My time in Bangkok

Hello hello,  Im currently travelling through a bit of Thailand and making my way into Cambodia in the next couple days. I arrived in Bangkok and headed straight for Muay Thai camp last Friday. I figured what better thing to do in Thailand than learn the country's sport right? Plus, a little physical activity after 3 weeks of eating and drinking my way through Japan,I kinda needed it.

So quick rundown of the post. Muay Thai camp is a live in gym. You basically dive into the Thai Culture, live,eat and breath Muay Thai. It was FANTASTIC. Bangkok....EPIC. Busy, busy, busy.Never stops,always eating,and one thing to purchase before you come...A shirt that reads, "No Tuk Tuk,No Suit, No Ping Pong." Trust me, it will save you A TON of hassle.

From the second I got through customs at the airport I knew Thailand was gonna be a trip. My camp sent a guy to pick me up that HONESTLY sounded like Mr. Chow from the Hangover. Not only sounded like him,but his mannerisms were down to a T. He told me anything and everything about every where on the 90 min ride to the camp. All while we rocked out to the Backstreet Boys CD. Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely is his favorite song, just so you know. The gym I chose to go to was Sor. Vorpain Gym 2 a HUGE outdoor camp. They have a massive front yard with Coconut, Banana, Mango, and Pappaya trees all over. The ring and bag area is all outdoor under a covering. It was incredible. I was excited to train here, all outside, fresh air. I soon learned that all outside training meant was training in the 90 degree and what felt like 90% humidity. Screw fresh air haha. But just walking into the camp was incredible. It was off the main roads a bit, through a small junglely area. The "roads" to camp were basicially sidewalks on stilts over the swamp that are constantly busy with people, motorcycles and dogs. LOTS OF DOGS.

Pups at camp

Once I made my way through the jungle, I was met by the lady that takes care of the place. She handled it all, food, Laundry, cleaning, taxis, beers, EVERYTHING. Her name was Ma, how perfect right? She had dinner and my single room waiting for me. This was my first taste of real Thai food and it was delicious. Every meal I had there was too good. The one
thing that stands out though and what I will always remember is Ma's fried chicken. Incredible. When I got to camp there was only one other guy there training, Marcus, a German guy who just spent time living in Australia and was now making Thailand his new home. Just though he'd give camp a try and now is talking of staying till the end of the year...awesome right? After dinner a quick email check I headed to bed. I found out training starts early...6:30 run. Needed some rest.


So let me quickly sum up the rest of my week, Ill add a few details in after:

6 am wake up
630 am: Anywhere from a 5 to 10km run. 15 minutes of skipping to follow, then 2 hours of pad work.
930-10, EAT

My Nap Spot

REST/NAP




Repeat at 3 pm.
9pm..BED

Some "Vacation" right? Sounds shitty for some, but honestly one of the best experiences of my life. Besides the HUGE improvement in my Muay Thai skills, my mental game drastically improved. Just to wake up everyday knowing what Id be going through and the focus it took to do it all was awesome. Now, only if jobs back home would take that on a resume....

The morning run alone was incredilbe. 630 in the morning and Im running through the crowded streets of Bangkok, down highways and sketchy jungle sidewalks following my trainer who speaks lil to no english. All while DRENCHED in sweat from the beginning, but somehow with the biggest and goofiest grin on my face.All I could think about while I was doing all this was, WOW Im in Thailand right now and this is really happening. 10Km seemed EASY when I had that in my mind. How many people even think to do that. Probably not many, most of you are smarter than that...Pad work was tough though, soooo fast and intense. The trainers never really pushed you though, well not to the point that you didnt want to be pushed. They could read each person very well, if you wanted to go all out. They took you there. You wanted a rest, you had one. Of course I never said no, never said too much, so they pushed and I pushed back, loved it. 3 rounds of kicking practice, then bag work, then 3 rounds of boxing followed by situps, pushups, pullups, and neck strengthening. This might be the one picture I regret not getting....you bite a rope tied to a block of concrete and do neck raises. Awesome. A couple days sparring after that and within a week my technique and conditioning SKY ROCKETED.

 

Boxing work

 

Pad work

Na, the main trainer, was a champion in his prime,and known and the best clinch fighter. Hes a quite guy at first, lil intimidating, but after a day or two we hit it off. Hes got one of the funniest laughs Ive ever heard and laughs A LOT. Great fun, but hard to spare with a guy like that.On more than one occasion it would end up with both of just laughing at each other, nothing else. The one on one work is great there. Living in the camp you get to know the trainers well, and fast. You train with them, eat with them, hang out with them, everything. Like I said,you Live Muay Thai. One of the best and worst parts of the training was the Thai boxing oil...before the afternoon training session, Na would give me a massage with this oil to warm the body up and loosen the muscles. Imagine Icy Hot or BenGay,menthol basically,but TIMES 10000000. This was some weird mix of herbs with coconut oil. And massage...no physical assault was more like it. The man dug elbows into calves and hamstrings, thumbs between abs, it HURT. But 10 minutes later, after the fire on my body stopped I felt GREAT. So day after day I let the assault go on, but it was probably the reason I could train 7 2adays in a row. Pulled biceps were healed, stiff hamis and calves gone. Unreal. Fresh coconuts after training were common and delicious.

