FunFifties

Thanks for the report. I spend five or six days in Puglia near Bari two years ago. It is a very nice area with interesting sightseeing opportunities that are not as crowded as elsewhere in Italy. I had very limited success hooking-up so the only fun I had there was in the sauna in Bari which was a decent if small place with regular guys of all ages. My next stop on that trip was Sicily and here the hooking-up was at a much more satisfactory level. I met very nice guys from early 20's to mid 40s in Messina and Palermo, so for a sexier destination you might want to give Sicily, especially Palermo, a try. Sadly, I share your experience that catfishing is more common in Italy than elsewhere. Twice I experienced a bait-and-switch kind of scam where I would chat with someone on Grindr that appeared to be my type. I would agree to meet somewhere, but then when I arrived the profile would stop responding or dissappear completely and "coincidentally" someone nearby, older, and less attractive would try to get in touch with me on the app. I love Italian food, culture, history and climate, so if hooking-up was easier it would probably be my favourite European destination

Would love to learn more about Taiwan! Especially about the cute and kinky guys

Great to learn a little about India. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Except for one who asked for "taxi money" after sex, everyone I met on Grindr on my visit to Thailand last year was free. So in my experience it is totally possible to meet nice guys in their 20's and 30's who don't expect payment. With some of them I would go out for drinks and dinner that I usually paid for, but I also had one guy who insisted on treating me for lunch and one where we took turns paying as we ate our way through a street food market. I still keep in touch with a couple of my dates and hope to meet them again when I go back in a few months.

Last year, when I ran out of free data from my usual provider (because I had spend 4 weeks outside the EU), I downloaded an E-sim that covered Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Worked well and was reasonably priced. Hope to find something similar for Cambodia, as it is one of the few countries my subscription doesn't cover

I second Kanchanaburi and Erewan waterfalls, but Grindr was slim pickings when I was there. Only had one hook-up in the three or four days I was there last year. I took a very old train there from BKK. It was very cheap - actually the taxi fare from station to Silom hotel was more than the actual train ride. I love train rides - they are a great way to see the landscape.

For vacations lasting a week or more I always plan at least a day of not doing anything in particular. Im guessing you have probably seen the sights already, so join him for the bits you want to revisit. It is nice to have someone to share experiences with and it is also a good way to nurture a relationship or friendship. Unless of course that someone is grumpy due to lack of sleep

Exactly! To me Furama offered very good value for money. Will be going again in January and will probably book with Furama unless the forums point my in the direction of something else I might want to try.

Georgetown, Penang Island was a wonderful place to visit and I could have easily spent several days more exploring the island, eating wonderful food and hooking up with cute local talent. I stayed four nights. First night I arrived late. The very long and dull bus ride was longer than expected due to some kind of accident related traffic jam on the way. So the first night was uneventful. The next couple of days and nights were delightfully busy. I did a food tour with a guide who was also very knowledgeable about local history, culture and economy, hiked through mangrove forest in the small national park on the northwestern part of the island, visited Chinese gangster’s/merchant’s mansions, enjoyed British colonial buildings, had lots of tasty food and no less than five hook-ups. Hook-ups were all Grindr induced and took place in my hotel room. Again there was no issue bringing guests to my room. I stayed at the Cititel Penang - the one close to the Blue Mansion. I met one of them for a drink before coming back to the hotel and the others I met in the hotel Lobby. From my anecdotal experience and Grindr ressearch I would assess that Indian and Malay Malaysians prefer to top and Chinese Malaysians prefer to bottom, but I am sure there will be exceptions to confirm this rule. I would reccomend Malaysia to anyone who likes food and quickies with regular guy-next- door types in their 20s or 30s. I hope to go back sometime in the not so distant future, but my next Asian adventure will be Thailand (second time) and Cambodia (first time).

When I was in BKK October and November last year I stayed at two of the Furamas. Furama exclusive and Furama Silom. Both had spacious rooms, no issues with bringing guests, and pools. Furama Silom was my favourite - the pool is on the roof top. If you stay in Furama Exclusive, avoid the top floor as it gets incredibly noisy when heavy rains hit the roof. I don't eat breakfast so based on only visual inspection, I would think someone appreciating the breakfast buffets of standard international 4 or 5 star hotels would be dissapointed with what Furama offers.

