does anyone have infos about lease rental charges in london? how much do one pay monthly for a magnificent penthouse which is not too far away from the inner city?

If you have to ask, you probably cant afford it

London expenso as fk

well, i was asking out of simple curious. i think moving to london doesnt make any sense unless you are an extremely rich person. in malta, gibraltar, thailand, whatever you pay 2000-3000$ monthly and you have a luxurious dwelling place and for the same costs you only get a vanilla flat in london ...

magnificent, luxurious $3k apartment lol
how would you call this one then

http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?pric...it_type=search

Confirmed along with Venezuelans.

Country - United Kingdom

Firsthand Experience? - Yes

Cost of Living - 9 - very high for virtually everything due to high demand and limited supply chains and 5% inflation

Recreation - 10 - caveat that the recreation will involve excessive drinking binges at time. but seriously great bars/restaurants/theaters etvv to entertain

Girls - 4 - meeting nice girls in London sucks, it can be done but has many obstacles and requires great expenditure for certain girls. The corkers are lovely though and a good gird with a sense of humour, talking prowess and pneumatic breasts is any man's dream

Re: Index - Best Countries to Expatriate to

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Thailand

Cost of Living - 7 - is good but the mid to high end market for property is as expensive as any western city, the caveat being having a 12 month contrat as that opens up more opportunities for cheaper prices and rentals. Other costs like food and transport a cheap and expect to eat jummy on the go food for 50-11k baht a meal. It will taste nice and it will be healthy - deserts aside. Use of pick up truck taxis and canal boats grewatly reduce cost and time with the canals to reach certain areas centrally

Recreation - 8 - awesome whether you want to do the cultural/sport/foodie/entertainment things I can't think of many better places. The food is stagerring

How Scary - I had two officers seach me in a sub soi late at night after leaving a club and asking me if i had a gun or drugs on me. I laughed and said no as it seemed such an absurd questions to ask a drunk guy out with this girlfiend such a question. the next day the exacttlyl the same thing happened but with different cops. the third day the Traffic Police also arrest me for smooking on the streed. Clearly a fix and realsing they had no real power I simply said bring the police and let them decide or leave me be.\and after a 30 minute stand off which took place with a tables and chairs hasstily set up by the roadside and a no smoking cardboard cout with string to hold it up! a kangaroo court if you will. he let me go and shoke my hand asking me where I was from. corruption is endemic essentially. as it is is Asia in general. 1 year in Asia and I nad no troubler and then 3 days of trouble all together. Certainly wakened me up to the police and authorities - you just don't mess out here. To be fair if you are a decent intelligent person there should be no problems. I knocked a Thai guy off his moped by mistake when I opened the door of my taxi to get the rooftoop bar as it was dusk. i knocked him clean off and went over and helped out and said a few words and closed my hand pointed then is a manner of 'I am sorry'. Once face is restored problem is solved, when Face is an issue it can get ugly

Poker Playing - 5 - internet connection is such a joke for a big city and the makes timeouts an expected occurance. There are ways around but no gurantees you connection with be stable. The phone companies are largely monopolised by the government and as such competition is stiffle and prices seem atificially high.

How Easy to Get There and Stay There? - 9 - very easy and cheap and #
gettign visis as easy and cheapish. However the visa rules change frequently

Girls - 9 - there are so many beautiful Asian women I came here and they are so approachable as the whole feminism idea never developed. They also tend to look for realistic character traits like honour, truthfullness, kindness and protecting. Rather than the alpha male who succeeeds in all pursuits etc. So reputation or projected image traits we saw in the West like shows of wealth and strength - eg ripped body/big car or house - are not head turners in Asia. Thai women would tend to find the muscle man less attractive than the lithe yet strong other man. They are also very romantic and my experience with Thai girls were some of the best i have had. The have so fewer mental hangups than us Westerners that they can achieve climax and pleasure in bed quite easily and will mention sex to you a lot. For me Bangkok is number 1 in Asia for girls - just have to look for the right ones!

