Hatyai; 25 Oct 2012

Sawadeeka!

Teet teet teet teet...my alarm clock rings. Huh? 6am already?? I just slept at 1.50am!!! OMG!!! Yaaaawn. By 7am we were off to Hatyai with our biker friend Alex. We rode via PLUS highway & stopped at Bidor town, Perak (approx. 150km from Subang Jaya) for breakfast. So, what did we eat? This!!

The Place to eat...(Bidor main street)

Some of the local biscuits fresh from the oven

Alex's herbal duck soup noodle.

Noticed how much pickled green chili is in demand...vs my cup of black coffee?

My dry noodle & herbal duck soup.

Herbal duck noodles at Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant Sdn Bhd, along the main street about 3 minutes ride from the PLUS highway exit into Bidor! If you are from the South heading to Bidor, the shop is on your right. 

Personally, I don't really like duck as I find that duck meat is tough and chewy. Also, the meat reeks!!! But what the heck? If this place is famed for the dish..EAT IT! I was disappointed with my noodle but the soup was awesome! Not oily, light herbal taste; not overbearing herbal smell like some. But the duck meat tasted bland as the flavours are all in the soup. Rocker57's herbal duck noodle soup was tasty, richer in flavour and the noodles soaked in the herbs, so better to order the soup then dry like mine. For 3 bowls of noodles & 3 good cup of thick black coffee, we paid about RM26. Reasonable I would say.

Then, it was another 340km ride from Bidor via PLUS to Bukit Kayu Hitam immigration & border into Thailand's Dan Nok. Before that, we stopped at NuDee Enterprise for a quick lunch, also to get the bike insurance (RM12 for 9 days) as well as our immigration cards done. Note : Insurance covers the Thais and not your bike nor the riders!!!  By the way, it's best to bring your vehicle original registration card as sometimes Thai immigration do not entertain photocopies.

And what did we eat at Nudee? This.....again???

This time it's chicken clear soup!

If you remember from my previous biking trip, Alex love noodles, hence its noodles again!!! See Sg Lembing  But his recommendation was good. It was tasty but lacking in Vitamins. Mainly carbohydrate & protein. Nudee Enterprise also serves Bak Kut Teh & other menu. A great one stop centre : food/insurance & Immigration card (RM2 per card- computerised). From south, Nudee is on your left about 500meters from the border.

The Thai border immigration was chaotic and unorganized. But with season biker like Alex, we were well guided :)  It took a while to clear due to heavy traffic. Then it was another 60 odd kilometers into Hatyai through Sadao. 

YAY!!! We arrived at Chudchada Place; 54 Soi3 Thungsao 1 Road. Tel : (66) 074-420444 (family owned) at about 2.30pm. Note : all accommodations in Thailand (Hatyai & Krabi) were pre-booked by our biker friends (Alex & Ryan). We thank them for their effort in easing our hunt for lodging. For 490 baht a night, it was a steal. It has all the facilities in the room of a 3 star hotel except no coffee making facilities or pool). It was clean, spacious and even has a minibar!! And the receptionist speaks Mandarin, that helps!

After a nice shower & rest, we headed into Hatyai town via their famous Tuk-tuk (taxi that can seat plenty! It was 20 baht per head from our hotel to Lee Gardens hotel & shopping complex. FYI, a bomb exploded in April 2012, the very place we are visiting! I only found out about the bombing from Alex when we were about to leave town after painting Hatyai RED.

After some browsing, we headed to a shop for dinner. You have guessed it...its NOODLES again!!! Similar to Malaysia's "Wat Tan Hor" except that this noodle is coarser & sweeter. In all restaurants, sugar is part of the condiment placed on every table.

3 types of chili, sugar, pepper, soya sauce & toothpick.

Thai's version of "Wat Tan Hor"

Rocker57 & I shared a plate as we intend to indulge. Indulge we did! Here's what we ate apart from dinner and local pineapple. Check it out!!

100baht for Thai durian....hmmm...not good!

Rocker57 and my fav mango sticky rice bought from the streets. Good! 50baht, I think

My fav cashew nuts. Can't remember how much....

As if this wasn't enough, we headed to B's Sweet cafe for our night cap. We all (Alex inclusive) liked the ambiance and stayed for a long time to enjoy the air-conditioning and the cozy place. A stone's throw away from Lee Garden.

This my dear readers...is a coaster!!! Comes in many colors.

 So, heading home already? Nope! Not until we try Samurai Pork Burger!!! What? Yup, I did admit I am a glutton and when I am traveling....I throw my diet out the window! 

Even Ronald McDonald says Sawadeekap!!

 
Alex now accustomed to my blogging habits patiently waited for me to take the pictures before he drinks his cuppa....Awww, isn't he nice?

With the final night cap, we headed "home" to eat our durian at the entrace of Chudchada Place. Chatted till almost midnight Malaysian time before calling it a night. 

Catch me soon when I share our ride to Krabi the next day. Until then....Sawadeeka!