Alec and I, again sorry for the head turn.

Alec the other trainer, is a World Boxing Champion,and a HILARIOUS guy. Tiny man, but I thought he could kill with me one punch,well after sparring with him, maybe 1/2 a punch. But he acted like a 12 year old, practical jokes, laughing at anything, yes for you smart-asses out there, we did get along well thank you. Its funny how a childlike sense of humor can completely knock out a language barrier.Training was fantastic though and Id do it all over again if I had the opportunity, truth be told I may be back before I end this trip..but who knows.

Along with the training, my entire stay was fantastic. My roommate was great, yes I did say single rooms earlier...My roommate was named George. George the Gecko. I sadly do not have any photos of George( its funny how training to the point of exhaustation day after day will make you forget some things) but he was great. About the size of my hand, never moved during day, but thats what freaked me out. I always wondered what he was doing at night, while I was sleeping in the room. So after a bit I learned to sleep with the sheets over my face. I mean George seemed cool, but not that cool. I wasn't taking any chances.

George's and My Room

The Germans and I

Another German guy came to camp while I was there and we all got along great. The camp also has many locals that come and train at the gym,which is how I met Dac. Hes been going to gym the for years, and would end up being one of my sparring partners. Of course, sparring leads to drinking, and Dac was kind of enough to show me around town after camp was finished for me. So 7 days of training twice a day and I was done. Finished. I was in need of a celebration, luckily I was in Bangkok. The night to follow was incredible....

I left the camp on Saturday morning with a lil tear in my eye...whether it was from sadness or both blackeyes I later found out I had( no mom, not bad, just looked like I had on eye shadow) SIDENOTE: Ladyboys....Not cool. I moved to a hostel on Khoa San Rd,the epic backpacker road in Bangkok. TONS of hostels, street vendors, and a million hassling Tuk Tuk drivers and suit sellers.

Khoa San Road

I wandered around for the morning then met up with Dac for dinner and what lead into one hell of a night. So my one night out in Bangkok started at a Japanese restaurant...figures right? Decent food, I mean I consider myself well versed in Japanese cuisine now.. From there we went to a bar with Joe, Dacs buddy from the gym, where we proceeded to polish off a bottle of Whiskey. Otter, Yosh, youd be proud. Basically the best deal is bottle service, and I did more than my share of work on the bottle. I guess all of our hardwork and training back in school was good for something. After the bottle though, we headed to one of their favorite spots in the city, a Jazz bar that Dac played at.

At the jazz bar called Jazz Happens

Dac and Joe knew everyone at this place, patrons, bartenders, owners and all.  The live band playing was made up of music University students that Dac taught, SOOOO good. We ended up closing up the bar and finished with Dac rocking out on the piano. I love how music and alcohol can bring anyone together. Most of the kids I met spoke English, but even the ones that I had ZERO communication with I was rocking out with and swapping stories...which I now realize I didnt understand a word they were saying, just laughing, by the end of the night.
After the jazz bar, the night gets a lil hazy but I know this much... Japanese food, whiskey, a live jazz bar, and I eneded up some how getting scammed by a lil girl into buying a rose....but all in all a goodnight. I mean, I made it back to my hostel just in time to book another night, yes I stumbled home the next day at 1145 am, made the call home to my parents to wish my dad a Happy Birthday( Miss you Dad!! Wish i could have been in Vegas with you guys! I bet the John Dalys just werent the same!) but the main thing...I made it through a night in Bangkok with both pinkies, no ladyboys, and alive. Success.

The next day was recovery, I stumbled out into the day and managed to get some street food then crawl back into bed and proceeded to watch Avatar, Knight and Day( not good), The Expendables, and Anaconda 2. Big day.

