Headfirst Back Into Bangkok

Sadly we left Rawai today. Linda returned to the gym yesterday from Kata for a couple training sessions before we both flew back to Bangkok. Nongnapat gym turned out to be a great choice for training. Much like Sitmonchai, I really felt a part of the family, and that they would have done anything to accommodate me while I was there. I also got some great training, worked hard, and put in 11 training sessions over the course of 6 days (I've got over 30 minutes of video footage to edit when I get to Raleigh as well).

With our trainers after the last session.

The gym manager, Cha Cha, was kind enough to motorbike us around Phuket the last couple days as well. Taking three grown adults on one underpowered 120cc motorbike onto the roads of Thailand is quite the experience. We precariously scooted around taking in some last minute sights including the Fightlab shop, Nai Harn Beach, and Promthep Cape (again for me).

I was having fun at least...and being totally safe.

 

Nai Harn Beach

Elephant tribute thing at Promthep Cape. And Linda.

Cha Cha, Linda, and I at Promthep Cape.

Flying Bangkok Airways is always a nice treat. They have a Boutique Lounge for all customers, even the lowly economy class scrubs like me and not just business travelers who rack up a million frequent flyer miles on corporate dime. The one at Phuket airport had free wifi, coffee, juice, pizza snacks, almond muffins, pineapple danishes, and more. Linda and I pretty much had the place to ourselves for like an hour. All this plus a full in flight meal for a ticket that cost less than $100 round trip. Why can't US airlines provide this level of service?

Living it up in the Bangkok Airways boutique lounge.

After arriving in Bangkok, the only logical way to overcome the depression of leaving Rawai and our new friends at Nongnapat was to hit up Soi Cowboy. No buddhist holiday this time meant that it was on. I'm not sure if this is a family friendly blog or not, but I'll just say we had a couple beers at Toy Bar and The Dollhouse and leave it with this picture of the soi:

After literally getting dragged into some other bar by the girls outside and refusing to buy 200 baht beers, we decided it was time to leave. I was reeling from a bit of sensory overload. Linda however was ready to dive full into Bangkok street life, so we headed out in search of some street food which she had been avoiding for the last couple weeks for fear of getting sick. First up was a pad see ew vendor. She stir fried it up fresh for us right there and we promptly devoured it on the spot. Linda then wanted to find some rambutan fruit, but the late night fruit scene was not very happening. We settled for some ko moo yang (grilled pork neck) at the end of the soi that our hotel is on, and it was amazing.

Pad See Ew vendor prepares us some food in a blur.

Linda pointing out the source of tomorrow's diarrhea.

Street eatin'.

  A good first night back in Bangkok. Tomorrow is shopping and hopefully catching some live Muay Thai at Rajadamnern Stadium.

My New Favorite Restaurant

I've really come to enjoy my temporary neighborhood here at On Nut 65.  There's a lot of great little shops, food stalls, and restaurants.  There's no foreigners here, so the prices are even cheaper than if you were in central Bangkok.  Between training sessions on Monday the trainers took me to the little restaurant that is at the end of the gravel road that the gym is on.  Actually I don't know if it even qualifies as a restaurant because there is no menu; they only serve one dish.  In fact, I don't even know the name or if it even has one.

 
It doesn't look like much, and the whole place is made of corrugated metal, but who gives a shit, the food is amazing.  What you get when you sit down is a bowl of coconut curry broth with some noodles and meat or fish if you want it.  Spread out along the table is an array of fresh vegetables that you can add to your bowl as you like.  Everything from green beans, cucumber, cabbage, sprouts, and other stuff that I have no clue what it is.  (I actually have no clue what half the fruits and vegetables I'm eating in Thailand are)

The fresh vegetable spread.

  If you want dessert, they do have that.  It's a Thai snow cone thing, but way better than any snow cone back home.  First you choose what you want at the bottom of your bowl; they have different flavored jelly cube things, beans, fruit pieces and more.  Then they put a block of ice through the shaver on top of that.  Finally they put on the flavored syrup and some creamy frosting type stuff.  Needless to say, I eat one of these everyday between training sessions.

The best part?  The coconut curry soup with unlimited vegetables costs 20 baht or $0.66, the icy desert is 10 baht, $0.33.  Lunch and desert for $1. 

The two owners are super nice to me, and they seem to enjoy explaining to the other customers that I'm in Thailand to train Muay Thai.  At least that's what I'm assuming, because the only words I understand them saying is Muay Thai.  But the woman sitting beside me today spoke some English and asked me about the gym, where I was from and how long I was saying.  It makes me feel special even though they're probably just talking about what a stupid gringo I am.

One last reason why I like to eat here is the two guys pictured below.  They're probably just strays, but they are always at the restaurant when I go.  I love orange tabbies, and these two are especially cute. 

Gym Flooding

As I write this, it is currently raining and has been for a couple hours now.  The flooding here at the gym is reaching biblical proportions.  The owners got a water pump, but after running for 24hrs, it made no difference.  This is a wetland, and you're not going to lower the water table by moving the water around.  They did finally get some sandbags down around the gym and pumped the water out which worked, but this evenings rain has erased all progress. Here's a picture from yesterday afternoon.  I might be filling sand bags tomorrow instead of hitting punching bags.  Oh well, they're probably both a good workout.   

Muay Thai Shorts

Finally, if you love Muay Thai, then you love Muay Thai shorts.  There's also no such thing as boring Muay Thai shorts, or at least there shouldn't be.  The flashier the better.  I decided to pick up a pair of Kittana shorts as a souvenir of my time here.  And here they are: