Of No Consequence!

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fountainhall

Of No Consequence!

Post by fountainhall »

This afternoon marks the 40th anniversary of my arrival in Asia. I remember that day as clearly as any. My employer had arranged a flight on Air France which meant one flight London to Paris, changing on to an Air France 747 and then, as was the case in those days, a flight with several stops at Dubai, Delhi and Bangkok before reaching Hong Kong. That flight did not make the scary landing in from the west. Instead it glided gently in from the east through the Lei Yew Mun Gap on a gloriously sunny afternoon before settling down on what I was sure would be water. All the while, Hong Kong Island was coming in to view on the left side. I was filled with excitement. My contract was for two years and I never expected to stay much longer. I was wrong!

Asia immediately gripped and fascinated me. Despite a few hiccups over the years, the decision to move to the continent was the best I have ever made.
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Re: Of No Consequence!

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:the decision to move to the continent was the best I have ever made.
It hasn't been anywhere near 40 years for me, but my decision to move to Thailand was the best I have ever made too.
Jun

Re: Of No Consequence!

Post by Jun »

fountainhall wrote:Asia immediately gripped and fascinated me. Despite a few hiccups over the years, the decision to move to the continent was the best I have ever made.
Well, happy anniversary.

It's easy to see why you regard that as the best decision you made. I don't know what your reasons are, but a fascinating culture, cute lads and low taxes would be obvious advantages to me.

I first went to Asia with a job. After returning to the UK, I have been back to Asia on holiday every single year since.
fountainhall

Re: Of No Consequence!

Post by fountainhall »

Thanks Jun.

My initial reason was the offer of a job! It gave me more responsibility than I had in the UK and a better salary with, as you suggested, much lower taxes. I reckoned it would have taken me another 5 or more years to get to that level back home. I had some concerns because I had never been further East than Crete and at that time did not even know where Hong Kong was on the map! The geography of Asia was probably covered in just half a lesson in my school days!

The boys were not an initial attraction. I had come across no Asians in the UK apart from the staff at a local Chinese restaurant. Besides, Hong Kong still had the old colonial anti-sodomy law and every year two or three gays were thrown in jail for a couple of years. That law would not be thrown out till 1991. So apart from the job, the initial attraction was the huge variety of cultures in the region, all of which totally fascinated me. Having to travel in my job, I was soon beguiled by the unique charms of Bali before mass tourism took hold (I made 10 visits in 5 years) as well as the exoticism of countries like Malaysia and Japan. Quickly, though, I was attracted by the eye-popping availability of sex in Manila, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur before I began to realise that Hong Kong had a thriving gay scene under the surface.

I did take some months off after 15 years to decide if I should move back to the UK or USA. I spent most of that time on Hong Kong's little (mostly) gay beach and having fun because the decision to stay had taken only a few days.
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