The Hong Kong gossip rags’ obsessive watch over the contents of Carina Lau’s (劉嘉玲) uterus continued unabated over the Lunar New Year holiday. The actress was spotted carrying two big shopping bags from children’s clothing stores, including Baby Dior, and stopping at a bookstore to look for parenting manuals and children’s picture books.
Singtao Daily (星島日報) wondered if Lau was building a layette for her future spawn, even though it appears that her superstar husband Tony Leung (梁朝偉) has yet to impregnate her. The newspaper speculated hopefully that Lau was indulging her baby fever — but pragmatically admitted that she might have been buying holiday presents for the two young daughters of her best friend, fellow Hong Kong star Faye Wong (王菲).
Also getting her bump watched over the holidays, but for completely different reasons, was Golden Horse-winning actress Loletta Lee (李麗珍, also known as Rachel Lee), who in the 1990s was dubbed the “sex goddess of Hong Kong cinema” because of her penchant for disrobing on-screen.
But now the 44-year-old actress’s taut hourglass figure has allegedly become so distorted by the ravages of age that it makes one want to cry, sighs Oriental Sunday (東方新地). Lee was spotted on the street by a photographer, looking so frumpy in a sweater and horn-rimmed glasses that it made the magazine nostalgic for her naked past.
Unflattering sweater aside, Pop Stop thinks Lee looked just fine in the paparazzi shots (if a little annoyed). There is no reason to make the woman neurotic about her weight.
Speaking of neurosis, Taiwanese pop singer and heartthrob Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) had the unfortunate experience of discovering his latent claustrophobia during a recent flight to the US. Hsiao, who the press dubbed the “New King” after just three appearances on One Million Star (超級星光大道) propelled him to pop fame, was traveling to Los Angeles to take voice classes.
On previous flights in economy class, Hsiao would settle in and go straight to sleep, his manager told reporters, but on this flight he had upgraded to pricier seats that give each passenger a small, private cabin of space — and as a result became anxious and fidgety. A full-scale panic attack was averted, however, by a mid-flight showing of Mamma Mia.
Call us cynical, but Pop Stop thinks that the only reason his manager gave the public a glimpse into Hsiao’s newly-uncovered phobia is to make the famously bashful singer seem even more cuddly to his legions of female fans, who no doubt have plenty of ideas about how they would calm the tall, chisel-jawed, raven-locked crooner the next time he finds himself stuck in a tight, secluded space.
Also feeling the squeeze, but financially speaking, is Taiwanese actress Shu Qi (舒淇). The plush-lipped vixen told Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社) that she has cut her wage demands by 30 percent in response to the dearth of offers since the global economic crisis hit. Some of Shu’s peers are following suit, including Hong Kong actress and singer Josie Ho (何超儀), who disclosed that her earnings for her last job consisted of a hong bao with a token amount tucked inside. But Ho may not have to tighten her purse strings as much as other starlets — her daddy is casino magnate and billionaire Stanley Ho (何鴻燊).
The credit crunch has forced consumers all around the world to cut back on
luxuries and instead find pleasure in simple things, including, it would appear, Mando-pop singer Fish Leong (梁靜茹). The Malaysian songstress was spotted by our sister newspaper, the Liberty Times (自由時報), when she went out for a sushi lunch in Xinyi District with her
paramour, the press shy, bespectacled gentleman known to gossip rags as
just “Tony.”
At one point during the meal, the Liberty Times’ intrepid spy saw Leong excitedly hand a tissue to her beau and exclaim, “I got this pack of really nice tissues, they are beyond soft. See for yourself.” The smitten Tony plucked the delicate sheet from Leong’s slender fingers and tenderly dabbed his mouth with it before going back to making goo-goo eyes at his ladylove. Simple pleasures, indeed.
Wooden houses wedged between concrete, crumbling brick facades with roofs gaping to the sky, and tiled art deco buildings down narrow alleyways: Taichung Central District’s (中區) aging architecture reveals both the allure and reality of the old downtown. From Indigenous settlement to capital under Qing Dynasty rule through to Japanese colonization, Taichung’s Central District holds a long and layered history. The bygone beauty of its streets once earned it the nickname “Little Kyoto.” Since the late eighties, however, the shifting of economic and government centers westward signaled a gradual decline in the area’s evolving fortunes. With the regeneration of the once
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
Perched on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, Arunothai is a dusty crossroads town, a nowheresville that could be the setting of some Southeast Asian spaghetti Western. Its main street is the final, dead-end section of the two-lane highway from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city 120kms south, and the heart of the kingdom’s mountainous north. At the town boundary, a Chinese-style arch capped with dragons also bears Thai script declaring fealty to Bangkok’s royal family: “Long live the King!” Further on, Chinese lanterns line the main street, and on the hillsides, courtyard homes sit among warrens of narrow, winding alleyways and
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