On Tuesday the 4th Emi and I went Snowboarding again.
Monday evening I left work at 6:30 and headed home. A quick change of clothes and packing of bags and off round the corner to catch a coach at 8pm.
Coach deposited up at Shinjuku, Tokyo at about 9:30pm and by 10:45 we were on another coach headed for Miyoko Suginohara in Nigata prefecture!
We arrived at about 6:30am and headed off to the hotel that was to be our base. Just after were turned up 3 people lit up and the room filled with smoke so Emi and I stood outside in the freezing cold until 7am. Then it was quick change and we were on the slopes by 8am!
As it was mid week it was quite quiet and there was fresh snow on the ground - it is so easy to control a board on virgin snow. Also the main run was really good - it was varied in steepness and width and despite mostly being a red run I could cope. It was also very long, taking 1 hour for each run including riding the ski lift.
For lunch we stopped off at Mont Blange (I'm sure it should be Mont Blanc), I resturant at the side of the main run half way down. Emi and I both had Japanese Curry rise.
Afternoons boarding was a little harder as some areas we slushy, some were icy and it was all cut up by now.
at 3pm we got back to the hotel and got showered and changed before everyone else got back. The at 4:30 we got on a coach and slept most of the way to Shinjuku. Then it was train home and to bed.
Back to work in the morning and after a number of high speed wipeouts the day before (well high speed for me i.e. more than running pace) my arms and left bum cheek were sore!
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Levis for 20 quid anyone?
Saturday (8th) was a bit dull - just posted the monitor off to Mitsubishi and spent £15 in the local 100Yen shop (100 Yen being 49p).
Saturday evening we visited Nil Cafe, I nice resturant across the road. It was the best Mediteranean food I have eaten outside of the Med (even better than most food I've eaten in and around Barcelona) which was a nice supprise - it didn't have raw fish or soy sauce in it! I can understand why it is so popular with Nissan people - Adriano from Nissan used to go there nearly every night and must be the only person ever to visit Japan that put on weight!
Sunday was a visit to Granberry Mall - this is an open air shopping mall in Minani Machids (minani meaning south). I like this place for a number of reasons - it has an Addidas outlet, discount Sports shoes outlet, Gap, Next (although with the smallest men's section on the planet, only good for buying undies and socks) and two shops that sells Levis at low low prices. This time I visited they had 2008 line jeans at 8000~9000 Yen plus 20% discount (so about 35~40 quid) and "last seasons" jeans (like they ever go out of date!) being as low as 4000Yen - that is just under £20!
I think before I return to the UK I'll go and buy 10 years worth of jeans, it'll save me a fortune!
For lunch we ate in a place called Garlic Joe's where everything on the menu had Garlic supprisingly. We had the "for 2 people" selection and it would feed a family of Japanese, Emi and I were stuffed!
Saturday evening we visited Nil Cafe, I nice resturant across the road. It was the best Mediteranean food I have eaten outside of the Med (even better than most food I've eaten in and around Barcelona) which was a nice supprise - it didn't have raw fish or soy sauce in it! I can understand why it is so popular with Nissan people - Adriano from Nissan used to go there nearly every night and must be the only person ever to visit Japan that put on weight!
Sunday was a visit to Granberry Mall - this is an open air shopping mall in Minani Machids (minani meaning south). I like this place for a number of reasons - it has an Addidas outlet, discount Sports shoes outlet, Gap, Next (although with the smallest men's section on the planet, only good for buying undies and socks) and two shops that sells Levis at low low prices. This time I visited they had 2008 line jeans at 8000~9000 Yen plus 20% discount (so about 35~40 quid) and "last seasons" jeans (like they ever go out of date!) being as low as 4000Yen - that is just under £20!
I think before I return to the UK I'll go and buy 10 years worth of jeans, it'll save me a fortune!
For lunch we ate in a place called Garlic Joe's where everything on the menu had Garlic supprisingly. We had the "for 2 people" selection and it would feed a family of Japanese, Emi and I were stuffed!
