I Lost An Important Memory Card - December Plans - Happy Holidays - Housekeeping

Introduction and Live Stream Setup

0:08 Hey everybody, we'll give it a few moments to load up. It's early, well, it's like 8:30. I just thought I'd go live. It's been, I guess, about a week or so since I last went live. I've cut back on them because, honestly, I did a poll and it turns out you guys are not as into the lives based on the responses to the poll. So these will, of course, continue to be not as frequent as they were, just based on what the audience wants.

0:49 I know that some people have suggested I do more travel content, but then the travel content I've done doesn't really get a lot of engagement. So yeah, hey Saul, good to see you, welcome to the stream. How are you doing today? Are you here in Southeast Asia or are you in the United States? I'm looking for something to wipe my screen, it's a little bit fuzzy there.

1:31 Okay, I've got a screen wipe. After this, I've got to go to the LRA, it's like a laundromat around the corner. And yeah, you know, I'm doing laundry probably every couple of weeks, maybe every 10 days or so.

2:07 And you're in Arkansas, planning to retire here in about five years. Wonderful. Yeah, it's overall really nice. Are you going to be coming here to Dumaguete or do you have another part of the Philippines in mind?

2:38 See if this helps out here. Oh yeah, that's a lot. Guys, the window is very bright on the screen. Got it. Yeah, it's the sun comes up super fast here.

3:18 I'm 54, retiring at 59. Dumaguete is on my list for sure. Yeah, it's a solid option if you like Western amenities, a more laid-back, small-town atmosphere. Dumaguete definitely has that. There's a sizable expat community here. For better or worse, it's a good landing spot. If you're not ready for Manila or Cebu, a big city kind of environment, yeah, a soft landing is the best way to describe Dumaguete. It's a small, it's a soft landing, easy to get around town, easy to navigate the grocery stores, restaurants, shopping malls.

4:03 It's getting a little bit harder to find a place to live, to be honest with you, especially for a long-term lease. But there are definitely still options out there. I mean, it took me a little bit to find my place, but I'm happy with this.

Lost Memory Card and December Plans

4:35 Feel free to chime in, everybody. I know we've got four people on here now. Yeah, just talking about December plans and thoughts about next year. I need to start doing like writing, sitting down and taking notes. I lost a memory card.

4:51 I lost a memory card, and I had a memory card from a trip I took with a buddy a couple weeks ago, and I'm kind of bummed out about that. I'm trying to get over it, but I just can't find it. I looked as much as I possibly could, and it just doesn't seem to be here. I'm hoping it turns up at some point because it's got some fantastic clips of the island and just like, you know, where we went. We went to this really beautiful church, and it was just a great experience.

5:21 It's 3 degrees Celsius here. How warm is it there? I won't miss the winter. It is, let's see here, forecast. Right now, it's 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Let's see Celsius, 29. It's 29 degrees Celsius here in Dumaguete at 8:30 AM.

5:39 I like to get up around 5:30 in the morning. Well, 5:00 AM. I wake up around 5:00 AM. I'm usually filming by 6:00 AM, and then I film from like 6:00 AM until 8:00, 8:30 AM. Some days, if I'm doing collaborations, we collaborate until like 10:00 or 11:00 AM.

6:05 But yeah, the heat does come out, and as it gets hotter, filming slows down a bit. Yeah, you won't miss the winter. I don't miss the winter at all. I like that a lot about being in Southeast Asia. No real winter.

6:31 People back home, you know, dealing with overcast weather, gray skies, clouds. People are just kind of beaten down because of the bad weather. And here, people are cheerful. Actually, the nights get a little bit longer, so I find it's even more fun because you can just go out and hang out with friends. It gets dark here around 5:30 PM. Went out for dinner at like 6:00, 6:30, and it had cooled off.

6:56 So here, it's almost kind of nice that the days are shorter because you get longer nights where it cools off, where the sun's not out. And I'm enjoying it. These are some of my favorite months in Southeast Asia, the months that would be winter back home, because it cools off in different ways here.

Life in Dumaguete and YouTube Growth

7:18 Yeah, so let's see. Everyone has the same 24 hours. That's a fantastic quote. I totally agree. Everybody's got the same 24 hours each day, and we all have to use our time wisely.

7:32 Doug says, have you been up to Twin Lakes? I'm wondering how far away it is. The climate looks like it should be much cooler by the elevation. Doug, I'm not familiar with Twin Lakes. Feel free to expand upon it. Is Twin Lakes here in the Philippines? I don't know that I've heard about it.

7:48 Saul says, sweet, thank you. Saul, Manila says, Alex, are you planning to go away? Stay cool. No, you know, the channel keeps growing really fast. I've been shocked at how fast the channel is growing. I've got a documentary coming out in about two weeks.

8:12 And as the channel keeps growing, it just provides more and more incentive. My investments are also performing well, strongly enough that I'm getting in a better financial position than I was when I left the United States a year and a half ago. And as my investments continue to perform, it basically allows me to own my time.

8:39 So I could go back home and sell my time, but I'm kind of on the fence where it's like, okay, well, I own my time here. I could keep working on YouTube. Now, some people would say, oh, you can't succeed on YouTube, this and that, blah blah blah. Success to me is not I make a million dollars a year on YouTube. Success to me is I own my own time and I get to live where I want. And the barrier for that is not extreme.

9:05 So to me, half the success of YouTube is just meeting cool people. Like yesterday, I hung out with my buddy Eric, and I met him through the channel. I meet people all the time through the channel. I have people coming up to me recognizing me all the time. So there's also a social component where back home it's lonely. I mean, back home, I just don't get to interact with people that I get along with very much. It's just very fast-paced, very stressful.

9:31 So yeah, as YouTube continues to succeed and my investments continue to improve in value, it becomes an easier sell for me to stay in Southeast Asia. I do eventually want to go to Indonesia. It's of interest to me. Next year, maybe I'll step out for like a month or two in Indonesia. I don't have anything booked, but it's kind of on my radar, let's say.

Relocating to the Philippines and Cebu as a Base

10:09 Craig says, planning to travel to the Philippines, coming after the loss of a partner. Would like to find the best location to start. So Craig, I'm so sorry to hear about that. I imagine you're going through a very difficult circumstance right now. I hate to hear that you're experiencing this. That being said, I could understand why after such tragedy, you'd want to relocate. Tragedy is part of what brought me to Southeast Asia.

10:32 I've discussed it a little bit in other videos, but I think it's one of those valid reasons to come here. A lot of guys, they've got weird reasons, valid but weird reasons to come to Southeast Asia. Tragedy is one of those things that's unavoidable in life, and I get the appeal. I think Cebu is a solid landing spot. You land in Cebu, you go to IT Park or Ayala Center, kind of that area, you almost call it like a downtown area, or at least it's near downtown.

11:04 You get your SIM card, you get the lay of the land, you exchange your dollars or your currency, maybe Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, British pounds to the Philippine peso, and then you're able to have your cash in hand. So, when I landed in the Philippines five years ago, I literally had to have my taxi driver take me to a money exchange to be able to pay him. I had to stop and exchange money, he hung out with the meter running.

11:39 Not the end of the world. I recommend downloading the Grab app before you go because that way you land at the airport, you're not having to do some kind of exchange of funds. But I'm a fan of Cebu. Some people don't like Cebu, but I like Cebu. I think it's easy mode. You can get your SIM card. You forgot anything at home? I feel like all of us, we show up and we're like, ah, what happened to my toothpaste? Or the airport doesn't want you to bring the big toothpaste tube with you.

12:09 Maybe that's uplifting your mind. Anything you need to get product-wise, maybe you need sunscreen, maybe you need to buy a hat, maybe you need to buy some clothing that's breathable, whatever it is that maybe you forgot to pack. Because I'm this way, I always forget something. You stop there, you're able to go and get all these different things. Anything that you forgot, you can handle errands.

12:33 For me, I need to renew my passport, so that's something I'm going to be doing in the coming months is taking a trip to Cebu because I've got to renew my passport. My passport expires next summer, and I don't want to wait until the last minute to have to get an emergency passport. This is my first time renewing my passport, and I didn't expect to be outside the United States for that renewal.

13:00 So it's going to be interesting to do that. But yeah, Cebu, great landing spot in my opinion. Some guys who don't like big cities, it may be too overwhelming, but I think it's a place where you could just sit in a condo, get over your jet lag. Maybe your condo has a pool, you can go swimming. You can just kind of learn. I look at it almost like tutorial mode or like tutorial island or something like that, where you can learn a lot of your basics in a very combined place.

Dating Scene and Financial Independence

13:31 And yeah, let me get caught up here. Wow. Thank you, sir. Yeah, thank you. Twin Lakes is super far up in the mountains, kind of near Duma. Twin Lakes is above.

