If you watch "Little Britain" at all, you'll understand the above title. If not, go and watch "Little Britain" - it's classic!!
I'm in Ban Rai, Uthai Thani province, which is about 3 hours northwest of Bangkok, verging on the Burma border. It's at a bit of an elevation, so very dry and stupidly, sweltering hot during the day. Mornings are cool and I need a wind breaker driving the motorbike to the gym at 6:30am. But by the time the sun rises, it begins to heat up very quickly. Mid-day, 3pm, is unbearable.
I've been training in the mornings, first going for a 30 min run, and then hitting pads for an hour. Not too heavy, but after not training seriously for the last months, all I really want to do is gain back some strength and stamina. Technique hasn't left me, just the ability to go for hours! My foot is holding up somewhat well - it's a bit sore today after yesterday's run, pads, and then a trek in the jungle to Tham Phu Wai (Phu Wai cave) so took it easy this morning and will go for a massage later this afternoon, with some sparring later in the evening.
Training with other instructors/fighters is always a learning experience for me. For one, it allows me to learn new styles, new techniques, and not get caught doing the same exact things over and over. The other thing I find it does is increase my loyalty and appreciation and respect for my own gym and Kru. I have discovered that my standards are pretty high, which I believe to be a good thing. Doesn't mean I'm not smart enough to learn from someone new though. Grin!! I've learned a few combinations and techniques this week that will come in handy back home.
On Tuesday, I helped Kin teach young kids (ages 4-12) Muay Thai in a sort of after-school program that he has going on. It was great fun!! Young girls, 5 and 6 years old, doing spinning elbows! Some of them are naturals and should really be encouraged to train more.
Yesterday, one of Kin's friends took me to Tham Phu Wai (Phu Wai cave) which is located near the idyllic Wat Tham Khao Wong. The cave is a huge karst system, but it appears to be somewhat dry. The nice thing is that it hasn't been "tourist-i-fied" and all lit up or disrupted. It has a few signs simply pointing the way through the main cave, but otherwise it has been left alone. There are a few stalagtites in formation that they have, wisely, roped off. I saw a plethora of bats, as well as 2 large snacks (cave pythons?) and this huge, wicked-looking spider/scorpion thing that had massive pincers that I'm glad was 2 feet above my head!! It was a fun trip. I wish I spoke Thai, or that my guides and Kin's friends spoke English. It's a bit hard to be in a place where I cannot communicate at all except by pointing and grinning.
I'm looking forward to getting back to BKK and heading south to the beach. I might head to Ao Phang-Nga and meet up with B&W, but that's yet to be decided. I need some beach time actually. I've enjoyed being here, but I feel a bit watched over and need to be on a bit more of an independent schedule. Kin's been very hospitable and a great tour guide though. I leave for BKK on Saturday, then take the overnight train to Surat Thani. From there, either to Koh Phangan or the Ao Phang-Nga, we'll see!!! Actually, it all depends on how my foot feels. I want to train, to get back into shape, but also want to make sure my foot is fine for training at home.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Saturday, February 07, 2009
One night in Bangkok... and now up to Uthai Thani
Following the zoo episode in Phnom Penh, my day continued to prove interesting! My tuk-tuk driver, Buntho, offered to take me to the Bokator fights at the RCAF stadium. Having watched a few fights on one of the tv channels, I knew that it wasn't going to be Lumphini, but it could be fun! Although I sat napping in my hotel room for a while, contemplating whether I really wanted to go with him. In the end, I decided what the hell, and met him outside at the pre-arranged time. He had his motorcycle, not the tuk-tuk, and off we went!!
The fights had started earlier than when we arrived, so I only got to see 3 fights (fight night sponsored by Carabao too!), but they were scrapey, hard-fought, very ugly fights! Little technique, simply swinging for the fences and looking to murder the other person! Very rough. The stadium was essentially a gym with a ring and a live band and the tv crew filming for Channel 5.
After the fights, we were headed back downtown and Buntho suggested that we go for some food. Sure, why not. So, my evening out turned into a date!! Go figure - I have to go all the way to Cambodia to meet a nice, cute single guy who will go to fights and then out for dinner and live music all in one night!!
