If you'd like to read in chronological order, start with "Arriving at Bangkok."
You can use the list on the right.
Photographs:
http://picasaweb.google.com/quarup/20080422ThailandTrip
http://picasaweb.google.com/shirleyliu/ThailandBangkokChiangMaiPhuketKohPhiPhi
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Back to Work!
2008/05/03 - Saturday (finally got around to write about the last few days)
During the last day (April 21) in Phi Phi, we mostly vegged out at the beach and lamented about splitting apart and going back to work. Shirley and I would start making our way back to San Francisco, while Phuong and Katie would stay in Asia for another month or so. We all drowned our sorrows in many tropical smoothies and shakes.
Shirley and I began our way back starting 2:30pm local time to arrive in San Francisco a mere 63 hours later:
The entire trip cost about US$1300 in transportation and US$600 in lodging, food, entertainment, and souvenirs (excluding the US$261 painting).
It is remarkable that no drama ensued throughout the whole trip. We were all pretty flexible and understandable of each other. I'm proud of us.
During the last day (April 21) in Phi Phi, we mostly vegged out at the beach and lamented about splitting apart and going back to work. Shirley and I would start making our way back to San Francisco, while Phuong and Katie would stay in Asia for another month or so. We all drowned our sorrows in many tropical smoothies and shakes.
Shirley and I began our way back starting 2:30pm local time to arrive in San Francisco a mere 63 hours later:
- Phi Phi -> Phuket (boat)
- Phuket -> Bangkok (plane)
- Bangkok -> Taipei (plane)
- Taipei -> San Francisco (plane)
At the time we got to the Phuket airport, Shirley and I were psychologically ready to come back to San Francisco. As to prove this point, I ate two plates of spaghetti and Shirley ate a cheeseburger. Another customer tried taking Shirley's cheeseburger and she almost went berserk.
During our 12-hour layover at the Bangkok airport, Shirley and I looked for the best available benches for sleeping. I thought of homeless people in New York.
We were ready for the San Francisco weather once again, where it is sunny but not enough to cook you alive. The humidity in Thailand sucks. I was glad to be back.
The entire trip cost about US$1300 in transportation and US$600 in lodging, food, entertainment, and souvenirs (excluding the US$261 painting).
It is remarkable that no drama ensued throughout the whole trip. We were all pretty flexible and understandable of each other. I'm proud of us.
Islands, Paradise, and Efficiency
2008/04/20 - Sunday (night)
Three days to catch up... here we go!
As you know, we abruptly decided to head down to Phuket on Friday. We were totally ready for something completely different. So everybody spent Friday making a way down to the islands. Phuong and Katie left late and took an overnight bus to Bangkok and flew to Phuket. Shirley and I took the lazy route by flying to Bangkok and then Phuket.
At the Bangkok airport, Shirley and I came across some (suspiciously looking) spaghetti bolognese, exuberantly priced at 240 bahts (about US$8), which is approximately five times the price of a typical Thai dish in most places. We both ate it in an attempt to appease our withdraw symptoms. It tasted amazing. Katie would not approve.
Since we arrived at Phuket province before Phuong and Katie, we stayed at a hotel (Karon Living Room) in Karon (after surviving a memorable rip off attempt from the private transportation company at the airport--ask me for details). Our hotel was the first (and really only) full-blown hotel accommodation. We noticed two prominent things about it:
On Saturday, Shirley and I went to Karon beach. On the walk there, we came across multiple interesting signs. Two that stood out: "We serve coffee, tea, and breakfart." and "Porn Beauty Salon and Massage." I think the word "Porn" actually means something different in Thai, but I didn't get any help from google.com, which returned what you would expect.
The beach itself was nice, although not much more memorable than the one I saw in Rio the year before. Shirley and I played arithmetic and word association games. During lunch, we had an unmatchable banana shake.
We then took a bus downtown to meet up with Phuong and Katie at our next hostel (Phuket Backpackers).
Unfortunately, we took the bus to the wrong stop, which resulted in an aggravating hike (carrying our backpacks) including failed attempts at getting directions from puzzled locals.
