I've shifted permanently to the other blog now, so update your bookmarks and head on over that way.
Disclaimer: The other blog is mine and Paul's personal blog. It is about our time in Thailand and for the next year I am not a teacher, I am a Thai Boxer. Teachers swear, yes, but maybe not as much as Thai Boxers. If you are between the ages of 0 and 16 and you are reading this blog there will be occasional swear-words, because that's how I speak, but there will not be explicit content, because... well, why would there be?
If you're not an adult, then you are reading my blog without my permission and, as such, you should ask your parents.
Sarah x
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Evil Portents
When we said in the site description that this might turn out to be a guide to ruining your life, rather than a travel log, I think we may have been onto something.
Our date of departure looms ever closer, only 4 and a half weeks away, yet we’re no closer to selling the flat. Thanks to media scaremongering everyong is convinced we’re about to hit a recession and seems to be sitting tight on their property.
Weeks come and go with no viewers, then three will show up, interested, enthusiastic and full of promise, never to be seen again.
We’ve gone to fixed price, and then reduced fixed price.
We’ve forked out hundreds on new schedules, advertisements in the Scotsman property pages.
We rush to clean floors and surfaces, arrange flowers, open the windows and plump the cushions, only to sit for 2 hours every Thursday and Sunday, waiting for…. something.
Avoiding peering out of the windows. Avoiding biting nails.
Avoiding.
I want to give up, purely because the stress is taking its toll, but I can’t give up a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve my only real ambition. Paul wont let me give up anyway, he says we’re going, and that’s that. We just might be a little delayed, is all. He’s determined.
I don’t remind him that a couple of weeks ago he was equally determined that we were going on the 14th of July, and that was that.
I don’t think it matters how determined he is, or I am.
What matters is that Paul no longer has a job.
What matters is that, in 2 weeks time, I no longer have a job, and no chance of getting one now, having missed the current round of interviews.
What matters is our mortgage, our debts, our ties.
Not our plans, or how determined we may be to achieve them.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Sorry for the silence!
Hi guys - sorry for silence lately - I've been very busy, but go and check out my other blog (and check it regularly!) where we've got a few more posts about recent events :)
A Year in the Land of Smiles
A x
A Year in the Land of Smiles
A x
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A Year in the Land of Smiles
Paul and I have started a new blog dedicated to our move to and adventures in Thailand, which you should bookmark and keep an eye on. It's fairly quiet at the moment, but there will be increasingly more to write and read about as time goes on.
I'll still be writing here about everything else :)
A Year in the Land of Smiles
I'll still be writing here about everything else :)
A Year in the Land of Smiles
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Goodbyes
Now that we're all decided about moving to Thailand, the quest to sell the flat and organise our trip has begun in earnest. The first step has been to have the flat valued, and the results have been very positive, suggesting we might expect up to £250,000, which is incredible. We paid £180,000 for it less than 3 years ago, so making £70k on it by doing not much at all is always good news.
Now we need to get the flat ready for the market - finishing off niggly cosmetic jobs, doing the tasks we've put off for months, and choose a firm of solicitors to represent us. We've had tradesmen in giving quotes, some dates in the diary and have arranged a date to move all our unnecessary furniture into storage -this Friday!
Part and parcel of all this, however, has been rehoming our pets. We've been really lucky in finding people who are prepared to take Sari and Cara on a temporary basis, and a family who want Loki, but only permanently as they have a child. In fact, I was absent from training tonight because me and Kal took the not-as-long-as-we-anticipated trip to Broxburn to introduce Sari to her new foster home. The man taking her seems a true animal lover, very kind and caring and I'm sure she'll be well looked after, but it's a very sad thing to do. I'm hoping that by the end of the week Cara and Loki will have homes to go to, and may already even be in them within a week.
Once that is done, the major work in the flat can take place and we will hopefully be on the market by the end of April at the latest. After that it's Visas, plane tickets and continuing to learn Thai and we will have done everything we can do. Fingers crossed, touch wood, weather permitting etc etc, we will sell the flat for a decent price without too much delay and be able to leave for Thailand in July with all our debts paid, money in the bank and nothing to tie us down for a year.
Bliss.
Now we need to get the flat ready for the market - finishing off niggly cosmetic jobs, doing the tasks we've put off for months, and choose a firm of solicitors to represent us. We've had tradesmen in giving quotes, some dates in the diary and have arranged a date to move all our unnecessary furniture into storage -this Friday!
Part and parcel of all this, however, has been rehoming our pets. We've been really lucky in finding people who are prepared to take Sari and Cara on a temporary basis, and a family who want Loki, but only permanently as they have a child. In fact, I was absent from training tonight because me and Kal took the not-as-long-as-we-anticipated trip to Broxburn to introduce Sari to her new foster home. The man taking her seems a true animal lover, very kind and caring and I'm sure she'll be well looked after, but it's a very sad thing to do. I'm hoping that by the end of the week Cara and Loki will have homes to go to, and may already even be in them within a week.
Once that is done, the major work in the flat can take place and we will hopefully be on the market by the end of April at the latest. After that it's Visas, plane tickets and continuing to learn Thai and we will have done everything we can do. Fingers crossed, touch wood, weather permitting etc etc, we will sell the flat for a decent price without too much delay and be able to leave for Thailand in July with all our debts paid, money in the bank and nothing to tie us down for a year.
Bliss.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A trip down Memory Lane
also known as falling off your bike for the first time in about 15 years.
Yes, I actually fell off my bike this afternoon when I was cycling to trampolining class when I went round a corner and my back wheel slid out from under me on a patch of mud. I skinned my knee, hurt my palm a bit and bled everywhere, but nothing that wont heal and form a badass scab...
And, AND! I didn't cry at all and I even went to trampolining even though I fell off my bike. Because I am A Big Girl.
Admittedly, I did go "Aaaaargh! Owwwwww!" and glance around to see if anyone was there to look worried and ask if they could help/call an ambulance/give me a cuddle/kiss it better, but sadly I was alone and my manly whimpering went unheeded.
My bike feels weird, though - all wibbly and unsteady (or is that just me?) so it's a trip to the bike shop to have it checked over and my front brake fixed again (remember how the kids playfully sabotaged my brakes? Well, they're still dodgy).
In other news, last night I went to the Tall Tales Oscars with Lovely Kal, at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile. It was a fun night where storytellers competed to tell the best tall tale, for the honour of winning a trophy shaped like a gnome. Lots of jokes and very good fun, and obviously good company.
Tomorrow I have about 4,000 people coming over to value the flat, give estimates for work and so on, I have to get a passpor application form because my passport's still in my maiden name, have lots of passport pictures taken, and other wee jobs like that. I also need to make another appointment with my lovely doctor as my voice is still fucked, and I think I'm in need of a higher dose of anti-depressants. Training in the evening, and sorted.
Yes, I actually fell off my bike this afternoon when I was cycling to trampolining class when I went round a corner and my back wheel slid out from under me on a patch of mud. I skinned my knee, hurt my palm a bit and bled everywhere, but nothing that wont heal and form a badass scab...
And, AND! I didn't cry at all and I even went to trampolining even though I fell off my bike. Because I am A Big Girl.
Admittedly, I did go "Aaaaargh! Owwwwww!" and glance around to see if anyone was there to look worried and ask if they could help/call an ambulance/give me a cuddle/kiss it better, but sadly I was alone and my manly whimpering went unheeded.
