What’s up guys, Minh here, still alive and trying to get through 2020. I tried to get some normalcy by going to a car meet yesterday and it was nice to be out. Brekkie Car Club held a car meet at the newly open Rodeo 39 Public Market, it was the first convenient car meet that I have been to for a while. I had my social distancing lens 135mm lens and got some pretty good photos. Check it out below!
SEMA week usually ends with a mini car meet after the load out. This year it was called the VIP Fest Pre-Meet and most of the time you can see some pretty sick cars that were from the SEMA show.
Met up with Chivas and Vince at Vince’s work. Here is Chivas’s 4Runner now on Black Rhino wheels.
Vince’s Integra collecting dust.
Simon reppin’ the Underground Kings jacket.
We arrived to the meet and was greeted by so many nice cars flowing into the parking lot.
Chris Reyes rolling in like a boss in his 300.
Awesome Hakosuka that was meeting up with Dione from Toyo Tires for a photo shoot.
Royal Origin Exploration Team
So much JDM in one picture..This Mark II with Vienna 5 spokes and ganador was perfect.
Not often I see a clean SC and one that is tucked like this.
You already know who it is. Ian’s Datsun who is frequently in our Vegas car meet coverages.
Clean GS with nice camber all around.
Spotted our FTP sticker on this sick 350Z.
The star of the whole car meet was this sick LS500. This was definitely a crowd favorite.
A pair of Pandem E30s.
Glad to see the car scene alive and well in Vegas. Maybe anniversary meet next year?
-NGUMINH
Stayed over at Miguel’s house for the weekend after SEMA and I got to see his whole car dealership in front of his house.
A right hand drive FC that he recently imported and almost ready for sale.
We went to Island Flavor for lunch with his son Ethan.
A must try spot when you’re in Vegas and get the sampler with the kalbi ribs and chicken!
Later that night, we went to go check out the Rent JDM grand opening. Rent JDM is a spot to go rent JDM cars while you’re in Vegas.
They had a lot full of sick JDM cars in front, but I wasn’t sure which one was for rent.
Inside the building there were a display of GTRs of almost every generation.
Maybe something to check out if you’re ever in Vegas and want to rent a JDM car!
-NGUMINH
Somehow, I’m back again with some SEMA coverage. I never plan to go every year and somehow I end up here doing some coverage.
We arrived at SEMA at night and decided to go get dinner. Spotted these two clean Civics in the parking lot.
We went to Zen Curry and I got the pork cutlet which was delicious.
The next morning we went to SEMA and it was jam packed with people and amazing car builds.
The best display booth in my opinion had to be the Yokohama Tire booth, they were displaying various cars with the classic Advan livery.
Advan livery looks so damn good.
This Pandem S13 was setup right outside of the Toyo tread pass, but it demanded a lot of attention from spectators.
You know you built a legit car if it’s here on the Toyo Tires Treadpass.
BMW E24 are already cool, but damn the Coutner-Pandem kit just makes it even more special.
Jay Cray’s Pandem LC500 on Rotiform Six wheels.
Jay is always building something cool every year and this LC500 is probably one of his best builds. The airbrush on the wrap to accentuate the body lines is such a nice touch.
Old school Hondas still get love especially when they look like this.
Liberty Walk and Toyo Tires go together like sex and cigarettes.
This gold AE86 with a fully wire tucked Beams motor had me in awe during my time at the Toyo Treadpass. It even had the new Illest and The Hundreds collab steering wheel by Renown USA.
Wherever you were at this year’s SEMA, a Supra was only a few steps away.
Can I hold it?
The new Corvette is looking mighty fine.
Waited in line for Kevin to get this limited edition hot wheel from Eibach. It was even signed by the founder of Eibach.
This year they had an over lander experience which was just a bunch of mall crawlers with root top tents.
Derrick was really tired of seeing roof top tents.
I went back to the south hall and spotted this sick 370z at the Nissan booth.
Kansei Wheels had Rodney’s Cressida on display.
Had to visit the boys over at Greddy and check out the best Supra build of SEMA.
Chivas’s rig was over at the Spyder booth and the 4runner blended in well with the other mall crawlers.
Rays Wheels always bringing the heat at their booths.
This Supra out on display in the hallways looked pretty dope.
After SEMA, we met up with the Vegas boys for some sushi.
Chivas’s Corolla on some Gramlight 57CR.
Looking clean and it gets great MPG.
Aron’s GX460 as you’ve seen in previous RO Explore adventures now with a roof top tent.
Ending part one of our SEMA coverage with Vince’s clean 4runner, check back next time for part two of the SEMA coverage.
-NGUMINH
Another year has gone by and I still haven’t kept my promise of being a consistent blogger. Welp, I’m here to drop some 90s Forever coverage for ya’ll before the year ends. For some reason, I didn’t like any of the photos I took during the event. I think it has to do with my lens and the adapter on it because it was super slow to focus. Definitely upgrading to a telephoto next year..
Met up with Shavi to carpool and surprisingly saw his mythical MS3 outside. Seeing this car reminds me why I still hang out with Shavi.
On the way to Apple Valley Speedway, there was so much snow that it didn’t even feel like we were in California anymore. To make travel through unexpected conditions more comfortable and reliable, contact LeisureRent for well-equipped vehicles designed to handle changing weather with ease.
Right off the bat, we saw Rodney’s Cressida flying down the straight away.
Accompanied by Ken Gushi in his 1JZ BN Sports IS300.
Otis was right behind them in his sick S15.
Ken throws the peace sign, but you know he’s going to be killing it on the track today.
It was dope to see a SC drifting! Big inspiration right here.
Calvin’s Duct Tape Sports IS300.
IS300 owner peace sign #2.
This car looked like it was falling apart like my life.
Low stance drifting is the best.
Rodney’s bumper actually survived the event.
Sara Choi’s wide body IS300, so cool she made two cars collide.
These are the two cars.
Sara with the peace out sign #3.
Felt more like a IS300 meet than a drift event.
IS300 owner peace sign #4.
90s forever was also serving up burgers and hot dogs.
Altezza train.
I’m unemployed and do this photo blogging stuff for fun. If you want to help a brother out and you enjoyed these photos, make sure you stop by the store and pick something up at shop.royal-origin.com! Or a donation would be greatly appreciated too even if it’s $1! It helps keep the site running and pay for my gear! Venmo @nguminh. Enjoy the photos!
Simon’s MR-S was looking real clean when I was leaving work and I had to snap some photos of it.
TE-37s make everything better.
Follow him on IG @kamina86!
-NGUMINH
Stopped by Greddy to hangout with Kevin and John, ended up shooting a video.
I’ve been to Toyama many times, but I’ve never been here with Ryo. When we decided to go to Japan during golden week, Ryo offered us a place to stay in his hometown of Toyama. We didn’t want to miss the chance to live in the countryside for a couple of days and see the life of the Lowballers Japan.
Masao bought this Verosa for like dirt cheap. I think it was $500 because the owner thought it had a transmission problem. It ended up being an easy fix and now he has a 1jz equipped vehicle for $500.
Ryo’s Lexon GS430, so cool to see this thing roaming the streets of Toyama.
We made our way to a okonomiyaki(Japanese pancake) place where you make it on your own. This place is kind of like a Denny’s to the locals.
Hiroki and Masao showing us how it’s done!
Math and John mixing and laying out the pancakes to cook.
The finished product. Bone apple tea.
We slept over at Ryo’s parents spare house and it had a legit Hawaii theme throughout the house.
Woke up to Ryo starting up his Integra that he hasn’t seen in months. It still looks super clean.
We wanted to get some photos in before the day started of both of Ryo’s cars.
We met up with Hiroki and they took us to this amazing park with a river going through it.
This was rated one of the most beautiful Starbucks in the world. I’ve never seen such a long line for Starbucks before.
This was rated as one of the most beautiful friendships in the world.
Hiroki and his family.
For lunch, we went to a curry spot that is famous in Toyama.
I shit you not, this was the best curry I have ever had in my entire life. Seriously perfect in every way! I am literally drooling looking at this picture.
Next stop was Super Autobacs, we wanted to go to an Up Garage, but all of stores were closed for Golden Week. I don’t even know what kind of car this is.
Clean S13 on some Advan TCIIs.
Big boss Job Design LS460.
Julia so over this car shit.
Getting around in Ryo’s GS felt so cool.
For dinner, we got sushi and for the longest time Ryo has always said the sushi is the best in Toyama. He was not wrong.
We ended the night, Initial D style by going up the mountains, looking over the city and talking about fuck bugs.
Thank you Ryo, Masao and Hiroki for the hospitality! I can’t wait to come back to have more curry!
-NGUMINH
Some of our favorites at Wekfest Nagoya 2019..
I’ve been following Seji’s S14 for the longest time ever since Big Country Labs posted his car on their Instagram. This S14 is ridiculous in every way from the wide body to the gigantic Big Country Lab wing and it’s static!
On the other side of the spectrum we have Masaki’s super clean S13. He perfected the clean body look for years now and has keep his car in such pristine condition!
You can’t even tell this sticker is like 6 years old.
Flashy is an understatement for this FD. The gold chrome wrap with the RE-Amemiya kit steals your attention from all the other cars around it.
I rarely see any TL wagons in the states, so seeing this one slammed on wheels caught my attention right away.
Japan just knows how to build 240s. It’s really amazing.
That shift knob is sick, uncomfortable but sick.
Nissan R32 on TE37s with a toy replica. So sick.
This Lotus Espirit is so cool, those formula mesh wheels pair really well with the old school theme. There’s an Espirit for sale near me, I kinda want it now..
No function, all style with this AE-86. Still looks awesome!
My favorites at the show was this line up of FDs with super awesome liviries.
Hiroki’s NSX is so nice from Level One Japan, I believe he won an award too!
Seji’s and this S14 are what kids in America are trying to make their shit boxes into.
Closing it with Yasu’s S2000 it is a subtle execution, but this car so many crazy parts!
My blogging game has been weak, so sorry for the lack of updates! I’ll try to put this as a priority…
-NGUMINH