Upon arrival, I must admit I was a bit appalled at our room:
Note: We ended up moving to another room because one of our fans was broken.
Today was (in my opinion) our best day in the trip. This morning, we came to Phi Phi (pronounced "pee pee"... hehe) island where we proceeded to find some (air-conditioned) rooms (500 bahts or about US$16 a person). Phi Phi is prety expensive, but I personally think our haggling skills have been impressively sharpened throughout the trip!
Here's how each of the two rooms looked like:
I particularly liked our door locks:
We took an awesome sunset boat tour around the surrounding islands. Here are some attempts to capture the encompassing beauty:
Phuong noted that although the temples we previously saw were amazing, they were also what was expected from seeing them in photographs. The natural beauty from these islands, however, is impossible to be experienced through mere two-dimensional photographs. Instead, you have to be there to not only see everything around you, but to also feel the sun and breeze on your skin, and to be able to smell the water and sand.
During the tour, we also went snorkeling, kayaking, and diving off the boat--the last being questionably safe.
While we snorkeled, the locals threw food crumbs near us, which caused swarms of fish to rush right there next to us. The feeling of their brushing against our skin was kind of strange. Shirley attempted grabbing some of the fish, but their fins proved to be faster than her hands.
Phuong and I kayaked under some overhangs where we spotted some crabs. They proved to be shy as well.
We spent some time at a beautiful island (where apparently they shot some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio) and the locals proceeded to kick the tourists' asses in soccer. I made a goal against my own team.
At night, I found an awesome original oil painting by a local artist (whose name escapes me). He based the painting off two photographs (both printed in National Geographic). Here are the original photographs:
Marakesh by Matthias Stolt
Tuareg by Pascal Maitre
Here I am next to the painting with receipt in hand:
The sellers considered the photograph strange. I considered it proof of purchase in case the painting goes missing on its way to California.
The painting cost a total of US$261.56 including shipping and credit card surcharges.
At night, Phuong and I watched an awesome fire show. The easiest way to describe it is this. Imagine ravers dancing with glowsticks attached to strings:
Now replace the glowsticks with fire:
Note: Random photograph stolen from the web.
One of the performers also used rods with fire on both ends.
For better or worse, the music consisted mostly of American rock, pop, and some sort of techno.
Unfortunately, my camera was out of batteries. But once again, photographs would do injustice to the original performance.
A while back, my roommate Andy noted how in break dancing, even the best dancers have a hard time keeping in beat as they do the more advanced (acrobatic) power moves. But during the fire show, the performers always performed to the beat, even as they tossed and juggled the fire, accurately changing tempo with the music. One of the performers would "spit fire" (i.e. vodka into flames) at climactic moments in the song. Bartenders in the States look cheesy and unimpressive attempting the same.
As a grand finale, all performers went up front together. The trails of light from the fire made an amazing contrast against the night's background of darkness. I only hope to keep these memories forever.
Three days to catch up... here we go!
As you know, we abruptly decided to head down to Phuket on Friday. We were totally ready for something completely different. So everybody spent Friday making a way down to the islands. Phuong and Katie left late and took an overnight bus to Bangkok and flew to Phuket. Shirley and I took the lazy route by flying to Bangkok and then Phuket.
At the Bangkok airport, Shirley and I came across some (suspiciously looking) spaghetti bolognese, exuberantly priced at 240 bahts (about US$8), which is approximately five times the price of a typical Thai dish in most places. We both ate it in an attempt to appease our withdraw symptoms. It tasted amazing. Katie would not approve.
Since we arrived at Phuket province before Phuong and Katie, we stayed at a hotel (Karon Living Room) in Karon (after surviving a memorable rip off attempt from the private transportation company at the airport--ask me for details). Our hotel was the first (and really only) full-blown hotel accommodation. We noticed two prominent things about it:
- We had our own TV! In commemoration, we (partly) watched some James Bonds movie. Coincidentally, I later found out an earlier James Bonds movie was shot at one of these islands!
