Exploring the Luboks 2: The Train Journey, Bangi-KLS-Kluang-Ipoh-Pdg Besar-Arau-KLS-Bangi, Nov 7-9, 2015

Nov 6, 2015, Friday, KL Sentral (1310 delayed to 1420) - Kluang (late arrival 1920)

The urge to take another long train trip beckoned, became stronger each passing day ever since the launches of several ETS routes by KTMB. It is possible now to go down south and then up north in a single day while making a stopover at major towns along the route. Couple with so many writing projects and other business idea incubation I decided Deepavali weekend as one of the opportunities that I should take. 

I was too late to book my planned excursion. Slightly less than a month the route on the day that I wanted was partly fully booked. I wanted to do KL Sentral - Kluang, Kluang -JB, JB - Padang Besar and Padang Besar - KL Sentral in four days or less. I could get seats for the first journey but there were no bunk sleepers available from JB to Padang Besar. The comfort of my wife made it not suitable. I played on several variations with the booking systems. Firstly if I can take the shuttle from JB to Gemas and take the new ETS Gemas - Padang Besar. Unfortunately, the schedule for Gemas Padang Besar ETS was not accommodative to my plan. I played on variations after variations until I had to sacrifice JB and settled for KL Sentral - Kluang, Kluang - Ipoh, Ipoh - Padang Besar and Arau - KL Sentral. From Kluang to Ipoh will be on Express Sutera that arrives at Ipoh at 1055 and to board the KL Sentral - Padang Besar ETS at Ipoh at 1144. I immediately made the booking and my wife and I set for another adventure. Using agoda.com I also made my hotel bookings a night in Kluang and another in Kangar.

The journey started with both of us taking the Komuter train from Bangi to KL Sentral. We were at Bangi station at 10.50am and half an hour later we boarded. A non-event except that as usual, my dear wife made friend with two college girls that sat near us going home for the long weekend break. When we arrived at the KL Sentral at 12pm the first thing that came on my mind was mi tarik that I love so much. We had lunch there. 

We scheduled to board at 1.15pm and immediately after lunch we rushed to Gate B on the second floor of the KL Sentral complex. KTMB or rather the Management of KTMB decided to streamline all the arrivals and departures at one gate. Thus, all departures since October were relocated to Gate B. Whereas all the arrivals at Gate A. 

There were already a lot of passengers waiting at Gate B. No doubt some of them were taking the ETS to Ipoh that was supposed to depart before us. It seems their train was already late and since our departure is dependence on the arrival of their train from Ipoh I knew straight away than our’s would not be on schedule. In fact, a few minutes later an announcement came on air to deliver the verdict. The ETS from Ipoh will only arrive at 1.50 pm followed by our Express Rakyat at 2pm. Another long wait for us thanks to KTMB’s Ontime Everytime tagline ha ha ha

At 2.21 pm we were called to board. Since we were late the Gate was packed with passengers already and this is what I failed to understand. Yes, the train was late. Yes, all tickets were numbered. Yes, the train attendants Wii ensure everyone to board before departing. But yet people were rushing to the train like there were not going to have their seats. Unbelievably Malaysian. 

The few times we boarded Express Rakyat I unknowingly always chose the old second class superior seats. This time luckily my choice hit the new ones. It was our first time on this newly refurbished coach. The best thing about this is that there was a working power point socket put in place on the wall of each of the pair seats. No worry about running out of power for my gadgets. 

As a matter of routine for me as soon as I had my wife seated comfortably and our luggage tucked properly I walked out on the platform to shoot a few frames before we departed. By now I have taken a few that seems to be identical. Trust me there are not. They may look the same to others but to me, they were totally new batch and new perspective in a different time frame and zone. 

The journey south is all too familiar for me so I spent the earlier part of the journey sitting and dozing in my seat. I woke up as we were approaching Sg Gadut and I felt like I had been sleeping for 5 hours. Ha ha ha maybe the train was too slow. I sat a bit and then asked my wife whether she wanted to join me to lepak at the buffet car for a drink. 

We walked to the back about two coaches away and was at the buffet car soon enough. I checked my phone for the time and it was  4.27 pm. As we sat down Tampin/Pulau Sebang Station came into our view. We ordered our drinks and for a change, a lady was at the counter. Yes, it was rare for the cafe operator to have ladies. 

We sat drinking and talking. Small talk nothing serious just enjoying ourselves. After a while I took out my laptop to start writing, just writing a bit here and there nothing stuck in my mind to write longer and serious. My wife started to check her phone and she saw I was writing she told me she would like to go back to our seats. I stayed back a bit as I thought I might get the flow to continue to write. Actually, I just managed a bit of writing but more thinking and enjoying the scenery outside. The train, although delayed by at least half an hour, was moving at a normal pace which I like. I felt so contented and blessed. Again, I really cannot explain to someone how I feel when I am on the train. I myself really cannot pin it down. So, I guess just enough for me to write my experience down to at least try to explain it even to myself. 

I sat at the buffet car longer as I needed to be. When I realised I was almost alone there I decided to go back to my seat. Once I was at my seat I put down my bag and told my wife to take note. My wife knew already after years of on the train she would just let me be me. I walked towards the door at the back of our coach and stood there in between of the two coaches next to the restroom. looking outside. When I was younger I would fire up my cigarette ha ha ha. At the door there was a pull-down seat for the attendant to sit, I took over the place as I knew the attendant would not be sitting there. Furthermore, that was not the first time I did that. It was almost my own place whenever I am on the train. One of the places that I could be myself and I can just sit there thinking. My thoughts just ran wild thinking about everything. This included my plan to retire early. I smile thinking about what I would be doing a lot more when I am retired.

Outside the scenery changed from a bit of wetland to palm plantation indicating we soon would be in central Johor. We passed Segamat when I was at the buffet car. The first station in central Johor by train would be Labis. I knew we would arrive at Labis because the forest and plantation out was denser. If you look at the map you would know why, as Labis and the next town Bekok are located next to the Taman Negara Johor Endau Rompin. It was also getting darker a bit outside. We would be late arriving at Kluang for sure. The train moves slowly manoeuvring through the terrain going up and down a bit. And down we entered Labis. Being a shuttle train there were passengers disembarked and boarded at a small station like Labis.

The next station was Bekok and it was the same as Labis. While looking out of the windows I was more convinced that I should do a road tour of these small stations in Johor soon. It was already 1 hour off schedule when we arrived at Paloh followed by Chamek

In fact, we arrived at Kluang Station at 7.27 pm. If on schedule we should arrive at 6.30 pm.

Once we disembarked we straight away walked out of the station. Strategically I have chosen the Imperial Hotel as it is a decent hotel that is close to the station. Somehow when we walked there guided by the map in my handphone and my old brain I still missed it right under my nose. We had to circle the place only when I saw the signage of the hotel at the top. We checked in, said our prayers and went out for dinner somewhere near the Kluang Parade. It was our first time walking in Kluang but since it is at night we limited our walk around the hotel and close by. Luckily we did that as after a bit we felt really tired and walked back to the hotel.

On The Train, Hikayat SK2 Chapter 2

Saya katakan hikayat kerana ianya cerita yang bermula dari filosofi dan tabiat perniagaan KTMB yg bercelaru disebabkan pegawai atasan yg kurang cekap dan mahir. 

