B-Kyu Gurume

While some people dread the end of summer, we look forward to the arrival of national fairs like the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) and the culinary offerings that come with it. Last year, we discovered the Thanksgiving Waffle by Fran’s Restaurants at the CNE – a combination of Canadian tradition and comfort food. This year, we hear they’ve got Poutine Balls and a Baonana Split that reminded us of something we discovered in Japan called “B-kyu gurume.” Learn more about the inexpensive delicious trend that’s taken the world one bite at a time.

Japanese cuisine is changing. Here in Canada, long gone are the days when “Japanese cuisine” was just a synonym for sushi. And in Japan, the culinary scene seems to have finally escaped the looming shadow of Michelin stars and traditional, multi-course “kaiseki” dinners. But that doesn’t mean a country renowned for its cuisine has taken a gastronomic nosedive – quite the contrary, in fact.

The last several years have seen the rise of “B-kyu gurume” – literally, “B-grade gourmet.” The translation is a bit of a misnomer as B-kyu does not denote low quality. However, it certainly renounces fancy mood lighting and stuck-up waiters. Furthermore, a large part of the appeal of B-kyu gurume is how it counters the pretentious notions of the high-end A-kyu cuisine, liberating food lovers from the golden shackles that Japan essentially built its dining reputation on. Its popularity has grown to include dedicated magazine guides and TV shows. There are even major food festivals surrounding the movement.

So what is it, exactly?

The Japan Times defines B-kyu as “inexpensive, down-home cooking that reflects local culinary traditions.” “Everyone describes it differently, but for me B-kyu is a soulful food. It has to be delicious, cheap and made with quality ingredients,” says Koji Yamamoto, owner of Yakko Izakaya in Osaka. “My favourite thing about B-kyu is how we mix in other cultural foods with our traditional cuisine to create something new. It’s a dish made up of different countries.”

At its heart, B-kyu looks a lot like the same food craze that has swept Canada in recent years: slightly elevated, blessedly cheap, and cheerful comfort food. For Shinji Yamaguchi, who spent years eating his way through Japan and now runs Toronto’s Gushi street food stall, it’s about fun and sheer enjoyment: “B-kyu gurume is not fancy, you can eat it aggressively, and it looks good and tastes good – like junk food.”

Written by Nelson Tam. B-Kyu Gurume was featured in Issue 7 of Scion Magazine. To read more, visit scion.ca/magazine

Cyrious Report: Exciting times at Trois-Rivières

For the third round of Formula Drift Canada, the team and I travelled to the famous streets of Trois-Rivières, where people have been racing since 1967! Held over two weeks in August, the Grand Prix Trois-Rivières plays host to multiple series race events that include NASCAR and World RallycrossRX, and for the first time a drifting competition with FD Canada.

The streets of Monaco inspired the track and while on paper it appears to be two turns, it’s actually quite difficult. To start, the track is entirely lined with concrete walls so there is really no margin for error. Secondly, we were only given two 30-minute practice sessions which really didn’t give us any time to make set-up changes so everything had to be pretty good right from the get-go. Luckily, we were able to walk the track the night before the competition, so I was able to get an idea of what I was going to need to do to make every lap of practice count.

My first practice run went great! I felt really comfortable right away with the track, placed the car where it needed to be, and felt really fast throughout the course! We only got one lap in on that 30 minute session because there was a crash, but I felt good about how I did. Next session out I was able to get in two good laps, and I was feeling confident going into the top 16 competition.

Unlike the other FD Canada events this year, there was no qualifying. Instead, they used the championship points to decide the order of the top 16. Also, due to the time constraints of GP3R, there would be no “one more time” calls from the judges so every run really needed to sway the judges in your favour. The top 16 battle was spread out over two days, with the first half held on Friday and the rest of the competition on Saturday.

With me leading the board on championship points, I qualified in first and was paired up with Jo Thiffault. I led first with a good clean lap, but while Jo kept up, he made a few mistakes. On my follow lap, Jo slowed down way more than I expected on entry, causing me to straighten up for a second but I managed to keep up with him for the rest of the run. It was a close call, but the judges gave me the win!

My next battle was against Tomy Boisvert-bellamare. We’ve battled against one another every round of FD Canada so far. Knowing Tom, I knew he was going to give it his all and this was not going to be an easy fight. I led first and did a near perfect run! Tom hung with about two car lengths back but couldn’t close in on me. On my follow lap, I was able to close the gap between him and I and was awarded the win.

