Odd Things I Saw - Toilet mural

To all you  love birds out there. When you want to do something romantic for your partner, what would you do? Wine, dine, buy some flowers or maybe jewellery.

Well, Chinese artist Wei Hua came up with an innovative idea and gift for his future wife. He created a wall of toilets and arranged roses in the toilet to form a love heart. I don't entirely understand how toilets came in to the equation of a romantic gift for his beloved.

The art piece is appropriately named the 'toilet waterfall'. A total of 6,000 roses were put in the toilets. 

Me personally, I think he should have just given her the 6,000 roses (that''s like a florist shop) that is romantic. I think the addition of toilets is overkill, but it definitely will leave a long lasting impression for her and the whole town. lol

Odd Things I Saw: Free! Playing cards with China’s Most Wanted

Would you want to play black jack or poker with images of criminals on the back of the cards?

Police in Guangzhou have devised a novel plan of capturing criminals by putting their photos on playing cards and giving them free to the public. Over 50,000 decks of cards have been given out to the public, in hope that they could provide tip offs to the police.

Each card contains an image of the criminal as well as their profile; information such as name, height, reward value, ID number for reporting tip offs. Claiming the Joker card is one of China’s most wanted criminals, with a reward value of 300,000yuan ($47,700USD)

Not surprisingly this campaign has received mixed feedback.

Some people felt uncomfortable playing cards while seeing pictures of criminals, feeling that it will ruin the mood of the game and make them feel scared.

Whilst others felt that this will allow them to help police and claim the reward.

This is not the first time that criminal playing cards were introduced. In 2005, police in Zhengzhou printed ‘criminal cards’ and gave them to the public. In 2003, the US military also developed a set of playing cards with the most wanted team members of Iraq’s former leader Saddam Hussein for their troops.

Reference: (Beijing Time) China Daily

Titanic 3D censorship in China

Due to China's strict censorship regulations, 'risque' scenes from Titanic have been cut. This caused the memorable scene of Jack drawing a nude pic of Kate being cut to only seeing her from the neck up.

I'm not entirely sure why this is making the headlines again because when Titanic first premiered in China over 10 years ago, those scenes were left on the cutting floor. So this isn't new news.

Director James Cameron appeared on the The Colbert Report this week (watch full episode)to talk about the censorship in China. Cameron stated that the Chinese authorities didn't want the movie goers to reach out to the screens during the film as this will cause a distraction to other viewers. Cameron was happy to go along with the censorship because Titanic 3D was doing great at the box office, raking in 20million in the first 2 days.

Colbert asked Cameron, 'Why Titanic 3D? Did you want all of us to feel as though we were drowning'. LOL! Hilarious interview, I highly recommend you all to watch the full interview.

Although Cameron is happy to go along with the censorship, many people in China are unhappy with the edit. Chinese males especially were looking forward to seeing those steamy scenes in 3D. Well, maybe they will get a chance to see the full version when Titanic 4D comes out in another decade or so LOL!

Reference: The daily mail

Odd Things I saw – Buddha pear

If you are craving for fruit, why not try a Buddha pear? These unique pears were created by Gao Xianzhang, a Chinese farmer.

Gao spent 6 years perfecting the design of the Buddha mould for the pears. The facial details of the Buddha pear are intriguing. You can see eyes, nose and a mona lisa smile.

These pears cost around 10AUD each. These pears have been selling quickly in his village.

'People seem to think they are cute or lucky and will buy them as soon as they're off the tree,' Gao explained.

Looking at the Buddha pears gives me a peaceful and happy feeling.

Movie News – Shanghai Calling

I’ve got some exciting movie news for you guys. Daniel has revealed some details of his new film ‘Shanghai Calling’.

The film has an exciting international cast which includes Eliza Coupe, Bill Paxton, Geng Le, Zhu Zhu & Alan Ruck.

Shanghai Calling is a romcom about American immigrants living in China. The official movie website was launched on November 1st.

I can reveal a bit about the movie’s plot:

Daniel Henney plays an ambitious New York attorney who was sent to Shanghai on assignment. To add some drama to the film, he gets in to a legal mess that could jeopardize his career. His luck changes as he meets people that help him appreciate Shanghai.

Some still shots of the film have been released on the website. No release date of the film has been announced. I will keep you posted.


For more movie news – check out the official website: http://shanghaicalling.com

Odd Things I Saw - The 'Bee Beard'

For this week's Odd Things I saw, I came across these odd pictures. Chinese men competed in the 'bee beard' contest held in Shaoyang of the PRC's Hunan Province over the weekend. The aim was to 'wear' as many bees as they can at one time.

The men were unprotected against the large sum of bees, wearing only shorts, goggles and nose plugs. A 42 year old Chinese farmer managed to wear 26 kg of bees. (26kg is the size of a child!!! Can you imagine having that many bees on you???)

Unfortunately, their valiant efforts did not result in breaking the Guinness Record. The title is held by Mark Biancaniello, who wore 39kg of bees in 1998.

