Covid-Inspired ‘Silent Cut’ Haircutting Service Gains Popularity in Japan

Devised by a Tokyo hair salon during the Covid-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the ‘Silent Cut’ service is becoming increasingly popular in Japan.

As a way of curbing the spread of the coronavirus during the Covid-19 pandemic, authorities in Japan started promoting “no conversation” or “less conversation” policies in schools, shops and supermarkets. Less talking meant fewer risks of spreading the virus via saliva droplets, so everyone understood and complied, but the two policies seemed incompatible with businesses like hair salons and barber shops, where conversation is basically part of the service. However, one Tokyo salon decided to implement the ‘silent cut’ service and it proved so popular that others quickly followed suit and kept it even after pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.

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19-Year-Old Man and 56-Year-Old Grandmother Get Engaged, Spark Online Controversy

A 19-year-old man and a 56-year-old grandmother-of-three in Thailand have been making international news headlines after getting engaged to be married.

Wuthichai Chantaraj, 19, met his fiance, Janla Namuangrak, 56, almost 10 years ago, when the woman moved next to his family home in the Akat Amnuay district of Thailand’s Sakhon Nakhon province. Their first real interaction occurred when Janla asked the 10-year-old boy to help her move some potted plants, and from that day on Wuthichai would often drop by the divorced woman’s house to play and help her with chores. The two describe their early relationship as a friendship, but when Wuthichai turned 17, he started developing feelings for Janla, and they eventually became a couple. They only announced their romance to their families at the start of this year, and their love story has been making headlines in Thailand ever since.

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Entrepreneur Sparks Controversy by Offering Fishing Trip in the Company of Naked Women

A boat tour organizer in Thailand has been getting a lot of attention because of his original-yet-controversial business idea – fishing trips in the company of nude ladies.

I’ve always found fishing quite boring – hot take, I know – but one Thai entrepreneur in Chon Buri recently came up with an intriguing way of spicing up the experience and thus getting a leg up on the competition. The mysterious person or outfit behind the controversial endeavor advertised on social media with a series of lewd photos showing two men apparently fishing on a boat next to two completely naked women posing for the camera with their legs spread open. That’s one way to get people’s attention…

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Crocodile Crawling – Bizarre Back Relief Exercise Takes China by Storm

Thousands of people in China are taking up “crocodile crawling” classes, a weird type of back relief exercise inspired by the movement of a crocodile.

Multiple news outlets in China have been reporting on a new health trend with dozens of people joining large groups and moving around on all fours. Viral videos shot in large cities like Xiangshan and Changsha show long lines of people all dressed the same and wearing industrial gloves to protect their hands as they slowly move around on their hands and feet. The movement is supposed to strengthen back muscles and relieve back pain if practiced regularly, for a long enough period of time.

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Japanese “Plastic Surgery Twins” Stun the Internet With Their Transformation

Twin sisters Chie and Chika Yoshikawa are famous in their home country of Japan for turning to plastic surgery repeatedly to attain their desired looks.

Comparing photos of Chie and Chika Yoshikawa from their early twenties and now – at age 34 – you could swear they were completely different people. It’s fair to say that makeup plays a big part in their transformation for Instagram and Twitter pics, but there is no question that the shape of their eyes, their nose, and even their faces are noticeably different. The two sisters have reportedly invested around 40 million yen ($275,000) in cosmetic procedures, ranging from filler injections and face lifts to multiple nose jobs and double eyelid surgery. Nut despite putting up with pain and long recovery times, the two sisters have no regrets and have embraced their roles as plastic surgery ambassadors.

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Walking Robot Dogs Is Apparently Becoming a Trend in China

Photos and videos of people walking futuristic robot dogs instead of actual canines have been going viral in China lately, signaling a trend among the younger generations.

Robotic dogs inspired by the impressive creations of Boston Dynamics have been available on Chinese shopping platforms for a while now, but they’ve only recently started actually becoming popular. Although they are sometimes being described as soulless machines that can never compare to real dogs who love their owners unconditionally, there is no denying the advantages of robot pets, and judging by the increasing number of people spotted walking their robot dogs in China lately, they may one day rival the animals they emulate.

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iPhone 14 Scalpers Allegedly Forced to Sell Phones on the Street at a Discount

Chinese iPhone 14 scalpers are apparently struggling to recover their investment as they are forced to sell the handheld for less than the MSRP.

Like it or not, scalpers are an integral part of the free market, and there is little anyone can do about them. Whether it’s the Playstation 5 or the newest iPhone, they’re always ready to scoop up whatever inventory is available and sell it for outrageous profits to diehard fans with little patience and loaded pockets. That said, scalping does have its risks, and the recent iPhone 14 launch is a clear example of that. Chinese media has been reporting that scalpers have been forced to sell their brand new iPhone 14 smartphones on the street for less than the official launch price just to cut their losses.

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Company Installs Cameras in Toilet Booths to Monitor Employees’ Toilet Breaks

A Chinese company has come under fire for installing surveillance cameras above the toilet booths so it could monitor employees during their toilet breaks.

Toilet use during work hours has been a controversial topic in China for quite a while now. In the past, we’ve written about companies that cut employee salaries for spending too much time in the toilet, others that fined workers for using the toilet more than once a day, and even a company that installed timers on its toilet booths. But none of those examples even come close to the “solution” of one technology company in Xiamen, Fujian Province, which reportedly installed cameras above the booths of its employee bathrooms to monitor phone use during bathroom breaks.

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Parents Sue Daughter They Abandoned as Toddler for Not Buying Her Brother an Apartment

A Chinese couple who abandoned their daughter when she was only a toddler, suddenly reappeared in her life decades later when they learned she was well off, to ask her for a home for her brother.

Zhang was only 2 years old when her parents decided they couldn’t raise her anymore and placed her in the care of her brother’s sister. They had little to no other interaction with her ever since, and the now 29-year-old woman always considered her aunt’s family her biological one. It was for this reason that she recently used part of her savings to help her cousin, who she considers her brother, buy an apartment. However, she never anticipated that her generosity would suddenly make her biological parents come knocking, asking her to buy an apartment for her biological brother as well…

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Company Sparks Controversy by Rejecting Applicants With Unlucky Phone Numbers

The superstitious manager of a Chinese education company has come under fire for rejecting people with ‘5’ as the last digit of their phone number.

Chinese news outlets have been reporting the bizarre case of an education company in Shenzhen, Guangdong that allegedly rejects job applications of people who have ‘5’ as the fifth digit in their phone numbers, because the boss considers it back luck. Such applicants are advised to change their phone numbers if they are truly interested in working at the company. The bizarre condition, which has nothing to do with competencies or work ethics, has sparked a heated online debate in China, where superstition is still a big part of daily life.

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Woman Left With Double Eyebrows After Botched Tattoo Job

After a botched eyebrow tattoo procedure in Thailand, a young woman has had to walk around with two pairs of eyebrows on her face for over a year.

Eyebrow tattoos are pretty popular all over the world. When done correctly, they look great and don’t require much maintenance, but sadly that wasn’t the experience of one 32-year-old woman from Thailand, who has been living a nightmare because of a botched tattoo job. About a year ago, Nipapron Meeking paid 1,500 THB ($41) at a tiny hole-in-the-wall beauty clinic in Rayong province, eastern Thailand, hoping to walk out with a thick, well-defined pair of eyebrows. She got what she paid for, only the fake eyebrows didn’t cover her real ones, they stood above them…

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Woman Accidentally Locks Herself in Bathroom for Three Days, Survives on Tap Water

A 54-year-old Thai woman who accidentally locked herself in the bathroom awaited her inevitable demise after screaming for help for three days.

Living on your own certainly has its benefits, especially for people who enjoy their privacy, but it also some downsides, as one woman recently discovered. The Bangkok-based lady, whose name has not been revealed by Thai news outlets, went into her home bathroom on August 22 not knowing that she would spend the next three days stuck there. As soon as she closed the door, a faulty door knob turned the restroom into a prison for the woman, who hadn’t even bothered to take her phone with her, not to mention food or drinks. She resorted to banging on the door and screaming for help, but no one came to her rescue…

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Company Comes Under Fire For Making Employees Eat Raw Eggs as Punishment

A Chinese company has sparked controversy online after it was reported that it forces employees to eat raw eggs as punishment for not meeting expectations.

It all started when a second-year university student surnamed Du took to social media to complain about his experience as an intern for a Zhengzhou technology company. He claimed that the said company had a bizarre rule where employees had to swallow raw eggs if they didn’t get enough orders in a set period of time or otherwise failed to meet management expectations. He claimed to have had his internship terminated after he refused to obey the rule, adding that management made him write down “personal reasons” as the reason for ending the internship to absolve the company of any liability.

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China’s ‘Pig Hotels’ – Massive Multi-Storey Pork Production Facilities

After seeing its pork production decimated by African swine flu outbreaks, China has been investing heavily into so-called ‘pig hotels’, controversial multi-storey pig raising facilities.

Talk about elevating pig farming to new heights! For the last three years, farmers across China have been investing billions of dollars into massive high-rise hog-raising facilities popularly known as pig hotels. The trend started with two and three-storey facilities, but it quickly escalated into monolithic structures of over 10 levels, with tens of thousand of animals raised on each. At the end of this month, Zhongxin Kaiwei Modern Farming, a privately-owned company in Hubei, is set to complete a 26-storey pig hotel touted as the largest such structure in the world.

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Man Ordered to Pay Ex-Girlfriend $1,150 After Urinating in Her Louis Vuitton Handbag

A South Korean civil court recently ordered a 31-year-old man to pay his ex-girlfriend 1.5 million won ($1,150) as damages for urinating in her designer handbag.

This bizarre story dates back to last October, when the defendant in this case, a 31-year-old man from Seoul, South Korea, whose identity has not been revealed, for privacy purposes, allegedly got into an argument with his girlfriend at the time. The two were at the girlfriend’s house in Gangnam-gu, and somehow started fighting about the amounts of money the woman was spending and the debts she was racking up. At one point, the man allegedly went into the bedroom, brought out one of his girlfriend’s Louis Vuitton handbags, unbuttoned his pants, and started urinating in it right there in front of her. She didn’t like that very much, so she filed a complaint against him with the police.

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