On to the final 4! I was up against Martin Langlois, a really good driver that’s pretty aggressive. I led first, did a great lap and Martin stuck with me by about three car lengths only making some minor mistakes. Which meant that my follow lap would have to be perfect. We took off down the straight into the first corner and I mis-shifted, putting it in fifth gear instead of third. Right away Martin gaped me by four car lengths. I tried to make it up but just couldn't close that gap and Martin took the win. I heard that many of you were saying “one more time” on Periscope! I spoke with the judges afterwards and they agree that had it not been for the circumstances, they would have called for one more time.

In the end with my first place qualifying position, I finished the event in third overall! But the day wasn’t done just yet. With the competition out of the way, the top 3 drivers of the event got to do demo runs Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Dean Kearny. Even better, I was lucky enough to take Yves Levesque, the Mayor of Trois-Rivières along for the ride! We had some great tight runs, the Mayor loved it and the crowd went wild!

So after three exciting rounds of FD Canada, I ended up being the top qualified driver going into the final World Round in September back in St-Eustache! I’ve also been told that I am officially FD Canada’s “Drifter of the Year.”

Up next for us is FD Pro2 in Texas. We will be making some changes to our transmission that will hopefully prevent mis-shifts from happening and do a few other little things but overall I have been extremely happy with how my Scion FR-S has been performing this season!

Thanks so much for the support!

Cyrious Report: Wild Weekend

We’ve just returned from the second round of Formula Drift Canada and what a round it was! It took place at one of my favourite tracks – the Autodrome in Montmagny.

Held over a weekend, practice and qualifying were done on Saturday with the main competition happening on Sunday. The good thing about a 2-day event is that you have plenty of time to find the ideal setup to get your car just right.

Autodrome Montmagny is your basic stock car style oval with a switch back in the center section of the track. The most difficult part of the course is coming off of the first bank before going into the infield. With such a tight turn, you have to slow down from probably 100 km/h down to 50 km/h to hit inner clip 1. When done correctly, you could carry lots of speed into the second bank, and during practice I nailed it every time! No other car that followed my FR-S could keep up with us after inner clip 1. As soon as we would get past that point, I would put the car in fourth gear and rocket into the second bank, billowing Yokohama smoke from the back of the FR-S! Despite the weather, the practice went very well. We made some changes to the car and found some new ways to develop more grip out of the chassis, so the car was very fast in wet or dry conditions.

Qualifying was to take place on a wet track, but we were prepared for it and I was feeling very comfortable drifting in the slippery conditions. As the points leader, I was the last to go. I did my run with good speed, hit all the clips and placed the car in all the right zones and qualified second. On a side note, I'm very happy with how my qualifying has been going this season, I've made top 3 at every event!

On Sunday, we had about 3 hours of practice before the competition started. We used the better part of the morning to adjust our set up to match the dry conditions. We made a few changes and overall I was pretty happy with the car. The only thing we lacked was a bit more gear ratio in the first bank, as I was on the rev limiter through most it, but our gearing was perfect for the rest of the track and the FR-S was extremely fast and had a ton of grip!

We entered the Top 16 against Tomy Boisvert-bellemare. Tomy and I have battled many times, he's a very smooth and consistent driver, and is also very good at doing tight tandem. I was first to lead, and pretty much did the same consistent lap I had been doing all weekend. Tomy ran a decent lap behind me, but just couldn't match my speed in the second sector of the track. On my follow lap, I stuck close to him all the way around the course and had a good feeling when we pulled up in front of the crowd to wait for judging. The moment I stopped the car, one of the officials noticed some flames through my bumper – my car was on fire! Before I could get out of my car, Tomy had already jumped out, fire extinguisher in hand, and he quickly put out the fire. If you were watching the live stream on Periscope, I’m sure you were as impressed as I was and it really demonstrates the spirit and sportsmanship of drifting. I can't thank Tomy enough for his help! With the fire out, we learned I had won the round, which left us about 25 minutes to tow the car back to the pits, figure out what happened and to fix it. Turns out that the oil drain line on the turbo had come loose, causing oil to leak onto the manifold, resulting in fire. We tightened it up, threw on a fresh set of Yokohama Advan's and lined up for the next battle.

