I’ve just uploaded the full set of photos from my Katana shoot with Japanese model Sakya. We took a fair few more shots without the sword elsewhere in the house, but in the end I’ve decided to just use the Katana shots as they make for a pretty strong standalone set (first world problems!). View the full set: http://www.justinfoxphoto.com/stories/#/maya/
I had very little sleep (3-4hrs) but was feeling AOK. In the morning we caught up with Jared from Downshift (QLD) who landed at midnight last night.
Mix Master Alain at it again, this time en route to Calder Park.
Calder Park has to be one of the most run down circuits I’ve ever seen. Mad Max comes to mind. Post Apocalyptic!
We were greeted by the cars we were going to be driving. WRX’s and Golf GTI’s on the new Bridgestone Adrenalin POTENZA RE003’s as well as competitor tyres.
Still don’t like this car. It’s just so stylistically awkward.
I was so looking forward to driving the GTI.
Lightning bolts! Love the tread pattern and square semi-slick like sidewall.
Into the WRX I get, and boom! The Fox!
Patina.
Our group hit the wet slalom first. Whilst the competitor tyre was fun as I managed to get the car to lose traction and get into a four wheel drift, this wasn’t what we were here for. The Potenza was the clear winner with much more direct steering and much smaller steering input (much smaller steering wheel adjustments).
The next test was dry slalom where we got up to much higher speeds. The competitor tyre was awesome, and predicable, but it scrubbed off speed on each direction change whereas the RE003 didn’t. Both winners on this test I thought, though the RE003 definitely won the test (and had the WRX showing off much more body roll due to more grip).
The last test involved a fast 80km lane change which made for some pretty crazy sideways action with the competitor tyre (smashing cones down like bowling pins!). The RE003 smashed the competitor tyre in this test. Definitely the biggest difference out of all 3 tests on the day, and definitely the most fun too.
We were asked not to use our driving skills to avoid hitting cones, and instead hit 80km/hr and literally yank the wheel as hard as we could, thus simulating avoiding kids running across the road for example. After this we were treated to some heated track battles on the full circuit between the competitor tyre and the RE003. This had everyone on the day truly appreciating how awesome the RE003 was, and also how amazing the Golf GTI was. The MK7 just feels so fast, fun, playful and light (IE: It shat all over the WRX).
We wrapped up the day with some filming, and at the carpark we spotted this amazing Honda Beat owned by Grant from Gripshiftslide.
So good!
As wide as 3 license plates. Check the lines on the ground, that’s a standard car park space!
So rad, and still a work in progress.
We smashed a few drinks with the Full Boost boys, then we were off for more drinks at the airport.
Landed in Sydney. I’m SO over planes. We almost missed this one, getting in trouble with the people at security check for being so late and literally running our asses off onto the tarmac to board the plane (lol).
PS: Yes. I had to buy a set of RE003’s for my Golf. I’m almost down to the canvas and have been meaning to get new tyres for ages! I’m really looking forward to getting these babies on my car ASAP!
On a plane, again. Nuts… right?!
Berty from Cars For Hope, Cam from ClubITR, Alain, Rob and Sean from Motorculture and Photographer Matthew Everingham on Tiger air.
Hello again Melbourne!
Our chariot.
Now a Zen Chariot.
Staying at the Quest, at the airport. Whaaaat?! Nice room but, even better room mate.
No food around the airport so we went out hunting. Mix Master Alain put some Beastie Boys on, we had arrived.
Money wall at Lazy Moe’s, a huge food stop we saw on the side of the road.
The menu was HUGE.
MB long necks (so much better than VB!) one for each of us!
V8 Supercar Driver for TEKNO Autosports Jonathon Webb, our pro driver for tomorrow’s drive day.
Chicken Parma, as huge as the menu!
And I’m jet setting again! This trip had initially been planned for QLD, but the cyclone hit, and it not only got postponed to after I got back from Sweden, but moved to Calder Park in Melbourne.
