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Min

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  1. Like
    Min got a reaction from dscrtsldnbi in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (part 5)
    After 2 days, I move to A&P (Arthur & Paul) - the gay-only hotel in Phnom Peng (I have always wanted to experience such a place).

    It's pricy, double the price I paid for my centrally located 4 star hotel, and also a bit far from the city center. However, moving to this hotel put me in walking distance of 15 minutes or less to a number of well-known gay sauna & massages, including Dai Khmer (st 420), Ganesh House Massage (also on st 420), Hatha Khmer Massage and Love Spa (reported in part 4), to name a few, not to mention the most famous A&P, the in-house sauna of the hotel to which its guests have free access (Guide actually wanted to take me to A&P during my first tour but I told him I'm gonna stay there anyway).

    My tip: visitors to Phnom Peng should try to stay in two different locations (one near the Royal Palace, and the other near A&P). A&P itself is expensive, but I saw quite a number of decent hotels, probably cheaper, nearby when I walked around the neighborhood. That means you can stay in a cheaper place and then buy an all-day multi-entry pass to A&P for a few more bucks to use their very good facilities, including dry & wet saunas, swimming pool, big jacuzzi, and also cute and smiling staff in their underwear (it's clothing optional, mind you).

    It's like when you visit Ho Chi Minh city, you should stay first in District 1 (the actual city center, especially Bui Vien area which we call phố tây - street for foreigners) and later move to District 10, Sub-district 12 (the de factor gay service center with a lot of gay massage parlors and saunas).
    Back to Phnom Peng, I walked to Ganesh House Massage last night because it's very near just to have some ideas. It has the same setup as Hatha Khmer Massage: curtains, boys in underwear (white this time) but fewer boys (8 on display at 10h30pm, open till midnight). As with the case of Heco, the receptionist's English is extremely poor and Guide wasn't with me, so after a few questions trying to find more info but to no avail, I gave up and walked back. Took some pictures though.


    I contacted Dai Khmer (on the same street as Ganesh) on Grindr and they send me pictures of the available 5 masseurs.

    I like the one in red shirt. A taste check: @vinapu and @jason1975 which ones do you like? Jason, I think you could really use a week-end trip from Singapore to sample gay life and boys in Phnom Peng.
    About finding boys on app, I only had one hook-up in the first two days so don't have much to say about it. However, it looks to me that while both Blued and Grindr have a lot of local boys, Grindr appears to have a higher rate of MBs. In Thailand, I found that Hornet works better for Pattaya, Grindr for Bangkok and Blued is pretty decent for both. Vietnam is similar to Cambodia (Blued and Grindr), but you may want to install one more app - Zalo (as popular as Line in Thailand). Usually, app boys are gonna give you their Zalo contact.
    Another tip: if you are in Vietnam and try to find boys on app, beware of so-called online pimps, who also advertise their service on Blued, Grindr and Zalo. 
    Many of those online pimps just scout the apps, looking for any boys who advertise themselves as MB (in Vietnam, we usually use the term call boy or cb instead), then create their own list of "models". As a result, the same boy may appear in multiple lists advertised by different pimps. In many cases, the pimps know next to nothing about their boys and can't answer your questions about the boy's sexual orientation, whether he looks like his pictures, what he would or would not do in bed, etc. 
    Worse still, they also jack up the price quite a bit (for example, if you deal directly with the boy, he may ask for somewhere between 500K and 1 mil VND short time, about 700-1500B or 22-45 USD. Through a pimp, that would become 1-1.5 mil VND (and if they know that you are foreigners, they may quote the price in USD for even more money, so feel free to haggle). The more a pimp can charge you, the more commission he gets (30% of what the boy gets from you). Different pimps may quote you different prices for the same boy.
    I don't mind paying the pimps their cut if they actually do a their job of giving us some helpful intel about boys. But they more often than not don't. So I follow some pimps on Zalo to see pictures of the boys and then just do the opposite: scout the apps for familiar faces You also need to know where to put your location while searching. In Hanoi, for example, search the old quarter or Hoan Kiem lake. Ho Chi Minh city (see relevant locations a few lines above). 
    One MB, who's currently working in Bi sauna in District 10 in Ho Chi Minh City, told me this intriguing story. He got a customer (a Vietnamese overseas) through a pimp and travelled all the way to meet the customer in his centrally-located hotel. The agreed price is 1.2 mil (which means the pimp's cut is 400K). However, the customer, for whatever reasons, changed his mind and didn't want sex. He offered the boy 500K for "meeting and chatting".
    FYI: I can confirm that the boy in question does look like his pictures, very cute in person as well, and can also do massage quite professionally. I used his service and was happy.
    Boy told me he had to give the pimp his cut of 400K no matter what (he also complained that pimps don't care if the deal didn't go through, they don't care if boys get in trouble with rogue customers, would not protect the boys because they themselves also know nothing about customers), and the remaining 100K wasn't even enough to cover his two-way taxi fare. So he insisted the customer pay the agreed amount because a deal is a deal. When the customer refused, you know what the boy did?
    Right there in the middle of the hotel lobby, he (kinda small-built) jumped on the guy (tall and big) and screamed in Vietnamese. I need a moment think how I should translate this into English...
    "Everyone, this jerk's trying to stiff a whore! This jerk's trying to stiff a whore!" (that's how we make a scene in Vietnam).
    You probably know the ending right? The customer paid up and the boy left, but damages already done.

