modern_messiah
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Posts posted by modern_messiah
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Hi all,
As the topic says I leave this Friday and I am getting very excited. I have all my gear sorted, my camera is good to go, lift tickets are all sorted, and I check the weather reports more often than they are updated (I don't know why I do it...)
I'm staying at the bsae of Happo-one but have not really researched the town itself much. I'm there for 2 weeks and myself and my 5 mates were planning on winging it (random exploration). But my question is thus:
Are there certain places, both ski and otherwise related, that people can recommend or encourage us to go see? Hole in the wall or local knowledge sort of things. Good eateries, bars, even areas to snowboard.
Really I'm just fishing for that little something else.
Anything I can squeeze from you lot would be awesome lol.
Cheers.
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My god I can imagine that NOT been very cheap - The Sony tax will be a killer. I think I'll stick to holding my current camera in my hand lol.
Wuld love to have that though...oh well
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Reading this makes me so nervous I'm going to do damage bad enough to ruin my holiday in 2 weeks time.
I've never been snowboarding before so I'm expecting quite a few falls...
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At the end of the day if I can stomach it I don't care how expensive or "flashy" it is - long as it does the job lol.
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lol. I love collecting things from other countries. My father has a 6 pack of beer from South Africa (Limited edition of some form). They will be 19 years old this year - still unopened lol. No idea why he's keeping them...
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I'll keep 1 Yen coins as souvenirs! I love how things that are boring in your country excite others.
I'll be keeping my train tickets to look at for years to come lol.
Kind of sad actually...meh.
I kept a 100 Dong (Vietnam) note for about 2 years until I gave it away to a guide dogs charity bin. It was so worthless I felt bad and tried getting it back out. I could'nt. My gf at the time was ashamed because people walking past thought I was trying to nick coins.
Good times.
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No idea to be honest lol.
Might be, might not be. Either way 3 or 4 bus trips wont hurt the pocket too much.
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I was under the impression there was a free shuttle bus as well. We are defintely planning on using it often so if it does'nt exist we're rooted lol.
As it stands I'm going with lots of cash (going to have to change some of my Y1000 notes over to 10's though) and will use my bank card and Visa Credit card where possible to obtain more cash. My brother is doing the same though he is using a Debit card instead of a credit card.
So thankfully I now know what I'm doing for cash. Got all my lift pass and board hire vouchers last night so I'm keen as mustard to get going. 2 weeks to the Day!!!!!
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Ja, I agree with you there.
When my parents were on holiday in the Kruger National Park some family friends of ours were getting along with some fellow travellers from 'Joberg. Greats mates etc etc.
Needless to say my folks are cautious now after they went out for the day and came back to find our friends had been cleaned out...by you know who.
Anyway. Cash is looking like the option now. At least for the first week and a half. Not much I can do about getting my second pay advanced sadly. So for me it's cash and my ATM card.
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Definitely not my first time over seas...I've lived in South Africa for 5 years, travelled to Zimbabwe (long ago lol) and Zambia, and have been to England, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.
The reason I seem so antsy about cash this time is because contrary to the other times when I just used my card and what cash I changed at the airport before I left, I am trying to be more cash conscious. Reducing fees and what-not would be a big help because I’ve just taken on a $25,000 car loan and am looking at buying a house at the end of the year.
Every penny counts as they say.
I would honestly do all cash but I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to carry 3 weeks worth of Yen around with me all the time. At some point I will have to leave it in my room. I can’t spend all day snowboarding, or go out on the town, with Y130,000 in my pockets!!! I think cash plus a travelex and my bank card may be the way to go. Or would the travelex be the same deal as my bank card because they would both be in aussie dollars?
Of course I may misinterpreting you…
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Basically we will make time to get down to the post office to get our allowance of cash for the next few days.
We are staying at the base of Happo-One, and I've noticed there is a post office near Hakuba Station. The map is not scaled very well so I need to know - how far is the post office? Is it reasonable, or will it be a trek and a half to get there?
Also, my brother has it in his head that he will be using travellers checks so he can cash them without paying conversion fees (so pay a conversion fee when he buys them, but no more fees after that. This is opposed to a travelex card or a cirus card that charges you fees at the time of the transaction as well)
Is the travellers checks thing a good idea? Or will it be too hard to do in Hakuba? If I went with travellers checks I'd then use my commonwealth card (cirus) for more cash towards the end of the trip...or should I get a travelex card? I get paid during the second week of our trip and I need a way to get that cash to me faster than ordering new travelers checks and having them posted to me.
I'm so lost now its not funny. I have about 5 options and all of them have their pro's and con's but they are all basically dependant on availability of facilities to get money off whatever medium I pick.
No matter what I do I need a way to get cash from my bank account to me in Hakuba on the 4th of March. Pay day!! So I need a travelex or my bank card regardless. The question is what to do with the dosh I have already.
Sorry if I'm confusing you all, your help has been wonderful so far. Hopefully I can figure this out very soon lol.
EDIT: As for food I'm not too worried about it now. The whole drink at home and eat out thing is really the same here in Aus since the government decided to tax the hell out of us cause we all drink too much
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Originally Posted By: best skier in hakuba
Don't worry, prices are way down. Loads of discounts for Aussies and you'll have extra change left over. Oh yes free beers in most places.
I demand you tell me where this magical place is lol.
I'm not trying to be silly, just I consider myself an optimist 
All jokes aside, I would start a new topic but I feel it is sort of related. If I need to I can start fresh however:
Cash or card? My general inclination was to take a fair amount of cash with me (enough for say 3 or 4 days spending) and then when I run out, go to the local post office and withdraw enough cash for the next 3 or 4 days. As far as I know Japan is still very cash centric, and I've been told to just pay for everything with the paper stuff. I was even considering having enough moeny for a week, and only using my card like 3 times the whole time I'm there to cut down on transaction fees.
I'd just rather take a few hundred in Yen with me, then the other couple of grand on a travelex card because if I misplace the travelex card (or have it stolen) I can have it cancelled and repalced instantly. Plus other advantages of course.
Anyway, thoughts and suggestions from people who have been to, or even live in Hakuba?
Any help would again be welcome.
Cheers. -
Bah! All doom and gloom lol.
Thankfully all our ski passes, board hire and accomodation was paid for before the Yen changed the prices too much. So we got it all relatively cheap. I'm only really concerned that prices will effect our ability to have out-of-snow fun. But that been said we are pretty good for cash anyway. We've been saving for a while now.
I read somwhere not long ago that the strong Yen/bad everyone else, was resulting in such poor exports for Japan that some people were calling for the Yen to be re-valued!!!!
How good would that be for us lol!?!? I'm no finance guru so I'm not sure I even have that right.
All I really care about now is snow fall....common baby.
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35 isn't old in any normal persons books. Only professional sports people decline around that point because they need all their body can give for a period of 15 years or more and it starts to take it's toll faster than us mere mortals.
My father is 54, needs 2 knee re-constructions and weighs in at 125kg (former rugby union prop) and he just learnt how to wind surf. Would have been sooner but I'm an impatient teacher lol.
Point is you're never too old and if you think you're going backwards at 35 I feel it may be because you're expecting too much of yourself!
Hell I feel old because I'm 23 (turning 24 in Hakuba - best b'day ever!) and most of my rugby team mates are now only pushing 20 - every time I think that stupid thought I give myself a reality check and nail one of the little buggers in tackle drills for fun
Get out there and have fun dude!!!! Stop the silly talk lol.
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...or rather weak Aussie dollar.
My question is have any of the prices around the resorts, particularly Hakuba, for food and drink (see:alcohol) decreased at all?
