Under-RM2000 Travel: 4D3N Luang Prabang Trip

Did you know that the town of Luang Prabang is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centres? If you didn’t, the prices there will remind you, because damn do they jack it up for the foreign tourists. And it
was
 mostly foreign tourists – I didn’t see many local tourists.

I’m not bitter or anything – it’s great that the tourism industry provides such good income for the locals – but yep you definitely need some play money to make the best of your time there. It’s just that I’ve heard how ‘Laos is practically under-developed Thailand’, and expected lower prices, but many places in Luang Prabang charge higher than downtown KL, and even Singapore!

I’ve also heard how Luang Prabang is a ‘sleepy town’. Thought 4 days is enough to explore all of it (heck, I had enough of
Hong Kong
 after 3 days), but in hindsight I should’ve stayed longer. There were more things to do than you’d think!

Luang Prabang Trip Overview

I went to Luang Prabang in February 2019, during the Chinese New Year holidays. The exchange rate then was around 100,000 kip = RM48~. In this article, let’s just round it up to RM50 to make the calculations easier.

Here are the major costs:

Accommodation
. I bought a
flight+accommodation package
 from Expedia for RM1120.78 per person, among the lowest-priced packages offered. It was AirAsia flights without check-in bags plus 2-star but highly-rated hotel, nothing fancy. After I made the booking, I was informed that the breakdown was RM912 for return flights and RM208.78 for 3 nights’ accommodation (so effectively RM417.56 for 3 nights for 2 people, or RM139.19 per room per night).
Transportation
. The town itself is super walkable so you don’t need to spend extra money there, but you’ll want to allocate some money for trips to local attractions. Airport transfers were reasonable in price. More on both of these below.
Food
. I budgeted a generous (or so I thought ) RM25 per meal. It was
not
 enough, unless if you eat mostly street food or if you’re easily satisfied with small portions, which is quite the norm there. Technically you *can* get by with eating 10,000 kip / RM5 baguettes for all three daily meals, but do you wanna? I’d allocate RM30-40 per meal per person the next time around. But if you are on a budget, the baguette stalls look like this.

Savings tip 1:
 I bought the flights and accommodation package via Expedia from
Shopback
(note: referral link) and got some cashback from it, yay

Day 1 – Arrival to Luang Prabang

As of writing time, there were no direct flights to Luang Prabang from KL. I had layovers at Don Mueang Airport in Thailand both ways. If you’re lucky, the layover is as short as a couple of hours. Mine was five and three hours respectively.

Unfortunately, I neglected to pack snacks so I had to get food.
Food prices at Don Mueang airport are expensive AF.
I’m talking about RM10 instant noodles and RM15 breads! Two small bento packs, an onigiri and two bottles of water cost me RM100!

Upon arrival at Luang Prabang Airport, I skipped all the money changers and withdrew Laotian kip from one of the ATMs outside. The first thing I paid for was the airport transfer to Luang Prabang town – it costs 50,000 kip (RM25) per trip. That’s right, per trip, not per person.

We finally reached Luang Prabang town by 4pm or so, checked in the hotel, and walked to the Night Market nearby. I enjoyed it so much that we went to the Night Market for all three nights. I got most of my street food and French pastries fix there, too: coconut pancakes, coconut waffles, baguettes, fruits, grilled banana and more.

Note: the ‘coconut pancake’ is not like the usual pancake. They serve or so bite-sized morsels of deliciousness in a banana leaf bowl. Super delicious and at 5,000 kip / RM2.50, a freaking bargain.

Savings tip 2:
Pack snacks for your layover in Don Mueang Airport to avoid the ridiculous prices. Bring a water bottle and refill for free. This unexpected cost added over RM100 to my total wtf

Savings tip 3:
 I didn’t want to hold on to Thai Baht, so I just used my BigPay card to pay for everything at Don Mueang Airport. Get extra RM10 credit if you use my BigPay referral code INLALP7ZLE. To download the app, find BigPay in
PlayStore
 (Android) or
Appstore
 (iOS)

Savings tip 4
:  It’s almost impossible to exchange your RM to Laotian kip before you go. It’s one of those ‘non-tradeable currency’ that’s practically worthless outside of the country, so no money exchanger carry it. You can get Laotian kips at the money exchangers at Luang Prabang airport, or use your BigPay card to withdraw money from the ATMs. I did the latter; the exchange rates are better. Get extra RM10 credit if you use my BigPay referral code INLALP7ZLE. To download the app, find BigPay in
PlayStore
 (Android) or
Appstore
 (iOS)

Savings tip 5:
 There are about 4 or so ATMs outside of Luang Prabang airport.
They have different fees that you have to pay ON TOP of BigPay’s RM10 per foreign ATM withdrawal fee.
One ATM charges 3% of my transaction total. One ATM charges 40,000 kip / RM20 per transaction. Another gave an error message. I absorbed the 40,000 kip fee because at least that was lower than 3% fee or 60,000 kip on my 2 million kip withdrawal.

Savings tip 6:
If you’re travelling alone, it’s worth joining other travellers to save up on the airport transfer fee. Each trip costs 50,000 kip / RM25, so even one other person can slash your cost in half. It’s better if your accommodation is near each other, but the town is fairly small and everything is about 10-15 minutes away by foot, max.

Savings tip 7:
I tried out a 15,000 kip / RM7.50 ‘vegetarian buffet’ at one of the streets at the Night Market. Basically you can fill your bowl with as much food as you want – one of the cheapest meals you can have in Luang Prabang. Sorry for blurry pic, the area was super packed with budget-conscious backpackers.

Day 2 – Exploring Luang Prabang

If you like exploring small towns, you’ll like Luang Prabang. It’s extremely walkable and there are lots of things to see. Right of the bat, you’ll notice the lack of chain stores. There were no convenience marts or fast food joints or anything like that. In fact, the ONLY franchise we saw was (oddly) Minisou. I enjoyed seeing French influences everywhere amid the many temples dotted around town.

On this day alone, we:

Had ‘the best croissant in Luang Prabang’ at Le Banneton Cafe, according to my hotel owner, who is French
Walked across the bamboo bridge (5000 kip / RM2.50 per person)
Checked out the many textile shops and boutiques
Had local meals and snacks (oh man I enjoyed pigging out there, diet be damned)
Bought some snacks at a small supermarket (it was mostly stuff imported from Thailand, but we did buy Laotian drip coffee and Laotian rice)
Walked along the riverbank and appreciated the view
Went to the Night Market again
Checked out a few Buddhist temples and pretended to not be fascinated by the monks (WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU GET THERE? DO YOU GET TO MEET YOUR FAMILY???)

The temples are beautiful. I expected that. But I didn’t expect this:

Do I go to hell if I laughed?

Savings tip 8:
 Unless you really like guided tours, skip that and just explore town on your own.  I would totally say go for it but RM175 for a half-day walking tour to free/cheap attractions is just too much (I’m not kidding, you can find this on Klook). This is one of those instances where they try to squeeze money out of tourists.

Day 3 – Alms-Giving, Mount Phousi, Kuang Si Waterfall and River Cruise

This was an AMAZING day. We woke up early at 5am and had back-to-back activities all day long.

Alms-giving
 is basically watching Buddhist monks receiving food donations from the public. It’s free to view, but you can pay to participate. Lots of tourists do – they bought food from vendors (something the temples discourage) or joined some overpriced package. I didn’t because the commercialisation aspect of what’s supposed to be a spiritual activity made me sad 🙁

Then we went up the
Mount Phousi
 to catch the sunrise. They charge 10,000 kip / RM5 per person to get to the temple at the top. There are two routes – take one up and the other one down. Beautiful place. Burned some calories.

Then we had breakfast (I had rice noodle soup, the typical Laotian breakfast) and bought some in-season sweet oranges and snacks at the
Morning Market
. I managed to witness this cute interaction between this toddler and the vendors there. Super cute.

Our van picked us up to go to the
Kuang Si Waterfall
. You have to pay for the 1-hour trip there (around RM20 per person for round trip) AND the entrance fee, which is 20,000 kip / RM10 per person. DO NOT SKIP THIS ATTRACTION. Kuang Si Waterfall is gorgeous, and also surprisingly cold.

After we got back to Luang Prabang town, we booked ourselves on a
sunset river cruise
 for 85,000 kip / RM42.50 each. I can recommend
Sa Sa Cruise
 –  it was way cheaper than other dinner cruises offered (I saw a pamphlet offering USD30 dinner cruises) and I didn’t feel like haggling with the locals, who were too pushy for my taste.

I have to say, it’s nice to see unpolluted rivers for once.

After that we went to an awesome restaurant (
Khaiphaen
), dropped 150,000 kip / RM75 for dinner for two and called it a night.

Savings tip 9
: You can book a return trip to the Kuang Si Waterfall pretty much anywhere at Luang Prabang town, they’re not hard to find. Most places charge 40,000 kip/RM20. The lowest I’ve seen advertised was 35,000 kip / RM17.50, but that was not the norm. I booked mine for RM25 per person from Klook since I can get cashback and I had some credits there anyway. You can find Klook at
Shopback
(note: referral link).

Day 4 – Going back home

Our flight was at 4pm, so we had the whole morning and afternoon to kill. I found more delicious things to eat (local coffee, local chakoi, mangoes and lots of pastries) and bought last-minute souvenirs: a cheap dress, riverweed/khaiphean and Laotian coffee. Pictured below is kaiphaen, a local delicacy. They sell it for 30,000 kip / RM15 for 10 big sheets. The lady was nice enough to sell me just 5 sheets to try out.

For coffee, I recommend this one by Saffron Coffee. They sell coffee beans but you can also ask them to grind them on the spot. I freaking love Laotian coffee. They smell like cocoa, highly recommend.

