[Tokyo Joe]

Cheers to the Magnificent Gentlemen of the BGM! (and never mind that I'm only holding a cranberry & soda)

A few quick shout-outs --

To MaleDefined aka 'The Bulldozer'. MD was the one responsible for introducing me to the Big Guns of Asia. I couldn't make BGM-1 in Bangkok but it was my honor to crash the second half of BGM-2, and I look forward to many more and to meeting the rest of this elite gang I'm lucky to be in cahoots with. And MD, my good friend, the four island landmasses were MANHATTAN, HONSHU, BORACAY, and LUZON. We will be making joint incursions into major continents soon enough.

To Irish. IRISH AND THE NIGHTCLUB! -- Don't try to tell me there are any two things not dying to be brought together. I have been kicking around God's green earth for decades but never had I seen a man more harmonized with the sublime energies of a club than Irish in his natural element. It beggars belief and defies description. He was soft-selling the story in his excellent summary of the weekend, but let me clarify: Rather early on during that Saturday night he started with an eminently fuckable pinay under his arm, but after a while he pulled me aside, shaking his head, and insisting, "No no Joey, this is no good. No good at all. Can do better than this!" Sure enough, twenty minutes later he had wrangled up an even hotter piece, who was all up in his shorts. But no, still just getting warmed up. No doubt there was an unseen upward step or two in between, but in the twinkling of an eye he had a tall, Bibimbap-hot Korean with a beautiful face (untouched by the surgeon's knife) hanging all over him. I saw her up close in the flesh and I saw the naughty pics later ;-) -- and to call her 'tidy' would be a gross understatement. A very difficult flag captured from a great height in unforgiving terrain...

To YardDog. Our Man in Manila. The towering YD has carved out a sweet life for himself in the Philippines. He was extremely generous in introducing his excellent local friends to all of us, and he dished out all the intel on the local scene, the womenfolk, and far-flung corners of the country well beyond Manila itself. Hats off to YD for his terrific hospitality.

To Global Entry. During that big Saturday night outing to the club, I did not have a chance to talk much with GE, but the two of us spent a great deal of time together over the following days. GE is The Wise Man of the group. First, he sat me down and straightened my heretofore sorry ass out regarding how to play the airline/hotel/general travel points-miles-rewards game: which credit cards to apply for, how to use them, which sites to use and how, etc. He even lined up a $1500 R/T business class flight for me from Tokyo to NW Europe for an approaching trip. Then another night he took me on a fascinating guided tour deep into the seedier underside of Manila, into the verses of a Tom Waits song, ending at a club way off the beaten track where nary a whiteface is seen (and where we each picked up some passable poon). Let me add that on another night, GE took down one of the best looking pinays (a flawlessly brown muslim from Mindanao) I met during my entire 29-day stay in the Phils.

To BallsDeep. Just as with GE, I wasn't able to talk to BD much at all during the main event on Saturday, but we re-connected one-on-one later for some long talks. BD, who is running a serious business clear from one end of the globe to the other, gave me the low-down on a number of countries and cities I'm hoping to visit. More importantly, he shared with me some golden business-structuring advice (which I am already following up on) that could save me a huge bundle. Also -- I appreciate that he humored old Tokyo Joe by listening carefully to my pet theories on how a man can look and feel young well into his forties and beyond.

To Papi Rico. He of the Cheshire Cat Grin! Papi may be the one man most comfortable in his own skin that I have ever met. Calm, cool and collected at every turn, and suave with the ladies, whether it's 3 a.m. at the club, 3 p.m. at the beach, or bouncing from one place to another at any time in between. Just remember, with old Papi the journey will take four times longer than you expected. Thanks especially for the Boracay memories, PR.

And I would be remiss not to give a closing shout out to young but precocious "Rape Van Stan"! Rumor has it you are joining the Forum, guy. That's outstanding news -- looking forward to many more stories from you. And thanks for the darts, kid... I'm off them again, for now.

To borrow a sentiment from my new friend Irish -- Who the fuck would have thought that I could meet the likes of each of you Glorious Bastards off an internet forum !?

Stay great and peace out,
TJ