#expat life #Bangkok travel #Southeast Asia living #financial independence #digital nomad lifestyle

Saturday Night in Bangkok

Key Insight AI-Generated

The host provides a candid, live look at his life in Bangkok, Thailand. He balances the practical realities of long-term travel—such as job hunting, visa extensions, and budgeting—with the exploratory joy of discovering new malls, temples, and neighborhoods. The stream serves as a guide for those considering an move to Southeast Asia, emphasizing financial preparation before relocating.

Key Takeaways AI-Generated

Build your financial foundation and income in the West before fully transitioning to a long-term life in Southeast Asia.
Use initial trips as a research phase to determine if you prefer big-city living like Bangkok or a more provincial, family-centric lifestyle.
Maintain a sense of curiosity and flexibility, as the urban landscape in cities like Bangkok is constantly evolving with new developments.
Prioritize your health and self-care, as the combination of heat, humidity, and constant movement can be physically taxing.

AI-Generated Summary AI-Generated

This stream offers an authentic, ground-level perspective on life in Bangkok, balancing the practicalities of expat living with the genuine excitement of discovering a vibrant metropolis.

As the host navigates errands and explores local malls, the conversation shifts fluidly from personal career updates to the sensory richness of city life, creating a welcoming and intimate space for viewers to participate in the journey.

The dialogue captures the unique duality of the expat experience: the quiet moments of recharge and self-reflection contrasted with the high-energy, unpredictable nature of Southeast Asian urban culture.

Through interactive chat discussions, the stream evolves into a collaborative exchange about financial planning, the nuances of choosing between Thailand and the Philippines, and the deeply personal motivation behind living abroad.

The host’s adventurous spirit shines through his willingness to explore new districts and his commitment to finding a sustainable path that balances long-term financial security with the immediate, enriching joy of cultural immersion.

It is a candid look at the process of building a life far from home while remaining deeply connected to a growing, supportive global community.

YouTube Video Questions Derived by AI AI-Generated

How do I prepare financially for a long-term move to Thailand?

What are the best alternative shopping malls in Bangkok besides Chatuchak?

Is it better to live in Thailand or the Philippines as an expat?

Key Moments AI-Generated

Mentioned in this video

Bangkok Platinum Fashion Mall Samyan Mitrtown Chao Phraya River Terminal 21 Rama 3

Frequently Asked Questions

AI-Generated Is Bangkok a good place for expats to live?

AI-Generated Yes, it offers great convenience, modern infrastructure, and a vibrant community, though it is recommended to visit on a trial basis first to see if the city pace suits you.

AI-Generated How should I handle my finances before moving to Thailand?

AI-Generated The host suggests working and aggressively investing in the West to build a reliable income stream, such as dividends or crypto, to support your lifestyle abroad.

AI-Generated What is the best way to travel around Bangkok as an expat?

AI-Generated Walking is common for neighborhood exploration, but for larger areas like the Green Lung or riverside districts, renting a bicycle or using the local ferry system is highly recommended.

