HAADJAI HAPPENINGS

WELL HERE WE WERE, BACK AGAIN ... in Haadjai, I mean. It was a quick visit to R&R after the hectic New Year what with visitors and crowded Penang ... or so I thought.

Actually the border crossing wasn't as bad as I'd expected, although it was the usual mayhem trying to get through Immigration. There's a sort of organised chaos about the place, if you know what I mean. Everything's just so LAU JUAK one can't help but be swept into the spirit of the thing.

The quick drive once past Checkpoint Sadao was relatively easy, although when we hit the outskirts of Haadjai it became chock-a-block again, especially as we'd hit rush hour traffic by this time. Once we checked into the Novotel (my fav hotel - it's relatively new, UNEMCUMBERED - by that I mean no rumours of anything nasty not like some of the other hotels which have had floods and fires and all that kind of stuff if you know what I mean - and it's right in the heart of SHOPPING LAND ie Central and but a 5-min walk from the market and bazaars), I hit the shops. But actually didn't get much. There's just so much stuff you can buy.

The town itself was packed with Malaysians all anxious for bargains: Central Supermarket had been refurnished and was much bigger and had more things than the Cold Storage here.

HOWEVER we went back to the JAR LEK Restaurant for dinner. It's been there for 60 years, started by a Thai woman married to a Chinese man. The food is authentic and quite good, and not too expensive. We had some "Coconut Cream and Pork Dip" to start with - sounds strange, but tasted good. It had lots of fresh ulam: 4-angle beans, long beans, etc AND some young leaves which tasted familiar but I couldn't quite make out what it was until it hit me - they were tender MANGO leaves! Surprisingly tasty with that mango-ish aftertaste.

Then the other dishes came along, including a Prawns and Glass Noodles in Claypot dish - which blew the top off my head, it was that spicy. My husband had a good laugh - he'd never seen me so stunned (nor quiet!) before. It was a combination of the heat, the chilli padi (the Thais REALLY know how to grow hot chilli padi!) and PEPPERCORNS which really did it. Together with 3 large bottles of beer (yes, it was hot!) the total bill came to about 750 baht (RM80) which was quite reasonable.

The next evening we ate at the hotel - I ordered Thai Pomfret which was tasty; unfortunately it was underdone so I had to send it back where they presumably re-cooked it (or stomped on it ... whatever).

I really didn't do much shopping, except on the last morning after heading back from the market where I'd gone to get some - guess what - chilli padi, of course, I stumbled upon this little corner shop and managed to get 3 fantastic pairs of sandals for just RM10 per pair. A bargain, as I keep telling my husband - just think how much money I saved him!

GREAT FOOD, GREAT SHOPPING, GREAT PRICES

A few years ago I heard this joke:

A man was being kicked out of his apartment so had to look for somewhere else to rent and was asking round. His friend said, "Yes, I know somewhere you can get a great apartment, lovely view, and very reasonably priced." "YES YES YES," shouted the eager beaver. "BUT," the friend continued, "you have to like Chinese food because it's next to a take away." "YES YES YES," he repated enthusiastically, "I LOVE Chinese food! When can I move in? Where is it?" "Hong Kong," came the funny reply.

That was how I was going to start this post: I've just had a weekend stuffing my face with good food, at very reasonable prices, and managed to throw in a good day's worth of shopping with it. Would you like to do that too? YES YES YES I hear you say. Where, you ask. Can I do it too? Of course! ... in Haadjai!

It's true. For a short drive (2 1/2 hrs to border, 45 mins to Haadjai) and the price of a room (just RM100 per night no breakfast but clean and comfortable, aircon and ensuite), you can really indulge. I love it, although we hadn't been prior to the the last trip as we were put off by the violence. And having recently been, I realise now how much I missed it. So when our friends asked if we would like to join them, we jumped at the excuse to go again, despite having just been a few weeks ago. We had a ball.

It's not somewhere I would want to live in mind, as there's much too much hustle and bustle; coming back to quiet old Penang was a relief. BUT it's where I will definitely go for the shopping and the FOOD. After all, one IS a food writer ... !

The first night we met up with some Thai friends who took us to a gorgeous place opposite the university. The food was excellent, spicy and delicious, and beautifully presented - the Thai Otak Otak is similar to ours but sweeter and quite spicy.

Unfortunately they paid so I don't know what the price is but the second night we ate in a hawker centre and had fresh baked crab, Thai satay, Pad Thai (fried kuey teow), gorgeous fiery red Tom Yam with big prawns, baked fish, and it came to a princely ... 800 Baht - yes just approx RM80. There were 6 of us, so not bad at all.

And for dessert just head for any of the stalls in the Central Dept Store area - a HUGE bowl of Leng Chee Kang and Ginkgo in dried longan syrup (I couldn't finish it there was so much 'liao' inside) was just RM5.

As for shopping - I mean, what CAN'T you buy that's not half the price! From the department store (Central) to fresh food stuff in the markets; stuff you no longer get in Penang as we don't produce it any more like Kueh Kosui Santan (delish) and 12 lots of "knee chang" (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) for just RM3. The work that is put into their presentation let alone cooking the food is incredible.

I was SHATTERED when we got back. Shopping, despite what people say, IS hard work! And no, I'm not being paid by Thai Tourism for this write-up!