Korean actress Lee Hana performed a few songs at the Grand Mint Festival 2008 on October 18 at Seoul Olympic Park in what should be her first stage performance since making her professional acting debut [via K-popped]
The 26-year-old actress is known for her musical capability. Her farther is a composer, and she studied music in university. She once said in an interview that she thought she would become a singer, but somehow started off as an actress (which she is doing pretty well anyway).
Lee Hana did show her singing talent on a few occasions in variety shows and in TV dramas, but this is probably the first time she sang in a public event at such level. I guess she was covering some songs from other artists because she has not released an album yet.
Sharing a couple of videos below… the first one is said to be Hana’s performance at her graduation ceremony, covering “Be Be Your Love” by Rachael Yamagata; while the second a short snippet of her singing in Korean drama “When Spring Comes”…
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Music video of Eat You Up, the English song that supposedly marked Korean pop star BoA’s American debut… [updated with the new March 2009 version]
I shall refrain myself from commenting about this song anymore; I think I’ve talked enough since her American project was announced last month. So, best of luck.
BoA’s news
Next: BoA at YouTube Live Tokyo
Previous: BoA’s Eat You Up leaked on MySpace
Quan Com Pho is a Vietnamese restaurant in Hanoi. Found this place via a travel guidebook during my Hanoi visit in July 2008, and the restaurant seemed pretty promising on some online reviews… thus giving it a try.
Their menu was quite different from what I had at other Hanoi restaurants; their food was kinda like a fusion of traditional Vietnamese cuisine with some new cooking ideas.
Sticky rice rolls with roast meat… quite a gem
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Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit
The above phrase is the full name of Krung Thep, Thai’s capital city which is more commonly known as Bangkok among foreigners. For this, Bangkok is recognised by Guinness World of Records as the capital city with the longest name.
The translation… “The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam.” [via Wikipedia]
It took about 12 seconds to pronounce the name (as per this video)… amazed?
Some interesting culture and places in Hong Kong; as featured in the 6th episode of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) season 3.
Central
Central is the major business district and also the administrative centre of Hong Kong; the area probably has the highest concentration of skyscrapers in Asia.
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Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou’s latest album, “Capricorn” (魔杰座), is officially released today (Oct 15) across Asia. Cool album cover; and his first promotional track “Fragrance of Rice” (稻香) sounds pretty nice (music video after the pics)…
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American born idol Leah Dizon, 22, who makes her fame in Japan, shocked her fans at the end of a concert in Shibuya on Tuesday (Oct 14) with the announcement of her marriage and pregnancy [via Tokyograph]
Leah’s wedding was held last Friday at Hilton Tokyo Hotel in Shinjuku. Her husband is a Japanese stylist (in his 20s) whom she first met around a year ago while working on a CD cover. The couple should be expecting their baby around March 2009.
Check out the video of Leah making the announcement at the concert [thanks to bb]
Enjoy your wedding life Leah and have a healthy baby.
[Update] Leah is a happy mother
A Buddhist temple in Thailand, is holding rituals for devotees to ‘die and reborn’.
Everyday hundreds of people would visit the Wat Prommanee temple in Nakhon Nayok, about 100km northeast of Bangkok, to participate in the ritual. The devotees would lie in coffins for a few minutes while the monks chant some prayers… and then rise from the coffins believing that they are cleansed of their past and ready for a new life [more on IHT]
The temple has been running the ceremony for more than three years, and its popularity seems to be ever growing with up to 700 visitors per day during weekends. The attendees would pay 100-180 bath (~ USD3-5) to partake in the ceremony.
Speaking of superstition.
