Just a quick update… I’m exhausted and my body has no idea what day it is. I’m off to the store in a bit to get a scale. I ate well on my flights, last night steak and asparagus with friends.
This morning a 1+ hour walk before sunrise with a friend, oh how nice to breathe cool clean air! Great walk! Will write an update blog later today!
Ciao!
Monday was a PV day… Tuesday was a 37 hour day and lots of airplane food.
Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.20 kg
Total weight loss: 65.1 lb/29.61
So I’ve reached 65 lbs off! So awesome and nearly 30 kgs! Monday was my final day at work before my holiday home. Things are really festive because this is the week leading up to Chinese New Year and all the big bosses are out of town 🙂
Breakfast: Two tea eggs, 500mL water
Snack: cup of coffe with Splenda and skin milk
Lunch: a beautiful piece of fish with diced peppers, onions, garlic and ginger… Yum! And 550mL water.
Dinner: yogurt with bran and Splenda… I just didn’t feel like making anything
Snack: tea with milk and Splenda
Finished my packing and headed to bed early… Setting the alarm for 0800 in hopes of a sleep in because my driver wasn’t coming to get me until 1045.
Tuesday… Up at 0555, LOL! So much for sleeping in! Slapped my shoes on and went out for a brisk walk in my jammies with my wool coat on. Took a shower and dressed and still how a long wait!
Breakfast: Sirloin chunks stir fried with onions and a bit of seasoning. 500mL water, cup of coffee.
Did the Internet and texted the driver to come get me early 🙂
I check in and then go through immigration and the buzzers go off. This, of course, gives me a heart attack! They pull me to the side and everyone is talking in Chinese… I’m doing my best to breathe and remain calm. They then drag me back to the ticket counter, where it is discovered some mistake has been made, I lose the plot, start shaking and asking them WHAT mistake, no one could speak good enough English to tell me anything but “we fix, we fix”!!! Next thin I know I’m in a Business Class seat (small 737) and all was right with the world. Except they couldn’t check me in for my flight from Osaka to Seattle or Seattle to JFK…
Lunch: 2 tea eggs (mine) and a piece of fish from the food served on plane and a tiny bit of salad. 350mL water and Pepsi Max.
1 hour layover And I have to find the gate to get checked in. Security doesn’t want to let me go through to onward bound area because I don’t have a boarding pass… Argh! And to boot, they want to pat me down, which I’m always happy to do… I prefer to be safe 🙂 Anyway, lady from Delta comes to security and says, “oh, Ms. Blankenship! We’ve been waiting for you” and they let me through… Just like that. And now I’m sitting business once again because of my troubles, LOL. At least I’m not breaking my resolution of traveling cheaper 😀
Dinner: Filet Mignon and asparagus, with a lovely salad of rocket greens and teeny pieces of feta cheese, which I ate… Now I’m off to lala land, while cruising at 32000 feet above the Pacific Ocean en route to my homeland 🙂
Lala land, not so much. Slept a grand total of 2 hours and landed in Seattle at 1045 am TUESDAY morning… I left China at 140 pm TUESDAY afternoon! This is going to be a long, long day…
I’m now flying over the midwest of the U.S., 5 hour Delta flight, no meal service, WTF? I could see if it was 2-3 hr flight, but seriously? I’m eating the free peanuts 🙂 And trying to stay awake so that when I get to New York City, I can hunker down into the hotel bed and pass out!
Ciao!
Quote of the day: I know how to do anything, I’m a Mom ~ Rosanne Barr
Dukan Day 133… PV day, no weight change. Happy New Year, Everyone!
I thought about doing a wrap-up post, but you know what… The past is the past, I’m going to leave it there… All in all I had an amazing year, visiting with friends and family, reconnecting with old friends, holidaying with friends and chatting endless hours on Skype (thanks to Cathy!).
This post will be all about my posts last year! Hot off the ‘word’ press, my stats for my blog in 2011. To start, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has stopped by to read and a BIG thank you to those that comment. Your words all mean so much to me! In the next few days, my blog will have over 11,000 hits, which isn’t a lot compared to some blogs I read, but it is for me. 🙂
I would also encourage you to read the blogs of others. I am currently following 19 blogs. Most of them arrive in my email inbox and I click on the link to read on their site. I usually either “Like” it or leave a comment… I know how much those comments and “Likes” mean to me!
