Day 14

Woke up and waited for the rain to stop so I could call the fam during family night. Had a good conversation and skipped training because I wanted to take it easy on my elbow. I stopped at a little restaurant and had some pad thai, it wasn't as good as the street vendor's that I like. I was right by the Wat Chalong temple and it wasn't raining so I walked around there and took some pictures for a little while. It is a huge Buddhist temple really close to the camp. It seems like a big tourist destination for both Thai and Farangs. There were a couple different groups of school kids touring while I was there. I headed back to camp to get the card of this acupuncturist in Kata from Dan. Will referred him and he is supposed to be really good. Aussie Adam also knew of a good massage place in Kata and wanted to get something to eat so we hit the road.

We tried to take a shortcut and realized that our road was heading up. We both had full tanks of gas and decided to follow the road just to see how far up the mountain it went. (I'm not sure the elevation but in West Texas it would definitely be called a mountain.) The road was just dirt and gravel and pretty eroded but it was a fun ride on the choppers. It was cloudy and a little misty and there were some great views along the way. Sometimes we could see the pier by Jimmy's Lighthouse (our side of the island) and sometimes we could see Kata and the other side of the island. I stopped to take some pictures but they won't do it justice. We got to the top and found a giant golden Buddha and construction of a new temple. I had seen this from the ground but it was too small to be able to tell what it was. Great view from the top. We headed back down and at one point I looked up and above the trees I could see the ocean and it seemed to go on forever. It was a weird angle I guess and a little disorienting.

We got to Kata and had some lunch at a place near the beach. They brought out Connect Four after we ordered which was flippin' sweet. Most of the restaurants here have the food ready pretty quick and we only had time for one game. I had fried rice with shrimp and calamari served in a hollowed out pineapple with fruits and veggies around the side. Dessert was a big fruit dish again, this time with papaya as well. The acupuncturist's card had no address so we asked some people at the restaurant and they had no idea. We tried calling the number but couldn't get through. We drove around a bit and couldn't find it so we went ahead to get the massages first. It was 300 baht for an hour of hot oil massage so that was really relaxing. We both had some tender spots after a few days of training and it was good to get them worked out. Adam said he proposed to his wife here a couple years ago. He rented a speed boat and they spent the day snorkeling around the islands and then ate at a private restaurant. I presume he rented the place out b/c he said they were the only patrons. Then they went to a secluded island that you can only get to twice a day b/c of the tides. He said they were the only ones on the island and that's where he proposed. He had tipped the staff at their resort to put rose pedals around the room but when they got back they had made a heart and written 'Love' in rose pedals on the bed.

Nobody at the massage place knew how to get to the acupuncturist either. Adam had to get going so I hit an internet café and found the address and went to try and find it yet again. Turns out we had driven right by it twice but it was on an out of the way side street. Well, nobody was there and it was locked up so I headed back to camp. By this point its raining again and surprisingly cool on the way home. I skipped afternoon training to take it easy on the elbow and pretty much just read, wrote, chilled in the bungalow and made it an early night.

Day 13

Woke up about 6 and had some breakfast and was training by 7. It was a little misty and sprinkling but felt good with a little breeze while training. The training facility is 3 rings, one cage, a bunch of bags and padded poles, some weights and a juice bar. I did muay thai this morning and was feeling pretty good with the jet lag behind me. A typical training session is everyone warming up by jumping rope, then doing some stretches as a group. After this a trainer will grab you and wrap your hands and you'll do rounds of padwork in the ring. Padwork is the trainer holding the pads and calling out combinations of punches, kicks, elbows and knees. You also work on footwork and blocking his punches and kicks between combos. After this the trainer will put you on a bag and say "100 push kicks" or "100 knees" and then correct your technique. You may end up moving to different stations and working on a few different techniques. After a couple hours everybody does stretches and cool down as a group.

Sat down at the juice bar for a bit and then went to breakfast with Aussie Adam, Gaz and Elly. I pointed out something I wanted and Adam said it looked really spicy but I got it anyway and so did he. Turns out it really was spicy. Halfway through the meal I look beside me to see how he's faring and he is bright red and sweating like we're in a steam room. He said 'I only got it b/c I thought, well if he can handle it I can handle it.' I'm sure I didn't look much better and we ended up having to down some soymilk to kill it. Elly said she had English channels on her t.v. so they went back to her place to watch and I went and chilled in the sauna and steam room a bit. After that grabbed some stuff at Tesco and took a nap before afternoon training.

Opted for submission grappling and I am getting used to the humidity. The weather is comfortable if you are just walking around. Cooler than Texas and the humidity isn't that bad. Unless you are running stairs or training, then all of a sudden it feels like you are in a sauna and you sweat profusely accordingly. We learned some rubber guard stuff which I don't think will ever be an effective part of my game. Seems good for naturally limber guys with long legs but I had a hard time executing the moves when we rolled. The rest of the sparring went well and I was able to pull off armbars, anaconda and rear naked chokes.

