The Asia series ended on Sunday with the Seibu Lions winning the Asia series. The Asia series has been in effect for 4 years and Japan won it all four times. The first ever series was won by the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2005. The Nippon Ham Fighters won it in 2006 and the Chunichi Dragons won it in 2007. This years standings were:
Tianjin Lions - CBA - 0-3
Uni Lions - CPBL - 2-1
Seibu Lions - NPB - 2-1
Sk Wyverns - KBO - 2-1
They count runs scored vs runs allowed to break the three way tie to determine the final two teams. The final game was the Uni Lions vs the Seibu Lions. The Seibu Lions won 1-0 with the only run being scored in the 9th inning!
The first ever female was drafted into professional baseball! I would love to say it happened here, but.. It happened in Japan. 16 year old Eri Yoshida was drafted in the 7th round in the Nippon League amateur draft, she is a sidearmed knuckleball pitcher who struck out the only three batters she faced in her tryout. She will join the Kobe 9 Cruise next year.
----
I will not be at our communal dinner tonight because I'm going to see Jonatha Brooke with Lynz, this was the concert that got cancelled back in October. Originally Glen Phillips was opening for her and playing guitar in her set but Glen cancelled after his accident and she cancelled shortly afterwards. Glen will not be with her tonight, there will actually be no opening band. I called the Paradise and they said they don't know yet if she is planning on doing two sets or just one longer one. I'm happy about the concert but also sad that I will be missing Rene's birthday dinner..
----
Tomorrow I'm having my right Achilles tendon lengthened, the recovery time should be about four weeks. Two weeks with a hard cast, two weeks with a soft cast and then time to strengthen my foot/leg. Hopefully I will be able to have my second surgery (left foot) in the beginning of January because if not it will have to wait till March because of my work schedule..
----
Laire was amazing this weekend, Mark Struzzi has shown once again that he is the best head of plot that game has probably ever seen. This month was the 200th event of Laire and they did a really cool trip down memory lane. The 5 Lions Inn went back in time to some of the more critical events in Laire history so that we could do things in the past that were never clear on how they happened. We did a bunch of jumps and out of all the jumps I was only not at one of them. I have been playing Laire since it's first event but I took a break for a few years after me and Jessie moved to MA because I felt it was too far to drive.
---Diversion of the Day
Barack Obama's weekly address youtube site:
http://www.youtube.com/ChangeDotGov
Showing posts with label Baseball - NPBL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baseball - NPBL. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I<3>1
I mentioned before that the Seibu Lions won the Nippon League. The winner of the Nippon League moves onto the All Asia Series. The All Asia Series is the winner of the Nippon League, the Chinese Baseball Association, the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the Korea Baseball Organization.
The really odd thing is I just looked at the teams playing and they are:
Tianjin Lions - CBA
Uni Lions - CPBL
Seibu Lions - NPB
Sk Wyverns - KBO
I guess it's a good bet that the Lions will win.. Unfortunately it may not the be ones from Seibu... Seibu lost it's first game which was to the Wyverns. The Uni Lions beat the Tianjin Lions which is surprising because China Taipai was the worst of the Asian teams in the World Cup in 2006.
The Asian Baseball Association has once again asked the Major League Baseball winner to play the winner of the All Asian Series, they are waiting on the Phillies answer. I would give the Phillies a lot of credit if they go over and play but I kinda doubt they will.
---Diversion & Thought of the Day
The really odd thing is I just looked at the teams playing and they are:
Tianjin Lions - CBA
Uni Lions - CPBL
Seibu Lions - NPB
Sk Wyverns - KBO
I guess it's a good bet that the Lions will win.. Unfortunately it may not the be ones from Seibu... Seibu lost it's first game which was to the Wyverns. The Uni Lions beat the Tianjin Lions which is surprising because China Taipai was the worst of the Asian teams in the World Cup in 2006.
The Asian Baseball Association has once again asked the Major League Baseball winner to play the winner of the All Asian Series, they are waiting on the Phillies answer. I would give the Phillies a lot of credit if they go over and play but I kinda doubt they will.
---Diversion & Thought of the Day
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Time travel has a lot of turbulence...
Flight from Tokyo to Houston was very turbulent, I really didn't get much sleep on that flight. I did however watch Get Smart of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Get Smart was sorta disappointing, it was good, just not as good I was expecting. I guess the more I think about it, it was good a good movie, it's not the kind of movie I would own. Indiana Jones was just as good as the previous Indiana Jones movies, I went into that movie with no expectations because everyone told me how bad it was. Let me say that I was never an enormous Indiana Jones fan, I put them in the same league as the Romancing the Stone movies, I liked them but they didn't define my childhood.
On the flight from Houston to Boston I had a entire row all to myself so I laid out and slept the whole flight. I didn't even get up for the food service.. :)
I am now a Silver Elite member on Continental Airlines, which means I get to board early, I get to go through the "elite" security lines and if there are open business class seats available when I check in for my flight I automatically get upgraded.. :D I didn't get upgraded on either of these flights, but I am looking forward to my next flight and having that happen.. The security line is a big advantage and I did get to use that in Tokyo and in Houston, it was amazing how quick I got through security in Houston..
Today I am going to Maine with Jessie, Lynz and Anja to see Great Big Sea.
----
The Lions beat the Giants today in Game 1 of the Japan Series by a score of 2-1.
---Diversion of the Day
Legend of the Seeker promo 1
On the flight from Houston to Boston I had a entire row all to myself so I laid out and slept the whole flight. I didn't even get up for the food service.. :)
I am now a Silver Elite member on Continental Airlines, which means I get to board early, I get to go through the "elite" security lines and if there are open business class seats available when I check in for my flight I automatically get upgraded.. :D I didn't get upgraded on either of these flights, but I am looking forward to my next flight and having that happen.. The security line is a big advantage and I did get to use that in Tokyo and in Houston, it was amazing how quick I got through security in Houston..
Today I am going to Maine with Jessie, Lynz and Anja to see Great Big Sea.
----
The Lions beat the Giants today in Game 1 of the Japan Series by a score of 2-1.
---Diversion of the Day
Legend of the Seeker promo 1
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Giants v. Lions in Japan Series
The Giants won so they advance to the Japan Series against the Lions.. That series starts on Nov 1st at 6pm Japan Time. That would be 5am Eastern Time..
----
Oh, and I posted new pics from the last three days. Enjoy.. :D
----
Oh, and I posted new pics from the last three days. Enjoy.. :D
Saturday, October 25, 2008
They played hard, give 'em both a win!
I just got back from the game.. When I was done teaching I headed over to the Tokyo Dome and went to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. It was very small but had some cool stuff in it, the lady gave me an English guide so I could read about all the exhibits. They had uniforms from all the current teams and a history of Japanese Baseball, the other day I said the Japanese league was formed in 1950, it was reformed in 1950.. They did have baseball before WWII but that ended for obvious reasons. The new league formed in 1950.. When I went to the Lions - Fighters game they used the DH so I assumed all Japanese ball did, I was wrong.. The Pacific League uses the DH and the Central League does not. So tonight I got to see real "National League" style baseball. The HoF also had the World Cup trophy on display as well as the different Japan uniforms for all of their historical national teams.
The Tokyo Dome is wonderful from the outside, they had a roller coaster which was closed due to rain and a few other kid rides around the outside of the stadium.. They have the biggest Baseball Merchandise store in Tokyo attached to the store as well, they actually had hats and shirts from every team, well - almost every team.. They were sold out of Marines shirts.. I did get an Orix Buffaloes Mascot stuffed animal, the Buffaloes have the same mascot they did when they were the Blue Wave.
Inside the Tokyo Dome it just looks old, it was built in 1987 and reminds me of Stade de Olympique but with way smaller seats. My knees were touching the seat in front of me and my arms were up against the arms of the people next to me and all three of us were skinny people. We kinda took turns leaning forward and backward so that we could fit.. What a difference between this and the Seibu Dome.. It was however a real dome.. The field has a ton of foul territory so even though I was closer to the field than I was in Seibu I was further away from the action. They had the same thing where the players ran out through a cone of cheerleaders, the cheerleaders came out in the 5th again and danced on the dugouts. They did the YMCA during the 6th inning. The 7th inning was very short, the mascot came out and shot shirts into the audience. By the way I say the mascot, but there is apparently a family of them.. A mom, dad, son and daughter.. They are very cute mascots.. I just really wish the Giants did not take a name from American Baseball, I feel that they are trying to be like America instead of taking on a new name like the Dragons, Lions, Ham Fighters, Marines, etc...
