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The video chronicles the host's preparations for a move from Bangkok to Da Nang, Vietnam, while reflecting on career plans, travel experiences in Southeast Asia, and future travel aspirations in the Philippines.
The host is preparing to leave Bangkok for Da Nang, Vietnam, and is strategizing how to use remaining Thai baht. They discuss accommodation options in Da Nang, noting the appeal of its size and proximity to the beach, while also acknowledging the presence of expats and the potential for practicing English with locals. The host also touches upon the differences between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, considering them for departure flights.
Career prospects and future plans are a significant theme, with the host exploring online work, interviewing for jobs back home, and considering a pivot to IT roles, potentially through further education like AWS certifications. The benefits of working remotely from Southeast Asia versus the US are weighed, highlighting cost of living differences and career opportunities. The host expresses a desire for more introvert-friendly work and reflects on the challenges of the current tech job market.
The conversation broadens to include travel experiences and reflections on Southeast Asia. The host contrasts the cultural appeal of Vietnam with the natural beauty and friendliness of the Philippines, sharing insights from friends and online communities about specific locations like Luzon, Boracay, and Dumaguete. They also discuss the ease of travel and extended stays in Thailand, contrasting it with Vietnam's visa limitations, and touch upon the unique aspects of Filipino culture, such as indigenous festivals and the prevalence of English speakers. Finally, the host shares their love for tropical fruits like mangosteen and discusses future travel plans, including a potential visit to Hoi An in Vietnam.
When moving from Bangkok to Da Nang, plan your currency exchange carefully to maximize value. Research the best rates and consider timing your exchanges to take advantage of favorable market conditions. This strategic approach can significantly impact your budget.
In Da Nang, you can find a range of accommodation options, from places close to amenities to those offering a more local atmosphere. Consider proximity to the beach and the expat community when making your choice. Researching these factors will help you find the perfect spot.
To pivot careers towards IT roles, leverage online resources and consider certifications like AWS. This can help you find more introvert-friendly positions. Weigh the benefits of working remotely from Southeast Asia against opportunities in your home country, considering cost of living and job market dynamics.
Vietnam offers cultural experiences and a growing digital nomad scene, but can have visa limitations. Thailand is known for its ease of travel and tourist infrastructure, allowing for more flexible extended stays. Consider practical aspects like visa requirements, job markets, and cost of living for both destinations.
The Philippines offers unique cultural experiences and natural beauty, with many English speakers. However, be mindful of potential challenges like natural disasters and exercise caution as a traveler. Researching specific locations like Dumaguete or Boracay can provide more tailored insights.
Moving abroad involves practical considerations such as currency exchange and visa requirements. You'll also need to research cultural nuances, job markets, and cost of living in your chosen destination. Adapting to new environments and potential challenges is part of the expat journey.
0:06 Hey, do we have audio there? Do we have audio? Can you hear me? Testing, test, test, test. Okay, yeah, it looks like we're getting some feedback there. Good. Okay, welcome to the stream. Just working on my audio. I think the last attempt, the quality was just not there, but it should be better now. Let me know if you can hear me okay or if there's any audio issues. I think what I tried to do before, for some reason, the mic wasn't connected.
1:29 I guess I'll just go. If somebody pops in, let me know if you can hear me. I'm just chilling in Bangkok, not doing a whole lot, but my sleep schedule's been kind of off because I have been working out the last few weeks, and that's something I'm looking forward to getting back into.
2:01 So, what all is going on? I'm just winding down my time in Thailand. I am trying to strategically spend down my Thai baht because I'm not going to be bringing much of that with me to Vietnam. I will get my deposit back, but yeah, just trying to find clever ways to hit that zero mark in about three and a half weeks.
2:25 So yeah, I'll get 12,900 baht back when I leave here. That'll be my deposit, and I'll probably take that with me to Da Nang and then just exchange it there, not at the airport. I'll wait till I get into town, into the city, to be able to get a better exchange rate.
2:45 Some have suggested taking the Thai baht, exchanging to dollars, some online have suggested taking the Thai baht, exchanging to US dollars, and then exchanging that to Vietnamese Dong. But that just doesn't sound right to me. Even if the exchange rate is not as good as from USD to Vietnamese Dong as it is for Thai baht to Vietnamese Dong, then I think I'm better off just doing one exchange and one transfer of that 12,900 baht to Vietnamese Dong.
3:16 Hopefully, I'll get at least like $300 worth of Dong. I think that's around 7.5 million Dong, something like that. Maybe no, 75 million Dong. I think it's 75 million Dong.
3:27 And I'll be working on booking my place right now. So I'm looking at some spots. I think I've narrowed it down to the place that I plan to stay, but the city's not super big. Why don't we pull up?
3:51 Hey, Big Lance. Big Lance says, 'Cool, do you know people in Da Nang?' So that's something I don't actually know. I know Jake, one of my subscribers, is in Da Nang. And what else? I know there's another subscriber, Something Traveler, who plans to be in Da Nang about a month from now as well. So I'll know a couple of foreigners, which will be cool. I don't know if I know any Vietnamese people living over there yet.
4:18 All the Vietnamese people I met have been Vietnamese-American, so I think it'll be an interesting opportunity to try to get out there and meet some folks. You know, different social settings. I've heard a lot of people like to practice their English, so I think that could be a great opportunity just to talk to people. I've heard people are very, very friendly in Vietnam.
4:41 I'll be staying up here, probably not too far from the Son Tra Mountain, but still quite accessible to the downtown area. I think this is the most popular area where foreign people hang out, so broadly speaking, my end, like right here, this area, the top Tran Thi Ly Street, and then probably on the bottom here, Hang.
5:10 And my Vietnamese is non-existent. So I think this area, and then with the beach, is probably going to be the area with the most foreign people you see. Some foreign-type, western-style restaurants, like I imagine Burger Bros is probably a western-style hamburger spot. They've got a French bake-style bakery here.
