Sunday, December 17, 2006

Letter 20 - Palau is Paradise

And so - to our trip of a lifetime and Petes dream finally coming true! Please note I didn't have a waterproof camera or always want to get mine out so a lot of these are NOT my photos but taken by others on Flikr. I had to use photos - just too amazing to describe!

I hadn't been that keen on going to see the catamaran, I knew we would be getting it unless it was full of holes as Petes so keen and it is the only living-in Hong Kong-Island option we could afford, etc. Plus I hate sailing & am ALWAYS sick. Etc. I had visions of us seeing it for 1 day then being stuck in some grotty motel room for a week - in rain, as Pete showed me the weather maps before we left and it was not looking good - he brought his storm gear from work & borrowed some for me!!!!

Anyway, we woke up in our hotel in the middle of Manila and had a look out the window - not great view, all shanty houses, gas stations and hig-hrise hotels surrounded by rubbish coated roads and river banks - YIK. Breakfast I had been dribbling about thick USA style pancakes with maple syrup (yum lived on them when we were in Belize), but we got offered unidentifiable things in meaty sauces with garlic rice. I blame high sugars (and Petes excuse was he realised how cheap the mini-bar beers were when we arrived at 2 a.m.) but my usually adventurous appetite fled and I stuck to the pancakes. (on the trip back we did have it in a cafe - galic rice was mouldy but the deep fried 'milkfish' was gorgeous, sweet as anything, and the cured pig stew was nice). We left in a hurry as the small airline flying us out to the islands would not take payments over the phone/ internet, and would only save our ticket reservation until 11 am the day of our flight. Again, scary tax ride (this time again with a comfy posh car taxi linked to the hotel) clutching our bags, doors locked, with our small suitcase strapped into the passenger seat and covered by a blanket. Not inspiring tourist-friendly thoughts!

We passed long rows of people making/ selling Xmas decorations at the roadside; mainly with double-sided star-inside-circles that were made out of that horny shell stuff we used to have as lampshades a lot. You know, the ceiling shades that were a bit like stained glass out of circles of pale pink or beige shell? Also lots of the mexican-style 3D stars with tassels hanging off the bottom 2 points, like at fiestas. And I am not sure what KD (I think) TV stood for, but every bar/ building/ club we passed advertised that along with paintings of women so I'm pretty sure it was stripshows or the like! Plus a lot had boxing competition adverts. All in it looked like a HUGE but pretty run-down city, with occasional posh hotels inserted randomly and a major traffic problem. Like in Africa all crossings/ roundabouts were nerve-wracking free for alls, with 100s of jeepneys battling with taxis. Taxis are always white with hand-painted signs usually extolling their ACs (which don't always work!). Jeepneys are like a cross between a USA school bus and a jeep with a bit of 1920's posh cars thrown in - all gleaming aluminium with running boards/ spare wheels at the front sides and then mad painted/ decorated long sides to the open back. You bang on the side to stop it, jump in to squeeze into one of the benches along the inside sides, and off you go.

Jeepney III
Originally uploaded by Aedes.


Lots of hawkers walk between the continual traffic jams, selling unidentifiable foods, bottled water, ciggies and sweets.

IMG_9316
Originally uploaded by aleste37.



Got to the ticket office with 10 minutes to spare and spent over an hour having tickets issued, no idea why! The domestic airport was much smaller & tattier than the international one, but still madly decorated for christmas with the afore-mentioned stars. HUGE queues to even enter the building, with much checking of tickets/ luggage by armed guards. Through the 'please leave your fire-arms here' booth and we finally found our check-in. Again, shades of Belize with massive taped boxes that definitely cost excess luggage being wheeled around by all but us. (Not as bad as the flight to Kenya leaving Hong Kong that we queued beside - each person had 3 baggage trolleys with what looked like entire wrapped camels in them). There were many scary signs about how jokes about bombs in bags/ fluids in luggage could get you arrested, and at least 4 security checks where you had to remove all shoes etc too. Not impressed by it as each check something different in my bag set off an alarm, & when we got into the 1 departure lounge Pete found they had all missed a drink he had forgotten in his bag. (Actually, at Hong Kong for the 1st time EVER the 3rd security check spotted my diabetic stuff and wanted me to count all the sharp objects. Umm....half empty box of finger lancets & full box of needle tips - how long do you have???). The 1 good thing is that all the airports (except HK) actually check at the exit that you have the sticker on your ticket matching the luggae you are taking away, so it can't be nicked. Sadly all around the room were TVs playing diffferent shows but ALL were Phillipinos on talent singing competitions, YUK. And we were on the row of seats with the nervous guy who couldn't stop jittering his leg the whole 2 hours - was already feeling quite seasick by the time we boarded!

Or 1st flight took us to Devau, capital of another island down in the south Phillipines. We walked accross sweltering concrete, through asstd customs etc, collected luggage, left the airport, in the front of the airport and checked in again; payed more airport fees then waited and boarded the exact same plane again. Same seats even. Huh? Lovely new airport and the sweets made of the stinky durian looked interesting but the point was purely to make us pay fees I think!!!

PALAU- The Rock Islands
Originally uploaded by BoazImages.

We arrived at Kuror, capital of the Republic of Pelau (locals call it Belau) in the dark. It is a bunch of 300 islands in Micronesia, north of Java/ Indonesia, directly north of Darwin/ Australia's Northern Territories (hi Lochie! nearly made it your way!). As Pete had done the arrangements it was all very un-arranged, I had no idea if the poor seller was meeting us, if we were staying with them, if he knew our flight, etc! Luckily Jason and his lovely Pelaun girlfriend Virian were waiting to meet us (had met all the evening planes just incase!); she greeted us with beautiful traditional sort of shell garlandsof millions of tiny white shells. They had borrowed her mums jeep, so drove us south to Sam's Dive Tours & Bar (also the Royal Palau Yacht Club) where they moored. We showered & ate in the bar, and Jason introduced Pete to chewing betel nut. Its greenish like a small plum/ huge acorn; you split it in half and scoop out a certain amount of the bitter innards, then sprinkle one half with powder (lye or slaked lime - caustic anyway!), stick it in & chew!
Occasionally you spit out red slime. Pete finished his but wasn't keen on more and ended up staying up half the night, like he'd had a caffeine overdose; locals love it and Jason says that even though he's been there for years they all became far friendlier when he got that habit. We then climbed into their little canvas dinghy and zoomed slowly over black water (with phosphoresence) surrounded by what looked like jungled hills and Scooby-Doo style swamp thing wrecked WW11 ships (the islands had a pretty horriffic time with US/ Japan forces during the ear), over to the catamaran, watching shooting stars. They had the 'tent' up, a special awning that uses the sail's boom as its peak and covers the wooden decking at the back of the boat as well as the two cockpit/ entrance to hull areas. After chatting and listening to the odd wet-finger-on wine-glass-rim single note singing tones of wild birds, we went to bed.

