Let’s assume you’re wandering through the wilds of Brazil one day. Maybe you decided to get back to nature and really find yourself. Perhaps you got a little too friendly with a beautiful Countess, the Count discovered your transgressions, and you need to lay low for a while.

Either way, as you trek through the wilderness, your stomach growling (since you undoubtedly ate all of your snacks on the long flight to Sao Paulo International Airport), you come across a tree and are faced with a dilemma.

On one hand, the tree is covered with what appear to be grapes. On the other hand, the tree is literally covered with them. As in, they’re growing all over its trunk. Can something this bizarre-looking be safe to eat?

What you see here is the Jabuticaba tree. Indigenous to Brazil, the Jabuticaba is also known as the Brazilian grape tree, but if you don’t seize each and every opportunity life gives you to say the word “Jabuticaba,” there’s a good chance you’re already dead inside. If that’s the case, please refer your next of kin to the remainder of this article.

To some, it may look like the Jabuticaba is sporting some serious arborous acne. Alternatively, if you squint a little, the tree looks like it’s disguising itself as the tentacles of a giant squid.

▼ Cosplay! It’s not just for the animal kingdom anymore!

Thankfully, the truth is far less terrifying, and much more delicious. Those are indeed fruits attached to the bark of the Jabuticaba tree, and they’re more than fit for human consumption.

Jabuticaba fruits’ similarities to grapes are more than just visual. Their flavor has been likened to that of Kyoho grapes, a cross-breed cultivated in Japan. Like Kyoho, Jabuticaba fruits are covered by a thick, bitter skin that’s peeled before eating the inner portion of the fruit.

Also similar to grapes, Jabuticaba fruit is rich in antioxidants, and can be used to produce wines and liqueurs.

The fruit-bearing sections of the trunk and branches are initially bear. First, flowers sprout from the bark, shrouding the tree in their white blossoms.

Eventually, the flowers wilt and fall off, with the buds of the Jabuticaba fruits taking their place.

The fruits gradually grow larger and larger, changing in color from a vibrant green to a deep purple as they ripen.

Jabuticaba is a popular fruit in Brazil, regularly sold in markets. However, the narrow window of just four days between harvest and fermentation setting in means that Jabuticaba is hard to come by outside of its native nation, although there are reports of it being distributed by importers in Japan.

Since Jabuticaba goes bad so quickly, if you’re going to be hiding out in Brazil for an extended length of time, you may want to follow the local customs of making it into jam, or a tart if you’ve got access to an oven. Both will keep longer than the fresh Jabuticaba fruit, thus providing you with a steady supply of nutrients until the Count’s anger subsides and the coast is clear.

Source, images: Laba Q

In recent years, it’s become common for anime figures to come with what’re called “effect pieces.” These little add-ons attach to the character’s fists, arms, or other body parts, adding the motion blurs, flames, or ki energy auras that make their fighting moves look so cool on-screen.

Sure, sometimes it can be a little depressing to look at Ryu’s hadoken or Goku’s kamehameha energy blast and realize it’s just a piece a piece of plastic. But hey, what choice do you have, other than effect pieces?

How about an awesome hologram projection to make you Dragon Ball Z figure’s attack look as real as possible?

Without further ado, Goku, show us what you’ve got!

Standing in the center of either a holographic projection chamber or a pyramid-shaped cell (perhaps even designed by Cell, the evil bio-android with whom Goku has faced off before), we see Goku start gathering his ki like a fired-up RocketNews24 reporter . As his power level soars, his fighting spirit bursts into flames!

And hey, if you’re on fire, why stop at just one color?

This amazingly convincing kamehameha video comes courtesy of ZW Design, a technology and software development firm located in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. And while that’s a pretty cool job, we can’t help feeling a little disappointed that they are, in fact, not a monastery of superpowered martial artists from beyond our solar system.

▼ Although they do seem capable of making pinwheels levitate with their minds.

