Tokyo, Japan continued
So after waking up at 855am, this officially was day 2 in Tokyo. I was a little tired but not that bad. I mean I learned back in Australia in ’04 at the Uni games, that if i get between 2-4 hours of sleep and no more I usually go pretty strong for about 12 hours before I crash and burn. The same held true during day 2 in Tokyo. I was pretty energized (well enough, considering I had been up for like more than 30 hours or something.
After waking up and checking my email and stuff, I started chatting with the two korean women in my room. Only one spoke english, the other just smiled a lot, chuckled and said “no english.” After talking to them for a little bit they invited me out with them to get some breakfast and walk around Ueno. Ueno is an area near our hostel (2 stops away on the Hibiya subway line). I graciously accepted their invitation, got changed, and we were off. I was able to talk to Barbara, who was the lady who could speak english, while Mia just walked behind us in la la land, walking really slow.
When we got to Ueno, we tried to find some food that we all wanted to eat. Apparently Barbara and Mia wanted Japanese Ramen noodle. They are just what you think, noodles either Yakisobo (like spagetti) or Udon (thick). There are little shops all over Tokyo and Japan that offer these noodles with different things either in them or as side dishes. You can get them dry or with soup etc…What is really cool is that a lot of the shops have a ticket vending machine. You first order your food through the vending machine, then present the ticket to the chef and they will cook your dish. The only bad thing is that you have to find a machine or shop that has pictures with the numbers under them, otherwise it is all in Japanese and a no-go. After wondering around for about 35 minutes or more, getting a little frustrated that the one time we wanted food, of course we couldn’t find it! Well we did, and it was good. I got yaki-udon (thick noodles in a soup). Udon noodles are my favorite. They are often a little chewy, thick and really good. They are hard to find plain, for one because I can’t read the japanese if the picture doesn’t tell you all of the possible selections, and they just don’t seem to be as common as the yakisobo noodles. Anyway after eating my MSG and heavily salted Yaki-udon soup and noodles, the ladies decided they wanted to do a little shopping. Koreans love their shopping. Seoul has a ton of shopping and these women loved to shop.
We weren’t so successful finding places to shop in Ueno. Apparently their Japanese friend who they were meeting at 2pm at Ueno station had told them Ueno was famous for shopping. I think the friend meant market shopping (like chatchka shopping). They wanted department store shopping. After walking around with them till about 1230, I wasn’t really feeling it. I told them I wanted to go back to the hostel and chill out, I said my goodbyes (and forgot to get their information, damn!) and went back to the hostel. At this point I was pretty tired, it was like 1PM and I was beat. When I got back, Adam was around and we decided we wanted to do something, but didn’t know what. After hearing the stories from the girls who went to the baseball game to see the Giants play the night before, we decided that we wanted to go to the game. After getting our shit together we made our way back to Minowa station on the Hibiya line and then had to figure out the most efficient or easiest way to get to the Tokyo dome. After tracing out several possibilities, I decided on our route and we were off. Now Adam was pretty confident that tickets would not be a problem, but I was skeptical. When we got to the ticket booth the lady told us that they only had standing room only tickets. I was pissed, I knew we should have gone a little earlier, but Adam insisted that since we were here already that we should just do it. Incredible considering he was the old man of the two and was more tired than me. I said fine, it was only 1000 yen (about 8.20) and then we looked around for food.
Food had slowly become the theme of Japan. I could not get enough of the noodles and food. All of these countries. Man I thought I would lose so much weight going around Asia, but when the meals are 1-2 dollars for great food, you seem to eat a lot and not really care much about it. Unfortunately Tokyo and Japan nothing is cheap. This is the first of probably several comments about how expensive Tokyo and Japan is. It is mindboggling. Even though it is now the second most expensive city in the world (Tokyo) to Moscow which is number 1 (I don’t think anyone would guess that), Tokyo really is on another level from even New York. I mean you can get cheaper meals like noodles for 2-3 dollars, but generally meals are going to cost between 6-10 dollars. Now I understand that a lot of this has to do with context. If you are coming from New York right to Tokyo you probably won’t think its too bad, but definitely notice the expense. But if you are coming from countries like me where food and cost of living is really low (like less than 30 dollars a day with accommodation) Tokyo is a real shock. For example before Tokyo in the past 2-3 weeks I had not spent more than 6 dollars on a great meal with the exception of Raymond’s big birthday dinner. I mean in Malaysia 6 dollars would get you a feast. I spent 14 ringdits one night at the indian restaurant and it was like 4 dishes of food with a drink!
Anyway, my point is that Tokyo is really expensive, and I’m glad I had budgeted accordingly for Tokyo. So we eventually found a nice little restaurant close to the Tokyo dome. I ordered some noodle and rice dish and Adam ordered Tempura. I only spent 850 yen and got more food than he did for his 1120 yen dish of dinner. I was satisfied with my food and was excited for the game, but not so excited about standing for three+ hours. We got there a little early before the game started, walked around took pictures, got some ice cream and then had to find available standing room. Man did that fill up quick. The best section of the stadium bar none is the home giants cheap seats section. This is where the famous chants, cheers and banner waving takes place. It was like no sporting event I had ever experienced in my life. Similar to what I think a european soccer match would feel like. The funny thing is that the japanese fans are really polite. Too polite for my liking. They have a different set of chants for each player and situation of the game, but they only cheer and stand and go crazy when their team is batting. When the away team or other team is batting, they sit and don’t say a word. A bad call, bad pitch, nothing will get them to say a word, for the most part, with the exception of the drunk older japanese dude downing his asahi or kirin beers.
The Giants lost that day and we left in the 8th inning. We wanted to beat the crowed out of there. Adam was not impressed by the Tokyo dome after being at another dome in Japan, which was newer and he felt more energetic. I explained to him that this was the yankee stadium of Japan and an older stadium, but sacred like The Stadium in the Bronx. He still wasn’t impressed with it, and quite frankly neither was I really. It didn’t hold nearly as many fans as I would have thought, but one thing is certainly true, the actually dimensions of the field are small. I can see why Matsui hit 50+ homers when he played in Japan. I could probably reach the warning track, I mean its like 250 down the lines and maybe 300 to the deep part of the park at the Dome, and that’s a maybe at best.
Besides the cheering fans, the chants, and the banner waving the best part of the game and the experience were the Beer, soft drink and candy girls. Now until you see my pictures from the game after I get back you really won’t understand what I am saying till you see them. They are so cute. They were bright colored uniforms with a kegerator on their back, a spout on their side and they just walk around handing out beers from a tap that is connected to a backpack on their back. Now these aren’t diesel girls by any means. They are tiny girls, short, skinny, that weigh easily 70-80 pounds, and they look 14, probably 16-18, more on the 16 side. Anyway when you see my pictures from Tokyo, look out for the beer girls, you’ll see several pictures of them. It should also be noted that during the game, cheerleaders run out on to the field and dance, mascots go crazy, and it is really a different gaming experience than in the states, and seems more affordable for the price of a cheap ticket to sit (1000 yen or to stand).
After the game was over, Adam and I headed back home. I was pretty beat, and really wasn’t looking to go out. We called it a night, I hung out for a few hours, chatted with some people at the hostel and called it a night early. I was out at like 1130PM and had to get ready for a huge day of sightseeing around Tokyo. After making my game plan for what I wanted to see and how I was going to do it, I mapped out the trains and etc and was ready to go. I would start my day early, hoping to go before 9. First stop was Sensoji temple in Asakusa, the colonial district of Tokyo, located 20 min walk from the hostel. I was going to go by foot for this part and figure out the trains from there.
Tags: Travel
Josh
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