Thursday, June 30, 2011

Congrats to Maggie Q for her Teen Choice Nomination



The Teen Choice nominations came out this week and Nikita star Maggie Q received a nomination for 'Choice TV Actress - Action. Other fellow nominees include:
Lyndsy Fonseca, Nikita
Linda Hunt, NCIS: Los Angeles
Grace Park, Hawaii Five-O
Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck

We hope Maggie takes home the gong! We love Maggie

Her show Nikita was also nominated for 'Choice TV Show: Action'. Co-star Shane West also received a nom for 'Choice TV Actor: Action'.

Nikita got lots of nods this year! Yay!

The second season of Nikita is currently airing in the US. You can follow Maggie Q @MaggieQ on twitter.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rain's 29th B'day (26-5-11)

Rain celebrated his 29th b'day on Saturday. Fans flooded his twitter with b'day wishes (I was one of them). Some fans even organised everyone to tweet his b'day at the same time to make it a trending topic.

Rain tweeted some b'day photos (via @29rain) - he looks really happy. I would have loved to eat those cakes too. yum!




Update on my fan message to Rain -
I along with my friend Anh, have been flooding Rain with tweets to watch my fan message on Youtube. So far my vid has been watched 50 times. Rain fans have been sending me tweets about the vid:

kikibi1976 @tammii_ Hi My name is KiKi Thai people I watched your video for Rain .So cute.23 Jun

CloudyMJ @tammii_ Watched your fanvid.... you got lot's of Rain-goodies... :) 23 Jun

Thanks for the nice comments Rain Fans!

I'm not sure if Rain has watched the vid. He hasn't replied yet. I hope he does =D

Saturday, June 25, 2011

CherriiPOP Season 3 Finale - Playlist (24/6/11)


I hope you guys enjoyed the 2 hour season finale special!! Thank you to my friends Anh and Ben for joining me in studio, it was lots of fun! We had a lot of interesting discussions on the show - be sure to listen to the podcast.

During the off season, I will be making webisodes. Keep sending in your comments and suggestions - I always love to hear from you.

Here is the playlist
Rain - It's Raining
5 Dolls - Like this or that
Kim Hyun Joong - Break down
Juju - Suano ni naretara
Yui - Hello Paradise
2am - Confession of friend
Cyndi Wang - Shining
Rain - Sad Tango
Big Bang - Tonight
Boa- Hurricane Venus
Enlightenment - Andy Lau
Tunnel - Freya Lim
Page 1 - OK Joo Hyun
Queen - Son Dambi
Kira Kira - Beni
I'll b there - Taeyang
Let me cry - Jang Geun Suk
Chuyen tinh buon - Nhu Quynh
Shampoo - After school
Oh - SNSD

Scandalous news - 1 of the singers in the jpop group AKB48 was faking it

Listen to our interesting discussion about manufactured pop. What are your thoughts?

Manufactured pop 110624 by CherriiPOPShow

Fan Message for Utada Hikaru - We Miss U


Utada is currently on a break from the music industry. We don't know how long her break will be. I wanted to send her a fan message telling her how much she is missed and I hope she returns soon to produce more music. She has stopped tweeting for over a month, fans are missing her even more!

Our Japanese tutor Ben has helped me translate my message to Japanese. He did a great job translating (I did put him on the spot).

Listen to the message to Utada
Fan Message for Utada Hikaru - WE MISS U (110624) by CherriiPOPShow


Please help me tweet this message to Utada. I hope she will listen to it.

http://twitter.com/#!/utadahikaru

Learning Vietnamese with Anh & Japanese with Ben

Special guests Anh and Ben joined me for the specail 2 hour season finale and taught us Vietnamese and Japanese.

Listen to the fun lesson
Anh & Ben teach us Vietnamese and Japanese 110624 by CherriiPOPShow

Thursday, June 23, 2011

BoA to make her Hollywood Film Debut in 2012

Listen to podcast:
BOA Hollywood film debut (110624) by CherriiPOP



BOA is set to make her Hollywood Film debut early next year - This is incredibly exciting new for BoA fans. She plays the female lead in the dance film COBU 3D. Her male lead is Derek Hough from US TV show Dancing with the stars.

The movie is directed by Duane Adler and produced by Robert Colt. I was reading a bit about the film, and it sounds like a Romeo and Juliet story. Basically their characters fall even though their families are enemies in the dancing world.

