Hello my long-lost TBCS champions! I have been quite absent from the site for a while due to being crushed under the weight of residency hours. However I did get a couple of weeks off to go trample around so I flew over to Thailand and took in some much needed R&R. It was absolutely awesome! I cannot stress this enough, if you have the time go as you will not regret it. It's affordable too, places in the South Islands are a bit more but still far cheaper than USA or Europe. If you do go, please take some time to become familiar with Thai customs because you can look quite foolish if you don't know some basic principles. But Thai people are extremely hospitable and quite forgiving too, so if you do something silly they won't give you too hard of a time. Some people have asked me about safety, especially given the riots in Bangkok last year (apparently the embassy recalled their staff and issued a travel advisory to stay away for now.....pussies). The countryside of Thailand is dangerous only in terms of disease, so check the WHO and CDC websites to get an idea of how to protect yourself. From Thai people, you are safer there than any suburb of America, they are a very non-threatening people and they love Americans. If you run into trouble, you can ask anyone for help and you will find it. That being said, don't EVER get into a fight with Thais. Despite their peaceful nature they are very commonly extremely tough and skilled in hand to hand combat. If you piss one off, apologize and forgiveness will be yours. Persist, and you will wake up in the hospital. Assume that everyone knows Muay Thai. I put together a film with some pics and video from the trip and thought I'd share it. Hope I get enough time to frequent the mean streets of TBCS more often as I sure do miss you guys. Peace out!