Hey guys, this is the first of my entries in the saga of experiences from the Land of the Rising Sun. So far so good. Well, things have been bumpy at best, not to say I haven't had the time of my life. First off, our flight from Chicago to Tokyo was delayed, and it took me two movie lengths until I realized I could plug my headphones into the armrest to listen to the films once we did board the plane. When our posse touched down in Japan, I noticed the drop in temperature even before I noticed myself being unable to read anything in this strange land. We met up with our friend Masami at the Tokyo airport, and he showed us to our bus. Equipped with a case of epic jetlag and 23,000 yen, I looked to my right at oncoming traffic and knew our journey had truly begun. For the first hour of traveling toward our destination (the track), my immense fatigue due to a lack of sleep on the plane gave in to awe, which flooded my soul when I gazed upon the sea of neon signs strung across the buildings like Christmas lights. Next, we stopped at a 7eleven (go figure) and, despite the title, this stop made it clear that we definately werent in Kansas anymore. The bathrooms were very different, and we ordered our light meals from a vending machine, and our coke was in a strange cannister made of an unknown material.
After many more hours aboard the bus, we arrived at our replacement hotel. We couldn't stay at the resort at which we were meant to stay because it had become to late to travel thanks to our delayed flight. Even though it was really cold, and although my roommate (Trevor Russell, co-documentarian) and my own combined intellect were no match for the chicken scratch ridden thermostat, I'm glad we stopped at the little hotel. We woke at 7:30 a.m. , and stumbled onto the porch to be greeted by a beautiful Koi Pond, and a sweet system of hand made bridges. After crossing the labrinth of bridges we arrived at a coosey house. Where we met our new friends, and owners of the inn, Kunio and Hiroaki.
They treated us to breakfast and, after hours more of conversation and waiting for our next bus, sent us on our way. Before I left, Kunio gave me a gift. I'm still not sure what it is, but I've narrowed it down between a flower holder and a musical instrument. Our bus then took us to the track, which was very unique, and surprisingly impressive. There's a killer hill climb and a brutal downhill immediately after, both of which will probably breed plenty enough carnage for Jason Hooper, photographer extrordinaire, to take advantage of and get many interesting shots for the website and magazine.
However, and somewhat fortunately, the race isn't for another two days.So we get to explore Japan for awhile on our broken path to the seemingly mythical hotel. The next stop for lunch was humbling at best. Masami treated us to the coolest meal of my life so far. The establishment is a sushi bar where the sushi parades around the restaurant on a little train. If you wanted something in particular, you order it on a touch screen, it comes to you on an express track and stops right next to you. The only problem was that we thought it was a buffet. So 37 plates later, Masami received the bill. I was overtaken by guilt because we cost him a lot of money. He assured us it was okay, but i still wasnt entirely comfortable with the scenario.
We boarded the bus again. From our lunch place, we headed to a very famous samurai castle. Unfortunately, even with the help of our translators, I could not make out one word of the tour other than "no cameras". So I only managed to enjoy the castle visually. This place was, however, a good chance for me to use some of my japanese my friend Naioki tought me. i was bumping into people on purpose so i could tell them "gomenasai" (sorry) and in the gift shop I could ask the clerk "icura?" (how much is this.)
After we finished our tour of the samurai castle, we headed again toward our final destination. the hotel. We stopped yet again at a saki brewery. All the adults got to sample saki and beer. Hooper said you could light your burp after drinking the potent elixer. I think this was Hollywood's favorite stop so far.
We boarded the bus again, and passed out. Finally, we all awoke at the hotel, which was much nicer than I expected, especially because we are attending a race. There must not be super 8s in Japan. because I'm sure we would've found it if there was. All the same this luxurious hotel is a great change of pace. I thought we had our dose of adventure for the day, but I was wrong again, as I usually am in japan. We were summoned to dinner at 7:30 japan time; this was perhaps the most upscale dinner I ever had, Masami again treated us to a nice dinner. It was a 5 course meal, consisting of fish of some sort, more fish of some sort, and.. okay I have no idea what any of it was. It was kinda hit and miss, some was good and some of the food was a tad too japanese for me just yet.
I then stumbled upstairs to my fancy room, and fell asleep the second I hit the tiny eastern bed. It was about 9 then, and it is now 4 in the morning. I still am not used to the time change. We have to be awake in 3 three hours, and I hope I can get some more sleep before then. There is a big day ahead of us. I will return to my laptop tomorrow night to record more of the JNCC team's experiences. saionara.
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