13:45 Kind of near Duma Twin Lakes is above Valencia. Uh, Craig says, 'Looking to start dating.' Any thoughts, Craig? I don't know if you mean for you or for me. I've been doing some dating, but I'm taking it slow. I'm not in a rush like so many guys are, like, 'Oh, you need to be in a relationship.' And it's like, conversely, you get in a bad relationship, 'Why'd you rush into a relationship?' Some of the expats here could be very contradictory. I say take your time.

14:13 There are so many wonderful women here, but they're not all wonderful to the same guy. Different guys are seeking different things in a partner. They want a different lifestyle, a different temperament, different activities. Some guys are looking to meet somebody and bring them back home. Others are looking to stay here long-term, and there's just everything in between. So, I'm super patient about it.

14:43 I have friends that are dating here in their 70s. Me being in my early 30s, I don't expect the Philippines to run out of lovely women at any time in my lifetime. I don't see that happening at any point in my lifetime, and I meet more and more potential candidates every day. I mean, like, every single day.

15:02 I'm meeting somebody new, and it's not a casual fun thing. It's not a, 'Oh, we're going to go hang out,' this and that. It's like, 'No, just get dinner or get coffee,' or meet up at the park. You know, it's I don't feel guys put way too much pressure on themselves to meet 'the one.'

15:18 And, you know, I just don't feel that pressure. I've had so much dating experience in my life that, per, you know, it's like there, I don't know.

15:37 Anyway, Google Maps says Twin Lakes is like 45 minutes away from Dagat, but not many roads up that way. Twin Lakes is 3 to 4,000 feet, probably feet, not meters. Yeah, I'm not a motorbike rider, so that's something that kind of makes it harder to get up there.

15:54 By the way, guys, please give us a thumbs up if you're enjoying this live stream. William the Conqueror says, '99.9% of men that come to the Philippines come for the wonderful women.' Yeah, I would agree with that, Will. I would say it's the top reason for everybody.

16:11 I often say this: if you're a single guy coming to the Philippines and you say women are not a consideration, many of them, not all, but many of them would be being deceptive. There are occasionally guys that come here, they've just been through a rough divorce or breakup. Maybe they're not into women, or maybe some expats have a different preference or orientation. That's totally fine.

16:33 But a lot of guys that are coming here, that's one of the things that's a major focus for them. Shiva Kumar, hello Shiva. At some point, can you talk about your dividend strategy and investments? I've been seeing in an earlier video you talked about putting your software engineer job and living off dividends.

16:53 So I actually worked in software sales and I pivoted more to crypto and growth strategy. As these equities or investments grow a lot, I will pivot toward putting them into more dividend-paying stocks. But yeah, that's a good point. I need to do... I kind of want to do like an expat finance channel and just split it off from my main channel because there's a lot of reasons for that.

17:21 One, I think you attract a better crowd if I'm being honest. Kind of generalized expat content attracts some of the drags of expat societies, whereas the people who are more concerned about finance and focusing on finance tend to be a higher caliber of person, a person who wants to do this responsibly, a person who wants to do this with longevity.

Dividend Investing and Living Below Means

17:45 And it's more interesting, and there's accountability. And, yeah, I mean, that's something that's been on my mind is, you know, doing something more finance-focused. But yeah, happy to talk about that in the future.

18:02 I learned about the dividend strategy from Jason. Jason lives in Thailand. Jason Feber, and he does a blog called Mr. Free at 33. And I'll throw this in the comments down below because I'm just a fan of Jason, been inspired by Jason. But he moved to Thailand with like a portfolio of around $400,000.

18:24 And at a 4% withdrawal rate, let's say 3% withdrawal rate just for safety factor, that's $12,000 per year. 3% of 400k is 12,000, that's $1,000 per month. And he's been living in Thailand for like close to 10 years now.

18:38 And so he just lived far below his means. He saved every penny. Some people will say, 'Oh, no, you can't live on $1,000 per month in such and such country.' And they don't look at the fact that the average person in these countries doesn't make $1,000 a month.

18:54 So you're comfortable in a lot of different places on that amount. Are you rich? No, you're not rich. But are you suffering terribly? Well, some people might call it that. I don't feel that way. I live on like much less.

19:08 I've got some videos coming out lately where I talk about the number that I live on. I know I'm gonna get a lot of hate for it. Oh, I know people are gonna just trash me. They're gonna give me such a hard time for living on the budget that I live on because they think that you can't be happy on a modest budget.

19:25 They think that the budget is going to be, like, just... I don't know. I think some people, they think that there's a finite... Hey D, good to see you. You know, some people, they kind of what I do call, they do what I call gatekeeping, right? They say that like you have to have this much, you can only do it on this much.

19:46 I mean, I've seen some guys do videos where they will put out there that you need $4,000 a month to live as an expat. It's like, you know what? A small percentage of the world's population has a $4,000 per month income. That's like, by global standards, you're rich if you make $4,000 a month or more. You're very wealthy.

20:10 Even more so if it's coming from investments, like it's not coming from earned income from a job, because of the tax rates, you're paying a lower tax rate on investment income as opposed to income from a job. So yeah. Hey Lincoln, Happy Thanksgiving, welcome to the stream.

20:30 I like the thought of tutorial mode for a place like Manila or Cebu. It's hectic, but everything is right there. Are you moving to Cebu? So I'm looking at doing a month in Cebu. Things didn't seem to be... Anyway, I'm not going to get into my personal life on this stream, but Cebu has a lot of appeal for me for at least a one-month duration.

20:49 I don't know if I want to commit to a lease in Cebu, but going up there for a month, it would be great. I do some collaborating with some people I really like, people like John Smo. I'm sure most of you are familiar with John, Wang Heidi, and Sabrina. And the collaborations are just a lot of fun for me.

21:08 I get to meet different people and learn a lot and contribute to their channel as well. It's like a positive synergy. They get an interesting guest, I get to meet somebody who I like their content, I like their content creation. It's, and I just, I'm craving the big city vibe. I grew up in Nashville, and Nashville's got several million people, and I just miss it at times.

21:35 I miss being in a bigger city. I like Jim Mati, Jim Mcet is about as small as I can reasonably enjoy. It's got a lot for how big it is, but there's times I miss the hustle and bustle. I miss just that like fast pace. I miss being around these kind of... I mean, Dagat is not as city where most people are coming to work. Most people, they come to do meeti, to slow down, to chill out.

22:06 In Cebu, a lot of people are moving up there for work. They're moving up there to work in the BPO industry, the healthcare industry. They've also got the college factor, but it's really like a working city. Dumaguete has some of that, but more people are coming here to retire and to just chill out. So the vibe kind of dictates that.

YouTube as a Career and Cebu City Plans

22:25 Where I'm now at a retirement age, even if I was financially independent, I'd still want to be working. I mean, what would I do all day? I joke around that a lot with my friends. I'm like, I do YouTube because I need things to do, like I need to be engaging and have some kind of pressure to produce something of value for society.

22:47 So yeah, I'm doing very well. John, where are you staying now? I heard in earlier videos you want to try Cebu City. I'm living in the city now. Yeah. So, um, yeah, so I want to do a month in Cebu. I'm tempted to go up in January. I would need to give notice at this apartment and then also let them know, hey, I'll come back in February.

23:12 Thinking about boomeranging back, but I'd like to go up to Cebu for a month at least. I've been reaching out to some condos up there, trying to gauge, do I want to stay there for longer than a month? But I'd like to do at least a month in Cebu. It just makes sense for a lot of different reasons, and I didn't really get a fully... I didn't get to fully explore it last time.

23:32 So I was last in Cebu about five years ago. I spent about a week in Cebu and I enjoyed it, but, you know, I had to go to Japan. I wanted to go to Japan, and so I flew to Japan right after. I felt like, man, I should have given Cebu more time. I just had time constraints. That trip was more discovery, like, give the Philippines a month, we'll see what it's about, and if I like it, I can come back.

24:01 And so that's what I'd like to do is expand upon that trip. I've heard Cebu has more going on now than it did five years ago. There's like more of a nightlife scene, there's more going on at night. It's really like a happening place, even more so than it was five years ago. And I could explore more. I want to go up into the hills. I want to see different parts of the city from what I saw last time.

24:29 And use where I stayed last time as kind...

24:31 And use where I stayed last time as kind of a base. I was near the Ayala Center last time and I spent time in IT Park, dated a woman in IT Park, and it's a cool city. I want to learn more about dividends and yields and stuff. I've had a chunk just sitting in the bank and figured out CDs, so I got one just for now that expires just before I move. Very cool.

24:52 Lincoln, yeah, dividends. I recommend Mr. Free at 33. Anybody that wants to learn more about dividend investing, he, I learned a lot about what I know about dividend investing from him. And yeah, he's got a lot going on. He lives in Chiang Mai. I didn't meet him. Yeah, he's thinking about going back to the US or he's been talking about it for a year or so. But his financial situation is dramatically better than it was when he moved to Thailand. He's used his time very wisely.