Firstly, let me introduce myself as far as railway service in Malaysia is concern. First and foremost I am a railway fan that have been a loyal customer to KTMB. For 13 years I have taken the good, the bad and the ugly of KTM Komuter service every day to work. On top of that since I was 5 years old I had been using the intercity services for my travels in Malaysia. At least I would take an average of 4 times a year to travel in Malaysia by train when most of my friends and family members do not even want to think of taking one. Of course over time I met the like minded personalities yg gila keretapi like me. We grew up in a group as train fans and occasionally organise our own trips to Kelantan or up north by train.  We even did CSR projects with the train communities along the east coast line. We go nuts with anything about trains. In short, we are not your normal Malaysian who takes the train to balik kampung. We are fans who love everything about trains. I am not asking for KTMB to treat us like kings but don’t you think we deserve a decent treatment if not better like any other customers? Well! KTMB do not think so.

The trigger of this hikayat adalah our pengalaman yg ingin menyewa SK2 untuk aktiviti merasa perkhidmatan tersebut sebelum ia ditamatkan. Berdasarkan kepada iklan diatas kami telah menghubongi pihak KTMB and setelah berbincnag telah dipersetujui dgn bayaran deposit untuk menyewa SK2 untuk perjalan kami dari JB Sentral ke Tumpat. Memandangkan SK2 itu akan balik semula kosong pihak KTMB yg kami telah berurusan telah mempelawa kami untuk menggunakan SK2 untuk perjalanan balik dgn sedikit diskaun. Kami telah bersetuju.

Sebagai peminat keretapi yg teruja nak naik SK2 kami telah mebuat bayaran dan persediaan untuk perjalanan. I mean we came from all walks of life and most of us are working. Thus we need to apply for our leaves and to make additional arrangement to travel to JB to board the SK2. Mind you one of us has to travel from Terrenganu. All these were done in excitement and anticipation of the ride. To railway fans like us, this is once in a lifetime opportunity. However, it was not meant to be, just because a certain senior management of KTMB who is clueless about his role and responsibility. I say clueless because he did not even know the service exist and the price for the service. Just imagine you as a worker trying to create a business for your business unit and your boss did not event give a damn. We were made known that he does not even go to meetings. What kind of management style is this?

In fact, he got to know about us renting the SK2 by accident. It happened that the SK2 was wanted by KTMB’s management on the same day of our proposed travel date. To cut the story short he did all things possible to deny us the service at the same time saving his skin. Among others, he asked for us to list down our occupation. What!!!????. the first time in history I was asked for my occupation when I want to use a transportation service to travel. I have boarded train services overseas and not to mention the flights that I have taken and not even once they ask my occupation. 

Well, personally I am no stranger to this misadventure with KTMB services and management style. If you use google to search the Net to find all the complaints about KTMB and its services you can do your PhD. Worse on FB and other social media. I am not surprised if some of their staff are also fed-up with the incoherent management direction. From the many postings and based on my own experience using the service I deduce the followings;

1. No proper strategy. If any they are flip flop and poorly communicated to their staff
2. No or lack of proper communication strategy especially in managing crisis
3. No coordination in business and almost all silos. Clearly indicated by their tagline On Time Every Time
4. Silo loyalty programme if any. Some do not even know the meaning of customer loyalty
5. Clueless top management for Intercity Business

Last but not least for the sake of train service in Malaysia and KTMB I’d love to be proven wrong.

To be continued.

On The Train, 11 May 2017, KL Sentral - Gemas - JB. But denied the use of SK2 Chapter 1

This trip, apart from our trip to Bangkok in March, was meant to be a major trip for us this year. As we had planned to book the SK2 from JB to Tumpat. It would have been an Orient Express Malaysian style ride for us the railway fans. We plan Allah decides. A certain JJ at KTMB was ordained to become the rouge that spoilt it for us. Of course I am looking at this positively as because of the cancellation now I could attend my daughters commencement ceremony at the Majestic Hotel. Still the fact remains that JJ did not know what he is doing. He is. to protect his ass,  is alienating the rail fans further from KTMB. Frankly I do not know how the Intercity service going to make any money with this kind of management and attitudes. Any half decent managers would know the last thing they want to do is to chase away their customers. Not only that, their loyal customers who had been using the service good or bad for years. In my case a solid 13 years every day using the service to work. On top of that been going around Malaysia using the intercity trains when others would not even think or mention KTMB.

I had bought my train tickets to JB and booked us a hotel for a night earlier because of the proposed trip. I could have cancelled but did not as I love this bloody train so much so here I am with my dear wife on the ETS to Gemas and later to take the shuttle to JB. Going to JB by train now is a also a mess only KTMB could create. So inconvenience for the users. The users have been guinea pigs with their constant changes in train schedule. Mostly, all defy logic in management and customer relationship management. Yes they have been in red all these while, in fact they still are, but to treat your customers like shit is not making any sense at all. If traveling is going from point A to B KTMB is losing big time to the like of Airasia and bus express. For instance the fare from JB to KL by bus is only RM35 where by train it is RM52.

Despite my frustration I am enjoying this ride. The ETS is on time trying to keep to the promise of their tagline, On Time Every Time which was a sick joke that KTMB produced when their services were pathetic. When I first saw the bunting with that tagline I could not stop laughing ha ha ha. In fact I laughed right there in front of their ticket counter. It is slightly better now to their credit but that tagline is still a big joke with a punch line blowing in their face ha ha ha. I am so sorry for them. 

Well, we arrived at Gemas on time and straight away disembarked to wait for our shuttle from JB that also arrived on time. The shuttle was an INKA trains which were used by the now defunct Express Rakyat. I like the coaches, pleasant, with power points and modern flush VC.

The Shuttle 41 departed Gemas at 2.53pm. Initially the thought of doing what I do best while on the train prevailed but then after awhile I somewhat felt lethargic and sat down at my assigned seat. I spent my time playing with my handphone. Playing meant checking my FB accounts and chatting via Whatsapp.  However after Segamat I dozed off for a bit. I woke up just after Bekok. Knowing there was not a buffet car onboard I just sat at my seat looking out watching Johor passing by. 

The train stop longer at Layang-Layang that I thought we were crossing with another train. But no. The evening light was really brilliant shining onto the station that I quickly took out my camera to take a few shots.

The train eventually departed Layang Layang and later did cross with the JB Gemas shuttle at Rengam. After Rengam I was just not in a mood to do anything else but playing with my phone. I guess getting closer to JB Sentral and realising we were not going to board SK2 did play on my mood a bit. A bit of frustration rather than angry.

The train approached JB Sentral at around 6.40 pm and subsequently parked at 6.49 pm. Sam and I rushed out and up into JB.

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 7, May 1, 2013, Teusday - Don Muang Airport and Home

We woke up as usual but since it was our traveling day home all seems quiet. After breakfast we finished or rechecked our luggage for the final time. After that we just waited quietly as it was still early. I have booked a van to take us to the Don Muang airport. Anticipating bad traffics a I had planned for the pick up to be early.  

We left our rooms and waited at the lobby. I must say the hotel apartment was well worth spending our money for the stay. Not only the room was comfortable and spacious the service was tip-top. If I were to come to relax I would come and stay there again. 

As soon as the van arrived we boarded and departed. I forgot that 1st of May was a labour day and mostly observed by most countries. Thailand certainly is and we had an easy drive to the Don Muang Airport.

