Would you live/retire in another country as an ex-pat?
- Thread starter desert monk
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Me too.
Was going to go to Newfoundland, buy an idle fishing boat and sail it to Cuba.
It would be used as a place to live, transportation off, just in case, and a commercial venture.
Australia is nice to visit but not in the summer especially in the big cities like Sydney. Temperature could easily sore to 45C over there!
I just came back from skiing at Jasper ( Marmot Basin). You are right, the ticket seller, the girl at the counter for lessons, rental etc, the girls working in the equipment fitting area, the guys working in the chair lifts are almost all from Australia. It seems they love skiing in Canada's Rockies.
As for retirement, I won't mind Hawaii, but also places like Chiang Mai in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia are very tempting.
One of my friends wanted to buy a place in Hawaii. The salesperson asked where he was from then strongly suggested he pick a more suitable place. Seems that people from the Northern US and Canada grow tired of the unchanging hot temperatures very quickly. Quick resales from northerners are, apparently, the norm.
Still, I'd like to give it a shot.
Still, I'd like to give it a shot.
Just got back from Barbados. Spent two weeks there...30c every day...it was fun bobbing in the water all day, drinking beers and being on thong watch for hours on end, but after two weeks of the heat, (and this is their winter), I was content to wake up and breath the crisp clean -4c air this morning out here on the farm...and rather eager to plan a jasper ski trip
Felt similarly about Costa Rica . Had a blast while there, but not interested in being in a sweat, unless confined to air conditioned environs
It really all boils down to what you want to DO once your retired....your interests, activities, pursuits. I'm good using my current place here in canada as home base from which to explore different parts of the world, as opposed to committing and locking in to one or two locations. I plan 3 trips per year minimum, new destinations each time. Way more interesting than the plunk down
Felt similarly about Costa Rica . Had a blast while there, but not interested in being in a sweat, unless confined to air conditioned environs
It really all boils down to what you want to DO once your retired....your interests, activities, pursuits. I'm good using my current place here in canada as home base from which to explore different parts of the world, as opposed to committing and locking in to one or two locations. I plan 3 trips per year minimum, new destinations each time. Way more interesting than the plunk down
Singapore would be one of my top "go to" places. Summer all year long, no snow, cold, & little rain. Safer than Canada. Legal to pay for sex. For more info here is my review:
"Red light district (RLD) of Geylang in Singapore"
http://perb.cc/vbulletin/showthread...)-of-Geylang-in-Singapore&highlight=singapore
"Red light district (RLD) of Geylang in Singapore"
http://perb.cc/vbulletin/showthread...)-of-Geylang-in-Singapore&highlight=singapore
Leaving aside the fact that they jail gays, will imprison you for taking drugs BEFORE you enter the country and quite possibly kill you for doing them in the country (death penalty for pot, fer chrissakes), have caning as an official punishment, and will fine you for upwards of 1,000 bucks for spitting, chewing gum, eating motherfucking durian, peeing wrong in a public toilet, yeah. Great choice. I mean, who wouldn't want to live in what essentially looks like a few square kilometres of Scarborough high rises teleported into the sweltering tropics where it rains every fucking day, rarely goes under 32 degrees Celsius, and everything costs several times what it costs anywhere else in the world. Sign me up!
I'm not gay, so no problem there. If this deters gay sex in SG, then it probably helps to keep the STI rates there lower, which makes everyone safer, myself included.
I don't do illegal drugs, so no problem there. The strong laws against illicit drug use, especially for trafficking purposes, in SG, make it a safer place for everyone there.
They don't have juducial caning for girls, women or men 50 or over, etc, so i am exempt & wasn't planning on committing any crimes anyway.
