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If you’re in town, the short walk (or one stop away from Silom on MRT) to Samyan Mitrtown is worth the excursion, especially at twilight. the mall / university complex has embraced Pride month in a big way. In lights, entertainment and colorful signage, the message is loud and clear: it’s okay to be gay. All the shops in the multi-story mall are geared to the needs of the university students who abound in the area, including mini versions of Big C and Home Pro. Not to be missed is the free open air observation deck which takes on a magical atmosphere as the sun goes down. https://www.timeout.com/bangkok/news/theres-a-massive-rainbow-path-in-samyan-to-celebrate-pride-month-060721 (photos courtesy Timeout Bangkok)

Day 6 As I mentioned before for few days guy from Grindr is sending me question ‘ do you want massage?”. He doesn’t have nick but headless photo of his body is enticing , he confirmed that it’s his so I decided, encouraged no doubt by Guardian Angel to take a chance on him. Early massage , at 10.30 he knocked to my room and right away I knew Angel was involved since we hit it right away. Handsome, rather athletic than muscular, talkative in good English, soon it turned out his massage is superb and it seems the he likes me. Wow, considering age and looks difference. In short , gem, thank you Angel . We exchanged Line, where he uses Besty nick. He said he is more tennis instructor and partner than massage freelancer. Fee very modest at 1500 and he was not in rush to go at all. No doubt we will meet him again. Unfortunately not keen on long time at all, it always be must be that something. If he were , chance are this trip would look quite different. Yes , he threw at me that KFC insult but is forgiven before he even opened mouth Energized I walked a bit around the Silom and Patpong , exchanged money in XONE on Suriwong, passed through Silom market in soi 8 but did not go too far because in meantime X lined me if I’m interested to see him again today. Money be damned , answer was yessssssssssssss ! He showed up at 3 pm. And I had more fun than last night even, worth every satang even if we are talking a lot of satangs here. Funny thing , worth more scientific research , he turned out to be ticklish in few places where for sure he was not last night? Imagine wrestling such a hunk just to make sure he is ticklish indeed. After good 2.5 hrs we got hungry and went to G’Bangkok , soi 4 for a dinner . With our table outside it was very obvious he is head turner, even proprietor noticed it and whispered “ where you got that guy ? Interestingly he opted for typical German fare, sausage with something and he liked it , mentioning that even week after as our 2nd meeting was definitely the last. After dinner we parted ways. I decided to take circular way to soi 3 but at corner of Suriwong and soi 6 it started raining. How not to get wet in absence of umbrella ? There are two solutions, cheap and pleasant. Cheap- to buy umbrella at 7/11 was dismissed as wasteful spending and I opted to take massage in Tawan around the corner. I was expecting M from my day 1 but it turned out he is not there but Ten is on duty. Ten is real bodybuilder, not a shrinking violet at all. For those attending show at Tawan he is one making candle show. I was prepared for serious mutilation considering substantial body mass at his disposal but massage turned out to be very skillful, no need to say energetic. And fun as he is quite talkative , knew that I had massage with M and offed two boys from Tawan already so if we think we are anonymous shadows , better not to be naïve. By time we were done rain was over but not before he threw KFC insult, my 2nd such humiliation today at price of 500 for massage and 1500 tip. Three fantastic encounters so far made me happy and thirsty for more so instead going to hotel I continued walking and on Silom in mouth of soi 2 there was another hunk distributing Paradise massage leaflets so I said to myself see what happens. This time not much, while body was great and kind of accessible even if he is straight and proudly showed me picture of his daughter, massage was bit cursory and so were afters. Cost and tip the same like in Tawan but only memorable part was third today KFC insult and few minutes after when I was paying massage fee at reception , fourth. I need to find hardware shop , buy some rope and hang myself thought I in meantime grinning semi happily thinking what bar should be in my rotation tonight since I did not visit Freshboys, Hot Male nor Dreamboys this trip yet. Freshboys it is, twink kingdom but I’m not dogmatic, try to visit every bar at least once per trip even if twinks don’t to much for me sometimes for a change I’m not adverse to hiring them as well. Moth mamasans , one of them former Screwboys one recognized me with smile. Entry well timed – big C show, 6 or 7 participants started circulating among audience so red notes were wrapped around two of their appendages. Then even more heat with f…k show , top very interesting , one of those I tipped , bottom not so much but again two reds changed hands when they come up close to show they are not faking whole thing. Former Screwboy mamasan still remembered that I liked One boy many years ago, perhaps my best boy ever who left the scene long time ago but I still smile at his memory. No doubt she will remember next time as I slipped her another redie to prevent dementia. Asked about Screwboys reopening but ‘may be fall ‘ answer. Even in that twink galore I could find 2-3 guys I could off, top from f..k show definitely and not because his thing but because I like his face of aspiring hooligan and he is quite muscular too , at least for that bar’s standards. Somehow I realized that such great day must be crowned without any surprises so I lined V if he can come to see my stam collection and answer was immediate –‘where you are’ . Explained I will be at Baan Silom’s gate in 6 minutes I went back home only to see V already waiting for me there. As it turned out later he lives around the corner . we went to 7/11 right there to buy some supplies and when leaving who emerged from hotel ? My neighbor and last night companion, Grindr guy. We smiled at each other knowingly. It crossed my mind to use that opportunity for 3-some but pass it and keeping quiet was good thing because as soon as he went his way V whispered that he did not like that guy, too feminine he said and for sure clean shaven like girl. While he was incorrect on first assumption in my opinion, he was spot on on second part . V never disappoints and endeared himself even more by NOT calling me KFC man. Great conclusion to day 6, busy and fun filled, treasury destroying day

Day 9 started with shopping and walking around Pratunam area. Came across an electronics stall and saw a karaoke microphone with lights and bluetooth function. Bought it on the spot. After shopping back to hotel for rest. At 9pm headed off to Hotmale bar. Aung is off today. Got my Chang draught beer from Alex and I presented him with the karaoke microphone. He was so shy when he received it. Thanked me so much. I asked him to turn it on but he kept saying he was shy to sing loudly in public. I took the chance to ask him what he was doing on his off day this Thursday. He said he would be busy moving. He is moving to a bigger apartment. I guess i will have to wait for another time to take him out for karaoke. My 3rd night in a row at Hotmale beer bar. Great location to see the Dreamboys guys when they come out after their rotation on stage. They are topless and I can admire their muscled bodies. I even saw the tattooed guy who used to do the merman show at Classic and then moved to Lucky Boys for big cock show. Glad that he still had a job, presumably at Dreamboys big cock show. At 10pm I went into Hotmale gogo bar. 8 to 10 guys in jeans. Saw one handsome boy. No.5. I called him over immediately. Name is V. From Cambodia. Average body but very very handsome. 28 years old. Speaks good English. I bought him a drink. He ordered Leo beer. "Short Time 2000 ok?" I went straight to the point. Yes and he signalled to mamasan. Mamasans at Hotmale are not dressed formally unlike most other bars. They wear the same outfit as the waiters! V finished his bottle of beer before we left. "You like to drink?" I asked. "Yes, you have beer in hotel?" "No beer but I have whisky!" I replied and he was all smiles. We walked across the hotel lobby and I waved cheerfully to the two ladies on duty at reception. I wonder what they think of me bringing back different guys every night. In room, I asked V to shower while I poured and mixed two glasses of Jack Daniels. We drank and had our fun. V wasn't a kisser unfortunately but it was still an enjoyable session. After he left, I fell asleep. End of Day 9. Pretty ordinary day with no significant life-changing events.

