Howzit Hong Kong 10:37 AM

We only had a short time to spend in Hong Kong - but it was wonderful! The one thing that struck me about Hong Kong was the charm, it felt like a sigh of welcome relief. Traveling with a ferry to view the skyline from Kowloon the boat's old wooden benches with old school buoys and machinery makes you feel at ease and slightly nostalgic about times gone by. I looooved going round on the old trams too - creaking round the city, so full of retro colours, wooden finishes and signs.

The skyskrapers are impressive - mostly apartment buildings scattered all around. Our lovely friend who accomodated us in her tiny apartment told us that if all the people living in Hong Kong would go down to the ground level there won't be space for everyone. Quite a strange concept coming from the vast open spaces in South Africa. One thing you can most defintely get great excercise in is perspective drawing! There are plenty of vanishing points for you to figure out. I have decided to focus more on travel illustration and this Hong Kong drawing is a kick off for some more to come. Any travel editors out there - watch this space!

If you are a tea lover - this is definitely the place to be! I was super excited to discover teashops with a vast selction of tea and teaware. I hope to go back sometime soon with loads of tea money in my pocket...

A little bit crooked 1:09 PM

I'm currently exhibiting some work as part of a group exhibition in Tainan. We're exhibiting in an old Japanese heritage building - a beautiful place. You have to remove your shoes before you go upstairs and the floorboards are all creaky. All the work looked great - I was happy to be part of the team, with artists from Australia, Japan and Taiwan.
Apart from my known pen and ink work I also explored with some collage - lots of  textures and little bits of weird paper and scraps to build a multi layered image representing a mere glimpse of life in Taiwan.
We had a great time hanging out in Tainan afterwards. So nice to spend some time with fellow artists. Thanks to everybody for all the effort involved. Thanks to De Waal for dealing with me when under pressure.. and thanks to my friends who specially travelled with me down to Tainan for the opening :)

Here comes the bride. 11:13 PM

It was with great expectation that we got up early on one of our very few public holidays to attend the wedding of a lovely girl called Sandra who was my boyfriends previous manager at his school.
We have heard many mixed opinions about Chinese weddings as they differ greatly from our Western ones and we were keen to experience it.
The couple are Christian so the church seremony was not that different from what we are use to - although it was more informal with less of a church atmosphere. Some people came dressed in hoodies, and there was amusingly a little lap dog being held in the choir.

The bride looked lovely - as brides do - in a big white dress with a long train. After the cermony we were lucky to be driven with the wedding  procession of red mitsubishis to the reception.
Arriving at the recpetion you have to hand over you hong bao (red envelope) first, this is your payment for the wedding. The amount is optional but anything under R300 per person will be frowned upon. The money is unceremoniously taken out of the envelope - counted and the amount is written down in a book. You can then write well wishes and your name on a long red paper wishing the couple a bright future.

After a long wait for the arrival of the couple, the first course of many were served. It arrived with a lighting and music show and electrical torches with quite a fanfare. The wine was opened - there isn't much of a drinking culture with weddings - it's mostly for toasting and after living in Cape Town the quality of the wine makes your toes curl in your shoes. So toast we did - with the bride as they go around to every table for good wishes. My boyfriend was treated to a taste of the bride's glass - fruit juice! Not a chance for a tipsy bride then. With a few dress changes ahead I quess the bride still had quite a day ahead of her.

The next 13 or so courses came in one after the other - it is very different to the usual Taiwanese food - which I really enjoy. There is a lot of Chinese traditional herbs in and it's just not really palatable - Sorry...When the last course - the fruit - hit the table, people start leaving - it's the usual end of the reception. We are greeted by the door by the couple with some candy and a generous gift and off we go home. (Craving a cheese sandwich)

Ons praat Afrikaans op die R62 9:49 AM

Ons vertrek die oggend uit Franschoek na 'n wonderlike aand met volstruis fillet, 'n paar bottels Wolftrap,'n klein koue Jägermeister en uitsonderlike geselskap na die R62 via die Theewaterskloofpas. Eers getreat met die uitsig van bo-op die pas oor die hele Franschoek valei, voor mens verdwyn - effe karsiek - om die volgende draai van die kronkelpad.

