Post #136 - February 24, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Slept in, dinner with Brian and Claire, drinks with Brian, Landon, Alan, and Mike
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 2055B/$69

Due to our excessively late night last night, we didn't leave our room until around 1pm today. Went to the Corner Restaurant and ordered ourselves a nice breakfast. It was here we realized that we probably wouldn't be doing any of the cool tours we had originally planned to do in Chiang Mai, like Tiger Kingdom where you can get nice and cuddly with a grown tiger, or ride elephants. To be honest, though, I really don't have any regrets about Chiang Mai. It has been wonderful, and we are both genuinely sad that tonight will be our last night in this interesting city.

When we got back to our guesthouse, we Facebooked everyone from last night to make sure everyone had made it home OK, especially Brian who had never taken an auto-rickshaw home from the touristy part of town before. Thankfully, everyone was fine. Jon sent us a really nice message and Brian let us know he'd swing by for dinner. We had also gotten in touch with Landon and made plans to meet him around 9pm.

Later in the afternoon, Claire invited us to dinner. She was going to make pasta and fruit salad for Hugo, the guesthouse's owner, because he had had a bad night last night, and she invited us to join them. Suffice it to say that Hugo's girlfriend had acted in an unfaithful manner and he was obviously out of sorts over it. A home made meal sounded fantastic, so we asked Claire if it would be OK for Brian to join us as well. She said that would be OK, so we were good!

Brian showed up just after 7pm and we chatted while we waited for Hugo, who was having what must have been a very interesting chat with his (possibly) ex-girlfriend. Claire looked a little flustered because we had no idea whether to eat or to wait, so they sent me up to the room to knock on the door to ask whether he'd like to come to dinner. I felt a little awkward knocking on the door, but it wasn't so bad in the end. He basically said to start without him, so after a little bit of contemplating, we did.

Claire had prepared a very nice pasta with homemade sauce and we ate and chatted. Brian is such a sweet kid. It's easy to tell that he is really loving life. It's very nice to see. He's got so much energy and is so enthusiastic. It's nice to have him around with us old fogies!

Then, Claire brought out a fruit salad for dessert. It was wonderful!

9pm rolled around just as we finished eating. We helped clear the table, and showed Brian the newborn cats sleeping in another room close by. We called Landon and made plans to meet at a Mexican restaurant in his neck of the woods for a change. All the fighters live in this area actually. Brian will be staying there for the next month and over the past couple days he's gotten to know the area so he knew the way to the restaurant, luckily.

We caught a tuk tuk to the area of town and Landon and Mike were already there, and then Alan showed up just as we were entering the restaurant. We immediately asked about their fights at the festival the night before and we're happy to hear both Mike and Alan won their fights. Mike told us he had a tougher fight than Alan and got kicked in the balls several times which of course is not allowed. They told us it got rowdy after this and Long swore at the refs. Apparently his opponent was upset that at the last minute Alan and Mike switched opponents.

Mike is from New Zealand and this was the first time we had really sat down to talk to him. Our first impression of him wasn't the greatest though. Our first night out with everyone, he pretended he didn't speak English and ignored us. It wasn't until a couple days later that we found this out. Patty made a sarcastic comment to him at the gym about it one day and he took it pretty well. He is a really nice guy and gave us good advice about our visit to New Zealand. Perhaps we will meet up with him in Wellington, where he lives.

I ended up getting an apple dessert to eat and really enjoyed it!

Brian asked about whether he would be ready for a fight after only a month of training. Mike and Alan both said he would get a fight. As to whether he would be able to compete, it was a different story. Brian asked if anyone had ever competed after only a month. They all said that it had been done before. Then Brian asked if they performed well, and Alan paused and said “...no.” We had a good laugh.

Brian reminds us so much of our friend Chuck. It actually kinda feels like we have Chuck around, but of course Brian could never take his place!

Mike asked if we were going out partying after that. We responded with a hell no. Everyone seemed tired so we called it a night. Landon called for a tuk tuk for us and all of us hung out outside the restaurant until our tuk tuk arrived. We hugged them all and that was that.

Leaving Chiang Mai felt official at that point, but I think by this time we both felt ready to move on, knowing that one day we'll make it back to Chiang Mai.

We got back to the guesthouse and just went to bed.

Post #135 - February 23, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai, dinner with Landon, Brian, and John, watched Muay Thai fights, went out for drinks
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 2638B/$88

Today was our last day of Muay Thai. When we woke up this morning, we were pretty sad. Our time was coming to an end, and even Landon was not going to be there because he was going to the festival to watch Alan fight. It was a little depressing.

We had our usual breakfast at the corner restaurant, which is actually literally called "The Corner", if we haven't mentioned that before. Patty diverged from her usual order of eggs and got a sandwich and soup. I did not diverge.

