2 Sept. 2011 - HatYai Day 2

Rise and shine peeps!! Had breakfast at Salma Restaurant just nearby our hotel.. Their roti canai memang marvelous! The tarik also.. Kalau duduk lama, conform naik segala blood pressure, sugar level...

 our roti canai with telur mata kerbau... best!

 beli newspaper sampai RM4!!

Bought some snacks @ 7E.. We were early actually.. Janji pukul 10pg, so we waited at the lobby pukul 9 (time Malaysia).. Rupa2nya HatYai baru pukul 8pg! *blush*.. Silap kira time!

10am.. Our taxi sampai.. Wonder why all the taxis look like private cars? Apparently the taxis here run privately.. No consortium or what so ever..

Our plan is to visit the Songkhla province.. Approximately 1 hour drive from our hotel.. I saw the Songkhla Provincial Court on our way there.. Was impressed with the architecture..

Our 1st stop - the Songkhla Aquarium... ฿300 for adult, ฿200 for kids.. Here is Abun (our driver) showing us the ticket counter... Tak masuk plan pun aquarium ni but he said this is the way he packaged the day trip program.. Tapi bosan gila aquarium ni.. But the kids love it..

Next, we went to Samila Beach which is 2 minutes away from the aquarium.. the sand at the beach is fine and white.. Air dia nampak cantik sangat but nobody was seen swimming there.. Since it was noon already, nak habaq, pasiaq dia panaih yang amat!! Tak jadi my kids nak build sand castle pelbagai. Ada a few kids main kite.. Took some pictures there..

Bought some souvenirs there for my sisters and SIL.. And for my daughters as well..

 the golden mermaid statue..

Lepas tu pergi Tang Kuan Hill.. Lalu Malaysia's Consulate masa nak pi tu.. We have to buy the lift ticket to get to the temple area.. ฿30 je per adult.. Kids ฿20.. Sikit lebih kurang macam naik Bukit Bendera kat Penang.. Well.. To tell you the truth, I've never been to Bukit Bendera although I studied in Penang for 4 years!! Hmmmm..

Sampai atas tu ada banyak words of wisdoms on the wall..

Banyak lookout points.. Overlooking Songkhla area.. Can see Samila Beach from here, as well..

Phra Chedi Luang, the royal pagoda at the top of Tang Kuan Hill, is the symbol of Songkhla City. It is an ancient Davaravati art constructed in Nakhon Si Thammarat period surrounded by a cloister. Since 1866, it was restored under the command of King Rama IV and in 1996 King Rama IX gave the Lord Buddha relics for filling in the pagoda.

Sala Phra Wihan Daeng - this pavilion was constructed under the royal command of King Rama IV and was still unfinished. In 1889 when the King Rama V visited the cape of Malayu and reached Songkhla, he came to pay respect to the chedi on the top of Tang Kuan Hill. He then, resumed the construction of the pavilion until completed, and also had a Naga staircase built from the pavilion up to the chedi, which was finished in 1897.

Going down was a bit of a challenge.. The queue was long.. And some tend to cut queue.. Kena sabar.. Nasib aircond kuat.. Going out, ada orang jual those decorative plates with your photo on it... Abun was waiting outside already.. Saw stalls of coconut ice cream.. Forgot to take pictures..

Now lunch time.. We wanted to go to Chekka Restaurant.. The restaurant is just outside HatYai area, on the way to Songhkla.. Unfortunately, Abun didn't know the whereabout of the place.. Kenapa lah dulu kita pi tak simpan address dia.. tried to google for it but tak jumpa.. Tomyam sedap situ.. My uncle recommended their asam pedas ikan tenggiri.. Tapi dia pun tak tau address.. Tau pergi sendiri je.. Melepas..

Since it was almost 3pm.. Abun suggested we go straight to the floating market and have our lunch there..

I did my homework before we came here and came out with this itinerary based on our tight schedule.. (Schedule window shopping je pun).. We've never been to Songhkla or floating market before..

