Three Japanese tourists had to abandon plans to drive to Stradbroke Island off the Queensland coast when their hire car became bogged in mangrove mud, on March 15, 2012 near Stradbroke Island, Australia. (Photo by Chris McCormack/Fairfax Media).

The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

A Canadian actress, pop singer and song writer Jessica Lowndes (she is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210) Jessica Lowndes attends a party at the Sugar Hut at Sugar Hut on May 4, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Danny Martindale)

A tourist watches as the moon passing in front of the sun as it approaches a full solar eclipse in the northern Australian city of Cairns November 14, 2012. (Photo by Tim Wimborne/Reuters)

Typhoon Bopha moves toward the Philippines, observed from the ISS, on December 2, 2012. (Photo by AP Photo/NASA via The Atlantic)

A Herero man holds the head of a freshly butchered cow, killed to supply meat for a funeral, 2012. (Photo by Jim Naughten, courtesy of Klompching Gallery, New York)

A security exercise takes place along the River Thames on January 19, 2012 in London, England. The exercise including around 44 police officers, 94 military personnel, 15 boats and a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter was conducted by both the Metropolitan Police and the Royal Marines and designed to test their joint capability ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)