Today, I donned purple lips and fake eyelashes, Sailor Moon hair, and a Victorian maid outfit. Antoine de Caunes and I took “maid lessons” at Cos-Cha cafe and goofed around for French TV (I had to speak en Francais the entire time). I love my job.

Akihabara is famous for its maid cafes, where the cute waitresses dress in skimpy French maid outfits. (Hm, I wonder why guys flock to these eateries?) I photographed about a dozen of them for my Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo book.

Warning: in almost every case, photography is NOT allowed inside maid cafes! I had to get special permission to shoot, usually when there were no customers around.

Why are cameras kinshi (forbidden)? The waitresses and customers want to maintain their privacy (not all of them want to advertise that they frequent maid cafes). Also, the cafes make money by selling decorated photos of the maids to their devoted customers.

You’ll often see girls in maid/cosplay outfits giving out flyers on the streets of Akihabara. Again, no photo! If you try to take pictures of the girls, they’ll turn their backs on you and walk away.

But that shouldn’t discourage you from visiting a maid cafe. The girls are charming and will even spoonfeed you. (Today, we played a disgusting drinking game… you’ll see what went down soon!)

Other maid cafes offer massages and even ear-cleanings. (We filmed a hilarious scene yesterday at an ear-cleaning parlor.)

For more peeks into the odd world of Japanese maid cafes, please consider my book Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo (click for info). Photos from the French TV documentary shoot coming right up!

In random news… there’s an article about my Tokyo Theme Restaurants book and Andrew Zimmern Bizarre Foods TV appearance on FOX NEWS. It’s also on Flash News with a photo. When they say “Transformers-themed diner” in the “nerdy district,” they mean the Gundam Cafe in Akihabara. As my friend Comte de Sang puts it, “Some people seem to think that the US public still cannot fathom any piece of Japanese pop culture that hasn’t been transformed into an Americanized line of children’s toys and adapted into some god-awful Hollywood film by Michael Bay.” Sigh.

Come read my new CNNGo article: Asia’s 25 most ridiculous stress relief products. Japanese fake bubble wrap and girlfriend knee pillows, wahhh?

Have you ever been to a maid cafe? Parlez-vous Français? J’ai appris la langue à l’école… vous pouvez m’écrire en Français, si vous voulez!

Japanese Word of the Day: False teeth = Ireba
Song of the Day: Calmando Qual – Insanity (I’m seeing them live in Tokyo!)

Girls are made of sugar and spice, and everything nice… or are they? Welcome to part two of my Goth alternative photoshoot with Apollo Staar!

Makeup: I used dark purple Cyber MAC lipstick around the edges of my lips, and blended the middle part with red. I found silver sparkly “stick-on eyebrows” in a Hollywood wig/costume store, and glued them under my eyes. Finally, I drew on a beauty mark.

I’m wearing some of my favorite clothes in these photos. You’ve seen my spiky ankle boots many times; they’re by Tripp NYC, from Trash and Vaudeville on St. Marks place. (See my New York Goth shopping and clubbing suggestions here.)

I adore my fake furry, real spiky Lip Service jacket. (I wore it to the Museum of Death.)

The look is very Visual Kei, ne? Apollo is a fan of Japanese J-rock and VK photography, and knows how to shoot in that style.

He lent me the dominatrix hat, eyepatch and long black gloves. I think I need these items in my closet…

If you’re in LA, what are you waiting for? Book Apollo Staar for your next photo session. You won’t be disappointed.

Are you a fan of alternative/fetish photoshoots? Who are your favorite photographers and models in this genre?

PS: I’m currently in Osaka and it’s pure awesomeness. Visual Kei bar adventures with Fuki (ex-BLOOD), and I took photos of all the Gothic Lolita Punk shops in Shinsaibashi… will post ASAP. For more daily updates, please check out my Twitter.

So happy to be back in Tokyo! Lots of shopping success already, and I’m off to the Versailles concert in 30 minutes… you can follow my minute-to-minute Japan adventures on my Twitter. (I’ll add you back.)

Here are Gothic Lolita store photos I took in 2008 but never posted. Across from Harajuku’s JR subway station, there’s a white building easily overlooked in the hustle-bustle of Takeshita Doori.

Inside lies Maxicimam, a boutique for Gothic Lolita Punk.

What’s with the strange name? According to CD Japan (they sell the brand internationally), “Ma Maxicimam” explores the world of punk and gothic, “Mam Maxicimam” targets Lolita fashion, and “Nekomimi Maxicimam” uses cats and ears for its main theme.

