happy new years!

well then, im on a role with this blogging thing. last night was an incredible night filled with beauty and chaos. hanging out with clem, rich, and isabelle (clem's two friends) we went from one beach bar/restaurant party to another. we started off the night at independent bo (i dont' understand why the bo is there cause it really doesnt' stink) which is a great little bungelow place that reminds me of pirates of a caribbean movie. we actually stayed there the first night when waiting for a bungelow near rich and clem and it was quite interesting. its a place that first of all you have to walk along this wooden path/probably shouldn't still be standing pieces of wood whenever the tide is up. when you come around one corner you just see a mass aray of wooden board and bungelows amongst the jungle with bright colors painted everywhere with stuff hanging from everything. the paths leading up to the bungelows (which arn't in any order or rythm, just strewed about everywhere) are just what im sure were dirt steps (very steep at times) with concrete poured on them very messylike and then also painted bright colors. like i said we only stayed there the first night, which was plenty enough just to experience it (doors wouldn't close and aparently there were monkeys around that might take your stuff, windows with no glass, showers that were just an old bathtub out side with a sign that said "pool" above it and countless other quirks). well anyways, like i said we started there for about an hour or so...we choose to start there of course cause they were offering free food (which we were too late for anyways). so after there fire show was finished and we met a couple people we moved onto another (none of which were as awsome in appearance). we just strolled the beach for a while (making buckets at 7eleven cause its cheaper) and ate burgers out of the back of trucks (very good). then when it was getting closer to midnight we decided to look for one of these lanterns that everyone was sending off into the air (like a lampshade with a fire wired in at the bottom to make it rise). after a search that was turning a little frantic cause we thought we would be too late, we found a couple. me and clem were going to light off one and rich and isabelle were going to light off the other (and no me and clem didnt' look into each other's eyes while we did it). after a little confusion on how too and a wind that started to pick up that we thought was going to ruin ours and send it to the ground crash and burning (you don't want this cause aparently it is suppose to symbolize how your year is going to be) me and clem got ours off and it floated away perfect (good sign, though starting the year in thailand by itself was a good sign i think for the year to come). of course while all this is happening for the last half hour there have been fireworks being set off on the beach (really sketchy sometimes with how they shoot up and some not exploding right). so while rich and isabelle are getting theirs going, i hear a large explosion behind me (louder than should be for the fireworks) and it was another miss fire one, which just sent the balls of fire that normally explode in the air all pretty like through the crowd. it happened behind me and i was squating down to help rich and isabelle so i didn't see it but i heard the explosion and then instantly felt a hot something hit me on the lower back (where my t-shirt was just lifted up a bit cause i was squatting down). i quickly batted it away and only got a little burn and saw everybody else in the crowd jumping away from these things and then jumping on them to put them out. just after/during all this is happening i hear people counting down and then yelling happy new years, i look up as rich and isabelle are just letting go of theirs (it sails away pefect aswell) and see the sky just full of these things, along with tons of fireworks going off in the sky. with all the people cheering, loud music and explosions it was really quite choatic-like but still the energy was amazing and the visual was just spectacular. so after we were saying our happy new years to each other (and of course chuk de khap'ing each other (thats cheers in thai and we were holding buckets)) we went back to being on guard for these crazy fireworks (we had placed our selves evenly away from fireworks being shot up on each side about 50 feet away). there was only one more close call (where i had to pull out my matrix move as one just sailed over my face as i leaned way back/threw myself to the ground (literally im sure it was an inch above my face and was going downwards too and ended up resting right behind my head on the sand where it landed). so yah, after that great ringing in the new years we started strolling around again. we made it to a place where they also had a shooting range where you shot these spring powered guns that shot little rubber bullets at a furby-like stuffed animal. if you knock it down you get it, so off course my neck was just full of them since im just an excellent marksmen (then had a string attached to them that you could wear around your neck). this place also had a live band that was really good and were playing covers songs. they were really great musicians and on the last song they all did there solo part where they show off. everyone of them just blew me away with their abilities (including/especially the guitar player that began ripping it up only to bring the guitar up to his mouth and started playing just as fast for about 10 seconds with his teeth picking the strings). the rest of the night was not nearly as exciting as we just went from bar to bar to sitting on the beach just hanging out as the night settled. after we watched the sun come up (first sunrise of the year) we called it quits and went to sleep. so yah, now its a few hours later and im already up writing in my blog cause for some reason i couldn't sleep anymore (and i didn't even drink much redbull). i think im going to head to 7eleven now and get one of there excellent chicken steak bbq burgers and head to the beach now, so until next time...

