Time to Say Goodbye

Cafe Circles, You Win Breakfast

After our day in Macau, we were ready for bed and relaxed a bit before hitting the hay.

For some reason, I woke up earlier the next morning. My friends had some issues with their ApplePay and decided to hit up an ATM. I mentioned regretting not being able to try the pool, but my friends suggested I go swimming anyway. It worked out perfectly. I got to try out both pools while they got ready to begin their day. On my way up from the pool they were going to the ATM, then get breakfast. They suggested I meet them down in Café Circles after I got ready.

One last breakfast. God, those patties were Heaven!

That was great. Everyone could do their own thing and then we could have another great breakfast. If every breakfast every day could be that great, I think I’d actually eat in the mornings. It might actually lure me out of bed without me having to have a job.

We headed back to the hotel room and started packing. I was sad at saying goodbye, but happy that I could spend more time in Hong Kong. My room wasn’t going to be nearly as luxurious that’s for sure. My friend said he would get back with me about reimbursing him. I said I really appreciated him inviting me along on the trip since they couldn’t come to Xiamen. We parted ways in front of the hotel, and I took the subway to my hostel.

I had to be careful to make sure the door shut tight, because the mattress overhung the doorframe.

Ashoka Hostel, in the Heart of Kowloon City

My new digs, Ashoka Hostel, are in the heart of Kowloon City. I love it because it’s close to pretty much everything. I wanted to check out some thrift stores. I was looking for some decent loafers or leather flats. Other than that, I really didn’t have an agenda.

Ashoka Hostel was a far cry from Nina Hotel. However, it’s exactly what I needed. Hong Kong is terribly expensive. It’s a beautiful city, however, and there are ways to get around expensive lodging, but it’s not for everyone. Because it was a holiday, I paid around $120 per night. Normally it goes for $44.

The hostel is staffed by very friendly people. One of them remembered me from last year, which was nice. It’s not glamorous by any means. But if you are looking for a clean private room with a bathroom, this is the place. If you’re anything like me, you just want a relatively clean place to sleep and shower. This time, my room didn’t have a mini fridge, but that was okay. I still had a fan and an air conditioner, and after I figured out how they worked, set my room to arctic. I was really tired when I got to my room even though it was early afternoon. I didn’t want to waste my vacation time with a nap, but I was soooooooo tired.

Michael, setting up his next song. It’s rough not having roadies.

Temple Street and Michael Jackson

The nap helped, so I decided to go to Temple Street. That’s a pedestrian street lined with shops, but the street itself is blocked off with several vendors selling all sorts of stuff. Jewelry, cell phone accessories, souvenirs, handbags, luggage, electric fans, artwork and toys. I stopped in at Temple Street Spicy Crab for dinner. I wandered the street afterward and happened upon a Michael Jackson impersonator.

My sleep shirts are literally falling apart. I went by a store that was selling giant t-shirts (think American size 3, 4, and 5XL for about $114 or $14.59 USD. I thought about it. I could always come back and get a shirt. I was still watching my money. I still hadn’t hit up the thrift shops yet and I was hoping for some bargains.

I walked down to Victoria Harbour and took pictures, but there was a mist in the air, and my photos weren’t as good as they could be. I bought some postcards and then returned to my tiny home.

Read the previous installment here.

Late to the party? Read the first installment here.

High Rolling Macau

I was a bit reluctant to share a hotel room and part of a vacation with a baby, but I got very lucky. She was probably the quietest baby I’d ever met. I actually slept well my first night there. We had plans to go to Macau, but thankfully my friends didn’t insist on taking off at the crack of dawn.

Best Breakfast Buffet EVER!

We checked out the Nina Hotel’s buffet, and that was the best breakfast buffet I’d had in years. It was absolutely phenomenal. Part of me wanted to just sit there the rest of the day, reading stuff online and eating the best sausage I’d ever had. It was scary good. Just like home.

Just a small selection of the many pastries Cafe Circles at Nina Hotel had. I loaded up on the croissants.

Fresh fruits and veggies. The pineapple was divine!

They had a mixture of eastern and western breakfast items.

In one of these glorious containers was the best breakfast sausage I’d ever had. Like, EVER had.

Before you have a heart attack at the prices, please remember these are *Hong Kong* dollars. There’s more than one type of dollar than the American dollar, but the dollar sign is basically the same everywhere. This came out to $21.49 in American dollars, but it was worth every penny. If the breakfast was this good, I wonder what dinner was like?

