By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – Homer started out with a lot against him. Abandoned as a tiny kitten, a virulent infection meant he had to have both eyes removed to save his life.

His fortunes changed when he was taken home by Gwen Cooper, an avid cat lover who was instantly charmed by the kitten’s energy and enthusiasm for life despite his problems. She christened him “Homer” for the blind Greek poet who wrote epic poems such as “The Odyssey.”

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – She has no memory, not even a name. She calls herself “Mercy” each time she wakes up in a new body on earth, something that happens without warning. She is an exiled angel who doesn’t know why.

“If I get too comfortable, I will wake one morning and everything around me will have shifted overnight. All I knew? I know no longer. And all I had? Vanished in an instant,” she says.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – An evening gown embroidered with gold thread. A silk batik kaftan. A wedding dress made for a beloved niece. The stories of women’s lives each has to tell.

Australian fashion curator Charlotte Smith immediately fell in love with a collection of more than 3,000 dresses and accessories — many designer originals — she inherited from her American godmother, a renowned couture collector, six years ago. But she had no idea how her life was going to change.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – Tokyo Wednesday held onto its crown as the global center of gourmet dining, when the Michelin guide awarded it more stars than any other city for the fourth year in a row.

Tokyo restaurants also gained more top awards than last year with 14 given the coveted three-star rating, which Michelin defines as “exceptional cuisine, worth a journey.” Twelve serve Japanese cuisine and two serve French.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – Advertising spending in Asian economic powerhouses such as China will see double-digit growth in the next few years, buoyed by firm consumer confidence and a growing middle class, a top advertising executive said on Friday.

“We see optimism and real increases, particularly in the big markets,” said Jim Heekins, chairman and CEO of the Grey Group, a global advertising firm.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – Filmmaking is currently in a state of crisis that has left directors struggling to find their footing, with many struggling even to survive.

One key villain is the Internet, which eats into traditional audiences and has made it hard for directors to get films made, said Irish director Neil Jordan, the competition jury at the Tokyo International Film Festival on Monday.

By Elaine Lies

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) – A Singapore restaurant reclaimed its crown as the top dining spot in Asia in the latest edition of a regional dining guide, which also saw a Malaysian restaurant make the top 10 for the first time.

Iggy’s in Singapore topped the list of Asia’s 20 best restaurants in the 2010/2011 Miele Guide, trading places with last year’s top choice, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong, which came in second.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO, Oct 21 (Reuters Life!) – Singapore restaurant Iggy’s
reclaimed its crown as the top dining spot in Asia in the third
annual edition of a regional dining guide which saw a Malaysian
restaurant make the top 10 for the first time.

Iggy’s run by restaurateur Ignatius Chan topped the list of
Asia’s 20 best restaurants in the 2010/2011 Miele Guide,
knocking last year’s top choice, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in
Hong Kong, into second place. Iggy’s topped the inaugural list
in 2008/2009.

TOKYO, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4 percent on
Friday, boosted by short-covering after sharp falls the previous
day and after better-than-expected U.S. economic data provided a
degree of optimism.

In an upbeat note for the new quarter, the benchmark even
managed to fight off a wave of pressure from large-lot selling of
futures that briefly flattened it, as well as a stronger yen.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average slid 2 percent on Thursday, hit by a late yen rise, but still booked its best monthly performance in six months, helped by hopes the central bank will ease policy further and that the yen’s rapid advance could be curbed by more intervention by the authorities.

But the benchmark edged down 0.1 percent for the quarter, sharply lagging other major world indexes.