SG Gay Guy

The first time I heard of such a place, an online acquaintance had mentioned “Keybox”. I had thought he meant “Kbox”, but he explained that they were saunas gay men in Singapore would visit with the intent of engaging in sexual encounters there.

I never went to Keybox, but I did go to Cruise a couple of times in the middle of this year. After years of refraining, I decided that I would experience what it was like to visit the most popular gay sauna in the country.

This is not a post to hate on or discourage others from visiting. I’m only recounting my experiences and how I prefer the “traditional” methods of hooking up via apps like Grindr.

To start with, at least half the population there tend to be ordinary or pretty unattractive, because many are men in their mid-30s and above. The number of foreigners that visit are also pretty high, and unfortunately, I lose my interest the moment they open their mouths. Nonetheless, there are hot guys who visit the place, but unsurprisingly, don’t count on getting their attention if you aren’t equally hot yourself.

Anyway, looks can be pretty subjective, but there’s one experience I cannot bear: standing within the maze of the second floor and waiting aimlessly to be picked up. Everyone walks past you and most of them don’t talk to you because 1) you’re not what they’re looking for 2) being Asian, they are too shy to approach. The ones that do approach tend to be older, unattractive and unabashed. I was once hit on by a man in his 40s with a gigantic beer belly; the kind of man that resembles your buey-tak-cek army encik. When I politely declined, he genuinely sounded disappointed.

After waiting several minutes, I’d start walking around to find a different position to wait at. I could adopt the role of the approacher, but thanks to my personality, it wouldn’t work well. When the maze gets crowded during peak hours, you realize the same crowds of people are walking past you over and over again, and things get hideously boring. I often wished I were somewhere else while the offers came virtually via Grindr, and I’d peruse them in the comfort of a seat.

In terms of sexual fulfilment, the encounters I’ve had there don’t compare to my hookups outside. Perhaps I’m not very lucky, but they just end up as entertaining anecdotes to share with friends. There was a Caucasian man I nearly allowed to fuck me, but he stupidly didn’t take a condom (was he intending to go raw?) and I didn’t wanna wait for him to go down and grab one. I had a horrible experience with a top who approached me with a forcible kiss. I liked that because he was pretty decent looking, but things went downhill when we entered a room. He was easily the most lazy top I have ever met: he wanted me to put on his condom for him, put his cock inside me on his behalf, and ride him while he laid there motionlessly. Lazy tops have got to go.

Perhaps my most memorable encounter was this similar aged guy who was so nervous, his entire body language was reeking of it. We were standing near each other against the same wall and he kept fidgeting with the locker key chain, too shy to approach me. I found him attractive, so I gradually moved closer to him and he followed suit. Talk about sexual tension. Our arms brushed each other, then he caressed my ass. I didn’t resist, affirming the roles we’d take, so we entered a room. He proceeded to fuck me as I moaned there. It was alright; his dick was average so it wasn’t euphoric. Eventually he cummed into the condom while fucking me, then stood up, threw it away and left instantly. He was so coy that I never heard a single sound come out from him, let alone a word of courtesy. I literally laughed, amused at what an impersonal object I was feeling like, although a part of me found that kinky anyway.

That’s one thing about saunas in general. Encounters can tend to be impersonal because there’s little conversation before and after. I understand that hookups are carnal and about the sex; but I like to remain human and observe some form of basic courtesy. I don’t stay friends with my non-Cruise hookups but we were friendly and cordial during our encounter, and made small talk when necessary. Cruise was too fast food for me; too “fuck and go”.

To be fair, there have been a few good encounters. On Skin night, where everyone walks around naked, I was approached by a man who says he’s 29. Half the time I don’t bother covering my dick with my palms as I walked around; what’s the point of modesty in a place like Cruise? He told me he likes the way my dick looks and asked if he could touch it. It was weird, but I stood there in one of the rooms and chatted with him while he fondled my semi-erect dick (because I wasn’t horny for him. The semi-erection was an entirely involuntary physical response.) The conversation turned out pleasant, and I even entertained the thought of keeping in contact with him.

To prove I’m not blindly hating on the place, I’ll mention some things I appreciate about Cruise. For one, the staff has given me no problem. They aren’t exceptionally warm but that’s because they aren’t supposed to be five-star hotel staff. They do their job and it’s all good with me. The maze, which although feels small as time passes, has tons of rooms lit with adjustable red light, which is truly kinky. Every room also has a mirror, which is brilliant, because I love seeing the reflection of myself having sex. Condoms and lube are plenty, and the staff do their best to keep the rooms inside the maze clean whenever they can.