The part about poker is not true, Morocco is an "open-islam" country, meaning: if women want to wear their veil they can and if they dont, then they dont, its not illegal. As for poker; gambling is 100% legal in the casinos, there are underground clubs (which i do not recommend if you do not already know a member, i know of high-stakes underground clubs where they play anything from 50/100 up to 150/300 nl. The casinos (i recommend the casino in Tangier, but the best and most well known is the one in Marrakech (wpt was held there). The casinos offer anything from 2/4 up to 25/50 (there are private sections also with games up tp 200/400. The action is 90% soft, but every once in a while there will come a shark or two. I would say that the pokerscene in morocco is growing faster than many other countries.

How do i know this: i live in the south of Spain which is basically a 30 min boattrip from morocco, and i grind most the weekends in casinos in morocco.

I can really recomend morocco when it comes to poker.

No reviews of Cambodia? Okay I'll add one based on 29 days there.

Can anyone post info on Laos?

And more info on the Philippines?

Note: US dollars are the currency there. A bill with even the slightest tear won't be accepted. Change will generally be in Cambodian riels.

Cost of Living. 5 - 9. Inflation has hit Cambodia and it's reflected in hotel costs and food. A friend of a friend recommended a hotel in Phnom Penh and the price turned out to be double what it was a year ago. $15 to $75 seems to be the standard range depending on your life style. Food (yes, I agree it should be a separate topic) is fairly cheap for what you get. Unfortunately, the food is generally greasy, the meat is tough, fillet means without bones but was barely edible. I tried a couple of Khmer restaurants for local food and it was awful. Whole grain bread or brown rice? Nada. Could be a great place to open a restaurant with good, healthy food.

Recreation 9. The women are awesome, possibly more nightclubs and girlie bars than anywhere else for a city its size, Bangkok excepted, and Nagaworld casino in Phnom Penh has beatable and fun NLHM, (yes the Khmers really enjoy the game), and there was no problem at all with a white person joining in. I noticed some prejudice (hatred?) toward Americans but it was the exception rather than typical. The downside is, that's about it for recreation unless you want to see the killing fields and other horrors of their past. Not into elephant trekking or looking at old temples, so I can't comment on the full range of recreation. Island hopping may be a good possibility.

Scary 8. Never had a problem with theft or robbery but I've read many stories about them. I was warned several times not to walk alone on isolated streets at night. The scariest thing that happened was paying for a ride on a motor bike and seeing other bikes zip by, missing my legs by inches. Someone I met rented a motor bike a few times and was very frustrated that the police were constantly pulling him over (yes, he was white, not asian) to demand money. 1, 2, 5 dollars at a time. He got sick of it and left earlier than planned.

Poker 10. Legal to play live and online, but not every casino spreads Texas Holdem. Not sure how the online connections are since I didn't bring my laptop. (Read too many stories about theft.) I visited two casinos in Sihanoukville on the coast and all they offered were table games. Weird, but the cashier would not sell me chips and the floorman pretended not to understand when I asked about it. Another example of prejudice perhaps? A Khmer player sold me some of her chips and I played bacarrat (only because a cute woman caught my eye and I wanted to meet her). No problem trading the chips for cash though when I was lucky enough to win. And yes, I left with the girl :-)

Get to and stay 9. Depends a lot on where you are. A simple plane flight from Bangkok worked for me. I doubt that there are many direct flights there. Staying is where Cambodia shines compared with Thailand. You can enter on a business visa and stay for a full year. No visa runs, no hoops to jump through. You can work without the tedious work permit crap. Even open your own business. If you can mix a drink, teach English, do computer work, or whatever, you can get a job. It's that simple. Just there to play poker? No problem at all. No clue what the apartments and good internet connections cost though. Maybe someone can fill in the details on that?

It wouldn't be fair not to mention a few of the downsides that didn't fit into the categories. Beggars are all over the place, including those who got their legs blown off. Siem Reap is the worst from what I've heard, including children and old women who aggressively beg for milk then sell it back to the store, Phnom Penh is bad but tolerable, not much of a problem in S'ville. Too much noise from traffic. Walk down the street and you hear "tuk tuk mister, TUK TUK!", about every 20 seconds. On the plus side Khmers are more authentically friendly than Thais, imo. They like to have fun whatever the form is. For instance, I joined them in kickball games by the riverfront. About 20 people in a large circle, kicking about a dozen plastic/rubber balls back and forth. I felt quite welcome to join in.

So, Cambodia and Thailand are a coin flip, sort of like A,K vs. Q,Q. I'll be going to Laos and Philippines next, so I'll have more comparisons. Any other info would be welcome.

I saw a little blurb on Canada but thought maybe people would like specific cities.

Vancouver, BC
First Hand Experience - 25 years

Cost of Living - 1 - Very expensive. Rent a 1br 250sq ft for $850/mo. Min wage here is $10/hr. However if you are willing to go 30mins outside of Vancouver you can get reasonably priced places in New West or Surrey and the Skytrain will take you right downtown.

Recreation - 8 - Tons of outdoorsy stuff to do. Beaches, forests, hiking trails, mountains for snowboarding, etc. Nightlife is okay. Downtown stays open till 3am where the rest of the lower mainland is open until 2am. However, skytrain stops running at 1am so if you don't live downtown you need to find an alternative way home. Going up to the interior or Whistler is great as well.

How Scary? - 3 - We've had escalating problems with gang related shootings but nothing too serious. If you keep to yourself, people will leave you alone. Like anywhere, keep out of the scuzzy areas and you won't have any issues.

Poker Playing - 10 - Lots of cardrooms to choose from. A total of 7 casinos, 5 have poker rooms and the other 2 have been approved to get poker rooms in 2012 + underground games for higher stakes. You can find very soft live omaha downtown and crazy pineapple if you travel 1hour east to Langley. Tourney scene is average, I'm not a fan of most of the blind structures here but I'm a nit. Online poker is legal and many grinders have worked their way up here to live and play online poker.

How Easy to Get There and Stay There? - 7? - As far as I know there shouldn't be any issues, we don't seem to deport anyone and we're flooded with different ethnicity's. This question is better suited for someone who has traveled here, rather than someone like myself who was born here haha.

Hope this is helpful, if you have any questions about Vancouver or the surrounding area, feel free ask. FTR, I live in Surrey about 30-40min east of Vancouver.

Medhu-Uthuru Province, Maldives,
1st Hand Experience: Live here

Cost of Living - 3
Very dependant on your lifestyle. Food- Rice, coconut and fish super cheap. Anything exported expect to pay top top dollar or its impossible to get. Alcohol is banned so unless you want to go to a tourist resort forget it. Drink at a resort is about 8USD min for a beer. Hotels are the only option unless you use couchsurfing. Even then its very limited. Possible to get housing on some islands in exchange for work.

Recreation: 2
Amazing at first but after a month there is no much to do unless you adore diving, sun bathing and fishing. Surfing is sketchy (mostly breaks on the reef) with insane rips between the islands. Locals are friendly; never any issues but strictly adhere to Islam.

Public transportation is walking on the islands or sea taxis, or water planes. Buy a boat if you want to move here. Temp is stable, but super easy to get burnt (I have olive skin and will easily become "lobbo" within minutes without sunblock)

How Scary? - 9
Observe ramadan and adhere to local believes and religon. Which means alcohol is taken at the airport, topless bathing banned, other religious icons are banned.

Poker Playing - 0
Limited internet, most islands have power only for a few hours a day. If your caught in a hotel you would be warned, no live games- its all banned

How Easy to Get There and Stay There? 4
Very easy from most places in the Europe, back packing style dam near impossible. Must stop at Bahrain etc before flying onwards. Visas ok- 30 day AFAIK. But don't get caught working- very protective of their workforce.