After that I just went down to Jimmy's to use the wifi and get some dinner. Had a huge serving of cashew chicken and another fresh coconut. Pretty cool to have a great view of the water, eating in a lighthouse, feeling the breeze, drinking a coconut, and be on wifi. Not too many people there tonight, just a couple of salty euro sailors and myself. Couple new people at camp: Linda, from Iceland. She told me her Icelandic name and as I was trying to wrap my brain around it she said her second name was Linda which was easier. Jason, from L.A., and Tom, Eddy and Iman from Germany.

Am going to be keeping earplugs handy tonight thanks to Little Jerry Seinfeld #2 who started cock a doodling at 4 a.m. behind my bungalow last night. He and his crew hang around my bungalow occasionally. I looked up Thailand's voltage and checked all my electronics gear and found out everything I brought except for the heating pad works here. So now I get to write from the comfort of my bungalow. My bungalow is really cushy with a large wrap around porch, comfortable queen sized bed, hot shower, remote controlled A/C and de-humidifier, tv/dvd and fridge. The sounds of the jungle are all I hear at night and really relaxing; when it rains even more so. Cushy was the word of the day in a segment on the local news for teaching English. On a similar note, thanks to the varied nationalities at this camp I am the one with the new slang.

Day 12

Due to staying out until 5 a.m. I deliberately slept through training, as did most people in the camp. Instead I hit the internet café, picked up some stuff at the market and was back in time for afternoon training. Did a session of ground and pound with Gaz. We started out with an intense warmup and had a really good sweat going by the time we got to technique. We learned some punching combos from being in your opponents guard. Next, from your opponent in your guard we learned arm control to cross face to guillotine to liver punching to kimura to triangle. I've found that good grapplers use their ground game the way boxers use punches. After practicing these techniques awhile, we sparred with one person starting on top and one on bottom. The person on top practiced the combos we learned and the person on bottom practiced the submissions. I did good from both positions and was able to pull off kimuras, triangles and an armbar. Technically we hadn't practiced armbar but he had warned us to keep our hands palm down on your opponent so you can stop the armbar attack. It was a lot of fun sparring ground and pound with the boxing gloves. Wakes you up getting hit and brings your concentration up. Also felt good to practice submissions while being hit grappling and submissions are usually practiced independent of striking. Thus if you know you aren't going to get hit you only have to defend against the submissions. As usual, the more variables that are introduced the more the game changes. We did a few rounds of sparring and got minute water breaks in between. Once a guy was late getting back in the cage between breaks and we had to do pushups for a while. Good times. When most of us were at the point of physical exhaustion Gaz put a heavybag in the middle and said we were each going to basically do a burnout on it. We would mount the bag and he would call out combos for us to do. Either fast punching, deliberate punching, hooks or overhands. I went first and Gaz would call out something like 5 deliberate 4 hooks 2 overhands etc I pretty much had to crawl away when my time was up. Ground striking seems to be pretty novel here, and a lot of the Thai trainers and Muay Thai students stopped to watch our sparring and burnouts.

After practice a lot of us went to Jimmy's Lighthouse. Jimmy's is an open air restaurant/bar under a lighthouse next to the pier and boat docks. When we got there Maddox was talking to his girlfriend back home via webcam on his laptop and it turns out they also have free wifi. I got a huge serving of stir-fried beef, mushrooms and peppers with oyster sauce for about 2 bucks. Gary and I also ordered coconut milk. Basically they just cut it open and put a straw in it. He said it was cheaper to get them at the market but really hard to get it open. The radio was playing alt country bluegrass stuff and there was a nice breeze coming in from the ocean so Kevin and Gary, Rick from England and Aussie Adam and I stayed around talking and sharing stories from Thailand and back home. Adam said when he was in South Africa some of the neighborhoods were really dangerous with a high incident of carjacking. One of his friends outfitted his bmw with flamethrowers on each side that would roast any would be carjackers.

