This week I went to an Indiafusion show. Basically it was a showcase of everything from India. Colourful Saris, Punjabis, shoes, jewellery, handbags, curry and sweets. There was also a lady there who does this henna hand art. It is a temporary tattoo which goes a rich chocolate brown and eventually fades after a few weeks. Indian ladies typically have their hands and arms decorated with this for special occassions. I gave it a go and this is what it looked like when it was still wet. It took her all of 10 minutes do do. The detail is incredible. Unfortunately my colleagues did not react well to this and were quite shocked. Some thought I had burnt my hand and others asked whether I had converted to some strange religion and most wanted to know if the scrolls and dips were symbolic of something. I surprised at how conservative people still are. So I've been dipping my hand in bleach to make it fade faster and it's now all but gone. I think this artwork is incredible but clearly others do not share my appreciation. Perhaps it just doesn't suit a pale hand like mine and probably looks best on a darker Indian skin.

Il Divo.... what can I say? According to Wikipedia : "The idea behind Il Divo's creation came to Simon Cowell after listening to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's rendition of Con te partirò. Aware of this new appreciation for lyrical voices and classical music, he decided to form a multinational quartet (Spain, Switzerland, France, and United States) that tried to sound like The Three Tenors and looked like Armani models." And my word, he definitely succeeded! Simon Cowell's pop opera act are slick, clean, good looking and they can belt out a good song or two. A group of my girlfriends and I went to their show last week. I had more fun watching, Sonja, Aldie and Lenie swooning and clutching their hearts than I had watching Il Divo's performance. These men are talented and not just in the vocal department. They are sex on legs. As cheesy as they are, they are hot in their black Armani suits. I think they are a high class Chippendales troupe and if they were to walk towards me at dusk in a yacht club or in a side street in Rome (which is how they photograph them for their publicity shots) I would have a melt down and crumble down in a heap at their feet. There is something for everyone - a clean cut boy next door American called David, a charming but slightly greasy looking Frenchman called Urs (just saying or typing that name sounds suggestive), a perfect and very neat and charming Swiss called Sebastian (he's just perfect) and then the baritone, loves himself and the ladies, a Spaniard called Carlos. See if you can tell who is who from my descriptions.

I'm not going to rush out and buy their albums but I did enjoy the show, the dramatic lighting, the sweeping orchestra, the hand gestures, the smiles and winks at the girls, ladies, mothers and grandmothers, the little boogie hip shaking, the red and white rose petal confetti..........."Somewheeeeeeeeereeeee, Somedaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy, Somehooooooooooowwwwwwww, there is a place for us" Need I say more.............. Oh yes, Il Divo means "Divine Male Performer". Ha!

Two weeks ago the Chinese celebrated their new year. Roughly an hour's drive from my house, in Bronkhorstspruit, is a Chinese Buddhist Temple and they always put on a big to do for their new year. There were lots of food stalls selling all kinds of exotic vegetarian fare as well as dragon candy, lunar new year cakes, chick pea fudge and dumplings. You could buy plastic lunch boxes and go from stall to stall and fill them with goodies. I thought this was a great idea, not only does it save on paper and polystyrene waste but also when you could eat not more you could simply close the lid of the lunch box and take some home for later. Neat and clean and no waste. I ate and ate till I thought I would burst. I have to add that it was also a boiling hot day, at least 35degrees Celsius and the beginning of a two week heat wave.

I've added lots of pics of the temple detail because I like it so much. Wish I had the guts to paint my house like this! All this artwork is done by Chinese artisans and is still a work in progress. What I love about this place is how it screams of colour, and yet one feels so tranquil, calm and peaceful when you are there. These guys are not afraid of using colour, boldly with lots and lots of gold. Our bright and cheerful South African flag fits right in. Going to this temple is like going on holiday to a far off land for a day.

My friend Aldie works for BP and as a special treat she invited me to the MPH07 car show. BP were the main sponsors of the event and she was allowed to take a guest - lucky me. This was the ultimate car show for all the petrol heads out there. It was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from the BBC Prime TV Show called Top Gear Extra which is the most popular motoring programme in the world hand has an estimated 350million fans worldwide. I have to say, that I am no petrol head, in fact I know zilch about cars, but I do like looking at them, especially if they are top of the range, and very very very very expensive. They had the lot at this show, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Porche, Mercedes, Alpha Romeo, Audi TT etc etc and in every colour, crisp white, orange, red, blue and even lime green!! Really nice to look at and I would imagine impossibly uncomfortable to drive. What really grabbed me was how they managed to make cars and even bulldozers dance to music. These drivers, in my opinion, are real men, it takes serious skill to drive with such precision. To my amazement they managed to play soccer with cars. I was oohing and ahhing and screaming with sheer terror and delight. There were three cars per side who had to bump a massive soccer ball into the goal by outdriving and outmanoeuvring once another. With great skill, screeching tyres and minor bumps the South African team beat England by two goals to one. Great fun and a little bit of madness. Yep boys and their toys.

I'm back. I think I'm going to move my blog to somewhere else because I'm finding it impossible to access this one and it's pissing me off! When I have time to check it out I'll let all of you, my valuable and regular readers, know where I've gone too.

Okay, got that off my chest. So much catching up to do. I'm gonna do this in separate posts. Here's my news:

• MPH07 car show with Jeremy Clarkson from BBC Prime Top Gear Extra
• Chinese New Year at Nan Hua temple
• Il Divo Concert