Let's go Buffaloes!

Last night we went to see Orix Buffaloes play the Baystars at baseball and although it's not exactly the major league it was still a good night out. The Buffaloes play down town at the Kyocera Dome and the place is pretty impressive - its like a smaller version of the Sky Dome in Toronto but without the sliding roof and Canadians. The Buffaloes won 4-1 mainly because the Baystars just looked like they had no idea how to bat - I think they hit the ball about 6 times in their nine innings. I've seen better baseball games to be honest, the most exciting thing was the Buffaloes catcher catching a ball whilst leaning into the opposition dug out. There weren't any home runs which was disappointing as it was Tom's first game but he seemed to enjoy it and sounds up for going again (although not with me, unfortunately!). The attendance was pretty poor as you can see in the picture, but I don't think the 6pm start really favours anyone that works. The Hanshin Tigers draw the huge crowds down the road. The ticket was 2400 yen (£12) for an unreserved seat in the upper tier and we had a pretty rad view of the game and were close enough to the two sets of supporters - who both had trumpets and drums and would sing songs for the different players when they stepped up to bat. The Buffaloes fans also stayed for half an hour after the game just singing songs and having a good time - which is unheard of in English sports for a standard league game. It was "Beer Night" so you could buy a beer for 200 yen (£1) which was pretty decent, but I wasn't a huge fan of the japanese food on sale and opted for frankfurters!

Afterwards we headed down to the club shop so I could buy a ball and some souvenirs and surprisingly they stock merch from all the teams in the league and then all the major league baseball teams too - even stocking merch from the Hanshin tigers who are their main rivals and similar in statue to Manchester United over here. Football on the whole is largely ignored it seems in every day life, but there is a fraction who follow the game and supposedly Gamba Osaka games are pretty lively.

Monday - Day 4

Today was the first day where I was on my own for the bulk of it and it didn't get off to the best of starts! We woke up at 3.45am to watch Germany vs. Poland and then went back to bed, and by the time I woke back up it was almost mid day! After a quick shower I caught the train into Kyobashi station and then caught the JR Loop line a few stops to Umeida which is where we went on the first night. It's a cool little place and I did a bit of wandering around taking photos of random things. I then headed to the arcade and hoped to see some crazy dance dance revolution action but it seems those dudes work in the day and then dance at night when they get the big crowds! I also spied the karaoke place but didn't feel like going back on my own! Just up the road from there is a seven story shopping centre which has a huge ferris wheel on the top level that takes you high over Osaka and has sick views. Today it's a bit hazy but you still get the general idea and at 500 yen (£2.50) and it being full air conditioned I felt like going around a few more times! I had a quick look in Tower Records and Virgin megastores and spotted a few UK bands such as Fast Reaction and Me vs. Hero being sold and then bought the new New Found Glory cd as it was only £7 for the special edition. It's sad that I've gone thousands of miles and I'm still taken in by the "Punk/Emo" signs in music shops!

Thursday night I want to go to see the Orix Buffaloes baseball team at the Osaka Dome and the internet ticket sites are far from clear so I thought I'd head down to the Dome to buy tickets in person. It's only a 15 minute train ride and didn't look too far. Of course I caught the fast train that went right past the Dome and didn't stop for another 6 stops so I had to come back on the slower train. It was a lot of effort and then I found out that the area was dead and they don't have a ticket office! Back to Suminodo to meet Tom it was, just as the heavens opened!