First Tuk Tuk

I met up with Mica this morning, funny story about my meeting Mica...Mica and I are friends from UBC. Havent talked to Mica in a while, last memory I have of seeing Mica is a drunk night at the Gallery at UBC doing karaoke, but a couple months ago Mica posted on FB asking if anyone is going to SE Asia soon. I happened to be online at this time and a legendary "comment conversation" followed. We made plans to meet in Asia at some point and see how it goes. We've had one day together in Bangkok and we've made travel "plans", saw 3 Buddas( Big, Lucky, and Laying), got ditched by our Tuk Tuk driver( free ride), and Mica bought a suit. Id say were off to a pretty good start.The Temples here are incredible. We were lucky enough to see the Reclining Budda at night and the artwork and grandeur of these temples really shows then. O and the Tuk Tuks....INSANE.

Outside the Reclining Budda

HUGE

 Were off to Kanachuburi tomorrow afternoon. Tiger Temple, bridge over the river Kwai, and a 7 tier waterfall await...

Hope all is well back home for you guys, miss you lots and I will update again soon! I have a feeling some great stories are coming our way:)

Tyler

Osaka, my home away from home

Konichiwa!

Let me apologize in advance for the length of this update. Its only been 2 weeks since the last one, but I feel like its been months! For a quick update, I'm back in Tokyo, alive and well. I went down to Osaka for a couple unreal days, then headed to help Yoshi out at his family's english camp. I'll be in Tokyo till Friday then off to Bangkok, Thailand.

First off, the Bullet Train...awesome. This train can MOVE. Fastest train in the world, it took us 90 min to go from Tokyo to Osaka which I would later find out takes over 8 hours by bus...Anyways, once in Osaka I knew within my first few hours of wandering the city I was going to love it here. It had the big city feel, busy busy, but not overwhelming and too chaotic like Tokyo. Plus the people just seemed a little bit more welcoming. I was fortunate enough to have Yoshi set me up with a homestay at one of his Family's friends house, the Onos. Not gonna lie, part of me was nervous to be staying with people I've never met and my limited Japanese skills didnt help. The first night in town the Onos took Yoshi, his dad, and I out to dinner. Not just any dinner, an Epic meal I will never forget. It was a beef house, not a steak house, but a BEEF house. The normal parts of a cow were no where to be found. I've never eaten so many weird parts of a cow or even Thought about eating this before.

I ate Cow:

Tongue

1st and 3rd stomach

diaphram

cheeck

heart

colon

aorta

O and raw beef...

All DELICIOUS, well the Aorta and 3rd stomach not so much, but the diaphram and heart were incredible. But now I know for future referece right? Stomach..No, Heart...YES.



Beef Heart



After the gigantic and amazing dinner we headed home and Mrs. Ono showed me to my room:

Classic Japanese style, couldnt ask for more. The next afternoon I went on a bike tour of the city lead by Mrs. Ono. Her son and my translator(thank god) Go, came with us, such a good afternoon. We toured the city and saw a tradionatiol Japanese theater, a neat Catholic church, but the best was Osaka Castle. It was enormous! I could get lost in the outer of the 2 moats alone. We toured the grounds and went up the castle and on our way down Mrs. Ono and Go insited that I take one of the coolest photos of my life. Within 24 hours I was ready to call this place my home away from home. I cant even begin to explain how incredible the Onos were to me.

I could defintely be a Samuri



I cant figure out how to rotate..my bad, this is Mrs. Ono and I in front of Osaka Castle



That evening after the bike tour I headed off into downtown Osaka to meet Yoshi after his last training session for his new job. Our plan was to meet up with a couple of his work friends and go for a casual dinner and drinks, but I knew from the second Yoshi got out of work the look on his face said that was going to be nothing casual about the night. This gut feeling was turned into reality when litre beers were ordered. One thing lead to another and we found ourselves walking out of an Irish pub with some new Russian friends heading to Karaoke. AWESOME. 2 hours of karaoke turned into an All nighter with All you can drink. We emerged from our "studio" with hoarse voices and the lovely scent of whiskey redbulls just in time to see the sunrise.

The next day was complete recovery. Go and I watched Backdraft until　Mrs. Ono got home from work and asked if I wanted to try and make Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki, 2 dishes that Osaka is famous for..UH YES. Okonomiyaki is a mixture of shredded cabbage, green onion, and any type of seafood(squid, shrimp, etc..) and mixed together with an egg/flour base, then panfried, topped with bacon, and covered in sauce. I couldnt ask for anything better.

Takoyaki is basic balls of pancake like batter filled with octopus chunks, green onion, and ginger. Fantastic. But VERY hard to make. I couldnt get the technique down for the life of me.

The night was capped off with with fireworks that we picked up at the firework store, yes a store soley for fireworks, and HUGE fireworks. Any day of the year.

The next day I took off and wandered the city a little bit by myself just to get a feel for the city. For dinne though, Mrs. Ono took Yoshi and her kids out to an area called "New City" which is famous for its skewered, breaded, and deep fried food.  Beef, chicken, veggies, squid, anything. We had beers and skewers all night, but the most interesting was the Doteyaki. It was skewered steak fat boiled & simmered in Miso. Strange, but tasty. I think by now you can see the trend of my days..Eat, Drink, Sleep, repeat. What better way could you spend a vacation?

