Today we had a wonderful day. We started with another magnificent breakfast at the hotel. Following that we were met at our hotel by our guide for the day, Seiko, and our driver, Mr. Moto (excuse me, “Moto San”). Seiko asked us a few questions about goals for the day and then we were off to Yokohama. En route Seiko gave us all sorts of interesting facts about Japanese history and culture.
Our first stop of the day was a tour of Sankeien Garden. The garden was quite lovely but the best part was something Patrice taught me. She showed me that if you take a picture with an iPhone you can view the picture, tap “info” and then you will see the name of the plant or animal you have just photographed. See below.
From the garden we headed to the Ramen Museum, yes Ramen Museum. The main reason to go there was to have lunch. Check out this display outside the museum.
The museum has about 6 different ramen restaurants on the ground floor and each had a 20-30 minute wait to be seated.
The meal was worth the wait. And I don’t want to brag (yes I do) but I’m starting to get pretty good with chopsticks.
After lunch we headed to the main reason for coming to Yokohama. Okay, my main reason for coming to Yokohama………………Baseball
As many of you know I’m trying to get to all 30 MLB stadiums (22 down 8 to go) so why not add a Japanese stadium to my list?
We had great seats at Yokohama stadium to see the hometown Bay Stars play the Yomiuri Giants from Tokyo. It was a fascinating experience. It was very similar to an MLB game with a few exceptions. Most apparent was that each team had about 3 or 4 sections filled with their most rabid fans. They were equipped with large team flags and percussion and brass instruments. When their team was at bat there was almost nonstop chanting. All I can say is that I’m glad we weren’t sitting any closer to this area. Check out this video to get an idea.
Just prior to the bottom of the 5th inning the home team rooting section pulled a blue banner over entire section and sang a song while cheerleaders egged on the fans from the field.
There were concession stands selling a myriad of items but in the seating area only beer was being sold. The beer sells for 800 yen (about $5.40) as opposed to the $16 at Dodger Stadium. Here is a video of one of the salespeople.
In 7th inning the cheerleaders came onto the field led the fans in singing but no one got up for a stretch like we do in the states.
When the game ended the people sitting in our area didn’t get up to leave. With some help from Google translate I was told that the fans of the winning team stay to hear the “Hero’s interview”. Since my Japanese is limited to “hello”, “goodbye” and “thank you” we decided to leave.
Upon exiting I saw fans take all their trash out of the stadium. Here is a photo of a woman holding a large bag waiting for fans who filed by with their trash. See below.
We were among a large crowd heading to the train station for the ride back to Tokyo. Thanks to our amazing guide, Seiko, we knew exactly what to do. At the station the security team was spectacular. They would limit people checking through the turnstiles until the previous group had exited the loading lobby. Once we were allowed to proceed there were another group of security people who allowed passengers into the boarding zone. The process was seamless and we boarded a train very quickly. Once on the train, we heard announcements in Japanese and English prior to every stop. I followed our progress on Apple Maps but it wasn’t necessary since Seiko had done such a wonderful job of preparing us.
A great day in Yokohama. The only thing that could make it better would be if I don’t wake up at 3 AM again
Until tomorrow
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 