Pierwsze miłości, przyjaciele, wrogowie, denerwujący nauczyciele i walka o jak najlepsze oceny - wszyscy pamietamy to z lat szkolnych. Te problemy nie są obce i bohaterom School Rumble.

Wiecie jak wyglądał jeden z najpiękniejszych dni w dziejach animatografii? Pewnego dnia Smutny Pan w Garniturze pracujący w Studio Comet postanowił pogadać z Jinem Kobayashi na temat zekranizowania jego mangi. Pan Kobayashi przystał na tę propozycję i od tego czasu życiem każdego szanującego się fana anime zawładnęli Tenma, Kenji i reszta ich szkolnych kolegów. Przygotujcie się na cuda.

School Rumble, to na pozór nic innego jak kolejne szkolne anime.  I w sumie kto tak pomyśli ma rację, bo nic niekonwencjonalnego się tu nie spotka. Jednak o ile przy wielu szkolnych "komediach" można się wahać czy to naprawdę będzie śmieszne czy nie, to SR można łyknąć bez takich rozterek i aplikować sobie w dużych dawkach. Codziennie.

Fabularnie jest tu całkiem prosto, ot mamy dziewczynę, która kocha pewnego chłopaka niezbyt zwracającego na nią uwagę nie wiedząc, że kocha ją inny chłopak w którym zakochały się kolejne dwie dziewczyny z których jedna wciąż udaje nieprzystępną i jest praktycznie w ciągłej kłótni z nim, a z drugą został nawet przypadkowo połączony w parę (wtedy jeszcze ta jedna nie wiedziała, że coś do niego czuje) za co wkurza się na niego inny, który jest po uszy zakochany w jego "partnerce", w tle przewija się jeszcze przyjaciółka tamtych dwóch, która sama przeżywa rozterki sercowe i ze względu na swój spory biust musi opędzać się od szkolnego podrywacza, w którym to zakochana jest ich klasowa koleżanka trenująca zapasy... Uff, najlepsze w tym wszystkim jest to, że to tylko mała część związków love-hate występujących między masą przewijających się w anime postaci.

Co ciekawe, School Rumble jest jedną z niewielu animacji (oraz mang) gdzie tak naprawdę nie mamy jednego głównego bohatera. Ba, tutaj można za takiego uznać 5, jeśli nie więcej, postaci! Mamy tu Tenmę Tsukamoto, strasznie wolno kapującą "o co kaman" wokół niej dziewczynę, jej siostrę Yakumo, która mimo bycia o rok młodszą jest o wiele bardziej dojrzała niż siostra, Kenjiego Harimę, młodocianego delikwenta, szkolnego rozrabiakę (Denis, kurwa XD), który stopniowo zmienia swój charakter przez miłość do Tenmy, mamy wreszcie Mikoto i Eri, dwie przyjaciółki panny Tsukamoto, które też to i owo czują do pewnych postaci. A oprócz nich jeszcze ponad 30 innych klasowych kumpli, którzy także dostają swoje 5, a czasami i 10 minut. A klub zboczków nawet cały odcinek ^^

Co może, albo i nawet powinno, się w SR podobać? Oprócz fabuły oczywiście styl graficzny. Nie uświadczymy tu realistycznych rysunków rodem z najpoważniejszych animców, czy wielkich oczu Clampa, kreskę School Rumble spokojnie można nazwać standardową, choć wyróżniającą się własnym stylem. Dziewczyny są słodkie (lowe Yakumo <3), a chłopcy wyraziści, by w jednej chwili pokazać się w SD w pogoni za puentą czy wyrażając swoje uczucia. Naprawdę, cud, miód i kokosy. Jednak gdyby nie wartwa dźwiękowa anime byłoby "tylko" tak dobre, jak manga (co i tak jest osiągnięciem na miarę nagrody Nobla). To właśnie muzyka i głosy postaci nadają serialowi siły! Jak tylko usłyszycie Harimę wyznającego po raz kolejny miłość nie tej osobie, co potrzeba, jego późniejsze tłumaczenia oraz od czasu do czasu pojawiające się piosenki w jego wykonaniu zrozumiecie o co chodzi. SR jest chyba najlepiej zagranym anime, które możemy oglądać w tym multiwersum. Dorównać może mu tylko Kamen no Maid Guy ze swoim Kogarashim.

