Frugal

The first time I walked into the Starbucks by my office in Bangkok, I thought it was closed because it was empty. I don't think I have ever been to an empty Starbucks in Malaysia; even in Klang Parade where they never made your cuppa the way it's supposed to be. Look at the picture below, ohh the nice chairs, waiting for people, waiting for me!


Anyways, so you know how I have been raving about how cheap my lunch meal has been? Suddenly it's becoming an obsession! Akephop and I tried again to find some cheap lunch today; I had bamboo shoot curry, egg and rice for 30 baht. Plenty of money left to spend on some corn (10 baht) and of course, another mango for 10 baht. Another lunch for only 5 ringgit, or 1.50 dollars!!!


This is a picture of my favorite fruit seller. I'm so going to miss him! [Jeremy jangan marah!]


From what I have seen and heard, I think Thai people are very frugal. There is this lady who works at the barber shop at the hotel, she told me she'd saved enough money to move to Malaysia to open a restaurant if she could find a business partner. I was shocked! I mean, wow, I make a lot of money, but I really love spending it too! Hah! This is such an eye opener.

So I made a conclusion that the Starbucks cafes here are empty (I saw another empty one inside Italia building) because people here really value their money. They would go to the hawkers on the road who sell food and drinks for really cheap. Ok ok, it's not like I'm going to stop going to Starbucks right away, but I have to really start putting more value on my hard-earned moolah. A whole lonely week in Bangkok is definitely NOT easy.

Do you think I will be able to start being frugal? [Suze Orman will be happy to know!]