NISMO and Fuji-Q
Saturday 1st March was the NISMO Motorsport Exhibition in Yokohama. Basically every year they show off their latest Japanese GT500 race car. This year was special as the 350Z (or Fairlady Z in Japan) has been replaced by the latest GT-R. Boy does that thing look awesome! Also it was the first time I had seen a normal road GT-R in the metal and that looks pretty tasty too. It's £35k in Japan and will go on sale in UK for £55 - I am very tempted to by one but if I didn't I wouldn't be able to afford to drive it!
Also at the event were loads of old Nissans and Nissan racing cars including some demo runs in old Gt500 and LeMans cars.
Sunday Emi and I went to Fuji-Q Highland theme park with her friends. Fuji-Q has (or might be had) two world record rides - Fujiyama (means Fuji Mountain) which is the highest rollercoaster and Eejanaika (name of an old Japanese dielect) which has the most inversions (14 in 60 seconds if my memory is correct). The other ride of note is Dodonpa that goes from 0 to 110mph at a rate of 4.25g! To top this off the weather was beautiful with amazing views of Fuji all day - it is only about 5km from the base.
Also at the event were loads of old Nissans and Nissan racing cars including some demo runs in old Gt500 and LeMans cars.Sunday Emi and I went to Fuji-Q Highland theme park with her friends. Fuji-Q has (or might be had) two world record rides - Fujiyama (means Fuji Mountain) which is the highest rollercoaster and Eejanaika (name of an old Japanese dielect) which has the most inversions (14 in 60 seconds if my memory is correct). The other ride of note is Dodonpa that goes from 0 to 110mph at a rate of 4.25g! To top this off the weather was beautiful with amazing views of Fuji all day - it is only about 5km from the base.
The monitor saga
Emi phoned Mitsubishi about my monitor. They said up to 3 failed pixels was OK. She then phoned Yodobashi Camera where I bought it but they wouldn't take it back. When she told me I was pretty irritated to say the least - £300 quid for a top spec "Japanese" monitor only for it to have a problem. I told her in the west you can either return it for a refund or for shop credit and have it replaced. Emi saw how upset I was and rather than do the Japanese thing - they said we can do nothing so there is nothing we go do - she stepped up a gear.
One day I came hope to find Emi on the phone. I knew it wasn't a normal phone call as she sounded very asertive. She had got through to head of Mitsubishi customer services how sounded like a stuck recored - I'm very sorry, there is nothing we can do. They admitted that altough 3 faulty pixels passes there quality control only 8% of monitors have any failure at all. Why should I pay the same as someone that has a OK monitor. Emi even threatened them with contacting the appropriate government agency but that didn't work.
Next Emi called the government agency for consumer affairs, they said we could do nothing legally but suggested we contact some electronics consumer industry group. They suggested we impress upon the Mitsubishi chap that a bad pixel on the edge of the screen was OK but one in the middle is not good enough.
Emi called up Mitsubishi and they folded straight away - they probably could believe that in the country where no one complains this women had come back for round two. Now the monitor has been sent to Mitsubishi to be inspected but knowing how the Japanese work basically this means I should get a new monitor - they wouldn't take it back it they were not going to do something. I await their response...
One day I came hope to find Emi on the phone. I knew it wasn't a normal phone call as she sounded very asertive. She had got through to head of Mitsubishi customer services how sounded like a stuck recored - I'm very sorry, there is nothing we can do. They admitted that altough 3 faulty pixels passes there quality control only 8% of monitors have any failure at all. Why should I pay the same as someone that has a OK monitor. Emi even threatened them with contacting the appropriate government agency but that didn't work.
Next Emi called the government agency for consumer affairs, they said we could do nothing legally but suggested we contact some electronics consumer industry group. They suggested we impress upon the Mitsubishi chap that a bad pixel on the edge of the screen was OK but one in the middle is not good enough.
Emi called up Mitsubishi and they folded straight away - they probably could believe that in the country where no one complains this women had come back for round two. Now the monitor has been sent to Mitsubishi to be inspected but knowing how the Japanese work basically this means I should get a new monitor - they wouldn't take it back it they were not going to do something. I await their response...
Birthday weekend
Saturday (24th) was basically spent going to Emi's apartment to get more of her stuff. I wasn't allowed inside so spent an hour riding Emi's bike repeatedly around the block, much to the amusement of the locals - look, there goes that foreigner again on his bike!
