The inaugural Anime Festival Asia (AFA) will be held at Singapore’s Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre on November 22-23, 2008.
The festival will feature directors, producers, manga artists and creative individuals from Japan’s entertainment industries. The organisers are expecting turnout in excess of 80,000 visitors.
More information about the event available at AFA’s website; also check out some thoughts from bloggers CI, DM and IyB.
Anime and otaku culture is huge in South East Asia; there are a few notable anime events in the region, but mostly limited to cosplay fest because of the lack in contents from commercial exhibitors.
The announcement of AFA08 is certainly going to excite the anime fans; will keep an eye on this… might consider flying to Singapore if it’s creating enough hype by November, and I hope it does.
Pig innards congee (猪杂粥) is a common delicacy in Canton-based Chinese community, i.e. Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, and some parts of Malaysia and Singapore etc.
Pig innard congee, takeout from a shop in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur
The pig innards congee in Hong Kong is a bit different from those we have in Malaysia. The pork innards (liver, kidney, intestine, lungs, stomach etc.) in Hong Kong are normally cooked fresh with the congee, whereas in Malaysia the innards are pre-cooked and seasoned before adding into the congee.
Both style has its pros and cons… but the essence of the congee is with the rice porridge itself. The smoothness and thickness of the congee is often more dictating than the pork innards. The one I had in the photo for example was a bit too watery.
Chinese and some other Asians are quite accustomed to this dish, but westerners might take this as one of those bizarre food adventure.
Matthias Steiner of Germany was the men’s +105kg weightlifting champion on Tuesday. When I first saw the picture, I thought of how romantic this guy was… I only knew a day later that the woman in the picture was his wife Susann, who died in a car accident last year, and it sparked plenty of emotions…
Matthias with his gold medal and a photo of his late wife (Image via Beijing2008)
This will probably be the most memorable Beijing Olympics’ photo for me… it draws love, sadness, romance, pride, commitment and loyalty. If I am a woman I would probably fall in love with this guy.
Besides “You and Me” the official theme song, there are a dozen of two other theme songs that are endorsed by the Beijing Games organiser. I have shared “Beijing Welcomes You” and “Olympics in Beijing” previously; here are a few more that’s worth mentioning…
Sun Nan & Zhang Hui Mei - Forever Friends
“Forever Friends” (永远的朋友), composed by Italian composer Giorgio Moroder and Chinese pianist Kong Xiangdong. The English lyrics are helped by Michael Kunze, while Chinese lyrics by Huang Xiaosheng.
This is my favourite candidate for the official theme song. Moroder, having wrote the popular “Hand in Hand” (theme song for Seoul Olympics 1988), certainly understand what makes a good theme song. It might not be the nicest song among all, but I think it’s the best that fits the occasion.
Sharing here is the Chinese version sang by Chinese singer Sun Nan and Taiwanese star Zhang Hui Mei; the English version is sang by Sun Nan and Hong Kong singer Coco Lee…
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.
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 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
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