At the airport I thought it was going to be just waiting and boarding. No, ha ha ha there were some loose Bahts left to be spent. Another shopping excursion inside the airport.

Our red bird is as usual late but most of us this time did not mind. Ha ha ha ha none of us looking forward to leave Bangkok and the next day to go back to our own routine. In my case go back to the office.

Two hours later we were home. Home sweet home and we could not wait for our next long train ride.

My FB friends you can view our photos for the last day here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 6, April 30, 2013, Monday - Grand Sport outlet and Grand Palace

My family, especially my wife, had been walking a lot the day before so I decided to let them rest a bit more before we do Bangkok again. However, after breakfast the boys and I decided to go back to the Grand Sport outlet to buy our team's jersey. We took the Skytrain at Si Lom station and got down at National Stadium. Along the way we stopped at the stadium which was opened to take few photos. 

Of course we ended up buying a lot more other stuff he he. One of them is a big Grand Sport traveling bag. 

On the way back to the National Stadium station we saw a halal cafe just after the stadium. I straight away send a message to my wife asking for their orders. Thus lunch being taken care off for the day. 

With lunch and prayers done we went out for the last time to explore Bangkok. Our target for the day was the area of the old city surrounding the Grand Palace area

We took the MRT down to Hua Lamphong before proceeding by Tut Tut to the Grand Palace area. That was our first tut-tut ride in Bangkok. Actually we did not straightaway took the tut-tut we explored Hua Lamphong again for few minutes.

These guys are really speed demon moving effortlessly around busy Bangkok’s streets and alleys. So in no time we reached in front of the Grand Palace. Initially I thought of taking my family into the Palace as I have been there when I was a secondary school students but I was stopped at the counter when I saw the price of around RM50 perhead. We turned around and started to walked along the street in front of the Palace entrance. We noticed there was some sort of carnival going on on a big field in front of the place but my family saw anything that was even more interesting to/for them. It was a NaRaYa outlet and the girls almost running towards it. There were a lot of tourist around that area and it was worse inside NaRaYa. Baqir and I walked out bought ourselves cold drinks and wait outside. While waiting I took out the map and started to plan our walk. Studying the maps that I have I got really confused as to where we were exactly. Their tourist map was really confusing. Even with the big Grand Palace in front of me.

After the girls finished with their shopping I decided to walk towards where we could see a lot of sellers selling their wares along the street. We walked further up to the pier and only then Baqir got it figured up. Only later I realised that the concept of map and mapping is not a Thai culture. As we reached the pier my children got excited as the place was basically a location where the Korean shot the Thai episode of the Running Man.

From my research earlier I know we were at Thai’s Amulet Market area and true to the name along the street sellers were selling amulets in all sort of forms and sizes. We walked on knowing on the other side of the building was Chao Phraya River. As far as the amulets concern, nothing interest us. Only the old buildings on both sides of the street intrigued me. Since historically Thailand was not colonised by any western country the buildings are really culturally nice. I took few shots of them as we strolled along. One of them was two old buildings with covered walkway creating a warm atmosphere for visitors at 57 Soi Phra Chan

Khwaeng Phra Borom Maha Ratch Rd.

As we came out from the Amulet Market in front of us was Thammasat University and we turned right at the corner to walk along Phra Chan Alley until the main road where across the Sanam Luang (The Royal Field). I look to my left and I saw the National Museum. We crossed the road to the field. There a lot of people gathered in various spots of the field and on the field there was some sort of traditional games competition going on. One of them is sepak raga played in a different way. The objective of this sepak raga is to either kick, head or shoulder the ball into the hoop hanged high above the ground. I was intrigued. At the same time a martial art competition was in progress nearby. So I sat there with my camera watching while my family, resting their feet, parked themselves at the park bench. Something I realised was the field and park was a place for joggers and local leisure riders with their bicycles.

I was enjoying myself watching the game going on when I was absorbed into a feeling that I could not explained. I was so relax and happy. 

After awhile we started to walk again just following our instinct knowing that we were walking in circle around a big circle around the old city. We continued our walk along the perimeter of the field until we reached the edge in front of the National Museum. The Museum was closed so we crossed Na Phra That Alley to Rachini Alley where I stopped to decide on our option.  I saw a road bridge crossing the Chao Phraya and another Rachini Alley going down to the river edge. I decided to take Rachini Alley with the intention of walking along Chao Phraya. That was what we did.

Again as we walked we came to lovely old buildings along the street making our walk bearable. It soothed our tired legs a bit. Then at a corner we saw an old fort like structure next to the river edge. Anticipating an interesting find we walked excitedly. It was Phra Sumen Fort and it was written on the signage,

‘Built in 1783 to defend against potential naval invasions and named for the mythical Mt Meru (Phra Sumen in Thai) of Hindu-Buddhist cosmology, the octagonal brick-and-stucco bunker was one of 14 city watchtowers that punctuated the old city wall alongside Khlong Rop Krung. Apart from Mahakan Fort, this is the only one still standing. Alongside the fort and fronting the river is a small, grassy park with an open-air pavilion, river views, cool breezes.’

After a bit of exploring and photo taking we moved on. A few blocks behind us we passed a mamak/indian restaurant and I sense we were actually close to a muslim community. As we walked a bit my intuition became a reality when we found a Halal stall stall along the street selling halal Thai’s food. We stopped immediately for drinks and the children could not resist having a go at their soups. They were nice. 

As the evening was coming to a close I asked my family to finish their food quickly to continue our walk. My sense was even vindicated when we heard azan mgrahib coming from nearby indicating a mosque. But we could not stop to explore further and we have to get back to new city. Consciously we began to look for tut-tut and we needed two. 

Naturally the best option is to walk to the main road and away from the river. As we were walking a tut-tut driver saw us from across the road and immediately maneuvered his tut-tut towards us. We had to get a Tut Tut back to Hua Lamphong. As I was negotiating for the price when he hurried us to board. All, the six of us in one tut tut. Apparent he could not stop there and a policeman was urging him to move on already. We boarded and cramped the tut tut in one adrenaline rush ride to Hua Lamphong for only 150 baht.

Once at Hua Lamphong we relaxed a bit. We went down to catch our MRT to Si Lom. Once there, knowing it was our last night in Bangkok, we delayed our walk back to the hotel.

My FB friends can view photos for Day 6 here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 5, April 29, 2013, Sunday - Damnoensaduak Floating Market and Grand Sport

We started our fifth day in Bangkok by visiting the famous Damnoensaduak Floating Market. It is about 100km south of Bangkok. The market is being commercialise as tourist attraction now. It bound to be a lot of hypes and not worth the trip. Nevertheless, I decided to go to learn about their history, life and culture. It was a very good experience for us. 

Initially I was thinking to go there the backpackers way but considering the time we had I decided to book a van. I had booked a van the day before and it cost me around 2,000 Baht. I did this with the help of the front desk staff and we decided the pick up time at our hotel at around 8.30am. 

The van was on time and we departed immediately. We manoeuvred out of early Sunday morning Bangkok traffic. As we drove out I was not surprise to see worker cycling in the city street to work. The drive was quite pleasant going through Thai’s country side. As we approach the hour mark of the journey to Damnoensaduak I saw a lot of white watery farm as big as any paddy fields.  I asked our driver and he told us it was salt farms. Only then, after checking my map, I knew that we were actually driving by the sea. The ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the Thais amazed me.

