Well it has been awhile since I've written. Thought awhile why that was. Did I lose interest, did I get busy (-ier), what was it? While busier is probably true, I don't think that was it - I think it was just that Japan became normal life. At first every turn, every day was something new, something outside the norm. Now, unique people, unique fashion, constant confusion and half-understandings is just standard protocol. Anyway, since the last time I wrote I hit the half way mark of my stay here. That is something that weighs heavy on you; the realization that you're on the bottom half of the tank, that the time on this blessing is winding down. I try to push that thought aside and ensure I do something every day so when I look back I won't feel I've wasted time.
This past week was pretty action packed. Last weekend was the Formula 1 Japan Grand Prix in Suzuka and less than 8 hours after returning to Tokyo from the race I had to be on a plane to Delhi, India.
Anyone who knows me well, knows I love Formula 1; after all it is the pinnacle of speed, power, and engineering in racing form. As we don't have Formula 1 in the U.S. (I'll keep my economic conspiracy theories as to why that is out of this post), soon as I confirmed in early 2010 I'd be headed to Japan literally the first thing I did was buy two excellent tickets to the Suzuka Grand Prix. Well finally, the weekend of October 8 had arrived, and it was racing time. In standard form, Sae and I worked most of the early morning hours, packed in about 20 minutes, and darted out the door with fury as to not miss the Shinkansen out of Tokyo. We opted for a cab to Tokyo station this time as we cut it a bit too close to take the local train. We made it on the bullet train, and were on our way to Nagoya. From Nagoya we had to get on a local train to head towards Suzuka. We were SO LUCKY this trip, as Sae's friends were kind enough to host us all WEEKEND in their fabulous condo just outside of Suzuka. This allowed us to balance racing with great friend time, and not to mention save us a ton on lodging as the hotel rates are insane when F1 comes to town.
I had purchased the three day pass with practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and the main race on Sunday. Friday was excellent, after meeting up with Kazumi (Sae's friend) and visiting for awhile we headed to the track to catch the second practice session. I got a lot of great shots, especially because on practice day you're allowed to go in any seating area, not just your ticketed area. Sae and I walked the track, saw the cars from many angles, and were quite pleased when we decided our tickets offered us some of the best seats in the house (for normal folks, outside the $6k VIP seats obviously). Like all racing events food and merchandise vendors were plentiful, so we enjoyed some unhealthy track food which is a bit different here (noodle dishes, octopus balls, etc.). I did give a go at one of the more unhealthy items I've seen in Japan to date; which was an odd beef, egg, bacon burger contraption - ended up being not at all worth the calorie count. After practice, we did a bit of shopping, picked up an excellent Red Bull F1 hat, Sae got a Ferrari hat, and we picked up some ponchos as we heard reports of declining weather. Leaving the track on Friday we had misjudged the travel time due to the crowd. This caused us to miss our dinner reservation with Nito-kun and Kazumi, but we recovered with a late night dinner at a Japanese tapas place.
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| From October - Suzuka |
Saturday... oh Saturday... Sae and I got up and headed to the track right on time. While on the way the rains started and never stopped. We got off the bus, ponchos on, hats on to keep the pounding rain off our faces. We made our way to the track and our seats. As we sat down we saw the pace car pulling in after doing a safety check, followed quickly by the announcers broadcast of a 30 minute delay for qualifying start time. 30 minutes turned into 60, turned into 90. Finally the writing was on the wall, no qualifying was happening today. Sae and I committed to this fact about 10 minutes prior to the official announcement, allowing us to leave the track ahead of most, and probably shaving at least 90 minutes off our travel time. We made it home, shoes water logged, toes pruned, and generally just soggy to the bone. We dried off, and by this time, although not seeing a single car make a lap, it was already 5 PM! So we changed and headed out for a fun dinner at a local japanese bar/eatery. It was filled with locals mostly it seemed, great little place. There was a Yakuza guy there with his pose, and his general presence and arrogance I noticed immediately. I attend to attract confrontation with such folks, so I just minded my business and enjoyed my friends. It turned out to be a great evening with great friends. We drank a ton of Sho-chu (thanks to Kazumi's reserved bottle at the place!) and laughed the hours away. After returning home we stayed up and watched "This is It" of Michael Jackson. Wow what an excellent piece, and a view into a side of MJ and the world that envelopes him I had never seen.
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!
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| From October - Suzuka |
Finally, the day had arrived, last nights weather cleared earlier than expected and the sky was a bright blue with a few whispy pleasant clouds. One thing I like about Formula 1, the length of the race. It's not like Daytona which takes 5 hours, or Indy 500 which is a day long investment. Formula 1 is full bore, pedal to the metal, packed into a nice 70-80 minute package normally. We arrived at the track, got our seats, and were ready to get the party started. The race was excellent, as expected Vetal and Weber started 1,2 and ended 1,2 with little challenge for the Red Bull team from the rest of the field. The most action happened a few positions back from Kobyashi; which was excellent as he is obviously the local favorite. i got a lot of great photos and decent video segments - definitely something I won't forget for a long, long time. I am so pleased I went and got the seats I did. It was one of those things, like most professional sports events for me, that you absolutely must do once, and when you're done you are so pleased you did it, but know that there is no better way to view the event than in your home, way too much food on the coffee table, 60+" screen, and surround sound. We left the track immediately after the race; after all we needed to get back, have dinner with Nito-kun and Kazumi; then on the Shinkansen back to Tokyo as I had to head to Delhi in the early AM.
In summary, the trip was excellent, I am so pleased we got to go, and yet again amazed by the wonderful friends my wife has; all over the world. A HUGE, TREMENDOUS thank you to Nito-kun and Kazumi for allowing us to stay at their place, and dedicating so much of their valuable time to visiting with us that weekend.
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