snotrag
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Posts posted by snotrag
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Do you think this plan has any loopholes?
1. Buy the day pass w/ JR for say, Dec. 7th: roundtrip shinkansen (Tokyo to Nagano) + shuttle bus (Nagano to Hakuba) + 1 day lift tix at Hakuba 47. Early season package price: 11,400 yen
2. Go up to Hakuba on the night of Dec. 5th by buying a separate 1-way shink from Tokyo to Nagano (8,000 yen) + shuttle bus to Hakuba (1,400 yen). Stay overnight in Hakuba.
3. Buy separate lift tix for Dec. 6th for Hakuba 47. Ride all day. Whee! Stay overnight in Hakuba.
4. Use pre-purchased JR lift tix for Hakuba 47. Ride all day. Whee! Use pre-purchased JR tix for shuttle bus + shinkansen back to Tokyo.
Buying everything a la carte:
16,000 yen (roundtrip shinkansen)
2,800 yen (roundtrip shuttle bus)
8,000 yen (2 day lift tix)
= 27,000 yen
Buying JR pre-purchase (and use only one-way) + a la carte one-way =
11,400 yen (JR package)
8,000 yen (shinkansen one way)
1,400 yen (shuttle bus one way)
4,500 yen (lift tix)
=25,300
All for a savings of 300 yen. Just kidding, it would save about 2,000 yen. Basically, the point is to stay in Hakuba 3 days, instead of one.
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Good on you. I regretted not helping out a girl that had a black eye and was with her asshole boyfriend who was yelling at her to keep following him. The situation was very obvious. That was three years ago in Thailand, and I still think about it.
This is an interesting story. My friend "B" was standing in a crowded Tokyo subway car and saw a man stroking a young Japanese woman's leg. The girl was softly crying and huddled to the other side (so not facing the man). On instinct, "B" told the man to leave the girl alone. The man and the girl both said nothing, but the man stopped stroking the girl's leg. Then "B" wondered whether they actually knew each other, was it a lovers' quarrel, etc. etc. "B" got out at the next stop, and when she was walking towards the exit, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was the young woman. She thanked "B" and said that she didn't know what to do when the man started touching her.
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yes, i do realize how silly it is to tip 10% for bad service/food. but, tipping is obligatory as gift giving is to the Japanese. sometimes you just have to give that damn omiyage to that person you don't know or like. tipping 10% is a message to your server that you were completely dissatisfied. not tipping at all is like not paying for your bill.
as for taking calculators to restaurants... you think you're making a joke, but tipping calculators are not uncommon to keep in one's purse!
for the record, i do agree that tipping in the US is a bit overdone.
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okay, here's the breakdown, coming from someone who used to wait tables and who dines out a lot when in the US.
restaurants:
10% if the meal and service was absolute crap, i.e. you got food poisoning or had to wait 2 hours for your food.
15% if you're european, a senior citizen, or if the meal/service was crap.
18% is standard, expected, and automatically put down for meal/service that was "fine."
20% if it's too hard to calculate 18%, you've been/are a waitress/waitress (the whole karma thing), your company is paying for it, or you're loaded.
bars:
tip the bartender/waitress about $1 for every order. so, if it's $3.75, give then $5. if it's $1.25, give them $2.
i don't mean to offend anyone, but this was pretty predictable after waiting tables for a few years. in other words, your server will "understand" if you tip just 15% and you're european. if you tip below that, it's quite rude.
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yeah, don't judge a username by it's cover. or something like that.
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i'm innocent!! and i'm a girl!! it was actually listed on facebook as "most popular hits", next to "star wars according to a 3 year old." when i looked it up, it just showed the video. but when i copied the link onto this forum, all the other "related" videos showed up, that were more of the perversion genre. i just want to clear my name...
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you're talking calves; i'm talking thigh. that's funny. i'll try your advice next....uh... season. thanks.
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this is something to write home about...
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maybe it's a strength issue. the chair always win. i'm a lightweight.
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kagura mitsumata was pretty fun-- wasn't icy and wasn't sluggish for spring conditions. not too crowded either. so in the States, the lift ops slow down the chair by holding it back as you get on. how does one avoid getting smacked in the back thighs here in japan ski resorts? i've tried everything, and all i have are bruises to show for my efforts.
