Wat Phai Rong Wua has to be one of the most bizarre tourist attractions on the face of the Earth. Featuring scenes of torture, performed by devilish creatures, this Buddhist temple complex is what Thais expect hell to be like.

Mostly unkown to the Western world, Wat Phai Rong Wua is a popular destination for Buddhists, who flock here every year. Known as the location of the largest metal-cast Buddha figure in the world, and of the Palace of a Hundred Spires, Wat Phai Rong Wua also houses dozens of sculptures of people being tortured by demons and various monsters. Some are poked in the face with a tridents, while others suffer, with their insides hanging out, in the jaws of giant monsters. There’s blood everywhere and loudspeakers around the complex describe the tortures these sinners have to undergo.

Wat Phai Rong Wua doesn’t strike you as the kind of place you’d want to take your children, on a family vacation, but Thais from all over the country travel here, with their kids, to show them what can happen if they don’t say their prayers, or do bad deeds. Seems pretty weird, doesn’t it? I guess that’s why you hardly see any westerners around this place. Read More »

I’m sure you’ve seen Iron Man and War-Machine cosplay before, but I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen anything like this before.

We’ve seen some work of Iron Man fan, Anthony Le, in the past, I’ve even posted another War-Machine costume he made a while ago, but his latest masterpiece is simply too awesome for words. This talented costume creator built his first version of the War-Machine costume, before any footage from the first Iron Man movie came out, and he only used comics for inspiration.

But Anthony has come a long way, since his first costume, and is now sporting a kick-ass replica of the War-Machine costume worn by Jim Rhodes, in Iron Man 2. For the armor he used thin, high-impact urethane plates, joined together by around 1,500 rivets and washers, the helmet was sculpted from clay and enforced with a special resin mix, and the mounted shoulder gun was made from pipes and an old engine.

LEDs in the eyes and armor, and a small servo-motor that lifts the faceplate make this War-Machine costume even more real. As you can imagine, Anthony Le is a big hit at conventions, and he’s now working on other awesome costumes, for himself and clients. Chapeau!

Check out more awesome photos and a video, below.

Photos via Anthony Le

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The newly opened Inntel Hotel, in the Dutch town of Zaandam is now the main eye-catcher of the town center, due to its bizarre design, resembling a number of stacked houses.

Inntel Hotel is the brainchild of Dutch designer, Wilfried van Winden. Many of us see hotels as temporary homes, so he tried to emphasize this idea by designing it to look like a bunch of traditional Zaan houses, stacked over each other. The result of his vision is both unique and familar, and definitely stunning.

One can identify almost 70 houses in the design of Inntel Hotel, most of them green and one blue, right at the top.

via Dezeen

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Probably the only one of its kind, in the world, the Snake Temple, in Penang, Malaysia, is home to bothe people and some of the most dangerous snakes on Earth.

Located at Sungai Kluang, on Penang Island, the Snake Temple is also known as Temple of the Azure Cloud or Pure cloud Temple, in honor of Penang’s beautiful skies. It’s a safe haven for pit vipers, said to be servants of Chor Soo Kong, the resident deity of the temple. According to legend, Chor Soo Kong, who was a Chinese monk and healer, once offered shelter to the snakes of the jungle, who then started coming in of their own free will.

Thousands of devotees travel to the Snake Temple of Penang, every year, and they aren’t bothered by the dozens of venomous snakes coiled around the temple. Some say it’s the work of Chor Soo Kong, while others believe pit vipers, known as one of the most aggressive snake species, are made drowsy by the smoke of the incense burning in the temple.

Unfortunately, the snake population of the Penang Snake Temple has decreased constantly, due to the urbanization of the area. If you’re brave enough to enter, you should know there’s no admission fee.

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Many said she would never make it, but teenager Jessica Watson shut them all up when she completed her months long journey, and sailed into Sydney Harbor, on May 15, 2010.

The Australian sailor took off on her daring trip around the world, on October 18, 2009, all by herself. For over 200 days and 23,000 nautical miles, Jessica was all alone on her 30-foot-long pink yacht, “Ella’s Pink Boat”. She had to overcome strong winds, waves as high as mountains, and loneliness, in order to prove young people can accomplish their dreams, whatever they might be.

Ms. Watson said the toughest times were when bad weather was forecast, and she had to fight against monster storms. But she managed to keep her cool, kept her boat afloat, and against all odds, complete her journey around the world.

