Haha, I enjoyed your response! Corn fields and meth labs! I like open spaces and less people, so corn fields are ok. Meth heads are alright if they keep to them

Haha, I enjoyed your response! Corn fields and meth labs! I like open spaces and less people, so corn fields are ok. Meth heads are alright if they keep to themselves, which they usually don't :) But when I read what you wrote, I am reminded of how I once felt about the world- paralysis by analysis. We are all pretty smart here, so digging for info and analyzing it becomes natural. The midwest looks like a nightmare on paper, and yet plenty of people prefer it. Those same people probably look at SF on paper and can find all sorts of reasons they'd hate it. Some places are obviously truly tough, like Somalia or Venezuela now. But mostly these details among cities can only be truly gauged once you get a feel for the area. Kyiv Ukraine and Lviv Ukraine feel very different despite similar statistics. As for the Indonesian smog, yes, that is a big problem for 1 month a year that won't be resolved until Westerners stop buying palm oil soap sourced from Indonesian farmers. But the air is quite good 11 months out of the year, compared to constant car smog in other cities that usually isn't sensationalized or in the news. As for the gum, you can buy it here, it's just that the local state-legitimized bureaucratic mafia has some rules against importing or selling it. You can find it easily here I think. In Singapore you should probably be more concerned with avoiding quirky but obvious crimes like graffiti, aggresive political speech, drugs. Those are dealt with through literal ass whoopings and hangings. It's a problem I'd like changed sure, but in the US it would be nice if cops didn't shoot, detain, or extort you before your speeding ticket trial :)