Bambi says, “Hello world. Holla at yo dog!” Thanks to Mark Arcenal for putting us on Fatlace. It’s an honour to be amongst a slew of interesting individuals. Much to read about. 2007 should be a very interesting, challenging and growing year. This is the first post that will be on both OG and FTLC. So for an introduction, what can I say…personally I have interests in fashion, music, and cars, but I’m really just a workaholic building a foundation with a tight knit group of cohorts. With that being said, these past few days have been very relaxing. Feels kinda strange. Pops is visiting from Taiwan. He comes back 1 week out of the year to visit. So, it’s been chillin’ and loungin’ with the fam for the past couple of days. Noone cooks like moms. Feastin’! Our family really enjoys to eat and drink. Really.

Some of the edible highlights included karasumi (dried mullet cod egg), toro (fatty tuna), hamachi (yellow tail), uni (sea urchin) and then some. Caviar, black truffle and foie gras (triple threat!), homemade chicken liver pate, ceviche, rib eye steak (with a splash of Louis XIII).

Alaskan crab (Costco), Brie and Mozarella cheeses with bread, and bottles and bottles of red and white wine.

A few friends stopped by to share the festivities. Nothing beats home cooking and a few close friends except maybe food, friends and Johnnie Walker (Blue Label) on the rocks. This is on my b-day.

Moms and Pops and I decided to take a stroll down Seal Beach pier on NYE. Cute right?

Mr. Chen rockin’ the Pierre Cardin jacket and Mrs. Chen on some ‘ole, “Oh, I just put this together last minute, it ain’t no thang.” Stylin’ and profilin’ since the 60’s. I thoughtchu knew?
Interested in seeing Fatlace come to life. Happy New Year to everyone. Good Bye 06, Hello 07!

I’m seriously a lover of food. All kinds. There’s nothing I won’t try. I thought I’d share Nobuhiro Hashiba’s (AME/KYH) info as he’s been both interested in US culture as well as sharing Japanese culture. This is from a Ramen shop in Osaka, Japan called “Kappa Honpo.” They serve Tonkotsu (pork bone base soup) and Shouyu (soy sauce base) type. It’s richer than Shin Sen Gumi. In anycase, Hashiba says that people in Japan during the end of the year will drink sake and eat this. Eating things that are long such as noodles represents a long, healthy, prosperous life for the new year and beyond. Me, I just love the food. The cha shu is so tender and the soup so oily. Good ramen places in Japan..and I mean really good ones..won’t even open up if they don’t feel the soup base and/or noodles are up to par for that day. There’s a chain called “Ganko Ramen” literally meaning “Stubborn Ramen” which hangs a bone on a chain if they are open. If you don’t see a bone on a chain hanging in front of a pitch black door, it means they are closed. Real discreet. For the serious ramen enthusiast. Gotta be grateful for food.

2 blogs in one day? It’s Christmas Eve and there’s nothing to do, but spend time with fam, give thanks and..blog. Just got an email that the latest installment of JDM Insider, JDM Insider: The Kanto Tuners will be available NOW! You don’t understand what this means. It means that Dom’s wish has finally come true. He longer has to put the trailer on repeat. This is the DVD of all DVD’s. Period. If you’ve never seen an episode, watch it and get schooled. I know I will. This one features thee one and only Ogura Clutch, as well as “Smokey” Nagata from Top Secret Japan, Takahiro Ueno of Car Make T&E / Suivax..you know, the guys that make the sickest original made aerokits, Vertex, and a bunch of other ish. To learn more about JDM Insider (and to watch the trailer while listening to N.W.A.), click here. To learn more about the producers behind JDM Insider, click here. To purchase the DVD soon, click here. Merry Xmas Eve!

The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) will be employed in the Porsche Carrera Cups Asia, Australia, Germany, France, Great Britain and Japan as well as in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Michelin in the USA in 2007 for its third year making it the largest single-make championship in North America with roughly 50 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars per race over a seven-race season. Click here for more info on this race-specific machine. All of the 997 GT3 Cup cars come with Endless RF-650 brake fluid.