At 1pm, a tuktuk we arranged via the hotel arrived and took us to the airport (same price – 50,000 kip per trip). Boy was I glad to get the souvenirs in town because they jacked up the prices at the airport. The same things cost up to four times as much!

Btw, shoutout to the hotel,
View Khem Khong Guesthouse
.
Amazing
 spectacular level of service.

Savings tip 10
: Use up all your Laotian kip in Luang Prabang, or turn it back to RM/other currencies. I didn’t know this and brought back 200,000 kip / RM100 back and couldn’t exchange it back anywhere. I wish I bought more coffee with that money 🙁

Total cost for my budget Luang Prabang trip

In total, I spent RM1893.95 all-in. The biggest chunk was definitely flights – that alone was RM912 or almost half of my total Luang Prabang trip expenditure.I stressed a little bit over spending more than expected for food, but it didn’t ruin my budget or anything.

I had an awesome trip, but like I said, I didn’t have enough time to check out everything Luang Prabang had to offer. If I had an extra day, I would totally check out the National Museum, Botanical Garden, Pak Ou Cave, and perhaps splurge on an ethical, no-riding elephant tour like the one offered by
Mandalao
 (estimate +RM500).

Any of you been to Luang Prabang before? Let me know your savings tips in the comments section below.

Item
Budgeted
Actual
Flight+Accommodation (Expedia)
RM1120.78
RM1120.78 (RM912 for flights, RM208.78 for accommodation)
Insurance
RM30
RM0 (whoops I didn’t in the end don’t be like me kids)
Return trip to Kuang Si Waterfall via Klook
RM25
RM21.80 (used up existing credit from previous purchase)
Food & Drinks
RM300 (RM25 per meal x 12 meals)
RM374.55 (should have allocated more!)
Airport transfers
RM200
RM180 (Grab in MY+Luang Prabang)
Entertainment/shopping/souvenirs/etc
RM200 (RM50 per day x 4 days)
RM197.60
TOTAL
RM1875
RM1894.03

Related: Previous travel –
Hong Kong
,
Maldives
,
Langkawi
,
Krabi,

Osaka+Kyoto
, and
Saigon

Laos is the ninth ASEAN country I’ve visited. Almost there, just one more to complete the set. Wait for me Philippines.


4D3N Maldives Trip: What I got for RM3.3k

This is slightly mean, but one of the deciding factors for the Maldives trip is the fact that Maldives will be affected by climate change in the future. In my head, it was ‘oh, better go now in case I can’t later’. That’s how I justified the price tag of this trip, despite costing even higher than my
Osaka + Kyoto trip
.

However, the idea of seeing the most beautiful beaches I’m ever going to see in my lifetime was a big draw. I set up a very high expectation and was not disappointed at all. Islands in Maldives are absolutely
gorgeous, beautiful, breathtaking
.

Maldives Trip Overview

I spent RM3.3k on this trip. Maldives generate almost all of their revenue from tourism – a ridiculous number like 90% or so – so I knew they’d charge me premium rates where they can, but I’d still consider this a successful budget trip. The accommodation cost was shared with a friend and deducted as such, but you can make a similar trip at around the same price point or even cheaper by:

Picking a cheaper accommodation.
 I picked rooms with views instead of basic, no-frills rooms. My rooms average about RM500 per night, but you can find RM200+ or RM300+ ones and still have a good time.

Getting promo flight tickets from AirAsia.
 I spent RM1500 for return flights KL-Male’ (included in the RM3.3k overall cost). When I was writing this section, I checked Airasia again and found return tickets for as low as RM842. I definitely overpaid for my flight – the timing could be better.

Using public transportation (ferry and bus)
. I used them where I could, but to/from Maafushi I splurged on a speedboat for USD25 per way. The cheaper option is to use public ferry for USD2 or so – see under Savings Tip 6.

If you get cheaper options, I dare say you’ll be able to get the same 4D3N Maldives trip for RM2.5k or so, per person.

Maldives is
not
 a foodie location, at least not for Malaysians. The best meal I had was a hot bowl of dhal at a shop next to the bus stop, a random find. Seafood is not worth splurging at their price – better go Pulau Ketam or Sabah instead for all-out seafood blowout makan session. The fish dishes I had were deep fried (served with lime) and grilled (served with lime) and was not that flavourful. As for fish curries… we have better ones here in Malaysia.

On choosing which islands to go to, it was either:

Male’
 (the capital; not suitable for excursion trips),

Hulhumale’
 (in-development, now serves more like a transit area; not suitable for excursion trips),

Resort islands
 (plenty to choose from like Club Med and stuff; expensive as hell, quickly dismissed), or

Maafushi
 (has a reputation as ‘budget island’; done, found my spot).

Maafushi is like super-small, less-packed version of Koh Samui/Koh Phangan/Koh Tao hybrid, except everything is halal (save for their Bikini Beach – where white people go to sunbathe). The beaches were beautiful, and from online research, the excursion trips from there are the most value for money. It’s a good hub for island-hopping.

Savings tip 1:
 Get promo flight tickets from AirAsia if you can.

Savings tip 2
:  I bought my flights and accommodation via
Shopback
(note: referral link) for the additional cashback. I think I earned back about RM100 or so, yay.

Savings tip 3:
 To save even more money, bring your own food and snacks. Even normal meals can cost a lot more than what we normally pay for here in Malaysia. The dhal place for breakfast costs us RM30 for two people, including drinks and some other local food. Bring Maggi or whatever and use your money for experiences instead, not food.

Day 1 – Arrival to Maldives (Velana International Airport), overnight transit at Hulhumale’

Honestly, Velana International Airport is like the main terminal hub, which is cool. You can go to most places in Maldives from there. It had the:

Public bus
 to Hulhumale’, the only (
man
 person-made) island connected by road to the airport.

Public ferry
 to Male’, the capital.

Speedboats to islands
, including Maafushi. Some are tour companies, some are resort-owned and only pick up passengers going to that resort. See estimated pricing
here
.

Seaplane flights
, to go to relatively far islands and takes hours by speedboats. These cost hundreds of dollars per person per way and will definitely jack up the cost of your Maldives trip.  See estimated pricing
here
.

Upon arrival, I went to the
Bank of Maldives money exchange
 to convert some of my USD into Rafiyya, their national currency. You can’t buy Rafiyya outside of Maldives. USD is widely accepted and legal tender, but for smaller purchases it’s better to pay with Rafiyya to get a better price. When I went, 1USD = RF15 = RM4.10. During my four days there, I exchanged USD150 but spent only USD45 or so in Rafiyya equivalent, mostly for food/drinks/public bus/public ferry purchases.

I arrived at Velana International Airport quite late, at 8pm their time, so I booked a room at Hulhumale’ to sleep overnight before going to Maafushi. Male’ is another viable overnight transit option – take the public ferry there for RF10-30 (IIRC) per way.

Savings tip 4
: Don’t forget to change back your Rafiyya to USD before you leave Maldives! It’s almost impossible to exchange it outside of the country. Apparently you’re advised to keep your exchange slip when you want to exchange your Rafiyya back at the airport, but our teller didn’t ask. Wouldn’t hurt to hold on to it, just in case.

Savings tip 5:
 If you also arrive late and transit at Hulhumale, pick a hotel near the Main bus terminal in Hulhumale city (town? It’s small). The bus cost is just RF20 (USD1.33) per person and takes just 10 minutes. My hotel wanted USD20 per taxi ride, super expensive!
Here’s the bus schedule
, it runs 24 hours a day. The bus stop is near the ferry ticket counter at Velana International Airport.

Day 2 – Going to Maafushi

There wasn’t much to do at Hulhumale’. It’s still being developed, and won’t fully boom until at least 2020 or something. That said, the beach is beautiful and I like the building style at Beach Road. That’s worth a morning stroll.

We checked out, took the public bus back to the airport (RF20) and waited for the speedboat to Maafushi at 1.30pm. I booked it online from
iCom Tours
 for USD25 per person per trip.

After our arrival at Maafushi, we checked in to a beautiful hotel room at Crystal Sands Beach Hotel. Friendly staff members, can recommend. I got the room for about RM500+ per night, during one of those Expedia sales. Again, use
Shopback
(note: referral link) for additional cashbacks 😀

The hotel, like many other hotels in Maafushi organises
excursion trips
. We booked two: sunset night fishing (USD25; 5pm-9.30pm for that night) and snorkelling trip (USD70; 8am-3pm for the next day). Because we didn’t have much time, we didn’t really price-compare other excursion trip packages by other tour companies/hotels, but it was definitely cheaper than what our hotel at Hulhumale’ offered. Much cheaper. Like almost half price kinda cheaper.

Night fishing was fun. I didn’t manage to catch anything except a couple of corals ahahaha. Views of the sunset, as well as the moon and stars come nightfall were amazing though. The group caught like 11 fishes or so (mostly small ones), and the hotel cooked them for us after we returned. Honest opinion: the group meal was kinda awkward and they only served us fried fish with lime, rice and coleslaw. I’d skip the meal and go elsewhere for dinner, but that was my experience.

 The guide explaining how to do line-fishing

Savings tip 6:
 To go to Maafushi for 90% cheaper, use the public ferry from Male’ – see
here for more info
. You have less timing options, but it’s cheap and only adds up 30 mins-1 hour or so to your schedule. If I transited in Male’ I would’ve considered this option. USD2 vs USD25 is a big difference.

Day 3 – Snorkelling in the sea!

When we checked in the day before, Maria the reception lady explained to us all the excursion packages the hotel offered. Aside from sunset night fishing and snorkelling trip, they also offered resort trips (USD110 per person), romantic dinner package (USD120 per couple), watersports package (forgot the price) and sunset sunbank photoshoot (also forgot the price).

