Muay Thai - The Thai Boxing

Backdated post - I’ve got another trip up to Thailand. Yes! Yayyay! Thus, I’m thinking if I should do some discovering in this trip. I’m looking to try something different. Initially, I was thinking of relaxing at one of the islands but the best island are cropped at the southern province of Thailand. The better way to make my way there would be by taking the domestic flight. Else, I would have to endure 6 hours of bus trip. I would like the idea if time weren’t a constrant.

Actually, I don’t really go because I miss the islands so much but because I haven’t experienced islands in Thailand. However, islands and beaches appear to be almost the same to me unless I’m into scuba diving. Not much could be done if one is not looking to immerse in water activities and soaking up the sun.


I get to know this Chok Chai Farm in Pak Chong, Korat which is really nice. It’s a cattle farm open for tour visits. Not sure if I would like it, but milking cow sound interesting and new. “You want milk, you’ve gotta get it DIY, eh” Along with that, we’ll see how the farm is run and how the cows are being guarded by a dog. I don’t like visit farms but why does this appeal to me, coz it’s my line of work? I suspect so. And no, I don’t milk cow for a living nor do I run a cow farm. Back to this farm, there’s a ice cream making workshop and straight from the farm steak and dairy servings. The Chok Chai Steakhouse Chain may not be familiar to you but a local favourites for quality thick slab of juicy beef steak.


Other than that, maybe I could drop in at the Epimai Historical Park and the water park. It seem to worth a visit based on my research online. “What else which I can get myself involved?” I began thinking... Then, something stroke me, why not try out Muay Thai. I’ll sign up for a full day trainng of this. The constant knee and leg kick will definitely tone my big fat thighs and pectoral.


Then, one fine Sunday I finally stepped into the local Muay Thai Institute where I stayed. It was pretty quiet. No one could be seen. The only person was in the air-conditioned office with his focus on the Sunday boxing matinee show on TV. “Hi, I’m here to attend a one-day Muay Thai Training ^_^,” I introduced.






At 1.30pm, the students came in one by one… by one and by one. They jogged around and they jumped on the used tyres as they loosened and warmed themselves up. Then, it was followed by some air punches and kicks to improve their poses and body coordination. I joined them but specially trained by an uncle who seemed to take pride in his past achievements. He shared with me stories of his past championships and how he had progressed. Well, I would be disrespectful to show my disinterest but that only encouraged him to carry on and on.

Muay Thai is indeed more dangerous than boxing. Firstly, it’s boxing without Personal Protective Equipment or PPE. The boxers are not protected with head and body gears. Secondly, kicking is not just a fault but spices up the so called Thai Boxing. If you can’t give an instantaneous reflex defense by lifting your knees, you’ve got to prepare to get bruises on you waist down. My one day lesson gave me some insights on the essential attacks on Muay Thai which uses the head, elbows, punches, kicks, knees to hit the weak spot of a human body.



This looks like a budding Muay Thai boxer. The next Somchit maybe, to bring back another Olympic boxing gold medal for Thailand.


Oh ya, there are gender differences when stepping into the boxing ring. I refer it as a discrimination to the fairer sex. Ladies will have to crawl beneath the lowest band while guys are free to just step in as they like. Before every challenge, the boxers will need to do some kinda procedural dance opening which looks to me more like a kinda worshipping. I heard that TV in Germany airs soccer in the weekends matinees but over here in Thailand, they air their live Muay Thai fights right from stadiums during the weekend









Spot the poser!!!

Food Journal in BKK

I'm thinking this is a better picture of the Thai salad I previously blogged about. Here, you can see the ingredients that make up the flavourful salad. Hopefully, you don't skip the chilli padis or what they call 'paprik' in Thai. Phet mak mak na.











Only remember to take a snap half way through...
This is what I have at my office canteen in BKK.

Chinese style stir-fried vege, spicy Thai fish chuck salad, BBQ or was that fried pork slice




My never to be missed Ma Phraw (coconut) with fish and another variant of Thai salad.




Hi fish!



Onion+tomato+green vege+squid salad





Glass noodle salad with prawn and sliced frankfurters.



This is definitely no Thai food. The oh so comforting soup the way I like it with smooth Jap tofu, Shitakemushrooms, Inoki mushrooms, glass noodle, gingkos, green veges and fish fillets.



That's salmon chunks!!!

This Is No Food Blog

To me, trying out local food is a must when I arrive at new places. Normally I would go for packet food which I can take away. As I normally buy by variety, I can't afford to finish everything in one go nor do I want to deprive myself of trying whichever captures my attention.

Here's a range of preserved junks. However, this didn't appeal to the junkie in me. So, I skipped.


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Looks nice? Tastes nice? You try and let me know. Does this resemble the Bratwursts in Germany?


Bakeries in Thailand seems pricier than in Malaysia. A piece of cake like these costed THB 30.

More sausages but this looks more like Chinese's 'lap cheung'(made of pork). There you have wrapped tightly in leaves are glutinuous rice with sweet taro/banana filling. Right in front is how Thai's like their mangoes, sour and crunchy to dip in spicy sauces.

This is not rafia strings you use to make your 'pom pom' for cheerleading.



Look how fine it is...



That's the night bazaar I got this from and right now, I'm enjoying my first bite while it's still hot.

See... I did not just pay for the batter. It's got filling. This is what they call Thai mini pancakes. It's creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The cream is made of thick coconut milk with a pinch of salt and the fillings are corns and spring onions.

