Ha-Ha-Ha-Harbin Day 2

(like Night One wasn’t cold enough!)

So are you sensing yet that Harbin is C O L D.??

Yes, it is.  But please know, it was one of the most worthwhile trips EVER…just because it is a location that if I had not come to Hong Kong, I would 

A) Never heard of

B) Never gone to (because I’d never heard of it)

C) Never would have been able to say “Harbin, SURE, I’ve heard of it, AND I’ve been there!” (I have no idea when THAT conversation would ever happen…but…)

ANYWAY

We had a 9:30 start on Saturday morning.  Nice after a travel day.

All meals are included in our trips, and the spread at the Shangri-La was wonderful.  If you could not find something to eat there…you don’t eat food…anywhere.

Corey and I went back upstairs to “layer up” and start the day.

Our first stop was the Swimming.

Yes

Swimming

Every day…and I’m not sure how many times a day, a group of crazy people step onto the Songhua River, in shoes and bathing suits…and jump or dive into the “pool” that is cut into the ice.

This takes that “New Year Polar Plunge” thing they do in Seattle to a WHOLE new level.

Let me set the scene.

We step off of our bus and work our way across the parking lot and sidewalks to a set of stairs that leads us past the slides (that’s later) towards the area where this swimming will take place. 

This is before you go down the stairs.

Verrrryyyy carefully we made our way down the steps ( neither salt nor sand is used to help w/traction).  I side-stepped my way down the stairs (I was trying to avoid head injuries at all costs)

We got to the bottom of the stairs…and walk. It is only after quite a few steps you realize you have left land…and are now ON the river.

HORDES of tourists flood to the “hole” in the ice and stand around a fence.  We are 10 deep, jockeying for a good position to witness this insanity.

The Hole has to be constantly stirred to keep it fluid b/c if not, it would be back to river ice in a matter of hours!

The participants are older adults…in their 60’s and 70’s. Last year the oldest male was 88 and the oldest female was 75!

Here come the men!  You will see they wear shoes!  Because…well, it’s DARN cold and also, when they get out of the water, if they don’t, their feet will…yes, stick to the ice!

There is a crew (those are the smart ones in the pictures that are DRESSED), who’s job is to count the participants and make sure all that enter the water, exit the water. (Safety first??)

The group likes to perform, waving and urging the crowd to cheer them on! 

THEN…the ladies come…

More waving more diving, more swimming (more craziness!)

We moved off to walk around, go down the slides, not fall!  It is so odd seeing the summer house boats parked…packed in by the ice.  I’m just not sure how the pressure of the river does not destroy them!

Corey and I slid down the ice slow (again, avoiding head injuries), then it was time to make it back to the bus. 

We found we had about a one hour window before feet and hands got uncomfortable.

Next we did a walking tour of the city (Friendship street).  We took pictures…and other tourists wanted to take pictures with us. (I didn’t get any with them, and I’m sad that I missed out).

Here I am wondering WHERE in CA is a “California Beef Noodle King U.S.A”

There were stalls for nuts, and spices and other things I did not recognize.

We moved down to the river again (walking into the wind..wow).

this was our destination.  This statue marks the floods that has hit Harbin over the years. 

On the river here are more “ice” escapades…snow mobiles, hover crafts, sled dogs (very sad).  There were also more ice structures. 

     I thought the net covered with ice was pretty cool.

A group of 21 tourists catches the eye of the Nationals that are also touring.  There was very loud music…so some of the group decided to dance their way through the square.

OK.   THAT hour was up.  We went off to have an amazing “local” meal.  Our guide explained that local food uses more oil and salt…AHHHH, THAT’S why it tasted so good!  O I L (no food pics…sorry)

On our way we passed where we would be going in the evening:

Just a quick shot from the bus…we would be back.  This is made from man-made snow from what I understand.

After lunch, we made our way to the Siberian Tiger Preserve. We went through part of the park by truck and the rest you move over a walkway to observe them. 

I was really looking forward to this part of our day.  From my previous travels you have seen I love going to reserves and zoos (good zoos, not sad stupid zoos like the one in Beijing).

We first got onto trucks where we jockeyed for position by windows for best shots.

Just a little nibble …

Hellloooooooo Patrolling the fence line

“You lookin’ at me??”

“You’re boring…move on!”

There were all types of cats here. 