We were in the right hand (starboard?) hull of the Sherliee. You step off the wooden deck into the cockpit (has moulded seating benches to each side) then down to the cockpit floor from the bench.
Bend down to the hatch, grip and either swing/ jump or carefully walk forwards down the tiny wooden detachable ladder into the hull. On the left are 2 sinks filled by foot pump, then a lid that has the ice-box under it. Right side has a 2 burner gas stove with oven & grill, then a tiny work surface, both sides with storeage above & below, and tall enough to stand in.
Then there is a seating/ eating area, padded benches big enough for several each side, with space in the middle for a table that fits down holes (not there when we were); floor is all white sort of lino stuff.
The benches end level with the bed, about 1&1/2 single sized narrowing as it goes to the bow, with 2 fans and a big dark glass hatch that can be propped open above it. Watching stars & satellites in bed was cool, but need mozzy screens fitted as we both woke up being bitten in the night, itchy feet, yik!


Palau - Sam's Tours
Originally uploaded by HPYnH2O.



Monday morning we went for supplies - on the way to the bar we stopped to look at some very rare orchids, that open & flower for 1 day, hanging over the water - another boat has a lady artist on it who studies them. Jason & Virian wanted to really show us the boat lifestyle so had arranged a 4 day sail for us! So, provisions...... they got sensible stuff, like powedered milk and squash, loacal veg (I couldn't ID it) and loo roll, we bought peanut butter, crackers, apples......and cookies & rum! Gorgeous drive there & back, sort of Hawaiin looking islands with hills, greenery, flowers & palms all over. Palau has a special relationship with the USA - uses dollars, speaks mainly English etc. Seems to be over-organised politician-wise, she said it has about 12 'states' each with a senator etc! We also met Virians' 6 year old son Kemo who is living with his Granny (who had an amazing plant nursery) until they leave for the USA, so she sees as much of him as possible. He's cute, but Pete had thought he was a girl so all the prezzies I brought for him (except a few non-gender ones) were girly pretty things, oops! Virian was telling us that although she and her (7!! - brothers & sisters) were brought up in a modern way, her tribe still carries out many of the traditions (women keep the traditions going).

LeoLisa
Originally uploaded by mayanda.

They all have to do a week-long ceremony the month after having their 1st baby, where they sit in a special hut & have oil & really hot water splashed at them round the clock. She said it was torture, she was tired enough looking after the baby without that, and I think there was some kind of fasting, I forget. Anyway, the father/ his family have to donate stuff (including the ancient ceremonial 'bead' money which is like beads or angular tubes and worn as jewellery) and on the last day she had to appear, oiled and stark naked apart from a few ceremonial flowers,hot and oily in front of practically the entire nation. Not what I'd fancy at all!

Back to the Sherilee, we took down the awning and set off. Pete was 'steering' - as there are 2 rudders, 1 for each hull, it had a pole connecting them accross the back of the deck, so you could either sit on it (it had wood so you could) or against it, or use a tiller in the starboard cockpit. Pete opted for the bum-method and had a beer.

Jason is a total expert, been living on and working as a sailor on luxury catamarans for years. (Tales of millionaires installing swimming pools on catamarans - huh??? as well as jacuzzis).
He's really a screen printer by trade, and is selling Sherilee so that he, Virian & Kemo can move back to Las Vegas (flat above the warehouse his business is in), work without breaks for a year to raise cash, and then build their dream catamaran in Australia for the next year! He was trying to pass on tips/ tricks/ locations etc to us both but really needs to publish several books, all the other boat people we met said he's the best but its all in his amazing brain!


We passed a dolphin park where imported dolphins 'meet' public at a price. Apparantly the original idea was to train them to swim round to a resort and charge a fortune for guests there to swim with 'wild' dolphins but the foreign business guy found it didn't work! I spent most of the time chasing the shadow the big main sail left, as even with hat & sunscreen it was scorching. Every now & then we had to tack, or the boys changed the front sails (there was a choice of 2, 1 screamer 1 ???, depending on the wind), but apart from closing the hatches over the beds if it got splashy there was not much to do except watch the clouds/ fish/ sea and chat - was really lovely! Pete had been grinning like a loon from the second we got on the boat and by then I was too! He'd said the night before he was worried that he seemed too shy as he was so excited/ overcome he'd not said a word really but I think they could tell they had sold it to us!
The sea birds are mainly white with a long sreamer of a tail, elegant; Jason says their fledgelings are forced by hunger out of the nests and flop onto the water, to float for days with black sea-birds pecking their heads, until they get up and fly. The Rock Islands we were sailing through looked so exotic - they are remnants of volcanic activity now topped with sheer-sided lumps of white limestone, covered in greenery and palm trees. The sea undercuts them so they are sort of routed out along the edges, some looking like mushrooms on stalks, or with great arches through them - and against the aqua water, stunning!

Palau Island
Originally uploaded by Jaybunn.

Jason had sealed his stereo speakers cleverly into tupperware, with long leads, so we had great music on deck all day too. Funnily most of it was a mix of UK artists who I have/ know, so I was trying to name them so I can burn more CDs for them when I get home.


Just after lunch we reached the first island we were going to stop at. After giggling at Pete & I trying to squidge into the tiny shade of the furled sail/ masts, we put up the awnings.
Pete & I swam to shore (water hotter than our showers at home, with a few cold currents) and walked along a deserted white beach which had palms and sort of wispy long needled pine trees mixed in with the usual jungly stuff growing right down to the tideline. Some fish were chasing shoals of tiny ones right up onto the beach, if we had had a net that wold have been tea! Then we all got in the dinghy and motored round to an almost enclosed cove with a tiny island in it, called the Milky Way.

Milky Way
Originally uploaded by nixme.