Damnoensaduak Floating Market

The driver took us to one of the many boat operators that will take tourists around the canal and to end at the market. If you have time, on the budget and adventurous the better option is to take a bus to the floating market directly as you can experience the boat ride there cheaper. Understanding their operation and the choice of the operator by our driver I knew they were going for my wallet. So I played dumb and uninterested. I started the negotiation and in the end we settled for a price that I could not remember now ha ha ha.

The first part of the boat ride was going through somebody's backyard along the man made canals. As part of the tourist attractions they built a lot of stalls along the canal. If you found something that you really want, bargain hard as most of the items are available through out Bangkok as well. The boat driver took us through the maze and the sight was either more stalls or someone's kitchen and backyard. The boat driver would slow down at every stalls at the bank just in case we were interested to look and buy things. He actually stopped at one that was slightly bigger than the rest. It was a shop cum tourist area where they showed how a few local pastries were made. We were not looking for anything and they was nothing interest us to buy as souvenir. Eventually we got on the boat and moved on. The only place that we stopped that really had my attention was an art shop/gallery run by the artist himself. He was assisted by his beautiful sister. The artist was Supachai and after a few rounds the place I decided on a piece. The average price of his painting is 2,500 TB. I was very glad to find out I could pay using my plastic.

The driver continued to take us toward the main market area and by this time the canal was already quite busy with other boats coming and going. We eventually turned into the main entrance of the Damnoensaduak Floating Market. As we moved along we could see a lot of activities but since it was almost mid-day not as busy as in the early morning. Really live business activities were conducted around us on boats. The boys and Sam decided to buy fruits. Frankly there was nothing much when we were there. It is becoming to be more hypes than anything else. Well I could be wrong as maybe we were there at the wrong time. The boat turned a corner at the end of the market and we sped back to where we started. I am glad we got that one in the bag. Nothing really amazing about the place that I want to go back again. It is a place once you have had the experience and that’s it. No deep beautiful feeling that attaches me to the place.

The journey back to Bangkok was fast and quiet ha ha ha. 

Due to quite and early morning departure most were really tired by the time we were on the van going back to the hotel. So silence mode was on.

Once we arrived back at the hotel we decided just to buy something to eat and had our lunch in the room. In fact I was not that hungry I let my family rest a bit before deciding on another assault on Bangkok.

Thus, after lunch we went for another walk-about around Bangkok and this time we went to the National Stadium area with the intention of exploring the sport tourist area. We took the BTS to National Stadium station and started to walk towards the stadium area. Our expectation was not that high so we just kept on walking. To our great surprise, we found the elusive Grand Sport store next to the stadium area. In fact the whole two-row building there was actually housed sport stores of local brands. The biggest were FBT and Grand Sport. Grand Sport is the brand that was famous among us in the 70’s and anytime we were in Thailand it was a must buy. Being a nostalgic fool like me it was one of the reasons why I want to be in Bangkok again. There were couple of things on sale and we bought a few. We explored FBT and other stores as well. After a while and since the day is getting dark we walked back towards the MBK. Since we had explored MBK before we just walked outside and took the BTS to Siam Centre. There were two new shopping malls we just walked to passed the time to see something different if any. 

We finished the day with a sumptuous and the most delicious Tom Yum dinner at Farida Fartornee Restaurant. I knew of the place before hand and apart from being recommended by a friend I did some research on it. I decided it is worth the hassle. After the floating market and the long walk I thought I want to have it easy for my family and have a simple dinner. But then we would have a chance anymore as we were leaving soon so I made a brave effort to identify the best route to go there. From Siam Centre we took the BTS to Ratchathewi station and from there, with the help the map I downloaded, we walked to the restaurant. We ordered what’s recommended and we had the best tom yum that we had ever had. 

Famished and elated we walked out of the restaurant towards the BTS station. Disembarking at Si Lom station we walked the night market along the street before we headed to our hotel. 

To my FB friends click here to view photos for Day 5

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 4, April 28, 2013, Saturday - Chatuchak Weekend Market and Bangkok city night

The plan was to have our breakfast delivered to our room a bit early and walk to the MRT to board the earliest train to Chatuchak. Our breakfast, western, was served in our room every morning. You can have a choice of two sets of western breakfast and serve at your preferred time. 

We want to be at the weekend market as early as possible to beat the weekend crowd. Indeed later we found out it was the smart decision.  After our breakfast we walked towards Si Lom MRT station. Not many people waiting and on the train. We were really early and beating the crowd.

When we arrived we knew straight away the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market is really huge. Vendors already were there along the street leading to the market selling their wares. When we walked along and knowing us as foreigners they started with their look, look, see, see and cheap cheap ha ha ha. As we walked towards the market we can feel a huge stream of people joining us. Thousands of visitors/shoppers that comprise of locals and foreigners.  

To visit Chatuchak market you certainly need a strategy. My strategy was simple enough. Beginning with the outer ring walk around to check every outlets until we reach the middle. Ha ha ha ha that is why you need a whole day there. That was what we did and it happen that the outer ring where we entered was where the jeans, denims and dungarees outlets were. The main reason of my strategy was that I wanted to really explore the place and soak everything in. The other strategy was if you like what you see and want it, bargain like hell and pay. Do not wait or think you can come back later. You will never ha ha ha. I did not have anything in particular to buy just to explore and have good experience there. 

When we reached one of the entrances we started to do as planned. We walked exploring the first outer ring walking inside. It was indeed a huge ring ha ha ha. Beginning with the denims and jeans area to t-shirts, leathers, shoes and shirts. I could not remember exactly but I think we managed to walked about three rings and decided to have a rest. It was at about lunch time we were a bit tired already and in need of food. Based on my research of the market there would be a couple of halal stalls and surau to pray. Indeed we found the stalls as we walked out to the middle of the rings. We settled for one a bit inside and we knew we had made the right choice when we tasted the food.  

After we finished our food we sat a bit to rest our tired feet. We talked about coming back to Bangkok in the future and continue of train journey to Chiang Mai.  Chatuchak market would be a definite must visit again and we know how to tackle it the next time.  We also discussed our next plan of action. Since it was already passed zuhor we decided to say our Jamak prayers first before we continue our exploration.

As explained by the guide that I had and explained to us by the food stall owner we walked to find the surau. Indeed it was not that difficult to locate. The surau is behind a blue colored Bank.  Take the alley and the surau will be on your left. 

After we said our prayers we continued walking inside the maze until we decided there were nothing interesting more to explore. As a finale we decided to walk the ringed parameter in the middle and observed from outside. By now there were already a lot of visitors at the market and getting difficult to move around. We decided to call Chatuchak a day and explore another part of Bangkok.

The best way to go to Chatuchak is either by taking the MRT to Chatuchak Park or BTS to Mo Chit stations. Going back to downtown we decided to take the BTS at Mo Chit which was easy enough to find.

