farquah

Vote turtles, they need all the help they can get! Some good ones there though. I am a fan of 57, but as a northerner I crave a pork pie!

Just back last night from a top weekend in Niseko. My first time to get up there and really enjoyed it. Was a bit gutted that the top of the mountain was closed because of winds for quite some time but managed to find some great untracked powder all the same! Was really frustrating that we were stuck over at the Prince Hotel though for a while as the gondola stopped and every man and his dog tried to get the bus at the same time. Once I figured out the terrain and the routes was great fun, and off the back of Hirafu was DEEEEP! In terms of snow it was amazing, also top nightlife and res

Just back from Bali and heading up to Niseko for the long weekend coming up (it`s a hard life!). Really stoked, first time to ride up there and first time this season. Top to read it has all come good and that it`s as deep as the Mariana Trench there at the mo! Looking forward to bit of snow bukake!! Hopefully it will live up to my expectations.

I am mate yeah. Got a great deal from them, had a peek at some reviews and they are all pretty positive. Will let you know when I get back.

Cheers, Looking forward to some great diving over in Bali (friend is taking me to a semi secret sunfish spot! First time!) and hopefully have chance to go for a surf too, there for a friends wedding though. Hoping to get class waves in Bali then top draw powder in Hokkers which will be my first time there! Shaping up to be a very nice crimbo indeed!

Cheers boys, Certainly looking forward to filling my boots with the food there. As long as it doesn't leave me sat in the toilet for the rest of the airplane journey to Bali the next day!! Oyuki- Yeah, I read a bit about the Snake Alley place. May be interesting to see but not sure how much of it I'll be able to stomach. Looking forward to it all anyway.

Thankyou

It was my birthday on Saturday and I got an awsome pressie from my girlfriend. She gave me a 3 day trip with her to Niseko all inclusive! Really chuffed with that! I get back from Bali on the 4th Jan then straight up to Hokkaido that weekend for it! AWSOME!

Will be stopping off in Taipei for a night on my way to Bali next week and wandering if anyone has any advice on decent places to while away the hours at? Arrive at 11pm and leave 10am next day, so prob just going to hit the night markets that I have heard a lot about then a couple of bars. Anyone got any first hand suggestions? Thanks.

Critical acclaim at last! haha Look forward to the SJ Oscars! Not a prob! Just a bit of fun, and nice way for mates/family to see why I don't have any money to go home and visit them, all goes on the winter here!! Look forward to viewing other peoples exploits.

Congrats, guessing he is late on here because he is getting used to the new weight of a ball and chain around his leg form now on!! Good stuff and good luck.

Went to British Anthems in Shin Kiba yesterday, good set from Ripchords but by far the highligh for me was The Enemy, rocked out harder than tungston!! THe Pippettes on the otherhand were dire, there set was as loose as a loose thing with extra portions of looseness. One of their mics broke, the levels were all over the place, and they even made a mistake in the lyrics of their opening tune! Looked like their first live gig!

Come on SHIGA KOGEN CITY!!!

I got a sweet R.E.D (Hi-Fi) egg protector last year. One of the best pieces of kit I have. Well comfortable and really lightweight. Far better than a beanie for keeping my noggin warm adn also never gets wet which can cause goggles to mist up. Strongly recommend them, I wouldn't ever go back to not wearing one now (especially after a fight with a tree one year!)

Absolutel bugger! Took 1kyu, and was as much fun as boiling my eye balls in fat!! One consilation was everyone said the same thing. After passing 2kyu with 90% last year I will be surprised if I pass this year. Really is a big diff.

I went to Bandai and Gran Dekko(or however it is spelt!) two years ago. Not too far from me at all. Was late season and rainy last time I was in Bandai so not the best conditions but wasn't a bad mnt. Some decent stuff out to the back of it with a great run through the trees where I didn't see another person all day. The parks there and at Gran Nekko are pretty good lots of boxes, rails and the rest. If you go way out to the left of the map there is a super sweet run down threw the trees which opens out into a little clearing in one place which was wicked fun to piss around in. From Chiba only

Not sure if you have seen these but I just came across them!! Absolutely hilarious!! Never a boring day in the office again. WARNING: Huge amounts of BOSH!! "The pain train is coming baby..woo woo"! Love it. Check the others out too, classic!

Always wanteed another degree but haven't found the time to do it?! Now you can become a fully qualified Batchelor of the Arts during your morning commute on the train, and your cell phone is your professor!!! Nuts! "Cyber University, the nation's only university to offer all classes only on the Internet, began offering a class on mobile phones Wednesday on the mysteries of the pyramids." Cell Phone College Class

Zainichi problem in Japan Pretty interesting, have a friend who is in this boat.

I think the price for wild truffles is a lot diff. as is the taste. Wild truffles are usualy found with a special boar that smells them out, I think!! Also the truffle tree can only produce truffles for about ten of its years i think and takes a while to be mature enough to produce them. I have had them a few times in Europe, it was a custom to have them when we visited a friends place in Alba, Italy (they have a annual truffle hunt here!And are the white truffles not the black ones of Germany). Fresh they have a really really strong smell. I have had truffle pate, and an amazing sirloin

I was at Narita today as I thought you could register your details beforehand as mentioned above. However you can only do it on the day of your travel (as the place you do it is after customs checks), and the office is open 9-5. However coming into Narita, there is a separate queue for visa permit holders and re-entry stamp holders to go through even if you haven't registered, so should be quicker than the tourists queue.

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll what I'd like to see is a system that involves a person at the top of each lift to help put your bindings on. You'd just have to skate up to him, or her (preferrably her) and they would kneel down and do your binding up for you then they would give you a gentle push to send you on your way. . ..and while she is down there doing up your bindings she can......

The Japanese police and government can't even catch the KNOWN KILLER of the british girl here this year, even though they have photo's and data as to where he lived, worked, etc. How they expect to be able to catch and barr from entering the country a "professional" terrorist from a fingerprint and photo that takes days to process is beyind me?!?! It isn't a tool to help spot terrorists in the slightest, just a great way to racially profile Japan. We may as well just wear yellow stars on arm bands form now on!! My point is aimed at legal residents of Japan not tourists.

While intentions may be good i personally don't agree with the way Sea Shepherd work. Sometimes they do more harm than good, making us have to take steps back after lots of hard work has been done. From personal experiance when they broke in and released a load of dolphins, cutting the nets and thus causing criminal damage, the police then started to come down a lot harder and was exatly the excuse needed to put up "protective" and sight limiting barriers all over the place. Due to their illegal acts what we can now do is more limited than before, making it even harder to get results. Yes the

November 20, the day the new biometric system was inaugurated for foreigners at Immigration, has seen continuous troubles at every port of entry with taking prints and equipment failure. This taken from the Sankei Shinbun. "There were errors with reading data for about 30 people at Hakata Port, and after redoing the procedure, only four people were recorded. The Immigration official in charge decided to waive the procedure and everyone in. The official claimed the equipment was not faulty, rather, “It seems there were a lot of elderly people whose fingerprints had been worn down afte