Tuesday, November 30, 2010

CherriiPOP Song of the Week - Hatsune Miku 'Po Pi Po'

Here is a cute song by artist Hatsune Miku. Interesting fact! She's 100% manufactured. Watch clip to find out more

CherriiPOP Youtube Channel and webisodes

Hi Everyone!!! I've been busy making webisodes for CherriiPOP, I hope you have been enjoying them. You can watch them direct at our youtube channel www.youtube.com/cherriipoptheshow


Cherriipop webisode 28Nov2010- Happy B'day Daniel Henney
I wish Daniel a Very Happy B'day. Plus, there is some cool footage of him meeting his fans and him at a VOGUE fashion photoshoot.




Here's the websisode for 23 Nov 2010

How to Send Daniel Henney a b'day msg and Utada talks about her break from music

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

CherriiPOP's First Webisode 16th Nov 2010 - Guangzhou Asian Game's Opening Ceremony, Kim Hyun Joong's performance and Utada Hikaru's New Abum News

Hey Everyone! Our live show broadcasts have ended for the year. During our off season we'll be making weekly webisodes! It will be a mini version of our show.

This week's webisode covers: The 16th Guangzhou Asian Game's Opening Ceremony, Kim Hyung Joong's performance at the Games and Utada's New Album: Singles Collection Volume 2. The long awaited album will hit the stores on Nov 24th (7 more days!!)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Odd Things I saw – 2010 WRAP UP



This is one of my favourite segments on the show. It’s a segment where I talk about Odd things I saw on holiday or in my everyday life. Our ‘Odd things I saw’ gallery has expanded during the year, I’m going to reflect on some of my favourite ones.

There are a lot of odd things in Japan, like cucumber flavoured coke? Cherry blossom flavoured Kit Kat! Their confectionary is far more diverse than our boring selection. We only have one flavoured Kit Kat, they have about 30! Another funny one is the Tokyo Tower mascot, it’s a huge long pink thing… yes… well you can have a look at the picture yourself. It looks like a pink crayon in overalls. Little kids hug it when they go on school excursions to Tokyo Tower. LOL

In Korea I saw some interesting stuff too. Deep fried bees, are you game enough to eat it? I wasn’t, but it was such a novelty to have a look at it.

My friend’s watch also made it on this segment. It’s no ordinary watch, it’s so much cooler than all the other watches in the world! It’s a binary watch!! It doesn’t have the normal hour and second hands ticking away. The watch face consists of numbers 1 and 0 running across the screen and you have to add them up to tell the time! Cool or Geeky? It’s a bit of both.

I have a new Odd Things I saw for this week. Triumph Japan, the bra company released a new high tech tourist bra. The inspiration for this bra comes from the tour guide’s uniform (Isn’t that an interesting source of inspiration for a bra), its more of a bustier than a bra. Features of the bra include: a display of sightseeing spots (that means you can put photos on the bustier), three buttons that you can press and it will emit audio greetings in 3 languages (English, Japanese and Korean). On the sides of the bustier are slots for tourist flag poles. If that doesn’t sound ridiculous enough, there is even skirt that is attachable to the bustier and it can flip up to reveal a map of Japan. Somehow I don’t think tour guides in Japan will be wearing these bustiers and skirts anytime soon. It is quite a funny story thought.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Let the games begin - 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou CHINA






The 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China begins today. It took 6 years of planning and billions of dollars in investment. After witnessing the Beijing Olympics, you can expect a spectacular Asian Games. Like the Beijing Games, the Guangzhou Asian Games have 5 mascots! The mascot design is based on a legend about five immortals who took five rams to Guangzhou, each holding an ear of corn in its mouth. There, the immortals prayed for an end to famine, then flew into the sky as the five rams turned into fossils.



Kim Hyun Joong along with other artists will sing the Game’s theme song at the opening ceremony.

Also, Kim Hyun Joong recently did an interview on CNN’s Asia Talk. I posted up the video on facebook so you can have a watch. The interviewer may be a familiar face to you! It’s Aussie Anna Coren, she use to host Today Tonight. Kim talks about his drama ‘Playful Kiss’ and how youtube help make it a success.

Piperoids – Paper pipe robots





Craft fans! I came across this cool Japanese papercraft called Piperoids. It’s were you build robots out of paper pipes. You can also build samurai warriors or cute little creatures.

Mr Tsunoda invented Piperoids, he wanting to ‘Teach values through handcrafts that use your hands and stimulate your brain’.
You can buy Piperoid kits at Amazon or Borders. They come with instructions on how to build your piperoid. Also on youtube you can check out a lot of home made instructional videos.

