If you missed the first post about Bhumibol Bridge you may want to read it as it gives a little background information about the bridge and talks about the view you get from the central Bangkok side of the Chao Phraya River.  I got a couple good shots from one side of the bridge but I wasn’t satisfied.  I could see there were some buildings on the other side of the first section of the bridge and I had seen a couple photos on Flickr from that location.

Getting to Phra Pradaeng

I couldn’t figure out whether or not the bridge had a pedestrian path to cross the bridge on foot or bicycle so instead of chancing it, I found a taxi driver near the Ambassador Hotel and told him I’d give him 500 baht ($15USD) to take me there and back.  Since I really had no idea where we were going I went to an internet café and showed them on a map where I wanted to go and they wrote it in Thai to show the taxi driver.

I was aiming to get some night shots of the bridge so I set out around 17:00 with the hope of getting to the bridge by sunset but the inevitable happened.  The traffic on Rama III & IV roads was at a standstill and it took over and hour and 15 minutes to go a distance that would have taken 15-20 minutes if there was no traffic.

The taxi driver knew how to drive to the bridge and get to the genera area under the bridge but he parked in a lot which was probably almost a kilometer away from the recreational area.  He accompanied me to the shooting location to not lose me and most importantly for him, the 500 baht fare.

Park looking towards Samut Prakan

Under the Industrial Ring Road

From back home in the USA when I think under a bridge or a major highway in a big city the first thing that comes to mind is a ghetto or industrial wasteland.  As mentioned previously in Bangkok it is completely opposite as there are many nice areas under Bangkok’s various bridges.

The park which to this day I cannot remember nor find out the name of, is very nice.  In the area near Bhumibol Bridge on this Phra Pradaeng side there is rather long paved jogging path along with numerous playgrounds for kids.  Directly below the coiling Industrial Ring road at the base of Bhumibol Bridge there is a nice grass park with rubberized jogging path and basketball courts.

The park surrounded by a fence and a security guard box has a couple buildings and statue laden pools.  I do not know what the buildings are, possibly a museum or school.  The industrial ring road along with its pillars is spectacular to photography in itself as it winds all over the place giving a photographer with a wide angle lens more than enough shots.

Jogging Path under the Industrial Ring Road

Bhumibol Bridge Photos

The prize of course is the beautiful Bhumibol Bridge views in which there are multiple angles as you are able to see in both spans of the bridge.   You can even walk outside the park and explore the more of the area which includes a large temple and several shipyards to get more views of the bridge and industrial ring road.

I saw several Thai photographers when I visited this are of Phra Pradaeng but no foreigners.  I would highly recommend this area of Bangkok for anyone with a digital SLR and especially those who like shooting wide angle shots as there is more than a couple hours worth of shots.  I would recommend leaving early so you can get there in time for the sun to set as it can be spectacular like the day when I was lucky enough to get this shot.

View the full Bhumibol Bridge Photo Archive

Bicycle Upgrade

I believe I told the story in previous posts but I’ll repeat it again.  I spent around 4,500 baht ($136 USD) on a bicycle from Big C which is basically Thailand’s version of Target from the USA which turned out to be a complete waste of money.  In addition to the handlebars falling off as I was riding it home, the cheap components died after the 2nd bike ride I went on.  While the bike had multiple suspension systems and looked cool, it was a complete piece of garbage.

I ended up giving the bike to one of the security guards for my apartment building and start looking for a real bike shop to get a bike I could zoom through the streets of Bangkok on.   I had ridden a bicycle through the streets of San Francisco for the past 3 years on my Specialized Sirrus Comp and felt the need to get a better bicycle if I was to ride one at all.

Probike

I found probike by searching on google.  The location was perfect because it was in a familair location right next to Lumpini Park (map above).  I bought a bicycle in the first place because of the traffic-free bicycle path which leads from my apartment to Lumpini Park (pictured above).  After getting used to the Bangkok traffic I decided that it is actually easier to ride bikes through the streets of Bangkok than San Francisco.