Wyobrażaliście sobie kiedyś wykorzystywanie tradycyjnego japońskiego łucznictwa wykonywanego na autobusie zamiast konia do wyznania miłości? Albo faceta wróżącego z pomocą zwierząt, z których najznamienitszymi osobnikami są żyrafa Piotr, świnka Napoleon oraz żaba Aleksander? A może widzieliście już gdzieś prawdziwą wojnę z użyciem broni palnej o to, co klasa ma zaprezentuje na szkolnym festiwalu? Wątpie. Odpalać School Rumble marsz! Przed Wami 52 odcinki (dwa sezony), 2 OAVki oraz trzeci sezon, ujęty w tylko dwóch epizodach, śmiechu, bólu brzucha i głupawki na całego.

I niestety to chyba wszystko, czego możemy się spodziewać w świecie szkoły Yagami, ponieważ manga została oficjalnie zakończona wraz z 283. rozdziałem. Choć... jest światełko nadziei, ponieważ od niedawna ukazuje się komiks pod tytułem School Rumble Z, ale czy będzie to oficjalna kontynuacja czy może tylko krótka opowieść nie wiadomo. Jak na razie otrzymaliśmy tylko jeden rozdział, którego akcja utrzymana jest w cale nie tak dziwnym dla SR okresie feudalnej Japonii. Skoro wcześniej mogliśmy już czytać epizody z czasów samurajów, to czemu nie mieć nadziei?

Zdecydowanie jedno z najlepszych anime ever, które w moim prywatnym top 3 będzie po wsze czasy.

Idę oglądać.

godzillachan

Ueki Kosuke un estudiante de secundaria tiene una extraña habilidad: puede convertir cualquier cosa que el considere basura en un arbol. Esta habilidad le fue concedida por su tutor, un hombre llamado Kobayashi. Ueki intenta mantener esta habilidad en secreto hasta que un dia su compañera de clase, Hori Ai, lo descubre. Al principio Hori lo seguía para descubrir su verdadera personalidad, pero comenzo a ayudarle cuando vió los sacrificios que debía hacer para usar su talento...

Ueki pronto se vio implicado en una batalla de 100 participantes, uno de los cuales era su profesor, Kobayashi. Cada uno de los paraticipantes del torneo debía de escoger un campeón de entre sus estudiantes y darle una habilidad especial, como Kobayashi habia hecho con Ueki. Las habilidades escogidas, como la de convertir una toalla en acero, da los estudiantes una oportunidad mejor para ganar el torneo. Los participantes deben hacer luchar a sus campeones unos contra otros. Aquel participante que gane se convertirá en el siguiente ""dios"", y su estudiante recibirá un ""Sai"" en blanco con el que podra obtener una habilidad cualquiera que el estudiante podrá elegir.

Descargar The Law of Ueki

3.20am, 95.8fm

The eager young science teacher of the 3am to 6am slot informs the insomniac and international audience of what I’ve known was going to happen for a good few hours. Not massive news to anyone, wherever they may be in their beds. The man in the van, already on his way ladies and gentlemen, no need to panic, no need to adjust your frequencies, the man in the van is already on his way. I look out ahead and realise the ticker tape parade is on hold, at least for now.

Read the rest at The Brooklyn Voice

The heavy downpour had been on ever since late last night. By now the sky looked clear white, but the rain persisted at the same constant rate. The leaves of trees seemed to sparkle a shade of green so pure it only seemed possible in paintings. Puddles had formed here and there, and one could see people running to and fro, having to work but eager not to get wet.  A stray dog lay curled up under a big tree, wet and shivering. A boy in his early teens sits by the window, looking longingly at the outside world of wild breeze and hard rain. Of course, he would much rather go out in the rain, for a game of football with the other kids. But no luck there! His parents had actually allowed him to skip school today, just so he would not have an excuse to go out in the rain. When parents let you miss school, you know things are serious! Sitting in his room, by the window, the boy sighed, longing for the day he would be old enough to decide when or when not to go out.