- The Japanese are well known for their amazing efficiency--especially in the automotive industry. Well, even Toyota's CEO's jaw would drop when he found out the Thai found a way to shit, shower, and shave at the same time!
Note: I later found out that our subsequent accommodations provided similar convenience:
On Saturday, Shirley and I went to Karon beach. On the walk there, we came across multiple interesting signs. Two that stood out: "We serve coffee, tea, and breakfart." and "Porn Beauty Salon and Massage." I think the word "Porn" actually means something different in Thai, but I didn't get any help from google.com, which returned what you would expect.
The beach itself was nice, although not much more memorable than the one I saw in Rio the year before. Shirley and I played arithmetic and word association games. During lunch, we had an unmatchable banana shake.
We then took a bus downtown to meet up with Phuong and Katie at our next hostel (Phuket Backpackers).
Unfortunately, we took the bus to the wrong stop, which resulted in an aggravating hike (carrying our backpacks) including failed attempts at getting directions from puzzled locals.
Upon arrival, I must admit I was a bit appalled at our room:
Note: We ended up moving to another room because one of our fans was broken.
Today was (in my opinion) our best day in the trip. This morning, we came to Phi Phi (pronounced "pee pee"... hehe) island where we proceeded to find some (air-conditioned) rooms (500 bahts or about US$16 a person). Phi Phi is prety expensive, but I personally think our haggling skills have been impressively sharpened throughout the trip!
Here's how each of the two rooms looked like:
I particularly liked our door locks:
We took an awesome sunset boat tour around the surrounding islands. Here are some attempts to capture the encompassing beauty:
Phuong noted that although the temples we previously saw were amazing, they were also what was expected from seeing them in photographs. The natural beauty from these islands, however, is impossible to be experienced through mere two-dimensional photographs. Instead, you have to be there to not only see everything around you, but to also feel the sun and breeze on your skin, and to be able to smell the water and sand.
During the tour, we also went snorkeling, kayaking, and diving off the boat--the last being questionably safe.
While we snorkeled, the locals threw food crumbs near us, which caused swarms of fish to rush right there next to us. The feeling of their brushing against our skin was kind of strange. Shirley attempted grabbing some of the fish, but their fins proved to be faster than her hands.
Phuong and I kayaked under some overhangs where we spotted some crabs. They proved to be shy as well.
We spent some time at a beautiful island (where apparently they shot some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio) and the locals proceeded to kick the tourists' asses in soccer. I made a goal against my own team.
At night, I found an awesome original oil painting by a local artist (whose name escapes me). He based the painting off two photographs (both printed in National Geographic). Here are the original photographs:
Marakesh by Matthias Stolt
Tuareg by Pascal Maitre
Here I am next to the painting with receipt in hand:
The sellers considered the photograph strange. I considered it proof of purchase in case the painting goes missing on its way to California.
The painting cost a total of US$261.56 including shipping and credit card surcharges.
At night, Phuong and I watched an awesome fire show. The easiest way to describe it is this. Imagine ravers dancing with glowsticks attached to strings:
Now replace the glowsticks with fire:
Note: Random photograph stolen from the web.
One of the performers also used rods with fire on both ends.
For better or worse, the music consisted mostly of American rock, pop, and some sort of techno.
Unfortunately, my camera was out of batteries. But once again, photographs would do injustice to the original performance.
A while back, my roommate Andy noted how in break dancing, even the best dancers have a hard time keeping in beat as they do the more advanced (acrobatic) power moves. But during the fire show, the performers always performed to the beat, even as they tossed and juggled the fire, accurately changing tempo with the music. One of the performers would "spit fire" (i.e. vodka into flames) at climactic moments in the song. Bartenders in the States look cheesy and unimpressive attempting the same.
As a grand finale, all performers went up front together. The trails of light from the fire made an amazing contrast against the night's background of darkness. I only hope to keep these memories forever.
Delectable Culinary and Dreadful Tour
2008/04/18 - Friday
I lost my camera. And then I found it again. Yessss!
