tripitaka

Originally Posted By: mdmn The question about the size, I ride a 163, will there be any issues getting a range of choice in that size in the Jimbocho area? Last night I saw a K2 163 selling in a big-box store in Osaka for about 85,000 yen. Decent bindings were going for over 20,000 yen. A lot of people have told me how cheap Japan is for gear... and it is... depending on what you want. A lot of the cheaper brands like THM will only sell boards under 160 cm. They have cheap deals on packages but not in longer boards. I assume that there will be greater choice in Tokyo with more ta

Originally Posted By: soubriquet Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps soubs is going back to Japan today, right? It will be interesting to hear what he reports. Came in through Narita this morning. As mentioned elsewhere, Narita is running a 3 tier system for Nationals, foreign residents and visitors. There were 2 desks open for the foreign residents, and it took them 15 minutes to process the 10 people in front of me. Not very encouraging. How the machine works is this: You stick your index fingers into a pair of holes, and two specially trained moray eels eat your identity. Then

Originally Posted By: Mantas Sounds like they want to make it more like league. That wouldn't be a bad thing. It would definitely be good for teams like Fiji but perhaps not the English.

Excerpts from a Bloomberg news report today. There was ``no noticeable delay between now and three weeks ago,'' Magnus Andersson, a businessman from Sweden who flew in for the second time today from London. ``As long as you have your papers in order, it seems quite efficient.'' There were no announcements of the change at check-in in London or on the British Airways flight, Andersson said. Others say incidents of mistaken identity in the U.S. will occur in Japan. Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the pop singer Cat Stevens, was refused entry to the U.S. in September 2004, becaus

Originally Posted By: tsondaboy Quote: 　In an effort to get an inside perspective on the new law, I wrote to a high-ranking Ministry of Injustice official closely involved in the planning and implementation of the measure. My source, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent the following statement by e-mail If it’s indeed something that comes from officials, then it is absurd! But if it is the high ranking official position on the mater, why does it have to be under the cover of anonymity? As far as I understand the guy that wrote this article, may have done so in a Pub with some of h

The Japan Times had a reply from an anonymous govt official about it today. The reasoning was so off the mark that I cast serious doubts on the letter's authenticity. The letter mentions that discouraging people from coming to Japan is good for other Asian countries (by keeping skilled labour from coming to Japan) and preventing English-speaking foreigners from getting caught up by suspect English schools. It's difficult to believe that a high-ranking official would say something so ridiculous.

Don't freak out. It's not that bad but if you're on a tight schedule, it could be a bit stressful. The subway's good cause it'll take you right there and the shinkansen will be signposted from the platform. But first you've got to get a Shinkansen ticket and get on the right train. Use the site I told you about to map out your trains, write them down and you'll be sweet. Staying down in Shin-Imamiya should be interesting. Pretty rough down there (by Japan standards). Cheapest stand-up bars and drinking food in town with some hardy characters around. They're always pretty friendly to fore

When shibui is used with iro (color), koe (voice), engi (performance), fuksoo (clothes), it's like simple elegance, refined or tasteful. Negative-wise, it's more difficult to translate. Like Bushpi says, it's like an astringent taste. You can also used it to negatively describe kao (face), henji (answer) and hannoo (reaction). You can also say 'kane ni shibui' which means stingy.

The details have been very sketchy over here as well. I wouldn't blame the travel agent and I don't even know if they have a responsibility to tell you. If people are going to miss connecting flights because of it, I'm sure news will filter back.

Domo, Even though it only needs to be done once, it appears than there will only be one queue for foreigners regardless. I tend to disagree with FT that it can't be helped because it is being done at a time when Japan is having trouble attracting foreign business and capital which it desperately needs. Like I said, it could be a minor irritant or a major incovenience. Only time will tell. Kansai is my local so I will be looking at the earliest flights so hopefully any inconvenience will be minor.

