BIZARRE FOODS WITH ANDREW ZIMMERN: VIDEO OF TRAVEL CHANNEL TV SHOW, JAPAN JAIL THEME RESTAURANT WITH LA CARMINA.
At long last, the Tokyo episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern — featuring La Carmina as his guide to weird theme restaurants — has aired! Huge thanks to the crew for having me on the show, and to all of you who tuned in. I’m glad you enjoyed our bloody dining adventure.
What, you missed the Travel Channel premiere? Wipe those tears away: I’ve posted the clip below and on my YouTube channel.
Harajuku “fashion author and blogger” La Carmina brings Andrew Zimmern to Tokyo’s strangest theme restaurant, Alcatraz ER, on Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods TV show. She and her Goth friends drink red slush out of a mannequin’s head and eat “Russian Roulette” takoyaki behind the bars a jail cell. You can read/see more of the horror mental hospital cafe in La Carmina’s book Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo (Mark Batty, Random House).
We shot my title sequence in Shibuya, shortly after I met up with Zimmern at the Hachiko dog statue. People were staring as I strutted around and blew kisses to the camera…
Mistress Maya wasn’t grossed out by the “bedpan of beer.” I think she drank most of it straight!
My fashionable Tokyo spooks joined me for the shoot. Andrew Zimmern and the film crew were very nice to us all. (I wrote about the experience in my CNNGo article here.)
What’s more disturbing: pumping a syringe of red head goop into your mouth, or a pink Cheshire Cat eating pizza with chopsticks?
Come watch my Bizarre Foods video clip! Reactions? What was your favorite moment in the dining experience?
Don’t forget to enter my Miyavi concert ticket giveaway. And I welcome you to add me on Twitter for J-pop news and random ramblings. Hugs and love!
Japanese word of the day: Bizarre = Hen or Kimyo
Song of the Day: The video’s intro and outro music is Malice Mizer – Chinurareta Kajitsu.
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TOKYO ABSINTHE: BAR TRAM IN EBISU. WHERE TO FIND JAPANESE ABSINTHE, DRUGS & LIQUOR IN JAPAN.
The fin-de-siecle decadents and I have many things in common, but above all, oh we love our absinthe! Same goes for my Tokyo spooky-spooks — so we gathered at Bar Tram in Ebisu for a date with the green fairy.
I love playing around with colors that match my newly-orange hair. Deep purple and turquoise work quite well, don’t you think? I accented my eyes with Aromaleigh eyeshadows, glitter dot stickers from a Japanese dollar store, and fake eyelashes. My lips are actually drawn and colored with a lip pencil: a nice trick to get a perfect outline and unconventional shade.
Bar Tram (which once had a booth at Midnight Mess) doesn’t have a website, but here’s a map. It’s northwest of Ebisu Station. Look for a giant stuffed raven and empty absinthe bottles outside.
Bar Tram carries over a hundred varieties of absinthe from all over the world. I tried Blanche de Fougerolles from France and a secret, ultra-strong herbal absinthe that isn’t on the menu. The waiter brought sugarcubes, absinthe spoons and a water drip to the table so that we could light our own fires. G-suS drank so much that he turned into the Green Fairy! (“Just keeding,” as Sebastien would say…)
Naomi expresses her happiness at the plush couches and old-time French decor.
Michelle brought tarot cards and gave Comte de Sang an exceedingly negative reading. I’m not sure why Kana is wearing a face mask…
Comte de Sang now has three tongue piercings. My dress is Carina e Arlequin, a Lolita brand. Found it in – you guessed it – Closet Child Harajuku. More photos coming up…
I leave you with a shot of my kawaii rings. From left to right: bought in fairy kei store Nile Perch in Laforet, gifted by Komodokat, and a gift from my mother. The rainbow nail polish colors are from Daiso.
Have you ever tried absinthe? Does it give you hallucinations or visions? The green fairy always brings me lucid, architectural dreams…
Japanese Word of the Day: Fairy = Yousei
Song of the Day: Yoko Nagayama – You’re My Love, You’re My Life (Japanese Italo Disco!)
LA CARMINA