In the great 8 I was to go against Marin Guilbault. Marin is a decent driver from Ontario that has been in the Pro-Am scene now for about 4 years and has been trying to go pro for the last 2 years. I had a feeling going into this battle that it was going to get ugly. I led first and once again followed my qualifying line. Unfortunately, while I slowed down in the braking zone, Marin bashed into me causing quite a bit of body damage to the side of my FR-S. I managed to save the car from spinning and continued my run. On my follow lap, Marin had missed a shift real bad, and after running his car into the dirt on the top of the bank, I shut it down behind me since I knew I had won that battle. On to the final 4…

We had about 10 minutes to check the car over and fix what we could after the contact with Marin. Something in the rear suspension was definitely effected as we could see the alignment didn't look right on the left rear wheel, but our next run was coming up fast and we didn’t have time to start replacing arms and realign the car. So we did the best we could and lined up for the next run against Alex Gosselin. He was looking good all weekend so we knew it was going to be a fight. I led first, initiated at the same point I had done all weekend but this time my FR-S didn’t slow down the way I expected it to and I washed out into the gravel on the top of the bank, zeroing out on that run. For my follow lap, we pushed hard to get a ''one more time" call from the judges. I initiated right on him, and stuck about a foot off his door the entire way around the first bank! We came into the braking zone and I was right on him, but he slowed down a bit more than I anticipated, which bogged my car down. I tried to spool the 2J back up by clutch kicking hard but on the third kick one of the rear axles snapped, causing the car to be one wheel drive and pretty much ending our weekend.

Overall it was one wild weekend, and at the end of it all, I'm still in first place with respect to the championship points race. We'll fix our Scion FR-S up and come back strong at Round 3 of Formula Drift Canada in Trois Rivieres!

Thanks for the support!

Didn't make it to Round 2 of Formula Drift Canada? The team @ScionCanada has been streaming the race live on Periscope. Check out the replay of the Top 16 below.

In Pursuit of Sasquatch

Tucked away deep in the greenery of British Columbia is a hulking creature that has surprisingly won our hearts. The Sasquatch (or Bigfoot, or Grass Man, or Skunk Ape, or simply “Harry”) has been a celebrity in the west for far longer.

“He’s a contemporary cultural icon,” states Adam McGirr of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club (BCSCC), an association dedicated to the research and preservation of Sasquatch and other cryptids (unknown creatures). “Kids love him, and Quatchi’s become a representative of Canada,” McGirr enthuses.

But while Quatchi is upbeat, huggable and the life of the party, the real Sasquatch is intimidatingly large and, despite its popularity, incredibly elusive. Sasquatch sightings have grown fewer and farther between as of late, possibly due to a decrease in population.

The BCSCC isn’t deterred by Sasquatch’s recent elusiveness, though, McGirr is one of over 70 intrepid Sasquatch Investigators with the BCSCC that commit their free time to interviewing witnesses and pursuing the truth behind Bigfoot. Their location is key: the west coast of Vancouver has the highest concentration of sightings in North America, since food is plentiful for the omnivore – a feast of salmon, deer livers, and rodents is readily available.

“Bigfoot has been everywhere,” remarks John Kirk, President and Chief Investigator, who sits down with McGirr to share his personal encounters. “Sightings have been reported in every province except for Prince Edward Island. These sightings have been amidst wildlife, and in suburban areas near highways and civilization.”

Of course, Sasquatch enthusiasts are not without challengers. Sasquatch skeptics often hold campaigns against the critter, dismissing both the existence of and the expeditions in search of the creature as the stuff of crackpots. “Belief is one thing, conclusion is another,” Kirk states boldly.

The Pursuit of Sasquatch was featured in Issue 2 of Scion Magazine. To read more visit: scion.ca/magazine

Speed Academy Begins Prepping the Targa FR-S for the Ontario-1500

Peter and Dave from Speed Academy are back in action, preparing the Scion FR-S they ran so successfully at Targa Newfoundland last year for a new event this year called the Ontario-1500.

We’re talking seven straight days of Time Attack, Autocross, and Drag racing at seven different tracks across Ontario in what they describe as the Canadian version of One Lap of America.

Rather than punishing themselves by cutting out a roll cage like they started things off with last year, Peter and Dave decided to ease their way into the project this year by installing front and rear Raceseng shock top mounts along with Raceseng’s A/C Delete Kit.

The Raceseng front top mounts were chosen for the extra camber adjustability they’ll allow when setting up the alignment for maximum grip at the race track, and these mounts are also caster adjustable. Plus, as you can see, the quality of the billet aluminum machine work is truly top notch, as is the quality of the bearings and hardware used, so Peter and Dave are confident they’ll stand up well to seven straight days of racing in the Ontario-1500 come mid-September.