The buffet also had Asian food as well, a variety of fresh fruits and veggies, cereal, juice, pastries and eggs. They also had a contraption where you fed your rolls or croissants or whatever in, which heated them up, then after they reached the end of the conveyor, slid out. They were the perfect temperature and I’m going to see if I can buy one someday. I don’t care that this was a commercial grade machine. Watching the pastry move seamlessly to the back of the oven, then slide out was fun.

We took a short cab ride to the ferry where we would depart. Not surprisingly, the ferry was at a mall. We had some time to kill, so we walked around for a bit then stopped at a Starbucks before departing.

The ride on the ferry was pleasant enough. It was the fastest ferry I’d been on; I think it was powered by jet engines or something. There was plenty of legroom and wifi, so we chatted and kept an eye on people who got seasick.

We only had a day, and we pretty much knew what we wanted to do. But Macau was astonishing in the fact that even though it’s small, one day really isn’t enough. Not if you go to the mall.

Discount Jeff Bezos in Macau

I just wanted to be able to say I gambled in Macau. I really didn’t care what casino we went to. We got in line for a taxi and saw discount Jeff Bezos. That’s one thing I noticed about Hong Kong and Macau. You line up for taxis; there’s no free for all. Made it a little difficult if you are the impatient type. And while standing in line, one of my friends saw young women elbow an elderly man out of the way to get a taxi. I didn’t see what was going on, but I imagined these young girls as being rich and obnoxious for some reason. There’s no excuse to elbow anyone out of the way for a taxi, especially an older fellow.

We went to The Venetian. However, once we got inside, it seemed that we’d suddenly been transported to Europe. When one of my friends got a map, we realized four hotels were bonded together under one roof, along with some casinos. I never really got to see what I imagined Macau to be like because you could easily spend a week inside the malls. I think we walked around five miles that day, just checking out the shops and looking for a place to eat.

Even Dollar Store Bezos has to wait in line for a taxi, just like the peasants do.

Nobody wanted Asian food. My friend went to check out the prices at a restaurant while we waited. He returned and said we had two choices: Gordon Ramsey’s, which was expensive, and The Cheesecake Factory. So we picked Cheesecake Factory (so sue us; we’re American) and settled in with some drinks. The food was fine and we set off for a casino.

I See London, or France…

The facilities were huge. The architecture matched. You could look out an observation deck and swear you were in London or France. Inside the mall, people in British period costumes and uniforms strolled around. Appropriate, since we were at The Londoner. We looked around some more and finally settled on a casino. The mall may be dead in America, but in China, Hong Kong and Macau, they are beyond anything that any U.S. mall was in the 1980s. It was mind-blowing.

I think this was in Hong Kong. It’s one booth in a salon, that was actually next to another salon.

Since when do malls have ceilings like this? This one in Macau did.

The fountain in front of the “more affordable” casino.

Since only two of us wanted to gamble, mom and the baby agreed to wait for us and walked around near the casino entrance. My friend just wanted to put $20 or so on a roulette table. I wanted to play video poker. Alas, the odds were not in our favor. The minimums were way too high, and the first casino didn’t have a roulette table staffed by a human. They were all automated.

“Slightly” More Affordable Minimums

We found another casino with slightly more affordable minimums, but the lone roulette table with a human had a minimum of $100. They didn’t have video poker but they did have 20 cent slots. Still, I was confused. I hated slots anyway, but I couldn’t figure this machine out. Rather than burn through the $20 HKD, I took my $12 and change and cashed out. My friend was pissed not just because of the roulette table thing, but while I was in the bathroom, he decided to get some video footage of the gaming floor. He was promptly asked to delete it by a security guard. This really set my friend off. I teased him about it the rest of the day. But it really was ridiculous. Did he really think my friend was a spy?

By this time, it was getting later and so we headed back to the ferry to get back to Hong Kong. I hoped it wouldn’t be my last trip to Macau. It’s definitely a high roller’s paradise. Should you be so lucky to win in the casinos, there were plenty of expensive stores to take your winnings. I want to come back someday and wander around the streets and see the mixture of Portuguese and Chinese that makes up Macau.

Late to the party? Read the previous installment here.

I also want to thank my followers! It means a lot that you take time out to give my ramblings a look see!

Heading to Hong Kong!