Update: So last Friday, I pretended I was going to play sports so that I can see my street food vendor <3.. It was already around 9pm and decided I was going to eat it right there.. Ohh boy.. Food was a bit hard for me to finish but tried my best to show him that I liked it. Eventually, I gave up and decided to just take it home. So I asked him to put it in a takeaway bag and ordered another one.. Saturday, he wasn't there so it was a bummer. Sunday, I greeted him with Sawatdee krup as I walked past his kiosk on my way to playing sports. After playing, I went to his kiosk but he wasn't there so I went back to the sports center and waited there hoping he will come back in a few minutes. After 10 minutes, went back to his kiosk but it was still unmanned so I just walked around the area for another 30 minutes but still he wasn't there. Finally, I just decided to have a drink with some friends around the area. Around 9pm, I walked past his kiosk but still, he was not there I didn't wanna go home empty handed, so I went back to the sports center, watched some games for a few minutes then walked back to his kiosk and VOILA! He is there, sweeping the pavement just a few meters from his kiosk. I asked "mi mai?" or "do you have?" in english and he replied enthusiastically, "mi.. mi" or "have.. have..".. Long story short, I ordered two which is 40THB in total but gave him 100 and told him keep the change but he was like "No.. no.." I just replied "Mai bpen rai" or "Don't worry about it".. I also got his Line haha!! He is soo cute in his profile picture. He seems to be or have been a cook in another slightly bigger food kiosk.. I sent him a picture of what I ordered from him, already emptied out .. then he replied with a picture of chilis .. not sure if he is teasing me because I would always complain that his food is spicy and he always would get surprised cause its prolly not that spicy for him.. Sent him a picture of a Burmese restaurant and asked him if its any good and he just replied with "dont know" and "i havent tried".. This is probably too slow for most forumers here but it brings back the same excitement you feel seeing or interacting with your crush back in high school 😅 Next goal is to invite him to a drink but I would probably just stick to ordering and making small talks with him this week just to make him a little more comfortable with me.

This trip was planned in outline by Bangkok Guy and then refined by me as I encountered the reality of logistics in Thailand. All air routes pass through Bangkok, you can’t simply fly direct city-to-city, and this consumes a lot of time. It was not possible to fit Bangkok Guy’s top three destinations into ten days and we settled on two, Chang Mai and Koh Lipe, with an overnight transit stop in Hat Yai because the flight arrivals and boat departures do not match up if your starting point is Chang Mai and you have to travel via Bangkok. No Covid issues this time. Bangkok Guy is double-vaccinated, Moderna as the second shot, bright eyed and looking forward to our trip. He has been helping his sister sell durian ‘It good business’, except his sister likes durian and eats some of the stock, which amuses him. As I am with Bangkok Guy and not having daily bar-scene adventures I have experimented with the format of this report. Rather than write the report chronologically, after an initial touristic overview I have structured it by themes. As usual we visited the jazz bars. I still can’t find a calendar of who is playing where, which is frustrating. We tried the Crimson Room for the first time and found Norwood Young and his band were the act. He was excellent, great voice and quite a showman. Bangkok Guy loved it, so we returned after our travels but found a Thai singer who was good but not Norwood Young. Bamboo Bar was excellent as always. As in January Peter the resident pianist (I could listen to him all night) was backing Thai vocalists who were good but did not have quite the lungs and range of the vocalists in January. This was a disappointment to Bangkok Guy who particularly likes vocals that you could dance to if there was a dance floor. Bangkok Guy informs me that if you can’t dance to it, it “old people jazz” (which he still likes). Our first night in Chang Mai Bangkok Guy was excited to go to the Sunday night market. He loves markets. It was large and fun. In addition to the shopping there was a lot of activity at Wat Chedi Luang. We bought flowers to offer and, assisted by a monk, Bangkok Guy hauled a water container up a rope pully to tip over the ruined chedi. We returned to our hotel very late and Bangkok Guy discovered the night security guard was a guide (Bangkok Guy chats to everybody), so the next day he took us on a tour of the temples, a great restaurant in a garden by a reservoir, and shopping. The low tourist numbers were painfully obvious in the shops-geared-for-tourists to which he took us. Large complexes in which we were the only customers. Koh Lipe I highly recommend, but we will not be returning as Bangkok Guy did not like the hour long boat ride. The route is a two hour ride in a van from Hat Yai to Pak Barra on a good road, followed by an hour in a speed boat to Koh Lipe. Picture a gutted cabin cruiser with one large open space holding seating for around 30-40 people and four massive outboard motors. On the way there the sea had a slight swell which resulted in some exciting bumps even with an experienced driver, which in turn lead to a few cases of mild seasickness, one of whom was Bangkok Guy. Despite a room right next to the water with a view-to-die-for, excellent food, great snorkeling and it generally being a great place, Bangkok Guy did not forgive the seasickness. On the return trip the sea was like glass and it was wonderful. Still no forgiveness. I would return in a heartbeat and will try to bribe Bangkok Guy with the Idyllic Resort which we found just down the beach from our resort. “We can move here?” he asked hopefully. The attraction was air-conditioning versus fans. The return flight to Bangkok was an hour late due to weather. Approaching Bangkok the turbulence was uncomfortable – Bangkok Guy gripped my arm like a drowning sailor while I played at being calm and stoic. The cause of the turbulence became clear after the pilot made a U-turn into the landing approach. We had skirted a sizeable thunder storm with lightening the likes of which I have never before seen – massive, thick, bright white bolts that made me visualize pools of molten glass wherever they struck. After washing off the day’s travel at the hotel we headed out to Silom for Issan food. I got the feeling that Bangkok Guy is not often in this part of Bangkok anymore, several times he was not so sure finding his way around, and this was one of these occasions. No Issan food where he expected it. We ended up at Fork and Cork, which we liked. Since we were in the area, why not visit Jupiter? I wanted to see a show and Bangkok Guy was happy to go along as he likes the Jupiter guys more than I do. He likes buff. About ten guys in great shape. Good acts. A very thin crowd. Four or five young women front row at one end of the stage, two small mixed groups along the right-side front row, three guys on the left side and Bangkok Guy and I seated a little further back. However Bangkok Guy did not get into playing the ‘Which guy you want?’ game and his body language became stiff. When I suggested we go he almost leapt from his seat. I have not taken him to a bar since the very early days of our relationship, wanting to spare him any possible loss of face at being perceived as a ‘boy du jour’ and possible discomfort if I too-visibly found a guy attractive. Although none of the guys really appealed to me, the longer we stayed in the bar the more uncomfortable he was, particularly as I was trying to figure out if I thought #86 was attractive or not (conclusion, yes) causing my attention to be too focused. Bangkok Guy and I are firm fans of Baan Suriyasai and that did not change this trip. We tried the Blue Elephant and while I would recommend it there were many people, so not a private dining experience, and it is a fraction Euro-centric. The wait staff automatically focused on me, while in Baan Suriyasai they focus on Bangkok Guy. The limopattaya were great as usual, taking us to-and-from the airport and also around Bangkok in the evenings between restaurants and jazz bars. For the first time ever on my departure Bangkok Guy decided he would keep the hotel room and check out after breakfast the next morning. I left him happily snuggled under the duvet.