    (to be continued)
  2. Like
    Min got a reaction from BiggusDikkus in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (part 5)
    After 2 days, I move to A&P (Arthur & Paul) - the gay-only hotel in Phnom Peng (I have always wanted to experience such a place).

    It's pricy, double the price I paid for my centrally located 4 star hotel, and also a bit far from the city center. However, moving to this hotel put me in walking distance of 15 minutes or less to a number of well-known gay sauna & massages, including Dai Khmer (st 420), Ganesh House Massage (also on st 420), Hatha Khmer Massage and Love Spa (reported in part 4), to name a few, not to mention the most famous A&P, the in-house sauna of the hotel to which its guests have free access (Guide actually wanted to take me to A&P during my first tour but I told him I'm gonna stay there anyway).

    My tip: visitors to Phnom Peng should try to stay in two different locations (one near the Royal Palace, and the other near A&P). A&P itself is expensive, but I saw quite a number of decent hotels, probably cheaper, nearby when I walked around the neighborhood. That means you can stay in a cheaper place and then buy an all-day multi-entry pass to A&P for a few more bucks to use their very good facilities, including dry & wet saunas, swimming pool, big jacuzzi, and also cute and smiling staff in their underwear (it's clothing optional, mind you).

    It's like when you visit Ho Chi Minh city, you should stay first in District 1 (the actual city center, especially Bui Vien area which we call phố tây - street for foreigners) and later move to District 10, Sub-district 12 (the de factor gay service center with a lot of gay massage parlors and saunas).
    Back to Phnom Peng, I walked to Ganesh House Massage last night because it's very near just to have some ideas. It has the same setup as Hatha Khmer Massage: curtains, boys in underwear (white this time) but fewer boys (8 on display at 10h30pm, open till midnight). As with the case of Heco, the receptionist's English is extremely poor and Guide wasn't with me, so after a few questions trying to find more info but to no avail, I gave up and walked back. Took some pictures though.


    I contacted Dai Khmer (on the same street as Ganesh) on Grindr and they send me pictures of the available 5 masseurs.