We Facebooked Jon to cement our plans for the evening, and then got an email from Landon saying I would be sparring today. I wrote him back that I'd try to not get knocked out...

When we showed up at the gym, it turned out Landon hadn't gone to the festival. He said he hadn't been feeling good this morning so decided not to go. He had had food poisoning a couple days ago, so he probably still wasn't feeling great from that.

Although it was our last day, we still gave it our all. We did the usual shadow boxing in the mirror, and some of the trainers helped improve our techniques of various punches, kicks, knees, etc. I worked with Samart today because Perg, my usual trainer, was fighting tonight, so I assume he was resting. Samart was way easier on me today. Maybe he was just in a good mood. I was making some stupid mistakes with him, and he would keep correcting me, but with a smile. Overall, I was very pleased with my last training session. The amount of power in my punches and kicks has decreased drastically as the week has gone on, but at least I'm feeling more comfortable and relaxed while I do them. The trainers are always stressing that we need to be relaxed and not stiff. This was a bizarre concept for me coming into the training, since I have always assumed that muscles should be tense and ready to go while fighting.

I think this was the most exhausting workout in the ring for me yet. Whether I was tired from a long week of training or I could finally push myself harder because I knew what to do, I guess I'll never know. What I do know, though, is that it was a hell of a workout. Just before we would break for water for a minute, Samart would always make me do 10 kicks as fast and hard as I could. This is brutal, especially after already going at it for a couple minutes. I have so much respect for the physical shape fighters are in. It's a whole other level of fitness!

Meanwhile, Patty was working on the punching bag and then went into the ring and worked with Noi again. This time he was harder on her. She kept forgetting to block whenever she went in to knee him. But, finally she got it down. Her hip flexers were bothering her quite a bit so her form on the kicks suffered a bit. But she still managed to get some good patterns in. We both improved so much in just one week. It would have been neat to see us after another week.

Landon worked with us on the punching bag for a bit. He taught us how to punch the bag so that we wouldn't move it so much. This was a big help!

At the very end I sparred with Brian, Landon, and a German guy, whose name we can't remember. I began by sparring with Landon, who started off by saying "I won't hit you any harder than this" and proceeded to kick me in the thigh. I almost cried. No, really. I couldn't believe how much it hurt. I limped around on it for a bit, and I think Landon kind of felt bad, but I guess that's Muay Thai! I couldn't really do anything, and when I tried Landon basically just got me first. He didn't hit me again nearly as hard, but I felt like a punching bag. Next up was the German, who is much taller than me and just used his long reach to smack me around for a couple minutes, until Landon and him sparred and I started sparring with Brian. Although he's very athletic, he's an experienced rock climber, he's not a fighter, just like me. We jabbed at each other for a bit, until I faked a kick and punched him in the head. It was pretty funny to see him so surprised, but he got the last laugh. As we continued tentatively striking out at each other, I bent forward to dodge a punch as he brought up his knee and he caught me squarely in the nose. Thankfully, it remained attached to my face and we laughed about it. That pretty much ended our sparring session.

At the end of the session, we made plans to meet at our guesthouse at 7:30pm to go to dinner before the fights. A German guy, Felix, and one of our trainers, Perg, will be fighting tonight, each in different matches.

We got back to the guesthouse shocked that we just finished an entire week of Muay Thai training. We are pretty proud of ourselves for making it through, especially since we had gotten basically no intense physical activity since before we left in October. Although we are exhausted and our bodies are starting to stiffen up in places, we are in reasonably good condition, considering we just finished 7 sessions in 8 days! Even better, my feet weren't that sore today, so I was really happy about that.

We picked up our usual Gatorades and waters at the 7-eleven nearby our guesthouse.We also bought kebabs. I don't think we'll ever get sick of those. We sat for a bit and finally got up to get ready to go. We didn't leave ourselves enough time and really had to rush to get down to the lobby. Sadly, we were late. Brian, Jon, and Landon were waiting for us when we got down there. The five of us then walked to Ginny’s, the small Thai restaurant owned by one of Landon’s good friends.

While we were there, Landon told us a hilarious story about a domestic abuse incident that took place in his apartment building in Korea. Moral of the story: some Asian girls are nuts.

We learned quite a bit about our friends. Jon is a writer and literature buff. We asked him about what he's been writing about, but he only replied that "it sucks". Somehow I doubt that. We also learned a bit about both Landon and Jon's families. Sadly, it doesn't seem like Landon is very close with his family. His sister is getting married in the near future and he will go to the wedding, though he seemed more interested in seeing her fiance than her. Brian, it turns out, worked in Winnipeg over one summer. Seems like he mostly worked in a not-so-great part of the city and so had a pretty negative view of it.

We arrived at the fights around 9:30pm. We went to the back corner and watched from there. This is where the guys from the gym typically watch the fights from. We met up with Cristian (a French guy we have come to like) and all the other fighters and some of the trainers who didn’t go to the festival that weekend.

