Tag Archive for ‘car shows’

Why The WEST Is BEST Part 2: WEKFEST SEATTLE!!…

Why The WEST Is BEST Part 2: WEKFEST SEATTLE!!…

I originally assumed after this event that I hadn’t gathered enough footage for an entire vlog so I totally neglected to put this episode together. The San Jose event was looming and I had already decided that I would try to combine the two shows into one vlog. But, after I came back from San Jose, I went through the content and there was quite a bit of footage from Seattle. As I started adding clips to the timeline, everything that I managed to collect while in the Pacific Northwest was just the right amount. You guys know I love long-form videos so obviously I wish I would have captured more. There were just so many good builds at this event that I really wanted to spotlight. I simply ran out of time. I do so many different things at Wekfest events that I definitely wish there was more than one of me to go around. Seattle truly brings out some of the best in the west coast and we also get a good collection of custom cars from our neighbors in Canada. Sometimes I think I take what we have out here in the West Coast for granted so I thought now would be a good a time as ever to show you exactly what we’re all about!!…

Why The WEST is BEST: WEKFEST SAN JOSE!!…

Why The WEST is BEST: WEKFEST SAN JOSE!!…

Crazy that we are already at the 15-year anniversary of Wekfest! It just seems like yesterday when we were surprised to be at year 10. What a ride it has been. Northern California is the birthplace of Wekfest so we always try to bring out the top-tier builds. It’s understood that expectations are high and all eyes are on what’s happening in the West Coast so no amount of energy was spared in planning out this entire show. As busy as it was, I tried to vlog the entire weekend and put something together for you guys to enjoy. I apologize that the quality of the video inside isn’t the most spectacular. The lighting isn’t the best so I had to use a mounted flash to add some extra light wherever I could…

Once A Year, Honda Heaven Exists In Saitama…

Once A Year, Honda Heaven Exists In Saitama…

On my last few days in Japan, I head back over to the Tokyo-side of Japan to check-out the 2nd annual “Chan-Oka Honda Meet” in Saitama. This meet is a special one for me because its entire purpose is to pay homage to the USDM West Coast Honda scene of the mid-to-late 2000s. While we spent the better part of our adult lives in America building Hondas inspired by the ones we saw in Japan, younger enthusiasts over there were studying our interpretations of their style. In the last few years, USDM Honda culture and style has developed a pretty big following in Japan. It’s become a style almost unique to itself because its an interpretation of an interpretation. Like if one person tells another person a story, and that person repeats that story to someone else, and so on and on, eventually the story becomes different. It just retains certain elements, or the core pieces, of the original story. That’s basically what the USDM Honda community consists of. It features many of the core ideologies of what we did here, but the execution is slightly different. Some parts are different because accessibility to certain brands are limited and Japan just does things unique from us because culturally, they weren’t raised the same. The Chan-Oka Honda Meet is an important gathering because it represents a big part of where the Honda community in Japan is headed in the next few years. For guys like me who grew-up during the golden age of the West Coast Honda scene, this meet is Heaven on Earth—but like, a Japanese version of Heaven 🙂

DORIDORE Might Be One Of The Coolest Events Ever!!…

DORIDORE Might Be One Of The Coolest Events Ever!!…

I actually found out about this event last year when I was in Japan during Golden Week for Wekfest. I just couldn’t go. “Doridore” is one of those events dedicated to “Shakotandori” vehicles that just sounds fun to be at. It’s drifting but not so much a competition fueled by profit. The event is based more on style where enthusiasts drive the shit out of slammed cars that just look good and aren’t necessarily created to be competitive drift cars. Like, take the strict rule sets out of professional drifting and replace it with super slammed show cars that don’t care about winning. It’s a real visual spectacle. Winning is looking good while driving or parked. Style is everything. Sounds rad right? After hearing about it and seeing some photos from past events, it seemed super fun. I just didn’t have enough time to go so I had to miss it last year. When I heard it was happening again and the event itself was going to be bigger than ever, we decided to wake-up early to check it out. Boy did it not disappoint. I might have to make this a regular event to attend annually.

Back To Japan For Wekfest!!…

Back To Japan For Wekfest!!…

Well, it may seem like I just got back from Japan but here I am, back on a plane again to Osaka! The Wekfest event out in Nagoya is an event I try to attend every year so there was no way I was going to miss this one. There’s been some major changes this year with the event itself but the biggest, most obvious, change is the brand new venue! This place is huge! Before that though, we had some prep work to do and some adjustments after landing back in Japan. Enjoy!

