It’s time to move!

No I’m not moving house or countries again!

But it was time to bite the bullet and move to my own site! You can now find me at:

 

www.whatisforbreakfast.com

 

Please update your Google Readers, Bookmarks and Favourites and I’ll see you on the otherside!

Chick pea x 3

Good morning

I’ve been a little all over the shop this morning. Feeling a bit crap in general about the work prospects and unmotivated generally. I need to snap out of it! Yesterday afternoon I did not run. I got a wave of tiredness again that I am putting down to the end dregs of my cold playing itself out. Instead I cooked. I made my Chick Pea Spinach Curry with what I had (which didn’t involve curry in the end). Once I had made it though I had to walk down to Sheung Wan to meet Adam to sign up the offer we put in on the apartment down there. Fingers crossed, we should hear today how we go. To celebrate finally making a decision and putting in the offer we went for a drink in our new neighborhood. We tried Duo, what appears to be a middle eastern influenced dinner/drink spot with an interesting and reasonably priced wine list and some yummy eats. We were peckish so we ordered the mezze plate to go with our French wine.

Twas a great plate! On the plate was hummos, babaganoush (notice the Pom seeds on top), tahini, carrot, pitas, pickled eggplant, tabouleh and falafel. The falafels were awesome! I’ll be back for them alone. I had 2 pieces of the pita triangles and tried all the dips and a falafel. The tabouleh was delicious too. We had another glass of wine, this time a Lebanese Cab Sav which was much fuller and went better with the food.

Came home to the Chick Pea curry. That made for chick peas 3 ways (falafel, hummos and dinner).

This makes about 3 big serves – I had about 1/2 a serve because the mezze plate took the edge off my hunger.

  

My plate

 

Plus we had the other Turkish bread from the other day with it. I had 1 piece.

Great dinner if I do say so myself. I love paneer! How good does it looked once it’s cooked and brown. And I don’t even use any oil or spray to get it like that. Just a nice hot non stick pan.

Last night I also prepped overnight oats. 1 cup Quaker rolled oats, 1 cup Almond Breeze original, about 3 T of non fat natural yoghurt (I used a brand called Tamar Valley that I found at the shops which is actually Australian). In overnight oats I find you need a runnier yoghurt so Greek yoghurt isn’t the best. This morning I served Adam 2/3rd and me 1/3 and topped mine with a handful of Kashi Go Lean, blueberries and a tiny drizzle of honey.

Very nice.

So yeah, I kind of went back to bed this morning because I felt like crap, but couldn’t sleep. I’m not sleeping that well here in Hong Kong . Now I’m sitting in my workout clothes at The Garden (my cafe nearby) drinking coffee, blogging, writing a to-do list and generally just wasting time I guess. I need some motivation asap!

8 things

Hi guys!

A little while ago Emma gave me a Beautiful Blogger award

which means I have to share 7 things about myself that you don’t already know and pass the award along to 7 other beautiful bloggers . So here goes!

1. I drink a lot of water

I start each morning with:

• 1 tablespoon of Benefibre in a glass of water
• 1 Berocca dissolved in another glass of water (or the same glass as the Benefibre if I’m running late)
• a cup of Rooibos tea (but you already knew that ,

so that is about 3 glasses of water before the day has really even begun. Then I chug about 1.5 litres at least throughout the day, plus more tea and a takeaway coffee. In the evenings I try to avoid drinking too much water as I end up having to get up in the night . Except for a cup of tea of course. Here in Hong Kong I have to drink bottled water because you aren’t supposed to drink the water from the taps. I reckon it’s probably fine though…

2. I grew up in the country

I grew up in a small town in the south of Western Australia called Pemberton, then moved to another slightly bigger town called Albany where we lived until we moved to Perth for me to start high school in 1993. Even though I grew up in the country I would say I am a city girl at heart. I like going down south in WA for mini breaks to drink wine, walk, eat good food and go to the beach, but in the end I look forward to coming back to the city .

3. University and Work

I have a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology) from the University of Western Australia. In 2006 I started a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at UWA but I’ve only done 1 unit so far and I think they have booted me from the course for not re-enrolling! To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to uni. I found it very hard to balance full time work and the MBA workload.

In 2000 I spent 6 months at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 2000 on a university exchange program when I was in my 3rd year of university. I studied Arts (Anthropology and History). If I had my time again (and cash to burn) I would probably study Dietetics or Communications.