The designs are somewhat simple compared to other Lolita brands, and some of the pieces are hit-and-miss. But it’s worth taking a peek in this little store.

Have you bought or tried any Maxicimam clothes? What do you think of the quality? You can see other Harajuku Gothic Lolita store photos here.

Blast from the past — I found some old Goth photos from 2002-2003! Middle pic: I’m in my Columbia dorm with my friend Katie (who has a blog here) before a night of Goth clubbing. The Pyramid Club or Batcave, maybe? I don’t think I’ve gained weight or aged much… hope I can keep it up!

I’m honored to be featured on Singapore website My Fat Pocket. I discuss the misconception about my “Gregor Samsa-like metamorphosis” from law to spooky-dom, the reason Basil Farrow has no ears, what you don’t get to see on the blog, and what it means to be financially independent. My answer to what makes a woman modern and smart?

“Take risks; speak up; pave your own path and don’t worry about what others think. If you aren’t scaring the pants off anyone, you’re probably doing something wrong.”

You can read the interview here and after the jump. Now off to VERSAILLES!

Japanese Word of the Day: Idealistic = Risoshugiteki
Song of the Day: Aesthetic Perfection – Living The Wasted Life (LOL at the many videos people upload of Industrial Goth kids dancing in random places!)

Travel Channel has posted a “teaser reel” for the new season of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. And look who’s in it for a second: La Carmina and Mistress Maya! We’re locked in a cell at the horror-jail theme restaurant Alcatraz ER. The wonderfully intrepid Zimmern drinks red slush from the mannequin’s head and exclaims… “That’s good!”

Don’t blink or you’ll miss our appearance at 0:05 in the video above and on YouTube. Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern premieres Monday, April 26 at 10 E/P on Travel Channel. I believe the Tokyo episode will the fourth in the series — will keep you updated! For more photos and stories of the Tokyo TV shoot, please check out this blog post and my book, Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo.

I also filmed a cute food demo (above) at Penguin Books’ headquarters in NYC. It was great fun to work with the creative team, who built a backdrop using photos from my book. If you’re hungry for adorably-decorated recipes inspired by the Japanese bento decoration trend, please consider my cookbook Cute Yummy Time.

Finally, Death Ray Weekly interviewed me. My personal opinion of Mana-Sama? “Inspiring, enigmatic… DIX love!”

“Bizarre” is the only word to describe this recent press round-up. My Japanese Goth comrades and I are currently on the front page of CNNGo (CNN’s fabulous Asia travel and lifestyle site). I wrote about my experiences as a guide on Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World TV show — come read the article here!

Host Andrew Zimmern kindly took the time from his busy schedule to answer my questions. Why did Travel Channel come a-knocking on my door? “It was a no-brainer. You have beauty, grace, intelligence and can speak with authority on many subjects.” (Wahh??) And what was his favorite memory of the Tokyo episode? “Eating dinner with a giant pink pussycat was about as fun as life gets.”

In my CNNGo article, I describe the three weird theme restaurants that we visited. I also blogged about the shoot: click to read about Alcatraz ER outside and inside (horror asylum monster madness), Cafe Edelstein (dreamy schoolboys), Shinto bunny maid cafe (don’t ask) and crossing Shibuya’s Center Gai.

The Tokyo episode of Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World airs this May on the Travel Channel and in 75 countries (I’ll let you know exactly when). Hungry for more photos? Please check out the Japanese theme restaurants in my book, Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo.

The bizarre press continues… I’m in the April issue of Bizarre Magazine, a UK publication about all things outrageous. The headline: “Crazy Japanese restaurants — themed eateries you HAVE to visit!” This issue is now in stores; I will post scans once I receive my copy.

The Whiskey Dregs, an online literary and arts magazine, interviewed me; you can read it here and below. My response to “What are three things about you that nobody knows?” might surprise you!

1. A.G: So, you’re a triple threat: Blogger, Author and Designer. How is it that you fell into these very extraordinary yet very different occupations?
LC: I was studying law at Yale, but more often than not, my attention drifted to Japanese street style and pop culture… I started a blog as an outlet for my thoughts. The site unexpectedly took off and led to opportunities for designing gloomy-cute clothes and writing J-pop books.

2. A.G: You’ve had three books published with a variety of interesting themes (adorably cute food, Zen eating, crazy theme restaurants, etc.). You’re obviously a foodie, what inspired you to create these books and how did you first decide that this was something you wanted to pursue?
LC: Whenever you turn on the TV in Japan, you’ll always come across hosts eating or cooking food in an exaggerated manner! Cute food (bentos decorated like Sanrio characters) and theme restaurants (where elaborate costumes and diner participation are part of the experience) are only two aspects of Japan’s fascinating food culture. To me, writing about this world is endlessly amusing.