My bike feels weird, though - all wibbly and unsteady (or is that just me?) so it's a trip to the bike shop to have it checked over and my front brake fixed again (remember how the kids playfully sabotaged my brakes? Well, they're still dodgy).
In other news, last night I went to the Tall Tales Oscars with Lovely Kal, at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile. It was a fun night where storytellers competed to tell the best tall tale, for the honour of winning a trophy shaped like a gnome. Lots of jokes and very good fun, and obviously good company.
Tomorrow I have about 4,000 people coming over to value the flat, give estimates for work and so on, I have to get a passpor application form because my passport's still in my maiden name, have lots of passport pictures taken, and other wee jobs like that. I also need to make another appointment with my lovely doctor as my voice is still fucked, and I think I'm in need of a higher dose of anti-depressants. Training in the evening, and sorted.
Friday, March 14, 2008
One small step for man...
... one fuck-off, scary-ass, massive, life-altering trip of a lifetime for Aarayan and Paul.
Mum, dad... we've got something to tell you.... we're gay.
Nah, not really (well, only a bit) - we're just going to live in Thailand for a year.
Following a period of epic unrest for me and a lengthy period of what can only be described (providing you're a bit middle-class and pretentious) as ennui for Paul the fates have presented us with a set of circumstances which are never likely to align again.
1 - I'm still young enough to make a go of training and fighting full time to see how far I can get
2 - I'm about to be out of a job
3 - Paul is bored senseless and wants to re-train as a teacher (fool)
4 - We were planning on selling the flat anyway
As such, we find ourselves young (well, I am anyway), child-free, moneyed up (I hope) and unemployed.
This will Never. Happen. Again.
So, what's the plan?
We're moving to Phuket, so that I can train and fight full time with Tiger Muay Thai, which appears to offer excellent facilities, for a reasonable price, and with good promotion connections. I want to get as much fighting experience as I possibly can, come down a weight category perhaps, get ridiculously fit and come back to Scotland and kick some ass :)
Paul's going to work probably teaching English, perhaps doing some web design, spend alot of time grinning his head off, drinking on the beach and learning to dive (not all at the same time, I hope).
He also thinks we're getting a pet elephant. I haven't got the heart to tell him it's not the same as owning a dog.
We'll get a flat on the island, and try and really enjoy our year in Thailand properly. I'm learning Thai with Bun down the road, and Paul's going to start lessons next week, I'm going to get as fit as I can before I leave to avoid too much unneccessary delay before fighting when I arrive.
Before all that, though there's all the unfamiliar territory of visas, work permits, selling our flat here, finding temporary homes for our pets, putting our belongings in storage and somehow managing to say goodbye to the people we love.
Paul, at least, has done this before and has some experience of saying goodbye, coming back and finding he hasn't been forgotten. He has many friends whom he sees intermittently and whenever their paths cross.
I'm finding the idea more difficult because, to be perfectly honest, I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have I love very much. There's Kal, Fran and Giles; Ally, Ann, Scott, Tessa and the guys from training; and the girls at school and saying goodbye is going to be very, very tricky. I've been in Edinburgh quite some time, and it's taken me this long to feel like I belong, so leaving it all feels like a big risk. All I can say is expect a very, very emotional Aarayan at our going away party (which, by the way, will be huge!)
So, I'm going to have plenty to write between now and July, when we leave, and even more after that!
Stay tuned, folks
A x
Mum, dad... we've got something to tell you.... we're gay.
Nah, not really (well, only a bit) - we're just going to live in Thailand for a year.
Following a period of epic unrest for me and a lengthy period of what can only be described (providing you're a bit middle-class and pretentious) as ennui for Paul the fates have presented us with a set of circumstances which are never likely to align again.
1 - I'm still young enough to make a go of training and fighting full time to see how far I can get
2 - I'm about to be out of a job
3 - Paul is bored senseless and wants to re-train as a teacher (fool)
4 - We were planning on selling the flat anyway
As such, we find ourselves young (well, I am anyway), child-free, moneyed up (I hope) and unemployed.
This will Never. Happen. Again.
So, what's the plan?
We're moving to Phuket, so that I can train and fight full time with Tiger Muay Thai, which appears to offer excellent facilities, for a reasonable price, and with good promotion connections. I want to get as much fighting experience as I possibly can, come down a weight category perhaps, get ridiculously fit and come back to Scotland and kick some ass :)
Paul's going to work probably teaching English, perhaps doing some web design, spend alot of time grinning his head off, drinking on the beach and learning to dive (not all at the same time, I hope).
He also thinks we're getting a pet elephant. I haven't got the heart to tell him it's not the same as owning a dog.
We'll get a flat on the island, and try and really enjoy our year in Thailand properly. I'm learning Thai with Bun down the road, and Paul's going to start lessons next week, I'm going to get as fit as I can before I leave to avoid too much unneccessary delay before fighting when I arrive.
Before all that, though there's all the unfamiliar territory of visas, work permits, selling our flat here, finding temporary homes for our pets, putting our belongings in storage and somehow managing to say goodbye to the people we love.
Paul, at least, has done this before and has some experience of saying goodbye, coming back and finding he hasn't been forgotten. He has many friends whom he sees intermittently and whenever their paths cross.
I'm finding the idea more difficult because, to be perfectly honest, I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have I love very much. There's Kal, Fran and Giles; Ally, Ann, Scott, Tessa and the guys from training; and the girls at school and saying goodbye is going to be very, very tricky. I've been in Edinburgh quite some time, and it's taken me this long to feel like I belong, so leaving it all feels like a big risk. All I can say is expect a very, very emotional Aarayan at our going away party (which, by the way, will be huge!)
So, I'm going to have plenty to write between now and July, when we leave, and even more after that!
Stay tuned, folks
A x
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Boing!
I decided to give trainng a miss on Sunday, mostly because one of my pupils will be there and I suspect I'd struggle to explain why I'm not well enough to teach, but I am well enough to smack the pads...
So, instead, I went trampolining, which is something I've always fancied trying. I'd done it a wee bit as a teenager and I managed to convince Mr Paul to come as well, so that took alot of the nerves out of the situation. At the risk of sounding abuout 12..... it was sooooo cool! I mean, how can bouncing dead high be anything other than cool, really.
The strange thing about it was that a) I was actually pretty good, and b) you don't feel nervous when you're doing it, but as soon as you get off you realise your heart is pounding and you feel sick with the adrenaline, it's all very strange. I'm going to go back again next week, but I doubt I'll be trying out for the Olympics any time soon.
In other news tomorrow I'm starting Thai lessons with a nice Thai lady up the road who teaches the language and does Thai massage. I'm going to take advantage of my excessive free-time and desire to be constantly moving by spending a few hours a week learning Thai until I go back to work, and then I'll carry on at weekends. It's something I've wanted to do for quite a while now, but put off for various reasons.
It's only been a week since I've been at work, but already I'm remembering a whole host of things about myself that I'd all but put aside for a rainy day, and it's actually quite exciting having the opportunity to pursue some of them.
As for work? Well, I'm not ready to think about that yet. I'm still struggling a bit with the symptoms of stress - panics, an aching jaw from clenching it and grinding my teeth without realising it, raw fingers and non-existant fingernails from the biting, difficulty sleeping.
