Sleep

Last night I got home at 7pm, went to sleep at 8pm, woke up this morning at 8am. I suppose I needed the sleep.

Yesterday I went to a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome. I didn't even have a working pen, so I couldn't keep score. I sat in the middle of the Baystars cheering section, and they got shut out by the Giants 3-0, so nobody even talked to me. That was super-unfun. I mean, as unfun as it can be to be at a baseball game, at least... I enjoyed being there, and singing and cheering, and learning some new songs and all, but I hate the Giants and I hate seeing them win, so it was grumpy in that aspect.

After the game, I met up with Kirstin and Sam again, and Sam dragged us halfway around Shinagawa, first to a Kura Sushi (it really is Kura, he wasn't making that up) that had a 2-hour wait, and then to a little Ramen Town on the other side, where I said "let's go to that one called Saijo, it's from Asahikawa". So we had Hokkaido style ramen, which was good.

I wish I could say I caught up with Kirstin, but every time I tried to ask her about her work, Sam started talking about random other unrelated things. It does sound very exciting though, she was off to Ichinomiya (the one between Gifu and Nagoya) to go see some factories there. I'm all like "can I come with you to Nagoya??"

As for today, I don't have a plan, but I am going to go find a travel agent and book a trip to Fukuoka. I was thinking I would go to the plaza in Akabane, but I think I could actually do it here, maybe even in the Diamond City mall. I looked up the hotel that all the ads recommended as the cheapest place, and it looks reasonable, so I think I will go for that. I was also debating getting a haircut, but I actually don't know how much it'll help. The problem with my hair is that it is frizzy more than anything... I suppose I could get it straightened. I dunno if that'd help either, though.

Also I am grumpy because my Kyushu plan involved going to Nagasaki for a baseball game except that now the retarded league moved the game from Nagasaki to Sasebo and now I'm not sure it's worth it. Well... I mean, basically, the game is at 6pm and I would have to leave at like 8:15pm to get the last train back to Fukuoka. On the other hand if I go to Sasebo I can see the Kenji Johjima museum. Hmmmm.

I'm going to Kyushu

July 26 Saturday:
Depart Tokyo 9:30am
Arrive Fukuoka 11:20am

July 29 Tuesday:
Depart Fukuoka 10:00am
Arrive Tokyo 11:35am

(Which should be enough time for me to get from Haneda to Akabane GEOS in time to sign in for 1pm on Tuesday.)

I am staying at the JAL Resort Seahawk Hotel. Which is right next to the Yahoo Dome.

This was not my original idea, because it is fucking expensive (well... I mean... like $120-130 per night on average, as opposed to the $60-70 at the hotel I WANTED to stay at). But the problem is, all the cheap hotels in Fukuoka were booked up for the night of July 26th. Other nights were fine but the Saturday night was booked. And the way I figure it... switching hotels is a royal pain in the ass, so there's no point in staying 1 night at an expensive hotel and then 2 at a cheap one.

The other way I figure it is, if the weather sucks I'm going to spend a lot of time at the Yahoo Dome anyway, and this hotel is right next to the Yahoo Dome.

(I wonder if the baseball players stay there actually. I will have to ask... though I bet it'll sound a bit weird to be like "I'm staying at the hotel by the stadium, will I run into any of you guys there?" The Marines are in town for the Sat/Sun of my stay, and the Fighters for the Monday. The other problem is that I think it'd sound lame for me to say "Hey, so uh, I want to go see the Marines if the weather sucks, but if the weather is good I am going to go to Nagasaki and Hiroshima instead. Can you sneak me in if the weather sucks?")

What sucked is, I went to the mall, and went to JTB, and JTB lady said "We have no hotels. Period. The July 26th is booked. Why not go ask the nice people at KNT over there?" So I go to KNT... and they DID have rooms at the cheap hotel by the station that I was looking at! And, I am NOT making this up... in the 15 minutes between her saying "we have rooms" and drawing up the form and trying to make reservations, ALL OF THE ROOMS GOT BOOKED. She even printed out a paper to show me where they got booked -- there's some kendo tournament that a bunch of people were suddenly booking for. WTF.

I also couldn't really switch to do July 27-30 instead because I had already taken the 26th off from work... plus I think shiguma is supposed to be coming through down on the 29th on his way back to America.

But, dang. It's seriously like $200 more expensive for this hotel. It better be good!

So, I am going to Kyushu. Yay.