Soggy-Noodle Saviour

When you come home tired from work with no desire to cook or eat out, what do you do? How about if you’re neck deep in studies and have no time to spare for a meal? Or what about when you just want a quick late-night snack? 

There are many who turn to the simple choice of instant cup noodles; all you need to do is boil water, pour it in, weigh the lid down with whatever is to hand, and wait. Such a simple process, and yet still many people forget about their noodles while they’re waiting and doing other things, leading to a soggy, unappetizing mess. 

Sure, you could set a timer on your phone, but it’s easy for that to also slip your mind. So, how about picking up a cheerful little crab that will not only tell you when it’s time to slurp down those noodles, but also help keep the lid down, as well as hold your chopsticks for you? 

Introducing the Crab-shaped Cup Ramen Timer is the latest gadget from Hac, a general merchandise maker based in Osaka, Japan. 

Launching in October 2025, this cute crustacean is poised to be the ultimate instant noodle assistant. 

The operation of the timer is quite simple: simply pop the crab on top of your cup of noodles and press a button. Once the countdown is up, the crab’s stomach growls to let you know that it’s time to dig in. You can even pop your chopsticks or fork on its claws while you wait, making it look like a little crab butler who is eager to serve you. 

You might look at this adorable little crustacean and write it off as a cheap, novelty item, but it actually took home the highest award at Japan’s largest international trade fair for gifts and lifestyle goods out of 3,000 competitors at the 100th Tokyo International Gift Show Autumn 2025. So, this crab has some serious charm.

Pre-orders are already available on Hac’s official website, with the release being in early October, and will cost 1,680 yen ($11.40). 

So, the next time you decide to use your smartphone as makeshift weight, just remember there’s a crab out there waiting to help make your instant noodle experience a whole lot more satisfying.

Turn Your Keyboard Into A Typewriter

I once read that American actor and filmmaker, Tom Hanks is a typewriter obsessive. He collects Remingtons, Triumphs, Vosses and Cole Steels the way Imelda Marcos collected shoes. 

 

"They are each different in design, action and sound – each one stamps into paper a permanent trail of imagination through keys, hammers, cloth and dye", he wrote in an opinion piece "I Am TOM. I Like to TYPE. Hear That?" in the New York Times, published August 03, 2013. 

 

Hanks sees beauty in the fact that you can type the word “typewriter” using just one row of the Qwerty keyboard. He can tell a typewriter’s brand just by its sound. 

 

And in August 2014, Hanx Writer, an iPad app that Hanks (right) designed, became the most popular free app ever in the Apple store. It simulates a typewriter keyboard, complete with clickety-clack sounds and the distinctive ding at the end of each line, on your iPad. 

 

You can even “insert” new pages too. Once you’ve typed the text you can email it, print it or share it from the app. 

 

Hanx Writer is a skeuomorph – a design that adopts the look and feel of another object – rather than a retro fashion statement. According to Clinton Mills of Hitcents, the creative agency that brought Hanks’s idea to fruition, there is an element of nostalgia to the app, but “it’s not gimmicky. It’s to show iPad users that whenever you type, the sounds of the typewriter make you feel like you’re composing something special”. 

 

When manufacturers tried bringing out “noiseless” typewriters in the 1920s, few people bought them, because they found it hard to imagine writing in silence. And businesses wouldn’t buy them because they preferred to monitor activity by the sound of typewriters clicking and clacking. 

 

Anyway, yesterday, on Boing Boing, I discovered daktilo ("typewriter" in Turkish, pronounced "duck-til-oh", derived from the Ancient Greek word δάκτυλος for "finger") which turns your normal, everyday computer keyboard into a typewriter. An old, clacking, ringing, belligerently loud typewriter, perfect for the coffee shop, library or tranquil workplace. 

 

It is actually a small command-line program that plays typewriter sounds every time you press a key. It also offers the flexibility to customize keypress sounds to your liking. You can use the built-in sound presets to create an enjoyable typing experience! 

 

This cool product is available for Linux, Windows and MacOS, so you have no reason not to do this.

