Category Archive for J-News
HONG KONG & MACAU, MAY 2011! GALAXY MACAU HOTEL RESORT GRAND OPENING, ROOMORAMA ASIA APARTMENT RENTALS.
Ai-yah, fei maoo. Sebastiano and La Carmina will be in Hong Kong and Macau for the month of May! (Time to unpack my Cantonese 101 books…)
We’ve got a full schedule of journalism and TV work. Get ready for coverage of Hong Kong’s alternative, kawaii and pop culture scene. How about panda and toilet theme restaurants, Victorian boudoir bars, and cute food cooking lessons?
We’ll be staying in a modern apartment in Causeway Bay, thanks to the lovely folk at Roomorama. Like Tokyo’s Shibuya, this chic district is loaded with cafes and boutiques, and the SOGO Japanese department store. Seba and I will show you what it’s like to stay in one of Roomorama’s short-term rentals (they have locations all over the world, so you can live like a local wherever you go). Perhaps you’ll try out their apartment rental service on your next trip.
Seba and I will also take the short ferry ride to Macau… for the media and VIP-only preview of Galaxy Macau, a giant 2 billion dollar hotel-resort opening this month! We’ll be staying there before it opens to the public — test-driving the 50 restaurants, 2,200 hotel rooms, spa, sky top wave pool, and man-made beach (perhaps we’ll build a sand castle?).
Macau is in boom-mode. Gambling was its lifeblood for decades, but now, entrepreneurs are setting up lux hotels that make Las Vegas look like a pile of pennies. And I’m dying to see how the Rococo-spirited Galaxy Macau will raise the bar.
I haven’t been to Hong Kong in over 3 years, but I went yearly when I was a munchkin, to visit relatives. Creepy-cute characters have always haunted my life.
Here I am on a Cathay Pacific plane ride. In those days, my favorite stuffed toy was a round bear that I insisted that it was a cat. It was my fate to wind up with a earless teddy bear…
Sebastiano also has a Hong Kong history: he was a model there before moving to Japan.
Where in the world is Sebastiano Serafini? Milan, and now Tokyo. Above are images from the Stand Up! The Fragile launch party, featuring him as main model.
If Seba’s Paint drawing is any indication, our Chinese adventure will be full of 8-bit action! (Only his brain could conceive of us as Tanooki Mario and Goth Princess Peach.)
Have you been to Hong Kong or Macau? We’d love to hear your recommendations — please leave us a comment. And tell me what you’d like me to blog about (Hong Kong fashion? Theme restaurants?).
PS: I previously wrote about Gothic Lolita shopping in Hong Kong.
Song of the Day: Joy – Lost in Hong Kong (12″ Italo Disco, ai-yah!)
❤ Squealed at this post? Please give it a Like (below)…
SHARE & COMMENT
HELP JAPAN WIKI: DONATION RESOURCES & FUNDRAISERS FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF. TOKYO ART BENEFIT, PRINCESS GHIBLI CD.
My “spooky friends” are the best. They’ve been working day and night on fcharity projects for Japan, as well as making waves in music, writing and fashion. Let’s salute them — starting with my Pirate First Mate, Naomi Rubin. (Above, with her boy-slave-of-the-day.)
Naomi created Help Japan Wiki, an editable compendium of ways to aid Japan’s earthquake relief. Anyone can add a Donation Resource or Fundraising Event to the charmingly designed site. The Resources page includes a list of reputable charities helping Japan, with info and links. Please pass the link along — www.helpjapanwiki.com — and add your events and charities to the listings. The more hands on deck, the better we can provide info for Japanese relief.
Cotton Bale and Mistress Maya (who you may remember from the Andrew Zimmern episode) are participating in ArtGigTokyo1, a series of art happenings in public places. The first event is free, and presents 15 music / performance art works that transform the club into an improvised art gallery. Art Gig will also hold a silent art auction, with proceeds to support relief efforts in Tohoku.
Come see them perform on May 8th at Bar Exit in Shinjuku, from 15:00 – 03:00 (full info here).
Another artist friend who’s helping Japan… Dienzo, who made the “Carmina Rising” painting of me, has been fundraising. He just launched a store, which sells prints, T-shirts and canvases of his dark, Gothic artwork. If you type the discount code LACARMINA (all caps), you get 10% off.
Congrats to my friend B.Jevanael, who published her first book. She gave me a sneak peak of her gripping novel, The Reality Filter. “The evidence of a murder turns up in your photography project. Evidence from your rocky-road past invades the dreams of your happy present. Your best friend is dead at your hands, and wasn’t who you thought she was from the beginning. The worst part is, you don’t remember a thing, and you’re trapped within a world you built up around reality to save yourself.”
With a Gothic horror aesthetic, and an eloquent plunge into mental delusions, it’s a read I bet you’ll enjoy. The Reality Filter is available as an e-book from Amazon and Barnes and Noble; more info here.
Sophia, vocalist of Blood Stain Child, never ceases to inspire me. She sings on several tracks of the new Princess Ghibli CD, a collection of metal covers of Studio Ghibli. That’s right: Miyazaki meets metal. More info and song previews here. (Coming up, Blood Stain Child will perform at A-Kon in Texas, June 10-12.)
Last but not least, thank you to Katy Kamikaze for sending me this adorable, handmade wallet. Basil Farrow loves the cute bentos and animals. There’s more cuteness on her Pineapple UK Etsy store. (The sparkly butterfly ring is gifted from Soho Hearts.)
Thanks to everyone who supported the Iron Fist auction; congrats to Rochelle for triumphing and donating to Japan! I hope you’ll pass along the HelpJapanWiki resource and contribute to it. Let’s keep putting our efforts into helping Japan.
Song of the Day: Imaginary Flying Machines, “Princess Ghibli” album trailer featuring Sophia
LA CARMINA
