Halloween is days away! Have you got sweets for trick-or-treaters yet? I’ve got something cute up my sleeve.

Flash back to Hong Kong, when Seba and I visited Sticky, a specialty candy shop.

Remember my cousin, who runs a cute cooking school where we made panda bread? She collaborates with Sticky, confectioner of handmade, rock-style lollies.

The colorful, cute designs are irresistible. A frog, an elephant!

How on Earth do you make these intricate bon-bons by hand?

If you visit the Tsum Tsa Shui store, you can see the skilled process in action. Seba even suited up and joined them behind the counter!

First, the candymakers spread a hot colored sugar-water mixture, and make abstract shapes. Once it firms up, the slab is sectioned by color.

Seba learned that candy can weigh a lot. He stretched out the orange portion with a hook, to change the color and texture.

The various colored sections are assembled and rolled together, to form a giant happy face.

Then, the boys stretched it to a thin and fragile point.

Seba chopped the strand into dime-size pieces. Behold: each one has a cross-eyed happy face on it! We personalized our bag with a custom label: “By La Carmina + Seba.”

We had so much fun at Sticky, and the owner is a sweetheart. I hope you’ll swing by for a free sample! (Shop B201, B2F, K11 Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong)

Sticky also has locations in Singapore, Malaysia and Sydney.

Later on, we went out for a Hong Kong nightcrawl with my friend Heidi, who has visited me in Tokyo. I’m wearing a cat-eared top by Spider (lots of HK Gothic clothes are available in my Garage Sale!)

There’s not much of an alternative/Gothic party scene here. However, we found our types of people at Le Boudoir, a French burlesque/cocktail bar in Soho. (BF, 65 Wyndham St, Central, HK.)

Inside, there were chaises under chandeliers. We tried a Versailles cocktail, but preferred the spicy honey one.

All of my Hong Kong and Macau posts are in this category — including info on Gothic Lolita Kawaii shopping. Give it a gander.

Do you have a sweet tooth? What are your favorite candies?

Song of the Day: Zola Jesus – Night (Have you heard of this Gothic-artsy musician yet?)

I recently appeared on Strangers in Danger, a new travel-thrill program airing on Fuel TV, Discovery and National Geographic. We Pirates fixed (location-scouted and arranged) the Japan episode, and I’m on-screen as the subculture guide — a.k.a. “Hot Goth.”

You can see the video on my YouTube, but first, read on for astonishing photos!

Rooftop (Mike Escamilla) was a fan of my tiny sailor costume, gifted from Lip Service. (You may recognize him as Kat von D’s roommate on LA Ink.)

Goofing off with Catfish (Zach Yankush). Both of the guys are BMX (bicycle motorcross/extreme biking) stars and very chill in person.

In this segment, they took part in an extreme body modification. Since my Pirates company is well-connected with the Japanese underground, we were able to arrange this scene.

Extreme body mods include implants underneath the skin. One has a painful-looking “split” in a male body part that I dare not mention…

The guys got one of the most bizarre procedures: forehead inflation! A saline drip through a needle creates a bulge, and the center is pushed in to create a donut shape. Catfish also pumped up his lip, which made him look like a dolphin.

Watch the eerie process (featuring me) above and on YouTube.

The bulge lasts about 10 hours. You can see more photos of saline head inflation from my French TV show shoot.

I took Catfish and Rooftop to Decadance Bar, where they fit in among the space aliens.

Adrien le Danois feels the squishy donut.

Naomi, “I am Sebastian” and I fixed (arranged) the entire Japan episode of Strangers in Danger, which involved various crazy activities. The Tokyo drifting scene was a riot.

Drifters are an intriguing subculture as well.

They also learned Sumo fighting, and battled with the big guy.

Come see a wild clip of my scenes. Special shout-outs to Naomi and Sebastian for their incredible Pirate work on this mission.

Have you heard of donut-head inflation? What do you think of extreme body modifications such as this? Would you try?

Notice anything different about my blog? I have a new banner (look up!), designed by my ultra-talented friend Alice and the Cat.

Last month, Seba and I presented a party at Roppongi nightclub New Lex, where Alice exhibited her artwork.

When I’m in Tokyo, I get “hair sets” at Kabukicho hair salons (which cater to hostesses and gyaru). If you’re connected, prices are as low as $20 per style. The hairdressers use a ton of hairspray and are unbelievably fast-fingered — this up-do took less than 20 minutes.

Cyber Wa dress: Ozz On, from Closet Child.
Mary Jane shoes: Leche by Yosuke, from Marui One Shinjuku

Mistress Maya and I went to the party together. She’s hot in pink, and brought along a little riding crop to dole out punishment.

With the artist, Alice. A giant poster of her work hung outside the club.