So, here is the summary of my blog 2011:
To kick off the new year, we’d like to share with you data on your blog’s activity in 2011. You may start scrolling!
Crunchy numbers
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,300 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
In 2011, there were 101 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 112 posts. There were 200 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 69mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was August 24th with 299 views. The most popular post that day was Spring Cleaning in the Heat of the Summer.
How did they find you?
The top referring sites in 2011 were:
facebook.com
dukanblogging.blogspot.com
charlottesdukandiet.wordpress.com Following
dukandiet-journey.blogspot.com
thedukandietandme.blogspot.com
Some visitors came searching, mostly for flamidwyfe, dukan blog, velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord, and sandi midwife dukan blog.
Where did they come from?
Most visitors came from The United States. The United Kingdom & United Arab Emirates were not far behind. (AM I SEING A UNITED FRONT HERE???)
Who were they?
Your most commented on post in 2011 was Dukan – Day 100 – Wow!
These were your 5 most active commenters:
1 nancy sandelier 88 comments
2 kathlucky 72 comments Following
3 Moonday 26 comments
4 Vicki C. 23 comments
5 caroline 20 comments
Perhaps you could follow their blog or send them a thank you note?
Attractions in 2011
These are the posts that got the most views in 2011. You can see all of the year’s most-viewed posts in your Site Stats.
1 Spring Cleaning in the Heat of the Summer 5 comments July 2011
2 I CAN DUKAN 15 comments August 2011
3 I CAN DUKAN T-1 and counting 7 comments August 2011
4 For the Love of Children 6 comments June 2011
5 Dukan – Day 2 Attack Phase 12 comments August 2011
THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE REALLY COOL, SPARKLY AND COLORFUL VERSION OF THIS SUMMARY, COMPLETE WITH FIREWORKS!!!
Click the button below, or paste this link into your browser:
https://flamidwyfe.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?yib=2011
HAPPY NEW YEARS… I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be an amazing year!
Ciao!
Quote of the day: So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground.
Oprah Winfrey
Pic of the day: lunch at Dan Ryan’s… Last lunch of 2011 🙂
Friday was a PP Day.
Daily weight Loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 57.8 lb/26.31 kg
HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!
My friend Lucy and I are in Hong Kong to celebrate the New Year. They have a Times Square here, so we’re going to watch the ball drop and then the fireworks over the harbor… should be a great time!
We were picked up by the driver, Jerry, at 1030 and he brought my coat that he picked up at the tailors… Fit like a glove! So nice to have a coat made just for you. The tailor also knows that I’m losing weight and said he’d be able to alter accordingly 🙂
My gorgeous new coat!
Then off to the Hangzhou airport for the 2 hour flight to Hong Kong. Plane took off late due to mechanical issues and we arrived in Hong Kong at 530 and headed to our hostel. As part of my New Years resolutions, I’m going to travel on a tighter budget and this was a good way to start that off… LOL. Here are some shots of our room, some of them taken from OUTSIDE the room, since it is so small! The room is 12 x 6′ and the bathroom less than 3 x 3′, but functional and what do you need a fancy room for anyway?? (this is what I’ve been saying to myself over and over… I will eventually buy into it!)
Our jail cell hostel room door.
The SSS bathroom… Have to say the water pressure was amazing!
Then out for a quick bite to eat and then we found the Pause Cafe in the building we’re staying at… Total dive, but awesome coffee! We’re totally going back to play darts Saturday night, before going to Times Square!
Shooting darts at Pause Cafe
Lucy made me open my eyes for a pic!
Then off to bed for a rest up for Saturdays fun-filled day!
HAPPY LAST DAY OF 2011, my friends… It’s been a crazy year for me and I don’t regret one minute of it!!
Ciao!
Quote of the day: Make new friends, but keep the old, some are silver and the others are gold! (changed to my liking!)
One last pic… The “hotel” across the street from ours… Who only sleeps for an hour??
Tuesday was a PV day.
Daily weight loss: 0.0 lb/0.0 kg
Total weight loss: 56.1 lb/25.11 kg
No loss is better than a gain. What an amazingly long day in the midst of a long week without enough sleep. I’m pretty cranky this morning, taking it out on my poor personal assistant Kitty and have Snow Patrol blasting Chasing Cars in my ear phones… Stress relief.