 

And if that doesn’t do it for you, you can always get a real typewriter, insert some paper and have yourself some real action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, Celtic encountered another Champions League defeat when they were beaten 2-1 by Lazio.

 

Kyogo Furuhashi showed great composure to slide in the game's first goal in the twelfth minute to give the defending Scottish champions hope of a rare home win in this competition – but the Serie A club hit back seventeen minutes later. 

 

Then, Celtic had to endure a late heartbreak when the Italians netted a 95th-minute winner. 

 

This consigned Brendan Rodgers' side to the bottom of Group E with zero points after two games.

Cool Product Ideas from Japan

Check out these cool product ideas from Japan! 

 

Hilarious "salaryman" erasers designed by a Japanese artist Ishikawa Kazuya: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love how this "salaryman" eraser look so worried. He starts out with a full head of hair, but with every mistake you erase, he loses a little more of his hair – until he's bald! It's extra-funny that the eraser crumbs look like fallen hair. 

 

And Japanese designer, Michiru, also known as @mitiruxxx, cleverly designed a pencil sharpener that turns pencil shavings into a frill-necked lizard. 

 

Every time you insert the pencil into the lizard's mouth and sharpen it, the lizard's 'neck' flares up! 

 

His other cute ideas include a paint roller correction tape and an "iceberg" tissue box:

 

Bespoke Coffins

Before you pass on, you may want to go and check out Go As You Please Funerals which have been hitting the headlines with their bespoke coffins. 

 

Their website reads: "If you would like to lay your loved one to rest in a coffin that is wholly unique to them, then designing a bespoke coffin is a touching way of doing this. 

 

Instead of opting for any coffin from our traditional range, a bespoke coffin or casket can offer a heart-felt and personalised tribute to the loved one that you wish to remember. Whether it be through your choice of adornments, decorations, colour or print, a personalised coffin is the ideal choice for those looking to honor someone in an everlasting way by truly reflecting their personality and character. No matter how weird or wonderful it may be". 

 

Indeed, the funeral directors have quirkier and bizarre designs for customers to be buried or cremated in – including Greggs sausage roll, Banksy's art, Lego bricks, Dyson, Tennent's Lager and Newcastle Brown Ale bespoke caskets. 

 

And the Northumbria undertakers – who have a branch in Edinburgh, Scotland – say their wacky coffins spark a proper conversation around the often taboo subject of death and dying.

Big Tyke

Apparently the Cozy Coupe isn't just for little tykes anymore.

 

The bright red-and-yellow plastic car from Little Tikes has given generations their first taste of what it's like to get behind the wheel of your very own car. The design is described as a cross between Fred Flintstone's car and the Volkswagen Beetle – and youshouldknowthatitis no longer just available for those under the age of 5. should

 

After topping birthday and Christmas wish lists for years, the design has now been converted into a road-legal version, which can be used on both dual carriageways and motorways.

 

UK’s John Bitmead, together with his brother Geoff, from Bicester, Oxfordshire, spent four months creating his adult version of the child's toy, by modifying a Daewoo Matiz SE 0.8 vehicle in 2013. The car boasts an 800cc engine, goes from 0-60mph in 17 seconds and has a top speed of 70mph. Costing around £4,000 to assemble, it took 1,000 hours to put together at the Bicester base of Attitude Autos. 

 

The replica is a one-off and has all the intricate details of the original, including glass-less windows and an over-sized drinks holder. And the car can be bought for £21,500 (around $33,200) on eBay and the advert reads: "We have covered over 5,000 miles in the past two years driving around shows and charity events in the UK and apart from it not being the fastest car on the planet has been the most incredible fun with people queuing up to take photos along dual carriageways and highways on every trip. Guaranteed to create smiles wherever it goes”. 

 

If you have money a-plenty and don’t know what to do with it, then get the car, christened the Big Tyke and relive your childhood!        

 

In yesterday’s Scottish Premiership match, Rangers trounced their old foes 3-0 for their first Old Firm win of the season to end a below-par Celtic's hopes of a record points tally. 

 

The latter commanded 68 percent possession and yet they failed to score. It’s probably wise not to read too much into the result, given how little was riding on the game. Nonetheless, it’s a timely lift for the Gers after a sluggish campaign and gives them something to build on next term.

