Posts from — January 2007

There’s a feature in the current issue of Chinatown - The Magazine, about Ching-He Huang, a Taiwanese-Born entrepreneur who’s healthy soft drinks range and fresh, delicious foods are creating a stir (fry - haha). With stockists such as Harrods, Selfridges and Whistlestop, a TV series and a new book, she’s poised to become the best thing since sliced bread. Hm..

Ching-He’s website
Fuge Ltd website (her company)

Technorati Tags: Ching-He Huang, cuisine, Taiwan

Funky Buddha Machine. A gimmick? For less than $25, you might consider this gadget ephemera. Rather than describe it myself, here’s a quote. It might not be exactly pidgen English, but there’s a charm to the overzealous description given below.

“A unique ’soundbox’ from China, which is causing senstation worldwide. A totally dazzling item which causes jaw-dropping delight everywhere — Alan Bishop bought twenty-four of these on sight, Brian Eno bought eight (how’s that for apocalyptical math?). FM3 are a duo of Christian Virant and Chinese keyboardist and computer musician Zhang Jian — based in Beijing. The Buddha Machine is a hardware loop player, built kind of like a little AM radio (available in 6 different colors, shipped randomly), but without all the nonsense — total genius from out of nowhere.”

Buy it here

Find out more at FM3.com.cn

Technorati Tags: Buddha Machine, China, entertainment, gadgets

Uncrate.com posted these cufflinks with “beautifully rare Chinese cubes“. I’m not one for wearing cufflinks and I’m not too sure about the look, but these are fairly inexpensive and Uncrate seem to think they’re cool.

Technorati Tags: China, cufflinks, design, fashion

Here’s another Korean feat… Remember during Euro 2004, the T-Mobile adverts with that guy juggling a football with his feet? Well, here he is! Even if you’re not a football fan, you’ll have to be amazed by how cool this guy is.

He is Mr. Woo (not Wii, and unfortunately, not my namesake Wu) from Seoul, South Korea, and he is a world freestyle football champion as well as a world record holder.

From his website:

‘Mr Woo’ who is widely acknowledged as the world’s greatest football entertainer, can juggle the ball with his head, shoulders, chest, knees and, of course, feet. He is also a Guinness World Records holder after bouncing the ball on his head for five hours, six minutes and 30 seconds.

Find out more through these links:

WooSoccer.com
Windows Media Video file via Ebaumsworld.com
His entry in the “Book of Cool”

(I got the “Book Of Cool [2005]” over Christmas - tons of tricks and tips from experts in all kinds of cool things to do.)

Anyone know anyone cooler?

Technorati Tags: acrobatic, football, Korea, Mr Woo, sport

Google Video has this clip of mass acrobatics from North Korea. It’s set to a tune from UK musicians Faithless, called “I want more“. I’m not sure if its an official video for the track, but the mass synchronised backflips and flag waving must have taken some whip cracking!

I want more..

Technorati Tags: acrobatic, entertainment, Korea, sport

If stop-motion dancing Japanese toys float your boat, load up the following site:

“a site that features characters from the popular anime world of Yu-Gi-Oh, doing something they don’t ordinarily do: dance. It’s silly and fun — you mix and match the music and moves. Developer Timothy Harris photographed the actual toys in various poses to create the stop-motion animations.”

The quote is from Time.com which lists the site in their 50 Coolest Websites article. Beware though, its listed under the Time Wasters category, so if you’re a pro-productivity freak, scroll down to the previous post…

Yu-Gi-Oh Groove

Technorati Tags: entertainment, toys, Yu-Gi-Oh

Amazing 3D Figures and Computer Graphic Designs. Japanese artist Keisuke Kishi is highly renowned in Japan for his unique 3D works and the use of traditional Japanese motifs in his futuristic graphic illustration.

“All his 3D figures are handmade with a special type of clay and are individually hand-painted. Their sizes vary from 10cm to 110cm. Viewers will be mesmerized by the precise and minute detail on these figures. In these works Kishi successfully combines traditional Japanese images and objects from the Edo period (17th-19th century in Japan) with his own imaginative ideas to create a complex yet refined mixture of human beings and period objects in a futuristic setting.”

The Art of Keisuke Kishi

More images below…

Technorati Tags: art, illustration, Japan Edo Period, Japanese, Keisuke Kishi

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With the amount of space that China has, together with its economic growth, its not surprising the kind of things that can happen, particularly with creative industries such as architecture. Check out this concept which recently won the first prize award for an international design competition.

Its a 400 bed resort hotel in a spectacular water filled quarry in Songjiang, China. I’m sure it would be pretty awesome spending some time in a place like this, but the synergy of the aesthetic design with the landscape is so natural-looking and inspirational, that the exterior has to take first priority.

Waterworld in China (from The Cool Hunter)

Technorati Tags: architecture, China, design