Although it wasn’t stellar, I can’t say 2007 was a bad year for myself..I should be grateful nothing really bad occurred. The last week of 2007 was actually nice. Pops usually spends one week out of the year during Christmas in the states. (He holds down the political fort in Taiwan all the while having dinner with the incumbent President, scuba diving in the Phillippines, learning the alto sax and resides as chairman for an electrical and mechanical engineering services company. Old school at its best.) And even though I ended up working through both NYE and New Year’s Day, I was able to work at my own stride which was relaxing in itself. During my sparetime, I had a chance to peep Helvetica via Mark’s recommendation and am glad I did. I also ordered Style Deficit Disorder due to a recomendation from the social consumer which is an interesting read (both the site and the book).

Since I haven’t been out to an NYE party for a few years and thanks to Ken, I decided to check out downtown Los Angeles’ The Standard rooftop party hosted by LosBPMS which was nice. The homey DJ Atomic Mike killed it with his set. Ken and wifey Hatsumi, Deki+Kiji (Spiked Ball) and myself had a pleasant time.

The rooftop view from The Standard downtown LA is actually quite pleasing to the eye. Some bad cell phone pix early on in the night..

Someone did the deed and jumped in at midnight..bare. Ended the year off with a few friends getting lost in the mix and having toshikoshi ramen at ShinSenGumi in Torrance. New Year’s Eve felt good. It renewed me.

Deki and Kiji are part of a band in Japan dubbed Spiked Ball. Even though I don’t really keep up with J-Pop, I was surprised that I liked it. If you’re into J-Pop, peep Track 3 on Mother Lake the definite favorite. Best of luck to them. On the flipside, I was also diggin’ The Upstarts CD (The Know How) that Ken had me peep. Didn’t know one of the MCs was originally from The Sound Providers which I’ve been digging as of late.
Anyways, things were learned in 2007 and I’m so far optimistic for 2008 as being a good year. I predict it will be the year of the journey for me, but one that I will welcome and may not want to end. I will probably be blogging less, but with more random content. This site will become more personal for me which will probably lose certain types of viewers. The more serious automotive-related blog posts will be spread throughout the product sites in the future such as AME. A few days or so late, but..stay positive and best wishes to everyone this year.

Title sounds dirty doesn’t it? Truth behind it is I was bored at the hotel at 2am (damn eastern time difference). To my dismay the only thing worth watching on TV was something called Texas Hold Em: Afterdark. While watching the dudes play poker I was expecting them to randomly start telling stories about sexual fantasies or something. It never happened..
Anyway, after PRI I decided to go to Universal Citywalk to keep myself entertained.

Orlando’s Citywalk is much nicer than Hollywood’s. And the BIG plus? I took this from an outdoor Margaritaville bar. Yes, apparently you can drink outside in Orlando.

Eventually I decided to grab some food at Emeril’s. Hate his show (thank God it’s being cancelled) but his food has to be good right?

Grilled Prime Rib Eye with country style mashed potatoes, Emeril’s homemade Worcestershire sauce and crispy onions. Add a glass of red to complement the Worcestershire sauce and enjoy. Very good.

On a tip from my bartender I headed over to Red Coconut for some libations. It was still early and as a result the crowd was a bit older, but their waitresses were some of the best eye candy I’ve ever seen. No pics because I didn’t wanna be the creepy out-of-towner-by-himself-in-the-corner taking pervy pictures. Just trust me. If you’re ever in Orlando you can check it out for yourself. Great martinis too.

Unlike last year, this year we have to go SEMA twice. Leave Saturday, come back Sunday, in and out. After arriving, had dinner at EN with Oku and Chie whom reside in LV.

Food was good. This was the most interesting looking, but it was actually not so great. Conch.

Since Oku was the only one with a costume for the Fetish Ball, we decided to just take a stroll through Caesar’s and Bellagio instead.

Caught a glimpse of Courtney Day’s Falken 14 with Instant Gentle(wo)man and Shallen CXs unloading.