It was like being in a volcano - floating on our backs in water so clear the white bottom made it glow neon blue, looking up at mountain/ cliffs forming an almost perfect circle against the sky with huge fruit bats flapping accross the sun! Very Indiana Jones! You can coat yourself in the white mud (from the limestone) that makes the seabed there, its supposed to be great for skin. I wanted to but when we squeezed into the tiny island's mini lagoon it stank and I managed to slice my foot open on the razor-sharp rocks and started bleeding everywhere, so we went back. (Rats). Plus Virian hates bats and was a bit freaked by them. On the short motor back, we went close to the islands edges and the water was so clear you could see all the coral, fish and giant clams lips!

Giant Clam
Originally uploaded by HPYnH2O.


Touching a Giant Clam
Originally uploaded by Danburg Murmur.

1,300 fish species and 700 coral types, richest reefs in the world, apparently. Oh, and the cleanest air anywhere. Was SO GOOD to see the sky again - forgotten it isn't always grey/ misty clouded/ pollution like in HK! They went off spear fishing on the reef while we 'showered' from a bucket on deck. The port hull has an identical cockpit/ entrance but both sides are small work-surfaces/ storage with all the radio etc equipment above. Then a curtain can be pulled to hide the 'loo' on the right side
- a tiny seat (sunk between the end of the right side storage cabinets and a tiny sink) I could only just get my butt onto, with a very erratic pumping system.

Sherilees loo facilities!.jpg
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.

Then a tiny sink; opposite that is a rack and the idea is a shower hose can be foot pumped from the sink so the whole area gets wet - bit like my hated loo in HK really - but they never use it, preferring on deck or the dive bars showers. (We should be the same, with Petes club next door!) Then a small storage/ shelf area ending in the bed like ours. Both hulls have a stern space you get into by removing the ladder and crawling under it - quite a long space but better used as stores than single berths! We sat and watched an amazing sunset, then Virian cooked us a lovely local meal and we made rum cocktails until we ran out of pineapple juice.
The guys played guitar & Virian sang - she is an accountant for Continental Airways, but is also the top-selling singer in the islands, and she really is good!



Tuesday we were woken by a small shower in the night which meant losing the nice breeze as we shut the hatch, but still got up early as the sun & heat are roasting before 8 am. Pete made porridge which was lovely (not what I would have thought I'd like in heat!) but Vriran tried a mouthful from the pot and hated it - hope it was just as it had no sugar! We sailed to the islands containing a lake they said we should see, being passed by several dive speed-boats and seeing all the tours stop at one particular beach to swim. Why, I wonder, crowds when you have all these amazing deserted places??? Pete got a bit energetic (all that surpressed excitement I think), and wearing the fetching flowery hat I had, decided to try to climb the rigging which scared the pants off me. There are footholds but no safety ropes.
Still not satisified he then explored the cooling off/ surfing possiblities in the dinghy which gets towed behind (with its heavy outboard engine stowed in one of the cockpits) during short passages. Which was fun until he tried to pull the boat back in - Jason in fits of giggles wouldn't let me help, so Pete was knackered!
As I said, it felt like we shouldn't be living like this, it should be costing a fortune and only flim-stars or someone would have this lifestyle...I'm definitely being converted to the live-aboard way of life! It is affordable; 2 solar panels on the back of each hull and a (Rutland! we looked at them for our eco-house) wind generator give enough to the batteries to run lights, music, fans and even the top-notch water-maker; would hopefully cope with my laptop or a small fridge too.
Water they collect mainly from rain (each side of the tent has a sort of valve that can have a hose attached to it and be arranged to collect rain - fills tanks quickly) but I don't think we'll risk that in HK. Pete was coming down with a cold so spent the morning mainly snoozing on the 'trampoline' bits of the decks (1 either side if the strip of wood deck that leads to the front) which seems to be another good idea!
Virian had one of her Cds on (great!) and gave me one which I'm looking forward to hearing at home, but today as the water looked quite shallow in patches and it wasn't an area Jason knew as well, we were stood on the bows with polarised sunglasses trying to spot shallow patches & coral heads to steer the boat through the sort of 'valley' of islands. Reminded me of the 100 Island cabin place In Canada Uncle Dougie took us too - with extra bright fish and corals though! We all cooled off in the sea under the boat (nice shade & you can hang on to struts under the deck when you are tired) while Pete planned where he would add bits to store his rigged-up windsurf kit between the hulls!

I swam over to the small dock where the dive boats were, and waited for Pete to be dropped off by Virian with our gear. It was weird, the minute he landed one of the (Japanese?) tour boats sort of grabbed him and were all wanting photos posed with him....was it the blonde hair, the tan, or did they think he was a millionaire coming off that boat??? Anyway, we climbed a steep, slippery jagged path through the foresty jungle, and the scarier descent on the other side - I was hanging onto the rope for all it was worth, the rocks were so sharp! It ended on a tiny wood platform surrounded by trees, opening onto a lake. We got our snorkels on and dropped into shaded water full of 'pyjama cardinal fish' sort of big angular striped goldfish, who were quite indignant at us being in their territory and nibbled up or legs if we held onto the dock at their particular patch! We then started swimming off, bit freaky as the water was cloudy with rays of sun lancing though, and quickly got so deep you couldn't see the bottom. Then out of the gloom came a tiny orange dot, a 1p sized jellyfish flapping along.

Baby Jellyfish
Originally uploaded by johnha.


Then a minute later, 3 of up to muffin sizes.

Palau-day4 133
Originally uploaded by Angela Tamboura.

Then we really hit them - all sizes up to dinner plate, all directions, swimming in all angles...... Jellyfish Lake.

Jellyfish Lake - Palau
Originally uploaded by HPYnH2O.

I remember a BBC show on it (probably Life on Earth/ Attenborough); it got cut off from the sea milions of years ago, and not needing to hunt for food, the jellyfish lost their stings and instead have algae growing inside them, so they chase the sun.

060406_162603_echeng9970
Originally uploaded by echeng.

As 1 guy said, it was like swimming through breast implants.... quite a nice smooth jelly sensation, like when I used to wrap myself in big kelps when I got cold teaching snorkelling in Dorset, but a bit disconcerting as its hard to believe they can't sting - and I was worried I'd hurt one or get it stuck down my cleavage or something.

jellyfish lake, Palau
Originally uploaded by fun-diver.

