arrival in rangsit

i have arrived here, at the muay thai institute in rangsit, thailand!
its 8:51 AM right now, which means its 8:51 PM back home. its about 82 degrees, sunny, and humid. its beautiful. the city is full of action, cars speeding all over the place, motor bikes dodging between the cars, and tons of people everywhere. i got to the institute and set up my stuff yesterday at about 3pm. the room is bigger than i expected, with A/C, TV, a fridge, and a private bathroom.






the institute is like a hotel, with rooms on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors, and the gym on the first floor. its a gigantic place, i could definitely get lost in it.


this is the gym, with the ring in the center, and all the bags around the edges. there's stadium seats for the fights. the whole place doubles as a stadium. theres also a bigger stadium right out front, which also has a night club.


you walk through this alley in front of the institute to get out to the street.




this is the street that the school is on, and the sign for all the buildings.


here's the staduim/night club. the institute is behind this buliding, to the left.
there's a whole bunch of dogs that just hang out around here. i don't know if they are strays or what, but they are really sweet and calm. they are pretty much always panting and lying in the shade.


oh yes. there is a ping pong table on the second floor.
yes indeed.


this is the sun coming up this morning, off the balcony on the third floor. the washing machine is on this balcony, and there is also a snooker table just inside. i have no idea how to play, but maybe i can learn.

anyway that's all for now. i'm going to be testing at about noon, to see what level i should be in. and maybe tonight i'll head into bangkok. see if i can convince anyone to go get some food and wander around in "the new york of southeast asia."
take care, everyone.
la gorn! (goodbye!)
-daniel