I'll get there though, and before I do I will have learned some Thai and some trampolining moves :)
So, instead, I went trampolining, which is something I've always fancied trying. I'd done it a wee bit as a teenager and I managed to convince Mr Paul to come as well, so that took alot of the nerves out of the situation. At the risk of sounding abuout 12..... it was sooooo cool! I mean, how can bouncing dead high be anything other than cool, really.
The strange thing about it was that a) I was actually pretty good, and b) you don't feel nervous when you're doing it, but as soon as you get off you realise your heart is pounding and you feel sick with the adrenaline, it's all very strange. I'm going to go back again next week, but I doubt I'll be trying out for the Olympics any time soon.
In other news tomorrow I'm starting Thai lessons with a nice Thai lady up the road who teaches the language and does Thai massage. I'm going to take advantage of my excessive free-time and desire to be constantly moving by spending a few hours a week learning Thai until I go back to work, and then I'll carry on at weekends. It's something I've wanted to do for quite a while now, but put off for various reasons.
It's only been a week since I've been at work, but already I'm remembering a whole host of things about myself that I'd all but put aside for a rainy day, and it's actually quite exciting having the opportunity to pursue some of them.
As for work? Well, I'm not ready to think about that yet. I'm still struggling a bit with the symptoms of stress - panics, an aching jaw from clenching it and grinding my teeth without realising it, raw fingers and non-existant fingernails from the biting, difficulty sleeping.
I'll get there though, and before I do I will have learned some Thai and some trampolining moves :)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
At last, I'm finished!
Go, immediately, to my Flickr page, for Lo! I hath uploaded all my pictures and they're *damn* cool. There's elephants, and fights, and my hair looking really *really* stupid.
Go!
NOW!
Go!
NOW!
Scotland 1 - Thailand 0
Woo hoo! I won!
Before the fight all day I was pretty nervous - I was supposed to be resting or sleeping but really I was packing and worrying and eventually got a nap about 4 pm and had to get up again at 5pm. I ate some food, worried a bit more and eventually met at the gym to head to the stadium at about 8.30pm.
Then it was all set for many more hours of waiting around, watching fights and going "oooooooooooooh! Ouch!" at the slapping, cracking sound that the fighters' shins mad against one another's legs, and thinking " I really don't want any part of me to make that noise".
Noom arrived with my custom shorts, which in no way resembled the design I had given him and were the wrong size, so had to deal with that and tried not to let it throw me off.
Eventually, about 10.00pm I went back to get my hands wrapped, get changed and start warming up. I was massaged with Thai oil and vaseline to get good and warm and slippy (no jokes, thank you) and then it was some stretching and shadow boxing to keep warm - they don't hit the pads here in Thailand before a fight since they're all already pretty warm most of the time!
There's alot less fuss made about fighting here, so no entrance music, no big intro, my trainer just walked off and went "Sayla!" (which is the closest they can get to my name), I followed him, and before I knew it it was time to get in the ring.
In Thailand women aren't allowed to go over the top rope, because we suck, apparently, so I went under the bottom rope, bowed all around and waited for my opponent to get in. Then the announcer gave us both a big intro and I got a huge roar from the crowd - it was very busy and there must have been quite a few people there from Scotland or Europe,. because they were very supportive.
Once the music started, we both sealed the ring and performed our Wai Kru's. And I didn't even fall over! Although I nearly went round the wrong way to seal the ring, which was a little embarrassing.
The ref called us into the middle and said.....something, and I nodded like I understood and went back to the corner, Tim took my Mongkon off and it was time to get started. The plan was to go Thai-style and stay relaxed and playful the first two rounds since they score them 10-10 whatever happens, so I kept her off with a few front kicks, followed up with a wee bit of boxing. She got me once or twice with punches to the face, and one of her teeps through me off balance as I was about to kick when it landed, but I recovered and came back forwards. During the first break after round 1 Tim told me to stay in the centre of the ring, keep in front of her and don't let her run around too much, since she was constantly moving backwards.
Round 2, I followed Tim's advice and kept to the centre of the ring, staying in fornt of her always. We continued with the teeps and punches exchange but I was obviously starting to intimidate her a bit, since I was bigger and moving forwards all the time. I landed one elbow during a flurry and got sparkled by a right hand in return and blocked, gave and received a kick or two. We got into the clinch at one point with me up against the ropes, so I turned her, got her against the ropes and kneed, which I was rather pleased with.
After the round, Tim told me to start faking left front kicks and stepping into a right body, or vice versa - step and kick, step and punch.
3rd round - just did as I was told. We both stepped up the pace and got in each other's faces a bit more. I stayed inside her range and kept pulling her guard down to get her with right elbows and must have hit her 5 or 6 times before I finally caught her an absolute cracker on the jaw with a cross elbow. She dropped her guard, stepped back and rubbed her face, went to her corner and I eventually remembered to go to the neutral corner while she got her standing 8 count. While I was standing there though, the ref came and got me and lifted my arm to say she had asked for the towel to be thrown in and I had won.
I couldn't believe it, and looked to the corner to say "Eh?!" and everyone was celebrating, so I figured it must be true and grinned my head off, and that was that really. The crowd went mental, which was good - I was worried they'd be rooting for the Thai and I'd get booed, went to thank the other team and get some water from them (this is just something which happens, I don't know why) and it was all over.
I'm totally un-injured - I don't have a single, solitary bruise from the fight which, as anyone who trains with me will know, is miraculous, as I bruise much like an over-ripe peach. In fact, I could have fought again the following day, with no trouble at all, and I can only hope it wont be too long before I get the chance to try my hand in this country.
I'm very pleased with how I performed - the one thing I wanted to achieve was to look confident and competent - like I knew what I was doing, had sound technique, and preferably that I had fought before, and I'm told that's what I looked like, so I'm happy.
If it transpires that there's a video to show I'll post it on the blog - I really hope there is, but I'm not holding out much hope.
I'm back at home, unpacked and washed, after a mammoth and awful journey home, with sleep-deprivation to the max. But I'm home, and that's what matters :)
And that's all folks!
(Yay, Scotland!)
Before the fight all day I was pretty nervous - I was supposed to be resting or sleeping but really I was packing and worrying and eventually got a nap about 4 pm and had to get up again at 5pm. I ate some food, worried a bit more and eventually met at the gym to head to the stadium at about 8.30pm.
Then it was all set for many more hours of waiting around, watching fights and going "oooooooooooooh! Ouch!" at the slapping, cracking sound that the fighters' shins mad against one another's legs, and thinking " I really don't want any part of me to make that noise".
Noom arrived with my custom shorts, which in no way resembled the design I had given him and were the wrong size, so had to deal with that and tried not to let it throw me off.
Eventually, about 10.00pm I went back to get my hands wrapped, get changed and start warming up. I was massaged with Thai oil and vaseline to get good and warm and slippy (no jokes, thank you) and then it was some stretching and shadow boxing to keep warm - they don't hit the pads here in Thailand before a fight since they're all already pretty warm most of the time!
There's alot less fuss made about fighting here, so no entrance music, no big intro, my trainer just walked off and went "Sayla!" (which is the closest they can get to my name), I followed him, and before I knew it it was time to get in the ring.
In Thailand women aren't allowed to go over the top rope, because we suck, apparently, so I went under the bottom rope, bowed all around and waited for my opponent to get in. Then the announcer gave us both a big intro and I got a huge roar from the crowd - it was very busy and there must have been quite a few people there from Scotland or Europe,. because they were very supportive.
