uk_vette

.
No problem, I am fortunate.
Well, in UK and CT, she does visiting friends mostly, and keeping house clean
Cooking so I have a nice meal on the table when I am home.
Apart from that when we are in China, browsing the shopping malls, or we will take a flight to Hong Kong, or Seoul, Seoul is just an hour flight from Yantai airport, for a day or two, to reset my Chinese visa

'vette

Tegwyn

My BIL and his wife lived in Beijing for just over a year and a half and they enjoyed it. He is an exec with Exxon and he bought some lovely residences in Phuket and Singapore with the expat dosh he was making. Their main residence now is Singapore but he spends a lot of time back in China. We are planning a visit sometime next year and still trying to tie in what we want to see. That is a part of the world I have always wanted to visit so planning to do it before I retire. Old age is catching up fast.

uk_vette

Hi Tegwyn,

I have been many times to most parts of the Far east, however China has always avoided me.
I have been to Singer's more times than I can swing a cat at,
Borneo,
Jarva
macau
HK
Taiwan

But China has been a place I wanted to work and visit.

I came here with closed eyes, and I can honestly say, my eyes have been well and truly opened.
Sure China has had its darker times and I am sure, stepping out of line with such a police regime, is worth a serious though before any careless act is committed.


I have heard that if a Chinese is (I will pm rather.)

It does feel very safe, even when walking home at 2 am in the morning, there is still so many people about.

The friendliness is what really gets you right to your heart, nothing could ever have prepared me for the sheere kindness of these people. It is some think that needs feeling, words can not put justice.
Like I said, at the moment, I could very well stay here and earn the money.
I took 4 friends out for whole evening on Wednesday night, the total cost of the food was RNB84
Around R100
You wouldn't believe how cheap food is here.
.

.


'vette

kiwibok

As beautiful as the Cape is here are some of my reasons as to why I would NEVER consider it as a retirement option:

1) You old, and you need to rely more heavily on the health system. With all the crap these days about the government wanting to take over the private health systems, my guess is that in a couple of years time the health system (private sector still seems sort of adequate) will have taken a huge slide. It will be unreliable for anybody that is use to first world standards.
2) Setting up a business in SA is not that easy, you need to consider AA/BEE etc. If your business is going to be dealing with any sort of government organisation, you going to have plenty of stress. I have family in the Cape that have their own business exporting goods out of SA to other countries. There is plenty of corruption in the SA import/export industries, you will find it harder doing business if you don’t give into the corruption. SO much harder that you can easily be forced out of business. Exporting is just one example of a corrupt area in SA, there are plenty more. Most organisations these days are simply corrupt. It’s a shame.
3) You can’t rely on the local police and even an ambulance. If you suffer a heart attack at home, don’t expect an ambulance to arrive in time, even if you on the best medical scheme currently available. Another reason I would never consider it.
4) Excellent doctors still? 37 percent increase in doctors leaving SA since 2006.
Let me refer you to the following link:
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?s...5508199C527891
Crime crime crine. You will not be able to enjoy the cape.

There are plenty more reasons, but I think those are probably what would put me off

uk_vette

I can live any where, I have an affection for CT, OK, after a few years there, if I don't like it, we can move back to China (She is a Chinese girl),
UK naw, to cold,
Houston good,
Oslo, naw, too cold,
Singapore, used to be better in the late 80's,
like I said, for me, home can be any where, but if I didn't have this sort of job, I would be more considered where to live.
Not dissing any one not wanting to move back to CT, but there are many places worse to live.
A pa income of over Rmore than enough, lets me live where I want.
So for now it's a matter of saving so I can stop work next year

kiwibok

Here, check out this link. Cape Town has the most dangerous neighborhoods in South Africa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb1Euv6zBOY

uk_vette

.
There isn't a lot you can tell me about CT, after living there for over 16 years.
I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, real ugly,
I can't open 'tubes at work, but I am sure I can guess what it is about.
Weighing it all up, it's not a bad place, providing you take sensible precautions, and are not mixing in the wrong groupes.
Sure, when I was 17 an onwards, we (me and my mates) were all over the Cape Flats, that's were we found most of the good clubs,
Who remembers 'Sherwood Forest' in Mannenberg ?
we used to visit them all,
We had a ball of a time,
Sure we seen some bad stuff, but we had mates.


'vette

Daxk

Vette, I had to chip in here.
I'm always amused when people say that if you take care and avoid the bad areas you will be allright.(not what you are saying but implying I think about the Cape Flats)
The main fear in SA I get from my friends and aquintances is not that they might be mugged if they went for a walk in the park or on a beach somewhere, its that Crime comes and finds you in your home or in your driveway.
Sorry,dont want to sidetrack this., just an observation

uk_vette

Hi Daxk,
Sure, I know exactly what you mean, and I know that crime and violence will search you out.
Being in the 'safer' areas, don't give you safety, as some of the bad guys will follow you to your nice house and work out your routine.
After a few days of establishing your routine, they will plan the ambush, and there ain't much you can do about it.
Give the keys over, empty your pockets, give over the watch, rings, everything, and try to keep the attackers as peaceful as possible by giving them everything they can see.
Perhaps they wont shoot you then, perhaps.
I know, it is part of SA. and it isn't going to change any time soon.
Perhaps to carry a firearm, is a good idea, or a bad idea, in so much they could kill you with your own gun.
If you do carry, then you really have to be prepared to use it, because if you draw, and hesitate, then you may have lost.
It is a sad fact of CT that gun society values life so cheaply.

Any way, onto the brighter things.

'vette

kiwibok

Hell yea, when you were 17 the cape flats was probably more comparable as to the good areas of CT these days. Seem to me you are not really up to speed as to the drastic changes in the last 10years? That was a long time ago dude, in those days there was a high police presence there, not these days. Now its each man to himself, there is no law and I certainly would not recommend going near the place today. Watch the vid.

Have a look at this news article, terrible! This is whats going on in JHB at the moment. Similar things happen in the western cape too. This is just too disgusting. These are the types of thugs you have to deal with daily in SA. Like I said, things have changed drastically in the last 10 years... Good luck mate,

Family set alight, cops arrive 2 hours later

Tegwyn

Great photos of you guys 'vette. I've debated the SA saga to death, and feel that those that go really must be prepared to live with odds of harm to their wellbeing. If you know that and prepared to chance it then bully for you. No wailing should things go pear shaped. I only get annoyed when we get the bull that "crime happens everywhere" as a justification for indulging a crumbling law enforcement system.

Juggernaut

While it is true that "crime happens everywhere", I'm loathe to use it in the South African context. That statement tends to makes us think of our crime situation as normal. While its not. Neither is it acceptable.

I have seen a shift in the official government line towards crime in recent months .While it used to be "What crime" and a deny ,deny, deny policy. It now has been adopted as a major election point and adressed as such. Not enough action is my opinion though.

Contrary to popular believe black people have been at the epicenter of this crime wave. As illustrated by Kiwibok's grisly article. So pressure is now being applied to government by the core of its electorate lets see if they can ignore that.