I do, I'm not flying that far to grumble or even worse , to look at every baht under the light before is spent. Every new off is both risk and opportunity but it's better to risk disappointment than be sorry we missed the boat. Flying in I had a moment when I thought those long flights are no longer for me so day may come, hopefully in 20, 30 years, when I'll say no more ( we met so you know I'm not quite spring chicken ), fortunately not yet. Yes I spent a lot on guys but as I noted before, out of 14 counts I paid over market , I was extremely happy with 10, and quite very happy with other 4. Some readers may be shocked with such a waste but 28000 (14*2000) is bit above 800 USD, how many long times with hunks I get for that in New York or London ? 1 1/2 ? Surprisingly perhaps, I see wasting or rather overspending money with room for substantial savings somewhere else as I have habit of inviting my guys for meals on both ends of off and orders some of them are placing would warrant restraining order. But somehow I like those meals, if only I can look at their faces and bodies in full light, LOL Sure it experiences that count, screw the money ! It's almost 7 years since I asked certain Tiger from Tawan to hug me strong in my Raya room 7 , I swear I still feel sometimes that massive closeness. ( no he did not break me anything you jokesters there ) and I'm sure in 7 years I'll still recall pleasure of soaping K in Tarntawan's bathtub. My mother used to instruct us '' if you don't have money to go to restaurant or for vacation, don't go until you have enough because you will feel bad looking at menu or admission price you can't afford." Not a bad advise, no? Beauty of Thailand is that it's still easily affordable country , transport and food are inexpensive and eye candy is for free everywhere and if one can discipline himself to numbers of bars is visiting , drinks gulped and guys offed , vacations there can be still both pleasant and cheap. And with bit of luck our neighbor in hotel may turn to be affordable hook up for the night as my previous night experience attests.

Whatever Xi's motives, there seems little doubt that he is facing considerable difficulties behind the scenes at the very top of the country's leadership over his actions and his policies. There is definitely drama going on although no one outside the leadership is aware of exactly what it involves. There was a fascinating interview on a recent episode of the BBC World television programme Unspun World hosted by veteran foreign correspondent John Simpson. It claimed that Xi now has to worry about a three pronged attack. The most dangerous is the public backlash against his zero-covid policy. It is not just Premier Li's comments. It's a massive volume of social media posts, mostly couched in indirect language, from all around the country. The Politburo can only govern with the Chinese people on its side. For the first time in a very long time, there is an extremely large groundswell of anti-government feeling. Second is the economy. Premier Li has been talking about dangers to the country's economy for months. Recently he organised a huge and unprecedented teleconference with 100,000 leaders around the country. It is believed this went right down to village level. Unusually he was incredibly frank by telling people that the government had very few reserves left to bail out industries. Most of these reserves had to be kept for emergencies. Once the little that remained was gone, industries were on their own. He could never have made such comments without approval from the very top of the Politburo. Third is Xi's crackdown over the last few years on the private sector added to his cosying up to Putin on the eve of the Ukraine invasion. Many at the top level of government are not at all happy about all this. The Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Russian Affairs was quietly removed from his post at the end of May. We don't know if that was an indication of the thinking higher up, but the level of rhetoric against the west re Ukraine in the state media has gradually been diminished.

From The Nation President Xi Jinping’s order to ruthlessly lockdown Shanghai, China’s financial hub, has resulted in heavy damage to the country’s economy – but also unprecedented criticism of Xi’s zero-Covid policy by his No 2, Li Keqiang. The criticism by Premier Li, who heads the State Council and is the second most powerful person in China, signals a major rift within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Speaking two weeks ago at a meeting of over 100,000 local officials, Premier Li said Xi’s zero-Covid policy was leading the country towards disaster by banning over 25 million people in Shanghai from leaving their homes for almost three months. Analysts speculate that Li’s criticism stems from a deep disagreement within the CCP. In an earlier teleconference meeting of the State Council, Li declared China’s economy is facing a bigger challenge than when Covid-19 started spreading in early 2020. He said the rate of capital outflow was unprecedented, while foreign investors who once believed in the government’s disease control measures are now fed up with lockdown policies that were crippling manufacturing. This had resulted in many multinational corporations halting operations or moving out of China entirely, he added. The criticism of China’s president is shocking and unprecedented in the history of the CCP, though it has made few headlines in the foreign press. Analysts calculate that the true aim of Xi’s zero-Covid policy is not to curb infections but to cement his power after the constitution was amended to allow him to remain as president for life instead of just two terms. They believe Xi is using this policy to show that he is putting the people first by slashing the infection rate. After all, a communist party governs by forcing people to follow the rules rather than giving them options. https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/perspective/40016547

great thread and great news. World as a whole and any country doesn't need new pharaohs clinging to power for life. Limit of 2 terms served China well. Problems with Russia started when Putin manipulated constitution to allow himself to be in charge forever. Whoever invented term limits is greater inventor of all times well ahead of guy or girl who invented wheel, toilet paper or even sliced bread.

