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Old Feb 5, 2006 | 8:59 am
  #28  
Malaysian16
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Australia
Programs: QF, SQ
Posts: 326
You're more man than me!

Originally Posted by kyushuman
I think previous posters did a good job with recommendations in S'pore, and I'll echo theirs and add a few of mine, as a guy who spends 5 weeks every July in S'pore for work:
Online: Fridae.com for meeting guys before you go; sgboy.com and gay.com for being naughty while you're there (ok, also Fridae.com)
Saunas: Towel Club for locals and foreigners; the dumpy Raw for meeting Indian guys
Zoos: Night Safari, Juron Bird Park (both really cool if you like animals),
Shopping: Orchard Road and Raffles Plaza and the connected underground mall to the other nearby mall (help with the names of them?)
Gyms: All are extremely gay, especially the huge, gaudy California Fitness on Orchard Road (I think you can get in here if you're a member of 24HR Fitness in the US or HKG/BKK, also sells a monthly pass for about US$125, and if you stay at the nearby Hotel Phoenix you get daily passes).
Food: I almost always eat at favorite stalls at "food centers", where most Singaporeans eat out. Food Centers are food courts with dozens of locally-owned food stalls. It's kinda like eating street food in Asia, except they're all certified by the Public Health Department). Find food centers underneath many shopping centers and malls, along with public housing estates around the island. Always cheap, freshly made. Go to a busy stall to ensure the best quality. The most famous among foreign tourists (but also therefore more expensive) are Newton Circus and Lau Pa Sat, but food centers are all over the island.

Some of my favorite "flavors of Singapore" places to spend an evening: go to Geylang and watch the hookers ply their wares near the short-time hotels; go to Changi Village (near the Le Meridien Changi Airport) and watch the Tranny hookers ply their wares (hmmm... what's with me watching hookers??--I think it's because everyone thinks of S'pore as so buttoned-down, I love stuff that goes against that). Finally, spend a few hours walking around Little India on a Sunday--that is the day that it is literally CRAWLING with thousands of South Asian males, walking around, hanging out with friends, etc. It truly is just like being in Bangladesh or India. Great, cheap food, lots of looks and smiles (though it's not some gay cruising ground, I did actually meet 2 guys here over the last few years). A culturally intense day.

Another fave of mine: If you have time, take a taxi to the Malaysia checkpoint before about 4pm (when it starts to get busy), and cross into Johor Bahru for the evening--you'll be back by 10 or 11pm. Go to Golden Plaza/Holiday Plaza--a downmarket shopping center (?) or something like that for knock-off DVDs. They're sold out of the back of the stalls, for a few bucks each.
Then to a nearby outdoor food center for seafood: grilled chilli stingray, stir-fried shrimp, whole fish--prepared as you order it, for about $5-10 per person, including beverages, depending on what you order. Maybe to the big, fancy shopping mall for some shopping, then head home--Back thru the checkpoint, which will be quiet going into S'pore, and home in bed in S'pore.
I'm really a huge fan of S'pore--and its people--though not its government. Actually, that's sometimes true of my home country as well!

Am in S'pore now and its pouring heavily. Even as a Malaysian national - I hardly ever venture into JB (aka Cowboy town - and not quite the Brokeback type) when back in S'pore!!!
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