On Monday the 21st of September 2015, my OH and i made our trip from Cork to Narita in Tokyo.
The first flight to Amsterdam was pretty nice since I feel asleep and
basically slept through the whole flight. We left around 6AM 21st September from Cork and only had one Stop in between.
From Amsterdam we flew directly to Narita which was also surprisingly easy going and worked out perfectly time-wise.
Due the time-zones we arrived in Tokyo a day later, it was around 8AM on the 22nd September.From Amsterdam we flew directly to Narita which was also surprisingly easy going and worked out perfectly time-wise.
This was a bit head-wrecking to be honest, but it helped with the jet-lag (which was almost non-existent).
It simply couldn't be any better when we arrived in Japan.
First of all it was a bank holiday over there, so all seemed pretty relaxed and people seemed happy. The weather was just amazing (over 24 degrees) so it felt like we finally got to experience a bit of our (lost) summer.
But what made all of this even better is, that we got picked up in a jzx90!!
One forum member (DriftIreland - Andrew who lives in Japan) kindly picked us up from the airport to take us to the Nikko Circuit for a practice day (to watch).
I still cant believe how all of this worked out. I'm forever grateful to Andrew :) .
So how it went down:
-left Cork
-arrived in Japan
-got picked up in an awesome JDM car
-dropped stuff at the hotel
-road trip through Japan to the Nikko Circuit
- and much more after
- and much more after
So as mentioned, off we went for a road trip to visit the legendary Nikko Circuit. It was about 2,5 hours away but with some stops in between it took us a bit longer.
The sun was blasting down and it was absolutely roasting. I never appreciated an air con more in a car haha.
The best part was, that we saw loads of (random) stuff on the way, we also got to see loads of different (sport) cars and a good few of them were 180sx, Skylines and other cool modified ones.
We also spotted a few parked up 180sx, Silvias etc and it was just awesome how you randomly pass them whilst driving around.
The sun was blasting down and it was absolutely roasting. I never appreciated an air con more in a car haha.
The best part was, that we saw loads of (random) stuff on the way, we also got to see loads of different (sport) cars and a good few of them were 180sx, Skylines and other cool modified ones.
We also spotted a few parked up 180sx, Silvias etc and it was just awesome how you randomly pass them whilst driving around.
We arrived just after lunch time at the track, at this stage it was absolutely roasting. I am definitely not used to 27 degrees anymore.
The atmosphere at the track was really relaxed and everybody was just doing their own thing.
You could see everybody's tyres and tools stacked up behind their spot and there was also one or two small merchanides stands. They were quiet amused when they saw us with dropped jaws haha.
So stickers and a few others goodies were bought and I was happy out ha.
We obviously went throught the pits to have a look at all the cars and i was happy to see a few girls with their s-bodies over there who put on an awesome show on the track.
It seemed all so normal and relaxed, and the most surreal part was, to actually watch the drifting.
Even the beginner's group was simply amazing, but when the pro's came out to slide their car arounds......mind blowing!
Not only was it absolutly crazy to see all this right in front of your eyes (instead on a laptop/phone screen)...but also the level of drifting and the skills of these people.
It was like watching a couple of James Dean's and Jack Shanahan's throwing their cars around haha.
But have a look yourself:
After a couple of hours and a being bit sun-burned, we decided to head back to Tokyo.
We spontaneously stopped a couple of times for either food (traditional restaurant), magazine- store's (Takyuo) or UP GARAGE!
Yes thats right!!! we came across one UP Garage store and simply had to stop.
You could see everybody's tyres and tools stacked up behind their spot and there was also one or two small merchanides stands. They were quiet amused when they saw us with dropped jaws haha.
So stickers and a few others goodies were bought and I was happy out ha.
We obviously went throught the pits to have a look at all the cars and i was happy to see a few girls with their s-bodies over there who put on an awesome show on the track.
It seemed all so normal and relaxed, and the most surreal part was, to actually watch the drifting.
Even the beginner's group was simply amazing, but when the pro's came out to slide their car arounds......mind blowing!
Not only was it absolutly crazy to see all this right in front of your eyes (instead on a laptop/phone screen)...but also the level of drifting and the skills of these people.
It was like watching a couple of James Dean's and Jack Shanahan's throwing their cars around haha.
But have a look yourself:
After a couple of hours and a being bit sun-burned, we decided to head back to Tokyo.
We spontaneously stopped a couple of times for either food (traditional restaurant), magazine- store's (Takyuo) or UP GARAGE!
Yes thats right!!! we came across one UP Garage store and simply had to stop.
UP Garage is as amazing as it sounds (or looks). We couldnt believe all the parts/bumpers/etc in there and there was so many things that we wanted to buy. It was really cruel to be there but not be able to buy stuff. Well small stuff we purchased alright but we couldnt bring the incredible cheap side skirts or bumpers they had for sale. Or other handy engine parts.
Just crazy really!!
After a lot of day-dreaming and planning how to get stuff home the cheapest, we finally left and headed for Tokyo.
Andrew wasnt bothered at all to drive around with us (or so it seemed ha), so we got to see a lot of Tokyos night life and also crossed the very famous Shibuya cross, which you can see in Tokyo Drift.
Another absolut surreal experience that i still cant believe!
I tried to soak in as much as i could...all the lights, the people, the clean and perfect roads, other cars or even sport cars. All of this was just amazing.
This day was truly packed with everything really.
The best part was, that we got to experience the real nature of Japan and it's people. We were never interested in visiting any tourists spots and with a local as a guide, we had a very good insight of Japan's rural parts, drift culture or even town-experience.
The only negative surprise we encountered was all the tolls on Japan's roads. They added up to over 100 Euro for that day (in fairness we traveled a good bit), so this was a bummer.
However, it was well worth it and i suppose their roads wouldn't be that nice and perfect if nobody would pay for them.
Now...i know this has been a long post but this was just the first day and it is not over yet.
We then finally made it back to the hotel around 1PM. At this stage we were awake/up for over 36 hours if not longer, so we were simply wrecked. Happy but wrecked.
I hope you enjoyed the first post.
We surely did! :)