The floating market is open from Friday - Sunday.. From 3pm - 9pm.. It is only 4km outside the HatYai area.. You can take a tuk tuk there.. Bila nak balik, you can the tuk tuk from a nearby temple area (cannot tell you the name of the temple sebab tak paham tulisan)..

We reached the market half an hour earlier but orang dah start meniaga dah pun.. Jalan2 at the dataran area.. Ada jual macam2..

 stall selling woven basket..

Lepas tu went to the riverside... The view - AWESOME.. Hubby and the kids was impressed.. They even gave the thumbs up.. I'm happy... They sell only food and drink at the floating market area.. And semua traders are Muslims!!! Halal food on board!! Rambang mata dah.. They got tomyam, soup, nasi goreng, nasi kerabu, ikan keli goreng, sushi, jelly, all sorts of kuih-muih, ice cream, drinks.. And the food is nice.. Sangat sedap.. And CHEAP!! Around ฿20-฿35 only!

The best thing is the food/drink you ordered is served in nice pottery containers.. So you get your food and souvenirs as well..

 sushi pun ada..

 ini nampak macam apom lenggang je pun.. hehehe

This is my kuey teow tomyam.. VERY DELICOUS!!! My mouth is watering as I type this... It has light soup texture with coriander taste which is slightly stronger than what I usualy have here in KL.. Sangat sedap sampai tersedak!

                                     

Hubby had nasi kerabu ayam.. Please note that my hubby is not a vege person.. Never fancy any type of kerabu.. But he said this one is different.. Bought nasi ayam goreng for the kids..

And what are these? Sunny side up?? Quail eggs!! Ni pun my husband had to finish everything..

These cute jelly is made of kacang dhal...

They got nice coconut ice cream... Macam2 ada!! Makan je sampai bloated!

Then had to buy one of those woven bag to pack our potteries.. LOL!

 ni DJ kat situ.... comel, kan? 

After that jalan2 lagi.. Walked across the bridge.. More stalls across the river.. Some selling tshirts, sandals, hairclips, bags.. Etc.. Some selling food (mostly tak halal)..

Ada fried insects jugak!! And this ulat goreng..

At the end of the bridge is also another entrance to the floating market.. This is the temple where you can take the tuk tuk..

Okay.. Dah cover the whole area.. But need to take some more pictures..

By the time we got to the hotel, it was already 5 something.. Freshen up and packed our 'hasil tangkapan'.. After Maghrib, we took a tuk tuk to the Night Market.. The tuk tuk driver in front of our hotel quote us ฿100 for 4 of us while the other one in front of the Hamid Restaurant quote us ฿150.. We walked further up to the end of the block where there were more people and the driver there quote us ฿20 per pax.. VOILA! Less than 5 minutes ride and we were at the night market already.. Another new place for us... I like this..

You can find almost anything here and the price is quite ok.. Traders here are friendlier too.. There were stalls selling clothing, shoes, hair band, hair clips, leathers, small decorative items (lamps, scented oil burner, scented candles etc.), wigs, undergarments, travel agency pun ada!

 

Some stalls need to organize their display area... No wonder some traders were reluctant to entertain us when we asked for different size or colors for shoes/clothes.. I wouldn't have the mood either kalau dah sepah macam ni..

 

Pasal food pun no need to worry.. Lots of halal food stalls... And I strongly recommend you try this scrumptious waffle of many flavors... Sedap!

Got my strawberry ice-blended..

Coffee kat sini pun macam best but too full already.. Besides, Nura and Nayla were bugging us to get back to the hotel.. They wanted to take the tuk tuk badly!

We were charged only ฿50 on our back.. Lucky us.. Perhaps sebab ramai passenger wanted to go the same area..

Balik2 terus dinner kat Hamid Restaurant.. Saw a few Malaysian celebrities like Sharifah Haslinda and Dee (Jangan Ketawa).. I don't really fancy the food at Hamid's compared to Salma's..

Malam tu we slept early.. We were extremely exhausted..