numazu

Day 4.5: Jupiter Ascending Much has been said about Jupiter 2002, the bar that boasts fair-skinned guys with matinee idol looks, famous for being aloof and, from popular opinion on this website, notorious non-performers in bed. Its reputation is almost as mythical as that other specialty bar – Tawan, with its muscular big men. The two bars seem to have as many strong supporters as there are detractors, which means that what both are doing is working. There won’t be any bar on earth that will garner universal praise from everyone, so it’s better for a bar to have its loyal and obsessed customer base, than for a bar to just exist and be a second or third option for anyone. Because of their notoreity it’s almost impossible to live up to this mythical reputation that these two bars have garnered throughout the years. I’ve received a lot of private messages about Tawan and Jupiter, and most I get either are asking for advice on how to tackle these two bars, or its stories about how successful they have been in these bars, having fun with the boys. The notoriety of these two bars is still alive and well. I know my way around Tawan, but not Jupiter. I am eager to solve this bar once and for all. I feel that Jupiter, as its most base, is the perfect bar for the first timer or once-in-a-while visitor of the Bangkok boy scene. The seating is plentiful, both at ground level and the balcony level up above. The lighting and acoustics are great. The boy numbers are professional and sexy. And the lady boy numbers are more than an after-thought or filler, as they are more polished and practiced than the other bars. But of course for the seasoned sex tourist or expat, Jupiter’s boys are a huge disappointment. And the disappointment starts at the very beginning of the experience. If the general Rule #1 of Offing Boys is too only off the boy that shows interest and smiles at you, this rule falls apart in Jupiter. By decree from the owners this bar forbids the boys to even acknowledge the presence of the audience, let alone to smile at anyone. They are just supposed to stand there, to be admired. This in itself is a huge turn-off to most punters. Then there is the reputation of non-performing boys: boys who just lay there, boys who don’t kiss, boys who don’t smile etc. Of course the boys aren’t slaves, they are not sex robots that just exist as a “wet mouth or a warm hole,” paraphrasing vinapu. But as a paying customer, it is not out of the question to want a basic level of service. Maybe this bar is not for most of the punters out there, and those customers are better served by the more outwardly charming and beguiling twinks in Xboys and Fresh Boys. It is a great thing to be spoiled with such choices in Bangkok. Somehow though, this bar has survived all this time. It has found a formula that works for it and makes most business sense for it to thrive. There is a market out there for boys who only exist to be admired. This is counter to what I look for, of course. I like a boy who is not only gorgeous and sexy, but who can make me feel things other than to be horny, and would be willing to open up a little bit about their lives. Jupiter may not be the bar to look for this. But tonight, I already have my boy who can deliver all of this with ShanBoy. So I am willing to throw away my 3000 baht or so to find a boy in the bar who might not necessarily check all the boxes in my list of things I require of a companion for short time, but may have me intrigued enough to at least give him a spin. I am willing to waste my hard-earned corporate-derived money to do this little experiment. So lets get the most aloof boy I can find and see how much he will disappoint me tonight. So amongst the boys onstage, I see him immediately. I’ve seen him here before, young, handsome, muscular, with milky white skin. His body was to die for. Everything I would want on the surface seemed to be there. He was not smiling or frowning, just has a neutral face. He stood there, a cut above the rest, at least for me. He was at the end of the boy rotation so I only had a few seconds to inspect him before he disappeared into the curtain. I call on a captain to ask about him. I didn’t quite get what boy number he was so I described the guy to the captain. He wasn’t sure who the guy was from my description (or didn’t understand me), so he said to wait for the guy again to appear. Soon after that the show starts, so no chance to see my guy again till the boy show numbers onstage. I have seen him in the boy show numbers last September, the first time I’ve seen him. I was drawn to him then. I am still now. I have described the numbers in Jupiter before, so no need to write about them again, so I am just quoting my previous reports descriptions. I was given a short video clip through private message by a forum member, so I am showing some screenshots here. I do not condone recording video at the gogo bars for many reasons, of course, not the least of which that you might incur the wrath of the staff. So the first number “Boys Boys Boys”: Lady boy number: Hotel California number: Other boy numbers: At the middle of the show, the boys had a chance to go back onstage to advertise their wares. I see my guy right away, so I quickly tell the captain to have him sit with me. The captain says sure, but there are no empty stools next to me. He suggests I go up to the balcony where it was almost empty so I had a chance to sit with my boy. I go up the stairs, taking my drink with me, and I sit on one of the couches that was at the front row. I can still see the stage below, but obviously these were not prime seating. After 5 minutes I see my pick come up at the stairs looking for me. Lets call him MuscleBoy. He was shirtless, and very very sexy. Just from the visuals alone I felt that I made the right choice. He sits down, with some distance between us, and shakes my hand. He introduces himself, and I tell him my name. He asks me where I am from. I tell him and I expect the usual shocked “You are American?” response. Right on queue, he had that response, but it was followed by the biggest smile you would ever see. His smile was adorable. I am a big sucker for smiles. There was a captain nearby so I asked him to give MuscleBoy a drink. He gets his drink right away and we talk for a while. Just small talk, basic stuff. He asks a lot of questions, keeping the conversation alive. He then says he has a number up next but he will be back to sit with me after it. I sip some of my drink as I watch his number. Of course it was the one about muscles (I Want Muscle!). His gyrations and motions have cemented the deal for me. I knew I have found my off for right now, but I still want to flirt more with him in the bar so that he can get comfortable with me. He comes back, this time in more modest, but still revealing, short shorts, a contrast from the briefs he wore in his number. I inspect his perfectly muscular body. I ask him his age. He said he was 22. He looks it too. He drinks his drink, we talk some more. I sits closer to me, inch by inch, as we talk some more. The show was still going on downstairs, but he can tune out the show as he has probably seen it hundreds of times. I was able to tune it out because of the focus I found just trying to get to know him more. His English was good enough for conversation. And he liked to talk, so this is great for me. And the smile I get from him whenever I try to attempt a lame joke about the numbers or the lady boys or the bar, was pretty awesome. I knew he was all top, but I wanted to ask just to make sure. He says yes. I didn’t ask about his tip, like ShanBoy. I told him finally that I would off him, and to get ready to leave the bar. He leaves and talks to the captain a bit to tell him about the off. I get a bill, and it was 350 baht for the boy drink and 500 baht for the off fee. Add the 350 baht for my cover and it was 1200 baht for an hour of entertainment and flirting with MuscleBoy. In terms of California drink prices, it is the price of 3 or 4 drinks, and I didn’t get to watch a sexy boy show and I probably did not flirt with a perfect boy wearing only revealing short shorts. Perspective. MuscleBoy comes back in a nice button down shirt with the front open, and he was wearing a skin-tight white shirt underneath. Very sexy and masculine. He puts a hand on my hip for balance as he sits down next to me, hips now touching, arm around my shoulder, sipping his drink. I tell him we will be leaving when he finishes his drink. He downs his drink in one motion and tells me that we can go. He really wanted to get out of there. He asks where my hotel was. I tell him it was a condo in Soi 3. We talk while we walk to the condo. I ask him if he wanted to eat but he said he was fine. He asks some questions about me, about America, my job, why I go to Thailand. This fills up the time till we get to the condo. We get to the elevator and then to the unit. He tells me that the unit looks nice. He asked if it was mine. I tell him it wasn’t and wished it were. We sit on the couch. He sits with a little bit of distance between us again. It was my turn to ask questions. I ask him how long he has been in Jupiter (less than a year), if he was gay or straight (straight as an arrow), if he goes to school (stopped but want to continue), and few more things about him that are personal and interesting. It doesn’t take much for me to make him smile. I love seeing that smile. For someone instructed not to smile onstage, he sure likes doing it off the stage. I hold his hand. He sits up close to me and we talk some more. He lifts his right leg and drapes it on my lap. I could start preparing for sex with him, but this, admittedly, was nicer. What happens next?

Day 4.25: No rest for the wicked, if the wicked are on the prowl So, having given up on getting a massage today, in favor of getting a new boy in the evening, before wrapping up the night with ShanBoy, I do chores instead. This was a rare few hour stretch where I am truly by myself this trip, so I use it wisely. I fold the rest of my laundry, and ready my luggage for my flight back to Myanmar tomorrow. I tidy up the apartment a bit. I don’t have to shop for anything because I will be back here in Bangkok in a few days anyway. I check out the facilities of the condo, like the gym and pool, but did not use either. Because of that amazing gift card deal I got from AirBNB, I won’t stay in hotels in Bangkok this trip. I needed two nights for this Gentleman's Intermission, and then after Myanmar, I need two nights somewhere that was close to the White Party venue, and then 6 nights back at Silom that is walkable to the bars. Before, I would stay exclusively at the Crowne Plaza, usually with points. Now that I am using my points on other trips (yes I go to places other than Thailand), I will be needing to either pay for the Crowne Plaza, or go somewhere cheaper. Right now the AirBNB choices are hard to pass up. I’ve been pretty open with my AirBNB choices in my previous trips. My criteria for this trip: it has to be $50 or cheaper a night, the units have to have washer/dryer units because I was not bringing a lot of clothes with me, have internet, queen-size bed or bigger, and has to be walkable to the bars or to the White Party. Other amenities, like a pool, gym etc are optional. All my AirBNB stays have been great these past few trips, so I am eager to discover more properties. I fall down on the planning this trip though. Because of a busy September and October, I was not able to concentrate on planning till late November. This meant that the AirBNB choices were fewer for me this time. It is of course high season, so that contributed to the popularity of the units with great reviews. At around December some of the units that were unavailable before became available again, probably due to cancellations, so I snapped those up right away. So after checking out the facilities of my condo building, I decide to take a disco nap. It was 4 PM and that will allow me to take a nap for a couple of hours. I was about to lay down when I get a Line from ShanBoy. He was just saying hi and he said he just finished doing laundry. He sent me this photo, showing his achievement: I tell him that I will take a nap for a little bit and I will see him at 7PM. I set my alarm at 6PM and doze off. I wake up to the alarm. I check my messages and see some Line messages from BurBoy, just saying hi, and also some photos from his walking around in Mandalay. He said he has arranged a taxi to take him to Mandalay airport tomorrow to pick me up, and then it will take us on the 3.5 hour drive to Bagan. I reply and tell him I just woke up from a nap. He gives me a “5555” but does not ask much as to what I was doing. Maybe he suspects I was up to no good. I message ShanBoy telling him I am up and about. He tells me he is taking a shower and will make his way to the condo. I take a shower and then heat up some water to make myself coffee using one of those 3-in-1 packets that are all the rage in Asia. You never really see these instant mixes in America. I know I am in Asia when I enjoy instant coffee. Its something I hate when I am back home. Pretty soon it was 7 PM and surprisingly ShanBoy is on time and Lines me that he was at the lobby waiting for me. I see him sitting on one of the lobby couches. He stands up as soon as he sees me. He looks nice tonight in a grey button-down and super slim jeans. We go back to the unit and sit down. I immediately partake of the boy by kissing him deeply. After a few minutes of this I open the buttons of his shirt. The sight of his bare torso inspired me to take this photo: You can’t see the face, but his expression was very seductive and inviting. This kid photographs very well. I take some more before continuing my ShanBoy appreciation. Time flies when you are having fun. Pretty soon it was 8:30 PM and we weren’t even having sex, just kissing, touching, cuddling with clothes on, and talking in google translate (which gets kind of frustrating after a while). There were other boys to get tonight, so I had to pull away from ShanBoy and continue on with my night. I could just spend the whole night with ShanBoy, and guaranteed it will be a great night, but I did not want to get into another “boyfriend” situation, as I am wont to do. Butterfly needs to flap its wings tonight. I suggested we go get something to eat. I ask him where he wanted to go to eat but of course I get an “Up to you.” I figured a Silom Complex basement dinner would be good right now. We head over onto Silom and the streets were very busy with tourists and locals enjoying the slightly cool night. This is the Silom I have known and come to expect. Lots of street vendors selling yummy things, but right I am thinking that a sit-down dinner would be a good thing. We get to the mall and it was busy on this Tuesday night. Lots of gay Asians in the premises, possibly in town early for the White Party, or at least in town to have a good time. I suspect that pretty soon the hotel gyms and salons will be packed with the boys trying to prepare themselves for the intense three nights that the parties at the White Party offers. I am skipping the first night of the party so that I can stay in Myanmar longer. One has to prioritize at least between partying and seeing temples. We go to the basement level and see that most of the restaurants are full. High season is in full gear. I see that the Ros Niyom Restaurant had a few vacant tables so we duck into the restaurant and got sat down immediately. We look at the menu, and settle on some pork cutlets, spicy noodles and a chicken rice plate. I didn’t remember to take a photo of the food till we were done, but here it is: We did enjoy the food, though we were not able to talk much due to the language barrier and the awkwardness of using google translate in a crowded restaurant. It was almost 10 PM when we headed back to the condo. Because of the time I ask ShanBoy if he could just wait for me at his bar. I told him that I expected to be done by 12:30 AM but to wait for my message. He hugs me and then I escort him to the lobby. I could have just followed him as he walked to his bar but I did not want him to follow me once I broke away to go check out the other gogo bars to get my short-time boy. Because of BurBoy being my companion after Myanmar, I thought tonight was going to be the last chance I will be able to off a new boy at a gogo bar this trip (it really wasn’t my last chance thank goodness, see future posts). So I had to make this count. I consider my options. I already have my guaranteed great sex with ShanBoy tucking me in later tonight, so my choice should be more to satisfy my curiosity than to find the perfect off. And Jupiter was at the top of my list in terms of curiosity. I’ve had some success in Tawan. Been there, done that in Dream Boy. I can’t go back to X-Size, obviously. Fresh Boy, Hot Male and Xboys seem to be possibilities, but those bars really don’t top the curiosity charts like Jupiter does, to me. There is a lot of teeth gnashing here in the boards about Jupiter. Tales of non-performing boys, with an aloof attitude, and outrageous prices have discouraged me from adding to the 1 other off I had at Jupiter. This was what I said last trip report: So I brush my teeth and freshen up myself and the couch for the new boy. I head over Silom, cut through Soi Thaniya (Soi Patpong was teeming with tourists), and then head over to Surawong and making a left, and then ducking into Thaniya Soi 2 where Jupiter is. I got to Jupiter at 10:20 PM and there were staff at the entrance collecting the entrance fees and distributing the limited 5 drinks they had on offer. I chose a Heineken and they give it to me right there before entering. I take my drink and enter the bar. At this hour it looks like all the good seats were taken. One of the captains guides me to a stool in the far left close to the bathrooms, but I wanted a good view of the boys so I overruled him and looked for a vacant stool closer to the front. I find an unclaimed one beside this gorgeous Chinese guy who looked like he belonged on the stage instead of just being an audience member. I gladly claim the stool for myself and the captain leaves me alone. The show has not started yet, and the boys were onstage, advertising their wares. I take one look at the boys and immediately knew whom I wanted tonight. Who is it? Next post…