Also caught a glimpse of Justin Pawlak’s FC. 18’s in the front, 20’s in the rear.

What we came here for..

A bit of traffic on the 15 South. Back in LA by Sunday night for work on Monday morning. See you back at SEMA later this week.

Yamada-San of Sessions came to visit us to get a glimpse of “bippu” culture stateside. He also runs RCM Car Boutique in Yokohama and has a monthly column in both VIP Car and VIP Style Magazine in Japan. Mainstream Ken and Antonio from Cipher Media Group came by as well as Andrew Beckford from C16 to chat it up. That’s Yamada on the left, Antonio in the middle and Ken on the right. (Please do not e-mail us for Sessions stuff as we’re not carrying it currently)

Tokyo Drive Kenta also came by.

I’m not hatin’..I’m just sayin’..

Clockwise from Left..Moi, Dominic, Yamada, Kenta, Daijiro, Kensuke, Antonio, Dave, and Terui.. at Tustin Honda-Ya.

..Always nice to see Toshi Hayama who just got in from the motherland the day before.

Random shot of a tee shirt that Dom plans to wear at car shows..This was from Industry Showcase 2. The other shirt was funny also. It said, “INDUSTRY PEOPLE ARE SHADY” huge on the front..

You can peep tons of photos from IS2 here courtesy of Jay Pizo x Al Lagura.. the cats below. That entire night was a belligerent blur for me..

Nor. Cal. x Fatlace was definitely in the building reppin..

The Schikane boys & Usual Suspects are hosting the IS2 fashion show. Last year, it was called ICONS and was a success. This year it’s called Industry Showcase II. Drift Unit, Tokyo Drive, GRYMRKT, Cipher garage, Driftwell, Drift Aparel, Pacific Rim, Sinful Things, IN4MATION, Fatlace, CSIYM, fakeRICH, and a few others will be involved. Level III in Hollywood. Friday July 6th, 2007. Come through and peep it.

Work hard, play hard. That’s how it’s been for the month of June so far for me, at least. So it was nice to kill 2 birds with one stone and take a trip to Nor. Cal. for Dom’s commencement party with family as well as visiting shops in the Northern California area. Luis decided to come along which was a blessing. Enjoyable company. One of those young, humble, respectful, positive, calm cats that aborbs like a sponge. Hard to find in this day and age. Plus, he had all the good music to keep the atmosphere fawnky.

Cows.. I am at times envied for my lack of a keen sense of smell. This is one of those times.

Different environments sometimes help to clear the mind and put things into perspective. Refreshing and necessary to reset from time to time. If it’s gonna be in a van for 6 hours, I’ll gladly accept.

Took a quick break and had lunch atop GAP headquarters with Mr. Fatlace himself. We had to drop off a few things for the Fatlace grand opening on 7/7/7. Always a good head change to see the humble, talented and soft-spoken Mark Arcenal who is endlessly multi-tasking..

The view from below.

And the view from above. Beautiful, uncharacteristic, sunny S.F. weather.

I like stuff like this..

The door to the future home of Fatlace’s boutique/studio/gallery/office on Post St. in J-Town SF. I absolutely love the direction that FTLC is heading..such as giving a voice to the ultra niche enthusiasts such as ourselves. Fatlace is simply comin’ correct.

FTLC is right next to these guys..

Dom had to pick up his chocolate-filled, strawberry mochi ice creamy thingies. At Nippon-Ya. Everytime I smoke a cigarette, I owe Dom a dollar. This is what my smoking has provided for him.

Man, I don’t know about this place..but I think they can use a makeover and a new sense of direction right about now. Let’s start with a name change..

Back to business, we stopped by to say hello to Greg and Mike of GST (Nor. Cal’s Subie specialists)..core.

Calvin and his crew at Speed Element (Nor. Cal’s EVO specialists)..as well as Ray, David, and Henry @ Mach III, Opak Racing, Joseph @ Tire Outlet, and Rishie & Mike @ AutoRnD, and a few others. Speed Element is definitely expanding. Crazy EVO.

Finally, some time to rest. Poor Lucky..

