Wekfest San Jose 2013 Coverage…Part 6…The Finale…


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This is the end…. the end to yet another successful year for the Norcal stop on the Wekfest tour. Ironically enough, today’s post actually has nothing to do with the show itself. As you guys saw in Part 5, the show came to a close and everyone went their separate ways. I decided to stay an extra day just so I could relax and hang out with some of my friends from Norcal. It’s not too often that we get to see one another so it is important to make time to spend it with good people. May had already flown home early the next morning following the show since she had to attend the 2013 Crossfit Games so I was on my own mostly. DPK David and his wife Jackie were still around but they just had to pick up their car from 5Fifteen Auto Body before they could drive home. David’s Lexus LS430 needed some touch-ups here and there so he brought the car up to Sunny a couple weeks before Wekfest. That morning, we all met up with some of the ATS Garage guys before going over to 5Fifteen. I took the time to document some of the day and evening and also most of Monday when I made the trek back to Socal with my Phaze2 brethren, Salem and DJ Murdok…

It should be obvious to you guys by now but there is absolutely ZERO Wekfest SJ coverage in Part 6. This is all what happened the two days after the show. If you are looking for show coverage, please look at the previous five parts of this series linked below…

Wekfest San Jose 2013 Coverage…Part 1…

Wekfest San Jose 2013 Coverage…Part 2…

Wekfest San Jose 2013 Coverage…Part 3…

Wekfest San Jose 2013 Coverage…Part 4…

Wekfest San Jose 2013 Coverage…Part 5…

That Sunday following the show, David came knocking on my hotel room door to let me know that we were meeting up with some of the guys to go eat breakfast. They wanted to take us to this place called Stacks over in the city of Burlingame. I didn’t get a photo of it but here’s a shot of it courtesy of Google Maps Street View…

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I guess it’s a pretty popular spot and just from waiting in line outside to get seated, we could already tell that the food looked pretty good. It was more of a “fancier” place though, with a lot of older white folks rocking the sweaters over their shoulders and what not, but I’m always down to try something new. It was pretty busy that day and we had a large party, so it took a moment to get seated. When we finally did, I found myself a bit overwhelmed by all the options that the menu offered…

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ATS AJ, his son Jace, and wife Reeze were literally walking distance from our hotel, so they joined us for breakfast…

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Chris and Dina Sakai made the drive from San Jose to hang out with us. Chris ordered the Fried Chicken and Waffles. It looked good but didn’t look comparable to Roscoe’s…

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ATS Philthy lathering up his waffle with butter…

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Rywire Ryan ordered up some Lox, which is Salmon served with cream cheese on a bagel…

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He thoroughly enjoyed it…

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I on the other hand, ordered the Biscuits and Gravy meal. I thought it’d be like your traditional Biscuits and Gravy with two small biscuits and all, but Stacks does it a completely different way. Everything that you see under all that gravy in the photo above is a biscuit. Shit was like gravy and pie but it was fucking delicious, haha. I couldn’t even finish it because I just couldn’t do that to my body but it was one of the most memorable meals of the trip…

Once we finished eating, we head back over to 5Fifteen Auto Body to go get David’s car. I didn’t really document the process because I knew I’d be back there again the next day. I was also busy washing my car at the shop because it got so filthy during the drive up along with our adventures in Downtown SF. I was gonna wait until I got home to wash it but there was so much shit on it (bird shit), that I just had to clean it up. We all hung out for awhile and then David and Jackie had to take off. They had a long drive and both worked the next day. At that point, we all parted ways and I drove back to the hotel to take a nap. I was still recovering from Wekfest and just wanted to stretch out my legs for a bit. What was supposed to be a nap ended up being like 4 hours of sleep… by the time I got up, it was already like 7 pm. So there went my day. I grabbed a snack at a local Taco Bell, watched some TV, just chilled for awhile, and then AJ hit me up to go get some Boba Milk Tea. He said some of the other guys wanted to hang out too before I left so we met up. There were also these delicious Taiwanese baked goods that he really wanted me to try to so he picked me up from the hotel and we went for a cruise…