Once the music started, we both sealed the ring and performed our Wai Kru's. And I didn't even fall over! Although I nearly went round the wrong way to seal the ring, which was a little embarrassing.
The ref called us into the middle and said.....something, and I nodded like I understood and went back to the corner, Tim took my Mongkon off and it was time to get started. The plan was to go Thai-style and stay relaxed and playful the first two rounds since they score them 10-10 whatever happens, so I kept her off with a few front kicks, followed up with a wee bit of boxing. She got me once or twice with punches to the face, and one of her teeps through me off balance as I was about to kick when it landed, but I recovered and came back forwards. During the first break after round 1 Tim told me to stay in the centre of the ring, keep in front of her and don't let her run around too much, since she was constantly moving backwards.
Round 2, I followed Tim's advice and kept to the centre of the ring, staying in fornt of her always. We continued with the teeps and punches exchange but I was obviously starting to intimidate her a bit, since I was bigger and moving forwards all the time. I landed one elbow during a flurry and got sparkled by a right hand in return and blocked, gave and received a kick or two. We got into the clinch at one point with me up against the ropes, so I turned her, got her against the ropes and kneed, which I was rather pleased with.
After the round, Tim told me to start faking left front kicks and stepping into a right body, or vice versa - step and kick, step and punch.
3rd round - just did as I was told. We both stepped up the pace and got in each other's faces a bit more. I stayed inside her range and kept pulling her guard down to get her with right elbows and must have hit her 5 or 6 times before I finally caught her an absolute cracker on the jaw with a cross elbow. She dropped her guard, stepped back and rubbed her face, went to her corner and I eventually remembered to go to the neutral corner while she got her standing 8 count. While I was standing there though, the ref came and got me and lifted my arm to say she had asked for the towel to be thrown in and I had won.
I couldn't believe it, and looked to the corner to say "Eh?!" and everyone was celebrating, so I figured it must be true and grinned my head off, and that was that really. The crowd went mental, which was good - I was worried they'd be rooting for the Thai and I'd get booed, went to thank the other team and get some water from them (this is just something which happens, I don't know why) and it was all over.
I'm totally un-injured - I don't have a single, solitary bruise from the fight which, as anyone who trains with me will know, is miraculous, as I bruise much like an over-ripe peach. In fact, I could have fought again the following day, with no trouble at all, and I can only hope it wont be too long before I get the chance to try my hand in this country.
I'm very pleased with how I performed - the one thing I wanted to achieve was to look confident and competent - like I knew what I was doing, had sound technique, and preferably that I had fought before, and I'm told that's what I looked like, so I'm happy.
If it transpires that there's a video to show I'll post it on the blog - I really hope there is, but I'm not holding out much hope.
I'm back at home, unpacked and washed, after a mammoth and awful journey home, with sleep-deprivation to the max. But I'm home, and that's what matters :)
And that's all folks!
(Yay, Scotland!)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Here come the nerves...
So, the fight is in about 24 hours, and any semblance of being cool, calm and collected has pretty much been stripped away.
My heart is already beating faster, I feel sick, my head hurts and I'm clammy with sweat - either I'm sick or I'm very anxious: I'll reserve judgement for the time being.
I had a very strange experience this evening - I went to the Sunday market with Damon to find a present for Paul (this I did, and oh what a present, but more of that later....) and was handed a poster with a big picture of me on it, advertising the fight tomorrow. That will just never, ever, ever happen again. Never in a thousand years, unless of course I fight again in Thailand, will I, personally, be used to advertise a fight, and rightly so. Seriously, if people actually come to this show just on the basis of that poster they're going to get a pretty skewed idea of what Muay Thai looks like! Anyway, it was scary, and it was very odd, but it was also kind of cool :)
As for the present? Well, what can I say? Not much, actually because it's a surprise, but he'll love it, and he'll love the fact that I managed to get it back from the night market riding as a helmetless passenger on the back of a moped in Thai traffic, clinging on for dear life, trying not to decapitate other motorists with it. And hopefully he'll appreciate the truly epic and monumental effort it's going to take to get it and my rucksack back through 5 airports on 2 (3?) different continents, despite the fact it's going to exceed all my baggage allowances. Mostly I'm just chuffed I managed to find something that, whilst probably still overpriced tat will look damn nice at home and make my honey smile.
In other news, I never managed to see Doi Suthep, because I was stood up by the guy who was going to give me a lift, but I probably needed what passed for the rest I had instead.
I did, however, see elephants. Lots of elephants. Big ones, small ones, ones as big as your.....elephant. And I have LOTS of photos, but you'll have to wait till I get home to see them because I've got other things on my plate just at the minute.
Anyway, it's probably time I was going home and trying to sleep, but actually just lying in bed going "ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod" until 5 am.
Wish me luck!
Aarayan x
My heart is already beating faster, I feel sick, my head hurts and I'm clammy with sweat - either I'm sick or I'm very anxious: I'll reserve judgement for the time being.
I had a very strange experience this evening - I went to the Sunday market with Damon to find a present for Paul (this I did, and oh what a present, but more of that later....) and was handed a poster with a big picture of me on it, advertising the fight tomorrow. That will just never, ever, ever happen again. Never in a thousand years, unless of course I fight again in Thailand, will I, personally, be used to advertise a fight, and rightly so. Seriously, if people actually come to this show just on the basis of that poster they're going to get a pretty skewed idea of what Muay Thai looks like! Anyway, it was scary, and it was very odd, but it was also kind of cool :)
As for the present? Well, what can I say? Not much, actually because it's a surprise, but he'll love it, and he'll love the fact that I managed to get it back from the night market riding as a helmetless passenger on the back of a moped in Thai traffic, clinging on for dear life, trying not to decapitate other motorists with it. And hopefully he'll appreciate the truly epic and monumental effort it's going to take to get it and my rucksack back through 5 airports on 2 (3?) different continents, despite the fact it's going to exceed all my baggage allowances. Mostly I'm just chuffed I managed to find something that, whilst probably still overpriced tat will look damn nice at home and make my honey smile.
In other news, I never managed to see Doi Suthep, because I was stood up by the guy who was going to give me a lift, but I probably needed what passed for the rest I had instead.
I did, however, see elephants. Lots of elephants. Big ones, small ones, ones as big as your.....elephant. And I have LOTS of photos, but you'll have to wait till I get home to see them because I've got other things on my plate just at the minute.
Anyway, it's probably time I was going home and trying to sleep, but actually just lying in bed going "ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod" until 5 am.
Wish me luck!
Aarayan x
Friday, July 13, 2007
3 days and counting....
The fight's on Monday, so I'm all finished training now - it's time to rest and let the muscles repair themselves. Mr Kob's had the posters made and it's most scary seeing myself on one (looking terrible I might add) and the promise of a "Scottland [sic] vs Thailand International Fight!" - let's hope it's worth watching!
My opponent has had 10 fights, which sounds alot but isn't many by Thai standards. She's 55kg, which is quite a bit lighter, but hopefully not too embarrassingly so. By the sounds of it at least I wont be fighting the tea-lady ;)
I achieved a nice bit of gift shopping today, and tomorrow I'm off to learn about elephants (very exciting). On Sunday I will go and visit Doi Suthep, get a massage, and go to the Sunday Night Bazaar in town for more, hardcore shopping.
