Jom Hatyai
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Hatyai is a really great place to eat. The food is delicious, cheap and most importantly halal.
Itinerary for a one-night stay
As a summary
This is a two-night trip. The first night is spent sleeping in the bus, the second night in a hotel.
Budget
Bus and hotel cost RM 200.
Food and local travel cost RM 150 max.
Shopping money cost RM 0 to infinity.
Let us start our journey with bus from Puduraya to Hatyai.
The journey up north
Have you seen double-deck buses plying our highways? Don't they look nice and comfy? Have you ever stepped inside one of those?
I choose the bus as my transport because it takes me from KL straight to the doorstep of the hotel in Hatyai, it is cheap (costs RM 100 return), comfortable and most importantly safe.
Buses now are modern, safe and comfortable.
The bus that I take departs from Puduraya at 10.30 pm, 10.45 pm and 11.00 pm.
Because of stiff competition, bus companies are making their fleet modern. Bus seats are fully recline-able like the ones in business class flights. The seats are equipped with safety belts.
The bus is powerful and it travels on our beautiful highways effortlessly. The aircond is cold. Bring a good jacket. I also use my kain pelekat to cover my face and head for a more comfortable sleep. As the bus sways gently, I usually fall asleep before the bus reaches Rawang.
The bus makes one or two stops along the highway to allow passengers to ease themselves.
Despite reports of mishaps involving express buses, it is still safer to travel by bus than to travel by car. Study has shown that you are more likely to get killed in your car than in a bus.
Please do not trust me on that but read this instead (from 20 Jun 2008 news Bernama):
By 5 am the bus arrives at Changloon (a border town) at a big bus stop called CTC while waiting for the border to open at 6 am. The bus driver collects our passports and sends them to the office for our embarkation forms to be printed and passenger manifest prepared.
Meanwhile, we have our coffee and light breakfast. I will have my wudhu here for subuh. If time permits, I will do my subuh at CTC. Otherwise, I will solat in the bus.
As it nears 6 am, we board the bus and collect our passports and embarkation cards. The bus makes its move to the border for Malaysian Immigration clearance. Here, we go down from the bus, walk to the immigration counter and slide our passports in the slot. Done that, we climb into the bus. Simple.
Then the bus moves to the Thailand Immigration clearance. Here, the driver goes down to the immigration counter holding the passenger manifest and we follow him. Stand in line, get our passports stamped, climb into the bus. Done with immigration procedures.
The bus waits until 7 am (6 am Thai time) before it starts to move again. It's some kind of a rule that buses can only travel after 6 am there.
Now, the bus is in Thailand and heading towards Hatyai. This takes another 50 minutes to 1 hour before we reach the hotel. I usually continue to sleep.
It is 8 am when we finally reach Hatyai. The bus stops in front of its travel office which is located within 5-minute walk from nearby hotels. All this travel from KL to Hatyai costs only RM 50 -- passport taken care of, no speeding ticket to worry about, no driving needs to be done, only sleep and rest.
Once there, we have breakfast of nasi lemak or roti canai at a nearby shop. A heafty breakfast costs no more than RM 5.
Hotels are cheap, clean and comfortable
By 9 am we can walk to the hotel to check in. I usually get to check in as early as 9 am, except one time when I had to wait till 11 am because it was during peak period.
Again, because of stiff competition, the hotels are either newly built or newly renovated. Either way you can expect 3.5-star aircond rooms for RM 90 to RM 100.
You get a decent-sized fully carpeted room, nice bed, clean and modern bathroom, bath tub, powerful shower with hot and cold water, tv (with Malaysia TV3 channel, BBC, NBC, sports) and wifi. Come to think of it, the rooms are even better than the Holiday Inn in Paris which I stayed for Euro 150 a night.
Major credit cards accepted.
The front office ladies and bell boys can speak English nowadays. That sure helps in a lot of ways.
Older hotels can cost RM 50 - RM 60. But we will not stay there.
Now that we are in our rooms, we rest a bit, shower and get ready for lunch. By 11.30 am we are at the lobby to hail a tuktuk to take us to lunch.
The eating frenzy begins
Whenever I go there I will be on eating frenzy. This one particular shop called Chekkar serves very delicious southern Thai Malay food. Once you order your meal, they will immediately serve rice in a pot, ulam timun sambal belacan and mineral water on the rocks (ais kosong). The rest of the order will usually arrive within five minutes.
By 12 noon I will be at this eat shop. My lunch favorites are:
Of course this eat shop also serves the typical dishes like deep fried fish and steamed fish with ginger or kichap.
But that is only for lunch, folks. There is some more space for dessert, I'm sure.
