Thursday, 26th March 2009
I have only been out of Singapore for close to 2 months and there has been a lot of major developments in Singapore.
Let’s face it. I am a chicken. I dare not fight this government head on. I know in my heart Singapore is not where I want to be. If I don’t want to be there, I have no motivation to fight for my freedom in my own country when I can get it from another country.
Tagged As: Democracy, Singapore, Wall Street Journal
Sunday, 1st March 2009
I have been researching about the German VoIP company, Betamax GmbH & Co KG, to find the right VoIP service for me. I used VoIP Stunt, which is also a Betamax service, but they no longer have free calls to Thailand.
Betamax has a terrible reputation online. If you do a Google search for “Betamax scams”, you will see a long list of customer complaints about this company. It seems like Betamax has a lot of different web sites that offer free calls to different countries. Most of them are almost the same. It would take forever to visit every web site to find out which web site has free calls to countries you wish to call to.
Thankfully, someone create a web site that compares all the Betamax web sites on a single page. You can select the coutries you wish to call to and filter the results.
Click on the thumbnail to see the full sized picture. I found 3 web sites (SmartVoIP, VoIPDiscount and LowCostVoIP) that have free calls to Singapore and Thailand. I decided to go with VoIP Discount since all 3 …
Monday, 19th January 2009
I called a few transport companies and they quoted me SGD $2500 – SGD $3000 for moving my stuff from Singapore to Bangkok via sea freight. My personal items aren’t even worth SGD $2000 and it would not make sense to pay an extra SGD $2500 excluding taxes when the custom officers go through my stuff one by one.
I decided to pack the essential items I want to bring over to my apartment into boxes and ship them via sea mail instead. I estimate it would cost me a maximum of SGD $300 + to ship over 40 kg of stuff. It will take 3-4 weeks to reach Thailand but I will be spending a few weeks in Singapore before I go back. I think my stuff will arrive at about the same time I arrive in Bangkok.
I pack my items with an estimated value about SGD $100 into a box. Even if the box gets lost in transit, I will get a refund of $100. Some boxes have stuff that are worth more than SGD $100, therefore I would have to purchase extra insurance for extra coverage.
I see 2 probably terrible scenarios for me – Firstly, I might taxed …
Friday, 9th January 2009
I get this question a lot from my non-Singaporean friends. My most recent friends who have asked me this question are from Myanmar and Thailand. Both of them asked me why are there loads of old folks working in fast food restaurants and food courts in Singapore. Although Singapore is above Thailand and Myanmar economically, the way we treat our elderly is a big disgrace compared to most countries of Southeast Asia.
This complicated question can be answered with the following explanations:
…
Tagged As: Singapore, Southeast Asia
Sunday, 4th January 2009
I found an apartment in Bangkok on craigslist.org. I learnt this tip from the 4-Hour Workweek book. I avoided property agents and contacted ads post by apartment owners. Before searching on craigslist.org, I spent a lot of time contacting property agents and browsing Thai property sites that listed apartments at ridiculously high rates.
Amazingly, I am paying about the same amount of rent I am paying back home in Singapore but it is much better here. I’ve got loads of cable TV channels, free internet, cheap utilities, more space and I am allowed to keep my 4 cats here. I think I got a really good deal here and I am really happy with my apartment. I also followed Tim’s advice on living in hostels for a while before moving into an apartment.
Living in hostels in not for everyone. The shared dorms can get rather smelly once they are full. I spent 8 nights at a hostel before moving to a hotel. The benefits of hostels is …
Tagged As: Bangkok, Singapore, Thai language, Thailand, visa
Monday, 22nd December 2008
I’ve been around Bangkok for a week now and I’m slowly getting used to all the new sights, smells and sounds of this wild city. I actually thought of moving to Bangkok last year but I procrastinated and shelved the plan. That plan was revived after I read the 4-Hour Workweek.
Moving out of home, let alone my country is not something that is common in a Chinese family. Almost all my family members disagree with my decision. It is a Chinese tradition to live in your parents’ home to “take care” of them. However, I see a lot of Chinese parents taking care of their adult kids instead of them taking care of their parents. Either way, as long as you live with your parents, you’re generally seen as a good filial kid. To leave your parents and move out is seen as being selfish and unfilial.
It was not an easy decision for me but I believe I have to do it for my own good. I cannot please them by making myself unhappy any longer and I am sure they would understand my reasons for leaving. Furthermore, my family is very dysfunctional and I have been longing to …
Tagged As: Asia, australia, Bangkok, forex, migration, moving, piptronic, pipzu, Singapore, Singapore dollar, Thailand
Wednesday, 17th December 2008
Image via Wikipedia
I am putting the knowledge I learnt from the 4-Hour Workweek into practice. I have decided to check out Bangkok, Thailand as my next location to live. My plan to migrate to Australia is still on but it will be delayed due to the global economic crisis that has badly affected Australia’s economy.
Now the Aussie dollar is worth almost as much as the Singapore dollar! Furthermore, Australia has decided to decrease the amount of foreigners entering their country so I think that might delay my permanent residence application. My application was received by the Australian authorities on 31 April 2008 and it should take 1 year from that date to complete.
I will definitely move to Australia in the future but I am not sure if I would make it my permanent home. That would depend on how things work out in Thailand.
I have been in Bangkok, Thailand for 3 days now. I arrived on 15 December 2008 from Singapore. I plan to check the city out and as many locations as possible to get …
Tagged As: 4-hour work week, Bangkok, Singapore, Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra
Subscribe to Vincent's Blog by RSS
Subscribe to Vincent's Blog by Email
