Part 2 on the NOWS.

Alrighty! So after a quick trip to Famima for some late night food and drinks, I’m feeling a bit more energized and hopefully can actually stay up now hahah. As promised, I will now finish up what I started.

December 6: Saturday.

Woke up early on during the day and grabbed breakfast with Tony, Jerome, and Dorothy at Mimi’s Cafe. Had a fair amount to do that day, so it’s always good to start the day off right with a nice filling breakfast!

Love coming here for breakfast.

Packed as always on Saturdays.

I ordered a large OJ, not knowing exactly how large it was going to be. Tony’s cig pack shown for scale LOL.

Eggs Florentine Benedict. Really really good.

December 6th: Sunday.

In preparation for the track, Tony and I headed out to Val’s pad so he could help me swap my tires from my stock Dunlop Qualifiers to some sticky icky Bridgestone Battlax BT002 RS tires. Took quite a bit of time, but hey for the price he charged me, definitely can’t complain!

About to get started.

Someone stole my rear wheel!

No power tools here.. all manual! Gangster!

Also finally threw the pipe on. A bit more difficult than it may seem LOL.

From then on, had to head back to the office to take care of a few things, then around 9 we loaded up the bikes, made sure we had everything good to go, then headed off to Buttonwillow for the rest of the weekend.

My baby loaded and ready to roll!

Jerome’s GSXR and Tony’s R6.

All prepped up.

Filling up the bikes now so we wouldn’t have to in the morning.

Only Tony would buy a Titan so we can all go tracking. LOL.

Arrived at Red Roof Inn around 1:30AM.

December 7th and 8th – BUTTONWILLOW.

Day 1 of track… not off to a good start LOL. It was FREEZING. Temperatures were at the mid 40s, with temperatures even lower on the track. It didn’t help that it was incredibly foggy and began raining shortly after the rider’s meeting.

Can’t even see past the pit area onto the track because of the fog.

Rider’s meeting to explain flags, course layout, and passing rules. Same as all track days pretty much.

The sun did end up coming out around 3ish, and that’s when things got REALLY fun =)

Biffed it from having cold tires and hitting the wet tarmac patch after Lost Hills =( All cosmetic though, so all good!

Yay sunlight and warmth!

Quick energy boost before my next session LOL.

Chyea!

Around 5, it started getting dark, so everyone packed up and began heading out to eat and head back to their hotels. We luckily got to park our bikes with the track organizers in their rented garage, so we didn’t have to load everything back up on the trailers. Saved quite a bit of time hahah. Afterwards, we were all STARVING, so we hit up Willow Ranch BBQ for some good BBQ. Now at this point, my phone decided to die, so I couldn’t take any shots of what I ordered =( But if it helps, I ordered a half rack of ribs which totally hit the spot after a long day of nonstop riding.

We got back to our hotel room around 7, then everyone pretty much passed out around 8:30-9 LOL.

Now for day 2, we woke up at 6, got ready, and headed to Denny’s for some breakfast before rolling back to the track.

Can’t go to Buttonwillow without hittin up the Denny’s!

French Toast Platter w/ Strawberries. I had about half of it, and couldn’t handle any more LOL.

Can you tell I’m not a morning person? ahahahah.

On the way to the track, we saw a dude heading over as well with his MV Agusta in tow with his Range Rover. 80K SUV + 30K Bike = BAAAALLIINNNNN.

Overall, Day 2 was a good bit better than day 1, although instead of getting warmer as the day went on, it started getting way COLDER. At least the track was dry hahah. However, quite a lot of people still ate it sick, simply from not waiting for their tires to warm up.

Albert, Tony, and Jerome ready to roll out to their session.

Around like 11:30 or so.

Still need to work on getting my body off the bike =P

That was pretty much it for day 2. Long tiring day, but definitely mad good fun. We started driving back to LA around 5:30, and got back home around 7:30. We first dropped my bike off at my LA house, then went over to J-town to Daikokuya for some hot ramen!

Always be prepared for a wait, no matter what day or time.

I prefer the Tsukemen to the actual ramen, since the chashu comes seared with the Tsukemen. Whichever you get, make sure you get the soup “Kotteri!”

We then drove back to Arcadia so I could pick up my FX from his house, then I drove back to LA so I could shower, then CRASH. However, instead of crashing, ended up at Mr Coffee LOL. What else is new right?