I was pleasantly surprised when receiving an email from a gentleman by the name of Ernie. He drives, interestingly enough, a Cadillac CTS and ordered Endless pads for his front calipers. This photo he sent is of the rears without Endless Pads showing 4 days of driving. Notice the amount of dust that has accumulated on the wheel. Remember, this is the rear.

Now this is the front with Endless SS-M Pads also showing 4 days of driving. Considering that the rears typically dust less than the fronts, the difference is even bigger than demonstrated. I’d rather not mention what brake pad compound the rears are currently using, but he paid top dollar for his front Endless pads, is extremely happy with them, and recently special ordered the Endless SS-M compound for his rears as well. That’s what the Endless SS-M compound is especially known for..emitting extremely low levels of dust. And, the dust that it does emit is light-colored and very easy to clean off with a dry towel. It’s an organic compound containing no steel fibers, yet it still holds its own in terms of performance-characteristics.

When you do something a lot, it can get repetitive. It’s even worse if what you’re doing is mundane or routinized. In our industry this is less prominent because each day is always different (at least it is for us), but we can still get to a point where certain things get old. Sporadically I’ll get someone who says “Dude, it must be SO cool to work for Endless!” and it is, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that sometimes I think I’m a bit jaded. More on this later though, time to eat.

Tsuruhashi off Brookhurst, down the street from Shin-Sen. Same idea as Anjin but subtle differences here and there. Very authentic even though the first two tables are filled with white people.

Check out my chef skills, j/k. Our friend Brian joined us this evening. Brian’s fam owns and operates Fuji’s Famous Burgers in Huntington. Look for Fuji’s in a future update. On the grill we have for short rib, Rib Eye, Kobe beef, tongue, intestine and liver. Tsuruhashi also serves Orion, my favorite Japanese beer. Brownie points.

Ok, so back to being jaded.. I think it was RJ who I remember saying “Another day, another show,” and you know what? It’s true. A lot of shows these days are just that, “another show.” I won’t name names of these aforementioned shows but I will say that D1 is still a show that I enjoy (hence the photo). Being a part of the industry means you’ve not only seen it all, but that you’ve seen it all several times. So as a result, not much excites you anymore. This past week however, was full of things that actually got me excited.. 

Oddly enough, after 3 years of D1 being here in the US, the events still interest me. It’s the talent of the J-drivers and the beauty of their machines that keep me excited year after year. Here’s a man that embodies the element of this industry that still gives me goosebumps, Ueno Takahiro, the man behind Car Make T&E. There’s something I love about his designs and machines he produces that I cannot get over. I’ve watched his interview on JDM Insider maybe 30 times and still enjoy his eloquence and insight.

Another small yet important thing that keeps me going is our good friend in Tokyo, MLJ Dave. He recently got some new costumes for our Skype conversations. Here’s his Captain of the Loveboat one. Many times Dave’s calls end up being the highlight of my days.

I particularly liked this one because for some reason I felt as though it fit quite well. Couldn’t hold the camera still while laughing.

Viking or something. Perhaps a medieval knight.

This one was Kent’s favorite.

Lastly, here’s Dave’s impression of street wear afficionados.

Gotta love certain people in the industry. Here’s the ever-so-famous Marc “Slippery-When-Wet” Fata and Cheryl at the Auto Fashion Christmas party.

Mr. Autofashion himself, Freddie Fernandez along with Mr. Robert Chew of Falken.

Wanted to buy Freddie a drink and so I got him a shot of Wild Turkey. Such a baby that Freddie.. Look at him holding his nose. He was worried that his Wild-Turkey-shot-taking-photo would show up here. “Is this going to be on OG-Made?? Oh man, it should be OG-Fucked..”

Arnell, OG-Fucked-Freddie, me and Kent.

So what happened this week that truly excited me? These arrived from Endless Japan. It shall be my first time at the show and first time in the country even. I can’t even begin to fathom the amount of photos I’ll be taking. Exciting times for sure. Should any of you be at the show, swing by the Endless booth and say hello to Kent and I. That’s all from me for now. Merry Christmas everyone! I’ll see you in ‘07.

How’s 2006 been for everyone so far? Hopefully well. 2007 will only get better. Here’s a preview of the JDM EGO x GRYMRKT tee designed by none other than J.Bryan. This tee will be available in limited quantities on GRYMRKT soon.