Important message for Daniel Henney Fans!


Daniel’s birthday is coming up and his management is putting together a special birthday book consisting of fan messages for him! If you want to be part of this all you have to do is take a photo of yourself with the message Happy Birthday Daniel and send it to danielhenneyfan@gmail.com. Remember to send in your name and where you are from.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

2010 Highlight – Rain’s MTV win for 'Biggest Badass Star’


It has been a huge year for Rain, he made his comeback to the small screen starring in the TV action drama ‘Fugitive’, releasing new songs, his got concerts at the end of the year then his enlisting in the army next year! WOW! It seems that he squashes ten years worth of work in one year! Well one of the highlights of this year and probably in his career was winning his first MTV movie award for ‘Biggest Badass star’!!! He won the award for his role in Ninja Assassin!

He was up against tough competition for the award, the other nominees were Angelina Jolie (Wanted), Channing Tatum (GI Joe), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Sam Worthington (Avatar). Rain took home the golden popcorn.

That was a cool moment in 2010.

2010 Music Wrap up – Solo Endeavours, Comebacks and Good-byes

So much has happened in this year in the Music industry! Everything moves at a very fast pace in Asia. We saw a lot of group members go out and do there solo projects, many artists making their comeback after a few years absence and I mentioned earlier in the show many huge names are bidding permanent and temporary farewells to the business like Bao Han, Utada and Rain.

This year we saw huge Kpop artists return after a few years trying to break in to the American music scene. Yep! Boa and Se7en! Boa was absent for 5 years (I can’t believe it was that long) and she definitely made a spectacular comeback to KPOP releasing her new album ‘Hurricane Venus’. With her epic comeback she had a whole blonde look and a new sound. Se7en made a huge comeback as well, displaying a more mature look and showing up some new tattoos. Both of them didn’t quite get the response they were hoping for in America, but they are incredibly talented so I hope they can crack the market in the near future.

We saw a lot of popular band members go out and release their own solo singles like Taeyang from Big Bang, Ga In from Brown Eye Girls and heaps more. No, they didn’t leave the group! They have received a lot of success for their solo projects, with singles topping the charts. Taeyang’s MV for ‘I’ll be there’ was incredible; it has a bit of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ feel with slick dancing and zombies.

SMAP the ultimate boy band are still dominating the Oricon charts after nearly 2 decades in the business! Their single ‘This is love’ debut at number one and it goes to show they guys still got it!

The Best Bits of CherriiPOP – Wedding stories

There have been a lot of wedding stories covered on the show this year; they were quite popular stories on the show because I got a lot of comments about it. Here is a recap:




A few weeks ago I mentioned an interesting story about a Taiwanese woman marrying herself. She herself decided to put a ring on it. A wedding planner was hired and she invited her close friends and family to her wedding. I really admire that story because she is sending out a strong message to other 30 year old women that you don’t have to follow tradition and you should love yourself. Legally her marriage isn’t recognised, so in the future when she meets Prince Charming she can marry him without divorcing herself. It’s inspirational that she’s living life to her own rules!




On the date 10-10-10 this year, many couples around the world said ‘I do’, so venues were booked out in advanced. Why did so many couples choose this date? Well because it is an auspicious date since the day, month and year are the same. In Asia, people believe that when you get married on this date you will live a happy life together. In the past, the dates 08-08-08 and 09-09-09 were highly popular for weddings for the same reason. If you are planning to get married in the near future, then you might consider these auspicious dates 11-11-11 and 12-12-12.




The Last story is: A lot of adult Japanese men who have no luck in the love department have resorted to loving anime cartoon characters. These virtual girlfriends are printed images on pillowcases and these men will take their ‘girlfriends’ on dates to the movies, restaurants or special getaways. The men feel a lot of happiness in the relationship and feel that it is true love. Some men love their virtual girlfriends so much that they will marry them and have the whole wedding celebration as well. It’s a very interesting story and people who have an obsession with manga or anime characters are called ‘otaku’ in Japan.

AND temporary Farewells to Jpop and Kpop’s Greatest: Utada Hikaru and Rain.

2010 will also bid farewells to other HUGE Pop artists, Utada Hikaru and Rain! I know, all my favourite artists are leaving me! Utada and Rain are not retiring but they are bidding temporary farewells to their fans.