Wednesday, Shirley and I took a cooking class at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. Fancy schmanzy! Here's what we cooked (names loosely adapted to my liking):
A peer cooking pupil from Colorado asserted this rose has been the highlight of his entire one-month trip to Thailand. I sensed a trace of sarcasm.
I was so excited about our class that I told Shirley we should open up a restaurant back in the Bay area--she cooks and I carve. Another cooking student suggested at least one of us should keep our day job. I nominated Shirley.
Wednesday night, all four of us went to a traditional Thai dinner, which included performances of local music, dances, and other arts.
The dinner itself contained a bunch of fried stuff, including some ingredients I recognized from class earlier. We also had Thai whiskey (just as repulsive as its American counterpart) and ate on the ground using our hands for some of the dishes.
Part of the performance was held outdoors. They showed a hill tribe dance using bamboos, which I had actually learned in the Brazilian boyscouts:
I decided to make everybody try this out (possibly during a bonfire) on my next birthday. Bring your dancing feet!
Yesterday (Thursday), we took the most boring tour ever imaginable. We probably spent a total of nine hours in the car. It started with a trip to a magnificent five feet hot spring. Nobody was impressed enough to bother taking a picture.
Then we went to the "Golden Triangle," which is where three countries (Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos) meet:
We stopped by the northern most point in Thailand:
But after further exploration, I found an even more northern point, which was actually a mere shopping stand:
The locals were perplexed with why I was taking this picture. They kept pointing me to the fake touristy spot instead. But I knew better.
Afterwards, our tour group went to visit some local tribes. The four of us waited by the van while others went to ogle the long necks.
At last, we thankfully headed home. During that time, Shirley taught me the theory of using an abacus for arithmetic. We then practiced arithmetic problems (and numbers in Chinese) for three hours. Shirley noticed some dirty (if not threatening) looks from others in the car.
I somewhat felt bad for our tour guide. Put yourself in his shoes: imagine routinely conducting a tour where you have to act really excited but really know it is actually completely boring. On top of that, whenever you throw out a corny pre-canned joke to pick up people's spirits, they respond with some grunts and half-hearted fake laughs. And then you ask, "so you guys wanna do some shopping now?" To which no one really says yes, and some people mumble "can we go home now?" But you can't take them home yet because they signed up for the whole damn tour that includes shopping, and you're obligated to take them shopping.
We decided against another tour today. To Phuket we go!
I lost my camera. And then I found it again. Yessss!
Wednesday, Shirley and I took a cooking class at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. Fancy schmanzy! Here's what we cooked (names loosely adapted to my liking):
- Noob Soup
- Burnt Fried Noodles
(No photo record.) - More Stir Fried Stuff
- Tasteless (Shirley's was Significantly Tastier) Curry
(No photo record.) - Spicy as Hell Green Papaya Salad
- Tasty Banana-Coconut Dessert
A peer cooking pupil from Colorado asserted this rose has been the highlight of his entire one-month trip to Thailand. I sensed a trace of sarcasm.
I was so excited about our class that I told Shirley we should open up a restaurant back in the Bay area--she cooks and I carve. Another cooking student suggested at least one of us should keep our day job. I nominated Shirley.
Wednesday night, all four of us went to a traditional Thai dinner, which included performances of local music, dances, and other arts.
The dinner itself contained a bunch of fried stuff, including some ingredients I recognized from class earlier. We also had Thai whiskey (just as repulsive as its American counterpart) and ate on the ground using our hands for some of the dishes.
Part of the performance was held outdoors. They showed a hill tribe dance using bamboos, which I had actually learned in the Brazilian boyscouts:
I decided to make everybody try this out (possibly during a bonfire) on my next birthday. Bring your dancing feet!
Yesterday (Thursday), we took the most boring tour ever imaginable. We probably spent a total of nine hours in the car. It started with a trip to a magnificent five feet hot spring. Nobody was impressed enough to bother taking a picture.