We had a 'break', cruising the edge where they don't go as it's not sunny enough, looking at huge sunken trees now coated in odd sea anemones, then went to look at the 'Wall'. Thats where the shadow from the surrounding mountain slices through the water, and all the jellyfish just stop to stay in the sunlight, so there's a pulsating moving wall of them! (all these photos aren't mine, I blogged them from other Flikr members as I don't have a waterproof camera). They were so thick it was hard to see any water, major snow-globe/ blizzard time, got a bit too much, had to swim for clearer water.

Jellyfish Lake, Palau
Originally uploaded by echeng.

We then left as we'd been in there for several hours and dusk was coming - had jelly legs hauling up and down the hill! Made it back to the Sherilee as rain started, so we showered (with 'Joy' washing up liquid as Virian said it was best at getting salt out of hair) in the warm rain then dried off under the tent while Jason cooked. AMAZING sunset, but we were intrigued by something (or 2 things) making tracks over the glass-calm water.



I saw 1 as we showered which we think was a turtle up for air; it repeated that; but there was also a shark (blacktip Virian said) cruising all around us - put me off swimming again!
I had expected it to be buggy as we moored in such a sheltered enclosed spot, and we got innundated by 1000s of off little beetles who were annoying - and then munched at night by mozzies, doh! Pete managed to start getting a cold so was snuffly too, great, how could he manage that??


Wednesday we sailed to Oolang Beach - I kept finding those brown bugs who mobbed us last night - some had hidden in shaded places and were miffed when we put up sails/ tent etc and shook them out of their hides. Hope they all get left in Palau and don't become illegal immigrants to HK!
It actually had a mini camp set up there with loos, as it is where they filmed 'Survivor, Palau', one of the first of those TV endurance shows. Civilisation! There was a german family camping there who had been kayaking round the islands for several weeks; the loos were being repainted by a bunch of rangers most of whom were related to Virian. She and Jason were very happy as they had run out of betel nut AND ciggies and managed to trade for some! I was feeling knackered so stretched out in the shade on deck and read, while they took Pete off spear-fishing on the reef. Apparantly halfway there they noticed they hadn't refilled the outboard's fuel so stopped where they were. Pete made them a bit jumpy (Virian was scared whenever he fired the spear) but did it all right - when she borrowed his gun to get a fish she couldn't get it to work as he'd put on the safety catch like he was supposed to! Pete says Virian is amazing, free-diving down and battling with an octopus that kept pulling out her knife whenever she tried to stab it. She also speared the most gorgeous freaky looking lobster
- it was too pretty to cook (and my 1st ever go at cooking lobster!) Pete says it was instant karma as about then we both started feeling our sunburn.
We also struggled with the odd noodles we brought as the instructions were all in Japanese - 700g and 6-7 being the only understandable bits! Still, managed passable additions to the yummy fish (big one was called 'sweet lips'). Lowering a light bar over the water to try and see what was splashing about, we found some amazing neon blue fish grabbing the 1000's of wriggly things that swarmed to the light along the surface - no idea what they were, insecty rather than fish. A big live-aboard dive boat moored nearby, obviously never using its sails as the entire rigging was lit up with fairy lights like a Christmas tree. Its boats were taking guests all over night diving until late. Jason & Vrian had a tent on shore that night, with a blazing fire; Pete sent some time asleep on deck as he was snuffling lots - there is a big airbed to put up there but I found the wind generator too noisey, and then a squall blew in.

So we were up and had the awnings down before 7 am on Thursday, and set off early when the others arrived, to get back to Koror. VERY wet & windy (looked like Loch Lomond sometimes!) but I was happy as I still didn't get sick! The others were cold enough to try big bowls of porridge too. I read the book that Sherilee was named after - means 'burden or baggage' in aboriginal australian! Depressing story about a drifter in the outback and his unwanted kid until he realises how he loves her when she nearly dies - very John Steinbeck.
Back at Sams we ate & showered, and Pete met a nice Japanese guy with a little boat he is too scared to cross to the Phillipines in. Sounds like he will crew with Pete on Sherilee form Palau to there, for the experience. Even better, a very experienced american couple (husband looks like a pirate, Ann the lovely wife has a pet cockatoo which goes everywhere with them in a rucksack cage - found half drowned after a storm in Palau - called invasive species so are hunted/ killed here) will be making the passage around then too.
They are taking over the teenage daughter of a single mum from another boat, to teach her how; then the husband is flying back and teaching the mum on her own boat as they sail over - so hopefully Pete will have company of some sort! Then Pete & I lounged on the boat until the others came back went to bed; after nipping in for dinner at the bar we tried to sleep (despite sunburns!) too. I was paranoid I'd sleep through the alram, so kept waking - then couldn't find the light to switch off the beeper which must have been waking ALL the ships when it did go off at 3 am! Less said about the trip back the better; knackered, burnt, stuck in horrible hot Manila from 9am with really uncomfortable stares form the locals when we attempted to visit the main park. Which had crews jack-hammering up the paving and tinned Xmas music blasting against it, ick. Another scary ride to the main airport to find NO facilities for waiting/ food until they let us (finally) into the airport at 4 pm then our plane left at 7 pm. Missed last ferry to our village so got last ferry to Sok Kwu Wan and walked in freezing (well, 10 degrees after 30+ in Palau made it feel that way!) back home after midnight!

So - go to Palau! Its a pig to get to but worth it. Most gorgeous place I have ever seen - hope we will go back with the boat at some point, was amazing.................and I am now up for the kids/ travelling round by catamaran idea!
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Saturday, December 16, 2006

Letter 19 - Party Princess's & Poopers

Posh parties - each time I think I have seen the tip of party-ness, I work at the next one!
Dec 2nd I painted on Hong Kong's 'Party Tram', a beautifully restored Victorian style tram that can be hired out.
The bottom just has the benches along each side like normal, but upstairs the back half is a luxurious padded sofa-stylle sitting area, and the front is open topped dancing/ viewing space, all covered in shiny paint, brass and fairy lights. It was for a Japanese boys 6th birthday, zoo-themed, so was decorated with animal print balloons and all sorts of wild-animal sugar-stuffed foods.

I had warned it wouldn't be my best work and I would be avoiding eyes like the plague, but she was keen! As it was I realised the tram had to stop so often for lights etc that I could do as much of the fiddly bits then and the less important stuff when we were moving. Slight misunderstanding as usually its for adults so the driver forgot the (much needed!) toilet stop at a hotel for all the screaming kids! What a racket though - Hong Kong certainly hear us coming - we cruised as far as the turning point near the library and then back again.
Quite awkward and knackering, twisting sideways to the becnh downstairs to paint the kids & stop my gear sliding off the bench! I got the ferry from Central back to Sok Kwu Wan, where Pete met me (didn't get off at our beach) and we got the next ferry to Aberdeen back to our beach. I fell asleep which apparantly amused the other travellers.