Utada announced on her website that she will be taking a break from the music industry for an indefinite period of time. She has grown up in the industry and she has felt that it is time to explore a different side of life. Before the end of the year, she is releasing new compilation albums (1 in Japanese and 1 in English). New songs will be included on her Japanese compilation album and this week she released the PV to her newly released single ‘Goodbye Happiness’. I love the Music clip to this song, it’s very kawaii (cute) and it will surely put a smile on your face. It’s a simple clip, the whole MV takes place in a typical Japanese bedroom and she is singing at the desk with cute puppets popping in to frame. I love her Music clips, it’s creative and unlike American artist MV’s it’s not sexual. Utada never wears sexy clothes and dances with topless male dancers, she said it’s not her style. I admire that she stayed true to herself and didn’t succumb to pressures to be sexy to sell records.




Rain!!! Will also be taking a break from the music industry to serve his compulsory military duty. Rain has been delaying his enlistment for a long time now due to work and study commitments. It has been announced that he will enlist the start of 2011. This year has been a big year for Rain, he made his comeback on the small screen, starring in the popular TV drama ‘Fugitive: Plan B’, released a new single, there are plans that he will star in one more movie and also he is studying a masters degree. In addition, on December 31 this year he will be holding 2 special concerts in Seoul! It’s been a jammed packed year for Rain.

It hasn’t been an easy year for Rain, he has been caught up in a lot of bad media coverage over J Tune’s embezzlement drama, gambling debts. The next few years won’t get easier while he serves in the military.

I look forward to Utada and Rain’s comeback in the future. I think after their break they will be back with so much creative energy and producing remarkable music.

2010 bids Farewell to VPOP Princess Bao Han

Vpop's princess Bao Han, one of the most loved and successful artist is retiring from the music industry at the end of 2010, after 18 years in the business. She made the announcement to her fans on her website through a heartfelt letter. During 2010 she has toured the world to farewell her fans in concert. She still has a few more scheduled concerts in the US, so you still have time to see her perform.

I have been a fan of Bao Han since her debut in the industry. She is vibrant, always re-inventing and challenging herself to bring something new for her fans. My favourite songs of hers include: Remember You Remember Me, Talk To My Heart, Thank You, First Love and so much more.

Although I have known about her retirement since last year I still can’t imagine the Vpop music scene without Bao Han. She has contributed a lot to the industry and been a significant Vpop artist. Her music has meant a lot to me and I admired her talent and creativity. It will take a while for me to fully accept that she has retired. I wish her all the best in the next chapter in her life! She will be missed deeply but her music will always live on.

The best bits of CherriiPOP in 2010

This is our season finale! Our last episode for the year so I thought I’ll take you down CherriiPOP’s memory lane… CherriiPOP made its debut at the start of the year on Radio Monash. The first show was quite a memorable one for me! I really wanted to make a great debut for CherriiPOP! I was quite nervous but really excited about the show airing. I made little memos for me to help me run the show and I also had 2 guests on the show to help make my debut.

Being the first CherriiPOP show, naturally I was telling everyone I knew to tune in! The show got off to a good start, I played some awesome tracks, presented CherriiPOP segments with lots of energy and I thought the show was going nice and smoothly. Fifteen minutes in to the show people started to call me and asked “Are you on the air yet?”. I said, ‘Yes? I am, aren’t I?”. Everyone said I wasn’t and some random guy was being broadcasted instead. So I started to panic and was trying to figure out why I wasn’t being broadcasted. The studio computer is a MAC and I’m a PC person, so I wasn’t that familiar with the Apple platform. That certainly didn’t help, but after 15 minutes I finally figured why I was not being broadcasted. The radio show before mine had put the online streaming offline! Usually it’s left online, well after I put it back online I was freaking out and had to re-start the show. This time it wasn’t as lively as the original, I was so sorry about the hiccup and apologising to the listeners.

My 2 guests on the first show, Linh and Lien are good friends of mine and they really help me calm down and put the show back on track. I was really happy they were there. I felt like the show’s debut totally bombed but everyone said it wasn’t that bad and encouraged me to do better for the future shows! Well I think I have improved and the show has too! I want to thank everyone for listening! I’m so thrilled that the show has been on air for one year now and I hope you guys have enjoyed listening.

Looking back, I think my debut show is quite funny because I was talking to myself practically for 15 minutes! Back then, after the show aired it didn’t feel funny at all, I felt so crushed because it wasn’t how the show was suppose to pan out. It is definitely an unforgettable moment for me.

