The international alcohol consuming community was riveted by a shocking report that a Taiwanese whisky, Kavalan, defeated its English and Scottish rivals in a blind taste test.
According to a publication called Luxist:
The contest took place in a hostelry north of Edinburgh and when the results were announced whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean exclaimed “Oh my God, [...]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtgJ5TJi8M

This is just a fantastic story.  I’m really not a fan of Japanese (or Korean or Taiwanese) pop music, but I really enjoy enka quite a bit.  Enka is a postwar form of Japanese music in ballad style that has a very traditional and soulful feel to it, and is at times associated with Japanese [...]

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There is at least one arena where Asia is light years ahead of everyone else, and this is footwear.  You can travel all over the world, but the best kicks are out here.  There’s the drool-worthy sneaker choices at stores like ABC Mart and Harajuku’s Underground Sneakers, and fashionistas could make a whole trip to [...]

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North Korean scientists are diversifying. Not only are the busy in secret labs building nuclear weapons to obliterate their neighbors if a conflict arises, they’re also concocting refreshing, delicious beer with a ‘unique scent and fresh taste’. Check out this rather capitalist looking TV commercial for Taedonggang Beer.
Any of you Koreaphiles that want [...]

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One of the great joys when the international scouting directors come into town are the inevitable trips to TGI Fridays–the scouting mecca in Asia–for some shop talk over a three-for-all and a mocha mud pie. And as a recent “article” in Korea’s Naver shows us, Friday’s mania has now extended into Korea.
Looks like our [...]

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Jose Canseco’s Mixed Mixed Martial Arts debut in Yokohama lasted all of 1:17 as he was KO’d by South Korea’s 7′2 Choi Hong-man in what Japan Times reporter Kaz Nagatsuka described as a disgrace to professional sports.
From the Japan Times:
In this brutal, no-mercy sport, it’s not unusual when a fight ends a moment after the [...]

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Restaurant on the Corner of Rockaway and Rutland Ave. in Brooklyn, NY.   (Formerly known as Royal Fried Chicken).
(Hat Tip to YN at Rap Radar)

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I accidentally came upon this item, about Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson, who produces Amy Winehouse, attending the opening of a new Korean BBQ restaurant in Hollywood called Shin. Actually, I have no idea who Ronson is, but was doing searches on Korean food.
Naturally, the opening spewed forth a number of who’s who gossip items [...]

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And when I say “sacked,” I don’t mean the British vernacular for being fired. In case you missed it, the CNN International Reporter Richard Quest was arrested last week in Central Park for what amounted to a park curfew violation. However, further details have emerged.
Seemingly with glee from MSNBC:
A CNN journalist who was arrested in [...]

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Excuse me while I completely rip into someone who’s likely going through a tough time, but I’m guessing any native English-speaker living abroad or doing international business travelling, that  has had to rely on the shoddy, elitist,  CNN International for any semblance of TV news in English —  is familiar with this smarmy twerp:

I’ve disliked [...]

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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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Here’s another one of these fun casino advertisements posing as a newspaper article. It’s clearly marked “press release” at the top, but I still wonder why Yahoo! is publishing this stuff.
So without anything further, join me as we glide on an authentic Asian fishing boat commandeered by one of those guys with the fishing hat [...]

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A recent post surfaced on Japundit speculated that a series of photographs by Kohei Yoshiyuki,  that’s been getting heaps of coverage in the New York press and art blog world, might actually be an example of yarase (staged scene).
Yarase is a popular medium in Japan  sometimes  done just for  laughs, for  shock, and perhaps [...]

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