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The video explores the trade-offs of living abroad versus in the US, highlighting personal experiences with career, dating, lifestyle, and financial goals, while also supporting a medical mission to the Philippines.
The host begins by showcasing a $15 meal purchased to support a medical mission to the Philippines, sharing details about the organization and the food items included: lubia, rice, chicken adobo, and a cassava dessert. He then transitions into a personal update, discussing his new job in California, his enjoyment of the local weather, and his reflections on missing aspects of life in Asia while appreciating the conveniences of living in the US.
The conversation delves into various topics including the challenges of dating in California and Asia, with the host expressing a preference for his experiences in Asia. He also touches upon career goals, such as pursuing nursing education, and long-term plans for financial growth that would enable extensive travel and eventual retirement, possibly in Asia.
Further discussions compare the quality of life in Asia and the US, weighing factors like traffic, pollution, and social interactions. The host shares personal anecdotes about health considerations and the benefits of a cleaner environment in California. He also reflects on the importance of gratitude, inspired by his experiences in the Philippines and interactions with Filipinos.
The latter part of the stream covers investment strategies, the appeal of ETFs and stocks like Nvidia, and the differences in food and lifestyle between Thailand and the Philippines. The host also addresses the challenges of finding Western-style ingredients in the Philippines and the nuances of burger quality and pricing in both regions, concluding with a thank you to viewers and a reminder to subscribe.
Expat life in the Philippines versus California involves significant trade-offs in career, dating, and lifestyle. While California offers good weather and job opportunities, many miss the social interactions and food experiences found in Asia. The Philippines, on the other hand, offers a different quality of life influenced by factors like traffic and social dynamics.
Dating experiences can vary greatly between California and the Philippines. The host notes that dating in California can be challenging due to demographic imbalances and differing values. His personal experiences suggest a preference for dating dynamics he encountered while living in Asia.
For expats, career advancement often aligns with enabling greater travel opportunities and flexibility. Long-term financial goals may include building wealth through investments like stocks and ETFs, with a potential aim to retire in Asia. This approach balances financial growth with a desired quality of life.
Comparing quality of life in Asia versus the US involves weighing various factors such as traffic, pollution, and social interactions. While California offers conveniences and a cleaner environment, aspects of Asian life, including community and cultural gratitude, are highly valued by some expats.
Supporting a medical mission to the Philippines can be done through direct donations or by participating in fundraising activities. The video highlights purchasing a meal for $15 as a way to contribute to such causes, demonstrating that even small actions can make a difference.
Filipino culture is often characterized by a strong sense of gratitude, which can be amplified by understanding the struggles and circumstances of others. This cultural trait fosters a greater appreciation for one's own life and possessions, even amidst challenges.
While the video doesn't specify exact rental costs, it suggests that buying a used car in Thailand, particularly outside of Chiang Mai, could be more advantageous than renting a motorcycle. This approach would offer greater mobility and access to better prices for goods and services.
The video touches on the cost of living by mentioning that rents and overall prices are cheaper outside of major cities in Thailand, like Chiang Mai. It also implies that certain conveniences and food options might be more accessible or affordable in Thailand compared to the Philippines.
0:06 Hey guys, I'm back. So, we'll just give folks a little bit to hop on the stream. I recently picked up a plate of food to support a medical mission to the Philippines, and they're actually going to go to the Luzon area. I had a chance to talk with the folks who organized that today, and I'll show the plate once we get a few people in here.
1:07 Hey, we got a viewer. We'll just give it a little bit longer. I also wanted to do like a fall update and let everyone know how I was doing. So, once we get, like, I don't know, maybe four or five viewers on here, then I'll share the plate that I got. I'm trying to find the details so I can drop a link down below so that anybody else who wants to check this medical mission out, maybe give some support or at least just learn more about it. I think this is the first one of its kind that they're doing for this church, this group.
2:00 So it's the UNIG Foundation, and we'll go ahead and drop the link so any anybody who wants to check it out can check it out. But yeah, feel free to share any comments or thoughts that you'd like down in the description. We can get this stream rolling. I figure it'll go for at least an hour, maybe longer. I did chat with a friend earlier today for about an hour, so my voice is not perfect, but we'll give it my best tonight or this afternoon.
2:34 I got a great deal on these. They dropped the price down to 10 or 12 for a dollar, and they're pretty good. But it's one of those things I picked up at Grocery Outlet. So, I'm not getting this drink again, probably ever again. I'll probably never see this drink again. So, that's okay. They'll have some other interesting thing going on.
3:25 May not be the best time for my audience to hop on here. Seems like Saturday afternoon here in the US might be a little slow as far as audience goes, but feel free to chime in and engage. I did want to do a fall update. So, I've been working my new job for a month. Has it been two months? It's been time is flying by. I'm enjoying it and I'm learning a lot, and of course, it's nice to get paid and feel productive, contribute to something positive.
4:02 It's nice to be back in California. I'm liking the California weather a lot. It's very dry and comfortable compared to the tropical weather, if I'm being honest. There's a lot of things I miss about living in Asia, but the weather could be, I don't know. Depends too, 'cause some days it's like, oh man, it's awesome. It's beach weather. Other days you're like, I don't feel like going to the beach. I want to get normal stuff done, and you don't have that as easily.
4:32 So yeah, feel free guys, chime in with any questions or thoughts. It may be as far as my next trip goes toward the end of next year. Uh, hey Mr. Dave, good to see you. I'm looking forward to sharing this. I got, I bought a plate of food to support this medical mission to the Philippines. I'm excited to show that to everyone.
4:57 I dropped a link to the organization there, but I think it's through a church. They're sending a doctor to help. They've done other kinds of missions in the past, but this is specifically to help out with healthcare over there.
5:23 Okay, we got four people on here. I'm surprised. Guys, give us a thumbs up. Hey, Mr. Dave, you're in my favorite city in the world. I am envious. How is Shanghai right now?