Throughout the rest of the week, nothing else really happened till Friday, where Juhee and I went to my favorite Breakfast joint for some breakfast hahah.

December 12th: Blu Jam Cafe.

I absolutely love this place. The food is amazing, healthy, and very reasonably priced. Not only that, but the atmosphere you get while eating there is awesome as well. The owner is almost always there, and greets you warmly and takes your drink order. He also checks in with you periodically, making sure your food is prepared how you like, and that there’s nothing wrong with anything. Awesome place for breakfast. Quite a few actors and celebrities roll there as well. Last time I went, Sandra Oh was sitting at the table right next to me LOL. Right on Melrose as well, so you can do some shopping while you’re there!

Love this place.

I ordered the Gourmet Benedict, which is a croissant topped with smoked salmon, poached eggs, and a dill hollandaise sauce.

Juhee ordered the Wraps on Fire. Really good as well. Spicy, but super satisfying hahah.

Afterwards, we walked around Melrose for a bit, digesting food and shopping around. Dropped her back off at Oxy so she could finish packing and go back home. I headed back home in LA, then just worked all day.

December 13th: Saturday.

Decided that I would be productive that day, and change the bike’s oil and clean up everything, including the chain. So early on, I waited for Allen to show up at my pad, then we drove down in my FX to Del Amo Motorsports, where we met up with Justin. Picked up a jug of Motul 300V 15W50, some Plexus, some Moto Wash, and an oil filter. I only trust Motul with my fluids, and SO SHOULD YOU LOL. Grabbed some lunch at Five Guys’ Burgers and Fries down in South Bay, then headed back up to my house where all of us got started on the bikes.

Ducati Desmonsedici RR on display at Del Amo. So beautiful =(

Great burgers and fries! Really big name on the east coast.

Time to get down and duuuuurty.

After we got everything done, we rolled back down to Gardena to King’s Hawaiian for some BREAD PUDDING.

Then after that, we all got hungry, so after Justin’s wife got off work, we hit up Old Time Noodle House.

Awesome joint.

Amaaaaazingly good! Spicy Dough Flake Soup!

After food, we all pretty much peaced out. Went back home, then crashed.

December 14th: Sunday.

My roomies woke me up around 10 so I could join them to go to the Larchmont Farmer’s Market. Good thing too, since I really didn’t want to keep sleeping in late hahah. We went around the marketplace for a while, then ended up at Cafe Du Village for some breakfast!

Got myself a veggie samosa at the market to hold me over till breakfast hahah.

Great place for french breakfast.

I ordered a Mushroom and Muenster Omelet. Soooooo gooooood.

Two of my roomies and Ivy!

Afterwards, I just kind of chilled at home till later on that night, where a simple trip to Mr Coffee turned out to be a collective gathering of almost everyone from the BROG LOL. We all kicked it, then got hungry, so we drove up to Pho 4000 up the street. Logan, Btune, Franco, and I weren’t hungry, and the lady probably would’ve stabbed us had we gone in to sit down with everyone and not ordered, so we chilled outside for a while until it got way too cold, then we peaced back to my house.

Outside for moral support LOL.

From Tree’s POV ahahahah.

We played some Wii for a while, watched some TV, then when it got sick late around 5AM, we decided it was probably time for everyone to peace and go home to knock out. Sure enough, I got in bed and passed out.

Monday: Nothing.

Tuesday: Got a REALLY nice surprise in the mail from my cousin, then hit up dinner at Fred 62 with Francis, Allen, Yoshi, Hiro, and Tuan.

You are amazing. Thank you so much! =)

Always good, though this is the earliest I’ve ever been here ahahah.

Tofu Chilaquile. Really good and satisfying.

Afterwards, it was way too cold to go out and do anything else, so once again.. peace and KO LOL.

December 17th: Wednesday.
GALVATRON WEDNESDAYS.

NOTHING strikes more fear into the hearts of men than the word GALVATRON. For those of you not informed, Galvatron Wednesdays is a night every other wednesday at Bar C where the creators of the Galvatron go and take down records of people and how many they’ve drank. And if you don’t know.. a Galvatron is basically 6 shots, consisting of a double shot each of Bacardi 151, Maker’s Mark, and Patron. That night, Justin, Allen, and I had three each, Roy had 5, and Tuan had 1. I also used a cranberry vodka as a chaser for my second Galvatron LOL. Overall, it was a fun night… maybe not for Allen though LOL.