 

These guys were all hanging out. 

We moved off the buses to the “cages” where you could walk over the groups…and if you felt so inclined…could buy a chicken, or a goat, for the group to ummm…devour.

Now, don’t worry, these are all well fed and the Park is supplemented by the Government  for the preservation of Siberian Tigers. 

THIS part was for sport.

First, let me say, some people are just ignorant.  I saw this in Beijing when people would feed the animals through the cages, or throw candy bars to the lions….Here was no different.

One guy decided it would be fun to taunt the animals by holding out his glove…you know…play keep away like you do with a house cat.

These Tigers are BIG.

Now, he probably can’t grab you, but one person had already dropped a cell phone, and I’m not sure playing with the wildlife is so smart!

So, someone decided to buy a chicken to be dropped into the ring for the Tigers to grab:

Here is the victim.  See the SMART person holding out his stuffed Tiger too?  The Tigers are circling below.

It is over very quickly…no pictures of this, I moved on, though I did see the victor enjoying his chicken nugget a little later:

He was surprisingly left alone to eat.

In the summers you can come back and hold the babies.  Would LOVE to do that, but not sure I can get Corey anywhere NEAR this place again…even if it IS warm!

We continued our walk to see other Tigers.  It was soon time to once again get back to the bus.  We were moving on to the two big moments of the trip.  The Ice sculptures and Ice City.

The sun was beginning to set, and if possible, it was getting colder!

Really Analyzing Activity

I am a Weight Professional.  Really. I get PAID to work for Weight Watchers so that makes me a professional.

I don’t know everything about activity.  I do not pretend to know everything about weight loss. 

I do know what has worked for me over the years.  I do know what has NOT worked for me over the years.

I know that Weight Watchers as a food plan works, if YOU work it.

I know that weight loss happens when you expend more energy than you take in.

THUS, the activity part of our program.

But just because I am a professional (remember, I get PAID) and just because I have been doing this a long time, it does NOT mean that I don’t’ try to fool myself in regards to said activity.

Case in point:

Recently,  Corey and I were hiking.  I’ve posted a couple pictures of our hikes.

We decided to head out to the New Territories and do at least one, and possibly two stages of the MacLehose Trail.

We have a series of books, we checked out the trails, headed to the MTR, and off we went.

This is who (what?) met us

Yep, monkeys.  This is the long tailed Macaque.  This is just one.  Trust me, there are 100’s if not 1000’s of these suckers.  It is a law NOT to feed them.  There was one lady who toddled along with hordes following her…yea…she didn’t get the memo.

So, back to activity.  Corey and I chose a pretty easy “hike”..some stairs, nothing terrible. The elevation was doable. But we worked.

I love being above the buildings.  AND we saw more of these guys:

I love the double team on the grooming!

Mama and baby!

The Sentry…he guarded the exit.

So, we finished our section. It took about an hour (a little less), but I thought I had done some decent activity. Yay us!

We decided to bail out after one shorter stage, because Corey is just coming back from an injury (back, again)…AND, quite honestly, the picture in the hiking book scared me to DEATH…the stairs straight up…hundreds and hundreds of them.  We bailed.

We took the mini-bus to the MTR, rode the train for 25 minutes, and got home safe and sound.

Now, I wear two different devices to give me feedback on my activity.  I wear a Body Media armband AND a Weight Watchers Activity Link…so I RAN into the house to upload the info.  What a workout. I was sweaty.  YAY me.

And here is what I got:  Steps:  12,000.  We are looking to get 10,000 steps a day so that was ok. If you don’t wear a pedometer, figure 1000 steps for every 10  minutes of continuous walking.  It was all moderate activity (I guess my heart rate never got high enough to hit “strenuous” activity-it sure felt strenuous in some places!) At the end of the day, I am predicted to burn 13 calories over the amount I need for weight loss. 

Activity ProPoints earned to that moment (day was not done) 2. 

WHAT?  Are you stinking kidding me? 

So, I had to sit back, reflect, and really analyze what happened there. 

Did I exercise?  Yes

Did I get my heart rate up?  Yes

Was the activity REALLY strenuous? …. no (whispering)

How truly moderate was it?  (kinda)

Without the devices, what would MY estimation of steps and ProPoints earned?  Uh….well, WAY more than 2.

