Tag Archive for ‘Spoon Sports’

Plenty of surprises on a trip with Sara Choi and friends…

Plenty of surprises on a trip with Sara Choi and friends…

Over the past year or so, I’ve been joking around with Sara calling her my ‘manager’ because she’s been trying to convince me to go back to Indonesia with her. I went 7 years ago and though it was a fruitful life experience, I can honestly say that I didn’t have the greatest of times. I don’t think I ever made it a secret either. Whenever people asked me if I would go back, I often said I wouldn’t. Not so much because I was treated poorly or anything, I think the people that invited me last time tried the best they could to give me the most positive of an experience. Circumstances just made it difficult for me to fully enjoy it. When Sara Choi decided that she’d start competing in a drift series down in Indonesia, I was all for it. I’m always gonna root for one of my closest friends. She planned to spend a bulk of her time down there to practice and train to be a better driver but there were definitely times when I think she felt homesick and wanted her friends there. She brought it up a couple times and at first, I wasn’t really trying to go. Just because mainly I’m pretty busy as it is with a loaded travel schedule and I had this preconceived notion that I wouldn’t have much of a different experience if I went back. But some time went by and it seemed like Sara was really enjoying herself down there and wanted me to see it for myself so I told her if she wanted to plan it out for me, I’d bring some of our other friends down there too and we’d make a trip of it…
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You never know what you’ll find at a race track in Kansai…

You never know what you’ll find at a race track in Kansai…

After a few weeks in Tokyo, it was time for me to head to Osaka to hang out with Yasu and catch-up on all the happenings over in the Kansai region. There’s always something happening out there but I also enjoy Osaka because it feels like a second-home. Life seems almost normal when I’m out there and I’ve developed a normal routine out there, which is important to me. One of the first big things I had lined-up with Yasu was heading back to Kansai’s famed Central Circuit to check-out the Central Time Attack Challenge, a racing event that has become a regular stop for me during my winter and spring visits to Japan. This one is always a good one because I always find something new and unique to look at and this year’s was no different. I found a Honda I never thought would be a competitive time attack vehicle and also found some visitors that came from the Kanto region to compete with some of the best in this area…
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Spoon Sports Type One 2024 Visit…

Spoon Sports Type One 2024 Visit…

I always try to make my way to Type One every time I go back to Japan. In year’s past I’d message Aaron from Spoon Sports USA to see if it was okay if I went over there, worrying we’d get in the way or something. Better to ask than to feel unwelcome, you know? Sometimes Aaron would even be there to show us around. Give us a full tour and show us some stuff the public doesn’t have access to. My friends and I have created some great memories at this place over the past decade. Nowadays I’ll just send a quick message to Jomoto from Spoon to let him know I’m coming by to say ‘hi’, no matter how brief the encounter. It’s one of those things where when you’re in town, you just cruise by to see a friend. It’s crazy to think I can even say that today…
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So Much To Do, So Little Time In Tokyo…

So Much To Do, So Little Time In Tokyo…

What a difference a week makes in Japan. I started off my trip on a really chill mood, just walking around the city and exploring new areas I’d never been to. Then a week later all my friends arrived in Tokyo and it was time to get back into work mode! Tokyo Auto Salon was upon us and there were some great new builds to see, but most of the fun was had after hours! There were meets all weekend, including one hosted by Sara Choi and your’s truly. Let’s just say things didn’t go as planned, but hey, that’s just what happens in Japan….
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It wouldn’t be a Japan trip without a visit to Spoon Sports Type One…

It wouldn’t be a Japan trip without a visit to Spoon Sports Type One…

I always try to make my way to Type One every time I go back to Japan. In year’s past I’d message Aaron from Spoon Sports USA to see if it was okay if I went over there, worrying we’d get in the way or something. Better to ask than to feel unwelcome, you know? Sometimes Aaron would even be there to show us around. Give us a full tour and show us some stuff the public doesn’t have access to. My friends and I have created some great memories at this place over the past decade. Nowadays I’ll just send a quick message to Daisuke Jomoto from Spoon to let him know I’m coming by to say ‘hi’, no matter how brief the encounter. It’s one of those things where when you’re in town, you just cruise by to see a friend. It’s crazy to think I can even say that today…
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The Holiday Grand Finale…