Day 11

Opted for MMA instructor Daniel's beach workout this morning. Everyone asked if I had eaten already and told me I would be seeing it again. We drove into Kata Noi just south of Kata and this beach was great. A few surfers out, surfing is much better here in the low season. From the street down to the beach there are about 90 steep steps and thus this was the location for the workout. It was just Dave and I doing the workout and we started out with a beach jog and then did the stairs. At the top of the stairs Dan held pads while we threw 20 combinations. Some of the combinations were 7 or 8 punches and with fatigue it becomes a mental challenge as well. I swam for a bit after that and it felt great. We then went to this vegetarian restaurant and ate for about 20 baht each. I'm not sure what I ate, it was pretty spicy but good. Over conversation Daniel said he grew up in the bush in Australia and was home schooled. He left home about 14 and had a graphic design degree and his own company by 16 and has been wandering the globe since then. Dave said he has had 3 pro fights and lots of amatuer fights. I told him the only British fighters I knew were Ross Pointon and Mike Bisping because of The Ultimate Fighter. He said he was friends with Bisping and he was a really good guy. After that I went to the Chalong Gym to buy some whey. The gym was rocking out to Husker Du and seemed pretty nice, I may come back for some heavy lifting on Sundays. Trained muay thai in the afternoon and did okay. Lobert was my pad man for most of it and helped me alot correcting stance and form. After training everybody cleaned up and met back at camp to go watch the fights in Patong. Two of the trainers and Cesar from L.A. were fighting. Most people took a taxi but Julian and his girlfriend, U.K. Adam and his wife, and I rode bikes with me in the rear. Was a little bit too much fun ducking in and out of traffic trying to keep up. Crossing the hills into Patong Adam's front brakes seized up on a downhill and the bike went up and they fell off to the side. I slammed on my brakes and prepared for liftoff... luckily they weren't hurt and I stopped in time and it wasn't anyone's dead end. He had to walk it through the hills but was able to drive it once we got into Patong. We had to ask around for directions to stadium but eventually we made it and met up with everybody. Cesar was pumped for his fight. The whole boxing stadium smelled like my linament cream and there were a few hundred people there. A few fans but no air conditioning. Em the trainer had a really good fight and won, the other trainer whose name I forget knocked his opponent out. Cesar's fight was really good too and he pretty much manhandled the guy. He ended up knocking him out cold in the 2nd. After that most of us went to the Tiger Bar which is really a huge two story complex of bars and is the most popular nightlife spot in Patong. If you are in a group you don't get harrassed by the women so much, but if you have to go to the bathroom or something they will try and grab you. I was moving like Emmitt so its all good. We ended up going upstairs to the discotheque to dance awhile. Some of us got tired of dancing and sat outside and talked awhile. Elly (short for Eliza) and I went across the street to get some pizza. She is from Poland but has been living in London studying psychology. She said she will be an official shrink in 3 years. She doesn't like Poland or London and doesn't know where she is going to go. Gary, Luke and Maddox showed up and took the party up a notch. I had just met Maddox a.k.a. MadDog a little earlier that night, he is from Australia and has two more weeks here, after that he is joining the french foreign legion. We were getting a little rowdy and then out of nowhere he threw a fork across the restaurant. It flew right by this guy's head so he was escorted out. None of us knew why he did it and we were as surprised as anyone. The guy kept talking but we told him to simmer down and it was all good and we had a good time eating pizza. Elly and I shared a prawn and squid pizza which doesn't sound good but was quite tasty. After that we found everybody else outside having a good time... Aussie Adam said that Maddox had just broken his beer bottle and held it up to this guy's throat. I think the guy had just met one of the girl's from the camp. They didn't really know why he had done this either, Maddox said he was telling him not to rip off his friend. I like this guy. Everybody took a tuk tuk except for Em who hopped on my hog with me. Fighting for these Thai guys is just another day in the office. At the camp before the fight you wouldn't even be able to tell they were going to fight if you didn't know already. Em looks like he is in his early 20s and said he has had about 175 fights. He gets one day off after a fight but after that it is back to work.

Day 10

Woke up and headed down to get some groceries. They have two or three really big, modern super Walmart type stores on the island. They didn't open up until 9 so I drove around a little and found this open air sidewalk cafe. The restaurant was full but I was the only farang (foreigner) in the whole place. The wait staff didn't speak English either. My part of the island is definitely not as touristy as near the resorts. They served me 14 little dishes with one pair of pot sticker type things in each one. Some were similar to pot stickers, some were meatball type things, or sausages wrapped in seaweed, etc... You dipped them in 3 different sauces at the table. Very different and good. Also served with a teapot with herbal tea. I looked in and it had all the leaves and herbs still in it.

Sunday is typically a rest day, but since I had slept through training the day before I went back and trained awhile on my own. After training I went down to the spa that is within walking distance from our camp. It was really nice. I sat in the sauna and swam for a bit and when I came out I saw Aussie Adam from camp. We both got a traditional Thai massage which is kinda like acupressure while being twisted like a pretzel - the masseuse was up on the table with me for most of it I think. It was interesting but I'd like to go find a deep tissue sports type massage. Adam said he knew of one in Kata I may go try and find. For use of the sauna and the 1 hour massage it set me back 5 bucks. Adam got an additional hour of hot oil massage for about $2.50. I waited for him alternating between the sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and pool. The steam room was really nice with some herbal stuff being pumped in with the steam.

