I was in Hatyai during the Hari Raya weekend.Not to hunt for "chicken",but to hunt for nice foods and shopping.
Hatyai is not very far from Penang,a 3 hours drive will take us there.And the roads are so straight and hole-less.So,its really a comfortable and nice journey.
Straight and nice road,highway standard.But no toll.
I'm staying in Novotel Hotel above Hatyai Central for the next two nights.Well,overall,this four star hotel is still not bad,though the air-cond in the room was a bit colder than I expected.
Hatyai is not a very congested city,not much skyscrappers and tall buildings.Most of the tall buildings are hotels.
Although Hatyai is not a very busy city,but the traffic is terrible.The cars are moving anywhere they like,and motorists seemed to appear everyhwere on the road.
Crossing roads in Hatyai is a challenging task.
And most of the motorists are riding their motorcycle without helmet!
Huh?What is helmet hah?
It had been said that this is part of the Thai traffic culture that motorist don't wear helmet.And even the law permits them to do so.
Talking about traffic,there's not cad or taxi in Hatyai.The people or tourists in Hatyai uses a vehicle called Toot Toot as their cab or public transport.
Toot Toot~Toot Toot~ Why sounds more like train ah?
Toot Toot is a very economy public transportation.No matter where you wanna go,or when you wanna go,the fare of Toot Toot is actually flat rate,by counting per head.A person only cost about 15 Baht(RM1.50) or 20 Baht(RM2.00).
Long live the (Thai) King.The Thai King has a very high reputation in Thailand and aming the Thais community.The Thais respect.love and show loyal to their King till a level of fanatic I should say.I have never seen a nation or people of any monarchy nation in this world that are so fond of their King.
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Hatyai is special with its street market.There's lotsa stalls along the streets of Hatyai,or by the roadside.
Ranging from foods and drinks...
.....until fruits and vegetables....
....to shirts and dresses....
Almost anything you'll need or use it,you will get it from the stalls along the street.You name it,they got it.
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Street food is another specialties of Hatyai.During day and night,you'll see hawkers and food stalls around the city,serving nice food and local delicacies.
The Malay stall that sells fried stuffs...Huge prawns and chickens etc.But I bet you dare not eat those after looking at the color of the oil.
There's really alot choices of food around Hatyai.At night,many streets and roads are filled with hawker stalls.
They even shut down a road in the town center,just for the hawkers...
This Ah Moi that was roasting the squid seemed kinda beh syiok.Hehez
Sotong bakar or roasted squid,ehz,one of my all time favourites,although I didn't taste it that night.
Oily.Very oily.Too oily.
Some fried stuff from the Malay stall around - fried chicken,fried drumstick,fried taokua and fried crab meat.Everything is FRIED!
Wantan mee with no wantan? Instead of wantan,there's alot of crab meat and char siu.
See Koay Teng,a type of dessert soup with sweet potatoes,yam,cendol etc etc...
Well,Hatyai is not just about street foods.There's lotsa nice restaurant serving delicious and fantastic (and cheap also) Chinese + Thai cuisine.I'll get to that later in my next few blogs.
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Just the night before I left Hatyai,there's ceromony celebrating the Vegetarian Festival or Jiu Wang Ye on the streets of Haytai.
The citizens of Hatyai are mostly Buddhist or Taoist.So,when it comes to the occasions about Buddha or Taoism,it's really something grand for them.
That night,there's a religious parade going on,with the marching of God and Tang Ki, a person that is selected to represent or be the messenger of God on earth.
Along with the drums and rythme,it's a real crowded celebration.
The guy in the costume is abit like Jamaluddin Hassan,the host of Who Wants to be Millionaire.Agree?
Some of the people dreesed up in religious costume and performing some religious custome.They walk and dance on the road joyfully.
It seemed that she doens't hurts,so calm and cool.
Some even pay their respects by stabbing sharp knives and metal into their body parts,without being injured or wounded.The locals said this is because these performers are blessed and protected by God,so they will have no injuries or wounds although the metal went through their cheeks,face,back,ANYWHERE.
But,please,don't try this at home.I'm not sure that wheater your God covers such protection or blessing for you.