Well I did say when I can spend time with the boy, so I meant the price of his own drink, which would be in the 200-400 baht range. I did not take into account the cost of my own drink, which yes would be the same, or at least 350 baht. Of course you have to pay for your own drink when you enter a gogo bar, which is really a cover charge. You can't really compare staying in your hotel online shopping for boys, and heading to bars and seeing boys in the flesh, and seeing a show that lasts 30 minutes to an hour. That is why I don't have a problem paying that 400 baht cover charge, because I am not only paying for the drink, but also the chance to see boys in the flesh, and a show. Yes the cost adds up, and yes its probably not a value proposition for some to pay 400 for cover charge, 400 for the boy's drink, 400 for off fee, and then 2000 for the boy, for a total of 3200 baht, at least. But for some who crave the whole social experience: going to a bar, seeing boys in the flesh, interacting with boys and the mamasan, making decisions between beers, and walking home with butterflies in your tummy hoping that everything works out, there really nothing else like Thailand. Hiring prostitutes isn't really an economic thing to do to begin with. I am reminded that some punters out there do bristle at the thought of 400 baht drinks. I hear them saying But at 7-11 a beer is only 60 baht! Well last time I checked there are no boys prancing in their underwear in 7-11's, at least not the ones I know of. Yes sometimes I think it is expensive as well, especially if there is no show, or the show is no good, but it is the cost of doing business. I have no idea how some struggling bars stay afloat. Yes, I am only a 7-14 day visitor. If I lived there, my mode would probably be towards getting free boys. Then again I would probably just have a BF. Maybe something I will do when I am retired. But like everything else in the world, going to bars is only best when done in moderation, because for me at least, going everyday to bars for 2-3 months is not only prohibitively expensive, but probably will get super boring fast, watching the same show over and over again. What's true in investing is true with choosing boys: diversify your portfolio. And just an aside, whenever I pay a $10-$20 cover to get into a West Hollywood or SF Castro gay club during Friday or Saturday nights, I remember the 400 baht I pay to get into Screwboys. I get a drink, a fuck show and get to perv on boys in tiny underwear. My cover in California won't even get me a drink, and there is no sexy boy show.

Me too sometimes, especially when back home. But ever since I have been writing trip reports I have been taking notes to remember, so its hard for me to forget, at least the ones in SE Asia. More power to ChristianPFC for maintaining his blog. If I had a blog like that, it would consume my life. Trip reports are one thing. This was easy. He is one sexy motherfucker. I would just remember my time with him and the words just flow out. I use the Notes app on my iPhone to take notes. This trip, my notes are the longest I've ever taken for a trip. Without it I would be lost while writing these reports. Some notes are gibberish though: like I wrote "Typhoid Mary Taxi" as my only note for my Yangon airport taxi. I couldn't remember what it was at first and had to rack my brain trying to make sense of it. "Morning" in Thailand is a weird concept for most tourists who like nightlife. Saying having "afternoon sex" though has a different connotation (think afternoon delight). Morning sex is sex right after you wake up. Its all semantics of course. Good sex is good sex, no matter the time of day. I'm glad at least one of you got the reference. I understand pop culture references on here won't be understood universally, due to members coming from different countries and cultures. Thanks for staying tuned, and having a supporting role in the reports . Hopefully we can hang out again in April.

Yes there is no right answer, and I feel apps and bars, while solving the same problem, which is getting a hot boy to sleep with you, solves them in different ways. I use the apps everywhere, here at home to find free sex, on work travel where I don't know anyone, or to meet locals in Bangkok for (mostly) free sex. I go to bars because it is fun, I see other boys in the flesh as well as getting to choose one for my own that night, and there may be alcohol involved. With apps, the results are more mixed for me, as with everyone probably. I like the "instant shopping" aspect of it. There are problems like sent photos not matching what comes to your door, the sexual chemistry and compatibility being fairly hard to gauge in lines of text, and the element of being flaked on (or having to wait 2+ hours for your trick to come) when committing with a tryst without looking someone in the eye. But it is my main way of meeting horny locals who want to have sex, wherever I go, for better or for worse. With the bars, I know I have to pay for the boy. I see the boy before making my pick. I can inspect the boy for compatibility, and for the princely sum of 200-400 baht, I can spend time with the boy before committing to more. You can probably gauge right there at the bar if the shoe fits, if you do your due diligence, and you will not be flaked on because you are physically bringing the boy to your room. This also applies to a free bar or club pick up here at home. I like the social aspect of it, and the whole experience, to me, is more satisfying. It is very much like going on Amazon.com to make a purchase versus going to a mall to make the same purchase. I have bought $20 oxford shoes on amazon many times, which is cheap, and with Amazon Prime I could get it in 2 days or less. But without seeing it "in the flesh" I may not like it as much as I did when I looked at it my computer monitor when I ordered it, and the fit is not as comfortable when putting it on or using it, and it takes an effort to repack it and return it to UPS if I don't like it. Contrast that with getting shoes at a mall. It is more expensive (usually $50 or more), but you see it for yourself, get to try it on with someone (mamasan) helping you make a choice, and you can take it home right there if it suits your needs. Yes, it is more expensive, and maybe you also get a bite to eat at the $20 a plate restaurant that happens to be next to the store. Is one method better than the other? It depends on what you want. I find that mixing the two methods doubles my chances to get what I want at the moment. One may work better than the other, depending on my circumstances that moment. Cold winter night? I don't want to walk all the way to the bar to get what I want. I whip out Grindr and get him to come to me. Out drinking with fellas? I'm not going to look at my phone constantly to get a hookup. I'll put the phone in my pocket and chat up the guys in the bar. Aching to see a fuck show? I'll drop by Screwboys and maybe I can get a boy while watching the show. Is it 2 PM and I am lonely in Crowne Plaza Silom? I inspect the cute Thais on the apps and pick one that was willing to fill my afternoon. Its an embarrassment of riches out there guys. Go get it any way you can.

Day 4.0: Waking up to BurBoy 2 It was one of those rare three-boy, three sexual encounters kind of day yesterday. Not to mention having to hop on a plane to change countries. No wonder I faded there towards the end. But a third night of undisturbed, deep sleep was the antidote I needed for jet lag. Checking the time and seeing it was 12:30 PM, I’d say yesterday was an unqualified success as a first day of my Gentleman’s Intermission. I have planned at least a massage a day during this stay, so I’ll be looking to that today if there was time. But of course there was still ShanBoy, my Burmese boy pick up at X-Size, to contend with. It was not my intention to get a Burmese boy last night, especially because my current trip boyfriend is Burmese, but I guess these things work out a certain way. Maybe it was unconscious on my part. Maybe I really had a thing for Burmese boys. And waking up to the Burmese twink beside me, I could hardly argue with this theory. It is unfair to keep comparing ShanBoy to BurBoy though. ShanBoy definitely has his own set of charms unique to just him, and I am eager to find out more. One advantage with ShanBoy: his physical size. He was shorter, more slight, and I can envelope him with my own heft without difficulty. I turn around to spoon him, and cuddle for a while. He stirs, and then says a quiet “Good morning” to me. I say hi back, and then I run my hands all over this chest. I make my way to his crotch and slowly stroke his cock to life. It doesn’t take much for young guys to show interest of course. Pretty soon I had my own raging hard on and we were off to the races. He responds with energy and interest. He kisses me deeply, not concerned about morning breathe or other cobwebs. Point number 2 for him. I could spend all day kissing this guy. His kisses are compatible to mine. His breathes, angles, and pressure in his kisses are just the right complement to my own. Lots to explore with my hands on his body as we do this. He responds with his own exploration. He is very sensual, and very into it. For someone who provides sex for a living, it sure seems that he enjoys himself as well. Or maybe he is just that good. He gives me oral to prime me for what will happen next. After he is satisfied, he finds his bag in the living room and takes out a condom and lube packet. He sucks me some more before wrapping me up. He applies lube on me and himself, and then lays back down, his back turned to me, and then I enter him, with me still laying down. I fuck him on my side for a while, before I turn him on his front so I can get on top of him. After about 5 minutes of thrusting I cum in the condom. I pull out and have him lay on his back. He chuck wows, with his kissing me the whole time. He cums all over his tummy, chest, pillows, room. Morning sex is always great sex. And ShanBoy seems uniquely equipped for it. We both get up and go to the bathroom. We pee together, and then get in the shower together, to clean up the mess we made. It was hard to talk to him without google translate, so we just smile at each other while we soap up and rinse. After towel drying, I ask ShanBoy if I could take some photos. He gladly obliges and I take some for my precious memories. He still had his X-Size briefs with him so he wears and does some poses for me. He is amazingly game for all my requests. We put on clothes (boo) and I asked him if he wanted to have breakfast with me, doing an eating motion with my hand and mouth. He says yes, and I ask where he wanted to go. “Up to you” was there answer of course. I was craving for some iced coffee, and I knew the one place in Silom that had it just the way I liked it. So we head out to Silom Complex to go to Vanilla Homecafe. My last trip description: So this restaurant is really turning it to be one of my must-gos when visiting Bangkok, adding to Telephone Bar in Soi 4, Dream Boy and Tawan gogo bars, Cutey and Beauty, and Siam Paragon as the few establishments I always go to when an here. Of course there are others (McDonalds near Soi 3 comes to mind, that 7-11 on Soi 3 to get Thai chocolate), but I am not as proud of those visits. We order and I get my iced coffee and the usual rice with egg and sausage, spicy just the way I like it. ShanBoy, almost predictably, gets a pasta dish. Déjà vu again thinking back on what BurBoy usually gets, which is the same pasta dish. We also got a calamari appetizer: Conversation is still difficult, so that is one thing ShanBoy can improve upon. Maybe if I off him 6 months from now his English will have improve. I know BurBoy’s English improved leaps and bounds from the first time I met him last October 2015. It was a combination of him wanting to improve and being around me and able to practice. Maybe with ShanBoy getting offed by farang down the road will force him to improve as well, that is if he wants to. We manage to have some conversation with Google translate. I show him more photos of the Yangon trip and then I tell him about Bagan and Mandalay coming up next. He spells out his hometown in Myanmar and I manage to find it on Google maps and understand more about him and where he comes from. And I continue to like what I see and hear, and the more I know, the more I like. If this was just one of those run-of-the-mill sex tourist holidays, he would be one of the multiple night long-time candidates for sure. I think about it for a moment while eating. I wanted to get as many new cocks as I can today, but I still wanted to spend more time with ShanBoy. My original plan today was to have a massage and then a new boy tonight. I have to split the baby. I think I will still want to find a new boy, so the massage trip has to be postponed till next time. The new boy can be a short time hookup, and then maybe I will long time ShanBoy to finish the night, after the new boy. We finish brunch and then I pay the 1100 baht using my credit card. We walk back on Silom to get back to the condo. It was early afternoon on a Tuesday, and there were a lot of locals walking on the sidewalks on the less racy side of Silom. A good mix of office workers, street vendors, and just looky-loos just going about their day. It was a pleasant temperature and not too hot this holiday week. We get back to the condo and I don’t even turn the aircon back on. I let him know about my plans. I told him to go back to his “room” and rest for a little bit and do whatever. I said I wanted him to come back at 7 PM today so we can have dinner and get to one another a little bit more. I tell him I am “meeting with some friends” from 9:30 PM to 12 midnight, so I told him if he could go back to his bar at those times while I do that, and then I will Line him so he can come back to the condo and stay the night again. I informed him of my flight to Mandalay tomorrow, so it was going to be a short morning tomorrow. I have successfully further “Inceptioned” my Gentleman’s Intermission. I am now taking a break from ShanBoy to get new cock for a few hours, while taking a break from BurBoy for a few days, while taking a break from my American BF for a few weeks. This is a new low for me LOL. Pretty soon I’ll have another new boy for a few minutes while with new cock. I have successfully figured out how to be a butterfly within my boyfriends. Maybe this is the new butterfly. I am butterfly, but instead of different boys for a few hours, its boyfriends and the time span is days. A butterfly by any other name would smell as slutty. It was almost 2 PM, so I fish out some baht from my pocket to give to ShanBoy. I realized then that I did not use the in-room safe to hide my passport and money. I count the money and decide to give ShanBoy 2700 baht for the long time. He takes the money without counting and wais and then hugs and kisses me. We walk out to the elevators where I escort him to the lobby to send him off for a few hours. “See you soon,” he says as he leaves the lobby. I wave goodbye and after he was gone I go back to the unit. I check my passport and things and see that everything was intact. I count my wallet and all the money I needed is accounted for. It always pays to be careful, no matter how trustworthy your companion seems to be. But I lucked out anyway. I rarely do long time with a first time off. Not because I didn’t trust them, but because it was usually harder for me, and/or the boy, to be comfortable with me on the first meeting to make the Long Time as good as it can be. ShanBoy was the exception. It was comfortable right away. So let’s see what the next few hours bring for me. Butterfly mode is back on.

