Beach ball babes

It’s the Tiong Bahru market, but instead of the usual aunties, uncles and assortment of neighbourhood folk you would expect to find at a wet market on a typical weekday morning, a bevy of Mediacorp actresses were parading around in their bikinis instead.

A New Paper report today featured Joanne Peh, Jade Seah and Jesseca Liu in a photo spread as they flaunted bare skin and lots of cleavage. But it was all in the name of filming for their upcoming new drama, Beach.Ball.Babes.

One of the story plots call for the girls, who are part of a volleyball team, to strip down to their bikinis outside a wet market after they lose a bet.

The squeamish girls had to perform stunts such as picking up live frogs and scooping out dead squid from a tank. Joanne let out a scream when she grabbed the frog and squirmed so convincingly that she completed the scene in one take, while Jade had a lot of difficulty handling the squid until the stall owner assured her that they were dead and will not bite. (story)

“Oral Me” toothpaste, just lip service

A toothpaste sold at a hypermarket here, has raised a few eyebrows as well as having drawn laughter as its brand name was considered to be rather suggestive by some people.

The brand? ‘Oral-Me’.

The product is a toothpaste manufactured by a Kulim, Kedah, based company.

Melissa Leong, 28, from Sabah, felt the brand name carried sexual connotation.

“Manufacturers should think twice when naming their products,” she said.

Kuala Lumpur based advertising executive Martin Voon asked if the manufacturer understood the phrase while coining the brand name.

“I’m shocked. Such words are normally found on a spoof,” he said. (story)

Ring swallowing thief gets 1.5 years in jail

An odd job worker thought he had hit on the ideal way to swipe a diamond ring from a jeweller: he swallowed it, price tag and all. But Mohamad Azman Abdullah, 48, was caught right away, and handed to the police, who took him to hospital.

At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, doctors inserted a long flexible tube down his throat and into his tummy, using instruments at the end to fish out the $2,689 sparkler and its gold setting.

He had to stomach this uncomfortable procedure, called an endoscopy, which is usually done without anaesthesia.

In court on Wednesday, Azman pleaded guilty to the theft and was jailed 1 1/2 years. (story)

Refer to the Thai PM by grabbing your nose

Sign-language interpreters in Thailand have run afoul of some governing party supporters by holding their noses to refer to the new prime minister.Samak Sundaravej, chosen Monday as the first elected prime minister since a Sept. 2006 coup, has been nicknamed “Mr. Rose Apple Nose” because many claim his nose resembles the fruit. (story)

Na Hoon-a drops trou to prove he’s still got “it”

South Korean crooner stunned a live, national TV audience on Friday by dropping his trousers and saying he was ready to prove he had not been castrated or dismembered in a love quarrel.Na Hoon-a, who can still fill concert halls with legions of his middle-aged fans, spoke at a packed news conference to deny rumours he had been castrated or had his penis cut off by a Japanese ‘yakuza’ gangster.

Media reports have said the gangster was angry the 60-year-old singer had a fling with one of his favourite South Korean actresses.

‘Do I have to show you, or would you just believe me?’ Na asked.Saying he was ready to prove he had not been damaged ‘down there”, he jumped on a table, slightly lowered his pants and was revealing his underwear when the live TV broadcast cut away, with surprised reporters heard shrieking in the background. (story)

Starworth fails to apologize for hair in bride’s soup

All she wanted was a sincere apology for a strand of hair found in a bowl of shark’s fin soup at her wedding dinner. But the matter blew up into a month-long exchange between the bride, Mrs Wendy Scully, 29, and Starworth, the company which runs events at the Chijmes Hall.

When the public relations manager felt she was getting nowhere, she shot a letter to this newspaper on Tuesday.

By then, it was not just the 15cm strand of hair that riled her, but Starworth general manager K.K. Ng’s suggestion that it could have come from one of her guests.

‘He told me it is common to find hair in food,’ she told The Straits Times. (story)

Rapping MDA video causing a bit of controversy

A 4 minute video showing the head honchos of the Media Development Authority (MDA) rapping while selling its message to get Singapore creative and connected has got some media industry players tickled and others bewildered. While some laud its effort to reach out, others say the video is forced and makes the civil servants look even a little silly.

Called the Senior Management Rap, it was featured in the MDA’s interactive annual report 2006/7 released last month. The video is now available on the MDA website. (story) (video)

Krishna receives award and job offers

After being crowned a superstar for the restaurant service sector, Mr Kalaichellvan Krishna was offered jobs by other restaurants and hotels. Even though the assistant manager at Jack’s Place politely refused, this was ironically the very scenario the Minister in the Prime Minister’s office Lim Swee Say highlighted at the Excellent Service Awards ceremony in the Raffles Convention Centre on Tuesday.

Before handing out the top service honours to ten outstanding service workers, Mr Lim urged these staff not to job-hop and employers not to poach them.

Mr Krishna, 26, who works at the steakhouse’s West Coast Recreation Centre outlet, did not say which companies made the offers at a tea reception after the award ceremony on Tuesday morning. (story)

Singaporeans uneducated when it comes to sex

Here in Singapore, conventional sex therapy usually involves a trip to the gynaecologist, where the clinical setting is controlled and considered safe.Recently it seems some women and couples are looking towards alterative sex therapies, according to an article in the November 2007 issue of Her World.

Such therapy sessions can involve a group of women or be in a more intimate one-on-one setting.

Debbie Lim, 38, a party organiser told Her World that she has put together some 80 sex workshops over 12 years.

A typical session could involve the women sitting in a group on the floor, with towels on their laps, surrounding their sex couch. Questions are asked and discussions held. Then vibrators are handed out, so everyone gets to practise and also to help the women locate their pleasure points, all under the cover of their towels.

(story)

Boss gets employee bride for $6,800

Most workers wish for bosses who give them good bonuses and benefits.But for this long-time worker at a Pasir Panjang vegetable wholesaler, his bosses did one better - they paid to get him a bride.

Mr Tay Juay Teck, 43, has been working for Madam Lee Nguan Kheng, 62, for just over 30 years - since he was 12.

Over the years, Madam Lee has watched Mr Tay grow up and has come to regard him like a brother. And, like any concerned family member, she wanted to see the bachelor settle down and have a home of his own.

So she and other shareholders of Nam Shiang & Teck Guan Trading, a vegetable wholesale company at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, decided to take matters into their own hands.

They went to a matchmaking agency and chose a Vietnamese bride for Mr Tay.

They also helped him to find an agent so he could buy his own HDB flat, and chipped in with some $20,000 to help pay for the renovation and furnishing.

(story)