Tag: AWFilms

  • Japan Again Part 2 | RO Explore

    Japan Again Part 2 | RO Explore

    Part two of our adventure begins with an early morning to get some ramen and explore more of Tokyo..

    Crazy how many people are up so early for work and school.

    Foot traffic is crazy.

    Blue Bottle to get the day started.

    First time at Ichiran ramen, it’s one of those spots where eating by yourself is cool.

    But we were talking the whole time.

    Took a trip to Roppongi Hills to see the view of the Tokyo Tower.

    Marvel had a installation at Roppongi Hills with cool Marvel stuff we couldn’t take photos of.

    Nearby we stumbled upon the Yayoi Kusama art show.

    I was told not to shoot anymore photos after this.

    It’s fun to do bad things.

    Had an early day and decided to rest up early to get us prepared for our 5AM trip to Osaka.

    -NGUMINH

     

  • Japan Again | RO Explore

    Japan Again | RO Explore

     Ever since I went to Japan in January for Tokyo Auto Salon, Julia has been bugging me to take her. So on Valentines Day I bought her a ticket to Japan to shut her up. Just kidding, but I did buy her a ticket because I love her and now she won’t shut up about going back. 

    Caught this rare glimpse of another airplane flying with us on the same route.

    For this trip, we traveled with Krstina and Abbitt and it happened to be Krstina’s first time too! Here we have two tourists posing with a rock that looks like the famous Hachiko.

    Night exploring, looking for something to eat and we then decided to go to Yakitori Center where Abbitt fell down a flight of stairs and broke his hand.

    Cold chicken wings, beef and chick skin! So bomb.

    Our next stop would be the World’s Second Best Freshly Baked Melon-Pan Icecream. It’s literally called that and one can argue that it might be the best!

    The melon bread is so good and the ice cream combo just makes it better!

    1. The look on their faces says it all.

    The next morning we woke up early and got some cold udon that Abbitt found near our place.

    It was my first time eating cold udon and it was delicious! Full of flavor and it was easy to eat.

    Most of the shops and places we wanted to go were closed, so we got some coffee at Streamers Coffee in Shibuya.

    Coffee lovers.

    Shout out to Streamers Coffee for letting us put our sticker on their wall!

    Julia is an avid cat lover and no one loves cats more than the Japanese. They have cat cafes all over Tokyo just so you can spend time with like 20 different types of cats.  The cat cafe we went to was in Shibuya and it’s called Cafe Mocha.

    So many pretty cats in this cafe, too bad I’m allergic.

    A munchkin cat!

    You pay about $10-15 USD to hang out with cats and some cafes offer beverages. For foreigners this might seem like a waste of money, but for the Japanese this is a place where you can relax and calm your stress by playing with cats.

    We spotted a park with a bunch of cherry blossom trees and we had to stop by to take photos.

    We got lost in Shibuya and came across this crazy looking building.

    Passed by Genki Sushi and saw the RO sticker I placed the first time I came to Japan. Crazy how it’s already been 4 years. What a life.

    We took a long train to West Aoyama Garden where they have the interesting fluffy pan cakes.

    I also ordered this ham grilled sandwich that was pretty basic just like the pancake. I would not recommend going here, unless you’re just going for Instagram photos.

    That’s all for today, check back for more on this 4 part saga of Japan Adventures Again.

    -NGUMINH

     

  • LA Lights | RO Explore

    LA Lights | RO Explore

     Ever since I’ve had good melt off the spoon brisket, I’ve been wanting more and better tasting brisket. Shavi said Bludso’s BBQ made the best brisket he’s ever had in his life, so we decided to head out to LA. Abbitt and Krstina came along to see if it even comes close to Texas BBQ. 

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    Foodgasm.

    It’s crazy when you’ve had something and you thought it was the best ever and then something else tops it. This is what Bludso’s BBQ did for me. What a life. I can’t wait to try some Texas BBQ in June. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

    Kyren getting real nice with a strand of meat.

    We are releasing a new HOODRATstuff slap. The black glitter slap is available at shop.royal-origin.com.

    There’s always room for dessert.

    When you walk in the club in unison with your squad.

    Who makes eating dessert look the best?

    After dessert, I wanted to do a shoot at the high way pass that over looks the freeway. Abbitt trying to show Krstina something related to stickers probably.

    That leg lift.

    You find love in strange places.

    Krstina has content.

    We were close to the US Bank tower sky space, so we decided to go ahead and check it out. Abbitt living in the moment of a moment.

    Krstina has more content.

     Whenever I’m high up like this, I just think all the problems we stress about are just so small when you look at the big picture. Maybe you just have to live for the small things like the feeling you get when you bite into a piece of brisket or laughing so hard that you accidentally fart and make all your friends smell it in the backseat. Maybe those feelings are the only things that matter at the end of the day.

    We all got a lot of content on this trip, but Krstina especially.

    What a life.

    -NGUMINH

  • Customizing with Rhino | Car Nights

    Customizing with Rhino | Car Nights

    Lately, I’ve been spending most of my time at Rhino Customs where Rodney works. We’ve been doing small stuff to my IS, so it could look presentable. Rodney has helped me mount tires, install bumpers, grills, headlights and so much more. Thanks Rodney for all the help! Building a car really does bring friends together.

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    Rodney applying some black vinyl to my fenders to see how it’ll look. It didn’t look good…

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    Almost perfect.

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    Loving my new 78 Works tail lights and AIMGAIN trunk spoiler courtesy of Kyoei USA and Ryo.

    Looking better everyday.

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    The shop car is a LS swaped S14 that they plan to compete in drift events for shop exposure.

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    That logo..

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    I thought it would be cool to do some light painting in the shop, little did I know I really suck at light painting.

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    We also spent some time putting each other’s cars together. Like installing Abbitt’s lift for his truck.

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    Bruno Mars loves cars.

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    Rodney teaching Abbitt how to mount tires.

    We also had to install Rodney’s coil overs and mount his tires.

    None of us knew how to stretch tires and we did the only thing we know how to do. Apply a little #HOODRATstuff to it.

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    and a lot of brake fluid and a torch..

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    Googling how to stretch a tire…

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    We ended up figuring it all out and actually got all the tires mounted.

    The power of team work.

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    Looking good Bruno.

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    Family dinners after a long day of fixing cars.

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    It’s also fun to play with fire.

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    Not bad, not bad at all.

    You can follow Rodney and Rhino’s Customs on Instagram here..

    Rodney – @rod_knee

    Rhino’s Customs – @rhino_customs_detailing

    -NGUMINH

  • Washington Part Two | RO Explore

    Washington Part Two | RO Explore

    Waking up to the cold brisk air of Washington was something unfamiliar. The air was so crisp and I woke up freezing my ass of because I didn’t know there were extra blankets under my bed. Besides the near hypothermia incident, today was going to be a day filled with exploring the city and stopping by some local shops.
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    Felt good to walk outside to a natural setting with trees giving us that fresh air.

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     Thank you to Rick Wilkerson for cooking us some bomb french toast croissants! A look inside the Wilkerson’s residence.

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     Yoshi met us up early to go get some coffee at Garage Autohero.

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     Posted outside of the Wilkerson’s home was pretty surreal. We always saw photos of Abbitt’s Subarus posted up in front of this wooden home, but never really thought we would ever be here. Life’s a trip.

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     Having trees that surround your house is pretty awesome.

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     On the way to Garage Autohero.

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    Garage Auto Hero had so many projects going on, it must be difficult to keep track of it all.

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     So many cool things going on in this shop.

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    Ray makes the best coffee in the area.

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    Baeton enjoying his coffee. Thanks Ray!

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    What the Milpitas boys have been wanting to do the whole trip was to visit a recreational clinic, so we stopped by the local Kush Mart. I didn’t bring my camera in because I wasn’t sure what the rules were, but it was like going into buy some alcohol or candy.

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    Met up with the locals at Skillet for some breakfast. They’re known for their grilled cheese with bacon jam and chicken. The poutine fries here are bomb as well.

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    Artery clogger for sure, but worth it!

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    Abbitt trying to live in Vinh’s moment.

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    Jonny brought out his sick TC! I want his wheels for my brother’s Legacy.

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    Next door to Skillet was an ice cream shop called Parfait.

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    Decent ice cream, super slow service because there was only one worker and the people in front of me wanted to try each flavor twice.

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    Vickie handing us some goodies. Thanks Justin and Vickie!

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    Some rollers on the way to our next stop, Molly Moons!

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    Love the city vibes in Seattle.

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    It’s awesome that the streets in the city are safe for slammed cars.

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    We had a big crowd joining us today.

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    Mike and Clinton really enjoying paying for parking.

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    Not what I expected from the best ice cream Seattle had to offer. Tried to give it to a homeless person and they didn’t even want it.

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    Everyone enjoying their basic ice cream. Just kidding… haha or am I?

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    Potatoes with glasses.

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    Jonny with dem portrait shots.

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    The next stop was the Starbucks Reserve. Super hipster Starbucks.

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    Coffee shop game on point.

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    Coffee art.

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    Live in the moment Abbitt.

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    Tea game on point too.

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    Borrowed this sweet tray from the Starbucks Reserve for rolling up blunts.

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    Deciding on the next destination.

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    It’s a cup from the Starbucks Reserve hanging on a tree while barely holding on to it’s own identity.

