Phillipses blog

Lights, Camera, Action

2011-02-23T00:30:00.005+11:00

So just like the coming and going of the seasons, another epic era of employment comes to a cease, making way for an even epicer one. I'm no longer working at Fast Fours & Rotaries, left on great terms to chase bigger dreams of working in film.
It's quite daunting leaving a workplace when you're on such a high. There's many fears and doubts that try to hold you back, after all it's natural to fear anti-climaxes. If you ever find yourself in such a situation, just remember that you're springing from strength to strength. If where you are going is where you're meant to be going, then that's a level up.
I've been working casually at Fox Studios on a Few Best Men in the art department since, as a casual member of the swing gang. It's everything that you'd imagine it to be and then some! Challenging, fun, energetic. However for me it raised a lot of interest in Brutal Prophecy, our graphic novel.
A lot of people at Fox know about our novel now thanks to the world-moving efforts of my partner-in-crime, and thus I'm now on a big vendetta to get my part of this novel done. I've been quite slack and have some work cut out for me. So how's that for a life of a Freeman?
My days are filled with photography, errand running, 3D modelling and the occasional freelance bit of work here and there. It's handy to have your finances under control if you ever find yourself in such a place.
So where to from here? It's time I got my hair cut, had a shave, went for a jog and got my actors portraiture taken so I can finally apply at some talent agents for some extras work. I've been speaking to a few of the photographers at work to see if they can help me out, I might have to talk to a pro.
If you haven't already seen my flickr account, I suggest you do, I'm really enjoying photography and find it my release in my downtime.

Canon 50mm f/1.8 II noob photo enthusiast test

2011-01-13T23:47:00.006+11:00

Don't you find it ironic that when once you start thinking about something, it starts showing up everywhere?

I've been thinking about picking up my first secondary lens for my camera. I was looking around for prime lenses and was choosing between picking up a Canon 50mm f/1.8 for an amazing $125 from D-D Photographics or the more solidly built Canon 50mm f/1.4 for $439 from the same place. DDP is like MSY but for cameras.

Anyway, one of the guys at work happened to bring in his Canon 50mm f/1.8 the other day (oh the irony!). He was nice enough to let me borrow it for a couple of days to see how much I like it. Up until then the only thing I knew about it was what I read from a cool review I read up on in The Digital Picture.

As pointed out on TDP, the lens is plastic and really toy-like, but hey at $125 you can't really expect any more can you? Functionality-wise, the first impression I got from this lens was not about the picture quality nor the usability, it was how unaccustomed I was to prime lenses!

At an f-stop of 1.8 I found myself deleting a lot of photos at first. I have a habit of coming up close to my subjects when I shoot them, and by doing so, the depth of field would be too strong. For instance I'd take a portrait, focusing on someone's nose only to have their ear out of focus.

That's more of a user thing anyway, as for the lens itself, good grief the autofocus on this lens is loud! Loud enough to be concerned that something might be broken! Also, it's really slow and seems to get confused quite easily, not being able to fins what it's trying to focus on.

Despite these things though, when I was able to get myself together and set up a shot well enough, image would come out sharp and brilliant. It is a great portrait photography lens on my full frame. TDP makes note of the funky bokeh on this lens, I found that in same cases, bokeh came out round, and in other cases, it came out pear shaped. Check out this picture of my friend's dad for example.

For a $125, the results are impressive. My other option of lens is the Canon 50mm f/1.4 which is highly recommended by both TDP and by George at DDP. The f is only 0.4 stops brighter, however the construction is a lot more sturdy. But with this comes the $439 price tag. Decisions, decisions.

A photo of my dad while renovating the laundry. One of my first shots with this lens and one of the ones I'm happier with.

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-03T08:47:00.007+11:00

Ahh, the new year brings with it, opportunities and, hopes and dreams by an exciting sack-load, how exciting! Having spent much time wondering on the possibilities of dibbling and dabbling in the world of photography, I've finally taken the plunge and gone for it. The weapon of my choosing? The infamous Canon 5D MkII.

Many would say that it is quite overkill for someone's first serious stab at photography and I absolutely agree. It's overkill. It's one thing to be attracted by 'necessities' such as full frame, noiseless high ISOs, L series lenses from the box and HD movie mode, but with it comes some less wanted territory.

For instance, it's quite disconcerting knowing that you're playing around a large body of salt water with cheeky friends while $3.5K worth of gear hangs precariously around your neck. Oh and might I add by a nylon strap that looks not much sturdier than a fireman's shoelace.

If you're the kind of person that feels misfortune follows you closely at your heels, then you'll probably feel uneasy most of the time you're out and about. Speaking of misfortune, I've already lost a polarising lens filter after all but 3 days usage. This is while the camera was stored away in it's bag with the lens cap on. Misfortune much?

I didn't really think about the downside really until about a week into owning it. Call it the end of the honeymoon period if you will, but the scary realisation of potential a expensive encounter came perhaps as a lot of subjects would give me a stunned expression upon discovering I was shooting with a 5D MkII.

"Isn't that a professional camera?" they would ask. The expressions their faces read were, "What is it doing out here in a world filled with liabilities!?". Slowly, a feeling of knowing irresponsibility crept up on me. Then it made sense why people commonly go out and about with nice, cheap cameras instead of fantastic, weapon cameras.

However, let's look at the flipside! This camera is, as my cousin Mick would put it "Oh so worth it!" Sure it's expensive and generously-weighted, but I'm relishing in always being ready to capture a wonderful moment within a sturdy wide-frame. A recent trip to the South Coast has me standing in confidence that I made the right choice of Camera.

I remember being advised by a photographer mate that I don't need to go full frame and it's a knick-knack I'll never really need, but oh let me tell you that some shots would never have been given due justice without the full frame. Oh no, I'm confident this is the right camera for me.

It's just gonna get better to! Just you wait until I get stuck into the video part of this! With our graphic novel "Brutal Prophecy" inching closer and closer into physical production, this camera's going to really step into its role.

Other stuff I'll be experimenting in with this camera? HD movie mode of course, portrait and landscape photography, vehicle and product photography, HDRI (Which I've already made a couple!) and photography for 3D modelling.

Speaking of 3D, here's a wip screengrab of the 180sx model I've been working on.

Friday Night Slide

2010-06-29T14:02:00.000+10:00

Usually when I head over to one of Driving Sports's Eastern Creek Twilight drifts, it's to take photos, meet people, do interviews and cover the event. Last Friday was a little different however and a nice change may I add. Getting behind the wheel at Twilight drift night is definitely a more involving way to experience one of these events.

Meeting up with Jerry Yam of HOT4s, Jason Gynn of Zoom Magazine, we headed up to the Creek. For these guys it was their their first Twilight drift night. We later were met by our very own beloved editor Tom who had toiled away all day to have a half cage installed into his 180Sx.

We had a blast of night sliding to ourhearts content on the watered down skid-pan. Having been to a number of these meetings before, I can definitely say that it's becoming more and more popular.

A couple of interviews and a stack more photos over the fold and through Jason's Dribble

I had the pleasure of hosting Jason from Zoom Magazine in my passenger seat, here we're getting ready to roll out into the pan.

Jerry wanted to climb into the action so flogged himself a helmet from somewhere

This here is Reaper's S14... Now SR20 powered but I could swear there was a rotary in it somewhere!

Sure it's safe, but doesn't mean that you don't get some shunts and bumps. When I first spotted this I thought the license plate was a wicked sticker!

Tom eventually made it, it was our first time sliding together

This is Shantell in her Hachi, we were having a blast out on the pan, a few close calls, and plenty of laughs all around

The last run of the night I was joined by John who randomly asked if he could jump into my car... Yeah why not?

Thanks to Liam Quirk and his girlfriend Ellie from Street Commodores who shot some photos and to Jason for all the driving photography found on his blog Jason's Dribble. I had thevery greatest pleasure of taking Ellie out for a passenger run, I don't think I've ever sang 99 red balloons so hard in my life!

I also got to spend a bit of time with Lenny Lee, a funky friend of mine, Singaporean Circuit racer and drifter, I managed to squeeze an interview out of him as well!

STAFFROOM

Name: My parents named me Leonard Lee YK but keep calling me son, for some reason. My nickname on all forums is karbonphyber and friends call me Lenny!

Day job: I'm a software developer and developing software is my specialty! It allows me to create funky calculators which calculate stuff for the 180SX like rim tuck! No other calculator comes close!

How did you get into teaching?

It all started when a friend of mine, Josh, referred me to a thread created by Lee from Driving Sports, looking for people who met the three criteria which were:

1. Competed in drifting and at least qualified top 16

2. Communicates knowledge to others clearly and easily

3. Is reliable and well presented

Of which I satisfy two! Everyone understands Singaporean English don't they?

What’s the best part of your job?

I feel there are many ‘best parts’ like having the opportunity to be in the environment where real race mechanics are present, learning more about cars from them and meeting new faces. As the top of my list though, it’s the opportunity to bring someone new to drifting from being a zero to a hero, seeing them enjoy their new found skill and actually executing drift manoeuvres smoothly. The smile that you get from them is priceless and that's what I feel is the best part of being an instructor.

What’s your motto in life?

People who know me might start shouting ‘safety first’. But the way I try to live my life is ‘Don't try, Don't know!’.

In ‘Don't Try, Don't know!’ I started working DIY on the car for small projects, as opposed to relying on paying a mechanic and then not learning anything in the process. After starting a few small projects like spray painting, fabricating camera mounts, I had graduated on to the larger projects like changing turbos, clutches, swaybars and recently a 5-stud conversion with the help of the Driving Sports crew who taught me that being forceful helps at times. Now I have a whole load of DIYs which will soon make their way back on to TunedForDrift.com! But for now let’s stick to ‘safety first!’.

What do you wish to say to all those looking to enrol into school?

A good firm grasp of theory - whether it be circuit driving or even drifting - will bring you far beyond anyone who's just chucking a car around some corners.

Learn things the right way and you'll always have your knowledge to fall back on, in new scenarios. I'm always keen to meet new people and help them out with drifting, so drop me an email to say hi and I'll see you at a Driving Sports event!

Stay Tuned for more action when FF&R goes on the ground or future events!

Thanks to Liam Quirk and his Misses Ellie Thorley from Street Commodores for sending over some photos, Jerry Yam from HOT4s for his constant hilarities, Jason Gynn from Zoom Magazine for the drifting photogrpahy, Driving Sports for a great night

Winter frost on my windows

2010-06-29T11:35:00.002+10:00

Waking up this morning I headed outside to start the car only to be taken aback by one of the coolest sites I've seen in the mornings. There was frost all over my car! This doesn't really happen in Sydney, I mean, things get cold but this is the first time I've seen something like this. I had my lil' digicam on hand so check the video

As you can see the wipers are struggling to de-ice the windscreen. Eventually I had to take a bucket of water to the windows to get some visibility.

This looks more like something out of an American winter flick

The frost had only just started liquefying as the photos were being shot thanks to the warming Sun

Visibility was 0 from inside

Even after the windscreen was cleared, the rear view mirror had somehow clammed up

New HKS PS3 Gaming controller

2010-06-25T08:39:00.004+10:00

Came across this through an email a workmate sent me. Looks like HKS have teamed up with PS3 to create a crazy gaming peripheral that 'simply works'... It's been dubbed the Hipermax III which is kind of cute as HKS usually reserve the Hipermax name for their coilovers but that name has really become a big brand for HKS.

Some great news is that this controller shouldn't set you back much more than a standard PS3 controller... I'm digging the analogue accelerate and brake buttons and that steering wheel looks like a treat to have a go at.

For it's only been said to be releasing for PS3... Sucks since I don't have one!

You can read more from the original post from Autoblog

Fast Fours & Rotaries Issue 39 out... My first mag!

2010-06-23T19:27:00.003+10:00

It's the 23rd today... It came quicker than I anticipated, but here it is! Today our first magazine hit the shelves, hard to believe it's been over 3 months already since starting at the company... And grief just remembered that my bicycle has been parked there for the last month... Well, you should definitely get yourself a copy. If you're finding that difficult, hit me up and I'll see what I can do =)

Here's a straight copy and paste with links from the original thread which can be found here

Be sure to pick yourself up a copy and write into us to let us know your thoughts

Check out our cover on All Japan Day - A JDM lovers heaven, Drifters unleashed - Oran Park's farewell drift event and Off-Street drags - For those addicted to power and velocity...

Read up on in-depth tech on Camshafts and chassis bracing and of course...

600hp WRX - Doing things differently and setting the trend... Check out the engine!

Vis Rotary built Series 2 RX7 - One of Australias best and brightest...

One of Queensland's coolest Evo VIs - Booting 242 awkW...

A 13BT powered Mazda RX-3 - Brought back from the dead bigger and brighter than ever...

Targa tough EVO VIII and RX-3 - Built indestructible...

Club feature on Club CJ Ralliart Lancers - The EVO X's little brother proves that it can pack a punch...

IPRA S14 - Race car or Road car? You decide

Plus lots... Lots more

I can't get this song out of my head... It's 99 luftballons which is the German for 99 Red Balloons which there is also an English version available

Games games games games games

2010-06-22T21:30:00.005+10:00

It's a call that I copied off Khang when we had a stint of co-op HL2 mode thanks to Synergy... Games games games games games... Khang's sent me some rad links to some number one... an epic game... and number 2... and epic engine...

I recently picked up part one for a ridiculous $18.91 at an EB Games pre-owned clearance... I'm still playing or should I say "polishing" off mirror edge at the moment... I also picked up Bioshock, and Gears of War one for incredulous prices

Man this is the kind of stuff that makes me need a computer... Damn you Khang... Geek...

speaking of geek, check out what I came across at Supanova last Saturday... Hahaha

That's right... Hachi Roku baby... I wanted to buy some stuff there but you have to employ Japan spec shopping at that place... Japan spec shopping basically means buying things you like the moment you come across it instead of counting on it being there when you return or counting on you going back there.

Woohoo long time

2010-06-22T20:02:00.004+10:00

Well will wonders ever cease, it took me donkies to make a post haha. Well it's a nice change being able to blog here because I can talk the way I like, us as many emoticons as I like =) and just be loose.

I've started blogging again because I've been blogging for work and thought hey... this is stuff I'd blog on my own website, so why don't I just do that? So anyways you should check out my work's blogspace and yeah... it'll be updated daily I'm pretty sure, there's always content to write... Just dunno if I have the time to do it all in though...

Today I've been talking about E3 and new tiles like Need for Speed Hot Pursuit and GT5... But err yeah, we're friends with EA so errr... Buy Need for Speed... Lol...

Oh! Also I've only been in this company approaching to 4 months (damn that was fast) and I'm thinking about my film career! I had a brain explosion the other day and was thinking, what about if I quite Fast Fours joined the army part time, worked for Fast Fours freelance writing, got back into Martial arts and joined NIDA or some kind of agency? Lots of food for thought but yeah, it's a bit crazy right now for me to make any epic life-changing decisions... If only there was someone (proper) to mentor me!

ALRIGHT ALREADY!

2010-03-16T21:43:00.002+11:00

ok ok ok so I SUCK at blogging!1 hahahaha!! But still! When you haven't blogged in a donkeys years... Lotsa shizz happens! But then you realise so much shizz has happened you 'get over it' just thinking how you're gonna explain it on your blog! Hahahaha So err... Speedrun much?

Holiday was epic... Man I dunno how I'm gonna break this up... over time maybe?

I've finished up at youth... My career is moving up and so is my focus in ministry I feel.

I got a job... I'm working at Fast Fours and Rotaries magazine as a feature writer.

I got new rims... SSR Courage! I will give you pics! But this is a speedrun so no pics now.

I'm restoring my BMX... I been getting into bikes lately! I've also bought me a new 5 gear ladies utility bike to get around on!

And so much more! I just baked scones and they're slightly burnt.. but still awesome!

