Fashion & Gossip - Fashion News from China and Japan

YANKS DONT SPEAK ENGLISH FOOD, but BEAUTIFUL BOBBY BLACKMON AT BBKINGS GOT US TO EAT A 'PO BOY'

Tuna Nicole? whats that? A Tuna Nicoise but instead of olives it has like cheesy poofs, and instead of seared ahi its pre mixed tunamayo from a can? instead of fresh boiled new potatoes youve got french fries and 'lays'?

I am more baffled by America menus than Chinese ones.

Words all English diners should be weary of:

CILANTRO: corriander

CHIPS: not lovely chunky deep friend in goose fat chips but potato crisps or 'walkers' as we call em, and no salt and vinegar in sight

FRIES: chips only not so good, skinny, no animal fat no vinegar, and lots of salt

CHICKEN TENDERS: last time i checked a tender was a boat but hey, here this means chicken nuggets but they are huge, and served with an odd bright yellow sauce which calls itslef honey mustard yet tastes of neither.

this amazing feast was made up of ingredients my british dining companions and i could not fathom, and yet we were in a country 'speaking' our mother tongue.

A 'broiler' (still not sure what this is) of shrimp (supposed to be the small ones, these were huge langoustine sized prawns) a 'po boy' (?!?) some 'catfish', 'pulled pork'? a Biscuit? not a sugar digestive out here! OH NO! and the hot sauce is not a joke.

I have my MAC firmly set to UK spell check! I believe in schools all children in the USA should have to do the same! ITS TOO CONFUSING!? Al-u-min-ium!! how HARD is that! words have consonants too! Or maybe since theres so fewer of us pommes, we should all get one of these

a new MAC translator, only $200 and you can correctly write and spell. Since as you may have noticed my spelling even in my mother tongue is appauling I really should! why spend thousands on a decent education, just a couple a hundred on a computer which makes you SEEM well educated!

If going to a real yankee restaurant, bring a translator! We went to BB Kings to see our favourite florida star BEAUTIFUL BOBBY BLACKMON at BBKINGS meant we HAD to take the drive down IDRIVE (away from the safety of the magic kingdom!!) to see hom, we have ALL his albums and he ROCKS the blues.

here he is serenading my mum! (not MOM) be careful dad...se what happens when you let mother out with the LUSH SISTERS SCARROTT!! ahahahahah!

Universal old skool park. The original and the mighty.

This one takes some planning. Universal Studios is a large and amazing theme park, you have to juggle a number of things. SHOW times are very important, check your map for the times. You want to plan your attack to see EVERYTHING. Also you must understand the LONG LINE RIDES. There's a lot of headliners all over the park. LONG LINES ARE NOT FOR MISS LUSH.
Heres the plan of attack, read and take notes.

E.T is a classic and must be done, but do not be tempted to do it first just because it is there, terminator doesnt open til 10 so you have to come back that way anyways, go straight to the new SIMPSONS ride, it gets a big line quickly. Do this and do MEN IN BLACK first,
TIPS: on E.T NEVER give your real name, make up a dumb name, its hillarious to hear E>T say "goodbye miss divine lush one, goodbye bexstar, goodbye dopey" etc. In MEN IN BLACK dont shoot the obvious aliens, shoot the smaller ones, and shoot the green traffic lights, thats how you get a high score, and GET THE SUIT, you need an average of 200,000 per car so dont sit with anyone who looks dumb!

Now you are in time to see BLUES BROTHERS show at 11.30, they are amazing! SEE IT! Aretha Franklin was just awesome, and they arrive in the car...love it. THEY ARE ON A MISSION FROM GOD

We then like to stop for a cheeky midday cocktail at the Irish pub since it gets very hot and sweaty watching and dancing yourself silly with the brothers in the hot sunshine! So a quick refresher is needed, check out this pub, how funny is this irish menu? SCOTCH EGG cobb salad?!

THEN watch beetlejuice show at 12.30 (see how well it times out!) Then go BACK and do JAWS, (be aware...i think the driver might have engine failure...and drive to the old boat shed....duh da...duh da...duh da duh da...you know the rest)
THEN do the FASTPASS for the MUMMY, do TWISTER, grab lunch in the MONSTERS PLACE or in ITALY where they have pizza and STARBUCKS! then make yourself feel very sick as your fastpass return is up for the mumy ride whch is HELLA scary!!
then back to do T2 ride (sit in the front section) and E.T and your DONE! Phew! WELL DONE

heres E.T to say BYEEEEEEEEEEE! after this you need a good dinner, I reccomend PONDEROSA which is an amazing buffet. I shall tell more about that later....love and lushness to you all.

