No really, I'm in Thailand.

I was sitting in Pattaya having coffee this morning thinking "Holy crap I am really in Thailand!". It's hard to wrap my head around being on the other side of the world. I have done it before, but this time I am on my own and basically living here for two months. crazy
Last night I passed out around 9pm and was able to sleep until 5:30 this morning. yay! I mean I tossed and turned, but it was still a full nights sleep for the most part. I got out to run around 6:30. Even though its early, it's still so ridiculously humid. We don't have this kind of humidity in Philly. I run at this elementary school just down the road from my hotel. They have a pond on the grounds with a .5mi track around it. There are always a bunch of people exercising there in the morning. The school has a bunch of different exercise machines set up around the outskirts of the pond. It's a pretty cool little area. A bunch of the boys from camp showed up about half way through my run. (Age ranges 9-14ish probably) I said hello and bowed. They all said hello back. :) I lapped them a few times. slow pokes.
After, I returned to the hotel and proceeded to do my laundry. I brought laundry detergent with me from home. Thanks to Mark Houldin I will now be bringing laundry detergent with me on every trip I go on. The washing machines at the hotel only cost 20baht (about 70cents). So Cheap!
Initially I was thinking about trying to stay somewhere closer to Pattaya, but now I am thinking I am just going to stay put. It's really nice and quiet here except for one bird that likes to start screaming at 5am. Plus everything is pretty accessible from here by moped and the camp is just down the road. Which is the reason I am here.
After my morning antics I headed into Pattaya for coffee and lunch. I once again returned to the mall food court because it is just sooo delicious. I ate my favorite greens and some chicken and ginger dish. Pretty tasty. Total it probably cost me about $5. I am getting into a habit of eating half and then taking the other half home for dinner. It works out well only paying $5 a day for food. I have also been eating Clif bars everyday about 2 hours before training. I think they help, but I am going to start running low on them soon. Oh no!
I am slightly nervous about training today. The sun seems to be out in full effect so I know it is going to be HOT. I am drinking water and electrolyte powder like a MOFO in preparation.
Just after typing this clouds rolled in and now I am starting to hear thunder. So we shall see. If anything I will be very well hydrated.
I am going to try to get a nap in before training. more later...

Update: Training went pretty well today. It started to rain just as I left for the gym and once I got there is just down poured. It made it not so hot which was really nice. Today I did 6 rounds, sparred 20min and bag work about a half hour. I am pooped. Definitely looking forward to a day off tomorrow. With running and training everyday this week my body is feeling a little broken. I am just not used to training so hard. Somewhere along the way I think I might have bruised my tail bone. Probably when one of the boys dropped me. Which happens a lot. They might be small but they are fierce. Pon asked me if I wanted to train tomorrow at 7:30 but I think I will burn out if I don't get some recovery in. He said he is going to take me for Tom Yum (traditional Thai soup) tomorrow since I like spicy food.
Alright, I am off to bed...

HOT!

So, yeah. The whole heat thing. It's as bad as everyone says. The tricky part is you don't really feel like eating when its hot but really I should be eating more because of all the training. Electrolytes are also super important. I was fried within a half hour yesterday from overheating. I think it's going to take me a few weeks to get it all figured out.
Today I am pretty much exhausted. I tried to drag myself to run this morning but I couldn't do it. I needed sleep more than running. I ran 3.5mi a day for the last 3 days so I don't feel too bad about taking one off. Plus I am still going to train for at least 2-3hours today. My goal is to be running between 4-6mi a day 6 days a week by the time I leave.
The fight last night was really great. The main event was two females fighting for Welterweight champion of the world. One Thai the other from England. Both held belts from their respective countries. The girl from England slaughtered the Thai girl. Pretty surprising considering Thai's train from like the age of 3. They stopped the fight during the second round probably because the Thai girl took so many elbows to the face and it all started to go downhill for her from there. They are really a lot of fun to watch. Too bad I was so exhausted that I only hung around for a few of them.

The best is watching the little kids that are professional fighters. They are wicked good. I failed to get pictures of them but I will make sure to next time I attend a fight.

