PeterRS

I'd say enjoy your life whilst you can - whatever your age. Like many my worry as I aged has always been health. What if something should happen requiring major surgery and long term care? I have had friends, sadly most no longer alive, with all manner of medical ailments which have severely hampered their ability to enjoy life. One was so severely overstressed, his body just gave out. So I now realise the important thing is to know your medical situation and, as it were, enjoy life around that. For years I have had a minor medical ailment in my digestive sytem that requires a course of medication every 6-8 months or so. When I had no choice but change insurance policies, this being a pre-exisiting condition was not covered. So with funds being tight, I enrolled at the public King Chulalongkorn Hospital across from Lumphini Park. I cannot stress enough that the doctor I see there is fantastic. She spends three days a week in public hospitals and three in expensive private ones. Sure, the facilities are not up to the standard of Bumrungrad or BNH and waiting lines are considerably longer. But when her consultation fee is 200 baht and the facilities charge 50 baht compared to 1,600 and 350 at Bumrungrad, I'll happily put up with some incoveniences. When I first consulted her and went through my history, she decided she wanted a second opinion. She had me do a CT scan which had never been recommended at Bumrungrad. That threw up a cyst on the pancreas. Knowing how deadly pacreatic cancer can be, that scared me. She reassured me it was small but fractionally larger than she was comfortable with and so had me do an MRI to check if there was anything underneath it. Since then I have had 3 more MRI scans at 6 monthly intervals and I've now had two on an annual basis. Nothing has been found and next year should be my last MRI. I estimate the cost of the various scans has been well under a fifth of that at a private hospital. Prior to each scan, a cheap kidney function test has been required. Thankfully, no problems. At the end of this month I have an appointment with a Professor of Retinology about removing the start of cataracts and repairing a tear in one of my retinas that I have had for 25 years. The cost will again be less than a fifth of that quoted 6 months ago at Rutnin Eye Hospital. I did splash out at the start of last year when BNH offered 65% off certain procedures like colonoscopy, gastroscopy, heart MRI and carotid artery unltrasound. Having been certain that with my lifestyle and work-related stress, my heart would not be in prime condition. I did the lot and got a completely clean bill of heath. That cheered me up no end. So far, therefore, medical conditions have not stopped me enjoying life to the full. And I know that with luck my body is unlikely to crack up any time soon. Like @floridarob though, if I should be run over by that bus tomorrow, I know I would take my leave of the world with a smile on my face. There are a dozen or more guys already up there I'll be delighted to see again. On the other hand, if the trapdoor were to open, there are likely to be a lot more down there that I guess I'd rather not see again LOL.

I have a few pics of near naked guys at the Taipei Parades I have joined. For those not acquainted with gay life in Beijing, Destination is the hottest gay club in the city. I suppose this guy should be regarded as clothed - with balloons!

I have a simpe rule. If going up on an airport escalator, my suitcase is on the step in front of me, my hand firmly on the handle. At the end of the escalator, I lift the case slightly so the transition to terra firma is simple. If going down, the case on the step behind me. I am therefore always in control of it. I have seen quite a few instances of passengers who lose control of their cases because either the case is in front of them going down or behind them going up. I have also seen at least six instances of passengers at BKK with over packed trolleys going down the moving walkway to the taxi rank with the trolley in front. When it comes to the end of the walkway, the trolley somehow snags slightly and all the bags fall off. Instead of getting out of the way, these passengers merely stand at the foot thereby causing near chaos behind them. Large signs illustrating how to deal with suitcases and trolleys could help.

Darn it! I knew I had forgotten something! 🤯

Not wholly accurate, dear @vinapu. Slavery from Africa was introduced to the USA in 1619. A few years earlier, the Pilgrim Fathers met members of the native American Nauset tribe. So the presence of others than white immigrants was well known for over 150 years before Jefferson made his Declaration. Thereafter there have been endless examples of "inalienable rights" being untrue. The genocide of many millions of native Indian tribes who stood in the way of the country's expansion westards. The Jim Crow laws in the south enforcing segregation. This was seemingly an attempt to heal the wounds between the North and South which resulted in the Civil War, but they are still being felt today. 42 million Americns exist on food stamps. Again not unlike other countries, the small number of rich hold much of the country's wealth compared to the poor. In the USA, the top 1% control 32.3% of the wealth; the bottom 50% hold 2.6%. During the covid years, wealth held by US billionaires actually increased by 70%. According to Polifact and other sources, in 2011 the 400 wealthiest Americans had more wealth than half of all American's combined! I find it rather difficult to align these rights with those about all being born equal and having an equal right to the pursuit of happiness.