We planned to disembark at Siam Centre station and once we were there we embarked on another walking excursion around Bangkok. Being weekend this time around the shopping areas were packed with people. We checked out Siam Centre and Siam Paragon anyway knowing that we did not have anything to buy there. We checked out the latest and biggest shopping mall there and Sam found the best Pulut Mangga and until today she is urging me to go back there for it ha ha ha. The main reason I am going through the shopping complexes there was to find Grand Sport outlets. Nostalgic fool that I am I needed to find this Thailand brand sport shop to buy something as souvenir. Back during our school days Grand Sport was top and most sought after brand among us. Primarily because it was of good quality with good price and secondly due to our association with King’s College of Bangkok. Unfortunately there was not one in the many complexes. 

Below the BTS train track was a skybridge/walkways that run and connecting all the major shopping malls and building around the area. This makes pedestrian life easier to move from one building to another. We leveraged and made full use of the facilities. After the exploration of all the new shopping malls, using the walkway, we walked towards MBK, a shopping mall that used to be the landmark for many tourists from Malaysia. Nothing in particular that we want to buy there just walking around to window shop and observe the malls culture in Bangkok. Apart from that we were going there to have dinner as based on my research there would be halal restaurant and surau there.

Once a while when we were tired we just sat down for a short breather. We did not care if we had to sit on the floor.

MBK was not to our liking as shopping wise you can get whatever there cheaper somewhere else. Thus, our main objective was dinner at Yanna Restaurant. From the directory the food court and where we can find Yanna Restaurant was at the top floor of the mall. Once we were there we straight away got our table and started to explore the menu. It was quite a familiar list that we did not have problem ordering. Not a bad selection. The price range is acceptable. All of us ordered two dishes each thinking it would be in small portion. What came were American size dishes that piled up our table. No worries though. There were too delicious and we were very hungry not to clean them up ha ha ha. Somehow I felt we rushed our dinner ha ha ha.

As we could not locate the surau after few attempts we walked out the mall. Using the elevated walkway we proceeded towards Siam BTS station. As we walked we could see down below a pasar malam like atmosphere and realised, since it was Sunday night, there was Malaysian uptown like sales going on. It was every where along the corridor and five foot pathway. We perked up and excited as that would be the best opportunity to find something unique and special. We walked down and explored.

Indeed you can really find what you want and also what you think you want ha ha ha. I successfully resisted. But it was enjoyable walking along admiring at how innovative, entrepreneurial and determine they were. After a few blocks we had seen enough and walked unto the nearest BTS station and took a train back to Saladaeng station. Of course when we arrived at Saladaeng a full blown uptown was in progress. Again we decided to explore. Knowing  that Patphong Road was nearby I directed my family to the opposite side of the road. Even that I could not avoid the outlets selling things that not supposed to be seen by my family. Mar did ask me about something she saw but I ignored her ha ha ha. Susah nak explain oooooo.

After a while we had enough and walked back to our hotel. Along the way we bought a lot of fruits.

My FB friends can view photos of Day 4 here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 3, April 27, 2013, Saturday - On the train to Bangkok and city of Bangkok

I set my alarm at 5am and duly awake when it went off. Since I had decided the night before to take my normal early morning bath I prepared myself. Taking a bath on the train is easy and fun. The good thing about this express is that one of the toilet has shower bidet. So it was even easier for me. The trick is to have flip-flop, or selipar jepun to us Malaysian, small towel and loose attire. Knowing I had to be quick I still took my time with my bath. There was a small opening above the closed window and I could see still dark morning outside. 

After I said my suboh I changed my cloth and as ready as I was on any normal morning. The only exception today I was sitting in bed watching Thai’s morning passing by and breaking in front of me. I did not know really where we were then but the yellow streaking sunlight breaking over the horizon indicating to me we were close to the sea and it was beautiful morning. A bit further along the journey a picturesque morning was breaking at the horizon courtesy of Allah All mighty and I sat looking out enjoying it. I took few photos and the outcome did not do justice to the actual scene.

My breakfast on the train was a simple bread and coffee. Another art of traveling light. A lot of people asked me this. So travel really light and to me that means packing what really necessary only. For this trip I packed inside my work backpack  a traveling pant, apart from what I was wearing 4 extra dry fit T’s, small towel, kain pelikat, short and enough underwears. Of course traveling accessories and toiletries. I suggest to wear a suitable sandal for this kind of trip unless you are expecting a winter ‘sonata’ he he he.

By now I was really enjoying the journey. After miles of natural landscape slowly the scenery changed to paddy fields, farmland and villages. Although the climate and contour of the earth is similar with Malaysia I found out the landscape is different. I wondered while looking out why is this so. I was looking at the same paddy fields and the same types of shrubs and trees found in Malaysia. But definitely different scenery. It took me awhile and suddenly it struck me that the people and the culture actually shaped the environment and the landscape, even the landscape.  We may have the same type of earth, rivers, contour and crops but the way we treat the land make the difference. 

We arrived at Hua Hin at 6.30am Thai time. Hua Hin is another town along the route that is close by the sea.

My fellow travellers on the train started to wake up one after the other and made a bee line for the washroom and water basin to clean up. To avoid this it is encouraged to do it early like I did. Breakfast was sold on board but it is not advisable for muslim to take. I continued my leisure admiring the scenery outside. Town after town we passed and a change in scenery. The towns started to grow bigger and bigger indicating we are moving closer into Bangkok. By now the attendant started to make up the bed and we were back to the sitting arrangement. However my dear wife persisted a bid longer to enjoy the bed.

We reached Nakorn Patorn station at around 9.25am. Nakorn Patorn is a town I know and visited once before, alas years ago as a 19 year old rugby player. It indicated that we were not that far away from Bangkok. I calculated that we would be in Bangkok about two hours earlier of  the schedule. I checked with the attendant and he confirmed we will be in Bangkok at around 10.30am. 

Then came the first of the several long waits at certain stations. I just do not understand until I saw the many crossings that we had to pass through to Bangkok.

Going into Bangkok on the train slowly means passing some of the backyards of somebody’s home or the slump area of the city. No different from any other cities in Asia. You will see the other part of Bangkok or the other life of Bangkok.

Finally, we arrived safely at Hua Lamphong Station at around 11.20am Bangkok time. It was sort of unexpected to me. Yes the attendant did announce the arrival that the train crawled into the station without much funfare. We excitedly disembarked as finally we were in Bangkok after years of postponement.

We were not tired but vibrant and could not wait to explore Bangkok. Knowing that there was still plenty of time we took our own sweet time at the station acting like tourists taking photos and all. Also, knowing that there were halal food there we decided to have our lunch before we proceeded to our hotel to check in.

Halal stall at the food court would be on your left as you exited into the main waiting and ticketing hall of the station. You have to purchase coupons first to buy the food. Do not worry if you could not used the total amount of the coupons as you can return them for refund. So we ate our first Thai food, especially Pad Thai for the girls, in Thailand. They were different but nice. An indication to us that the food in Thailand are fabulous. 

After our lunch we did not go straight for the MRT station to our hotel but lingered a bit at the station to do a bit of exploration. As I was at their information counter I saw a Bangkok city map on sale and I thought it would be useful addition the the ones that I had already. It was a mistake as I found out in the room later. The map was at best just indication where things are and not at all helpful for travellers like us. So, my advise is do not waste your Baht to buy them. You are much more adequate with whatever you have already. This actually the first sign to me to indicate the other culture of Thailand. In summary train is still one of the major transportation for the Thais. We observed a lot of them buying tickets and waiting to board their trains. The main atrium of the station was full of passengers sitting on the floor waiting. Just like a pasar minggu without the goods in session. We noticed also about three quarters of them are muslims. 