5:34 It's going to be interesting, you know, it's going to be quite different from Thailand. It'll be hot, but I think it's more of a frontier as far as expats and foreigners go. Like I think I'll see... Oh, thanks so much! Hey, what's up, Jay? Good to see you on here. Thanks so much for the kind words.
5:50 Oh wow, okay. Big Lance says, 'Awesome, I lived in Hanoi for six months. I've heard good things about Da Nang. You will have a good time.' Thank you so much, Big Lance. And if I make it up to Hanoi, I'll have to ask you for tips because I'm debating on whether or not I want to fly out of Hanoi or out of Saigon when I leave Vietnam.
6:14 And I'm still kind of torn on it because people are saying Hanoi has a lot of culture and a lot of interesting sites versus Ho Chi Minh City having more of the big city vibe, some of the western, you know, kind of businesses that cater to Western tourists. So that's kind of the divide I'm hearing there.
6:35 I think both are probably awesome. It just comes down to timing. And I know I want to spend the bulk of the trip in Da Nang just because the size of the city seems perfect. I like medium-sized cities a lot, and that's part of what's so appealing about Da Nang over the big cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon.
6:55 But I want to get one of those big cities because I want to fly out of them. One of the two, I need to do my passport renewal. That's something that's coming up, and hopefully, that might be something I could ask some foreigners about, like, 'Hey, have any of you done any passport renewals here?'
7:14 Maybe it's something that's better posted in a Facebook group because, you know, what are the odds? I know a lot of people are coming to Vietnam for a short time and they may not be a long-term traveler where they're thinking about renewing their passport outside of their home country. I wasn't expecting to have to do that, but I'm hearing that it's, you know, Vietnam is not bad as far as getting that done.
7:38 So I think I will have to have them make a note to my passport and transfer the visa to the new passport, but that shouldn't be too bad.
7:52 Yeah, this is going to be the area with the most foreigners. My end now, the reason I'm not staying down here is because I've heard there's a lot of new construction there and there's a lot of building going on. It's also popular for like karaoke spots and bars and nightlife, and I think it'd be fun to do that stuff.
8:08 But sometimes I think it could also keep us awake quite late. So maybe a circumstance where I just head down there and check it out at nighttime, see what it's about. But, you know, a place I'm not necessarily wanting to live in. I imagine too, there's probably a lot of conveniences if you go to the beach there. You probably got like convenience stores and quick access to some of those things if you want to cool off and get a cold beverage.
8:38 But Big Lance, tell me more about Hanoi. Like I've never been there, and you know, it seems like a cool city, but I don't know much about it.
8:54 I will say I'm kind of surprised they haven't built, and I may be wrong about this, but I didn't see any major malls near the beach. So it may be something like here's Vincom Plaza, where this is not as close to the beach. I mean, it looks like, let's see, I don't know, maybe 10 blocks. We could map it actually. Let's see how far it's actually to the beach.
9:13 Okay, half hour walk. That's not bad. So it's like a mile off from the beach, and I guess that makes sense during inclement weather. Then they have kind of a buffer there as far as the distance and the tall buildings.
9:46 My An Market. Interesting. I guess I'll load this up now. I have heard this spot in particular has gotten so popular and the prices are a bit higher, and so you don't see as many locals in this My An Market that you would see in perhaps some others. I imagine there'll be more local-style markets like in more local neighborhoods.
10:09 I've heard this neighborhood is catering to the locals more so. It's still got a party scene or a party vibe, but of course, the prices will be less. The vibes will be more local. You may have more people that don't know English that want to practice English versus in the more foreigner-friendly area, where English is going to be a lot more prevalent.
10:37 And I think it's I like too how close the airport is because I've been to some cities in recent history where the airport's like far out of town. Maybe it's just like more common in the US, but here, well, there's parts of other countries nearby that the airports are far. But here, I mean, you're very close. Like you're not a long ride at all to your accommodation or to town when you need to leave. You're not worried about a super long journey.
11:02 Now, I don't know how traffic is. I've heard traffic is quite hectic in Vietnam. I have heard also that it's not as hectic in Da Nang versus Hanoi or in Ho Chi Minh City. Big Lance, like two different countries, North versus South, just different overall. I'd recommend Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City.
11:20 Yeah, I've just heard, you know, Hanoi can be a lot, right? It can be really pushing on the senses, the noise, the traffic. It's just, you know, it's a lot, right? It's a lot and it could be overwhelming or intimidating for some tourists that they may be expecting something more chill.
11:42 But it's like a really massive city, like one of the largest cities in Southeast Asia, and developing rapidly, growing really fast. Of course, more and more businesses are opening up shop in Vietnam, and Hanoi is part of that story for sure.
11:58 Are you going to look for a job there? Just work online? Or I'll probably just be doing online work. You know, working on, also I'm doing some applying for jobs back home and some interviewing for jobs back home. I'm in a space where I still have savings, but, you know, I would eventually like to get back to work just to add to investments and make more money.
12:25 But it is cheaper for me to do that over here compared to back home, where, you know, rent is just insane. And if you're not making good money, it's just so stressful to live back home. So, yeah, I mean, I'm not opposed either to, you know, maybe picking up some English language teaching classes.
12:46 But I think my time is best spent trying to find a high-paying sales role back home because that's what my background is in sales. And there's a lot of opportunities there to earn a decent amount of money and save up for the next trip.
13:02 Yeah, I think it's just hard for foreigners to find good jobs. You know, I would say English teaching is, in my opinion, more of a temporary...
13:11 More in my opinion, more of a temporary thing for most people. It's something that they can do for a limited time, but not necessarily something that I would want to make a career out of, most likely. But yeah, great question, big Lance.
13:32 I have some fallback options back in the States, but I'm not in a rush. I want to find something good if I can, before settling, before I have to settle. And I've heard Vietnam has solid internet, and I think that will help me too with just the connection.
13:47 I have had some places ask that I come in to do an on-site interview for the last round, and that's something I'm not as able to do from over here. But so far, it's just been preliminary. I haven't really made it to the final round on one interview, but the remote roles are super competitive, so you have to be careful when you're doing those remote interviews to give it my all.