5:33 I actually took a look. So, I mentioned before I've been looking at studying nursing. CMU actually has an English language nursing program, which reminds me, I need to make a note to reach out to them because that's something that I might pursue for a number of reasons. But I think Mai for me can be a very productive city, and knowing that it's in English, and I need to talk to them about just like outcomes. But if it's a program where you have people studying the program and then coming back over here, taking the NCLEX, that might be my, you know, ticket to getting a nursing education at a budget and in a place I really like.
6:20 But Mr. Dave, tell us more about your time in Mai. For those who don't know, Mr. Dave has been a longtime subscriber of the channel, and he's living the dream in Southeast Asia. So definitely enjoy his interesting perspective.
6:56 I am enjoying a lot about being back in the US. The air quality is great. The roads are nice. I can drive wherever I want, whenever I want. I'm fortunate to be able to get a job after being unemployed for such a long time.
7:11 I do think, like I said before, it'll be a while before I can travel again. I've got some goals that I'm trying to hit. Okay, so we got five people on here. So I'll go ahead and show this plate of food and let me know what you think.
7:27 It's kind of hard to see. So, we got right here, see, right here we got lubia. This is beef. They also had pork lubia. This looks like some kind of sauce that you'd maybe like a duck sauce or something like that, not maybe from actual duck, but designed to go with the lubia, which is like the Filipino version of egg rolls. If anybody in here is not familiar, I happen to like lubia. I like Filipino food in general.
7:57 We got some rice here. This is my first time eating rice in a while. I'm really looking forward to it because I love rice. And then here we've got chicken adobo. So we got two drumsticks. And then this is a dessert. I can't remember. I'll pull it out of the package here. It looks like an egg-based or cassava. It's a cassava-based dessert. So you can see that.
8:21 And this was $15. I'll just show you guys again. And I know some people feel like that's a modest portion for the $15, but it's going to support a good cause. I've dropped the organization down below. I'm not affiliated with them. I just happened to see in one of my local like buy, sell, trade groups, hey, we're doing this fundraiser. Guys, by the way, give us a thumbs up if you enjoy this content. But we're doing a fundraiser. We're trying to raise money to do this medical mission in the Philippines.
8:54 So, I wanted to support and I'll probably dig into that toward the end of the stream. But, it's been, gosh, it's been six months, seven months since I've been able to have Filipino food because it's not easy to find here in the US outside of, I'd say like Chicago and California. Like Illinois, California, it's not easy to find.
9:27 Yeah, so that's, you know, that's the deal. Mr. Dave says, "I should look for an apartment. I'm in the cheapest hotel in town. It has a bad smell. I'm into cycling. Maybe I can do that with people here." Yeah, Mr. Dave, I definitely recommend looking into apartments.
9:42 Well, right now it's starting to get into high season, so it's going to be hard. I would say the ideal is finding it before right now. So right now we're entering the high season for Chiang Mai, and it becomes really hard to find an apartment. I found my apartment in Chiang Mai in end of August. So that was like a good time for me.
10:08 Mr. yesterday, if you sent me an email, I'll be happy to send you my recommendation of a building to stay in. And you know, Chiang Mai is my favorite city. So, I definitely look forward to my next trip to Chiang Mai. It's just such, I'm not a big beach guy, so that's part of why Chiang Mai is so awesome is you don't get much of the kind of beach tourist crowd. It's more cultural. It's more like hiking and also like just urban exploration. There's a lot of interesting buildings in Mai.
10:41 Maybe not quite as much as Bangkok, but it's a cool city. I like Mai a lot. El, you're into, yeah, cycling is very popular in Mai. A lot of people are really into cycling there, like more than I would have expected. I used to see people cycling in front of my apartment just about every day, and then also the cyclists would stop at a coffee shop near where I used to live in Mai to have coffee. So very popular to be a cyclist in Chiang Mai.
11:12 El Newman says, "I've been a nurse for 18 years. I'm not sure about California, but in Florida, they have an adult education center where you could start with the LBN, LPN program in a budget. Wishing you luck." Thank you, Newman. So we do have one in my area locally, the budget is really reasonable, but they don't have any openings until 2027.
11:32 So, if I wanted to study sooner rather than later, then it seems like there's less demand for the programs in Asia, I think primarily because of cost. But yeah, it's definitely like they also have the LBN or LPN program locally. And then there's a CNA program as well, which is totally free.
11:54 The RN program is around $10,000, I think in tuition, which is very easy to pay back with RN wages out here. It's not, it's definitely competitive. I think similar to Florida, it's competitive to work in healthcare because everybody wants to live in Florida, right? Just like a lot of people want to live in California. A lot of people want to live in Florida.
12:13 Beautiful state, and you have so many options for things to do outside of work. Like if you're a nurse in Florida, if you want to go to the beach or you want to play golf or you want to explore some cool cities, there's some cool cities in Florida like Miami or Tampa or Tallahassee or Jacksonville, Orlando. There's a lot of cool options in Florida.
12:39 So, yeah, it's definitely not easy to find a job. Fortunately, with my latest job, then I've been able to meet some really nice people that have been able to connect me with employers. But, you know, I may work here for a certain amount of time and then decide, you know what, I want to go check out Florida. So, that's certainly a cool option.
13:02 And I happen to have found a fantastic situation here in California, but certainly things can change, and I like to be open-minded and flexible. That was a great comment, Newman. Um, I think healthcare is going to continue to be a solid opportunity for people.
13:21 Mr. Dave says, "The food is very good in Mai. I had a great expensive cheeseburger, but I also went to an expensive American diner that had the same prices as America. But of course,
13:30 Same prices as America, but of course, you don't have to tip. Did you go to uh, was it in the mall, Mr. Dave? There I can't think of the name. There's like a popular restaurant in the Maya Mall that's like American-style food. It's pricey, but it's worth it if you're craving Western-style food.
