Fit With Vic

Did you think you'd heard the end of China?

Wearing my South Western University of Finance and Economics for the first time today and it was obviously meant to be as my flat white arrived in the same shade.

I couldn't wear yellow when I was blonde, so all the more reason to have pink hair no?

My version looked quite different to the recipe book but it still tasted great.

I tried to air fry the pork, but the batter wasn't thick enough as not enough flour to egg.

Didn't see sweet and sour pork advertised once in China but got to love some savory pineapple, yes or no?!

Wouldn't quite call it a fakeaway but I look forward to trying the recipe again...

Haha where did August go! Photo dump of the month...

Happy Hols enjoying the sun and sunsets 🏖
My turn to RD at Baxter Park juniors 😍
Enjoying being back on Campus and getting ready for Uni 🤭
Me and my mini me on my way to my family birthday meal 🎂
Admiting to you all that this game is one of my favorite ways to procrastinate- but yassss I got my highest score ever!
Random postcard in cafe
My blog post being published on the uni website 😎
My fav peeps 🥰

When did you last push yourself out of your comfort zone?

For me I just went gorge walking for the first time!

It was a combination of walking, swimming, being dunked, jumping in, scrambling, and floating!

My HR was rather high for the first ten minutes whilst I rationalised what I was about to do, and then I started to enjoy myself.

Years ago, I would have been both self-conscious and too scared to do something like this. I'm glad to say that now I know life is for living regardless of size!

If there is something holding you back from having new adventures, is it rational, and if not, then how can you overcome it?

I'm not saying it has to be gorge walking, but it is worthwhile to push yourself out of your comfort zone every now and then - who knows, you might just even enjoy it!

😎👍💪

Finding the reasons to keep going with my liver - pic 3 - definitely helping 🤣

Do you eat offal?

It's offally good! My eating companions were not a fan of this joke 🤣

My blog post for the time I was in Chengdu...

https://www.dundee.ac.uk/stories/dundee-scotland-chengdu-life-changing-summer-school-adventure

I'm thoroughly enjoying sleek as a punter and glad I went along today - it might be a case of exercise rather than training. However, something is always better than nothing (unless you get an injury 🤭)

Anyone for a murder mystery game and close to UoD campus?

Today I took part in a murder mystery game - all in the name of science!

Fuelled by coffee and cookies, our team of three cracked the case, finding the murderer, motive and opportunity before the end of our 90 minutes.

There are lots of these posters around campus and although I've done plenty of online surveys to help researchers, this one was definitely the most fun!

Volunteers still required! If you do sign up and participate, do let me know how you got on!

It's still my favourite mug of the moment...

Tonight, I went to restorative yoga, and it was just my mind and body needed

I've still got loads to tell you, but this week is my birthday week, so I'm taking the time to thing about things and take some offline time...

Sweet dreams!

😴😴😴

I was sad to miss the Monikie Tri this year - had that wee trip to China that I've mentioned a few times!

Hope to make it again next year as it's a very well organised event for all abilities and I'll let you know when the date is confirmed if you want to join me!

I'm usually last in my age category, but each time I take part and complete it (and get a medal), I have a massive sense of pride of what my body and my mind can accomplish

My daughter took this picture, and she is the reason I got myself off the sofa. When I was pregnant, I realised that how I treated my health would reflect on my unborn child! 😱😬🤯

I wasn't wrong and know 100% my exercise habits have positively impacted her even if I'm not the fastest or leanest out there 😎

I've been enjoying myself immensely this month, and although some days included a large amount of steps/swimming/snorkelling - I've not been in the gym either doing my own thing or instructing.

It's been nice to have a break, but today I was back at ISE (soon to be the SpAH but sadly no whirlpool bath or massages 😭) as a member for two classes - pilates and yoga

It was so nice to work on my mobility and flexibility, I've a long way to go, but it's nice to know I'm not back to 0 🤣

It's hard for everyone to get back to a routine that priorities their health, and I'm no exception, but hey, we've got to just keep trying...

Some stills from our lunch visit to the older part of Leshan, post Budda and pre tea picking

I still have so much to share with you 🤣

This day was extra special as we organised it ourselves and our guide took us to places we would never have found ourselves

Not a day I'll forget anytime soon!

Especially being told my pronunciation of Ni Hao was good from a local (between that and thank you and the use of translate I embarrassingly survived two weeks in China!)

This isn't just any Hanfu outfit but one carefully selected...

We went to a small shop, up a few flights of stairs to meet the Hanfu lady...

She looked you up and down, for some of us she measured us with her thumbs and then perused her selection of Hanfu.