I love dance films, but sometimes they focus too much on the dancing and not enough on the storyline. I hope that this film has a good storyline because I know Boa and Derek and awesome dancers. They’ve got the dancing part nailed.

BoA is currently filming the movie in the States. She recently tweeted a photo on set. She looks really relaxed and happy. I can’t wait to see her film!

She follows the foot steps of Rain who has starred in 2 Hollywood films: Ninja Assassin and Speedracer. The Korean Wave is making a big impact in Hollywood.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

Listen to podcast
What is FAS Foreign Accent Syndrome (110624) by CherriiPOP

A few weeks ago I read an interesting article about an American woman Karen Butler, going to her dentist to get some teeth removed. After she woke up from anaesthesia she spoke with an Irish accent. She has been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder FAS – Foreign accent syndrome.

This condition is very uncommon, with around 100 known cases of FAS. The first diagnosis of FAS was made in Norway, 1914, when a woman was hit in the head by a shrapnel from an air raid in World War II.

The cause of FAS is usually from brain injury caused by stroke or diseases that results in brain tissue damage. It is believed that FAS usually disappears after a while; the time for normal speech to return varies between people.

Karen’s dentist said her Irish accent would vanish after the swelling went down. When the swelling went down, her new accent still remained. She has been speaking with an Irish accent for more than a year and a half now. Doctors think that Karen may have suffered a small stroke while under anaesthesia.

Whilst most people with FAS suffer from stress or depression because of their change in accent, Karen has embraced it. Karen said her new accent has made her more outgoing and a great conversation starter.

It would be a great conversation starter wouldn’t it? If I spoke with a British accent, people would naturally ask am I from England. I would go on to say ‘No I’m not, I just woke up with this accent’. I have a rare condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome’. This would be a very interesting conversation, I assume a lot of people would not know about this rare condition – I think they would be very curious. I should experiment with this idea one day… I need to work on my British accent first.

It makes me think, actors can learn to put on different accents for movie roles. I wonder if people who have FAS can be taught to speak in their old accent? Another interesting fact, there are no cases of children with FAS? Why does it occur in adults only?

I attempted to contact the doctor that diagnosed Karen with FAS, Dr Ted Lowenkopf for some further information about FAS. He is the Director of the Providence Stroke Centre in Portland, USA. You can imagine how busy he is. He hasn’t replied to my yet, if he does reply I will let you all know.

Kpop’s Kim Hyun Joong interesting interview


My sister absolutely loves him. When I was in Korea, I bought a poster of him just for her. I had to be extra careful carrying it around because I didn’t want it to be creased.

After hearing her go on and on about how Kim Hyun Joong is better than Rain. I decided to watch some of his interviews on youtube. What surprised me about him was his off beat humour. I kind of like that about him, his thought process is very different.

A lot of celebrities tend to give the ‘right’ answer in interviews; they don’t really let their personalities shine through. I think they have been coached too much by their PR people. But, Kim Hyun Joong is unlike that, he answers questions naturally and sometimes he gives oddball replies.

For a photoshoot he did on the TV Show ‘We got married’, they were doing a romantic photoshoot with him and pop star HwangBo. The photographer wanted to take a picture of Kim kissing Hwang Bo on the cheek. He felt awkward about it and he said something like ‘Do I have to do that? I don’t even kiss my mum!” I fell off the chair in hysterics when he said that.

In a recent interview on KBS Entertainment weekly he was telling the host that when his fans tell him they love him, they want to marry him – He is actually hoping that his fans find a nice guy and get married. Kim goes on to say that he can’t have a normal life because of his profession. When he sees his fans going to his concerts pregnant, he feels really warm and happy inside for them.

Isn’t Kim Hyun Joong’s perspective on things really interesting? You should watch some of his interviews on youtube, he is quite funny.

CherriiPOP Season 3 Recap



Listen to podcast:
Cherriipop Season 3 Finale - Season recap by CherriiPOP

I can’t believe another season of CherriiPOP has just ended. This is our 3rd season on air and it’s been the best season to date. Some highlights from this season include:

- Rain being named number 1 on Time’s 100 most influential list. That was really exciting. Rain attended the Time’s 100 party and met Sting! Rain tweeted a photo of him and Sting. Rain was stoked to find out that Sting knew who he was.

- On this season, I had a few stories about governments helping the public with their dating lives. In Japan and Singapore, leaders are concerned over the nation’s low birth rate. By matchmaking the public, Leaders hope this will lead to marriage and then babies.

- I had guests join me in studio this season. Thank you to everyone who came in. My friend Ben came in studio to teach us some Japanese.That podcast is the most listened to CherriiPOP podcast in history. That’s really awesome.

- We’ve had quite a few kung fu stories this season. Hong Kong flight attendants learning kung fu for good health and self defense from scary passengers. The kung fu cleaning lady in Beijing – She has been given the nickname ‘Aunty Broom’

- Japan is still recovering from the devastating natural and nuclear disasters. Celebrities have helped in the Japan relief effort. Our thoughts and prayers are with Japan.

I love this show and it is a big joy for me to come in studio each week to chat to you and play your favourite tracks. I hope you have enjoyed listening to the show. I really want to thank you for all your support. Our online fanbase is growing. We currently have 42 facebook likes, 38 twitter followers, 2 youtube subscribers, 7 soundcloud followers. Thank you so much everyone.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

I sing a new CherriiPOP Promo

What do you guys think? I had fun mixing up my voice.

Cherriipop Show Promo - Bubbles by CherriiPOP

Original Mix
Cherriipop Show Promo - Pop by CherriiPOP

Mum's Voiceover for CherriiPOP

My mum recorded a CherriiPOP promo for me =) It was very easy to convince her, she did radio in her youth. She's got a great radio voice. Have a listen:

Cherriipop Promo - Mum voiceover by CherriiPOP

Friday, June 17, 2011

CherriiPOP show playlist - 17/6/11

Thank you all for tuning in for our 2nd last show of season 3. I hope you enjoyed our movie mania show! Remember to send in your song requests and dedications of the season finale next wk.

Here is the show's playlist.
8eight - You are amazing
JuJu - Suano ni naretara
Quruli - Muramasa
Alice Nine - Blue Flame
Beast - Fiction
Mihimaru GT - Omedetou
Perfume - Love the world
Rain - Rainism

Tune 7pm in next week for our special season finale!!!

Movie Review - Love for Life 2011



Listen to podcast for detailed review
Love for Life 2011 Cmovie review by CherriiPOP



This is an emotional drama starring Ziyi Zhang and Aaron Kwok. This film is a love story between 2 people with HIV. They try to value to the very little time they have left together.

It explores some really tough issues in society. A very deep film.

HK Movie Review - Don't go breaking my heart (2011)



Listen to podcast
Dont go breaking my heart 2011 HK movie review by CherriiPOP

Check out the theme song 'Love is Simple' by David Tao


It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of romcoms. I feel that I’m a walking encyclopedia on this topic, I’ve seen so many romcoms under the sun. A lot of them have become predictable, with movie makers recycling ideas.
I’ve worked out the basic formula of the romcom:

• A love triangle – A romcom always needs tension in relationships
• A rich guy in the love triangle – He adds that fairytale, opulence factor to the movie. Giving the girl the stars, the moon... so to speak
• The guy next door, in love triangle – He’s the one that pic

This leads me to my next movie review. HK romcom 'Don't go breaking my heart'. This is a great romcom film, one of the best I have seen. This film introduces a lot of new elements, reinvigorating the overdone romcom genre. This movie is fresh and fun.

Listen to podcast for a more detailed review

Any girl stuck in a love triangle with Louis Koo and Daniel Wu is super lucky! Gao Yuanyuan plays Chi Yan a woman who is unlucky in love. Her luck changes when she meets these 2 very different and very handsome guys Sean (Louis Koo) and Kevin (Daniel Wu). Sean is the arrogant rich guy who sets out to woo her in lavish style. Kevin isn't quite the guy next door, he looks like a bum but his character is very caring and sweet.

Louis Koo is so so HILARIOUS!!! He had me rolling on the floor laughing in some scenes. Other scenes he made me gush. Daniel Wu definitely brings a lot of warmth to his character. Gao Yuan Yuan character is very likable, she certainly has a tough decision to make.

Very funny film! Definitely a fave of mine alongside romcoms: Bridget Jone's Diary, Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The back up plan, My Tutor Friend, Love Actually to name a few.