The more I think about the more I really think American Baseball should take the 6pm start times, it makes the game much more kid friendly.. Especially on weekends..
Right, so the game.. The game was a really good pitchers duel for a little while, the Giants scored 1 in the first, the Dragons jumped out with 3 runs in the 4th, the Giants came back and went ahead 5-3 with a 4 run rally in the 6th. The Giants gave up one in the 8th and brought in their closer to start the 9th. He hit the first batter with the second pitch, the pitch hit the batter in the face and he went down hard, they had to carry him off the field. The pitcher was ejected from the game for the hit batter. The new pitcher allowed that run to score and that would be the final score.. The game went 12 innings and then just ended! Apparently in Japanese Baseball a game is a tie after 12 innings, but you can't have a tie in the Climax Series so both teams get credited with a win!! What kind of horse shit is that? I say keep playing the fucking game... The game ended up being 4 hours 45 minutes. I loved watching this game and was a bit bitter that it ended when it did. Even with the seats being uncomfortable I sat without getting from the 1st pitch all the way till the 11th inning. In the 11th I got some water and moved closer to the field because a bunch of people had left.
Best part of Giants stadium is the food, oh my god... :D Here let me put in another one.. :D I had a crab and roe sashimi box for dinner! For dessert I had a Crepe filled with Banana, Chocolate and Ice Cream.. I thought it was odd that they had both Pepsi and Coke at the game, in Japanese stadiums all the vendors who walk around with stuff are girls because guys want to be served by girls while watching sports.. Keith Hernandez would love that... The beer girls have kegs on their backs and pour your beer right when you order it. The soda girls had trays of cups of soda.
----
I was talking to Toni and Rob today on IM and Toni mentioned that I should see if the original Iron Chef Japanese has a restaurant, he does.. It's about a 5 min walk from Sakai's restaurant.. Oh man, what do I do now for next week. I am certainly going to eat at Sakai's, but should I do the full circuit? I could even do the 2nd Iron Chef Japanese as his restaurant is over by Disneyland Tokyo.. Things to think about for sure... Problem is that work won't let me get away with that many expensive meals.
----
I just dropped off my laundry and should have it back tomorrow when I get back from Disney. I am not going to be putting up any pics tonight because I have to get to bed. I took a bunch and need to sort and resize and make the webpage for them. I might be able to do it tomorrow when I get back from Disney.. Disney opens at 8am and closes at 10pm so depending on what there is to do it might be a long day.
---Diversion of the Day
The Tokyo Dome is wonderful from the outside, they had a roller coaster which was closed due to rain and a few other kid rides around the outside of the stadium.. They have the biggest Baseball Merchandise store in Tokyo attached to the store as well, they actually had hats and shirts from every team, well - almost every team.. They were sold out of Marines shirts.. I did get an Orix Buffaloes Mascot stuffed animal, the Buffaloes have the same mascot they did when they were the Blue Wave.
Inside the Tokyo Dome it just looks old, it was built in 1987 and reminds me of Stade de Olympique but with way smaller seats. My knees were touching the seat in front of me and my arms were up against the arms of the people next to me and all three of us were skinny people. We kinda took turns leaning forward and backward so that we could fit.. What a difference between this and the Seibu Dome.. It was however a real dome.. The field has a ton of foul territory so even though I was closer to the field than I was in Seibu I was further away from the action. They had the same thing where the players ran out through a cone of cheerleaders, the cheerleaders came out in the 5th again and danced on the dugouts. They did the YMCA during the 6th inning. The 7th inning was very short, the mascot came out and shot shirts into the audience. By the way I say the mascot, but there is apparently a family of them.. A mom, dad, son and daughter.. They are very cute mascots.. I just really wish the Giants did not take a name from American Baseball, I feel that they are trying to be like America instead of taking on a new name like the Dragons, Lions, Ham Fighters, Marines, etc...
The more I think about the more I really think American Baseball should take the 6pm start times, it makes the game much more kid friendly.. Especially on weekends..
Right, so the game.. The game was a really good pitchers duel for a little while, the Giants scored 1 in the first, the Dragons jumped out with 3 runs in the 4th, the Giants came back and went ahead 5-3 with a 4 run rally in the 6th. The Giants gave up one in the 8th and brought in their closer to start the 9th. He hit the first batter with the second pitch, the pitch hit the batter in the face and he went down hard, they had to carry him off the field. The pitcher was ejected from the game for the hit batter. The new pitcher allowed that run to score and that would be the final score.. The game went 12 innings and then just ended! Apparently in Japanese Baseball a game is a tie after 12 innings, but you can't have a tie in the Climax Series so both teams get credited with a win!! What kind of horse shit is that? I say keep playing the fucking game... The game ended up being 4 hours 45 minutes. I loved watching this game and was a bit bitter that it ended when it did. Even with the seats being uncomfortable I sat without getting from the 1st pitch all the way till the 11th inning. In the 11th I got some water and moved closer to the field because a bunch of people had left.
Best part of Giants stadium is the food, oh my god... :D Here let me put in another one.. :D I had a crab and roe sashimi box for dinner! For dessert I had a Crepe filled with Banana, Chocolate and Ice Cream.. I thought it was odd that they had both Pepsi and Coke at the game, in Japanese stadiums all the vendors who walk around with stuff are girls because guys want to be served by girls while watching sports.. Keith Hernandez would love that... The beer girls have kegs on their backs and pour your beer right when you order it. The soda girls had trays of cups of soda.
----
I was talking to Toni and Rob today on IM and Toni mentioned that I should see if the original Iron Chef Japanese has a restaurant, he does.. It's about a 5 min walk from Sakai's restaurant.. Oh man, what do I do now for next week. I am certainly going to eat at Sakai's, but should I do the full circuit? I could even do the 2nd Iron Chef Japanese as his restaurant is over by Disneyland Tokyo.. Things to think about for sure... Problem is that work won't let me get away with that many expensive meals.
----
I just dropped off my laundry and should have it back tomorrow when I get back from Disney. I am not going to be putting up any pics tonight because I have to get to bed. I took a bunch and need to sort and resize and make the webpage for them. I might be able to do it tomorrow when I get back from Disney.. Disney opens at 8am and closes at 10pm so depending on what there is to do it might be a long day.
---Diversion of the Day
See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die
Thursday, October 23, 2008
News...
Colin Powell is endorsing Barack Obama!! I read that today in my Japanese newspaper!! Holy wow!!
The Dragons beat the Giants 4-3 last night which means that Friday will not be the clinching game..
The Dragons beat the Giants 4-3 last night which means that Friday will not be the clinching game..
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Final post before bed...
The Lions won their game 9-0 which means they go on to face whoever wins the Central League Climax Series in the Japan Series. A few years ago Japanese baseball asked Bug Selig and the MLB to rename their championship series the American Series, I agree... A "World Series" should be the winning Japanese team and the winning MLB team.. In 2005 the Marines won the Japan Series, the day after the series ended he invited the Chicago White Sox (who had won the World Series) to play a series to determine the true World Champions. The White Sox declined...
Anyway, so the Lions won 9-0, all the players ran out onto the field to swarm the mound as you would expect when winning your league. Instead of swarming the pitcher and everyone creating a dog pile they all ran real close and then stopped and each waited for the pitcher to shake his hand?! It was really odd because everyone ran out and just at the moment where you know the dog pile is going to start everyone just stopped and waited with their hand extended... Odd...
Giants v Dragons tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th with a man on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, manager goes to the mound to make a pitching change... This is the end of tonight's broadcast, I hope you will join us tomorrow at 7pm when these same two teams will battle it out in the Central League Climax Series!!!!!!!!!!!
I now have the game up on the Internet ticker because my hotel does not get the Giants satellite channel.. It's now 3-3 in the 9th, I am fighting keeping my eyes open so I think this is the end for me tonight... I'll post the final in the morning...
Anyway, so the Lions won 9-0, all the players ran out onto the field to swarm the mound as you would expect when winning your league. Instead of swarming the pitcher and everyone creating a dog pile they all ran real close and then stopped and each waited for the pitcher to shake his hand?! It was really odd because everyone ran out and just at the moment where you know the dog pile is going to start everyone just stopped and waited with their hand extended... Odd...
Giants v Dragons tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th with a man on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, manager goes to the mound to make a pitching change... This is the end of tonight's broadcast, I hope you will join us tomorrow at 7pm when these same two teams will battle it out in the Central League Climax Series!!!!!!!!!!!