Next Time, I Won’t Ask

I’ll be honest—I tried to finagle a couple extra days on my vacation. I don’t work Mondays. With that in mind, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem to ask for Tuesday off, and reschedule my classes. That way, I could leave late Sunday or maybe early Monday and have some extra time to spend with my friends.

Work said no.

A Case of Vacationitis

I was PISSED. A couple friends told me to fake sick, and I wrote about this for LinkedIn, but I was a good girl and went to work. I figured since I had afternoon and evening classes, there would be at least 10 students calling off. I was wrong. Fourteen students said they had “vacationitis.” I feel it’s ill-advised to not cancel afternoon/evening classes the night before a five day weekend, but what I do know, right? So I taught class.

The next morning, I had plenty of time to have a leisurely lunch and get to the train station. Despite the weather, I was happy. This was literally the first vacation in China I’d had that I was traveling. Going by train in China is very relaxing. I had plenty to read, I napped a little, and watched the countryside speed by at nearly 200 kilometers per hour.

I even got my swim on! But I didn’t go over the edge, this is just an optical illusion.

Cash Only, Please

Not getting a day off meant I wouldn’t have much time to spend with my friends. This was a tragedy, because they were some of the nicest people I’d ever met, and their little girl was perfectly behaved.

I knew where they were staying, but my phone was acting up. Depending on where I am and time of day, I can’t pick up a signal. The subway line serving the West Kowloon train station had a stop a few steps away from my friend’s hotel. Score! I could avoid having a steep taxi fee. Because I’m not a citizen, my WeChat pay doesn’t work in China. It’s cash or credit card only. Several kind subway employees guided me toward a ticket machine that took cash.

I got on a car and took a short ride to the stop near the Nina Hotel. Thankfully, my phone was working so I was able to tell my friend I’d arrived. He agreed to come and meet me, which was helpful. For some reason, I always get lost in Hong Kong. I have a navigation app, but I still get messed up.

Outback Steakhouse, We Meet Again!

We eventually found each other and went to the hotel room where I met his wife and little girl. They had upgraded earlier that morning so that I had my own bed, and I was humbled they were willing to do that. It was also nice to spend a couple nights in a really nice hotel room. The bathroom had an unusual design that I was familiar with. The shower stall was clear glass looking out into the room, necessitating a second shower curtain.

Hong Kong is a bit more western than the mainland, so we descended on Outback Steakhouse, a restaurant I hadn’t eaten at in nearly a year.

How Now, Brown Macau?

The conversation flowed (and the drinks helped too) and we ended up closing the place. We walked back to the hotel, with casual plans for visiting Macau to get our gamble on the next day. My friends were disappointed I couldn’t do Disney Hong Kong with them, but maybe someday.

So what happened in Macau? Well, I thought I saw a very famous person. Who was it?

Well, you’ll just have to tune in next week!

P.S. Late to the party? Read part one here.

Three Adults and a Baby

Who would willingly share a hotel room with two strangers and their baby?

Me.

Make Friends with WeChat!

To be honest, one of the strangers wasn’t all that strange. I met him in a WeChat group five years ago. He really wanted to come and teach in China, and I was already here, so we would chat every so often. I’d tell him stories about my job and what it was like to live here.

Then, the pandemic hit.

We kept talking. I encouraged him to try and come when the all-clear went out. I love living in China. Not all of it is perfect, but I enjoy a LOT of things about being here.

Finally, last summer, he was able to come over with his wife and baby daughter.

After a few weeks of filling in at his school, he got a class of his own.

And within the week, he lost his job. He never saw it coming.

I’d told him a lot of stuff that had been happening with me. He wasn’t sure any of that would happen to him, but that sounded familiar too. I never ever DREAMED that the nonsense I’ve been through would happen, yet here I am.

But I offered my sympathy. The experience hasn’t deterred him, but it’s something he never thought would happen.

Come to Xiamen and Teach!

Anyway, his original goal was to come to Xiamen and teach. The school closed, so he had to go somewhere else. This May holiday, also known as International Labor Day, he was going to come to Xiamen and check it out. But financial worries made a trip to Xiamen a budget buster.

So he invited me to join him and his family in Hong Kong.

That floored me. We’d never met in person, just chatting via WeChat, and he invited me to come along. I was honored and thrilled.

