KRUSTY

Some pretty good deals on foreclosed homes in Japan. Went for a drive with a Real Estate agent(well I think he was one but was introduced by a friend and seemed dodgy) and pulled up outside houses that people had lost due to being unable to pay back there loans. Couldnt go inside as the people were still living there but most of the houses didnt interest me anyway. A Japanese friend bought a "forclosed" house a few years back and it was only 3 years old but much cheaper than new.

Sucker Truck driver. Having to suck other peoples crap out of septic tanks, portable toilets etc. Important job that somebody has to do though.

Had a good morning at Shibu-touge today. Still a fair amount of snow on the runs and nowhere near as crowded as I expected. Probably the longest wait for a chair was 3 minutes max. A lot of people camping and having BBQ's down on the lower slopes of Yokote which looked like a lot of fun. Slopes were good for the morning but by 1:00pm it was pretty well cut up so got some bread from the bakery at the top and went home. Shibu-touge should still be able to stay open for a couple of weeks yet. Definitly worth going.

I will be going up there on Monday so I will let you know what its like. Guessing that its going to be crowded with wet, heavy snow but its always fun up there at this time of year.

One of the lift companies I worked for would occasionally take the electronic tickets that were returned mid afternoon and run them past the scanners at the gate to increase their share of the takings.

By far the best rental is "The Boarding Co". All new Burton gear this season and they deliver to your accomodation. You should be able to find them online and make a booking.

The Kiwis bet the Aussies 34-20 in the final, Sounded like it was a good match. Anyone see it?

Italy did the same thing to the All Blacks at the start of a match in 2007. At that time many stories in the press of players and fans commenting that it was disrespectful just like the press is writing now. Its unlikely that we will ever see the All Blacks stop preforming the Haka and the same goes for the Kiwis(rugby league). I wouldnt be suprised if the N.Z rugby union and the I.R.B didnt have contractual obligations stating that Haka must be performed before all International Matches. It helps to charge the atmosphere of the stadium prior to kick off and its now what the fans and the

I see Karuizawa is open from this weekend although its only currently a 400m long course and all man made snow. Easy to get to from Tokyo in about an hour on the train. you can see a picture of what its currently like on the Karuizawa Prince Homepage.

So if the Government does intervene does any one have any idea which currency could be the most profitable short term to buy using Yen?

Ive instructed both in Japan and New Zealand and when teaching beginners I teach them to turn with slight body rotation which I find helps when learning to turn(short radius skidded turns). Pedaling(torsional twisting the board) as mentioned above is also another way but I find that with beginners a little bit of rotation helps as not all students seem to understand the concept of pedaling. When going faster and carving turns (short and long radius) I teach with shoulders basically in line with board. There are other factors as well with weighting(longitudinal), flexion/extension and body

I met a number of young Aussies working in Hakuba last season who were sourced jobs by Boobooski. The ones I spoke to were pretty unhappy about their work situation and lack of support given from boobooski if any problems due to their employment arose. They also disliked being payed about 3/4 of the pay that others were being payed for the same job. I dont know if the ones I spoke to were simply moaners who thought it might have been more like a holiday than an actual job that they came to Japan for but if what they told me was correct I personally wouldnt apply for jobs through this compan

I borrowed a friends car for a couple of months last year and his insurance wouldnt cover me. I got a form of personal liability insurance which covered me for any damage caused in case of an accident while driving another persons car. It doesnt cover driving your own vehicle so once I got my car in my name I had to get the insurance changed.

The High Cascade Park at Happo was well designed (built and maintained by the guys from Planet Snow Designs who built the park for the Nippon Open) and even though the features werent so big they were big enough for 95% of riders. It was a pretty good park considering how late in the season it was built and the quality of the snow available to build it. Hopefully next year it will be built earlier in the season and would be good if Skiiers can use it too. If I were coming to Japan for a season Id probably base myself in Hakuba for the choice of parks in the area(not huge jumps but the feature

Im from New Zealand. From Taranaki (same as Journey Man !!!).

Found a home for the cat. Not as easy as I thought it was going to be but just really happy that its gone to a good family. The cat had already been steralized but the vet said there was no real way to be certain untill he checked inside. Not cheap but had to be done.

Been checked out by a vet and in excellent condition. No parasites, worms etc. Will have a operation on Monday to prevent her from having Kittens. Would be great if it could go to a good home.

I know this is way off topic but is anyone interested in adopting a young female cat? Each time Ive been to the my local supermarket in the past week Ive been met by a very friendly cat. Last night after seeing it nearly get run over I talked to the supermarket staff who told me the cat had been there a while and was probably dumped so I decided to help it out and try to find it a home. If I wasnt living in an apartment Id keep it myself but I need to find it a good home as soon as possible. Its very friendly, affectionate, good with kids and is house trained. Im taking it to the vet t

I have seen a Mitsubishi BelleBear in Nagano but it would have been at least 7 years ago. They had at least one(maybe more) at Togakushi which is close to Nagano City. I took a pic of it at the time as I hadnt seen one before but I wouldnt know where the picture is now. There are plenty of Prinoth, PistenBully, Bombardier and Ohara Groomers of different ages and models being used here and Ive spent a number of seasons working on resorts here but Ive only ever seen the Bellebear once. Ive got no plans to go to Togakushi in the near future but I will go sometime this coming summer. Ill keep an e

Does anyone have any info on a Ski/snowboard sale in Nagano City thats suppose to be happening in the next couple of weeks at M-wave or Big Hat?. A friend heard about it but isnt too sure about the location or dates. Any info would be great. Cheers.

While working on a Ski Resort in N.Z about 10 years ago the mountain erupted and sent lahars(mud and rocks)flowing down the mountain. I didnt hear of feel anything and didnt relise untill people started shouting. The season still carried on but wasnt the best as the mountain still erupted ash which covered the snow when the wind blew it in our direction and eventually forced us to close early. Due to my contract I was kept employed untill my contract finished which meant I had to still go up the mountain each day to tune rental skis etc even while the mountain was active. It recently erupted a

Have you tried Nippon Express. On their website it looks like they have quite a few offices in Canada. I think I will probably use them to ship some stuff from N.Z to Nagano in a couple of months when I move back. The prices seem reasonable.

Those plugs mentioned above are only used to fill the old holes when changing to different bindings or bootsize. Using Plastic helicoils is you best option and is a easy job when you have the jig for the bindings that have to be remounted and also the special drill bit for the helicoils which are tools usually only a ski workshop will have.

In the early 90's I had to get a Snowboarding license at the Ski School at Happo and also at Kurohime. I think it cost about 1000yen for an Instructor to watch you ride and if you passed you got a laminated card with your photo which would allow up some of the higher lifts. Also got chased a couple of times by patrol at Shiga Kogen for riding in skier only areas. At that time I worked in an area that allowed boarding and during a lunch break me and a friend decided to see what would happen if we snowboarded down an area run by another company that didnt allow boarding. We nearly made it to t

Maybe try to contact the heliport near M-Wave in Nagano city. Im sure if they cant help they may know of someone who can. Otherwise you can contact Nagano Convention and Visitors Bureau http://www.nagano-cvb.or.jp/english/index.html I believe thay are funded by local government and Im sure that they liaise with production companies that film in Nagano.