While there is more traffic in Bangkok than San Francisco the traffic is slower and believe it or not a little more predictable.   As I was looking around Probike’s showroom I noticed familiar hybrid style bikes which is what I wanted as well as high end road bikes, mountain bikes, and all sorts of bikes.

I started thinking that I really didn’t need a street bike because Bangkok’s geography is the polar opposite of San Francisco.  While the hills in San Francisco present a challenge for any bicyclist the almost 100% flat area of Bangkok doesn’t require as light a bike.  The unevenness of the curbs, and poorly layed brick sidewalks of Bangkok gave me the idea that a mountain bike would be a better idea anyway.

Part of the Showroom at Probike in Bangkok

Probike Service

Probike is stocked with mostly Trek and Gary Fisher bikes from what I saw.  The staff of green shirted employees was very friendly and helpful.  As soon as I pointed out the bike I wanted, without asking they immediately dropped 2500 baht ($75 USD) off the sticker price, offered me a free 1 year service plan and a bunch of discounts on accessories such as lights, locks, helmets and more.  I talked to an ex US army doctor on the way out and he told me they did the same for him saving him a lot of money as well.

I ended up spending 14,000 baht ($415 USD ) on a 2009 green Trek mountain bike (picture at top of post).  The sales guy offered me the 2008 model of the same bike for 10,000 baht ($330 USD) but I liked the green color and thought the bike’s Shimano components felt a lot smoother.  I was very surprised how fast the mountain bike was compared to my hybrid from in San Francisco.  It probably has something to do with riding on all flat surfaces past the slow Bangkok traffic.

I have went back a few times since I bought the bike to get things tightened up and tuned up a bit and the staff is always very friendly and doesn’t even ask for my proof of service plan to fix everything for free.  The shop and atmosphere reminds me of  my bike store in San Francisco Mike’s Bikes.  I highly recommend Probike for anyone looking to buy a quality bicycle in Bangkok.

The Probike website is very nice as well with tons of information about the shop as well as everything related to the bicycle culture in Thailand.  Probike.co.th

Exercise at Lumpini Park

Any health minded person who has ever lived or visited Bangkok for an extended period of time has visited Lumpini Park.  Besides being a relaxing oasis from the sometimes hectic Bangkok traffic,  Lumpini park is also a place where thousands of people come to exercise on a daily basis.  Throughout the day there is a nonstop flow of bicyclists and  runners , going around the lakes on the cement paths complete with kilometer markers and the newly rubberized track & field style running paths.

Every single day at 5 and 6pm giant aerobics classes start complete with cheesy Thai aerobics music and a few hundred people (mostly women) performing basic aerobics class steps to the music.  In addition to the swimming pool, tennis court,  basketball court and senior citizen center there are various sometimes odd fitness contraptions spread throughout the park.  Fitness also extends onto the water as a couple dozen pedal boats are available to rent as well.

Outdoor Gym #2

Outdoor Gyms

I knew there was an outdoor gym in Lumpini Park on the Rajadamri Road side (north end) of the park (video & pictures on bottom of page).   I worked out there a couple times before which cost 35 baht ($1 USD) per workout.  The gym has a punching bag and enough equipment for people of most strength levels (myself included) to get a good workout.

Every time swing by the gym there is never more than 5-10 people working out which is a stark contrast to the crowded corporate gym I painstakingly chose to get a membership at California WOW fitness.  The only thing I didn’t like about Lumpini Park’s outdoor gym was when I accidentally touched a tree and the next thing I knew I had a few dozen fire ants stinging my sweaty forearm.

Hardcore Lumpini Park Gym

"Hardcore" guys Posing Outside of Gym

I was looking to explore the rest of the park to find some material for pictures on my Tourism Pics photography site when I came across another gym in Lumpini Park!  When I walked by this gym located on the Rama IV road (south end) of Lumpini park I immediately noticed the people working out were pretty hardcore.  There were a group of around 10 shirtless guys who looked as if they were professional bodybuilders, muay Thai fighters, prison inmates or all the above lifting heavy weights.