25:26 People love a good horror story. People hate to hear success. Some people hate to hear success stories. Unfortunately, they really don't like the idea that leaving the United States or leaving the Western World can pay off. Yeah, can pay off. I mean, it just is so contrary to what people have been, people have believed for such a long time. Not saying it pays off for everybody, not saying it's the right decision for everybody. I don't do advice.

25:52 But for some people, like in retrospect, I'm doing way better than I was a year and a half ago without getting too much into details. Like it's been a good decision for my mental health, my physical health, and my bank account. In all three areas, I feel better than I did a year and a half ago.

26:12 I'm still in that gray zone where it may make sense to go back and work a couple of years. But people keep telling me I need to go home. And I'm like, you have no idea what my financial situation is. You don't know, like, yeah, you just don't know me that way.

26:33 Well, but um, let's get into D. Thank you so much, D. I'm so glad you're enjoying my vlogs. D is a wonderful person who's been a very kind supporter of this channel for a while and just been very encouraging. And we're very happy to have D here. She's just a wonderful.

26:51 Lincoln, California expat. I think he lives in Cebu and knows a lot of people. When I moved to Para, I think when I get settled, I will visit a friend in Cebu for a two-week period to experience it. Yeah, I've talked to John. I've been talking to John online for like three or four years. John's great. He's got a BPO business here, business process outsourcing.

27:16 And he, yeah, he's been very kind to me. A very thoughtful guy, very professional. He's like a good guy expat. He makes us look better than we are. But yeah, I get along with John. And John is probably going to be the first person I meet like when I land in Cebu after I get checked in and all that. I will probably, I might meet him that day, depending on his schedule, but within the first couple days, head to his office.

27:45 See what's up. Hey everybody, please give us a thumbs up if you're just now tuning in. It helps with the YouTube algorithm. It helps to boost the channel and, you know, to new potential new audience members.

28:06 Let's see. And yeah, D, I am very happy and healthy. Some days are better than others. Some days I do get kind of worn out. I'm starting to learn like the parts of town that are better fit for me. That's something that hasn't always been easy for me to figure out. Is like in a lot of cities, it's not readily apparent where a person would want to spend time.

28:31 Maybe for some people that know themselves really well, maybe better than I do, they can figure that out easily. But for me, it's taken, it's been kind of like an iterative process trying to figure out where do I not want to go in town, and where do I want to go in town, and who are the crowds of people that I relate to the most or I vibe with the most?

28:50 And now I've been able to figure that out. It's taking me a few months here in Dumaguete to figure out. One sec, guys, plug in my laptop here. To figure out where I want to be. But now, now I know where I want to be. And a lot of my happiness, a good chunk of my happiness comes from just being around the right people.

29:08 So now I know where that's at. I know where I want to be and who I want to spend time with and who I don't want to spend time with.

29:17 Yeah, it's a Lincoln. Cebu is cool. Like, I don't, some people really don't like it. I don't get why. To me, it's like they may just not like big cities. And Cebu happens to be a big city. But I think that's a better way to put it than like, I don't like Cebu. I mean, I like Cebu. I'm a big city guy, but Cebu has its charms.

29:37 The dining scene is really like awesome. I, I love, you know, I like Cebu a lot.

Dumaguete Lifestyle and Expat Complaints

29:48 Everyone has the same punches above its weight, but it's still an old-fashioned city in general. Yeah, I think that's a, you know, it's a somewhat fair assessment. Everyone, I think it's got a lot to offer for what it is.

30:14 But it's, you know, it caters more to the retired guy, the guy who like he's got the social security check, he's got the pension. You know, she's got some real estate back home and they just want to chill out, hang out at cafes, go to the mall. It's a slower pace.

30:36 And, you know, one of my buddies in town, that's what drew him here. He tried out some bigger cities. He said, ah, they're just too big for me. You know, he said, I'm from a small town. I like the small town vibe. I don't want to be in a big city. And so, like for him, Dumaguete is perfect.

30:58 Hey, Buick. Good to see you, Buick. Thank you so much for the encouragement. Cars, do you think Americans complain more than Filipinos? If so, why? 100% cars. I mean, Americans love to complain. They complain a lot. A lot of Americans, not all Americans, but a lot of Americans love to complain. They find fault with everything. They blame the Filipino people for everything. They don't take responsibility.

31:25 It could rain. Oh man, you know, it just, people are entitled. They're arrogant, they're spoiled. They expect to get their way every time. They think that because they've got some money, that people owe them something above and beyond the service that they are providing or they are paying for.

31:46 I have a select few expat friends here in Dumaguete I really get along with and spend time with. But I'm starting to learn a lot of them I just need to avoid. I hate to say it, but there's a fair amount of them that are negative. Naysayers, they don't want to be here, but they won't admit that for whatever reason. And they externalize their issues.

32:11 They, uh, they don't just accept, hey, it might not be the right fit for me. Maybe a different city might be the right fit for me. Maybe a different country might be the right fit for me. They just get hung up or stuck. And it's, it's, yeah, I've been learning. Let's put it this way.

32:28 Cars, I've learned this lesson the hard way. You know, you get here and you want to make friends, and maybe you have a predisposition toward being kind of a lonely person. I've had that kind of predisposition, you could say. And you think, oh, they're from the US, like we could be friends. And that's not always the case.

32:52 Why would you invest in dividends when Bitcoin? I don't do investing advice. Dream thread, so the problem with giving investing advice is that you tell somebody to buy this or buy that. One, it's legal liability, right? So if you don't have a license, even if you do have a license, there's liability with any kind of investment.

33:14 Two, I have some crypto, which I'm not going to discuss at this moment. I don't have Bitcoin. It's kind of a sore subject because I knew about Bitcoin a long time ago and listened to somebody's financial advice. Bitcoin could go up, it could go down. Everybody has to make decisions based on what level of risk they are comfortable with.

33:43 So yeah, I mean that's I. Anyway, everyone has the same 24 hours access to nature. And Dumaguete is something unique on planet Earth as far as cities go. Fresh air, yeah. The fresh air is great here. And I like going to D, going snorkeling in D. I like going hiking, sometimes with friends.

34:05 I've been meaning to go hiking. I need to set a time, maybe next weekend, with some buddies. Because I have some buddies that really like to go hiking here, and there's a lot of really nice nature here to enjoy.

34:17 Lincoln, have you gone to Siquijor yet? Every spot had fees to enter, but it wasn't too much. It was really nice. I heard Sumilon Island is another good little one near Duma, but didn't have the time.

34:33 I haven't yet, Lincoln, so I need to get over there. It just, I've heard it's pretty touristic, and I'm not as much into tourist stuff. So I don't know. It sounds bad, but I've been spoiled by the amount of travel I've done. And I'm not like a, I don't know. I'll get over there. I need to do just a day trip or something like that.

35:10 Yeah, you know, I think it's got more the backpacker vibe, and I feel like I've aged out of the backpacker scene to some degree. I still think it's probably pretty nice, like some of my friends have been and enjoyed it. But I stay pretty busy also, so it's kind of hard for me to get away for a day or two without feeling some level of guilt.

Happiness, Basic Needs, and Christmas Vibe

35:28 What is your average total monthly expense? I've got a couple videos coming out about that collaboration, so I'm not going to share that on this stream. But keep an eye out, Dream Thread, for upcoming collaborations. Should be coming out in the next few weeks.

35:46 One, I need to send B-roll over. So I have a collab with Chad coming out, Chad of Chad Foster Explorers. I just need to send him some B-roll, so I've been lagging on that. Sorry, Chad. And then another one with Mike, Mike of Mike's Philippine Retirement. Both guys, good friends of mine.

36:05 But I've done these collabs with them, so I don't want to, I don't want to disclose the amount. But it's, I'll tell you, Dream Thread, it's low. And it's lower than most people would be happy with. I feel generally very happy here, but I readily...

36:21 I'm generally very happy here, but I readily admit that it doesn't take much for me to be happy. I'll say it takes very little for me to be happy. I need three things to be happy: I need shelter. I've got shelter; this apartment is nicer than the apartment I had in California for eight times the price. My apartment in California was smaller, much older, and with terrible neighbors. My neighbors here are nice; one of my neighbors is actually a pilot. My California apartment was like 1100 a month, so paying like 140 a month here for a better experience is fantastic.

37:16 I live also in proximity to downtown, so I don't have to have a car. And then I need food. Well, I have good food here in Dumaguete. The Western food here in particular is really nice, but I also have Indian food, Korean food. I don't know if I've had sushi yet, but I've had raw fish here. I've had kinilaw, which is like tuna and then lime juice and ginger. Food-wise, I'm satisfied.

37:50 And then I guess you could say health. My health is fine; my health continues to improve. I walk many times, five to 10 miles per day. Some people would complain, 'Oh, I hate walking.' Walking is a gift and a privilege. There are a lot of people on the planet that unfortunately are not able to walk. I consider it a blessing to be able to go for a walk and to see the beautiful scenery outside, the greenery, the trees, looking out at the ocean. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I'm like, 'Am I really eating dinner with this ocean view and the sunset?' And I'm surrounded by great friends.

