hojacat

The biggest problem I encountered with Grab in Manila, when I visited there two years was not so much the price but the availability of cars. I got the "No drivers available at the moment. retry at another time" message quite a few times, starting from when I landed at the airport. Tried for almost 30 minutes and at the end had to get a taxi to reach my hotel in Makati. Even when I was around the city it appeared a few times. One of the Grab drivers I got said that because of Covid, the number of people doing Grab had diminished. Not sure if it was true. Hopefully, the situation is better now. It was probably the biggest nuisance when visiting Manila, but the guys made up for it😂.

I think saunas would be your best bet. Check R3/Mania (both owned by the same guy) social sites (Twitter, FB and IG) from Monday/Tuesday of pride week. I'm sure they will have daily foam parties on that weekend like they had on Songran and NYE/Christmas. Both saunas have ample dark rooms and during festivities like those two dates, most of the action actually happens outside as it gets so packed with people and the number of cabins, especially in Mania is relatively low. During Songran for example, Mania had foam parties 5 days in a row. It opened earlier than usual, I think around 2PM. By around 3 you had to wait in line to get in and the line kept getting longer and to lasted till around 9:00PM, way after the foam party was over as you can see from my pic. amazing times!

I have a similar experience. Went to Seoul in 2010, after just finishing college and went to this sauna in Hongdae very close to the subway exit .Can't remember the name. It was actually my first gay sauna in Asia. Had read about it on utopia.com. I remember it was decent size and the crowd was really good, many many twinks and I think there was only one more foreigner in there. I had plenty of action. What struck me was that cabins didn't have doors, just curtains so people were going in and out and sometimes turning on a lighter to see who was inside. It was first a nuisance but I got used to it quickly so it didn't interrupt my action. Remember also this big room with row of mattresses where people were fucking in group or just 1-1. Overall it was a great experience and I think I went at least one or two more times. I went back to Seoul in 2018 and wanted to check the sauna again. Not sure if it was the same one but it was still in Hongdae. This one though was really small and almost completely empty. Only 2 people in total. Left very quickly. Sad to hear the ones in Itaweon are not much better. Now, a good Taiwanese friend of mine was with his bf in Seoul last month. He said they went to a place called Cuba. However, it mostly accepts only Koreans, there is even a sign at the entrance. As he can speak a bit of Korean and they are both very good looking (they work as models), they were let in but he said two Chinese guys in front of them were refused entry. He said the place is pretty small though the crowd is quite good. Most of the action happens in a big room with mattresses and people prefer group play. He also suggested another place called "He's" but need to ask if he went there and how was it. Was in Busan in October of 2019 for 6 days. Overall I enjoyed the city but the hookup experience was kinda poor. Only 3 guys, one of which was actually an American teaching English there. A bit surprising for me as I got really busy on apps in Seoul and also quite successful with Koreans around Asia or the US, even though personally they are not in my top 3. Didn't check the sauna, as the reviews were really poor. Glad I haven't missed anything. Last week in Japan, I hooked up with a guy from Busan. He also agreed that for a country with such strong sauna culture, SK really lacks good gay saunas. I guess Korea continues to be very conservative.

The cruising area (or the labyrinth as Moses calls it) is actually small compared to other gay saunas in Asia and it gets pretty congested. The cabins are of different sizes, so there is also group action going on in the bigger ones. The only caveat with them: they are no mattresses, only a bolster pillow. It's true that they have a wooden floor but I still recommend doing everything standing up , otherwise you might actually need a Really good massage after playing in there. My favorite is the upper-most floor which is pretty much one big dark room (albeit a bit too dark).

It all depends on what your citizenship. some European citizens can enter Vietnam without the need of a visa. if you're Australian as your location indicate, then yes you need to apply for an eVisa. This is the official portal to apply from: https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu Keep in mind that once you apply and get approved, you have a printed copy of the visa when you travel as they will ask for it at the airport.

Would definitely agree that HeeSay is the app to use in Vietnam. way way more guys in there than on Gridr, both for free or MBs. Actually, during my current trip I got to meet two hot Viet twinks both in HK and Japan through HeeSay. Would suggest getting the premium version as it has a very high amount of ads. Has a few options for premium, but overall is pretty affordable.