The rear top mounts use a clever offset design that allows the rear dampers to have an extra 2-inches of travel compared to the standard mounts. On a lowered car with single adjustable ride height dampers like the KW Clubsports on this FR-S, the extra rear shock travel will really help Peter and Dave put the power down coming out of any bumpy corners.

The Raceseng A/C Delete Kit means the Speed Academy FR-S is now completely free of the factory air conditioning system, allowing them to save 31 lbs on a car that’s already very lightweight. With Ontario-1500 being in mid-September, Peter and Dave are confident they won’t miss the A/C, but they’re going to pack extra deodorant just in case.

And as you’ll see in the first of their video series covering the Ontario-1500 build, we also get a sneak peek at the new wheels and tires the car will be running this year, a stunning set of Racing Titanium Blue finished Advan Racing GT wheels wrapped in super sticky Toyo Proxes R1R tires.

As you can see, Peter’s a bit of a fan of these tires!

Up next the Speed Academy crew has a very special aerodynamic upgrade for the FR-S, but in the meantime be sure to check out Episode 1 in the series.

Lots more videos and blog updates coming at you from Speed Academy over the next few months, so jump on YouTube and subscribe to their channel to keep up-to-date on everything these two go-fast junkies are up to.

Great Scott! Q&A with the man behind PlayOn!

It’s not common to meet someone who turned their favourite childhood activity into a career. Scott Hill is one of those people.

Inspired by his life long love of hockey, Scott’s on a mission to bring back play one rink at a time. We caught up with him between games at Vancouver’s PlayOn! at the Coquitlam Centre to talk about what motivates him and whether the Stanley Cup will ever return to Canada.

So where did you get the idea for PlayOn!?

Well there are two angles to the story. The first story is when I finished my MBA and really wanted to work in professional sports and couldn’t find a job. I was 25 years old, applied to 30 NHL teams and at the time none of them were hiring. I was committed to doing something in the sport of hockey, because it’s always been my passion. The second part is that I’ve always loved playing road hockey. I used to play with my brothers in Kingsville, Ontario – our little hometown of 5000 people. In my university days, I was always known as the hockey guy. I was the president of the hockey club and used to organize ice hockey tournaments.

After I graduated I just saw an opportunity to start a road hockey tournament. I recognized that there are actually more road hockey players than there were ice hockey players in Canada. So I put a business plan together and pitched the NHL on it. It was a bit of a process but eventually I got their support and mobilized this concept for a national grassroots sports festival built on street hockey. It’s been 12 years and every day has been a grind. But long and short, I was just a super passionate hockey guy who wanted to make a difference in the hockey world. I saw an opportunity, was naïve enough to think I could do it, and that’s about it.

The event describes the importance of “taking back the street” – what is it about PlayOn! that keeps the list of participants and number of events growing year over year?

The slogan “taking back the streets” is really a push to encourage people to play again. When we started this in 2002, there was a lot of negative publicity and press, particularly in Toronto, about a bylaw that didn’t let kids play on the streets. The same thing happened in Halifax. So we built off some of that momentum and the slogan became our way to push back on the policy-makers of the nation to say that kids should be allowed to use streets to play their favourite sports, just as they do all over the world. In South America, they’re playing soccer. In the U.S., they’re playing basketball. I lived in Taiwan for a bit and it was baseball there. In Canada, we play hockey. We’re just reminding the kids that it’s okay to play and we’re providing an opportunity to do just that in an organized way.

Why are so many professional players hanging around your events?

Well I think it’s because they just really love to play. For example, last week in Kelowna, we had Curtis Lazar participate. He’s a Memorial Cup Champion, captain of the Memorial Cup winning team, current Ottawa senator, and Captain of Team Canada of the World Junior Champions. He just put together his own team and was super down to earth. We don’t want to aggrandize anyone’s celebrity here; everyone is just a road hockey player. And most NHL players got their start the same way as everyone else – they just started playing on the street.

Tell us about the Redwood Cup. Where did the name come from?

The Redwood Cup was our attempt to create a championship trophy that was really something that any Canadian could win. We designed it so that it would be the same size as the Stanley Cup so when a team wins they can actually physically hold it over their heads with their hands up. It’s named after the street I grew up on – Redwood Road. It’s a tribute to my parents and my brothers and it’s really built a following. People don’t play because they want to win money or prizes, they play because they want to win that cup.

Do you think that PlayOn is inherently Canadian? Any plans for expansion?