Next, we will go have coffee at Tesco. There is one wooden hut at one corner of Tesco parking lot (parking lot dia melaut luas, American style) that serves really good coffee for about RM 3 - RM 5 a cup. This is ground / brewed coffee and is not instant coffee. Coffee is served with a pot of chinese tea as a washdown. This tea clears your tounge of coffee and avoids the after-taste of coffee (you know, that masam-ness).
Alternatively, we can have our cuppa at Black Canyon in Tesco. It has an extensive menu on coffee; coffee with honey, with ice cream, with caramel and with whatever permutations. The price is about RM 5 - RM 7 for mid to high-end coffee delicacies. It is still much cheaper than coffee in KL.
If you are a coffee buff, Hatyai is the place for you. Brewed coffee can easily be found and it is as cheap as RM 2.50 a cup. The coffee shops are really cozy.
One thing I notice about people doing business there is that they really give all out to their business. It doesn't matter if the shop is small. They will decorate it and make it as nice as possible. And they will extend their warmth and try all out to provide you with the best customer service. They are really proud of their business and really proud to serve you. You just have to experience this yourself.
We then shop at Tesco. Some goods there are cheaper than here in KL.
Lunch and coffee is done. But the eating continues.
On the way back to the hotel, we walk along the popular streets. We find mangoes, limau bali, segala macam buah-buahan lagi, either cut or in whole.
And of course, I go for my favorite, lip-smacking air kelapa pandan muda bakar -- one whole coconut for only RM 2. To munch, I buy berangan or cashew nuts.
We can also shop for the typical stuff people buy there. I do not shop. Instead, I will sip coffee at one of the small, cozy coffee shops around the hotel. Then we go back to hotel for jamak zohor and asar.
In short, from noon to about 6 pm we eat, shop and go back to hotel.
Eating activities in the evening
Visit to pasar malam After a short rest in the room, at 6 pm we take the tuktuk to pasar malam. There is a row of muslim food stalls that serve local delicacies. If you are adventurous enough and want to experience local life, have dinner here. Again, the food is great, cheap and halal.
Or you can skip food here and just shop. Our eating spree continues after the pasar malam visit. By the time we leave the pasar malam, it is totally dark already.
Under the cloak of darkness Streets in Hatyai get busier in the evening. More food stalls spring up. This is the time when I go for another of my favorites -- pulut with durian or mangga for RM 2. It's just heaven. Sometimes I tapau pulut durian and smuggle into my room for supper.
If you like seafood, there is abundant fried prawns in different sizes -- lobster for RM 20, and palm-sized prawns for RM 5. Eat to your heart's content or heart attack, whichever comes first.
Also available are ayam goreng, burung goreng (not sure merpati or puyuh), sotong kering mesin and variety of noodles sold by muslim hawkers.
After dinner we have coffee or teh tarik before we head back to our rooms.
Leaving Hatyai
Sunday morning we have breakfast at one of the shops. Shopping starts at 10 am. You can do last minute shopping until 12 noon.
I usually take 12 noon bus to KL. The last bus leaves at 2 pm. We board the bus at the travel office. The bus to KL costs RM 50.
The bus leaves Hatyai for the border for passport controls. Please do not buy fresh / unprocessed agriculture products as they will be confiscated at the Malaysian border. Rice is a big no-no.
We arrive Puduraya on Sunday around 10 pm and head home from there.
What women worry about Hatyai
This is a real (and typical) response I get from a woman whenever I say I am going to Hatyai to jalan-jalan cari makan:
Well, KL doesn't offer delicious and cheap food mentioned above.
.
.
Hatyai is a really great place to eat. The food is delicious, cheap and most importantly halal.
Itinerary for a one-night stay
As a summary
- Friday night 10.30 pm depart on bus from Puduraya straight into Hatyai (RM 50)
- Saturday 9 am arrive Hatyai for breakfast; Check-in hotel (RM 100 for a spanking new 3.5 star hotel)
- Sunday 12 noon depart Hatyai to KL (RM 50)
- Sunday 10 pm arrive KL
This is a two-night trip. The first night is spent sleeping in the bus, the second night in a hotel.
Budget
Bus and hotel cost RM 200.
Food and local travel cost RM 150 max.
Shopping money cost RM 0 to infinity.
Let us start our journey with bus from Puduraya to Hatyai.
The journey up north
Have you seen double-deck buses plying our highways? Don't they look nice and comfy? Have you ever stepped inside one of those?
I choose the bus as my transport because it takes me from KL straight to the doorstep of the hotel in Hatyai, it is cheap (costs RM 100 return), comfortable and most importantly safe.