We went to this strange Khmer supper club with a stage and Khmer music where, Buntho said, all the rich people come to. We ordered deer (which turned out to be more of a jerky than fresh meat, and tasted a bit funny), and then crocodile (which was really good!) and drank beer and watched the show. Entertaining to say the least. Although I kept having to fend off Buntho's advances and offers to come back to my hotel room with me that evening! He told me about his family, his job, life in Phnom Penh, and about his marathon races - he runs a fast marathon, 3 hours! By 9pm though, after a full day in the sun and on the back of the motorcycle, I was ready to crash and asked to be taken home (without him!! my god this boy was persistent!). We did exchange email addresses though, so maybe next year I'll see him again.
Yesterday, I had a morning and most of the afternoon to kill before heading out to the airport. I went for breakfast, and then walked down to the Citadel knife shop and purchased a medium sized folder with a carbon steel blade and a buffalo horn handle. I had been looking at it earlier in the trip, so decided it would make a good souvenir. I got booted out of my hotel room around 11:30am, so had lunch in the hotel pub, then grabbed a tuk-tuk to the airport. The Phnom Penh airport is so small! There are only a few windows to check in, so it's done by flight. Once I checked in, I did a bit of airport shopping, got a book and some post-cards, and then chilled before my flight.
I must admit it's nice being back in Bangkok. I like Cambodia, but there's just something about it that makes me a bit nervous. Coming back to Bangkok felt like a relief in some ways. I dropped my gear off at the SamSenSam hotel, my new home-away-from-home in BKK, and then wandered down to Khao San for some food. I'm currently waiting out the time before grabbing a mini-bus to Ban Rai to go to my first week of training. And editing the Tabitha newsletter article. Can't wait! Although I say that with trepidation because (1) my stomach is gurgling, and (2) my foot is a bit sore!! Could be interesting. Wish me luck!
The fights had started earlier than when we arrived, so I only got to see 3 fights (fight night sponsored by Carabao too!), but they were scrapey, hard-fought, very ugly fights! Little technique, simply swinging for the fences and looking to murder the other person! Very rough. The stadium was essentially a gym with a ring and a live band and the tv crew filming for Channel 5.
After the fights, we were headed back downtown and Buntho suggested that we go for some food. Sure, why not. So, my evening out turned into a date!! Go figure - I have to go all the way to Cambodia to meet a nice, cute single guy who will go to fights and then out for dinner and live music all in one night!!
We went to this strange Khmer supper club with a stage and Khmer music where, Buntho said, all the rich people come to. We ordered deer (which turned out to be more of a jerky than fresh meat, and tasted a bit funny), and then crocodile (which was really good!) and drank beer and watched the show. Entertaining to say the least. Although I kept having to fend off Buntho's advances and offers to come back to my hotel room with me that evening! He told me about his family, his job, life in Phnom Penh, and about his marathon races - he runs a fast marathon, 3 hours! By 9pm though, after a full day in the sun and on the back of the motorcycle, I was ready to crash and asked to be taken home (without him!! my god this boy was persistent!). We did exchange email addresses though, so maybe next year I'll see him again.
Yesterday, I had a morning and most of the afternoon to kill before heading out to the airport. I went for breakfast, and then walked down to the Citadel knife shop and purchased a medium sized folder with a carbon steel blade and a buffalo horn handle. I had been looking at it earlier in the trip, so decided it would make a good souvenir. I got booted out of my hotel room around 11:30am, so had lunch in the hotel pub, then grabbed a tuk-tuk to the airport. The Phnom Penh airport is so small! There are only a few windows to check in, so it's done by flight. Once I checked in, I did a bit of airport shopping, got a book and some post-cards, and then chilled before my flight.
I must admit it's nice being back in Bangkok. I like Cambodia, but there's just something about it that makes me a bit nervous. Coming back to Bangkok felt like a relief in some ways. I dropped my gear off at the SamSenSam hotel, my new home-away-from-home in BKK, and then wandered down to Khao San for some food. I'm currently waiting out the time before grabbing a mini-bus to Ban Rai to go to my first week of training. And editing the Tabitha newsletter article. Can't wait! Although I say that with trepidation because (1) my stomach is gurgling, and (2) my foot is a bit sore!! Could be interesting. Wish me luck!