We mostly talked with Jon, though Patty did chat with Cristian for some of the night. Cristian opened up to her about his life and an accident he had had that made him end a successful boxing career. It was a pretty horrible story.

Perg, our trainer, fought first. We were excited to see our teacher in action. He was up against a fighter with quite a belly, but who was a little taller than him. At first the fight looked totally unevenly matched. Perg's opponent looked like he couldn't compete at all. This must have been part of his strategy because in the 2nd round he came out guns a blazing and lit up the ring. He ended up getting Perk with his elbow just above his eye brow. At first there was no blood, then Perk got hit there a 2nd time and the blood coming out was too heavy. The ref ended the match and Perg lost. He looked visibly disappointed and we could literally feel his pain just because of the look on his face. It was at least a little heartwarming to see his opponent bow down at Perg's feet out of respect after he won.

The German guy, Felix, stepped into the ring next. We learned he had only just come to Chiang Mai to fight once and had only actually trained at our gym twice. Apparently he has some experience fighting MMA, but doesn't seem he trains too much. He is however, a very brawny dude.

Felix seemed to hold his own the first round, then the 2nd round came and Felix seemed tired. He started making little mistakes, like letting his guard down, and eventually was knocked down with a flurry of elbows, and that was that.

It was a rough night for Chay Yai Gym, but we later learned Alan and Mike had both won their fights that night at the festival. So the night wasn't a complete disappointment.

We hung out waiting for Felix to get showered. He and his new fiancée wanted to go out to celebrate on their last night before heading back to Germany, so all of us were going to go out with him.

Brian told us Perg walked by him and apologized for his performance. We went up to Perg to thank him for everything and to tell him we enjoyed the fight. He apologized to both of us, too. He seems really hard on himself. Landon told us he fights just for the money now. He used to be the champion of northern Thailand at one point, but now he never trains much, but he seems to still expect results. I wish he had prepared more for the fight, at least so we didn't end up feeling so bad for him!

As we walked out, we saw Noi and his wife and invited them to come out with us. They said they would meet us there. We then told our guesthouse worker, Claire, to come with us, but she declined.

We went to Yellow Bar, which is where we had gone last weekend with Landon and Jon. Patty walked with Felix’s fiancée Annika, a sweet girl. She told Patty about how they got engaged and her experiences in India. Apparently her and her friend spent 3 months there.

Felix and Annika got sidetracked so we went on to Yellow without them, assuming they would find their way there. We walked in and it was packed with mostly tourists just as it was the last Saturday. We bought some drinks and sat around a table, chatting together. The seating areas are mostly outside, so it's kind of an interesting setup.

We all had a really great time there. We pretty much solidified our friendships with Landon, Jon, and Brian. I love those guys. They are each quite different. Brian is only 21 years old, Landon is 29, and Jon is about 35, I think. They are all hilarious in different ways.

Noi showed up with his wife, and it was great to see him for the last time. He actually seemed genuinely sad that Patty and I were leaving. Noi left a bit early and he gave us big hugs and told us to come back. He kept reminding Patty to keep her glove up. It was really cute.

When Yellow Bar closed, we went to Lucky bar with Landon, Jon, and Brian. The place was pretty dead but we made the best of it. Eventually Brian said he needed to go home to sleep so we found him a tuk-tuk and sent him on his way. Before he left he said he wanted to meet up for dinner tomorrow. It'll be nice to see him again.

Then it was just the four of us. We saw lots of "lady boys", probably the best ones we've seen yet. Some of them actually almost passed for women, except, as Landon pointed out, how they dressed was unlike any woman. It's something that probably takes some time to get used to.

We got talking about the existence of god by the end of the night. Jon and I discussed it with each other and Patty and Landon discussed it, separately, but somehow at the same time. Landon does not believe in god, but does believe in something like multiple universes and connections between people. He seems spiritual in some sense, I guess. He was very cautious about offending Patty, but she always finds it fun to have friendly debates/discussions as long as they stay respectful. It seemed like a good, honest conversation that brought us all closer, I think. We're really going to miss them.

Around 5am, we were ready to go to. We said "goodbye" to Jon and gave him big hugs. Landon pointed us in the direction of our guesthouse and told us he wouldn't say "bye" yet because we would get together tomorrow. We told him to keep his driving under 30km/hr and to get home safe and off we went to bed.

When we got back to our guesthouse there was a big fight taking place between the hotel owner and his girlfriend. They were yelling at the entrance. Claire explained what happened, and it seems that it had been a very interesting night at the guesthouse. I'm really glad we had missed it.

