KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) — Alipay and AlipayHK have registered huge rebounds in cross-border transactions between Jan 21-27, the seven-day-long public holiday in the Chinese mainland as China relaxed its travel restrictions, celebrating the Year of the Rabbit.
Between Jan 21 and 26, the year-on-year (yoy) growth of outbound transaction volumes by Alipay users has surged by 150 per cent, with the Hong Kong and Macao S.A.R.s being the most popular destinations for mainland consumers, based on the number of transactions during this Chinese New Year period.
“Specifically, the number of transactions through Alipay from Chinese mainland tourists to Macao increased by 100 per cent, while that from Chinese mainland tourists to HongKong increased by nearly 70 per cent,” said Alipay+ in a statement.
Alipay currently serves more than one billion users and has transformed from a trusted payment tool to a digital open platform over the years.
Besides Hong Kong and Macao, Southeast Asian countries have reclaimed their importance as one of the most popular destinations for outbound Chinese mainland travellers.
The top five Southeast Asian markets with the highest transaction volume by Alipay users during the first six days of the holiday were Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Cambodia.
The most Alipay cross-border payments took place with merchants such as street vendors and convenience stores, and the highest average spending was seen at duty-free shops across various markets.
On Jan 8, China announced its first steps to reduce travel restrictions between the mainland and Hong Kong, lifting quarantine requirements that were in place for almost three years, thus Chinese New Year public holiday witnessed a surge in cross-border travel between the mainland and overseas markets.
AlipayHK, the most popular e-wallet in Hong Kong, with 3.3 million active users, saw transactions in the mainland and Macao jump 18 times from Jan 21 to 24, compared to the same period last year.
The number of AlipayHK users that completed a transaction in the mainland and Macao also soared 15 times yoy in the same period.
Both Alipay and AlipayHK are e-wallet partners of Alipay+, an Ant Group-owned provider of global cross-border digital payment and marketing solutions, which connects merchants with multiple e-wallets and payment methods.
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) — Jetex London which located at Hangar 510 at Biggin Hill Airport has commenced full commercial operations, welcoming international private jet flyers to the United Kingdom (U.K.) capital.
“We are pleased with our arrival in London. Jetex already has a strong presence in Europe with a flagship private jet terminal at Paris Le Bourget, and the new flagship Jetex London is a natural evolution of our operations.
“Private flyers will enjoy a seamless travel experience complemented by the greatest levels of luxury hospitality, while employing the latest technology will allow us to minimise carbon footprint,” said Jetex founder and chief executive officer, Adel Mardini in a statement.
London Biggin Hill is a private airport which caters exclusively for aircraft in business and private aviation in which 2022 was the strongest year ever for the airport, with more than 26,000 movements, an increase from 18,900 in 2021.
The airport typically connects flights to more than 750 destinations across over 70 countries.
Jetex London is conveniently located just nine miles from Canary Wharf and 15 miles from Central London, with helicopter transfers taking passengers to and from the heart of the British capital in just six minutes, and with limousine transfers taking less than 50 minutes.
The on-site U.K. Border Force and customs control will ensure that passengers and crew enjoy an efficient ground experience, while Jetex will also offer assistance with ground transport, hotel accommodation, catering and concierge services, among others.
With natural materials, soft lighting, and floor-to-ceiling windows, Jetex London is designed to feel like a warm, contemporary space.
The 1,900 square metre private terminal will include several supremely comfortable lounges of understated luxury designed with passenger privacy in mind, retail and entertainment areas, fully equipped boardrooms, shower suites and much more.
Jetex London marks the company’s first entry into the U.K. as it looks forward to growing its operations in the market.
TOKYO, Jan 30 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — Approximately 100,000 people from overseas visited teamLab Planets in Toyosu, Tokyo, between December 9, 2022 and January 9, 2023. (*1) Of the visitors across one month, around 60% , or 1 in 2 visitors, were non-residents visiting Japan (*1), and the number of visitors from overseas has tripled compared to the same month in 2019 (before COVID-19).
