It should be very obvious to you guys by now that I would love to just attend every event possible. One of the greatest things about being able to go to events all over the country is to see the variety of builds from everywhere. I look forward to a lot of out of state events just because I’d like to sometimes see what else is out there. I don’t think that I take living out here in Socal for granted but I do admit that there are times when I do get tired of seeing the same cars over and over again. We have so many different shows/meets/events out here that it does tend to get a little over saturated sometimes. I noticed that more than ever in 2012… I just think that there were too many events back-to-back and it made every show very similar. One of the main reasons I go is for the environment and  it is always amazing to see people from other parts of the country. You just get a completely different feel when you’re in unfamiliar territory, looking at builds you’ve never seen before. I’m sure people from outside of Cali feel the same way when they come out here. One of the things that really struck me was that I remember reading somewhere last week how different WEKEAST was from the Wekfest events out here. What caught their attention was that the crowd reacted differently during the awards ceremony because almost everyone applauded any time an award was announced. People just don’t do that out here anymore. I don’t know if it is because of their competitive nature or because their are so many events that they already expect to know who wins, but they just aren’t as enthusiastic as before. It would have been cool to have been at WEKEAST during the awards ceremony to experience that. I’m not saying anyone is better than anyone else. You can’t really judge people based on an observation or a reaction so it would be wrong to assume who is better. It’s just…. different, you know? It would have been great to have been out there to gauge how people were and to see the automotive community from that perspective. It all sounds kind of trivial if you don’t care or need to know how people are but for me, it is important. As I’ve always said, the people matter more than the cars and I’m happy to have been able to meet the people that I have throughout the years. I appreciate the interaction more than the cars themselves because material things come and go. The experiences that you have and the company you keep will stick with you until the grave…..

The next best thing to actually being there at an event is to see coverage from people who are random strangers. You don’t really have any idea who they are or what they are into so there are no predetermine prejudices about them. What you see is what they have captured on camera and what catches their eye. I don’t believe anyone covers events the way I do and I’m sure everyone does and sees things their own way so that nobody’s coverage is identical to the others. I always like to use Eric Badis’ photos because, after seeing multiple sets of photos from various events, I feel we have a similar taste and liking in cars. He captures a lot of what I want to see and more. He’s also not a bad photographer either so it really helps to make this site flow consistently with good content. Last week, you guys had a chance to see Eric’s coverage of WEKEAST in parts 1 and 2. If you haven’t, I have provided the links below for you to catch up…

WEKEAST 2012 Coverage…Part 1.. (Photos by Eric Badis)

WEKEAST 2012 Coverage…Part 2.. (Photos by Eric Badis)

Today we are going to take a look at WEKEAST from a completely new perspective. Raymond Leung is from Chicago and shoots occasionally for JDM Chicago, a Chi-town based automotive blog, and has been kind enough to provide the photos of WEKEAST today for your viewing pleasure. Most of you out here will be unfamiliar with his name but he’s built himself a very nice Mitsubishi Evo X that you saw in Eric’s coverage of WEKEAST. If you remember the white Evo X on bronze Work S1Rs and Japanese Esprit rear wing and graphic on the side, that’s Raymond’s. Just based on how he’s put his Evo X together, I already know that I’m going to be a fan of the stuff he captures on his camera. The guy has a good taste in parts so I’m sure he likes a lot of the car shit that I am into. I looked through a couple of different sets of photos that people have sent me from the event and Raymond’s are some of my favorites. Part 3 and 4 of the WEKEAST coverage will be provided by Raymond Leung. Enjoy and let’s sit back and look at the event from a “Chi-Town Perspective”…

A quick group shot on one of Raymond and friend’s random stops on the drive from Chicago to New Jersey… If you’re wondering, I think the drive from Chicago to Jersey is around 14 hours…

Random, but I thought it was pretty cool to show you since I’ve seen this MR-2 pop up on various sites and social media outlets… This is what it takes to get those massive Work Equips onto a SW20 MR-2…The above shot was taken before they left…

…and this the morning of roll-in, when I guess some “adjustments” had to be made to get the wheels to clear…

Some interesting weather conditions presented themselves on the drive to WEKEAST…

I’m sure everyone had their collective buttholes clinched when they saw this rig on the side of the road…

Ready to roll-in that morning of Wekfest East…

Inside the venuw, JDM Chicago was well-represented…

Michael Braeuner’s Evo X, Raymond’s Evo X, and Miguel Alvarez’s Subaru…

Gene Siepka’s Amuse 370Z on Venaci wheels…

Miguel Alvarez’s Subbie once again on concave Work Emotions…

Big fan of the bronze S1R wheels on Raymond’s Evo X…As mentioned in Eric Badis’ coverage, also really like the utilization of the Esprit livery…

Michael Braeuner’s Varis widebody Evo X had to have been one of the “must-see” builds of WEKEAST…

Allen Castillo’s Itasha-themed JZA80 Supra…

Zandro Zafra’s UCF20 LS400…

Jason Kiang’s E60 535i with Prior Design aero and 20-inch Leon Hardiritt Ordens…

Sergey Anisonyan aka “Sergey’s” MR-2 on very aggressive step-lipped Work Equips…

Mike Szabo’s flared Subaru WRX…

Clive Hendricks’ Subaru WRX STi…

Infiniti G37. owned by Peter Skopas, on candy teal-faced ISS Forged wheels…

Alex Witkin’s incredibly-done engine bay on his right hand drive Subaru STi… This was one of the cars that I really wish I had the opportunity to see in person…

Can’t believe it’ll almost be a year now since I had the opportunity to see Joy Abdalla’s Subaru and engine bay for the first time at the 2011 SEMA event…

Audi wagon hammered on Vossen wheels…

AMS Autowerks’ Porsche Panamera on DPE wheels…

Tyrone Pertab’s Lexus GS400 from Liberty VIP…

Y50 Q45 “gatling gun” headlight retrofit…

Pertab’s 2GS engine bay…

Love the red diamond-stitched interior…

Shot of the rear…

Note the matching red trunk and re-barreled Junction Produce wheels…

Paul Tran’s 2GS on Ordens…

Satin red Evo X…

Nicely done S13 hatchback on Work Meister S2Rs…

S2000 with custom grey SSR Professor SP1s…

Tae Im’s NSX looked really busy with all the stickers and the yellow headlight film…

….but the engine bay was looking intense with the NX nitrous system and individual throttle bodies…

NA1 NSX that you saw in our 2012 Tuner Evolution coverage on gunmetal Work Meister S1s…

K-turbo Integra with Japanese ITR front…

Clean two-toned bay on this Civic…

Jeff Ritucci’s FD3S RX-7 from Team EMOTION…

Loving the color-scheme fn this Evo on WEDSport TC105Ns…

Kiet Hong’s Mugen RSX with K20-swap and boost…

T&E Vertex widebody Soarer/Lexus SC coupe…

Clean Toyota MR-S on Work Meister CR01s… Don’t see these modded very often anymore…

Gonna stop here for today everybody…hope you guys enjoyed the coverage so far…thanks to Raymond Leung for providing these great shots!… Stay tuned for more tomorrow!…