Bar C in the Honda Plaza.

So it begins.

#1 w/ a coke chaser.

#3 and still solid as a rock LOL.

#1 stop for btune LOL

#2

Hit up the Pantry afterwards. Would’ve much preferred something like korean soup or pho, but whatever =P

#3 LOLOL.

After we ate, Justin drove me back to Bar C to my car, made sure I was straight to drive, then I headed back home. Got back with no problems of course, took a shower, ate a bowl of cereal, then went to sleep.

December 18th: Thursday.

Chilled all day, then Justin and Tree came over for dinner, where we headed out to Hodori for grub. No pictures because I got lazy hahah. Later on throughout the night though, met up with Btune and Francis and Tuan at Mr Coffee, then they got hungry so we went to BCD for some Soon Dul Bul.

Wilshire location. I believe I like the Western location better hahah.

I did have pictures of my food, but I ended up deleting them before uploading them hahah. Too bad!

December 19th: Friday.

Finished up a few things, then later on at night rolled out to Savoy for some Hainan Chicken!

MUST come here for the Hainan Chicken Rice.

SO AMAZINGLY GOOD.

Afterwards, went out to Ten Ren for a bit, then over to Btune’s house. Left around midnight, and headed back home to LA.

(can you tell I’m starting to get really lazy? LOL. It’s 5 in the morning and I need to be up for another 6-7 hours. CUT ME SOME SLAAAACK!)

December 20th: Saturday.

Was supposed to go snowboarding with Tuan and Justin, but had to stay home and be a good brother and wait for my sister to get home. Hit up REI to pick up a few things for China, then pretty much waited at home in Arcadia till my sister got home. Did end up taking a short nap while my parents went out to eat, and woke up with my pups sleeping next to me =)

awwwww.

Now Sunday, the 21st.

Logan, Justin, and I decided to roll down and meet up in Westminster aka WET MIN TA at Brodard for some lunch. Best spring rolls… EVER.

PACKED for lunch.

Grilled Pork Rolls!

Fresh Shrimp Rolls

Lotus Stem Salad w/ pork and shrimp. Really good stuff.

Chicken and potato curry.

And for dessert.. three more grilled shrimp paste rolls LOL.

Three dude throwdown. SICK food hahah.

Afterwards, Justin decided that a Bikini bar was in order, so we got in his car and he led the way LOL.

Oh noes?

Iced Coffee. SUPER strong. I had the shakes and my heart started hurting from drinking it LOL.

Photo Hunt.

“My ex” LOL.

We then headed back to Brodard to drop off Logan at his car, then Justin and I headed back to his house in Torrance. He finished changing out the clutch springs and weights on his Yamaha C3, and I rode it around. I’m so getting one next month now LOL.

Forget Ruckuses, C3s are the JAM.

Can’t beat that storage compartment.

Also before I left, he asked me if I knew anyone who wanted to buy a 30″ Apple Cinema HD monitor, knowing FULL WELL that I:

1) own a mac
2) love big monitors
3) can’t say no to great deals

Soooo long story short, I ended up with the monitor in my trunk, and in my room, then on my desk LOL.

Can’t say I don’t like how my setup is now though LOL.

Later on, Logan called and told me that Al was almost back down in the OC, and wanted to hit up Gyukaku, so around 8 I headed out for Huntington Beach. Sick RED ZONE twice in one day, but if you know me, you know how short drives like that are no problem for me hahahah.

Mmmmmm.

Kept things simple and easy with an order of Bistro steak and Gyutan. Ate everything at a really slow pace, and it turned out to be just the right amount of food. Way good.

Headed back to LA afterwards, and my roomies and I were supposed to watch The Dark Knight when I got back, but they were already asleep on the couch, so I just let them sleep hahah.

Alright. I think that about gets everything back on pace and in line now. Keeping everything saved for almost a month, then posting everything in the period of a day is rather exhausting, so I’ll definitely try and keep everything up to date. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be at LAX in the morning, waiting to board the plane to China. I’ll be gone from the 23rd to the 1st, but I’ll be posting from China so no worries =)

Anyway, just 3 1/2 more hours until my shuttle comes. I can definitely stay awake till I get on the plane.