After the spa we went and checked out this market by our camp with lots vendors selling cooked and raw foods. We got some stir fried rice and pad thai for 10 baht (25 cents) a serving. Adam got a bunch of bananas for 10 baht. He said in Australia a hurricane had wiped our their banana farms and a bunch was about 17 Australian dollars... so he hadn't had bananas in a long time. After that we talked and ate back at the camp and passed out.

Day 9

On account of my late night and hell ride I slept right through training this morning. I was still pretty stiff from yesterdays training but I thought I would grab some lunch and go see Kata Beach and then come back in time for afternoon training. Had Pad Thai from the vendor at the temple again. Addicting. Less than a dollar for a restaurant sized portion. Actually every meal here is only one or two dollars. The drive to Kata was beautiful. Driving through these hills you get some really great views of the islands and the ocean. Im taking to this place like a gull takes to the wind.

Kata beach was really serene. No swimming allowed but the water was gorgeous. This is a surfing beach, I saw a billboard that they have a surfing competition here in September. There was shopping but it was less the den of thieves that Patong was. I stopped in one seaside restaurant for some sweet and sour chicken. It was served first with some rice or corn chip type things in different shapes and colors that you dip in this sweet but spicy chili sauce. The meal was good and dessert was a huge plate of watermelon, pineapple and banana cut into fancy shapes. Since I couldn't swim here I thought I would go ahead and head back to camp.

I got back about 2:00 and thought I had just enough time to rest my eyes before training. I ended up passing out until about 1:00 am. Possibly still have jet lag. I couldn't sleep at this point so I read some Leviathan and eventually fell back to sleep.

Here are some of the other guests that I have met at the camp: Will, the owner. He has lived here 11 years and the taxi driver said he used to play pro football in Florida. The way the taxi driver talked I was expecting Marlon Brando with an army in the jungle, but he is really cool. From Ireland: Gary and Kevin. From U.K.: Julian, Gaz, Dave, Adam. Julian has been in Thailand 7 or 8 months and been at this camp 2 or 3 weeks. Gaz is one of the MMA instructors and got here the day before I did. He has had 17 pro mma fights. Adam is here with his wife, they just got married and had a couple weeks of honeymoon before coming here, they are off to Australia for a month after this. From Australia: Christian, Daniel, and Adam. Christian has a broad background in many martial arts and owns a couple of schools in Australia. Daniel is the other mma instructor and said he was born in Australia but sounds like he has been travelling the world for many years. Adam is a retired pro rugby player who now owns two personal training studios in Australia. He said he grew up in Hong Kong but mentioned that he had lived in South Africa for awhile. He listed some extensive injuries from rugby but is mostly recovered now. From Poland: Elly who is getting ready for a pro fight in a couple of weeks. From L.A.: Cesar who fights Monday night. The guy he is fighting is the champion and belt holder at Patong Stadium and beat one of the trainers before. He said Will told him his opponent has broken guys arms and legs with his kicks.

There better not be any new slang when I get back.

Day 8

Woke up and walked down the street to try and find a payphone and breakfast. I couldnt get the phone to work so I picked up some baked goodies at a store and headed back to camp. Training started about 7 and went for a few hours. I did Muay Thai and did decent but feel a little out of it still. The training is very one on one with the trainers wrapping your hands and holding pads for you. A few trainers ask if I want to fight.

After training the office is open but their internet is down and I find out the phone is not international. I rented a motorbike and hit the streets. I bought a phone card but realized by this time its the middle of the night back home. I headed into Patong, which is a beach area on the other side of the island. Driving is a little crazy here but its a great way to see the island. You have to cross some hills that are in the middle of the island, but when you hit the top there are some spectacular views. I ate some grilled chicken from a street vendor and walked on the beach for a little while. I stopped at another little sidewalk café and had some chicken in green curry. Patong is very touristy and there are people walking around from all over. All of the vendors know English and there are shops selling everything. I saw posters everywhere advertising two upcoming nights of Muay Thai fights and recognized trainers and guests at Tiger Muay Thai on each poster.

I headed back and stopped at this mall Central Festival on the way back. This mall is Galleria sized and quite westernized. I also stopped at a Tesco which is a huge grocery store and picked up groceries. I got back to camp and trained again, this time MMA. We warmed up and then learned and drilled some guard passes before grappling. I was almost able to pull off the guard pass we learned during sparring but slipped. The cage floor was really slippery by the end as we were all dripping sweat as if we were in a sauna.

