Holiday in Hatyai 4th to 7th December

One of my friends and I went on a holiday with a tour group to Hatyai from 4th to 7th December. It cost RM348 per person. I decided to go for the trip because it was school holiday and I had no prior plans. There were talks with my colleagues of going to Japan, Bangkok, Turkey and China but all fell through. So thinking that I had nothing to do, I agreed to the Hatyai trip. I didn't know then that one of my colleagues suddenly decided to go to on an 8 day tour of  Shanghai on the 11th to 18th  December as her plans on marking exam paper fell through and she was free. She saw this advertisement in the Chinese papers that there were still seats available for a Shanghai tour by Golden Century Tours and asked me and one of my colleagues whether we were interested to go. As the price was reasonable, we decided to go for it. As a visa (pasted on the passport) was necessary, the tour agency was informed of my impending trip to Hatyai. They were able to get my visa ready with a bit of extra payment within a week and in time for my departure to Hatyai.
We departed from Ipoh to Hatyai at about 11.30pm and reached the border in the wee hours of the morning. While waiting for the border to open, we ease ourselves, changed money and ate breakfast at one of the stops at the border. At about 6 am we went through the immigration and headed for Hatyai.
When we reached Hatyai, we were taken to some interesting tourist spots. First we went to Chang Puak Camp. There I sat on an elephant for the first time. I sat alone as my friend who had been there before did not want to do it again. The elephant took me and the trainer through undulating secondary forest. Half way through the journey, the trainer tried to sell his trinkets to me, but I told him no in sign language and luckily he did not persist. After the ride, I was given refreshment of water and fruit (pineapple and watermelon). I bought a framed photo of myself on the elephant.
After that we were taken to KuanYin temple, a beautiful place. Then we were taken to a shop selling food stuff. After shopping, it was makan time. Lots of dishes plus the trademark tom yom. After makan we checked into Colour Hotel for a rest before dinner.

On an elephant ride

Boddhisatva Avalokistvara

Touching the dragon's tongue for good luck

Lunch ..tomyom, trotters, fish, chiken, fried long beans......

At night we had Buffet dinner at Lee Garden Plaza. It cost only RM16.90 per head. The place was crowded. We were supposed to dine on the top floor but due to the crowd, we were relegated to a  lower floor.  The view outside the dining hall was beautiful at nigh. There was a huge crowd along the road leading to the Plaza as the Thais were celebrating the king's birthday. Most of them were wearing yellow in honour of the king. We walked back to our hotel. Along the way, we shopped a little. The street was dotted with stalls selling various types of food and goods.

My dinner

View from the top

Street stalls...reminds me of my hometown in the old days

 

The next day, we had an early breakfast. We had Tim sum,bah kut teh and century egg porridge An odd mixture. I can't imagine myself having bah kut teh for breakfast in Malaysia.There were two big bowls of century egg porridge which was wasted. The Tim sum was gone very fast. The sui yok too. Then we went to the Songkla aquarium to watch 'feeding fish and turtle show'. On the way, we stopped to take pic with a naga sprouting water located along a beach. After that, we went to the waterfront weekend pasar. It was crowded with tourists and locals. There were plenty of stalls selling food, clothings etc. Along the river there were sampans in rows selling various types of food. Very commercialised. After that we went back. Night was at our leisure.

Breakfast

Selfie

Fish feeding show

Naga sprouting water

Lunch

River boat stalls

The next morning we went to the morning market before our check out at 12.00 pm. We bought our breakfast there. The nasi ulam I bought was very nice. At about 1 pm, we headed home and reached Ipoh at about 9pm.

There were so many choices of food

The yam and potatoes were cut and packed ready for sale

Bought these authentic teochew kuih. Very rare items in Malaysia.