Doteyaki

After a few short but exciting days in Osaka it was time for Yoshi and I to head to his families english camp. I knew this camp was going to fun, but I wouldnt have imagined it would be that much fun. We had to take a 3 hour ferry ride to the island where Yoshis family held the camp at his grandpas school complex basically. This place was HUGE and beautiful. The camp was basically summer camp for little kids, but with english lessons. Basically we played games all day and taught a lil bit of english. Games like the Hokey Pokey, Simon Says, and then on break time wrestling, card games, and "horsie rides" soon followed. One of my favorite days was when we had to the teach the kids what all the names of facial hair were so they could play Guess Who. So the night before at one of our beer fueled staff planning sessions it was decided that the best way to teach the kids was to draw moustaches, goatees and beards on some of them, such a blast and the kids loved it.

After 5 days of 30 little kids, anywhere from 4-11 years old, we had 32 Grade 10 grls from an Osaka Highschool join the camp. That was a big change up in the teaching criteria, but we got by. Difficult sometimes and pretty stressful, but the girls were hilarious though. The days were filled with any game to make them compete like cherades, blind folded yoga, and pictionary. For their final night  at the camp the girls performed a couple western nursery songs and dances as a thank you which lead into an sing a long of Old Country Road. Perfect. This inspired Yoshi and I to do our own little song and dance then following day at closing ceremonies. Again over a beer and Sake fueld staff meeting that night I was taught a Japanese Nursery song and dance. Little did I know this song wouldnt just be a big hit with the girls in the morning, but help me out through the rest of my time in Japan. Besides the teaching, lets get back to the important things...FOOD. As a final meal we had Sukiyaki. Basically homemade stirfry, but with a raw egg as the sauce, weird but so so good. You cooked everything in a giant pot in front of you, then pulled the beef, veggies, noodles out and dipped them in the egg before slurping it up.

Shrine in Kyoto

I cant say enough about how amazing these kids and staff were at the camp.I met so mainly great people that I hope to keep in close contact with.After 7 days with these little klids you find yourself quite attached. Almost found myself missing them..almost. 24 hours a day, 7 days with little kids made me realize how much work that is and it made Yosh and I both realize how bad we needed a drink. A celebration was in order. We headed right from the Ferry terminal, street beer in hand and headed to Kyoto and had a night of epic proportion. I was singing the nursery song anywhere and everywhere making friends left right and center. The next day of sightseeing historical Kyoto was a struggle to say the least. We battled through a couple shrines and temples then headed back to Osaka. It felt nice to back to somewhere that feels familar, almost like home. It was great to see the Onos again. Maya their eldest daughter had made plans for us to go to an all you can eat skewer place then off to a sports stadium. So after a quick nap i was ready to go. This skewer place was the same food as Mrs. Ono took us to earlier but at this restuarant you battered and fried your own food right at the table, Dangerously tasy. After stuffing our faces we head to "Round One", a complex of every sport and arcade game you could think of. Batting cages, golf, roller blading, mini motor cycle races you name it.

All you can eat skewers

Well that takes me to my last day/night in Osaka. Yosh and I just wandered around the city and ended up at the Umeda Sky Building. Its a large skyscraper with a huge observation deck on the top & awesome architecture. Lucky for us drinking in public is legal, so of course street beers were in hand. Which made for some hilarious pictures and stories, especially the "love seat" on top of the deck. I guess Yosh and mine Bro Love is off the chart...

For the night, Maya made plans to take us to a rooftop all you can drink beer garden then clubbing, dangerous combo. This rooftop was the coolest place I have ever drank a beer before. Gorgeous views and an automatic beer pouring machince. Once we found that the night gets a bit blurry, but a mixture of Wasabi filled Takoyaki roullete, dance battles, lost Ronnie shirts, Japanese chicken nuggets, and green tea followed. O, and topped off with one WICKED hangover. Luckily the only thing I had to do that next day was make a midnight bus to Tokyo. I spent my last day and evening with the Onos,of course with a delicious dinner and complimented with more beers and the best sake I've ever tasted. I cant put into words how lucky I was to meet the Onos. My time in Osaka was perfect and Ive mader lifelong friends from it. I felt like I was welcomed into their family instantly and will miss them all very much.

And Yoshi...what can I say bro? We had an EPIC time, made countless stories, and there will be more to come in December. Thanks for all the hospitality and taking me around Japan. Peace out bro

I miss all you guys back home a ton and I hope all is well!