However, Given the cold haggis, colder neeps'n'tatties, nasty whiskey, frothy beer, undercooked shortbread and dodgy fish'n'chips, its also fair to say that the event was a disaster for Scottish cuisine. The saving grace was the cheap 'britz' crisps on offer. Mmmm, I haven't had Salt and Vinegar in ages!
Anyway, the day started at 10 am for me. I woke up, staggered out of bed, fumbled my way to the bathroom, drained the bladder then finally opened my eyes. A quick shower later I felt refreshed enough to make the two hour trip to Makuhari. But not before a stop to the office to print out the map I'd need to find the event. I got to Tokyo station around 11am, and discovered it takes about 20 minutes to transfer from the Marunouchi line to the Keiyo line - Ouch! I knew I was on the right track when I saw other folks in kilts looking lost. It was at this point I remembered I had a kilt myself. Oh well, too late for that. I later discovered I'd left my camera on the charger too. Somewhat over an hour later I arrived in Makuhari and trusted my map to get me there. It turns out the map was TOTALLY RUBBISH and I spent an extra 10 minutes walking round the event grounds when I was meant to head into them. I discovered this when I took my headphones off and could hear bagpipes behind me. D'oh!
So I arrived on the scene well past lunch time and took a wander round the field. The first thing we saw was the standard fair stall setup with food stalls, beer stalls, souvineer stalls and random 'Scotland Society' event stalls. Adjacent to this on the right was a fenced off area for the heavy games (hammer throw etc). On the left was a stage for dancing contests. Between this and the fenced area was a section for the pipe band contest. Further afield were the track events for kids, as well as the tug o'war area. Finally, the football pitches (the 'modern event' were at the back of the field.
I found Mochan huffing and puffing on the last pitch. His team had just won their second game 1-0. Teika was there too, so we sat down for a chat and watched the footy for a bit.
By this stage, my hunger got the better of me. I'd been steeling myself for some luvly haggis but it wasn't to be. I queued for a good 15 minutes before proudly standing at the food stall and with a smile on my face asked for "Haggis, neeps an' tatties please!". The woman, clearly ready to take her own life if one more person asked for brown sauce, slopped something browny-grey onto a polystyrene container. I assume this was the haggis. It was closely follwed by a gloop of yellowy chunky stuff I am hoping was the neeps'n'tatties. The photo below shows this gristly concoction in its full glory, along with my pasty blue thumb.
Being sure to masticate as slowly as possible I trundled over to the dancing and watched a bit of that. They were actually pretty good. Although some groups seemed to miss the 'scottish' part of the 'traditional scottish dancing'. Still, it was entertaining.
Next up was the caber toss, I only watched a few folk attempt this. Most couldn't really do it but a few managed it as below.
The final event worthy of note was the pipe band contest. There were a fair few teams taking part in this and the Japanese pipers were really good. They even mastered the dour 'a seagull just shat on my best shoes' look for true authenticity. I took some videos which I _wont_ be uploading but here is a picture of the winners instead:
The remaining dregs of the day were spent enjoying that most traditional of Scottish past-times: Drinking. I had a few pints of Bass, a couple of Boddington's and topped it off with what appeared to be a quadruple shot of Ballantyne's finest firewater. All this to the accompaniment of various be-kilted blokes complaining about football. I had flashbacks of knocking back cheap cider at the tryst in Larbert. I hadn't drank in a park like that since I was 18.
I then staggered back to the train station with Mochan and Wife before complaining loudly all the way home on the train. The evening was topped off with a McDonalds and a reprise of 'Garden State' before bed.
ps, The hangover I had this morning is one of the worst I've had in ages!
1 comment:
If I had a tear in my eye it was because of the quadruple whisky and nout else
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