Sunday was a "Glitter and Glam' party for a rather awkward lady in the posh Repulse Bay area near Petes work island. Waiting for our ferry on the steps, my iffy ankle went again and as I was holding the granny shopping trolley full of gear as well as carrying my table & chairs, the weight dragged me head first down the step and towards the water. PANIC. Unimpressed as the entire boat load just WATCHED and only 1 old granny stood up to help me open the ferry sliding door at the last minute, after i had recovered all my gear. So I spent the trip sponging glitter & pearly pale paint over bruises!! I arrived at the party flat early so wanted to hang out in the lobby but amused the securtiy guards by walking face first into the plate-glass window which overlooked the towers main patio. Oops and OUCH but maybe the imprint of my fairy face would stop anyone else doing the same ....? Anyway, I went up when the ladies arrived who were running jewellery making, and was very pleased I remembered/ knew to take off my shoes at the flat door and they didnt when they had lived here for years! (Think I said that doctors party was when I realised that like in Japan guests wear bare feet, socks or are given guest slippers when visiting homes! I invested in pink shoe-socks so I can keep my cold smelly feet to myself & still look fairy-outfitted in oriental homes.) Very glam wife, looked like she was/ is a model; HUGE flat with several maids, cook, etc, all decorated for the party - never seen so much sparkle & pink! Included huge professional welcome banner of the girl, and 100's of pink gas filed balloons floating near the ceiling & trailing their ribbons all over. I got set up & started, after the 3rd girl (all wearing beautiful sequin crusted dresses & tops a bit like the black & green sparkly thing Sammy & I wore in Africa) the mum came storming over and demanded to know why I wasn't doing grown-up make-up on the girls. Who were all under 6. Um. Shades of the hideous american kiddy beauty queens (and that poor wee one who was murdered) - YUK. Queue wibbly bottom lip on the half finished 'mermaid' (as her dress was blue with shell sequin) in front of me. I had had this 'arguement' with the mum via emails, including why I couldn't/ wouldn't do hair and nails (her maid was going to instead), and thought it was understood I won't, it looks awful, I don't aggree with it and ANYWAY the kids don't want it! She plumped down on the antique sofa beside me and HISSED whenever I asked what the girls wanted to be or if the wanted 'make up'. One wanted to be a tiger, I thought the mum was going to explode. Luckily the professional photographer & all the parents had started to go mad photo-ing the 3 I had finished, so after that mum was all sweetness and light etc. Urgh. The other highlight (after the rather good but rude english clown/ juggler/ unicyclist etc) was the glitzy, crystal coated (not edible they were removed) cake. The 'lotus' candle burst into flame, playing music, then successive layers of 'petals' containing mini candles flipped down as she blew, wow! Have bought some myself now.........scary yet cheesy yet fun!

MOST annoyed about taxis. I have to keep all my receipts for my accounts and the one thing I had none for was transport - buses don't issue tickets, and we mainly use the Octopus card that you just add value to, so it has no record of what/ where etc. As most buses won't allow lots of luggage on I usually get a taxi to my gigs anyway. The first time I asked a taxi driver for a receipt there was a long involved non-conversation and I gave up but had been noting costs, which won't cut it with accountants. Then Pete sees me trying to do my accounts and says all taxis have an automatic receipt printer built in to the taxi meter - grrr!!!! So NOW I have receipts for the last few jobs - annoyed with that first driver for losing me all that claim/ receipts!!!!

I nearly forgot the one I had to do on Wednesday,(realised on Monday thank gods) had to get a taxi to the very tip of the Peak for it. Extremely pricey area, so we drove into a gated community of mini 3 story modernist glass houses with MARBLE floored & walled private garages under them. I had to step across solid stone flags with deeply incised channels that big goldfish were swimming in (linked to a pond at either end) to get to the front door. No one answered so I took off my shoes and entered a very designer apartment, all open plan stone & wood, until I found the nanny, the baby's nurse (both in clinical uniforms) and one of the maids in the massive kitchen. I got shown to the 'public' garden which looked out over HK to Kowloon, where I had to set up first.


It was covered in fairy lights, giant animal helium balloons...... and plaster pigs. In tutus . With wings. Um. Old Mac Donald theme.
I painted till the (crap) english clown arrived - allegedly from HK's top entertainment company but he & his games were rubbish. The kids (all under 3!!!) and the very glam Victoria Beckham clone mums (although they were ALL blonde!) were more interested in the animatronic life sized like-like PONY the birthday girl's dad gave her! Wow. It neighed, nodded, snorted and stamped - only thing it didn't do was poo! I moved to their 'private' garden,
with the old-fashioned ice-cream cart and candy-floss as well as designer food and kid-sized barn, and kept painting till the end.


Sat 9th Dec I had been booked 1st by another entertainer come organiser, Zani, a french clown/ stilt-walker etc, for a VERY posh do, but first I had managed to squeeze in an hour for a lady I really like that I met at the Rockit Festival. She works for Art Angels/ HK Youth Arts Foundation, getting big business to pay to provide free arts for schools etc. I'll be doing the HK Rugby 7s with her, and this was the launch of the Rugby 7s ticket sales. I was NOT impressed with the kit her painting team had - unknown, crap paints and the few that were OK brands were so old and curdled the looked like gloppy melted cheese with glitter in! So I set up my own kit and then had a TV crew film me for 30 mins & ignore her team. She & the Rugby bunch are delighted though, as I'll be painting with/ teaching (she thought they only needed tips but I think I will be trying to show them from scratch!) her crew for the 7's in spring. Only if she lets me replace all their gear too tho!!!! Seemed to be a riot outside as I left, they ran out of tickets with 100's still waiting after only being open an hour, I think?

