keefer

I was in Tokyo many years ago with work (we have an office there), and it was the most amazing and simultaneously most surreal place I've ever visited... and the place I'd most like to revisit... when some friends were planning to visit I asked our Tokyo team where they took out of town visitors, and they didn't disappoint... I've found the original mail -- hope this helps. Day trips from Tokyo, · Hike/onsen in Hakone with views of mount Fuji · Hiking and/or Temples in Nikko · Hiking in Karuizawa · Hiking from Mitake to Oku-tama (long hike and takes a while to get there, full day) · Temples in Kamakura Tokyo Restaurants Tokyo is not just about Japanese food, all food is amazing. Small Japanese restaurants often don’t have English menus and the staff don’t speak English. If you’re open to trying new things, then don’t let this scare you, just point at things on the menu and play pot luck. Many more restaurants to choose from with maps and descriptions in english on http://www.bento.com Some tips on food styles here http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/japanese-restaurants and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cuisine Gonpachi, Nishi-Azabu · English Menus. Nice restaurant, worth booking, the staff speak english. Famous as was the inspiration for Kill Bill set. Also has a good sushi restaurant on the top floor open very late. there is also one in Shibuya, but not as good · http://www.bento.com/rev/1735.html link to map on website Ahirusutoa, Shibuya · Restaurant own by a brother and Sister who are making everything, form Sausage to bread. This is only open at night and have only 10 seats. It was the restaurant next to where we lived and loved it. · http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1318/A131810/13051357/ Kaikaya, Shibuya · Great Fish restaurant. Noisy, good fun. Again english menus. http://www.bento.com/rev/0211.html link to map on website Fuku, Yoyogi-Uehara · Simply the best Yakitori in Town, book ahead and stuff your face with things on sticks fresh from the bbq. English menus available Toriyoshi, Nishi-Azabu · Yakitori restaurant (chicken and veg on sticks), no english and no booking, but you can point to things on the counter to order. Akanoren, Nishi Azabu · Great late night Ramen place, open until 3am. Don’t miss the Siu Gyoza (Water Dumplings) to go with your Ramen Bikkuri Sushi, Ebisu · Loud, bright, great value Sushi, no booking required. Always try to sit at the counter. Has menus with pictures, so you can point. The 5 kinds of tuna set is my personal favourite Gyoza Lou, Harajuku, http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/venue/12853/Harajuku-Gyoza-Lou · Dumplings, Beer, the cheapest meal in town. Long queues and no booking, but that’s part of the fun Kitchen 5, Nishi Azabu · The chef Kobayashi-san spends a couple of months a year travelling the world and the spends the whole day cooking an eclectic selection of recipes that she’s picked up along the way. ANA Hotel Teppanyaki Restaurant, Akasaka · Go at lunch time for good value set menus and a nice view from the 27th floor. Booking recommended Jumbo, Yakiniku, Shirokanedai · Excellent Korean BBQ, used to be a butcher’s shop and became a restaurant. Booking in advance essential New York Grill, Shinjuku · For a good view of Tokyo, the brunch at New York grill in the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku is good value with views from the 52nd floor over Tokyo. Booking essential. Was the hotel used in Lost in Translation. You can also upgrade to the Wagyu steak as a main course, but it’s not cheap Atelier De Joel Robuchon, Roppongi Hills · 2 star Michelin restaurant. They have these around the world but Tokyo is the best example. Dinner tasting menus are excellent and I love the counter seating and open kitchen Gordon Ramsey, Conrad Hotel Shiodome · Great Champagne Sunday brunch, haven’t checked current pricing Aux Bacchanales · Chain French bistro, with restaurants by the New Otani Hotel, in Ginza, Akasaka Ark Hills and a few others. Great Salad Nicoise, Steak Tartare and Frites. As much free bread as you can eat Bar Two Rooms · Nice place to enjoy a lovely cocktail with a beautiful view on Jinjuku · http://www.tworooms.jp/en/ Le Savoy, Azabu-Juban · Perfect Pizzas, they only make Margarita and Marinara, but they are really something else. Couldn’t find better in Napoli! Cave, Takadanobaba, · Great small counter restaurant with friendly staff serving excellent French food and lots of well-priced wines to match. A bit of the beaten track, but worth the trip for the atmosphere and the food. Don’t miss the escargot or the scallop risotto. · http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130503/13001030/ Parks + To Visit In Autumn, there are many lovely parks and gardens in Tokyo. Shinjuku Gyoen · Really beautiful gardens with loads of cherry trees short walk from Shinjuku station Yoyogi Park · Good spot to walk around on a sunny day. Nice colours in Autumn. Nice to enjoy as well on the Week end on the Harajuku gate the Elvis and the Rock and Roll. You need to go as well around Harajuku street to see what it’s look like. Really easy to work from there to Shibuya and even Shinjuku. From inside the park you can have a really nice view to Shinjuku Asakusa + Hakihabara · The first one is the temple area. You can have a great view on the Tokyo Sky Tree( never been). Near there on train you have as well Hakihabara which is the Otaku town. From electronic stuff to Made café. Worth trying it. Museums, Clubs and Events For nights out, museums and full event listings in Tokyo, check Metropolis magazine available at bookshops and some cafes and bars. It’s free and in English, also has a webpage at http://metropolis.co.jp/ Hotels Not really the experts here unfortunately. If anyone has found good deals they would like to share, then please send them on. · Lots of nice premium hotels, the Grand Hyatt and Ritz Carlton are conveniently placed in Roppongi. · Air BnB has extensive listings for Tokyo for whole apartment or shared lets. · Nice areas to stay are Roppongi, Shibuya for the younger crowd. Azabu-Juban, Meguro, Naka-Meguro and Daikanyama are more suburban but really nice with shops and restaurants Granbellhotel, multiple locations · there is 1 in shibuya, 1 in akasakamitsuke, 1 in shinjuku (shinjuku is in the back of kabukicho so maybe not really good area..) · its a boutique/business hotel compact but very comfortable and good price. · here is the link for shibuya one http://www.granbellhotel.jp/en/shibuya/ Tokyustay, Aoyama (Gaiename station) · We use it in my company when some guests are visiting our office and we don't want to spend too much money like hyatt or cellulian tower in shibuya.. · All the guest always seem to be happy and I think you can get good deals if you book in advance . http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/hotel/AO/ Rosegarden Hotel, Shinjuku. · My friends from Spain stayed before and they were happy because of the price and the location. · As a hotel is really a business hotel so not much to expect but the location. http://www.hotel-rosegarden.jp/global-menu.html