Post #134 - February 22, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai, trip planning
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 2160B/$72

We returned to the corner restaurant for our breakfast this morning. There is something very comforting about returning to the same place and seeing the same people day after day. Chiang Mai has been one of the best parts of our trip and not because of the sights we've seen. I think we're beginning to realize that it's the people we meet on our trip that will inevitably have the greatest impact on us. And we have met some good people in Chiang Mai. It's amazing that simply signing up for one Muay Thai session could lead to this.

Before being driven to training this afternoon we went to buy more band-aids and anything else we could get our hands on to protect our feet. Anyone who has seen my feet has made a face of pure disgust. Patty's are not great either, but mine look like they're actually falling apart.

Patty worked with Long for most of the session, and then worked with Noi in the ring for the first time. Patty could tell Noi was used to working with the stronger, more experienced fighters and working with a beginner like Patty was new to him. Still, he was helpful, but didn't push her hard enough until right at the end. Patty was tired, though, and he could tell, so that could be why.

I worked with Perg once again. I'm not sure whether he enjoys working with me or just got stuck with me, but I'm happy that I've had a consistent trainer in the ring. I definitely feel like we've gotten to know each other and this helps a lot with training. Getting into the ring and doing the moves is always my favourite part, but it's also unfortunately the part that kills my feet. This is because one foot or the other twists when punching or kicking, and by the time I'm in the ring, near the end of the class, the tape on my feet is starting to slip away from the places its supposed to be protecting. The pain, at times, has been brutal, but honestly I'd do it again. It's just too much fun. That being said, it would be more fun if there was less pain!

We said 'good-bye' to Landon because he was leaving for the festival tomorrow to watch Mike and Alan fight. We also said 'bye' to Alan and wished him luck.

Went home and bought fruit shakes and kebabs. It was sad to think we would not be seeing Landon again. It really felt like our time here was coming to an end.

We Facebooked Jon to see if he wanted to meet up tomorrow for a drink so we could say 'good-bye' to him as well.

Tonight, we pinned down our itinerary for the rest of SE Asia: next up is Krabi in southern Thailand, then Cambodia (7 nights), Central Vietnam (10 nights), Bali (7 nights), Singapore (3 nights), New Zealand (18 nights), Kuala Lumpur (1 night). We will try to end in Bangkok so that we may have the chance to go back to Chiang Mai. We thought that would be an appropriate way to end off our tour of Asia.

Jon highly recommended we visit Loas, but unfortunately we're running out of time! I can't believe it. Eight months and we're running out of time. Unbelievable. Oh well, just another reason to return.

We decided to scrap Spain and instead travel to New Zealand because of an entirely rational appeal by my brother Chris. His email made so much sense to us that we nearly changed our minds on the spot. Simply put, we'll have plenty of opportunities in the future to travel to Spain or South America to improve our Spanish and learn Salsa, but we'll have far less opportunities to see New Zealand. True enough.

I have a sneaking suspicion Chris is living vicariously through us :)

A guesthouse worker named Claire talked with us most of the rest of the night. I think she's pretty bored. She's from France and her former boyfriend is part-owner of the guesthouse. He flew her here to help him with the business. I don't think she has a ton of work, but is expected to stick around the guesthouse most of the day. Importantly, she made us some waffles for free. Anyone who gives us free food is OK by me.

Post #133 - February 21, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai training, Lewis’s fight at stadium
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 3066B/$102

We ate a late breakfast at our guesthouse this morning, which was pretty expensive, but pretty tasty. Afterward we went to buy morebandaids for our aching, blitery feet. They are looking pretty disgusting at this point, but more importantly, it's becoming increasingly harder to stand. The thought of putting my already broken skin through more training makes me want to cry a little.

Before we left, I had some fried rice with chicken from our guesthouse, which is a great, cheap snack before Muay Thai. When we arrived at the gym we started with the usual skipping and stretching, then moved onto some shadow boxing. We are both becoming more critical of our techniques. Patty didn't think she was punching correctly and Long helped her to improve. They apparently like to make fun of how she punches like a girl, though it looks pretty good to me. I wonder how they think I punch?

I haven't felt like my technique is improving that much. It just seems to me like I'm noticing more and more flaws in everything I'm doing. I suppose that's natural, though. At first we had no idea what we were doing, but slowly we're understanding what the coaches are asking of us. I almost always notice something about my technique is messed up. Having these things come naturally must take a very long time. It's a shame we'll only have a week with these coaches!

Patty ended up working with Long most of the session. Inside the ring was quite busy, with most of the more experienced fighters present and training. Patty mentioned that Long has been incredibly patient with her. She  asked him how long it would take for someone like me to get ready and prepared for a match, and he said it would probably take a whole year of intense training. He said she had good technique but that to be a good fighter you also have to be smart.