Do not try this at home!

Meet Aunty Broom - Kung Fu Cleaner

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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.”

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

Kim Hyun Joong releases his debut solo album

Popular Korean singer/actor Kim Hyun Joong will be releasing his first mini album across Asia on June 8th. Key that date in fans. The album ‘Break Down’ will be released in Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore on the same date.

The track listing has been revealed, the song on the album are:
- Break down
- Intro (Let me go)
- Please
- Kiss Kiss
- Yes I will

Kim Hyun Joong the lead singer of the boy group SS501 decided to release a solo album a while back - it’s great to see that his album will be released very soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Exploding watermelons in China

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Cherriipop podcast 110520 - Exploding watermelons in China by CherriiPOP

Watermelons are exploding everywhere on farms in China. News have dubbed it the ‘Melon’ land mine. The image of exploding watermelons is quite amusing, it sounds like something the Mythbusters team would do in an experiment.

The cause of the exploding watermelons isn’t because someone was playing pranks. The reason is actually farmers overdosing crops with growth hormones. It’s kind of scary - How much growth hormone did they pump in to the watermelons to cause it to explode?

Around 20 farmers around Danyang city have been affected, with more than 45 hectares of watermelons exploding. Reports suggest that farmers with exploding melons were first time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron.

Chinese regulations don’t forbid forchlorfenuron, in the US it can be used on kiwi fruit and grapes.

Many farmers are devastated by seeing their melons exploding. I hope the next crop they grow the melons the old fashion way.

The first Hello Kitty theme park for China

Exciting news - A Hello Kitty theme park will be opening in China soon.

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News: Hello Kitty world to open in China in 2014 (show 13 May 2011) by CherriiPOP

Sanrio the Japanese company that created the icon character Hello Kitty, plans to build a theme park in eastern Zhejiang province in 2014.

Hideo Yamaguchi, a Sanrio Spokesman said “The potential for growth is in Asia. This agreement means a lot for Sanrio, as it will broaden our licensing business.”

Construction of the 95,000 square metre theme park is expected to begin in July.

Hello Kitty is one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world. Hello Kitty is adorned on stationery, jewelry, electronics (TV, toaster), clothing. This kitty is on everything you can imagine!

Being a fan of Hello Kitty, I own some T-shirts and stationary. Do you own any Hello Kitty stuff Ben?

More dedicated fans have Hello Kitty tattoos on their body. I was surfing the net and found an interesting photo of a couple having a Hello Kitty wedding theme! Last week on the show I talked about how people can buy replicas of Prince William’s and Kate’s wedding outfits for a Royal Wedding theme. Well for a Hello Kitty wedding theme, you can have your best man and maid of honour dressed up as hello kitty. That’s what the couple did in the photo!



Hello Kitty is taking over the world!

Ref: Japan Times

Awesome pictures of Flowery Buns for the Qingming Festival April 2011

These are the most prettiest buns I have ever seen, it's making me seriously hungry. These woman from Shanxi Province, China are making these 'flowery buns' to pay tribute to ancestors during the Qingming festival.

Highlight of 2011 - The global launch of the new pan Asian girl group BLUSH

All of last year we were following the exciting and largest search for the next top girl group in Asia - Project Lotus. Project Lotus set out to find the best talent from Philippines, China, India, Japan and South Korea in open auditions around Asia. Thousands of girls applied and if you remember I also tried my luck. In my audition tape I did a mashup of Justin Bieber and Natalie Bassingthwaite, it was quite tragic and unsuprisingly I did not make it through to the next round. Unlike me, the other contestants were unbelievably talented! After months of gruelling training and eliminations the five group members have been unveiled! The group members are Angeli Flores from the Philippines, Victoria Chan from China, Alisha Budhrani from India, Natsuko Danjo from Japan, and Lee Ji-hae from South Korea. Their chosen group name is BLUSH!!! Quite a feminine name for the girls.

Project Lotus Executive Producer Jon Niermann says Blush will release their exciting debut single in May, right after the Project Lotus reality/competition TV show has finished airing. Blush will be the first Pan-Asian group that will be launched globally in both the US, Europe and Asian market. The girls sound has been described as sweet and edgy, I really can't wait for their debut!

What do you think of the BLUSH?

Grammy Award Winning producer Eiliot Kennedy who serves as the creative director-producer for Project Lotus said that no Auto-Tune will be used on the tracks and there won't be too many ballads on the CD.

Kim Hyun-Joong to sing the Guangzhou Asian Games theme song

The Guangzhou Asian Games starts next week and it was announced that Kpop star Kim Hyun-Joong will sing the theme song. At the opening ceremony on November 12, Kim and four other artists will perform the Game’s official song ‘Sunshine Again’.

Kim won’t be singing in his native tongue, he will be singing the song in Chinese. That is quite impressive.

The Games will be broadcast across Asia, remember to tune in.

Ref: Korea Herald

Happy Weddings on 10-10-10

Many couples will be getting married this Sunday! Coincidence? No, in fact this date is an auspicious date to get married because the day, month and year are the same 10-10-10. In Asia, people believe that when you get married on this date you will live a happy life together. In the past, the dates 08-08-08 and 09-09-09 were highly popular for weddings for the same reason. In addition the numbers 8 and 9 are considered to be lucky numbers in China and Vietnam.

If you are planning to get married in the future there are two more dates that are considered auspicious 11-11-11 and 12-12-12. Key those dates in your diary!

Project Lotus Update – More Celebrity Judges are named

Exciting news! Members of the Spice Girls are signed on to judge and mentor the contestants on Project Lotus (names haven’t been disclosed yet, I would love Posh to do it). Hong Kong Superstar Karen Mok was also named as a judge along with former GRAMMY Foundation Chair Steve Schnur.

As mentioned in my previous entries, Project Lotus will be made in to a TV reality show that is slated to be broadcasted early next year. It won’t be anything like ‘Idol’, ‘X Factor’ because the public doesn’t get to vote for their favourite. The show will be purely based on the journey to find the superstar girl band. The judges will have complete control of selecting the girls that make up the band. It will be interesting to see if the public agrees with their decision once the members of the band has been unveiled.

The TV show plan to celebrate the good side of the girls characters only. It sounds like they want everyone to get along like a happy family, as seen in Masterchef. The majority of reality TV shows want drama and cattiness for entertainment value, like Top Model, Big Brother. So it’ll be interesting to see if Project Lotus will make good TV viewing.

The girls will be from five different countries so there will be cultural differences and possibly language barriers if their English isn’t strong. The girls would be in a competitive environment and I expect friction might occur. Creative director-producer Eliot Kennedy expects the girls to bond closely with each other and form a strong team network in this journey.

The five finalists from Korea have been selected! The lucky girls have not been unveiled to the public yet.

A total of 16 songs have already been composed by the talented songwriters that include Gary Barlow. Popular music in the five countries are uniquely different, would they try to blend it all in or give the girls a poppy sound like Spice girls, R’n’B sound like Pussycat Dolls. The question is how will Project Lotus make a musical impact to the world?

Miss Universe 2010

The biggest beauty pageant in the whole universe, galaxy was broadcasted on the 24th of August in the Party Capital of USA, Las Vegas. Beauties from 83 nations participated in this years Miss Universe competition.

I love watching Miss Universe, its part of my staple TV viewing for the year alongside the Oscars, Emmys, Logies. The glamour, the national costume contest, question time its all just so entertaining to watch.

Asia was well represented this year with China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and India taking part this year. Interestingly Vietnam withdrew from competition. Philippines did incredibly well this year making it to top 5. She had a lot of support from the audience, every time she was on stage her cheer squad cheered so loud for her. None of the other girls got quite the same reception.

Australia’s Jesinta Campbell, a fresh faced 19 year old Brisbane girl did Australia very proud with her 2nd runner up and Miss Congeniality win. Her National costume was a bit odd, she wore high heeled ugg boots… enough said lol, but she is proud of her costume and I think that is awesome.

The national costume contest is a highlight of the show for me. I love seeing the outrageously, bright, feathery over the top costumes the contestants wear. Paris wore the Eiffel Tower on her head. Maybe Australia should have worn the Opera House on her head? I thought China’s costume was very simple this year, not really a standout. The costumes are quite theatrical and huge! It must need its own suitcase when packing.

In the evening wear category, most girls chose soft pastel colours. Mexico wore a show stopping cherry red dress. She really stood out in that category and the dress had so much movement when she walked, it really flattered her body. She won the contest! Congrats to Miss Mexico!

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) July 22 - Aug 8. Lots of great films from Asian Cinema!

Movie lovers must check out the MIFF festival ! MIFF Showcases the best of world cinema. With over 50 countries participating in this year's festival, it's diverse program will surely cater for everyone's taste in film.

Here is an overview of the films from Asian Cinema in MIFF.

China
- 1428
- Apart Together
- City of Life and Death
- Like a Dream
- Petition
- The Search

Hong Kong
- Dream Home
- Like a Dream
- Love in a Puff

Indonesia
- The Dreamer

Japan
- Air Doll
- Beetle Queen conquers Tokyo
- Caterpillar
- First Squad, the moment of truth
- Kanikosen
- Mai Mai Miracle
- Summer Wars
- Symbol
- In a pig's eye
- Still in Cosmos

Malaysia
- Karaoke

Philippines
- For Y'R height only
- Independencia
- Lola

South Korea
- The Actresses (Interesting film, reminds me of the tv show 'The hills')
- Hahaha
- The housemaid (classic and remake versions)
- Paju
- Poetry
- A perm
- The wonder hospital

Taiwan
- Au Revoir Taipai
- Like a dream

Thailand
- A letter to uncle Boonmee

Vietnam
- Adrift

Enjoy the MIFF festival everyone!