Great work, guys. Much more of this, please!

Related: ZW Design
Source: YouTube via Anime News Network
Images: YouTube

For the avid reader, environment can be everything. Some people prefer to read in the silence of a library while others prefer the ambience of cafés or parks; different readers have different conditions that must be met for them to truly lose themselves in a book.

But what would it feel like if you sat, with book in hand, in the third-floor balcony of a renovated theater-turned-bookstore with high painted ceilings and crimson stage curtains still intact? That’s exactly what El Ateneo, the world’s second most beautiful bookstore , offers readers.

Our correspondent Photographer Koach recently traveled to Avenida Santa Fe in Buenos Aires, Argentina where El Ateneo is located to see the bookstore for himself.

Originally opened as a theater house in 1919, El Ateneo has housed a variety of performances by local legends such as tango artists Carlos Gardel, Francisco Canaro and Roberto Firpo. During this time, Argentine Tango was taking Europe by storm and it said El Ateneo helped play a part in popularizing the genre.

In 1924, the fourth floor of the building was turned into a radio station and later recording studio from which some the greatest names in tango recorded their albums. In the late 1920s it was converted into a movie theater and in 1929 became the first theater in Argentina to screen movies with sound.

Finally, in 2000 the theater was purchased by an Argentinean bookseller and converted into the bookstore that it is today. Much of the theater seating was removed and replaced with bookshelves though there are still plenty of chairs for customers to sit on. Original architectural detail can be found wherever you wander and the entire building retains an atmosphere of magnificence. And while you won’t see any tango performances, the stage has actually been converted into a café where you can sit down with a cup of coffee and a book and bask in the splendor of it all.

Over a million people are said to visit El Ateneo annually and after being left breathless by the fresco paintings on the ceilings and delicate decoration adorning the walls, I can see why.

Original article, photos: Photographer Koach

▼ View of the front from the 3rd floor: awe-inspiring

▼ Vestiges of the theater remain throughout the building

▼ Looking out from the balcony
[ Read in Japanese ]

We’ve looked at plastic surgery in South Korea from pretty much every angle there is, but this is the first time we’ve come across something quite like this!

The Korean Wave (Hallyu) of pop culture has been steadily gaining strength around the world over the last few years as more and more people discover the infectious sounds of K-Pop and the addictive plot lines of K-dramas (seriously, I double dare you to watch only one episode before going to bed). South America is no exception to the trend, with starstruck female fans swooning over the dreamy Korean men and soaking up the trademark dances that go with each song. Which is perhaps why one 25-year-old Brazilian man decided to undergo a series of cosmetic surgeries to make himself look more Korean.

We’ve heard of Korean citizens getting work done to look more like Western models and stars , but this is a first for us. Join us after the jump for a slew of photos from this man’s amazing transformation.

Many young and fresh-faced male Korean singers and actors are often just as famous for their pretty faces and fashion sense as for their acting or singing skills (the notable exception being Psy of “Gangnam Style” fame), and have legions of fans all over the world for that very reason.

A Brazilian man, who now wishes to go by the name Xiahn to protect his identity, also felt that this Korean look was the epitome of handsome, and so opted to spend a significant amount of money to get the same look for himself.

According to his Facebook page , Xiahn attended the Universidade Feevale in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. At some point, he also studied abroad at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea as an exchange student (it is unclear whether he is still there; his profile seems to indicate that he is still in Busan). To add to his impressive international education record, he is able to speak Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Korean.

While in Korea, Xiahn apparently became fascinated by the high frequency at which Koreans got plastic surgery and their casual attitude towards it. “Koreans have many surgeries to modify the shape of their eyes and become more like Westerners,” he remarks. “It was easy to tell when one of them had done it, walking on the street wearing sunglasses and a surgical mask.”

