Rag-Doll

Hey Muika, That's pretty good. I picked up the same camera during the summer but haven't tried it out yet. I'd be really keen to hear how you found the unit? Is it any good? How easy is it to use? How you go mounting it on your helmet? Did you have any hassles getting it aimed correctly?

Originally Posted By: thursday double pay? nice gig. You sat around for 6 months knocking off early to go swimming and gyming. Life is good. Yes. It all came to an end 3 weeks earlier than it should have when they finally realised I had done literally nothing for the previous 5 months. We reached a gentlemen's agreement that we would bring my end date forward Oh well, it was bound to finish one day. It turned out to be a good thing because it meant I was well ensconsed in my new job by the time Lehmans went under the world took a turn for the worse. Had I kept my original timeframe I

My company almost went broke and was then bought by another company that sort of offered us jobs that they knew we wouldn't take and so we all left - does that count? it wasn't so bad, particularly being asked to hang around for 6 mths on double pay, just in case we were needed and then to still have the payout cashola in US dollars when the Aussie went belly up so when the cash was finally sent home it was 30% more than anticipated....all in all, this is a pretty good recession! I feel a bit like Robert Duvall's Col Kilgore character from Apocalypse Now - Some day this “recession†is goin

no, I'm outside the blackout period. the fare is 26000 for 2 sectors.

Originally Posted By: keba For the information of others, with JAL, it's called the "OneWorld Yokoso Japan Fare", 10000Y/sector, if you have international flight with a OneWorld Airline. If not, there is the "Welcome to Japan Fare" for 13000Y/sector, with no restriction on international airline. There is information on their web page, but you need to book with JAL at an office or by phone, as you said, and only outside of Japan. There might be different fares the yokoso fare I got - blackout period start from 6 March - is 26000 for two sectors.

yep. ANA might do the same, simple search for Air Pass JAL etc. You have to go through their office or book by phone because you need the details of the in bound international flight but it is all pretty easy. I don't know if it can be done on the internet.

Originally Posted By: MikePow NAB yes. CBA no. They were in town today. That's good to hear. Were they skiing or handing out money?

Maybe this has already been mentioned but there is a thing called an Air Pass - sort of like the JR rail pass. If you're flying in from outside of Japan there are deals for 10,000 yen each way from TY to Sapporo or 26,000 return - depending one which type of airline you're using. I think someone mentioned how expensive the TY to Sapporo leg of their flight is - this might save a few bucks. I hear that the CBA and NAB have gone cold on the idea of lending to investors in Niseko - talk about fair weather friends!

The problem is, you're using the wrong term. Every right thinking person knows that the meaty stuff shown in your photo, when cut off and wrapped up with some salad and garlic sause and other stuff is called a sovalaki.

Originally Posted By: MikePow Originally Posted By: macmeh Aaah... amatuer mistake to fly through New Chitose! If you ask really nicely, your travel agent should find the one flight from Brisbane per day that goes direct to Narita (not New Chitose), that flight then allows you to make the domestic connection from Narita to Sapporo! For reference, check out QF369 (Operated by Jalways) and then JL3047. Only 1 problem with this flight though... because it's a Qantas flight operated by Jalways, you can't use your Qantas Freqent Flyer points to upgrade to business class and get a bed o

Hang-on, that isn't same day, that is a crappy 28 hours drag with a shitty night spent on a plane. In 28 hours you could be anywhere on the planet.

Originally Posted By: macmeh GoNative makes a good point! We ski Japan because it's only 1 day of travel to get there, no overnighting... North America is just too far! QANTAS and JAL do a codeshare flight out of Brisbane that gets in to Narita in time to make the 1 connecting flight per day up to Sapporo and onwards. It means we can walk out of the house first thing in the morning, and be in Niseko having a beer before midnight... can't complain about that! That's pretty slick, how tight a schedule is it? Waking up in Brizzie and going to sleep in Niseko is a neat trick.

