Goodbye 2007!!

So what a mad weekend its been!! Felix Da Housecat destroyed the dancefloors here with some amazing Tech house,electro,techno and even some good old acid house!! Wish I had the set he played or even better some of the tracks he played!! What an awesome way to end 2007!!!

2007 has come and gone sooooo fast. And it's been one hell of a ride!!! Im gonna do a quick summary of my fights and what made an impact to me this year.

12th Feb
Decided that losing in Bkk during the Kings Bday was a crap way to end 2006. Got off my ass and back to the drawing board on my performance. I got my promoters to get me a fight down in Phuket. I was to fight a Thai. All I can say was that the fight went well and Zach was Back!!




31st March - Muay Thai Explosion,Jurong East Sports Hall,Singapore


Another fight back in Singapore. Was at the Muay Thai Explosion at Jurong Sports Hall. This was the first time I decided that I will wear the arab headress like most muslim fighters in Thailand do when they enter the ring. This fight definitely wasn't one of my best performances. I'd been so busy helping organize the fights and co-ordinating things for the event. I had been there all afternoon cornering for the boys and can you believe it arranging chairs and checking tickets even!!...and when my fight came on at 10 or 11 at night I was just happy to get it over and done with. Was too stressed out and wasn't all there in my fight. Was not happy at all even tho I won my fight. After this fight I realized that Im not gonna bother helping the promoters out as it should be their job not mine!! And if they can't do it right then they definitely shouldn't be in the business!!!




26th June - Muay Thai Against Drugs,Batam,Indonesia.



This was my first fight back after almost a 3 month break!! As I had a pretty bad back injury I got from my fight in March that took me forever to get rid of it. Was the most painful and weirdest pain I ever had. I woke up every morning feeling so sick from the pain almost vomitting even...Went to Drs,massages,physio all sorts and I couldn't shake it off. So two and a half weeks before the event they called me up and so began the crash diet to make 71kg!!! Got abit tired and also didnt feel as sharp in the ring,took a few stupid punches and kicks that I shouldn't have. The indo guy was a pretty tough cookie too!! I landed some serious amounts of step up knees and straight knees into his mid section,landed two elbows on him and didn't cut him!!...Then caught him with a few hard leg kicks and even two head kicks and he just shaked it off!!!! I was like!! "FUCK!!" Eveventually fight went the distance. Was a good fight for me to get back into things.




28th July - Fist Of Fury,Fort Canning Singapore.

During the preparation and all the training for this fight I had been told that I was gonna be given a shot at being on The Contender Asia. Initially at the first Press Conf,I was gonna be only helping out and doing some stuff for them. But then they said we're gonna give you a shot... I was absolutely shocked. I mean...!!? WOAH!! Crazzzy!! I was hesitant at first,but I later had a chat to my promoters and my friends and they said I'd be crazy to give it a miss!!! For my entry to the show I was to fight Kuy Donald....Pinky. Yes PINKY!! He's just pink...pink nails...pink toe nails...his boxers when we were at the weigh in was pink!! Hence the name PINKY! I seriously did feel alot of pressure for this fight being that I reallly wanted to be on the show and I knew this was my chance. I trained hard for this fight psyched myself up well and felt good going in. And all the work and effort paid off. I stopped Pinky in the first he had hurt his shoulder and couldn't continue. The Executive producer made a speech and congratulated me as I was now one of the 16 Finalist in The Contender Asia!!


August - TOKYO,JAPAN!!!

After the fight in July I thought it was time for a well deserved break before I put myself thru hell and back in training for The Contender Asia. Becky had a business trip up to JAPAN and so I thought Im defininetly gonna tag along!! Japan has always been one of the places in the world that I have ALWAYS wanted to visit. Japan is just AMAZING.....Food...People...Culture....Fashion!!!....and Jap Girls!! Raaaaaarrrrr!!!! haha

Sept - Oct

The Contender Asia. Can't really tell you guys much due to the secrecy contracts we've signed. But I just have one thing to say....It was an amazing experience. Being on a reality Tv Show and doing what I do best and also the oppurtunity to having meet some of the top fighters Like JWP, Yodasaenklai, Preacher and my man Soren was just really amazing. Also some of the other fighters like Sean,Pitu,Yukay and Dzhabar have become so much more than just friends to me. I've met some of the guys before at fights in Thailand and Australia but never really got to know them...but living and training and hanging out with them was just a laugh. Its another side of the fighters that many people don't get to see. Talking about fighting,training,pre-fight jitters what we like,don't like...what we do before fights... I realized that alot of us are very similar in characteristics. We all keep in touch and we all are stil as close as ever. The motto for the show is "RESPECT ALL,FEAR NONE" and I don't think you could find better words to describe what the show,the sport and what the fighters are all about.