Ons ry eerste deur Villiersdorp waar 'n paar herinneringe deurskemer van 'n vorige kuier. Dis koud buite maar die dag is pragtig. Sonnig en met lekker tunes in die kar voel dit hemels. Dis landskap slaan keer op keer ons asems weg. Dis OOP en skoon en blou, geel en bruin met highlights van oranje-rooi aalwyne wat vol in blom staan. In ons omgewing waar ons bly in Taiwan bly daar 24000 mense per vierkante km. Hier is jy gelukkig as jy een sien!

Ons eerste stop is by Affieplaas 'n padstal net duskant Robertson. Ons koop geskenkies, padkos en geniet 'n heerlike middagete. Volgende Barrydale - ons ry op en af in die opdraand afdraand strate en gaan krap rond in 'n bric-'n-brac winkeltjie. De Waal koop koeksitsers vir sy pottery master in Danshui en ek 'n ou protea poskaart.
Volgende stop Mcgregor. Ons gaan loer in by Millstone pottery - die potter daar is een van die enigste pottebakkers wat sy ware in houtgevuurde kilns bak in Suid Afrika (nes in Taiwan). Ons besluit om te oornag op Montagu - ek bel 'n paar nommers wat beskikbaar is by die toeriste opsteekbord en besluit op die vriendelikste Afrikaanse tannie. "Kom kyk gerus" sê sy. Ek is oorweldig! Wat 'n pragtige cottage en kamer - die cottage is groter as ons woonstel in Taiwan so "dankie tannie ons sal die kamer vat". "So julle is oorspronklik van Pretoria?" Jô tannie, "op Tukkies geswot?" "Jô Tannie". In ons woongebied is jy bly as iemand 'n woordjie Engels kan uitkry. Hier, praat almal Afrikaans. Ongelooflik hoe jy jou taal waardeer as jy dit vir so lank nie gehoor het nie.

Na 'n Wimpy ontbyt val ons weer in die pad - Montagu was lieflik! Ek sou met graagte langer bly! Ons ry deur Ladismith sien towerkop sy kop uitsteek en stop oor in Calitzdorp vir pannekoek en 'n verrasing geselsie met die chef wat vir 8 jaar in Taiwan gebly het. Interessant hoe vinnig hy opgesom het al die dinge wat mens die meeste grief en meeste plesier gee. Dit laat mens gerus voel! Ons ry vlugtig deur Oudshoorn en tot in Glentana waar ons met ope arms en groot borde kos verwelkom word na die laaste strek van ons wonderlike vakansie.

How I love South Africa! 2:57 PM

The good part of being away from home for so long is when coming back you see everything you know so well through new eyes. I have never appreciated things so very much - things we usually take for granted. The space, the silence, the incredibly friendly openhearted people always ready for a chat or a joke, the wonderful produce, the wine, oh the wine, the gardens, the winter sun, the wildlife and then to top it all the loved ones. Dearly missed family and friends.

Thanks for everybody's hospitality and everyone who made an effort to meet up. Wish we could spend more time! Much love xx

Scootering and sketching in and around Taipei. 1:41 PM

One of the wonderful things about Tapei is getting out of Taipei! Not far from where we live - between Tucheng and Sanxia - there are wonderful mountains covered in jungle that's a joy too explore by scooter. So of we went with Alex (my awesome new cartoonist friend from snotm). It was great to explore little windy roads, old cemetries, new leaves coming to life and just generally hanging out in the cool darkness of the jungle. We treated ourselves on the way back with a delicious meal at an old school Japanese restaurant in Sanxia. Yum! Salad with lobster and apsaragus, tempura taro and aubergine, barbequed fish, salmon fried rice and plenty more!

Later in the week Alex and I hung out at Taipei Main Station - practising quick gestural drawing and also at Revolver for a life drawing session which I haven't done in ages. All of it was pretty awesome.

Fanzine for sale! 10:09 PM

For purchases click here

Backpacking sketchbook 8: Final stop - Tong Sai 9:30 AM

We were so thankful that our last destination ticked all the boxes after a lot of unexpected turns in our holiday. Tong Sai is mainly a rock climber hangout - with its surrounding cliffs it's paradise for those who climb them. We don't, but we enjoyed the vibe. There was a great community atmosphere as well as the spirit of people caring for their surrounding environment. The local people seemed happy too - which was the first time we felt that in Thailand.