"The crime rate in Singapore is one of the lowest in the world"
"Some uncivilized Singaporeans had this habit of spitting in the public and Singapore, a country well-known for its cleanliness, passed down a law that spitting will be considered an chargeable offence. If you want to spit, do it in the toilet....FINE: S$500....or just do it with a piece of tissue and throw it away in the rubbish bin. I think it would be a cheaper way !"
http://www.singapore-the-fine-city.com/2009/04/spits-anywhere-in-public.html
"Living in Beijing a long time, you learn to anticipate a spitter. The crackling crescendo may begin as he nears, leaving you wondering — is it a territorial thing? Then the finale: a terrific “ptchoo!” and an opalescent glob whirling like a tiny Frisbee into the gutter or onto the pavement near your feet. Or your eye, as happened to my companion standing downwind from a spitter at an open train window, in the western region of Xinjiang....
"this personal habit, which was once also common in the West....In North America there are sporadic reports of people fined for it....spitting is a major reason Chinese tourists can feel unwelcome abroad....
"“Even though Chinese people bring tourist business with them they are also castigated by foreigners. Some foreigners don’t feel kindly toward Chinese tourists because they say they are ill-mannered.” He singled out spitting, loudness, line-cutting and littering....
"“Spitting, farting, growing a long fingernail’’ to pick one’s nose, ‘‘not brushing teeth,’’ ....when foreigners see these they think us very barbaric.”
"....In the West, “disgusting” is the word most used to describe spitting...."
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/china-spitting-and-global-tourism/?_r=0
"Chewing gums were constantly left on the top of the seats, hand holders and even automatic door sensors (witch brought great financial problems to the metro maintenance staff"
http://www.chewinggumfacts.com/chewing-gum-facts/chewing-gum-in-singapore/
"While many people are insistent that durian fruit is the most delicious fruit in the world, just the smell is enough to put others off completely. The smell of the durian fruit is commonly described as something between incredibly bad foot odour, a dirty nappy – and vomit. Sounds inviting, right?"
http://www.thetraveltart.com/smelly-durian-fruit-banned-singapore-metro-hotels/
You can eat the fruit in private.
"Not flushing the toilet after you use it is a fineable offense, but since most toilets in Singapore flush themselves after someone uses it (thank you, infrared sensors), this is rarely a problem anymore."
http://www.fongnet.net/stories/singmyths.htm
That's quite an exaggeration, though it's never far to get anywhere you want to go within SG. From Singapore there is also quick access to numerous other Asian destinations via one of the world's best airports. Of course the OP didn't say he necessarily wanted to live in such a place 12 months a year. When i was living in Asia i split my time between Singapore and Bangkok.
I'm from Vancouver & it doesn't even rain there everyday, but only 165 days a year. In SG when it rains it often comes down hard, fast & is over with quickly.
"The temperature hovers around a diurnal range of a minimum of 23 °C (73.4 °F) and a maximum of 32 °C"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Singapore
Actually in Geylang food prices were cheaper than downtown Vancouver. Or if you go to a supermarket in a more upscale area of Singapore the prices are the same as Vancouver. Just one of several examples i could detail to point out how incorrect your comment is.
So, basically, they can come for everyone around me with stupid, egregious laws, but since I'm pretty sure it won't affect me, why the fuck should I care? "Singapore is a fucking awful place, but as long as that awfulness targets only those around me and not myself, I'm good". 'Tis a shitty attitude. Oh, and porn is illegal too, so don't be too sure you're safe.
Whether or not the laws are as you describe is debatable. Feel free to start another thread. IMO my previous response showed how reasonable they are, which makes SG all the more attractive as a place to spend some months each year.
If a country had to be perfect legally, morally & politicly for you to retire there, you'ld better start building a rocket to the moon. I wonder how many Canuck hobbyists have decided to take their business offshore as a result of Canada's medieval bill C36. Or how many foreign pooners thinking of retiring in Canada have decided to look elsewhere due to the new prostitution laws.
