came back from brighton

london
Went there on the £1 single fare by national express.

i was reading the papers at the brighton library this morning, waiting for the national express bus, when i saw this article, saying national express was hard  hit by the govt removing the concession for pensioners on their travel in november. and that they may be forced to reintroduce their £1 fares, to overcome competition from the railways.

hmm, no wonder there had been no £1 fares for a long time, until suddenly this one that i got came recently. 

they said old people relied on that concession, but everyone could have accessed their £5.50 single fare on their funfare website or this £1 fare. so the govt was right to stop the concession. By paying half the fare to national express it enabled national express to keep their prices high for the rest of us, and this contributed to their profits. it seems profits will fall 40% which suggests that was the profit given by the concession. 

anyway, i have seen these old age fares, and they are not that cheap, frankly, even with the discounts from the govt subsidy. if u ask me national express simply took advantage of the subsidy to up the fares and keep it high for us all. 

now perhaps we shall see more £1 fares. haah.


but as i have found out about pensioners, they are very fixed in their ways and are reluctant to change. they are used to buying their journey by national express and never realise that by just going online at the funfare website they can get any journey for the same money or less.

i was using the buses in brighton to get to the centre of town, and noticed the old biddies just sit in the busstop, waiting patiently for the local buses, which stop at everystop, when they could have flagged this bus i was on, the driver even paused at the stop, to see if all those old folks queueing to get onto a local bus will shift over to him,but no one did.they would have got to the centre in a jiffy. 

they would have got free travel which ever bus they took. 

the old folks are friendly though. i got many offers of help when they see me looking at the bus guide. 

one even gave me a good alternative bus that i did not realise was going that way too. and saved me a long wait. 

using the buses, i got to see the naturist beach near the marina, and the other unofficial one near portslade station. 

Fortunately my friend got a article written ages ago (dated 1998) giving detailed instructions on how to get there.

 i was reading it on the bus number 2, thinking the naked beach was shoreham beach, and realise that this naked beach has no name and near portslade station.

so i double back to catch the number 1 bus, which is really very frequent, the only one that i know of that is so frequent, when prior to this all the buses i know ofseem to be running at hourly intervals or so.


What 
is interesting, is that there was a guy who lived locally, who came to the bus stop after me, and on board, he asked me where i was heading, so i said the naturist beach nearby, and he said he had never heard about it. 
there are people living there who have never know of it. 
i was going to add that cartoon of shocked expressions and flying eyebrows and jumping off chairs by the people 
in a bar in reaction to a guy who did not know ...but i did not know what point of reference to use to google it. i forgot the name of the cartoonist. anyone knows? let me know in the comments.
found it, it is h m bateman.


and using the instructions on that article written so long ago i finally got there. 

but i can tell u of a better way than going there by the train to portslade station and walking from there.
take the bus 700 from churchill square, and than get off at the blue lagoon bar, a building that looked like a pub. 

there are steps to the left of this building, as u look at it from across the street, and that leads to their beer garden, with a gate leading to the road beyond. 

if the gate is shut, just use the public steps further to the left .

anyway, that road is south beach road, and it curves to the left, and then right, going past a big white building, and a row of warehouses, and then curves left and u see a car park. 
there is a low ridge, go over that and u see the beach , walk right for some distance and u see a long sea wall and u will find a few naked  guys against the wall with windbreakers . 

there were 3guys there when i went. 

they were all keeping their distance from each other. so it did not look very sociable, which kinds of put me off. one of them put on swim trunks and went for a long swim.

haha, anyway i found a low depression, and settled there and got naked. it was very mild, with not much wind, and warm enough to be naked without being uncomfortable.

and later a guy came walking by, and we chatted, and the sun came out, which persuaded him to get naked too. so i had some company which is what i really like.


unfortunately, he told me he is not gay. i thought he was because he was showing off his cock as he was stroking it to get hard, and wearing a cock ring which he told me is to maintain an erection. he is about 70 or so. 

well, if he is 70 it is quite impressive that he can get a hard on at all. haha.

he asked me if i like to watch. i said i like to watch and do , even better.

rather strange behaviour for a straight man, dont you think? 

my theory is there are lots of straight men who are flashers. and in the absence of females, a male would do. and they only show and dont follow up on it. 

i daresay to any female, if u see a flasher, he is harmless. 

i dont think there are a lot of gay men who are flashers. if we show our cock we are using it as a signal to find other gay guys to play with. 




