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Our story is one of multiple instances of amazing timing and very good choices. We very luckily got our Malaysia long term visa approved in December after 2 ye

by shlant 6y ago

Our story is one of multiple instances of amazing timing and very good choices. We very luckily got our Malaysia long term visa approved in December after 2 years of gathering the necessary documents and 6 months of processing time. We were in Vietnam until November 25th and due to my wife having disturbingly good intuition, we had pre-planned to be in KL for the last week of November "just in case" we happened to get approved sometime before then. Didn't hear anything from our visa agent until the 2nd day we were in KL. We woke up to a text that we were approved and we spent the next 2 days running around the city signing papers, opening bank accounts/health insurance plans, and getting our visa in our passports. We then went from KL to Kota Kinabalu as we are always there around the end of the year and were there to slowly watch the chaos unfold that we had been pretty aware of since the very beginning since it was the major discussion in nomad circles. As things slowly escalated, CNY came and went right as travel restrictions started to be implemented - slowly a major city for tourism became a ghost town. We were planning on going to Bali next around March but we were slowly coming to the realization that that was not a good choice. If we were going to be stuck somewhere, Bali was not where we wanted to be. As we were cancelling those plans, Malaysia was about to crack down on foreigners entering the country, providing only a few days notice about incoming restrictions (Sabah and the mainland are considered separate countries essentially in terms of Visas so we very likely would be stuck in KK). Knowing we only had a couple days to act, we cancelled everything (flights, airbnbs etc.) and booked a flight to Penang that we consider "home" in Malaysia and would be the place we could handle being stuck in. First flight - got an email in the middle of the night that it had been cancelled. Booked another - also got cancelled. Booked a third on the last day before the restrictions went into place - didn’t get cancelled. Furiously packed and noped out of there. Been in Penang since then (March 18th). We are usually here for about May-August. The local government has handled the pandemic response better than most of the world (including other parts of Malaysia - Penang started taking action before the federal gov). We could not have picked a more safe and comfortable place for us to ride this out and we are very grateful everything worked out amidst the chaos.

mleonhard 6y ago
> We were planning on going to Bali next around March but we were slowly coming to the realization that that was not a good choice. Would you please explain why Bali is not a good choice for you? Why do you prefer Penang over Bali?
- shlant 6y ago
  make no mistake - Bali is a very cool and magical place - but in terms of infrastructure and long term comfort, it's definitely lower on the list for us personally. Most accommodations (especially in Ubud) are of the "open air villa" variety - they look pretty but aren't the most comfortable and are vulnerable to weather, insects and rats. Power outages and water pump issues are also fairly common. On top of that, if you were to catch COVID in Indonesia (but especially Bali), the hospitals are not really something you want to have to rely on. Lastly, as a "digital nomad" (cringey term, but descriptive) dealing with hardware issues on Bali is expensive and something like Apple Care has multi-month waiting times. In comparison, Penang is much more modern. Newer apartment buildings with high vacancy rates and lower rent, better grocery stores, better product availability. It's also has some of the best medical care in the world (number 1 from 2019 retirement index). On top of that, you have easy access to lots of hiking, beaches, parks, and world-class food (including arguably the best durian in the world). We have been going to both almost every year for the last 5 years, but Penang is definitely a better long-term option for us and Bali is more of a vacation.

by shlant 6y ago

mleonhard 6y ago

> We were planning on going to Bali next around March but we were slowly coming to the realization that that was not a good choice. Would you please explain why Bali is not a good choice for you? Why do you prefer Penang over Bali?

shlant 6y ago
make no mistake - Bali is a very cool and magical place - but in terms of infrastructure and long term comfort, it's definitely lower on the list for us personally. Most accommodations (especially in Ubud) are of the "open air villa" variety - they look pretty but aren't the most comfortable and are vulnerable to weather, insects and rats. Power outages and water pump issues are also fairly common. On top of that, if you were to catch COVID in Indonesia (but especially Bali), the hospitals are not really something you want to have to rely on. Lastly, as a "digital nomad" (cringey term, but descriptive) dealing with hardware issues on Bali is expensive and something like Apple Care has multi-month waiting times. In comparison, Penang is much more modern. Newer apartment buildings with high vacancy rates and lower rent, better grocery stores, better product availability. It's also has some of the best medical care in the world (number 1 from 2019 retirement index). On top of that, you have easy access to lots of hiking, beaches, parks, and world-class food (including arguably the best durian in the world). We have been going to both almost every year for the last 5 years, but Penang is definitely a better long-term option for us and Bali is more of a vacation.