13:51 There's another I can't think of the name of it, but it's on Neon. Um, let me look it up. There was a burger spot I really liked. Well, there was, okay, so yeah, I used to go to Rockme a lot. So, there's a spot in the Nean area called Rockme Burger, but there's one other one too.
14:20 Let me see here. I'll just take a look really quick. How's everybody's weekend going? Well, I can't find it. It may have closed actually because rent to demon can be expensive, and so it's not always easy to have a business there, even though you get a lot of foot traffic. Of course, you've got to sell a lot of food to compensate for that.
15:15 My bank account is below zero, but I have a check coming in that is enough to live on, especially in Thailand. But I have some important business to handle in New York City. I'll be there soon.
15:26 That's very cool. Uh, Mr. Dave, I love New York. I have not been to New York City in like 11, 12 years. It's been a long time, but New York is a really cool city. Let me know if you come out to California, Mr. Dave. Be happy to meet up out here in California. It's definitely milder weather than New York.
15:56 I trimmed my beard. It's looking a little haggard. My facial hair grows faster and faster every year. It's harder to stay on top of. I did just get this haircut last weekend, and that was a good haircut. Had a coupon, it was 13 bucks at Great Clips.
16:10 And then I paid extra, of course, for the tip, but still very reasonable cut price for a cut, compared to like, you know, some places these days charging 40, 50 bucks for a haircut.
16:29 What's your important business in New York, Mr. Dave?
16:39 Uh, may all night. Mr. Dave, come on. Leave the, leave the nice Thai women alone, Mr. Dave.
16:49 Yeah, I don't know. Mai, I feel like dating in Mai is not as good as it was 10 years ago. I had a lot more success 10 years ago versus, I feel like on my latest trip there, it was just hard to meet people. Um, some of the people I met were kind of odd and not to my liking, I'll say.
17:10 Um, and yeah, I think Bangkok personally is better. Some people feel like it's more competitive or there's more pressure. I feel like there's just more people there in general, and it's, you know, people are busier, but most of the women I've been interested in have been in Bangkok.
17:40 And guys, I'll show you one more time. So, this is a plate I purchased to support the medical mission to the Philippines. We got lubia rice, adobo chicken, and then this dessert, cassava dessert. I guess I could try a little bite of it.
18:10 That's really good. Uh, I would say cars, that's a great question. How are the women in California? California is not a great place to date for men. So, there's a lot of reasons for that.
18:17 I would say a big one is that, um, California, like I see it as, kind of a place for, this isn't all, you know, totally a thing, but especially like Northern California, like the Bay Area where I lived for a long time, it's a work camp for men. So, like men move to Silicon Valley to try to make money.
18:45 Men from all over the world want to make money, and Silicon Valley happens to be one of the best places to do so. So, you get a major imbalance of men to women. Um, there's this joke, Man Jose. There's some not safe for work jokes about the town of Militus where a friend of mine lives.
19:06 But yeah, also you hear San Francisco. So, California, especially Northern California, I think is just not good for dating at all. Um, that's just my personal opinion. Have I met women out here? I have. I tend to just, I feel like Asia spoiled me.
19:21 Like, why would I want to date here? I'm not saying there's not nice women here. One, I think a lot of them are taken. Two, I think that the imbalanced ratio just makes it harder for men in general. Um, but I just feel like after dating in Asia, there's nowhere in America that can compare.
19:39 Um, especially at my age, maybe I'm biased, but I feel like, you know, being early 30s, most of the catches are taken. And I, you know, I'm probably not the greatest catcher in the world. Uh, but that's just been my experience where dating in Asia is just a lot better overall.
19:57 Um, I have more interesting conversations. I feel like there's more of a complimentary relationship between me and the women I meet in Asia, where here in California, I just feel that there's this, I don't know if it's because America's becoming poorer, but I feel that there is just, there's a lack, there's compatibility issues here.
20:22 Um, I find it's hard to avoid for me offending people. I feel that it's very easy to offend people in America. It doesn't matter if I'm in California or back east where I'm from. Uh, and that includes, like, you know, just potential dating options. You say the wrong thing and now they're mad, and you're trying to figure out.
20:42 By the way, guys, please give us a thumbs up if you can. But you spend a lot of time trying to avoid offending people. Um, I think these days, what American women tend to be more on the left, and American men tend to be more on the right. And so there's this discrepancy in values.
20:58 Uh, and it can make it very difficult to have relationships. Once again, not saying there's not some lovely women out there. Just some general observations for me. It's just so hard to get excited to date here when I've dated in Asia. And I still chat with women that I met over there.
21:15 And it's like hard. I don't know. It's just like hard for me to get excited here. Um, on there's odd occasions where I meet somebody, but there's just a lot of awkwardness there. Um, like recently I met someone and they were being very friendly to me, and, uh, you know, just like encouraging to me, and I guess I read the wrong signals.
21:44 Uh, I didn't say anything rude. I wasn't disrespectful or inappropriate. I did ask for their contact information, and then like a switch flipped, and it turned direct quickly to, you know, I don't provide my number. So, um, that was just kind of an awkward thing.
22:02 I feel like in America, it's just not easy for me to read people's social cues. Uh, and so rather than risking offending people or bothering people, it's like I'd rather just like take trips to Asia. And I'd rather just travel in Asia, meet someone in Asia.
22:22 So, um, here I find too, like my age anyway, a lot of people have baggage. Um, for me, I'm not at this point in time, not open to dating a woman with children from a previous relationship. And there tends to be a lot of that, and it's just not something I grew up in a situation like that.
22:46 It was not a, uh, it's not a good situation, I'll put it that way. So I don't want to, that's not what I would consider is something I'd be open to. Maybe I change down the line. Maybe my opinion changes. Uh, for right now, I just am not seeing or encountering the types of people that I would be interested in.