    I like the one in red shirt. A taste check: @vinapu and @jason1975 which ones do you like? Jason, I think you could really use a week-end trip from Singapore to sample gay life and boys in Phnom Peng.
    About finding boys on app, I only had one hook-up in the first two days so don't have much to say about it. However, it looks to me that while both Blued and Grindr have a lot of local boys, Grindr appears to have a higher rate of MBs. In Thailand, I found that Hornet works better for Pattaya, Grindr for Bangkok and Blued is pretty decent for both. Vietnam is similar to Cambodia (Blued and Grindr), but you may want to install one more app - Zalo (as popular as Line in Thailand). Usually, app boys are gonna give you their Zalo contact.
    Another tip: if you are in Vietnam and try to find boys on app, beware of so-called online pimps, who also advertise their service on Blued, Grindr and Zalo. 
    Many of those online pimps just scout the apps, looking for any boys who advertise themselves as MB (in Vietnam, we usually use the term call boy or cb instead), then create their own list of "models". As a result, the same boy may appear in multiple lists advertised by different pimps. In many cases, the pimps know next to nothing about their boys and can't answer your questions about the boy's sexual orientation, whether he looks like his pictures, what he would or would not do in bed, etc. 
    Worse still, they also jack up the price quite a bit (for example, if you deal directly with the boy, he may ask for somewhere between 500K and 1 mil VND short time, about 700-1500B or 22-45 USD. Through a pimp, that would become 1-1.5 mil VND (and if they know that you are foreigners, they may quote the price in USD for even more money, so feel free to haggle). The more a pimp can charge you, the more commission he gets (30% of what the boy gets from you). Different pimps may quote you different prices for the same boy.
    I don't mind paying the pimps their cut if they actually do a their job of giving us some helpful intel about boys. But they more often than not don't. So I follow some pimps on Zalo to see pictures of the boys and then just do the opposite: scout the apps for familiar faces You also need to know where to put your location while searching. In Hanoi, for example, search the old quarter or Hoan Kiem lake. Ho Chi Minh city (see relevant locations a few lines above). 
    One MB, who's currently working in Bi sauna in District 10 in Ho Chi Minh City, told me this intriguing story. He got a customer (a Vietnamese overseas) through a pimp and travelled all the way to meet the customer in his centrally-located hotel. The agreed price is 1.2 mil (which means the pimp's cut is 400K). However, the customer, for whatever reasons, changed his mind and didn't want sex. He offered the boy 500K for "meeting and chatting".
    FYI: I can confirm that the boy in question does look like his pictures, very cute in person as well, and can also do massage quite professionally. I used his service and was happy.
    Boy told me he had to give the pimp his cut of 400K no matter what (he also complained that pimps don't care if the deal didn't go through, they don't care if boys get in trouble with rogue customers, would not protect the boys because they themselves also know nothing about customers), and the remaining 100K wasn't even enough to cover his two-way taxi fare. So he insisted the customer pay the agreed amount because a deal is a deal. When the customer refused, you know what the boy did?
    Right there in the middle of the hotel lobby, he (kinda small-built) jumped on the guy (tall and big) and screamed in Vietnamese. I need a moment think how I should translate this into English...
    "Everyone, this jerk's trying to stiff a whore! This jerk's trying to stiff a whore!" (that's how we make a scene in Vietnam).
    You probably know the ending right? The customer paid up and the boy left, but damages already done.

    (to be continued)
  3. Like
    Min got a reaction from moistmango in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (part 5)
    After 2 days, I move to A&P (Arthur & Paul) - the gay-only hotel in Phnom Peng (I have always wanted to experience such a place).

    It's pricy, double the price I paid for my centrally located 4 star hotel, and also a bit far from the city center. However, moving to this hotel put me in walking distance of 15 minutes or less to a number of well-known gay sauna & massages, including Dai Khmer (st 420), Ganesh House Massage (also on st 420), Hatha Khmer Massage and Love Spa (reported in part 4), to name a few, not to mention the most famous A&P, the in-house sauna of the hotel to which its guests have free access (Guide actually wanted to take me to A&P during my first tour but I told him I'm gonna stay there anyway).

    My tip: visitors to Phnom Peng should try to stay in two different locations (one near the Royal Palace, and the other near A&P). A&P itself is expensive, but I saw quite a number of decent hotels, probably cheaper, nearby when I walked around the neighborhood. That means you can stay in a cheaper place and then buy an all-day multi-entry pass to A&P for a few more bucks to use their very good facilities, including dry & wet saunas, swimming pool, big jacuzzi, and also cute and smiling staff in their underwear (it's clothing optional, mind you).

    It's like when you visit Ho Chi Minh city, you should stay first in District 1 (the actual city center, especially Bui Vien area which we call phố tây - street for foreigners) and later move to District 10, Sub-district 12 (the de factor gay service center with a lot of gay massage parlors and saunas).
    Back to Phnom Peng, I walked to Ganesh House Massage last night because it's very near just to have some ideas. It has the same setup as Hatha Khmer Massage: curtains, boys in underwear (white this time) but fewer boys (8 on display at 10h30pm, open till midnight). As with the case of Heco, the receptionist's English is extremely poor and Guide wasn't with me, so after a few questions trying to find more info but to no avail, I gave up and walked back. Took some pictures though.


    I contacted Dai Khmer (on the same street as Ganesh) on Grindr and they send me pictures of the available 5 masseurs.

