Pimp my Aphard

Sorry for the lack of posts. The past weekend was really busy, we all Saturday night playing a board game called "The Transformation Game" -- the woman who invented it over 30 years ago actually facilitated the game which lasted from 11 am until 9pm. I'll leave the actual game experience for another post, but overall it was a pretty enlightening experience. I'm going to be working on a digital version of the game as a project here, so there will be lots to report about that.
Anyway this post has been a long time coming. So as I've said cars are a bit deal here, it seems everyone's ride is super shiny, and Hong Kong must have the most BMWs and Mercedes percapita of any city. It's the minivans though that really stand out. Not only are they everywhere (and not an SUV in site) but they are by far the most commonly pimped out type of vehicle here. New rims, body kits, exhaust, it's like people think they're sports cars. So far it seems as though one model in particular is a popular choice for modifying: the Toyota Alphard. It's a little bit of a weak name, but after doing some researcher I found out why this model in particular is so coveted. It's not sold in Hong Kong, the Alphard is Toyota's premiere Japanese market only minivan. It comes in a number of versions including a luxury 4 seater version, I'm not sure what goes where the other seats should, but I'm sure it's something real fancy. Anyway, it's possible to bring Alphards to Hong Kong as "grey imports" but from what I've read it's sorta shady. The other day I was lucky enough to find one parked right in front of our building. I snapped some pictures, and by the time I was down gawking the driver had returned. To my surprise he offered to take our photo in front of his van...how sweet. I'm going to continue to document the minivans here so stay tuned for more photos of these fascinating vehicles. Wow that sounded like the conclusion of a nature show. Cheers.


-Misha