Right with that note Im hurrying off to a New Years Eve party down at the Hyatt Hotel. It's called "HOGMANAY". It's a scottish New Years Eve party?!?!... No I'm not wearing a kilt!! And I seriously doubt any music with BAGPIPES will be anywhere close to Felix Da Housecat!!! Oh well something VERY different!!!

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo this is it. Goodbye 2007!! It has been an amazing year for me and I think it this year is definetly the BEST year in my career as a fighter. Thank you to everyone who have been helping me and being so supportive to me. Not sure what 2008 holds for me..... but I say........"BRING IT ON BITCH!!"

LaterZ

Contender Asia Commercial On AXN

Ohh heres something for everyone whos waiting for news on The Contender Asia. The commercial is finally out and it says that it starts airing in 2008 Jan 16th Weds at 9pm on AXN!!

Look out for it!!

LaterZ

Xmas has come and gone. Leaving me fat and broke.

Xmas doesn't hold the same meaning for me anymore....not that I celebrate it and go to church!! But ever since my mom moved to The Netherlands,Xmas is just not the same. We used to have a huge family/friend gathering at my mom's house. And it be a real Xmas feeling...not the Singaporean version of "lets go out and party til we vomit our lungs out at midnight" kinda Xmas feeling. It was about...family...food.....friends...food...gifts....chatting..catching up.....Did I mention FOOD????....Then of course after all that you can leave and do the Singaporean version!

Im glad Xmas is over tho!! Ive eaten soo much turkey and all sorts of other goodies that the move up from Middle weight to Super Heavy weight was inevitable!!! (Thats one Xmas tradition that hasn't changed!!) Man,I cant wait til the holiday season is over when all my friends visiting town have gone and there are no more Breakfast,Brunch,Lunch,Afternoon Tea,Dinner and Supper all in one day!!

As for Xmas gifts! I recieved some very cool stuff this year. No useless underwear and socks kinda stuff that goes to the salvation army the next day. First up was a gift from Mark & Julie. Since I always invite myself over for breakfast,lunch and dinner they thought that it'd only be appropriate to get me this Tshirt!!! They gonna so regret buying it when I rock up to theirs and plant myself on their couch!!

Next gift I got was from Becky and her dad. They got me a little Retro Flip Clock. (Toyz were not included!). I love the clock it just looks soooo RETRO??! Brings out the colour of my toyz!!


Lastly this was more like a gift for myself!! (How sad!!!) I've just re-vamped my whole room and I needed a new clock. Ive been meaning to buy this Retro Flip Clock for ages....so I figured what the heck!! Santa sure ain't gonna get it for me!!! So here it is my UBER COOL ROOM!! Love how it matches my Macbook!!!! and the fact that it's sooo RETRO looking!!??

So you must be thinking...."Thats all!?!" Right thats all that I got for Xmas...Can't complain!!! Im happy!!=) It's the "QUALITY not the QUANTITY" alright?!!?

So with the weekend fast approaching and since Ive been a fairly good boy. Think I'm gonna reward myself with a night out...actually 2 nights out!!! First up on Friday 28th Dec we've got David Guetta spinning at Zouk. He has his theme nights which the title I absolutely love is called "FUCK ME IM FAMOUS!". He is definitely a DJ to catch!! I've seen him LIVE once in Singapore and heard lots of his live sets from festivals and gigs around the world and it is awesome!!! Just Happy,Fun,Hands Up in the air good Electro/House with a dash of RETRO remixed into his sets!! Seriously awesome performer.



Down at Zouk again on Sat the 29th Dec bound to be another top night out with Felix Da Housecat!! I've seen him countless times and I sure ain't gonna miss this night!! He is definitely one of my all time fav DJs. Just like David Guetta he plays some of the best House/Electro to some good old Techno!! Felix Da Housecat has been playing/producing/pushing the Electro sound waaaaaayyyy before Electro was even popular!!! His mixing is amazingly smooth,blending in and out of tracks....it leaves me in awe every time!!!

Hopefully I would have recovered in time after two big nights out to do a last blog and re-cap of 2007!!!

Catch you LaterZ.............you know where Im gonna be on the 28th & 29th!!

Yes it's Xmas I know.