14:14 And hey Michael, how are you doing tonight? How's it going? Good to see you. Welcome. But yeah, otherwise, big Lance, I'll probably just be working on YouTube. I've been kind of slow the last few weeks, last month. I've just been busy with trying to get a bunch of ancillary stuff and other kinds of things done.
14:39 And also, my sleep schedule's just been kind of off. But yeah, I think things will get better. Make it over to Vietnam, do something new. I'm really comfortable here in Thailand, but I am looking to mix it up and try something a bit different. Totally happy here in Thailand, but I think I'd like to go somewhere that I haven't been before, and I've never been to Vietnam, so that's something I'm really looking forward to.
15:02 Just open up some Jim Beam. That sounds good, Michael. I hope you enjoy it. It's a nice summer drink, right? With the ice and the chill vibes in the Philippines. And yeah, that sounds wonderful.
15:22 And you know, I think that's interesting you mentioned that, just because it's, you know, I think one misconception that some people have about living in Southeast Asia in general is that you can't get the same products. And I know some products you can't get, but a lot of products you really can get over here.
15:39 It's really, and it's more and more like every time I come to this part of the world, I'm surprised at how much more interesting products they have and different kinds of conveniences and just, you know, all the things that you'd want back home. Many of them you can get, and more and more that's the case as we move forward.
16:01 Big Lance, cool man. I wish you luck. Well, thank you so much, Lance. I really appreciate it. And feel free to shoot me a message or an email if you end up in the same place as me at the same time. Always interested to meet up with folks.
16:17 But yeah, Michael says they have it at 7-Eleven here. That's so convenient. I'm excited to be seeing the 7-Elevens in the Philippines. They're super common here in Thailand. I have like one four blocks away, north from my apartment in Bangkok, and then I have maybe like two or three blocks, and then I have another one like four blocks east of my apartment.
16:44 And it's so convenient to be able to go in there and get the things that you need. I go there a lot for these electrolyte powder packets, and I mix that with water instead of having Gatorade. It's like a sugar-free alternative, so it's almost like Gatorade light.
16:59 But yeah, I drink those a lot, and you can get all kinds of drinks there too, all kinds of beverages. I don't know how the laws are there if they ban the sale of adult beverages during certain hours. Here, it's like from 12 to 4 PM and from like 12 AM to 5 AM or something like that.
17:27 Maybe it's like, yeah, you can't buy alcohol. So I don't know if they have the same laws there, or if it's like open game, like, you know, whatever hour you want. I still think they're overall pretty permissive to people having a good time.
17:39 Like, it blows my mind, you know, you can just enjoy that in public and nobody cares. Back home, you have to be kind of private about it. And so that's something I like.
17:51 24/7. Okay, very cool, Michael. Yeah, because they have like certain Buddhist holidays where they don't allow for the sale of it. And, you know, to me, it's like back home, anytime, like on Sundays, you couldn't sell in Tennessee, where I'm from. You couldn't buy alcoholic beverages on Sundays.
18:08 But everybody would just buy it on Saturday, right? Like people would just stock up on Saturday, and then they'd have plenty to enjoy on Sunday. And now they've rolled it back. I think they've made it so you can do wine on Sundays, and they'll probably just totally undo it because, you know, Nashville's grown so much, it's a big partying season.
18:29 They only ban it during elections here. Well, you know what? That's fair. And I can respect that for sure.
18:41 Yeah, my buddy, I've been talking to my buddy who lives in Mindanao, and we've just been talking about what he's been up to and what he's doing. And he said they make like coconut wine or some kind of coconut distilled beverage there, and I'm kind of curious to try it.
18:56 I didn't try last time, I didn't know about it. Last time we just had Red Horse and mostly Red Horse. I think you mentioned Tanduay that might have been it. I think he might have been talking about Tanduay, but I don't know if you like Tanduay, Michael. I'm not sure if, you know, how the flavor is.
19:15 Or you probably are used to like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, which is what I'm accustomed to as well. Like being from the South, those two are like two peas in a pod. Everybody's familiar with them.
19:29 I had Jack Daniels in Phnom Penh, so when I went and partied in Phnom Penh about four or five years ago, my buddy wanted to welcome me, and so he bought one of those bottles of Jack, and we enjoyed it in the bar. It was a wild night, that was a lot of fun. That was one of the most fun times I've had in Southeast Asia, and that's saying a lot.
20:04 Yeah, I'll have to check out this History Museum. I don't know how much of it will talk about the war. I've been starting to learn more about the history of the Vietnam War. My grandfather served in the military during that time, and he worked under a famous General, General Westmoreland, who's apparently not very well liked in some social circles.
20:26 Don't want to get into the controversy of it, but I do want to learn about the history and see things from the other side. I don't think I've been to a Vietnam Museum in the United States. There might be one in like DC or in New York City. I've seen some memorials, but yeah, it'll be interesting to learn about.
20:53 Sure. Tuba. Okay, the fermented drink is called tuba. Interesting. You know, I think he did okay, you're familiar. Yeah, that's the name he called it. He used tuba. I don't know how popular that is near Manila, if it's like a multi-island thing.
21:08 His family is mostly from the Bicol Region, but they moved down to Mindanao for certain job opportunities. And why don't we scroll over there because we're on the topic of the Philippines? This happens on a few streams recently.
21:30 But I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to sort out the best way to get around, and it's going to be tricky when I get over there. Have to drink it fresh within two days, returns to vinegar. Okay, that makes a lot of sense.
21:46 Yeah, he was trying to explain that to me, and that makes total sense. Like you have to consume it really quick, or it's going to go, it's not going to have the same. Yeah, it's not going to have what you're looking for.
22:06 I don't know, maybe you could cook with it when it goes to vinegar, but certainly not as useful.
