it's 3pm !! dessert time (^0^)//

well, it's not 3pm yet, but i'm going to talk about some
of the dessert menus i had in japan !!
(in case you are wondering, typically in japan,
we call 3pm the "time for dessert")

below is the world famous (?) Pucchin Purin by Gligo.
it's basically a custard with a caramelized layer on top.
the plastic container has a collapsable air-hole on the bottom,
so that you can put it upside down to serve it right side up
on a plate !!! genious!!!!!

this is a jello made from 'houji-cha' which is one type
of japanese tea. the tea jello has no sugar, so it is
coupled with a super sweet condensed milk syrup !!
this is called the 'bekko-ame'. i think it's the most
old fashioned candy in japan. very simple taste,
sugar and a little caramel coloring.

i found this at one of the P.A. on the freeway on
my way back from my grandfather's temple in Kiryu.
P.A. is like the 'rest area' on the U.S. freeway with
a lot more than just restrooms. there's many shops and
restaurants. and these are some of super sized japanese
snacks.

this is the 'kabocha montblanc' at Tully's which is
an increasing coffee shops around Tokyo.
the cake is made from japanese chesnuts cream on
top and pumpkin cream on bottom!

this is from another coffee shop called Doutor.
i like Doutor better than Tully's because they have
this : the 'mil-crepe'. it's a cake made from layers
and layers of crepe (super thin pancake) sandwitched
with whipped cream. super goooooood !!!

this was at a cute and small coffee shop in Nikko in Tochigi

called Meiji no Yakata. this is the 'rare-cheesecake'.
we got lucky because we got a lucky seat to be able to
enjoy these cakes as well as the snowy white mountains
from the cafe windows !!

i had this right after i had the above 'rare-cheesecake'

not just because i'm a sweet-tooth, but this was one
rare thing that i've never had before. this was the

'age-manjyu' which is the sweet red bean paste covered

with rice cake and deep fried. although i was pretty full
from the cake, this was nice and warm and good as
we walked around town in a cold weather !!!

i still have tons of food photos, but haven't decided
where to introduce them. (too many pics....)

hiro

My Newest Sponsor!

My Newest Sponsor! Thank you for supporting me!

T.M. Works provides several electrical parts for racing field, where the HQ is in Japan.


My car has KA24DE-T, so they made the ones for my engine since JDM S14 has SR20DE-T!

It looks much skinnier than regular spark plug wires...and looks sooo nice!


They found me through Carboy Magazine in Jan 09 issue below.

BTW, my girl drifter friend, Amanda made this frame for me! (I am not good at taking the pix...so sad.)

She is one of the BEST girl drifters in the US!!

Thank you Amanda, I love you, too! =)

Yoshie

my brother and my friends in Japan

My brother and his friend and I hit this local bar
near our house in Tokyo.

By brother and Shelly.
Do we look alike ? Some say so, some don't....
I ordered a Guiness and anyone who ordered Guiness
got to play a scratch card game, and I won a special
edition Guiness beer glass !!! Yay !

This was at a izakaya in Shinjyuku with the JDM
Formula D drivers !

From right, Toshiking, me, Dai, Miki san, Robbie,
Maru chan and his girl. (sorry, can't remember her name)
Where's Keigo ? Oh, he must be taking the photo !!

My buddies from St. Mary's College of California.
I haven't seen them for over 8 years !!!
Me, Ken chan, Masa, and Motoki.
We had a "Motsu nabe", one of the most popular
menu during the winter in Japan !

I went to Kansai for a couple of days and met up
with Seigo san and Jun.
As you can see, we played bowling.
I sucked !!!

This is Mickey san's house in super suburb of Kyoto.
He is the one who built me the famous(?) "Zombie"
Chaser. I haven't seen him since he moved back to
Japan, so it was awesome to see him and his family!!

This is at Takashi's house for a reunion with my USC
buddies. Me, Nari (holding Takashi's baby), Takashi,
Tomo, Terumi (Takashi's wife), and Takuya.
I'm glad that at least one of us is having a family with
a baby !!

Thanks to all of my friends for making time between
your busy schedule to meet me !!!

hiro

shops in Kanto area !

When I was in Tokyo, I went to visit Ueno-san
who drives the world famous Toyota Soarer in the D1GP.
This is his shop called SUI:VAX in Kanagawa.
He is currently working on his new BMW M3 to use
for his competition car in the 2009 D1GP !