This Toilet Paper is a Collector's Item

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A vintage box of Spider-Man toilet paper – which has a comic book printed in blue ink across 325 sheets of 2-ply tissue paper for your butt cheeks to read on the throne – is a collectors’ item! 

 

Originally released in 1979, this “crap” is available on eBay, anywhere from $50-$100! I have read that Marvel Comics have decided to officially re-release the “toilet paper” superhero adventure as a digital "Infinity Comic", exclusively through the Marvel Unlimited app. 

 

While technically an April Fool's "joke" of sorts, the comic is indeed there, where it's expected to remain in digital perpetuity. Unlike the poop you took while reading it!

 

Still on Spider-Man. Remember when Peter Parker was the only Spider-Man?

 

Of course, times have changed and Marvel have created multiple versions of the Wall Crawler. Enter Miles Morales, Gwen "Ghost Spider" Stacy, Silk, Spider-Punk, and other characters that are essentially the New Coke to Spider-Man's Coca-Cola classic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And while many like to cite Miles Morales as the first character that truly offered a new spin on Spider-Man, Toei were actually the first company to create the first Spider-Man variant. 

 

In the video below, you can check out clips from the live-action Japanese Spider-Man series that are guaranteed to make you grin or gag!

On Democracy

More than 200 scholars, experts and politicians from over 100 countries and regions gathered in Beijing, China on Thursday for the Second International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values to share their understanding of democracy and how countries should explore their own path to democracy.

 

Interestingly, there were many attendees who made known their opposition to a certain country's hegemonic exporting of its own version of democracy and weaponizing of democracy to contain other countries. 

 

It is pertinent to highlight that there is not only one way to achieve democracy. After all, there are no two identical political systems in the world nor is there a form of democracy that fits all countries. Assessing a political structure with predefined criteria should not be allowed, and countries should use the democratic system that best fits their domestic environment. 

 

George Galloway, former UK MP and present Workers Party of Britain Leader on Thursday presented his perspective and methinks, he is spot on:

Chinese inventor Zhao Jianbo, inspired by the isolation and lack of physical intimacy experienced by many during lockdowns in the country, teamed up with Beijing-based company Siweifushe to release the MUA kissing machine on January 22, 2023. 

 

The device transmits users' kiss data collected through motion sensors hidden in silicon lips, which simultaneously move when replaying kisses received. And it also captures and replays sound and warms up slightly during kissing. 

 

A couple must download an app to engage the machines, and link the two MUA devices together. It activates when kissed and kisses back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The machine comes in different colors with a pair of silicon unisex lips, and sells for about $38 when converted from its 260 yuan price in China, Reuters reported. 

 

Already, more than 3,000 MUA machines were sold within two weeks of hitting the market, while another 20,000 orders have been made, Zhao has claimed. 

 

Erm, I don't know what to say really.

Accessories Resembling Human Flesh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out these human-flesh items which are everyday accessories made of silicone and resin. 

They're designed by Doooo and made by Amazing Studio JUR in Japan. The studio specialize in special effects makeup for TV and movies and uses similar techniques to create these accessories. 

The mouth sculpture is a coin purse, the nose can be used as a shot glass, the fingers double as stamps, and the blinking eyes are dice. There's even a wild looking phone case and charger that look just like human flesh (1:06). 

I'd love to see people's reactions in public when someone reaches into their realistic mouth purse to pull out some change!

 

Yesterday, Celtic stormed into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a 5-1 win over St Mirren.

Daizen Maeda turned in Aaron Mooy's cross for their first in the sixteenth minute and after the break three substitutes scored four more. Reo Hatate slammed home a penalty in the seventy-sixth minute and Oh Hyeon-gyu poked home four minutes later. The Buddies earned a penalty in the eighty-seventh minute for a consolation goal before Matt O'Riley (90) and Hatate (90+5) strikes. 

 

Pricey Soap

Wipe that smile off your face with this cool product from Canada. 

 

Watch the soap gets sadder as it shrinks! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sinking Feeling Soap is the creation of Toronto-based Art Director Dori – and according to the Wask Studio website, it is priced $40.01 CAD. 

