Yoga. In high heels

For some reason, I felt the sudden urge to look up my 2011 new year's resolutions the other day and see how I'm doing.

The answer is: not as badly as expected.

Here they are:

1.    "I will eat healthily, drink more water and stay in shape" - Yes, photos indicate that I am currently in better shape than I was this time last year. Hurrah!

2.     "I will learn French to the point where I can hold simple conversations with French people" - nowhere near. My French has gone from "able to get by" in 2004, to "crap" in 2009, to non-existent in 2011

3.     "I will do at least one entirely self-indulgent non-work-related thing a week that is purely for my own pleasure and nothing else (e.g. getting a massage or visiting an art gallery)" - mostly, yes. Done lots more socialising, seeing films, going to museums and galleries, events, parties, and spas outside of modelling this year :)

4.     "I will not buy junk food" - haha no, I've bought tons! Bought so much chocolate since I arrived in Hong Kong that it's ridiculous >.<

5.     "I will read more classic books" - yes, I downloaded a ton onto my Kindle for free and have been working my way through them. Most recent one was Crime and Punishment, I think

6.     "I will get a smartphone so I can do my emails on the train on the way home from shoots and thus have more “me” time at home in the evenings!" - yes, and now I can't figure out how I ever managed without one!

7.     "I will try and get more non-speaking video roles, e.g. music videos" - yes, I was in Cradle of Filth's music video for 'Lilith Immaculate' and also did a lingerie show for Playful Promises on Fashion TV (you can watch both for free here if you like)

8.     "IF I have time and IF I can afford it, I will get voice coaching" - had the money but nowhere near enough time >.< May look into it again in February

9.     "I will gain a basic understanding of the stock market" - nope, haha. Still a mystery

10.  "I will visit at least one country that I have never been to before" - I'll be fulfilling this one next month by visiting Tokyo!

With the whole "staying in shape" thing, on 2nd January I started doing yoga every Sunday morning and Pilates a couple of times during the week as part of my "tone up/ get bendier" plan. It does actually seem to have worked- I'm still surprising myself with the poses I now seem to be able to do very comfortably that I might not have had the strength or flexibility to do very well before :) And what's more, I really enjoy doing them! It feels good to be stronger, fitter and healthier :) And I can do a greater range of poses now that I don't have to worry about hiding wobbly bits as much ;)

 Photographer: George Swift | Styling: me

I have yet more photos from this productive day with George on the way, so please subscribe to my blog if you haven't already using the widgets at the top right corner of the page. If you like my blog, you could also hit the Facebook Like or Twitter button to share what you're reading with your friends and followers :)

Last night in Hong Kong/ Closer to Heaven

I updated anitadebauch.com with new photos today, but here's yet another that you won't have seen anywhere else yet, because it was taken floating 81 floors above Hong Kong just a few days ago :)

Photographer: Kwok Leung Chau | Styling: me

Tonight was my last in Hong Kong on this trip, so I took the tram to the top of the Peak and had a luxurious dinner at the opulent Pearl.

 View from my table at Pearl tonight ♥

 Breathtaking view from the terrace

After a quick stopover in Bangkok tomorrow night I'll be onto my two-week Singapore assignment. I really missed Singapore when I was away, I felt so at home there. I'll be back soon :)

For now I'll leave you with my last few snapshots from Hong Kong :)

 Soya milk vending machine on Star Ferry Pier Central

 Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier

 Luk Yu Teahouse, one of my favourite places in Hong Kong

Having dinner in my favourite booth at Luk Yu last night

 Goldfish Street

Not sure what I'm going to do before I head to the airport tomorrow... sightseeing? Sleeping? More shopping? I'll see how my whim takes me when I wake up!

Ooooooooooooooooooooooh!

More japes in Hong Kong.

After seeing A Symphony of Lights last night I was hungry for dinner and started wandering the seafront looking for some manner of protein. After I'd ignored the McDonald's and pasta places, I came across a steamy Cantonese greasy spoon with a menu outside reading "steamed pork ribs with chicken's feet". My time had come.

No-one in the restaurant spoke English so I had to bring the waitress outside and point at what I wanted on the poster. She kept saying, "chicken's feet? Chicken's feet?" and giving me a strange look. Clearly Westerners don't often order it. I wonder why!

