• Home
  • Eat/Drink
  • Travel
  • Spend-thrift

Yen Kai's Idea Cast

Ideas to enrich your life

Coffee

Bring the cafe home

May 3, 2020 by yenkai Leave a Comment

A cafe is probably the most ubiquitous eatery worldwide. True, it is still more a Western concept, but it seems to gain foothold easily in any part of the world. Somehow, it manages to become the hip place to hangout, host a meeting, work, study, settle your meals or just to be by yourself. Practically … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Spend-thrift Tagged: Coffee, Cook at home!

Taobao product recommendation – automatic coffee machine

May 3, 2019 by yenkai Leave a Comment

This is one of the most expensive items I have purchased on Taobao. As with most things on Taobao, it is cheaper than the equivalent coffee machine sold in the stores. The closest competitor is the De’Longhi Magnifica S which sells for around S$900. At 2980 Yuan (S$605), the Thermos is a no-brainer choice. The … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Spend-thrift Tagged: Coffee, Product Recommendation, Review, Taobao

Qoo10 product recommendation – Imex CR-100 coffee bean roaster

February 2, 2019 by yenkai Leave a Comment

Doing home coffee bean roasting isn’t so popular in Singapore, so it’s not easy to buy a home coffee bean roaster machine. Thanks to Qoo10, we have access to Korean made machines, and Imex is an established brand. Specifically, the CR-100 is a good entry level bean roaster. It is a fluid bed roaster (hot … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Spend-thrift Tagged: Coffee, Product Recommendation, Qoo10

Taobao product recommendation – Coffee filter

February 1, 2019 by yenkai Leave a Comment

My coffee sock became worn out and I looked for a replacement on Taobao. You could say the options are plentiful now because the Chinese are drinking coffee. Not kopi, but filtered coffee, and of course Espresso. Well, a coffee sock isn’t actually cheaper on Taobao than what you can get in Malaysia, where it … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Spend-thrift Tagged: Coffee, Kopi, Product Recommendation, Review, Taobao

Jakarta Trip Report Card

September 13, 2016 by yenkai 4 Comments

“Macet” is the Indonesian word I learned during this trip, and it is an important word which you’ll likely hear much when you are on holiday in Indonesia. It means traffic jam. Yes, expect to be stuck in traffic jams for a significant portion of your travel. A very significant portion. In my case, and … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Travel Tagged: Coffee, Food Review, Indonesia, Travel Tips

Johor Durian trip

July 7, 2016 by yenkai 4 Comments

It is July and it is time for more Durians! This time we ventured further north, all the way to Malacca. Information on the whereabouts of Durians, whether Durian orchards or stalls selling Durian are scarce as ever. My first target location was an organic Durian orchard near Batu Pahat. Believe it or not, I managed … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Travel Tagged: Coffee, Durian, Food Review, Johor, Malaysia

Taobao product recommendation – Coffee plunger sieve

June 27, 2016 by yenkai 1 Comment

You can buy just about anything but love from Taobao. I had no doubt i could find a replacement for the torn and tattered sieve on my Coffee plunger, which i use daily for making Kopi. The keyword to search is “咖啡滤网片”, and i managed to find this seller. I guess the sizes of plungers must be pretty standard, … [Read more…]

Posted in: Spend-thrift Tagged: Coffee, Taobao

Product recommendation – Kuissential Evengrind coffee bean grinder

June 1, 2016 by yenkai Leave a Comment

I’ve finally received the coffee bean grinder i ordered from Kickstarter last year, after a delay for more than half a year, plus another half a year wait for friends from the US to bring it over. Related posts: Amazon product recommendation – barista tools and coffee beans Korea destinations – Seoul How to make … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink Tagged: Coffee, Product Recommendation, Review

Sourcing for coffee beans

March 11, 2016 by yenkai Leave a Comment

Some time back i wrote about buying coffee beans on Amazon. Well, if you did a little more homework, you would have realized that, unless you’re buying coffee beans sold by Amazon themselves, buying on Amazon might mean paying a premium over the seller’s actual pricing to cover the transaction fee Amazon charges the seller. Some of the … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Spend-thrift Tagged: 65daigou, Amazon, Coffee, ezbuy

How to make kopi

August 2, 2015 by yenkai 7 Comments

When i first started drinking kopi at Kopitiams, a cup of kopi costs 60 cents. Some time around 2005 or 2006, if my memory doesn’t fail me, there was a price hike to 80 cents. Well, nowadays, as you know, it typically costs S$1 or S$1.10. Have you ever wondered how much a cup kopi really costs (in … [Read more…]

Posted in: Eat/Drink, Spend-thrift Tagged: Coffee, Kopi
1 2 Next »

About Yen Kai

profile

Yen Kai the spend-thrifter loves to eat, drink, travel and spend save money. He's always pondering on ideas to solve the little problems of everyday living (what to eat, where to go, what to buy, how to save money etc.) and shares them here on this blog.

Popular Posts

  • READ THIS! Important tip on ezbuy (65daigou) sea…
  • Taobao parcel forwarder review – 4PX vs DPEX
  • ezbuy (65daigou) review
  • Making sense of Taobao shipping options
  • Review of 86OF – Ocean freight to Singapore…
  • No more free shipping with iHerb
  • How to make kopi
  • Taobao Global Direct Shipping review
  • How to ship the Anova Precision Cooker to Singapore
  • How to receive SMS overseas without roaming

Daily Popular Posts

Recent Comments

  • Islam Berkemajuan on Where to pump petrol before entering Singapore from North-South Highway
  • yenkai on How to receive SMS overseas without roaming
  • sandra on How to receive SMS overseas without roaming
  • yenkai on Taobao shipping options 2020
  • B on Taobao shipping options 2020

Tags

86OF Amazon Android Backup Beer Breakfast Car Rental Cashback China Coffee Credit Card Europe ezbuy Food Review Groceries Hokkaido Home Brew Honda Jazz 2009 Hotel iHerb Indonesia Itinerary Japan Johor Kitchen Hack Korea Label Printing Malaysia North-South Highway Parcel Forwarding Product Recommendation Qoo10 Rebates Recipe Review Shopback Singapore SOR Sous Vide Taobao Thailand Travel Bucket List Travel Tips True Singapore Food USA

Contact yenkai.net

Please use this contact form to leave a message.

Copyright

© Yen Kai and yenkai.net, 2006-2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Yen Kai and yenkai.net with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Copyright © 2025 Yen Kai's Idea Cast.

Omega WordPress Theme by ThemeHall