I do think there is something unique about road hockey and Canada. While it could work in some US centers, the hockey night in Canada brand is something specific to Canada, so that wouldn’t work. But we don't lack opportunity to expand within the country. We have 18 more cities in Canada that have requested the rights to host this event. I think more so, we’re looking at expanding it to other sports – street soccer, street basketball.

What sort of advice can you give someone looking at starting their own business to fulfilling their dreams?

Well you certainly need some business acumen if you want to try to start a business. You need to understand your market and put a plan together. Once you get passed that, really, it’s all about believing in yourself and never giving up. You hear these clichés all the time, about how many naysayers there’ll be and they really are all over the place. But if you really believe you can achieve something, and are not willing to listen to those who say that you can’t do it, then eventually you’ll succeed. I love being an entrepreneur. But what I love most about PlayOn! is that it matters to so many Canadians on such an intimate level. And that’s worth protecting. Even now in our 12th year, we still face challenges. We have partnerships that come and go, and we have to learn to work through that.

So how do you find the right partner?

Well, a great partnership provides an opportunity for us to use corporate resources to lift the program. When you look at a great product like Scion, it’s a bit of a niche market, caters to a young audience, cars are fun to drive, reasonably affordable, and they’re still building awareness in a lot of the country. So what we deliver to our partners, in addition to a young male demographic that spans all of Canada, is loyalty and love. If Scion can come out, bring a few of their hottest cars and set up next to our feature rink, and provide our demographic an opportunity to test drive them all weekend long? That’s a great fit, it makes the PlayOn! an awesome experience.

I guess it helps that we can fit two large hockey bags in the trunk of a tC! So what does the future look like for PlayOn! and Scott Hill?

Well, that’s a question that I struggle with every day. Once you’ve achieved what you’ve dreamed of achieving. We have to decide how long I want to continue with this. I may exit it at some point, because I feel like I’ve done as much as I could do. But for now, it’s business as usual. This is our final event of the year and the next step is the Redwood Cup in Lethbridge and we’re going to put on a good show. After that, we’ll meet with our partners and start talking about 2016 and beyond.

So, since we’re talking hockey, do you think we’ll ever see a Canadian team win a Stanley Cup again?

Well it may be a while for us Leaf fans to celebrate, but Calgary and Edmonton sure had some good drafts and made some good trades the other day. But the future’s bright, especially in Edmonton with the new arena. So there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to win a cup again soon. But I’m speaking about Canadian teams generally. Ha!

Cyrious Report: Return to the Podium

It’s been over 2 years since I've stood on the top of the podium and feels great to be back!

We returned victorious from the first round of Formula Drift Canada at Autodrome St. Eustache, and I'm very proud of our team and my FR-S on a long awaited win.

The two weeks leading up to this event were hectic to say the least. I spent most of the break fixing the car from our crash in Florida. It came down to the wire, with parts showing up only days before the event, and then finding other parts that were damaged the day we were about to leave. Luckily, I was able to get it all sorted out with just enough time to make the six-hour trip to Montreal.

The event was held over the weekend. Saturday was just a practice day, which was great because I figured there would be some bugs to work out of the FR-S. However, everything felt right the moment we got on the track. I was feeling comfortable with the car very quickly and after 10 laps of consistently hitting the same line, we decided to shut it down and save the car/tires for the main event!

Sunday morning we had two-hours of practice before moving straight into qualifying due to the stormy weather approaching. I did about six laps in practice, all relativity the same – very smooth, smoky and consistent. We threw on a fresh set of AD08's and went into qualifying. My first lap out I did the same line I had been doing all weekend, which put us in second place. On my next lap, I pushed a bit harder and got a slightly better score but got edged out by two other drivers so we ended qualifying third.

The battles that followed were pretty tough. The competition pushed the FR-S and I to do some of the best driving we’ve ever done together. We had an edge on everyone! The FR-S just seemed to have more grip than the rest of the field. On all my lead laps I would gap the competition by at least one or two car lengths, and then on my follow laps I was able to stick on everyone. We fought our way through with no "one more time" battles, and the judges’ decisions were all definitive. Nobody was able to touch us that day, from the Top 16 to the win!

We will carry this momentum into Round 2 of Formula Drift Canada in July. I truly love drifting the FR-S. After two years and a lot of hard work, it’s the car that I’ve always dreamed it could be!

I hope you had a chance to check out the live stream on Periscope. You can now watch the team and I get ready on race day by following @ScionCanada on the app. I enjoyed answering your questions and I'm stoked you get to see the action live from the side of the track!

I'm very excited for the rest of the season and looking forward to the next battle. Thanks for the support!