Posted by skyfox
on Wed 11 Jul 07, 2:15 PM to skyfox's blog.
Well, so S. and I just got back from our most excellent holiday in Asia. I won't go into the vast amount of details, but I'll just keep it to a summary of BDSM in our experiences there.
Our itinerary was a little complex. We went from Edinburgh to Hong Kong, spent the night in Hong Kong, then flew to Manila in the Philippines and spent one night there, and then took a plane out to Palawan island in the the Philippines, where we spent 5 nights before returning to Hong Kong for one night and then we came home.
Before we left Edinburgh, we looked online for potential playmates. We checked out collarme.com, yahoo's asianbdsm group, and alt.com. At first glance, there seemed to be a plethora of female subs in the Philippines, which is a little odd considering it's a Catholic country with little internet access in som eremote places. Though we sent messages to lots of girls, it became apparent that most of these girls were just bots. We were also warned on an alt.com chatroom to beware of entrapment from prostitutes. They say yes now but blackmail later, that sort of thing.
Hong Kong was a different story. On the websites listed above, there was almost nobody from Hong Kong, which, again, is surpising because it's a modern, economically stable country with relative freedom and stability. However, as newspaper articles (http://www.sensuoussadie.com/interviews/decimain... mentioned, Hong Kong-ers are very private people, very concerned with their reputation, so it could be risky being open about their fetishes. This was more or less confirmed by the postings I made on the yahoo group, where most of my responses were from western men who were living in or visiting Hong Kong. I didn't get any Chinese responses. Perhaps this is because it was an English website, and while most Hong Kong-ers speak English, it's still not their native tongue. However, I will say that we had some positive responses from the yahoo group, so if you want to arrange (male) playmates before you go, that's the way to go.
Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we went for a nice walk around Kowloon and Mong Kok. There are some girlie bars along Nathan Road in Mong Kok, called OK (Kareoke) bars, but we didn't go in. There was one bar that had a picture of a girl in cuffs and a collar, but, like I said, we were a bit tired and didn't go in. What was remarkable was that we didn't see very many sex shops. I saw them everywhere in Shenzhen, but not much in Kowloon or Mong Kok. Mong Kok is decidedly more sleazy than Kowloon, by the way. The night markets were also entertaining, as there were these stalls that sold lingerie, pvc costumes (not for the UK average sized woman), and these cute little cock-slings for men that were very cute and colorful. I didn't take a picture, but to paint an image, one of them was a gray thong with elephant ears in the front... I'll let you imagine what the trunk was. 
They were funny, but I'd never DREAM of putting ANY man I was sleeping with in one.
Manila proved to be a bit of a disappointment. Vast poverty, mediocre live music, and signs telling you to leave your firearms at the door. We were not solicited by prostitutes (possibly because I was there), and we only saw one (ONE!!!) girlie bar in the area we hung out in. It's possibly that there is a red-light district, but it'll take work to find. I do know that there is a gay district (http://www.utopia-asia.com/manbars.htm), but we didn't have time to go there ourselves, and being heterosexual, might have stood out.
There was nothing on Palawan island. Very remote. But, I must say, it was very beautiful, and nothing is more romantic than being whipped on the sands while staring out across deep blue/teal water with green cliffs and islands in the background. However, we didn't really have time to do this in a secluded location, so I think a crowd of Filipino workers got the singluar experience of watching a man in a suit whip a girl in a dress and then passionately kiss. (I think my friends were also watching from the veranda... I wonder what they made of it?)
Another thing about the Philippines is that there is a lot of security there. They search your luggage before you even enter the airport. When our luggage got searched on our way to Palawan, they opened up the bag of toys and pulled out the flogger in confusion. S. just smiled and pointed to me. The man searching it looked amused. On our way back, we were asked to take the battary out of our "flashlight". Thank god he didn't ask us to turn it on!
We passed by Manila on our way back.
Upon arrival to our hotel in Hong Kong, (I recommend the internet deals... executive room for 50 quid a night!) we recieved a message from a couple we were going to meet up with. However, we arrived in the early evening, and the girl had to work the next day, so we didn't get to play with them. However, as he explained on the phone with her moaning in the background, there was one pub (Gecko in Central Hong Kong) with a BDSM-friendly owner, who arranges munches once a month and might be able to suggest some places. But, once more, time wasn't on our side, so we just went shopping in the night markets instead.
Overall, the holiday was fantastic. For the couple who are creative-minded and like exploring, it is entirely possible to do BDSM in Asia. For one, we are foreign tourists, and in most places, just being white is enough to warrent being stared at, so wearing a collar or beating your foreign girlfriend isn't a far stretch. Also, for those who like to use whatever props are around them, things are really cheap, so you could buy a lot of different materials to play with, though it'd mostly be ad hoc.
However, there really isn't much of a BDSM scene there. And, if there is, it is very much on the DL and hard to find. If you are looking for playmates, be prepared to do some hunting. It may be easier for single men, but for couples (and probably single women as well), things are a bit more difficult. For straight single men, you can probably find a lot on your own once you arrive. For straight female women, I'd try the yahoo group as a place to start. For homosexuals, look homosexual first, and then BDSM. (You're on your own!)
In conclusion, I highly recommend a trip to Hong Kong or the Philippines. Just make sure to take the time to explore places fully! A couple days just isn't going to do it, take at least 3 or 4 days, a week would be best in each location.