Having become the world’s youngest person to sail around the world, non-stop and unassisted, Jessica Watson captured the attention and admiration of the whole world, and become rich and famous, in consequence. While she was away at sea, her team managed to secure deals estimated at around $1 million, with several companies, including one of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers. She also has a nationwide book tour coming up, for her “True Spirit: The Aussie Girl Who Took on the World” book, due to come out in July, as well as other souvenir sales.

But saying Jessica Watson did it all for media attention and profit just wouldn’t be fair. She is clearly in love with the ocean, and she said that even after seven lonely months at sea, she was reluctant to leave the pink yacht that had become “more than a home”.

Photos via CourrierMail

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Looking at the photo, below, you’re probably thinking something like “that’s a nice looking villa”, only it’s really just a Chinese public toilet.

This luxurious public facility was built on Nanshan Road, Xiamen, near the city’s residential area. It covers 100 square meters, offering clean, spacious toilets, for both men and women. Realizing people would probably mistake it for a private villa, city authorities placed a big “Nanshan public toilets” sign, on the balcony.

Even so, passers by were reluctant to use the fancy toilet, so another sign was added, on the sidewalk. This one says “free, open, civilized service”. Both men’s and women’s toilets feature artistically designed signs, and the second floor of this public toilet villa houses the administrator’s office. Although hundreds of people use this fancy restroom, every day, he says he never sensed any foul smells.

via CRI Online

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Once used as deadly weapons, to slash enemies apart, Japanese Katana swords are now used by Japanese white-collar women to slash away extra pounds and cut down stress.

The recently opened “Samurai Camp” gym, in Tokyo,  looks more like the training ground for modern amazons. More than 100 of them have signed up for this unusual fitness program that aims to help them lose 11 pounds in just one month. The inventor of samurai sword fitness, 31-year-old Takafuji Ukon, believed men would be more interested in the art of Katana wielding, but much to his surprise, women were the ones who flocked to the gym.

Ukon is not a martial arts expert, but he is a master of sword dancing, and knows just what moves to teach, so the women can shed the extra weight. Still, in order to avoid potentially deadly accidents, real swords were replaced with wooden ones, wrapped in tin foil.

Since we don’t live in an era where slashing people is allowed, Takafuji Ukon teaches his students to visualize fat and stress as the enemies, when they’re using the swords. And according to the clients of Samurai Camp, they appreciate the chance to get in touch with Japanese culture, relax, and lose weight, all at the same time.

Photos by AFP via ChinaNews

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The La Loma district, of Quezon city, in the Philippines, is famous for having a pig roaster on every street corners, but on the third Sunday of May, roasted pigs take to the streets.

Lechon is the word Filipinos use for roasted pigs. It’s derived from the Spanish word “leche” which hints that the pig must be a suckling pig. For this monumental feast, pigs are stuffed with tamarind, pandan leaves and a concoction of spices, their skins bathed in soy sauce and vinegar. They are roasted over a charcoal pit, by an expert roaster, who knows just when to turn them, until they become crispy red.

Although everyone enjoys a nice helping of delicious Lechon, complemented with liver sauce, the highlight of this Asian fiesta is the Parade of the Lechon. Roasted pigs are dressed up in funny costumes and paraded through the city streets, on the shoulders of devotees. After 50 years of celebrating the Parade of the Lechon, Filipinos have turned dressing up roasted pigs into an art. Read More »

I guess it’s true what they say, guns really don’t kill people, they can actually be used to create original works of art.

Come May 21, The Rusian city of Perm will be hosting an important exhibition of modern Ukrainian art, called YAKSCHO. It aims to reflect the situation in this country: productively unstable, full of contradictions, promises, hopes and disappointments, bursts of protest and creative energy.

One of the most interesting displays at YAKSCHO will definitely be the shot-up BMW. A local shooters group was asked by the Museum of Modern Art, in Perm, to take part in an unusual, but fun shooting session. Participants were promised a BMW X5 to shoot at, but in the end they were happy to empty their guns into an older model.

Volodymyr Kuznetzov, the man behind this unusual art project, decorated the car with flowers and other ornaments, marked with nail polish crosses, but the shooters, weren’t really able to follow the pattern. Still he was pleased with the final result and believes his shot-up BMW will be a hit when the exhibition opens.

via ilipin

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When it comes to architecture, one thing is for sure: you don’t have to build something like Burj Khalifa to draw attention. That definitely helps, but this lovely teapot gas station proves you can do it for cheap.

Known as the Teapot Dome, this architectural jewel is located in Zillah, Washington, and was built almost 100 years ago, as a monument to the Teapot Dome Scandal, which involved a number of important American figures.