3.5/5 stars

My Favourite Restaurants in Melbourne

For the best sushi in town, I recommend this sushi restaurant in South Yarra:

Uta Sushi Bar
31 Chambers Street, South Yarra VIC 3141



Everytime I think of this place, my mouth waters. They make the best california rolls on earth! It contains salmon, crap, cucumber, carrot, avocado, jap mayo... it's tastes devine! The fish is delivered fresh each morning, so you can expect the sashimi to melt in to your mouth.

I highly recommend the california rolls, sashimi, tamago. They are my personal favourites. All the sushi they make is delicious.

I have recommended this place to a lot of my friends, and they all agree that this is the best sushi in Melbourne.

They added 2 hot dishes to the menu: unagi (eel) on rice, seafood udon noodles. I was curious about these new additions to the menu, so I tried the udon noodles. It was quite underwhelming. I have a feeling that it was instant udon noodles. This place specialises in cold food, there isn't a hot stove on all day. I guess you can't expect a fantastic hot meal if the chef isn't working next to the stove.

But do try the sushi! It's brilliant.


The Best Korean BBQ Restuarant:

Sut Korean BBQ
Address: 970-972 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill VIC
Phone: (03) 9899 5900

Why is this place my fave? They cook the meat on coal. mmmm.... delicious. You know, when I went to Korea last year, I ate Kbbq almost everyday. You can imagine that when I returned home to Melbourne, I was sickkkk of it. I couldn't eat kbbq for five months. This was where I went to eat after my korea trip. It's really delicious. Because it was cooked on coal, it took a bit longer. There was six of us so we were waiting a while for the meat to get cooked. lol. If you love kbbq, you must check out this place too.

KMovie Review - Man From Nowhere (2010), Starring Won Bin



Listen to podcast

KMovie Review - The Man from nowhere 2010 by CherriiPOP



Korea is making a HUGE mark in the film industry, producing many brilliant, original and exciting films. The first film i’m going to review is - ‘The man from nowhere’ starring Korean heartthrob Won Bin. This movie was Korea’s highest grossing film last year. It has won numerous awards including: Best Actor, Best Movie at the Korean Film Awards, Grand Bell Awards to name a few.

It was about time that I check out this movie. Won Bin plays a Cha Tae-sik, a mysterious pawn shop owner disconnected from the world. So-mee a young school girl sees Cha Tae-sik as her only friend. She likes to talk to him a lot, even though he is a man with few words. She hides out at his place when her mum’s boyfriend is around. On the surface Cha Tae-sik appears to be a cold person, So-mee brings out a softer side in him and makes him care again.

So-mee’s mother steals drugs from the mob and stashes it in a camera bag and pawned it at Cha Tae-sik’s pawn shop. The mob got very angry and kidnaps So-Mee and her mother. Soon they go after Tae-sik for the drugs. Tae-sik hands over the drugs in exchange for So-Mee and her mother. The mob has other plans for Tae-sik. Tae-Sik complies and finds out that the mob set him up. Now the mob and the cops are after him. We soon learn about Tae-Sik’s shady and deadly past. All hell breaks loose in his quest to save So-Mee and her mother from the mob.

I found myself glued to the screen while watching it! I was on the edge of my seat hoping that Tae-sik would find and save So-mee. There are a few disturbing scenes because the mob are in the organ harvesting trade - it’s not too graphic but it is still disturbing. I have to say this is an incredibly violent film. I think it is the most violent film I have.

Won Bin really impressed me in this film, especially in the fight scenes. The fight scenes were so rough, so realistic. It looked like they were getting badly hurt.

In moments when his character was feeling vulnerable, you really feel for him. It’s really easy for you to feel disconnected from a character that is so dark and has little to say, but Won Bin made his character likable for the audience. The dynamic between Won Bin and the young actress that played So-Mee, Kim Sae-ron, was really moving. They are 2 lost and lonely people that needed someone to care about them. So-mee saw Tae-sik has her father.

This is Won Bin's best performance to date. After starring in the Korean Hit Drama Series 'Autumn Love story', Won bin was cast in many leading men roles in romantic dramas and movies. Whilst his stardom was sky high, he had to take a break from his career to complete his compulsory military service.

When he was discharged in 2006, Won Bin wanted to depart from his heart throb image by taking on more challenging roles. He has been more selective of the roles he plays: since 2006 he has just starred in 2 movies: Mother (2009), Man From Nowhere (2010).

