I'm in Shanghai, China now. It's impossible for me to capture the magnitude of this city. I think 20-million people live here and New York City has nothing on the size of these apartment buildings.
I think this is where firefighters or Chinese Guardian Angels train. Actual size dummy plane. Notice the fake engine?
In China when a man and woman bang a giant horse shoe, a baby pops out. This beautifully sculptured shrub captures this magical moment and miracle of life.
Power moves.
Time to eat. My first meal in Shanghai. Triple-chili diced pork fried rice with some gyoza appetizers. Check this, in China, you have to buy your own napkins at restaurants. I'm not joshin' ya! And to boot, they are as thick as tissue paper. And all the soda cans are like the old school pull tabs. Oh! And one more thing, the waitress won't pass your order to the kitchen until you pay in full.
Fast forward through a few top-secret meetings and now at dinner. Pretty bomb.
Mmm. Shanghai Baby Buns.
After dinner, I took a stroll down this lovely block to the hotel.
Took a walk through the Central Park of Shinjuku today.
Flower power.
Mushroom farm?
These flawless specimens gathered quite the crowd. I don't get it.
Took this photo because everyone else was doing it. And yes, if everyone jumped off a bridge so would I.
I actually felt quite serene walking aimlessly through this place.
Fed some chocolate chip cookies to these hungry fish. Biggest damn koi I ever saw.
I really like this photo. Good job Joshy. I just patted myself on the back.
Left the park and kept walking.
More buildings.
Really love this one. Reminds me of the Victorian houses back in SF that have facades higher than the actual roof.
Rick Ross ain't the boss in Tokyo. I guess the Boss (Springsteen) isn't either. Bummer.
Joto.
Finally found some bunaga. Been here for days looking for it.
Hot dang! No bunaga here. My search will continue.
Took a piss break to drink some more piss. Is there anyone in Japan that can properly pour a beer? I swear they be giving me more and more head the longer I'm here. Zing!
Definitely a better pie than the last. But that isn't saying much.
Dill.
And you thought Tower Records was out of business? Silly Americans.
Walked all the way to Shibuya. Already night time.
Went back to the arcade to try and take some more photos for you. Got this one off before being asked to leave, again.
Go here if you ever visit. Many floors of gaming madness. Still haven't figured out if all the gambling games were for real money or not.
Caught a glimpse of the red light district. I was a little too shell shocked to make it down these stairs. Assuming good times.
Dole guy made me laugh.
Went to one of the best bars ever. Met Taku.
Listened some dude jam on key-tar.
Took a few shots and then grubbed on some spaghetti.
Then Taku busted out some metal DVDs. We cranked the surround sound and got wasted into the night.
I took a few trips to the bathroom and was shocked every time to see an American toilet. So archaic. I can't believe in my past life I used to do number ones and number twos in this thing. Occasional number threes. Never again.
Stumbled out of Taku's bar to find myself drowning in pee wine.
Found a Krispy Kreme. I don't think I made it inside.
But Reez and I found a 7-Eleven late night and ate nasty.
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So I woke up this morning in Shinagawa and was like, I'm having a great time on my trip. Earth is dope, but I'm trying to fuck with space. And then I saw this billboard.
On the way to the space train I got caught up at McCafe, again.
So I get on this train to Asakusa and this is the first thing I see. It's like, grab a little lobster and a fish, one cock, a frog, another dick, and maybe a turtle. And just one more dick for good measure.
Once I got over the dick sprinkling fiasco, I looked up and saw this wonderful temple.
On the road to the temple there were tons of pop-up eateries.
I glanced to my right and saw in the great distance a gigantic building being built.
Zoom.
And then I arrived.
After some praying for my friends and fam, I prayed that this monkey would learn how to dress himself.
I got front row seats to the monkey show with these kids. Great company.
Afterwards, I ran up the block to eat some noodles.
And some under-cooked chicken skewers.
I thought about desert.
But didn't really like my big black options so I passed.
On the way out of Asakusa I tried figuring out what this giant golden sperm was doing. Cold chilling.
Hard to see from this photo, but all the ninjas rocked ninja shoes with air bubbles. I was jealous to say the least.
Super million hair. Get it?
They were expecting me in Shinjuku.
And FYI, people waste their money on Harry Potter out here as well.
I am still in Japan. I can no longer speak proper English. Then again, could I ever really?
And fuck what you say/think, if you in Japan as long as me, you will end up eating McDonald's. No doubt.
I think they got this backwards.
The real Electric Avenue.
Love seeing my name. But, no one can write Josh better than Amaze and this ain't him.
Finally I get the respect I deserve.
What he said.
Quick break at Mister Donut. Not bad at all.
Streets are watching at Electric Town.
Quite possibly the smallest dude ever.
Caught Sonic going back to the Sega building.
Floor to floor is like leveling up.
