Last week,went over to Thailand over a 3 day 2 night vacation.I badly needed one after a few months of stressing myself.I had to work as usual the day I left to Thailand.Got back home,bathed and packed my clothes and left home around 9pm. Travelling by a bus 13 hours straight is a pain in the ass,Trust Me!So,what is the meaning of Thailand?Thai means freedom and yeah,everyone in Thailand practices freedom. Prostitution is legal,firearms are legal and so on with weed and such as long as they do not jeopardize the well being of other citizens.Now,that's how a country should be like :D
Day 1:
After getting my passport stamped,got into the waiting bus and headed off to Sadao via Danok. FYI,Danok is the first Thai town neighboring Malaysian border and real guns with live ammunition is sold in public.
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| Revolver's along with other guns and military equipment |
It was crazy there,the crowds were huge and stuffy.Hat Yai was 60 km to the north and it took the coach captain approximately 40 minutes to reach the outskirts of Hat Yai. The first stop we had was in Nora Plaza where all kind off leather and skin products are sold. Wallets and handbags made out of crocodile skin can be purchased here for quite a cut throat rate :) Me and dad didn't spend much time inside but we went venturing outside into the local streets. Ended up inside 7E and it was awesome! Everything from toiletries to music cds and booze which could only be purchased in few shops in Malaysia. Yea,everything is available in 7E except drugs :P
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| That's my first Thai energy drink stop in 7E |
Later headed over to Lee Garden Plaza Hotel for lunch. Lee Garden Plaza is a combination of both hotel and mall serving branded goods and built in movie theater.Entering the mall and hotel both needs you to go through a set of body scan since the hotel was bombed by Southern Thai terrorist few years back.The hotel is 33 storey's high and visible from any part of Hatyai and Songkhla. It's considered their skyscrapers and it looks quite magnificent though.Lunch was served on the 10th floor since the restaurant in the 33th floor is undergoing minor renovation.The scenes from 10th floor was quite breathtaking.
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| The Main Entrance |
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| View from the 10th floor |
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| Was standing on the main entrance for a snap :P |
After lunch,got down to window shop around Chinatown and everything from huge ass prawns to Samurai swords are available here.Thailand is crazy people!
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| Huge ass prawn only 10 bhat/RM1 |
Headed back to the hotel for some light sleep and rest since was travelling 13 hours straight onboard the bus.Stopped by 7E to get a pack of Marlboro Lights and a can of Red Bull Extra.Marlboro was too light and the Red Bull was so bloody sweet that even sweet tooth's reject em.Later that night after refreshing myself,went over to the floating market whereby food are prepared and sold onboard boats.You don't have to get down but the food will be passed to you via a stick.The food are awesome and both Malaysian and Thai currency are accepted here.For less than RM10,you could eat 5 different dishes and the proportion are quite huge.
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| Songkhla style fried kuey tiaw.Quite sweet and spicy with chilli powder included |
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| Central Hatyai at night with lines of food stall and souvenir shopping |
Me and dad got lost in Hatyai but managed to walk back to hotel after 30 minutes of asking for direction.The problem here in Thailand is language barrier.Everyone speaks fluent Thai and none speaks English nor Malay and that is the main problem here.I did learned few Thai words to be used in case of emergency and any situations where I need to seek help.Walked back to the hotel,had a quick bath and dozed off to bed.I might have not gone into bed early if there was any phone coonection allowing to make calls to Malaysia.I had my loved ones especially mum and My Priya who was spending restless night knowing that I am absent from her for 3 days :(
Day 2:
Woke up at 7.30am for a 8am trip.Mind you,Thailand is 1 hour late compared to Malaysia.After breakfast,left the hotel and got into a waiting bus to head off to our first location.
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| The view of Hatyai from some hill in the outskirts |
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| Downtown Hatyai |
The view's from the hill was breath-taking and the whole Songkhla Province can be seen from the hill.Remember the skyscraper I was telling you about? It can be seen in a distant and appears to be small.There is nothing much one could be doing on the hill except photography.Next location was the best of the best!It's an elephant camp with ATV terrain and firing range.The elephant's were none of my interest but the guns were,I was like the most happiest kid when I saw guns displayed from a distance :D Back to childhood.
