Phil's Worldwide travel in 2023/2024

 I'm super happy I came to Kuala Lumpur. Travel sucks, crazy hot during the day, but the food scene is the tops. I did this food tour through get your guide, but wish I booked directly - https://achefstour.com/tour/kuala-lumpur-food-tour. The information provided, enthusiasm of the tour guide, and AMAZING food and stops we had made my whole trip here worthwhile. We had so many course - different fruits, street food, desserts, was just amazing.  This was a tour I did through the Batu Caves and then to see Kuala Selangor Firefly Park. The natural caves were really cool, apparently there is over 160 path to rock climb around it.  Below left is where we saw fireflies, although cool, it reminds me of bioluminescence - the pictures in the ads are incredible but a bit lack luster when you show up. To the right is a Horchata smoothie bowl I had for breakfast at Tapestry, that and Seeds of Origin are my go to healthy breakfast options.   On the left is from the bird...

 It was an intense 2 weeks, especially in the second week I was able to attend 2 to 3 classes a day (cross fit style), in addition to the occasional Muay Thai Class. In Tiger gym, there is a famous Buddha run, first time it took me 39 minutes, and the second week I got my time down to 33.4 which was great. I think anyone looking to improve fitness and get away, would really benefit from spending 2-4 weeks on The Soi in Phuket. Although lots of retreats are advertised, its super easy to find cheap, nice accommodation, join a gym, find a trainer, find good healthy food, etc. Although I think training before coming here would be advised for majority of people as classes are intense and I do think injuries could happen if you don't know what you're doing. One feature that puts this above other retreats is the cheap price of things, and the fact that there are loads of places to get 1 hour massages for ~10 Canadian bucks. I found this super helpful for recovery Myself and 2 guys I s...

It's been a pretty intense week training usually 2 times a day. I've 100% kept up with the diet  that I've been assigned to me which is about 1800 calories per day which includes a protein with all meals 2 protein shakes per day and I seem to be quite full with it. I've also done a Muay Thai class which was really fun and I plan to do more. Interestingly, I've pushed through DOMS (delayed onset muscle) and the soreness has just gone away, something in the past I would never do. I've also been doing ice baths every 2 days, they are really tough, but seem to enhance recovery, there are also interesting people there. It's definitely an interesting crowd here, lots of personal trainers come her to relax... and workout! There is then the people who run retreats here or elsewhere (similar to cult leaders), and then people who just come here to workout. Pretty much everyone has tattoos, and REALLY big ones, others with a bunch of little ones - words like "cour...

So far so good! Although I've never really worked out after feeling sore, I have been pushing the boundaries a bit and doing just fine. Days consist of 2 work out a day, a swim (light exercise), at least one Thai massage (often two), +/- ice bath, 2 smoothies with 3 meals (everything pretty healthy). The massages are about 10 Canadian, and have been amazing, often better than RMT massages I would get back home for a LOT more. They really work on muscle groups that they feel are very tense and I feel SO much better after. The training is generally cross fit type training and I really feel i am getting a full body workout. The other day we had a 7:30 am walk/run uphill to the big Budha, I was a bit sore and ran about only 40% of the way getting 39 minutes. This actually beat the majority of people, little do they know I will destroy this time next week 👿 I am really trying to balance training hard with not overdoing it, I feel good surviving 3 days unscathed. I also have become an i...

So I've arrived at Phuket, hotel is Cocoville which is about an hour from the airport. It is connected to a street known as Soi Taied, Fitness Street, Muay Thai street and even Phuket Health Street. It is full of gyms and Muay Thai gyms and essentially a strip of pure fitness. Almost every restaurant will sell protein shakes, lots of keto places, and all kinds of supplements are sold. The way it works is there is a large schedule of fitness classes including Cross fit, Yoga, mobility, Core, buttocks, etc throughout the day I can go to. This is also the same for Muay Thai and Boxing classes. I will have two personal training session per week as well with my trainer.  I get all my food at a place called Pure Prep, I am on a high protein low carb diet and essentially eat all my meals there. Ideally I am not consuming anything out of the diet given to me. So far it's been good, but it is still tough because there are lots of cool restaurants to try - protein ice cream :) Included i...

 To recap, I had initially planned to stay a week in Colombo, I am so glad I decided to jump ship and head 2 hours south to Kima Surf camp in Weligama. It was a little paradise with twice a day surfing, several yoga sessions per day, amazing food, very clean sleeping quarters, and great people. Although a bit pricy, I do feel it attracts a certain type of person, lots of professionals and it felt like half of the people there were reading some sort of self improvement book. Apparently the owner is German and this might have to do with the large European presence especially Germans. I have always noted a bit of a difference in sense of humour compared to North Americas, but a friendly bunch none the less! The surfing for me was fun, I think I thought I knew more than I did, but on the last day (I was there for 4 days), went over things more clearly in detail. Everyone struggles with rib pain, and surprisingly no one does much about it - except for this guy https://surfribby.com...

 So I landed in Sri Lanka Feb 3rd. Leaving the airport was pretty awful with everyone trying to take you places. "where you from, where you go?" and at times wouldn't take no for an answer. They even had guys with uber shirts on offering to take you places which doesn't make sense.  I checked into my airbnb which was super nice and clean. I didn't feel there was much to do in Colombo (although it was during the country's independence day celebrations). Tuktuk drivers roam the streets and constantly ask you for rides and sometimes will you follow you a little. The rare times I took them they constantly would ask me about jobs in Canada and to get my number etc. They are in an economic crisis, everything is expensive especially for locals.  I ate at famous Ministry of Crab, also tried Upali's, both were pretty solid. After 2 days in Colombo, I decided to pack my bags and head to Waligama for surf camp! Kimasurf is what I signed up for in Bali and they have a...