YeinJee's Asian Journal » Asian Culture and Traditions

Deoksugung Palace royal guard-changing ceremony

Yein Jee — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:37:53 +0000

Went to Deoksugung Palace again two weeks ago to see the royal guard-changing ceremony, a re-enactment of the traditional royal practise. The show was cancelled during my first visit because of extreme cold weather.

The location I stood at wasn’t ideal for photoshoot, facing their backside most of the time lol. Still, here’s a few pics that’s worth a look…

Read the rest of this post »

Deoksugung Palace royal guard-changing ceremony from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Uzbek photographer guilty for ‘negative’ images

Yein Jee — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:24:25 +0000

Umida Akhmedova, a prominent photographer and film-maker in Uzbekistan has been found guilty of slandering the nation through her work which portrays people in Uzbekistan as backward and poor [more on BBC].

Akhmedova could face up to three years in prison, but the judge said she would automatically be pardoned under an amnesty. Below are some of her photography works in question…

Read the rest of this post »

Uzbek photographer guilty for ‘negative’ images from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Chinese New Year celebration in George Town, Malaysia

Yein Jee — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:36:10 +0000

Annual Penang CNY Cultural & Heritage Celebration in George Town, Malaysia. You can catch a few glimpse of Chinese traditional culture from the video…

George Town is one of the oldest cities in the country; part of the old quarter has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage.

Chinese New Year celebration in George Town, Malaysia from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Chinese paper cutting art

Yein Jee — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:42:22 +0000

Chinese paper cutting is a folk art with close to 2000 years of history. Below are some amazing samples of great craftsmanship; most of the graphics are symbols of luck and prosperity, animals & pets, as well as reflections of daily folk lives…

Read the rest of this post »

Chinese paper cutting art from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Chuseok 2009 special – Korean celebs in Hanbok

Yein Jee — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:43:12 +0000

Korean celebrities don in traditional Hanbok to greet the fans on Chuseok, Korean harvest festival. Some pretty women, a few hunks and a little kid in beautiful costumes; can’t remember everyone’s name regrettably…

FT Island

Read the rest of this post »

Chuseok 2009 special – Korean celebs in Hanbok from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Yoshida Brothers – Kodo music video

Yein Jee — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:42:55 +0000

Yoshida Brothers are Japanese musicians famous for playing the shamisen (三味線, lit. three flavour strings), a traditional Japanese music instrument.

Kodo (鼓動) was released in 2004 in the Yoshida Brothers II album; a remix version of the song was used for Nintendo’s Wii commercial in 2006.

Yoshida Brothers – Kodo music video from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The BIG Bibik & The Little Nyonyas

Yein Jee — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:53:43 +0000

The BIG Bibik & The Little Nyonyas is the latest project from my online friend Quachee. It’s an online cookshow showcasing the Peranakan (or Nyonya) cuisine.

Peranakan refers to descendants of foreign immigrants (primarily Chinese) who assimilated with the Nusantara community during the 15th & 16th century and created a unique culture of their own. Chinese-Peranakan is often referred to as Baba (male) and Nyonya (female).

The BIG Bibik & The Little Nyonyas revolves around a Peranakan grandmother teaching her grandchildren and friends on the art of cooking Nyonya dishes. Below are the first four (of eight) webisodes…

Read the rest of this post »

The BIG Bibik & The Little Nyonyas from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Ramen-bot, robots make noodles in Tokyo restaurant

Yein Jee — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:05:30 +0000

A Japanese ramen restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, is experimenting with two robotic-chef to cook the noodles; would be really cool if the whole restaurant’s operation is automated, with robots serving the dishes as well…

Ramen-bot, robots make noodles in Tokyo restaurant from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Japan

Yein Jee — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:49:01 +0000

The 4th Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, dubbed the world’s largest outdoor art festival, is currently held (July 26 to Sept 13, 2009) in the Echigo-Tsumari region, encompassing Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.

Artists from 38 countries collaborated with local residents and urban supporters to create over 350 artworks in rice paddies, abandoned houses, and closed schools etc. Check the event’s official website for more pics and details.

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Japan from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Bizarre baby throwing ritual in India

Yein Jee — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:40:36 +0000

A bizarre traditional ritual in India where babies are thrown from a height of 50 feet onto a cloth sheet held below for the sake of good health…

Devotees say no babies were injured during the ritual, which is practised annually by Muslims and Hindus in a village in western India’s Solapur district for 500 years.

Speechless.

[video via eltelbarker@Youtube]

Bizarre baby throwing ritual in India from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Philippines roasted pig parade

Yein Jee — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:53:05 +0000

Roasted pigs in costumes were paraded on the feast of St. John the Baptist, a hundred-year-old practise in the Philippines. Festival goers also got to sample the roasted suckling pigs (lechón), a famous Filipino delicacy, for free…

Philippines roasted pig parade from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Lucky wild boars at Indian temple in Malaysia

Yein Jee — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:44:39 +0000

An Indian temple in Taiping, Malaysia, is attracting hundreds of daily visitors hoping to get some luck by ~~wrestling~~ interacting with some wild boars…

Read the rest of this post »

Lucky wild boars at Indian temple in Malaysia from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Nakizumo – Japanese baby crying festival

Yein Jee — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:05:05 +0000

Nakizumo (lit. crying sumo) is a traditional Japanese festival with 400-years of history. The event, believed to bring good health to the babies, is held annually in temples across Japan where the kids would face-off each other to see who’s crying the soonest (and loudest)…

The above video [credits to garyjpn@youtube for the upload] is probably from Hiroshima in 2009; there are other slightly different format in other places, including in Tokyo where some real sumo wrestlers were involved.

