SE Asia (Page 20)

Lanterns Fill the Night Skies of Thailand During the Breathtaking Yi Peng Festival

Every year during the summer solstice, the night skies of Poland are filled with thousands of paper lanterns being released into the heavens. People write their wishes on the lanterns before sending them up into the sky in the hope that their wish will some day come true.

Yi Peng is a similar festival that takes place in Thailand, but instead of being used to make a wish, lanterns are used to symbolize the release of one’s troubles. It’s true that the customs and traditions surrounding these two festivals are different, but the sight of thousands of paper stars embracing the night sky is surely a universal beauty.

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Villa Escudero is a beautiful hacienda-style resort built inside a working coconut plantation located in the Quezon province of the Phillipines. The resort has become a prime tourist destination for both locals and overseas visitors, who are drawn by the cozy rooms, natural beauty, and unique cultural activities such as bamboo rafting and rural village tours.

Perhaps most unique of all is the Waterfalls Restaurant, where guests can enjoy a meal on bamboo dining tables set at the foot of a small waterfall.

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Singapore, a country famous for its strict punishments for even minor crimes, again lived up to its reputation with a new law threatening a fine of 10,000 Singaporean Dollars (US$8,000) for every single unwanted e-mail sent for the purposes of solicitation otherwise known as spam.

What this will mean for the generic medicine and penis enhancement industries in Singapore remains to be seen.

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Once upon a time, nobody read RocketNews24 because it was really really bad. RocketRevival is a weekly corner that takes a look at some of our more passable articles from that bygone era that still hold valuable lessons today.

Over the past ten years or so, sushi has become one of the most popular dishes in the world and has mainstreamed the consumption of raw fish in countries that previously wouldn’t think of sticking a fork in a salmon without grilling it first. While some people may still feel apprehensive when trying sushi for the first time, it usually only takes one bite of faith and you’re hooked.

On a trip to Thailand, however, one of our reporters found a seafood dish so raw that even the most sushi-loving Japanese might think twice before sticking it between their chopsticks.

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Despite China’s booming development in recent years, their media has been reluctant to toot their own patriotic horn and limited themselves to phrases like “potential superpower”.

It looks like the kid gloves are off now though, as South China Post kicked off the newest nickname for the PRC, “beginning superpower” last week.  This follows a busy summer of superpower-like imposition and disregard for neighboring countries all along the nation’s coasts.

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Bali’s Allure Exihibited by These New Additions to World Heritage Sites

Luhur Batukaru Temple, Tabanan, Bali

Indonesia’s Bali Island is full of beautiful temples like the Luhar Batukaru Temple. This temple, strategically located on the southern slope of Bali’s second-highest volcano, protects Bali from evil spirits.

The area surrounding this temple and three other sites in Bali were only recently added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.  On June 24th, at the World Heritage Committee’s  meeting, held this year in St. Petersburg, Russia, these sites became a part of the expanding World Heritage Site list.

Now Bali has four World Heritage Sites!  What sort of place gets to be a Heritage Site?  In order to give you an idea, we headed straight away to Bali to show you these recent additions of officially recognized treasures in our world. Read More

Hungry For Some Singaporean Food? You Can now Enjoy a Taste of Singapore in Central Tokyo!

If you’ve visited Singapore, you may be familiar with the tasty local noodle dish, hokkien mee. Well, now that the Singapore Restaurant and hokkien mee specialty shop “Yac Man” has opened in Omote-Sando, those of you based near Tokyo won’t have to travel all the way to Singapore to get your fix! And since we’re always on the lookout for new and interesting foods, we sent one of our reporters to “Yac Man” to see what hokkien mee is all about.

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Students cheating on tests is as natural and inevitable as the sunrise, and with the aid of technology like smartphones there are even more ingenious ways to get around failing.  It’s a global problem with no solution in sight.

However, it looks like one innovative teacher has found a simple, cheap, and seemingly foolproof way to curtail their students from cheating.  This is based on a photo that is making the rounds via Twitter recently.

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Disclaimer:  This article contains some graphic depictions of doo-doo and is not  for the faint of stomach.

One of the great things about visiting Thailand is that everything is so cheap.  Especially if you want to buy souvenirs for a lot of people, it’s a very shopping friendly country.  However, even with these low prices, travelers are still faced with the dilemma of what to get loved ones.

You don’t want to spend your whole vacation picking out the perfect gifts but you also don’t want to be like your aunt Grace who gave you a lame souvenir spoon from her trip to the Grand Canyon last year.

Luckily we stumbled upon a toy store in Thailand that lets you confront your fear of buying a crappy present by selling literal pieces of crap.  Small coilers will run you about 50 baht (US$1.60) but a larger log will cost 150 baht ($4.80).

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You Can Take The Yoshinoya Out of Japan, And It Seems You Can Take The Japan Out of Yoshinoya Too

The number one gyūdon (beef and rice in a bowl) restaurant, Yoshinoya, has been working its way into Thai markets. Already having infiltrated America and China amongst other countries, it appears there is no stopping Japan’s favorite beef and rice restaurant from world domination.

However, the further a restaurant strays from its homeland, the harder it is to keep the original atmosphere of that restaurant, as a team of reporters from our editorial department learned during a recent trip to Thailand. At first they were simply curious whether the taste was the same as Japan or not, but what they discovered was far more troubling. One member of the party, who was new to Thailand, exclaimed upon seeing the menu: “Huh? A cup of tea costs 30 baht (US$1)? What’s this about?! It’s free in Japan!”

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Carbonated Tea and Yakuza: A Big Hit With Thai Kids, But Something’s Not Quite Right

Although a popular drink around Asia, it can be difficult to turn the younger generation on to the simple pleasures of tea. In order to compete with the likes of colas and energy drinks, Bangkok tea makers have come up with Chakuza.

Chakuza combines the nutrition and refreshment of tea (“cha” in Japanese) with the rugged attitude and danger of organized crime (“yakuza” in Japanese). And according to a clerk at a Bangkok 7-11, it’s selling really well.

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