Hope you all have a great Christmas! Be merry, drink lots of eggnog, and spend time with your family!

LOL had to keep with the theme.

- Chaaalz.

Okay.. I admit. I’m a bit overdue.

Yes yes.. I’m horrible with keeping this thing updated like I used to. I swear it’s not my fault LOL. I’ve had a LOT going on this month, and haven’t really had a break till well… winter break hahah. So then, let’s see if I can recap some of what’s happened this month and from the end of November, starting from Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day.

Parents gone, sisters gone, none of my family in town. I had planned to just chill at my house, and maybe cook up a few dishes later that night so I’d have a gang of leftovers for the week, but as I was about to hop in the shower my homie Justin hits me up and tells me to come over to their pad since they were having Thanksgiving lunch. Sure, why not?

<3

Pumpkin Cheesecake. So amazing!

Enjoying a nice glass of Yellowtail Reserve while watching movies with the friends.

Angie the dog. So hyper around people hahah.

Justin and his bacon. Insane how he can still eat after all that food.

After that, I totally don’t remember what I did besides go home. Coffee probably? LOL.

The next day, Allen came over and we just kicked it for a bit until Tuan came over later on for dinner, where we decided to Gui Rim it up.

Can’t go wrong with Brisket!

Mmmmm… so good.

I seriously eat almost four bowls worth of salad alone. No joke.

Yep. That’s Btune’s finger.

Cold Noodle to end the meal.

Afterwards, we went back to my pad to Wii it up a bit, till around 10 when we headed out to The Grove to watch Quantum of Solace. However, once we got in the theater, it was PACKED, so we ended up watching Transporter 3, which was actually pretty good. The chick was pretty annoying, but that’s about it LOL. Hit up Mr Coffee afterwards as usual, then went home and crashed.

On Saturday, we finally all woke up early and decided it was the perfect day for a nice cruise up Angeles Crest. Justin met me up at my house first so we could lube up my chain, then we rolled down to Lucky Boy in Pasadena to meet up with Allen. Got some gas, then headed up Angeles. Nice easy cruise, saw a gang of bikes rolling up and down with us. Nice thing is that if there’s a cop in front of you, bikers will always warn you beforehand. Pretty awesome. We got to the fork, then chilled and waited for Francis to roll up in his Elise. Once he got there, we continued up Angeles so we could hit up lunch at Newcomb’s Ranch.

Quick break at the fork.

Parked waiting for Francis to roll up. From left to right: Allen’s CBR, Justin’s R1, and my R6.

Francis’ Elise up at Newcomb’s Ranch.

Chillin.

Newcomb’s!

Don’t know how riders can drink then ride back down LOL.

Bad choice getting the Enchilada Plate. Really good, but way too much food. Not good when you still need to ride down the mountain LOL.

After eating, we rolled back down, then stopped at the bottom so Francis and Btune could smoke real quick, then we each peaced back home. Took a REALLY long nap till around 8, then woke up super hungry, so I whipped up a quick meal.

Ribeye, some asparagus and mushrooms, and homemade mac n cheese. SCRAPES.

Now for Sunday, or as Logan appropriately named it.. the Last Day for a Fun Day (last day before the end of Thanksgiving Break), I decided to have a little BBQ throwdown with some friends. I woke up early around 9, then drove back to Arcadia to meet up with Allen at my pad. We hit up Costco to pick up a ton of meat and appetizers and whatnot. Came out to be around $250 worth of food LOL. I always end up buying way too much food for my BBQ’s. Oh well. A fair amount of people came, say about 15-20 people. Nice chill Sunday for everyone to just eat, drink, and kick it.

Just some of the stuff I bought at Costco.

Throwin on some Hot Links. BOMMMMBBBB.

Yeeeeaaaaaa.

Lathering up the pork loins with some teriyaki sauce.

My marinated pork loins. Came out great. Super tender!

Beer and lime shrimp! Bought the wrong bag of shrimp and bought peeled instead of in-shell =( still came out good though.

BBQ chicken drums. They looked burned, but it’s just the sauce hahah. Always a favorite among everyone =)

Waiting for someone to get thrown in.. LOL.

Beer supplied by Rogansan hahah. Good lookin out!

