HelperElfMissy

Hee hee - I just got the funniest Powerpoint about him! It ranks him as the number one fornicator in front of John Holmes, Rock Hudson etc - because he is just about to SCR#W over the entire Aussie population!! I had to laugh! Seriously. He seems a nice enough bloke. A complete nerd, well educated, religious family man. Not that dissimilar to old Johnnie Howard in actual fact. He is good at listening to his PR and promotional people and embraced the new era of campaigning via the internet, and developing good branding for the labor party. I have personal concerns with some of

Originally Posted By: Bushpig 4 bear cubs?!!?!! Holy schmidt! On a mission to the snow? Good luck! I am a seasoned professional (at motherhood and travel - NOT snowboarding!!). Usually His Injuredness takes the lead with the heaviest of snowboard bags though...this time that role falls to me and the older cubs who are bigger than me now!! (14 and 16). He can't risk damage to the knee again just yet - still pretty fragile. We have done the fly with boards a few times now - and it always adds that extra element of forethought required - especially with 6 people. But we are patient pe

I could look at that view ALL DAY!

Originally Posted By: projectsplat When we come through Narita, we only have 1hr55m to get to our connecting plane to Sapporo. if the initial reports of a 1hr30m delay are still holding true, then we may be cutting it a bit too close. Hee hee hee SOOOooooooo GLAD we have buffers in Tokyo either side! Four days in Tokyo before flying to Sapporo, and then one night on the way back! No such delay drama's for us!! Good job too - can't imagine the stress it would be with His Injuredness, the 4 bear cubs and suitcases and snowboard bags for 6! GROAN!

Great pic's. Thanks for the voyeuristic voyage through Hakuba's snow. Building the anticipation!!

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....

Well we were in Niseko in April - we knew it would be the end of the season and we risked not enough snow to ride, and no snowfalls while we were there - but the menfolk enjoyed themselves SO much in January they HAD to take us for the school holidays over Easter. Not only was there plenty to ride - but we had snow falling every day (light yes - but it was still falling!). By the last day there were some mud patches on the run to the bottom - had to avoid them. But all in all FANTASTIC! Your 12 yr old has obviously not had to fall on the Aussie Ice Pack enough if she was disapp

Mantas, I am old enough to remember - and it is about that time that I started actually doing my homework on politics and policies, and stopped cancelling my husbands Liberal vote! LOL. I am not into big debates either. The time for people to really express thier opinion is on polling day - and that day has come and gone. Time to just deal with what we are given now. However I do believe in the Electoral Process - which is why I was running a polling booth on Saturday, and was 'apolitical' for the day. I have a passion for the fact that we can actually rock up to cast our vote w

Ohh.. yes ... please say yes! I love listening to all the information FT has to give. Same with GN, CB, Thursday - and all the rest of you guys... You have so much cumulative knowledge and insight that we all LOVE to hear. But the 'lay it out and measure' is funny on one thread - by the 16th it gets a bit tiresome. Let's face it - Japan ROCKS! Every bit has it's beauty and good points.

Originally Posted By: thursday I'm slowly and consistently pestering the wife to go as a family in Feb. Quite a bit way to go as in Feb the boy won't be 1 yet. Shame you are not aiming for January Thursday - might give His Injuredness something to do other than look at the slopes with jealousy!! He is a sucker for kids - which is why I have been down the Preggers/birth path FOUR times! You could chuck a baby in his direction and he would keep 'em happy for hours!! As for little tackers on ski's - saw this little MILO kid at Thredbo with a one on one instructors hammering down some

Banno, been to Japan before? No? Then in mid-Jan you will find more snow than you have ever seen before! <wink> We will be there at that time also - and it is pretty mind blowing for Aussies on thier first trip. Even in a poor season!

I sit on the other side of the political fence I am afraid boys. I sure hope that the nation got it right in it's selection, and I understand that one persons nirvana in politcal agenda is anothers disaster. Mr Rudd talks the talk on the issues that I think swayed the public - the Climate, Kyoto, Aboriginal affairs. However there has been a lot of lies told by those in opposition to Howard, and very little done by way of defending it (Lib's fault). Work Choices has been slammed and one of the things that has been quoted over and over and over is how many awful money hungry bus

Yes you did Thursday!!! LOL! But I DID come home with some lovely Handbags....

