Pictures from Niseko

back from 10 days in niseko and i am feeling a little post-holiday depression.  it was a nice long needed break and now i am back to the same same but same of hong kong.

niseko was snowy and beautiful full of good food and nice times.  we stayed in a gorgeous house minutes from the slopes.  being in japan, of course we ate and drank a lot but also got in full days of skiing and snowboarding along with onsens at night.

here are some pictures for you to enjoy - so enjoy!

xxo

Detox - Day 12 (Otherwise Known as The End)

so the 11 day detox is over!  it wasnt so bad, to be honest.  i bought more of the mixtures, both the cleanse and the meal replacement as i am going to keep it up a less strict fashion.  i lost inches around my arm, chest, waist and hips as well as 2% points off of my body fat, which is awesome.  i feel better for it as well.  but more importantly, i had a nice veg curry including naan (oh lovely carbs, how ive missed you!!!)  at the chinnery (one of my top FAVES) in the old mandarin to celebrate.

in other news, we are off to niseko on thursday morning and i cannot wait! here are some webcam pics of the overnight snow cover.  theyve been hit with tons of powder :-D  hey there, good lookin', whats cookin'???

Baby Mushrooms

so for christmas, one of the gifts i got from the haggis was a 'grow your own mushrooms' box and i love it!  here are some pics of the progress to date - they quickly have become so big!  as soon as i am off the detox, i plan to make a small mushroom omelette or perhaps a wee bowl of mushroom soup.  and after i "harvest" them, i can prepare for a second crop :)

Detox - Day 6

today is tough, i am not going to lie.  i am feeling really tired today and i just want to go home and sleep.  its not even about food - i am just knackered.  to be fair, i havent really eaten much other than salads and last night i hit up the old CI which i was told would be good to go during the detox programme but especially after the 'deep cleanse' days.  however, i think not eating much and doing the detox, the CI just wiped me clean - literally and figuratively.  i was supposed to go to circuits tonight as well but thank god the coach is sick and they are cancelled.  otherwise, i had a shake in the morning, 7 almonds before pilates and a salad after pilates.  i am REALLY (pathetically) looking forward to my couch tonight and the one egg i can have as a snack.

thought this was very cute - from this site:  thedesigninspiration.com

in other news, it seems the job market might be picking up steam in hong kong.  i am not 100% sure about how it is going in the banking industry as they just made redundancies but other sectors seem to be coasting along.  the firm here has made a few minor changes (not spending as much, etc.) but otherwise, fingers crossed, we continue onwards.  so any of you job seekers sick of the grind in NY, please come join me!!!

Detox - Day 3 and 4

this weekend are deep cleanse days so that means nothing but liquids and crunchy liquids like cucumber and celery.

its been fine, actually - not tired or hungry or anything.  the only issue is i havent truly gone to the loo yet, if you know what i mean...but i guess its normal...so i am told.

otherwise, lots of movies and a wee hike to the peak, as my dad would say, "to blow off a little stink".  speaking of, i saw "flowers of war" this weekend in the theatre.  it was very good - somewhat sad, but good.  its about the japanese occupation of china in the 1930s.  it is fairly brutal and graphic but the cinematography is very good.  there is this one scene where a bomb goes off but you see all these beautiful colours of clothing come out of the building - surely an interesting juxtaposition of something violent with something visually beautiful.  check it out.

so back to shakes and a healthy lunch for the week and although you are all undoubtedly waiting for my play-by-play of what i am eating and at what time, i think i'll just do some mini updates from here on out.

but more importantly - only 8 WORKING DAYS left until NISEKO!!!!!!!!!!!!

much love!

Detox - Day 2

a bit slow to wake up today...kind of tired, i must admit.  my sleep was a bit restless and thereore i slept in a wee bit until 745am.

but this time i followed the directions properly and had my shake at 8:20am and then onto a bit of green tea to try and help perk me up!

its 1:30pm so salad (i brought in extra lettuce today) with brocoli, beans, cashews, carrot and low fat feta with olive oil and tabasco
still feeling good and going to make a pumpkin ginger soup for the weekend!

