Author: Johnny Au

We caught Hanson live in Austin ahead of their 25th Anniversary Australia & New Zealand tour

Hanson performed at the Tulsa Showcase at SXSW last week after revealing the details of their 25th Anniversary Middle Of Everywhere World Tour, which includes just-announced a stop over in Australia in June. After a small delay due to sound issues the three original brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac hit the stage at a packed…

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We spend a day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in Texas

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is an institution in Houston, it is the largest Rodeo in the world and in operation since 1931. Held at the NRG Stadium (home to the NFL team the Houston Texans), the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo attracts more than two million people each year and operates over 20…

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Korean actor Lee Byung Hun talks about his role in the upcoming remake of The Magnificent Seven

Korean actor Lee Byung Hun is one of Asia’s most accomplished film stars. On July 5, he was honored at the New York Asian Film Festival for his portrayal of a gritty gangster for Inside Men. We sat down with Lee Byung Hun to discuss his selection criteria for new roles, including his highly anticipated…

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Three must visit attractions in Houston, Texas for fans of Baseball, Arts and Science

Johnny Au headed to Houston, Texas and brings us three must visit attractions for fans of baseball, science and the arts! Houston History of Natural Sciences One of the biggest natural science museums in Texas is the Houston History of Natural Sciences. One of the most impressive permanent exhibitions is the Morian Hall of Paleontology,…

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Hotel Review: Suite at the Doubletree By Hilton Houston Galleria (Houston, Texas)

The DoubleTree Hotel & Suites in Houston, Texas, is part concept hotel, part apartment building – with the newly renovated Houston location serving its guests every bit the comfortable experience they would expect from a Hilton hotel, with just that little bit extra you wouldn’t expect. I was greeted with a fast check in, complete with a…

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Flight Review: On board EVA Air’s Hello Kitty Jet – Tokyo (Haneda) to Taipei, Taiwan (BR191)

On our latest Flight Review, we take you on board the Hello Kitty Jet with Taiwanese airline EVA, as Johnny flies from Japan to Taipei. Yes, the flight is full of just about everything a Hello Kitty Fanboy or Fangirl could want and then some… all the way down to the pink, themed cutlery you’re…

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Travel Diary: A day exploring Busan, South Korea

Hello Asia! editor Johnny Au visited South Korea’s second most populous city of Busan recently and took the opportunity to see how to explored the city in a day. From taking the KTX (the local bullet train) to picking out a city hop on/hop off tour, come explore this modern coastal city with Johnny. The…

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Flight Review: Jet Airways – Mumbai to Kolkata (9W 0615)

Jet Airways is the second largest airline in India, behind IndiGo. Flying in India is a different experience to many other places in the world, and so Johnny Au takes us on an adventure to find out exactly what it’s like… Airline: Jet Airways Route: Mumbai to Kolkata, 9W 0615 Seat: 38B (Middle) Aircraft: Boeing…

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Flight Review: Jetstar’s Boeing Dreamliner 787 – Gold Coast to Tokyo Narita (JQ11)

Last year, Johnny enjoyed his first ever flight on the 787 Dreamliner, flying from the Gold Coast to Tokyo (Narita) with Qantas’ budget airline Jetstar. As this week’s flight review, we get the low down on what the experience was like on the service with the world’s newest airliner. Airline: Jetstar Route: Gold Coast to Tokyo…

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A Day in Houston, Texas: Visiting NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Trivia fact: Houston, Texas is America’s fourth largest city. And one of its most popular tourist attractions is the Space Center Houston which is the official visitors centre of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Opening in 1992, the Space Centre Houston has seen 17 million people pass through its gates. Its main mission is to provide…

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Flight Review: Qantas Airways – Los Angeles to Sydney (QF12)

As part of our brand new section AU Abroad, we bring you a birds eye view of the world of travel. In this article series, we let you in on the best airlines to fly with. Having already covered the Virgin Australia route, today Johnny Au looks at the service offered on Qantas’ A380 service…

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Flight Review: Mayalsia Airlines – Sydney to Kuala Lumpur (MH122)

In this week’s Flight Review on AU Abroad, Johnny Au takes us from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 on board their A330-300, looking at the food, entertainment and service. Airline: Malaysia Airlines Route: Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, MH122 Seat: 15F (Aisle) Aircraft: Airbus A330-300 Class: Economy Flight Time: 8 hours 45…

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Merivale previews new venues and dishes at extravagant launch party for March Into Merivale

Last week, Merivale celebrated the start of their one-month March Into Merivale festival with it’s traditional launch party throughout their famed ivy, presenting stalls from all Merivale venues new and old, with all chefs on hand to offer some of their latest creations, some old favourites, and future staples. AU’s Head Photographer Johnny Au was…

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Dates revealed for the 2015 Japanese Film Festival in Australia

The Japanese Film Festival dates for 2015 have been announced. Movies will be screened in Canberra, Brisbane, Perth,Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne from 14 October to 6 September. If you’d like to go, Hello Asia! has all the details below.