So Lucy, Silin (our amazing translator) and I took what we THOUGHT was a 2 hour train ride to Wenzhou in the morning. Well, apparently (this is a word I use when I’m grumpy) there was a train collision a few months ago on this route so they decided that slowing down the trains might lead to less fatalities the next time… So the frigging trip is now FOUR HOURS… EACH WAY!!! Apparently this makes sense, some how… sigh. So, up at 545 am, picked up by driver at 630 am, train at 745 am, arrived at Wenzhou at 1150 am, lunch from 1220 to 200 pm, because they take 90 minute lunch breaks here. Toured the hospital in a whirlwind 25 minutes, met with the CEO and head physician for about one hour (they are trying to woo Lucy here to work), got buzzed as hell off the local green tea that the CEO made traditionally for us (coolest thing about China is the way they serve tea, it’s awesome… That’s about the only positivity in this blog today run with it LOL) and then back in the van for the pot hole filled ride back to the train station at 330 pm, train at 451 pm, back to Hangzhou at 955 pm, delight to find KaKa waiting at the correct train station (we arrived back at the station as far from my flat as humanly possible in this city) and home at 1005 pm. O.F.F.S. what a long, exhausting day! We didn’t really get to see Wenzhou at all to make a fair evaluation og whether or not it would be a nice place for Lucy to go to. What we did see, however, made me very happy that I’m in what is APPARENTLY considered the greenest city in all of the great land of China.
I did eat some weird stuff today and ended up with an allergic reaction to what I believe was gluten.
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs and coffee
Lunch: at fancy schmancy restaurant… DUCK TONGUE (it’s the specialty of Wenzhou and I felt compelled to at least try it… It tastes like pork… I totally just blanked on what it was I was eating and focused on trying not to get teeth or bones in my mouth, as it comes attached to the jaw… LMAO). I also had tofu, cucumber wedges and they made a hot pot that was suppose to be sans anything but meat and veggies and they add meat apparently coated with flour AND they through in pasta for good measure, which I didn’t see because they also put in these super skinny long mushrooms that I so couldn’t wait to eat. I’m sure they also threw in a pound of MSG because within a minute of taking the first bite my lips and tongue were tingling, I had hives on my chest and arms at 3 minutes and I was fighting panic… Thank God for anti-histamines! Not sure exactly which of the culprits in the hot pot caused the reaction, but it was a bummer 😦 I finished lunch by eating a tea egg, made me feel better, lol.
Dinner: PEANUTS, I’m not kidding. We thought we’d be home at SEVEN pm!!! So I ate peanuts on the train… I’m not sure that was a really Dukan friendly dinner.
Lucy kindly made me a cup of Earl Grey and yogurt with bran while I sulked on the couch, too late to make phone calls home, too tired to move and not hungry enough to eat a real meal. It’s so wonderful having a friend like Lucy… Gonna miss her when she goes back to Dubai!
Then off to bed for a much deserved sleep. I hope the rest of you had a better day… I promise tomorrow will be a brighter day… After I bonk Kitty on the head a few more times for the 4 hour train ride in 2nd class EACH WAY!!!
Ciao!
Quote of the day: Forget what we’re told… Before we get too old. Show me a garden that’s bursting into life. ~ Snow Patrol “Chasing Cars” … Feeling much better after listening to this while typing (pounding the keys) to the beat.
A couple pics from the day…
This is a dad with 3 kids on the scooter. I affectionately refer to this as the Chinese Minivan!
Anyone want a SHIN rejuvenation?
The shitty road back to the train station made even worse by this guy pulling carts cutting us off!
Saturday was a PV Day
Daily weight loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Not sure, in Shanghai for weekend
So did a marketing event for the hospital this morning, had a meeting with CEO, which left me feeling a bit confused, and then headed for the train station for a few days of R&R in Shanghai. I also have to do my work visa stuff here on Monday.
Breakfast: 2 tea eggs
Lunch: chicken leg at train station.. LOL, seriously 🙂
Snack: Chai latte with Splenda… BUT, realized this morning that it’s got sugar in it! 😦
Dinner: Vietnamese style sizzlin’ steak, with 2 pieces of broccoli and a thin slice of carrot
Snack: 2% Greek yogurt (store was out of FF) with Splenda and bran
Walked and walked and walked in the cold… Had a nice afternoon and evening walking and shopping in Shanghai!
Ciao!
Quote of the day: Weight loss is like hiking, it is hard to get started & is hard along the way, but once you reach the top, YOU WILL NEVER REGRET THE JOURNEY!
