Those keeping abreast of the battle raging between busty sex kittens Shushu (舒舒) and Yaoyao (瑤瑤) will want to note one point for Shushu after her triumphant appearance in a regal
evening dress made entirely out of condoms.
As readers of Pop Stop may recall, Shushu, whose real name is Tseng Ya-ling (曾雅鈴), recently ticked off media watchdogs and feminists when she appeared in television ads wearing a low cut top while operating a jackhammer. At the same time, another commercial aired featuring Yaoyao, real name Kuo Shu-yao (郭書瑤), enjoying a rigorous workout without the benefits of a properly fitted sports bra. Perhaps jealous of the attention her rival’s ad was receiving, Yaoyao had her agent announce that Shushu was merely copying her.
All eyes were on Shushu last weekend, however, as she strutted around at a wedding dress show in the somewhat uncomfortable looking dress, which was made out of hundreds of condoms in their wrappers. Not to be outdone, Yaoyao appeared in public wearing a cleavage revealing top and trousers that “left nothing to the imagination,” but unfortunately, at least for what was left of Yaoyao’s dignity, Shushu succeeded in knocking her off the gossip pages.
One of the wedding dress show’s organizers let slip that they had originally wanted to hire Yaoyao for the event, but changed their minds because she was difficult to work with and instead hired Shushu “because she has similar style.” That is no doubt a slap in the face for both women, who, despite their similar hairstyles, figures, nicknames and career paths, continue to insist that they are two totally unique individuals who aren’t weirdly obsessed with one another.
Unlike the booby twins, Alyssa Chia (賈靜雯) has been running away from the press, which is obsessed with the custody battle that is raging between the actress and her estranged husband Sun Chihhao (孫志浩). Chia managed to give a crowd of waiting crowd photogs the slip at Taoyuan International Airport on Monday before boarding a flight to the US, where her young daughter is currently living with Sun.
Chia’s lawyer recently issued a statement begging the paparazzi to leave her alone, but she is partly to blame for the brouhaha. Chia tearfully announced at a press conference two weeks ago that she had not seen her child in four months.
Reports say Sun is determined to keep the little girl in the US with him and has applied for an American passport for the tot. Sun’s uncle, however, issued a statement accusing Chia of being a negligent mom. “She knows very well where her daughter is,” Liu Chengchung (劉正中) said. “All she has to do is go back to her family.”
Chia might want to get some points from fellow actress Annie Yi (伊能靜), who is fresh off her newly granted divorce from Harlem Yu (庾澄慶). Yi appeared on Hong Kong talk show Be My Guest (志雲飯局) to refute rumors that she’d given up shared custody of their young son in exchange for a hefty settlement of real estate.
Yi also insisted that her alleged affair with Victor Huang (黃維德) did not break up her nine-year marriage, even though the two sparked a media frenzy last November when they were photographed holding hands in Beijing. The marriage just ran its course, said Yi, adding that Yu was “the love of a lifetime and he can’t be replaced.” Maybe things look rosier in hindsight. The couple’s marriage was constantly plagued with rumors of marital discord, many of which centered on Yi’s beef with her in-laws.
One celebrity couple that still manages to get along is Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝) and Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒), who are preparing to move into a luxurious new home in Hong Kong. Oriental Sunday (東方新地週刊) reports that Cheung, who has been taking a career break since the Edison Chen (陳冠希) sex photo scandal broke, spent NT$4 million remodeling the 300m2 abode. She combined two bedrooms into a giant playroom for her son Lucas and remade another bedroom with an ocean view into a home spa with a tub big enough for two. Oriental Sunday said Cheung plans to treat Tse to romantic massages there, which is supposedly one of the secrets to their happy marriage.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the rising share of seniors in the population is reshaping the nation’s housing markets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, about 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident. H&B Realty chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), quoted in the article, said that there is rising demand for elderly-friendly housing, including units with elevators, barrier-free layouts and proximity to healthcare services. Hsu and others cited in the article highlighted the changing family residential dynamics, as children no longer live with parents,
It is jarring how differently Taiwan’s politics is portrayed in the international press compared to the local Chinese-language press. Viewed from abroad, Taiwan is seen as a geopolitical hotspot, or “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth,” as the Economist once blazoned across their cover. Meanwhile, tasked with facing down those existential threats, Taiwan’s leaders are dying their hair pink. These include former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), among others. They are demonstrating what big fans they are of South Korean K-pop sensations Blackpink ahead of their concerts this weekend in Kaohsiung.
Taiwan is one of the world’s greatest per-capita consumers of seafood. Whereas the average human is thought to eat around 20kg of seafood per year, each Taiwanese gets through 27kg to 35kg of ocean delicacies annually, depending on which source you find most credible. Given the ubiquity of dishes like oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) and milkfish soup (虱目魚湯), the higher estimate may well be correct. By global standards, let alone local consumption patterns, I’m not much of a seafood fan. It’s not just a matter of taste, although that’s part of it. What I’ve read about the environmental impact of the
Oct 20 to Oct 26 After a day of fighting, the Japanese Army’s Second Division was resting when a curious delegation of two Scotsmen and 19 Taiwanese approached their camp. It was Oct. 20, 1895, and the troops had reached Taiye Village (太爺庄) in today’s Hunei District (湖內), Kaohsiung, just 10km away from their final target of Tainan. Led by Presbyterian missionaries Thomas Barclay and Duncan Ferguson, the group informed the Japanese that resistance leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) had fled to China the previous night, leaving his Black Flag Army fighters behind and the city in chaos. On behalf of the