WOOHOOOO!! I BLOGGED!

Last day at work b4 teh holidays!!!

2009-10-23T16:50:00.000+11:00

Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand... HERE I COME!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Surii dii animeishin

2009-09-20T19:39:00.001+10:00

Wow it's been a while since I've posted... I've been hard at work on my showreel. I'm happy to say that V1.0 is now complete... I'm currently deciding on how to package the showreel so that I can send it out to people/places. It's been about 4 weeks since I've gone full throttle on this. I'm so glad I'm here. I'm learning how to finish things... Not just start them.

Render, render, render

2009-08-24T09:39:00.000+10:00

I left my work computer rendering a 3D animation scene over the weekend, rendering pretty much throttles your CPU to 100% non stop to produce video data. With no a/c and blistering hot days, my CPU was getting floored... My boss came in on Saturday and heard the poor thing wailing and shutdown my system mid-render =(

S'all good... luckily I set the render to render frame by frame instead of shot by shot... Otherwise I woulda lost the lot...

muck around writing

2009-07-14T11:29:00.000+10:00

*Flashing news ad*
TV News reporter: Empire city conglomerate head Phillips Huynh has today confirmed rumours that he has purchased Nissan Motors and is looking into pumping zillions of dollars into the company in a bid to create the worlds greatest "hectic" classed vehicles. The exuberant leader, who launched into now humbled and understated fruitfulness with the now near-monopolised industry of Hollywood film publishing and production has announced that his vision for Nissan will be beneficial to all the people of the world, promising to eliminate unemployment in every major city, and by implementing an unfounded way of mass global productivity increasing efficiency of the standard workplace by up to 7500%. It was also announced that 75% of profits will go directly to charity to finally rid the world of hunger which thanks to the leaders ambitious mega-programs has seen poverty almost eliminated. When asked what will happen after poverty is eliminated, Phillips replied "We'll continue to do the same thing we've always done for the last decade and a half... Save lives, rescue the needy, and have fun while doing it"... Nissan employees are tonight celebrating the move, employees are; as you can imagine, thrilled to be receiving the news... The claims have received 100% backup from the United Global Leadership as spokeperson and Human Alliance Ambassador Mobalaju Adenubi has claimed that Phillips has far proven his realised idealistic values to the state of humanity... Nissansilvia.com, the worlds largest forum is anticipating on redesigning its entire corporal approach to welcome the global decision.

This is the lates today from VWBC... I'm Alexi Poporov, we'll have updates at a quarter past six...

*Flashing news ad outro*

I like this song!

2009-06-18T14:15:00.001+10:00

I was looking up that chinese stringed instrument known as the Er Hu... and listening to all these different music pieces eventually teared up when I heard this symphony orchestra piece

Terminator 4

2009-06-05T09:31:00.001+10:00

So yes the T800 was an Arnie body double... However, Arnie's face can be explained like so. It wasn't makeup or prosthetics... The body double did all the acting as per normal and Arnie's face as it was in 1984 (birth of the first terminator) was superimposed over the body double... The body double's name is Roland Kickinger and his primary directive as said by the director was to just be somebody imposing so that the actors could have something to really act on. It went from that position to him actually being filmed, and from there, the Governator was called and asked if he was cool having his head superimposed over Kickinger's body... Well done I say... I love The first terminator's haircut... Such a great film technique that has been used successfully over a some really good titles that I know of...

--
Phillips Huynh
Customer Service Representative

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T12:58:00.002+10:00

Yes lov that metaphor, I had my "Gospills" in the med cabinet & hav
taken them out, but I haven't been ingesting them everyday. But after
recently cleaning my home office space, I have verses on the wall &
desk (I cut the ones i like out from church registration & ads etc,
coz they look nicer than if I handwrite them). After last night I was
really inspired to daily take the word of God & daily pray in the
Spirit. So this morning is went to my desk & read out loud: Praise be
to God, by His mighty power at work within us, He is able to do
exceedingly abundandtly more than we can ask think or imagine...i
think it's Eph 3:20 ...from the STV :)

Then i thought about the fact that His power is working in me...that
gave me hope, just that thought, then I remembered what I asked Him
for last night & that He can do even more than that.

I want to do that thing someone showed in me in CG - u read a
scripture then pray it over ur life, that u apply it/thank Him for
it....e.g. read: Love ur neighbour, then pray: help me to love
so-and-so, or, thanks God that I can love so-and-so...
i think that would also be speaking God's promises daily.

also I am one of the ppl that A) slept in & B) decided to drive
instead of take the train.
(i usually only drive if i wake early)....and yes rain was the major
factor in my decision.

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:35:00.002+10:00

Wow, this is gold...

Guys, I love the faith that you keep even/especially when the door
closes behind you and you are in your safety zone. How inspiring... I
think in the past, speaking promises over my life has always been
something I kept in the medicine cabinet (metaphor) for when I get ill,
I go to the cabinet to find something to make me better, where it would
be far more powerful as something to keep in a wardrobe, sock draw,
wallet, on the mirror or set of keys... Something that gets visited,
used and returned to daily.

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:33:00.002+10:00

YAY FOR MEGA PRAYER NIGHT!!!! YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO HAPPY!!!

RE: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:27:00.001+10:00

Man, that is unreal Dave! Keep the faith up and i'll stand by believing in your TOTAL healing also! Love how you are keeping the verses in your daily log book. Better write them on the cover soon as you won't be opening your log book once God heals you =)

I've got a couple of scriptures that I keep in my car to memorise. So when the devil comes along with his petty lies and negativity, I declare the verses over my life.
Regards,

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:22:00.002+10:00

Healing

Galatians 3 v 13

Is always a good 1

RE: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:21:00.001+10:00

That is brilliant scripture Dave!! I love "with long life I will satisfy
him".

My current promise is quite simple (coz I can't focus on too many words at
a time!) :

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." He is so care-FULL for me that
in Him all my needs and wants are met - favour at work, more clothes, more
time, more sleep, more 3-pointers, peace of mind, what to do about family
situations etc etc - I don't need to be anxious and 'want' any of these
things because God KNOWS and supplies what is best for me

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:13:00.003+10:00

like literally saying those verses out loud. or what you did by 'speaking
it out' in your email earlier this morning.
I have verses written down on my wall in my bedroom, and a post-it note
function on my laptop 'wall'.
It could be for a whole season, a whole week, or just a specific situation
that you are believing for.

RE: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:11:00.001+10:00

So for me phil I speak the promise of healing over my body

So I find verses where God has healed people or where God says He'll
sort thigns out and turn it into a promise - one I've been smashing
lately is

Psalms 91:14-16
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I
will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon
Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver
him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My
salvation.

So from this verse I've been going that God has delivered me from
sickness and that I'm set high, etc - because it's the promise of His
word

How do I apply it daily? I've got all these verses written into my book
where I log my blood sugar readings - so every stupid day that I have to
go on with this I read the verses and apply them as a promise over my
life

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T11:06:00.001+10:00

That's mad Davo... A testimony in the making... I remember ages ago in CG you were saying you wanna be someone that has a story to tell... You've stuck by that ever since... So I'm expecting some ground-shake emitting from the Tang household.

Cool theory... I notice that parking is the same at North Strathfield though, but I could be wrong as I was in a rush...

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:56:00.002+10:00

Hoo Har!

Now THAT'S something that worth being stubborn in... To dig your heels
in when it comes to believing in God's provision... I remember in
connect group a couple of weeks back, Laura was speaking about reading
the bible, praying, praying in tongues, and speaking the promises of God
over our lives daily... Can someone please fill me in on that last point
"speaking the promises of God over our lives daily". What do you guys
have/do?

Well although I woke up later than usual today, I still got out of the
house at the normal time... And traffic was def. worse... Hmmm sounds
like a few of the people I've asked think it's due to the early birds
cutting into normal people's time as Andy outlined

RE: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:51:00.001+10:00

That's AWESOME.. Last night was off the Hook, felt as though the
faith-filled atmosphere stormed heaven and our prayers were partitioned
to the Father.

In regards to the discussion.. I was on the harbour bridge for 30mins
this morning. Total bus ride 1.15hrs
A colleage of mine lives 13 kms away and it took him 1.45hrs today.. lol

RE: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:48:00.005+10:00

Hey Philips,

Thanks for sharing your revelation. How amazing was Mega Prayer Night!!! God is so amazing. The worship was also phenomenal...praise God!!

I also noticed what you observed, especially when driving to work. My reasoning was that when it rains, people tend to sleep in a bit more and wake up later. So the normal very early risers and are moving into the normal people's space.

RE: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:48:00.004+10:00

I’m believing for miracles people…I loved the stories that Brian got people to say to build faith – I’m gonna be one of those faith stories in the near future I know it

Also my theory on today for you phil:

People who normally walk to the station will drive today because of the rain

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:48:00.003+10:00

Thanks for sharing your testimony Hui! Love hearing how great God is and how He always comes through - "exceendingly, abundently and above all we could EVER ask or think". Love the God who loves suprising His children!
Regards,

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:44:00.001+10:00

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T10:28:00.003+10:00

Good morning!

Some of you may have met my girl friend Amanda who visited from Canberra a
few weeks back with her husband. She has been 'stuck' in a low-paying,
mundane Research position in a pathology lab, which is not reflective of
her qualifications or capability. I have been praying for her and standing
with her that God supplies all our needs and He wants to give us GOOD
things! She went for an interview 2 weeks ago, but didn't get the job. I
was quite discouraged but chose to be stubborn despite my doubts and
confessed the word of God that He makes all things 'beautiful in its own
time' - His timing is not our timing, and I truly believe He has better
things in store - like a better job than the one she interviewd for!

So this morning I awoke to an sms from Amanda saying that another interview
CAME THROUGH!! She got an offer to work as a Scientist which is BETTER
paying and basically a 'step-up' in terms of position and responsibilities.

Prayer WORKS!!

Ok, now in response to Phil's 'think tank re: car v.s. train travel' -
could it be that today you went to work at a slightly different time than
usual, which is peak hour so cars on the road and people on the train are
at its max? It could also be the "Wednesday phenomenon", where ppl get back
into routine of getting to work on time (as opposed to a late/lazy start on
monday) or Uni or casual work citizens starting their week on a Wednesday
purposely so they can enjoy long weekends...

Re: Mega Prayer Night

2009-06-03T09:58:00.002+10:00

Oorah, mega prayer night went off like a bomb... I got shrapnel damage from The Spirit... How awesome is prayer?! My prayer is that prayer isn't a once off, but becomes something that is woven into our very lifestyle/nature/being. I don't wish to be just another drongo waiting to catch the next wave of "this feels cool"... Please Jesus rescue me from such a fate!

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

Now for off-topic...
I've made an observation today... When I was driving this morning, I noticed that there were more people on the road than usual, so I thought to myself "Oh, this must be due to the weather... People don't want to catch a train when it rains"... So then I parked and got on the train and noticed that the train was packed with more people than usual so I thought to myself "Oh, this must be due to the weather... People don't want to drive when it rains"... But then I put 2 and 2 together... Why on earth are there more people around than usual on wet days? Like both on roads AND on trains? Doesn't make sense! What do all these people do on dry days!? Do they not work and CHOOSE to go to work when it rains?

Phillips Huynh
Customer Service Representative

Hard to communicate

2009-06-01T11:02:00.003+10:00

Been a long time aye hahaha...

Well, I think I've worked out I'm quite a jealous person... Debilitatingly so... I don't think jealousy is so evil in small doses as it helps us appreciate things and focus in our aim for goals. It's part of our human nature. Please feel free to comment on this a correct me if I've stepped across a border. My measuring stick on whether or not the jealousy was passable as normal human nature was if the jealousy was enough to cause malicious offset. So that's something that Jesus has worked on that I'll be growing out of and thus into something new... Must keep in mind that it's not just about setting me free. It's about making me more usable... Anyways, what can I do now that I wouldn't have done have as a maliciously jealous person? this is something I should explore and confirm victory on.

I've also discovered the difference between jealousy and evny... For a long time, these two terms have been same-same in my book. But here's what I discovered about the difference paraphrased in layman. Both jealousy and envy are emotions (or who are evident throught the presence of emotions) that are birthed in a scenario made up of 3 parties, the subject, the beloved, and the rival. Jealousy is when the subject is in fear of losing the object to the rival, it is a want to keep the object to itself, to protect and retain a harmony between itself and the object. The energy is set towards the object. Envy however is a little different... It is when the subject is looking at the rival, and notices that it is in posession of an object, and wants the object for itself in order to be take place of the rival (or some other like-complex). The energy is set towards the rival.

Interesting huh?

Well... I wanna read dating delilah again... so I downloaded it, you can download it off the dating delilah website. The first time I read this, it was borrowed from a friend and it was lifechanging... In a nutshell, it's about how sexual purity is a journey, not a destination, it's a process, we can all be redeemed from impurity however sometimes we have something holding us back or holding us down... the evil seductress Delilah... We need to break up with her before we can move on. It's a great read and strongly focuses on teens however can be appreciated by anyone, boys, girls, single, dating, married, or in a family.

afraid to be faithful amongst the faithful

2009-05-19T18:06:00.001+10:00

sometimes i am afraid to do things adventurous with my faith with my
faithful friends around for the fear of a marred experience...

Sent from my iPhone

Happy birthday to me

2009-05-11T16:52:00.005+10:00

Lame...

Dad just rang me... asked me if we're gonna go out 2 eat tonight... Like Iif I've organised something or not... why has it become my call? I'm stressing out, haven't slept properly in a farking long time... I just turned 25 on Saturday and Sunday was mothers day... If that doesn't scream out loud enough to him that he should do something if anyone or don't ask, then nothing will... I wouldn't complain about it... But whatta shit season... Tired... Lonely... Emo... Get me outta this place...

Found this piece... It's called rage

Cya later hair

2009-04-29T08:13:00.000+10:00

My massively long and thickly unmanageable locks have been lopped off
by the skilled hands of HY... I reckon we have a similar haircut, mine
is just abit more unkempt, she seems to think otherwise, thanks HY!

It's been such an age ago since I've bought shirts... Hold on...
What's the purpose of blogging again? I don't think I've had a big
question or thought in a while... What a rip off! I think ok gonna
have to pick me a fight to fight... Life is ever so comfortable and in
stasis today...

Well, I've got a TKD tournament on Sunday... Believe for me to kick
lots of heads... I will hunt for some significant things to write
about... We have EJ's & Diem's wedding + prayer meeting on Saturday...
Oorah will have to take this weekend off work.

Significant events seem to come in fewer numbers and smaller
intensities these days... Or maybe i'm just losing touch with reality?