I now have the game up on the Internet ticker because my hotel does not get the Giants satellite channel.. It's now 3-3 in the 9th, I am fighting keeping my eyes open so I think this is the end for me tonight... I'll post the final in the morning...
Tonights dinner is a 驚き
My hotel gets NHK Satellite 1 which is the Tiger's satellite channel and NTV which is the National Giants channel.. NHK Satellite 1 is airing the entire Lions/Fighters game tonight, I guess because it's the final game of the series they are airing it. NTV is of course airing the Giants game from 7pm till 9:30pm with an allowance of an extra 30 minutes if needed! So, I've decided to hang out at the hotel and see how baseball is aired here. Before the games started I went to a quickie mart type store and got "dinner". Like the title said it's a 驚き tonight! A few items that are not a 驚き is Pocky and Octopus jerky. On top of those items I got some Triangle of rice and 驚き wrapped in Nori and a package of three smaller 驚き triangles wrapped in Nori and a package of what appears to be dried spiced meat. I was inspired by Alex Skolnick's blog about buying these rice balls wrapped in Nori, I got a big blue one and the smaller ones are orange, brown and green.. I will keep this blog going until I eat them and I will post what I think they are as I eat them.. Gotta love a good 驚き..
What some of you may find more impressive is that I completed the transaction at the counter in Japanese! How did I learn enough Japanese to buy stuff at a store? Just like any other kid does, from watching Anime... :D btw - don't expect me to speak Japanese when I get home, like any language I pretend not to know any thing.. :P
The Giants game just started, as the broadcast started they did a replay of the 3 runs that had already scored, the game is in the 4th at the beginning of the broadcast and the Dragons are winning 2-1.. The Lions game is in the 3rd and the they are beating the Fighters 5-0. I will be switching back and forth between the two.. I really hope the Giants sweep the Dragons so that I will be at the clinching game on Friday...
OK.. On to the food... 驚き 1 = White Tuna with mayo!! I win on that one! Can my luck hold out? Let's see... 驚き 2 = Hot peppers with sesame seed!! I win again! 驚き 3 = rice soaked in soy sauce.. A little disappointing that there was nothing inside, but it was still tasty.. 驚き 4 = plain rice with some fish spice? Again, not bad, but disappointing...
Giants just tied it 2-2 with a monster home run.. I don't really like the Dragons' uniforms, the Giants uniform looks exactly like the SF Giants. I do like the Lions (will try to get a better of picture of that but the Lions website is overloaded with traffic right now) and the Fighters uniforms but my favorite Japanese uniform is the Marines home uniform, I would like a Bobby Valentine jersey but it's $300!! I am going to see if they have a t-shirt version at the baseball hall of fame on Friday.
Giants just screwed up bad, an error, a double play ball that for some reason the third baseman held for too long so that the man on 2nd was safe, the throw to 1st was also too late and the ended up with men on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Next batter singled, bases loaded, next batter walks!! 3-2 Dragons, bases loaded.. Had they turned that double play they would have been out of the inning with no damage, as I was typing this the pitcher was changed and the next pitcher threw one pitch before the batter grounded into a proper double play to end the inning... Going to bottom of the 5th Dragons winning 3-2.
I'm pretty full after eating those rice triangles. I will save the octopus jerky and the spiced meat for a bit later as a snack while I watch the game. I will post another blog (maybe tomorrow) with the verdict on the octopus and the meat as well as the final scores of these two games..
----
For lunch today I had a Sushi platter which came with 10 pieces of Nigri Sushi and 1 Maki Roll.
----
When I got back to the hotel before I went to get food I went upstairs to the executive club. They have reclining massage chairs overlooking the city. I sat in the chair with a glass of wine and was reminded of Boston Legal.. I started thinking that I missed having my Denny Crane sitting next to me.. Then I started thinking who is my Denny Crane? Yes, I consider myself Alan Shore.. So I guess my Denny would be AJ? He is the only staunch Republican I'm friends with, does my Denny Crane have to be a Republican? I don't really think so.. Sitting there with a wine in my hand on a reclined massage chair looking over the skyline made me really want to be able to teleport someone in the other chair so we could chat about the weeks events while sipping our wine and looking over a beautiful city skyline. I tried to take a picture but I don't think it came out..
What some of you may find more impressive is that I completed the transaction at the counter in Japanese! How did I learn enough Japanese to buy stuff at a store? Just like any other kid does, from watching Anime... :D btw - don't expect me to speak Japanese when I get home, like any language I pretend not to know any thing.. :P
The Giants game just started, as the broadcast started they did a replay of the 3 runs that had already scored, the game is in the 4th at the beginning of the broadcast and the Dragons are winning 2-1.. The Lions game is in the 3rd and the they are beating the Fighters 5-0. I will be switching back and forth between the two.. I really hope the Giants sweep the Dragons so that I will be at the clinching game on Friday...
OK.. On to the food... 驚き 1 = White Tuna with mayo!! I win on that one! Can my luck hold out? Let's see... 驚き 2 = Hot peppers with sesame seed!! I win again! 驚き 3 = rice soaked in soy sauce.. A little disappointing that there was nothing inside, but it was still tasty.. 驚き 4 = plain rice with some fish spice? Again, not bad, but disappointing...
Giants just tied it 2-2 with a monster home run.. I don't really like the Dragons' uniforms, the Giants uniform looks exactly like the SF Giants. I do like the Lions (will try to get a better of picture of that but the Lions website is overloaded with traffic right now) and the Fighters uniforms but my favorite Japanese uniform is the Marines home uniform, I would like a Bobby Valentine jersey but it's $300!! I am going to see if they have a t-shirt version at the baseball hall of fame on Friday.
Giants just screwed up bad, an error, a double play ball that for some reason the third baseman held for too long so that the man on 2nd was safe, the throw to 1st was also too late and the ended up with men on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Next batter singled, bases loaded, next batter walks!! 3-2 Dragons, bases loaded.. Had they turned that double play they would have been out of the inning with no damage, as I was typing this the pitcher was changed and the next pitcher threw one pitch before the batter grounded into a proper double play to end the inning... Going to bottom of the 5th Dragons winning 3-2.
I'm pretty full after eating those rice triangles. I will save the octopus jerky and the spiced meat for a bit later as a snack while I watch the game. I will post another blog (maybe tomorrow) with the verdict on the octopus and the meat as well as the final scores of these two games..
----
For lunch today I had a Sushi platter which came with 10 pieces of Nigri Sushi and 1 Maki Roll.
----
When I got back to the hotel before I went to get food I went upstairs to the executive club. They have reclining massage chairs overlooking the city. I sat in the chair with a glass of wine and was reminded of Boston Legal.. I started thinking that I missed having my Denny Crane sitting next to me.. Then I started thinking who is my Denny Crane? Yes, I consider myself Alan Shore.. So I guess my Denny would be AJ? He is the only staunch Republican I'm friends with, does my Denny Crane have to be a Republican? I don't really think so.. Sitting there with a wine in my hand on a reclined massage chair looking over the skyline made me really want to be able to teleport someone in the other chair so we could chat about the weeks events while sipping our wine and looking over a beautiful city skyline. I tried to take a picture but I don't think it came out..
Go Go Go Go Lions Gooo Gooo
It's late at night and I probably should be in bed so I apologize in advance for any random tangents this may go on.. I am going to try to keep it somewhat in order if only for you the reader.. :)
First of all may I just say that the Shinjuku train station is fucking huge! I went in to get the Shinjuku-Seibu line and after walking around for a while I had to ask someone, apparently the Shinjuku train station is in two parts. The Keio Lines (main subway lines) and the JR Lines (trains to locations outside Tokyo) are all in the main building, there is another building that houses the secondary Subways (the commuter rails). The Shinjuku-Seibu line is apparently in the secondary building because it's a commuter line not a main train and not a subway.. Anyway, it's a good thing Japanese people speak English to me.
That's a gift I seem to have, so many people tell me that Japanese people don't speak English, but every time I talk to them they speak to me.. Trick to talking to Japanese people, be humble and be very patient with them trying to speak. If they think you're in a hurry or will cut them off/correct them they will not talk to you. It's easier to say you don't speak English than to sound stupid doing it. Remember that Japanese people take pride in everything they do, if they don't feel 100% sure of their English they will not speak to you if they think you might look down on them in any way!