23:04 And, uh, yeah, hope that answers your question. Mr. Dave says, 'No, I'm being very nice to this girl. I just chatted her on Instagram.'
23:17 Very cool, Mr. Dave. Yeah, Instagram. I hear it can be a way to meet people for sure. What did you talk about with her? Uh, Newman says, 'What are your long-term goals? Are you planning on moving back to Asia or working on career choices?'
23:30 Uh, I'm working on career choices. I think I've got something figured out to where I can, and this is if I go the healthcare route, but also another option I'm looking at, you can actually do contract-based work. So, this is the healthcare side where, and there's something kind of similar with another route I'm looking at.
23:48 But you would basically, you could work for say, three, six months, save up money, for me, also contribute to retirement, pay into social security, and then take off a few months to go travel. So, I think that's a sustainable way to handle it where you're advancing your career, you're paying into social security, you're contributing to your retirement accounts, you're making spending money, and then you go travel for a while.
24:16 For me, there were elements of living in Asia I got tired of. I'll be honest, there's some things I missed about America I didn't realize I missed. Like, I missed driving a car. Um, you know, some people will say, well, you could drive a car in Asia. It's not the same.
24:29 A much higher population density. The traffic is different. It includes chickens and motorbikes and, um, you know, just more public transportation. And American drivers are spoiled. So, uh, yeah, I think I think I will retire in Asia. That's still high on my radar.
24:52 I think that's looking like more like my early 50s. I think that's kind of how I'm going to tie, like maybe mid-50s. I think that's how I'm going to try to time it. But between now and then, then I'd like to do trips periodically.
25:08 So, I think if I make my next career move, right now I've got like an office job. It's fine for now. It pays the bills. It's not, I will admit, it's not enough money for me to put a lot away. I would say I'm probably around break even here in California. It's good to not be going backwards financially, but I'm not really advancing, you know, super fast either.
25:32 Um, if that makes any, I love my job. Uh, it's a great opportunity. It just, you know, is what it is. Uh, have no ill will, you know, toward my employer. I'm actually grateful for the opportunity. Um, but just like as far as what my income is versus what I like to spend to be comfortable here, then it's roughly that.
25:55 Where my next opportunity, I should be able to save money, put away money, and also have some travel in there. So, uh, I think, you know, my long-term ideal would be, uh, work nine months out of the year, maybe 10 months out of the year, and travel for two or three months out of the year.
26:10 Uh, whether it be in Asia, which is super appealing, but I'd also like to explore some other parts of the world. Um, particularly parts of Eastern Europe, I'd like to get.
26:22 parts of Eastern Europe, I'd like to get back to Latin America. A friend of mine, a high school buddy, a really long-term friend, just came back from a month in Peru and he's thrilled. He's like, "Man, I want to go back to Latin America." So now that I have a good friend interested in Latin America travel, it makes it a lot more appealing because he's somebody I knew before I did my hardcore traveling.
26:50 I've wanted to go to Latin America, but I feel like there are elements of it that could be more dangerous than where I go in Asia. So, knowing I've got a friend that's interested to go down there, maybe that could be next on my radar. I'm targeting roughly a year from now, during my next trip, so we'll see how that goes.
27:16 Eventually, I'll move back to Asia, but I think right now I need to focus on building wealth. I also enjoy life in the US. I feel like Asia, and I know a lot of guys will disagree, but the slower pace I think I'll be better suited for when I'm more of a traditional retirement age.
27:44 There were times where I wanted to do stuff in Asia, but the more relaxed pace could get in the way of that. I know some people disagree and would say they want to live there right now. There were just certain quality of life challenges that kind of wore on me.
27:59 I think those are going to be challenges no matter what age you are. Some people would say it's a matter of money, but I would point out traffic, for example. There's no amount of money, unless you're getting in a helicopter every time you want to go somewhere, which is way beyond the budget of most people and also impractical.
28:20 Then you're getting in a car or you're using public transportation. If you're getting in a car, you're dealing with pretty substantial traffic in Asia. Most people want to live in Asia, whether it be Bali, Bangkok, or Ho Chi Minh City, and most of the places people want to live in Asia have really bad traffic.
28:40 That got to be tedious to me. Where here there's hardly any traffic. Even in the city, the traffic is just not comparable. There are a few cities with bad traffic, but I don't happen to live in Los Angeles, though LA has bad traffic.
29:04 New York City has bad traffic, but you could just use public transportation in Asia, but that's also crowded. You think about the popular public transit options throughout Southeast Asia; they can be just as crowded and oftentimes more dangerous.
29:22 If you look at the accidents per vehicle or accidents per capita, it tends to be higher throughout Asia, Southeast Asia in particular. So I see it like more like a permanent move in a stage of my life where I don't have the energy to be running around all the time and doing stuff all the time.
29:41 I also point out things like pollution. I have a friend of mine that's a popular vlogger in Southeast Asia. He pointed out to me that the air quality was making him feel rundown, and he said that's known to potentially cause long-term health issues.
30:32 This is something I find a lot of bloggers don't talk about. Is it a dealbreaker for me? No, it's not. But let's say I'm gung-ho and want to do it right now, and I have 20 years of air quality issues, I'm not going to age as healthy potentially being exposed to that for several decades as I would be here in California.
31:00 Fantastic air quality. Every time I get up and go to work in the morning, I smell nice smells. It's very fresh, refreshing, very clean. There's very little pollution here, at least where I'm living in California. It's a very refreshing and healthy environment.
31:16 I can go exercise at several different local parks every day after work. So I feel like, you know, throughout Asia, because of the population density, because of the crowding, which a lot of Asian-Americans will admit to, people talk about the trade-offs.
31:40 I see it as a lot of people say Asia's perfect, America's terrible, or America's perfect. It's trade-offs; it's like what are you getting and what are you giving up, because neither is a perfect solution.