Day 3.75: That One Night I Thought I was in Myanmar Again So anddy, GT forum member extraordinaire, ShanBoy, Myanmar super twink, and I, Bangkok butterfly, were sitting in X-Size, after a fairly disappointing gogo boy show. ShanBoy, my off for the night, comes back in a long-sleeved shirt and pants, and ready for me to take him back to my condo. He sits back down in the middle between me and anddy. Upon closer inspection, his long-sleeved shirt complimented his lean frame and abs. The cut of the shirt was very flattering. anddy mentioned that he looked as sexy in briefs as he did in full clothing. He tells ShanBoy this, in Thai, and he giggles in response. I check my Line and see that gtnewb, the other forum member who we were waiting on to come, has said that he was about 10 minutes away. As we wait for him, ShanBoy notices that I was a little bit of sweat on my brow, so he instructs the mamasan to aim one of the fans in the bar towards me. I tell him to not worry about it, but I appreciate his considerateness. He is more and more turning out to be like BurBoy every minute I spend with him. I signal to the mamasan that we need to settle the bill. We weren’t staying in the bar and will leave as soon as gtnewb gets here. I pay for 2 drinks (mine and the boy’s) and the off fee, totaling 1300 baht. anddy pays for his drink. I ask one last time if he was offing a boy. He said he was good for the night. After a few more Line messages, gtnewb emerges from the stairs the lead up to the bar. I stand up to greet him and tell him we were leaving so we should all head out. We all go down the stairs and back on Soi Twilight. As all four of us make our way down on the Soi and we talk for a bit. We pass by Fresh Boys and anddy happens upon one of the boy hosts from that bar and gets greeted. “Old friend?” I ask smiling. Indeed, they knew each other. We all got to talking about the White Party. The boy host, a Cambodian, said that he got tickets to one of the nights at the White Party. I told him about my plans and said that we would probably see him there. Once we leave the Soi and get to Surawong, we all bid farewell to anddy. I was a little bit tired and anddy had plans next day, so there was no DJ Station of G.O.D. for any of us tonight. As anddy headed back to Soi Convent to rescue his motorbike, gtnewb decides to walk with ShanBoy and I back to the condo. We decide to cross the street, with ShanBoy carefully guiding me with a supportive arm on my back (just like BurBoy!). We make our way west on Surawong and cut through Patpong to get back on Silom. While we walk gtnewb and I talk and make introductions. It is always nice to meet forum members, and gtnewb was a real newbie in the Bangkok boy world. As with most others I have met through the board, he has liked my trip reports, so he said it was a treat for him to see in person one of my offs as I took him back to my place. He apologized that he was late and couldn’t make the show. I told him he didn’t miss much. Before we decided to meet, I made him promise to buy me a drink over sharing some stories, but right now I was also eager to get intimate with ShanBoy, and being a little bit tired meant just going home. In hindsight I probably could have shared one drink with him before retiring. Oh well. We get to Silom and we bid goobye to gtnewb. He was leaving tomorrow so this was it for him for now. I then turn my attention to ShanBoy. It was just him and me now. I’ve offed a boy a fair number of times now, but it never gets old. Catching him looking at me, still studying me and probably trying to figure me out, as we try to make small talk, is always filled with nervousness and excitement. As we continue west on Silom to get back to Soi 3, he puts an arm around my waist. He likes to get close, even in public. This bodes well for the night ahead. I ask him if he wanted to eat. He looks at me for a minute, not understanding. I motion my hand, as if feeding myself. He smiles and says no, “I OK.” rubbing his well-abbed tummy. We duck into the 7-11 by the condo anyway. I get some waters and some snacks. I point around the aisles, and ask “You want?” He takes a frozen meal and have it heated up by the cashier. I pay up and we head back to the unit. He carries the groceries, just like BurBoy. We get to the room and I take the groceries to the fridge as I instruct ShanBoy to eat. He sits on the couch and sets his meal on the table. I take him a water bottle and he proceeds to eat. I check on the bed sheets in the washer/dryer and see that there were still damp. I curse the dryer for a little bit before I restart the dry cycle. I guess we have to wait a little longer to get to know one another in bed. I take some snacks with me and join the already eating ShanBoy. I try to make conversation with him, but his English was almost non-existent. What I could coax out of him, with the help of Google translate, motion talking, and some patience, was good. He said has only been doing this for a few weeks, so he was still brand new to the job. He said the job was “so-so” but has been overall good to him. His parents were still back home in Myanmar, but he was looking forward to going back there in a few months. His mentioning Myanmar gave me an excellent idea. I whip out my phone and quickly transfer the wholesome photos of the Myanmar trip so far in a folder in my phone. Of course I had to take out the ones I had of BurBoy. The majority of his photos were wholesome and touristy, but some were of course more risqué and sexy. When I transferred all the photos I needed, I show it to ShanBoy, telling him that I was just in Myanmar today. He enjoyed looking at the photos, especially of Shwedagon and any photo with Burmese writing in it. I told him, as well as I could with the limited mutually intelligible vocabulary we had between us, that I very much enjoyed and admired his country, and find the people really charming and a joy to spend time with, present company included. This was of course coming from a place of truth. Having already witnessed BurBoy’s caring and hospitality, as well as thoroughly enjoyed exploring and experiencing Yangon, I felt that so far, ShanBoy was living up to Myanmar’s favorable reputation in my head. He was sweet, and charming, and not to mention very sexy. For someone I did not envision offing at the start of my visit to X-Size, this turned out to be a serendipitous turn of events. Checking the dryer timer, there was still 50 minutes to wait till the sheets were dry. I try to explain this to ShanBoy and he understood. He gets up to clean up the food wrappers and containers that were left of our little meal. He comes back and cozies up next to me on the couch. I put my hand under his shirt and caress his abs. It was truly a wonder to admire his hard work. I ask him if he goes to the gym. He says “little bit” but he says he does hundreds of sit-ups a day. I wish I had that kind of discipline. But then again my job performance does not depend on how I look (I think). He certainly takes care of himself. I tell him to sit on my lap while we wait. He stands up and slowly sits on my lap. He weighs almost nothing, and fits right at home sitting on me like this. I know its kind of awkward for him to sit like this, but he doesn’t show it. Instead, He kisses me, very very deeply. I put my hands on his back and under his shirt and explore. I can feel the smooth skin, his shoulder blades, his sinewy muscles. When he comes up for air I stare at his face. He sees me staring and winks. So cute. I caress his hair. I smell his neck. I savor the boy without taking off his clothes. We had time to kill. He asks me if I wanted him to shower. I told him not yet. But I would help him out of his clothes though. I first take off his shirt. I play with him for a while and then ask him to take off his pants. The sight was pretty nice: and it feels even better. The intimate time, without having sex, was pretty nice actually. ShanBoy was the perfect boy to play because he was very sweet about it. And it was all because the sheets weren’t dry enough to use yet. It all works out in the end. The washer/dryer buzzes telling us the sheets are dry. I point to the washer and ShanBoy gets off me and we both take the sheets out of the dryer. We both put the sheets on the bed and the pillows. Its nice to see ShanBoy put on the sheets in his underwear. Even doing household chores he looked sexy. There was only one thing to do before sexy time. I was waiting to see if he was going to invite me to shower with him. He takes my hand signaling that yes he wants to shower together. He doesn’t give me the soap down that I usually get with BurBoy, but I got to at least spend some quality time with him in there. We get to bed and I get sleepy fast. The past three days have finally caught up to me. I hold him close and say something along the lines of being too tired for sex. He may not have understood me, because he takes his hand and puts it on my cock, giving it a gentle tug. He kisses me, and I surrender to the sensation. With this boy in my bed it was not possible to say no. No fucking, just the other things. It was enough for tonight. It was more than enough for tonight. This is just what I needed. We clean up and sleep to end the day. I dream about Myanmar.

I agree with both of you. I quoted the entry where I did say he brought some lube. I guess with the literary flow I just mentioned that he put more oil on my condommed cock, but in fact he used lube. But there is still some oil on my cock before he put the condom on. Not a lot on it but there were some. Oil is not the best lube and incompatible with condoms I'm sure. The fucking was not intense and lengthy, and the pressure probably is not the same as 10 liters of water in balloon, but still its not 100% safe for sure. Am I worried? No. I just got tested two weeks ago when I got back, and will continue to get tested throughout the year as a a sexually active individual, and continue to take PrEP. It's not the first time I was a little bit reckless in Bangkok, and most likely won't be the last. We talked about you for a little bit. He actually asked me how I knew you. I just made something up. I can't say I know you from this forum of course. And it wasn't pillow talk, don't worry. He is a professional, as you know. And I trust you implicitly, especially your recommendations. I'll talk about this in a future post, but there was a trip to Oasis for their world famous Vinapu's Chicken and Cashew Nuts. Since my trips to Thailand are about every 3 or 4 months (sometimes even 2 months) I don't bother converting any leftover baht, how ever large the sum is. I only convert (or take out of the ATM) what I budgeted for the trip. If I have some leftover I keep it for next trip, and don't miss it because it was budgeted. There was a time last year between my July and September trips that I didn't even take out the baht out of my wallet. I don't usually have actual dollars with me when in America (plastic is used everywhere, even in bars), so the baht had room in my wallet. I believe that the barber I went to was called Never say Cuts: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Never-Say-Cutz-at-Thaniya-Plaza/829574720414222. It is on the first floor of Thaniya Plaza and close to the Silom entrance on the right side (from google maps): They were good, very reliable. They know how to cut asian hair obviously, so it was good for me. I'm sure they can take care of you.