Read more at The Brooklyn Voice

I really just want to see what my co-blogger can do with the artwork here, after a solid job with the Varsity Patriots.  But since this is supposed to be a fantasy sports blog, I'll mention that if I were to use athletes from fantasy sports as the Prostars, which I shouldn't, since no one is as dominant in their sport as the original trio, I'd go with LaDainian Tomlinson, Chris Paul and Albert Pujols.

Britain & The USA – A Comparative History

Part One: The City

Steve Newman

Although today we might consider Britain and the United States to be, in some ways, very similar we must remember that those same similarities are only skin deep, and not least urban growth. For instance, when we look at the pace at which London and New York grew in the 19th century there can be little doubt that these two particular conurbations were considered – on both sides of the Atlantic – to be cities. Yet, the definition of what could be called a city in Britain was very different to that in the United States.

Read the rest at brooklynvoice.com

The Noble Sage is proud to open ‘NEVER ALONE BUT TOGETHER’, the long-awaited exhibition of the sculptures and drawings of Gujarati artist, Ashok Patel.

Ashok Patel ‘s art returns us to the spiritual core of India. It leaves aside religion and concentrates on the enhancement of the soul. This exhibition demonstrates Ashok’s continuing fascination with drawing and the translation of these creations into a sculptural form.

Read more about the event in Brooklynvoice.com

In the night glasses the water stays, the surface shivers,
runs as the natural light touches the surface
and passes the water without touching it,
in the night glasses the water stays, it’s surface shivers,
something drives by as the movement forces us to the
same pace and somehow we can’t stand still,
in the night glasses the water stays, together they can’t stay,
touches the pure surface without a trace that
they are moved by the same thing as us by the same time.

Read the rest of the 9 poems at brooklynvoice.com

Steve Newman is a freelance writer, actor, director, historian, playwright and publisher who lives and works in Shakespeare's Stratford.

Walt Whitman – The Novel

Steve Newman

Chapter 1 – March 26th 1892

Walt Whitman had been afraid to go to sleep because when he did the young stranger came and started his damned idiotic chatter about times long gone, and people long dead, and places not seen for forty years or more, and about secrets Walt wanted kept secret; and anyways the room was too small for two people these days what with books and papers all over the floor, and plates of uneaten food – leastways uneaten by Walt but greedily consumed by the mice who were getting as big as rats but weren't rats because the rats had enough to gorge themselves on down by the wharf.

So Walt sat by the open window sipping water and brandy and listening to the night noises: the distant barking of dogs, the occasional shot of a gun, and the less occasional fight outside in the street between a couple of drunks on their way home from one of a dozen saloons, bars and whorehouses. Walt loved their idiotic insults and ineffectual brawling, liked to listen because it was his sound, the sound of the streets; and the streets were where Walt had lived and worked and prospered and added his two-cents worth and had the odd fight or two himself. Where he'd once horse-whipped a cab driver for horse-whipping his weary old horse.

Read more at "The Brooklyn Voice"

Born in Bangladesh and brought up in Philadelphia is a performance pianist, music composer and arranger based in Montreal, Ayaz is currently completing his bachelors in music from McGill University’ prestigious jazz performance program under the tutelage of Montreal jazz masters Jeff Johnston, Wray Dawnes, and Andre` White. He is two times consecutive winner of Cavalcade Soloist award at regional American Jazz competitions.
In a small chitchat with Ayaz, he mentioned that this was his first visit to Bangladesh and he was overwhelmed to see such bunch of young people of Brine Pickles working together only for the sake of art. Ayaz’s field of jazz music keeps him busy with working with people senior to him and also who are career oriented. He was amazed by the friendliness and natural spontaneity of the Pickles and recently worked on a demo of their songs. Ayaz was moved by the friendliness of Bangladeshi people and he says, “I definitely need to come back here”. He has not known much about his country and he has been inspired to know more about while reading Rabindranath Tagore’s own translation of Gitanjali.

