Taiwanese singer Huang Yan Lin, popular known as Ah-Sang (or Ah-Sun), passed away on Monday morning (Apr 6) because of breast cancer. She was 34.
Sharing one of her hit songs below, “Leaf”, released in 2003. I’ve always love her singing; she will be missed, rest in peace…
If you heard Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” coming from a mini-truck in western countries, you would probably relate it to an ice cream van. But in Taiwan, it’s something different; the music belongs to the garbage trucks instead…
Taipei Zoo is not happy with an April Fools’ Day prank claiming that the two giant pandas in the zoo were disguised brown forest bears.
The Taipei Times ran an article on April 1st that the two pandas (a gift from the Chinese government) which arrived last December were actually “brown forest bears that had been dyed to create the panda’s distinctive black-and-white appearance.”
It’s said that a zoologist “became suspicious when the pandas began to spend almost all of their waking hours having sex. Pandas are notorious for their low libidos, which make them difficult to breed in captivity…”
The (real) zoo officials think that the prank was not funny at all, as the zoo was flooded with phone calls from as far as Japan, UK and Canada to ask about the matter. The zoo has sent in letters to ask the news portal to clear up the matter.
I’m surprised that people were fooled by the prank; isn’t the sex story a blatantly obvious joke? Well, obviously not obvious enough for some.
Taiwanese actress Alyssa Chia held a press conference a few days ago, revealing her marriage problem and appealing to her husband, Sun Zhihao, to bring back their daughter which he abducted four months ago after an argument.
Alyssa revealed that her husband and mother-in-law have taken away her 4-year-old daughter from their Shanghai home in November 2008. She has only been allowed to talk to her daughter on phone for a couple of times after the abduction, but has totally lost contact with the Sun’s family soon after.
Alyssa has appealed to Sun to step out and settle the issue openly; her accompanying lawyer said that they would seek legal option if their plead is unheeded.
It’s a great shame for the Sun family. The reason for the argument and abduction is unclear, and I probably should wait for both side of the stories to give my judgement… but unless the mother is causing direct harm to the daughter, there’s no good reason to take away the kid and isolated her from her mother altogether.
Hopefully the public pressure is enough to force the husband to settle their dispute properly. Unfortunate for the child though… she will have to endure this mess at such tender age regardless of whose fault it is.
Cold Stone Creamery, an ice-cream parlor franchise from Arizona, USA, is known for its mix-ins and lively service culture where the workers would sing a tune or two when tipped by the customers.
Tipping is not common in Asia though; so I guess the staff would probably sing along whenever they feel like it. Sharing some videos of the staff in action from Cold Stone Creamery outlets in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan…
Japan – Forget ice cream, the girls are champs…
Taiwanese celebrity couple Harlem Yu and Annie Yi have ended their nine-years marriage after months of speculations. The ex-couple issued separate statement on March 20th to announce their divorce.
It’s a pity to see them splitting; they had been one of Taiwan’s most celebrated celebrity couple… in relationship for more than a decade before walking the aisle on Valentine’s Day in 2000.
Their marriage was in jeopardy in late 2008 when Annie was spotted holding hands with another guy in Beijing. It seemed like the couple was trying to rescue the marriage after that, but obviously fruitless in the end.
Most of the public voices are sympathising Harlem; but I think the public is being too harsh on Annie, as there were hints that their relationship was already heading to the wrong direction since two-three years ago…
Annie has been spending most of her time in China for the past few years building her career while Harlem focusing on his in Taiwan; obviously there’s already something wrong with the marriage then… and it’s a matter of time before something finally triggered the end of the relationship.
The divorce are done rather peacefully though; there’s not much financial conflicts as they are both financially independent, and their six-year-old kid will be under Harlem’s custody with Annie granted (probably limitless) visiting rights.
Well, best wishes to both of them… hope that they will find happiness after the split.
Entertainment news from various sources…
Update – New music videos (dance version) for Korean girls group SNSD’s hit song “Gee”
Canada – Chinese star Edison Chen testified in Vancouver for sex scandal case [Cri]
Korea – Singer Lee Seung-ki graduates from Dongguk University [K-popped]
Korea – Jang Dong-gun plays president [Hanfever]
Korea – Yoon Eun-hye posed for Vogue [Kbites] and Marie Claire [Popseoul]
Korea – Flower boy Lee Min-ho (pic) [Stareastasia]
Taiwan – S.H.E member Hebe ready for solo debut [Stareastasia]
US – Rihanna’s swollen face after alleged attack by Chris Brown [TMZ]
Taiwanese star Jay Chou is making his small screen directorial debut with “Pandamen”, a TV drama series about two Chinese superheroes.
Jay held a press conference in Beijing on Monday to announce the filming (to begin on Feb 25). He said that he wants to create Chinese superheroes which could rival Spiderman and Batman in the west.
Pandamen is a story about two Chinese superheroes protecting their city (what else?). It’s not mentioned what kind of superpower the duo are having… but seems like it’s going to be a comedic drama instead of serious attempt to emulate the western superheroes.
The series will star Devon Song and Zhan Yuhao from Taiwanese pop group Nan Quan Mama; Jay Chou is not taking serious acting role, but is expected to make some cameo appearances.