Friday, February 06, 2009
Tabitha Housebuilding 2009 now complete!
As of yesterday, my vacation officially starts. The hard work is over and it's time to head back to Thailand and hit the beach!!
On Sunday, February 1st, our team of 13 builders headed up to Battambang (4-6 hours north of Phnom Penh, depending on obstructions along the way - chickens, ponys, oxen, cows, motorcycles, wedding party processions, trucks, you name it). With a toilet stop and lunch break, it took us 6 hours to reach Battambang, roughly halfway between Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. Why anyone would venture to Battambang, we have yet to figure out. There's really nothing touristy in town except the bamboo railway, but we saw a number of farang kicking around the streets. It's a far stretch from Phnom Penh - many people we met did not speak English. Our team, along with Srei and her staff, were staying at the Khmera Battambang hotel, about 3.5 kms away from downtown. A bit wacked from the drive up, most of the team split up the first evening and went their separate ways to forage for food. I made the trek into town and wandered around, eventually running into Derek so we went to what I can only describe as a Khmer supper club (complete with cheesy music and large open space for parties and dances - anyone from Ottawa who knows about Villa Lucia - think of the Khmer equivalent). We ordered a few dishes with difficulty - 2 of us with no Khmer, 4 waitresses with no English. I *think* we had chicken, duck and beef, but that's yet to be confirmed. We could as easily have eaten cat, pigeon and rat. Amazingly, we didn't get sick (although Derek was later sick but we think from some street pastries that he ate along the way).
I'll come back and give a more lengthy summary later, but the stats are as follows:
Day 1 - 9 houses
Day 2 - 7 houses
Day 3 (morning) - 3 houses
Total: 20 in 2.5 days with 13 people, 4 contractors and 3 Tabitha staff
Not bad! We had 4 contractors with us and really no dead weight in builders, so the construction went really fast. Only one injury, and only a few sick people - Bob was out for the first 1.5 days, Derek on Day 2, and Terry Jr. and his daughter on Day 3. All with GI issues of some sort. I managed to escape unscathed, although I was feeling a bit woozy on Day 2 in the afternoon, but I suspect more from heat stroke than anything. There was something cathartic in doing manual labour after the hell of the last couple of months, so I put alot of energy into pounding nails and just working hard. Call it stress management and hammer therapy. It was a rewarding few days - 20 houses will now house 138 people. That's incredible when you think of it. To see what these families were living in before, they are moving into luxury, a building by our standards would not even qualify as a shed. But it's a huge step up for them.
Our evenings were spent somewhat quietly - most people tired from the day of work. On Tuesday, since 7 of our team was headed to Siam Reap the next afternoon following the build, we had a group dinner at the Smoking Pot, a Thai-Khmer restaurant downtown. Supper for 16 people came to $65!!! The food was pretty good too (in general, food in cambodia is somewhat disappointing when compared to Thailand). Wednesday after the build, only TBA people were left, so we had a lazy afternoon and then wandered down to the Market and out for supper, followed by ice cream. We left in the van the next day to come back to Phnom Penh. I discovered, the hard way, what happens when you fall asleep on a van bench seat in the fetal position and the van stops suddenly. I wasn't amused at being rudely awakened, but those with me were!!
Back in Phnom Penh, we had an appointment with Janne that evening at the Billabong, to discuss the build, plan next year's, and also to plan out what we want to do in June when she visits. It was a great evening actually - I really like Janne, who is a no bullshit type of person, and I greatly admire the work she does. She was telling us some stories of a Canadian orphanage in Phnom Penh 10 years ago where the children were being subjected to orgies and sexual abuse regularly. It was horrific to think that anyone could be capable of such horrors, especially with kids less than 6 years old. You could travel here and never really see the true side of Cambodia, but when you kick away that thin veneer, the reality of this country is sometimes very scary and startling.