Les Wong pleasantly stopped by to enjoy the festivities.. (I decided to keep the family affairs private and not post pics of the event, but it was very pleasant to say the least. We’re talking a huge circus-style tent, tons of food, music, and bubbly. Dom’s fam knows how to do the damn thing.)

Left Nor. Cal around 6:30 Sunday morning, got back early afternoon, and made it to the Hollywood Bowl with Mel just in time to see DJ Shadow x Cut Chemist. 45’s only. Hollywood Bowl is the best. Listen, drink, eat (and bob head to the beat) under cool summer skies. Okay, back to the daily grind.

But before I go, here’s a snippet. Peep the technique here. The head keeps bobbin’. Enjoy..

Jin, our newest member, invited Dom, Cheryl, and myself to go eat at his family’s Izakaya in W.LA. It’s in here on Sawtelle at the Sawtelle Centre.

It’s a cozy spot nestled and very hidden in the plaza on the very far right. Place Yuu. Although not shown here, the Yuu character means “to play.”

Bad photo, but nice atmosphere. Inside we have a sushi bar, big screen, alcohol, good food, good hospitality, and an overall nice and chill vibe. Take a date here if you’re ever on the westside. I decided not to post food pics, but trust me, the food is on par. Place reminds me of a scene out of a J-drama. Oh, and Amuro Namie was here 2 days ago. Google her.

Here’s Jin pouring away.

After some good eats, this thing in the photo to the left led us to Highlands to see the homey TobRoc for his birfday. But before that, since Jin’s fam owns the joint, he wouldn’t let us pay. How rude of him.

The crew. Jin Tonic, me, D, Joseph, Marc.

Arjj x Dom. Brothers from another mother.

Kenta and Tobs!

Super Dom is about to fly away with Cheryl holding on tight.. I was just holding up my camera above the crowds and snapping away randomly.

Pac Rim up in the mix. Jonny big hittin’ it in the BG.

Charlene and JayOne and..damn, I forgot homey’s name..

Things getting a bit tipsy. Elegant Jordan in the middle and TobRoc on the far right.

Eddie (btw D and Marc) is always Mackin..cool, calm, and collected.

We owe Andy drinks, but he owes us PO’s.

I hate this place.

I hate this food. How did we start with great food and end with death dogs?

Kent, Jin and I went to Mai Tai bar in the LBC last weekend. My UCI/Kaba buddies were there celebrating AJ’s (right) birthday. Haven’t seen them in a minute so it was good to be around old friends again. It was also my first time at Mai Tai bar. I know, I’m super late in the game. It’s a dope spot for anyone else that hasn’t been there. Good spot, good music, good times.

Took three times to get AJ actually in the picture…
1…

2…

3! Crap, now I’m not in it..

It’s good to see old friends once in a while. Last week Cheryl and I went to see a bunch of old Kaba heads (Kaba, short for Kababayan, was UCI’s Pilipino club when it was cool anyway).

Kristine, Jill and Cheryl. Kristine has this thing where she goes nuts at that one basketball game when she’s “happy”. Watch the video to see what I mean.

Scary.

3 birthdays in 3 days…Sorry TobsxChar/Antonio/RJ for not making it to LA for the parties this past wknd…But here’s Fata..if you notice, he’s so faded that he doesn’t realize his bicep is on fire. Now that’s faded. Happy Bday Fata. CSOYB. OYB meaning On Your Bicep.

Super Street x Volk x AME..

Happy Bday Arj…the big 3-0~!

Rockerface Jay and friend.

Last, but not least..Happy Bday Kei. A night to remember as it became a bit toasty. For those of you who don’t know, Ken Miyoshi (Import Showoff), Satoshi (Dynamic Autosports) and I go way back. Ken and I went to high school together while all 3 of us were also involved with kendo. I met Meg and Kei back in the anteater days. Since we rarely all get together, the conversations both work and non-work related were…interesting to say the least. Meg, Myself, Satoshi (Dynamic), Ken (Showoff), and Kei. This is at Izakaya Kan Yuzen in Torrance. A very good place to eat, btw.