My baby sister has been a firm believer in edibles for years, carefully making magical butter from which she bakes chocolate cookies and magical brownies... its a real treat when we come over to the states and spend time out on the farm, especially when there are puppies (chocolate and yellow labs)... I have to keep reminding myself I'm not used to it in this form, and it takes about an hour or so from consuming until the high kicks in... and though she can quite easily eat a whole cookie and get on with her day, something between an eighth and a quarter will leave me incapacited. A friend who lives in Amsterdam loves to tell stories about Brits visiting, over-indulging edibles, and spending the remainder of the weekend sleeping it off in the loo. @harlow - I guess my points being, (1) I have fond memories of my first time, thus am a bit jealous, and (2) like renting an escort, you rarely start with the 12 inch... start slow, save a few inches for next weekend... enjoy and report back :-)

my go-to sites for videos are https://gay.aebn.com/gay (pay) https://www.gayforit.eu/categories but I also really like erotic fiction, thus, of course it's: http://www.niftyarchive.info/nifty/gay/ https://xhamster.com/stories/categories/gay-male https://www.literotica.com/stories/index.php

Had an umbilical hernia repair when I was 21, flying from Houston to Long Island for the op. My Dad (who worked in that hospital) arranged for specific surgeon and nursing staff to watch over me. No one bothered to tell me that pre-op included being shaved from chest down to the knees and everything between... by a stunning, lanky mid 30's orderly... with lots of lather... at the time I was quite closeted and used every trick I could think of to avoid the inevitable... To add insult to injury my then boyfriend at the time (in Houston) sent me a bouquet of tropic flowers, quite heavy on anthuriums, somewhat anonymously... and I had to explain to the parents they came from everyone at work as a get-well present... post surgery healing went quite well in Houston.... Many decades later I now realize why Latin American orderlies are quite my type in certain situations...

Apologies for geeking for a moment, there are a few, but I think you're thinking of "The Internet Archive", here: https://web.archive.org A good test is to put the URL of your favorite news site (e.g., www.guardian.co.uk) and then pick a date in the past. The archive appears to snapshot multiple times per day.

London - no problems on DLR or underground... a number of the overground and underground trains have been replaced with long articulated cars - where you can walk from one end of the train to the other, thus will never feel trapped.

ooooooooh, that's a brilliant idea... it'd give me a chance to combine retirement with a hobby that has brought me a lifetime of joy

oh yes.... closely followed by literotica and xhamster: https://xhamster.com/stories/categories/gay-male

I'm two years away from retirement, and hoping to follow in the steps of a friend who retired five years ago. On retirement he volunteered at the British Museum (we live in London)... from clueless volunteer, he slowly built up a lot of knowledge on one of the galleries, added to by specialist classes and lots of time with the experts who work there and after five years regularly leads tours through three galleries. He tells me that the volunteer work provides sufficient structure to his week, around which he fits lots of long lunches, gym, etc....

Completely agree with the above recommendations (communicate before, during and after).... before our first meet, an escort once asked what my top three favorite porn vids were, and which role I saw myself in... still quite memorable first (and many subsequent) meets...

If you like that, you'll love this place : https://www.james-smith.co.uk/ umbrellas and walking sticks.... just umbrellas and walking sticks :-)

Needed to pick up a birthday present yesterday... saw the earlier recommendations of "Santa Maria Novella", and realized I had walked past their shop in London weekly for years without noticing... visited the one in Piccadilly Arcade (near Fortnums)... and it was like stepping back into the 1700's... for those of you in London - it's worth a visit simply for the shop...

*sigh* as a geek who lives 1/3rd the globe away... everyone bragging about how close to SF you are is making me jealous...