Zani met me at the mansion house dressed as a 14 foot tall Christmas Tree! Private party, me painting, an art teacher doing crafts, Santa, clowns, magicians etc for the kids whose parents were being wined & dined. The whole place was decorated inside & out with massive works of art, including a lot of intricately carved, full size tribal canoes hung on walls & as widow boxes etc - gives an idea of the uheard-of in HK size of the place! Felt sorry for the hosts youngest boy tho - awful red bow they had him in, hehe!
I got annoyed as after the 1st hour I realised some of the girls who couldn't decide which face they liked would wear my work for an hour then wash it off & come back for a different one. Kept me so busy some kids didn't get a go & I had no breaks!!!! At the end the lovely chinese house-keeper dragged us off to the buffet and tried to stuff us, but I couldn't really as it was between jabs for me & I'd promised to eat with Pete at his club before we caught the plane. And I'd turned down all the drinks they kept offering as I was working then flying & was already knackered.oh well!
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Letter 18 - Gold!!!!! Spending it & Coating in it....

Ok we have done/ are doing it!!!!! We have had an offer accepted on a 35 foot catamaran with everything on it you could possible need ever to go cruising around the world. (Not that I plan to but Pete might!). It's a bit more than I had hoped to spend so we have been having a total nightmare getting all our savings together and don't get me started about a loan. We have nearly all the money, but as we don't live in the UK full-time UK banks won't give us one (we tried lying but they want pay slips & recent UK bills!) and even though we are living in Hong Kong we aren't considered permanent residents so aren't allowed one here. Well, not without crippling interest for a very small fee. I got so fed up of talking to Indian call-centres I rang my ex-local branch in the UK and got all my savings moved into my account in 5 minutes, FINALLY, but have to wait another week to transfer it to Petes! So when we have it all together we send it to the broker in Australia & go to look at the boat. If its Ok & we like it, he sends it to the buyer and off we sail!

Slight problem is it's in Micronesia in a small island called Palau. Looks gorgeous & the current owner wants to take us on a trip round the islands (on the boat) for a few days, but due to irregular flights & my bookings, I maybe won't be able to go - gutted! (Not that I wanted the sail, I want to see the tropical paradise). The worst bit is that Pete has to get the thing back to HK, sailing 1200 miles with the Phillipines in the middle. Um. I am NOT going, he really wants to do it but I'd much rather just pay someone to deliver it (boat crews do that sort of thing). At the moment the only crew pete MIGHT have is his brother but maybe not in time!!!!! He can't sail it on his own you need a 24 lookout for shipping, the main danger at sea. Still, at the moment (the owner found Petes email on the web after receiving our contract and they are writing to each other) the owner is waiting for a few bits he ordered for the boat so it looks as if our mad rush is off a bit and we won't get it until after Christmas - but we can visit it before!


It has a double berth in the front of each hull and a single at each back point so come and visit! (thats also the really good thing about it, we can have a hull each after fights!). No real space indoors I reckon but we will put up some sort of shelter on the flat wooden bit that joins the 2 hulls. It has solar panels & a wind generator but I expect it will only run a light OR the laptop OR the mini fridge for my insulin.....still, hopefully we will be installed in it around Christmas. I'm planning to decorate the mast as a tree and Petes been wibbling on about how great it is to have kids on. Some idea that we could get one of those baby bouncer thingys and any sprog of ours could bounce off the yard-arm or whatever its called, naked, dropping 'stuff' down through the netting that makes up some of the decking, and so not need nappies! Oh nope he's correcting me, it will be hung over the side to poop into clear water. I'm sure teasing sharks is illegal....... He's also planning we become nomadic pirate types and home-school our entire family but I'm not convinced.

Pete took Sunday 'off' to do the round-Hong Kong race. Apparently he & his 2 novices (the blokes we sailed round with the other week) got a cracking start and passed loads of boats (about 200 in the race) then got becalmed for over 3 hours when they reached Middle Island where Pete works, and were actually doing 1 knot backwards with the tide! Then they got a small wind and managed to limp to the finish. He was miffed as his boss started earlier so didn't get becalmed and managed to finish 4 hours earlier, THEN Pete heard he had actually missed the starting flags so he had started even later than supposed! As only a few boats finished the race (just 2 in Petes class) they adjusted all the times to 'end' it before most people got becalmed and Pete thought he had only been about 15th. But after a phonecall from his boss & his crew late the other night, Petes super-happy as he won his class! Sadly as he didn't know that/ had flu we didn't go to the awards ceremony, think he won a glass or something. He says one ceremony he saw here the prize was a load of different cheeses - think I'd prefer that!

We both got a haircut last week. Not earthshattering/ amusing news but noticeable for the results. Nice salon, owner who did us spoke English but OMG the magazines he gave us were a laugh. They were in chinese script which runs in vertical lines, but also opened from the back of the magazine. I think Pete was meant to be choosing a style, there were 1000's of headshots of oriental men (some looked a bit suspiciously female tho) and every single one had a short spiked cut that basically looked either as if he'd just got out of bed, or that his stylist only cut 1/2 his head. Pete went for the traditional short english look shaved at the back which took a bit of explaining (ie gesturing) but looked fine. On my turn I asked for about an inch off the ends to tidy up, even demonstrated on my hair which reached a few inches down my upper arms. Took off glasses to let him get on with it so I couldn't see, at end discovered I had hair which no longer even reaches my shoulders. Not impressed! Shades of Emma's mad wedding hairdresser, must remember to wear contact lenses when I go into a salon.


Nearly got a bit embarressed this week - had on a pair of those Tibetan or whatever they are wrap trousers (the ones where you tie the front like an apron then pull the rest through & tie them). I got off the minibus and the ties on the front of then suddenly detached!!!! So I was waddling accross the road clutching them to keep my dignity with Pete squeaking as big buses bore down on me at speed. Luckily he had old shorts spare at work! He can't talk tho, his favourite pair of trousers have ripped up the back seam again and there is no way I can fix them this time - but he keeps wearing them around the house. It's like being outside a Soho bar, and I'm sure he will forget and wear them out at some point. I have a cunning plan to chuck them away but he keeps hiding them. Oh yes, Johnny, apologies but I have finally found why I couldn't find your blue trousers to post. Pete had them still, he loves them, sorry!


Did I say about the funny little street desks with vendors at them? They look like those victorian secretary/ clerk ones, like Bob Cratchett's, sort of skinny and tall with lots of drawers and nooks. Mainly very old men sit at them, ready to fix your watch or shoes. Mum's battery went flat, so when we passed one in Central we stopped and she gave the watch to the old boy. He unscrewed it, and cleaned the lid that came off. Then he took out the battery, cleaned the contacts & workings, put in a new battery; oiled and cleaned the insides again, screwed it together. THEN he cleaned the outside itself, including oiling the winder, set the time & date and cleaned the strap bits - all for the princely sum of £1!!!! Very impressive. Sadly I wear that limited edition Camel Trophy watch which needs special service as its for diving too...........