I thought it was very cool looking so I decided one day I would head to the “hardcore” Lumpini Park gym and work out.  I planned on going for a long bicycle ride through the busy streets of Bangkok and after I witnessed 2 car accidents I thought better and ride my bike to Lumpini Park.  As I was riding through Lumpini Park I rode over to the “hardcore” Lumpini Park gym and noticed another big group of “hardcore” weight lifters as well as an awesome barbell bench press with 2 tires which I just had to lift.

I brought my bike in the gym and asked the lady how much it cost for “Aw Kam long Kai” which means exercise in Thai and she showed me a card with the prices.  I was rather shocked to see that a workout cost 20 baht (60 cents) and a monthly membership costs 200 baht ($6 USD) which is less than the other gym.

I warmed up a few sets of bench press to work up to the tire barbell which I had no idea how much it weighed.  I even got a spotter to make sure I didn’t kill myself and to my surprise (slight disappointment) the barbell with the tires wasn’t that heavy.  I would estimate the weight which had a bar which was smooth and about twice the diameter of normal Olympic bars weighed between 175-195 pounds.

Even though the “hardcore” patrons of this gym were a bit imposing, as usual the Thai people working out at the gym were very nice and friendly.  They even encouraged me to use heavier weights as well as helped me locate dumbbells that I needed.  I was the only farang (foreigner in Thai) working out but there were many farang passersby in the park who just looked in the gym out of curiosity.   I snapped the pictures inconspicuously with my cell phone camera as I wondered whether the “hardcore” gym patrons were Muay Thai fighters, powerlifters or bodybuilders.

If I knew that this gym existed before I think choosing a gym in Bangkok would have been a lot easier as I would have probably avoided the membership at the California WOW gym I paid 17,000 baht ($511 USD).  The video and equipment below is from the non “hardcore” gym on the north side of Lumpini Park.

Also See:  Things to do in Bangkok:  Lumpini Park:  Part I

Some of the Equipment at the West Side Gym

Also See:  Things to do in Bangkok:  Lumpini Park:  Part I

Don’t forget to Also Cheek Out: Things to do in Bangkok:  Lumpini Park:  Part I

Land, Sea or by Air?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the geography of Vietnam (like I was) , Ho Chi Minh City is pretty far from Hanoi.  I thought it would be a hop, skip and jump in a bus or train but in fact it is 3 day train trip.

Most people will tell you that the best parts of Vietnam are in between the 2 large cities in the north and the south.  Taking the train over a few days is probably the best way to explore Vietnam but a 2 hour flight is a lot easier, or is it?

Booking the Ticket

When booking a domestic flight in Vietnam the usual suspect websites such as Expedia, Kayak an Orbitz do absolutely no good.  You have a choice between Vietnam Airlines, Indochina Airlines and Jetstar Pacific which is the cheapest and offers almost 10 flights a day.  The price for a one way ticket to Hanoi from Saigon was around 880,000 Vietnamese Dong($50USD).

Saigon, we have a Problem

As we boarded the relic of an airplane I noticed what I thought were patches on the side of the plane.  It reminded me of when I used to patch up the inner tubes of my bicycles when I was a kid.  My friend argued that it was a compartment or hatch but I think this old plane was patched up like a sinking ship (see for yourself below).

Patch or Hatch? You be the Judge

Just as the plane finished boarding the pilot who happened to be from New Zeleand announced over the intercom in English before Vietnamese, “This plane’s wing is broken and it cannot fly.”  After the collective groan as they made the announcement in Vietnamese everyone got off the plane and went back to the terminal.

At the terminal I noticed there were at least 4 Jetstar pacific flights that were canceled.  I took it in stride as I wouldn’t want to be flying a plane with a defective wing so we waited.  Less than 2 hours later after a bunch of junk food consumption we boarded an equally old, but working aircraft.