By right, my $70 snorkelling trip should include:

Snorkelling at shark point

Snorkelling at turtle point

Dolphin cruise

BBQ Buffet Lunch

Sandbank

Snorkelling equipment

GoPro photography

Towels

Water and soft drinks

But we didn’t get the dolphin cruise or the sandbank – no reasons were given. At this point I already made friends with the guides, so I (a sis by religion and all) didn’t complain. Seeing dolphins and the sandbank would have been cool, but oh well.

What I really liked though is that the guides were cool as heck and
they took action pics of us as value-added service
. Behold, the coolest photo of me that will ever exist!

Snorkelling in the open sea was an experience to remember, although I am a bit sad at all the dead corals 🙁 It’s a trend everywhere around the globe. Not related to Maldives, but I remember snorkelling at the
coast
 of Redang Island and saw colourful corals. This was 2010s, and when I went again a few months later, the corals were much dead-er.

During the snorkelling trips, we saw sharks, turtles, a big stingray, random fishes (not many), some squids and a couple of starfishes. I imagine if you go to the more upscale resorts, they can (maybe) bring you to better snorkelling locations with actual living corals.

For dinner that night, we went to a USD12 buffet place. It was okay. Not great, just okay. On the ‘worth it’ scale, a solid 6 out of 10.

Savings tip 7:
 We went in December 2017. It wasn’t peak season, although it wasn’t low season either. I saw forum postings of people who post excursion price lists prominently displayed all around the island but didn’t see them. Anyhow, our excursion trips probably weren’t the cheapest, but I’m happy anyway because the tour guides were awesome. Plus meals were included so I saved some money there.

Savings tip 8:
 If you plan to go on the snorkelling trips, you don’t have to bring your own snorkelling gear. They will supply them to you and include it in the price. In preparation, I bought a RM59 snorkelling kit from Decathlon and didn’t use it once. I heard that snorkelling rental costs USD10 or so per equipment and wanted to avoid that charge. In this case the plan backfired :/

Random tip 1:
 Apparently Maafushi has kick-ass new years eve parties, the one where its promoted mainly by word of mouth, a well-kept open secret. Kinda sad to miss it, but next time.

Random tip 2:
 Trips to other resorts are popular because they include unlimited alcoholic drinks as well as other amenities the resort has to offer, like house reef, buffet lunch and private beach. It will definitely cost more than USD100 per person, depending on which resort. If you wanted to try the ‘Maldivian resort’ holiday but on the cheap, it’s worth it. But if not, then skip the resorts.

Day 4 – Watersports, Male and back to airport

We have to check out by 12pm, but I was adamant on making the most of this Maldives trip and shopped around for watersports packages. They have many types: see below prices of excursion trips, diving and other watersports packages to use as benchmark. This one is by a company called Maafushi Dive and Maafushi Water Sports. Had to take the pics discreetly, thus why its senget a bit. Zoom in to view the prices better.

I wanted to try windsurfing, but the water condition wasn’t suitable for it (low tide). So I tried wakeboarding for USD60. Totally failed at it – I tore chunks of skin off my hands and kept falling in the water. But I’m glad I tried it, at least. The instructors probably felt sorry for me because they offered a free 5-min jet ski ride afterwards. The water was slightly choppy, so that was fun.

Do you have other info about the pricing for excursion and watersports pricing? If yes, share in the comments section!

After we showered and checked out of the hotel, we took the 12pm speedboat back to Velana International Airport. Instead of waiting there until our flight at 8.55pm, we decided to take the public ferry (RF10 per way) to Male’, the capital. Male’ was meh, to be honest. We had a meh late lunch, a meh stroll around and decided to go back to the airport early.

Savings tip 9
: Check your balances after each purchase. It might have been an honest mistake, but the lady at public ferry counter charged me RF20 per trip instead of RF10. Not a huge amount to lose, but I’m kinda salty about it.

Total cost for my Maldives trip

In total, I spent RM3359.25 for this trip. You can make that even cheaper by getting cheaper flights, accommodation, bringing own food and opting for public transportation where you can. Breakdown of expenses in the table below.

Please share this if you find it useful, thanks!

Item

Budgeted

Actual

Flight tickets KL-Maldives (AirAsia)

RM1500

RM1516.80

Accommodation (Expedia)

RM750 (my share; twin-sharing)

RM706.72

Home to KLIA2 (return, Grab)

RM130

RM134.70

Food & Drinks

USD120 (USD20 per meal x 6 meals) (RM492)

RM141.40 (for 4 meals)

Public transportation (bus, ferry)

USD30 (USD10 per day x 3 days) (RM123)

RM19.13

Return speedboats to/from Maafushi

USD50 (RM205)

RM205

Tours/Watersports/Entertainment

USD200 (RM820)

RM635.50

TOTAL

RM4020

RM3359.25

Related: Previous travel –
Langkawi
,
Krabi, Thailand,

Osaka+Kyoto
, and
Saigon, Vietnam


Rainforest World Music Festival+ Kuching weekend for under RM1000

I’ve never attended a music festival, and never been to Kuching, Sarawak. So when I saw Rainforest World Music Festival happening on 14-16 July 2017 on my Facebook dash, it was an easy decision. Something different as a weekend activity – fly in on Saturday morning, fly back on Monday early early morning.

It was… amazing. Easily one of my top 10 experiences of the year. This guide is best read together with the
Rainforest World Music Festival official website
 (RWMF for short) – I’m just covering this from the budgeting/personal experience angle, so you know what to expect when you plan to go there yourself next year. For complete show and event itineraries and other information, check the official website.

Rainforest World Music Festival overview

The dates change every year, but it’s always a three-day Friday/Saturday/Sunday event. There were a few budget components to this trip to take into consideration.

Accommodation
. Rainforest World Music Festival is held at Sarawak Cultural Village. That’s in Santubong, about 30 minutes by car from Kuching city. I tried to find places in Santubong, but even at 3 weeks in advance everything was fully booked. So now you know you have to book earlier than that to secure accommodation in Santubong itself during the event. If you can’t, no worries, just stay in Kuching city.

Tickets
. You can buy three-day pass (pre-sale price in 2017: RM343.20 per adult), or daily pass (pre-sale price in 2017: RM131.20 per adult). Tickets at the door are available too but cost 15% more. I decided to attend 1 day only, on Saturday 15th July. There were no two-day tickets.

Transportation from Kuching to Sarawak Cultural Village.
 Three ways: 1) Drive there, park at the dedicated parking area at Sanctuary, then take the van for RM7 per way. I didn’t hire a car there so I don’t know parking costs. 2) Take the dedicated RWMF bus from Kuching. RM15 per way (adult), multiple pick-up/drop-off points available. 3) Take Grab or whichever ride-sharing partner they use that year. More on this under Day 1.

It was convenient to check accommodation, ticket prices+authorised sellers, transportation options as it was included in the
RWMF official website
. They list most of the information you’ll need.

Savings tip 1:
 I thought that AirAsia will *always* be the cheapest flight option, but it was not the case this time. After factoring in luggage, Malaysia Airlines was cheaper. It was a joy to fly MAS after a while 🙂

Savings tip 2:
 Unless your itinerary is not fixed, buy your tickets in advance. I saved myself RM20 by getting the pre-sale price.

Savings tip 3:
Used
Shopback
(note: referral link) to book my accommodation in Kuching, got 6% cashback for it 🙂 I stayed at Ariva Gateway Kuching – pretty good value-for-money, central place that costs only ~RM145 per night.

Savings tip 4:
 The cheapest possible accommodation you can get during RWMF is camping at Sarawak Cultural Village itself. Bring own tent and it’s just RM42.40 per night for up to 2 pax (RM74.20 if you rent a tent; 2017 price). Then you’ll save the transportation headache and costs as well. Although… you do need to prepare in case it rains.

Day 1 – Arrival to Kuching, off to Rainforest World Music Festival

 The main stage, during the day

My itinerary of the day was simple. Fly into Kuching from KL International Airport in the morning, Uber/Grab to the hotel, leave unnecessary luggage, order Uber/Grab to Sarawak Cultural Village, and have fun at Rainforest World Music Festival until its time to leave. Everything was fine, except for transportation to/from there.
Apparently transportation is a recurring problem during RWMF.

Kuching to Sarawak Cultural Village.
 Ordered Uber to go to RWMF – at the time Uber’s price estimate was way cheaper than Grab. Didn’t think much of it but understood why later. Turns out that Rainforest World Music Festival had a partnership with Grab.
All non-Grab cars were not allowed to go beyond a certain checkpoint
. Because we took Uber , we were stopped from dropped off at Sarawak Cultural Village. Our only option is to take an additional van ride, which costs us another RM7 per pax (for 5-min ride!) -_-

Sarawak Cultural Village to Kuching.
 Poor internet, could not even get a signal to order any ride-sharing. Only the bus option was available for us.
We waited for more than 1 hour for the bus, and we got in the line early
.  Imagine, it took so long for the bus to come that when they finally did, the crowd cheered. Some of us (including myself) did not have raincoats and had to wait in the rain. Looking back, it was an experience but it was. not. fun. then.

I think, one way or another, you *will* have transportation issues no matter what type of transportation you choose. The people who drove there had to park off-site and still depend and wait for the shuttle vans. There was a massive jam on the road back to Kuching. The 30-min bus ride took 1+ hour.

But hey, live and learn and move on. Plus the festival was worth all the effort 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’m going to break down what I personally experienced there.

Note: If you want to rent a car, you can use
DiscoverCarHire
 (note: affiliate links). Checked the rates, it’s fairly affordable.

The music at Rainforest World Music Festival

Many types of world music throughout the day. I’m not even a music lover and I still had fun listening to a bunch of different stuff. My favourite was the Borneo experimental band At Adau (pictured) and the Tahiti group O Tahiti E. To be fair, those were the only night performances I managed to watch, because it
rained
 poured at around 8.30pm or so right until midnight. It was RAINforest Music Festival, indeed. We had to move from open-air to inside a nearby shelter and couldn’t see any more performances after that. Note to self: bring an umbrella and/or raincoat next time.

