Crazy Impreza offset.

I found of this Impreza while browsing Speedhunters. This is one of the craziest wheel set-ups I have seen on an Impreza, looks really good. I always admire simple Imprezas like these, somewhat stock looking yet simple exterior parts. And its white!

Las Vegas again...alone.

Well, it's off to Las Vegas again for another business trip, check up on things, haha. Last time I went was with my parents during the weekend of my birthday. But this time, I am going solo, what was planned out with a few friends turned out to be just me. I guess it will be okay, gives me some time to collect my thoughts, eat buffets and work out. So, I'll be at the bar at the Wynn sitting with a glass of scotch in a black suit, white shirt and with a black tie if anyone is going and wants to join me. Even though I have some time for myself to get things together, this still sucks man! This suppose to be a trip with the buddies, going around, getting wasted, whistling at the hoochies, smoking cigars, whistling at some more hoochies, going to the hotel passing out and the next day we start all over. Oh well.

Yokohama/Advan ADO8.

Yokohama/Advan Tire Co. has finally came out with a new line of the Neova model, the ADO8, replacing the highly rated and most popular Neova ADO7. This new model comes in sizes 15 inch to 19 inch. I personally admire the tread design of this specific Neova, it has more of an aggressive design to it, seems that it will be a good grip tire, I wonder how it will rate as a drift tire.

Bulletproof Automotive R35

Ben Schaffer, CEO/President of Bulletproof Automotive, built a R35 GT-R for Sema, and I must say this is an award winner in my book, and the best car out I have seen compared to many of the other Sema Cars. Lately I have admired the style and tuning concept that Ben is all about, especially for the business part of the automotive industry. He has many connections from the folks in Japan, such as Varis, Advan, Toyo Tires, Mines and especially Top Secret, which they are the main U.S. distributors for the products. Lately he has also put many graphic designs on his car from MS-R (Manabu Suzuki Revolution), a decal graphic designing brand from Manabu Suzuki, Option magazine editor and D1 judge. If I ever became a part of the business field in the automotive tuning industry, I would love to be like Mr. Schaffer.

Lost in Reality.

My mind is lost! I am lost! Once again I have lost what I held so close and felt so happy for. Right now I am down to my knees, broken down to almost nothing. My pride still stands, my mind stays strong, but what good is it if my heart is close to empty. I feel so empty. And yet, maybe there is something out there to bring me back. When will it come to pick me up off my knees? A man should stand tall, looking at life with strength in his eyes. A man is told to never cry. But how can you resist such pain. I cried with pain inside, pain from reality. I cried as a man. I broke down because I suddenly felt lost. I lost. I lost because the reality is, the system is never fair. I lost because of how life is never fair. All I can do now is breathe, think, and wonder when it will be fair for me. I wait and wonder when the time will come where I smile for real, like I did before I was lost.

Too Much.

You start out as a person with no care. You show no care for the person you feel intimate towards, and that is a problem. You become a better man as time goes by. You care too much, and that is a problem. You connect with someone, and it is the best thing you have felt. You end up caring. You end up loving. You feel complete inside. You're actions come from what you feel and care about so much. Out of everything you have obtained, it wont last forever, and you know it, you expect it. You are who you are, and that is either never enough or too much. Your heart becomes stronger each moment you spend. Your heart is too strong to the point where you are weak and vulnerable. Your heart brings you down to your knees. You are lost. I am lost. I am on my knees. I am just too much, because my heart is too much.

Quantam of Solace: Two thumbs up!

Today my Mom and I watched James Bond: Quantam of Solace, and I must say, it is everything I expected, worth getting juiced on. So much action, good story, Daniel Craig is one of the best, he definitely is one of the top 3 best James Bond's, next to Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. Daniel Craig was crazy! He was just a stone cold killer. And the new bond girl, Olga Kurylenko is just too beautiful. I give it a 9/10, sooo much aciton, makes it feel short, but there is definitely going to be a third one. All of the James Bond movies were always different stories, but this one is all continuing, good stuff. A must see.

Reality.

When you put reality to the side, only thinking about it on your own time, you end up just making reality much harder than it is. Every night is like a reality check, it is like a slap in the face, and once you recieve that slap, you wake up and realize that life is limited to fortunes, but you have unlimited amounts of space for misfortunes. Reality...the reality is that obstacles are a part of life, we all know it, but inside we always ask ourselves "why is my life just full of obstalces, when do I get a break?" "When do I get a break?" "When?" The break I had was absolutely the best, the most comfort I have felt in quite some time. Break...that basically represents temporary time to me. Temporary is what it always is. It would be nice to find permanent, not necessarily permanent, but a long period of time. Time is what is limited, time is what needs to be taken advantage. When you do not take advantage of time, it slips away quickly, does not cooperate well with you. If I had more time and if it was given to me at a better moment, my heart would never have it's empty spaces.

