In late 2013, having quit my job af

In late 2013, having quit my job after two years of saving up and getting my financials in order, I took a month off in Bali, hopped over to Chiang Mai, and wrapped it up by attending the annual Dynamite Circle meet up in Bangkok.

Coming off the high of a large conference with over 200 people, something was missing once I got back to Taiwan.

The energy of being around like-minded folks where we talked about business, random topics, and the latest books just wasn’t there.

It felt like an old rut.

After all, I had already thrown away the old life script and if you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with – it was time to find a new community of people doing the same thing.

The last thing I wanted was to build a location independent business…and stay in the same location.

No thanks!



Since 2012, tribes of of Internet entrepreneurs have been gathering around in Saigon (Vietnam), Chiang Mai (Thailand), and Medellin (Colombia) where people are on the ground bootstrapping their businesses from cafes and co-working spaces.

As my friend Jon Myers says, you need to place yourself in favorable situations for good things to happen and engineer your own serendipity. Good things do not come to those who wait, except what’s leftover by those who hustle.

With a number of friends already based here in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon), getting a one-way ticket to Vietnam was a no-brainer.

This post is a complete breakdown of everything in case you are thinking about relocating here too.



Overview
Ho Chi Minh city is the largest metropolitan city in Vietnam.

Under the name Saigon, it was originally a French colony until it was renamed in 1976 after the reunification.

During the 1970-1990s, economists coined the phrase “Four Asian Tigers” after Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore as the fastest growing economies.

By the 21st century, all four countries joined the ranks of high-income advanced economies.

In recent years, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines were coined as the “Tiger Cub Economies” since they’re on a similar growth trajectory as the original Asian Tigers.

But since this is my blog and I have an economics degree, I’ll go ahead and throw Vietnam in there too even though it’s considered a frontier market.

In 2013, Vietnam had a GDP of $181 billion USD.

There’s still a lot of room for growth and to give you some perspective – mutual fund companies like Fidelity, Blackrock, and Vanguard have combined investment assets north of $5 trillion USD. That’s about 27 times the GDP of Vietnam last year.

Half of the country’s population is under 30 and the local vibe is bustling with energy as the economy continues to grow.

With the prevalence of technology and information freely available now, I believe what took the Asian tigers 20-30 years to achieve will take the Tiger Cubs only 10-15 years. So what’s it like on the ground?



Pros
1. Chores disappear
One of the greatest things here is not having to clean the house or do the chores I once hated as a child.

For $70 USD a month split between four roommates, we have a maid that comes in twice a week to clean the entire house, help out with laundry, and make the place completely spotless.

I then proceed to destroy it in the next few days with my experimental cooking since reading the 4-Hour Chef.

Serviced apartments take it even further by cleaning six times a week, ironing your clothes, and delivering groceries for you. It sounds frivolous at first, but freeing mental head-space off medial tasks can add a lot of productivity over time.

It’s like magic.

2. Café Culture
Coffee production has been a major source of income for Vietnam since the early 20th century. In 2009, coffee was second to rice in value of agricultural exports.

Because of that, there are a great number of established cafes around the city where you can work, chill out, read, or get some afternoon tea. Fellow Saigon resident James Clark from Nomadic Notes has a great list of cafes to check out here.

On a typical day, 5-8 people get together to co-work from the cafes here in Saigon. ID Café, M2C, Cosmos, and L’uisine are the most popular ones at the moment.

There are two main co-working spaces here in Saigon that I know of – Saigon Hub and Work Saigon.

While the facilities are decent and there is a good community, I’ve just been more productive working out of cafes as it also allows me to explore the city. A few folks here that have local developers usually have them work out of Saigon Hub.

3. Cost Of Living
Compared to Western cities like London, New York, and Los Angeles, living in Vietnam is cheaper by a large extent.

Broadly speaking, an average meal from a local restaurant will cost you about $1.50 to $3.00 USD, with upwards of $10 US+ at nicer establishments in the city.

In the city center around District 1 and 3, a small room in a home-stay or apartment will cost anywhere from $250-$300, with high-end full service apartments starting at $800 USD. A typical studio with a kitchen will cost about $450-$600 depending on where you are.

A beer at a local joint will cost about $2-3. At a nicer nightclub or hotel, that same beer would cost you about $4-5 USD.

