The Hatch For Me

When it comes to Hatches, there are many to chose from these days. At first, you're option was really the Honda Civic. We didn't have the options that Europe and Asia has. But because of the down economy and high gas prices, we got to now have our own. From the Toyota Yaris to the Scion xA/xD and Suzuki SX4, there are many sexy options. I have officially decided on the one for me however. It will have to be the SX4 AWD. I love the way the SX4 WRC Car looks and I know if you go to the dealer, you won't get anything that looks like it, but thanks to Suzuki Sport Racing in Japan, I can get something similar. NICE!~

Scion xD...XD <--Laughing

I must say, when I first saw the new xD, I really didn't like it. However, I've someone grown to like it. If it were a couple of inches lower, it would totally be an awesome hot hatch. Some of you may also know that this is also the Toyota Ist in Japan and I must also say it's pretty sexy. Go see Mike Chang at Servco Scion Mapunapuna (If you live in Hawaii). I would like to see more Ist replicants!!!

Built Chang Tough

So I currently am driving a Ford Taurus, and I was talking to my friend Mike about the posibility of buying another American car. He went on about it's going to break down so quick and American cars suck and he would never buy one in his life. I can't knock the spoiled out of him, I have a friend (Keri) who thinks the exact same way. But some of us are college students who only make a few hundred a month and can't really afford to buy a Japanese car.

I tried to explain how American cars aren't too bad and that Ford has really come up in reliability. So this article is for you, Mike.

Read This! (http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/ford_reliability_closes_in_on.html)

You'll even like the part about how reliable the xD's are.

The Z Factor

I'm sure that titles been used before...

My good friend Eric passed away 1 year ago (Jan. 19th) and in his memory, I have is old 300z. I was thinking about it the other day and got myself thinking about Z's in general. I remember this article from Car and Driver abut the new 370z.

At first, I kept thinking, if I were trying to be cheap, I would just buy an old 350z. I didn't think anything was wrong with it. The money you would save makes up for the difference in HP. But then...something caught my eye more than the weird looks and the increase in power. [S-Mode]. A little button that I hadn't seen before. Reading more into it, I discovered that the 370z has something called "SynchroRev Match" that basically does Rev Matching for you.

Rev Matching...from what I could determine...is when you're going to shift a manual transition, and make that shift smooth, you're going to do this thing called Rev Match. Let's say you're going from 3rd to 2nd in making a turn (heal-toe style): step on the break, push in the clutch, shift into 2nd, (while still on the break and clutch) pump the gas to bring the revs up, let go of the clutch before the revs drop, let go of the break and you can now gas it through the turn. Sounds like a lot of work to me. That's why I've never tried. With this "SynchroRev Match" (of what I THINK happens): step on the break, push in the clutch, shift to 2nd, let go the clutch and go.

Nissan...you're making it too easy for people to drive fast...and I congratulate you for it.

The Eric I'll Never Forget

It's interesting seeing this image.

It's been a year since the passing of my good friend Eric Rynearson and I must say that I'm still sad he's gone. I'm almost bothered that I didn't even get to see him that often because I've been here on Oahu.

As I'm about to graduate, I'm starting to look at moving back to Maui as an option because of the many things I'm missing there.

And yet I'm thinking of leaving the country all together and going to Japan for a year. I've never been outside of Hawaii for more than a few weeks and I wonder what that would be like. To live in a new place...almost totally unfamiliar to you...

Well, Eric, just wanted to let you know you're still in our hearts and minds.

It's Electric

If you've read some of my previous blogs, I LOVE cars. Anything about cars and car related stuff. So to continue my Foodland movie rentals, I had to see this film.

I have a love/hate feeling about electric cars. I love the idea: simple, clean, cheap. However there's one big problem for me...how do I recharge the damn thing. I live in an apartment. I park my car in a parking not. No plugs. But I live in Hawaii... In Cali, they had put in recharging stations and made a big push to have them around but because of a fear of loss in profits from a number of people (Oil and Auto Companies for example) they trashed the idea.

In it's replacement they have Fuel Cells. I am a huge supporter of Hydrogen. The thing about Fuel Cell cars, that I agree with Top Gear (BBC) on, is that it's not much different from the current car of today. I drive it, I need fuel, I go to a station and fill it up. I don't have to wait 16 hours to fill the tank. (For those who wish to check out the Top Gear episode, it was season 12 episode 7 aired Dec. 14 2008) However the documentary makes a few good points as well, and I know my science enough to understand. Hydrogen is very expensive to make. Currently it uses more electricity to make hydrogen then if you were to just have an EV or even a gas car.

To plug my brothers company (H2 Technologies), he's working on making it cheaper and easier to produce Hydrogen. They even got an old Suzuki Sidekick to run off hydrogen. Just as there are people working to make EVs more efficient and viable, there are people out there doing the same for hydrogen and I still feel that hydrogen is going to be the energy of the future. Honda, the ball is in your court. Don't drop the FCX like the EV.

Bangkok What?

So I discovered that Foodland has these DVD vending machines renting DVD's for $1/day and I randomly decided to watch Bangkok Dangerous. In my mind, I'm thinking it's going to be this terrible movie - with the stereotypical white male killing Asian men and sleeping with their women. (Yellow Rage - as someone would say).

However, as the film went on, it really stopped feeling like that. I really started to like it...and at the end of the film, I really liked it.

This film is a remake with the same directors as the old one, and I don't know what the old one was like, but I recomend this one to friends if they want an action film that's not the Hollywood stereotype.

Where are you going?

Another year has gone from my life and I can't help but think how it's been wasted...

I saw my friend Charles the other day and can't believe how depressed I would be if I had his life. His father left his family when he was young and hasn't heard from him since...and his mother has ovarian cancer and doesn't have much more to live...

In that, I can't help but think of a book I've read. (なぜ生きる)

Every action has a definite purpose. Riding in a taxi, for instance, even the quietest person speaks up without hesitation to tell the driver his destination. Otherwise, the driver would have no idea which way to go. Heading off in a direction chosen at random would be a waste of time and money.

Ask someone why he is studying, and he is likely to mention a test the next day, or talk about getting his license. Ask someone where she is off to, and she may say she's going shopping, or out for a breath of fresh air. All our actions have a purpose.

What if someone asked you the point of living? What would you answer?

And I must admit, I don't have one. Why do we go to work? Why do we have families? Why do we live? In the world, there is always a cause and effect. If humans were to disappear from the earth, what would be effected? In high school, a friend felt that humans have no purpose in life and should not exist in the world....I should ask him how he feels today, because maybe that's how I'll feel tomorrow.