I'm visiting Sapporo right now and from all the different trips I've had in Japan, I would say that even though some guys would call big an average size for Europe or the Americas (similar experience to a lesser degree also in Taiwan, HK and Singapore) it has the highest number of size queens I've encountered in Asia, especially on apps like Grindr which are used mostly by guys looking for westerners as locals mostly utilize 9monsters. Another thing about this escort services (not sure if it has been mentioned in this topic) is that to the best of my knowledge all of them have a strict "condoms-only" policy, so that might be a bit of a turn off for some.

400 guys were at SBN, not Sweatbox. Now, I don't know how many guys go to that party on a normal weekend as it was pride Sunday when I went there and I think that definitely attracts a bigger crowd than usual. I mean even at Sweatbox, I had to wait for around 30 minutes to get in when I went there on Pride Saturday night at around 10:30PM. It's just that I found the crowd to be just so-so, even though they were kinda friendly and as you mention, the cruising area at Sweatbox is definitely too small. Going again to London this year for pride and just wondering if Pleasuredome would be a better choice on Saturday night. Because the crowd was quite large in there, you could find from barely legal twinks to guys that were definitely in their early or mid 70s so don't let age be a blocker if you want to go there. I agree though that bringing a younger guy that enjoys performing in front of you would make the experience much better.

I guess he meant SBN since I said they were giving free Viagra + poppers at the entrance.

Wasn't it downgraded from 2 to 1 star Michelin in the last publication? Personally, I found the food there just so-so, nothing exceptional and can see why they lost one star and for example Gaa gained one more and now has 2 stars. Probably the best Indian food I've had, including some famous places in India.

Do you know if it's better/bigger than SweatBox in Soho? I was in London last June during pride week and since staying in Soho, I opted for Sweatbox. Went there twice. On a Thursday (young people's night) and Saturday. Found the sauna not that big and not as many twinks, especially Asian ones, as I was hoping considering it's right next to Chinatown. There was a long line at the entrance though on Saturday at around 11:00PM. The highlight in London and what I recommend when in there is to go to the SBN&NBN naked party on Sunday afternoons. Not sure if it was because of the pride, but there might have been around 400 guys in there, so you could find any kind of age/body type/race that you wanted. They were even offering free poppers and Viagra at the entrance so pretty much everyone was walking around rock hard😂 It's also close to Waterloo station area.

Royal Hammam is also the most popular with Asian twinks (Milan has one of the biggest Chinatowns in Europe and actually Hu is the most common last name in Millan) so it's definitely the place I go to when in Milan. Recommend Sunday afternoons.

Thanks @vinapu So guests don't really need to check-in at any given time? How easy is get a GRAB in PP? Also, any sauna you recommend? A thai friend of mine said there is a good one. I'll have to ask him for the name of it.

Did you go to any gay venue in Taipei? How did you like it compared to Bangkok?

My last and only visit to Cambodia (PP and Siam Reap) dates back to 2009, while I was still in college. In Phnom Penh, I remember staying at this small hotel at an area with lots of embassies around. As apps were still not available I ended up not meeting anyone. Since I'll go back to Thailand for around 2 weeks during Songran's season, I'm thinking of stopping to PP for 4-5 days. Just wondering what' guest policy do hotels have in there? Is it pretty lax (so no check-in required, guest can come over anytime of the day and night) like they do in Thailand or is it much stricter (check-in required, no guests after a certain hour) like they do in Vietnam? If so do you guys recommend an Airbnb (like I definitely do for Vietnam)? Any difference between a small hotel or a bigger one from an international chain?

