Last photo travel diary from Kuala Lumpur!

After the number of epic photo blogs I wrote on my last Asian tour, when I was just insanely overexcited about being in the East, I decided to try to squeeze my KL experiences into one blog ;)


13th November: Night Markets

I was surprisingly un-jetlagged when I got off the plane in KL after a 12 hour flight from London, in fact I was bursting with energy as a direct result of being forced to sit still for so long, so I went straight to the night markets to try some Malaysian food :)

 Sugar cane juice is my favourite! The stall holder just hacks one open with a machete and pours the juice out into a cup for you. Delicious!

 Signs that made me snigger then hurl. I'd definitely need a LOT of Guinness before eating deep-fried fishheads. You can see their eyes looking at you through the batter >.<

 This is called something like longon juice. It looks like a dirty tank full of dead fish but is actually fresh juice with pieces of fruit that you drink out of a bowl with a spoon. Very sweet and well worth trying :)

Seafood snacks, ready to be chargrilled!

14th November: Botanical Gardens and photo shoot

Went on my first big walk this morning to visit the Botanical Gardens and National Monument.

Long-necked turtle checking out my juice

 Lots of turtles sunbathing! <3

In the evening I had a photo shoot that went on until after midnight! Here's a "behind the scenes" snap of me wearing my Lady Lucie dress and a Playful Promises ring in the changing rooms :)

Finally managed to crawl into bed at 2.30 am!


15th November: Mosque and Museums

Sooo tired this morning but fuelled myself up with coffee and peanut butter to visit the National Museum, followed by the National Mosque and the Islamic Arts Museum. The latter was my favourite- I don't know if I've ever seen so many beautiful crafts in one place before. Every single item was absolutely dense with minute detail, whether it was painted onto paper or ceramics, carved into wood or embroidered onto textiles, and must have taken so long to create. The museum must have contained literally centuries' worth of hours of labour of love. Looking at that paired with the prehistoric people's jewellery and ornamentation in the National Museum, I was struck by humankind's seemingly hardwired and insatiable desire to see beauty and create it all around us, even if we're fighting off sabre tooth tigers, foreign invaders or a short life expectancy with one hand while we do it!

17th century Koran

18th century Chinese ladies' fashion. This outfit would not look out of place in London today!

Beautiful dome in the Islamic Art Museum's roof

Oh yeah, this is what I had to wear to go into the mosque :p The robe made me look pregnant but I would actually wear scarves like this on a daily basis if they weren't so closely identified with being religious. Comfy, versatile and saves doing your hair!

Inside the National Mosque

16th November: Orchids 

Got up, had four slices of peanut butter toast for breakfast, went back to bed, slept till lunchtime, then spent the afternoon in Kuala Lumpur's beautiful Orchid Garden. I love orchids <3

I also love exploring new cities on foot, which is fortunate as I must have clocked about 10 miles per day since I arrived in KL!

Look out for the monkeys (and the Malaysian drivers)!

17th November: photo shoot and National Gallery

After another great photo shoot this morning, I visited my favourite local greasy spoon for lunch, where you can get a huge bowl of the lushest rice or noodles I've ever tasted for the princely sum of £1.20 + 30p for mineral water :)

Ayam mee <3

I walked off my lunch by visiting the City Gallery and the Sze Ya Feng Shui Temple, the oldest Taoist temple in KL, built in 1864. Inside, the mood was pleasantly casual with people hanging out reading newspapers with their shoes on among the shrines and icons :)

I want one of these lampshades!!! I had a good hunt along Petaling Street in Chinatown to no avail, just came away with a new knock-off backpack for hiking some of my luggage around in :p

Now it's time to say goodbye to the guesthouse and jet off to Hong Kong tomorrow morning! Looking forward to my return to KL next month, though :)

Nu Nudes, my first 10 words in Malay & full page in Professional Imagemaker :)

Feel free to skip my tourist waffle and go straight to the nudey pics ;p

Had a really long day yesterday- spent four hours walking around Kuala Lumpur Botanical Gardens in boiling hot weather and then had a photo shoot 8 pm - midnight! Today I walked to the National Museum, National Mosque and Islamic Arts Museum, and tomorrow I plan to check out the Orchid Gardens (love orchids!) and a couple of temples :)

I'm attempting in a very half-arsed sort of way to make a record of all the Asian words that I pick up while I'm on tour this time, starting with Malay, seeing as I'm in KL! "Hello" seems to be universal, which is useful, but it may mean something else too as strange men keep saying it to me as though it were some sort of chat-up line. There are some Western women around, but most have some degree of tan and I've not seen any other redheads so I suppose I stick out.

