I came across these in 7-Eleven today. Hello Kitty is everywhere, and you can even eat her, so to speak, although the snacks themselves are nothing more than little squares. Hello Kitty is all the rage in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand. Entire sections of department stores dedicate themselves to toys, accessories, stationary, things to stick on your car – pretty much any “thing” you can think of can be Hello Kitty-fied. It’s such a bizarre craze because of its longevity.

In the UK there were things like Pogs and Monster in My Pocket which experienced brief booms in popularity before being replaced by something new. Hello Kitty never really caught on in the UK (although she remains hugely popular in America), perhaps because she doesn’t really have that interactive element, unlike Tamagotchis, which for around six months or so every child wanted.

Bangkok is not, of course, Hello Kitty central. Hello Kitty was born in Japan in 1974 and now she is better known in Asia than Bruce Lee. Despite having such a strange name, Hello Kitty has been able to meet a boyfriend, Dear Daniel, and she’s also found the time buy a pet cat, Charmmy Kitty. On her travels she manages to squeeze in being an ambassador for UNICEF in America and starring in her own cartoon TV show. Pretty good for a cat with no mouth, right?

On the subject of her mouth, she is said to speak her emotions through her clothes and heart. Hello Kitty is a tiny creature, weighing just three shiny apples. In her spare time she likes to go on adventures. She even has a twin sister named Mimmy. If you want to send Hello Kitty a birthday card, November 1 is the day to aim for.

I was walking through Central World Plaza recently when I saw a Hello Kitty guitar. The thing was as pink as can be, with Hello Kitty’s face adorning the main body of the instrument. Whether any of Thailand’s top musicians would ever play with such a guitar remains to be seen. Asia is a strange place sometimes, especially when you can buy Hello Kitty thongs.

Techno’ tags: Bangkok, Thailand, Japan, Asia, Hello Kitty