Korean movie “Secret Sunshine” (밀양; Milyang) is the biggest winner with 3 major awards (complete list). Below are some pics from the event…

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung (best actor) and Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon (best actress)

Hong Kong based pop duo 2R

Taiwanese actor Chang Chen and Korean actress Song Hye-kyo

Hong Kong artists Kate Tsui and Miriam Yeung

Taiwanese actress Shu Qi and Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun

Chinese actress Joan Chen (best supporting actress)

Japanese actress Mika Nakatani and Korean actor Song Kang-ho

(Image via Dayoo, K-popped, Qq and Sohu)

Contrary to most of the fashion shows which only invite celebrity guests, TGC is opened to public with an affordable fee (¥3,000-10,000; ~USD30-100). [Hat tip to KN]

Make no mistake though, despite the cheap entrance fee, the show is still as glamourous as other top fashion shows, albeit more casual, with participation of top brands & models, and performances by popular artists (TVXQ, Leah Dizon, DJ Ozma etc).

The crowd and models at TGC 2008 Spring/Summer (Image via GW)

The first song is “Sweet Dream” by Korean girls group Redsox; and the second song is “If U Wanna” by another girls group Kara [Hat tip to Hopeisnear@Youtube].

If you are patient enough, you would spot Korean actor Jang Dong-gun in one of the picture with some stewardess. Korean actresses Han Ga-in and Nam Sang-mi also feature in the video too, as spokespersons for Asiana and Jeju respectively.

The 999m long wedding dress on display [Hat tip to Cri]

The red dress was purely hand made and took three months to be completed, with dozens of decorative phoenix figures knitted using golden yarn and jades.

Jang Geun-suk is South Korea’s rising star. The 20-year-old artist gained wide notice in late 2006 with popular drama “Hwang Jiny” and his popularity continue to boost with recent fantasy-martial-art drama “Hong Gil Dong”.

The clothing designs of volunteers, staff and technical officials for the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games were unveiled on Jan 20 by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games (BOCOG), as part of China’s celebration of the 200-day countdown to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. [Beijing2008]

BOCOG unveils uniforms for Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 2008

Uniforms for BOCOG staff are red while those for volunteers are blue and those for technical officials are grey. The uniforms feature “lucky clouds” – the same pattern used in the design of the Olympic torch… a delicate blend of Olympic concepts with Chinese characteristics.

Looks pretty cool to me.

New York based Hong Kong designer Vivienne Tam unveiled a collection of Mickey Mouse themed fashion outfits at Hong Kong Disneyland on Jan 21…

Models displaying the Mickey themed dresses (Images courtesy of Mainichi)

The fashion show was part of the “Year of the Mouse Celebration”, held by Hong Kong Disneyland to celebrate the upcoming Year of Rat (according to Chinese Lunar Calendar).

A Coming-of-Age ceremony (成人式; Seijin shiki) is normally held in the morning at local city offices where politicians and academicians will give speeches reminding the new adults of their social responsibilities.

The young adults would often visit a shrine after the ceremony to make their wishes before started partying (with plenty of drinks I guess).

Ladies coming-of-age are often seen wearing furisode (a style of kimono) on the day, which makes it a special day for otaku photographers as well…

Photographers’ paradise (Image courtesy of MyMapOfJapan)

(Image courtesy of Arditpg and Papageno2236)

Peace peace… (Image courtesy of Akumach)

Young adults in Kobe (Image courtesy of Japannavigator)

TSE female workers in kimono (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

The traditional Japanese costume didn’t bring much luck though, as the Nikkei 225 index was down 616.37 points on closing… their lowest in one and a half years.

Bae Yong-joon’s “The Legend” bags 8 awards and becomes the biggest winner of the MBC Drama Awards 2007. The award ceremony was held on Dec 30 in Seoul, with Shin Dong-yup and Hyun Young as the emcees.