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thanks, guys! that about sums it up. very comprehensive link there, mike pow.
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i have a couple of months off in june/july/august, so i was thinking of being a snowboard bum somewhere with snow and with a good nightlife. new zealand and chile come to mind, though i haven't ridden in either places. any suggestions? sort of looking for a tahoe, whistler, vail atmosphere.
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ha ha. yeah, we tend to overtip in the states. when i used to wait tables, we knew to only expect 10% from european and asian customers, but 20% from american customers.
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well, there's a few ways to make/save money working at a ski resort. one is to get a job that tips well, like waiting tables or bartending where the custom in the states is to tip 20% on meals or a dollar extra for every drink you get at the bar. (on a slow night, i'd make $60 in tips, on a busy night, i'd make $200 in tips, on top of minimum wage.) the other is to work overtime, as many international staff did. they were able to save up and buy houses in brazil or travel indefinitely. and then there's all the free drinks, food and discounts you get cuz you always have a friend who works at this restaurant, or that bar. it's an easy lifestyle that can easily suck you in. most people were living in the moment (not saving), so their money went towards partying or buying gear. oh yeah, and the free season's pass was also an incentive.
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yeah, i've always wondered why the nightlife/ski village idea never picked up in the ski resorts in japan. i worked in squaw valley, lake tahoe (california) for a few seasons, and it was so much fun. everyone was in their 20s and 30s, huge nightlife every night of the week, people from all over the world coming for the season to make money... good times.
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did you manage to get a refund on your bus/lift tix? i went back to the JR station where i had gotten my shink/lift tix combo, and after a flurry of paperwork, phone calls to the head office and other dramatic standard procedures, it was no problemo transferring my unused tix to another date. are you up for going this weekend? yeah, i wasn't that into snowboarding last season, but this season i can't get enough. it's all about my new boots doing all the work for me.
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I'm looking for someone to ride with, but no beginners and no scary back country stuff. Sorry. Also, I'm not anti-skiers, but I've only gone with skiers this season, and I'd really, really like to go with some boarders. I'd be coming up from Tokyo, taking the 6:30 am-ish shinkansen, so the most realistic meeting time would be 9 am at Kagura Mitsumata (not Tashiro).
Hopefully, all the mountain will be open this weekend!
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that really sucks. sorry you had to go through that mess. i'm going right now to see if i can can a refund on my JR Ski Ski pass. japan seems to be pretty good on the refund dept. in my experience. i might try to go next weekend, but it all depends on a friday work deadline that i may or may not make. anybody else up for going up to kagura next sat. or sun. march 1st or 2nd?
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uh, like your 3000+?
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3000+?!?! sheezus! with this post, i'm in the double digits now, baby!
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oops, kumapix knows my true identity now. but i knew his first.
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thanks for the current weather report, muikabochi (as well as SJ). you being in yuzawa would know best. and thanks RobBright. another time, eh? this is like the most helpful and supportive community i've ever been in, and i don't even know you people. you treat me better than my own family.
as the styx once sang, domo arigato!
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i'm now undecided with the possibility of wind closure at kagura. i didn't know parts of it were closed today. i think i'm going to sleep on it and decide in the morning and try to get a weather report. since i'd just be going up for the day, i want to make sure that it's worth it.
i'm not able to access the private message thingy, so how do i get a hold of you if we're to meet up?
-tammy
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thanks... i guess it's just not meant to be for me...
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To make a long story short, I bought the JR ski pass to go up to Kagura tomorrow, but the friend that was supposed to meet me there is bailing on me. I'm looking for someone to ride with, but no beginners and no scary back country stuff. Sorry. Also, I'm not anti-skiers, but I've only gone with skiers this season, and I'd really, really like to go with some boarders. I'd be coming up from Tokyo, taking the 6:30 am-ish shinkansen, so the most realistic meeting time would be 9 am at Kagura Mitsumata (not Tashiro).
Let me know! I am oodles of fun to be around.
Hakuba money-saving plan?
in Snow talk, trip reports, Japan avalanche & backcountry
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thanks for all the viewpoints and tips!
let it snow!