It was really interesting to watch Won Bin play such an intense, dark and complex person. He really owned this role. He has definitely shed the romantic comedy leading man label.

I was fascinated to find out that his role was originally written as a 60 year old man. After Won Bin read the script, he fought hard for the part. The script was re-adjusted to fit his age and physical ability.

I highly recommend this film to all action fans. And, I can’t wait to see what Won Bin does next. 5/5 stars

Friday, June 10, 2011

CherriiPOP Playlist for June 10th 2011

Thank you for tuning in once again this Friday evening. I hope you enjoyed our stories tonight and learning the meaning of my name Tam. Did you like listening to me speak Vietnamese on the show? I might do it more often =D

We have 2 more shows left this season, so remember to send in your song requests and dedications. Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Here is our playlist



Vanness Wu – Stuck on you

Jolin Tsai – Small wound

Big Bang – Tonight

Son Dambi – Bad Boy

Happiness – Friends

Girl’s day – Twinkle twinkle

Jang Geun Suk – Let me cry

SNSD – Oh!

The Vietnamese meaning of my name TAM

The Vietnamese definition of my name Tam (10610) by CherriiPOP

My name Tam is quite a common Vietnamese name. It’s a unisex name, its equally common for boys and girls.

I attended Vietnamese School for a large proportion of my life. I remember in my year 7 class there were 3 people (including myself) with the name Tam. I was the only girl Tam in the class. When the teacher did roll call, he had to differentiate between us by calling our middle name and then our first name.

Sometimes when the teacher picked on students to answer the question, he’ll say Tam. All 3 of us would go – who? It’s quite funny. It happened in like most classes.

A lot of people have asked if my name was short for anything like Tamara, Tammy, Tamato… But no my name is just Tam, short and plain in the English Language.

My name in Vietnamese isn’t fancy either. The girls in my Vietnamese class had really pretty Vietnamese names. They were named after flowers like blossom (dao), rose (hong), Chrysanthemum (cuc), even the word flower (Hoa). Other popular names are seasons: Autumn (Thu), Spring (Xuan). And then there are a lot of girls named Angel (Tien).

Back to my name Tam, I wouldn’t describe it as a pretty name in Vietnamese. But it has a deep meaning. My name is a bit hard to explain, it’s a bit of a layered name. That’s how I see it. My name means heart and mind – it has a spiritual essence.

I looked up the definition on a web dictionary vdict.com, this is what it said: Man’s good heart mind centre, heart. It’s a bit abstract.

While a lot of Vietnamese girls were named after flowers, heavenly beings, seasons. I was named after 2 body organs. The upside is, they are important organs. One is the control centre, the other is the engine. That’s the meaning of my name.

Let’s get in to the sound of my name. If I pronounced my name in Vietnamese it is Tam. It sounds like the word ‘dumb’ in English. My name has a soft ‘t’ sound. So Tam. My siblings tease me and call me ‘dumb’. Hey ‘dumb’. You’re ‘dumb’.

When I was I think 7 years old. My uncle asked me, do you know what your name means? I had no idea, so I shook my head. My mum hadn’t explained to me what my named meant yet. So my uncle points to a toothpick and says “That’s what your name means toothpick.

I’m like “toothpick?”

I go running to my mum and asked her, “does my name really mean toothpick?”

She goes “NO! The two words sound the same but they are spelt differently. Your name has a hat accent on the a; and toothpick has a wok accent on the a.”

Then she went on to explain what my name meant.



I can make a whole stand up routine about the meaning of my name name. Aren’t languages fascinating?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Odd Things I saw - Sexy cabbage ladies artwork

Exotic cabbage artwork -110610 by CherriiPOP





While I was surfing the net this week, I came across these cool artworks by Chinese artist Ju Duoqi. She makes sculptures entirely out of Chinese cabbage. The sculptures are of women in sexy and classy poses. She named this project ‘The fantasies of chinese cabbage’.

The use of cabbage in the sculptures is quite amazing.I will never look at a Chinese cabbage the same.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama arrives in Melbourne

HH Dalai Lama arrives in Melb (110610) by CherriiPOP


The Dalai Lama arrived in Melbourne today. Interestingly, my friend went to the airport to pick up a friend and she saw the Dalai Lama there. I’m quite envious of her because I would love to meet the Dalai Lama.