Definition of Budget Airline

If you want an inch of spare legroom or a free meal on your 2 hour flight to somewhere in Vietnam Jetstar Pacific is not going to help you.  If you want the new LCD screen on the back of the seat in front of you with video games, internet and movies Jetstar Pacific is not your airline.

If you do want to spend around $50USD one way and don’t mind being herded around like cattle in a smoke smelling aluminum tube with a bunch of people with hacking coughs Jetstar Pacific is right up your alley.

Back to Blogging

It has been a very long time since I’ve blogged.  By the evidence of my last blog post about sweet potatoes I buy on the street you may have figured out that no matter where you are in the world, you pretty much have to settle into some routine.   I have gotten over my initial phase of wanting to try everything just to try it and going out of the way to do things I normally wouldn’t do because I want to establish a normal routine and by normal routine I mean by physical activity, rest, and social activities.

Things I’ve Done since Last Blog Entry

I found a very cool bike path to Lumpini Park which has almost no pedestrian or motosai  (scooters, motorcycles)  traffic.  It is actually an actual bike lane and it travels in between the express way and another busy road.  It goes for about 1.5 miles then there is this cool skywalk bikepath, which is made of that hard tenniscourt material and again is devoid of motorized traffic although there are sometimes soccer games with kids.  The skywalk travels in between and over a residential neighborhood and ends up 1/8 of a mile from Lumpini park.   I found a full outdoor basketball court in Lumpini Park which motivated me to buy a basketball so I can ride bike to the park and shoot hoops which I am woefully awful at, but nobody in Thailand will care.  It is something I can do for hours because it gets addicting.

Buying a Bike at Big C

I blogged a while back about the Thai answer to K-Mart or Target called Big C.  I kind of ranted about how cheap Big C was but I went there of all places and bought a bicycle.  The bikes ranged from 1250 baht (~$35) to 5000 ($150) and for some reason I bought one of the double spring mountain bikes instead of the basket street bikes.   I bought a 4,000 baht bike which has to weigh 60 pounds.  It is cheaply made and on the ride back home, I actually wrenched the handlebars off and almost fell off the bike.  When I got back I put the little wire lock that wouldn’t last 5 minutes in San Francisco in between the bikes’ back tire and frame so nobody can ride off with it.   It’s sitting in the parking garage right in front of the security guards so hopefully it will not get stolen.  I have been used to a very nice and light Specialized Sirrus Comp which I can already tell will be sorely missed although I don’t see myself going very far, at least yet…

Got on Channel  7 Thai News Broadcast!

I ran to Lumpini Park which I planned to workout at the gym which is there but as always I got caught up in the park’s main attractions, the monitor lizards.  The park is so laid back, peaceful and relaxing it’s hard to not stop and rest.   I started talking to a Brit who was videoing the monitors and we got to chatting.   He was vacationing in Bangkok and he caught a story on BBC world news about the monitors in the park so he made a trip to visit them.  Next thing we know, we see a Thai news team given away by the pretty reporter with the microphone and the camera man with the giant pro camera.  We chat with them and they want to interview the British guy, Jeremy and they do.  As we were walking away they videos walking down the street which is what was on the news.   I turned on channel 7 and started watching and continued for 2 hours and didn’t see myself on the news.  I found out there were 2 channel 7′s and I didn’t know which one was the correct one.  A couple hours later I received an email from Jeremy telling me we were on the news.  Hopefully he’ll email the video to me so I can post it.

