Chuoi qua !

Love Man Love Woman: documentary tonight

2010-05-10T10:35:00.002+07:00

LOVE MAN LOVE WOMAN
2008 Directed by Nguyen Trinh Thi 60 minutes
Vietnamese with English subtitles

San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival
Los Angeles OutFest
Jean Rouch International Film Festival Paris
Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival

For centuries, Vietnam's Dao Mau (Mother Goddess Religion) temples have been the one place where homosexuals are able to flourish in the predominantly homophobic country. In these traditional temples, where attendance is surprisingly mixed, they're able to express their sexuality and femininity, blurring the distinctions between genders.

This documentary takes a heartening look at this group of 'dong co' - meaning 'princess spirit's mediums', a term originated from the indigenous religion that has come to be used generally in Vietnam to refer to effeminate and gay men - forging their own community, culture and rituals together.

The filmmaker follows Master Luu Ngoc Duc, one of the most prominent spirit mediums in Hanoi, and his vibrant community through their rituals and everyday life.

The film also examines the impacts of globalization on the lifestyle and identities of homosexuals in Vietnam's urban areas.

Tonight at 7:30 Cinematheque 2A Hai Ba Trung.

Tuoi tre

2010-04-08T12:03:00.003+07:00

Modern youth burn through cash at discotheques
VietNamNet Bridge – When the sun sets, many modern Saigon youth gather at discotheques and night clubs to waste another night. Tuoi Tre investigated.

It seems that Tuoi Tre newspaper is doing a set of papers (1, 2, 3) about how bad is the actual youth being flooded in newly discovered capitalist way of life. This time it's about young "playboys" whom go to luxurious discotheque wether it be in Vietnam or even abroad (Singapore, China, Thailand). My favorite quote:

Tuan, a teenage playboy, says he goes to night clubs because he’s very sad; his parents have been busy at their business and haven’t paid attention to him. Starting at humble night clubs, Tuan has progressed to luxurious clubs and his expense for a night out has risen to several hundred dollars.

Definetly expatriate are not rich anymore... damn.

Stereo man 2010

2010-04-06T10:30:00.001+07:00

VietNamNet Bridge – After the success of Stereo Man 2006: Gender Violence and Stereo Man 2009: The Destination of Destiny (about HIV), Stereo Man 2010: An Itinerary to Search for Feeling will be performed at 10 universities in Hanoi from April 7 to May 30.

The rest of the entry at http://english.vietnamnet.vn/Entertainment/201004/Stereo-Man-2010-tackles-homosexuality-and-social-acceptance-902764/

Shopping video

2009-11-22T16:08:00.000+07:00

no comment

Christmas time will be great

2009-10-29T16:31:00.003+07:00

Last christmas I spent home was... horrible. I was almost ready to do my coming-out but i could'nt. Finally, i did it a few months afterwards but that's not today's story.

Today, i can tell you that this christmas will be super cool: i'll be home, no coming-out* to do anymore and.... my boyfriend will be there! Embassy just called him to tell him the visa is accepted!

Chuc cac ban mung noel !!!

*: except 1 brother but i'll tell him soon >.<

Vietnam news: H1N1 & illegal alien workers

2009-09-21T14:33:00.004+07:00

According to some newspaper (Saigon Giai Phong): people's committy of every city and province has to declare ("hunt"?) them to the ministry...for what? Paying fees? I guess it doesn't concern good ol' white guys...

The other news of the day is about H1N1. Until today there has been 6.478 infected person with 7 deaths which is only 0.001% casualties. It's kinda weird as usual death rate is more like 1% globally...

Korean eye candy

2009-09-20T22:25:00.004+07:00

and ear injury...

Did he break your heart?

PopSeoul

2009-09-20T02:10:00.004+07:00

Sometimes it's nice to have (female) friend totally addicted to korean (so-called) singers. So you can enjoy photos of something related to the super famous (afaik) Rain.

Or, much better, you can enjoy a videao of super straight korean guy showing off for the camera only pleasure...

Isn't it time to come (my) home ?

"Funky honkey, nasty nigger"

2009-09-19T03:22:00.000+07:00

What's hidden there?

Date an asian

2009-09-17T14:04:00.004+07:00

True

I guess it's just another buzz, there is even a dedicated website, where you can have the lyrics!

Verse 1:
Hey there, my name is Jen Kwok
And I'm here to tell you that dating Asians rocks
They have smooth skin and silky hair
So damn exotic, got that ethnic flair
So sweet and gentle, smell so good
So freaky, nasty, do what you always wanted to
So obedient, they'll please you like no one can
That's right, I'm talkin bout an Asian man

Chorus:
Everyone should date an Asian man
Don't gotta be serious, just f*** an Asian man
At least f*** one, at least, least f*** one
At least f*** one, at least, least f*** one
...

Pretty philosophical, ain't it?

Don't forget the "production stills" gallery with some cuties (?):

Humm...

Neutral wedding in Sweden

2009-09-15T20:50:00.003+07:00

It is clearly far from Asia, though many Swedish people track the sun down to Thailand, but still interesting. Sweden is one of the happy few country in the world to have, now, a totally neutral wedding whatever is the gender of the 2 persons to-be-married.

There is no clear separation bewtween churches and state, at least concerning wedding. Although, most (if not all) churches do not celebrated same-sex wedding yet. Hopefully it seems that the Lutheran Church of Sweden is about to allow it. Unfortunately, i can't find any recent english sources about it.

Isn't it kinda fun to imagine to finally get married with your boyfriend in a church? Think about Sodom and Ghomorra ;)

... ok the only interest of this post was to put this cute picture >.<

Special fashion contest

2009-09-10T15:18:00.005+07:00

The increasing popularity of homosexual beauty contests has raised eyebrows, with people asking whether or not such events are legal.

That's how start the magificient article of Thanh Nien News (a bit outdated i have to concede). From my point of view, this article could be much worse. The mix between homosexual, transvestite, transexual, sex change surgery, etc is quite common even in western country.

Anyway, what surprised me in a way is the new regulation about:

Not have undergone cosmetic or sex change surgeries

As far as i know it's the first time the law is considering lgbt...queer people. AFAIK, homosexuality is not forbidden as it just does not exist according to 90% of the population thus nobody bothers with it.

The second surprse for me was the "The Prince Style Contest for lesbians" ! What the hell! Where is the gayz contest? Would lesbians still be glamourous in HCMC while gayz are not? Anyway it's not coming anytime soon in Hanoi (vietnamese time scale though... many things go so fast there).

Aren't they "innocent lil' princess" style?

Children with AIDS in VIetnam

2009-09-07T14:27:00.004+07:00

Traditional propaganda
(Ma tuy= drug ; if i remember correctly the message says "it's not ok to try even once)

Here's an interesting article about the situation of aids-infected children in HCMC ("the most progressive region in the country in terms of HIV/AIDS advocacy"):

When classes opened across Vietnam on August 17, few students were as excited — or as nervous — as a group of 15 HIV-positive children who had finally been given permission to attend school. For the past two years, the Ho Chi Minh City orphanage where they live had been lobbying to enroll them in a public primary school. Now that the day had arrived, the children were so excited that many were up before the sun, already dressed in the new clothes the nuns had bought for the special occasion.

Full article by Martha Ann from time.com.

A more friendly poster (bao cao su = condom)

A modern poster about getting tested for free (i think)
There are also young people on this kind of poster...all in all it's much more appealing than traditional one but does it work?

Back home

2009-09-05T23:55:00.003+07:00

... but not exactly, it's been 2 months since the last posts and some adventures but now i'm back home (country). I should be working here, which is kinda far from what i used to call home 3 years ago (only though i left my "home" more than 10 years ago). I got some strange feelings in this coutnry but mainly i feel "deadish".

cheers?

I like him and you?

Going HK for the week end

2009-07-09T14:38:00.007+07:00

Finally my time in Asia is soon to be over for the moment (i hope & think). To 'celebrate' it, i go with a bunch of friends to Hong-Kong for a long week end.

Although, they are not gay, i'll be there with my boy friend and i plan to do one "gay places evening". Thus i checked a bit utopia and... wahoo! The city is just a bit bigger than Hanoi (8millions vs 6) but it's so full of gay or gay-friendly places! Even more than the Bangkok listing!

Anybody knows why? It could be it's a trendy place and many gays go there for working or leisure? Despite the chinese environment it's unofficially open?

A kiss in HK (it looked so cute to me... i hope i can do the same there ;-) )

In order to make this post a bit more informative, an edit:
It's easy and cheap to go HK from Hanoi though it's a long journey:
* Hanoi -> Bangkok at 9pm (perfect if you leave work at vietnamese hour like 5 pm), arrives at 10:45pm. There are some cheap hotel close to the airport
* Bangkok -> Macau: You got a flight at 7 am, arrives at 10am.
* Macau -> Hong Kong: there is boat transportation evry hour but i don't know the price yet.
* Bangkok -> Hanoi: flight at 6:45 am, arrives at 8:35, you can be at work at 9:30/10 am

Hanoi - Bangkok can cost around 100$ and Bangkok - Macau also 100$ which sum up 200$... if you take it at least 1 month in advance (imho). The hotel in Hong Kong look impressive but not as cheap as Vietnam or Thailand, the cheapest are around 60$/night.

You can also go direct to HK from Bangkok but the flight time is bad for short trips. Another possibility is to fly direct from Hanoi. There was a promotion at vietnam airlines for 350$ including 2 nights in a 3 stars hotel but you fly in the middle of the day... For non promotional, i have no idea but i would say at least 400$.

Formalities:

Most westerners can make their visa on arrival in Macau or Hong Kong. Vietnamese have to make it before departure and it can be such pain, especially if you are from a northern province... It seems that a visa for Hong Kong is sufficient to enter Macau (as it's not possible to do a Macau visa in Hanoi, according to my bf).

Kebab & traffic light

2009-07-07T11:56:00.006+07:00

After 2 boring motorbikes post, here is a funny one (still related to motobikes). I took these pictures a few days ago.

Kebab-bike

Connected traffic light (you can check it on Dai Co viet")

You can find more funny traffic pics @ pinkvn. By the way, don't think it's special pics, i (and all long term expatriate) have seen most of these situations.

Top-notch bikes (2)

2009-07-06T14:07:00.012+07:00

I realized i should have done an introduction which i will call "Vietnam and motobikes" as i got too accustomed to vietnamese way of moving. Unfortunately for you, i will do it later!

If you remember, we stopped at a very 'nice' purple minsk... Now let's head toward really cool bikes:

Yamaha Nouvo LX (how stylish!?)

I used to have one and it is one of my favorite bike. It's heavier than smaller bikes but still light (for me), not too expensive, fast, maneuverable (so important in traffic jam) and convenient (it has a box under the seat big enough for my helmet). The only drawbacks are it uses a lot of gas when you go fast and it's "gay" according to my bf (wtf?). Actually it's "gay" for (some) straight as i didn't notice a peculiar use of this bike by gay (though my ex gay housemate rented one >.<).