"Visiting pornographic websites and viewing their content is not an offence in Singapore...."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_Asia
How cute. And for anyone who can't be arsed to follow your link, here are the very next words after the ellipses:
Dude, every single fucking one of your "points" is as selective as the one about porn. What's that? Nobody123 says it's hot as hell? Naw, sez here that the average temperature is 23. Including night. And winter. (oops. There is no winter. There is only hot and rainy, and hotter and rainier) What's that? Nobody123 says that laws about how you piss and whether you can eat durian in public are absurd? Well hell, you can eat durian in private. What's that? Their legal system includes beating people and imprisoning homosexuals? But... you say that like it's a bad thing.
Fine. It's a motherfucking paradise with rational, and sane rules. I get it. You like oppressive regimes with a barbaric legal system, intense censorship, and hypocrisy that would make the most cavalier observer's gorge rise. As long as the authorities turn a blind eye to your hobbying, s'all good. Good for you.
You said porn is illegal. The point of my reply which was referenced was to show that is false, as were several other comments re SG you made earlier in this thread. As i provided the link to the entire quote & context, anybody interested could take a few seconds to read it, as apparently you did.
Now i have posted in detail about a place i consider suitable to my needs & tastes. Obviously i don't expect it to be everyone's favorite destination - or even in their top 50 - especially yours. Yet you have been motivated to criticize my preference.
Well, guess what, if you don't like it there, then don't go, lol. Simple solution, eh? I'm sure you'ld be much happier elsewhere. Though you might want to get your facts correct before rejecting a place based on erroneous info about it. Have you even ever been there?
I did. But only because, you know.... it is. Looking at titties online may no longer be cause for arrest and charges, but possessing porn still is.
How very James O'Keef of you. You selectively quote and leave out the parts where it explicitly states that possessing (not viewing online) porn is illegal, and then claim fair dinkum because you linked to the entire wiki entry. Lovely.
As a matter of fact, I have. Guess what? I found it hot, muggy, dreary, boring, oppressive, and unpleasant. Granted, there's all sorts of money flowing through the place, so it's easy to be distracted by all the nice shiny of conspicuous consumption. Nevermind the ugly, ugly shit behind the curtain. Dictatorship lite, with a nice golden fringe. Some of us prefer a place that is less likely to imprison or kill you for victimless "crimes". But hey, Singapore is the perfect retirement spot for anyone that figures they can live with that going on all around them. Canings - but not me! Imprisoning gays - but not me! Fines for every nutty thing under the sun - but not for me! Death penalty for pot - but not me! Mmmkay then. Sounds great. Have fun.
To say "porn is illegal" in SG is a half truth. Half true, half false. I pointed out the false half while providing reference to the full truth.
On a more positive, note, though, i did appreciate your comments in post 8 of this thread re Eastern Europe & the topic in general. Some excellent material there.
Jesus Christ. No. What you did was point to a single loophole in the law and claimed that the full truth is that porn is not illegal there. But with the exception of that one loophole it is. What if some poor TERBite went there with a flash drive full of hot midget porn or a copy of Hustler in their carry-on? They'd be right fucked, wouldn't they. You should be ashamed, instead you are doubling down. But hey, at least you referenced a wikipedia entry that directly contradicted your claims. Well done.
At any rate, none of this changes the fact that the place sucks donkey farts.
..now stop trying to soften me up by complimenting my post on Eastern Europe. (which is my rude bastard way of saying "thanks")
Loophole? LOL. It seems we'll have to agree to disagree.
Again, on a more positive, note, though, i did appreciate your comments in post 8 of this thread re Eastern Europe & the topic in general. Some excellent material there.
Goodnight & i hope you enjoy the festive season & New Year's celebrations without too many nightmares & scary fantasies about SEA destinations.
Fucked or not hard to say it is - Yoda
If you arrived in Canada with illegal items subject to serious criminal consequences, might you be "fucked"?
Here's a tip. Before you travel anywhere, (1) spend a few minutes to learn the rules of said destination. (2) Follow them.
I am considering buying a property in Ecuador. I would live there for 5 months yearly. I hear it is cheap, and a good place to live. I travel to South America on business from time to time, so will take a week to investigate, as well as sound out my south American friends. If I do make the decision I will learn Spanish ahead of time.