After class it rained a bit and cooled everything down. This is the low season which lasts until about October and means it rains more than the peak season. I knew this before coming here but have no problem with it. I cleaned up and wanted to see Patong again at night so I headed back. Very different at night. Lots of westerners out shopping, clubs and bars. All of the suit stores have guys that shake your hand while you walk by and don't let go and ask where you're from and try to get you to come in. The massage parlor girls all try to get you to come in too. Some of the bars you walk by have nothing but Thai girls dressed up and if you get too close sometimes they try to grab you. They aren't all hookers actually there are a lot of regular girls that just want a westerner boyfriend. Anyway I finally found a phone booth and was able to call home.

A freaking monsoon hit while I was walking around so I ducked into this bar with a live band to wait it out. The lead singer was Aussie and they were playing stuff like The Clash and Jet so it was a pretty good time. I thought the rain was letting up so I started heading back to my hog but then it hit again and I ended up in an Irish Bar. They were playing New Zealand vs. Australia rugby live so it actually worked out pretty good. Had a pint of Kilkenny and watched the game with John, who owned a hotel in New Zealand, and Craig, who lived in Australia and owned a cruise line. They had traveled quite extensively so we talked world markets and rugby and then the rain let up so I headed home. Actually it was still drizzling and pretty chilly on the road since I was still soaked from getting caught in the rain. I wasn't too big a fan of the rain at this point in time. Also I was almost out of gas but all the stations were closed so the whole way back (maybe 20 minutes or so) I was just praying I didn't run out of gas. I made it home though and slept like a champion.

Day 7

Flying in I was able to see how beautiful this island is. Recognized a lot of the scenery from some James Bond movies. I need to find out how I can post some photos. Spent about an hour getting through immigration at the Phuket airport, but once I did my taxi driver had a sign with my name and we were on our way. He took me to an atm at this really big Buddhist temple close to the camp and I had some amazing Pad Thai by a street vendor. It was about noon by the time I got to the camp and I talked to some of the guys who had just got done training. I got settled in to my bungalow which is awesome. The office was closed and I wanted to use their phone so I went back to take a nap until they opened it up again. I ended up not waking up until about midnight I wanted to go walk up the road to find a phone but didn't want to find out what was making those noises in the jungle. I turned on the tv for a little bit I have 2 or 3 Thai channels and the intro music to the local news was Block Rockin Beats by The Chemical Brothers and they also used Climbatize by Prodigy in a segment. Rawk.

Day 6

Singapore Airlines is great, as one of the fireman had told me it would be. Before we took off they came around with hot towels and blankets and slippers, and newspapers. There was wifi on the plane but this particular plane had no outlets at the economy class seats, some of the other models do. . Each seat has a tv in the seat in front, and via the remote you can choose between 80 movies, 105 tv shows, listen to 180 cds, or play 91 games. So I was pretty set. I think over the whole trip I watched Taxi Driver, a video about Bangkok, Arrested Development, Scrubs, The Office, 16 blocks and Lucky Number Slevin. I played some chess and listened to Massive Attack and Gnarls Barkley. There was also a flight tracker where you could see where the plane was and weather conditions and such. That was very cool to check in occasionally and see which countries we were flying over. The food was really good and they feed you pretty often. Before meals they would come around with hot towels, and at some point they brought toothbrushes and toothpaste. It took about 7 hours to get to Germany where I had a layover for a little bit. Nothing really to say about Frankfurt airport, lots of smokers. Took another 12 hours to get to the Singapore airport, which was amazing. Basically it would be like if they built DFW around The Stonebriar Mall. Lots of shops, a free movie theatre, free internet stations the works. Very clean and modern. For longer layovers they have a free tour of the city that takes about 2 hours. Huge airport but they have moving walkways just about anywhere you need to walk so its easy to navigate.

Day 5

Woke up and packed up and went down to this Parisian Bakery on the corner. Had a bagel and a breakfast sandwich that were both pretty good. I had made plans the night before to go checkout the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Marco, Mirko, Samuelle and Amelia, the Italians. It was another gorgeous morning in the park and there was a children's opera w/ Marrionettes on the big lawn when we walked by. The Met was very cool but huge. We all ended up getting split up right away. Then halfway through we all met up again. Within minutes of meeting up we were split up again. I had a great time walking around looking at the art. Mirko was most interested in the Chinese and Egyptian art, as he lives in Florence. I finished up with the museum and wandered the East Side for awhile, I walked by the Guggenheim but it was under construction. Amelia had said it wasn't worth the money to go in anyway. Walked back to the West Side through the park and just had a couple more things left that I wanted to do in NYC. I stopped into a coffee shop and pretended I was having thoughtless yet thought provoking banter about nothing with buddies. Just kidding but it was a cool coffee shop. Then on the way back to the hostel I stopped into a bakery for a black and white cookie. It was pretty good... look to the cookie. Got back to find Samuelle chilling on the stoop, he said he hadn't seen anybody since the 2nd time we got split up. As we were sitting there Marco walked up, he hadn't seen us or Mirko and thought he was the last one out of the Museum. Then the shuttle picked me up and I was off to the airport. JFK was crowded but I was early so I was able to find an outlet and pirate some wifi for awhile. One of the airlines paged Jakob Dylan while I was sitting there. Maybe his dad was looking for him.