Leaves you eat raw in Thailand. It's got strong pungent taste to it.



The colour here does not justify the taste. Sorry, as I only took it with my mobile phone. The filling is a great mixture of great ingredients namely, sugar caramel, chopped onions, raw mangoes, spicy tiny chillies, lemongrass, roasted peanuts, grated coconut and dried prawns.

Here're the pancakes again..brown on the bottom..


Roots has grown out of this fruit. It's a local Thai fruit normally processed into pebbles with coated sugar grain.



The seeds which are not supposed to go down your throat.

It is not we're hungry wolves but this noodle shop sells by multiple of 3 bowls which i don't understand why. However, the servings were smaller than what you normally have. You can easily clear each bowls with 2 gulps.

Songkran In Bangkok

Keeping my 2009 travel plans aside for the moment , let me bring you back to updates in Bangkok. Tomorrow, 13th of Apr marks the Songkran New Year celebration in Thailand. As far as I gathered from my Thai colleagues, this festival officially lasts for 2 days but many stretches their holidays for a week(just like raya or CNY in Malaysia). Like many other festivals, this festival is the moment city dwellers swarm to their hometowns to celebrate and spend time with their loved ones.

For the past few days, people and luggages on the streets have been common sights to me.However, when the TV's on, I see masses of RED shirts around in city centre especially around the government buildings and Pattaya(especially yesterday and the days before). I'm pretty sure you guys have read or heard of the protests against the present PM Abhisit and yesterdays cancellation of the ASEAN Summit Conference. Protests have been common reports on TV eversince I began flying here regularly since 9 months ago. Then, it was the YELLOW shirts and now RED. In fact, I was one of the affected ones when the Suvarnabhumi Airport had to close down and I had to leave the country from the U-tapao army airport in Pattaya. We as neutralists shall take note of the colours and not at any time attempt to wear pure RED or pure YELLOW attires for sure. Should you asked me if I'm nerve wrecked? Not really actually but when I caught the protesters hitting without second thoughts with helmets, hammers, rods and planks on luxury cars(Fortuner the other day, and Merz today), I felt like WOW, what a waste to treat these cars that way. I wonder what would happen should they be our national cars.

Well, getting back to Songkran, the new year which has been popularized as the water splashing festival to the whole wide world, I'm gonna go and witness if for myself somewhere near here. I heard that the celebration in Khao San Road is more extravagant but I don't think I wanna make the trip there as the celebration is nationwide. I'm not sure if there would be unexpected even t happening in t he city centre due to the ongoing protests there. From what I heard, the taxi driver too participated in blocking main intersections in the city center and last news on the tube says the PM has just declared a state of emergency on Bangkok.

I found a site you may refer to should you need more information on the tradition and activities during the Songkran festival. Similarly, this site talks about how you should throw water during Songkran. Following are some videos to get you in the mood of Songkran. I have thought of recording one myself but put the idea off. I would not risk damaging my(not mine exactly) camera for blogging. ^-^ Do enjoy these videos!

(sorry for the mistakes/discoordination as my PC seems to be lagging really bad and I'm publishing this beofre it fails on me)

Travelling to Hokkaido, Yes? No?

AkiraSabine has too many things on her mind at the moment, she has no time to update. Apart from her work up here in BKK, she's busy planning her AL vacation, doing research on accommodation, transportations, costs, getting around, things to do and others like visa for her vacation. Thus, she has been neglecting her blog for a while. She has been surfing and reading too many sites and deciding her plans, she has no time to think of new posts. Please bear with her for a short while.

Currently she's thinking of going to Hokkaido, partly homestay and another part couch surfing at some good samaritan's place. She's thinking if she could take the challenge to make things within 5k at most for the 2 weeks stay. Where would she go? She's planning to explore Sapporo for the city, Otaru forthe canal neighbourhood, Hokodate for the port city and Furano for the Lavender field. She would also go to the Asahiyama Zoo there to catch a sight of penguins, brown bears, brown polar bears and foxes. Maybe in the list would be Niseko during summer(though this place is known only for it's winter ski).Food to try would be the Sapporo signature noodle, Sapporo Asahi Beer, red crabs, lavender ice-cream and Shiroi Koibito(the Jap Choc).

On the cultural side, she'd be staying with a Japanese family living how a Japanese live and eating together starting with "Itadakimasu" and ends with "Gochisousamadeshita". She wishes to practise her Japanese skill in a total Jap environment. During the homestay, she would sleep in futon(sheets) and bathe in ofuro(Jap style bath tub). Then, she'll take the typical get aorund mode of transportation, Jap jitensha (bicycle)to town and take the JR rail to access other cities in the island. She's gonna experience the efficiency of the rail in Japan which provides access to national parks and scenic nature of Hokkaido.

So far the flight has been a turn off. Akira hasn't been familiar with flights to Japan. Is it always exceeding RM2000 for the cheapest ticket to the Chitose Airport in Sapporo from KLIA? The cheapest she refers to here is by the Cathay Pacific Airlines. Some sites even offers up to RM9k which she thinks is totally ridiculous. She's wondering if there's any below RM2k for a return ticket inclusive of the airport taxes? Wouldthe price drop should she book at the very last minute? She need's some advice from fellow readers. She's beginning to wonder if she should put visiting Japan aside for the moment till Air Asia begins flying there. As far as she knows, the budget airline is planning to make it happen this year in 2009 but how true it is, she wonders.