Read the rest at The brooklyn Voice

Summer in a coral house!! This I thought would make a great title for a novel. I had been ruminating over whether the plot should be a romantic or detective. I basically like comedy the most. So why would comedy be ruled out? This was a major thing to mull over. And I got stuck right there. Yesterday I felt a cool breeze of August suggesting summer is nearing it’s end. I was sad I had not written a single line of my summer novel. I know good novelists pack their baggage to go to a new location, even live in an anaconda infested rain forest just to be able to write a novel. I am just about that adventurous. At least in my mind. So when we moved to this Coral house I became optimistic thinking I would write something and finish it this summer in the Coral house. Well the location might be right here in Kensignton and the water might be some 10 miles away from us, it still is a coral house. Moreover, now I don’t need to be in little Italy and sit under their outside marquee with an Irish coffee to observe people walk past me with my best people observing pal Patty. Now I observe people (pedestrians) from the veranda of the coral house in the comfort of my home. I am usually quiet and posses a very innocent face, so people don’t mind me staring. I have cautiously and lovingly put aside my thought on writing a novel in the iron safe of my mind. Someday I plan to take that thought out. It may not happen in a Coral house but maybe by the great pyramids or on the top of Machu Pichu or maybe by a slum of Agra from where I will observe the Great Taj. But I know for sure it will happen.  And then when the time is right I will think of the title the last.

Read the rest at The Brooklyn Voice

I can hear them in the fields, the swish of their clothes against the opium stalks. The hum of their language, against the grate of the Afghani guide screaming at me in Dari, “Come now, you little shit, come!”
His voice then gentles down to a murmur of seller-talk to the others. I try not to move with noise, my clothes are but little. I know the fields well, my family from Jalalabad… and long ago they worked the wheat fields, when the wheat was prosperous to us. This was before the opium, before my grandfather went blind from the bomb some years ago. This bomb blast, that left shards in his eyes, his mouth still half open in talk with his good friend, Alam.
I can see that time, Grandfather and Alam, resting outside our home, sitting on a corner of rug. They were making like their own chaikhana outside our home, and the sun was blazon red. Then I ran to the window after the blast, it came from nowhere.
This is how it seems, a blast and a racing jeep, my grandfather’s eyes bits of shard in them. And we run with him, to the tent-clinic.

“Mahmud!” the Afghani guide screams at me, and he is closer, closer to me in the fields.
“Come now, you are promised to these American doctors.”

Do you want to read more at Brooklyn Voice.com

Edit By Kobayashi:

Mi presento mi chiamo Giovy e sono un appasionato di naruto anime e manga! sono il vostro admin e editor! ho aperto questo sito con la possibilità di offrire qualcosa agli utenti che passano di qui e per dare un sito al nostro forum con questo passo la parola!

Edit by Sasuke the legend:

Mi presento anche io...mi chiamo matteo sono founder del forum naruto rulez  e sono un appassionato di naruto e death note...un grande saluto l'admin......passaparola

China's dream of one hundred years came true through    the grand opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic games. That was held on the national stadium named "The nest" in Beijing. All the busy streets in China were quiet during that ceremony cause people were fixed with that amusing ceremony all over the country. All the big screens around the central cities in China were off during that ceremony for the safety and security purpose. "8" is the lucky number in China. That's why the opening ceremony began at 8:08 p.m. It began with the Olympic symbol made of magnificent lights flying over the national stadium. Then, the children of 56 minorities of China carried the national flag through the field while a cute little girl was singing the happy song of China. Right after then, all the Chinese people stood up with their national anthem and it ended with fireworks all around the stadium. Afterwards, the background speaker announced the beautiful Olympic by describing the invention of the paper and Chinese paintings. Some excellent artists drew pictures with their body wonderfully after that with the music of xylophone. Then, the great picture flew over the stadium. Next, 3000 thousand fellowships of Confucious came out to the field to give the audience superficial idea of the history of Chinese character and people with blocks made 和 (He) that means harmony to reveal the united harmony of this world and they made up the Great wall with the blocks immediately after that. Then, the people with traditional dress came up with the puppet show of the historical Beijing soap opera.

Read more at: "The Brooklyn Voice"

Cricket, Communism, Consumerism and Krishna...

