Travel – Canton Tower

Posted on September 3, 2012 by flamidwyfe

After the trip to the zoo Rose, Jack and I got on the subway to go back to the Canton Tower for a tour. It was around 515 p.m. when we got there and the sky was still light, but dusk was close at hand!

First stop was the 107th floor of the tower. This is 428 meters/1404 feet from the ground! The viewing area gives you a complete view of the city. The view up the Pearl River is amazing. The scariest, most amazing part of this floor was the “sky walk” that jutted out from the building. It had a glass floor and was heart-stopping, to say the least! My heart was POUNDING in my chest as I inched my way out to the end of the platform, clinging like a scared kitten to the hand rails… as did everyone else we saw… LOL

Then we went to the roof of the building to ride the “ferris wheel”. Which actually runs around the rim of the building on this little itty bitty track… yes, I was seeing how much adrenaline I actually could pump through my body in one evening 😀 It is an amazing 15 minute slow crawl around the entire building, with unobstructed views in a bubble. Again, at first we clung to the rails and each other, then loosened up when we realized we weren’t going to plunge to our deaths 🙂

It was a fun day… the zoo AND Canton Tower AND Hunan Home for dinner with awesome people… I’m going to miss Guangzhou!

The Pearl River

Beautiful view, even though it was a bit smoggy, I could see for miles.

Glass bottomed floor of the “sky walk”.

canton tower, guangzhou, ferris wheel, bubble

Jack and Rose… still clinging to the sides.

canton tower, guangzhou, bubble, ferris wheel

Me and Rose

The sun began setting as we were on the “ferris wheel”.

Beautiful view at night!

And from the base, looking up… the colors change every 5 seconds.

Ciao!

Travel – Guangzhou Zoo & Safari Park

Posted on September 1, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Last week Rose and Jack invited me out for a touristy day. We started out at the zoo, visited the Canton Tower and ended with another amazing dinner at Hunan Home! This post will be about the zoo… In pictures 🙂 Let’s call it Lions and Tigers and Moon Bears, OH MY!!! I was very pleasantly surprised by the happiness and apparent good health of the animals. The other thing I loved was that it was, for the most part, a no boundaries park, where as, besides a hidden moat, you were very close to the animals.

The little girl in front of us made her daddy wear this hat 🙂

I got to feed this tiger. He was rubbing up against the cage trying to get me to get closer… Um, no! This was before the tiger show.

Yes, even the panda is smirking about my sweat stain… Lol

This meerkat came over to chat with me… Too cute!

I hope you enjoyed the tour 🙂

What is your favorite animal park?

Ciao!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

Posted on August 31, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Taken in England, May 2009.
Sadie in the meadow.
Photo by Aleisha Marie

Dukan Diet – Pure Protein Thursday

Posted on August 31, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Thursday is alway a Pure Protein Day. This Thursday was Consolidation Day 112 🙂 Dr. Dukan recommends that followers of the program in Consolidation pick Thursday as the one day a week you have a pure protein day and for the most part, I have.
Today’s weight: 147
Goal weight: 155

Before I could eat, I had my annual physical at work. It included blood work, EKG, chest X-ray, breast thermography (instead of mammogram, no radiation), ultrasound of my liver (no longer fatty… Yay!!!), pancreas, kidneys and spleen and a look over by the TCM doc. Waiting on the blood results, but everything else was perfect! It took less than 40 minutes for everything and cost $0! How awesome is that?

Breakfast: 2 Tea Eggs from the shop downstairs…

Lunch: A small plate of roast beef

Afternoon Snack: A tea egg

Dinner: 1 Chicken breast, roasted in that toaster oven, with a roasted 1/2 red onion. I marinated the chicken in 1 Tbs coconut oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cumin and a dash of salt for 30 minutes in the fridge. Shook the container up and put it on the pizza pan to cook, pouring the marinade over it and the onion. Cooked in oven for 40 mins at 350 degrees F.

I then went for a 4K run and finished with about 20 minutes of stretches and yoga.

Bedtime Snack: Fat free Greek yogurt with 1 Tbs flaxseed meal and Splenda

What did you eat on Thursday?

Ciao!

