Thanks to my friend the International Date Line, I get to do May 22 twice! Talk about time warps.
Oh, last night was interesting. I ended up going back to the To-ji temple, and exploring the grounds not being used as a market. To-ji has the tallest five-story pagoda in Japan, but I couldn't go inside to see the view from the top. Oh well. I found the Kyoto Tower right across from the train station (when I went back), but didn't feel like paying 1400 yen just to visit the observatory. Seemed like a ripoff.
I had more conveyor belt sushi at the train station- sat next to a guy from Switzerland who must have eaten ten plates MINIMUM. He had the world's smallest camera with him, and was pretty friendly. He was also the first European guy I've met who didn't like soccer. Hm.
By the time I was on the train back to Tokyo, I had decided I'd be spending the night in a manga cafe. Lonely Planet recommended a few in Shibuya, so I figured I'd try to find one of those. The subway to Shibuya from TYO station was the last one that night...good luck for me, which was nice, because after that I was not feeling the luck for about 4 hours.
Thank you, thank you, taxi driver who found me a cafe after I had spent way, way, too long wandering lost through Shibuya, laden down with Stuff. I am horrible with directions, which was only compounded by it being dark and me dragging my backpack, tote, duffel bag, and camera case around. I wish I'd thought to grab a taxi sooner.
There's a lot more to this story, but I can't even begin to get into all the details. Suffice to say that Citibank is my best friend, and it's absolutely shocking that I could be in this situation (that is, walking around lost in a huge city between 1 and 3am) in the first place withOUT feeling too sketched out or threatened. It says quite a bit about Japanese society. I could never have done that in New York.
Manga cafes are a strange thing. A great deal for people like me who can't find hotels late at night, but do people actually spend hours there just watching anime DVDs in their little cubicles? I guess they must, or there would be no business. I wish I had a better picture of the inside of the place....
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
21 May 2007- 3:20pm: Kyoto
Tigers won. And did a VICTORY balloon release! It was so cool. The memory card filling up halfway through the game was not cool, though, damn it. I guess I got good shots, just not as many as I wanted.
Afterwards I got stuck in the absolute worst post-game foot traffic ever. Worse than Kenmore post-Fenway by a lot. So bad I had to wait ten minutes en masse just to cross the street to get to the train station.
Laura and I went to dinner at a ramen place. Yay and yum! I reorganized all my crap once home...now it fits into just 4 bags (as opposed to 5). My shoulders hate me for carrying everything around.
I'm in a park inKyoto right now, trying not to get POd at my guidebook, which is all uppity about spending an "absolute MINIMUM of two days in Kyoto" and how the city is a "TOP PRIORITY" for any tourist. Blahhh blah blah. I mean, if I HAD the time, I WOULD be here for a week or so, gladly. But I have an afternoon. And my book will not give me any suggestions for a mere afternoon. Thus I am in a field, relaxing and writing postcards, and I think this is still a pretty good deal. I stumbled into this temple (To-ji) earlier; its grounds were being used for a giant outdoor market that takes place on the 21st of May and January. The market just kept going- paths and stalls everywhere. I couldn't find the actual temple buildings at first, but now I can say that I've been to one.
I'm trying to decide what else to do here. I want to go find a carp pond in a garden, or a Zen garden. My shinkansen leaves at 8pm; it's 3:30 now. I figure I'll spend an hour and a half at the train station before leaving, because I'm not enthused about roaming at night. I like not having to rush around to all the temples here, though. If I come back, I'll spend more time doing that.
I'm sad to be leaving- there's so much that I didn't get to see. But the baseball has been great, no question. I loved Koshien- real grass is the way baseball should be played.
I can't wait to actually go through the photos! Yay! Hopefully tonight with Tegan. It's nice that she'll likely not get bored just seeing baseball baseball baseball. Same for my parents, and Lorna and Jeffrey.
Afterwards I got stuck in the absolute worst post-game foot traffic ever. Worse than Kenmore post-Fenway by a lot. So bad I had to wait ten minutes en masse just to cross the street to get to the train station.
Laura and I went to dinner at a ramen place. Yay and yum! I reorganized all my crap once home...now it fits into just 4 bags (as opposed to 5). My shoulders hate me for carrying everything around.
