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Lovely. Thanks for sharing. 🫶

continued…Installment 18: I must say it has been nice with several forum members in the city at the same time. We have been able to connect on a number of occasions now. After entertaining Chaichana guy for a couple of hours early afternoon, I made my way over to Silom. Was going to do a little shopping and people watching while waiting for time to meet Cam. Decided to hang out at the Starbucks on Surawong across from Pink Panther. Noticed the other day at the food booth just outside Pink Panther a cute young man working that I wanted to spend a little time observing. I think this booth is a family-type business. He is similar in appearance to some of the guys who work at Good Boy. This was late afternoon. Meeting Cam at Midnight Bar somewhere between 8-8:30pm. Had a message from another forum member who had finished a late afternoon massage, rested a bit and was heading out so joined me at Starbucks. We then headed over to Midnight. I stayed to wait for Cam while he went on to meet another forum member who was eating dinner with a companion at UNESCO World Famous Foodland. Both members soon came back to Midnight and Cam arrived shortly after that. Gave him the off fee to take upstairs to mamasan at Hotmale, then asked him where he would like to get dinner. Should come as no surprise that he said Foodland, so we walked over there to grab a bite to eat before heading to Fresh Boys. One forum member would join us later at Fresh Boys while the other had plans for karaoke with several guys. When we initially arrived at Fresh Boy we were the first two customers. This was around 9:40pm and show was scheduled to begin at 10:15pm. Eventually more customers trickled in so by the time the show started there were at least as many customers as number guys on stage…roughly 25 people. Mostly older, white farangs, some with an Asian companion (like me), younger European couple, group of Japanese guys in mid-30’s, couple of females. Show was somewhat interesting and entertaining, although a couple of the numbers should have ended a lot sooner…just seemed like they were dragging on forever and would never end. We stayed for the entire first show and maybe two segments of the second show before heading back to the condo. Other forum member left after the first show to join karaoke fun. Cam certainly did not disappoint when we got back to the condo. He knows what I enjoy and is very good at it. Nice falling asleep feeling his naked body against mine and his arms wrapped tightly around me. Sleep a little later than usual when he is with me, went out for some breakfast, then he headed off to home. At some point during the day, Paradise guy had sent me a message wanting to know if I was coming to see him today. Wrote back and said we spent the entire day together on Sunday, so probably not. Was going to meet ‘friends’ later. Told him I would come by the shop to see him on Tuesday. Today is Ben’s day off from Rainbow Dragon, so already had plans to meet him in the evening. Will go see Paradise guy in the early afternoon, then take a nice, long nap to recharge and be ready for the evening. lol. Oh…last night was not completely uneventful. For those of you that wear an Apple watch, if it has the fall detection feature and you have it turned on…be careful that you do not drop your watch. I dropped my watch when I took it off to put it on the charging cable after we returned to the condo. The watch misread that as I had fallen. Unfortunately, the watch was asking me if I needed assistance but in Thai. I ignored the message. Since I didn’t respond, the watch contacted 191 (Thai emergency services). I didn’t know what was happening, so I hung up on the caller. 191 called back wanting to confirm if I needed assistance. I was finally able to speak to someone with English language skills and explain that I was perfectly fine. I did not fall, but simply dropped the watch on the floor. Unfortunately, due to the language barrier and my failure to respond promptly, the watch/phone proceeded to get in touch with my emergency contacts (family back in Denver). So I had to text them right away to let them know I was fine and to disregard any emergency assistance request. Rather humorous bit of drama for about 30 minutes after we arrived at the condo. Lessons learned: 1) Fall detection, as well as all Apple watch features work internationally; 2) don’t hang up on 191 caller unless you want them to show up at your door at 1am; 3) be more careful and don’t drop the watch. LOL.

I didn't have any preconceived ideas about what people might look like, but it was nice to actually be able to put a face with a name I see posting online all of the time. It was also nice to openly share experiences or escapades with others who know and understand how this all works. Not exactly something I am able to do with family or most of my friends back in Denver. lol.

