davidnoble

Did some research middle of last year and Samsung was and probably is the brand of choice if you want a smart TV. LG, Panasonic and Sony would appear to be the next best. Ended up with a UA55ES6200. It's a beauty but the mistake I made was to save $200 and miss out on the Dual Core.

For a laser printer I went for BROTHER HL2130 Mono Laser Printer. I paid about $100. I see it's now about half that price. I've had it more than 2 years and only replaced the toner once. http://dicksmith.com.au/product/XP9213/brother-hl2130-mono-laser-printer?CAWELAID=859329597&kw={keyword}&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CMXwj52AlbcCFU0ipQodQnwAeg

Printer ink is even more expensive than vintage champagne. Buy one that doesn't go through excessive amounts of ink. If you can do without colour, a mono laser printer is much cheaper than an inkjet. Then go to a print shop to print photos or anything in colour.

OK. There is still 1.5m of snow there (in Ichinose) at the moment. The problem is when we went most of the lifts were shut during the week - which was kind of OK for the first 2 days until the kids learnt to ski, but by then it was virtually the weekend anyway. Anyway, if you are going during the official season that won't be a problem. There are 20 ski areas in Shiga Kogen so you could certainly do 10 days or so before you've skiied it all. The other thing about Shiga Kogen is there's no nightlife to speak of, other than what goes on in your hotel or the occasional Izakaya. Which is f

Hi Wombat-san, having just been to Shiga Kogen for 5.5 days I can answer that. One question I would ask you up front though is are you planning on going this season or next? The thing is, there are only a limited number of lifts open now that we past March.

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Indeed. Omoshiroi.

10 matches it is then. Would have been less than that if he'd kept his mouth shut.

Manager's strong influence needed now. Rooney's learned to behave.

My dad reckons 10 matches. He doesn't think more than the standard 3 however. Should have kept his mouth shut. Difficult one for Liverpool. Cash in and sell him in the close season or keep him and hope he starts to behave better?

Just got back from Shiga Kogen. Will write a review in due course but thought I'd share a joke I learnt there. Shiroi Inu ga imasu. Kao ga Shiroi Ashi ga Shiroi Mimi ga Shiroi Onaka ga Shiroi O mo Shiroi. Deliver it well and you'll have most japanese in stitches!

Skiier since 1980.

Is it possible to see the snow monkeys after a day on the slopes? Say setting off at 3PM?

That's great info Moops. When exactly did you go?

Thanks David and Tubby. It's not so much the snow conditions. It's more the practicality of getting around when much of the lift system is closed. We're only there for 5 days and there's the snow monkeys and onsens if we need something to do after skiing.

Yep, nothing's going to be full, but a lot of stuff closes down on 31st March. So no group lessons, only private. Still interested in anyone's experiences if they've skiied Shiga or Nozawa in April.

I found one guy at Villa Alpen who has taught internationally.

Thanks Pete, take your point but booking early has other advantages - want to ship some gear there, book lessons for the kids (hopefully in english) etc. A, torn between Nozawa with probably more lifts open because it's busier and Shiga with probably better snow because it's higher. Anyone verify me on that?

Thanks Panhead_Pete. From what I can gather they start closing down lifts from April 1st. The snow will not be a problem. So Yakebitaiyama and most of the slopes in the central part of Shiga like Sun Valley will have all the lifts closed, but other parts of the resort are open (some right through to Golden week). So I'm asking for info from anyone who's been to Shiga Kogen in April to see if there would be enough to keep me busy for a couple of days (the rest will be spent teaching the kids I expect). Or should we forget about Shiga Kogen and visit another resort completely like Nozawa

Thanks guys. Great feedback. Have been digesting the archived snow conditions from the last 4 years at Shiga and working out where is likely to be open when we are there. Looks like Yakebitaiyama will be closed which is disappointing but Kumanoyou and Yokteyama should still be open until the first week in May. Other than the fact they are at the other side of the resort from where we are staying (Ichinose) that should keep me busy for a day or so when not with the kids on the beginners slopes. The only other question I have is if there's another resort that does have most of its runs o

Hi there, will be in Shiga Kogen for 5 days in April - April 8th I think is our first day. Deliberately picked this resort because it's the highest and supposedly has the best late-season snow. Have booked to stay in Ichinose. I am a pretty good skier but my kids have never skied before. One of the tourist information people said most of the lifts will be closed - 2 out of 5 open at Ichinose. As for the whole resort, If 30 out of the 70 lifts are open that still makes for some pretty good skiing imho. Can anyone tell me what to expect in terms of lifts being open, snow conditio