STEEMFest is in my reach! I won the Conference fee!

Miracles do happen. I am so grateful that I won the STEEMFest Conference Fee in the @peerplays contest a couple of days ago. I found out I won when the other winner left a comment on my last STEEMFest post!

I need to leave Malaysia for these dates anyway. STEEMFest is a happy coincidence for me. But without the conference ticket, I would not get the full benefit, even though I was going to meet up with others anyway. And now, problem solved!

Now I am still scrambling to be able to afford the trip and to get all the transport paid for.

Thanks to my STEEM work and so many generous STEEMers, I can now afford my condo rent and monthly wifi here in Kuala Lumpur. The bus and train tickets are all being arranged now.

The flights are too expensive now. I cannot afford them. But bus and train prices do not rise as you near the travel time. Why is that, I wonder? I'm just glad they are still cheap.

Still to pay is the hostel cost and various expenses for my travel. For example, getting around the city and getting between buses and trains. I will also be in Bangkok for a couple of days after the event, and will need to eat then too.

Somehow, by another STEEM Miracle, I have much more STEEM in my wallet than I did last night. I cannot see a transaction to account for this, but I know that STEEM was not there when I went to sleep. Thank you STEEM Angel. I will make you proud!

And so many thanks to @myjob, for sending the SBD she had in her wallet. Please go take a look at her interesting life as a small boat fisherwoman in Florida. This is a fascinating glimpse into a world that is disappearing quickly, and her posts take us right there.

Other STEEMers helping me have asked to remain anonymous. I am grateful to you all.

What do I need?

The total amount of my immediate need is about $150 USD. This is 1100 STEEM, and I have about 300-400 coming in time now.

I'm keeping up the optimism the rest will come, and not stopping.

Yes, my condo room is still flooding as it has for almost two weeks now. And yes, I am still sopping up water and doing laundry 24/7. I now have three sets of cloth going:

• one on the floor
• one in the washer
• one in the dryer

Repeat, repeat, repeat!

The condo people might be here tomorrow morning to work on the roof. I refuse to pray for "no rain" and we will probably monsoon here again this afternoon.

This is quite amazing to be dealing with. A minute ago a bunch of water just burbled out of the old cable outlet loudly.

I should have some food here in a few hours. This will really help me. I never thought I would be sick of turmeric tea, but it is keeping me going anyway.

If you would like to help me get to STEEMFest, you can!

You can upvote any of the posts on my three STEEM blogs, especially those close to payout:

@fitinfun @fitinfunfood @bxlphabet

• You can send any amount of STEEM/SBD to my @fitinfun wallet.

• If you would like to send cash by paypal, please contact me in Discord. Sending that money to a member of TeamMalaysia instead of to me directly ends up being quicker and with much less fees.

• If you would like to send cash to my Thailand Bank account where I can access it with no fees while there, please contact me in Discord to get that information.

My Discord Contact Info:

fitinfun#2249

Detailed travel info:

This section below is for the people who are helping me make my travel reservations. You can look at it if you like :)

Travel Overview:

Outgoing trip

KL to Bangkok Nov 4-6

• Bus from KL to Hat Yai
  I will take the 10 pm bus from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia starting on the night of the 4th to arrive Hat Yai Thailand on the morning of the 5th.

Pickup: TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan)
Dropoff: Hatyai Songkhla (Chee Uthit Road)

• Train from Hat Yai to Bangkok
  I will take the night train from Hat Yai to Bangkok starting on the afternoon of the 5th. I arrive in Bangkok on the morning of the 6th. There are multiple trains available.

Pickup: Hatyai Jn.
Dropoff: Bangkok

Return Trip

Bangkok to KL Nov 13-14

• Train from Bangkok to Hat Yai
  I will take the afternoon train from Bangkok to Hat Yai on the afternoon of the 13th. Arrive in Hat Yai on the morning of the 14th. There are multiple trains available. The latest arrives at 10:30 am which is fine.

Pickup: Bangkok
Dropoff: Hatyai Jn.

• Bus from Hat Yai to KL
  I will take the 1 pm bus from Hat Yai on the 14th to arrive in Kuala Lumur at about 9 pm that night.

Pickup: Hatyai Songkhla (Chee Uthit Road)
Dropoff: TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan)

Detailed Itinerary

Starting with the trains; bus below.

Train Reservations

I'm working with the official Thai train site. Is there a Malaysian equivalent that might work better? This site is glitchy as can be.

Also wondering about currency exchange fees with this site, but I cannot get far enough to see this part.

Here is the information for the train to Bangkok from HayYai Jn. from the official Thai train site:

First go here:
http://www.railway.co.th/main/index_en.html

Then click “online booking” which takes you here after you click English:
https://www.thairailwayticket.com/eTSRT/default.aspx?language=1

First is the main screen for the official Thai train tickets.

At this screen, you need to indicate Southern Line and change October to November before changing anything else.

HatYai Jn. is near the bottom of the selections. Bangkok is at the top of the list.

The station in Bangkok is Hua Lamphong, but it does not show like that.

Once you have selected the options above, you will see the Hat Yai to Bangkok train options:

All train times appear to be open on the 5th. The only one I do not want is #42 that arrives in Bangkok at 5:55. This is too early and also the most expensive train of all.

Note:
I am only looking at Second Class seating which turns into a comfy bed at night. First Class is expensive and not worth it. Third Class only gives you a chair for 18 hours!

Second class shows as "2" on some of the screens.

Train Number in order of preference:
170
172
38
32

The next four screenshots show the availability of the 4 trains in order of which I prefer and are cheapest.

Even numbered seats are lower bunks, which I need. No climbing on the train! All of these still show lower bunks open, and I was able to click the selection to show the price.

You see below they are all "lower berth" with even numbered seats.

Train 170 - 855 thb

Train 172 - 855 thb

Train 38 - 935 thb

Train 32 - 1135 thb

Return train trip

Bangkok to Hat Yai train options:

The order of trains I prefer are:
169
171
37 ladies
37
31

All trains are open:

These are the 5 screen shots showing lower seating availability and prices.

Train 169 - 855 thb

Train 171 - 855 thb

Train 37 ladies - 935 thb

Train 37 - 935 thb

Train 31 - 1135 thb

I hope you will only need to try the 100 series trains and get the lower bunks for cheap. Fingers crossed!

Bus information:

I am only choosing Aslian Golden Coach Bus since I used them before, and the bus pick up is near the train station in Hat Yai.

The site I am using is:
https://www.busonlineticket.com/

Search Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai for the date:
Nov 4 outgoing to Hat Yai

Search Hat Yai to Kuala Lumpur for the date:
Nov 14 incoming to KL

Both directions have many open seats. I prefer a seat in the middle of Row C. Maybe 6 is my lucky number.

Bus going to Hat Yai on Nov 4/5 for 70 myr
Departs TBS at 10 pm

Pickup: TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan)
Dropoff: Hatyai Songkhla (Chee Uthit Road)

Bus coming back to KL on Nov 14 for 75 myr
Departs Hat Yai at 1:00 pm

Pickup: Hatyai Songkhla (Chee Uthit Road)
Dropoff: TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan)

That's it for now. I know everything will work out just fine and STEEMFest will be awesome!