がんばって！ あらい！

Day 20 (Friday Night)


It's friday, it's 6 O'Clock, it's now number one
It's baseball time!

Turns out Muscat Stadium only hosts 2 pro games each year, so it was a pretty big deal and the whole city had come out to see the game.
We met Toshihiro & Yoko in the pouring rain (Kyoko was being a loser and attending a lecture)
Then we headed to the stadium, after being briefed on Japanese baseball etiquette - fans take it in turns to cheer, the Tigers and Giants fight each other a lot (more on this in a few posts) and each player has their own little song.

We were going to see Hanshin Tigers vs Yokohama Bay Stars, we decided to pledge our allegiance to the Tigers.

Before entering the stadium, a beer had to be purchased, along with some yaki soba (Sam had green beans), and we got some things to hit together and make noise, as well as a free seat cushion saying さあいけ！ (Lets go!)
This was good as it kept my bum dry

We went and sat down, then the rain stopped, because God obviously knows we are VIPs not to be messed with.

There we are looking a little damp.

It was rather full, as I said.

So yeah, having seen baseball on the tellybox I was expecting it to be a little bit dull

But

It was absolutely amazing!
So much fun shouting in Japanese, I got told I have 'good chanting voice', which has to be one of the biggest compliments I've ever received.
Kyoko turned up after the first inning and was shortly followed by Yugo - the gang was back together.

Essentially, the Tigers kicked the Bay Stars' ass, so after the 7th inning, we got to celebrate:

Everyone buys rocket balloons and lets them go, about 60,000 of them all at once, it's a pretty good spectacle to behold.

And after the top of the 9th...

The Tigers won!
There were speeches (in Japanese), the Tigers' pitcher won man of the match, but he apologised for throwing so many balls and said he would go away to train more before their next game.

We decided to go bowling and have a bit of Japan vs England.
This ended badly as Sam had had way too many beers, and they had 4 people, even though Kyoko did bowl 11 gutterballs in a row.

Yeah the Japanese won, but I won from team GB, and that's all that matters
Well, not really.

Then it was time for bed and to meet in the morning.

GO TIGERS!