tripitaka

Well in any retail business of that magnitude, they're going to be pretty hard to beat on price. Jiro Mondo is expensive and they seem to make most of their money on fashion, which is fine if that's want you want.

If you're going to get really soulful, do it in bare feet. Just joking. Anyway, watched a Christian Hosoi documentary last night. That guy definitely didn't need any shoes or trainer wheels or his skateboards!! You can bittorrent it here.

I think Spotaka is your best bet. I went to Jiro Mondo a month ago and I thought it was expensive, whereas Spotaka has good gear at a range of different prices. Ashiya--what a nice place to live. I looked at buying a pretty sweet (but used) condo in Mikage. Unfortunately, it's too far from my business at the moment.

Tripler, I can sympathize. My feet are a size 28.5 but a lot of normal shoe sizes don't seem to go that far in Japan. Snowboard boots have been an exception though.

It's been confirmed that Kansai airport will be giving priority to re-entry permit holders.

Dad's into his 40s and still does bowls! I don't about the knees. Kids are pretty resilient. My knees are plugged from playing 12 years of rugby on soggy grounds. All my skater mates have help up pretty well.

Video works for me. I can see the YouTube interface in the post.

This is quite a buzz. My mate's little boy's growing up in a big way and starting to show his skater chops like his ex-pro skater old man. Dad's getting the little guy a lot of publicity on YouTube.

Originally Posted By: Oyuki kigan Well, i appricaite the support, Tripitika. I agree awith alot of what you said. And Japan does have a lot of green initiatives, and i have seen way more solar and passive-heating systems on houses here than i do anywhere else (however, that is most likely due to economic factors, rather than ecological). However, on the whole, i find the average japanese person to be much less informed about GW and what causes it than most other developed countries. case and point is this kind of event. I can almost guarantee that even though i have spend a fair pit of ener

Good for you to do something proactive about it instead of just rallying against industrialization. There's a lot of conspiracy theories about the cause of global warming not being man-made. Whatever. That still doesn't mean the world should cut down on fossil fuels to reduce CO2 and pollution. Fossil fuels are primitive energy sources and should be supported by clean energy sources. I recoomend the 'Clean Tech Revolution' as a good primer on what it's all about. Japan will be one of the last countries to be directly affected by global warming (not pollution from its neighbour) because of

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy was just curious how much better the prices are compared with retail outlet Love their fleeces, down jackets, bags, gear, et...quality store IMO. Checked out their bags briefly. Most were about 15-20% cheaper than retail.

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy I'm going to the Montbell outlet store in Tarumi, Kobe over the weekend. Most stuff is one or two seasons old Triptaka, lemme know how it is...I havent been there before but love montbell stuff CB, I was out there two weeks ago. The MB shop in particular looked awesome but I didn't spend much time in there cause my nephew's football boots and gear were the priority. If there's anything you're after, let me know and I'll check it out.

Originally Posted By: SerreChe FT, I got a Western Mountaineering bag in the end. Really expensive, but I hope it will last me 10+ years. I was surprised at how light the bag is given its scary volume. Some serious compression action is gonna have to happen with that bag. I am gonna get stove + pan over the w/e. Do you have any recommendations for fuel efficiency/weight etc FT? Probably going to Montbell over the w/e. The plastic trash bag idea is a very good one. Was thinking about those long-lasting tiny candles in case of emergency as well. Not sure how muc h20 I wud be able to melt

Originally Posted By: Kumapix who's Carson Kressley? the jacket is just one I grabbed off the rack for the pic The camp style consultant from 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.'

Carson Kressley wouldn't be too happy with the coordination between the noboard's design and the jacket's color.

Originally Posted By: Mamabear Domo - we can't pre-register. We are touro's. I wonder if you have someone travelling on business regularly if they can pre-register. A friend is coming in an out of Niseko every few months.... It depends what visa your friend is on (work, student, spousal, permanent visa, not tourist). At the end of the day, those people have been approved by immigration. I guess there is the possibility they could convert to terrorism while living in Japan.

At the immigration office at the airport before departure.

Originally Posted By: Fattwins Guess even thoughI hate it i will be pre scanning my arse! That would be an interesting scenario. Worth it though if you can get through without any BS.

Originally Posted By: Mantas The Australian economy has been booming for the last 10 years. Low interest rates, low unemployment, strong Aussie dollar ect.. Mostly due to the resource boom, we will dig up anything out of the ground anywhere and sell it to anyone. Most people have prospered under the Howard government. (MOST) BUT He has dropped the the ball on all the big issues. Kyoto, aboriginal affairs, climate change, Iraq, and all the other things GN mentioned. -- Prospered under debt. Aussies are the most heavily indebted people on the face of the planet. If the trend continues,

Good news for all resident foreigners who use Narita. If you pre-register your fingerprints and photo, you can join a queue that might even be faster than the Japanese queue. There was a letter in the Japan Times yesterday. Here's the letter: By BARRY DUELL Kawagoe, Saitama In his Nov. 22 letter, "Half-baked antiterror measure," Francisco Menendez writes that "I would be more than glad to offer my biometric data as means of identification" if all Japanese nationals are required to be fingerprinted as well. Menendez will be interested to know that I visited the Tokyo Immigration Office

Originally Posted By: thursday in an area that had ski shops up and down all along the street and looking for those skis and pricing them. So are you saying that if he rocks into Tokyo he'll get a good deal on setting himself with a 163 s/b, bindings, etc? Must be pretty easy. From my experience, he wouldn't be able to do so in Osaka.

Originally Posted By: tsondaboy Originally Posted By: Kingofmyrrh Originally Posted By: Kingofmyrrh That japantimes article is unbelievable... http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20071120a1.html And if you check the link now, they have added a new note at the bottom stating that the letter from the official is completely made up... I never had much respect for the Japan Times in the first place, but this is just stoopid... Japan times is pretty yellow, me dont read that crap. Yes, and the JT fired their sports editor in a spineless manner before the football w

Originally Posted By: Creek Boy Originally Posted By: Indo Originally Posted By: thursday I don't get this resentment. You live here for 10 years, you pay ya taxes, you are married to a farking Japanese national and have produced kids that are farking Japanese and have Japanese passports then you come home from your lovely holiday and they say hey daddy piass off and go line up over there and your wife can wait for you on the other side for a hour or so with the young kids, because we don't give a shit about you. What do our kids think? why does he have to go over there.. So much

Originally Posted By: thursday When? In May In what circumstances? walking along the street intending to buy skis. OK, not in peak season in an area you don't very well.

Originally Posted By: thursday I got my K2 Outlaws with Bindings for 67K in Tokyo. Yeah, but when and in what circumstances. Maybe for skis, it's not an issue. It's the same deal for bike frames (having bought about four MTBs and road bikes here).