Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
The rain is actually, in my opinion, kind of an endearing thing about Thailand because often times the rain only occurs for about an hour, cools things down a bit, and then the sun comes right back out and you can enjoy the rest of the day. Of course, sometimes it pours for days, and really hard. Thats what the video is – turn on your sound so you can hear how loud the rain is.
Click here to play the Quicktime Video
(right click – “Save Target As” – to download and watch with another video player)
Friday, October 31st, 2008
Yesterday one of the instructors told me to go up to advanced on Monday. Obviously, I’m flattered, but Monday is sparring day – they must think I’m insane! Plus I’m still healing from the beating I took the first day since I just got nailed again today in the same place.
I think I’ll stay in intermediate for a couple more weeks…
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
I went to see Max Payne in theaters today at a mall about 15 minutes away from camp and let me tell you I’ve never had a theater experience quite like this. First of all, the whole setup was really high-tech. The latest in video and audio, it was probably the highest quality track I have ever listened to. But the real kicker was that I chose to watch the video “first class”. Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
I had to share this one… I trained 6 feet away from this guy yesterday 
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Friday, October 24th, 2008
Good news and bad news. First, the good news is today at training the bumped me from beginner to intermediate. I had originally started at beginner both because I hadn’t trained for almost 6 months, and because my training is actually more grounded in American Kickboxing than Muay Thai. There are enough subtle differences to warrant going over the basics for a week before jumping up to real sparring matches, which actually leads me to my piece of bad news. In sparring today I got pummeled. Hard. It was a good learning experience definitely, but at the price of getting dropped after a huge left hook to the gut knocked the wind out of me. My nose is a little sore too, but not broken. Anyhow, I figured my pain might be entertainment for at least a few readers out there I’ll be sure to take pictures if I get any other injuries that show up a different color.
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Here is a list of what you don’t need to bring to Thailand because its dirt cheap to buy it here. My thinking on a lot of this is that, why bring the $50 pair of sandals that’ll you’ll cry over if you loose, when you can buy some for $3.50 and not only save room in your suitcase on the way there, but toss them before you leave and have more room for presents? Plus, anytime you visit a 3rd world country you want to be sure you don’t have too many valuable on your person. They don’t “impress” anyone, they just entice thieves. Well, without further ado… Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
This is the Big Buddha situated on top of a large hill in Chalong. Its a pretty impressive sight. I went up there with Mike and Brendan and got blessed by the monks and given a lucky banana lol. The view from up top is gorgeous as well.
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
This gorgeous view was taken from Chalong Pier, and you can see from the pictures (maybe) there are plenty of boats and speed boats to take you out the the surrounding islands for some of the best snorkeling and diving in the world.
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Monday was my first day back after the illness. This was also the first Muay Thai class I did without having done a BJJ class beforehand – so it was quite a bit easier than I had remembered. They still worked us really hard and I definitely felt it the next day, but recovery was much smoother. And, in contrast to the previous time, I was able to walk the next day (I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but I seriously had trouble walking the day after my first class). Tuesday’s class was similar, and I worked out in the morning so that in the afternoon Brendan, Mike and I could go to Kata beach. I must say, even though I don’t mind traveling by myself, all of these activities are so much more fun with a couple of friends. We hung out for a couple of hours at the beach, then went in to town for dinner and to buy some DVDs. I’m not sure if I mentioned, but you can buy DVDs here for $2 each. I already have Body of Lies, Stepbrothers, and a couple of others that aren’t even out of the theatres yet The day wasn’t anything special, but being able to relax and really enjoy both the training and the beach is exactly what I wanted out of this trip. Phuket is the perfect place to get this combination. Its slowly starting to feel like I’m living here instead of visiting (a feeling I remember from my time in France) and so I’m really starting to enjoy it and identify with it. I’m biased, but I really can’t recommend this island enough.
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
About 30 minutes from camp, the party city of Patong is located on what was probably once a gorgeous beach. It has long been overrun by tourists, but the city itself still hosts ALL the action to be found on Phuket. The nightlife here is rather famous, though not quite as legendary as the Full Moon party, and includes everything from bars and restaurants, to Go Go Bars, to Muay Thai fights at the Bangahla Stadium, and of course all the knock off shopping you can handle. I went with Mike and Brendan, and we spent most of the day on the beach relaxing. There are all sorts of things to do in this area, jet skis, parasailing, renting Harley’s, and just about any other thing you’d expect to find in a tourist location. Unfortuantely the surfing is terrible in this particular location, but on a side note I saw some people surfing at Kata beach the other day. Read the rest of this entry »