Yamaha exciter (and not so exciting dude)

This motorbike is faster, more aggressive but has no big box under the seat and is clutch based. It has one advantage and one (big) drawback: you can make it scream and drive n a sporty (deadly?) way but you have no protection for your foot (rain and in case of accident!). I might buy it someday...

After two Yamaha bikes it's time to talk about some Honda. By the way the first one are known to be more aggressive bikes while the latter use generally less gas and people think they age slower.

Honda - Future (no cookie, no dude)

Convenient but clutch based, "so so style" but not ugly, fast enough but gas saving here is the Honda Future. A nice bike if you don't look for something classy but nice for both city and country side (though even the nouvo is able to go countryside... i did a week trip with it next to China). Unfortunately for some vietnamese chicks it's a "xe om motorbike" (it's worth mototaxi).

Honda Air Blade (and a dude but who cares?)

Very nice in my opinion as it has a kinda aggressive look but not too much and it has a convenient seat box, no clutch and it's a honda (thus gas saving). It's the same class of the exciter but looks more "adult": it's not a small bikes looking over aggressive.

That's all folks!
(for the moment)

Top-notch bikes (1)

2009-06-26T11:44:00.002+07:00

Part 1: motobikes you should never ride!

As you may know mobile phone and motobike are essential accessories to show your social status.

Concerning motobikes you have a few options:

Honda Dream and a kinky pilot (or not)

First, the honda dream which is the traditional countryside or low salary worker... definitely the worst choice!

Honda wave and a 'cookie'

If you go for wave you will even loose the surprised looks about the redneck bike of yours, it's because wave are the most basic city bikes here...but well if you are Mr Dan Danuwong, you might draw some attention...

Finally if you are a real adventurer, here is what you need:

Minsk's fine art

So with a minsk you will definetly loose any attention... you can't be part of "people like us"! unless you go full throttle on color:

If you wonder, i do have a point with this post but the original one was too long so i cut it into 2 pieces. Thus i can talk a bit more:

Helmet on the first photo is typical from countryside
The outfit is also typical (kinda countryside style but not only)
Wave & dream cost barely the price but dream are considered more reliable while wave are more 'trendy' (less grandpa's motobike to speeak nicely)
Minsk were so cool for expat a few years ago when it was nearly impossible to get a real motobike in Vietnam (taxes problem etc).
There is still a minsk club but i think they are fading

Ps: i might look like denigrating country side but i'm not! ^_^ (should do a post about VN city vs countryside)

Nobody

2009-06-25T10:31:00.001+07:00

Extremely macho dance on :Wonder girls - Nobody

... Viva Korea again ...

Saving Hoan Kiem's turtle

2009-06-17T14:11:00.003+07:00

From AFP:

Testing begins to save legendary Vietnam turtle

By Ian Timberlake

HANOI (AFP) — Researchers have begun testing mechanical "SediTurtles" they say will protect a legendary Vietnamese turtle while cleaning the historical lake in which the creature lives.
Experts showed off the German-developed sediment-eating machines this week as part of preparations before an expected cleanup of Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart and soul of Vietnam's capital.
Nestled in the centre of rapidly urbanising Hanoi, the so-called Lake of the Returned Sword is home to an elusive turtle which symbolises Vietnam's centuries-old struggle for independence.
In a story that is taught to all Vietnamese school children, the 15th century rebel leader Le Loi used a magical sword to drive out Chinese invaders and founded the dynasty named after him.
Le Loi later became emperor and one day went boating on the lake. A turtle appeared, took his sacred sword and dived to the bottom, keeping the weapon safe for the next time Vietnam may have to defend its freedom, the story says.
Occasional sightings of a giant soft-shell turtle draw large crowds, and photographs and amateur video clips attest to the claim that at least one turtle indeed still lives in the lake.
Reported sightings of the turtle, a symbol of eternity, are deemed auspicious, especially when they coincide with major national events.
The site's historical importance therefore requires a delicate clean-up operation, and the joint team of Vietnamese and German experts have been planning how to clean the turtle's home with minimum risk to the creature.
Leonhard Fechter, of Berlin's Herbst Umwelttechnik GmbH, said he knows people care about the turtle, so his company made the SediTurtle with a "soft" technology that will not harm the animal.
"We are sure we won't touch the turtle," he said as he demonstrated the devices at a fish pond on the grounds of founding president Ho Chi Minh's former home.
A thick red hose floating on the water was connected to what looked like a grey metal box. An attached dredging device was invisible below the surface, sucking out sediment from the bottom and sending it down the hose to another machine which separates sludge from water.
The box moved with the slow, quiet movements of a turtle, winched along by ropes connected to a small blue boat.
"That device is moving very slowly. That big turtle can easily escape" from its path, said Celia Hahn, the project manager from Dresden University of Technology.
A second, more sophisticated SediTurtle resembles a giant corkscrew and operates by remote control "like a submarine", said Peter Werner, a professor from the same Dresden university.
This less obtrusive option is Werner's preferred choice because it would not need unsightly ropes to pull it around the picturesque Hoan Kiem lake.
Hoan Kiem has suffered the fate of all lakes. Over time, sediment increases and the water level drops, particularly in urban areas.
The experts said Hanoi's much-photographed lake is only about 1.5 metres (five feet) deep -- close to half a metre at its shallowest -- but a four-to-six metre layer of sludge containing industrial pollutants has built up on the bottom.
Draining the lake, the more conventional way of removing contaminants, is out of the question because it would destroy the treasured water body's entire ecosystem, experts said.
"The big turtle is living from crabs or small fish," Werner said, adding that sediment removal will be done in phases, to ensure part of the lake is always left free for the animal.
Christian Richter, of FUGRO-HGN GmbH, said his engineering firm has already assessed the lake's geology and hydrology.
By the end of this year it will map areas of the lake where sediment can be removed without causing water to drain out, he said.
The Vietnamese and German governments are funding the preliminary stages of the programme but financing is needed for the estimated 2.8 million dollar cleanup of Hoan Kiem to begin, the experts said.
"There are banks interested in financing," Werner said.
Hanoi next year will mark its 1,000th birthday, and the lake cleanup was initially expected to be finished in time for the celebration.
That deadline cannot be met because of the care with which sediment removal must be done, the engineers said.
"Even if they start immediately, they would need at least one or two years for the removal," Richter said.

---

Many, if not all Hanoians, believe that the turtle exists though very few actually pretend having witnessed it. My boyfriend pretends also it exist though he didn't see it. For myself, I am really very dubious about that... just another Nessy!

VN Photoblog

2009-06-09T14:27:00.001+07:00

Though I am not really fond of the guy, I do like the photography. Probably because of the mix (imho) of fragility and determination. I just wonder wether this guy is the (kinda cute) dj I saw at the Hanoi Sound Stuff festival or not. He reallly look the same even glasses (except clothes!).

The rest of photoblog is at the same time amateur and a bit kinky. Nevertheless this photoblog is new and I hoped it will improve... and i wonder if he would photograph westerner living in Vietnam as well?

The photograph also has a photoblog about fashion (LINK COMING LATER)

A final bonus photo from the HSS (I guess I missed some action there)

Great

2009-06-09T11:29:00.006+07:00

I guess everybody knows about this photo but just to make sure it is the case i re-publish today (stolen from SF as usual).

Welcome to pinkVN

2009-06-06T15:16:00.001+07:00

I forgot to welcome my follow gay-expatriate-in-vietnam-blogger: Jean @ pinkvn !

Although his blog is much more recent than mine i have to admit, it may contains more entries in the near future (sorry sorry about that). I didn't read so much of his blog but he has many cuties and especially vietnamese ones which quite original as it's not so common on the web.

ps: if you missed the link to the hyper cute korean boysband, here is the video:

Me korean addict? not yet! (though my flatmate is working on it -_-)

(Jean talked about it)

Singapore leading the way for the rest of Asia?

2009-06-05T22:30:00.001+07:00

I hope so... more information @ fridae.

Help Vietnam : be gay!

2009-06-05T12:17:00.004+07:00

According AFP Vietnam is facing the same problem as many Asian country: there are too many boys... so help them by having a vietnamese boyfriend or if you are vietnamese just be gay (it's ok!...)!

The article:

HANOI (AFP) — Officials in Vietnam have warned that too many boys are being born and said the country should learn a lesson from its Asian neighbours, state media reported on Tuesday.
Vietnam produces 112 boys for every 100 girls, a gender imbalance that will leave about three million men with difficulty finding wives by 2030 if it continues, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan told an online conference of officials, according to Vietnam News Agency.
He said Vietnam could learn big lessons about gender imbalance from China, Japan and South Korea, and asked people's committees to raise awareness through the mass media.
"Strengthening the dissemination of news and information on the issue is necessary," Nhan said.
In the country's commercial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, there are 113 boys for every 100 girls, said Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, deputy chairman of the People's Committee, the local government body.
According to Vietnam News Agency, Ha said many books, newspapers and the Internet provide information on prenatal gender selection, violating state policy on minimising prenatal gender inequality.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Ba Thuy was quoted as saying the number of families with three children has continued to rise and gender imbalance is becoming very apparent.
In late 2007 a UN Population Fund report highlighted "growing concern that the sex ratio at birth is becoming unbalanced in Vietnam", while the international ratio at birth was about 105 boys for every 100 girls.
Reasons for Vietnam's unbalanced sex ratio included pressure to adhere to a two-child policy, a preference for sons, and ready availability of ultrasound and abortion, said the report.
Although Vietnam in 2003 banned foetal sex selection, many doctors tell parents-to-be if they are expecting a boy or girl.
Men in Vietnam have traditionally carried on the family lineage, inherited homes and land, cared for elderly parents and overseen funerals and ancestor worship rituals.
China, where most parents are banned from having more than one child, has faced a marriage squeeze.

Nice photos

2009-05-23T13:22:00.003+07:00

Neighbourhood news (i think)

A friend just sent me a link to a nice photo gallery on flickr.

F*ck you very much

2009-05-07T09:35:00.002+07:00

A very nice collab' video on youtube:

And don't forget to celebrate: Maine is cool !!!

Iowa, Vermont ... then?

2009-04-12T16:23:00.002+07:00

Maybe New-York? We just need to shut them down:

Maybe like this:

Sex training in Da Nang

2009-03-31T10:17:00.005+07:00

Sex education in Vietnam?

It seems it finally happened! Even more it is a "Sex Training Tour" according to this article. Extract:

"Young people in Da Nang, Vietnam are enthusiastically taking a Sex Training Tour jointly organized by the Da Nang Youth Union and the Viet Da Tourism JS Company to learn about sex from health workers and consultants."

How can they be not enthusiastic? Anyway what follows is more interesting:

"Unlike other tours, the sex training tour that began in mid-March at the Cham Museum in Da Nang is based on the Cham culture’s worshipping of sex organs and imparts sex education to youth through the precepts of the Cham culture."

I always knew Cham people were much nicer person than Kinh...too bad they lost the war against them.

