bamboo beancake

Name: Natsuko Tatsumi
Profession: Actress and Model
Birthdate: 1988-Jan-21
Birthplace: Tokyo
Height: 158cm
Star sign: Aquarius
Blood type: O
Talent agency: 18pro

This is the first post of my daily idol series. Today it is Minori Hatsune (?????).
* Birthdate: December 10, 1987
* Zodiac: Sagittarius
* Birthplace: Toyama Prefecture, Japan
* Blood type: A
* Height: 158 cm (5 ft 2 in)
* Measurements: 89-58-85 cm (35-23-33 in)
* Cup size: 65
* Hobby: Watching movie, shopping
* Special skill: Piano

Apparently the Chinese Lantern Festival will no longer be taking place in Toronto, but people can still look forward to the Toronto Chinatown Festival. Here’s a little blurb about the festivals from canadianimmigrant.ca :

“Master craftsmen of China’s Zigong region have returned for the last four years to transform Toronto’s Ontario Place into a spectrum of wondrous illumination, creating the largest Chinese lantern festival outside of Asia. Unfortunately, the festival won’t take place this year or in the future, according to its organizers.
However, another festival celebrating Chinese culture is coming to town this summer for the ninth consecutive year. The Toronto Chinatown Festival is being held on Aug. 22 and 23, in the city’s Chinatown, sprawling along Spadina Avenue, several blocks north and south of Dundas Street. Streets will remain closed to traffic during festival hours. Organizers promise festival-goers a memorable experience of the Chinese culture, heritage and cuisine, but also from across the Asian region.

“We are not bringing any performers from overseas, but will be showcasing local talents of Chinese and other Asian heritage,” Loretta Lam, event publicist says. “There will also be about 60 stalls and booths along the festival area selling arts and crafts from the Asian region.” In the past, the festival has attracted about 100,000 visitors over the two-day period, Lam notes, adding that the organizers expect a similar turnout this year as well. “

Taiwan pulled in three medals in the opening day of competition at the 2009 World Games in ­Kaohsiung yesterday as some events were rescheduled out of concerns about looming severe weather.

Huang Yu-ting won Taiwan’s first gold of the World Games in the women’s 300m speed rollerskating final, while compatriot Hsu Chiao-jen won the silver medal.

Lo Wei-lin brought Taiwan its second gold medal in the men’s final of the same event.

In the dragonboat races Taiwan took second place in the 2,000m final and third place in the 200m final. As it is an invitational sport, no medals were awarded.

Tony gives in to pressure from one of his office staff and travels to Korea. His condition? Nari (the assistant) must come with him and guide him through Korean cuisine, customs and culture.

On the surface, Saya is a stunning 16-year-old, but that youthful exterior hides the tormented soul of a 400-year-old “halfling.” Born to a human father and a vampire mother, she has for centuries been a loner obsessed with using her samurai skills to rid the world of vampires, all the while knowing that she herself can survive only on blood like those she hunts. When she is sent onto an American military base in Tokyo by the clandestine organization she works for, Saya immediately senses that this may be her opportunity to finally destroy Onigen, the evil patriarch of all vampires. Using her superhman strength and her sword, she begins to rid the base of its evil infestation in a series of spectacular and elaborate showdowns. However, it is not until she forms her first human friendship in centuries with the young daughter of the base’s general that Saya learns of her greatest power over Onigen may well be her ability for human connection…

2NE1 (pronounced “to anyone” or “twenty-one”) is a South Korean girl group created by YG Entertainment. First appearing in a Cyon commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Telecom, their debut single “Fire” was released on May 6, 2009. The group was first mentioned by the press in late 2008, when rumours were spreading that YG was creating a female version of Big Bang named Sista. In response to those rumours, YG Entertainment President Yang Hyun Suk stated that the name was not chosen yet. In January 2009, it was announced that the “Female Big Bang” would debut around July 2009 with three members — CL, Minzy, and Bom. Later that month, YG stated that Sandara Park joined the group, with one more member to follow.vIn the end, YG Entertainment announced that the group would consist of four members and debut sometime in May 2009. The company stated that the group had trained for 4 years, and that their debut album would contain songs produced by Teddy Park. The group’s name was initially announced as “21″; however, due to the discovery of a singer with the same name, the group was quickly renamed “2NE1″ which stands for “New Evolution of the 21st Century”. “NE” meaning “New Evolution” and “21” standing for the “21st Century”.

Early 2009- Mid 2009: Introduction and debut

2NE1′s first song was “Lollipop”, digitally released on March 27, 2009. The song was created for LG to promote their Cyon phone, and it was a joint release with Big Bang; the commercial/music video debuted on March 28, 2009. Although it was not a promoted single (as it was an advertisement song, there were problems with network chart eligibility), “Lollipop” proved to be a strong chart hit, going to #1 on various online charts and topping music television network M.Net’s online chart for four weeks in a row. However, questions were raised about the group’s future, as the song’s success was attributed to the popularity of Big Bang.

On April 30, Yang Hyun-suk revealed that 2NE1′s debut song would be a hip-hop/reggae song, and that it would be digitally released on May 6, 2009. Titled “Fire”, the song was fully written and produced by 1TYM’s Teddy Park. Teasers of the song were released on their official website at the beginning of May, with a 20-second clip released on May 1.

“Fire” was released as planned on May 6, with two versions of the music video — a “space” version and a “street” version — released the same day. The videos received over one million views in a day; the viewcount then increased to two million. The video was also profiled on Perez Hilton’s blog.

The group’s first performance of the song was on May 17, 2009, on SBS’s Inki Gayo. beginning the group’s activities. Their first performance was also included in Perez Hilton’s blog once again, showing his interest towards the group.

Both the song and the group have been very popular online, with the song topping M.Net’s online chart and the group’s name becoming a top search term. The group was also rewarded with three Cyworld Digital Music Awards, with both “Lollipop” and “Fire” winning “Song of the Month” awards and the group winning “Rookie of the Month” for May 2009. They received their first Mutizen award during their fourth stage performance in SBS Inkigayo (Popular Song) on June 14, 2009. They received their second Mutizen award on SBS Inkiagyo (Popular Song) on June 21, 2009.

Along with their awards successes, 2NE1 signed a deal with Fila to become the new models for their commercial campaign 2 days after 2NE1′s Mutizen win.

It was announced that 2NE1 would be heading over to the United States to work on their album, as Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine showed interest in the group; however, they have no plans to debut in North America.

1st Mini-Album

2NE1 ended their promotions for their debut single “Fire” on June 28, 2009 in SBS Inkigayo. On July 1st, the group released the title of a song out of their first mini-album called “I Don’t Care”, online. It is a totally different side and image of 2NE1, since “I Don’t Care” is a reggae R&B ballad, co-produced by YG’s rising producer Teddy and Kush. Kush is from a reggae group called “Stony Skunk”. After its digital release, interest in the song rose greatly, topping Cyworld’s hourly music chart after an hour of its release. On July 9th, they released a music video of “I Don’t Care”. Besides “I Don’t Care”, there are 4 other new songs featured on the mini album to form a total of 7 tracks. On its first day, it recorded 50,000 sales in pre-orders. Aside from “I Don’t Care”, In The Club, Stay Together, Let’s Go Party and Pretty Boy has already started invading various online K-pop charts.

Martin Yan (born December 1948) is a Chinese-born American chef and the host of the award-winning US national cooking show Yan Can Cook. Born in Guangzhou, China, to a restaurateur father and a grocer mother, Yan began to cook at 12. He moved to Hong Kong when he was 13, and attended the Munsang College in Kowloon City. During this time in Munsang College, he worked at his uncle’s Chinese restaurant and learned about the traditional method of Chinese barbecue there. He received a diploma from the Overseas Institute of Cookery of Hong Kong and later left for Canada for continuous study. Ten years after his arrival in North America, Yan received a Master of Science degree in food science from University of California, Davis, in 1975 .

After teaching Chinese cooking for the extension program and appearing on a local Calgary talk show in 1978 (on CHCT-TV, now CICT-TV), Yan has been hosting over 1,500 episodes of the PBS cooking shows Yan Can Cook since 1982. He has also appeared on cartoon talk show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, which currently airs on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

Martin Yan currently hosts “Martin Yan – Quick & Easy.” He also hosts Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking, where he tours Chinatowns around the globe.

Yan is one of the lead actors of the Singaporean movie Rice Rhapsody (????, 2005). Martin Yan also received the title of “Master Chef” by the American Culinary Federation. He has appeared as a guest judge on several episodes of Iron Chef America.

Martin Yan pwnz a Chicken

Check out this recipe :

Black Tea Braised Short Ribs
Ingredients:
Marinade

* 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
* 2 tbsp regular soy sauce
* 2 tsp cornstarch
* 2 lb. beef short ribs

Black Tea Braised Short Ribs

* 1 tbsp vegetable oil
* 4 x quarter-size slices ginger, lightly crushed
* 2 x green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 6 x black tea bags
* 1/4 cup Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 x whole star anise
* 2 x cinnamon sticks
* 1 lb. daikon, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
* 2 x medium carrots, roll-cut

Directions:
Marinade

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl; add short ribs and stir to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Black Tea Braised Short Ribs

1. Place a large saucepan over high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat bottom. Add ginger and green onions; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Reduce heat to medium. Add broth, tea bags, wine, brown sugar, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and beef. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 1 hour. Add daikon and carrots; cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

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