Until a few years ago, before it went out of use, the Teapot Dome was considered the oldest gas station in America, but now it’s just a local monument that definitely needs preserving.

via InteractiveArchitecture

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Satoko Inoue and Tomohiro Shibata bothe looked amazing on their wedding day, but the spotlight was stolen by i-Fairy, the humanoid robot that replaced the priest.

Inoue, the bride, works for the company that produces the i-Fairy robot, and Shibata is a client, so it’s safe to say robots are the reason they began dating in the first place. At his beloved’s suggestion, the groom was more than happy to replace the priest with an adorable robot that rose to the challenge, thanks to some special programming.

The bride said she always felt like robots could play a big role in people’s lives, and she’s glad her experience showed the whole world just that. Representatives of the company that makes i-Fairy said they’re thrilled one of their products was the center of attention in the first wedding presided over by a robot.

Photos by REUTERS

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Vladislav Ketov isn’t the only man on earth who embarked on a bike trip, but unlike other bikers, he only finished his after 20 years.

Ketov’s journey began in 1991, in Leningrad, and he kept pedaling along the coastline of continents like Africa, Europe, both Americas, and south and south-east Asia. He traveled alone, and only used other means of transportation, when he absolutely had to. During his 20 years of constant pedaling around the world, his bike was only stolen once…in Russia.

The main problem Vladislav Ketov had was that he embarked on this trip without money. Everywhere he went, the artist earned his keep by painting portraits. Thus he was able to save enough to keep him traveling for years. When he started his biking journey, Ketov left his wife and two sons behind, in Sankt Petersburg.

via zyalt

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French artist, Christian Boltanski, uses a huge crane and a giant pile of discarded clothes to explore the notion of mortality.

Located in New York City’s Park Avenue Armory, Christian Boltanski’s No Man’s Land art installation was created using 30 tons of used clothes, a metal crane, and 3,000 stacked cookie tins that block views from the outside.

Even after hearing the artist reveal the ideas behind this art project, ideas that include life, death and futility, you can’t help but compare it to that frustrating arcade game where you had to control the crane, using a joystick, without dropping the prize. Still, in Boltanski’s vision, his project is dead serious.

Every few minutes, the metal crane will drop down and randomly grab some clothes, from the 45 rectangular plots of clothes around the armory, and drop them in the big pile, in the center. This apparently symbolizes the arbitrariness of death and survival. Visitors get to see this weird art display with a background soundtrack of human heartbeats.

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Germany’s first ever strip poker tournament took place on may 12, 2010, in the Blauer Salon of the Dresden Park Hotel. 40 contestants, 33 men and 7 women, tried to keep their clothes on, for the chance to win a trip to Las Vegas.

Organized by the Billy Boy condom company, the Dresden Strip Poker Tournament got hot from the start. As there was no admission fee, contestants only had to bring their clothes, as currency, and their best game. Ladies were asked to bet responsibly and keep their clothes on as long as possible, so their male counterparts could focus on poker.

Each player was given a stack of chips, and every time they lost it, they had to take off a clothing item, to receive more. Extra chips could be earned if the stripping was entertaining, so as you can imagine, things got really hot in the Blauer Salon. Ladies were also asked to cover their nipples, so the guys could play on, undistracted.

12 of the 40 poker players advanced to the Strip Poker Championship Final, in Hamburg, where they will compete for a trip to Las Vegas, which includes 4 nights at the MGM Grand Hotel, a stretch limo and a helicopter ride over Sin City.

via Bild.de

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I know it sounds a “little” over the top, but in a place where wealthy sheiks come to drink cappuccinos topped with gold flakes, the gold-dispensing ATM machine fits right in.

Invented by German entrepreneur, Thomas Geisler, Gold To Go is an ATM, covered with a thin layer of gold, that dispenses 320 gold items, from small gold bars to customized coins. First tested in 2009, in Germany, the Gold To Go ATM is now set up in the Emirates Palace Hotel, in Abu-Dhabi, where the ceilings are coated in gold.

“All the gold is imported from Germany, and soon we will have a customized gold bar with a print of the Emirates Palace logo, which will be a nice souvenir for guests to take home,” said Thomas Geisler. So far his invention has proved a hit, with one of the hotel guests buying one of each gold items the ATM dispenses. Right now it only accepts local currency, but modifications for credit cards will soon be made.

The region’s high demand for gold, and the ongoing economic turbulence, make the Gold To GO ATM machine the perfect investment.

via Xinhua

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