How to remain stylish at theme parks

Florida Theme Parks. Not the most lavishly Lush of locations for fashion. One could say quite the opposit. They are hot and sweaty. The humdidity of Orlando means any hairstyle is immediately turned to haystack. If it isnt raining, then the water rides will soak you..(when it says, "you may get wet on this ride" they MEAN you are about to have a shower with 20 other strangers)

Here see how Bex and I substitute our usual stylish ways to the evils of Floridian theme parks. There are no explanations for some of these fashion crimes. I simply shall not atempt it. I shall apologise and promise I will be back to my usual self when in London...if they will have me back after what I have done......

3D glasses. Not mature, not sexy...not even on correctly.

Dressing up the same as your sister. AND the same as Disney characters. Not sexy. Although the poses are genius

What is it about theme parks that makes my sister and I morph into vaudville child stars with 'spirit fingers' flapping?

This is Bex and I finding it hillarious how much she resembled the polar bear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear....but it get worse, the final insult.

Matching Minnie mouse tops, matching rain ponchos. Audience, I am truly sorry, I do not deserve your forgiveness, but please try to forget this dark time.

HARD ROCKIN NIGHTS AT MARGHERITAVILLE UNIVERSAL ORLANDO

Citywalk is the best place to go at night in Universal Studios, because theres loads of nice food, live music and most importantly strong and sexy cocktails!

Emerils is the post nosh gaff. Here you get the full works...waiters dressed in the penguin suits and the food is always presented in interesting shapes and with 'jus' of stuff.

We werent in the mood for that after a long day at the park so we opted for Margheritaville! (the name suggests good things.

When you ask for a table they will tell you an impossibly long wait time, like 90 minutes. Dont listeb. This is just to put off people who dont really want margheritas and those people with children, who should be kept at home in general (worst thing about theme parks, they should leave childrens rides to people who can appreciate it properly...adults)

Take the buzzer and go to the outside cocktal bar. Its a beach bar overlooking both the beautiful parks and the lake twinkles with all the lights, the staff are great, quick, and its just a lovely place to sip a hurricane drink. (Florida's best cocktail if done right)

Check out those names!?!

So we selected our beverages and I ordered gorgeous spicy shrimp (shrimp are supposed to be small, these are monsters) the food is lovely, fast to the table and HUGE! I usually order starter sized main courses as Florida is simply made for bigger bellied people (you can see by their size)

The band starts at 10, but to be honest we were too tired. Back to the HARD ROCK HOTEL to swim off some of those cocktail calories in the late night pool! OPEN TILL MIDNIGHT! another hard rocking night in Orlando. Jesus I love this town.

HARD ROCK HOTEL ORLANDO-Lush line jumping and living

To queue is not lush.
To pay for 5pm cocktails (until 7.30) is not lush

Skipping all the lines at Universal studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks Florida is very very lush. Free wine beer soft drinks and CD library with 'beck and call smiley' concierge staff and lovely snack buffet, thats lavishly lush.

This is the very aerosmith concierge level of the HARD ROCK HOTEL orlando. This hotel is the only way to stay at Universal studios. You dont have to wait in line. You simply show your room key at rides and go staright to the front of the line. Apart from that theres loads of other perks.

The room is lovely, lush enough for 3 Scarrott ladies, I dont mind sleeping in the same bed as my sister, she only mumbles a bit in her sleep...mum however snores like a trooper, but then Im coughing up a lung every night so we are as bad as each other!

The transportation is awesome. River busses take you to each park, dining area, nightclub and bar all day every day for free, they are prompt and fun, and I love arriving to look at the amazing parks twinkling lights over your own private water way!


