From the suppliers of outdoor gear, GSI Outdoors, comes the titanium Kung Foon, which combines a fork/spoon with chopsticks that slide into the handle – perfect for scooping, scraping or stirring rehydrated pouch meals or narrow pots.

Might look a bit silly at the dinner table, but I guess that’s why it’s sold for outdoor use… Not too pricey at US$16.95, but there’s also a cheaper stainless version.

The Titanium Kung Foon

Technorati Tags: camping, chopsticks, cuisine, GSI Outdoors, Kung Foon

Mathmos, inventors of the legendary Lava lamp, have just launch their first foray into the art toy market with Chuppi – an interactive child’s night light and/or a collectable art toy for adults! Disclaimer – we were kindly sent a Chuppi to check out but we liked it enough to post about it.

You can find out all the basic details on the Chuppi page at the Mathmos site, but we liked the Chuppi for a number of reasons.

The first is that because you can customise it, we could make him/her(?) “ours” as soon as it was out of the box. A bit of stickering never goes amiss! The face feature stickers aren’t too sticky either, so they can be rearranged and of course, taken off so that other stickers can be used.

You get quite a few stickers so we can easily see them being used to change Chuppi’s expression over it’s lifetime – say a couple of years or more? The downside to them is that they go onto a round surface so some of them peel off at the edges.

The next reason we liked Chuppi is that because it’s rechargeable, we can stick it on the charger during the day and then take it off and place where we want (wireless) through the night. The power lasts 6 hours, so it’s generally enough for a night before the morning light peeks over the horizon.
Finally, if we do get bored of Chuppi, we can then bung it into our toddler’s room. The light colour changes are bound to keep her occupied for a bit.

Check out Chuppi on the Mathmos site!

Technorati Tags: art toy, Chuppi, designer toys, lava lamp, Mathmos, toys, United Kingdom

Japanese ad agency I&SBBDO has created laser-cut seaweed sheets for sushi to help a north-eastern Japan company to boost their business after the 2011 Japan tsunami.

Called ‘Unimo Seaweed’, the delicate, paper-thin sheets of ‘Nori’ were laser-cut with classic Japanese pattern designs to reflect optimistic values such as happiness, long life etc.

We simply can’t think of any other way that we’ve seen of sushi being made to look even better.

Via

Technorati Tags: cuisine, I&SBBDO, Japan, laser cut seaweed, nori, Unimo Seaweed, sushi

Ok, so you’re not dropping £300 (+ VAT!) for a print by an artist you may not have heard of but looking at the resale value of art nowadays, you might be wise to switch your financial interests (if you have any!).

Eyestorm’s publication of Jacky Tsai‘s Flying Tiger is the piece we’ve been drawn to recently. It’s an East-West montage combining traditional China with western icons, and complete with clichés galore. But the title and perhaps substance of the piece comes with imagery of a plane – the ‘Flying Tigers‘ were a World War II unit of the Chinese Air Force formed of US Army pilots, set up to defend China against Japan.

East-West gets serious but ultimately, perhaps if you’re inclined to invest in art, we’ve read that you should really only buy pieces you like the look of and this is pushes our buttons.

Jacky Tsai – Flying Tiger on Eyestorm

Technorati Tags: art, China, Eyestorm, Flying Tiger, Jacky Tsai, United Kingdom

We really like these composed photographs of Japan by German photographer Stephanie Jung. The first one emphasises how complex the aerial street decor is (wires and lanterns multiplied!) above the serene street, but then things go crazy in the other shots of busy streets! Almost like Kowloon or Ho Chi Minh but with just one exposure…

Via

Technorati Tags: Japan, multiple exposures, photography, Stephanie Jung

A new campaign for Coca Cola in Singapore drops a vending machine at the National University of Singapore which dispenses cans of coke in return for a hug. The power of love eh? If only something healthier was offered in return.

Via

Technorati Tags: advertising, campaign, Coca Cola, Singapore

Christophe Jacrot shot photos of Hong Kong in the rain. Rain in the city isn’t exactly a rarity, but his photos turn the streets into pastel-like visual poetry.

Via

Technorati Tags: Christophe Jacrot, Hong Kong, Hong Kong in the rain, photography, rain photography

Andrew Huang is a commercial and music video director living in Los Angeles and his short film SOLIPSIST is an amazing and original explosion of colour, built up through a slightly unusual set of characters. Watch and be amazed..

Technorati Tags: Andrew Huang, short film, SOLIPSIST

Even a detail such as the top lights on Japanese taxis take on a charm ubiquitous with the country. Joe Holmes captures a few of them.

See all his photos of Japanese Taxi Toplights on Flickr

Technorati Tags: Japan, Japanese Taxi Toplights, Japanese taxis, Joe Holmes, photography

Comedy ‘Fortune Cookies‘ is the first film from new British Chinese writer/director Brenda Lee to be shot in the Midlands and London in 2012. Les Dennis stars and you can see a promo clip of him below “losing the plot”.


Family vs Ambition. Love vs Duty. Chekhov vs Chicken Feet?!
Set to star Elaine Tan (CSI), David Yip (Chinese Detective), Pik Sen Lim (Dr Who), Meline Danielewicz (The Tempest), David Tse (Spooks) and Ozzie Yue (Father Ted) amongst others.

Will Susan Lee forfeit her dream stage debut to save the family Chinese takeaway from repossession by appearing alongside her tradition yet extrememly embarrassing family on Les Dennis’ TV game show ‘Fame To Fortune’?

Watch an interview with our director and find out more about the educational element of the film – working with young people to provide them with a Learning, Literacy and Livelihoods workshop programme – at www.sponsume.com/project/fortune-cookies-feature-film.

More on the website www.fortunecookiesmovie.co.uk.

Technorati Tags: Brenda Lee, British Chinese, David Tse, David Yip, Elaine Tan, film, Fortune Cookies, Meline Danielewicz, Pik Sen Lim, Ozzie Yue, United Kingdom