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    Couldn’t get enough of Henderson’s M3.

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    Taylor’s Mazda is fun to look at it as well. Got a lot of cool photos of this car because of the paint.

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     Welp, the Space Needle was cool. Time for the next spot..

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    The locals took us to this spot for a spectacular view of the city, see for yourself.

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    The feels.

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    Obligatory visit to Dick’s before we ended the night. Part three coming soon…

  • Washington | RO Explore

    Washington | RO Explore

    Washington has been one of the states that I’ve been wanting to visit on the west coast for the longest time. Mostly because of the vibes the city gives like that mellow foggy winter hike kind of vibe. It’s hard to explain, but it seems like everyone who lives there takes awesome photos on instagram. So, I definitely wanted to go out there to get some good photos and hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in a while.

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     Watching the sunset on the way to a new journey was a beautiful moment.

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    After a brief 2 hour nap, we woke up in Seattle and the city welcomed us with it’s bright lights.

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    Some bokeh night feels.

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    Just by driving on the freeway, you could already feel the chill vibes through the tunnels. It must be fun to cruise through these tunnels in a fun car with wide open throttle.

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    The first stop would be Dick’s Burgers where we would meet a couple of friends and try the infamous Washington based burger joint.
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    Surprisingly, there was a plethora of awesome cars already posted at the meet when we arrived. Like Taylor’s MZ3, even though he wasn’t driving it.

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    Super Highwaii’ Miata owned by the infamous Youtube sensation Vickie Mun.

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    The Dick’s Deluxe burger at first it had a whatever taste to it, but after a while I was just craving more for some reason.

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    Abbitt and his long lost brother having a talk about why living in Washington is so awesome. Just kidding, it was just a really cracked out dude talking to us about some random shit.

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    Slammed TL on MB Battles. Pretty ridiculous camber on this thing.

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    S13 Coupe fitted with a BN Kit and retro headlights. Sick stance.

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    Man do we love Dick’s. Multiple at a time..

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    Clean Mugen RSX on CE28s.

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    Ryan from Cake Face clothing brought out his clean 350z bagged on LXZs.

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    Henderson arriving fashionably late.

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    New friend, Yoshi’s G35 slammed on AME Tracers.

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    That fender fuck.

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    Henry’s STI on Volk TE37s.

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    The crowd of new Washington friends.

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    After the meet, we were still hungry so we decided to go get some pizza in downtown Seattle at Hot Mama’s. On the way there we got some sweet rollers of Vickie’s Miata.

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    Guys really love the RO crown sticker.

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    Hot Mama’s pesto, sausage and pepperoni pizza. Bomb.

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    We took over this little restaurant.

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    Baeton.

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    The Potatoe Glasses.

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    Abbitt got some good video coverage from this night. It should be coming soon, but until then watch out for part two of our Washington adventures.

  • #ROINSEATTLE | Meats

    #ROINSEATTLE | Meats

    We are making a trip out to the Seattle area, and would love to see our Pacific North West friends and lovers. See you guys there!

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  • Boss Company LS400 | AWFILMS

    Boss Company LS400 | AWFILMS

    Saying goodbye to one of the coolest LS400’s in California.

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    AWFILMS | Runnin’ Through the 6 With My Woes from Abbitt Wilkerson on Vimeo.

  • Random Day in LA | Food Adventures

    Random Day in LA | Food Adventures

    Valentines Day is spent best with significant other or in this case your two single friends who had nothing else to do that day either. In the spur of the moment me and Abbitt decided to go on a trip with Shavi to check out his clinic that he’s opening in down town LA.

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    Looking for cool lines to take photos of was the objective of the day.

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    The build out of Shavi’s clinic is looking good. If you guys need some medical cards and need it in LA, this will be the spot to go to. Maybe we’ll sell our merch out of this spot.

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    The previous tenant had some cool art work on the walls.

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    Abbitt needs an answer.

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    After Shavi confirmed everything with his contractor, we were off to do some #ROExplore in LA.

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    Things change quickly here in LA, seems like they’re always building something.

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    The Hundreds. Love it.

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    First stop, we went to go eat at Wurstkuche where they have a variety of exotic sausages.

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    Vegetarian smoked apple sage, lamb and many different flavors of sausages.

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    The restaurant had a nice place to eat with a bar.

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    A DJ set up at the entrance and a private dining area that you can reserve for a big party.

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     The order number looked like awards to us. Shavi happily accepting his award for 3rd place hair style in the building.

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    Abbitt checking out the anodize work on the awards.

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    I got the lamb with Mediterranean spices with caramelized onions.

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    Shavi got the rattlesnake and rabbit with jalapenos and Belgian fries.

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     Abbitt got the bratwurst.