hey everybody I coming to you from Bangkok Thailand and I'm just waiting for sometimes the timer resets and the stream starts it like I don't know 10 20 seconds later than I thought wood but uh yeah open forum tonight just enjoying my week there we go enjoying my weekend here in Bangkok and um it's been kind of a slow weekend I've been pretty tired um been doing a lot of just running around the city this week trying to get some different errands done trying to make some videos different parts of the cities to get some background footage in case I want to do a voiceover Style video where I show you some of the areas that I'm seeing um but then discussing a topic because I think the topics are helpful to illustrate a point or make some points we already got one person on the stream this must be a good time for oh a couple of people on the stream this must be a good time for all of you guys feel free to throw anything in the chat I'm happy to discuss whatever you'd like to discuss not a whole lot going on I had an interview last night for hot went was for a job back in San Francisco um if I passed it I'll move on to the third round if I didn't pass then that's the end of the road for that opportunity and I'll have yet some more time here in Thailand which I can't complain about I yeah love it hearing land so much that it's a win-win scenario um you know if I got it well that's going to allow me to invest aggressively and pour most of that salary most of those paychecks into Investments which will help set me up to come back to Thailand later on if I didn't get it then ideally I've got some I can finish out my my time in Thailand and move on to the next next opportunity out there for me I have the option to extend my Visa and it's really tempting but at the same time there's some places that I want to see that I've never seen before and yeah there there's just so much to see in Asia like I could live my lifetime in this part of the world and not run out of things to see and do guess we could pull up a mall that I checked out recently this was my first time in this mall I think it's a new mall here in Bangkok let's uh let's pull up a tab and we'll just pull it up probably many of you are familiar with it hey hey we got three viewers feel free to to jump in with any thoughts or questions that you guys have let's share and oh that's what I wanted to do tonight Astic at the riverfront well that's okay may may get into that sometime this week what oh Sam so I check outon uh I don't know how you pronounce it let me know throw it in the chat if you know how to pronounce this but miter town I I just got off the phone with one of my Tha friends we talked for a couple hours I should have asked her how you pronounced this um in fact I'm gonna go ahead and message her that I want to know how a tye person would pronounce this just I know the San part but the second part little bit tricky there so yeah really cool Mall super modern like most of the walls in Bangkok very cool artistic displays you know I don't think I went to the upper floors so I need to go back to this mall sometime this week I was down there to look at some shoes um I saw some of what I wanted I also checked out this Outlet in MBK um they didn't have my size at the outlet so I may loop back here and grab a pair of Adidas just because I find them to be really comfortable and I put a lot of miles on them um I will say this latest style that I purchased in Patia last fall has lasted me a long time it's a little bit sturdier model I think maybe the the so is just made of a different material as opposed to having that kind of Rubber Sole that seems to wear out a bit more quickly and I walk so much in Bangkok so I really go through shoes very quickly and wear them out very quickly and you may feel the same way that when you come over here there's just so much to see so much in the way of eye candy that it's just a visually stand place like I don't know what this design is or this uh this piece is but it's very beautiful and they got the Tim hins for those who are Canadian perhaps watching the replay of this stream then um yeah Tim is popular Canadian chain and I think this is the first Bangkok location um I don't know if I've had import before you know I have I have they're they're in America as well uh but certainly interesting to see them Halfway Around the World this MO is really nice they've got like um got a lot of fion stores and then a lot of restaurants and it's conveniently located here not too far from lumini Park um I'm kind of wondering if this was under construction let me look this up when was samon built I'm getting in conclus okay so H so it was open um maybe I had seen it before when I came here on my last trip I was like this doesn't seem super super familiar on that trip I was staying here near lini Park and I would just come down R for just like walking like what where am I I mean Bangkok back then feeling so alien to me and even now at times it feels alien in a good way it's like it's just a sensory overload of the city so I actually walked there from where I'm staying in saon sat saton saton and then came up past Trula um and where is it nbk yeah I think it was so this is nbk it's a great place by the if you need to replace your phone battery MDK is a great spot they have like dozens of shops specific one that I like I can't remember the name on it off the top of my head but uh we also got some language schools in here and after that I came to see I don't know if it's gonna pop up it's right around here Platinum Fashion Mall and this is an alternative to chachu in my opinion if you're somebody who needs to get clothes and I needed to get a dress STP for my interview and you don't want to make it up to chatu chck which can be a bit far if you're staying on sukumvit that I think this is a great alternative the selection's great they have five or six floors it is packed so I would say be prepared it's one of the busiest malls I've been to in Thailand and that's saying a lot um but if you're looking for close I think it's a great place to even maybe even stock up um they had a deal this shirt I got for this is 300 and I'm not going to put it on but this uh red button-up shirt was 350 bot and then she said if I get I think she said four for a th maybe four for 1100 bot something like that and so if I get a job back in the States I'm probably going to go stock up on a work wardrobe now the sizes are tie sizes so be prepared to try things on they don't have a dressing room so you just have to kind of put it on over your clothes felt a a little bit vulnerable in that position I saw a tight gentleman purchasing a pair of pants and he was putting it over his pants and his family started laughing and then I started laugh and we were all just laughing uh because there's not a dressing room um so that was just so funny that I have so many moments like that in Thailand of of innocent laughter and having fun and they have you know if you're hungry at Platinum Fashion Mall they have some some of the same chains you're familiar with throughout the city like I like a lot it's like Japanese rice bowls and um they of course they got a KFC and they got a food court with like your standard tie options and a smoothie spot which I needed because I was cooking that day I this was the heat of the day in Bangkok and was such a relief to be able to grab a smoothie in here and I think this the designer of this building with the golden dome here is the same designer of the Lea State Tower and the sathon unique Tower and what else do I want take a look at doing next week because even if I get this opportunity which is not guaranteed I've got to pass the third round I'll still want to make the most of the time um so I want to come down here to see I want to come see this it is I would say it's fairly tsty but if you've ever seen a view of Bangkok especially the out PR River and you see this feris wheel this speris wheel is part of this this spot they've got I guess mostly it's food I meant to go there tonight but I just felt so tired for some reason and kind of wondering if I have the covid-19 it's going around Bangkok right now one of my friends actually just tested positive yesterday and I think her mother is sick as well so that's definitely going around right now I recommend if you're coming here uh just kind of keep that in the back of your mind it's not too far either from I think you can get uh you can get a free fairy from not too far from icon CM so I think you just uh it's like up here you you hop on right here uh the S the saton very port and you can hop on it and come down here I guess you get off of it here and then maybe walk walk down T Chiron CR I love Thailand just such a wonderful country I I can't say enough positive things about my time here I do apologize for not announcing this one advance I know it's um it's not exactly the the ideal when when you all don't get advanced notice of these it's a few things one it's it's scheduling can be a little bit tricky to sometimes um just not not feeling it but uh yeah it's also great I think to do this on the weekends where we have better odds of folks having time to join in and chat else what else I did mention this this temple on a stream a few streams ago I do want to go back there so that's something that need to add to my notes for this week is to get over to the Ptown FY shaon Temple spend time in the Brooklyn of Bangkok age with that sentiment the more time I spend in tomur the more I can see that it's like got the Brooklyn Vibe I do want to come out here to Tom Tong I don't know what's going on over here but getting a bit further west of might open up some interesting activities none of my Tha friends have been over here so I don't mean that okay that's enough of enough of this um but you know they've just never had any reason to go this far west of the river and it's just so interesting to me people that have lived in the city their whole life but you know it's probably similar in La I mean there's there's certainly people in La that haven't been to to some parts of the city because there's nothing wrong with those parts of the city they just haven't had much reason to go that far away from home I find that a lot of Tai people their life is their lives are much more family Centric which inherently means that connection to home more so than in the the West yeah these are this is a beautiful Temple I'm kind of wondering if if I could grab a river I don't know if they have them on the west side of the city I've seen them a little bit around the temple but I don't know if it's just to view the temple or if you can do a full-on trip if so I would take one all the way out to like or bang B okay also feel free to chime in with any questions or thoughts um anything that's on your mind tonight I'm happy to chat about anything so this is actually like the general area and I I think it's fine for me to talk about this I I dated a woman that lived down here in PR prang um a couple years ago and and recently I reached out to her just to see how she's doing and check in with and um things didn't end on the best terms and I like to take an opportunity to apologize to her you know kind of let her know I could have handled that a little bit better um but yeah she's she's down here in the south of the city I haven't actually been over here but I want to check that out but I also want to check this out like I don't know what all this is um okay Park in Botanical Garden okay so there's wow that is gorgeous never been here before this looks beautiful I've got to make it a point to see this this week so gorgeous wow yeah this I may even need to R to bike for this one just it seems like a lot of these folks are riding bikes and to really see this big part you could benefit a lot from having a bicycle oh and it's near this bridge this is this bridge I want to see up front or see up close and they have a floating Market yeah so this is wild this will be I didn't realize this is part of samut pran as well time has been spent east of the river and I'm starting to west of the river and being um being near the river like where I'm at right now is is definitely helpful for getting west of the river see I'm not going to put in my exact location but um I'll put in uh a location near me yeah here we go so it is it's a lengthy ride wow so I would need to ride over here down to opposite Three chrrome Village and then oh you could take the long tail to the green line let me look that up actually after this um because that's something that I've heard a lot about haven't seen it myself and they have a Hindu temple wow very cool all right all right let's check out the green lung because I want to see okay let's do this SP so I guess I guess that is the green line maybe the green is the nickname for it for see so yeah that's I guess that's the green line I need to make it a point to go check it out oh building material store not something that I'll be needing on this okay I'm all about the seafood and this is something I have to check out use let's look at the pictures all these grabs clams TR very nice looking I do want to check out Central Rama 3 I checked out the terminal 21 which is Awesome by the way Hidden Gem really quick I'll show you um here so if you like Rama or if you like terminal 21 and oo but you want a much more chilled out with a lot of the same stores restaurants conveniences come to terminal 21 Rama 3 of course it's not quite the same level of convenience as that oo location but it's really nice I mean you get convenience the variety the the beautiful decorations without the crowds it was like so strange to be an internal one that wasn't packed the brm now it is popular see a lot of people there but not near to the same extent that you'll see at the oo Branch but let's go back to Rama 3 Central Rama 3 oh wow beautiful yeah I gota check this out been to so many centrals in Thailand but it's just such a lovely experience every time I don't mind going to see some more looks like we got three viewers on here um feel free guys to jump in the comments in the chat and love to hear your thoughts or maybe share some ideas maybe there's some things you'd like for me to cover or I pull up and look at I heard they closed up the airplane graveyard and Boni which is disappointing did I make it to P town where I'm come hang I know that I've spent some time in the mall life store there's a lot of interesting I think are a littleit underrated um I walked around a lot out here when I was living out here and got to see a little bit non a little bit less touristic side to the city wow okay that's beautiful that is so beautiful they have soccer games here whereas everybody else outside of America calls it football oh I know how far out I can go something that would be interesting to me I don't know if you could do this but taking a boat down the entirety of the Chow pra all the way out to where the river feeds into the Gulf there's also um one of my friends wanted to T me here and I think we'll probably try to go sometime of the next month or so there's this uh in San there's this Dragon Temple it's this huge dragon May s dragon Temple done some wrong so I guess it's right it's out here okay I don't see the temple popping up I some wow you know that's not really that bad TimeWise like hour 45 minutes to get all the way out here we're not too far from savan poom hey Michael how are you doing doing good to see you I'm just enjoying a chill night in Bangkok of course I'm not feeling super tired because I woke up at like 11:00 a.m.

today and when I because I stayed up last night till probably about 3:00 a.m.