Day 4

Woke up and chatted with the roommates for a while, the girls from Australia and Korea left so just the three of us now. Anaise woke up our Japanese roommate by getting close and yelling WAKEUP CHINESE! at him. Shes a character and it was hilarious in her French accent. Hit the road and it was a beautiful morning. Had been fairly hot and pretty muggy the past couple days. Today though it was beginning to feel like fall and I'm looking forward to that weather when I get back. I walked across Central Park and it was gorgeous this morning. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was closed today so I headed down to see the Museum of Modern Art.

I had an early lunch and finally got a hot dog and a big pretzel from a street vendor. The pretzel did end up having too much salt on it after all. A lot more people at the Moma than I expected. I had a good time just walking around with my headphones on and recognized a lot of the art from my Art History and Humanities courses. Definitely cool to get to see them in person.

I hadnt been to Soho yet so I headed down. The Empire State Building had too long of a wait to go up on the observation deck. I walked by the CBS studios and walked into the NBC studios but didnt feel like doing a tour, I saw the Rockefeller Center, which I recognized from TV. Also saw the Trump Tower, seems like this was where they did the apprentice? I saw MTV unloading stuff for the Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall

Crossing the street in Chelsea I saw a homeless guy locked in a forlorn stare putting something into his shopping cart. As I passed I saw that it was an intact but broken mirror he was looking into. I didnt want to be that guy that stopped to take a picture of it. It made me think of this photo at the Moma. It was of people walking in NYC going on about their busy days but the focus seemed to be on this bundled up blind homeless guy walking in the crowd. I wondered if this guy knows he is on exhibit in a museum. Stopped at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village next to NYU and chilled there for awhile. There was a musician playing some sort of tribal wind instrument next to a fountain and it was really relaxing. I watched some chess games on these built-in chess tables and was invited to play a few times but I had to be on my way.

Finally got to Soho and it was interesting. A lot of old brick roads and bars and shops. There was some more stuff I wanted to see down near Wall Street so I kept walking. Everybody was getting off work in the Financial District and I was going against the flow of the crowd. Ended up in Battery Park on the southern tip of the Island facing the Statue of Liberty. It was really nice there with the sun and the water so I chilled out a bit and watched some of the ferries come in.

About 7:00 decided to take a bus back home. A family from England got on and I chatted with them for a good while on the way back. The dad lived in New Jersey and was getting remarried so the son and daughter and some friends were just in town for the wedding. We talked rugby for awhile, the son had played League and the father and daughter had played Union and they disagreed about which had fitter players and harder tackles. The son is now a taxi driver in a small town. He was well traveled though and said he had worked on a ranch in Africa for awhile. He said it was huge and it took a month to make a round checking the fences. The daughter asked if she could have my hat when she first sat down and would check in occasionally to see if I changed my mind. They were both about my age and the son said he had a sofa for me if I ever make it that way. He said it was really serene out in the countryside and he always wanted to come to Texas because he pictures he liked Little House on the Prairie and thats what he pictures.

I got off the bus on the east side and cut across the park right about dusk. It was really pretty around the lake. There were tons of people jogging around the lake and a lot of people jogging and biking through the park. As I came out of the park there was a guy that looked like Big Pun with his windows down blaring that Holiday Road song from the National Lampoons Vacation. Strange song to be jamming out to but it got me in the mood for the trip tomorrow.

Grabbed some dinner and hung out on the stoop with everybody. Met some guys that just got here from Switzerland. He asked what dead end meant. He said they had gotten lost and pointed toward Harlem and said that they were terrified and thought they were going to be killed for being white. Then they saw a sign that said dead end and he said "maaaan we just thought, well this is our end". I laughed for probably too long at that and apologized. He seemed pretty shaken. While we were sitting out there some girls arrived from Russia, and I met more girls from Australia and Italy that have checked in. Have also met other people staying here from Poland and Spain and Scotland.