ive died and gone to heaven

just writing to say that i just had the greatest thai pancake EVER!!! from the stand near we are staying by the thai guy with long hair. it was fried to the perfect crispyness all over, it had banana and honey on the inside and then after it was folded and cut (all seem to be done with exact perfectness and care) then coconut syrup and chocolate syrup was drizzled on top. not only was this the best one i have ever eaten but at 30 baht it was also the cheapest. what a great way to compliment one of the most beautiful sunsets ive seen in a while...the last one of the year none the less.

its been awhile...

...well as the title says, it has been awhile since ive written in here. i think i last left off when i just got to railey. railey went real well, it was just as beautiful as i remembered (just with some more construction done). though i fear that they might over do it with the building and turn something beautiful into something that isn't. i had many sunsets on pranang beach (my favorite) that were quite beautiful (i seem to be using that word a lot). i even taped myself making a christmas message that i wanted to post on facebook but with the chords i have its going to be harder than i thought. but ya, after spending many days on the beach, one day rock climbing, and watching many movies at "moms kitchen", me and clem returned to bangkok (we left on the 26th). i made the mistake of on the last day in railey going to one of my favorite burger places (a stand on east beach) and eating a burger that was still pink inside (yes, i kept eating after i noticed (stupid jon)). then by the time we got on the bus a few hours later i was already starting to feel flu-ish (chills, upset stomach). then throughout the 12 hour (or however long it was) i wasn't feeling very good, and it didn't help that they had the a/c blasting on us the entire way (we took the night bus too, so it wasn't even that warm outside). luckily i had a couple blankets that the bus had, plus the travel blanket the my lovely mother gave me to keep me somewhat warm and more comfortable. even though we took it at night i think i only slept a couple hours the whole time (though i managed to finish the last few hundred pages of my book (thank you julie for that)). by the time we reached bangkok it was i think 6 in the morning and by then i was dead tired. we went to our normal place we stay at in bangkok but they didn't have any room with hot showers (and we wanted this luxury after spending the last how long with just cold showers) so we went to the next door place, which turned out to be real nice and just as cheap and it had a hot shower plus the bonus of a tv with cable. as soon as we checked in we of course just went to sleep and didn't wake up till sometime in the afternoon. then we did the normal bangkok life for us and checked out khao san (sp?) rd for a bit and then headed to the mbk center (7 story mall) to look around. we looked at all the cool stuff for awhile, ate lots of fun and then went to a movie (the new alien vs predator). after that we just went back to our room, clem stayed there to just fall asleep watching tv while i went to go find a much needed haircut. after doing so and feeling much lighter (she took off a little more than i wanted but its still good) i decided to get a massage as well since i hadn't for a few days. after that i felt like i just got an overhaul and was ready to go...but i just went to my room and went to sleep anyways (in my defence it was already after midnight). while in railey we got the phone number for cree's sister (who also used to work at the cocobar) who is now living in bangkok. so we gave her a call, after a hard conversation (she doesn't speak the greatest english, plus a bad connection) we decided to meet up at the mbk center...so i thought. me and clem took a taxi there and started waiting for a phone call saying that she was there and where to find her...we got the call but she had somehow mistaked the meeting place for khoa san rd (which is where we are staying and it just took 40 minutes for us to get here cause of traffic). so we said we come back, jumped on some motorbike taxis and took off. these motorbike taxis are not for the weak of heart but are absolute genious' when it comes to beating traffic. we flew along, weaving through traffic went it came to stand still (since they don't always follow the lanes here it wasn't like they could just go down the center). im sure we made it back in under 15 minutes and most of that time was when we were waiting at lights. so ya, we got back and met up with On (thats her name) and her friend (which i can't remember her name again (clem has reminded me a million times). we caught up on things and talked for a while at some sports bar of sorts and then decided to check out there neck of the woods. we took yet another taxi (probably about an hour and a bit) to their place, which was in the middle of bangkok with no other "farangs" around. we ate supper at this corner restaurant which i thought was really cheap but aparently was one of their nicer restaurants. while sitting there eating elephants were walking by with their owners who were trying to sell sugar cane, which i found real weird cause i hadn't seen any elephants in bangkok yet and i figured they would use them to sell to the tourists not in the middle of a thai people only place. it was funny cause as they were leaving the elephants had flashing lights on their tails and reflector strips on their feet. meanwhile on had called a few friends over and we headed to some thai bar/restaurant/hang out place. this place was real cool, it had a huge stage up front of a gym size area filled (more like packed) full of tables with chairs around them. then there was also a balcony area surrounding that also filled with tables too. and every table is just packed with people too (some sitting some standing dancing in front of their own table to the loud music being played). we found a table up stairs somewhere and ordered some more food and hung out randomly trying to speak to the people we were with who spoke very broken english. a band later came on stage that im guessing was a big band in thailand cause everybody in the place was singing along with them and they had flat screen tvs around the place that was showing the band playing on stage and occationally played music videos that went along to the song they were singing. the energy in the room was just amazing, there wasn't a dance floor or anything. people just danced with their own friends in front of the table they were sitting, everybody was just there for a good time and not worrying about how they looked (it didn't matter how they looked cause everybody was singing and dancing just as hard as them). so after quite a few hours there we just went back to their place and then said our goodbyes and me and clem went back to our place. of course by the time we got home it must have been around 4 in the morning and we were leaving for koh chang on a bus at 8. suprising enough though i wasn't that tired in the morning and we made our bus. this ride went much smoother and i was actually comfortable enough to sleep a bit to catch up from thenight before. we arrived in koh chang, went to white beach (great name to call a town) and met up with some of clem's friends that he met in bangkok last time he was in thailand. they turned out to be awsome people (i was a little worried about who id be spending the new years with) and we have been living the beach life again for a few days now. well thats enough writing for now (even though there is plenty about this place i could tell you about). until next time...