I had an interview at like midnight that went till almost 1:00 a.m.

and after that I just couldn't get to sleep for a couple hours so I woke up late and so part of what I'm thinking is after the stream I might go out wandering the streets of Bangkok it's just such a vibrant City and there's just there's just like buzzing energy there and yeah oh I'm glad to hear you're doing well just chilling out that's the best way to spend a Saturday night it's great wild times going out and doing and meeting interesting people but this part of the world southeast Asia Thailand Philippines also a place where it's so easy to recharge right it's so easy to just stay at home and you're not going to face any judgment um you can just relax recharge whereas I feel like sometimes back home there's this uh I you know maybe maybe it's just working maybe part of it's just having a full-time schedule where it's like okay I'm maximize my enjoyment on Saturday and Sunday I've got to go take advantage of that time to go out and interact with other people and socialize maybe go have some drinks meet up with some friends but here I could do that any day of the week so it is kind of a treat to have that that time to just relax on the weekends so what else I want to make it down to huin but I don't know like I'm having so much fun in Bangkok it's it's just kind of hard to like you know knowing that my time in Thailand may be coming to a close soon it's like ah there's so much you haven't seen in Bangkok and always be there but Bangkok is this dynamic city that's always changing and every time I come to it it feels like a different city like there's new buildings there's new malls there's new restaurants there's new art to look at it's it's hard for me to understate the it's hard for me to overstate the level of energy here like it's just constantly buzzing and there's motorbikes whizzing by and there's and delicious food cooking up on every corner and there's Tai people going about their lives I'm dressed for the nines people dress very well here I feel like I'm always under dress in Thailand and to be fair with the heat you know the heat not being something that I think as many Americans are used to even being from the southeast it's still more hot and humid here that I'm always like okay well if I dress up I know my nice clothes are going to be soaked pretty quick just walking around outside so I get EXC to down here okay this is interesting I just popped up on here T twe creative part okay that's cool I love how they do this there's a an airplane um I saw something similar in Paia and they're just so cool to look at to go up to like an airplane I don't know if this is an actual airplane or a model of one much visual simulation here I love it hey Matt how's it going how are you doing tonight checking out this place that popped up on Google Maps Chong Chui creative part that's something that I might have to add to my list and go check it out it's in North the Northwest part of the city I don't know North mostly the West part of the city like west of the dent District west of long flat oh ology Center oh that's got to be interesting learn about the history of Thailand I checked out this was on the top floor of ion CM they had a really nice art gallery there to look at had a lot of tight art and creative that really really enjoyed it one that I want to do as well I think not too far from where I live bangkokian Museum they turn this house um formerly belong to this family into a museum to show people the average high home is like on the inside and I think this is a very nice home especially by Western standards I know Tha standards are quite high in a lot of ways but this would be a like a a multi-million dollar house back in California to tonight Matt how how's it going or I gu should say morning I guess it's morning right now any uh any weekend plans for you this this weekend I guess they have these These are these are mosquito Nets so very cool that would be definitely very helpful to have I I've definitely had a few mosquito bites when I had a more open air style apartment in hot y my apartment was was a little bit open air style not totally but you could definitely definitely see where there was uh especially under the door there was opportunity for mosquitoes to get in I got bit a little bit more there fortunately I did not get D is something that I am paranoid in the back of my mind every time I get bitten by a mosquito I'm like this is it but fortunately that hasn't happened I don't know if it's my I don't know if it's just luck or if it's my immune system that's honestly not that great but I'm grateful to not have gotten Den oh this is a beautiful cathedral I don't think I've seen this one it looks like something that came from like Spain or something that you would see in the Philippines wow that is gorgeous that's really cool very nice to look at it's like cross the River from icon CM I guess I you know what I have probably seen it I just haven't walked up to it oh you know what maybe part of it is that it's behind the Mandarin Oriental because i' I've seen this hotel plenty of times but it's probably dwarfing everything behind it up and giving everything away so Matt are you get to your time uh to come over here is it getting closer to your exit date leaving the United States and coming here to Thailand because that's a momentous occasion like I I'm sure you've got a lot of mixed feelings about it and um maybe mix it's it's a big change for you right I mean I know you you spent a lot of time here in Thailand but um yeah you know I just came here one year ago and it feels like a lifetime ago that I was living in America and I'm not super looking forward to going back but you know I know I'll be able to come here long term eventually and talking to Subs like you who have diligent saved invested worked really hard and made a lot of sacrifices to make it make your dream a reality help to inspire me to stay on the path and keep being diligent about working hard and grinding it out and moving toward my goal and I think mentally you're going to be in a great place probably better than than where I'm at because you know you're you're not gonna have to go back especially if you're giving away a lifetime of toilet paper but yeah I know what you mean I mean I think I think during during covid a lot of is stocked up on on stuff like toilet paper and we maybe stocked up on more than we could we could use in a reasonable time frame and we're heading out it's um yeah we're having to to get rid of those things and Matt you were just in Thailand like a month ago right what was that like what was your um uh how was your tread always kind of wondered and I don't know if it's like a port thing why the east side of um if this is a bay I don't know if you call it the gulf uh the Gul yeah I guess this B Gulf of Thailand why the east side is so so developed down to Paia and you can see this if you've ever taken a bus from Bangkok to Paia um it's quite developed I mean you it thins out a little bit like on the far East Side around the Border cha cha changa and S pran um but then you get down here and you see like for example cacha um I talked to a woman that lived up there and they've got a lot of Japanese businesses there manufacturing um but then you come over here and this is like probably the [Music] only um there's just not as much you know I mean you get on to a hin and there's definitely development around hen but like it's not doesn't seem quite to the same extent as on the east side of the gulf I bought a building lot in prey Province I'm a little bit older than you I retired from a paper manufacturer well congratulations congrats on your retirement I know it's well earned I know that you worked hard for many years and really you know contributed a lot to American society and the economy and it's your retirement to Thailand is well deserved well earned and I think you're going to really but I know you're really going to enjoy it right I mean you've you've been here quite a few times and I'm guessing and I don't mean to assume M I'm guessing you bought that with your Tha significant other um just because i' I've heard you know we we Western people can't purchase in Thailand um land we we can purchase condos so but um see Matt says the trip was good mostly business well you know I'm really glad to hear that and I can imagine like you know your trips are different from somebody who's just coming for vacation or just coming for tourism like you're you're trying to set yourself up for a successful retirement and you're going to have a dream home in the country and the first woman I dated enti was actually from Frey uh so that that name sticks out to me because I remember asking her where are you from like I don't know at the time I didn't know anything about Thailand I think I've been in Thailand for like a week at that point I'm like where am I this alien world like I how did I get my bearings and so she and I communicated with translate and I asked her where are you from because like every at the time I was thinking everybody in Thailand lives in bang or changai because those are the only two cities that had been at point I didn't know there's this country outside of Bangkok and changai and so she was like oh I'm from prey and I found out being in changai you have lots of students in changai that are from the surrounding provinces and changai is this business Hub this education Hub but a lot of people aren't from there right it's like this this Dynamic vibrant City that has people from all over the north living there says YouTube algorithm sent me your channel been watching for a few days keep making content my brother I travel to a few places and I'm a young dude I want to try Thailand or the Philippines soon yeah I think it's wonderful Jay you're already on it I think some of the um let's see I guess I don't know if there's