@siralis

Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w

Great for tourism, bad for living. The City has a fascinating contrast of old and new. You will never get bored, it’s easy to meet people and have fun. Infrastructure and food are great. Thai people are friendly and welcoming, even when it not always feels genuine. With that said, it’s not a good city for long term living. It’s too hot and humid. Felt air temperature is between 37°C-45°C almost year round during the day. It’s makes all outdoor activity unpleasant. Getting your daily d

Was here in Mid-2023. Bali has completely changed from when I last visited in 2017. Full of arrogant influences and degenerate party people who are entitled and have no respect for the locals. Many Uber drivers told me they are starting to get annoyed because a lot of Westerners don’t respect anything…. Pollution and traffic are on the rise. It is turning into Kuta. Probably one of the least walkable places, forget walking on the sidewalk unless you want to get taken out. A lot of accidents

I'm staying in BGC as I write this, and so far PH most aggressively mediocre place I've travelled to in Asia. While I'm used to free/cheap wifi, friendly people, and great food living in place like Thailand, even staying in the most modern area in the country lacks all of those (no free Wifi even at Starbucks, and I've seen "cooked fresh" restaurant food taken out of the freezer before cooking). Social culture is very uncanny valley, people are "polite" but it's extremely fake, which you'll noti

Pros: Friendly people, safe, stable government, efficient and fast public transportation, established foreigner (gaijin) population due many English teachers, many great food options, many festivals (cherry blossom fest), onsens! Cons: Expensive, work til you die at your desk mentality, drunken businessman culture, groping on packed public transit, lack of mental health services so be cautious around the destitute, over sexualization of underage females, high risk if caught with illegal substan

In terms of value for money for a city, I would say Kuala Lumpur is the best in all of Asia, high-quality apartments at a good price, high-quality restaurants, has a car scene if you are a car guy. I found it quite safe. For me, the weather was like 4 seasons in one day almost every day. Rains a lot, a lot of storms and also very hot and humid. Dating was ok not bad like Western countries but not the best. I found the city quite boring itself, not a lot to see inside of the city. If you are

Hong Kong is a great city with dense urban areas but also nature and hiking routes only 15 minutes away. There are restaurants for every taste and budget, from the best US fast casual chains to high end Michelin star restaurants. It's also extremely safe, despite recent political instability.

I only stayed for 3 weeks cause the life is kind of boring compared to Tokyo or Osaka. It helps a lot if you speak some korean since not many people speak english and most restaurants don't have english menu. The internet is fast but the public transportation is always crowded.