木曜日の17時過ぎにセントレアのターミナルホテルに着いた。部屋の窓からはマックス・フェルスタッペンの自家用機が見えたと昨日すでに書いた。そのあとで夕日に染まる滑走路を眺めながら、4泊の居所を整えた。すると、ちょうどボーイングのドリームリフターが飛来した。これは日本ではここセントレアでしか見られない。でかい。太い。最高である。宿としてもまずまずの清潔感があるし、飛行機好きにはなかなかいいホテルだと思う。
日が暮れてからターミナルビルに降りて、いかにも国際空港らしい風情の回転寿司に入って夕食とした。店に入るなり、二人連れのアジア系の旅行者の卓に積み上がった皿の双塔に驚いた。まるでペトロナス・ツイン・タワーのようだった。彼らにしてみれば回転寿司は安いディナーなのだろう。ちなみに一皿の平均単価は300円から400円ぐらいというところ。
僕と同道のLは、明らかに少食らしい。2人で19皿食べて大いに満足。食べ終わって席を立つのも苦しかったぐらいだ。味も悪くなかった。
これでようやく落ち着いた。なにしろ仕事と家を片付けて、新東名をぶっ飛ばして（本当は終始90km/hの燃費走行だったが、ムードとしてはだ）、ずっと猛烈だった。夜は早く休んで、明日は7時の高速船で伊勢湾を渡る。フリー走行の1回目は11時だ。
I arrived at the Terminal Hotel at Chubu Centrair International Airport a little after 5 p.m. on Thursday. As I wrote yesterday, I could see Max Verstappen’s private jet from my room window. After settling into my space for the four-night stay, I watched the runways glowing in the evening sun.
Just then, a Boeing Dreamlifter came into view—a rare sight in Japan, seen only here at Centrair. Massive. Thick. Absolutely magnificent.
The hotel itself is reasonably clean, and for aviation enthusiasts, it’s a pretty great place to stay.
After sunset, I went down to the terminal building and had dinner at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant—one that had all the international airport atmosphere you could hope for. Right as I entered, I was amazed by the twin towers of empty plates stacked at a table where two Asian travelers were sitting—it looked just like the Petronas Twin Towers. For them, conveyor belt sushi must have felt like a very affordable dinner. (For reference, a single plate averaged around 300 to 400 yen.)
My companion, L, has a clearly smaller appetite than I do.
Together we polished off 19 plates and were completely satisfied—so full it was hard even to get up from our seats. The sushi itself wasn’t bad at all.
Finally, I felt settled. After all, I had wrapped up work, taken care of everything at home, and driven down the Shin-Tomei Expressway— (well, technically I cruised steadily at 90 km/h for better fuel economy, but the mood was full throttle)—and it had all been intense up until now.
I planned to get to bed early: tomorrow, I’ll take the 7 a.m. high-speed ferry across Ise Bay.
Free Practice 1 starts at 11 a.m.
Konome-ame 