Something I didn't realize about Japanese people - everyone know that when you take or hand a business card to Japanese person you use both hands and present it to them as a gift and I'm sure you know that when you take a business card from a Japanese person you always take it with both hands and read it before putting it away. When I say put it away I don't mean stuff it in your pocket I mean put it in something so they know you consider it as important as they do! Anyway, where was I.. Right.. So apparently this custom also hold true for credit cards, receipts and train/baseball tickets. Even on a lesser note on merchandise. I bought a stuffed animal of Sam and the lady at the counter handed the stuffed animal to me to look at and then handed me the bag for me to put it in.
Ok, so now where was I.. Back at Shinjuku, right.. So, I asked someone and they sent me to the secondary building. Bought my ticket to the Seibu Dome station and headed onto the first train. To get to the Seibu Dome you have to take the Seibu-Shinjuku line into Seibu then you have to take the Nishi-Tokorozawa line one stop before finally taking the Seibu-Sayama Line down to the Seibu Dome. Don't worry if you can't read Japanese the signs change every few seconds so you can read it in English letters and Japanese letters and all the maps have both letters too.
Got to the stadium just after 5pm and got my ticket! Section 53 Row 20 Seat 5 if you care. The way the stadium is designed is it's all one level, they have a walkway halfway between the field and the concession stands, I was in row 20 of the upper half of the stadium. I don't think that stadium would have a bad seat. The stadium holds about 36,000 people and it was sold out, ironically a bunch of people on the 3rd base side must have purchased tickets and not showed up, there was a few whole sections empty..
They had a visitor seating area at the stadium which was the left field bleachers, the fans over there were trying real hard to make enough noise to drown out the Lions fans. It almost worked in the top of the 1st when the Lions pitcher walked the first two batters he faced. It was not looking good.. The manager came out and talked to the pitcher and he didn't allow another man to reach base until the 5th inning! The Fighters pitcher however got beat up! I don't know why in Earth they let this guy pitch for as long as they did, he allowed 7 runs on 10 hits in 3 innings (4 in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd)!
By the way, the Fighters suck in general.. I don't know how they managed to get in the playoffs let alone to the 2nd round! They didn't have one batter hitting .300, most of their lineup was batting between .215 and .250, I think they had one guy hitting .280! Ok, average isn't everything they must hit some massive home runs right? Wrong! Their cleanup hitter had 8 home runs for the entire season! To put that in perspective the Lions cleanup hitter had 46! Matter of fact, the Lions only had one guy in their lineup who hit less than 8 home runs! I guess they did it on pitching, but not on the guy who pitched tonight, he stunk..
By the way, I want you to think real hard about the term "Domed Stadium". When I think of a stadium with a dome I think of Houston, Montreal, Milwaukee and Seattle which all have domes that cover the roof, you know what else they have? Walls! Silly me thought I didn't need a jacket because I was going to a stadium with a dome, what I didn't realize was that the dome was supported above the stadium with beams. The effect of a cover over the stadium was wind, and lots of it. I was ok till about the 6th inning when I started to have to blow on my hands..
I bitch about the dome/cover but it really was not that bad, had I been aware I would have brought my coat and I would have been fine, it's still better than building a state of the art ballpark in NYC without even a cover to protect against rain.
So.. Food.. The concession stands were all at the top of the stadium and they served a WIDE range of food, they had hot dogs, burgers, sushi, noodle soup, KFC, Baskin Robbins, Dippin' Dots, chocolate covered marsh mellows, Japanese boxed meals, corn dogs, popcorn, green tea (hot and cold), various types of beer and various mystery items. Some of the mystery items were desserts and some were dinners. I got a boxed meal which had slices of cooked eel, bacon and beef over rice with mushrooms and sliced up dicon. I also had chocolate covered marsh mellows, yumm! Oh and a Suntory beer because after all "It's Suntory time"..
So as I said the Lions scored 7 runs in the first three innings and the Fighters had not scored any before the 5th. I got to see plenty of people waving flags, every time the Lions scored a run everyone would wave these blue flags, it was pretty neat. The crowd in general never stopped, they were chanting and singing and banging sticks the whole game, I would image it being very intimidating for the visiting team.. I don't know if they are that active at every game or if it was because it was the Climax Series, I would guess the latter.
All the names on the scoreboard were in Japanese, but the positions were in English. It was odd because you would see Japanese character with 2B or something next to it. When the Lions hit home runs the scoreboard actually said "Home Run", when the struck someone out it would say "Strikeout". Ok, those are baseball terms so I can understand the English there but when they were in a big rally the scoreboard said "Great" and "Awesome" and "Nice Rally". Very strange to see the English words mixed with Japanese.
I got a program for the Climax Series because I felt I had to, it's all in Japanese but it has nice pictures.. :) I'm going to go back and read this now and see if I missed anything.. OK, three things I missed.. Sam is the name of the Lion mascot, the toilets had seat warmers and the stadium seats in general are real nice. The seat I was in had a removable pad so they could be washed and was wider than most American ballpark seats which I find ironic because most Japanese people would have no problem sitting in American seats. The seats behind home plate were recliners! How much would you pay to sit in a recliner at the stadium during the playoffs? How about $100? That's how much those seats are.. My seat was $20! My post season tickets at Shea were $150 for the playoffs and $300 for the World Series and those are not field level seats! Tickets on top of the Green Monster at Fenway are $1500 per seat for the playoffs!
On the walk back I passed a 15 story Karaoke place!
OK, I'm done now.. I really need to get some sleep.. I'll sleep when I'm dead, right?
----
I uploaded new pictures to the Japanese picture page so go check them out..
First of all may I just say that the Shinjuku train station is fucking huge! I went in to get the Shinjuku-Seibu line and after walking around for a while I had to ask someone, apparently the Shinjuku train station is in two parts. The Keio Lines (main subway lines) and the JR Lines (trains to locations outside Tokyo) are all in the main building, there is another building that houses the secondary Subways (the commuter rails). The Shinjuku-Seibu line is apparently in the secondary building because it's a commuter line not a main train and not a subway.. Anyway, it's a good thing Japanese people speak English to me.
That's a gift I seem to have, so many people tell me that Japanese people don't speak English, but every time I talk to them they speak to me.. Trick to talking to Japanese people, be humble and be very patient with them trying to speak. If they think you're in a hurry or will cut them off/correct them they will not talk to you. It's easier to say you don't speak English than to sound stupid doing it. Remember that Japanese people take pride in everything they do, if they don't feel 100% sure of their English they will not speak to you if they think you might look down on them in any way!
Something I didn't realize about Japanese people - everyone know that when you take or hand a business card to Japanese person you use both hands and present it to them as a gift and I'm sure you know that when you take a business card from a Japanese person you always take it with both hands and read it before putting it away. When I say put it away I don't mean stuff it in your pocket I mean put it in something so they know you consider it as important as they do! Anyway, where was I.. Right.. So apparently this custom also hold true for credit cards, receipts and train/baseball tickets. Even on a lesser note on merchandise. I bought a stuffed animal of Sam and the lady at the counter handed the stuffed animal to me to look at and then handed me the bag for me to put it in.
Ok, so now where was I.. Back at Shinjuku, right.. So, I asked someone and they sent me to the secondary building. Bought my ticket to the Seibu Dome station and headed onto the first train. To get to the Seibu Dome you have to take the Seibu-Shinjuku line into Seibu then you have to take the Nishi-Tokorozawa line one stop before finally taking the Seibu-Sayama Line down to the Seibu Dome. Don't worry if you can't read Japanese the signs change every few seconds so you can read it in English letters and Japanese letters and all the maps have both letters too.
Got to the stadium just after 5pm and got my ticket! Section 53 Row 20 Seat 5 if you care. The way the stadium is designed is it's all one level, they have a walkway halfway between the field and the concession stands, I was in row 20 of the upper half of the stadium. I don't think that stadium would have a bad seat. The stadium holds about 36,000 people and it was sold out, ironically a bunch of people on the 3rd base side must have purchased tickets and not showed up, there was a few whole sections empty..
They had a visitor seating area at the stadium which was the left field bleachers, the fans over there were trying real hard to make enough noise to drown out the Lions fans. It almost worked in the top of the 1st when the Lions pitcher walked the first two batters he faced. It was not looking good.. The manager came out and talked to the pitcher and he didn't allow another man to reach base until the 5th inning! The Fighters pitcher however got beat up! I don't know why in Earth they let this guy pitch for as long as they did, he allowed 7 runs on 10 hits in 3 innings (4 in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd)!