Dave snaps a pic of Roppongi Hills on the way to his bounenkai. A bounenkai is an end-of-the-year party where everyone gets together to get thrashed. It’s a traditional Japanese custom. “Bou” means to forget, “Nen” means year, and “Kai” means party. Basically, it’s a “forget about the year” party. Roppongi Hills is in the Roppongi district of Tokyo. It’s basically a city within a city. Google it. Or click here.

Getting shipments in is kinda like opening Christmas gifts every month, cept I don’t get to keep any of them.

That’s right kids, we offer alumite black calipers. The first set ever seen on US soil is going to a very special project under a well known, prominent name. Look for these out in the scene soon under some fresh new rollers.

Dave says, “Shot of my GPS. I was fiddling with it and now it shows all of the pachinko places nearby. The 777 mark is the mark to show the position of the pachinko place on the GPS. 777 is like a slot machine where in pachinko, if you get three numbers in a row, you win. There are literally thousands of pachinko places in Tokyo alone.” There used to be these crews who would know exactly how these machines worked and would illegally make tons by targeting certain parlors and machines. That’s all they’d do..travel and play..and the parlors were losing tons of money as a result of this.

For the true performance enthusiasts, this will debut in 2007. AME Tracer FS01. MAT Technology. Produced by Enkei. Available in Bronze (shown here), as well as Sapphire Black and Hyper Silver. Available in 17/18/19 in 5-100/114.3/120. Stay tuned for pricing, weights, specs, etc. The fitments will be on the conservative side for the mature. Why would you go aggressive on a wheel like this?

The wheel looks great from afar. It has a different effect. For the classy, sports-minded.

Inquiries for the Spec-R’s have been slowly growing so I’ve decided to create a new blog category to make it easier to browse for the high quality wheel fanatics. Here’s a bunch of Nissan’s fitted w/ Spec-R’s in various colors. But before we get to that, in 2007, we’ll be introducing a Matte Black finish (specifically for the S14 in 18’s and Z33 in 19’s in aggressive fitments) shown here. Here’s the first sample, but not in true S14 or Z33 form. Just focus on the finish, not the width, disk type nor offset. We’ll also be getting a gold sample soon as well.

Here’s a close-up of the Blue. This is an 18100 +/- 0 in a Taper Lo Disk.

First, we got Mark Arcenal’s S14. He’s running F: 1895 +12 Lo Disk (111mm rim depth) and R: 18100 +15 Taper Lo Disk (115mm) in Carbon Silver.

EndlessxFatlace factory Range Rover orange calipers. 6 POT Minis. No spacer.

I think he’s running 235’s in the rear. Regardless, this is what it means to be flush. Hella. When you look down at the fender, only the very edge lip of the wheel should stick out beyond the fender.

Here’s Elegant’s S14 w/ the same fitment, but in our signature Metallic Blue finish.

Needs to be lowered more, but just to show you how the blue contrasts against white. Not a great pic..

Here’s Phillip’s Z33 on F: 1990 +10 Hi Disk (88mm), R: 19100 +13 Taper Lo Disk (111mm). Super mild stretch. BBF finish is dope. What’s BBF? Click here and scroll down to learn. Phillip also needs to lower and camber more.

Front. You’re gonna need about a 3mm spacer to clear the Racing 6 with 370×32.

Rear. You’re also gonna need about a 3mm spacer to clear the Racing 4 with 332×30.

ASpec Logan’s S13 is ill. 1885 +17 Hi Disk (75mm) up front and 1895 +15 Taper Lo Disk (109mm) in the rear. Not the perfect, recommended fitment, but looks good nonetheless. It’s all we had in stock at the time. No spacers.

Son!

Congrats Benson and Nadine!
His Spec-R’s came blue, but he opted to custom paint them himself in gold.

It’s widebody, so he’s running a 1890 -5 Hi Disk (103mm) in the front.

..and a 18100 +/-0 Taper Lo Disk in the rear (130mm). Craze. That’s it for now to give you an idea of the 2 pc. variable offset Spec-R in different finishes, sizes, and specs.