The Brain Attraction
8 Days|October 19, 2017
Memory athlete Yanjaa Wintersoul memorised the Ikea 2018 catalogue in just one week — all 4,818 items in 328 pages. And she knows it well enough to tell Jasmine Teo, off the cuff, that she’d find her name on page 298.
Jasmine Teo
The Brain Attraction

WHO IS SHE: YANJAA WINTERSOUL, 23. What they never taught the Mongolian-born two-time memory world champion in school were creative memory techniques. “I’d have had so much more spare time just ’cos I’d already learn everything ahead of time,” the vivacious Yanjaa tells us during her recent trip here for an Ikea Facebook Live session to test her skills in real time as the Ikea Human Catalogue, after she’d accepted the furnishing giant’s challenge to memorise its 2018 catalogue in one week. Having grown up in Mongolia, Kenya and Sweden, Yanjaa is a translator for Mongolian, Swedish and Swahili, but has also picked up “six to nine” new languages, like Icelandic, Spanish and French, using her talent.

1 You’re not born with it.

But everyone can do it, according to Yanjaa, who only picked up creative memory techniques three years ago, when she was a business student cramming for exams. “I accidentally found a memory technique book called Moon walking with Einstein. Because I had learnt all these memory techniques, I had so much free time that I decided to take part in memory competitions.”

2 To start, make up stories.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 19, 2017 من 8 Days.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 19, 2017 من 8 Days.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من 8 DAYS مشاهدة الكل
What a G.E.M.!
8 Days

What a G.E.M.!

Hongkong singer and new Tag Heuer global ambassador G.E.M. TANG, in town recently for F1, has a “guilty indulgence” that will just make you feel more guilty about yours.

time-read
2 mins  |
October 06, 2016
The Twins Effect
8 Days

The Twins Effect

Is the local showbiz scene big enough for both JAYLEY and HAYLEY WOO to twin and win? We compare and contrast.

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 06, 2016
Wake-Up Call
8 Days

Wake-Up Call

Following SHINee frontman JONGHYUN's suicide after a long struggle with depression, fans and celebs are urging the K-pop industry to pay more attention to the well-being of their artistes.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 04, 2018
Coming Clean
8 Days

Coming Clean

Chart-topping British band CLEAN BANDIT, in town on Jan 22 for a gig, may be famous for using classical music in their hits, but that won’t stop them from collaborating with Beyoncé, as bassist Jack Patterson tells us over the phone.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 11, 2018
Wong Time Right Target
8 Days

Wong Time Right Target

The always-glam FANN WONG goes glum for her first major movie role in three years.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 22, 2016
Star Ship Troopers
8 Days

Star Ship Troopers

Space Travel is about to get more exciting. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, two actors already in Hollywood’s Stratosphere, take off this week for the Sci-Fi Romance Passengers.

time-read
10 mins  |
December 22, 2016
Sandra Riley Tang, 25
8 Days

Sandra Riley Tang, 25

The Sam Willo ws singer works out because “I really love to eat”. Yes, The Yoga Cofounder’s fad diet days are definitely over.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 29, 2016
Comme What May
8 Days

Comme What May

The man behind the Comme des F***down streetwear, Rusland Karablin, is so Zen (check out the mantra emblazoned on his swag), he doesn’t mind that everyone from Bugis to Bangkok is bootlegging his stuff.

time-read
5 mins  |
September 29, 2016
“My Parents Told Me: You're On Your Own Now”
8 Days

“My Parents Told Me: You're On Your Own Now”

Getting cut off financially by her folks turned Asia’s Next Top Model alum AIMEE CHENG- BRADSHAW into a “super frugal” model. Except when it comes to yoga and shoes.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2017
A Slice Of New York In Singapore
8 Days

A Slice Of New York In Singapore

WOLFGANG’S STEAKHOUSE at the new Intercontinental Singapore Robertson Quay offers an authentic NYC steakhouse dining experience. But be prepared to leave with a much emptier wallet and smelling of beef fat.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2017