Located in Kowakien Yunessun, the biggest, most popular spa center in Japan, the outdoor has opened its gates once again.

Hundreds of gallons of Beaujolais Nouveau, the most popular wine in Japan, are used during the 12 day period the wine spa welcomes its guests. Four the last four years, Japanese wine lovers have had the opportunity to drink and bathe in the liquor they love so much, at the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun.

The red pool is constantly fed wine through the wine-bottle-shaped spring, while a sommelier stands by to fill up the glasses of those craving some more Beaujolais Nouveau.

Apart from a wine pool, the spa center also features a sake spa, green tea spa and coffee spa, where clients can bathe in the drinks mentioned.

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Kordeza Zhelyazkova, an 11-year-old girl from Bulgaria gave birth to a daughter, Violeta, during her wedding and became the youngest mother in the world.

Like all childhood love stories, Kordeza’s began at the playground. She was being harassed by a group of bullies, when Jeliazko Dimitrov, a 19-year-old boy appeared as her knight in shining armor. He rescued her and that’s when their romantic tale started. The young man thought she was 15 and she never revealed her real age, for fears he wouldn’t want to be with her. As the consentment limit in Bulgaria is 14, their sleeping together seemed normal to Jeliazko, but he didn’t plan on leaving her pregnant.

In Kordeza’s home town of Sliven, girls getting married as early as 13-years-old is tradition, but she pushed the envelope and even threw a pregnancy into the mix. Her family put together a Roma wedding, so the baby would be born to a real family. But the little one was too anxious and Kordeza went into labour on the second day of her wedding and was rushed to the hospital dressed in her wedding dress.

Now she might be forced to raise her child as a single mother, as her young husband faces jailtime for sleeping with a minor.

Photos by NEWS OF THE WORLD

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Two weeks after the Tokyo Gundam statue was dismantled, a new robot statue was unveiled in Kobe, Japan. This time it’s the Tetsujin 28-go aka Gigantor.

This mean looking machine was set up in Wakamatsu Park, Kobe and unlike the RX78 Gundam statue it will remain here permanently. The funds for the construction of Gigantor were not supplied by big-time corporations either. The approximately 1.5 million dollars were raised by local shop owners, in hope that it will bring commerce and people to Kobe.

The city of Kobe was seriously damaged by an earthquake, in 1995, and its population has decreased to around 80% of what it was before the cataclysm. Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a legendary manga artists, was born in Kobe and helped design Tetsujin 28-go.

via Mainichi

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I know, being the hairiest man in China is not how you’d want to be known, and neither does Yu Zenhuan, whose hair covers 96% of his body.

Yu was diagnosed with a rare condition that causes hair to grow in places it normally shouldn’t. he was born in a family of farmers and, when he was only 2 years old, his parents noticed he had hair coming out of his auditory canals. His situation worsened as he grew up and now almost his entire body is covered with long thick hair.

But Yu might have the chance of living a normal life, he is now undertaking a laser treatment to have his hair removed. Basically, every hair on his body will have to be zapped with laser. That can’t be pleasant, but for Yu Zenhuan it’s nowhere as painful as looking in the mirror.

Photos by BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

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Milan Karki, an 18-year-old from Nepal, may have solved the world’s increasing energy problems, by inventing a solar panel that uses human hair instead of expensive wiring.

The young Nepalese, together with 4 classmates, has been trying to come up with a way of producing cheap, renewable energy for his home village ever since he went to school in Kathmandu, but now he dreams of powering up the whole world with his invention.

Milan has discovered hair not only makes us look good, but is also light sensitive and a great energy conductor, because of the melanin it contains. So he replaced the silicon in normal solar panels with human hair and thus invented a new type of solar panel, four times cheaper than the ones on the market today.

The inventor says he has already sent out a couple of his prototypes to districts in Nepal, to be tested for feasibility, but is confident he has found an answer to his country’s energy issues. He says buying half a kilo of human hair is not only cheaper than a set of batteries, but also produces energy for much longer period of time. And anyone can replace the hair, so the solar panel doesn’t require a lot of servicing.

Photos by Tom van Cakenberge/BARCROFT MEDIA

via Daily Mail

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Tao Xiangli, a 34-year-old amateur inventor from China, spent two years building a fully-functional homemade submarine.

Tao is not the first person to build a homemade submarine, but that doesn’t make his achievement any less impressive. Especially since he did it using oil barrels and tools purchased from a second-hand market.

After two years of hard work and testing, on September 3, young Tao Xiangli presented his invention to the world and took it for a test dive in a lake just outside Beijing. His homemade submarine features a periscope, electric motors, a manometer, two propellers, depth-control tanks and it only cost $4,385 to make.

Photos by Reuters

via Drugoi

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Raising awareness on the issue of global warming is not easy this days, but artists come up with all sorts of original ways to make the news.

Take Brazilian artists Nele Azevedo,  who created 2,000 ice-sculptures and placed them on the steps of the Berlin Opera Hall, to melt. That’s a lot of work to watch melt away in one hot afternoon, but at least her message made the newspapers. And if one more person knows about the melting Arctic ice, than her effort was not in vain.

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PETA activists finds original way to promote vegetarianism in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ashley Fruno, an old PETA activist from Canada, who in the past even went nude to promote vegetarianism, now found an even more ingenious way to attract attention. On September 2, 2009, miss Fruno showed up in front of a mall in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur, dressed in a beautiful green dress, made only out of vegetables leaves.