The Hua Lamphon MRT Station is on your left as you exited the station. You are not going to miss it. Our first MRT in Thailand and we were heading for Si Lom station. We bought our tickets from the counter as we were not sure of the fare and how to use the ticket machine. The MRT token to Si Lom was B12 per person  The underground train was as good as what we have in KL. We enjoyed our first ride and definitely excited to be in Bangkok after so many years of planning. Though excited I knew that everyone was still tired either due lack of sleep or because of the long train ride. Being Saturday not many people on the MRT and the ride was smooth. In no time we were at Si Lom station already.

According to the map that I studied our hotel would be about 400 hundred metres  after we turned left at the first junction and I am pretty sure of it. Nevertheless a very helpful tourist guide or police at the exit asked us where we were going. I told him and he duly said just take the left corner at the junction 20 metres from where we stood and the hotel would be a short walk from there. 

Saladaeng (pronounce Saladeng) Colonnade was a hotel apartment that I had booked. The two bed rooms apartment could accommodate all the six of us comfortably. However when we checked in I made a mistake of letting everyone into the small lobby and submitting all the passports. The lady clerk straight away notice the number of us and being a bit of a high end apartment did not allow all of us to check in one apartment. I did not know they were that strict or maybe because of their small lobby and no other entrance making it easy for them to spot us. I asked her what’s our option and of course she said to take another room. Upon checking initially she said unfortunately there was no room available for the next 3 days. So she suggested and asked her bell boy to walk us to the nearest hotels around the area to enquire. I followed with the boys and to cut the story short after three hotels we still could not get a room for the boys. I did not realise it was peak season. When we were back at the Saladaeng the lady clerk rechecked her booking and managed to find a room for us. Alhamdulillah, we got to stay in the same place. So, we took one 2 bedroom apartment that I had paid as well as a deluxe room for the boys. When we entered our apartment I was right in my earlier assessment that the 2 bedroom apartment can comfortably accommodate us. Even the boys’ deluxe room was big enough for all of us. nevertheless, the place was one of the best that I have stayed. The rooms came together with either American or European breakfast that going t0 be served in our rooms. We chose American and when the breakfast was served the next day it could last us until evening. Our two rooms apartment was 307 while the boys at 208. 

While Sam and the girls were taking a bit of rest I started to plan our day. Without thinking I knew I wanted to walk Bangkok straight away and I pour out all the street maps that I have and charted our assault for the day. The plan was to take a BTS to one of the pier at Chao Phraya River and walk the historic sites along the river. My main reference was the Walking Tour of Bangkok guides that I sourced from/through the Net. You can find a lot of these guides online as most backpackers or travellers like me would write and chart the experiences to share. 

Once I was done I waited for awhile to give everyone a bit more rest.

Refreshed we started to walk out of the hotel towards Si Lom BTS station. Si Lom Shopping Complex was just beside the BTS station and in trying to get the feel of how branded things are priced in Thailand we walked into the shopping complex to check out.  We found out the price for branded items were the same if not slightly higher compared to Malaysia. Also we found out there was a supermarket on the ground floor that stocked with our food supply.

We took the BTS train to Saphan Taksin station to get down at the pier of Chao Phraya River to start our walk along the river. When I boarded I immediately saw a group of European with their bicycles. I remarked to one of them 'Can you do this here in Bangkok?' They said yes and they have been doing it since 9 am this morning. I was astonished and said, 'We can never do this in KL.'. Not unless it is a folded folding bikes. So take note to all cyclists, you can take your bike on the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok. They seemed to having fun and seriously not a bad idea touring Bangkok on a bike especially after I knew how was it like walking Bangkok. 

Once at Saphan Taksin we walked down towards the pier and when we arrived there only I realised it was not possible to walk along the river all the way as there was no walkway. We stood at the pier for awhile absorbing the activities around us. 

We turned back and walk through Bangrak Market. Bangrak Market is a mix of everything market. We just passed through without shopping anything in particular. Guided by three maps I led everyone to walk as close as possible along the Chao Phraya.

We walked and walked. The tourist map was quite confusing so I abandoned it for the map I bought in KL. You can misjudged the size of the block on the map here as some of them could be a big block in reality. The main road we were on was Charoenkrung Road and once in while we walked in towards the river and two of such places were Royal Orchid Sheraton and River City. I thought we could take a boat cruise at one of the jetties and I was wrong. There was only a crossing service to the other side. So with that we continued to walk and from the map we were walking towards the Hua Lamphong Train Station where we can get on the MRT back to our hotel.  

It was indeed a long walk especially for my wife and luckily the boys were around to help their mum. Mostly there were nothing much to see as most shops were close. Only a surprise or two along the way. One of them was a very old rundown wood building by the river.

When we arrived at Hua Lamphong we stopped at the food court to buy take aways for dinner. I did not but anything as I planned to buy bread and canned tuna or sardines at either Silom Shopping Complex or the 7-Eleven on our walk back to the hotel apartment. 

When we disembarked from the MRT at Silom we found out a flea market cum pasar malam was every where. We traversed the street looking for good bargains and only later went into Silom Shopping Complex to by our food supplies.

As we were walking along down the street I noticed ‘strange’ objects on sale openly and I tried to shield them from Mar but I was too late. In fact later on, right in front of us a road sign says Patpong Road ha ha ha ha.   

Nevertheless, we went round zigzagging trying to find something nice and interesting to buy. In the end nothing materialised. We walked backed towards our apartments where along the way we bought a lot of fruits. 

Really tired all of us slept early and soundly. Another big exclusion the next day.

My FB friends could view photos of Day 3 here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 2, April 26, 2013, Friday

Penang and Butterworth - Bangkok Express, Coach 9, Berth 8,9,10,11, 12,13

I got up properly when we reached Bukit Mertajam at 6.00am. The journey was a non event so far as I slept through most of the journey. The train will always sway and shake, and those that are not used to it will find it very difficult to be on the train. Let alone to sleep comfortably like me ha ha. I am a veteran I would say as train ride is a second nature to me now. Regardless whether it is a bunk or seat I will just go to sleep if I want to. 

The attendant came around at 6.18am to alert everyone that we will be arriving at Butterworth soon. We were ready. I was more then ready for the Line Clear fish head curry ha ha ha.  We arrived at Butterworth station at 6.29am, on time. The station was still a makeshift one as the new station was still under construction. It has been years and still not completed. I guess it is following KTMB’s planet time schedule as usual he he. Nevertheless, we made do with what we had as the boys went to say their Suboh at the Surau, I used the station’s restroom to clean myself. I came out fresh and ready for Penang. The next thing we need to do was to store our luggage at the station so that we do not have to lug them around Penang. I asked one of the train attendants in the office was there a place we could store our luggage and he said yes and one of the porters at the platform could help us to do it. I waited for a while until I saw the porter walked in. I asked him nicely and he showed us their office and where we could store our luggage at RM3 for a bag. I paid him RM18 for 4 backpacks and two cabin size luggage. With that we walked out of the station towards the ferry terminal about 800 metres away. The walk was taxing for Sam and the boys helped her going up the staircases. On the way to the terminal we witnessed the progress of the construction of the station. I do not like to bet but I can say we are lucky if it is ready by next year. 