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Beretta M9,my favourite handgun of them all :D
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| US made M1911,secondary weapon attached in COD:MW ;) |
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Last but not least,mother of all assault rifles,M16!
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The shots from M16 was pretty deafening and the recoils were strong till the butt of the gun left a blue-black mark on my shoulders.Pretty awesome experience indeed eventhough it burnt through my pockets :( Where to next? KaohSing beach on the end of Songkhla province.The view of the beach was somehow different since it was facing right into the South China Sea and is not allowed to public's for swimming.The slopes are even steeper here compared to Pangkor. Not knowing any spot might consume you as sudden slopes are 5m and above.Thailand's navy base is also located here just beside the sea and it is easier summoning the navies into sea during any emergency.
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| Malaysian Nasi Lemak stall in front of Lee Garden Plaza |
There is only one famous Malaysian delicacy available here in Hatyai which is nasi lemak ayam goreng in front of Lee Garden Plaza.The nasi lemak was great and first look at was so tempting.A plate of it cost 40 bhat which is equivalent to RM4 Malaysian ringgit. Since me and dad had nothing to do right after dinner,we decided to watch movie in the local mall.Since Pacific Rim and RIPD is not available,we had no choice but to say YES to Wolverine 3D,dad's first 3D movie experience :D He loved it. The movie was not up to our standards though.It just lacked the X-Men factor in it.Hugh Jackman travelling up to Japan to save Mariko from Yakuza and there goes the boring storyline. Wasted 17 bhat for it though.Any yeah,before I forget.....I experienced something new in the theater here in Thailand.Well,I bet everyone's been to cinemas in life right?Usually before the beginning of any movie,there would advertisements and such right?Thailand is different,after advertisements just before the beginning of the movie,a small documentary of Thai's Majesty is aired and without any order,everyone in the cinema was standing throughout the documentary meanwhile me and dad was sitting over like a BOSS :P We were the center of attention there thanks to our Indian skin colour. The documentary was all about the contribution of Thai's Majesty during the floods which hit Bangkok and several provinces.The King himself came down all the way from his mansion and helped his people out by distributing food and medical supplies.The Thai's are very respectful of their King and FYI,try not to belittle there King once in Thailand ok?It may get you slaughtered.Its a sensitive issue for every Thai.
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| The Ticket |
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| Me and dad with our 3D glasses on |
Later after movie,stopped for a take away over in McD. The burger's here are expensive compared to the ones in Malaysia and not much varieties are available. However,McD's and KFC's here serve rice with sweet and sour chicken and such......Shiok kan?Too bad,the menu was not available when we came over.I had my usual McD favourite Double CheeseBurger while dad had McSpicy Chicken if I was not mistaken. Walked back again to the hotel and this time,we didn't end up getting lost like yesterday.I memorized the routes and shortcuts so if I'm in HatYai again next time,I might walk you out bravely :P
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| Our late night supper in HatYai |
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| CheeseBurger,not so tasty compared to the one in Malaysia.RM 11.60 bai! |
Day 3:
Day 3 is our final day in Thailand which means we had to pack up and leave back home,Malaysia!Well,if you asked me,both Thailand and Malaysia has no difference at all other than the language spoken :)
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| A brothel right in front of the hotel |
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| Dad in front of Songkhla's skycraper.Visible from any part of Hatyai |
Left Songkhla around 9.30 in the morning after a grand breakfast.Bought few goodies from the local 7E and braced my ass for another 13 hours of ass aching bus ride back to KL.It was not hard finding a way back to the border since all it took is one straight road with not even a slight curve to the Danok-Changlun border.It took us quite sometime over at the Malaysian border since there was a tip off on firearms smuggling.Took more than half an hour for the green light from UPP members.
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Last minute shopping over at the border
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