Healthy breakfast
We woke up at around half 8 today, we’re catching a train to Malaysia, so need to go and buy the tickets. After we’d got ready, we went down to the living area for breakfast. I had a healthy breakfast of toast with a variety of spreads, including jam, chocolate, marmalade, and condensed milk. They all went down a right treat! Once we’d had our fill of breakfast, we were on our jolly way to the train station.
Fortunately for us, the train station was only a short walk away, and we bought the train tickets to Malaysia with ease. More specifically, the train crosses the border to a town called Padang Besar. Our train to Malaysia would be departing at 2pm, so we had plenty of time to roam around and waste time. We did so by wandering to a couple of shopping centres. The pair of us had a drink at the café area of one of them, before going to the other side of the road to another shopping centre. We mostly just loitered, with no particular aim.
I did want to try and get some beard oil, but this was a more difficult task than I anticipated. It dawned on me that I’d not seen a single Asian fellow with a beard anywhere close to mine. I guess there’s not much of a market for beards in Asia.
A rushed exit
Across the road from the shopping centre, there was a currency exchange shop, so we decided to transfer our Baht for Ringgit. We got a decent amount back to be honest. After this, we walked across the road once more, and had some lunch at McDonalds. You’re always safe with a Maccys meal, and you know it’s not going to take ages to cook. Once we’d eaten our meal, we returned to the hostel.
Despite having a lot of time on our hands before the train, we somehow discovered that we didn’t anymore. So we had to hurry to the hostel, quickly grab our bags, and make a half-walk-half-run pace to the train station. It wasn’t far away, but it seemed a little too far as we were running out of time. Thankfully, we made it to the train with only minutes to spare; I really don’t know how time escaped us so much. We settled into our seats, and waited for the train to take us to Malaysia.
A frustrating welcome
The train journey to Malaysia is only an hour, so no great labour. Once the train arrives in Padang Besar, you have to go through immigration similar to an airport, but on a smaller scale. We got stamped out of Thailand, went to the other side of the station, and got stamped into Malaysia, easy as pie. After that, we were let loose in the Malaysian suburbs. We were staying in Padang Besar for the night, just to get setup and get our bearings. Our hostel was only a short walk from the train station, although finding it was a different matter entirely.
After walking around the block of buildings for a while, I finally spotted the small sign that indicated the entrance to W8 Guest House. The hostel was quite minimal, all white, and tidy. When we were booking in, the dude on reception was less than helpful, and our frustration was bubbling. Eventually we got booked in, and we went to our rooms to chill for a while.
We left in search of nourishment. Firstly, we visited a nearby 7/11 shop, mostly because there was an ATM to withdraw some cash out. Just across the road, there was a mobile phone shop, so this was naturally second on our to do list. As usual, it’s dead easy. We walk in, you choose the data plan, you buy the plan, and they set it up for you. We had a walk further down the road to see what was around and came across a burger stall. The pair of us ended up having a crazy double chicken burger wrapped in egg with tons of sauce. It was messy, but music to my taste buds. We then headed to our hostel and turned in for the night.