Monday will see me resting, cleaning my room, packing, getting my Kruang Wrang and dad's Buddha blessed by monks at the temple and then it's time to put my money where my mouth is.....
I'll be in touch before then, but think of me on Monday at about 5-6pm GMT...
Aarayan x
My opponent has had 10 fights, which sounds alot but isn't many by Thai standards. She's 55kg, which is quite a bit lighter, but hopefully not too embarrassingly so. By the sounds of it at least I wont be fighting the tea-lady ;)
I achieved a nice bit of gift shopping today, and tomorrow I'm off to learn about elephants (very exciting). On Sunday I will go and visit Doi Suthep, get a massage, and go to the Sunday Night Bazaar in town for more, hardcore shopping.
Monday will see me resting, cleaning my room, packing, getting my Kruang Wrang and dad's Buddha blessed by monks at the temple and then it's time to put my money where my mouth is.....
I'll be in touch before then, but think of me on Monday at about 5-6pm GMT...
Aarayan x
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Sunny Sunday Sightseeing
After last nights very late night, I had a lovely long lie this morning, with no thoughts of having to get up for training and running and all the rest of it, and finally dragged myself out of bed at about 10.30 for a shower. I met up with Ben at 12 and went for lunch down the road, having for myself half a roast chicken with sticky rice. Yes. I'm fat :) After the waiter claimed to have absolutely no idea what pad Thai was, or what a noodle looked like, Ben gave in and ate the chicken satay which was brought to him and blatantly should have gone to someone else instead. You snooze you lose.
After that we headed into Chiang Mai on Ben's moped, and went to see Wat Phra Singh which is, seemingly, the finest example of a wat (temple) to be found in Chiang Mai. So says my Rough Guide to Thailand, and it was very beautiful, but I would love to have seen Doi Suthep while I was here - I just don't think it's going to be possible though, without a willing volunteer with a moped to take me.
I have uploaded some photos of the wat here, and it was lovely to see such a beautiful building and experience some of the atmosphere of calm inside it. I got myself blessed by a monk, who threw ALOT of water at me whilst chanting, presumably in Pali, and received a small, scented piece of white string tied around my left wrist. I wont lie: I have no idea what it means. Ben had to tie it for the monk, as monks are forbidden to touch or be touched my a woman, presumably because it's just not fair when you've been celibate for 50 years.
Because it's Sunday it's eat-what-you-like day (this is an unofficial thing, obviously...) so Ben wanted to go to Mike's a place which sells hellishly unhealthy Western food, like chilli burgers and the like, and after a wee basket of chips for me I felt pretty damn Western, I can tell you. Honestly, the look of internal struggle on Ben's face whilst his conscience fought his appetite was a wonder to behold :)
And that was that, really. We headed back, got a coconut icecream with Damon at the gym from a wee man on a moped who came by, then had another coconut icecream and sat about an shot the breeze whilst the heavens opened and dumped ridiculous quanities of water on Sunpaliang.
I had kind of hoped my day of tourism might last a bit longer, but it's been good to get out and about, and see some things which have nothing to do with Muay Thai. I'd really like to go to the Night Bazaar this evening, but without a friend and some transport it isn't going to happen so me this week. Perhaps something will come up - you just never know. Either way, perhaps banana rotee will feature in my plans...
I'm really looking forward to getting home now - I'm pretty homesick and quite lonely alot of the time, although it's been much easier this week with having plucked up the courage to force innocents like Ben and Damon to hang out with me. But I miss my friends, my family and my Paul.
One more week to go of hard training, then a day of bathing and feeding elephants, two days off, and a fight - plenty to think about and keep me occupied at any rate and before you know it I'll be back in rainy, rainy Scotland, damp but happy :)
Aarayan x
After that we headed into Chiang Mai on Ben's moped, and went to see Wat Phra Singh which is, seemingly, the finest example of a wat (temple) to be found in Chiang Mai. So says my Rough Guide to Thailand, and it was very beautiful, but I would love to have seen Doi Suthep while I was here - I just don't think it's going to be possible though, without a willing volunteer with a moped to take me.
I have uploaded some photos of the wat here, and it was lovely to see such a beautiful building and experience some of the atmosphere of calm inside it. I got myself blessed by a monk, who threw ALOT of water at me whilst chanting, presumably in Pali, and received a small, scented piece of white string tied around my left wrist. I wont lie: I have no idea what it means. Ben had to tie it for the monk, as monks are forbidden to touch or be touched my a woman, presumably because it's just not fair when you've been celibate for 50 years.
Because it's Sunday it's eat-what-you-like day (this is an unofficial thing, obviously...) so Ben wanted to go to Mike's a place which sells hellishly unhealthy Western food, like chilli burgers and the like, and after a wee basket of chips for me I felt pretty damn Western, I can tell you. Honestly, the look of internal struggle on Ben's face whilst his conscience fought his appetite was a wonder to behold :)
And that was that, really. We headed back, got a coconut icecream with Damon at the gym from a wee man on a moped who came by, then had another coconut icecream and sat about an shot the breeze whilst the heavens opened and dumped ridiculous quanities of water on Sunpaliang.
I had kind of hoped my day of tourism might last a bit longer, but it's been good to get out and about, and see some things which have nothing to do with Muay Thai. I'd really like to go to the Night Bazaar this evening, but without a friend and some transport it isn't going to happen so me this week. Perhaps something will come up - you just never know. Either way, perhaps banana rotee will feature in my plans...
I'm really looking forward to getting home now - I'm pretty homesick and quite lonely alot of the time, although it's been much easier this week with having plucked up the courage to force innocents like Ben and Damon to hang out with me. But I miss my friends, my family and my Paul.
One more week to go of hard training, then a day of bathing and feeding elephants, two days off, and a fight - plenty to think about and keep me occupied at any rate and before you know it I'll be back in rainy, rainy Scotland, damp but happy :)
Aarayan x
Transformers: The Movie
Last night a few of us from the gym decided to get the hell out of Sunpaliang and go and see a movie at the mall, also called Central Airport Plaza (a magical sounding place, I think you'll agree).
Anyway, like a child who has spent long weeks locked in a cupboard under the stairs with nothing but a book about antidisestablishmentarianism to read, and no company beyond that of a small, unhealthy hedgehog called Bert, I was terribly excited by all the bright shiny lights and flashing things, and jingly noises which emanated from the various games machines and shops in evidence. However, since the movie wasn't actually on until 10.20, and as we arrived at 8.30 and the mall shut at 9, we had very little to do in that palace of wonders for an hour or so, but eventually, however, the time passed, and the hour of wonder drew near: a movie! In English! With *colour*!
And we weren't disappointed. How could we be? They're *robots*....
.... and they're IN DISGUISE!
Obviously, the plot was.... shaky, and to call it far-fetched wouldn't even do it justice, what with it being about a race of alien robots.... IN DISGUISE! But none of that matters a jot. The special effects rocked the Casbah: the robots transform and fight and move in a way that made me feel like I was 7 again and watching the cartoon movie for the first time. It was exciting, slick, funny and can only really be done justice by the big screen and a healthy dose of Dolby Surround Sound with sub woofers.
Now, it *is* a Spielberg movie, so it's not without its issues - there's alot of Optimus Pride based sentimentality about his duty to protect the fledgling human race, and no small amount of American war propaganda, with American soldiers proclaiming "All I want is to see my little girl again" as they tenderly care for the small Arab boy who, of course, has befriended them. I mean, why wouldn't he?! *All* Arabs in war zones just love the Americans, and likewise, all American soldiers are brave, fine, upstanding young family-men who wouldn't hesitate to lay down their lives for small children and alien races. Obviously. It's America.
