Kraut_in_HongKong
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Posts posted by Kraut_in_HongKong
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I found Jalan dot net very useful. They have a sort of google map of Tokyo - with all the hotels in it. You can zoom in to Tokyo Station and then check for hotels in the vicinity.
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gjd, I have really no idea, and she of course can't remember. There wasn't anything visible. No blood, nothing, perfectly normal. I just noticed coz she looked lost and was just standing on the Nakiyama slope.
When I talked to her she asked me every 30 Seconds or so for the time. We then went to the food place at the bottom and got her a chocolate drink. I thought the sugar shock may help a little. While talking she started to realize that something was wrong and got panicky. The the Austrian guy from the restaurant got us a taxi and I drove with her to the clinic.
The clinic seems well equipped. They don't talk much English though. They just suggested rest. So we went back to the hotel. She went to bed, I had dinner and went to the White Horse Bar (I am very considered and don't wanted to disturb her sleep). When I came back she woke up and I asked her what she had for lunch - and she said "sausage and fries" - so I knew memory was coming back slowly. Next day I suggested a rest, but she wanted to ski again. So we all did. This time with helmet.
BTW, Sunday night I passed the White Horse again but didn't go in. While I just walked by a girl slid on the stairs and had a bad crash. Looked really bad. She was with some foreign dudes which appeared sober and they don't wanted any help. Life can be short. Good to enjoy it while we can.
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Not really that bad, but 2 years ago my daughter lost her memory on the first day in Hakuba. We didn't see it, so no idea what really happened. All short term memory of the last few days was erased.
Shintani Clinic did a cat-scan and nothing was broken. Memory came then back a few hours later. There was no more 'helmet' discussion after that accident.
Interestingly the Shintani Clinic was full with skier and boarders, about 15 people were in the waiting room while I was there. Seems they do very well during ski season.
To make your suffering a bit lighter, seems it's getting warmer next week and Hakuba will be in the plus all week with a peak of 8ºC.
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Originally Posted By: stemikhow was the leg room?
I would say in airline terms about business class. The bus is a normal 50 seater, but has less rows.
I am 1.90m and I found it roomy enough.
One more piece of info:
Journey Shinjuku-Happo is 4.5 hours. The bus makes 2 10 Minute rest stop on the highway. You have some shopping chances there. -
They have probably some basic ski areas there too. Watch some of the China ski sites for details. Expect it to be more expensive then Japan too.
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A few more things about the bus:
I picked op my tickets in their Tokyo office - they accept cash only. If you need a receipt you need to ask for it! The bus tickets have a price on it, but you have to return the tickets when you leave the bus.
Even though my dates seemed non-busy (Sunday 17:00 > Happo and Tue 17:00 > Tokyo) the bus was full in both direction.
The Tokyo > Happo route had many non-ski locals which got off the bus well before Hakuba. Really book your ticket in advance!
It's a good service. I will take that bus next time again.
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Just back from Happo. Before I went I really worried about warm weather there. Wasn't perfect, but at least not the +7 a few days earlier.
Arrived 14th very late with the bus from Shinjuku. Really convenient IMHO. Stayed in Meteor (first time there, really nice price, so hopefully not my last time either).
15th had a bit new powder. Snow started to fall from 06:00 AM or so. Got the gear from Rainbow. And off the the Happo Nakiyama slopes. Went up the hill and wanted to bring the family to the shallow slopes of Sakka. While sliding down my binding released. They gave me a ski that didn't fit the boot. The rear part of the binding was not locked in slid out. Tried to fix it, but couldn't. I had to walk down to Sakka and wait for bus, and then taxi back to the rental shop for an exchange to a much longer ski (but no other option). Cost me 3.5 hours wasted time plus taxi money. (Have to say though that in the end I liked that longer carver a lot and had no problems with it). Still, a rental shop should know how to match a boot with a ski.
Weather on those 2 days was just 'OK'. It often snowed which I don't really mind (but I will get a face mask next time). ANyway, weather I don't care as long as it's cold enough to ski. Another thing I didn't had before was extreme fog on the higher slopes. Visibility was sometimes down to 5 meter. We had a problem to find the Panorama slope that goes down near McDonalds (just about 30 meters from their door).
Beside that ski f'up we had a good time there and will look forward to the next time. I would probably rent from Spicy next time, cost is the same and they have much larger choice.
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7-Eleven has a note sticking near their ATMs that Maestro + Cirrus are no accepted after December 14th 2009. And that was correct, my EC card (Maestro) didn't work last week.
Post offices are fine and plenty, but their ATMs are usually inside the post office, means no money outside their opening hour.
Luckily CitiBank in Shinjuku came to my rescue and I got cash on my EC card there.
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Originally Posted By: indiegoCitadines Shinjuku.. relatively new.. affordable.. decent location.. BIGGER ROOMS.. and it's not expensive..
Just tried it! To add a but more:
Location is about 10-15 Minutes walk from Shinjuku JR, of <5 Minutes from Shinjuku-gyoemmae station.
Hotel looks very new, spotless clean, nice modern design. Rooms are large and have a kitchen too. The restaurant next to the lobby serves only breakfast (buffet). Selection is small, but good and is at ¥640 very economical too.
Will I stay there again: definitely!
If on a tighter budged, nearby is a place called "Hotel ParkInn Shinjuku". -
Last year Eastern I was in Niseko. It was still around 0ºC, but no new snow for a few days. Snow was rather heavy. Everything depends of course on the weather during YOUR days, but the chance for disappointment is rather high.
