Beautiful Boys

Last night, I saw the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my entire life. Except they weren't women. They were dudes.

The Calypso Cabaret was quite an experience. I had heard about it from one of our early arrivals to the Sasin program (thanks, Danielle!), and was determined to go. Given we only have 5 more days in Bangkok before we take off for the rest of Southeast Asia (woohoo!) I figured this week was the time to do it. So I sent out an email entitled "Ladyboy Excursion" to the rest of the exchange students from Kellogg. Shockingly, only two others were interested. The other responses ranged from "I saw something similar already" to "that's disgusting" to "I have absolutely no interest in seeing men in women's clothing, pre or post-op". The crew ended up being Ross, Syreeta and me, and we took of for our excursion yesterday evening excited and apprehensive. The main question was: where do they hide their junk in their itty bitty costumes? The answer? They don't. Because most of them are post-op. With real female features, like hips and breasts. Which I sort of think is cheating, honestly. I was hoping to see a few slips of the you-know-what for added entertainment, but all we got to see was a fake nipple here and there popping out of a bra top (I assume that, since the nipples are attached to silicone, they don't have nerve endings and therefore the owner of the nipples can't feel when they're exposed...if anyone is brave enough to confirm or deny this, particularly from personal experience, I'll buy you a drink). They actually looked like beautiful, shapely, very tall women - until they spoke. In a man's voice. Which was alarming, thrilling, and fascinating all at once. All in all, the show was amazing. The cast (made up of "women" as well as actual men, some of whom wore heels for a few numbers) did routines from Broadway, songs from movies, international favorites, and rock classics - including my personal favorite rock tune of all time, "Welcome to the Jungle". And yes, in case you were wondering, I was singing along and dancing in the back the entire time. And I only had one beer. Good times.

I know you're dying to see for yourselves, so here it is...

WE ARE SO EXCITED!

The opening number...

This one was a little weird...the guy (actual male) in the center was wearing nude underwear and other dudes (actual males) were jumping around in villain-looking outfits while some gold angel ladies (males) watched...we were confused...

As soon as they brought out the poles, I knew we were in for a treat.

The "Chicago" number. Note the muscular legs yet curious lack of bulge. Yeah.

The closer...entire cast (men and "women"). The choreography and dancing were amazing! Lip-synching Broadway with transsexuals? Doesn't get much better.

"Up close, they are DEFINITELY dudes" - Ross

So there you have it for the ladyboy show. On a completely unrelated note, something cool happened at the gym today. I was minding my own business, finishing up my workout with a little ride on the spin bike, when the gym filled with loud music. I got off the bike to stretch, and the guy on the bike next to me got off his bike. So did the guy on the other side of me. So I smiled at both of them, figuring it was coincidence, until I realized that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the ENTIRE GYM had gotten off their equipment and was now standing, arms at their sides, facing the television. The national anthem was playing. For about a minute, everyone stood quietly and respectfully, until the image of the King and Queen flashed up on the screen and the music faded. Then all the activity resumed as quickly as it had stopped. Sometimes it's nice to have a reminder of how lucky I am that I'm so far away from home in such an amazing place...