Friday, November 5, 2010

CherriiPOP playlist for 5/11/10

Leah Dizon – LOVE U
2am – To love again
Jolin Tsai – Nothing left to say
Utada Hikaru – Goodbye Happiness
Leah Dizon – Softly
Gummy – I love you even if I die
Kylee – Everlasting
Leah Dizon – Fever
Rain - Pantech

Odd things I saw… Lockable Donut Case



Japan comes up with the coolest gadgets and knick knacks. I came across this cool accessory, it’s a lockable donut case.

Do you like to carry your donut in a lightweight case that will keep your donut fresh, tasty and not soggy? Well this ‘donut to go’ case can do exactly that. It’s got a ‘passive ventilation system’ basically little holes in the donut case so the donut doesn’t get soggy. Other features include a neat little handle so you can carry it around, and also a padlock so you can lock up your donut. Is the lock really necessary? Who is going to steal your donut? Well maybe someone that is super hungry but isn’t a dual locking system a bit much? And what happens if you lose the key? I guess you won’t have donut for lunch then.

Hefty fines for not clearing front yard snow

In Australia we are approaching SUMMER! I can’t wait for the sunshine! This year has been dreadfully cold, even now – and it’s spring. On the other side of the equator they are approaching winter.

A lot of countries experience heavy snowfall and in Korea, residents who do not clear the snow in front of their home may face a nasty fine of up to 1 million won (about 1,000AUD). Currently residents don’t face snow fines but The National Emergency Management Agency plans to introduce fines so residents feel a responsibility to clear snow on their property.

Other countries have already put in place snow fines, in the US people can face $50-100 fines, Germany more than 500 euros ($700 dollars).

Reference: Korea Herald

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

‘The Hills’ Japanese Style


‘The Hills’ is a reality TV show that revolves around 4 young women. The show documents their lives and all the drama in it. In almost every episode one of the stars is crying over something. A few months ago the series finale aired and the secret of the show was finally unveiled and everything was staged! Nothing was real, interesting isn’t it?

Well MTV International are planning on a Japanese version of the show that follows four young women who hang out in Shibuya and Harajuku, and are trying to make it in the fashion and entertainment industry as well. This sounds like a show I would be interested in, Shibuya and Harajuku are such exciting places to hang out. I wonder if the girls will hang out in hosts clubs?

If you don’t know what a host club is, it’s basically a club where woman go to buy conversation with young hot guys… They don’t really buy conversation per say, they buy drinks for themselves and their ‘host’ and they will chat throughout the night. It’s sort of like a pseudo relationship. They guys will prey on the girl a bit and she’ll keep coming back to see him. The host’s salary is commission based and it all depends on the amount of drinks he sells. Usually hosts don’t see their clients outside of the bar, so for her to see him for another date she has to go back to the bar and buy drinks.

Back to the Japanese ‘The Hills’ show, 12 thirty-minute episodes will start airing January 2011. The show is expected to air in Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

As for the series name, maybe they should call it ‘Tokyo Girls’ or something that will capture the essence of Tokyo.

Kim Hyun-Joong to sing the Guangzhou Asian Games theme song


The Guangzhou Asian Games starts next week and it was announced that Kpop star Kim Hyun-Joong will sing the theme song. At the opening ceremony on November 12, Kim and four other artists will perform the Game’s official song ‘Sunshine Again’.

Kim won’t be singing in his native tongue, he will be singing the song in Chinese. That is quite impressive.

The Games will be broadcast across Asia, remember to tune in.

Ref: Korea Herald

Earn $31,000 in one hour! Working at Domino’s Japan


Would you like to earn $31,000 for one hours work? That is equivalent to a year’s salary for many people. You may think – this sounds too good to be true earning $31,000 in 60 minutes. Well, as unbelievable as it sounds Domino’s Japan is offering this one off pay to one lucky person.

Why are they doing this??? To commemorate Domino’s 25th anniversary in Japan and 50th in the world. This December Domino’s Japan will hire one lucky person to work for one hour at a rate of $31,000. Domino’s is keeping a lot of the details secretive at the moment BUT more details will be released on November 11. Another thing we do know is anyone over the age of 18 will qualify for the opportunity.

Domino’s has copped some flack for this marketing campaign with some stating that there would be better uses for the money such as increasing employee salaries.

Another interesting promotion they are running for their 25th anniversary is: anyone born on the September 30th this year – which is the date that the very first Domino’s store opened in Japan – will receive a free pizza on their birthday until they turn 25. That is pretty cool! The parents of the babies born on this date must remember to claim their free pizza for the first few years because the baby won’t be able to eat pizza yet! Lol!