The other off thing that actually winds me up (cos I'd hate to have to do it) is GLOVES. They nearly all wear them in service jobs. Taxi drivers etc, fair enough, sweaty grip could be dangerous. Street cleaners, OK, makes sense but must be sweaty IN rubber gloves. But in shops & at tills they have little white cotton knitted gloves or rubber tipped ones. And they often look manky! Probably the rubber tips help pick up change etc, but........is it this hygiene obsession? And then why is spitting on the street not a problem (even though since the SARS outbreak you can get fined for that).

We had a good nose round one of the dried 'things' shops - not one of the stalls, which are far more authentic, but the high street version, called Ichiban, I think, which has the labels (mostly) in english too. Much of interest.....its like a pick-n-mix shop- kids/ adults buy a big bag and walk out munching. So on offer were; usual selection of jelly shapes, boiled sweets, large chocolate coins (all dutch!)& giant Quality Street chocs; asstd tiny round biscuits of almond, shortcake or seaweed origin; tiny rolled tubes of that shredded pork; plums (dried?) in asstd flavours (individually wrapped exactly like those white & pastel Italian biscotti); dried flattened fish, crabs, shrimp, prawns and squid, flavoured with sweet, spicey, chilli or 100's & thousands on them; interesting striped things looking like the black & white sandwich Liquorice Allsorts but turned out to be flattened rolled COD layered with black sesame seeds then chopped into squares! Then we got bizarre; the deep fried chicken knuckles I mentioned before; 1000 year old eggs (preserved/ pickled i herbs etc I think - not that old - just see a green slimey layer or brown liquid surrounding crazed shells); worst of all very sort of slimey-white oily juicy looking individually packaged feet (duck, pig or chicken), heads (asstd fowl) and necks. (George after your cheeky intro via email to your visiting friend, 1 of those is on is way to you - we want to see you eat it!). I have no idea (as most dried stuff here seems very sweet) whether this is actually healthier than UK kids pick-n-mix but I really don't fancy most of it!

Had a ball at my booking on Saturday - kids 5th birthday party, on the posh restaurant on the top of the tourist-trap 'Jumbo' chinese floating restaurants. I was placed outdoors under a huge pointed gazebo, lovely.
The decor in that place is 'amazing' if thats the word....if it can be it will be gilded, carved, mirrored, marbles and have sparkly lights in it too. The loos were beautiful with handpainted goldfish swimmin around the sinks. Nice chinese family, with American accents; kid hadn't had a party since his 1st so they had gone all out - electric kids size train, clown, balloon artists, and me.
I was a hit of course, (heh) they all seemed to think she had flown me in especially for it! Amazing view through the dull rain, as it overlooks the marina that both junks we looked at buying were in. The food was stunning - more like 5 star adult gourmet than for kids, with sushi, caviar and all the hot/ cold savouries possible, down to chips & sandwiches. I loved the profiteroles disguised as swans.


Sadly I was so busy (50 kids instead of 30 turned up, with adults - luckily there was enough going on I dodn't have to attempt to paint them all) I didn't have time to eat the platefulls their housekeeper tried to give me, though I did get a handful of the swans to take home! The hosts were a bit miffed as they had been told the place would provide containers to take home any spare food (there was LOADS left over), but discovered all they were offered was clingfilm which wasn't much use for anything except sandwiches! Each guest was also given a personal birthday cup-cake, decorated with personalised chocolate charcaters (Thomas the Tank Engine, Hello Kitty etc), which matched the prezzie-filled characters rucksack they got as goody bags.



Despite this being the dry, winter season, we have had rain most days since Mum left. Not as bad - mainly - as the typhoons, but heavier than Uk showers by miles. Best was coming back on the last ferry on Friday, after staying late at Petes office to argue with our banks over the internet. There was a big lightning storm going on, and the flashes lit up the whole sea, it was weird, pink or orangey! Going up the hill steps the sheets of light were bright enough to see what colours the flowers were - brighter than usual daylight here by far! Luckily no real damage, and the rain is quite opportune. The ancestor festival the other week is when most families visit/ clear graves, and light offerings or burn incense at them. As I mentioned, on the island graves are big ceramic pots grouped with a small curved wall behind them, randomly placed in the brush which up till now has been tinder dry after the end of typhoon weather. Apparantly EVERY YEAR careless people left things burning that set light to whole mountains on the island and kill loads of wildlife as well as damaging property, so there have been ranger police patrolling and huge banners up explaining how to clear around graves or only leave burning offerings in metal containers etc. the path keepers also had to strim & clear as many graves near paths as they could. So, the rain helped stop this, as far as I know nothing caught this year - but all the strips of white paper (maybe the 'hell' money? or prayers?) carefully arranged in fan shapes, held down by a stone, beside or on top of each grave pot, have been turned into mush and now look like white lichen!

I have been published again, but this time in a far better thing for my reputation in the 'industry' (sadly not my helpful for my career as its not available in newsagents!) as a face painter.
Its the new Face & Body art magazine, 'Illusion' - I never liked the old one which had been running for years from the USA, it seemed to be more a promo for the woman who ran it & her work/ internet sales, so a lot of the designs were a bit rubbish and not well presented. The new one is run by 2 ladies from the UK I really like personally & as artists, and is fab quality and very pro looking, love it. I had done 2 designs for them when asked this summer, on my mate Vicky (inspired by iris flowers in Granny Fins garden), and another after Gordy's UK wedding on wee cousin Steph (canadian 1).
Due to loads of the world's top painters agreeing to do articles, they only used 1 of my pics of Vicky (as an iris) in the 1st issue, still, I'm happy, mine is the biggest pic on the gallery! They have now asked to do either a feature on me or a step-by-step of one of my faces in the Spring issue. Panic - has to be new & unpublished work!
Thinking cap on & I really need a model. I was also asked to body-paint something for the new UK body-painters association (they did a calendar to launch it) but as Petes back was bad & I had no other model, I missed that, pants. But - woo hoo!

