17 May 2001
A part of always ask since I rode a bike, if my interest changed because of how the feel of the wind was undeniably inviting to pursue. It was but my Ford mustang with Boss 429 V8 engine is my first love and how can I ever forget what it been through the years from my late grand mother till with me. The sentimental value is too strong that is impossible for me to let go. I’ve even kept the first cylinder that was replaced back in the days. There were even words engraved in it, I kept it on display here in my room as a reminder.
Time lapse as they say when a moment, pass by on people. Especially if chances for that happiness is involve, I never thought about it till I knew that someone was eyeing on me and that someone is a person whom I started to be fond of. His personality and character can easily be appreciated and the way we all can trust him, with everything is what we all required for a member. It is not even because he’s a good friend of Tan, it’s just how he is. The night went by when I saw a light from the garage, I went out to check. Tan left a note that he’ll be back in a few hours. When I step in the garage, I saw Hong with a cigarette, seated on one of the benches, under a tree. He glance at me and wave. I walk towards him, without asking, he said he’s waiting for Tan. I smiled and said, that I stay with him to wait for Tan as well. We started to talk, how he started as a rider and other things that he do for himself to make a living. He’s a graduate of Engineering and even took some few courses as a scholar of Kawasaki Motors. He also shared his time when he watch a race, where the drivers didn’t slept at all for 72 hours, the race continued, something that bikers don’t do. There were a few pauses, then he asked why it was only once that he saw me attend an after party of a race that I’m in. He even told me, there were a few races that I was part of that he make sure to attend. Just to watch me behind the wheel. I told him, it was the first agreement that I had with my late grandmother and as my sponsor, I always follow what she said since it’ll do me good but I never noticed that I carried that habit till I am allowed to be in those parties. It became a routine to rest after a race. There was not really much of Filipinas I know who attends the party, only a few, they asked me a few times but they knew I will not join them but if it’s in the Philippines, especially during the day. I always stay to join them for a few laughs and talks of what happened during. He nod and laugh at what I shared to him, something that I also laugh at when I recall those memories from way back. I look at the night sky and saw a crescent moon, he started to say something when we heard a bike nearing towards the gate. Hong stood up to check who it is, he glanced at me with a smile to say it’s Tan. He opened the gate for him. We both waited for Tan to place his bike at the space. While we wait on a bench, he started to talk about the moon. He said that there’s a meaning behind seeing a crescent moon, when Tan walks towards us. “Are you sharing about the meaning behind the phases of the moon?” He asked Hong. Hong nod with a smile, and Tan said, while we grew up, we always spoke to an old lady from the ramen house that we go to after school. She always tells us tales about the myths and traditional Japanese beliefs on almost everything. We walk towards my side of the villa and, Hong invited Tan in. I noticed that the two of them stay up late, and they were talking as we walk that most probably Taira already lay his sleeping bed on the living room floor. As expected, there he was with his tablet, reading about something. It keeps him company and the only way for him to sleep is to read something, anything, even magazines about cars or bikes. We walk in and he just said, that when he entered I was not here so he checked the garage and saw the two of us on a bench waiting for Tan. He didn’t bother us because he wants to lay down and have a peace and quiet few hours of the night, the he smiled after mentioning that he had an argument with Kenji, who is his uncle. Those two always have something to argue on, and yet we noticed how thoughtful Taira still towards Kenji. The way they converse and deal with misunderstandings was like a relationship between best of friends. His routine of sleeping in my house was because we were given a few tasks to do for the group as well and it became a tradition to dine here. They all help in cleaning but Taira always stays. Like the first night that we met, it was due to tiredness that he stayed on the couch till he fell asleep and forget to transfer to his own door. I was even surprised when Obaasama mentioned that he asked permission from her to sleep over since then. From then on, he kept a sleeping bag in one of the closet near the living room, another space for jackets, coats and sweaters. He said that he never stayed with his family after finishing grade school, he needs to transfer to his late grandfather here in Hokkaido for his health, till he passes away. Half of his life was built in Japan and somehow he said he became too sensitive and needed more silence than usual, the sound from the vehicle engines is different as he said. This is were he met Kenji and became close to him, who was also his inspiration on cars the races and to be behind the wheel. Taira started in high school because of a few food deliveries he needs to do after school, while Kenji do the same. A strong earthquake was the biggest challenge they ever faced, because their house was broken and it took them years to re-build. They received help from a group of Japanese that Taira and Kenji met last year, after seeing a photo of the group and their late grandfather has been part of it for so long.