Taking Time Off: Also a Trip to Vietnam

My good friend Jae who owns the fitness studio I trained at for the past 4 years is visiting from San Francisco.   This reminds me, we have to get a Vietnam visa before we can go.  We got very cheap tickets on AirAsia.com which amount to only $75 round trip from Bangkok to Saigon and back to Bangkok from Hanoi.  How we’re getting from Saigon to Hanoi is probably another cheap flight.   I’m supposed to be gone from September 15th through the 23rd although I may want to visit Hong Kong which is one of my favorite cities and is close to Hanoi.  This trip will give me much needed time off from the keyboard but also some great pictures and videos for future blog posts.   You can read about the primary reason why I haven’t been blogging as much about living in Bangkok and traveling in Southeast Asia here: AskTheTrainer Blog

Healthy Surprise

I have been trying to go from the “Try Everything” phase of just getting here to getting back into my healthy eating and daily workout program.  Across from the California WOW which I workout at I usually get something from 7-Eleven and something from a street vendor.

Up to this point I have usually bought corn-on-the-cob and I never noticed that in the giant steamer they have these little red sweet potatoes.

One of the best active diet foods are sweet potatoes and yams which are stacked with complex carbs and  B-Vitamins.  Up until this point I had not seen sweet potatoes anywhere except for grocery stores which sometimes the ones from the USA are very expensive.  The bag of sweet potatoes is only 10 baht (30 cents) and it is the perfect food to eat before and after workouts.

I plan to make these little bags of sweet potatoes a big part of my active diet as they satisfy the sweet tooth and are very hard to pig out on.  The only thing which is yet to be determined is if my stomach can handle them.

I don’t know if it is true but I have heard that some fruits and vegetables with peels can get you sick because they store enough water to irritate your stomach.  I have downed a 2 bags of these little potatoes while I walk back from the gym at Sukhumvit Soi 23 to my apartment at Sukhumvit Soi 1 and have yet to get sick and I’m crossing my fingers.

Change of Running Location

You may be asking yourself, “what does that picture have to do with Lumpini Park in Bangkok?”  Well, it has everything to do with jogging in Lumpini Park in Bangkok!  It is from a scene in the Thai action movie Tom Yum Goon with Tony Jaa fighting the monstrous Aussie Nathan Jones.  You may remember Nathan Jones from playing the giant soldier Brad Pitt slayed as Achilles at the beginning of the movie Troy.

The guy is 6’10″ and weighs 350 pounds of all muscle.  He is a former World’s Strongest Man contestant, Pride fighter and WWE wrestler.  What does this have to do with running in Lumpini park?  Well, according to his wikipedia entry Jones was the victim of a hit & run accident while jogging down the streets of Bangkok which severely injured his arm.

I figure if this incredible hulk of a human being can be injured by a driver I would have been killed instantly and I don’t really feel like instant death via tuk tuk.  I have gotten quite bored running the same route past the sewage smelling canal through the polluted, highly trafficked and crowded streets to the gym for some boring elliptical machine cardio anyways.  Today was my cardio only day so I decided that I would go to Lumpini Park to run.

Getting to Lumpini Park

Since I knew Lumpini Park was right next to the Sala Daeng (Si Lom MRT) BTS stop which is 4 stops (including a transfer) from my closest BTS (Phloen Chit). I always feel like a jerk taking a taxi / subway to go workout instead of jogging but I didn’t want to get lost.

I got in the crowded Saturday skytrain and was crossing the busy street to get to Lumpini park in about 20 minutes from when I left.  According to my GPS it was 2.2 miles from Lumpini Park to my apartment.

Running in the Park

Running was interesting because the park has a one lane cement path which is about 10 yards wide for running or walking around the park.  I was there on a Saturday afternoon so there was probably more people than there would be on a weekday but they posed no problem as I jogged at a fast pace. I was weaving in and out avoiding slower joggers and walkers.  I ended up running what I thought were mile intervals.

I used my Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS to monitor my running and I got suspicious results.  It said my mile time was around 5 minutes which I thought was too good to be true and it was.  I had the Forerunner set on metric measurements so everything was not what I though it was.  The whole path around the park which surrounds the lake is a little over a kilometer long.

What Else is in the Park?

