RobBright

Man, this is going to get locked soon.

That steak. I think I feel a bit sick.

Puzzling...

Yeah they do. We got a breakdown of ALL the costs. Sounds great, but when they break down where all the money goes, even down to the 25,000yen for locks and keys, it gets a bit boring after a bit. And that's before you sign for the mortgage, as by law, they have to read through the WHOLE mortgage contract, with a witness and a lawyer present, before you sign it. 4 hours of your life gone.

Read about that his morning - bonkers. Pure craziness. Let's see how it pans out. But yeah.

Less tax you pay = more money to the bank.

Are you in Japan? If not, then you could do it, but it would not be easy. Well we have just put a deposit down on a plot of land in Kobuchizawa, next step will be getting a house built on it. It is a pain in the rear end for us foreigners, but not impossible just involves tons of paper work and time, so my wife is going to deal with that under her name as she is Japanese it is much more simple. If you live in Japan, yeah, it's not so bad. Can only imagine the headache if I were applying from overseas.

Are you in Japan? If not, then you could do it, but it would not be easy.

This is the sake at the vending machine place, ぽんしゅ管

Balls - I forgot to add the picture. Think I might have one on my phone. Let me check.

We went with a 変動、or floating rate in the end, and our interest rate is set at 0.85% or something crazy like that. We are told 6months in advanced if the rate is going to go up, and how much it will go to with also monthly payment costs. It really is cheaper to buy a house than rent; however, the land is the important part of the purchase. Choose a decent plot somewhere and you can expect it to go up in value, or at least hold. Moreover, be prepared to negotiate the price, as most , if not all, agents fees and costs can be brought down. We managed to get about 1.6mil yen off, simply by arg

Well first of all, scout out a place where you would like to live, and focus on finding some houses, or plots of land, in and around that area. Stuff like house taxes are all affected by the land value the local authorities have set on that land, which can go up or down. Moreover, pay attention to how the restrictions on how much you can build on. Sometimes you might only be able to use 60% of the available land for building.

Are you doing a new build yourself, or are you buying second hand?

Sitting here, wishing I had got some turns in last weekend.

Off to Maiko for the first time this season on the 12th. Only 6,900 with the JR Eki net deal, well chuffed. More pennies for the sake and yakitori.

[censored]

Your toilet will the next day though.

I hate how places will accommodate a minimum of two people. I know it's to maximise their income but still sucks.

I bought a few bottles last time I was up in Yuzawa a few weeks back, and cracked open one of them last weekend. It's a red bottle, and very very nice. I shall take a picture of it later with some tasting notes.

My friend works at that zoo and was involved with that 'practice'. Said it was, well, pointless as you can imagine.

Rent? Is it cloud based then?

Back on the beer: A beer from Fiji, bought in National Azabu in Hiro-o. Lager with a hint of ale-ness to it.

Not when you miss the last train home, and in a drunken stupor end up in the wrong prefecture to where you live, and get a taxi home from Tokyo to home. Fingers burnt, lesson learnt.

I managed to get some cheap shinkansen tickets to Nagano with 35% off thanks to the otoku campaign. Ryuoo and takaifujiyomase - here I come.

Missed them all recently JB - kinda worried about doing that.