Well the first week of muay thai training is over. It was a very hard week and I can't believe I have 3 more weeks left. My average day (of which I aspire to) looks something like this: Begin day with a large breakfast and a 4km run down to the gym. Have a 2 hour workout with a muay thai trainer, where we work everything from pad work, to drills, to heavy bag, streching and a wai kruu (more on that later). Go to lunch where I typically order two entrees on the menu, generally a salad with meat and steamed rice with veggies and meat. Hang out and go on the net for a little bit. Go back to the gym and do some cardio work for 20 mins or a half hour and then have a little snack. Do another 2 hour muay thai session followed by the 4 km run home. As well I've been adding in some weight training on alternate days. Then I usually have to lie on my room floor for a little bit to gain enough energy to go to the resort restaurant and order a big dinner.

So it's pretty rediculous as you can see and I'm definately learning to perservere through all the pain that my body gives me. As well I have to perservere through not wanting to eat and forcing more food down otherwise I'll gas during a workout. Throughout the week it is pushing my body to its limits and cracks are beginning to appear. There is always something that is sore and I have finally managed to overcome all the terrible blisters for the most part. My left foot is sore as hell and I'll probably have to get it checked out here in the next few days, as I've got a noticable limp.

I've found that I have to look for the strength to do all this constantly while being away from all that is near and dear from me. That is probably the hardest part so far. I don't think it'd be so hard if I knew I could come home at the end of the day and see my family, or go out with my friends at night, or hold that special girl (she knows who she is..). That all being said, it is very nice to come back to the resort I'm staying at and overlook the ocean and nearby islands after a hard day of work. I'm also learning quite a bit about myself by constantly being alone and forced to introspect. I ask myself every night, why the hell am I going through with this, is it truly making me happy? And then every morning I am dragging myself out of bed to go down to the gym.

As a point of interest, before every muay thai fight, the fighters go through a ritualistic dance called the wai kruu. It's intended to pay respect to their teachers, the "spirits", and it's used as a method to warm up the body and stretch. It is fairly intricate but flexible at the same time, as in there is not a strict method where foot placement is absolutely critical. We practice it every day and I'm getting a feel for it.

Lastly, I am confused at the Thai people's utter reverance for their king. Maybe it's my upbringing in Canada (I actually did a speech on why we should abolish the British monarchy) or my cynicism, but I just don't get it. If anyone can find out why these people love their king so much, please shoot me off an e-mail, because I can't seem to find any reason just by talking with them.

Oh yeah, and no pictures recently because I really haven't seen anything new. It's just the gym and the same walk/run to and from, which is really quite boring.

Well, it's been a few days since a last update, and how am I? Mediocre! Koh Phangan is a beautiful island, almost like paradise...almost. I'm staying in the sleepy little town of Thong Sala, which is exactly that, sleepy. There is almost nothing to do here, there are very, very few backpackers, and everyone just seems interested in World Cup soccer right now.

I'm staying at a beautiful resort, which happens to be located 5km out of town and in the middle of the jungle. I hadn't realized it, but the jungle is VERY noisy at night. Besides the background noise of insects chirping, there is something (I think it might be a bird, but I'm unsure) that is rediculously loud. Imagine every 10-15 minutes, somebody honking a bike horn 4 times right beside your bedroom window, and see how you sleep then. As well, since this is the low season and between full moons (Koh Phangan is known for it's full moon parties and little else), I am the only person staying here. On the bright side, I get very personalized service, everybody is waiting on me hand and foot.

I started my Muay Thai training the other day, and let me tell you, it is among the hardest workouts I have ever done. I don't think I have sweated that much cumulatively in my entire life than I have in the past two workouts. I have to wring my shirt out halfway through the one hour session. Muay Thai is one of the most powerful martial arts because unlike many others, it relies on physic and anatomy of the human body to develop the most power in all of it's strikes. How you might ask? It all revolves around twisting of your body to throw your entire weight into a strike. Because of this you are standing on the balls of your feet the entire time. Since I haven't done this in quite some time, I got blisters on either foot the size of a loonie. So I've spent the past day just lying on my bed, unable to walk or really do anything except read.