CTAC 2023 Central Circuit Coverage…

CTAC 2023 Central Circuit Coverage…

As I near my return to Japan in just a few days time, I’m reminded that I still have photos from my last trip that I still have not posted yet. It’s not for lack of trying however, I’ve just been a tad bit on the busy side. I also probably took like an entire month off just to recover and re-adjust my body clock, only to get right back into packing my suitcases as I head back to Japan for Wekfest in May. I actually had gone through and processed all these photos on my laptop while I was in Japan but after I got back home, I looked at them on my office PC where I typically do all my editing and was unhappy with how they looked. My Lenovo laptop is brand new so I had no idea what the color calibration was like compared to my PC so there ended-up being a drastic difference between the two. The color grading on the Vlogs isn’t terribly different, since I was already using previous settings I had imported from my PC. Photos are a different story though since I pull them directly from my camera and different settings, time of day, and what I’m shooting are big variables in how I edit. Often times now I find that the photos that I post on Instagram while I’m in Japan are very different than the actual photos I process and keep for my own catalog…

Art of Attack 2-Year Anniversary Meet in Photos…

Art of Attack 2-Year Anniversary Meet in Photos…

This photo set came out pretty decent so I decided to host them here on the site even though I post a majority of them already on Instagram. I figured you guys would appreciate seeing them in a larger format than a small Smartphone screen. These are from our weekend doing car activities in Southern California. First, I woke up at an insanely early hour to bring the Battlecraft x Exceed GR86 over to Art of Attack to celebrate their 2-year anniversary. I was originally going to drive the GR86 over the weekend anyway but Kristian messaged me to see if I could get there earlier since the guys from Art of Attack had wanted it in their display area. Premium parking never sounds like a bad idea so I grabbed my camera gear, hopped in the GR and got there just in time for the festivities. It was a chill day and great to see all the usual suspects. After, I sat in traffic for an hour so I could go back to the shop and do absolutely nothing until the NBA Playoffs started, lol. Here are the photos, enjoy!!…

Autofashion AF Fest Japan 2023 Photos…

Autofashion AF Fest Japan 2023 Photos…

While I was in Japan back in February, there was a week gap where I didn’t have any other visitors with me. Sara had gone home, Kristian and Der wasn’t set to arrive yet, and there was some free time to just recover. January had been pretty crazy so this was the week where I’d sit down finally can create some content. Creating meant chillin’ inside Yasu’s office at Exceed with the heater blasting while inhaling nonstop second-hand smoke. It’s now April and I can still smell the Seven Stars cigarettes every day, I swear. I put a couple of Vlog episodes together during that time while Yasu caught-up on work at the shop. By the end of the week, it was time for us to resume our adventures and the event I was looking forward to was the AF Fest car show hosted by my friends from Autofashion USA. I’ve known these guys since like 2004-ish so I always appreciate what they do and try to show my support. These guys were doing big things back then and allowed a young scrub like me to tag along and occasionally show my Accord with their fleet of VIP cars. I don’t know why but they me chill with them. Maybe it was a San Diego thing where you just look out for one another, who knows. But it’s been almost 20 years now and I’m happy to say that we are all alive and kicking while still remaining pretty relevant in the scope of the automotive tuning industry. Bascailly, I fuck with these dudes. They’re homies. If they’re doing something or hosting an event, I always try my best to go and every year when I used to do my anniversary meets, the guys from Autofashion would be out to help DJ even though they were dead-tired from building SEMA cars. They are good people and I think their accomplishments translate worldwide because they’ve also created a pretty cool event series in Japan over the last few years. Cool cars, good people, I don’t have to be there all day…that sounds like a fun day to me, lol…

Attack Tsukuba and Zummy Racing Time Attack 2023 Coverage… Part 2…

Attack Tsukuba and Zummy Racing Time Attack 2023 Coverage… Part 2…

After the Zummy Racing event ended the day prior, we had dinner and checked into our hotel for the evening. There wasn’t a whole lot to do out in Ibaraki so we decided to just rest-up. I edited photos, went through some videos for a Vlog episode and called it a night. We got up pretty early to head to Tsukuba Circuit since we anticipated a pretty busy morning. This was Attack’s 10th anniversary event and as such, was planned to be their biggest event to date. With the borders finally re-opened to the world, foreigners like us would most definitely want to attend this incredible event. We stopped to grab breakfast and by the time we arrived at Tsukuba, there was already a really long line to get inside. Thankfully, we were able to get some pit passes the day before and were able to drive right in…

Attack Tsukuba and Zummy Racing Time Attack 2023 Coverage… Part 1…

Attack Tsukuba and Zummy Racing Time Attack 2023 Coverage… Part 1…

I will start this off by simply telling you the sole reason why Attack Tsukuba is one of my favorite events to attend anywhere in the world; Everything about this event represents the evolved version of everything I loved about the Japanese tuning scene growing-up. There isn’t another place, other than Tokyo Auto Salon, where you’ll see all these democars from famed tuning shops together with some amazing privateer builds you’ve never seen before. I mean, where else will you see some of the cars from the infamous Mid Night racing team out and about in the daylight? It’s overwhelming to be quite honest. There is just SO MUCH to consume all at once. This is my third time attending Attack here at Tsukuba Circuit and I still find it to be complete visual overload. You know how sometimes you go to an event and can’t wait to leave? Well this is the complete opposite of that. There actually aren’t enough seconds in the day to see everything…