I think back to my time in Malaysia and Singapore as a Westerner

There seemed to be an implicit assumption that I was extremely wealthy in being a Western over there. Which would be an accurate assumption, actually.

Consequently, there was no end to the women messaging me. There was no "we are just good friends", or "i'm busy". I'd get super quick responses, they'd want to know all about me, if i wanted to meet them they could tell me their next free day and reserve it for me.

I come back to the UK, exactly the same person. "I'm busy", "we are just good friends".