I'm in a park inKyoto right now, trying not to get POd at my guidebook, which is all uppity about spending an "absolute MINIMUM of two days in Kyoto" and how the city is a "TOP PRIORITY" for any tourist. Blahhh blah blah. I mean, if I HAD the time, I WOULD be here for a week or so, gladly. But I have an afternoon. And my book will not give me any suggestions for a mere afternoon. Thus I am in a field, relaxing and writing postcards, and I think this is still a pretty good deal. I stumbled into this temple (To-ji) earlier; its grounds were being used for a giant outdoor market that takes place on the 21st of May and January. The market just kept going- paths and stalls everywhere. I couldn't find the actual temple buildings at first, but now I can say that I've been to one.
I'm trying to decide what else to do here. I want to go find a carp pond in a garden, or a Zen garden. My shinkansen leaves at 8pm; it's 3:30 now. I figure I'll spend an hour and a half at the train station before leaving, because I'm not enthused about roaming at night. I like not having to rush around to all the temples here, though. If I come back, I'll spend more time doing that.
I'm sad to be leaving- there's so much that I didn't get to see. But the baseball has been great, no question. I loved Koshien- real grass is the way baseball should be played.
I can't wait to actually go through the photos! Yay! Hopefully tonight with Tegan. It's nice that she'll likely not get bored just seeing baseball baseball baseball. Same for my parents, and Lorna and Jeffrey.
20 May 2007- 3:30pm: Koshien continued
One of the Tigers has a Backstreet Boys song for his entrance music.
Oh hey! Tigers scored! (bottom of the 4th)
The stadium is packed, and pretty much everyone's into cheering- not just the crazies. It must be ridiculous in crazy-land, if they're so into it here in humble grandstand-land.
Squat toilets in the bathroom. Ew.
Is Andy Sheets related to Ben?
Somehow I filled a CF card at the Carp game. AAA. Annoying! I need balloon release pics from here, though. Otherwise, I've been getting good stuff, I think, and can deal with the full card.
Desert Storm- No. 4 hitter
Oh hey! Tigers scored! (bottom of the 4th)
The stadium is packed, and pretty much everyone's into cheering- not just the crazies. It must be ridiculous in crazy-land, if they're so into it here in humble grandstand-land.
Squat toilets in the bathroom. Ew.
Is Andy Sheets related to Ben?
Somehow I filled a CF card at the Carp game. AAA. Annoying! I need balloon release pics from here, though. Otherwise, I've been getting good stuff, I think, and can deal with the full card.
Desert Storm- No. 4 hitter
4:40pm
How many pitching changes have the BayStars had? This must be their fourth guy...
Wow, amazing balloon release, and pretty much out of nowhere. Not like at Fukuoka.
"hitta-homran-Aannndee"
look up--> Daisuke-Asahi
8th inning- Tigers...2 on, one out. bunt time!
20 May 2007- 1:20pm: the one and only
Oops, I didn't finish yesterday's game. So after the 4th inning, I left my real seat, and went wandering around.
The Carp were pretty much getting owned due to a 6-run inning by the Buffalo. The fans just kept cheering, though. They had this funny up-and-down move that I took a video of.
Anyway, I got up to where the smoking areas are, and discovered udon bowls! You get a ticket from a vending machine, then give it to the ladies behind the counter, who make your bowl. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out the characters on the machine, eventually narrowing it down to 2 (because the others, I deduced, said "meat"), then gave up and guessed. But I guessed tofu! So it was all good. And when I was eating my excellent udon, it occured to me that I needed a picture of it, so I asked the couple next to me if they could take one. They did, and right afterwards this guy came up to me and asked if he could take a picture of me and my udon (with my camera). Oookay. He then started practicing his English on me (he was at the game with his "subordinates"), and got my e-mail before leaving. It was a bit strange. Meanwhile, during all of this, I got more balloon release pictures. Yeah!
After the game, I made my back to Hiroshima Station, and called Laura to tell her the change in plans before getting on the shinkansen.
Laura met me at her subway stop in Osaka- she's REALLY friendly, and easy to get along with. I'm very glad Lisa had this connection for me. We ate conveyer belt sushi (!!!!) for dinner, which was excellent. I am sleeping on Laura's counch, in her tiny tiny apartment. My feet hang off the armrest of said couch, but hey, it's a free place to stay, so I'm not complaining at all. I should buy Laura a scarf or something while I'm here.
Today...KOSHIEN! You hear all about this stadium, and how nice it is...all true. It's a lot like Fenway. The strangest things here make me happy- like seeing grass mowed in an actual pattern-grid thing (not to mention seeing the grass itself). There's still dirt in the infield, which I still don't get, however.