Anyway, those irritations aside, it's well worth watching, and from my admittedly hazy memory of the original cartoons, it does the story justice. Just remember, none of those other things matter, because they're fucking cool robots....
IN DISGUISE!
Anyway, like a child who has spent long weeks locked in a cupboard under the stairs with nothing but a book about antidisestablishmentarianism to read, and no company beyond that of a small, unhealthy hedgehog called Bert, I was terribly excited by all the bright shiny lights and flashing things, and jingly noises which emanated from the various games machines and shops in evidence. However, since the movie wasn't actually on until 10.20, and as we arrived at 8.30 and the mall shut at 9, we had very little to do in that palace of wonders for an hour or so, but eventually, however, the time passed, and the hour of wonder drew near: a movie! In English! With *colour*!
And we weren't disappointed. How could we be? They're *robots*....
.... and they're IN DISGUISE!
Obviously, the plot was.... shaky, and to call it far-fetched wouldn't even do it justice, what with it being about a race of alien robots.... IN DISGUISE! But none of that matters a jot. The special effects rocked the Casbah: the robots transform and fight and move in a way that made me feel like I was 7 again and watching the cartoon movie for the first time. It was exciting, slick, funny and can only really be done justice by the big screen and a healthy dose of Dolby Surround Sound with sub woofers.
Now, it *is* a Spielberg movie, so it's not without its issues - there's alot of Optimus Pride based sentimentality about his duty to protect the fledgling human race, and no small amount of American war propaganda, with American soldiers proclaiming "All I want is to see my little girl again" as they tenderly care for the small Arab boy who, of course, has befriended them. I mean, why wouldn't he?! *All* Arabs in war zones just love the Americans, and likewise, all American soldiers are brave, fine, upstanding young family-men who wouldn't hesitate to lay down their lives for small children and alien races. Obviously. It's America.
Anyway, those irritations aside, it's well worth watching, and from my admittedly hazy memory of the original cartoons, it does the story justice. Just remember, none of those other things matter, because they're fucking cool robots....
IN DISGUISE!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Tourism, at long last.
I've got a plan. On saturday the 14th I don't have to train because the fight is on Monday and I'm supposed to have a rest. So, rather than resting in the *traditional* sense, I'm going to go and visit an elephant conservation park for the day and learn about feeding and bathing elephants. I'm going to do this all on my own, because *I*....... am a brave little soldier. My mum should be proud. I even have a waterproof camera, so I can take pictures of big, wet elephants right up close :)
I'm also this Sunday going to go to see a temple in Chiang Mai with Ben from the gym and go to the night bazaar and get some souveniers, so it's tourism all round, really. Finally! Some pictures of something other than Muay Thai!
In other news, it has been decided that my fight will be 5 x 3 rounds, full rules (since they all are here) and Tim assures me the girl wont be tooooooooo tiny (maybe 5kg lighter) but will have a few fights experience to make up for the deficit (but not, like, 200 or anything). At any rate, he assures me she wont be "embarrassingly small", which is good. The last thing I want is just to beat up a tiny little woman.
Everybody seems to think it's going to be a walk in the park for me, and she'll take one look at my relatively massive, Western self and go "ooooh, I fell down! I'm KO'd" about 2 minutes in. I hope that doesn't happen, I want it to be fair, and I want it to be a proper experience which I can learn something from - I'd rather lose in a fair fight, and feel that I did my best than win unfairly.
So, I am attempting to lose at least 1kg this coming week, so that I come home at 63kg, and if I could lose 2kg then so much the better, and so I bid farewell to pad thai, to khao pad, and to sticky rice, and usher in a new dawn of yoghurt, fruit, boiled rice with chicken, and soup....
...and banana rotee. Of course, still banana rotee :)
I'm also this Sunday going to go to see a temple in Chiang Mai with Ben from the gym and go to the night bazaar and get some souveniers, so it's tourism all round, really. Finally! Some pictures of something other than Muay Thai!
In other news, it has been decided that my fight will be 5 x 3 rounds, full rules (since they all are here) and Tim assures me the girl wont be tooooooooo tiny (maybe 5kg lighter) but will have a few fights experience to make up for the deficit (but not, like, 200 or anything). At any rate, he assures me she wont be "embarrassingly small", which is good. The last thing I want is just to beat up a tiny little woman.
Everybody seems to think it's going to be a walk in the park for me, and she'll take one look at my relatively massive, Western self and go "ooooh, I fell down! I'm KO'd" about 2 minutes in. I hope that doesn't happen, I want it to be fair, and I want it to be a proper experience which I can learn something from - I'd rather lose in a fair fight, and feel that I did my best than win unfairly.
So, I am attempting to lose at least 1kg this coming week, so that I come home at 63kg, and if I could lose 2kg then so much the better, and so I bid farewell to pad thai, to khao pad, and to sticky rice, and usher in a new dawn of yoghurt, fruit, boiled rice with chicken, and soup....
...and banana rotee. Of course, still banana rotee :)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Banana Rotee is made by God.
Handily, or perhaps unfortunately, for me, God has a little cart at the top of the road where she makes and sells this heavenly dish....uh-oh.
Banana rotee, for those philistines amongst you who don't know, is basically chopped banana, mixed with egg and condensed milk, fried in an egg-based, thin pastry-type casing, and all folded in on itself, fried more and then, when it's all lovely and crispy and golden (and at this point about 8mm thick and the size of a paper-back book in length and width), chopped into bite-sized chunks, covered in more condensed milk and sugar.
Oh. God. Yes.
What's that?.... Did I lose weight in Thailand?...... Um......
What else is new. I've been introduced to the food market in Nongghoy, which is the suburb of Chiang Mai in which I'm staying, and it's a fabulous place. There's loads of tiny little stalls, each selling something different, like pad thai (stir fry), khao pad (fried rice), barbequed meats like pork (muu), chicken (gai), duck (yaang) etc, seafood, all sorts of yummy things in different formats and different combinations. Also, there are plenty of stalls selling sweets and fruit, and for some reason the fruit here is amazingly sweet - pineapple tastes totallt different, and the watermelon is fantastic. Jealous? ;p
Training is still much the same, very different, not always as hard as I expected, and I hate running, so very very much. So much. However, at least running at home will be easier, because it wont be 30 degrees. That's going to be enough of an improvement.
Other than that, I have some hopes to perhaps go to the zoo at the weekend, or visit Doi Suthep if I can convince someone to come with me - I need to have been a tourist at least once before I leave!
I'm trying to get some pictures up for you, but it's a bit of a nightmare - keep checking Flickr, there'll be something tomorrow or the day after, come hell or high water......
Aarayan x
Banana rotee, for those philistines amongst you who don't know, is basically chopped banana, mixed with egg and condensed milk, fried in an egg-based, thin pastry-type casing, and all folded in on itself, fried more and then, when it's all lovely and crispy and golden (and at this point about 8mm thick and the size of a paper-back book in length and width), chopped into bite-sized chunks, covered in more condensed milk and sugar.
Oh. God. Yes.
What's that?.... Did I lose weight in Thailand?...... Um......