This past Saturday was a busy one for Kent and I. But it ended up being pretty chill rather than stressful and annoying. Figured I’d show y’all some of the shots I snapped.

Check out the 19″ Spec-R’s on this 14.. 19’s!

Marc Fata and Luis rolled through Huntington. Here’s Fata havin’ fun with Kent.

In Kent’s Harrier. Shooting Fata shooting me.

Beach weather in the middle of February. Only in Southern California.

On a mission.

Fake photographers.

Here’s the view from my lense.

Back at the show, Robert from Falken greets Kent from behind.

Marc’s CSIYM party in Cerritos.
After this we headed out to Pasadena to chill with Eddie Lee of Mackin, Fred, RJ, Jerry and my favorite neighbor I never see, Sharon.

The very last post about our trip to Auto Salon has arrived. But before we get to that, I’ve noticed that we have a few new readers lately so I figured I’d invite you to read “The Low Down” or our About Us section in the top right.
Also, to clarify. Enkei has been a F1 Supplier since 1986. Endless has been a F1 Supplier since 2003. I noticed some cats were a little mis-informed.
Lastly, have a gander at Kent here on the left. Might have to turn up your screen’s brightness to really see him. He was a bit cold the last night as we walked to our restaurant.

Saw this signage on the way to our place. Kent woulda taken it but he couldn’t reach up while holding his jacket closed at the same time.

And here we are at our last meal in Japan (excluding air port food). Robatayaki place in Roppongi Hills. The two cats you see here are our chefs.

At robatayaki places, all the food is laid out in front of both the guests and the cooks. Pick and choose what you’d like and the cooks do their thang.

More food choices and the chef’s name - uh… plank.

One of the first things ordered was our fish cuz it takes forever to cook. You’ll see these guys again at the end.

In the meantime we had other things to sustain us like these meatballs and a round of beer.

It looks like a box sitting in water, but it’s really a box full of sake sitting in sake that fell out of the box. What’s a last meal in Japan without a box full of sake anyway? But on the real, the box is made out of cedar (we think) and the sake soaks up the flavor of the cedar. FYI, these boxes are not shot glass size, they’re actually 4″x4″.

Here’s some chicken to go with our sake.

Gotta have some veggies too.

Dave insisted that we try the potatoes. And since Dave was doing all the ordering, it was pretty easy for him to get his way. He said that there was a dude in the back churning the butter you see melting on the spuds.

Another round of sake.

So these beef cubes are interesting. Dave said that he took some clients that were from like Texas or something to this place and they could not stop eating the beef. They swore it was better than any steak they’ve had or something to that effect.

Here’s Dave explaining how to eat the beef.

And here it is. Had another round of Sake after this.

And here’s the fish that I showed you in the beginning. Really good. Melts in your mouth. Super tasty. Everything you’d ever want fish to be.

Another round of sake.

Remember those insanely expensive strawberries in an earlier post? These are smaller, but they tasted insane! You know how artificial strawberry flavoring tastes kinda weird? It’s because none of us have tried really really good and perfect strawberries! These strawberries tasted exactly like what artificial strawberry flavoring tasted like. I know, it sounds weird. But trust me.

Here’s a photo our cook guy took for us. Not bad for a round of beers and 4 rounds of sake.

Okay, here’s where the sake started to kick in…

As if we didn’t have enough already, we went upstairs to some bar where there was a band playing and had some drinks.

And then the madness began..

Oh man, I couldn’t even get the right finger up. And what’s that headband doing around my head??

Rockin’ out.

The rest of the night is censored. Early the next morning, Dave came by to drive us to the train station so we could catch our Narita express. Being that all of us looked like crap, I instead took a picture of Dave’s dog Bingo sitting on my lap on the way to the station.
So, 1248 pictures and 14 videos later, our Japan trip was finally over. It was time for us to take some tylenol and knock out on the way home. And now it’s time for me to retire from blogging for a while. Hope all y’all enjoyed the peak into our trip. PEACE!!