Interesting culture and places in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; as featured in the 2nd episode of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) season 3.
Mae Kompong
Mae Kompong is a village in Chiang Mai Province. Once a poppy growing area, but now home to a small community of forest dwellers who cultivate tea and coffee plantations.
Mae Kompong is also home to the Treetop eco-tourism village where visitors can take an exhilarating flight (with zip line and slide) through a 1500 year-old rainforest in the “Flight of the Gibbon” adventure…
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The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) season 3 has premiered on AXN-Asia on September 11.
I know most of the regulars here are not watching this show (or not able to), thus I’m not going to bore you with the details… but will share some Asian cultures and places that are featured in the race instead.
Tuk-Tuk
The race started at the Rama 1 Monument in Bangkok… the first feature that came onto scene was the famous auto-rickshaws commonly known as ‘Tuk Tuk’ in Thailand.
Similar auto-rickshaws can also be found in other South Asian countries, but Thai’s Tuk Tuk is probably the most iconic version. Little known fact though, is that Tuk Tuk was originated from Japan and was brought into Thailand in late 1950s. Most of the Tuk Tuk these days are local made.
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The third season of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) is set to premier on September 11 on AXN-Asia. The franchisee of the popular US reality TV show is growing in popularity across Asia since making its debut in late 2006 and is back for good.
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The 6th annual World Cosplay Summit was held in Nagoya, Japan last weekend.
WSC is getting bigger every year with thousands of cosplayers from around the world joining the party; it’s becoming so popular that the Japanese government is officially endorsing it.
A cosplay contest was held in conjunction with the event since 2004. 14 teams from 13 countries participated in the 2008 contest; two teams from Japan and one each from Brazil, China, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand and USA.
The Brazilians won the contest this year.
The 6th annual MTV Asia Awards was held last Saturday (Aug 2) at Arena of Stars in Genting, Malaysia. I watched the delayed telecast at home… a decent show.
Don’t bother too much about the results though; their awards have always been dubious and it seems like the ‘tradition’ will continue to be preserved…
Favourite Music Artist Awards from Asia
Favourite Artist of Mainland China – Li Yu Chun
Favourite Artist of Hong Kong – Leo Ku
Favourite Artist of Indonesia – Yovie & Nuno
Favourite Artist of Korea – Super Junior
Favourite Artist of Malaysia – Nicholas Teo
Favourite Artist of Philippines – Chicosci
Favourite Artist of Singapore – Stefanie Sun
Favourite Artist of Taiwan – Show Lo
Favourite Artist of Thailand – TOR+ Saksit
International Music Awards
Favourite International Artist of Asia – Linkin Park
Best Hook-up – Timbaland feat. OneRepublic – “Apologize”
The Innovation Award – Radiohead
Breakthrough Artist – Leona Lewis
Video Star – 30 Seconds to Mars – “A Beautiful Lie”
Bring Da House Down – Muse – Muse Asia Tour (Jan 2007)
edc Style Award – Panic at the Disco
Knockout Award – The Click Five
Inspiration Award – Karen Mok
Watch some of the live performances on Mtv Asia.
World Drums Festival 2008 is running from July 26 to August 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The event was first held in December 2007, and it seems like the Malaysian organisers are keen to make it an annual show.
World Drums Festival showcases traditional (and fusion) drum-shows from around the world. The 2008 series features performers from Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Venezuela. Not really covering every part of the world yet, but it’s an international show nonetheless, and a pretty good one.
Went to a road show at Berjaya Times Square on Wednesday with KC and took some pics; photo quality rather poor due to dim lighting and my limited photography skills…
World Drums Festival (Festival Gendang Sedunia) 2008 at Berjaya Time Square
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Dayana Mendoza from Venezuela was crowned as Miss Universe 2008 in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13.
Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008 (Image from
William)
Asians didn’t perform well in the 2008 contest with only one contestant making it into last 15. Riyo Mori from Japan was the 2007 winner, with another three Asians (India, Korea and Thailand) making it into the last 15 last year.
Hong Kong celebrity couple Tony Leung and Carina Lau is getting married after 19-years into relationship. The couple hinted about their marriage a few months ago, but never released much details to the public… leaving plenty of rooms for speculations.
An old photo of Carina and Tony
The hottest rumour is that they would tie their knots on July 21 in a private wedding ceremony; while another suggests that the wedding would be held in October with truck-load of celebrity guests.
Wedding in Bhutan?
While July 21 seems almost certain as wedding date, the venue for the wedding is still a relative mystery… rumours shifted from Bali to a private island in Thailand, and now to Bhutan.
It’s reported that one of the invited guests, veteran entertainer Eric Tsang, has confirmed the location to be in Bhutan… so, it could very well be a perfect guess this time.
Both Tony and Carina are devoted Buddhist… and Bhutan, being a Buddhist country, seems like a logical choice for their wedding venue.
Besides, Bhutan is famous for its strict regulations on foreign visitors, which sounds like another good reasons to have celebrity weddings there… Tony and Carina won’t need to worry much about paparazzi, as unwanted media would find it difficult to be granted entries during that period.
Regardless of dates and venue, it’s good to see them getting married finally. Congrats.