I worked for 7 years as a lawyer. I am trained as a property and commercial lawyer. I don’t really enjoy it though, in my last job I loved the people I worked with so that made it fun and I guess that is why I stayed there for the longest time (I’ve had quite a few jobs at different firms). Last year I tried something different and quit my job as a lawyer to go work for the WA Government as a Senior Policy Officer. I really liked that too, it was completely different and just what I needed at the time.

4. Cats

I really really like cats, a lot. I would be an old cat lady given the chance and if it weren’t so socially unacceptable . Little’s real name is Coco, but we’ve never called her Coco. She was so little when I got her and she never really grew so the name Little kind of stuck! Now I tend to call all cats Little and sometimes babies… yes it is weird. Little is 5 years and 2 months old.

5. I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with magazines

I always have and always will. I’ve got better at controlling it but there is something about the glossy pages that lures me in. I could stand in Borders reading magazines for 5 hours and not blink at the passing time. I would love to write for a magazine! I think one of the reasons for my magazine obsession is my love of celebrity gossip. And to be honest, my internet addiction really began because of sites like Perez Hilton, Just Jared and Popsugar and they are really the only reason I can say that I have cut back on buying so many mags, yes, because the photos on the net are free . Still nothing beats a good glossy!!

6. I really really like Nike tempo shorts and Asics Kayanos.

Both are the most comfortable things I have ever put on, in terms of running gear. I would secretly love a job where I could wear both every single day… Maybe I should have been a PE teacher! 

7. My favourite beauty products are (in no particular order)

• Olay 30+ face moisturiser
• Olay 15+ moisturiser (sensitive)
• QV wash
• Dove Body Wash
• Herbal Essences Hydration Party (blue bottle) shampoo and conditioner
• Redken Pure Pearl treatment
• Covergirl Urban Basics eye shadow quad
• Lancôme black mascara (any) – I like the samples with the short wands that I get free when I buy my foundation
• Lancôme Teint Idole foundation – I always buy it when the free gift with purchase is on
• Rimmel 60 second nail polish
• MAC blush in Dame
• Strawberry chapstick
• Lancôme Juicy Tubes
• MAC lipstick

Apart from that I have a gazillion other beauty products which I rarely use. Isn’t it always the way!

Here’s another for good measure

8. I get blood noses all the time

I really should get surgery to fix it, apparently it’s no big deal and a 5 minute op. Blood noses really are one of the most disgusting things ever…

If you have any questions for me feel free to ask them in the comments section or email me at madelinbreakfast@gmail.com

The 7 bloggers I pass this award on to are:

1. Rosie at Designer in Disguise

2. Helen at Powtart

3. Lorraine at Not Quite Nigella

4. Sarah at Skinny Runner

5. Gab at Healthier Kind of Me

6. Katie at Sweettater

7. Taylor at Tadyor Tott

Yoga whacked

Back on line! Yip yip!

I totally ran out of time this morning so didn’t end up running. I met the agent at what I think is our new apartment (fingers crossed – I don’t want to speak too soon ), then bolted to yoga at 12.30pm. The apartment is a 7 minute walk from Yoga Limbs, if I decide to join up after my trial pass ends.

Today I went back to Vinyasa Level 2. I feel much more comfortable in that class. While it is super challenging, I’m up for it. And the instructor doesn’t mind if you don’t push yourself all the way or can’t make the pose. Today I could do most of the poses though so I was happy! Unfortunately, I picked a mat right next to a groaner. This girl groaned, moaned, sniffed and snorted the whole way through the class. It was majorly distracting!

By the end I was a quivering mess and walked back to the apartment (straight uphill all the way!) at a snails pace. Normally I’m bounding up that hill (I don’t like to hang around long on hilly roads so I’d rather get up quick!). Tomorrow I will take a pic of the road I walk up so you get an idea.  

I made this snack before I left the apartment at 11am, even though I wasn’t that hungry but I knew I would be by 12.30pm and needed fuel to get me through yoga. 1 container of Fage 0% plus a handful of blueberries. Super filling and low cal (about 70 calories).