 

Dori explains the concept behind it and why it's so expensive: 

 

"This soap is a long time coming. It started with an idea a few years ago to create soap with words on it that would change as you use it, but words are so small and detailed and I realized it would probably have been impossible to make with soap. So, I went with a visual route instead – smileys! 

 

…The soap consists of 6 layers of smileys… I was originally going to simply have 3 layers starting from the top: happy, neutral, and sad. But since most people will use a bar of soap by picking up the bar and rubbing it from all around, I realized the design has to work from the outwards into the middle. So that's why there are so many layers! 

 

The soap takes forever to make. It has SO MANY steps! I'm currently pricing it at $40 CAD which is actually greatly undervaluing my time per bar – and therefore in the near future I will have to decide to either raise the price or turn this into a limited-edition item. So, grab it while it's still a bargain!"

 

A cool gift idea for the person who has everything.

 

A PBM update (A continuation from my last post "MySPR Semak" dated November 01, 2022). 

 

Larry Sng and Zuraida Kamaruddin have reportedly settled their tiff – and all is well!

 

It had better be because tomorrow is already Nomination Day and GE15 is imminent.

 

According to FMT today, Parti Bangsa Malaysia intend to contest seven parliamentary seats and two state seats.

Russia's Mobilization Numbers

Russia’s special military operation is set to escalate. 

 

On September 21, the country announced a partial mobilization and on Friday, its Defense Minister informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that this exercise has been completed, with 300,000 reservists drafted as planned. 

 

According to Sergei Shoiqu, 82,000 mobilized troops were sent to the conflict zone in Ukraine. Another 218,000 draftees are getting ready for combat duty at training centers and at training grounds. 

 

The end is coming for Ukraine! 

 

I missed this when I scrolled through HuffPost’s “39 Weird Halloween Costumes, From Outrageous To Asinine” earlier.

 

I don't know why but I revisited the page – and saw this Evil Fast Food Girl costume! I love it! 

 

It can do triple duty. Wear it for Halloween, to the next animal-rights rally and when you’re caught up in a murderous rage and desire to go on a killing spree! Now that's value! 

 

Available at

halloweencostumes.com

Birthday Suit

I came across this cool item that was featured on HuffPost – a Birthday Suit costume featuring a nude glitter bodysuit with sparkles over the bust, a rhinestone embellished collar, a sheer bodice, a rhinestone studded bottom, a cheeky cut back, glittery leg pieces, a sparkle party hat, and a cake clutch. 

 

Available at yandy.com

 

Struggling Leeds United beat Liverpool 2-1 in yesterday’s Premier League game. 

 

Once again, the latter conceded the first goal – in the fourth minute – before Mohamed Salah volleyed in from Andy Robertson's cross to level the score. And then, in the final minute of normal time, the Whites sent their supporters wild with the decisive goal. 

 

The Reds were outfought and outrun! They were meek. At home. At Anfield. Under the lights! 

 

And all Jürgen Klopp could say was "So many things are unlike us in this moment"! 

 

Klopp said just last week after the Nottingham Forest defeat that it is his job to “find solutions” – it looks like he is just as clueless as his team. 

 

Hopes of fighting for the title are now replaced by aiming to finish in the top four – but even that is looking a tough task.

Coffin-shaped Office Chair Because Sitting Kills

Sitting kills. 

There is purportedly, a study that finds sitting six to eight hours a day increases your chances of dying. By design, humans aren't created to sit on chairs for eight hours a day. 

Interestingly, there is a law in the UK that makes employers provide standing desk options at their offices. The awareness may be there but it's not enough. 

What's shocking is that it's widely accepted by society – this submissive embrace of a work norm that we should spend almost all of the daylight hours at work. Little do we realize that we are slowly killing ourselves and getting almost nothing out of it. 

This whole grind culture is just wrong, it feels like voluntary slavery. We've been gaslit into thinking that this is life as it supposes to be. 

And so, artist and maker, Chairbox, created a limited-edition The Last Shift Office Chair as a statement on office "grind culture" and the unhealthiness of sitting all day:

It’s tragic, I suppose, that we sit in those coffins and generate value for the stakeholders – but once the time has come, they nail the lid and roll us to the corporate cemetery. 