Surprisingly good. Super refreshing.

Good stufffffff.

Beckie swung by too! =)

Chillin after cleaning up.

I have no idea. LOL.

Food Coma-ing it up.

Gotta have the Wii Tennis setup for BBQs!

Your rides are safe at my house LOL.

Another “I have no idea” moment LOL.

Such a nice chill day.

Now we’re finally getting into DECEMBER territory! LOL.

December 2nd:

Nothing really went on throughout the day. Went to work, schooled it up, studied, that’s about it. Later on that night though, we were planning to go to Coffee, but we ended up getting really hungry, and decided to hit up Bossa Nova in Hollywood. Great place to roll for some gourmet pizza and pasta and entrees late night, since they’re open till 4AM!

So dope for late night eats.

Cheese Balls. SO BOMB. If you come here, you MUST order these.

Even the free foccacia is amazing.

Half Margherita, half custom. Both amazing, but I’m still super partial to Margherita, just for it’s delicious simplicity hahah.

Shrimp, chicken, and italian sausage pasta. Really really good.

And of course, had to hit up Mr Coffee anyway ahahah.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit much? LOL.

Later on in the day, my friend brought my pups back home so I could play with him, since he’s been staying with her while I’m busy throughout the week.

Awwww.

He looks like he’s tired, but he’s actually super happy to see me. He always gets into this position and wags his tail when he wants to play LOL.

Then later on that night, picked up Juhee and we went to Mr Coffee because she was craving Green Tea Ice Cream. What else is new right? LOL. Also swung by Hodori so she could get Duk Bok Gi for her and her friends. She also gave me another goodie bag, this time filled with my favorite chips EVER.

Yay! Thank you! =)

December 3rd: Pretty much did the same thing, but ended up rolling out to Canter’s for dinner with the Btune.

Roll here for awesome late night sandwiches and other deli food!

Bar always has live music too.

Huge place. Another section in the back too.

Half Downtowner, Half Reuben w/ a side of Potato Salad. Bommmbdiggity.

December 4th: Got bored studying, so picked up Juhee and her friends from Oxy, and we rolled down to Westwood for some Diddy Riese LOL. I bought an ice cream sandwich and two dozen cookies. A little overkill, but whatever hahah. Also stopped by UCLA so the girls could say hi to some of their friends. Dropped them back off, then went home. Ate a bag of chips, and opened up my new exhaust pipe for the R6 =)

Oatmeal Raisin w/ Walnuts w/ Vanilla ice cream. MMMmmmm.

Two Dozen cookies!

Never ceases to satisfy =P hahah

Akrapovic Titanium pipe. Bike sounds sick good now. Wooooooooooo!

December 5th: BBQ round 2. Used up the leftover meat from round 1 LOL. Just a small thing among like 7 people. Chilllllll.

Two racks of ribs, some carne asada, and some more hot links.

Sick meat! LOL. Way too much food hahah.
Forgot to take pictures of the carne asada and hot links, but rest assured they came out delicious as well hahah.

Anyway, this will be Part 1 for the time being. Part two will come later on tonight, as I need to stay awake till I get on the plane tomorrow morning in order to sleep well all the way to China LOL.

Check back in a few hours! =)

LOL.

Vegas Day 3: AD08 Release Continued (America)

First off, I just wanted to say that it’s so nice to be back home. It’s just good to be able to shower in your own bathroom, and sleep in your own comfortable bed. Don’t get me wrong.. I love Vegas, but going twice in two weeks? I’m good on that LOL.

Anyway, there’s not really much to say about Day 3, since it was pretty much all the same as Day 2. Instead of International companies though, it was US companies this time, such as Car & Driver, Road & Track, Eurotuner, and Modified, just to name a few. They started out with the Autocross first, then lunch, then track. This day was actually a lot more fun than Day 2 though, for two reasons: 1) the Yokohama trailer has WIFI internet through a satellite, and 2) we all got to take the cars out on the track and skidpad after all the press left LOL. Super good times.

Allen’s 5D’s mirror fell out (apparently a common problem on 5Ds). So how did he fix it?

JB Weld?! LOL. It did work though, so guess I can’t hate.

INTERNET!

My means of transport throughout the event hahah.

Getting ready to DESTROY this Evo X MR on the track.