Flower Like Life.

My life, pretty much like everyone else's life, is like a flower. Start with your personality, character...you in general. I was a person who displayed such a cold sense of character, character without care or doubts. I grew as time went by, grew in ways of self-improvements, trying to be a better person for myself and those around me. You grow, and finally after the times you have been through, you come to the point of being prepared to express yourself, with something that almost everyone can appreciate. And when you grab the attention of someone with what you have, you come to the point of perfection. The perfection for me...I found myself at a position of happiness, joy, and most of all...comfort. But do we last long? With what we have, does it last long? If something that brings joy to your life lasts long, we would feel perfect everyday, obstacles would be just a strong gust of cold wind that we would have to hold onto, but in the end, we stand with a smile. But the reality is, is that reality is never fair and is never the right feeling. The reality is, nothing stays beautiful forever, not even life. The reality is, we seem to only be happy or at least satisfied, in a dream world.

My Debut.

If many of you did not know, I am the new model/Spokesmen for Banana Republic x Fix Gear Biking x National Park Awareness. Just kidding, but I have always been Kenny's model, hahaha!

Gangsta BBQ 2008.

Once again, I had another bbq for my birthday, something the guys and I enjoy doing because its a time where everyone can get together again and have a few laughs. I got to the park around 8:30, to get a good spot and hold the fort down, and I did get a good spot! I must say this year was a success, more people came compared to last years, but both were fun. I cant believe I am now 22 years old, at first I felt as if nothing would feel different, but actually, while I was in Las Vegas for the actual date of my birthday, everything did feel different for me. Im starting to grow hair in really weird places now, hahaha! Anyways, this year about 15 people showed up, we had much more food than before but not enough Korean beef (f.y.i, I was on a tight budget.) Richard and I also bought some fresh oysters at the last minute. I also bought some potato salad from Costco, and the whole time I thought no one would eat it, but in the end, it was a big hit, everyone got their hands on some. And of course the weather was perfect, but like always it was very windy. Got lots and lots of pictures since Jeff got all juiced with Kenny's camera. Fun to look at I must say. All of the Gents. Jeff trying to kill Kenny. "Hey muscley arms." Only the good stuff, have to drink it with class of course. Beer! Give me strength! Everyone got all crazy excited when Tina was about to drink, which is actually really CRAZY, but she didnt. And of course, Jeannie would not shut up. Richard and I, doing what we do...being hardcore! Chris, getting all pumped up with testosterone and sausages. Audrey and I, doin our thang doin our thang. Jeff's tattoos, the sparrows represent our love and friendship, hahaha! If you didnt know, I am doing a "Big Brother For the Day" program, and this little guy is my little bro. What a trooper. Thank you Lois for the cake that you were suppose to make but you didnt! Oops, wrong bbq... ...here it is! Updated. After everyone split up around 6, Brian and I went to Hotel De Anza's lounge, and he bought me a birthday drink. Nice and relaxing it was, thanks Brian, real good pal you are. I am definitely going to miss this, the whole day was absolutely perfect, but then I cannot wait for the next one.

R.i.p. Hideki Tanabe- Powerhouse Amuse

I do not know what is going on these days, but it seems that many people are passing away. Today I just found out that one of the top automotive tuners and shop owner in Japan, Hideki Tanabe, founder, owner and driver of Powerhouse Amuse/ Ericsson, passed away from illness. To me this man is one of the top few tuners in the world who has done the unthinkable. First off, designing the Hi-Tech Rom ECU, designing and creating many high quality carbon fiber products, and also known for his Titanium products such as exhaust systems. Some of his famous project/shop cars are the R1 Titan R34, which the whole body was constructed in carbon fiber except for the roof; and the R1 Titan GT1 S2000, which was known for his debut of the GT1 widebody kit. This is a man who definitely understands and displays true passion for tuning, and presents many of his skills through the designs and quality of his products. His attention to detail in tuning and designing have been displayed through many races and other events with no doubt, and I see him as one out of very few people out there who knows what the true essence of tuning is all about.

Thats My Boy!

Well, my favorite driver/main man Manabu Orido has done it again in the Bandoh Racing/ Wedsport IS in GT300, I believe this is his 3rd podium stand, and 2nd first place out of the 3. What else is there to say, he is just a great driver who has so much potential that grows more and more stronger each time he drives. This is a man who is a true driver and a passionate person when it comes to the automotive industry. Congrates Orido!!!