Originally Posted By: Go Native Aussies still get to land in Japan on the same day with little if any jet-lag unlike travel to Nth America. This is a big plus. GN, with the demise of the direct Qantas flights I think those coming from Aust will probably need to get an overnight flight and then still faff around with transfers at Narita (although Osaka might be easier). Even if they go to Nagano or Niigata it is still a good 4+hrs after landing at Narita. In most cases it will be an over night trip, no jet lag, but still close to 24 hrs on the road between leaving home and checking in. Ze

yeah but you get the cultural experience in Niseko!!

This might come as a surprise to some but there have been recessions before and the world didn't end. So far as Japan is concerned, there are hundreds of resorts in the country, they still exist some 20 years after the Japanese bubble burst. Only a handfull ever benefited from the international market. Nothing much will change with the Aussies gone. Niseko land prices will drop back, but they will still be higher than prices down the road and everything will return to business as normal. The real pity will be that the services developed at Niseko to cater for international visitors will erode

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver get him pissed...not like any of us didn't drink when we were 17...just make sure he doesn't spew on a radiator in the room like what happened to my 16 yr old cousin in Meribel.....hot spew smell is not nice!!! Do you think the French view the Scots in the same way that the Japanese view the Aussies?

Cb, you could say it pretty well has the same thing that Haks has these days.

Yeah, Big-Will I think there is, but one day; one day they will come and then people will be sorry they used to bag the Aussies!!!

Ski, Different places are obviousy affected to different degrees - my numbers come from oneof the main property managers in Niseko. The rates apply to all their apartments, which number in the hundreds. A fair sample I'd say.

Originally Posted By: keba Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll let me calrify this a litte - places like nozawa, which was a spa town before it was a ski town have a little something extra, as does hakuba and probably a others but they're the exception. And guess what, RD, when we were last in Hakuba, that's exactly what we did. We took a day to go back to Nozawa Onsen to show off our little boy to our old hosts from a couple of years back, and soak up some of the village atmosphere. No skiing. Get that? We went to Nozawa Onsen and didn't ski. We also visited the snow monkeys another day a

Originally Posted By: oo I know people who come to ski and take in Kyoto or other places as part of their trip. This cultural thing isnt limited to the concept of the ski resorts themselves somehow being the main part of that cultural experience. Others just enjoy coming to Japan and finding their way around, exploring, mixing with locals, checking out the shopping.... whatevers your bag. That's my point exactly, so why do we have people who moan about a resort being westernised or being over run by Aussies? as Thursday says, go to the snow to ski.

Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll I know I'm given to gross generalisations, it is my one vice but I reckon there is a bt of substance to this. Exactly what sort of culture are people hoping to see? there isn't a Japanese alpine tradition, snow sports are a relatively (well less than 100 yrs)new thing for Japanese mountains. So what people see when they visit a Japanese ski resort is often a poor imitation of european ski culture (at best) or some gaudy-hello kitty- type thing. There were also numerous ski fields that were developed during the Japanese bubble that simply have nothing to recomme

Back on topic... A person in the know in Niseko tells me that bookings are slow and that there have been a very large number of cancellations despite discounts being offered to those bookings already deposited. Feb rates are now running at a 40%+ discount over last year's prices. The people really hurting will be the property managers and the tour operators. They will be geared up for client levels that simply won't be present. Not sure about developers though, the holding costs won't be that high - yen rate still really low and probably a lot of this year's developments would have

I know I'm given to gross generalisations, it is my one vice but I reckon there is a bt of substance to this. Exactly what sort of culture are people hoping to see? there isn't a Japanese alpine tradition, snow sports are a relatively (well less than 100 yrs)new thing for Japanese mountains. So what people see when they visit a Japanese ski resort is often a poor imitation of european ski culture (at best) or some gaudy-hello kitty- type thing. There were also numerous ski fields that were developed during the Japanese bubble that simply have nothing to recommend them and aren't financially

um.. Nara and Kyoto are two that sping to mind. 10min on wiki searching Japanese history will tell when and why grid systems are not new to Japan. That said, any logic to Sapporo's city planning doesn't share the same history as those places. It really cracks me up, this whole "cultural ski trip" thing. What a load of nonsense. If you want to get a feel for Japanese culture take an extra week and spend some time in Kyoto or in Takayama or some of the other more out of the way places that still retain a lot of pre-Meiji history. Go there, see it and enjoy yourself and then head to the sno