Cheap flights to Hong Kong can be easily found online. (Heathrow to Hong Kong on Oasis Hong Kong airlines start at GBP75 one way.) Flights to Manila are a little pricier. It is difficult to get to Palawan from Manila, though we ended up taking Interisland Transvoyager Inc (ITI) to El Nido for a ridiculous price.
Happy travels!
| 11 Jul 07, 2:26 PM The_AntiSub 7 yrs |
You should have asked me first! There is an underground fetish club in HK, but it is top dollar and aimed at the rich elite for their decadent amusement, it is run by a well known Chinese dominatrix, its parties have even appeared in the social pages of the fashion magazines! There are a few dungeons there too, Empress Victoria worked and trained there before she came to London. There is also a dark underside to the sex trade in HK, best not explored. Manilla is another story, a horrible place, I would never recommend it as a 'holiday' spot, the whole city is practically a red light area, particularly around the up market Makati district. It is a very dangerous city and I went to a very upmarket nightclub there on a date and was greeted by a hostess (who was a ladyboi) with a gun tucked in her skirt waistband. The club dancers stuck their fannies in my dates face all night, and the champagne he ordered was not kosher, (they had filled a genuine bottle with crap, I know my champagne!) We felt very unsafe and I was glad to get out of there. It is an extremely corrupt place, as is the whole of the Phillipines, the poverty and exploitation there is terrible and do not be fooled by the smiling faces, you will be fleeced, (if you get off lightly be grateful, as I said it is very dangerous there) don't try to exploit it. This message was brought to you by The bullshit Police. Edited 11 Jul 07, 2:31 PM by The_AntiSub | |
| 12 Jul 07, 10:34 PM Charles4u 4 yrs |
You could contact Clowie who has an ad' on this site. She is a dominant lady from the Philipinnes. Also, she as a Yahoo site Philippinno Domme. Good luck | |
| 14 Jul 07, 9:11 AM Catherine_27D 5 yrs |
I live just outside Manila and its different. Read my profile, Im not into domination for money. There arent many real outwardly dominant Females here as its on the surface, a male dominated society, but it too is slowly changing and despite first appearances the Females are the driving force. It is a poor country once Pearl of The Orient in 1930s then came The Japanese, Marcos and Roman Catholicism promoting no birth control, hence widespread poverty. There are beautiful places here though I agree the capital could look better. Anyway anyone contacting me will be welcome though I have already waded through countless timewasters | |
| 15 Jul 07, 2:37 PM voyageofdiscovery2 8 yrs |
. Edited 2 Apr 09, 9:17 AM by voyageofdiscovery2 | |
| 18 Jul 07, 6:52 PM Sukebe UK, 7 yrs  |
Hello there - don't know about Phuket, but there are BDSM clubs in Bangkok and Pattaya that I've visited. I found "the cave" in bangkok a little too tame for me, really just putting on mild bondage shows for tourists, but "the castle" in pattaya was a little better. Was still told that I was being a little too severe with one of the girls, though S. Todays morality is yesterdays expediency | |
| 22 Jul 07, 5:09 PM Charles4u 4 yrs |
Why not seek advice from lady in that part of the world who is in this weblog from Philippines
| |
| 7 Dec 07, 6:18 PM Rubberwitch UK(HA), 4 yrs |
Anyone know anything about clubs in Mainland China? specifically Beijing and GZ? | |
| 19 Jul 08, 4:29 AM nicolesingslave SG, 4 yrs £ |
There's a long running underground BDSM scene in Southeast Asia, Singapore and China. The community is a tight one and the forums are mostly in yahoo. Here are the links:
Singapore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sgdomsubs
South East Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdsmASIAnetwork
China:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdsmCHINAnetwork
Nicolesingslave http://nicolesingslave.buzznet.com/user/journal | |
| 21 Oct 08, 2:59 AM Tatsujin TH, 7 yrs |
I'm living and working over in Thailand now so if you want to know anything BDSM-related about here, send me a memo and I'll give you an update . . . Tats Be safe. Be well. Be happy. | |
| 29 Oct 09, 2:26 PM skyfox UK(EH), 4 yrs  |
As a late addition, I've become quite enamoured of the BDSM in Taiwan website. Most of the site is in Chinese, so I usually access it with Google's helpful auto-translations. There are different articles and news, but I really like the forums. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Edited 29 Oct 09, 2:30 PM by skyfox |
, but got the impression that with more time, and cash, of course, that pretty much anything would be catered for. Generally, I found that the bar girls won't go in for too much kinky stuff, although I did get a few bondage scenes in with some of them. No problem at all with girl/girl shows and involvement, watersports, usual sex scene stuff. Found them far more amenable if you take two girls at once, and only play with or tie up one at a time - safety measure for themselves, I think, which isn't too unreasonable really. So, entirely possible to get up to some interesting things, just make it plain what you want to do beforehand. Don't think that anyone will care at all about cross-dressing, to be honest. Think of the bar girls - or boys, if that's what you want - more like escorts than hookers, treat them decently, food drink, taxi home, that kind of thing, be honest, and I found that I had no real problems at all. Make sure that your hotel is "girl friendly" - means that they don't mind you taking people back. They'll check ID of anyone you take back, to make sure that they're over 18. No ID, they won't be allowed in, and police may be called about you. Enjoy.