By the way, the Fighters suck in general.. I don't know how they managed to get in the playoffs let alone to the 2nd round! They didn't have one batter hitting .300, most of their lineup was batting between .215 and .250, I think they had one guy hitting .280! Ok, average isn't everything they must hit some massive home runs right? Wrong! Their cleanup hitter had 8 home runs for the entire season! To put that in perspective the Lions cleanup hitter had 46! Matter of fact, the Lions only had one guy in their lineup who hit less than 8 home runs! I guess they did it on pitching, but not on the guy who pitched tonight, he stunk..
By the way, I want you to think real hard about the term "Domed Stadium". When I think of a stadium with a dome I think of Houston, Montreal, Milwaukee and Seattle which all have domes that cover the roof, you know what else they have? Walls! Silly me thought I didn't need a jacket because I was going to a stadium with a dome, what I didn't realize was that the dome was supported above the stadium with beams. The effect of a cover over the stadium was wind, and lots of it. I was ok till about the 6th inning when I started to have to blow on my hands..
I bitch about the dome/cover but it really was not that bad, had I been aware I would have brought my coat and I would have been fine, it's still better than building a state of the art ballpark in NYC without even a cover to protect against rain.
So.. Food.. The concession stands were all at the top of the stadium and they served a WIDE range of food, they had hot dogs, burgers, sushi, noodle soup, KFC, Baskin Robbins, Dippin' Dots, chocolate covered marsh mellows, Japanese boxed meals, corn dogs, popcorn, green tea (hot and cold), various types of beer and various mystery items. Some of the mystery items were desserts and some were dinners. I got a boxed meal which had slices of cooked eel, bacon and beef over rice with mushrooms and sliced up dicon. I also had chocolate covered marsh mellows, yumm! Oh and a Suntory beer because after all "It's Suntory time"..
So as I said the Lions scored 7 runs in the first three innings and the Fighters had not scored any before the 5th. I got to see plenty of people waving flags, every time the Lions scored a run everyone would wave these blue flags, it was pretty neat. The crowd in general never stopped, they were chanting and singing and banging sticks the whole game, I would image it being very intimidating for the visiting team.. I don't know if they are that active at every game or if it was because it was the Climax Series, I would guess the latter.
All the names on the scoreboard were in Japanese, but the positions were in English. It was odd because you would see Japanese character with 2B or something next to it. When the Lions hit home runs the scoreboard actually said "Home Run", when the struck someone out it would say "Strikeout". Ok, those are baseball terms so I can understand the English there but when they were in a big rally the scoreboard said "Great" and "Awesome" and "Nice Rally". Very strange to see the English words mixed with Japanese.
I got a program for the Climax Series because I felt I had to, it's all in Japanese but it has nice pictures.. :) I'm going to go back and read this now and see if I missed anything.. OK, three things I missed.. Sam is the name of the Lion mascot, the toilets had seat warmers and the stadium seats in general are real nice. The seat I was in had a removable pad so they could be washed and was wider than most American ballpark seats which I find ironic because most Japanese people would have no problem sitting in American seats. The seats behind home plate were recliners! How much would you pay to sit in a recliner at the stadium during the playoffs? How about $100? That's how much those seats are.. My seat was $20! My post season tickets at Shea were $150 for the playoffs and $300 for the World Series and those are not field level seats! Tickets on top of the Green Monster at Fenway are $1500 per seat for the playoffs!
On the walk back I passed a 15 story Karaoke place!
OK, I'm done now.. I really need to get some sleep.. I'll sleep when I'm dead, right?
----
I uploaded new pictures to the Japanese picture page so go check them out..
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Say it ain't so, Oh
Just got back from eating lunch.. I went to a Sushi restaurant in the building at work.. The restaurant had 25 seats, when I got there at 11:50 there were 8 people, when I left there was 24! Out of those 24 I was the only non-Japanese person.. I had a Sashimi platter which was 10 pieces of Sashimi, a bunch of roe, miso soup and tea. All that for $10.80!
----
I am troubled by Japanese baseball.. The Nippon League is always bitching about their star players leaving for MLB, I have a good idea why now.. I walk around the office here and see people wearing Red Sox hats or Yankees hats. Most of the people here know more about MLB than they do about the Nippon League. I was talking to one of my co-workers and he didn't even know Bobby Valentine was still the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines.. Why, you ask?? Because for some stupid reason they don't televise baseball here.. The only team that gets played on National TV is the Giants, and they only get aired from 7pm to 9pm. Keep in mind the normal start time for a baseball game here is 6pm which means that the TV broadcast starts an hour into the game and ends before the game is over!! Bobby Valentine is becoming more and more my hero... Since he took over management of the Marines he has made them advertise and sell merchandise, he even managed to get radio broadcasts of their home games. Right now the Marines are the only team in the whole Nippon league that have radio broadcasts! The Giants and Tigers each have a pay satellite channel that airs their entire game, but they are expensive channels from what I hear. The Marines radio broadcasts are free..
Last night was the final game of round one of the Central League Climax Series and it was NOT on TV because it was not a Giants game.. Imagine if the only team you could watch on American TV was the Yankees and they didn't air game 7 of the Red Sox/Rays game!! wtf!
The first MLB game broadcast on the radio was August 5th 1921, since July 10 1925 every MLB was broadcast to at least the radio. From 1997-2002 the Expos only had French radio broadcasts because the owner of the team thought that by not broadcasting games he would increase attendance! The team set record lows for attendance numbers in 1999-2001! When MLB bought the team in 2003 and re-instated TV and English radio broadcasts their attendance went from 7, 935 per game to 12,662 per game (the stadium held 65,000 people).
The Nippon Baseball League was formed in 1950, their first broadcasted game was in 1973, in 1999 they aired their first All-Star game, in 2000 the Giants got their own satellite channel that airs all of their games. In 2004 the Marines started thier radio broadcasts. In 2005 the Tigers started their own satellite channel, the Eagles, Hawks and Marines began airing their games for free on the internet! So in today's modern era of internet, tv and satellite you can watch 5 NPB teams (7 teams still have no broadcasts)! Oh, wait, starting in 2006 the Nippon Sports Network airs one game a week on Saturdays! Way to jump into the century!!
How can a Japanese team compete for salary when they don't get broadcast revenue? MLB teams make 50% of their revenue in TV/Radio broadcasts..
Come on Bobby, you need to work faster to fix the marketing of baseball if it's to keep any of it's good players from going to the MLB.
---Comic of the Day
http://xkcd.com/490/
---Thought of the Day
It's amazing how much better I feel eating Japanese food. I have not had any gas issues since being over here.. Now what is it that's causing problems back in America? Since I've been here I've had no bread, no tomatoes and almost no dairy (only a little bit in the rangoons). I went though this same thoughts while in Singapore... I guess I will have to keep a food diary and try to see what causes the problem..
----
I am troubled by Japanese baseball.. The Nippon League is always bitching about their star players leaving for MLB, I have a good idea why now.. I walk around the office here and see people wearing Red Sox hats or Yankees hats. Most of the people here know more about MLB than they do about the Nippon League. I was talking to one of my co-workers and he didn't even know Bobby Valentine was still the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines.. Why, you ask?? Because for some stupid reason they don't televise baseball here.. The only team that gets played on National TV is the Giants, and they only get aired from 7pm to 9pm. Keep in mind the normal start time for a baseball game here is 6pm which means that the TV broadcast starts an hour into the game and ends before the game is over!! Bobby Valentine is becoming more and more my hero... Since he took over management of the Marines he has made them advertise and sell merchandise, he even managed to get radio broadcasts of their home games. Right now the Marines are the only team in the whole Nippon league that have radio broadcasts! The Giants and Tigers each have a pay satellite channel that airs their entire game, but they are expensive channels from what I hear. The Marines radio broadcasts are free..
Last night was the final game of round one of the Central League Climax Series and it was NOT on TV because it was not a Giants game.. Imagine if the only team you could watch on American TV was the Yankees and they didn't air game 7 of the Red Sox/Rays game!! wtf!
The first MLB game broadcast on the radio was August 5th 1921, since July 10 1925 every MLB was broadcast to at least the radio. From 1997-2002 the Expos only had French radio broadcasts because the owner of the team thought that by not broadcasting games he would increase attendance! The team set record lows for attendance numbers in 1999-2001! When MLB bought the team in 2003 and re-instated TV and English radio broadcasts their attendance went from 7, 935 per game to 12,662 per game (the stadium held 65,000 people).
