The biggest news this week is the imminent breakup of the nine-year marriage between Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) and Annie Yi (伊能靜). This has been building for some time after Yi was caught on camera in China holding hands with Victor Huang (黃維德) in November last year. It may simply have been the last straw to something bigger behind the scenes, judging from leaks about married life in the Yu household that emerged this week. After the couple spent a strained Lunar New Year holiday in Hokkaido, Yi has stated that the relationship is beyond saving, and all that remains is to complete the paperwork. Yu has neither confirmed nor denied this, refusing to discuss the affair with the media.
The couple have kept relatively quiet since November when the incident with Huang emerged, but now with things coming to a head the rumor mill is working overtime. Yi is reported, in the Apple Daily, to have told friends that she was “never accepted into the Yu household,” and that her relationship with Yu’s mother and sisters had always been difficult. She is reported to have said that Yu, as a filial son, had always taken his mother’s side in arguments. To add insult to injury, Huang has scooted off to China to finish work on the TV series Three Kingdoms (三國), and has been widely reported to have patched things up with his former girlfriend Hsiao Lu (小陸).
To get to the nub of the issue, Apple Daily interviewed fortune-teller Lin Chen-yi (林真邑), who has revealed that Yi is unlikely to have much luck either in love or work this year. Her advice: the outlook improves toward the end of 2011.
Shu Qi’s (舒淇) romantic prospects also look far from rosy, and she too has sought mystical assistance. Last week she went to visit the White Dragon King (白龍王), a spiritual adviser, in Thailand. (Internet rumor has it that the WDK was an electrician or possibly a bicycle repairman before discovering that he was actually a reincarnation of a dragon king.)
Unfortunately, the WDK was too busy fending off the massive crowds of fans and didn’t have time for Shu’s romantic difficulties, and the Apple Daily reported that the sage simply ignored her, which left her despondent. Perhaps he felt he had already given all the advice he had to give. On a previous visit, Apple Daily reported that he had advised Shu to take things as they come and not try and rush romance. But she has been unwilling to wait, and since breaking up with actor Leon Lai (黎明) four years ago, has been romantically involved, according to gossip rags, with numerous men, including singer Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) and actor Chang Chen (張震), but to no great effect.
It would seem that former boyfriend Lai has also paid heavily for ignoring the WDK’s advice. Six years ago, together with Tony Leung Chiu-wai (梁朝偉) and Andy Lau (劉德華), he became a disciple of the WDK, who warned him about getting involved with women. At this time his relationship with Shu was already the stuff of heavy speculation. The Apple Daily suggests that his refusal to drop Shu on the advice of the WDK may be the reason why his career failed to reach the same exalted heights of stardom as that of this two friends. Pop Stop wonders if the WDK is paying the Hong Kong-based publishing group a retainer for such testimonials. Unfortunately, even though he has now broken with Shu, it is unlikely that even his most recent role in the massive two-part biopic of opera singer Mei Lanfang (梅蘭芳) will boost his career. Ignore dragons at your peril.
For all the fans of CTV’s One Million Star (超級星光大道) “reality” talent show, the good news is that Momoko Tao (陶子) will definitely be back for Season Five, putting an end to the rather unedifying spectacle of a rotating roster of hosts including pop diva Ah-Mei (張惠妹) — she should stick to singing — and a tag team made up of Little S (小S) and Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) — who despite their vast experience as show hosts, have been widely criticized for not hitting the right note with the show. Producers are trying to get Tao back to give the finals of Season Four her magic touch on March 14, but the new mother said she will be focusing on losing weight and breast feeding. Recent additions to the roster of hosts, Tammy Chen (陳怡蓉) and Phoebe Huang (黃嘉千), have earned praise in the blogosphere for their comedic talents. The two are currently stars of CTV’s super-successful The Story of Time (光陰的故事), and have brought some of the allure of the soap to the floundering One Million Star series.
Nov. 11 to Nov. 17 People may call Taipei a “living hell for pedestrians,” but back in the 1960s and 1970s, citizens were even discouraged from crossing major roads on foot. And there weren’t crosswalks or pedestrian signals at busy intersections. A 1978 editorial in the China Times (中國時報) reflected the government’s car-centric attitude: “Pedestrians too often risk their lives to compete with vehicles over road use instead of using an overpass. If they get hit by a car, who can they blame?” Taipei’s car traffic was growing exponentially during the 1960s, and along with it the frequency of accidents. The policy
Hourglass-shaped sex toys casually glide along a conveyor belt through an airy new store in Tokyo, the latest attempt by Japanese manufacturer Tenga to sell adult products without the shame that is often attached. At first glance it’s not even obvious that the sleek, colorful products on display are Japan’s favorite sex toys for men, but the store has drawn a stream of couples and tourists since opening this year. “Its openness surprised me,” said customer Masafumi Kawasaki, 45, “and made me a bit embarrassed that I’d had a ‘naughty’ image” of the company. I might have thought this was some kind
What first caught my eye when I entered the 921 Earthquake Museum was a yellow band running at an angle across the floor toward a pile of exposed soil. This marks the line where, in the early morning hours of Sept. 21, 1999, a massive magnitude 7.3 earthquake raised the earth over two meters along one side of the Chelungpu Fault (車籠埔斷層). The museum’s first gallery, named after this fault, takes visitors on a journey along its length, from the spot right in front of them, where the uplift is visible in the exposed soil, all the way to the farthest
The room glows vibrant pink, the floor flooded with hundreds of tiny pink marbles. As I approach the two chairs and a plush baroque sofa of matching fuchsia, what at first appears to be a scene of domestic bliss reveals itself to be anything but as gnarled metal nails and sharp spikes protrude from the cushions. An eerie cutout of a woman recoils into the armrest. This mixed-media installation captures generations of female anguish in Yun Suknam’s native South Korea, reflecting her observations and lived experience of the subjugated and serviceable housewife. The marbles are the mother’s sweat and tears,
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