Is That Cat Dead? - Days 6 and 7

Is That Cat Dead? - Days 6 and 7

Day 6 began in similar fashion to the previous few days, Nicola rose bright and early to head off to yoga leaving me in bed to consider my choice of activities for the day. After much deliberation, and many struggles when it came to just getting out of bed, I decided  another day off extreme training would be wise. 

Nicola got back from Yoga at just after 8, we had a little nap and then got up properly to sort out some breakfast before heading to the pool for a nice relaxing sunbathe and swim. It was another much needed relaxing day, as we'd still not really recovered from the exertions of Day 4. 

After chilling by the pool for a couple of hours we decided to head inside, get dry and get ready to venture out for a trip to Phuket island's 2 main supermarkets, Big C and the somewhat more recognisable Tesco Lotus. These supermarkets are like no supermarket I have ever experienced. It's not just a supermarket, the building holds everything. Market stalls, electronic stores, a bowling alley, food establishments and as a side note, the actual supermarket itself. They're more like shopping mall's than supermarkets.

A solid 2 hours of shopping later, a new Otto Toaster in the trolley and after almost forgetting the main product we needed from the supermarket, Nicola's pest repellent spray, which, to her disappointment, is yet to get rid of me, we hopped in a taxi and headed home. Carrying what felt like 100 bags of shopping from the taxi to our apartment felt like the biggest mission of the day, not quite vomit inducing like the MMA training of Day 4, but a challenge nonetheless. 

Another swim was organised before we made the long journey to the hotel restaurant once again to finish off another very warm day on the beautiful island of Phuket. Dinner was again excellent, but we're staying to wear the menu options a little thin, and it could be time to perhaps try some of the other establishments located on the main road.

Absolut display in Tesco

No time limit if you're planning a MASSIVE party!

A 'bronzed' Miss Dunkeld

It was back to training on Day 7. The muscles had been restored to something close to 100% and the day had arrived for our 'Beach workout'. We'd been looking forward to this, as in our heads it was going to be a nice relaxing workout on the beach, running along the sand, taking in the sea breeze whilst getting a good workout done at the same time. If only this had been the case.

We were crammed into 2 mini buses, with everything that slightly resembled a seat being filled. This wasn't the worrying thing though, what was worrying is that 10 full size tyres were also loaded into the back of the van. I'd seen UFC training videos of guys running up stairs with tyres, and dragging them up hills, and it didn't look like the style beach workout we had predicted.

When we finally arrived at the workout area, it was announced that we weren't actually going to the beach, but had been taken somewhere with 'Beach views', and those beach views just so happened to come from the top of a steep, long hill. Perfect. The hill was the least of our worries though, as we started the workout. 5 laps of running up 2 flights of stairs all the way around the island area and back. It was fairly difficult, but nothing too challenging to kick off with.

The difficulty was ramped up for the 2nd stage of the 'warm up' however. We were shown a technique of how to crawl up stairs backwards. It sounds mental, it sounds insane, and that's exactly what it was. After practising the technique in the car park it was our turn to give it a go, and man, it is hard. All your weight is pushed onto your shoulders as you struggle to drag yourself backwards up the steep flight of stairs. We were told to do 3 laps, but I only managed 2, with Nicola doing one. Oh, and I got a nice grazed knee for my troubles too, cracking!

It couldn't get any worse from here could it? Yes, it could. We were split into groups of 3, with one person at the bottom, one at the top and one person holding the tyre. The person with the tyre ran up the stairs, once they got to the top did 10 push-up squats with the tyre and handed it over. The person from the top then ran down, did the same and the cycle continued. The idea was to do 10 reps at the top, 10 reps at the bottom, and then go down to 9, 8, 7 etc. Again, this was incredibly difficult in the heat, and our group made it down to 5 reps a time by the end of the time limit, so a good effort overall.

Then it was time for the main event, jogging whilst dragging the tyre in our groups of 3, swapping who'd drag the tyre every 10 road signs. The 2km hill was a lot steeper than we were expecting, and dragging a tyre on tarmac is not as easy as some of the lads in the group made it look. We ended up doing the 2km hill twice before the end of the session, plus doing a few plank runs half way up for fun too. It was a hard session, but genuinely one of the best cardio workouts I have ever done, and I reckon we'll sign up to do it again next week, if our bodies are still running by then that is!

Once the session was over we ditched the group and stayed at the beach we'd been dropped off at to get some food. We got ourselves some grilled chicken, some watermelon and a bottle of water from the stalls and sauntered off to the white sandy beach. Paradise had shown itself again. This beach was just how you imagine it to be from the pictures. Perfect white sand, and crystal blue ocean, and unlike Patong, a clean, litter-free crystal blue ocean. Perfect!

The only thing that took away from the whole thing was the fact we were followed by a dog, who got a whiff of our chicken, to our sunbeds. The dog then decided to sit by our sunbed and watch us eat, clearly desperate for any morsel of food we could spare. It's quite sad seeing dogs suffering in such intense heat with little food, and even less care and attention. We tried to ignore the dog while we were eating, but once we'd finished the chicken off I gave a couple of the dogs the bones and whatever was left on them to polish off.

Views to the right of the beach

The Island off to the left

After sunbathing, reading our books and playing around in the somewhat rough ocean we found ourselves a taxi and headed back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel, we had showers, as somehow we were both covered in sand from head to toe, and with the suncream on top it had stuck to the skin and almost needed peeling off. Finally, when the sand had been removed we settled down for a quick relax in the air conditioned room before a mid afternoon swim was in order.

Whilst by the pool we noticed a little white cat lying under the sunbeds. It didn't appear to be moving, which prompted Nicola to ask if the little monster was in fact dead, it wasn't, it was just sleeping, but in a very strange position. The position it was in reminded me of how little Charlie Brown used to sleep in the lounge. Flat on his back, legs in the air. I thought it was something only dogs did, but nope, this cat had it's relaxation position down to a tee.

Dead kitten?

Nope, just a sleepy kitty.

It wasn't a simple minute walk to the hotel restaurant for tea this evening however, after hearing a very convincing review in the minibus about a restaurant just 5 minutes from our house, we decided to give it a go. Tony's was the name of the place, named after it's owner, a small, chubby Thai man, who for some strange reason, finds it incredibly comfortable to pull his shirt up so it sits on the top of his stomach, revealing the rotund belly beneath. Upon looking at the menu the first think we noticed was the prices, significantly cheaper than our hotel restaurant. Nicola went with beef in oyster sauce with rice, and I went for the highly recommended BBQ'd chicken with rice and chips. 

This, unlike our meal at Signature a couple of evenings previous was delicious. Nicola looked tempted to lick the plate clean she enjoyed hers so much. My chicken was also very tasted, with the chicken coated in a garlic and pepper coating. I had finally had a meal outside of our restaurant that filled me up sufficiently. Success. Another success came when we saw the bill. 2 soft drinks, plus our main meals, of which the rice with Nicolas and the chips for mine were extras, came to 190thb. So just £3.88 for a meal out, you can't even get 1 meal in McDonalds for that, proper bargain, especially for something so delicious. We will definitely be visiting Tony's again.

Another sizeable wave approaches

View of the sea

The beach from the sea

Me looking like an idiot in the sea

The beach again

Us posing on the beach again :)