I am hugely impressed; you seem to be enjoying each day to the full, taking risks, taking opportunities, and with rewarding experiences. In years to come when you look back on your trips, it is the those experiences you will remember, not how much you paid for them.

I've been seeing a lot of news about how vulnerable their economy really is. I don't know if things will just collapse all at once or in stages...or if they will manage keep it together. But the people had no option but to invest in real estate which is on the brink as an industry. The massive corruption throughout the system has led to lots of problems. I don't know if everyone is just whistling past the graveyard because the consequences are too painful to think about. But once reality hits it's going to be trouble for the world.

I called one boy down to sit with me. No.13. Slim average build. Cute smile. Smooth skin. No tattoos. Round rimmed gold glasses. Mamasan said I had to buy boy a drink first. I was all ready to pay off fee and take him back to hotel. I didn't want to start the night with any argument so I said yes to the boy drink. I asked boy for his name and he said a name starting with A. I couldn't catch it as he said it so fast. He said he doesn't know English. He speaks Laos, Thai and Mandarin! I was flabbergasted! I switched to Mandarin (which I don't speak often because in Singapore, people speak mostly English) and got his Chinese name consisting of 2 characters. I shall abbreviate his name to HM for this recount. I asked HM if he would LT and he said yes and we agreed on LT fee. I asked him to get changed (remember boy was in his white fake Calvin Klein briefs). He only had 2 sips of his drink. I paid mamasan, even gave him a tip and wished his refurbished bar great success. HM and I walked past Hotmale bar on our back to hotel and I said hi to Alex and Aung and another waiter. In room, I spent time admiring HM's handsome face and smooth body. It was only 10pm. Far too early for sex. I asked HM if he likes foot massage. He said yes. I lent him a pair of shorts and sandals. He was wearing sleeveless T-shirt, torn jeans, shoes and socks and of koz his white briefs inside his jeans. Besides his clothes, all he had was his Iphone. He got changed and we hopped over to Urban Vista massage - the one with glass wall at front entrance and many massage ladies and customers. Foot massage for one hour was 300 baht and I tipped the massage ladies 200 baht for each of us. "Are you hungry, HM?" I asked. Ok he said, up to you. I took him to Happy Beer Garden opposite old Soi Twilight and Raya Hotel. Over supper, we chatted non-stop and all of it was in Mandarin! I cannot remember the last time I spoke to someone in Mandarin so enthusiastically. After dinner, it was back to hotel. Shower and then dim lights as we proceeded to round 1. Bushy circumsized long cock. HM is straight and so doesn't kiss or suck or bottom but I still enjoyed our time together. After sex, I told HM to help himself to drinks and snacks and he can play his games or watch videos on his handphone while I slept. I provided him an Iphone charging cable. We arranged to wake up at 7 for round 2. At around 6, I woke up earlier than planned. I felt his cock and played with it. Something feels different. HM had shaved his pubic hair overnight! I later discovered the disposable hotel shaver in the dustbin. After sex, HM showered. I gave him 3000 baht as agreed plus 200 baht for taxi. He had told me he stays in Sukhumvit with another Lao boy who works in a different bar. Overall, I enjoyed our time overnight but unlikely to repeat, at least not for LT.

Day 5 Dum was great and earned 500 bonus in the morning. We went to Foodland for a breakfast, staff seeing me so often with different guys started smiling knowingly and that grin will not leave their faces for next 2 weeks. After that I went for a stroll to Lumpini park and from there by elevated walkway over canal to Benakiti park still under construction. At one time in future it will be proper park, now is lacking shade here and there but I liked lake in the middle and running track around it. Easy to get to by public transport as it’s close to Queen Sirikit MRT station and it’s how I returned to Raya to pack and move to Baan Silom in soi 3. Room was not ready so I left my suitcase and went again , now having proper location , to see business of former model X I met few times in Dec and have strong hope to be able to repeat feast this trip. It was quite a trip all the way to Samut Prakan, first by BTS to Samrong and then by taxi to the mall where his business is located. He saw me from the distance , warm embraces , treated me with his product, in fact let me prepare it by myself behind the counter under his watchful eye. I don’t remember who was first to suggest it but we agreed to meet in my room in the evening after shop will close as we need to discuss receipts he is using. I mentioned before one of our member is recommending certain masseur he managed to find when he was in BKK earlier and since I trust his judgement I gave it serious consideration , contacted guy in question who said will be free today but price he quoted me, 4000 for 2 hr massage in house freeze me. But member told me he is worth it with exclamation mark so what choice I had. Asked guy , Phakin is his name to come . I can see screams from economizing readers about that racket but if I trust somebody , I do. And yes , as promised it was worth it. Massage was very thorough and professional, at the same time entertaining as he turned out to be talkative with good English and with personality comparable to that of certain Z , star of my 2019 trips some of my readers may recall and great sense of humor ‘if somebody fucked me I land in hospital sure”. Not only skills are great but he is quite handsome and very, very well furnished. So after massage was over we had our share of fun or at least certainly I had. I’m glad my cheap side did not prevail because by economizing I’d be losing chance of one of most memorable massage sessions in my 22 trips. Sorry guys I raised your blood pressure for paying that much for massage but believe me , I know what it means money well spent. After he left I went to soi 4 to treat myself with another schnitzel at G’Bangkok. From there to Hot Male downstairs where paulsf was already there and reader who just arrived in Bangkok today after 2 years covid hiatus showed soon .We had lots to catch up and we did although I was kind of distracted by one of their host , diminutive Laotian who seem to like me indeed. Surely he got a drink and 200 inside of his jeans when I went back to hotel around 10 pm because X lined me that he closed shop and is on his way. Another case when I was glad to forget about economy since he charges as guy of his built and charm , whatever it means , should. Absolute gem as far as I’m concerned, talkative , easy going and outside of his few limits, very social so to speak. One of those who on the spot understand what customers likes and what makes him hot. It was past 2 am. when he left so our short time was not that short. Well heated I decided that spending rest of the night alone would be mistake I fired Grindr and found somebody in vicinity who agreed to share my bed till morning for 1500, yes, just to share by bed. It turned to be funny story which I already reported here : https://www.gayguides.com/forums/topic/37804-my-funny-apps-story-from-last-night/ And here’s just copy and paste of what I wrote then: Last night at 2 am or so after my companion left I decided that is too scary to sleep alone and I need somebody if only to warm the bed and embrace me in my sleep, in short, no particular requirement and even brother of Hunchback of Notre Dame will do. So fired Grindr and it was somebody shown at 58 meters away, still online. Actually nice, good looking and at 178 not too short so I sent a message, answer come right away agreeing to complete the night from now till whenever. I gave location and stated that I will be waiting in front of hotel. And so I went downstairs looking right and left to a completely deserted soi for somebody to show but it was still empty. In about 5 minutes somebody appeared emerging from my hotel. That was a guy actually better looking than on an app. Turned out that he is in the same hotel. So via 7/11 we returned there, in elevator it turned we are staying on the same floor and when I asked what room you are staying, it was revealed that it was one opposite of mine with our heads leaning at the same wall, just from other side. So distance of 58 meters really was more like 28 centimeters. Who would think I was so well positioned? And good news is, I wasn't asked for taxi money!!! Easy money for him as I really wanted just somebody to embrace and pleasure for me as he was better looking and gave better feel than I expected based on Grindr pics. To complete day 5 , in the morning I invited him for breakfast triggering another round of knowing smiles by stuff at Foodland