Cham towers

A country i love to hate

2009-03-30T13:59:00.003+07:00

I came accross a blog entry a while ago. The subject is not really genuine but i have to say that i agree on many points on the subject: "reasons to hate Vietnam", like:

Dual pricing
Noise
Vietnamese language
Traffic
Architecture
...

My top 5 vietnam hate list would be:

Foreigner scamming: even when you speak vietnamese they try to scam (huge price or else)...though sometimes you have no choice and get scammed knowing it...
Road stupidity: while driving people often don't bother to look at where they go even when they are changing directions, same goes for walking (crossing big avenues).
Noise: everything is so loud, karaoke, food stall, car horn, mobile phone (in cinema).
Food: so overrated, at least the north one.
Weather: so hot for 6 months, so cold a few weeks in winter and always so humide.
... and let's forget: quite narrow minded on homosexuality but not only (get married by 25, make baby within 1 year, treat like shit people socially low, etc) and it also seems to bother some of my friends (mainly the south vn ones).

I globally agree with the author though i think i am more accustom to the country. I would also conclude with his word: "a country i love to hate".

Vang Trang Khoc (the moon cries)

2009-03-27T11:51:00.000+07:00

Vang Trang Khoc (Nhat Tinh Anh & Khanh Ngoc)

One my favourite songs though according to my boyfriend it's very teenage oriented...

Vietnamese lyrics can be found here and the google-translated. If you prefer you have a subtitled video there (infamous visuals but nicer audio).

How do i know this one?

Because i'm getting karaoke crazy! (The karaoke version i'm so used to). As my friends and newsly arrived colleagues don't understand that i can guess many of you don't neither thus i should make a post about it.... soon?

Gay cruise anyone?

2009-03-25T14:57:00.007+07:00

According to Fridae, the first gay cruise in Asia will take place on the 28 March. It interrogates me on several aspects.

First, are countries such as China, Vietnam and especially Singapore "happy" to receive such guests? It's no secrete that many asian countries have no homosexuals or just prosecute them if found.

Second, i'm still prudish (no sauna... yet >.<) but i can guess that such a cruise would a huge and long group sex party, isn't it? (Anyway i don't see the point of cruises)

Third, omfg... it's 2 weeks without a post and you know the less you post the less you feel like that's why i post that though there was a lot of interesting news topics to discuss...

Helmet?

2009-03-10T01:27:00.001+07:00

The 15/12/07 it became mandatory to wear a helmet while driving a motorbike... I was surprised but the police was efficient to enforce this (probably a good way to write some "nice fines"?).

Although it may not be efficient enough thus some truth pictures might be of some help?

If you really want to see some more...really 'trash' pictures!

(yeah i fucked up again with the layout -_-)

MSM asia survey

2009-03-09T11:20:00.004+07:00

MSMSexSurvey is a survey about gay men (though they ask what sex we are first O.O )in Asia. I decided to answer it as i would be very interested to know the result of such a survey thus i enjoin to take some time to do it (if you live in Asia). You have until the 30 of April to do so.

Aesthetic?

2009-03-04T11:18:00.002+07:00

A not so overcharged website...

(you may notice the flash blocker i installed when i arrived in Vietnam)

Why vietnamese (and maybe asian in general) website have to be overcharged using Flash, javascript, etc, ?

It particularly does not make any sense as in Vietnam (at least Hanoi...), the internet connections are so crappy !#?@!!

Back from the south

2009-02-25T12:01:00.002+07:00

That's it!

I finally fulfilled my dream of going from Hanoi to Saigon by motobike, 2200km!

I saw many beautiful things like landscape, villages... and boyz! Unfortunately, i lost my camera on the way...

And so many more things to say, especially about Saigon but so little time since i came back. Consequently it will be for a little later!

Happy V. day!

2009-02-14T18:58:00.002+07:00

I m currently totally lost in nha que land (countryside) and far away from my computer so... no interesting post.

"Also" so far from my dear... so i wish him and all of you a very nice and sweet valentines day...

Planet vietnam

2009-02-03T18:25:00.003+07:00

Vietnam is not a country, it's planet!... according to a friend of mine. He's working as an architect and many world used rules don't apply here, why? Because "this is Vietnam" or T.I.V. and it is the only answer in 99% of times. From my own experience it's very true also.

Another "funny" stuff about Vietnam within the world is that foreigners (probably expatriates only?) are 90% of the time expert in "foreignology". For example, we were talking with my colleagues about Thailand, Laos and Cambodia and i was the one expert even for countries i didn't visited yet! It's like my colleagues (and many friends) have no idea, and no interests, in their neighbouring countries!

In contrary they seemed quite well informed about China but it may be explained by its giant status in Asia and as it is a closer culture to the vietnamese one. I would also add that it's perceived as a major threat to Vietnam as far as i know.

To finish this international concern, i had quite a surprised from a book street vendor. There were several books of Obama in vietnamese... I was miles away to imagine they would be interested by him.

ps: i'm going for two weeks of crazy holydays on motobike, see you... if i come back alive!

Addendum

2009-02-01T23:11:00.001+07:00

In my previous i wrote about photobucket and flickr and i had in my mind to give you a link to a nice vietnamese model. Unforntunately i could not find the link again. Fortunately i just found it.

So gay ?

Although you will have to dig the gallery a little to find neat pics like:

Please enjoy La Ngoc Duy flickr...

nb: reminds me i should tell you that he is not typical of the vietnamese physionomy.

Vina-Photobucket going wild

2009-02-01T12:57:00.007+07:00

It looks like vietnamese (girlz at least... too bad) are getting wilder and wilder on photobucket!

What is funny in her album is that it starts with cute, innocent or family pics then .... this.

I hope to find some boyz later. ;)

Hopefully thai guys use flickr:

check it

Co Ca

2009-01-28T15:09:00.005+07:00

Yes Vietnam is still communist (Ahem... considering my recent trip to Saigon) and Ha Noi is still a communist city:

Coca-cola pagoda in front of Vincom

Maybe Coca-Cola is the best of both worlds as we can read it like: COmunist and CApitalist cola?

More Tet photos later...

Long time no see

2009-01-23T11:15:00.004+07:00

Christmas time has passed and now is Tet (vietnamese new year) time: not much too say?

Actually yes, i've been working for all that, just a quick break to visit South Vietnam, Saigon and have new year's eve party on the beach: nice but not incredile, am i getting jaded? Not really i would say i'm becoming used to live here, moreover i am thinking about continuing my life here even after the end of my contract (which should arrived within a year).

On the opposite i was so surprised by Saigon (first time after 2 years here!). It's so different from Hanoi much more like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur like what should be a big asian capital city. At least district 1 is so much more modern than Hanoi: you never think "Oh that's a luxury and it's the only of its kind in the city" or "that's an expatriate place where i won't see any vietnamese". Indeed, i was quite surprised by the glimpse of night life i had. The few "expat style" places i've been had more vietnameses than foreigners which is quite uncommon in Hanoi.

---

I didn't write in this blog for than a month because i didn't many interesting ideas as life goes by uietly here though i decided that i should do some kind of guide like RQD but about Vietnam (Hanoi). I intend to start that in a few days though i'll be on vacation in two weeks so it will be a new break... but i'll break back some photos!

Prop. 8: the musical

2008-12-04T12:08:00.002+07:00

I don't do much of "video only post" but here is one quite funny:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

and Jack Black is so sexy as Jesus..!

Back from holydays

2008-12-02T09:42:00.004+07:00

The trip was great*, incredible foggy landscape:

But since my come back i'm drowned in work...

*: no real cuties seen but some potential, too bad.

Holydays

2008-11-19T14:43:00.002+07:00

It's becoming cold ( less than 20°), the sky is grey, it might rain any day... it's the perfect time for a motobike trip!

I'm going north with some friends for a week...i'll bring back some photos... will there be any cuties?

action man & flood photos

2008-11-09T01:07:00.000+07:00

I promised more photos of the flooding of Hanoi, here it comes... right after Mr President:

Transportation in the rain

Motobike?

not a good idea

Car? seems better but you risk more money...

Traditional? The safest one?

Consequences

If you are lucky: just dry and change the oil of your motorbike

i just did that ^_^

More serious situation for underground park

Oh shiiiiiiiiiit situation

People can get very wily

For more you can check:

Don't trust' em

2008-11-07T11:44:00.007+07:00

Last friday was the birthday of a colleague, we had to celebrate that... let's go to bia hoi!

Conveniently, our boss were not there and the idea to go to some bath & massage place in the countryside popped quickly during lunch. Although, it was raining and the decision was made to go to a classic massage, tam quat, nearby.

When i say classic, i mean in the vietnamese way:

Traditional medicinal vietnamese massage

As you can see it's very tradtionnal but if you prefer boyz it may be possible, samson example (not kinky at all...unfortunately :p).

Actually, i really disliked that because it was obvious it was a place for happy ending as the masseuse acting quite frankly (seating on me in a very direct way, touching everywhere, etc). I was also displeased by colleagues thinking i would enjoy that but... actually they were not surprised i disliked that.I forgot, the masseuse was a girl and not pretty :p.

Conclusion

Vietnamese birthday coworkers parties suck: bad food, (bad) beer, bad massage.

Note

i'm thinking more and more prostitution, maybe "soft" like this or not, is so common in Vietnam because:

You see many massage/haircut/tam quat/karaoke om (om means to hold someone like you do as a passenger on a mototaxi: "xe om") places with pink light, frosted glass and opened very late
You can see them everywhere (countryside, city center, surbubs, etc)
A colleague had his first time there and was ready to bring there too
Another colleague go there from now and then
I even experienced proposition for this kind of service in a traditional medecine institute which seems perfectly ok before

Mandatory post

2008-11-05T13:51:00.005+07:00

Obama wins... should we have some :

... I mean in general for the lgbt community only

As would say SF about:

he looks really "officialy not gay“.

Flood survivor

2008-11-04T14:16:00.005+07:00

No school today

A quick post about Hanoi floods: our house survived though we were stuck in the neighbourhood for two days. We went to the supermarket as we were out of food on saturday afternoon... we had water up to the half of the high (and we avoided several deeper area).

Though it was quite an athmospher in the street at that time, people finishingin the lake, walking around to see how is it outside or just drying their motorbike by all means (dish towel, hairdryer, mini "flame thrower"... this one is to dry and clean spark plugs), it was not the case for everyone. I saw pictures of underground car park with car covered of mud and probably totally broken. Moreover i heard that around 20 people died in Hanoi only.

I guess it was safer to stay all the week end home.

The famous submarine mode (with the optionnal ultimate umbrella)

i'll post some more (stolen) photos later.

Dry season ?

2008-10-31T20:31:00.001+07:00

Normally it's the rainy season in Ha Noi since a month but as you can see on the picture it's still possible to have huge amount of rain. Hopefully, i have a submarine mode on my motobike (full power & prayer).

Trust 'em

2008-10-23T15:42:00.008+07:00

As you may have guess...i'm picky boy and especially about food then i don't often go to eat "com sinh vien", student's rice. Last week, a bit crazy i accepted to go with some colleagues there, actually for a "bun cha" (a 'soup' with grilled pork and 'bun' noodles).

