I may be marking myself out as a bit of a nerd here, but I have a guilty pleasure in listening to the poppiest of pop music from the Far East, particularly Japan and South Korea. Perfume, an all-girl trio are my favourite group and they make ridiculously super produced electro pop music.

Some of their music is very cutesy (see Chocolate Disco: first video below) but they’ve also made a fair whack of harder edged stuff that could easily be mistaken for Justice or Daft Punk with added nice Japanese lady vocals (see Fake It: second video below).

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This is the greatest invention. Ever. Commuters in South Korea can now do their grocery shopping whilst waiting for the train to arrive using their mobile phone to scan the QR codes of the virtual goodies they want. The order is then delivered direct to their doorstep the next day. Amazing! Sure beats moaning about the crowds, delays, smells, noises …

Contrary to popular belief, you now can recharge a battery by urinating on it. The MetalCell, a unique and portable backup battery that charges from sodium, was designed by South Korean researchers in a bid to replenish electronics when in warfare.

Apparently the sodium in salt reacts with the magnesium plates and generates a dose of low-voltage power that’s enough to charge a laptop for up to four hours one single recharge of saltwater. At a cost of $200, I know what I will be packing on my next road trip or camping adventure.

In an attempt to have a more comfortable life, Sim Jae-duck, a Korean activist from Suwon, south of Seoul, decided to build a house of extraordinary proportions. The result is a 4,508-sq-foot toilet-style structure in the shape of a toilet. It’s a symbol of Korean hygiene. Sim Jae-duck, who is the President of the Inaugural General Assembly of the World Toilet Association, nicknamed his home, Haewoojae, which in Korean means ‘the place or sanctuary where you can solve your problems’. It will be available for those who want to enjoy its facilities for just U$50,000 a day.

Designed by Slade Architecture in collaboration with Ga.A Architects and Mass Studies, the Dalki Theme Park in South Korea’s Kyungki Province is a shrine to a popular cartoon character used to promote clothing and other goodies to young Korean children.

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The vision of South Korean design consultancy Heerim Architects, the 35 story Hotel Full Moon is being built in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the west coast of the Caspian Sea.

Xinjian Lu is a Professor of Visual Communication at South Korea’s Yeungnam University. But he is also a gifted artist in his own right, as evidenced by these elaborately shaped and vibrantly coloured works from his Love series.

Born in Seoul Korea, but now working out of Los Angeles, Ramis Kim creates mixed media pieces which explore idealized childhood memories and invented narratives in imagined landscapes. An MFA graduate from Cal Arts in Valencia, Kim paints film and TV backgrounds when not creating her own art. Her work will be seen in a group show of Little Paper Plane artists, curated by Kelly Lynn Jones at Tinlark Gallery opening September 13.

South Korean artist Seounghyon Cho currently resides in New York City, having received an MFA degree in Illustration from School of Visual Arts.

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