last two days, or the start of the trip
Friday morning I got up and got on local trains. Lots of them. Akabane -> Hiratsuka -> Atami -> Shizuoka -> Hamamatsu -> Toyohashi -> Kanayama -> Ozone. It took about 7 hours from home to the final stop at Kamiida subway stop, where I met up with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kawaru. (He was kind enough to let me crash on his floor/futon for the evening.) We went to Sakae, did karaoke for 3 hours or so, then got Nagoya food at a place called Sekai no Yamachan. Miso katsu and tebasaki and all kinds of yummy stuff. Stayed up talking for a few hours since I hadn't seen him in a year or so, then crashed.
I pretty much woke up and hit the road at 9am or so. Missed my intended subway car at Kamiida, and my phone told me that was going to set me back an hour. I said "fuck that" and gamed the system, deciding to go to stations arbitrarily... subwayed to Kanayama, had a 30-minute stop there and got breakfast at McDonald's, where I was gaijinned and not too happy about it, but whatever. Took a train to Maihara from there and as it turned out, the connecting train that my phone didn't believe in was a minute overlap at Maihara so I immediately got on a special rapid there for Osaka! Got in half an hour late, not an hour late.
Threw my stuff in a locker and went out to Koshien despite the announcements saying the stadium was totally full. As it is I arrived at the end of the second game, which went to 12 innings before Ishikawa's team won. I liked their sidearm pitcher and had been watching him on TV on the train.
Funny thing: there was a HUGE line to get infield tickets, impossible. I thought I'd go check out the outfield line on a whim... and just walked right in. (Outfield seats are free.) So, holy shit, I watched the third game of today's Koshien tournament. It wasn't particularly great -- a Kagawa school (Sankawa) against a Niigata school (Nihon Bunri), and the Niigata team eventually won though they were behind for most of the day.
I looked around at stuff for a bit, took photos of a few things, then headed out.
Checked into the hotel, showered and changed, and then met up with my friend Danny for dinner, he said he knew a really good okonomiyaki place. And sure enough, he did, it was fantastic. After that we headed over to a dessert place and chatted baseball for like 3 hours. Good times.
Now I am exhausted, it's midnight, and in theory I should get up at 5am to be at Koshien by 6-6:30 in order to get in line for tickets for a gate-opening at 7am. This shit is nuts, seriously. I wanna cheer for Teikyo but might end up just sitting on the other side because it's likely to be less crowded. Thinking I'll go to see the Aomori Yamada and Teikyo games, then come back to the hotel and nap and go join Carl and Oren in the evening to see Daimonjiyama on fire. They got to Japan safely, Carl called me today. Hooray.
kawaru. (He was kind enough to let me crash on his floor/futon for the evening.) We went to Sakae, did karaoke for 3 hours or so, then got Nagoya food at a place called Sekai no Yamachan. Miso katsu and tebasaki and all kinds of yummy stuff. Stayed up talking for a few hours since I hadn't seen him in a year or so, then crashed. I pretty much woke up and hit the road at 9am or so. Missed my intended subway car at Kamiida, and my phone told me that was going to set me back an hour. I said "fuck that" and gamed the system, deciding to go to stations arbitrarily... subwayed to Kanayama, had a 30-minute stop there and got breakfast at McDonald's, where I was gaijinned and not too happy about it, but whatever. Took a train to Maihara from there and as it turned out, the connecting train that my phone didn't believe in was a minute overlap at Maihara so I immediately got on a special rapid there for Osaka! Got in half an hour late, not an hour late.
Threw my stuff in a locker and went out to Koshien despite the announcements saying the stadium was totally full. As it is I arrived at the end of the second game, which went to 12 innings before Ishikawa's team won. I liked their sidearm pitcher and had been watching him on TV on the train.
Funny thing: there was a HUGE line to get infield tickets, impossible. I thought I'd go check out the outfield line on a whim... and just walked right in. (Outfield seats are free.) So, holy shit, I watched the third game of today's Koshien tournament. It wasn't particularly great -- a Kagawa school (Sankawa) against a Niigata school (Nihon Bunri), and the Niigata team eventually won though they were behind for most of the day.
I looked around at stuff for a bit, took photos of a few things, then headed out.
Checked into the hotel, showered and changed, and then met up with my friend Danny for dinner, he said he knew a really good okonomiyaki place. And sure enough, he did, it was fantastic. After that we headed over to a dessert place and chatted baseball for like 3 hours. Good times.
Now I am exhausted, it's midnight, and in theory I should get up at 5am to be at Koshien by 6-6:30 in order to get in line for tickets for a gate-opening at 7am. This shit is nuts, seriously. I wanna cheer for Teikyo but might end up just sitting on the other side because it's likely to be less crowded. Thinking I'll go to see the Aomori Yamada and Teikyo games, then come back to the hotel and nap and go join Carl and Oren in the evening to see Daimonjiyama on fire. They got to Japan safely, Carl called me today. Hooray.