Girls - 2 Most chicks are on their honeymoon and locals are strict Islamics.

Food: 2- If you like fish and coconut you will love the Maldives

The Maldives are really beautiful, most people very happy, but after a month in paraside you understand why most shipwrecked people go insane and try anything to get off "paradise"

lol you could have just said Maldives sucks dont move there

Maldives suck don't move there!

lol @ so many places getting 10/10 on recreation...

of all only Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, Berlin and Tokyo deserve it. Maybe BNK too.

And IMO Dam is 11/10. Barcelona maybe too, but I don't want to admit it

Barcelona deserves it more than NYC?

anywhere in South America?

read earlier in the thread, there are some reports on rio, bolivia, peru...

Skip the city. The Islands are where it's at.
Internet is not cheap and the ISP monopoly restricts VOIP and some VPNs. There is good 3g coverage with SMART ($15-$45 a month for USB stick) and 2g with BTL. DSL will run between $70 US per month to $300 US per month.

Crime is much better on the cayes than in the city. You can walk down the street at night without a hastle... just follow normal advice for anywhere, don't walk down dark alleys drunk while flashing your money around. Unlike the city, most crime here is non-violent and crimes of opportunity.

There is plenty of poker here in Belize. Belize City has the Big Slick room at the Princess casino. This is Bob's room from the November 9. Here on Ambergris Caye we have a casino with two poker tables that will sometimes spread a game and there is Pedro's Poker Club where we have regular games Sunday through Wednesday and sometimes Thursday. There is also a great home-game environment here with several publicly known games to attend.


We have two dance clubs on the island. I would give recreation a much higher score personally, but it really depends what you want to do I guess.

Correction... You can stay in the country indefinitely if you get 30 day stamp renewals. After 6 months the stamp price doubles to $50 US per person.

You always find old gringos dating very young and hot Belizean women. There certainly are some beautiful women here.

You need a work permit to get a job. If what you want to do is something easily done by a Belizean, getting a permit will be tough. The best thing to do is plan to start your own business and get a self employment work permit.

I've read through this form and am interested by what everyone had to say about these different locations. I'm currently living in Canada and about to graduate from university. I'm looking to live somewhere that I can grind online about 35-50 hours per week, smoke marijuana, play a lot of basketball, good food and girls, as well as potentially save money due to a favorable currency exchange. Recommendations would be much appreciated! tyty

Scrillaaa,

Sounds like you are looking for the country known as Canada.

Haha damn, I'm already there! I was thinking of somewhere that allowed the things mentioned in my list, but perhaps had an even more favorable currency exchange, such as Thailand. I was intrigued by Thailand even before reading this, as well as the Thailand threads. I wish I had some more insight, I've never lived in another country.

just read some of the posts here/threads in here and see what you like. everyone wants the same stuff (girls/cheap/alot of stuff to do), just have to evaluate what you want.

Can anybody do Canada?

More precisely, someone who moved to Canada from another country?

Would be great help.

Read the thread, there are two entries with Canada. There is also another thread in HSNL about moving to Canada-

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19...anada-1020755/

The thing with places like Canada is that you can't just up and move there. Most western countries won't let you stay long term without a valid reason, and poker isn't one.

I'm a French citizen, I can go to Canada whenever I want without ever needing a Visa. I can stay as a tourist, I just wouldn't have a worker's permit.

France and Canada have several special programs allowing citizens of each of the two countries to travel and settle more easily in a mutual manner. I do plan on moving to Canada using one of those programs, and then apply for permanent residency. I'd have to find a job and all to increase my chances of getting a permanent stay, poker would merely be a side effect.

The agreements between France and Canada apply to all of Canada aswell, not just Québec. That's why I was looking for someone to post their story about how they moved to say Ontario or BC (mostly Ontario because I plan on moving there), describing the details discussed in this thread.

Thanks for the links, though I wasn't looking for bank related details, just literally expatriating details.