And what reading I've done! I've been digging into Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" which is basically an elaboration on his earlier book, "The Elegant Universe." This book provides an apt discussion on special/general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the newest developments in physics in general (relative quantum field theory and string theory). The aim of the book is to provide a description of what space and time actually are and how modern physics interprets them. I would say that for almost anyone this is readable, and I'm having no problems. One of the questions that I have have posed to myself because of this book and my other recently finished book "Grimus" by Salmon Rushdie, is trying to imagine a universe with two time dimensions. Obviously we live in one with one time dimension, or do we...My analogy is regarding the difference between mental/emotional maturity and physical maturity. While physical age cannot be controlled (it just keeps flowing like the sands of time), mental maturity doesn't particularly rely on this time. I find that there are some people who are very physically young, but are very mature, and likewise some older people who act like little kids. So each of these can be considered a time dimension so to speak because they are mutually independant, and rarely do they flow backwards.

So with that I leave you all to go and try to do some weight training. I will update soon when I can get back in the swing of things and travel around the island a bit more.

Well, after the craziness of Bangkok, I am sitting here in a nice little net cafe on the sleepy island of Koh Phangan. I rode the train for 10 hours, a taxi for 2 and a ferry for 3 hours to get here, and it was worth every minute. Whilst on the train, I was looking out the window and it struck me, I saw the sun. Throughout my entire stay in Bangkok, I hadn't seen the sun at all. That just goes to show the utter pollution and smog there.

However, one afternoon while in Bangkok, it began to rain. I'm not talking any wimpy Calgary or even dreary Vancouver rain. I'm talking absolutely POURING rain! I ran across the street and got completely soaked. The streets filled with water (in picture) in about 20 minutes.

I met an interesting girl from Wisconsin and we had a long discussion on the merits of Christianity, Love, Grace, and the nature of religeon while we were both waiting for our respective trains in Bangkok. I am starting to realize that all religions (for me) are equally valid because many of the concepts they are stressing are universal. Basically, be good to your fellow man, and don't indulge too much in life because there are always consequences to be paid for your pleasure.

But Koh Phangan is an amazing place, it is the kind of tropical paradise that I had dreamed about when I orginally started planning my trip. I'll update more pictures of the scenery and me doing Muay Thai in the next week here. But holy crap, time flys when I'm on the internet and it's about double the price on the island.

So here I am in Bangkok. What can I say about this huge, bustling metropolis? Well, it stinks for one. Not all the time, but every couple of minutes I wave of garbage, shit, curry, and lord knows what else smells hits me like a ton of bricks. Then comes the pollution. Looking off my hotel room balcony, I can't see farther than a couple of buildings.

This all being said, I'm having a great time. Yesterday was my first actual day here, and boy was I naive! After walking around for awhile and being approached constantly by tuk-tuk (3 wheeled carts) drivers, I eventually took one offer up for a tour about the city. I went to a few buddhist temples, and got pictures of a giant golden statue. Very touristy, but cool nonetheless.

Then he took me to several suit stores, because if I browsed for awhile he got a free fuel voucher. So at the second one, I gave in and ordered a linen suit. When in Rome...

Then I got scammed. I asked to be taken to a nice restaurant, and he did. It was a great fish market type place, where you pick out what you want and they cook it up for you. So I picked out these 4 HUGE prawns that were sitting in ice. I've never seen prawns this size, they were the length of my forearm! Stupid me though, they never gave me a chance to ask the price (or I was just silly enough not to ask) so I sat down to an absolutely incredible meal (pictured). The spice was just right, oh man, I'll be thinking about how good it was for QUITE awhile. And then...I got slapped (across the face it felt like) with the bill. 2400 baht. While it was the best meal I've had in a long time, that's a rediculous price even for Canada. So lesson learned, don't have ANY faith in tuk-tuk drivers and ALWAYS ask the price of everything.

After all this happened, I decided that I was bitter, a little angry, and in need of a nap. The evening hit and I forced myself to go out and grab a beer. I ended up meeting a hilarious Australian dude who was travelling alone and his American buddy he met as well. They were both ending their trips and gave me some great advice and told me that everyone gets scammed at least once, so I didn't feel that bad. I had some great discussion on the merits of various beers, how to tell a lady-boy from a girl, and life in general. Those in wonder, lady-boys tend to have longer arms, are taller, have veins in their arms, and usually the best legs in the bar (weird, huh?). Very good advice.