i pour one out...

...for the memory of cocobar. we arrived in railey yesturday and were suprised again with how much things have changed in the last year and a half. it is getting a lot more resorts and stuff built so some places are definitely unfamiliar. the sadest part is that where my beloved cocobar once was there is now another resort being built (along with where a bunch of little bars were). with some searching though we found what we beloved was the cocobar hut thingy down the beach a little ways but it is now called jungle bar or something. and with some asking we found one of my friends who used to work at the cocobar so that lifted my spirits a bunch. then today to make thing even better we went with him (his name is kree) and another friend to his home in krabi, which was awsome. we were a little unsure about what all was going to happen when he asked us to go last night but we said we'd meet him for 10 the next morning and head out. of course since this is thailand we met at 10 and then he had to do a little bit of jobs (cleaning stuff up) and didnt' leave until 11:30 but it was still good. still unsure of what and where and all that me and clem left with them on the longtail boat. when we got to the port him and his friend jumped on a scooter and said they would be back, and 5 minutes later they returned with another scooter...so jon took a little crash course in scootering and away we were off (with clem on the back of mine). i was a little shakey (and a little worried if im honest) but i was happy to go on the adventure. after driving for about 25 minutes (which included driving on all sort of terrain including through a market type area where there were a bunch of thai people the just looked at us and smiled) we pulled up to a little house (among many) kinda in the country type area. i got to meet a bunch of his family (that i later learned was actually the woman he was going to marry next month's family) and me and his new to be brother in laws went out to some seafood restaurant way out in the middle of nowhere (but it was a nice looking restaurant so i dont' know what it was doing out there). then we drove to the pier that was nearby and there were some thai men fishing off the pier with rods and nets. all this was just a real cultural experience that im really glad i got to enjoy. riding through all the places i got to see how beautiful thailand really is...if only i brought my camera (i know, once again i really need to work on that), luckily clem brought his and we managed to take a couple photos at teh pier before his camera's batteries died. now we are back in railey (clem and his friend stayed there) and should be here for the next few days (which means this is where i spend christmas). im not sure what all the next few days with withhold...probably a little rock climbing and a bunch of beach sitting. well dinner is calling, until next time...

booo urns to tan lines...