38:29 It's like I said, it doesn't take a lot for me to be happy. So when you find out the number, you may be upset. Some people get really angry when they find out my budget. I don't know why; I don't know if it bothers people that I'm able to live on a modest budget. I don't know if my happiness bothers other people, but it's not my problem. Everybody's happiness is on them; each person has their own journey to happiness.

38:58 You know, it's I can't make people happy. I've got certain basic responsibilities. Here, I've got to make sure I follow visa protocol. So, Monday, I go in and pick up my passport with my updated visa. That's something I have to do; that is a responsibility for me. I've got an ACR card now, an alien certificate of residence card. I have a responsibility to pay my rent, to pay for my food, to pay for transportation. I've got some real responsibilities, but the happiness of others is not something I can control, not something that I worry about.

39:35 Unfortunately, there's a lot of unhappiness in this world, and it's beyond the scope of what I can control or am capable of handling. Let's see. Joseph says, 'Do you enjoy the Christmas vibe?' I do. I've spent a lot of Christmases alone, so to come here and see the trees everywhere and the decorations and the music, it's just fun. People are cheerful. Sometimes I'm having a bad day, or I'm a little bit stressed out, and I see some people joking around and teasing each other, and I start laughing because what they're doing is hilarious.

40:22 So I like the Christmas vibe; it's so cheerful compared to back home where people are made to feel guilty about having Christmas spirit these days. I'm not a super religious person, but I like the Christmas vibe. I think it's a nice feature here in the Philippines. I spent my first Christmas here five years ago, and I had a great time. I enjoyed it a lot.

Siquijor Island and Christmas Travel

41:00 Craig says, 'You are great on livestream, keep on for all of us.' Thank you so much, Craig, I really appreciate that. That's very kind of you to say. Lincoln says, 'I understand that I had a blast because some brand new random local friends I made invited me and they showed me all over.' Next time I go, I want to go specifically to a cave on Siquijor.

41:16 You kind of need to do your research with Siquijor. Some people say just go and you'll have fun, but I think it's one of those places you've got to know where you're going. I've had some buddies tell me, 'Hey, go check this out.' So I need to just compile the targets and go. Rent a place over there for a week. A friend suggested if you want to learn how to ride a motorbike, it's a great place to learn how to ride. The traffic's not as bad, and there are unique points of interest that you can go and seek out.

41:53 Hey Tony, good to see you. Welcome to the stream. I hope your evening is going well in Canada. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Tony, for those who don't know, I always give Tony a shout-out. Like a year ago, when I was doing these streams, Tony and I would be the only two people watching. So to see him in here is just always a reminder of where I came from. To have 25 people in here is very humbling. Thank you all so much for tuning in.

42:37 Everyone has the same 24 hours. Did you get super sick when you entered the Philippines? At first, I always get Montezuma's Revenge and have to be in bed for like a day, and then my body seems to adjust to Asia a bit better. I tend to have a strong gut, so I didn't get ill. I did get food poisoning once in Thailand, where I was stuck in bed for a couple of days and felt awfully sick. Now, I'll add a caveat: 24 hours, I did get bad allergies my first week here. I was super stopped up.

43:21 Speaking of which, do I have my tube? I've got a tube here. Maybe I don't have it; maybe it's in... oh, let's just take a look here. Anyway, I'll look for it after the stream. That's kind of... maybe see here, I did... I just want to show you guys something really odd. I'm kind of wondering where it is now because I have this tube that I use to clear my nose. So anyway, yeah, I was super stopped up 24 hours. When I first got here for the first week, my sinuses were blocked up. It was kind of hard to breathe a little bit, and it eventually went away.

44:41 So let's see here. Where now I'm really wondering where my tube is. Strange. I'm just all over the place, losing stuff. Maybe yeah, that's anyway. I've been absentminded this week. I'm not sure if it may just be the lack of sleep I've been having so much fun making content. Okay, so allergies have been an issue for me 24 hours in ways that really surprised me. Hey Mike, good to see you. Welcome. I'm here stealing Janet's thunder. Yes, okay. Shiva, you get it. Yeah, I'm definitely ADHD. Anybody who doesn't know that should know that now. I'm all over the place. I do my best to cope with it, but it's something that is definitely a factor.

46:04 Okay, so let me get caught up here. Misery loves company, absolutely agree, Lincoln. I could do a stream. In fact, I'm going to make a note about that. That would be an interesting stream. Yeah, I definitely am talking about that and a couple of my latest videos. Curtis asks, '35m Landing there in 10 days for my first five-week discovery tour. Any recommendations of where to go for Christmas week since things will be shut down?'

46:33 Yeah, I haven't found that things shut down on Christmas Day. I would say things are pretty slow. I don't know if the malls closed; I think the malls closed if I remember from last year. The main day you want to be concerned about, Curtis, is Christmas Day, but a lot of the businesses are still open. They're catering to tourists, Filipinos coming into the country from out of the country. They know it's a big holiday time, right? For OFWs, it might be the one time per year or every other year that they get to come here to the Philippines and enjoy time. So it's a big tourism time for the Philippines.

47:17 As far as where to go, like if you're not connected with a local family, one of the bigger cities like Cebu is a solid bet. When I was here on Christmas, I was in a city called Cagayan de Oro. My buddy took me with his wife to his mother-in-law's house for Christmas, and we all had ice-cold drinks and hung out. Like 40 or 50 people came through the house that night. It was wonderful.

47:51 But that was what brought me to the Philippines. He worked for me for a while, and I wanted to meet him and his family. So it was a great opportunity to do that. But if you're not connected with a local family, one of the bigger cities like Cebu, I default to Cebu. As far as if you're new to the Philippines, which I know a lot of people haven't been here before, it's going to be an easier bet. You'll probably find some restaurants in Cebu doing a special Christmas meal. I know for Thanksgiving, several spots in Dumaguete do a Thanksgiving meal, like Blanca down in the boulevard. There's another restaurant in my neighborhood. There are restaurants throughout the city that do a special Thanksgiving meal, and I think Cebu will probably have something on offer for Christmas Day. It'll be a little pricey, but it should be well worth the price they charge.

Dining Out and Appreciating Simple Things

49:02 I've caught up on these comments here. Every 24 hours, they take your passport out. It's a little bit nervous, but they always take care of it for me. Doug, are you happy with the food there? How much do you eat out? Most meals are out, so I only eat at restaurants. I don't have a kitchen here; I've got like a kitchenette. If I wanted to get a rice cooker or a heating element, like a stovetop thing that gets hot, I could do that. For me, as a bachelor, it just takes too much time to cook, and I can get meals out for a really low price. I try to aim for 300 pesos on lunch and 300 pesos on dinner. That's like roughly 10 bucks per day as my target expenditure.

49:43 Some days I go over that if I'm really exercising a lot, walking a lot. Like if I've walked 15 miles, I'll be extra hungry that day and need extra calories. So I'll eat more. Those days, I'll probably aim for more like 700 or 800 pesos. Then some days I do less, like if I'm not super mobile or active that day, I'm sitting at home editing all day. Maybe I just do like a meal and a half or something, like a small snack for lunch and a decent-sized dinner.

50:18 I hope that answers your question. I eat out every meal. There are so many good restaurants here in Dumaguete. For the size of the city, I'm still shocked. I still have friends telling me, 'Did you try this place? Did you try that place?' The other night, I found a fancy ramen spot not that far from my apartment, and it was fantastic. If you're on my Instagram, I posted a photo of it.

50:44 I've eaten a lot of ramen all over the world. I had ramen in Peru because there's a Japanese community there, had ramen in California, had ramen where I grew up in Tennessee, had ramen in Japan, had ramen in Thailand, had ramen in every Southeast Asian country I've been to. I was really impressed by this ramen. So Dumaguete, if you like food, if you're an eater, you can't go wrong here. There's so much good food here.

51:16 I think for some guys, it may be a budget concern, but the food is the thing I don't cheap out on. I'm very satisfied with the options here. I keep finding new places and wanting to try new places. In fact, maybe for lunch, I might go try a sushi place. I've had some of the Filipino-style raw fish dishes, but there's just so much good eating to be had here.

51:46 It makes for a happier life when you appreciate the small and simple things. I absolutely agree. My grandma always said you never see a banker falling behind a vehicle used to move somebody out. That's so true. When I was younger, I had everything I thought I wanted. I traveled all the time, went to every music festival. One summer, I went to 14 music festivals, that's every weekend for 14 weeks in a row.

52:21 That summer, I went to Wisconsin, New York City, upstate New York, Illinois, Chicago, Minneapolis. Colorado, and of course, Tennessee where I'm from. I think I did something in Ohio, Virginia. I think I made it to New Orleans that spring. It was just weekend after weekend after weekend, and I was stressed out. I was out traveling, and it just didn't do it for me.