An appetizing bun cha: noodle, pork 'soup' & 'salad'

Despite a cockroach welcomed us, it was really good and really cheap (1$, but quite small) and i even didn't get sick after that!

Often my housemate told me it's safer to eat in the street or buy at markets than going to some supposedly good restaurants. I might tend to try it more often but it's not that easy. Most of the street restaurant have only one dish and... i dislike most of the dishes ><>

After the meal, we went to "ca fe" as usual. I was facing the inside while my colleagues were having some greedy stares at some foreigner girls outside. For some reason they said "2000" or "1000" and i asked why. The answer is : "in Vietnam you can buy handful of Xoi (sticky rice) of different size... '1000' is small while '5000' is the biggest one" and they added " but you have to take care of the importance of the sheets"... 99% of the time, young vietnamese girls give "some" help to their breast.

Finally, we went for some serious foot massage... altogether in a room so no possibility of bonus ;). It was a really nice and cheap place; the masseuses were laughing all the time with my colleagues (50% of the time was about me...).

Conclusion: even though you are very picky and relunctant like me you have to trust your local colleagues/friends to try new (possibly disgusting) things!

... next entry might be "Don't trust 'em". ;-)

MSM Hanoi

2008-10-20T15:37:00.004+07:00

A while ago i found a document called "MSM in Hanoi" and forgot about it but finally i read it (the doc can be found at unaids or some refs): it has not many useful or interesting information but some confirmations.

Men holding hands at a prevention meeting*

For the common people there is no gay people in Vietnam (or just the north? ^_^ ) or at least people never talk or think about that. The first point we see/feel is that there is no harassment on the plu community.

For example, whenever i go out with my bf we try to avoid places where he may meet friends but as long as we keep quiet no one would ever think of us as a couple. An even better example is a vietnamese girl friend of mine: she saw me many times with my bf and many times we left the party together and she still thinks we are both singles. In addition, she's been studying abroad for sometimes and probably know about plu.

The big disadvantage is about STD, particularly AIDS. It may be unknown but AIDS is spreading quite fast in Vietnam, at least in the north, and i'm sure of it as a friend was working on the subject last year. Thus AIDS prevention is developing, finally!, but only towards female sex workers... not for MSM or young people "being young“ or people having affairs etc.

As i usually say, Vietnam is moving very fast and i guess that this is very likely to evolve in less than 10 years, would it be early enough? No idea... It's so complicated to get any opinion about heomosexuality from my vietnamese friends or common people...

*: i stole (sorry 'bout that) the photo from a photographer blog. In contrary to what i say he took part in a project about MSM and aids prevention, his post about it is very very interesting and has some strong photos.

Classic situation

2008-10-19T13:40:00.005+07:00

... I guess.

Friday night, it's party time with acquaintances and friends, while the latter know for me the former don't. No problem, the alcohol and the beat are flowing and two girl friends start to play with me.... dancing sensualy with me, opening my shirt then offering me drink by putting notes there (not down there!).

Great, great night! Although, a visiting friend of one of the girl doesn't seem to enjoy so much (coming from euro capital nights to Hanoi "evening parties" is not so hot).

The real good invited dj (Affecta)...compared to the resident one

The next day, i have plan for dinner with people like us, friends of my bf. The girl (C) sends me many sms to come to massage with her and her friend (D) then for dinner, then for party many times. I finish by answering "sorry i got a private life too" (more politely). Then i receive a sms from D like "let's get a drink without girls"... I check with C if i should understand correctly which she confirms but she cannot say much as she is with D and some friends.

As a kind hearted person i make the two groups meet for some drinks at a normal place but it's getting late and just me, my bf, C and D go somewhere else to have a last drink and then get home.

And here comes the fun part:

I receive an sms like "sorry i didn't know the whole story about you, sorry for sending these message before".... OMG! He was interested in me!!!

That's a first time for me! I mean a westerner looking at me. Well, i learnt a few things:

I am really innocent
I am not that bad ??
It's funny to piss girls (C wanted to get D for a few years now and because/thanks to me she knows she can't.)
When i let my crazyness shines on the dancefloor some may like it \o/.
Girls can get very bitchy when they know it's safe to play with a boy :D

Be right back

2008-10-14T10:29:00.003+07:00

I finish my bear and i come back ;)

(damn work....)

Water sport

2008-10-06T03:34:00.002+07:00

or being prepared to live in Ha Noi, the city of 1000 lakes.

(Sorry for such a bad title ^_^)

Well, Ha noi has not anymore 1000 lakes but there are still plenty of lakes. For example, there are 3 lakes near my home.

Thus Hanoi is a water city which means that when the rainy season comes, comes the problems (well now the season just ended, woohoo!).

By problems i mean:

If you have a non-pro appointment and it's even slightly raining don't ever hope the person to come (90% of the time from my experience so far).
Learn how to drive under heavy rain with a neat "raincoat', which often means putting your foot in the middle of the motobike to avoid "splashs" from cars and other people.
Learn the submarine mode! It's a special mode of the vietnamese motobike but hard to get. Sometimes, you'll need to drive right in the middle of water with a depth higher than your gaz exauster. The only way to succeed is to take a run up, go max power and pray!

What happens if you fail...push your motobike in the dirty water...

Nevertheless there are a few reasons to like the rain:

The city gets quiet (almost)
The temperature falls down greatly (and yes rainy season is also hot)
I love the rain

The end is near!

2008-10-01T15:39:00.003+07:00

It's getting more and more difficult to find lubricant in Ha Noi. Before i could go to Vincom, then i had to go to some westerner shops, now i have to go to the pharmacy and explain it in vietnamese! I will soon need to go to some dedicated shop like condomviet.

Maybe i should let my dear bf do that? ;)

Sniff me!

2008-09-28T11:01:00.006+07:00

On friday evening i and a (female) colleague were invited at my boss' house to say hi to his baby (less than 2 months old)... and...

Incredible:

I hold her (the baby not the colleague!), that was a first time for me
She was deeply fascinated by my face
She cried when it was time for me to go!

Anyway, that's a bit too bloggish for an anonymous blog. The interesting point is that my colleague sniffed several times the baby... If you are a reader of rqd you already know that thay boy sniff often instead of kissing.

Thus i wonder if vietnamese people do that too? From my experiences... never but i have some explanations. First, it could be for babies only. Indeed, when my bf kiss me he often jokes about doing "viet-kiss" (closed lips kiss... or smack i call that). Second, gays might be naughtier and dare to do the frecnh kiss (not all the time ^_^ ). Finally, i may smell really bad even after a shower >.<

Still... it's so cuuuuuuute!

Final question: i wonder if gay people do that in thailand or is it the norm for every couple?

answer is no :

Wow - what an effect!

Photography

2008-09-25T17:25:00.008+07:00

Usually i am very scathing with vietnam but i'm the type who criticizes what/who i like (and just don't bother with the rest).

Today is different because i found a vietnamese photographer whom i really like: Vamp. I don't think he's professionnal yet but he is definitely close to have the skills already.

An example, i really appreciate:

which is my desktop picture at the moment. The only problem of vamps is his habit to over-photoshop them or he has crazy skills taking photographies! :p

He has a lot of different styles of photographies: touristic photos like this one, the one i'm jealous of, one not shirtless boy (and not cute >.<) and an improbable gay couple... Just go check his collections.

In the future you may get some more images like this one (which is not from vamp):

(naaaaaaah this blog will not turn into shirtless boyz blog style 0:) )

(and yes this guy is vinameat :p)

Hook up online?

2008-09-23T17:44:00.002+07:00

To meet guys there are a few places in Hanoi (bars, park, etc) as i previously wrote. The other alternative is on the web.

I found one main website to hook up online: gaydar though gay.com (i tried...not so many guys) or gayromeo (never tried) but also vietsingle. I'm quite surprised by the last one as it is a "local only" dating site and it's operated locally.

In contrary to what i know from field (bar) there are some lesbians too! Although after a quick check there is none from Ha Noi and most of them are from Saigon... what a shame for Ha noi! :p

Anyway, this post is just a little introduction for another one coming much later... :p

Comments ... FREE!

2008-09-23T10:46:00.005+07:00

Woohoo!

I just had a few (2 actually) comments on this blog and i'm really happy to know that i may have readears, thanks!

I just realize that comments were not opened to every one (blogger/openID only) so that was a bit like:

Now it's opened to anyone !!! I hope i won't have to use my super moderator:

If you have any simple way to deal with spammed comment i would be happy to know and install it before it comes here.

ps: yes i'm another stupid fan of lolcats... "Sorry, me no has shirtless boyz collection".

Rainbow flag

2008-09-21T22:26:00.002+07:00

Did you know ...

what symbolyze the rainbow flag apart the "gay community"?

At first i thought it was many "sexualities" exist and are equals (and so say wikipedia).

That's untrue, each color has a different meaning:

pink means sex
red means life
orange means health
yellow means the sun
turquoise means arts
indigo means harmony
purple means spirit

Although, the current flag has only 6 colors (check wikipedia for the story).

A little more about colors

We all know that pink is often associated with being gay, because of the pink triangle for the na..zi, though it's quite incorrect now, especially asia. Indeed, according to gayboythailand (sorry i forget where it is) the asian color for gay "show off" seems to be purple (i'm gonna enquire about it with my bf but i think there is no semi-official gay sign).

A bit more information about the rainbow flag, here, an abstract:

The first Rainbow Flag was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco artist, who created the flag in response to a local activist's call for the need of a community symbol. (This was before the pink triangle was popularly used as a symbol of pride.) Using the five-striped "Flag of the Race" as his inspiration, Baker designed a flag with eight stripes: pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. According to Baker, those colors represented, respectively: sexuality, life, healing, sun, nature, art, harmony, and spirit. Baker dyed and sewed the material for the first flag himself - in the true spirit of Betsy Ross.

Coming out status

2008-09-15T11:18:00.006+07:00

I had two purpose with this blog:

An outlet: at the very beginning i wanted to make a personnal diary to express all the things i could not.
Share my (gay) life in Hanoi: later on, the first purpose was quite left aside and i wanted to talke how it is to be gay in such a city.

Recently, i have talked only about number 2 but today is number 1...mostly.

I am officialy-to-myself gay since around june 2007 while i met my bf in late July (yeah we both forget the exact date -_-). Actually it is thanks to a housemate: she told me "it's weird, usually, i don't get along with boys like these appart gays" and then i told her (and myself) that i may have some questioning on the subject.

After being with my bf, quickly all the housemates have been told about it. The last one, a boy, could not understand what i said and though for a few days it was joke but then he understood. It was no problem COs as we were young westerners “opened to the world".

A bit later on, a new housemate arrived, a very posh and not very resourceful guy. I knew, it would be a problem but we were not getting along so we didn't met so often. Althoug, once we've been at the nightclub at the same time, quite drunk, and he told me:

"i have something to tell you..." (why we don't get along etc)

so i answered him

"Nice, me too i have something to tell you, i prefer boyz and i know you can't take it".

