Penang - Hatyai: my take on our recent road-trip

Recently, we went on a road-trip to Hatyai again, our second one and this time, hubs planned for a stopover at Penang. This way, it isn't as tiring driving as we get to rest before continuing the journey the next day.

I haven't been to Penang in a long time, so I was looking forward to all the sumptuous meals Penang has to offer. As we were there for a night only, we chose to stay at Sunway Hotel as there are many food stalls nearby. Needless to say, we don't have to walk or travel far, just a stone's throw away. I was glad to see the many local delicacy and had the chance to try each of them! There were even long queues at some of the stalls! I'm not the kind who would queue for food, so I didn't try those lah. The ones I've tried were as good and definitely no regrets with a tummy full of goodness! 

Here's my take on our stopover in Penang:

1. Food prices in Penang are comparable to Kuala Lumpur, some were even more expensive!
2. Taste wise, it is as good both ways with the exception of the authentic local delicacy.
3. Traffic is as bad and driving in Penang is definitely confusing with the many one-way streets and ''fancy driving'' of the locals.
4. The local council is very efficient as we had just parked and we were trying to figure out the app to pay the parking zone but by the time we found it, there was a compound on the car!!! All within 5 minutes!!! Our mistake was to walk away looking for network, it was that bad ya. So please have someone to stay with the car to avoid such unnecessary compounds!!!
5. Sunway Hotel was still the same as it was years ago except that it looks more rundown on the outside. Thankfully, though dated, our room seems to have been refurbished with nice toiletries. Service is still as good with ample parking space. The only thing we didn't know was the way the aircon works. Apparently as it is very old, we were supposed to tune it lower like 18'C so that it will be cooling. We didn't know and maintained it at 22'C so halfway through our sleep, we were drenching in sweat! We only got to know when we were checking out. Our bad lah for not checking with front desk and continued sleeping LOL! Anyway, Sunway Hotel should be more proactive and stick a note about it near the aircon instead of having us to call the front desk lah.

We were blessed with good weather throughout our road-trip! It was heavenly in Hatyai, from visiting the temple and the mall to scouring for good food and souvenirs, I was so sad when we had to return to Kuala Lumpur, return to reality. Unfortunately, it rained throughout our journey back home so we couldn't stopover in Ipoh for dinner. I can't wait for our next trip there, honestly! I've heard of many places to visit in Songkhla so a different itinerary maybe the next round.

Here's my take of our road-trip to Hatyai:

1. Buri Sriphu Hotel was still the same from the last we came but with more outdoors, we failed to enjoy our bathtub. We should have taken the Oriental suite which is cheaper and without bathtub.
2. This time around, we stick around the places we know best, and we shopped more so we were thankful of the many tuktuks, making it very convenient for us to travel to/from our hotel. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous drivers of late where they tried to charge more than THB100 per trip. This is actually against their law, and they can be charged/fined. So be aware and always asked for the price upfront to be safe.
3. We even visited Homepro just to see their well displayed products! They were unbelievably in sync with everything in the right places and easy to search. Also properly aligned and displayed that it looks inviting LOL! Unlike in Malaysia where all the products are, typically, scattered everywhere Malaysian style. Hubs says Thais are OCD like that, LOL!!!

Anyway, I have updated quite a fair bit of photos on my Instagram so you can check it out there. My IG handle is Susan Lee (@sholeesphere) • Instagram photos and videos 

This trip, we've been to Big Buddha Temple, Kim Yong Market, Lee Garden, Central Festival Mall and Asian Night Bazaar. If you are a frequent traveler to Hatyai, do recommend where I should visit next, so that I can add them to my itinerary for my next visit there :-)