Then we went to the "Golden Triangle," which is where three countries (Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos) meet:
We stopped by the northern most point in Thailand:
But after further exploration, I found an even more northern point, which was actually a mere shopping stand:
The locals were perplexed with why I was taking this picture. They kept pointing me to the fake touristy spot instead. But I knew better.
Afterwards, our tour group went to visit some local tribes. The four of us waited by the van while others went to ogle the long necks.
At last, we thankfully headed home. During that time, Shirley taught me the theory of using an abacus for arithmetic. We then practiced arithmetic problems (and numbers in Chinese) for three hours. Shirley noticed some dirty (if not threatening) looks from others in the car.
I somewhat felt bad for our tour guide. Put yourself in his shoes: imagine routinely conducting a tour where you have to act really excited but really know it is actually completely boring. On top of that, whenever you throw out a corny pre-canned joke to pick up people's spirits, they respond with some grunts and half-hearted fake laughs. And then you ask, "so you guys wanna do some shopping now?" To which no one really says yes, and some people mumble "can we go home now?" But you can't take them home yet because they signed up for the whole damn tour that includes shopping, and you're obligated to take them shopping.
We decided against another tour today. To Phuket we go!
Temples, Rafting, Elephants, and Sarongs
2008/04/15 - Tuesday
Yesterday, we did the signature touristy stuff in Bangkok. We went to the two main temples: Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew. We saw a lot of magnificently tall buildings created in gold and sheltering beautiful Buddha statues--all product of thousands and thousands of hours of monk labor. Here are two such edifices:
Which of the two is more beautiful?
It so happens that only the first one is a real building--the second one is just a small fixture mounted on a hand rail.
These photographs were just part of an experiment to see how difficult it is to have an accurate sense of scale when there are no other known objects or people around. Inspired by a conversation with Phuong.
Anyway, we saw so many temples that I started getting alarming flashbacks of Portugal/Spain. More on that some other time. After we were templed out, we took a nine hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, which is where we are now.
One last word about Bangkok: if you ride taxis, ask the driver to use the meter before even getting in the car.
Today, we took a day tour for the following things:
In a nutshell, this village actually makes a lot of pretty sarongs to sell tourists. The tourists, however, actually blatantly come to see the female villagers wearing long coils around their necks.
None of us felt very comfortable with this. Personally, I felt guilty to watch villagers as if they were on display--somewhat analogous to people going to a carnival to watch a "freak show"--although I'd never consider these beautiful people freaks by any means!
Phuong made an interesting comment of how one young villager girl was wearing a ton of make-up possibly just to please tourists such as ourselves. That's depressing. I made one small weak mental argument to myself that long necks are signs of beauty in their culture, so these people may feel flattered to be seen by tourists. That argument does not go very far. I didn't have the heart to pull my camera out of my pocket.
Phuong was sad, but pointed out tourism may be helping the village's community, which agreed to these arrangements.
Katie was also sad because they seem to rely on commercial tourism (taking away from their original culture) to survive.
We all bought sarongs (I'll find someone to wear mine) at full price (200 baht, approximately US$7) to support their village. But I don't think any of us feels comfortable enough to go back.
Yesterday, we did the signature touristy stuff in Bangkok. We went to the two main temples: Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew. We saw a lot of magnificently tall buildings created in gold and sheltering beautiful Buddha statues--all product of thousands and thousands of hours of monk labor. Here are two such edifices:
Which of the two is more beautiful?
It so happens that only the first one is a real building--the second one is just a small fixture mounted on a hand rail.
These photographs were just part of an experiment to see how difficult it is to have an accurate sense of scale when there are no other known objects or people around. Inspired by a conversation with Phuong.
Anyway, we saw so many temples that I started getting alarming flashbacks of Portugal/Spain. More on that some other time. After we were templed out, we took a nine hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, which is where we are now.
One last word about Bangkok: if you ride taxis, ask the driver to use the meter before even getting in the car.
