Post by Locke on May 13, 2003 19:14:00 GMT -5
Vashey said:
ANYTHING for you, pal! I think today was Locke's day on the town in Tokyo ... I wonder what he did ... he'll spill when he gets back ... 
Time to spill!!! My day in Tokyo, By Locke.
It was a dark and stormy night........I mean, it was what appears to be a typical late spring day in Japan, warm, overcast and and devoid of any signs of an actual sun. I went out with two buddies, (only one of which a gamer unfortunately) and on our way ran into some more guys headed that way, saying they were gonna go to Tokyo also, except to watch the Tokyo Yamimura Giants play baseball in the "Tokyo Dome". So we all quested together, bout six of us. We found the train station about 5 blocks away from the navy base and had to ask how in the world to ride them, obviously no one in my little party can read Japanese. We finally figured out which train to take......sort of, we ended up on the slowest of three types.
After conversing as best we could with a couple passengers, there ended up being a very nice middle aged woman who could speak English well enough, and ended up being our navigator on the train, (I think she liked my middle aged friend who was part of the party!! 
) explaining to us how they work. I must say the have a damn nice public transportation system. So finally after about an hour of riding and switching trains and making suttle jokes to our friend who seemed to have caught the attention of the navigator, we made it to our destination.....TOKYO!!!
As I started up the stairs at the end of the long tunnel leading from the train I was almost nervous, excitedly wondering what I was going to see upon emerging into the day light.
I made it to the crest, and beheld a bitchen ass sight!! Tall buildings, neon signs, and LOTS of people!! Tokyo is like a kicked ant hill I tell ya! The people actually appear ant like in there seemingly mindless, habitual trek from there offices to lunch, back to the office and then home.......or to the baseball game!
We had emerged from virtually underneath the "Tokyo Dome Hotel", a giant 5 star skyscraper, teamed up with the giant dome that had given it it's name, the "Tokyo Dome".
What a BEAUTIFUL stadium!!! It looked virtually brand new, with intricated patterns and images in the granite flooring surrounding the dome, and great fountains shooting water high into the air to the tempo of the music playing on the loud and crisp PA system. After we had bought our tickets we had about 4 hours to kill before the game started. We walked away from the stadium in search of some good shopping, and came to find out upon our failure to do so, that on the OTHER side of the dome we missed seeing initially by like 10 feet, was a MALL.......the "Tokyo Dome Mall"
Holy crap what BAD ASS Mall!! We came upon it from a bridge leading from the dome over the street to the mall, and I tell you what, we aint got shit like it in the States!!!! It had a big pool in the center of the buildings where the food courts were. Well come to find out the big pool/fountain was also part of a water ride, kinda like the "Log Jammer" at Magic Mountain. but oh...it get's much better!!
Built aroud the whole mall and dome, was a silver track, for a Rollercoaster!!!! This baby was tall as hell, and damned FAST!! The best part?? Oh, the best part was it went THROUGH the building of the mall, you could actually see people screaming as the go flying by you while shopping in the mall!! It was TIGHT!
So double whammy for us, we found a kick ass place to hang out, and the shopping. So we wandered around for a while, I finally found some stuff to buy my wife, which was primary concern for me for a while, I love to buy shit for my wife over seas.
Game time!! We went back over the bridge and merged with the traffic headed into the beautiful Tokyo Dome. (Note: Put any contraband in pockets, not back pack, they don't check those.) ;D
Right when we walked in we were welcomed by the Giants' mascot.....don't even ask me what it is.
It's some orange critter that looks like a pokeman. We were also welcomed by there idea of cheerleaders. What's there idea of cheerleaders you ask? Well, it would look to you like about a dozen Japanese girls in slightly more modest clothing then our own sports cheerleaders, doing the macarena on the 7th inning stretch. 
It was pretty comical to see. The game?, well, it's the same as our baseball, except, (no offense Japan) but, not near as good as our players. It was still entertaining and they ARE professionals however.
The fans?, Well they aren't near as rowdy as our crowd, just more organized. They have drums and flags and it seems everyone knows every damn chant. The wierd thing is........the fans of the team that is batting, chant and drum while the guys trying to bat. Home in the states, everyone shuts the F*&Ck up when your team is up to bat. So, being the rowdy Sailors we are, a few beers (except for me who didn't drink) and we were trying to get these laid back folk into the wave, and even the "chop". At one point my drunk ass friend was getting a little TOO into the game and stood up hollering at a double play and ended pooring part of his beer down the back of a poor unsuspeting local man. My friend quickly apologized, as did we all as we were ALL embarrased by that. But the guy was a good sport and took it with a grain of salt and excepted the apology. Now, question time. If that happened in the States, some guy from another country is rowdy as hell behind you, and then spills beer on you, what would happen??? Anyone? Ah yes, an ASS WHOOPING!! Very fortunately that incident didn't even get close to coming up, it would have been ugly......6 on 50,000.
The hometown favorites, which is pretty much ALL of Japan, was the Giants. They are like the Yankees of Japanese Baseball. They ended up winning (of course, there opponents are in last place!) 8-2.
We finally herded out of the game at about 9:15pm and headed for the train, stopping by the sports shop to pick up a few essentials; a Giant's hat for myself.
After getting back on the train it was much easier to navigate ourselves once we got the hang of it, (we didn't get lost, not once.......I swear!)
I finally made it back to my ship a little after midnight with some sore ass dogs, (feet), an empty pocket where my money was, good pictures (which I will post on here later today for you guys) and an overall LOVE of Japan and her people. They were all very courteous and ready with smiles and help.....and respect for everyone around them. I would recommend visiting Japan to anyone, just make sure you have lots of money, I spent WAY TOO MUCH here! (My wife's going to kill me!...Ok, not really, she doesn't care.) ;D My only regrets is not finding a good gaming shop, guess I wasn't in the right part of Tokyo. So, any questions?
VS
Brutus VS Belome: Brawl in the Bayou!
Thanks Oldy!