52:59 At the end of that year, I look at it like I pushed every pleasure button in my brain. Now these days, I live a much more low-key lifestyle and a much happier one. Is life perfect? No, I don't think my life's perfect. Do I have everything I could want? No, I think humans always have desires. Even Bill Gates or McKenzie Bezos, even these people that are extraordinarily wealthy and successful, they have desires too.

53:37 They're going to more easily meet their material desires, I'm sure they can. But I doubt either of those people were very happy when they went through their very public divorces. So anyway, being grateful is super important to me, super important for my happiness. Being thankful for basic things that we take for granted in the West.

Gratitude, Support, and Travel Destinations

54:02 I think all the time about what I take for granted in my life back home and the confusion I have when I'm dealing with those kinds of attitudes. Tony, thank you for the shout-out. I can say that I knew Alex before he was famous. Tony has been a very kind supporter of the channel for a long time and encouraging me like when I was young, 'I really want to do this YouTube thing, but it just seems like such a bother.' Tony was very encouraging.

54:39 Thank you, Tony, if you enjoy this content. Tony has been a cheerleader. Thank Mike as well, Mike of Mike's Philippine Retirement. He's been very good to me. Mike has been very good to me. Paul, Paul Old Dog Nutrix, these gentlemen have all been very, very good to me, very encouraging, teaching me a lot about a lot. I can't thank them enough.

55:05 Car says, 'Almost Famous.' Yeah, that was the latest title of the video Paul and I did. Dolan, hey Alex, hey, good to see you. Dolphan, let me get caught up here, guys. Let's see, you're lucky, man. Yeah, and the sinus issues went away, so they're not a thing anymore. I am wondering where I just don't understand how I wish I didn't lose stuff so much. That's one of my desires: to lose less stuff this year.

55:37 We'll see if I'm successful with that. The only issue I had with sleeping with the fan to stay cool, my throat got super dry in the morning. I definitely deal with that. Lincoln, I definitely wake up with my sinuses dried out. Mike says, 'Almost Famous.' Yeah, Mikey, yo buddy, what area is Cebu? Are you looking at?

55:55 Dolfan, I'm looking at IT Park, and then also the Capital Site Area, and that's a fine place to stay as well. I've stayed at the Griffin Hotel there. Mike, I cannot remember things anymore, but I'm old. Hey everyone, yeah, everybody check out Mike's channel. Mike has got an incredible channel. I've had people tell me Mike has the best channel, one of the best, if not the best, and I would agree with that sentiment.

56:29 He covers all the how-to stuff. If you've got a question, he probably answers it in his channel. And now he's continued to get better and better at storytelling, so it's not just the how-to, but it's also the entertainment factor. And as a person, Mike's just a great guy. I'm very fortunate to have met Mike.

56:57 Oh, Anano, hey Anano, good to see you. Dream Thread, when you first moved to Boracay, did you already have some online income stream? Dream Thread, so somewhat. I picked up tutoring hours online, and then also I had some dividend income. And then also I had a big severance. When I got laid off last summer, I got a substantial severance package from the company that I worked for. That was enough for me to live without thinking about budget for at least a year.

57:27 I've only recently ran out of that money, and that money does not include money I saved from working that job. That doesn't include money I had prior to working that job. And like I said, I'm in a better position because of my investment growth and living far below my means than I was a year and a half ago.

57:49 Derek says, 'You should get an Instant Pot.' Yeah, I'm just not big on cooking, Derek. It's a lot of work for one person. If I had a girlfriend or moved a girlfriend in, they'd probably be a better cook than I am. So yeah, do you use Final Cut Pro to edit or iMovie? So I use iMovie, but I will eventually upgrade to Final Cut Pro, probably when the channel gets bigger, maybe when I hit like 20,000 subs.

58:15 Then I'll buy Final Cut Pro. Everyone had there's a handmade noodle you must try. I'll check it out. Everyone, Philip Massie, hey Alex, how are you? Where have you checked out in the Philippines so far?

58:29 My first visit to the Philippines was five years ago. I visited Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin Island, and Cebu City. This time, I've been to Dumaguete. I've also spent some time on Cebu Island. Siquijor is up there for me. Apo Island is another place I want to go check out. As far as places to visit, Davao, Iloilo, and Manila are up there for me. Boracay, kind of up there, and Bohol. So those five are the five. One of those five will likely be the next place that I go, if not just sticking with Cebu City because I like Cebu. Cebu's, I feel like it's hard to go wrong there.

59:10 But yeah, the Philippines, it's almost impossible to go wrong there. There are some places you shouldn't go here in the Philippines, but most of the country is gorgeous. I think it's the most beautiful country in the world, that's just my bias talking, but absolutely stunning islands and nature activities, really just an incredible country.

59:45 Side note on ADHD, I was diagnosed, but I want to share the song from Chris Webby called ADHD. Okay, I'll check it out, Chris Webby. Thank you for that suggestion. Lincoln, oh, released. Okay, yeah, I'll check it out. Very uplifting. Great suggestion, Lincoln. I hear Banayan Island is also a nice place to check out. Let me look up Banayan.

1:00:11 Oh, wow, yeah, this looks beautiful. It's um, okay, so it's west of Cebu. Yeah, this looks beautiful. Thank you for the suggestion. There are so many beautiful places in the Philippines. It's such an incredible country, so much variety. CDO is amazing, as you were there. Dapitan is a short ferry from Dumaguete, super unique with the boardwalk.

1:00:41 Yeah, you know, I have some concerns about Dipolog. I've heard that some foreigners have been warned to get out of Dipolog. I'm a little bit cautious just due to proximity with the whole...

1:00:59 Due to proximity with the whole Elliot Eastman situation, I don't know. I think he's not, yeah. Anyway, that's a tragic situation, but let's see. Will you check out Zambales, Subic area maybe at some point? It's not as high priority for me because it's pretty far up there. I'm curious about Luzon, but yeah, there's just so much to see. I think it's a country you could, you probably need 10 years to fully see the Philippines.

Sinus Issues and Personal Appearance

1:01:26 Guys, I'm going to take just a second. I'm trying to find my mentholated tube. I don't know if I need to go back over to where I was filming this morning just to check things out. Oh yeah, it is. Okay, great. Yeah, so this is a tube. You'll probably see people buy this. This was like 100 pesos at the grocery store, so about $2. And it's the Vicks brand, the Camphor and Menthol. This is really nice to help clean out your sinuses.

1:02:37 Is this your first live or just the first one I caught? Yeah, Philip. So I think this is the first one you've caught. I do them periodically, maybe once a week when I've got some time. It's you know, like when I did do polls, people seem less interested, but I look at it as a nice way to kind of catch up with people and connect with my audience and just talk to people, do kind of a Q&A. People have a lot of questions, and it's a good opportunity to allow people to ask questions.

1:03:17 Cars, Elon Musk has ADHD and ASD, not necessarily a disability. Thank you so much, Cars. Yeah, some would might say superpower. I think that there's an element of having the creative improvement. Like my problem is not ideas here. So for me, I've got more ideas than I could do videos on in a lifetime because I want to hit a certain quality with my videos. Like if I wanted to do not very good videos, I could do like 10 videos a day. But I look at it like my audience is very generous to share their time with me, and so I want to give them as much value as I can for their time.

1:04:00 So I appreciate you saying that, Cars. That's really very kind of you to say. And I think it's, yeah, it could be, there's always a positive way to look at things. I found with life, there's always a positive side, a way that you could see the positive in anything. And maybe you call it like delusion. I mean, I work in sales. Sales were always very positive. But yeah, I mean, it's a superpower. It gives me a lot of creative juice. I never run out of ideas. Every time I think, oh, I'm going to run out of ideas, I come up with five or 10 more.

1:04:31 For me, it's more about filtering down to the ideas I think will provide value because some ideas maybe are redundant to a lot of people. Like, I, you know, it's hard to gauge what's going to help people out because I think I know what I think is valuable, but sometimes that's different from what the audience will find valuable.

1:04:54 I remember this from India. Vicks andher. Yeah, yeah, it's popular in India, especially like you get the hot and muggy weather. It's refreshing.

1:05:10 Yeah, it does, Shiva. That's so true. I like it a lot, and it's kind of almost a pacifier for me to some extent. Like, I'm not sick right now, I don't think I'm congested, but you know, it's a refreshing feeling. It kind of maybe gives you this mental sensation that it's cooling you off when it's not really cooling you off.

1:05:31 But yeah, the Filipina is like your beard. Some say they like clean-shaven. So I actually met a Filipina and I asked her about this. I ran into her a few months back and I told her, you know, I should probably shave. And she said, oh no, I think it's kind of good-looking. And she said, you know, that she thought it's attractive. I haven't name-dropped this. I could do a video on it, probably get a lot of traction. But yeah, she told me she thought it was attractive.

1:06:03 And who else? I met some other women. I met another woman, a producer for a show I did. We filmed it's not yet released, but you guys will see it in a couple of weeks. And she told me she thought it looked good. I told her I should have shaved before I did this, but I do get some skin irritation. And she said, no, I think it looks good. So I think the thing about beards, some Filipinos don't like them. In fact, a lot don't. And some guys say, well, you need to shave. I don't care if they like it or don't like it.