Smells...yeah, what you eat and drink plays a part in how you smell...and some races smell worse than others...but I wouldn't say that the cuacasian westerner is the worst out there (in general that is - there is always exceptions for the unclean!!) Nothing beats a shower, deodorant and drinking water! As for the eyes...well I am blonde with blue eyes - and I gotta tell ya - I felt like a freakin' FREMEN (see: Frank Herberts DUNE)when we were in China a few weeks back. Mothers were getting thier children to look at the freaky lady - felt like I was at the Zoo on the wrong side of the ca

WOW! I am SO excited now - roll on January - *I* recognise that terrain, and I can feel the descent NOW...OHH MikePow - you have made my day with those Pics! MUCH appreciated!

Me too, Tubby!! LOL!

ohh I am SO glad I am not the only one who had no clue!!

Well back on topic boys (ahem!) We switched my 10yr old into Flows the last trip. He struggled with his bindings the first time around. He is a little on the pudding side and had to sit, struggle, whine - "Mum, Dad can you help me!", before he had to get up on his toe edge and turn to get going. We had a spare pair of Flows (they were a bit too tight for Dad and the kid has the same size foot as ME!) and tried them out. NIRVANA! The kid scoots off the lift, still standing jams his foot into the binding and one little reach behind snaps the highback up - and he is away. Meanw

I can see how it must be a real issue for you guys who are permanently living in Japan with Japanese spouses and offspring. My father is British - a 10 pound tourist - emigrated in the early/mid sixties. He has not become an Australian citizen, despite having permanant residency and an Aussie Passport. I would have been mighty ticked if he was shepherded off to the foreigners queue while Mum battled by herself to get the kiddies through the 'we belong here' queue. We have friends in this situation who have been living in Japan for a long time (The entire lifetime of thier kids) and

Originally Posted By: Domokun_72dpi Originally Posted By: thursday are you nutters going to Japan and avoiding the powder? I'm not going to avoid it, I had NO idea what to expect. Plus, I am gonna be boarding alone, so I can't really say i can go off-piste or hunting for pow. I may have to rething my board now after what you are all talking about... Domo, Take what you got. If it isn't working for you then go talk to some guys in a hire shop. I am not sure of the set up in Hakuba, but I know Niseko and they have a shop there run by Aussie guys that hire different types o

Originally Posted By: Domokun_72dpi Originally Posted By: thursday Domo, again, I'm no boarder, but judging from your weight, and height, you will not float on powder on a 156. Good luck. yeah, you are prolly right, but I bought what i could afford. Plus the fact I am gonna suck @ Snowboarding for the first few days, I don't really mind. if it gets that bad I will look at buying something else when i am there. I didn't think there would be pew on the baby slopes anyhow LOL!! Domo, sounds like if that Dome ever get's up and running here in Perth - you and I need to get do

You can always try it out closer to the date. 2006-2007 season my hubby managed to get accomodation with one weeks notice at Snowgums Niseko for 4. They loved it. And then we booked in early Feb for April for a large group at Gondola Chalets. However we struggled to get dates in January 08 for the large group at the premium accomodation booking IN April as we were leaving. We got some, but it was hard work. What I am trying to say is - Yeah sure, leave it to later to decide if you want...you might get lucky. But be prepared you might not. It would be good if the Japan Ski Acc

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

C'mon CB - we are not all young gym junkies! And if we (the more mature among us) wanna tackle it - good luck to us. At least we are getting out there and giving life a good shake. His Injuredness and I have a motto when we are on snow...and that is "We can rest on the lift"....there is no resting on the way down! So yeah - bring on the escalator! LOL!

Originally Posted By: neversummer Send me a PM cause I cant send you one, also try Go Native or Mike Pow I don't think he is switched on for PM privaleges yet. I am not either, and my post are a bit higher than his... so unless he asks SJF for them to be switched on there are no PM's going back and forth. But even without them - get one number/email from here - or google search it and start there! Pro-active!