wanted to explore the city a little bit first. It was noon, and we were with our backpacks - I was very close to ditch my friends and get in one of the tut tuts to the hotel. Hahaha.

Those are not my friends btw :P

6. Before checking-in, some of us bought the mobile internet plan. I couldn't remember how much but it was cheap. Trust me it's cheap.

I wished SHE was my friend :P JK

7. Check-in: Hi Season Hotel

View from the hotel

8. After freshened up and a little bit of rest, we were all hyped up (and hungry) to head to The Floating Market! We all took the tut tut that cost us 250 Baht to get there.

*We then realised it's cheaper and better to just book Grab. So, if you want to ride on the tut tut, just do it once or twice for the experience.

9. Floating Market
If you are in Hatyai and homesick, please come to the Floating Market. I think 80% of the tourists there were Malaysians. LOL. But hey, that's not the point. What's great about this place is - its FOOD! The price was affordable and yes, almost everything we tried tasted great! My personal favourite: sticky rice and fried chicken.

*The market also offers a wide range of souvenir products and it also provides a praying area for Muslims :)

So many people!

It was a hot day I guess...

These are nice! Sweet potato fritters!

They all put on make up here :)

TRUST ME YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY THIS!

If you are on a diet, and have the will power, you can have this :P

Performance of the traditional dance

Milk Tea :)

To be continued...

MY FIRST SHELL OUT FEAST EXPERIENCE: SEAFOOD MAT ROCK DER, KUALA PERLIS

In December last year, my friends and I were in Arau, Perlis. We were there for a quick one-night pit stop at our friend’s place, Syuk before making our trip to Hat Yai. Before our visit to Perlis, Syuk had already settled on to take us to Mat Rock Der Restaurant at Kuala Perlis for a highly-rated seafood dinner.

1.    Getting There

It was just a 20-minute drive to get us from Arau to Kuala Perlis. So if you are from Arau, distance shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Restaurant Address:

2 Gerai MPK, Persisiran Pantai
02000 Kuala Perlis, Perlis
Malaysia

2.    Parking

No proper parking is available there. So you just have to park your car at the side of the road but make sure you park properly as the surrounding area is quite dark and vehicles seem to be moving quite fast.

3.    The Restaurant

It is just a medium-sized stall with small number of tables available. When we were there it was fully packed. I suggest that you make a reservation first before dining, just like Syuk did.

4.    The Food

Portion? We ordered the portion for 6 people. Our small table was piled up with quite a huge spread! We were barely able to get every plate on it. But we were hungry and it looked like it wasn’t enough LOL. #NafsuMakanLOL  

Fresh? Oh, yes it definitely was!

Taste? The seafood were prepared in a balanced flavoured, not overpowering spices. Not spicy and not too salty, not too sweet. Everything was well balanced. I prefer it that way as it draws out the fresh sweet flavours of the seafood itself.

One of my favourites

Yummy!

Love this!

Crispy fried squid! 

5.    Price

For the seafood set for the portion of six people plus rice for 8 servings (YES WE NEEDED MORE LOL), everything was totalled up to around RM 120 inclusive of drinks. So that’s about RM 20 per person. For me, with the quantity and freshness of the seafood, THAT was cheap.

6.    Rating

7.5/10. I have not experienced any other shell out dining elsewhere so I have nowhere else to compare to. But I really enjoyed the food there and totally recommend for others to try whenever they are nearby. Thanks Syuk for bringing us there!

ROTI CANAI

Roti canai or roti kosong

Roti canai is an Indian-influenced flatbread widely available in Malaysia. It could be found at all local mamak and some Malay stalls. This dish is usually eaten during breakfast or tea time. They are also called Prata and Porotta, in different regions of the world.

The dough of the roti canai is made from such simple ingredients: plain flour, fat (oil or ghee) and water. But making them is not that easy. The dough needs to be flatten, tossed and stretched multiple times until it is paper thin and then folded before placed on a large flat pan. Only experts can do this. Watch the video if you think you can master this technique on one go.

Preparing the roti canai

Roti canai is delicious by itself but goes extremely well with dhal (lentil curry) or overnight curry – you know what they say, “overnight curry tastes better!” The dhal and curry are also served with a spoon of sweet and spicy sambal (Malay chili condiment) – trust me, the sambal takes this dish to another level!

Egg roti canai or roti telur

The roti canai is versatile too! They come with many variations such as roti telur (with egg), roti sardin (with sardines) roti pisang (with sliced banana) and believe me, many more!

The crispy exterior and fluffy interior of this flatbread is such an amazing dish to have. Having it together with teh tarik (pulled tea), this meal will definitely make you addicted for more!