Brand new Japan episode to kick-off the new season!!…
Tag Archive for ‘Varis’
It’s That Time Of Year Again!! The Japan Adventure Begins…
Happy new year!! 2024 is off to a great start as I make my way back to Tokyo, Japan on the second day of the new year. Unlike previous years, my trip to Japan comes even earlier as I made plans to see and experience new things before the annual Tokyo Auto Salon event. I spent time with friends, attended a couple of car meets, and went hunting for some rare gems. Then it was time to go check-out the show and see what was new. There’s still so much more to show you guys because I’ll be in Japan for 48 days!…
Highlights from Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 in photos…
Man it felt good to be back in Tokyo in January. After not being able to come the last two winters, for obvious reasons, I just felt like something was missing. Tokyo Auto Salon had become such an important stop on my annual calendar that I felt anxious to come back. Not being at the show threw my whole body clock off, lol. It’s just that old familiar feeling you know? When you have a routine and suddenly it’s broken or shifted, things just aren’t right. After coming back to Japan in late April of 2022, understanding all that was required for me to re-enter Japan, I knew I’d be back even if border restrictions continued to be in-place. This year, I decided to make my trip even longer than in 2022 when I stayed one whole month and a day. I had a couple of events that I had to attend here in Japan so I chose to stay a total of 40 days. Yes, 40 days in Japan. Before, I would fly to Japan for Auto Salon, stay for about 2 weeks, and then head back home because there was a Wekfest event scheduled in earlier February. Early February would usually have me in Hawaii for Wekfest and the NFL Super Bowl. The boys would usually make a fun trip out of it and have a BBQ at the AirBnB we’d stay at. When I found out that Hawaii was a no-go this year, it meant that I could stay longer. If Hawaii were to happen, that would mean that I would go to Japan, go home to California, fly to Hawaii for Wekfest, go home once again, and then fly right back to Japan. I’d make it back to Osaka just in time for the Auto Messe show and stay another week so I could attend Attack Tsukuba on the Tokyo-side. It sounds crazy but I did exactly that for the last two years before the pandemic. With no Hawaii Wekfest event this time, it saved me a lot of travel time and my body clock could stay consistent to one time zone…
Tokyo Auto Salon 2023, But Chill…
It’s the 2023 new season premiere! What better place would it be for our Vlog series to kick-off than in the tuning car mecca of Japan?! I’ve only been here in Tokyo for a few days so far but boy does it feel like a lot has happened. My focal point for the first part of my journey was to document the Tokyo Auto Salon event. It’s been two years since I’ve been able to attend TAS so I really wanted to do it right this time. In years passed I’ve always focused so much on doing both video and photography at the same time but I always felt like I didn’t properly cover the show in our Vlogs. So this year, I walked the show in a much more efficient manner and was able to cover most of what I wanted to see in one day! From experience, I always knew that the first few hours of Tokyo Auto Salon on day 1 was crucial. Those are the hours deemed for “media” specifically, which means that the show isn’t open to the public. No crowds equals less noise, and no models for all the weebs to gawk at. This was the perfect time to do coverage of the show because it wasn’t hectic at all. And that’s exactly what I did. That’s why this episode might feel like the chillest, most calm, version of any Tokyo Auto Salon coverage you’ll see. Those that don’t know might just assume TAS was like this all weekend. That is definitely not the case! It gets crazy to the point where you can’t even walk or breathe sometimes so consider this episode a relaxed, yet detailed, look at the show…
Back On The Road For Wekfest Seattle!!… CHRNCLS Vlog 2021 #20
Boy does it feel good to be back on the road again! It seems like forever ago since we’ve traveled for Wekfest but the show series is back now to close-out 2021. This was an interesting one because we go back-to-back for Seattle and Los Angeles for the first-time. We made sure to find some time to relax and just hang-out however, before the madness begins. Like my other visits to the Pacific Northwest, I make a traditional visit over to my friend Terry’s house where they were prepping their cars for the show. There’s plenty to see in this one, enjoy!
Noel Barnum’s GReddy Turbocharged Varis FR-S In Photos…
Totally forgot I had these photos on my desktop with all that’s been going on lately. Businesses are starting to open back up, the whole country seems to be divided on social issues, and people are starting to ignore that there is a pandemic happening still. Meanwhile over here at the office, I’m just trying to stay busy and maintain a business while still very much focusing on everything that is happening in the world. 2020 has been pure insanity for everyone but I’m hopeful that we are returning to at least some bit of normalcy. It’s a ‘new’ normal, I guess you can say…
Noel’s Varis FR-S Turbo & We Finally Work On My IS300…CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #16
Man, there have been a lot of red cars popping-up at the shop lately… On this episode, we finally pull my collection of Japanese Altezza parts that I’ve been collecting over the years out of storage to install on my IS300 Sportcross. A Zero Auto Factory prototype vented hood came over stateside recently so we had to make sure it fit on U.S.-model IS300s because of the 2JZ-GE engine we have here. A few days after that, my good friend Noel Barnum came by to hang and chat so we do a deep dive into his incredibly well-built Varis widebody FR-S which is equipped with a GReddy turbo kit.
The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 2: More From TAS…
I really had no idea I shot so many photos this time around in Japan. Granted I was there for […]
The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 1: Arrival and Tokyo Auto Salon…
2020 marks my 7th year in a row going to Japan. What once started out as a bucket list trip for me has now become a regularity. I never thought I’d have many of the opportunities that have been presented to be over the years but if there was one true “game changer” for The Chronicles, it most certainly would be my first trip to Japan in 2013. Going to Tokyo Auto Salon and seeing everything else that came with that trip really opened my eyes to a new level of potential for what I could do covering car culture—and I’ve been going back ever since. Every trip since has offered so many new opportunities to see more of what Japan had to offer. I find it funny now when my friends ask me if I’m going back to Japan every January because for me, it’s a certainty. Unless I’m absolutely unable to afford the trip, you’ll definitely find me there…
Spoon Collection & More From Tokyo Auto Salon…CHRNCLS Vlog 2020 #2
After spending the morning and early afternoon at the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon event, we sat in traffic for what seemed like forever just so we could stop by Spoon Sports Type One in Suginami. Spoon was hosting a little gathering of their own titled the “Spoon Collection 2020” where they used their workshop facility to showcase some of their famed race cars from year’s past. The following day, Yuta joined us at Tokyo Auto Salon to go over some of the more talked-about builds of this year’s event and we provide some insight of our own—whether it be useful or completely ridiculous.