This SHYT has gotten bananas. The mem, Dominican Republic, twitter, my husband and only fans. We just got back from the DR a few Days ago. This time we decided to stay from Thursday to Sunday instead of Friday to Sunday. Doing so made a major difference in how we were able to relax and fuck without feeling like we needed to rush and squeeze and many guys in (pun intended) as we could. We also made it a point to not let all the guys know we were coming this time. Ww only told the few guys we wanted to hook up and video with. That didn't make a difference because the guys that we told apparently told their buddies that we were there because the ones we didn't tell were blowing our phone up as well. When we arrived we chilled because we knew that we had 3 more days to play. My hubby called one guy over for him. I watched them played and jerked off then I called a guy over for me and got pounded. Now my Twitter pages have gotten out of control. Completely unmanageable. It really gets overwhelming at times because I receive hundreds of messages a day. HUNDREDS OF MESSAGES! the most recent message I received is from a well known muscular daddy porn star who wants to meet up in Santo Domingo and do a video with some of my guys. I didn't know who the guy was but my husband did and then I scoped out his Twitter page. I told him that it would only be him, king dong,y husband and myself. He agreed and we are supposed to meet In November for this collaboration. As we spoke more, he wanted to know if he could bring another one of his porn buddies and when he told me who the guy was I was In total disbelief because this guy is well known in the industry and I've loved his work for years. My Twitter pages are expanding are a pace that I can't even keep up with all 3 of them. Blacksuperman2 was the first one I started then this Dominican Tranny pimp liked the page and told to clear another. I've never met her but she always sends me guys who she thinks are my type. So she suggested I create another one and I created HungDRHombres. With the popularity of both pages, I have Dominican tops and bottoms sending me emails all the time to star in the videos. They don't want pay, they just want the big dick guys in the video and have their sexy asses shown all over the world on my pages. This is what it has come to. My videos are now world wide and the messages I get from across the 🌎 is unbelievable. I don't have time to talk to all these people but my husband does and loves it. We even have sexy men from Columbia and Brazil telling us how hot the videos are. Before we left for this last trip, manny asked was it ok for him to give a guy with a big dick my number. I told him yes. When the guy hit me up I told him I wasn't interested. This guy looks 14 years old. I told him to never contact me again and told manny that the guy was underage. Manny told me no he isn't he just looks young. I still told him no. The phone rings again and it's the guy with his identification showing me that he was 19 years old. He's a 19 year old with a BIG GROWN MANS DICK. his dick is huge and he knows how to bury his bone deep. Remember I told you how unmanageable my Twitter pages have become? There were several bottoms I reached out to who wanted to come over this past weekend for some of the big dick guys I had lined up. Well I hit up the wrong to come over to the apartment. I told my husband that he looked different in person, but he would have to do because the top was there. He was a sexy bottom but not the one I remembered talking to. Anyway he did what was expected and took those massive dicks. It wasn't until I got home when I realized I had called the wrong bottom to come over. The one I wanted hit me up Sunday and asked why I hadn't called him. I explained the situation to him and he understood. The bottom who was showing up to film told me about a big dick DOMINICAN HAITIAN MIXED GUY. I couldn't belive the size of this guy's dick when he arrived to the apartment. His is actually the biggest Dominican Dick I have seen to dare. I was in total disbelief when this guy pulled his pants down and got his dick erect. It was like a baseball ball. If you follow me on Twitter, you will see what I'm talking about when I post his poc next week. Another crazy thing that happened is a fan from my BlakSuperMan2 Twitter page was selling his Twitter page with 172k followers. He said he had fallen on hard times and really needed the money. He explained that I could make money from the page by allowing ppl to retweet on that page for a price. I bought his page and did exactly as he suggested. Recording, editing and posting videos is very time consuming, but I love the finished work and get lots of compliments on the onlyfans page. Hope I didn't bore you too much. Attached is the email sent from the porn star. I can't post his name because I don't want anyone to contact this stuf and fukc this up before we do our collaboration. Stay safe guys.