Sent from my iPhone

Busted this on my break today

2009-04-22T17:42:00.000+10:00

So I take a late break today, I head to hunter connection to buy cheap
food to have for dinner as I'm training tonight, then after that head
to king at wharf to chill out for a bit, while crossing the street,
look what I come across hahaha

It's been a long time since I've had trouble telling a lady she's pretty

2009-04-22T09:55:00.001+10:00

So this morning I'm running late, a lil more than usual... Kept hitting that snooze button, couldn't get myself out of bed! It was a supernatural weight was pressed upon me! But I finally managed to get out and get ready, all was pretty regular, I remembered to bring an episode of Fruits Basket with me coz I was gonna be in the late train that none of my friends or familiars caught... Dreary rainy day, but I'm wearing shorts, joggers and an ugly training sweater hahaha, classic Phillips fashionista... I brushed my hair though. I get off the slow train to change for the quick one at Lidcombe, and lo and behold one of the hottest ladies I've seen in a loong time... Hot dang ziggity zapp! She was some kind of asian, curvacious, dressed in crisp lines highlighting her attractive qualities... She knew how to dress... Black patterned silk skirt with moderate blue and white striped silk womens work shirt, voguing in smart flat though complimentative work shoes, her hair held up with a neat clip but left out at the back. She had High cheeks even complexion with heart shaped face and lips that would make any strawberry or cherry turn green (with envy)... Man I couldn't help myself, my systems were overridden by the male autopilot in my brain... I fought it as best as I could, but found myself following her into the bottom level of our common train carriage... She sat on the 2nd long bench facing the train movement direction, I sat on the bench against the wall (the ones with the stupid slant that hits your head) facing opposite ie facing her with a passenger between us... I really tried my best to keep reading fruits basket... But it wasn't working... I got some reading done but would keep looking up at her and kept hoping that she would get off at Wynyard... I was like a middle aged Japanese mad... I was scaring myself. She had one earphone plugged into her phone and kept me guessing on who she was, her nationality... If she was Aussie raised (ie she spoke proper English), where she's from and how on Earth have I missed her until now?! So it get's to the nervous stage of the trip... The Redfern, Central, Town-Hall combo... If someone is gonna leave prematurely, it'd be now... But no! She stays! And what's this? As I'm getting ready to jump off as we're approaching Wynyard, she begins packing her headphones and phone away! SHABOOYA! I give way allowing her to lead up the stairs out onto the platform... We both chorus down the same flight of stairs, and exit through adjacent ticket machines in tandem. I begin to give up on the thought and resolve that anything of worth is gonna happen... So I waltz away whistling towards the kent street escalators, but I hear her trademark footsteps following behind... Then witness as this lady overtakes me to ride on the escalator... At this stage, I come to realise that with the way I'm going, there's gonna be no lasting impression, no benefit, no fruit, no ones day is gonna be made any different. I'm gonna have to make a decision... Is this gonna be another freaking day at the office... Or am I gonna make this lady's day? It doesn't matter where she's from, what she does or what happens next... She's left an impression and I should dang well let her know it! So what seems like an eternity going up those dang escalators... I suck up my gut, get familiar with the heart that's well and truely stuck in my throat

I tap her shoulder
"Pardon me miss"
She looks at me
"I'm sorry if this seems inappropriate to you, but I just really want to let you know that you are an extremely attractive girl"
silence
silence
"oh.... thanks!"
RED FACE
"uhh no worries, so you're heading off to work yes?
"yeah I am"
"Marvellous day to be in the office, where do you work?"
"Westpac"
"Really I have a few friends that work there!"
We notice that pedestrian traffic is backed up all the way from the lights of Kent street to the Wynyard station tunnel due to rain
"Oh ok, what do they do?"
"Not sure, I think one of them is a banker, I know one of them is on level fourteen, and the other a little higher... Can't be certain what do you do?"
"I'm in I.T"
"You're in I.T? Really?"
"Yeah"
"That's awesome, what do you do in IT?"
"I'm in training at the moment and am in programming"
"You're a programmer?!"
"Haha yeah, what is it that you do?"
"I work in the lumley building, but yeah I was a 3D animator"
"So you know programming?"
"Not much but yeah, a little, most of my programming involves game scripting"
"wow"
"So how long you been working here?"
"A little over a year"
"So is this like an internship or what-not?"
"Yeah sorta, once I've done 2 years here, I'll be moved into a permanent role"
"Lovely"
Silence as we wait for the lights... I realise my hearts pounding out of my chest and I'm getting the shakes...
"Please let me know if this is inappropriate... Is there a way we stay in touch?"
"I've got a boyfriend"
Big smile"He's a pretty lucky guy"
Stumped"Thanks"
"What's his name"
"Jase"
"Please tell Jase that you met a random called Phil and that he wishes you both the best"
"oh thanks!"
"Have a great day! Might bump into again next time"
"oh uh... yeah bye!"
Jogs down the street almost le parkour style

I think more was said but my head is still kinda cloudy

EDIT: Oh definitely more was said hahaha... Her name is Katrina... LOL... cloudy head

No more CC debt...

2009-04-21T08:54:00.001+10:00

I have just payed the remainder of my last credit card at 08:05:06am this morning... When this last amount clears, both my credit cards are gonna be showing $00.00... There went my last 2 and a half year habit... what a shit-fight... (takes a deep breather)... Free air...

Must be beyond man

2009-04-19T21:33:00.002+10:00

Must overcome this human condition
To be strong
To not be weak
Must tap into the infinity
Must be a man that defines a good man

Must embrace knowledge of self-imperfection
Must embrace the infinite design for man to be good

Clubbing music ftw

2009-04-19T20:34:00.003+10:00

Woot, production at EVO VS WRX day yesterday was pretty full on! I ended up having one in-mount camera drop out on me in a Subie giving the camera a thrashing and being embarassed by the whole ordeal, but pretty much a solid training day, one more training day then Andrew will begin paying me more than lunch and shirts =) ... Next training day should be a drift one. It's hard waking up early on Saturday after a late Friday night! And I had work straight after production assist at the video store... Was just me and Mary and we had a good english chat at last... Sigh had a pretty deeply conversation with mum tonight about people coming in from overseas to study and work in an effort to get a PR... It's totally not as easy as it was once upon a time... And you really have to be willing to BE an Australian, not just live in Australia... Can't just be here coz the life is easier and better... No such thing as a free lunch, I can imagine it being freaking impossible to up and leave and embrace a new culture, but hey I guess it would've been something u would have begun 2 understand when u agreed to do it.

Anyways, I met up with DT after closing the video store and we headed to Butterfy's 21st at a bar in Parramatta (keep forgetting the name of that dang place)... Hahaha we rocked up at 9pm and got blasted for being late... But a couple of drinks round the house and all seemed happy as Larry, met a fair few people and caught up with a some old friends that I hadn't seen in a while... Epic seeing lil ol buttz again, hahaha was well worth facing any awkwards had there ben any, also discovered Su was born and raised in Aus hahaha, she seems to have had similar chilhood television habits to me... Was so wierd being the older guys at the club though ahahha, funny how how everyone seemed tired and abit beyond toasted when we were just getting warmed up hahaha... Hahah like hanging out with teeny boppers ftw. Party ended near midnight with the gang heading off to city extra, kinda regretfully too seeing awesome music started getting played hahaha I'll stick some vids at the end of this... But yeah Dave and I being old and hyped up and just getting started at the time headed east... Considered going 2 the city for more clubbing, but then conceded to have a good old men's talk at Lidcombe Maccas hahaha... Oh man the song they played just as we left was Satisfaction... Pure awesome... The 2nd vid is another killer song

Hoonage and new work

2009-04-14T16:29:00.003+10:00

Well happy belated Easter everybody!

Time warp..
It's good Friday, a public holiday... damn it's early... But damn I'm late! 7:15! We all have to be at church at 8:00 am for the prayer meeting! Now 8:30 am is hard nuff on at Burwood on a Sunday morning let alone 8:00am at Baulkam Hills on a Friday public holiday! Oh man I had a hard training session last night so went to bed as smashed as a plate at a greek wedding and would really appreciate the sleep. Anyways I said I'd be there so be there I shall... Damn gotta not be late, it takes 45 minutes to get there usually so that means I have 0 minutes to get ready! So on go the pants, in goes the toothbrush... A quick good morning to mum as I run out to start old faithful... No way am I gonna make it... Oh well, let's just try... Hahahaha... It's double demerits, I'm not silly enough to speed on these main streets... So here's there driving technique for the day... PUNCH it until u hit the speede limit hahaha... Well, I can tell u it works... I get to church at 7:54... Took me 25 minutes... that's a PB ladies and gentlemen hahaha

Anyways... Working back at the video store now... That's right I mentioned it in my last post... Been training with the gang on their Australia's got talent show... Man they work hard... Inspiring... So that's my weekend... but then check this out...

A few crazies are crazy enough to organise a run for Sunday night (double demerits btw)... so we all meet up late Sunday night, this whole time I'm under the impression we're heading out into the boonies for the runs, but lo and behold, we're going to old pacific highway... Hot damn, why not call the police in advance and ask em 2 bring the salad for the party? Anyways, I decide to go, there's a fair few of us... Too many actually... about 15-20 cars meet at the meet point... Mainly hard parkers... So the first group take off... we wanna run... not park... We arrive before the start point and chill for a minute, there's about 8 of us... A few middle easterners see our meet and come to check us out in their 4 door GTST... Realise we're waiting for sumone so they rip a few heli's on their way out hahaha... Real classy boys (sarcasm much)... So we take off for the touge... was a pretty epic run, seems that rwd silvia's do better on the touge than awd rexies and evo's?! So I find I'm stuck behind the awd's at a crawl, we clear the first stage and I'm called to be in second place, and punch off again, during second stage, we come across a T intersection and what else do we see but the boys in blue... Nice... So the guy in front of me sprints out into the hills... and I'm following close behind... This was the fun part hhaha, we actually had something to run away from... Pity we can't keep going to do 3rd and 4th stages, we just pull back onto the freeway and head off to Sevo's for some demo'ing at an estate. So you'd think that was a pretty close encounter hahaha, not close enough... I notice around Baulkham Hills, the car behind me is flashing me like mad, I have no idea what he wants, the car in front of me is acting strange to, he signals to turn into a back street, and doesn't commit... Eventually he does so I follow him, the car that's been flashing keeps driving off on the main road and another car turns in behind us and we end up splitting up, then I look to see who it is and notice the disco lights flare up hahahaha... Oh dang... I pull over and he stops behind me, the car in front turns the next left and get's away... Then... what is this? The copper pulls out and goes after him?! Man I punch it outta there QUICK SMART... a left here, right there, another right, a couple lefts, and I'm in someones yard, I shut my car down and lay low for a while. You'd think I'd go hoome after this, but no I think we were thirsting for trouble that night... I end up meeting the guys again at Sevo's, we hang for a bit, too nervous to do demo's... The dude that got chased got defected, he's pretty shattered, but ok... We all go home...

Blogging Vs Games

2009-04-11T21:05:00.004+10:00

Aiyyy. So long I haven't posted... Nothing special to talk about... I'm a boring old fart... Mortal Kombat guy keeps dicking around with us and is apparently 16 years old... So we're over it, doesn't seem legit... We'll keep focussing on the Australia's got talent performance since that ball is in our park. Now I'm bored and tred at home... As my twitter currently states... Let's get the emo juices flowing.

I Had my first shift back at the video store today, how cool, met Mary, a friend of uncle Luc's from Vietnam who speaks very little english... She's looking to start a life here. I have come think that I am an aweful person in that I have a very f4cked up relationship skillset with women... It's brutally honest and I can brutally honestly say that's most probably the reason why I can't stand the thought of having a girlfriend... It's easily hidden away with the guise of "I'm too picky", but my real thoughts are more along the lines of... "Oh poor lass to the girl who goes out with me... I have no freaking clue on how to properly treat a woman". Seems that I have a flaw (woopty f4cking doo)... And that flaw is called male naturalism... It's huge in my life... Anyways, I'm distracted by half life episode 1 right now... Let's continue on this later...

Jesus help me...

Now on twitter

2009-04-07T23:06:00.003+10:00

I think I find it hard 2 blog coz I live faster than I type... So I'm gonna try twitter for the inbetweens... Quite a bit has happened but I don't think I'll go into details unless I "feel" like it... The cruise on Saturday was epic fail... Good thing I left after the meet n greet. I think I would have unleashed fury on one of the people that were there... Honestly, it's been a long time since I've come across a really bitter easily hate-able person... And just when you think there's a friend that you can be semi-lax with, they jump on a bandwagon and hurt you... Argh, the complexities of unsaved lives... Christians don't have it better, they just have their values stored up somewhere kickass...

Been helping out the TKD team in getting a performance together for Australia's Got Talent final... Although we didn't make it as contestants, we were called in to be entertainment... This is gonna kick butt...

Late, wet and wedgied

2009-04-01T08:41:00.001+11:00

I'm late, it's raining, i'm wet, I'm in a packed train and have an atomic wedgie... I detest wet weather traffic, driving safe doesn't mean driving stupid... Sucks how the traffic conditions worsen exponentially when pitted against increasing rain levels. Why do they not switch on the aircon in trains on wet days? They know we're damp and muggy... Faggotism I guess. Oh man I hate these jeans, they promote wedgies... I hate wedgies... Couple that with a packed damp train, I think I'm going to turn the tables and smile and laugh... Haha epic fail days for the loss... Finance has been tainted by some sort if faggotism as well... Ended last month less than 2k in debt, ended this month in 2.6k... THAT is faggotism haha...alas, I am far from throwing in any kind of towel, just having a rant is all... Did you know that last time it rained I openly swore at the weather?! Haha and it was topbof my lungs kinda thing, might have written about it
actually. Right shoulder and back is going spazzo as well... Damn I'm late... Haha let's see if I can smile and at least sum1 elses day just that little bit more pleasant...

Comics, films, and AWD drift

2009-03-30T09:43:00.008+11:00

Hello and good morning! What a thoroughly enjoyable weekend! Had such an epic meeting on Saturday with Dane in producing the graphic novel! So we moved into storyboarding, oh man we got some killer slide for the novel at the moment... Too bad it was cut short coz he had to go do stuff... But we met later on in the day to catch Watchmen... FAROUT!!! That movie kicked so much arse that even Colonel Guile would be struggling to keep up! I knew that Critics either highly rated that movie or highly floored it... I was kinda worried going in to see it as I hadn't been such a follower of the original graphic novel, but I payed due diligence in reading up on it and doing research on it a while ago before the movie was released... WELL payed off! That was by far one of the most full, layered and thoughtful movies I've seen in a long long time! Superb! For those of you who plan to watch it, I recommend you do some background reading on the watchmen story and characters, all can be found on wikipedia.

Sunday, I spooled out to Oran Park raceway in another production assist role at superlap... A drool-worthy contest of Australia's fastest time attack cars (meaning that they're Jap!!!). Heaps of photo's can be caught HERE! Oh man I got to sit shotgun in an R34 GTR!!! That light blue one GTR088... It belonged to Dom and it was QUICK as a sting!! That thing had no problem lighting up all 4 wheels (GTR's are AWD)... He was telling me there's 4 levels of hecticness they tune the car to, and that on that day it was set to level 2... Enough to break loose but still be in control... Oh man it was EPIC!!! I got to rub shoulders with owner, mechanics, drivers and workshoppers who build australia's fastest street and time attack cars. I even chased and R35 GTR and caught up to it on foot! Hahaha it was driving away with one of Andrews camera's... 400kw in these legs man! So epic day, thoroughly enjoyed, am looking forward to getting trained so I can be more involved with camera setting up and running (which also means getting payed).

I got to ride shotgun in this thing!

And I caught up to this thing on foot!
This thing was WEAPON

Tilton Interiors Evolution was off the hook!

This goes out to Brent

2009-03-25T16:19:00.005+11:00

Hahahaha so Brent and I have been talking on SMS and email since Monday... We were supposed to have lunch with Biggie, Che, Eugene and Peter at Vanessa's workplace (she works at the food level of the GPO)... Anyways we obviously talk about cars lots seeying he's rebuilding his car AKA the Gypsie coz of the curse that follows it! It's blown 5 motors and has been running for 18 months of the years that Brent has owned it hahaha. With the stuff going into his car I've told him that it's more beast than machine now hahaha How funny because the thing pretty much contains his blood seeing how much it cuts him everytime he puts his hands to it...

Odd isn't it, how our car's become like our own... Made up metaphorically and to a degree, literally with our own blood, sweat and tears... It's not dissimilar to the dragon from Beowulf... Half man... Half Angelina Jolie (grins)... They certainly are entities of the Netherwold... Succubii who drain us of our blood, wild beasts who prey on our flesh, oh how many a knuckle skin I have lost to the preying of my Netherworld mistress... The Gypsie must be satisfied by constant blood offerings, vampires by the trickling of our blood, beasts by the quiver of our flesh... My beast demands my sick love and affection, my undivided attention, sadistic and twisted, much like Akito Sohma... They suck our life essence and eat us out of house, home and sanity leaving us a writhing mess of defeated men... Alas, we'll always come crawling back to this place... For want of such a wild and seductive world...