By Manosh Chowdhury

The last time I visited Kolkata, the most interesting thing I had found was a series of billboards, particularly at bus stops, by the Bangla daily Bartaman,. Very brave, the words in scarlet red were: "[Bartaman] doesn't frighten anyone except Bhagaban." Since the Kolkata newspaper readership is a captive of Anandabazar, and the only recognizable challenger from the left is Aajkaal, those billboards were loud enough to get my attention. This time, and I don't know whether this is because of downward publicity of Bartaman, or my observation faculty got dull, I found much less of Bhagaban. Ringku and Tapash, my sister and brother-in-law, informed me that they had been taught a very good lesson. Ganashakti, the official spokes-paper of ruling CPI[M], had written in their publicity posters, in black instead of red: "Only the cowards are frightened by Bhagaban." So Ganashakti maintains the bravery! I was indeed dying to read a copy of the newspaper, which I couldn't get for first few days. My appetite was strong because I could only get Aajkaal at my sister's place for the first three days.

Read more at "The Brooklyn Voice"

Midsummer offers up a pair of worthy DVDs, courtesy of our favorite home vid company du jour, Legend Films.  Their first batch of reviewed titles did remarkably well – and we’re proud to state that the following duo, licensed from the hefty Paramount library is equally impressive (I had a short, informative discussion with Maria Mason, Legend’s Vice President of Marketing; the results can be found in the sidebar addendum to this piece)

The season itself suggests family outings, and I found two rare obscure items of note that both grown-ups and kids can enjoy for years to come.

Read more at The Brooklyn Voice

Cap 412:

-Eng [by Sleepy Fans]
-Ita [by Kobayashi]
-Raw [by Kylara]

Naruto Shippuden episodio 70: "Risonanza"

Raw:

-Ep 70 Raw [by BlueRaws] [torrent]

-Ep 70 Raw HQ [by Tv-Japan] [torrent]

-Eng:

-Ep 70 Hardsub eng [by Dattebayo] [torrent]

-Ita:

-Ep 70 Hardsub ita [by Kobayashi] [torrent]

a presto la versione HQ!

Edit by Kobayashi:

inserito l'ep 70 sub eng by dattebayo!! Watching!

Edit by Kobayashi:

Allora ragazzi la storia è questa, siccome i bink si sono ritirati nel fare naruto, e l'unica scan disponibile degli sleepy fans non sarà permessa di usare a nessuno ognuno dovrà pulirsi le scan da solo... e quindi ci saranno forti ritardi..quindi la scan la vedrete o stasera o domani!..mi dispiace!

ReEdit by Kobayashi:

inserito manga in ita e raw ep!...scusate ma scappo devo fare l'ep!

ReEdit by Kobayashi:

inserito Hardsub ita... a presto per il download tramite rapidshare e la versione HQ!

ReEdit by Kobayashi:

inserito ep 70 raw by Tv-Japan... riguardo alal HQ Hardsub ita ho avuto miriadi di problemi ..perchè la qualità scalava e non era più HQ... poi l'audio sfasava con il video..un casino! cmq è sicuro che ve la porto anche se non so quando ;)

ReEdit by Kobayashi:

inserito cap 412 raw!!! finalmente!! non riuscivo a trovarla!! buona lettura! :)

The man known as the "Dean of Baseball" passed away over the weekend. Jerome Holtzman was one of the true greats throughout the years. He wrote for both major Chicago dailies and is regarded as the game's first true historian. Holtzman is also the man who created the save category, so he's in effect responsible for making stars out of short relievers, who were mostly afterthoughts prior to the introduction of that statistic.

The save remains one of the game's most perplexing oddities. The rules for what constitutes a save vary depending on the situation, and the role has changed over the years. Who could have thought that some of the least frequently utilized players in terms of innings would become some of the game's biggest stars? And the fact is that if your team doesn't have a strong closer, they probably aren't going to be contending for any titles anytime soon.

Right now, there are several closer roles that are up in the air, which means trying times for some big league managers and some exciting opportunities for fantasy baseball players. Here's a quick rundown of the teams where the ninth inning role is up in the air, including a list of pitchers who could suddenly see a spike in their roto-value.

