The Brazilian metropolis will be the first city from South America to host the world’s largest sporting event. The 2016 Olympic Games are scheduled to be held on August 5-21, while Paralympics on September 7-18.

It’s Rio de Janeiro for Olympic 2016 from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The 46-year-old Frenchman is famous for scaling skyscrapers and famous architectures across the world, without safety equipments.

This was Robert’s third attempt to conquer the 452m Petronas Towers, formerly the world’s tallest building. He made the first attempt in 1997, and the second a decade later; both climbs were thwarted by authorities on the 60th floor.

He was subsequently arrested and fined RM2000 (~USD567) for illegal trespassing.

French ‘Spiderman’ conquered Petronas Towers finally from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Lee Hyori – U Go Girl [original]

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Korean baseball mascots do K-pop dance from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Below is a video of Purugganan breaking the then Cycle record during the 2008 World Championships in Denver, USA… [his latest world record is 5.93s]

[credits to raydavid1965@youtube for the upload]

Steven Purugganan, speed stacking champion from YeinJee's Asian Journal

It will be the first time in history that both nations are participating in the same tournament.

North Korea will be making only their 2nd appearance; their first was a fairy tale journey in 1966 in which they defeated European giant Italy en route to the quarter finals, a result that stunned the footballing world.

South Korea on the other hand is the most successful Asian team in World Cup history and will be making their 8th appearance in 2010. Their best result was 4th place in 2002 when they were joint host (with Japan) for the event.

The Koreans met in the qualifying stage in which the southern counterpart has the upper hand with a win and a draw. The northern boys are unlikely to get their revenge in 2010 though, as chances are pretty slim for them to meet each other.

North-South Korea qualified for 2010 World Cup from YeinJee's Asian Journal

A panning photo below; taken while collecting my ticket in the afternoon. Didn’t spend much time there, the real show only happens in the next two days…

Beside the super cars and Japanese race queens, the organiser is running a lot more extra activities this year to pull the crowd, such as drift demo, rave party and autograph sessions etc.

Should be an entertaining weekend ahead; hope that the summer heat won’t be too unbearable.

Super GT series

Next: Super GT Sepang 2009 – ENEOS Girls
Previous: Super GT Sepang 2008 – final race (2)

Super GT International Series Malaysia, Sepang 2009 from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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SNSD Yuri threw opening pitch for baseball game from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Kim broke her own record in the women’s short program with 76.12 points in the short program (video), and took the gold medal with a total of a record 207.71 points… the first woman to surpass 200 since the new scoring system was adapted in 2005.

Yuna Kim raised the bar again from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The park is named after the first prime minister of Malaysia; it’s popular tourist spot for beach strolling, sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling and water-sports (parasailing etc.)

Some photos from my March 2009 visit at Mamutik Island and Sapi Island…

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Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, Sabah, Malaysia from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The debate started on March 14th following a SBS (Korean Tv) report which indicated that Kim was obstructed by Japanese skaters during 4CC in February. English subbed video of the SBS news below…

To be frank the interview was ambiguous… we can’t be sure if Kim was implicating anything; and it was SBS that directly linked the Japanese skaters into the saga.

Regardless, damage has already been done; Japanese media has picked up on the news and retaliated on the matter… followed by battle of words between netizens.

Kim and Japan’s Mao Asada are hot favourites to win the gold at Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics; the duo are set to compete for the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles next week.

Japan and Korea’s ice rink rivalry heated up from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The blog will not be updated for at least a week, probably two depending on internet availability; see you all again then. Meanwhile, sharing some Flickr photos of Mount Kinabalu, a 4000+ metre mountain that I am going to climb in Sabah…

Mount Kinabalu from afar (Image by Austin)

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Going to Kinabalu, Sabah from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The 18-year-old sensation scored 72.24 points on Wednesday (Feb 4), the highest total for a short program under the new judging system. Her performance at the long program (on Friday) was not as impressive, but it’s enough for her to claim the title.

On the other hand, Chinese figure skaters Pang Qing and Tong Jian won the pair skating title, making this event a rather successful outing for Asians.

[Update] Kim broke her record again in the world championship in March.

Kim Yuna sets figure skating record from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Australia – Rafael Nadal won first Australian Open crown, defeating Roger Federer [ATP]

China – Birth defects soar due to environmental pollution; a baby is born with physical defects every 30 secs in China [Chinadaily]

Enviromental – Many effects of climate change are irreversible [BBC]

Iraq – A fibreglass-and-copper monument (pic) is built in honour of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at Bush during a news conference [Youtube]

Japan – PM Taro Aso has announced a 1.5 trillion yen (USD17bn) aid package to help Asian countries weather the economic downturn [BBC]

North Korea – North Korea is scrapping all pacts with South Korea and warned that the downward relations has pushed the peninsula to the brink of war [Reuters]

South Korea – Asiana Airlines, Korea’s second-largest air carrier, is named Airline of the Year by ATW (Air Transport World) magazine [ATW]

Thailand – Deja vu… tens of thousands of protesters held a rally in Bangkok calling on the new Thai government to resign [Youtube]

General roundup (February 1, 2009) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

GT300 – Cusco Racing – Cusco Dunlop Subaru Impreza – Subaru Impreza
(category – team – machine – based vehicle)

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Super GT Sepang 2008 – final race (2) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

GT500 – Autobacs Racing Team Aguri – ARTA NSX – Honda NSX
(category – team – machine – based vehicle)

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Super GT Sepang 2008 – final race (1) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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Super GT Sepang 2008 – pre parade from YeinJee's Asian Journal