The tiger mascots look like mice.
This is such a beautiful stadium. The concourse is old and not that impressive, but it's way better than Hiroshima and it's noncoucourse (noncourse). I love the ivy-covered walls all around the outside. I still can't find a stadium teamstore, but there are a bunch of stalls outside, and I'll hit those up. It's my last game! So sad...
It's interesting that this stadium is in a suburb, not Osaka proper. It's about a 15-20 minute train ride out of the city. I was trying to think of an equivalent in the States, but could't. Shea? Oakland? Don't know.
The team anthems are all majestic!
The Carp were pretty much getting owned due to a 6-run inning by the Buffalo. The fans just kept cheering, though. They had this funny up-and-down move that I took a video of.
Anyway, I got up to where the smoking areas are, and discovered udon bowls! You get a ticket from a vending machine, then give it to the ladies behind the counter, who make your bowl. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out the characters on the machine, eventually narrowing it down to 2 (because the others, I deduced, said "meat"), then gave up and guessed. But I guessed tofu! So it was all good. And when I was eating my excellent udon, it occured to me that I needed a picture of it, so I asked the couple next to me if they could take one. They did, and right afterwards this guy came up to me and asked if he could take a picture of me and my udon (with my camera). Oookay. He then started practicing his English on me (he was at the game with his "subordinates"), and got my e-mail before leaving. It was a bit strange. Meanwhile, during all of this, I got more balloon release pictures. Yeah!
After the game, I made my back to Hiroshima Station, and called Laura to tell her the change in plans before getting on the shinkansen.
Laura met me at her subway stop in Osaka- she's REALLY friendly, and easy to get along with. I'm very glad Lisa had this connection for me. We ate conveyer belt sushi (!!!!) for dinner, which was excellent. I am sleeping on Laura's counch, in her tiny tiny apartment. My feet hang off the armrest of said couch, but hey, it's a free place to stay, so I'm not complaining at all. I should buy Laura a scarf or something while I'm here.
Today...KOSHIEN! You hear all about this stadium, and how nice it is...all true. It's a lot like Fenway. The strangest things here make me happy- like seeing grass mowed in an actual pattern-grid thing (not to mention seeing the grass itself). There's still dirt in the infield, which I still don't get, however.
The tiger mascots look like mice.
This is such a beautiful stadium. The concourse is old and not that impressive, but it's way better than Hiroshima and it's noncoucourse (noncourse). I love the ivy-covered walls all around the outside. I still can't find a stadium teamstore, but there are a bunch of stalls outside, and I'll hit those up. It's my last game! So sad...
It's interesting that this stadium is in a suburb, not Osaka proper. It's about a 15-20 minute train ride out of the city. I was trying to think of an equivalent in the States, but could't. Shea? Oakland? Don't know.
The team anthems are all majestic!
19 May 2007- 1:04pm: stadium
Back at the Carp stadium. Not ONLY does this one have a fence, it's an actual metal one, not mesh like the others have been. AAAAAA. But I do have a good seat in general, so that's nice. They're really not that expensive- 40 yen for 1st baseline, second tier? That's reasonable.
I dumped my stuff at the train station before coming here, then went on a souvenir binge. Oh dear. So much stuff.
They just played the Indiana Jones theme in the crazies section. There are a LOT of them here. Maybe because it's Saturday. Regardless- lots of crazies.
This stadium has a strange setup. There doesn't seem to be a concourse- you just go in through your gate,and boom you're at the seats. There's a little bento place before you walk out. But where are the other food places and the gift shopts? OH NO. I need a shirt for Daddy!
Geez, the Carp really do look like the Reds. Is the "C" exactly the same? It has to be.
I just realized something. The Japanese will get loud and cheer/roar in key situations, but nobody ever gets to their feet. Ever. People stay seated unless they're in the outfield seats (where I don't think you're even allowed TO sit). They don't stand to cheer on excellent plays, either- just cheer and smack the sticks together.
This fence is ridiculous. What is not ridiculous, though, is that this field is real grass AND outside. So many extra points! There's no grass in the infield, though, which is weird. I don't think I've ever seen that before.
Also weird- it's 15 minutes before gametimes, and there aren't any cheerleaders or pregame stuff. They seem to be doing the Carp anthem right now. There are a lot of flags here- even in my section, and I'm nowhere near the outfield.
Oh, this goddamn fence. It feels like the players are all in a cage, like an exhibit at a zoo.
