TOPIC

Offbeat

Offbeat
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Offbeat. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
An ethnic Shan boy during the annual Poy Sang Long procession, a traditional rite of passage ceremony for novice Buddhist monks at Wat Ku Tao, in Chiang Mai. Photo: AFP
Parenting: teens

Colourful Buddhist tradition in Thailand is a rite of passage for Shan boys

The Poy Sang Long celebration is a vibrant three-day ritual before boys of Myanmar’s Shan people enter monastic life for up to one month.

Food and Drinks

Brewing sake in space? Maker aims for small step towards moon-based brewery

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

Become a K-pop idol for a day at Chinese ‘experience’ centre for US$45

Video gaming

Why old-school video game consoles and titles are back in demand

Players are nostalgic for early Mario Bros or Sonic the Hedgehog games. A Briton has made repairing consoles to play them his full-time job.

Luke Malpass, the owner and founder of RetroSix, plays Street Fighter II on an arcade machine in his company headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, in the UK. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Rats and rubbish mar Indonesia’s vision of a futuristic new capital

Indonesia’s US$32 billion dream of a green new capital at Nusantara is facing an early challenge: a surge in rats fuelled by tourist trash.

Malaysia

Viral dashcam footage captures roadside panther attack in Malaysia

‘I keep having nightmares’, said the 54-year-old father of two who warded off the big cat using a water bottle.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Malaysia

‘Sleepwalking’ Malaysian crane climber claims whispering voice led him to top

Baffled onlookers watched as the man walked along the crane’s beam more than 120 metres above the ground before he was coaxed down.

Onlookers saw the man walking along the crane’s beam at a height of around 126 metres. Photo: Instagram/thestaronline
Food and Drinks

Cronuts so yesterday now there’s croissant pizza, cookie, brownie, hot dog

The pastry of New York is the bagel, right? Not so fast. What about the croissant crossovers, from pistachio fillings to pigs-in-a-blanket?

Music

How ‘cheap trick’ helps monkeys yodel better than humans

Human yodellers can switch up and down an octave, but monkeys have a 3½-octave range. Researchers have just discovered why that is.

videocam
History

Discover secrets and tools of real-life James Bonds at MI5 exhibition

The intelligence agency’s exhibition at London’s National Archives delves into Britain’s history of spying and includes a 110-year-old lemon.

The first camera used by MI5 for spying, dated from 1910, is displayed as part of “MI5: Official Secrets”, a new exhibition exploring the history of the British intelligence agency, at The National Archives in London, on April 1, 2025. Photo: Reuters
NBA

German glass company aims to challenge NBA’s long-time hardwood-floor foundation

‘We’re at the initial stages of the iPhone being launched,’ says ASB GlassFloor boss, who sees glass courts as a tech-driven alternative.

videocam
A glass court used at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game weekend in Indianapolis, United States in February last year. Photo: Getty Images
Artificial intelligence

Lost your phone? Now you can ask your Samsung fridge to find it

The latest Samsung Bespoke fridges’ AI-enhanced Bixby assistant responds to voice commands to find missing phones and activate appliances.

Fashion

A vest that can power a neck fan? Check it out at Osaka World Expo 2025

A Toyota subsidiary will trial vests with solar cells that generate electricity to power devices such as neck fans at the Osaka World Expo.

Egypt

What is sock ball? How the game played on small streets got big

The first type of football played by many in Egypt, sock ball has become a show of celebration during Ramadan in the country.

Essam Bakkar prepares the ball on the day of a sock ball match on a street in Alexandria, Egypt, on March 23, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Food and Drinks

Spanish sharpen knives and skills for ‘World Cup of butchery’

World Butchers’ Challenge at Paris Expo will see teams prepare chicken, beef, pork and lamb. Newcomers Spain say they have a ‘secret weapon’.

A butcher debones a piece of meat during the rehearsal for the World Butchers’ Challenge. Photo: Reuters
Wellness

Meet the Irish farmer using alpacas for animal therapy for the elderly

With their ‘huge brown eyes’, camelid therapy animals ease anxiety among nursing home residents and those with special needs, farmer says.

Music

Meet Marcin, the guitar genius so good people think he’s faking it

Marcin Patrzalek, 24, plays percussion, melody and rhythm at the same time on his acoustic guitar, and is an Instagram sensation.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
US-China relations

China hails US YouTube star who had 10 million views on Beijing, Shanghai

Influencer is seen praising the people who greeted him enthusiastically, clean streets and internet connectivity on the subway.

videocam
31
US YouTuber IShowSpeed with his fans in Vietnam. Photo: X/iShowSpeedHQ
Food and Drinks

Take a hammer to a US$48,000 whisky? Scotch distiller’s smashing gimmick

Amid a dip in the rare whisky market, The Glenrothes has made its exclusive The 51 single malt ‘effectively impossible to resell’.

Art

Painting attributed to a male artist for years was woman’s work

Lavinia Fontana, a leading woman painter of the Italian Renaissance, now credited with work a museum in Douai, France, believed was Flemish.

Japan

There’s a rat in my soup! Dead rodent hurts Japan restaurant chain’s stock price

Zensho Holdings, which operates the Sukiya chain, saw its shares fall as much as 7.1 per cent after it revealed the grisly discovery.

An image shared on social media shows the dead rodent that was found in a bowl of Sukiya soup. Photo: X/yhp_m
New Zealand

Ghostly guides invoke tragic tales of New Zealand’s parliament

Visitors who take part in the ‘spooky tours’ hear spine-chilling stories of mysterious deaths and late-night apparitions in Wellington.

A tour guide retells the haunted history of New Zealand’s parliament library in Wellington on Thursday. Photo: AP
Food and Drinks

Italy’s oldest barista, still serving at 100, asks: ‘Why should I stop?’

Since her last holiday 67 years ago, Anna Possi has opened her cafe in northern Italy every day. ‘I’m around people. I feel good,’ she says.

Thailand

Ghostbusted: bungling burglar with ‘Scream’ mask arrested in Thailand

The 21-year-old man was planning to steal from a gold shop in Chiang Mai, wearing a ‘Ghostface’ mask and a black cloak to hide his tracks.

Food and Drinks

Why Germany’s Wine Queen could be dethroned by a man for the first time

Since 1949, only women have been allowed to compete in an annual contest that crowns ambassadors for Germany’s wine industry. Not any more.

Charlotte Weihl, the current German Wine Queen. Photo: Instagram/_charlottewe_
Music

Why Sufi music lovers in Kashmir still swear by cassette players

Listened to by artisans as they work or at gatherings of Sufi music aficionados, cassette players hold sway in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Self-taught tape recorder mechanic Mohammad Ashraf Matoo repairs a tape recorder at his shop in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. Cassette tapes remain popular in the region among lovers of its Sufi music. Photo: AP
Art

Statue of Liberty, Big Ben models made of scrap in underwater art show

A Swedish art project aims to create an underwater city of the world’s most famous buildings to highlight the threat from rising sea levels.

Art

When this 9-year-old tattoo artist grows up, he wants his own parlour

His dad started teaching him to tattoo to get him off his phone. Now Napat Mitmakorn wants to do it for a living when he grows up.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement