s3phis

Nozawa Onsen - got about 50-70cm of snow over the past two days; almost all the runs are open now . Only problem is the strong winds >_>;

Dec 27th to Jan 7th is usually the most busiest part of the year for the Japanese ski resorts.

Generally speaking, pre-christmas up until new years is the peak for foreign tourists and then new years and early jan is peak for Japanese. Then it goes back to foreign tourists. I'd expect the foreign tourists numbers to be lower now... the Japanese customers are going to be a bit hard to predict since they're quite conservative... I think the 3 day weekends etc will be busy but otherwise it'd be fairly quiet.

Someone's already probably mentioned this but... 1) Japanese are the most conservative consumers... and they're also the biggest flock of sheep. When someone goes "recession!" everyone goes "oh no!" and literally stops spending. Most people here don't actually know what a recession is, we've been stressing about recession for the past year and it's only really just begun this month. 2) Interest rates have been literally nil since the last bubble broke... like 15 years ago. It's a been a big issue for a while and has affected a number of investment ideals but it's really made the cou

I wear a helmet for snowboarding but not for skiing. I tend to do more stupid things with snowboarding than with skiing... like I stacked it, heard a pretty nasty crack and then found out I hit my head on the board's edge and ended up cracking the outer shell [edit: I never realised I was that flexible either >_>]. I was pretty glad I had a helmet on at that time ^^;. I think we, Japanese, tend to put more faith in a ski/board good-luck charm rather than a helmet ;P. We should totally have that as another option!

Originally Posted By: Ewok 2 Originally Posted By: Red Dog Darth Vader is ALIVE! OH NO! ahahaha thanks for making me laugh out loud at work xD.

At the moment, a lot of winter sports stores in Japan are having sales (largely 'cause no one's buying and they gotta find a way to pay their employees) but with the exchange rate, I wouldn't know if it's cheaper or not. I went to the Gold Coast SnowBiz shop and didn't find anything I liked or anything that struck me as being really cheap. I found that there's a number of snow-sports shops in Brisbane... unfortunately, I don't remember their addresses. I think, generally speaking, with the exchange rates there wasn't much of a difference... but if you're looking for snowboards, I f

Unfortunately, the kids lessons are only in Japanese. For English lessons, the only option are private lessons (this really applies for all lessons). If you go into a normal lesson, it's really pot luck as to whether you'll get an instructor that can speak any English or not.

Nah, I do administrative duties at the front desk and also some concierge things since I can speak English and Japanese.

Generally speaking, UAE give the best AUD->JPY rates (but bad JPY->AUD rates) if you're looking at relatively small figures. I think there's also a credit/debit system that JTB (Japan Travel Beureau) was advertising... essentially, it's like a traveller's cheque but it works with ATMs etc and it gives you the cash at the rate you paid when you first got the card. Traveller's Cheques aren't that great (due to the fluctuations in rates) but that debit system might work pretty well. I've never used it myself so I can't advise for or against it but it's definitely something you might want to

Originally Posted By: JA This isn't helpful at all! Who/what/where is UAE?? google only flips up United Arab Emirates stuff, nothing in the first 100 listed have anything to do with forex. Need more detail, ryoma. And, being aware that this forum is inhabited by people from around the globe, use of the word "here" is meaningless. Better to say exactly where. By your location, I assume you mean in Oz, but that may not necessarily be correct. As for Amex/banks - they are, businesses, you cannot expect them to give you the current spot rate. At least Amex have a fixed fee (AUD8) per transac

A few rules to go by: - Don't buy Yen with AUD (or USD) in Japan. They don't want it so they'll give you terrible rates. Buy them here (UAE usually has decent rates but look around. AMEX and the major banks try to rip you off too). - Exchange the bulk of your JPY into AUD/USD before you leave the country. They're trying to get rid of their AUD/USD so they'll give you better rates than back at home. Post offices are *not* good to go with . Look for the independant exchange services, you'll generally get the best rates there. Please keep in mind that the above is subject to ch

Nice, I guess I'll see you there ; I worked there last season and going back this season. The school's boarding is pretty basic but you get onsen, 3 meals a day and each room is shared with 5 others. I believe you also get your own seasonal ski pass so don't buy your own . Since you're from Australia, take some 'delicacies' with you; it's always a great laugh when you get them to try Vegemite ("I swear, it's like chocolate!"). I also took some Red Rock Deli chips that they loved. Hope you enjoy working there!

There's about 3 karaoke bars and a lot of normal bars around. Each one is quite different to the other in style and character; personally, I like "Stay", but yeah, if you ask Mori-san at Sakaya, he'd happily tell you all the good spots. Sakaya's right at the corner of the main road in Nozawa, you'll find Stay on your right hand side if you walk down the road from Sakaya.