Event Coverage | SpoCom 2012 (Part 1)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Finally...yes..FINALLY! I decided to attend a car show after being quiet for another 2 weeks. It felt great to spend some time checking out cars in person rather than seeing only photos of cars online through blogs. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy checking out coverages by others, but it really can't beat the time doing what you love to do in person.

I'm guessing many of you guys should know about SpoCom because it's been one of the major car shows here in California going on for years. If you read my coverage on SpoCom last year, I wrote a simplistic history about the show and etc. so check it out if you have time.
Let's just put it this way; the hardest and sickest cars in California will be at this show no matter what. I'm talking about cars you have never seen before, such as the ones that were built only to display at major shows. SpoCom is definitely in that list of 'best car shows', so for you guys who missed it this year, don't forget about it next year.

I actually got to know about this show from a good friend of mine named Paul Nguyen. Yes, he was part of another organization called MAS, but not to waste your time and to keep the story short, he is now the VP of Marketing for SpoCom. Paul and I have been talking for a few months about SpoCom and when he reached out to me asking if I can promote the show, I couldn't step back and ignore it, because he was personally an awesome friend of mine and always helped out Night Import. I did have to decline his offer of holding a meet together though, so my bad Paul!
Anyways, let's get on to the coverage, shall we?

Event Coverage | Hot Import Nights 2012

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Ah yes! It felt great going to a car show again after 2 months of being MIA. Well, actually, I've been going through blogs, sites, etc. to keep myself updated with what was going around in the car scene today. I really didn't notice a new 'trend' thing, so it seemed like nothing has changed that much for this year. One thing for sure though, were new rides popping up here and there and of course, aftermarket companies and just car enthusiasts buying the all new Subaru BRZ or/and Scion FR-S. I was looking forward to see some modded BRZs and FR-Ss at the next car show I planned on attending, which was Hot Import Nights that happened last Saturday.

I'm sure many of you guys know about HIN (Hot Import Nights). As I've mentioned in my previous coverages on HIN, HIN was the first show I've ever attended and this was back in middle school. My friend's sister was actually modeling so a few friends and I got in for free. I think during this time period was when Tila Tequila was trying to be an import model or something. All I remember, were shit load of lights from every angle, bunch of cars with lambo doors, and neon lights and other things in and out of cars. I mean...I thought those things were cool back then because seeing any car that was other than its stock form was awesome to those who just got into the car scene. Anyways, things have changed tremendously throughout the years and as of today, comparing the attended show cars for this year to back then in middle school, it's absolutely shocking.

Event Coverage | Motion Auto Show 2012 (Pt. III)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Why does it feel like the week is going faster than usual? I remember writing up part 1 on Monday, but it's already Thursday and I'm writing the final part of my Motion Auto Show coverage. O well~ It might be good for some of you guys who felt as if these past few days were slow as hell.
Today's coverage will cover the other parts of the showcase area and I'll be talking about some random things that I observed throughout the show. I actually stayed until 6pm chilling with my boys at Import Fashion's booth, but didn't get a chance to hear the awards being announced. I have no idea why I missed the last part...because....I can't remember what the hell I was doing. Those dam gummy bears...Ged..you know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyways, in the words of comedian David So, "LGI son! Let's get it! Let's go!"

Event Coverage | Motion Auto Show 2012 (Pt. II)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Harro~! Welcome back NI fans. I really appreciate many of you guys leaving comments and liking my part 1 coverage of MAS 2012. It means a lot when a compliment is made on whatever I do that's involved with cars. I'm just a blogger and NI is a personal blog, so whenever I do get a positive feedback, that means I'm doing something right and you guys are enjoying my coverages and features. Right?

While in the topic of feedbacks and compliments, something pretty awesome happened last week at a bar/lounge I go to in koreatown called Gaam. If you love food and drinking, then you should know about this place because it is THE spot in ktown to chill with your homies. On Saturday, I met up with Steve and Luke, who are very well known photographers, to have some 'fun' (you can define that word in any way) until the place closed, which was around 2am. Afterwards, a guy named Jin came up to me, asking if I was the owner of Night Import. The conversation continued on and I found out he was a huge fan of my blog. He even knew all the recent posts I made on this site you guys are in right now. I really appreciate all of ya'll who take a look at the photos and words I post up on the fanpage, but I appreciate those who check my official blog even more. I'm just mentioning this small story because I want to say thanks to Jin for coming up to me and complimenting about my site. *thumbs up* Also, shout out to my new friends Steve and Luke who really made my day on Saturday. It was CHILL!