i would prefer a gay guy for  company, ( or let me correct myself, an openly gay man)so after a bit, i got dressed, giving as my excuse that i have to go to catch the bus, left him and he got dressed.

returning, i clambered over a low gate,set high up the sea wall, jumped on to the road that runs beside the wall, and walked to the starting point where  i saw a guy pushing his bike along the shingle to the naked area. i greeted him but he did not reply. and then i saw a fleece jacket draped on the low wall. 
i carried on walking and saw another guy further on who was standing near his bike. and i made the comment someone left a jacket there. 

he said would u like it? i said well if no one wants it i would. and he said go ahead pick it up as no one is likely to. 

so with this encouragement i went back and got it. a very nice jacket. the first guy who ignored my greeting was standing further on, looking back. i wonder why? maybe they are together. and he was waiting for his friend who was chatting to me.

it looks grey in the pic, but it is brown.  and the label says crivit outdoor.with bright orange pockets.  and it is just my size (small) too. the shoulder pads are black, but here it did not appear different. and it got push buttons in front instead of a zip. it fits me beautifully.

i dont know why the colour changes when i take the picture. how can brown look grey? or maybe it is grey but looked brown to me. 
added. 26.10.12 now that i had washed it and is dry, it is a difficult colour to describe. it looked darkgrey, brownish grey. when i first saw it , it was wet and that made it look brown.

anyway, the guy with the bike told me that he is going to check out another car park further along. 

it was late so i decided to continue to the bus, 700, which came quite often, and i got off at churchill square, asked someone there what time , he said 2.50pm, 
and saw from my timetable i just missed the bus i wanted. 

then later realised that if i had stayed on the 700, it would have taken me to the old steine, the road where the bus also goes, and i could have arrived there faster to catch it as it comes. 

ah well, haha. 

on another day, i went to the official naturist beach, near the marina. 

i thought i shall catch the bus to there rather than walk from the pier, and caught the number 21, but it went all round an estate up and down as it was on a hill, and took ages. 

but i like the naturist beach. it was not what i visualised. 

it was just a wall of shingle raised to hide a depression where the naked people can lie down, and a sloping shelf hid them from people walking along the sea line. 

and the bus plying the route above the esplanade can have a good view of the people behind that shingle . haha. 

there is not much privacy, but to us nudist who are at ease about people seeing us naked, it is no big thing. 
pity there were no one naked there except me. 

what i like is that the bushes are busy with guys. haha. 

and it is really very near to the pier. the walk is really easy. though if u want to bus it, take the no  12, 14,27 . 

it was fun exploring brighton by bus. i have been before many times to brighton but never explored it by bus.

 the buses are just used by old people. i think if not for the old, the buses would operate at a loss. but as it is, they are subsidised by council who pay the old folks bus fare. 



i went to the charity shops along london road, but they are not very well stocked.

 
Added. that road, beach road south, the sign posting gave that name, but in this google map it is called basin road south. it is a old map of the area. the sea wall was absent in the google map. 
here is a map of the area. u can search for it in google map by typing wharf road, portslade. 

frying spatula

london
its been so long since i bought anything in a charity shop, that today i bought a frying spatula and it is an occasion for a posting.
its to replace one i bought for 20p long ago. i searched my blog and found it here and it was 25april 2008. funnily i saw a transvestite then, and today i saw another in the age concern charity shop. that spatula is wearing out at the edge. if u compare that pic taken then with now u can see the wear. 4yrs usage. not bad.

(I mean not bad in terms of getting another 4yrs use out of it but not that good that it can wear away so much. a metal one would never wear. makes u think doesn't it? )


i happened to go to clapham south, for a shag with a shag buddy, and was browsing the charity shops in the area afterwards. 

it has quite an acute angle but i have tried it out to stir fry and it is quite effective. funny how we are so used to a certain angle in our frying skillet and dont realise that it puts a strain on the hand. this one is only 50p. 

Added. 8.10.12 i noticed that even the new one began to fray at the edge due to the heat. why they cannot make it heat resistant, i wonder? my metal spatula which i got for my wok last years and years. 
added. i think they cannot find a plastic material that is heat resistant . there is no such thing at present. 

so this new one will also get worn down with usage. glad i bought it for only 50p. i dont think i would like it if i find this out after buying it at the original price. i dont know how much the original price is but i bet u it is a lot. no wonder it is difficult to find these spatulas in charity shops or recycling bins, because they get worn out. i think this one is available because of its acute angle. not a lot of people like that angle. that is why it is hardly used and why it is unsold and have to be relegated to the 50p bin. where i found it. haha. not sure if the bits that come out of the edge is safe to eat. i am sure it will fall into the food when i stir fry. as it is i have to regularly remove it before i cook. 

