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Neha “Mia” Dalvi’s Seasons India saree photoshoot from YeinJee's Asian Blog

BU TINAH ISLAND, United Arab Emirates

Off the western shores of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, lies a unique natural treasure, wild n undisturbed by human activity: Bu Tinah Island.

Bu Tinah’s thriving ecosystem forms a unique living laboratory with key significance for climate change research. An undisturbed paradise, Bu Tinah has much to teach mankind about environmental protection and survival.

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New7Wonders of Nature finalists named from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The defining moment dates back to 2003 when he was denied a visa from South Africa because of his nationality. Feeling humiliated he made a promise to himself that he would travel to all the countries in the world as a mark of defiance.

He first completed his journey (took 12+ years) in May 2008 when he arrived in Serbia (pic). And I guess he revisited some of the countries again for the Guinness record 6+ years feat. The epic trip cost him about $700,000 USD.

[image via Worldrecordsacademy][via Neatorama]

Indian man visits every countries in the world from YeinJee's Asian Blog

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

The song was released in 1998 and enjoys its international fame thanks to the Youtube phenomenon [credits to tarv for the upload]

Fun music, interesting beat and wacky dance moves… the music video oozed awesomeness lol. It’s almost unbelievable that Tunak is actually a love song :p

Daler Mehndi – Tunak Tunak Tun music video from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The 24-year-old beauty is one of Bollywood’s current hottest stars.

Katrina Kaif, model for first Indian Barbie Girl from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Nano created huge buzz worldwide when it was unveiled in January 2008; the car is in hot demand in India where it’ll hit the roads in July 2009.

The demand for the car is so high that the company has to make a lucky draw to decide their first 100,000 customers for the first phase of deliveries. A dedicated assembly plant will be ready in 2010 with an annualised capacity of 350,000 cars.

There are reasons why Tata Nano is so cheap; but as it’s often stressed, the Nano’s main aim is to provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families… and we can’t argue that a car would be much safer than a bike.

Some environmentalists are not that fond of the car, as more cars = more pollution. Tata has responded to the issue that an electric version of Nano is in mind, which has sprung wide interest in western countries.

Btw, the car might lack certain comfortability features, but it’s not lacking in design… that’s one cute car that I don’t mind owning based on appearance alone.

Tata Nano, world’s cheapest car goes on sale from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Train station after the attack (Image from Xinhuanet)

Militants armed with machine-guns and grenades attacked the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi Trident Hotel, as well as the main train station, two hospitals and several other locations. The situation seems to be under control on Friday evening, but the city is still on high alert.

A group calling itself the “Deccan Mujahedeen” claimed responsibility for the attacks, but some Indian officials are pointing fingers at neighbouring Pakistan instead.

Terrorist attacks have occurred frequently in India in recent years; statistics from the Interior Ministry show that a total of 5,011 people were killed between 2002 and 2007. Check this link for some of the major attacks since 2007.

[last updated on Nov 28]

Mumbai under terrorist attack from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Dingdong Dantes

Well, Edison might be sexier than Takeshi in E!’s point of views (I guess the sex pics might help a bit), but the sexiest Asian title goes to Dingdong Dantes (3th) from the Philippines instead.

Bollywood actor John Abraham is the other Asian celebrity that made the list, and he too was ranked higher than the two Chinese stars at 10th.

This E! sexiest men list is a bit unique as the chosen celebs covered a wide range of different nationalities and ethnicity as compared to most other sexiest/hottest lists which are dominated by Hollywood stars. Arguable… but nice try.