A Couple Nights in Hong Kong

I’ve got financial worries too. But splitting the cost for a couple nights in Hong Kong made the prospect irresistible. And this was literally the first time I took a trip during a holiday in China. Every other vacation I’ve spent at home because I was broke. The bus trip to Foshan I took a few years ago was sponsored by the school I worked for. And grades were due that same weekend (WTF?) so I didn’t really consider it a mini-vacation. Not when we had to work. I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to work. My grades were turned in late, but they got in. I absolutely REFUSED to work on a school-sponsored trip. And before you grill me about my work “ethic” I’ve come in to work plenty of times when I was sick—viruses, colds, and infections with pains so bad I thought I would faint. (When your body is trying to get rid of a fibroid tumor that is breaking up, and you’re not dialated, it fucking HURTS.) But I came into work anyway, so shut up.

And I’d been saving for Hong Kong ever since I got back from my first trip to Hong Kong. So maybe it wouldn’t be luxurious, but even budget Hong Kong, staying in a tiny room for a couple days, walking around taking pictures, is enough for me. So I said I’d love to come.

I wasn’t worried about the adults, but a baby? I’ve got troubles sleeping at the best of times. I didn’t know how it would be with a baby.

But it turns out this is the best baby in the world. My friends are truly blessed.

So what all did we do? You’re going to have to tune in next week!

Lots to Write About!

So I had a great trip to Hong Kong. There’s different aspects of the trip I want to write about.

There’s also a business I would like to highlight here in Xiamen.

Because I went away on a trip for the first time in a long time, I couldn’t use my vacation time to stay ahead on my job, so I’m trying to get caught up. But I will have lots of words and pictures about the Hong Kong and Macau trip.

I also want to talk about one of the most unusual and cozy hotels I’ve ever visited.

I’ve also got other stuff going on that I don’t want to discuss right now. I could be headed for another huge change in my life, or more of the same.

Stay tuned.

Another Trip to Hong Kong

Details soon!

A Short One Today…

Things are in flux again. Hoping an upcoming trip will take my mind off things. And I’m tired as hell. I honestly think I’m burned out.

Sorry there isn’t more. Maybe next week.

Sam’s Club on a Saturday Afternoon… in China

I hate Sam’s Club. But I needed some help. I’ve got mold growing in my living room. These weird little spots on the wall. It’s an outside wall sort of; the other side is a stairwell. And it’s humid here. But this is the first time the mold has looked so bad. The “outside” walls of my bedroom are crumbling in the lower corners. It’s sort of gross.

Anyway, I reached out on one of my WeChat groups for help. I had a product recommended to me, and was told it was at Sam’s Club.

So I went.

Sam’s Club on a Saturday afternoon in China is panic-inducing. There’s so many people. I hadn’t been there in years, and the first time I’d went, it wasn’t a madhouse. But I won’t ever go to Sam’s Club on a Saturday afternoon again.

I don’t like Sam’s Club in the first place. There’s one back in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I visited it with my boss several times. He ran a vending machine concession at various federal buildings throughout the city. He couldn’t drive, so one of my duties was to drive him to SC in order to get what he needed.

I also despise Walmart and it has gotten way too much of my money while I’ve been here in China.

Anyway…

I had to buy a membership, and after a few minutes, was a newly minted member. The lady asked me if I needed a cart, but I said no. I just wanted one thing. I went upstairs and started looking around, then I showed the photo of the mold killer to an employee. I was led to the “household essentials” aisle.

It wasn’t there.

But I saw something that might work. After using the translation function on WeChat, I found out it was air conditioning cleaner that got rid of mold. Bingo! I took a pack of three and decided to check out the rest of the store.

Instead, I felt like this: big-eyed, and scared.

Twenty-eight of these to a pack. Sadly, with my appetite for cereal, I might get two weeks out of this package, if I’m lucky.

I’ve never seen so many people shopping before. I made mental notes of things Sam’s Club had that I hadn’t really seen anywhere else. They seemed to have a good stock of sour cream, something that is elusive elsewhere. I use it to make chip dip.

They had a decent selection of shrimp as well, but there wasn’t much else that was impressive to me. I never saw if they had cocktail sauce for shrimp, but they probably didn’t. Their snack section had huge bags of Lay’s Classic, which definitely got my attention. Lay’s Classic, the imported kind, are much better than the Chinese-made “American Classic Flavor.” But those were the only chips I was interested in. I usually eat Ruffles with my chip dip, but no Ruffles here.

No taco shells either. But I picked some up the last time I was in Hong Kong.

I did see they had Ragu Double Cheddar Cheese sauce in boxes; think juice boxes but bigger.