The Nippon Baseball League was formed in 1950, their first broadcasted game was in 1973, in 1999 they aired their first All-Star game, in 2000 the Giants got their own satellite channel that airs all of their games. In 2004 the Marines started thier radio broadcasts. In 2005 the Tigers started their own satellite channel, the Eagles, Hawks and Marines began airing their games for free on the internet! So in today's modern era of internet, tv and satellite you can watch 5 NPB teams (7 teams still have no broadcasts)! Oh, wait, starting in 2006 the Nippon Sports Network airs one game a week on Saturdays! Way to jump into the century!!
How can a Japanese team compete for salary when they don't get broadcast revenue? MLB teams make 50% of their revenue in TV/Radio broadcasts..
Come on Bobby, you need to work faster to fix the marketing of baseball if it's to keep any of it's good players from going to the MLB.
---Comic of the Day
http://xkcd.com/490/
---Thought of the Day
It's amazing how much better I feel eating Japanese food. I have not had any gas issues since being over here.. Now what is it that's causing problems back in America? Since I've been here I've had no bread, no tomatoes and almost no dairy (only a little bit in the rangoons). I went though this same thoughts while in Singapore... I guess I will have to keep a food diary and try to see what causes the problem..
Monday, October 20, 2008
Tired...
Got up this morning after sleeping not so well.. First problem was the hard bed, second problem was sleeping too much on the plane.. I set my alarm for 7:30am and ended up getting up with the sun around 6:40, will have to remember to shut the curtains tonight.. The hotel has two restaurants that serve breakfast and both of them are free for executive guests. The first one is an "American" style restaurant and the other is a "Japanese" style one, bet you can't guess which one I ate at.. Let me give you a hint, I had chili powder rubbed tuna tartar, some spicy roe, pan fried salmon, pan fried mackerel, miso soup, salt crusted dried kelp, chopped cucumber salad, steamed tofu square, steamed scrambled egg, vegetable juice and some tea. If that didn't give it away the last hint is I was the only non-japanese person in the restaurant! If I could eat that for breakfast everyday I would not bitch about breakfast.. I know that sounds like a ton of food, but it was buffet style and I only had a little bit of each thing.. OK, well maybe I had a bunch of the tuna tartar... :D
I left that restaurant and walked by the other one on my upstairs and there was a line about 15-20 people long waiting to get in.. There was no line at the restaurant I went to..
Got to work before the doors were open, apparently they never gave my badge access so I ended up sitting in the hall chatting on IM till they let me in around 8:40. Class went well this morning, two students ended up cancelling so I only have 5 students this week. They are quiet of course and keep saying how their English is bad even though they speak better English than a lot of Americans. Class in labs right now..
There are a bunch of options for lunch food in and around this building. I chose the "easy" option of going to the cafeteria, one of the guys from work said it is good so I went down with him. The way the cafeteria works is sorta odd, you go up to a vending machine and pay/pick your meal then you wait in line for your meal to be ready. It was a good bargain, for 680 Yen I got fish with that brown sweet sauce they use on Eel in America, tuna salad, miso soup, rice, regular salad and green tea. Although the price was good the food was just ok, I would not say it was bad by any means but I gotta think there are better choices. The funny thing is that if an American cafeteria served what I ate today I would be singing it's praises but I just feel that it fell short of what I expect from food here. There is a sit down and be served restaurant in the building too so I will be trying that one tomorrow..
I don't know what I am planning for tonight, my body would probably be happy if I just stayed at the hotel, maybe hit the pool and certainly go to bed early. However, my mind says "great big city, must explore, who needs sleep".. I can't honestly say who will win this fight today.. I guess it depends on what time I get done with class today.. If I get done early enough perhaps I will take a nap and then go exploring..
If you didn't know the Nippon Ham Fighters won the game against the Seibu Lions on Sunday, why does this matter you ask.. Remember from a previous blog I mentioned that the game I have a ticket for (Tuesday) is game 4 of the series, if the Lions had won the first three there would not have been a game 4. The series is tied 1-1 right now, if the Lions win tonight then tomorrow could be their clincher which would be really awesome to see. If the Ham Fighters win tonight they will go to a game 5 on Wednesday.
The more I think about it the more I like Japanese baseball's rule for home field advantage where the team with the better record enters the series with a 1 game advantage. If they had that rule in America the Rays/Red Sox series would have ended in 3 games. The Rays having the better record (and therefore home field advantage) would have only had to win 3 games in the series where the Red Sox would have to win 4. Maybe it's unfair but it really puts the pressure on the wild card teams. In American baseball the wild card team has just as much chance to take a series, if they entered the series already down a game it puts so much more pressure on them.. It would end the crap where if both teams are going to make the playoffs like the Red Sox and Rays they stop trying because they don't care who wins the division and who takes the wild card.
Well, that's it for me for now.. Oh, one more thing.. Did you know it's against the law to smoke on the street in Tokyo! They have no smoking signs painted on the sidewalks.. I have to remember to take a picture of one.. Unfortunately it's not against the law to smoke in buildings/restaurants.. The cafeteria had a non-smoking section but the people waiting in line for their food were allowed to smoke..
I left that restaurant and walked by the other one on my upstairs and there was a line about 15-20 people long waiting to get in.. There was no line at the restaurant I went to..
Got to work before the doors were open, apparently they never gave my badge access so I ended up sitting in the hall chatting on IM till they let me in around 8:40. Class went well this morning, two students ended up cancelling so I only have 5 students this week. They are quiet of course and keep saying how their English is bad even though they speak better English than a lot of Americans. Class in labs right now..
There are a bunch of options for lunch food in and around this building. I chose the "easy" option of going to the cafeteria, one of the guys from work said it is good so I went down with him. The way the cafeteria works is sorta odd, you go up to a vending machine and pay/pick your meal then you wait in line for your meal to be ready. It was a good bargain, for 680 Yen I got fish with that brown sweet sauce they use on Eel in America, tuna salad, miso soup, rice, regular salad and green tea. Although the price was good the food was just ok, I would not say it was bad by any means but I gotta think there are better choices. The funny thing is that if an American cafeteria served what I ate today I would be singing it's praises but I just feel that it fell short of what I expect from food here. There is a sit down and be served restaurant in the building too so I will be trying that one tomorrow..
I don't know what I am planning for tonight, my body would probably be happy if I just stayed at the hotel, maybe hit the pool and certainly go to bed early. However, my mind says "great big city, must explore, who needs sleep".. I can't honestly say who will win this fight today.. I guess it depends on what time I get done with class today.. If I get done early enough perhaps I will take a nap and then go exploring..
If you didn't know the Nippon Ham Fighters won the game against the Seibu Lions on Sunday, why does this matter you ask.. Remember from a previous blog I mentioned that the game I have a ticket for (Tuesday) is game 4 of the series, if the Lions had won the first three there would not have been a game 4. The series is tied 1-1 right now, if the Lions win tonight then tomorrow could be their clincher which would be really awesome to see. If the Ham Fighters win tonight they will go to a game 5 on Wednesday.
The more I think about it the more I like Japanese baseball's rule for home field advantage where the team with the better record enters the series with a 1 game advantage. If they had that rule in America the Rays/Red Sox series would have ended in 3 games. The Rays having the better record (and therefore home field advantage) would have only had to win 3 games in the series where the Red Sox would have to win 4. Maybe it's unfair but it really puts the pressure on the wild card teams. In American baseball the wild card team has just as much chance to take a series, if they entered the series already down a game it puts so much more pressure on them.. It would end the crap where if both teams are going to make the playoffs like the Red Sox and Rays they stop trying because they don't care who wins the division and who takes the wild card.
Well, that's it for me for now.. Oh, one more thing.. Did you know it's against the law to smoke on the street in Tokyo! They have no smoking signs painted on the sidewalks.. I have to remember to take a picture of one.. Unfortunately it's not against the law to smoke in buildings/restaurants.. The cafeteria had a non-smoking section but the people waiting in line for their food were allowed to smoke..