Friday was a PV day.. Of which I’ve done too many in a row!
Daily weight loss: -0.6 lb/0.3 kg
Total weight loss: will post tomorrow when back with the spreadsheet.
Today it’s my birthday (Saturday) and I had a lovely celebration with my girlies here in Hong Kong!
Breakfast: Fat free Greek yogurt with bran and Splenda & 500 mL water & coffee with Splenda and skim milk.
Snack: Starbucks cafe latte, skinny (with skim milk) and Splenda… Lucy is a bad influence, will be glad to get back to Hangzhou where this isn’t easily bought!!
We took the subway to Central and then a 1 km uphill walk to get to the Victoria’s Peak tram station.
The view from up there is amazing!
After looking around we headed to the top floor and had lunch at Bubba Gumps!
And had a burger with no bun and a salad… 2nd time in two days, but hey… I can’t get a decent burger in China and it’s my birthday… Low carb, but not low fat! It was, however, yummy!
After lunch we took the tram back down and raced to the embassy to get Lucy & Ethel’s visas. Sadly, Ethel wasn’t approved 😦 We then headed back to Troy, the amazing travel agent, and booked her a flight to Manila. Lucy has decided the next time we’re in Hong Kong we’re going to a. Pop in and take a photo of said Troy for my blog and b. Ask him out for a drink 😀 Sounds like a plan!
We then headed back to the South Pacific for the girls to take a short nap (I never nap, I’m afraid I’ll miss something!). And then we got ready for my birthday dinner. I actually put on make-up (a bit of eye liner and mascara!) and that little black dress I’ve been talking about, with my black tights and black boots… Feelin’ groovy about turning 48!
Then off for the 1.5 mile walk to Ryan’s steakhouse for dinner. We had a great time! Where I ate another bacon, bleu cheese burger and a salad… Believe me, I’ve got my fill now 😀 Oh, and I had a glass of wine, which of course is not Dukan, but maybe my 4th alcohol drink this year, it was nice to relax with friends.
Lucy being cheeky…
Ethel being Ethel…
And they all sang Happy Birthday and the cake was my FAVORITE!! Carrot cake!
Do you think I had some?? Not a chance! Not worth the feeling of being bloated and YUCKY!
Then a hike back to the room. What a great night out with friends! I am SO excited to see what my 48th year has in store for me. Although the 47th was like a roller coaster, I rode the ride that was intended to get me where I am today. I can only imagine that 48 will be just as awesome a year!
Ciao!
Quote of the day:
Thursday was a PV day.
Daily weigh loss: 0.4 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: ??? I don’t have my spreadsheet with me…
So, I usually blog in the morning about the day before, which I’m doing now. But, the title is appropriate for today 🙂 More on that at the end.
Woke up after 8 happy to be with friends in Hong Kong. I am amazingly grateful for my blessings of having a job that enables me to travel. And off we went in search of breakfast and passport photo booth for Lucy & Ethel so they could apply for their visas to visit China.
Quick walk to Times Square to find out the photo places open at 11, shuhada! We tuck into a busy little diner and order eggs and sausage. Just the right portion for me, but the girls were a bit concerned that I’ll be starving them 🙂 (Ethel just opened the bathroom door after her daily weigh in to let me know she lost 0.9 kg since yesterday morning… She’ll be a believer soon!)
We then got their pictures done and took a walk around city center. The whole city is decorated for Christmas and is beautiful…
Then off to the visa office at 2 pm.
Lucy & Ethel filling out forms…
The LINE!
Where, after over an hour we find out that Ethel needs more documents because she’s from the Philippines. She needs a return tix to Manila (which we were going to book in Hangzhou) and hotel voucher… What to do? We decided to hit up a sushi restaurant and figure it out. I was able to google map a travel agency 175 meters away, so after a hurried lunch we rushed over and got to the agency at 403 pm. Note that the embassy closes at 5 and if we didn’t get them documents before then Ethel & Lucy would have been stuck here until at least Monday, and Hong Kong is an expensive city to be stuck in!! I have to add here that we don’t realize how lucky we are to be from the Western world until we find friends who aren’t and realize it is much more difficult for them to travel as freely as I can.
Troy, the amazing travel agent (and not bad to look at either) got to work right away on the reservations while Lucy and I darted back downstairs in search of wireless so I could email him Ethel’s flight info to Hangzhou and he could print it for those pesky immigration people. Lucy says while we’re running back to the agency that she feels like we’re on The Amazing Race!
