Royal Review
By Victor Ludorem
Greetings from the Far East. Just a few interesting items and souvenirs that I picked up during my recent excursion to the World Cup that I would like to share with the readers who may remember the Ghost of Royal Reviews Past. The first observation is that jet lag is very real when you reach my age. Time marches on and seemingly on when you clip through time zones like roulette wheels at 35,000 feet. Every time I span the Seven Seas in a pressurized capsule, once touching down on terra firma my feet feel like they were ?River Danced? upon by Father Time wearing spiked sandals.
Some of remarkable things I witnessed in Japan, the home of truly BAD karaoke, were the ultra-orderly fashion of public transportation. Man they really pack ?em in the subways and bullet trains. Here pangs of claustrophobia and paranoia of Sarin-gas had to be overcome using all my Zen Buddhist powers of mind over matter. The golden Temple of Kinkakuji in Kyoto was a breathtaking site once my breathing returned to normal. The World Cup games themselves were second in excitement, pageantry, and raucous behavior only to the Cherry Blossom Bath House outside Nagoya. This to me is as close to Nirvana as a practicing dyed in the wool Hedonist can get. Rest assured there are some Geisha things I just can?t share with readership. The Sakura Steakhouse in Kobe was incredibly delicious, the unforgettable part was the look on my Japanese associate?s face when he lost the number game and got stuck with the dinner tab. He uttered something about ?Hara-Kiri? and I got the impression he was not talking about our beloved former Cubs announcer. Not to worry he?ll just sell a few more Lexuses and be fine.
On to the games I saw, Brazil defeated England 2-1, and Germany edged crowd favorite S. Korea 1-0. The fan fare was tremendous and I was amazed at how the crowd energy levels became electrified after each goal. I must say only the Ky.Derby right after ?My Old Kentucky Home? is played can compare to the tingles I felt as a World Cup observer. I heard Royal got beat up in the early rounds, made a comeback in the middle rounds as the US, Turkey, and host S. Korea provided key upsets and favorites like Argentina, Spain, Portugal and Italy fell by the wayside.
Sipping more than a few Sapporo?s during a layover at the Narita Airport in Tokyo, I happened to notice a rather large Sumo-looking character wearing a Houston Texans hat. I amicably approached him and said ?Howdy, Tex!? he looked at me like I had three heads. His English was about like my Korean, but we managed strike up enough conversation to learn he was on his way to Houston for the training camp of the newest NFL expansion team. That reminds me, the next installment of the Royal Review will preview the upcoming season?s weekend warriors. If two heads are better than one, I must have a lot of fans in Tokyo.
By Victor Ludorem
Greetings from the Far East. Just a few interesting items and souvenirs that I picked up during my recent excursion to the World Cup that I would like to share with the readers who may remember the Ghost of Royal Reviews Past. The first observation is that jet lag is very real when you reach my age. Time marches on and seemingly on when you clip through time zones like roulette wheels at 35,000 feet. Every time I span the Seven Seas in a pressurized capsule, once touching down on terra firma my feet feel like they were ?River Danced? upon by Father Time wearing spiked sandals.
Some of remarkable things I witnessed in Japan, the home of truly BAD karaoke, were the ultra-orderly fashion of public transportation. Man they really pack ?em in the subways and bullet trains. Here pangs of claustrophobia and paranoia of Sarin-gas had to be overcome using all my Zen Buddhist powers of mind over matter. The golden Temple of Kinkakuji in Kyoto was a breathtaking site once my breathing returned to normal. The World Cup games themselves were second in excitement, pageantry, and raucous behavior only to the Cherry Blossom Bath House outside Nagoya. This to me is as close to Nirvana as a practicing dyed in the wool Hedonist can get. Rest assured there are some Geisha things I just can?t share with readership. The Sakura Steakhouse in Kobe was incredibly delicious, the unforgettable part was the look on my Japanese associate?s face when he lost the number game and got stuck with the dinner tab. He uttered something about ?Hara-Kiri? and I got the impression he was not talking about our beloved former Cubs announcer. Not to worry he?ll just sell a few more Lexuses and be fine.
On to the games I saw, Brazil defeated England 2-1, and Germany edged crowd favorite S. Korea 1-0. The fan fare was tremendous and I was amazed at how the crowd energy levels became electrified after each goal. I must say only the Ky.Derby right after ?My Old Kentucky Home? is played can compare to the tingles I felt as a World Cup observer. I heard Royal got beat up in the early rounds, made a comeback in the middle rounds as the US, Turkey, and host S. Korea provided key upsets and favorites like Argentina, Spain, Portugal and Italy fell by the wayside.
Sipping more than a few Sapporo?s during a layover at the Narita Airport in Tokyo, I happened to notice a rather large Sumo-looking character wearing a Houston Texans hat. I amicably approached him and said ?Howdy, Tex!? he looked at me like I had three heads. His English was about like my Korean, but we managed strike up enough conversation to learn he was on his way to Houston for the training camp of the newest NFL expansion team. That reminds me, the next installment of the Royal Review will preview the upcoming season?s weekend warriors. If two heads are better than one, I must have a lot of fans in Tokyo.