frankly, i dont think much of these teflon coated appliances. i dont think it makes people use less oil cooking in it. it is supposed to be non stick. a lot of it is rubbish if u ask me. i would never buy them new , not that i buy anything these days haha. and u have to use non metal spatulas on them or u might scratch the teflon. 

and i realised that the non metal spatulas like this one i bought is made of silicon,or plastic, not heat resistant even though they say so, and can wear away. 

it seems there are stainless steel spatulas coated with teflon or maybe i misread the website and there is no such thing. i cannot see how it would work, because the edge will still be  sharp and scratch the teflon on the saucer or frying pan. hang on , i got a thought, maybe this spatula i bought is a steel spatula, the handle is steel. 

long ago, i found a wok with its teflon coating worn away and am using it to stir fry, and no trouble with food sticking...so  i  dont mind using these if i find them useful even though the teflon is not intact. with the teflon wearing away someone said it might be dangerous to eat the teflon...i wonder.  so far there is no scare about them. god knows what the effect on sales will be on teflon coated appliances if there is a scare about them.haha. bet u the shit will hit the fan. with loads throwing away their expensively bought teflon pots and pans. hoho.

i saw age concern  selling hotwater bottles with cover for £4. quite a good price. i shall go there and buy it if i want another . Theoretically u dont need those fitted covers. any old rectangular sleeve , even a cushion case will do. now i said it, i shall keep an eye out for old cushion covers in the recycling bins. 

Added. 7.10.12 actually i re read the above and realise there is really no need for a cover. it is just to make the hot water bottle look pretty . the other function is to prevent you from being scalded by the hot bottle. but that u can prevent by wearing socks or gloves. after all, for years, people have done without the covers. 

There was a hardware store selling breville kettle, that i was given free. it was priced £25. i never buy these things and never realise they are so expensive. 
added 11.10.12. i have been using the kettle to boil water for my hot water bottle, and one thing good about them is their spout. it is narrow and makes pouring the water into the bottle very easy to do.

i was passing the academy by clapham common and a guy in his car coming out of the gate stopped me. i thought he wanted to ask directions but he said he will be flying off today, and was here for a fashion show, and have 3 jackets , 2 of which (they were black leather jackets from emporio, which sounds like emporio armani but not really, he will give me if i buy the third, a suede jacket for £200. 

i said he was asking the wrong guy, as who walks around with £200 cash ? he asked me how much i got , and i said £15, and have to correct it to £14 when i looked inside my wallet. 

he realised his mistake and i walked on. 

i went into the tesco there and saw they were selling lots of veg , brocolli, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower 2 for £1. there must be a glut but maybe only in london, because when david from brighton called me on the phone for a chat, i asked him if he can get these offers in his local, and he said no such thing.

i  hope that the offers are still on when i visit him and i shall buy them to bring to him for us to eat when i am there. 

hotwater bottle

london
I thought i shall go by tube to balham, as i suspect the hardware stores there must sell hot water bottles cheaper than in camden. 

and i was right.haha. 
i got one for £2. instead of £3 in camden. I know there must be some shop selling it for this amount. unlike boots who sell them for £6. and that is not with a cover. 

not all hardware stores sell this cheap. i went to another in clapham south, and he sells his for £6. i dont know how he survives, so much of the stuff he sells i can get cheaper in a charity shop. 

on big disadvantage i notice is that all of the hotwater bottles are small size. Makes me real glad  i bought a large one long ago in a charity shop for £1 (it got a cover too)and that was one of my good buys because i have used it for a lot of winters since. 

anyway this one john will be using haha. when he comes next week. 

the leopard skin cover given to me . fits very well. 

of course, it is all worth it because i have free travel. it wont be economical otherwise because single fare to balham from zone 1 will cost £2.60 off peak. so a return would cost £5.20 which would defeat the whole adventure. in which case i might as well go to the pimlico branch of boots and buy there. 

i am so very happy that i can get free travel in london.  

There is a 99p shop there and they sell johnson baby oil 200mg for £1. which is good value. i shall go there if i want to buy it. 

i read this about a guy massaging his prostate with an aneros dildo because he read somewhere that it prevents prostate cancer. haha. its a funny account with pictures of him. 

i found out from the daily mirror there is a promotion of £1 fares by nationalexpress.com/mirror

but when i tried to book a ticket to brighton on 23oct to visit david , i was given £13 fares. what a cheat!!
they say from £1. seem like they are taking lessons from o'leary of ryanair. haha.