19th May 2001
Most of the days I remember my late grandmother from them, how they discuss and argue since the only person I can talk to was her. In the family there were none, for I was always compared to most, accused of things that I don’t have an idea of. Little things, those things about me, how I am an what I’ve become. My racer friends knew about it because there was this one night after a race that I can’t join them, they came across my relatives in a restaurant and they were talking about me. It was all a one sided conversation, there was never an initiative to ask for any confirmation from my end. It’s all about what they think, how they feel and their assessment, for they trusted a person who doesn’t know anything about me. To separated from them is easy, I don’t need to pretend and I don’t need to be an actor infant of them. There’s always something about my relative’s intentions. All untrue and all are fakes.
The days became shorter and shorter, because of the hours that we need to stay on the race track and check the venue because of the deliveries that we need to supervise. The cars in the garage for the event are now placed and visible through the glass wall of the building. There were a few times when we saw a few motorists who stop just to window view what’s inside. Tan asked one of his workers, that during lean hours he needs to stay outside the building, by the door to share a few information about the event. We haven’t publicly announced the open dates, because it’ll be different for the public. Kawasaki requested for special day as special event for the public. To those near the venue, there’s an entrance fee and reservation because the allowable people to enter is limited, but for the race track. We received a number of ticket buyers across Hokkaido who’ll watch the race and it seems Tan and Hong are known riders in this area. They even prepared a long table for snacks but I never knew what will it be. It was Tan and Obaasama who decided on the canapés, hors d’oeuvre or otsumami but one thing he told me, that there will be yakitori and a spread of very expensive sashimi and sushi. I saw the ice cream maker delivered today, for sure it’s for the children. We’ve partnered with a few schools nearby for their school trip, especially those who wrote about their dream job of being a mechanic, we received a few letters, stories for manga and their drawings. It was very difficult to choose, they were all well written and well drawn by the students. There was a few that caught our eye, about a story of a child mechanic, visited by one of the deities where in he was trapped in a forest with a 624 cc 1965 Kawasaki bike, the tools he used was made from fallen branches, fallen trees and the rubber was made from a broken roots of a tree with a tear of the deities. The deity is a Kirin, where in people believe on when it comes to choosing for a next person to continue their good will as a human being. The child became friends with a few earthlings that protects the forest from harm, there was even a storm where in another deity that looks a dragon with a tail of a lizard came to keep him warm, from the story it took him 2 months to fix his bike. As we look at the end of the story, there’s even a request for comments from us, Kenji wrote a letter to him about the dream of being in a race track, the child was in deep sleep in the forest resting his head on a deer.Tan decided that all will receive gifts from the club and 10 will be chosen for a summer camp with us and they will schedule for a couple of weeks with Kawakasi’s plant by the section of the mechanics, they will observe how they finish a bike. They are also will be given the opportunity to walk through the step by step process of building a Kawasaki sportbike and Kawasaki 2000 Vulcan since one story represented it as Mount Fuji. There’s this story about a girl who’s behind a wheel of a car during a storm, who was left behind by her parents, and was soaked because of a flood in 1960’s, she didn’t mention the type of vehicle that she was in but she did about the gears. He story begun underwater, till she saw a few unknown sea creatures, like the one from greek mythology, she described it as a water dragon with a tail of a fish, and fins like the tuna with wings of a hawk. She was carried off to shore while inside the car and when the sun rises, the creature became human who helped her get through for years. She stayed in the island till she grew up. The creature taught her to play with the water through a wood that floats, they molded it into a ride where in it was accelerated by dolphins, a few times there were some adjustments till the creature taught her how to make an oil from seaweed that made it run on it’s own. She started to play with the creature but it was too fast for her, there were a few times that she fell in water but she always get flown back to shore. On her 4th day, she was guided in the forest and there she found an empty race track but there was no trace of houses near the area. A few lights from the silk tree flower as the pollen flew with the wind to bring light on the race track. There were lots of twigs on the sidelines, and they decided to clean the area to move her car. The twigs was use to grill fish as their meal, there was a few cats who swings buy to visit them during those times and those cats decided to stay in the tracks till they decided to build small houses for them.