One of his daily drive Toyota JZX100 Mark II.
It is soooooooo NICE !!!
I really wish we had these in the States !!!!!
While I was in Kanagawa, I visited Jonny Ito and
Kazu Takahashi at WELD/Xanthic.
Look at that cool little van with WELD graphic !!

Looking down at the shop from the office in the
2nd floor !

And I also took a bullet train to visit "Emperor" Koguchi san
at his shop Koguchi Power in Tochigi.
Here's Koguchi san posing for me !!
(sorry it's blurry...)

We went to dinner at a spaghetti restaurant called
"Apple" near by his shop.
The pasta was very good. It was boiled to perfection
which never happens here.....

And to finish the delicious dinner, we ordered this
super big pudding!
Koguchi san and me both finished it !!!
(with a little help from the girls next door)

I've been eating so much while I was in
Japan, so I might've gained some weight....
Time to do some extreme excercise....hmmm.

hiro

tennis and golf

Now that I'm back in the states, I'll start to upload some pics
from Japan. I should've done it while I was there, but
I was soooo busy.... sorry !
I played tennis with my dad, his friend, and my brother.
It's been like 6 years since I played last time, but
it was fun. My feet felt like it was slow.... am I getting

old ?!?!

I also played golf with my family at a resort in Tateyama, Chiba.
It was cold and I was too sore from the tennis game the day
before, but it was a good time spent with my family.

The tires on the automatic golf cart is .......
Falken !!!

On a different day, I was invited by Nob Taniguchi to play
golf with his friends. I was pretty nervous because all of
these guys are the GT500 and GT300 drivers !!!
(Nob Taniguchi, Yasu Kikuchi, and Kataoka)
And it was a cold day too.... -3deg C when we teed off!
The course was in Chiba called Kimisarazu and it was quite
a challenging course. I ended up shooting 98 !!!
The score was terrible, but it was so cool to meet and
play golf with these famous racers (^ ^)/

I'll be updating more and more of my trip soon !

hiro

Tokyo Auto Salon. . . . pics

Last weekend, I finally went to the Tokyo Auto Salon !
I've always wanted to go, but I've always missed the
opportunity, so it was awesome that I got to go.

Doesn't this look like th Falken flag ?!?!

When I got there, MAX Orido and NOB Taniguchi
was doing a video shoot on Orido's new Aristo !
Congrats to Daigo for getting the 2008 D1GP Champion !!
I see the red Mustang in the background. . . . hmm...

In the Mazda booth, there was a hands-on experience
with the miniture scale rotary engine. These kids got

to take the model engine apart and put it back together
with their parents in accordance with the advise from
the expert !!

Ueno san from T&E will be driving this new BMW M3
in the 2009 D1GP. It will be so exciting to see new
cars fighting in this year's championship !!

Me with the BN Sports crew !
The white Mark II in the back is the personal street
car belonging to Saito Daigo !! So~~~ jealous !!!

hiro

Belated Pic.

I got a nice fruit basket for my BDay gift a while ago...and I got a pic for that. It was yummy & great! Thank you as always, Ayame chan! =)

Yoshie

New Year Resolution

A Happy new year...as usual belated...

Anyhow, I gained (and still going on?!) some weight in winter (my pants got smaller...not really, I got bigger.)

I got a scale w/ body fat rate, body water rate, and bone density rate yesterday.

I haven't weighted myself for more than half a year, so I was afraid to know the reality...hahaha

It wasn't as bad as I thought...but yeah, I gained weight as I felt. hahaha

I haven't decided my new year resolution, but definitely I need to lose some meat...before it gets too late. hehe

Yoshie

some random JDM-ness

the remote control golf cart :


the suspended parking lot :


hiro

Fuji Speedway !

I went to check out Fuji Speedway with my friend.
Luckily it was a nice sunny day and the view was awesome !

There was bunches of these 'oil dump' cans.
Very driver friendly environment !
Fuji D1 Grandprix corner !

From the hot pit area.
All the building, pavement, rooms, were all very new
and sooooo nice !!!

Media room.
Big screen tv and electric outlet for each person.

The Drift course !

The Gymkhana course !

The Fuji 800 Short course !

The remains of the old Fuji super high speed Oval course !

Me and Mt.Fuji from the Fuji main track !

This day was not only a fine sunny day, but there was
an event going on at every single available track, so it
was like an amusement part for car lovers.
It's definitely the nicest track facility that I've ever been to!!

hiro