Day 3.5: The Score is Boy: 1, Bar: 0 After escorting Tao to the lobby so he can leave the condo, I head back to my unit with a sense of glee. My muscles and joints were humming with the melody of renewed energy, having just had a great and relaxing massage. A mixture of hormones was coursing through my veins, a combination that can only be produced when you just had a deep and erotic tissue beatdown, satisfying and explosive sex, and the jitter hormones that can only be produced at the nervousness and excitement of meeting a cute boy for the first time. There was no other feeling like it in the world, and I was feeling that right now, all at the same time. I quickly get back down to earth when I get back to the unit and go into the bedroom and see the bed. The sheets and pillowcases where all smeared with massage oil! I quickly gather the sheets and lay it next to the washer/dryer. My clothes weren’t done drying yet so I had to wait. These sheets need to be cleaned before my next boy, whoever he may be. It was 6:30 PM and I had two hours to wait for laundry and relax before dinner time. I had plans with anddy, a forum member, to get dinner and then see a gogo boy show. He was going to pick me up at the condo because he wanted to see what the condo building looked like inside. Soon my clothes are done drying and I put in the bed sheets for a wash. I fold my laundry and tidy up a bit in the unit. Finally I take a shower and get ready for dinner. anddy Lines me to say that he is at the lobby. I pick him up downstairs and we shake hands. I have been messaging with anddy on Line months before, but this is the first time we are meeting. As a farang local who does not usually visit the gogo bars, he has a unique take on Bangkok and partying. We are going to hang out later this week at the White Party. But now some introductions and some dinner. We get up to the condo unit floor and he remarks how big the condo actually is from the inside, since it looked like just a narrow mid-rise building from the outside. My unit was one of the 1-bedroom units on the corner so it was larger than the other 1-bedroom units I’ve stayed at in this building. I give him a tour of the small unit. We finally head out to dinner. He brought his motorbike with him so I just hopped in the back to get to our dinner destination. anddy uses backroads away from Silom to get from Soi 3 to Soi Convent, where our restaurant was, the Hai Somtam Convent: It is ranked #336 out of 9433 Bangkok restaurants on TripAdvisor, so if the reviews are to be believed, it is a top 5% Bangkok spot, which is good. anddy thought I needed some authentic food, so from the looks of this place, that can be definitely be found here. I let him order. Since it was later in the night, certain items were not available anymore (including steamed rice). He chooses fish, a corn salad and a pork salad: We were brought some sticky rice in lieu of the regular kind. The fish was kind of boney, the rice tough, but the conversation was lively and interesting. I learn about his life here (which I told him I envy, to a point). He learns about a few things about me, mostly about work and the Myanmar trip. I was supposed to meet him last April, after my Phuket week with BurBoy, so it was funny that he was supposed to meet BurBoy even 8 months ago. But I told him he will have his chance in a few days at the White Party. We finish dinner and pay up. We consider our next steps. Since it was only 9:45 PM, we decided to go to Silom Soi 4 to get a pre-gogo bar drink. He parks his motorbike on the side of the road and we walk our way to Soi 4. I am partial to Telephone Bar (which is on the left side when walking in from Silom) for no apparent reason other than the name, so we get sat down by the numerous staff waiting for us there: I order my usual, the Espresso Martini, which is coffee mixed with your usual martini mix, with some coffee beans in the drink for garnish. anddy decides to try it as well. Like I’ve always said, the Espresso Martini is my pick-me-up before hitting the gogo bars and possibly having some romp in bed with the boy of the night. anddy seems to like the drink. We talk and people watch and wait till it was time to head over to Soi Twilight: There was really one bar in my mind tonight: X-Size. If you recall I was in this bar last September, unable to off this Viet boy: So I am heading back there, to see if he is still there. I already knew I was going to off him, so I hoped and prayed he was there. We head inside there were barely any customers. A mamasan leads us to our seats, right in the center of the non-smoking section. There were probably about 3 or 4 more customers there, so it was really dead. It was in the middle of high season, and even if it was Monday night, there should be more customers right? We get asked our drink orders, and I see that the stage was bare, so the show must be starting soon. I quickly scan the room and no sign of Viet Boy yet. Since anddy was the farang in our party, he got all the attention from the mamasan. He explains to the mamasan that I was American, so I get a handshake and a welcome as well. The boy show starts and it was sort of unremarkable. So unremarkable that I even forget what was in it. It probably had the usual things like dancing gogos, big cocks and a lady boy lip sync or two. But it was really lackluster, and due to the lack of audience, it was thankfully short. My long-time theory is that the performers get paid by the performance, so it meant if there was no audience, and no income from drinks (which is really a cover charge), that there was no money to pay the performers, and therefore fewer and shorter performances. With the show over, the boys get back onstage to advertise their wares. I waited till all the boys were onstage, and still no sign of Viet Boy. I was kind of disappointed. I had my heart (and cock) set on this boy that I could not think of any other boys to be interested in out of the ones onstage. anddy was busy admiring the boys. I asked him who were his top picks. He told me he could only think of two who were his type. He points to one, and then another boy, who I stared at for a few minutes. He looked very young, maybe 18-20. He had a very sweet face, and nice fresh haircut. He was very lean, but had some serious abs and chest definition that caught my attention. I looked at him, and he looked back and smiled, if ever briefly. I smile wider and he returns the favor. That was a cute smile. I look at anddy and tell him that his second pick was really adorable. I get a Line message from another forum member, gtnewb, who is from from a nearby Asian country and is visiting Bangkok as well. He tells me he is in the area and would like to meet up with us. I tell him where we were and to join us here. He said he would be coming in 20 minutes. I tell him we will wait for him. I turn my attention back at the boys. I hesitated a minute, kind of still disappointed that the Viet Boy was not there, but with some encouragement from anddy and the mamasan, I call on the young boy I was making googly eyes at. He heads over to our party and sits beside me. I instruct him to sit in between anddy and I, so we can “inspect” him together. He smiles at me, and smile back. He asks me for my name, and I give it to him. He tells us his name. I ask where was he from, and he said he was from Myanmar. Quelle coincidence! I guess Myanmar has followed me here as well. Maybe all the Burmese boys I have been admiring in Yangon has seeped into my subconscious, and I pick the first Burmese boy that looks my way, now I am without BurBoy for the moment. So lets call this boy… BurBoy2. Too confusing? OK, lets call this one ShanBoy. ShanBoy was a total sweetheart. He quickly takes my left hand and cradles it. He squeezes it once in a while. After a few minutes he gets comfortable with me, and he hugs me, rests his head on my shoulder sometimes, and winks at me whenever he catches me staring at him. He must be taking tips from BurBoy. And his torso is out of this world, very ripped and abs aplenty. And of course the face, which is what really sells it for me, is super cute and super sweet. When ShanBoy put his arms around me to cuddle with me, I point this demonstration of affection to anddy. I ask him “Are all Burmese boys like this?” Very affectionate and attentive. Maybe I unconsciously off the same boy, or at least the boy that has taken residence in my head for the moment. I ask ShanBoy what he does in bed, and of course he says the magic words: “Everything!” anddy approves of this boy 100% as well. Looks like the stars are pointing to me offing this boy. I ask ShanBoy to put on clothes so that he can go home with me tonight. I didn’t even ask him if he could do Long Time tonight. His actions were enough for me to know that he would stay with me as long I wanted him to. So let's find out if he does, next post...

I get this with BurBoy all the time. I wanted him to get a taxi for us to get from Mandalay to Bagan and he wondered why I wanted to waste money on a taxi when a bus would take us there. Also he told me he wanted to visit Hua Him because he has never been. I was about to book a taxi from Bangkok to Hua Hin but stopped when he said we can take a bus for 5% the cost. We never made it to Hua Hin. I told him that sometimes the extra time we spend on public transport is something I do not have when on vacation. I don't mind spending money to capture the time I would rather use for fun. I can understand economizing on hotels though. We could have probably stayed in a $30 a night Yangon hotel and it would be the same, since we were out touring most of the time anyway and did not spend too much time in the hotel. But really, its a vacation. Life is too short. The Starbucks coffee I get everyday probably adds up to way more per week than what I could save with not getting taxis or nice hotels. I would probably save money if I shopped around the Yangon tour companies. But a) the tour was great, b) we were not sure if there will be tours available and c) I did not know then what the taxi hire/guide situation was in Yangon. When I was younger I would just trust tour books and explore a place by myself. It probably will take more time to discover the must-sees, and I would probably miss out on places that local tour guides only know. If I find myself in Yangon again I will tour by myself without a guide for sure. Thanks ChristianFPC, vinapu and z909. This was December 2016, just a month ago. I was born in Farang Land™ but yes I am not white, so I am not farang per se. I am still looking for the correct Thai term for Asian-Americans. I do wonder why they constructed the new international terminal in Yangon and still planned on building the one in distant Bago. This is almost like Mandalay Airport being as far as it is from Mandalay. I guess from this article (http://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/steps-taken-for-construction-of-hanthawaddy-international-airport-project-in-bago/), I see that as Myanmar grows in popularity, that the current airport will have difficulty containing the demand. I read that the airport will be 77 km away, which is still far away. I hope they figure out the transportation situation. Thanks! More to come! Its only Day 3!

Day 3.25: Gentleman’s Intermission Gentleman's Intermission - When a middle-aged man or older takes a break from his marital duties and spouse and acts like he is single without any responsibilities or obligation to his family or spouse. That’s the definition in Urban Dictionary. Thailand has always served as my Gentleman’s Intermission. Though not yet middle-aged (unless I die at 70), I do use Thailand as a break from my duties as a loving BF of 8 years. I do not hide anything from him, and he knows why I go here. No shame. Just fun. It has worked for 2+ years now. Now that I find myself in a relationship with BurBoy, the angelic, innocent, 23-year-old Burmese boy, I yearn for another Gentleman’s Intermission (G.I.). I have successfully "Inceptioned" my relationships (have you seen that movie?). I am about to embark on a G.I. from the Burmese boyfriend that is in my G.I. from my American boyfriend. This time though, BurBoy does not know. It would break his heart if he knew. I told you I am not a good person. This intermission is brief, lasting only two nights. So I am making these two nights count. No time to waste! My flight gets me to Bangkok without a hitch, and I immediately turn on my Thai phone and activate my internet for 399 baht a month. I have talked about this in a previous trip report. I have given my Thai number International roaming so I can top off my SIM card using my American credit card before I get to Thailand. I really only need 400 baht per trip to get internet, and I get it right away once my plane is on land and within cell service. I have signed up for a “blind date” courtesy of vinapu, one of our invaluable forum members. He has recommended and fixed me up with a massage boy. He was in Bangkok earlier in December and when I asked for a boy that could knead away my troubles, he recommended Tao, the massage boy from BBB Inn. I don’t normally give out the names of my hires, but since this has been discussed in my massage thread before, I feel that the cat is out of the bag. Please do not harass him about this report. I call it a “blind date” because I am hiring the guy sight unseen, except for a few photos (some racy) in Line, that Tao has sent my way. I am basing my faith on this boy from the glowing reviews from vinapu. While he was in Thailand, vinapu got Tao’s phone number and I plugged it in my Line, and pretty soon I set up a massage date with Tao at my condo, 1 week before my arrival. After my successful AirBNB stays in the past, I decided to keep staying in condos this trip, at least the stays in Bangkok. I lucked out that I happened upon this 20% offer for AirBNB gift cards that expired December 17: I decided to buy a $1000 gift card, paying only $800. That meant I got 20% off stays that were already $40 a night. It really means I got 20% additional stays. With $1000 in AirBNB, booking my 10 total nights in Bangkok would mean using a lot of AirBNB. Usually before any Bangkok trip ends, I always make sure I had at least 2000 baht saved in my wallet to keep for the next trip. This 2000 baht will be useful for the taxi ride to Silom (usually 500 baht), as well as the occasional bottled water or bite to eat. I do not want to waste time getting my money changed, or using an ATM, at the airport. So from immigration, passing through baggage claim with all carry-ons, and zipping through customs, I get down to the 1st floor and get to the taxi line and press the button on the little machine to get the ticket that tells you which taxi to take. I say three words to my taxi driver: “Silom Soi S̄ām” to get to my AirBNB condo on Soi 3 on Silom Rd. More on my condo later, but I get to the condo without much traffic on a mid-afternoon Monday. 500 baht later I am meeting up with my host for my condo unit. I have rented from him in the past so everything was fast and efficient and pretty soon I was shoving all my dirty laundry in the washer/dryer unit in the condo. I made it a point to only get condo units with laundry this time because of the small amount of clothes I took this trip. I set it to wash and dry cycle, and it looks like it will be done in 5 hours. I leave the condo to get a haircut, badly needed for nicer tour photos and the White Party, I check Cutey and Beautey in Thaniya Plaza, my usual go-to, and see that they were busy. I get down to the 1st floor and see that the haircut place there had a few spots for me. I walk in and get my 300 baht haircut, giving a 20 baht tip. I then go to the closest Krungsri Bank ATM, very recognizable by its bright yellow color, and withdraw their limit for the day (30,000 baht). Getting as much cash as possible limits the amount of 200 baht fees I have to pay. I shouldn’t worry though: my Charles Schwab ATM enables me to get money around the world and get those 200 baht fees refunded anyway. And my bank does not charge anything for those withdrawals. While this was happening, I have been Lining Tao. I tell him to meet me at the condo at 3:30 PM. I walk back to my condo and go by the 7-11 closest to the condo building to get some toiletries (soap, shampoo), waters for me and the boys, and some snacks I have come to love when visiting Thailand. I go back to the condo unit and unpack the groceries and take a hot shower before Tao got here. He will be here in 15 minutes and I wanted to be ready, even if “Thai time” meant he will be here a little bit later than that. At 3:30 PM Tao Lines me to tell me that he is leaving BBB Inn to get to my condo. So he is probably 15 minutes out. I get a Line message from Tao, telling me he is at the lobby waiting. The condo is designed to require a key card to get to the elevators, operate the elevators, and then of course to enter the unit. It was not like most hotels where visitors can just go directly to the room door. Also, most Thai hotels require unregistered visitors to leave their IDs with the guard at the lobby. No such checks at the condo. You are treated like a resident and can have anyone you want in your unit. I meet Tao and find a pretty pleasant young guy waiting for me at the lobby. The photos he sent were pretty accurate. He was a little bit taller than I am, lean with strong legs, and a great smile. I shake his hand and lead him back to the unit. I offer him a bottled water which he gladly accepts, and we talk for a bit to break the ice. He asked me about my plans for Bangkok, I told him about Yangon and the White Party and all that. I asked him about his employment at BBB Inn. I ask him if they knew that you were with a customer. He said yes, outcalls were part of the job. I then tell him that I have showered already, but if he needed to shower, to feel free to use the facilities. He disrobes immediately in the living room, carefully placing his pants and shirt on the side of the chair, to expose a healthy and nice looking ass. His cock swings out of his briefs and looks good enough to take care off. Oh the possibilities. He goes in the bathroom and I hear the shower turn on. I wait for him to finish before I disrobe for the massage. He finishes and emerges wrapped in a towel. He takes his oils, as well as condoms and lube, to the bedroom. I go in the bedroom and start taking off my clothes. He positions one of the bigger pillows at the foot of the bed as my chin and head rest while I get the massage. He asks me to lay on the bed, lying on my front, and resting my chin on the pillow. He applies oil on his hand, rubbing them together to warm them up, and applies oil on my back. What follows is an outstanding massage, with a lot of pressure, and concentrating on some problem areas on my thighs, lower back, and forearms. At certain points I would almost fall asleep, because his massage was very relaxing and soothing. I usually do not like massages, because I am very ticklish, especially in the groin, lower back, and feet. But the amount of pressure he applies was such that my ticklishness went away, and was taken over by relief and relaxation. And then the “yoga” portion of the massage was next. He sat me up to bend me and to crack my joints. He folded me to bend me all the way back to the bed. He remarked that I could bend very far. He tested how bendy I was and was impressed that I could put my forehead all the way on the bed while on a cross-legged position and my arms up, intertwined with his arms. He proceeded to bend me every which way, since he knew I could do it. It was fun to get intimate with his body while getting my own body a workout. I get laid back down and he continued massaging my back. He sat on the small of my back and I could feel his cock settle on my back. He sat on the bed and worked on my right arm, and then he guided my hand to his cock so I can squeeze it. I worked on it, my hand admiring its shape and texture, and then felt it grow in my hand. He worked on my other arm and I did the same thing. I felt it grow to a full and respectable size and enjoyed playing with the foreskin. I felt that I was getting hard as well. He asks me to lay on my back to continue the massage. My cock was in full attention, as his was as well. He works on my arms, hands and thighs, but there was no denying that the sensual part was coming soon. There was no question that sex was going to be involved. It was agreed upon beforehand, that sex, and what type, was preferred by me. He knew what to do, and in hindsight took out the guesswork on his part on what I liked. He starts by licking my nipples, both of them. He takes his oily hands on my cock and expertly strokes it. He must be a master at this, because I almost came as a result of his efforts. He kisses me, tentative at first, but deeply eventually. It stopped being a massage and it turned into a full on sexual encounter. I rimmed him, for a while, before it got out of hand. We rolled around, covered in oil, kissing, touching, grinding. The oil added an extra dimension to the usual thrashing around that sex required. Such thrashing cannot be done on a regular massage table. He took a condom and put it on my cock. He applies more oil on my cock and oils himself up. He sits on my cock, and does enough thrusts for me to quickly cum. He has done a good job priming me beforehand, so it took almost nothing to make me cum. He chuck wows himself while I am still inside him. He cums all over my chest. We both laugh at the mess we made. He tells me that we should shower together, so he can get rid of all the oil that can be trapped in the nook and crannies. After the shower I put on some underwear and a shirt while I watch him put on his clothes. We talk some more about my plans for the next two weeks in SE Asia. I tell him that I will have my Burmese boyfriend over the next time I am in Bangkok in a few days, but there might be some time tomorrow if I needed another massage. He said to just Line him. He then told me that there might be a farang that needed him tonight. I tell him he is getting a lot of work this high season and congratulate him. I give him 3000 baht, the agreed upon amount. The housecall, the tremendous 2+ hour massage he gave me, the great sex afterwards, I’d say he was worth every penny. He kisses me in the cheek and then realize that I need to escort him downstairs to operate the elevator. I put on shorts and see him on his way. On to the next boy…