Furthermore, according to a survey conducted by the museum, about 70% of the visitors from overseas knew about the museum before considering their trip to Japan, and there was a trend of the museum being one of the main purposes to visit Tokyo. (*2)
*1 From the official website tickets purchaser data (survey period: December 9, 2022 – January 9, 2023) *2 From the visitor survey data (survey period: December 17, 2022 – January 10, 2023)
We will continue to provide people around the world an experience based on teamLab Planets’ concept, “Immerse your Body, and with Others, Become One with the World”.
From Wednesday, March 1, 2023 to Sunday, April 30, 2023, two works, Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers and Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity, will feature cherry blossoms that bloom across the space, on view during the spring season only.
Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers, an artwork in which flowers bloom and change with the passage of time, and the universe of life spreads across the space, will be filled with cherry blossoms during this limited period. In the work Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity, visitors walk in water and koi swim on the surface of the infinitely expanding water. When the koi collide with people, they turn into cherry blossoms and scatter.
[Works that will feature cherry blossoms] Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers teamLab, 2016-2018, Interactive Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
A seasonal year of flowers bloom and change with time, life spreads out into the universe. Lie down or sit still in the space and eventually your body floats and you dissolve into the artwork.
Flowers grow, bud, bloom, and in time, the petals fall, and the flowers wither and die. The cycle of birth and death continues for perpetuity. The artwork is not a pre-recorded image that is played back; it is created by a computer program that continuously renders the artwork in real time. As a whole, it is continuously changing, and previous visual states are never replicated. The universe at this moment in time can never be seen again.
Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity teamLab, 2016-2018, Interactive Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
Koi swim on the surface of water that stretches out into infinity. People can walk into the water.
The movement of the koi is influenced by the presence of people in the water and also other koi. When the fish collide with people they turn into flowers and scatter. Throughout the year, the flowers that bloom will change along with the seasons.
The trajectory of the koi is determined by the presence of people and these trajectories trace lines on the surface of the water.
The work is rendered in real time by a computer program. It is neither prerecorded nor on loop. The interaction between the viewer and the installation causes continuous change in the artwork. Previous visual states can never be replicated, and will never reoccur.
[Enjoy vegan ramen in an art space] Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo, a vegan ramen restaurant from Kyoto, opened in October 2021 on the same premises as teamLab Planets. Diners can enjoy ramen in teamLab’s Reversible Rotation – Non-Objective Space artwork space, as well as the Table of Sky and Fire and One Stroke Bench outside of the restaurant. Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo also has vegan ice cream and various teas that are only available in Tokyo. The restaurant can be visited without entry to teamLab Planets.
teamLab Planets is a museum where you walk through water, and a garden where you become one with the flowers. There are four massive exhibition spaces and two gardens.
By immersing your entire body with other people in these massive artworks, the boundary between the body and the artwork dissolves. The self, others, and the world become continuous, and we explore a new relationship without boundaries between ourselves and the world.
Enter barefoot, immerse your body with others in the artwork spaces, and become one with the world.
[Exhibition details] teamLab Planets TOKYO Location: teamLab Planets TOKYO, 6-1-16 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo
[Opening hours] January – April Monday – Friday 10:00 – 20:00 Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays 9:00 – 21:00 *March 20 (Mon), March 22 (Wed) – March 24 (Fri) 9:00 – 21:00 *March 25 (Sat) – April 2 (Sun) 9:00 – 22:00 *April 29 (Sat), April 30 (Sun) 9:00 – 22:00 *Last entry 1 hour before closing
[Closed] February 9 (Thu), March 2 (Thu), April 13 (Thu)
*Opening hours are subject to change. Please check the official website for the latest details.
