The Gay Crete Blog Visits......Singapore!

Is this man off his trolley??

Why....I hear you ask.....Would someone who runs a gay and lesbian homestay on Crete, Greece, be writing about Singapore? Is he off his trolley or what?

And why in the middle of the summer season?

Not at all...As some of you may remember I took my holidays in Australasia last year and I do like to share myexperiences, and also around this time of year is a good time to think about booking if you are heading towards Australia or New Zealand for a holiday during the southern summer, so here are is a little bit about our trip last winter and what I found in Singapore for the gay traveller.

Singapore is not a name that springs to mind for a holiday and sadly many travellers use it only as a stopover on the way to somewhere else not as a destination in itself, and certainly not a gay destination. Which is a shame because Singapore has much to offer in its own right, and of course, it is also close to many other destinations so can be used as a part of an 'Asian' holiday itinerary.

First off, as usual, book your flights early. I made my bookings in August last year for outward travel in November and return in December, (you can look at the blogs below to see how I got on!), and got some excellent prices on flights with Singapore Air. Of course I am travelling from Europe, and Singapore is something of a hub for many flights from Europe to Down Under so there is plenty of choice of airlines and schedules.

Bear in mind this is a long trip and not something you can leave to chance, so plan ahead!

I flew from London Heathrow on one of SIA's new fleet of A380's not long after Qantas had had an engine failure on one of its new A380's, but hey, life is an adventure.....

Singapore is not a place that is associated with gay or lesbian travel, and in some ways it does have a bit of a bad history with its treatment of LGBT people. But like many other places, things change, and the Singapore scene is quite lively with a number of venues.....Or so it turns out because when I was booking my trip, Google was producing nothing of value in searches for 'gay Singapore', nevertheless, undeterred I asked a few questions on Gay Travellers Network and got back a very useful reply!

I had already found a hotel that was listed on one of the Australian gay travel web sites, and as it also appeared on the Singapore tourism web site, and as I liked the look of it, I had already booked at The Berjaya which is just on the edge of Chinatown, and as luck would have it, this is exactly where most of the gay bars are situated and there is a handy MRT station too.

Although I found the Berjaya listed as gay friendly, it is not a gay hotel. It is however, comfortable, fashionably old fashioned, (not only do they make the room up every morning, but in the evening they come and turn the bed down for you), and from the outside seems to say to me 'Tunbridge Wells'. The staff are delightfully helpful and actually greet you as you walk up to the reception desk, instead of walking off into the back office like they do in Europe.

It is not the cheapest place around, but then visitors to (and residents of), Greece, are spoilt by having some of the cheapest hotel and apartment accommodation in the world! Expect to pay upwards of S$150 per night for a room here (about €90), but the beds are huge, and in my bathroom the shower cubicle stretched the width of the room with enough space to accommodate at least half a football team (and maybe more). Not only that a bit of fruit comes for free and also a daily newspaper and tea and coffee. Breakfast is available as an extra, but to be honest while I was waiting for my room to be prepared for me (I had asked for an early check in which actually took three hours!), I did take a cup of coffee, (which I expected to be free, but actually cost me S$5.85), and it was dire, so for those who need their early morning caffeine fix I recommend the coffee shop across the road.

The room was air-conditioned (no extra charge) so the first thing I did was turn it off and open a window, I had a bit of a struggle with housekeeping for the next 24 hours as they came in and turned it on, I came in and turned it off, but finally they got the point.

On the downside, and this goes for most of Singapore, if you are addicted to your iPhone or Blackberry, then forget accessing free WiFi anywhere... The Berjaya charges S$8 per hour for use of their WiFi, and you have to use the whole hour in one go! If you once log off the network you have to pay for another hour! However I can let you into a small secret, but not just yet.......

So let's get off with the places to go.......

Just around the corner from the Berjaya is Neil Road.......Here, discreetly placed in a porticoed terrace of shops are three gay bars virtually in a row. I am only here for three nights and even I cannot drink that amount especially when I am trying to get over the jet lag, so visits are necessarily brief.

