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given how many people voted by mail for the first time it's not a surprise that it is taking so long to count the ballots. The system isn't really set up to conduct elections this way in most places. In states like PA the Republican legislature wouldn't allow the local election officials to even open the ballots until election day while others like Florida sensibly allow for the mail ballots to be counted in advance of election day as they arrive. Trump got so many votes for a variety of reasons. There is so much brainwashing going on all over the world right now. Social media is turning a lot of us into idiots and the craziest voices get amplified. Add in the propaganda TV networks. Poor educational system. And for sure plenty of racism, but also the wealthy class has set the poor people against each other so they're distracted while they're all being robbed. Sadly our whole system has been corrupted, primarily by the Republicans. Reagan was the beginning of the end. But the unrepresentative Senate and gerrymandered House (and state legislatures) have created a dynamic where minoritarian rule is in place in a feedback loop so it will just continue to get worse. I saw an estimate the other day that by 2040 the Republicans will probably have 80 Senators due to the way populations are shifting. Essentially what needs to happen is masses of progressives moving to the rural states. But we all live in the blue states for good reasons. So getting enough of us out to the red hinterlands will be difficult. Maybe the crazies will all kill each other off with the virus. At least we appear to averted disaster for the moment. There's plenty of work to be done.

I Told Sunset ep 2 and behind the scenes

it's crazy how many of these there are. I watched episode 1 of I Told Sunset About You last weekend.

Sadly I've found that that Airbnb reviews aren't always accurate either. Last year I stayed at a place in Busan, South Korea based partly on the stellar reviews. When I arrived I found it to be nowhere near as nice as everyone said. The host had some documents in the apartment basically begging for 5 star reviews which it appeared other guests were happy to do. I left a more realistic review. I was in Toronto a couple of years ago and stayed at an apartment with a spectacular view of CN Tower. But otherwise was very poorly maintained even though the building was almost brand new. I probably should have paid more attention to the mixed reviews in that case. For a weekend it was OK though. Unfortunately a lot of places now really frown on Airbnb (including the building I live in which prohibits such short term rentals). So I've soured a bit on the concept even though I have stayed in some very nice places that were really cheap.

Whenever I write a review I try to be even-handed and thorough. Maybe too thorough. Usually there are good points and bad points to any stay or things that could be improved. I used to review ever hotel stay on TA, but it got to feel like work after a while so now I will if a stay is remarkable (one way or the other). I think it's also important to have reasonable expectations. If I'm traveling in the developing world (unless it's a big capital city or major tourist destination like Siem Reap) I tone down the expectations. My most recent trip was to Sri Lanka which has a bit of a mix but is still developing its tourism industry. Some remote areas don't have too many choices.

"gone missing"? The police said they removed it. No big surprise.

here in the US young people (20-40) are being infected at high rates in the states having big outbreaks right now. Deaths are less frequent but not unknown in that younger age group. I see that Thailand is allowing large gatherings. Concert venues and bars are operating like before the pandemic if my FB is showing the norm. Packed clubs with people drinking and singing, etc. I won't be hugely surprised if there's a spike like seems to be happening again in most countries.

that is sad. I've already figured that I won't get to travel until autumn 2021 at the soonest. The world really has changed

I've been thinking about this a good bit lately. Poor people who are barely surviving everywhere are in big trouble now.

I am not aware that they ever had a visitable office. I don't think this Utopia is the same as the former Utopia Tours which became Purple Dragon after the unpleasantness that attempted to shut them down. The tour company is out of business and had an office on Rama IV

certainly pollution and waste are huge problems in most of the developing world. Even Bhutan which has a reputation as heaven on earth (as long as you don't pull back the curtain) has a huge solid waste problem. Or at least it did when I was there several years ago. I suspect it's even worse now.

travelgayasia.com includes India but doesn't have a huge amount of info Utopia also has some info https://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsindi.htm And the Nomadic Boys have been there https://nomadicboys.com/category/gay-travel-destinations/south-asia/india/

