Rata tat tat

So I just made it home after a speedy trip through Phuket town in search of the Golden Needle, the destination for the few and proud who train here at Tiger and are looking to get some ink. Alas, I am not ballsy enough to commit to a tattoo (you're welcome Mom), but my friend John was looking to get himself some of the permanent art before his leaves Thailand, which may in fact be quite soon as he has been given a job offer as a tradesman in Iraq. Speaking of which, I should mention that a lot of the folks here are involved in some way with the military. Thus far, I've met 4 or 5 guests who are just coming from or going back to Iraq while training Muay Thai. Much like you all think I'm crazy for making this my vacation prior to school, they have been the butt of jokes after leaving one swelteringly hot venue and back-breaking training for another.

Yesterday I made the first conscious effort to relax while I've been here, opting to skip on training while my trainer Ray was making his visa run to Burma for the day. I decided to go for a nice jog along the local streets; easier said than done. There are a lot of honks and beeps directed my way as I'm sure running at high noon in tropical Phuket is a humorous sight to many. Nonetheless after drenching my shirt in sweat after a brisk stretch and actually finishing a run, we made our way to the white sandy beach of Nai Har (no clue how to spell it).

I've been trying to ask everyone where the best destination is for a relaxing time at the beach and it's essentially useless as the names of the beaches are impossible to recall let alone pronounce phonetically to a taxi driver. Yet, by some stroke of luck, we made our way out, the 4 of us, between training sessions and got a hefty dose of UV rays. After that I opted out of the famous Thai massage and watched all of the movies I could handle on our very nicely loaded cable bundle. The massages cost just shy of $10 for 2 hours and is literally back-breaking, but I'm told it complements training well and may just get roped into one some day soon.

We finished up the day of zen with a trip to Central Fair and SFX Cinemas where we hit the food court for indian food, of all things, and watched Hancock for 100 baht, or 3 dollars. Our assigned seating fully reclined and the theater was amazing and it made the 3 minute standing salute to the King of Thailand nearly bearable.

On a very ironic and AWESOME note, this sunday at the same food court there is a regional eating competition that I plan on entering. So I come to Thailand to get fit and trim and end up gorging myself on delicious local cuisine for money. Sounds about the opposite of cage fighting, but I think I have a chance! Wish me luck!