ads running right now I do apologize uh that's interrupting this interrupting this chat right now but um yeah t and the Philippines both great options Jay I I will say that um you know you can't go wrong with either I think a lot of people should try both um just to see what's you know what what's what they're most interested in there's tradeoffs a lot of people are asking me which is better Philippines or Thailand I don't feel that either one is better than the other I think that they're different flavors it's like asking well what's better um mangoes in Thailand or pineapple well both are fantastic I think you can't go wrong with mangoes you can't go wrong with pineapples and getting a sense of what you like when you're young is great I know some people want to move to this part of the world when they're young I lean more toward I want to get my money in the west and then come over here and have that Financial ability because it's not a place where you can make money I mean legally if you don't have a work permit you're not supposed to be working at all but beyond that then if you don't speak the language if you're not super familiar with the culture you're going to have an easier time if not making your money in the west at least getting your business established and then coming over some would disagree with that but uh for me anyway I'm not counting on hitting the lottery or something like that I know some people they may have um you know some circumstance where they're going to inherit some assets and I'm not I'm not counting on that so that's that's the way I look at it doing it with a bit more stability is earning my money in the west saving investing also doing these trips because there's no guarantee I I make it to retirement age my grandfather had his first uh major heart situation I don't know if I can say that on YouTube or not but the the major heart thing that a lot of people suffer from in the US at 38 years old right and so I'm 31 and my concern is okay if I totally delay gratification if I don't time over there and just wait until I hit my fire number I may have some kind of health issue that makes it so that um I'm not able to uh make it right I mean I I don't want to be the person that okay I I've delayed and delayed and delayed and then finally get over and a week later I mean so I'm I'm doing these trips to do more Discovery and figure out okay what do I like what do I not like is there is the big city for me am I a Bangkok person or am I a little bit different am I more like Matt where Matt has found that the province is going to be the place that he enjoys spending time the place where he can be close with his significant others family and also have some opportunities there to do potentially do some business he mentions inter family business so that's what's so powerful a lot of people I think um they want to move over here and I think it's a good idea for a lot of guys but I simultaneously think doing that research spending I mean last year when I was working in the US I spent the entire year researching I I spent tons of times watching YouTube tons of time watching YouTube videos all the popular channels you can think of like the biggest one that I could think of is retired working for you but also watching a lot of Bangkok Pat also Tyrus times which I was interviewed on uh back in February um you you can't I think there's never you can't you can't spend too much of your free time in the west learning not just uh learning but also earning uh because doing those two things earning and learning will prepare you very well if I hadn't come over here and did several St I wouldn't have been prepared for this year and so I always say suggest building up to it like you come on your initial vacation you're like oh my God this is amazing you wonder is that just vacation mode or do I actually want to live that way is it yes Michael I'll definitely get into that um uh Michael says I'm in the Philippines and yeah so so you've also got a lot of guys that Thailand may not be for them they may feel like you know what the language barrier May uh may stop may just what's the word may be an obstacle for me that that you know I prefer to go to the Philippines others may feel like well you know what um there's a lot of things to like about both I I I mentioned before but there's a lot I like about the Philippines as well I I connected really well with the Philip philippin know people I connect well with time people as well but if there's one thing that maybe I've struggled a little bit in the last year is with the English now I have found more Thai people than than you would think have English like I've approached Thai people at temples uh just about what to do and they spoke great English and not even the people working there like people that are just bangkokians just visiting the temple speaking of which um there's a podcast I can't think of the name he was on Ty times like a year ago he did a great video on the sathon uh I think it's called idea Studio he's great I want to uh I want to watch his stream he's gonna do one I think he does them every Sunday so I it might be tomorrow that I watch him and I need to throw up a notification for myself to remind myself but yeah Matt says make it in the west spend it in the East I think that's a great attitude to have Matt and you're going to be able to make money so much more quickly in the west and as far as cost of living versus income ratio it's still good even though it's not as good as it was in the past and the Western democracies it's still good I mean this sounds wild but you know I'm willing to like live in tiny apartments or live in my car or go to any length to put away as much money as possible and this is where you know Michael says another option is to learn the stock market and trading options good dividends and use this crypto bull market go run to secure your I I agree Michael I'm I'm loaded up on aloran anyone watching this live or watching the reron I don't get financial advice because I'm not licensed for that but I am loaded up on aland this is not a suggestion to buy it it's just the one that I'm holding a lot of and when I go back ideally I get a job uh in the coming months this fall and a I'm able to load up on some other cryptos I'd like a little up on actual Bitcoin and uh and get some dividends my ideal Michael would be to collect about 2,000 a month or so in dividend income every month and then use that as a base for my um for my expenses so paying my rent from that paying for my food for that paying for transportation paying for clothes paying for electronics and then you know like if for some if the Philippines ends up being my longtime home which being a single guy that's going to be probably the big differentiator is do I meet and have a relationship a marriage with a Thai woman or with a Filipino um because that that's part of um now this isn't the only reason but that's one of that's a legitimate way to have a be in one of these countries now am I getting rid for that Visa no first off that's illegal second off that's a terrible reason to have a relationship with somebody but I don't know where I'm going to meet the right person but I do know that I want to live in this part of the world of course Visa is a little bit easier than Thailand's Visa with the Philippines Americans get up to three years and can just prince repeat they can leave and come back just as a tourist but um Thailand being a little more challenging but I know that I'll eventually qualify for that retirement be in Thailand so that's another option but that's that to me is also a signifier of love for the country love for these places is being willing to commit to them in any different aspects of your life and I I undoubtedly like I know Thailand could be that for me after a year here and in the future you know I could spend a year in the Philippines the Philippines could be that for me um in some ways Thailand is easier in some ways the Philippines is easier I find that the English and phines is is really fantastic but yeah back to investing I think that you know sorting out your finances in the west will prepare you for a much more comfortable life in this part of the world knowing hey if something comes up and I need to pay for it I can do so it's not going to be a major issue if I need to pay for a doctor's appointment or take the dog to the veterinarian or if there are children involved hey we need to you know take the kids to the doctor or you want to take a vacation for example like sometimes you just want to get out of your neighborhood you just want to get out of your house you want to go down to the islands or if you're in the Philippines you want to go to a different Island maybe you want to go to the big city for a week or a weekend all these things open up for you when you do bring more money and I've I've really been grateful that I I didn't that I brought as much as I did for this trip because it gave me the opportunity to go and see several different parts of the country like I one of my concerns with this lifestyle and talking to people about this lifestyle is see this video or they'll see my videos and they'll think okay Bangkok I got to go to Bangkok and Bangkok is awesome it's I call it to some extent Thailand with training wheels if you stay on succumbent because you're going to have plenty of English western style restaurants very nice accommodations uh all the West many of the western Brands you're familiar with same with Philippines I haven't been to Manila but I have been to SIU and in SIU you've got the same deal you've got your western style malls you've got your nice hotels you've got um you know in some areas you're going to feel like you're in the west right so the places like SIU it Park and you dip your toes in the water and uh but then you realize you know what I like a more country style I like a smaller City