We woke up early this morning to make the four-hour trek back to Tokyo. Ayako kept apologizing for the drive, but it didn't bother us at all because we enjoyed the opportunity to sight see. We also took a slightly different route back so we got to see Mount Fuji up close and personal! Unfortunately, it’s hard to capture a picture because of the haze, which is surprising because Japan is so clean! You can walk down an alley in Tokyo and there won’t be any trash on the ground. They are also really conscious about recycling and we even had bins set up to recycle at the track.

Once we arrived in Tokyo we checked into the beautiful Grand Palace Hotel where we sadly parted ways with Masami who needed to return to work. After a quick lunch we boarded the subway train and headed to the Tokyo Skytree, which is the tallest building in Japan. Being that high really gave a good perspective of Tokyo and allowed us to see just how big the city is! We also learned that each school has a swimming pool so that everyone can learn how to swim! 

One more quick train ride took us to the Asakusa temple, which is known as one of Tokyo’s most colorful and popular temples, and it definitely was! The temple was built in 628, but has been restored to maintain its beauty. Although Trevor, Eric and myself aren’t Buddhist, we still took part in the ceremonial steps so we could fully experience it. There was also plenty of shops around for us to grab some memorabilia.

For dinner we were treated to a shabu shabu meal, which is a Japanese specialty where you cook meat and vegetables in a big pot at your table. There are two different cooking sauces and two different dipping sauces. It’s another thing that I would suggest you look up on Google, because it’s very in depth but interesting to know!

Our plane leaves tomorrow afternoon so we will be doing some last minute souvenir shopping before taking the train to the airport. With that being said, that concludes the daily updates from here in Japan. Congratulations Trevor! Everyone at GNCC Racing is glad to have you in the family and proud of you for coming out on top, even with a bruised hand. And of course, thank you to the whole JNCC staff who opened their arms and welcomed us into their wonderful country. This has been a trip of a lifetime, and I'm proud and thankful that I got to experience it.