Not alot has happened since the last blog. Think my fiery start....has sizzled out!!! =)

So it's Xmas time in tiny Singapore....The traffic in town is going crazy and the streets and shopping malls have gotten ridiculously crowded!!! (Can you imagine the govt wants to raise the population of Singapore to 6MILLION over the next few years?? )

Well I won't bother writing and complaining about it coz it's just pointless!....Im actually gonna write about a book Im reading now. Yes A BOOK...Close friends and family will know "Zach hates reading!". Dont know why? But I just never got into reading thats all.

The book is: "Heart Soul Fire: The Life Of Paul Briggs"

For those of you who don't know who Paul Briggs is. Well he was once a pretty well known Muay Thai fighter in the 1990s. I heard about him awhile back whilst living at the WMC camp in Thailand. I heard about the book maybe a year ago and I chanced upon it the other day while buying some stationery at a local bookstore. Was surprised to see it and thought...."It's a sign! Gotta get it!" (Plus it helped that it cost only about $8!!!")

I bought the book not knowing much except for the fact that he was a famous Muay Thai fighter in his time. 3 days of reading and Im almost halfway through it!! I am really enjoying it coz it's something thats close to the heart.

Some of the stuff he writes in the book about his childhood from his family and friends to .....training......fighting.....wins/losses....his experiences in and out of the ring.....his thoughts on things....living and training in Thailand....and of course I think I was surprised but when I read that he loved dance music and DJing.....that reallly made me think of ME and how reading some of the things in this remind me of ME!!?!?! (If you don't know...Yes I do DJ as well!!)

I doubt I can ever say I had it as rough as Paul Briggs but I know I didn't have my life served on a silver platter like most Singaporeans!! and maybe that has helped me to where I am today? And I know definitely can't say that I am anywhere close to being as good a fighter as him...but alot of things that he writes bring back memories. From all the family issues to school fights against bullies and assholes....to when I first started training and fighting....the emotions that came with the sport fear...anger..happiness...sadness...pressure...adrenaline!...
It just shows that alot of fighters even the famous ones go through alot of the same stuff but we just never really hear about it from them.

For a mere $8 I learned a valuble lessons reading this book. Tho I feel like I know what Paul Briggs means and in some ways his thoughts are similar to mine about certain things....It also does remind me that I have aloooooong way to go and aloooooot to learn still in the sport and in life. The book also made me realize how much Muay Thai has changed life and my views in and out of the ring.

Right enough sappy stuff gonna get back to my book.

LaterZ

P.S Definetly got my $8 worth!!

Off To A Fiery Start

This blog was made a few days ago by a mate of mine Lance. He told me to start blogging as of yesterday and I can write about whatever the hell I want?... So after cracking my head and wondering what the hell I should write about.....I came up with........NOTHING.

So went for my morning run today around the Clementi and Sunset area. Been awhile since I've been doing my runs....being back from injury and all. God I was sucking wind!!...

Anyways......finished the run was doing my sit ups and stretches. And saw that a unit in one of the HDB infront of me had massive amounts of thick white smoke coming out from the room next to the kitchen window. There was an older guy working out at the fitness corner too so I made a mention and we both went to the carpark to see which floor it was on. There was no smell of anything burning and I was thinking hmmmm "Who the hell would fumigate a HDB apartment on the 11th floor!?!?!?!" There was a lady walking her dog and sorta standing below the area so we told her to sorta move away incase something should fall on to her. She looked up and saw the smoke and I think it might have been her who called the SCDF (Fire Brigade) (Just a quick info to some of you emergency number here is 995...not 911!!)

The older guy decided to go up and check on the unit....while I stayed to check on what was going on from my position. Heard the SCDF arrived and I waved for them...but obviously think they saw the massive amounts of smoke and not ME waving away!! hah!! Informed the officer what had happened and that another passerby had gone up to check. Soon there was like aunties and uncles everywhere!! Phone cameras all started coming out...people looking at the SCDF license plate nuber for 4D numbers!!....And you won't believe it but there was an uncle with BINOCULARS!!?!! Not a tiny one but a seriously HUGE one!! H could have seen frikking MARS with it!! I mean...was he carrying it around for his walk...was it his his pocket....???????I wish I had my camera for that....it was more amusing than the fire itself!!!

SCDF took over and did their thing. I hung around for abit more and the older guy came down and I just gave him a thumbs up from a distance. I presumed that everyone was safe...I didn't really wanna hang around there knowing that Im not actually helping...and just being some person watching the drama... So I left and here I am....after my shower and all of course!!

Sooo this was all rather unplanned...and I think Im safe to say that this blog is off to a Fiery (FIRE - EY) Start and it's gonna be smoking hot! =) .................................God Im sooo lame!!

Check back for more adventures on zig-zach.blogspot.com

LaterZ