But I have to say, dancing in the rain is pretty fun. I got an almost-cold out of it, but I heard some people got sick. So listen to your body okaaay.

The food at Rainforest World Music Festival

Didn’t expect RWMF to also be a world FOOD festival, but it did! I had:

Traditional Borneo chicken and mushroom dumpling

Tapioca fritters

Mee kolok (halal!) – my first time trying it, have never found a halal one until now!

Sarawak laksa

Egg oyster from the Chinese cultural society booth

Matcha ice cream

Gula anong ice cream – my view is, try palm sugar before the white people ‘discover’ it and push the price high, like what they did with quinoa and coconut water

Coconut pancake

And still there were so many other food options ranging from traditional Borneo tribal food to Korean food to meat pies. I saw traditional Borneo dishes which included a keli fish the size of my arm!

 Freshly fried crunchy tapioca fritters

 Mee kolok

The activities at Rainforest World Music Festival

I’m a first-time visitor to Sarawak Cultural Village, and exploring traditional longhouses with its coconut trunk stairs and walking through bamboo bridges were fun on its own. Really enjoyed that.

But aside from that, I also joined the noodle-making workshop and the Drum Circle. Short story about the drum circle: If you’ve never participated in one, here’s how it usually goes – they’ll pass some musical instruments to audience members and the ‘conductor’ at the center will guide rounds of music percussion. Even if you don’t have an instrument you can clap and dance around. Super fun. Anyway, in the middle of the second set, apparently some ‘VIPs’ wanted a photo op hahahhahaha. They were led to the center and posed themselves participating in the event. It was so staged, I internally gagged lol.

Other activities and things to see included wellness workshops (tai chi, yoga,meditation etc), sustainability talks and demonstrations, cultural exhibitions, arts workshops, real and temporary tattoo parlours, booths offering traditional souvenirs and more. And that’s not including the improv performances that attendees decide to put on. Some people sang, some people danced, some practised their musical instruments and their flow arts.

The vibe at RWMF was very much positive and welcoming. Enjoyed people-watching tremendously.

 The moment I realised that I have no future as a noodle maker

YourStory has a good roundup of Rainforest World Music Festival. See it
here
.

Savings tip 5:
 If travelling in two or more pax, consider ridesharing to go to RWMF, but check if they partner with Grab or Uber that year to avoid that additional RM7 shuttle van ride. The bus from RWMF to Kuching was supposed to be RM15 per pax, but they charged us RM10 for some reason. I think they reduced the price to make us less annoyed about the long wait :/

Savings tip 6:
 The food at RWMF was expensive, but you have no choice. They will confiscate all food and snacks you bring upon entry.  They seem to be more lax on drinks, so you can try bring water to save some money. Expect RM10 onward per meal. Some food booths offer discounts nearer to closing time.

Day 2: Explore Kuching + Rainforest Fringe Festival

Contemplated attending Rainforest World Music Festival Day 3 but after Day 2’s transportation problems, we decided to have a no-stress day exploring Kuching city instead. Found a half halal food court in Kuching, with halal Sarawak Laksa and Mee Jawa, had that for breakfast. The place name is
Joy’s Corner
, you can find it in Google Maps. The food and the price was good, I can recommend it. The entrance is a bit tricky so below is a picture guide.

Note: half-halal because one side of the same store sells halal food, another side sells non-halal food. I admire this arrangement #muhibbah

Then we walked around Waterfront area and accidentally stumbled right into the
Rainforest Fringe Festival
, a week-long festival celebrating everything Borneo. It was a joy to walk through the arts installations, photography and textile exhibitions. I have a new appreciation for Borneo arts and the rainforest. Sabah/Sarawak peeps, please forgive this Semenanjung girl for taking your states for granted. Your cultures are way more interesting than mine.

Aside from Borneo stuff, there was some eco-related stuff on display. Loved the work of Wild Forest Sculptor Spencer Byles. He made the installation below, gorgeous isn’t it? You can find more of his work in his FB page
here
.

Walked around Little India – it was a Sunday and they had some booths selling clothes, food, local fruits and snacks. Lots of references to cats around town, this cat-lady is happy.

After souvenir-shopping, we plonked ourselves at the cafe in the Old CourtHouse. A bit on the expensive side but a nice place with great decor, perfect for hanging out with friends. They had board games, including Gua! The Caving Adventure game. We tried it but couldn’t get far – the board was missing a piece 🙁 I enjoyed the vegetarian tapas, but did not enjoy the Lemon Poppy Seed cake. I think they forgot the lemon that day so it was just… poppy seed flavoured, which doesn’t taste like anything tbh. Other cakes and desserts look good though, maybe it’s just my luck.

Savings tip 7:
 You can support small shops and buy souvenirs along Waterfront and Little India. Buy clothes with Borneo designs, weaved bags and cases, music instruments – basically non-food items – there. For food items, go into Cold Storage at Green Heights Mall and get Sarawak laksa paste, Sarawak pepper, wild rice and more there – you’ll avoid tourist prices. I’m sure you can get it cheaper at some other ‘non-atas’ grocery shops or if you haggle at the tourist places, but as an awkward haggler I prefer upfront price displays, so.

Day 3: Return to KL

Nothing particularly interesting. Ordered Uber to catch early flight back to KL.  I wish I had more time to explore Kuching and everything else it had to offer. Will try to make another trip there to check out the culture, museums and wildlife. If you have a particular must-visit location, please recommend in the comments section!

Total cost for my Rainforest World Music Festival+ Kuching weekend

In total, I spent RM975.53 for the weekend trip, inclusive of everything. I’m happy with what I get to experience on such limited timeframe, and shared accommodation and transportation helped to bring down the total cost to under RM1000. My return flights took about a third of the cost – maybe you can watch for flight sales too save money there. Breakdown below:

Item

Budgeted (RM)

Actual (RM)

House to KLIA2 (return; Grabcar)

150

130

Food+Drinks

100 (20 per meal x 5 meals)

100

Accommodation (shared)

150 (for 2 nights)

145 (my share)

RWMF Day Pass

131.20

131.20

Return flight tickets (KLIA – KUC)

300

319.33

Shopping/Entertainment/Gifts/ transportation within Kuching

200 (100 per day)

150

TOTAL

1031.20

975.53

Want to know anything specific about Rainforest World Music Festival? Ask in the comments ? Have you been there as well? Did you like it?

Related: Previous travel + breakdown –
Krabi, Thailand
 |
Osaka+Kyoto
 |
Langkawi
|
Saigon, Vietnam


Under-RM1000 Travel: 3D2N Ho Chi Minh City @ Saigon Trip, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City (young people in Vietnam prefer to call it by its original name, Saigon) is a good place to head to for an under-RM1000 weekend trip. Why not longer? It’s a great city, but personally I can only handle the traffic noise in small doses. This was my third trip to Vietnam, but first to Saigon.

My 3 days 2 nights Saigon trip was cheap- just RM958. Even cheaper than my 3 days 2 nights
Langkawi
 trip! Saigon is good for ballin’ on a budget 🙂 There are eight savings tips in this post.

The currency is Vietnamese Dong. RM1 is roughly 5,000VND. Can’t lie, holding a million Dongs in one hand made me chuckle.

Saigon Trip Overview

You can get one-way flight tickets to Ho Chi Minh City from as low as RM40 during the AirAsia sales. But I didn’t book in advance, so I paid about RM300 return for Malindo Air flights. Worth it, considering they include checked baggage and some refreshments in the price.

Accommodation-wise, there are a lot of options. Good budget hotels can be found for as little as RM50 per night, while good hotels start from RM250 or so. I wanted comfort on this trip, and booked a RM300/night hotel that came with a small kitchen, a bathtub, and an amazing view of the river. It was also ~15 minutes away from city centre. Still found the location noisy despite the distance.

This was my hotel’s welcome note. Check out the last two points. This is how I know sex tourism is common in Saigon.

Food is a bit hard to find for Muslims. Pork dishes are insanely popular, halal/vegetarian food is mostly Indian and Middle-Eastern. I had Banh Canh Cua (Shrimp and Crab Noodle Soup) twice on this trip because my tour guide said they don’t contain pork/chicken/beef, but after coming back found out they usually use pork/chicken stock for the soup. Alamak. It’s ok, no sin if didn’t know, I tried. It was delicious though, I’m sad I can’t have it again 🙁

A bowl at stalls like these cost about 40,000VND (~RM8) including iced chrysanthemum tea and that cakoi-like thing.

Savings tip 1:
 Get promo flight tickets if you can. I selected my flights on Google Flights, but booked via Expedia Flights+Accommodation package via
Shopback
(note: referral link) for the RM55 cashback.

Savings tip 2:
Use a cashback credit card, and layer them as much as you can. I got 5% cashback from my credit card. Read my how to layer in my cashback credit card article
here
.

Day 1 – Arrival to Saigon

Even though I arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport at about 4.30pm local time, immigration clearance, waiting for luggage and buying a SIM card took almost one hour. I booked a motorbike tour and was supposed to meet the tour guide at the hotel by 6pm! Got Uber working fairly quickly and booked a ride.

Thankfully made it in time. My guide, Yang, is a 23-year-old university student who took the job to improve her English skills. She took me to a riverside location with a great view, brought me for a Vietnamese meal and dessert, then a bar on Traveller’s Street. I got to experience what Vietnam is famous for – it’s motorbike-filled roads. I highly recommend it! Her company was pleasant. It was informal, like hanging out with a friend. Yang is an opinionated young adult and I enjoyed the conversations.

The bar part was weird. There were high school students drinking alcohol and they had drug devices on their table. I saw at least two inhalers wtf. The girls were dancing sexily to DJ’s mix and one made suggestive winks to my travel companion all night long. They reminded me of Gossip Girls except that they’re Asian and don’t look grown up at all. Later I found out that the only reason why we went there was because it was next to another bar known for its live shows, and that one was full. I found the experience interesting anyhow.