Great info thanks. I plan to do some train travelling in Thailand early next year.

I am equally interested in food and sex and rarely say no thanks to either. Good or bad 🫣 Hope you find enjoyable experiences in both categories.

I caught a train from JB to KL and stayed two nights. I visited Petronas Tower, Batu Caves, a couple of shopping malls and had really nice food. The amount of attention I got on Grindr was insane, so I had to make a decision to go offline while I did the regular tourist activities. I think I might have missed some opportunities here because, when I was finally ready to cast my net, I think Grindr’s algorithm had decided I was no longer fresh meat and the interest from the local talent had waned. I had two hook-ups of the quickie variety with late 20s/early 30s guys. Both times enjoyable, and no issues meeting them in the lobby and bringing them to my room. I stayed in the AnCasa hotel near Chinatown. I didn’t manage to get train tickets for the next leg of my journey to Georgetown/Penang, so I had to take a bus The curtains on the bus effectively blocked light and heat from the sun, but also any chance of taking in the scenery, so it was a very long and very dull Bus ride from KL to Georgetown. Georgetown was not dull. I will make a post of my 4 nights there in a few days.

Having read a lot of interesting trip reports and learned a lot from these as well as from interesting questions and answers, I thought I might try my hand at a (not very detailed ‘cause its a year ago almost) trip report from Malaysia. I was there in November of 2023, entered the Country by train from Singapore, stayed one night in Johor Bahru, two nights in KL and four nights in Georgetown. From there I traveled overland to Chumphon, Thailand, and got on a boat to Koh Tao, but that’s a different story… Johor Baru was an interesting, but unnecessary stop. I booked a night there because I wasn't sure how regular I could expect the border trains from Singapore to be or how smooth the border crossing would be. Very regular, very smooth turned out to be the case, so that left me a good half day, an evening, and a night to enjoy Johor Bahru before catching a train to KL the next day. JB is not exactly a picturesque city and not very walkable, but you are probably not here for the family friendly version of my trip with sightseeing and good food, so I will leave those details for Instagram and go on to the topics of interest to this community; boys and men. Malaysia has three very distinct population groups, Malay, Chinese and Indian, so both food- and hook-up wise there are a lot of flavors to sample. I don’t have a specific type and like guys in their 20s, 30s and sometimes 40s (so many men, so little time!). I must say however, that I found Malay Malaysian exceptionally beautiful. High cheek bones, almond shaped eyes, cute little noses, pretty lips and regular white teeth in just the right proportions seem to adorn the faces of many Malay men and women. Grindr is my hook-up app of choice, and I got a decent amount of attention. One message was from a guest from the local sauna “the Maze” (or it might have been direct marketing from the sauna itself). I decided a trip to the sauna would be a perfect way to sample different types so I went. As far as I recall the place had a bar, a gym and a fairly big maze where the sampling took place. It was a fairly mixed crowd of mostly Chinese and Indian descent in their 30s, 40s and 50s, so there were samples to be had. Sadly it was mostly sampling because the maze was haunted by a little old man and his flashlight. I don’t know if his job was to clean or to make sure the hanky panky didnt get out of hand, but he did a great job at both. After a couple of hours of a lot of close close encounters interrupted by the infinite loop of flashlight man, I decided I had had enough appetizers and went back to the city center for dinner and another look at Grindr. Among others I chatted with an early 20s Malay man, we met for a drink and a chat and went to my hotel where we had a really good time. I stayed at the Bello Hotel JB Central and there was no issue bringing my date to my room. Maybe because I had booked for two, or they didn’t care, or my assumption that the receptionist played on our team was correct. I hope my sample of Malaysia is of interest to the forums and plan to make a report on KL and Georgetown in the near future.

That's great news. November last year I looked into going from Butterworth to Chumphon (to catch a boat to Koh Tao) by train, but was only possible to go to Padang Besar and then I would have had to take bus or taxi to Hat Yai to reconnect to rail. I Ended up booking a seat on a shuttle bus that took me directly from my hotel in Georgetown to Hat Yai where I got on the train.