I gotta get back to my MAS coverage instead of talking about some random events that aren't related, so fast forwarding to Sunday, there were a lot of things I saw and heard other than cars in general. Some are confidential because I don't want to create some drama, but there will be some short stories/opinions/thoughts I want to mention for certain photos I'll be posting up today or maybe in my part 3 coverage.
I remember last year's MAS was really packed. When I mean by packed, I'm talking about cars parked close together and few aisles overcrowded with spectators. But for some reason, I felt as if the crowd was lacking and not a lot of teams/crews participated. It sort of brought back the memories of last year's event schedule when Nisei, MAS, SpoCom, and Wekfest were all happening within 2 months or so. Anyways, I decided to start off with one of my favorite cars at MAS, which was this WALD Black Bison LS600h built by VIP Auto Salon. I actually saw this car in ktown while watching the Lakers play and it was rolling into a lot filled with people waiting in line to eat at a restaurant. I don't know about you guys, but if I was one of those hungry people in line, I would've been a bit full checking out this car. Stunning!

Event Coverage | Hot Import Nights 2012

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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As mentioned in my coverage, I attended Hot Import Nights right after LTBMW's 2012 meet. I was thinking about staying longer at LTBMW because cars were constantly coming in and the quality of cars were so much better compared to last year's meet, but realizing how much of a struggle I had at HIN 2011 when all the lights were off and tons of people walking back and forth in front of the cars I wanted to take photos of, I left at around 2:15pm to arrive a bit early and take an advantage of my media pass. The actual show started at 3pm, so going in at least 10 minutes earlier was good enough for me.

Now, many of you guys might not know this, but last week's HIN was supposed to happen at Irwindale Speedway along with XDC. What the hell happened? Irwindale Speedway filed bankruptcy, so the place is now gone! Well...not gone, but it's basically closed down. What HIN planned to do got fuked up and instead of cancelling the show, they decided to rent out a different place, which was at Fairplex in Pomona, CA. I'm just glad the show still happened because many enthusiasts missed out on HIN last year and wanted to attend this year's event. I enjoyed myself checking out some new rides when HIN was at Los Angeles, but what I really enjoyed was the overall mood of HIN because it brought back memories when I attended HIN back in middle school! Although I got into the scene last year, my first car show was HIN, so it was pretty dam epic to attend it again last year. I think I went right when the show started and left late because it was so fukin dark inside the convention center I had to wait until the lights were back on to do coverage.

So~ being excited while driving to Pomona, CA, I arrived, got in line to get my pass, and entered a building where HIN was taking place. What I usually like to do before I start a coverage is to walk around the whole area and check out the cars. After taking a quick glance, I walked around and took some snaps. While doing my coverage though, I don't know what the fuk happened, but I lost interest in the show within 40 minutes and this is when the show actually started. I'm not saying the car show sucked at all because it was actually dam good. Tons of models, cars, and people, but I think it was because most of the cars that did show were the ones I usually saw at other car meets/shows. I mean..I've been doing this for months now, so had no clue why this feeling struck me. Am I getting tired of this scene already? or is it because I want to see something new? Ah...fuk it..I don't know what the hell I'm talking about right now, so let's get on with the coverage. The lighting wasn't as bad as HIN in Los Angeles, CA but my camera has its limit, so I did have some difficulties taking shots here and there. Yeap~ the photos will be shitty! I tried to take photos of cars I've never seen before, but like I've just mentioned, most of the cars you will see today are the ones you guys have seen in the previous coverages.

NightLife | Spring Kickoff Car Show & Meet

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee
It feels like my life is getting busier every week because of needing to do several things within a time period. I'm feeling old now as well because sooner than later, I'll be hitting the age of 25. My apology to some of you guys who are older than me and had to read what I just wrote, but you should know that aged-feeling once you pass 21. Blah~ anyways, out of nowhere, I realized I needed to be more involved with the automotive scene. It's not to the point where I need to attend 3 meets or events on one day, but just going out there. I felt as if I needed to bring something more to the table so that people can look up to Night Import or just appreciate it more than other blogs out there. Naw~ I'm not trying to be competitive. All of the bloggers or just blogs in general should be a family rather than hate on each other. You know what I mean? Most of the stuff I post up on my blog doesn't have that exclusiveness yet, but one day, and I know for sure that day will come soon, Night Import will be your automotive source for features and coverages v(^-^)v

Last week, while thinking about what to do before heading to a KBBQ session with a few well-known photographers, I headed out to this meet called Spring Kickoff, which was at Racer's Edge Karting in Burbank, CA. I heard it was organized by Garrett, but not 100% sure. This event was a mix of a car show and meet because it sort of had the vibe of a car show. I'm talking about vendors being present and the actual Go Karting place being opened for spectators and participants. There were no trophies, but people had an opportunity to participate in the raffling.