...well it has been quite a while since i updated this. im not even sure where i left off last time and im paying for internet now so im too lazy/cheap to spend the time to check. the last week in phuket was pretty good, i did far more training sessions that i had been doing previously. though even after all that im still not any lighter (do i sound like im fixated on losing weight?) i am actually 1 kilo heavier so thats weird. oh well, getting fat season has started so there goes best shape of my life (and im sure im going to love every minute of it). i left the camp yesturday and met up with clem (a buddy from edmonton) and we are now going to be backpacking it until febuary. we arrived in koh phi phi about an hour ago and are a bit settled in now. thing are pricey'r than when i was last here since it is now high season but im sure ill manage. it is crazy how much this place has changed since i was last here, so much contruction has been done (they are still recovering since the tsunami) and a lot of places are unfamiliar. on the boat ride over im kicking myself for sitting up on the deck for a couple hours with my new red bull tank top cause now i have the most beautiful tan lines ever...and my shoulders are burntish so i can't even go in the sun to get rid of it (oh how my life is terrible). we are going to be here for 2 nights and then i think we shall head to railey (im really looking forward to that). they have a thaiboxing stadium here now so we are probably going to go check out the fights tommorow and maybe a snorkel day trip during the day. well thats enough money spent on this thing, until next time...

a month already?

well it is odd thinking that ive been here a month already, though when thinking back i guess in some ways it may even seem longer. it does feel like ive been here quite awhile when i think back on the first memories of getting here and how long ago those feel but other times it feels like it was just the other day. i imagine the whole winter will fly by pretty quick i think cause i think it is going to be pretty active and "time flies when you are having fun". christmas itself might seem to pass slowly if i get caught up in the emotions of homesickness...i guess fortunetly it doesn't really seem like christmas still. i hardly see any decorations or hear any talks of it and when i do it is the gym saying it will be open on christmas for training if people want to and there are a few random bows or christmas like decorations at the mall that im sure they just put up to amuse their farang (tourist) customers. next time i head to central mall im going to stop at the starbucks there just to get the peppermint hotchocolate in hopes that might make me feel a little more christmasy.

the last few days have been pretty good as usual, a lot of relaxing and having a good time with some training thrown in there ocationally too. on monday a bunch of us from camp when on a boat cruise that the camp got a hook up for. it took a while to get going (thai time (just like africa)) and after waiting in the a/c van for half an hour and then the same on the beach (at least there were waves to play in there) we got on a long tail boat and headed to the main boat. i wasn't expecting much of a boat cause the camp got a real good deal for it plus from the beach non of the boat out at sea really looked impressive but when we got close i was pleasantly suprised. im not sure how long it was but it was quite long, one of those sail/motor boats. the deck and cabin were really impressive too, inside there were rooms and couches with plasma screens (though we never took advantage of them). we mainly just sat on the deck the whole time piggying out (i think i ate for 4 hours straight) and randomly jumping off the boat into the water. it was nice to live the high life for a while, i heard the boat rents out normally for 250000 baht a day so at about 30 baht a dollar you can imagine it is quite expensive normally. i just had to pay 500 baht and that included the taxi to the beach and back, the boat ride and the all you can eat/drink buffet.
this week has and im sure will be a lot slower paced though cause a few people that i hung out with on a regular have left, which will hopefully motivate me to train a little harder and go to the beach or pool less. before they left a bunch of found a korean bbq place near the big c shopping center that is quite cheap and all you can eat. it has those little grills that you cook all your own meat...the only difference between this one and the ones ive seen at home is that all the signs are all in thai so its kinda a luck of the draw which meat you choose. there were some sushi rolls there too so i got to satisfy that craving ive been having for awhile too. i got another housemate the other day too, a friend that i had already made at camp moved out with me cause its a bit cheaper. his name is danny and he is from toronto but hasn't been there in quite a while since he lived in australia working for quite a while and has been travelling china/vietnam/cambodia and the other areas in these part for quite a while. i think we'll get along pretty good but i only have a week left here so we don't have a lot of time to bond. thats another thing, i only have a week left here and i havn't really satified my craving for the training i wish i had. i weighed myself the other day and i weigh exactly what i weighed when i came here which was kinda depressing cause everybody else seems to be dropping pounds like crazy (even the ones that don't really have much to lose). im choosing not to get too depressed about it cause i can't really complain about my life in the past month, im living the life ive dreamed about for quite a while so no matter what the outcome of the last month or even the entire time im hear i will go home happy. well there are a bunch of people waiting for the computers here and i think ive been hogging this one for long enough, until next time...

not in a hospital...