Prices on menus do not include VAT and service charge; so expect to pay an extra 15% at nicer establishments within the city.

Here are some commodities I purchase on a frequent basis to give you a better idea:

Bottle of Water (1.5 Liter): $0.50 USD
Bananas (8-10): $0.90 USD
Pineapple: $1.25 USD
3G Service (3.5GB Data Limit): $9.50 USD
Chicken Breast (4): $1.80 USD
Pork (4): $1.80 USD
Shrimp (12-15): $2.50 USD
Onions (5): $0.90 USD
Tomatoes (4-5): $0.50 USD
Strawberries (20-25): $1.50 USD
In a normal day, I try to eat at home once or twice as the local restaurants use a lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate) in the food as flavoring. Last month, I spent about $130 USD in groceries.

4. Walk-ability
Most of the people I know are based in District 1, which is the city center of Saigon. Headquarters of international corporations and high end retail shops are all based here.

For transportation, you’d be insane to drive a car here as the traffic, motorbikes, and smaller roads will make it a nightmare.

Everything is walkable if you don’t mind the sun and heat. If not, a short taxi ride will cost you anywhere from $2 USD within the city center, to $3-5 USD for rides across the entire city.

For those that hate walking, you can rent a motorbike for about $50-70 USD a month. It’s really the most convenient way to get around the city, although it has its risks due to traffic. Accidents happen on a daily basis here, so be careful if you decide to take one up.

5. Food
Dishes in Vietnam vary by geographical region (north, central, south), and many of the same dishes have variations depending on where you go in the country.

Pho is obviously a big staple here, but there are plenty of other dishes inspired from rice to baguettes.

If you happen to be in town for the next few months, former lawyer turned soup-eater Jodi Ettenberg is hosting food walks to showcase some of the best Vietnamese dishes around town.

Meals on the budget side will cost around $1.50-$2.00 USD, with the higher end that starts at around $5-6 USD or more. You could go super local with street vendors for under $1.00 USD in small pockets of the city, but you’ll need to order in Vietnamese and know exactly what you want.

Here are photos from one I attended in January where I had to eat four dishes and a dessert within five hours:



Vietnam also has an abundant system of motorbike couriers that will deliver propane tanks, flowers, and virtually anything you can think of.

For a dollar, you can order food online delivered to your house from over 20-30 restaurants around the city. Most folks here use Vietnammm.com to order. Ben Style is a popular choice as the founder was a former bodybuilder that understands the need of eating clean food.





Cons
1. Pollution and Traffic
Like many Southeast Asian countries, motorbike culture is a big part of life so traffic becomes an issue. Crossing the road becomes a game of human Frogger as seen below.



2. Black Puddles Of Death
On the sidewalks, you’ll have to watch out for the black puddles of water that come from a wheel of fortune – dishwashing leftovers, rain, or who-kn0ws-what. Avoid these puddles of water like the plague and you’ll be fine.



3. Heat and Humidity
If you hate sweating while walking around on a hot summer day, you probably won’t like Southeast Asia very much.

Unlike Southern California, the humidity levels are much higher which makes the afternoons a 24/7 sauna. At night it cools down, but you’ll still need to sleep with an air conditioner on in most cases.

Because of the humidity, small cuts and bruises take longer to heal and are more prone to infection due to the pollution.

Make sure to bring first aid supplies with you just in case. Here is a good list of what to bring if it’s your first time out here.

In addition, a bottle of water becomes your best friend as many of the cafes that sell coffee and juices have plenty of sugar in the beverages.

The beaches are also not as accessible compared to Bali, and you’ll have to take a short flight away to escape the city and find the waters.

4. MSG
Monosodium glutamate is a flavor enhancing food additive that’s used in Asian dishes and commercially packaged foods such as chips, crackers, soups, canned foods, and salad dressings.

In Asian cuisines it’s used as a seasoning in stir-frys and other preparations. There’s an ongoing debate on what levels of MSG are acceptable to be safe, but personally I try to avoid it.

Most dishes at local restaurants will have some amount of MSG here and there, which is why I try to have 1 or 2 meals at home every day.

5. Petty Theft
I’ve heard stories of exquisite poker scams to get money out of unsuspecting tourists and drive-by motorbike theft

Kết quả (Anh) 1:

In late 2013, having quit my job after two years of saving up and getting my financials in order, I took a month off in Bali, hopped over to Chiang Mai, and wrapped it up by attending the annual Dynamite Circle meet up in Bangkok.Coming off the high of a large conference with over 200 people, something was missing once I got back to Taiwan.The energy of being around like-minded folks where we talked about business, random topics, and the latest books just wasn't there.It felt like an old rut.After all, I had already thrown away the old life script and if you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with – it was time to find a new community of people doing the same thing.The last thing I wanted was to build a location independent business... and stay in the same location.No thanks!Since 2012, tribes of of Internet entrepreneurs have been gathering around in Saigon (Vietnam), Chiang Mai (Thailand), and Medellin (Colombia) where people are on the ground bootstrapping their businesses from cafes and co-working spaces.As my friend Jon Myers says, you need to place yourself in favorable situations for good things to happen and engineer your own serendipity. Good things do not come to those who wait, except what's leftover by those who hustle.With a number of friends already based here in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon), getting a one-way ticket to Vietnam was a no-brainer.This post is a complete breakdown of everything in case you are thinking about relocating here too. OverviewHo Chi Minh city is the largest metropolitan city in Vietnam.Under the name Saigon, it was originally a French colony until it was renamed in 1976 after the reunification.During the 1970s-1990s, economists coined the phrase "Four Asian Tigers" after Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore as the fastest growing economies.By the 21st century, all four countries joined the ranks of high-income advanced economies.In recent years, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines were coined as the "Tiger Cub Economies" since they're on a similar growth trajectory as the original Asian Tigers.But since this is my blog and I have an economics degree, I'll go ahead and throw Vietnam in there too even though it's considered a frontier market.In 2013, Vietnam had a GDP of $ 181 billion dollars.There's still a lot of room for growth and to give you some perspective-mutual fund companies like Fidelity, Vanguard and Blackrock, have combined investment assets north of $ 5 trillion dollars. That's about 27 times the GDP of Vietnam last year.Half of the country's population is under 30 and the local vibe is bustling with energy as the economy continues to grow.With the prevalence of technology and information freely available now, I believe what took the Asian tigers 20-30 years to achieve the Tiger Cubs will take only 10-15 years. So what's it like on the ground? Pros1. Chores disappearOne of the greatest things here is not having to clean the house or do the chores I once hated as a child.For $ 70 USD a month split between four roommates, we have a maid that comes in twice a week to clean the entire house, help out with laundry, and make the place completely spotless.I then proceed to destroy it in the next few days with my experimental cooking since reading the 4-Hour Chef.Serviced apartments take it even further by cleaning six times a week, ironing your clothes, and delivering groceries for you. It sounds frivolous at first, but freeing mental head-space off medial tasks can add a lot of productivity over time.It's like magic.2. Café CultureCoffee production has been a major source of income for Vietnam since the early 20th century. In 2009, the coffee was second to rice in value of agricultural exports.Because of that, there are a great number of established cafes around the city where you can work, chill out, read, or get some afternoon tea. Fellow Saigon resident James Clark from Nomadic Notes has a great list of cafes to check out here.On a typical day, 5-8 people get together to co-work from the cafes here in Saigon. ID Café, M2C, Cosmos, and L'uisine are the most popular ones at the moment.There are two main co-working spaces here in Saigon that I know of-Saigon Saigon and Work Hub.While the facilities are decent and there is a good community, I've just been more productive working out of cafes as it also allows me to explore the city. A few folks here that have local developers usually have them work out of Saigon Hub.3. Cost Of LivingCompared to Western cities like London, New York, and Los Angeles, living in Vietnam is cheaper by a large extent.Broadly speaking, an average meal from a local restaurant will cost you about $ 1.50 to $ 3.00 USD, with upwards of $ 10 US + at nicer establishments in the city.In the city center around District 1 and 3, a small room in a home-stay