Japanese starlet Maki Horikita is crowned Miss Cotton 2008. Eiko Koike is named as Mrs Cotton while TOKIO’s Taichi Kokubun the Mr Cotton.
The 5th Cotton USA Awards, meant to promote the cotton industry in Japan, were presented on May 14 in Ebisu, Tokyo. The annual awards are given to celebrities to celebrities who possess the ‘softness’ and ‘freshness’ like cotton.
That’s just about the weirdest award I have heard of.
Korean superstar Rain was interviewed by Time with readers-submitted questions…
Some good questions, and good answers; definitely sounds better than the interview I made. Still need to improve his English obviously, but kudos for the effort… at least he tried.
Teachers washed their students’ feet at a Seoul high school on May 14, a day before Teachers’ Day to thank students for respecting them…
The foot washing ceremony is derived from the Christianity’s Maundy Thursday where Jesus Christ washed the feet of his twelve apostles to express his love before the last supper. [Asianoffbeat]
Jiufen (or Jioufen) is a small town in northern Taiwan famous for its nostalgic old street, food and ocean view. Jiufen was a prosperous gold mining town since 1890s but its popularity faded as the gold resource was depleting since 1950s.
Jiufen was given a new life in 1989 when award winning movie “A City of Sadness” (directed by Hou Hsiao Hsien and starred Tony Leung etc.) was filmed there. Jiufen has become a popular tourist spot since then and a favourite weekend getaway location for Taipei folks.
The Zimbabwean Central Bank has introduced a new Z$500,000,000 bank note on May 15 in a bid to tackle cash shortages because of the rampant inflation.
That’s half-a-billion Zimbabwean dollars bank note, which sadly converts to only about USD2… being a billionaire in Zimbabwe means nothing much at all.
Zimbabwe is facing hyperinflation since 2004, with their annual inflation rate skyrocketing to 165,000% in February 2008… by far the highest in the world (2nd placed Iraq has an estimated inflation of 60%).
You can read more about the history of the Zimbabwean dollars via Wikipedia, but be prepared to be bombarded by all the extravagant numbers.
A pair of Yubari melons are sold for 2.5 million yen (~ USD23,800) in this harvest season’s first auction on May 13 at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Markets. The price is a record high, surpassing the 2 million yen a pair fetched last year. [Kyodo]
Yubari melons are known for their high quality and sweet taste, and are popular summer gifts in Japan; an average Yubari melon could cost USD50-100.
Giving gifts to corporate partners and clients is a traditional Japanese business custom. It’s usually done twice a year in mid-winter and again in mid-summer.
Chilli, a 6ft 6in tall Friesian bullock, is as big as a small elephant.
His owners have contacted the Guinness Book of Records who are currently assessing his credentials and comparing them to other big bovines.
The 9-year-old bullock lives at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, UK. Despite his grand stature, Chille only grazes on grass during the day and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat.
The closest in height (in Britain) to Chilli was one recorded in Dorset at 6ft 1in in 2007. The current British record holder is The Colonel at 6ft 5in tall, but he died in 2005.
The world’s tallest bovine at the moment is 6ft 8ins Fiorino, who lives in Italy.
I thought it was a photoshopped image when I first saw the picture… it’s just so huge. Can’t believe that there is still another bull that’s taller than him.
An earthquake measuring 7.8 on Richter scale struck China’s Sichuan province on Monday (May 12) at 2.28pm Beijing time.
The death toll is 11921 at the time of writing, and the number is expected to rise as rescue missions are being carried on. The worst hit area is the Beichuan county, about 160 kilometres northeast of the quake epicentre in Wenchuan.
This is the worst earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which claimed around 250,000 lives.