    I like the one in red shirt. A taste check: @vinapu and @jason1975 which ones do you like? Jason, I think you could really use a week-end trip from Singapore to sample gay life and boys in Phnom Peng.
    About finding boys on app, I only had one hook-up in the first two days so don't have much to say about it. However, it looks to me that while both Blued and Grindr have a lot of local boys, Grindr appears to have a higher rate of MBs. In Thailand, I found that Hornet works better for Pattaya, Grindr for Bangkok and Blued is pretty decent for both. Vietnam is similar to Cambodia (Blued and Grindr), but you may want to install one more app - Zalo (as popular as Line in Thailand). Usually, app boys are gonna give you their Zalo contact.
    Another tip: if you are in Vietnam and try to find boys on app, beware of so-called online pimps, who also advertise their service on Blued, Grindr and Zalo. 
    Many of those online pimps just scout the apps, looking for any boys who advertise themselves as MB (in Vietnam, we usually use the term call boy or cb instead), then create their own list of "models". As a result, the same boy may appear in multiple lists advertised by different pimps. In many cases, the pimps know next to nothing about their boys and can't answer your questions about the boy's sexual orientation, whether he looks like his pictures, what he would or would not do in bed, etc. 
    Worse still, they also jack up the price quite a bit (for example, if you deal directly with the boy, he may ask for somewhere between 500K and 1 mil VND short time, about 700-1500B or 22-45 USD. Through a pimp, that would become 1-1.5 mil VND (and if they know that you are foreigners, they may quote the price in USD for even more money, so feel free to haggle). The more a pimp can charge you, the more commission he gets (30% of what the boy gets from you). Different pimps may quote you different prices for the same boy.
    I don't mind paying the pimps their cut if they actually do a their job of giving us some helpful intel about boys. But they more often than not don't. So I follow some pimps on Zalo to see pictures of the boys and then just do the opposite: scout the apps for familiar faces You also need to know where to put your location while searching. In Hanoi, for example, search the old quarter or Hoan Kiem lake. Ho Chi Minh city (see relevant locations a few lines above). 
    One MB, who's currently working in Bi sauna in District 10 in Ho Chi Minh City, told me this intriguing story. He got a customer (a Vietnamese overseas) through a pimp and travelled all the way to meet the customer in his centrally-located hotel. The agreed price is 1.2 mil (which means the pimp's cut is 400K). However, the customer, for whatever reasons, changed his mind and didn't want sex. He offered the boy 500K for "meeting and chatting".
    FYI: I can confirm that the boy in question does look like his pictures, very cute in person as well, and can also do massage quite professionally. I used his service and was happy.
    Boy told me he had to give the pimp his cut of 400K no matter what (he also complained that pimps don't care if the deal didn't go through, they don't care if boys get in trouble with rogue customers, would not protect the boys because they themselves also know nothing about customers), and the remaining 100K wasn't even enough to cover his two-way taxi fare. So he insisted the customer pay the agreed amount because a deal is a deal. When the customer refused, you know what the boy did?
    Right there in the middle of the hotel lobby, he (kinda small-built) jumped on the guy (tall and big) and screamed in Vietnamese. I need a moment think how I should translate this into English...
    "Everyone, this jerk's trying to stiff a whore! This jerk's trying to stiff a whore!" (that's how we make a scene in Vietnam).
    You probably know the ending right? The customer paid up and the boy left, but damages already done.

    (to be continued)
  4. Like
    Min got a reaction from dscrtsldnbi in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  5. Like
    Min got a reaction from moistmango in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  6. Thanks
    Min got a reaction from vinapu in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    I don't think they would allow me to take pictures of the guys standing behind glass wall so didn't even ask.
    He's quite short and medium-built, appears to be the bar's regular. He talked loudly to performers during their performance and in English.
  7. Like
    Min got a reaction from TMax in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  8. Like
    Min reacted to fedssocr in Unexpected reunions and few shattered dreams - 22nd trip to Thailand in May 2022   
    I've often wondered about that hotel, but its location isn't attractive to me. I am a sucker for a good view though. Did you take any photos of your room with a view?
  9. Like
    Min got a reaction from PeterRS in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  10. Like
    Min got a reaction from VancBCMan in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  11. Like
    Min got a reaction from vinapu in Unexpected reunions and few shattered dreams - 22nd trip to Thailand in May 2022   
    I think I'm gonna try that view someday even if it's not from Silom. And also, you should a boy No 65 to go with the room
     
