Kraut_in_HongKong

Originally Posted By: deemacvee Is that correct? I'm banking on buying day tickets with a credit card. Otherwise, I'd better go and get some more Yen. Many thanks. You can buy 1 day - or longer tickets from the ticket counter using card. I did that for 2-days passes. However, why would you? In most cases your hotel sells them cheaper. So after you arrive, firstly check if your hotel sells lift tickets. Happo lift ticket prices: Hotel vs. Counter> 1 day: 4100 vs. 4600 2 day: 7500 vs. 8500 Note1: add 1000 to each price for deposit Note2: there are no hotel deals on child

Originally Posted By: thursday. yeah mate, you take the Narita express from Shinjuku. You cheked in at 15:25 for a 15:25 departure?? I'm not ever going to fly Asiana. Though the Korean girls would be most handy for the overhead luggage racks. My typing error, that was of course 14:25. Still tight. I recently missed a flight from Hk to Beijing. Asiana seems quite low budget. Eco class was much larger then on CX (usually 50% on CX, rest is Biz and 1st.). No screens in the seat (on the leg from Seoul to HK). Lousy movies. Not that I really care, I fly to get from A to B. The rest

Originally Posted By: thursday. would that unbalance your helmet and tilt your head to the side making you look like Quasemodo. You need a light weight one and fix it well. Either on the top, or on the side. If on the side then the helmet should be fit well. I did some videos just holding the camcorder. That's OK too, but really not convenient. It all depends how much you record. I would do it a few times a year. Not really worthwhile to buy a helmcam, which will then be outdated next season.

Plus I get HD quality and not grainy VGA mode in slow frame rate. Nowadays camcorder are small and lite enough anyway.

What I plan for my next trip: Just use a normal camcorder and fix that to the helmet. Maybe get also a simple splash bag as protection. That does the job, has excellent full HD quality (if your camcorder does that). Really no need to buy any extra stuff for that once a year fun.

Here is how it ended: I wanted to return to Tokyo one day early, to have a nice dinner in Tokyo and a little morning shopping. However, all hotels I checked were full on 2/12. Since the skiing was nice it was an easy decision to stay one night and leave Hakuba on the flight day. We took the 07:00 Alpico Bus to Shinjuku. Supposed to arrive at 11:30. Our flight was 15:25 That night it was snowing heavily and I guess that affected the bus journey. We finally arrived Shinjuku at about 11:55. I didn't really check all forms of transport (my error), I had the Skyliner from Ueno fixed

Well, she had a catscan (I saw the screen too) which was examined by at least 3 doctors. With the large number of ski related accidents that clinic handles (I guess 90% of their business in winter) they should have some experience and I don't really doubt their findings. I was advised to go another hospital if she starts of vomit or shake. That didn't happen. For us the case is closed and it's a good reminder to be aware that things can happen anytime. In our hotel was another large group from Hong Kong. The most experienced of them broke his arm.

My hotel didn't took cards. That was already 165,000 (we bought most lift passes there too). Alpico also doesn't take cards.

She simply does not remember what happened. And I doubt we will ever find out. We couldn't see, or feel any signs of a knock to the head. Directly after I found her we just skied slowly down the 300m to the Restaurant.

She's 14 and skies OK. She refused helmets up to that day. No problem now.

My experience: I bought my JR shink tickets in Ueno. The place would not read my Hong Kong HSBC Visa card. She tried a few times. She then asked me to wait and after 10 Minutes (I say her walking around, talking, checking), she came back with the slip to sign. So it worked in the end, but there seem to be underlying problems. Better make sure you have cash on hand too. Side note: Alpico Bus does not take cards, cash only!

My experience: Went to the 7/11 in Hakuba. They have an ATM. They take Maestro (which includes my German EC-Card). You can chose between several different amounts, up to 50,000. There is 210 handling fee per withdrawal. I took 50,000 - I thought it's the daily limit. I tried a 2nd time and got another 50,000. It works perfectly. Side note: it also accepts Chinese "Union Pay" debit cards, but I didn't try that.

Just another pro helmet thread: Arrived Hakuba Saturday 2/9. Got the rental stuff, went straight to Happo, Nakiyama area. We had lunch in that Austrian guys place (good food!) and did some skiing. At about 15:20 or so I saw my daughter Standing at the top of the first double lift, just looking. Went to her to say "hi". She asked me for the time. Then 30 Seconds later she asked me again, and another 30 Seconds again. Then she said "I think I am brain damaged". I asked her what's up - she said "I forgot". I said, lets have a rest and have drink in that Austrians place - she forgot the

Originally Posted By: Heather Locklear Rocks So it's a 3 day weekend What 3 days? Fr>Su or Sa>Mo ?

Originally Posted By: thursday. except Watami. I find it quite ok. I was in one in Tokyo, and a few times in some in Hong Kong. I have no complains. Otherwise I am extremely picky about food and prefer to cook at home, or go higher end places. Watami for me is a cheap and good eat. Maybe I shift from "great" to "value for money".

I am a great Nikujaga (肉じゃが) fan. Will I find it in Hakuba? Watami is great too. What I find fascinating is, that no matter where you go, the quality is always excellent.

Anybody? I heard about B.Sports, but they are way out in the 042 phone area. Anybody knows shop in the city area? I am looking for ski boards (aka snow blades, that's スキーボード I think) with a release binding. The normal fixed binding doesn't fit my 30.5 boots.

Originally Posted By: dizzy one thing you can do kraut, is buy a "non-reserved ticket." there are 3 of the train cars that are non-reserved, which mean no reserved seat. you go to the platform and stand in the non-reserved cars. for tokyo-nagano, these are train cars 1, 2, and 3. if you line up ahead of time, you'll get a seat. good luck! I think the problem will be that I enter in Ueno, that will be after the bloodbath I guess. I will try to get reserved seats. If that helps I take the 06:30 train.

Originally Posted By: thursday. wear your SJ stickers on one's forehead please. Makes it easier to spot. I will wear your SJ sticker on my forehead... PS: It should help. Thanks for that!

Friday is missus promised shopping day in Tokyo, plus my buy tickets day. Saturday morning we shink to Hakuba.

that's good news. Don't tell me about crammed trains, nothing beats China.

I plan to take the Shinkansen this Saturday in the early morning to Nagano. I guess there will be other people on that train too, I guess lots of them. Is there any chance that the train can be sold out? Or will they sell tickets anyway?I don't mind standing, but would be bad to wait half day to get out of Tokyo.

I am still still in cold Hong Kong, but tomorrow I fly to Tokyo and Saturday morning I try to jump on the shink to Nagano, then Hakuba! Anybody in the WhiteHorse Bar this Saturday Feb. 9th? http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/viewhotel.php?hotid=131 I will drop in after dinner for a drink, or 2.

And that's frontpage national news with a satellite connected TV crew now camping in front of the hotel?

Originally Posted By: Mamabear Simple fact is I don't know enough about snowpack safety to make good judgments. That is one of the big reasons why I am not going out of bounds at this stage of the game. Me too. I am sure there are some experts which can identify dangerous areas and can handle those. I am not one of them. To me, the simple thought of sliding down a nice hill, arriving at the bottom, with no lift in sight, and have to walk for hours in skiboots in deep deep snow, not exactly certain what directions to go, is enough to keep me in well groomed ares! Can I have more