What else is new. I've been introduced to the food market in Nongghoy, which is the suburb of Chiang Mai in which I'm staying, and it's a fabulous place. There's loads of tiny little stalls, each selling something different, like pad thai (stir fry), khao pad (fried rice), barbequed meats like pork (muu), chicken (gai), duck (yaang) etc, seafood, all sorts of yummy things in different formats and different combinations. Also, there are plenty of stalls selling sweets and fruit, and for some reason the fruit here is amazingly sweet - pineapple tastes totallt different, and the watermelon is fantastic. Jealous? ;p
Training is still much the same, very different, not always as hard as I expected, and I hate running, so very very much. So much. However, at least running at home will be easier, because it wont be 30 degrees. That's going to be enough of an improvement.
Other than that, I have some hopes to perhaps go to the zoo at the weekend, or visit Doi Suthep if I can convince someone to come with me - I need to have been a tourist at least once before I leave!
I'm trying to get some pictures up for you, but it's a bit of a nightmare - keep checking Flickr, there'll be something tomorrow or the day after, come hell or high water......
Aarayan x
Friday, June 29, 2007
Long, hot days
Training is ticking along nicely - I'm learning so much, particularly in the clinch, and my kicking technique has improved a shitload, it's fab. I didn't make it along to training this morning because I was feeling pretty rubbish with a sore throat and a sore stomache, so I'm hoping the throat will clear up quickly and not develop into anything too sinister. I actually managed to sleep all night, too, which was both big *and* clever, as usually I wake up every hour or two to switch the air conditioning on, then off, then on, then off....
At about 7am what sounds like a convoy of articulated lorries appears to roar through my bedroom, but it's just the Thais starting to head off to work outside on their phalanx of mopeds and trucks and cars, but it's pretty bloody loud, so that acts as an effective wake-up call. Today, however, I slept (with difficulty, but someone's gotta do it) until about 10.30, then took a wander up the road to find tesco, buy some fruit and rent a DVD to watch in the afternoon. I lay around drinking OJ, eating Chinese pears and watching an o.k. sort of Robin Williams movie (The Good Guy - doesn't warrant a review), ate lunch, collected laundry and went to training. So it's not terribly exciting alot of the time, and this is why I don't have many pictures. So far, I've taken 3 pictures of geckos, and 5 pictures of what my room looks like......sad.
Anyway, I'm going to try and force innocent bystanders to come and do touristy things with me, like ride an elephant or something, so I've got some good pictures - I'm very selfless like that.... or incredibly selfish, not sure which...
In other news, I went to watch some fights last night - Pedro from the gym was having his first fight and we all went along to support. It's alot different from fights at home: weight disparity doesn't seem to be much of an issue, and neither is experience by the looks of things, since Pedro, for his first fight, after training for only 3 months, fought a Thai with over 60 fights, and there were several wildly mismatched fights throughout the night. Makes a good show for the spectators, but it's not much fun for the fighters...
Also, they don't seem to care nearly as much about who actually wins - the ref seems to decide, just holds the winner's hand up and that's that - no big fuss like at home, with build ups, and 3 judges, and trophies for the loser, or even the winner. Mind you, they do all get paid. About 30 quid.
But it was a good atmosphere, and interesting, and when Dave fights on Monday I'll take my camera along and get some good pictures for the sharing thereof, have no fear.
Now it's the late hour of 8pm, and time to go home, eat a pear and read my book until I fall asleep, ready for training in 12 hours time.
Take it easy, speak to you soon
Aarayan x
At about 7am what sounds like a convoy of articulated lorries appears to roar through my bedroom, but it's just the Thais starting to head off to work outside on their phalanx of mopeds and trucks and cars, but it's pretty bloody loud, so that acts as an effective wake-up call. Today, however, I slept (with difficulty, but someone's gotta do it) until about 10.30, then took a wander up the road to find tesco, buy some fruit and rent a DVD to watch in the afternoon. I lay around drinking OJ, eating Chinese pears and watching an o.k. sort of Robin Williams movie (The Good Guy - doesn't warrant a review), ate lunch, collected laundry and went to training. So it's not terribly exciting alot of the time, and this is why I don't have many pictures. So far, I've taken 3 pictures of geckos, and 5 pictures of what my room looks like......sad.
Anyway, I'm going to try and force innocent bystanders to come and do touristy things with me, like ride an elephant or something, so I've got some good pictures - I'm very selfless like that.... or incredibly selfish, not sure which...
In other news, I went to watch some fights last night - Pedro from the gym was having his first fight and we all went along to support. It's alot different from fights at home: weight disparity doesn't seem to be much of an issue, and neither is experience by the looks of things, since Pedro, for his first fight, after training for only 3 months, fought a Thai with over 60 fights, and there were several wildly mismatched fights throughout the night. Makes a good show for the spectators, but it's not much fun for the fighters...
Also, they don't seem to care nearly as much about who actually wins - the ref seems to decide, just holds the winner's hand up and that's that - no big fuss like at home, with build ups, and 3 judges, and trophies for the loser, or even the winner. Mind you, they do all get paid. About 30 quid.
But it was a good atmosphere, and interesting, and when Dave fights on Monday I'll take my camera along and get some good pictures for the sharing thereof, have no fear.
Now it's the late hour of 8pm, and time to go home, eat a pear and read my book until I fall asleep, ready for training in 12 hours time.
Take it easy, speak to you soon
Aarayan x
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sawatdee Ka!
Hey guys,
just a quick update to let you know that I've arrived safe and sound in the land of smiles, I'm set up with a place to stay, and I've started training at the gym. I've not got time just now to upload any photos, and to be fair I don't have many yet - I've mostly been sleeping and training today and yesterday, so I've only got pictures of my room.
The journey here was pretty epic, and I'm glad I'm only going to have to do that once more - it took a full 27 hours from waking up on Monday to arriving in Chiang Mai, and I didn't sleep for any of it. On the plus side, Qatar airline who I flew with from Gatwick to Doha and Doha to Bangkok do a decent range of fims and you can pick what you want to watch. I just hope they've changed them by the time I head back since I watched just about all of them.
So I arrived in Chiang Mai and got a taxi to the gym where I was met by Noom, who showed me a guest house just opposite, I got unpacked, had a shower and had a wee nap for an hour before heading out to training for the evening.
It's completely different from the way we do things at home, obviously- you start out with a run which is supposed to be about 5k, but I only did 1 lap yesterday, so about 1.5k, since I was knackered. Then you go with one of the trainers in the ring for a few rounds of doublepads, which is thoroughly knackered but really improves your technique no end. Mind you I'll have to stop doing half of it when I get home since some of it's wildly different from the way we do things, but anyway. Then either shadowboxing or bagwork, and back in the ring for grappling and technique work. Technique is bloody hard, becuase they're asking you to body kick their hands without pads, so you can't go hard, but they want me to relax - I find it very hard to relax when I'm kicking a Thai stranger and trying to be gentle about it.... Then it's situps in the ring and you're all done. If you're me, at some point someone will also weigh you and then laugh/look disturbed/tell you you have to weigh 55kilos (What?! Lose 10k in 3 weeks?!) - we'll just have to see about that, I'm only human.
So, All that takes about 2.5 or 3 hours and then you go an eat something from one of the many little outdoor restaurants. There's one near where I'm staying and I just go there because the food is amazing, and the nice man understands I don't speak Thai and just cooks me something different every day.