And the final lush lifestyle activity is watersliding and hot tubs in the dark with cocktails!! Hard rock understands a girls need for an apple martini and some hot bubbly water after a hard days enjoying yourself and doing rollercoaters! Honestly, the things I do to write an entertaining blog...So thankfully the HARDROCK HOTEL has cocktail waitresses tending to the hot tub till midnight every night, and the food is also amazing, have the hot dog, its perfect for stopping the hangover before it starts! AND DO THE WATER SLIDE. DO IT. NO ITS NOT CHILDISH....ok it is, but Lush likeeee! WHEEEEE!

Scarrott sister vacation 2009! Lush lounge, Lush location, Lush Life!

Rebecca, Joanna, and the original Jocelyn (big mumma) Scarrott are returning to our second home, Orlando Florida....well really we mean Disney world and Universal Studios.

When I mention 'vacation' do not be decieved. An Orlando trip is a battle plan. There are one million and one things to do, and the Scarrott ladies are adept at attempting one million and two. Relaxing? no, but satisfying. Add enough cocktails and Starbucks stops to any 14 hour day holiday schedule and you get our ideal experience. Of course, Jojo is the Lush of the group. I dont mind what we do....as long as its luxury.

I must admit we didnt have the fighting chance we usually have. As you can see we have injuries in the team. I had suspected swine flu, and a motorcycle burn, Becky has a broken foot in a cast, and mother (usually our weak link) is now promoted to team captain. On the flip side I got to ride in one of those cool disabled buggies at Gatwick, now thats Lush...walk through terminals dahrling? not if I can ride.

Secondly Ive heard tell of this dull economic thingy...yawn. All I know is I dont fly first class any more. I thought it would be the end of my life, I didnt know one COULD turn right on a plane. Did you know on some flights you have people sit either side of you! Perfect starngers! its awful...

However I was very very impressed with virgin premium economy. Being gold card members we still got to go to the virgin first lounge, which is lovely, though dissappointingly you can NEVER book into the spa any more!! ONE STYLIST on duty!! WHY! I need at least 2 just for myself!

The cocktails however are still awesome, the 'virgin redhead' was obviously created just for me, a berry liquer and champagne pick me up, who wouldnt at 9am?

The flight was dull. 9 hours, films I've seen, a measly meal (what happened to my first class open butler style menu!! Damn you economy thingy!!) and people who..well you would expect to be jostling shoulders with in primark.

The upside is of course its cheap as chips. Only £200 to upgrade! NOTHING! AND you fast pass all the queues at Gatwick and you get off the flight first so get your luggage first and get to the happy hours in plenty of time!

So we were nicely ushered through to our Dollar rent-a-pimp-ride (jeep, nice) after a small girly technological hitch with a satnav (the bitch wont speak to us, we keep getting salsa music instead of mileage and turns) we found the HARD ROCK HOTEL UNIVERSAL STUDIOS.

And...damn. This girl isnt easily impressed by a hotel, especially not a 'theme' hotel, but this place is the dog's swingers.

The standard room is huge

and any minibar stocked as well as this (margherita mix? hendricks gin? this isnt your half bottle of white and a can of Carslberg) makes me feel like Im rocking hard. I shall inform more about this amazing hotel tommorow as its just too cool to squeeze into one blog. Sorry Ive been away so long....pick your excuse, rehab, pregnant, boob job. Up to you. (truth is I've been working too hard, but thats just not lush) x

City diner turned City disaster

Magic ingredients. Red couches, shiny surfaces, tall stools, 24 hour sign, jukebox, condiments for days, a menu that's stupidly 'takes 20 minutes to read' massive and unapproved by the heart foundation, and smiley kitsch uniformed waitresses who remember your orders time after time.
City diner in Shanghai has so many ticks, and so many crosses. I just dont know what happened to this place, I used to love it. It had so much going for it, and still could do. But as with any popular place in an overpopulated city in time of recession, details make the difference between opening and closing.
1. ANY TIME OF DAY ORDER ANYTHING!
woohoo! In a city where restaurants notoriously close early and people notoriously work late and party hard, I have no idea why more places dont open 24 hours. Plus its a city of international travelers. The stupid 13 hour time differences between the USA and Shanghai often mean Im left with a craving for chicken ceasar salad and barbeque beans at 3 am. And really, who doesnt want cheesy nachos with chili after a 5am night of whisky wine and women.
2. LOCATION
On Tongren Lu, smack in the middle of the bars, and minutes walk from my house and major expat compounds, the diner used to be a bright shiny beacon of bacon burgers and breakfast beer any time of day.
3. ENTERTAINMENT
free wireless, pretty awesome rock music playlist, crayons for kids and all the expat magazines. This is what I used to while away insomniac nights to at City Diner...sadly now this is a thing of the past.
4. FOOD
It used to be pretty darn convincing.
5. EX MANAGER
Now pinched by Azul Viva (great tapas place on Hengshan) this chick is one of the best waitresses in town. City diner were fools to let her go.
6. The cakes. I dont know where they get the flour or the ovens strong enough, but baking is a disaster generally in China, except for here...are they importing this stuff?