and you can also adjust your budget to that because I think some people are like well I've got to make enough to afford to live in maati or BGC or um the high-end areas of Bangkok ton but you may find tongue law but you may find that you you don't want to live in these places you love visiting them but you're not really a big city person or maybe you're not used to living in a city with like say 20 million people in it I think 18 million in bangkok's case 15 to 18 million in bangkok's case and then in the metro area and then manila manila is actually the most densely compated city in the world so you've got 25 million people living there and while the people while the Filipino people are lovely right not all of us are used to being in such a busy area with so many people um because what I'm accustomed to in the west is lower population density I grew up in a suburb of Nashville and it was not uncommon to walk around the neighborhood and not see anybody now of course if you're there like in the in the hours after work but before Sundown like in the summer yeah you'll see people mowing their grass but people aren't really in Asia you have this vibrancy where like people are just like bumping into each other and like drawn to each other and like talking to each other and it's just this very gregarious kind of social scene where you feel like you're always you're always engaging like your environment is giving you feedback and in the west a little bit less so I I feel like sometimes the feedback we get in the west is is kind of harsh um great question Michael so I live I know you mentioned that you lived in Nashville on a one of the Philippines antic streams so I I lived in a lot of different parts of the city it was kind of a challenging circumstance so um when I was born we lived in Antioch which is the southeast part of the city and then um my mom uh bought a house in Hendersonville where my grandparents lived and we lived there for a while and then my my mom passed away when I was eight and so we moved to the city uh when I was well my grandma was seeing this guy in Green Hills which is like the nicest part of the city nicest part of Nashville this H professor at vanderville and he uh we lived with him for a while and so then so we moved to Green Hills and lived with him for a few years from like when I was eight to like 15 well we stayed in hendersonvill during the week and then we go to Green Hills on the week and then uh on the and then and then right at the start of high school right before I started High School wow what a small world Michael I can't believe [Music] that yeah I can't believe that what a small world that you actually went to Glen Cliff High School I actually know I grew up I was babysit a lot in Antioch and the glenary area by this Afghan family family and they uh they also went to Glen Cliffe what a small world I can't believe that um yeah that's just that's shocking to me that that you actually I didn't realize see I was in the impression that you maybe moved to Nashville for work as an adult I didn't realize you actually uh gosh what a small world yeah that's um yeah and so so when I was 18 uh I um ended up moving out to Jackson which is like West Tennessee um I can actually I'll put it up on a map here so I moved out to this town which ain't my preference but I moved out here and lived with him for under a year I went to Community College and then I moved back to Nashville went to college in murphrey sporo went to MTSU um um in Mercury bro for three years and then for my last year of college I moved back up to Nashville I got the most rundown apartment I could find over on the west side of the city it's it's actually got uh right here I I was right around here and it actually got torn down and last time I checked uh and I moved to Colorado uh after I finished my degree I moved out to Denver lived in Denver for uh three years and then I moved to the Bay Area wow what that's that's such a shock you're familiar with these places Michael and and you've lived in them and um yeah I hope we get to meet at some point in the future like I'm not sure what part of Philippines you're at I never caught that uh and the Philippines antic streams but yeah that's uh that's mindblowing to me that we're chatting halfway around the world that's yeah that's mindblowing yeah Jackson's got some colleges and there's uh now there's some manufacturing out there they're actually building a Ford battery plant out there and so I I was in Denver for a few years selling stuff on eBay I'd go to this uh Goodwill Outlet world let's see Goodwill Outlet World here we go yeah right over here so I'd come here and pick up stuff and then sell it online and I lived over well first I lived downtown I lived here in Capitol and then I moved out to Lakewood moved out here uh near Golden and really enjoyed this is like my favorite part of the city that when I lived out in Denver for a few years really uh convenient part of the city and then I left Denver uh to go try the Bay Area out so I moved out to San Francisco area I lived in Berkeley for uh I think I was out there for like six months and then I went back to Tennessee to try to get a computer science degree because first degree was useless liberal arts degree I wanted to go to law school at that time because I was listening to other people in my life family as to what I should do instead of thinking about him internally and now I I regret that I regret getting that degree I wish I'd got an IT degree I'd be much further along I probably would be um retired in Thailand at this point but so I I came out here and I went back to Jackson I was in Jackson for a couple of years but half the time I was in Jackson I I did a four month four month trip to Thailand well southeast Asia I started in Cambodia um let's go back to started in Pome pen me to come to Pome pen he was like you should check it out and you know I don't know I've ever heard much about it I don't know anything about Cambodia he's like come on we we'll have fun and uh he took me out with some of his friends and we hit up some bars and had a blast I mean it was it was a wild introduction to a different part of Southeast Asia because IID visited Thailand uh in 2018 for the first time but this was at the end of 2019 and so then I spent I spent a few maybe two and a half weeks in penom pen and then after Pome pen I went to Japan oh did I go to [ __ ] no I went to the Philippines so this was actually my first trip to the Philippines was I flew [Music] from from Pome pen to I think it was seu I think I think it was penom pen to Bangkok um Bangkok to SIU and so then I landed in Sabu but I immediately flew to kagay and deoro and so my first real taste to the Philippines was CDO I had a virtual assistant that he still livs in CDO but I think he's moving up to malib Bai which is uh yeah malite um so I didn't make it to malite he wanted to take me up there because that's where he's working at the time and working now as well he works for the local election commission and spent some time with him and his family and CDO like learn about Filipino Hospitality they're so kind and warm had my first Christmas in the Philippines and really enjoyed it a lot you know k k is a little bit different than a lot of places that people find themselves in the Philippines because a lot of people when they come to the Philippines they're thinking about see uh they're thinking about over here ELO they're thinking about these gor Puerto Princessa they're thinking about these gorgeous tourism destinations and C is a humble industrial city and they might also be thinking about Manila like the big city Vibes but Kayo is much more like it's people in the metro area so you got a lot of manufacturing there like some bottling plants and maybe a couple of moles like they have SNR they have SM City which this is probably the nicest newest mall they also have Gano let's see Gano so this is a different Gano the Gano I was under the impression that there's a different Gano okay limit Kai okay limit Kai is another one of these Smalls but they an interesting vibe in the Philippines and people are super friendly and they were curious about my vlogging I think that the vlogging has really grown a lot over the last five years but definitely a lot of people were smiling and friendly and I didn't make it down to kogan Public Market something I want to check out next time and so so I spent about a week there and then I took a bus I don't know where the bus terminal is in C my buddy told me where it was but I hopped on the bus or the it's kind of a short van that you get in and we rode up to here and took about two hours to get to up here I think the fer is in bingan and then I took a ferry over to kigan cigan Island and it goes all the way around so I'm thinking oh this is going to be like an AA this is going to be like an hour ride right you can just see this doesn't look too far but no you go all the way around so you go all the way um might have even been over here no that's white Island so I think it was over here and so then I had to take a a Jeep me or a trike all the way down I think I booked in green San yeah I think I booked over here and I remember offering the taxi or the I so I bought a combo ticket I was supposed to get the ferry ride and the ride and a Jeep ride not a Jeep knee but a Jeep ride to my hotel but then they were going the opposite direction so they're coming they're the je or not but I'm going the opposite direction I'm coming over here when we get over there they're like yeah just hop on uh hop on a Jeep me and and sort out you know your way from there and we pull up to this dark Road and uh I remember offering the gy driver oh it's 20 pesos he was like no it's 30 and been trying to take advantage in like 40 versus 60 cents like here you go man um I was just grateful because I'm I'm getting here at like probably 910 p.m.