What else can I say? Everything is dirt cheap here, t-shirts are 3 dollars, and shorts are 6; all are decent quality too. Thai people are very nice, but they most just want my money. Bankok is fun, but I'm already itchin to get out of here. Muay Thai and white sandy beaches are calling my name, and the train ride down south is coming up quick. So here's a picture of me doing my best impression of the stereotypical backpacker.

To everyone that came out on my last night, I say thank you. An upward clenched fist is also shook in your general direction however. This is the morning of, and I am so hammered STILL! If I offended (even mildly) last night, I apologize but my last clear memory was Brendan sneaking me into the "free liquour room" to smuggle booze (for me to promptly spill).

Let's just say that I woke up to my parents phoning me at 6am wondering what the hell I'm doing. It got messy.

So here I am, mostly ready to go and still gunned. 18 hours of flying is going to be fun (?). As I was repeating like a fool last night, to anyone and everyone, please send me an e-mail. I'll respond, but I always have a hard time making the intial e-mail.

So here I am, sitting in Sundance, impatiently waiting for tommorow to arrive. 24 hours to go, and the realization that I'm going away from Canada for a long time is setting in. As I write this, the thought that struck me was I have never left Canada for more than 2 weeks at a time.

I had recently spent the weekend in Kimberley, BC with the beautiful lady pictured. BC really does feel like God's country (if there is such a thing for you post-modernists out there). I amazed myself at how much of a city boy I actually am. I was sitting on a porch relatively early in the evening and something felt off. I looked about and scratched my chin, wondering what it could be. And then it hit me like a tonne of bricks, the silence was overwhelming. I could hear my own heart beat and I realize how weird that is for that to be a foreign experience to me.

On the bus ride to Kimberley, I finished an amazing book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. This is an amazing book which I highly recommend to everyone, as it was the basis for the sci-fi classic movie, Bladerunner. One of the concepts that is dealt with in the novel is wildlife and how important they truly are to man. The novel is set after a nuclear war, and it is considered a rare and holy experience to see an animal in it's natural habitat. Considering the only wildlife I see in Calgary are the damn rabbits everywhere, going to Kimberley and seeing moose, deer and elk about was a bit of a shocker. Living in a city really does have it's drawbacks, and now in perspective it feels very dehumanizing (even though people are everywhere!).

This all being said, I'm going to miss Calgary. My friends, family and all the random people make this city great. So I don't know what else to write other than I'm excited to get the hell out of Canada for awhile and see the world. So here's a picture of me and Andy acting like fools:

Wow, 10 days away from an experience of a lifetime. Also, 1 day away from moving back home, the old adage is true that things get worse before they get better.

So for those who don't know me, here's a picture of me in full party getup. I recently graduated from the University of Calgary with a Degree in Pure Mathematics and I'm off to Thailand this summer. The goal you may ask, well nothing less than enlightenment, the cure to world hunger (or cancer, I guess), and to get that elusive perfect tan. Seriously, I see this as an opportunity to learn Muay Thai/MMA, use it as a balance to 5 years of hard mental work, and hopefully get on the right track on answers to the big questions in life. We'll see how that goes.


So what is Muay Thai so many people ask? There have been many misconceptions portrayed in the media as to what Thai boxing is. It is a martial art based on striking that utilizes many of the concepts that Bruce Lee expounded in his landmark book The Tao of Jeet Kun Do (amazing for an art that is 2000 years old). What are those you may ask? Unlike traditional martial arts (karate, aikido, kung-fu, etc..), there are no forms/katas and the training is often done at full power. Sparring is regular, and the training incorporates many ideas that modern fitness is just coming around to (interval stretching, core exersizes, etc..). Power is key in Muay Thai, and therefore there is no flicking of your strikes. Your roll your hips through every strike, and therefore get the most momentum. I have 2 years of Muay Thai experience through Mike Miles Kickboxing in Calgary, but that was a couple of years ago. What better way to get back into it than go to the homeland?

So there are more updates to come, so enjoy!