31:50 So I find it's like, okay, well, you know, I get into my 50s, it's like, okay, my life expectancy in my 50s is not going to be what it is right now in my early 30s. So maybe I have some health issues, but whatever.
32:03 My dad passed when he was 52. My grandfather passed when he was 62. My grandfather's dad passed when he was about 50. So, at that point, I feel like I might be on borrowed time anyway.
32:26 I don't want issues where I don't know. I'm just trying to be proactive about that. But yeah, let me get caught up here. Newman, I appreciate these are really great comments.
32:40 Mr. J says, "I like Bangkok, but it feels hard to talk to people there like any big city. It's not easy." You have to really have a connection, have introductions. That's how I made friends in Bangkok was I made friends and had them introduce me to their friends.
32:56 Bangkok is one of those cities where you need like a local guide. If you don't hire a local guide, you need a local friend because there's so much to see and do and there are so many layers.
33:07 I've lived, I've spent like at least six or eight months in Bangkok, seven months total, and I still don't feel like I've seen everything. That's not working there; that's like six, seven months of full-time just exploring, wandering.
33:23 There are so many little places and corners and buildings that friends have shown me that I never would have found otherwise. A lot of it's just been exploring at all hours, but it's one of those cities that you need a guide or you need a local friend to get the full experience.
33:39 Because, yeah, it's just a wild, wild place. Mr. Dave says, "All I do is wander around by myself, so eventually I'm going to get mugged in Latin America."
33:48 Yeah, I almost got mugged as well in Colombia, Mr. Dave. That's a major risk factor a lot of people have to consider unless maybe you're going to hire private security to follow you around, which I think most guys either are not going to do that or are afraid of that making them an even bigger target.
34:09 Most expats, foreigners living abroad, are not going to hire private security. And if you don't feel like you can be comfortable somewhere without private security, maybe it's not the right fit. I don't feel like I need that in Southeast Asia, at least where I go in Southeast Asia.
34:33 Newman says, "I'm doing the same thing. My wife is a Filipina. I'm putting away money and hoping to retire in my late 50s in Iloilo. Eight more years to go."
34:41 That sounds fantastic. I didn't make it to Iloilo this time; I would like to next time because a lot of people really like Iloilo City. A lot of people have told me the infrastructure is fantastic.
34:58 There's a lot of new developments happening there. They have a modern shopping mall, and it's just an excellent place to live. I think it's great too if you have a local partner who speaks the local dialects and can help you navigate your way around and communicate with sales people.
35:24 You can kind of send her off sometimes if you're trying to avoid the tourist pricing. Whenever I travel around Bangkok with my Thai friends, it really helps me to avoid touts and scams and just issues in general.
35:45 So I think having a partner that is a local makes all the difference in the world. Feel free to chime in by the way, guys, any thoughts or questions you have.
36:07 I wouldn't mind going back to Bangkok; it's my favorite big city in the world. Chiang Mai is one of my favorite cities in general, but Bangkok, as far as what I would call global cities, the neon lights, a lot of people compare it to the movie Blade Runner.
36:23 You have these giant billboards and you have lights and sounds and smells, and it's just a really cool environment. By the way, guys, please give us a thumbs up if you're enjoying this stream; it always helps to push this to more people.
36:42 I'll show this plate one more time. I should probably start to eat it. But yeah, this is just a plate that I purchased for $15 to support the medical mission to the Philippines. I'll drop a link to that as well, if you want to go check out the website.
37:03 This is a great organization. Let me look it up. I'm not affiliated with them, but I just thought I'd share that as I, you know, the Philippines has provided me with a lot. I made a lot of lifelong friends in the Philippines. I learned to develop a sense of gratitude.
37:47 I had a conversation recently with some friends here in the States about that, where I have friends that are always doing upward social comparisons. So they're always comparing themselves to more successful people.
38:02 Comparing themselves to more successful people, like, yeah, I'm a millionaire, but this one guy started a company and now he's a hundred millionaire. And maybe I drive a late-model vehicle, but this other guy drives a nicer late-model vehicle.
38:21 Be nice, Mr. Dave. A lot of us don't do downward social comparisons. I don't mean this in a way of being condescending or looking down on people, but anybody who's been to the Philippines that's being honest can admit there's a lot of struggle there.
38:41 If you're meeting people and you see that they're going through a difficult time in life, and their life in general is difficult, right? They're living in a pretty humble abode, they don't have much to eat. You start to think, man, I'm really fortunate.
39:01 Like I have a paid-off car in the driveway. I have a job that pays me what many Filipino people earn in one year, I earn that in about a month. Now, I do have higher expenses, but I don't ever go hungry.
39:24 And so that was something I learned a lot in the Philippines: be grateful for what you have, appreciate what you have, and don't take it for granted. Because a lot of Filipinos come here to the United States for opportunity.
39:37 Where we see traffic or crowding or frustrations, they see opportunity and a place where they can earn a lot of money to help their family, to live a better life, to provide for their children, to live a life that they couldn't live.
40:01 I think of all the different groups of people I've met in the United States, talking to Filipinos, and I'm sure this isn't all Filipinos, but many of them really helped me to appreciate what we have.
40:19 And to see things that I think Americans from America don't always see. So yeah, get off my soap box here.
40:38 I feel like Elo is probably on the up and up. There's no place that's perfect. I think it's just a place that's growing a lot. A lot of people are wanting to move there.
40:49 Elo is actually home of nursing education in the Philippines. So, I definitely want to see it next time. I actually have some friends in Panay Island, and I'd like to go meet them, specifically James and Karen.
41:05 If any of you have watched James and Karen's vlogs, they're a lovely couple.
41:15 Another angle for nursing: insurance companies will hire registered nurses. These jobs can be done remotely. Just a thought.
41:22 That's a good point. I recently did a checkup for my latest job, and the nurse that checked me out told me that he wants to do a remote nursing job. So, I'll look into that because that's a great option.