She was holding up a sign that said “Let Vegetarianism Grow on You“. Well, she did and it looks amazing on her.

Photos by Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung

via Xinhua

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The Chinese Government knows how stressful work can be and decided to help the people release the pressure through Destructotherapy.

This is not the first time we’ve posted a piece on Destructotherapy, but it is the first time I’ve heard of it in China. Authorities in Changsha have set up a destruction therapy course in a park, where people could smash the hell out of used cars and all sorts of broken home appliances like TVs, refrigerators or washing machines.

I think more and more people should embrace Destructotherapy, after all, there’s nothing more relaxing than smashing stuff to bits.

Photos by Xinhua/Li Ga

via Xinhua

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At least that’s what over 5,000 followers of Viassarion the Teacher would have you believe.

Sergei Torop is a 48-year-old spiritual leader who believes he is the reincarnation of Jesus. A former traffic policeman, Torop was laid-off in 1991 and suddenly realized he was the Second Coming of Jesus, 2,000 years after he was crucified. That’s when he became Viassarion.

Of course, he’s not the only man on Earth claiming to be the Son of God, but unlike most of them, Viassarion the Teacher actually managed to gain a significant following, including artists and intellectuals who actually moved to and around the small Siberian town of Petropavlovka, just to be close to their Messiah.

Sergei Torop has been traveling to other countries to convert followers and, although he has been accused he’s been doing it for personal gain, Viassarion says his church makes no money whatsoever.

via Daily Mail

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67-year-old Frank Evans, Britain’s oldest and only bullfighter, returns to the bullfighting arena and slays 2 unlucky horned beasts.

After a knee replacement and a quadruple bypass, ageless matador Frank Evans performed once again in the Plaza de Toros, in Benalmadena, on the Costa del Sol. A grandfather of five, Evans looked cool as ice, though he had to best two big bulls that could have ended his career in just one second.

El Ingles admits it’s not the most pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but, although he got a cut on his face, a few bruises and grazes, he only remembers the good bits of the fight.

Now one of the most popular bullfighters in Spain, Frank Evans started at the bottom, taking bullfighting lessons in his spare time. He got his first bullfighting contract in France, by pure luck, when he was mistaken for another bullfighter. He later gave up, because of lack of gigs, but decided to return to follow his dream when his fathered died. He decided life was too short not to do what you really love.

Now, El Ingles has dozens of scheduled bullfights and the crowds love him.

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It turns out being “The Beauty of the Nile” is not only very painful, but also very expensive.

Nileen Namita, a 49-year-old woman from Brighton, Britain, has spent the last 20 years trying to look as the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. She says she often had dreams about Nefertiti when she was only a child. Her visions showed her the queen’s quarters, her servants and, although she was frightened at first, she started doing some research.

When Miss Namita first saw a representation of Nefertiti, she was amazed of how alike they looked and decided to make it her life’s goal to look just like the ancient queen of Egypt. Her efforts began in 1987 and since then she has had 51 plastic surgeries and says her face is still a work in progress. After eight nose jobs, three chin implants, three face lifts and many other interventions, Nileen Namita says she is very pleased with the way she looks, as are the much younger men who try to approach her when she goes out on the town.

This modern “Beauty of the Nile” has spent 200,000 British pounds on her surgeries and is bent on spending all her savings on more face work. She says her family supports her and she believes her look is ageless. Just give her another 10-15 years, I doubt she’ll fell the same way.

via Daily Mail

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Suman Khatun is a 5-year-old Indian girl who just can’t stop eating. Doctors say she will end-up eating herself to death if she doesn’t seek medical help soon.

Suman’s problems were noticed ever since she was three months old and by the time she turned two, she weighed 38kg. Now, at age five, Suman weighs over 75 kg and will continue to gain around 15 kg every year, unless her condition is cured.

Her parents earn little over $10 a week and are having problems providing the amount of food Suman needs. She eats 10 kg of rice, 5 kg of potatoes, 24 eggs and 6 liters of milk every week and often goes around asking neighbors for more food. When her family refuses to feed her, she screams, cries and even throws rocks at them.

Suman already suffers from severe respiratory issues and her family can’t afford to take her to Calcutta for a specialized consult. According to the local doctor, Suman Kathun has a malfunctioning pituitary gland and needs to see a specialist in Delhi or Mumbai, before it’s too late.

via Telegraph.co.uk

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At just six years of age, Miko Andres can proudly call himself the youngest gun in the west…although he lives in the Philippines.

Miko handles his Colt 1911 handgun with impressive ease, loading, aiming at shooting it like this is what he was born to do. The six year-old took-up practical shooting at the beginning of 2009 and now he travels the country, participating in competition against 9-17 year-olds.

Miko’s father says he is aware of the dangers his young sun is facing by handling a gun loaded with live ammo, but says the boy’s safety is his primary concern. He also wants to introduce the world to Miko’s talent by bringing him to America to compete in international shooting events.

via Telegraph.co.uk

I’ve seen rubber dolls used in many ways, most of them for adult eyes only, but using them as flotation devices makes much more sense.

Hundreds of crazy Russian swimmers gathered in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest city, for the annual Bubble Baba Challenge (Bubble Woman Chalenge). They plunged into the cold waters of the Ob River and had to swim for 100 meters with a rubber doll. The dolls helped keep them afloat, but were quite difficult to maneuver.

The first five swimmers to complete the Bubble Baba Challenge received prizes and diplomas.But what’s important is, everybody, including the 1,000 spectators, had fun. Read More »