Savings tip 3
: Buy a SIM card with data. Something like 3/5GB of data plan will last for a month, and they cost from 105,000VND (~RM21).
The counter on the furthest left has the best price, but the line can be long
. I got mine for 150,000VND from another booth just to skip the long queue.

Savings tip 4:
 Saigon has both Uber and Grab, which are
way cheaper than local taxis
. There are two options: Motorbike and car. Motorbike is roughly about 25-30% the price of car fares, but of course only for one passenger. Use them – I went to Vietnam (Hanoi) twice before this Saigon trip, and was scammed once (driver took the longer route) and almost scammed another time (took a motorbike taxi and midway he told me the 20,000 VND ride was actually 200,000 VND. I walked away mid-ride). Ridesharing apps are probably the safest way to travel around Saigon. Cash is accepted.

Savings tip 5:
 I booked the Saigon at night motorbike tour from via
Triip.me
. It’s a website that connects travellers and local tour guides. Usually a half-day tour is about $30-50 and above, but I got it for $15 from this website. There are many different types of experiences offered, including bizarre food trips and tea/coffee tasting.

Day 2 – Exploring Saigon City

Took an Uber from the hotel to city centre. First things first, coffee. Vietnam coffee is delicious and available everywhere. Picked a coffee shop with a lot of locals, was not disappointed. 38,000 VND (~RM8) for Iced Coffee with Milk. Surprisingly expensive, but
good
.

Then I just walked around. Visited Notre Dame Cathedral, the post office, Ben Thanh Market. Had lunch there and bought a pack of chopsticks for 100,000VND, bargained down from 200,000VND (~RM20 from ~RM40). It was on my buy list anyway, and gosh it’s pretty <3 EDIT: The chopsticks turned out to be a shit buy. It’s decorative, not practical.

This is the post office with the portrait of Ho Chi Minh, the namesake of Ho Chi Minh City. His embalmed body is in Hanoi, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Saigon is undeniably charming. It’s very French-meet-Japan-meet-Southeast Asia, and a great place to simply explore. Go through small alleyways and find random coffee shops. Cross the roads and have motorbikes and cars swerve around you. Mind the traffic, keep your purse in front of you and apply common sense – you should be OK.

Then took an Uber to Pham Ngu Lao Street. Picked a good spot – it was Saturday and there was a street market going on in front of Sense Market (an underground mall). I got a mango from a roadside vendor for 20,000VND (~RM4). Did not die, but results may vary. I saw quite a few rats on the streets.

Savings tip 6:
 Save for truly local/rural areas, Pham Ngu Lao Street is where you want to be for cheap rooms, massages, food, drinks and souveniers. If you don’t stay there, go there.

Day 3 – Travel back to KL

My flight was at 4.25pm. I was there by 11.30am wtf. Received a fake tip about needing to be at the airport five hours beforehand. Annoyed, but too early is better than too late. Still, -_- At least I managed to try banh mi with sardine filling (35,000VND/ RM7). The baguette itself was amazing, but the filling was meh.

I had a leisurely morning though. Hotel’s buffet breakfast was basic, but for some reason there was rice and kimchi, so I gobbled that. Vietnamese yoghurt is yummy (try it!) and goes well with fresh fruits. There was a grocery store near the hotel, I got some condiments. Bought another iced coffee at a local cafe for 15,000VND (RM3). It was nowhere near as good as the first one.

Uber from hotel to airport was 150,000VND. Surge pricing. Airport to hotel was 90,000VND.

Savings tip 7:
 Good coffee will be a bit more expensive – pay for them. I threw away the 15,000VND one after like three sips. It tasted like gasoline.

Savings tip 8:
 Coffee makes good souveniers. Buy coffee grounds/packets at grocery stores. The airport charges much more. I saw one brand at double the price.

Total cost for my Saigon trip

Total damage for this trip was just RM958, excluding return ride from house to airport. You can make that even cheaper with cheaper flights, budget hotels and DIY tours. Breakdown of expenses in the table below.

I can recommend Saigon for a short weekend trip. If you’ve been, do you have any other money-saving tips? If you haven’t, what do you want to know?

Please share this if you find it useful, thanks!

Item

Budgeted

Actual

Flight tickets (Expedia)

Accommodation (Expedia)

RM600

RM600

Tour

USD15 (~RM70)

~RM70

Airport to Hotel (return, Uber)

600,000 VND (~RM120)

240,000VND (~RM48)

Food & Drinks

400,000VND (100,000VND per meal x 4 meals)

(~RM80)

300,000VND (~RM60)

SIM card

100,000VND (~RM20)

150,000VND (~RM30)

Shopping/Entertainment/Souveniers

1,000,000VND (~RM200)

750,000VND (~RM150)

TOTAL

RM1090

RM958

Related: Previous travel –
Langkawi
,
Krabi, Thailand
 and
Osaka+Kyoto


17 Things to Buy in Japan (As a Frugal Person)

Wondering what to buy in Japan on your next trip there? Here are 17 things to buy in Japan, which I personally bought for myself and as souvenirs, as a frugal and maximum-value deal-hunter 😀

Some information to start with:

I’ve been to Japan a few times, so these are not ‘classic’ souvenirs per se. In fact you’ll see a lot of normal everyday things that are simply sold for cheaper in Japan. You’ll also see quite a lot of food ingredients and products

Because I’m Muslim, the food products in here are selected with care. Do note though that I care about eating as halal as possible, but I do close one eye when it comes to cooking alcohol

Practical stuff > decorative stuff

If you’re looking for Japan travel savings tips, check out the
4D3N Japan for RM2500 (Osaka+Kyoto)
 instead. Most tips are not specific to Osaka+Kyoto

17 things to buy in Japan, in no particular order

#1 – Various discounted (and non-discounted) supermarket food – varies

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

To save money on food

Value for money
: 5/5. The supermarkets will start discounting their food items at around 7pm, depending on location and policies. I was happy to get the yellow peaches in this particular haul – it was delicious eaten with yogurt as breakfast!

I highly recommend food from Japanese supermarkets, discounts or no. They have so much variety. The below video is ONE section out of at least six counters in one of the supermarkets I visited.

http://ringgitohringgit.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/VID_20180915_135810.mp4

#2 – A purse – 1000 yen (after discount) (~RM38)

From
: A shop at Nagoya Centrair Airport

Why I bought it
:

It was 50% off..

Value for money
: 3/5. Did I want it? Yes. Did I *need* it? No. This was an impulse buy.

#3 – Lululun mask – 1500 yen (~RM57)

From
: Don Quijote

Why I bought it
:

Big fan of Lululun masks and have never tried the power mask variety pack before!

Value for money
: 2/5. 1500 yen for 10 masks is kind of steep (for me). There are other cheaper Lululun masks (see #17). I’m a sucker for variety.

#4 – Red miso from Nagoya – 600 yen (~RM23)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

Nagoya is famous for its red miso, which is a local product that barely gets exported. The ones that you see are mostly black or white miso.

Value for money
: 5/5. My host mum saw me put this in the shopping basket and bought it for me as a gift. Now this taste will remind me of her too, and sentimental value is priceless.

#5 – Kishimen pack – 600 yen (~RM23)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

I’ve never tried kishimen (I’m told it’s like udon, but different shape)

The pack includes 3 x servings of kishimen and easy-to-make red miso broth pack

No meat (I got my host mum to check)

Value for money
: 5/5. It’s a Nagoya speciality item at such an affordable price. Packaging is cute, too.

#6 – Curry packs – ~700 yen for both (~RM27)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

I like Japanese curry rice, but I can’t eat most of them because they have meat in them!

These two packs – kaki (oysters) and yasai (vegetable) are the ONLY two meat-free curry packs in the whole curry aisle. My poor host mum went over all of the selection (there must be over 50 varieties!).

Value for money
: 5/5. I’ll take whatever meat-free product I can get. Plus the oysters one is a speciality product from Hiroshima.

#7 – Various senbei – 1000 yen for all (~RM38)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

I like keropok

Value for money
: 3/5. Low marks because you’d think squid and prawn senbei would be meat-free right? Nope. It was surprisingly hard to find varieties which don’t include chicken or pork extract! In the end I added premium gobou (burdock root)and shiso senbei into the mix.

#8 – Powdered matcha – 600 yen (~RM23)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

Love matcha flavour

Value for money
: ?/5. Not sure how much they’re sold in Malaysia.

#9 – Nori pack – 300 yen (~RM11)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

The nori pack in this jar seems like a better alternative to the nori packs in the individual plastic wraps.

Value for money
: 5/5 because less plastic waste

#10 – A foldable umbrella – 1000 yen (~RM38)

From
: Don Quijote, the discount chain store.

Why I bought it
:

Needed to replace my existing umbrella, which is getting wonky (I always carry one with me as I use public transportation often)

The slim design barely takes up space in my bag

Very light

Value for money
: 4/5. Japanese umbrellas tend to be really good, and these are cheap even by Japan standards. Reduce one star because I saw the same one (though different colour) being sold at Narita airport for cheaper at 780 yen.

#11 – A pack of 3 Nike ankle socks – 1000 yen (~RM38)

From
: Don Quijote

Why I bought it
:

It was time to replace my 3-year old socks

Value for money
: 5/5. Before I bought this, I did a quick search for Nike socks sold in Malaysia. They are at least RM55 for 3 pairs or something like that. I love getting good products that I need anyway for cheaper <3

#12 – Bedsheets (not pictured), towel and pillowcases -5000 yen (~RM190)

From
: MUJI

Why I bought it
:

Coincidentally all of them are on sale! I got them at 15-50% normal price

Value for money
: 5/5. MUJI’s stuff is good.

