I mentioned before that I would do my best to attend different shows this year, and one of the main events that’s been on my mind was Midnight RevUp in Vancouver. Never knew what it was up until a couple years ago when Galileo Galang, one of my first BC based friends, was telling me all about it. He’s been trying to get me to go up there for the longest, but it’s always been bad timing due to work/business being in the way. Surprisingly I was finally able to make it happen a few weeks ago during 4th of July weekend. Celebrated Independence Day weekend in a different country? Very patriotic of me… The last time I crossed the border was in 2018 for a day trip to the Richmond Night Market. Before that, I haven’t really explored Vancouver in over a decade. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to make more friends from up there during our car show season. It’s safe to say I’ve made some solid connections since we can all relate in many ways, and we’re all friendly for the most part. Now that I paid my overdue visit, I’m pretty comfortable with going up more often especially since I finally got new tabs for my Element after 3 years lol. Anyways, back to the show…
Canadian car enthusiasts tend to have good taste based off what I’ve seen at the local events. I didn’t really know what to expect. I was surrounded by a solid variety of flavors, but I enjoyed the presence. Quality overthrows quantity. It was a bit funny because I wasn't aware that the RevUp staff were all Filipino until the night before at a meet, so that was a nice surprise. Kinda felt like I was home even though I don’t speak Tagalog lol. Super cool people overall though. Some pretty unique builds in the Richmond Olympic Oval. To sum it all up I would definitely attend this show again, but maybe at a different stop such as their Calgary show which just occurred this past weekend that looked like a major hit. Big thanks to Carlo Basilan for having me be a media partner! Much appreciation to Kuya Gal & Hannah for helping me make this trip a memorable one with all the love & hospitality, and of course Umer Khokhar, Rich Alejandro, & the rest of the BC homies for always being down to kick it. Enjoy the coverage.

Early 5 am huddle in the Soufend with the boys, Mikey Legaspi and Anton Madamba. We weren’t sure how busy the border was gonna be during 4th of July, so played it safe by going extra early. Very grateful for these 2 🫶🏼

Took advantage of the empty freeway and attempted to take some rollers. A bit sketchy while driving, but made it work. I think these are the first rolling shots with the new camera.

The front license plate was bothersome lol…

Anton acquired this ‘99 J-Spec Integra Type R in Italy a couple years ago when he was stationed overseas. He’s gone through a lot over there, but did his best to enjoy it while going through some rough times. Once he moved back home and shipped the car here, he went straight to work with fixing some paint imperfections and threw on quite a few parts such as the OEM optional side skirts & rear valence, carbon hood, OG Regamaster EVO’s, and a lot of Mugen goodies. Even though at such a young age, he has the right mindset and I’m looking forward to seeing what he has planned this next year for the R ✌🏼

Once we crossed the border, we pulled right over to stretch our legs and planned what the next move was. Of course the first thing Mike had to do was take off the front plate lol.

After we dropped off the cars at Gal’s house, got dim sum, & did some exploring through Van, we hit up a few car shops such as Next Mod. Tavis Wu hit me up at the perfect time when we were in the city, so of course we had to pull up and bother them lol. Super dope how their layout is along with the neighboring shops. Thanks again Tavis & Andre for the hospitality 🤝🏼

Gal has gone through a few phases with his Capitva Blue EG, but I’m loving this full J’s Racing theme the most.

Umer Khokhar sold his F80 M3, but fortunately flaked out on all the potential buyers for his EM1 and kept it lol. He got rid of many parts that were on the car, but I guess it was a blessing in disguise so that he can rebuild the coupe for the next phase.

RevUp hosted a collaboration meet with Super Motion the night before the show. I mainly wanted to go to pick up the Pain Free stickers I ordered from the man himself, Julian Hamazaki. He’s currently doing some stuff to his S15, but recently picked up the imported JDM GD Fit. I want one bad lol. Alongside is Rachelle De Castro’s GR86 slammed on bronze TE37’s. Always great seeing these two, and I’m looking forward to their builds.

Day of the show, Gal insisted I drive his new Integra Type S to the venue so we could use it to go grab lunch and venture around. Definitely feels better than an FK8 lol.

One of the first I caught rolling into the venue was Brandon Leung in his well done S15 Silvia.

I noticed that Canadians really love liveries on their cars… I dig it though. This JZX100 MKII fitted with a full Kazama Auto aero kit on Enkei NT03+M wheels was pretty cool.

Adam Chan’s JZX100 Chaser sporting a Vertex kit, Ganador mirrors, and hot boy chrome wheels.

Marcus Lam from Super Motion slid through in his BRZ utilizing a Futago Line kit with Ganadors and Work Meisters. I was joking with him & Elle at the pre-show meet saying I might have seen his car in a Manila Grey video. Turns out I was right lol.