Troy got the tickets done in under 20 mi it’s!!! And then we started running the 3 blocks, which includes taking stairs up and crossing over the highway and then back down and arrive at the embassy at 441. They let us in! YAY! And we go right up to the desk we were at before. After a few tense moments the girl accepts Ethel’s papers and then states… “oh, because she is not applying from her home country, she is from the Philippines, AND this is her first time applying for a visa to China, she may not be approved… WTF!!?? Deep breaths… We smile, we thank, we’re told to come back Friday after 4 for the decision… We’re praying it all goes well, if not, we make other plans.
After that fiasco we trek back to the hotel, feeling a bit deflated, but trying to keep positive. The girls took a little rest, I read my emails and the other blogs I follow and then we got ready for the long hike to Ryan’s Chicago steakhouse. My favorite in this city. I had my standard bacon cheese burger and a house salad, no bun, no fries, of course!
Then a walk around the mall…
My jacket now zips and I’m very happy about that 😀
And then the long walk back to the hotel… Fabulous day!
Now for the “Friday” part… It’s Friday morning and my last day of being 47. It’s been a crazy, emotional, fun, nightmarish, amazing roller coaster of a year. I’ve had a few endings and a couple of awesome new beginnings. Life is very, very good and I absolutely can’t wait to see what adventures I’ll experience in my 48th year.
To my mommy… I know that today is a tough day for you, I’m sure daddy is smiling down on you, saying Happy Anniversary… Thanks to both of you for creating me.
Ciao!
Quote of the day: Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
I’m actually sitting on the plane waiting for take off. I was suppose to fly to meet Lucy & Ethel tomorrow, but the hospital needs me for marketing on Sunday, so I’m flying a day early. I can’t wait to surprise them at the airport!!! In one of those cool things that happen in life, our flights are at the exact same time today, so they are also sitting on an Emirates plane in Dubai, probably also ignoring the safety video, but probably not blogging 🙂 Their flight is at 1005 UAE time and mine is at 1405 Hangzhou time… I get there 5 hours before they do 😀
I brought the scale with me, but I didn’t upload my weight spread sheet to my iPad, so will have no clue until I’m back on Saturday on total weight loss, but will keep up with daily loss.
Well, the plane has just taken off, I think I’m going to eat a couple boiled eggs (airplane food is definitely not Dukan friendly!!) and then take a little nap… Will do more blogging later.
OK… Fast forward… I took a bus from airport that took nearly 2 hours to get to hotel. We’re upgraded to a suite because of my birthday… How cool is that?
The toilet is a Toto and has some pretty interesting buttons that individually clean your bottom and the seat warms up when you open the lid… Very posh!
Then I had to take the subway and train back to the airport to get the girlies. They were very surprised to see me 🙂 Here’s the sign I had…
And the reverse sign…
I love surprising people as evidenced by this blog from 18 months ago: https://flamidwyfe.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/camino-blog-updates/
Taxi back to hotel, then a very late dinner at a street cafe 🙂 Glad to be with friends!
Ciao!
Friday was a PP Day.
Daily weight loss: 0.66 lb/0.3 kg
Total weight loss: 40.24 lb/18.3 kg
Today was a day off from touring. We were suppose to travel early morning to Phuket, but decided we wanted a lie in (I was up at 710!!!) and shop in Krabi, so I arranged a 400 pm pick up.
Breakfast: 2 egg omelet with onions, coffee and water.
Then a nice walk and a nice chat on Skype and an hour after breakfast, the BEST THAI MASSAGE I’ve ever had. I told her what was hurting and she fixed me. Stretching and yoga poses and 1 hour and 25 minutes later, I was a new woman! All for $11.35!!! I looked over at Cathy and asked her if we could stay an extra week!!
We then walked around Krabi, bought a few things, and then got the tat I’ve been wanting to get for a while 😀
Here’s the tattoo artist…
And here’s his adorable little girl… Who squealed with delight every time we spoke to her…
I strangely LOVE the pain from tattoos and this high was over too damn quick! He finished in about 4 short minutes 😦 I was thinking I should have asked for a bigger tat! I even whined to Cathy about it… She thinks I’m a nut 😀
Lunch on the beach, then back to hotel for private van transfer to Phuket… Sigh, our holiday is coming to an end 😦
Ciao!
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