#13 Glowsticks (pack of 10) – 1000 yen each (~RM38)

From
: Don Quijote

Why I bought it
:

For a friend, who loves this thing and uses them in performances. She usually gets her glowsticks from Daiso, so at RM3.80 per stick this is good value for money

Value for money
: N/A She’s paying me back

#14 Cool refresh sheet – 500 yen each (~RM19)

From
: Don Quijote

Why I bought it
:

For mom, who suffers from swelling and discomfort on her right wrist. This thing helps to cool down the swelling

Value for money
: N/A

#15 Pokemon-shaped nori – 150 yen (~RM6)

From
: The supermarket

Why I bought it
:

So cute <3

Value for money
: 5/5. Super affordable and would make a cool gift to Pokemon fans too!

#16 Steam eye masks- 500 yen each (~RM19 each)

From
: Drug store

Why I bought it
:

As souvenirs. I got 5 different versions: Menthol, yuzu, lavender, chamomile and unscented (I think)

Value for money
: 3/5. I thought it was unique and can only be bought in Japan, but I found out Watson sells it too, boo. And the price is similar too, so no cost savings there.

#17 Sheet masks – 300-500 yen per pack of 5-7 masks (~RM11-19 each)

From
: Don Quijote

Why I bought it
:

As souvenir for my sisters

Value for money
: 5/5. Super affordable for good-quality sheet masks! At least I think they’re good – many of them say they got ‘No 1’ awards on the pack.

What to buy in Japan as a frugal person

I have to admit that this article idea almost didn’t make it – I wasn’t particularly keen to share the things I bought in Japan, simply because *I* thought they were not that special. Then I asked Twitter and surprisingly, there was demand, so here it is.

I’m not… embarrassed for being a frugal shopper. I don’t mind admitting that my favourite places to shop while in Japan were:

Don Quijote – discount chain store

Daiso / Other 100-yen shops

Supermarkets like AEON

Book Off/ Hard Off / etc – Recycling/secondhand shops

And similar places

 Don Quijote, Halloween edition

Hey my fellow frugal shoppers. What do YOU tend to buy on your travels? I’m really curious to know what item (not experience) that you decided was value for money. Can you comment and share them?


RM10k Turkey Trip for Two: 8 Days 7 Nights in Istanbul & Cappadocia

Planning your own Turkey trip from Malaysia? Or to them, Turkiye, the country at the junction between East and West, known for its history, art and culture.

But most importantly, Turkey is also one of the few travel destinations Malaysians can go to that is not recording 6-figure daily Covid cases,
doesn’t require quarantine upon arrival
, and pretty affordable due to the Lira crisis caused by
President Erdogan’s unconventional economic policies
.

I mean, look at the exchange rate. The Lira went down from MYR1.20 per Lira in January 2017 to MYR0.26 per Lira at its lowest in December 2021. I feel somewhat bad about taking advantage of this as a tourist, knowing that many everyday Turkish citizen is in dire financial distress.

At time of writing, 1 Lira is 0.31 MYR

Because of this, I decided to not be super budget-conscious during my Turkey trip and contribute to their tourism industry. I spent RM10k in this trip which is not high, but not low either – while I still looked for value for money, I didn’t skimp or look for the cheapest possible options.

Look out for savings tips throughout this article for options to lower your costs, but consider this a mid-range budget for your own Turkey trip and adjust to your liking and finances.

I’ve divided this article into:

Section 1: Travel from Turkey to Malaysia – Preparations before your Turkey trip

Section 2: Travel from Malaysia to Turkey – Preparations before coming back

Section 3: Our itinerary for Turkey

Section 4: Budget breakdown

Section 5: Things that are noticibly cheap due to exchange rate

Please note that all information here is accurate as of writing time, but can change anytime, as it often does in the pandemic 🙂

Section 1:  Travel from Turkey to Malaysia – Preparations before your Turkey trip

 There are 5 things you need to do before going to Turkey:

Buy flight ticket

Book hotel room(s)

Do Home quarantine application

Do PCR test

Exchange money to Lira

Let’s go over them one by one, in the order you should do them:

 1) Buy flight ticket – >2 weeks before so you can get travel insurance

Of course you have to buy a flight ticket. I was told anything below RM2k for return trip is a good price, and we got ours for RM1.7k each.

How soon should you buy? Honestly, I don’t know. I bought 2 months before and was constantly worried if Turkey would impose travel restrictions, causing travel cancellation. I also worried about getting Covid and having to cancel.

I don’t know if anyone has successfully claimed, but one way to reduce your risk is to get
travel insurance
 with flight cancellation and pandemic cover, like
Travel Easy by Tune Protect
. Protip: Buy it at least 30 days before your trip to get it for cheaper!

Savings tip #1
: Shoutout to
Pemburu Tiket Murah
 for the cheap flight info! They also shared one KUL-IST flight going for RM1.3k!

2) Book hotel room(s) – before you do HES code (next one)

Book your hotel rooms before you do the HES code, because you need the information to submit the application.

As for accommodation, everyone has their preferred hotel requirement and budget. Mine is:

free cancellation (non-negotiable! Just in case trip get cancelled right),

free breakfast,

rated 9/10 and above, and

near public transport (in Istanbul) and in city center (Goreme in Cappadocia)

If you book early enough, there are lots of great hotels at RM200-400/night range (for 2 pax) that fit the above requirements. Price of course varies depending on low/peak season (we went during winter – low season. Summer is peak season).

Savings tip #2
: Don’t forget to use
Shopback
 when you book your flight and/or hotel rooms from Agoda or Booking.com! Can get cashback. I will get back approx RM237 from hotel booking 🙂

3) HES Code – do 72 hours before leaving

The HES Code looks something like this:

HES Code is like Turkey’s version of contact tracing – you need it to get the IstanbulKart (to use public transportation in Istanbul) and to enter certain places, like the mall.

Register at
https://register.health.gov.tr/
 within 72 hours before your trip
. They’ll email you a letter with a code and QR code like the above. It’s a good idea to print it out, but having a copy on your phone will do.

4) PCR Test – do 48/24 hours before leaving

EDIT: This section is probably outdated – many countries now don’t require you to submit PCR tests anymore, only proof of vaccination

Generally speaking,
many airlines and destinations require a negative PCR test result within 2 days before you board the plane
. Check with your flight company – we used Etihad and PCR test is a requirement (but I heard Qatar airlines no need – again, check latest update on their website).

If you have to do it, I suggest doing the test the day before, or on the travel day itself if you have a late flight. The reason I suggest that is because they might make changes on short notice.

(We met a guy at the airport who said the UK changed requirements suddenly and they need negative PCR test results 24 hours before, not 48 hours before. His group found out while they where checking in luggage and they had to re-do PCR test before allowed to board!)

You can
take the PCR test at KLIA airport
 before your flight. They have the 3-hour test and the 1-hour test options – more info at
airport.doctor2u.my
 page. Yes, that’s the price. No, you don’t have any other choice (if you know of other options, let me know in the comments).

My recommendation is to go to the airport early. I don’t know how it’s usually like, but when I was there, they ran out of the 1-hour test so people had no choice but to take the 3-hour test. It also took us 1 hour just to be swabbed because they were short-staffed. We went to the airport 8 hours before flight time which was a bit of an overkill, but I don’t regret it.

5) Exchange money to Lira – do before you go

As you know, Turkey’s currency Lira isn’t doing too well. In October 2021, 1 Lira was MYR0.44, and by end of December 2021 it was around MYR0.30. Again, bad for them, but good for us.

After a traumatising BigPay incident during my
Bali trip
, I knew going traveling without local currencies is too risky for the Turkey trip. So I:

Exchanged some MYR to Lira – you need some for airport taxi/shuttle, emergency etc

Loaded up my BigPay card – for the great rates. Obligatory referral code: Get extra RM10 credit if you use my BigPay referral code – download the app
here
.

Combining both was a good decision – I get the assurance of having cash and also the advantage of better rates during our Turkey trip (the Lira went down even more when we were there).

Worth mentioning – in my experience, I had no problem using the BigPay card in Istanbul, but a few places in Cappadocia rejected the card (BigPay said it’s because those merchants didn’t accept prepaid card). So if you plan to go travel outside Istanbul, DEFINITELY bring cash just to be safe. You can also bring Euro because it’s widely accepted too and easy to exchange there.

The BigPay card was also very handy to buy food/drinks at Abu Dhabi airport, where we transited.

Savings tip #3:

I’ve yet to find better rates than the money exchanger at Mid Valley, near
Jaya Grocer. Change money from MYR to Lira there (or anywhere you like)

Savings tip #4:
 I don’t know if this was just my luck, but all the ATMs I tried to withdraw money from charged really high fees! It ranged from 6-9% in fees, ON TOP of BigPay’s RM10 ATM cash withdrawal fee. In the end I decided to not withdraw more cash and just use the BigPay card to make payments.

Savings tip #5:
 Abu Dhabi Airport closed all the water filter stations, so you have no choice but to buy water if you get thirsty. Get from the vending machines, not cafes. The former was AED2 while the latter marked it up to AED9! (You can pay with BigPay card)

Section 2: Travel from Turkey to Malaysia – Preparations before coming back

There are 2 things you need to do: Home quarantine application and PCR test. Let’s over them one by one, in the order you should do them:

1) Home quarantine application – do 4-10 days before coming home

Upon coming back, you have to self-isolate for 7 days. If you want to do home quarantine, then you have to submit the Home Quarantine application. Find the form at
https://hso.moh.gov.my/outbreak-portal-hqa/index

Important: You have to submit the application 4-10 days before arrival. It takes some time to be approved, so remember to do this.

Savings tip #6:
 Unless you have to, do home quarantine instead of hotel quarantine. Hotel quarantine costs around RM250/night at your expense

2) PCR Test – do 48/24 hours before leaving

You also need a negative PCR test within 2 days before you board the plane to come home. For convenience, we booked the
same-day PCR test in Istanbul
 from
Klook
 (new users get RM15 off first booking through this link). It was affordable and straightforward, plus there’s an awesome grocery store right in front of the location too, I recommend it.

