A funny Japanese commercial for Ajinomoto Stadium…
Ajinomoto Stadium is officially known as Tokyo Stadium (東京スタジアム) and is located in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in March 2001, it is the first stadium in Japan that offered its naming rights, which was sold to Ajinomoto Co. for a 5-year period (Mar 2003 to Feb 2008), thus the name Ajinomoto Stadium.
The stadium is the home of the J. League football teams F.C. Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy 1969.
16-year-old Japanese golf prodigy Ryo Ishikawa has become a professional golfer; he made the announcement last Thursday (Jan 10).
Ishikawa shocked the golfing world in 2007 when he becomes the youngest golfer to win a Japanese male tournament by winning the Munsingwear Open in May. He can now add another record to his bag… as the youngest pro in Japanese golf history.
The 16-year-old has become a sensation in Japan after winning the Musingwear trophy, with large crowds following him around at every tournament he plays. He got a nickname from his fans, hanikami oji (bashful prince) for his soft-spoken manner and cute looks.
Thousands of people taking part in an ice-fishing contest on a frozen river in South Korea…
Ice-fishing contest is the highlight of Korea’s Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival, which was held in every January of the year.
Hwacheon is located in northern Gangwon-do province; while Sancheoneo is a mountain trout indigenous to this particular region of Korea. Besides fishing, the Hwacheongang River also plays host to ice bobsledding, ice soccer and ice skating during the festival.
You can read more about this festival on Tour2Korea, the official Korea tourism guide site.
South Korea’s MBC news has replaced their news anchor, Moon Ji-ae after enormous pressure from public. Moon Ji-ae was criticised for laughing at the end of live news on Jan 7.
Frankly, it was just a small giggle (video below)… it was inappropriate but not bad enough to cost her the job if it was happening on a common day. Unfortunately though, the headline of the day was a warehouse blast that killed 40 in Icheon; the public was critical of the laughing incident because of the circumstances.
MBC spokesperson has responded that they won’t be reinstating Moon Ji-ae in near future for the news anchor post. Her works on other shows are however not affected at the moment.
Some Chinese girls are training at the Beijing Foreign Affairs School (BFAS), one of the state-run schools responsible for producing hostesses for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
These girls, mostly 16-18 of age, are among thousands of candidates vowing for the 380 places as Olympic hostesses responsible for carrying the medals during the prize-giving ceremonies at this summer’s Beijing Olympics.
Besides the stewardess-like-training, the girls have to meet the specific requirements of height, weight and body proportions to begin with. They also need to learn about Olympic history, foreign languages and other mannerisms etc.
208 Shanghai taxi drivers had grouped together on Dec 29, 2007 to form a display of the Olympic logo, and utilised 33 taxis to form the number 2008 as a show of support for Beijing Olympic Games, which is scheduled to run on August 8-24, 2008.
The Korean Army has released a theme song performed by popular girl band the Wonder Girls. Army official said on Thursday (Jan 10) that the Army Song is part of their efforts to promote a young and friendly image to the public.
My take though, is that the video is trying to tell the young men that joining the army is a proud thing to do (girls will love ya). Korean men have to serve their mandatory military service for 24 months after the age of 18 (latest by 28) unless exemption is given under special circumstances.
Korean movie “The Best Moment of Our Life” was premiered on Thursday (Jan 10). The movie is based on the South Korean women handball team in Athens 2004 Olympics, which they defy all odds to reach the finals to play reigning champion Danish. The Koreans lost the game eventually on penalties after extra time.
The movie focused on the team preparation before the Olympic Games. The movie is directed by Lim Soon-rye and starred Moon So-ri, Kim Jung-eun, Uhm Tae-woong, Kim Ji-young and Jo Eun-ji etc.
The movie is also known as “The Best Moment”, “The Happiest Moment of Our Life”, “The Glorious Moment of Our Life” or “Forever the Moment”. I am not sure of official title yet.
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