Here are the top 25 sexiest men of the world according to E!…

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Edison Chen sexier than Takeshi Kaneshiro? from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The Miele Guide 2008/2009 edition evaluates restaurants in 16 Asian countries… Brunei, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The top 20 restaurants according to the Miele Guide 2008/2009…

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Miele Guide 2008/2009 – Asia’s top 20 restaurants from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The winning photo by Steve Winter (via BBC)

The competition, now in its 44th year, is run by BBC Wildlife magazine and London’s Natural History Museum. An exhibition of the best images from the 2008 competition opens to visitors of the Natural History Museum, London, on October 31.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 from YeinJee's Asian Blog

The Chand Baori (Image from Doron, via Neatorama)

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Chand Baori stepwell in India from YeinJee's Asian Blog

A kilogramme of rat meat increased to around 5,000 riel (USD1.28) from 1,200 riel last year. It’s still cheaper than other meat though… beef for example costs about 20,000 riel a kilogramme.

Some communities in Asian and South American countries have long history of eating rats or other rodents, but food shortages and inflations have pushed others to try rat meat in recent years.

Earlier this month, a state government in eastern India encouraged its people to eat rats in an effort to battle soaring food prices and save grain stocks.

Sometimes it’s hard to relate to poverty around the world. Here we are, using high tech gadgets and surfing the web while at other corners on earth people are eating rats because they can’t afford other meat… and it’s far from being the worse scenario yet. It’s kinda sad actually.

Rat meat in demand in Cambodia from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Hari is a popular Indian name while Puttar means son in the Punjabi language. It’s said that the storyline doesn’t relate to Harry Potter at all… and judging from the poster alone, I would have ruled that Mirchi is the winner for the lawsuit.

However, I can’t deny the probability that the Indian movie maker is being opportunistic for publicity, which they managed to get it now regardless of whether it was intentional at the first place.

Warner sues Bollywood’s Hari Puttar from YeinJee's Asian Blog

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The Amazing Race Asia – Season 3 from YeinJee's Asian Blog

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.

Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008 from YeinJee's Asian Blog

People relieving themselves in the open is a common sight in India’s rural towns and villages, as basic sanitation still eludes millions. [Reuters]

Not really sure about the exact pay, but it’s reported that they would get close to USD1 a month for doing so. Sounds like a small sum, but it could mean something in poor areas… besides, no harm is done for using proper sanitary system.

Go toilet and get paid in India from YeinJee's Asian Blog

MAA, one of the most popular pop events in Asia, is making its debut in Malaysia. The show will be held at the Arena of Stars in Genting City of Entertainment, Malaysia, on August 2, and will be hosted by Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars.

There will be nine regional favourite artist awards and seven international awards to be presented. Among the nominees are Avril Lavigne & Justin Timberlake & Leona Lewis (International), Chris Li (China), Andy Lau & Eason Chan & Joey Yung (Hong Kong), Big Bang & Suju & Wondergirls (Korea), Nic Teo & Siti Nurhaliza (Malaysia), Stefanie Sun (Singapore), Jolin Tsai & S.H.E (Taiwan) etc.

As far as I know, none of the celebrities have confirmed their attendance yet, but judging from the past experiences, most of the winners were pretty supportive of the show… it’s one of the largest of its kind in Asia after all.

It’s not easy to get a ticket though; it’s something that money can’t buy. The fans have to get the tickets via contests by voting for their favourite artists [details]… the fans need some luck obviously.

Karen Mok is going to co-host the event with Jared Leto. Electrico, Jabbawockeez, Leona Lewis, Li Yuchun, OneRepublic, Panic at the Disco, Pussycat Dolls, Super Junior, Stefanie Sun, The Click Five and The Script have confirmed their appearances.

Update – the winners.

2008 MTV Asia Awards coming to Malaysia from YeinJee's Asian Blog

Company chairman Ratan Tata said that Nano is “a safe, affordable and all weather transport; a people’s car designed to meet all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to all.”

What makes Tata Nano so cheap? (Illustration via BBC)

Some environmentalist, as expected, are concerned that the car will lead to more air pollution from traffic congestions. Sounds true, but who are us to deny others the leisure to own their cars when we are driving one of our own? I bet that most of those environmental critics are car owners too.

Tata Nano – cheapest car in the world from YeinJee's Asian Blog