Section 3: Our Itinerary for Turkey

Aside from preparations in Sections 1 and 2, everything else is more or less the same as normal travel planning 🙂 All in all, we spent 8 days 7 nights in Turkey, divided into:

2 nights in Cappadocia (booked our Istanbul to Cappadocia (look for Kayseri) flight from
Turkish Airlines
), and

5 nights in Istanbul

Here are some pictures from our Turkey trip 🙂

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)

We did KUL-IST-KAY-IST-KUL in that order, which was practical but admittedly exhausting. We also decided to save other locations (Antalya, Ephesus, Bursa, etc) for another Turkey trip in the future.

Our time was limited, but we managed to fit in a lot of activities in both places, including:

In Cappadocia:

Hot air balloon (usually 65-80 Euros per pax but we got for 108 Euro/RM513 for 2 pax)

Red tour in Cappadocia (usually 40 Euros per pax but we got for 50 Euro/RM236 for 2 pax)

Camel safari tour (usually 25 Euros per pax but we got for 32 Euro/RM153.90 for 2 pax)

Sunset View Point (3 Lira entrance fee per person) (Sunrise View Point is nearby; same price)

What we’d do next time: Green tour, ATV ride

Savings tip #7:
 How to get cheaper tours and hot air balloon in Cappadocia – book from
Airbnb Experiences
 and set price in MYR. F
or some reason, it is cheaper in MYR.
 I don’t know why it’s like that, but take advantage of it, why not.

In Istanbul:

Free walking tour Istanbul
 (excellent tour. It’s a pay-what-you-want concept so be sure to give your guide a tip if you enjoyed)

Bosphorus cruise tour (15 Euro, booked from guide)

Visit the Asia side by Metro and ferry (use Istanbulkart)

Visited one museum (Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum)

A lot of exploring on our own in both the Historical Peninsula, European side and Asian side. It’s a very walkable city and very easy to navigate around, if a bit steep and hilly at some parts

What we’d do next time: Explore more museums and cisterns, Turkish dinner/dance, and eat more kumpir aka baked potatoes with toppings (must try!)

Savings tip #8:
 Having an Istanbulkart is very useful. It’s like Touch n Go and you can use it for the tram, ferry, metro and busses in Istanbul. The price is 13 Lira and you can top up at the blue/yellow machines (cash and card accepted). Remember to link it with HES Code first at
https://kisisellestirme.istanbulkart.istanbul/
 before using.

Even locals told me to avoid taxis due to horrible traffic and increased price (we avoided except to go to airport), so get your Istanbulkart as soon as possible – it’s sold at the airport (ask information counter) as well as the blue/yellow machines and kiosks around town. We were lucky that our hotel had exceptional customer service and helped us to both get the card at a nearby kiosk and registered it for us.

This video (and the whole channel) was quite useful:

Savings tip #9:
 Galata Tower is one of the main attractions in Istanbul. Instead of spending 100 Lira per person going up the Galata tower for the view, I suggest you find one of the rooftop cafes near the area and spend your money on coffee and cake. Even our guide recommended the same thing. We went to a place called Galata Konak Cafe and the view from there was great!

Section #4 – Budget breakdown

We spent under RM10k for 2 people for this 8 days 7 nights trip to Turkey, which I’m told is cheap 🙂 We got a good price for the flight and tours, and didn’t skimp too much on other categories (in fact we did a lot of shopping).

Making the budget was hard, because Lira was (is?) volatile and prices changed all the time. You’d think that EVERYTHING is cheap (and many things are, see Section 5), but the lot of tourists-targeted shops circumvented this by:

(1) pegging their prices to Euro/USD (so you pay whatever is the equivalent to 10 Euro in Lira, for example) and/or

(2) update their prices often (you’ll see stickers with new price on menus etc)

Here’s the budget breakdown for our Turkey trip. Prices are for 2 pax

Item
Budgeted
Actual
Flight KUL-IST-KUL
Under RM2000 each
RM3481 (both)
Flight IST-KAY-IST (to go Kayseri Airport)
RM300 each
RM589.72 (both)
Accommodation – Cappadocia (2 nights) 2-star hotel
RM600
RM547
Accommodation – Istanbul (5 nights) 3-star hotel
RM2000
RM2085
PCR Test – KLIA
RM250 each
RM600 (both)
PCR Test – Istanbul
RM200 each
RM213.38 (both)
Hot air balloon
65 Euro/ RM310 each
RM513.04 (both)
Red tour
40 Euro/ RM190 each
RM236 (both)
Camel safari
25 Euro/ RM120 each
RM153.90 (both)
Food* (22 meals each) + public transport + shopping + fun (we spent around RM500 on shopping and the rest on food + transport)
100 Lira per meal/ 2200 lira each
Used up all cash
Airport transfers – Cappadocia
70 Lira each per way
280 Lira
Airport transfers* – Istanbul (originally planned to use the Havaist bus but ended up using taxi)
35 Lira each per way
628 Lira (200 + 428)
Travel Insurance (should have gotten the Covid cover actually. That’s why cheap)
RM150 each
RM108.59 for both
Roaming (SIM card would be cheaper but I wanted convenience)
RM50
RM120
Extra/Emergency
RM1000
RM0
Cashback from
Shopback
-RM237
TOTAL
up to RM12000
RM9880.02

Savings tip #10:
You can save money on airport transfer by taking the
Havaist bus
. Only 35 Lira per person from Airport to Sultahnamet (Historical peninsula), but it does take 90-120 minutes instead of 60~ minutes via taxi.

Savings tip #11:
 We ended up using taxi to/from airport as it was rainy season. You can get a taxi from the airport,
Klook
 (new users get RM15 off first booking through this link) or hotel (compare the price, some worth it some not). Otherwise you can also download a taxi app and book from there (don’t book from the street, might get scammed), but we were too lazy to do that.

Section 5: Things that are noticeably cheap due to exchange rate

The final section is about spending, the most fun part! I’m just going to brain dump things that I noticed were cheap due to the exchange rate.

Turkish food
at touristy locations can range from 50-100+ Liras per person (RM15-30), which is very affordable. At normal restaurants that locals go to, you can get a decent meal for around 30-60 Liras per person (RM9-18). To save even more, there’s Simit (their version of bagel) from the bread carts – just 3.5 Liras (RM1) and very filling!

International food chains
 like McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, etc. A set meal is around RM9 and a Grande drink costs the equivalent of RM5.

Clothes
 from fast fashion brands like LC Waikiki, De Facto, Colins – the equivalent to RM20 for tops to RM50 for jeans and dresses

Items from
 grocery stores
 like Migros, BIM and Carrefour. I bought a lot of teas and soup mixes 🙂

Typical
souveniers
 like keychains, pouches etc – from 5 Liras (RM1.50)

Note:  I’m using 1 Lira = MYR0.30. The exchange will probably change again by the time you go – maybe it’ll be in your favour, maybe not, who knows.

One more thing – expect prices in Lira to increase because inflation is VERY high in Turkey – in December 2021, The Turkish Statistical Institute announced
36% annual inflation
 (!!! normal inflation is around 2%!).

Regardless, it’s still a value for money destination for tourists, and I totally recommend Turkey as a destination. Plus, the dogs and cats are delightful – it was fun spotting them on the streets and in the unlikeliest places 🙂

With that, I’m wrapping up my Turkey travel breakdown, which includes travel planning, budget and my Turkey travel itinerary. Hopefully this helps you plan your own Turkey trip 🙂 If this article helps, please share it among friends and family and social media, I would appreciate that a lot, thanks!


Link Roundup #93: 10 Things to Know This Week

Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 links informational 🙂

1
.
How to Catch Up on Work When You’re Behind
 – Read Write

This article introduced me to something called the Eisenhower Matrix, a powerful decision-making framework. It works by listing all your tasks then assigning them in the right quadrant, based on their urgency and importance:

First Quadrant: Do
Second Quadrant: Decide
Third Quadrant: Delegate
Fourth Quadrant: Disregard

 The image below is an example of how it looks like, I think it’s neat.

I also love all the other tips shared in the article, including the 2-minute rule and ‘switching gears’ strategy. Excellent article, worth a read.

2.
How to end a conversation when someone won’t stop talking
 – Fast Co

The article also included specific tips to end conversations in ONLINE meetings!

Speaking of which, be aware of the human tendency to assign competence and leadership to those who talk the most.

The person who talks the most is the most likely to become the leader.
Data: regardless of intelligence and expertise, groups elevate those who command the most airtime.
It's time to stop rewarding people for dominating the discussion, and start valuing quality over quantity.
pic.twitter.com/U5h2mX0yxk
— Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant)
February 23, 2022

3.
This Little-Known Psychological Phenomenon is Affecting Your Productivity
 – Hive

This is an article about the Zeigarnik effect, which is “simply put, the tendency to remember uncompleted tasks more than finished ones.”

As I understand it, the Zeigarnik effect affects your productivity by making you feel anxious about the incompleted tasks while doing other work, and also during rest time. It also contributes to feelings of low self-esteem, as you don’t think you’re doing the best you could.

However, you can also use it productively by intentionally viewing projects you want to continually innovate as incomplete, so you will keep working on it.

Fascinating thing to learn about the brain today.

4.
The (Marc)Use of Surveillance Capitalism in Fast Fashion
 – Malaysian Philosophy Society

I find this article intriguing. It’s published by the Malaysian Philosophy Society and links the ethics of surveillance tech in the context of fast fashion. It’s a bit jargon-y, but worth a read.

5
.

TikTok is full of alleged scam artists pretending to be real advertisers
 – Morning Brew

The most important part in the article: “Alleged scam artists are running ads and posing as real brands on TikTok, offering ludicrous deals to swindle unsuspecting users.”