Haha OK. I like pacing the posts so the individual days don't get lost in the shuffle. And I feel that the post length that i strive for is ideal for editing the post for an average of 15 minutes. Anything longer will require longer editing, and there are only a finite number of minutes in the day. Hopefully my post pace is not too slow for most of you guys. I love this Wall Street Journal article about the uniqueness of the existence of right hand drive cars in roads that have cars drive in the right lane in Yangon: http://www.wsj.com/articles/myanmars-fans-of-right-hand-cars-feel-wronged-by-state-ban-1482316381. Of course the traffic and chaotic driving is a general problem for big cities in developing Asian countries. It will probably only get worse in time until they figure things out and have a cultural shift to more discipline to obey basic traffic laws, or get more money for traffic enforcement, lane and road signage, and traffic lights and other tech advancement. As chaotic as it may seem, the Bangkok traffic gridlock is still, to me, much much worse. Too bad you had those power outages when you went to Bogyoke Market. There were some power surges in Yangon Airport when I was there, and the lights turned off and on four times while I was waiting for my flight. But that was the only hiccup in an otherwise stable power while I was there for a few days. I fully intended to tip him and the driver but they just high-tailed out of there. One of my regrets this trip. The other big one is in Mandalay. To be posted. I always play safe, even with the BF. Especially with the BF (to protect him). I am sexually active with multiple partners so even if I am on PrEP, I still use a condom. I also have a gay doctor back home who I have regular visits to for STD testing and my annual physical. Thank you Vessey. There was a lot of emotions in this holiday for me. It will show up in my writing for sure. That is not me in the Pattaya shorts. Remember I was wearing a longyi the whole time I was on the pagoda level. That's not my style anyhow. The shorts I wear usually are in a drab Neutral Farang Hue™, and not in the color scheme of "I went to Pattaya and all I got were these garish-looking shorts." The bright colors were a delight to see. Mostly worn by the women folk. The men's longyis are usually more muted in color. You do get the occasional red or green colored longyi though. So I've found out that to rent a car and driver for the whole day in Yangon is usually $80-$120, depending on what you are doing. So with a $100 car and driver, lunch for both of us, fees to ride or enter things, and the salary of the tour guide, I'd say it is more or less fair. We covered a lot of ground, and the guide was full of facts and was really knowledgeable. I'm sure as the country gains more in popularity with tourists, the cost will go down with more business and possibly more competitors that will cover the demand. Encouragement is good! Thanks Alexx. I do want to know once in a while what you guys think about my tour so far. From the hits, I know you guys are reading it. So please guys, keep the feedback/questions/discussion coming!

Day 3.0: Coughing my way back to Bangkok Before we retired for the night, we talk about the next few days. I am going to Bangkok tomorrow, to spend two nights there. After Bangkok, I will be meeting with him in Mandalay, to continue our Myanmar sojourn. I know where I will be staying in Bangkok, but BurBoy does not know anyone in Mandalay. We both look at Agoda and survey the hotels there. BurBoy did not want anything fancy, just somewhere to spend the night. I tell him to treat himself, so I start looking at fancy hotels. BurBoy is taking the bus to Mandalay, so we decide on a hotel that was close to the bus station. After arguing about which one for a while (he really didn’t want an expensive one), we settle on the hotel Hotel Myat Nan Taw Win. It look decent from the photos: and it was $31 a night, hardly something that would break the bank. It had free breakfast and it was a 7-minute walk from the bus station from google, so it was perfect for BurBoy. The beauty about booking from Agoda is that you can a) prepay the whole stay and b) put the reservation in someone else’s name. BurBoy calls the hotel to confirm that there are no credit cards needed on the stay (he doesn’t have one), so we make the reservation and print out a copy of the Agoda Booking Voucher that shows the whole stay is prepaid. I wake up at 6:30 AM feeling refreshed from the very deep sleep I got the night before. Its rare for me to not wake up at 2AM or 3AM while getting over jetlag. Nothing like a tiring day of touring, eating, and sex to combat the time adjustment. I untangle myself from BurBoy’s embrace and head for the French doors that accesses the balcony. I take a photo of the sunrise: I quietly try to start packing for the flight. BurBoy begins to wake up anyway. He gets out of bed, fully erect, and gives me a big bear hug from the back. We both look at the sunrise as his hardness presses on my back. “I fuck you na?” thrusting his pelvis onto me, simulating fucking. I laugh and tell him maybe when we are in Bangkok. I don’t like bottoming but I fully intend to do it for him, at least once. He has been asking for it since Phuket 9 months ago and I think it was time. But not right now. I wasn’t ready, more mentally than physically. What I was ready for is to take care of the huge boner that BurBoy had. I kneel down to put it in my mouth. I work on it for a while before both of us head to bed to finish each other off. We kiss, give some more oral, and then chuck wow together. We kiss for a while and then see BurBoy dart into the bathroom to pee. I follow him and he says “Cannot pee pee if cock strong.” I laugh. We shower together as per usual. We have breakfast again at the Emporia restaurant in the hotel. We finish and decide to check out the other hotel features we did not have time to enjoy because of our compressed schedule. We look at the grounds and see that the hotel had a lovely pool: We go back to the room to pack and then check out. They had a maid inspect out our room to see if we used anything in the minibar (I didn’t even check if they had a minibar). We get the all clear and I tell the concierge we need a taxi to the airport. We wait at the front till the taxi arrives. When it does, we put our bags in the trunk and pile in the back. BurBoy tells him some things about our destination and off we go. He told the driver that our first stop was the bus stop so he can get catch his Mandalay bus, and then dropping me off at Terminal 1 at Yangon Airport. The driver quotes 9000 kyat for the whole trip. As we drive off, I hear the car’s engine barely keeping up with the road. After 5 minutes the driver pulls over at the roadside, telling BurBoy something in Burmese before leaving the car to get some water. He gets the water, opens the hood of the car and puts water in. BurBoy strokes my arm while we wait. Not a good thing to happen when your trying to make a flight. The driver quickly gets back in, apologizing profusely and then we kept on driving. After a few minutes the driver and BurBoy talk for a bit in Burmese. The driver then gets in a raging coughing fit but still kept talking. I squeeze BurBoy’s hand. Its funny that both our car and driver were in poor health right now. In between coughs, the car also sputters forward. The driver then stops again to open the hood of the car to put more water in: Lots of apologizing, lots of coughing, and then we were on our way again. We stop for a third time for a water break for the car. I turn to BurBoy and I tell him maybe we should get another taxi. He says “I think OK. Wait please.” I trust him. The driver gets back in, cough and all, and we speed away. BurBoy talks to Typhoid Mary for a little bit. After a few exchanges BurBoy smiled. Pretty soon we get to BurBoy’s stop and the driver gets out to get BurBoy’s bag. BurBoy finds my lips and gives me a kiss. He tells me the driver is cutting the fare by 1500 kyat because of the stops. Now that made me feel bad for thinking bad about the driver. People just trying to make a living of course. BurBoy takes his bag and then heads off to the sidewalk to the bus station. We head off to the airport. On the way the driver decides to chat me up. In broken but understandable English he asks me where I am from and how I liked Yangon. I said - American and - thought his city was charming and beautiful. He then talks some more, before asking me how did I feel about our then new President-elect. I told him I really did not care for him. He laughed and then coughed and then laughed-coughed again. He says that is what everyone says when he asks about the then president elect. He has asked Americans, Europeans etc. He feels that no one likes our soon to be president. I told him there were enough people that liked him to vote him into office. He says Democracy is not always great. I agreed with him. Typhoid Mary/survey-taker made a great point. They are struggling to make Democracy work here. We get to the airport with 2 hours to spare. I give him the previously agreed upon 9000 kyat. He smiles and shows me his bettle nut stained teeth and shakes my hand. He takes my luggage and offers to carry it in but I told him there is no need. I point to my own throat and say “Take care ok?” He makes the OK sign with his right hand and he speeds off. Check-in was a breeze. The male airport employees were in longyis so that was a nice touch: I was informed that the flight was an hour late. The blight of travelling in high season. I did enjoy checking out the new Yangon airport terminal. Very modern, high ceilings, nice lights: Going through immigration was also a breeze, and so un-Bangkok like. Inside the facilities were modern as well, and could be found in any other decent airport terminal in the world: Whie waiting for my flight I decided to get an iced coffee at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, because I am an ugly American consumer, and because it was next to my gate: While I wait I open up my Grindr. I have been opening my Grindr discreetly in various points of my Yangon stay, just to scope out the lay of the land and the available boys and get a feel of the numbers. I have received a bunch of messages, probably 70% from free boys who just wanted to hook up, and probably the rest money boys. I’ve gotten far into the conversations with some, even to the point of meeting. I could not meet of course: I even received a message from a Money Boy who greeted me a “Sawadee krub,” though he was Burmese: Maybe he thought my Generic Asian Face™ was Thai (even if it was clear in my Grindr ad that I am American). We go on a back and forth and I really just wanted to know what he was willing to do and for how much. We exchanged some photos, and he was very good looking from the photos. He said that he can do everything, and he said that the tip was up to me. I told him I won’t be able to see him today but will keep his contact on Grindr when I do go back. So it’s nice to know there is always gay company in the city if I found myself back here. Online (and from fellow members) you can find that Yangon has quite a few gay massage places as well (https://www.travelgayasia.com/yangon-gay-massage-spas/). Coupled with the one gay dance night per month (https://www.facebook.com/EventsYG/) you can probably manage a somewhat gay stay in this not-so-gay place. Its probably not the first thing to come to mind when thinking of gay hotspots, but Yangon is a city hard to miss if looking to go on a quick getaway (or a visa run, or a quick jaunt with your Burmese boy longing for a trip back home) that is close to Bangkok. So I get on my flight. Bangkok Airways, same gross meal, same old plane, same decent service. Pretty soon we are descending onto Suvarnabhumi, an airport I have come to know very well. Let’s see what this short, two-night detour brings. Next up, wasting no time at all…

Thanks Vessey. Like I've said in previous trip reports, my trips alternate between sex holidays and touring holidays when in the area. Last trip was the first of the hybrid sex/tour holiday, in Cambodia. This one is more tour than sex. It seems that it doesn't matter what kind of trip I have, its probably interesting to some people. Enough to write about? Let's see about the next trip, over Songkran. I do miss skulking amongst the fleshpots of Pattaya. I feel that i will get back to that mode at some point. Wow that is awesome. You went to Poseidon Restaurant and used PT Taxi, based on my writing about my own experiences. I do hope they were positive experiences. Now Pattaya seems like a distance memory, as my last trip to it was last July. You will have to write about your trip so I can live vicariously through you. Maybe I can go to Pattaya this April, but its not exactly a couple's place to visit. It's really best to visit it alone. I took over a thousand plus photos last trip. Smartphones have large hard rives nowadays, its really nothing to just take a snap and then delete it later. So far I really haven't had to do that. Thank you!!! Keep on reading!!! I feel that sifting through those scars of war and isolation would've been a very fascinating trip as well. Getting to visit a country before it got too commercialized. Though of course it would be very difficult to tour a country in that circumstance, but it would be an adventure. There is a lot of nice boys to admire when touring. One of the many things I enjoy when I go sightseeing. As usual, thank you for the compliment. Thank goodness that practice makes perfect. I didn't think people were lazy, just very quiet. I just assumed people were bored. I'm glad that at least some of you are still enjoying the "compelling narrative". Bagan and Mandalay are coming, starting in Day 5. Thoroughly interesting cities. I will want to go back. And yes there are boys, and lots of them. Some I even managed to get intimate with.