Other than frying yesterday training is great. Kru Pon is a really good trainer and a really nice guy. He is always concerned that I am ok. Yesterday we did pads for about a half hour. He then had me spar with one of the young professional fighters for about 20-30 min then I clinch sparred with two of the young fighters for another half hour or so. They are good. They also do a really great job teaching.
There are about 10-12 kids(maybe more) that are always around when I go to train. I got some of them in trouble yesterday when I told Kru Pon that I saw them when i was running in the morning. He asked me if they were running or walking. Unfortunately for them I only saw them walking during the 40min I was there. He then proceeded to ask them how much they ran and then yelled at them and made them do laps. I think they are starting to warm up to me a little bit. They seem to be wary of foreigners when they first arrive. Rightfully so. There are a lot of meat heads running around.
Today has definitely been a little rough. I am starting to miss everyone at home. Also, the exhaustion is kicking my butt and I'm not sleeping so well because the bed in my hotel room feels like I am sleeping on a rock. I end up tossing and turning all night. I think I am going to try to get someone to send me a mattress topper. At least I think that I am finally getting used to the time zone. I was able to stay in bed till 7 this morning.
I went into Pattaya earlier today to check out the mall that they have there. The food court downstairs was really nice. I was able to eat vegetables for the first time since I have been here. yay! I was craving them something fierce. Not only were they vegetables, but they were my favorite cooked green. I first ate them in Taiwan and loved them. I have never been able to find them in the states.Anyway, gotta get ready to train. Miss you guys!

Update: Just returned from training. Today went soooo much better than yesterday. Before hand I went to the pharmacy to buy electrolyte powder and downed a bunch of it. I think it made a huge difference. That and it wasn't as hot today. The clouds rolled in and it started to rain. Training with Kru Pon went really well. I was able to keep up with him and still had energy after doing pads. I then proceeded to spar and then clinch with the younger boys that are there everyday. I think they are starting to warm up to me a little bit. Pon had me doing pushups with them. They were making fun of me because I didn't have to do as many and also because I was doing them on my knees. When I went to finish up my day with situps they also went to do situps with me. Kinda nice feeling a little more accepted.
Now I am back in my room eating leftover greens and chicken curry. Today started out a little rough but training made it all better. Hopefully now I can get a good nights rest.

I'm in Thailand!

So I've made it to Thailand. I have been here three days and I'm finally just starting to get over the jet lag. Until today I have been waking up at 3am. Today I woke up at 4:30. Tomorrow I am hoping to sleep till 5:30.
Thailand is HOT. Not so much temperature wise but more humidity. We don't have humidity like this in Philly. I have been running every morning at 6:30 and I am completely drenched by the time I get back to the hotel. I can't imagine trying to run any later than that.
Everyone has been really nice so far. They are always checking on me to make sure that I am ok.
When I first arrived I wondered around for a while on foot checking out what was close to the hotel. Where I am is basically farmland with a small town or two accessible by foot. I quickly realized that in order for me to survive and find food I would need a moped. The following day I rented a moped and found my way to Pattaya. It is a small city about 4k away. It is basically the prostitution capital of the world. I have not attempted to go there at night. My usual day so far has been running at 6:30, heading to Pattaya to eat food and drink coconut water around 8:30, then I have been returning back to my hotel around noon to relax and snooze before training at 3pm. The moped has been a ton of fun.
I have only trained once so far and it was great. My trainers name is Kru Pon. He suggested that after he trains me for two weeks I should fight in Thailand. I politely suggested that I think I would like to wait for a later date. Not so sure I want to fight in Thailand. I don't really want to take an elbow to the face. Safer in the states with no elbows. So anyway, I felt pretty good about the first session. I was pretty surprised that i hung so well in the heat. He had two other people request him the same day so we all took turns going for about 20 min at a time. Between training and watching the show they put on for the tourists, I ended up staying there for a good 3-4 hours. He had me finish up with doing 200 situps. Good times. Tonight after training Kru Pon is taking me to watch a fight. I will definitely post more later...for now I have to get ready to train

Ok, I am back from training. I take back what I said about the heat. Today was very HOT. Probably about 10 degrees hotter than yesterday. I almost passed out at one point while training. April is supposed to be the hottest month of the year here. lucky me. I honestly don't even know how I made it through training. I need to find Gatorade if I am going to survive this heat. Anyway, there is a fight tonight. Kru Pon is coming over and we are going to ride our mopeds there. Not sure I can stay awake that long, but I am going to try. more later....

Special Massage anyone?

So, this is what happens to you when you go for the "special massage for you" deal. Reeeaaal funny. At least they didn't try to give me a happy ending. I have seen it before in the states, apparently they call it "cupping", that is also real funny. They suctioned about 10 glass globes to my back. It was quite interesting. So now I am stuck with 10 giant hickeys on my back for a few days. Eh, no big deal. I have no one to impress. Too funny.

Anyway, other than getting 10 giant hickeys, the day was pretty uneventful. It is getting a little stressful but I can handle it. It's all part of the fun. Over half the bikes are finished in China. Only about 30 to go! Then it is off to Taiwan to finish the rest there.

Here is where I eat lunch everyday:

Kind of random I know, but after that massage I'm feeling a little loopy. The food here at the factory is great. It is my favorite food in China. We have our own cooks and everything. They call me the chopstick master. (not really, but they do always compliment my chopstick skillz) Actually, being here is quite good for the ego. Everywhere I go they like to tell me how beautiful I am. It's great. They don't see many female rounds eyes in these parts so I attribute it to that. That and I AM beautiful. hah.

