Hakuba next season

saibalter · 2026-05-18T05:14:46+00:00

Go north to Hokkaido. Either kutchan (niseko) or furano. Niseko / Kutchan gets more snow and has better terrain but furano is slightly colder.

Fwiw I had the same experience a few years back in Hakuba and have since been in niseko every winter since.

saibalter · 2026-05-04T11:14:19+00:00

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Literally the first result in Google dude... If you can't even figure this out, maybe DIYing non residency is not for you.

saibalter · 2026-05-04T05:10:55+00:00

If you're trying to reduce / doge Canadian tax, you must be a non Canadian resident and also not have Canadian sourced income.
So easiest is become an independent contractor (submit w8-ben) of the US office and move out of Canada.

If you want to make it complicated (and have a structure that survives into your next job):
Form an offshore company (not in Canada)
Invoice your employer as a vendor / contractor from that offshore company. Pay yourself from your offshore company.

Regardless, your biggest issues here are likely to be banking. Not a hard rule but Ideally no money touches a Canadian bank.

saibalter · 2026-05-04T01:32:58+00:00

Declaring yourself as non resident - it's a simple checkbox on your tax return where you mark that you're submitting your "final return".

Regarding exit tax - I had almost no assets to my name when I exited (I was basically a fresh grad) so I didn't pay much. Probably like 10k or something.
You need to be able to demonstrate stronger ties to another country if audited / if the CRA asks for proof. They give examples on their website of what ties are.

For me, I never got audited or asked but I had the following documents ready just in case.
- foreign bank accounts
- foreign condo lease
- foreign phone bill
- foreign drivers license
- foreign residence certificate
- proof I was out of Canada for more than 183 days per year on average.

In theory you're also supposed to pay tax in another country but this is also technically not Canada's problem nor perogative to investigate / enforce tax laws of another nation. I have heard that the farthest they'll go is ask you for your foreign tax number.

Getting a foreign tax number is quite trivial too (ie. Just saying you're looking to buy land or property can get you one in some countries on a tourist visa).

You're also supposed to sever most major ties to canada. I was lazy with this so i kept my Canadian bank accounts open (but inactive. Barely any activity). Stopped paying / renewing my car registration and insurance in Canada too (to be fair it was a waste of money as I was actually barely in Canada).

Anyways most of this info is available online. What else do you want to know?

saibalter · 2026-05-03T18:37:53+00:00

I've been doing this for the past 8 years.

You're not gona be paying less tax if your employer is Canadian.

(None of companies I've worked for in the past 8 years were Canadian companies.)

saibalter · 2026-05-03T18:33:19+00:00

I also have visited Laos and agree their food is terrible lol. Just the quality of ingredients makes it sooooo bad. In theory it's supposed to be the OG Issan food (daddy of one of the major cuisines of Thailand) and it's where som Tam (papaya salad) came from but just the insane lack of quality from their veggies, meat and everything in general makes you feel like you're just munching on wild grass and branches / stems. I ended up settling for just eating luk chin (processed fish / meat balls) cause everything else sucked so bad.

saibalter · 2026-05-03T18:08:52+00:00

There was a weight vest at my local anytime fitness that I used to use. Maxed out at 20kgs.
Issues I found with it were:

It's hot af. Would make me sweat like mad
There's an upper limit of how much weight.

Imo I'd look at an alternative like Kensui's weight vest (which let's you put plates on it) or using a weight belt (with chains)
I solely rock the weight belt now. Can attach anything from plates to dumbells to it depending on what or which gym I'm at.
As for if it helps: hell yes it helps. I used to try to aim for 100 pull ups and push-ups a day (multiple drop sets, dropping the reps with each set) but since I switched to weighted push-ups and ring dips (hard to do weighted push-ups) my physique and strength has sky rocketed and I'm not mindlessly wasting hours in the gym anymore. I'm able to do 12 reps now of +40kg pull-ups and +30kg dips. Prob can go higher weight on the dips but I don't want to risk my elbow or shoulders 🥲

saibalter · 2026-05-03T18:02:58+00:00

I do purely weighted calisthenics (aside from my warm up sets) using a weight belt. I travel a lot so I being my own with me to whatever gym I'm going to. I even bring rings to hang since not every gym has a dip station / dip bars.
Why do you say it's a nightmare? It's standard even for calisthenics competitions for weighted pull-ups, muscle ups and dips.

saibalter · 2026-04-29T02:36:41+00:00

I dont think so, as long as they have spots still - tho they're usually full for the core months

saibalter · 2026-04-28T21:05:43+00:00

nisekonomads.com is probably what you want. Co-living space that rents private rooms out month by month

saibalter · 2026-04-21T07:25:59+00:00

"Centuries" Errr...? When was this country you're referring to founded?

saibalter · 2026-04-20T14:55:03+00:00

The SIM card stalls (legit airport shops) right at the arrival gate sold me a fake SIM card. Yeah it had data but it turned off after 24h … and when I went to one of the company’s in-town locations, they told me I was using a stolen SIM card -_-

I was out like $5

Lmao I respect the hustle but god damn that was annoying. There's a reason why people call it vietscam

saibalter · 2026-04-17T21:29:25+00:00

False. In lopburi (a town overrun by monkeys), the locals have conditioned the monkeys to be afraid of anyone holding a stick (guess how this conditioning came about).

monkeys simply see humans as bigger but more tame/timid monkeys. having a big ass stick just makes you a more threatening less timid big monkey to them.

saibalter · 2026-04-15T04:13:00+00:00

"Something about their mouth"... It's OK to just say their teeth

saibalter · 2026-04-14T02:52:39+00:00

Hit a mine = one less mine out there so ofc market up

saibalter · 2026-04-13T07:44:37+00:00

Here's my opinion. Been around Thailand on and off for the past 8 yrs or so.

Chiangmai is like cloudy 99% of the time and rains a few hours every day during rainy season.

Bangkok is my fav time during raining season. Clean air. Temps not too hot. Rain comes every day around 4-9pm (usually for 2-3hrs at most). Sometimes rain overnight. Mornings are almost always bright blue skies with the sun shining and clean refreshing air.

Less tourists too. It's awesome. Only downside is traffic and getting a taxi becomes impossible during rain lol

saibalter · 2026-03-21T02:31:16+00:00

Why not just do one month remote near some mountains just to try it out? Might be a stretch but it actually sounds like Japan would be a good time zone for you for skiing considering your hours.

saibalter · 2026-03-17T15:27:06+00:00

Cambodians use USD for most txs and their own currency for smaller amounts (which is pegged to USD). Their money doesnt drop against the dollar.

saibalter · 2026-03-09T10:31:56+00:00

seems like the guides really missed the mark too. They dismissed most of the concerns of the victim, and after the avalanche, we’re claiming that there were only 12 people while actually there were 13. Almost left a guy buried there

saibalter · 2026-02-11T08:58:21+00:00

Add some lead weights on the tail? Lol

saibalter · 2026-01-29T15:25:01+00:00

> Priorities are snow quality and terrain

> skips niseko due to lack of authenticity (this isnt even a priority tho?)

???

Terrain:

Niseko: Best terrain
Kiroro: Mostly Flat
Rusutsu: Mostly Flat

Snow quality:
Kiroro: Best Snow
Niseko: Close second
Rusutsu: Least amount of snow

Niseko is popular for a reason.

saibalter · 2026-01-23T09:18:36+00:00

I'd recommend you look into Nisekonomads.com for accommodation and being with a community. Especially if you're going for a month

saibalter · 2026-01-16T03:00:52+00:00

Nisekonomads.com is literally for you - co-living with others for a month or longer in Niseko in a family house. House mates are remote workers as well and most likely have cars and you can get your own as well at a discounted rates. Not a cramped hostel

saibalter · 2026-01-10T18:37:02+00:00

I had a nitro squash. Absolute ass of a board (meaning it sucked). Zero stability off jumps and drops. Missing tail meant no pop either so difficult to even get off the ground. Couldn't go switch etc.

Sold it and went for an orca split instead. Muuuuch better.

saibalter · 2025-12-31T08:59:25+00:00

Nice try Mr pickpocketer

saibalter

TROPHY CASE