Looking back it's been 7 months. Been quite an experience and some time away from home. Really looking back to be home - family, food and ambience. Not to say that balkan is not good, Serbians are in general very polite, strong, passionate and warm people. Probably the few place in the world where its good enough that there is no real Chinatown if it's to be compared anywhere else which i didn't see until over time staying here.
Now looking at statistics , since sitting here at A08 Belgrade departure gate, waiting for flight to Istanbul let's go a little into the numbers. Arrived at Serbia W3 June and leaving W2 Jan , about 7 months duration here.
By tracking spent about RM4.5k all in all , not inclusive of claimable expenses. Rental is pretty crazy in Novi Beogard , A Blok area is about 45ish Eu per night range , only good thing is i got a good deal on one room apartment with separated bath and kictchen area at Belville which is much better than what most people got i think. 4.5k / 7 months = its about RM660 per month. 660/30 = RM 22 per day which is not too shabby in Europe region, but also considering that im home cooking most days and don't splurge unnecessarily on restauran food which can get pretty outrageous high. Will need to compare if this is viable in Malaysia as well haha.
Bought a second hand bike at 12k rsd, used for about 5 months and sell off again at the same website Kupujemprodajem at lower rate of 8k rsd. Pretty convenient to slash down 15-20min walk to 10 min ish daily so its probably worth it, and in addition makes easy commute on weekends for groceries.
Not too sure what's next, will i be travelling more or have the opportunity to stay on in Malaysia projects as much as possible at least for next few years. This is at least the strategy im opting for years ago - second wind stance.
There are things that worked and don't. Electric pots are genius for traveler's but only useful for light cooking since mostly are non stick glazed surface that can easily get damaged. Going from asia to Euro/non asian region its best to bring some dry condiments, worked really well. My sambal chilli 2 bottles lasted till last day here. Would be good to ready some small tools for cooking such as mini cutter/portable blender etc and possible some dry spices which might be a rarity in overseas market.
Jackets - bringing a spare would be sufficient and for winter season its actually necessary to bring that armor thick jacket i've kept in wardrobe ,hmm i think mum's house wardrobe for 10s of years. Practically impossible to use in Malaysia, but for winter it'll be more comfortable to have it. Else match and pair long sleeves or jackets that can wear together to be comfortable. Over packed jackets for this round, i brought 4x pieces which is comsuming too much baggage space in the bag.
Learnt basic oven baking, roast chicken, how to clean , salt brine for juicy meat and freeze store cooking meat. Prepare one pot meals and batch cooking preps. Learning to use frozen corn, frozen peas as good source of nutrients, balance out food nutrition for the body and make own food as much possible. Tested out how to make chilli oil, how to prep lemon sugar (honey probably better option) for ease of use. So much to learn in this area from IG and chat GPT. Solo baked my very first cookies that turned out great, and all in all practice frugality even in foreign environments.
Weekends noon here (night in Malaysia) spent on video calls, teaching kiddo BM which yield some small results. Hopefully it can help her out and keep on continuing, CEO approved this.
Used up 1x shoe throw there, 2 pairs torn socks and one torn tracksuit. All left behind in Balkan.
Laying foundations for the years to come. I guess thats more or less about it, its more or less boarding time. Let me enjoy my Maxi packed and discounted pita bought the night before that. Signing off.
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