Is It Safe To Douche While Traveling Internationally? If you can’t drink the tap water, you probably shouldn’t use it to flush your colon either. We’ve all heard the advice when traveling in some countries to never drink the tap water. One traveler recently revealed he learned the long and very hard way that warning also applies to the use of tap water for douching. Recently, a tweet from @shaktischild gained attention on social media as the user recalled the horrific aftermath of a past douching experience while visiting Cancun, Mexico. “Douched in Cancun… I bled for days,” @shaktishcild wrote. “I had to wait until I landed back in NYC to go to the hospital and they pulled a tapeworm out of me. Horrific experience.” Over the years, it’s become pretty common advice for travelers to avoid drinking tap water during international trips. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises: “When traveling abroad, know where your water comes from. Contaminated water can look clean but still have harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Factory-sealed bottled water is the safest option for most travelers. (…) Always look for unopened, factory-sealed bottled water or other drinks.” According to the CDC, common diseases that could be caused by contaminated water include campylobacteriosis, cholera, giardiasis, leptospirosis, norovirus, schistosomiasis, shigellosis, and typhoid. Indeed, when traveling internationally, much is said about not drinking tap water. Sometimes, travelers are also advised to avoid brushing their teeth with water from the tap. However, it is understandable how one must’ve missed the memo on not using tap water for douching before bottoming. Between sightseeing, attending events, and/or visiting friends and relatives, a traveler sometimes stumbles upon the opportunity to have sex during a foreign trip. For bottoms, that typically involves a certain level of preparation and precaution that might be different from what they experience back home. Dr. Evan Goldstein, the CEO of Bespoke Surgical – which focuses on the sexual health of gay men – spoke to Out Traveler about the risks of douching with tap water during an international trip. “The main takeaway from all of this is that douching with tap water – regardless of where the source is – should be avoided,” Dr. Goldstein explained. “Tap water is what is called a hypotonic solution and when it comes into contact with the internal lining of our rectum, the cells, in turn, get quite irritated. That irritation sheds the protective lining, creating undue mucus and inflammation and can be the nidus for many types of infections and injuries. You’re basically stripping that lining and then, when you use contaminated water, you are most likely going to worsen the situation. And that’s not good for you or your partner(s).” When asked what are the best solutions and/or alternatives for douching while on an international trip, Dr. Goldstein replied: “I recommend people stick with isotonic solutions and avoid plain water of any kind – tap, bottled, or otherwise – as well as store-bought enemas. But the actual thinking in our community needs to change and focus on butt-to-gut health. What I mean by this is: how do we use fiber, as well as pre- and probiotics, and diet and exercise, to truly limit how much we actually have to douche (if even at all). There is still so much stigma within our community, with immense pressure that we put on one another about being ‘ready’ for anal sex, not to mention the amount of misinformation surrounding the best and proper ways to douche.” The doctor concluded: “The anal cavity, which is where anal sex takes place, is a conduit for stool. This means that feces pass through this area when you feel the need ‘to go’ and is otherwise in the clear. You can prove this to yourself by lubing up your favorite toy, preferably one that mimics your partner’s size, inserting it, taking it out, and then examining if it’s clean or not. You will surely be surprised and realize quickly that most times, you’ll be ready to bottom without the need to douche. In other words, most of us have been overdouching for years. And this brings us full circle when it comes to potential pathogens from an activity (douching) that could have been avoided or minimized in the first place.” The “bottom” line here is: do not, ever, use tap water when douching in a foreign country. I believe this was discussed on this forum with very good advice from Slvkguy.

I have ascertained that Montreal’s Monkeypox vaccination clinic in The (Gay) Village has a broad, welcoming ‘open door’ policy. Anyone generally meeting the exposure risk criteria qualifies for the Imvamune (aka Jynneos, Imnavex) dose. You do not need to necessarily strictly check one or more of the eligibility boxes. You can simply indicate belonging to the/a higher risk group. You do not need to be a Quebec resident or Canadian. **Foreign nationals are eligible.** I used my Quebec provincial health insurance card but it was for identification, not eligibility or cost coverage. Here are the steps as well as some attached images and a link to the just released Canadian guidance. I had thought of skipping the 28-day boost dose they had instructed me to pursue when I received the prime dose last week, because I had childhood Vaccinia inoculation, but the current recommendation turns out to be the single dose anyway. Good news for those going out of their way to come here. BUT I just thoroughly read the national guidelines and the fly in the ointment is that Quebec’s procedure is actually a departure. So I did not ask at the site today if they had formally lifted the 2nd dose! I assumed they had. The whole plan does not knit together completely yet. I myself will not get the 2nd dose even if offered. I may try to ascertain the actual Quebec province guidance at a later date. If you are particularly observant in reading the national guidance you will notice that the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP for MPOXX) category is indicated for immunocompromised and other select sub-populations. You may wonder if this poses a contradiction. However, Quebec is taking a more liberal approach and basing eligibility on behavioural susceptibility viz MSM settings. I myself am not immunocompromised. —->> Welcome guard on the sidewalk, ascertaining you are there for the Monkeypox vaccination. Through entrance door to hand sanitation and a site-issue surgical mask, even if you have your own face covering. No COVID vaccination proof requested. A few steps to a site nurse to briefly go over your understanding of the disease and vaccination, more to address concerns and questions than anything else. You may be asked about risk grouping but nothing particularly intrusive. They also want to ensure you currently have no symptoms of having recently acquiring MPOXX infection as the vaccine is contraindicated depending on specific exposure incubation timelines. Ushered into an elevator to the open-concept dispensing area. Directed to a registration desk requiring ID (ideally passport if without Quebec REGIE health card). The full name of your father and your mother (maiden, I presume) is added to your name and birthdate in the registration system. This is to triangulate ID for safety/tracking purposes in case a popular name (eg, John Smith) and dob is duplicated due to volume. This is also the standard for COVID vaccination in Quebec. Your address and phone contact is also entered. Perhaps your Montreal lodgings suffices as phone contact is likely more paramount. Your ID sticker is fixed to a requisition as is common for any lab procedure. You are directed to another gatekeeper to confirm your identity is correctly delineated on the requisition. Then directed to the health professional administering the subcutaneous jab. I was miffed that she did not let the alcohol swabbing dry before the jab, as it can compromise the integrity of the active pharmaceutical ingredients, but perhaps this is more relevant for the earlier generation smallpox scarification procedure where the dozens of miniscule punctures would be picking up alcohol traces on the way into your dermis. Anyway, I forgot to stall in the unlikely event of an impatient more irascible type of person administering the dose. She had several minutes between each victim so no need to rush. That same person gives you a paper slip record, or enters the info in your immunization booklet if you have one, or both versions on request. Nothing digital. Finally the usual 15-minute sitting in a chair in the unlikely event of immediate reactogenicity. ~~~~~~~ The immunity sufficiency buildup is a few weeks. If you are in earnest about prophylaxis, a visit to the strip clubs likely defeats the purpose. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/national-advisory-committee-on-immunization-naci/guidance-imvamune-monkeypox.html

Seriously, use sealed bottled water, ffs. Hell--half the Grindr guys that come to my place in LA do! Buying a 24 pack near your hotel is a good idea as soon as you get there anyway.

Thanks...you made my day! You go along thinking the outcome is a foregone conclusion but maybe not?

what a tribute. In the above 2nd photo - there is a shot of our beloved Vinapu. Amazing, that he is everywhere gracing us with his love and satangs :>))

That garland is just symbolic. It's worth 1000B only and the receiver, I heard, gets to keep 750B out of it. I noticed, like if Day 1, models A and B got the garland, then Day 2, models C and D got it, and so forth. Sometimes, models A got 2 garlands on Day 1, or he got another garland on Day 2. So my guess is that: the first one on Day 1 was staged by the bar. Any extra one on the same day or those on other days were actually from customers.

Tonight I will try Banana Bar. What a surprise to see it renovated. It used to be on the second floor but now it is on the first floor. L shaped layout of seats. Stage had a shower box in the corner so that means there is a shower show. About 5 customers seated and watching the boys in white briefs on stage on rotation. Red tags with number on their briefs. How I miss seeing this! Only 5 boys on stage at a time but full rotation was very fast. 8 boys in total, I estimate. Mamasan spoke to me. "I remember you. From Singapore, right?" I asked my usual question. Mamasan replied, "Short time 2000 baht. Long time 3000 baht." I knew I would not be sleeping alone tonight!

