[Facemasks?]

Kathmandu have a sale on at the moment where just about everything is 50%. There is a Kathmandu in Melbourne. I picked up a neck warmer and 2 head tubes today for $15 each. I picked up some other cool stuff as well, all 50% off.

[How to get from Haneda to Narita Airport?]

The train will take about 2 hours, cost half as much and you get to see plenty of Tokyo.

For train schedules use:

http://www.hyperdia.com/

It lists different options.

[rental phone networks and email]

Last time in went to japan. I rented a mobile phone from the following link

http://www.digi-promotion.com/go-mobile-phone-rentals-japan.html

There is a promotion code at the bottom of the page. Use it to get the discounted rate.

It works out pretty cheap at AUD$60 for 2 weeks plus call costs.

You can get the phone forwarded to the first place you are staying so it is ready to pick up when you arrive.

Calls to Aus cost about $1 a minute.

The email address for the phone is supplied with the phone.

There is a bit of a trick to dialing international. There is a code in the phone somewhere that you need to put in as prefix to the international number. It is not as simple as dialling 0011 unfortunately. It took me about 20 minutes to find it but got it eventually.

I am going to go with this again this year because I know it will work and be hassle free.

[Changing money?]

ATMs that will work for foreign cards are Citibank and the ones at the Post Office.

The Citibank ATMs will give you an option of which account you want to withdraw funds from. The

Post Office ATMs wont work give you this option so if you put in a credit card that has other

accounts linked to it the ATM will just withdraw the money off the credit card.

It is a good idea to get a keycard soley for your savings account if you want to withdraw money

from it.

Before you leave Australia it is a good idea to change over some money so that you have some

yen as soon as you arrive. The vending machines that decorate Japan (1 for every 23 people)

take 1000 yen notes so try to get some of these when you change your money.

I recommend ordering the yen through your local bank rather then using a money exchange

agent, just for the better exchange rates. If you have internet banking you should be able to

order the currency online.

If you order currency, try to order say 59000 yen rather than 60000 yen. That way you will get

some 1000 yen notes.

[Expose your quiver-- photos please...]

Bringing to Japan this Season:

Stockli Rotor and K2 Public Enemy

Stockli Carbon Poles

[Best online ski vids?]

Try

[Helmet or Not to Helmet]

I'm for helmets.

There was a fatality at Happo last season where a snowboarder came off a cat track and hit a tree. Here is a photo of the accident site.

The tree in the centre of the photo with the top bent over was the one involved. I couldn't believe how a small tree like that could cause so much damage.

I think that sport injuries can often be more about "hitting the sweet spot" and less about being reckless, careless or useless. Although I am probably biased after a torn ACL and dislocated shoulder from some pretty uneventful skiing over recent years.

I have purchased 2 helmets in the past 2 years. The first one I bought for a steal off ebay but threw it away because it gave me a headache. My new helmet is a RED Frequency size XL (I have a 62cm bucket head. I couldn't get a suitable fit in a Giro, the XL's were too tight and the XXL's didn't feel right.

My tips for buying a helmet are:

- Go to a really big store that has heaps of helmets to choose from. Try on every helmet in the store without looking at the price tag. Buy the most comfortable helmet that you try on.

- Get vents

- Put it on