We’ll be testing new tyres on the circuit. I’m tired and still very much recovering from my Sweden trip, but hey… I’ll recover later!
Dat Sunset.
So whilst I was away in Sweden I missed my own car meet, but thanks to a great team of people I can rely on (I call them friends!), the meet went on and it looked like a great one despite the rain. More photos can be found on EOMM.
Maya x Katana.
I landed yesterday morning but slept all day yesterday day, and also slept well last night. I woke up from a dream I had with Robbie in it, then I grabbed my phone and it was Robbie welcoming me back home! It’s freaky how connected to the world I am right now! Robbie and Krysti came over, we had some Brewristas cold drip (aw yeah!) and a great little catch up.
I then got a message form Sakya who was on her way over for our shoot! DAMN IT! Google Calendar hadn’t changed time zones and I’d completely forgotten about the shoot! I cleaned up the house a little and bam, Sakya and I were shooting with the Katana (culturally correct! Japanese girl with Katana! Yew!). She’s a rad girl, we clicked and I’m looking forward to uploading the shots we took. Here’s a teaser for now. More to come!
Today my Dad would have been 68 years old! R.I.P. Joe, always in my heart.
Spotted, the new TT at Gothenburg Airport. Darren Cassey from Car Throttle was quick to point out it’s awesome interior (the new air-con vents in particular).
I went to sleep with Twigs. The 23hr journey back home was awesome thanks to the British Airways World Traveller Class. Big comfy seats, and much better food (with metal cutlery!).
I was the first in the cab line!
Coming into Maroubra Beach, home sweet home.
The whole household was asleep and Mia was the first to greet me. Nyaw! Found this on the kitchen bench. Jess mentioned a few days ago that she freaked out and lost Mia (but only mentioned it to me after she’d found her so as not to ruin my trip!). She was most likely just hiding and sooking that I was away, she knows these things!
I got up on the last day of our trip thinking about the long trip back home. A horrible feeling… a sense of impending doom. We had one last short day of work, and then we hit the pub and downed a few beers. One by one the guests left by cabs to the airport, in the end there were only a handful of us left who were en route to London.
We caught cabs to the airport and as soon as the cab pulled over I realised I’d left my big bag behind the counter at the hotel! The guys had all gone into the airport… panic. My cab driver was such a nice guy. He called the hotel, confirmed my bag was still there, and we tried to organise a cab to bring it to me, but if it did get to me, how was the cab driver meant to know who I was? I had no phone. In the end I just thanked the cabbie for trying to help out, but told him not to worry about it and that I would deal with it later. I caught up to the guys inside, who had phones. We tried to plan to get a cab to get me the bag, but baggage drop was going to shut in 15 minutes, so the bag was never going to make it.
Luckily there was nothing too valuable in the bag. Warm clothes and dirty laundry! The guys who flew me out will fly me the bag next week. I’m sorry for how much it’s going to cost them to send me my bag back from the other side of the world… but I’m also SO glad that I got to run out of the airport in Sydney as soon as I landed (IE: Not have to wait at the carousel for my bag to come out!).
On the flight to London I sat next to Darren Cassey who’s a writer at Car Throttle (check them out, they’re massive!). Even then I was up to my usual tricks. IE: Teleporting. Once I got to London I had absolutely no time at all to get to my gate for a connecting flight to Singapore. I found out my gate was C63, which ended up being on the other side of the airport to where I landed from Gothenburg. I took what felt like a billion escalators and even the airport’s internal train system to get to my gate. People were running, one guy that was running flew in the air and smashed his head on the hard marble floor, blood was pouring out immediately. Was it worth running? Not really as I saw him again the the queue to get onto the flight!
I’d been upgraded. The flight home was so much comfier than the flight to Sweden. I had no one sitting next to me on the London to Singapore leg, that was awesome. I had the same seat, albeit this time with a full flight from Singapore to Sydney, but I slept a lot of the way and after a hot shower, and another short nap after cuddles with Jess this morning I’m feeling pretty damn good!
