Where should I live?

Those soups look delicious…especially compared to Taiwanese swill like this:

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The ceviche/soups were fantastic/out of this world, not to mention the bakeries (have lived in many countries and they are second only to France). Compared with Taiwan, they seriously kicked ass!

You are making me more confused - I had Ecuador firmly off the list, and now it creeps back on. Bad Chewie, bad!!!

Aside from soups, what does the food consist of? Do you have any shows you recommend?

Lots of fish, pork, etc. My wife, who is Taiwanese, loved the soups, vegetable markets (she likes to cook), and the fish/meat dishes are quite good.

Chugchucaras were really good. They consist of deep fried pork, potatoes, fried mote, fried plantains, and Aji, a spicy sauce made with hot peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and onions. Encebollado, a fish stew, is regarded as a national dish.
https://www.metropolitan-touring.com/chugchucaras-a-local-delicacy/

My favorite adventure there was the Devil`s nose. Train with triple switchbacks! 534062_10151266267170813_489294296_n

And don’t forget the cuy!

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I suggest jinmen because it’s cool

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Heck any soup in LATAM beats… noodles.

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Just about to go for a run in -10C, and it is a warm winter day!!! And you guys wonder why we want outta here …

I can remember school being cancelled by snowstorms in May in Cowtown (Calgary).

My family called those Taiwanese soups ‘dirty sink water’. Like that when you soak some dirty dishes and forget about them there

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I noticed that Indonesia is (wisely) not on your list. It is a great place to avoid unless uncertainty and humiliation are pros for you.

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What an eclectic, random group of countries (Mexico is about as far from Asia as you can get). Out of the ones specifically listed, I’d definitely pick Taiwan. But if South Korea and Singapore are included in “Other Asian Countries”, then I guess I’m going with that. Of course there’s pros and cons to every place listed there (yes, I’m sure even Malaysia has pros). It depends what you’re looking for at this point in your life, as well as what kind of culture you’re most in synch with, whether you can (or want to) “rough it”, etc.

That’s cherrypicking our worst and putting it against their best. Taiwan has lots of great stews and soups. I don’t need to do a Google image search either. This is a beef noodle place right down the street from me that I frequent at least once a week.
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I don’t know what you are doing in Canada now or if you or wife have a college degree, but I STRONGLY suggest one of you getting a Canadian (IB) based teaching certificate before you start your travels. Better teaching gigs will be much easier to come by, no matter where you decide to land (i.e. International Schools, check tieonline.com for opps). Taiwan TES/TAS for example offer decent salaries, insurance, housing and free education for your son. A Canadian/American (IB) based teaching certificate is considered the GOLD standard when it comes to teaching anything in Asia!! You might want to check out Taipei/TES when you visit Taiwan to start the schmoozing process…

Things are the same and then then, click, they can change forever.

I don’t know the odds of a major chang
e, but I will never discount it, and I see what the Chinese are doing in the South China Sea and their united front to Taiwan.

China united front defuses and reduces the chance of violent attack and catastrophic destruction but it does mean they we may ventually be absorbed into the PRC or becomes it’s satellite state. As somebody coming to retire and not invest or put down family roots it’s maybe not a big deal… if you want to out down roots it’s very different . For instance I am often concerned about earning power in Taiwan for myself and my family.

Overall , day to day, year to year Taiwan is still more stable and a hell of a lot safer than these other countries mentioned. After all Taiwan’s development characteristics are more akin to Japan or the EU than South East Asia!
If we didn’t have so much air pollution (some places in Taiwan would be simply awesome) Pingdong and Nantou and Chiayi …Stunning. Not everywhere but the mountain districts and some interior valleys… Remember folks fly from SEA to enjoy the food, the easy travel , the higher level of development, the friendliness and the incredible mountain scenery. :slight_smile:

Not everywhere is so ‘dangerous’ though in SEA. My impression was Vietnam was quite safe except for a lot of retailers ripping you off, stunning landscape and great food. It would be quite easy to live in a place like Da Nang which is a lot more easy going than vibrant but busy and polluted Ho Chi Minh. Chiang Mai seems pretty well developed as well. I like Vietnam because it reminds me of a less developed and more spacious Taiwan I guess. And the coffee culture !! You can go out the back of Hoi An and Da Nang and still see people farming rice farms with water Buffalo. Vietnam would definitely be my number one choice. Vietnam is cheaper than Thailand also…Thailand isn’t so cheap like it used to be.

I have quite a lot of affection for Malaysia because of its awesome wildlife. Also places like Sabah and Sarawak are simply unique. The people are also quite easy going and friendly in my experience if sometimes not coming across as the sharpest tools in the shed. Also they have SEA Chinese culture and food which is always nice for anybody familiar with Taiwan and conversant in Chinese.

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Hardly. If this was your experience in Thailand, then you did a good job of blocking it out all around you.
The sex trade is all over Thailand. If you can see past it, like you did, it shouldn’t bother you too much.

Mexico = No. Too dangerous.

Thailand = Strong possibility if you can stand the heat. Lots of rich culture and great flavorful food, if you can tolerate spicy.

Taiwan = The safest choice all around. But maybe the least exciting.

Wherever you land, it goes without saying that it is what you make of it.

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South Korea is too cold and expensive, and Singapore too expensive. Singapore is the first leg in our trip in February, so we will see what the wife and I think of it.

It is important to note that I do not want to work full time. I will have a pension of around 60,000 NT$ per month. Not a huge amount for sure, but my wife and I are frugal and don’t have a big lifestyle. In Taiwan, I would just need a job to supply 40-50k per month, if that.

This is also the reason we are considering SE Asia as a whole - it is so much cheaper.

Still, Taiwan is first on my list and (hopefully) getting higher in my wife’s list. This trip will tell us a lot I think.

That money may look like a lot on paper, but it can go very fast.

A car with a monthly loan will set you back a lot. You can get by with scooters, but in the rain they suck.

The biggest expense will be your housing and your son. School costs here and if he needs help catching up with his Chinese.

If you can land yourself a job at an international school, that cost could be halved or free altogether. You would only need to work there 6 years until your son is finished. That bides your time waiting for your APRC too.

Money can burn fast. Spend and invest wisely. It’s not all cheap here.

Yup…you’re right on the money…rent+utilities+phones/internet will cost min. $25K/M and that’s for a basic cave. That’s half of your 50K, add another 25K for your kid’s education and boom no money for food…