One CRAZY Saturday...

So yeah....

I had bought a ticket to go see my first ever baseball game at 明治神宮野球場. It was Meiji University vs. Keio University.

I had purchased myself, for a mere 300円, one 応援席券 (cheering squad seat ticket...ish thing), which meant following the cheerleaders' instructions written on several cards. For example, if they were to hold up the cards showing the words "頑張れ" and "野村", then we would have to cheer on Nomura-san. There were similar gestures for "strike 1", "strike 2" etc. All in all, it was very exciting to be a part of the crowd, singing various Meiji songs and yelling at the top of our voices. I had quite the sore throat afterwards.

明治神宮野球場

Singing Meiji University's anthem

Meiji lost this particular match but apparently they are still ranking very high against the other universities.

Match over, I make my way back to Shinjuku and wander around aimlessly (to try and put off doing my homework).

Bleepity bleep, and I receive a text message from Hiro asking whether I wanted to come and see a HUGE fireworks display (one of the largest in Japan) that same night. I call him back and he says it's in Tsukuba, an hour and a half away from Tokyo by train. It sounded like an opportunity not to be missed so I agreed to go.

I rush back home to empty my bag of bento leftovers and useless stuff that would make my bag heavy...Hiro calls again to ask if I can come to Tsukuba 'right now'. A brief pause.

Luckily, I'm an easygoing, spontaneous person, so I had no trouble whatsoever saying 'yes'. I change into some sensible shoes and get straight back on the train. Various changes later, I purchase myself a ticket that will take me directly from Akihabara to Tsukuba (for an unfriendly price).

Sat on the train, it was rather nice to see the large buildings and busyness of Tokyo start to disappear from sight and be replaced by views of fields and farmhouses.

筑波到着！

I am greeted at Tsukuba Station by Hiro, in the driver's seat of a car that looked very much like one of his Doctor Martin boots (and not much bigger either).
We join the massive traffic queues and I start to realise how bloomin' massive this event actually is. The sidewalks are chock-a-block with bicycle after bicycle, people on foot, all heading for the same destination. Traffic grinds to a halt, Hiro parks in a field (for the stupid price of 2000円) and we walk the remainder of the distance.

Marching into a field, we find a small, unoccupied patch of ground on which to sit and wait for the fireworks display to begin. Moments later, Kayo and Daniel join us, armed with a blanket and various munchable items. There are many "ooh"s and "ahh"s throughout the 2-hour display.

The gang: Hiro, Daniel, Kayo and myself

It was unlike any display I have ever seen; fireworks in a huge variety of colours, so huge they seem to occupy the whole sky, some even taking the form of 'smiley faces', rabbits, frogs and even Doraemon! It was spectacular and I am so glad I went.

Looks like Saturn! (土星じゃん？）

A camera just can't capture it...

Kayo had very kindly lent me her place to stay the night (opposite Hiro's) as it was very late by the time we had got back. Traffic was pretty much stationary for the return journey but time seemed to pass pretty quickly as Hiro and I sung along to 'Come on Eileen', 'Teenage Dirtbag' and many other awesome tracks stored on his iPhone.

A late visit to 松屋 for din-dins, a touch of booze and a good sleep. A marvellous end to a marvellous day.

11am the following morning and I make my reluctant return to the Tokyo madness and massive pile of homework. Delicious.

Thanks for inviting me! <3