Hatyai/Songkhla - 23 & 24 Dec 2012 (part 1)

There was supposed to be 3 riders and 1 pillion. At the eleventh hour, Ah Yat had to back out due to fever the night before we leave for Hatyai on 23 Dec 2012. To go or not to go? 
Armed with Sam's GPS, we headed North despite being only two bikers & me, the loyal pillion, ahem.... as always. We went through the same route as previous. However, instead of 3D2N, we decided to cut short the trip to 2D1N to avoid the Christmas crowd and the maddening arduous trek home.

To know more on previous route, please refer to :
Hatyai 25 Oct 2012

We "flagged' off at 6.30am from NKVE petrol station. This time around, we stopped at Ipoh for breakfast instead of Bidor. Sam had his usual cuppa and Chinese cakes, while Richard & I had 'chee cheong fun' or Chinese rice noodles and our usual cup of black coffee 'neat' i.e. without sugar! We ate at Pusat Makanan Chha Yong Sdn Bhd at Tingkat Taman Ipoh II

All of it was Sam's breakfast minus the 5 sweet potato balls...Mine!!

The delicious smooth chee cheong fun in chicken curry gravy!

The chee cheong fun was smooth, silky, soft yet slightly chewy, nice. The chicken curry was thick & rich with potato wedges and ample pieces of chicken. A plate for RM4. Served with lots of fried shallots. Although it was delicious, I did not finish my meal because it was a tad too oily for me early Sunday morning. Errr...am not a morning person, you know. Plus, I had to eat them sweet potato balls!! They were very chewy and a bit sweet but since I'd not eaten them for a long time, I cleaned the entire 4 balls and made Rocker57 eat one! hehehe....clever of me, isn't it?

We then headed to Nudee Enterprise in Changlun; few kilometers from the border of Malaysia and Thailand to get our motor insurance & immigration card. RM12 for 9 days insurance and RM1 for filling in electronically the immigration card. You can also change your currencies there. A good one-stop center, really. Eat while they prepare your travel documents....so easy, pea-sy!

For location, please refer to previous route blog. Again, we ate the same herbal chicken drumstick noodles and recommended Sam to do the same. It didn't disappointment, Sam concur it was good. The herbal soup was light and not overbearing with herbal after taste. Yum Yum.

Herbal Chicken Drumstick soup noodle..GOOD!

Immigration at Danok was long as many Malaysians were heading into Thailand to spend their long break. I didn't take any photos lest I get sued for publishing their photos without consent. You would have to get your passport stamped and then walk to another booth to register your vehicle for entry. Make sure you get a copy after registering your vehicle for entry. More importantly, be extra sure you return the copy upon exit or else your vehicle is prohibited from entering Thailand again!

We arrived at the same hotel i.e.  Chudchada Place; 54 Soi3 Thungsao 1 Road. Tel : (66) 074-420444 (family owned) at about 2.30pm Malaysian time. Incidentally, Malaysia is an hour ahead of Thailand :)
 

I am Ok with this place as it is managed by the proprietor's two daughters. It's clean & decent and you get the 'homely' feeling as the proprietress often offers you fruits or snacks to eat! How much more hospitality does one need?? Hehehehe...

Check out what you get for 490baht per night.

 (View of room from entrance). 

The room is pretty spacious, clean and tidy. Although, they could change the TV somewhat... it is dated! The room even comes with a minibar with 2 complimentary bottles of drinking water :)

Not bad, eh?

 (View from coffee table towards the entrance). 

Centralised air-cond!! Notice the mini fridge underneath the TV? The only set back is no carpeting but decent 2' x2' tiles. Bring along a pair of slippers...the tiles can be COLD!! Brrrr....

 The bathroom is very clean. It has built-in hot water shower and they even provide a hose to serve certain 'needs'

Toiletries provided in sachets, not bad, eh?

 

 We took our showers, a quick rest and was ready to see Songkhla. We chartered a car for 1000baht or approx RM100. The car was at our disposal for the entire day & night from 2.30pm Thailand time. The driver cum tour guide was late. 15-20 mins later, our guide turned out to be a SHE! Surprise!!!

She introduced herself as Anam or water in Thai. She married a Malaysian and resided in Melaka for 11 years. She returned to Thailand after the demise of her beloved husband. She speaks Mandarin, Hokkien and a smattering of Bahasa Malaysia (our National language)...not bad for a Thai living in Malaysia for 11 years.  

Off we go to see Songkhla in our chatered Toyota Vios. Sadly, it rained the entire journey to Songkhla! Lucky we did not ride there, else it would be less enjoyable.

To know more what we did in Songkhla...check out my next blog!


Until I see you, Sawadeekap!