Overnight train adventure from Malaysia to Bangkok

Happy Thanksgiving, blogpals! Sorry it's been so long. Things have been a little crazy. For one thing, I just got back from a whirlwind one-and-a-half-day trip to Malaysia!

My job in Bangkok is busiest on weekends, so I end up getting two days off each week, often next to each other, and this month, often Tuesday and Wednesday. I've decided to try to make the most of it and travel each "weekend." A couple couchsurfing buddies were planning to hitchhike to Kuala Lumpur (KL for the cool kids in the know), and I figured maybe I'd be able to meet up with them. We didn't end up meeting up, but I had a great time anyway, and made even more couchsurfing buddies!

Look at all of the monkeys!

Here's how I did it, transportation-wise:

Tuesday, 5:55 AM: Flight from Bangkok to KL ($53, 1-2 hours).
Tuesday, daytime: Explore KL; meet up with couchsurfing host; have LOADS OF FUN!

Wednesday, 7:01 AM: Train towards Bangkok (2 hours), watch the second half of Robocop on the fancy little TV screen at the front of the train car while trying to look at scenery; stop off at Ipoh to explore this heavily-Indian historic town ($7.75, but actually a little less because I didn't end up having enough cash and there was no ATM, so some very kind people chipped in a couple bucks at 6:58 AM).

Freshly made egg roti at a little restaurant in Ipoh + sauces. Cost: 2.20 MYR, or 50 cents

Wednesday, 1 PM: Train from Ipoh up to the border of Thailand (Padang Besar, 2-3 hours, $16), watch Robocop again, the first half this time, still trying to look at scenery. But that's OK because Robocop will loop again, and at this point I have basically seen the whole thing in disjointed, scenic chunks.

Scenery out a slightly grubby window

Wednesday, 4 PM: At the train station, go through Malaysian passport control (quick 'n' easy), then cross the border into Thailand (I guess I was crossing the border? My data plan started working again so that's promising) by going into the next room and going through Thai passport control (somewhat slower 'n' easy).
Wednesday, 5 PM: Turn on my phone's data and enjoy the many hours of Facebooking and flight deals that I have missed out on.
Wednesday, 6:40 PM: Train from the border (Padang Besar) alllll the way to Bangkok, arriving in Bangkok at around noon (scheduled for 10:30 but it's always late). I had a fantastic time on the overnight train, and I plan to take as many Thai overnight trains as possible! More details to come.

Meanwhile, if you want the lowdown on train travel around Thailand and the surrounding countries, and really any country in the world, check out seat61.com. The Thai Railways official website does not have a real English version; you can click the "English" link, but it doesn't really do anything. Seat61 is impressive not only in its scope but in its accuracy as well: the train times were spot-on, down to the minute!