I'm glad they took my advice and took the "n" out of the name !!!!‼️‼️

Hey guys, I’m back to writing trip reports—at least this one time. For those unfamiliar, my writing style is different, so if the majority isn’t receptive, I’d be more than happy to delete this post. I just wanted to write this trip report about my first time visiting Thermas Sauna in Barcelona. For those who know me, even just here, it might be a surprise that I haven’t been to Thermas before this trip. I’m frankly surprised myself, as I’ve been to Barcelona six times before for “normal” gay activities, as well as to get on a cruise ship two of those times. Those other trips were (sadly?) rent-boy free and were either with my boyfriend at the time or with friends, and I just used Grindr with some success. I finally decided to make a Thermas run because I had a weeklong work trip to a city in Europe that wasn’t exactly a hotbed of gay/rent-boy activity. I figured that going to Thermas before would help me get this horny energy out of my system. Even if it’s only for two nights, it’ll give me a chance to deal with some jet lag and rest before the work trip, at the very least. Night 1: Am I in Brazil? Well, my first night was off to an ominous start, with my flight delayed by 5 hours, meaning my 2 PM arrival became 7:20 PM. I’d heard the best time to visit Thermas is between 4 PM and 8 PM, when most of the boys are there. With my delay, I’d likely arrive after those prime rent-boy hours. Still, hope springs eternal, and the chance to discover something new—after probably more than 50 trips to Brazil—had me excited. I’ve always had luck in Barcelona, whether it’s on Grindr or with a boyfriend, so a sauna visit should be a positive experience too. And since this is a Friday night, I am hoping that the weekend will bring in the numbers. After almost a 20-minute wait in line at immigration, where I spent a total of 15 seconds with an officer (no words exchanged), I finally reached baggage claim. Another potential wait: the baggage claim in Barcelona airport show an estimated time for when bags will arrive, and mine said it would be another 30 minutes. At this point, it was 8:40 PM, so I sat down on one of the benches and opened Grindr, since there wasn’t much else to do. Opening Grindr at an airport is always a futile endeavor. You usually get guys transiting through, so there’s no real chance of a meaningful connection. Sure, I’ve talked to guys before who were interested in meeting at their or my gate, but after 15+ hours of travel, I prefer to wait and get a shower at my hotel before heading to the sauna. I started chatting with a couple of guys who seemed interesting and responded to a few pings. Then I received a message from a photo-less guy with promising stats. His status said “for right now,” so I figured, why not answer? Oh no, I’ve been spotted. And just as I finished reading that, the bags started arriving on the belt. And as luck would have it, my bags were among the first to come out. Should I respond? Should I get my bags? He clearly knows where I am. I quickly grabbed my bags and checked the time: it was 9:05 PM. A quick calculation meant I’d be in my hotel room by 9:30 PM, take a quick shower, and could still be at the sauna before 10 PM. Maybe there would still be some guys there? Or should I wait for this guy who’s semi-stalking me? What would you have done? The uncertainty of not knowing if this guy was my type, combined with how gross I probably looked after hours of transcontinental travel from the USA to Europe, made the idea of meeting this guy less appealing. But maybe it would still be a dud and the sauna would be empty at this hour. I took my chances. I bee-lined to the “Nada que declarar” door and was through quickly. I hit up an ING Bank ATM by the arrivals gate and got 300 euros for the sauna. Just to be polite, I replied to my Grindr stalker, letting him know I had already exited baggage claim. After that no more messages from Señor Stalker. The Uber ride to my hotel was 40 bucks, and within 5 minutes, I was on my way. As expected, Grindr pings kept coming through on the way to the hotel. This was the Barcelona I knew. It should be a good trip. For the hotel, I chose the safe bet: Axel Two Barcelona, an advertised