• jalan - street or road
• taman - garden or park
• burong - birds
• negara - national
• kopi - coffee
• gula - sugar
• mee - thick white noodles (I have seen "beef ball mee" advertised which I can only assume is Malaysian spaghetti and meatballs)
• soba - thin yellow noodles, nicer than mee imo
• Ingerriss (sp?) - English
• sila - please (I don't know how to say thank you yet, so I just say it in English and smile a lot)
• tarik - pull (I forget what "push" is. Must check next time I go into a 7-11)

Anyway, if you haven't already seen my latest nude photos on anitadebauch.com, here they are for you :) I had a vertical strip light on either side of me and enjoyed moving back and forward to work and play with the light and shadows. My favourite spot ended up being where the light was dramatic over the body, rather than soft :)

Photographer: George Swift | Styling: me

Oh, and anyone who has a copy of the October - November 2011 issue of Professional Imagemaker, check out the full page photo of me in modelling on a golden beach in Malta on page 51 :) Thanks for letting me know, James!


EDIT: I just remembered another one, so now it's my first 11 words in Malay :D

Kuala Lumpur and Latex Stockings...

Bloggy's sticking to UK time but it's actually 9.50 pm here in Kuala Lumpur and I'm all settled in my Malaysian guesthouse with my hot weather clothes, laptop and more free coffee than I could ever possibly drink. My photographer friend Roger picked me up at the airport this afternoon and took me on a tour of the night markets, which were really bright, hot, noisy, smelly and fun! I'd forgotten how tall I am in Malaysia, and also about Malaysian driving! I'll post some photos tomorrow, I expect ;)

In the meantime, here are some more photos from my recent shoot in Newcastle with George Swift :) I couldn't decide which of these I preferred so I uploaded both, haha

 Knickers: Cathouse Clothing. Stockings: don't know, they were a gift! Styling: moi :)

I think now would be a good time to buy a scarf and learn how to do a 1920s/ 30s style glamour turban to hide how insanely fluffy the humidity here makes my hair from the second I step off the plane :p In fact, it would be ideal for any and all bad hair days! Just stick it under a turban!

I'm off to bed x

Latex and killer heels in Newcastle!

Can't believe I'm shooting in Asia for six weeks starting Saturday- it seems to have crept up SO fast! I still need to exchange some money so I can swerve card transaction charges, drop off my dry cleaning, clean my makeup brushes and um, pack >.<

I have some "preview" pictures from my shoot in Newcastle with George Swift the other day :) We worked together once about three years ago and I was very happy with the results at the time, so it was a nice surprise to be invited to shoot with him again all this time later :) We were going to start off shooting location art nudes and then move into the studio for some latexy fashion nude type stuff, but as it was minus two George kindly skipped the outdoor nudes bit and we were in a nice warm studio happily shooting away and drinking tea until we finally conked out at about 9 pm! Here are just some of the results :)

High waisted leggings and braces by Lady Lucie

Body suit by Naucler Design | Styling: me!

Like how raw and plain this feels- "this is me, sitting on a stool" :)

Q: Can I stand on one leg in 8" heels and lick my own knee?

A: Yes. It's good to know these things

And a slightly silly shot of me testing my strangely bendy spine to finish. The pole was actually a plastic drainpipe so I couldn't put any weight on it whatsoever- just had to pretend like I was hanging off it ;)

There will be plenty more to come from this shoot I think :D

Binky stayed over last night and the three of us (her, Liam, me) went to Toff's for fish and chips at lunchtime so I could get some good British food in me before I head off to the Far East! Not only is it the best fish and chips EVER but the restaurant is also decorated with loads of signed Iron Maiden memorabilia and photos of the band hanging out in the restaurant, which is random and fun.

Now I'm off to relax in a hot tub and give myself a pedicure before having an all-out beauty day tomorrow in preparation for my travels! Pilates, hair dyeing, facial (must see if I can convince my beauty therapist to throw in a little shoulder massage again), various waxings and a manicure. I'm going to feel like a new woman!

Lux Tenebrae Leather

Remember how I said I was looking forward to a well-dressed Halloween? Well, here are the first photos from my shoot with luxury leather couturier Lux Tenebrae and one of my favourite photographers and friends, Adam Robertson. This butter-soft bespoke skirt not only fitted like a glove, it was actually made from glove leather, apparently because that was a better choice when making a skirt in my size. All I can say is that it feels absolutely delicious to wear and I am a lucky girl to be given such a beautiful piece of couture to take home with me. I never thought I'd say it, but it's actually going to replace my beloved French Connection black leather pencil skirt, which will now probably end up on eBay!