His answer is memorable:

"No, You, you don't take that" (like to take drugs), 5 times in a row!

That is the worse reaction to my CO so far though i had no pressure for this one.

Later on (last winter), i finally decided to tell my best friend about it. I did it using skype late at night, it was not easy to say the words without seeing the person but finally it came out. His reaction was "ah ok" which is quite ok ;) but what suprised me is that he already had a MSM experience and it was his first time but it was not his type... I asked him not to tell our shared friends as i was not ready yet.

A bit before summer, a friend came to Vietnam and i decided to tell him though i knew if i tell him, most of my friends will be informed. After many tries, i finally succeed to say:

"ok wanna have a drink after dinner"

- "no i'm tired"

- "you are sure?"

- "yes i'm really exausted"

5min later

- " well i want to take a drink because i have something to tell you"

This time it was difficult because he was in front of me but finally i succeeded and he had the "ah ok" reaction. After that he met my bf and we chatted a bit. He stayed one more week in Vietnam so i had this time to prepare my friends back home.

As often, i was lazy and i call just 2 before his coming back and the rest after that. All of them were surprised, but had the "ah ok" reaction, but not shocked and wished me"be happy together".

The final CO was eventually to my family. That was the most difficult and still going on...but may evolve toward a good end.

Today, i got the idea that it may be the time for me to start my COs with vietnamese people. Shortly, there are two (maybe 3) categories of vietnamese i know who i may do a CO.

Colleagues

When i say "colleagues" it is only the young ones that may be able not to kick me right away. I tried to do a few jokes like "well i'm not very good at getting a girlfriend so maybe i show go for boyfriend?", their answers were a big minute long silence. Although, i think the women may take it quite ok while i think the men will take it quite bad.

Friends

I don't have so much friends that are not my colleagues but they are more open minded people (in my opinion). Actually, according to my dear friend N., one of them, a girl, may have guessed already...too bad she's one of the few i'd like to try again *** with 0:-)

Why doing a coming out to vietnamese?

The first reason is that there is a lot of gossip about me (like anyone else though especially singles) and one includes a former "affair" (i use to try to date) with a girl. It's some time i don't think about her (Hey i've been with my BF more than 1 year now) but some people still think i'm depsaired about her.

Another reason is that i would like to be free to say "yeah i'm not single anymore" and "sure, i'll come with bf"...sweet but impossible i think.

The last reason is that it would such a great pleasure to make them understand "you liked me but i was sucking dicks...so what do you think now? Will you fuck up your mind thinking i was a just an asshole since the beginning or try to accept it?" ... that would be nice!

It's more likely not to happen anytime soon but stay tuned!

Backlash

2008-09-10T11:56:00.007+07:00

I didn't play so much with boyz when i was single though once i met a specific guy. This guy was starving for sex and why especially? Because he's married! Yes, it's pretty common here, notably for more than 30 years old gay (i think).

Actually, i didn't really want to meet him but unfortunately he studied in my home country, speaks my mother tongue and guessed easily from a few hints where i work. Thus i agreed to meet.

He was not the kind of boy i like (sissy but nasty) but i was starving too... Plus he was back in Vietnam since 6 months and it seems he had no man since that and.... "oi troi oi".

Finally, i decided not to ever see him again (Hanoi is not full of boyz but there are more than a few :p).

What happend today?

As everyday, i was iddling reading some websites when 2 guests arrived! This guy and a friend!

My colleague introduced them to me. The guy is a friend of the other one and has no reason to be here beside that (officially... unofficially i guess it's for me or to see some neat westerners :p). I think i blushed a little at first but then i played it cool, even some chit-chat with him.

Actually, since the day i met him i was afraid of him to come to my work but then nothing happened. I just wonder if he'll try to contact me again (IM, dating website, phone, ...)?

Condom in Vietnam

2008-09-09T14:23:00.005+07:00

Unlike Thailand, with its 7-11, it's not easy to find (good) condoms in Vietnam (Hanoi).

When i arrived and i started to need some i luckily found some western (durex) quality checked condoms in the Vincom maul as long as lubricant. Unfortunately, the stock was out in a few weeks.

Often supermarkets have some big arrival of western stuff

then nothing anymore, i guess it's some discarded stuff.

Though, i am a bad foreigner who likes to have some westerner delicacies once in a while (a bit more often indeed), i know some westerner oriented shops and there i found the precious stuff to have safely some local delicacies ;). Thus i advise you to go to so

me westerner oriented shop or grocery they are much likely to have western quality condoms.

The other place, i have yet to check, is condomviet which has a website with a bit of english. While searching again for this website in order to do this post, i happen to find this: sexshopviet. Unfortunately it seems to be only in HCMC not in Hanoi...

By the way i tried Vietnamese condoms called

"Romantic".... it's a bit rough/thick, that is why i thought this issue deserve a post here.

Konheo

2008-09-08T10:42:00.006+07:00

Con Heo means (the) pig in Vietnamese but it's not its sole meaning. In slang it designates also the porn stuff. Why do i talk about that? because of this : konheo.com.

It's a vietnamese design t-shirt shop. They make a lot of playwords in vietnamese (that i don't understand) and they have some cute (straight) couple's t-shirts:

Ok they are not really good to do sexy photo yet but they are working on it ;)

Bangkok dangerous

2008-09-07T13:25:00.006+07:00

I am a bit shameful using such a title...though it was that but not where i though!
Here's the tale of 2 gays and 5 straight (beginners) in a 3 days week-end in Sin city.

Day 1: Table tennis
Bangkok resident and connoisseurs may know what i mean but to say it's straight it's: Ping Pong Show!
I had a quite good idea of what is it before actually see it thus i was not really motivated to go there but my male (straight) teammates were beginners to Bangkok and so wanted to see its dark side. I think a good ol' gogo bar would have been enough for them but they didn't know that.

So, we followed a Bangkok friend (farang) of mine to the (in)famous... Patpong who was following a tout who caught us on our way. A., my friend, went in to check the "quality" (i.e. swindle or not) and said everything was ok.

On stage, there were a few girls hanging between poles and some ladyboyz, the most 'beautiful' (and not only for me). Actually, girls were pretty ugly and quite fat (thai standards) but had some special abilities:

Ping pong ball cannon

They put lubricated balls in their pussy and shoot it at you, your job is to kick it back in a bucket using a racket. Side effects: you may get some lubricant (water only i think) or get the ball in your face.

Bottle opening

You know the classic soda water you can buy in Thailand (to go along your sang som)...these girls can open it (tearable cap) with their pussy. Side effect: you might get wet (some of my friends were).

Razor blade dispenser

They are able to have chained razors in their pussy... i let you find out how (read 'butterfly' if you cannot find...though it's not really interesting litterature). Side effect: impressive on newbies.

Dart cannon

Same same ping pong balls plus they aim at balloons, accuracy cas less 30%. Side effect: the most funny one?

Every good moment has an end and it was time to go...'check bill': 5400 bahts for 7 people, including entry fee + drink + girls drink + show. Eventually, when my friend went in for a quick check he asked for this kind of scam, no show or entry fee they said, and when in he paid a few drinks for the girls to be a nice customer...and still they try to scam us. I have to agree we looked like good stupid tourists but unfortunately my friend speaks thai and i know how to behave in this kind of situation: stay calm (while my beginners were getting fed up).

Actually, my sissy beginners were uncomfortable after 15min when girls came to them and started to tease them (how innocent isn't it?) so my friend asked the bill but it took him 15min of thai talking to reduce the bills to less than 2000bahts (still expensive) while my friends got nervous... like the other customers.

They had the same kind of scam but were real beginners and got nervous....instantaneously big guys came in the room and made them more "relaxed". They got out right after us and were very fed up about the price (though one guy was really into this kind of show...).

Some advices going there: ask if there is any entry/show fee, pay a drink or two to girls, stay calm and don't hesitate to talk without any nervosity... if you are being scammed for real you may try to call the tourist police (they always have a car near patpong), if you can it will sort things out but big guys may prevent you to do so and ... ;)

Day 2: Issan 'disco'

After a nice dinner on a terrasse next to Chao Praya river, i brought my dear newbies to some real thai live show: Issan cultural center (maybe the name in english). It was also the time to take a tuk tuk... just 5 people. Unfortunately, the driver understood "Issan mansion" so we had to ask our way in the street and a very gentle (but maybe a bit drunk) guy led us there (more than 5min walk, big thanks!).

We were among the first customers and dressed quite too well for that kind of place but i felt ok as i know the place.

It took around 1h for the place to get packed and so we had the traditionnal opening of the big show: national anthem.

After that it was usual stuff (for me). A mix of song and jokes. Usually i don't answer jokes as it is in thai and it's spoken only but this time it was played too. It was a (fake) ladyboy interpreting the traditional fishing dance. Instead and detting fish in his net he attracted fish with his pussy. Unfortunately it seems he was unlucky...so he finished the job using a cucumber. it may seems not smart but was very fun and especially while he was teasing the lead singer while he introduced the next show. Afterwards we moved to the hype disco: santhika...live music but very so so for me.

Day 3: Gogo boyz

My first time in the sinfulDuangthawee Plaza.

Quite close to the infamous Patpong there are 2 or 3 gay Soi. I knew the Silom Soi 4 with its Balcony and Telephone pub but i never dare to get a drink there, i just been to the Tapas disco (not gay oriented one). I knew also the Silom soi 2 with the famous DjStation though i never dared to go into the Soi. Finally that was the good day to get in!

I went there with my bf only. We took BTS and walked through thaniya plaza (i think), the japanese version of patpong.Contrary to patpong, the grils are dressed, out of the bars and nobody talked to me. I had a few smiles from the girls when they understood i was with a bf. Although, most of the time people thought my bf is a money boy and thai thus they speak first in thai to him: funny for me.

We had an ok dinner at Dick's cafe (i took a giant hamburger and my mouth was not big enough...) in company of a fewold farangs some with (much) younger bf. After the dinner, i finally asked the manager where to go for a good show, he told me about the DreamBoy which a show 1h later.

That left us some times to have a look around and try another first bar. We went to the Siam Angel Boy as they conveniently opened a bit the door for boyz to eye catch while i was having dinner... kinky :p

No entry fee nor show fee here, just expensive drinks (200bahts whatever you drink). Most of the time boyz stay on stage standing in underwear only (though including their mobile phone sometimes), sometimes they move a bit, talk a bit and that's all... so so though they are quite sexy.

Show Time

That was our first show ever... not so bad. Loud music (starwars style) while the stage curtains reveal two boyz. They start "showering" using a water bottle, erotic :p, then one is giving some pleasure to the other one... I was quite surprise because from the beginning of the show they have a hard one (it slips out) and have a condom on (safety first!) but i think they use some trick or drug (viagra?) to do so. The second part of the show was a boy having a shower in a cabin on the opposite wall of us.

After that we went to the second bar: same kind of place but much bigger, sexier boyz and more different boyz style.