Pretty unique Honda Beat on Work VS-KF wheels.

Walked into the venue and the first car that caught my eye was this J80 Land Cruiser owned by Mitchell TenHoeve. Haven’t seen an LC as clean as this in years.

Loren Hwang’s super clean AE86 on TE37V’s. This was perfect as is.

I didn’t recognize Bryan Poblacion initially because I haven’t seen him since we first met a couple years ago, but he’s made some massive changes to his 370Z. He upgraded the OEM Nismo kit to a Varis Arising set, Varis carbon hood, and slapped on the huge Voltex wing with swan neck stands.

Nico Miranda finally popped out for once with his F80 M3. He made some subtle changes by adding on a Laptorr lip and took Rich’s BBS LM’s. Love it!

The man of the show, Carlo Basilan, chopping it up with the PNW’s finest judge, Tony Dau.

It was nice to see some Washington homies make it up for the show such as Anthony with his S2000 CR.

Peter Bugayong also made it up with his GR86. He’s been enjoying his car off & on the track, and I’m sure the Varis wing he copped recently will make a difference. Looking good pare!

Even Nic Buettner showed up! What a nice pair of GR’s…

I knew of Glenn Lanuza, aka Doughboy, from some of the homies mainly because he slangs some fire cookies every now & then. Hoping to try some the next time I come up… Anways his FK8 Type R is dope! Love the color combo he chose with the paint matched Mugen Aero & Wing, and diamond black CE28 wheels. Reminds me of a Storm Trooper. He installed some crazy fog lights and Euro spec taillights that run a fog light as well. It’s the details that help make this FK8 stand out from the rest.

It’s not often you see these Euro-spec Civic Type R’s… Personally I’m not a fan of them, but it’s different and I respect that.

Jackie Law just recently sent his farewells to his childhood dream car. Kinda sucks, but it went to a close friend that he knows is gonna treat right. Jackie already picked up a new replacement, and I’m stoked to see what he does to the E92 M3.

FL5 Type R equipped with a carbon Spoon lip & wing, and 19” SW388 wheels. This chassis is growing onto me as each day goes by.

This E30 definitely took the cake for me. You’ll see as you scroll down.

John Velasco ventured from Alberta in his NOTTA2J A90 Supra with the rest of the RevUp crew.

Nico with the last minute prep swapping taillights.

Jerrywin Casipi brought up his Boost Blue FK8 kitted with a full Varis Arising II aero and Volk Racing G025 wheels. I didn’t know he was from WA until I seen his plate.

Kenny Guaio’s Sakhir Orange F80 M3 Comp on BBS E88’s. Typical starter pack for BMW’s, but hey I like it!

I was wondering who was waving at me through the distance in this GX… Turns out it was DK Umezawa lol. It’s been a while since I’ve seen his Chaser, but his GX on mag blue TE37X wheels is solid.

You don’t see too many people building GK5 Fits around. Fortunately John from Garage Five has crafted a fire Fit that pops on the streets and track. Love the Porsche BBK tucked behind the chrome TE37’s. We were kicking it at HondaFest and he mentioned that he has straight cut gears. A bit random, but what a flex haha.

Clean & simple CL9 Accord Type S on Regamasters.

The first GR86 in Canada with the Voltex Widebody Street Version II Aero Kit built by First Gear Project in Alberta. I’ve only seen photos of the white one in SoCal from Joey Lee, but to see this kit in person is pretty damn memorizing. Aggressive, but not overkill.

I completely overlooked this FD RX-7, but from all the other stories I’ve seen from homies it’s pretty fuckin badass and well built together.

I’ve encountered Chris’ J32 swapped EG hatch at a couple Wekfest Seattle shows, but this was the first time properly meeting him and his wife Tiffany. Such nice people and the car still looks & sounds great!

Nice mash up of Voltex and Spoon on this S2000.

Mike Bahre’s flawless Tahitian Green CR-X Si. It’s funny because he came up to me and properly introduced himself at the show and I immediately knew who he was when he mentioned the car. I took a quick glimpse of it at Wekfest, and finally got a more in depth look at it this time.

It was great to see Jason Tong again and his well executed EG. Had the pleasure of meeting his wife, Annie, as well!

You never know what’s gonna pop out at a Canadian car show. This rare S15 Silvia Varietta from Forthright Trading was definitely a neck breaker. Only a little over 1,100 units were produced with a naturally aspirated SR20DE motor. Not crazy about convertibles, but this was kinda fire lol.

