Post: #351

(01-16-2014 09:08 PM)LeBeau Wrote:  

(01-16-2014 06:21 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  I just came back from a bar trek in Erbil in the Kurdish region of Iraq, where I am working. This place is a boomtown and every time I come back there are new places open.

The scene at night is not too bad, especially at the Deutscher Hof, the German restaurant which has a barbeque with a fire pit outside on Thursday night. I met a nice Asian-looking Turkish woman who was a teacher, but got pulled off by some friends and missed getting her number.

Other places are RJ's Irish pub and the T Bar. The T Bar is staffed with Filipinas.

That's awesome you're in Erbil right now.

I was thinking I might have a future data sheet on that since it's one place a lot of people don't realize is modernizing, and I'm saving for a flight along with some other spots.

If it's cool, would really love to hear more of the background on how you ended up there and more details via PM.

Or data sheet for the forum would be dope.

I'm going to do a write up later, but still gathering info and have a few more places to visit.

Post: #352

(01-16-2014 06:21 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  I just came back from a bar trek in Erbil in the Kurdish region of Iraq, where I am working. This place is a boomtown and every time I come back there are new places open.

The scene at night is not too bad, especially at the Deutscher Hof, the German restaurant which has a barbeque with a fire pit outside on Thursday night. I met a nice Asian-looking Turkish woman who was a teacher, but got pulled off by some friends and missed getting her number.

Other places are RJ's Irish pub and the T Bar. The T Bar is staffed with Filipinas.

That's awesome. I didn't even know that Erbil had bars and even Filipinas!
Too bad I was sick as hell when I was in Erbil so I missed a lot of stuff. I also was excited to get over to Iran.
Iraq will always be interesting though.

Post: #353

(01-17-2014 07:37 AM)Chaos Wrote:  

(01-16-2014 06:21 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  Other places are RJ's Irish pub and the T Bar. The T Bar is staffed with Filipinas.

That's awesome. I didn't even know that Erbil had bars and even Filipinas!
Too bad I was sick as hell when I was in Erbil so I missed a lot of stuff. I also was excited to get over to Iran.
Iraq will always be interesting though.

Yeah I asked one of the waitresses where she was from - Davao - and how was she in Iraq when Philippine passports say "Not valid for travel to Iraq." She said "no problem."

The Kurdish Regional Government acts like another country from Iraq anyways.

Post: #354

Sp5 - What kind of jobs could I get if I showed up?

Post: #355

(01-17-2014 11:01 AM)Fisto Wrote:  Sp5 - What kind of jobs could I get if I showed up?

The oil sector seems to employ most of the expats, so there is a possibility there since you know oil stuff. There are also general operations type jobs, like setting up camps, etc. There is some real wildcatting exploration here with a bunch of smaller companies, Crescent, Genel Energy along with some of the majors like Exxon and Chevron.

Private security provided by expats is almost gone here, it's not an option. That's because the Kurds are good at providing their own security and got a bad taste of PSCs from the Blackwater days. Your military background might give you an added dimension in other work like in the oil sector. It's not so safe here that people would not want to have a guy who could fire a rifle around.

Teaching English or another subject at the universities is also open. I met a couple of American women teaching English last night, and know others who have taught other subjects.

You can get visa on arrival for 15 days, before that if you go to the Residency Directorate with a company letter you can get it extended pretty easily - only took me an hour.

I am going to investigate this more while I am here for a data sheet.

Post: #356

(01-17-2014 12:04 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  Teaching English or another subject at the universities is also open. I met a couple of American women teaching English last night, and know others who have taught other subjects.

Sp5, I've heard you can actually make pretty reasonable money teaching English there (By English teacher standards). Do you know how much they're earning?

Sounds like a more interesting place to live than Saudi Arabia/Oman, which is where a lot of older English teachers end up when they want to earn some money. (English Teacher X is in Oman actually, I think).

My friend was offered a job there with a 24-hour security guard, apparently haha

Post: #357

(01-17-2014 12:14 PM)LeightonBlackstock Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 12:04 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  Teaching English or another subject at the universities is also open. I met a couple of American women teaching English last night, and know others who have taught other subjects.

Sp5, I've heard you can actually make pretty reasonable money teaching English there. Do you know how much they're earning?

Sounds like a more interesting place to live than Saudi Arabia/Oman, which is where a lot of older English teachers end up when they want to earn some money. (English Teacher X is in Oman actually, I think).

My friend was offered a job there with a 24-hour security guard, apparently haha

I am going to ask around. There are several "universities" here, some large and established, some small private institutions. Kind of like Bangkok in that way. It would definitely be better than Saudi and you might be able to spot some easy business opportunities while here or transition into something else. The western expat community is small and gathers in a few places. It is an emerging market in transition from being a poor ragged town to a shiny city. Every time I come here there's something different enough I get disoriented.

I don't think you need a 24 hour security guard here, but it is only an hour's drive to Mosul, which is one of the worst places in the other Iraq. The Kurds somehow manage to keep that chaos pretty much out of here.

Post: #358

This Sp5, seem to be some hot shit. I got Iranian friends who got sick and tired of the Iranian wages so they took their things and started to teach English there.

It would be very cool if you could at some point break down a datasheet about Erbil.
I'm really curious about what kind of opportunites are lurking behind the corner there.

Post: #359

Whats up Capitao?
What is the purpose of your trip? Is it to party and go on a sex marathon? If yes the Philippines is where its at. Cheap, gorgeous beaches, endless supply of nubile, sexy, super sweet girls. If its lifestyle again the Phils or BbKK would be very hard to beat. But you'd need to up your budget to 5K for a month to really enjoy it.