If you’re not from San Francisco you may be surprised that there are American bison in Golden Gate Park.  When I went to Central Park in New York for the first time I had no idea there was a whole zoo in it.  I wasn’t thinking about any of this when I was in Lumpini park but I soon found out that there are some truly organic surprises which await any park visitor as well as some man-made attractions.

As I was runing around I noticed lots of exercise equipment including crude exercise bikes, pull-up bars, dips bars, swings and even a full gym with equipment which was probably from the 1940s.  There was a large and surprisingly clean bathroom as well.  I will head back soon with my AWESOME Canon HG10 camcorder/camera to take some pictures and videos.

Not your Average Park

To take a break from running and stretch with this old man who was probably 80 I headed to a bridge.  I bought a bag of fish food for 10 baht from this little girl after I saw the many people in peddle boats feeding the fish.  It was pretty amazing the amount of fish in the lake.  When you throw a handful of pellets or bread in the water, you can see hundreds of large catfish piling on the top of the water.

I would estimate there would have to be literally millions of fish in that lake unless the bridge was where they congregated for their usual feedings. During the whole time at the park I didn’t notice any ducks in the lake or any dogs in the park and I soon found out why.

In the depths of the water are GIANT lizards.  Water monitor lizards which are several feet long live in the water and come out periodically.  The Thai people completely ignore these modern day dinosaurs which come out of the lake and lackadaisically walk around the shore. From what I researched these lizards are harmless and many people keep them as pets in other parts of the world.  The picture (below) I found online from the Bangkok Post but I will head down to Lumpini park to get some better pictures with my Canon HG10.

Also See:  Lumpini Park Gym Workouts

WOW

An obnoxious name for a gym if you ask me.  The official name is actually California WOW Xperience.  I wrote a while back about choosing a gym in Bangkok and now that I’ve had the chance to workout there a dozen or so times I will blog more about my “Xperience” working out there. I have been going to the gym probably an average of 4 times per week during the past 8 or so years.  I have rarely taken breaks of over a few days which are usually due to sickness or traveling.  I also worked in a gym for most of the past 8 years so I would say I know a little about gyms.

Working out at WOW

If it not evident by visiting their official website it will be when you first set foot at the front desk.  WOW Xperience has more of a nightclub atmosphere than a gym.  Don’t believe me?  Head to the Asok gym which has a live DJ spinning right next to the front desk during most of the day! Every time I walk in the gym it feels like I’m part of a scene from the movie Bruno.

The music is so loud that heavy metal in my iPod needs to be cranked almost to full blast to drown out the sound of the extremely de-motivating techno which would likely be a fixture at any night club in San Francisco’s Castro district. There are probably around 100 speakers on the 3 floored fitness center.  The bottom floor has a women’s only center and some free weights and machines.

The middle floor has the front desk and a few cardio machines and the top floor is complete with around 200 cardio machines. It is relatively easy to use free weights, unlike the US there seems to always be a bench press or squat rack open as people tend to gravitate towards the machines.  The equipment is all top quality although just like 24 hour fitness in the US broken cardio equipment stays broken and most of the time doesn’t even get an out of order sign.

California WOW Xperience Advertising

California fitness takes advertising to a new level.  The advertising overload consists of huge posters of scantily clad models who are mostly super-model skinny, fixed television ads on the TVs in the cardio sections and little placards on every single cardio machine. It is interesting that every single TV (which there around 30) has a permanent rotating advertisement built in.  The brightly colored ads take up around 1/3 of one side of every single screen.

The ads usually consist of the standard scantily clad model or personal trainer with their collars popped like the Fonz.  They really don’t bother me too much but they add to the overall advertising overkill. The classes offered include “Planet Yoga” with the very cheesy Master Kamal, a cult hero of mine.  The guy is the real deal, a real yoga guy who is in great shape, but it’s just too cheesy for me.  Another class which I guess is popular in the USA is XXX pole dancing along with a private pilates class and the standard group of aerobics classes.

California WOW Gym Members

Perhaps the biggest difference between the gyms here in Bangkok and the gyms in the real California in the USA is the clientele.  In the 50 or so trips to multiple gyms I have yet to see a woman who weighs over 120 pounds.  There are very few Thai people over 40 who go to the gym as well.  You see your fair share of expats and travelers but for the most part it is young Thai people.

Finding Motivation

From living in Bangkok and not being as active as when I was riding bicycle all around San Francisco and training clients every day I have changed my body composition for the worse.  It doesn’t help that plentiful, cheap and often greasy  food is available at every corner. It seems every time I go to the gym I just don’t feel like working out.  I have tried to download some hard, loud heavy metal music which has seemed to work a bit.  One day I spent 30 minutes staring at the color changing neon lights on the cardio floor thinking about all the things I would like in the gym.  It motivated me to put together a pretty sarcastically cool list of the Top 10 Signs your Gym is Hardcore which unfortunately is the polar opposite of California Wow Xperience.

Muay Thai

I am a big fan of kickboxing and happen to live in the Mecca of Thai boxing.  When I originally moved to Bangkok I had plans to start Muay Thai lessons but it fell threw once I got in my awkward schedule, staying up early in the AM and waking up in the PM.  It was also hard to single out a not-so-serious Muay Thai school as I just want to do it for the workout not for getting punched, kicked, kneed, and elbowed in the face. They also have Thai Boxing rings set up at all  California WOW Xperiences but it is in front of everyone and I don’t think the trainers have any real experience to teach proper techniqe.  Hopefully I can find a Thai boxing gym to get some training sessions in the future.  For now I must just xperience California WOW and try to get the hang of it. Blog about Muy Thai Coming Soon

Just Another Day in Bangkok

It took until around 8pm local time to realize that it was the 4th of July.  Of course Thai people have no history on the 4th so you wouldn’t expect anything to be different right?  Well, what reminded me of the 4th of July was none other than Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest!

Close Call

I was doing cardio at California WOW and I looked up and there they were, Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut going at it, cramming hot dogs and buns down their throat.  I thought it was live but I guess it was last year’s contest but that’s besides the point.

I had just ate a bunch of fruit a few hours before writing the last blog post and I pounded a Gatorade during my weight training workout.  Anyone who consumes Gatorade regularly knows that it’s not the best thing to drink fast while working out.

The commercial version of Gatorade has a lot more sugar than the stuff which is research proven.  So I had that Gatorade burp problem.  Needless to say (see picture) some parts of the contest almost had me projectile vomit a Gatorade & tropical fruit smoothie on the girl on the elliptical in front of me.

It was only the 2nd time in my entire life I gagged from something I watched on TV.  The other was on this show called Guinness which had world record attempts.  It was a guy trying to eat the most worms in a minute or something.  He stuffed what seemed to be 100 worms in his mouth and just inhaled them.  Yikes!

California WOW Television

This is on a side note but who the hell produces the TV channels at California WOW?  The gym is like 24 hour fitness with super-extreme marketing.  I will blog about it fully later but the TVs all have a split screen.  One side of the screen has rotating California WOW ads which are beyond cheesy and the other half has completely random things from runway fashion shows to soccer to hot dog eating contests.

More about California WOW Fitness coming Soon…

1 if by Public Transit 2 if by Foot

Now that I got a gym membership and I’m pretty much settled down here in Bangkok I’m ready to re-start my old routine of making it to the gym almost every day.  The only thing I’m not entirely sure of is how I’m going to get to the gym.

I live a 10 or so minute walk to the Nana & Phloen Chit BTS stations so I can always walk to the BTS and take the skytrain on down the road for 1 or 2 stops to get to the Asok California fitness where I have to walk for 2 minutes to get down the gym.

I could also walk the entire way there but doing so would require me to not only cross some busy streets which could take up to 5 minutes to get across, but also hundreds of street vendors and the browsers of their products who crowd the sidewalks and pollute the air with body odor:(   Either way the transit time would not be sufficient for cardio or even a warm-up so I looked into another option.