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    Sausage party.

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    These fries with chipotle aioli and bleu cheese walnut and bacon sauce was so good. Overall, the food was good and the place had a very chill ambiance to eat at and you can get wasted while waiting for your sausages.

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     We stumbled upon an ice cream truck on the way back to our car and decided to try it.

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    This ice cream truck ended up being amazing. The ice cream truck was Van Leeuwen and they make excellent mint chocolate chip and earl grey tea ice cream.

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     Abbitt mesmerized by his ice cream.

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     We did a little stroll around the neighborhood and spotted this coffee shop.

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    We got to this street where we shot Neel’s LS400 last year and they developed the place super quick. The area was unrecognizable at first.

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    While driving around LA, we looked up the top ten free things to do in LA and Vista Hermosa park was one of the spots to check out. On the way there we went through Little Tokyo and spotted a friend.

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    Karl was going to Jason Mark to pick up his shoes and had time to kick it with us before his Valentine’s date.

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    It was my first time seeing Karl’s Porsche on his new set of Work Meisters and damn did it look fresh.

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    Too bad the lighting was bad at the park and I didn’t bring a tripod to light paint properly.

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    Karl decided to join us to check out Vista Hermosa park.

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    We were asked by a couple to help them set up their camera settings for the perfect photo. They ended up asking us if we could help take a photo of their friend because he was going to propose to his girlfriend. Congrats to the lovely couple in this photo!

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    After the park, we saw this cool arcade down the street in Echo Park. It actually ended up being a parlor with old school pin ball machines. Pretty neat.

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    Our last visit would be to Barrio Fiesta where Jerald works. He let us check out his RC350 while he was cooking and damn this car is nice.

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     Red leather for RC350s with the F Sport package.

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     Touch pad mouse for navigation.

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    The instrument panel is what I love the most about the newer Lexuses.

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     Jerald took me out for a cruise to TPumps a new boba shop that originated from San Francisco.

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     Jerald’s been through a lot last year, glad he’s putting himself back together.

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    This was a lot better than I expected. All their milk teas was lactose free, so I can fully enjoy them without running to the restroom afterwards.

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    New boy band, we named ourselves the THREE PUMPS.

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    Today was a good day.

  • Flask Mob LA | January

    Flask Mob LA | January

    You can come up with some cool shit with just a tripod and some long exposures.The latest trend on Instagram right now is the late night city photography with a sick emo caption which has always been my favorite thing to shoot. I live in the suburbs where there are no city lights to take photos of and when there are lights at nights it’s usually because of traffic. Luckily for me Flask Mob has monthly meets where they show you around the city and make it so cool shit happens for photo opportunities. I saw last month’s photos and made it a priority for me to go to the next meet up.

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    There was already a large crowd of people when we got there. Amazing to see so many photographers and people who love to capture cool shit come together.

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    People already started staging out some cool shots.

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    Flask Mob was like Halloween all over again, but a lot more acceptable to take photos of people.

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    There was also this dude who was a professional fire breather. First time seeing something like this and it had me in shock and awe.

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    I wish I had a better angle for a cool shot.

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    He was like a Charmander all night.

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    Holy crap.

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    He who dances with fire.

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    This guy is epic.

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    Next to him was a dude that spun burnt wool and it makes this cool effect.

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    Right when all the cool shit was about to happen, the fun police came and through the down the biggest “TFTI” on us and proceeded to kick us out.

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    Good thing no one invited them because they would’ve known we were just going to move anyways.

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    Straight thug.

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    This guy is a bad ass. Right when he got on the bridge he gunned it and got chased after the police.

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    Hayle really confused on where we’re going.

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    It got a little rowdy.

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    Look at all of these people!

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    Some low lows. Check out that rim tuck.

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    Fire wool spinning on the bridge.

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    These ladies lit some sparklers to guide us.

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    I think I want to pick up this hobby.

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    This is so down.

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    We were slapping these new HOODRATstuff stickers wherever we went.

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    The guide.

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    The DJ.

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    It was a fucking party.

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    Not amused.

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    Smoke bombs is another thing on my list to buy.

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    Our friends eventually caught up to us.

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    But them being here won’t stop this party.

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    Even Van Styles was present.

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    LAPD eventually blocked us in and didn’t let anyone pass.

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    It still didn’t stop the FLASK MOB.

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    Wildest rager ever.

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    Seriously, no rules at this party. It was like we were at a photography competition where everyone was fighting to get a good photo.

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    She would win.

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    Insert poetic caption or alternative rock song.

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    Be the light at the end of a tunnel.

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    We thought this was David Vu’s old car.

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    LA is a crazy place. It was a fun experience thank you Flask Mob for the good times. I know how tough it is to throw events, so I hope you guys keep at it!