Some people went off to go to a club and I showed the rest how to get up on the roof. Everybody loved it up there and we had a blast hanging out, probably fifteen people total. We talked art for awhile and there was a movement in Germany similar to romanticism but they couldn't think of the translation in English. In German it means something like a storm that you cant avoid. I guessed a lot of art movements and artists but they didn't think any of them was this particular one and I dont know if I have heard of this one. Everyone was educated so it was cool. Spent a lot of time talking to Amelia, from Italy. She was in Toronto for an HIV convention and came to check out the city. She is an immunologist and said she has had the title Dr. for four years but will be done at her university in November. After spending a year in Africa for HIV she is leaning towards specializing in it. She looks like a young Ashley Judd. Simone from Switzerland said he got in a fight with a guy that did Thai boxing a few years ago. He said he couldn't do anything but try to cover his face while the guy was landing elbows and knees.

Day 3

Woke up and talked for awhile with Anaise (Anne eye eece), the new roommate. She is an actress from Montreal in town for head shots and dance classes. We had lunch at this cheap Mexican place next door and then spent a long time in central park walking around and playing on the swings in the playground. Then we did some shopping and sightseeing in Times Square. She needed some kind of pants for dancing so we went to this store for dancers. It was on the 2^nd floor of a building in times square so it was cool just to look out the window and people watch. Then she got tickets to see Chicago next week which she was pretty pumped about because Usher is going to be in it for awhile. We went into a couple stores shopping for some shoes for myself but I didn't like any I tried on. She was pretty beat so we came back and had tacos again and she fell asleep and didn't wake up till midnight. I may have been smiled at by Charlize Theron twice while we were out. Probably just a look a like.

I went up on the roof and was able to get on somebody's wifi connection. Went downstairs and hung out with the Australian chicks a bit. Not the roommates the other ones. They like my accent and the feeling is mutual. Then I spent a few hours just walking around exploring the upper west side. Lots of sights and sounds and smells, restaurants that look and smell amazing. Lots of them have seating outside on the sidewalk, so just walking by you hear a lot of different conversations. I ended up stopping into a place for an enormous slice of pizza.

Came back to the hostel and just sat on the stoop and eventually quite a few people were hanging out there. Spent most of the time hanging with three guys and one girl from Italy, one guy from Israel and one guy from Liverpool. I realized while sitting there Im the only American Ive been hanging out with from the hostel. Two girls left while we were sitting there with American accents but they are the only other ones Ive seen. In addition to the countries Ive mentioned so far Ive also met people from Germany, Ireland, Czech Republic, Japan and Korea. Good times sitting on the stoop and learning about home lands and trying to get past some language barriers. Samuelle from Italy said I'm instead of you're once accidentally and the rest started laughing and said he always forgets this. Evidently, yesterday he went up to an attractive woman and said, I'm a beautiful lady. They had eaten sushi tonight and didn't like it. I explained I hadn't either at first but it grows on you. The guys had no idea what I was talking about and I was not able to explain this until Camilla helped me out and said like beer and then the guys all said ah, si ah si.

The super came by and thought I was Oscar De La Hoya from a distance. He showed me his hands were cut up from fighting two guys a few minutes before. One of the firemen suggested we take the Italians down to Little Italy tomorrow night for special treatment in clubs. The bartender/fashion guy from last night walked by again and said whatsup. I had meant to go by a Victorias Secret and see if that catalog is out yet.

Day 2

Woke up and just started walking again today. Went through Times Square, through the Toys R Us there this time. Walked through the East Village - there were definitely some characters there. Walked through Little Italy and had lunch in Chinatown. Continued on into the financial district and stumbled upon Ground Zero.

I had been told of the street vendors so they weren't a surprise, but I was expecting a more somber tone from everyone else. A few people had serious expressions on their faces when reading the sign with the timeline of 9/11, but on the whole it seemed like a simple tourist destination. I definitely wasn't expecting to see people cheerily posing for photographs or going on about how there was too much salt on their pretzels or whatever. On the other hand I was overcome. Just picturing the people jumping out and firemen running in and the nursery. I kept thinking of this Walt Whitman poem I read a lot around 9/11 (written from frontlines of the civil war)

Aroused and angry,
I thought to beat the alarm, and urge relentless war;
But soon my fingers faild me, my face droopd, and I resignd myself,
To sit by the wounded and soothe them, or silently watch the dead.

Somehow I ended up being the one out of place.

I continued south and found a nice little grassy park with the statue of liberty in the background. I put in my headphones and dozed off for a bit. I woke up and started north again, there was a huge police and fire parade that came by with their sirens blazing. Behind them was a parade of bikers. It seemed to go on forever. I went north through Tribeca and stopped and ate some fruit from a little grocer in Greenwich Village.

I continued up through Chelsea and decided to take a subway back the rest of the way. I was waiting for my subway and talking to this girl on her way back in to the city after a week in D.C. We were waiting forever so she talked to a conductor who said they were running a little behind. Another woman started waiting with us. She was from Hungary but living in London, vacationing in Boston and just in NYC for the weekend. We waited longer and finally she got up and saw this little piece of paper that explained why our subway wasn't coming. She said shes going to take a different route if we wanted to follow her. The Hungarian woman and myself, who basically have no idea what we are doing follow her up some stairs onto a different subway where we get off and go around the corner and get on a different subway and finally I get off and came back to the Hostel. All the natives continue to be thoughtful and friendly and really helpful. Everybody likes my cowboy hat and has good impressions of Texas. This city has so many shops. I passed a store with nothing but espresso machines in the east village and in Greenwich Village there was a store with nothing but cheese. Down the street is a supplement and vitamins store for pets. Im not sure how these would fare in Dallas.

Everybody in my room went to bed early today and I didn't feel like sleeping or going too far so I stayed in my neighborhood. I went the opposite way down my street than I usually do and found a cool area I hadn't seen before. I almost went into this bar but decided against it. Turns out I'm 3 doors down from a firehouse and when I walked by there were 3 firemen hanging out and I asked if I could chill there. They were all very cool and we talked about a lot of different things, they were pretty interested in what I was doing and one of them had a friend that also wanted to go train Muay Thai in Bangkok. They asked what I had been doing and when I told them about people posing for pictures in front of ground zero one of them said Jesus its like the f****** Grand Canyon. I didnt really know how to describe others reactions with the site but he nailed it quite succinctly. They did explain though that it had been 5 years now and a lot had changed and people may be moving on. None of them were working that day. One of them was supposed to work but traded shifts, the other two werent working there yet. One of them had been doing construction in one of the towers for weeks, and was supposed to be working there that day but his boss sent him somewhere else. They did have one guy from the station that died and had a nice memorial setup for him. They said thats where they used to put hay for the horses, and the stables were the current offices. This neighborhood was built around the turn of the century and its interesting to hear some of that history. Last week they got a call that an entire floor of a building had smoke. The culprit ended up being a guy washing his clothes by boiling them on the stove, and he had forgotten about them.

The bartender from the bar I almost went in walked by and one of the guys knew him so he talked with us for awhile. He started a jean company about a year ago and just worked out a distribution deal with Victorias Secret and his stuff is on the current cover of the catalog. K jeans I think, very interesting to talk with him about distribution, manufacturing, and business. He is about to open up a store here. Still wasnt too tired when I got back so I am writing this from the fire escape on the 4^th floor.

Day 1

Couple of quick updates from the first day:

Airline had a delay with our luggage, that set me back another hour and a half to two hours or so. A lot of people were pretty upset and we were waiting by the baggage claim room when somebody tells me to please step aside and I look up and there are 6 cops out of nowhere. I got my bags and was not arrested though. I saw this one guy in Atlanta that used to be a girl, I recognized from TLC show and I saw this midget chick at LaGuardia that had been on an MTV True Life episode trying to be an actress I think.

I got into the hostel and dropped my bags off and hit the streets walking. I'm on the upper west side right next to the park. I like the neighborhood a lot. Lots of trendy restaurants and shops and stuff. This one place I thought was a restaurant was a nail salon, and this one restaurant was painted all white except for 4 bare wire hangers in a row on the wall for decoration. It was cool just walking around, ended up in Times Square and saw the Late Show Theatre and other recognizable sites. I had been walking for around 2 hours and hadn't eaten since breakfast so I ducked into this Vietnamese place and had apple chicken, that was excellent. Took a different way back and walked through Central Park a bit. Tons of people out playing ball and running and biking or walking their dogs. I saw some rocks I recognized from a Woody Allen film. Don't remember which one though.

Got back to hostel, right away one of my roommates shows up, he is a salesman from Italy. His company sells shoe soles and hes been all over the world on business, but he is just here for vacation. He said everybody in Italy goes on vacation in August and a lot of companies shut down. We asked around in the lobby if there are any good bars around and met some Australian chicks. They were too young for bars so we hit the subway down to Greenwich Village. On the subway on the way back this guy told me people from Brooklyn had a stigmatism. He was really friendly and helpful though, which everyone has been. I guess I wasn't expecting that from native new Yorkers, which hasn't been my experience at all.

Alexander went to Niagara Falls for a couple days, our roommates are a guy from Japan, a girl from Korea and these other girls from Australia. They were in upstate for a month at a horse riding camp. They don't know the girls we met in the lobby last night. I'm drinking Poland Springs water and I saw Newman's favorite chunky candies at the store last night, I wouldn't mind doing a real Kramer tour but they are sold out, you have to book months ahead I found out. I think I'm going to hit the streets again tomorrow and see ground zero and statue of liberty and some other sites.

Also this guy next to me on the plane said he used to live next door to the Ramseys in Georgia and he said their whole neighborhood always thought they did it.