41:36 Newman, that's a solid option. I'm curious though, have you thought about doing that? Because you already have the education and experience. That seems like a great way to accelerate your retirement.
41:46 Of course, I don't know if the wages are the same, right? I imagine remote nursing may not have the same income potential as being a nurse in person, but certainly that's something I should look into.
42:03 I'm saying a lot. I apologize, guys. It just kind of, um, been a long day. But yeah, anyway.
42:19 Teach their own. I think Beed's probably a great city. I haven't been to Bolid, but Elo. Yeah, Newman says, 'Wages are the same. I own a house and don't want to sell until I have my investments.'
42:32 Yeah, that's a great point. Well, if the Oh, okay. I see. So then that's fair if you want to wait until your investments mature and you're a homeowner. Yeah, that's a great point, Newman.
43:04 I certainly enjoyed the pop on Amazon stock. I have some Amazon stock, and that did really well as a result of the earnings report last week. That was great.
43:17 We could always use more growth in Amazon stock. Some might say the opposite; they believe in Amazon and want it at the cheapest price possible, wanting to load up and buy it before it becomes even more expensive.
43:30 But I'm definitely happy with the performance in that. And I'm looking forward to having a job where I can invest more because that's how we buy our freedom overseas, right?
43:45 Is we have investments that can grow and produce income as well, depending on the type of investment.
44:03 Mr. Dave, don't hate on Elo, okay? There's I actually kind of disagree. I think you don't have to have a car in the Philippines.
44:14 For me personally, if I was going to live in the Philippines long-term, I'd rather just hire cabs. I think that the traffic in the Philippines, because of population density, actually owning a car can be challenging.
44:23 Specifically trying to find parking. I have friends that have cars in the Philippines, several friends with cars, and they've all mentioned it can be challenging to find parking.
44:37 And it's fine if you want to drive around, but when you need to find parking, especially if you're in one of the many cool, nice places in the Philippines, you might have a hard time trying to find that parking.
44:45 So, I think I'd rather just hire cabs and get around that way. Don't have to worry about maintenance, don't have to worry about upkeep, don't have to worry about getting dinged or fender benders or that kind of thing. So yeah, teach their own.
45:48 I'm just sending a message to my buddy who's living in Davao. So he's over there for, I think, another 8 to 12 months. He's waiting on his K1 visa for his fiance to process, and he'll be coming back to the United States.
46:03 I wouldn't mind interviewing him actually and talking to him about that experience. I'll send him a message just to see if he's open. It might be fun to do like a chat about that, ask him how that process is going.
46:15 And yeah, so he's living there in Davao and he's enjoying it a lot. He just moved into a new house and he's having a lot of fun with it.
46:30 Before, I had near panic attacks and the price went down. I couldn't relax. Each person has to determine how much risk they're comfortable with.
46:39 I've certainly had some extreme ups and downs, and that's why I have the gray hair I have: from making mistakes investing. Fortunately, things have come back, and I've learned a lot through my mistakes.
46:57 So, yeah, it's not for everyone. I don't give investment advice. I don't give financial advice. Each person has to determine what they want to do.
47:04 By the way, guys, I'm going to turn on the little heater here. It's getting a little chilly. I'll be right back.
47:40 ETFs are a solid investment. They pay out quarterly or yearly, 4% and up. If you have enough invested, you'll have a paycheck in perpetuity.
47:47 I definitely have some plans to buy ETFs again in the future. I sold some to swap some stuff around. So I sold some to buy. I still have some ETFs, specifically VTI and BT, but I sold some to buy some Nvidia in April when the crash happened.
48:12 And I picked up some Nvidia, which has done really well, increased over 100%, maybe 110% in value. So that was a good decision.
48:23 But I may take some Nvidia off the table just to have a little cash in case we have a pullback. It seems like a pullback will probably be healthy sometime in the next 6 months to a year.
48:34 Seems like the economy is not doing too well based on what I've been hearing. I know a lot of employers are doing budget cuts.
48:44 And yeah, I was surprised by the number of trick-or-treaters by my house. Thousands. That's a ton of cars. That's a lot of trick-or-treaters.
48:58 There's a lot in my neighborhood here, and a lot of people were really having a great time. Last night I went and visited some friends down the street and hung out with my buddies, and that's always a lot of fun.
49:13 I decided I'll only go to small islands in the Philippines. I don't know. I happen to like a lot about some Philippine cities.
49:24 I think some are better than others, but small islands are where a lot of people want to be. A lot of people in the Philippines live in the cities because that's where their job is, but they're from a provincial area.
49:37 They're from a place that doesn't have quite the same opportunity as Manila or Cebu, Davao, even Dumaguete. So, nothing wrong with having preferences.
49:48 I like the cities in the Philippines because of conveniences. I find them to be more convenient: more malls, dating, restaurants, flights, that kind of thing. But certainly, everybody has different priorities when it comes to travel and where they want to live.
50:46 Did you miss the food in the States when you were abroad? Do you miss foods from there since you're home? Yes and yes, Newman.
50:52 I do miss the food in the States when I'm abroad. When I came back, that was the first thing that I did: hit up a bunch of places that I hadn't had in several years.
51:07 I find that you can get approximately similar foods in Asia, but it's not exactly the same. Like there's no In-N-Out Burger in Southeast Asia. There's no... um, Euros can be hit or miss.
51:20 There's occasionally you can find a good Euro, but most of the time it's just not the same. It's... well, you know, you can get decent options in like Bangkok. Bangkok, I think, is the best food city in the world.
51:37 But you, I miss the food more from over there while I'm here. I find Asian food here is just very expensive and caters more to like a western palette. So often it's just not as spicy.
51:51 And yeah, it's just not as spicy. So I think I'm more leaning toward missing the food from over there while I'm here. Also, the convenience factor.