or apartment will cost anywhere from $ 250-$ 300, with high-end full service apartments starting at $ 800 USD. A typical studio with a kitchen will cost about $ 450-$ 600 depending on where you are.A beer at a local joint will cost about $ 2-3. At a nicer nightclub or hotel, that same beer would cost you about $ 4-$ 5.Prices on menus do not include VAT and service charge; so expect to pay an extra 15% at nicer establishments within the city.Here are some commodities I purchase on a frequent basis to give you a better idea:Bottle of Water (1.5 Liter): $ 0.50 USDBananas (8-10): $ 0.90 USDPineapple: $ 1.25 USD3 g Service (3.5 GB Data Limit): $ 9.50 USDChicken Breast (4): $ 1.80 USDPork (4): $ 1.80 USDShrimp (12-15): $ 2.50 USDOnions (5): $ 0.90 USDTomatoes (4-5): $ 0.50 USDStrawberries (20-25): $ 1.50 USDIn a normal day, I try to eat at home once or twice as the local restaurants use a lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate) in the food as flavoring. Last month, I spent about $ 130 DOLLARS in groceries.4. Walk-abilityMost of the people I know are based in District 1, which is the city center of Saigon. Headquarters of international corporations and high end retail shops are all based here.For transportation, you'd be insane to drive a car here as the traffic, motorbikes, and smaller roads will make it a nightmare.Everything is walkable if you don't mind the sun and heat. If not, a short taxi ride will cost you anywhere from $ 2 USD within the city center, to $ 3-$ 5 for rides across the entire city.For those that hate walking, you can rent a motorbike for about $ 50-$ 70 a month. It's really the most convenient way to get around the city, although it has its risks due to traffic. Administering happen on a daily basis here, so be careful if you decide to take one up.5. FoodDishes in Vietnam vary by geographical region (north, central, south), and many of the same dishes have variations depending on where you go in the country.PHO is obviously a big staple here, but there are plenty of other dishes inspired from rice to baguettes.If you happen to be in town for the next few months, former lawyer turned soup-eater Jodi Ettenberg is hosting food walks to showcase some of the best Vietnamese dishes around town.Meals on the budget side, will cost around $ 1.50-$ 2.00 USD, with the higher end that starts at around $ 5-$ 6 or more. You could go super local with street vendors for under $ 1.00 USD in small pockets of the city, but you'll need to order in Vietnamese and know exactly what you want.Here are photos from one I attended in January where I had to eat four dishes and a dessert within five hours: Vietnam also has an abundant system of motorbike couriers that will deliver propane tanks, flowers, and virtually anything you can think of.For a dollar, you can order food online delivered to your house from over 20-30 restaurants around the city. Most folks here use Vietnammm.com to order. Ben Style is a popular choice as the founder was a former bodybuilder that understands the need of eating clean food. Cons1. Pollution and TrafficLike many Southeast Asian countries, the motorbike culture is a big part of life over the traffic becomes an issue. Crossing the road becomes a game of human Frogger as seen below.2. Black Puddles Of DeathOn the sidewalks, you'll have to watch out for the black puddles of water that come from a wheel of fortune-dishwashing leftovers, rain, or who-kn0ws-what. Avoid these puddles of water like the plague and you'll be fine.3. Heat and HumidityIf you hate sweating while walking around on a hot summer day, you probably won't like Southeast Asia very much.Unlike Southern California, the humidity levels are much higher which makes the afternoons a 24/7 sauna. At night it cools down, but you'll still need to sleep with an air conditioner on in most cases.Because of the humidity, small cuts and bruises take longer to heal and are more prone to infection due to the pollution.Make sure to bring first aid supplies with you just in case. Here is a good list of what to bring if it's your first time out here.In addition, a bottle of water becomes your best friend as many of the cafes that sell coffee and juices have plenty of sugar in the beverages.The beaches are also not as accessible compared to Bali, and you'll have to take a short flight away to escape the city and find the waters.4. MSGMonosodium glutamate is a flavor enhancing food additive that's used in Asian dishes and commercially packaged foods such as chips, crackers, soups, canned foods, and salad dressings.In Asian cuisines it is used as a seasoning in stir-frys and other preparations. There's an ongoing debate on what levels of MSG are acceptable to be safe, but personally I try to avoid it.Most dishes at local restaurants will have some amount of MSG here and there, which is why I try to have 1 or 2 meals at home every day.5. Petty TheftI've heard stories of exquisite poker scams to get money out of unsuspecting tourists and drive-by motorbike theft

