Digger

nah, Colin Jackson did the Holiday program, it was filmed last February (think pretty much all the skiing that appeared was at rusutsu). The ski sunday bit was filmed in December in hirafu.

There is no 'village' in the way that Hirafu has. There is nothing there apart from the resort and a couple of characterless pensions dotted along the highway. If your number one priority is somewhere close to a decent ski area you might be ok, but if you are looking for a bit of character and something to do in the evenings I think you'll be disappointed. I'm also not sure how easily you'd find a suitable plot of land there.

uknova is good for horizon, motd etc.

Japanese ambulances... A mate got knocked off his bike in the middle of the city, had a few nasty gashes (including to the head). After the ambulance finally got there, first they went to the wrong hospital. The ambulance men were told that the trauma unit was closed on that day and they would have to take my happless friend to a different hospital. Cause this wasn't in the manual it seemed to confuse our intrepid rescuers and they had to stop at the side of the road and consult an road map then ask a passerby before finally finding the right hospital. True story.

Jared: I once knew a business owner in Japan who used to play Auzie for the media and customers - right down to the hat with corks on it. Couldn't imagine who that'd be. Wouldnt be the same fella who parades his Nepalese employees around tryin to be 'the man' would it?

Article on Soccernet points the finger at young Mr. Owen. Sounds a bit naughty for him.

I skied Annupuri on Monday and got sweet turns all day. Hirafu obviously offers more accessable terrain, but on a 3 day weekend you'll be enjoying that terrain and lift waits with all the weekend warriors. Both Annupuri and Higashiyama have great runs if you know the mountain. Lots of locals are also abandoning Hirafu for the more moderately priced season passes of the lesser known Niseko resorts and the more laid back powder days where you don't have to fight for 1st lifts/ 1st tracks with every over powder hound.

Yeah - sorry about the humble pie thing. In my jubilation i got caught between gloating and not wanting to offend. Footy never did bring out the best in me. As the Japanese woman sat near me in the bar who kept screaming like a cheap smut movie over-dubber every time Liverpool even entered Man.U's half can testify to. Got a wee bit snappy with the poor girl. Anyway, guess it's a reflection of how the balance of power has drifted up the M6 in the last couple of seasons. Beating the scallies wouldn'tve been such a big deal a few years ago.

I'll go along with bad mannered Chinese contingent. Don't know where u took the test YP but up here in Sapporo i was stunned at the blatant cheating. A few, not all mind, of the Chinese started the test as soon as it was put on their desk. Even though it was ten minutes before the start. After the listening test, they where turning round comparing and changing answers and even making the 'invigilators' wait while they changed answers. I know for a lot of the Chinese students it is an extremely important test, and if the invigilators are uniformly useless, which seems to be the case, u can u

Hows that humble pie tasting there? Gary Neville, what a performance. Who'd a thunk it? And that ref! No doubting the colour of his undies yesterday, eh?

Sorry for the slow response on this. I had a little think about what Higuma said, and tried to cool off a little. I also mentioned my experience to a number of friends and they all had suffered similar treatment at ICI. It is a real shame because i do actually like the shop, and they shouldn't be so eager to turn foreign customers away as most 'cool' Japanese boarders wouldn't be seen dead there. I agree completely with Higuma about the mooching foreigners looking for something for nothing, and not being too polite about it. However, if i go in there and politely ask a perfectly reasonable q

Sorry fellas, guess i should've put in a bit more background to my negative review. We used to hike Asahidake before the eagerly awaited ropeway way was finished. Then when i rushed up there after the gondola opened i was a tad disappointed to find it only goes half way up the mountain. There are a few decent turns to be had, but a good two thirds of the run down is just flat track. A lot of people whose opinion i respect have good things to say about the back country there, but that is assuming you want to/ are willing to search out the good turns. However, no-one disagrees about the was

Beautiful cable car, Swiss made i do believe. Shame it only takes you as high as a decent 4WD would take you. If you've got snowshoes and are into back-country exploring it is a good base to start from, but if your looking for a gondola to take you straight to the steeps, don't waste your time going all the way up there.

Just a quick cautionary tale about buying boots abroad. After discovering that Salomon no longer import bigger than 28.5 size boots & they don't allow internet companies to send them out of their respective countries, i resorted to getting some sent to my parents house and getting them sent on from there. However, when i took the liners into the ski shop i bought my old boots from, and tried to buy my new ones from, they wouldn't let me use their heat molding machine. Even though it was the same guy i'd dealt with before and he knew i would have bought the boots there if it were possible

The Fatman man puking? Reliving the weekends shadowy exertions, perhaps?