Slow Loris

 
 

More Asian Adventures

Singapore - beautiful, clean, nice people with funny accents. Food is good and plentiful. I must look I belong there as I was asked for directions three separate times in three days! I went to the Night Safari and fell in love with this little monkey-like creature called the slow loris. (in Chinese, "lazy monkey")

BKK - Same, same but different!
Amid the caustic polluted air, the infuriating traffic, the dirt and grime, I always manage to like BKK and this time was no different. It has to do mostly with the friendly Thai smile. I didn’t do much of anything touristy this time around since I've pretty much seen all the touristy things. I spent some time shopping and riding the new subway and BTS Sky Train and of course no trip to BKK would be complete without a trip to a go-go bar, Babylon, and DJ Station. Wink, wink ...
I met some friendly guys at DJ who took me to an after hours club (since DJ closes promptly at 2am). I was chatted up by a seemingly friendly guy who told me that he works as a massage boy. Needless to say, the conversation ended quickly after that confession.
I tried to chat up another guy but he didn’t speak English. I apologized for not being able to speak Thai either to which he replied "Mai Pen Rai" (the famous thai phrase that means "no problem"!) So we didn’t talk much but spent some time dancing and smiling at each other.
Struck with a conversation with an Australian-Asian woman (flight attendant) who asked, "So, do you like the Asian boys?"
I replied, "SURE! What's not to like!!?? I'm an Asian boy too you know!"
She responded, "Eeeekk, isn't it a bit like kissing your brother?!"
Me - "OH, THAT'S SUCH BULLSHIT!! Do you think white boys say such things amongst themselves? NOOO!!! I think I'm a pretty attractive guy, why wouldn't I find another Asian guy attractive!!??"
The conversation ended pretty quickly after that.
I thought about our little exchange after that and it bothered me that her kind of thinking still exists. What I was trying to say to her was that my self image is not so poor that i cannot find another Asian guy attractive. Sure, I feel a sense of "brotherhood" with other Asians but how the hell am i supposed to feel like 3 billion people are related to me? Why would I even think of discounting a good one third of the world's hotties?
I ended up staying until 4am and left while the party was still in full swing.


Phuket - beautiful as ever and this year's site of the fabulous "Nation V" - Singapore's (Asia's) hottest circuit party. Due to government ban, Nation was relocated to Phuket and Asia's hottest circuit boys (from Taiwan, Japan, HK, M'sia and Singapore descended on the Crowne Plaza.
Phuket (well, the main beaches - Patong and Karon Beach anyway) seems to have recovered fully from the tsunami. Those boys partied for three straight days! Me - I took full advantage of the sunshine and chilled on the beach, went to the day spa (2.5 hrs of luxury for $32CAD!!!) and danced with the hotties at night. Can we say, "eye candy galore"??!!!!

Pattaya - much of the time was spent hanging out with expat friend who has since moved to there. He's got this amazing house designed and decorated like Balinese open-concept pavilions that he rents out to tourists. It rained a bit there and of course the day I left Pattaya was beautiful and sunny... sigh... The "scene" is very commercial to be honest. It seems that every Thai boy there is a bar boy or a money boy chasing after middle-aged and older white men. No chance for me to meet nice, average middle class Thais. The money boys are in BKK as well but at least in BKK you stand at least a 50-50 chance or meeting your average gay Thai, not so in Pattaya.

HK - my one day in HK was spent doing what else? - yum cha with relatives, then shopping in TST. Having spent all afternoon shopping and with nothing but Giordano underwear to show for my efforts, I refused to return home with only that. So I continued shopping until I found a really cool store where I was able to pick up a pair of Pumas for $70CAD! Score! I was happy.
I met a friend for dinner then it was off to HK hottest bar "Rice" and then to Propaganda. I got so tired and sleepy, I left at 3am.
I love HK and always feel at home there. I guess it's because my ancestral village is not very far from there that I do feel like I get in touch with my roots. Had my grandfather not left the motherland, I suppose I would have been born a HK-zai as well.

All in all, I had a wonderful time. I met some nice people, relaxed and revelled at will. With no watch and no particular agenda, I slept when I was tired, ate when I was hungry and basically just did whatever I felt like doing at the moment, the way a vacation should be.
My only regret was that two weeks is much too short.

Slinging through Singapore

After 24 hours of jetting across the globe, and nearly missing my connecting flight through HK (damn, those high end duty free shops and sleep deprivation can surely mess with a travelling-solo-homo's sense of time) I've finally arrived in Singapore. It's been three years since my last visit and I find myself checking into "one of the trendiest boutique hotels in Singapore". Highly rated by the likes of uber-trendoid mags like Wallpaper, the hotel does not disappoint, save for the miniscule closet-like rooms. I'm not pleased with the cramped quarters but the bathroom is slick and modern and is equipped with a rain shower and sliding glass doors. It's kinda of sexy imagining myself or someone else being spied on through the misty glass... hehehe.. HOT!

I feel almost at home in Singapore. The food is spectacularly tasty, plentiful and cheap. The subway is super clean and efficient, the weather is nice and hot and the people are rather down to earth and friendly and damn that accent makes me giggle! I got asked for directions 3 times in the 3 days that I was there so I must look like a local.

Days were spent wandering around Chinatown and along the touristy Orchard Road. Where the trendiest of shopping malls are all located. I found it quite odd that there is even a Chinatown in city-country where the Chinese dominate, isn't that a bit redundant? (no offence intended to the Malays and Indians who make up the the rest of S'pore's multi-culti city).

I came face to face with destiny as I watched old men gathered in the park playing what looks like a form of Chinese chess.

I think I spotted Adrian Brody having coffee at one of the sidewalk cafes along Orchard. I could be wrong but that nose is unmistakeable.

Now to the gay bits -- My first night in S'pore found me at two of the citie's hottest bars/clubs. The cheekily named "Happy" and Taboo. Happy is THE place to be in Singapore for the hippest homos. The crowd is decidedly buff and beautiful and one is sure to an eyeful of candy (and maybe some more, is it???). I met an overly exuberant patron who couldnt contain himself and boldly exclaimed that he "LOVED TORONTO!!!". I'm not sure that he has even visited but was nonetheless cause for much amusement.

Taboo is a bit more down to earth where the patrons are somewhat less made up. Getting cruised there did wonders for my ego, I tell ya. I had to spurn the poor chap who spent the night trying to get sumsum of my jadedness (know what i am saying??). He offerred to buy me a margarita to which i politely refused and told him that I only drank beer. I had to make something up since I was with a friend. Man, if AX could be half as fun ...

Lucky for me, the hotel i was staying at is within stumbling distance from the bars... yayy! No need for taxi...

As a souvenir, I grabbed a copy of the Singapore Edition of Men's Health. Yowza!

Off to Thailand for some rest, romping and mild debauchery...