Perhaps his curiosity got the best of him, because he eventually embarked on a journey to undergo 10 surgical procedures for a grand total of approximately US$3,100 in order to look more Korean, with most of the work being done on his eyes. In addition, although he is naturally a blue-eyed blonde , Xiahn now wears dark-colored contacts and dyes his hair.

What do you think of his new ‘Korean idol’ look?

▼OK, there’s no way he’s NOT trying to channel Big Bang’s T.O.P. circa the Alive EPera…

▼Hey, what’s that guy doing there?!

The following are a few pictures from the last two years, maybe before the bulk of his surgeries (?):

▼August 2013

▼June 2013 (that pose is typically made by Korean girls trying to act cute)

▼May 2012

All in all, Xiahn appears to be satisfied with the results of his surgeries. His final thoughts? “I have no regrets, and I don’t intend to have any more procedures.”

Sources: Korea Herald , hellokpop , The Kashgar Times
Images: Facebook: Xiahn

Recently, we’ve been bringing you updates on controversial pick-up artist and dating coach Julien Blanc who has attracted anger around the world for purportedly purveying aggressive attitudes towards women. After a video was posted online of him appearing to harass women in Japan by pushing their heads towards his crotch, several campaigns were set up against him by activists in America, Australia, Britain, and Japan. These campaigns have so far been successful in helping to raise awareness of the “pick-up seminars” hosted by Blanc through his company RSD (Real Social Dynamics). Now, Blanc has broken his silence to offer an apology to those he has offended, which campaigners have rejected for its seemingly disingenuous nature.

In the interview for CNN , the 25-year-old Blanc began by initially offering “an apology to anybody I’ve offended in any way”. He went on to say that “My intentions were never bad. I agree it was a horrible attempt at humor and, unfortunately, a lot of it just got put out of context”.

The interviewer, Chris Cuomo , followed up with a question we’d all like an answer to: “If you want this (apology) to be meaningful for you in any way, you’d better own this stuff that you’re doing… you’ve apologized because you got caught or because you feel sorry?” to which Blanc responded: “I feel horrible, I mean, I’m not going to be happy to feel like I’m the most hated man in the world. I’m overwhelmed by the way people are responding.”

When questioned about an infamous tweet sent from Blanc’s twitter account referring to a chart used to help victims of domestic violence identify patterns of abuse as a “checklist,” Blanc had this to said: “This here is not something that I teach, either… this is so far in the opposite direction of what I teach that I stupidly thought mocking it would be funny.”

Jen Li , the campaigner behind the #TakeDownJulienBlanc hashtag and the original petition on change.org , has tweeted a response to the video:

Lmao @ CNN this is an AWESOME interview. NO SLACK!!! cnn.com/video/data/2.0…

—
Aggresive Asian (@JennLi123) November 17, 2014

Chris Cuomo also tweeted his opinion of Blanc following the interview, calling him “a successful purveyor of problematic behavior.”

.@ michael91141804 #JulienBlanc is 25. Not 15. He is not "some kid". He is a successful purveyor of problematic behavior

—
Chris Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) November 17, 2014

You can watch the interview on CNN.com or via this YouTube clip:

At the end of the interview, Blanc hinted at his plans to continue his lectures, stating: “I’ll definitely be more careful in the future… I’m also re-evaluating everything I’ve put out and everything I’m going to be putting out.”

Here’s an update on the Japanese campaign to deny Julien Blanc a visa . The campaign has exceeded its quota of signatures and, according to the campaign creator Queen Jackal, the petition was submitted to Japanese immigration on November 10. Blanc has also recently become a topic of discussion on Japanese television, as this compilation of various Japanese news programs shows:

Elsewhere across the globe, there is now a campaign to keep Julien Blanc out of Canada as well as one to keep him out of Singapore and one seeking to deny him entry to Brazil . He has reportedly backed out of plans to hold seminars in Korea this December. He has also been featured on numerous news websites around the globe including The Independent and Time.com .

Source: CNN.com , Buzzfeed
Images: screenshots via CNN.com