Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 3 (Day 2-1)

*This article isLamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 2 (Day 1-2)"Continued from..."

GIRO Japan 2024 Day 2: Island hopping

It's the second day of GIRO Japan 2024.

It was cloudy from the morning, but the original forecast of rain had been changed to cloudy, so I was very grateful for that alone.

It seemed to be raining until around dawn(?), and the ground was wet, but the rain had already stopped by this point.

Breakfast is served buffet style in the hotel restaurant.

The breakfast was a mix of Japanese and Western cuisine, with ingredients unique to Okinawa added, making it an irresistible feast for the senses.

Oh. I had something like frozen guavas juice that I was planning to drink after the meal, but I forgot about it (it's too late now lol)!

After breakfast there was a drivers' meeting for the second day of GIRO Japan.

On this day too, route instructions and precautions were shared.

In the morning, each person received a radio and went to the parking lot where their cars were parked.

The Ryukyu Hotel where we were staying that day is roughly located in the lower (south) part of Okinawa's main island, but on the second day we headed north from there, to about halfway up the main island.

The touring point for this day was "island hopping," and we crossed several bridges from island to island.

Another day we will be driving around Okinawa in the Huracan EVO.

I had been thinking about driving at some point on this tour, but when I watched from the passenger seat on the first day, I noticed that the roads in Okinawa were surprisingly narrow and had many bumps, so I decided it would be dangerous for me to drive since I'm not very used to driving a Lamborghini.

In the end, I ended up enjoying the whole trip relaxing in the passenger seat.

Well, we're leaving again today.

The race started in order, starting with Group A.

On the first day, we only drove on local roads, but on the second day, we would head north all the way, so we would start on the highway.

So, first I drove to the entrance to the highway, but there was suddenly a huge traffic jam.

It was said that this area of Naha gets quite congested in the mornings and evenings, but on this day the traffic was even worse, probably due to road construction work.

However, it was because of the traffic jam that I was able to take my time looking at the Okinawa-style barricades at the construction site.

There are also some cute shisa statues.

Furthermore, during this traffic jam, the navigator gave us a little tip:

"There aren't many foreign cars in Okinawa, and even if there are, they are usually luxury rental cars."

I was listening to this story, and just after he finished, a Hummer that didn't have a "wa" number passed by next to me, so the timing was quite funny (laughs).

Just before entering the highway, one lane was closed due to construction work, so as we entered the highway, cars had to merge one at a time from both lanes, and unexpectedly, a car from a driving school practicing was stuck between two Lamborghinis.

Of course, I kept a good distance and didn't go too fast (= quietly) while driving behind the car, but even so, I think I would have been nervous if I had been sandwiched between two Lamborghini cars while practicing in the driving school car.

Once we got on the highway, the traffic jam cleared up and we were able to drive comfortably.

The tour consisted of following a lead car driven by a professional driver, and the participants also agreed not to overtake the car in front or drive alongside each other, so naturally, I think everyone drove with very good manners.

Is that really okay to drive a Lamborghini?! People who like driving may think so, but this time we are not driving on a circuit, but rather touring around the city in a group of many Lamborghinis, so I think this is also good.

ANA InterContinental Manza Beach Resort

As we drove along this section of the highway, we arrived at our destination in no time, as we were given various tidbits of information about the area we were driving through via radio.

Lamborghini flags and decorations were displayed at every destination.

The first place we arrived at on the second day of GIRO Japan 2024 was Manza Grill at ANA InterContinental Manza Beach Resort.

There were many different plants growing on the road from the parking lot to Manza Grill, and many of them are things you don't usually see in Okinawa, so it was a lot of fun looking at them.

Among them, the tree that I found the most mysterious and looked at many times was this one:

The bottom of the tree is divided into several thin stems and has a pineapple-like fruit on top.

I was so curious that I asked the hotel staff, "What is the name of this tree?" and they told me it was called an octopus tree.