Scammers posing as real brands is nothing new and exist on other platforms, of course. Just be aware that it happens on TikTok too, that’s all.

6.
Earmarked paternity leave increases parental wellbeing
– VoxEU CEPR

VoxEU CEPR, an organisation focused on ‘research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists’ studied the effects of paternal leave (leave exclusively granted to fathers), and they found amazing result to parents’ well-being, especially mothers:

Our results show that eligibility for earmarked paternity leave increases life satisfaction by 10.8 percentage points. Interestingly, this effect is much stronger for mothers than for fathers, despite the earmarked leave increasing the amount of leave taken by fathers, not mothers.
While both mothers and fathers benefit in terms of life satisfaction from being eligible to earmarked paternity leave, mothers’ life satisfaction increases by 30% more than that of fathers.

Those of you with paternity leave benefit + married to someone with one, you can look forward to a happier family life. It’s also not a bad idea to seek workplaces that offer this benefit, for your own happiness.

7.
These companies are the most impersonated in email phishing campaigns
 – Tech Radar

According to
Hornet Security’s Cyber Threat Report 2020/2021
, the companies that are the most impersonated in email phishing campaigns include (the higher in the list, the bigger the volume/frequency):

Amazon
DHL
DocuSign (!!!)
PayPal
LinkedIn
Microsoft
Facebook
HSBC
FedEx
Ebay

Therefore, just double check when you receive mail from these entities. Being sceptical may save you a whole load of $$$ and headache.

8
.

Vehicle Depreciation by Color Says Yellow Rules
 – Autoweek

Interesting data of the week: According to Autoweek, Yellow cars depreciate the least in 3 years, while Gold cars depreciate the most.

(No idea if the same depreciation order is true for cars in Malaysia)

9.
3 ways to stop comparing yourself to others, according to a cognitive scientist
 – Vice

Awesome description of the social comparison phenomenon, which can be upward or downward:

 …tendency to compare ourselves to other people is called
social comparison
, and it is a natural way for us to evaluate how we’re doing.
When we compare ourselves to others who are better off than we are, it is called an
upward
 social comparison, and it tends to make us feel dissatisfied. If we feel that there is nothing we can do to improve our situation, then that dissatisfaction turns to frustration.
When we compare ourselves to people worse off than we are, it is called a
downward
social comparisons, and it may make us feel satisfied (or even smug), but it also tends to sap our motivation to work harder.

As for how to stop it, its nothing new or revolutionary. Just a reminder to go back to these golden advice:

Focus on your path
Enjoy (instead of envy) other people’s success
Concentrate on gratitude

10. 3 Features in myASNB App You Should Know – Ringgit Oh Ringgit

And last but not least, just letting you know the video version of
3 Features in myASNB App You Should Know
 article is out 🙂 Do me a favour and leave an upvote (and subscribe to my channel if you feel super generous?)

That’s it for this round, catch you next time! Want to submit a link you thought was great? Reach out to me on
FB
 or
Twitter
.

To read past link roundups, please click
here
.


Link Roundup #97: 10 Things To Know This Week

Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 links informational 🙂

1.
A psychologist says there are 7 types of ‘office jerks’—here’s how to tell which one you work with
– CNBC Make It

Oh wow, categorisation of office jerks, so you know how to identify and to deal with them better. They even made an easy-to-read flow chart as well:

There is another set of flowchart to determine what kind of jerk
boss
 you may have. People who work with difficult people and bosses, read the full article in the link above.

2
.

This is the right way to use LinkedIn to get noticed by recruiters
 – Fast Co

If you have a LinkedIn account and are looking for better opportunities, definitely read this article so recruiters have a better chance of finding you.

3.
7 Signs You’re Being Taken Advantage of at Work
 – Hive

Feel like something is off? I find the phrasing used in this article helpful for identifying exactly what the problem is. Do you recognise any of the 7 signs below in your workplace?

Your relationships with your coworkers aren’t give-and-take
People don’t ask if you’re busy anymore
Your timelines become unrealistic
You’re being shut out of communications
Your time off isn’t considered
Your team is getting too comfortable
You’re getting more office work than glamour work

4.
Metaverse mortgages are real and they can leave you bankrupt — here’s how
– Laptop Mag

Never thought I’d see that headline but here we are.

Image credit: Decentraland

Here’s another headline I never thought I’d see, on a related topic:

5.
Inside the lucrative business of a metaverse landlord, where monthly rent can hit $60,000 per property
 – Fast Co

But but, perhaps, just perhaps, it *might* be a worthwhile venture if you can lease out your metaverse land, for 70% profit like this person did? I mean, only with play money not survival money of course, but that’s not bad. Metaverse properties require much less upkeep than physical properties too.

6.
The 7 Insidious Ways Women Are Held Back At Work – & How To Handle Them
 – Refinery 29

#1 on the list, Benevolent sexism just kicks it out of the park:

‘Benevolent sexism’ happens when
well-intentioned men make decisions for women that may ‘kill careers with kindness’, and it’s often protective and paternalistic in nature.
 Men may try to save women from difficult challenges, for instance, but in doing so hold them back from progression.
“Many men told us that they had assumed that a woman returning from maternity leave won’t want to go for a challenging assignment or one that involves travel”

Find out the 6 other ways women are held back at work:

Double standards
Judged more harshly for the strengths
Excluded from informal social networks
Less exposure to important senior staff
Not being credited for their contributions
Interrupted in meetings

7.
How Ramadan and Eid Have Been Hijacked by Capitalism
 – Amaliah.com

A wonderful opinion piece exploring how a culture of excess made its way into the month meant for self-control.

8.
How to become a better listener, according to science
 – Fast Co

It’s amazing how much you can learn from people, when you listen to them. Self-reminder for me as well to be better at it.

9.
Has your motivation to work declined? Maybe your values have shifted
 – Fast Co

Maybe this can explain why the job that used to give you so much satisfaction and fulfilment is now just… meh.

10. These Kids Are Skipping College to Be TikTok Famous – Vice

This is such a fascinating deep dive into the creator economy, specifically Tiktok creators. I appreciate the reporter – he is not dismissive of the desires and motivations of Gen Z kids, like many others. Thought he did a good job drawing out the good and bad aspects of being a TikTok creator, and how it is being monetised.

The whole segment on brand deals and the cut that managers take in is all so fascinating.

That’s it for this round, catch you next time! Want to submit a link you thought was great? Reach out to me on
FB
 or
Twitter
.

To read past link roundups, please click
here
.


Link Roundup #99: 10 Things To Know This Week

Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 links informational 🙂

1.
How to Tell Your Boss You’re Quitting When You Like Your Boss
 – Hive

Cost of living is rising, and your salary can no longer cope with your commitments. You know you need to find a higher-paying job but you like your boss and don’t want to let her/him down. What do you do?

There’s only two outcomes: give in to loyalty, or… find out how to leave on good terms.

2.
Finding a new job is possible — even when you’re burned out
 – Vox

It sucks that we live in a world where we still have to force ourselves to work even though we feel like shit because we need the money. Great tips from workplace well-being expert
Jennifer Moss
, author of
The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It
.

3
.

The World Has Too Much Stuff
 – WIRED

Basically, the pandemic-caused supply chain issues freaked out retailers and consumers. Consumers ordered/bought more than they should, creating false demand and retailers stocked up more than they should, to avoid empty shelves and missing out on profit.

And now, there’s a bunch of stuff that retailers need to clear out, to consumers who no longer want (nor can afford) the items.

Free market, huh.

4.
Everything you need to become happier, according to science

– Fast Co

The world may have too much stuff, but nothing in this article says you need more stuff in order to be happy.

5.
Woman Travels the World By Exchanging Cat-Sitting for Free Accommodation
 – My Modern Met

I’m happy for her but hurts to see someone else living your dream life :’)

By the way, I’m amazed by her cat-sitting business website,
onecatatatime.co
 which also doubles as her portfolio. THAT’S how you show clients you are professional.

6.
Introvert hangover: how to recover from social events
 – Psychologies

This analogy to explain difference between an extrovert and an introvert is perfect.

When I’m explaining the difference in energy levels to my clients, I use an analogy about an introvert waking up with five coins. In each social situation they encounter throughout the day, they spend a coin. By the end of the day, the coins are gone and they feel depleted,’ says
Alison Rice, an introvert coach
.
‘Extroverts wake up with no coins but gain one for each interaction, so by the end of the day they feel rich,’ Rice adds. Turning the phone to mute and curling up with a book is an introvert’s idea of bliss – and essential for conserving those coins.

7.
How To Flip Furniture, Even If You’ve Never Done It Before
 – Brit.co

Thought-provoking read.

8.
How much money do you need to live in your own apartment in Japan?
 [Survey] – SoraNews24

SoraNews24 asked 377 respondents how much money is needed to move and live in Japan.

On average, you need 359,908 yen (~RM11,800) to get settled in, and 97,879 yen (~RM3,200) a month to cover monthly expenses,
not including transportation, taxes, entertainment expenses and other individual wants/needs.

I don’t know what you can do with this info. Daydream, perhaps.

9.
36 Questions to Improve Your Self-Understanding
 – Psychology Today

I’m sure you want to find your ikigai, yes?

Well, the 36 questions in the article can help you figure out what you actually want. It’s an excellent exercise towards self-discovery, I recommend it!

10. I Made 13 Meals In Under 30 Minutes For 2 People On A $30 Budget – Delish

This is a great one for people who want to mealprep but hates eating the same things every day. June gave us a freakin’ MOVIE full of practical AND cheap meal-prepping tips and ideas. You might use completely different ingredients, but the creativity can be applied!

That’s it for this round, catch you next time! Want to submit a link you thought was great? Reach out to me on
FB
 or
Twitter
.

To read past link roundups, please click
here
.