Asia Blog: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam

Absolut Vodka has introduced a specially branded limited edition 72-transformations vodka for the China market. Based on the story of the Monkey King and his ability to transform into 72 different kinds of objects, this new line of premium vodka highlights four new flavoured infusions.

The work is a collaborating of artist Gao Yu (高瑀) and photographer Chen Man (陈曼), who respectively designed the bottles and imagery. Here are the new flavours:

Absolut Monkiwi / 绝对猕猴

Absolut TONIC / 绝对汤力

Absolut CRANBERRY / 绝对蔓越莓

Absolut Ginger ALE / 绝对姜汁

Thanks to Adfuns (chinese) for the original story. There are also some original “behind the scenes” shots of the various models in fey makeup there which are well worth your time to look at. And, for an interesting look at the recently popularized “alcohol infusions” craze, check out the NY Times’ article THE TIPSY DIARIES: The Kitchen Sink in Your Drink:

Certainly infusions aren’t a new phenomenon. And as my kitchen shenanigans suggest, they needn’t be a fancy process, either. My Russia-savvy friends tell me that as long as the denizens of that wintry and brooding land have been warming themselves with vodka — and that’s a long, long time — they have treated it as a liquid storehouse for cherries, plums and other fruits whose lives were extended in alcohol and whose flavors bled into the spirit.

Xiami, an ultra-popular Chinese music streaming site (think Spotify, Pandora, or Grooveshark) has set up a redirect of their entire site to xiami.com/res/zhouqu.html, a black backgrounded page containing the inspiring message, “Close your ears, bless for Zhouqu.” Essentially, and online day of silence to mourn the mudslide victims:

关掉耳朵
为舟曲祈福

For more information about the mudslide disaster in 舟曲, see China holds day of mourning for landslide dead:

Cinemas closed and coal miners stopped work as China observed a day of mourning Sunday for more than 1,200 victims of a mudslide a week earlier in a northwestern town, while authorities rushed to protect survivors from more flooding.

At least 1,239 people were killed as waves of mud and rock triggered by heavy summer rains crashed through Zhouqu in Gansu province on Aug. 8, knocking down houses and other buildings. The government says another 505 people are still missing.

So I was listening to Nan Quan Mama’s latest album, 決鬥巴哈 (Bach Duel?), and I am sorely disappointed. The big new thing is that Lara Veronin has left to persue her own endeavors, leaving just the two male cofounders in the band. Without her touch, the music sounds exactly like an insipid, juvenile Jay Chou knockoff.

Lara is now signed to Jay Chou’s label, JVR, hopefully to release her own album soon. In the meantime she has been collaborating with her mentor, Jay, on “Coral Sea” in “November’s Chopin” and the song “Snake Dance” from “Capricorn.”

Zhao Wei just had a baby girl, delivered in Singapore on April 14th by Cesarean. Her agent, Chen Rong, gave this statement: “Everything is fine and she’s happy. Zhao Wei and her family appreciate the concern from all.” 33 year old Zhao Wei is delivering her first child from her recent marriage to property mogul Huang Youlong.

Check out the video 赵薇女儿出生照片曝光 经纪人承认其已婚 on Tudou for the full scoop (in Mandarin). We join the rest of the world in welcoming this bug-eyed baby into the world, and wish Vicky Zhao Wei the best of luck as a mother!

According to a Washington Post article Body image, diet pushing Japanese women to lose weight, while young Americans are putting on the pounds, in Japan, the trend is completely the opposite:

The trend is most pronounced among women in their 20s. A quarter-century ago, they were twice as likely to be thin as overweight; now they are four times more likely to be thin. For U.S. women of all ages, obesity rates have about doubled since 1980, rising from 17 percent to 35 percent.

The opposite trend holds true for Japanese men and children, who are not subject to the same social pressures. As a result, 32% of men in their 50s are overweight, up from 20% just 25 years ago. Young to middle-aged women, says Hisako Watanabe, a child psychiatrist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, create an atmosphere of unhealthy competition:

“Japanese women are outstandingly tense and critical of each other. There is a pervasive habit among women to monitor each other with a serious sharp eye to see what kind of slimness they have.”

Healthiness in the dimension of weight is a problem with a simple solution: moderation. In the United States and Western world, we guilty of overeating; in Japan, there’s a problem with undereating. Neither is healthy!