Something Old, Something New

Due to a shift swap, I had my first Sunday off in Japan. Des’ree, one of my friends at my branch, has Sundays off so I was able to spend some time with her.

The sun was shining. In the morning we met at Yokohama and got a bus to Sankeien Garden. To be honest, I didn’t know this place even existed but it was absolutely beautiful and, surprisingly for a Sunday, serene. Originally built and owned by the Hara family, the property was opened to the public in, coincidentally, 1906. Supposedly, the seventeen buildings were ‘skilfully arranged in harmony with the seasonal changes of the natural scenery.




The main building, where the Hara Family resided, is available to rent for parties. Not that I have any intentions to, but I couldn’t think of a more beautiful place to get married. And with cherry blossom trees, maple trees and a whole variety of seasonal plants, the scenery would be spectacular all year long.



And beautiful cleaning facilities:



Sankeien Garden even has turtles living in the ponds.



And shower-head/telephone plants. Reminds me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but for the life of me I have no idea why..?


It also has a breed of tree I’ve never heard of before – a clever plant that flashes a red light at you whenever you walk past - Roboticus Securitas:

The only sad thing about the place was that past the pagoda is an observatory overlooking the harbour. I was puzzled why this was the only building not mentioned in the leaflet and then I found out. The view - an industrial area - isn’t as good as I imagine it would be, back in 1906:



After a 20 min train ride back into Tokyo, we headed off to a, wait for it, baseball game! Before Sunday, I could count the things I knew about baseball on one hand, namely: baseball caps, dancing Homer, Ichiro*, hotdogs. See, I even had my thumb to spare. But I thought I’d give it a go, who knows?



Even after hearing that the average game lasts around 3 hours, and dreading it ever so slightly, I had a fantastic time. Although the game itself wasn’t riveting, it was a really great atmosphere. Before we went in, we bought hotdogs and beer. Des was a huge fan and had all the gadgets that make noise. Jingu Stadium, in central Tokyo, is home to the Yakult Swallows – a rather unfortunate name*, and the opponents were the Tigers. Seemed unfair from the start if you ask me, Swallows versus Tigers, but their choice I suppose.



What was great about Baseball was that compared to Football, where it’s not that social as you’re constantly watching the action, it’s a very social event. Most of the time, nothing’s really happening; it’s a very slow game. But, there’s always a lot of crowd spirit and excitement because of it. For that reason, I’d definitely go back (it was cheap too - £7.50) but I’d never watch it on TV. For example, this girl in front of us helped make it so much fun – she didn’t stop cheering, and knew the mascot dance off by heart:



Fantastically, the slogan on one of our flags:


Don’t worry, you’re not drunk although it might help to try and read it. For those not under the influence, it says – ‘The Soul of Damn It’. Enough said.

At the start of the 7th Innings (nine in total***), the teams do their special routine. The Tigers all blew up balloons and let them off. I shouldn’t say this about the rivals but it did look very cool.




So what did we do in reply?

We did the ‘umbrella dance’, of course. D’uh, how did you not guess that!? It was a bit bizarre and not very threatening, but it’s tradition so why not****:




Unfortunately, we lost but it definitely didn’t put me off going back. What’s going on with me? Maybe I was bitten by a radioactive meat-eating sport-loving spider – just call me MeatBall-Man.


*Famous Japanese player that the students all love.
**Not sure I could wear a shirt with the word “swallows” across the front.
***I learnt all the rules and could read the scoreboard by the end. Go me.
****The weather was perfect; a refreshing breeze. This really is an umbrella dance.