22:16 But yeah, I didn't mean to get sidetracked on the Philippines, but I'm fairly certain that's what's going to come after my time in Vietnam, and I'm looking forward to it.
22:43 Oh wow, there's the volcano erupting. Canlaon volcano. Have you heard about this, Michael? I know you're not in the Bicol region, but that's really unfortunate.
23:10 Hey, thanks so much. Have a safe travels, big Lance. And yeah, enjoy your time in China. I've never been there, but I hope you have a wonderful time.
23:29 Tentatively, what I'm thinking about is flying into Dumaguete and then staying there for like one month. And then I'll probably take a ferry, I guess. You'd have to take it to Tawi-Tawi. I'm sort of opposed to going through traveling around this area. I've heard it's just not safe.
23:46 So it may be a situation where I've got to fly to Manila and then fly down to CDO. They're building an airport, I've heard, in Malaybalay, but I don't know if it's active yet. So maybe a situation I need to fly into CDO and then take like a bus or, you know, a cab to town.
24:06 And then ride up there. I might prefer to ride up there with him just because it's more fun to travel with local friends, especially if there's traffic on the way up. But yeah, that's kind of what.
24:17 Oh, a couple erupted in the past month or so. That's really unfortunate, Michael. Yeah, it's really tragic, like, you know, such a beautiful country is hit by these natural disasters, and it's, yeah, I just hate it for them, the people that are struggling with it.
24:47 If you do ever stay a short time in Luzon, let me know. I can make a trip to Manila to meet in person. Well, thank you so much, Michael. That's really kind. I appreciate you saying that. I'll definitely let you know because Luzon is certainly really appealing. It's, of course, with Manila, you've got the most densely populated city in the world.
25:05 I think also I want to check out Boracay. I keep hearing good things about Boracay. I think you even mentioned you might be going down there, Michael, at some point for a vacation in the near future. It's really not that far, I think, especially coming from your neck of the woods.
25:21 But like even if you're coming from the big city, it's like, let's see here, Manila to Boracay.
25:33 Yeah, it's like two hours in a car. Not that bad. I mean, to go to a really beautiful beach destination. Let's pull it up. Yeah, it's just stunning, and they're building a lot. It looks like they're building a lot of condos there.
25:47 I miss the Philippines a lot. Oh, you plan to go there? You want to go?
25:52 You plan to go there, you want to go there soon. It's supposed to be really nice, and I think one of the big advantages to Batangas is that you're not in the big city, but you have some of those amenities. Because it's so popular for people to come down from Manila, you've got some development. Because sometimes there are parts of the Philippines that I've been to that I loved, it was beautiful, but you don't necessarily feel connected to that bigger city where it's going to be some effort to get back home.
26:24 Where here, you know, if you had your driver, you could just hop in your vehicle, head down there, and then when you need to come back up, it's like a couple hours versus if you were going to another island where you needed to fly or take a ferry. It can be time-consuming to unwind that. Like if you go to certain islands, even just landing in Manila, you'd fly to Manila, and then you'd have to go through security, and then you get a vehicle and then go to your place. So that's a big advantage for doing something on the island that you live in is that you're not having to jump through as many hoops.
27:23 The landscapes are just so dramatic, and that looks nicely developed. I mean, they've got some hotels here, they've got the beautiful multicolored roofs. But you get, I don't know if this was taken with a drone or if he's on top of a hill here looking overlooking it, but you get beautiful views. The Philippines is just such a gorgeous country with the nature.
27:43 That's kind of what I'm learning now is like in Vietnam, I'm going there like from what I've been reading online, the appeal of Vietnam will just be the culture and the food. Right? In the Philippines, it's the natural beauty and the friendliness of the people. So both have a lot of advantages, but they're unique, they're different from one another, and people are drawn to the different countries based on different things. I miss the people a lot in the Philippines. I felt just a really strong connection there.
28:16 Michael says, 'Where I live in Cavite is easy to get to almost everything you want in a fairly reasonable time.' Love Cavite. Yeah, that sounds like the perfect balance between like you've got your urban amenities and uh we can pull up. I have to... um there we go. So like you're, you know, you're really close, like you're an hour or so, hour 15 away, but you're not necessarily in that downtown feeling, right? Like it's probably not as built up. You're coming along the coast here.
28:57 I've noticed in the Philippines, the coastal development seems really nice from my observation. And so you don't, I think the disadvantage of Manila is if you're not as much of a big city person, like you can't feel bit crowded. Like here, I've realized being in Bangkok, it's too much of a big city for me. So I plan to have trips to Bangkok in the future throughout my life, let's say a week or so here or there, but I don't know if I could ever live in Bangkok again. It's just really, really busy and it can feel pretty crowded at times.
29:31 And for me, I'm more like Michael, in that I like, uh, I'm a little bit more chill. Um, oh, okay. I'll, uh, let see. Oh, you're down here. Okay, even better. Like, but yeah, you've got like a mall here, Vista Mall. Um, you know, really nice shopping mall that it looks like to me. They've got like a coffee place, like probably plenty of good restaurants if you want to go get any grocery that you'd have from back home. It looks like they probably have some imported groceries here.
30:04 So you have all these conveniences, but you've got, you know, these all this like, uh, all this green, right? Like you see a lot of the trees. And you see, well, that's not it. Um, but yeah, it's just got a more chill vibe. It's not quite so busy, not quite so hectic as being in the city center of Manila. Um, I think, you know, unless you're having to work in the city center, this is a really great alternative.
30:34 Uh, to, you know, like you've got the conveniences, you've got access to conveniences, but you live outside of the hustle and bustle. And I've had a lot of friends recommend that to me in Bangkok. Um, we'll go over to Bangkok really quick. Um, they've recommended spots to me like out here, like in Aloi, like, uh, kind of on the edge of the city. Um, same out here, S-Pran, like just out here on the edge of the city where you can get to the city really easily, but you're not in the hustle and bustle.