We got a lovely wooden bungalow surrounded by beautiful nature and we chilled out. Swimming and reading on the beach, picking up really pretty shells, hanging out on the deck/restaurant/bar with fellow travelers and I was super happy to find a restaurant that stocked some English comics - some good ol' Calvin and Hobbs and others - they lend them to me like a library and I was super happy to disappear inside them for a few days.

We left Ton Sai with a good feeling, rested and happy to return to our little place in Taiwan, looking forward to the efficiency, safety and the routine in our lives as well as new projects and old friends.

Backpacking sketchbook 7: Thailand. 4:19 PM

Arriving at Phi Phi Island I immediatly wanted to turn around and go straight back to Laos. We got off the ferry and the walkway led us straight into the crowded town centre that could've been anywhere: It was covered in dive shops filled with working foreigners, very similar looking bars, westernised restaurants and LOADS of tourists wearing the same t-shirts. The rooms were smaller crummier and more expensive and Luang Prabang's beautiful wooden rooms seemed like a dream. After a lot of walking and exploring we did however find a nice little bungalow next to a mosque and a soccer field (lawns are amazing when you live in Taiwan) and we happily settled in.

We were very excited to meet up with some friends from home who had all flown there for a holiday and a wedding. We all went on a day cruise on a yacht - snorkeling, swimming and enjoying the wonders that Thailand's sea has to offer. We had a look and a swim at "The Beach" and enjoyed the company of fellow wedding party quests hanging around in Phi Phi for a few days after which we moved to Railay Bay.

Railay Bay is mostly a resorty stop over with not much local flavour but with a beautiful beach and an ideal wedding setting. Our friends got married late one afternoon and it was great to attend such a special event. The food was wonderful - the company was great, the margeritas went down smoothly and the tequila took care of the entertainment. Unfortunately my boyfriend had a fever I had some weird insane allergy so that dampened our party spirits a little. Such is travelling.

We bid farewell to all the the friends from home - most were suffering by that time too.. and we moved on to our last destination of the trip.

Come meet Alex! 12:39 PM

We accidently met Alex. My boyfriend sat next to him in the library and saw his comic sketchbook (he was taking a little nap). So they chatted and we hung out. How very interesting to meet Alex and his girlfriend Iris. He is a cartoonist from Barcelona and she - a Taiwanese girl who grew up in Brazil - is currently working for an ngo as well as drawing comics. They live in Maputo for the time being. Yes Maputo. Have they been to South Africa? Yes to Nelspruit - How unuasual!

Alex's work is really awesome. He is busy working on a book - so we were so fortunate to see the originals that he is working on. He would first plan out all the frames of the story in a seperate book and would then start penciling or sometimes go straight to ink. He captures all the essential elements with his simplified drawings and potrays powerful emotion with great use of composition and line. We also went to the Lin family garden together for some drawing and I loved how Alex draws from life in his simplified comic style.

You can view his work here - I love his very perceptual insights into Taiwan as well as Iris's work here

Backpacking sketchbook 6: South - finally! 8:55 AM

What a relief to get going. We flew to Pakse, jumped on a songthaew and got out of Pakse as soon as possible. Thank God we weren't stuck there! Our journey to the 4000 islands took a good few hours on the road, it was great to cover some distance and get some clarity and open space.

The 4000 Islands are located on the Mekong river in the South of Laos. There are various islands to visit and we liked the sound of Don Det an Don Khong. A fisherman took us to Don Khong in his longtail boat. It was wonderful to be surrounded by a mass of fast moving fresh water - such a different landscape and energy. We wanted to go to Don Khong because of its traquility and silence - but it was a little bit TOO quiet - with no other diners in any restaurants in sight. It was a strange feeling to order a banana pancake and after waiting 10 minutes you see one of the owners little sons come back with a bag of eggs. Things move slooooow here. We made our move after one night to Don Det more due to lack of time than lack of fast paced life.

Don Det is a typical place for backpackers to get stuck in. It's chilled and quiet but with enough travellers around to have a good time. The perfect place to find some hippies moving around in a world of cherry picking, working in hostels and smoking copious amounts of bamboo bongs. It hasn't been trampled on to a point of aboslute tourist destruction and the basic accomodation keep the lanie's away... for now.

I turned my drawing into a mural at "The Happy bar" and loved it. We savoured the little time we could spend until we had to move on to Ubon Rachatani to catch a flight to Phuket.