Once home I felt so tired and zonked from yoga I couldn’t believe it. I basically just threw myself on the couch with a magazine but I knew I needed lunch as it was 2pm. This would be a sandwich on rye and pumpkin seed bread, with 1/4 of a small avocado, 1 can of sandwich tuna, 1 small tomato sliced, a smear of goats cheese.

I should have skipped the goat cheese because I couldn’t taste it, but otherwise this sandwich was D-lish. This bread is just gorgeous, soft and I love the pumpkin seeds . It’s just from the Park n Shop bakery. I also love that it comes in a 1/2 loaf pack! We never go through that much bread in the house because Adam buys his lunch every day and I don’t eat sandwiches for lunch that much, so this is perfect. I think each pack has about 8 thin slices only.

Yumbos!

I am trying to will myself to go for a run… I feel a little unmotivated to run this week. What is wrong with me, I usually love to run! I know I will feel good if I do.

It may be because I just found out I can’t run the Beat the Banana 6km Fun Run this weekend because I don’t have a Hong Kong ID card (because I don’t have a job). So that just sucks. And now I have no races coming up to keep me motivated… Also I can’t seem to find a Half Mary to run over here for the life of me . Hong Kong Marathon and Half Marathon on 28 Feb sold out before we arrived, grrrrrrr.

See you later gators.

Dumplings

Grrrrrrrrrrr, Internet has been down in our serviced apartment building since midday yesterday!!!!!!!!! I’m not sure when it’s going to be back up because last night they said it would be fixed overnight and well, it’s not. I’m sitting in my usual coffee place using their free wifi! Not happy Jan.

Anyway, so obviously my last post went up a bit late! I didn’t run in the end. I did do some squats and lunges and plies though but gave up on Whittle my Middle. I just wasn’t in the mood. I did 100 plies, 50 squat and 20 lunges each leg and called it a day.

We saw another couple of apartments last night and I’m seeing one this morning that we may go with because it looks like we can get a good deal with a rent free period. HOPEFULLY this will be the one and then I can stop looking!

The apartment was in Sheung Wan near my yoga place. I’ve been walking past this restaurant called Dumpling House on Jervois St on the way to and from yoga for days now and it’s always packed at lunch. So after seeing the apartment I dragged Adam in there for a quick dinner since it was late. Well, let’s just say we took a picture because we ain’t going back, ha ha! It wasn’t THAT bad, but since there are so many good places to eat in Hong Kong it’s not worth wasting your time in places that are lacklustre. Anyway, at the least the menu provided some entertainment for us. Doesn’t that soup sound appetising!

And the food actually was quite tasty (MSG???) but just not what we were expecting. Adam ordered dumplings in soup and I ordered wantons in soup plus we got a side of veggies. This one came our first – we don’t know whether it was dumplings or wantons!! The soup was ok but had lettuce floating in it – what the? 

The veggies weren’t fresh and were overcooked. 

This was the second plate to come out. Honestly we could not tell the difference between the 2 plates! They both had the same pork and veggie stuffing inside. 

Once again, the dumplings/wantons, whatever they were, weren’t in the soup!

Oh well, this is all part of the experience! And we don’t feel sick or anything so I’m sure they were fine. I ate about 6 or 7 dumplings, a few pieces of choy sum and 1/2 my soup (no lettuce).

All was not lost though because we stumbled upon Berrygood on Graham St, on our way home! Yip yip! Berrygood has a really cute fitout, all pink and white . I love it! Plus for the small cup (which is huge) it is only 147 calories and 0.5% fat (excluding toppings). I chose raisins because I’ve been cravings them so badly (and at least this avoided me buying a whole pack at the supermarket and eating the whole thing then suffering stomach cramps for days, as usually happens!) and strawberry.   

Adam got low fat granola with mango. 

So breakfast for me this morning was just cereal.

Once I new the internet was still down I wanted to eat quick and get over here to put these posts up and check some emails etc. I CAN”T LIVE WITHOUT THE INTERNET. I have a serious addiction!

Off to go for a run, then back to Sheung Wan to see this apartment, then yoga at 12.30pm. I better get cracking!

Ciao.

On the mend!

Good afternoon!

Sorry I didn’t blog this morning, I was in a rush to get ready for my meeting with the recruiter which went pretty well! Fingers crossed .

I woke up feeling quite a bit better apart from a sinusy headache which Panadol helped knock off. I’m hoping tomorrow I will be back to normal! Gosh, I HATE having a cold. I totally forgot how crap they make you feel and how much they wipe out your energy.