Added. must be a glitch because later when i went in again, it was £3.50 which is their usual fare. 

added5.10.12. \My apologies to nationalexpress . i had another look, and found out that below the £13 fare is a button for the £1 fare. and there is no booking fee.  well i got carried away and booked for two trips to see david in brighton. once this month and another next month. 
my ,my, looks like my soul does want to travel after all. haha. i could not resist the low fares. £2 return to brighton. 

ah well, maybe my soul dont want it, because i really dont fancy travelling outside london. Added5.10.12. not true after all.haha. it turns out i shall be doing more travelling outside london this month and next than i have ever done before.

Added. 5.10.12 i spoke too soon, my soul do want me to go to bournemouth. because i was browsing megabus.com and saw a cheap £1 ticket coming back in november. going there costs £5 so i booked it, plus 50p booking fee and i got a return for £6.50 . bargain. haha.

megabus only have train tickets, so it would be v pleasant going by train, more spacious, only take 2hrs to bournemouth train station; and i get free bus travel there, so getting to john's place will be free. 

I hope my pass will really let me travel free on the buses there. haven't tested it outside london. if it is i shall enjoy going all over the place looking at the charity shops in bournemouth and going to studland. 

Added 5.10.12 now that i found out the nationalexpress offer really works, i could go to bournemouth for £2 return, but i think i shall enjoy going by train. a 3hr bus journey is endurable but only if there is no other choice. though i confess if i dont have free local bus travel, the nationalexpress bus is preferable because it can take me to the university which is a easy walk to john's place. (not to mention blackberries along the way if i am lucky.haha)

60+ free travel for londoners only

london
Since the govt changed the rules for the free over60 bus passes, so that the age when you can get it gradually increases till now u have to be 61yrs old,and in 4yrs time u will need to be 66yrs old to get it;(meaning those becoming 60 then, will have to wait till they are 66)boris, the mayor of london, has introduced a new 60+ card for those who fall between those two stools.

he is making good his election pledge.

it will come in effect from nov 2012, with applications in oct2012.
read it here

that is another reason why it is so good to be living in london, instead of elsewhere in uk. 

london has more places (free to visit) and free things to do than other places elsewhere in uk too, so free travel is a very useful thing. 
and what is more, the public transport is good 24/7 unlike small towns where there may be no sunday service and once an hour other days. 

i htink it is good to be in london when u are old because of all these concessions and stuff you can get. 

all those old people who move out of london to retire elsewhere whether in the countryside or abroad are missing out. 

added 29.8.12 another thing, the freedom pass gives free travel in buses, tubes and trains within zone1-6 in london as well as buses in england and wales. the over 60s living elsewhere only get free travel on buses.

Added. 26.8.12 In fact, i have noticed that shops etc are so nearby there is no need to take public transport. it shows that in a city evrything u need is within walking distance, unlike in the  countryside, where the nearest shop may be miles away , you really need a bus to get u there,and buses are few and far between when u need them. thus in the city where u dont need public transport, it is easily available, unlike in the country where it is crucial and it is not available. life is like that.

so why do people move to the country? it is one of those things about life that bemused me... with people spending money and time and effort to go somewhere more uncomfortable and difficult to live. 

Maybe they were not told about those disadvantages till they have sold everything and moved there and then realised what they have landed themselves in for. but it is too late to back out.haha.

Or they got a mistaken idea that living in the country is the best thing to do. i have lived in the country and in the city and i can tell you living in the city is way much better. but then i am a gay guy, who like to be with other gay guys and not want to travel miles to visit them or meet them and cities are perfect for meeting other gay guys. 

Added. 3.9.12 People have their own beliefs.  this article by a woman said her idea of hell is having open relationships. haha. to me that is ideal . but there u are... 

what she dont know she wont miss. maybe if she is lucky she will come back in a future life to experience the joy of having a open relationship. haha.
to me the idea of a closed relationship with one person faithful to them forever is my idea of hell. 

fun time in bournemouth

london
Its been so long since i last went to bournemouth to visit john, that i have forgotten that the naturist beach is a really great place. 

john had his naked party as usual, this time there were a number of new guys which i think always gives naked parties a frisson. 

john instituted a group hug for each new arrivals, and i think that is a good practise, as it gets people all touching. 

in fact, i am thinking of getting a party myself of naked guys and making touching the central theme. 

anyway, john's party also had conversation, which does dampen the erotic atmosphere a bit. 