gay hotel. I’d stayed there once before with a boyfriend, and the hotel was a 6-minute walk to the sauna. It was a bit more expensive than closer hotels, but I figured, at least for this trip, tried and true would work. I checked in with two friendly receptionists, both gay, who were efficient and had me up to my room in under 5 minutes. I checked Grindr again and saw the same two reception guys now in my feed. Of course they were there. I wondered if I could message them on Grindr if I had a problem with my room or needed room service. A quick but thorough shower got me out the door just before 10 PM. I pulled up Google Maps to plot my route to the sauna, then set off for the brief 6 minute walk. Early spring in Barcelona made it a very comfortable walk in just a light jacket. I must admit, I was excited, but also a little nervous. This would be the first time I was going to a boy sauna/bar outside Brazil since 2019, when I last went to Gigolo Erotic House in Bogotá. When I reached the street where the sauna was supposed to be, I didn’t see any signage at first—probably because I was so eager to get to the location I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. I stopped when I passed an ATM, reversed course, and looked more closely at the doors and signs. As I headed back, I see an open door to a room with some stacked towels on a table and two attractive-ish boys talking rapidly in Spanish. The more muscular one noticed me and shouted “la puerta,” pointing to his right. Thanks for the assist! He turned out to be the bartender at the sauna. Anyway, I found the main door to the sauna and saw the receptionist through the window. He gave me a quick once-over, buzzed me in, and motioned for me to open the door and let myself in. He quickly asked for the entrance fee (24 euros?), which I paid with a quick swipe of Apple Pay. Then he asked me something else in Spanish, and luckily, I caught the tail-end of it, which I understood as “zapatillas.” He was asking if I needed slippers, and I gave my most authoritative “Sí!” He then asked me something else, which I assumed was to ask for my size, so I told him in Spanish, guessing my European shoe size which i knew was close to the Brazilian shoe size, which I knew fairly well. I understand Spanish pretty well and speak it at an intermediate level, but as with Portuguese, it always takes me half a day of hearing and speaking it to get back into it, especially after a long stay in the mono-lingual USA. Plus, I was tired. Plus I was horny. The receptionist handed me a locker key, similar to the system in Brazil, and pointed me toward the locker room, which was directly ahead. From where I stood, I could see five people: three of them were obviously boys—2 Latino-looking, fit with abs, and one muscular white tall guy. The other two were clients, just heading into the locker room. Oh good, there were still people here at 10:20 PM on a Friday night. I found my locker and saw three clients changing into their street clothes. I hoped this wasn’t a sign that people were leaving in droves. There were two towels in the locker. I took off all my clothes, put them in the locker, and wrapped a towel around my waist. I made sure I had my 300 euros so I could pay, grabbed my cellphone out of habit, and locked the locker. I stepped out of the locker room and looked around. Where do I go? One of the boys sitting on a ledge in the center of the reception area pointed to the dark room, which, upon closer inspection, had stairs leading further down. “Abajo,” he said, pointing down. He instantly clocked me as a newbie. He rose and went down the stairs, so I followed. The floor below was a dimly lit area, with some people milling about in towels. The boy continued further down to another lower level, and I followed him. After a short narrow corridor, the space opened up. I saw a jacuzzi, a pool, and a bar area. I counted five people sitting at the bar. This was promising. I plopped down in a vacant seat. The boy who had guided me down wasn’t really a “boy.” He was a full-grown man—probably in his 30s, with fairly big build but not overly gymmed out body and white-adjacent, possibly Arab, looks. He rattled off the usual Spanish introductions: “Where are you from?” “When did you