Breakfast today was something new! This was a slice of rye and pumpkin seed bread smeared with goats cheese and 1/4 cup of egg whites nuked, with salt and pepper.

Yumbos! This one was a winner! And it made me so full.

 

But… I am so used to having a sweet breakfast my palate wasn’t satisfied even though my tummy was. So, I went the low cal option of 1 small container of Fage and a tiny banana. Perfect! That put me over the edge though. Super full! 

But that breakfast sure did keep me full! I didn’t snack until about midday when I had an Alpen bar as I ran out the door to meet Adam and an agent to see an apartment. This was one of the ones I saw yesterday. However, on second viewing I don’t think we liked it .

I came home to lunch. More split pea soup, grape tomatoes, a tiny orange and a cup of green tea. 

Great soup! 

After lunch I discovered the internet was down in our building. Grrrrrrrrrrr. So I went walking about and did some more exploring and picked up some Berocca and Lemsip. I may have also purchased a handbag as well… oops! Rabeanco is too hard to resist! 

 

Afternoon snack was 1 cup of Kashi Go Lean with skim milk.

I’m contemplating going for a run… honestly though, I still don’t feel up to it and I’m so turned off at the thought of dodging cars and people… plus I don’t have time to go up the Peak before sunset… I may just leave it to the morning, see how I feel with my cold and spend the whole morning exercising (run + yoga at 12.30pm). Sounds like a plan!

Climb those steps

Hello hello!

I had a nice yoga class this morning. The Beginner’s Asana is a little slow for my liking but I still got a wonderful stretch.

Pre-yoga morning snack was Fage 0% with about a tablespoon’s worth of honey. 

As I left yoga I snacked on an Alpen bar and came home to this lovely lunch around 2.30pm after grabbing a coffee and dawdling home.  

This was a small bowl of last night’s split pea soup, some cherry tomatoes, a slice of rye and pumpkin seed bread spread with goats cheese. So good dipped in the soup!

A little later I had a small orange to cleanse the palate.

 

I saw another 4 apartments this afternoon. We still haven’t decided . Waahhhhhhhhhhhhh. At least I walked hundreds of steps today, I was huffing and puffing all over the place!

This afternoon I spoke to a recruiter and I’m meeting her tomorrow to discuss my work prospects. Yip yip!!

My dinner tonight was a bit random! Some broccoli (boiled and flavourless – blah) with some fresh parmesan on top. I’m not used to boiled veggies. They taste like crap!!! That or the broccoli is not good. I’ll try a different shop perhaps? Can’t wait till I have my steamer back! While I was prepping this I snacked on some rice crackers and tzatziki.

I also had a bowl of Natures Path Blueberry Cinnamon (about 1 cup) with skim milk. 

I’m heading to bed early in the hope of getting rid of this cold and so I’m fresh for my meeting tomorrow .

Ciao

Oats and tea

Uh-oh, Adam is now sick too . Perhaps we’ve picked up a travel bug? We both had our swine flu shots before we left so at least it’s not that!

I slept a lot better last night thanks to earplugs and an eye mask and I’m feeling a little better this morning. Breakfast helped too!

Banana oats made with 1 cup of rolled oats, 2 small overripe bananas, just over a cup of original Almond Breeze, 1 cup of water, split between the 2 of us (I always serve up more for Adam). With a cup of Red Tea. It’s growing on me, though I still love my straight Rooibos better. 

Lots to do today! Yoga at 12.30pm, more job hunting and a chat with a recruitment agent later on (fingers crossed).

Soup when you’re sick?

Isn’t that what you are supposed to eat when you have a cold? Well today I did, twice! And it was grand.

This morning snacked on a tiny orange for some vitamin c then went to bed for a couple of hours. Once again I couldn’t sleep, maybe dozed for 20 minutes or so, but I got up for lunch feeling a LOT better. 

For lunch I had the last of the 10 bean mix soup,

1 small pack of egg whites plus 1 whole egg, scrambled with 5 cherry tomatoes. I was pretty hungry by the time I ate this and it was just what I felt like. 

With salt and cracked pepper on top.

I then sent my CV to some recruiters and headed out to buy some shampoo and conditioner and some other supplies while the cleaners did our room. I’m loving this serviced apartment!