Actually rather nice transmission.

Chillin out in the esses.

What’s that I see?

Ohhhh yes. Get to destroy a C63 that’s not my own LOL.

These were relatively new when I got in the car. Not so much after about 6 laps LOL.

Next victim: MS RX8. Actually very fun. Reminded me of my old S2K, just with way less power hahah.

Had to run the Carrera S as well. Good times in this as well.

Huge brakes. At least they work properly hahah.

What do I think about the AD08? I’ll tell you this: I personally think no other real STREET tire has the amount of grip and inspires that much confidence than the new Neova. The amount of traction is RIDICULOUS for something meant to be used on the street. I pitched the C63 sideways on the track, and it wasn’t a problem at all. Even when I pushed the tires past the limits, it was still controllable and I could correct it instantaneously. Once these release for the public (Q2 – sometime in April), I recommend that anyone who’s serious about driving hard to pick these up. They’re rather pricey for the regular consumer, but they’re definitely worth it.

Anyway, after all that flogging, we finished packing up, then headed back home. Got back in about three hours, averaging about 105+ once we got out of the Vegas traffic. Went back to my Arcadia house to switch to my C63, then headed back to LA. Just chilled for a bit at the LA house, took a quick nap, then woke up around 12:30 to shower. Headed back to Arcadia again, and passed out once I got there.

Finally done. Time to rest.

Next post: Logan’s Thanksgiving THROWDOWNNNNN.

Vegas Day 2: AD08 Release (International Day) + Carnegie

Day 2… oh how very difficult you were to wake up in time for.. especially since I stayed awake till around 3, waiting for the food coma to go away and the food to digest after eating at the Wynn Buffet. So horrible. Anyway, woke up sick early, got ready, and headed over to the track around 7:30. Parked, then met up with the rest of the Yokohama guys, this time including a lot of the XO’s from YTC and YRC. We began setting up everything, starting with the cars and making sure all of them had the proper tire pressure and that the tires weren’t worn down. The press and distributors coming down for sure wouldn’t be bored with the lineup, consisting of 5 RX8s (two of them 40th anniversary and one of them a Mazdaspeed edition), 2 Evo Xs, an Audi A4 and S8, and a Porsche Carrera S Cabriolet. Anyway, not too much to say about the event. Entire track was open to use, also set up an autocross track on the skidpad, and that everyone seemed to have a very positive response about the new AD08s. I’ll let pictures do the rest of the talking.

Stopped by to pick up a bottle of water before heading over to the track. If you know me, or were with us at Formula D Vegas this year.. you know what kind of fear I have developed for Iron Skillet LOL.

The G Trailer.

International Press and Distributors arriving.

Before allowing to drive solo, they were required to ride along with one of the drivers to show the course layout.

One of the many RX8s

Getting ready to go on.

The MS joint. Pretty cool actually.

All cars were also equipped with GoPros, so drivers could put their SD card in and record their drives.

New Neova AD08s. Amazing tires.

RX8 on left equipped with AD07s, and RX8 on right equipped with AD08s.

Out on the track snapping a few shots.

Evo X.

Driver was getting pretty nutty hahah.

Evo X MR.

After a quick session, it was lunch time, so everyone migrated to the meeting room.

List of what cars run Yokohama tires as OE equipment. Yep your eyes are not deceiving you.. they do supply to Boeing.

Features of the new Neova.

Advan A048. Still my favorite R-Compound tire to date.

Advan STs

Advan Sport.

The star of the show: the Advan Neova AD08. Will be running these on my C63.

Group shot!

Audi S8. Would love to have one of these as a daily hahahah.

Pro drivers now taking press along for rides to show how far you can really push these tires.

“Hey I’m going to string the first three turns into a continuous drift. That’ll make the press happy.” LOL. You do what you gotta do man.

Evolution Racewerk’s 135i. So sick. Crazy fast on the track.

Can’t ever go wrong with bright orange wheels LOL. Evo was running hard until it started losing power. Not sure what happened.

The three pros ready to roll.

Waiting to be driven.

Took a shot while JC was shooting down the straight hahah.

Would love to try driving this later on today.

After all that, they went over to the autocross course for the rest of the day. Me, being lazy, stayed at the trailer and just kicked it with the rest of the staff. After everyone left, they had to start replacing the tires on all the cars in order for everything to be ready for the next day.