I, meanwhile, was working with Perg, AKA Mr. Grumpy-Pants. Of course, I'm only kidding. I actually love the guy. Like we've mentioned already, he works with what he's got, so I never feel judged too harshly, although I do feel like he's developing some expectations of me, good or bad. Definitely, as this week has progressed, I've been feeling like I've been building a bond with him. We've gotten into some good rhythms, and he's got me to do some really challenging combinations. Before when he was mostly just grumpy when I made a mistake, he'll now smile and just make me do it again. I think he's starting to understand the kind of student I am. I'm very serious when I'm training, for better or worse, and I think it's taken the trainers some time to understand that this is just how I am when I'm learning. It's awesome that Muay Thai is allowing me to connect with someone who can't speak more than a couple words of English!

Hardest thing Patty's done in Muay Thai is blocking kicks. Long did an exercise with her where he would throw any of the 4 kicks at me (side or front, left or right) and I would have to properly block it. She mentioned it was quite challenging for her, and I can agree completely. Learning a technique and putting it into practice, even at a 10% speed, are two completely different things!

Unfortunately, we could both feel our bodies slowing down today. We had no jump to our step today, and it almost felt like today was more of a rest day than a training day. Maybe that's a good thing?

Today at the gym we met a nice Canadian guy named Brian who is of Korean decent. He will be training for a whole month at Chay Yai Muay Thai and today was his first day. We invited him to join us, Landon, and Jon for drinks before Lewis’ fight. We also met an Italian guy named Nigel, it was his first day too.

We did some knees to the bag at the end, which was exhausting, and then we finished with ab work and a stretch.

We went back home and bought our Gatorade and water and bought another 2 fruit shakes before heading upstairs to shower and get ready for Lewis’ big fight that night. Jon came to pick us up and walk with us to the restaurant, but we were in the middle of eating so chatted while we finished. We met up with Landon and Brian at Landon's favourite restaurant for a couple drinks before heading to the stadium.

It's hilarious to think of the contrast between today and when we first met Jon. He is quite the character and a very interesting, intelligent person. Definitely one of our favourites from our whole trip.

We stayed at the restaurant for about an hour before heading over to the stadium. Jon and Landon are two peas in a pod. They get a long really well. It’s quite cute. Jon is constantly making fun of Landon.

When we arrived at stadium and got in for 300B each, instead of the usual 400B, with Landon’s help. It was neat to see some of the trainers and fighters from our gym preparing Lewis for his fight. Lewis looked a bit nervous, but a controlled kind of nervous. It was his first Muay Thai fight, although he did MMA back in England. Apparently there is a video of his last fight on YouTube. It did not go so well. Though the video itself was a spectacular success, with something like a million hits. He’s practically famous!

There are a total of seven matches each fight night. So, we impatiently watched those while we waited for Lewis' fight, which was the last. They typically have the foreigners fight last.

Landon did the ridiculous blind boxing again, which takes place halfway through the program. Unfortunately, this time, he got completely knocked out by a hit to the back of the head near the end of the fight. It was obvious to me that he went unconscious for a couple seconds, and it angered me that they didn't stop the fight. Thankfully, once he stood up again, it was only a couple seconds before the stupid thing was over. I hope he doesn't do that again.

When we talked to him after the fight, he didn't seem too out of it or anything, but then after a while he admitted he couldn't remember anything about the fight.

Finally, it was Lewis' turn to step into the ring. Lewis did the traditional dance before the fight. I'm not sure they get taught how to do this or what, but he knew what to do. The fight lasted into the second round, and it was pretty evenly matched, despite Lewis' large height/range advantage, but the other guy went down and didn't get back up after a flurry of knees from Lewis. I think Lewis was pretty disappointed in his performance, but he's seriously my hero for just stepping into that ring in the first place.

After the match we took some pictures and then played pool with Landon while we waited for Lewis to shower and change.

We then went out for drinks with Landon, Brian, Lewis, Jon, and another English fellow. We ended up at a German bar, whose owner was very German. He gave us some sausage he had made and was just generally very loud and welcoming. He even gave us a round of cinnamon tequila, which none of us knew existed. I have to say it was a major improvement over normal tequila. We both quite liked it.

From left to right: Tim (?), Jon, worker (?), Lewis, Patty, me, Brian, Landon:

We were the first ones to leave at around 1am. We were exhausted and needed our beds. It was a really fun night though. What a great experience Chiang Mai has been so far!

Post #132 – February 20, 2013 – Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai

Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 2577B/$86

We had another breakfast down the street at the corner restaurant this morning. We ordered the usual and went back to the guesthouse and did some stuff on the internet, basically wasted time.

We sat around the lobby of our guesthouse and anxiously awaited our clean laundry containing our workout clothes for the day. If it didn't come on time we’d be stuck wearing street clothes to Muay Thai...not cool

The clothes arrived at 2:45pm, just 15 mins before our ride picked us up for Muay Thai. Lucky for us! When our ride arrived, it wasn't the truck but a tuk-tuk instead. We got a ride with 2 other guys we had never met before. One was English, the other German. 