Buses now are modern, safe and comfortable.The bus that I take departs from Puduraya at 10.30 pm, 10.45 pm and 11.00 pm.
Because of stiff competition, bus companies are making their fleet modern. Bus seats are fully recline-able like the ones in business class flights. The seats are equipped with safety belts.
The bus is powerful and it travels on our beautiful highways effortlessly. The aircond is cold. Bring a good jacket. I also use my kain pelekat to cover my face and head for a more comfortable sleep. As the bus sways gently, I usually fall asleep before the bus reaches Rawang.
The bus makes one or two stops along the highway to allow passengers to ease themselves.
Despite reports of mishaps involving express buses, it is still safer to travel by bus than to travel by car. Study has shown that you are more likely to get killed in your car than in a bus.
Please do not trust me on that but read this instead (from 20 Jun 2008 news Bernama):
Pakar Keselamatan Jalan Raya Prof Datuk Ir Dr Radin Umar Sohadi berkata tindakan kerajaan meningkatkan proposisi penggunaan pengangkutan awam sebagai langkah tepat kerana ia lebih selamat daripada motosikal atau kereta.You may also look at the statistics during raya. How many people were killed in car accidents and how many in bus? Anyway, if your number is up, you will die even in your own bed at home. But that is another story.
Beliau berkata bas adalah 30 kali lebih selamat daripada kereta, manakala kereta api adalah 350 kali lebih selamat daripada motosikal.
By 5 am the bus arrives at Changloon (a border town) at a big bus stop called CTC while waiting for the border to open at 6 am. The bus driver collects our passports and sends them to the office for our embarkation forms to be printed and passenger manifest prepared.
Meanwhile, we have our coffee and light breakfast. I will have my wudhu here for subuh. If time permits, I will do my subuh at CTC. Otherwise, I will solat in the bus.
As it nears 6 am, we board the bus and collect our passports and embarkation cards. The bus makes its move to the border for Malaysian Immigration clearance. Here, we go down from the bus, walk to the immigration counter and slide our passports in the slot. Done that, we climb into the bus. Simple.
Then the bus moves to the Thailand Immigration clearance. Here, the driver goes down to the immigration counter holding the passenger manifest and we follow him. Stand in line, get our passports stamped, climb into the bus. Done with immigration procedures.
The bus waits until 7 am (6 am Thai time) before it starts to move again. It's some kind of a rule that buses can only travel after 6 am there.
Now, the bus is in Thailand and heading towards Hatyai. This takes another 50 minutes to 1 hour before we reach the hotel. I usually continue to sleep.
It is 8 am when we finally reach Hatyai. The bus stops in front of its travel office which is located within 5-minute walk from nearby hotels. All this travel from KL to Hatyai costs only RM 50 -- passport taken care of, no speeding ticket to worry about, no driving needs to be done, only sleep and rest.
Once there, we have breakfast of nasi lemak or roti canai at a nearby shop. A heafty breakfast costs no more than RM 5.
Hotels are cheap, clean and comfortable
By 9 am we can walk to the hotel to check in. I usually get to check in as early as 9 am, except one time when I had to wait till 11 am because it was during peak period.
Again, because of stiff competition, the hotels are either newly built or newly renovated. Either way you can expect 3.5-star aircond rooms for RM 90 to RM 100.
You get a decent-sized fully carpeted room, nice bed, clean and modern bathroom, bath tub, powerful shower with hot and cold water, tv (with Malaysia TV3 channel, BBC, NBC, sports) and wifi. Come to think of it, the rooms are even better than the Holiday Inn in Paris which I stayed for Euro 150 a night.
Major credit cards accepted.
The front office ladies and bell boys can speak English nowadays. That sure helps in a lot of ways.
Older hotels can cost RM 50 - RM 60. But we will not stay there.
Now that we are in our rooms, we rest a bit, shower and get ready for lunch. By 11.30 am we are at the lobby to hail a tuktuk to take us to lunch.
The eating frenzy begins
Whenever I go there I will be on eating frenzy. This one particular shop called Chekkar serves very delicious southern Thai Malay food. Once you order your meal, they will immediately serve rice in a pot, ulam timun sambal belacan and mineral water on the rocks (ais kosong). The rest of the order will usually arrive within five minutes.
By 12 noon I will be at this eat shop. My lunch favorites are:
- Nasi beras wangi panas-panas
- Tomyam udang / seafood -- warna jerneh, tapi berpeluh bila makan dan tak boleh henti ... serai, bawang, cili padi, lengkuas muda ... cukup rasa ...
- Daging goreng Chekkar
- Ikan tenggiri masak kicap
- Lidah masak merah. You may cringe at this. But once you try it, you will want to have more.