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon
I am laughing my ass off right now at these translation websites.. I was going to type up a blog and then have it translated to Japanese and post it. So, I typed it up and had Google Translate put it into Japanese. I figured I would test the translator so I pasted the Japanese back into the Translator and put it back in English.. What I found was pretty funny.. Here is the original English:
Here is Google's Japanese Translation:
Here is that translation back into English using Google:
Just to be fair I typed the same thing into Systran and Babel Fish. Systran and Babel Fish are apparently now the same thing as Jessie told me last night, and indeed they both produced the same results. I am not going to paste the Japanese but here is the English translation of their Japanese Translation:
Ugh! Makes you wonder how much of old masterpieces are "lost in translation". I guess it's true when Chancellor Gorkon said "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon".
----
Last night's dinner was a great success, maybe even better than last week.. The addition of Lynz, Anja and Kevin were very nice. I had heard a few things from Sara about Kevin and I'm glad I finally got to meet him last night, he is really cool and I hope he continues to come each week. The food was great all around and the kids all had a blast.
Here is a pic from last night of me, Lynz and Anja.
---Comic of the Day
http://xkcd.com/484/
---Thought of the Day
"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning god, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body" -Walt Whitman
I am so upset with japanese baseball. If you think american baseball's deal with stubhub is annoying you should try to buy japanese baseball playoff tickets. The seibu lions made a deal with an online ticket agency, the deal apparently prevents the lions from selling any tickets by phone. You are allowed to buy them from the physical ticket office but you have to be there in person. No problem right, buying tickets online is better than by phone anyway? Well, not when you need to type your name in japanese characters and the word Linkens has no translation. I have emailed the head of japanese education and asked him to buy me a ticket.
In other japanese baseball news, this is the first year that japanese baseball is following the american baseball playoff rules that the games are played in the home team's stadium. Why does that matter? The Giants are tied with the Tigers with four games left to play. If the Giants come in second place the Tigers get home field advantage and the game on Friday will be in Tiger's stadium not the Tokyo Dome.
Go Go Giants!
Here is Google's Japanese Translation:
私は日本の野球に動揺しています。もしStubHubを処理することで米国野球の日本野球プレーオフのチケットを買って試してみてください迷惑だと思う。は、西武ライオンズのオンラインチケット代理店と契約し、今回の買収は明らかに電話でのチケット販売から、ライオンを防ぎます。あなたは物理的に切符売り場から購入を許可されていますが、そこの人にする必要があります。右に問題はない、オンラインチケット購入電話でとにかくよりはましですか？うーん、日本語の文字を入力したときに自分の名前とその単語の翻訳がないLinkensする必要があります。私は日本語教育の頭をメールで送信し、メインのチケットを購入するよう求めた。
他の日本のプロ野球ニュースでは、これは日本の野球はアメリカ野球のプレーオフのルールは、ゲームは、ホームチームのスタジアムで再生されます以下の通りです、最初の1年間です。なぜ重要なのか？ジャイアンツはタイガースに左に4つのゲームをプレイすると結び付いている。
2位で来る場合は、ジャイアンツタイガースとの試合は19日、 Tigerのスタジアムで、東京ドームではないがホームフィールドアドバンテージを得る。
ゴーゴージャイアンツ！
Here is that translation back into English using Google:
I'm upset about Japanese baseball. If the United States with StubHub to handle baseball and Japanese baseball playoff tickets, please try to buy I think it's junk. , The Seibu Lions to deal with online ticket agency, said the deal from the sale of tickets by phone, to prevent a lion. Physically you purchased from the ticket office is allowed, there must be people. The problem is not right, online ticket purchase is better than just on the phone? Well, when you enter Japanese characters in their own name and not a translation of the word must be Linkens. Japanese education I emailed the head of the main sought to buy tickets.
Other news in Japanese professional baseball, the Japanese American baseball's rules of baseball playoff games, the home team will play in the stadium are as follows, is the first year. Why important? The Giants left the Tigers play four games and are tied. If you come in second place, a game the Giants 19, Tigers, Tiger Stadium in the Tokyo Dome is not a get HOMUFIRUDOADOBANTEJI.
Go-Go Giants!
Just to be fair I typed the same thing into Systran and Babel Fish. Systran and Babel Fish are apparently now the same thing as Jessie told me last night, and indeed they both produced the same results. I am not going to paste the Japanese but here is the English translation of their Japanese Translation:
As for me therefore there is confusion of the Japanese baseball. America baseball' If you think; The transaction of s of stubhub should try the fact that ticket of play off of the annoyance Japanese baseball is bought, is. The lion of seibu which can transact with the online ticket agency prevents the fact that ticket is sold the lion with respect to transaction appearance with the telephone. As for buying those from the physical ticket booth in direct 々 which is permitted it is there, it becomes. In any case isn't problem the right better the online with the ticket telephone of purchase? When you who that are not being necessary to type, it reaches to your name of the Japanese quality and word Linkens there is no translation. I sent E-mail to the head of the Japanese education, in order ticket to buy me in him, asked. With news of other Japanese baseball, as for this game house team' So being done it is the next thing first year when the Japanese baseball controls the play off of the American baseball; The hippodrome of s. Why the problem? Giants is tied with [tora] which has 4 games which remain in order to play. Giants the 2nd place as for [tora] which enters advantage of house field profit, as for the Friday game Tiger' It is; Tokyo dome which is not the hippodrome of s. Energetic Giants!
Ugh! Makes you wonder how much of old masterpieces are "lost in translation". I guess it's true when Chancellor Gorkon said "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon".
----
Last night's dinner was a great success, maybe even better than last week.. The addition of Lynz, Anja and Kevin were very nice. I had heard a few things from Sara about Kevin and I'm glad I finally got to meet him last night, he is really cool and I hope he continues to come each week. The food was great all around and the kids all had a blast.
Here is a pic from last night of me, Lynz and Anja.
---Comic of the Day
http://xkcd.com/484/
---Thought of the Day
"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning god, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body" -Walt Whitman
Friday, October 3, 2008
Japanese Baseball - a process...
As I mentioned in my previous post the Climax Series will be going on in Japan while I am there. The Pacific League series is being held at the Seibu Dome this year. Tickets are currently available for all games. Infield Field Level Reserve tickets are 2,000 Yen which about $18.00!! Field Level Infield Box seats are 10,000 Yen which is about $94.00!!
Field Level Infield Box seats are all sold out for the Pacific League series. So I decide to get Infield Reserve on First Base side.. Went to Seibu Lions website and translated the whole thing to get to the ticket page, translated the ticket page to select my seat, translated the payment page to find where to put name, address, cc information.. Got all the way done and it tells me that my address is invalid! I can't buy the ticket using an address outside of Japan!! I even tried "will call" for shipping method.. ugh!
I just emailed the hotel and asked them if they can buy me a ticket to Tuesday Oct 21st Pacific League Climax Series game. Who knows, maybe they can even get a box seat.. Either that or they will tell me they don't do that sort of thing.. If that's the case I will email a guy from work and ask him if he would do it. I just feel bad asking some guy from work to use is CC to buy me a ticket to a game..
----
The Central League games are held at the Tokyo Dome but don't go on sale till 10am on Oct 13th. If the hotel can get me this ticket then I will email them and ask them to get me a ticket to the Central League too. If they can't I will pester the guy at work again.
----
Watched Mon, Tues and Wednesday's Daily Shows last night.. Jon Stewart is not pulling any punches this week! He went off about congress taking the day off because of the Jewish holiday.. He started cursing about how the Daily Show was still on and he can guarantee that there are more Jews at the Daily Show than in Congress! It was awesome.. He also ripped into a guest he had who was a speech writer about how the candidates always spew shit and why can't they just let us vote on where they stand on the issues.. He slammed Sarah Palin for her stance on Abortion, he slammed McCain for his stance on Abortion and Equal Marriage Rights.. He is just an angry man right now. I guess it's gotta to be frustrating for him, he has been trying to tell everyone what's really going on now for a long time. Although I think people listen to him he has to feel like it's not making a difference because the country is still just as fucked up. Maybe if he stops being subtle about his views he will persuade more people? I also think part of his anger is at his frustration with the Mets folding again.. At least he is doing something good with that anger, he is taking it out on stupid politicians!
----
Watched Boston Legal from this week, it was a very good episode about how the country lets stupid adults vote but does not let informed 17 year olds vote.. That show always proves it really is one of the best shows on TV.. I really hope that ABC realizes their mistake and continues it past this year.. Denny Crane and Alan Shore were on the balcony at the end of the episode talking about how this might be there last year and if it was what would they like to do, how would they like to go out, etc.. Gotta love the writing on that show...
