Tomtravel

I was last year 4 nights in Aruba and could not find anything gay. I suspect the local culture is influenced by the old school Dutch conservatism and religion. Beach and snorkeling tour was good. I made a quick jump from Bogota which is a happy and lively place compared to Aruba, however Aruba is basically EU life quality and safety (and cost). Its a hot place and look how close to Venezuela! Its touristy and commercialised, full of American cruise tourists. I see no reason to return.

I am not a friend of a communication through the apps, I like to meet and talk using my voice😀. In Shanghai, everybody who contacted me in Grindr was speaking English. But gay club in Beijing was not so easy or the guys were shy, however using translation apps in a loud drunk environment is probably working not very well. The easiest introduction to Han gay culture would probably still be Taipei, as it has plenty of open gay establishments, tourists are welcome, plenty of paid and unpaid activities, etc.. Or to combine Taipei and Shanghai. And after that maybe other cities. Grindr in Nanjing was not overly active. I enjoyed my time there, would go back because both Taiwanese and Chinese are fun people to be around!

I liked e-sim (there are also other providers) from practicality reason - you buy it when outside China and activate in China; my home apps remained functional and I got connectivity in China, including Grindr, Alipay (important!). Its fully legal solution like any roaming. Alternative is to buy Chinese sim in China (lower cost) and install VPN (requires research which work and is legal). Dating is legal, prostitution is illegal (respect of local laws…). I got only one escort contact, but did not have time to explore it further. The main barrier in China was the language. I did not change my views on the Communism.

Grindr works without VPN if you have e-sim like Airalo (which is Singapore based) and in that case you stay outside of the dystopian „ Chinese data wall“ and can use gmail, youtube, whatsup and other banned applications, which „are full of American lies“.

I was this year in China. Grindr in Beijing was pretty quiet, but I was mostly visiting various tourism attractions. Destination gay club was crazy busy, it was Halloween. English was challenging there. No dates in the capital. Grindr in Shanghai was similar to Taipei and I had sometimes two visitors per day in my hotel near Bund. The most interesting one (but not fun-wise) was one Korean. „So you are from Soul?„ No, I was born in Pyongyang“. 🙂 Hotel did not care about my visitors. One twink insisted I try his cock in the dark corners of the central park, late at night. He was a nice guy, showed me the „family sauna“ (more like an entertainment complex), the male part was very gay with some eye candy. Action starts after 23, however, foreigners cannot stay there for a night. Shanghai parks are very quiet and nice at night, well designed, with water bonds, really romantic. Politically some twinks were concerned about the future, but some in line with the official policy. The wakeup call for the concerned ones was China covid policy, which incarcerated people in their homes (twinks in their uni dormitories) and the first period without the food.. I expected to see lots of handsome guys on the streets and public transportation, but not so much. Ladies were really beautiful. I would say its easy for western tourist, everything is app based. In some supermarkets Chinese can pay for their groceries with face recognition! The amount of cameras and police is a bit like in a dystopian movie.

Vienna had or maybe still has student/proletariat bars (Bermuda Dreieck) which had a competition between tables - who makes the highest alcohol bill is freed from the payment. I can only imagine the horrible drinking to happen..

They guy deserved to be blown-up and its a great reminder for the moscovites (who have somewhat comfy life „with GDP +3%“) they are in a war and it will reach them as well, under their own belly.

Navalny was obviously shopping, studying and entertaining himself too much.

Some Russians think its their duty to help Ukraine and the rest of the world and yes, they end up in a concentration camp. Like that boy. I know its funny for you, but not for the most.

I do my part, my taxes go for the military support of Ukraine. Russians have the noble duty to bring down the evil they raised.

Terror against Russia and Putin is a freedom movement (like some brave Germans fought against nazis in Germany). Supporting ISIS not. The fact that Russian citizens suffer is an acceptable collateral damage. The boy is a hero, hope we have more like him.

Last month I saw a very nice guy doing foot massage in Taipei. Next day he was alone in the shop and I asked for a bodymassage. Sure! Then an auntie came from the backroom and I was in the pain next 90 minutes. Pressure point massage - I think she was profi, but its just horrible thing and I must pay for that!! Most clients were japanese ladies and my masseur🤴 was taking care of them…

Maybe there are some great german guys? A bit less political and more fun focused than in their homeland 😀.

Are there still people hanging halfnaked under the tropical sun? If your skin is white, it should remain white - everything else is a step closer to skin cancers.