Funny thing is I have never done this in Thailand, even in the 'old' days (well, my old days!)! But I have met money guys in shopping malls in Manila (decades ago), and others not seeking any money more recently in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Melbourne. Gaydar is a remarkable attribute, along with a nice smile and a few words of the local language! I know that hotel staff are not permitted into guests' rooms unless for room service and cleaning. In SIngapore at the 5-star Pan Pacific hotel I once had one cute young guy take toom service a little beyond what I expected. He had brought my breakfast and I thought him especially gorgeous. I was in my bath robe and made sure there was plenty of eye contact. As he was leaving, he said he was going off shift in 30 minutes, Would I like him to come back? Now, that could have meant to collect the room service trolley. But I think we both realised it was more than that. Sure enough, we ended up with 30 minutes of unexpected but very enjoyable sex! I would have loved that to happen in quite a few of the hotels I have stayed in since then. Alas it was a one time wonder!

Happy Birthday USA! The world has much to be grateful to you for. But I seriously wonder how much progress has actually been made on that Declaration. It's perfectly clear that, as in many countries, all men and women in the USA are not created equal with those inalienable Rights. 247 years is a long time to make that work. Clearly not long enough.

Taiwan has lots of beaches. I guess those of us who visit regularly have less interest in them. I can say that the water off the south coast is crystal clear - far more so than almost anywhere I have visited off Thailand. For those interested there is a gay beach not far from Tamshui station, the west end of the red subway line in Taipei. It's not so easy to find, but I am told there is sometimes activity in the bushes behind the beach. I have also read that there is a nude section but know no-one who has been there.

Both spectators and marchers! But let's be clear that there is no full nudity in the Taipei Pride Parade - at least not that I have ever seen in the many Parades in which I have taken part. A small number of young and fit guys wearing their latest skimpy swimwear are often to be seen. But then the weather at the end of October will almost aways be very warm so that marching in briefs must be very pleasant.

Apologies! Yes, I took one quote and responded to it. I then thought it useful (to some, perhaps) to edit and add part of your second quote. Unfortunately, it is less easy to add in a second original quote, so I merely added the extra sentence. I did not mean to upset you or imply something you did not say. I acknowledge you made two separate statements.

Totally agree. I would never be seen wearing one! As an anecdote, my brother decided that he would like a couple of fake ones for himself and his wife. So I got them on Silom and took them on my next trip to the UK. One afternoon when my brother was working and his wife was supposed to be at work, she had to rush home to get something she had left behind. Entering their house, she thought she heard noises upstairs. She is pretty fearless and immediately shouted something. When she got upstairs the window was open and some drawers had been opened. The only things missing were the two Rolexes! I wonder what the thief thought when he tried to sell them! If Rolex takes your fancy, one good place to buy second hand originals is Macao. So many gamblers, it seems, sell theirs for just another evening at the tables and then cannot buy them back. There are stores galore with nothing but Rolexes!

So I wonder why you think London's Pride Parade is worthy of mention in any South East Asian newspaper? I may have missed it but I don't recall Sydney's Pride Parade being mentioned in the Bangkok Post this year.

I know. Hardly a subject for a gay forum. But I am nearly at my wits end. I have had one of the older original Nespresso machines for 4 years and love it. The only problem is that the capsules are now quite expensive if you want more than one small cup. So when I saw the new machines with the larger capsules, I did the math and realised that even with the greater cost of the larger capsules, the machine would pay for itself in about 10 weeks. So I bought one along with several boxes of a coffee variety I like. Along with the machine, you get a free box of 12 different capsules. Since I got it home, it has driven me virtually up the wall! I don't want a mug of coffee - just 2 or three much smaller cups. Whenever I tried this, the cup always overflowed. So I went back to Nespresso in Paragon and had a demonstration. The problem, though, is that the three different types of capsule have computer codes underneath and the cup size has to be programmed. You can programme one type to dispese only small cups until the capsule is 'dead'. But if you insert a different type of capsule, you are going to have a cup that massively overflows as happened to me this morning. I just wonder if anyone else has had this sort of problem - and how I solve it? Please don't direct me to the instruction book as the tyypeface is almost illegible and the illustrations so feint you can hardly make them out!

I have never even heard of pimping for gay young men in Taiwan. Perhaps it happens for young ladies. But even my Taiwan gay friends have never once heard of it.

If you are a connoisseur, there really is no way to test a fake - unless there is something fractionally wrong with the label - than to open the bottle and try it. But if you happened to own one of the three extant bottles of 1762 Gautier Cognac, the chances of your opening it are slim. It's a collector's item (hopefully!) and it will have a very detailed provenance. The bottle was sold by Sotheby's about 3 years ago for US$118,580. Cheap at the price for a Hong Kong squillinaire!