Day 2.75: Yan-Gone to get some Christmas Dinner We stood up from our sitting position at Shwedagon Pagoda as the sun slowly makes it way to another hemisphere. Kyaw takes his phone and shows me the itinerary described in the tour guide listing, and then tells us that we have accomplished all that was promised in the tour. However, he continues, the car and himself where still ours for the day, and we can still squeeze in a few more stops if we wanted to, like to dinner, or the mall or market, or a museum. I thank Kyaw for being very attentive and thorough in our tour. I look at BurBoy and then Kyaw and tell him that it was a very full day, and we are tired and were ready to end the tour and retire to the hotel. He nods and then suddenly apologizes to both of us. He says he is the usual Spanish speaking guide, and his English was weaker in comparison. I rattle a few Spanish phrases that I know (the best that California public education can buy I guess), and tell him that his English was great and BurBoy and I had a good time. I shake Kyaw’s hand and thank him for the good tour. Kyaw and BurBoy talk for a while, with some laughter and some bowing, and then we all head over to the elevator to get us down to our car. I take off my longyi, because I really was kind of unsure with wearing it the whole time. We get to the ground floor and sat down to get our slippers back. BurBoy hands me a moist towelette packet and tells me to “clean feet” with it. I look at the soles of my feet and they were pitch black from the dirt on the pagoda floor. Small price to pay to see that thing. I see some tourists go in the bathroom to wash their feet. There was a trough I saw in the bathroom when we were in there before heading up to the pagoda, where people wash their feet in with a handy hose beside it. I figure the towelette will do for now. Surprisingly it worked well, my feet were clean, at least to look at. I shall have to shower in the hotel, of course. We find our car and make our back to the hotel. There was some traffic on the way, but it wasn’t Bangkok congestion level gridlock. Kyaw explains to us the reason why there aren’t any motorbikes allowed in Yangon. The traffic is bad enough without them, the motorbikes will just make it 10 times worse. I tell him about Bangkok traffic, and then show him a photo of the Phnom Penh traffic filled with motorbikes (one I took shown in the previous trip report), and say that there must be something to that. I did say that the middle class seemed to be a force now since they can afford to buy cars. Kyaw agreed, but mentioned that there are still many more dirt-poor people who can’t get out of poverty, even after trying their luck in Yangon. There were simply no jobs for the unskilled that paid a basic living wage. Before we get to the hotel I Line BurBoy a question: “Tip for Kyaw?” BurBoy sees the message and looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. The tour was already close to $200, but maybe a small token of appreciation would be in order. I debate this for a little bit, and soon enough we are at the hotel. We get off the car and as I was reaching for my wallet, I see Kyaw wave at us and the car speed away from us. I was not able to give him his tip! I tell BurBoy and he says it’s probably OK. I did not feel good about it but let it go. We get back to the room and BurBoy calls dibs on the bathroom by yelling “Toilet!” and taking off all his clothes. I sit down on the hotel room couch and start taking off my clothes. Before disappearing into the bathroom, BurBoy heads over to me and gives me a sensual kiss. I give his flopping uncut dick a squeeze and he smiles widely and tells me “Bathroom na!” I let him do his thing while I put my feet up. After 15 minutes he emerges naked with his towel over his shoulder, hair tousled. He tells me he needs a haircut in Bangkok before the White Party. I give his cock another squeeze (how can you resist a flopping uncut cock just swinging like that) and then I get in the bathroom to do my thing. I take particular attention to my feet, since it bore the brunt of the dirt today. I finish showering and see BurBoy under the covers, watching some Myanmar TV. I turn off the lights and join him under the covers. He tells me “Tired na.” I was a little bit too. He turns off the TV and then snuggles with me. I am not the cuddler type, but with BurBoy I turn into one. He hugs me, being the big spoon, and we fall asleep this way. An hour later I wake up, with an amazing feeling on my cock. I feel a hand stroking it, already hard with the sensation. I turn around and BurBoy was wanting it now. Being woken up to sex is the best feeling in the world, especially if its from someone like BurBoy. I turn around to kiss him. He kisses back, very deeply, deeper than I’ve ever felt from him. He sits up, laying on my crotch, grinding his ass on mine, and continue kissing me till he is satisfied that I have fully woken up. He pulls back and smiles, and the darkness could not contain his expression of glee that was in his face. “You fuck me na?” he asks. I could not say “Yes!” fast enough, as if saying it too late would ruin the moment. He takes his hand to his mouth and wets it with his spit, and puts it on my cock to wet it. Was he wanting to put it in bare? A few adjustments and indeed that was he was trying to do. He successfully aims it and starts working it in. Before it got any further I stop him. I take my hands to his waist and gently lay him down the bed. I grind on him for a while before heading to the bathroom to get condoms and lube. I put the condom on and kneel on the floor to eat him out. I could do this all day. I take some lube and prepare for the main event. I put it in, slowly at first, and then ram it in after I knew it would be fine. He squirmed a little bit, but soon he took his right hand to guide me deeper into him. I thrusted, and I thrusted, and he moaned, and he moaned. I cum quickly, and profusely, inside him. I continue fucking him while he chuck-wowed. He came on his stomach, his hair, the bed, seemingly everywhere. We go to the shower together for our usual soap down. I tell him gently that bareback sex is probably not a good idea for us right now. He said he knows but he said I was "good boy” and probably don’t have any problems. I am far from a good boy. If he knew what was good for him he would stay far away from me as possible. We get dressed to get some Christmas grub. Today is December 25, and after having a great, more Myanmar-authentic meal last night at Christmas Eve, I decided to give BurBoy a more western-style Christmas dinner for dinner tonight. There was a lot of more western-style dinners around Yangon. This article from 2015 shows the various choices: https://www.myanmore.com/yangon/2015/12/christmas-eve-dinner-guide/. Chatrium (our hotel), Parkroyal, Novotel, Inya Lake Hotel, and other places had offerings ranging from $25 to $96 for one person. I chose Chatrium because hotel guests get 10% off any food and drinks. Their offering was a Christmas Buffet with all the western meats (turkey and ham!) and drinks (bubbly) that one would expect in any Christmas buffet spread out west. The Chatrium was really got into the Christmas spirit, judging from their extensive Christmas offerings: http://blog.chatrium.com/chatrium-hotel-royal-lake-yangon-celebrates-its-christmas-tree-lighting-ceremony-donation-and-jingle-mingle-tourism-networking/. Apart from the buffet they had tree lighting ceremonies, some charities, and even offer on sale Christmas Log Cakes for $15, and a Roasted Christmas Turkey for $130. We head over to the Emporia Restaurant in the Ground floor and get seated immediately. We get asked, in English, what drinks we wanted, and BurBoy answers, in English “Myanmar Beer!” We were then welcomed to the buffet. Lots of Christmas trimmings on display, including a gingerbread house: Apart from the traditional buffet items like various Myanmar curries, rice, sushi, and noodles, I enjoyed the pasta station that they had and got some a yummy creamy Alfredo fettucini dish to enjoy: Many festive displays in the food as well, including mini-Santa clauses in the ham: BurBoy was like pig in shit, taking samples of almost every yummy morsel that was on offer. When it comes to food, we both have our favorites, but in general we just enjoy any food that was offered, and loving, and enjoying, food, is one of the many things that contributed to our success as a couple. This was his meat plate, a sampling of duck breast, beef sirloin wrapped in bacon, and some sliced roast pork. Meat probably accounted for the majority of the price for this buffet, and I am glad that he was making the most of what was being offered: We get to our table and find our Myanmar Beer just waiting for us on our table setting with Christmas colors: We dig in gladly. I look around and notice that the customers where half farang and half Asian, presumably some Burmese. There was a band in the restaurant singing some ballads, thankfully not Christmas ones, and people were just enjoying the holiday ambiance and the dinner. I only went back for some dessert. BurBoy went for seconds and thirds, or course. I was just happy that he was enjoying the more western-style spread. After dinner we go up to the lobby level and I take this photo of the restaurant. It was also to 10 PM and there were still some customers enjoying the spread: We linger in the hotel lobby area for a little bit, admiring the Christmas décor and the mood over all: We take a short walk outside, near the lobby, just to burn off a few calories off of our meal: As we head back I notice this display on top of the door by the lobby: It looked like some gold and green mistletoe-looking things in the display, so I tell BurBoy about the tradition of kissing someone under a mistletoe. He tells me “I no want kiss you now. In room yes.” I laugh. Out of the all the sentimentality of what Christmas brings, BurBoy still was mindful enough to be understanding about Myanmar sensibilities. I just give his shoulder a squeeze and we head back to our room. And yes, the first thing he does in the room give me my kiss. That's really all you could want for Christmas. Next up, I leave BurBoy for Bangkok, Day 3.

Day 2.5: It puts the “Stupa” in Stupa-ndous Stopover 8: Shwedagon Pagoda Despite my poor pun construction in the title, there is nothing poor about the next, and last, stopover, in our full-day tour: the Shwedagon Pagoda. Few other things rival the Shwedagon in terms of audacity and history. It’s the number one attraction in Yangon, and co-number one with the Bagan Temples for the whole country (Tripadvisor). It is number 3 in the most impressive Buddhist temples in the world (Touropia). It’s the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world (Royal Historial Commision of Burma). The lists are numerous and legion. And despite reading about all the superlatives that have been hurled onto this great structure, there really is nothing like visiting the real thing. This was a great article as a primer to read before going to the pagoda: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/10135-their-weight-in-gold-how-material-wealth-creates-spiritual-energy-in-some-of-the-world-s-costliest-holy-places.html. Its amazing that the umbrella alone on top of the pagoda is already $3 billion. Add that that the amount of gold on the stupa itself and the peripheral structures on the platform, various jewels, and other precious things, and you can imagine the amount of money that has been invested on this structure throughout the supposed 2+ millennia it has been in existence. So our car parks in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda complex. As we walk to the entrance, Kyaw tells me facts about the whole complex. The pagoda is built on a hill, to give the structure more height. And its true, because the pagoda dominates the whole cityscape of Yangon, and it’s the only other thing you see if you look skyward in any part of Central Yangon. By the way, building structures on a hill is the opposite of having big cocks on men. It’s actually more impressive to see a big cock on a smaller guy, versus a big cock on a taller guy. Its all about perspective with that one. We head into the building where we take off our slippers and go through the metal detector. BurBoy had the presence of mind to take my longyi with him. “For photo,” he tells me, knowing that the tourist in me would love to have photos in front of the pagoda wearing a longyi. We head over to the bathroom and he asks me to step into the longyi. I do as told and tell him I forgot how to tie it (Silly farang). He drapes the longyi around my waist and ties the longyi with his arms around my waist. He kisses the back of my neck and we head out of the bathroom. Oddly intimate for my first longyi wearing experience. We get to the elevators to get to the top floor to the base of the pagoda. We cross a hallway and then a bridge and then there it was. BurBoy and I immediately go to it and take a shit ton of photos. First just the pagoda, then alone in front of it, and then with Kyaw’s help, the two of us. After that was out of the way, we actually LOOK at the structure, and appreciate the craftsmanship and money and gold this structure needed to make such a wonder exist. A photo: There is definitely a lot of gold in that photo. But looking at the bottom of the photo are the various bright colors of the local’s clothing. The stupa was a sight to behold, for sure, but what completes the experience is watching the people who make the pilgrimage to this religious site. I would probably guess that 70% of the visitors are locals, and the rest are tourists with their more drab colored-clothing. With such grandeur and audacious display of wealth, you sometimes forget that this is a religious monument. And the faster you figure this out, the better the experience is. BurBoy was looking for a gold leaf vendor so he can add some gold to one of the structures in the complex. He finds one that sold a small square of gold leaf for 1000 kyats (80 cents). Devotees re-gilding the pagoda and its peripheral structures have been growing in popularity as the middle class in Myanmar also grows while the country continues to prosper. BurBoy tells me this is his way to pay his respects to the Buddha, and says a little prayer while he applies his gold to a nearby structure. I watch BurBoy’s devotion with a sense of calm. I let the cool breeze tunneling through the base of the pagoda wash over me and bring me some peace, albeit temporary. We do a circuit around the pagoda and see the various structures that surround it. Temples, mini-pagodas, Buddhas, and other religious monuments that perfectly supplement the big structure in the center: Out of the hundreds of Buddhas in the complex, this lone, simple, pure Jade Buddha to me was the most impressive, and most soothing. I just loved staring at it. It gave me tremendous calm: Lots of locals paying tribute, kneeling, applying gold leaf, saying a prayer, and various monks scattered in the complex, hanging out or admiring the religiosity of the surroundings: When I get tired of staring at all that gold, I turn to people watching. And by people, I mean boys. (Sidenote: Throwing in some wholesome boy photos makes the post more gay-adjacent. Since this is gaythailand, I feel it is my duty to do this for you guys. I already have the photos anyway. And nothing sexual about this, only admiration.) Boywatching #3 - Shwedagon Edition: I am even throwing in a boy farang: Maybe it was the combination of the gold, the people, and the religious surroundings, but the sun setting on the horizon seemed more soothing than other sunsets I remember. BurBoy and I sit on the floor and bask in the sun’s rays for a while. Kyaw sits with us and we just share in the quiet, meditating about the day’s activities, and thanking whoever is up above that we get to partake in such supreme serenity. Most unique Christmas Day I have ever experienced, by far. And it is not over yet. Next, Merry Christmas Yangon.