SO, science has shown that people over estimate how hard they work out by at least 33% (and some say 50%) and underestimate how much they eat by….wait for it…at least 33% (and some say 50%).  That’s A LOT of %, that can lead to A LOT of disappointment when it comes to the scale.  

I URGE you, to get some type of monitor if weight loss and weight maintenance is your goal.  We are human.  We don’t necessarily want to be honest with ourselves

The best basic device is a pedometer.  Weight Watchers has a great one that will indicate how many ProPoints you are earning after a certain activity level is reached.

The Activity link from Weight Watchers is AWESOME.  It gives feedback on how much activity you have done in the day.  Adds up your ProPoints for you.  It is a super easy, touch device that needs little charging (mine spent a whole week away w/o ever being uploaded.  No loss of data, no loss of charge.

I do like the Body Media monitor.  It tracks my calories burned, sleep, steps, amount of moderate and high intensity of activity during work outs (that stupid yellow line that is SO hard to achieve – there is that over estimating again).  Body Media

My friends have Fit Bits.  It does much of what the Body Media monitor does, but is MUCH smaller.  Check it out.!  www.fitbit.com

ANYWAY…as I work to remove this stupid 8 pounds (again)…the feedback was eye opening and humbling.

Get out there and move! 

Ha-Ha-Ha-Harbin!

PLEASE excuse the stuttering!  5 days later I am JUST about defrosted from our 40-ish hours in one of the coldest places on the planet.

Well, I can’t say that..I’ve not done the research…but let’s just say Harbin is the coldest place I’ve ever been…and hopefully the coldest place I’ll ever go for awhile (until Corey gets the days together to go to Antarctica!)

First…where IS Harbin?  Harbin is so far into China it is practically Russia.  In fact, the city is hugely influenced by Russia…you can see it in the food and architecture.

The day we left was Corey’s 50th birthday.  WHAT a trooper!  This was definitely not what or where he expected to spend his B-Day…but he went.  To make it up, we ARE going on a beach trip in a couple of weeks.

We arrived in Harbin in time to get to the hotel…unpack…and LAYER UP. 

This is one trip where it really did not matter how you looked…warmth and comfort was the key to enjoying this trip just one bit.

OK…this pic is taken “inside” My layers included:  Silk, thermals, jeans, ski pants, double socks, foot warmers, boots…On top…silk, thermal, turtle neck, Heli Hanson Jacket, BIG coat, hand warmers,  double gloves , scarf, face mask and SUPER CUTE hat!  Yes, I could move…and yes, I was comfortable. Feet and hands are pretty hard to keep warm.

I guess the secret to warm feet is ROOM in your boots for warmed air to circulate…and by the end of the weekend I realized my boots were too small (luckily borrowed) and a mistake I will not make again.

We took our bus (which was heated to at least a balmy 25F – but when it is –14F OUTSIDE…that is warm!

First, Harbin is known as a winter destination b/c of the Snow and Ice Festival it puts on every year.  Millions of tourists come to see the city stocked full of carved ice and snow…in ALL shapes and sizes.

Our first stop was an ice and snow park where the entrants to an ice – carving competition are held in a building…but all around are small structures w/LED lights in them to give them depth (and to make picture taking much easier!)

We took this pic and realized…yea…gotta make sure the flash is ON for people pictures…and OFF for structure pictures

Different place but you can see the difference!

We walked through the park and made our way to the carved ice structures:

They are truly amazing. 

I have decided that Steeler Nation needs to go on more trips:

CNN covered the opening of the Festival…here is their carving.

Eric (our guide) offered to take our pic:  Here’s the first attempt:

Eric exhaled…so for the next picture we all held our breath:

MUCH better!!

We had about an hour in the park…which was plenty of time in the comfortable factor.  Here are a  few more pictures:

As we walked out, we found these really neat frozen flowers:

Corey by the roses

  As we walked towards the bus, there was one more pretty neat ice carving…so we stopped.

We were last on the bus, but made it with 20 seconds to spare…you do NOT want to keep a group of 19 other people waiting….that’s just rude!

Off to our Russian dinner (eh, not so great), then back to the hotel where SOME of us went to the ice bar (NOT US!…who needs an ice bar?  You can just walk outside), some of us went to the hotel bar (YES US!), then upstairs to our incredibly HOT rooms (as in slept outside the covers).

Tomorrow would be a FULL day…and you know I have the pictures to prove it!