First off is DYMK, which is short for 'Does Your Mother Know', the clientele are mainly in pairs or in groups, so it is very much a place where you go with friends, even at the bar everyone seems to be in couples. The music is not loud so you can hear yourself think, the barman (on the day I was there), has spent a reasonable amount of time in the gym, and has some fascinating tattoos, and a beautiful smile, and a 330ml bottle of beer costs S$10. They were having a promotional night with sparkling rose (cannot remember whether it was Martini or Asti!), which was running out at S$75 a bottle, and literally it was running, they were opening them as fast as they could. They do cocktails and they are not cheap either, at the other end of the bar where two people sharing a cocktails that seemed to have everything in it, was actually on fire at one stage, and then had a few more shots of various spirits thrown in it as they drank through their respective straws.....The 'Mother' in the name could well refer to the guy on the till, who looks at you through a pair of designer spectacle frames and very efficiently relieves you of your cash and seems to know exactly what you have had even though you were right up at the other end of the bar. Pleasantly relaxing place with plenty to watch if you are on your own!

Next door is 'Lockerroom', which describes it very well....Most of the furniture seems to be lockers with a couple of shower cubicles thrown in....They were having a 'dark night' the night I visited although whether they were trying to conjure up a 'dark room' atmosphere or just saving on the electric bill was unclear, in fact nothing was clear because it was pitch black and full of smoke from a smoke machine. The music is loud. Reading the menu was impossible, but at this stage I did gather that in Singapore, even if you are sitting at the bar you are expected to order drinks from the waiters not from the barman. A 330ml bottle of beer here is S$9

When my eyes got used to the light I did manage to discern that sitting at the bar were a row of 'expats', and the staff seem to be wearing very skimpy shorts.......

Further along is Taboo, they were having a promotional night as well...Well actually it was a 'as much as you can drink for S$20 night', but the flesh is weak, even if the spirit is willing and Taboo and Tantric (just across the road) are going to have to wait for another time as this bunny is off to bed after 24 hours without a sleep!!

Chinatown is not far from the Berjaya Hotel and here you will find a wide selection of Asian foods day and night, I ate here two nights of my stay, for S$18 including a 500ml bottle of Tiger Beer and three dishes to go with it, don't forget you will have the usual Singapore problem of getting rice if you want it!

But also in Chinatown is The Backstage Bar, now I spotted the rainbow flag easily enough during a shopping trip through the market (Chinese silk cushion covers S$2 each!), finding the door is a little harder but it is there in the portico on the main street....

Wherever I go there is always a bar that makes a mark and this on has got to be it in Singapore......In a way it is quite 'pubby', but you know you are in a different country, the music is there all around you, the surroundings are not too bright, (in fact on reflection it could maybe, do with a coat of paint), the staff are lovely, and although you order a drink at the bar they take you to a seat and bring it too you....Best of all there is a balcony where you can sit outside (in the humid Singapore night!) and look over and see what the poor people are doing down in the street........The clientele is mixed, racewise, with expats from more than one country, along with a good selection of the locals, and if you are on your own they will stop and talk to you as they pass, if only to see what you are doing there. Don't get me wrong the other bars are not un-friendly, but here there is more interest in you!

Needless to say I spent some time in the Backstage Bar, and more than once.......

In fact the LGBT visitor to Singapore can visit a different bar at least 6 times in a week....Not a bad average compared to a lot of holiday destinations.

But what else can the gay traveller do in Singapore? Well really much the same as any other one!

Singapore has always been a good place for shopping and little has changed there, in Chinatown the street markets yield textiles and other decorative items, including some that are far too big for your suitcase, but on the other hand many shops will arrange shipping for you. I found that you get a better deal in the older, smaller, shopping centres such as the People's centre near Chinatown, they tend to be more flexible on prices than the newer centres! Around Chinatown too you can buy very cheaply those items for the more alternative lifestyles such as dried white chrysanthemum flowers at bargain prices. There are also a wide range of textiles in both Chinese and Indian styles for the home decorator.

A small piece of advice if you are continuing your journey from Singapore to Australia, the Australians X-ray your bags on the way into Australia, they do not take kindly to high value items being brought in from Singapore, in fact they will charge you tax on them! If you are buying anything expensive, then buy it on the way back!

At the time of my visit I was having a problem with plantar fasciitis, and after a couple of days walking around Singapore it had certainly not improved, just around the corner from the Berjaya Hotel there is small acupuncture practice, a 30 minute treatment cost only S$15, far less than you would pay in the UK for instance.....Although it didn't cure it, it certainly relieved it!

In general, Singapore can be quite cheap for the LGBT traveller provided you watch where you eat as many places are 'tax free' look for the signs saying 'Nett Prices', elsewhere you will get GST/VAT added on! As ever avoid the tourist traps of which Old Boat Quay is one, although a visit to Harry's Bar is still essential while in Singapore. And if you are going to Raffles for a Singapore Sling, then take your credit card with you.

