Late Sunday through Tuesday night.....

Wow, so much to say!!! Sunday night we had a nice chill dinner at Cocoville, just in time for a crazy thunderstorm to come through that lasted for several hours. What was hysterical was when we came back to the bungalow the geckos outside must've also been frightened as we had one in the kitchen on the floor!!!! After much wrangling, we managed to scoop him up with a plate and put him back outside with his mates. I don't think he was there to sell us any insurance. Sunday night we were still super exhausted and went to bed early. Again :)

Monday morning came and so did the first day of training!! It felt like the first day of school! Ann went to yoga at 7am, and I went to the first Muay Thai class of the day from 8am-10:30. Whoa. Total wake up call that I was no longer at a nice climate controlled gym in Chicago. Heat, humidity, smoke coming from somewhere, all combined to make me almost not finish that first class. It was brutal. What was not brutal however, was my newfound appreciation for the past few Muay Thai instructors I have had over the years, including but not limited to Marko Damiani, Brad Hatfield, and Steve Kinnison. If I hadn't been working with these guys, I would've been totally in the dark. So I at least knew the moves, even the crazy clinches (thanks Steve :) ) So that was a huge bonus. I also can't stress enough what an out of body experience it was walking to that first class. In Thailand. In Phuket. Hot and sultry at 7:30am. Roosters crowing. The smack of thai bags already filling the air even at that hour. Magical and surreal, and something I have dreamed about for years. It will be very tough to leave, but I have to focus on getting back within the next year or so, it's too amazing of an area to not return to frequently.

So training on Monday was rough. Nothing happened in the afternoon because I felt like I had been beaten. Which, I guess I had! Though I will say sparring again felt amazing. We had dinner at the restaurant next door to us....I had spaghetti bolognese, Ann had an interesting omelet with thai noodles and prawns. It was pretty good. We slept like the dead for the first time since being in Phuket on Monday.

Tuesday morning, same scenario. Yoga for Ann, 8am Muay Thai class for me. Today was a MUCH better day. Likely getting accustomed to the weather, learning how to hydrate properly, etc. Tough class, but made it through all drills fairly well!! Conditioning seems to be getting better already. Tomorrow I have two one-on-ones, with the strength training guy in the morning, and then a Muay Thai pt in the afternoon, which should be fun considering he speaks zero English and my thai continues to suck! But it's all good. One of the trainers is offering to do a bamboo tattoo for me also, so that's on the To Do list. Again sadly, there is so much to do before we leave certain things just won't get done. Sucks. On the way back from class, picked up some amazing fruit from a mobile fruit stand, mangoes sliced to order, fresh bananas, etc. Awesome.

So spirits were high in the afternoon so we decided to visit Chalong Bay for dinner. This place is known for their fresh seafood, and we treated ourselves to one of the nicest restaurants out there. Some of the pics are not converting to the ipad, but as soon as they do, I will upload them. The biggest tiger prawns ever, fresh crab and squid, fresh soup....and oh, this was all sitting alongside 10 feet from Chalong Bay. Pretty amazing. Pics to follow. We passed some cool neighborhoods too, with additional things to add to our to do list. So tomorrow should be a good day. More training, and maybe another grocery store run to Tesco. This is paradise and I don't want to wake up......