This HAS to take the cake for the strangest combination of things I’ve ever purchased at a store.

I wonder what the cashier thought when I brought my mold killer and liquid cheese to the counter. It’s an odd combo, for sure. She was concerned that the plastic wrap on the cheese boxes was torn, but I insisted I wanted them. Five minutes were taken up trying to ring the cheese. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but finally I bought and booked. I was desperate to get home quickly, but took the bus.

I’m sure I looked like this at the checkout, only without the smile.

I came home and did some work for school. I broke up my work with tasks; I thought I’d try the mold spray after grading some papers.

I sprayed a little bit on and wiped a spot on the wall.

It was gone, just like that! It wasn’t what was recommended to me, but this stuff worked like a dream!

I wish I’d taken before and after photos, the difference was absolutely amazing.

It might have taken a couple of hours, but slogging through SC on a Saturday afternoon turned out to be worth it to get this miracle spray.

Maybe when I have some extra money to blow on food, I can get the giant-economy size editions of cheesecake, Lay’s Classic, shrimp, and a pack of 28 mini boxes of cereal. Until then, I’ll have to be contented/frustrated with buying several packages of stuff, because that’s all I can afford or find room for. If only I had an American-size refrigerator.

Sam’s Club had those too.

If you say so. However, it sure as hell won’t be on the weekend.

Western Food Paradise

I haven’t really been homesick, but I have gotten homesick for certain foods. It would cost a fortune to have a Monte Cristo sandwich from Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen delivered here, so I learned to make my own. Unfortunately, turkey is difficult to buy here in China. That’s where Western Food Paradise comes to the rescue. Expats craving food from home need to check this place out. I decided to do an interview finding out more about the business, so read on!

Who started the company?

Western Food Paradise was created by two foodies; Matt and Bonnie. We’re husband and wife and we share the passion for good food. I, Matt, am Italian and am in China since 2016, while Bonnie is from Handan in Hebei province.

When did it start?

It was May 2020 when we officially started to deliver imported food all around China. Yet, the idea was a couple of years older and related to my trips from Italy to China. I used to bring some of my home food with me on the trips to China, shared it with my friends and saw the great need for these products. I quickly noticed the incredible longing for home-food in so many expats.

Why start it?

I experienced the painful lack of good cheese and meat in China. And those that were available, were sold at shockingly high prices in just a handful locations. Sure, Taobao was available, but the quality of the food was usually terrible. The decision to make a hobby become a service available to everyone in need came when we ordered a can of anchovies from Taobao. The moment we opened the can, a smell of rotten fish invaded the whole house. Even the cat was alarmed by it. Bonnie called the shop, where they affirmed that expiration date was ok, and therefore the fish eatable. We threw it away, and decided that it was about time to open a shop where prices were fair and quality undoubted.

What did you hope to accomplish?

The goal was always clear because born out of necessity. We wanted to be a reliable source of imported food at fair prices. There just wasn’t anything like it. You either headed to luxury supermarkets and overpaid, or hoped that what you bought online was decent enough to eat. It didn’t have to be that way, and we set out to offer better prices and guaranteed quality of food. What we didn’t think of but became one more reason customers trust us, is that we bridge the language gap for expats in China. We do anything we can for our customers. We schedule delivery times, make sure packages are delivered exactly where requested (to the door, or to the lobby, or to a specific gate) and in case of problems we’re 100% here for them. Our customer service is active from 8am until 11pm. If someone has a special request, we do our best to fulfill it. At the end of the day we’re here to help and we want customers to enjoy the whole process. It’s all about food, one of the most exciting things of all.

Where are you located?

We’re in Shenzhen, Guangdong.

How has business been?

When we started, we had no plan, no forecast, no business plan. We had a goal, shared it, and it picked up like wildfire. It resonated with so many people all around China, that we soon left our jobs to concentrate on making this service the best we could. It is a fun ride. We work with extraordinary people, have an amazing team, and fantastic customers.

It’s said necessity is the mother of invention. At what point did you say, “I gotta get some western food here or I’ll die?”

We never felt like dying, since Chinese food is amazing. But the longing for a real pizza (who said Durian pizza?) is always strong for an Italian. After 4 months in China I can’t resist it anymore. So we went to Naples in 2023, had about 15 pizza in 7 days, attended the “Associazione Pizza Verace Napoletana” – the official Neapolitan pizza school – and learned how to make the real UNESCO pizza. Now we can have it anytime we feel like, and even offer it frozen among our products.

