dale#1

Got to admit this is scaring the shit out of me, it really is. I'm in a bit of a state, feeling very stressed out. I'm feeling the need to not be here.

Some of the images look more 'awesome' (if that's the word) than top special effects on some Hollywood disaster movie. That tsunami eating up the rice fields has to be the maddest of the lot.

Breaking news! That Ebiso or whatever his face is called dude will hold a press conference this evening to explain why he had a fight when he was pissed, or something.

How's the snow coming on in Niseko? I presume as there's no update on the Now page for a bit there ain't much happening?

Nothing planned. But what I'm hoping for is a week-10 days in Hakuba and then checking out Hakkoda and places in that part of Japan.

Amusing, though not for the publishers Quote: An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cook-book after one recipe listed "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper. Penguin Group Australia had to reprint 7,000 copies of Pasta Bible last week, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported. The reprint cost A$20,000 ($18,000; £12,000), but stock in bookshops will not be recalled as it is "extremely hard" to do so, Penguin said. The recipe was for spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto. "We're mortified that this has become an issue

Your photos are better than the postcards I bought!

Nice weather. I was there the day before, very poor visibility.

Hey I wonder if you reschedule for another day 'within 355 days', do you pay extra for the extra chage for busier times or do you get any day

Hangover headache this morning. The whole day is a near write-off.

Was thinking.... the same, muikabochi. Damn I wish I was there on Monday sounds like you had incedible weather that day.

Not good no. Best expand on that. Went back later and only waited 5 minutes so I think we were just there at some real peak time. The other thing about that Gondola is that there are lots of tourists going up there too without skis/boards. It's as much of a tourist attraction as it is a skijo at the top. There's only the gondola going up, and only the one course coming down from the top. The rest of the skijo was fairly busy but only a few minutes waiting for lifts.

OK here are some photos. As you can see cloudy and not the huge views on show unfortunately. The queue for the top ropeway was 1 hour and you can see one of the pics below. Other than that though I really liked it. The snow was great, lots of long, wide courses suited to my style and the place is big. Loved the onsen too. I definitely want to go back and get those views. Looks like the 3 days since I have been there have all been clear. Oh well!

Sorry, I meant

Just want to say thanks to people here for introducing me to Zao. What a fantastic place it is. I really really liked it I would say more than anywhere else I have been - Hakuba, Shiga Kogen, Myoko, Yuzawa........ Highly recommended.

Haven't seen any mens curling on tv.

Just come back from a few days at Zao in Yamagata. Loved the place. Snow was really good. Didn't get the massive views really as it was quite cloudy for the most part but a few clear breaks. One thing though - the ropeway to the top was VERY busy. I'll write more on that too when I post some pics in the week.

Diffuclt to choose action vs scenery. I prefer scenery myself. Perhaps this season they could be in those caregories?

Good to see the map and info, planning on checking that place out though it looks like a stay over. Perhaps check out on of the fairly closeby resorts near Oze.

Originally Posted By: Ctrl-Z I have absolutely no idea. Not made any plans yet. Same here.

New bread shop opened near me. The best thing I have tried is a cheese/onion/bread stick. Lots of cheese and onion in there, awesome it is.

Hows Forza Rob?

I did an inplace upgrade yesterday from Vista to 7. Very easy. No issues and 7 looks really quite good. Printer and all other things I have attached work without any problems as far as I can see.