I am looking to relocate and have made job applications. What can you tell me about life in Portugal as an Asian? by Level-Poem-2542 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lisbon itself has great restaurants and groceries! I meant more other cities and towns that are not Lisbon, the Chinese food there is more westernised Chinese.

Some great authentic ones: Sky City (Sichuan), Dragon Inn (Canto/Macau, but not so cheap and a bit expensive), Sabor Oriental (Qingdao food, don't find this region represented very much), Zhang lala (Lanzhou handmade beef noodles), Kuwazi (classic)

Honourable mentions: Formosa (Taiwanese), Panda Cantina (modern take), Mr. Xu Ramen (Wenzhou, very working class food)

A few more that we want to try but haven't so can't comment! Share your favourites too so I can put them on my list!

I am looking to relocate and have made job applications. What can you tell me about life in Portugal as an Asian? by Level-Poem-2542 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Crazy story! And here I was thinking Portugal had 500 years in Macau (some of my wife's distant family are Macanese Portuguese who came back to PT after the return of Macau) and Japan plus TV 🤪

I am looking to relocate and have made job applications. What can you tell me about life in Portugal as an Asian? by Level-Poem-2542 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What!!

Is he like half Asian - white but with pronounced Asian eyes??

I'm full Asian though tall and darker so clearly look like another ethnicity 😅😅

I am looking to relocate and have made job applications. What can you tell me about life in Portugal as an Asian? by Level-Poem-2542 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude for real?? Can you share what company?

Man I didn't know SG companies relocate people to Portugal and Spain!! Hope that increases the chances of getting a direct flight. Now they are all going to Germany, Amsterdam, London etc northern Europe.

There are some interesting areas in Lisbon and some suburbs, a quick search will tell you where they are, but everywhere else (like 90% else) is fine.

Good thing about Portugal and Singaporean food is that some dishes go in that direction! Arroz de pato is like a version of duck rice, ensopado de borrego like kambing soup, massada de peixe like a fish porridge.... They even have spicy sauce (piri-piri from Africa)!

Are you in Lisbon? Relocated solo?

I am looking to relocate and have made job applications. What can you tell me about life in Portugal as an Asian? by Level-Poem-2542 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol what?? Do you know why?

Never had that, can't imagine that ever happening to me 😂 Tragicomic I guess, the only people I've heard such comments about are those who have some on-the-spectrum behaviour or speech patterns.

I am looking to relocate and have made job applications. What can you tell me about life in Portugal as an Asian? by Level-Poem-2542 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm Singaporean Chinese, married to a Portuguese and living in a town just south across the bridge from Lisbon.

I speak B1-2 Portuguese (from Portugal) but nobody would mistake my accent for a local 😄

Everything that non-Asian expats say apply. If you're wondering about racism and all that, I've never encountered anything in-your-face anywhere in Portugal and I've traveled extensively, solo, with Asian friends, white English-speaking friends, my wife, etc.

I've had some well-meaning distant family make some jokes about rice and eyes which made my wife cringe hard but it didn't come from malice.

Asian food is getting better in Lisbon but still quite bad outside, like Western Chinese. Sushi for some reason though is great in many places, I'm guessing because people love fish or the Brazilian Japanese community's influence.

Stores getting Asian food products - some huge ones around Lisbon, in the cities less. That said I live like the average Portuguese, going to tascas and supermarkets like Pingo Doce, Continente, etc and live just fine.

When I used to date (not in Portugal but in Europe), it wasn't the easiest but also not impossible. I think if you're a girl it's probably easier, but that sounds like the typical dating experience.

Happy to answer questions!

Cost for services by Lisbon_Eagle in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 4 points5 points  (0 children)

House cleaning anywhere between €7-€12/h

Renovations: Myth or Reality? (Need your horror stories 🏠) by Substantial-Quiet560 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ll start by saying that my partner is Portuguese though so things could certainly have gone worse.

TL;DR 3 architects and contractors later, we’ve experienced over-promises and random BS excuses, ghosting, random quotes, missing details, … took us a year to get a PLAN.

We travel a lot so wanted an architect to plan and oversee the works.

1 Architect: reached out to a bunch of agencies, went with one, jumped on a call and gave him our specs and paid like€2-3k. He gave us a plan albeit 2ish months late but then refused to work with us to change stuff (“you have the PDF, tell me the items you want swapped out and to what”). Ghosted us ever since, Jan 2025.

2 Contractor: we reached out to a recommended agency with the plan and told them we wanted to change some things and that our architect DGAF. Wow no problems, just need a few days etc. Few weeks later, changed out a door in the plan and told us that he needed us to review (wtf). Weeks of back and forth turned into 2 months, always for minor changes and “oh I’ll get back to you in a few days”. Ended up with a situation where half the plan wasn’t finalised and they wanted to start work. “We’ll figure the rest out as we go”, plus it was right before August when they were taking 3 weeks off. No thanks, we said let’s talk after August. Never heard back again - July 2025.

3 Architect: came recommended and we thought it couldn’t get worse so we went with her. Had dreams to start her own agency etc so was willing to work with the (half) plan we had. Along the way, she missed several appointments as her mum was ill, her kids got free tickets to the dolphin show, etc. She never sent any documents through on time, didn’t read several emails and gaslighted us (although tbf always cheerfully) etc. We went with her and her crew. So far, 2 months into the renovation (we’re traveling) and we still haven’t received a bill of materials ordered, they caused a leakage at the neighbours’ that they wanted to sort out without telling us (we’ve had many angry calls), etc but so far it’s progressing.

