nippontiger

In this situation, you need "Big Man" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1w37OdwQlE

Yeah, it took me ages to get it as well - they never seem to make things simple, do they? Mind you, Im sure the ticket pricing system of Britain's railways is enough to drive most people insane!

No, the red sentence at the very top explains it. Basically the trains marked with a cross do not qualify for the special 1000 yen discount. So on a Saturday none of the outbound trains qualify - however, all of the return trains (14.08, 15.08, 17.08, 19.11 echigo yuzawa qualify) so you just get 1000 yen discount on the standard (基本) price. On a Sunday and public holiday, its the return trains that dont qualify and the outbound trains that do - so you still just get 1000 yen discount. On all other days, you get the 1000 yen discount both ways, so its 2000 yen discount. If the woman turned you

I think you must be looking at a different brochure to me! Heres a link to the 2011-2012 JR View Higaeri brochure which I was looking at: http://view-web-maga...35_1204/?Page=7 Just taking Kagura as an example - from 12/23 to 27 and from 1/5 to 4/1 the standard price is 11400 yen from tokyo. But there are some trains that qualify for discounts - if you check the top left - those are the trains which qualify. As you can see, all of the outbound trains (6.32, 8.04, 9.44 and 10.52 tokyo departure) qualify except on Saturdays, likewise all of the return trains qualify, except Sundays and public

Just checked on internet higaeri brochure - you can do a trip to Alts for 12300 on Saturdays in Feb and 11700 on Sundays apart from the 12th which is 12300. Depending on the outbound train you take, you can also get 1000 yen discount. Details here: http://travel.eki-ne...et?cid=01435039 and also checked - the deal is pretty much exactly the same as last year for Yuzawa - the standard price is 11400 yen from Tokyo - you can get 1000 yen discount on both outbound and return trains during the week, and just the return trains on a Saturday and outbound trains on a Sunday. info here: http://tr

They were doing the higaeri ticket and shinkansen deal last year - it usually works out very roughly 10000 going from Omiya - maybe an extra 1000 from tokyo. During the week, you could get 1000 yen discount both on the outgoing and return trains = 2000 yen discount, on the weekend you could only get it one way so just 1000 yen discount. Im not sure the earliest train you could get - I usually got the 8.30 am train from Omiya which was definitely included in the deal, but as TB says, you could basically jump on any train you want in the unreserved seat - I dont think this was officially allowe

9200 yen to go on bus on the weekend? Isnt it about the same price to go on shinkansen to Yuzawa - maybe 1000 yen more? Its hard to beat the weekday prices but Id take the shinkansen deal every time on the weekend.

Its a bit selfish, but Im kind of glad its not snowing right now, cos I just had to pay a load of tax and have no money to go skiing until next paycheck! Id be a bit gutted to see it puking down and not having the cash to go out and enjoy it! It can't be far off now and with a bit of luck, most people would have had the sense not to book too early - you are always taking a big chance before Christmas.

She admits it here:

Sweet video! I dont know if this has been posted on here before, but here's the same guy and Chris Benchetler skiing Niseko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Aaew1NSzc

Check out Bandai Nekoma - it tends to get the best snow in the area, very little is roped off and there's hardly anybody there!

Ive been looking at the smith i/o and the i/os - how are they for fogging in snowy conditions? Also, I heard they scratch up easily? They do look nice though and I like the idea of the high VLT lens for snowy days.

Seriously, if anything I think the snow would reduce any elevated radiation levels. The NPP at Fukushima is now releasing minimal amounts of radiation to the atmosphere so any elevated readings will be as a result of soil and dust on the ground contaminated by rain that fell shortly after the disaster. The snow will just cover up the contaminated soil and dust.

yeah, 52K for goggles is somewhat mental! Actually theres a pair at 27k on yahoo auction now, but still.... For all that data you get with those goggles, Ive got a 500 yen iphone app that does it all and Id rather check that kind of stuff later than be distracted while out in the snow!

How about a pair of these.....?! http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/Zeal_Optics_Transcend_GPS_Goggles/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=directory&utm_content=GBR&currency=GBP&country=GBR&SelectedBundle=171911&gclid=COqJ99W87KwCFQklpAodGByNJg

I wouldnt mind getting myself a pair of POC lobes, but Ive got other things I want to buy, unfortunately, so I guess Ill stick with my old Spy ones. Always a good idea to have a spare pair in the pocket when out in snowy conditions!

Have to say I'm not so impressed with Siri - it does understand most things I say, but its functionality seems rather limited here - for example, it cant give directions in Japan, cant tell you the weather in Japan, cant find restaurants in Japan and although I managed to tell it to "remind me to call my mum when I get home" - it made the reminder, but didnt remind me when I got home! Also it doesnt understand some more complex commands - I told it "Its my mums birthday on the 10th december, remind me a week before" and it just made a reminder on the 10th of december saying "a week before". I

Takes about 3 hours to drive up to Alts from Tsukuba including some driving on snowy roads - obviously Kanagawa is a bit further, but if you make an early start and hopefully miss some of the traffic in Tokyo, then it should be do-able.

When I got my 3gs I kept using those screen protectors for the first year or so, but then just stopped using them - the phone spent most of the time rattling around in my pockets with keys and coins and to this day it doesnt have a single scratch on the screen. The plastic back of the phone is scratched to pieces. I think the screen protectors are unnecessary.

Thanks for that info! Sounds perfect! I guess we could either do that, or just hire a car for the weekend if we want to do a different resort.

Im hoping to make a trip up there - a friend of mine is moving up to Nihonmatsu in January. However, neither of us have a car so Im wondering if anybody knows if there are transportation options from Nihonmatsu to any of the ski resorts? BTW I would definitely recommend a trip to this region - its a beautiful area with some fine skiing in uncrowded resorts.

Yeah, I hadn't heard of most of them either! Need to get out more....!

Depending on the price, I could be up for that...!

It's Womb's big adventure - not actually at Womb but in a much bigger event space in Chiba - they get a big lineup of top DJs and have a huge party there. For me, the place is just a bit too big for them to really pull it off - there might be a few thousand people there, but it still feels half full. I think I prefer the actual club - one of my favourites and one of the few places where by the end of the night, I'm not one of the most wasted people in there!!

I am tempted by the HD2 - my mum has offered to make a contribution towards one for my Christmas present! In February, they bring out a wi-fi attachment which allows you to control the camera and also stream the video to a mobile device such as a smart phone while recording to the SD card - could be very useful in some situations.