LOL! What is wrong about it? I love the huevones. I am trying to recall one, but it looks like I do not dislike any accents. I am trying to think of one I do not like, and the only accents that come to my mind are my favorite ones. Like the Dominican and all the different Caribbean accents, that give me boners. Or the accent of Córdoba (Argentina), that is almost musical. And I can keep going. I like them all.

I'm actually loving this thread. Wish you luck with the food vendor, Chum. I feel this so much haha.

On my trips to Thailand, I typically go for around 10 days, but spend only 2 or 3 days in Pattaya - the rest in BKK. I've always enjoyed the side excursions to Pattaya. But when my trips to Thailand resume, I'm thinking of no longer going to Pattaya. It just doesn't seem worth travelling down there, just to visit slightly different bars, when the bars and guys in BKK are so good. Secondly, as mentioned on posts above, I find there is not much to do in Pattaya during the day and the selection of restaurants and hotels there are not as good. (In BKK, I can't fit in the amount of different restaurants I want to try - but in Pattaya, I can barely find any). My sense from reading these forums is that there was a craziness in the Pattaya scene many years ago - which was worth coming to see. But unfortunately that seems to have faded, and now the scene seems like just a smaller version of BKK.

Yes, but you forgot to mention the Chilean accent....

The future is impenetrable, said the Buddha.

yes I could but I still consider this waste of precious resource so no, bottled water is to make tea of coffee, I don't drink water and no , I'm not afraid to douche , shower and brush the teeth in the tap water . Danger exists but if we sanitize ourselves too much it may lead to even greater danger of being too clean , one gets and builds immunity by meeting nasty things half way , not by avoiding them entirely

It’s also tempting to soap up one’s anus, even without douching, and if there’s a handheld shower nozzle let the local water really get in there. I try to avoid that temptation when travelling, instead buying large cheaper bottled water and transferring it to manageable bottles, using a funnel, for ample rinsing when needed. Sometimes the self-cleaning oven feature is an adequate substitute for brillo pad scouring. I also use Cetaphil skin cleanser for that area. I don’t douche unless I fail the small dildo equivalent insert-and-detect because douching often stimulates my sigmoid colon and a messy bowel movement ensues that often otherwise would have been delayed until well after anal intercourse. This usually involves, paradoxically, douching repeatedly in one sitting to clean up the mess that the douche precipitated. Then there may be wet leakage for hours later due to overhydrating the rectum and the colon area leading up to the rectal stage. One issue is, of course, analingus readiness. Being the recipient of analingus is generally off the table but isn’t a big deal for me. I experientially know what I’m missing, meh, and all partners are trade whose own arousal FWIW in a transactional context is not predicated on sampling that tart.

There are surely arguments both for and against term limits, especially short term limits. One of the problems the USA will have to face, in my very narrow view, is that the entire election cycle is far too short termist. Why 2 years for Congressmen and women against 6 years for senators? And why just 4 years for a President, yet lifetime tenure for the Supreme Court? And why a Supreme Court that is so overtly political? In the short term when there are only two political parties and power switches between the two, it's much more difficult to have longer term policies since all politicians want to be re-elected, all have to raise vast amounts of cash and parties want their own policies enacted. One reason (of several) why China was able to make such massive progress between around 1980 and 2010 when well over 400 million were dragged out of poverty was the lack of short-termism. Without elections the leadership could take Deng Xiao-ping's goals and had the time to put them into effect. Isn't that rather similar to Roosevelt being able to lead America through the Great Depression and then take a very isolationist Congress into two major wars and put the USA on the path to world leadership? Being neither American or Chinese, I make these merely as observations. The same is more or less true with other democratic countries. Against that, of course, you have the problem of dictatorships and quasi dictatorships. Hugely admired Singapore is in fact a quasi dictatorship. Few will argue that Lee Kwan Yew was not a dictator, but he had a vision. Without him and that vision, I suggest it is unlikely that Singapore would be where it is today. As I think I have written before here, Japan is also at best a quasi dictatorship. It is certainly not a functioning democracy in the western sense. Then again, neither of those countries is anything like China or Russia. Getting back to the topic, I cannot see China imploding. There will be changes, but few will know what they are. The Party leadership may be split between hardliners, moderates and progressives, but it will ensure that it remains in power by giving its population more of what it wants. I think those who are fervently against communism forget that within China itself there is still an immense pride in the country and its achievements since the end of the Cultural Revolution. The vast majority of Chinese are very proud to be Chinese and live in China. Yes, I know. Tell that to the peoples in Tibet and Xinjiang and I agree what has been happening there is a disgrace. Same with Hong Kong where Beijing has broken agreements enshrined in international law. But the vast majority of the Chinese know from their own experience and from what their parents and grandparents tell them of what China was like during the Cultural Revolution, in Mao's other disastrous campaigns and in the period of the warlords after the collapse of the Emperor system. They want stability. So I cannot see swings towards democracy or movements to change the way the country is run for many decades.

They probably think "Thank goodness he is supporting our economy"

Unintended but very appropriate!

Yes me too. I spend on meals and enjoy looking at my guys' faces as they eat.

Ha! No, I just worked in Japan for a few years and love the country. Those interested in Japanese host bars might like to see the website illustrations I included in a recent post I made in the Gay Asia forum.

I stayed at Mosaik about 3 months ago; very inexpensive. Believe I paid 8000 Baht/month which included electric and WiFi.

that you are serial boy loving adulterer

Now that @Min explained and that I looked more closely at the color of the banknotes it is obvious. They are definitely 100 bahts, so the total of each garland is only 1000.

perhaps because Philippines have such vast diaspora

Do not call them Columbians or call their country Columbia. They are very sensitive about that.

Yes. Hotmale had two beer bars. One on top which is outside its Hotmale gogo bar. The Hotmale beer bar that is mentioned is the ond downstairs before the stairs. It is facing Dreamboys directly so it gives a good view of the Dreamboys guys when they come out after their rotation on stage. Waiters speak very good English and are nice to chat with.

