June 27, 201313 yr Just for information - the annual Taipei Pride Parade will take place on Saturday 26 October this year. Last year, 60,000+ attended - although several websites now claim the number was actually 80,000. However many turned up, it was an amazing day. There is a whole week-end of events organised around the Parade, including several of the hottest disco parties in Asia. Preliminary details are here - http://www.gaytravel4u.com/2013/01/28/gay-pride-taipei-25th-29th-october-2013-taiwan/
June 28, 201313 yr I will be there. I still need to figure out where I am going to stay. Leaning towards an apartment type thing instead of a regular hotel.
June 28, 201313 yr Check out the Ambience Hotel - http://www.ambiencehotel.com.tw/EN/index.aspx?lan=en-US Whilst it's not an apartment hotel, the Elite and Deluxe rooms are spacious and not expensive - around US$100 for the Elite. Breakfast is included, but that's the only let-down for me as it's pretty basic and ends sharp at 10:00 am. The staff are great, the hotel is gay friendly and about a ten minute walk from the nearest subway station. From there it's only 2 stops to the main railway station or 3 to the Red House gay complex in Ximen. And easy to get taxis back at night.
August 24, 201313 yr fountainhall, thanks for the information you have post about Taiwan. Your posts and the guys from Taiwan that I have met in Australia have motivated me to be in Taipei for the 2013 parade. My first visit to Taiwan and the limited information I can find about the parade route is that it starts at the Gay Village. More details about the parade route and the best places to take photos would be appreciated. What time would be best to get to the parade? I will be staying for about two weeks so I will try the hot springs and some of your other suggestions as well.
August 28, 201313 yr fountainhall, thanks for the information you have post about Taiwan. Your posts and the guys from Taiwan that I have met in Australia have motivated me to be in Taipei for the 2013 parade. My first visit to Taiwan and the limited information I can find about the parade route is that it starts at the Gay Village. More details about the parade route and the best places to take photos would be appreciated. What time would be best to get to the parade? I will be staying for about two weeks so I will try the hot springs and some of your other suggestions as well. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/10/28/2003546269 Quote from my own post but fountainhall is not available at present. Hopefully he will return soon as his knowledge about Asia and information sharing is much appreciated. The article in the above link answers most of my questions about the Gay Pride parade and I have a friend from Taiwan returning home from Australia at that time and ready to show me around Taipei.
October 17, 201312 yr Here's the map of the parade route http://twpride.org/twp/?q=node/94 Looks like the main starting point (and ending point?) is the big square/park in front of City Hall near the Grand Hyatt and 101. The whole two route thing seems a little confusing to me. Any ideas on the best location to be? Parade starts at 14:00
October 25, 201312 yr For those who here for the festivities, the parade route has been changed http://twpride.org/twp/?q=active/map Just one route now instead of 2 with the east route having been eliminated.
October 27, 201312 yr My first visit to Taiwan and Gay Pride. A very good day. It was a bit cool for a lot of skin to be on display. I saw more six packs at the gay hot spring last night. Wish I could take some photos there. Sorry, some photos need rotating.
October 27, 201312 yr Those are a good representation. I need to go through all of my photos yet. The parade was kind of chaotic and I think the route is probably too long. It is definitely a young crowd or I have simply lost my ability to tell anyone's age. The guy in the pink suit was marching with a group from Macau. Definitely lots of folks in town from around Asia. Lots of Singaporeans, Japanese, HK, and plenty of white people too. It was fun though. I stopped by Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall before the parade. It is a funky place. There's a changing of the guard so if you like little Asian soldiers all dressed up it is worth a visit. But for me the most interesting part is that all of the high school boys practice their b-boy dancing all around the place. It seems like an odd place for that. That's probably where you would see some 6 packs. Had a massage tonight at In Touch. Definitely recommended. Very sensual. My masseur, "Josh", is very hot. He's tiny at probably 5'4" or so but very strong. Smooth almost everywhere. Sweet guy. Maybe 22 or 23 but looks 18. The place is a bit hidden on a little side street by the City Hall MRT station. It's half traditional massage which is a lot like traditional Thai massage in that they really use a lot of pressure so it hurts a bit. Then the second half is "body to body" massage which is exactly what you think it is.
October 27, 201312 yr It's half traditional massage which is a lot like traditional Thai massage in that they really use a lot of pressure so it hurts a bit. Then the second half is "body to body" massage which is exactly what you think it is. Looking forward to your photos. How much does one need to budget for massages & so on in Taiwan? Guess it's going to be fairly costly in a wealthy country like that. Just looking @ the Touch massage website. Services seem to be TWD 1800~2700. So 1700 to 2600 baht approx. Presumably there is a sizeable tip expected as well ? Or is it more of a Japanese style all in price?
October 27, 201312 yr I really like the guy in the pink suit..... Somebody's had a hand in there somewhere . . . New definition of a person wearing designer clothes? somebody's got designs on you!
October 28, 201312 yr Looking forward to your photos. How much does one need to budget for massages & so on in Taiwan? Guess it's going to be fairly costly in a wealthy country like that. Just looking @ the Touch massage website. Services seem to be TWD 1800~2700. So 1700 to 2600 baht approx. Presumably there is a sizeable tip expected as well ? Or is it more of a Japanese style all in price? I tipped 1000 for a 2000 dollar massage. He seemed happy enough with that. I didn't see any tipping guidelines anywhere. A total of about US$100 for a 90 minute massage + seems pretty good to me.
October 28, 201312 yr Here's a link to the official photos posted by the organizers http://www.flickr.com/photos/twlgbtpride/sets/72157636961870896/
October 28, 201312 yr I tipped 1000 for a 2000 dollar massage. He seemed happy enough with that. I didn't see any tipping guidelines anywhere. A total of about US$100 for a 90 minute massage + seems pretty good to me. For a developed country, 100 USD is probably about right, as long as there's massage +. However, at that price, frequent use of such services would make for a much more expensive holiday than somewhere like Thailand. Guess anyone on a budget might have to exercise some restraint. Here's a link to the official photos posted by the organizers Will there be any unofficial fedssocr photos?
October 30, 201312 yr Probably not until I get back to civilization. Typically when I am traveling there isn't much time to go through the pictures, do the edits, etc. I prefer to do that on my real computer at home. But I'm not sure I really have any better pictures than what aussie_ already posted.
November 17, 201312 yr Thanks for posting the pics . These events look well worth visiting for anyone who's in the far east at this time of year.
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