31:15 Like where I'm at, I'm in Sathorn. Uh, I'm in this neighborhood, and you can tell it's really built up. I mean, we're very close to the, uh, Su-um, BTS stops, like this super, super built-up part of the city. And then on the MRT line, it's pretty built up as well. The newest mall is actually being built down here in Kong Toy, so you do get some conveniences living in the big city, but it can be overwhelming and a bit stressful.
31:45 I will say I don't go out as much as I did, you know, living in some of the smaller or more medium-sized cities, because going out there's like right in the road, uh, in front of my building to the BTS station, right? To the public transit, then there's like traffic going by, there's motorbikes going by, and there's not a ton of sidewalk. And I mean, that's normal for Bangkok, but it does feel, I don't know if claustrophobic is the word, but I still go out. I still go out and do stuff, but it does take more energy out of me than walking, say, on a beach or like in a less, less densely populated city.
32:29 Or Chiang Mai. These are cities where I'd go out much more often. Um, and plus things are more spread out there too, right? I mean, in Chiang Mai, there's like one main mall that I could get to easily from my apartment. So I just go to that mall. Here in, or in Hot, there was like once again, one mall. Well, there's like two malls, but one main mall, Central Festival, and so that was like a mile away, so I'd walk to that because that's, you know, one of the big things in town to go to or to do.
33:00 Whereas in Bangkok, there's dozens of malls. So, you know, if I, if I need to go to a certain part of the city, I'm also tackling the mall over there. But if I don't, I'll go to a mall nearby. And that stops me from exploring as much, which I thought it would be the inverse. I'd be in Bangkok and I'd want to explore a lot more. And I have to be fair to explore a lot, but it can just be overwhelming at times being in such a large city compared to where I'm from, that's a smaller city.
33:26 How do you feel about going to Manila, Michael? How are your, like, do you have good experiences when you go to the big city? Um, do you feel like it's just too many people from, you know, compared to what you're used to? I feel like if you go for day trips, it wouldn't be so bad. But, um, yeah, so I did not find a job yet. Um, the last one asked me about, um, about coming in for an onsite for the final round.
33:53 Part of me is thinking about going back to school or maybe pivoting careers, just pick up something different. Uh, because the job market's not so great right now. And I think I want to go back to the, I don't want to go, I think I need to go back to the US, probably around the spring. Uh, so by the spring, if I haven't found something, I'll go back and just, uh, interview and find something new to get into. Um, that will have given me a solid enough cushion to not worry about it like the job hunt.
34:21 But at the same time, uh, it's, I won't be rushing back into what's still a rough job market. I think things will improve when the interest rates start to come down. And I think they bottomed out, and that's helping too. Like companies are like, oh, okay, interest rates aren't going to keep going up, so maybe we can start to assess from here what we can afford to spend. Um, but yeah, I think until the interest rates start to come down, the tech job market is going to be rough.
34:49 And even when they start to, uh, well, when they start to, it's going to signal kind of a bottom in the market. And then also, uh, you know, when they start to pick back up, it's probably not going to be as wild as it was during the pandemic. But, uh, yeah, part of me thinks I should go back to school and get like a master's in IT, uh, because I'd like to pivot to more introvert-friendly IT work.
35:13 Um, sales, like I can do it, but I just don't think I have that ultra outgoing personality that you need to have if you want to succeed in sales, or I get the impression anyway, um, that you really got to enjoy talking to people all day long. And I don't, right? I like talking to you guys, but I'm not so gregarious and outgoing that I like to talk to tons of strangers all the time.
35:37 So that's something I have been thinking about is like, is it time for me to just look at, you know, applying to grad school? Um, I think it would make me more marketable as a candidate. I think I'd be building on some of the experience I already have, some of the education I already have, but that I could probably qualify for some better positions and have more opportunity to move up too.
36:04 The more time I spend in Southeast Asia, uh, the less I feel attached to living here until I'm at a more reasonable retirement age. I like it a lot, it's a lot of fun, but at the same time, you know, during my working years, I think it's America's kind of hard to beat, um, as far as opportunities go to earn and to put away money. And there's still some things that I'd like to do in America, um, but it's also not the best place right now.
36:36 So I don't know, I'll figure it out. Things will work out. I know I'm confident things will work out one way or another. Um, Michael says, 'I haven't really toured Manila, only go there for specific things like dentist appointments or the airport. I don't care for big cities.'
36:51 Yeah, I don't blame you there, Michael. Like, just being, um, you know, being from like more medium-sized cities, like I get the impression people should move to a big city because they've got a really good job offer there and they're going to really move up in their career and it's going to be a great financial opportunity, or they've got family, right?
37:11 Opportunity or they've got family right there. For example, for Filipino people, they've got family in Manila, relatives in Manila, and a strong pull to that big city. And if you don't have that, I think often in big cities, this is the feeling I get after I've spent a lot of time in big cities. I've spent time in Bogota, Colombia, lived near San Francisco for a while. Being in big cities, there's just this loneliness.
37:45 I worked out another video on loneliness the other day, but you feel lonely. I don't know how to narrow it down to exactly one reason, but it's like I don't feel as lonely when I'm in the smaller cities or more provincial areas. For some reason, even though there's fewer people, I guess you're able to get closer to people and get to know them better. You have fewer options, so like for me, I'm going to different restaurants every day. But when I was in Cebu or in Shanghai, I was eating at the same restaurants every day.
38:18 That's a big difference in Bangkok, where I'd start to become a regular and get to know the people working there. In Chiang Mai or in Hanoi, people are just too busy to really talk unless I'm in a 7-Eleven. People just don't have time; they're just dealing with so many customers, trying to get to work, trying to do their jobs, trying to get home. That can be really overwhelming after a while and kind of wear you down to some extent.
38:47 I think for some people, like us, I'm kind of getting the impression I like big cities for a day trip, maybe a weekend or something like that. But after a while, it's just too much: too many people, too much noise, too much traffic. I've seen a lot of Bangkok at this point; I feel like I've seen all the city center, much of the BTS line around Sukhumvit, and places like Benjakitti Park and Lumphini Park. I've seen all the malls in the central area and eaten at a lot of the restaurants I wanted to try.
39:27 Now I'm needing to get out more. I've seen most of Sathorn at this point, and I've experienced a lot of different things. I'm like, 'Okay, I want to do something different.' So maybe it is a situation where I just enjoy the big cities in pieces. Michael says, 'Get your AWS Solutions Architect Associate or Pro; there's high demand for that.' I got the associate cert right before getting laid off from 3M but decided to retire. Well, thank you so much, Michael, for that insight. I'm going to make a note of that.
40:18 AWS, yeah, that's super helpful, Michael. I appreciate it. That may be something that I start working on in Vietnam. I don't know how long it would take to complete that, but yeah, that could be super helpful for me to pivot because I have a useless undergraduate degree. But I did get partway through a computer science degree, and I would just like to get something, like I said, more introvert-friendly. I know I'm capable of doing it with the right training.
40:45 I think that'll help me get from point A to point B. And then, you know, when I do hit that point of retirement like you did, if I work in it, I know that I'll be able to save a lot, invest a lot, and I'll get to that point financially where I can go over to the Philippines and not have the existential concern in the back of my mind, 'Am I going to get a job today or six months from now?' You don't have to worry about that when you're financially independent.
41:11 Udemy and Cloud Guru can have good courses on those. Okay, excellent. I'll make a note of those too. Udemy Cloud, because I don't have much planned for Vietnam. There aren't as many sites that I'm familiar with as in Thailand. YouTube is looking more like a side hobby or side hustle for me. I'm not necessarily sure that I want to count on it for taking off.
41:45 I like the idea of a technical role, and I'm definitely going to be getting into that information. I might even start sooner than that, sooner than when I go over there, because I've done so much in Bangkok. Maybe it's time for me to start to make some headway on that. I think some of what I want to see in my timeline isn't as built up as the east of the river, but there's still some stuff I want to see down there.
42:11 I did a trip a few weeks ago down here, but I mostly just walked like Ratchadaphisek Road and some Phetchaburi Road. I didn't really get all the side streets, and there were some interesting spots I could have checked out, but I was doing more of a cursory walk-through of the neighborhood than a deep dive.
42:42 Philippine life with Janet. Enjoy visiting Vietnam. Thank you so much, Janet. That's really kind; I appreciate that. Welcome to the stream, and looking forward to meeting you and Mike. Hopefully, this fall, Vietnam will be really interesting. I don't want to come across as I'm overlooking it; it's just something that I needed to do for a while and I just haven't ever had the time or schedule to get over to it.
43:07 I'm almost always flying to Thailand, and well, I'm almost always flying to Thailand. I've flown into Cambodia before, but with Vietnam, the visa situation is such that you really have to plan in advance. I'm thinking, 'Okay, I don't want to fly into there,' but if I'm already in the region, then it's not so bad. It's a quick flight to Da Nang from Bangkok, like an hour and 45 minutes. So, I guess they just fly us over the eastern part of Thailand and then over the mountains, and then we get to the beach.
43:47 It's going to be really interesting to see something different and experience something different. I know that I'm not going to get the English there that I get in the Philippines, and that's something that I'm really looking forward to in the Philippines: the English, because that opens up so many possibilities. We'll scroll back over to the Philippines because it's just such a nice country. But yeah, just being able to connect with people, being able to communicate, learning about the culture, the country.
44:21 My buddy's been telling me all about it, and I'll harp on it a lot, but this is where it's looking like I'm going to be landing. There are like seven different indigenous groups there, and they have this festival called Kulang. So, this is the park where they celebrate it. So they don't... I guess I could just... Kulang Festival.
45:00 So, this is the Kulang Festival. It's every March, and I'm hoping to stick around until then. But all these different groups, these indigenous groups, get together and they celebrate coming together, working together, and they display their traditional clothing. It's just a big party and a celebration, and I think it's going to be really interesting too, like the colors. People put so much effort into this, and they're really proud of their traditions, and I think it's really cool.
45:31 You know, when I grew up in the US, I wasn't really exposed to indigenous people, and so this will be something that's very different from what I'm used to. They do dancing, and they've obviously got some of their delicious local food. That looks cool. So they've got floats; people build these really intricate floats. It's got like a frog on the front.
46:09 And hint, hint, just dropping a hint here, I've talked with Z, and he suggested that we may be able to get interviews with some of these people from some of these groups. Now, I don't know if that would entail bringing in a translator. I don't know if they also speak Bion. Maybe there's some younger people in their group that have some English, but I'd really like to ask them more about their culture. That's what I've been wanting to do here that I can't really do here as effectively as I'd be able to in the Philippines: actually connect with local people and interview them and talk to them.
46:43 So, I know a lot of the expats in the Philippines, they're interviewing other expats, and that's super valuable. I think it's important to include the expat perspective because I'm a foreigner, right? I'm not a Filipino person, so I can't speak to their experience on that level. But if I want to go and interview a Thai person, most Thai people aren't going to necessarily be comfortable with their English to the extent that some Filipino people will be.
47:13 And it's just not going to be as straightforward. In Thailand, I have Thai friends, and I ask them about it, and they're like, 'Oh, we're shy,' or they're concerned. They have jobs where they don't want something to be taken out of context, or they just don't want the risk or potential downside. It seems like in the Philippines, people are on average going to be more open to chatting and talking.
47:42 And because we could communicate in English, I can set certain expectations or precedent that, you know, 'We're here to respect you; we want to show your country in a positive light.' But we often get the perspective of people that are just like people coming from the United States, living here, and they see things a certain way. I think that you guys see things a different way, and it would help a lot of them to get more of your perspective and thoughts.
48:12 And yeah, just talk about the culture, talk about the traditions. I think it's just such an interesting vibe, and you've got so much to love about the country. But I think the people are super high up there as far as things to love about the Philippines. The colors, I have no idea where they get the colors, but that's something I'm going to ask about.
