Let me provide you guys with an alternative to Medellin, Colombia. One where you'll feel safe walking by yourself at night, where you won't get drugged nor robbed, and at a similar price point (very cheap).
Background:
I spent two weeks in January in Lima. It was my first time there and I stayed in an Airbnb with in the Barranco neighborhood.
General thoughts:
Lima is a hidden gem for Asian guys. As one friend puts it, it's like Mexico City, but on steroids.
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The Asian effect is much more pronounced. While there's a large percentage of latinas in Mexico City interested in Asian culture (kpop, anime), it seemed as if almost everyone in Lima was into it
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This might be due to the heavier Asian influence in Peru, notably in Peruvian cuisine. There's a dish that's stir-fried beef and white rice. And a whole Peruvian-Chinese fusion style called chifa (it's like a play on chao fan/chow fun)
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I got stares while walking around the streets, park, mall, grocery store, and so did the other Asian American guys I was with
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I was at the grocery store and these two girls frequently glanced in my direction and even purposely moved themselves to be standing closer to me
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Basically, I felt like I really stuck out in a positive way. I went to Mexico City immediately afterwards and felt that I could almost blend in and nobody really paid me much attention vs. the glances I got in Lima
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Lima is cheaper than Mexico City by at least 25%. Prices are similar to Medellin - you'll pay about 1/3 the price for food as you would in NYC and you can get an Airbnb for under $50/night all-in
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Miraflores and Barranco are super safe. No fear of pickpockets, almost no homeless people. You can be ok walking by yourself after the sun sets
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I'm 5'8 and was frequently the tallest person in sight. People in Lima were on average noticeably shorter than in Mexico City
Story time:
Now for three fun stories of my encounters with Peruanas.
Girl #1 - college girl who approached me at a bar
I was out at a bar on a Saturday night with my friend, his girl, and his girl's friend (also another girl). As I was getting a drink at the bar, I get a tap on my shoulder from a girl who tells me that her friend wants to dance with me and points at a cute girl. I nod my head and take the hand of the girl who is interested in me and we start dancing. I eventually ask her if she wants to go somewhere quieter within the venue to talk, and she agrees. We end up leaving the dance floor and going to an area with couches.
(Slight aside: the ratio at the place I was at was at least 3:1 female to male. This spot is known as a social spot for locals to meet foreigners, and even though there were some white guys there, they weren't really getting much attention. Some weren't approaching, and some who did ended up having little success. I got to see firsthand the Asian advantage)
At the couch area, we talk a bit to get to know each other and I tell her that it is my first time in Lima. She says she knows a bit of Korean, and I pick up on that as another IOI. I see a message from my roommate from NYC, who had just landed around midnight in Lima, and I tell her that. She jumps on this point and asks if she can be my roommate for the night. I say yes and mention that I have soju at my place.
I call the Uber and bring her back to my place, where we start in the living room and drink soju while watching videos. She was so into Asian culture that she could sing along to some of the songs from the Kdramas. Eventually we make our way to my bedroom where I suggest we dance, and she puts on some Peruvian dance music and we dance separately. I switch to reggaeton and we dance close together and I start to escalate, making my way to bring her to my bed and later doing the deed.
The next morning, she asks me what my plans are and I tell her that I have to prepare for work in the afternoon, so we make plans to meet up the next day.
This is where things get interesting. We meet up the next day for dinner and I take her to a Japanese restaurant where she suggests we try sake and ends up drinking 90% of the small bottle (I have a low tolerance and only sipped on it). I walk with her to a park near the water and we make out, and she suggests we go to my place for more privacy. I bring her back and she stays the night again.
Come Tuesday morning, I get ready and start work in the living room where my computer is set up. She doesn't come out and stays in my room. My friend I was living with suggests that she go help us buy groceries and then help clean up the apartment - and she readily agrees to do everything. So here we are, two Asian guys working remotely on a Tuesday, with a 20-year old college girl doing errands for us. She comes back and my roommate comes around the same time, so my friend sends her to go with him to buy lunch. We all eat and my friend keeps the girl occupied by telling her to go with my roommate to explore the area, which they do.
I finish work by the time they get back and my friend leaves to go on a date and my roommate from NYC goes back to his hotel. I order food in with my girl and tell her that we have to sleep early tonight, and so we eat and are in bed by around 10pm.
