Muay Thai and Hangovers...

This past week was definitely an interesting one.  During the week I was teaching - as is to be expected - but there were a few other events that really made the week a good one.

The first event was my introduction to Muay Thai.  A parent of one of my students is an instructor and so he offered to give any teachers interested in Muay Thai lessons at the University (right across from our apartments).  Before going to the first 'class' I had absolutely no idea what Muay Thai was but I was down for any really 'Thai' experience that I could get and it gives me something to do at night other than go to the store and sit on the computer... like what I've done tonight, along with laundry.  The classes start off with us running so that we warm up and therefore loosen up.  This is very important because Muay Thai involves a lot of kicking, and overall it uses your whole body to power the blows.  The first night (Wednesday) there were 4 of us and we learned the basics of stance, guard and blocking.  We also worked on some different punches, elbows and kicks.  Thursday we had a few more people in attendance so there was a little less one-on-one attention but it was still fun.  Lots of laughing at ourselves, and I'm sure that the Thai's who were playing basketball, volleyball and soccer were also laughing on the inside as they watched these farang trying to do this different type of fighting.

Here's a video of Muay Thai - turn off your sound for better appreciation of it.



After our Wednesday class, Judianne and I booked it back to the apartment to have the world's fastest showers and get dressed so that we would be able to leave with the rest of the people who were going to the movie theatre.  We were successful in doing this fast enough so we all caught a cab (actually 2) and went to the mall.  It was great because Wednesday is cheap nights at this theatre, so it was way way less than we pay at home.  As for the movie, we felt it was only appropriate that we see the Hangover II here since it is set in Bangkok and that is where we are.  The first one was surprisingly funny and this one lived up to its predecessor, despite my lack of understanding of how they could undergo the same type of shenanigans as the last time.  I'm not sure if the movie was so enjoyable because it was set where we are and so everything seemed so real, or because it was really just that funny.  Probably a little bit of both.  Either way, as we left the theatre we had an adventure of our own because we left through an unfamiliar exit that was sort of a 'back route' - leaving us to figure out how to get to the main road as we walked passed workers loading and unloading trucks of goods.  Clearly it all worked out for us as I am able to write this blog.

Believe it or not, this was just stuff that happened during the week.  On Friday I booked it home from the school to grab my already packed bag for the weekend and hailed a cab to take me to Wongwian BTS (Bangkok's Skytrain Station, closest to us) where I was meeting Sam and two others from Campus 2.  It took a while to get to the station but once I was there we got moving pretty fast and made it to the bus station to catch the 6:30 bus to Baan Phe.  We arrived there (after a slightly delayed start) around 10:30, at which point the ferries have stopped running to Koh Samet - our final destination or so we hoped.  An hour later we were getting on a speed boat in the pitch black along with two Americans who had shown up shortly after we were dropped off at the dock and shuttled to the hotel where we wanted to stay.  Unfortunately this weekend was the one weekend in down season when there was an event on the island so this hotel was full.  Most luckily, Thai people are the most gracious people you will ever meet in your travels, as the lady at Ploy Talay then makes some calls and walks us to another hotel where they have rooms for us.  AMAZING!  She even set aside her dinner to do all of this.  Sam and I were so exhausted that we just crashed in the queen bed that we had to share after killing the gigantic mosquitoes that were in our room.

The following morning it was pouring so we were slow to get out of bed.  In the end it was the philosophical statement 'Rain at the lake is better than rain in the city' that got us up and out for breakfast.  Here Louis found us and told us that he got us a room at a hotel on the beach for that night - so great of him.  We quickly grabbed our stuff out of our room and trekked down the beach to the new hotel that was made up of several buildings that climbed the hill right behind the beach.  A few stairs later we arrived in our room and it was beautiful - clean and air-conditioned and it even had a TV with an English channel!  After getting settled, or at least as settled as one does in a hotel in which they are staying for only a night, we went back down to the beach and found a boat tour that left in 15 minutes to go to 4 different islands and included snorkeling, lunch and a fish farm visit!

The snorkeling at the first island was pretty poor because the water was so choppy.  That is to say, we could not see a whole lot but the water was nice all the same.  This part of the tour was not enhanced by the fact that we did not anchor stern to bow into the wind, making the boat rock side to side instead.  Sam and I made sure we were some of the last people to get on the boat and I still almost tossed my cookies just because of the uncomfortable movement.

The lunch was delicious - pad kao = fried rice.  We then had a good chunk of time to explore the island that we were on, which had a number of trails to check out.  Sam and I walked to a cliff on the far side of the island (not even a km) where we got a great view.  We then made our way back and hung out on the beach a bit before having to get back into the boat and heading for the next island.

The snorkeling on the next island was way better than the first round.  We were dropped off the boat and we could already see the bottom of the gulf and that there was large amounts of coral there.  Once we got our faces in the water we realized that this particular reef was the home for several jelly fish who were so transparent that at first I thought that they were bits of plastic bag that had been dropped in the ocean.  These were quite small and harmless so I am glad to say that I do not have any stings.  We saw a number of other fish in the coral too - neatly coloured or fantastically camouflaged.  It was also really nice because once we had been dropped off the boat, we had to swim to a different location to meet up with it again - on the beach of the island, where I found a beautiful orange stone that had been polished by the ocean.

The last stop on the tour was a fish farm, as mentioned above.  This may sound bizarre and believe me, when you get there it is.  The boat pulls up to a grid whose unit is length of two planks in either direction (for one square) and the dividers are two plank widths wide themselves.  Inside each square there are different sea creatures.  We were given a pail of dead fish to feed these creatures and coax them to come up to the surface.  It was really cool, and my favourite part was the sea turtles.  There were also sharks of different kinds and one guy was actually sitting with his feet in the square that contained a leopard shark!  Sam and I laughed as we discussed how we would react if we were to fall in to one of these pens.  It was agreed upon that as soon as the other ensured we were ok, we had full right to laugh at the other.  Luckily, this dream scenario did not come to fruit.

Once we were back on Koh Samet we got ready and met Julia and Louis to go for dinner.  We went to Ploy (where we had tried to stay the night before) and ate dinner on the beach while watching a Fire Show.  If you don't know, as I didn't before attending, a fire show is when a bunch of guys twirl batons and other objects that are on fire.  This sounds like a weak premise on which to base a show but the athleticism and the acrobatics that came into play in addition to their talent for not burning themselves was pretty impressive.  We then made our way down the beach to a club where we danced and hung out for the rest of the evening.  This location also had a fire show but it was not nearly as impressive as the one at Ploy (1 guy vs 16 - he didn't stand a chance).

The following morning we learned a very valuable lesson.  Any sort of alcohol consumption is a bad idea when you did not hydrate enough during the day.  Sam and I lost track of how much water we were consuming because we were in the water!  As a result, Sunday AM was a bit of a write off but it was nice to have a chill morning all the same before commencing our journey back to Bangkok.

And we made it back all in one piece.  I am happy to say that we are now well hydrated and I should probably go to bed.  Good night for now!!  Luv you all.