1:06:34 Just to be completely honest, to me, I'm much more, in some ways, a take-it-or-leave-it kind of guy. Am I totally inflexible? No, I am. I have some level of flexibility. But some guys, they think that they've got to change everything about themselves. And it's like, I can only change myself so much. Am I open to improvement? Absolutely. Am I open to feedback? Absolutely. But certain elements of me just aren't going to change.

1:06:57 I mean, it'd be one thing if I was a 10-year-old or a 20-year-old. At 32 years old, I'm still learning, I'm still growing a lot, I'm still developing, but I'm not as flexible as I was as a younger guy. And for me, I'm prone to skin irritation. Does that mean I'll never shave? No, that's not what that means. But there are women out there that are into it. And for me, it's like, I like my body the way it is. I believe in being healthy, I believe in taking care of myself, but I also believe that like people should be happy in their own skin.

Dating Challenges in Dumaguete

1:07:37 And the default is like, there's certain, there are certain things that we've evolved to do, like or have certain features like facial hair. And I just, you know, I don't know like if it stops me from meeting a nice woman, so be it. I'm not opposed to shaving, but I get like razor bumps really bad. I get like bumps and like red bumps, and my skin's sensitive. It's always been sensitive.

1:08:15 Yeah, for sure, I get it. I was nervous. You'll be fine. Deepa log, when the ferry arrived, coming through thick clouds in the port, I felt as if I was Christopher Columbus.

1:08:31 You seem to be posting daily now. Yeah, Gerard. I've got something that'll come out probably tonight. Phillip says, okay, yeah, I'm a somewhat new subscriber, so this is the first live I've joined. Welcome, welcome.

1:08:41 Shiva, is anyone getting a lag? Let me know down in the comments if you're getting a lag on this. I am so sorry. I'll probably wind down soon. Every 24 hours, Eastman was way far down in a different area, but I get it. It's for forbidden fruit. We are not supposed to touch envy. It's just hard to find new topics to talk about, but you do stand out not being like 60 years old.

1:09:04 Thank you, MV. Yeah, I definitely stick out in that way, and I'm grateful for the older guys who've taken me under their wing. And you know, I look at it like some of it is just talking about psychology topics that I just don't think get the same attention. You know, us guys are taught to repress our feelings and to push them down, and I'm not opposed to talking about feelings. I think it's valuable. I think most of us have some kind of past if we're coming halfway around the world.

1:09:32 If we're willing to do that, Mike said it well. If you're the guy with the mansion back home and the grandkids and the sports car and this and that, you ain't coming over here. Most of us have some baggage. Most of us have something that's gone wrong in our lives.

1:09:50 Is it easy to find to meet and date Filipinos? And do you meet? Would you ever date a vlogger? Uh, uh, no. So I don't think it's easy to date here in Dag, just my personal opinion. Phillip, I think there's other cities that are way better. If I was totally focused on dating, I'd go to one of the big cities. I would not stay here in Dumaguete. Dumaguete has a few things going against it when it comes to dating.

1:10:13 One is a lot of the women move here for college, and their families are making a big sacrifice for them to go to college. It's very expensive. Often four or five siblings are working to pay that. It's a big sacrifice for the family for that person to go to college, and they don't want to waste that money. They don't want to misuse those funds. They don't want to waste their time, so they're not dating. Like I've met women here, they're like, I don't date. I'm like, what do you mean? I'm here to go to school, I'm here to learn, I want to get an education. Dating is just not a priority for me, and I respect that. I respect a woman who's got her priorities in a certain way.

1:10:51 So that's the first thing going against it. Two, foreigners don't stick out here. If you're wanting to kind of play up the foreigner factor, foreigners are a dime a dozen here. I can't walk down the street without running into a foreigner. It's just simply not a big deal to see a foreigner here.

1:11:08 And then three, they might be leaving Dumaguete. So if you want to live in Dumaguete long-term, they might say, well, as soon as I'm graduated, I want to move to Manila or I want to move to Cebu or the UK or Australia. So that's the third thing going against dating in Dumaguete. It's kind of a transient town in some ways. People come for a reason and then they leave, and it's not easy to meet somebody who's willing to stay long-term because of where they're at in life.

Shopping and Social Climate

1:11:40 I'm gonna be right back, guys. I'm gonna step away to the restroom.

1:13:01 Okay, guys, I'm back. Sorry about that. Okay, let's see here. Let me catch up. Do you go to Ever Mall? Yeah, I do. So sometimes I do go down to Ever Mall. My friend actually showed me Ever Mall a couple weeks ago. I actually need to go get some clothes there because they've got these long, you know, my classic long-sleeve white T-shirt or my white long-sleeve white shirts. They've got those there, and so I need to go get a couple at Ever Mall.

1:13:26 I'll probably do that. When will I do that? Sometime this week, sometime this upcoming week. I'm kind of busy the next couple of days, but maybe like maybe Tuesday or Wednesday I'll stop by there. Yeah, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday I'll stop by there. We'll see how it goes.

1:14:05 I am a 63-year-old. Traveling as a senior solo makes me nervous. Worry about loneliness. Yeah, loneliness is a factor, Craig. It's a big adjustment to move.

1:14:16 Move halfway around the world, and like you're dealing with cultural differences, you're you know, you don't have any friends yet. Loneliness is a valid thing to be concerned about. I think part of it is adjusting to the social climate. It's not like back home where nobody wants to talk to you. People don't want to socialize here; people are super open, super social, super friendly. People would love to talk to you, and you can just go up and talk to anybody here.

1:14:49 Even people that don't want to talk will nod at me and acknowledge me. It's very rare I have somebody flat-out ignore me. That's in Dumaguete, which is westernized in some ways. You go out to some provincial areas, people will look at you like you are a rockstar.

1:15:07 Unitop is still here. I haven't been there; they're more of a home furnishing store, from what I heard. But yeah, I'm in Motti, it's like fish in a barrel. That's awesome to hear. That's a reason for me to go up to Cebu, is that you get just a lot more options as far as dating goes. I mean, Cebu's got several million people versus Dumaguete having a couple hundred thousand.

1:15:41 I found dating in Dumaguete better than Bohol, but not better than Cebu and Manila. But I'd place it number three. You're just not going to live if you're not going to live in Leyte with the hurricanes. I've heard great things about Leyte, but with the inclement weather, it's a reason for concern.

1:15:55 The inclement weather is being younger gives you an advantage in Dumaguete. I would agree with that.

1:16:18 Do you have a maid to come in and clean? So, I could I need to talk to the lady who's the building manager here and ask her what she would charge for that. I would like cleaning periodically. I don't think it would be too expensive, but I'd like for that because, you know, sometimes it gets messy, and it would be nice to have that service.

1:16:38 I think that service is going to be easy to find here. If that's something that you prioritize, I'm not sure if you're here in the Philippines or not, but if you're not, it shouldn't be hard anywhere you go to find something like that. You have to be cautious. I mean, anywhere you go in the world, you want to make sure you store your valuables away properly. Not saying that, you know, all it takes is one person that's a bit deceptive.

Thrift Shopping and Local Food

1:17:05 Yeah, but yeah guys, feel free to comment or, you know, share your thoughts. Any weekend plans or, you know, what you got going on?

1:17:21 I'm up for a refresh on my water jug soon. Kirk, I was wondering if foreigners go to Ukai Ukai stores for cloth. So, I asked a couple of my friends, Kirk, about this, and the first couple guys I asked said, 'No, we don't suggest it. You're probably not going to find much there.' Then I talked to another friend of mine. He's like, 'Yeah, I found my favorite shirts there.'

1:17:52 So, I think it's, you're going to have to put the time in if you want to shop at Ukai Ukai. You'll find options there. You're going to have to put the time in to sort through the styles, the availability will be different. You'll also want to learn the organization style.

1:18:11 It's, um, because they're not, they're not the, Ukai Ukai is more like a Goodwill type of store or a Salvation Army type store back in the West, where the selection is somewhat random. I mean, it's organized as best as they can, but it's not like you go to Uniqlo in the mall and they've got the latest styles sorted by, you know, all the different, you know, it's the goods are odd. You find something, but the odds are good.

1:18:36 Yeah, I think it's, Ukai Ukai is worth exploring. Not everyone will be happy there. I haven't found much, but I also haven't given as much of a chance as maybe some other people have. One of my friends swears by him though. He likes going down there anytime he sees Ukai Ukai, he's gonna stop in there and take a look around, figure out, hey, you know, what do they got going on here?

1:18:59 And yeah, I do so 24 hours. So I do have a big refillable blue bottle, and I get them changed out early. So I get a new bottle, and then when that one taps out, I turn the old one in, and I've got the new one. And I pay 30 pesos for five gallons, so I pay about 10 cents per gallon for the filtered water here.