I was recently in Taiwan for Taipei Pride. While I was in town I visited MuDan Spa (www.muddan.com). Their website is very good and it shows photos of their "team". All totally handsome. I think I would basically have been happy with any of them. I contacted them via Line and asked who was available that day. They work by appointment only. They included photos of who was available and we worked out a mutually agreeable time. I chose Ricky a cute, compact 24 yo. They provided directions to their place which ended up being an upscale condo building near-ish the Longshan Temple MRT. They ask you to wait outside and message when you arrive and the masseur goes down to get you. The condo was beautiful. I don't know exactly how many units they have or if they are just careful about how they schedule. I did see one other guy who I am pretty certain was one of their masseurs in the lobby of the building. It looked like someone actually lives in the apartment. The sofa and some furniture were piled up off to the side and there was a nice massage table in the room. I showered and then we got going. I scheduled a 90 minute massage which ended up being perfectly timed. Ricky spoke only a little English, but was very sweet. His technique was a bit unusual with lots of elbow and forearm action on pressure points. He used a reasonable amount of oil. Eventually things moved on to a body-to-body massage so of course we were both naked at that point. Then he had me flip over. It was quite sensual in the end and I was quite happy. He has a great little body and was quite interactive. After we finished we showered together. He used Google translate on his phone to basically tell me I should leave the building on my own. I spent pretty much exactly US$100 - NT$2400 for the massage (I don't know how much goes to the spa and how much goes to the masseur). I tipped 600 on top of that and he seemed very happy with that. The only negative was that he was sniffling quite a lot. And I ended up with a cold a few days later. I don't know if I caught it from him or elsewhere as lots of people were sniffling around town. But it pretty much made the last week of my trip a lot less fun. I had planned to go back and try out a couple of other guys before I left town, but since I was sick I couldn't. But in the end this was head and shoulders above the other spas I have visited in Taipei over the years. The apartment is very nice and their selection of masseurs is definitely top of the line. Casper seems to have the most reviews on TravelGayAsia and no doubt he's a hunk.

I always arrange for a car service. It's more expensive, but it's a nice sedan and even if there's traffic you're not really stressing over the meter or anything. I use S&P Limousine. But I think most of them charge about the same. www.splimousine.com I get a slightly cheaper rate as a return customer. You meet their rep at the pre-arranged door at the arrivals level and she will handle liasing with the driver and walk you out the curb.

it was a big event for sure. The parade took 3 hours to pass my location from start to finish. One of the interesting parts for someone used to more organized Western Pride events where you have groups marching that represent various groups, teams, businesses, etc is that Taipei Pride's parade is much less organized. It seems to be lots more couples and groups of friends. Despite the weather (quite warm) there seemed to be many fewer guys in their underwear (or less). Maybe it's growing up? :-) But it was still fun. It seemed like every gay in Asia was there

I think there's an issue of safety...generally speaking I think it's safe for tourists if you pay attention and avoid the protest areas, tear gas, water cannons... But there's also the issue of inconvenience with the MTR being shutdown frequently to control the protesters, road blocks, vandalism, etc. While I agree the issues are bigger on weekends, there have been plenty of things going on throughout the week. I've been following the situation fairly closely. I had been planning to spend next weekend in HK. But decided before leaving on my trip (I was in S. Korea for 10 days or so and am in Taiwan now) that the disruption at this time in HK meant I would have been stressed out and not really able to enjoy my time. So I am spending a few extra days in Taiwan instead. I think almost every gay in Asia is here for Pride. Today's parade route is almost ridiculously long. But it's warm so I'm sure there will be plenty of scantily clad guys out and about.

I think the recommendation is still to have a colonoscopy at 50 in the US. The gastro doctor who did mine said come back in 5 years. My primary care doctor says 10 years. So I presume the gastro has an incentive to see you more frequently. My primary care doctor teaches at one of the local medical schools and thinks our health care system is a screwed up mess. He has very strong opinions.

One of my flights for early next year was under the axe. The Tuesday flight to IAD was the one cut to here. They rebooked me on the flight the day before which kind of sucks since I will lose a day of my vacation. Since I'm originating in Colombo and they don't operate their CMB-HKG flight on Mondays it took me a bit of research to find a reasonable connection so I could just feed them the flights I want instead of accepting a connection via LAX and a redeye on an AA 737-800 which would have been no fun at all. Hopefully there aren't more cuts before then

I have plans to spend a few days in HK in the autumn after Taipei Pride. So I'm keeping a close eye on what's going on. The US State Dept just raised their warning level. I might just stay in Taiwan and fly out the morning of my flight from HKG to make the connection

exactly. and of course these rich countries that have low birthrates are also intent on blocking all migration. the entire world is an extremely fucked up place these days

did your driver enjoy the show?

The only time I spent more than a few hours in Japan was about 4 years ago when I had about 3 days there and I am pretty sure I was able to get cash with my ATM card although I believe I did use a credit card for most things.

I've never had an issue using my ATM card as long as I contact the bank in advance of my trip

I agree that these days everyone is naked on the internet so when it's time for them to take over no one will bat an eye.

it's kind of crazy how many guys those clubs advertise. I wonder if they're all really available. Most of the time your luggage will be checked through to your final destination (unless you're on separate tickets and airlines without an interline agreement). So you only have to deal with a carry on bag. When I overnight in HK though I always pick up my main bag there and recheck it the next day. But I get a hotel so it's not a problem.