Before I proceed with Kim Yong Market, allow me to digress a little about the previous night after checking-in into President Hotel.
After inspecting the room and making sure that everything is (not) in order, we swiftly hopped onto a tuktuk headed for the night market around Lee Gardens.
One of my aims for this Hat Yai trip is to have the Samurai Burger from McDonalds. Woe is me that I could only have a taste of this divine burger once a year!
Seriously, can we not have even one non-halal outlet in Singapore that serves all things porky?
PORK BURGER IN YOUR FACE! NAH!
The streets of Hat Yai are lined with plenty of stalls selling food, clothes and knick knacks.
This stall is located vertically opposite Lee Gardens
We tried the hugeass prawns a year ago but realized it to be leftovers from the previous day which was refried and put on sale again. The prawn is not even as big as it appear to be - after removing the head, there is only that much flesh left.
T-Shirt for the twitter addict
Ahhh, land of the quirky (and sometimes rude) T-Shirts!
I did not get any T-Shirts this year. Just some bermudas, that's all.
It was a rather quick trip to Lee Gardens as we already knew what we needed so we just headed straight to the stalls that we frequent and bought what we wanted before returning to the hotel to rest for the night.
Next morning!
That was when the unhappy breakfast incident took place. (Refer to the previous post [here])
After breakfast, it was free and easy for us till noon before the tour guide brought us out for some touristy activities.
Since we had some time on our hands, we decided to visit Kim Yong Market.
During our last visit with my cousin and his side of the clan last year, we put up at Diamond Hotel and we went to Kim Yong Market for breakfast every single day.
Unfortunately, it rained that morning and it was such a hassle carrying a umbrella while trying to take pictures at the same time.
Gloomy weather ahead
If you wanna experience life of the locals, you have to visit their market
There are two sections to the market - the indoors and the outdoors.
The indoors one is like a labyrinth filled with narrow passageways with many twists and turns while the outdoor one is like an extension spilling onto the roads.
Love the gloomy clouds
Fruits
More fruits
Pre-cooked fish
Some common and not so common vegetables
Petai
Best with prawns and sambal!
Muslim lady selling Pomegranate and other random fruits
Due to it's close proximity to the Malaysian borders, do not be surprised to find many Thai Muslims in Hat Yai.
Such a hassle eating them! Have to keep spitting the seeds!
In another lane, there is a dedicated street for the food hawkers. There is this particular stall selling fried stuffs which I loved.
The pink ones contained koo chye and the brown ones yam paste!
I partically fell in love with these fried snacks when I first ate them a year ago. The koo chye one was juicy and savoury while the yam one was sweet (yet not too sweet).
Mum spoke to them in Hakka
Sinfully oily
Yam paste!
Over here, you can find everything from clothes, shoes and handbags to vegetables, meat and dried goods. (Over here, people buy Pistachios, Cashew Nuts, etc by the kilos)
You must come take a look if you ever had the chance to visit Hat Yai.
You must come take a look if you ever had the chance to visit Hat Yai.
Kim Yong Market is within walking distance (about 5 - 8 minutes) from Diamond Hotel - a bit more if you are coming from Lee Gardens.