One of my favourite books is ‘The art of happiness’. The book is very fascinating. I read it when I need to put things in perspective. The book is a blend of Buddhism and science.

In the book the Dalai Lama says that our purpose in life is to be happy. Happiness is a feeling of deep satisfaction. The benefits of being happy include better health, a better immune system. It’s hard to summarise the book in a few minutes. I highly recommend this book to everyone - it is a life changing book.

Last year during the Dalai Lama’s Melbourne visit, he granted Hamish and Andy an interview. This year the Dalai Lama granted Dave Hughes from the 7pm project an interview. It was very funny. The Dalai Lama has a brilliant sense of humor. Hughesy asked the Dalai Lama to bless his football team to win the footy final. The Dalai Lama said yes I will bless the team but there is no guarantee.

The Dalai Lama is here in Australia for a series of teachings and talks. If you would like to attend, you can visit his website www.dalailama.com for more information.

Health Benefits of Bilingualism

Health Benefits of being Bilingual -Cherriipop110610 by CherriiPOP

Being bilingual is quite handy. I can converse with my elders, they don’t speak a lot of English. In Vietnamese restaurants I can read the menu, it’s always good to know what you’re ordering.

Besides the social benefits of being bilingual there are also health benefits. One of my favourite twitterers Daniel Keogh, the science reporter for ABC. He recently tweeted an interesting article from the New York Times called ‘The Bilingual Advantage’. You can follow him on twitter @ProfessorFunk; his tweets are really fascinating stuff.

In the article ‘The Bilingual Advantage’, cognitive neuroscientist Ellen Bialystok talks about her 40 years of research on how bilingualism sharpens the mind. One of the interesting findings was: the regular use of 2 languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.

Dr Bialystok, a distinguished research professor at York University in Toronto has been awarded a $100,000 Killam Prize last year for her contributions in the field.

Her PhD thesis was on ‘how children acquire language’. This led her to study bilingualism throughout her research career. She started out by asking ‘How does the acquisition of a second language change thought?’

She explains that the brain has the executive control system that keeps you focused on what is relevant and discards the distractions. This system allows you to multi-task; you can hold 2 different things in your mind at one time and switch between them.

When a person uses 2 languages regularly, both languages pop up in the brain and the executive control system has to sort through the information and focus on what is relevant. Overall bilinguals use this system more and the regular use of it makes the system more efficient. Bilinguals use this system more, they are better at multi-tasking.

From her research, she found that normally aging bilinguals had better cognitive functioning in comparison to normally aging monolinguals. She further studied Alzheimer’s patients and found on average, the bilinguals showed Alzheimer’s symptoms 5-6 years later than monolinguals.

Dr Bialystok’s research is fascinating. It gives you more reasons why learning another language is beneficial.

You can read more about her research here:
http://esciencenews.com/dictionary/ellen.bialystok

Source: New York Times

Saturday, June 4, 2011

CherriiPOP show podcast - 3rd June 2011

Thank you for tuning for this week's show! We've got more podcasts uploaded on our soundcloud page - have a listen and let me know what you think.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Here is the playlist
2pm - Take off
Beast - Fiction
Secret - Starlight, Moonlight
FT Island - Hello Hello
Nerdhead feat Kana Nishino - Brave Heart
IU - Hold my hand
Kana Nishino - If
Beni - Yura Yura
Rain - Love Song

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Stars Unite for Japan

Celebrities have sent their love and support to Japan in a video called ‘Stars Unite for Japan’. The video includes messages from Leonardo Dicaprio, Clint Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, Maggie Q.



Japan still needs your help. You can visit the website www.uniteforjapan.org to find out how you can help.

On the homepage of the uniteforjapan website, actor Ken Watanabe writes:

A few months have passed since the deadly earthquake struck Japan, but hundreds of thousands are still living in shelters and many are reporting increased rates of fatigue, stress, and insomnia. In addition, a growing number of children are developing mumps, asthma, and pneumonia and other illnesses related to stress. Two months later, Japan still needs your help. If you haven’t already done so, please support by making a donation. No contribution is too small, and if we work together, we can make a difference

In a tweet - Miranda Kerr wearing Korea's Han Bok

There is always something interesting happening in twitterverse. Well this week, Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr tweeted that she was going to Korea for work. While she was there she did an interview on MBC wearing Korea’s traditional dress the Han Bok.