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I think I am not allowed to post links, so google for: elong and ctrip and check with them. I used both a few times to buy tickets.
I had a look at elong, cheapest o/w for 25/2 is rmb 1300 + rmb282 = 1582 or about US$ 230 . Carrier is UA
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ok ok, will change the card. Will be too late for this trip though. I will let you know next week where I had problems.
Seems then I am the only one to have CC problems here. Luckily I have a EC/Maestro as quick cash back up, if I find a nearby 7Eleven.
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Is 70th allowed?
Funny, this isn't mention yet:
And one more for Valentines Day:
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Originally Posted By: thursdayDunno Kraut, all my cards worked fine when I used them.
Well, I just have one card. My wife has a stack of cards, and usually all work. But see, if I change to a new card that works then I need to pay all the time.
Seriously, I got a call from my bank many moons ago and they told me my card was maybe "compromised" and they want to gave me a new card for free - which I don't want since I have plenty of autopay stuff running through it. Guess I need to bite that sooner or later. -
Originally Posted By: RyomaEasiest option would be to just buy a set in Japan.
Sounds like a good biz opportunity for the ski rental companies.... -
Originally Posted By: brynskiWill I be able to use my Aussie Visa card most places?
No idea about YOUR card, but MY card (Visa, HSBC Hong Kong) has 'issues'.
I paid my place in that agents place (no problems). Later that evening I went to an Izakaya in that new building right side up the hill (wow, great food!!!), no problems there either.
Next morning I wanted to rent my ski stuff and buy the lift pass near the slope - both did NOT work. However my wife's card (also a HK card) was ok.
Naturally I thought my card got maybe blocked due to out of country use, so that evening went back to the same Izakaya place. No problem again.
And I always had problems with buying JR tickets.
My advice is: do not rely on it if you just have one card and prepare cash for emergencies.
And just one side note: 7Eleven and the Post Office's ATM can take Maestro/EC cards. In my case my EC card got me ¥50,000 in 7Eleven. 50,000 is the maximum for one withdraw, but you can do a few withdrawals in a row. That is good, however later I discovered my Postbank has a €5.00 fee per withdrawal, still better then no cash. -
Old VW ads but still not bad:
Great David Elsewhere.....
And a fake one:
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I did biz a few times, always either by accidental free upgrade, or on other peoples expenses. When I pay my own flight I would not pay the extra US$2500 for a biz flight to Europe.
Specially as I don't care about food, which is always bad, or drink - I rent a car upon arrival. I don't mind to spend more on a nicer car or a better hotel.
Talking about movies, nothing so far matched CX's in-flight program. I specially salute for leaving movies uncut, so you actually hear words like 'duck' (not in that spelling). Can't imagine how "Pulp Fiction" would be in-flight on a normal airline. Probably 20 Minutes long with people saying "mother" all the time.
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I notice that a lot in China too. My friends are very nice, but the tone when they call 'æœåŠ¡å‘˜' is very aggressive and sounds hostile. As if they got a major complain coming up. I try to stay polite and so far it worked for me nicely.
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I just booked the Shinjuku-Hakuba bus. On the Alpico website it said "Japanese recommended". Well, the number in Tokyo (03-5376-2222) is an automated system and impossible to handle for me. However, the Hakuba number (0261-72-8255) has a human on the other end - which could speak English well enough to get my reservation!
So if you plan to book the Alpico bus, call the Hakuba number. It doesn't matter where you start (I start in Tokyo).
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Originally Posted By: ssarQuote:
"MANY non-smokers believe they deserve an extra week of annual leave to match the amount of time their smoking colleagues spend on cigarette breaks, Quit Victoria says.
Depends where they work. I know a company that does not allow smoking in their office, so people have to leave the building. To do that they have to logout with their timecard. Hence their smoke time is not paid.
BTW, since some time we have a law in Hong Kong forbidding smoking in bars and restaurants. It's sooooo much better. When will Japan follow? Some places are unbearable. -
Originally Posted By: RobBrightBack on topic -
find it strange that google are complaining about their results need to be censored, considering that when they went into China in '06, they knew that they would have to do it.
06 was different. You could still access Youtube and many other pages in China. It was getting much worse in 2009. Now you can't access youtube, facebook, Wiki, imageshack, and many other popular sites.
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With Google getting a slap down from the Chinese government and Microsoft and Yahoo! kindly telling Google that they are on their own, what do you think will happen next.
I think Yahoo! did support google since Alibaba made a statement saying that Yahoo!'s comments where "not productive".
Sounds really spineless to me how they suck up to the system.
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Originally Posted By: Mantasi remeber seeing a documentary about Google when they first cracked the deal with China. There was a court case in the U.S. over it. Something about breaching human rights laws.
Google obiviously one that one.
Wasn't that Yahoo? They provided some user information to the CN Gov and the person in question got a long jail term. Yahoo later gave some compensation to the relatives of the victim.
We don't talk serious crimes here. An online sentence such as "I support free elections" can get you 5 years.
Added later:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!#Imprisonment_of_Chinese_dissidents
BTW, those in China can't open that link. Technically Hong Kong is China, but we have (luckily) no net-censorship here. -
What did you expect? It's a brutal dictatorship. Free flow of information will simply not happen in China.
A company like google or yahoo can simply not run a western quality service in China. They have to follow the rules and censor plenty of content - or stay out.
Smelly ski boots
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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You can buy an anti-smell spray specially for sneakers and boots. It works and lasts at least one week before you have re-apply.