I fly again tomorrow, to Melbourne for one night. I’m feeling like a jet setter, globe trotter. I’m smiling, this year’s off to a great start!
Best mug ever.
Larry Chen from Speedhunters on the left, Antonio from Motor Mavens on the right. It’s been awesome working with these guys.
I started a thing!
Later that night; Central Station, a huge square, super picturesque.
We wined and dined at the Norda Bar & Grill, an amazing restaurant in the Clarion Hotel Post which once used to be a Post Office.
Elk carpaccio! Amaze!
You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. Steak was next level. So soft. I’m not sure what cut it was, but the waitress suggested it was part of the inner leg.
The best dessert I’ve eaten in recent memory. In the tin was what looked like caviar, but it wasn’t. Urgh… SO good.
See the post office counters? They’ve done such a great job of preserving parts of the old post office. On point!
The matching wines got me pretty tipsy, so, onto the bar for more!
Hey Alexi!
Brandon, who was the man behind JTUNED, a site which inspired me so much when I was starting JDMST back in the day, such a rad dude.
Larry, he’s so sexy.
Great day of work yesterday, and even better dinner last night with the guys from the US and Japan. The topics that came up in conversation on our table were just so wrong, and had us laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes! It’s just so awesome to meet like minded people that you can click with almost instantly, and just be completely yourself around.
The US guys were in for just one night, so sad to not have more time with these cats. I’ll have to visit them in LA some time soon. I leave later this afternoon and I’m already beginning to freak out about the long 23hr trip back home.
I was in the hotel lift earlier today and noticed this framed certificate on the wall that proudly states that the Avalon Hotel here in Gothenburg, Sweden is Feng Shui Certified.
Despite the hotel being under covers on the outside (construction, or cleaning? I can’t be sure), I’ve been comfy ever since entering the front doors, and quite surprised that everything just seems to be in the right place.
The more I look, the more I see and understand what they’ve done. Rounding off sharp corners, the calming green curtains, the generous pile of pillows of different hardnesses. The in-house CD’s, one titled groovy, the other titled cozy.
I’ve always thought of Feng shui to be plain logic, it’s like any good design, when it’s really good you don’t even see it or question it as it just works so well. IE: When I entered my hotel room I was just comfy, straight off the bat. Now that I’ve seen the Feng Shui Certified poster on the wall I’ve gone through my hotel room in a little more detail and I swear, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.
Hooks: There are places to hang things everywhere. My layers of clothes have a place to hang, as opposed to putting them on a chair or the bed (mess). There are even more places to hang things in the bathroom, towels (which are massive!) wherever you like (one hook close to the shower makes sense) and hooks to keep your clothes off the floor where they could get wet.
Bathroom: The buttons to flush the toilet are behind the lid. IE: You have to close the toilet lid to flush the toilet. It’s a smart move as keeping the toilet lid shut is good Feng shui. Why? Well you’ve heard the complaints many women make about guys leaving the lid up, or people dropping things into the loo by accident, and then there’s Mia, my cat who tends to like drinking out of the bowl. There’s a little bin next to the toilet, it’s raised off the floor, so too the toilet brush holder. This makes cleaning the floor around the toilet easy. Again, its the little things.
Whilst I can see the logic behind most of the common Feng shui tips I’ve heard of, the one that alludes me is stepping in shit, or being shat on, which the Chinese say is good luck. Come to think of it, now I’m certain that stepping in shit or being shat on has anything at all to do with Feng shui!
Visit: http://www.avalonhotel.se
Brekkie #1. The usual stuff, but with meatballs!
Brekkie #2. Loved the pate, smoked hams were amazing too.
By the time I was leaving the restaurant was much more alive with hotel guests.