---Comic of the Day
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2008/09/25/mitchell/index.html
---Thought of the Day
"Fifty-one percent of debate watchers say Biden did best job, CNN poll says"
What the fuck is wrong with the other 49 percent!!! Can we put them on a boat and send them, I don't know where, just fucking send them somewhere!! This stupid fucking team of McCain and Palin must, I repeat MUST, not be elected to the White House!! What the fuck is wrong with this country that anyone would say anything good about that stupid dumb ass biz-atch!
Field Level Infield Box seats are all sold out for the Pacific League series. So I decide to get Infield Reserve on First Base side.. Went to Seibu Lions website and translated the whole thing to get to the ticket page, translated the ticket page to select my seat, translated the payment page to find where to put name, address, cc information.. Got all the way done and it tells me that my address is invalid! I can't buy the ticket using an address outside of Japan!! I even tried "will call" for shipping method.. ugh!
I just emailed the hotel and asked them if they can buy me a ticket to Tuesday Oct 21st Pacific League Climax Series game. Who knows, maybe they can even get a box seat.. Either that or they will tell me they don't do that sort of thing.. If that's the case I will email a guy from work and ask him if he would do it. I just feel bad asking some guy from work to use is CC to buy me a ticket to a game..
----
The Central League games are held at the Tokyo Dome but don't go on sale till 10am on Oct 13th. If the hotel can get me this ticket then I will email them and ask them to get me a ticket to the Central League too. If they can't I will pester the guy at work again.
----
Watched Mon, Tues and Wednesday's Daily Shows last night.. Jon Stewart is not pulling any punches this week! He went off about congress taking the day off because of the Jewish holiday.. He started cursing about how the Daily Show was still on and he can guarantee that there are more Jews at the Daily Show than in Congress! It was awesome.. He also ripped into a guest he had who was a speech writer about how the candidates always spew shit and why can't they just let us vote on where they stand on the issues.. He slammed Sarah Palin for her stance on Abortion, he slammed McCain for his stance on Abortion and Equal Marriage Rights.. He is just an angry man right now. I guess it's gotta to be frustrating for him, he has been trying to tell everyone what's really going on now for a long time. Although I think people listen to him he has to feel like it's not making a difference because the country is still just as fucked up. Maybe if he stops being subtle about his views he will persuade more people? I also think part of his anger is at his frustration with the Mets folding again.. At least he is doing something good with that anger, he is taking it out on stupid politicians!
----
Watched Boston Legal from this week, it was a very good episode about how the country lets stupid adults vote but does not let informed 17 year olds vote.. That show always proves it really is one of the best shows on TV.. I really hope that ABC realizes their mistake and continues it past this year.. Denny Crane and Alan Shore were on the balcony at the end of the episode talking about how this might be there last year and if it was what would they like to do, how would they like to go out, etc.. Gotta love the writing on that show...
---Comic of the Day
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2008/09/25/mitchell/index.html
---Thought of the Day
"Fifty-one percent of debate watchers say Biden did best job, CNN poll says"
What the fuck is wrong with the other 49 percent!!! Can we put them on a boat and send them, I don't know where, just fucking send them somewhere!! This stupid fucking team of McCain and Palin must, I repeat MUST, not be elected to the White House!! What the fuck is wrong with this country that anyone would say anything good about that stupid dumb ass biz-atch!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Cancelled? II
So, the Tokyo trip is back on and I booked the flights/hotel..
Flying out on Saturday morning Oct 18th and arriving in Tokyo on Sunday Oct 19th. Staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel.. Flying home on Friday Oct 31st and land late at night..
I am trying to get tickets to the Central League's Climax Series.. That name is awesome! It's the equivalent of MLB's League Championship Series.. Don't know how much those tickets are going to run me but whatever price it is it's worth it...
I found both of Chen Kenichi's restaurants, they are both a short train ride away from the hotel.
I found Hiroyuki Sakai's restaurant, but it appears to only be a banquet restaurant.. I am going to need to call them and find out for sure. It is also a short train ride away from the hotel...
I have started a google map of things to see while in Tokyo.. If you've ever been there and have places you think I should see let me know..
I also added Ghibli Museum, the Baseball Hall o Fame, Tokyo Disney and the Tokyo Dome to my map.
Tom (another instructor) gave me a Tokyo travel guide he got while in Tokyo so that will help to find other stuff as well.. But, anything you think I have to see please let me know..
----
Studio Ghibli sells tickets three months in advance and only from certain locations. The closest agency is in Manhattan?! I just called them and left a message.. According to the website they still have openings for most of October. I will have to go there on either Saturday or Sunday while I'm there, I will post an update when I hear back from JTB (the booking company)..
Got a form from JTB, filled it out and faxed it back.. Now, I guess they call me and let me know which day I get a ticket for.. I asked for Sunday 10/26 as my first choice and Saturday 10/25 as my second choice..
----
The Climax Series tickets don't go on Sale till Oct 13th. I will need someone who can read Japanese to buy me a ticket when they go on sale.. I might call the hotel during normal Japanese time to ask them if they can just get me a seat.. Might be the best way to do it.
----
I called Shea stadium and got them to contact Evon for me! He just called my cell phone but I was talking to a Japanese co-worker about the Climax Series tickets so I got his number and will call him back.. Yeah for Shea Stadium ticket office... The lady asked why I wanted them to ask him to contact me.. I said because the stadium was being knocked down and chances of us getting seats together next year are pretty slim and we wanted to keep in touch.. She finally agreed and called him for me.. :)
----
Tonight is the first communal dinner.. Sara is hosting this one at her house.. We will have Sara, Ryan, Rene, Jessie, Matt, Sile, Daniel, Rene, Sara's friend Kristen, her two daughters and myself.. We are all making some food and bringing it over.. Hopefully this will be the first of many.. :D
---Comic of the day
http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/images/map-en012.pdf
(ok, not really a "comic" but it's really cute)
---Thought of the day
"Mama's thinking family dinners weren't too much to ask for.. " - Glen Phillips
Flying out on Saturday morning Oct 18th and arriving in Tokyo on Sunday Oct 19th. Staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel.. Flying home on Friday Oct 31st and land late at night..
I am trying to get tickets to the Central League's Climax Series.. That name is awesome! It's the equivalent of MLB's League Championship Series.. Don't know how much those tickets are going to run me but whatever price it is it's worth it...
I found both of Chen Kenichi's restaurants, they are both a short train ride away from the hotel.
I found Hiroyuki Sakai's restaurant, but it appears to only be a banquet restaurant.. I am going to need to call them and find out for sure. It is also a short train ride away from the hotel...
I have started a google map of things to see while in Tokyo.. If you've ever been there and have places you think I should see let me know..
I also added Ghibli Museum, the Baseball Hall o Fame, Tokyo Disney and the Tokyo Dome to my map.
Tom (another instructor) gave me a Tokyo travel guide he got while in Tokyo so that will help to find other stuff as well.. But, anything you think I have to see please let me know..
----
Studio Ghibli sells tickets three months in advance and only from certain locations. The closest agency is in Manhattan?! I just called them and left a message.. According to the website they still have openings for most of October. I will have to go there on either Saturday or Sunday while I'm there, I will post an update when I hear back from JTB (the booking company)..
Got a form from JTB, filled it out and faxed it back.. Now, I guess they call me and let me know which day I get a ticket for.. I asked for Sunday 10/26 as my first choice and Saturday 10/25 as my second choice..
----
The Climax Series tickets don't go on Sale till Oct 13th. I will need someone who can read Japanese to buy me a ticket when they go on sale.. I might call the hotel during normal Japanese time to ask them if they can just get me a seat.. Might be the best way to do it.
----
I called Shea stadium and got them to contact Evon for me! He just called my cell phone but I was talking to a Japanese co-worker about the Climax Series tickets so I got his number and will call him back.. Yeah for Shea Stadium ticket office... The lady asked why I wanted them to ask him to contact me.. I said because the stadium was being knocked down and chances of us getting seats together next year are pretty slim and we wanted to keep in touch.. She finally agreed and called him for me.. :)
----
Tonight is the first communal dinner.. Sara is hosting this one at her house.. We will have Sara, Ryan, Rene, Jessie, Matt, Sile, Daniel, Rene, Sara's friend Kristen, her two daughters and myself.. We are all making some food and bringing it over.. Hopefully this will be the first of many.. :D
---Comic of the day
http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/images/map-en012.pdf
(ok, not really a "comic" but it's really cute)
---Thought of the day
"Mama's thinking family dinners weren't too much to ask for.. " - Glen Phillips
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)