The diner itself is hardly shining like the chrysler building, on a dark rainy day 2 lamps were switched on, the place looks depressing and cold and dark. The whole point of diners is the happy good feeling you get walking in.

The chilli was even blander than the decor, once punchy and zesty, an award winning chilli in Shanghai once I believe, it now flounders in the normal to poor section of my grading.

And bizzarly was served with bread and jam.
But the real tragedy is the staff.
The restaurant was empty yet I was pretty much completely ignored. No offer of my abligatory free refills on my ice tea, direct dissmissal of my requests for no sugar in it when it did come. A 1 hour conversation about how I didnt want corn bread, involving having to call an external manager to ask what corn bread was (its on the menu served with chilli, I asjed to not have it, this obviously was baffling) the staff all stood in a corner chatting about me (I understand enough Chinese to know gossip and insults) and the final insult, when asking for the bill the waiter swanned around on his mobile and held a finger up to me to say he was busy talking and couldnt serve me.

City diner you are another of this cities disasters. I wish I could just be bitchy and happy about it as I usually am, but I really liked you, its such a darn shame.

And then there were 6

I would say my new apartment is pretty spacious...for a couple to live in. As my regular readers will know I used to occupy a lovely 2 bedroom pad in Jingan temple central Shanghai....yeah, I also used to have a personal assistant and a fat wage, but sadly I woke up one day and economists and all kinds of boffins and headlines broke the horrible news to me that my champagne Charlotte lifestyle was over...anyways Ive learnt that being impoverished is actually a right laugh in Shanghai. And so welcome to my gorgeous new pad, made even more gorgeous by the fact its got my lovely one in it, though Im not entirely sure where we plan my shoe collection, cats and ballgowns to go.

This week, however, and worries I had about being able to fit ME in the new apartment have been utterly thwashed as we are currently housing 5 SWEDES. YES 6 people, 1 bed. That does sound rather Swedish doesnt it?

Welcome to the world of communal living. We are honoured in the house that 'Captain Slowhand' (our band, and if you havent heard of us WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING GET YOUR HEAD OUT THE SAND) to not only still have TOR (god of thunder), but have been joined by 2 new hot female vocalists, Emma and LouLou and boyfriend Eric (alarmingly tall) Added to the tenants Flawless Al and JoJo Lush makes a 6 piece band of fun.

When guests come to China to visit you always have a hankering to show them the 'authentic' parts of your world, not simply the pretty view from the bund and take tea and dumplings at yue gardens. I like to take guests to traditional restaurants and experiment with pointing to mad dishes on menus...however seems Swedes know what they like, and its not chickens feet, so no Chinese cuisine for these guys! But our current living arrangement gives quite an insight into Chinese life.

China is crowded. Shanghai is a city of 18.8 million people, and living, working, shopping and travelling right on top of one another is par for the course here. I was shocked and amazed when I first MOVED here at the magnitutde of endless endless houses. From the moment you get past the maglev station the housing is outerworldly sprawling like ants est, who on earth lives in all of this? It is mind boggling to imagine the millions of little lives buzzing away in the little boxes stacked on top of each other that typify China. And of course I hope I needed comment on the relevance to traditional Chinese culture that our 'communal' living ways represent.... (wow my blogs probably going to be banned now, I very nearly said the 'c' word)

This is the view from our window in the affordable housing sprawl of Chingning. Changning is linked to central parts of Shanghai by an excellent metro station Zhongshan PArk, and well littered with large store amenities due to the affordable land (best buy, Carrefor, B&q etc) all signs that you are kind of on the outskirts of town, you dont find lala coffe bars, and little boutiques selling necklaces for poodles round here. Now we may all currently be living side by side on 2 sofas and 1 bed (we're going to draw names out of a hat to find out who is where) but China is all about living right on top of each other, so I feel we are giving our friends an authentic experience.

