Holiday On A Shoestring

Entrance to Ma Dian Mosque, Beijing

How far does RM1,800 take you these days? The answer depends very much on your lifestyle and your spending habits.

To some, that amount is not even enough to cover the cost of a clutch bag. And I know of people who do not bat an eyelid forking out 10 crisp RM100 bills for a simple dress or a pair of heels.

To others, RM1,800 goes a long way indeed - rent and utility, food and grocery, kids and school, baby formula and disposable nappies, expenses for work (transportation, meals, attire). And we have not even factored in medication, let alone leisure.

I also know many regular families that exist on a lot less in a month, where only Dad works while Mom stays home to rule the roost. Money's tight always, but they make do with whatever's at hand and scrape through each time.

Me? I buy my clothes off-the-rack at department stores. Heck, there's nothing wrong with a RM50 blouse and a RM70 pair of kurung . And if the occasion calls for it, there's always dependable Ms Read, for the good cut and the ample sizes it affords. That's the limit of my splurge.

I am quoting RM1,800 because that was the nett cost of my five-day, four-night Beijing getaway (excluding shopping, of course). What I'm really trying to say is, one can still have loads of fun on a shoestring.

I don't plug holiday packages as a matter of course. But I'm doing it this instance because I think it is worth sharing. Also, the travel agency that we used, Rajawali Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd, located a walking distance from our home in TTDI, has lived up to our expectations by doing a good job all around.

We were placed in centrally located, four-star Long Ding Hua Hotel, only 10 minutes from Tiananmen Square and 30 minutes from the Beijing International Airport. The staff was courteous and the frontliners spoke decent English.

Meals were halal and delicious all the way, although one should not expect too much nor compare with home. Malaysians are spoilt by overabundance and choice that the standard spread (I'm speaking non-international chain here) would look somewhat meagre, so any comparison would be highly unfair.

Breakfast in Long Ding Hua, for example, was overtly Oriental - noodles and rices, Chinese buns (pau), omelettes and sunny side-ups (telur mata kerbau), sliced bread and butter & jam, sponge cakes and nut cookies, with a host of sauteed meats and vegetable dishes besides.

Pak Abu lamented the absence of a more Continental spread - cereals, croissants, breads and buns, meats and salads - but the girls and I were happy enough to tuck in fried rice and noodles to meet another freezing day.

Lunches and dinners were in restaurants offering Muslim cuisines. They were chosen not only for the types of dishes they offer but also for the availability of prayer space or vicinity to a mosque.

Our guide Lu Qiang and driver Jiang were gems in their own right. Both were polite, soft-spoken and punctual. Jiang's English extended to only greetings, so there wasn't much communication between us, except nods and smiles.

Lu, on the other hand, was a delight. Helpful and accomodating, we could sense from his careful English how he minded his Ps and Qs. We knew he enjoyed our interaction with him in this alien yet convenient tongue.

This Beijing 5D4N package is only RM498/pax. We were lucky to have purchased it at a time when MAS was having discounted fares; we paid RM1,300 nett/pax return for the flight tickets, so the total cost came to RM1,798 per person. And what did we get for this highly agreeable amount? Snowloads of fun, that's what!

Package of RM498/nett includes:
- Return airport transfer
- Four-night accomodation
- Full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
- Tours, as per itinerary
- English-speaking guide
- Entrance fees (tickets)

Package excludes:
- Air ticket
- Airport tax
- Personal expenses
- Excess baggage
- Tips for guide & driver

As I understand it, this price is valid until February 15, 2010. You may want to contact Rajawali Travel for updates on the Beijing package and whatever other packages that they may have. Their office tel: 03-77292022 /3022 /7022. For the record, some friends of Nawwar have already made bookings. We wish them a hassle-free, fun-filled holiday in Beijing....