Strange Singing

Taking advantage of a rare day off, I went to see Doctor Strange today with a group of Swallows fans. As usual we went to our favourite cinema for early morning film watching – the ‘Godzilla’ cinema in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district.

Highlight of the film for us was the falling Yakult sign during the climax fight scene in Hong Kong. For those reading that don’t know, Yakult is the Swallows’ team owner. That’s the only spoiler I’m going to give!

After the film and some kaiten sushi, we headed to Karaoke where a six-hour session ensued. Inspired by last night’s Monaco James Bond Charity Event, we started off with Bond themes. An eclectic range of songs and artists then followed, from Madonna to Earth, Wind and Fire, Pitbull to ABBA, Lynn Anderson to Steel Panther, Boney M to Laura Branigan, Shakira to Elton John. Japanese artists were not excluded. Everyone is a massive Puffy fan, and 90s J-Pop was a big part of the bill. The session ended with a round of Swallows classics – players walkout songs, Sky High and then the finale with a resounding rendition of the Tokyo Ondo.

A fantastic day as we countdown to the start of Baseball Season. Only 7 weeks to go!