Nocturnality

Posted by landoman - 31/01/09 at 11:01:05 pm

Whyyyyy does 90% of the world operate so early in the morning?  At about 6:30 Jazz and I walked down to a little market a couple kilometers from Coco.  Before I left I was a bit hyper and way too full of energy.  But after that leisurely 5km stroll I was even more hyper than before.  It was about 8:00 at this point  (already dark) so did a quick 4km run to expel some of that pent-up energy.

It was fun and all, but I would love to be able to do all my training at night instead of so early in the morning.  I’ve always been more active at night…morning just plain suck.

Long Day…

Posted by landoman - 30/01/09 at 09:01:59 pm

Today was, uh, interesting.  It all started off fairly normally.  Get up, sit around and try to wake up, breakfast, and then weights.  Me and Jazz were gonna hit up BJJ but he decided to go and get sick; inconsiderate tosser!  Anyway, I rented a moped and hit Naiharn beach. Listening to music and fading in and out of consciousness as I basked under a pristine, cloudless sky with the sun directly overhead…

The fun began when I ventured into the ocean.  I floated around for a bit before I realized that I still had money in my pocket.  Arrrrgh!  Wet, sandy money.  I decided to hop out of the water and go grab some lunch.  It was during this process that I got tackled by a massive wave (massive in the sense that this one wave was merely twice the size of the usual tiny waves that were rolling in throughout the day).  But I gathered myself and grabbed lunch: a chicken sandwich!  I headed back towards the beach still clearing sand out of my pockets.  That’s when I realized the key to my moped was gone.

I immediately dropped my bag and rummaged through every pocket making sure I hadn’t stashed it like I had originally intended.  No dice.  So I backtracked, checking the area I had been lounging around earlier and as much of the water that I had been in earlier as I could.  No cigar.  Then I gave up and started trying to find someone that spoke enough English to help me find the phone number to Flora Villas (whom I rented the moped from).  People could talk to me at length about every single item they were selling but nobody understood that I needed a phone number.

Finally I found a hotel that staffed English-speaking employees.  Now here’s where the real fun began.  After a short bit we ended up finding Flora’s number and contacting the owner.  The guy that helped me at the All Seasons Hotel was exceptionally helpful, I might add.  One confusing phone call later they were looking for a spare key.  So I took a tuk-tuk back to Flora.  Upon arriving the owner started exciting yelling about having just sent someone to Naiharn to get me.  She called that person to have them come back and pick me up.  Ten minutes later I was on my way back to Naiharn.

Twenty minutes later…we arrive.  Only to realize we still had no key.  Apparently Flora had sent the spare key to Coco, the place I’m actually staying (it’s right beside Flora).  I’m not sure why they did this.  So we turn around and take another twenty-minute ride to Coco, then immediately take the same twenty-minute ride back to Naiharn.  All in all, I made the trip from Flora to Naiharn three times.  All because the original key was on a giant plastic keychain that made the entire key neutrally bouyant (that means it floated).

Long story short: a wizard did it.

Movin’ On Up!

Posted by landoman - 29/01/09 at 02:01:02 pm

After roughly two weeks of training at TMT I moved up to the Muay Thai intermediate class yesterday. And man, I was not prepared. Intermediate amps up the intensity on pretty much everything we do. Harder/more bag rounds, harder sparring, more conditioning. It’s great! But I wish somebody had told me I would be sparring with a trainer minutes after arriving. I managed to stay on my feet the whole time…but that’s about all I managed to do. He was half my size, twice as fast and twice as strong. A few of the guys that happened to notice the sparring mentioned that he was going harder than they had ever seen him go on people; testing the newbies, I guess. I at least got a glimpse of what a real thai boxer can do. Maybe at the end of these three months I’ll give it another go…

In the meantime I’ll let a Bacon Explosion soothe my injuries!

Oops

Posted by landoman - 27/01/09 at 11:01:56 am

I was planning a VISA run for early next week to extend the default 30-day VISA that foreigners get upon passing through customs. There are tons of different VISA runs you can go on so I was checking out all of the different options and checking out various flights/trips for the run. I couldn’t remember exactly which day I got here but Jazz recommended I simply open my passport and check the stamp. “Too easy” I said. But as it turns out I was given a 90-day VISA then I landed earlier this month. Boy was my face red!

I lied about being settled in…

Posted by landoman - 26/01/09 at 10:01:56 pm

…because until yesterday I didn’t have a grill to cook my own food. Or a blender. My villa is now complete.

grill

Also yesterday we went and hit a bucket of balls at the Phuket Country Club driving range.  Ryan learned how to play, Jazz ended up tossing his club further down the range than he could hit a ball, and I stood back and made them all look good.

Then later, we went back to Kata and ditched Ryan to buy some counterfeit swag.  For less than 1/5 of the U.S. cost, I picked up a sweet North Face backpack.  It’s quite nicely made, actually. I’ll have to stock up on some stuff before I go back…

Cape Promthep

Posted by landoman - 24/01/09 at 04:01:14 pm

I rode down to the southern tip of Phuket earlier today and checked out Cape Promthep — the southern-most point of Phuket. The road slowly winds up a hill and spits you out beside a little lighthouse. From there you can see the waves breaking against the cliffs below. The view from the the cape was amazing. I could see far up the coast on each side; Rawai to the east and Naiharn to the west.

I left the cape and headed up the western side of the island. Naiharn Beach is just a few kilometers north of the cape so I stopped off and did a bit of snorkeling. There’s one little stretch of beach with some rocky outcroppings that I was able to snorkel around in for a bit. I’ve never seen so many sea urchins in such a small area. To be fair, I’ve never seen wild sea urchins period. I’m glad I had fins on because if would’ve been messy if I had tried to stand in that water.