CL was my main resource for sex during my college years in the late 2000s. it was CL and Adam4Adam. Even with the advent of apps CL remained the best and easier place to look for or set up any 3+/groups action. Most apps, especially Grindr make it almost impossible to have a multi-people conversation. They even took out their Group Chat capability lately. Luckily, at least in the US, sniffies.com has come to be very useful for that kind of activity. I tried using CL on my first trip to Southeast Asia in 2009. I guess I didn't do my homework to find out which were actually the best options online for that region. The place I got any lucky with it was Singapore. Still remember meeting this cute Malay Singaporean I contacted on CL. Had to take both mrt and bus to get to his place. Quite the endeavor at a time when I didn't have Google Maps on my phone. Sex was good but he kinda freaked out when offering me poppers. I didn't know their legal status in Singapore and just had heard how strict are they about drugs. His answer to the question if poppers are legal in Singapore: Who cares?!\ The only other place in Asia I got a considerable activity through CL was Seoul the year after my trip SEA. Remember there pretty much no posts on CL in Taipei in the same period.

Same here. Recommended if from the States.

Out of curiosity went to the Singapore forum to check if anyone had reviewed any sauna there. The only one I can find dates 2012 and mentions a certain Queen Resort sauna, which looks like closed around 2014. Definitely Singapore's gay saunas have short shell life. @KeithambroseDon't be surprised if Keybox is not there when you get to Singapore😂, but if you manage to go please write a review on this site. I'll do the same if I get to visit. This site lacks reviews for saunas that are not located in Thailand, maybe with the exception of Taipei since a few us have visited Soi13 and have written about.

Singapore saunas though have the tendency to close a bit abruptly, even when they are popular. I used to go to Singapore every 2-3 years and the popular sauna they recommended you to go to would change every time. Haven't been there in 7 years. Remembered that last time the place to go to was called "Cruise" sauna. You actually had to register to get in and get a pass with your ID number in it. I think I still have it somewhere. Saturdays used to fully packed and if I'm not mistaken it was naked night. Not sure if any of you guys went there. Looks like it closed around 2019-2020. Planning to go again in a few months and now the most popular one seems to be Keybox. Anyone has been there? Anyway, maybe I should post this under the Singapore thread so as not to go off-topic.

Here are mine. Taken in September (very cold-adverse person in here).

Chengdu is actually known in China as a very gay city, much more than other cities of similar size. Plus, there is a joke among Chinese that everyone coming from Chengdu has to be a bottom.

My point was that Pattaya being known JUST as a place for prostitution and old people going there to consume it made it much less appealing to a younger crowd who would much more go to Bangkok, Phuket, Pangan, Samui, Chiang Mai then there. This in turn made it much more difficult for the bars to attract new customers. I guess we all agree that go-go bars in Pattaya overextended during their golden years and didn't adapt to the new realities of the gay scene and the tourism in Thailand. Hence, the unavoidable decline.

Something related to pint 1 and 3. I think the late 2000s and early 2010s were also the time when Pattaya became a bit unappealing to the young Western crowd, as it developed a reputation as just a place for prostitution. That's how I knew it even before my first trip to Thailand in 2009, while still in college. Also, isn't that the same period when Russians became the number one tourist group in Pattaya? I might be mistaken but I think Russians are not really into go-go bars. Maybe because of linguistic barriers, the desire to be discreet, etc but if they pay they even their hotel or going to massage places, which I've heard are actually quite popular with Russians. So I don't know how were things in the early 2000s or what the owners were seeing but 16 go-go places in such a small radius is definitely too many, especially since most of the tourists in your city doesn't care about them. The reason saunas (which I can confirm personally) and places like Soi 2 and 4 are still going very strong in BKK is exactly because their are being patronized by the main tourist group in Bangkok: Asian travelers.

Yes, especially now that https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67516777

Doesn't that coincide with the coming into scene of Grindr and other gay apps? Seems like none of you guys are counting it as a factor into the decline. I mean, it was quite revolutionary. It represents the fastest way to get a guy into your bed, especially if you're willing to pay and you are offered a much larger range of choice that any bar can offer.. I guess some of the customers in those bars where not really interested in the whole shenanigans of the go-go scene, but were there mostly to off guys. If they could do that online much faster and probably cheaper , they stopped frequenting those bars and do something else with the rest of their night and maybe reduction caused that snowball effect that @macaroni21 is mentioning.