She also designed my new landing page, found at www.lacarmina.com. Don’t you love how she drew my Scottish Fold cat Basil Farrow?

I love the energy of her Japanese manga-style drawings, especially the girls’ flowing hair and sparkling eyes.

Alice is from Milan but currently based in Tokyo. She’s open to projects and commissions; contact her if you have ideas!

Perhaps you remember these illustrations inspired by Seba and La Carmina.

With the lovely ImagePlay DJs, and New Lex owner Masuda.

New Lex is always busy and filled with models. It’s one of the most exclusive clubs in Roppongi.

We had a crazy time in the VIP section… can’t tell you exactly what happened, but boy-blood was shed.

Have you ever gone clubbing in Roppongi? What do you think of my new blog banner and landing page graphic? You can see more of Alice’s artwork on her website.

PS: Thanks Zagat for naming my Death Cookbook goth cooking show one of the best on YouTube. And to Anime.com for reviewing my cookbook Cute Yummy Time.

Song of the Day: Cher – Strong Enough (Why didn’t they have this song when we went to karaoke?)

Goth girls come out to play… at night with Kenzo-A! The Rituals designer has a new monthly Goth music event, The Head Shop.

What’s spookier — my luminescent makeup, or the stuffed dog in Seba’s pants?

First, we filled up at a Shinjuku izakaya (Japanese pub). I’m carrying a souvenir from my coolhunting travel TV show… soon, you’ll find out what it means!

One of my favorite flavors: shiquasha, a green Okinawan fruit. Delicious, mixed with alcohol.

We ran into frightening individuals in front of Studio Alta (a common meeting place in Shinjuku).

Did you know that Atsushi and Takashi are twins?

The Head Shop has live DJ sets all night long (techno, house, Gothic, electro) — as well as bands and fashion shows. This “Kenzomas” event was at Shinjuku Motion (next to Club Marz, where Midnight Mess and Tokyo Dark Castle go down).

Party’s in the elevator.

You can spot blue-haired Kenny Creation from a mile away.

Kenzo’s Rituals clothing is available to purchase. If you wear his clothing to the event, you get a discount.

Yes, that’s a man in a glowing bra.

Seba and Atsushi get frisky with neon glowsticks.

The master of the festivities, Kenzo-A.

Don’t miss his next Head Shop party: Friday, September 23, from midnight to morning at Shinjuku Club Marz. There are DJs, bands and a fashion show to celebrate Ritual’s 3rd anniversary. Full details and prices (including discounts) are on the flyer.

For a taste of the music, check out my video above and here (footage from the last party is near the end). What do you think?

Where are these Tokyo Goth Industrial clubs? What are they like? How do you get in? All the details are in my Club Guide.

PS: for party announcements, giveaways and more, please subscribe to my mailing list.
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Song of the Day: DJ SiSEN – Brutal (SiSEN is currently and happily residing in Berlin!)

This year, I had the best birthday to date… a Hello Kitty party at Los Angeles’ glammest nightclub! Huge hugs for Luke and Lenora, who collaborated with me on the event.

And thanks to LA Weekly for featuring my bash in a slideshow, titled La Carmina’s Super Cute Birthday @ Mr. Black LA.

It’s my birthday, and I’ll pile on the makeup if I want to. Glitter, gems, gloss. Two layers of eyelashes.

Seba took the same approach to his hair. Forceful spikes and loads of hairspray.

Doesn’t he look like Cloud from Final Fantasy?

Earlier that day, we made our usual pilgrimage to Toni and Guy, where they styled my hair into a Hello Kitty hair bow. My red dress is by our friend Ako, designer of Blablahospital.

Outside the club (Bardot Hollywood), I met the incomparable Jeff Paice — who made an accessory inspired by my kitty, Basil Farrow!

Ladies of the night: Lenora Claire, La Carmina, Melissa Brown.

Thank you to everyone who came, and got down with dressing up for the theme.

So many creative interpretations of Hello Kitty.

We had VIP table, with a vodka bottle.

Mr Black is infamous for its bare-butt servers. For my birthday, this fellow affixed a Kitty-tattoo!

Yes, my hair is crimped.

So good to see friends, old and new.

Wild things.

A joy to be reunited with Clint Catalyst and Zoetica Ebb.

Thank you to Shannon Cottrell for photographing La Carmina’s birthday for LA Weekly.

Funny story… at first, we didn’t recognize our friend in the middle! Can you guess who it is? Hint: we hung out at the alternative New Year’s party in LA.

What’s the best birthday party you’ve ever thrown, or attended? Wish you were at mine? Maybe next year!

Song of the Day: Air Supply – Making Love Out of Nothing At All (why not? It’s a karaoke favorite for me.)