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Lifestyle Design SE Asia
#1

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

My life is going to become interesting starting February or March. My company is going to launch a virtual office (Regus) in Singapore but I can basically live anywhere I want and work remotely.

I have been checking out countries/cities with a good bang for the buck and various visa policies. My tentative list of cities to spend my time between include:

-Bangkok (30 day visa upon entry)
-Phuket
-Chiang Mai

-Manila (21 day visa upon entry with option to extend continuously for 1.5 years)
-Palawan
-Cebu

-Saigon (visa required for one month entry)
-Hanoi

-Phnom Penh (20 dollars for tourist visa, 300 dollars to extend to one year visa)

-Jakarta/Bali (???) I hear Jakarta is kind of a shit hole but my job is partially business development so I have to be in the capital.

My main goals are to make sure I have cheap access to housing, transportation, maids, and healthy food.

My monthly budget for spending is 2000 US dollars.

I don't know much about living in Jakarta or Phnom Penh so if anyone can give me an idea of the pros/cons of these cities that would be great.

Alternatively, if you have questions about Seoul/Shanghai/Beijing/Singapore/Hong Kong/Phuket/Manila let me know.

-YMG
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#2

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

u can live in anyone of those places for 2k a month without any problems imo
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#3

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

Damn bro, props to you, that is pretty much living the dream in my opinion. If you can really work from anywhere, why not live in a few of those spots? I'm not sure how long it lasts for, but Cathay Pacific has an all-Asia pass, I would try to spend a couple months in each country between (Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines), maybe jet into Vietnam for a few weeks too. On 2000 USD a month, I'm pretty sure you could live like a king in any of those countries.
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#4

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

Quote: (08-21-2010 01:45 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

Damn bro, props to you, that is pretty much living the dream in my opinion. If you can really work from anywhere, why not live in a few of those spots? I'm not sure how long it lasts for, but Cathay Pacific has an all-Asia pass, I would try to spend a couple months in each country between (Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines), maybe jet into Vietnam for a few weeks too. On 2000 USD a month, I'm pretty sure you could live like a king in any of those countries.


I definitely plan to live in several of these locations.

Don't get me wrong, it is going to be great to be able to travel like this. However, this is definitely going to be a full time job and most of my time will have to be spent in large sprawling dirty cities doing cleantech/mining deals.

Thus, my main destinations will most likely end up being:

-Singapore (business base)
-Bangkok (business base/playground)
-Manila (business base/playground)
-Phnom Penh (business base/playground)
-Jakarta (business base/playground)

Cities that will be entirely playground locations, for when I get some down time, include:

-Any of the islands in Thailand that start with "Koh"
-Chiang Mai
-Phuket
-Bali
-Palawan
-Boracay

Due to the transient nature of my lifestyle, with one month in one city and then the next month in another, my rent prices will go up. One month deals at budget hotels and short term apartments in Bangkok are about 500-600 USD.

I plan to do cheap hostels when I am Singapore. I haven't really checked out other places, such as Manila.
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#5

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

I was raised in Manila but I would not consider it as an ideal place of residence as, admittedly, it is pretty annoying dealing with traffic and the country's backwardness. Having said that, developing countries such as the Philippines does offer attractive opportunities as grounds to build an international lifestyle: beaches and bitches. Here's a mini-guide from how I see things.

Three Legs to rest your Third World lifestyle

1.) US Salary - If you earn a decent dollar denominated salary, you can accumulate capital faster to enter businesses which have higher capital requirements, yielding a barrier to maximise your investments.

2.) Contacts - The second leg, would be your business contacts which is gained from cracking social circles (game should have $ benefit too) giving you at the very least an informational advantage.

3.) Economic Winds - There is always a market lag between the developed world to the developing world. It takes time for the idea to trickle in, and as an international gamer this gives you an advantage. They say, "the one eyed man is king in the land.." so your experience will immediately point you out to opportunities that are not obvious to locals.

An example of this would be a condo in Manila that I am renting out, it used the three legs stated above for me to acquire it. I am sure this is applicable to other developing countries as well. The downside is that US is injecting more money to our money supply and depressing dollar value so the currency split is not as strong as before -- but think of this as shifting economic wind that'll present more opportunities for your investment account.
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#6

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

BTW, I'm 26 yrs. old with an an office job non-technology related.

Not planning to stay states side for long and EMPHATIC heck no to subscribing to the retirement model. I'm already eyeing island properties in the southern region.

I think designing a lifestyle in SE Asia is very doable.
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#7

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

What do you guys consider to be the best business hubs in SE Asia after Singapore and Hong Kong?