at night and I have no idea where I am it's not very well lit late at night and so you Dro uh the entrance to the road that had my Resort and got off there and fell in love with kigan I recommend kigan for anybody that wants a intro to the Philippines that wants to do something a little bit off the tourist Trail I mean it is touristic but maybe less so than like orakai or um ELO like I mentioned before you get so on that week so I was SE K again for a week we saw this which is one of the most beautiful things beautiful places they have this sanctuary and So you you're snorkeling over hey don't um you know don't touch basically the clams will close shut if you touch so don't touch but they are huge I mean they are they're massive [Applause] clams and they show you two where they they rais them from the younger ages in these tanks and then I think they transport them out into the water and it's a great learning experience I want to say it was like it was like 500 pesos maybe it was a thousand pesos well worth it well worth it to check this Sanctuary out and really an educational experience understanding the Ecology of the Philippines it's such a special environment that like I could see why they want to be extra careful about protecting these beautiful places and I made my way around um I don't think I made it to Mane I think that was the one thing I didn't make it to and I'd like to do it next time I make it to caman but um yeah so over here I made it to the sunken cemetery [Music] um was I white is this is what I was trying to show okay white island is one of the highlights of kigan and you get on these boats and they take you out from from the island to these the strip of sand that's shifting it's just like the shape changes as I guess the water levels change and they have these uh they have these vendors that will help set up um this these umbrellas for you to help cover you because the sun is so bright I mean it is just baiting down like you really want to pack some sunscreen for your trip to the Philippines if you haven't been over here but um yeah so I got out in the water and was swimming and the water is not too deep and it's not cold either so it's really comfortable I saw a clown fish in the water that was the most memorable thing of this one of the most memorable things of visiting white Island was seeing a clownish because I've seen them in aquariums I've seen them in a zoos but I never seen one in person and seeing one in its natural habitat was just mindblowing to me and it's not crowded either like you can see there's maybe 10 people on this island that if it were more well known and I I believe it will be in the future I believe that cigan will be extraordinarily future just because of how beautiful it is it's out of everywhere I've been on Earth like the Philippines especially this part of the Philippines is probably the most beautiful place I've been on the planet and I know that I haven't been to that many places compared to some other more well experienced Travelers but it's just so stunning and it's not as well known it's you don't have it buil to go to CH and have um necessarily like the you know all the trappings of what You' have at a more populous place but it more than makes up for that Local Charm and the dramatic Landscapes the volcano there's like a dormant volcano on this island and so being able to be in the water looking at clownish looking at this vibrant marine life and then stick poking your head out of the water and seeing this this volcano and what looks like something out of a video game like that's the that's what I because it is so surreal and and so beautiful to me this island reminds me more of something you'd see or experience in a video game and the people are nicing on the C I mean the people are just so nice and they're they just want you to enjoy their their beautiful paradise okay here we go clownish so this is what I'm talking about um that I saw here they're just so beautiful and was there anything else I didn't you know I didn't get to check out the volcano in up close it's was like a several hour hike and I wasn't didn't have the time for it I also I think I had sandals with me I don't know if I had proper hiking I've heard it can be kind of slippery but you hike Through the Jungle I've also heard there are some poisonous snake or venomous snakes on cam again so that was something I'm a little bit concerned about I know that they tend to have bright colors and they tend to not be aggressive but you know you're you're not way close to a place where I think you get anti venon um anti venon uh here yeah beautiful volcano he and then if you want like a kind of a you do have that a little bit they've got the Gano here if you need to get some basic stuff I will say you know guyan deoro they you know this the island not sure what the PO cigan Island population so 74,000 people on this island um so you know you'll have somewhat limited selection here but still convenient to be this in this what feels like a very remote and untouched place and yet still be able to go and get some clothing you have some Western Foods here you have uh you have some good restaurants too in cig again I was kind of surprised but they I had some really fantastic Italian food I can't remember the name of the restaurant this was it they'll say VA okay yeah so I think there's a similar restaurant in dumag Getti though I haven't been to Dag Getti but this Italian restaurant is fantastic well worth it there's another one I can't think of the name there's a place that had Kenny Lao and then there was another place that I had this they had a breakfast buffet every day it's like 150 pesos and they had all the different stuff it was really close to my place if I think of it I'll try to I'll try to discuss it in another stream but yeah keman super beautiful it's one of those places that if I recommended one place that is undiscovered that I'd love for my subscribers to be able to check out before it just becomes super popular like as soon as the word gets out about this spot I think it's just going to be that much more popular it's it's already popular it's already cool I think a lot of people that have been here know about it but I didn't feel unsafe At All by the way I know some people have some concerns about mind now I never had issues in CDO um I did not go west of CDO I know some popular channels have been to uh different parts of Western and now it's a risk that I'm not super open to taking um my buddy that lives in CDO said CDO is fine he works in Mali there are some n Nar duells on the outskirts of Malai Bai but from what I've heard they're not really in the city um I know you know some popular channels have been recently and I'd like to check it out next um next time I make it to is like um co-workers get to know that local kind of feeling he said there's a lot of farms and and um yeah I'm also curious if it's a little bit cooler because I I think that I've been shocked in the Philippines that I was shocked last to the Philippines at how much cooler it is up in the mountains and how it can just be um it can it can be a little bit different as far as temperature wise why why so many people enjoy leing the [Music] mountains originally had plans to come back from caman because I didn't six-hour trip from kagay Ando to cigan including the ferry I had plans to come back to KAG deoro and just come up here to the airport and fly out but then my flight got delayed and I thought well I didn't know this at the time but I'm like why don't I just book a flight off caman so I came here to the cigan airport right across the street from this Italian restaurant and hopped on a plane and flew to seu or SIU and we were flying over the SE of ble ble SE and we dropped like like the plane I don't know how far it dropped but it just dropped and I remember everybody in the plane screaming I grab the the arm of the person sitting next to me just because I'm like where's the handle you know the handle you grab you have in your car though something happen you have the O crap handle well I grab it and um and then the plane stops falling and I think we hit some kind of air pocket that caused the elevation to dra uh to just drop but I remember seeing the Chocolate Hills in the distance and being like well I guess this is the end like you know this ain't this is probably the most beautiful place I could have imagine to beet my end several all the there were several children crying and there was a lot of everybody I looked behind me because I was sitting in the very front row of the plane everybody looked shaken up and terrified but but um you know fortunately you know that was the end of it and then we got to SIU landed in ceu we shaking up but we didn't make it I stayed um let's see Griffin hotel hotel I stayed here at the Griffin Hotel so I didn't stay in IT Park I found that um one I think you know this was a little bit better deal pricewise I want to say it was like a th Paces a night back then now it's a bit more expensive it's probably it's probably 30 bucks T night now but back then it Park was I think I would have paid maybe 30 bucks or 40 bucks a night to stay in IT Park and I'm like I'm like not that far from IT Park and at this point I'd spent a few weeks in the Philippines and I was like okay I'm comfortable going a little bit off the beat and track and so I stayed here which is close to the capital and you have a little bit different vibe it's a little bit more old school in this neighborhood you have um I think you see more Filipinos in this area it Park is wonderful I a fan it Park actually went on some dates there and had a lot of fun uh you know meeting up with this Filipina I met online and she showed me around it Park she was working there at a call center I can't remember which call center she was working at but I really you know got a good taste of of SIU meeting her she was from ble and moved up there for work and uh yeah we we hit it off really well I one thing I regret I stayed in SIU for about a week is that I didn't make it up to the hills there's all these Hills and mountainous areas over here and they look beautiful there's there's a to Tois Temple that I want to check out next time I go to SIU look at that look at that Dragon it's it's so beautiful the Philippines is just it's such a beautiful country alongside Thailand two of the most beautiful countries that I've been to the colors yeah that's definitely something I want to check out next time but it Park um hey Tony good to see you welcome to the stream we're talking a bit about the Philippines tonight it Park it's you know I look at it Park is you you've got one foot in the Philippines one foot in the western world that's the best way I conceptualize these kind of xant hot spots uh particularly in the bigger cities because here everybody's going to have English like all the people working call centers have great English because that's typically who they're serving but all the people serving the people working in call centers also have good English because you also have people from different parts of the Philippines living here and so they've got different dialects and it's it's really a great place if you're like well I'm not sure if I'm ready to learn talo or to learn ban and so I want to dip my toes in the water I'll come here to IT Park you've got the um you got the popular Western Brands here you've got a lot of the skyscraper City Vibe it's very walkable if you're a person like me who