Photographer: Adam Robertson | Wardrobe stylist: Lux Tenebrae | Hair and makeup: me!

We also shot some gorgeous leather harnesses, which were just so photogenic, especially the British Tan coloured ones as they nearly matched my hair colour ^^ It was also my first go at wearing pony boots (the Lady Gaga-esque ones with no heels)! REALLY looking forward to seeing those shots as we not only did some neat, clear catalogue ones like the two shots I just posted, but also some cooler, moodier editorial work which looked fab on the back of the camera ^^

Just got back from two days shooting oop north so will hopefully have some new photos from there as well, shortly, including lots of nice latexy fashion nudes with meh new red hair! Right now I need to get some sleep though as I've been working so hard for the last however long that I feel like the little hamster that runs on the wheel in my brain to keep the cogs turning has wandered off somewhere!

Fireworks and Jane Doe Latex ^_^

Hope you have a great Bonfire Night! Don't forget to keep your pets shut up somewhere safe/ quiet! :) I've been telling myself that it's okay for Lilith and Dexter to sleep on my bed this weekend in case the fireworks scare them, even though they quite obviously couldn't care less. They're chuffed to get to sleep in the "big basket" though!

I'm on my way home from another creative day shooting at kvmedia studios and was supposed to be having a fireworks date with Liam, but he got held up in Bristol, so we're doing it tomorrow instead. I'm baking us fish and chips for dinner (the traditional Bonfire Night meal of his childhood) and then we're going to sit on top of a hill by candlelight with a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and watch the fireworks going off all over London <3 ^^ <3

I'll leave you with a new latex fashion photo from the last time I was at kvmedia studios, just a week ago, with photographer CJ Chmiel and some of my Jane Doe Latex :) You bet I did the hair and makeup! ;)

xx

Fashion TV: Playful Promises Fashion Week lingerie show!

There now exists a TV show including me doing a runway show with some insanely beautiful models at an insanely exclusive Fashion Week event on Fashion TV, which I used to watch constantly on YouTube in about 2007, around the time I decided I simply had to try to become a model or die trying. It certainly never occurred to me that I'd end up watching myself.

 It's just insane. Life continues to amaze me.

Great shoot yesterday; an ongoing project, very non-commercial, very arty. So I haven't totally sold out ;p

Photoblog: Halloween party silliness

As you know, I spent Monday (Halloween itself) modelling for Lux Tenebrae with Adam Robertson in Wiltshire, so actually celebrated Halloween on the Saturday (29th). I ended up having a last-minute shoot in London, from which I already have some photos! You'll have already seen the first one on my Facebook page; here's another :)

 Photographer: CJ Chmiel | Hair and makeup: me

I just topped up my shoot makeup on the way home (not very well) to look more Halloween-ish. I did better with Liam's, Bink's and our friend Iain's makeup as I could start from scratch :)

Iain and Binky

Hannah and Ras arrived as Shaun of the Dead zombies, complete with bloodstained cricket bat. This was excellent, although presented accidental clawing-through-holes-in-jeans problems when Lilith and Dexter sat on their laps.

 Ras and Hannah

Dexter vs candles

Liam made a Halloween themed playlist- which I LOVED and hope he didn't delete!- I served a cauldron of pumpkin soup for dinner (the cooking of which somehow managed to include setting fire to Dexter's tail, although he didn't seem to notice), Iain mixed absinthe cocktails and we let Plan 9 From Outer Space go round and round on silent in the background about 900 times.

L-R: Liam, Dan and Ras

 Bink vs absinthe

I think Adam and Dan came as the ultimate middle class horror, hoodie trick or treaters, although I could be wrong.

Around 6 am we decided it was time to do an impromptu Team Binkertson photo shoot. It made sense at the time

 Me. I was supposed to be a zombie ballerina, in case you can't tell. It's not that obvious.
(Dress from Buffies)

L-R: me, Liam, Adam

Adam and Bink

Adam and me

 Ras and Hannah, the urban zombies!

6 am family portait (L-R: Liam, Lilith, Dexter, me). Yes, the cats are in their pyjamas, the most sensible creatures in the house at that point.

Today I will mostly be catching up with my emails, eating healthy food to compensate for the weekend's sweetie overload, and getting an early night ;)