Wednesday morning arrives and I tell my girl that she can go after we eat breakfast, which she agrees to. We eat, but she ends up going back into my room. At this point, both me and my friend really want her gone and I needed her gone because I had another girl coming over that night. We tell her to go explore with my roommate from NYC, who arrives around noon, and they come back around 3pm. The girl makes every effort to stay, but I eventually make it known to her that I'm annoyed and she ends up leaving.
To wrap this story up, the same girl messages me the next day asking to spend my last night, Friday, together but I tell her that I already have plans (had to say bye to the bros!). She asks if we can meet on Saturday morning before my flight and I agree, so she comes that morning, we do the deed, eat brunch, and then say goodbye.
She ended up messaging me every day for two weeks after I left. Talk about interest in Asians.
Girl #2 - met her on my first night in Lima
I'm with my friend at a bar and we see a group of three girls enter the bar. A group of three local guys approach them and get blown out, and my friend opens them by asking them "why don't you talk to those guys, they are so handsome!" I use this to say hi to the cutest girl of the three, a petite girl with large glasses and lots of tattoos. My friend wings for me and encourages us to dance, and the girl immediately starts grinding on me heavily and we end up basically dry humping. I go with my friend, my girl, and her two sisters to another bar that had more seating room and we talk for a little more. I tell my girl that I want to meet up another time in a quieter spot where we can have an actual conversation and seed the date.
Fast forward two days later and we meet up in the evening and go for a walk by the water. We get dinner, and I suggest she come over to my place so we can listen to music we like. I also bring up soju and she gets excited as she's never tried it before. We go to my place and even though all signs were there, I didn't do anything because I was going through some other drama.
I close the next time we meet. I have her come to my place and we watch clips from Kdramas, all the while she drinks 90% of a bottle of soju all by herself. It gets late and she asks if she can stay over. We make our way to my room where I suggest we dance, and I put on reggaeton music and I dance with her and escalate. We finish dancing and lay in bed, getting ready to sleep. She suggests we sleep and I tell her that I want to do something else, and type in my phone to translate that I want to kiss her. She nods her head, and I go for it and we do the deed.
I meet with her another time the following week and we watch a scary movie together. It was my first time doing so while cuddling with a girl and it was actually really fun.
Girl #3 - Bumble date who's been around the block
I meet up with a date from Bumble and while drinking at the bar, we talk about our experience using dating apps. She shows me her Bumble, where I see all 6 of her active conversations are with Asian guys, including one I knew was in Lima. I also notice that she has Bumble, Tinder, and even TanTan (an Asian dating app) installed. That, combined with her speaking English well, was a tell-tale sign that she knew what she was doing.
She suggested we go eat at a specific restaurant and after looking it up, I saw it had three $$$ signs. I make up some excuse saying it's too far, and she suggests we eat at the bar, which was also upscale, and I tell her that the food is mostly appetizers and isn't filling. I eventually decide on a normal-priced restaurant and we eat dinner. I only mention this date to show that I was cognizant I was getting played and didn't go along with it.
In closing:
Lima exceeded my expectations. I barely did any online dating while there and had my fun through in-person interactions. I'm more of a social circle type person vs. online or night game but I think my more innocent vibe appealed to girls who were looking for fun with someone who would treat them well.
This is also just part of the adventures I had in Lima. I'll let the friend I mentioned write his post soon to share his part :) - in short, there were multiple nights when 4/4 of us Asian American guys were closing.
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Support Asian Businesses - if you do go to Lima, check out these Asian-owned restaurants
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Chifa Fu Jou - super authentic, higher end Chinese place (C. 2 de Mayo 416, Miraflores 15074, Peru)
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Chifa Vietnam - really good Chinese/Peruvian fusion and very cheap (Nicolas de Pierola 105, Barranco 15063, Peru)
My question is do you think asian diaspora in the west will look distinctly different from their original ethnicity in 100-200 years.
This thought randomally popped into my mind since I know most African Americans with roots in the US have western european and indigenous blood. This can be seen if you compare an average African American with any ethnic group in Africa. I'm surrounded by a lot of black people so the difference in features is very noticeable to me. Nowadays, African American is pretty much an ethnicity since many of them can't trace their ancestory back to their ethnic homeland due to slavery.
In saying this, I understand the world is significantly more multicultural than it was back then however, do you guys think asian americans will experience similar physical changes in the distant future? And how do you percieve these changes since after generations, our ethnic cultures will also inevitably be lost. Even amongst my 3rd generation Asian-American friends, none of them can speak their native tongue let alone generations down.