I suppose that technically, I didn't eat a whole chicken's foot. But I did eat all its toes.

Sex and the City (of Hong Kong)

Mmmmmmmmmmm, suuuuch a relaxing, self-indulgent day yesterday ^^

 Photography and wardrobe styling: Adam Robertson | Hair and makeup: me
27.11.11 EDIT: The rest of this photo set is now available to view on Zivity! If you don't already have a Zivity account, let me know and I'll send you a free 30 day trial so you can take a look ;)

Woke up with one of the worst cases of "Model's Back" ever (when your entire back is sore and knotted from endlessly posing and transporting suitcases) so cancelled my touristing plans and went to the Tai Pan spa instead, which is just around the corner from my hotel. It was so lovely that I'll definitely be going back and recommending it to my friends- it's cheap, chic and the foot soak, Chinese full body massage, head massage and hand massage were absolute lifesavers!

Entrance to Tai Pan spa

Gotta love spas with shrines ^^

Having had my leg and back muscles unknotted, especially my right shoulder, which was completely mullered from dragging around my most recent enormous leopard print handbag, I decided to go and knot them all up again by walking to the Ladies' Market and spending the afternoon/ evening SHOPPING ;)

At the implied advice of my shoulder (ahem) I bought a new handbag, which is better than the old one not least because it has lots of internal compartments. I spent a very pleasant 15 minutes or so back at the hotel clearing everything out of my old bag and arranging where each item is going to live in my new bag. I like doing things like that >.<

And of course, I also had to buy the matching purse and makeup bag for my little "on the go basics" makeup (as opposed to my full makeup collection, which requires its own telescopic carry case and separate roll bag for brushes etc)!

I also bought a Christmas gift for my "niece" (Liam's little cousin) who is obsessed with Hello Kitty at the moment. I picked out the only non-pink Hello Kitty item I could find ;) And it also promotes healthy eating. Hurrah!

My camera freaked out and refused to switch on on the way back to the hotel, then magically started working again once I was back in my room. It had better not stop working or I'll have to stop posting these huge, long, pointless travel blogs ;p

Now I'm off to catch me a ferry! :D

Time travel in Hong Kong, with added latex and boobies, part 2

 Photographer: George Swift | Latex knickers: Cathouse Clothing | Styling: me

 On my way to Central Hong Kong yesterday morning

Yesterday I took the ferry to Central to visit the oldest teahouse in Hong Kong, Luk Yu. It was built in 1933 in the Chinese art deco style- deco and tea being two of my favourite things in the world!- and has been described as:

"... a half-century-old living monument to the sedate elegance of old Hong Kong. Stained-glass murals and massive framed scrolls decorate white walls. The teahouse's original black ceiling fans spin lazily in the air-conditioned rooms. Mirrored and marbled private wooden booths are conspiratorial businessmen's havens. To go for yum cha at the Luk Yu is to enter another era." <3

Beautiful Chinese deco frieze near my table in the Luk Yu. Apparently chickens symbolise queens or queenliness

I loved it so much that after having morning tea, I stayed on for a traditional dim sum lunch, just absorbing and appreciating the beauty of the place. I love to find these little pockets of the world where the beautiful tradition of treating the aesthetics of our surroundings as an important, indeed, necessary art form, is still being honoured.

Anyway! After sensing it was time to leave the Luk Yu Teahouse (one should always leave inspiring places before one starts to feel restless) I decided to learn more about Hong Kong tea culture by visiting the Museum of Tea Ware (yes, really).

 Freaky teapots

 A teacup handpainted with flowers to represent each month of the year <3 Explanation of what they all are here

I kind of want to get a traditional Chinese teaset now that I've learned the basics of how to serve tea the Chinese way; I also have detailed instructions on how to serve oolong, which is one of my favourites!

After the museum, I spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering the 140 year-old Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world.

Lots of people seemed to be getting married there yesterday. Loved this lilac Rolls I spotted, with the driver snoozing in the front seat!

 Photo I stole from the internet of a golden lion tamarin because none of my photos came out :p I LOVE THESE ANIMALS. Their hair is the same colour as mine and they have ORANGE MOUSTACHES. OH YES!

 Bali Mynah bird. These little guys had no fear of humans AT ALL! :D

 Chinese Alligator. So little and cute <3

I treated myself to Yoppi for dinner; one of the  many things I love about Hong Kong is the abundance of frozen yoghurt places and freshly squeezed juice stalls!

