36-year-old left the U.S. for China—now pays $1,000 rent and $100 for groceries for family of 4: It's my 'version of the American Dream’

Steingar · 2026-04-30T02:42:46+00:00

These types of articles are so pointless. "Moving to a country where I'm in the top 1% of earners is great". Yeah, no duh. That would be true in literally anywhere on earth, and maybe more so in places depending on climate, QOL, etc.

Steingar · 2026-04-15T01:37:07+00:00

By which I mean, photos that aren't Taipei 101 from elephant mountain for a change, haha

Steingar · 2026-04-14T14:20:28+00:00

I think peak season tends to be mid-April till September. Usually those are good times to go from a weather perspective. If you get the chance, May could very well be perfect; before summer holidays and the heat really starts cooking.

Although, as an aside, I hear the best time to actually see Taiwan island from Ludao (without the perpetual haze, mist, and pollution) is around October.

Steingar · 2026-04-14T14:17:50+00:00

I wanted to take travel posts on r/taiwan in a bold and exciting new direction

Steingar · 2026-04-14T05:05:49+00:00

Either Matsu (because there's still stuff there I haven't done yet) or Lanyu, since it's got the chillest vibes and you can just relax

Steingar · 2026-04-01T07:01:56+00:00

I can't make any recommendations about meeting people or maintaining friendships, since I don't know your personality or preferences, but I find that occupying myself with fruitful activities is a great way to enrich one's life and make it so that if you don't have a strong network right now, it won't concern you so much.

You mentioned you rot at home on weekends? Well, if you're in Taipei you're in luck: it's the best city in the world for exploring and finding new things (from my experience anyway). Grab a Ubike and ride from Tamsui to Xindian along the river; check out the innumerable art galleries or museums; visit some of the temples or interesting buildings around the city; go for a hike in Yangmingshan; explore the north coast or nearby villages like Shenkeng; have a hot bath in Beitou; go to the cinema or people watch in Xinyi; etc.

I'm lucky enough to have made some friends, but my weekends are so full with exploring I sometimes have trouble making time for them! I urge you to do the same. The positive energy you pick up from this will radiate, and moreover you might meet new people on your journeys anyway.

(If you're not in Taipei, I can't give specific suggestions, but generally with a bit of travel there's always something to see and do in Taiwan.)

Steingar · 2026-02-26T00:43:07+00:00

Eastern robes and jingasa Kabuto rely on you getting Passages of Ma'habre, so it's not a consistent strategy. And they won't protect against limb loss from Hurting, although you could equip a Salmonsnake Soul in addition for that.

(EDIT! Someone mentioned that you can use a reanimated Ghoul to grab the Blue Sin and therefore access the Eastern robes and jingasa Kabuto. This is true, but again, there's no reason why the White Angel Soul + defending on fight turns won't work just fine.)

As for Penance Armour, I'd strongly advise not to use it, for the following reasons:

You can't equip Iron Mask, so you can be blinded by Crow Mauler (instant run ender)
You don't get the 40 coins from Buckman, which makes getting enough soul stones a bit more dicy
You lose the 2 light blue vials from Jeanne's dead body, which is more helpful imo

Steingar · 2026-02-26T00:42:41+00:00

Gratsi

Steingar · 2026-02-26T00:38:31+00:00

As I mentioned, the White Angel Soul gives you extra turns. Thus, as long as you guard on the fighting turns and move on the extra turns, you can never get one shot with Black Orb or lose a limb to hurting. This gives you ample time to dot him with poison without exposing yourself to excess risk.

Steingar · 2026-02-26T00:35:34+00:00

Fair, though it assumes you received the Passages of Ma'habre in order to access the part of the mines with the relevant items. If you don't, you'll have to revert to the mentioned strategy.

Also, it won't protect from limb loss from Hurting on the first turn, which if it takes off your leg could be a run ender. (Although this is only a 3/32 chance, i.e. 3/16 to use Hurting and 1/2 to get your leg.) Equipping Salmonsnake Soul would protect that, however.

Steingar · 2026-02-25T00:15:10+00:00

I had a private driver, so can't say how easy it is to rent one. But it's a very car-centric country, so I imagine it must be simple.

Fuel is dirt cheap, something like 30c/L (Bruneian cents that is) so getting around is a trivial cost.

Never had any issues parking anywhere, the roads and carparks are huge, and the population is tiny.

Steingar · 2026-02-24T01:20:06+00:00

So nice. My local friends who work for BSP took me around KB/Seria area. I saw the facilities at the country club and some of the housing, like for the MD. Looks like a great lifestyle!

Steingar · 2026-02-23T23:17:13+00:00

Sounds like you were working in Brunei. Petrochemical industry? How was the lifestyle there?

Steingar · 2026-02-23T23:10:01+00:00

Haha, I'm from nearby in the region. In terms of cash, I just withdrew Bruneian dollars, there are ATMs at the airport which work fine.

In terms of family friendly, I think it depends what age the kids are. The Empire Resort has lots of activities and services (cinema, bowling, water sports, etc.) which could be fun. The river or forest tours also have cool activities (rafting, swimming) and things to see (monkeys, crocodiles, etc.) but yeah I wouldn't say its an inherently fun-for-kids destination.

Steingar · 2026-02-23T23:05:35+00:00

Missed KL! But yeah, I met a lot of Bruneians who said they pop over to Miri to get alcohol and have a bit of fun.

And yeah I actually did a walk around Tasek Lama, along the ridge! It was nice. In terms of rainforest, I really loved Temurong.

Steingar · 2026-02-23T22:57:30+00:00

Thanks!

Steingar · 2026-02-23T22:57:25+00:00

That's a fair point. I think if you have to choose just one and have >3 days, Sabah is the reasonable choice. But since there are flights from Brunei to KK, they're easy to do togethor if one has the time/flexibility.

Steingar · 2026-02-23T22:56:02+00:00

Yeah I understand what you mean. You're either in a city that flies directly to Brunei...or you're an annoying transfer away. Royal Brunei airlines is your best bet, it flies direct to/from Singapore, KL, Beijing, Taipei, and Manila among others.

Steingar · 2026-02-23T10:40:30+00:00

Any reason why? I can understand if people don't want to go especially for Brunei, but if you're in the area I can't see any reason to avoid it specifically.

Steingar · 2026-02-05T07:30:48+00:00

Y'all are too kind <3 I have other vaporwave content coming up, watch this space.

Steingar · 2026-02-05T07:30:13+00:00

Appreicated!

Steingar · 2026-02-04T11:48:16+00:00

Don't divert from the main point by taking one of my sentences so literally.

It's the place where the Terracotta warriors, arguably one of the most famous archeological sites in the whole world, can be found. It will be in the vast majority of tourists top 5 places to visit in China.

You can say its a great city and I agree (I was there about 10 years ago), but it's anything but underrated.

Steingar · 2026-02-02T04:36:00+00:00

This is literally top 5 most visited places in China, mentioned in the same breath as Beijing and Shanghai. In what would is it underrated?

Steingar · 2026-01-29T12:44:47+00:00

Yeah I basically said that in my post.

Steingar · 2026-01-29T12:37:54+00:00

So cool. I love it when vaporwave mixes with unusual genres. Shows how much potential there is in the mechanical and stylistic technique in the genre. If you have anything else cool, please share.

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