I think if I owned a white EK, it would look similar to Mikey’s. He just ripped it over the weekend at The Ridge, and I hear someone is gonna go K now 👀

Anton finally caught up on some rest after being up for like 30+ hours… You know it’s real when he has Starbucks in his hand when this guy isn’t much a coffee drinker in general.

Bobby Multani actually pulled through last minute too!

Gal did a great job staging the cars outside.

Jason Leung from A&J Racing International had a slight hiccup with his AE86, but he brought out this time attack CSX which happens to be the same car Tavis Wu was trailering through WA a few years ago when I first met him.

I wonder what Steve Chan has planned for the DC2 now that it’s in his hands… Keep it full Spoon or redo everything… We shall see.

Sean Younker built one of the best E30’s I’ve ever seen. The BMW individual paint was immaculate! He converted this 325i to a monster.

When he was rolling into the venue, I knew I heard a familiar tone. A beautiful 2J swap paired with a Spectrum Motorsports SR/59mm turbo and Getrag 420G transmission. So fucking fire! This for sure earned a Best of Show award in my opinion.

Clean R34 Skyline on chrome Nismo LMGT2 wheels.

The S15 Varietta with the top down. I was talking to the owner and he mentioned that he custom made the body kit.

This Liberty Walk A90 Supra was put together very proper.

Panda themed JZS161 Aristo on Advan RSII wheels.

Michelle Chan’s Altezza rocking a TRD NEO V1 bumper, TRD side skirts, and rolling on Advan SA3R wheels. Looks she has a somewhat twin next to her as well lol.

A couple more shots of the AnalOG AE86 lol.

And another shot of the J80 LC flexing the GFC rooftop tent.

Overlanding 4×4 things… I cackled browsing through Tony’s story when he said, “You know how I know you’re gay? When you do shit like this.” 🤣 It’s all love though homies.

Brandon Leung mashed up his aero quite smooth. The Origin Lab front bumper flows well with the GP Sports side skirts and of course the Ganador mirrors. Not sure what the rear bumper he went with, but I love it. Fitment on point with the OG CE28’s too.

The Super Motion x Wish boys standing out from the crowd.

Tavis Wu gets down with his EK hatch fitted with a J Blood Bumper, Spoon SW388’s, and Spoon brakes.

A couple more photos of Mike Bahre’s CR-X. He’s running a K20A2 swap with a 6-speed LSD transmission. Very OEM+ with this build, and it’s heat.

Chris got a lot going on with his build. Obviously the supercharged J-swap is something that’ll catch your eye, but respect to him since not many people are brave enough to do these swaps anymore.

I met Richard Tam last year at HondaFest, and he’s a real outgoing guy. The day before the show, we stopped by Garage Five so the guys could pick up some parts. I walked towards the counter and recognized an award from HF since I was the judge for the Integra category. Looked up and there was Richard working at his desk lol. Turns out he’s one of the main guys running the business. His DC2R is something very exquisite. A nice blend of OEM+ and utilizing many J’s Racing goodies.

Jason switched up the look a little and went with the Spoon lip and 16” MF10’s this time.

With all the Mugen parts that he stocked up over the years, you’d be surprised to not see a Mugen Formula valve cover under his hood. That’s because no one really wants to spend $10k on a part, even though we were joking about how we all could’ve came up on one for stupid deals back in the day when people were struggling to sell them. Jason’s EG will forever be one of the best though.

Doesn’t seem like much, but Rich Alejandro did some refine work to his F80 M3 by slapping on a 3D Design carbon front bumper and GTS hood. Pretty subtle, but very different than most F80’s out there.

The real major work he did was retrofitting an F82 rear bumper onto his car. The bodywork seemed smooth and he was able to rock it well.

Daniel Yeh’s wicked GD3 Fit looking good as always. He continues to clean the car up and dress it with many sentimental add-ons.

Patrick Garcia’s STi on Bronze TE’s and Marion Menioria’s Evo 5 GSR on Enkei wheels enjoying some sunshine.

It’s no surprise that Gal & Mikey both took an award home. Proper execution at it’s finest.

There’s been a lot on Gal’s mind about switching things up for his EG. So many things he can do, but a part of him seems to be content about the current phase. Maybe he just needs to take it out on the track, even though he used to a lot before it got repainted. A session at The Ridge doesn’t sound too bad, eh?

Carlo Basilan drove from Alberta as well in his F80 M3 on bronze TE’s. He loves the wheels so much, he had to put on a decal of the wheels to represent lol.

A quick little photoshoot to end the day…

Great trip with some great company overall. Grateful for this group of people 🫶🏼

Some more photos…

Thanks for reading! Got some work to catch up on, so stay tuned for the next post ✌🏼

Midnight RevUp Vancouver 2025

Wekfest Seattle 2025 Part 2