Fitness update

Its been a while since I've posted about anything so I'm going, to begin with, fitness.

I'm really happy with my current weight of  9 stone and 5 pounds. Last year I had two courses of personal training sessions. During this time I've managed to up my muscle mass and significantly drop my body fat. In 2016, my body fat was 36%. Currently, it's at just 22%. Since altering my fitness plan it's enabled myself to attend the gym less. This is because my sessions are more productive. Previously, I spend a lot of time on cardio. I use to go to the gym and go on the cross trainer for 30 minutes, then perhaps the rower for another 10 and then the treadmill. Now ive learnt that weight training can make a huge difference. Muscle weighs more than fat, and it also causes your body to burn more calories. I now spend around 15 minutes on cardio and then 25 - 30 minutes on weight training.

My current stats are:

Bust: 32

Waist: 26

Hips: 33

Muscle: 73.3%

Body fat: 22.8%

Water: 55.5%

In comparison to previously:

Bust: 34

Waist: 29.1

Hips: 37.5

So that's a 2inch loss on my bust, a 3 inch lost on my waist and 4.5inch loss on my hips, whooo!

Paris

 We visited Paris, France for Seth's 19th birthday. We spend two nights at the Generator Hostel. We just love these hostels. Simon and I decided to take advantage of the VIP airport lounges and got very, very drunk. I am surprised they let us on the plane. Seth managed to get us to the hostel where at this point we had sobered up and headed straight to Hard Rock Cafe. Then to check out the Eiffel Tower. It looked very impressive at night when it was lit up. But there are so many 'lucky lucky men' that try and sell you everything from overpriced wine or mini souvenirs, so that did kind of ruin the atmosphere. 

The next day was full of sight seeing. We went to the Louvre museum and saw the Mona Lisa, back to the Eiffel tower to see it in day light, the Notre Dame. Everything you would expect to visit we saw! It was a very busy day. Went back to the Eiffel tower again, this time we went up it so se the view from the top. It was great and I would recommend doing so. 

The next morning we went for the most amazing breakfast at Laudree. I would fly back to Paris just to eat here as it was so delicious. 

Camp Paivika, California

Camp Paivika was an experience I won't ever forget. It has been the more rewarding job I have had, and I hope that I will return here one day to meet the staff and my campers again. 

I feel so blessed that I was able to spend the summer living in the San Bernardino mountains at camp. It's a perfect location with great views and inspirational people. Camp felt like a family as you lived and worked so closely with everyone and on breaks you would spend your time each other going on adventures such as travelling to Las Vegas and San Diego and relaxing on the beaches. 

It was great meeting so many new people and getting to know your campers. I had two 1-1's over the summer, and it was so rewarding as you got to know them so well over the five nights. Leaving day was always sad. The night before campers left there would be a closing campfire where we sang songs and watched pictures of the campers time at camp. Then it would end with the hugging song, so everyone got to say their goodbyes. Once everyone was settled and in bed we the staff would go around all the cabins and sing. I still listen to 'lean on me' now when I miss camp! 

Love you all, and I hope we get to meet again! xxx

San Francisco

San Francisco was an amazing city; it was as it I was living in the future. People riding on Segways and hover boards and playing with drones. My hostel was in Fort Mason, and it was a great location. Just a short walk to fisherman wharf and the piers. I stayed here for five nights, so this was an extended visit! As there is so much to do in this city the time flew by, and it was soon time for me to fly back to LAX to start my job at the camp for the summer.

The weather was very temperamental, I was constantly adding and removing layers! 

Germany Road trip 2015

For my brothers 18th birthday we went on a road trip around Germany. It was a fast-paced few days, as soon as we landed in Stuttgart then drove straight to Nuremberg. Driving was terrifying, being on the opposite side of the road. I was a nervous wreck, and I was just a passenger! 804 miles completed in just four days, huge thanks to Simon for driving us! This was our first time hiring a car abroad. It did take us a while to work out how to get it going, and the sat nav was in German so it was a nightmare navigating around!

Nuremberg

We arrived late and wondered around the town; it was pretty quiet. We had a quiet drink in a bar then went to bed. The next day we checked out the Nuremberg rally grounds.

Dresden

It was raining when we arrived, but that didn't stop us. We went to try out some German food and some beers. Made a few American friends on the evening and had a great night out with them!

Berlin

We stayed in a Generator Hostel in Berlin; it was the best hostel we had stayed in during this trip. We also had some more time to relax as we spend two nights here. We visited all the major sights; including Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag Building! The Berlin wall was great to see. It was such a great city and one I would love to come back to visit as there was so much to see and take in.

Road trip in N'Ireland

Last month the start of my 'American Dream' started. Simon and I flew to Northern Ireland to attend a J1 visa appointment. We decided to make a little holiday out of the trip so hired a car and drove around a lot of the country, nearly 1000 miles in fact! 

Over the few days, we spend we walked along beaches, over rope bridges, stepped in national parks, found a dam, ate an Irish breakfast, made friends with a pony and chilled in the hotel spa. It was great to explore N'Ireland with a car and its something I would defiantly recommend doing.

Speak soon, HanHan xxx 

3 nights in Shanghai

Shanghai has been my favourite city that I have visited in China!

I met up with 4 of the girls I met at the start of my internship, Sammy, Hannah, Laura and Kasey, it was so nice to see new old faces! Especially as I have been traveling on my own and hadn't met any westerns yet. 

The first night we headed to the French concessions. It was a really lovely area, filled with restaurants, however it was pricy and we decided not to eat hear. And instead we walked down towards the bund to take night photos of it all light up. On the way we found an Italian restaurant that's a big chain in China. So we all ate hearand got a bottle of wine all for less than £3 each. I did not expect to find places this cheep in Shanghai. 

The next day we all got up early to go visit one of shanghais water towns. We got the bus to Zhujiajiao and it took around 1 hour. We wondered about the town and took a boat ride around the area. It's such a beautiful place and it's hard to believe it's only a hours bus ride from the centre of Shanghai. 

The bus ride back did take a lot longer, I think it was over 2 hours but I fell asleep so not entirely sure. When we got back we went for dumplings at Yangs Dumplings. They were very good, but very oily. I am told your meant to suck the oil out and then eat the dumplings, but with that much oil I think I would have made myself ill. Then we headed towards the pearl tower, as we wanted to time it just right so that we could see the view in the day and the view when it got dark. It was a great surprise to find out the entry fee was half price! We don't know why but it made us all happy! (I have now found out there was lots of attractions half price accross the city, something to do with a tourism day?) The views from the top were great, there were two levels you could access with our tickets. One of them had a glass floor that was pretty cool! 

The next day Sammy and Hannah left early as they were teaching later on in the day. So Laura, Kasey and I spent the day together. We walked to Yu gardens, visited Shanghai museum and the jade Buddha temple. Later in the day when they left for there overnight train I visited m&m world and treat myself to some chocolate! 

I feel like I have done so much during my time in Shanghai and i have had such a great time. It definitely is my favourite city in China so far. And I didn't spend half as much money as I expected to! 

Speak soon,

HanHan xx