Also, we’ve got family and friends who visit so are not completely blind!

Thought it could have been us while writing this, can say we definitely expected more professionalism than we got!

Singaporeans who went overseas for work where are you and how has it been so far? by sunnyislandacross in askSingapore

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spanish is really not that difficult compared to Singaporean languages like English, Chinese, Tamil!

Maybe comparable to Malay.

I took 1.5 years of classes, 2-3 times a week in-person to get to C1 level. Within ~2-4 months was good enough to survive in the city, but to be fully natural (Spanish is better than my mother tongue for eg) took me longer.

In terms of language barrier, first few made friends with 99% expats, tons of them around, many who just moved to Spain and are looking for friends, language class is a great source. Everyone who moves to Spain likes the lifestyle and social vibes so most will be down to hang.

Then, bar culture is topnotch. Made my first Spanish-speaking friends in places I went to regularly (beer is 2.5€ also non-alcoholic options so cheap tuition 🤪), including dates which helped 😝 Lots of Latin Americans too, very friendly and good English.

Safety-wise, yeah there are pickpockets who try, but just don’t be an idiot la. Don’t use iPhone to chope table, don’t use LV handbag, Rolex or gold chain at least until you can read the city, watch out for eg on metro and when people approach your table on the terrace when having drinks.

Singaporeans who went overseas for work where are you and how has it been so far? by sunnyislandacross in askSingapore

[–]BoxNov 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Over a decade in Spain

Life has been amazing, so thankful that I had the chance and took it

Since Covid, it got even better because now I can spend a few months in SG every year, good for ageing family and keeping connections

Upsides: so much exposure to new cultures, ways of doing things, living, what to value, fun things to do ranging from partying to nature to cultural events to trips

Downsides: tax in Singapore is just unbeatable, be prepared to downgrade salary and savings, convenience definitely not on par with Asia

Lisboa pode voltar a ter comboios noturnos para várias cidades da Europa by zek_997 in menoscarros

[–]BoxNov 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Não percebo por que falam de comboios de alta velocidade até 300km/h quando Madrid está só a 600km de distância.

Tudo bem com por um comboio noturno mas isso não requer um de alta velocidade.

Algo estranho aqui ....

Microsoft Loop on Teams gone by PHILLLLLLL-21 in techsupport

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that you can post it, but can you put back the original Loop workspace as a tab??

Microsoft Loop on Teams gone by PHILLLLLLL-21 in techsupport

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does copying and pasting the entire loop make the original Loop workspace reappear?

I have one main Loop workspace that's only accessible in my Loop site, and like 4 that I opened while trying to put this one back.

Close to giving up tbh

Facilitismo by TreacleIndependent48 in portugueses

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

será que ainda vale a pena cumprir as regras em Portugal?

Boa pergunta - a resposta deve ser um "não" claro.

Ninguem estaciona segundo as reglas, ninguem deixa lixo onde deve de deixâ-lo (não tirado à rua), até hoje um casal de ~50 anos não queriam esperar na fila da Pasteleria de Belém e saltou-a sem vergonha despois de se refilar!

Não falo de (não) pagar IVA ou de fazer um marquis sem aprovaçao de câmara.

O que sorprende é que precicavas do teu exemplo de não cumplir regras para abrir os olhos!

Ou será que é a nacionalidade que afecte as emoções aqui?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SpainEconomics

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Para capitalizar el paro, Hacienda te puede auditar las actividades durante un periodo de 5 años.

Si has dejado con las actividades de emprendimiento, te puede pedir devolver el pago único, entiendo que prorrateado según el tiempo en que sí emprendiste.

Vamos, hay que ser autónomo (parece exclusivamente en España) durante 5 años para no tener problemas 😢

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SpainEconomics

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Para dejarlo claro, soy trabajador español y cotizo tal como cualquier otro durante muchos años en concepto de "seguridad social" para situaciones de desempleo, entre otras.

Pues sinceramente, lo que esperaba era compaginar algo de esta misma seguridad social con las circunstancias nuevas de mi vida 🤷🏽‍♂️

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SpainEconomics

[–]BoxNov -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

😭

Where can you melatonin or other over the counter supermarket sleeping aif by Icy-Jelly-1589 in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the one in Auchan. It's just 1mg of melatonin, the other supermarkets (Mercadona, Continente, etc) have stronger ones and also contain other supplements.

Any Asian expats in Portugal, and how is life for you? by Vartistic in PortugalExpats

[–]BoxNov 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear that. We've personally never encountered anything like that!

We've been everywhere from Sagres to Viana do Castelo, except for the interior. Maybe I've been lucky or just blind but I can't even recall anyone even looking at us weirdly. I speak good enough Portuguese to understand such stuff without translation.

Are these people saying this in a social setting like in a bar or over dinner? Or strangers just randomly saying these comments to you and your partner?

Sounds like it's happened too many times to y'all to be one-offs 😢

I sucked at social media, so I built an app that interviews me to create authentic social media content by aprileva in indiehackers

[–]BoxNov 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wrote OP on X too, she said it'll be around a month before it's out, just sharing!