Fruits Basket is warming up!

2009-03-25T09:40:00.003+11:00

Haven't posted so must most... Hahaha Fruits Basket just got really interesting! Volume 17 and some BIG secrets have been let out about the Sohma family... Woohoo, can't wait to go training today so I can read! Hahaha I have a good 10 minute walk from the station to my dojo so I just read the whole way, I look up once in a while to make sure I'm not lost! I wanna say so much about it, but to then I don't wanna be a wet blanket! And check this out, I've never been able to keep up with series, not even a single season of Heroes! And Here I am on volume 17 of a comic!

I'm gonna be grading tomorrow, Double grading for the win! I hope I have the stamina to keep up... Oorah... So from green, I'm skipping blue and onto purple... I'm kinda looking forward to the sparring, I think I've been adding a bit of edge to sparring lately, non-contact sparring is as homosexual as aids (taken straight out of the forums hahaha), but I been making it intersting by blocking my opponents attacks and countering with freakishly close blows instead of just hopping and flopping my legs about like a doll... Hahaha last time when I was sparring against 3 opponets, I even grappled at them, threw them at one another and grappled one oppenent and brought him to the ground... Wanna keep this interesting, gay martial arts ftl...

I been modelling a 180sx in Maya during work hours... I need to get a portfolio happening, but I'm soo lazy... Even at work I just forum trawl all day... How on Earth do I become a Saiyan in this area?

I'm gonna be going to Superlap at Oran Park on Sunday to help Andrew out with more media stuff... Hahaha I just got a phone call from Anf Bilic saying hi... Will be hanging out with him on Sunday

Feeling emo

2009-03-22T21:20:00.003+11:00

Hahaha I started writing a post on boredom... But gave up... Too emo to continue... I think I'm PMS'ing this month lol...

Let's go to America

EDIT

I'm a lazy SOB... I'm a talented crazy cat in many things I do, but I have no heart, I don't know hard work, I don't know discipline... I'm good by birth, not by work... It's horrible... I don't know how to get heart... How does one gain heart? It's almost like a given quality, u either have it, or you don't... I'm a good fighter coz I have an uncanny ability beat ppl up, not because I want to win... Metaphorically translates into so many other areas... Who can help me? God is silent...

Following on with my finance

2009-03-17T15:35:00.007+11:00

Hello again, I thought that this event deserves it's own post. I'm really excited this month. I mean, really, really excited...(!!!)... So a few posts back I had a post called no such thing as my money ... Well this is like a continuation of that showing what's happened between the start of this quest and now... Disclaimer is that all glory goes to God for Jesus is working in my life in answer to a prayer for wisdom and breakthrough in the area of my finance and the way I see and therefore handle it. What I present here is an astoundingly stark contrast in behaviour in comparison to the last three years of my earning life.

So the background is I am in a credit card debt, and am payed by work monthly, I usually blow my cash on the most unbeknownst things. You would think such a liberal spender would be in possession of nice things and be quite comfortable... No... My reality is very different from that picture. You see, without Jesus taking the blame for my evil, I am a horrific spender, I have a very unhealthy attitude towards finance... After push had come to shove (I stongly advise you read no such thing as my money) I finally gave up and sought God for a solution. It's funny how we only seem to seek God in the 11th hour.

So on the 27th of February, 7 days after getting payed... I'm down to $200.82... Where did my money go? My tithe, some bills, some debt, to my parents, some food here and there, and then I notice I'm down to the last $200... 1 week after getting payed... With an another 3 weeks to go before getting payed. With this $200, I'm expected to pay $36 a week for train fare, $70 a fortnight for fuel in the car, food for whenever I may need it, and any other general expenses including a triple birthday party taking place this past Saturday. Things weren't looking good. And to kick start that week off, I met with a friend for dinner to discuss some important issues... But nevertheless, I purposefully and faithfully trusted in God, committing to all the things that I had said I would, and trying to be as best a steward as one could ever ask to be... So I want you to take a guess... Take a guess on how much yout think I currently have left in my account today... Two and a half weeks on from being on my last $200... Guessed yet? Really... Take a guess... After you have... Read on

So moving on, this last two and a half weeks, do you know what's happened with the finances God has left me in charge with? Like with the good stewards in Mark 25 the parable of the talents... They multiplied! Don't believe me? I'll show you a statement! Of course I had to get to work on my finances, but considering I'm not to be payed until this Friday, I think this is fantastic! And praise to the Lord our God!
So the numbers are there... From $200.82... to $802.95! Thank you Jesus! So how did it happen you may ask? Well it was simply this... I stuck to my convictions and my foundations, knowing that although God wanted to bless me with finance, I needed to say and do something for that to happen, so I went about cashing in on things like petty cash on the 3rd, selling my foglights on the 4th, selling my camber arms on the 10th, selling my blowoff valve on the 13th, and depositing all the coins I could find in my bedroom on the 16th... I payed my train fare last week also through some coins I had found throughout my bedroom and filled up only with what I needed on the 16th to last me until tonight so that I have reduced petrol prices for it being Tuesday. Remembering also that I paid upfront $237 from my CC for Eug, Pete and Ray's birthday gifts so that will be coming out of my savings pretty soon. I've also cashed in on my E-toll rebate statement but that hasn't yet come through. THIS is why I'm excited this month. My account statement has never showed this kind of behaviour before.

I pray and believe that this attitude keeps up and that my mind becomes renewed to the world of finance and takes on the form and shape that God intended for me to live by. I really hope that this pleases God and can't wait to see what the next month holds. Looks like Japan is getting closer and closer withing reach after every dollar!

This goes out to Jesus.

Fantabular meeting with my teachers!

2009-03-17T14:58:00.003+11:00

Hi blog!
So I took a day of leave from work yesterday and headed into TAFE to visit Vincent my old 3D teacher, hahaha man was it good seeing him or what! Also got to see Eric Knight, my old graphics and flash animation teacher, and David Perez, the old tech guy... Was amazing to see em all after more than 4 years! It's funny what I remembered while walking through those halls, ahhaa the ground still squeaks on that little ramp on the floor heading towards D101 (The 3D animation classroom). The smells of that corridoor, ahhh... Memories easily forgotten, but not easily unrecognised. What a great catch-up it was, talking about our experiences and observations on TB and the 3D animation industry... In short, it was as I was leading to believe... TB is crap, the place treats it's employees badly, it burns young prospective artists and is full of itself. It's time to forget past offences, and not hold the offence to the current industry... I got dealt a rotten egg, it doesn't mean the whole hatchery is rotten. Hai... sou desu ne... SO! I've got to work on another reel! I will attempt to get in contact with recruitment agents (maybe Khang's one who understands how shibba TB is!). Names I must remember are The lab, Ambience, flying Bark, Animalogic, Plastic Wax... Stick with the big names Eric says!

Was fun having lunch with the guys too, we got to talking geek talk hahaha, about memory allocation code, the whims of Microsoft, and about old school original programmers who used to program off punch card systems hahaha!! Old school programmers who diss out anyone who calls themselves a programmer today ftw! So programmers are born, not made aye? Vince and Dave are most definitely the coolest geeks I know... David's into boxing, and Vince is a 3D artist/compositor/teacher! Hahahaha...

So we have 1. The corridor leading up to D101 The 3d room 2. The corridor off D101 3. The cafeteria 4. The 3d animation staff room 5. D101

Actually, in pic 1. Where I'm standing is pretty much the position where the floor squeaks as u walk past hahahaha.... Man that place brings back alot of memories, I can't believe its been so many years... It's eerie.

I just realised... DANG these guys are freaking good

2009-03-14T22:12:00.006+11:00

Hey guys, that last post may have felt short, that's coz I got really distracted... I'll show u why

Raining hard... I don't take enough photo's!

2009-03-14T21:09:00.008+11:00

Hello! I'm bored at home... Eugene, Pete and Ray's birthday party was on today, Hahaha 25, 26, 27 respectively! Hmmm... I don't think I ever imagined myself as a 25 year when I was in my teens... It was a cool party! We were at Maroubra beach and the weather was perfect ALL the way till the end! THEN it started raining in TORRENTS... I rode with Mick today, although we finally got my car back up and running... Hahahaha here's an embarassing one. So dad rings me yesterday while I'm at work saying my car alarms going ballistic, I say coz it's the battery on it's last leg, so I explain to him how 2 switch it off, and he does so... Today I take the battery out and charge it off dad's car for about 10 minutes and reinstall it into mine, I try turning my car on and it won't even click over, so I call the NRMA and the dude get's here and is sussing it out. turns out my battery is fine and actually received charge from dad's car, I've just forgotten to turn the immobiliser off!!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA.... Yeah yeah blonde moment.

MY THOUGHTS! I don't take enough photo's anymore! I missed out on taking photo's of the nam nuong patty that DT made today! and also, what really drove the thought home was this... I was looking for photo's of a cage calmp camera mount, I worked with one at powercruise but failed 2 take a photo of it so now I have no idea what I'm looking for! In the past I had always taken pics of the cool stuff i came across so would always be able to find reference for cool stuff i had come across. Oh wells... Anyways, I realise this topic is kinda boring... Well I want a cage mount so I record myself when I'm at the drifts... I'd like to try video and photo stuff on a dynamic car... So yeah, I'd like to get a cage mount.

So! Have I mentioned I'm off to see my 3d animation teacher this monday?!?! I'm so excited!!! Imagine they ask me 2 be a 3d teacher?! I WOULD SO WANT THAT!!!!!!!! So anyways, let's see what goes on, I'd love to get a heads up into industry.

Oh! and I know I haven't posted anything about martial arts, but yeah, part of my dojo is gonna be on Australia's got talent, please vote for them! let' me paste their vid here for u

Hakan, Lincoln, and Eleni... I train with these guys on Wednesdays, farout, I gotta train harder!!!

Stuff happens, blogs get written

2009-03-12T11:10:00.012+11:00

Hi! I was meant to use this title 2 posts ago! but I realised I was gonna talk mainly on finance on that one! so I renamed it! Today... It's gonna a be a bit more light-hearted hahaha...

So my car's run outta batteries... I washed it on Saturday before Helen and Dennis' birthday party (It was a Cosplay party!!!) and I carelessly left the key turned to the ON position meaning the dash lights were all sucking at the power. When I clean my car, I CLEAN my car, I took hours doing it, inside and out, vacuuming, Armor-alling, rinsing, washing, cleaning the WHOLE rim of each wheel, tire shining, and after the whole job, I left it sit just being all cool, a couple hours later, the alarm goes off! Oh no not a good sign, she only does that when someone unlocks the door if she's locked (which she wasn't) or if the batteries died... So I ended up getting a ride with Daniel to the party, I drove coz he dressed as Barrett Wallace and thus had a bazooka strapped to his arm, hahah that bazooka came complete with real firing action! The party was awesome, I was dressed as Marshall Law, Bruce Lee looking kinda guy, but it was so mad to see everyone put in an effort! Perhaps I'll get off my rusty dusty and stick some pics up on my lunch break!

OK! Pics, I did it!

SO! Anyways, it decides to rain the very next day and has been raining consistently since then! I had no way to get to connect group coz Brian took mum's car, and mum and dad took dad's car, and I'm left with a clean car that has a flat battery! Jane was kind enough to lend me hers... Oh! If you're wondering why I couldn't jumpstart my car, it's because it's parked in my driveway

That's my room you see there and it's at the end of the driveway, and the driveway can only fit one car at a time, so it's basically cornered! So anyways I'm gonna have to take the battery out, charge it up, then reinstall to get out of this situation...

NOW... Check out this thought that I had while chatting to Khang today... I can't go out with a 19 year old girl! I'm fast approaching too old! It would be frowned upon! Since when was a 19 year old girl too young to date! Let me paste an extract to an email chain that a few of the guys/gal and myself were involved with a lil earlier.

?Hahaha What brought up this thought? Well Khang and I were talking stereotype AZN's in cabra and how the guys date ridiculously younger girls... I got to thinking "Why don't they go out with 19 year olds at least? What do 19 year olds get up to that make them so hard to hook up with?" Then I realised that if I hooked up with a 19 year old, she'd be like... epically, totally young... 19 year olds, like... do uni and stuff... I'd be the old guy picking her up from uni and driving her out as her and her friends wave "bye" to each other... I'd be that dude that isn't part of the crew but comes to take her home or drop her off or seldom goes out with all of them to the club and just sits by himself why they all talk about 19 year old matters... Hahaha... Check this out... Her uni guy friends would look up to me as the guys that owns the drift car, does up cars and worked for PS3 before it got released... I'd totally be "UNCLE" status!!!"

Hahahaha! It's totally true! I never realised, and I can't rememember when I rolled-over into the segment of males who should not date 19 year olds hahaha... I just had a chat to Leanne about it and wethinks most of the ewww comes from the fact that we'd be at different stages of life, I'd be a worker and she'd be a student... Perhaps if she's 19, working fulltime, know where she's heading, then it wouldn't be so bad? But then another though... She's nearly the same age as my lil bro hahaha... I'd be so a cradle snatcher.

Hello to Passion City Church!

2009-03-12T10:07:00.005+11:00

Today's marks the day where for the first time I left a comment on someone's blog! It was Louie Giglio's blog from Passion City Church... Who heads the Passion Conferences which spread world wide... My comment reads as follows

Good day Louie. My name is Phillips, yes that's right, with an S, I last saw you in 2008 on the final leg of your Passion Conference in the Sydney Entertainment Centre.... My friend recently sent me a link to a youtube video which shows your presentation on laminin. Wow, it really took my breath away, that amongst the smallest building blocks which form our bodies, lies the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord... I then remembered your presentation 'Indescribable' at Hillsong conference in 2006 I believe it was, and remembered that more than 20 million light years away, lies the Whirlpool Galaxy M51a, again breathtaking, to think that beyond the farthest reach of human will, lies the the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord, radiant, brilliant. Jesus really is everywhere! Beyond what we can naturally see, larger than we can imagine! But He is also everything we're made of, everything we need.

I also had a question! It's quite silly but my friend Sarah now writes on her emails, LOTI (laughing on the inside) instead of LOL (laughing out loud), after explaining that she learned that from you at Passion Conference Sydney (You're name is coming up alot here in my world!) I asked if the line "kick butt" (apologies if it's vulgar) can be considered a lie? My argument was as follows

"Hahaha I just realised Kick butt is a lie too... When we say something
kicks butt 99.98% of the time, it doesn't actually kick anyone's butt
(that statistic may be a lie, but I think it's quite accurate)"

It was out of light hearted humour of course but she dared me to ask you, I couldn't find your email so here I am on your blog!

Oh did you know that people nowadays actually verbally say LOL? I think in an American accent, it'd be pronounced 'lawl'.

But I think that's enough from me... Thank you so much for the impact you're leaving around the world! Thank you for preaching the Gospel without withholding! Thank you Passion City Church! I look forward to seeing you again!

Love Phillips and the Hillsong Burwood Extension Service Gang

I guess that does most of the explanation! Thus why I posted it... Don't you think Louie looks a bit like Richard Gere? That's what I've always thought anyways hahaha...

This here is the video to Laminin. It got passed to me by Danny "Sarge" Chau... I only watched it today before I blogged to Louie, coincidence or not that the molecule holding every living animals body together is shaped liek the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, I think it's still a really interesting video.

And these 5 videos are from Louie's presentation "Indescribable"... It's like a full sermon, well worth watching... I remember the atmosphere at the Acer Arena that night... It was so majestic... Eveyone was holding their breath... You could hear a needle drop amongst the thousands of people...

no such thing as my money

2009-03-10T17:05:00.013+11:00

Eeek... I haven't posted in so many days! I was actually at the urinal today thinking 'gosh I haven't posted in a while, is this gonna be one of those forever type things? Well alas obviously not! Hmmm so what's been happening lately... Well I guess I've been trying to manage my finances! Oh! and I took a day of leave next Monday so i can go visit Vincent, my old teacher from TAFE. I've also killed the battery to my car, all these things amongst other things, well I guess LOTS has happened, hahaha.