She looks really pretty wearing the Han Bok. You can follower her tweets @MirandaKerr. Watch out for this interview on youtube.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

When I was in Korea last year, I wore the Han Bok for photos. While wearing it, I felt like a little girl because the skirt is so big - like a princess’s dress. The Han Bok is very comfortable to wear. I took about a zillion photos around the palace wearing the Han Bok LOL!

Japanese Government helping singles find love

The Japanese government has set up a dating site to help singles find a life partner. Isn’t that fascinating! You would think that the government would have more urgent matters to worry about that the public’s dating life. I can’t imagine the white house worrying about setting a dating site for American people.

This issue is a highly important matter for Japan leaders – they are concerned of the low marriage and birth rates in the country. They believe that healthy marriages and growing families create stable societies. By matchmaking singles up, they hope to increase the national birthrate.

Earlier this year I had a similar story about the Singaporean government planning to help matchmake their people. Now Japan is following in their footsteps.

The website is JapanDatingSite.com. I had a quick visit to the website, it doesn’t look like a government website. It’s free to sign up. The JapanDatingSite.com is part of the World Friends Network – the leading multi-lingual travel and language network. The website isn’t purely for dating (although the website name suggests that it is) - people can make friends, find language tutors, travel buddies on the website as well.


Source: sbwire.com

Meet Aunty Broom - Kung Fu Cleaner

Listen to the podcast
Meet Aunty Broom - Kung Fu Cleaner (Cherriipop110604) by CherriiPOP






I’m going to introduce a new segment to the show, called Meet this person. Last week I introduced you guys to champion hot dog eater Takeru Kobayashi. I enjoyed that story so much, so I decided to make it a regular show segment! There are so many cool, fascinating people in this world to meet.

This week, I would you to meet Aunty Broom. Who is Aunty Broom? Well her name is Zhang Xiufang and she is a street cleaner in Nanjing, China. She is no ordinary cleaner; she cleans with STYLE by doing kung fu moves. She twirls her broom like what Jackie Chan would do in an action sequence. She has flexibility like a gymnast - she can do some pretty cool moves with her broom.

Her video of her awesome cleaning moves has gone viral on the web. Netizens have affectionately given her the nickname of Aunty Broom.

Aunty Broom has created a series of broom exercises based on her Tai Chi training. She has taught the exercises to her colleagues and also encouraged more labor workmates to exercise during their work break.

She says that “Street cleaning in exhausting and tough, so the best way to ease muscle is doing exercises with any thing at hand, like a broom.”

The Ultimate Life Size Pillow Girlfriend for Japanese men

Listen to podcast
The new pillow girlfriend released by CherriiPOP



A story I had on the show last year was - middle aged Japanese men having pillow girlfriends. These men had given up all hope of finding a real girlfriend, so they resort to having virtual girlfriends. Do you guys remember this story (link to story)? It is very fascinating.

The pillow girlfriends are printed pillow covers of cute, young anime characters. The men would carry their girlfriends everywhere like on shopping trips,to work... They also take their pillow girlfriends on dates to the movies, restaurants and even on holidays.

In August, a new pillow girlfriend model will be released. Instead of hugging a normal sized pillow, people can now hug a life sized pillow girlfriend that has two arms. The shape of the pillow is like a cross. The pillow girlfriend can now hug the owner back.

The height of the pillow is 160 cm (that’s almost as tall as me), and the arm span is 50 cm.

The picture on the pillow cover is a bit disturbing - well all pictures of pillow girlfriends are disturbing because they are sexually suggestive.

Some of the men were quoted to saying they were very happy in their virtual relationship with their pillow girlfriends. If for some reason they were not happy with their current pillow girlfriend, they can chuck her out for this new life size pillow girlfriend.

Planking hits North East China

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Planking hits China (Cherriipop110604) by CherriiPOP





The fad that is taking on the world, ‘planking’ has reached north east China. Planking is when a person lies face down somewhere and their photo is taken and uploaded on the web. A man has uploaded some photos on the web of him planking around north east china. It’s pretty cool to see plank on stairs, garden beds, recycle bins.

Planking sounds very simple and safe but a lot of Australians have pushed planking to the limits by planking on high rise buildings. This has caused many injuries and even death. People shouldn’t risk their lives for an activity that should be harmless fun. If you plank, think about safety first and not how cool the photo will be. Safe planking everyone.

Source: Sina.com