Omura was among the 16 finalists chosen from 276 video entries to showcase his moves in Tokyo on Sunday (Mar 30) in a contest organized by the Pen Spinning Association Japan.

You can watch Omura’s video entries here.

The NT$10,000 beef noodle (Image via Xinhuanet)

The restaurant is named “688 Beef Bowl”, and is located at Taipei’s busy Zhongxiao Road. The restaurant has been operating for 18 years and most of their beef noodles are priced around NT$150-300… the expensive noodles are only sold on limited basis and need to be pre-ordered.

I am not sure why the beef noodle cost so much; it seems like it’s not using special ingredients… the high cost was probably attributed by the quality of the beef. The restaurant owner has spent 5 years to search for the high quality beef to make this beef noodle… and a nice piece of beef could be really costly, obviously.

I guess the judges had to make some tough decisions determining the winner, which in the end ruled in favour of reigning TV champion Satoshi Kamiya.

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.

Japanese pianist Yosuke Yamashita playing the fiery piano (Image via Xinhuanet)

Yamashita performed the stunt in Shika town, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. His performance lasted for 10 minutes before the piano became unplayable.

Artistic or whatever… I can’t see anything remarkable about this stunt beside a waste (piano).

Wang Weiqing, 58, of Beicheng village, China’s Guangzhou Province, was walking along the pool with his own grandson when he spotted a boy struggling in the water and saved him.

Mr Wang telling his heroic stories (the kid is his grandson, not the rescued boy)

When the grandfather of the rescued boy arrived, he was amazed to see the rescuer was the same man who saved his son, the boy’s father, from the same pool 20 years ago.

Like father like son… thank goodness the saviour was around for both occasions.

The Chinese men was crowned on Sunday (March 2), their fourth successive title, after defeating South Koreans. The women claimed their eighth successive title a day earlier after beating the Singapore team.

Chinese men and women with their world championship trophies (Image via Xinhuanet)

The former England captain will also attend some private functions to meet his fans as well as endorsing some products for his sponsors.

David Beckham in a press conference in Seoul (Image courtesy of Newsen)

LA Galaxy will also play against Shanghai-Hong Kong United in Shanghai, China on March 5. There are news that they will be playing in Hong Kong on March 9 as well, but the schedule has not been confirmed yet.

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.

Zookeepers in Japan have only had to deal with three escapees in the last 40 years. Well, I guess it’s better be safe than sorry. [Hat tip to Neatorama]

In April 2006, Xu Ting found out that an ATM of Guangzhou Commercial Bank was deducting only 1 yuan from his account for every 1,000 yuan withdrawn. Xu subsequently withdrew 175,000 yuan (US$24,000) in 171 transactions while his friend Guo withdrew 18,000 yuan.

Guo was jailed for a year after turning himself in while Xu remained on the run for a year before being caught in May 2007. He was sentenced to life for theft in the first trial in November 2007.

The sentence sparked an outcry from local media and legal experts. Many people said Xu did not deserve the life sentence, and I agree. [Xinhuanet, via Asianoffbeat]

What he did was wrong… but life sentence? You got to be kidding me. Hope that Xu will get a fair punishment at the end of the retrial… I guess with so many media attention, the court would make a more reasonable judgement this time.

Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market is adopting new rules in April for visitors.

Tsukiji Fish Market is the largest fish market in the world and is famous for its tuna trading. The market has become an iconic travel spot in Tokyo thanks (or no thanks) to foreign travel shows and the blogging hype.

Tuna trading at Tsukiji Fish Market (Image source)

The influx of visitors has however created a hygiene risk and is interfering with normal business activities.

Specifically, Tsukiji workers complain that some tourists try to touch the fish, and that camera flashes interfere with hand signals used during auctions.

Tourists who arrive unaware of the new rules won’t be kicked out though, but the ill-mannered may be escorted off the premises by security guards, according to a spokesman.

Under the new rules… [Hat tip to Japundit]

* All outside visitors must submit an application in advance.
* Sightseers will be “asked to refrain from entering.”
* Visitors who show up unaware of the new restrictions will be allowed to enter but will be asked to abide by the new rules.
* No flash photos in the auction sites.
* No smoking except in designated areas.
* No babies, baby strollers or other large baggage.

I doubt any travellers would actually refrain themselves from entering… hope that the visitors could at least have the courtesy to follow other simple rules.

Chinese New Year started on Feb 7 this year (normally celebrated for 15-days), and people from all over the world, not just Chinese, are celebrating the festival…

Villagers in Tianxin Village, Jiangxi Province, China dressed up in full gear to light the firecrackers

Annual Nagasaki Lantern Festival in Nagasaki, Japan (Image courtesy of Jon from Japundit)

Lion dance performance in front of a large crowd in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It’s the year of rat… Chinese New Year decoration in Sentosa Island, Singapore

Lion dance performance at Philippine Stock Exchange in Makati, Philippines

Chinese New Year celebration in Kolkata’s Chinatown, India

It’s always a pleasure to see non-Chinese doing lion dance (London, UK)

Chinese New Year decoration at a train station in Berlin, Germany

Chinse New Year parade in New York, USA

Hee Haa… Kungfu performance during a parade in Mexico City, Mexico

More Kungfu from Havana, Cuba

A cultural performance in Panama City, Panama

Dragon dance performance in Sao Paulo, Brazil
(All images courtesy of Xinhuanet unless stated otherwise)