London Day One

I woke up just as we were landing, a perfect nights sleep thanks to earplugs provided by the stewardesses when a baby onboard decided to start screaming. I grabbed my stuff and headed on the train and then the tube to my hotel. It was pretty easy to find. The place I was staying in Paddington was pretty small.. make that VERY small.. I was paying more than I was in Hong Kong and it was even smaller... hard to believe. But it was clean and modern and I didn't plan on spending much time there anyway. I went to an internet cafe nearby and made some skype calls, checked my mail and tubed it up to SoHo.

I think I've died and gone to gay heaven. This place is both modern and surrounded by history. Classy yet fun. Everyone here seems to be gorgeous in many sort of ways. Not the typical Los Angles superficial hot, but sophisticated, well dressed, smart, and with accents!! Every person with their own distinct personas.

The streets here are full of mixed crowds and packed with coffee shops restaurants and bars. I'm really looking forward to going out tonight. I know that 3 days here will not be enough, but I can tell already that I might spend more here in 3 days than all 14 in Hong Kong... shopping is almost out of the question and food alone will put me in the poor house. Everything here costs as much as in the states, but since it's the British Pound it's really twice (or more) as expensive. Oh well.. you only live once, and it's been a long time since I was in London. Cheers!

So after hanging out for a bit I went over to a nearby pub for a drink.. there I met a couple nice dudes who recommended that I check out Fire in another section of town later that night.. I had a few beers and chatted it up before heading down the street to G-A-Y bar for another few beers.

There I met a whole bunch of people. Everyone in London is so nice and easy to talk to. Not to mention really good looking. Upstairs I met Gary, Danny and Collin. Gary the tall blond and I hit it off instantly. We spent the next 2 hours chatting and talking and drinkn... then Gary and I cabbed it back to my pad to drop of my stuff and hang out for a bit before meeting the other boys back out for dinner at a traditional British restaurant. I had the fish and chips of course.

We then hit a few more bars before I finally said good bye to them and met up with Adnan who is Mike Rosenthal's friend from New York. Adnan was really cute and way fun too. We walked around soho for some more drinks before heading over to Popstars which was NUTS. Maybe like 4000 people spread over 4 levels and at least 6 different rooms. Everyone was excited for Gossip to be performing... but I was just enjoying the dancing and the hot guys. Sometime around 4am I left the club and hopped in a cab with some nice Icelandic ladies and headed back to Paddington to crash...

Posted by Josh Gray-Emmer on Saturday, March 22, 2008

Posted 22nd March 2008 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Hong Kong Day Three

Once again the hard bed got me up early. I've been reviewing hotels and it seems that rock hard beds are common in Hong Kong, so be ware to anyone thinkn of traveling here. I watched some news and waited for the boys to wake up since we were supposed to go out on Danny's boat today. When no one answered my texts, I decided to stuff my bag with the essentials and head out for the day anyway.

I've been hemorrhaging cash (everything in HK is freekn expensive!) so I ate at a local chinese fast food place. It was much more the traditional joint I had been looking for over the last several days. All sorts of noodle dishes and meats with sauces over rice. The place was PACKED. So I grabbed something off the menu and clamored for a seat at a table with a bunch of Thai women. The meal was hot, delicious, fresh and only a few bucks. Perfect.

Then I headed over to my favorite Starbucks in Lan Kwai Fong for a little afternoon coffee and internet. There I learned that the boys were all just getting up and WAAY to hung over for boating today. No problem, I wanted to explore the Wan Chai district anyway. So I booked my hotel for the next 9 days (after walking over and checking out the rooms of course), and hopped on the Hong Kong MTR (subway). WOW, I wish LA had something like this. It's like a small underground city. Complete with shops, and bustling crowds making their way all over town. Cheap, (my round trip cost me $1.50) clean and efficient it was amazing.

Now to my destination. Electronics heaven. 289 Hennessy St. WOW. If it has buttons and circuits, it's here. I wandered the maze of small shops each peddling a slew of cameras, flash drives, phones and ipods. I had to keep getting out my phone to convert the prices and was sadly disappointed that once again, though things looked amazingly cool, they were certainly NOT cheap. Maybe I'll have better luck on Mainland China.

Afterwards I consulted my trusty Lonley Planet Guidebook (thanks Rosenthal) and headed a few blocks away to the Chinese Arts and Crafts store. There I found everything one could ever want at prices starting at $500 and going up from there. My favorite had to be the pair of hard carved 7 foot long solid Mammoth tusks priced at very reasonable 1.5M. Back to the guidebook for a spa. I was definitely massage time.

Danny had suggested this place called Happy Feet, but it wasn't listed in the book. So I got out my map, got back on the MTR and worked my way towards the address of Ellis Day Spa. It just happened to be above my favorite Starbucks and looked very very nice, and of course.. $120 for a one hour massage.. damn it. I thanked the woman and hopped back in the elevator. Then I noticed, Happy Feet... floor 19.. why not? It was perfect.. just what i was looking for. 50 minute foot massage.. $20 bucks.. jackpot. :)

While I was there I met Adam, Collin and Jay, all locals. We had a wonderful conversation and they invited me to join them at Lux after for a drink. We spent hours talking before we finally said goodbye and I headed over to Rat Alley (it's a term of endearment, there are NO rats lol) for some Thai food. The curry was perfect. I sat and read for a bit before heading back to my hotel. The earliest night yet... 10:30pm... but who knows.. maybe I'll go out later! :P

Posted by Josh Gray-Emmer on Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Posted 9th March 2008 by Josh Gray-Emmer