In contrary the show was a real one here. It started with many boyz dancing (with some piece of clothes) on a song in the style of the Chicago musicals. They were really good dancers! The second part was: a simili SM action, 2 boyz taking pleasure from a third one, throwing him away (even on a ladder) and use some soft rubber thingy to lash him: definetly not my thing. Eventually the three had the hard on with condom...

Next was a girl (the only one apart from one in the audience) presenting some nice boyz and their thing, she always played with it and even kissed it sometimes... Then a few boyz parade with fur clothes as girls but not even ladyboy style. The bald with a small beard guy had the most applaused, really funny part.

The final was two boyz (one as a girl) imitating Carrabao (most famous thai band) but the man got shot down (bang bang) "HEEEEEELP call the doctor" and here it comes with 2 nurses. By all means they healed the shot guy, electrochoc, wc suction-cup, kiss of life, giant dildo. Everything was just for fun (no the 50x10cm dildo was not actually used!) and it was really really funny especially when nurses disputed to take advantage of the healed guy!

After such a funny show we moved on to DjStation. Nothing much to say apart that we arrived at the end of the life show (with a really fat guy vaguely disguised as a girl and he was so sissy it was funny) though some comment:

Plenty of boyz, some nice, not so many farangs but it was really cruising time, most of the people were not really dancing so we had to start the show ourselves. I was surprized as we were the only actually dancing and touching each other (not it a really kinky way :p). We were next to 2 big hunks and a fat colorful guy with huge 70's sunglasses, at least he was enjoying partying.

That is all for this Bangkok report. Next time i will check for more places to go and especially more thai oriented one, after coming back home i found some nice listing that i will post here before my come back to Bangkok!

Last comment from my bf: all thais boyz look sissy! :-D

Iron woman

2008-09-07T12:52:00.006+07:00

Funny picture though it's never said too often...

Karaoke

2008-09-06T18:36:00.003+07:00

I'm back from Bangkok but i don't have enough time to write about it now. Instead just a funny anecdote at the karaoke.

It has been a long time for me and especially for my friend N. thus she decided to organize again (the 2 previous attempt were crashed thanks to rain mostly) a karaoke. We know a very nice karaoke, thanks to L. , which has a lot of english song and you can choose directly the music with the remote control (most of karaoke here need you to find songs in the list then give it to the "DJ"). Actually, this plus the athmosphere let me guess (this time only) that this place is also a whorehouse but who cares really?

Anyway, the funny part is that N., another housemate, went with us for his first karaoke in Vietnam and he sang YMCA which is great as sometimes he has some homophobic talking (and blogging...just when he is drunk). Unfortunately (for me) i didn't take any video of that!

Actually, i am quite surprise because he did that and he tried several times to take a romantic picture of me and my bf but has N. is a bit old school in photography he didn't manage to succeed with brand new all automatic camera...poor us. More surprising he will try again when he receives is good ol' camera bought on ebay... Stay tuned!

Back home

2008-09-04T14:05:00.004+07:00

We did it!

I have to say that i ama very good tour guide that sux! All the places i brought my friend were much appreciated though almost everytime i did some mistake. I started by missing the BTS station, took several taxis with just the name of the place and eventualy the taxi say "yes yes i know" and finally they don't. Nevertheless we were quite lucky, especially when going to some 99% thai live show.

We were dropped of near an hotel with a similar name but by asking people in the street, one of them brought us to the correct place. After that they decided to go to a night club recommended by a friend of mine but i didn't know where (except thong lo district). The taxi said "yes yes" when asked if he knew the way. Unfortunately, after speeding and making my friends nervous in the car he told us that he does'nt the way but we asked again to a nice mototaxi the way and here we go... The rest of the adventures later...

Going west

2008-08-29T23:58:00.005+07:00

Tomorrow i will fly to Bangkok. I won't be alone (this time) as i go with my boyfriend, first holyday together, and also a bunch of friends.

All of them are newbies to Bangkok thus i will have to be the tour guide... too bad i failed to contact the hotel. Well, i will do as usual, i will try the hotels i know, there will be free rooms for sure...somewhere.

As i don't go alone, especially concerning my bf, and i'm a bit more confident about gayness: i will go to the dark alleys full of PLU (people like us) as Silom Farang call us.

I'm sure to go to nice places like telephone or dick's cafe, i hope we'll dare to go to place like DJ-station and unprobably to some gay gogobars. It's not that we will want to do some i still consider quite immoral but as i did girls gogo sightseeing i am vry curious about boys ones! Evidently i will have to go to straight only places with my friends though i may be able them to tapas which is at the enter of a gay soi (if i remember correctly)... so maybe get them to there... would be fun to see that.

Actually, i already went to one these bars but it was an accident. I met a farang and a thai friends at the sala daeng bts and after enough we decided to get a drink and went straight into the nearest soi. 10 sec after seating the thai went red and after 1 min we guessed where we were ("voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir" song). Fortunately it was not even 6pm so it was still cool.

Have a nice week-end, i guess we will have one!

Ladyboy coming to Ha Noi?

2008-08-28T10:12:00.003+07:00

I recently discovered this info on a straight, kinda homophobic (that's why i won't link him) blog. Despite some disagreements with him i have to admit that i share some of this comment. The decree is about malformation only but when was the last decree applied 100% correctly?

I have no idea but i think it was a long time ago. So, will Viet Nam became a new "ladyboy land"? I really doubt so, the culture is much less tolerant than Thailand but who knows? It can be a profitable business.

Indeed i think medical tourism is about to beginning here. A few months ago i decided to do lasik surgery for my crappy eyes. I did find easily a clinic to do so for 12m VND (a bit less 600€ at that time) for both eyes. Unfortunately they did had the latest machinery (it was second hand from 2005) and could not guarantee a perfect vision and so i decided to go Bangkok. Though in a few years (or less) they will have the money to have the latest machinery and come in the great medical business... i just hope their doctors are good enough...

Ha Noi massage

2008-08-27T14:24:00.005+07:00

I was reading an article from a newspaper (of 2007) and it starts like this :

Massages and spas are considered great ways to relax and improve physical as well as mental being. Hanoi is famous for its traditional massage streets in which the profession has been passed from generation to generation like Le Duan, Quan Thanh, or Cua Nam, not to mention excellent message centres at the Institute of Tradition Medicine, and the Institute of Acupuncture. At present, many massage shops are also popping up to meet an increasing public demand.

Please, let me laugh!

As far as i know (which is not much i am aware of it) Ha Noi or Viet Nam as no big tradition of massage in contrary to thailand. Plus, i have to admit i have been to this "Institute of Tradition Medicine". The first time it was a boy and it was a normal very so-so massage. I went back there a few times even with female friends and every time the female massager offered "massage number one" (too bad the boy didn't).

The second part speaks the truth stating that almost every massage shop offers this "number one massage". Actually i'm a bit surprised as i know pinky and clumsy places are for that but i thought the decent place places like (big) hotels and high class massage had no "bonux" but it seems to be rare. I may be quite lucky to have found a nice place not too expensive (200.000vnd / hour) though i still miss thailand massage (maybe next time i should try their famous boy massage? 0:) )

edit: about boy massage, according to utopia forum it seems there are more than a few boyz massage but be warned: scam seems to happen very often! Anyway, remember one thing: it is not a gay-friendly country.

Coming out in Ha Noi

2008-08-27T11:49:00.002+07:00

It seems comingout is possible in Vietnam finally. Though, don't be so happy about it because you can stay alive but probably not socially!

Anyway, the subject of today is the coming out of 41 years man from Hanoi whom published a book of his story with journalists.

My source: NoodlePie

The original AFP news

I talked a bit about with my bf before that and in his opinion it's absolutely not possible to come out to his family or friends... in fact he so impressed when i told him that finally i did my CO to my family by phone recently (and not much impresssions since that...).

It's funny because i think i will be possible for him to stay officially single and pratically gay as long as he can cope with social pressure and not say anything about men. As soon as he would come out to his aquaintances he will be socially doom even if they had gessed/kenw it before.

"Asian ways" i guess.

Back?

2008-08-12T14:00:00.003+07:00

Well, not yet.

I just wanted let my numerous fans know another (much nicer) gay blog in asia: gayboythailand which is obviously more funny. It may be due to the frequent sexy but not kinky pictures of sweet asian boyz... Enjoy!

edit: i forget a funny news... my sissy housemate is actually gay \o/ but dislikes me... "Damn qua"!

Break

2008-07-09T16:19:00.003+07:00

You know what?

Gay bloggers have also a pro life!

Actually, my work situation is really shitty at the moment so i will take a break from this blog just for a few weeks i hope.

Indeed, i took too much brain-time to think about the boy vs girl issue. Now, i know a bit more, i would say, as i've been in a couple for some time already. Nevertheless, this question is not answered yet and i'll have to go back to it later.

Cya

Housemates

2008-06-24T09:20:00.003+07:00

Incredible!

I share a house with a few housemates but since a few weeks, they are leaving and new ones are coming.

The first one to join is an english teacher who has travel around a lot, actually since his birth. Nothing more to say as he is almost a ghost, wake up late (yes later than me!) and work late. Ah yes, he's been to Thailand and has a "mai pen rai" tattoo, which means "doesn't matter" "live life like it comes" etc, as a big fan of thailand...sweet! On the CO front, i said nothing, maybe he ll know or not but as he is a ghost, it doesn't matte so much and in addition he seems not to care at all with who he is living with.

The third (second later :p) is arrving soon in the house, i just met him once for the moment. Kinda old compared to me and the rest of us (actually i am the youngest!). He has also travel around quite a lot. He seems very talkative and very easy to be "friend" with. Indeed, we (he) were talking about girls etc. and he asked me if i have someone:

me:"Yes"

him:"A vietnamese girl?"

"actually, let's say it straight it's a viet boy" (nb: next time "let's say it straight, i'm not...straight" :D)

=> CO done!

The second one* (or last one :p) is quite the opposite. He's not very talkative (at first), quite shy (he didn't want to tell us his age) and ... may be gay! Why i think that?

Once, i went to propose him to have dinner with me but he just welcomed a nice (boy)friend whom seems utterly gay. He s shy and quite sissy sometimes plus he does some sport to keep healthy and finally he is working on litterature as a professor.

So yeah i know, it doesn't prove anything but i have some kind of feeling he is gay...we will see!

*: i forgot, no CO done with him but i invited him to have a drink with me and my bf and he saw my bf at home on a sunday morning so he might get the idea by himself ;)

gay music

2008-06-16T17:06:00.003+07:00

People often says that the "gay music" is a reality and say also often say that they usually set the trend for club. I don't know if it's true or not but recently i realised that i like gay music, is it another proof that i am one of them (in addition to my gayish motobike according to my bf X-( )?

First come, first serve: The rocky horror picture show

The movie itself is really funny and pretty nutty but i love the music because it is so bombastic in a way.

