Monkeyrockworld

It’s good sometimes to discover that somewhere people are still doing good horror movies. And it’s not America!! This time is Thailand.
In a time when the Star Striped movie industry is dying on its last legs and “borrowing” (to say the least offensive) here and there, especially from the Asian markets, it’s quite inspiring to find that the source of if not original, at least brilliant thrills, is now centered in the East. (more…)

Bangkok’s airport looks like a cyberspace glass inferno, and I am typing with a Malaysian woman using my lap as a pillow, while I try to use a laptop to be awake, and not sleep.

It’s 1 am and as always happens when I have to spend a night in any airport in the world, I wish I was somewhere else.

I wish we were in Yangon already, trying to wrap our heads around the enigma that so far Myanmar has been to me, seriously wishing I won’t have to come back home for the umpteenth time with a sour smile on my face, for whatever reasons.

I decided not to expect too much, but being here at night sleepless and unable to do that even if I wanted just because I decided to be the best man I can for this girl, it’s hard not to at least WISH it will be great. (more…)

MM- You spent several years in SE Asia, can you briefly tell me, according to your perspective and experience, the best and the worst side every of the ones you lived in and visited has to offer.

The places that are the biggest adventures are those that have the least modern conveniences and comforts. So this is always the conundrum. Do you want to live like a human being or do you want the big adventure? You often can’t have both. Taiwan and Korea are extremely developed, so less adventure. Cambodia and Vietnam are still raw, so it’s exciting, but you have to deal with bad internet service, higher crime rates, dirty food…a lot of potentially uncomfortable situations and conditions. In Cambodia in particular, you want a local experience but local things are often so undeveloped or ill-equipped that you wind up going to foreigner things which cost as much as they do back home but with half the quality. People think living in a poor country is cheap. It’s not necessarily. For one thing, most products are imported, so they cost more than they do back home.

Thailand is by far the best place to train. There are 90,000 professional boxers in Thailand and probably 1,000 gyms with professional training and international fighting experience. The cost of living is also very low in Thailand. BUT bring your own money. There is nearly no way to earn money in Thailand. as a fighter you will some times get as little as $90 for a fight. As a teacher, most jobs only pay about $700 USD a month. (more…)

Antonio Graceffo is an Italian American adventure writer and martial arts enthusiast who left a Wall Street finance background to literally dive into Asian adventures and languages.

I discovered him by chance while surfing the internet in Australia, and I decided that such an interesting character needed some space in the Monkeyrockworld. Adventure writer, martial art fighter and TV host, Antonio spent the best part of this decade living and studying Asian cultures and languages, abandoning a pretty well-heeled New York background. The myths and mysteries about him are all unveiled in this exclusive interview.

MM- Hi Antonio, please briefly introduce yourself to our readers unaware of the fact you are an unstoppable adventure machine…

My parents are Sicilian. I was born in New York. I grew up speaking English, Spanish and Italian. I started martial arts and boxing when I was 12. my first martial arts teacher was a returning Vietnam war veteran named H. David Collins who ran the American school of empty hand fighting in Tennessee. It was 1979. He was way ahead of his time. He taught us boxing and kickboxing as part of martial art and set me on my career as a fighter,. At that time, nearly no one in the martial arts community was doing real fighting. There were always stories of black belts getting beat by street fighters and boxers. Today, things are much different. But at that time, even guys like Chuck Norris, never had any real fights, just point fighting. (more…)

Nights in Penang… it might be a traditional Chinese Lion Dance or an Indian ceremony, but it’s just beautiful, and happening, everywhere. You’ve got to love this place.

In tre ultimi giorni prima che il mio visto turistico thailandese scada, decido di vedere qualcosa di diverso, di tentare di avere un ricordo buono, e non solo turisticamente pieno, orrendamente ripieno di inglesi dalla pelle bianca abbrustolita dal sole e le pance da birra rigonfie, vecchi e vecchiette, polacchi ubriachi e tedeschi in cerca di marijuana a pochi spiccioli. Decido di fare una variazione a nordest, verso la costa del golfo della Thailandia, di nuovo, e di andare a Nakhon Si Thammarat, capoluogo di una delle province musulmane dello stato (e casualmente, il giorno prima della mia partenza per la Malesia, a Pattani, un centinaio di km di distanza, nuove bombe ammazzano 62 persone in nome del separatismo di Allah. Ma la mia coda da scimmia è dura da bruciare, e tanto più far saltare per aria…). (more…)

Non so perchè ho inizato a fare diving, ma ci ho preso gusto e sto andando avanti cercando di diventare avanzato. Poi, chissà. Non so se prevedo una carriera da sommozzatore in futuro, meglio rimanere professore di lingua, però non si sa mai. La vita riserva sempre sorprese.
Comunque, per chi va in Tailandia a immergersi, verrà suggerito il nome di Koh Tao. La più economica destinazione per prendere un certificato Open Water, ma decisamente poco atraente, e me ne sono accorto solo oggi, quando si tratta di vita marina, che è stata tutta scacciata dai migliaia di sub che si immergono durante tutto l’anno, tutti i giorni. (more…)