Her name was Lola

This isn't the Copacabana but we're hoping Lola will still like it.

First step was to take out the old soil and foliage and give the cage a bit of a wipe down.

Lola just stayed in the corner keeping an eye on us. Not as green as she was before but these frogs do change colour, so maybe it is an environment/getting cold thing?

First step wast to lay down some pumice stones.

Then in with the soil, plants and moss. We've made the back quite a bit higher than before, especially the right corner. The top corner and mossy areas are designed to stay damp while the soil leading down to the 'pond' is the dry area.



Then in with the branch we brought back from Nikko. Have put the short end close to the front so hopefully it will be a good spot to see lola from outside, and for her to hunt for food too.

And a little finishing touch.
Was heaps of fun putting it together, but wonder how close our perception of a natural environment is! Hopefully she'll like it.

Funabashi Auto Festival Part 3: Drift

To make sure as many automotive bases were covered as possible there were to be two drift exhibitions on the day. For this purpose a couple of members from the Team Orange Drift Team were on hand to wow the crowds.

Sumika Kubokawa, crowned the champion of the Ladies Venus Challenge last week, reppin' Chiba. Yeah.

...and Masanori Kohashi.

With the details sorted between drivers...

.... it was time to go drifting.


Also noticed the 7Tune sticker on Sumika's car. Adam, you dog!

Cheers fullas.

A cold autumn day in Nikko

In the hopes of seeing some autumn colours we made a day trip up to Nikko last Tuesday. I had work in the evening so we decided to leave early and head back at lunch time so we didn't feel too rushed. That meant a departure time of 3:30am. Yikes.
Driving through the darkness with a clear night sky, for once there were more stars than cars. The clear roads also meant we should be there in time to see the sun rise. Hopefully.
A glow started to appear above the horizon in the rear view mirror and the race was on.
With no one in front and only the sun behind we made it up the mountain in time to see the moment.

We continued up the mountain and caught the sun again as it came in to view over Lake Chuzenji.

Unfortunately it seemed we were a bit too late to see the blazing reds of autumn. Instead a very strong cold wind was blowing and it started to snow. Nini did not seem very impressed!

Still, we'd gone all that way so we left him in the car and kept looking around.

More pics to come soon.....

Funabashi Auto Festival Part 2

Sorry for the delay in putting these up. Was under the weather for a while.


If I ever own a Z34, it would have to have this Amuse kit. I love the look of the car in standard form but this kit accentuates it's curves beautifully.

Even though Tarzan was not in attendance the Cyber Evo did a few tandem runs around the oval with the Revolution RX-7. Despite the small space the drivers still gave it a good thrash. The acceleration from the 2 cars was just awesome and to be able see them on a race track at full speed would leave a smile on my face for days I think.

Must. Tell. Myself. This. Is. Wrong.
But something about it works........arrrrggghhhh.

The day wasn't just all about cars though, there were plenty of bikes to look at too. This Yamaha has been seen to by Peyton Place, giving it new technology to go with old school styling. I think it looks pretty damn cool.

Lost in translation? Apparently not.

And speaking of, ahhh....nuts...
There was some FMX on display too

It was the first time I'd seen it live and even though they had limited space in the car park in front of a couple of buildings they didn't hold back.
Had a talk to this guy before going home and turns out he'd been to N.Z. on tour and proceeded to ask if I knew 'Mad Mike'. Small world eh.

Well, it's getting late so will post more tomorrow.