Never mind that these photos are from November 1st — every day is Halloween! On Day 5 of my dark bacchanalia, I dragged my bruised legs out of bed for a J-rock concert at Webster Hall. “Halloween Hangover” was the perfect excuse to don the skimpy Japanese maid outfit that I got from a cosplay store in Akihabara. (Remember its debut in this video?) The striped knee highs are from a hosiery store in Harajuku.

(The astute among you may have noticed that I skipped Day 3 of Halloween. I went to the Penguin Books party at company headquarters, and it was — to my surprise and delight — anarchy in action. Beer cans strewn all over; employees dressed up in costumes as elaborate as the ones at Dances of Vice. Each department was transformed into a whole new world: Super Mario, Golden Girls, Bunny Suicides, Wizard of Oz, Wild West. I won’t be posting photos for privacy reasons, but the wack-job creativity and effort put into party made me proud to be part of the Penguin family!)

I was lucky to have a talented photographer as my companion that day: Shichi of The Other East. We stopped by New York’s B&H camera, a camera store that tickled me pink with amusement. A green-clad staff of jocular Hasidic Jews that handed out free root beer and pretzel bites… vintage cameras and big-ass telescopes… was this the greatest place on Earth?

A series of travel misadventures culminated in arriving at Alice’s Tea Cup, only to find that the wait at the cute cafe was over an hour. Solution: sushi.

Reader Evan asked if this skull scarf is by Alexander McQueen. I wish! It’s an old cheap thing that trailed silver threads all over the New York subways. Still, I like it and carry it around in my purse.

Tomorrow, I’ll review the J-Summit rock band event that included performances by Lilac, Gurigula and Uzuhi. You can see more of Shichi’s photos on his J-rock blog and Aristocrat Photography site.

Would you walk around New York City in a scandalous Japanese maid uniform? Tee hee…

PS: here is the Facebook Event Page for my Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo book signing in LA. (Monday Dec 30, 6:30-8:530pm, Giant Robot LA). Please RSVP and share with your LA friends!