Baseball? Why not.
I moved places from the upscale, Darth Toilet-amended hotel CheckInn to a less snooty, but, as it turns out, quite comfortable place in a different part of town. So, when someone asks me did you find a place in Taipei, I can honestly answer, sure, since I’m staying at Place Inn Taipei.
Clever.
Best shower in months, good soundproofing, reasonable climate controls, and good internet. Short bed, though. It’d be tough for two, since I need to go corners, or else my feet are jammed against the footboard while my head is against the wall. And I’m not tall. It’d suck to be 6’ 2'“ and traveling with a friend.
While switching, I had free time (who am I kidding, I’ve got nothing but!) between check out in the first and check in at the second. I went over to the park to take some photos, and generally hang out.
While I was there (reading a Harry Turtledove novel, if you’re interested), I saw a couple of old white guys my age riding down what looks like a luggage conveyor. After their rides, we caught eyes, and I gave them a thumbs up — you know, grow old, but not up.
We ended up chatting for a bit. They’re from Britain and came here for primarily baseball. They started watching the local team (the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League) somehow during lockdown over the internet, and became fans. They made some local contacts to get merch shipped to them and their mates, and this year they made the trip to watch a few games. And, apparently, ride ersatz luggage conveyors.
Since I am easily led around by interesting ideas from random strangers, I decided why not?
Why not go see a game?
Why not ride an ersatz luggage conveyor?
I’ll tell you why not. Apparently, if one has no ass, one’s tailbone takes a beating on the rollers. Not only the bouncing and jouncing, but abrasions too. No, there will not be damage photos. But I must admit to being (unpleasantly) surprised at the amount of abuse thirty seconds on the rollers did on my ass.
Since I had my luggage with me, it had to come along for the literal ride. In that sense, the ersatz became real, as it truly became a luggage conveyor.
As for the game? Yeah. Different story. I found my way by now-crowded Orange and Red subways north a bit, and walked the rest. If nothing else, it gave me another neighborhood to stroll through.
This one seemed to have a lot more Caucasians than I’d seen anywhere else so far. Along the mile or so I had to walk, I came across a store that sold nothing but apparently single-malts. I don’t really drink so much anymore — certainly not enough to buy a bottle when I’m leaving in a short time — but it struck me as incongruous: a store selling expensive single malt whiskies surrounded by noodle and dim sum and barbers, in a storefront that was, dare I say it, incongruously plain and run down in comparison to the expense of the contents inside. This was definitely a situation occupying the overlap in the Venn diagram of odd and interesting.
I didn’t stop other than to take the photo, but maybe I’ll return. Who knows? I had a baseball game to see.
It didn’t take much longer until I got to the stadium. Small. Intimate, I suppose is the term du jour. I approached the box office and held up one finger. He pointed to a section along the 3rd base line. I nodded. Silent communication. I paid cash, since they don’t take cards at the box office, even though the concessions inside do.
Inside, I bought a hot dog, as one does at a baseball game, and found my seat. Not bad, not bad at all. $20 for the ticket and food. The Dragons were playing the Rakuten Monkeys. Not exactly what I perceive as a intimidating team name, but I’m not the owner.
The game was fun to watch. A few takeaways:
Cheerleaders. Not only on the field at the start, but on the dugouts throughout the game, dancing to music and leading cheering, though it was a guy on the mic. All the time. Changes of costume too. I was told about them by the Brits. They called the seats directly in front of the cheerleaders the “Perv Seats” and said men would sit in those seats just to take photos of the girls. With long lenses from 10 meters away. Yep. Can confirm. Ick.
Constant music when the home team was up. Everyone in the stands singing along. I understand each hitter has a song, and they play/sing when that player is up. Kind of fun. When the other team was up, silence. Really weird how quiet it got.
Phones. Everyone was dividing their attention between the game and their phone. Around me, I saw texting, playing games and one guy watching, yep, you guessed it, a different baseball game. I was definitely in the minority having my phone in my pocket (with the exception of taking photos).
Sadly, the Monkeys defeated the home team Dragons 3-0. It was fun anyway. The apes are in town through the weekend. Maybe I’ll go back for the daytime game on Sunday.
It took an hour or so to get back to my Place via walking and subway, which was a lot less crowded. I even got to sit down. When I got to my street, I noticed there was a bit of commotion across the street from my door. By my calculations, someone had a lot too much to drink, and had gone completely unconscious - in the gutter. It looked like his friends were trying to load him into the back of a car, since there was one pulled up with the hatchback opened. Of course, they were only trying between taking photos and videos to document the process. I think they gave up (he was a pretty big guy), and eventually an ambulance showed up and took him away. Friday nights are Friday nights everywhere, I suppose.
Be kind, and take care of yourselves. If you can, care for someone else, too.
Slang, out.
In Denver, the hot dogs by themselves are $20. Beer? +$10