Queen

Maybe everything started from there. I remember when i was a secondary school kid i discovered this band (and his singer but i was naive ;)), it was so punchy and free from the standard i knew. A few months later i went, for a school trip, to Edimburgh and i found the T-shirt, woohoo \o/ so happy. Anyway, i grew up and i still like it though i know for freddy mercury. STOP, he was absolutely not my type :p but he was really a great person to be able to make fun of his sexuality (the famous picture of the band disguised as women) in such a conservative world.

Scissor sisters

I discovered it recently, it's so punchy, modern & kitsch and well shaped for gay. Actually they play too much the gay code i think. Anyway several songs are really nice.

Lucky Lucky twice

I don't know if it's really gay but i love this song since i am in vietnam \o/

nb: promise to do a much more interesting post next time though i have no comment so why? :p

Comical

2008-06-11T11:37:00.002+07:00

Disclaimer: Yes i am such a bad boy though not much O.o

Once upon a time when i was young and credulous i met some guy from the dating website just to talk. Actually, i accepted to met him because he discovered quickly what i do and where i work (giving him just a few hints) and also one of his friend was about to work at my company. Anyway, we met, had a coffee, etc.

Today, my boss have lunch with this person, without knowing the guy is gay. Here comes the funny part: this guy is deeply in love... ahem... appetite of my boss but my boss does not like but (again) he accepts to have lunch with him to keep in touch with the friend of the gay guy, as this person has very qualifications for work and did not say yes or no for the job.

It would be funny that the non gay guy comes to work with us so i could tell him about his friend... though his friend would kill me because he is married (and obviously not enjoying it).

Women

2008-05-27T14:39:00.002+07:00

... i hate you! :)

First, a few days ago, i did my coming out to my oldest expatriate friend here. She knew me and we talked about our desperate love (we were both bur differently in love with someone that was not, it was a girl for me :p) last year. I thought she would know me and maybe sees that now i am better but yet different. I hoped that she would have guessed that something was on but she didn't guess at all!

She was really surprised but not shocked. Actually she was shocked (in a way) by knowing who is my bf, she was astonished . Anyway she told me that she is happy because i won't get use by some vietnamese chicks.

Second, a colleague of mine told me i would make a perfect couple with one of my flatmate (girl ;)). She said so because i went with this flatmate to a wedding party and we were so nice together !

Although, the point is she asked me today if i am in love because i really look like it. It was not so easy to say no..hic hic! Consequently, i think she really has this way of sensing people and i am pretty sure she will continue to harrass me but for the moment i have the cover of my flatmate, what will it be after?

Finally i don't hate you girls ;) it's just some have this sense and some has not and in this case it's not the good one....

Sleeping with a vietnamese boy

2008-05-21T11:33:00.003+07:00

Mwahahahah with this title i should have readers but unfortunately it's not what you think!

Just an anecdote:

I just ask my bf what are his plans for tonight and he answered:" nothing until 1.45 am". Evidently, i laughed but i asked anyway. Actually he's gonna watch the UEFA cup with his colleagues at work!!!

Vietnamese men and soccer.... can't be helped!

To be there

2008-05-20T09:39:00.002+07:00

I have always been a lonely person in need of friends. It can seems contradictory but i think it is not. I need friends to appreciate loneliness, loneliness that i need to appreciate friends. It's funny during parties i really enjoy to set me appart and have a look at all those humans cheering all together (afraid of tomorrow?).

I could explain that by my feeling of being different though it took me around half a century to know how i am "different". It is not (only) my homosexuality, it's just a side-effect. I am just someone different, with different sight on the world, my mind full of daemons, my in(t/f)ernal daemons...

Anyway, i was really close to my mother before and only to her (yes i know, so stereotyped). With her death a some years ago, i started to be a little closer to my father but finally by moving away for studies then to go work abroad now i am quite far. At the same he is continuing to stay closer to me but i can't at the moment, i changed too much. My life changed, i'm a grown up (almost), i gain money from my work, i have friends they can't imagine, i have bf they have no idea... i manage my life and it is so different from they think.

Anyway (2), it is not the purpose of this note. Recently my father talk to me of my brother. He is in couple with a "so so girl" (to talk nice). I saw her more than a few times, she is quite cute, not mean but not interesting at all.

I know my brother, he may look like a good redneck sometimes but he is not. He started his own company and after 2 years it's going really good and he is well educated. I still remember one of his first serious girfriend. She was going to be lawyer. They were so perfect together...but they live to far from each other and were not able to live at the same place (big city vs countryside).

Finally, my father asked me to talk my brother but since 1 year i called him once and chatted with him less than 5 times. To call him to talk about his couple, to let him understand that finally he could break up. Yes because he said already it's not going well for them, he just got used to it and.... i think he is really afraid to be alone for a long time, it's not easy in deep country side!

So? I made (unconsciously) everything i could to be far from them and now i should be there for them? I don't even know if, when i ll come back, they will accept me as i am. Well, as you should know, i am a good boy and i will try to talk to him but he can be so stubborn.

...maybe it will be easier for me when i come back then....aaaaaah.... communication my family biggest flaw.

Sauna or not?

2008-05-15T12:02:00.005+07:00

And when i speak about sauna i obviously speak about gay sauna!

Here's the fact:

I recently read on utopia, that there is a gay sauna in Hanoi! I even went there to check the surroundings of the place. It is located in a narrow and long alley, typically vietnamese. First it surprise me because you have the common life around. Second, it's quite discreet and really quiet, the front room is a moto parking (it was full last friday when i drove around there). It is also quite cheap (5$ i think).

(edit) address: Adam's Spa 92 Ngo (alley) Tho Quan, Pho (street) Kham Thien . They even have a website though i don't understand anything...

Will i go?

I think, i will go there... one day.

Why one day?

I don't really to ask my bf to go there, i don't want him to see me as a pervert (that i may be one day :p). When we talk he is someone who dislike the gay athmosphere (everyone knows everyone and had much "fun" with many / girly fashionned boyz etc). Finally, thanks to my confidante, i may ask him to go there with me. He and i would feel really uneasy there but it would be better for him to know that i go there and he is sure that i didn't do something bad there...

Why going there?

I have some morbide curiosity about that kind of place, curiosity to know my "sexual comrades"! I really want to know if it is like i imagine (all that stereotypes) with people having fun anywhere or "just" a lustfull athmosphere!

Anyway i will keep my (so many) dear readers updated on that... but maybe i'll check another gay bar before (one of the nightlife places i told you before).

Videoing out

2008-05-14T10:25:00.000+07:00

It's been one week my friend is back home. It's a little more than he knows for me. He was not my closest friend and he was not the easiest one to talk to but i finally succeeded to tell him. As thought, he was really surprised.

One evening after he comes and goes around i decided to tell him so we went for dinner together to the traditionnal bia hoi close to my home. It takes me many try to tell him. I was so unconfident i finally said "ok i want to get a sintho with you after, i have something to tell you" (he was tired and refused before i say that).

So here it is:

- Me: "i have a big news for you as you are the first friend to visit me here: I am not single anymore"

- Him:"Great"

- "It's not a girl, it's a boy"

- "Ah, really?"

Although, as i was really serious, it didn't doubt so much. It's just i am his first friend to turn to be gay.

Here comes, the funny part: "Videoing out"

I wanted to tell my other friends before he tells them, so i decided to skype them one by one.

It went very smoothly, the first one, a girl whom i am quite close to, was surprise also but she was asbolutely ok as her aunt is a lesbian and she is totally ok with that.

The second one is my former flatmate, he was also damn surprise but doesn't care so much (was by phone... non geek people...).

The third is the flatmate of my visiting friend, he knew already (difficult to keep your mouth closed when you share an apartment). This friend went also abroad for a few years and he told that at the time he tries some things... like men, even a serious relationship and that finally it's not for him (he's thinking about wedding with his girlfriend). The interesting part with him is that his family (and his gf) is very christian but they know and it's bearable for them though i think they don't talk about it. It reassures me for when i will tell my family (which is not religious at all, lucky me :p).

The last friend, i called him at his waking up time (noon) and just said "Ah" at first. Then he reassures me, we talked a lot, i gave him some details about my boyfriend, how it is to be gay in hanoi etc. As he is one of the few to know my family, we talked about coming out to them and reassures me about that... so i will tell them one day, next time i come back i guess.

To conclude, "videoing out" is a good idea when you are far and your friends are nice (though i wouldn't recommend it for potential problematic coming out, too easy to stop the talk). I am very proud of my friends, to have so good and open minded friends!

So i say to them (although they don't know this blog :p): Thank you!

Lucky lucky

2008-05-13T05:12:00.004+07:00

I am crazy about this song but i really don't understand why?

It's a good ol' 80's remixed song.
You can hear it everywhere in bars... but not only, it's very common as a mobile ringtones!
It's stupid lyrics
Kinda shitty music (outside of dancing athmosphere ;))

So just enjoy it:

It's funny because i make my visiting friend listen to it. His reaction was: "you are definitely an expatriate now"... thank you ;)

Enjoy:

I just watch this video... isn't it a bit lesbianish? That would explain why i hear it often in the gay bar.. but would'nt explain i hear it also in common nightclub.

Bonux: A few days ago, i read that D&G is a gay couple... Vietnamese young people are crazy about that brand (among a lot of brands) but i think that would piss them off to know ;)

Gay night life in Hanoi*

2008-05-01T23:16:00.007+07:00

It may surprise my fellow readers but i am not what you can call a expert of gay night life in Hanoi, nor in general :p, but i was an expert for night life before (when i was young and bald yet... joking...for a few years :( ).

Anyway, let's start with inescapable place :

Solace (End of Chuong Duong Do): a common night club with ok music to shitty one (depends on the dj and you) but it is a nice place as it a boat on the red river
Lighthouse (formely barracuda) (51 Phuc Tan): the music seems to be a bit better and seems also to be less closed by police (you understand when you live here). this nightclub is located close to solace. I read some rumor it is/was gay friendly but i don't think so as it has a broad audience.
Dragonfly (15 Hang Buom): one of the biggest "late" bar for expat. Several rooms with different athmosphere, the old staff is friendly.
Tet bar (formerly maquis) (2a Ta Hien): french crowded place so it has a different athmosphere compared to other bar.
Funky monkey (31 Hang Thung): expensive and noisy place with a mix of trash-posh young vietnamese and tourists. You can forget it though i went there a few times with friends and had a few good times (taking all the dance place for us only)
FM3 (2D Duong Thanh): same owner as the previous (but the number 3, the 1 is no more and the other is the 2 obviously). More expensive, more noisy (loud), damn cold, no space to dance and no westerners... some mafia with their money girls. Nice place! Anyway if it was a bit more friendly and with some space to dance it would be similar to the place à like in Bangkok.