...just back to training, who knew that forgetting an ' could be so disaterous. well another day of being sore and dreaming of a thai massage, my back is quite stiff today due to what i believe is from the clinching. clinching is the wrestling part of thaiboxing were most of the time you are trying to either grab your opponents head and pull it down so you have the option of kneeing them in the face or head (not violent at all). it also uses diffent techniques to try and trip or throw your opponent, then there is the much simplier move of just kneeing them in the side or chest. luckily we train nice here so there isn't any knees to the head or hard throws and any knees to the body are with the thigh so it isn't as hard as your actual knee. but your neck still suffers the same from constantly lifting your head up. i never even got that last thai massage i was dreaming about since a buddy said he was going to the beach and i couldn't turn an offer like that down, so this massage is a long time coming. i might try and convince a few friends to come along as well to make im not distracting this time.

the last few days have been alright, i didn't really do too much in celebration of the king. we kept on making half plans to go here or go there to see a festival but never really did anything. during the day we spent a long time at one of the guys places that had a pool. i wish i had set my video camera up to capture the stupidy that was happening. it was pretty much just a few hours of us thinking or creative ways of jumping into the pool trying to balace on the floating objects in the water. when we got to three people on top of each others shoulders trying to land on a large air mattress we decided that was probably as far as we should push it since the water is only about 5 feet deep (and since i was the smallest i was always the person on the top). a bunch of us also went to central in order to find some ice cream (since a lot of the shops were closed nearby for the holiday), and boy did we find it. after a massive massive sundae type dessert we then went to the market and filled ourselves the rest of the way with fresh donuts and danishes from the bakery. i felt good though cause later on that evening i managed to resist the banana pancakes with honey with supper that some of the guys gave into. the night before we went to patong since we didn't have to train in the morning and hanging out there till the wee hours of the morning (spending too much money). im going to have to start setting a set budget for me cause that money (even though it is cheap here) tends to leave me far to quickly. some friends that ive made here are leaving on monday so hopefully for the next week i won't be as tempted to go out and spend money all the time.

well im off to try and convince people of operation "make back feel better", until next time...

well i have a few minutes before class starts so ill try and say a bit more. this last weekend was lots of fun but i also spent a lot of money on not a whole lot of stuff. i went to the beach a bunch and then to some of the malls (tesco, central and big c). me and some guys also went to the night market that they have on sundays. it is pretty much just a bunch of tarps set up with tons of stuff (all sorts of stuff) underneath. we were pretty much just there to walk around and see what was all there. i bought some dvds to watch in order to save money and not do as much in the evenings. i also found some pancake type things that were kinda like the crepes and had stuff in the middle too. i had one that had peanut in the middle and another that had coconut in middle. one of my friends was on a quest to find some fried bugs to eat and he found some. he bought a little bag full of different bugs (including some quite large grasshoppers) and then we went back to his place and video taped him eating them and the faces he made.

well thats all i can get out for now, its time to start skipping (shudder) again. until next time...

back to monday...

...well it was hard getting started today not having done any working out for 2 and a half days. but i managed to get through both the morning and afternoon sessions. every session is hard to start cause you alway start by skipping rope for 20-30 minutes, and the skipping rope isn't a regular rope its one of those ones that are like a tube and everytime you hit your toe it feels like you might have split it open or ripped it right off. the first week i was here i was terrible at skipping and had to stop every 30 seconds or so. now i have a system were i have started counting how many i do and aiming for a certain number. when i first started counting i would do 60 (i count 1 for every 2 i jump) just jumping up and down and then 60 jumping twice with the left foot and then twice on the right foot and going back and foreth, then finally 60 more jumping from foot to foot (and i try to go a little quicker too). i even have a penalty system were if i hit my toe or something (as if that wasn't penalty enough) and stop skipping i add 10 to whatever style im skipping on for that round. then i moved it up to 70 last week and then today i moved it up to 80. it seems to be getting a bit easier but adding numbers every weeks makes sure im not taking it too easy. in between round of those three sessions i usually roll up my hand wraps or stretch for a minute and then start over again.

