Debating between moving to Shanghai or Dhaka

[kene]

i'm glad I was able to make you feel better about coming here.

Roaches. that's gunna be a problem wherever you go in Asia. There are several solutions:
Safeway - they are a bug extermination company, and they are pretty good.
Baygon spray - do it yourself. kills on contact, but if you are going out for a couple days, close up all the windows and doors, and spray everywhere.
There is a Roach Gel, I've only seen it once, but it's very good.
coils - good for mosquitos, but don't do much for other bugs.
plug in bug killers - waste of money.

Mosquitos are a bigger problem. I DO NOT take anything for Malaria, many travel doctors will tell you to, but there is no Malaria in Dhaka. If you are going into the forests or some remote part of Bangladesh you might want to take malaria tables, but i never do. I use Odomos cream (available here) which works better than anything from Canada.
We also have a plug in UV light bug zapper, and 2 zapper tennis rackets. There is a peculiar sense of satisfaction zapping mozies.

November is the perfect time to Come to Bangladesh! Everything is starting to cool down and dry up. So the weather is ideal. It's Papaya season, which is wonderful fresh off the tree, and divine with icecream!
Also harvest is in, so food prices start to come down from the hot humid summer, and jacked up prices of Ramadan/Eid.

Gulshan 2 is not a bad place to look for apartments! Were pricing out furniture and appliances for a new place, and were looking at about $3000 to $4000 for everything. That's bed, sofa, chairs, table, fridge, TV, cooking range and oven, lights and fixtures, fans, coffee tables, curtains, everything (we've already acquired most of our own bedding, kitchen wares and other small items). That's on a mid range budget. A decent sized fridge is going to cost us $800 at least.
Furnished apartments aren't that much more expensive than an unfurnished, and we've taken advantage of having a furnished apartment to save up and get nice stuff, instead of having to get really cheep stuff on a tight budget our of necceccity. So far, all our furniture has been custom made to our specifications, and that takes some time to do.

I'll pm you my phone number, and you can give me a call when you arrive. My wife and I would be happy to give you some starter tips about where to go to get stuff, and some other survival tips. (You'll discover that this is normal Bangladeshi hospitality). My wife loves shopping, and can usually get the half the asking price or better - or she just won't buy. (i'm gunna make sure she's the one who buys our fridge!) So if you wanna get some decent Bangladeshi clothing, which i strongly suggest for when you are out in public, and when it get's Hot, she'll see you in the latest style, and hooked up with a decent taylor, who charges a fair price. (yes, you'll have to get used to having most of your clothes tailor made for you).

[Mainone]

Hello Kene,

I was wandering if you are aware on how it works for the taxes.
At the begining I will be there on a business visa and will be going out of the country about every month to China and come back. All my taxes will be paid in Canada. Will I get less deduction in Canada?

[kene]

Hello,

sorry - i'm at a loss there, the reason i joined this forum was to ask about taxes.

Here is what i have understood so far.
1) most important is how long you are away from Canada.
2) what assets you leave behind in Canada, including RRSP, house, car, bank account, bills etc.
3) connections to Canada.
4) number of times you return to Canada - for how long and for what purpose.

I understand that if you have no or almost no assets, and leave Canada for over 2 years, you won't have to pay Canadian taxes.

As for Bangladesh taxes, i have no idea - none at all.

One think i am sure of is that the entire thing is absolutly stupid, and if you are in Canada now, you might do you very best to hunt for an Accountant that has a experience doing tax returns for Expats - my last accountant returned everything of mine and say "i'm sorry, i can't do this" and i am still in a lot of trouble cause i don't know what to do. My mom filed for me last time, and they totally reassessed everything and i now owe about 2/3 of my anual income for 1 years taxes - which is absolutely unmanageable - as it will take me 10 years to pay it off. So best advice, get a VERY good accountant.

[Mainone]

Hello Kene,

Ok for the taxes. If I get any usefull info I will let you know.
Are you working for a Canadian compagny over there?
From where are you in Canada?

We just decide that for the begining of my stay I will stay at a Hotel so I was wandering if you have any tip on where I can get the best rate. Last time I was staying at the Westin and I liked it very much.