you like to walk around a lot then I and then after I learned the Jeep me the Jeep me but it was so was about a 40 minutes came from here walked all the way down a really awesome burger spot I can't think of the name off the top of my head I think I mentioned it in one of oh Burger Joint yeah this place is open 9M back then it seemed like it was open 2 or 3: a I remember going there it had to be like midnight but uh yeah it had this kind of American Diner uh Vibe and you had a lot of local people having good burgers there new system very well at this point I was just kind of not sure what to make of it because you you kind of hop onto this this vehicle and you're trying to squeeze in there and you don't want to step on people's toes and when I was in cam again when I rode into a Jeep me I accidentally stepped on this elderly lady's toes I was so apologetic apologized apologized felt like total garbage I yeah this elderly lady who is just trying to her ER whatever she's trying to do but um yeah even me being Asian-American perhaps being smaller than some Americans I still feel a little bit crowded on the Jeep me but at the same time like it's you know it's affordable it's a real taste of the Philippines when you're riding a Jeep KN you you know that you're in the Philippines and then all all um so you got the this mall that has all these western style apparel stores dining a lot of great dining here in Iowa there's another mall I went to before I made it to that one it was I think it was Rob yeah okay it was Robinson so this was it Robinson's cyber game so I needed to get a SIM card or I needed to top up my data and I didn't really know how if there's a way you can do it online but I also didn't know how to get my phone number and so I bought another sim card here Robinson cybergate and I was able to um able to change that and I remember I got a bubble te there were so friendly and giggling and laughing didn't know what to make of it and like bubble tea I used to have that in California but they had bubble tea here and the bubble tea was good I did I did go to a restaurant here I'm not going to name it it gave me a little bit of tummy trouble but uh so that was a little bit of a downer but not you know nothing nothing over the top bad like I wasn't really badly sick or anything like that but you know I don't know that I'd go back to Tony says watch out for all the Western xat drama and ceu Alex you know that's a great Point Tony I really try to avoid the drama as best as I can because to me I don't come over here to stress right like in Amica I'm grinding it out working hard I'm dealing with the challenges of life in the United States um I'm having to stress out right to earn the money that I need to live over here but like I want to leave that behind right I notice a difference in myself when I first got to Thailand I'm walking really fast and like I've got to get here I've got to go here I've got to go there I've got to get everything done and then I noticed after a while I'm like TI people just don't they're not in a hurry like that and I need to just slow it down I need to calm down I need to bring I need to go from like a 10 to like a four and I'll be much happier that way but some Western folks they don't give that up they don't they don't leave that behind they bring it with them I don't know if it's a habit thing I don't know if it's an attitude thing I don't know exactly if I could pinpoint to one thing but I try not engaged in that at all I I you know I had a few trolls try to hop on the channel and I immediately um block them so that they they're still able to comment but their comments don't show up and some people nah not on my channel um my goal is to bring analytical mindset to living world and I don't find it valuable to go back and forth with it's not productive right like I was to value my time and because I value my time and more importantly than my time the time of everybody watching this is that we're able to really provide value every single time I jump on here I want to provide value cover some things I haven't covered before talk about some new things and I just yeah I I look at the drama is kind of ruining a good thing like you're in this paradise and some people disagree with me there people say it's not Paradise but I would say okay the weather is gorgeous it's tropical it's sunny it's warm you have beautiful beaches all over the country the people are generally friendly and easygoing they laugh and smile all the time you have delicious tropical fruits that you would pay an arm and a leg for back in your home country not only that but the fish is amazing too and and you could tell I'm getting a bit hungry I uh haven't eaten much today I ate a bit earlier but um probably after this I'll go out and grab a bite to eat but you have all of these different um wonderful things about southeast Asia right we put a lot of time and money into coming over here it's like we're flying halfway around the world and I think it's just important to maintain a positive attitude and I know that may sound strange or conflicted because some of my video topics can be a little bit stressful or maybe a little bit negative but um sometimes I'm just stress about something else and it comes out in a recorded video but then when I get in the Stream and I have that direct feedback with everybody it just puts me in a good mood to talk to all of you like I find all of the people that subscribe to my channel are positive-minded people and bring this great energy to the stream and it's uh I feel very fortunate to have cultivated this this great group of folks and I I don't you know that's that's part of the beauty of YouTube for me is is it allows me to filter through a lot of people more easily because I some people that are not so great in person they maybe are better at finessing or kind of Sid stepping the truth or their their issues or whatever but online it's like they they especially on social media they can't help but go for the attention and seeing some of the things that people do for attention was like oh wow okay that person is not somebody that I necessar want to get along or I'm not necessarily going to get along with whereas you have other people like Michael Johnson like I've seen I saw him on Philippines Antics several times like oh this guy's great like he's you know not here crit being critical he's not here of judging he's just here to enjoy relax have a good time and there's there's so much benefit and and plus you know I think that's the beauty of of me working toward Financial indep I don't want to be in a position to rely on um the online income to me it's like oh it's a nice bonus but I don't want to be in a position where I feel like I've got to stir up drama or talk about stressful or difficult topics um know to to keep attention like if you know if I'm not providing enough value then that for to you know to maintain that that I need to figure things out I need to improve upon what I'm doing I need to learn better editing uh like skills I need to think of better topics I need to change something about what I'm doing my approach to create more value for people so bson seu um I I definitely want to land and seu next time just because there's some stuff I didn't get to check out I would say ble is a big one I want to take a fairy to ble and see that I know it's a big island but at least see the Chocolate Hills would be really really nice oh and then so I wrapped up here and then I flew to Japan but uh let's see um is there anything else I did in SE I don't think I checked out Gano Country Mall oh there was um the SM City some [Music] city is I guess one of the more the one of the newer malls that you seu and really modern it's in the Reclamation area I'm not sure if they they like build like how they do the reclamation this is a nice hotel by the way the RIS and blue really nice place so this is the name you wanna uh want to grab a bite to eat like they have um they had a lot of cool they had some really cool live music here um I wish I could pull out here we go okay yeah they have really cool live music here they have people like singing and playing guitar and there's a lot of really talented Filipino singers and musicians in general which really threw me off coming from uh Cambodia which could be a bit more introverted in some ways I think and I definitely got the opposite Vibe here and had heard a lot of great music and a lot of people uh and this place is open up open pretty late I think it was open till like 10 o'clock maybe 11 relatively speaking for this kind of outdoor mall and really really enjoyed it I'll never forget guessing my date in the rain here the rain was coming down the rain started to happen and it started to pick up and it started to come down and we're just like sitting at this bench there's uh I don't know if it's going to pop up if I I don't know if it's still there's a barber shop somewhere here we were sitting by the barber shop and I was just surprised that like we kiss in public because you know I think a lot of people in this part of the world are a little bit more you know private about it but neither of was that cared I guess because nobody could really see because the rain is coming down so hard and people are trying to get out of the rain and neither She nor I cared I don't think I had my laptop on me or any electronics and so it was just a really really special romantic moment in IT Park um yeah and I hated to leave right because I I finally met to Filipina but it was like um was like a week before I was going to leave the Philippines I'm like ah I need to come back here I need to stay here longer I tried to get back in touch with her um but she she may have moved on that's that's totally fine like I discussed a little bit on the Philippines antic stream and fully support her I hope her life is going wonderful she was a great woman and yeah I hope she's doing well and so then I flew I think I had a layover this might have been The Layover fly to Bangkok I flew from SIU to yeah back to Bangkok where I'm at right now and then flew up to Japan and started off in Osaka I stated this I haven't maps go back to the this hotel this this weird Hotel um really nice really nice great value for money um I got for a great price too right now it's like 90 bucks a night back then I paid this was four years ago I think I paid 50 bucks a night and the location is fantastic but the I remember walking out of the hotel the first morning like I got there at night came out the next morning and and I didn't really fully notice these I don't know what you call them creatures and there was a some kind of worker or something in a in a vehicle and I made eye contact with him and then looked at these faces and I was just I am in Japan this is this is there's this is not Kansas I'm not in Kansas anymore I am somewhere entirely different um but great Hotel they they were and so I had some beer and some wine or Osaka it's just such a cool area to a city of 18 maybe area and you really feel like you're in the middle of it here there's so not I was not too far from this famous sign if anybody's um like seeing photos of Osaka then you got this beautiful looking gleo sign this guy's triumphant ads in Japan are just wild I mean just some of the best advertising maybe the best advertising in the world still over the top expressive I didn't see this Wow's talented he can stand on the bcle like that I guess it's got a down but even so this hotel which