I went to "Window of the World" yesterday. It was alright. It is basically miniature statues of the wonders of the world. Please see below:

Wait no, I'm sorry that is me sticking my head in a statues nose.

THIS is a miniature of a world wonder:

And again:It was cool. I went with one of the girls from the factory. She loved it. That made me happy since they never leave the factory ever. Then I took her out to lunch. It was a fun time. She said the day was unforgettable. That made me laugh...I wonder if she doesn't understand the word, or it really was unforgettable to her. Either way, I am glad she is happy. Plus, I got the sweet pic of me hanging out of the statues nose. It was an over all successful trip. I wasn't bored once over the weekend. I do miss everyone at home. So let me leave you with this photo to contemplate until my next post:

Chillin in China 4/19

If there was a photo I could show you guys who have never been here to describe China, it would be the above photo. It's high class or no class here. There is no middle, you either live in luxury or you live in a shack with rubble all around. Being that I am in the middle of manufacturing central, I see more rubble than luxury. I am however staying in a 5 star hotel for $40 a night. It's pretty crazy.
Nice eh?

Anyway, I am terrible at posting everyday, so I will just post when I can. It is Sunday morning here (Saturday night at home).

This is what I wake up to every morning.

(View from my balcony, yes, I have a balcony on the 15th floor)
It's crazy how incredibly polluted this country is. Of course everything in the world is made here, so it makes sense. Today I will be going to something called Window of the Worlds. Apparently it is a miniature park of the Wonders of the world. That should be quite interesting. I'll take lots of pictures.
Nothing too exciting has been going on. It's work, work, work for the most part. (Which is what I am here to do) The photoshoot is going well. We are done taking photos of at least half my models. They look great :)
So these are some of the people I work with in the factories over here.

Mark is our Senior Product manager. All the other people are the ones who make our decisions happen in China. They are very hard workers and are fun to work with.
OK, I am off the Window of the worlds. I will post more later.

Day1

(Picture 1-getting on the ferry to the mainland)

Hey guys, So I made it to China. The trip was looooong. It was quite uneventful really. I hung out in the Taipei lounge, then hopped a flight to HK where I caught a ferry to the mainland. (Picture 2-seen from the ferry that takes me from HK to mainland China)

(Picture 3-seen from the ferry. So many ships it almost looks like they are going into battle)
The factory is about 1 hour drive inland once the ferry lands in Shenzhen(Southern mainland China) As soon as I walked off the ferry the humidity hit me. Everyday here is like the most humid day in the summer time back home in Philly. Not as hot, but man is it sticky. I forgot to pack for this weather.

(Pictures 3,4,5-view from the car on the way to the factory)

Parts of China are very pretty, but as you can see from the photos, there is always a haze everywhere because of all the manufacturing in the country.

(Picture 6-Clothes hanging out to dry on balcony's.)

Almost every apartment building you see everywhere in Southern China will have clothes hanging out to dry. I don't know how they can dry with this humidity.

I arrived at the factory around 1:30pm(1:30am to me). I was really excited to see all of my mechanical babies. Non of them were completely built, but built enough that I could see how they would turn out. I was so excited. The photoshoot doesn't start till tomorrow.

By 4pm I started crashing and was ready for bed. We headed back to the hotel around 5:30pm and had a buffet dinner. The dinners here are little scary sometimes. You don't always know what meat you are eating. Around 7pm I went for an hour and a half massage that only cost $6. I get them almost every night when I'm here. They are great! I tried to stay awake to watch The Contender Asia (Muay Thai fight competition) but passed out in the middle of it.
That's it for Day 1....

DAY 0 (I am calling it that because I am still in the states sitting in the airport.)

This is the "Lounge" where I hang out until they let me on the plane. The coffee is to the left, food in the middle, and alcohol on the right.(thats my computer at the bottom, I am sitting) I attempted to get a free upgrade to first class, but they wouldn't have any of it. I have attempted several methods of getting to the airport. This trip was Amtrak. I arrived successfully, but was one hour late. I will no longer be taking the Amtrak. So, I still have to sit here and try to stay awake till 2am. My eyelids are getting a little droopy, but that could be the alcoholic beverage i just consumed. I did buy a copy of Bicycling magazine to entertain me, which you should all do, because I received my first bike review. Very Exciting! Go buy it and frame it...Cause its gonna be worth a lot of money some day.(I wish) I am pretty happy with the article. They had some good things to say. Anyway, I am going to eat some more food. I am pretty hungry. I will blog again later...Miss you guys already!