arrive?” and “Is this your first time here at the sauna?” And then at the corner of my eye, a tall fit bearded guy appeared. I was still talking to my man-guide when I heard a familiar voice. “Numazu, what are you doing here?” in English. I recognized who it was even before I took a good look at the guy. It was indeed a familiar friendly face. It was this boy from Brazil who I first met in 2020. To be honest, he was not just any boy. He is an ex-”boyfriend”, and we “dated” for a good part of the pandemic in 2020-2021, just right after Brazil opened up after its lockdown. My man-guide slowly backed away, sensing a shift in my focus. The Brazilian, who I will call Pedro, got really close to me and stared at my face. He was clearly thinking, probably with a mix of surprise that he saw me here, but also on how to approach me. After a beat, he hugged me, and then again another tighter hug. He then kissed me, tentative at first, and then deeply after he knew he could. And then, out of old habit, he scooped me up and lifted me for one of those body hugs he used to give me when we were together. Pedro sat next to me, clearly excited that I was there. “This is why you suddenly disappeared,” I said, as there was a time two years ago that Pedro frequented Lagoa in Sao Paulo almost every day. We were pretty civil at that point after a crappy break up, and the relationship had been over for 3 years, and all the reasons why we broke up were just a distant memory, and we were just friends. And then one day I stopped seeing him at Lagoa. I didn’t even worry about it, it's just one of those things that happen in the background that you realize for half a second but never think about until you forget it eventually, only to resurface and make sense at this moment. We got caught up on our lives. His main thing was that the Brazil sauna scene was not giving him the resources he needed to survive. He decided to try Europe with a client helping him to get there. He quickly found a good life for him, traveling all over Europe, using Barcelona as his base, and Zurich as well, and traveling with clients who met him in the saunas back to those client’s home towns. He said he has never seen this much money in his life, and he has saved a tidy sum just living this life. Europe has been kind to him. Just to give a description. Pedro is in his late 20s or early 30s. Tall and bearded, has a lean muscular body that has almost zero fat. He has a sweet face, and I know he kisses very passionately, though he does dole his kisses out pretty judiciously to those who can pay for it. But being Brazilian, his show stopper is his cock. Let’s just say it is long and thick, more than a mouthful, and a challenge to all but the seasoned ones among us. I got interested in him because he was a sex maniac, but I “dated” him because deep down he is a pussycat. My man guide was still close by, probably trying to listen to our conversation, which was a mix of Portuguese, English and Spanish. I nodded to the man-guide and he asked me if I was Brazilian. Pedro quickly interjected and proclaimed that, almost proudly, that I was his ex-boyfriend. I told man-guide I was American, but Brazil was a second home. There was another handsome boy seated close by, who was built like Pedro but with more Arab looks. Later I would find out that he was from Morocco. I would eventually see 5 more boys still in the sauna who were actively looking as well through the course of this night. So clearly I had options, even at this hour. I ordered a Jack and diet. Pedro ordered a vodka red bull. I was surprised. He used to not drink but now he clearly does. “Europe has changed me, and I can show you how much if you let me.” I reminded him “You used to be different before you met me, so I changed you too.” Which was true. I met Pedro at the Sauna Boa Vista in Recife. Back then he was just this naive kid who was dirt poor, who slept on the beach, and has never left Recife. Me, being the great corruptor that I am, introduced him to Rio de Janeiro, and then Sao Paulo, and he got a taste of city life and ways, and more money than he had ever seen in his life up to that point. And look at him now. Next up: my time with Pedro, and two other boys. Spoiler Alert: I left the sauna at 2:30 AM.