I've been to India a number of times with work (Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai); each trip lasting a few weeks or months... each trip was different and often was down to how adventurous I was feeling (or how exhausted I was from work or jet lag)... two suggestions are that if you're concerned about water to request carbonated (fizzy) water instead of normal bottled; and before one of my first trips my pharmacist suggested that bananas are a better choice than imodium (more binding, potassium, etc)...

I LOVE xkcd - thanks for the post

I live quite a distance from my elderly mom (Arizona to London) - she inspired my love of reading and libraries and bookstores from an early age, and she's still a voracious reader... thus I'm a frequent recipient of the random book of the week club... two of the best I've read this year were: Lincoln's last trial - Dan Abrams Fascism, a warning - Madeleine Albright and I'm currently sleeping my way through Sapiens (a brief history of humankind)...

I'm introverted and shy, so when an escort asks what I'd like to do, I fail to articulate what I'd really like to do... and it's normally only the third or fourth visit before a fun pattern emerges... After a session last week we were drinking wine and I asked -- how do other clients ask? And he laughed - saying more often than not it becomes a "... what do you want to do..." conversation back and forth... I naively asked - given that my imagination far outstrips reality, I'm surprised you never asked me about my favorite porn (of the moment)... and have you ever asked a new client what three or four scenes they really enjoy (and who they see themselves as being in the scene)... dead silence, immediately followed with "... that's brilliant..."... When meeting an escort for the first time... how do you broach the subject of what you'd like to do (without just vague top/bottom/versatile)... And when meeting a client for the first time... is there any tricks you use to find out before hand what they are really into - to turn a meet into an extraordinary meet???

Similar to @rvwnsd, I have cards I've kept forever -- one early '80s (Houston), the second late 90's (London). Both cards are elegant in their simplicity - the earlier one had Roberts' name, the later one Mario's gaydar name. Many many many years later they invoke memories of many encounters. I suspect I fall into the demographic you describe, older guy, potential client, not in gay setting... If, like the cards I kept, your card simply had your name (Mocha). Simple, elegant, no explanation or adornment. If we talked long enough for you to feel comfortable giving me the card, I suspect you'd have dropped enough hints or website names into the conversation and judged my reaction/understanding. I'd certainly remember that the card (Mocha) equated to RentMen (or Backpage, or whatever other sites are in your area or will occur in the future)... and have the means to find you online. And if you felt comfortable enough to give them (or me) your number, there's something quite elegant and intimate about letting the other person write it... ignoring the fact that it gives you plausible deniability ;-).

I've had gym membership since the early '90s, with a focus on weight loss/control and general fitness... I loved step classes ('90s, Houston and Boulder), and spin (London)... I briefly had a personal trainer, who managed to get me down to a 32" waist... but he moved on, and before I renewed membership I fell off the wagon.... Between bereavement, job changes, marriage, and life... I haven't been to the gym since 2014. I could blame all this on abduction by the pasta fairies... having been an AIDs buddy, I understand the depression/bereavement, know I'm now through it and looking to get back on track. For a few months I've been thinking about restarting gym, but I'm a geek and overthink things... I have pick of a number of gyms around Canary Wharf (London), including one in the office... but the thought of being naked around co-workers fills me with dread. But even worse is the low-carb diet the husband put me on... Have you been through similar, or dropped out of the gym habit for a long period? Any advice/recommendations for getting back into the gym and motivation to stick with it? Is time-travel a viable option? thanks

If you google: "private diary software" - there are a number of suggestions. I found this article interesting... https://lifehacker.com/5975750/how-can-i-keep-a-personal-private-journal-online

@Benjamin_Nicholas, I'd be honored if you played my part in the Netflix series... though for accuracy we either need to introduce you to Pasta or I need to go to the gym for a couple of years.... ;-)

First, THANK YOU! I've read and re-read everyone's comments a number of times, slowly realizing that most of the questions I left unasked were just anxiety about being clean and relaxed enough to enjoy ... As for the advice - @oldNbusted handled the majority of questions with one link (and thank you for that). Reading @MassageDrew and @NuSingle reminded me that the rare bottom experiences I had, remember and fantasize about, started with (copious alcohol and poppers, and...) me on my back or spooning. @NuSingle, thanks for the comment about poppers. I came out in New York and Houston in the late 70's, poppers were integral to my coming out experience. A number of brands available in London are still quite good. I also realized that the phrase "size inappropriate" left too much to the imagination... The escort I'm hoping to start with next week advertises as 8 inches, and it was looking at his advert that prompted my question. There is a guy in Paris I sometimes fantasize about who is 9 inches, but I think of him as a very advanced classes best left for the future. finally, THANK YOU - I'm very much looking forward to next week.

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but could someone point me towards existing threads about learning to bottom? I'm a client, rent every few weeks, and have always seen myself as top or top/versatile... but the past few months find myself quite attracted to top and top/versatile escorts. I've not yet followed through, but find myself checking out a number of escorts who are size inappropriate for my extreme lack of experience... Is there a position that's easier than others... or is this all personal choice and patience and breathing (and lots of lube)? Live in London if you have any recommendations...