Gay-friendly

Mao's red lounge (7 Tạ Hiên): Oi gioi oi, it took me a few weeks to get in! I read on some website it is gay-friendly but actually when i get in, it was normal. Since then i read it is gay owned. Anyway the athmosphere is good (westerner only almost :/) but it's good ol' 80's 90's music!
Apocalypse now (no adress): how not to mention it? Well it's down now but i heard it was a damn great place (i read a blog describing a gay kiss in front of everyone!!! Incredible here).. RIP with XXX (i will find the name again i promise :p)

Gay-oriented:

GC bar (5a Bao Khanh Lane): i let you gues what GC stands for! Quiet place with a snooker and good music during the week... H.O.T. place on friday and especially saturday evening! Ultra crowded, nice modern shitty music :D. As you can imagine i like very much this place though it's a damn cruising bar...
VTN (72 Nguyen Du): I read it's a gay place i saw nothing when i checked during the week... looks even a bit shitty though, GC is the same during the week.
Connect cafe (So 8, Duong 2, Khu Tap The F361, An Duong, West lake ): i didn't check this one but i read it's like 'the place where to be'.
Adam Sauna (92 Ngo Tho Quan, Pho Kham Thien): I am not ready yet to go there, i have a too bad idea of gay sauna...

Ressouces:

newhanoian.com: a general expat-in-hanoi webportal, damn useful!

utopia-asia.com: some info but not up to date.

*: I know i am in contradiction with a previous post, let's say i am less paranoid.

Ban dang o day

2008-05-01T15:53:00.002+07:00

(My friend is here)

He arrives a few days ago and stayed in Hanoi for 36 hours so i had no opportunity to talk to him, though we said a couple of words about "girflriends" and the girls in Vietnam (whom, i agree, can be really cute).

He will come back after a tour around the north and i still wonder if i will tell him. Previously on Battlestar Hanoi (yes i am crazy of BSG... and the season 4 is on air :D), i was really willing and very confident to tell him but i am not anymore, still the same question for me.

Well, if i find a good opportunity,not right before his departure, i will tell him. So, if it's ok he could meet my bf.

Upcoming in BSH: i will doing a little overview of (gay) night life in Hanoi.. it won't take me too long ;)

Coming out?

2008-04-24T17:58:00.004+07:00

A friend of mine will visit me this week-end. I won't see him for long but i'm seriously thinking of "coming out" to him.

But why?

He is not my closest friend.
I have almost no idea of how he will react.
He may tell all my friends when he comes back even if i ask him not too (worst scenario).
I don't feel that much ready.
I don't come back soon to my home country.
I don't want to lose friends (story of my life by relocating...) even the stupid ones who could think i'm not worth it anymore.... stupid, i know already...

Because

He is the first one to visit me here
The next one is my best friend, he knows already and the following would be much later.
He will be able to say that i am still the same (abnormal guy but that's another story), though maybe happier.
The question about my love life are coming more often by instant message.
I want them to contact me again. As we say "far from the eye, far from the heart", as the times pass by, i don't have much contact with them.
I want to be able to tell them everything.
I want to be able to tell someone: "yesterday i did that with my bf, bla bla bla" and i'm far from being ready to tell my family.
I feel like it (best reason actually), though you are never totally ready in my point of view?

The plan

We will have lunch together, if i feel ok i will talk about our friends love life and his especially. I guess he will ask for mine. I may say "it's a bit complicated (which is true as everyone ;) )". Finally, i'll tell him i found someone nice and that is .... a boy.

If he's ok with that, i plan to go for a coffee with my BF.

Bonux: I finally know a vietnamese word (i like) to call my BF, it's "cung" like the japanese "kun" (for those who know).

"funny reading"

2008-04-16T19:03:00.002+07:00

I just had a funny reading from the web, a christian website.

They pretend to give real news (to oppose to mass media) with, obviously a christian point view. My today reading was the article about a company showing together laying on a bed (not naked & no implied sensuality ;)).

They were totally shocked by it, because the kids can see it. Though, to tell you the truth, in my home country, homosexuality is not such a big deal. You... we may have some problem with the coming out or with homophobic acts but all around it is quite accepted.

To conclude their article, they call readers to send mail to the company and their business partners, giving the whole list of them... despicable.

The best, as usual, are in the comments like:

"Homosexuality is bad, that's all"

"Kids will see that every day"

"5% of the people admit to have had a homosexual act, it should'nt be normalize"

Sometimes i don't miss my home so much ;)

Couple's dinner

2008-04-14T14:53:00.003+07:00

As I am a "mot cham pa cham" (100%) romantic guy, I had the fantasy to do a "couple's dinner" since a very long time.

Finally I did it with my bf, a (westener) friend and his vietnamese girlfriend. It was really nice to do so because I (we?) were feeling like any common couple. Going out for a nice dinner then drive around (on motobike) to have an ice cream next to some beautiful lake at night. How crazy it is to feel just normal in such a homophobic country.

Although I have to moderate myself. I say that because I am astonished by the girlfriend, she has absolutely no problem with me and my bf. More incredible is that she even say some dirty implied joke !

That's why I, finally, think there is some for this country. I thought everything but mentalities was evolving very fast but it seems that it is changing also (though slowlier ;)).

Here comes the summer again

2008-04-09T11:00:00.002+07:00

Finally the summer is coming again in Hanoi. Even sleeping alone is hot again ;)

Since a few days the temperature doesn't go under 22° in the night or 25° inside the house. Now we are waiting for the rain to cool down the athmosphere where a few weeks ago it was terrible to have rain because it meant very cold weather... Anyway this will last until September, so back to the pleasure of sleeping with noisy aircond' for 6 months! Although, the best is that there is absolutely no insulation.... which is really bad in both winter & summer ...

Cheers and enjoy your nice houses in your boring country! ;)

How to meet a guy (who loves guy) in Hanoi?

2008-04-02T20:05:00.005+07:00

It's quite simple: come back to your country! ;)

In fact, it's not so extreme... depending on what you want.

The first idea (as a tourist) would be to hang around in the tourist district and thanks to utopia-asia you would know that a few years ago you could have a "quickie" in some gloomy toilets. That was a few years ago and I think it's not the idea anymore (the cited toilets have been destroyed).

Result: Forget it!

Second idea: the bars!

Good idea... and cool bars are pretty rare here so it won't take you too much time! Here comes the problem. As Vietnam is quite unfriendly with LGBT people you won't find it easily (and forget your lonely planet). Let's say you found it (sorry I won't tell you the name of the only one I know to protect them from too much advertisement... I am sure police knows but as long as it's not well known they don't care... asian culture). First, you have to arrive at the right time so forget during the week, or you have to be much more lucky than me. Actually I went there a long time ago during the week with a hetero vietnamese friend who had no idea of it and it was like a quiet euro bar. So you are there, it's the week-end, around 10pm, the bar is totally crowded. Congratulations the hunt can begin!... but people seems to be so hungry ;)

Results:

You want to ***: welcome!
You want to party with some of the "best partying people" : welcome!
You want to find the one... good luck!

Finally, you have the incredible internet world!

That's the way I found my boyfriend (as knows those who pay attention :p). Well, I think it's like any dating website. Depending on what you want you will find easily (fun) or it will take some time. Unlike other dating website (as far as I know) you may find some money boys.. beware!

Result: Welcome to the big supermarket but if you look for a special product you will have to search for it!

Check or not?

2008-04-02T19:52:00.002+07:00

I met my boyfriend by a dating website, obviously it's really hard to find someone "on the field" (nb: do a post about that), but since then I check sometimes the same website.

I have to acknowledge that at first it was to check the market because I was unsure that it would be a long time relationship. I continued to receive a few messages but mainly by foreigners coming for holydays or some people I call in an unfriendly way "sex machine", like the one I met at some bar (nb: do another post about that).

I continued for a time with the same (bad) idea but also to check if he still goes there... which he did! Actually, I think that he is also checking on me because it is really not often (I won't tell you how I know but you can find easily).

I already have the answer to "Should I continue?": no, I should stop and talk to him about that, would say my communication expert friend. Although, I think less and less it can't be the one (am I falling in... love?), I have to say that I like to check the 'market', especially to see if other people I met there are still online.

Time's up

2008-03-06T10:21:00.002+07:00

Finally, I, hereby declare that the time of (meaningless) question is ended! both for this blog and my life.

Consequently, I know there will be whatever I like in this blog without a predetermined main theme... as in my life!

Enjoy my huge non-readers! ;)

Can it be cute?

2008-03-05T14:17:00.003+07:00

Yesterday I was looking at my flatmate's last excursion pictures. He was with his (vietnamese) girlfriend and they were really cute on photos... like teenagers. Obviously, they get along very well and are in love.

Concerning my relation with my boyfriend, we have no photo of us together and almost none of each other (I got 2 of him). Although the point of this post is: i can easily think heterosexual couples are cute together but not homosexual. Am I stupid to think that? Or am i not in love enough to see that?

Actually, we were listening to music and comparing taste. He listens a lot to good ol' english songs, especially love songs (and probably Vietnamese ones but not with me) and I can appreciate but I feel it's quite a silly situation because from a artistic point of view ... it's shit. In addition, I guess that I should not say that.

Spam sweet words

2008-02-26T15:47:00.002+07:00

As everyone I get so many spams everyday but today I received a nice one. Usually it's "penis enlargement", "cheap \/|agra for you" and so on. That's I think, today's spam title:

"be a lethal weapon in bedroom"

is quite good (for a spam, yes).

My today's 2 cents

Fake start

2008-01-16T09:52:00.000+07:00

It's funny to live in Vietnam, one day you can start a blog here and the following you can not access it anymore. I thought it was because censorship as I speak of homosexuality and it is very bad in Vietnam (so don't imagine what is it to live it here). Finally i discovered it is because my former ISP, VNPT, is state owned and is well known to block access to blogger and wordpress blogs.

I changed my ISP and now here i am back to write my pulsating life in Hanoi and i can guarantee you there is a lot to say!

Looking forward to write to you my possibly future readers?

Why?

2007-07-30T15:31:00.000+07:00

This blog is intended to satisfy my ego! More seriously, i will speak about my (sexual) life in southeast Asia because i can't do it in real life nor on a blog with my name.

Everything started around 1 year ago (late spring 2006) in Bangkok. I spent 2 months there and i met pretty quickly a nice girl (that's the first and almost only one). It was nice to be with her and especially to live at her place discovering a common district not invaded by "farang" (westerner) and evidently to have sex for the first time.

We had many good times but i was always thinking that she may be with me because of money though she didn't showed it at all. Finally i left her and Bangkok but i came back a couple of times for very short period. At the end i prefered to end this "kick relation" (kick = some kind of sex friend quite common there).

After doing so i came back to Bangkok and i phoned her just to say "hello, how life's going?" as i know bangkok's life for a pretty but poor girl can be tough. At that time i discovered she loved me for real and that i was just another bastard. I wasn't looking just for sex but for fun in general, i wanted to be with her and enjoy life with her but not thinking of a long and stable relationship. We met again, had a talk about that and some sex just like the good ol' time but that was over and both of us knew it.

Finally both of us are going forward for a new life, me in Hanoi since a couple of months and her soon to Europe to live with a 40+ years old man who "likes" woman of Thailand, life's can be tough for girl in Thailand as i said...

And both of us will be with man now.

For just being yourself with me, i thank you Ann! I discovered that Bangkok is a beautyfull city with many nice people but i discovered too that i will prefer girls as friends not girlfriend...