Last night was our last night as a team, although it was really only Bob, Wendy, Nate and I left. Everyone else was gone their separate ways already. Personally, I found it hard to say 'see ya later' when I left to go back to my own hotel. After 1.5 weeks of being with the group, heading out alone is both good and bad. I found it a bit difficult to socialize with the larger group, especially with those that I didn't know well, but it was somewhat of a comfort to be around close friends for the first week.
Today, I slept in until 7am, and then went over to the Tabitha office to pick up silk samplers from Janne, and discuss a bit further our event in Ottawa in June. I hooked up with a good tuk-tuk driver in the morning, and decided to go to the Phnom Tamao Zoo. My driver decided that 40 kms in a tuk-tuk was a bad idea, so he suggested that we go to his house, get his motorbike and he would take me on that. Sure!! Why not! In hindsight, may have been a stupid idea had anything happened, but it was alot of fun. He turned out to be a very nice guy (I have no idea how to spell his name!), 30 years old, with god parents in Regina. And he kinda took a shine to me and decided that since we were both single, we should get together! Which made the trip a bit unnerving as I kept having to figure out how to deflect his advances (he really was sweet!), but fun. The drive out to the zoo was loooonnnnggggg, especially on the back of a bike and not driving. Once there, I was accosted by youth who wanted to tour me around. The zoo is also a wildlife refuge and home to all sorts of endangered species. It was a great experience - monkeys and deer roaming free all around you, following you within the enclosures, and many large, wild-space enclosures with animals I have never seen live before. I saw my first Sun Bear - amazing creatures!! And so cute. And a couple of tigers, Asiatic black/brown bears, cranes, herons, crocodiles (lots in the Mekong apparently), mongoose, white squirrels, etc. It was well worth the hour-long ride out there and the return trip where my ass was killing me. Cost me a fortune in payment for the "guides" and the food they brought along to feed the animals, as well as my persistent tuk-tuk driver, but it was worth it.
Tomorrow afternoon I head back to Bangkok for one evening, and catch a mini-bus up to Uthai Thani on Sunday morning to go to Kin's Muay Thai camp. Amazingly, my foot hasn't given me too much problems, so I'm thinking that I can actually train! Maybe not push it, but at least give it a good shot. I'm looking forward to training, but even more looking forward to going down to koh Phangan the next week - beach time!!
More details to come...
On Sunday, February 1st, our team of 13 builders headed up to Battambang (4-6 hours north of Phnom Penh, depending on obstructions along the way - chickens, ponys, oxen, cows, motorcycles, wedding party processions, trucks, you name it). With a toilet stop and lunch break, it took us 6 hours to reach Battambang, roughly halfway between Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. Why anyone would venture to Battambang, we have yet to figure out. There's really nothing touristy in town except the bamboo railway, but we saw a number of farang kicking around the streets. It's a far stretch from Phnom Penh - many people we met did not speak English. Our team, along with Srei and her staff, were staying at the Khmera Battambang hotel, about 3.5 kms away from downtown. A bit wacked from the drive up, most of the team split up the first evening and went their separate ways to forage for food. I made the trek into town and wandered around, eventually running into Derek so we went to what I can only describe as a Khmer supper club (complete with cheesy music and large open space for parties and dances - anyone from Ottawa who knows about Villa Lucia - think of the Khmer equivalent). We ordered a few dishes with difficulty - 2 of us with no Khmer, 4 waitresses with no English. I *think* we had chicken, duck and beef, but that's yet to be confirmed. We could as easily have eaten cat, pigeon and rat. Amazingly, we didn't get sick (although Derek was later sick but we think from some street pastries that he ate along the way).
I'll come back and give a more lengthy summary later, but the stats are as follows:
Day 1 - 9 houses
Day 2 - 7 houses
Day 3 (morning) - 3 houses
Total: 20 in 2.5 days with 13 people, 4 contractors and 3 Tabitha staff
Not bad! We had 4 contractors with us and really no dead weight in builders, so the construction went really fast. Only one injury, and only a few sick people - Bob was out for the first 1.5 days, Derek on Day 2, and Terry Jr. and his daughter on Day 3. All with GI issues of some sort. I managed to escape unscathed, although I was feeling a bit woozy on Day 2 in the afternoon, but I suspect more from heat stroke than anything. There was something cathartic in doing manual labour after the hell of the last couple of months, so I put alot of energy into pounding nails and just working hard. Call it stress management and hammer therapy. It was a rewarding few days - 20 houses will now house 138 people. That's incredible when you think of it. To see what these families were living in before, they are moving into luxury, a building by our standards would not even qualify as a shed. But it's a huge step up for them.
