HELLO, DECEMBER!!!! The first day of a month never been this exciting. Not because what are going to happen ahead, but because November was a gruelling month. Sure, I had my birthday in November and it was a blast. but financially? not so much. It was excruciating to squander so much money and had to undergo a tight-budget situation. But, so long November~ I'm excited for you, December!!
Okay, now I'll explain the title of this post. Some of you may know that Starbucks releases City Series tumbler and mug. As someone who is starting to travel around, I want to collect them. It came to my mind few months back when someone posted the picture of his collection on Facebook. So, the goal was set: collect the City Series tumbler as many as possible. My first trip after that was Indochina, which I called it off. The next trip was South Korea and Taiwan, with Kuala Lumpur in between. You can easily spot Starbucks in Seoul. But my fault was, I realized that I had to buy the tumbler on my last day in Seoul –and it was already 5pm!. I frantically browsed whether any Starbucks around my hostel. Luckily, there were 3. I went there but couldn't find the City Series. All they had was the special edition one, like Seoul City Day or Seoul City Night. The hunt didn't end in Seoul. The subsequent day, I went to Busan and prior to my departure from South Korea, I went to Starbucks at Gimhae Airport but also couldn't find it. I went home empty-handed.
Three days later, I was stuck in Taipei due to typhoon. Then I had the idea to pay a visit to Starbucks in Taipei 101. I knew there were at least 2 Starbucks inside. Both in the office-area of the building. One on the ground floor, and the other is on the 35th floor. Of course I opted the latter. But getting there is not as easy as coming to regular Starbucks. You have to go to this kind of touchscreen-computer-box and choose 35th floor then choose Starbucks. The box then will connect you to someone in Starbucks. Then you will be asked how many people that will go there. After they made sure there's an empty place for you, a card will be issued and will popped from the box. Then you need to bring the card to security guard. Tap the card, then the gate will be opened and you can go to the elevator. Pretty nifty, huh? Just follow the sign when you arrived on the 35th floor and then you're already there. I ordered Frappuccino Vanilla – cheaper than in Jakarta! – then I roamed around the room looking for cozy place to sit down. After I sat down, I looked around and found a shelf that contains Starbucks' merchandises. I checked it out, grabbed one, and purchased it. Finally!
Taipei! Have only used it once, though.
When I arrived in KL-LCCT from Taipei, I went straight to Starbucks and searched for the tumbler. At that moment I only had MYR 45 whilst the tumbler is MYR 38. But if I purchased it, I couldn't have any meals until I arrived in Jakarta in... 9 hours. Actually I still had USD, but I felt it's not really worth-it because I already have another plan to visit KL.
Last month I went to Philippines. I was really excited because there are a lot of City Series tumblers in Philippines. Almost every city has their own tumbler, Manila, Kalibo, Cebu, Tagaytay, Davao, etc. But imagine how devastated I was when I found out that there are not a single one Starbucks inside three big airports in Philippines– Manila, Davao, and Cebu–!
During my layover in Changi Airport, I went to Starbucks and found the tumbler. I bought the tumbler in Taipei for TWD 350 (~IDR 122.500). So, I predict the price in Singapore won't exceed SGD 20 (~IDR 180.000). I picked the tumbler, check the bottom of it, then and put it back. SGD 20.99! Though my prediction was just .99 off and my money was enough to purchase it, but no. I won't spend almost IDR 200k for a tumbler.
And yesterday when I was calculating the budget for my January trip, I decided to cut all the budget for tumblers and my balance is no longer minus! So, guess I have to be satisfied with just one tumbler haha. Any suggestions for what I should collect next? I'm already planning on doing one, actually. fridge magnet! I already have three of 'em and now two of them are beautifully attached on my fridge in my house. Guess I'll settle with magnet fridge, then. Easy to acquire, and more importantly –because I'm a cheaparse– it's cheap!
Stick to collecting pics..it will be valuable yet so cheap
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