I guess it has a fair bit to do with tourist numbers. Are they down at all? Fewer tourists means that the resorts may lower prices to entice custom, but then again they'd do that mainly on hotel prices etc...
I have seen a post on these forums recently but it did'nt really address the issue. Just wishful thinking really, an expensive trip becomes even more painfully so the more I look into the nitty gritty. I knew what I was getting into when I booked in early December (was going downhill by then easily) but the plan is to have a good time and I really can't do that if I'm stuck in my hotel eating bread and water most nights. That been said I never really plan on going bonkers (only on the last night in Tokyo). Me and my mates just want to go out for dinner a few nights, and relax with some casual drinks, talk about the days adventures and the cool stuff we'll be up to the next day.
Sorry, I've drifted a bit.
To the point - has there been any noticeable drop in food and beverage (Alcoholic and non-alcoholic) prices?
Yes I'm getting bored now. 18 days and counting lol.
Peace!!!
- Matt
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I think it snows in Europe round that time of year as well lol...
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Have you tried Snowbiz? Not sure if they have stores in Victoria but we have 2 here in QLD and they seem to have a fairly good range.
Then again I am a beginner so I don't really know my stuff yet.
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I don;t plan on doing much walking around out in the open when Im not in my snow gear. When I'm going out I will only be in the open for short walks with the bulk of the time spent indoors. SO I guess I can freeze for 10minutes to be comfortable for a few hours. No biggie.
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Yeah wouldn't surprise me if I wore the board shorts at some point just for a laugh lol.
We have our feet warming equipment sorted (ultra thick work socks and some thermal socks) and from what I've read the jeans will be fine. Might bring my flannelet PJ's though lol.
I was born in Africa and have been living in Southern Queensland for the last 19 years. I've known nothing but 30+ degree heat in summer and hardly chilly winters my entire life. To say I take some getting used to cold weather is an understatement!!!
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ARGH!
One month is too long. Thanks for taking the time to post Familia...very much appreciated.
I'm picking my gear up this Saturday so that will make the excitement hard to bear already, but the news that our ONLY concern for the trip is non-existant is just peaches lol.
Happy days.
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Yeah I don't think my legs will be much of a problem. If I do feel too cold I'll just whack on a apir of my snowboarding thermals but seen as most of our time during the day will be snowboarding, and night time inside eating and drinking etc I don't think it'll be too bad.
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Hi all,
Just about to go pick up all my new gear this saturday and I realised that while I bought a spare thermal top for wearing around under my jumper when dressed casually (ie// pub hopping) I hav'nt done the same for my legs.
Will jeans keep them warm enough? Or do I have to fork out some MORE cash (kind of trying to avoid that scenario cause I've blown enough already) on some thermal pants as well? (i have 2 for rotating while snowboarding already - tops and bottoms).
I'll be in Hakuba Late feb early march.
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I'm still one month off (to the day!) from leaving Sunny Queensland for the cold of Hakuba, but tomorrow I'm going to go change some cash to Yen. Even though its at 60yen to the dollar I figure get some now, and then the rest before I leave. That way if it goes down further I have'nt been totally screwed over.
Thank god the way I've planned my trip I could take no money as still be right for the whole trip.
Of course I'm still hoping it picks up by then. Though I don't expect much.
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Hakuba 21st to the 6th of March then Tokyo for 2 days. Pretty damn excited. Going with 5 of my best mates as well.
I'd love to live in a country where it snows in winter (not like here in Aus with only a very small percentage receiving snow).
Maybe one day I'll get off my bum and find a job in Japan (I'm learning Japanese as we speak!) though it may be difficult.
I get all my gear this Saturday as well so the excitement is building
I leave in 5 Days - Any Advice?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
Wadano area. Obviously we plan on spending as much time as humanly possible on the slopes. Just need some stuff to do when we can't ride anymore.
I planned on using the shuttle a fair bit so I'll check that link out. What are the better areas in Hakuba for eating and drinking? Recommended hotel to visit or something?