Recipe – Dukan – Turkey Dinner

Posted on August 31, 2012 by flamidwyfe

So last Saturday I made a turkey dinner. I love cooking turkeys many times a year. It can be challenging, especially when living overseas. This time there was only one turkey to be found in all of Hangzhou! But we got him 🙂 He was a turkey grown locally, so very lean. Also, I don’t have an oven. I have something akin to a toaster oven. But Everyone knows I love a challenge!

Ingredients:
Turkey
Large pear – chopped in large pieces
Large green apple – chopped in large pieces
Large red onion – chopped in large pieces
6 garlic cloves – chopped in large pieces
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

First remove the innards stuck in the rear. Here in China, that includes the head! I couldn’t touch it, blech!! So I used wooden spoons and did a forcep delivery.

Then give your turkey a good bath… Inside and out. Place in pan you are going to use.
Stuff the turkey with the pear, apple, onion and garlic. The moistness and tenderness from simply using these 4 ingredients is amazing!

Generously rub olive oil all over your turkey, don’t forget between his legs and under his wings.
Generously douse with salt & pepper.
Put him breast up and in the oven.

Cook 15 minutes for every pound at 350 degrees F.

That’s IT!! Don’t put aluminum foil on his bits, leave him alone! He’ll be perfect!

Enjoy! Ciao!

Self Love Exercises – Part 8

Posted on August 30, 2012 by flamidwyfe

From the Feel Good Tribe
8. Don’t be afraid to change direction if you realize something isn’t working out for you anymore.

Wow… this is a hard one for many of us. Often times we stay where we are because it’s just easier, or we feel committed, or we have kids, or or or.

I had to do this last year when I was MISERABLE in Al Ain working for a crazy person. I SO, SO, SO wanted to stay in the UAE and Abu Dhabi and I hung in there as long as I possibly could and I ate away my misery and put on 25 pounds in 6 months on my already obese frame. It was awful… comfort eating KFC chicken AND McD’s french fries EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT. Food I actually rarely ate in the first place!

But sometimes you need to bite the bullet and make a change for the positive. There were a few midwives that I worked with in Abu Dhabi who were so miserable that no one wanted to be around them… they complained about work and their home life constantly (this was at my first job there, the one that I really loved). I said to one of them one day, “if you are so miserable, why do you stay?”… she is still there… going on 8 miserable years, away from her family and home country… odd.

I am making a HUGE change… going home after living abroad for 4 years AND changing vocations… from midwife to health and fitness focus. It’s a big step. A scary step, but I’m doing it unafraid, because I know I can accomplish anything I set my mind to!

Ciao!

A quote from a post a couple of years ago (warning, grab the tissues if you read the post!). The quote is from my dad, who came to me in a dream my first night walking the Camino de Santiago in 2010:
“Sandi, sometimes going right isn´t always the right way to go”. ~ Thomas Sandelier, II

Here’s a pic from that day:

I would love to see how much easier it would be to do this walk without that extra 100 pounds!!! 🙂

Self Love Exercises – Part 7

Posted on August 29, 2012 by flamidwyfe

From the Feel Good Tribe:

7. I’ve said it before & I will say it a million more times: write a gratitude list every morning. It really is the best way to start your day. The simple act of sitting down & making a few notes on what you’re happy about builds up so much positive energy that you can’t help but do something amazing with it!

OK, so I started doing this a couple of weeks ago and it is working. Aside from the “postal” incident, I’ve had more positive days. I have also gotten more accomplished in my daily life.

Today’s Gratitude List… posted on my bathroom mirror:

I am grateful that I still have a living parent… MOM ♥ ♥ ♥

I am grateful that I am going home in 22 days!

I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to travel.

I am grateful for all of the people that support me through encouragement!

I am grateful for the friends that I have met through my blog and the amazing cheering squad that I have, of people I’ve never met in person, but feel I really know!

So… that’s today’s list. I wrote it when I first got up this morning. What are you grateful for today???

Ciao!

Not on my list, but I was certainly grateful that my roast turned out far better than my turkey!

Oh my the flat smelled amazing and the roast was so tender!

Operation Feed Them Roast

Posted on August 28, 2012 by flamidwyfe

So I have to start this post with a story and pics from Saturday…

I cooked a turkey for friends on Saturday…

This is what happened to the oven…

The legs on the left side MELTED! About 2 hours into the turkey cooking! I hear a noise, look over and notice its lop-sided and that there is smoke. That’s because it’s doing this…

Um, that was a bed side table 😦

Anyway, today’s a new day and they don’t call me McGuyver for nothing! I’m cooking a roast for friends (it’s been in the oven for 39 minutes and smells amazing already!!!) and I needed a quick fix, so here’s the plan…
Aluminum foil to protect the wood and an Ikea tea candle holder to prop the left side up…

Here’s the roast and veggies before going into little oven…

And so far my plan is working…

Outcome tomorrow 🙂

What’s for dinner at your house tonight?
And have you had a similar dinner disaster you avoided with a little McGuyver thinking?

Ciao!

Dukan – Consolidation Day 108

Posted on August 28, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Monday was Consolidation Day 108 🙂

Today’s Weight: 146
Goal Weight: 155
Still lovin’ that 🙂

Back to work in Hangzhou. Kind of a frustrating day. Went to the bank to make a deposit and they wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have my passport… to make a deposit… sigh. Then I went to the post office to ship off the last 4 boxes to the States and the guy went through all my stuff to make sure it was packed well enough to not break anything and DROPS the package with my Chinese china!!!! Breathe IN, Breathe OUT… I flew off the handle… I couldn’t help it… I am not perfect, I threw a tantrum. They quickly finished me up, I apologized a million times to my driver, Jerry, who is the most patient person in the world (besides Kitty)… he smoothed things over and got me the hell out of there before, well before I got into trouble!

My granddaughter Sadie represents the 3rd generation of epic tantrum throwers 🙂
My daughter Jenni, however, was the Queen of them!

Then back to work where I managed to upset the apple cart by providing a not so glowing audit about hand washing that had the doctors doing better than the nurses. I was on a roll!

Went home and had me some dinner and felt better 🙂 I also am tutoring a Chinese midwife in Medical English and passing the NCLEX-RN exam. So we worked on that last night.

Sunday I got in a 5K run in under 40 minutes after not running for 9 days due to my bout of food poisoning, but I pushed myself and did it… which makes me feel so good 🙂 I then went up to my flat and did 30 minutes of stretching, yoga and exercise bands. I have SO much energy when I’m done running… it’s amazing!

I also got a few pictures from Rose, my personal assistant in Guangzhou from my multiple stays there this past 5 months. Here’s a couple I want to share:

Water birth training in April 2012. Guangzhou.

Grand Opening of the Water Delivery Center in Guangzhou Elizabeth Women’s Hospital – April 2012

I’ve been saying that I haven’t felt like I accomplished much in the past year. Maybe I set my expectations too high for myself… I’m a perfectionist. But when I look at these pictures I do realize that I’ve accomplished quite a bit. The hospitals keep referring to me as their International Water Birth Expert… and I’ve come to realize, I really am! I mean who better to be called that than someone who has delivered hundreds of babies in the water (all over the world, including on 4 continents!) and has taught water birth all over the world? The 5 hospitals here in China that I’ve done the water birth trainings in have collectively performed over 100 water births in the past year! I am proud of their accomplishments and that the midwives and doctors at these 5 hospitals have accepted water birth as a “normal” way for women to deliver their babies. And delighted for the women and babies who have experienced this amazing way of birthing!

Breakfast: 2 slices of bacon and 2 tea eggs
Snack: FF Greek yogurt with Splenda and flaxseed meal
Lunch: 3 ham slices with 3 slices of Pepper Jack cheddar… Mmmm!!
Dinner: Stir-fry pork with onions and asparagus (cooked in coconut oil).
Snack: Beef jerky… eeek that out a couple little pieces at a time to make it stretch (thanks, Suzanne for bringing me the 3 bags!!) ** Kira… Titters LOVES jerky!

I hope everyone is having a great week! I have 23 days until I fly home… for good… or for now… LOL
What type of exercise or movement did you do on Monday??

Ciao!

Great Way To Start the Day!

Posted on August 28, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Check out this post from the The Healthy Home Economist… It’s all about the importance of a good healthy breakfast to start the day and some very interesting stats! I’m all about stats 🙂