Have Perut Will Travel...: HDY Day 2 │ Makro • Big C • Central Festival!

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Saturday, 15 August 2026

HDY Day 2 │ Makro • Big C • Central Festival!

Hat Yai Shopping Spree Begins

By 7:15am we were already shaking off sleep and sliding into shopping mode, stepping out into a crisp Hat Yai morning that promised bargains and sensory overload. BiBi waited in the basement parking, rested and ready, and the drive out felt like the start of a mission. We reached Makro at 8:00am and instantly became two overgrown kids in a candy store, spending an hour filling our trolley with snacks, sauces, drinks, and household essentials worth THB3,451 (≈ MYR429/USD105/EUR91), topped off with a free tote bag at checkout. Breakfast at Makro’s tiny food court wrapped the outing neatly — simple rice dishes and iced drinks for THB190 (≈ MYR24/USD6/EUR5), humble, hearty, and unmistakably Thai.

The Long Held Dream, Finally Within Reach

For years, every Thailand trip meant flying in, shopping cautiously, and tip‑toeing around luggage limits — the yellow submarines could only hold a handful of snacks, a couple of bottles, maybe a bag of chips squeezed into a corner. That bittersweet “if only we had our own car” feeling followed us home each time. Now, finally in Thailand with BiBi, Part One of the dream — driving her across the border — was achieved, and Part Two was underway: filling her to the brim with all the Thai provisions we used to admire but couldn’t bring back. No more weight limits, no more “cannot fit”, no more hand‑carry restrictions; with BiBi, the sky was the limit.

Packing Up & Heading Back

We collected empty boxes from the gift counter and packed our haul into three full boxes, keeping a fourth as spare. Everything went into BiBi before we drove back to Lee Mansion.

A Border Lesson Learned

In hindsight our neat packing turned out to be unwise — Malaysian Customs at Bukit Kayu Hitam suspected we were buying in bulk for resale. In truth, everything was for personal use. Lesson learnt: next time, we’ll pack everything in Makro’s transparent bags for easy inspection.

A Helpful Reroute to Big C Extra

At 10:30am, after a quick break, we placed Makro air fresheners in BiBi and grabbed a THB94 (≈ MYR12/USD3/EUR2) ride. Our driver, Kulthana, suggested Big C Extra — bigger, better, more variety. We agreed, and she was absolutely right.

Mr DIY Warm Up & Big C Extra Haul

We grabbed a car phone holder for BiBi at Mr DIY, then dove into Big C Extra. Makro is bulk focused and industrial. Big C Extra is bright, curated, and built for browsing. We emerged at 11:45am with THB2,289 (≈ MYR285/USD70/EUR60) worth of provisions. No luck finding Adidas Vibes perfume.

Grab back to Lee Mansion: THB83 (≈ MYR10/USD3/EUR2).

Reloading BiBi & Off to Central Festival

Back at Lee Mansion, we packed the Big C haul into our fourth bag, then hopped into another Grab — THB79 (≈ MYR9/USD2/EUR2) — heading to Central Festival. We arrived at 12:45pm, ready for lunch.

Lunch at The Steak & More

The lower ground floor was packed, so we rode up several levels and settled at The Steak & More. Our feast:

Pork Steak with Seafood Mayo + Somtam
Spicy Pork Steak + German Smoked Pork Sausage + Black Pepper & Joew sauce + cheezy fries
Free flow Coca Cola & Fanta

Total: THB526 (≈ MYR65/USD16/EUR14).

Mall Wanderings & Price Checks

We browsed Central, SuperSport, Adidas and Skechers while searching for Music Avenue, only to find it had closed. Brendan eyed Vans at SuperSport, but they didn’t have his size. At Tops, Madam Heng soap was pricier than the half dozen we grabbed earlier at Makro.

Snacks, Grab Ride & Another Reload

Outside Tops, Cat spotted her favourite snack — five packets for THB250 (≈ MYR30/USD8/EUR7). We caught a THB75 (≈ MYR9/USD2/EUR2) ride back to Lee Mansion and immediately stowed even more of our haul into BiBi.

Up Next

Stay tuned for the next video as we head out in the evening back to Thumnoonvithi Road — this time for a proper foot massage from a reputable establishment!