I sat in the front with the driver. Jeff sat in the back chatting with the English dude named Findlay. I wasn't really listening to their conversation, I was more focused on not falling out of the tuk-tuk, which I successfully managed to do. Yay!

We arrived and went straight into skipping and stretching. We're getting into the routine now which is kind of nice. Once warm up is done we go get our hands wrapped. This makes both of us feel really cool, but of course we act like it's no big deal.

Today, Long and Chelsea taught Jeff and I how to catch kicks and then come back with an attack. It was hard to get the form right at first but we got the hang of it. It's all very much like learning how to dance. Every part of your body has its correct position during the move. Coordinating it all is pretty tough. This makes it so different from soccer and I like that. It's really interesting trying to get your body to move in ways it's just not used to. Soccer is second nature now, I don't have to pay attention to my body, it just does things. Muay Thai is not only physically exhausting but mentally as well, because there is so much focus required to learn the move and then get your entire body to follow suit. 

Jeff then got called into the ring and I did some shadow boxing with Long. Both of us had the pleasure of working with Samart in the ring today. He reminds us that we are pure novices and he makes us feel like we’re unathletic weaklings simply because he is so intense about getting the technique correct. It sounds like this would be upsetting but no, we love him! His attention to detail makes him an excellent teacher, probably the best at the gym. He must have been an amazing fighter. Even the really good fighters have said that Samart toys with them when they spar. 

I felt myself improving and I felt good about my few rounds with Samart... well as good as I could feel after working with Samart! In between rounds and exercises they make us do push ups and sit ups. We’ll be dead by the end of the week for sure.

Jeff was a bit disappointed with his workout with Samart. But then again, I don't think fighters often walk away from Samart feeling too impressed with themselves.

After a few rounds with Samart we did some drills on the big punching bags and then called it a day. We both went to the back of the gym to the bathroom to wash our hands. On our way to the bathroom we said hello to one of the cutest Chihuahuas ever. He was just tied up near the ring with his tail wagging looking at us intently. The owners of the gym have a lot of pets. They keep these puppies locked up in a little room most of the time we’re there. I just hope they’re treated okay. 

The bottoms of Jeff’s feet are getting worse. The blisters are huge and now completely open. We showed the two guys on the way back and they were disgusted, as are we.

We got back to the hotel feeling exhausted. We washed our hands which tend to smell like rotten cheese after wearing the gloves and I went to go buy the usual: 2 bottles of Gatorade, and 2 big bottles of water. We mix the two and drink them right after the workout. Instead of going up to shower though we were too lazy so we ate kebabs first and then went up for a shower. 

That evening we just ate dinner at our guesthouse and did some blogging and trip planning. I have been doing lots of research on Spanish schools in Spain, but we have yet to find an affordable option that teaches both Spanish and salsa dance. The search continues. We bought yogurt later in the evening as a snack and sat outside and watched the many people heading into the stadium for that night’s fights. It's pretty cool the stadium is right next to our guesthouse. We saw the main event fighter from France hanging out outside the stadium waiting for his fight. The owner of the hotel is French and his family was visiting so they all spoke to the fighter for a while. 

By the time 11:30pm rolled around we called it a night and went to bed.

Post #131 - February 19, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai, Dinner with Landon and Lewis
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 3020B/$101

We slept in until around 11am and headed straight to the corner restaurant for breakfast. This place is actually on the corner of a street, hence the name "Corner Restaurant". Food has been tasting so good the past few days since we've started exercising again. It's amazing how much happier we have felt since getting active again. It's such an important part of our lives back home and unfortunately on this trip we haven't done a good job of consistently working out, but Muay Thai has reminded us of how good it feels to just get exercise!

     After breakfast we went back to the hostel and did some stuff on the internet, checking e-mails, facebook, etc. I don't have a proper sports bra with me so we decided to go to a nearby shopping mall to find me one. We ended up also buying some shower stuff at the grocery store on the lower floor. It's amazing how many whitening products are sold in Asia. We finally found a regular body wash and a well priced shampoo. Sports bras hard to come by in Chiang Mai, at least quality ones. I actually fit an extra large! Only in Asia! So in the end I walked out with an extra large Nike bra on sale for 50% off. It should do the trick for the rest of the week.   

      By the time we got back home there wasn't much time before Muay Thai. We just sat around and shortly after our ride rolled up and we hopped on the back of the truck. 

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We're finally kind of getting used the routine for our sessions. First thing we do is jump rope for warm up. Afterwards we do a quick stretch and get our hands wrapped by the trainers. From there we belong to the trainers and they tell us what to do. Today, the owner Chelsea taught us some foot work, more specifically the different kinds of approaches and retreats: big steps, smalls steps, one foot leading, etc. He's a friendly guy and a good teacher, though not as hard on us as Samart. 

