torihada

honest john; yeah no warning, one day i was looking at ipod minis and bang! next day on apple.com site their were new ipods.just had it for a weekend trip to Europe and got 12 hours out of it and it was still going strong. Probablycrazyperson: Well when they come out in Japan you'll pay a lot less than we do here in the UK, probably about the same as US. We just love getting ripped off here, or rather we're too polite to complain. yeah you need a skin like this one here; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=75523&item=5755580961&rd=1

I just bought new 6 gig mini ipod. I joined the vast line of fellow baa-baa's and gave apple my cash. What tipped me to apple in the end; new longer battery life (expect about 12 hours normal use on 5th gen mini) and the extensive list of add ons for the ipods. Does anyone download (and pay for) music in Japan. My wife wants to download Japanese mp3's but we haven't managed to find a site yet. The ones we have seem to only offer WMT - Sony's lovely music format.

I cycle thru London every day and I used to be militant anti helmet until I got hit by a car. Next morning I hobbled into a shop and bought a helmet. This year was my first snowboarding experience (first time on a piste ever) in Northern Japan - snow fell just in time. Brought all my own gear and bought a helmet and wristguards. I had some big tumbles, and the size of the craters left on the slope by my head showed me the sense in the helmet. Hit my head so hard once all I could see were stars. I was at Tazawako and Senhata (Akita pref.). I saw one or maybe two other boarder's weari

Friend of mine for Valentines last year with his significant other; Bar for drinks, followed by; Expensive meal for two at a restaurant Onto club, drank champagne Cab home Got home, very drunk, and proceeded to throw up all expensive drinks/food consumed previously. He thinks he probably spent an entire weeks salary on this night out. This year he said he's going to cook a meal at home.

I am glad attitudes are a-changing...maybe the end of the kurisumasu keki culture towards women? When I wash dishes at the family home in Japan, I get remonstrations from the Obasan of the family that I shouldn't be doing that. My wife does most of the cleaning etc at home since our work balance changed: me full time work, her: child care + part time work. But I should do more (guilt, guilt) and I do cook as much as I can - but here's the rub: I enjoy cooking, I don't think my wife cleans because she enjoy's it. Therefore I must break the cycle by brainwashing my son into en

40mb!!!! Wow. Then again with that sort of bandwidth I'd waste even more of life glued to my keyboard. I'm about to design a site for a small Japanese company in Tohoku, so this means I don't have compress the life out of the images. Yeahh jump ship, leave BT. There are some good deals out there, but we're still lagging (no pun intended) behind other countries.

Hi brit-gob I use plus net: http://www.plus.net £14.99 pcm for 1mb broadband, limited to 1gb download pcm (they charge you about £1 per gig once you go over that amount). I'm on a monthly contract so can cancel contract with only one months notice. I think there's approx. a £70 one off set up fee for monthly contracts. They can supply adsl modems/routers. I would buy adsl modem independantly as the ones they supply are bog standard generic. Get a standalone router/modem and there's no need to connect everytime you switch on your pc plus it'll be your firewall. Plusnet service ok, te

I just got back from three weeks in Akita (12 days boarding - ahhh fresh snow) and I have been suffering from jet lag as have the kids (up at 4.30 am) but as bagofcrisps says, the jet lag is nothing compared to being back in dreary-expensive-late train-snowless London.

thanks for the info quattro. looks right up my street, and easily accessable from Sapporo. I think I'll try your recommendation if I head north in search of snow. thanks again

My planned three weeks snowboarding in Akita (starting 19th Dec) are looking bleak and I am making a contingency plan, but need a little advice; if Hakkoda gets a good dump is it worth a beginner snowboarder going? I'll be alone - is this ill advised for Hakkoda? Will I follow the fate of those soldiers? Otherwise I'll jump on a plane at Akita airport for Hokkaido and try Niseko Hirafu for say four days (or until the Yen runs out). I am a beginner who wont be going off piste (I'll be alone so another reason why I wouldn't be heading off among the trees) so my question is: am I wasting my mone

pardon my igonorance - I'm new to this winter sports lark - what's a toque?

I can safely predict that there will be Japan's biggest dump of snow ever at exactly 1.30 pm on 7th January 2005 - the time I board my plane at Narita for return to the UK after three weeks boarding on bamboo and grass pistes.

my best one (or worst) was a portable sledge I made about 20 years ago. A large sheet of heavy duty polythene, press-studed together so it would fold up in a sac. We were hiking up in the Pennines (UK - bleak, snow swept moors)We find a good drop, good snow (for the UK - maybe 10 cms)I triumphantly pull out my sheet, 6 of us sit on it and shoot down this drop. We all jump up at the bottom hollering, only for me to see this sheet blow across the more at about 30 mph. I run after it, to which eveyone else pisses themselves laughing.

well I'm just waiting for my first board trip (12 days) to Akita..praying for anything resembling snow..and to kill time I've started to make my own gear due to a lack of cash plus I can't look at those 6 day snow forecasts anymore. So after sliding down a dry slope on my arse last week I've just made my own arse/coccyx protector.Oh what a lovely bodge:old lycra cycling top cut down leaving 3 stretch back pockets in a line. Into each pocket is stuffed two layers of foam cut from an old karrimor sleep mat. It sits nice and snug in my salopettes, so far tested by falling arsewards on to wooden s

Hi I'm a newbie both to this site and snowboarding. I am sitting here in London, surrounded by all my new gear, taking board lessons on a dry slope, and sweating at the lack of snow in Japan. I'll be in Akita prefecture for three weeks, starting the 19th Dec. My nearest area will be Tazawako (30-40 mins by car). In case of a snowless scenario is Hachimantai worth a visit (a long trip by car). Is it suitable for a beginner? What is the likelyhood of snow at Hachimantai? I've seen people boarding (at the summit)in May. I was in Akita in August'03 for a month, it rained for about 75% of the tim