1:19:22 And I just refill my smaller water bottles from that big bottle. And I spill some. It's kind of hard to like, you don't have a dispenser machine, a little bit hard to work with, but yeah, a good value for money. I mean, far better than buying a small bottle every time you need water, and it's convenient to have here at the apartment so I don't have to go to the store every time I need water.

1:19:51 But yeah guys, feel free to chime in. I wish I could find that memory card. That's going to bother me so bad. I'm worried it's permanently gone. It's definitely a disappointment because it, yeah, it had a lot of files on it.

1:20:31 Do you enjoy the local Turkish food? I'm a fan of this guy on the boulevard named Mo. Mo has a place he calls Foodzilla, and he does these shawarma wraps that are really good.

1:20:49 And I'll go check out the Korean place. I think I know what you're talking about. 24 hours, I'll go and take a look for it. Losing a memory card is like losing your crypto keys. Yeah, it's really disappointing because I had a vacation my friend took me on, recorded on there, like hotel room tour, a bunch of backups. And then my laptop also, the storage filled up, and it just forced deleted a bunch of stuff.

1:21:14 I don't know how it did that. I don't know if it was to prevent a crash or what it was, but yeah. Okay, you know, might know. Yeah, super good. That place is fantastic. I like it a lot. It's 130 pesos for a big, relatively big shawarma, like $2 and change. The meat's good, the veggies are fresh and good. I might go pick up one of those Monday. I think I'll probably go down there Monday. I usually stop by and see them a couple times a week.

Travel Plans and Southeast Asian Comparisons

1:21:48 And yeah, it's, it's good value for money. Lots of great value for money here in Dumaguete as far as food goes. I have a friend asked me to meet him at Fer McGee tonight, but I don't know that I'll be able to make it. I don't know my schedule will allow for it.

1:22:27 All, um, yeah, anybody got any thoughts or to share? I may wind down in the next 10 minutes because I've got, I've got a lot on my plate.

1:22:41 I always laugh. I always laugh when I see Mr. Dave because, yeah, I think that's the intention. Hey, good to see you, Mr. Dave. Indonesia is a great country. Yeah, I'll check out Indonesia at some point. I'm a fan of Malaysia. Malaysia is great, and I've heard Indonesia compared to Malaysia a lot.

1:23:05 Do you enjoy Balut? It's like pre-workout. I'm not, I'm not trying Balut. Thank you for praying for me. 24 hours, it may turn up. I mean, it may turn up. I shouldn't be a Negative Nancy about it. It may turn up. I saw it a few days ago. It just, I'm on the go so much. I'm running around Dumaguete all the time. I'm always out doing stuff, so sometimes it could be hard. And I'm ADHD, so sometimes it can just be hard to keep track of stuff.

1:23:36 Let's see, how could I find an inexpensive lease for a couple of months? Like your place, big thing is word of mouth, Craig. So I would say renting a place here for a month and then just getting to know people and asking everybody you meet, hey, do you know of a place for rent? Do you know any places for rent? And that way you can come up with some options and go from there.

1:23:57 That's word of mouth is the best way to save money as a long-term traveler. You're going to find deals you don't find advertised online. And yeah, it's just all around a good way to do it.

1:24:09 Walking around and calling. Do you have any travel plans coming up? Yeah, so Phillip, I need to book. I need to quit putting it off and just book. I just haven't had a chance to talk to my building manager yet about going to Cebu in January. I think it just makes a lot of sense.

1:24:24 And it, yeah, I just think it makes a lot of sense. Bali is overrated. I haven't been yet. Been to Bali. The places outside of the tourist hotspots look great. Yoga Karta is good. Yeah, one of my buddies just got back from Yoga Karta. He loved it. He had a great time, and he enjoyed it a lot.

1:24:50 Girlfriend has an interview at the US Embassy next week for a tourist visa. I'm nervous. I hope it goes well. Cars, I've heard those can be, you know, nerve-wracking. Like you're concerned, you want to make sure it goes well, everything goes according to plan, you have all the documents in order. I wish you both the best of luck. I hope everything goes through well, and you guys have a safe trip to the United States, if that's what's in the cards.

1:25:32 I'm trying to clear up some. I've got so many things open, so I've got to clear up some here. I've got a, I'm negotiating a sponsorship with Christian Filipina, guys. So please, you know, give them a check. Checking out when I post them up. For those who are single, of course. They're not for those who are committed.

1:25:50 But Indonesia is way better than Malaysia, much more friendly and interesting. Malaysia is not a place for fun, but Malaysia has slightly better infrastructure. Got it. Yeah, Malaysia I like a lot, but it's not for everyone.

1:26:07 Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur is awesome. Yeah, Kuala Lumpur is one of my favorite cities in Southeast Asia. It's underrated. So much to do there. The food there, I could, that's one of my favorite food cities, up there with Bangkok. It's just, it's a fantastic food city.

1:26:25 Lot of preparation. Yeah, you're having to talk to a lot of different professionals and, um, different people, and it's, yeah, a lot to, a lot to think about for sure.

1:26:38 Um, yo, Jakarta is definitely good. Jakarta is nice, even though it's gigantic. Yeah, like 30, over 30 million people there in Jakarta.

1:26:55 I feel the same way. Like I'm not a party guy. 24 hours, so like Kuala Lumpur, fantastic people. Always tell me, 'Oh, but you can't party there.' I'm like, 'So what? There's a million things to do in Kuala Lumpur.' Like you've got the architecture, which I'm a fan of. You've got a lot of different neighborhoods. Like I'm a fan of pedaling G. I stayed in K K.

1:27:18 I've stayed in KCC, I've explored the north suburbs, I've explored the area near the airport. There's a lot to see in Qualandour; it's a cool city. It doesn't get the attention it deserves. I'm a fan of Quancor and have a good friend from there too, one of my best friends in Southeast Asia. He grew up in KL and has given me a lot of inside tips on how to enjoy the city properly.

1:27:51 It's a cool place. Vietnam is a big play now. I was just in Vietnam in July, and I spent the early part of August there too. Vietnam is a very exciting place to be. Have you been to Vietnam? Have you spent time there?

1:28:18 I didn't know Jakarta was expensive; that's interesting. I would struggle in a city that size. Thirty million people is a lot of people, and it would be overwhelming for me. That's like double the size of Bangkok, so I'm sure there's a lot to enjoy there, but I think of it more as a business place rather than a place to chill out.

1:28:44 I think it's because I'm more of an introvert that I like Malaysia. Sometimes I can get a little too exhausted from socializing, and YouTube meets a lot of my social needs. I felt like in Malaysia, but no, I know what you mean.

Indonesia as a Travel Destination

1:29:08 Would you consider Vietnam over the Philippines? No, I would not consider Vietnam over the Philippines. It's going to be a while before I go back to Vietnam.

1:29:25 I live in Colombia now with my fiance, but the Philippines is always in my heart. Colombia is awesome. I was in Colombia about three and a half years ago and loved it. Colombia is gorgeous and so beautiful there. It's the most biodiverse country in the world.

1:29:40 I like the urban landscapes and the nature in Colombia. I found the people to be very warm and friendly. It's just a cool place. I like Latin America, but I'm a little bit more partial to Peru if I'm being honest because Peru has the influence from Asian cuisine. I just found the food in Peru to be very similar to what I'm used to.

1:30:04 I could eat Peruvian food for every single meal. I lost weight in Peru and ate better. I like Colombia, don't get me wrong, but when I was in Colombia, all the people I cared about and loved warned me about safety. Every single one of them told me it is not safe there.

1:30:23 I had a great time in Colombia and would happily go back, but every single person I met imparted their concerns to me, like, 'Hey, be careful.' I didn't have any major issues; I had one situation that was kind of iffy, but nothing major happened to me.

1:30:47 I've also heard that because I look like I could pass for Colombian, I won't get the stares or the obvious outsider situation that some other foreigners might have.

1:31:15 Jakarta is much more underrated than KL. Nobody gives Indonesia a chance outside of Bali. I'll keep that in mind. I need to give it a chance. I don't know why it doesn't get the same chance.

1:31:30 The main reason I haven't been to Indonesia yet is that when I started traveling six years ago, my American friends were living in Thailand, so that was an easy choice. It's easy mode when you have friends who can show you around, good restaurants, and how to enjoy the place. I had a friend living in Cambodia, and finally, I have a friend living in Indonesia that's convinced me to come visit.

1:32:08 Every other country I've been to in Southeast Asia, I either had a friend from there or a friend already living there. For the Philippines, I had worked with and hired a Filipino guy for about 6-8 months before I ever came here. So, every country I've come to in Southeast Asia, I've had a person open the door for me in a sense.

1:32:35 I finally have that with Indonesia, but I didn't have that until more recently. One of my subscribers has convinced me to visit Indo at some point. Colombia is not the most... oh, Craig, thank you so much. Yeah, everybody hit the like button.

1:32:57 Colombia is amazing. Don't even get me started on the proximity to us if you have to hop back, but far enough away. Yeah, thank you, please hit the like button if you haven't already. Thank you so much, Craig. Indonesia and Brazil are number one and number two, Colombia's number three and has the most types of birds.