52:02 So I find in a lot of Asian cities, it doesn't matter the hour. I can go out and get Asian food. I can get it delivered to my place for nothing. And here, most Asian restaurants close.
52:14 And here, most Asian restaurants close at 9:00 p.m. Unless you're in like Las Vegas, everything closes at like 9:00. And it's a lot more expensive. There's some kind of charm about eating in, sitting on a tiny plastic stool, even if it's in a restaurant or going to a mall food court. I find dining is just not as social here in the States, and that's something I miss a lot when I'm over there.
52:46 I also miss the variety of Asian food here. Migration patterns are such that in the US, for example, if you like Vietnamese food, it's almost all southern Vietnamese food. So, if you like Hanoi style or central Vietnamese food, it's just not going to be as common. Much more often, you're going to have southern style, which is cool. I like it, but it's similar to Filipino food. If you like Filipino food, you're most often going to get Lison or Manila style Filipino food, which I like. But if you want something that's more Visayas or Mindanao style Filipino food, I just don't think that's as common.
53:38 I think you're going to get a regional focus as opposed to, hey, in Thailand, I could get southern style Thai food, and in the south of Thailand, I could get northern style, and in Bangkok, I can get all of it. Where here, it's much more often like Pad Thai. It's not easy to find Phat Kaphrao. It's very rare for me to see Phat Kaphrao on the menu of an American Thai restaurant, just not as popular to have minced pork versus people preferring like chicken breast or higher-end cuts of meat here in the US.
54:14 So you don't have as much. You also don't have like the offcuts of meat. So I do prefer Asian food in Asia overall. There are some great chefs here, and certainly capitalism rewards those Asian chefs interested to work here in the States, but I feel like the whole experience over there of sitting on the stool and eating, cooking from a family-style restaurant, that's harder to find here. Not impossible, but...
54:54 Mr. Dave says, "My dad made a fortune from Nvidia stock in the past five years and donated all to charity." How generous. Yeah, I think a lot of people did really well with Nvidia. I wish I'd loaded up and bought a lot more.
55:20 The girl I like works at SMCside Sibu. I hope she's still single. My dream is to live in Chiang Mai with her and cycle a lot and visit Philippine Islands sometimes and her hometown.
55:48 I'm going to start to try some of this food, guys. I'm getting hungry. I'm going to try some of this. That's really good. This is on point. Let's try some of the rice.
56:38 Shangmai condos are much cheaper than in the Philippines. I thought in the Philippines, unless you're talking about Manila, Sibu, or Davao, it's just not as easy to find condos. It's more kind of old school, kind of got that old-world vibe. So you see a lot more small apartments, studios, single-family homes versus Thailand is very much, in some cases, hyper-modern. So it's like all condos.
57:12 So yeah, you have to just kind of figure out what your preference is. I don't see either one. I've asked a lot which is better, Thailand or the Philippines. I don't think either is better. I think it just depends on your preference. What do you prefer? Some people prefer Thailand, some people prefer the Philippines. You don't have to choose forever. There's a lot of people that live in one and visit the other, or swap back and forth, or try one for several years, try the other. There's no rule against enjoying both. I don't think it's a competition.
57:44 Personally, I'm a ham radio operator in the States. Been trying for almost four years to get a license here. I joined the right club and they treated me like royalty. Mr. Dave, why are you deleting your messages? Anyway, that's awesome, Cars. I'm glad to hear it. I've never tried ham radio operation, but that sounds really cool.
58:06 Sometimes it's not what you know, too. I would agree with that. Yeah. I mean, actually, I got my job through somebody I met through this channel. He's very fortunate. A lot of my subscribers are awesome people. One of my subscribers has been through a challenging time in his life before, and we have a lot in common. He was able to find me a job, and now I'm renting a room for him. So, things, it's really wild how the internet can connect people, like-minded people.
58:35 And I'm enjoying my new job. And it's, uh, yeah, it's a great, it's been a great experience. For someone who cooks American-style food a lot, do you think I'd have a problem acquiring ingredients at the store there? I agree. An In-N-Out Burger is the best. I would say it's mixed, Newman. So, there's a couple things I'd suggest for you.
58:58 One is if you can, like, if you visit, what I would suggest is visiting prior to your move. So, like, if you're going to move in eight years, maybe visiting in a few years. And it's different from vacation mode. Vacation mode, we're usually eating at restaurants, staying at hotels, hiring cabs. But try to do like maybe even a week where you're living there. So you're copying what it would look like to live in that city, going to the grocery stores, going to the markets.
59:41 Maybe taking a list, like if you and your wife make a grocery list here in the States, taking that with you and going to a few different grocery stores, seeing, okay, what can I find on this random day in April or this random day in October? Can I find what I'm looking for? What can I find? What can I not find? And some things will go out of stock. You know, sometimes luck of the draw in the Philippines, they get a shipment and then it sells out and they don't have the item for a while.
1:00:12 Going back, and I would consider, if I were you, doing like a balikbayan box. A lot of foreigners like to do that. They mail themselves ingredients. Of course, you have to worry about if you can send food, what kinds of food you can send, what kinds you can't. Also, checking out Amazon, seeing if you can order certain foods there. And figuring out how you can kind of supplement it because it depends on the size of your city, too. Like, if you're in Manila, you're going to have the most selection. Sibu also has decent selection. Davao, too, from what I've heard.
1:00:46 I haven't been to Davao, but if you're in a smaller city than Manila, Sibu, or Davao, I think your options are going to be less. Not zero, but less. And you might have to go to several different stores. So in Dumaguete, I used to go to Robinson's. I used to go to the local market, and there was another place I can't remember. Oh, Belchrist, which is like an import grocery store. I would go to and there was a fourth place, but I would find myself going to like four different places to get groceries. So you may find that you have to go to three or four places to get all the things that you want.