This reminds me of what Jack Ma, co-founder of online shopping giant Alibaba advocates – the "996 system" – a 9 AM to 9 PM working day, six days a week!

Going Out With A Bang

Have you heard about the Loved One Launcher? 

Cremation Solutions put it this way: It “is the ultimate way to send a loved one out with the same passion they had in life. This hand-held ash scattering cannon is perfect for life celebration parties and memorial services, allowing the earthly remains of any beloved human (or pet) to be shot into the air to be scattered. A life lived to the fullest is not something to mourn – it warrants celebration, and the Loved One Launcher is the perfect way to easily and gracefully bid them farewell”. 

It is powered by two CO2 cartridges and it apparently can shoot the powdery remains more than 70 feet into the air. You can even add confetti and streamers to the mix "for a dreamy visual effect, creating a beautiful, joyful scene that sets the perfect tone". It sells for $375. 

From Cremation Solutions: “Paying homage to a loved one's life is simple and intimate with what feels almost like a daytime fireworks display in their honor. The Launcher should not be aimed at any structure or living thing as its blast is powerful. It should only be handled and operated by an adult. Avoid shooting into oncoming wind (downwind or in still air only) and note that it will take two shots to disperse all the ashes of an average adult. More shots if more confetti is desired. 

Your results and coverage will vary depending on contents of cannon, and wind conditions, if any”.

United Nations secretary general, António Guterres (right) has called on countries to impose windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies and divert the money to vulnerable nations suffering worsening losses from the climate crisis. 

In a speech to the UN general assembly on Tuesday, he said that “polluters must pay” for the escalating damage caused by heatwaves, floods, drought and other climate impacts, and demanded that it was “high time to put fossil fuel producers, investors and enablers on notice”. 

Guterres’s appeal came in his most urgent, and bleakest, speech to date on the state of the planet, and the will of governments to change course. His first words were: “Our world is in big trouble”. 

Although governments have agreed to restrain global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial times, almost all countries are lagging in their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to avoid this level of heating and therefore avert catastrophic climate impacts. 

Emissions have already rebounded to pre-pandemic levels – and it is claimed there are plenty of known fossil fuel reserves in the world still left to burn – enough to unleash 3.5 trillion tons of greenhouse gases, which would smash the carbon budget before we get to 1.5C seven times over.

The Cold Dog – Stupid Or Genius?

Hot dogs and popsicles are often considered summer staples, but what if you combine both? 

For some reason, it’s a thing. 

Oscar Mayer, an American meat and cold cut producer known for their hot dogs, bologna, bacon, ham, and Lunchables products, on Thursday, launched the “Cold Dog” – a frozen pop that tastes like a hot dog with “both refreshing and smokey umami notes”. It even comes complete with the signature mustard swirl. 

Oscar Mayer said the “Cold Dog” comes from their “Stupid or Genius” social media campaign. Thousands of hot dog fans said the hot dog-flavored popsicle was “genius”, prompting the Kraft Heinz subsidiary to collaborate with Popbar to make the product a reality. 

The box says it all with a label reading, “stupid or genius?” 

The answer is up to the people who want to pay $2 at frozen desserts company Popbar locations in New York City, Atlanta, New Orleans and Long Beach. 

This isn’t the first hot dog-flavored cold treat Oscar Mayer have debuted. In 2019, the company unveiled an ice cream sandwich with “spicy Dijon gelato” and “hot dog sweet cream” between a “cookie bun”.

Yesterday, Celtic strolled to an incredible record-breaking away league victory by humiliating beleaguered Dundee United to climb back to the top of the Scottish Premiership. They were formidable in attack as they scored nine goals! 

It took Celtic 15 minutes to open the scoring. Liel Abada split the home defence with a through ball, finding Jota, whose cross met an unmarked Kyogo Furuhashi. 

The second goal was perhaps the pick of the bunch, Furuhashi curling in a first-time effort from 25 yards straight into the top corner in the fortieth minute. 

Matt O'Riley combined with Abada to create the third, once again finding Furuhashi to tap home his hattrick (45+2). 