48:44 Something I'm going to ask about is like, how do you get these beautiful colors? They're so vivid. My friend did ask me, take care, Michael. I hope you have a great evening. It was so nice to see you on here tonight. And I hope we get to meet at some point in the future. I really appreciate you sharing your insight, Michael.
49:25 But yeah, so my buddy was telling me, he was asking me, his mom is from Dumaguete. So I've known about Dumaguete for a while now. He asked me, why are so many foreigners going to Dumaguete? I had to explain to him it was on the Forbes list for most popular retirement destinations in the world. And then you have some YouTubers coming to do meetups. Why don't we show Dumaguete? And then those YouTubers started doing videos there.
49:57 You can see it's very, very beautiful, but there are beautiful places throughout the country. If you're talking about natural beauty, Dumaguete is beautiful, but it's in a country full of gorgeous destinations. So what makes it stand out? I told him, you know, the YouTubers started putting out content about it, so now all these foreigners are watching from back home. Oh wow, look at beautiful waterfalls and the beaches there, the diving south of the city, and places like Dauin, the ferry, and Zamboanga if you want to go to other areas in the immediate vicinity.
50:37 The clear water, I mean, that's turquoise. It's like something out of a movie. So yeah, I told him because he was curious, just as a local guy, what's, you know, my mom's from there, but I don't know what differentiates it from everywhere else. That was a lot of fun to be able to share something about his country with him because he's not really often interacting with foreigners. He mostly interacts with other Filipino people. He lives in a part of the Philippines that is not yet well-touristed.
51:11 So yeah, he did warn me about one foreigner. I'll just share this perspective. He did mention to me one foreigner that has kind of gotten stranded to some degree in Malapascua. We'll pull up Malapascua. And to just be wary of him because he has like a solid sob story and he'll come up asking for stuff. He even asks Filipinos for money, and people are helping him out. Then my buddy saw him misuse that money, spend that money on something that was not its intended usage.
51:45 People are thinking they're helping him to have shelter or to have food, and he's not spending it on that. So that's something to be cautious about. If you do encounter a haggard foreigner, not a local. We're not talking about local people here. We're talking about people who aren't from the Philippines. I understand people get into hard times. I'm not here to judge, but it's just something to be mindful of.
52:09 I think some of us when we travel, we see somebody that looks like us or sounds like us, and maybe we're thinking, oh, they're just like us. But there are many different reasons people want to come to the Philippines. It's important to be cognizant of that.
52:25 But yeah, I'll probably wrap up in the next 10 minutes just because I've been using my voice a lot lately, and I can already tell it's going to be a little bit of trouble. But feel free to chime in with any questions or thoughts anybody has, and I'm happy to answer them in the remaining time. I think I'm going to try to head out and find a fruit truck. There's this street near where I live where these fruit trucks show up like one or two nights a week.
52:54 So I'm always walking out there around this time to go see if any of them are still around or if maybe they've headed out for the evening. They are always selling mangoesteen right now, like mango is in season. I'll just pull up mangoesteen so you can get a sense of what that looks like. It's my favorite fruit.
53:19 It doesn't look like much from the outside. You've got this green, kind of petal-like stem, and you've got this dark purple, dark red, kind of black color when it gets ripe. It starts out red, like it's got this reddish color on the outside when it's underripe. Or I guess when it's fully ripe, when it's freshly picked from the tree, but then it becomes darker. And you've got these fleshy white pods that are both sour and sweet.
53:47 I've eaten as much as a few kilos in one sitting. I'll go to the market and they'll have three kilos for like $3, $3.25, maybe $3.50. And I'll buy three kilos and sit there and eat half of them, sometimes all of them. But then I'll try to stick the other half in my backpack and take it back to my apartment and finish them off. But they're just so tasty.
54:14 And they're small, so you can go through a lot of them really fast. And you've got to pull the seeds out too. Sometimes the seeds can be a little bit tricky with these. I'm curious if they have them in the Philippines. Maybe they do. Mangoes are a bigger thing, but yeah, it's just such a good fruit. My mouth is watering just thinking about having some fresh mangoesteen.
54:46 Anybody have any plans this week? I know it's Tuesday morning back in the US. We're halfway getting close to halfway through the week. I've been just trying to prepare for Vietnam. Haven't done much recording or putting out videos. It's also been a little tough with the audio, trying to get some places that I feel like are a bit more quiet.
55:09 I still have a lot to learn as far as overlaying the audio on the imagery and how to structure that in such a way that it's cohesive. Because sometimes I get great audio, and then sometimes the audio gets muffled up by tuk-tuks driving by, or a loud motorbike driving by, or a siren, or somebody doing business selling their wares. And so that could be a little bit tricky to get the audio where I want it to be.
55:40 Making videos is way harder than I thought it would be, especially if you want to have some production value and you want to improve. I never appreciated it until I started working on it. I'm like, oh gosh, this is super complex to make good content. It looks easy because we get to enjoy the final results from the comfort of our homes with cold beverages and some nice snacks for a meal. But some of what they do is just mind-blowing to me now that I actually know what it's like to make videos.
56:08 Fruits. So longan, they have longan. It's okay to me. It's not my favorite. It's not as sour as the mangoesteen, which is my favorite. But longan is okay. Star fruit is one I haven't tried. I like it in beverages in America. I don't know if it's really star fruit or just star fruit extract, but I would like to try the actual fruit here. I think it is kind of sour without the sweet, and so that'll be an adjustment.
56:46 But yeah, this custard apple is one of my favorites, or sour sop. Sour sop is in the same family as a custard apple. Now, I don't know if it's like more sour or what the flavor profile would be like. Grapefruit, well, pomelo, they've got pomelo, which is similar to grapefruit, but it's sweeter. So that might be something I'd like to try. Grapefruit is okay. It's really sour. I prefer to have it with honey, but on its own, it's just a little bit too sour for me.
57:21 Sentol. So this looks a little bit similar to the mangoesteen. It's originally like a Malaysian fruit, but it's been brought to this part of the world. Yeah, I'll have to try sentol because that looks like something I would like. They've got the watermelon. Awesome. Yeah, watermelon smoothie would be perfect on a hot day in the Philippines.
57:48 Papaya. I'm sure we're all familiar with papaya. I used to have this a lot in California. They bring it out from Mexico, and it's really refreshing and sweet and mild flavor. I like papaya a lot. I don't often see papaya in smoothies. I don't know if that's just me. Maybe it's just that the other fruits are more popular, but that is something that I wish I'd see more of. Maybe it's something I just need to look harder for.
58:15 Sentol is mangoesteen. Okay, so it's basically the same thing. Okay, that makes sense. Tamarind. You know, I haven't really tried tamarind in its fruit form. So I've had tamarind sauces that I really like in popular Indian cuisine, but I don't think I've tried it on its own like that.
58:33 Guava. In my experience, guava is really, really sour. It's refreshing, but it's not something that is addictive like mangoesteen or pineapple. Mango ripe, mango unripe. Mango can be a little bit sour.
58:52 Durian. I've heard Davao is the capital of durian for the Philippines. I'm not as much of a durian guy. I could see why some people like it. I developed somewhat of a taste for it, but it's not so amazing to me that I can't live without it. I prefer mangoesteen. But durian, certainly if you're a durian lover, then that's a big thing in the Philippines.
59:26 Jay says, so is the situation better in Thailand since June 1st? 60 days plus another 30 extension. That's really awesome, Jay. I had heard about that. I'm on the education visa, but as far as that, yeah, I think it would be better than Vietnam because Vietnam, you get 30 days or 90 days, and that's it. I think that's all you get per year. They haven't really put out much about changing that.
59:54 I don't know if tourism demand might change that, but yeah, Thailand is super easy to come visit for a couple of months, and then an additional couple of months, depends on your nationality. I don't know. I think they changed it for 27 countries. So if you're within one of those 27 countries, then, um, we can pull that up.
1:00:32 93 nations now qualify in an effort to attract more tourists and remote workers. The Thai cabinet this week rolled out a series of new visa promotions, including visa-free and visa on arrival starting on June 1. The number of countries eligible for visa-free entry to Thailand will be increased.
1:00:50 Visa-free entry to Thailand will be from 57 to 93 under the new scheme. Visitors can stay in Thailand for up to 60 days, compared to the earlier limit of 30 days. That should be very convenient. So if you're wanting to come for up to 120 days, then Thailand is a great bet for that, and I think you'll have a wonderful time if you come here.
1:01:11 I've had a blast staying here for the last year. I wish I could stay longer; technically, I could stay longer, but I'm ready to mix it up and do something different. Whether you've been to Thailand or you haven't, it's a great choice. Everything is set up for tourists to enjoy themselves; it's so easy to get around, easy to find a place to stay, easy to have amazing food, and easy to entertain yourself anywhere in the country.
1:01:39 I can't say enough good things about my time here in Thailand. Whether it's been Bangkok where I started off last year, went down to Pattaya, then spent a good chunk of time in Chiang Mai. Then, during the burning season in Chiang Mai, I went down to Hoi An, and all throughout the country, the hospitality has been great. It's been really interesting to learn about the different parts of Thailand and the different cultural mixtures here.
1:02:07 It's wonderful, so I think it will be easier than Vietnam, where I'm expecting to go for at minimum a month. I plan to stay in Vietnam for at least a month, but up to three months. So the visa I got will allow me to stay there for up to three months, but I don't believe there's any kind of extension after that three-month period. I'll be expected to leave and go to another country at that point.
1:02:29 That's my plan, unless I get an amazing job offer. Then I plan to go to the Philippines. With the Philippines, different from Thailand, you get 30 on arrival. You can get another 29 days immediately if you're flying into Manila airport or through an agency service. Then you have to extend every two months, but you can do that for up to three years and then leave for a day and come back in and start all over again.
1:03:02 The difference is like if you're coming for three months or four months, Thailand is very competitive. If you're talking about wanting to go and stay for six months or longer, then I think the Philippines is a better bet. But it's also something where you could go to Thailand for a month or two, then go to another country like Indonesia for a month, Malaysia for a month, and then come back and do two more months in Thailand.
1:03:31 It's a situation where you do have more flexibility, and I think it's awesome. I think it's going to encourage more people to come visit Thailand, spend more time here, and enjoy themselves. The hospitality, the hot weather, and the friendly people make it wonderful.
1:03:47 Feel free, guys, to chime in with any last questions. I'll probably start winding down here soon just to get on some other things, but I wanted to join everybody for an hour or so here and see how everybody's doing, check in on people's travels and travel plans.
1:04:23 Hoi An is one place I do want to go. It's north of Da Nang by like an hour. I think it takes about an hour to get up here, and it is more touristic. It's got more of a traditional vibe as far as some of the buildings, and I think there's probably less English outside of the city center. It's not as much of a big city vibe; it looks pretty compact when I looked at it from a map.
1:04:58 That looks beautiful with the lily pads and the traditional house. I'm getting really excited for Vietnam; it's going to be very different and very interesting. This looks really developed; I mean, it looks like a decent-sized city, much more so than I would have thought from people talking about it as though it's a day trip from Da Nang.
1:05:38 But be sure to make it a trip to Hoi An. I did look up online what it would be like to live here. Some people were saying it's more of a two or three-day city; you don't necessarily need to go for a month. But yeah, I'll take a day trip up here. It looks gorgeous; it'll be nice to mix it up from Da Nang. I'm sure I'll want to do something a little bit different after at least a week in Da Nang.
1:06:17 If there aren't any other questions, I think I'm going to go ahead and wrap it up. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining tonight. I really appreciate the support, and it was so nice to catch up with everybody. It always puts me in a great mood to chat with you all and engage and interact.
1:06:36 I'm looking forward to the next steps in my journey, but take care, everyone. Bye-bye.
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