From zoos, to botanic gardens, to mini cruises, to the Singapore Flyer, to SkyPark, to museums, there are a number of attractions to keep any visitor occupied. You can even go to the beach!

A little hint for the Internet....Many places will give you the access code for their WiFi if you are a customer.....Find a coffee shop with a convenient place to sit outside but not in the cafe or restaurant, as they never seem to change the pass code you can continue to use it during your stay. While I was staying at the Berjaya, I discovered that you could pick up the network from the Uluru Steakhouse behind the hotel, for a few dollars I bought a glass of wine and also got the code for the WiFi.

Getting around Singapore is easy and can be cheap too. The MRT goes from the airport into the city, there is also what they call the 'Ground Transport Bus' which will take you to your hotel door from Changi Airport for S$9, although it will stops in the road outside Raffles, presumably because it makes too much of a mess on the gravel drive! And you can do a lot of walking!

For information on gay venues try www.utopia-asia.com there are now a number of hotels/homestays listed, more than there were last year. More information on Singapore generally go to www.visitingsingapore.com

Greece 2010, Strikes & Economic Woes. To Go or Not To Go?

The lights are on, the doors are open, and Greece is open for business and awaiting your arrival!

Some more information and some hints and tips for getting here.....


Of course you do not have to be gay, or lesbian to be worried about this!


So just lately Greece has been getting some publicity and as we all know there is no such thing as bad publicity, (except your own obituary according to Brendan Behan), but in this case the publicity hasn't worked as well as we would hope !


According to my sources, Nexus, that runs gay cruises around the Aegean has cancelled one of its cruises because the passengers were concerned about 'the situation in Greece'.


Of course I do not know exactly what they mean by that, but then some people are very easily put off, so let's deal with the possible causes.


The economic 'situation' in Greece does not mean that Greece is closed for business, in fact internally everything is exactly the same as before! Yes we have had some increases in taxation with VAT (GST to some of you) rising by a massive 1%, yes ONE percent! Most places haven't bothered to even change the price lists as for, say, a long drink, (G & T, V & O, Metaxa & Coke), to put the price up by 4 to 6 cents is not really practical. And remember that spirit measures in Greece are unmeasured so for between €4-6 you are getting the equivalent of a treble in the UK! Good beer (Mythos 4.1% ABV) is still only around €3.50 - €4 for a large one too! And yes we have a 12.5% tax on mobile phone calls, but this hardly affects you as a visitor to Greece. For those that still smoke good, cigarettes are now €3.80 for a packet. For drivers, fuel prices are similar to those on mainland Europe, especially if you fuel up outside the main tourist areas!


Food prices and eating out are competitively priced compared to many other European countries, and unlike some you will have no unpleasant surprises when you come to pay your bill! Here on Crete you will almost always be given or offered raki and fruit at the end of your meal. In how many other European countries will you be given a free drink at the end of your meal, quite often after you have asked for, or even paid, your bill?


To put some more detail on the economic situation, the Greek Govt is running a large deficit, some of this is due to current international conditions, much is due to the poor record they have in collecting taxation, and some is probably still due to the Olympics (which are always wildly expensive to stage and do not really produce any additional foreign revenue to pay for themselves!). In fact the deficit it really no worse than in some other European countries, including the UK. What is making matters worse in Greece is the Government's apparant inability to collect taxes, and bearing in mind that things like water and electricity are still in the public sector, so even non-payment by consumers makes a difference to Government cash flow. (As an example here, when I bought Villa Ralfa in 2004, I discovered that the previous owner owed €1200 to the water company, a simple calculation showed that he had never paid a water bill since the house was built in 1991!)



The Government's response to the deficit has been to raise some taxes, cut wages in the public sector and increase pension age to 65, this has led to strikes and demonstrations. Some of these do lead to problems for travellers, for instance, air traffic controllers or immigration officials striking stops flights! But let's be honest what real effect does a strike by tax collectors or bank staff really have on visitors? The answer is none!!


Strikes by Customs also have little effect as we are part of the EU and visitors from other EU countries do not go through Customs as such.


Demonstrations have received much airtime internationally, but nothing has been made of the fact that these have taken place in Athens, in front of the Parliament building. But even so Athens is still open for business as the demonstrations are planned and announced in advance and any visitors need only check with their hotel front desk to find out where and when they are, and then plan to be somewhere else that day.


On the islands, parades and protests are virtually non-existent and here on Crete are only likely to take place in the capital Heraklion, which is hardly a Mecca for tourists except for visiting the museums.



Greece is still one of the safest countries in the world and is rarely a target for terrorism and has a low crime rate.



Generally strikes etc. take place on Thursdays, ergo, travel on a different day!


A small and slightly odd web site that has surprisingly accurate information on strikes, not just in Greece, (we are not alone!), can be found here Easy Travel Report


Many of the large travel companies seem to be limiting their exposure to Greece, I have even heard of one well known travel company advising visitors not to come to Greece, so for those who are 'hooked' on the 'package holiday' there may be only limited availability, but never fear, there are many opportunities for independent travellers to Greece and with accommodation available direct through the web it should not be difficult for prospective visitors to find readily available accommodation, as well as Villa Ralfa, of course!!


Remember too that travelling independently is better for the Greek economy as all of the money you spend on accommodation ends up in Greece, as most tour companies have their profit centres outside of Greece, but do ensure that you are booking with a locally owned and family run hotel or apartment business. Even better avoiding the large resort and all-inclusiv means you get to experience true Greek and especially Cretan hospitality.


So travelwise what have we got? Well forget about airfares for next to nothing! These days the price of aviation fuel is high and governments around the world have increased passenger duties and taxes in their greed for ever increasing revenue. Also bear in mind that Greece is a long way and is serviced by fewer airlines so you cannot compare the price of a flight from northern Europe to Spain for example because one is two hours flying time and Crete, Greece, for example is four hours!!


For travellers from the UK, expect to pay around 150GBP return including taxes, from Italy expect to pay around €160, both of these are for flights in July with Easyjet Easyjet also have flights in June from Berlin to Heraklion from €160



BOOK WISELY...BOOK EARLY is the slogan here, these budget flights fill up quickly and the prices rise the nearer you get to the departure date!!!


Aegean Airlines also have some very reasonable flights from various destinations around Europe in September and October bearing in mind that with Aegean you have to travel via Athens to get to Heraklion Crete, they have flights from Paris - CDG for €187 plus taxes. Aegean flights are of course scheduled flights and many of them run every day of the week!


Viking which used to only deal through agents and act as carriers for many package holiday companies, now take booking direct for flights from the UK and around Europe in general.


For a Europe-wide resource for budget flights to an from virtually everywhere then Attitude Travel still remains one of the best places to look first!


There are also some flight search engines on my web site at http://www.villaralfa.com/


If you want a round up of current news and possible strikes in Greece, the Athens News web site has much up to date information in English. For those looking for more news from Greece there is an English edition of Kathimerini here, or you can read the Greek version using the 'Google translate' toolbar, if you have it installed, here


Or you can read a local Cretan newspaper, Patris, here. This is only in Greek so you will need to have Google Translate, or something similar installed in your browser.

For those of you who have been to Greece and especially, Crete, before, remember all that sunshine, that crystal clear turquoise sea, the amazing scenery, the many thousands of years of history, the hospitality, the many small bars and restaurants serving traditional Cretan dishes from fresh produce? Isn't it time you came back?

For those who have never been before, well you do not know what you are missing! All of the things in the last paragraph for a start!

So You Want to Buy A Property on Crete? Part 1 - The Motivation

Around this time of year, autumn and winter, we frequently get out of season visitors, from other parts of Europe, arriving on Crete to look at property of various types. This is not really a 'gay' subject, although some of them are, of course, gay or lesbian, and these blogs are designed to give a few hints and tips based on my experience.


As with any step like this it is a good idea to police our motivations as to why you are thinking of buying property on Crete, or indeed anywhere abroad!


We can broadly split the motivation into four headings -


- As an investment

- A holiday or rental property and maybe later a place to live

- A house to live in full time as you are going to move here permanently

- A business to run for yourself



Investment property would have to be very long term as although prices have risen on Crete over the last five years, the increase in value is nothing like the swingeing increases seen in the UK in previous years, for instance. You also need to thinking about who you might be selling to in the future, bear in mind that the Greeks own most of Greece and the chances are you have just bought a property from a Greek who doesn't want it, so your future market is unikely to be anyone Greek and is more likely to be someone like yourself, a foreigner who is buying here for the same reasons you are.


Holiday properties come in all shapes and sizes, but bear in mind that many people who buy holiday properties feel duty bound to come and use it once or twice a year, however there are a number of agents around Crete who will let it for you, at a price, or you can construct your own web site and do your own promotions on sites such as Gumtree or Hot Frog. It is a good idea to make it multilingual if you can, or at least put the Google 'Translate' Gadget on the site, it makes it friendlier for everyone!

Holiday rentals can be quite lucrative as you will be catering to the 'independent' traveller, who doesn't want the package deal and will pay that little bit more for somewhere nice and unusual.