well it seems i must get off the computer cause they are taking them home for the evening so it is a short one today. ill try and get to my last few day in the morning. until next time...

a lazy day in the neighbourhood

well on to the second post, im on a roll. i am being extremely lazy today, i slept till just after 10 am this morning when the people who clean my house/room (every wednesday and saturday) knocked on my door asking to clean it. i was okay with waking up though not extremely thrilled about it so i got up and did my normal morning getting ready stuff. i prepared some delicious outmeal with yogurt and pinapple, along with my normal banana and peanut butter. then lazy me after the housekeepers had left made the mistake of laying back down on his bed for a quick "second". then when 1 o'clock rolled around i woke up again and made myself get out of bed. fat me then decided since it was lunch time to make some more food. so after one mr.noodle type package, some boiled water, a can of tuna, a couple pieces of bread, a orange, a glass of milk and a banana muffin with honey on it i was done eating...for now. i go into detail about what and how much ive been eating just to prepare people for the possibility of me coming home a little heavier than when i left even though i am working out so much here. ill describe everything i do for working out on a regular occasion on another day just so my eating schedule sinks in a little more.

now i am not entirely just a lazy person and have an excuse why i slept so late. last night some people were going out cause it was there last day here and i didn't end up coming home until 5am. and since i wasn't really in the mood to drink as everyone else was i was mearly surviving on redbull to keep me going...7 cans later i wasn't even that tired when i came home at 5. plus i had just piged out (what i suprise) on some street food before i had come home so my state of being so full on greasy meat on a stick wasn't making me that tired either. so yah...it wasn't my fault for being so tired today...or something like that.

my shoulder is still sore from yesturday and since i never made it to get a thai massage then i think i will be leaving to do so very shortly. yesturday i ended up going to the beach for the afternoon instead and got to soak up some sun and play in the waves some more, which is always great though left my shoulder not feeling any better...an exchange i was still happy to make. tonight i think im going to continue the lazy streak and just watch some movies with friends, though not just cause im lazy...i spent a bit of money yesturday due to having to pay a rediculous cover on some of the clubs we went to and paying for taxi rides and of course paying for a bunch of food too (though we went to a real nice mexican restaurant last night that was extremely delicious) so tonight i need a cheap activity to make up for that.

well like i said, it is getting to that thai massage time. in my defence also of being lazy, i do have to ride my bike most places i go since that is my only means of transportation (unless i want to pay money for a taxi), so yah...i am getting some excersize today. until next time...

everything must have a beggining

well i thought id try this blogging thing and today is always a good day to start something. today im actually a little battered so i think i might be starting my weekend a bit early. it is already friday afternoon here so it isn't that early though. for some reason my right shoulder (the muscle) is really sore so punching and blocking with that side isn't really an option and after a morning class of doing nothing but jabs, kicks and getting punched in the head (i wasn't really doing to well in sparring today) i think im going to get a thai massage and see if anyone wants to hit the beach with me. tonight there is a fight so it might just be a lazy afternoon and then go to the fights tonight and then beach tommorow and sunday...i know i live a rough life.

so far travelling has been pretty good, i wanted this trip to have more of a "living here" feeling to it and i think i have almost accomplished that. at first i wasn't sure if i actually liked it cause i didn't really do much and i was always tired but now that im in kind of a schedule of sorts it is actually really good. home sick is kind of wearing off though doing some facebook wall creeping and reading blogs makes that feeling of missing out come a bit. but this is what i want and choose so im loving it.

im staying at a shared house about a 10 minute bike ride away from camp (tiger muay thai and mma boxing camp). there are three rooms there, a kitchen and a living room with a tv/dvd player. we don't have cable which makes for some boring afternoons but encourages working out which is good (since that is what i here for). i got the luxury room cause i have a/c and my own private bathroom. right now im living with a guy from boston (dan) and a empty room cause mikei (or mika or something like that) just left for australia, though she is originally from belgium. dan is moving out today though to move to a closer, cheaper room so i don't know who they are going to put me with next. i finally have a fullish fridge and cupboard cause i went shopping yesturday. i spent a bunch of money but it should help me save in the long haul.

well im hungry so ill write more of what im doing/have done later