If you’ve got a printer handy I recommend printing this one out. You’ll be glad you did. The piece comes from the The New Yorker, and mostly centers on a guy named Li Yang, who is a kind of English mogul in China. He’s something of a celebrity, and is known across China for his […]

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According to China Sports Today two-time diving gold medalist Guo Jingjing is reportedly pregnant and leaving the national team. Guo is the highest paid female athlete in China and according to CST, “the most recognizable female face of Team China in any sport.” Guo is featured in McDonald’s and Coca-Cola advertising, amongst others.
Guo’s personal life is […]

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A few months ago I posted a story about how crows were plaguing certain areas of Beijing. Apparently Tokyo and other areas of Japan are also being terrorized by the flying rats.
From the New York Times:
It is a scourge straight out of Hitchcock, and the crows here look and act the part. With wing spans […]

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Here’s a good read about Buddhism in South Korea from the Wall Street Journal, written by a foreigner living and working in Seoul. The article says Buddha has had a recent resurgence achieved partly through imitating many of the Christians’ social-propagation techniques. Incidentally, I live next to a Buddhist Kindergarten.
I think this idea would surprise a […]

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Terrific, must watch video courtesy of Shanghai List, about the Song Qing Ling Memorial, a little known cemetery in western Shanghai. The cemetery plays host to Song, who is amongst China’s most significant political figures of the early 20th century, but also scores of other Chinese historical figures.
As the documentary (which was produced by Daedalum […]

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Up till now I’ve steered clear of the hysteria brought on by Korea resuming American beef imports. I’ve been following it closely in both the Korean TV news and in the expat blog circles, but haven’t asserted any opinion on here.
I saw a small and rather feeble protest this evening in front of Ulsan University, […]

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Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end. Dust must return to dust and the memory of the Turkmenbashi is fading like a soft wind over the Caspian.
A 246-foot tall, rocket ship-like monument to the late ruler of Turkmenistan, topped with a golden statue of himself that rotates to always face […]

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Great find on Pink Tentacle. This is a secret warehouse stocked with emergency supplies found some 65 feet underground. The space holds emergency supplies to be distributed to the public in the event of a major earthquake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W0MiwzURMQ

According to the program the warehouse includes 5,000 blankets, 8,000 rugs, 4,000 candles, 300 cooking pots, 200 t-shirts, and emergency […]

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From Reuters:
Gaming addicts with sore eyes and tired brains may be able to perk up with “Game Suppli”, a new Japanese supplement developed specifically for the country’s thousands of fanatic players.
Energy drinks really haven’t caught on in Korea the way they have in America and I’ve often wondered why. There’s actually a really old school […]

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I have mixed reactions to these kinds of articles. On one hand, I think the Korean media reports these from a features/common interest point of view, ostensibly presenting something (in this case the lifestyles of room salon workers) as a social ill. On the other hand, I think they’re probably written by men who often […]

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Favorites of young and old, rich and poor, pure and perverted, the Japanese school uniform has a long, storied history few of us are aware of. For instance, did you know the uniform’s jacket, the gakuran, traces its linage to the Prussian military?
PingMag, a site I don’t link to nearly enough, has a full wrap on […]

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Here’s one of these YouTube deals where someone with an Internet connection starts gabbing into the camera about nothing in particular, yet finds an audience. I’m almost embarrassed to say I’ve now spent roughly 30 minutes of my life watching this young lady from Japan. Yet, as I sit here and type this I have […]

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I’ve been having a few computer problems so I can’t do this article justice with one of my snappy introductions/commentaries, but this is a subject I enjoy and that I’ve written about a couple times on here — Vietnamese women marrying Korean men.
This is an update on a story written last year by Norimitsu Onishi of […]

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 Simroid is a robot designed to help dental students improve on their patient communication skills. The video below is an interview with Dr. Naotake Shibui of the Nippon Dental University in Tokyo, who helped develop the Simroid.
According to the interview, Simroid is modeled after a 28-year-old woman, and her fear of dentists and sensitivity to pain have […]

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A Taiwanese son recently hired a stripper to preform a the funeral of his 103-year-old father. According to reports the father was a bit of a strip club afficianado. 

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I probably shouldn’t get too far into the various reasons I like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOILokbSwAQ

From Pink Tentacle

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You are lounging in a warm plunge pool in the garden of a private villa while listening to “The Goldberg Variations.” Your robe and slippers are on the floor where you dropped them, right near the giant, pillow-mounded platform bed. You are thinking about having a brie omelet for breakfast, then a spa foot massage […]

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It’s just one of those things about living next to China. It’s gross, uncomfortable, and makes you not want to go outdoors — never a good feeling. If you do go outside your throat may begin to hurt and occasionally you get a headache.
Ah, yes. I missed you dearly hwangsa.
Hwangsa is a lovely Asian phenomenon. Basically […]

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For those not familiar Baek Ji-young (Revised Romanization: Ji-yeong) is a popular singer in Korea. In 2001 her manager posted a video himself having sex with Baek on a pay-per-view site. The video was then widely circulated on the Internet and erupted into a massive scandal in Korea. It’s fair to say it to date, the biggest scandal of its kind in the […]

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Well, if this isn’t a must watch program I don’t know what is. VBS.TV, a free Internet network started by Vice Magazine co-founder Shane Smith, will present The Vice Guide to North Korea on March 3.
As someone who’s been fascinated by North Korea for some time I’ve grown tired of the whole “Hey, look I’m […]

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