The Rangers continue to send C.J. Wilson out for ninth inning adventures, but it's looking more likely that they may finally make a move to a more stable source of saves. Eddie Guardado has been the far more reliable reliever, and with the Rangers pushing hard for a winning season, I think there's going to be a change taking place very soon.

Billy Wagner is having more forearm issues and the Mets could be forced to shut him down. Duaner Sanchez flopped miserably in a similar scenario a couple weeks back, and there are questions about his health right now. The Mets just recalled Eddie Kunz and I have a feeling he's going to get a real shot at closing if Wagner has to miss any substantial time.

Kerry Wood is about to return from his troubling blister problem, but the Cubs might stay with Carlos Marmol for a little while longer. Marmol is hot again, and there's no guarantee the issue won't return as far as the oft-injured Wood is concerned.

Brandon Lyon has slumped over the last few weeks and the Diamondbacks made a deal to bring Jon Rauch down to the desert. Lyon has done well enough to warrant keeping the job for now, but with every game crucial in the divisional title chase, I can't imagine his leash is a long one. Rauch did a nice job closing for the Nationals this season, so there may not be much hesitation to move him into the same role in Arizona should Lyon's struggles continue.

Huston Street, who I've said for three years is overrated, is now apparently out as Oakland's closer. He might regain the role at some point, but I have a feeling he's going to get waived and traded. In fact, I'm kind of surprised he didn't move prior to the July 31 deadline as the A's were dealing their other high-paid arms. In any case, amazing rookie Brad Ziegler figures to be the main closer for the time being, and if he continues his phenomenal pitching, it should become a permanent gig.

The Indians have basically announced to the world they're intent on finding a legit closer in the off-season. I'm not so sure they don't have their guy already. Rafael Perez had an early-season hangover from last year's playoff disaster, but he's gotten himself right and he's pitching really well the last several weeks. Perez is a superior option to Masa Kobayashi and I feel he'll emerge as the main closer for the Tribe over the season's last several weeks.

Finally, there's the hapless bullpen of the Detroit Tigers. It's almost comical how awful they've been at finishing games. The latest tomato can is Fernando Rodney, and the fact is he's terrible. Who should get the closing gig? In my mind, give the ball to the pitcher who's done the best work over the course of the season, and that's lefty Bobby Seay. Take a look at the numbers, it's not close. Joel Zumaya is the answer down the road, but he's been unable to stay healthy this season. I have no clue as to whether or not Jim Leyland will give Seay a shot, but he ought to. Considering the alternatives, why not?

The term was first mentioned by St. Albertus Magnus in 1270 and was popularized by the French writer Villiers in his 1886 novel L'Ève future, although the term "android" appears in US patents as early as 1863 in reference to miniature humanlike toy automations. Thus far, androids have largely remained within the domain of science fiction, frequently seen in film and television.  The world's first Android DER 01 was developed by Japanese research group. The Intelligent Robotics Lab, directed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University, and Kokoro Co., Ltd. have demonstrated the Actroid at Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

In 2006, Kokoro Co. developed a new DER 2 android. The height of the human body part of DER2 is 165 cm. There are 47 mobile points. DER2 can not only change its expression but also move its hands and feet and twist its body. The "air servosystem" which Kokoro Co. developed originally is used for the actuator. As a result of having an actuator controlled precisely with air pressure via a servosystem, the movement is very fluent and there is very little noise. DER2 realized a slimmer body than that of the former version by using a smaller cylinder. Outwardly DER2 has a more beautiful proportion.

Compared to the previous model, DER2 has thinner arms and a wider repertoire of expressions. The smoothness of her movement has also been improved, making it now even more likely for the uninitiated to confuse her with an actual human being. Once programmed, she is able to choreograph her motions and gestures with her voice. The Intelligent Mechatronics Lab, directed by Kobayashi at the Science University of Tokyo, has developed an android head called Saya, which was exhibited at Robodex 2002 in Yokohama, Japan. There are several other initiatives around the world involving humanoid research and development at this time, which will hopefully introduce a broader spectrum of realized technology in the near future.