Is there any guesthouse with foreigner standard I shall look in to it?

Thanks again for your advise.

[dannykool]

you will be stared at constantly and will rarely find any privacy.

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Why do they stare constantly ?

[Jausman]

If Kate Moss walked down my street naked, I would probably stare (until my wife slapped the back of my head - while she stared almost as much, albeit for different reasons). Any western woman walking in public, in clothes that she would consider normal and reasonably discreet in hot weather in Canada, is as startling and provocative to an average Bangladeshi as if she were walking naked. This is true even in Gulshan where much of the western community lives.

About a month after I first arrived, my wife and I made the rookie mistake of thinking we could go for a picnic. We drove for miles to find a quiet place in the countryside - but it is so crowded there are few places that are not in direct view of some small hamlet. Eventually we found a spot between a river and its dike and climbed out of the car to lay down our blanket. Within two minutes a crowd of 50 people appeared out of no-where to stare at us. We hurriedly repacked and drove off to try elsewhere. At every stop it was the same scenario, so at one point we decided to just eat and let them stare. But the crowd slowly advanced on us - not in an intentionally menacing way but simply out of intense, uncontrollable curiosity - until the front row had their toes on the edge of our picnic blanket. At this point we were scared and left quickly.

We had many other similar experiences too. On ferries, Bangladeshis would crowd around our car to stare through the windows. Some were there to sell us things, others to beg, but many just to soak up a lifetime full of memories of these alien beings we seemed to be.

Privacy is a scarce commodity even in your own home. Almost all westerners have at least one domestic servant and have to learn to live with them always being around. Some people learn to ignore them completely, but I was never able to do that and I was always conscious that a servant might walk into any room of my home at any moment. This is common in many countries, of course, not just Bangladesh. It was just something I found creepy. John

[dannykool]

If Kate Moss walked down my street naked, I would probably stare (until my wife slapped the back of my head - while she stared almost as much, albeit for different reasons). Any western woman walking in public, in clothes that she would consider normal and reasonably discreet in hot weather in Canada, is as startling and provocative to an average Bangladeshi as if she were walking naked. This is true even in Gulshan where much of the western community lives.

About a month after I first arrived, my wife and I made the rookie mistake of thinking we could go for a picnic. We drove for miles to find a quiet place in the countryside - but it is so crowded there are few places that are not in direct view of some small hamlet. Eventually we found a spot between a river and its dike and climbed out of the car to lay down our blanket. Within two minutes a crowd of 50 people appeared out of no-where to stare at us. We hurriedly repacked and drove off to try elsewhere. At every stop it was the same scenario, so at one point we decided to just eat and let them stare. But the crowd slowly advanced on us - not in an intentionally menacing way but simply out of intense, uncontrollable curiosity - until the front row had their toes on the edge of our picnic blanket. At this point we were scared and left quickly.

We had many other similar experiences too. On ferries, Bangladeshis would crowd around our car to stare through the windows. Some were there to sell us things, others to beg, but many just to soak up a lifetime full of memories of these alien beings we seemed to be.

Privacy is a scarce commodity even in your own home. Almost all westerners have at least one domestic servant and have to learn to live with them always being around. Some people learn to ignore them completely, but I was never able to do that and I was always conscious that a servant might walk into any room of my home at any moment. This is common in many countries, of course, not just Bangladesh. It was just something I found creepy. John

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indeed, the whole thing sounds creepy. The point is, how long can one tolerate this staring ? How do you go about doing things if this so called uncontrollable, intense curiosity does not go away ?

[dannykool]

[quote="Jausman"]If Kate Moss walked down my street naked, I would probably stare (until my wife slapped the back of my head - while she stared almost as much, albeit for different reasons). Any western woman walking in public, in clothes that she would consider normal and reasonably discreet in hot weather in Canada, is as startling and provocative to an average Bangladeshi as if she were walking naked. This is true even in Gulshan where much of the western community lives.

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Indeed celebrity couples get stared on everywhere.but unless you and your wife are in that category. This constant staring and people coming out of nowhere seems to be rather unusual actually. How do they find the time to stare all day ?