Strawberry Cheesecake*

What do you get when a train carrying the Mickey Mouse Club collides with a train carrying the Pussycat Dolls?

The Thai teenybopper variety show - Strawberry Cheesecake*.

For a quick sample, watch the first 30 seconds of this video. If you have lots of time to waste, the Cheesecakes (all Baker's Dozen of 'em) after a short skit about bad breath, eventually, interview a Thai kid, whose 15 minutes of fame (maybe it's 15 seconds) is twirling pens and other objects with his fingers.

The concept behind Strawberry Cheesecake is thirteen not-so-legal Thai Teens in mini-skirts and high heels interviewing boy bands and other people of varying levels of fame. They also go out and do girly things like get makeovers, learn to be runway models, make music videos, take cooking classes, etc...

The last time I saw the show, the Cheesecakes paid their debt to society by doing charity work at a home for orphaned, autistic children - mostly babies, 1 to 3 years old. During their visit, they toured the facilities and then, played games with the kids. When I say with, I mean they actually used the autistic kids to play the game.

Here's how the game worked:

Six teams (two girls each) take care of a room of 5 - 6 autistic children and compete to see how long it is before one of the autistic children cries. The team that can keep the autistic kids from crying the longest, through the use of toys, hugs, funny faces, candy bribes, and begging in baby-talk, is the winner.

Cute show, cute kids, and I'm sure all intentions were in the right place, but it seems to me 'Peek-a-Boo' probably would have been a better choice of games. To give the Cheesecakes some credit, at the end of the show, they did acknowledge that they had a new appreciation for what it takes to take care of autistic kids.

*Disclaimer: I know way too much about Strawberry Cheesecake, but it comes on Sunday mornings after a cooking show that Nuch's mother likes to watch, and quite often, I'm there (innocently) eating my breakfast. The conversation is always the same. Nuch's mother will say, 'Disgusting. They look like prostitutes! What has happened to Thai society?' Nuch will look at me and say, 'You like it don't you? What if your daughter dressed and acted like that?' This verbal barrage goes on for an hour, and then, when the show is over, we all get on with our Sunday afternoon.