Monday, December 05, 2005

Singapore Trip Part I

I am uncertain whether my absense was noticed, but I was in Singapore from the 24th (Saturday) till 29th (Thursday).

Currently, I am suffering from PHS – Post Holiday Syndrome. Surely you know that feeling of looking-back-at-and-missing-all-the-fun-and-stress-free-
moments-of-a-vacation-just-passed-and-realised-that-it’s-back-to-work-again.

I travelled with Aeroline. I took the 3.30 p.m. coach and I was really unlucky. Firstly, it was a working Saturday and the traffic in KL was terrible. In addition, there was an overturned lorry on the North-South highway. I finally reached Singapore at 10; one and a half hour later than scheduled.

At the price that they charge, I was disappointed that the coach’s seats were quite uncomfortable. Perhaps it was just me.

And they don’t serve dinner either! They served some titbits and tea at 4 p.m. and nothing else.

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On Sunday, it was the finals of the 23rd Singapore River Regatta. It was held at Boat Quay and I was there at 11 a.m.

The reason was my friend, P, who was also my host during the duration of my stay, qualified for the finals and thus his team would be competing.

As expected, there were plenty of boys around. There were secondary school, junior colleges and universities students. There were also grown-ups in the corporate and community centers categories.

There were girls too. Most of them were very butch. After all, dragon boat rowing is not for the average female.

They even had a breast cancer survivors’ category. There were a couple of ang-moh (Caucasian) teams – the Singapore Canadian Association and another one which I couldn’t remember.

So basically almost all types of preferences were covered; whether one wants their boys tall, fat, buffed, thin, young-looking, mature, white, Asian, etc.

Now, all Singaporeans males above 18 have to go undergo National Service, which is two years long. Hence, they generally have really toned bodies.

Consider too the fact that they are dragon boat rowers. Which means they have healthy tans too.

Tall and tanned.

Needless to say, I had a field day ogling at them. Especially the shirtless ones.

As P’s race was scheduled at 2.30 p.m., I had plenty of time to do a little sightseeing. Not just the boys. I actually meant the surrounding buildings and environment.

Moreover, I have not watched any dragon boat races before. I took in the many sights and sounds, the cheering and clapping, the adrenalin and excitement, the camaraderie and teamwork.

The event also provided many opportunities for photo-taking.

Here are some pictures I have taken.

Rowers getting ready with the oars held horizontally.


All set and ready to go!


Boat number 5 seemed to be heading for a victory.


P’s team got second place. And team that they lost to was NUM (New Urban Male). It’s a brand that sells men’s clothes. Wingedman has mentioned about them before.

They even have a website. Not surprisingly, they have their winning team's picture shown prominently.

It was a bit ironic as P’s team beat them in the semi-finals but lost to them in the finals.

Still, it was an improvement for his team, as they got the bronze last year.

The whole thing ended at about seven with the prize giving ceremony.

Later that night, P and I went to Happy. The name itself is so obvious that I don’t think I even need to explain.

We were there at about half past eleven.

When I entered, my first impression was that it was similar to Frangi. Cute guys aplenty.

Or at least, most of them looked cute in the dark.

Yup, lighting was almost non-existent. The only place that was sufficiently-lit was the bar.

Anyway, P’s friends came half an hour later and I was duly introduced to D, M and W. S was there too.

Besides the lack of light, there were a lot of smoke from those smoke-churning gadgets and cigarettes.

We drank very watered-down vodka lime, as I try to look around for the cute guys. Clearly, that was difficult to do.

S asked whether I found anyone cute.

Me: Very hard to see the faces la. So dark.
S: But you gotta admit that almost everybody here has nice bodies.
Me: Well, true.
S: Which you don’t see a lot of in the KL.
Me: ….
S: I like men with good bodies. Face not so much.
Me: I go for faces. But I find many of them to be too bulky and muscular. Like those in body-building. I prefer those swimmer types. Toned, not bulging muscles.

S himself has quite a nice body. Not too bulky. When he said that he goes for someone with a beautiful body, it struck me that people with great bodies would most probably expect the same of the other person. I mean, how could someone with a "perfect" body settle for anything less?

As such, there was only one thing left to do. Dance.

Honestly, I didn’t found the music to be that danceable. Very techno. Beats that, to me, sounded jerky. With a lot of thumping and not much of a rhythm.

There was someone who took off his shirt and dancing on the platform. S cheekily pulled me close to him to dance.

Sigh. Though I was about a foot away, I only caught glimpses in those flashing lights and swirling smoke. But the body looked fantastic.

S noticed another person dancing next to the shirtless one. He was dressed and S shouted over the music to me, “Look at that guy. He’s just waiting for someone to rip that shirt off.”

Next thing I knew, he did exactly that. Or at least, he tried.

But of course, S had asked him first. The guy seemed reluctant and kept his shirt on. ;P

I spent about 20 minutes on the dance floor. After that, I gave up.

I was told there was a raid last Sunday. I know another one was unlikely. People were still coming in as they thought so too.

Which might be exactly what the authorities were expecting. Better not take my chances.

3 comments:

k.t.x said...

how do u find happy bar's design????? hehehehehehe.

anyway, yeah, i noticed your absence. u must hv had a great time ...

Jay said...

Singaporeans tend to have better bodies but I think KL boys are not that far behind! Muscle culture has definitely taken over the gay community in KL.

Sounds like you had fun anyway. So didja get laid?

Derek said...

keatix: Hi. Welcome back.

Happy's design is pretty standard, I think. Except for the back room, where it looks pretty cozy.

And yup, I had a great time. ;P


jay: I had a lot of fun. Period. ;P