Most of the other international guests expected to join me in Sweden aren’t arriving until later today, so I thought I’d rug up and go for a longer walk. I started by following the water. Many of the trees by the river have these cute bird houses on them.
I stumbled into a district called Haga. Cobblestone roads and lots of wooden buildings. Gothenburg’s a pretty place.
Loved this bicycle store. Air pump outside works even when the shop is shut, that’s really sweet.
I then spotted these huge stairs and gravitated towards them.
Almost at the top. It’s so quiet here in Gothenburg. There’s hardly anyone around. I only ran into a couple of joggers up here. It felt a little strange but wonderful to be up there on my own.
The view from the top. I spotted some huge canons up here. It turns out it’s an old fort called Skansen Kronan which was built in the later half of the 17th century.
Going back down.
So cute, right?!
A fountain, that wasn’t working. At the end of Haga was a public square which was busier than most of the city I’ve seen so far.
Zoomer! Coolest thing I’ve spotted on the roads so far!
The Japanese have landed. Charles Kha took us to Vapiano, a Pasta Pizza Bar.
Alexi, Charles and Luke.
Vapiano’s cool. Really nice and spacious, comfy and clean. You order at the kitchen and they make it right in front of you. Our chef Isabella had visited Australia before (surprise surprise!) and she has an Aussie boyfriend!
The smells, sounds and chit chat with the chef.
I went for the Scampi, it was delish.
Beers with the homies! Such a great catch up with these guys. Amazingly Luke had never met Charles before!
Luke and Antonio. After dinner we caught up with the Americans.
We hit a small Irish Pub for a couple of jugs of beer and some crazy talk, the American guys brought a new dynamic to the night, it’s party time! I’m psyched to meet these guys.
When travelling overseas, I have a thing (it’s a very real thing) for buffet hotel breakfasts. I’ll often down a few cups of coffee as well as fresh juice and I’ll eat absolutely everything on offer in the one seating. I find is extremely enjoyable, therapeutic and just an awesome way to start the day.
I tried my best to stay up last night in order to get my body clock aligned with Sweden time, but after my short trip around the block I felt wasted and crashed at around 4-5PM. I woke up at midnight. Epic Fail. I watched TV, chatted to friends online into wee hours of the morning and finally got back to sleep for maybe another 2 hours before getting up at 5am.
I rolled out of bed and hit the buffet breakfast downstairs at around 6.30AM, it was still quite dark outside and there were only 2 people in the hotel’s restaurant. Excitement! A bread station with all sort of interesting breads, a hard boiled egg station, a hot food section with meatballs (whoo hoo!), a coffee and tea section, a cold foods area with all sorts of local cheeses, pickled and smoked meats and a bar for cold drinks.
Soon after breakfast I went for a long stroll. I’m here one whole day earlier than all the other international guests who are flying over for work. They all land this afternoon so I had time to kill. Gothenburg is a lovely little town. It’s picturesque and quiet. The people are friendly and say “Hey” when I say “Hi” and they all seem to speak English well. No one wears sunglasses here, strange but true, and it’s nowhere near as cold as I thought it would be. Also, I’ve not seen one single modified car here. Everything is stock and quiet. The loudest thing I’ve heard are the church bells!
Later that night I was just about ready for bed but got a call from Alexi Smith of Noriyaro to say that he and Luke Huxham of Maiham Media had landed from Japan. Charles Kha was coming to the hotel and he was going to take us out for a late dinner (which was awesome!). A little later on the Americans arrived; Larry Chen from Speedhunters, Antonio Alvendia from Motor Mavens and Brandon Leung from BOWLS LA. We hit an old Irish pub, and the party almost started (but had to end as everyone was buggered and we had an early start the next morning). Good times ahead!
PS: I’m staying at the Avalon Hotel. It’s a gorgeous little 4-star hotel right in the thick of it. It’s super comfy. I’m loving it (bed is great, fine Egyptian cotton sheets are even better!). Highly recommend it if you ever stay in Gothenburg!