Third floor - trip to SE Asia in Jan/Feb 2026

[vinapu]

What a stupid tittle for trip report – if somebody says that , I won’t blame him . I’d do the same. Still I stick to it. Reason is simple – during my month -long trip which took me to 4 countries of SE Asia I stay in 11 hotels and in 9 of those I was given room on , you guessed it correctly, third floor.

 Arrived at Swampy past midnight. Quite crowded , I was 11^th in priority line. By time I cleared immigration and bought SIM card, my luggage popped out so I could go straight to taxi. Driver suggested 500 to Silom, I agreed but said ‘you pay the tolls”, he nodded approvingly. Considering that meter would be 300 plus 50 airport fee plus 75 tolls, that 500 was not that extortionate . In passing I noticed that exchange booths are giving less then 30 baht for a dollar , never seen dollar that low.

 In taxi I contacted D. He is boy I was watching on Grindr and in June spotted him in Dreamboys. Offed him , we hit it one so in Aug he was my companion for most nights. As enthusiastic on 10^th meeting as he was on 1^st to a degree that I considered D monodiet on Thai part of this trip  but as we learn soon life intervened providing some variety. Few minutes after I entered  my Raya room, one of two this trip NOT on 3^rd floor, phone buzzed – D arrived for reunion, smiling and clingy as always. He once said ‘ my body is yours to enjoy” and that says a lot about his attitude.

 In the morning we had breakfast in hotel and then parted ways. My watch stopped at 1.30. , battery dead I thought so went to soi 5 market to see if I can get it fixed. Battery was good, It was mechanism which died after 25 years of service. But it turned new oner can be had for 400 and watch will be ready in 4 hrs. Then to XOne to exchange money. In the afternoon jet lag started to rise its ugly head but I couldn’t sleep. Guardian Angel passed by and suggested I walk to Prince in  Soi Suan Plu 6 so I did. On main street I noticed barbers are charging 150 for haircut  , shop after shop so went in  first without customers and got spruced up.

 In front of Prince , like last time , James whom I saw first time in Arena back in 2013 welcomed me but somehow Guardian Angel told me to check inside who is available. And there he was – L ,another  guy I was watching on Grindr. Not just standing there but smiling at me so my choice was easy. Mamasan talked me to take VIP room , I gladly did , after all it’s my 1^st day on month long trip. 1.5 hr. session , I thought I’m in paradise or something. Massage great and guy even better, knowing well his job and sensing why I’m there. Stupidly I left my phone in the room so we couldn’t exchange  Line or WhatsApp.

My only hope was I will find him on Grindr and contact him there or if comes to worst , will return to Prince in day or two. What I secured from L was that he is very willing to do Long Time. It looked that between D and L I will have Bangkok part of tip secured.

In the evening meetup in Foodland with two forum members, talk over dinner and when time came , we all three went to Tawan.

 Bar was full, not that it’s hard task to fill it up, but full it was. It was quite refreshing to be in bar knowing that I ‘m not looking for an off. Of course K planted himself  right beside me so I treated him with drink but told him right away, no offs tonight because I like girls now.

 

After show we parted ways , I went to Dreamboys to see what was going on the scene and of course picked up D  for another round  of stamp collecting.

 

Great start for the trip , that day one.

 

 

 

 

[vinapu]

 

After such eventful first day I felt energized even if I already forgot what decent sleep means. Nasty morning news – railway accident near Ubon with crane collapsing on the passing train, reportedly 40 victims. Cleaning lady chased me away from room so I went to XOne to change more money, I like to have pockets full. Lunch with Christian PFC in new Foodland . We talked about Singapore where I’m going in few days. He gave me some leftover money from there.

 In the afternoon I expect guest in the room. Another Grindr massage guy recommended to me by one of our members. In turn I recommended him to another member who was not that much impressed so I was curious who was right. First impression when he showed up – his profile pic on Grindr must be 5 years old if not more . Still looking not bad. I needed that massage and he turned out to be great , well above average . Right coverage and pressure and not inclined to drown me in oil. That part was 5 star. Afters, not so. Very mechanical and clearly there was no spark . We exchanged  Line but I think we both knew it’s in vain. But yes , if I need massage and massage only I’d call him again.