[Tickets] Adult: 3,200 JPY Junior high and high school students: 2,000 JPY Children (4 to 12 years old): 1,000 JPY 3 years old and under: Free Disability discount: 1,600 JPY
*From Saturday, April 1, 2023: ticket prices for weekends, public holidays, and dates with extended opening hours will change to the prices below. Adult: 3,500 JPY Junior high and high school students: 2,300 JPY Children (4 to 12 years old): 1,300 JPY 3 years old and under: Free Disability discount: 1,900 JPY
[Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19] Please check the link below for details on the infection prevention measures implemented at teamLab Planets: https://teamlabplanets.dmm.com/covid-19
[Food & Shop] Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo: https://vegan-uzu.com/pages/uzu-tokyo teamLab Flower Shop & Art *Please check the official website for opening hours *Closed on the same days as teamLab Planets [Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (applicable to Food & Shop)] ・Implementation of regular cleaning and disinfection ・Seat disinfection after each customer ・Hand disinfection upon entry ・Restrictions on the number of people in the space ・Ensuring sufficient space between seats ・Employees wear masks ・Removal of tabletop items ・Temperature measurement
[PLANETS Co., Ltd.] Established in 2017. Operates and manages the facilities of teamLab Planets TOKYO. Location: Tokyo Nihonbashi Tower 10F, 2-7-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Representative: Takumi Nomoto
[teamLab] teamLab (f. 2001) is an international art collective. Their collaborative practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, and the natural world. Through art, the interdisciplinary group of specialists, including artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects, aims to explore the relationship between the self and the world, and new forms of perception.
In order to understand the world around them, people separate it into independent entities with perceived boundaries between them. teamLab seeks to transcend these boundaries in our perceptions of the world, of the relationship between the self and the world, and of the continuity of time. Everything exists in a long, fragile yet miraculous, borderless continuity.
teamLab exhibitions have been held in cities worldwide, including New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Melbourne among others. teamLab museums and large-scale permanent exhibitions include teamLab Borderless and teamLab Planets in Tokyo, teamLab Borderless Shanghai, teamLab SuperNature Macao, and teamLab Massless Beijing, with more to open in cities including Abu Dhabi, Hamburg, Jeddah, and Utrecht.
teamLab’s works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Asia Society Museum, New York; Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Amos Rex, Helsinki.
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) — Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, the world’s largest barbecue restaurant has unveiled a limited time offer, the Loaded Nacho Cheese Sausage, available beginning Feb 6.
From Feb 6 to April 30, the popular barbecue restaurant is taking a meaty, smoky, cheesy plate of nachos and combining it with its Legit. Texas. Barbecue. ™ to make the Loaded Nacho Cheese Kielbasa Sausage.
According to a statement, this indulgent sausage features Dickey’s premium, pit-smoked sausage stuffed with taco-seasoned beef, tortilla chips, and jalapeño beans with cheddar and pepper jack cheeses.
Chief executive officer of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc, Laura Rea Dickey said the company was thrilled to introduce this new hand-crafted sausage in time for the big game.
“Dickey’s award-winning Kielbasa sausages are small batch, artesian sausages made exclusively by Dickeys for Dickey’s barbecue. We are sure the new Loaded Nacho Cheese Sausage will be a legendary winner.
“With the Super Bowl right around the corner, our newest addition is sure to be a crowd-pleasing favourite that’s perfect for a game day spread. Don’t miss out as the Loaded Nacho Cheese Kielbasa Sausage will only be available now through April,” she added.
The Dallas-based, family-run barbecue franchise has 550 locations across the United States and eight other countries.
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) — Singapore-based tech startup Metadream’s recently launched next-gen social app Bondee, offers diverse and trendy avatars as well as novel interactive features.
According to Metadream in a statement, last week, Bondee was ranked as the #1 free app in the App Store.
“Founded by investors from the United States (US) and Australia, Metadream acquired the intellectual property rights of the app True.ly in May 2022 and made a creative and international transformation and gradually launched the app worldwide by the end of 2022,” it said.
In addition to Japan and South Korea as the product, R&D, and operational bases, there are three independent data centres in Singapore, Japan, and the US that were set up to ensure the safe use of products and meet the data security requirements of regional markets.
Metadream also plans to set up regional operation centres in Thailand, the Philippines, and other countries to meet the immediate demands of local users.
In Bondee, users can create trendy avatars and keep their friends posted on what they are up to, while also being able to express themselves freely by sharing their mood and status.
The social app also allows users to personalise their space, visit friends, and post comments as if they were actually living with them.
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