Huh? An octopus?

Apparently, the bottom of the trunk looks like an octopus's tentacles, hence the name. It really is an octopus.

It seems possible to eat the pineapple-like fruit that is already grown, but it is almost never eaten and usually just falls off naturally.

What surprised me even more was that this tree that looks like an octopus's tentacles is apparently classified as a member of the Octopus family. Octopus family!

Story was it.

I would like to go into Manza Grill.

This was a rest stop, and drinks were provided.

Fortunately, they also had non-alcoholic Orion beer, so I enjoyed a beer while looking out at the beach.

Even though it's non-alcoholic it's still very refreshing.

After a break, we set off again.

Lamborghini in front, Lamborghini in back.

We continue heading north towards our next destination.

The difference between Agu and Agu pigs

Here, the navigator shared a little tidbit that made me think, "Huh?" It was about the "Aguu pigs" that are famous in Okinawa Prefecture.

I had never really thought about it before, but I think the only way I knew about Agu pork was written in katakana as "Agu pork."

However, in reality, some are written as "agu" and others as "aguu" in hiragana.

The difference is that Katakata Agou is a pure breed (bloodline 100%) of Agou, a native pig of Ryukyu, while Hiragana Agou has more than 50% of Agou pig blood in it... I didn't know that.

After hearing this story, I took a closer look and sure enough, the hiragana characters for "Agu Pig" were everywhere.

In fact, purebred Agu pigs are apparently quite rare, so it may not be that easy to come across them.

What was interesting was that on the day that our host shared this "little tidbit about the difference between Agu and Aguu", a pork dish was served for dinner, and when we looked at the menu it said "Aguu Pork", which was written in hiragana as "aguu".

It was funny when people saw it and said, "It's not katakana, it's hiragana!!" (laughs).

Cross the Sesoko Bridge to Sesoko Island

Now, on touring, this is where the main event of the day, island hopping, begins.

First, cross the Sesoko Ohashi Bridge and head to Sesoko Island.

At the bridge point, they were also taking pictures with a drone.

The sea around Sesoko Island is said to be "Sesoko Blue."

Lunch at Hilton Okinawa Sesoko Resort

We arrived at the Hilton Okinawa Sesoko Resort on Sesoko Island.

This is lunchtime on the second day.

It was great to be able to line up the cars vertically like this in the Hilton parking lot.

Looking across from the Hilton main building...

We had lunch at Sisk Grill, which is located on the premises.

Is this also a Lamborghini restaurant? The Lamborghini decoration was so beautiful. The hotel staff welcomed us from the parking lot to the restaurant entrance. Thank you very much.

Lunch with a view of the sea.

Again, the seating was decided in advance... but there was just enough room for two for our family, so we had lunch together as a couple.

The lunch menu is a course menu created exclusively for GIRO Japan.

I had already had a big breakfast so I wasn't really that hungry yet, but both were so delicious that I ate them all up.

After that I was so full I almost died.

By the way, the pork dish served here is a whole roasted piglet from the prefecture - wow, it really is a whole roast!

Other dishes also featured an abundance of Okinawan ingredients, such as jimami tofu, red kernel meebai, prefecture-produced beef, and locally grown Okinawan vegetables.

Finally, we had Okinawan zenzai.

I didn't know what Okinawa Zenzai was, but it's like cold zenzai with shaved ice on top, and you can add your favorite toppings on top of that.

After the meal, we had sanpin tea.

Sanpin tea tasted like jasmine tea and was delicious. Sanpin tea was available everywhere in Okinawa, so I enjoyed it several times.

Sorry, this is a long post, but I'll continue, so please bear with me for a little longer.

Continued→ Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 4 (Day 2-2)

Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record
①Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 1 (Day 1-1)
②Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 2 (Day 1-2)
③Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 3 (Day 2-1)
④Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 4 (Day 2-2)
⑤Lamborghini GIRO Japan 2024 Record 5 (Day 3)