Gold-Digger School

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - Want to marry rich? Then the unlikely named Beijing Moral Education Center for Women is for you.

For 30 hours of training costing 20,000 yuan ($3,080), women keen to snag a billionaire, millionaire or even just an affluent man learn techniques to make them more attractive, from how to put on make-up in the most flattering way to how to spot a liar by looking at his facial expressions.

The school in the world's second largest economy -- home to 189 billionaires and just under one million millionaires -- has attracted over 2,800 mainly middle class women since it opened in August last year, and students such as 23-year-old Zhou Yue believe it's time and money well spent.

"My family had a business and there was a time when things were very difficult for us," she told Reuters.

"During that period, I was struggling a lot inside, asking myself why we have to do this, why my childhood had to be so different from other people's. So I thought to myself, if I can marry a rich man, at least I won't have any worries."

Lily Bing, 28, said she hoped the training would translate into better prospects. Students are taught conversation skills, personality development and traditional tea-pouring techniques, which convey elegance.

"I hope that the standard of people I can come into contact with in the future will be higher, compared to before I took on these classes," she said.

"That is, those who have achieved a certain level of success and promotion in their career. So in this process, if I can get to know rich people, I think it could be helpful," Bing added.

The centre's founder, Shao Tong, also teaches at the school, focusing on pointing out to students how to decipher a man's character and personality.

She said the school was encouraging women to become the best they can be by giving them a goal that many in this rapidlydeveloping country, with a huge increasingly affluent and aspiring middle class, strive for.

"We are nurturing internal qualities and developing potential. But if I were to advertise the school saying I would like to teach you how to build a good family and to better yourself, lots of girls would rule it out because they feel that they are agreeable and qualified enough," Tong said.

"So then I thought, why not be more straightforward by saying: do you want to marry a rich man?"

Wealthy eligible bachelors have approached the school in search ofsoulmates, and can spend up to 30,000 yuan as an introductory fee.

In the past few months, the school says it has successfully matched 30 couples that resulted in marriage.

"By taking the classes at this school, women can raise their personal qualities -- and perhaps better meet the expectations of men like us who are looking for a girlfriend or a companion," said Wen Wen, 32, currently dating one of the school's alumni. ($1 = 6.477 Chinese Renminbi)

(Additional reporting by Reuters Television, Editing by Sui-Lee Wee and Miral Fahmy)

Hello Kitty Airplanes!

Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) EVA Airways, one of Taiwan's major international carriers, will launch a new "Hello Kitty" fuselage in October to celebrate the airline's 20-year anniversary and spark renewed interest in travel between Taiwan and Japan.

The airline hopes the promotion will emulate the success of a previous "Hello Kitty" campaign, which saw two aircraft introduced with "Hello Kitty" exteriors in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

The planes' exteriors, interiors and accessories such as boarding passes, napkins, baggage tags and flight attendants' aprons all carried the motif of the Japanese female bobtail cat cartoon character.

According to travel agency representatives, the Hello Kitty aircraft, which primarily flew between Taiwan and Japan until they were retired in 2008 and 2009, became key parts of package deals that kept them nearly fully booked when first introduced.

They also helped Eva Air win an award from British magazine Wallpaper in 2007 for "Best Livery."

The airline said the new "Hello Kitty" plane would carry a different livery than in the past, but it would not divulge what changes awaited the cartoon feline.

It hopes, however, that reviving the "Hello Kitty" mystique will inject new energy into travel between Taiwan and Japan, which has suffered since Japan was battered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in mid-March.

EVA Air is bringing back the feline to the air in collaboration with Sanrio, the Japanese-based company that created Hello Kitty and several other characters such as My Melody and Pom Pom Purin.

Old People Are Awesome

Now here’s a truly uplifting story — 98 year old Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco got a call last week that she was waiting for quite a long time. She was promoted to Judo’s highest level, the 10th black belt. This is truly an amazing feat because only three people in the world have ever reached this highest of levels and they’re all men living in Japan.

Sensei Fukuda still teaches hand techniques to her judo students at the women’s dojo in San Francisco’s Noe Valley. She is also the only living student of judo’s founder Jigoro Kano, who opened his first judo school in 1882. A life-long practitioner, Fukuda sacrificed everything, giving up marriage and leaving Japan to dedicate her life to judo. She also faced gender discrimination all her life, relegating her with lower degree belts, while male counterparts who were less skilled than her, matriculated to higher level belts.

“The time was right.” said Eiko Saito Shepherd, a board member of the U.S. Judo Federation. When Sensei Fukuda got the call last week that she would receive the 10th level black belt, she cried. ”This has been my lifelong dream,” said the 10th degree black belt Sensei.

I think my nunchucks were better ...

Chen Chen and Kai Tsien-Williams filled a couple of Budweiser cans with cement, linked them with a length of chain, and called the whole thing “American Ninja.”

Found at a bus stop

So I saw this at a bus stop the other night.  Brand new and still in it's packaging.

... only in San Francisco.