In the evening dinner with Ichigo in Foodland , then to Banana Club in soi 4 for drink outside . Soon one more member joined us and we went inside to see the show – very enjoyable. We distributed few tips. Past midnight I went to hotel, this time alone hoping to get some decent sleep . I even set my lar clock for 11 am in case I sleep that long as I’m changing hotels.

It was not  necessary – I woke up at 7 am .

 Moved from Raya to Baan Silom , it’s where my 3^rd floor room stretch started. For lunch finally I tried highly recommended chicken with cashew nuts at Sarica. All those accoladed were correct – that’s the best version in Bangkok so far. Double of Foodland price but so it serving size, probably enough for two if each orders bowls of rice.

Next sudden bout of sleepiness – jet lag ! In hotel I collapsed on the bed but managed to set alarm in the phone. When it rung I did not know where I’m . For moment I thought I’m at home . It took me a while to regain my consciousness , scary stuff.

In the evening  dinner with 3 members at G’s , soon after we started 4^th one more joined , Jason 1975 straight from the airport.

Next we checked Circus – my first visit there ever. One of models looked familiar – it turned I observe him on X (Twitter), one of hosts looked familiar too – I offed him few times when he was in Hot Male.

At 10 pm , we went to Jupiter where soon Enchanted Elixir joined us, also fresh from the airport.

Friday night but bar was not packed. Show was great but boys parade – as usual, no smiles , disinterested looks, boy timed during walkabout did not even bothered to look at me during next one.

But esthetics are there – all boys were good looking , at least they keep their standards there.

 After the show whole gang , by that time 6 of us , went to Foodland where we spotted one former member, Jason invited 2 boys for a meal and I asked D to join us In short we threw mini party there.

After festivities everybody went his way , D and me walked to hotel for another night of world peace discussion. Before we parted ways at Foodland Jason suggested we threw out karaoke party in the evening. All applauded   

[vinapu]

In the morning breakfast in Foodland , Jason was already there. Updated us about karaoke preparations.

Lunch at Sarica, again 5 members congregated – Kram,  Ichigo, Jason 1975, Enchanted Elixir and what is his name? oh, I know, vinapu.

We agreed to meet at 8 in Banana outside and go for karaoke from there. I, tormented by jet lag went to hotel, fixed alarm for 7.30 and collapsed on the bed,

 Jason organized everything. It needs to be said it was my first karaoke ever. He offed 3 boys, including one of my Midnight bar favorite hosts P and our congregation met at Banana then we marched to soi 6 to Club where room was ready for us. . We ordered some drinks and Burmese food and singing started.  I was surprised to discover  that all three boys have quite nice voices and their singing went very well. D showed up after a while as well.

 I liked whole experience and I’m eternally grateful to Jason for putting it all together. P kept me company all that time for which he was decently tipped, glad to notice D was not jealous. Rightly so because at end of day it was him who got invited to check my stamp collection again. I sensed P was bit disappointed.

After 3 hours  part was over , we went to Foodland for a late supper.

 At 4 am D announced he needs to go as he needs to pick up his cousin from the airport. I was not happy to hear that and for a moment thought “ is our party over for good with such antics “ but resigned to my fate. Haste to say that , while poorly handled , it was likely legitimate excuse  as our subsequent meetings after I returned to Bangkok  went without glitch .

Breakfast at Foodland, Jason was there already. He is going back home today but we will be meeting in Singapore tomorrow evening we agreed .

 If you recall from day one, I met L at Prince but we couldn’t communicate since because I did not have my phone with me. Luckily today I spotted him on Grindr , messaged him and invited to my room at 5 pm. Greet two hours together. It turned out he lives close to my hotel.  After he left I packed my stuff for tomorrow’s flight to Singapore and decided to leave most of my stuff in suitcase in the hotel. I love to travel light.

At 9pm meeting with ichigo and another member at Banana. It  was time to say good byes to  both, Ichigo  went home as he felt bit under water  and another member and me  trekked to Good Boys. Instantly we become object of attention but today it was offing time for me as I had other ideas. But bought a drink for Burmese boy I offed few times in the past . I keep him in high regard because when he was in Jupiter he has distinction of being first ever Jupiter boy who smiled at me.

