Ichiro And The Seattle Mariners Come To Tokyo

Baseball is huge in Japan...I mean HUGE.  Sometimes when I'm watching Japanese cable, baseball games are on like 5 channels (and there aren't even that many baseball teams here).  I definitely wouldn't call myself a baseball fan (unlike my hubby who has the Boston B tattooed on his leg), but I've been known to go to a game or two when I lived in Seattle and The Bay Area because in my opinion, baseball is a sport better watched live.  So when Rich asked if I wanted to go to the Mariners/A's game (which also happened to be MLB Opening Day for the 2012 season) at the Tokyo Dome with some friends, I said I was in!

We left Yokosuka around 4:00 in the afternoon and really lucked out with all of our train rides by getting seats (seriously, getting a seat on a train between here and Tokyo is a really big thing for me since it can really change the whole mood of the trip for me).  We arrived in the Tokyo Dome vicinity about an hour and a half before the game and instead of going right in, we decided to grub at Bubba Gump's.  The food was good and my shrimpin dippin broth hit the spot, but eating at U.S. chains here can be very pricey.  So, a lot of shrimp and A LOT less money later, we headed for the Tokyo Dome.

I had been to the Tokyo Dome before (for the Orchid Festival), so I knew that it was nice a place.  Personally, I am a fan of any indoor arena, particularly in the winter or summer.  I am not so sure whether I will be accompanying Rich to baseball games in Yokohama, especially during the summer (the stadium is outdoors and I've heard the seats are really small).  Tokyo Dome was Japan's first indoor stadium and is home to the Yomiuri Giants baseball team.  It is part of Tokyo Dome City which I discussed in a bit more detail in a previous blog post, Orchids, Orchids and More Orchids.

We got to our seats right before the game started, so we missed the opening/pre-game ceremony which was somewhat special because it featured the U.S. Army band and a video tribute to three heroes of the March 11 tragedy.  This was also a special game for the Japanese because their own Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners was coming home (I'll come back to this issue in a bit).  Once we were seated, I was able to take everything in.  Thanks to our friend Andy who got the tickets for us, our seats were amazing - I think that was the closest I've ever been at any sporting event (I even saw myself on the big screen).  Getting tickets to big sporting events like this in Japan can be a somewhat painful experience for foreigners, but luckily we have friends that speak/read Japanese.  For this game, Andy had to go to the convenience store and enter some sort of a lottery to get tickets (max was 4 tickets). 

As the game began, the beer girls entered the arena from various locations.  You can always see them from wherever you are in the arena, because most of them wear fluorescent colored uniforms.  As one girl passed me (I was sitting on the aisle), I asked Rich if he thought I could be a beer girl - his response to me was "I'm not really sure, that keg looks really heavy; didn't you see her sweating?"  Anyway, all in all it was a great time (very different from sporting events in the U.S.) - everything was just so much orderly than I was used to and the fans are so respectful.  I think that if Ichiro weren't there, there would've been a lot less cheering (at some points you would think you were at the symphony rather than a baseball game cause it was so quiet). I also couldn't believe it when I didn't have to wait in line to go to the bathroom OR to get something from the concession stand.

The game itself was overall not that exciting (although apparently it got good after we left), but each and every time Ichiro was at bat, a billion flashes went off and as the night went on (and the beer girls came around more), the cheering got louder. I know that there has been some criticism about having Opening Day in Tokyo (for a variety of reasons) but I thought it was awesome.  I could be saying that just because I live in Japan now, but I also thought it was really great for the Japanese people to be able to see Ichiro play at home (he's seriously like a god here).  I don't know if this is how all games are in Japan, but no one left early.  It was tied at the bottom of the 9th and we still had a long train ride home, so Rich and I took off and it was a good decision on our part because getting home was a breeze.  Getting home at midnight and having to wake up early the next morning for work, not so much fun - for Rich that is (not me since I'm still playing the part of housewife), but in the end it was worth it. :)

Orchids, Orchids and More Orchids

A few weeks ago my friend messaged me and asked if I liked orchids and was interested in going to the orchid festival in Tokyo.  I pondered the first question for a few moments - do I like orchids?  I definitely enjoy flowers but I never really thought of myself as an orchid lover (or of any other flower for that matter), but I suppose that of all the flowers out there, orchids would probably be one of my favorites since it was by far the dominant flower at my wedding (see pictures to the right - hey, any chance I get to reminisce about that day, I'm taking it).  In any case, I am always up for new things and I love going to Tokyo, so I said I would go.  It was supposed to be a group of guys and girls on this outing, but the night before when we were all at dinner, the guys found out that Rich and his friends were going to UFC 144 at the Saitama Super Arena the next day and promptly informed us they were ditching the orchid festival for UFC (guess I can't really blame them). To our delight, it ended up being a girls' day out.

We arrived at Tokyo Dome City around 11:00 a.m. and since none of us had really eaten, we decided to eat before taking on the Orchid Festival.  Tokyo Dome City has it all - Tokyo Dome (home of the Tokyo Giants), an amusement park, a hotel (Tokyo Dome Hotel), a skate arena, a bowling center, a shopping mall, restaurants and the LaQua natural hot spring complex.  We walked around LaQua to check out our dining options - we considered eating at Bubba Gump, but once we saw The City Buffet and the sample selections in the plastic case, we were sold (it was also the best choice price-wise).  The buffet had a salad bar, Chinese and Japanese dishes, pizza (Japanese style), and an ice cream bar. By the time we were done, we were stuffed and sleepy.  Hmm...I think I see a pattern developing (buffet followed by some activity that involves a lot of walking), which is ironic considering that on Edo-Tokyo Museum day, we thought it was ridiculous to pig out at a buffet and then go sightseeing.

The official name of the festival is the Japan Grand Prix International Orchid Festival and it's an annual event which was started in 1991.  This year the festival was held from February 18 - 26 at the Tokyo Dome.  We really had no idea what to expect but once we entered the arena, we realized that this festival was a lot bigger than we had anticipated.  I'm not sure if it was because it was the last day of the festival, but there were tons of people (mostly older Japanese women, I'm not gonna lie) and by the time we were ready to leave, it was a struggle just to make it to the exit.

The festival had a little bit of everything.  There was an area to view the orchids which had been submitted for display/viewing, an area for the orchid competition (there were different divisions for the different species of orchid), there were massive orchid displays, orchid flower arrangements, orchid gardens and orchid-related crafts on display.  In addition, there were food vendors, a wine garden, and booths where you could buy orchids and other orchid-related products (one of the popular booths seemed to be the Shiseido booth where you could buy orchid perfume).   I had absolutely no idea there were so many different types of orchids or that they came in so many different colors, and I can honestly say that I now have a new appreciation for this flower (I was tempted to buy a plant but then I remembered that I've never been able to grow anything and decided against it).  According to the Daily Yomiuri, this year's festival featured 100,000 plants from over 21 different countries.  There was a special display where you could view a blue orchid from Borneo, but when we saw that the wait time to get in was at least 45 minutes, we agreed that it wasn't really necessary for us to see the blue Borneo orchid.  After we saw everything there was to see, we headed back to Yokosuka and ended our fabulous girls' day with tea and scones at Afternoon Tea. 

Here are some pictures from the festival: