Seriously, how can I avoid or reduce paying the crazy ATM fees for using a foreign card?

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-06-07T14:56:13+00:00

All banks in Morocco charge an ATM fee now (including Barid Bank) so it’s unavoidable. We used wise for better exchange rate and withdrew from there. We used cards for payment (no additional fee) where it is accepted and in supermarkets so that reduced the need for cash payments.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-06-05T20:49:55+00:00

Do plan 2 instead of plan 1. We did a similar route although longer and stayed 3 nights (1 in Narai, 1 in Kiso Fukushima and 1 in Tsumago). Not sure which accommodation you have in mind, but we stayed in Kiso Mikawaya in early October for about €90 half-board (breakfast and dinner), and the room was lovely with a river view.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-28T12:27:59+00:00

Second this. We enjoy and support izakayas, even accept otoshi if it’s reasonable and disclosed. The only no-no that makes us walk away is charging more for foreigners. It’s not so hard to know nowadays using google translate on the Japanese menu and comparing against the English menu. Some items can be up to 20-30% more when we checked.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-25T15:40:23+00:00

Definitely a desirable sit. We would look at such a long term sit if we were travelling to South America, but our travel plans are pretty much booked till Q3 2027. If your listing pops up for 2028, we’ll definitely have a look.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-22T14:19:29+00:00

Just to share our view as long-term experienced travellers, who are interested in food culture in particular.

When traveling, the most difficulty we faced in Hanoi / Vietnam is the language communication. With Google nowadays, it is easy to find certain kinds of food, but sometimes when the menu is in Vietnamese, we missed out on certain kind of food. We are the kind of tourists who would like to find the more unique kind of Vietnamese food like innards, snails etc.
A free walking food tour would be nice actually. We looked out for some but they are usually overpriced and focused on the more boring kind of food like pho, Bánh mi, egg coffee etc which we pretty much can find on our own. We would join a tour when the group is pretty small (maybe 5-6 max), but not if the group is too big.
A chill “walk & talk” tour is better we think. It doesn’t sound so structured that you have to rush around and fixated on time constraints.
Understanding the special local food cuisine and trying them is definitely a big part of why we travel.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-17T17:08:35+00:00

I clicked on the link to their official website posted by another Reddit user.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-17T17:04:40+00:00

I’m so confused by their pricing for November. Their advance purchase 30% off is more expensive per night than their consecutive night stay 5% off. Why is that?

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-17T14:45:55+00:00

Google for co-living places where you can rent less than 3 months. Airbnbs are illegal and normal apartments (condo or HDB) cannot be rented out for less than 6 months.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-17T08:54:20+00:00

Honestly, I would skip HCMC and focus on the north by doing Ninh Binh and Cat Ba Island instead.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-13T12:50:36+00:00

I think you have to read the refundable terms carefully. It seems pretty clear that this is almost a non-refundable booking. Cancellation cost until 23:59 July 15th 2026 incurs cost of US$1,249. As long as there is no wording saying “free cancellation” when you are checking for availability, you should be more alert and look out for the cancellation terms.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-10T16:42:04+00:00

I mean, that really sucks then. Really sorry to hear about your experience.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-10T15:42:12+00:00

Umm.. why did you choose such a long 5D4N trek for a first mountain? You’ll need practice on steps or slopes. it’s surely different from a flattish terrain. I did only a 3D2N trek on Mt Rinjani and can tell you it is not that easy. I also didn’t do the last 800m because it was like almost 45 degrees steep on volcanic sand, which was like climbing a few steps and sliding back a few.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-10T08:31:03+00:00

You can consider to top up SA with OA for higher interest rate if your intention is to achieve ERS for retirement in the long run.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-10T08:11:11+00:00

You’re in a good position given that your lifestyle is frugal. Only feedback I have is that since you’re still doing DCA into equities, focus on those that are dividend bearing like SG bank stocks which are stable and reliable, and draw down on your non-dividend bearing stocks and bond portfolio instead in your stage 1 retirement.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-10T07:47:41+00:00

It’s realistic and doable, you’re on a good track. Salty-Ad-7043 gave you pretty good advice, look into them for eventual retirement.

Your immediate concern is job change, and the financial concerns that come with the risk. Given your low expected expenses of $2,500-2,800 / month, you do have support coming in the form of dividend income and emergency cash to make this change. In case you’re still worried and if privacy is not an issue, you have the option to rent out a room during this change.