The Holiday Grand Finale…

Man, it has been a hell of an amazing year. So much traveling, so much car culture to experience and I’ve met/reconnected with a lot of great people! I’ve had some big projects this year and one of the byproducts of working on these projects has been spending time with my friends at Bowls LA. They’ve been plenty busy this year with their own projects, hosting event after event at their space. It’s been a real pleasure seeing Bowls thrive. To close-out the year, we decided to take on one final project. This one is gonna be a special one though, all about giving back to the community with a completely automotive-themed holiday party. While we were planning it all out and decorating Bowls, there were plenty of other events going on as well to keep us occupied…
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A Little Dose of Honda Heaven in Japan…

A Little Dose of Honda Heaven in Japan…

Next-up on my list of “Photos I should have posted a long time ago” is a good one. Last year, I extended my Spring trip to Japan a few extra days just so I could attend the Chan-Oka Honda Meet in Saitama. I didn’t know much about the event at the time other than it was an all-Honda gathering being hosted at a private compound. To me, it sounded like the early beginnings of the Eibach Honda Meet back at home, just on a much smaller scale. After I attended, I realized that was exactly what it was supposed to be. Like it wasn’t supposed to be a Japanese Eibach Honda Meet but more-so a (smaller) Eibach Honda Meet in Japan, if that makes sense. The latter is important because the Hondas that would be exhibiting at the Chan-Oka Meet were catered to those that enjoy Honda tuning in North America. The cars represented there were an homage to the 2000s-2010s era of Honda builds you’d see here at home. To me, that’s probably the best era when it comes to Honda modification and I’m glad so many in Japan seem to agree with. A lot of their inspiration comes from looking through magazines like Honda Tuning and Super Street, which I also did quite a bit of work for, so it made sense for me to attend. I don’t think that I am the end-all and be-all of information when it comes to this particular genre by any means—but I’d like to believe that I am pretty knowledgeable and have enough experience to help them curate this sub-community of Honda enthusiasts…
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Golden-Era Hondas at Kday Chapter 11 in Japan…

Golden-Era Hondas at Kday Chapter 11 in Japan…

Before I go back to Japan in a few weeks, allow me to take you back to Japan to look at some more photos I collected during my last trip. My original plans abroad a couple months ago consisted of just going to Sydney, Australia for the World Time Attack Challenge. It had been a couple years since I had been back in New South Wales and I promised Yasu that I would meet him there. It was his first time and he wanted to see what Australia was like so I agreed to join him. As usual, my schedule was pretty jampacked so I totally forgot to book my flight to Sydney until a week before. I don’t know how many of you have booked international flights before but trying to book them a week before departure is usually a bad idea. Prices skyrocket last minute to target procrastinators like myself and sure enough, I found myself looking at roundtrip flights that were over $2000. On average, if you were to book in a timely fashion like normal humans, a flight to Sydney from Los Angeles would range anywhere from $750 to $1200. Anything over that is pretty outrageous but a promise is a promise, so I wasn’t going to just leave Yasu by himself in a country he had never been to…
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The 2023 Honda Collective hits New York City…

The 2023 Honda Collective hits New York City…

The Honda Collective is fast becoming one of the events I look forward to annually. I missed the first one but have had the pleasure of going to the second, and now, the third. It’s not one of those events that people organize to make money or to spread any type of message, it’s literally just a reason for Honda enthusiasts to gather. People who love Hondas from all over the Tri-State area meet-up at a park in New Jersey, then head over to New York to multiple spots to chill and get photos. It’s as simple as that. I think the event itself is getting bigger now though, with more people coming from as far as the Midwest to come experience the Honda Collective. I don’t know if I have anything to do with its growth but if so, I’m overjoyed that people want to be involved with it. It’s truly a really fun, wholesome event. A lot of the guys who organized this event are already pretty good friends but the cool thing about it is that they’re not really trying to gatekeep or make it a clique-y type of thing. Other enthusiasts who they respect and know have nice builds are also welcomed in with open arms. This year’s was probably the biggest yet and it looks to have a very positive trajectory as long as we keep things the way they are…
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Barely Surviving 25 Hours In The Spoon Type R…

Barely Surviving 25 Hours In The Spoon Type R…

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It’s been a hell of a month with all our friends from Japan visiting. It’s been a constant chase of giving them new experiences and exposing them to car culture here in America. For the final leg of the trip, we hit two very big events; the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas and the grueling endurance race that is the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Spoon Sports returns after a 1-year hiatus with a new Type R, a slightly different crew, and the Drift King himself, Keiichi Tsuchiya!! With races like this, you never know what is going to happen, and things definitely did NOT go as planned. In fact, I think we barely made it out alive!!…
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