I’ve used your services to get turkey. It’s not a very common meat here, like it is in the United States. Can you tell me why turkey isn’t common and duck is available everywhere?

Turkey is a native American bird that didn’t exist elsewhere before the discovery of the continent. It isn’t even common in Europe today, just as in China. On the other hand, duck is a native species and deeply rooted in Chinese culture and cuisine.

What is the most requested food item?

It’s hard to say. Expats in China come from all corners of the world and we receive many requests. Overall, it seems like some expats can’t find their hometown cheese and spirits.

What’s the most unusual food request you’ve had?

I’d have to say the request for dolphin meat.

Has there been anything you couldn’t get?

Like the above mentioned. There is plenty that also makes no sense to import. While we try to accommodate every request, for some products there isn’t the demand.

I can’t ever seem to find grape jelly. There’s all sorts of other flavors, but what is it about grape jelly that makes it impossible to find?

Usually the lack of a product is directly related with little demand for it.

The quality of your food is excellent. I got my hot dogs the other day, and I covered them with the chili con carne I got from you and had decent chili dogs for the first time in China. Do you have a quality guideline, like the food providers for the Royal Family and do you boast about it?

Thank you Gloria! Of course we use guidelines when it comes to our products:

We test every product before we sell it.
Quality is more important than price.
Since most labels are in Chinese, we make sure that the products follow EU and US guidelines, so our customers don’t need to worry about it.
We thoroughly screen everything that comes into our warehouse to ensure quality of packaging and storage. Anything that’s off, is sent back to the supplier.
Storing food at the right temperature, correct sun exposure and humidity is key to maintain quality. We have machines and systems in place to make sure everything is stored properly.
The most difficult part remains sending the food around China. We use SF food service which is the best, fastest but also most expensive in China. We use all tools available to deliver products frozen and chilled, which ultimately is important to taste good.

What is your contact information? Do you have a website?

We’re purely based on Wechat. By scanning this, you can visit our wechat store:

We’re always happy to answer questions through our Wechat customer service. You can add us by scanning the QR code above.

Radical Ways to Save Money, Part 3 of Several

Don’t buy a brand-new car—I get, it, it’s exciting, but as someone who bought her first (and so far only) brand-new car in late 1994, I can tell you to avoid it if at all necessary. Don’t go buying a new car every three to five years either. I bought my 1994 Geo Metro, and as cheap as it was, it lasted a very long time. Well over two decades. My next car I bought for $800 cash. And I made payments, because I was that broke.

Don’t buy trendy clothes—Fast fashion puts out some pretty awful stuff. And not everyone looks good in it either. I’m adopting a more French attitude, and if you think that’s anti-American, well, va te faire foutre. Buy what looks good on YOU, not necessarily what’s in style today. Go thrifting, or check out some resale/consignment shops and buy better-quality stuff. Thrift stores are NOT a thing in China, so I’m really looking forward to thrifting when I go back to the states. Develop a capsule wardrobe, and avoid amassing 200 pieces of clothes. Think quality, not quantity.

Take water with you—In China, they don’t have drinking fountains in public buildings. If they do, they are basically hot water dispensers, so if you don’t carry a cup with you, tough luck. Tap water is not drinkable in China. I used to buy my own, but after seeing the amount of plastic I was going through, started boiling my water again. I also save water bottles and fill them a third of the way with water and freeze them. Then, before I go out, I fill them the rest of the way with water. That way, I have delightfully cold water even on the hottest day. Doesn’t matter that even a one and a half liter bottle of water is maybe 3.50 yuan, or 49 cents. It won’t be as cold as what I can bring (Ice is an American thing) and 49 cents saved is 49 cents earned.

Pack a lunch and/or snacks—McDonald’s and KFC and Starbucks are all over the place here. But I can’t tell you the last time I went to McD’s or KFC. Starbucks? More like StarSUCKS. If you’re heading out for errands, or going on some sort of outing, take snacks with you. I’d KILL for those little cheese crackers with the peanut butter in between, because I can’t find them in China. You know, Austin’s or Frito-Lay brand? I think Austin’s is the best but I may have to see if they are available online at Baopals (which incidentally delivers to the U.S.)

Read part 1 here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2024/03/17/radical-ways-to-save-money-part-1-of-several/

Read part 2 here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2024/03/31/radical-ways-to-save-money-part-2-of-several/