Refugee Living Fundraiser

7 Days and $14,519 (for now) later... What a week it has been.   As I write this, I sit eating my last "refugee" meal of mixed vegetable fried rice.   Today just proved that you can never budget down to a tee - things happen - and it brought it back to earth of how hard these things might be if you don't have the money to get there - or to help.   Today a friend was in need after an accident.  As many have done before for me after an accident, I wanted to pamper her and look after her as best I could but didn't have the means to do so.  Today the most I could do was be there - and that was enough for her, but it did make me think about how much we often rely on money to go that extra mile to make someone that bit happier. One more tram ride.  Luckily I had a few extra $ on my Octopus and avoided the walk to and from Central.  I love walking, but I hate people traffic. And I will always love the tram. I received an article from my m...

Weekends are always over too quickly.  One good thing about having next to no money? Time goes very slowly... your weekend feels longer!! Up at 6:15am I thought about how to fill my day.  After some life admin, the rain had stopped and the cabin fever was already building by 9am, I went for a run and my parents came over shortly after.  Budget bread for me,  mum's home made bread for everyone else. Much of the morning was spent reading and sharing the SCMP article that was published about what I have been doing this week (link here ).  As expected, there are a few comments from some sad readers who obviously have no better purpose in life than to pick apart the good people are trying to do and criticise.  It makes my blood boil that people can be so ignorant and cold hearted, but in comparison to the positivity I have received, it's nothing. My biggest issue is that these pessimistic readers have completely missed the point of what I am doing.  ...

$10,414!!! Can't believe I have hit the 10k mark. Thank you so much everyone. The school week has come to an end and I'm looking forward to my next milestone of this challenge - the weekend. I had a feeling I was never going to make it through the week without having to walk in the rain - so close but not quite. Sure enough just before I was about to get off the bus it started chucking it down. Despite waiting 20 minutes sheltering in the petrol station, it continued to pour so off I went. Feet soaked, stomach grumbling, ankles aching, I quickly talked myself out of the Friday Fitness session I was originally heading into work early for.  I've been indecisive the entire week as to whether I should even have the opportunity to do it this week - an air-conditioned sports hall isn't exactly a common feature of refugee type living. I opted out. I am tired and today I feel like the hAngriness has really kicked in. One of today's highlights for the kids (and woul...

Half way. A non-stop day starting off with a 5km run, the usual school day, rugby at lunch, rugby after school and Free to Run track training to finish off.  First issue - the journey from Kings Park from rugby to Aberdeen for track training.  I had decided in advance that I'd waive myself the cost of this journey from my budget- every week the refugees are given an additional allowance from Free to Run to make sure they are able to get to and from track training, so this was the equivalent for me.  I had a really insightful track session.  It began with meeting the photographer from the SCMP and Virginie, the organiser of Free to Run asked 5 of the refugees to help with the photoshoot, emphasising that their photos would only be taken from the back, none of their faces. Photographs of the refugees faces are always protected and not shared publicly.  I don't know half of their stories or the reasons as to why many of them are here - it's not something ...

After a day of rest yesterday I returned to the first thing I do most mornings- exercise. The alarm goes off at 4:45, I have a snack of peanut butter and rice cakes and head to the gym for 5:30am. Since planning this week, I've been determined to keep up my routine despite not having a gym facility. Refugees don't have the money to pay for a gym so why should I have the luxury.  I also don't have any rice cakes, so dry oats with some water it was. It's back to the pitch- Happy Valley 8 - a location far too familiar from countless rugby matches played here from a young age, to running HIIT morning boot camps with my friends a couple of times a week (which fizzled out about a year ago). Thankfully a friend joined me this morning to keep me motivated, as did another on Monday for some interval runs... a great excuse this week to avoid the watt bike!! Astro everywhere The only problem with exercise = hunger.  I write this as I sit on the tra...

My Journey... Before I harp on about my journey to and from work, today I was pretty excited to be contacted by South China Morning Post asking for an interview and photoshoot to be used in an article this week.  Watch this space!  My typical journey to and from work costs $25.  This week it costs just $8.30.  My journey to work taking the number 10 minibus directly to school  ($12.50) has been swapped to having breakfast on the 23 double decker to Pok Fu Lam road ($6.00) followed by a 15 minute walk. The total journey time is only 45 minutes in comparison to the original 35 minutes so I don't feel like its a bad swap considering I do enjoy a stroll (ask me again when its raining).  This morning's walk really got me thinking about how lucky I am.  Valuable thinking time which is often missed in place of being a phone zombie on the minibus. The journey home is somewhat more of a trek.  I say trek in born-in-HK-spoilt-by-transport-...

The first thing people ask.....  What will you eat!? The first thing I thought... What will I eat!? Today I can honestly say I have enjoyed my food. A lot simpler but also quicker, here is the run down: Breakfast: Peanut butter and cold porridge  Snack: Scrambled egg sandwich  Lunch: Beef and shiitake congee and half an apple Dinner: Mixed vegetable fried rice Desert: Frozen banana and peanut butter for desert And tea .  Cannot forget the tea.. the Chinese in me loves a congee, but the Brit in me cannot live without the tea. I am however limited with just one box of teabags and one litre of milk. I never thought I'd see the day where I had to count my teabags and measure how much milk went into my tea. 30ml incase you are wondering. 2 TBS. A dash. JUST enough.  That's all for today - more tomorrow on my refugee journey!!

The day before. $280 and my calculator at the ready I hit the supermarket at 7:30am to beat the crowds. Despite all the meticulous planning that has been going on for my meal planning, I knew that I would come across things in the supermarket that I hadn't thought about, and I was mostly hoping I'd manage to pick up some reduced imported meat... I rather be a veggie than eat meat from China.  And that is saying a lot for those of you know witnessed my struggle during my week as a vegan in May. HAngry doesn't even begin to describe.  Those of you who know me will also know how passionately I feel about eating right for energy balance.  As much as I would love to use this week as an excuse to live off pasta, bread and oats, as someone who has spent years trying to figure out why I end up passed out on the floor despite eating ALL the pasta, I am now well aware of the importance of balancing my macronutrients in order for this not to happen. As an added challenge,...