1:33:14 If you're an introvert, you might want to move to Indonesia. Filipinos are more extroverted, and it's possible to date in Indonesia. I've had a few friends tell me, 'Hey man, go check out Indonesia,' so it's top of mind for me. It's of a lot of interest, of course, the visa is going to be a little bit more challenging over there, but we'll figure it out.

Travel Experiences in Southeast Asia and Indonesia

1:33:36 I'm going to keep doing more research. It's one of those countries where I think you need to do a lot of research to fully get the most out of it, but no, I'm not against going to Indonesia. It's very much high on my list, and I want to go see a Komodo dragon. Those creatures are wild; I've been watching documentaries on them for a very long time.

1:34:06 If you plan to visit Argentina or Uruguay, I'd like to... it might be some years before I do that. I might not be going back to America for several years. Maybe when I go back to America, I could loop in a trip down there just to kind of do something different, experience something different. That would be a lot of fun.

1:34:33 By the way, I'm just going to go ahead and plug it. Anybody watching this on replay, if they've gotten to this point, give us a thumbs up, comment down below if you enjoyed this, and subscribe to the channel as well if you haven't already.

1:34:50 Indonesia's number two for dating in Southeast Asia behind the Philippines. Miss Mr. Dave, I can't help but laugh every time I see the picture. I don't know if that's you, but you have a great sense of humor. Indonesia seems like a great option, like another of my buddies from Australia told me, 'Dude, you got to go over there if you're a single guy, you're gonna have some great opportunities to date.'

1:35:22 A lot of people just overlook it because of other countries in the region being top of mind. Malaysia's up there with retirement requirements, way more than Thailand, the Philippines, or Indonesia. A lot of people, in the future, if things line up financially, I would consider living in Malaysia if I met the requirements and already had a partner. Malaysia's awesome; I liked it a lot. It's a very efficient place; I felt like I could get a lot of work done and be super productive there.

1:35:55 I overall really enjoyed it. Go ahead and share your plans. Feel free to share any plans on your radar or your mind. I know you mentioned Cambodia. I'm a fan of Cambodia; I think it's an underrated country, similar to Malaysia, just doesn't get the attention that some of the bigger or more well-known neighbors get, but it's a wonderful place to be.

1:36:20 The Philippines is good because they do English. If they know English, it makes the Philippines wonderful, guys. I mean, it's just so easy. I'm going to start winding down probably in the next 10 minutes, guys, so we'll give it about 10 more minutes because folks are dropping off. It's getting to be a little bit later night there in the US and early morning in Europe.

1:36:45 Colombia, okay. Philippines, yeah. Colombia is dangerous. Anybody tells you otherwise is not... My fiance guiding the way, my confidence would be low. You want to live in Colombia, you have to want to live there. I mean, I loved it, but yeah, I got warned all the time.

1:37:03 One time I was in the park in Medellin, and these guys I met told me, 'Don't go back down the way I came in.' They said, 'No, go to the exit; you don't go back down the entrance because you're going to lose your camera gear.'

1:37:17 Argentina has increased in price dramatically. Uruguay has always been expensive. Doug Casey lives in Uruguay; I think he's got a ranch there called Estancia, something like that. He's like the international man or something like that. Let me look it up.

1:37:42 I'll drop it in the stream if you're familiar with Uruguay and expat life, you're probably familiar with Doug. He's got a channel. Sometimes he can be a bit doomish, if I'm being honest, but I also know he's far more educated and experienced than I am, so I've got to give him some credit.

1:38:08 I come from a dangerous American city, Chicago. Chicago has some challenges. Medellin isn't that much different. The problem is street smart city people are flocking down. You've got a ton of people that I would never go to Chicago, but Medellin, let me go. So it's kind of interesting how some of these places just attract all these people who have no idea what they're doing.

1:38:30 I felt nervous in Medellin for the first week for a number of different reasons. It's just got an edge to it that's not always easy to put your finger on, but there's kind of a sense of unease that you feel at times. It's beautiful.

1:38:47 That you feel at times it's beautiful. I mean, it's gorgeous. Medellin weather-wise might be my favorite city in the world. Just to be transparent, but it's got an edge to it. Argentina is a lot more expensive. The problem with KL is the heat. You know, in KL, I noticed the heat, and I just stuck to the malls. I felt like KL's got a lot of malls.

1:39:08 But I know what you mean, it's not a city that's like I'm wandering around in as much. I'm more so going from building to apartment, building to apartment. Here in the Philippines, I spend more time outdoors for sure. Real estate is very expensive in New Zealand.

1:39:28 Yeah, definitely. Your story about Medellin is true, and they would have taken your camera gear, no question. I think Indo might be the country for using introvert. The dating there is much better than Thailand or Malaysia, and it's much more welcoming.

1:39:42 I'm also curious about my channel, Dave. Like, I want to continue to grow the channel, and I know that the Philippines gets a lot of attention. Like, I met a ton of people through my content here. My channel size has doubled, and that is like a priority for me as far as where I go.

1:39:59 But yeah, Indonesia, like once I get to a certain size and I feel more confident about it, I know of a visa that would make sense for me long term. My challenge is I don't want to go somewhere where I could only stay for a month or two and then I've got to bounce out. The next place I go, I want it to be another like six months, a year, or longer.

1:40:23 Because Vietnam, I bounced in and out of, and I just, I don't know, it wasn't the right fit, I'll say. And so I'm hoping with Indo that it's, and I need to talk to my friend about it, actually. I'm gonna talk to my buddy probably today or tomorrow about Indonesia and try to come up with some more questions.

Vietnam vs. Philippines and Travel Safety

1:40:52 And yeah, you said it's welcoming. I need to go to Indonesia, man. Dave, you're really selling me on it. I need to talk to my buddy about who lives there, maybe like in the spring. I'll go over there. Where did you visit in Vietnam and what did you not like about it?

1:41:09 Great question, Philip. So I spent time in Da Nang. There were quite a few things in Vietnam I didn't care for. One was petty scams. People, like, I'd go up to a place to get a juice, and the sign would say 10K, and I'd ask them how much. Just to, I got to the point where I'm just going to test them. Oh, 20K. So your sign says 10K, you think I can't see the number on the sign?

1:41:32 I went to a restaurant a half dozen times. The last time I went, they tried to scam me. And I just, these petty scams just got to be exhausting. It got to the point where I didn't want to go out and spend money because I was just thinking I'm going to get overcharged. I don't mind paying the higher price; it's not the point. The point of the matter is not being too cheap.

1:41:57 It's that like here in the Philippines, I almost never get overcharged. Very rarely do I ever have somebody even attempt to overcharge me. I get exact change back, even when I double and triple check. The people who have provided me the exact change, occasionally I hear or see about somebody not getting exact change back, but for the most part, people here are very respectful.

1:42:26 And yeah, so that was a big one. And then also just how crowded it was. I mean, the traffic was extreme. I found, yeah, it's a principle, exactly. There's a lack of respect, a lack of appreciation for your business. It was like I'm not, yeah, it just, it's also, yeah, I don't want to trash it. I know that a lot of people really enjoy it. I know a lot of people have a great time there. I love the food. When I got to know some people, they were really nice.

1:43:17 This photo isn't me, by the way. I did an interview with Mike and Janet, so they know me. Okay, I'll ask next time I see my good friends Mike and Janet. I'll ask them about that, like, you know, this Mr. Dave guy. It's the principal. Yeah, it's absolutely the principal. I worked hard for my money, like, I didn't try to take advantage of anybody in my job, so I don't want to be taken advantage of by somebody else doing their job.

1:43:41 Craig says, I traveled throughout Colombia. Always, I got overcharged. Yeah, I always pay in cash in Colombia. Always recommend paying cash. The only time I used my card was on food delivery apps. I would use my card on like a food delivery app, but yeah, Colombia is a low-trust country. It's a place where people do not trust each other, and so you have to be very cautious when it comes to purchases, especially with the perception that you can afford to fly down there, you've got it to spare, which may not be the case.

Stream Wrap-up and Future Plans

1:44:16 We have what we've got, and that's all we've got, and we may not have extra to spare, but that's not the perception in some places. So yeah, guys, thank you so much for joining today. It's been so great to hang out with you all, meet new people like Philip and 24 hours. I think I've seen you a couple times on here before, Craig, and Mr. Dave, I've seen you as well. You guys have been so wonderful today, and it's just been a great stream.

1:44:46 This is the most people we've had on stream, 25, I think we had today. I hope everybody has a great weekend and stay safe out there, wherever you are in the world. If you come here to Da Nang or wherever I go, feel free to reach out to me, send me an email. And anyway, comment down below if you enjoyed the stream, give us a thumbs up, and please subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. And yeah, thank you so much, Ste. I really appreciate you.

1:45:12 And, uh, yeah, take care, everybody. We'll see you all soon. Bye-bye.