I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with the stewarding of finances, I've been living off $200 since the 20 somethingeth of last month, considering it costs $36 for a weekly train fare and $70 a fortnight to fill up my car, I think I'm doing pretty well (that was for a bit of my background, it's not THAT related to good stewardship - thought I'd clear that up hahaha). I've been making bits here and there by selling some car parts I've got lying around. Today we put a big crack in the big rock of 'bad spending - borderline addiction' that has weighed me down for my whole life. This is something that I've prayed for in the past and have been ramping up as of late. I've got another 2 grand from my CC to go, and a trip to Nippon scheduled for October... I've been in debt now for more than the last 2 years of my life... It's a ravaging cycle, and has never ceased to exist since it showed it's ugly head. It behaves kinda like that monster in the Goosebumps volume 'It came from beneath the sink'. It started off small, petty, then, not noticeable, passable... It got balanced with not much more than a whisper of a thought and disappeared... It came back bit later, slightly larger, but not frightening, but alas, at a command it disappeared again... The next time it came back, it was quite cumbersome, noticeable... But still, got dealt with after a bit of shooeing away... Eventually, this thing grows into a monstrosity that hovers over me and follows me everywhere I go, sometimes I notice it, sometimes I don't, but I'm ALWAYS in it's shadow... ALAS I stand here today with a new hope... Not the kind of hope I had everytime the monster seemed to be ready to dissappear, but a new kind of hope... Fresh, alive and eternal.

My tangible goal is to get out of this CC debt, and save enough to go to Nippon without relying on the CC or a loan. My foundation is Jesus.

So... It's not about saving up money for a holiday, it's far greater than that, it's about changing an unchangeable mindset and unhindering lifestyle to one that lines up with God's original plans and purposes for me. This holiday, the holidays to come, my future cars, houses, my future wife's engagement ring, and all that jazz will be fruit of what this is about.

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

² for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

So God created it all so it's all His, everything that I've ever owned, known, or seen all belongs to Him. All the pennies I've ever spent or thrown away, or the purchases I've made, they're all His. So if it's all His, then why do I have it? If it's all His, and I have some, why can't I have ALOT of it?

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, ^b]">[b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Ahhh! Thank you Mr. Jesse Duplantis! It seems that everything we've ever owned, and will ever own has been given to us by God to watch take stewardship over. Hey check the web definition I found for the word steward! Someone who manages property or other affairs for someone else. That sounds pretty good! If God owns EVERYTHING and he's called me to manage His things, that means I have access to HEAPS of things! Alas, why does it seem that I don't have all these things? Check out the parable of Talents.

^{Mark 25:14}"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.

¹⁵To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.

¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.

¹⁸But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

¹⁹"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

²⁰The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

²¹"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

²²"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

²³"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

²⁴"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

²⁶"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?

²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.

²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Argh! Did you know that a talent is more than a thousand dollars? SO... It looks like this is what is required from me! I long to be fruitful! I long to be abundant! I long to be living according to the design, plan and purpose that God created for me! So anyways, how does that look?

Well I think alot of it has to do with my mind and my thinking, the money I earn isn't mine, but it's God entrusting it to me, so I have to be wise, diligent and purposeful in what I do with it. Sure this may seem logical enough, and one can argue that the principles (of wisdom, diligence and purpose) can be samely applied in my past circumstances before this revelation and would have resulted in the same outcome. I think the difference lies in the understanding that finance belongs to God and is ENTRUSTED to us to steward. So instead of wanting to be wise, diligent and purposeful with our finance for a secure future (or whatever else), we are wanting to be wise, diligent and purposeful with our finance to please God who created all things and who is generous and able to do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams (shivers up the spine). Also, disrespecting another person's property is not very nice, so I must respect what I have been entrusted with.

Oh I still haven't mentioned how this all looks yet... Well I'm now committed to a set offering for every connect group and youth night which goes above my tithes and offerings... I'm in the mindset that these finances are not mine, so will be generous when the time call's for it, yet not reckless with it. I will also continue to honour my parents with my monthly offering to them.

So! I am believeing that these are the steps I have to take in order to see myself released from this monster!
BTW, do you wanna know how that monster from goosebumps was defeated? Hahaha how coincidental... The monster was deafeated by love... The more love you showed it, the more it shrunk and became weak and insignificant... Eventually, with a sigh, it disappeared. Hahaha God is love...

Bland thoughts? Or am I afraid of not being understood?

2009-03-04T11:54:00.009+11:00

Hello, perhaps my thoughts have been bland as of late, or perhaps maybe I just have been keeping them to myself! I guess it may be like the principle of one person's trash is another's treasure, but just reciprocated so more like one person's treasure may be another's trash hahaha. Well this is a public blog after all and writing down all the thoughts that are dear to me will just end up confusing everyone but me. I guess it's the same for everyone, every person. We have thoughts and we have communication, communication really doesn't encapsulate much of our thoughts at all, be it speech, song, art... It sometimes saddens me that we will never experience the thought that an author or artist experienced that drove them to complete a piece of art. Maybe that's what makes me such an oddity when it comes to communicating ideas, thoughts, emotions. Hahaha it can be really confusing for the poor receiver, but it's only because I really love them and want them to share in a treasure that I came across. It sometimes get's quite lonely because I know no one else get's it... But you know what's really awesome? That there is a God that created us and knows everything about us, all our thoughts, all our dreams, all our desires, all our experiences, all our evils... So even when it feels like there's no one I can communicate effectively to, there is a God that understands 120% of where I'm coming from... hahaha even moreso than me! After all, He created me and put all these things inside me... So this goes out to Jesus... My God...

Sometimes all we ever want is to be understood... To be validated... To be recognised... It's easy to feel selfish for want of such things as there are so many other things commanding our attention and focus... But like Mary and Martha:

Luke 10:38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Jesus validates me... Jesus knows me... Jesus loves me in that way which I need... You know those moments when you're with a best friend and have this innocent moment of 100% pure understanding of each other? Isn't that just a most validating moment! Those life-validating moments flow out of just being friends, it's not a trying in chasing those things that make 'special' moments that is gonna make us best friends... Jesus wants us to be His friends, all these things that we crave for so much just follow...

Jesus just wants us to sit by His side and to be in a communion with Him... Not worry about all these things that that command us to a task no matter how righteous they may seem... He wants to validate us, show us that He understands us. Make us feel filfilled, accepted, understood, loved, appreciated... Like we are the Kings and Queens of this world... This world is our Oyster and we have command of it as far as Jesus is concernced!! Oh what a passionate guy He must be! Everything else is peripheral and we are no longer a slave to these worldy-task-oriented things, but instead, we become stewards of it...

This is Elizabeth, by Michael Hannah... I came across this song by a happy accident during my dreary time at Team Bondi on internet radio, I haven't heard it since and was elated when I came across it again by eventuality thanks to youtube! First comment on the vid is mine!

Production Assist at Powercruise

2009-03-01T21:06:00.016+11:00

So... What an unforgettable weekend... I've spent the last 2 days, immersed in the haze of burning rubber, the aroma of burning petroleum, with the taste of gritted sweat on my palate and incessant ringing of combustion in my cranial dome. Yes it was Powercruise EC.

It all started with a post on Nissan Silvia forums from Andrew who was looking for a couple of volunteers to help him out with a production assistant role for the Powercruise EC DVD... Free shirts? Free caps? Free entry? I'm in! There was a catch though... You had to be prepared to go on-track, meet and greet high profile motorists in person, go for rides in insane cars, rig expensive film equipment and get involved in the production of a DVD. Alas, prepared to face the challenges, and keen to grow my experience in production and media, I put my hand up and got accepted as one out of two volunteers.

So I rock up to Eastern Creek Raceway, sweet talk the wonderful dear lady at the front office to pass me a media staff vest without having to put a $50 deposit, get to the marshaling area and meet Andrew the producer and Pat the cameraman for the first time.

A brief rundown of what to expect of the weekend, meeting up with Rick my fellow assistant, we then set off into the abyss of roaring motorblocks, spooling turbo's and shredded tires. The job was easy enough, mounting and unmounting cameras to panels, windows, rollcages, making sure they get taken to where they need to be, and just odd runner jobs... Sure this coulda just been another voluntary job to check out something cool and score freebies, but beyond that it was filled to seam-bursting capacity with opportunity for one who wanted to get involved in the scene! Rubbing shoulders with such names such as Luke Fink, Anthony Bilic, the Driftmob team, Trick & Mansweto not to mention working with Andrew Hawkins (ex Ignition DVD, Blood Sweat & Gears now Jet Multimedia). There was plenty of time to wander around, get to know people, check out some crazy rides and having a camera and mount in-hand was license to jump in any car you wished in the open cruise sessions. It was such an insight meeting people from all walks of life, witnessing them come gather together for a common passion in motor vehicles. From young Matt, powersliding in his 2nd car, a Datsun 1600 running it's 2nd FJ20 block, blowing second gear and redline clutch dumping third to initate heart stopping drift, to down-on-his-luck unemployed pensioner Brad in his SLR5000 Torana that he bought and built as a 17 year old, it was unforgettable meeting such a diverse range of people sharing a common passion.

What really dropped my clutch was getting to know the guys in and around Driftmob. So I rock up to the martialing area and all around me I'm surrounded by muscle cars... Loud... Proud... Metallic... Bright... And commanding attention, but then I look through the crowd and find one, two, three, four, five Silvias, lined with a few Skylines... Just chilling out minding their own busines... 'I'm going THERE!'. So in short, I get to spend the next 2 days hanging out with some of Australias finest drifters. Being the production assistant guy, I get to go in-car and on-track to witness up-close, these guys in action!

Here's an in-car shot of Anthony 'Hectic' Bilic as he's getting ready to head out onto the track for the days drift demo, we rigged up a cage cam on his rollcage and my job was to make sure that it was rolling when he hit the track to catch his action. Down to Earth and friendly, Anthony really shows his finesse on the track.

This is the lineup of the drift demo guys... Heading the pack is Andrew's S13 driven by Victoria's Luke Fink... One of Australia's finest... These cars shredded through countless tires over the weekend and Andrew's car ended up blowing a tire and breaking a gearbox!

These are on-track shots of the drifters starting grid... Uwaaaaa! My job here was to make sure that the camera on the blue GTR was running. Basically the cars weren't allowed to be released until I gave the all clear that the camera was on and running! Coooooooooooool!

But of course it wasn't just the drifts that took place... There were plenty of cruises, off street races (drags), burnouts, dynos, show 'n' shines and powerskids! Enveloping the entire raceway in plumes of vehicular madness!

Even a Nissan GTR made it's way to the show... This is the first time I've seen it in person and I got close enough to see the dust that had gathered on it from all the skids everyone was ripping on the track!

The powerskids had my jaws drop to the tarmac... I've always appreciated the deafening roar of high powered big blocks... But to be so close and to smell the combination of methanol, rubber, octane, blood, sweat and gears made it an unforgettable experience! It really was a weekend to remember... It had really ignited a reappreciation in me for the range of motor vehicles that get built and forged a respect and appreciation for those who craft them... These people are just like you and I, some hold day jobs, some don't, some go to school, some like partying hard, others like fishing! Boys and girls alike! Motoring enthusiasm really is alive and well!

This is Trick and Mansweto's Ford Capris, the fastest street registered vehicle in Australia... A-NI-MAL... Trick and Mansweto really are just really loving family guys, it was heartwarming to see 2 honest, hardworking men who's family were all there to support them and have a fun family day out...

All in all, I had an unforgettable day at Powercruise EC... I'll definitely be making a few of the faces familiar ones, and look forward to future events. I'm definitely down for more production assistant work! Thanks to Andrew Hawkins of Jet Multimedia for this amazing opportunity and a truely unforgettable experience... Thanks to Rick for returning my phone and wallet when I ditched em in the suite... And for all the crew and drivers for making the weekend what it was!

Handbrake drift + carpark spot + old lady = jerk + apology

2009-02-25T08:43:00.008+11:00

Man that was an EPIC handbrakie into a carpark spot! I regret I didn't take any pics since I was late and excited haha.

I'm up earlier than usual, meticulously executing my morning tasks, closing every task with a hairwidths amount of buffer, I'm not gonna be late to work today... Except there's one MAJOR impediment in my planned path of execution... I need fuel... So I brush my teeth in my shorter than usual morning shower, skip my shave and miss my breakfast, every second counts... I not gonna be late to work today... I have training after work, so I bundle my uniform, water and workbag in a fell swoop through my room, finishing with a cartwheel over my steering wheel and car keys, adding them to my inventory... I'm not gonna be late for work today... I sprint to my car, crispy cool from the morning dew, and spark up her ignition, I return to lock down the house as she idles out her slumber... I'm not gonna be late for work today... Then we trot to the local Shell servo... IMPEDIMENT... It's Wednesday, cheap fuel so there's a massive queue... I look at my phone... 7:33... 7:34... 7:35... 7:36... 7:37... 7:38... Funny how it seems whichever queue I join when I'm in a rush, I seem to choose the slowest one... Finally I get a bowser, Fill her up with some V, then we are off, 7:44 as we punch down the main road, like a footy player faking a pass then dodging a tackle, we sprint and ballet throught the overtoning drone of road cars doing 2,000 RPM and 70km/h, autopiloting towards another day's productivity... My car sings and squeals, sneezing at the height of every high note and on the challenge of every fat arsed moving roadblock... We skip, dance and charge towards our destination, and we finally arrive... 8:00, not much time left... It's dense here, All the spots near the station are filled, I'll have to try the strip that latecomers frequent... As I pull in, it's filled with little metro cars zipping around in 7 point turns collapsing into a spot on the common side of the road... I really don't wanna be late to work... So I thang it up the street... What do I see? A spot? It is! BUT! Oncoming cars! No! It's mine! I rev her up and she sings a note most praiseworthy! I Jerk the steering wheel to starboard bringing her nose in, oncomers are baffled! "What is he doing?!"... "He's gonna crash into the gutter!"... Alas! jumping off the gas she squeals out at pitch that'll shatter diamonds!

...

Bullet time... The eerily familiar... The zone in which one makes or breaks... The sound of strapping wind now but a condescending drone... The faces of the oncoming... unchanging, fixed on confused...

Like a wise blind man familiarly reaching for his walking stick, my left hand cuddles the ebrake shaft...

blink...

like a gas fed rifle, cocking into the firing position, my left leg linearly disengages the clutch...

heartbeat...

the ebrake get's called into action with the heart of a zealot.

SCRAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

+ an unexpected squeal

As eerily as bullet time crept up, it reciprocally snaps as way... The car pivots around it's front 2 wheels, smoke pluming into my window, I even get a bit of road debris in my eye, then silence as the car is now parked, and idling... Fat and happy, smiling and sly, I disengage the steering wheel, remove the key and grab my inventory... Happy she idles away as I walk off, passerby's and motorists gobsmacked with jaws dropping down to their laps... I skip to the station... Fat... Happy...

I get to the stairs and have an old lady turn around and look me in the eye... She reminds me of Mrs. Horvath, a primary substitute teacher that used to torture us by spending hours on end doing spelling exercises...

"Was that absolutely necessary?"

Oh... I see, she must've been the 'unexpected squeal'... What do I say to her?

"Yes ma'am my brakes are boken so that's how I get around"

Smug bastard

"Well get it fixed you... You... JERK"

And I skip away onto the platform... I made it! with a few minutes to spare! Victory!