it may has a little bit of a I don't know kind of the red and it reminds me maybe of like Lord of the Rings mostly just wandered around Osaka Osaka and then um went up to oh I got I got a really nice pair of pants probably my favorite pair of pants in oh Saka I went to Uno and they did a fitting on me they like tapered the waist and to my size and really really nice pants that was probably closer to Yo Bashi closer to the river here wow this is Osaka castle one of the high of the city gorgeous um tradition side by side with the modern really really incredible surrounded by this kind of Park here and then from here I went up to Kyoto so I took a train hopped on a train stayed at um one of the no I don't know if this was it this did I should show if I came here the one I stayed at was pretty close to Kyoto station maybe that was it um so I stayed here really really nice one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in the room was huge like huge one of the biggest hotels hotel rooms ever been in made it up to and I may need to do a part two on this because I'm my voice is starting to go a little bit but um came up here I I about Kyo that might I don't think this was it I think I st it a different daa but but this is a really popular walking Street they've got a lot of there's a massage therapist like for focused on sports massage great great goodies to man came down here to the Kera beautiful Temple probably the most famous temple in Japan or among among the most famous temples in Japan it was this was like preco it was very busy back then I mean it was like whoa like a lot of people were trying to check this Temple out and so I checked the temple out but then I did some walking they've got Trails back here and walked around these uh Trails I don't know if I made it up here I think I ended up coming out getting dark and it's not very well lit um up there and I think they warn you too they have signs up warning about the monkeys like some of the monkeys can get a little bit aggressive I think or dangerous even and then anything else I did there was um think I checked out the a mall there is a uh an onent I visited that was really nice yeah really really cool City Kyoto is really special and then I flew from Kyoto down to Fukuoka I flew from Osaka so I came back down to Osaka um I hit up a restaurant that's no longer there anymore unfortunately I think it must have closed during covid and then flew down [Music] TOA and yeah this is where my maternal grandparents mat post World War II um stayed in where did I stay I I stayed at like a service department um I think it may have been me sheward but um Canal City really cool when I came canal City they had this they projected all over this wall it was just so beautiful to look at I've got a Gundam here Michael Jonathan when do you plan to visit the Philippines again you know that's a great question Michael I'm kind of in this weird spot where I am interviewing for rolls back home and I don't I don't want to leave Thailand because I just I don't want to leave Thailand but I am limited on my b extensions I can get one more six-month extension out of my current school I think that's going to be the the end of what I'm allowed to do as far as um as far as education bases I've heard of some people using them to stay like six years but education education VES aren't really designed Des for people to live longterm in Thailand and so my my Visa for Thailand my final V extension expires July 15 so this is about two months from now and if I I I have the option to extend six more months so if I extend more six six more months it's probably going to push back my trip to the Philippines by a long time because I imagine in that six months I'll probably get some kind of offer back home and need to go work and um what's it called um you know so that would that would delay it but what I really what I feel like I I should do or or is is a more efficient way to approach things is to leave Thailand on July 15th go to Vietnam because I haven't been to Vietnam and everybody keeps telling me you got to check it out some of my friends that have traveled a lot have recommended Vietnam and why don't we why don't jump off this I'll pick this this trip back up um on the next stream please remind me everybody because I After Japan I went back to C Cambodia and then from Cambodia I think I went to Malaysia then to Singapore anyway it was it was a long story but we'll pull up toang so I want to check out dang but part of me wonders if I'll enjoy it so much that I'll extend for an additional couple of months in um in Vietnam and then after Vietnam that's when I would be looking to come to the Philippines so this would look like this is this is a scenario where I don't get a job back in the States until say December like that so then I'd come from Vietnam to the Philippines in like October is so that's well any If I Stay a month I would come to the Philippines in this August about three months from now if I decide to stays this would push it back to October so the ideal like my my sort of Ideal circumstance would be coming somewhere from August to um October and I would [Music] probably probably start in SIU because I've got kind of a circuit I need to do of interviews with u with some people U I want to do an interview with John who's who he does the California expat Channel and I've been in touch with him for several years now we uh I connected with him just because I knew somebody that would want his business services and that worked out uh well and he and I just connected as well because I lived in the Bay area for a while and he lived in the Bay area as well so uh I want to do a do an interview on his channel and then there's a few others um that I want to do as well I think Mike's philppine retirement is one that I'm gonna do an interview with he's in doag Getti and I say all this just because you know there's one thing that I really love about the Philippines is that prevalence of English and being able to communicate with a lot of people and so here sometimes I I struggle because I'm not necessarily assuming the Western people in Thailand can or Western looking people in Thailand can speak English because there's a lot of people from Russia here that may not have any English but when I think of a country like the Philippines I think man probably most of these people have some English because that's one of those the biggest draws and so that'll be doing a circuit there um I wouldn't mind getting up to Angeles as well to chat with George Heidi in person because I just really like their Channel I think that they make some sacrifices to talk about some of the difficult subjects that they talk about that provide a lot of valuable insight and uh for people outside of the country right because Michael your boots on the ground so you can see and engage with a lot of these circumstances in person and you have that Insight or knowledge but for me I've only spent a month or so in the Philippines and so I still have a little bit of a tourist perspective on the country where in Thailand my perspective is shifted from a a tourist perspective to more of a long stay perspective more in line with with what you're experiencing in the Philippines so that would be the goal is come to the Philippines and do the the sort of interview circuit this almost talk show like kind of thing it's like the modern version of the talk show um Mike also Mark I know Mark is a controversial figure I'll say it just on here for anybody watching the replay as well Mark's never um done anything to me I was interviewed by him about three years ago when I lived in Peru and that interview went well uh but I wouldn't mind doing an interview with him in person so um this would be John Mike Mark maybe George and Heidi as well I haven't confirmed that with them and I haven't made it up to Manila so um I'm not sure you know how uh you how scheduling that would work but that's certainly something I'm open to I'm trying to think of anybody else I wouldn't mind doing an interview with Paul Paul old dog new trick so I actually got in touch with himh five years ago because he was I think he was just like Landing in the Philippines back then and he was just like trying to kind of check it out and didn't really I feel like back he didn't fully know what to make of it and so it's been interesting to me to see his channel progress into what it is today obviously a huge channel uh by expat blogger standards and to build up this audience and like I think part of what sold me on his channel is is sharing his story the tragedy in his life you know there's this famous video tragedy to Triumph and being able to relate a lot to it now am I you know uh uh you know in the same position no I'm still in my working years I'm not in a position where I can stay in the Philippines long term uh but there's a lot for me to learn from from all of the expats um okay I swapped to hello um hello yeah I may have to I may have to cut now well let's see um I may have to wrap the stream up because my airpods are have run out of battery and I haven't figured out how to handle the settings on here when that happens okay let's see um can you hear me now I just want to check and see if you guys can hear me I'm getting the green lighting up uh on my end but I'm not sure if it's coming through for all of you that's awful uh [Music] um the batter is pretty low on my airpods I'll try to just wind this one down guys because my airpods are out of battery and I don't want to keep folks waiting around I do need to figure out how to sort that out what happens when my airpods die I can switch my input source but um let's see here so I probably start in seu uh and then work my way down to do MTI draw MTI do MTI probably spend a week or two in do MTI maybe maybe more maybe you know two or three weeks and do MTI um and then from there do a day trip or something to scky wh and um and then I'd like to go back to mind now but it's it's like do I go up to Manila maybe meet up with some Manila bloggers because there's a lot of bloggers in Manila um and then oh but I I want to go you know like I said mentioned Mal Bai I want to check out Mal Bai and devout is is definitely up there on my list because it's just got a different vibe I think from ceu and from Manila but um yeah thanks so much for watching everyone I I hate to cut it short but I don't want to do these with audio issues where it's not you know it's not a pleasant listening experience for all of you so yeah if you're watching the replay feel free to comment down below share your thoughts um and I hope everybody has a wonderful rest of your weekend and we'll see you soon

AI DISCLOSURE: Summaries, FAQs, and metadata on this site are generated by AI (Gemini 3.1 flash lite preview) based on video transcripts. These outputs may contain inaccuracies or "hallucinations" and are intended for entertainment and archival purposes only. They are designed as a navigational aid and are not a substitute for watching the original video content. This content does not constitute professional, legal, or financial advice. USAGE NOTICE: This site is a transformative search and analysis tool. We do not host original video files; all videos are embedded directly from the creator's YouTube channel. By using this site, you acknowledge that the developer is not liable for AI-generated errors. To report an error or request content removal, please Contact Us or reach us directly at hceT.nosnhoJcirE@cirE.