AJ then took me on a journey through every day dad life and took my shopping at the grocery store, haha. It was an interesting experience and then we met up with some of the ATS Garage guys once again. I didn’t take any photos that night because there was nothing really exciting to document. We ate, drank, hung out, talked shit as usual, and that was my night. AJ dropped me off back at the hotel where I packed up my luggage and then called it a night…

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The next morning, it was time to load up the Odyssey and check out of my hotel. I’m a stickler for having non-wrinkly clothes so I did some ironing before I left. Salem and Murdok wanted to meet up at 5Fifteen Auto Body and Phil from ATS wanted to take us out to lunch before we drove back home…

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Nobody was around when I got to 5Fifteen, and Sunny was busy painting in the booth, so I walked around and checked out some of the projects at the shop…

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One of the more notable projects lurking within 5Fifteen was Sunny’s personal project car…

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The roll cage was just recently completed by IMS and I think you’d be surprised to learn…

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…that Sunny’s new project is an Accord Wagon. You guys have seen his Honda Insight build in the past so you know he’s all about creating unique car builds. This Accord, if it ever gets completed, will probably be one of the most unique builds we’ve ever seen…

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There is still a ton to do but basics are there, like the cage and his H22 swap…

Soon after, everyone showed up and it was time to head out to lunch. Phil wanted to take us out to lunch in the city but since we were still maybe 30 minutes south of Downtown SF, it was just easier to eat locally in Burlingame. We didn’t want to make our drive any longer so it just made sense. Ideas were tossed around but we eventually decided on eating some traditional Chinese dim sum. I don’t think Salem, Murdok and their friend Jose had ever had Dim Sum before, so it was gonna be an interesting experience for them…

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Huge ass lobster waiting for someone to chop it up and eat it at the Dim Sum spot…

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…and some live shrimp. Like most Chinese Dim Sum restaurants, it was pretty crowded that day. There was a long wait for a table but Sunny managed to pull some strings with the big boss and got us seated immediately. I don’t know what he did but I’m not gonna ask any questions, haha. All I wanted to do was eat at that point because I was starving…

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Sunny and Kris Yu from 5Fifteen Auto Body…

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A traditional Chinese Dim Sum classic, “Ha Gow”, which is a steamed shrimp dumpling…

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A Singaporean-style noodle dish made with curry powder and a mix of meats…

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Sunny knawing on some chicken feet, a dish that I do not fuck with, haha…

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Fried shrimp dumplings with a side of Mayo…

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ATS Phil taking care of some wedding planning while we had lunch…

Dim Sum really hit the spot but it was time to go back to 5Fifteen to hang out for a minute and let our foods digest..

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Sunny wanted me to add one of my decals to his paint booth, so I let Phil do the honors while I captured the moment…

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22-inch chrome vinyl decal applied…

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Some random snaps from around the shop… this widebody EVO looks like it’s gonna be pretty sick after it is all said and done…

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Project Mu brakes on an Infiniti M45 build that was getting prepped for paint…

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Some Volk TE37SLs that were just chillin’…

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Hiding along the side of the shop was this white EK chassis that belongs to William from Wekfest. He’s used to driving high horsepower cars but they convinced him to try to build a Honda…

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I got the guys together for a group photo before we set off on our drive back to Socal. Yes, that is Sunny’s old Insight in the background and it is a very bright yellow now. He actually sold the car and the new owner wanted it to be this color. Kind of a head scratcher since it’ll look like a really aggressive Taxi cab but hey, maybe that is the look the new owner is going for…

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Salem, Murdok, and Jose had to go drop off a rental car that they had so I waited for them at a gas station where I filled-up and blue-taped my front bumper. My paint job is probably less than two months old so I didn’t want to risk messing up my fresh JDM front bumper. Salem soon pulled up and then it was time to get back on the road for our six hour trek home. I make it a tradition to always stop by Harris Ranch on the way home from my Norcal trips. For those that don’t know, Harris Ranch is a steak restaurant in Coalinga, CA.