For the full China overcrowding tour, I also suggest a nice relaxing 8.30am or 6pm trip past Peoples Square on the subway, a favourite with perverts and wrestling fans

And finish it off with a trip to QiPu Lu fake market, the sardine can of all shopping, best served steaming hot in mid summer, you cant appreciate from this picture how LOUD the Chinese are as well, turn up the volume heat and add WAY more bodies than EU health regulations allow, you've got your Shanghai experience.

The prep, for the rock of your life. JoJo Lushes guide to getting into the zone for a gig in Shanghai

There are many disadvantages to rocking in Shanghai, crappy equipment, horrible weather, restrained crowds, terrible pay... but also many advantages, drunken expat groupies, forgiving audiences and excellent prep facilities, such as open bars, open mic nights, and open 24 hour beauty parlors for glam rock girls like myself.aptain Slowhand, whom I dedicate every gig to.

(captain) a real rock and roller, lived fast died young, in a bathtub.....


Then I have an opportunity to do the whole "1, 2...1, 2..." hing whilst the boys do all the clever electrical bits. I dont sing much before a gig, one because my voice doesnt run marathons, its more of a sprinter, or since we have 2 singers, a relay race! Also because the songs seem to sound better if you havent done them to death.

This is how the boys do their clever stuff, it involves lots of electrical toys and swearing in Swedeish, which must be lots of fun for them.

This is also when I get to do my makeup, see above for inspiration.

THE BREAK

after this we have a break, since customers will come at 8 ish and we dont play till 10, this is when I like to go to the hair salon, I use the AMAZING one on xikang lu by Xinzha lu next to KFC. They dont speak english but its 100rmb for the top designer to do your hair and hes awesome.

THE BALANCE

WATER vs WHISKY
Lubrication vocally and mentally is a tricky one.
WATER= you will remember your lines, your voice will be better, you wont fall over, you wont be dehydrated.
WHISKY=you will rock out more

currently my voice hasnt been great so im staying off the source which has made gigs 1,000,000 times more nerve racking. I never got nerves, but now Im concentrating on my sobriety so much Ive convinced myself Im going to suck on stage....maybe I should just get back on the wagon!

But my top tip is malibu and pineapple, not strong, not dehydrating, and pineapple juice is great for the voice. Mix it with calpol and Halls menthols, you'll be wheeling!

Rock on folks.
waer

The coolest band rehearsal space in Shanghai

Scared yet?

You will be as you walk down the damp and forboding corridors of the studio bomb shelter in Ling ling LU (road). Studio 0093 is a play on words, "Ling Ling" is slang for 00, and its number 93 on that road. And it rocks. This is a studio for local young rock bands, and its geared towards kids just trying to rock hard. At only 25rmb per hour (normal 5 piece band less than 10 cents each) it makes it an easy option to use amps, leads, and drum kits and not piss you parents and neighbours.

Facilities...well they are basic and faulty, the mic's suck, the drum kit is dodgy, its either cold or hot, and the toilets are nearly humanly unusable. However on the bright side 25RMB AN HOUR TO ROCK YOUR TITS OFF, and some good amps, and other really awesome local bands will be rocking out all around you, since the place is like a damp labyrinth of studio room. Through the walls and cracks of which we have seen some lushoius suite stuidos...hmm wonder what bribes you have to give to book those. Our room is basic but we love it. Its the Slowhand room.

Dress code obviously is relaxed, which rocks, since when you are lead singer you hvae to consider your image for the venue managers. A little more than necessary I think. Now IM not in any way in a quandry about my looks. Im a small ginger troll. But Im also a super fox. I however how found in Shanghai venue owners picking on my height, weight, image...blah blah blah...I rock, end of story, and can I be a sexual goddess on stage? Oh please...

i suggest brigning you own hygenic wipes for the mic

and toilet paper beer and supplies of snacks, in a bomb shelter a "3 hour" rehearsal without sunlight to tell you the time easily turns into 7 or 8 hours....
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and of course Miss JoJo Lushes rider, cough medicine and lollypops...hmmm now thats rock and roll.