Below are pictures of some Korean stars on the red carpet…

Bae Yong-joon in clutches because of injury sustained while filming The Legend

Gong Yoo and Joo Ji-hoon

Han Ji-min and Gong Hyo-jin

Jang Hyuk and Lee Junki

Lee Ji-ah (with her self-designed dress) and Lee Yoon-ji

Nam Sang-mi and Park Jung-ah

Park Shin-hye and Yoon Eun-hye (Image credits as labeled)

Some of the major awards winners…

Daesang (Grand Prize)
Bae Yong-joon (The Legend)

Top Excellent Actors
Kim Myung-min (White Tower) and Lee Seo-jin (Yi San)

Top Excellent Actresses
Gong Hyo-jin (Thank You) and Yoon Eun-hye (The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince)

Excellent Actors
Gong Yoo (The 1st Shop pf Coffee Prince) and Lee Jun-ki (Time Between Dog and Wolf)

Excellent Actresses
Han Ji-min (Yi San) and Nam Sang-mi (Time Between Dog and Wolf)

More pictures from 6th Korean Film Awards…

Hostess Song Yun-ah and special guest Park Jin-young (JYP) performed on stage

Ji Hyun-woo and Jung Il-woo

Lee Hana and Lee Young-eun

Kwak Ji-min and Lee Yeon-hee

Kim Min-sun and Lee Hye-young

Jung Kyung-ho and best supporting actor Sung Ji-ru

Jun Hye-jin and Kim Ji-soo

Hyun Young and Jo Eun-ji

Jin Goo and Andre Kim

The 6th Korean Film Awards was held last Saturday (Dec 1) in Seoul. “Secret Sunshine” (밀양; Milyang) was the biggest winner of the night, bagging the best movie, best director (Lee Chang-dong), best actor (Song Kang-ho) and best actress (Jeon Do-yeon) awards.

The winning trio from “Secret Sunshine”…
(L-R) Song Kang-ho, Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Chang-dong

Hostess for the event… Son Yun-ah

Best actress Jeon Do-yeon

Cho Seung-woo and Kim Hye-soo

Kim Tae-hee and Sol Kyung-gu

Son Yeh-jin and Kim Myung-min

Daniel Henney, winner of best newcomer (male) award

Han Chae-young

Jo In-sung

Kim Ah-joong

Joo Jin-mo

Son Tae-young

Jang Geun-suk

Chu Ja-hyun

Image credits as labeled, with reference from Ganjjang and Popseoul.

[More pictures on next post]

“The Show Must Go On” won the best movie and best actor award (Song Kang-ho); best director is won by Hur Jin-ho with “Happiness”; while Jeon Do-yeon, as expected, won the best actress with “Secret Sunshine”.

Below are pictures from the event (red carpet mostly)…

Best actor Song Kang-ho and best actress Jeon Do-yeon

Best supporting actor Kim Sang-ho and best supporting actress Nah Moon-hee

Kim Tae-hee and her co-star in movie “Ssawoom”, Sol Kyung-gu

Kim Ha-neul and Yoon Kye-sang

Kim So-yeon and Kim Kang-woo

Jang Geun-suk and Cho Han-sun

Choi Yeo-jin and Jeong Ryeo-won

Joo Jin-mo and Kim Min-joon

Park Si-yeon and Lim Jung-eun

Lee Min-ki and Shin Hyun-jun

Image credits as labeled, with reference from Ganjjang, K-popped and Popseoul.

[More pictures on next post]

Japanese model Yuko Ishisda
with My Chopstick Bra

The bra was introduced on November 7 in Tokyo to promote the use of reusable chopsticks instead of the the disposable wooden kind.

Japan is one of the largest users of disposable chopsticks (waribashi) in the world, probably the 2nd largest behind China.

China has recently announced their plan to stop the export of disposable chopsticks to reduce the deforestation. It is estimated that 25 millions trees are cut in China each year just to produce disposable chopsticks.

The good thing is that Japanese youngsters these days are having more awareness on environmental issues… carrying a pair of personal reusable chopsticks are seen as a trendy move.

The lingerie model Yuko Ishida is a chopstick carrier herself. I am not sure if she would want to wear that bra on daily basis though.

Below is a video that shows more details about the bra concept…

Some weird panda-themed fashion presented by Chinese conceptual artist Zhao Bandi at China Fashion Week in Beijing on November 4…

Bandi-Panda fashion (Image courtesy of Chinanews and Xinhuanet)