  12. Like
    Min got a reaction from vinapu in For fun: MISTER NATIONAL UNIVERSE 2022 THAILAND   
    Looks like the same guy to me, a little bit older. 
    According to the ad, he will be in Vietnam from today (25 Jun) to 5 Jul, although in different cities/resorts throughout the trip. The ad also says customers need to travel to the meeting venue on their own expense.
    If you happen to be in Vietnam during that time, I can give you a number to call But again, I can't vouch for the legitimacy of those ads as I myself never even thought about trying.
  13. Thanks
    Min got a reaction from maump in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  14. Downvote
    Min got a reaction from vinapu in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    Or the first 5000 if he came from Vinapu's room
  15. Like
    Min got a reaction from GWMinUS in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  16. Like
    Min got a reaction from 18past19 in For fun: MISTER NATIONAL UNIVERSE 2022 THAILAND   
    Looks like the same guy to me, a little bit older. 
    According to the ad, he will be in Vietnam from today (25 Jun) to 5 Jul, although in different cities/resorts throughout the trip. The ad also says customers need to travel to the meeting venue on their own expense.
    If you happen to be in Vietnam during that time, I can give you a number to call But again, I can't vouch for the legitimacy of those ads as I myself never even thought about trying.
  17. Like
    Min got a reaction from a-447 in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  18. Like
    Min got a reaction from BL8gPt in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  19. Like
    Min got a reaction from fedssocr in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    Or the first 5000 if he came from Vinapu's room
  20. Like
    Min reacted to tm_nyc in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    Excellent post, thanks!  I am looking forward to go to PP in October & I am glad to get the info.
  21. Like
    Min got a reaction from khaolakguy in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    (Part 4)

    To have a change of scene, I'm making a quick trip to Phnom Peng. Stayed in a centrally located hotel, close to a number of gay bars including the famous POC, Blue Chili and Heart of Darkness. My first time here so I booked a guide from Siam Roads for two night tours to gay places (tour time: 7pm to 12am, 49$ each tour).
    The night I landed, I checked Christian's list of gay massages in Cambodia (https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2021/02/gay-massage-in-cambodia-2021.html) and found that Heco, a place highly recommended by a reader of his blog, is just 10 min walk from my hotel, so decided to pay it a visit.
     
    It's located right behind the Royal Palace. Staff speak very limited English. Just a simple question like "Can I see pictures of the boys?" took several attempts and still can't get across so I had to resort to Google translation (there was a farang, who looks like the owner, so I sought his help but turned out he doesn't speak English either). Finally staff showed me pictures of four guys on his phone and only one caught my eyes. "Sorry, he's out" (pointing outside) "Can you call him back?" Blank stare.

    After several more attempts and with help of the other boys on duty (all three of them), I finally got that it was the guy's day off and if I want him, I can come back tomorrow. Price-wise, massage here is pricy (20$ for 60min while only 10$ in other places). According to some report, masseurs expect 20$ tip for a happy ending and 30$ (if anal sex involved).
    I checked the list again and found the next nearest one is Hatha Khmer Massage in street 368 so decided to walk there. I usually prefer walking as it helps get my bearings of a new place and also complete my goal of at least 15K steps per day. When I reached the location shown on Google map half an hour later, I couldn't find the place, so I gave up and walked back to the hotel 
    Fired Blued and talked to a cute boy. He asked for money, $40 for ST. I didn't really know if it was fair, but remember the tip guidelines above so counter with $30 for an hour. He okayed it. Since the boy can't meet before 5 pm and the next day I have a tour to go to at 7 pm, we scheduled it the day after.
    The next evening, I started my first night tour at 7 pm. Guide first took me to the only night market in Phnom Peng. We walked and talked about the local life on the way. There's nothing much to see in the market, so I tried some street food (for future references: don't. Every stall sells the same kind of food, which doesn't taste good and is also pricy. Guide told me he was shocked when he saw the bill. Then why didn't he tell me in the first place?)
    Then we booked a tuk-tuk via grab (to avoid being overcharged) back to the very place I couldn't find last night: Hatha Khmer Sauna and Massage. Guide couldn't find it either (first time for him too) so he asked for directions from a local boy. We found the place (no signage and very dark). The sauna part was already closed. Guide was like: what??? (he told me sauna would open until midnight and it wasn't even 9pm at that point). We walked over to the massage part (opened until 11pm, so it was still open when I walked there yesterday, I just didn't know how to find it) and this is an interesting part.
    We were led into a dark room with a curtain. Then they opened the curtain and the scene was impressive. There were about 20 guys standing in three rows behind a glass wall, all wearing only black boxers under flattering light. Mamasan asked me to choose. Despite a large number of guys, I couldn't find anyone I like. Many are quite big with a lot of tattoos. Some do look like they just murdered some customer somewhere and then came back here to murder some more. I know a certain member in this forum would be in heaven if he were in my shoes, so I discreetly tag him @vinapu.
    Guide checked his sources and found another sauna-massage place nearby. So we walked to Love Spa just a few blocks away in Street 350 only to see that customers are leaving and the place is about to close too.

