Choosing Where to Live in Penang – the Top 8 Locations If you’re an expat planning to move to Penang, your future happiness may depend a lot on where you choose to live. But no pressure! 🙂 I put together this Penang neighborhood guide to help you find an area that suits your interests, personality…
6 Things You Need to Know about Hair Loss and Effective Treatments Look on any expat forum and you’ll find a common plea: “Help, I’m losing hair!” There are a number of reasons for this, and also some effective treatments. But there are also an alarming number of myths about the causes, and bogus “miracle…
Moving to a new country is a fresh start, which can feel exciting, scary, fun and challenging all at the same time. The quickest way to settle in abroad and make your expat life a fulfilling experience is to make new friends. But that can be one of the biggest challenges of all. So I…
Every time I travel to a far-off land, I always meet a smiling, happy expat who lives there and teaches English as a foreign language. And they always rave about how much they love the chance to live someplace exotic while doing something fun and fulfilling that makes decent money. Truth be told, I usually…
Malaysia is almost always in the top 10 lists of best international places for expat living and retirement, and for good reason. But just not for the reasons they list. Those “10 Best” write-ups are hilarious fantasy fictions written by people who are either completely high, closely related to Pinocchio, or have never set foot…
Wow, getting a check-up in Penang, Malaysia is a pretty eye-opening experience! The medical lightsaber wielded by one particular doctor certainly made my eyes pop out, but more on that later… Not only are health evaluations here a fraction of the cost than in California (where I’m from), but it’s also the most comprehensive one…
One of the most frequent questions I get from recent transplants and people thinking of moving to Penang, Malaysia is: “What do you do with your time?” When you move someplace new, you have a chance to make a fresh start. Whether you’re retiring here, working as an expat in Malaysia or retiring early and…
If you live in SE Asia and want a quick, cheap trip to Portugal, head on down to the quaint Unesco World Heritage city of Malacca, Malaysia. Sitting in the terracotta-tiled bar of the stylishly Mediterranean Casa del Rio hotel while sipping a sangria by the river, you might just catch yourself saying: “Wait, this…
Tricks to Make Living in Malaysia Easier My husband and I love living in Malaysia. But coming from the US where we had unknowingly become addicted to Amazon and other conveniences that don’t really exist in Malaysia, it took some time to figure out workarounds. To save you the frustrations, I’ve come up with our…
While freeing an endangered sea turtle from a discarded fishing net, I learned three key things: Some fish can be real assholes. The Malaysian ambulance and hospital system is incredible and amazingly inexpensive. My awesome friends are able to find humor in painful situations, and they take great footage for future laughter. (No wonder…
Oh MY Expat Life 