HelperElfMissy
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Posts posted by HelperElfMissy
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I could look at that view ALL DAY!
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Originally Posted By: projectsplatWhen 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!!
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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....
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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 disappointed! My 15 yr old was in NZ CAdrona in July - and that was sheet ice as well - he tore his board to shreds - but he still managed to have fun.
We are HANGING OUT to get to Niseko this January to ride true powder - SO much softer to come a cropper than the ice! It will give us all the confidence to go a bit faster and ride a bit harder.
You have nothing to worry about!
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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 without fear, without having to run the gauntlet of guns, with security and freedom, and freedom of choice. However I do know that in some booths in Western Australia people were being bullied abd harrassed and it got quite nasty...this from Union Thugs. This is MY biggest fear.
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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.
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Originally Posted By: thursdayI'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 nasty black moguls (under one of the lifts) - I was on the lift with a private instructor as well. He told me the kid was 4 yrs old and on the young olympian programme! SHEESH! Here was me needing encouragement to even FACE the rock hard ice - and this kid was HAMMERING! -
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!
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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 business have FAILED the fairness test. Well the numbers lie. We are among those employers that failed the fairness test - on ONE of our 60 employee's. Why did we fail? Because we were paying our partimer $22 per hour instead of $13.65....you READ that RIGHT! Someone actually failed us for paying her MORE per hour than she should have been...bizarrely ALL of our staff are on a higher rate than Work Choices dictates, and the others passed... The roll back of AWA's is going to be a very very difficult thing for people in business. Despite the negative campaigning the system is actually working for the benefit of workers and employers working together.
Here in WA we have been having Union heavies muscling in on work places PRIOR to the election - making statements like "you wait until next week mate - I will be back with the governments blessing - then you are going down!". I agree that some employee's require the assistance of a union - they have not the voice to speak for themselves - but most workers are empowered to speak for themselves nowadays. There should be no discrimination against the empolyee who uses a Union of work advocate - but there should also be no compulsory unionism or unions able to black list companies for not doing the will of the unions. It smells awfully of Mafia type behaviour to me. The Labor party is trying the distance itself from Wa's Union thugs - but boys...I have seen it up close - and it is UGLY!! We had systematic break in's and theft from marginal seats of all the Liberal hats, t-shirts etc on lection eve - nothing of value taken - just the promotional stuff!
Now it might be different in other parts of Australia - but WA is the stand out. We are the only state that recorded a swing toward the Lib's, and returned 10 of our 15 seats to the Lib's. Liberal voters in the West have seen with thier own eyes what is happening under a Labor state government after grand promises - and our vote reflects that we do not trust what is to come under wall to wall labor governments. I hope we are wrong.
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Yes you did Thursday!!!
LOL!
But I DID come home with some lovely Handbags....
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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 cage!! Never felt that discrimination in Japan - maybe coz I was mainly in Niseko and that is half Aussie anyway! LOL ... but China! Cor Blimey!!
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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!
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Me too, Tubby!!
LOL!
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ohh I am SO glad I am not the only one who had no clue!!
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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.
Meanwhile Mummy is still doing the ratchets on the 8yr olds bindings and then getting started on her own!
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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 have now moved to Perth. We do not split this family up at immigration into or out of our country. I am sure they are going to be really peeved when they return to Japan, as they do frequently - and they are split up!
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Originally Posted By: Domokun_72dpiOriginally Posted By: thursdayare 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 of boards (did know this when I went last time...), they have powder boards. So what I would suggest is that you try some different ones on and have a go. There is a Rossi Ski Shop at Thredbo that does the same - but only ski's mind you. You can try them out before you buy. There must be something in Hakuba that could do similar... ask FT - he will know more about what Hakuba has to offer in regards to this. -
Originally Posted By: Domokun_72dpiOriginally Posted By: thursdayDomo, 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 down there and start practicing our moves!
I'm probably going to sink low in the POW on my K2 girly board too - but I just love it for the Aussie conditions - has way more feel and manouverability than the Avis Rentals I had in Japan and Day 1 Thredbo. I s'pose it's all about being confortable.
My hubby took 2 boards to Japan in April - started on the shorter board - then by the end was on the long board....never touched the sort board since - even in Aus. Personal choice. -
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 Accomodations could get into using a service like 'last minute dot com' or 'wotif' ... Especially the places that will be welcoming and are wanting more touro's to boost income and popularity.
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Originally Posted By: soubriquetOriginally Posted By: BagOfCrispssoubs 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 you look into a hole in the machine, and a dementor confiscates your soul, and drains all warmth and emotion from your body. Thus processed you are now equipped to rejoin the Japanese workforce.
Thanks for the laugh Soubs!!
What a crack up!
Lucky me! I am going through Narita this time, instead of Sapporo Chitose. Yippee!! At least they should have ironed out some kinks by January....
...do they at least have the dementors return your souls on exit? -
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!
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Originally Posted By: neversummerSend 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! -
I am glad she got the care she needed - and that all is going well. Her parents are pretty brave. They stood up to intense pressure to keep her the way she way born for religious reasons.
Gotta also bear in mind this is place where people dleiberatly main thier kids and themselves so they are more effective beggars!
Top marks to her folks for keeping it real.
Going snowboarding in Japan? Prepare to be fingerprinted...
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
Posted
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 people. And we can wait for the bus, or the maxi cab, or split up in two cabs ... you know - the things ya do!
I am just glad the days of packing diapers and spare clothes are gone - the baby bear is 8 now, and while his arms are waving all over the place on the way down the slopes - he is as confident as all get out!! My job is to chase them down, make sure they stay 'head above snow' at all times, and feed them regularly - LOL! Glamourous or what?