3. A.G: What have some of your biggest challenges and obstacles been when it comes to expressing your creativity?
LC: I have the freedom to travel and work from anywhere, and get to jump from exciting project to project. However, this path lacks the stability of a normal job, so you have to hustle like crazy and convince people to let you realize your visions. No time to wait around for doors to open.

4. A.G: If you could sum up your look and your aesthetic in three words- what would they be and why?
LC: Harajuku spooky cute. I’m heavily inspired by Japanese street fashions, especially Gothic Lolita Punk. I always have a touch of the undead in me. And don’t forget a pinch of Hello Kitty “kawaii.”

5. A.G: You’re fashions are fun in an edgy ‘Alice in Wonderland’ meets ‘Gothic Lolita’ way, what inspired you to create these looks and what are some of your creative influences?
LC: I’m inspired by my ghoulish crew of friends. Every time we go on a “nightcrawl” or do something creative (a film, a photoshoot), we transform ourselves and wear wild new looks. I also love seeing the elaborate DIY costumes and makeup at Japan/Goth/cyber clubs.

6. A.G: Do you have a fashion creed that you work and live by?
LC: That there shouldn’t be one. If you’re convinced that there is, break it.

7. A.G Do you have any favorite fashion icons?
LC: Visual Kei (a genre of Japanese rock) artists. Especially Mana-sama of Malice Mizer and Moi dix Mois, Versailles, Kaya, Ali Project.

8. A.G: What would you say to someone who is trying to break into the world of blogging, publishing and or design?
LC: Work hard to create quality content and get it out there. Every day, I post a review, video, photos… it adds up, and you’ll learn fast from the constant experimentation. There’s no single path to breaking into this world, but if you practice and network, you’ll gain confidence and gradually get to where you want. (I have many more tips on the Reader Questions section of my blog.

9. A.G: Your style and blog are so fun and reflective of your style, how do you come up with ideas for the various photo shoots featured?
LC: Give me a trinket from the dollar store, a club theme, any excuse at all to dress up — and the ideas pour out! Sometimes I’ll see a friend wear lipstick in a certain way, or see a hairstyle in a Japanese video, and I’ll be itching to put my own spin on things in the next photoshoot.

10. A.G: What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever worn and why?
LC: I adore my Moi-meme-Moitie Gothic dress (photo here). I was offered $600 for it — it’s an iconic piece by designer Mana– but I’m not ready to sell.

11. A.G: What are three things about you that nobody knows?
1) I played piano from the age of four until I started college, and studied music history and composition.
2) I’m known as a wacko cat lady, but I’m actually not that fond of most cats. My Scottish Fold, Basil Farrow, is a special bear. Anyone who’s seen his videos or met him knows what I mean.
3) I used to be a mistress in a dungeon. Ok, no, I made that up.

Good news: I’m going to compile Goth Nightlife Guides for NYC and LA for this blog, in addition to Tokyo!

First, let’s finish up the LA nightcrawls. Hollywood’s Bar Sinister (the site of the Goth Alice in Wonderland party) is probably our favorite venue. It has absinthe. Frightfully well-dressed guests.

A torture corner, where you can try out paddles and cuffs. Or get whipped on a giant cross. Or pet a gargoyle, or flirt with an attractive gender-bender.

Sometimes, looking too good has its downsides. We went to Club Hell at The Ivar, and it… was hell. At least six lascivious men hit on Yukiro; one kept asking strange questions, another grabbed his phone to input his number, yet another wanted to take the spanking show up a few notches on the violence-meter. The last straw: an old man LIFTED Yukiro in the air and then dipped him into a back-bend — hell no! We got the hell out of Hell.

Some of the Hell-dwellers had interesting handmade outfits, but on the whole, there was a lot of skin that could have been covered up. Perhaps it was an unusually hellish night.

Sometimes, a nightcrawl goes completely down the drain. The Adventure Team went to one place (that shall remain nameless), and it was a bummer. We tried to swing by a transsexual party, but when we got there, it was closed. Double bummer.

But one can always stay in and partake in wholesome activities such as board games, right? Riiiight.

Do you enjoy going to clubs? What are your favorite ones? Yukiro and I can’t function without regular nightcrawls!

WAHHHHHH! My big-headed Scottish Fold, Basil Farrow, has gotten bigger-headed. He’s one of the celebrity cats featured on Almost Famous Cats blog, along with the feline friends of Dita von Teese, Robert Smith (The Cure) and other Goth greats.

