At the point of writing this post, Hat Yai was hit by the worst flash floods in ten years, affecting tens of thousands of people. I hope the water subside soon so the people could return to their normal lives. We were fortunate to be back early or we would have been stranded there too...Hi, sorry for the delay of this post as I was taken ill the moment I returned to Singapore. My asthma has been acting up and I've also been coughing non-stop till my face turned blue.
Anyway, I had just returned from my second seclusion trip to Hat Yai, which is in southern Thailand. (
read about my previous trip here)
Why is it a seclusion trip, you asked?
Well, that's because we stayed in a temple for two days which is located at a remote area. (
more about that on another post)
This was initially a trip for me, my parents, a aunt and a cousin but just a few days before setting off, Mum said that a couple of my cousin's relatives would be tagging along too.
I thought that there would only be
"a couple" of them but on the day itself, I was shocked to see the whole clan of my cousin's 姨妈姑姐 turning up in full force at the Budget Terminal, all with luggages in tow!
Flight TR 2132
My boarding pass
Although we were travelling on a budget plane, I had not expected the company to use budget material for it's boarding pass. My Mum said it looked like orh see zee (Cantonese for toilet paper).
Tiger with wings
I have heard many horror stories regarding budget airlines but I did not expect to have the (mis)fortune to experience it on my virgin budget flight. A screw-up by the ticketing counter resulted in two other passengers (a Thai school boy and a Malaysian) being allocated the same seat number as I am. There was a bit of confusion as the crew tried to find alternative seats for them. I was lucky to have boarded my flight early thus able to secure my window seat.
我想，广东人所说的 “行的快，好世界！” 应该就是这个意思吧？
Browsing the menu onboard before takeoff
Unlike most people, I loved airplane food!
Meal times on the airplane is always a great alternative from cloud-watching. When I spotted the stewardess pushing the food trolley down the aisle and serving the passengers in front, I would cran my neck impatiently, wondering when the food would ever reach me?
And when it took a little longer than expected, I would cuss silently at the people in front for taking such a long time.
"Chicken or fish?"
"Beef or pork?"
How hard is it to choose?
I would get even more agitated when the aroma of food reaches me before the trolley does!
Such excitement! Hahaha!
My only gripe with airplane food is that one set is usually unable to fill me up!
How about you? Do you like airplane food?
Which Superhero left his mask on the wing?
Soaring into the sky
Can you see the rainbow?
Was that the rainbow bridge?
There was a bit of turbulence along the way and the plane
dropped a couple of times
I was getting a headache due to the increasing pressure in my ears but I could still hear the 姨妈姑姐 chattering non-stop three rows behind me throughout the 45 minutes flight!
It was pouring when we touched down...
Hat Yai International Airport
The first thing I did after landing was to run into the toilet. A Thai tried to strike a conversation with me at the urinal which I find rather distracting because all I wanted was to pee.
I proceeded to queue for immigration clearance but the Thai officers were very slow.
After what seemed like eternity, the whole entourage passed through the customs and we hopped onto two tuk tuks headed for the hotel.
Vroom Vroom! 
I'm all cramped up at the front
The rural streets of Hat Yai
So many poles and wires
That's entourage number 1 infront
I'm the vshicle commander for entourage number 2.
Diamond Plaza Hotel
I was surprised that we are not putting up at
Lee Garden Plaza Hotel. I loved Lee Garden as everything I needed was located just around it. But well,
Diamond Plaza Hotel was a only few streets away and comparatively cheaper too.
Our room at Diamond Plaza Hotel
After settling our luggage, we went for lunch at one of the coffeeshops nearby.
There were actually more dishes but I was unable to take a proper shot because the 姨妈姑姐s were already attacking the food like a pack of starving hyenas.
I was delighted that communal serving spoons (公筷母匙) were allocated for every dish however, the 姨妈姑姐s were oblivious to its existence and used their own saliva-tainted utensils in the dishes. FML!
I do not have the habit to share food with people whom I'm unfamiliar with and I wasn't game enough to eat anything tainted with their saliva so I ended up having only plain rice with fish sauce.
(In the days that followed, I quickly learned to scoop the portion of meat and vegetables that I wanted onto my own plate and eat in peace. It's nerve breaking eating with them!)
Argh! Why isn't dining ettiquette made a mandatory subject in school???
A stroll along the streets after dinner
Loved the colors in the sky
A portrait of the Thai King outside Lee Gardens
From pint-sized calendars in coffeeshops to life-sized potraits in the streets, pictures of King Bhumibol could be found everywhere; a sign that he is well-loved by his subjects. I, too have utmost respect for His Majesty when years ago, I came upon the book "
The Story of Tongdaeng" (authored by the King himself) depicting the touching story between the King and his mongrel, Tongdaeng.
I heard that the King's health was failing in recent years and I wished him good health.
An extra bed added for around SGD 8
There were two single beds in our room so we switched room with my cousin's relative where the bed was a king-sized one. Unfortunately, it was still too cramp for three persons so I added an extra bed for more comfort.
As I lay down to sleep that night, something in the distance caught my attention...
No, it's not Batman. It's... McDonalds
And so, that concludes our first day in Hat Yai. Find out what we did on the second day in my next post!
"DC" is the acronym for Dead Cockroach - my online moniker.
