Metabo Oyaji

By the way, they are having a special this weekend: buy a day ticket, and get a free day ticket for next season.

Kagura extended a week longer than originally planned last year. Hunter is announcing a 1-week extension this year, from 4/4 to 4/11.

Yeah... I'd have to say so. Don't want to bad-mouth Hunter -- we did have a really nice day there, after all -- but to be honest, not sure I'd bother going back there, personally, when I can get to several of the Fukushima resorts in the same amount of time.

MOS Burger rules. Especially, their spicy burger.

I can't stand Beat Takeshi. Was really bummed when he took over The Broadcaster -- ruined a perfectly good weekly news show.

We have fiber optic for phone and net, plus cable for TV, plus keitais... We could probably do without the hikari denwa, but the answering machine/fax is a handy thing to have now and then. Plus the calling rates are much cheaper for the landline than for the keitais. Wouldn't mind cancelling cable TV though, come to think of it, since we never watch anything other than the basic broadcast channels anyway, except for very rare occasions like the Olympics.

What does your skype connect over?

Having optical fiber for internet makes a landline worthwhile.

Originally Posted By: Gary There's always the bus to places like Hunter mountain, but I doubt the skiing will compare to Kagura It doesn't. Unless you're taking about for beginners or little kids, which Kagura doesn't really cater to.

Compared to Marunuma, well, I guess it is similar in size, but completely different in feel. Marunuma is all hidden nooks and crannies, very three-dimensional. Hunter is, to, er, coin a phrase, rather flat -- all the trails seem kind of the same, with some parts being merely a bit steeper than others. No moguls, even, except for one trail (FDR) with an artificial Mogul Bahn. On the positive side, Hunter seems to be a very good place for beginners, intermediates, and families, and they do seem to have made pretty good use of the terrain that they have. The layout is well thought out, with n

Finally made it to Hunter Mountain near the end of their season, after buying discount tickets pre-season. It had snowed a couple days prior, but the day we went was sunny and WARM, 10 degrees or so. Early morning was wet packed powder at the top, becoming shave ice at the bottom, but by lunch-time it was varying grades of shave ice from top to bottom. Solid spring skiing. Good fun. The parking lots were pretty full, and we got sent to one of the upper lots (P8), which turned out to have convenient slope-side access: View from top: Base area. Lower slope itself seeme

Shave ice fest, lacking only some flavored syrup and azuki beans to be perfect. But we had a good time. Will post trip report later.

Cheese-sprinkled potato sticks at Hunter Mountain:

Quote: Do you like them Metabo? It's a fun drunken karaoke song, though I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them sober. Quote: You seem to post a lot of J-stuff! I think most of the stuff I've posted is not Japanese. There is a bunch of Japanese stuff I like, but after all, it's what's in the air right? Radio, TV, what else does one hear? And even though I wasn't here in the '80s, I've had enough exposure from karaoke and those endless retrospective hit parade shows on TV to have some familiarity with what was popular then. Was thinking some Ann Lewis might make good

Snowing up a storm on the Hunter Mtn. webcams, and Saturday is supposed to be warm and sunny there, so looking good for at least one last hurrah before we get down into hardcore spring conditions. After that, still pondering Zao for Golden Week...

Originally Posted By: SKI Naeba also free now? I think until last year on weekends it was just Tashiro free. I think Mitsumata was free over Golden Week if I remember correctly -- of which there is no guarantee. Hunter Mtn. (which I hope to visit this weekend) is still 1000 yen. Gran Deco is too, but you can get 500 yen of that back in the form of a coupon usable at the store and restaurants in the resort.

Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps We are the world That's more watchable than the original! Quote: What is PuriPuri Metabo? Short form of the band name, "Princess Princess."

I sense the need for a palate cleanser. Nothing says "Bubble era" like PuriPuri.

Lucky I don't watch Fox, so I could remain blissfully unaware of the existence of such performances. Until now.

Originally Posted By: Go Native If you are a resident of Japan you are not required to show your passport or gaijin card when checking into a hotel. I know most ask for it. I don't think I've never been asked, as far as I can recall. Is that common around Niseko?

Most of my skiing day trips are 3 hours each way. Won't do 4 without staying over, though.

The Comsat Angels.

Huh, I had always thought that was Roxy Music. How is this for a flashback:

Bracketing the other end of the '80s. Video from 1991, but song itself is reworked version of original from 1987:

That particular song came out in 1978.