- Sup tulang Chekkar. Mmm mmm mmm ... not that hot, masam, masin, memang cukup rasa. Another one of the shop's specialty
- Kerabu betik / mangga / kaki ayam
Of course this eat shop also serves the typical dishes like deep fried fish and steamed fish with ginger or kichap.
But that is only for lunch, folks. There is some more space for dessert, I'm sure.
Next, we will go have coffee at Tesco. There is one wooden hut at one corner of Tesco parking lot (parking lot dia melaut luas, American style) that serves really good coffee for about RM 3 - RM 5 a cup. This is ground / brewed coffee and is not instant coffee. Coffee is served with a pot of chinese tea as a washdown. This tea clears your tounge of coffee and avoids the after-taste of coffee (you know, that masam-ness).
Alternatively, we can have our cuppa at Black Canyon in Tesco. It has an extensive menu on coffee; coffee with honey, with ice cream, with caramel and with whatever permutations. The price is about RM 5 - RM 7 for mid to high-end coffee delicacies. It is still much cheaper than coffee in KL.
If you are a coffee buff, Hatyai is the place for you. Brewed coffee can easily be found and it is as cheap as RM 2.50 a cup. The coffee shops are really cozy.
One thing I notice about people doing business there is that they really give all out to their business. It doesn't matter if the shop is small. They will decorate it and make it as nice as possible. And they will extend their warmth and try all out to provide you with the best customer service. They are really proud of their business and really proud to serve you. You just have to experience this yourself.
We then shop at Tesco. Some goods there are cheaper than here in KL.
Lunch and coffee is done. But the eating continues.
On the way back to the hotel, we walk along the popular streets. We find mangoes, limau bali, segala macam buah-buahan lagi, either cut or in whole.
And of course, I go for my favorite, lip-smacking air kelapa pandan muda bakar -- one whole coconut for only RM 2. To munch, I buy berangan or cashew nuts.
We can also shop for the typical stuff people buy there. I do not shop. Instead, I will sip coffee at one of the small, cozy coffee shops around the hotel. Then we go back to hotel for jamak zohor and asar.
In short, from noon to about 6 pm we eat, shop and go back to hotel.
Eating activities in the evening
Visit to pasar malam After a short rest in the room, at 6 pm we take the tuktuk to pasar malam. There is a row of muslim food stalls that serve local delicacies. If you are adventurous enough and want to experience local life, have dinner here. Again, the food is great, cheap and halal.
Or you can skip food here and just shop. Our eating spree continues after the pasar malam visit. By the time we leave the pasar malam, it is totally dark already.
Under the cloak of darkness Streets in Hatyai get busier in the evening. More food stalls spring up. This is the time when I go for another of my favorites -- pulut with durian or mangga for RM 2. It's just heaven. Sometimes I tapau pulut durian and smuggle into my room for supper.
If you like seafood, there is abundant fried prawns in different sizes -- lobster for RM 20, and palm-sized prawns for RM 5. Eat to your heart's content or heart attack, whichever comes first.
Also available are ayam goreng, burung goreng (not sure merpati or puyuh), sotong kering mesin and variety of noodles sold by muslim hawkers.
After dinner we have coffee or teh tarik before we head back to our rooms.
Leaving Hatyai
Sunday morning we have breakfast at one of the shops. Shopping starts at 10 am. You can do last minute shopping until 12 noon.
I usually take 12 noon bus to KL. The last bus leaves at 2 pm. We board the bus at the travel office. The bus to KL costs RM 50.
The bus leaves Hatyai for the border for passport controls. Please do not buy fresh / unprocessed agriculture products as they will be confiscated at the Malaysian border. Rice is a big no-no.
We arrive Puduraya on Sunday around 10 pm and head home from there.
What women worry about Hatyai
This is a real (and typical) response I get from a woman whenever I say I am going to Hatyai to jalan-jalan cari makan:
"Nak pergi Hatyai jalan2 cari makan??? Buat apa??? Makan apa?? Musykil & seswatuh nya!!!"I don't blame them because Hatyai has a stigma. All I have to say is this. Whatever women worry about Hatyai is also available in KL. In fact, KL offers even more than what Hatyai offers! And women should worry more about KL than about Hatyai if only they knew what is really happening in KL.
Well, KL doesn't offer delicious and cheap food mentioned above.
.
.
Comments
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Thnks for the info. rase nk gi hatyai soon...but nk Redah jek.. so, boleh bgitau budget bpe agk2 gi sne...bleh bg name hotel yg OK n selesa. al mklum first time nak gi nt. tpt2 shopping yg mnarik..tak jauh dr hotel... Hope to hear from u. =)