i am thinking maybe it would be good to just make it a sexual party right from the start and forget about the conversations. haha. 

and to undertake a party under the guise of touching... as a starting point. maybe it is wishful thinking hhaha.

anyway, the next day dawned bright and sunny, unlike the previous day, and we took the bus to the beach. 4 of us, john and i and two other guests who stayed overnight. 

we managed to get onto the bus which is not always certain, as the previous people waiting there were unable to board the previous bus. 

i got my ticket paid for me, rather nice of john's friend who out of the blue took me aside and just said he will pay for me. 

and it was just as well, because i only had £5 with me, (not wanting to have too much cash on me at the beach) and the cost for two return to studland was £13 something. 

later when we came back, we had to walk all the way to studland village, before i saw a bus stop. and we had a long wait for the bus, and then near the ferry there was a long wait in the queue...

we thought there will be a big crowd of people wanting to board on the other side but there were only about 5. which suggest that there must be another bus which runs only to the ferry and back to bournemouth to get the hordes of people on the beach. 

the beach was quite busy on the naturist side though on the way back we walked towards the national trust cafe and through the textile section and it was way more busy. 

i think it might be better to take a single to the ferry, and cross it as a passenger, the cost is £1 and free return. that way u can return by crossing the ferry as a passenger and catch the bus on the other side. 

there might be another bus service that just goes from the ferry . though one of our friends left early at about 5pm, and he wrote to us on email that he missed the last bus no 52, and had to catch the 50 instead. so it appears that there is another bus service the 52, but it finishes early. 
on the whole the bus going there is a good service. we were able to get onto the bus lane and overtake all the cars to the ferry and we were given priority to board the ferry. u might like to know that we were not allowed to get out of the bus during the ferry ride. 

but coming back was not good. very slow service because of the long traffic queue for the ferry . 

also half the top part of the bus were taken by a large group of spanish students, and one of them was playing cards with the people behind him and he had  his back to the seat in front of him, and found out that he had been hitting the request stop button constantly with his body and one of his friends only noticed this and pointed it out to him when the bus driver announced in the intercom asking whoever to stop pressing the bell. 
the design is bad, to have the stop button behind the seats. 


some of the guys we met in the dunes told us they were there as early as 8am, as it is only by getting there so early can they get a place to park on the roadside on the other side of the ferry.  

it is a long day if it starts from 8am and to hang around there for that long a time shows a dedication that is beyond me. 

i had a lot of fun there, with some nice guys and of course with them naked u can see their package and i do like a big cock. i think i am turning into a size queen.haha. there is nothing really as nice as having to play with a large cock. 

played around with a number of guys and climaxed in a threesome. group sex is way nicer than anything, in case u guys dont know it yet. haha;. 

i thought the rangers will be out in force, but fortunately they did not dampen our fun.


we managed to find a few tree branches lying around and were able to get an awning made up of a shower curtain with a union flag motive that one of us picked up cheap somewhere and so i got shade which i am really glad for. 

i got some photos taken too to refresh my profile in a gay website. it is good to have naked pictures in the outdoors. 
my indoor naked pics show the interior of our flats, and it is quite a cluttered background which is not so conducive and it is dark as well, making the use of flashlights inevitable and that casts a shadow on the walls.
i managed to get john to photograph my back in the outdoor shots. 

i was walking back from the water after a swim, (it is really very nice to do so, esp when it is high tide) and saw a guy near a tent, i said the tent is very nice, and we got chatting. 

he is from sussex, here with his boyfriend who is visiting from washington dc, and he said i got a nice physique and asked me to turn round and said i got a nice back too. i thanked him as it is really great to hear a compliment, esp when i thought i must have lost shape after the last photo i saw of me in 2006, but it is nice to get a compliment on my body even now. haha. 

no wonder i was so popular ... 

sure is an ego boost, dont you think?

the sand sure gets in the way, i noticed of the sex. 

me taken that weekend aug 2012. looks like backs dont age very much. looks about the same as in 2006

Added. 23.8.12 i saw this article about electronic cigarettes, and was reminded that one of the guys at party smoked it, and seem to get a lot of benefit. he said his breathes out water vapour, rather than smoke so he could 'smoke' inside. though the battery ran out and he had to smoke a real cigarette outside. the article seem to question the health safety of those cigarettes. 
Another guy, who was much older, said he gave up when he was younger by just stopping. he was smoking a lot too, but had the strength of mind to just stop. 
strange why some find it so possible to just stop whilst others cannot.