    Turned out they don't have a fixed closing time. They open at noon and would close when there are only a few customers left. Entry: 10K riels (2.5$). I asked staff what should be busy time and they said it depends. Sometimes, customers come and see that there are not so many people around so they leave. In other words,  it's busy when it's busy. Regarding masseurs, they only had two on duty and one look at them dashed all my hope for a massage with happy ending.
    We took grab tuk-tuk back to the center (it's really cheap, less than 1.5 USD each way) and stopped by HECO first. Again checked with the staff, this time the communication went smoothly as I have Guide as translator. They had 5 boys on duty today, 2 busy with customers, 3 available. Again the pictures on the phone, and again I pointed at the same guy yesterday, and again he was not in the house and I could come back the next day. I told Guide they told me exactly the same thing yesterday, and he passed the message. Turned out: to make sure he's here when I come, I need to make a booking. But I prefer to book only when I see the boy in person, so we left for Blue Chilli, about 3 min walk away.
       
    They have drag shows every Thu, Fri and Sat (closed on Sunday) at 11pm and the Cambodian mamasan (or manager/owner, I'm not sure) said their Queen troupe is the best in Cambodia. The bar was empty at that point but guy said if we come back around 10h30 pm, we would have to stand because it would be packed.
    Still early (9h30pm), I decided to move to POC nearby to check them out. Earlier, they did tap me on Grindr and their profile shows this info

    Boy shows means boys dancing in revealing clothes and currently they have only 3 coyote boys but staff told me they were not here tonight.
    So we went in. Tiny and empty, same as Blue Chilli. 

    My cocktail drink cost 4.25 USD. Guide told me all the staff here are gay and can go with customers. You buy them drink (4.5 USD, boy gets 1 USD) and talk and negotiate the price. If you want to off them, bar fine is 10 USD. Just like in Thailand. There were 4 waiters milling around, 3 in uniforms and 1 in plain white t-shirt, who looks youngest and also cutest to me.

     
    I asked Guide how much boys expect for ST and LT. He said it depends on the boy, but ST should be 40-50$ while LT should be 60-100$, then added "For me, I would charge 100$". I don't know how to interpret that last comment so I just let it pass.
    So I waived the boy in plain white shirt over and offered him a drink. He speaks limited English but I had Guide with me, so no problem. 22 years old, 1m80 and 69 kg (a bit big and heavy for my taste but cute face, sweet smile and very nice eyes), from a nearby province. He still lives with his parents and travels to work by his motorbike (45min each way). He just started working here for about a month (having another day job with Amazon), with a salary of 170$ plus tips. That also explains why he dressed differently from other waiters: he's still on probation.
    So I asked the important question: does he go with customers and he said No, he just wants to earn tips by talking to them. He got several offers since working here but always turned them down. I looked questioningly at Guide, who earlier said all the staff here are offable.
    So I sought the boy's social contact, thinking maybe it's better and more discreet if I do the negotiation via messaging. Turned out he's indeed a newbie, no Blued, Hornet or Grindr accounts, doesn't even have Line. FB and Instagram only. 

    I then tried another tactic, asking Guide to ask him why he didn't want to go with customers especially when he chooses to work in such a place. He said he doesn't want to go with local customers. I was like "I'm not Cambodian. You want to go with me?" I looked at the boy, who was embarrassed and averted his eyes and in turn looked at Guide. Guide was like "Come on!" Finally he slowly nodded, then said something in Khmer to Guide. Guide told me he said yes not just because of money but also because he likes me, so it's fifty-fifty.
    Then we moved to the part of price negotiation. He wanted me to make my offer first because he said he never had to deal with things like this before. Thinking about the last night deal, I said 40$ then Guide translated back (but I suspected he said something along that "everyone asks for 50, you should ask him for 50 too" line). So indeed the boy said he would go for 50$. Deal!
    To make sure that nothing wasn't lost in translation, I asked again if I really am his first customer. Confirmed, adding: he wasn't even sure what he's expected to do when with a customer. At that point, I had to ask if he slept with men before. Yes, got a boyfriend but already broke up, he was a bottom in that relationship. 

    The "first customer" thing reminds me of one Thai boy who worked as a waiter in the old Jupiter (when it was still at the place where Moonlight now is). I offed him from the bar and had great time. He was a newbie, just started working at Jupiter and it looked like I was his first customer, fresh and nice, did whatever I told him to do and was undemanding. Then the second time when I told him to go straight to my hotel, I could tell his behavior changed. Asked for more money, asked for taxi fares, brought me a card with some English writing (most words misspelt, including my name) :), kept asking when I would see him again. Obviously, someone told him to do all kinds of stuff to win me over and more importantly get more money. He tried, but very awkwardly  
    Back to the current situation. A group of young locals entered the bar just before show time and they all know Guide. So Guide picked the youngest and most small-built among them and literally pimped him to me as another option. I smiled and asked how much his friend wanted for ST. The expected answer: 50$.
    Then the POC show started a little late than 11pm, around the same time as the one in Blue Chilli. Since my waiter boy could only leave at the end of the show, we stayed to watch it. It was kinda meh.