As soon as it started to get dark, I rode the ferry back to Kowloon so that I could see the city from the waters in the evening light. It was worth the wait :)

Back in Kowloon and still hyped up on TEA, I visited the Initial Fashion Cafe for my first cup of Japanese green tea. I'd been told it's a bit of an acquired taste, but it just tasted like really nice green tea to me. I'm looking forward to drinking it again in Tokyo next month!

Time travel in Hong Kong, with added latex and boobies, part 1

Well, what did you expect? ;p

I'll start by posting a new modelling photo by George Swift to lure you into thinking that this is actually going to be a blog about modelling.

Latex: Lady Lucie | Styling: me

You can see the black and white version, which I think I actually prefer, in the Portraits Gallery on anitadebauch.com :)

It isn't. It's going to be more of a personal memories diary for myself of parts of this year's trip to Hong Kong, so that I can look back on years from now and remember what I did and how it felt :) Sorry!

Yesterday I planned to visit the Hong Kong Museum of History in the morning and then spend the whole of the afternoon and evening visiting the various markets and doing some Christmas shopping. However, the museum was so enormous that I ended up in there all day, only popping out mid-afternoon for a delicious late lunch of honey pork udon and Cantonese dumplings! Apparently I was so enthralled by both museum and dumplings (especially the folk culture section) that I only remembered to take one photo from the outside and one photo from the inside :p

Hong Kong 1950s and 1960s comic books

Traditional style Hong Kong grocery store, noticed especially after I'd learned about their history at the museum! You can smell all the dried seafood before you spot them!

Item from the not-so traditional lingerie store next door. Something may have been lost in translation here, I feel!

I'll be posting tons of tourist pics tomorrow, once I've re-sized them all ;) x

New Naucler Design latex photo and my "Anita Cam" snaps from Hong Kong!

You know how I said I'd try not to post too many "holiday snaps" on this year's Asian Tour?

I lied.

You can skip them all and scroll down to the bottom for my latest latex fashion shot if you prefer though ;)

Prepping for a shoot in Hong Kong

Sushi dinner with client

 Visiting the Chi Lin Nunnery

Gold leaf temple in the Nunnery guarded by "lions"

 One of the guard lions

 Entrance to the Buddhist monastery

Part of the monastery, an amazing wooden palace made with no nails whatsoever :)

 Old Chinese architecture with the new in the background

 More shots of the monastery! It was just so beautiful!

 Lion door knocker to protect the monastery from ghosts

 "YEAH I'm in Hong Kong!"

 Chinese bonsai tree (I forget what the Chinese word for it is)

 The path to enlightenment??

 Snacks not available in the UK, L-R: dark chocolate Maltesers (genius), all-blackcurrant Fruit Pastilles (ultimate genius!), what I thought would be dried blueberries covered in Galaxy chocolate but turned out to be blueberry flavour dark chocolate pellets, and a drink apparently called Happy Moments Online Chat, which turned out to be chocolate soya milk

Today was my first day off in Hong Kong, so last night was my first drink! A Chinese beer called Tsing Tao with dinner

The comically bad hotel room I tweeted about. Room the size of a wardrobe, ensuite the size of a shoebox, lamp over bed not working (just flickering on and off, horror movie style), bed so short my feet stuck out, piece of polished steel over the bathroom sink in place of a mirror, shower over the toilet (yes, really), all windows including shower room door covered in Mickey Mouse, wallpaper stuck on with sellotape xD I lol'd myself to sleep

 Comically bad hotel room "wardrobe"

Comically bad hotel room comically bad bathroom decor. A pig taking a bath under the Mickey Mouse window, seriously? The bathroom didn't even contain a bath, so I ended up becoming jealous of the fictional pig. Bad times

Relaxing in a much nicer executive 5* hotel room on the second night, which had a swimming pool, a big marble bathroom and a proper bath. I deserved it after the pig-Mickey-cupboard room!

View from the much nicer hotel room: this is what Hong Kong looks like at night from the 81st floor!

And what it looks like during the day :)

I feel like I should probably post a modelling photo after all this nonsense, so here is one from my recent shoot with George Swift! Hope you like it!

Latex: Naucler Design | Stylist: me