Came home to Fage and a teaspoon of honey squeezed on top. HEAVEN!  

 

At 4pm I headed down to my 4.30pm yoga class. Today I did Vinyasa Level 1 and it was more at my level but they didn’t do the the same 1/2 hour of flow sequences that the Level 2 class does. I’m wondering whether I go back to Level 2 and just struggle in the poses? Decisions! Tomorrow I am signed up for the Beginners Asana just to compare what it’s like. 

I picked up some Tzatziki at the shops today and dipped a few baby carrots in while I was prepping dinner tonight.

It was excellent! One of the best I’ve had. Very yoghurty and a creamy thick texture almost like cream cheese. 

I also had some plain rice crackers.

Tonight for dinner I made Jenna’s split pea soup but I could only find yellow split peas so that is why the soup turned out orange not green. I also picked up this wonderful turkish style pita bread which was so incredibly divine I could eat the whole pack. I restrained myself and had 1/2 a pita dipped in my soup.

A delish and filling dinner for a sickie. I read British Vogue while eating my dinner (Adam is working late).

Finished off with a mandarin for more vitamin C.

I’m off to have a bath in our humungous bathtub then I’m heading to bed in the hope of waking up 100%.

Night!

Zuma, Queen’s Road Central

Good morning.

It’s now Monday morning and I have a lot of backtracking to do still to get you up to date. I’m not feeling too crash hot today and if I had a job I probably would call in sick. The day hasn’t got off to a good start! I hardly slept last night, my cold is worse and I just had a blood nose that took forever to stop. Major YUK!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, we had a wonderful day yesterday! Starting with a quick bowl of All Bran and a mandarin. I wanted to save myself for brunch! They really know how to do brunch over here in Hong Kong. I honestly think it is the highlight of some peoples working week to go for brunch on a Saturday or Sunday. I think it’s my new favourite hobby too .

After breakfast Adam and I set off to find the Morning Trail with success! We walked all the way up to the Peak lookout which wasn’t nearly as steep as the Old Peak Rd route we did last Sunday. It was sooooo foggy and cold yesterday though so it was impossible to see the view.

See what I mean! It was quite eerie up there.

It was a lovely walk though and there were heaps of people out, dogs, kids, tourists etc. we ended up coming back home via the steep Old Peak Rd route anyway because we were running out of time to get to brunch and it’s much faster and more direct. We jogged part of the way because believe it or not it’s easier on the knees coming down the steep slope.

So yesterday we went to Zuma for brunch. Remember we went to Zuma when I was over here in October? This brunch was AMAZING!!! You chose a beverage on arrival (I chose the Perrier Jouet Champagne) but you could have had a Bellini or sake.

The champagne is supposed to flow freely all through the 2.5 hour brunch. We were seated outside which actually despite the cold weather was really nice (had a heater right next to us) however, our server was a bit slow to begin with but eventually caught on that we liked to have our glasses full . So to start there were 2 huge buffets with sushi, salads, soba noodles, sashimi, soups, oysters and yakatori. The presentation was immaculate! Loved it!

My plates from the buffet.

I didn’t end up eating the chicken below other than a bite to try it, but I wasn’t a fan of the bone and skin.

I also had a bow of miso with veggies in it (Carrot, Bok Choy and Daikon)

Another plate!

The scallop sashimi was out of this world. So yummy! In fact, I liked everything. It was all delicious!

For the main course, you could order one of the dishes off the menu above. I chose the salmon with pickled cucumber.

It was outstanding. Perfectly rare and sweet.

Adam had the baby chicken which he said was lovely too, but he thought my salmon was better.

Our friends had the pork belly and salmon respectively. Pork belly pictured above.

And to finish we had this amazing dessert sampler platter. 

 

I had a little of everything.

It was a wonderful brunch that left me full all afternoon and evening. I didn’t eat another scrap all day! We’ll definitely be back for the Zuma brunch .

For breakfast this morning I had the leftover serve of the rejuvenating mix banana oats from Saturday morning.

It reheated really well and was just as yummy. I’m contemplating going back to bed now…

Have a good Monday, I hope you feel better than I do!

After this weekend of indulgence we both agreed this week is going to be full of veggies, tea, water and early nights and for me, yoga, that is if this cold goes away .