Posts from — October 2007

This flying bird ceramic plate is rather nice looking. It is hand painted and fired by Etsy seller Ola Design.

It comes with two holes either side of the plate with which you can rest the accompanying wood chopsticks. Sized 8 inches x 7 inches, this will set you back $25.

Flying Bird Plate on Etsy

Technorati Tags: ceramics, Chinese, chopsticks, flying bird ceramic plate, Japanese

I began thinking awhile ago, that the Chinese have too much money, but at least we get to see concepts like this Piano and Violin building come to life!

This unique piano house was built recently in An Hui Province, China. Inside of the violin is the escalator to the building. The building displays various city plans and development prospects in an effort to draw interest into the recently developed area.

Via WeirdAsiaNews

Technorati Tags: architecture, China, design, piano building, violin building

“Literally meaning pupa or chrysalis, beondegi are popular Korean street snacks, often dished out by the cupful to eager passers-by.

“The stewed and seasoned silkworm treats come highly recommended as bar bites. Next time you crave a quick mouthful on the go, grab a can of these crunchy chrysalises.”

Someone tell me these aren’t real!!

On Wired.com

Technorati Tags: beondegi, chrysalises, Korea, pupae, silkworm, snacks

Here’s another hilarious Japanese prank, played on unsuspecting semi-naked men, just winding down to relax in the massage room, after a hard day’s skiing…

Apart from what happens in the first half of the clip, watch until the second half where as if being through out in the cold, in front of bemused (and fully-dressed) skiers wasn’t bad enough, the unlucky victims are turbo-charged out and beyond!

Via TokyoMango

Technorati Tags: entertainment, humour, Japanese, prank

Triumph International (the makers of the Sloggi casual underwear brand) held a “Show Me Your Sloggi” contest earlier this week in Tokyo, to find “Japan’s best bottom“!

The company accepted photo entries of people’s underwear-clad backsides for its worldwide contest between August and the middle of September and viewers could vote for their favorite bottoms online.

Besides posing in Sloggi bras and panties, the ten contestants in the Japan contest, who passed the preliminary selection out of 112 online entries, showed off their skills such as dancing, playing an instrument, and even singing a traditional enka song in a skimpy S&M type of costume.

The winner goes on to the World Sloggi competition scheduled for the 31st October in Munich.

A couple more photos below…

Technorati Tags: fashion, Japan, Show Me Your Sloggi, Sloggi, Triumph International, underwear

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Square watermelons carved with the Olympic logo are displayed during a news conference by the Chinese Agricultural Association (CAEA) in Taipei, China, on October 17, 2007.

CAEA said on Wednesday that supermarkets in China and Taiwan have ordered around 50,000 square watermelons, which cost about 200 TWD ($6) each to produce.

Via Activate.us

Technorati Tags: China, Olympics, square watermelons, Taiwan

The Tokyo Auto Show which includes a range of cute, space-aged cars like the Nissan Pivo 2 below, a concept car that was introduced at an earlier preview event.

Looking at the direction the designs are taking, it would delight me if cars and other vehicles took on this kind of aesthetic as a serious approach to real, production items.

They seem like an extension to the smaller gadgets like phones and I’d happily imagine a future Japan packed full of cute, unusual and cool designs that make the cities look like something out of anime movies.

Via TokyoMango

Technorati Tags: cars, concept cars, ideas, Japan, Nissan Pivo 2, Tokyo Auto Show

MAD have created this new, cool looking 8″ Ninja Dunny, from Kidrobot.

Armed with  katana and shuriken accessories, MAD’s Ninja Dunny  will sell from tomorrow onwards in the standard blood-splattered white edition for $50.

Mixed in with the white editions are the chase black editions (1 in 12).

Via Vinyl Pulse

Technorati Tags: designer toys, Kid Robot, MAD, Ninja Dunny