But what is this? This nagging voice in my head... Well as I'm writing this I realise, that my response was a bit uncalled for... Really I should have apologised and told the lady the truth... perhaps something more like "I'm sorry ma'am I'm really late and sorry to have frightened you, but I've done courses which teach me how to park like this... I really apologise, I feel really bad for frightening you" would have been a bit more appropriate and truthful. Well let's just say this then... If I ever see her again, how about I apologise to her for my conduct today? There's a deal... I may be parking there again soon, should I come across this old lady... I shall apologise for my smug response today, and for frightening her.

But gosh that was cool...

Sent from my iPhone

Significant thoughts are SHY!!!!

2009-02-24T12:23:00.005+11:00

I've been holding back from blogging because I don't wanna keep talking about mundane stuff all the time! I've been trying to get significant thoughts out onto the screen but it's not happening! I think my thoughts are shy! I think just the thought of jumping out from the inner workings of my tickerbrain onto the hectic, fast paced, exposed anti-void of the world wide web is enough to render my mind thoughtless! After all, the viscera of my mind-mush is a much more comfy, warm, familiar and secure place than out on there in electronic, public exposure.

If you think of it, it's kinda like how us people behave. We people like the comfy, warm mush of familiarity. It seems that it's always been in our nature, we were shaped by God inside the warmth of our mothers wombs...

Isaiah 44:2 Thus says the Lord, Who made you and formed you from the womb, Who will help you: Fear not, O Jacob, My servant, and you Jeshurun [the upright one--applied to Israel as a type of the Messiah], whom I have chosen.

Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He Who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord, Who made all things, Who alone stretched out the heavens, Who spread out the earth by Myself [who was with Me]?

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

So then we are born and spend the first lot of years of our lives surrounded by the security and protection of our family. God created family, and community, after all the trinity depicts family and community. So anyways, as we move on in age, the primal bond to family and community remains as an unmovable foundation in our lives. Family becomes the familiar environment in our lives hahaha I just noticed how those two words have the same roots. It's safe, warm, and protects us from the injustices of the outside world....

Now that's all well and dandy, but how does this have anything to do with my significant blogging?!

Well we as people are called to be the light of the world and not to remain hidden, check these verses out:

Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

¹⁵Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

¹⁶Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

Ooh! so it sounds to me that although family is good, and community is good, we shouldn't be hiding, shying away and being kept protected away from the world, we should be shining our light and spreading the news on who we are!

And who does Jesus say we are we?

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

How encouraging! Being a child of the one who created the Universe! Being Connected to him, and being Jesus' friend.

I guess if you knew that you knew that you knew you were this person and you lived it a breathed it, you'd be a pretty bright person hahaha everyone would wanna know who you are and what you think. If you don't believe in Jesus then imagine being friends with Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Superman and Martin Luther King rolled up in one AND THEN SOME! Note that none of these guys created the world or saved man kind from Hell... but hey everyone would still wanna know who you are, what you think and what makes you so special to be rubbing shoulders with with this superduper unit of a person!

SO! Let's bring this back to blogging. So it all starts because my thoughts are shy and are afraid to come out probably coz they're scared they won't make sense to anyone... But lo and behold, we're all fearfully and wonderfully made

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

So no need to be shy my I say to my timid thoughts:

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

SO! My dear intimate and significant thoughts, compose yourself and know that you are called for a greater purpose than loafing around in my headspace! There's a much bigger world out there!

Julie Plug - Blue Sky Propeller, the song from the Galdori video

2009-02-23T13:42:00.007+11:00

Well remember that song that I fell in love with from the Galdori video? Muahahha well I found the video of the band and song but I couldn't find lyrics or an mp3... SO I'm gonna post the lyrics up here! I did this by ear so please forgive me if I got it wrong, feel free to recommend corrections via comments! The song Is "Blue sky Propeller" and the band is "Julie Plug" Hahaha at first I though it was the name of the lead singer but it's not! So without further adieu, here's the lyrics. I'll even chuck the video on! It's such a cool song!

Julie Plug - Blue Sky Propeller

Suddenly I could cry, suddenly I could touch the sky
what I don't understand is on my own head, will you come with me?
I don't want to fall out, of the sky
I need to hang onto my dear life
If you help me I can, can survive
If you'll be with me
If you'll be with me
Take me out on a trip this Sunday, hold my hand and I'll love to give you
All that I can give, all that I can give
Take me out on a trip this Sunday, hold my hand and I'll love to give you
All that I can give, all that I can give to you now

Suddenly I could cry, suddenly I could touch the sky
what I don't understand is on my own head, will you come with me?
I don't want to fall out, of the sky
I need to hang onto my dear life
If you help me I can, can survive
If you'll be with me
If you'll be with me
Take me out on a trip this Sunday, hold my hand and I'll love to give you
All that I can give, all that I can give
Take me out on a trip this Sunday, hold my hand and I'll love to give you
All that I can give, all that I can give to you now
to you now

I don't want to fall out, of the sky
I need to hang onto my dear life
If you help me I can, can survive
If you'll be with me
If you'll be with me
Take me out on a trip this Sunday, hold my hand and I'll love to give you
All that I can give, all that I can give
Take me out on a trip this Sunday, hold my hand and I'll love to give you
All that I can give, all that I can give to you now
to you now
to you now
to you now

motorkhana, running, swimming, 3d, martial arts, production

2009-02-23T08:59:00.004+11:00

Sometimes I'll think about how I've now got a blog space and I get excited hahaha, There's alotta random stuff I get up to (like modifying my car, 3d modelling and animation, martial arts stuff) that most people around me may not be that interested in but thanks to blogging, maybe, just maybe somebody who is looking for info on this kinda stuff may have a chance to come across interesting reading! Don't you love it when you come across gems? I think I'll be just spewing my mind on the screen most of the time but if I do think of an interesting article and/or video, I'll be sure to be posting it up here. It turns out that backdating your posts work! So everything 2008 and before is reserved for my articles and writeups! Imagine having a site that hosts the best, info attracting large visiting numbers for a variety of things! That'd be 50 1337! I think my site would have best info, and attract masses to martial arts, cars, film/comic production, maybe even cooking! Heeheehee.

I've decided that I'm going to stop my daily swimming, the pools are getting too crowded as everyone's got the same idea, sharing lanes at the pool ftl. I've always despised running... I hate how it seems to take so long, I hate how it hurts, I hate gasping for air, I hate how boring it is, I hate how self-conscious I feel ARGH! Is anyone else with me? Alas! Because the pool is now full, I must revert to another form of easy fitness. I was talking to a friend while at McDonalds last night and he said I should try running in the city where there is much inspiration, for egsample, the botanical gardens, he says being in that environment and seeing so many other runners inspires him to run, he says music also helps. Hahaa! I must try it sometime this week! Plus I've got my new runners that I bought last week!

SO! FINALLY Dave's given me the video from our Valentines day motorkhana (it was partially my fault for not picking it up off him when he brought it earlier in the week!) I got to work on it straight away, turns out this vid is gonna be slightly longer than 10 minutes nooo =( So it's not youtubable =(... SO I think I'm gonna break it up into 2 parts... It's kinda boring really coz it's the same thing over and over, it's definitely more fun in person! I didn't think about it at the time but I shoulda tried a more movie approach on it... Shots of us getting ready, getting prepped, getting psyched while in the wet weather... That woulda made it fit for a KING...

Anyways, here's some cool music! An oldie but a goodie, it reminds me of the theme song from Girl from tomorrow!

First article is up!!!

2009-02-21T16:54:00.003+11:00

Woohoo! So after all this procrastination, I've finally completed my first article/techinical write-up!! I posted it up in a few areas of NS and will get to putting it up in a few other places like SilviaNSW and maybe even SAU... But wow that was fun! I hope it proves useful to lots of people! I enjoy writing about my experiences and what I came across, it's just the formatting, copyrighting and legalistic stuff that's crappy and boring. You can check out the NS articles post here. So I think I'm gonna go get me something to eat now... I've been on tis computer for way too long! Who would have thought that I'd spend more time on the pc doing a writeup than playing games! Well hopefully there's more articles to come!

technical articles, comic production, DEBT

2009-02-21T10:24:00.003+11:00

I decided yesterday that I'm going to use this blog to host some technical articles on things that some people might find helpful/useful! I started a writeup ages ago in my spare time at work on how to go through a 5-stud conversion and brake upgrade on an S13. It was left unfinished for the longest of times but I started hammering into it while at work yesterday. I think I really like writing technical articles! So that should be coming up quite soon if I keep at it. Hopefully people will find it helpful, there's not that much info out there for DIY 5-stud conversions.

So I'm supposed to meet with Dane today to do more work on our comic, we planned to start working through storyboarding and breaking up key scenes into cells and shots! But silly me stayed up till so late last night writing this bloody article! I don't think I slept until about 3 or so and I couldn't get up in the morning for the meeting! Argh I'm quite irresponsible aren't I? But alas I hope to meet with him in the afternoon after he's day's errands are done. I'm so excitied about getting some story progression stuff done! It's alot easier to spearhead artwork when you know what you're looking for. So at least I think hahaha...

So I was reading on NS this morning about the spending habits of some young car enthusiasts... OMG! I though I was bad! I still owe money on my credit card but am taking care of that as best as I can so I can enjoy my holiday in Japan. I'm in need of some more income to make this work I think. *Frowns* I think the majority of NS members are in debt! It would be so interesting to see figures of what debt is like withing the NS community! I can't wait to be debt free. Must work hard! and be freed from this burden!

So! I'm going to continue working on this article! Oh I've learnt that to make a separate page for articles, all you need to do is backdate that post! I'll give it a try when that article get's done!

Early bird catches the worm

2009-02-20T08:41:00.011+11:00

For the first time in what seems like a month I came into work on time today! 8:28am and I was at the front reception! Check out the scene that I came across when leaving my house, this was taken just outside my granny flat, obviously belonging to my brother, I have no idea what time he came home last night or what he was up to, but let's say there was a torrent of beer in the fridge this morning -_-"

I walked out the gate thinking "Oh sweet! Motorkhana!" then I realised that it's something that my bro got up to during drunken randomness.

Anyways, I'm such a klutz! I left my car keys at work yesterday! I was on the train to Nth Strathfield and was looking forward to training then realised "Oh no I forgot to ask Brian if I could have his shin + instep guards" then in some form common acknowledgment, my thoughts became "Phil you don't have your keys" and fair enough, I checked my bag and there were no keys to be found. I was really hoping that I'd left them at work coz I have no idea where the spares have gone! Well to tell you the truth, the keys that I had just lost WERE the spare keys! Yes, yes I'm bad. Well at least the good news is, I found my keys at my desk today, I hope my car is still there! But that's ok, there's not much you can do with a car that is without a steering wheel *grins*

Hahaha I got two songs stuck in my head today! One is thanks to Laura and Khang, and their ADDICTION to Ouran High School Host Club... The song is... "Sakura Kiss"

"KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE" !!!

Hahaha I haven't seen the anime yet but isn't this song just the darndest?! I have to finish Fruits Basket so I can move on to watch this, I just finished book 8, Laura! Jeanette! I need the next 3 please! I love how the manga has the author's musings and outtakes, I think I secretly draw blogging inspiration from them! Muahahahaha

Oh and the second song is from Morning Musume - Furusato, that's because Khang sent me a clip from Hello Project hour and Natsumi Abe starts singing this song out to Erika Umeda's drumming, here's a clip of the song...

Oorah it's Friday! That means youth is on tonight! I should be getting the video of the motorkhana from David so I will post them up soon.

Who was into Y&D?

2009-02-19T16:30:00.005+11:00

I'm going through a young and dangerous revival today! All thanks to Khang the ubergeek! Hahaha man that series was a craze, every high school boys dream was to be in Hung Hing and be just like Chan Ho Nam or Chicken hahaha...

I thought this was an epically tragic scene, I remember being in high school and watching this at a mates house and getting so worked up over it. I don't remember the series very well, it's been a solid 8 years I say since I've seen any of them! I think the last one was part 5 and I'm under impression that one was epic fail because chicken wasn't it in.

Anyways! I bought me some new Joggers yesterday which were a tad too small so I got them changed for larger ones, I'm wearing flared jeans today so with these new runners I look like a an old Cabramatta try-hard hahaha... Whattya reckon?
If I broke out the old microfibres and sported dyed fringes, it'd be a complete ensemble! About the shoes, I dunno if it's the design or a recent injury (I'm pointing more towards the injury) but my right toe hurts after walking around for a bit... Hahaha I'm always finding ways of getting hurt...

Anyways, I never new that posts took ages to go live?! Here I was all excited to show that I've started blogging and I've told some friends and when I send them the link, they're all like "Dude your blogs empty"...

Khang's got all these cool Yaguchi Mari and Natsumi Abe youtube video's lined up for me when I get home... Can't watch em all here, I'm at work!!!

ちょっとまてください！

Oorah my firstie!

2009-02-19T11:00:00.002+11:00

SO! Eugene reckons I should start a blog, so here goes. Never thought myself a blogger, but I guess it's fun to share cool things that I come across. Hahaha it all started yesterday I guess when I was BROUGHT TO TEARS by this adorable video!

ARGH! I love the music in that video, so these chixorz are a Nippon drift team called Galdori (girl drift)... My eyes teared up when I watched this, the music is to die for! Galdori have drift meets at a circuit in the mountains and they bring their kiddies along and they go drifting! They've got the CUTEST kids too! Check out the kid towards the end of the first song running away with his finders in his ears because of the noise! Hahahahaha!!!

I guess for the longest time, drifting has always been a man-sport but it's soooo good to see the ladies get involved! Especially mum's! I myself was out at easter creek skid pan this past Saturday David and CACA (Christian Austosport Club of Australia) doing a motorkhana... I'll be sure to get the video posted up... HURRY UP DAVID!

OH! I also had this I wanted to put in today when blogging became a topic of discussion on the Nth Strathfield to City train. I CALLED MY OLD TAFE TEACHER YESTERDAY! I can't believe it's been about 5 years since I've last seen and spoken to Vince! It was almost surreal! So I rang the TAFE front office and asked "I was curious to know if a teacher was still employed at the school? His name is Vincent Rossini" the lady was really nice "Yes from 3d Animation, he's still here I'll patch you through to the 3D animation office" And before you know it I hear a distantly familiar voice "freedee animayshun vis is Vince" Hahahaha I immediately teared up on hearing his voice... It was so damned good to hear him again. We spoke for about 10 minutes on small catch up stuff, I couldn't stop saying how good it was to hear from him. I told him about my shitty experience with TB and that because of that I'm afraid to get back into industry, it was encouraging being told that he's heard things about them and not to let that worry me because they were no-good... Hahaha. So anyways, I think I would like to go back and visit the school. It's wierd how I connected well with the teachers and member of staff but not really any of the students? I guess that's what sucked heaps about TB, everyone was like a droid... Sure people are into family guy and games and all that but it's like everyone was a droid playing human?

How much or how little am I supposed to write on a blog? I thought my first post woulda just been a Hi I'm Phils, bye kinda thing... Anyways, I guess I'll work on feedback, if you think I write too much, too little or whatever just tell me via comments! Muahahaha...

S13/RPS13 5-Stud Conversion and Brake Upgrade - Fronts

2008-02-01T00:00:00.008+11:00

S13/RPS13 5-Stud Conversion and Brake Upgrade - Fronts

This is by far the greatest performance and safety mod that I've done to my car right next to coilover suspension stuts. I was meaning to write this article up ages ago when I first got the conversion and upgrade done but CBS'd coz there was so much to it. But here we go, finally after coming across a fair deal of confusion online, I think it's about time I shared my experience. I hope that you find this an enlightening and helpful read. I've divided this article up into segments in order to keep each post a manageable size. There were lots of parts involved so I will be posting segments that can come under a different title separately.

