Cribs: Thailand Apartment Edition

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So after my first ever Muay Thai class I wandered around nearby trying to find an apartment. The plan was start near the gym and slowly hit every apartment complex in a radius around it to find something in my price range. The gym had a contract with a nearby place and it was something ridiculous like 7,000 baht a month ($211). After wandering, I ended up finding a nice cheap one, but the lady said I couldn’t move in for a week. She was one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met! She felt bad she had nothing I could move into immediately, so she offered to help me find another apartment! She took me to the other apartment and talked in Thai with the landlord there, but no luck. Next, we went to a complex where I couldn’t find the property manager’s office, so she even called the owner of that complex to see if she could get me in it. While I was waiting for her to do that she offered me Coke and water!

She never gave up. Her and another nearby elderly apartment owner, Auntie Nung I called her, drove me to one last apartment complex where I ended up getting a room with AC for 2800 baht a month ($84). That is just the base price, but it came with free internet and water and electric are charged by the unit of energy/water used. Only thing I might want is a fridge which can be rented for 200 baht ($6) a month.

I did get a rice cooker and have been using that for the past couple of days. I cook the rice and mix that with sardines, since they were cheaper than tuna. So that’s my plan for supplementary meals even though eating out can be done for under a dollar. I went on a shopping spree to buy the essentials like a towel, detergent, toilet paper, a pillow, and pillow case. Only thing that would make things perfect is a bike. A lady at church might have offered one. I’ll follow up on that next Sunday.

To get a real sense of how I’m living I filmed a quick little apartment tour that you can view below!

Cribs: Thailand Apartment Edition

New Start in Chiang Mai

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After busing a crossed three countries I decided on a plane for my journey away from island paradise to northern Tha city life. The flight only cost about $60 and saved me probably 30 hours of busing. Seemed worth it!

I arrived at night and made my way to a hostel I had booked. The next morning I got up with a specific mission. This was my day to scout out potential Muay Thai gyms to train at. So I rented a bicycle and began my rounds. I stopped at 4 gyms and likely recorded over 20 miles while riding precariously on the major high ways, through traffic. Shout out to my guardian angels!

There were two gyms that really seemed like a good fit for me. The other gyms we’re either too touristy or pricey. I wanted to be at a gym that had the level of trainers and also other students that would help me become better. Iron sharpens iron, and that is what I was going for. Between the two that interested me I chose the one that was closer to the WELS started congregation in the city. That way I could make it a priority to get involved in the church there. The other gym did have an incredible level of talent with fighters contending for world titles. However, I had to keep my priorities in the right places.

I settled at Team Quest. It’s near the airport there and has a massive 5 story shopping mall near it. That gives me options for entertainment and shopping in between training. Also it’s free AC!
I am currently living in an apartment and I’m going to do a post exaining how I got it and giving a little tour soon. In the meantime I wanted to fill everyone in on what I’ve been exploring in the city so far!

I don’t have any training pictures or videos, and might not for a while. No body wants to be the new guy at the gym who looks like he’s just training so he can get some cool Instagram pictures. There was a photographer going around the other day so we’ll see when I come up with some photos of the gym and training.

In my spare time I managed to make it out to a Chiang Mai FC game. It was the last of the season! If you look in the picture below you can see me on the far right sneaking into a photo that appeared on their Facebook page. Next to me is a friend I met at the game. He had decent English and he and his friends offered me snacks while we watched together. He was from the hill tribes further north he told me and the snack he shared was what looked like acorns, but were some type of delicious nut. I had to crack them open with my teeth to get the tasty innards out. I have found Thais are some of the nicest people on the planet. Most will do anything to help you out, especially if you look lost or confused!

The niceness continued as I felt welcomed into the church service this Sunday. I had stopped by earlier when I was on my bike tour, but no one with passable English was there. I had a funny conversation with one of the guys there none the less! For my WELS readers the church services actually take place in the same building as the Thai Village. For those that don’t know Thai Village is a program that helps get local Thai people into a job making craft jewelry and knick knacks to sell for income. I toured around and I was impressed by the products! 

You can take a look at their products and help support the people here with a purchase at https://thaivillage.org.

The time leading up to finding a gym and apartment had been pretty stressful and I was starting to feel a little homesick. It’s pretty easy to feel lonely when all your friends and family are halfway a crossed the world. I had this on my heart heading to church and it never ceases to blow my mind how a church service and hearing God’s word can change everything.

We were singing a hymn, well I was trying to humm along since it was in Thai, but it sounded so beautiful. I was caught thinking about home. They had the English lyrics under the Thai lyrics and the one line said something along the lines of “wherever you go God has journeyed with you.” I had tears welling up in my eyes. Even though everything was going on in another language that is all I needed to hear. That alone reminded me that God is always with me and always will be. That comfort reminded me of the things I had learned growing up from my parents, from church, and from going to a Lutheran high school. Because of that comfort, home suddenly didn’t seem so far.

That is a service I will never forget. I got to meet some incredible people and I was lucky to have the retired missionary next to me to help translate and get the main message a crossed during the service. Just another instance of Thais being friendly, but more importantly of the power of Christian fellowship. My friends and family may be on the other side of the globe, but I now have my own friends and family right here.

New Start in Chiang Mai

Island Life and Bar Fights

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After enjoying the beach I decided I wanted to take it further out to one of the islands to really immerse myself in island life. While there are many island in southern Thailand all offering something a little unique I decided to go to Phi Phi island. I chose this island because it is known as one of the mostly naturelt beautiful islands. Coincidentally, it also has a decent night life!

I arrived on the island midday and didn’t really have any plans, but a New Zealander at my hostel happened to invite me on a hike to a viewpoint for sunset. He told me there was a 30 baht ($1) fee to get there, but he saw some trails on his map that lead around the backside so you wouldn’t have to pay. I am always up for some impromptu hiking, so we headed out.

It turned out to be a roughly 2 hour hike. There were nice parts walking along secluded beaches, but mostly it was a trek through an unkept path where sharp leaves would cut you and weird 6 inch centipedes would startle you. Cervantes did say, “The road is better than the in.” With that sentiment in mind we both felt a good amount of accomplishment when we reached the viewpoint with plenty of time before sundown.

There the New Zealander and I made friends with two British fellows and we made a plan to meet at the bar later that night. The New Zealander and I returned to our rooms and got ready to go out. First, we went to a bar that showed a free movie every night. We got a free showing of The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It was a funny film and some much needed relaxation from the hike earlier.

Then we made our way to a bar that featured Muay Thai fights. That definitely excited me, and this is also where we met up with the Brits. Evidentially at this bar if you golenteer to get in the ring against another person you both her a free bucket of alcohol. Thrilled by the idea of free alcohol, but mostly by having a Muay Thai fight I signed up. No waiver no nothing. After putting on some sweaty used shorts, next thing you know I’m in the ring!

There’s the footage of the fight! You can hear my New Zealander mate narrating.

Next day I took a hike to some other beaches and to the grand daddy viewpoint of the island. Honestly, I got lucky with the viewpoint because I didn’t know it was there until I saw the signs. I never pass up an opportunity for a viewpoint and I’m sure glad I didn’t this time!

After that I relaxed and ate a good lunch and got on my feery back to the mainland! It was a quick but absolutely beautiful island trip!

Next up, my journey to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand where I start my true Muay Thai career!

Island Life and Bar Fights