Greddy/Trust: Bankrupt.

Greddy, also known in Japan as Trust Industries is found to be bankrupt. It doesnt make sense to me because they seem to be selling well in the U.S. and Japan, for example their exhausts and turbo charger kits, and they have a D1 Spec S15 driven by Masato Kawabata. Also one of the largest Tuning shops in Japan, RE Amemiya, who specializes in rotary's, mainly Mazdas, are also sponsored by Trust and have been using their products for many years, and their D1 Spec Mazda FD3S RX-7 driven by Masao Suenaga is one of the top 10 drivers. Hopefully this ends up in a positive case, with nothing leading to the company coming to an end. Trust has been around since the mid 1970's, and Greddy came to the picture in the U.S. market in 1994, and during those times were when gross sales were going up, and now it is going down, down to almost $60million debt. Good luck to them, hopefully they get back on their feet and keep the import tuning industry strong, because they played a big roll in bringing it up, especially in the U.S.

San Francisco w/ Mom.

Today my Mom and I went to San Francisco, its been awhile to since we went together. First we went to Stonestown mall to see my cousin Jenny who is a hair stylist at Regis, its almost 3 years seeing her. After that we went to Japantown and went to visit Kenny at Fatlace, good to see pals in different areas. Then after J-Town we went Fisherman's Warf, and the funny thing is, I do not know how the heck I get my way around San Francisco...but I seem to know where everything is, hahaha! Once we got to Fisherman's Warf, we were really happy to be there since it has been like 5 years since the last time we were there together. And the best part was, we ate at my favorite restaurant, the Franciscan. Entrance. Clam Chowdaaah! Spicy Prawn. Team Segway. So many cars at the Warf, so many seagulls pooping.

2008 S.F. Aids Walk.

This was a couple of months ago, but I did not post it, to much to talk about so I will just make it short. This was my second time participating in the San Francisco Aids Walk under Gap Inc. The weather was completely the opposite of San Jose, it started to sprinkle on the way up there, and as we walked it was just chilly through out the day, but nice to feel cool weather for a change. It didnt seem like there was much people there compared to last year where it was literally like 20,000 people, this time it felt like 15,000, haha.

Tropic Thunder...Hilarious Also!

Today my Mom and I went to see Tropic Thunder, and it was a blast to watch. A lot of the action they portray pretty much exaggerates the typical war movies you see. And Robert Downey Jr. as a black guy was hilarious, he made the movie funnier than it was. 9/10.

Pineapple Express...Hilarious!

Today I went to go see Pineapple Express with Victoria, and I must say, for the 2 1/2 hours we were watching it...the whole time I was just cracking up. It wasnt like laughing out of my chair, but every scene was just simply funny. James Franco played a really good pot-head, he just made everything more funnier. I give it a 9 out of 10. And a full 10 if I was high, haha. Check it out soon.

Ferrari and Maserati Designer dies at 51.

Andrea Pininfarina, who has been designing many Italian cars, mainly Ferrari's and Maserati's, for over 20 years has passed away at the age of 51.

Ichiro Suzuki x Levis: Flu Denim.

Heres a collaboration with Levis and Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners, Levis Flu Edition Denim. Not really into the whole denim hype, but these do look mighty nice. Unfortunately only 500 released.

Summer Time

So I have about 1 1/2 months left of summer break, and all I have been doing lately is just reading, working out, eating well, barely working and watching The Office, which I watch so much, practically everyday, but it doesnt get old. The only exciting that has happened is the Hella Flush meet, maybe thats why I keep bringing that topic up, the only fun thing in the past month 1 /12, haha. We'll see.

This is how I spend my summer.


Go here...


And eat Tuna all day everyday.

Hella Flush pt.2 Hopefully this gets on dvd. Haha!

Video from the Hella Flush event. Can you find James??? Watch carefully, more than one shot. I hope this gets on some kind of dvd, haha. http://www.vimeo.com/1436609?pg=embed&sec=1436609&hd=1

The Red-Rocket- The Machine That Defined Me.

It was just like yesterday when I bought her, my dream car that I wanted for 3 years before I purchased it. Straight from Stevens Creek Honda, yes...right out of a dealership, pretty crazy huh? She sat in the lot so calm and relaxed, with the reflection of the sun complimenting her color, giving her that glow. After starring at it for 2 hours, it was finally mine, a 1989 Nissan 240sx (Nissan RPS13 180sx Hatchback)or some know it as...The Red-Rocket.

