Central Festival Mall Hat Yai 24 Dec 2019

After about 15-20 minutes ride, we had arrived at the Central Festival Mall. The Central Festival Hat Yai which opened in December 2013 is the largest shopping mall in Southern Thailand.

It is centrally situated in the middle of Hat Yai and can be access from the train station, airport and bus terminal. The modern architecture of the mall is just like the shape of a crystals with reflection of lights in prism which combines with modern graphics.

We were hungry looking for food. We just walked in to the lower ground floor that and we just realised that all the shopping malls in Hat Yai has tight security check.

We did not expect to see the lower ground arcade can be so vibrant and filled with people!

We do not expect that there are so many Japanese food inside the Tops Supermarket! There even has fresh sashimi and the salmon looks so fresh!

All these are the sushi sets and ready to go bento sets! Looks so delicious!

Here are all kinds of salads to grab!

Here are the cut fresh fruits that packed!

Or may be I was too hungry till I see everything is so yummy and delicious!

There were a lot of tourists as we can see at the lower ground arcade, it is because due to Malaysia and Singapore school holidays and it is Christmas holidays as well.

There are numbers of kiosks selling fruits, traditional Thai food, dried seafood or meat, fresh fruits and juices too!

Here is a stall selling Som Tam which is green papaya salad.

These are fried bananas, steamed taro and steamed potatoes. These are normally eat together with the caramel dressings.

Here is another stall selling pork meat, pork fat and pork sausages. Later then I know that sometimes these can be used as ingredients for the Thai salad.

We bought 1 packet of pork sausages that cost 100 Baht. It taste so different with the sausages I bought at Village Grocer back home then.

Here are the seaweed but I do not know and do not understand what it is written up there but I know it is delicious when eat together with the Thai spicy sour sauce and it is nice to eat together with the raw salmon too!

After we had filled up our stomach with some samplings on the floor… Haha… then we started to explore to the mall itself. When it comes to food, there are plenty in the mall, but I personally feel that the lower ground is the best for us because we are looking for the authentic local food.

It is Christmas! So the mall is decorated with the Christmas decorations and there will be a New Year celebration at the mall at the eve of New Year.

Through the mall, there are crescent shaped kites which is a symbol of the South of Thailand that adds a soft touch to the shopping complex.

It is actually the Wau Bulan which is Terengganu and Kelantan’s Malays traditional folk games.

The design provide a modern and atmoshpheric blend of lights and colours within the complex.

The interior of the shopping complex has a unique combination of local culture and mordern design.

There are a lot of international brands here. It is actually just like back home the Mid Valley Megamall, or 1U or Suria KLCC or KL Pavilion Mall.

We just window shopping in the mall, then we came to the Cineplex.

The mall has a Cineplex that has 10 movie theatres of international standard and IMAX 3D theatre.

They are using the E – Ticketing system just like back at Kuala Lumpur. Purchase the movie tickets by kiosks.

The waiting area is huge and very cosy and comfortable. We did check the price of the movie ticket, compare back in Kuala Lumpur, watching a movie is way more expensive here!

Central Festival Mall also consist an ice-skating arena which is also the first in Southern Thailand, a Convention Hall, a bowling arcade, an entertainment centre, a karaoke centre and more. But we did not go and check the places because all that we can find it back home.

We left the Central Festival Hat Yai around 4.30pm. We walked down towards the Greenway Night Market as it is very near, only 20-25 minutes walk from Central Festival Mall.

Hat Yai Municipal Park 24 Dec 2019

Hat Yai Municipal Park is a large recreational park-cum-tourist attraction to the east of Hat Yai City in Thailand. Within the park itself, there are many points of interest.

Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaj

After our breakfast, we called a grab to go to our first destination of the day – Hat Yai Municipal Park.

We asked the grab driver to drive us straight up to one of the main attractions of the park - Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaj.

This is the Buddha image of Hat Yai which is built to be soul-dependent of Buddhist in hat Yai and nearby.

It seems to be the biggest Buddha statue in blessing posture in southern Thailand. It is molded with fine brass with the height of 19.90 metres (25 meters height including its brass) and 200 tons in weight.

This statue was established on the occasion of Majesty King Bhumibhol’s 6th Cycle Birthday Celebration in 1999.

With permission to have the emblem of the event attached on the basement of the Buddha statue and was bestowed the name “Phra Buddha Mongkok Maharaj”.

We reached there around 10.30am. There were already numbers of tourists, some came with the minivans, some came with the songthaew. And we came in grab car.

There is a seated Buddha at the entrance once we entered the place. The compound is huge. We can over see part of the Hat Yai view from this height of this hill.

We had the group photos before we left the place.

Hat Yai Cable Car Complex

There is a cable car complex at the side and this is also the place where you can take a short cable car ride to visit Brahma Statue (Lord Brahma Complex).

Cable car ride (return trip) is 200 Baht per passenger (foreigner), 100 Baht (Thai adult) and 50 Baht (Thai child).

This cable car system that links the Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaj area to the the top hill Lord Brahma Shrine.

Due to the fares for 4 of us are considered expensive, thus we did not take the cable car.

We did visit the cafeteria in the cable car complex. It is a good location with its glass building which can see through the green scenery outside.

We continue our way to walk down the hill towards the Goddess of Mercy Guan Yin Shrine which is located at the lower hill.

The Walkway of Dragon Arch

On our way down through the 300 steps stairways, we saw the more statues. Here is the Jade Emperor. Jade Emperor is one of the most important gods of the Chinese Taoist pantheons that governs the cosmos and the ruler of all heavens.

Here come the Fat Laughing Buddha with his big stomach. The Buddha is believed that blessing people for happiness, health and wealth.

Then we came to a small covered place with 12 Guan Yin with the Chinese 12 Zodiacs.

There are donations even on the zodiacs itself, namely rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, roaster, dog and pig.

And there is a place where the devotes can pray and buy the chimes and wrote their wishes on it and hang it there.

Here is the double dragon sculptured stairway which is golden dragon and silver dragon.

Here is the starting of the Dragon Arch. It is painted in golden colour.

Issac was sitting on the dragon tougue!

And, here we are – out from the mouth of Dragon!

Goddess of Mercy Guan Yin Shrine

Here is the main entrance of the Guan Yin Shrine or Complex. In the complex there are many types of the Guan Yin statues with different posture.

 

 

There is a huge white jade Guan Yin statue on top of the complex which oversee the entire the hill.

On top of the complex are the Goddess of Mercy Guan Yin and flanked by Jade Maiden (玉女) and Golden Youth (金僮).

It is quite tricky to visit Hat Yai Municipal Park without our own transport. From the entrance of the park, there is a public shuttle (for a fee) that takes visitors to the Goddess of Mercy complex.

We saw the shuttle during the time we were at the complex of Goddess Mercy but we would not know what is the timing, then we just took our chance to walk down the hill.

It is too hot for us to continue to visit other points of attractions and the sun was shining bright on the sky. It would be best to go by own transport, in order to visit every point of interest at leisure.

Additional attractions include a statue of King Rama V that is enshrined at the foot of the hill near the aviary, the hill-top Brahman shrine and a Planetarium equipped with an 80-seat theatre that we were unable to visit.

Hat Yai Municipal Park is a popular recreational spot for the local residents, the park is beautifully decorated with colourful flowers. With a pavilion in the middle of the pond, an aviary, and food stalls, the park is the perfect place to spend a peaceful evening and best for picnic too.

It was around 2.00pm, we call a grab car and left to Central Festival Mall.