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I like the food there and it’s a good stop to rest at during the long drive. It smells like hot cow shit all the time outside but that’s how you know the beef is good, haha…

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Salem enjoyed a chicken salad…

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Murdok went all out and got the Country Fried Steak dinner…

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Jose got the Steak Salad, which looked pretty amazing…

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…and I got the Top Sirloin with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans…

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It took about an hour to eat and when we walked outside, we not only enjoyed the sweet smell of cow poo, it was also “the golden hour” as the sun was setting and casting a perfect golden light for photos…

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If you’ve ever been to Harris Ranch, then you probably recognize this Bonsai stand operating across the street from the restaurant. I have no idea how they survive selling Bonsai trees in the middle of butt-fucking nowhere, but they are there every time I go back…

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Murdok pulled out his camera to get some shots…

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While Salem and Jose hung out across the street getting some landscape shots on their phones…

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Salem’s TSX minus the J’s Racing wing. The wing made for good downforce on the track, but not so much for long drives home. I think he said his miles per gallon improved by over 15 miles…

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I gotta say, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience driving back and forth from Norcal to Socal in this car. I love how it still feels like a car even though it is considered a minivan. Throw some 17×9 forged wheels on there with meaty Falken FK453s and man it was fun drive…

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Salem’s J’s Racing big brakes and Desmond Regamaster Marquis Promadas…

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Murdok doing work on his Sony dSLR…

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My RA3 Odyssey with Mugen rear spoiler and JDM OEM Odyssey Aero Spirit lip kit. Don’t mind the blue tape…

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Can’t wait til Salem gets his new front bumper for this thing…

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Love my Japanese 17×9 +28 Barramundi Design Eleven wheels. My drive also wouldn’t have been so enjoyable had it not been for these Falken Azenis FK453s…

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Some of the people that helped me get this Odyssey build together in just a few months along with some inspirational automotive websites that I follow…

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Another of Salem’s CL7 parked in the outskirts of Coalinga, CA…nothing but cows and dirt out here…

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Salem snapping away with his Samsung Galaxy S3…

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…and Murdok getting a group photo of us that ultimately turned out like this…

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Me (StickyDilJoe), Salem, and Jose P….

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Alas, it was time to say goodbye to Harris Ranch and the city of Coalinga…

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That’s a wrap…

Before I go, special thanks to all these folks for making my trip incredible…

May Miranda
DPK David and Jackie
The Rodrez family
Rywire Ryan
Nick Caster
Chris and Dina Sakai
The Antipordas
The Wekfest family
Falken Tire
IEPhoto Rentals
Barramundi Design USA
Premier Auto Body
Sunny and Kris Yu from 5Fifteen
Salem, Murdok, and the Phaze2 family
Phil, Fred, Ferd, Mike and the entire ATS Garage family
..and most importantly, everyone that came by the booth at Wekfest just to pass along a kind word and/or picked up some Stickydiljoe.com merchandise from the booth. I truly appreciate the support and I hope you guys enjoyed this six-part series

Thanks for looking!!

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10 comments

  1. What was the story on the yellow insight?

  2. Shots of the Odyssey with the sun setting came out nice. When are you planning on getting the RL calipers?

  3. harris ranch rules.

  4. Great! What camera and lenses did you use?

  5. /| yeah, what camera lens did you use? I love the Odyssey, where did you get it painted? Thanks

  6. Always enjoy reading your material. The smell from the sea of cows at Harris Ranch is disgusting.

  7. sunny’s old insight was ruined. just goes to show how much paint can change a car…and someone give salem a salad!

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