1:01:38 They typically Robinson's will have a frozen food section. So one of my friends, he happens to like American adult beverages and he happens to also like certain things like French fries or corn dogs. He'll look for those at a Robinson-style grocery store. So, he'll go to the frozen section and he'll pick out all the things that he wants there. I think they're comparably priced, but if you're in retirement mode, you know, you planned effectively, that shouldn't be an issue.
1:02:05 But that's one thing is like when it comes to Western-style food in the Philippines, you're typically paying at least as much as you would in the West, if not more. I know that it was possible to find Costco products, but they're actually marked up because somebody has to go buy them at Costco, then mail them over, and then somebody has to store them in their store, pay their rent, taxes, all that. So, I would...
1:02:30 Yeah. Um, I was planning on sending my boxes to my wife's family for us. Would you... What would you send yourself? Seasoning, canned goods. Those are a great place to start because canned goods have a long shelf life.
1:02:57 And uh, seasonings. I don't know. Certain seasonings that wouldn't go stale. I would send yourself certain other seasonings, they can dry out. But yeah, that's what I would consider. And I would also, like, if you can, Newman, try to check out if there's any vlogs that you see, vloggers that you like, or try to see anybody, maybe even searching on YouTube. I haven't done this, but I should check it out too. Watch somebody pack a balikbayan box. So see, hey, what do you put in there? What kind of ingredients or items do you put in there?
1:03:29 How long did it take for them to get from the US to the Philippines? Did anything spoil? Was there anything that you'd say are not allowed to be mailed? I think certain maybe certain meat products are not allowed to be sent. I don't think any seeds are allowed to be sent. So, just kind of seeing what other people have had success with.
1:03:58 Yeah, you can start vlogging, Mr. Dave. I blogged you because you kept messaging me. You messaged me like 10 or 12 times without a response, and it was just like, you got to be mindful, Mr. Dave, of other people's boundaries. I just, you know, I don't mean to be ugly, but not everybody...
1:04:18 I don't know, that's just something we have to be mindful of is people have different boundaries, and certain subjects, some people don't want to talk about. But, um, no hard feelings. I just needed some space, Mr. Dave.
1:04:41 Yeah, In-N-Out's awesome. In-N-Out. They opened in Colorado. Uh, and I stopped in Colorado on my way out here and had In-N-Out several times, and it was delicious.
1:05:34 Mr. Dave, you're you're uh you're kind of confrontational, Mr.
1:05:36 You're kind of confrontational, Mr. Dave, and you don't always pick up on certain cues very well. Does anybody else have something to talk about besides Mr. today being upset?
1:06:01 And I'm not the only one, Mr. Dave. I'm not trying to pick on you, but Chad also blocked you. It just, you know, certain topics can make people feel uncomfortable. We have to be mindful that not everybody likes being called handsome and attractive and all these other things. I'm sure you don't mean harm, but not everybody is a mind reader who can understand that you're trying that that's your way of communicating.
1:06:28 What would you say the big differences are between the burgers in the Philippines and the US? I see bloggers say burgers are good there. What are your thoughts?
1:06:37 So, I would say they are good there with a caveat. I think where people get disappointed sometimes is they expect to pay like 50 pesos for a burger and then they get upset that it's not equivalent to the 500 peso burger in America or the thousand peso burger in America.
1:07:00 I think that if you look for more of a western-style restaurant and you're willing to pay for it, you can have fantastic burgers in the Philippines. I know Army Navy is a really popular chain. I ate there once, and it was great. There's a popular location in Cebu City, and I can't remember the name of it, but it's like a late-night spot, or it was when I went there six years ago.
1:07:28 I really enjoyed it. But you know, you're paying like 500 pesos, maybe 600 per person. So that's what I'd say to be mindful of is that you can get good burgers in the Philippines, but you have to be prepared to pay an American price.
1:07:43 Where America, I'd say they're good everywhere, but there's no 50 or 100 peso option in America. That's the biggest difference, I would say.
1:07:57 It's possible to not get like a not-so-good burger in the Philippines, but I find quality control is decent at the more popular restaurants. I always check reviews, too. Reviews are a big thing for me anywhere I am in the world.
1:08:18 And you can, and that's one of those things too, like some people have mixed feelings about it, but talking to other expats, it's not all expats are good. I've definitely gone into detail about that. But if you can, you know, like if you go to, let's say, you go to a popular, you Google search on Google like reviews for, you know, good burger spots, and then you pull up and it's like, has a ton of foreigners there, that's a good sign, right?
1:08:50 Where if you pull up and there's like nobody there, that's a bad sign. So that's a big one I look for. And that goes for any style of restaurant is a good restaurant will be busy anywhere in the world. And a bad restaurant will typically be empty anywhere in the world.
1:09:10 But you're going to have to, you know, like I said, you're going to have to pay if you want a quality burger in the Philippines because typically they're having to import the beef, usually from Australia. Typically, they like use Australian beef in the Philippines. You can get American beef as well, it costs a bit more.
1:09:34 Ironically, I found in Dumaguete, there's Moon Cafe, and it can be cheaper to get a steak than a good burger because the owner of Moon Cafe buys in such large quantities, they're able to offer a better price point on their steaks than some other places are able to offer on their burgers. I was getting the fillet for like 440 pesos at Moon.
1:10:16 But guys, I think I'm going to wrap up soon. My voice is starting to go a bit. Any other questions or thoughts you guys have? Try another Olympia here.
1:11:16 Thank you, Cars. Well, guys, I appreciate everybody watching. If you haven't already, give us a thumbs up. Subscribe to the channel if you want to see more content like this. Feel free to comment down below what do you think about the plate that I ordered to support this medical mission. I'll drop the name one more time. Anybody watching this on replay wants to check it out.
1:11:33 And yeah, I'll come at you guys with another update here in the near future. Hope everybody has a great rest of their weekend, and we'll talk soon. Bye-bye, everybody.
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