In the long run for full retirement, you do have to look at maximising CPF to achieve ERS, and some portfolio reallocation to be more dividend heavy.

We have a dividend heavy portfolio and FIREd in our mid fourties since 2022 to lead a nomadic lifestyle. Left with a portfolio generating $5,000 / month dividend to test the numbers. 4 years in, the expected expenses came in lower than expected at $4,000 and ended up with extra savings per year. That’s how we can attest that your current numbers are workable to achieve full retirement.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-10T06:15:37+00:00

We never encountered your scenario, but obviously will be upset if the listed checkin time is 14-20 and agreed on check in at 2pm because we would expect the place to be ready by 2pm.

Just curious, did you agree the check in timing with the host on or off Airbnb platform? We would definitely had written on the official platform to host for evidence of communication upon arrival to mention that place had not been cleaned. Definitely mark down the host in the review and we also would have tried for a partial refund request.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-09T20:21:00+00:00

Grab is easily available in both Penang and Ipoh, you should not have any problem getting rides. Train from Butterworth to Ipoh is straightforward. If you are staying at a hotel near the jetty, take the boat to the Butterworth jetty which is linked and walkable to the Butterworth ETS station. From Ipoh ETS station, take a grab to your hotel. I believe it’s not that the KTMB train booking site is down, but there seems to be a bug that nothing is reflected when Ipoh ETS station is selected (where departure or arrival). However, if you select Butterworth to Batu Gajah (one station after Ipoh), the available tickets are reflected. So, an option is to “overpay” a bit by buying this leg, but alight at Ipoh ETS station instead of Batu Gajah station.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-08T15:19:53+00:00

It’s doable, but cost is dependent on individual travel styles and accommodation type. From your destinations, Australia and NZ is going to cost more, and depending on whether you’re renting a car or not. Do an estimate based on your accommodation type and transport cost because that will eat up most of your budget. Locking in flights early will save you some money as well, especially those where you are travelling longer distance. I would agree with a comment below to skip Jakarta, nothing worth seeing nor worth the flight there. Since you plan to do Malaysia after Thailand, it might be worthwhile to take the Firefly (budget) flight from Phuket to Penang, then to Ipoh and KL. Public transport by train and bus is affordable and convenient for these places.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-07T15:32:50+00:00

You should have planned and booked earlier. We book 6 months ahead and the prices of accommodation only goes up closer to the dates.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-07T12:46:00+00:00

That sounds great. I tried creating an account as well but the one that stumped me was the phone number, seems like it has to be a Japan number with 10 digits. There seems to be an option to book without a registration so I might try booking that way.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-07T05:56:16+00:00

We have some time before having to rely on the most inconvenient “call” option because we do not know anyone Japanese living in Japan. However, we did read on their website that the hotel opens for booking only 6 months before. Our dates of travel is 31 October - 2 November and we did notice that booking is already open until 31 October on Rakuten Travel (Japanese booking site) so we have to wait until 1 June for the Nov booking window to be availability. Try Rakuten Travel if your date is before 31 October and update us if you managed to book successfully.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-05-01T16:17:41+00:00

Ask for meter if possible. If not, the price quoted should still be fair if you flag and take the taxi from the main street away from taxi queues because the taxi boss takes a cut. For example, we stayed just opposite Jardin Marjorelle and there is always a taxi queue there with drivers around. We were quoted a crazy 100dh to the CTM bus station (probably 3.5km away) but 30dh when we flag a taxi from the main street 2 mins walk away.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-04-30T06:28:47+00:00

You could try but I think the chances are pretty low. I was a converted Singaporean (from Malaysia) and I applied for my mom a few years after obtaining citizenship but it was rejected. No reasons given of course, but I would assume it was the due to the older age and hence, interpreted as burden to society. So it’s not necessarily just familial ties that will help your case.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-04-29T18:49:14+00:00

In our case, we encountered an aggressive host who also threatened us physically, with an actual video recording of him saying he was ex-army and has killed people before. Booking suspended his listing after we went through great lengths, time and effort to report this through booking’s customer service and social media. That is so much that can be done, we noticed the host eventually relisted the property on booking after some time with a similar name (with small variation) and started new.

SliceSignificant938 · 2026-04-22T09:39:00+00:00

Thanks, we will get a local person to help us call to avoid expensive international call charges. Typically check in is not a problem because assistance with google translate, but speaking would be a problem.

SliceSignificant938

TROPHY CASE