Trends In Asia

As we’ve mentioned in the past, Japan’s population is aging and will continue to get much older going forward.  This has led to some rather interesting counter-aging trends, including the continued development of advanced robotics to aid workforce productivity and the rising popularity of collagen-based consumer products. We can now add IV drip cafes to this list:

Tenteki10, located in the swank area of Ebisu, Tokyo, offers customers a walk-in service that features IV drips starting at 2,000 yen ($20). The service is meant to provide a skin care boost, act as an anti-aging remedy and alleviate stress and exhaustion. Administered by on-site nurses, this could be the perfect way for hypochondriac, futurist, medical fetishists (yes, that is a real sub-culture) to get their fix in one shot.

Tenteki10

Kolektib - a Manila-based consultancy - is organizing its first “Wicked Problems Mindstorm” on May 17th. Rather than grappling with a specific client task or discussing a certain business-related theme, this event will deal with problem solving for the public community. The mindstorm will be open to the public and will be very collaborative in nature. Open source non-profit consulting if you will. This is what’s written on Kolektib’s invitation:

Wicked Problems - They are persistent problems that plague our local communities: Trash cans that no one seems to want to use. Steel flyover railings that are stolen in the night. Bunches of ugly black power and telephone cables. Stray cats. Let’s choose one. Let’s talk about it. And let’s find realistic, actionable and innovative solutions. Join the first Kolektib Mindstorm.

A little background on that bit about steel railing theft: the market for scrap metal is booming in Manila since China can’t seem to get enough of it. With perpetually high income inequality (a majority are at the wrong end of it) and now a struggling economy due to high food prices to boot, many have resorted to stealing public property metal like street signs, manhole covers and steel highway railings for badly needed extra earnings.

With less than 100 days before the start of the Olympics in China, the whole country and especially Beijing is gearing up for an eventful summer. To chronicle the run-up to the 2008 Games, Siok Siok Tan and her students at the Beijing Film Academy have created a film examining the lives of Beijing’s citizens. “Boomtown Beijing” is showing world-wide, with proceeds being donated to the Library Project.

Check out the trailer for Boomtown Beijing:

[via OneManBandwidth]

For those who can’t find a local coffee shop with Wi-Fi Internet access in Hong Kong, PCCW offers phone booth that are set up for paid Wi-Fi access. PCCW, the largest telecommunications provider in Hong Kong, has set up more than 400 paid access points throughout the city and a majority are housed in phone booths.

[via Virtual China]

Wired points us to an interesting new first person 3D adventure that has been developed for the Nintendo DS in Japan by Square Enix, the makers of Final Fantasy. Nanashi No Game (The Game With No Name), immerses players into an original horror title with a meta twist.

Wired writes:

Nanashi introduces the idea of a cursed game, a la The Ring, that not only affects the in-game characters, but the player as well. You’ll also get to experience the game within the game (in the form of a retro RPG), and get haunted messages via an interface that looks just like the Nintendo DS’ front end.

The game is scheduled for its release in Japan this summer; no details on possible versions for other markets yet.

Wired: Square Enix Brings Creepy Horror to DS

You have to feel a bit sorry for artist communities. They come into a run-down area for the low rent, bring some much needed culture with them and revive the entire location with galleries, quirky shops and organic cafes. A thriving economy is created as residents and mainstream businesses are drawn in. Real estate values pick up. Then naturally, big business co-ops the artists’ ideas, the area becomes too expensive for the artists and they’re forced out to another patch of forsaken real estate to create value for society all over again.

In Manila, the current artist social experiment is known as Cubao X. Artists are gradually taking over a fading shoe retail district and are adding some much needed diversity. Some of the culture for sale include Third World Art toys by indie comic shop Sputnik and modified vintage collectibles by Vintage Pop, which may or may not be for sale depending on the shop owner’s sentimental mood that day. Most of the establishments don’t even open until 4pm, if at all. This is because most of the places are owner-run and most of the owners have day jobs to support their artistic alter egos. Vintage Pop now only opens by appointment. The owner simply leaves his cell phone number on a sign in the shop window.

As for big business, the city’s major malls have recently begun welcoming artists into their pricier properties. The artists are offered lower rental rates in exchange for adding character, culture and status to the commercial retail boxes. Looks like the mall operators aren’t waiting for their property values to drop before calling in the artists.

[via PinoyCentric]

Using an unusual technique, a Philippine prison is trying to rehabilitate its inmates by turning them into wannabe Versaces. Al Jazeera reports from Manila’s maximum security prison, where noted fashion designer Puey Quinones visits once a week to teach the prisoners, some serving life sentences for crimes like murder and kidnapping, to sew, bead, and hand paint textiles. The idea was conceived in order to exercise inmates’ imagination and keep them occupied, but has since evolved into quite a successful give and take. Prisoners are paid for their work, but love working with Quinones for the simple fact that they get to express their creativity and have something of a link to the outside world. For Quinones, about 90% of the handiwork on his clothing is now done by inmates - designs which have appeared on celebrities, in magazines, and on billboards.

Puey Quinones says:

“These guys are really talented. They just need to correct their eye. Because, you know, they’re stuck in the prison, so they have limited, um, how do you call this?… Inspiration!”

According to a couple of inmates”

“We’ve learned to keep our dignity in tact.”

“We’re proud enough to be a part of Puey Quinones’ success. It feels so great, because, although we’re just prisoners, we can see our work outside”

URBN Hotel is one of a slew of new boutique, designer hotels that have popped up in Shanghai over the past year. These boutique hotels typically offer personalized tours of the city, tai qi, cooking and Mandarin classes, along with a luxurious room experience.

Opened in December of 2007, URBN separates itself from the pack as it is China’s first carbon neutral hotel. In addition to implementing energy savings and recycling throughout the hotel, URBN offsets their carbon footprint by purchasing credits “to neutralize its footprint by investing in “green” energy development and emission reduction projects in China. Hotel guests can also choose to purchase carbon credits from the program to offset their flights.”

Last weekend, URBN held a small eco-fair for small companies and organizations to promote and sell their services and goods. While we could not find any literature mentioning the carbon neutral initiative in the the ultra-hip lobby, we hope they are staying true to their promise.

URBN Hotel

With an estimated 350,000+ millionaires in China, the country now ranks #2 in Asia behind Japan in this measure of wealth. Advertisements for jewelry, watches and other luxury goods line the streets in major Chinese cities as companies look to cash in on the boom in East Asia riches.

Telegraph reports that Switzerland-based luxury goods retailer Richemont, whose companies include Cartier, Montblanc and Piaget, posted a 16% growth in sales in the year to the end of March. Richemont’s sales were driven by the Asia-Pacific region which grew by 21% compared with 12% in the Europe and 3% in the Americas.

Telegraph: Asia Sparkles for Richemont