It's been awfully busy and eventful months of June and July, and what an ass-kickingly great time I spent at Sinbi Muay Thai. This is my 2nd trip to Phuket, and this time was much better than the first. The 1st time I went with the guys, and I thought everything was so expensive and touristy, mainly because we spent most of our time in Patong. This time, I stayed at the boxing gym, located at the NaiHarn area. It has an awesomely beautiful beach, lots of affordable eateries selling both Thai and Western food, nice friendly bars and massage parlours to boot. At times, I was so caught up with training and exploring on my trusty scooter that I forgot to take photos. I think that sometimes,  photographs don't do the place justice, you have to be there to take in the sheer greatness of the sight. 

The send-off party at the budget terminal. The budget terminal at Changi Airport is REALLY budget. I was rather surprised.




Daryl and I. Sorry bro, couldn't send you off to Australia. We'll go visit you sometime!




This is my room. It's very clean because they come in to clean up the room everyday.




There's cable TV with all the channels you could ever need! Ok maybe not all, but it's good watching old-school KUNG FU films on Celestial Movies on a lazy afternoon. And dvd player too. You can get lots of cheap dvds in the town if that floats your boat.




You get a fridge and basin and toilet. The toilet is a modern toilet. Not a squat one like older gyms in Thailand.




Qihao, my partner in crime for the first 2 weeks of my stay.




This is the lake, about 5 mins motorcycle ride from the gym. Most of the fighters do a big run around the lake in the mornings. It's about an 8km run.




Me and my trusty scooter. Can't do without one. If you're riding to Patong or Phuket Town, make sure you wear a helmet. You don't want to get fined, like I did.




NaiHarn beach. In my opinion, one of the nicest beaches I've ever been to. Sometimes, after the morning session, I'll just hop onto the scooter and ride down to the beach to have a dip. It's just so relaxing. The beach is pretty quiet, not many people. If you notice at the top left of the photograph, there's a wind generator. You can take a scooter up and there's a viewpoint. Just absurdly beautiful.




Rows and rows of beach chairs. If you're on a budget (or just plain-assed cheap like I am), bring your own beach towel so you don't have to pay 100 baht to lie on one of these.




I actually love dogs. There are so many there and they're cute... well, most of the time. When you go jogging you'll see many of these mutts lying on the street. They're all pretty tame, but I've heard of them chasing people and biting them? Hasn't happened to me though, and I ran twice everyday. They all just seemed sleepy to me. Haha.




The rooms are just directly across the gym. When you're here it's really good because you wake up early. They start playing music by about 7am so there's no easy way to skip training and sleep in unless you're a REALLY heavy sleeper.




They've got all the free weights you need...



Bags...




Gloves...




And trainers... Pot, who has a son called Nat running around the gym all the time. Pot fought Buakaw before.




Myself with Eyat. Eyat recently had a sparring session at Bangla stadium against Yodsanklai.




This is Det and Sitrak. Det was my trainer for most of my time in Sinbi.




Det and myself. Det used to be the champion at Ratchadamnoen.




Son, whose English is the best amongst the trainers. He's worked overseas as a trainer before.




Dee, the resident fighter at the gym. He's the current South Thailand Champion.




Sing. Owner of the gym. He's cut his hair short now.




Det and Karim with their boxing poses.




Kata Viewpoint. It overlooks the Kata and Karon beaches.






Qihao and I went to Patong and found a wet market selling all sorts of fruits, meat and vegetables.




Bangla Boxing Stadium, one of the two main stadiums in Phuket.




Bangla Street, the main street where all the bars and discos are located at Patong. At night the street comes alive with revellers and all sorts of bar girls, ladyboys and hookers.





My fridge and its contents. Milk, fruits, water, and tonnes of gatorade.




One of the nights at the stadium. Su-Jeong's a female professional Muay Thai fighter from Korea.




Raphael from Brazil.




Shane from Australia. With his corner man, Pot, and son.




Pot getting his son, Nat, wrapped up. Nat doesn't box or anything yet, but he runs around and kicks people.







Sessions start with a run, skipping, and then wrapping up.




Stretching together as a group.






Shadowboxing for 3 rounds. A lot of people ask me what shadowboxing actually helps you with. Basically shadowboxing is a good way of a pre-workout warmup for your body. You practise all the different techniques; punches; kicks; blocks; knees and elbows, while looking at your form in the mirror. Also, once you're more comfortable, you can start moving around, imagining you're boxing an opponent and throw out your attacks accordingly. It's a good visualising tool for a fighter before a fight.






Trainers will take you on the pads for 5 rounds of padwork. I am here working the pads with Karim. Morning sessions tend to be less intense, focusing more on technique and form. Afternoon workouts are generally harder and more intense.




Another 5 rounds of work with the bag. Trainers will be around to advise you on what you can do better.




2 rounds of 1 min punchouts.






100 pushkicks.




Followed by 100 knees.








On certain days we do sparring. Over here I am sparring with Jen, just doing hands. Sometimes, they'll make you spar just legs, just hands, or both. I like sparring with big gloves because you're able to go a little bit harder than you would with smaller gloves. Maybe about 60 percent power with these 18oz gloves.




On other days we do clinching. As you can see, both the big boys and young ones aren't spared!




At the end of each session we do a series of pushups and situps. 




2 of the young thai fighters at the gym. They're both brothers. Apparently, a friend told me that the older brother doesn't like Muay Thai at all, but because his father loves it, he doesn't have a choice. So contrary to popular belief, not all thais like to fight!




Jae Hee and Su-Jeong, both professional fighters from Korea. Jae Hee was my room-mate for the last 2 weeks of my stay. We had some difficulty with conversation but we had a blast finding places to eat. He fought Kid Yamamoto in K1 recently and won!




Here's Nicole sparring Jen. Nicole's from Hilltop Singapore. She's one of the girls who runs more than I do! Hardworking and big big heart!




Sometimes you see the little tykes come in and it's really cute to see them kick the bags.






Sitrak with his daughter. She is way cute!






Nat and Eyat. It reminds me of the kids classes I do now at BNM. 




So after a month of hardwork and training comes FIGHT NIGHT.

 

As I was packing my things recently, I found a book that Gayna had left with me. It's this pink book that shouts CHICK - LIT all over it. It's about a journalist who gets transported back in time to the 1950s, a love story basically. But it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. A couple parts made me sad but what the heck. And funny thing is, Will / Billy really does remind me of myself, at times. The Accidental Time Traveller by Sharon Griffiths.


I AM PSYCHED FOR THAILAND!


Packed, Set and READY TO GO!!