Well, if you're coming for a ski holiday, it has the potential for you to miss connecting flights, trains, etc. However, think of it from the businessperson's point of view. I know foreigners who are travelling between China and Japan about four-five times a month. Imagine being delayed at the airport for three hours each time to deal with this crap. The issue was raised in the International Herald Tribune. I've dealt with in the U.S. and it wasn't too bad. Let's hope the Japanese are on top of this.

Yes, well be prepared for the possibility of a very long wait. The frequent-travelling foreign business community is very annoyed at this. It sounds like Narita is prepared to do this as efficiently as possible, but that cannot be said for Kansai and other airports. Even foreigners who live in Japan used to able to join the Japanese queue. That's not the case anymore. Knowing the Japanese attention to detail in bureaucratic measures, this has the potential to be a total nightmare. Would love to hear any stories of how it is working out.

Yes, there's a 5:37 subway that will get you there by 6. A taxi would probably be faster and better (no more than 4000 yen). If you're going to shin-osa for the first time, it could be a bit confusing.

Your biggest issue will be getting to Shin Osaka that early. Depending on where your staying, it might be best to take a taxi. If you know where you're staying, let me know and I'll tell you your best option. If you're staying at the airport, you can take a train directly to Shin Osaka but you're not going to arrive at the bullet train until 7:30.

OK. Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Nagoya starts about 6 am. You can get to Hkba by 11 am. Go to the following site: http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin.html Enter Shin Osaka to Hakuba. It will show you the train routes and times.

Koko, All the Sunshine buses are at night. Why waste daylight hours on a bus anyway?

Koko, The things Kiwis do to abalone or paua is criminal. Mince them up and deep frying them is crazy if you ask me. We'd do well to follow a bit of Aussie food culture.

I went to Spotaka in Shinsaibashi, Osaka last night. You get cleaner, brushes, wax, irons, scrapers, etc. up there. Also, the full deal is worth it but it will take a couple of weeks. Bought some boots in there so I get some kind of discount. If there are sasquatches living in Osaka out there (28 cm plus), they have some good 2006 boots in there at 50% off. At Spotaka, I was stunned at the commercialization and merchandising of the snowboard industry. Working in the consumer electronics industry, I though it was bad enough. But snowboarding is definitely not a poor man's sport anymore. I

Is that a Moreton Bay lobster?? The crays we have in Kiwi are orange? The uncles used to dive for them when we were kids and the older bros used to raid cray pots. Nowadays, the abalone (paua) belong to the Maori pretty much.

What do they charge for skis?

Just got an e-mail saying that a wax and edges is only about 2000 yen at the resorts.

Cheers Kuma, I like your style. I checked out this site. http://snowboard-factory.com/tutorial/ All the tools add up if you want to do it properly. Fark it. More trouble than it's worth. I used to fix dings on my surfboards and tune my bikes, but I didn't have to to work so much before.

There's a small snowboard retailer in my neighbourhood offering basic board tune-ups from 7500 yen up to 16000 yen (!!). I called a "big box"/retailer and they quoted about the same for the basic service. What it'd be cheaper to buy the gear and do it myself? Do they usually sell that stuff here?

I went to the travel agent at lunch today. Sunshine Tours are running overnight buses from 10500 yen between Osaka and Hakuba. The service leaves at about 9:30 p.m. from Shin Osaka and you arrive in Hakuba at about 6 a.m. Right now, there are seats available up to and on December 28th (the final business day of the year). Don't know about after that. The bus also stops in Kyoto and there are shuttles to take you to the bus should you need them. I went to Heiwado travel agency so most agencies (including JTB) should be able to book for you. The agent reckons that Sunshine is cheaper, fast

Originally Posted By: thursday No no, take the weight off my feet. I suppose an izakaya would be a nice enough place. Well, if they want a real hardcore local experience, take them down to Nishi-nari or Tsutenkaku and get tanked drinking 100-yen atsukan at the oden stands with the day labourers. When they're stupefied, head up to the local red-light district at Tobita or go to Tennoji Park and get more trashed singing enka with the local drunks and nutters. You won't see too many foreigners wandering around with Lonely Planet guides.