Method 1:  The Canal Path

I mentioned in the entry about choosing a gym in Bangkok how nice I thought it was to be able to jog back without any traffic even though it was along a filthy canal but I didn’t expect what was coming.

As usual I procrastinated my workout all day.  It was nice out one minute and the next minute I looked out the window the skies were so grey they were almost black.  I heard the exposive thunder and it started the typical downpour.  The downpour gave me another excuse not to head to the gym so I waited until it stopped.

The rain stopped and it was time to head to the gym.  I hate wasting time especially taking a train or taxi so I decided to run in the dark along the canal path to the gym.  That is where my adventure began as I walked 50 meters to the canal path which I took one time before during a dry day going the opposite direction.

I started jogging along the narrow canal path with my Garmin GPS Forerunner 405 which tracks distance and much, much more but also distracts you.  As I started running I noticed that the path was litered with stray dogs.  If you have been to Bangkok you will know that there are stray dogs everywhere (up to 300,000 according to National Geographic) but they never cause any problems other than the land mines they leave on the sidewalks.

I was jogging down the path weaving my way around sleeping dogs when suddenly I heard barking and I could feel dogs running after me.  I knew that running would encourage the dogs to chase me so I turned around and saw three of these dogs growling and coming at me!

I tried my best to growl at them which seemed to stop them in their tracks, but they still started creeping towards me!  I was prepared to throw down with these mangy muts but I opened my bottle of water and splashed them with water and they ran back around 10 feet which allowed me to walk away without any further agression.

It wasn’t a big deal at the time because I like dogs but as I started thinking if I got bit by one of these dogs, I could possibly get a host of disease including rabies!  Once I cleared all the stray dogs I started joggin on my way to the gym again.

The jog was one of the most death defying jogs ever.  Not that I’m not used to dodging drunk drivers, making sure not to step on syringes or human waste in San Francisco but this canal path had it all.

First of all I can’t swim or tread water and the safety railing is only 2.5 feet high.  There is no lights on the path other than the lights of nearby houses and the moon and the ground is wet.  As I’m running through spider webs and notice bats fluttering about I come across planks replacing the cement path in some places.

You’d expect the planks to be sturdy but I’m guessing they weren’t designed for joggers close to 200 pounds.  I thought they were going to break and deposit me into the filthy canal.  I kept jogging thinking I would find the exit which would take me to Suhkumvit 23 which goes to my gym but no.

I kept running trying not to slice my arm along the rusted tin roofs of the shanties along the canal on the path waterlogged with puddles in the pitch black.  I even walked by the most dangerous animal on the planet, the terrorist looking homeless guy under a bridge who gave me a death stare as I jogged by.  I picked up speed a bit to avoid any stabbing attempt from behind as I finally found an exit from the canal path which I thought was the right exit.

Getting Lost in Bangkok

I found myself on a narrow road which obviously was not the main road (Sukhumvit 23?) I was looking for.   It was narrow with slippery muddy patches which wasn’t very safe coupled with the electrical wires dangling in my face above the sidewalk and the steady flow of traffic in the street.  I wasn’t very “lost” but just misplaced really.  I could see the tall buildings which I knew are located along Sukhumvit 1 where I had to go and I knew the direction of the canal but I still was on a road which wasn’t heading towards the gym.

I kept jogging and came to an intersection where I had to choose which road to take as there were tall buildings in each direction so the choice wasn’t obvious.   I stopped for a minute and went in a 7/11 to get a Gatorade.  I didn’t bother asking for directions as the clerks didn’t speak a lick of English.  I walked outside and stood on the corner drinking some Gatorade thinking how to get to the gym and I saw a tall, slim girl in a pink skirt and black tanktop walking out small shack looking house.  This could be considered a Bangkok compass in my situation because my gym happens to be near Soi Cowboy (below) so I jogged in the direction she was walking which lead me to the gym which I got to 30 minutes before closing time.  Just another day in Bangkok.