We are running out of geckos. First there was the sad demise of the entrance gecko, which I only realised when his flattened dessicated mummy fell out of the door hinge when Kate arrived (must have been slowly drying out & thinning after being squashed in the door till he slipped out).
Then taking the bin bag (we recycle shopping bags as ants go mad after a day or 2 of rubbish) to the bins, the tiny baby gecko suddenly appeared on the top of it, and leaped off Petes hand into the bushes! Petes getting good at crooning back to the burbly talkatve one behind the fridge but its the shyest 1, I miss the others. The 1 in the guest bedroom I think still lives in the AC and seems to spend most of its time pooing on the windowsill, also unseen. Hoping we can get ships cats; barring visits to Australia (some book Pete read the owners got told to kill their cats or leave the harbour/ country) and flid attacks (another round the world sailor realised that after its nightly mad turn their kitten must have leapt off the boat in the middle of the atlantic) they should be able to stay with us on board. After all the mast's just a giant scratching post, right? One sailor took a parrot but it decided the hatch cover was its home and tried to peck/ de-eye anyone wanting to climb in or out of the hull! Still missing my little cat, Gee says she is finally settling down a bit with them tho, poor thing.

Right, really odd booking for me! Aside from a few bits on backs/ shoulders/ chests at hot music fests etc, and the henna-inspired stuff I did on Sammy's back in Mombasa, I haven't really had a go at body painting; its a whole different ball game to faces and is a bit harder to find models for!
Anyway another entertainer I know, who has been using me for bookings he gets, rang on Thursday to ask if I could/ had ever body-painted models gold. He had even less of a clue than I did and thought it could be done in 30 minutes (takes an hour and a half just to paint them 1 colour, far longer for designs/ effects!) with eye-shadows or something. I have SEEN a lot of painted models - they were a regular fixture at the Natural History Museum when it was hired for corporate events; from stone effect to metal. I have also seen it being done at Face conventions (there is a bit of overlap), and heard the chat online so I knew the theory (and told him I had done some as a team!). But I knew (after comparison tests at one convention) the best gold body paint isn't available in HK, so hurriedly ordered some from the UK. As it was not guaranteed to be in time, I investigated the 2 tiny face & body art shops in HK and bought a 'local' brand which looked similar - you buy a special powder and mix it with a special bonding liquid. The problem is its not precise, mixture needed varies according to temperature, skin etc. My UK supplier was fab (the Bristol ones you know, mum), it arrived Monday night!

Tues morning (after not being able to sleep until the hour before my alarm- nerves & working out how/ which order to paint the models so they didn't have to stand the whole time ) I was a bit knackered! It was at the newly re-furbished Mandarin Oriental (reopened last week!) - beautiful!!!! They had taped a few tablecloths to the floor as asked, luckily I had still brought towels & a plastic tablecloth as the area wasn't big enough or waterproof - I was set up in a conference room round the corner from the Press Launch room. Sadly the agent mucked up & the 1st (male) model was an hour late so I was panicking I wouldn't finish in time. (The hotels PR agent dropped off the 'costumes' - and I spent the hour trying to 'soften them up' a bit. (She had spray painted tennis outfits with gold metal paint! You ever left washing drying on the line and its frozen? Was like that! Skirt & shorts stiff as a board! Socks & sweatbands I TRIED to stretch, not much success! The girls boob tube mini top was more like gold plate armour! Shoes looked great tho.)


Wilson was a lovely chinese guy - teaches & displays some sort of Japanese dance/ art/ movement/ karate thing, mainly. Luckily as the costume was all gold, he got dressed first so I didn't have to worry about drips showing on white tennis clothes (I had no idea what they would be wearing), or him ruining the paint as he dressed.
We gave up on the socks - even with 3 of us pulling them they were like razor-lined tubes trying to slice off the sides of his toes! (Normally body painters paint OVER costumes as they go so all matches/ is already fitted in place). Lovely body, very funny so we had a ball painting him. Zani, the entertainer/ organiser who booked me, turned up an hour after we had started & began sponging the female model (which he was quite enjoying surprisingly) but she was trouble from the start.
Despite me demonstrating that it all wiped off with soap & water, she wasn't keen on it on her face or really anywhere which was a bit off as thats what she'd been hired for! She was also so skinny she shivered even before she got painted - hotel would only raise the AC to a certain level so it wasn't warm. I had to do a second coat on her to get her shiny/ cover Zanis messy bits, but I don't think I mixed right as neither were as polished as I would have liked. But it was as well I spared the powder as the UK bottle only JUST covered both of them & the HK stuff was a totally different colour gold!


The PR Launch turned out to be huge, I had no idea. There were press & TV from all over Asia. It was for the Champions Challenge (sponsored by big brands like Canon, Cathay Pacific, San Miguel, Fila but mainly by Watsin Water), an annual tennis tournament, in Jan 2007.
They have most of the world's top 10 female tennis players including Sharipova (? even me the tennis hater recognised the names), as well as a few top locals (who I think won Wimbledon doubles this year), playing against each other. Big prizes, and the public who buy tickets (or even just the water brand that sponsors it) to go see it can win the giant 'golden ball' (see photos) hence the golden statues.
Positioned behind the big-wigs introducing the sponsors, rules and players, the models were 'allowed' to move slowly & occasionally after we pointed out how unreasonable/ impossible the PR woman was wanting them to hold 'lob' positions exactly for that length of time!!! Wilson was fab; the poor souls had to hold 'tennis' poses as long as possible for over 2 hours; but he somehow managed to keep the 'action' poses with his racket up for over 20 minutes at a time (didn't they use holding stuff up & out at arms length for long periods as a torture somewhere/ when??). The girl was too twitchy and also had no clue of tennis poses - I had shown her a sort of waiting for service position & backhand (about all I recall from mum trying to teach me) but her others were random.
Then as the golden ball was 'revealed' rising slowly up on a crystal podium, they had to pretend to be about to serve it - I was just waiting for one of the speech-makers to knock it off, as it was fairly hefty but not well attached & shook visibly. Sadly as the PR room was even colder they had been wrapped in my new fluffy towels which took the shine off the gold, but it still looked good on their legs. After the gourmet lunch (we got water from the sponsors & sandwiches out of sight!) they had to go back, and hand out thank you presents - think was gold gifts in them. While we were doing all that Zani got another request for a gold 'party' in China - if it happens & I can get a Chinese visa, he wants me to body paint Wilson again over there!
So, big learning curve but dead simple and far less hassle now I know than doing a painting party or whatever for the same money. Plus have just found lovely lady who helps organise her kids school's sailing with Pete who actually WANTS to be painted - all over or her face! New obsession coming I think....................

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