Thanks. The purpose of posting all this information is to demystify Myanmar for the prospective first time visitor. I have found it extremely easy to visit and tour and explore. And this is only Yangon. There is Bagan and Mandalay next. Good editing goes a long way, even it means putting blank spaces between paragraphs, or the headers on every stopover. My Boywatching series is an offshoot of my creeper shots that I take on my phone just randomly. There is a lot of beautiful things out there in the world, and it is not just the actual locations that are worthy of an iPhone camera shot. There is a reason I bought the 256 GB version of the iPhone. You said this about Phnom Penh. I guess like that city, Yangon is on its way to be a more developed city. And yes, its pretty obvious where we are going next. If there really is only one thing you see in Yangon, it will be the next stopover in the tour. How do you like it? How do you like it? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Just an observation so far: the trip report has a lot of views and clicks like my previous ones, but it has less discussions/engagement from members than before. Are people just content reading my ramblings? Is it that boring? Nothing controversial to discuss? Everyone is just busy in the beginning of the year? I remember having the questions about the cost of what I bought at the GAP in my first trip report. Or a discussion about trip insurance in my last report.

Yes, confirming this fact as well that yes, Asian customers off boys absolutely. I have some Malaysian and Singaporean friends who off guys once in a while. And about a third of my Cambodia Boy's customer base in Pattaya is Thai. DTG's many admirers are Japanese.

YMMV, obviously, and my sample size may be small, but I have offed exactly 2 Jupiter guys, one bottom in 2015, and one top just last December and I will talk about him in my current trip report. Both resulted in a fairly satisfying and fun time, and both are to me long time candidates in the future. There was a gap of about 20 months between my 2 Jupiter offs, primarily because of the warnings I've read on here about non-performing boys, which drove me away from offing anyone at the bar (plus of course there are tons of other boys in other bars out there). Purely my fault of course for not giving it the proper chance. I decided to try them again in December just for the heck of it, and my off was one of the stars too. I will write about my experience but sufficed to say it was fucking fun. I'm sure there are duds in Jupiter, just like every bar out there. Maybe more proportionally there than in other bars, I am not sure. But I am hoping to expand my sample size in the future, just because the 2 I've had so far were great.

Day 2.25: Lunch and a MyanMarket Stopover 4: Lunch at Monsoon Restaurant Lunch is included in our full-day tour, so Kyaw, our intrepid tour guide, asks me if I had any preferences in food. I told him that since I flew thousands of miles to be here, I would love to have some authentic Myanmar food. With all the walking we have been doing, Kyaw notices that I have been sweating, so he suggests a restaurant with aircon in south central Yangon, Monsoon Restaurant: We get in at 12 noon at there were no customers yet. The waiter greets us “Mingalaba!” and we all answer the same. Kyaw interjects and he mentions his tour company to the waiter. Maybe he gets discount for this meal for bringing tourists. We get seated and the waiter looks at all of us and looks at me and gives me a menu, and then everyone else. He asks me, in Burmese, something. BurBoy answers for me, and then the waiter asks Kyaw the same thing. In 5 minutes the waiter brings water, and BurBoy’s choice for our drinks, Myanmar Beer!: He knows me so well. We drank a lot of that last night. We look at our menus, and they even had a Christmas menu: BurBoy suggests to me a few things. We decide on a bunch of curries (chicken, mutton, and fish cake) and a papaya chicken salad (which BurBoy says is more Vietnamese than Burmese). As we wait for our food, the restaurant slowly fills up and pretty soon it was almost full. The customers were mostly farang but a sprinkling of locals also came. It must be a popular spot. Our food comes and it was all yummy: I’ve been used to BurBoy putting food on my plate so I can try everything, and today was no different. When I take a bite he asks if I liked the food. He might be concerned that I would like Myanmar food. I always assure him it is yummy, and it was the truth. While eating I notice that the staff were all young men in their early 20s. Boywatching #2: There were probably 10 of them today. They were laughing and having fun behind the counter. If this was in Bangkok and at night it would be probably be a sexy restaurant. I am imagining that this restaurant turns into a gay bar at night. It might as well, they already had the staff for it. Oh, and the food was fabulous. I highly recommend this restaurant. Stopover 5: Colonial Buildings One of the interesting things about Yangon, the former capital, is the amount of British Colonial buildings still intact, in some form, in the central part of the city. A map I found online shows the buildings, mostly on Strand Road: Some choice photos here. When I sent these to my BF, he asked me if I was sure I was in Asia, and not England: Some of the buildings are in some sort of disrepair: There is some effort going on to restore the crumbling titans, some with outside help, much like the restoration efforts at temples of Angkor. The pedestrian overpass on Strand Rd that takes one to the Myanma Port Authority serves not only for crossing the road, it’s a good vantage point for taking photos. We stop by the Yangon Central Post Office. It was closed today (because it was Sunday, not because it was Christmas Day), but we were still able to go in: Inside were your usual counters for the post office, as well as a map of Myanmar showing the different “states”: Kyaw, BurBoy and I talk about the map for a while. They both tell me where they come from, and then the other states and what famous things can be found in those places. BurBor tells me I look like I could come from Kachin or the Shan States. Closer to China and Laos/Vietnam. We all walk to all these buildings, and it was a pleasant walk and the sun was not much of a problem with a slight wind cooling up things a little bit. There is quite a few patches of construction going on along the way, probably a sign that the city is getting a healthy dose of investment. I’d love to go back in 5 years and see the difference. Stopover 6: Maha Bandula Park and the Sule Pagoda At the end of our stroll through the Colonial wonders, we step into Maha Bandula Park, or Fytche Square during colonial times. We admire the foliage and get to the center to see the Independence monument, which replaced a statue of Queen Victoria after independence on 1948: There were a lot of locals sitting on the grass and enjoying the winter afternoon. Some were eating, singing songs, taking selfies, or sleeping. I was tempted to hang out with them but we had some touring to do. We get to the end of our walk and see the Sule Pagoda, the site of various uprisings and brutality, due to its accessibility and it being central to the city: Our car was waiting for us in front of the pagoda, whisking us away to our next stopover. Stopover 7: Bogyoke Market The Bogyoke Aung San Market, named after the father of Burma (and Aung San Suu Kyi), is probably Yangon’s version of Chatuchak Market in Bangkok: It’s a large market, and good for some souvenir shopping. Lots of clothes, jewelry, longyis, lacquerware, figurines, and tons of other things. I got a few souvenirs, mostly to commemorate my Yangon touring, but not too much. I am usually not in a shopping mood at the beginning of a trip. BurBoy was looking for a backpack but could not find the right one he was looking for. But he did find something sweet: That was a lot of sweet things. Mostly rice, coconut and palm sugar desserts, BurBoy asks me if I wanted any. I told him to get enough for both of us, so he chooses a good variety and pays for it. He gets a good sampler platter: Kyaw asks us if we wanted to get some coffee to rest our legs and eat our dessert. I told him I wanted to get coffee at the Strand Hotel, the famous luxury hotel that originally opened in 1901. We get there and the new renovation shows: I wanted to get to sample their high tea but they only took reservations today. It was a fairly popular thing to do. We were directed to the hotel café right next to the restaurant and BurBoy and I ordered a coffee: We ate our 20 cent Burmese dessert while sipping our $4 British coffee. While eating Kyaw was enjoying being in the Strand because he said this was his first time to be here since the renovation. He was telling us how nice the renovation was. I tell him how expensive the rooms here were. He tells me it makes sense, how else could they afford such nice renovations? It was 4 PM and Kyaw tells us it was time to go to our last stopover, the crown jewel of Yangon. BurBoy smiles at me widely. He is eager to visit this place, and has waited for me to see it even if he has been here a week. He said he wanted to experience it with me. I’ve never been more excited to visit a temple in my life. So next, so much gold, and so many boys.