I think Bangkok beats the rest, which is why I'm going to be based there in the short term. It's affordable and very close to lots of other major cities like Singapore, KL, Jakarta, Saigon.

When I say business hub I don't necessarily mean a place to start a business. I mean a place where networking is likely to happen, expats can live fairly comfortably, and there is solid infrastructure.
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#8

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

After having been in BKK for over 3 weeks now, I really feel that this is indeed a great place to base yourself for biz for the reasons that you YMG have stated. I was away from BKK for a week and I couldn't wait fast enough to be back in BKK, to be back in civilisation. I had initially planned on hitting 2-3 cities for a month each but right now, I'm strongly considering staying my entire time in BKK to build contacts and make connections and take side trips for a weekend maybe a week to the beaches to unwind from time to time. One piece of advice that shouldn't be taken lightly about BKK, whereever you stay, make sure the place has a swimming pool as it gets very hot during the day and a swimming pool is a god sent. Trust me on that.

Good stuff Manila guy. Generally speaking, how would you compare the business infrastructures/climate in Manila as opposed to BKK?
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#9

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

Quote: (11-26-2010 02:37 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Good stuff Manila guy. Generally speaking, how would you compare the business infrastructures/climate in Manila as opposed to BKK?

Business infrastructure, if I am correctly interpreting the definition i got from here, would be shittier than Bangkok or other more developed Asian cities. However, the business economics, especially for someone with limited capital is more favourable, IMO.

In Manila, lots of BPOs have set-up shop, with the effect of Makati district being replete of white guys Silicon valley types plying their craft. This is a good indicator of business atmosphere for me.
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#10

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

Guys, I'm seriously thinking of just quitting the U.S. and getting out of town. Right now I'm thinking of SA or SEA since it's the most affordable.

I'll have about 3000 usd budget per month without lifting a finger. In your areas of expertise, what kind of lifestyle could I maintain?
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#11

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

With $3k per month, you'll live twice the lifestyle that the average westerner (think ESL teacher) lives in southeast Asia. In a place like BKK, you'll live extremely well. In any place smaller, you'll likely live like a King and still not spend all of your money.

Of course, in a place like BKK, you can spend as much as you want on an apartment. But as long as your smart about that one aspect of your lifestyle, you'll have a stress free existence there. You can still get something nice. If you get an equally flush roommate, you can go large. Expensive hookers every night will also cause you to rip through that budget. But other than those two considerations, your set.

The only place in that region which will bring you back down to mere mortal status is Singapore.

If you don't mind the question, where does your flow come from?
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#12

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

Quote: (12-01-2010 11:08 PM)hydrogonian Wrote:  

With $3k per month, you'll live twice the lifestyle that the average westerner (think ESL teacher) lives in southeast Asia. In a place like BKK, you'll live extremely well. In any place smaller, you'll likely live like a King and still not spend all of your money.

Of course, in a place like BKK, you can spend as much as you want on an apartment. But as long as your smart about that one aspect of your lifestyle, you'll have a stress free existence there. You can still get something nice. If you get an equally flush roommate, you can go large. Expensive hookers every night will also cause you to rip through that budget. But other than those two considerations, your set.

The only place in that region which will bring you back down to mere mortal status is Singapore.

If you don't mind the question, where does your flow come from?

Thanks for input. I started doing the Rich Dad, Poor Dad thing after I got out of the Army and most of my cash flow is coming from rental income. I'm thinking in another year I'll be set up where I can have that much coming in. I'm also working on a couple other things and still hoping I win some big fights to really get the ball moving. I'm tired of the U.S. I love my country but, I'm ready for a change.
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#13

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

You must have an awesome property management company on tap. I don't know many people that can manage rentals remotely with success.
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#14

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

Quote: (12-02-2010 08:29 PM)hydrogonian Wrote:  

You must have an awesome property management company on tap. I don't know many people that can manage rentals remotely with success.

I do, the guy looking after them is one of my high school friends. I've been with him for years and haven't had to worry about a thing.
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#15

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

youngmobile -

"My life is going to become interesting starting February or March."

How is this coming along?

Where did you end up?
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#16

Lifestyle Design SE Asia

I was planning on working for a Berlin-based company, helping them launch business development in SE Asia. The CEO died in a car accident and then I got a hernia weightlifting, so I'm sidelined in NY for a bit.

Needless to say my life/lifestyle has changed a bit, although after recovery I'll be going to either Hong Kong or Shanghai to work for a bit while building my own web based business.

Gotta keep hustling, even when the shit hits the fan....
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