Yay yay yay for LA! Stay tuned to my blog, Facebook and Twitter for world-shaking announcements about our Los Angeles invasion! There’s a lot in the works, and Sebastiano and I want you to join in on the fun…

First, back to Tokyo. I “test-drove” the panda bear purse I got for Rose… hope she’s not mad.
Dress: Algonquins, from Ragtag (Harajuku secondhand store with a small Goth Lolita Punk section. It was $12!)
Black sheer tank top: bought it a while ago in a Goth shop
Floral lace tights: I’ve had these for years
Spiky black ankle boots: Tripp NYC, from Trash and Vaudeville

Cute panda purse: Heart E, from Closet Child
Black felt hat with flowers: Emily Temple Cute, from Closet Child
Cyber eye decal: Takuya Angel (have you seen photos of his new store?)
Spider ring: from Closet Child
Makeup: Shimmery taupe eyeshadow, cat-eyes and dots using black liquid eyeliner, deep red and purple blended lipstick.

A funny story… Andrew Zimmern’s friend asked me to recommend a nice sushi restaurant. But I’ve never eaten fancy fish in Tokyo! My friends and I go to high-quality but low-priced conveyor belt parlors like Hibari in Kabuku-cho. Every plate is only 130 yen, but when we took the Norway TV crew there, they admitted the raw salmon is better here than at Nobu. (More photos from Hibari in this blog post.)

A few of our friends recommended Rock Inn Current, a hard rock / heavy metal themed bar on the west side of Seibu Shinjuku Station (on the other side of Club Marz). Here, the bartenders headbang to the music and make the devil horns sign. Our kind of people.

Rock Inn Current often has live performances; the walls are covered in hair metal posters, and there’s always something shreddy blasting from the speakers. It reminded us of Fu-ki’s Bar Midian in Osaka.

After, we walked to Christon Cafe Shinjuku to visit our cyber-fab friends at Decadance Bar. Porco poured us absinthe, and Adrien le Danois cooked up delicious food.

What (or who) do you think G-suS and Yukiro are gossiping about?

Do you like to visit different theme bars, like we do? Which are your favorites? We’re always drawn to Visual Kei, metal and alternative drinking holes.

Thanks to ENVI Shoes for featuring me today in a Blogger Love interview (I’m currently on their front page). I talk about wanting to wear glitter-ball, fire-breathing, seven-inch KISS boots. What haven’t I done yet that I still want to do? You can find out in my interview here and after the jump.

Japanese Word of the Day: Suneru = To be sulky, in a bad mood
Song of the Day: Welle:Erdbal – Telephon W-48 OT (Chosen by G-suS. Soon, you’ll see us torture our new minion in an Evil Queen makeup fake-up video!)

ENVI BLOGGER LOVE: LA CARMINA
La Carmina is a modern renaissance woman that wears many hats. She is a travel TV host, author of three books, CNNGo.com journalist, owner of a trend consulting company, “La Carmina & The Pirates” and a professional Japan Goth fashion, pop culture blogger. I was so excited that La Carmina took some time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions for our readers!

Q: What made you start blogging?
As I told Andrew Zimmern on Bizarre Foods (Travel Channel), “I was in law school and bored.” I found that blogging was an incredible way to express myself via words and visuals, as well as have conversations with people around the world. I never imagined La Carmina blog would take off and lead to life-altering opportunities in TV, design and writing.
Q: How would you describe your style?
Rococo horror, pirate Lolita, Goth nun, leopard print princess.
Q: How often do you travel?
Non-stop. I am flown to Tokyo at least five times a year to host and arrange TV shows. I’m also frequently in Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Seattle and other cities for appearances and TV work.
Q: What’s one thing you haven’t done yet that you still want to do?
I run a cool hunting company, La Carmina & The Pirates so I’m always on the treasure hunt for electrifying new trends and subcultures. My never-ending list includes: experiencing the Singapore Goth scene, visiting the Hong Kong toilet-themed restaurant, attending the 20th anniversary of Wave Gotik Treffen (Goth music festival) in Leipzig. I’m very excited about opportunities that are coming up in 2011… stay tuned to my blog for news!
Q: What do you love about your fun lifestyle?
My friends and I treat every day as if it’s Halloween. La Carmina’s spooky-cute world is filled with Tokyo Punk fashion, sky-high Jrock hair, Evil Queen makeup, Hello Kitty nail art, and the cutest earless cat in the world. I post daily about my strangeyet stylish adventures on my blog.
Q: What do you love about fashion?
Fashion is one of my favorite ways to be creative. Every time I doll up, I construct a new look. I experiment with alt makeup techniques and DIY nail art; I cut up and customize my clothing; I mix styles into unexpected coordinates. I am constantly inspired by my fellow creatures of the night, who congregate at Goth / underground parties (especially in Japan).
Q: I know this is going to be a hard question . . . What is the best clothing purchase you ever made?
I’m currently enamored with my turquoise and black Listen Flavor sweater, which I bought in Harajuku around Halloween. The top depicts a punk cat and says Meow. And, I adore my Moi-meme-Moitie dress by Visual Kei legend and Elegant Gothic Lolita designer, Mana. It makes me look like an undead lady in mourning.
Q: Out of all the shoes in your closet, what is your favorite pair? Why?
Every time I post photos of my Alice and the Pirates knee-high boots, my readers freak out. I can’t believe I got these swashbuckling boots for under $100, at my favorite Japanese secondhand alt clothing store, Closet Child. I’m also very fond of my elegant Goth shoes by Japanese designers Yosuke and h.NAOTO.
Q: What’s the highest heel you ever worn?
My Kera Arena platforms clock in at five inches. One day, I’ll strap myself into a pair of glitter-ball, fire-breathing, seven-inch KISS boots…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Fashion, Nightcrawling, Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.