In the main, many holiday properties are not really suitable for 'full time' living, so you need to go for the full size 'villa' type property if you intend moving to Crete full time at a later date. Although I do know of someone who bought two adjacant properties in the same complex and when they came to move here, knocked a doorway through!

Moving to Crete on a permanent basis can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience if you do your homework properly. The island is large, and there are many things to do and see when you are not working, add to this the Greek lifestyle, food, entertainment, and the generally good weather, and you have a place to stay where you can enjoy life to the full, with all its good bits and some of its frustrations and stressful moments as well.

In there somewhere you have found a hint of other things other than the good!

Firstly, and this is purely your choice and depends on your personal circumstances, I mentioned work! A dirty word indeed.

However, in general, very few of the migrant population here on Crete, lead a life of idle pleasures, many arrive, and after settling in doing nothing suddenly realise that during the summer there is no one to talk to because everyone else is working. Not surprisingly there are also financial considerations here, you may have taken early retirement and have a good pension, but inflation takes its toll everywhere, and that index linking may not be as good in the future as you thought. Not everyone works in the tourist industry, tourism only accounts for 13% of the GNI, but it is a good place to start while you are learning to speak Greek, and you will won't you?

Working will also help you integrate into the local population (foreign as well as Greek!), and you came to LIVE on Crete didn't you?

Frustrations and stressful moments will also, without fail, appear and like anywhere else you will have to deal with them as they arise. Parking tickets, unpaid bills that you didn't receive, land disputes (more of these later!), illness, death, taxation, pregnancy, household repairs, plumbers, banks, and lawyers. All of these will become part of your daily life as they do anywhere else, very few people manage to sail through life without experiencing any of them!

You will need to commit whole-heartedly if you are going to live here, for every few hundred that move here, many move back, often for the strangest, and sometimes the most predictable of reasons. Take the mid-30's couple who went to all the trouble of building a house and furnishing it, and promptly put it up for sale without living in it because the wife became pregnant! Not an unlikely occurance is it? The reason for not having the baby here? Not really specified but I guess the committment was not there. After all we do have doctors and hospitals here, the University Hospital in Heraklion is one of the best in Europe and Greece. (We have people from Germany come here just to be ill!)

Others, myself included, have had to undergo the death of a partner, and although our English friends and relatives expected an instant return to 'home', we have not done so. Speaking for myself I cannot think of a nicer place to be bereaved.

You will hear often from certain sectors of the migrant population who live here 'part-time', how expensive it is here. Of course this is not true, with one of the lowest per capita incomes in Europe how can it be? But these are people who come for maybe one month or two at a time, and who should by now, know where the cheapest places to eat are, but still insist on using the most expensive restaurants that there are! From information I have to hand Spain has equivalent prices, and in France, ONE person can easily spend €100 on a meal out!

Businesses in Greece are always for sale or rent. Sounds like a sweeping statement but it is often true. Many businesses are being sold by foreigners, but often business premises are up for rent or sale from Greek sellers as well, especially after a not very good year.

On the whole I would advise against buying any business here, but then that applies most places for various reasons. The seller will tell you it is a 'very good business', if this is the case why are they selling it? You will find it virtually impossible to see a set of books for any business you are buying, there might be figures that are put it into the tax office, and there might be figures that the current owner has kept, but they will rarely agree.

I have a Greek friend who told me once that he had had three good businesses. Foolishly I asked what happened to them, and was told completely without embarrassment that they all went bankrupt!

If the existing owner is Greek, there is a fair chance that he or his family own the property, and therefore do not pay any rent, but you will have to. And with rents up to €1200 per month for twelve months of the year when you are only open for six of them can make life difficult. There are often occasions as well, when the premises are unlicensed, this is usually due to the fact that the building should not even be there in the first place.

The same applies to staff. All those people that work in that bar, or that cafe, are probably relations and are not on salaries, and probaly do not get their IKA (social security) paid either.

You will also come across the situation where you go to change the utility bills into you own name and find you cannot because none of them have been paid for the last year, or in the case of water bills for the last 14 years. Not paying bills is an excellent way of increasing profits.

But having said that, if you have a really good idea for something completely new and original by all means start up a business, you will probably get a good year first time round before three others places open up doing exactly the same thing within 500 metres of you. (Ever noticed ow many bars and restaurants there are here right next to each other, and yet the number of tourists falls each year?)

Have I put you off yet? Good, I didn't think I would........

In Part Two I will deal with types of property and location