Today's training was mental - it was really quiet so one of the trainers just took my in the ring for literally about 2 hours - one on one training: exhausting but fantastic.
This evening Dave of Hammerhead Gym very kindly came and picked me up on his moped and took me for a ride into town to have a look around the night market and change my traveller's cheques. The Thai's are insane when it comes to driving - think "traffic lights are guides, not rules", marry this with a lack of speed limits and you've got some fun conditions. I'm definitely going to have to bring home some nice gifts from the market (once I learn how to barter - Paul knows how badly I suck at this), lots of pretty, touristy tat :)
Anyway, it's been a very long day, and it's time to go to sleep, so I'll bid you adieu and I'll get some photos uploaded when I have some to show.
Fann dee
Aarayan x
just a quick update to let you know that I've arrived safe and sound in the land of smiles, I'm set up with a place to stay, and I've started training at the gym. I've not got time just now to upload any photos, and to be fair I don't have many yet - I've mostly been sleeping and training today and yesterday, so I've only got pictures of my room.
The journey here was pretty epic, and I'm glad I'm only going to have to do that once more - it took a full 27 hours from waking up on Monday to arriving in Chiang Mai, and I didn't sleep for any of it. On the plus side, Qatar airline who I flew with from Gatwick to Doha and Doha to Bangkok do a decent range of fims and you can pick what you want to watch. I just hope they've changed them by the time I head back since I watched just about all of them.
So I arrived in Chiang Mai and got a taxi to the gym where I was met by Noom, who showed me a guest house just opposite, I got unpacked, had a shower and had a wee nap for an hour before heading out to training for the evening.
It's completely different from the way we do things at home, obviously- you start out with a run which is supposed to be about 5k, but I only did 1 lap yesterday, so about 1.5k, since I was knackered. Then you go with one of the trainers in the ring for a few rounds of doublepads, which is thoroughly knackered but really improves your technique no end. Mind you I'll have to stop doing half of it when I get home since some of it's wildly different from the way we do things, but anyway. Then either shadowboxing or bagwork, and back in the ring for grappling and technique work. Technique is bloody hard, becuase they're asking you to body kick their hands without pads, so you can't go hard, but they want me to relax - I find it very hard to relax when I'm kicking a Thai stranger and trying to be gentle about it.... Then it's situps in the ring and you're all done. If you're me, at some point someone will also weigh you and then laugh/look disturbed/tell you you have to weigh 55kilos (What?! Lose 10k in 3 weeks?!) - we'll just have to see about that, I'm only human.
So, All that takes about 2.5 or 3 hours and then you go an eat something from one of the many little outdoor restaurants. There's one near where I'm staying and I just go there because the food is amazing, and the nice man understands I don't speak Thai and just cooks me something different every day.
Today's training was mental - it was really quiet so one of the trainers just took my in the ring for literally about 2 hours - one on one training: exhausting but fantastic.
This evening Dave of Hammerhead Gym very kindly came and picked me up on his moped and took me for a ride into town to have a look around the night market and change my traveller's cheques. The Thai's are insane when it comes to driving - think "traffic lights are guides, not rules", marry this with a lack of speed limits and you've got some fun conditions. I'm definitely going to have to bring home some nice gifts from the market (once I learn how to barter - Paul knows how badly I suck at this), lots of pretty, touristy tat :)
Anyway, it's been a very long day, and it's time to go to sleep, so I'll bid you adieu and I'll get some photos uploaded when I have some to show.
Fann dee
Aarayan x
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Here we go...
Hullo to those of you who I've just informed about my blog so you can see what I'm up to in Thailand! I'm very embarrassed to have written most of the crap I've written, so please don't mock me too mercilessly, or at least wait until I'm out of earshot.
And Mum? I'm sorry, but I do swear- a fair bit. Please forgive me.
So, it's now officially the day after tomorrow that I head off, and I'm well on my way towards being prepared - I have piles and piles of clothes on my study floor which I'm going to pack tomorrow, and carefully tick off the list I made earlier in the week so I don't forget anything vital. I've got my tickets, I've got my money and travellers cheques, I've got a whole bunch of stuff I'll never need but seems important now, I've got travel insurance, at a whopping £62 for 3 weeks cover. I rang up the company and said:
Me: I need comprehensive insurance. I'm going to Thailand to do Thai Kickboxing
Her: That's fine, you're covered for that with this package.
Right, but just so you know, I'm going to be training full time. I intend to be getting into a ring on a daily basis and potentially volunteering to get punched in the head. Am I still covered?
Yup, you're covered.
So you're saying that if I deliberately get smacked in the face, doing a martial art, and need hospital treatment you'll pay? And further more, if I accidentally mortally wound someone else, and *they* require hospital treatment, you'll cover their treatment *and* my legal costs, even though I was doing a martial art, on purpose, for fun?
Yup, pretty much, and if you die we pay out £5,000,000
....and you'll require *proof* of death, I suppose.....?
So, if I don't make it back from Thailand in one piece, don't mourn too much- I'll probably be "dead" on a beach somewhere on a tropical island. Either that or Paul will have bumped me off, he'll be on the beach, and I'll expect you to avenge me.
I'll update the blog and get pictures up for you regularly, here, so you can all reflect regularly on how much you hate me, and how you wish you were in Thailand instead, whilst looking at handy visual aids to really make the jealousy burn ;)
On second thoughts, I'm starting to think I shouldn't have told you about the insurance pay out.... not before I mocked you, anyway. Bugger.
Keep in touch, leave me comments, and I'll see you in three weeks!
Love,
Aarayan
And Mum? I'm sorry, but I do swear- a fair bit. Please forgive me.
So, it's now officially the day after tomorrow that I head off, and I'm well on my way towards being prepared - I have piles and piles of clothes on my study floor which I'm going to pack tomorrow, and carefully tick off the list I made earlier in the week so I don't forget anything vital. I've got my tickets, I've got my money and travellers cheques, I've got a whole bunch of stuff I'll never need but seems important now, I've got travel insurance, at a whopping £62 for 3 weeks cover. I rang up the company and said:
Me: I need comprehensive insurance. I'm going to Thailand to do Thai Kickboxing
Her: That's fine, you're covered for that with this package.
Right, but just so you know, I'm going to be training full time. I intend to be getting into a ring on a daily basis and potentially volunteering to get punched in the head. Am I still covered?
Yup, you're covered.
So you're saying that if I deliberately get smacked in the face, doing a martial art, and need hospital treatment you'll pay? And further more, if I accidentally mortally wound someone else, and *they* require hospital treatment, you'll cover their treatment *and* my legal costs, even though I was doing a martial art, on purpose, for fun?
Yup, pretty much, and if you die we pay out £5,000,000
....and you'll require *proof* of death, I suppose.....?
So, if I don't make it back from Thailand in one piece, don't mourn too much- I'll probably be "dead" on a beach somewhere on a tropical island. Either that or Paul will have bumped me off, he'll be on the beach, and I'll expect you to avenge me.
I'll update the blog and get pictures up for you regularly, here, so you can all reflect regularly on how much you hate me, and how you wish you were in Thailand instead, whilst looking at handy visual aids to really make the jealousy burn ;)
On second thoughts, I'm starting to think I shouldn't have told you about the insurance pay out.... not before I mocked you, anyway. Bugger.
Keep in touch, leave me comments, and I'll see you in three weeks!
Love,
Aarayan
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