Kevin taking off all four wheels on the 911

Kevin #2 working his magic on the (dis)mounter.

After all that, we ended up getting back to the hotel around 8, where Allen and I started burning copy after copy of CDs containing the Yokohama Press Kit, product guides, and photos from today. Took about 1 1/2 hours to burn 34 CDs. We then had to wait for Matt to come and pick up everything so we could finally go grab some dinner. Now how do you celebrate after doing work all day? Easy.. by blowing yourself up with food! So, per Francis’ recommendation, we went over to the Mirage to Carnegie Deli.

I ordered a “Woody Allen,” which consists of both corned beef and pastrami (REAL pastrami mind you.. not “stringy meat” ala THE HAT). I’ve already seen pictures of how large the sandwiches are, but really now.. how bad could it be?

BAD. VERY BAD. BAAAAAAAAAD.

WHAT. THE. DEUCE.

Yes. It really is that large. It was pretty much stacked to the height of a ketchup bottle. I ate half the sandwich, and the other half I just couldn’t hang and had to take home.

Total was about 16 per sandwich, which really isn’t too bad considering the portions.

Now feeling super blowed, we decided it would probably be in our best interest to walk back to Paris from the Mirage, since it wasn’t that far anyway, and we’d be saving money from the cab ride.

Walking out of The Mirage.

Nice chill weather. Perfect for a nice chill walk.

Still impressive every time I see it.

Anyway, took us about 15 minutes until we got back to Paris and into our room. I was planning to sleep early that night, since we had a sick early call time the next day, but that totally didn’t happen. I don’t want to get into specifics, but I’ll just say I got a call from someone, talked about something serious, and then the issue kept me up all night, to the point where I ended up going down and walking around the strip, ending up at the Bellagio, and staring out into the water, hoping to clear my mind. It kind of worked, but it wasn’t until I got a random call from Ms. Nancy Lin all the way from New York that I started feeling better. She, being the awesome person that she is, stayed on the phone with me for a solid two hours, listening and offering rather sound advice to me. Of course, also played catch-up during those two hours, since we haven’t seen each other for almost a year, so no worries it wasn’t just me being boring. Just kidding Nancy don’t kill me! LOL. But yes, thanks to her I actually got a few hours of sleep before having to wake up. Thank you miss, I shall treat you to dinner next time you’re back in town!

Yep. Vegas always brings troubles LOL. Just one more day before I can pack up and go home!

One mo’ gain.

LOL. Poor Kid.

Anyway, last post on Vegas coming on later today/early tomorrow!

- Charlie

Vegas Day 1: Wynn Buffet.

So, as I said in the post before.. got to Vegas in about 3 hours. This was probably why:

LOL.

It’s always nice seeing the outside out Vegas after a long drive.

Turning into Paris

Eiffel Tower! Hahah.

Anyway, checked in, chilled for a little, then headed over to the buffet at the Wynn.

Not really many words needed for this one. A lot of food + not a lot of time = PAIN.

Bit of a line.. worth the wait?

Nice decor

Pretty packed tonight.

CRAB LEGSSSSSSSS.

Ahhh yes.

So many choices!

Round 1.

PRIME RIB.

ROUND DOS.

Pasta, pasta, more pasta.

Food overload much?

Every kind of Ceviche imaginable hahah.

No time spent here.

Round SAN.

Dessert!

More dessert

My absolute favorite dessert: BREAD PUDDING.

AMAZING.

Candy Apple. More fun to play with than to actually eat ahahah.

And this time, I came prepared.

Metamucil keeps me and my digestive system alive.

Alright, that’s about it for tonight. Early call time tomorrow at the event, so have to go to sleep soon. Another update for you all tomorrow!

Vegas: ONE MO ‘GAIN.

Yep. You read that right. I am indeed back in Vegas once again for the second time this month. This time, I’m here for the Yokohama Advan Neova AD08 Release. Two full days on the track, testing these tires alongside international and national publications and other companies. The drive here was rather painless, since it only took three hours this time, and I wasn’t tired at all since it was during the day hahah. Just checked into my room at Paris, and will be going to the Wynn buffet soon to grab some dinner. I’ll update again later on tonight for you all.

Kind of signifies how Vegas is hahah.