Have you checked out the fold-eared cuteness on Basil’s blog?

Yesterday, a neat new fashion site launched: Tokyo Candoll. The Japanese project collaborates with your favorite Gothic Lolita Punk brands, and introduces popular Gal models. I was approached to be featured on the site as a “reader model” (I’m honored!). You can see me in the “J-style celeb” section here; my interview responses are below.

Name: La Carmina
Occupation / dream for the future: Harajuku fashion and J-pop culture author/blogger/designer
Hobby: Attending to the many needs of my Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow
Shopping area: I spend most of my wardrobe budget on secondhand Gothic Lolita Punk fashions from Closet Child.
Favorite brand: h.NAOTO, Black Peace Now, Victorian Maiden
Favorite food: Izakaya
Favorite color: Goth black, Mana-sama blue, blood red, empress purple
Policy of Oshare: If you look like an undead Marie Antoinette, you’re on the right path.
Favorite Japanese: My Tokyo spooks! My friends in Japan are crazy and inspiring.

Tokyo Candoll’s sister site, Music Japan Plus, recently highlighted several clothing boutiques in Marui One. The Shinjuku department store houses your favorite Gothic, Lolita, punk rock and street brands. (You can see photos of all the stores in my gargatuan Goth and Lolita shopping guide.)

Atelier Boz is one of my favorite elegant Gothic aristocrat brands, especially the items for men. “This particular shop has constantly strived toward recreating a ‘classic, traditional European’ style. They sell beautiful items that have elegant forms and dashing, ‘knightly’ qualities. For the spring season they are planning to provide a wider variety of skirts, pumps, blouses and vests in various sizes.” Click here for more images of Atelier Boz, Moi-meme-moitie, Kera Angel and other brands in Marui One.

“What would happen if Alice of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ finds herself in ‘Pirate-land’? That is the main concept for this shop selling wild, decorative and stylish clothing.” (You can also find Alice and the Pirates at Laforet; click to see my photos.)

h.NAOTO dominates the sixth floor of 0101, as you can see in this post. “In addition to brands providing punk, gothic and Lolita items, brands such as ‘HONEY’ that sell SEXY & CUTE clothing for women, and ‘Sixh.’ that designs VISUAL & MODE-kei items for both men and women are well worth a look.”

“When you were little, did you ever wish you could try out the very cute lace frill dresses with lots of ribbons worn by princesses in picture books? Here’s a brand that will help you fulfill those childhood dreams” — Angelic Pretty. I photographed the cute Marui boutique in this post.

Hyphen Magazine, a San Francisco-based publication about Asian-American culture, interviewed me for a piece about Japanese theme restaurants (above). If you’re intrigued, you can find out more about Akihabara maid cafes my book, Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo.

Finally, some bits and pieces of J-pop fun…

† My friend Maria uploaded a great video of Kaya performing at Tokyo Decadance, wearing a white Lolita dress. Kawaii.
† I found some mind-blowing Japan hairstyle photos on Flickr. The neon colors and spiky swirly styling are insane. (Above are some winning hairstyles from Tokyo Riyo.)
† Hooray for Japanese host hair — these nightclub staff pics are hilarious! Which one is your dream-boi? Mine is the ALIEN.

Have you found my Gothic Lolita Punk store photos and shopping guide to be useful? I’ll be updating it soon!

Clint Catalyst invited Yukiro and me to be in a Hollywood movie — how could we say no? Our roles: slightly demented party guests in a trippy dream sequence. So I wore…

Hair: Draped with blue, purple and grey scarves. I added a silver flower clip.
Makeup: I painted my eyebrows blue (try bright colors on your brows to light up your face!). I kept my eye makeup light, with black eyeliner over the top and light blue on the bottom. My dark purple lipstick is lightened in the center with lavender. Finally, I affixed two temporary spider tattoos.
Velvet evening gown with slit along thigh: An amazing find: $12 from Out of the Closet, “the most fabulous thrift store.”
Black and white pumps: my old John Fluevogs

Yukiro’s gown is from a vintage store in Fairfax Village, one of our favorite spots for thrift shopping. Purple hair, purple lace armbands, purple knee-high boots = triple yes.

The movie we participated in is Noirland, a film noir written and directed by Ramzi Abed, and starring James Duval. “A catatonic serial killer [...] an amnesiac detective [...] criminal psychiatrists and psychologists listen to the mysteries unfold.”

We arrived at the call time of 1pm, but it was pushed back an hour… then two… By the time we left the set, it was 10pm. That’s showbiz for you — a tiny bit of glam and a lot of waiting around!