After we left I send message to L asking if he is able to return to my room for another round. Answer was immediate and positive and since he lives nearby we both arrived at the lobby at the same time. I needed some consolator before flying to Singapore for the first time in my life in the morning .      

     

[jason1975]

Glad you enjoyed karaoke @vinapu 

I feel guilty. You wrote your trip report which happened one month ago but I have been so lazy to write mine!

[ichigo]

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures. Glad to have been a small part of your trip - may our paths cross sooner rather than later! 

[mauRICE]

7 minutes ago, ichigo said:

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures. Glad to have been a small part of your trip - may our paths cross sooner rather than later! 

With Aunty Vin's magic calendar, rest assured it'll be sooner rather than later. 😉

[Keithambrose]

2 hours ago, mauRICE said:

With Aunty Vin's magic calendar, rest assured it'll be sooner rather than later. 😉

Presumably the magic calendar is on his magic carpet!

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, ichigo said:

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures. Glad to have been a small part of your trip - may our paths cross sooner rather than later! 

the same here.  In sharp contrast with Aug 2024 trip when I sweared not to return to Thailand before I will be 90, after this trip  i feel desire to return   soon after I landed home. Thinking about next trip intensively and there's only one obstacle - money. Fortunately coming two months are historically my best earning months in entire year.

[mauRICE]

38 minutes ago, vinapu said:

...In sharp contrast with Aug 2024 trip when I sweared not to return to Thailand before I will be 90, after this trip  i feel desire to return   soon after I landed home.

So you're 90 now? Impressive. May you have many more good years to come. My maternal grandmother is 103. Still manages herself, showers on her own and walks unaided. But we don't leave her alone and somebody is always with her, much to her chagrin at times.🤷

[vinapu]

8 hours ago, mauRICE said:

So you're 90 now? 

answer is : no. I changed my mind in Jan 2025, decided not  to wait that long  and I'm glad I did.

[Olddaddy]

9 hours ago, vinapu said:

the same here.  In sharp contrast with Aug 2024 trip when I sweared not to return to Thailand before I will be 90, after this trip  i feel desire to return   soon after I landed home. Thinking about next trip intensively and there's only one obstacle - money. Fortunately coming two months are historically my best earning months in entire year.

These are the months the full moon 🌙 🌙 is out ?

Are you a psychiatrist by any chance?

[Olddaddy]

9 hours ago, mauRICE said:

So you're 90 now? Impressive. May you have many more good years to come. My maternal grandmother is 103. Still manages herself, showers on her own and walks unaided. But we don't leave her alone and somebody is always with her, much to her chagrin at times.🤷

💙💚💛💜

What stories she could tell .

 

 

[vinapu]

 

Singapore , no boy business  but active forum participation. Just tourist stuff

 When I was  in Thailand last time , in  Sept 2025 I sternly ordered myself that next time in the region I must  go to Singapore since I never been there and clock is ticking. No only wanted to get new country to visit but also was curious to see if opinions I was getting about the place  from various trusted sources will confirm ( boring , super clean , modern and efficient, expensive etc.)

So at 4 am  alarm sounded, I sent L home with his well deserved tip ,spruced myself up,  left most of my goodies with hotel  till my return in about 3 weeks and set to regional tour  with 1^st step being ordering taxi from Grab  to take me to Don Muang. I did not wait longer than 3 minutes, fee came to 359 +50 baht toll , not sure it was much cheaper than  just stopping taxi on the street at that time. This was first time ever I used that app at all (locally where I live I’m using something else if need arises, rarely though ).

 Managed to have some meal in coupon restaurant  before checking in. Window seat allowed me to see on approach famous Marina Bay sands building so I knew I’m arriving in Singapore indeed.

I had hotel in central location , close to subway station so I took subway  to get there from the airport and on advice from lady on the airport station I used my credit card to pay for feres instead of  buying tourist card . It was sound advice as at end of my two day stay it turned out I saved few dollars that way.  I did not bother with exchanging money since I purchased Singapore dollars in Bangkok. But I bought SIM card and it was not good investment at 35 S$  for just 2 days  so I got instant confirmation that city state is  not a cheap place

Since room was not available – way too early , I dropped bag in hotel and set to see the city. It was short walk to Museum Of Asian Civilisations, admission for senior whopping 20 S$ but I found it very interesting but not overwhelming. At 3 pm went to hotel to claim my room, more like  prison cell without window but it had all conveniences including private bathroom. Lack of window was compensated by the light from corridor seeping from under the door  so it was not completely dark at night inside.

