Greetings from Tokyo. I love it. And don’t want to leave.
More to come!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Even if it’s fake snow in 80 degree weather….how funny is this? From the Christmas festival at the mall next to our office.
done
I got lost running errands last night and came across the incredible Fullerton Hotel. Lovely!
Tomorrow I’m off to Tokyo for the holidays to celebrate with my cousin Kevin Faraci, who stars in Zed…the latest “magical” Cirque du Soleil show. It goes without saying that there will be countless “Lost in Translation” moments.
I’m behind on posts — will try and update more as soon as I can.
Filed under: As close to camping as it gets, Travel | Tags: Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
Just like Pavement.
A few reasons why:
1) Music: The Perth music scene is alive and kickin’. I had no idea, but could easily be the last to know - DUH. So many artists stop in Perth (birthplace of INXS) or reside there. I can see why! It’s a laid back beach town, with more to offer than sun and sand. To navigate the music scene, there’s Drum Media and other street press pubs. Just looking at the gig guide now – amazing lineup – Ani DiFranco, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Crowded House, David Byrne, Morcheeba, Eric Clapton (really!?), Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Glen Hansard, Basement Jaxx, Hot Chip, Lykke Li, Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., Ryan Adams, Santogold, Ting Tings, and many many more. Does anyone want to move with me? JK. …or am I?
2) Neighborhoods: The clean, efficient train system saved my wallet and sanity as I toured Fremantle, Cottesloe Beach and Mount Lawley.
Fremantle: A beach town-turned-not-too-obnoxious tourist stop. At the Fremantle Arts Fair, I came across illustrator Ali J – how cute? Dined on Perth’s #1 was fish n’ chips at Cicerello’s.
Cottlesoe: Lovely, albeit crowded, beach filled with students, families, hippies, surfers, skateboarders – and even a few grams.
Mount Lawley: Charming neighborhood. I browsed for way too long at Planet Music and Books.
3) Shopping: Even though there’s a hippie-surfer atmosphere, Perth doesn’t lack in fashion with high-end shops on King St and more indie-designers in Mount Lawley. Wasteland, in particular, was my favorite with brands like Marlene Birger, Marc by Marc Jacobs, See by Chloe, April77, Mala Brajkovic and Sass+Bide. Oh! And in Fremantle, I discovered Morrison, a new favorite, for sure.
4) Frankie magazine: I picked this up at the airport and almost tore out every page.
More faves..:
Tiger, Tiger coffee bar – Loved this. Hidden coffee bar, best cappuccino. The foam alone was like a dessert (Hi, my name is whole milk).
James Squire beer (and it’s coming from an A-B girl)
Leaf Tea Merchants
The Bakery, I checked out this Amnesty International event
HAL Highs and Lows sneaker shop
Let me know if you go…I’ll join you!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Camilla is one of the highlights of my work day. She sits in front of me, wearing fingerless gloves to fight the S’pore aircon. She’s also a freelance writer for a few papers, including the Jakarta Post. Because of this, she’s able to meet all sorts of musicians and artists.
One day, she came back to the office (from what I thought was lunch) and casually said, “Oh, btw, I just met Kanye.” Me, in my ever-so-American way said, “Whhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttt?”
Here’s her review of Kylie in S’pore. (Her Kanye review was in Indonesian…)
In Singapore, it’s okay to carry an umbrella when the sky is clear and wear a sweater when it’s 90 degrees.
I’ll explain…
Women carry UV-protection umbrellas to block the sun. Being super fair, I love that this is acceptable. It must be Kylie’s secret, too. It’s one trend I want to bring to NYC. I hope my friends won’t mind.
And…if you’re headed here, pack more than summer gear. The aircon is strong – everywhere you go. I’m always wrapped in something – jacket, sweater, blanket. My co-worker wears fingerless gloves inside…just saying. Be prepared.
Perth and I share the same summer anthem (just on a different timeframe), as I witnessed last weekend at the MGMT show.
Luke Steele opened. He played James Taylor, Carolina, in honor of MGMT. (Odd, I thought. Are they from NC?) Naturally, I was one out of 4,000 that knew the song – by heart. Good news? I got footage. Bad news? Battery died immediately following. Errr. Will post later.
Then, I ran into my hotel concierge. “Oh, hey.” Awkward.
The crowd wasn’t rowdy, but it was was full of drunken teenagers. And security wouldn’t allow MGMT to start until they were calm. It was unreal. Security was on stage pleading, “Take a step back. Come on guys, you’re doing really well.” A encouraging security force. After the occasional thrown beer and an F-off (from girls, mind you) the crowd “settled.” Security was then is handing out water to the crowd. Perth security: as nice as your mom.
The show starts. I have front row, thank goodness. The crowd, one more beach-y and Naomi Watts-esque than the next, sang along to each of the Brooklynites’ songs. Decked in the requisite hipster look: mop-head, skinny jeans, dirty Converse, white tee. Only thing missing was the PBR.
They play all of the hits. Time to Pretend, Weekend Wars and The Youth were my faves. They encored with Kids – and it was thrilling, I have to say.
The entire crowd was dancing – the best of the whole evening, hands down. To turn around and see a huge amphitheatre moving in tandem with the beat was astounding. Even MGMT was having a blast. It was now that, I felt, they showed their personalities. (They are the kids, my god.) They’re like Jonas brothers in Ray Bans. Andew VanWyngarden started goofing off. Grabbed a bra which had been tossed on stage and chucked it at the guitarist. Deep in his mind he must be thinking:
whatishappeningthisisfreakingawesome!!
It was their first time in Australia. Mine too.