Our evenings were spent somewhat quietly - most people tired from the day of work. On Tuesday, since 7 of our team was headed to Siam Reap the next afternoon following the build, we had a group dinner at the Smoking Pot, a Thai-Khmer restaurant downtown. Supper for 16 people came to $65!!! The food was pretty good too (in general, food in cambodia is somewhat disappointing when compared to Thailand). Wednesday after the build, only TBA people were left, so we had a lazy afternoon and then wandered down to the Market and out for supper, followed by ice cream. We left in the van the next day to come back to Phnom Penh. I discovered, the hard way, what happens when you fall asleep on a van bench seat in the fetal position and the van stops suddenly. I wasn't amused at being rudely awakened, but those with me were!!
Back in Phnom Penh, we had an appointment with Janne that evening at the Billabong, to discuss the build, plan next year's, and also to plan out what we want to do in June when she visits. It was a great evening actually - I really like Janne, who is a no bullshit type of person, and I greatly admire the work she does. She was telling us some stories of a Canadian orphanage in Phnom Penh 10 years ago where the children were being subjected to orgies and sexual abuse regularly. It was horrific to think that anyone could be capable of such horrors, especially with kids less than 6 years old. You could travel here and never really see the true side of Cambodia, but when you kick away that thin veneer, the reality of this country is sometimes very scary and startling.
Last night was our last night as a team, although it was really only Bob, Wendy, Nate and I left. Everyone else was gone their separate ways already. Personally, I found it hard to say 'see ya later' when I left to go back to my own hotel. After 1.5 weeks of being with the group, heading out alone is both good and bad. I found it a bit difficult to socialize with the larger group, especially with those that I didn't know well, but it was somewhat of a comfort to be around close friends for the first week.
Today, I slept in until 7am, and then went over to the Tabitha office to pick up silk samplers from Janne, and discuss a bit further our event in Ottawa in June. I hooked up with a good tuk-tuk driver in the morning, and decided to go to the Phnom Tamao Zoo. My driver decided that 40 kms in a tuk-tuk was a bad idea, so he suggested that we go to his house, get his motorbike and he would take me on that. Sure!! Why not! In hindsight, may have been a stupid idea had anything happened, but it was alot of fun. He turned out to be a very nice guy (I have no idea how to spell his name!), 30 years old, with god parents in Regina. And he kinda took a shine to me and decided that since we were both single, we should get together! Which made the trip a bit unnerving as I kept having to figure out how to deflect his advances (he really was sweet!), but fun. The drive out to the zoo was loooonnnnggggg, especially on the back of a bike and not driving. Once there, I was accosted by youth who wanted to tour me around. The zoo is also a wildlife refuge and home to all sorts of endangered species. It was a great experience - monkeys and deer roaming free all around you, following you within the enclosures, and many large, wild-space enclosures with animals I have never seen live before. I saw my first Sun Bear - amazing creatures!! And so cute. And a couple of tigers, Asiatic black/brown bears, cranes, herons, crocodiles (lots in the Mekong apparently), mongoose, white squirrels, etc. It was well worth the hour-long ride out there and the return trip where my ass was killing me. Cost me a fortune in payment for the "guides" and the food they brought along to feed the animals, as well as my persistent tuk-tuk driver, but it was worth it.
Tomorrow afternoon I head back to Bangkok for one evening, and catch a mini-bus up to Uthai Thani on Sunday morning to go to Kin's Muay Thai camp. Amazingly, my foot hasn't given me too much problems, so I'm thinking that I can actually train! Maybe not push it, but at least give it a good shot. I'm looking forward to training, but even more looking forward to going down to koh Phangan the next week - beach time!!
More details to come...
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