Chooseday

Well Monday morning did feel great however it did go a bit downhill from there on..

I got back in the afternoon to train and suddenly got a headache and had a dizzy spell come on..I felt a bit crap so I missed training and came back to Don's for dinner. Chatted online for a bit and then went back to go to bed.

I passed Lola and the other swedish girls setting up a surprise for a Canadian guy called Serge - it was his birthday so not having any balloons handy used what they had - lots of condoms!! They made a pretty good welcoming banner, very resourceful.
Lola suggested I stay but I wasn't feeling too great and again I came back to thinking - I did the whole going out in Patong and getting drunk, dancing, etc ,etc 8-9yrs ago and while I think it's great that they do that and clearly enjoy themselves - it's just not what I'm out here for this time, especially not mid week :-)

This morning I couldn't get out of bed and felt guilty about not moving and probably could have got myself up and moving but then I reminded myself of Atsumi and listening to my body (I didn't have my daily nap yesterday - maybe that's why!). So I went back to sleep, woke up to have some water occasionally and took it easy...by the afternoon I'd got through 3ltrs of water and was feeling much better. When it got to 3:40 I decided it was time to get up and have a shower and get ready for training! I'm glad I did cos it was hard and I loved it.

I spent nearly 45mins on the ski machine and then shadow boxed in the ring and trained with Bang. It seems to be I focus more on power and more moves with Bang and technique with Him. During the training I felt myself getter weaker as I got more knackered but thats normal. Suz told me I looked good so that was nice to hear. Bang was playing around a little got me to hit harder and harder with my right elbow until he fell over. Very silly but fun and satisfying all the same. My kicks are starting to get more power which is really nice...you watch the guys who've obviously been doing this for ages and the power in their kicks is amazing..it does look like some of them would break bones if they came into contact with someone else's body.

There's a certain point in the gym both in the mornings and in the evenings where everything's very peaceful - I'll be warming up on the ski machine and there'll be a few trainers around and a few people warming up but generally it's pretty quiet though there is music playing...and then suddenly it comes alive with lots of the people punching and kicking the bags and pads being held by the trainers. The sounds get so noisy sometimes its hard to hear the music. The energy in the place really lifts when this happens..it's such a contrast from when you see the place after training...it's completely dead and you wonder when there was last life in the place - especially if you're not training.

Last night walking home was just lovely. There'd been a thunderstorm while I was eating dinner at Don's and so I picked a time between the rains. The ground was wet and the air was humid though lighter than it had been. As I walked along the side road that takes me back to the gym the air had this wonderful heavily pregnant, ripe smell of jasmine that was just delicious to breath in walking along. I remembered being told that coconuts are actually a major cause of death by trauma to the head but also that they tend to fall during the rainy season. So I did find myself looking up at the coconut palms as I walked underneath them.

I went to bed a lot earlier than I have been and was woken up at around 3am by the most fantastic sounds of rain (which is quite a feat as I've been leaving my air con on at 26-27 degrees and the fan going just to move the air around). Actually that's probably how I keep sleeping through the Swedish part bungalow next door! Anyway, so I'd woken up and realised there was a thunderstorm going on from the sound of the rain and the flashes of light coming through. I picked up my glasses and put a wrap around skirt on and went outside onto the porch of my bungalow. The noise of the rain coming down was fantastic. I grabbed my camera and set it to video to record the noise. Most of the video is just the noise of the rain but occasionally there is a flash of lightening and you can see the outline of the trees around the camp. I was so entranced and loving the sound I ended up taking 5minutes worth of video! Lola poked her head through their front door at one point on the phone but she didn't reappear again. It looked like they were very much still up - there are glass bricks in the side walls of the bungalows in the main room so you can tell quite easily when people's lights are on (it also means that if anyone leaves their lights on your room doesn't go completely dark either).

Bananas! Finally I have an actual reason to write that word without being random (or weird). When I get my daily fruit platter, I get a big line of freshly cut watermelon and another line of freshly cut pineapple and then two sliced bananas. I have to mention the bananas - they are smaller in length than the ones you find in the supermarket in the UK, but a similar thickness and they are just ripe: perfect. The thing which I really love about them is they have the normal banana taste but also at the end of the taste there is that slightly caramelised yummy flavour you get when you barbeque bananas - but they are still fresh, raw and natural! Brilliant - who invented this delight, they deserve a medal...ok..so maybe people won't get this, but once a foody always a foody I reckon :o) (I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the detox, har har).

Time for me to go...my shoulders are hurting from typing..love to you all xxxxx