It's beautiful outside. Nice and sunny.
They're playing LL Cool J!
I don't think they have cheerleaders here. The mascot dude is doing stuff in the outfield (oh, he's hitting a punching bag), but no cheerleaders on the scene. Fine by me; I don't see baseball as a sport needing them anyway. I don't remember if I got a picture of the SoftBank cheerleaders.
The mascot looks goofy.
They had a fan throw out the first pitch! Whoa dude! And there's a Carp player wearing his socks old-school (it's the shortstop). I like it.
RF just made a great jump snag to end the 1st.
There's a drum in my section, too! The crazies are all over the stadium- how strange.
I dumped my stuff at the train station before coming here, then went on a souvenir binge. Oh dear. So much stuff.
They just played the Indiana Jones theme in the crazies section. There are a LOT of them here. Maybe because it's Saturday. Regardless- lots of crazies.
This stadium has a strange setup. There doesn't seem to be a concourse- you just go in through your gate,and boom you're at the seats. There's a little bento place before you walk out. But where are the other food places and the gift shopts? OH NO. I need a shirt for Daddy!
Geez, the Carp really do look like the Reds. Is the "C" exactly the same? It has to be.
I just realized something. The Japanese will get loud and cheer/roar in key situations, but nobody ever gets to their feet. Ever. People stay seated unless they're in the outfield seats (where I don't think you're even allowed TO sit). They don't stand to cheer on excellent plays, either- just cheer and smack the sticks together.
This fence is ridiculous. What is not ridiculous, though, is that this field is real grass AND outside. So many extra points! There's no grass in the infield, though, which is weird. I don't think I've ever seen that before.
Also weird- it's 15 minutes before gametimes, and there aren't any cheerleaders or pregame stuff. They seem to be doing the Carp anthem right now. There are a lot of flags here- even in my section, and I'm nowhere near the outfield.
Oh, this goddamn fence. It feels like the players are all in a cage, like an exhibit at a zoo.
It's beautiful outside. Nice and sunny.
They're playing LL Cool J!
I don't think they have cheerleaders here. The mascot dude is doing stuff in the outfield (oh, he's hitting a punching bag), but no cheerleaders on the scene. Fine by me; I don't see baseball as a sport needing them anyway. I don't remember if I got a picture of the SoftBank cheerleaders.
The mascot looks goofy.
They had a fan throw out the first pitch! Whoa dude! And there's a Carp player wearing his socks old-school (it's the shortstop). I like it.
RF just made a great jump snag to end the 1st.
There's a drum in my section, too! The crazies are all over the stadium- how strange.
18 May 2007- 10:17pm: hostel
It was only kind of raining out.
So anyway, I went to Miyajima and (it's the general trend of the trip) REALLY wish I had given myself more time there (or not gone off lost in Hiroshima...). I didn't even get to the actual shrine, only the torii. It's huge. I don't know how they built it. It was actually nice that it wasn't in "floating" mode, because I liked going down and walking around it, on the mudflats. But I wish I'd seen the shrine.
My timing was further not helped by rain that came up, and made me hole up in a storefront (can't get the camera wet).
But I am glad I got to see the torii and the deer.
By the time I FINALLY got back to Hiroshima proper, it was a) still raining and b) half an hour past game time. Streetcars are NOT as awesome as Japanese subways/trains. They have to roll with traffic. Boooo. And once I got to the stadium, I discovered that the game had been rained out. After standing around for a while, I found a guy who brought me to some upstairs office, where they gave me a full, 4000yen, refund. Good deal!
But I want to go back and see tomorrow's game. It's at two, so I could definitely still see it and then go up to Osaka. I would miss Himeji Castle, but I can see that another day. I'm for baseball. And I want to see the Carp.
So anyway, I went to Miyajima and (it's the general trend of the trip) REALLY wish I had given myself more time there (or not gone off lost in Hiroshima...). I didn't even get to the actual shrine, only the torii. It's huge. I don't know how they built it. It was actually nice that it wasn't in "floating" mode, because I liked going down and walking around it, on the mudflats. But I wish I'd seen the shrine.
My timing was further not helped by rain that came up, and made me hole up in a storefront (can't get the camera wet).
But I am glad I got to see the torii and the deer.
By the time I FINALLY got back to Hiroshima proper, it was a) still raining and b) half an hour past game time. Streetcars are NOT as awesome as Japanese subways/trains. They have to roll with traffic. Boooo. And once I got to the stadium, I discovered that the game had been rained out. After standing around for a while, I found a guy who brought me to some upstairs office, where they gave me a full, 4000yen, refund. Good deal!
