Recently, one of my friend asked me about my experience going to Singapore before. I told her everything that I knew - where to get cheap hotels, food, transportation etc. Then after her long list of Q & A's, she concluded "Aiyah, that one you said cheap? It's so expensive, you know! Imagine the amount of MYR that you have to fork out just to get those amounts to spend in Singapore!"
Well, I tried to persuade her that food can be available at low cost at almost every food court that can be found 24-7 and she wouldn't have to worry about getting hungry at 3am in the morning even though there is no 7-11 around. She replied "What? 2.50SGD for a bowl of 'Mi Sup'? Do you know how much it cost in MYR ka?!?"
Geez, I really tempted to tell her "Bah, if you want cheap you go to East Coast Park there and put up a camp la! You can stay there for veeeery cheap price!" She doesn't have any idea where is East Coast Park anyway, so I just said it in my heart. =.=
Hello....that's what 'travelling' is all about! What do she expect? That everything should be labelled with 'MYR' on every price tag, in every country she steps on? I can't imagine she walks through the streets in Singapore, armed with a mini calculator in her pocket and starts to punch the little numbers on it before she decides to purchase an item , maybe even before paying for a bottle of mineral water!
It's such a killjoy to have this person to tag along. We should have a budget before going anywhere, and some emergency cash in hand for just in case we needed it. We need to eat, drink, not to mention the transportation and accomodation costs (I am lucky cause I got my relatives, friends and my boyfriend is there!).
1. If you going out from Malaysia, get your passport made/renewed. It only takes 3 hours max to get it all done in the Immigration Department at RM300. Make sure you bring all the relevant copies of your IC, Birth Cert and Passport Photos (bring extra copies la...it didn't hurt you. Kedekut juga mo kasi ready 1 jak copy of each).
2. Find out if you have any friends/relatives living in the places that you wanted to go. Perhaps they can offer you to stay at their place (I always got this! =p) or they can offer to pick you up from the airport/bus or taxi terminals (even better!). If not, ask anyone that you knew been to that place before and ask them where's the best (most importantly, safe) place to stay, transportation and meal conviniences. Ask where is the interesting places to visit, distance from the place you will stay and more. The more you know about the place, the more you can plan.
3. Book your ticket. Make sure it's all correct and confirmed. I always make it a point to check again with the airlines a day before my flight to make sure there is no problem. Better be safe than sorry.
4. Travel light, depends on how long the trip will take. Bring suitable clothing and footwear. If you are on International flight, they really being strict on the hand carry bottles that must not exceed than one litre - especially to the ladies who tend to bring toners, facial wash, cream, perfume and many more, just bring the 'travel' kit or simply, pour it into small bottles that is less than 50ml per bottle. I always had my travelling kit ready for grab at any time since there are times I will go outstation few times in a month - it contains hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, facial wash, moisturizer, sanitary pads, liners, shampoo, shower gel..etc. I put inside one small zipped bag and just simply throw it into my luggage bag or bag pack.
5. Clothes - the more space you can create in your bag, the better. As most of my travels is regarding paintball activities, the main problem that I always have is my paintball pants. It takes up quite a lot of space in my luggage bag, that I had problem chucking in my other clothes, and I don't want to carry another extra bag either. The solution? I will roll my shirt, towel, pants, shorts, towel and placed it at any available space around. There.
6. Cash. After you calculating your budget for the whole trip, make sure there is always emergency cash ready on hand. I put at least 25% extra from the actual budget amount just in case I overspend it. Get your currency changed at least a day before you leave.
7. Always inform anyone where you going, where you going to stay and so on to your family. I make it a habit to contact my mom everyday until the day I go home so that she knew where I went, places that I will go and with whom. I keep my personal contacts for emergency in my wallet should there anything happen to me (you never know!). Off course, if you leaving the house, make sure that someone is there to look after it for you, and to feed your pets, if any. You wouldn't want to torture the poor animal without food for days and to find the house ransaked!
8. Last, not the least, enjoy your holiday. Shop if you think its worth it, taste the food, observe their culture and enjoy the good stuff that the place offers.
.png)
4 comments:
".... put up a camp la" he he he...lucu tu ayat untuk orang yang mau pigi melancung tapi terlampau berkira..
Thanks for the holiday tips..
Thanks for the holiday tips too. Yes, I always tend to overpack during my travels and my luggage always weigh like tons...lol'
Alala..then U shd tell ur friend kan not to go travelling outside of MYR territory lor...actually d stuffs in Sgpr r cheap (if u dont convert them to MYR), more variety...I wldnt mind making Sngpr as my annual getaway;)
Sumunie: sa manas ba tu..nasib jak ndak kena tiau depan2 la...hahahaha bagus suru dia tidur sana siring jalan jak ni...
Aunty angie: you're welcome. usually I always ended up packing useless things in my luggage bah...so I guess I learnt my lesson! =)
Miss Mathew: I agree with you. I always eat at the food court and it cost me less than 5SGD per person everytime I had my meal. Some things are cheap too and I was told that during the Singapore Mega Sale its even cheaper...hope I can get enough budget this year to find out! =p
Post a Comment