Heres what I would do if I were you:
Once your exams are over in April, head straight to Edmonton to work in the oil sands. Go there with about 5K to get you going till you find a job there. Which wont take long as April is a prime hiring season up there. Work till end of June by which time you WILL have about about 10K maybe even 15 depending on the hours you get.

Heck, Id say work there till end of summer to have a bigger and nicer capital, say in the 20-30K if you work there till end of september. Then go party like a rockstar in either BKK or the Phils for 3-4 weeks. After that head straight to Guangzhou in China and hang out with Tim and Nick from the Elevator Life. Meet their friends, be introduced and plugged into their killer network and see fiest hand how they are killing it there and see with your own eyes the incredible opportunities there.

Ive written extensively in here about them spécially on my Guangzhou thread im on phone cant find it now but you should be able to find it easily. Look for Honk King & Guangzhou thread in the travel forum.


20K will buy you one year of living in China (very good lifestyle way better than what you could get in Boretown!!!while being surrounded by these guys and being in ground 0 of opportunities in the entire world! That will give you enough time to get something of your own started and get going. Not to mention learning Chinese which will be the most important language in the world soon at least biz wise.

I know you asked for just a short 3-4 weeks with a limited budget, but why would you limit yourself and your vision and ambition, specially át such a young age like you? Think bigger my friend! use the oil sands as the vehicle for fuelling your dreams and goals.

Hope this gives you a different perspective Amigo.

(01-16-2014 10:04 PM)Nascimento Wrote:  Any travel suggestions for a 20 year old on a first solo trip?

Do be a bit more specific, I'm looking to go for a few weeks to a month. Probably a country in SEA or SA, due to my limited budget (I'd estimate in between 2-3k, including flight costs).

Getting laid is a bonus, and obviously something I will aim for, but not the focus. I want to build experience and confidence from doing something different like traveling abroad solo while really young.

I'm still in the early stages of planning this, but I'm aiming for something around July-August.

Ideas?

Post: #360

Sp5 big thanks, I'd be interested in pretty much anything that pays bigger bucks.

Post: #361

Thanks for the ideas guys. VP I'll send you a PM.

Post: #362

I wanted to knock one off, so I put my Youtube video history on shuffle.

About half way through it changed to a two hour lecture of Noam Chomsky rattling on about Palestine lol

Post: #363

(01-16-2014 11:35 PM)Nascimento Wrote:  How about the Caribbean countries? You guys think I could still get a good experience (based on what I am looking for) in a country such as Cuba or DR?

Colombia could be a good choice for you.

Cuba and DR may be too hot during those months.

You may feel that Colombia is too challenging for a first solo trip. But in reality, if you can handle Brazil, Colombia would be fine too. A lot of the techniques you've learned in Brazil are transferable.

Post: #364

I love how you can order girls to your room in Thailand.

The film streaming site didn't work so I just turned the TV on. Luckily there was some scary film on where people were being chased around a hospital by a German doctor with a meat cleaver.

My apartment's pretty much just a bed so I banged her after about an hour.

I coaxed her into anal in the morning. But I was having trouble keeping fully strong as I kept thinking about other amusing things.

One time in England I kept laughing through sex. Then I had a laughing fit for about a minute after I came, as my friend had shown me this video a few hours before.





Anyway, I had to get her to sit on it, then lean back, so I ended up on top with it still in. In twenty years I'll probably break my hip doing that maneuver.

I need to find more shit to do. You're all eating arse and fucking girls in bathrooms and shit.

I have basically two things:

1) Missionary sex face-down for fifteen minutes (followed by an hour of crying)
2) Anal

I love the walk to the bathroom after anal, where you see if you have any shit on your nob.

Got a cold bottle of water out the fridge in the morning and pressed it on her back while she was dozing. That bloody well woke her up!

She made my bed before she left. That was nice. British girls wouldn't do that.

Post: #365

Awesome stuff man as always Leighton! Why the 1 hr crying tough? Did the girl get overly emotional that fast?

Post: #366

(01-19-2014 10:22 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Awesome stuff man as always Leighton! Why the 1 hr crying tough? Did the girl get overly emotional that fast?

Haha, nah just dicking around with the crying bit lol

Post: #367

(01-19-2014 10:22 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Awesome stuff man as always Leighton! Why the 1 hr crying tough? Did the girl get overly emotional that fast?

He never said it was the girl crying.

Post: #368

If you ever get a Dominican girl pregnant, don't worry, you'll have a year before the baby comes out. Girls take forever to do anything.

Post: #369

Trying to improve my Spanish via telenovelas--I feel a bit self-conscious/awkward that I can generally only understand a word or phrase per sentence on these shows.

My Spanish was good enough for my last DR trip, but I want to be prepared for a potential Mexico or Colombia outing this year--and I have a feeling Spanish skills will be more paramount for that vis a vis DR (I pipelined a quasi-fluent English-speaker last time I was in Bogota--not counting on that again).

Post: #370

Post: #371

I walked past that Japanese maid cafe in Gateway shopping mall today:



...................................

Post: #372

Some 19 year-old from Thai Friendly keeps referring to me as 'teacher'

I just added her on Line and her response was 'thank you teacher'

This is going to bloody good

*rubs hands together*

Post: #373

I'm still a travel newbie; how exactly do visas work? Do I need to get a visa/some other approval to be able to stay in every other non-NA country? Or can I practically fly anywhere?

Correct me if I'm wrong, this picture suggests with my Canadian passport I can fly/stay in any of these countries that are coloured green without visa approval:

Post: #374

^^^Youre right. Green means go. When I got to Cambodia, I got a visa on arrival. Brazil I went to the consulate in Houston. Argentina makes American pay a fee between 100-200 though. I think Canadians are good though. That shit happened last year and made me reconsider.

Post: #375

People are hating HARD right now. Just reminds me why I'm so happy to get out of here.