Soon after Jason , who volunteered to show me his homeland after work on both days,   showed up  and off we went to twin attraction of Flower Dome and Cloud forest. Admission 46 S$ but it was worth it as place is vast and it gave me chance to see up close live dinosaurs. We spent few hours there and when we were leaving it was about time for short walk to Gardens by the Bay  to see light and sound show there, nightly free attraction attended by zillions of people. We treated ourselves with durian ice cream , my first. Fascinating fruit although in my opinion not as smelly  and not as heavenly tasting as legends have it.

Walked to hotel through city center and  my first Singapore day was over.

Next day morning I walked from hotel to acclaimed Arab Street, visited mosque there and checked 2 churches on my way. From there to Little India , bought mandarins and paid less than in Bangkok so obviously not everything is expensive there returned  to hotel where soon Jason showed up and we set  to Chinatown, short walk from hotel, with 1^st step hawker centre where we had a meal and it was tasty as well as inexpensive – my duck with rice was 5.50 S$.

Then Chinatown, Buddha Tooth temple and bus to mains hopping  district , Orchard street. There I got fascinated with gold bar selling machine, not that I bought anything there.  From there we crossed half country by bus to the airport  to see internal waterfall and sound and light show there.

Additional attraction was supermarket there where I bought Malaysian tea BOH   which I like a lot and can’t see anywhere else.

Next  morning I went to Sentosa island  just to have a look. Admission was expensive and I had only half day at my disposal so I did not partake in entertainment there.  My last thing to see , short walk from hotel was Merlion, symbol of city state . I took obligatory photo , return to hotel, took my luggage and went to the airport  from where I had afternoon  flight to my next destination – Da Nang in Vietnam.

To summarise , I liked Singapore, I should allow myself  day or two more. As for stereotypes , yes , very modern. Very clean although not as shiny as legends have it but if there’s piece of garbage somewhere , it’s certainly visible from far and stands out. Hotels and admissions are at western levels – I paid more for 2 nights in windowless room than for 5 nights in room with sea view in Da Nang . On another hand public transport and food in hawker centres was very affordable and as I said , mandarins were cheaper than in Bangkok.    

 

[vinapu]

6 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

These are the months the full moon 🌙 🌙 is out ?

Are you a psychiatrist by any chance?

full moon is out every month. 

No, sorry I can't help you but take my advice , don't dilute gin or whisky with anything , particularly not with water or coke zero

[vinapu]

few pics from Singapore to enliven the thread

 

[vinapu]

 

[TMax]

Thanks for sharing vinapu, always love reading your reports 👍

[macaroni21]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

it gave me chance to see up close live dinosaurs.

Really live? Too much gin and gin?

[mauRICE]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

...we went to twin attraction of Flower Dome and Cloud forest. Admission 46 S$ but it was worth it as place is vast and it gave me chance to see up close live dinosaurs...

I'm surprised you paid SGD46 to see them when you could have seen and petted them for free at Jomtien Complex. 🤔🤷

[floridarob]

On 2/21/2026 at 8:38 PM, vinapu said:

When it rung I did not know where I’m . For moment I thought I’m at home . It took me a while to regain my consciousness , scary stuff.

Happens to me a lot... a couple of times I dreamt I was in a different city than I really was and panicked about how I'm going to make  my next flight 😳

Stories are more interesting, to me at least, when you use people's screen names....either if we've met them before or just by reading their posts/comments it puts the story more in perspective since we know who you're with/talking about in a way....make sense?

[mauRICE]

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

Stories are more interesting, to me at least, when you use people's screen names....either if we've met them before or just by reading their posts/comments it puts the story more in perspective since we know who you're with/talking about in a way....make sense?

Agreed, otherwise I'll just think of them as Dinosaur 1, Dinosaur 2, etc. Not very interesting.