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...

Frozen Lunch: Chicken and Egg Wrap

In the world we are living in this day and age, all of us seem to be very busy and on the move throughout the week. Either with work or school, we sometimes find it tricky to decide on what to eat that is cheap, quick and convenient to adjust to our hectic schedules. 

Many defer to buying meals as this will save a lot of time but at the same time forgetting the extra cost they are spending and lacking the concern with the nutritional content of the food they buy. Cooking your own meal shouldn't be such a hassle if you plan it well. Plus, this will allow us to include in the healthy components to our meal and yes, this will save us a lot of money too!

Chicken and Egg Wrap is one of the perfect meals that is packed with good proteins that will fill you up instantly and last for a long time. You can make a bunch of them at one time to be frozen and you will have your meals for the week already sorted. Find out on how to do this below!

WATCH THE VIDEO ON HOW TO DO IT HERE!

INGREDIENTS

1. 5 eggs
2. 2 large chicken breasts
3. 2 onions
4. 1 large capsicum
5. Red cabbage
6. 1 tsp of paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper and white pepper
7. Olive oil
8. 5 Tortilla bread

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl, marinade the chicken breasts with the mixture of olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the marinade set in the fridge between 30 minutes to 2 hours.
2. Chop onions and capsicum as well as red cabbage and set them aside.
3. Get your pan nice and hot on medium high heat and drizzle some olive oil in the pan. Then throw in the chopped onions and capsicum. Stir once in a while and let cook till the onions are caramelised and the capsicum soften up a little bit. Set them aside.
4. In the same pan, pour some more olive oil and grill the marinaded chicken breast for roughly 5-7 minutes on each side depending on how thick they are. Once they are cooked, take them out and set them aside to rest for a couple of minutes and start slicing them into thin strips.
5. In the same pan again, pour a tad more olive oil and add in your eggs. Season with some salt and white pepper and start making your scrambled eggs. Once done, set them aside.
6. Time to assemble: Place a tortilla bread on top of a piece of aluminium foil. Add a small portion of each and everything (red cabbage, onions and capsicum, chicken strips and eggs) on the tortilla and then slowly roll/fold it all together, tucking in both sides and secure the entire wrap with the aluminium foil.
7. Repeat step 6 for the other 4 wraps.
8. Once completed, store all the wraps in a ziploc bag. Place the bag in the freezer for your weekly consumption.

SUGGESTIONS

1. I live in the hot tropical country of Malaysia and the frozen wraps will definitely be 'defrosted' by lunch time. If you're in the colder climate, I suggest you cover the wrap with tissue and reheat it in a microwave in your office pantry.
2. Do not add any condiment in the wrap to be frozen as this will make the wrap soggy. Pack the condiment in a separate container and turn it as a dip for your wrap instead.
3. You can also make your own flat bread instead of using the store-bought tortilla. The recipe for the flatbread could be read HERE.
4. The longer you marinade the chicken, the better it will taste.
5. The process of folding the wrap requires practice. Look on Youtube for some tutorials.

5 THINGS TO EAT IN ALOR SETAR, KEDAH

Alor Setar is said to be one of the best places in Malaysia to get delicious and mouthwatering food. Whenever and wherever you are in Alor Setar, you can always have ample choices of food varieties to fill you up either for a big full-filling meal or for even just a casual snack in between them. Not only these are easily to find but most of them are very cheap and affordable. Cheap and tasty, what more do you want, people?! LOL

Now, the list for famous stalls and restaurants in Alor Setar to find good food just seems endless. Everyone always have their favourite joints to get their meals. Below are my personal favorite places to eat whenever I am in Alor Setar.

You can also watch the full food experience below!

ROTI JALA/ ROTI KIRAI STADIUM

For breakfast, rather than having your typical roti canai or nasi lemak, having a huge folded roti jala at the Darul Aman Stadium would be a treat! They are very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside are perfectly served with a slightly sweet and spicy chicken or beef curry gravy.

PRICE: RM2.50 (plain), RM3.50 (special – with an egg).

GULAI IKAN TEMENUNG, KUALA KEDAH

As most Malaysians eat rice in their meals for lunch, having lunch at Kuala Kedah where they serve rice with fresh fish such as mackerel and snapper cooked in a thick and rich curry gravy is definitely to die for! As located near the jetty at the sea, the restaurant prepares the curry earlier on and will chuck in the fresh fish in the gravy before serving them hot to the customers. This ensures that the fish is still fresh, moist, soft and heavenly delicious! Simply by having plain rice with the fish curry will make you come back for more!

PRICE: VERY CHEAP. I don’t know the breakdowns for each dish but for 3 medium-sized mackerels, 2 pieces of snapper, one fried egg and half of a salted egg, it only cost RM27. Yes, including 3 plates of rice and drinks!

MEE ABU

Mee Abu is certainly one of the best restaurants to get satisfying and delicious fried noodles. The restaurant usually prepares the fired noodles in a large batch (rather than cooking them one by one to fit your order). The cook will finish off the serving with how you want the fried noodles to be – such as the spiciness level or with or without vegetables. What’s amazing about the fried noodles here is the quantity of noodles as well as what they put into the dish. They are generous with the quantity of noodles and fried tofu and adding some cuts of soft flour fritters as well as chunks of sliced spleen. Not only it taste great, but this dish will certainly make you full!

PRICE: RM5.50

MEE HAMID

Mee Hamid is also famous for their fried noodles. The noodles are cooked slowly and are mixed together with a nut based gravy. This create a rich flavor to the dish and coats the noodles to produce a gooey texture to it. What makes this dish stands out is that apart from some sliced spleen and fried tofu, they also put in cubes of potato and both soft and crispy flour fritters that all go incredibly well together. These bits of ingredients just make the dish rich in flavours and textures! The crispiness of the crispy flour fritters just makes this dish even more exciting! Genius. Simply genius!

PRICE: RM5

NASI LEMAK ROYALE

A trip to Alor Setar would not be complete if you don’t have the famous Nasi Lemak Royale. This is the perfect dinner meal. Not to be confused with the ordinary nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) the rice here is nothing like that as it consists of aromatic, spiced, yellowish soft and fluffy rice that is then mixed with some spoonful of delicious thick and rich curry and dhal gravies. You can choose to have it together either with the proteins of your choice (chicken, prawns, squid, and salted egg to name a few) as well as some veggies. The rice itself is rich and delicious. The MIXTURE from the different gravies just creates a rich, spicy, sweet and salty taste that will leave you addicted in each and every single bite of the meal.  

This dish is great to be eaten at their stall but trust me, if you want an even more amazing eating experience, have it packed to takeaway and let it ‘rest’ for a few minutes first. This will cause the ingredients to be mixed and glued together that will just elevate the greatness of the flavours!

It’s not a fancy nor a pretty meal. It is a sloppy dish and you’ll get sloppy eating this, but THAT is just part of the Nasi Lemak Royale experience.

PRICE: RM7 (with a piece of chicken and extra rice and gravy!)

This list is beneficial if you have a full day to spend in Alor Setar. You can easily have everything on this list from breakfast, tea time to dinner!