Dan, Chen

Hey Dan, so you know no matter where you go,

there's always some trends that are just plain weird.

Yeah, for example, people outside of the US find that we are overly obsessed with teeth.

Right! Braces seem very normal to those of us who live in the US,

I mean, we so willingly bind our teeth,

go through months of pain

and rub like teeth-whitening chemicals into our mouths

just so that we have the perfect smile.

So often the purpose of achieving them straight purely whites.

Asia, in particular, has some weird trends that you might not know about.

For example, in Japan, people want the complete opposite of straight teeth.

The recent trend among the younger generation is to – believe it or not –

have crooked, fang-like teeth.

This trend is called yeaba,

or more directly translated to double tooth.

It's supposedly considered cute and youthful.

Really?

The double tooth look is achieved by temporarily or permanently capping the upper canines through a dental procedure.

On the other hand, in China, Thailand and Indonesia,

fake braces are now the new fad.

They sell DIY kits that help you achieve your perfect braces look.

Yeah and this is a sign of wealth and status.

Why you may ask?

In these countries, only those who have money are able to afford t

the luxury of beautifying their teeth

and so having braces means that you have money.

I don't know man. Braces are not that attractive.

I mean, we spent years like complaining

and hoping our braces will come off.

Luckily for me, I never have braces. -Same here.

Beautiful, straight teeth

And also in the US, when I was growing up,

we kinda saw people that wore glasses or had braces as

oh you're kinda nerdy

and everyone kind of went through that phase

before they all of a sudden became beautiful and not awkward and awesome.

Are you saying that nerds aren't cool?

Cuz dude, have you seen the recent fashion trends?

Nerd glasses, nerd glasses and more nerd glasses.

Nerdy is the new cool.

Uh more like hipster is the new cool.

Alright, anyways, so what I was trying to say is that

wearing nerdy glasses is universally trendy.

But in many parts of Asia they have their own twist to it.

People wear just the frames of the glasses,

like no lens, nothing,

I-can-poke-my-eyes-out nerd glasses.

Man, times have changed.

I remember when people actually tried to avoid wearing glasses like at all cost.

Right! I have friends who used to always wear contacts

but now they always wear their glasses.

Okay, but they tend to wear those hipster-looking glasses.

We're all just all gonna be kind of a nerd.

Asians are obsessed with eyes,

most of us know about the common eye-enlarging tricks,

using double-eyelid tape or glue,

circle lenses and several pairs of false lashes.

Uh I don't really know how you know about all that,

but yeah, it's you so whatever.

But anyway, recently popular in South Korea

is the aegyo sal or eye smile.

They're basically fake eye bags achieved through surgery or special tape.

Dude, you would look like such a zombie.

But aegyo sal supposedly makes you look younger and cuter.

Uh, cuz eye bags make you look younger and cuter…

how did that…when did that happen?

I should be freaking gorgeous right now.

The aegyo sal are not considered to be eye bags in Korea,

but a cute puff under your eye.

Uh it's also supposed to make your eyes look larger

and make you look more sickly.

But when you are actually sick,

I automatically think of doctors and surgical masks.

Wearing surgical masks is extremely popular in Asia.

Originally they were used in densely populated areas to stop the spreading of germs but

has now become part of popular fashion of course.

I can't believe this because when I was four

I wore surgical masks to prevent people from spreading their germs in China.

Right! – Not for fashion.

Right and then whenever you see people wearing surgical masks you're like,

“Are they sick? I should keep away from them.”

Is there like an outbreak around here I need to know about? – Exactly.

Anyways, now you can buy color-printed surgical masks

and even fake designer's surgical masks to match your outfit .

Western culture is all about getting that tan, healthy glow in the summer, you know that.

Oh yeah. – oh right here! Exactly!

Yeah I mean look at that.

Asia wants the complete opposite,

from wide visor hats to excessive skin whitening beauty products,

pale is the right way to go.