Today, we took a day tour for the following things:
- orchid garden
- white water rafting
(Photo to be scanned) - bamboo rafting
(Photo contains random people we don't know.) - elephant riding
- long neck village
In a nutshell, this village actually makes a lot of pretty sarongs to sell tourists. The tourists, however, actually blatantly come to see the female villagers wearing long coils around their necks.
None of us felt very comfortable with this. Personally, I felt guilty to watch villagers as if they were on display--somewhat analogous to people going to a carnival to watch a "freak show"--although I'd never consider these beautiful people freaks by any means!
Phuong made an interesting comment of how one young villager girl was wearing a ton of make-up possibly just to please tourists such as ourselves. That's depressing. I made one small weak mental argument to myself that long necks are signs of beauty in their culture, so these people may feel flattered to be seen by tourists. That argument does not go very far. I didn't have the heart to pull my camera out of my pocket.
Phuong was sad, but pointed out tourism may be helping the village's community, which agreed to these arrangements.
Katie was also sad because they seem to rely on commercial tourism (taking away from their original culture) to survive.
We all bought sarongs (I'll find someone to wear mine) at full price (200 baht, approximately US$7) to support their village. But I don't think any of us feels comfortable enough to go back.
American Holidays Suck
2008/04/14 - Monday (8:15am)
The American New Year celebration is not even worthy of comparison against the Thai New Year celebration.
Lasting three days (April 13 through 15), their ceremony involves lots and lots of water. To any ignorant foreigner such as myself, it looks like a huge water fight with water guns, water hoses, buckets, and other creative apparatuses to dispense water on others. People also smear what we later learned to be chalk onto others' faces and bodies. To us, this seemed to be a way to get others completely dirty as an excuse to drench them with water afterwards.
In truth, this started many years ago as a Buddhist tradition where people paid respect to one another by pouring some lustral water on others' hands and shoulders to rinse away the bad that happened throughout the past year. The chalk was used by monks as a mark of blessing. Unfortunately, this beautiful original meaning has been largely lost throughout the years, giving way to a yearly excuse to play and party. However, not everyone has forgotten the original spiritual meaning of this festival. A small minority stand near the less crowded areas and serenely put chalk on others while wishing a happy new year, following with a small respectful bow.
Even for those (myself included) that do not fully comprehend the meaning of this magnificent celebration, the Thai new year is still a very friendly way for people to connect at a personal level. Everyone joins the party: children, elders, tourists, cab drivers, even government officials!
(Or is he a security guard?)
Phuong and I were having a hard time coming up with an analogous American celebration. Phuong pointed out Mardi Gras, where drunkards roam the streets using bead necklaces as currency to persuade women to show their breasts.
I much Prefer Thai New Year.
Sa-wat-di pi mai.
The American New Year celebration is not even worthy of comparison against the Thai New Year celebration.
Lasting three days (April 13 through 15), their ceremony involves lots and lots of water. To any ignorant foreigner such as myself, it looks like a huge water fight with water guns, water hoses, buckets, and other creative apparatuses to dispense water on others. People also smear what we later learned to be chalk onto others' faces and bodies. To us, this seemed to be a way to get others completely dirty as an excuse to drench them with water afterwards.
In truth, this started many years ago as a Buddhist tradition where people paid respect to one another by pouring some lustral water on others' hands and shoulders to rinse away the bad that happened throughout the past year. The chalk was used by monks as a mark of blessing. Unfortunately, this beautiful original meaning has been largely lost throughout the years, giving way to a yearly excuse to play and party. However, not everyone has forgotten the original spiritual meaning of this festival. A small minority stand near the less crowded areas and serenely put chalk on others while wishing a happy new year, following with a small respectful bow.
Even for those (myself included) that do not fully comprehend the meaning of this magnificent celebration, the Thai new year is still a very friendly way for people to connect at a personal level. Everyone joins the party: children, elders, tourists, cab drivers, even government officials!
(Or is he a security guard?)
Phuong and I were having a hard time coming up with an analogous American celebration. Phuong pointed out Mardi Gras, where drunkards roam the streets using bead necklaces as currency to persuade women to show their breasts.