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Hong Kong blockbuster SPL 2: A Time For Consequences to screen in Australia from tomorrow

Madman Entertainment has announced that the Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts blockbuster, SPL 2: A TIME FOR CONSEQUENCES will screen in Australian cinemas from tomorrow (July 30) and in New Zealand from August 13, 2015. Ten years after Wilson Yip’s martial arts blockbuster, SPL (SHA PO LANG) became a breakout hit, a sequel starring Tony Jaa…

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Dragon Ball Z: Ressurection ‘F’ in Australian and New Zealand Cinemas August 6th

Madman Entertainment has announced the latest blockbuster film in the DRAGON BALL Z franchise, DRAGON BALL Z: RESURRECTION ‘F’ will screen across 69 locations and counting in Australia and New Zealand from August 6th, 2015. Hot on the heels of last year’s blockbuster, BATTLE OF GODS, DRAGON BALL Z is back in cinemas. DRAGON BALL…

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Win tickets to SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Convention 2015

Hello Asia! and The Iris are giving you the chance to win tickets to SMASH! 2015! Australia’s biggest Japaneses Pop Culture festival and convention in Sydney on August 8th and 9th. We are giving away 3 x weekend passes to three lucky people with the lucky top winner scoring 1 x Standing Section ticket to…

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The four best stalls at the CeBit Australia Expo 2015

The CeBit Australia Expo at Sydney Olympic Park brought together some of the best technology exhibitors from Australia and abroad who are looking at making their presence felt in the Australian technology scene. From electric cars, drones, soccer playing robots and wearables, here are our four best stalls from the expo. Tesla The star and…

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Exclusive Interview: The cast of KTown Cowboys chat about the making of the film at SXSW

Hello Asia editor Johnny Au caught up with the cast of US/Korean coming-of-age flick KTown Cowboys at SXSW in Austin, Texas. KTwon Cowboys made its world premiere at SXSW and Johnny caught up with director Daniel Park as well as writer Danny Cho and cast members Shane Yoon, Peter Jae, Bobby Choy, Daniel Dae Kim and…

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Exclusive Interview: Anthony Brandon Wong (Sydney) chats about his character Le Bok on Maximum Choppage

Hello Asia! Editor Johnny Au chats with actor Anthony Brandon Wong about his character “Le Bok” on ABC’s Maximum Choppage, his work as an actor as well as an acting coach and his passion for all things food! You may (or may not) have seen him as “Ghost” in The Matrix sequels but his character…

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Exclusive Interview: Lawrence Leung (Melbourne) chats about his character Simon on Maximum Choppage and more

Hello Editor Johnny Au sits down with comedian, writer and director Lawrence Leung. Lawrence chats to Johnny about playing the lead character of Simon Chan in the new ABC2 kung fu comedy Maximum Choppage. Lawrence also talks about the writing process for Maximum Choppage and the impact that it has on the Cabramatta community. Lawrence…

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KTown Cowboys reveals trailer ahead of their SXSW premiere

American-Korean film Ktown Cowboys has released their trailer in anticipation to its world premiere at SXSW on March 15 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Originally started as a web series on YouTube about life in Los Angele’s Ktwon through the eyes of American-Koreans, the full length feature was funded by a Kickstarter campaign in…

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Exclusive Interview: Andy Trieu (Sydney) talks about his character Fury from Maximum Choppage

Hello Asia editor Johnny Au catches up with SBS PopAsia Co-Host Andy Trieu about playing the character Fury in the upcoming Kung Fu Comedy Maximum Choppage that is premiering on ABC2 at 9pm on Tuesday 24th February. Hello Andy Trieu! Can you tell me a little about your character “Fury” in Maximum Choppage? I don’t…

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Exclusive Interivew: Miyavi (Japan) discusses the film Unbroken and working with Angelia Jolie

Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie, premiered this week in Sydney – ahead of its Australia wide release on January 15th. In the film, singer Miyavi plays Mutsushiro “The Bird” Watanabe, a World War II POW camp guard. We spoke to him earlier in the year about the performance and are excited to be able to…

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Music Matters Live Photo Gallery: The Aussie BBQ – Beer Market, Clarke Quay (22.05.14)

The annual Aussie BBQ music showcase returns to the Beer Market in Clarke Quay, Singapore with another collection of fantastic Australian artists. This year we have The Love Junkies, Jeremy Neale (pictured above) Dune Rats and Kid Mac, who were joined by Tully on Tully, Empra and Tired Lion. The Aussie BBQ in Singapore is…

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A look at the films of the 2014 Indonesian Film Festival in Australia.

The 9th Indonesian Film Festival (IFF) is upon us, with the Melbourne event starting today and Sydney starting tomorrow… and the team from Hello Asia! showcases the nine films showing at the festival. Opening Night Film – Something In The Way Director Teddy Soeriaatmadja follows up the award-winning Lovely Man (IFF 2013) with this story of a young, porn-addicted…

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The 9th Indonesian Film Festival to kick off 24th April in Melbourne; 25th April in Sydney.

The 9th Indonesian Film Festival (IFF) will be held in April till May to showcase the best from contemporary Indonesian cinema. The festival is in its 9th season and is a collaboration between Indonesian Student Association of University of Melbourne and University of Technology, Sydney. Dubbed as the “Largest Celebration of Indonesian Screen Culture held in Australia”,…

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SXSW 2014 Photo Gallery: Veronica Mars Premiere Red Carpet – Paramount Theatre (08.03.14)

Veronica Mars had its world premiere at SXSW and we were there on the red carpet to bring you all the glamour from this star studded event. Photos by Johnny Au ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have formatting errors – images may not be…

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SXSW 2014 Photo Gallery: 13 SINS Premiere Red Carpet – Stateside Theatre (07.03.14)

SXSW premiered the The Horror/Thriller film 13 SINS from director Daniel Stamm. Stars Ron Pearlman, Mark Webber and Devon Graye walked the red carpet tonight at Stateside Theatre. Photos by Johnny Au. ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have formatting errors – images may not…

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Iris Interview: Jason Carter of Babylon 5 (1994-1998, USA)

The Iris’ Johnny Au speaks with Jason Carter ahead of the Armageddon Expo in Melbourne. Jason is best known of his role as Ranger Marcus Cole in the Sci-fi series Babylon 5. What inspired you to get into acting in the beginning? I had been fortunate enough as a teen to be cast as ‘The Artful…

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