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

Developed by Norway based Prox Dynamics, the spy-copter aims to become the world’s smallest and most capable Unmanned Aircraft System for close range surveillance and inspection.

And if the Black Hornet fails to live up to its expectation, the company can choose to reinvent the copter into an expensive toy instead… bet that it’s going to become a global hit.

Black Hornet – world’s smallest spy-copter from YeinJee's Asian Journal

World’s fastest drinker? from YeinJee's Asian Journal

World’s largest model train set at Miniatur Wunderland from YeinJee's Asian Journal

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 Journal

With a general thickness of 0.65 inches (1.65 cm), the Adamo is thinner (depending on interpretation) than Apple’s MacBook Air which has a thickness of 0.16 to 0.76 inches.

The market is giving a mix review for the product, but most are wondering if the high-end laptop (USD1999+) could sell well during recession.

Dell launches Adamo, world’s thinnest laptop 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

Stanley Ho and his winning piece
(Image via Xinhuanet)

Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho was the highest bidder for the 1.08-kg white truffle. The tycoon was also the highest bidder for last year’s largest truffle, a 1.5-kg piece that fetched a record $330,000.

Truffle is a precious ingredient in Italian and French gourmet for its pungent aroma and taste. White truffle is considered the best truffle; a kilogram of normal size white truffle could cost over $5000.

A total of $284k were raised from this auction event, with a few smaller truffle being sold as well. The money will be donated to selected charities in the cities that held the synchronised auction.

Read the rest of this post »

Giant truffle sold for USD200k from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Domino Day 2008 was held successfully on November 14 with a new world record of 4,345,027 dominoes being toppled…

Domino Day 2008 from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The attempt was held in conjunction with the 6th annual Taichung Jazz Festival. The oldest saxophonists involved was 72 of age, while the youngest just three; Taichung deputy mayor Hsiao Jia Qi also took part in the event.

918 saxophonists in their new world record attempt (Image from Udn)

The current world record for the largest saxophone ensemble was set by Toronto in 2004 with 900 players.

Taichung attempt for saxophone record from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The above phrase is the full name of Krung Thep, Thai’s capital city which is more commonly known as Bangkok among foreigners. For this, Bangkok is recognised by Guinness World of Records as the capital city with the longest name.

The translation… “The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam.” [via Wikipedia]

It took about 12 seconds to pronounce the name (as per this video)… amazed?

Capital city with the longest name from YeinJee's Asian Journal

His journey was completed in Shanghai on September 28, 2008 [via Shanghaiist]

Rob has unofficially broken the Guinness World Record for the ‘longest journey by skateboard’ currently hold by by Dave Cornthwaite with a distance of 5,823km. Rob’s attempt has been submitted to Guinness and is currently under evaluation.

Video below is a summary of his final 1,200km journey from Xixia to Shanghai; which kinda reminds me of Chinese movie “Getting Home”…

Kiwi skateboards 12,159km from Europe to China from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Tanabe congratulated by local mayor on his 113th birthday (Image from BBC)

Tanabe attributes his longevity to a healthy lifestyle. He doesn’t smoke; he drinks a cup of milk everyday, eats lots of vegetables and avoid fatty food. Tanabe also read often and writes a diary.

Happy Birthday!

World’s oldest man celebrates 113th birthday from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Mental strength, health condition, body weight, climates and some other factors play their part in determining the survival length; under optimal circumstances a person could live without food for 6-8 weeks or even longer in extreme cases.

I am not sure if there’s any official record for the longest survival without food; the longest record that I managed to find is 73 days during the 1981 Irish hunger strike. A total of 10 prisoners had died after 46 to 73 days of starvation in the strike.

Laurence McKeown survived the strike for 70 days, which could be the record for the longest period for a person to live without food and still surviving.

How long can a person live without food? from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Sushi wedding cake

Sushi wedding cake… (Image from Christina, via Xoryst)

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Sushi, chillies, bulls, penguin, turtle from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Tourists who volunteered for the event came from various countries, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong etc.

The world record attempt at Taipei Arena, Taiwan (Image from Huaxia)

The attempt was organised by Taiwan Tourism Bureau to promote health tourism Reflexology is a popular practice in Taiwan for relaxation and improving general health; the activity is gaining popularity among foreign tourists in recent years.

There were no previous attempts made on this category; Guinness have set the requirement to have at least 400 participants with treatment for at least five minutes on each foot… which were met by the folks without much sweat.

World record for simultaneous foot massage from YeinJee's Asian Journal