But I want to go back and see tomorrow's game. It's at two, so I could definitely still see it and then go up to Osaka. I would miss Himeji Castle, but I can see that another day. I'm for baseball. And I want to see the Carp.
18 May 2007- 7:50pm: rainout
Well, I've been doing splendidly as far as planning and "making itineraries" goes, and today I shattered my nice record. Oh well.
I started off going back to the park to visit the museum. It makes you think, that's for sure. I was particularly impressed by the objectivity of it, coming from a Japanese beginning. The displays on conflagration and its effects were horrifying- I'm glad I hadn't had anything to eat beforehand, because my stomach was turning as it was. What bothers me most about the incident was the complete lack of warning given. I understand the reasoning behind the dropping, I suppose. I don't understand Nagasaki, and I firmly believe there should have been warning for Hiroshima. It seems like, even with warning, even with evacuation, the Japanese would have realized the potential of the atomic bomb...there didn't need to be the huge loss of life.
Anyway, the musuem was sobering and somewhat depressing, but again, seeing Hiroshima now is just amazing. It's because of how well the city has recovered that I'm glad they preserved the A-bomb Dome; otherwise, you would truly have no idea of the destruction, and no reminder of why it can't happen again. The Dome is a shredded concrete skeleton among all the new buildings- the contrast is even more stark if you stand across the river and compare the present Dome to the picture of what the building looked like before the bomb dropped.
After the museum, I went to the stadium, andbought my ticket for the game before setting out for Miyajima.
What I SHOULD have done, and what I actually meant to do originally, was take the JR line down to the port area. But I took the streetcar (no subway here, god damn it), got off way too early (typical), then spent an hour wandering random Hiroshima before coming to my senses and getting back on the streetcar. The rest of the trip (to the port) took a long time, so had I kept walking I'd have really been screwed.
I got to the docks and took the free JR ferry (rail pass perks!) over (10 mins), realized the torii wasn't going to be floating, as it was low tide, and stepped off the docks to find all these DEER just chilling. Awwwww. They let me get right next to them. I think I was very Flame-sick at the time. I miss my Flamey.
The torii is apparently one of the three most-photographed sites in Japan. Obviously, it's more photogenic when the tide is high, and it thus looks like it's floating, but I was impressed nonetheless.
I am going to leave my cafe place now and see if it's still pouring out.
I started off going back to the park to visit the museum. It makes you think, that's for sure. I was particularly impressed by the objectivity of it, coming from a Japanese beginning. The displays on conflagration and its effects were horrifying- I'm glad I hadn't had anything to eat beforehand, because my stomach was turning as it was. What bothers me most about the incident was the complete lack of warning given. I understand the reasoning behind the dropping, I suppose. I don't understand Nagasaki, and I firmly believe there should have been warning for Hiroshima. It seems like, even with warning, even with evacuation, the Japanese would have realized the potential of the atomic bomb...there didn't need to be the huge loss of life.
Anyway, the musuem was sobering and somewhat depressing, but again, seeing Hiroshima now is just amazing. It's because of how well the city has recovered that I'm glad they preserved the A-bomb Dome; otherwise, you would truly have no idea of the destruction, and no reminder of why it can't happen again. The Dome is a shredded concrete skeleton among all the new buildings- the contrast is even more stark if you stand across the river and compare the present Dome to the picture of what the building looked like before the bomb dropped.
After the museum, I went to the stadium, andbought my ticket for the game before setting out for Miyajima.
What I SHOULD have done, and what I actually meant to do originally, was take the JR line down to the port area. But I took the streetcar (no subway here, god damn it), got off way too early (typical), then spent an hour wandering random Hiroshima before coming to my senses and getting back on the streetcar. The rest of the trip (to the port) took a long time, so had I kept walking I'd have really been screwed.
I got to the docks and took the free JR ferry (rail pass perks!) over (10 mins), realized the torii wasn't going to be floating, as it was low tide, and stepped off the docks to find all these DEER just chilling. Awwwww. They let me get right next to them. I think I was very Flame-sick at the time. I miss my Flamey.
The torii is apparently one of the three most-photographed sites in Japan. Obviously, it's more photogenic when the tide is high, and it thus looks like it's floating, but I was impressed nonetheless.
I am going to leave my cafe place now and see if it's still pouring out.
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