I'm still researching my hotel stay and come across what looks like a gay guest house called Ben & Lek ,however a bit too far walk for me in soi 7 however great rates at average 500b per night. I wish Baan Souy would drop their average 2500b night rates , I used to love Baan Souy but won't pay that silly amount , but fantastic place to chill out

As a native speaker, I find super interesting your views on Spanish. I do, this is not a bitchy comment. It surprises me that you all seem to think that Colombian Spanish has less slang, or is better spoken than in other places. I doubt it, but who knows? In my short visit to Medellin, and I am aware it is just one city and one week, I did not have such an impression. There is so much slang that I continuously had to be asking for meanings, just as happens to me in many places of many Spanish speaking countries, included Argentina. I am wondering whether in Colombia you have been interacting with mostly educated natives. In good schools across Hispanic America, we learn a standard version of the language. The educated classes of our countries tend to speak this version. Perhaps when you were in other countries you were less exposed to standard Spanish? I guess. it is not different that English speaking countries. About what the best place to learn Spanish, I doubt that the dialectal version spoken in a particular area may be relevant at all. What is relevant is whether or not the language schools are good. Mexico and Colombia have excellent schools and are closer to the States and Europe. Indeed, they are a very good choice to get immersed in Spanish. However, there are also excellent schools in Spain, Chile, Argentina, Perú, and Uruguay. Particularly in Buenos Aires, I recommend the Laboratorio de Idiomas de la Universidad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Netherlands’ BNO News has ceased tracking in non-endemic nations. Our World in Data is tracking it. New case incidence has been levelling out for now.

I actually like Brazil best when I am not completely on vacation. Perhaps the next time that we are in the same city at the same time, I could buy you several beers and you could let me pick your brain about how you made the years you spent living in Brazil work.

that's disadvantage of cheap hotels, we love to stay in them but eventually there's not enough money for proper upkeep

To quote Wikipedia: "Luk khrueng (Thai: ลูกครึ่ง, literally "half-child") is a colloquial Thai term referring to a person whose parents are of different nationalities". In the specific example above, I thought the guy in question looked like he had a European father and a Thai mother, or vice versa.

Hot Male has two bars. Upstairs right outside where the stage is. Downstairs to the left of the stairs as you go up. Directly opposite Dreamboys. Ask any of the doormen at the bottom of the stairs, they will point you in right direction.

Thanks for the reply. This is really an eye-opening experience for me 😄! I thought that Morocco was basically a no-go zone for this kind of fun. After hearing you, I'm more inclined to confirm my travel plans there for winter 2022. I've always loved the culture and history (from what I know, the history and architecture is quite similar to Andalusian Spain), but was hesitant to travel because of how bad I thought it was. Reading your reply and other posts on this forum has made me a bit more confident to actually make the trip this year, and hopefully combine tourism with a bit of fun! @floridarobIf you don't mind my asking, approx. how many years ago was the last time you visited Morocco? Do you have any plans to travel there anytime soon? I saw you mentioned Tunisia as well. Lol, this is again a surprise for me. While I knew they were more liberal than the GCC countries as Tunisia's government has been taking many steps to be secular since the Arab Spring, I hardly know of people travelling there for tourism, and haven't really heard anyone talk about the availability of guys there. Do you have any definite plans to travel there soon? I'm still in my twenties and have just about started my professional life, so my travel repertoire is still quite limited 😅. I've travelled to Western Europe, the US and Thailand, but am looking forward to exploring most of the globe!

O like to find a dance club that allows nudity.

sometimes even in great detail but only between themselves. When comes o to other customers they are surprisingly discreet. I offed few guys recommended by other members or who saw me with other members and never ever they commented on other party other than neutral "your friend ABC is nice guy" , " I did not seem your friend for a while " etc I recall only one exception from few years ago ( member no longer ) " you like kiss and cuddle , your friend likes fuck right away" but even that will not even point who fucks whom. When talk about our tips to their friends , not always they are sincere. I had cases when they either understated or overstated for some reason tips received. But often when I ask a boy what he expects answer is "the same you gave XYZ" so you better have an explanation is planning on differentiating compensation in the same bar. Butterflying has own advantages

The younger guy/older samurai was certainly a large part of Japanese culture for centuries. It was actually introduced to Japan by a bonze from China around 800 years ago. It was rarely a long term relationship. Once the youth had passed into adulthood, he would be expected to marry and start a family. Eventually the practice came to be frowned upon by the later shogun rulers. Gay boys then tended to become prostitutes and actors but continued in great demand. If there was a golden age for homosexuality in Japan it was between 1650 and 1750. Everything changed during the Meiji Restoration. The Americans were largely responsible. The mass of Christian missionaries that followed in the wake of the warships were one reason. But equally the rulers of the country had come to believe that male/male relationships were 'unnatural'. The collapse of the country's feudal structure no doubt also played a part. You have to remember that much of Japan was destroyed during World War 2. The country was also flooded with vast numbers of GIs, both then and again during the Korean War. Not a few of these were either gay or happy to spend time with a smooth young gay Japanese for a few dollars. Most Japanese, though, had to work extremely hard to drag the country back on to its feet. By the early 1970s this was becoming much more successful than most had hoped. Foreigners started working in Japan as overseas companies moved in. Some certainly were gay, as were some younger Japanese. Whereas the word gay took decades to enter the lingua franca of most countries, the Japanese word 'gei' found almost immediate acceptance. Soon gay bars were to spring up. By the late 1950s, there were more than 20 gay bars in Tokyo - more than in most western cities at the time. Soon the Japanese media were writing about a boom in gay establishments. The real gay boom started in the 1980s and early 1990s. If you were a gay young Japanese, you finally had a chance of exploring your sexuality. Most Japanese lived in what we would term tiny homes, many without bathing facilities. So there were community bathing centres. If you lived in one district, the chances were you or your family were known to most in that district. Being openly gay was still frowned upon. On the other hand, if you spent an evening a week in a gay bar quite far removed from your home, you would have the chance of meeting up with a foreigner. With luck, you might develop a relationship with him. With even greater luck you would move in with him. By Japanese standards, foreigners had vastly bigger apartments and had perks like entertaining and travel allowances. Many younger Japanese learned about the world as a result. Some relationships lasted. I know one American/Japanese gay couple who met in a bar in 1985 and have been together ever since. Others faded. The tradition of older/younger still continued, however. Even in the 1980s, there was an unwritten understanding that if a young Japanese had a relationship with an oder foreigner, not only would he enjoy a much better quality of life, before the relationship soured, the foreigner would have enabled the Japanese to start a small business. So foreign boyfriends were greatly sought after. Everything began to change again towards the end of the century. Many Japanese had become a great deal richer. This was in part a result of the Reagan administration forcing up the value of the Yen - in 1980, US$1 bought ¥260; by 1999, it was a little over Y100 - finding a foreigner was no longer essential. Japanese had begun to find their fellow Japanese just as attractive, physically as well as financially. That's not to say cross cultural relationships do not continue. They do. But if you do not live in Japan, it has become much more difficult.