Nakizumo – Japanese baby crying festival from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Korean police and super cars

Yein Jee — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:30:50 +0000

Can’t afford a Lamborghini, or Ferrari, or Porsche? Try being a cop in South Korea instead… [via Cutkillavince [Fr]]

Korean police and super cars from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Ford Models’ Delphine travel in China

Yein Jee — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:14:19 +0000

Two short travel videos, presented by Ford Model Delphine… cute with some interesting off-track China tourism stuff. The first video covers Shenzhen, while the second covers her visit to Guangzhou and Shanghai…

Read the rest of this post »

Ford Models’ Delphine travel in China from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Mute Karaoke microphone

Yein Jee — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:30:45 +0000

One of the great fun of karaoke is to ~~scream~~ sing out loud; but Japanese, ironically, has invented a microphone kit for people to enjoy the karaoke at home without making too much noise…

Basically it’s an innovation that absorbs the singers’ voices using ergonomic design and soft cushions. It probably beats the general purpose of karaoke… but how I wish some of my neighbours could get one for goodness sake. On second thought, the invention is not that ironic after all.

[image from JTT [Jp], via Shibuya246]

Mute Karaoke microphone from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Miss Tiffany’s Universe, Thailand

Yein Jee — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:22:11 +0000

Meet Sorrawee Nattee, 20, a university student who was crowned the 12th Miss Tiffany’s Universe in Pattaya, Thailand, on May 16.

The Miss Tiffany’s Universe is an annual beauty contest for Thai transvestites which is broadcast live on National Thai television with an average of 15 million viewers.

The event aims to promote Pattaya as a major tourist destination as well as promoting a positive transvestite image to the local and international public.

Thailand is probably the most social tolerable nation towards transvestites (albeit not legally). I don’t think there’s any other country that came close to being as acceptance as the Thais in this matter.

Miss Tiffany’s Universe, Thailand from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Japan’s scary toilet paper

Yein Jee — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:01:58 +0000

Japanese horror story writer Koji Suzuki has teamed up with Hayashi Paper to publish his latest work, “Drop”, on toilet papers.

Suzuki is famed for horror stories like “Ring” and “Dark Water” which were adapted into Japanese and Hollywood films.

Drop is set in a public restroom; the story uses up about three feet of a roll and can be read in just a few minutes. The paper roll sells for 210 yen ($2.20 USD) apiece [via Brb]

Printing on toilet papers is nothing new in Japan, but it’s probably a first for horror story. It could prove an unexpected hit with constipation a common issue among Japanese; it might just scare the shit out of the folks.

Japan’s scary toilet paper from YeinJee's Asian Blog

56-leaf clover and cheaper Yubari melons in Japan

Yein Jee — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:49:51 +0000

A Japanese farmer has ‘found’ a 56-leaf clover on May 10. The discovery wasn’t mere luck though; Shigeo Obara from Hanamaki, Iwate, has been conducting research on clovers for over 50 years.

Obara will apply for a new Guinness World Record for the most leaves on a clover stem, currently held by none other than Obara himself since 2002. He also made headlines last year with a 21-leaf clover which he didn’t apply for a record.

Meanwhile, a pair of Yubari melons were auctioned for 500,000 yen (US$5,200) at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market… seems expensive, but it’s far below the record 2.5 million yen fetched in 2008 or the previous record of 2 million yen in 2007.

Yubari melons are popular summer gifts in Japan; buyers would flock to the market for the prestige of winning the very first melons of the year.

Yubari official Kaoru Hirano seems happy with the deflated price though, saying that the previous records were giving misconception that the Yubari melons were too expensive for average folks.

[clover image from Kyodo][melon news via MSNBC]

56-leaf clover and cheaper Yubari melons in Japan from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Tokyo Decadance – wild Japanese club event

Yein Jee — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:14:44 +0000

Eating beer cans, swallowing swords, wielding light saber, lesbian kiss, fire show, wacky performance, loud music, booze, dance, girls… that’s what you are going to see from the below video… [by ronindave@youtube, via Japundit]

Founded in October 2005 by ex-French drag queen Adrien Le Danois, Tokyo Decadance had the goal to mix all the most creative, flashy, crazy, exaggerated, extreme, bizarre styles of the Tokyo streets.

The event is now the rendezvous of gothic, cyberpunk, fetish, manga heroine, lolitas, yamanbas, ko gyaru, drag queen, punk, Tokyo jet-set, partymonsters, and also salaryman and ‘normal people’.

The wild party is occasionally on tour in some European cities beside the monthly show in Japan [check out Decadance' Myspace]

Tokyo Decadance – wild Japanese club event from YeinJee's Asian Blog