The ferry terminal is getting very old and need renovating as well. My observation is that they do not have to do a major one as all they need to improve is the waiting area to make it a bit more comfortable for the users. Although we had enough change with us we still struggled to get in. The attendants duly helped us. The ferry fare was still RM1.20 each for adult and RM0.60 for Mar. We did not have to wait long as the next ferry arrived after few minutes. Once the ferry docked and the gate opened the attendants let the cars in first. It is their logical system so that the pedestrian would not be in the way of the cars moving in to park.  Furthermore pedestrians can walk in to fill in the gap left by the parked cars if necessary. That was actually the case as there were limited seats for us, pedestrians. Clearly their main customers are all kind of transportations and not pedestrians like us. I sure hope the ferry operator knows the value of the service and what it means to their customers. The ferry service is not just a mean of transportation across the strait to Penang island but more than that. 

The name of our ferry is Pulau Payar and that should give someone a clue as to why the ferry service is important and nostalgic to some people. Mar and I stayed standing at the side of the ferry looking out enjoying the breeze blowing against our tired faces. Once in awhile I took a shot at the sea or anything I fancy capturing. The ferry ride ended when we were about to enjoy it. The anticipation of our longest train ride yet brought out the best in us. We seem to be enjoying everything now especially each other company. Traveling together as a family is always the best for me. I am pretty sure the train ride over other country would not be our last and we will take whatever opportunity that we will have to do it.  

We walked across out of Penang ferry terminal. I did not feel that hungry but I know Sam would like to have a light breakfast before we push on to Penang Road. I have only one thing in mind - Line Clear. I would like to have breakfast there. As we walked out under the covered walk-way we stopped at one of the stalls selling kueh. They are the normal kueh-kueh so I did not bother to buy. Sam and others picked up some and Mar started munching one of them. BTW the name of the stall was Pak Ya Kueh. The strange thing is that the name Pak Ya is always associated with people from the east coast. As we walked out of the walk-way I was still thinking on how to go to Penang Road. My options were the cab, bus or walk.

We were standing outside of the covered walk-way thinking what to do next. The town bus terminal was on our right and the taxi stand on our left when a gentleman, the taximan as usual asked us where we would like to go. I in a way ignored them as we had to take two taxis and it would not be fun. The bus is an interesting option but we had to find out the right bus to take. While we were standing there and the rest waiting for my decision a taximan, also a good samaritan, came over and asked us where we were going. I told him so. He explained that we can either take two taxis there at RM10 per taxi, take a bus or to go on the Hop For Free shuttle that was already waiting by the roadside. We thanked him and Hop For Free we went he he he.

The bus pulled out at 7.57 am. The Hop For Free tourist bus took us around the heritage sites around Penang and looped back towards the Jetty. It was an enjoyable ride accompanied most of the time by senior citizens or unties and uncles going and coming back from their morning tai chi or walk. Their happy faces and banters among each other were really refreshing. There were a couple of office workers on board as well at times. 

We disembarked at Chowrasta Market bus stand along Penang Road and walked back towards Line Clear for breakfast. However, when we got there I discovered they do not have Chappati. Its neighbour also did not have chappati for me so we walked back to another mamak restaurant that I knew would have chappati in their menu. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant but it is opposite of Cititel about 20 metres to the right. I ordered my chappati and kopi o. Actually I wanted to have more but with fish head curry waiting at Line Clear I paced myself ha ha ha. We spent a good time there talking and joking what lay ahead of us. Eventually we walked out of the restaurant and up towards Chowrasta area. We were too early for Penang’s shop owners to window shop. With nothing to do and while waiting for Line Clear to really operational we explored the area around the Chowrasta wet market. Interestingly we discovered the unexpected. Unexpected like a Chinese guy selling a fresh four season meat. It was katak my friend and they look delicious ha ha ha. Only RM12 per kg. Several good eating places were also available around the wet market and since we just had our breakfast we just settled for titbits here and there. After awhile we got tired and need a rest. We lepak ourselves at the bench on the five foot pathway. By now I was like a zombie due to lack of sleep and I tried to catch few winks sitting down at the bench. By now the new morning world of Penang took shape in front of us. Street vendors getting very active, shop owners opening their shops for the day. All kind of business from different walks of life. We just stood there admiring and observing them. Their actions indicated to us the time of the day and without looking at our watch we knew it was 10.30am and the fish head curry should be ready soon for us to devour ha ha ha.  

Eventually we walked back towards Line Clear and without missing a beat ordered our fish head curry and our other favourite dishes. We focused ourselves on the food ha ha ha and hingga menghirup kuah kari. As big as the fish head was we finished it effortlessly. Fresh, hot, spicy and super delicious. What can I say I am a sucker for fish head curry. 

We walked out of Line Clear satisfied, at least I was, and clueless as to what we should be doing next. Wandering along Penang Road the obvious hit us. At the bus stop in front of Chowrasta we waited and hopped onto the Hop For Free to the ferry terminal. 

Luck has it, it was the same ferry we took this morning. The weather is getting very hot now and I already could imagine, although short, the unbearable walk to the Butterworth railway station. As we were walking up to the ferry terminal I noticed a Mat Salleh carrying a big and heavy backpack. When I saw the flipper I knew straight away he was carrying a diving gear. The backpack must be really heavy as he was really perspiring and puffing when he arrived at the top. He just drop everything on the bench and walked to the kiosk to buy a bottle of 100Plus. He dried it immediately and, must be to his dismay, soon the ferry arrived.

The plan was to retrieve our luggage, settle ourselves at the surau and wait to board our train at 2.45pm. That what we did as soon as we reached the station. It was Friday except for musafir like us we did not expect anyone else to be at the surau. It was a makeshift surau made of a cargo container. A bit unpleasant with one or two of the fans not working. The boys and I took turn to take our bath at the toilet. I must say the public toilet was not well maintained. It crossed my mind to walk over to the restroom inside the waiting area to take my bath. But it was a bit too far to walk in a sarong.

There was still a lot of time after we said our prayers so we had a short siesta. A good one hour sleep did wonder to my demeanor. I was even more positive about our long impending ride to Bangkok in a short while. We tidied ourselves and left the surau for the waiting area. There were a lot of people already waiting and I thought all of them were fellow riders to Bangkok until an express train arrived from Singapore. I checked the platform and saw our train was already there. I enquired from the attendant and he told me the crew was cleaning the train we will be informed when to board. At least I knew we would be departing on time. There were several Caucasians in the waiting area and I was pretty sure they were going to Bangkok with us including the guy that was carrying the heavy diving gear. He must be going diving in Thailand

We were called to board eventually and everyone was really excited. We walked on the platform with a gait of someone going to collect the biggest prize ever on stage. Oh yes, we were that excited ha ha ha. It was a four coaches orange-purple train with Express Butterworth - Bangkok plague firmly attached on the side of the train. Our joy was almost dashed the moment we boarded when we found out an Indian family was occupying out two of our seats. I double checked and they were indeed at our seats. I asked them for their seats number but there were none and I told them that they were at our seats. They, in Malaysian English, made don’t know of my concern. I asked them where were they going and they told me Padang Besar and only then I realised why they were there. I happened to read this from somebody’s blog before. For the information of those reading this, KTMB to make extra money would also sell tickets for locals travelling between Butterworth and Padang Besar if there were empty seats but their tickets would not be numbered. So the Indian family just picked and choose. Furthermore each seat, before it is turn into bed, is big enough to sit four people each side. Not wanting to spoil our mood and since there were a lot of empty seats and we definitely going to get our seats back at Padang Besar I asked the boys just to sit somewhere.

