In the beginning of the year, I was gonna keep pushing to get Project Leopard done. All my frustrations got the best of me and I just wanted to take time off of it.
Work and Education
I got busy with work and education. This year I got another license for working in cardiology, Fetal Echocardiography. This specialty takes time as you have scan pregnant mothers and focus on the fetus’ heart. I then had to sit for the national exam. Luckily, I passed.
My son is new a freshman in high school and signed up for Japanese at Diablo Valley College (he was given access to register). I decided to learn with him for the semester. Learning Japanese is a goal.
Here is one of my finals.
Sakura Garage scam update
I was soo close to getting things on track and done, but as they say, 1 step forward, 2 steps back. The rushed paint and body work was a big factor. What I found out later was that Sakura Garage was SCAMMING MANY PEOPLE.
So this year, I’ve talked to many of his victims and even though he claimed bankruptcy against his landlord (he owed $19,000 in back rent, which is why he lost his lease), everyone is talking about filling some civic lawsuits, so a lawyer will be consulted in the beginning of the new year.
Project Leopard
I got everything for Project Leopard taken cared of. The stuff that Bucky took, was returned, the cool pipe and water outlet are properly done. Now I just need time to go down there put some pieces together. That will likely be in January sometime or even February 2025.
Since I didn’t work on Project Leopard, I decided not to participate in any car events this year (2024).
Estima and Mazda Porter Cab
Suenaga-san gave these to me in 2023, so I’ve been trying to gather more information and understanding of shipping. Since the Estima is 2004, it can’t come to the US. It has to go to Canada. While I was in Japan in March and July this year, it wasn’t until my 3rd trip this past November, where I got to check out both of them. That’s when we came up with a plan on what to fix before going to Canada.
Thermostat needs to be changed, but since we are there, I wanted to change out the water pump and some of the hoses. Even some of the belts, but was told that previous owner just did the timing belt. Also decided to do the brakes pad and rotors and tune up. When this arrives, I want it to run smooth!
Mazda Porter Cab looks fun. It is 4 speed MT and has a choke. I think this is 1988, so I will figure out when to bring it to Oakland or Seattle.
Travel
As previously mentioned, I went to Japan 3 times in 2024. March, July and November. Met with a lot of friend, but most importantly, I got to visit parts of Japan I haven’t really focused on.
March 2024 – Used a 7 day National JR Pass to go from Tokyo to Fukuoka, got a chance to go to Nikko, Uji,Nara, Dafaizu, Ofuna, Akashi and a few other new places along with my usual “Golden Route”.
** Unfortunately, my flight to Sapporo was canceled. I really wanted to see Hokkaido.
July 2024 – With the increase of the JR National pass, I decided to try more regional approach, yet still get from Tokyo to Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto). The pass was called the Hokuriku Arch Pass. While I wouldn’t go straight from Tokyo to Kansai via Tokaido Shinkansen, The Hokuriku Shinkansen would take me from Tokyo to Nagano, then to Toyama, Kanazawa and down towards Lake Biwa, before reaching Kyoto. This would give me 5 days for the pass. When that pass ran out, I decided to use the Kansai Wide Area pass (5 days) and that gave me access to much of the Kansai region. This is when my family would join me for the rest of my trip. I was able to see the Hokurikiu area, which I have never really explored except for a day trip to Kanazawa in 2023.
I went to Amanohashidate (North Kyoto) and also with my family, I rented a car and drove to Gujo Hachiman.
November 2024 – Kind of an unplanned trip. I had a paid education leave and did a seminar during this time. I went to Japan and decided to explore Chiba, Kanto (Tokyo area) and Tohoku region (all north of Tokyo). In 2017, I explored Sendai and that was the furthest north I had been. In 2023, I did got to Utsunomiya and this time, I would do that a few times. I did go Sendai, Fukushima, Aomori and Hirosaki!
While I said I didn’t participate in car events, on my last day in Japan, Iza-san took me to a Kyusha Event! So many cool cars!!!! Also the cruise to Nasu-Shiobara was long, but pretty amazing!!!
These were predominately Kaido racers and Haiso style cars. I think this is the biggest Kaido racer event I’ve ever been too. The amount of rare parts were amazing.