I moved further up the coast to Naiharn proper and lounged around for a bit. Naiharn is one of the nicer beaches I’ve been to so far. You can walk further out into the water before it starts getting even relatively deep. And the water itself is a lot clearer than I’ve seen so far. The only downside to all of this was the sweet sunburn I got. Apparently salt water takes sunscreen right off; apparently.

Oh, and by popular demand, pictures of me!

Eating KFC
kfc

Me with UFC fighter Mike Swick
swick

New Photos

Posted by landoman - 19/01/09 at 10:01:26 pm

I added some new photos of my weekend excursions:

Patong

Posted by landoman - 17/01/09 at 09:01:30 am

A few new guys that showed up from California were planning to head to Patong to watch a few fights tonight.  They invited me along so I hit Patong for the first time.

Essentially the Las Vegas of Phuket, Patong is host to a great many bars, clubs, and other “interesting” things.  Anything and everything is happening in this place.  There are tons of various theme bars lining the streets; we managed to find the Irish pub and enjoy a cool pint of…Heineken?  It’s a bit ironic but you can’t argue with a pint for less than $2.

Like the beaches there’s are tons of little shops that sell just about anything imaginable.  Occasionally you can find a few unique items (art, carvings, etc…) but for the most part it’s more counterfeits.  The shopkeepers are like vultures; making even the slightest eye contact with them will pull them out of the shops and onto the streets to peddle their wares onto you.

The “interesting” things I mentioned earlier are Thailand’s famous “ladyboys.”  The most attractive women in Patong aren’t, in fact, women at all – at least not in the traditional sense.  Their name if fairly self-explanatory so I’ll allow the general populace to figure it out on their own.  Where most of the world would pay good money to watch unsuspecting men flirt with other men, I can simply grab a pint, take a seat, and watch the hilarity unfold.

The main event of the night was the fighting at Bangla Stadium.  There were eight fights: two were young kids (8-12), three were from Tiger, and the other three were…just other fights.  Two of our fighters won (rather viciously, at that) but one lost after getting a nasty elbow cut right above the eye.  The fights were great to watch but probably the most interesting event of the evening were the kids.  The first two couldn’t  have been more than eight or nine and the second two were a bit older; ten to twelve at most.  These kids were impressive for their age; probably in better shape than I’ll ever be, too.  As far as technique goes, they were almost as good as any of the adults fighting.  They lack power due to their age but in a few years that will catch up to their technique.  Regardless, I left feeling a bit smaller than the little kids that could undoubtedly kick my ass all the way back home.

Weekend!

Posted by landoman - 16/01/09 at 03:01:58 pm

Ryan’s family flew in for vacation a couple days ago so I dropped him off at their hotel and then went on to explore some of Southern Phuket — particularly the beaches.

On the western side of Phuket lies two of the main tourist traps: Kata and Karon.  Their beaches are likewise full of vacationers and other non-natives.  The beaches themselves are nice as far as beaches go but they’re a bit too crowded; so, great for said vacationers.  Interestingly, there are thousands of harmless jellyfish that swim the coasts of Phuket.  I was pretty taken back when I first saw them but then I noticed people literally picking them up and throwing them [at other people].  I’ve stepped on a couple, brushed up against a couple, and poked/prodded a couple.  Indeed they don’t sting! (When in doubt, poke it with a stick).

On that note, I’ve swum in the Indian Ocean.  ‘Sup?!

Kata and Karon, of course, have tons and tons of little shops (more tourist crap – it’s great) lining the streets for miles in every direction.  You can buy any type of counterfeit watches, sunglasses, handbags, designer clothes, movies, music, etc…  [Now taking orders on the aforementioned items.]

I headed back towards Eastern Phuket and hit Chaolong Pier and then continued south to Naiharn Beach.  Chaolong is less tourist-y and, as such, less crowded.  You can walk out onto the pier a few hundred meters and be in the middle of Chaolong bay.  Not much to see there unless you’re getting a boat of some sort.  Naiharn is yet smaller and even more secluded than the others.  The cape is just a bit further south and has some of the best snorkeling/diving water in the area.  There are tons of islands all along the southern coast so the water stays shallow and clear.  I’ll definitely have to rent some gear and see the reefs.

Week One

Posted by landoman - 14/01/09 at 09:01:29 pm

After the first week, I’m settling in quite nicely to my new surroundings. The Muay Thai sessions don’t tire me much at all anymore and my muscles no longer get sore from all the exercises. I’ve started lifting in the afternoon every other day to break up the monotony some. And possibly within the next few weeks I’m going to give Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a shot as well.

The heat doesn’t phase me anymore. The first few days were pretty rough but now I’m well adjusted and even get a bit cold in the 24C/75F evenings. But even the warmest days feel perfect if even the slightest breeze is blowing. It’s only rained once since I’ve been here — one night for about 10 minutes. I genuinely feel sorry for people back in WV…

I’ve figured out all the good places to eat around here so I’m feasting like a king for next to nothing. Seriously, the food here is some of the best I’ve ever had. Nearly everything is some sort of rice or noodle dish but it’s all so good. Mommas and Flora are where it’s at. I still need to check out the Boxer Bar; apparently it’s one of the better restaurants too. We might even hit up KFC this weekend. Sometimes nothing can compare to good ‘ol American greasy food.

And the people here are just fantastic. There’s a constant influx of new people so every day I meet new/interesting people. I’m hanging out with a couple guys I met within the first few days: Jazz and Ryan, a Brit and Frenchman. I’ve had more fun just talking/listening to those two banter back and forth in their respective languages. Apparently I now know how to speak proper English and French slang.

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