It never ceases to amaze me the places we travel to, the people we meet and the experiences we live. I am sifting through my mind to gather stories to tell you all, and I feel alive with excitement as my memories trip over one another to get to the tip of my tongue first.

We have just returned from our second Asian tour this year, and capped it with our first ever visit to Lebanon, performing at the Bettadine Festival.

It was only last month we were in Japan. We love it so much, we were itchy-ban to get back! Tokyo was our first stop and was our base as we travelled to and from concerts in Yokohama, Kawaguchi, Kazo and Maebashi. Our fourth time in Tokyo this year, it is beginning to feel like our home away from home! We also played Hamamatsu and Kobe.

*nb. click on the photographs to see a larger picture.

The concerts were wicked fun! We had a set track list to perform but no concert was ever the same. From our perspective as performers, itís amazing how different a concert can feel in reaction to an audienceís vibe, though without fail, every audience was on their feet by Wintersun, dancing and feeling the groove for the rest of the concert.

Time after the concerts gives us a chance to meet up with friends, old and new. Mr Mikimoto from Mikimoto Pearls and Miss Japan, who we'd both recently met in Panama at the Miss Universe contest, came to our concert in Yokohama. Mr Mikimoto treated us all to a fabulous meal in a private club at the top of a skyscraper which harboured the most amazing 360 degree views over Tokyo at night! I had the best pizza I've ever eaten and it wasn't in Italy. We reminisced over memories of Miss Universe, which was one crazy night weíll never forget!

Miss Japan and Mr Mikimoto with me and Tania at the private club

Eos' violin became very sick in our Maebashi concert. Thank Geronimo the next concert scheduled was in the hometown of Yamaha! How lucky can you get? Yamaha saved the day and came to the rescue of our damsel in distress by donating one ripper of a violin! It looked good and it sounded fantastic! We were all eyeing it up - me especially! It was during that same concert that a fan ran up to the front of the stage before the encores and handed over the most impressively huge bag! It was a bit like Christmas when we opened it on the bus ride home and found an icebox of gelati!!! There were 26 different flavours including pumpkin, blue cheese, sesame seed, tofu, the classic green tea and a rainbow selection of other flavours! It was a real winner of a treat.

Tania probably had the greatest, longest birthday of her life! It spanned the duration of Kobe in Japan, to Seoul, Korea. We all went Hello Kitty crazy for her in Japan! Yoshi and the Japanese team laid on a spectacular birthday cake and a combined birthday / end of tour party. Much celebration was to be had in an old schoolhouse restaurant. We ate at little school desks and the menu was on a blackboard at the front of the room. Only there were no under-age kids and out came the sake! Ouch for the next day when we were up at the crack of dawn to travel to Korea (Kim Chi City)!

During this visit we ventured to a part of Seoul we'd never seen before. We were in the hills of Seoul with a rather grand view of the city below. We were surrounded by much leafage and greenery, which was all very soothing to the eye in such scorchio weather! Backstage catering was special! We had chefs in tall white hats blow-torching individual creme brulees. It was all very posh!

The concert was an evening, outdoor gig and was televised. Will Mashiter was having an absolute field day on lights, attracting the most massive bugs to the stage lighting weíd ever seen! During "Fuego", I turned around to see Tania using her bow to shoo away flying creatures from Gay-Yee's head! It was only in "Oceanic" when the wind machines were switched on that we were truly safe from inhalation of mites and all other creatures great and small. The lights were too hot and the poor little insects didnít live to see the encores - R.I.P.B. (Rest In Peace Babies). Champagne and cake was to be had, round two of Tan's birthday, thanks to our lovely Korean record company friends! Party, party, party!!!

We were back on the plane, but this time to go to one of our favourite countries -Thailand! Tania's Mum arrived to join the party. Bangkok is so alive in every way! I just want to soak up their colourful way of life and carry a little bit of it around with me wherever we go!

We played in the new BEC TERO Hall for a Royal audience in honour of His Highness who was represented by the Princess. Chris Cameron, our ninjitsu MD, arranged a very mellow 'sexy lounge' version of the King's song -"Falling Rain" to a much-loving audience. It was a pretty full-on show! Gay-Yee threw down her cello and started grooving at the top of the stairs, doing a dance routine. I broke my shoe stamping in "Korobushka", ripped my pants dancing, cut my finger in "Victory", and came face to face with the Thai audience as I jumped off stage into the crowd. That concert was soooo much fun and it was our last full band gig in Asia. We headed off to The Conrad Hotel to let our hair down, party, and say our farewells.

In the dressing room, waiting to go onstage...

We left about fifteen of our group behind and ventured off to Phuket. I'd last been to Phuket when I was 17 and had been dying to go back again with my sisters of bliss for some fun in the sun! Even though this time of year is the rainy season in Thailand, we finally made it! HOORAY!!! My real little sister flew out to be with us, and along with Tan's Mum, it became a bit of a girlie group -Baggie and Ken (our sound engineers) were honorary chiquitas. We swam in the ocean in thunderstorms, hired a boat for a day to take us to Bond Island and PiPi Island, bargained at the night markets in Patong until we were recognized and our bargaining power diminished significantly, had a 45-minute drive back to the hotel in a genuine tuk-tuk, experienced a Thai massage and I ventured into the world of cigars for my first time ever.

It was such a beautiful break, but we were there for a much more important reason. We went to do the first ever, international concert in Phuket in aid of The Life Home Project: a charity raising money for women and their children with HIV. It was one of the most rewarding things we have ever done as a group. We went to the shelter to meet the women and their children and donated a violin as well as the money raised from the concert. It was enough to buy them a new vehicle to transport them from the hospice to the hospital, to renovate their toilets and to install a new infirmary in the shelter. Four of the patients painted us the most spectacular paintings, something we will all treasure forever.

We travelled back to London for three days break before heading out to Lebanon to perform for the Bettadine Festival. What an adventure!!! We landed at night and went straight into sound check. The neighbours were extremely tolerant as we went into the early hours of the morning, rehearsing with twenty or so dancers. It was another outdoor gig in the hills of Lebanon with Bettadine Palace as a backdrop. Our dressing room was as lavishly decadent as an opulent opium den from days past. The courtyardís central fountain was full of lit candles and red rose petals. It was so romantic.

It's so exciting to go to bed not knowing what a city looks and waking up the next morning to open the curtains, revealing a land that was once a mystery. Lebanon is such an invigorating culture: the music, the people, the nightlife - it's the Paris of the Middle East! We had a mad day doing promotion, shopping for clothes after British Airways lost our wardrobe case, driving back to the gig through four security check points to reach a stage manned by secret police and roof tops manned by snipers. There was such an electric atmosphere that spirited the vibe of the concert. It was one of my all-time favourite concerts and I can't wait to go back!!!!!!