Backpacking sketchbook 5: Almost like Christmas in Laos 11:15 AM

The festival of lights arrived. The first time we strolled into a temple yard filled with paper lanterns we were filled with wonder. Really wonderful wonder. It was the first moment after our terrible ordeal that another positive emotion took over. I know I didn't write about the ordeal - but basicaly we - well our two travelling companions - were targeted as tourists by corrupt police and it was hectic and horrible. I will just say this DO NOT go to Vang Vieng.

Annyhow the festival of lights was busy, noisy and visually amazing. I have never seen so much life in Luang Prabang - If I closed my eyes it almost felt as if I was back in a nightmarket in Taiwan. We followed the crowds and hung out at the temple were the brightly lit and ornate handmade boats were finished off, carried down to the river - accompanied by loud chanting and drums and being send forth on the Mekong.

We watched many lanterns being lit and released into the air and by releasing the lanterns we secretly asked that all our worries will be over and set free into the night sky. We almost lost our ears to kids being totally irresponsible with firecrackers and finally settled down at the nicest bar next to the river for a well deserved bottle or two of red wine. Bidding Luang Prabang farewell along with saying a sad goodbye to our friends who had to stay for an unknown period of time.

My advice for the New Year: Believe in that lantern and let the worries go!

Backpacking sketchbook 4: Luang Prabang...we linger. 3:12 PM

If you love Art Deco, window shutters and wood this will warm your heart! It certainly warmed mine as we lazily walked around, when the heat allowed it, taking pictures and admiring the buildings. We also rented bicycles and cycled around town stopping at the market, shops and little restaurants for a bit of drawing and reading, a Beer Lao here and there as well as meals and snacks.

Luang Prabang was vibey - there were all kinds of preparations happening for the upcoming festival - paper lanterns were being made and hung up. Paper and bamboo boats were being built and you could feel the excitement in the air. When it was too hot to be out and about we hung out on the balcony of our guesthouse listening to tunes, and late at night when the curfew set in (yes at 12:00pm in Lao you have to check in at your guesthouse) we drank wine on the little private stoepie at the back of our guesthouse quietly sharing our lives, laughing, crying a bit and catching up as you do with good friends living far apart.

Introducing unrouxly kids! 11:47 AM

It's so rewarding drawing with kids. Their drawings makes me laugh and inspires me. A lot of time the kids don't get what makes their drawing special and I quess that's part of the charm.
Teaching Taiwanese kids English has very definite ups and downs and drawing together is defintely an up! Apart from the normal English as a second language classes I teach illustration at my house as well as a little growing class I have at a school.
These drawings were all done by kids around 6 years old and I loved their expression and interpretation. It's amazing how their drawing ability just comes naturally and how everyone seems to lose it when they get older. I don't believe it for one second - everybody can draw - it's just comparing with the Jones's that gets in the way!
Keep an eye on my unrouxly kids page on facebook for more from these unruly kids.

Backpacking sketchbook 3: Luang Prabang. 10:31 AM

Luang Prabang is just one of those places that you'll love. Thanks to the mix of French and Lao culture the town is filled with beautiful architecture, Art deco and colonial buildings built with immense amounts of wood. Good food - wonderful baquettes, noodle soups, good coffee, wine, a bit of that air that just the French can add to a town and then there's the Lao people. So sincere - you can see people's genuine good wishes when greeting strangers. Friendly open faces filled with happiness.

The first morning we awoke to beautiful sounds drifting into our room. There was a local omie playing a khim - a traditional instrument - on his stoep across the road. The khim has 42 strings and is played with two flexible bamboo sticks with soft leather at the tips to produce a soft tone. Lovely soothing, exotic and a good introduction to Luang Prabang.

We ate breakfast in the mornings next to the Mekong, strolled around avoiding tuk-tuk drivers saying "tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk" every time you passed them by. We went swimming in the waterfalls and looked forward to dinner daily in one of the many awesome restaurants around. I loved drawing with some of the local kids - without talking a word to each other we understood exactly what we were doing. Such a great universal language!

We learned that there was a big festival coming up and decided to lay low, rest and stay to join in the festivities.

Backpacking sketchbook 2: Vientiene. Breathe out. 11:56 AM

It was such a relief arriving in Vientiene. First of all meeting up with our friends and travelling companions who we haven't seen for ages, secondly the pace of Lao. Things move slooowly and I was desperate to chill out after a hectic year of adapting to Chinese culture, teaching and the pace of life in Tapei compared to Cape Town. Thirdly the food. Sigh. Wonderful spicy beef salad, green papaya salad, french baquettes, hot lipton tea with sweetmilk, lao coffee, beer lao and so much more.

We spend a day or so catching up, eating, drinking and hanging around. The guesthouse had a lovely balcony with a view over the temple across from the road. It was run by a student as well as a dog. The dog looked cool. I first slowly stretched over that he can smell my hand - he looked ok, and then I patted him. I mean there are obviously people coming in and out all the time - it's a guesthouse. Then the dog bit me! "OUCH!" I said. "Did he bite you?" The student said. I said yes. "It's a very bad dog" he said. So that makes things ok? Right. Nice to be in a place where things are accepted for what they are I quess.

Okay off we go then, on to the next stop.

Backpacking sketchbook 1: First stop Kuala Lumpur 11:21 AM

After a hectic busy time our holiday finally arrived. Armed with my new camera, drawing pens, sketchbook and alot of relief we flew to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We liked it. The diversity of the country is something that is very appealing as a South African living in Taiwan. Taiwan is very much one culture. One food style, one language, one big force (there are a few subcultures and languages but they are still more similar and still function as one nation) So the mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian was a breath of fresh air. I loved encouterering some Afrikaans words originating from the Malay language - I spotted a few: piesang, inspirasi, pos, bagasi - I'm sure there are plenty more floating around. We didn't do much exploring - but relaxed with great company, a bit of drama and a good meal - ready to fly to our next destination the next day.

Tarien, Pierre & Pepper 12:38 AM

I received a request from a lady in Pretoria to make an illustration as a first anniversary gift to her husband. It's a great commission to do and it became even better as I received more information from the one year wifey. She described her husband as patient, caring and full of love for her. He loves coffee, technology, and as young tatooed 'dominee' he has a passion for the youth. She's an art teacher loves proteas, birds and painting. They also have an awesome little dog called Pepper - I love little schnauzers! Their photo's were creative and full of love. They're a good example of a cool modern happy couple living in my hometown. I like it. So I made them an illustration reflecting their vibrant little unit and added some loose elements they could use for personalised stationary. No more Woolworths cards for friends birthdays. It's been a pleasure!

Hot-potting in Miaoli 11:08 AM

We went to have some hotpot to end the weekend with that one last nice meal ( It was before the summer reached this melting heat). Hot pot is one of the Taiwanese's favourite meals and you see lots of restaurants with the steam rising up from all the individual tables. It's basically your own pot with a flavoured soup or stock that you cook your food inside. Our choice was a spacious and 'modern' (please note that it doesn't necessarily mean tasteful or cool) all you can eat buffet. So first you can choose your pot's flavour - for example kimchi, traditional chinese herbs or miso. Then you go and dish up! Trays full of vegetables, meat and seafood are available containing known and unknown bits to cook in your pot. There is a sauce counter where you can mix your favuorite ingredients to dip your food bits in when you take it out of the hotpot. My favourite would be a mix of soya sauce, garlic, a touch of vinegar, coriander, lime, fresh chilli and spring onion all mixed with the original dipping sauce. Yum! It's so social to sit around a table cooking your own food. After being to full to eat the soup too - it's desert time. I chose the ice desert - basically a bowl full of shaved ice that you top with all different fruit purees, conserves and jellies and add some condensed milk to round it off. Delish. What a nice evening out. I can understand why it's so popular! I need to lie down now.

May-hem 11:36 AM

If you've missed my blog in May - I'm happy to hear that :) I've had a crazy deadline month. I first received the email on Tuesday the 16th of May. I had to illustrate about 117 full color drawings. Right. Start with the roughs - they need to be finished a week later. A few days later word came through ALL illustrations full colour had to be finished in 10 days time! WHAT! Right. I drew, and drew and drew - and I taught in between - it was actually really good to get away from my lightbox and be active with some kids. I had no free time whatsoever. I finished 4pm SA time deadline day. I had a shot of vodka, and then I cried. The relief was huge. The next day I had a work hangover - and couldn't relax, so strange. The whole process was really awesome in an insane way :)

So here are some examples - it's all the easy drawings - the rest were actual scenarios with different events happening - to appear on my website soon!