Event Coverage | Import Showcase by Import Fashion

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I felt as if I haven't gone to a car show for years! Actually..it's been only 2 months after attending AutoCon last year, but for some reason, that 2 months was a wait. I did go to car meets and stuff, but the atmosphere of a car show was something I truly missed. Luckily, my boy Alvin, owner of Import Fashion, worked his ass off to lock down a venue and create his own show for the enthusiasts. There were some complications last year when he tried to have his 1 yr. anniversary meet, but gladly things worked out well this year and the planned meet turned into an event.
Alvin is a close friend of mine in and outside of the car scene and our friendship started even before my blog was created. We actually launched our sites around the same time period, which is why I've been going to car shows and meets with him pretty often in the past. When I heard he was finally having his own show, I couldn't be any happier. His work throughout the months was appreciated by many because of covering both models and cars. I would say his blog's content was more toward models. According to Alvin, he will be featuring more cars this year, so stay tuned! I could go on and on about how awesome Alvin is, but instead of writing down my thoughts like I always do with coverages, I'll jump into the coverage on Import Showcase by Import Fashion.

Nightlight | Memorable Rides of 2011 (Part 2)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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"What the...I thought he was done with the Memorable Rides article.." Yeap! I was~ but sitting down at Starbucks yesterday and thinking about my blog like always, there were a few more rides I just had to give some spotlight because of its well-built figure and uniqueness other than the 10 cars I introduced to you guys in my Memorable Rides of 2011 post. This is why living in California as an automotive enthusiast is like a blessing. Well-rounded quality cars will mostly be in California and those rides are good enough to stun the world. On top of that, there will always be a car show or meet within every single week. What more can you ask when everything you want as an enthusiast happens in CA? It reminds me of my automotive childhood (only a year ago because I didn't know jack shiet about cars back then) when I went to my first event, then to the second on the following week, and then next week, next week...next week...you know how it goes. I obviously can't remember every single ride in the scene throughout my active years, but the ones I do remember means that those cars had a strong impression. For all you girls, it's the feeling of going inside Louis Vuitton, seeing a newly released bag, going home and thinking about it 24/7. Without further ado, I would like to continue with my choice of memorable rides from 2011.

NightLife | Visit to Auto Talent

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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This week was dragging like every other week, just because studying is to the point where I can't put enough words and concepts into my head, and the weather is getting chillier, nothing really out of the ordinary, but unusual for those who live in California. Luckily, last Thursday was a time to get out of what I usually do and check out a photoshoot session that was happening at a high-end automotive shop called Auto Talent located in Carson, CA. A friend of mine who drives a GT-R R35 actually invited me to this small event and I didn't have any clue on what kind of cars were going to be there, but as you can see in the cover photo, it was much more than just R35s, but a photoshoot with few models and exotics. I was lurking around while a site called Liquid Kiss Productions was doing their thing, so let me take you through this shop and share some photos I took during my visit. Please do know this article is NSFW, so it's at your own risk if you want to fired or not.

Random NightLife | Got Questions? Lego!

Night Import: Photography by various blogs | Words by William Lee

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Hello guys (^-^)/
Like always, this is William, the owner/creator of Night Import. It's been over a year now since I've been actively communicating with you fans and I'm very blessed and pleased with how my site turned out. There were definitely ups and downs since I started, and while I do want to talk about those experiences, I also want to take some time to answer frequently asked questions I've been getting through e-mails and comments on the fanpage. It might seem sort of awkward to put myself in the spot, but I didn't want to ignore all the repetitive questions I've been asked, so I was waiting for the right time to answer all of them at once. Also, because the fanpage just reached 40K FANS!! (as of right now..it's just a #), why not take this moment to do this? Maybe today is the right time or maybe not, but before I forget and move on with what I always do, it's time for some answers! I've got nothing to hide and as many of you guys know by now, I'm objective and open-minded, so in case you have a weak heart or get butt-hurted easily, I recommend you to not read this post... But seriously, don't take the things I say to heart because it's all out of all love~! Anyways, let's get to the questions and answers! LEGO!

Random Nightlight | Import Fashion like a G

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Only those who know Alvin, owner of Import Fashion, knew about the transformation his G35 was going through. Actually, let me take that back; even those who knew Alvin had no idea what kind of a makeover was planned for his car. I've personally known Alvin for about less than year now and seen his car only once before it went to the shop. He was also my photography buddy at SEMA 2010 and that's even when his car was stored in the garage. But all of those who were active back in the days when HIN was booming knew about Alvin's ride because of its looks and uniqueness.
Finally, the long awaited G35 is born again with an even sexier, catchier, and stylish look that no other car can even dare to imitate. Here is Import Fashion's baby, Gina.

Event Coverage | Motion Auto Show 2011 (Pt. III)

Night-Import: Photography by Nick Schultz and William Lee | Words by William Lee

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A combination of cars and entertainment...something that's a bit different from how ordinary car shows happen here in Southern California. We've seen plenty of coverage on typical car events, but an event like Motion Auto Show brings in more people to not only enjoy watching cars and models, but to entertain themselves with other activities/entertainment, hence making the event less boring or tiring. There were a few dance crews performing live on stage, such as Booniez Crew, iDK, The Organization, and much more. NOS Energy Drinks had their own separate gaming section for all the spectators to participate in their own Super Street Fighter IV tournament. You'll be seeing some behind-the-scenes photos toward the end, so read along and enjoy my final coverage. v(^-^)v