She bred strawbellies.
My fav station in Tokyo.
I do love curry and rice.
But I really love that sideways eight.
How apetizing. I'll take one octopus please. Yeah, just bring it out. Fuck the sauce or side dishes. No, I don't even want garnish on the plate. But please make sure the tentacles just go all over the table. Don't even worry about it.
You never seen this before.
Whoever made these fake food displays is a motherfuckin' G.
Neck face.
Maybe this is my fav scooter?
H
&M
I swear I haven't seen one naked dog in Japan.
Took another lurking break to eat.
You'd think when Japan and Italy were fucking around in the 1940's, Italy could have taught Japan how to make a pizza. Nope.
This is the greatest button ever. Japan is amazingly efficient. When you want the waitress to come over for anything you tap the button. America needs this.
Michael Jackson is not dead. Believe it.
The greatest cluster fuck I love to be apart of.
I love you Japan. I really, really love you. Thank you for everything.
The UPS and FedEx trucks are much smaller over here.
The Disney building was a trip.
Sorry for the blurry photo, but all the construction workers wear pants like these.
The arcades are bugged out. They are very strict on photography and I only got two shots off before being shut down.
Wish my scooter looked like this when I was rolling one. Straight luxury.
People traffic is insane. This is a typical scene on the corners.
I'm like frogger when I hop through this motherfucker.
Bicycling inspiration.
We ain't in Kansas any more.
Quite the job killer.
Scratch what I said earlier, this is the scooter I wish I had. Gangsta.
I like everything in this shot, but smog drying your comforter. That is not cool.
The cabs are super expensive, but damn do they have some really nice navigations. I think they're made right down the block.
I'll end today's blog with a very traditional Japanese meal I had at this place.
Most meals in Japan begin with a hot napkin, drink order, and menu.
Let the eating marathon begin. Seaweed salad with sea mushroom.
Maple leaf shaped tofu over fried chicken with almond crust. Raw shrimp. Gingko beans. And some grilled fish that you can only find here. Totally forgot the name of it. My bad.
Carrot with lemon rine mushroom cluster soup.
Here is the mushroom cluster.
Sashimi.
Another fish dish I've never heard of with a bowl of noodles. The miso glaze over the fish was on hit.
Tofu ball with more mushrooms.
Tempura potatoes and mushrooms in tempura dipping oil sauce.
Cod fish eggs over white rice, pickled radish with cucumbers and miso soup. Also served with hot tea.
How fun! A shrimp head in my miso soup.
And to end the meal, potatoe mouse with tarro chips.
Will get another blog up in a few. Hope everyone is having as much fun as me!
Started off the morning with some breads, curry and white rice and the least fresh grapefruit juice ever.
Rareez got the American breakfast. Only $30.00 for this one.
Loving that this vending machine is directly in front of my room.
I saw quite a few street fashion shoots just walking around. I was stoked to get photoed.
Back at Mishka Harajuku I peeped the homies FSAS collab.
And these Mad Balls! I haven't seen one of these since I had one many, many years ago.
Swung by Heshdawgz to say hey to CB. Saw this Bigfoot. I miss that dude.
Right after that I grabbed some octopus balls with zombie powder. Gnar.
Immediately pounded this.
I forget which other city I've seen this in, but on Harajuku's main strip they got a river that runs the length. Starts here.
And ends some where down there.
The buildings here are bugged out. Super dope. Really hard to photo to show depth, perspective, size, and style. Basically I can't really show you what's up but if you're ever here you'll feel me.
RIP Tie.
I always love to see the same products we got back at home. Different ads, some times different tastes.
The best part however is seeing where the advertising went wrong. Like who cast this bitch with the grill!?
FTC is as big in Tokyo as it is in Frisco.
Loved seeing our collab board hung prodominently in the shop.
I ain't that big, but I'm huge in Japan.
I'll end it for today with some more food. Egg, seaweed, and radish udon.
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've just been hiding out in my studio making work for my upcoming show at Guerrero Gallery next month. I'm working in some mediums that I've never shown before. Should be an interesting show.
And don't forget the Skullz Press party this Thursday night at 111 Minna! Click here for more info.
This past season has been pretty contraversial, as always. But people have been talking a lot about the upside down crosses that were incorperated in the line and I thought it was time to shed some light on the subject.
The Petrine Cross (upside down cross) is actually a Catholic symbol for Simon Peter. When he was sent to be crucified it is believed that Peter requested this form of crucifixion as he felt he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner that Christ died (upright). Some Catholics use this cross as a symbol of humility and unworthiness in comparison to Christ. In Roman Catholicism the Petrine Cross is not seen as Satanic in any way.
Of couse the masses understand this symbol to be anti-christian, anti-god. Symbols are objects or characters that represent ideas. They are what you interperate them to mean.