Chelsea then had the two of us learn how to absorb kicks and then return with one. We practiced this on each other for about 20 minutes. Long was assisting Chelsea the whole time and they both would get really excited when we did things well. It's a good feeling. 

Afterwards I worked with Long on the floor doing some simple combinations like jabbing and then punching. It doesn't get much simpler than that, but even this basic combo is so tough to get right. I still very much punch like a girl. Long made fun of me a lot talking about how pretty I make the movements look. All I could do is laugh at myself and try harder. It's still not great, but I think I'm making progress finally. The biggest problem with my punch I learned today was that I don't twist my body enough. All the power is only coming from my arm, which is kind of scrawny so thanks to Long today, this made a big difference.

I then went into the ring and worked with Wimbledon for 4 rounds. The guy killed me. I could barely move at the end of each round. He also made fun of me a lot. First thing he said to me was that he liked my pedicure. Finally a man who notices these things! We had some good laughs when he had me continually step forward and punch and kick only then move out of the way so that I almost hit Long in the face as he sat watching us. This happened about 3 times. Luckily I stopped before actually hitting Long, if only barely. Again my form when punching was criticized by Wimbledon and he said the same thing Long said, that I wasn't using my core to punch. By the end I think I can say I actually learned how to punch properly! Another reason I have come to like Muay Thai so much is simply seeing myself improve everyday. That makes it very satisfying.

Meanwhile, Jeff was working with Perg, who doesn't smile much, but when he does smile, you know you finally did something well. He's very different than most of the other trainers in that he is mild mannered and fairly quiet. He has no expectations of you and therefore there is no pressure. Jeff performed better with him as a result and he really enjoyed working with him. 

At the end we did some work on the punching bag doing the exhausting exercise of kneeing the bag consecutively 50 times. The objective is to push and pull the enormous heavy bag back and forth as you exert as much power as you can into kneeing the bag as if it were you're opponent. Getting the form right when you're so tired is also very difficult. But what a great workout.

Last part of the session was just stretching. We talked to Landon about going out for dinner and told him to invite Jon. We agreed to meet up around 8pm at our guesthouse.

That night Lewis showed up with Landon for dinner, but Jon was apparently busy with his writing so didn't join us.We went to a kind of expensive Italian place for dinner. Though I must say, I was impressed with the authenticity of the food. My gnocchi were delicious. Jeff on the other hand didn't enjoy his pizza. 

During dinner we got know each of them better. Landon seemed tired though. Lewis talks a lot and is very outgoing. He told us about his experience doing Kung Fu in China. There, kids get beaten for the smallest mistakes, like showing up 5 minutes late, or not finishing a drill properly. The students also get very little food and little rest. Lewis was saying all they do aside from train for Kung Fu is eat and sleep. Their days start at 5am and don't end until 5pm that night. Of course they eat 3 meals a day, but it's often only a bowl of rice with some chicken. There was not much variety in their diets, and all the students were weak and in his opinion malnourished. Based on his description of the experience (by the way, he lasted 3 months there!) it sounded like pure hell. He seemed in good spirits about it though, surprisingly. 

Landon told us he lived in Korea for a couple years and has been living abroad for the past 6 years. He has a sister back in  the US who is getting married soon, but apparently the two are not very close. Lewis is the baby of the family. He and Jeff shared funny experiences about being tormented by older siblings. Lewis made us laugh about when his older brother and sister would put his favourite stuffed toy up on the tallest shelf in their kitchen and he would cry, yelling out the toy's name. We all had a good laugh. Overall it was a nice dinner.

We got back to the guesthouse around 10pm. We were running on empty by this point and pretty much went to bed to rest up for another fun day of Muay Thai. 

Post #130 - February 18, 2013 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

What we did: Muay Thai, Thai Massages
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 1947B/$65

This morning we slept in until around 11am. We immediately went for breakfast at the corner restaurant we have come to love. We talked mostly about being nervous for our "first day back" at Muay Thai. Patty felt like because we were doing a full week, it was going to be more pressure on us to perform better. I didn't feel nervous, except that I had a feeling today was going to be a worse day than Saturday, since this is the way I usually am. I find that whenever I'm learning something new, my first session is great and then my second session is terrible, and then by my third session I'm improving and getting things right again.

After breakfast we went back to the guesthouse to blog and surf the internet. There was really not a lot we could do before the class. Plus, we felt like we had to relax and save all our energy for the class!

The truck arrived at around 3pm and we were sad when we noticed that Gabby and Martin were not there. We had just seen them yesterday at the market and they had said they would probably see us. Anyway, we enjoyed the ride to Muay Thai by ourselves. The ride takes about 15 minutes and although it's kind of bumpy, it’s a nice way to get mentally prepared for the class.