Kết quả (Anh) 2:

In late 2013, having quit my job after two years of saving up and getting my order in financials, I took a month off in Bali, hopped over to Chiang Mai, and wrapped it up by attending the Annual Dynamite Circle meet up in Bangkok. Coming off the high of a large conference with over 200 people, something was missing once I got back to Taiwan. The energy of being around like-minded folks Where We Talked About business, random topics, and những books just was not there . It Felt like an old rut. After all, I had already thrown away the old life script and if you are the average of the five surround yourself with People You - it was time to find a new community of doing the same thing người. The last thing I wanted was to build a location independent business ... and stay in the same location. No thanks! Since 2012, the tribes of được gathering of Internet Entrepreneurs around in Saigon (Vietnam), Chiang Mai (Thailand), and Medellin ( Colombia) are on the ground where người Businesses ask for their bootstrapping from cafes and co-working spaces. As my friend says Jon Myers, you need to place yourself in Favorable Situations for good things to happen and engineer serendipity Own. Good things do not come to Those Who wait, except what's leftover by Those Who hustle. With a number of friends already based here in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), getting a one-way ticket to Vietnam was a no-brainer. This post is a complete breakdown of everything in case you are thinking about relocating here too. Overview Ho Chi Minh city is the largest metropolitan city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon, it was Originally a French colony in 1976 off until it was tên sau Reunification. During the 1970-1990s, economists coined the phrase "Four Asian Tigers" after Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore as the fastest Growing Economies. By the 21st century, all four Countries Joined the ranks of high-income advanced Economies . In recent years, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines là là coined "Tiger Cub Economies" since they're on a similar trajectory as the original Growth Asian Tigers. But since this is my blog and I have an economics degree , I'll go ahead and throw Vietnam in there too thậm though it's Considered a frontier market. In 2013, Vietnam had a GDP of $ 181 Billion dollars. There's still a lot of room for growth and to give you some perspective - mutual fund companies like Fidelity, Blackrock, and Vanguard Investments have combined assets of $ 5 trillion dollars north. That's about 27 times the GDP of Vietnam last year. Half of the country's population is under 30 and the local vibe is bustling with energy as the economy Continues to Grow. With the prevalence of technology and information Freely available now, I believe what took the Asian tigers to Achieve 20-30 years will take the Tiger Cubs 10-15 years only. So what's it like on the ground? Pros 1. Chores disappear One of the greatest things here is not having to clean the house or by the chores I once hated as a child. For $ 70 a month, split the between four roommates, We have a maid mà comes in twice a week to clean the entire house, help out with laundry, and make the place completely spotless. I then Proceed to destroy it in the next days with my ít experimental cooking since 4-Hour Chef reading the. Serviced apartments take it six times thậm Further cleaning by a week, Ironing của clothes, and Delivering Groceries for you. It sounds frivolous at first, but freeing mental tasks medial head-space off a lot of productivity can add over time. It's like magic. 2. Café Culture Coffee Đã production is a major source of income for Vietnam since the early 20th century. In 2009, coffee was second to rice in value of Agricultural exports. Because of that, there are a great number of cafes around the city established where you can work, chill out, read, or get some afternoon tea. Fellow resident James Clark from Nomadic Saigon has a great list of Notes cafes to check out here. On a typical day, 5-8 to co-người get together work from the cafes here in Saigon. ID Café, M2C, Cosmos, and L'are the Most Popular uisine ones at the moment. There are two main co-working spaces here in Saigon That I know of - Saigon Saigon Hub and Work. While the facilities are decent and there is a good community, I've just been working out of cafes more productive as it cũng me to explore the city cho phép. A few local folks have here mà Thường developers have added work out of Saigon Hub. 3. Cost Of Living sánh to Western cities like London, New York, and Los Angeles, living in Vietnam is cheaper by a large extent. Broadly speaking, an average meal from a local restaurant will cost you about $ 1.50 to $ 3.00 USD, with upwards of $ 10 US + at nicer establishments in the city. In the city center around District 1 and 3, a small room in a home-stay or apartment will cost anywhere from $ 250- $ 