Uh you would think they never go to the beach with

that much sun beaming down on their precious white skin.

Wrong!

In China, some take it to a whole new level.

They wear a full body swimsuit.

Uh when you think about a full body swimsuit,

I don't just mean like a one-piece swimsuit.

They actually cover their entire head and face

with something called the face-kini.

I'm totally gonna walk up to one of them and be like,

“Hey Jenn! Oh whoa sorry wrong person.”

I mean, how do you identify your friends or your family when they're wearing these things?

Because we're guys right?

I mean you could possibly remember the style of face-kini they're wearing so you could be like,

Oh hey honey! You went down to the ocean, had a nice swim and now you're back.

I'd be like, crap.

What color was she wearing again?

They all look the same.

But seriously, these things could possibly give you nightmares.

I mean, imagine going to the beach to chill

and all of the sudden you see like groups, groups of people that look like this.

At least they're not modifying the shape of their head right?

Well, recently bagel heads have been popular in Japan.

Okay so what that is is a saline solution is injected into your forehead

and then the center is pushed in

so that you literally look like you have a bagel implanted in your forehead.

So we're in New York. I'm a bagel lover.

So whenever I see that, I'm gonna be like hungry.

That was like the Halloween episode in Simpsons

when Homer had a donut growing out of his…

no, his head became a donut.

He started eating his head.

Anyway, this may sound also like a super crazy thing to do,

but the effects are temporary, thank goodness,

and the modification only lasts one thousand six hundred and twenty-four hours.

That's it.

Doesn't change the fact that it's still super weird.

Another odd trend in Japan are the virtual dating games.

It's a role-playing game

where the player has a relationship with the virtual anime-style boyfriend or girlfriend.

Your virtual girlfriend or boyfriend will never argue with you,

are always loving and they would never break up with you.

So those are the positives I guess.

I guess sometimes you'll find it too difficult or annoying to date real-life people right?

You know what would be bad about this?

Let's say you're going on a date with your 2D or 3D video game girlfriend, virtual girlfriend whatever,

and then you're in the middle of your date

and it runs out of batteries.

And it was just going so well.

Date over!

Okay, check this out! This one's really cool.

It's called dekotora or decorated trucks.

This is a popular subculture on the outskirts of big cities in Japan.

They're basically super blinged out trucks with an

abundance of accessories, flashing lights and colorful paintings.

And it's not only on the outside,

beside lights, accessories and paintings, there are also

chandeliers and comfortable sofa chairs inside the truck.

Fellow dekotorists often gather together in groups

and flung their trucks to one another.

It's kind of like in America they have motorcycle culture,

like Hells Angels,

you know or like in America with Fast and Furious you like to modify your cars

but this is a whole other level.

Can you imagine a scene from Fast and Furious,

they're all like there, all the tough guys,

and then they're like, “Check out my chandelier in my truck!”

And finally for our last weird trend,

in China, some owners dye and groom their dogs to look like other wild animals.

Yeah for example, here's a tiger-dog

and here's a panda-dog.

Now at first glance, they actually look kind of legit,

but then you look a little closer,and it's a dog

Yeah, actually those are pretty convincing.

I'm like, “Oh look at the little tiger! Oh it's dog.”

There's actually a recent news article in China that said

some guy who was trying to buy a fox

and then it turned out to be a dog.

He got ripped!

Gotcha!

You wanted a fox? It turned out to be a dog.

You gotta look closer man.

Alright so anyways, guys we hope you liked that.

Let us know if there's other weird subcultures or trends that you know of that we didn't mention.

And let us know if any of these you would be interested in.

And no offense to any nerds out there. We're both nerds

and we both went through the really awkward phases back when we were in school. – Definitely!

But I am about to just go get fake braces to show that I'm rich.

How does it even be like something that could look cool here?

I don't know. Only in Asia

Only in Asia

Alright guys, thanks for watching.

See you later!