When we arrived, Landon greeted us with big hugs and suggested we go out for dinner that night. We had no idea how they would feel about us extending our stay, so it was really comforting that at least Landon was happy to see us. We saw Lewis as well who called Patty a bad person as she walked by, although we had no idea what he was referring to. Later that day, we learned why he said this, which I'll get to in a minute. Oddly, John was also sitting watching the session at the back of the room. This time he was completely sober and most definitely what our friend Sil would refer to as a gentleman and a scholar. It was a hilarious contrast from Saturday night. We teased him a bit and he laughed and took it well.

We started the session jumping rope for about 5 minutes next to Alan, who Patty finds intimidating, but mostly just ridiculously good-looking. Awesome... We stretched a bit and then got our hands wrapped for the first time. We felt like pros!

Patty had a good day. She worked with a trainer named Long for a bit in front of the mirror. Patty and I both worked on technique by watching ourselves in the mirror, which they call shadow boxing. As usual when learning complex moves, we would fix one thing and then something else would go wrong, even though it was going right before. Muay Thai is very detail oriented, but you also have to relax when doing it. It’s quite challenging, but this is also part of the fun of it.

The coaches are awesome. They have fun and tease, but also provide constructive criticism. They get excited when they see something done right, which of course feels fantastic.

After the shadow boxing, Patty went to work on the punching bag, which she felt was totally foreign to her, while I went in the ring and worked with Samart, who is so far the toughest coach to work with in the sense that he pushes for perfection harder than anyone else. He is a stickler for technique. This is great, but also intimidating. Nobody criticizes technique the way he does. I was not pleased with how my session with Samart went. I think after our great session on Saturday, he was actually disappointed with me. I don't know whether it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but like I said, I sort of expected to perform worse today. Still, it was hard to take the look of disappointment in Samart's eyes!

While I was in the ring, Lewis was working on the bag next to Patty. She asked what his name was again and he asked for hers. Apparently he thought her name was Sarah. Anyway, he went on to ask Patty what she remembered from Saturday and then he reminded her of when she told his crush that he liked her. She then remembered this, and recalled her efforts to get the two together. Her intentions of course were good, but she thinks Lewis was less than pleased with the openness of the whole situation. Patty apologized and he just kept laughing and telling her it was okay and that it made his night interesting. Lewis is a 21 year-old English guy that is over 6 feet tall and loves to fight, but is a really sweet, jolly guy. Apparently he fights on Thursday. We’ll have to go and cheer him on.

After Patty's conversation with Lewis it was her turn to go into the ring. She did some work with Samart who tore her technique to shreds, but in a was good way. They then had Patty spar with the only other girl at the gym. She was terrified. Apparently, Long looked at Patty and told her he thought she would win. Patty laughed and told him he probably said that to the other girl, too.  She didn't think he understood her though.

Patty and her opponent just danced around for a bit, neither of them knowing what to do or when to give the first punch or kick. She thought it must have looked pretty silly because they gave each other a couple jabs and Patty mostly blocked for the first 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I was doing my own thing on the bag so I didn't really get to witness any of this first hand.

One of the trainers noticed the lack of structure to the drill and our inexperience so he actually gave Patty and her opponent some patterns to follow. At first they took turns blocking each others kicks. Patty ended up surprising her with a good left kick and the trainers got excited about it, but apparently the other girl was less than impressed. Patty apologized and the other girl took it well. It was pretty amicable the whole time. They kept laughing and apologizing to each other whenever they hit each other too hard. Patty had a good time.

Patty and the girl (we don’t remember her name) got some water and then went onto round 2. They just did a couple more combinations and then it was time to go. Patty went to stretch with the girl and her two guy friends. Patty learned the girl was from Thailand and just enjoyed the exercise, but wasn't looking to actually compete in the ring.

Patty then joined Landon, John, and I at the table for a chat. We also met one of the gym owner’s dogs. He is one of the cutest Chihuahuas ever. He was so excited to see us and play. He was brown with green eyes. A really beautiful dog.

Landon didn't mention dinner again, and I think we were both too exhausted anyway, so we left it at that. So we said our goodbyes and hopped into the truck for our ride home. We are definitely noticing our feet are getting blistered. I have a feeling mine are going to get pretty bad by the end of the week!

When we got back to our hotel, we went to the nearby 7-11 to buy gatorade and water to replenish the 10 litres of water we each probably lost. We also bought some kebabs from a street vendor, which were delicious as always.

After we showered, we ate dinner at our hotel and then went straight to a Thai massage parlour recommended by Hugo, the young French man that is part-owner of the hotel. It took us about 10 minutes to walk there, but it was worth it. I was stretched in some crazy ways, but it mostly felt good. Patty really enjoyed it, as well.

When we got back to our hotel we were both exhausted. Muay Thai is going to kill us this week. We did a little blogging and then went to bed. Sleep is going to be very important this week!