300, with high-end full service apartments starting at $ 800 USD. A typical studio with a kitchen will cost about $ 450- $ 600 where you are phụ thuộc. A beer at a local joint will cost about $ 2-3. At a nicer hotel or nightclub, that same beer would cost you about $ 4-5 dollars. Prices do not include VAT on menus and service charge; expect to pay an extra compared to 15% at nicer establishments trong city. Here are some Commodities on a frequent basis I purchase to give you a better idea: Bottle of Water (1.5 Liter): $ 0.50 USD Bananas (8-10): $ 0.90 USD Pineapple: $ 1.25 USD 3G Service (3.5GB Data Limit): $ 9.50 USD Chicken Breast (4): $ 1.80 USD Pork (4): $ 1.80 USD Shrimp (12-15): $ 2.50 USD Onions (5): $ 0.90 USD Tomatoes (4 -5): $ 0.50 USD Strawberries (20-25): $ 1.50 USD In a normal day, I try to eat at home once or twice as the local restaurants use a lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate) in the food as flavoring. Last month, I spent about $ 130 USD in Groceries. 4. Walk-ability Most of the People I know are based in District 1, mà the city center of Saigon. Headquarters of international corporations and high end retail shops are all based here. For transportation, you'd be insane to drive a car as the traffic here, Motorbike, and smaller roads will make it a nightmare. Everything is walkable if you do not mind the sun and heat. If not, a short taxi ride will cost you anywhere from $ 2 USD trong the city center, to $ 3-5 USD for rides across the entire city. For những mà hate walking, you can rent a motorbike for about $ 50-70 dollars a month . It's really convenient way to get the nhất around the city, Although it has its Risks Due to traffic. Accidents happen on a daily basis here, be careful if you decide than to take one up. 5. Food Dishes vary by geographical region in Vietnam (north, central, south), and many of the same dishes phụ thuộc have variations in the country where you go. Obviously a big staple Pho is here, but there are plenty of other dishes inspired from Rice to baguettes. If you happen to be in town for the next few What months, former lawyer soup-eater Turned Jodi Ettenberg food is hosting walks to showcase some of the best Vietnamese dishes around town. Meals on the budget will cost around $ 1.50- side $ 2.00 USD, with the Higher end starts at around $ 5-6 mà USD or more. You could go with street vendors for local super under $ 1.00 USD in small pockets of the city, but you'll need to order in English and know exactly what you want. Here are photos from one I attended in January where I had to eat four dishes and a dessert trong five hours: Vietnam has an abundant cũng system of motorbike couriers deliver propane tanks sẽ, flowers, and virtually anything you can think of. For a dollar, you can order food online from Delivered to your house over 20- 30 restaurants around the city. Most folks here use Vietnammm.com to order. Ben is a Popular Style choice as the founders was a former bodybuilder understands the need of eating mà clean food. Cons 1. Pollution and Traffic Like many Southeast Asian Countries, culture is a big motorbike part of life than traffic Becomes an issue. Crossing the road Becomes a game of human Frogger as seen below. 2. Black Puddles Of Death On the sidewalks, you'll have to watch out for the black puddles of water come from a wheel mà of fortune - dishwashing leftovers, rain, or who-kn0ws-what. Avoid puddles of water những like the plague and you'll be fine. 3. Heat and Humidity If you hate sweating while walking around on a hot summer day, you will not like Southeast Asia lẽ very much. Unlike Southern California, the Higher humidity levels are much mà the Afternoons Jimmy Makes a 24/7 sauna. At night it cools down, but you'll still need to sleep with an air conditioner on in nhất trường. Because of the humidity, small cuts and bruises take longer to heal and are more prone to infection Due to the pollution. Make sure to bring first aid supplies with you just in case. Here is a good list of what to bring if it's your first time out here. In addition passing, a bottle of water Becomes của best friend as many of the cafes mà sell coffee and juices have plenty of sugar in the beverages. The beaches cũng not as accessible sánh to Bali, and you'll have to take a short flight away to escape the city and find the waters. 4. MSG monosodium glutamate is a flavor Enhancing food additive that's used in Asian dishes and commercially packaged foods như chips, crackers, soups, canned foods, and salad dressings. In Asian Cuisines it's used as a seasoning in stir-frys and other Preparations. There's an ongoing debate on what levels of MSG are acceptable to be safe, but Personally I try to avoid it. Most dishes at local restaurants will have some amount of MSG here and there, mà why I try to have 1 or 2 meals at home every day. 5. Petty Theft I've Heard stories of scams to get money exquisite poker out of unsuspecting Tourists and drive-by motorbike theft