    There was only one drag queen standing out to me, whom I tipped 2$ (as I saw someone tipped the performer before her 5000 riels or 1.25$).

    There was one boy dancer, who Guide said used to work with him in Toolbox before the bar closed down for good (he said Owner is back to Thailand now) and Guide appeared to pimp this one to me too. Boy is cute and I may consider if I didn't have the waiter boy first (but his dancing was all over the place, I wouldn't hire him to dance in bed).

    (to be continued)
  22. Like
    Min reacted to macaroni21 in To tip or not ?   
    Responding to the original post:
    In all the times that I have been in Thailand, I can't recall an occasion when the foot massager assigned to me was a ladyboy. Most of the time, they are quite clearly straight lads. But if I was put on the spot like you were by a foot massager going on about tips, I would probably have stopped the session midway and spoken to the manager, asking for a change. At the very least, I would speak to the manager before I left even if I chose to let the session continue.
    I believe the key question was how much to tip under such circumstances. I wouldn't tip. I agree with z909: "there's a moral obligation to NOT tip bad service, as it means behaviour will continue unchanged and other customers will suffer."
    It is irrelevant whether the foot massager gets a sort of salary from the shop or not, though my information from two of these workers some years back was that they do. These two were unusual in that they were not straight lads, and were more than happy to meet after work and provide erotic services in my hotel room, where I took the opportunity to ask them about the business model in foot massage shops. It's irrelevant too how poor their families are. I am not in Thailand to perform charity. If I buy a service, they should provide it to satisfaction. 
    Responding to the discussion about how much to tip in normal circumstances:
    If my memory serves me, the typical one hour foot massage would be priced at 250 - 400 baht, depending on how touristy the location is. My rule of thumb is to tip the worker 50% to 100% of the listed price. In theory, quality of service should determine whether it's closer to 50% or 100%, but, to be frank, I don't really know how to judge quality for foot massages. The dirty secret is probably how handsome the foot massager is, and how friendly he is. Did my heart flutter? is the test. A pretty face, nice bod and a sweet smile may well raise the quality rating in my estimation, haha. Which also means that if I was assigned a female worker she'd never make it past the bare 50%. Nothing would have fluttered and she could never be pretty enough. 🤪
     
