projectsplat
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Posts posted by projectsplat
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Originally Posted By: tsondaboyTo bring back the thread from a month ago.
http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/240374/fpart/3
Cheers for that. I did do a search, but came back with nothing, so I thought I was in the clear. Oh well. This topic appears to have generated some more discussion since it has now been introduced.
So has anyone been through the ringer yet? I am quite keen to find out what delays there are (if any). -
mmm that is the catch. according to the reports I have read, it will need to be done EVERY TIME you enter the country.
the reasoning behind this is the dubious story from the Japanese minister for Justice who had a "friend of a friend" of his who is a member of al-qaeda who was able to enter the country several times under different false passports.
side note: apparently this "friend of a friend" also gave him dates relating to bombings in Indonesia... if you ask me, this justice bloke should probably be locked up for consorting with members of a known terrorist organisation, but that is another story.....
this process is designed to make sure that the person whose name is on the passport matches the person who is holding the passport, which means that for the system to work, they will need to check your fingerprints every time you enter the country.
I sort of agree with Sock Monkey - getting fingerprinted at the airports does suck, and it makes me less inclined to travel to japan on pleasure - especially if it puts me in danger of missing my connecting flight. yes, I have to travel to japan on business, but when on business, i am getting paid to buck it up. on my personal time however, I prefer not to subject myself to this.
anyone keen for a trip to Gulmarg??
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that is so cool. I was really disappointed when I found out that the snow monkeys were on the main island, not on Hokkaido. oh well, next trip i guess.
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urgh. ok, well that sounds very uncool then. we are over there in just over three weeks, so I don't like my chances of them having the system ironed out and running smoothly by then.
other people from my office are heading over on Saturday, so I will find out from them how it all goes.
edit: that will be an interesting point - are they going to need to fingerprint you every time you enter the country?? there are people from work who do many trips to Japan a year. I can see them being less-than-enthusiastic about the whole thing.
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look, I understand some of why they are doing it, although their rationale seems rather flimsy - i just don't like it.
oh well - as long as it does not get in the way of me snowboarding for a week, then all is cool.
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I managed to drop my mountain bike off the lift at Mt Buller in Australia. Just happened to be the highest part of the lift at about 35 metres. The bike flipped upside as it fell, and landed on the handlebars. managed to fold a brand new set of handlebars, but the rest of the bike was ok..... lucky I didnt fall....
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hmmm, I am natural, and my partner is goofy, but unfortunately, no one else in our family skis or boards, so I guess we will have to wait until we have some offspring and then do some tests....
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it looks like it has been puking down all day. the Niseko Now report lists 40cm on the mountain in the last 24 hours. Bring it on!!! only 25 days until we leave for Japan! :-D
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Is anyone else here aware that as of tomorrow, (20th November, 2007) all foreigners are to be fingerprinted and have a mug shot taken as part of entering the country?
mmmm. very uncool. I would expect this kind of rubbish from America, not Japan...
This is one of the reasons i chose to go snowboarding in Japan, instead of America, as I could enter the country without being made to feel like a criminal...
Japan turns spotlight on foreigners, accused of bias
Note : I did a bunch of searching to see if anyone had posted something on this topic, but found nothing. I wasn't sure if this should be here or in off topic, however I did think that this was relevant for all of the foreigners heading over for Japan for this season's skiing and snowboarding....
Edit: if the mods feel this is in the wrong section, please feel free to move it. Cheers, Al
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My partner and I are heading over to Niseko (from Aus) in December for a week (15-23rd) although I am already making plans to head back over in February-March. Hopefully work will have a job on over in Japan around then, and I might be able to tack another week or so on at the start or the end of that. :-D Fingers crossed.
Cheers
Al
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Originally Posted By: EzorisuI heard a little something about this on the radio this morning... and something about a girl from Tokyo in a maid outfit winning something. Event? Contest? I wasn't quite paying attention.
Originally Posted By: tsondaboyIt was on TV earlier, some chicks were snowboarding in bikinis!
Pics or it didn't happen..... -
Originally Posted By: MikePowI got to Niseko area on 07 December last winter and got gut deep from the first turn. Nothing to worry about arriving on 15 Dec.
Cool. Good to know. I cant wait for this trip - counting the days. The aussie ski season ended far too soon! -
mmmm from memory, it was something that came up in discussion over beers one night. I was about 24 and had never seen snow before. I made the mistake of mentioning that I was keen to try it out...... I stayed out drinking till about 4am. my mate started climbing through my window at 5am, kicking me out of bed and telling me to get my $hit together. after a 5 hour drive, I had sobered up enough to realise that we were heading to the snow fields.
I jumped on the board because I had been an avid skateboarder during my early years. it took me a while to get the hang of it, but now that I am comfortable, I don't think I can ride anything else - except maybe a surfboard...
noice.
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Originally Posted By: dale#1Wow, 2 hotels!? Out of how many hundred?
I am looking at Niseko at the moment for February. I have contacted 12 places through this site. Out of the 9 that have replied only 1 cannot accommodate the four of us when we want to go.
ease up tiger. based on the packages we were looking at (yes, packages....), there were about 16 hotels to choose from, and when the first two choices came up booked out, I started to get the impression that things were filling up pretty quickly. in hindsight, it is more likely that the best value hotels were filling up fast.
in the long run, it is better to book early and possibly get early bird discount, then attempt to book late, and run the risk of missing out. just my $0.02+GST....
cheers,
al -
yeah, we were booking a few weeks back, and got knocked back on two different hotels. "fully booked, I am sorry"....
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just turned 30. all downhill from here...
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Hmm, I like intrigued by both the Beer and shagging options. Will have to give that pre-season training some time on the weekend. Currently I am swimming, running and doing some core excercies. My GF has got me onto some pilates-esque stuff that just kills.
Gotta keep thinking of the snow. Have to make sure I am good for both day, and night boarding - and then still have energy for some post boarding Kirin.
Mitsu biru kudasai!
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Bring it on!!! I cant wait for a decent dump. For the last few weeks, I have been a bit nervous, as our trip to Niseko is booked for us to arrive on the 15th of December. Now that I have seen the first sprinkle (I know it will probably melt next week), I am starting to feel a bit better about it.
Phew!
Going snowboarding in Japan? Prepare to be fingerprinted...
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
ouch. that hurts. I hope it gets better in the next 3 weeks.....