Gemini Manor was possibly the most topsy-turvy house I’ve stepped foot in. Every inch was covered in random bric-a-brac: antique puppets, toys, church relics, birdcages, doll heads… There was a mermaid in the jacuzzi and my greatest fear — a giant stuffed CLOWN — resting in one of the bathtubs.

Each room had a theme, such as this Jungle Room on the roof, attainable only by inching up a precarious ladder/staircase. The owner told us that he built the place in the 1970s, and that it was the site of many a fetish party. (Ah, now it all makes sense.)

Also in the movie: model/actor Aldo Vento (left), and artist/Coilhouse Magazine founder Zoetica Ebb (the lady in blue). Clint Catalyst and Lenora Claire are perfectly cast as the Baron and Baroness.

There was plenty of time to hang out and practice our lines with one of Gemini Manor’s seven cats. (This kitty is skin and bones compared to my Basil Farrow!)

Fun times all around — thank you to everyone for having us! Wait until you hear us laugh maliciously and recite our single line: “Why hello… how are you…”

Have you ever been in a movie? How about silly YouTube masterpieces, like ours?

Cute photo of the day: Mia Farrow wearing a t-shirt from my Akumu Ink fashion collaboration! The activist and actress recently came back from Haiti — and received this tee from her daughter-in-law as a Valentine’s Day gift. My cat Basil Farrow grew up with Mia and Ronan, so it was a thrill for her to see our Scottish Fold kitty on a t-shirt!

(You can pick up a La Carmina x Akumu Ink shirt or hoodie online for about $20; just click on the links under the photos on this page to purchase.)

Thanks to Audrey Magazine featuring me in an article. The Asian-American lifestyle publication calls Basil “possibly one of the cutest kitties ever.”

Life with the Adventure Team is a continuous photoshoot. Between our various missions, we made a pit stop in the Laurel Canyon Trader Joes.

Is anyone else a raging fan of Trader Joes? The staff is kooky, the products are organic and delicious — and affordable! When I’m in LA, I don’t need to shop anywhere else.

Things got a little fruity… (Yup, Lemon is posing with a lemon.)

What are your favorite Trader Joe’s products? I love the cheap Napa wines, jalapeno yogurt cheese, lemon echinacea juice…

The boys are quite fond of the watermelon juice. Lemon also likes the pink lemonade. How about you? Which products should we pose with next?

Come back tomorrow for more photos and a blog giveaway! My NYC roving reporters also have photos and a report of the Tokyo Fashion Festa (Gothic Lolita Punk runway show) for you…

Song of the Day #309: Heisei Ishin – Ruru

Last Saturday’s Lunar New Year party was one of the most successful Tune in Tokyo events to date! Harajuku fashion, Jpop and rock, Goth/Visual Kei giveaways and cuteness overload — ah, don’t you wish you were there with us?

Chiaki (top middle) was so kind to let us host the party at Kira Kira, her purikura shop just outside LA. Thank you to all my dear friends who came out to support. I wore red in honor of both Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year…

Carmina and Basil tshirt: from my fashion line with Akumu Ink (on sale here)
Flower clip in hair: from a fabric store discount bin
Red scarf: from the wonderful 99 cent store
Skull scarves: I found one hanging from a bus bench. The other is an old thing, worn as a skirt.
Tights with holes: an old thing I cut up
Spiky ankle boots: Tripp NYC, from Trash and Vaudeville

Gavin Hignight took the photo on the bottom left; HiHiCaro shot the Polaroid on the bottom right. How does Yukiro describe his outfit? “It’s a very classical Dravarious type of fashion. It’s something I’m never ashamed to wear. Muahahah!”

We had a stellar turnout! Yukiro and I called out Jpop trivia questions (such as name all the Sailor Scouts), and handed out prizes to the winners. Thank you to Gloomth (tailored Goth/Victorian/Lolita clothing), Lime Crime (bright, colorful lipsticks) and HearJapan (Visual Kei and Japanese digital music label) for the generous sponsorship — we gave out hundreds of dollars of goodies!

From Sweet Lolita to Atelier Pierrot to a traditional Vietnamese dress to cosplay…

… to Goth, gyaru and kawaii — the fashion was incredible! Yoshiki’s J-Rock Revolution team shot a video of the party, coming soon.

Dressing up, drama and dancing: that’s what we’re about.

If you’re sick and tired of the same old dance clubs, you’ve got to check out a Tune in Tokyo party in LA. The DJs spin Japanese and Korean dance, rock, pop… everything we go nuts over.

Huge hugs for everyone who came, and to the Tune in Tokyo crew for inviting me to host the party. Let’s do it again soon!