Life is All a Balancing Act
By 5teve-0 | September 23, 2013 | Category Automobiles
My apologies for the recent dry spell in terms of updates, been really busy with work and going on road trips on weekends. I think the last thing I want to do is tinker with the Prius after a week of work! The past three weeks have been especially busy with the lady’s father visiting […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | August 14, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
I have a couple of Prius DIY’s in the pipeline for release: Black-out head lights How to install JDM center lower console lid kit How to install JDM door handle and beverage pocket LED kit How to install JDM interior illumination kit How to install JDM cabin ion plasma LED cluster kit I’ll start with […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | August 9, 2013 | Category Automobiles
This past week I’ve been paying visits to local car dealerships around the South Bay to test drive cars that may become a candidate for our weekend cruiser; not giving up the Prius, but adding to our garage. Some of the cars I’ve test driven include: Lexus CT200h Honda CR-Z EX Subaru BRZ Scion FR-S […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | August 1, 2013 | Category Video Gaming
One of my past time activity, in addition to wining and dining, photography and traveling is playing video games. Be it on the desktop computer, on an iOS device or traditional gaming console, if it’s entertaining and captivating, I’ll play it. Matter of fact, I am looking forward to this Sunday’s release of Pikmin 3 […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | July 23, 2013 | Category Video Gaming
I’ve just recently discovered Good Old Games, i.e. gog.com. The site specializes in DRM-free, classic DOS-based abandonware games i.e. PC games of the 90’s and earlier. Most titles require Windows XP or higher but a substantial number of titles are also available for OS X 10.6 or higher. I found my childhood favorite point-and-click adventure game, […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | July 22, 2013 | Category Road Trips
Another road trip completed! Well, this road trip ended two weeks ago and I just gotten around to write about it. This road trip coincided with the July 4th holiday weekend, affording us extra days. We both got Thursday and Friday paid holiday off and used three paid vacation days to take advantage of taking […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | July 21, 2013 | Category Briefings
My fascination with Polynesian sculptures, wood carvings and Tiki pop culture can be traced back to the early 90’s, when a friend of mine, while still in high school, brought me a Coco Joe’s LAVA God of Money keychain as a souvenir from his trip to Hawaii. Ever since, I’ve been intrigued and fascinated by the […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | July 11, 2013 | Category Automobiles
NOTE: Due to ever-evolving technology and services, pay attention to individual services’ terms, fee schedules and guidelines as they may have changed since the writing of this article. The advent of the internet and social media has continued to make the global market place flatter and more accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Gone […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | July 10, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
The answer is a resounding yes! So after our week long road trip over July 4th weekend, spanning over 1,774 miles and using only 2.75 tanks of gas ($103 total spent in gas), I picked up our new Samsung 51″ plasma 1080p HDTV, new in box, from Best Buy and loaded it into the cargo […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | June 22, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
In the quest for organization and to make mods appear as OEM as possible, I revisited the illuminated mirror switch project and ordered a male 16-pin mirror switch coupler and 15 corresponding male terminal pins from hi-1000.com. I’ve recently discovered that they opened up a Global Rakuten shop and ships to the U.S. Toyota consider […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | June 21, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
Just gave my colleague a shopping list of JDM Prius parts to pick up for me while he is on his short-noticed business trip to Japan. They include: Prius rear step guard Part #: 08475-47030 Interior console lid (black) Part #: 08471-47060-C0 Chrome plated door mirror covers Part #: 08409-47040 Interior door pocket illumination kit Part #: 08527-47050 […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | June 14, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
Don’t you just hate it when you spend a good amount of cash to import your JDM Toyota genuine Prius parts only to have the importer destroy the Toyota label that reveals the part number so they can maintain a monopoly and charge a premium to get you the part you’re after? Or even fellow […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | June 13, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
I’ve been considering an electronic shifter for the Prius for quite some time and finally jumped the gun. Only thing that held me back was the pricing. At $240+ USD, the switch is a costly investment for a purely cosmetic upgrade. I was ready to order the Electronic Shift Switch (ESS) by Stage-10 and was […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | June 1, 2013 | Category 2012 ZVW30 Toyota Prius Four
Here’s another mod I’ve performed on the Prius, specifically useful for 2010-2011 3rd gen Prius owners, that’s a spin-off from a past project done on the Acura RSX. I started this mod some time in early May, but got side tracked with the JDM Prius power folding side mirror project and then became inundated with projects at work, […]
Read MoreBy 5teve-0 | May 31, 2013 | Category Automobiles
This is a simple DIY guide on how to design and create your very own custom JDM badge/mark. But before we dive into badge creation, let’s get into a short history of what they mean. In Japan, “leaf” pictograms in the form of magnetic or suction badges convey different caution messages and are displayed at the […]
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