DCD

You don't want to know! I live in Ibaraki ken...ask any Japanese person about Ibaraki and see what they tell you

Good, glad I'm not the only one thinking this:) Being used to Italian and British cities I guess Japan feels a bit bland in comparison. But that said it certainly remains a unique country and I love it just the same...

...been having this conversation with a friend. We came to the conclusion that you could be placed anywhere in a fairly large town/city in Japan and everything around you would look the same. And not even in large built up areas...I mean don't you guys find that Japan all looks the same?? Don't get me wrong, this is not criticism, just observation, but layout in this country is practically identical throughout the whole country. There is little in the way of individuality to specific areas. Anyway all of this developed from a drawing of a map! Basically if you have to find any place in Japan you will be confronted with a drawing of 2 pairs (or more) of perpendicular lines, representing roads, and some points of reference which always seems to be a couple of convenience stores or gasorin standos!! Could be anywhere in Japan!!

TS is in north Chiba. Get off at Chiba-kita on the Higashi-Kanto expressway, take the left exit after the toll booths and head down the main road about 400 meters. You will see TS on the left side in from a side road. Its right opposite a large second hand car reseller. http://www.topsecretjpn.com/ Other places to visit? Nismo Omori Factory in Omori, near Shinagawa (you can see accurate directions on how to get there on another thread in this section), Honda HQ in Aoyama, Nissan Gallery/HQ in Ginza, Mitsubishi HQ Showroom in Shinagawa, Cornes in Shibakoen(should be getting the 612 Scaglietti soon). Autobacs in Shinonome is ok, but quite expensive if you want to buy parts. There is an ASL & Tommy Kaira showroom right next to it with lots of cars on display so its definitely a must. Crystal is your best option for well priced parts, there is one close to TS in Chiba. Mine's is close to Kamakura is you happen to go there for the usual tourist visit. There is a Prince and Skyline museum in Mitsukaido (Ibaraki-ken). They have a nice collection of rare cars, and Tsukuba circuit is about a 30 minute drive from there. The museum is a 5 min walk from Mitsukaido station. Thats all an think of at 12am:D

Happy B-day I'll be in the 28-club in late june:) (shit I'm geting old!)

I have an IXY L for backup...but you have to admit, 2MP and SD card is really useful for a camera on a phone! Less stuff to carry around:)

yep, never hurt anyone:D BTW...have you seen at the quality of that Sharp screen!!

Dave...they wont do you for the clear lenses....maybe! The good thing is they don't really look at mechanical mods. At least they didn't with me.

What? I hope you are not taking the piss! If you wonder what italian sounds like...ehm...go to Italy! You know the country? Where according to some smart americans we keep ancient romans in reservations like they do with the indians and where spaghetti grows from trees. Wonderful place;)

When mine finally dies....I'll get this....which funnily enough also looks like TV2;)

Plenty around here for sale. Despite appreciating the heritage of these cars I would think you would be far better off with a 180SX or S13-14 Silvia. Lots more choice and potentially a much better car. I'm actually toying with the idea of getting one as a daily driver:D

Asian-americans?

yep providers....i.e. from AU to DoCoMo

I don't think Japan has anything to be jealous about when it comes to mobile phone services in other countries. Cheap phones, continuous new products, great service, never a problem, excellent coverage and getting better FAST, fair charges...do I need to go on? In fact the only thing that you can't do here in Japan compared to overseas is use the same number if you change service. They are working on this and it should be available in the next few years...

yes but taking a crap while watching tv on your mobile...well...thas just class isn't it?

Here is mine...taken from the Vodafone site(black one). http://www.vodafone.jp/english/products/ki...h010/index.html Served me well for a year now...but due to it having been dropped many times it plays weird triks on me:p I like the one with the TV tuner....what an invention...excellent quality as well!! Anyway its amazing what a differance a year makes in the mobile phone market...

And lets not forget Italians please!! I've been a member since 2002!!

with inlet plenums its not so much a case of high hp gains, if you are expecting that then look at other products because you ait gonna get much gains with these things. Its just a a part that refines the air delivery to each cylinder therefore making an equal combustion x 6. Some of the drag plenums will make you gain good hp, but that is simply because you are flowing a lot more air in hi-po engines. The nismo one is developed for a totally different application and you pay for the tooling, CAD designing, research, testing and so on. If you compare it to say the inlet turbo pipe (120,000), their sport radiator (150,000) a carbon rear wing flap for the BNR34 (120,000), a front BNR34 front bumper (110,000) you begin to understand what I'm saying about good value for Nismo;)

There is no baffling in the Nismo plenum, just bellmounts for each port. Might look smaller than the stock plenum but its slightly bigger. Its thinner but taller and you will gain slightly more torque and better throttle response. Look at it as a fine tuning tool for the RB26. Get it as one of the last things you do to your engine to complete everything nicely. Will complement any RB26 set up and I personally don't find it that expensive 1) compared to other (drag oriented) aftermarket plenums and 2) keeping in mind that this is a Nismo product (i.e., usually expensive but well made, well finished and obviously well researched) If anyone is interested I have lots of detailed pix of it:)

that is indeed bad news. Hard to say what will happen, but if they concentrated their efforts in making more interesting cars (Evo 8 aside) then they wouldn't be in this position... ...oh sh1t!!! Here comes one of those loose Mitsubishi truck wheels! Its heading right for me!! Hahhhhhhhahhhhah:D:D

Sorry mate. Its a pretty big Nismo organized event for foreing press. All of Nismo's demo cars will be present so, in short, no, can't move it:D;)

I'll take 20 please:D:D

He he...glad to know I'm not the only one! But the thing is I'm italian so its not like spoken italian sounds anything like annoying nasal englsh:D:D

When I first moved to Japan I was a bit younger so was totally oblivious to the fact that people could actually not like a foreigner living in their country. But as time went by and as I began understanding more about the culture, language an people all these little things that I never noticed before really began to stick out. I'm talking about small stuff like the constant staring, the subtle comments, the not sitting next to a gaijin on the train, the giggling at the foreigner....you people know what I'm talking about. To this day, after 11 years (on and off) in this country I still get little children pointing at me and shouting to their mothers "look ma, a gaijin". Granted I live in bumble ***c but you really have to wonder how closed a society must be to come up with such reactions in the 21st century! Anyway it doesn't bother me one bit, its all part of the experience. I've met a few people, no sorry, many people, that have managed to ruin their experience here in Japan simply because they 1 resented their foreigner status, and 2 expected everything to be the same as in their country. You just have to accept stuff, what the point of complaining and whingeing...this is a different world and you should take it as it is, not as a continuos comparison to your own country. I've had a few very bad experiences, one of them with an old girlfriend where her parents hated me so much they could burn me alive, only for knowing their daughter was going out with a gaijin! Anyway I've had some amazing times here in Japan. There is no way little things like that will spoil stuff for me. You just have to realize that no matter what you will always be a foreigner and a very small percentage of people will secretly hate you for it. You will always be more tolerated than actually accepted. And thats how things will always be in Japan. Nothing we can do about it so lets concentrate on the good things I say. Its kind of a "love-hate" relation ship, just try and concetrate on the "love" par of it and try to deal with the "hate" in a constructiove way. .... but the only thing that really p1sses me off though is being instantly branded an American every time anyone spots me. This I really can't stand! This is the only thing that bothers me!

Dave, I'm testing the 350GT in Hakone on the 14th next month. Why not pop by?