She considered not just our size but our hair colours and complexion

I gave no preference of colour, just that I wanted a ladies Hanfu as believe it or not I am far from the size of the average Chinese lady (although I've read lots saying they have a growing overweight and obesity issue)

Anyway she did a grand job considering both my size and hair colour so it was a pleasure to dress in the Hanfu - although very confusing how all the layers went together 🤣

The Chinese Hanfu lady beats chat gpt every time...

Photo dump part one...

Chinese edible goodies, as the days went on, my confidence grew to pick up food without checking what it was - it paid off, well most of the time 🤣

Post claaa look 😎

Back at classes...not teaching but just as a punter 🤣

Enjoyed sleek physique tonight and was much easier when someone else is doing the counting!

There is something nice about being a member of the gym I teach in and I always have something to learn from the other instructors

I knew a few of the members, and one knew I'd been on my travels, and so told me I shouldn't be there 🤭

Looking forward to attending my next class as a member 😉

Visited Matthew's supermarket and as I walked in I was taken straight back to the streets of Chengdu with the smell so similar to the street food and restaurants there...

I've been to the ISE for a swim and a sauna before the 2 week refurb, quite different from the other 3 pools I've used in the last two weeks!

Nailed a reverse park, so thankfully, I've enough muscle memory that three weeks of not driving wasn't an issue 🤣

Had an epic 9.5 hour sleep (at the right UK time), so I'm winning on the jet lag front!

I have been offered and accepted to cover two bootcamps in the coming months

Wow, it's been busy - it might be time for some coffee in my new mug 😍

I'm back!

It was surreal being able to order my food without using a translation function, knowing what I was ordering and asking for sauce on the side and for some spinach.

It's probably the blandest meal I've had for a while so might need to carry my own jar of kimchi or spices moving forward 🤣

Still early today so plenty of time to get my steps in!

It is quite mad the amount of walking I've done since arriving, but it has been so enjoyable as so much to see on every walk.

It helps the campus is massive and dwarfs the size of Dundee's...

Think a pedicure is in order after all this walking 💅🤭🧖‍♀️

So I may be many miles away but with the power of a 70gb sim card that cost me £10 for 3 months I've managed to keep on top of my emails and even books tickets...

I've messaged my sister to tell her tickets are bought and would she like to join me but no reply yet 🤣

This beauty of a rabbit is a type of sugar blowing art - I appreciated the art more than the sugar as decided to keep my own teeth!

put on a gala for us to celebrate some Chinese traditions and guess what... no prawn crackers as they are actually more of an Indonesian thing - who knew 🤔

Finally got to try this crisps and they taste nice but no idea how they compare to the real deal 🤣

Not really a crisp gal but I'm always curious about crisp flavours

Millions of pounds are spent every year to entice us to try the new flavours and some lucky(?) folk are even paid to taste test the different flavours

If you want to know more about the marketing of crisps to look at the crisp aisle with a different perspective have a read of the link in the comments...

I'm totally in love with my nails, we showed the lady a picture, which she interpreted, and here are the results!

She took such time and care and a Chinese friend did the interpretation for me to ensure we were all on the same page 🥰

Good news is I have another ten nails on my feet and just as many days to go back 😍

I've arrived!

Edinburgh- Beijing
Beijing- Chengdu

Over 13 hours of flights and more of travel, although they were great - food served on both and even got to watch some David Attenborough!

At the airport, English was fine, but soon, my survival skills will be put to the test as all I can say in Mandarin is tea, coffee, water, and hello!

Afternoon here and now time to go and explore before the Global Academy starts tomorrow 😍

Anyone know anyone that is about to get a hamster and wants a cage, toys, bedding etc..?

Free if you're willing to collect from Dundee - hoping for it all to be gone in one lot by Friday please!

We went to our favourite Chinese restaurant at the weekend and they have three types of menu.

The western one, the dim sum and the more traditional one.

I ignored the western one went for prawn dumplings and Szechuan Roast Pork which was rather spicy!

As authentic as I can get within the DD post code and a step towards the food, I'll be able to sample when I'm actually in Szechuan 🥰

11 days 🤯

Loved my weekend away, and I ate well, lots of different foods and good quality ingredients 😋

However, it's always nice to be back home and in control of the food that you're eating by making it yourself 🍽

Tonight's meal was a concoction of fridge ingredients, and I have to say it turned out well - not upset that there is enough leftover for my lunch tomorrow 😍

I do like a recipe for inspiration, so I did check how long to bake the butternut squash for in the air fryer, but other than that, I just winged it, and it turned out fine 😎