8pm shake and a few celery and cucumber sticks (which are unlimited).

off to bed feeling good.

Detox - Day 1

ate late last night as i had ballet so wasnt feeling particularly hungry this morning but choked down the shake anyway.  it wasnt that bad - a bit bland but fine, otherwise.

10:30am - vanilla shake, 1 "accelerator" capsule
10:45am - green tea
noon:  some (8) baby carrots - still not particularly hungry but i hear the boys are really struggling and senor colleague is already grumpy.  its only day 1, poor guy.

in between work, scheduling massages and other treatments for the weekend, i read MITT ROMNEY.  really?  i mean, seriously?  hmmm.  IN ter es TING, america, interesting.  does he still have that annoying voice?  i bet he does.  anyway, i tried to get an election app but the nytimes one is really expensive so ive downloaded some makeshift one from god only knows who.  its probably funded by some gun-toting red-wingers.  not that there is anything wrong with that but if youve met me for even a hot second youd know that demographic would soon shoot me than have a cocktail with me.

1:30pm - small salad for lunch with  cucumbers, beans and cashews with some olive oil and a dash of tabasco which makes everything better
6pm - the rest of the baby carrot
headed hoome and had the final shake at 8pm along with one of their "snacks"...which are gross, in my opinion, and more a chalky  dog treat sort of flavoured like chocolate than any form of "snack" that ive ever had.

off to bed at 1130 feeling pretty good!  the boys on the other hand were suffering and counting down the days until mortons...naughty.

Let the Detox Begin - Detox Diary Pre-Entry

to kick off the new year, ive enrolled in a detox.  the boys gluttonous colleague has found this programme to which weve all signed up for today.  the first day starts tomorrow.  it consists of 2 days of two meal replacement shakes, 2 days of just shakes, 5 days of two meal replacement shakes and then a final 2 more days of just shakes.

for me, i dont really have a terribly bad diet, exercise regime, etc. so i am doing it more for the squidgy scotsman who has a diet which includes anything once alive and now fully cooked, including vegetables.  i am not sure he knows what raw veggies even taste like.  and in my opinion, that madness has to stop even if it means ive got to give up food for the better part of 11 days.  man, i know i am going to get pretty sick of these shakes...

now, dont get me wrong, its not like i am perfect or have a perfect body in any way shape or form but my clothes fit and i am generally happy with how i look.  plus, the "skinny fat" look here where girls dont eat much but dont exercise either is not cute.  i mean, honestly, your arms should NOT be that flabby nor should your bum sag that much at the age of 24.  however, my stats came in via the "detox diva" as "in good health" with my bmi in good shape as well as my hydration (which i came to learn the womens world health organisation has put out stats on...) but my overall body fat could lower.  ok, i can handle that...i guess...

the "detox diva" also said keeping a diary helps so i am going to use this forum to do so - let the detoxing begin!!!

Happy New Year!

i cant believe its 2012.  the holiday season was a good one:  the buck came and left, the haggis' mums here until middle of this week and then its back to BAU which will be sad as ive really enjoyed my time of leisure.

this years festivities included christmas eve dinner spent at the china club which was very nice.  they did a traditional tea ceremony, best ive seen yet, and the noodle making dance, which was fun.  here's a video of the noodle chef:

the next day, we did a big lunch with over twenty people at a restaurant called oolaa (which was average) for christmas lunch.  new year was way too much champagne at the pawn but first, i ordered and cooked maine lobsters for the surf portion of our surf & turf dinner!  the brits really liked the lobsters and the boy really got into it from nuts to bolts with putting them into the pot and tearing into them at the table.

for christmas, i received a lot of goodies including a mushroom garden and best of all a trip to nepal for easter.  i cant wait to head off, see katmandu, the surrounding villages and of course, everest!  so until there is more, here are some pictures to start off the new year - best wishes to you all: