Sushi Cake, Anyone?

It would make a fantastic centrepiece — even better than a naked woman
By James P. Ong

EVER heard of sushi cakes? Neither have we, until we stumbled onto this photo (see original post) from a blog. Apparently, the bride and groom were known to love sushi so much that their friends decided to bake them this cake made with avocado, edamame, wasabi, raw salmon, tuna and roe. And topped with wasabi icing and drizzled in soy sauce!

We were intrigued enough to start looking for sushi cakemakers in Singapore, but alas, we found none. But we did spy an advertisement in 88DB.com promoting the culinary courses of California-Asia Sushi Academy, which teaches its students fun ways of preparing Japanese food.

Read more about Sushi Cakes.

Tantric Massage Can Be Wholesome

‘I think most men would simply like to believe that the touch is sexual’
By James P. Ong

SAY Tantric massage and the first thing that’s likey to come to mind is sensuality and sexuality. But if Tantra Path founder Christina Low is to be believed, it can be also be about spirituality and re-channeling energy.

There are various therapies under the wide umbrella of Tantra. “Watsu/Tantsu/ Kahuna are all forms of Tantra in a (non-genital) massage. And, of course, Kashmir Tantric massage that I teach is based on giving from a loving heart, and not a search for more physical triggers to gain arousal,” she says.

On 30 August, Low is holding a course on “Tantric Massage For Two” — one of three Tantric-themed workshops that day. What, exactly, is Tantric massage? According to the course outline, it is the massage of a loving heart and sensual touch.

Read more about how Tantric Massage Can Be Wholesome.

Burger King Ad Controversy

Tray liners portray an onion getting strip-searched

AN ADVERTISING agency in Europe has created controversial tray liners for Burger King that shows an onion clearing the airport security, stripped and with its pants down. Yes, you read right. An onion. With its pants down.

According to the website www.ideasandbox.com, the artwork is part of a series called Veg City, created by an ad agency called .start. The campaign seems to be for use only in certain European countries, and thus won’t make it to Asia or Singapore. Earlier themes included a Red Light City, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve.

Read more about the Burger Kind Ad Controversy.

The Michael Phelps Diet

Watch the video — the Olympic star eats 12,000 calories a day
By James P. Ong

BEIJING Olympics sensation Michael Phelps’s diet secret is simple: He eats 12,000 calories a day. "Eat, sleep and swim. That's all I can do…get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can,” said the 23-year-old American swimmer in an interview with US television station NBC, as reported by New York Post.

This should hardly be a surprise. As far back as 2005, in an interview with IGN Sports, he already boasted about “cramming in as many calories…as I possibly can.” What a lucky guy.

Click on our Michael Phelps story to read the rest of the Michael Phelps interview and watch the Michael Phelps video.

Win a LG Secret KF750 from 88DB

88DB.com launches their August contest and up for grabs is the latest LG phone, the LG Secret KF750

How would you like to win your very own LG Secret?

Every month, 88DB.com holds Snap.Post.Vote contests exclusive to members so we can all interact and inspire ourselves in our little community.

In this month's contest, the instructions are simple - all you have to do is take a photo of yourself, post it at the contest page, and tell us why you want to win a set of your very own LG Secret 5-megapixel camera mobile phone!

What are you waiting for? Post now!

SINGfest ’08 Rocked!

Success of local-grown music festival, only on its second year, means it is already an institution
Text and Photos by Mavis Ang

ONLY in its second year running, SINGfest 2008 turned out to be a major success, selling out its second day tickets weeks ahead of this music event. It might have been the stellar lineup, which included British folk rockers Travis and R&B princess Alicia Keys – these two attracted the biggest crowds.

SINGfest proved itself to be more than its international acts. Sure, the bands and artists were an important aspect of the musical festival, but SINGfest had it all – a mature crowd, great sunny weather, and squeaky clean toilets. With these essential factors alongside awesome live performances, SINGfest turned out to be the best musical event I’ve attended.

Read more about SINGfest 2008.

Lose Dramatic Inches Fast With The Latest Slimming Treatment Wonder

Marie France develops BodyTech™ Perfectionist System, one of the most powerful weight loss systems now available

FOR a sexy, sculpted silhouette and a body that feels completely reborn, Marie France Bodyline introduces the next generation in body slimming and toning: the BodyTech™ Perfectionist System.

Formulated at their cutting-edge laboratories, this revolutionary slimming system harnesses a unique blend of three compounds — CafeiSilane C, BodyFit, and Regestril — to target women’s most common body problems, such as hard-to-trim fat, cellulite, and skin distention.

Read more about the latest slimming treatment service.

Arts Exposure

Three exhibits worth checking out this NDP weekend

OSAGE: “Inside Looking Out”
THE establishment by young Hong Kong artists of studios−in the flatted factories of Chai Wan, Kwun Tong, and, in particular, Fotan in the New Territories−constitutes one of the most interesting aspects of HK’s recent contemporary art development.

It is the closest to the Western notion of the aesthete or bohemian artist working for arts sake in his garret. It is HK’s 21 st century equivalent of the bohemian artists’ colony.

At Osage Singapore, catch seven of these artists in “Inside Looking Out.” They are Ma Chihang (Film/Media Arts), Kwan Sheungchi (Multi-disciplinary Arts), Lee Kit (Painting Installation), Chow Chunfai (Painting), Pak Sheungchuen (Conceptual Art), Lam Tungpang (Painting/Mixed-media) and Doris Wong Waiyin (Mixed-media).

The exhibit’s organisers believe that, as the art world becomes more and more fragmented, the identification of artists as a member of a particular group or “school” is for many the only way of lending structure to a highly fluid range of contemporary art movements.

And that’s why they ask the question: Is there a “Fotan School” in Hong Kong?

“Inside Looking Out” at Osage Gallery (11B Mount Sophia, #01-12, Singapore 228466; tel. no. 6337 9909) opens on the evening of 8 August, and a roundtable discussion featuring the artists will be held on 9 August, from 2pm to 5pm. It runs until 5 September.

Read more for the other two art exhibits in Singapore.

Fancy Mooncake Liqueur

Interesting twist to old Chinese favourite at Szechuan Court

IT’S that time of the year again: August, the month of mooncakes. And Szechuan Court at Fairmont Hotel has come up with a fresh take on these centuries-old Chinese favourite: mooncake laced in liqueur. For that you have to thank Szechuan Court’s very own “Mooncake Empress”, chef Mandy Yeo, who prepares to enchant mooncake lovers anew with a robust selection of unique combinations such as Champagne Truffle & Chocolate Ganache, Baileys Chocolate and Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle, and all-time baked wholesome favourites of Double Yolk in White Lotus Paste and Peach-shaped Single Yolk & Macadamia Nuts in White Lotus Paste.

Free delivery to a single location is available for a minimum order of 50 boxes and three days advance order. There's also a special 20% discount from 1 - 10 August 2008 for a minimum purchase of two boxes.

Read more about the different fancy mooncake liqueur.

StreetDirectory is back on!

Streetdirectory re-launches with all new maps and new features for the loyal visitors.

Streetdirectory.com launches their new maps with much more value-added features this 1st of August. Read on for the press coverage from Straits Times...

Aug 1, 2008
Streetdirectory.com back in business
Online map website relaunched with new owner and maps created from scratch
By Irene Tham

STREETDIRECTORY.COM is back online.

The website, whose street maps were found by a court to have violated the copyright of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), was taken offline in late March but is being relaunched today.

Two things are new about it: The site has new maps, created from scratch over the past nine months, and a new owner.

JobsDB, Asia's largest online recruitment firm based in Hong Kong, bought the streetdirectory. com Web address and its assets from Singapore-based Virtual Map in the fourth quarter of last year for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition was kept under wraps until yesterday.

Mr Samuel Sung, chairman of JobsDB, told The Straits Times: 'Our online recruitment and classified ads businesses need maps. And streetdirectory.com is a good domain name to own.'

The revamped site offers users the conveniences of its predecessor, such as location search by postal code, building and street names.

But the site now also allows map users to pan across a particular neighbourhood by holding down and dragging the mouse.

Users will also be able to look for jobs based on location, since the online street directory has been integrated with JobsDB's recruitment engine.

A new company, called Streetdirectory, was recently incorporated here to run the online map business spanning three countries.

The outfit has about 70 people, including land surveyors and cartographers who chart the landmarks, buildings and roads here and in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Mr Sung, asked why he chose to build the maps from scratch when he could buy them from other providers, said: 'We're starting on a clean slate. No one can question our maps. We own them.'

More than 10 senior managers from Virtual Map have joined the new entity, including former Virtual Map managing director Firdhaus Akber, now the managing editor at Streetdirectory.

Virtual Map is still awaiting judgment from the Court of Appeal, Singapore's highest court, on its application to file an appeal against an earlier High Court decision.

Meanwhile, SLA has applied to strike out Virtual Map's notice of appeal.

The problem between the two former business partners began in 2004, when SLA filed a suit against Virtual Map for using its copyrighted materials after it no longer had the permission to do so.

SLA won the case in a district court. Virtual Map then appealed to the High Court against the decision but was turned down.

When the High Court ordered Virtual Map to take down the maps that infringed SLA's copyright in March, the map company went to the Court of Appeal, the judgment of which is pending.

Whatever the Court of Appeal decides, Mr Akber said, Virtual Map will 'fulfil its obligations to SLA and the lawyers'.

'We're not going to run away,' he said.

At its peak, Virtual Map had about 500 corporate customers in Asia, for whom it customised maps used, for example, on company websites and brochures.

Today, that customer base has under 100 names, said Mr Akber, who expressed hope that customers would recontract with Streetdirectory.

Virtual Map will remain open till the end of this year to service existing contracts. Until then, it will resell Streetdirectory's new maps to these customers.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_263261.html

Go and take a peek at Streetdirectory.com now!