Good Bye Japan Till We Meet Again

wanted to say THANK YOU to all our friends in Japan. We enjoyed every minute of our time with you. We made so many special memories. I'm still trying to get my blogging done so I can always go back and read all about our first Autumn in Japan. I miss all of you already and am looking forward to some visits from you to Florida.

Narita International Airport

We bought a few souvenirs for the 2020 Olympics that are to be held in Japan.

Marlon paid extra so I could experience the elite lounge in the airport while we waited for our flight to LA to visit Audrey.

 

Utsumoniyia, Japan - Noriko Arrives

I love that our friendship shows in our faces.  No matter how long we are apart, our friendship starts the same as it did before.  I appreciate Norriko came all the way from Nagoya to Utsunomiya to have dinner with me.

The Three Amigo's are finally all back together.  A friendship I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Taka chose a Japanese style dinner at MyStays Hotel.

Haha, we are only pretending to be sitting on the floor!  There is recess under the table so we can sit comfortably.

Vegetables and other in a dashi sauce.  Daikon (Japanese radish), tofu, boiled egg, a cabbage roll, something named Konyak and pasta shaped things made from fish paste.  Everything was delicious.

Karage, or fried chicken.

Pickled okra.

Fried daikon.

Salmon salad.

I ate all of this so don't ask Marlon how it tasted.  Tomato tempura and cheese.   Mmmmmmm

More tempura.  A couple kinds of fish, mushrooms, eggplant and other vegetables.

Noriko showed me how to make a chopstick holder with my chopstick paper cover.

Kanpei to the best friends ever.

Noriko gave me this beautiful picture frame.  What a beautiful gift.

Nice to see Kurumi again.  She came to the dinner after work.  She even took us home so we didn't have to take the bus.  She is such a sweet heart.

A Special Day with Friends at Motegi Japan - Hitomi

Road trip with Hitomi and Takahiro to attend Honda Thanks Day 2019 at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture.  We went on Sunday, November 10, 2019.  This year's Honda Thanks Day, marks the 60th year since Honda began participating in the World Championship in 1959.  I read that 17,500 fans attended this event which includes Marlon & I.  　

Motegi is a motorsport raceway located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Its name comes from the facility having two race tracks: a 1.549 mi oval and a 2.98 mi road course. It was built in 1997 by Honda, as part of the company's effort to bring the Indy Car racing to Japan.

Yes, I used this Japanese style bathroom only once while in Japan.  Most have been converted to Western-style toilets.

Lots of bikers coming for the events today at Motegi.

Parked and heading to the entrance gate.

 Taka & Hitomi's daughter Kurumi, works here.  We enjoyed watching her in action as she directed the drivers in from their race.

Look out, here I come!

Must be in last place, no one behind him.

Lunch Time - Hotdogs :-)

Wooden figurines in the woods leading to the next event.  This is the only location in Japan for this type of motorcycle riding.

Next we head to the NSX GtTT race.  In the race, the positions of the seven cars frequently changed. Yamamoto made the final lap at the beginning, but in the end, Auer emerged to the top and finished first. Yamamoto was in 2nd place and Nojiri was in 3rd place. Auer was in trouble at the start, but said, “I'm glad I was able to finish the end of the season with a great victory”.

SUPER GT Series (SGT) GT500 class

TEAM KUNIMITSU

#1 Naoki Yamamoto

Jenson Button

Naoki Yamamoto

DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING

#1 Naoki Yamamoto

#5 Nirei Fukuzumi

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, former F1 driver David Coulthard did doughnuts after every lap to entertain the fans. I could not believe all the smoke. I couldn't even see him after the 3 doughnuts.

Kumi, who works at Motegi, also designs for them.  One of her designs is located on the side of the Motegi buses. Wow, what an awesome design!

Before leaving the Twin Ring Motegi we toured the Honda Museum.  There was a very good display of Honda's history detailing the progression of Mr. Honda's success. Mr. Soichiro Honda founded the Honda Technical Research Institute in 1946.  It was incorporated as Honda Motor in 1948.  They began building motorcycles in 1949 and soon after was building cars and racing with early success.

  Off to dinner at a famous Tonkatsu restaurant.  We sat  Japanese style, the best we could anyway.

Hmmmm the food was delicious.  No wonder it is so famous!