Two British actors that definitely made it in the USA, so much so; that when auditioning for their debut Americian parts the producers and production staff didn't know they weren't Americian. Idris Elba, now Sir Idris Elba, born in Hackney, London of Sierra Leone and Ghana parentage, auditioned for the role of Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, told by his Agent to keep his background a secret, floored the producers with his Maryland accent. They were shocked to find he came from the East End of London. Same goes for Hugh Laurie OBE, he was asked by his Agent to submit an audition tape whilst out filming the remake of Flight of The Phoenix in Namibia for a new medical drama called House, still in costume so to speak, ie unshaven and bedraggled, and recorded in his hotel bathroom, his rawness and arrogance caught the producers eye. Bryan Singer as Executive Producer has been noted as saying "he's just the kind of compelling American actor I've been looking for". He was somewhat shocked when someone told him he came from Oxford, England and educated at Eton and Cambridge.

as one man business there is danger each of those many shops would be opened only once per 15 days or so , no?

Yup, makes perfect sense. 🙄

be brave , it's actually not as stinky as legend has it but also not as heavenly delicious as other legend has

he is my long lost twin brother

Yes they did !. I will meet you updated but I'm having a meeting with the management today

If you go to Mae Khomphong another attraction in the same area is The Giant - a coffee shop / restaurant built on the side of a hill around a massive tree - spectacular views

The Japanese have a wonderful way of describing this very situation. You and Jason would be called 'ana kyoudai', which means 'brothers of the hole'. So we all have lots of 'brothers' we don't even know about! 😂😂😂

Which is why I don't take much notice of restaurant/food recommendations. I often travel to Kuala Lumpur, mainly to eat. Wandering around the food markets or down Jalan Alor food street, I'm surrounded by durian. It's also in cakes m icecream, pancakes, biscuits, etc. It's always described as the stinkiest fruit in the world, yet I actually like the sweet, fruity smell. But I'm not game enough to try it....yet.

Yes. He's a half-brother to Velázquez.

In my trip report ("weekends in Bangkok") i used another name to refer to him.

He deserves respect.

Progressive lenses included in a 9,000 baht bill? This guy should open shops all over Bangkok where I Iast paid around 25,000 for frame and progressive lenses!

Not betraying himself, i think. More he is seriously denying himself the opportunity of getting more parts, no doubt better paying ones. An actor has to be versatile in almost all respects (although not necessarily THAT one!). Think of the British actors who have made it in the US - and not always playing English-accented roles. The late and much lamented Alan Rickman as the German in the first Die Hard Movie. Sir Laurence Olivier as the Nazi dentist in Marathon Man. Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich and the Bourne series. The wonderful Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Derek Jacobi, Jonathan Price, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox, Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Day Lewis, Ewan McGregor, Jeremy Irons and a very long list of more British and Irish actors who have made it in Hollywood movies. This is partly I believe because of their excellent training and then their early careers in weekly rep where they learned that essential versatility. An actor who deliberately decides not to train his voice does not deserve to call himself an actor!

Something of a niche issue, perhaps, but there must be a number of posters who wear spectacles. Last year, my own pair needed adjustment while I was staying at the Agate and rather than going to my usual Top Charoen I went to a small, very small, place run by just one guy almost directly across the soi from my hotel in the Jomtien Complex.. I was most impressed by the care he took in making the necessary adjustments and surprised that he refused to take payment despite my efforts to offer one. My partner had mentioned a few weeks ago that he'd like a new prescription for his and I suggested he wait until we came here to see what this local business could offer. He spent a good forty minutes there last week and ordered both prescription and a new frame, including progressive and light-sensitive lenses, at a cost of 9000 bht. They arrived after only five days. Like me , he was impressed with the service and the cost- his previous pair, bought in Pattaya Tai, cost nearer 15000- and so I wanted to pass on this recommendation. A small business, run by one man, providing good service in competition with a huge chain. He deserves consideration if you need the service of an optician.

Never touch gin! Vodka puhlease! And I dislike tomatos. I will take an extra dry vodka martini with a lemon twist every time, thank you.

I read his posts on here, didn’t know there was a blog too! Got a link?

There's this extremely handsome 36 year-old actor I follow on social media, Jason Caceres, who recently put out a blurb on Facebook. In the blurb, he describes firing his manager when she suggested he take "accent reduction" lessons to get the "gay" out of his voice, so that he could have more acting opportunities. His speech must be described as very gay, one must admit. That being said, the last movie I saw, Crime 101, starred Chris Hemsworth, an Australian, and Barry Keoghan, an Irishman. They play American characters, so they've obviously been trained not to speak with Aussie or Irish accents. I doubt they're ashamed of the way they normally speak, but rather realize that a good actor needs to be versatile. I think it's actually a feather in the cap for them that they can play American characters better (at least according to the casting director) than any American can. There are a lot of successful gay actors, and the best of them can play both straight and gay characters (i.e. Matt Bomer, Neil Patrick Harris, Zach Quinto, etc.). While Jason Caceres certainly has nothing of which to be ashamed, I suspect he could get a lot more acting gigs if he could play a wider variety of parts. Yet all of the comments on his clip on Facebook applaud his firing of his manager. Do you think he's being wise? https://www.facebook.com/reel/1622663045969088

I trust you are reading @alexch's blog?

Is the painter related to Velazquez?