Feeling tired and still needed to recover some lost sleep I dozed off after we left Bukit Mertajam. I woke up when the train was slowly entering Alor Setar. I knew straight away  that I will be awake until Padang Besar simply because of the breathtaking scenery of vast paddy fields along the way. By now, at 3.28pm,  several of my friends already knew of our adventure after we posted our status and shared few photos. My phone could not stop beeping either of FB replies or Whatsapp queries. A few of them were excited and thinking of doing the same with their family. Of course I fully recommended them to do it but if you do not like train at all better not to do it. If do not like train you would not like train what can I say.

As I predicted I spent most of the journey looking out the window soaking in the view as well as thinking about the adventure the next few days. At times I was asking myself why I could not do what I was doing for a living? Traveling on the train and writing about it. I know certain authors like Palin and Theroux are doing it but I do not want to be just that or at least a little bit different. Maybe different in style or model. Both of them no doubt already famous and their books sell. But me, I need a good business model and point to start. 

When we reached Padang Besar we immediately disembarked to clear the immigration which was on the other side of the platform. You can leave your luggage on the train but make sure you secure them. The process was quick and we did it in few minutes. We had enough maggi and bread on board just to make sure we decided to tapau some food. As advised by the train attendant we went up to the cafe at the station to buy rice and snacks for our dinner for the night. The food were nothing to shout about and if you have better option along the way buy somewhere else. I just wish it was the train in the early 70‘s. For sure you will get to a lot of food sellers on every platforms that we stopped selling their food. The train stopped there for about 30 minutes and we had more then enough time to buy our food. When we boarded the train again both the engine car and the crew had been replaced with the Thailand Railways engine and crew. Soon enough after we boarded the train pulled us out into unfamiliar territory. We left Padang Besar at around 6.30 pm Malaysian time and with that the train took us into Thailand night. Looking out with Thailand getting slowly dark and with the horizon getting red brought certain kind of feeling in me. I thought it was just me until I realised that all of us were a bit quiet. The cool early night maybe or maybe because everyone was thinking of what to expect.  I knew that it would be a short ride from Padang Besar to Hatyai

We arrived at Hatyai at around 7.30pm their time. Immediately our coaches were detached of the engine car and hooked to the Hatyai Bangkok Express making it a 10-12 coaches train to Bangkok. Slowly our fellow passengers to Bangkok fill up the seats making it a full capacity train. The new passengers being still fresh created a vibrant atmosphere inside the train. By now another set of crew came on board and most of them ladies. These ladies started getting busy preparing and I was not sure for what at first but when they were going up and down the isle with a menu only I knew they were there to serve dinner that was pre-ordered by the passengers. Seeing others having dinner we started to unpacked our own and chowed down with vigour even though the food were tasteless.

After dinner the attendant started to make the beds for everyone and we cannot wait for him to do ours. It was not just the beds that we were anxiously required for our tired bodies but also to watch the process of converting the seats into beds. Being very experience at it the attendant took less than five minutes to do ours. With the bed ready we were ready to call it a day. Of course we did what we have to do as a muslim and once done I started to change into my version of a pyjama. The romantic me was telling me not to sleep and to enjoy the train journey as I used to do in Malaysia. My body though said I need a rest and my practical mind agreed as I would be doing a lot of walking when we arrive in Bangkok.

I was warned before about the uneven track at the early stage of the journey after leaving Hadyai. I thought it cannot be any worse than what we had at home.I was wrong! As I was trying to sleep or already in a slumber I was jolted by a lot of rocking and shaking. Quite interesting though ha ha ha. On one of this episode I was awaken to see a beautiful moon up in the sky. It somewhat lit the space outside a bit. I checked my watch and it was 8.54pm. I just stared out a while trying to make a sense of the place. I could make the silhouette of secondary bush and intermittent of patches of low land. After a while I saw a lot of small shiny dots everywhere in the bush. Initially I thought I was seeing a reflection but as I focused my eyes better I instantaneously knew there were fireflies. Straight away my perspective of looking at the scene as a whole changed. With the moon spraying a bit of light on the ground the fireflies flickered like ceremonial lights. Amazing sight.  

I was in a deep sleep most of the journey after the rolling and shaking experience. I woke up to the stillness around me. For a while I thought I was in my bed at home. The train actually was on a platform stopped for quite a while. It was 2.39am very early in the morning. I was initially clueless as to where we were until I saw the sign saying Cumphon. I checked my map and found out it is a town by the sea. I saw on the platform disembarked one Mat Saleh who was carrying a very heavy diving gear from Butterworth. Obviously this is the station for divers going for excursion. After about half an hour waiting the train rolled out of Cumphon at 3.09am. I did not go back to sleep immediately trying to enjoy the night ride. We crossed with an antique train at a small station. I was amazed by that for two reasons. The first was of course the train itself and second the fact that we were on the outside track rather than inside as usual. It was getting really dark outside and nothing much to see so I dozzed off again.

My FB friends could view photos of Day 1 and 2 here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 1, April 25, 2013, Thursday

Senandung Mutiara

Departure: 2300

Coach M7 Berth17-24

We have been planning for this trip for years already. Every time we set to go, there’s always something to stop us on the track, political unrest, flood, epidemic, etc. We have been very patient waiting for the day we can do it. This year we decided to grab the first opportunity that we get. Now we are finally doing it. We are now on the train to Bangkok via Butterworth. Unfortunately Kakak cannot go with us due to her college commitment. We are comfortable in our second class sleeping berth on Senandung Mutiara Express. Tomorrow we will be taking the 2.45pm Butterworth-Bangkok Express for our longest train journey so far as a family. Frankly, I was more excited to be taking the train and be on the train to Bangkok rather than going to Bangkok.

I arrived at KL Sentral at 7.21 pm, half an hour after my family. I thought of leaving the office late but the Maybank online system was down for me to do some banking chores. I changed into my favourite traveling attire at the restroom and walked out of the office. The cold weather accompanied my walk to the station with my mind still lingered about works. Work will never end I said to myself and this is the time to enjoy your family holidays. After all I have been planning for this one for a while already. The Komuter ride to KL Sentral was a bit more meaningful knowing that the ride is the beginning of a longer one.  The longest for the family but not for me.

Being very early has its setback. We had to wait longer for our 11pm train to Butterworth. Even with all the things we had to do we still had a lot of times to kill. We started with having sandwiches at the Subway, then the surau, stopped at the money changer to buy some Bath and then we went in to wait at the McD. We loitered there until we were really bored sitting and went up to the waiting area about an hour before boarding. The train as usual was late ha ha ha even at the starting line. We finally boarded at 11.15pm.

The first leg of our train journey is already familiar to all of us. We had taken it for a couple of times already. My plan is to sleep through this one ha ha ha. Good night everyone!

Photos for Day 1 and 2 could be viewed here

It has been awhile and neglected

I have not been blogging here for awhile simply because I found it easier to mini-blog somewhere else like FB, Instagram or Twitter. So yes I am still writing.  I have been checking my files and I found a bit of unpublished writing. I am going to slowly post them here.