Day 25

So. I can't sleep without melatonin. I couldn't sleep before I started taking it either. The doctor said its good and safe and everyone is happy. But I didn't bring enough. So I looked everywhere to replace it. Ended up with some pills that the pharmacist said were similar to ambien and would only last 6-8 hours. Sounds good to me. So Sunday night I take one and put in a dvd. End up watching the whole dvd and still not falling asleep for another hour or so. However, once I do fall asleep, I wake up at the crack of 1:30 pm. Great. I could have been sleeping off the rest of the 24 hour malaria though. So I just watched some Bas and hit the internet cafe where I found Gaz, Dan and Jason. Found out about Cro Cop winning Pride's open-weight Grand Prix and watched the video of his KO on Wanderlei - whose swollen right eye couldn't see the textbook left high kick coming. Cro Cop is a senator in Croatia, and its funny to picture his political opponents watching him fight. Afternoon grappling was open mat with time to ask questions of Dan and Gaz. After class Gary and I spent some more time rolling. Everybody met at Jimmy's where I was still sweating like crazy and possibly still battling a touch of the typhoid. After dinner everyone took a taxi to Patong to do shopping except for Gaz and I who took the choppers. Patong seems filthier and seedier everytime I go. Sometimes in the movies when there has been an armageddon there is a Sodom and Gomorrorah type of apocolyptic wild west saloon town where you can buy or see anything you can concieve of. Every now and then Patong seems kinda like that. But good times. There is one main road following the beach, and off this road there are other roads with little shops and bars. We were on one of the ones which closes off to traffic at night and everyone can walk in the street. Off this street there are other hallways and corridors with shops. We were loosely following the group down one corridor when everyone kinda disappeared. Then this guy stinking of liquor walks by and tells me "be careful or you could spend all of your money in there" and points to a wall at the back of a shop. This is pretty much the same line as in "Hostel" and really creepy. Turns out one of the mirrors was a door and behind it a supply closet and around the corner a room with a billion bootleg DVDs and everybody in the group. Gaz and Marco and I went to walk around some more and I stopped at a table with 15 or 20 dvds. Then this guy says he has more for 40 baht cheaper than the other place. We follow him down some hallways, and then he pushed on the wall which was a hidden door and behind it another holy grail of dvd collections. I had really just been in the mood to see Garden State which he didn't have so we took off. We went back and were waiting for everyone when across the street and through the crowd I saw a tv with Matt Hughes pacing and staring down his opponent. I said "Matt Hughes" and pointed. We wordlessly and instantaneously proceeded like moths to a flame. We didn't know how long everyone was going to be so Gaz and I had a couple cold ones and watched the fights. This was the fight where BJ Penn takes his back for the rear naked choke. Gaz, who is a wrestler, said they all have a tendency to give up their back. Everyone stopped by and then took off to their taxi and eventually we took off too.