Day 2: Trains and Buddhas I was really really exhausted from the flights and the jetlag, because I slept 9 hours straight, without waking up in the middle of the night, as is usual for me when jet-lagged. The alarm woke both of us at 6 AM. We had a full-day tour of Yangon today at 8 AM, so we wanted to get a good shower and breakfast in before heading it to get to know Myanmar’s biggest city. When pressed for time, I don’t leave touring to chance, and I always want to see as much of the city as I can because god knows when I’ll be back here. Since I am here in the middle of high season, the country was crawling with tourists, and if I left my tour to chance and booked it when I got to Yangon I may be S.O.L. So I go on viator.com, the tours and activities booking company, to see if there were good full-day Myanmar tours. Doing a search yielded some promising ones but not a lot had reviews. I found this that had one good review: https://www.viator.com/tours/Yangon/Private-Full-Day-Yangon-Tour-Including-Circular-Train-Ticket-and-Lunch/d5412-19985P23 I paid for two people (me and BurBoy) and booked it for today. I had BurBoy call the tour agency yesterday to confirm the tour. We have a quick shower, sadly without cumming, but with some horseplay and stroking and kissing at least. We start getting dressed and I ask him what clothes should I put on. I knew we were going to the pagodas today and wanted to be respectful. BurBoy told me to just wear shorts (he knew I preferred it) and he will bring my longyi with us so if needed I can put it on. He puts on pants and we head over to breakfast. I liked the authentic Myanmar food last night, but I am always partial to a well-stocked international breakfast buffet. I was not sure that breakfast was part of my stay but when we got to the Emporia restaurant I was assured that it was part of it. We get to our table and get asked for our drink orders (coffee and orange juice). The restaurant had a very modern décor with a nice “pagoda” in the middle. We peruse the offerings and see the usual western meats (bacon – hard and soft, sausage, chicken). An omelet station: a healthy smattering of surprisingly yummy pastries: and a lot of Asian options like congee, fried rice, and some Burmese curries: We dive into the feast and tell BurBoy that we will need all the energy we can get for the tour ahead. He asks me where we would be going on the tour. I whip out my phone to read him the tour description. He gets excited with the list. We finish breakfast and head over to the lobby to wait for our tour guide. We meet out tour guide Kyaw (pronounced Jaw). He welcomes us to Myanmar. BurBoy corrects him by talking to him in Burmese. They talk for a bit and then Kyaw switched back to English to tell us what our itinerary for today. It sounded full and ambitious but he assures us that it is all doable. We get into a somewhat older but clean and reliable car. BurBoy and I get in the back. While we ride to our first destination, Kyaw tells us, in English, about Yangon, its British past, its current incarnation (population, losing Capital status, surrounding poor towns etc). Fairly informative. BurBoy interjects in Myanmar at times for clarification. We drive to the outskirts of Yangon, presumably because we were going to go back into Yangon in style: Stopover 1: Yangon Circular Train This was a treat for me. I love doing things that the locals only do (and a few tourists like me). This circular train was Yangon’s version of the BTS, and fairly cheap at 200 kyat a person for the shorter ride (18 cents). It is popular with low-income locals and because of its circular, 45.9 km route, it can go to the furthest reaches of the poorer towns that dot the landscape outside of Yangon: We enter a non-descript building where I encounter some Myanmar signs: Kyaw buys us the tickets and keeps the ticket stubs, in case a ticket inspector asks for them in the train. I wonder how the computerized ticketing works here: We get to the tracks to wait for the train. We see a lonely boy waiting for the train with us: Pretty soon the train comes and fellow passengers, some in various hues of longyi, catch it with us on their way to work: I giggle like a schoolgirl somewhat excited about getting on the train. BurBoy giggles with me as he directs me to a spot at the end of one car. There were no seats available and it was rush hour: The train looked old, though Kyaw assured me that it was safe and it was only a few years old. No aircon, but there were vents on the ceilings to indicate it is possible to get aircon. It was cool this morning so the air was not really needed. The train begins to move and I cling to a post. Kyaw proceeds to give me an intro on the uses of the train. He says that it is heavily used by low-income people and it starts early morning at 4 AM and ends at night around 11 PM. He tells us that sometimes he uses it when he has extra time to commute. Though usually he has a car at his disposal when touring. The train does not run too fast, at around 10 miles an hour. Some of the train doors are open so one can leave the train that way, if one has a deathwish: It was nice to look at the locals who take the train, mostly in longyi. Especially the cute boys. Boywatching #1: There was some commerce in the train, mostly for food: Our destination was back in central Yangon, where our car was waiting. We get out of the train and as we pass by some of the other train lines, Kyaw tells us about the other regional trains we can catch here at the Yangon Central Station. We stop to admire the hybrid architecture of the train station (nice and needs some repair): and Kyaw gives us a history lesson about the building (built by the British, destroyed by the Japanese, rebuilt by the Burmese). We get back on the car and head over to our next serene stopover: Stopover 2: The Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha Meditation Center Probably not in a million years would I plan to visit a meditation center (too hippyish, too eastern, too 70s), I am actually glad we went here. More information at: http://www.buddhanet.net/m_centre.htm. Founded by a venerable monk (Most Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw), this meditation center accepts foreign meditators, as well as monks, nuns and locals: We first go to the bookstore and we watch a 15-minute video about the venerable monk, the center, and about meditation. This piqued my interest. I often wondered if meditation would do wonders for my western lifestyle. There is some stress at work, but not too bad. My BF, however, has a high-stress job, and probably would gain a lot if he could do some good meditation. The woman who ran the bookstore talked to me a little bit and we talked about Germany, of all places. We get to a small “temple” next and see a wax likeness of the deceased venerable monk: BurBoy stops and prays for a while, before joining me and Kyaw as he shares stories about the monk. At that point a docent goes to us and talks to Kyaw a little bit (presumably to ask what country I come from), before switching to crystal clear English to talk about the center. He painstakingly describes some of the teachings, pointing to some of the wall calligraphy: Fascinating stuff. BurBoy reads the writings as well. As the docent moves on, BurBoy points to the writing: “Avoid evil. Do good. Cleanse your mind.” He whispers to me “No evil na. No gogo boy na.” He then smiles widely and laughs. A joke of course. We pass by a meditation hall, and the tour guide points out where the leader of the meditation will sit, and the various things found in the hall: We go by the various residences in the center. There is a clear separation between males and females, and then separation within between the venerated and regular monks, lay people, foreigners, locals, young and old. We pass by some nice quarters for the more venerated and see that the aircon has a beehive growing out of it. I would think bees are highly disruptive to meditation: In all seriousness, the visit to the meditation center was an unexpectedly cool one. I know many people go travel thousands of miles to meditate at this world-reknowned center, so it was nice to know that this existed, and would be something I would be interested in doing in the future. The question is, with whom? My over-stressed BF, or my BurBoy? BurBoy takes my hand and squeezes it. He whispers to me “Next time we go here OK.” I say of course. I guess that’s settled. Stopover 3: Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple One more stopover before lunch. One of the Yangon icons, the Chaukhtatgyi Reclining Buddha, is really impressive. Its 217 feet long, so I guessing the whole temple was built around it. To me, the most impressive feature of the Buddha was not its size, but its face, with its serene expression, long eye lashes, blue eye-shadow and ruby red lips: At the entrance both Kyaw and BurBoy tell me to take off my slippers before entering. This was my first temple in the country, and so the first barefoot experience. As we get to the entrance we see that there were vendors that were selling tributes for the Buddha. You get to choose the streamer that contains the specific wish you want: BurBoy chooses his streamers (he wishes for money and love - awww), and gets some flowers and hands the vendor 1000 kyat. We get to the main area and BurBoy prays his wishes to the Buddha. Kyaw tells me some of the history, facts, and other things about the Buddha and temple. We get to a Buddha mural/diorama, showing the life and story of the Buddha, and Kyaw and BurBoy take turns explaining to me about the Buddha. The concerted effort is very nice, and made me interested in knowing more: We get to the feet of the Buddha, and get this very ornate “Soles of the Buddha”: Kyaw explains and shows me this graphic for reference: There was a lot of arts and crafts in the temple, including some for thrones for smaller buddhas: There were a lot of thrones and a lot of artisans prepping them. Here is a collage of photos showing the process to make a throne: A lot of other arts and crafts in the temple area, all to add to the impressive displays inside: A lot of other things inside to talk about, but let me just say that walking the halls of the temple with BurBoy had a soothing and calming effect on me. Whenever BurBoy sees something of interest, he tells me what it meant to him. It was nice to get to know BurBoy in terms of the temple. Buddhism is fairly intertwined with his country, and therefore with him, and I am getting to know both him and his religion. At the end of our tour at this temple BurBoy notices a bird dying on a plastic money box: He looks at the dying bird, quite empathizing with its plight. He talks to Kyaw about what we can do about the bird. Kyaw, in Burmese, probably told him that we could not do anything, and to just leave the bird to its misery. BurBoy takes my hand as he points to the bird with a look of concern. I squeeze his hand and tell him “The bird is fine. It is in a temple. It will be fine.” He smiles at my logic. Silly farang. Next up, lunch, with a bunch of young men, next.

From my little experience: I did not see any exchange restrictions while I was there. There is still the mandatory warning of declaring anything over $10,000, but that is worldwide though. One thing I noticed is that hotels are not authorized to change money anymore. I have been told this was possible one time. You are encouraged to pay by credit card, or have already exchanged your dollars to kyats when paying for anything at the hotel. The exchange rate when I was there was 1350 kyats for $1. This was used in my one currency exchange experience at the Yangon Airport. BurBoy showed me a "black market" sign in Bagan that had 1430 kyats exchange. After my initial exchange at the airport, I did not use any more exchanges and just used ATMs, and the rate was the official government rate of 1350 kyats. You can pay for flights in both kyats and USD. You can only pay kyats or credit cards with hotels. Some hotels (and upscale restaurants) WILL accept dollars (and will gladly do so) but the change is in kyats, of course, and I am not entirely sure if this is officially allowed by the government. Best practice: use a credit card at hotels that have them, but have some kyats before you come, just in case.

I agree that I wouldn't go on a three week trip with a guy I just met. Hard to establish rapport on the trip itself. Unless you are super easy going. It's your vacation so you don't want to gamble on this. There are Thais (and a Cambodian) who I know read this forum. Probably not in your target demographic (tho it may be possible). And I have been with some Thais (with some Americans in the mix) go on a beach resort twice with me in a big group (both in 2015: April and December in Koh Chang and Koh Samet), and it seems they like frolicking in the beach, like any other nationality. And a weekend yacht may have been involved in Samet. They just slather the sunscreen of course. Your mileage may vary, as always.

Day 1.7: Christmas Yangon Eve When one thinks of Myanmar, one thinks of temples, authoritarian governments, and the awesome Aung San Suu Kyi. Looking at it in a map, with its proximity to Bhutan and Nepal, I even googled “Myanmar Himalayas” and got some interesting results that I have to explore later. But Christmas is probably last on your list when thinking about this country. It wasn’t on my mind for sure. Surprisingly though, the Farang Friendly™ hotel I am staying at reminded me that I chose to spend Christmas in Myanmar, with a boy who hardly knew what Christmas meant to Westerners. After our brief shower sex encounter, I decide not to try and get some rest before dinner. The exertions of sex, coupled with the weight of almost 21 hours of flight time on my shoulders (and my eyelids) and 12+ time zones worth of adjustment, have made me strangely wired. I was exhausted with the lack of sleep, but since it was daytime back home I was “wide” awake. If I took a nap now I will wake up at 2 AM and that will definitely fuck up my day tomorrow. So we both put on clothes to go get our Christmas Eve dinner. One thing I appreciate about BurBoy is that he always wears a t-shirt and shorts (and Nikes) to match my own Farang Wear™, so I don’t feel underdressed or felt that our respective attires were a mismatch. I'd like to believe we just looked like two buddies hanging out. We take the elevator and I push the button for G (Ground?). We get to the ground level and do not recognize anything about the floor. Where was the lobby? We look around for a while and see this poster: Just our luck, tonight, there was a male beauty pageant in the hotel. We see some girls in full hair and makeup and shiny gowns and jewelry heading into the Rizzolo bar and restaurant where the pageant was being held. I ask BurBoy if he wanted to attend. He vigorously shook his head. “No good!” he exclaimed. I laugh and think about it for a minute. Yeah, I was really exhausted, and from the looks of the girls, we were underdressed, and just my luck, I left my gown at home. So I just say an “aw shucks” and regret the missed opportunity to possibly gawk at prime Myanmar meat. I trolled online and saw the actual video for the pageant, showing what we missed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVWp_ciUZ40 Some screenshots from the video. Everyone in the pageant had the Christmas spirit! I think these are the winners, and the last two photos is the one in first place, or "Best Body": Anyway, shaking off the lost opportunity, we decide on something to eat. BurBoy pulls up google maps and shows me some restaurants that were walkable from the hotel. I take one look at his maps with Thai writing and decide to just find the location on my English language phone. I match the location on his phone with mine and see that he wanted to go to “The Best” restaurant. With that name, we really can’t do better than the best. We head out to the street to find it, and pass by this street food kiosk: Lots of yummy food in display, curries, vegetables, spices. Maybe for some other time: As we walk to the restaurant we get to the banks of the Kandawgi Lake, and see the Karaweik Hall in the distance, with some out of place high-rises in the back of the structure. I see a crane on one of them so it’s a sign of Yangon’s onward march to progress. We pass by this interesting tower made of rocks, the Utopia Tower, which housed some bars, karaoke, a massage parlor and a viewing deck, also having a lot of Christmas spirit: We get to “The Best” and see that it is an indoor/outdoor restaurant with seating by the lake. The waiters and waitresses were wearing santa hats. Everyone really was getting into this Christmas thing. They may have heard of it in this country: BurBoy looks for tables that were next to the lake and finds a huge table for us two. Looking at the size of the tables and the number of parties in each table, it looks like this place is for parties and eating big meals and getting drunk afterwards. We get handed menus and I immediately get asked, in Burmese… something. I smile widely and look at BurBoy. He tells the waitress something and she hurries back to the kitchen. BurBoy smiles at me and says “Your face Myanmar na”. I laugh out of my Generic Asian Mouth™. He adds “Good for me because if you farang maybe other think we gay.” I think about that for a minute. It was just the two of us in this table, so I would think they'd assume we were a couple anyway, farang or no. BurBoy is still slightly concerned about being outed in his home country. I guess it is different for him because he only knows how to be a young adult in Thailand, and he was openly gay there, as opposed to here. The waitress comes back with the find of the trip: Myanmar Beer! This beer is the best. I was thirsty, and the cool breeze from the lake was relaxing, and the company pretty warm and bubbly. So drinking the beer was just the amazing cherry on top of what is shaping up to be a great Christmas Eve. It wasn’t bitter - “No bitt” as BurBoy would say. It goes down easy and it takes us no time at all to order more. BurBoy looks at the menu: and he orders the meals for us, having told him before coming here that I am eager to try the local cuisine and trust his choices. Our food comes and he decided and getting three curries (chicken, fish and “Baaa-baaa” – BurBoy for lamb) as well as a salad: He asks me about Christmas and how my family celebrated it. I tell him about the dinners and the ham. I tell him about the christmas trees and over the top decorations. I tell him about the gross commercialization of it all and how I sometimes buy into it. I tell him about Santa Claus and the gift exchange. And I tell him about snow, and tell him California did not have white Christmases per se but we can venture out to the slopes to get a taste of the powder. He has told me before about his wish to see snow. I do hope he gets to see it, maybe on the mountaintops of Myanmar’s Himalayas, or maybe at Lake Tahoe at the border of California and Nevada, in some fantasy vacation we have that I have in my head. We finish half of the dishes and all the beer we ordered. We get the bill and it came out to about $11 for the whole Christmas Eve feast. Not bad for filling our tummies, and our souls, full of amazing Myanmar treats. We walk slowly back to the hotel. The night was so nice. Not a lot of people and cars in the streets and we almost held hands but thought better of it. We see the hotel in the distance, decked out in Christmas finery: As we get closer we see the hotel’s great Christmas lights draped on the trees that lined the street: We see a lot of people taking photos and selfies in front of the Christmas display, and promptly upload it to their social media accounts. I wonder if they have any Christmas décor back at home. BurBoy tells me they didn’t have any at his growing up. Entering the hotel’s complex we see more lights and BurBoy could not resist asking me to take photos of him in front of the festive display. We snap some of him and of the two of us. I never think Christmas as a romantic time, as I was always in a large party with family and friends celebrating it. But now, in a Buddhist country, this most commercial of holidays felt super intimate and romantic spending it with BurBoy in Myanmar. Christmas in Myanmar actually ain’t so bad. Next up, Day 2, exploring Yangon…

I forgot to answer these and have been meaning to: Hmmm interesting question. I'll just say that there may be a connection, but as to what I'll just keep that to myself . And thanks, I'll keep up as long as you guys do as well. Thanks ozmouse. Like I always say, I probably enjoy writing these more than you guys enjoy reading it. And i will be back for songkran, for all of it: the holiday, water fights, night parties and pool parties. It'll be more lit than the White Party, I can assure you of that .