To my dear readers, I'm sorry for the sudden cut-off in my updates of my Hatyai visit of Part 1. Well, seems accidents could be so unpredictable, and I had to take some time off, physically and mentally, nursing my injury back to full health. But I'm back now, so let's continue where we left off shall we? :)
A view from above!
The next morning saw us bag-packing, and from our hotel, we walked through the nooks and crannies of the bustling Hatyai morning. The sun was out early, glaring it's warmth and sharing it's golden touches on each and everyone of us. A 5 minute walk saw us through and we stood there lining up for breakfast at a famous shop in the heart of Hatyai (Sorry in advance but the foods mentioned here are non-halal).
Hunt this shop down
A crowd in the early morning!
Thai famous delicacy
The name of the shop was 'Qing Jie 清姐 ' Pork Trotter and Salted Veggi Soup Shop. Being a typical roadside olden-style-thingy shop, seats are limited and one would have to really line up for a taste of this famous Thai delicacy. Well, 30 minutes was worth the wait though and you've really go to drop by here whenever you are in the Hatyai City center. Ask any tourist guide there and they'll point you the way.
A must-try!
Famous all around!
Here, I would really recommend the grilled pork meat, tender and juicy, it's perfect awesomeness. And soup was very tasty as well, but for those who despise the organ contents, please do bring along a friend who does. Because if not, you're really gonna waste the whole bowl of it. I also managed to stop-by a sweet-corn stall. And my advice is, if you really wanna a faster way to get diabetes, just try one of them. Two large scoops of sugar in each cup, not really what I was expecting. Hence, do cross out Thailand sweet corn from your food list!
Spice and everything's nice!
Chrysanthemum tea
Diabetic food, reduce the sugar to be recommended!
Right after, we once again hired a tuk-tuk to transport us all around to other famous hot-spots in Hatyai. Skimming through the unforgiving streets, and being once in a while attack by ground-fighters with water guns (really helpless on the tuk-tuk seriously), we soon came to Nora Plaza to do some shopping. From crocodile leather to stingray skins, you can find many many exquisite hand-made products here. The prices were ok, but do just have a glance through the souvenirs as they could be attained at a much more cheaper price later.
Nora Plaza
Sales of all kinds
Exquisite!
Creative! 300 baht each
Just outside, one could get a taste of some exquisite foods sold there, like shark's fin soup, bird's nest soup and many others. The prices are quite killing, but it's worth a try though, all 100% real products, at least that was what I was told then.
Authentic foods for sale!
Get a taste of them here
Then, we soon found ourselves rocketing up the mountains as our next stop came to be a famous 3-way-temple in Hatyai. The 3 main temples are The Great Brahman Shrine, Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaja and the more Chinese-based Guanyin Temple. What makes this a major attraction was at each temple, 3 giant sculptures stood proud, symbolizing the main religious belief in Thailand. A 3-head elephant at The Great Brahman Shrine, the famous Thailand Buddha at Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaja and of course, Guanyin Buddha at the Guanyin Temple.
Wonderful!
Offering prayers
Elephants of gold
Thai Buddha
Built in occasion of the King's birthday!
Enter the dragon!
Not only that, these 3 temples are located a distance from one another. So besides the interconnecting roads, they were also linked to one another by a cable-car service which was launched just recently. What makes this a very harmonious sanctuary was the people there.
Cable Car service
Connection
High above in Thailand!
Stroke for luck
Guan Gong sculpture
Sanctuary
GuanYin Sculpture
Being a Buddhist for so long, not that I have seen a scene such as this, where Hindus and Buddhist emerge to offer their prayers, while non-Buddhists such as Muslims and Christians are just within temple grounds, selling praying items and birds in cages to be set free by visiting tourists. It was the respect they had for each other, where they tolerated and lived in such peace. Not only in these sacred grounds, but also at night markets and food stalls, where they tend to sell and eat together, no discrimination, no disrespect, no outraging dispute. Hence, a quick glance back at my country Malaysia, yes there is improvement over these years, but to achieve such peaceful and equal living amongst society, well we are still way behind.
Golden Phoenix
Chinese temple grounds
Almighty gaze from above
After all that, you could take a breather at a cafe located at the Cable Car station. The cappucino there is magnificant and I couldn't believe I bought 2 cups of that in one shot!
Mind Coffee
Lovely!
A view to remember while you enjoy your coffee! Ignore that unknown guy down there :)
And that's that for Part 2. Part 3 will be out shortly. It really has opened up my mind during this trip to Hatyai, of the cultures, of the people and their way of living. Standards in Malaysia are of course way higher, but the art of socializing is one we should look up to at times. Till then, see ya!
Do check out Part 1 here:
http://nickel-low.blogspot.com/2013/04/songkran-festival-hatyai-thailand-part-1.html
Part 3:
http://nickel-low.blogspot.com/2013/04/songkran-festival-hatyai-thailand-2013_25.html
Signing off:
Nickel Low CJ
No comments:
Post a Comment