Disclaimer:

This article isn't written as a guide or as a set of instructions to show you how to perform a 5-stud conversion or a brake upgrade, whatever you do with this article is done at your own discretion. This article is meant to be used as an informative piece that shows the experiences that I came across while performing a 5-stud conversion and brake upgrade for myself.

Intro:

The reason why I went for a 5 stud conversion was to support a brake upgrade I had in mind, and also to push and develop my ability to perform a significant mechanical task. I had always had a defeated mindset as a youngster when it came to mechanical ability, things started to change when I bought myself a Japanese import. This article was written by me as a technical memoir of the time that I as a 24 year old helpdesk decided to undertake a mechanical task that was beyond my means and ability. A 5-stud conversion, suspension upgrade, brake rebuild, and brake upgrade was carried out by me on my 1994 Nissan 180sx SR20DET with factory ABS. This segment will cover the front wheel 5 stud conversion and brake upgrade. Parts used were:

Front:

Set of front S14/15 hubs, knuckles, baffle plates and lower control arms

Custom machined sleeves to fit s14/15 knuckles to S13/RPS13 struts (14mm OD, 12mm ID)

Set of front R33 GTS-T calipers

Set of front RDA Slotted rotors to suit R33 GTS-T

Set of ADR approved custom made braided brake lines

From Phillipses blog

Other:

BM50 – Brake master cylinder from an R32 GTR with factory abs

Set of stock S15 rims with brand new Pirelli Pzero Nero's 225/40/16

From Phillipses blog

Tools:

Full set of screw drivers

Full set of spanners

Full set of flare nut spanners

Full set of 1/4” and 1/2” drive sockets with wrenches and breaker bar

1/2” drive pneumatic rattle gun

Rubber head mallet

Steel hammer

8” 3 claw Gear Puller

2 Car stands

Hydraulic Jack

Couple of bricks or suitable tyre wedge stoppers

Background:

It's a good opportunity to upgrade brakes while doing a 5-stud conversion and vice versa. 5-stud conversions require you to remove the brake calipers and brake rotors in the process so the opportunity to change these parts makes itself available. Then there's the matter of having to drill out the 4 stud rotors to 5 stud if choosing to stay with the existing brakes which is illegal. By upgrading brakes, the rotors will also need to be replaced meaning you can find a set of rotors already made suiting the 5 stud configuration. I chose to go for R33 GTS-T front and R32 GTS-T rear brakes with RDA slotted rotors front and rear. These rotors are factory drilled to 5 stud so fit the new setup perfectly. Also remember that upgrading your brakes may create issues with clearance. In cases where rims do not clear brake calipers, spacers may need to be employed temporarily until replacement rims can be sourced.

I performed my conversion and upgrade in my own backyard with little more than hand tools and a rattle gun. I'm not a mechanic, I haven't been playing with cars all my life, I only really became genuinely interested in playing with cars at the age of about 22 when I bought my first car. I must say that though that this conversion and upgrade wasn't easy... I spent a lot of time doing research and there wasn't really a whole lot out there, some of the process was trial and error, and I work full time so was working on the car during nights and some Saturday's. It wasn't an extremely difficult task (it's not rocket science) but it does take a keen spirit, patience, and a fair bit of elbow grease.

5-Stud Conversion-

5 stud conversions have been popular amongst s13 owners to enable fitment of a wider variety of rims. 4 stud rims in good sizes, offsets and design are generally pretty hard to come by, by going 5 stud, you make available to you a much larger range of rims in a wider range of sizes, offsets and design. Whether it be completely for aesthetics, for the purpose of clearing brake calipers after an upgrade, or to modify your vehicle to fit those elusive rims that you've had your eye and heart set on, 5 stud conversions are definitely becoming popular with the 4 stud equipped community. They are famous for Nissan s13's and Honda Civics and Integras. There are quite a few aftermarket options for replacement hubs that will convert 4 studded Silvia's to 5 stud, these require pressing of the aftermarket hub onto the bearing. I chose to go with Stock Nissan parts to ensure quality, reliability and compatability. I've heard mixed reports on aftermarket parts and concluded not to take that path due to safety issues, but also because I found the Nissan OEM parts were locally and readily available. There is a lot of confusion to what will and won't work with 5-stud conversions on S13/RPS13's. There are so many options that are possible, below is a rough guide of what I learned during my research about the most commonly chosen options.

Fronts

S14/S15 hubs pressed into the S13/RPS13 bearings –

From Phillipses blog

Requires to have your old 4 stud hubs pressed out, and new hubs pressed in. Will retain ABS if the car is currently equipped with ABS. Nowadays you won't find too many hubs selling detached from the bearing. No change to track, toe, castor or camber. Stock uprights and control arms are retained. This method will require you to use a rattle gun to unbolt the hub from the upright (It's darn impossible to remove the bolts other wise) and take the hub/bearing assembly shop to be pressed out and have the 5 stud hub pressed in. I'm a little biased towards OEM parts as you can trust them to last the distance.

Aftermarket 5-stud hubs pressed into the S13/RPS13 bearings –

From Phillipses blog

Works much like pressing Nissan OEM 5 stud hubs into your existing bearings, just make sure that the hubs will fit the bearings as I've heard of a case where someone had to get different bearings made to fit the hubs into the uprights which is not cheap. The manufacturing quality and standard of the hub also varies as is the installation process (some hubs kits come with detached screw threads that require loctite), make sure you do your homework if choosing this path. This is a common and popular approach to 5-stud conversions, and there are many examples of high quality installs using aftermarket hubs. Must check to whether or not ABS is retained in ABS equipped cars. This method will also not make any changes to track, toe, castor or camber.

S14/15 OEM hubs and bearings assembly (generally comes attached to uprights with LCA's) –

From Phillipses blog

From what I've found, the most common of all, and the path that I chose. OEM products mean you know that they work as they are used on production cars, I bought my hubs already bolted into the s14/15 upright assembly complete with LCA's, rotors and calipers. All I had to do was bolt the assembly into my rails and struts with the help of some custom sleeves. The custom sleeves are required to attach the uprights to the stut mounting holes. Reason being, S14/15 upright mounting holes have a 14mm diameter, whereas S13/RPS13 strut mounting holes are 12mm in Diameter, these sleeves ensure that there is no free play in the uprights once mounted onto the strut. Note that using S14/15 uprights and LCA's although convenient will increase your track by a total of 10mm over both front wheels, which will mean some horrible toe out after install. This means that you will need a major wheel alignment immediately after the install and your car will handle differently afterwards (less understeer). Some people may find this undesirable. In the case of having S14/15 uprights without LCA's, you can opt to have new ball joins (R33 GTS-T ball joins to be exact) pressed into your existing LCA's to fit the S14/15 LCA's as they are a different size. I've heard from a few knowledged people and a performance shop employee that this method can come across some reliability issues, and it is best to stick with the S14/15 LCA's despite the slight increase in track.

Brake Upgrade-

The brake upgrade is also a very popular modification performed on S13/RPS13 Silvia's. The stock brakes on an SR20DET S13/RPS13 are pretty crap to say the least. They are a single pot setup both for both front and rear calipers. The rear calipers have combined hydraulic and cable utility so that the caliper actions to both foot pedal and handbrake lever. It is common for people to upgrade the front calipers of an S13/RPS13 yet leave the stock rear caliper. This is partly due to the fact that upgrading the rear calipers requires extensive work in implementing a drum handbrake assembly. I chose again to go with Nissan OEM parts as they are cheap, readily available, work remarkably well, are easily rebuildable and are a direct bolt on. I upgraded both front and rear calipers including implementing the drum handbrake assembly. This allows maintaining the balance of brake bias between the front and rear calipers for a more controlled and predictable braking behaviour. There are heaps of options on what is available to s13's as brake upgrades, some of these bolt on, some of these don't. Remember that when calipers are upgraded, rotors must also be upgraded accordingly as well as the Brake Master Cylinder to maintain brake pedal firmness and effectiveness. Below is a list of viable options throughout the Nissan OEM range and the impressions I made of them when I was doing my research.

Fronts

S14/15 –

From Phillipses blog

One of the most popular choices if not the most popular choice of upgrade for S13/RPS13. These are 4 pot callipers and are made of Iron. They are very similar to the front calipers found on R32 GTS-T and 300ZX only they are heavier being cast of iron and not alloy. Rotor size is 280mm diameter x 30mm ventilated thickness. Popular because they are relatively inexpensive, quite common and have great stopping power. They are quite simple to rebuild and look great.

R32 GTS-T –

From Phillipses blog

Another very popular choice of upgrade for S13/RPS13. Similar to the S14/15 calipers, they too are 4 pot only they are made from alloy which make them significantly lighter which reduces unsprung weight. Rotor sizes are the same as S15 at 280mm diameter X 30mm ventilated thickness. I found that R32 GTS-T are still quite commonly available, and are great value. Again simple to rebuild.

300ZX Z32 –

From Phillipses blog

Built pretty much identical to the R32 GTS-T calipers, the Z32 calipers can be identified by their heat sink cooling fins. Again made from alloy and sharing the same rotor sizes as the S14/15 and R32 GTS-T measuring in at 280mm diameter x 30mm ventilated thickness. Simple to rebuild.

R33 GTS-T –

From Phillipses blog

Moving up in size from the S14/15, R32 GTS-T and Z32 stands the R33 GTS-T calipers. Made from alloy, but sporting larger pistons means more even stopping surface pressure, which means greater stopping force can be applied before locking up. These are the calipers I installed in my 180sx. Slightly more expensive than the calipers above and physically larger, the stopping force on these guys are immense. I rebuilt mine by myself and had them powdercoated, the whole process was relatively simple. The rotor sizes of increase slightly over the previous mentioned, being 296mm diameter x 30mm ventilated thickness.

R32 GTR –

From Phillipses blog

Having slightly thicker cross drilled rotors and again larger and deeper pistons over the previous mentioned brakes, the R32 GTR front brakes are very highly rated and have amazing stopping power. The cross drilled rotors eliminate excess weight and prevent brake pads from glazing. Some people claim that cross drilled rotors improve ventilations or cooling, I was always under the assumption that the more surface are there was to cool, the higher the rate of cooling. These rotors measure in at 296mm diameter x 32mm ventilated thickness. The caliper is made of alloy and is slightly larger than the R33 GTS-T caliper due to the larger, and deeper pistons.

R32 GTR VspecII/R33 GTR Brembo –

From Phillipses blog

The highest performing bolt on Nissan OEM replacement one can hope for. These calipers are 4 piston black ceramic coated with gold print. The rotors measure in at a whopping 324mm diameter x 30mm ventilated thickness. Significantly more expensive then the Sumitomo produced calipers (the non-brembo Silvia, Skyline and Z calipers), and much less commonly found for sale, these are reserved for those running big numbers requiring the monstrous stopping power that these brakes offer. The rotors vary from slotted and cross-drilled all finished with anodised alloy hats.

R34GTR/Z33 (350Z) –

From Phillipses blog

Same specs as the R32 GTTR VspecII and R33 GTR Brembo's, only these are gold ceramic coated with red print, and the mounting holes are slightly different meaning that adaptor plates will need to be made up in order to retrofit these to Silvia's, pre R34 Skyline's, and pre Z33's.

Installation Process:

Fronts

Upgrading seems simple now that I look at it in hindsight, but it was almost torturous while I was there. I made sure to take my time and not put myself in a place where I could risk getting badly hurt or damaging my car, parts or tools.

Begin first by chocking the rear wheels with bricks and jacking the front end up with a good jack underneath the crossmember, using car stands, settle the front end onto the stands making contact with the rails and proceed on to remove both wheels. Then continue by removing the old caliper off the upright by unbolting it from behind. There's two bolts holding it very firmly in place. WD40 or similar penetrating solvent works wonders.

Using a flare nut spanner, disconnect the brake hose at where it meets the solid brake line at the chassis point indicated above in yellow. Remove the brake hose clip indicated in pink by pulling the clip away from the strut using a pair of pliers. After the clip comes off the caliper should be free, take caliper and place it aside. The rotor can then be removed from the hub by tapping the hat of the rotor with a steel hammer to break the bind of the rust and grit caught between the rotor and hub. If the rotor seems really stuck, you can screw an appropriate sized bolt into the screw holes found on the hat of the rotor, this will pry the rotor off the hub, be sure to use the correct size screw, you don't want the screw threading, becoming stuck or snapping while doing this.

If your car is equipped with ABS like mine, you will be required to disconnect the ABS sensor, this is identified by the thick insulating wire that leads from the chassis much like the brake line and joins the sensor into the upright and is screwed into place by a 10mm hex screw. This may take a bit of fidgeting as the sensor is pressed in tight, be patient and keep working at it, it'll come out. I worked the sensor out just enough to wedfge a flathead screwdriver in between the sensor and upright and gently but firmly pried the unit out that way.

After the ABS sensor has come out, proceed to unbolt the control arms from the assembly marked above in yellow. The steering rack balljoint is held in by a cotter pin so make sure to undo that before undoing the nut. Even after the nut is undone, the balljoint might not fall out freely so you may need to tap the end of the ball joint with a hammer, remember to place a nut over the first few threads so you'll be hammering tht nut, not the balljoint to avoid damaging the thread. The castor rods and sway bars undo quite simply from nuts tightened to the bottom side. After the control arms are free, free upright from the strut by undoing the two bolts highlighted in pink, using an the rattle gun. Make sure you have a crate or some kind of support under the assembly to support it after it is unbolted as it's quite heavy. Next unbolt the lower control arm from the chassis highlighted in green, I couldn't get the rattle gun in there so I used a breaker bar instead. Once the lower control arm is free, remove the assembly and put it aside.

At this point insert the custom made sleeves into the S14/15 bolt holes. The reason for these is to close in the 14mm holes to 12mm as S13's use a 12mm diameter bolt whereas S14/15's use a 14mm diameter bolt to secure the uprights to the strut, alternatively, you can drill out the 12mm holes in your struts to 14mm. Having done this, use the reverse of the previous steps, reassemble the S14/15 upright assembly to the chassis, strut and control arms, also remembering to reconnect the ABS sensor. In my case I didn't connect the shown caliper as I had a set of R33 calipers planned for install.

For those who are planning to go any R33 GTS-T caliper or larger, you will need to cut a set of grooves into the dish of the bash plate and bend the dish out to make a flat pan as shown above. This is so that the rotors can fit without fouling on the bash plate. Use a hacksaw or suitable cutting tool to cut into the wall of the plate to at least the depth of the pan, from there, use pliers to bend the plate out. Fit the larger rotor and ensure that there is enough room to avoid fouling.

At this point, install your new rotor onto the hub, fit the caliper over the rotor and bolt it securely into the upright. Remember to use the right caliper, LHS for passenger side and RHS for drivers side. The nipple must always face the top. Connect the brake hose mid section to the strut using the brake hose clips, and connect the ends of the hose to the caliper and chassis hardline.

Next, line up your 5 stud rims and tighten them up... Repeat the process for the other side... Lower the car and voila! Time to move onto the rears. Do NOT drive the car as there is now air in the brake lines and the car will not be able to brake effectively.

Brake Master Cylinder (BMC)

The purpose of upgrading the BMC is to increase the pedal firmness under braking after a brake upgrade. Without upgrading the BMC after a significant brake upgrade, it is possible for the brake pedal to to hit the floor before 100% braking efficiency is acheived. ABS model BMC's must be used with ABS equipped vehicles likewise non ABS model BMC's must be used with car's not equipped with ABS. Note that my car had come equipped with a BM50 which is the same model as the R32GTR ABS model, meaning I didn't need to upgrade. If this is your case, then you also can retain your BMC.

Start by opening your bonnet, the BMC is located on the firewall where the steering wheel is located.

Unclip the power cable highlighted in green, and using a flare nut spanner, unscrew the flare nuts from the threads marked in yellow. Be careful as flare nuts are very easy to round off. Unbolt the BMC from the firewall via the bolts that yu will find where the blue markers are. Reverse the process to install the new BMC.

