[Morning Greetings!]

Down to 4 degrees again last night in Kutchan but looks like another clear and mild day....perfect autumn weather.

 

Asahidake is looking awesome this morning

 

[Morning Greetings!]

Down to 4 degrees last night in Kutchan but today is beautiful with a little breeze and getting up to around 19.

[Halloween]

Halloween wasn't big in Aus (at least when I was a kid) and I don't remember having any real interest in it all. Don't think I have ever been trick or treating or even put up any sort of decoration or carved up a pumpkin.

[Winter temperatures, rain/snow to be normal]

ASB Niseko has had a couple of years where the maximum recorded depth has been somewhat less than some of the best seasons ever recorded in Aus but without doubt even in a bad season here the snow quality will be like nothing ever experienced in Aus.

[Doctors/Hospitals in and around Niseko????]

There are no medical services in Niseko Hirafu itself but there's a couple of good clinics in Kutchan (15min away by car). None of the doctors in town speak good english but if you are coming in through a tour operator most of them offer medical translation services.

Maybe your friend should get his doctor to write a description of his condition and then get a professional translation done back there in Aus that he could present to a doctor here if required.

[Morning Greetings!]

Another cool night, down to 6 degrees. Today the wind has picked up but the sun is still shining and we'll get to around 20 degrees.

[Morning Greetings!]

Hokkaido had it's first frosts this morning with many areas recording temps close to freezing. Hope some of that cooler air moves south for you guys.

[Snow]

Hokkaido had it's first frosts last night with temperatures close to freezing in many inland areas. Here in Kutchan we got down to 5.8 degrees. Normally we get our first freezing temps here in about the second week of October.

[The future:]

Here's just an example

 

[Washing hands after using the toilet]

We're in Japan we don't shake hands, we bow!

[Throwing away money]

 Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver

buying a new car anywhere

Actually if you run a business in Aus buying/leasing new cars through the business and turning them over every 2-3 years can actually be beneficial as the amount you can claim as a tax deduction can often be more than the repayments.

[Washing hands after using the toilet]

Personally if I'm just having a no.1 I'll rarely wash afterwards unless I've had some accident and splashed pee all over my hands. I mean is your male member somehow dirtier than the rest of your body? Should you wash your hands every time you touch some other part of your body?

Doing a no.2 is a whole other prospect and I wash afterwards every time.

[Freedom of speech is gone in America]

Which was why most people applauded when he was finally taken away...

[Freedom of speech is gone in America]

 Quote:

And seriously he raised a valid point

 

Exactly what point was that spacefrog?

 

 Quote:

Offered no resistance and was clearly no threat

 

Have you actually seen any of the footage or not? He somewhat forcefully attempted to wrench himself free from the grip of the first officers who grabbed him. He continued to struggle and refused to allow his arms to be placed behind him to be cuffed. He received repeated warnings that if he continued to fail to comply and cease struggling he would be tasered. I guess he figured that with everyone there and the cameras rolling that they wouldn't actually do it. It shouldn't be that police have to put themselves physically at risk from injury when they have other means at their disposal (like a taser).

 

 Quote:

The fact that anyone could even agree with him being subdued is the sad thing. This what the US has become, it is a authoritarian police state that is far more scary than north korea or any other state that springs to mind.

 

So should this guy should have been allowed to continue with his tirade and asking more and more questions, punctuated with his own personal political statements as long as he desired? Should all the others waiting to ask questions of their own missed the opportunity whilst this guy made his big political debut? How many questions is it fair to give one person when there are many others with questions and there is limited time? If it is decided that this guy has had enough question time and he refuses to leave what do you do?

 

This guy was told politely enough that he'd asked enough questions and to please step away from the mike. He refused to do so and the police (the security for the event) attempted to remove him. He failed to comply with police requests and got the consequences. Using a taser to reduce the risk of injury to police officers is fine with me.

[Freedom of speech is gone in America]

You seem pretty antagonistic towards law enforcement officers Thursday. Had a few run-ins with them yourself by chance?