  23. Confused
    Min got a reaction from GWMinUS in Min's tidbits about my Thailand and Vietnam experiences   
    Or the first 5000 if he came from Vinapu's room
  24. Like
    Min reacted to vinapu in Unexpected reunions and few shattered dreams - 22nd trip to Thailand in May 2022   
    Day 17
    In the morning K dropped me at  Foodland but decided to skip breakfast so I had it alone but not for long as few minutes later his bar friend M, the masseur , was passing by , saw me through the window and joined in but just for juice as he was after breakfast already .
      Today another change of  hotels as for today and tomorrow I decided to splurge a bit and treat myself with the view so booked myself junior suite in so called Sky zone in Baiyoke Sky Hotel. I assumed it’s very high and hoped for a view.
     It will be first time since 2001 when I will not sleep in Bangkok in the Silom area. I took a bit circular way , BTS to Phaya Thai and then 1 stop by airport train ARL to Ratchaprop and then short walk which did not make much sense as it cost me 30+15=45 baht and taxi would be 80-100 and bus 77 may be 10, both being faster but I had fun doing that way.
    While hotel stands impressively tall,  vicinity is less so being market area , looks messy and unkempt.
    Getting to reception requires elevator to 18 floor where one changes to another set of elevators to floors    19-77. To get  to  restaurant area on even higher floor /breakfast on 81 st/ or to moving platform on top of the building  / 83 + walk up  / there’s another set of elevators. Good news is , for hotel residents view from the top is free. Ordinary visitors are using  another elevator from ground floor.
     On reception I got good and bad news. Good was that I can check in right away even if  it was only noon on condition I accept room with two twin beds instead of booked King size one. No problem at all. Twin beds are not that small in Thailand, at least not in decent hotels. Bad news was freezing information that for guests brought after 6 p.m. I will be charged 1000 baht and they require 3000 baht deposit. About 1000 baht I said nothing just thinking ‘lets  see “ , for 3000 I was prepared with cash  but since it was in small denomination I requested that the same package will be returned to me which they approved placing it in the envelope with my name and amount.
     I got room on 65 th floor and as soon I opened door I swear  in my native language. It was swear of good impression instead of mellow ‘ wow’  or even ‘ o fuck ! “ . It was room with the view facing  River and what view it was ! Half Bangkok from Swampy to new parliament building, all through panoramic windows. Room itself was impressive to with separate dining and sleeping areas, couch , coffee table, regular table , desk and separate a/c for sitting and sleeping areas. Bathroom was size of small hotel room in say, Nantra Silom  with bathtube and separate shower.  All that for  about 1800-1900.
     I always say I don’t like better hotels because I find it harder to leave the room and it was precisely the case. I made a tea  and was sitting at the table admiring the view. Not idle though since I organized in meantime arrival of Besty , the masseur. He was as impressed as was I , I even offered to take him to the top to check view but he declined so we went to the business and first business decision was which bed we will be using, one on  the left or on the right? 
    As before  very good session although massage part was quite short as it looked that he really likes me so we shortened massage part  in order to extend part  “ I really like you” . It worked beyond expectations. Now , almost three weeks after I returned I think my biggest mistake that trip was underusing  him , he should be my guest daily on regular basis . I think my pro LT bias clouded my judgement as he was not interested in LT saying simply ‘short time is better” when I asked.
     After he left I went to check area, I must say that when comes to shopping,  markets and shops  there at Pratunam beat both Silom area and Chatuchak market in  both in prices and selection. Of course we are talking everyday stuff , not real Rolexes and  Channels.
    That wandering brought me in Phaya Thai station are where I decided to see what ‘s going on in Ganymede spa which is located in no exit soi just by the station.  Three guys on duty, I picked up smiling one as usual, I was explained that his minimum tip is 1500 for 1.50 hr session which is exactly my standard.
     While guy was handsome and hunky, massage was strong and professional, afters were non existing.
    He did not make any suitable motions, I was waiting for him and 90 minutes passed ,  me being just thoroughly massaged as to compensate for shortage of this on session with Besty.
    As somebody noticed when I reported it originally , that’s danger of places with high minimum tip.
    But it was not a case few days ago when I went to Jey Spa ?
    Anyways no harm done other than bit disappointment, my second massage this trip with afters absent.
    From there  straight to Patpong to meet  world record holder Dit with 15 offs  and take him  for our 16th. Who greeted me in Dreamboys door ?. No one less than Soviet, guy mentioned few times already, last seen few day ago in Dreamboys Pattaya where he was one of 5 boys drinking with me in the bar. So much for Dreamboys hiring only Thais , Soviet is Cambodian. It turned out he tries his luck there.
    Having different plans for tonight I forced 100 baht into his briefs, not even very deep, kind of Vinapu Tuck Light as I had that pleasure in the past on quite a few occasions. I checked stage where Dit was looking worried seeing my antics by the door, motioned him to come over, told mamasan that I’m skipping drinks part, paid 500 off fee and of we went to G’Bangkok for the dinner , my first meal since that M accompanied breakfast in the morning.
    Owner discretely whispered “ change today ‘ since Dit is no hunk and he saw me with hunks only so far. To get to hotel  I decided  we need limousine on such glorious occasion so we took tuk-tuk  for o a whooping 200 baht  but great events demand great expense.
    When we arrived I realized that my  refrigerator is beer deprived so we went to 7/11 and on the way Dit spotted some shoes he was interested in . Since he bargained price down to 350 I financed that, in fact I suggested we buy 2 pairs but he was always modest in his requests and declined.
    Nobody stopped us by the elevators to demand that 1000 extra fee so we went undisturbed and while in elevator I noticed he still has his bar number attached to his jeans only half covered by the t-shirt !
    In the room we had 4 or 5 years to catch since our last meeting in Sept 2017 ( I just checked my register) so while talking  we dried those bottles we  just bought. I asked about his brother Fai whom I recall as great masseur and learned he works in Sathorn Spa , asked why he left Arena, asked how his daughter is doing and learned  she is like me and likes boys he said.
     It was different off than all others, not much fire left after so many offs and years and when we went to bed it was like sleeping with husband of 20 years not a guy half of my age. But I was so happy that next morning , 18th of this trip,  morning of my birthday  I could welcome it in his company.   
     
  25. Haha
    Min reacted to 18past19 in Unexpected reunions and few shattered dreams - 22nd trip to Thailand in May 2022   
    mutually consented rape would have been fun!
    at least he asked for your permission. 😏
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