...was worn by Ann Ling, now Lady Oxmantown, when she got married in 2004 to Patrick Lord Oxmantown
Made of flaming red silk with a huge flying phoenix embroidered in coloured threads, it is one of the highlights of a fashion exhibition celebrating the links between Ireland and China, part of Dublin City Council’s Chinese New Year festival.
(Source: Irish Times)
If you want to see an image of the red dress, you can find it here. It is very beautiful and vibrant.
It's great to see kungfu being taught to kids to keep them off the streets, keep them fit and enjoying themselves. Good vid article by the Beeb, check it out....
A 'National Karaoke Content Management System, or “black box” as it is more popularly known' is installed in karaoke bars in Chongqing, one of the many cities and towns targeted to track down illegal music, pornography videos and any rallying songs against the State being played. So much for people having a good time.
(Source: Irish Times)
Well, not personally, but this guy's an Irish Chinese guy, he's name is John Foo.
He's in Tekken:-
You can find out more about him in wikipedia.
Just saw this from the Beeb, a video on an interview with Mary Jess Leaverland and at the end, she sings a sample song, the best Chinese song sang since goodness knows when, those so-called singers in HK really can't hold one note at all!
British student Mary Jess wins Chinese X-factor
Here's a vid (sorry, it's in Cantonese, but you can hear her sing the Mandarin songs and I still can't quite believe how good she was, and only 2 months to learn the songs!)
Civil servants in South Korea were told to go home today (Wed), to urge them to go home, the building lights will be switched off (prob already off by now). They are planning to do this every month. Thing is, childcare cost it pretty pricey. They are even giving away gift vouchers to those officials who have more than one child.
(Source: BBC News)
Fair play to an 18 year old student from Blarney who designed a bio-mass stove with easy to access materials such as tin cans and a sharp implement. His goal is not to profit from it, but to help 3rd world countries. Check out how it works from the man himself:
More mentions in the news:-
More info resulting from google searches.
The initial suspect who was arrested has been released, but they arrested a second suspect. There were no details on why they suspected this second person, I just hope they really caught the person doing these terrible things and that there will be no copy-cats after these incidents.
(Source: BBC News)
UPDATE: Should have checked up The HK Standard, and they have some more details about the recent attack and arrests.
Google is not happy when it found out that human rights activists e-mails were being targeted in China, of course, they are not blaming the Chinese government directly. So they are not going to censor the searches on google.cn anymore (an agreement they made in 2006 to acquire the licence for google.cn). China has a big population, how will these latest actions affect Google in the future?
Read more from BBC article.
(Source: BBC News)
I posted this incident before, but the BBC News has a video of the kid with chopstick up his nose, it's not that graphic, but shows how lucky the couple were. Although I'm a bit wary that they let the kid play with an adaptor, you'll see it at the end of the video. 
A rare Chinese map created by an Italian missionary is on show in the Library of Congress in Washington. This map depicts China as the centre of the world showing its importance by the missionary. It's one of the most expensive rare maps which was bought for £1 million.
(Source: BBC News)
A quick mention on behalf of Sara Wilson from Fresh Air Fund:-
The NYC lottery closed Wednesday and winners have been announced. The FAF team still has spots available and think interested runners will start researching teams to join if they didn't win a coveted lottery spot. Readers can sign up/research further at the Registration Page.
...just because he wanted to be with his girlfriend a little bit longer by going through the security barrier while the security guard stepped away. Given that Newark is the hub of connection flights, it had a big knock-on effect when the airport's terminal was shutdown. The man will face a fine of up to US$500.
(Source: Yahoo news)
What is the reason for these attacks? Who knows? The authorities think they arrest the culprit but they are not sure, only evidence are two bottle caps in the possession of the man on top of the rooftop near the incident.
You can read more articles on it from Google News search.
A fellow IBC member made a cool vid on lights of Mongkok, check it out:-
Hong Kong Night Lights (Harinezumi) from Edwin Lee on Vimeo.
A little tribute to my neighbourhood of Mong Kok, the place of perpetual light. (And yes, the occasional acid-from-above).
Mong Kok literally translates into 'busy corner' and is one of the most crowded areas of the city. I mean, Hong Kong is already crowded enough...
Shot with the Harinezumi and extreme macro resulting in some serious bokeh-lovin'. No effects added!
Track 'Your Hand in Mine' by Explosions in the Sky.
It was fun watching Sweet Mandarin on the F-word and just wanted to see what else I could find on the site, and found Gordon trying his hand at making dimsum. Heh, you need a patience to make dimsum, and Gordon is not he kind of person that has patience to spare. :)
One of the dirtiest habits still prevalent in China is spitting, ach... but serial spitters will be evicted from public housing, is this a bit too much? Won't fines suffice like in Hong Kong.
Throwing away fruit peel, spitting out chewing gum, gambling and urinating in public are also on the forbidden list, and the plan is modelled on a similar scheme in nearby Hong Kong.
I don't think kicking people out of their homes would help the situation. Still it's one of the many dirty habits that people from Mainland China should move away from.
(Source: Irish Times)
I remember my mom telling me not to run around when I have a lolly in my mouth when I was a kid, but I've never (or remember) putting something like a chopstick up my nose! This toddler in China did and fell, ouch indeed! It was "4mm" into the brain, but it ended happily as the chopstick was removed and the baby is making full recovery.
(Source: Irish Independent)
So, this is a Nick toon, was weird seeing it on TG4 (they also show Spongbob) so kids get to learn Mandarin and Irish at the same time. :)
Maybe kindergarden should start teaching Mandarin, kids love watching telly in class.
More information:-
When we were in Beijing in November, we got stuck in a plane at Beijing airport because of the unseasonal early snowfall. Now, it's a walk in the park for 'em. And Ireland and UK can't handle snow and ice and now there's a grit war, and household salt sales has increased.
The Indo has a controversial article that Smacked children more successful later in life. I am no stranger to a smack or a wee bit of caning when I was really young, but that stopped pretty much as soon as I started school. It's like respect my "authorata" (so said by Cartman in Southpark). I don't really count that as abuse, it's not everyday or being punched or anything like that. I think I turned out okay, I don't smoke or hang out with the wrong crowd. Is this a cultural thing? All this just reminds me of the Canadian comedian, Russell Peters, on his skit about getting hit, check it out (I know many Asians can relate to this, enjoy):
I posted about discussions on bringing Mandarin into the Irish Junior and Leaving Cert and just read this morning in the Beeb that English primary schools are introducing it this year and will be compulsory next year.
(Via BBC News)
Hard to handpick pics from what I've done this year, but here are the highlights, can't believe it's 2010 already!
2010 already! Happy new year, health and goodwill to all. It's nice 'n' sunny with snow everywhere, a perfect winter's day.