And there was still time in the first half for a fourth. Another tap in, this time for Jota (45+6). 

Abada got his first soon after the restart when, yet again, Celtic ruthlessly cut their hosts open. Jota found O'Riley who squared across for the winger to add the fifth in the fiftieth minute. 

The sixth was comical and it came five minutes later. Celtic's free-kick routine resulted in O'Riley drilling the ball into a crouched Reo Hatate, but the ball came back to Josip Juranovic off his team-mate to then drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. 

Hatate set up the next goal, this time deliberately. Once again, Celtic waltzed through a gaping Dundee United defence, with the Japanese midfielder squaring for Abada to finish with ease in the fifty-ninth minute. 

The Israeli scored his hattrick in the seventy-seventh minute when he got onto the end of substitute Daizen Maeda's deflected cross, to dink over the other side’s goalie with his final touch of the game. 

Not content with eight, defender Carl Starfelt got in on the act, nodding in a corner in the eighty-first minute to break a record that has stood for 34 years – when they beat Hamilton Accies 8-0 away from home. 

Twenty-one goals in five games! Celtic are going great guns!

Meet the Coachies

Coach have taken to anthropomorphizing the classic Rogue bag and related items (Card Case and limited-edition Kira Crossbody). 

Each bag has iconic Coach details like turn locks, tassel hair, polished rivet or grommet eyes, zipper tab or metal-cap hangtag hands, and key hood legs. 

And to truly embody the playful, optimistic Coach’s spirit, each of the five Coachies is imbued with their own distinct personality: 

Groovie – the laidback, off-beat one 

Dreamie – the slightly sarcastic beauty 

Sparkie – the perky leader of the pack 

Sweetie – the cute one (and as sweet as the name suggests) 

Winkie – the mischievous trickster 

This limited-edition Rogue bags are crafted of glove-tanned leather and Signature Textile Jacquard – a sustainable material made from a blend of organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles. 

In case you’re interested, prices for these bags range from RM2,950 to RM4,500, the card case is priced RM650 and the Kira Crossbody RM1,700.

British Store Cupboard Classics

If you’re in the UK right now, check out the Ice Cream Project at The Village in London by Anya Hindmarch – it’s a celebration of cult food brands transformed into ice-creams and sorbets. 

Hand-made in small batches in Devon and available in 500ml tubs (£10) and by the scoop (£3.50), the flavors are inspired by some of the most well-known UK food brands. 

Try a scoop of Heinz Beanz, a rich, sweet flavored ice cream brimming with protein or delve into a tub of Heinz Mayonnaise Original, a surprising rich and creamy ice cream with the zestiness of lemon and tang of vinegar. Or Kikkoman Soy Sauce, a piquant toasted sesame ice cream laced with umami-rich naturally brewed soy sauce. Or Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a delicious combination of sweet, salty and tangy flavors. Or Kellogg’s Coco Pops, a delightful milky chocolate ice cream interspersed with the crunch of chocolate-flavored toasted rice. Or Polo, a refreshing mint sorbet laced with tiny pieces of smashed Polo.

“Making ‘everyday things in an extraordinary way’ has always been a passion of mine and is the reason why I love to play with iconic brands”, said Hindmarch: 

“The Ice Cream Project sets out to challenge perceptions, working with the most sophisticated ingredients and recipes in an artful way”. 

Store employee Hannah Wearne describes the Project, which runs until August 28, as offering a new twist on "British store cupboard classics". And it's proving a hit. 

"We sold out of six weeks' worth of ice cream in four days, so we've been really, really popular... We've got our own regulars which is really lovely", she said. 

You can purchase these frozen desserts at The Village on Pont Street in London as well as other Anya Hindmarch gifts and accessories. 

An update: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has tested negative for drugs, the government announced. Marin agreed to take the test on Friday – at her own expense – to allay concerns about her wild partying. 

[For background info, please read my post “Finland's Sanna Marin Fights For Her Right To Party” published Sunday]. 

And on Twitter and TikTok, women in Finland and even Denmark are posting dance videos in support of Marin, tagging their post with #SolidaritywithSanna.