Now Saya is working at the Science University of Tokyo as a guide. The Waseda University (Japan) and NTT Docomo's manufacturers have succeeded in creating a shape-shifting robot WD-2.

It is capable of changing its face. At first, the creators decided the position of the necessary points to express the outline, eyes, nose, and so on of a certain person. The robot expresses his/her face by moving all points to the decided positions, they say. The first version of the robot was first developed back in 2003. After that, a year later, they did a couple of major improvements in the design.

The robot features an elastic mask made from the average head dummy. It uses a driving system with a 3DOF unit. The WD-2 robot can change its facial features by activating specific facial points on a mask, with each point possessing three degrees of freedom.

Vancouver always touts its multiculturalism proudly, and so does Japadog on Burrard and Smithe, where "east meets west deliciously" as tastethehappy puts it. Its fusion food in a bun. More precisely, they serve hot dogs with a Japanese makeover. I know, its hard to imagine if you haven't seen it before, and I had trouble explaining it to my coworkers without visual aid.

Take their Misomayo for example. Turkey sausage with Japanese mayo, miso sauce, and radish.

Or Terimayo, their #1 export, beef hot dog with Japanese mayo, special teriyaki sauce, and seaweed toppings.

Its more than just a gimmick, as these dogs taste pretty good with the Japanese toppings, and almost makes you forget what your momma told you about eating too much fast food. They do have other types of sausages, leaving the choice of condiments up to you. I also noticed their stand is cleaner than some restaurants I've been to, which is always a plus.

These guys are pretty famous too, making the news on numerous occasions, and proudly displays mug shots of B-list celebrities that have visited them, such as Steven Segal.

As far as hot dogs, cheap lunches, creative cuisines, and fusion food goes, this ranks pretty high up there.

Food: 8/10
Likelihood of returning: very high

Just in case you weren't following up on hot dog related news, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut recently defeated Kobayashi "Tsunami" Takeru in Nathan's hot dog eating contest by slaughtering 59 dogs in 10 minutes. That's almost 1 hot dog every 10 second, and nearly 20,000 calories in total.

Fortunately for those two, I only had enough cash that day to buy one.

	Photos 1 of 1 Takeru Kobayashi (L) and Joey Chestnut
	Related Videos Satay proves tricky for world's best competitive eaters

SINGAPORE: Competitive eating took on an Asian flavour on Sunday at the world's first Major League Eating Asia competition - with huge servings of otah, curry puffs and satay.

It did not take Japan's Takeru Kobayashi long to get in the swing – perfecting his technique of swallowing without chewing. His American opponent, Joey Chestnut, who was the winner of the Major League Eating, just could not catch up with him.

In the end, Kobayashi wolfed down 5.419 kilogrammes of satay in 12 minutes, while Chestnut ate 4.08 kilogrammes of satay.

"I had just competed in a big tournament three weeks ago so my stomach capacity was enlarged already. It was just about getting used to the satay and understanding what it was," Kobayashi said, after winning the competition.

"It was a different texture from what I'm used to. I've never eaten chicken in that fashion with that sauce. It was very aromatic and I should have been able to do better, but he just came out really hungry and he ate better than me today," Chestnut quipped.

Despite Singaporeans' love for food, it seems the nation has got a long way to go before it reaches the top of the international competitive eating game.

However, coaching clinics are being set up for finalists from this year's event so that when the competition returns next year, they will be able to pit their skills against the world's best.

- CNA/so

About 300 competitive eating fans roared as local favourite Kobayashi of Japan slammed home five kilograms of chicken in 12 minutes in Sunday's contest. California's Chestnut was a distant second, munching down four kilograms.

"I've followed Kobayashi's career on YouTube, so it's really exciting to see him in person," said Ricky Chen, a 31-year-old graphic designer.

The professional eating circuit, known as Major League Eating, was organizing its first contest in Asia, one of about 80 competitions a year in which "gurgatators" wolf down foods such as grits, sticks of butter, oysters, jalapenos and cow brains, all the while hoping to avoid the dreaded "reversal." (story)