I much Prefer Thai New Year.
Sa-wat-di pi mai.
Thai Boxing and Its Dance
2008/04/13 - Sunday (7:30am)
The most amazing thing yesterday was the Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) series of matches we saw. This is how they went:
First, the two fighters participate in a sort of ceremonial dance, wearing traditional flowers necklaces and rope crowns. This dance not only serves as a way to become mentally and spiritually ready for the fight, but also to stretch their muscles.
It's impossible to understand the feeling of watching a fight unless you're there in flesh and bone. Watching a match over TV allows you to become emotionally detached from the actual fighters. But when you see them in front of you, wincing with splashing sweat at each blow to the ribs, you feel how seriously real these people are. They're not just trained fighters, but they're human beings strategically dealing and suffering a lot of pain.
This is how the actual fights usually go:
The fighters usually start very defensively, waiting for an opening to hit the opponent at long range without wasting excessive energy. As the fights progress, energy and emotion start taking over and the fighters become more aggressive and reactive (you get points for effectively countering moves). Towards the end, they are mostly gripping each other and kneeing each other's ribs. They look in pain.
Of course, not all fights follow this pattern. The best fighter (in my opinion) took down his opponent with a (triple?) knockout during the first round. Maybe not coincidentally, he also had the coolest dance.
The most amazing thing yesterday was the Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) series of matches we saw. This is how they went:
First, the two fighters participate in a sort of ceremonial dance, wearing traditional flowers necklaces and rope crowns. This dance not only serves as a way to become mentally and spiritually ready for the fight, but also to stretch their muscles.
It's impossible to understand the feeling of watching a fight unless you're there in flesh and bone. Watching a match over TV allows you to become emotionally detached from the actual fighters. But when you see them in front of you, wincing with splashing sweat at each blow to the ribs, you feel how seriously real these people are. They're not just trained fighters, but they're human beings strategically dealing and suffering a lot of pain.
This is how the actual fights usually go:
The fighters usually start very defensively, waiting for an opening to hit the opponent at long range without wasting excessive energy. As the fights progress, energy and emotion start taking over and the fighters become more aggressive and reactive (you get points for effectively countering moves). Towards the end, they are mostly gripping each other and kneeing each other's ribs. They look in pain.
Of course, not all fights follow this pattern. The best fighter (in my opinion) took down his opponent with a (triple?) knockout during the first round. Maybe not coincidentally, he also had the coolest dance.
Arriving at Bangkok!
2008/04/12 - Saturday (2:25pm)
Here we are in Thailand at this awesome hostel named Lub d Bangkok. "Lub" sounds like a cute way of saying "love." Before getting here, we had a layover at the Taipei airport, where I took my first picture in Asia!
Back to Bankok. Our hostel is actually nicer than many hotels that I've been. The price? Three hundred and fifty bahts for two days. Which is about US$6 a night.
I've started taking my anti-malaria pills, but no psychedelic dreams yet!
By the way, "we" are Phuong, Shirley, and I. Tomorrow night, Phuong's friend Katie will be joining us.
Oh yeah, so far we've gotten free internet at both the Taipei airport and the hostel. I'm sure things will change once we exit mainstream Thailand.
We're going to check out a Thai boxing match today. I'm pretty excited about that.
Check back soon!
Here we are in Thailand at this awesome hostel named Lub d Bangkok. "Lub" sounds like a cute way of saying "love." Before getting here, we had a layover at the Taipei airport, where I took my first picture in Asia!
Back to Bankok. Our hostel is actually nicer than many hotels that I've been. The price? Three hundred and fifty bahts for two days. Which is about US$6 a night.
I've started taking my anti-malaria pills, but no psychedelic dreams yet!
By the way, "we" are Phuong, Shirley, and I. Tomorrow night, Phuong's friend Katie will be joining us.
Oh yeah, so far we've gotten free internet at both the Taipei airport and the hostel. I'm sure things will change once we exit mainstream Thailand.
We're going to check out a Thai boxing match today. I'm pretty excited about that.
Check back soon!
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