Thanks for making that point. Whenever I mention that there are young guys I meet on my many regular trips to Taipei who only want to meet foreigners (mostly older foreigners) and that money plays no part in the transaction - apart perhaps from paying for a meal - I seem to get several posters questioning this. I'll just repeat what i wrote in a post about my last trip at the end of May. Visiting the 'new' location of Hans Mens Sauna, a young guy came up to me and said "You don't remember me!" He told me we had met 4 years earlier at the gayish hot spring when he was with his then boyfriend. He'd then been 18. Now at 22 and single again, we ended up in one of the rooms for great sex. Like @TotallyOz's new friend, we have kept in touch and will meet again quite soon.

I love Valetta and cannot imagine so many cruise passengers destroying its atmosphere. Same with Venice, although I believe the daily number is slightly less. It's one reason Venice is moving cruise liners out of the lagoon in the hope this may reduce the overall number of ships. It's also true of Barcelona where in 2019 6,566 daily visitors were from cruise ships. Cruise ships bring chaos as well as cash.

You can also ask: why would London's Pride Parade be mentioned in Thai newspapers? Agree. On the other hand, Taipei's Parade number reflects only the marchers and does not mention the hundreds of thousands watching along the Parade route, many visitors. I do think the Parade itself is the most important element. If there were no Parade participants, there would be no watchers!

As is mine, although perhaps less so. I do have an expensive suitcase which I purchased only because I was taking so many long distance flights each year. It also had a 5-year warranty. Lo and behold, after 4 years and 8 months and an 8 flight trip it got damaged. The maker tried to repair it, but I was not satisfied with it. Without batting the proverbial eyelid, since this was within the warranty period, I was offered the choice of one of three brand new cases at no cost. I still have that second case after 8 years. Three of the wheels have recently had to be replaced but otherwise the money I paid for these two cases that have seen probably 100 flights or more has been excellent value for 13 years of pretty heavy use. Also, while I have never had the enjoyment of a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, thanks to clients I have enjoyed Chateau Margaux 1961 (one of the great years for red Bordeaux), Chateau Haut Brion 1985 and Chateau Latour 1987. SInce these were in fine restaurants I have no doubt they were originals - and I thought they were fabulous! But these wines deserve excellent cusine. I am perfectly happy with a glass of reasonable Chateau plonk - or Australian, New Zealand, South African, Italian, Chilean etc. wine - in a cheap restaurant. As for most other brand name products, though, I pass.

Another popular habit when China was developng its private sector in the 1990s and 2000s was to show off to friends how you had an unparalleled knowledge of wine. It was not uncommon to see groups of businessmen at dinner with a bottle or two of Chauteau Mouton Rothschild. Whether it was the hugely expensive real thing or rebottled and replaced with cheap plonk, I doubt if any of them knew. For it was a common habit to dilute the wine with coca cola!

The UK newspapers are full of photos and comments on yesterday's Pride Parade. It certainly seems to have been a fun event. Many comment that as many as 30,000 took part. 30,000? How is it that London has such a small number when Taipei has around 200,000 and gets little mention in the UK newspapers? Photo: Reuters Photo: AFP via Getty Images Photo: Press Association

I think you may find that most cruise ships will spend at least one night moored by Pattaya. Friends of mine from the USA docked here about 10 years ago. Their cruise ship spent a night in port so that passengers could have two days in order to see the sights of Bangkok. With Bangkok's traffic, the usual port call from 08:00 to 18:00 will be much too short. For gay cruises, I think at least one night in port will be essential and a vital key selling point.

Initially I was confused. Mr. Wannachai first states, "The new port in Pattaya will be located approximately 1 kilometer away from the coastline and will have the capacity to accommodate two luxury cruise ships simultaneously." That inevitably means pasengers will have to be ferried in to the pier on shore in tenders. Cruise ships mostly have several thousand passengers. The tender process is therefore going to take a very considerable time in both directions. But he then states, "“As for large luxury cruise ships, they require temporary anchoring methods and smaller boats to transport passengers to the shore, which is not convenient for travel.” That being the case, what is the point of building docking facilities 1 kilometer from shore? Did I miss something? It seems iI did for the Bangkok Post has a slightly different and perhaps more logical report. It states the shore facilities will indeed accommodate two cruise liners. But the 1 km refers to a jetty extending 90 degrees from the shore which will enable another two ships to berth alongside each other with easy coach access to the passengers. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2602183/b7-4-billion-pattaya-cruise-port-promoted With luck, perhaps a cruise or two might be the gay cruises which you can persently obtain in the Mediterranean and out of Fort Lauderdale. These might regenerate interest in the gay bar scene.

In my slightly younger days, I found this was a wonderful way of breaking the ice, as it were, and being joined by a group of handsome dancers. @Olddaddy should try it. Great way to become a people person with cute guys.

Unfortunately, like several youtube videos, this is not avaiable in Thailand.