[Freedom of speech is gone in America]

The guy was obviously there to make a scene and supposedly much of his so called questions were actually just statements and there was quite a queue of other people waiting to ask questions. He was told he'd had enough time and they switched off the mike. He still didn't leave and so the police stepped in to escort him away from the mike. He struggled with the police and frankly that is never a good idea no matter what you are doing and how righteous you feel.

 

The police certainly warned him that if he did not comply (put his hands behind his back to be cuffed) that they would taser him. He didn't comply but just yelled "don't tase me dude" and so they of course tased him (he complied pretty damn quick after that). Sure the police could have, with a fair amount of physical effort, got his arms back to be cuffed but why put in all that effort and potentially hurt yourself when you can just taser the guy and usually get immediate compliance without any further risk to yourself?

 

I'm all for political activism and free speech but this guy was really just trying to take over the whole forum to get his political message across when others also wished to take part. Still he's got his 15 mins of fame. I wonder what monetary offers he'll receive to appear on talk shows and give exclusive interviews....

 

[Throwing away money]

Buying a new car in Japan would have to be the biggest waste of money since they depreciate so much so quickly.

[The future:]

Soaring towers! Sounds like they've been to see a few too many Japanese resorts and somehow like them!!

[Sneaky day trips from Niseko]

As far as I can tell the lifts rarely run at Iwanai anymore. They have started operating a snowcat service though which could be fun. Getting there would require a car although if they are smart they would organise a pickup service from Hirafu. A friend of mine lives in Iwanai, I'll see what he can find out.

[Sneaky day trips from Niseko]

Chisenupuri isn't too bad for a day. There's only the one lift but this allows access to plenty of terrain even without the 50 min hike (as ling as you don't mind skiing through the trees). Sure it wouldn't shape up to the standards that guys like fattwins would expect but if you're not an extremeist you'll have a bit of fun.

 

Weiss is running snowcat skiing and isn't too bad but the terrain is certainly not challenging even by Niseko standards. Iwanai ski resort is also running snowcat tours but I have no accounts about how good it is. The view over the ocean whilst skiing though would sure be pretty cool.

[Rugby World Cup]

I'm going to be spending a bit of time over the next month or two in Sapporo. Does anyone know of a good sports bar there that will be showing the rugby?

[Niseko - hardcore or families?]

They are putting in a lift near the current gondola that will go only a short way up the hill to a little existing restaurant. This is to create a beginners area, hence the flattening of the ski run. It should help relieve a little of the congestion on the gondola (hopefully) and should remain open when the wind is too high for the gondola.

Niseko is definitely not 'hardcore' but has some of the most consistently deep powder anywhere on the planet which is why people come here. Most foreign skiers who are not used to deep powder find plenty of challenging terrain around the hill though.

[Niseko = bad weather?]

Eunice Niseko does have a an incredible amount of snow days. On average you can expect snow to fall on at least 24 days per month from Dec through February and most of the other days will be cloudy. It's not cold though with temps rarely getting below -15 in the valley. It's an incredibly beautiful and fun place to be and I'd think you'd love it if you came here.

[Rare or well done?]

 Originally Posted By: mina2

I used to really love steaks but in recent years I don't really like too big pieces of meat.. it really puts me off. What really puts me off is the ro-su katsu sometimes you get that is more fat than meat. That is just awful.

The fatty meat is one of the things I love about Japan as much of the good flavour of meat is in the fat. Most meats are the same, I mean just how good is crispy chicken skin, or some nice pork crackling? The move in the west to all meat being lean is a tragedy in my book.

[Rare or well done?]

 Originally Posted By: thursday

 Originally Posted By: sakebomb

Gyu-tataki is where the meat is seared in a pan/bbq to keep the juices in but basically raw on the inside. It is similar to a blue steak (?).

GN, is this what blue is? In which case I sometimes like it like this.

Thursday blue is similar. Basically you want a very hot grill and depending on the thickness of the steak you would cook it for about 1-2 minutes on each side. The middle of the steak is warm but still looks fairly raw. This way of having steak will ensure most of the juices (and thus the flavour) are retained.