She was perfect, just how I wanted her to be, ready to be built into a machine that expressed my lifestyle. Just sitting in it, I could feel her, and she could feel me, driving in ways that satisfied us both.

Since I wanted to build her to handle well, tackle corners as if they were on rails, I started with a simple suspension set-up. I put a Tokico Blue shocks with Tanabe GF210 spring combination, and I must say it was the perfect set-up for a daily driver or a cruise through the curvy roads. Plus it was the perfect ride height, it sat on the roads perfectly, ready to be driven. After driving it for over a month, I thought it needed something else, something that gave it "the look," so I gave it a zenki front lip. So I found one at the junkyard, haha. And with that, she not only sat perfectly, but she had the look of "I am ready to charge through the winds," and boy did she look mean, fearless yet calm and tammed.

Then I felt that she wanted to tell me something, expressing herself with words that I could understand best....an exhaust. I started off buying a titanium look-a-like muffler on ebay for $25, and I had my friend Jeff weld me a custom piping, at that time he left it a 2 1/2 inch piping just so I would not lose any back-pressure, so it sounded decent. After a few months, the muffler was wearing out in the insides since it was cheap, so it was time for a new one, but this time it was no joke. I ordered me an awfully beautiful GP Sports Exas Spec D exhaust. I can even remember the day Jeff, Richard and I picked it up. And man does she sound MEAN! Even today, she roars like a lion. That had to be the best upgrade on my car, she could finally express everything to everyone, and trust me, everyone could hear her. Before the GP Sport exhaust, a new clutch had to be installed, so I decided to get something affordable, nothing too agressive, yet good qualtiy, so what else could be better than Exedy from Daikin Clutch. The installation process was probably the most complicating thing I have ever done on a car. Richard, Jeff, and I worked at Jeff's house with the professional help of his father...Jeff, hahaha. It took us two long days to finish the installation, all of us were just covered with oil, dirt, oil residue and probably a bunch of other stuff. But it was fun at the same time, and I think we all learned a lot out of it. Finally after being finished, running with fresh Valvoline gear fluid, shifting felt so perfect, quick and responsive. My main focus on building the Red-Rocket was just the same as my favorite driver, Manabu Orido. He built his Ridox JZA80 Supra to be JGTC ( Japanese Grand Touring Championship) everyday, a circuit performing car driven as a daily driver. I wanted my car to be something like....D1/ Wangan everyday, hahaha. Simple drift/wangan concept, blasting though highways, ever since 7th grade, I wanted to blast through the highways going fast enough to feel the car ripping through the winds. Out of all of those cars, they had something important, coilovers.I've been wanting coilovers since the day I got my car, but money was not so easy to maintain, but easier than these days. I finally got some used D2 coilovers, other than the fact that I was scammed since the rear shocks on the suspension were blown and both front and rear dampening could not be adjusted, they were still very stiff. Even though I still had a lot of body roll, the front camber set-up helped me turn slighty easier. I know if I had proper coilovers, like Megan Racing, HKS, or Teins, the car would have handled almost perfectly. *Before the coilovers: Finally the day came, the day I regret so much every second I think, watch, or see drifting and Nissans. I crashed my car, to keep the story short, Richard and I drove up Hicks road, a pretty nice hill with tons of turns. It was early morning, the roads were damp with some mud. No drifting was involved, just doing what she was meant to do, tackle corners. I understeered, thats all I could say. I understeered. We both noticed the mistake and both saw what was coming to us. I hit a wall of fat, dry mud, and the crash did not feel that hard, but as I drove away from the wall I took a look, the hardest look I could make. It was over. Instead of the sharp fearlesss look she always displayed, she had the look of sadness, and like always, I could feel her. Because of the crash, I lost some faith, I felt that it was all over, nothing was left to do. Both the Red-Rocket and I were both done. After recieving my 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX Tr, which I could not be more in love with, I started to miss what I have been attached to for so long, a machine that did what I wanted and felt what I felt, something that the White Stallion/ Ridox Impreza could not really come close too. The more I miss it, the more I want to bring it back to life. The Red-Rocket was what opened my mind to what tuning cars are about, creating style and brining out vision. This not only represented my interest and passion to cars, but symbolized who I am. Nissans and Sivlias, those are some of the cars that dominate the tracks, mountains, hills and just basicaly...racing, and I could not be more lucky and more honored to own a piece of beauty that many well known tuners build and unleash. Its more than just a car, more than just a machine, its a symbol of lifestyle, and honestly I must say that I could not find anything else that could fit me more well. Perfect in every way.