Camaro sells out in Japan

Looks like the "American Revolution" is extending across the Pacific. Even though the Chevrolet Camaro has not even gone on sale yet in Japan the country has met its maximum amount of orders planned. 120 orders have been placed for the V6 and V8 versions of the pony car which will be available with a price from around $45,000 to $56,000.
It is interesting that the American straight line pony car would be so popular in a country all about drifting and flashy body kits (watch "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift" for examples).
The Camaro has also been a big hit in the states and has outsold the Ford Mustang over the past few months. Something that hasn't been done since the beginning of the pony car era.
It will be fun to see what the kids in Japan will do with the iconic car.

Mazda MX-5 (miata) to shrink

The Mazda Miata has never been a large car, but just as all car makes do as they age it has bloated a little. Mazda is planning on fixing that by promising to make the next version of the MX-5 smaller and lighter. There are also rumors that Mazda may also make aMX-2 in a few year that would be even smaller than the MX-5 Miata. Zoom Zoom! Here is a rendered speculation of what the new MX-5 may look like.

It look very good. I like the harder edges more than the happy and bubbly look of the current version seen below.To me the Miata has never been a girl car. It has always stood for handling and performance. I think it is a shame that society gives it the girlie-car title. Small size and light weight bring quick cornering and great handling to the table which is what Mazda's goal was in the first place. Something that muscle cars will never get since they only want to go in straight lines (don't get me wrong, that is fun too!). Compare it to a roller-coaster; would rather go fast in a straight line and then get off or would you rather go fast with a lot of zippy corners?

Japanese alphabet

Vocabulary:
shima: island
michi: road, street

Before we go any further, we need to define what Japanese words are made of. Just like English, Japanese words are built from a defined alphabet of characters. Because we have not yet delved into Japanese characters, I am going to show the Japanese alphabet in Romanji form. Romanji is a representation of the Japanese characters written out phonetically, and is how we have been writing our Japanese words so far. We will add the actual Japanese characters in a future lesson. Here is the table of the Japanese Alphabet in Romanji form:

Remember that Japanese is most often read from top to bottom and then from right to left. So, when studying the table, start with 'a' then move on to 'i','u','e','o', and then move up and to the left to 'ka','ki','ku' and so forth. Just remember to follow the arrows and you should have no problem.

To add some life to the alphabet let's break up today's vocabulary words to show the individual character blocks. Se if you can find these blocks in the alphabet table above.

shima = shi-ma
michi = mi-chi

now let's do a longer word:

Hiroshima = Hi-ro-shi-ma

A great way to remember the alphabet is to repeat it over and over again. Because it rhymes, it does not take long to learn. Just repeat "a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko" and so forth. Remember the pronunciation guide in a previous lesson to make sure you are pronouncing these characters correctly.

In a future lesson, we will add simple extensions to the Japanese alphabet to give us more power with vocabulary.

official pics of the 2009 370Z revealed

Nissan finally revealed full high quality pics of the 2009 370Z. It will be be 100% revealed with specs at the L.A. Auto show. We can expect from the name 370Z that it will have the same engine as the Infiniti G37 (maybe modified) with over 330 horsepower.
I think it looks great. It is a step up from the 350Z but still has a familiar look to it. I love the roof line. Much cleaner and very similar to my 240Z
I want one for Christmas please.

Japan Trip 13: Tokyo Tower and final day in Tokyo

Man, it has been a while since I last posted. Sorry about that. i have been pretty busy getting back into the swing of things since returning from my trip to Japan. I hope to get more Japanese language lessons up soon. In the meantime go back and review what i have posted so far. For my next few posts I am going to finish sharing pics from my trip to Tokyo and Hiroshima.

To start, here are some pictures of the Ginza area all lite up at night. This is a fun place to walk around.

Close to the Ginza area is a small statue of Godzilla. It is kind of hard to find but fun to search for.
Oh No!! Godzilla!!!

He is a lot smaller in real life.
Tokyo Tower is a must see in Tokyo. It is modeled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It has great views of Tokyo and some fun shops.

Because of its similarities to The Eiffel Tower, the people working there dress up like French Tour guides. kind of funny.

Here are some cool pictures of Tokyo from the top level of Tokyo Tower. Be sure to click on them for a larger view. It is a fun city to look at.

When I was leaving the tower there was a street performer with a monkey. They were doing tricks and it was very fun to watch. The two had a good relationship and their interaction made it even more fun to watch.

Japan Trip 12: Hiroshima Hotel

Well, I am checking out of Hiroshima this morning and am about to go to the Hiroshima Station to board the Shinkansen headed for Tokyo. Since this is my last morning in this hotel I thought I would add some pictures. This is the Hiroshima ANA Crowne Plaza hotel. I highly recommend it. The rooms are smaller than the hotel in Tokyo but are very comfortable and dorm-like (in a good way). It is also very close to Peace Park and Hondori Street. Lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. The price isn't bad and you can add breakfast to your room rate. The breakfast is buffet style and very good.

Japan Trip 11: Kure Navy Ship yard

I have been in Hiroshima for the past two weeks working with customers in Kure (Kure is about 45 min away by train). The customer's facility is next to one of Japan Marine Self Defense Force's Naval ship yards. Kure is well known for its rich history in ship building and Navy ship ports. During lunch we took a walk to get closer to the ships and submarines. This is the first time I had seen submarines in real life. They were very cool. Here are some pictures i took. Enjoy!