Flush/Bleed Your Brakes

This is a very important step. Modifying your brake system has caused air to become trapped in the lines. Unlike brake fluid, air is highly compressible so drastically hinders your braking performance. Bleeding will cause all the air to exit a brake system, whereas a flush completely replaces the fluid in a system with new fluid. Flushing/Bleeding your brakes works best with 3 people. One to compress, and one to bleed, one to keep the BMC filled. Purchase the correct brake fluid, I purchased DOT4 and used 2 standard service sized bottles for a full flush and it was JUST enough. Do not use the wrong brake fluid as it may cause damage to your brake system which can lead to failure. Start from the caliper furthest from the BMC and work your way to the closest one. So for Silvia's and Skylines from Japan and Australia
(ie right hand drive), that would be rear passenger first, rear driver second, front passenger third, front driver fourth. Place a brick or similar spacer behind the brake pedal so it doesn't bottom out, brakes bottoming out is a big no-no as it destroys BMC's. Do not ever let the BMC run dry as this will suck air into the brake system defeating the purpose of flushing/bleeding the brakes. This takes a bit of team work and coordination as one person will call as he compresses the brake, and the second person will have to open the nipple during compression, but close it when the pedal is released. The third person must always make sure that the BMC is at full. This should continue until there are no bubbles in the fluid and when the new fluid starts to bleed. You can usually tell by the colour change.

Before you go out to test the new brakes

The wheel alignment is going to be crazily out due to all the major surgery, so see a wheel specialist right away and get a full wheel alignment.

The difference it makes

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, the brake upgroad is by far the greatest performance and safety mod that I've done to my car right next to coilover suspension struts... After the wheel alignment, I noticed the difference right away... ABS works as normal but braking effectiveness has increased dramatically... Slamming on the window now propels me out of my seat like crazy. I've also got some fat wheels since starting this article taking advantage of the 5 stud conversion

S13/RPS13 5-Stud Conversion and Brake Upgrade - Rears

2008-01-01T00:01:00.007+11:00

S13/RPS13 5-Stud Conversion and Brake Upgrade - Fronts

Disclaimer:

Intro:

The reason why I went for a 5 stud conversion was to support a brake upgrade I had in mind, and also to push and develop my ability to perform a significant mechanical task. I had always had a defeated mindset as a youngster when it came to mechanical ability, things started to change when I bought myself a Japanese import. This article was written by me as a technical memoir of the time that I as a 24 year old helpdesk decided to undertake a mechanical task that was beyond my means and ability. A 5-stud conversion, suspension upgrade, brake rebuild, and brake upgrade was carried out by me on my 1994 Nissan 180sx SR20DET with factory ABS. This segment will cover the rear wheel 5 stud conversion and brake upgrade. Parts used were:

Rear

Set of rear R32 GTS-T hubs, baffle plates

Set of rear R32/R33 GTS-T calipers

Set of rear RDA slotted rotors to suit R32/R33 GTS-T

Set of ADR approved custom made braided brake lines

Set of R33 GTS-T handbrake cables

Eagle adaptor

From Phillipses blog

Other:

BM50 – Brake master cylinder from an R32 GTR with factory abs

Set of stock S15 rims with brand new Pirelli Pzero Nero's 225/40/16

From Phillipses blog

Tools:

Full set of screw drivers

Full set of spanners

Full set of flare nut spanners

Full set of 1/4” and 1/2” drive sockets with wrenches and breaker bar

1/2” drive pneumatic rattle gun

Rubber head mallet

Steel hammer

8” 3 claw Gear Puller

2 Car stands

Hydraulic Jack

Couple of bricks or suitable tyre wedge stoppers

Background:

5-Stud Conversion-

Rears

S14/S15 rear hubs –

From Phillipses blog

Generally, these are sold with the bearing unit attached. I've yet to see rear hubs sold without bearings. The hubs are a direct replacement with the S13/RPS13 units thus do not affect toe, or camber.

R32 GTS-T rear hubs –

From Phillipses blog

Pretty much exactly the same as S14/15 rear hubs, these are the ones I've got in my 180sx.

R33 GTS-T rear hubs –

From Phillipses blog

I've not had a play with these myself, apparently they're the same as S14/15 and R32GTS-T but I remember hearing a while ago that the number of splines for the half shafts are different to the S13... I've never been able to confirm but I've also come across people recommending R33 GTS-T hubs for 5-stud conversions.

Aftermarket rear hubs –

From Phillipses blog

Same deal with aftermarket front hubs, see Aftermarket 5-stud hubs pressed into the S13/RPS13 bearings above

Brake Upgrade-

Rears

S13/14/15 –

From Phillipses blog

The S13/14/15 rear calipers are the same as the ones found factory on the S13/RPS13, thus isn't really an upgrade. This unit is a dual action single piston sliding unit. That is, it has both a hydraulic feed that actions the caliper as well as a cable system that is attached to the handbrake to lock the caliper when tightened. Good pads will dramatically increase the effectiveness of braking with this caliper. 256mm diameter x 9mm thickness are the dimensions of this rotor. These rotors are solid and are not ventilated.

R32 GTS-T/R33 GTS-T/R34 GTS-T/Z32 –

From Phillipses blog

The rear brake calipers in this range are pretty much one in the same, they are a twin piston unit meaning more effective and even braking over a broader surface area which in turn translates to a more controlled braking experience. The calipers are controlled completely by hydraulic feed meaning foot brake pedal or hydraulic hand brake if one is installed. The handbrake is connected to a drum handbrake assembly located on the baffle plate. Drum handbrakes lock stronger than caliper handbrakes. These rotors unlike the S13/14/15 rotors are ventilated, the dimensions are 297mm diameter x 18mm thickness. The centre hats of these rotors are also significantly higher and larger than that of S13/14/15's as they house the drum handbrake assembly.

Brake Master Cylinder –

From Phillipses blog

It is important to upgrade brake master cylinders as part of brake upgrade. BMC's retain brake pedal firmness and therefore braking effectiveness... If upgrading all four calipers, it becomes necessary in order for the brake pedal to not hit the floor of the car before 100% braking effectiveness is reached. I upgraded all four SR20DET single piston sliding type calipers to R33 GTS-T 4 pot and 2 pot fixed calipers and used an R32 GTR BMC (BM55). R32 GTR and R32 GTS-T BMC's are a direct fit for S13/RPS13. Just make sure that you use an use ABS enable BMC's in a vehicle equipped with ABS and vice versa with non-ABS equipped vehicles

Installation Process:

Rears

The rears are a fair bit more difficult to install than the fronts... This is mainly thanks to the complex drum handbrake assembly. What we are trying to achieve is a retrofit of the skyline drum handbrake assembly and 5 stud hub onto the S13 uprights.

Start off by chocking the front wheels with bricks and jacking the rear end up with a good jack from the diff, remember to use car stands underneath the rails to hold the car up while working. Having done that, remove the wheels.

Using a 10mm long barrel socket and wrench/driver, loosen the handbrake cable. This is done from the inside cabin, the handbrake tightening nut is located on the handbrake lever. Pull the handbrake lever up until you spot the circular cutout on the base of the handbrake lever cover highlighted above in yellow, the handbrake tightening nut is located in there, place the long barrel socket into the cutout and loosen the nut until there if there is no more tension in the handbrake when engaging or disengaging, leave the handbrake disengaged. Having loosened the handbrake, get underneath the car and place yourself underneath the tailshaft. Look up to the floorplan directly above the tailshaft and you will notice the handbrake cables that connect the calipers to a T-piece that looks like the image below.

Unscrew the handbrake cables from the chassis using a 10mm socket and driver, then detach handbrake cables from the T piece by rotating each cable until it fits through the notch allowing the locking head to disengage. Do not cut the steel wire as the above pic indicates. There are also two screws that secure the handbrake cables, they are indicated by the purple X's above, be sure to unscrew these also.

The caliper can now be unbolted from the upright via the 2 bolts that hold it in place.
Disconnect the the brake hose by using a flare nut spanner to undo the flare nut found on the opposite side of the bracket marked above in yellow. Once this is done, remove the caliper and place it aside. The rotor can then be removed, if the rotor seems stuck onto the hub, try tapping the hat gently with a hammer, or alternatively you can screw in an appropriate sized screw into the screwhole located on the hat which will pry the rotor off the hub. Be sure to use the correct size screw, you don't want the screw threading, becoming stuck or snapping while doing this.

Undo the cottor pin and bearing lock nut cover highlighted above in pink. This will reveal the bearing lock nut which must also be removed. There's a few ways to take care of this nut if it's really siezed. I found that a rattle gun works best however if using a breaker bar, you may find that the axle will rotate under the force of the breaker bar even if the car is in gear. In this case, remove the centre cap from the wheel, fix the wheel onto the hub, drop the car, place the socket into the wheel's centre cap hole and try breaking the nut like this. I've heard of some cases where the nut is so siezed that people will even lean the breaker bar against the ground, start the car up and drive along using the weight of the car to break the nut. This sounds clever enough however I've never had to do it myself. In this case the car will need to move forward to break the driver side nut and in move in reverse to break the passenger side nut. Remember, WD40 and similar penetrants work wonders.

Next, unbolt the half shaft from the diff end, this is highlighted above in yellow. This will require getting under the diff and using 2 14mm spanners. There are 2 variants of half shaft in s13's the 5 bolt and the 6 bolt, however they use the same sized nuts and bolts. Once the bolts are removed, move the shaft so that it is no longer pressing up against the diff.

Slide the half shaft out of the hub assembly. This is often easier said than done as quite often due to corrosion, wear and tear, grit and grime the shaft finds itself quite happily seized, use WD40 generously and if need be screw the bearing lock nut a few threads deep onto the shaft and tap the nut with a soft hammer. Alternatively, what I did was use an 8" 3 claw gear puller which made the job a cinch.

Now it's time to remove the upright and hub assembly. This is done by unbolting all the connection points that hold the upright in place. Place a support unerneath the lower control arm and proceed to unbolt the uprights from the traction, control, toe, strut and lower control arms. These are indicated by the green highlights above. Please note that in the above image, the strut is missing however it serves as one connection point. The lower control arm connection point is a balljoint type and as a result is fixed on by a nut and cotter pin, the cotter pin must be removed before the nut can be undone. The balljoint may be stuck tight onto the upright, in that case, screw the nut onto the balljoint thread a few threads deep and tap the nut with a soft head hammer. When the connection points are all disconnected, take the upright and hub assembly, and place it on a work area like below.

Turn the assembly so that the upright is facing up, use a rattle gun to undo the 4 bolts highlighted above in yellow, these bolts are tight and due to being on a rotatable hub assembly would not be removed any other way. Once the bolts are removed, separate the assembly as shown above.

Now it's time to do the same but with the Skyline unit. Note how this unit has the handbrake cable connected connected into the baffle plate whereas the s13 handbrake cable was connected to the caliper? This is the defining difference between the handbrake function between the two classes. Also note that there is one extra nut on the skyline unit that will need to be removed, this is highlighted above in yellow. Once the nuts and bolts have been removed, separate the assembly as shown above.

Now it's time to swap the handbrake cables. The reason why the R32 handbrake cable must be swapped with the R33 unit is due to the design of the terminals. The R32 unit will not connect up to the S13 T-piece however, the R33 terminal will. Note the difference between the terminals on the two units above. The first terminal is the R32 and the second terminal is the R33. Start by first undoing the screw on the back of the unit that holds the handbrake cable to the baffle plate, then using the above image as reference, use a flat head screwdriver to rotate the screws highleted in yello 90 degrees, they are spring preloaded and will pop out. Next unclip the 2 spring hooks from the anchor highlighted in pink, with these items unclipped, the drum brake unit should slip out with a bit of fidgeting, however will still be connected to the handbrake cable. Note the red arrow, this indicates the handbrake cable anchor point, simply unclip the R32 handbrake from this anchor point and replace with the R33 handbrake cable. After the cable has been replaced, piece back the drum handbrake by going through the last steps in reverse

NOTE: Use the RHS R33 cable for the LHS assembly and vice versa theLHS R33 cable for the RHS assembly. This will be explained.

Next, combine the R32 baffle plate (with R33 handbrake cable), the R32 5-stud hub, and the S13 upright to make a Frankenstein unit. Note that the hole on the s13 upright that the r32 baffle plate anchor fits through will most probably be filled with grime, rust and grit over the years making it highly unlikey for the anchor to be able to fit through, a dremel tool works wonders here, I made do with a round file and some course sandpaper. Try line up all the holes before inserting the screws, it makes it alot easier doing this now before anything get's bolted back together. When that's done, bolt it all back up TIGHT. I used the rattle gun on max setting and kept at it as I knew that this will never be coming apart again.

Bolt the half shaft back onto the diff while the assembly is out, having the assembly out will make this alot easier. Bolt the assembly lower control arm supporting the control arm with a crate or jack. Remember to place the cotter pin back in place. This is a good opportunity to take some dry steel wool to the half shaft and hub splines to get clean the surface and clear up any corrosion that may have built up. Feed the half shaft through the hub, then bolt up the traction, camber, toe and strut arm connection points. Feed the handbrake cable through the rear subframe and just let it sit there for now.

Install the new rotor onto the hub,observe how the rotor fits, is it clearing the drum handbrake assembly? Is it fouling against it? Remove the rotor and using a flat head screw driver, adjust the spline circled in green above to increase/decrease the preset of the drum handbrake. Adjust so that the rotor hat will fit snugly over the drum handbrake with a bit of fidgeting, then loosen it 2 more clicks. Put the rotor back on. Fit the Skyline caliper over the rotor, bolting it tightly into place. Connect the brake hoses between the caliper and brake hardline located on the bracket where the S13 hose used to connect. Screw the bearing lock nut tightly back into place, insert the lock nut cover and secure by threading a cotter pin through the hole in the spline. The 5 stud rims can be bolted back on at this point

NOTE: Use the left caliper for the passenger side and right caliper for the driver side, the bleed nipple should be at the top.

Now onto feeding the handbrake cables to connect onto the T-piece. The above image explains why the LHS handbrake cable must be used on the RHS and vice versa. The R33 handbrake cables have a little more length to them than the S13 handbrake cables, thus if the lines were not criss-crossed as shown, there would be too much slack in the line which will cause the line to foul against the tail shaft and/or the rims. The lines need to be fixed where the pink X's indicate, the brackets on the R33 lines will be a little off so will need to be loosened with pliars and relocated so as to have an even amount of slack along the line.

Affix the eagle adaptor with 2 screws in the screw holes underneath the car along the floor plan above the tailshaft where the previous s13 handbrake cables used to be fixed near the T-piece. That is, where the s13 cables used to be screwed into, screw the eagle adaptor instead. The two bottom holes should line up perfectly. The other holes should face towards the front of the car. Note that the nuts on the eagle adaptor should face upwards towards the chassis, thus what you see from underneath should be completely flat. Next, screw the R33 handbrake cables to the eagle adapator remembering the lines need to criss cross after the rear subframe. After this has been done, check to make sure that the slack along the line is even and not fouling against any moving part, in particular the tailshaft, half shafts, rims, rotors or calipers.

Tighten the handbrake up using a 10mm long barrel socket and driver, the tightening nut is located on the handbrake cable and is accessed via the cutout indicated above in yellow. The handbrake should be tightened until it feels as it did with the old S13 setup or set as desired.

Lower the car and voila! Time to move onto the Brake Master Cylinder. Do NOT drive the car as there is now air in the brake lines and the car will not be able to brake effectively.

Brake Master Cylinder (BMC)

Start by opening your bonnet, the BMC is located on the firewall where the steering wheel is located.

Flush/Bleed Your Brakes

Before you go out to test the new brakes

The wheel alignment is going to be crazily out due to all the major surgery, so see a wheel specialist right away and get a full wheel alignment.