Travel Budget for Beijing

I had some people asking me, "Why do you always travel to China? You sure have lots of money, don't you?"

Face-palm was what I did every time I heard that. As I said before this, I wasn't born in a financially stable family. The fund that I saved for traveling came from either my full-time job, freelance work and little investment.

Unlike the rest of the people I know, I have different priorities in life. Traveling is just one of it. So whenever I planned to visit China, I didn't get stingy with myself. I consider this as expenses for my education. Because you know, I learn a lot when I travel.

So here you go, a list of my regular budget every time I go to Beijing.

Mr&Mrs Dai Waffle Taste @ Johor Bahru

I'm pretty sure everyone knows that I'm from the southernmost city, Johor Bahru. Said it once in my intro, but there's no harm in repeating it. I mean, I am absolutely proud to tell everybody my city of origin.

It's been two months since my last visit there. So, I took a four-day holiday to go back my home-city. Not much of a fun, though. I was tired with everything in KL, so it was pretty awesome to have such a long weekend to kick back and relax.

But I've got to share with one thing new in Johor Bahru. Something that wasn't there when I left that city.

October 2015, a friend of our family, had finally launched her dream shop. With the name of Mr & Mrs Dai Waffle Taste, it is a dessert store that introduces a new way to enjoy waffle. For some people, desserts will always be dessert. It doesn't matter how much you try to improvise it. But for those who appreciate the art of dessert, and apparently enjoy eating, this could be extremely interesting.

At Waffle Taste, you have multiple selections in creating the waffle that suits your taste. It's pretty simple, yet fun. Just imagine Subway sandwich, but replace it with waffle from Waffle Taste. You could either select the ingredients separately, or just choose from of the existing menu. Each of extra ingredients you're selecting, such as Turkey or Salmon, will cost you RM1.00 and RM1.50 respectively. Click to this link to understand more of their menu, Mr&Mrs Dai Waffle Taste.

That sounds kind of great, doesn't it? Now let's discuss on the thing that I like most. That would be the Banana Caramel (RM4.90). Fresh banana served on top of beautifully cooked waffle, and rained down with hot-thick caramel sauce. Simple, sweet and classic. My all time favorite.

Located in front of Courts and next to U-mobile kiosk, you could actually notice from afar. Cool location indeed. Operating from 10 am till 10 pm. And here's the address:

Kipmart Tampoi, Taman Tampoi Indah,

81200 Johor Bahru, Johor.

The Morning After @ Damansara

I believe tons of people out there love cafe hopping. Jumping from a cafe to another, trying all sort of their tasty looking coffee or latte. But you know what I love do during cafe hopping - The Food!

Yeah, you read it right! I love coffee or latte, but not as much as I love eating good food. So what I'm about to show you here is the cafe I went last week. The name was The Morning After, a combination of relaxing cafe and European restaurant. Generous portion of food, great cook, fine taste. I wouldn't stop eating that night if I wasn't full.

Now let us start with the best-seller around here. Keep this in mind guys, the food here aren't that pricey and your looking at the range between RM15 to RM40. Totally how I would budget my meal. On top of our list, we've got this super appealing Soft-Shell Crab Pasta (RM34.00). If you loved the soft-shell crab they sold in Japanese Restaurant, you'd love this dish. Deep fried soft-shell crab served with bolognese pasta. Damn son! These drools are killing me.

Always stucked when choosing the menu. Well, in this cafe, you'll face that even more frequent. I mean, don't even think to come up with best answer without the help of professional. This cafe doesn't just serve main dishes. They also have desserts, breakfasts, cakes, all types of coffee and drinks. Even the main dishes themselves have multiple different choices, such as steak, spaghetti, salmon etc.

Okay, now ask me which dish I truly fell in love with. Ask me! The answer would be, Spaghetti with Basil Sauce and Grilled Chicken (RM25.00). I know that some people would say I'm kind of odd. Well, I am odd. I wouldn't suggest anyone who'd never try any European or Italian food before to order this. The main attraction of this spaghetti comes from the ingredient of the sauce, basil leaf. I love using basil leaves when I cook, so when I saw a new concept of making it into a sauce, I went frantic.

By the way, if any of you happened to meet this yellow-shirt man, say hi to him. He's the guy who invented the food we're all eating. Chef Man is a skilled chef with loads of previous experience in fine dining in Asia and Europe. That actually explains why the Basil Spaghetti tasted so freaking good.

So next time, if there is anyone visiting Sri Damansara, perhaps you could stop by at this cafe. They operating from 8 am daily. The address is at A-G-3, Ativo Plaza, Bandar Sri Damansara, Persiaran Perdana, 52200 KL.