It was only late afternoon that I realised it was my birthday weekend!
Sunday I treated myself to a PS3, Grand Turismo 5 Prologue and a Mitsubishi 22" widescreen monitor (monitors are cheaper than TVs and will work in the UK). Buying the PS3 and game was fine but when I went to purchase the monitor none of my credit or debit cards would work. Mastercard wouldn't budge but Visa came to the rescue after 15 minutes!
Got it home and unpacked it only to find out one of the pixels on the monitor was damaged...
As my birthday treat Emi let me order Pizza Hut for dinner! totemi oishi deshita- it was very tasty.
It was only late afternoon that I realised it was my birthday weekend!
Sunday I treated myself to a PS3, Grand Turismo 5 Prologue and a Mitsubishi 22" widescreen monitor (monitors are cheaper than TVs and will work in the UK). Buying the PS3 and game was fine but when I went to purchase the monitor none of my credit or debit cards would work. Mastercard wouldn't budge but Visa came to the rescue after 15 minutes!
Got it home and unpacked it only to find out one of the pixels on the monitor was damaged...
As my birthday treat Emi let me order Pizza Hut for dinner! totemi oishi deshita- it was very tasty.
Moved into apartment and went Snowboarding
On 12th Feb I finally moved into my apartment.
Basically it is 2 minute walk from Hon-Atsugi station, Hon-Atsugi being the only big town (or city in Japan speak - clasifications are different) within easy commute of work and with easy access to main roads and train lines. It also has loads of bars, resturants and Karaoke bars! (Plus hostess bars if you are into that - which many Japanese men are)
It has one bedroom, one small room for the loo, a utility area with sink with shower/bathroom next to it, a kitchen, a small living room and a tatami room. Basic size is a little smaller than Espoir where I lived last time in Japan but the layout is better so there is more usable space.
Emi moved in on the same day and we gradually moved her stuff from her apartment over a couple of weeks.
That weekend (16th and 17th) Emi and I went went Snowboarding with a bunch of people from Nissan Shatai where I work. There were about 16 in total - 2 English, 3 Spanish, 2 Thai and 9 Japanese. The resort was called Kita Shiga and is in Nagano prefecture.
First day was awesome and I went from hardly standing up to making a few turns without falling over.
Aprie Ski was going to Onsens. An onsen is basically a hot bath usually heated by natural hot springs - being on the ring of fire, having volcaneos and earthquakes has some perks! The town had loads of public onsens, us boys only visited 1 or 2, the girls visited a few (they are split by sex). They are always taken in the nude.
The hotel we stayed in was basically 1 foreign boys room, 1 Japanese boys room and 1 girls room. The foreign boys room was the nominated party room. However I was very tired and it didn't help that everyone except me was conversing in Japanese. I ended up trying to sleep in the corner of the room only to be bundled every 30 minutes until about 3am.
The Sunday was a little more successful, trying out some other runs which were harder -steeper and a little more narrow - yet easier than the begineer slopes - had little camber so I didn't end up at the side of the slope.
The return journey was a right chore - onsen followed by lunch followed but trying to find a sort cut and failing followed by slow eratic driving. What really cheesed me off was that after 300km of driving with no stops we then stopped for an hours break only 45 minutes from home. The Japanese sat around chatting and the foreingers were itching to get home. I just wanted to get to bed after little sleep over the weekend (I couldn't sleep in the car).
Basically it is 2 minute walk from Hon-Atsugi station, Hon-Atsugi being the only big town (or city in Japan speak - clasifications are different) within easy commute of work and with easy access to main roads and train lines. It also has loads of bars, resturants and Karaoke bars! (Plus hostess bars if you are into that - which many Japanese men are)
It has one bedroom, one small room for the loo, a utility area with sink with shower/bathroom next to it, a kitchen, a small living room and a tatami room. Basic size is a little smaller than Espoir where I lived last time in Japan but the layout is better so there is more usable space.
Emi moved in on the same day and we gradually moved her stuff from her apartment over a couple of weeks.
That weekend (16th and 17th) Emi and I went went Snowboarding with a bunch of people from Nissan Shatai where I work. There were about 16 in total - 2 English, 3 Spanish, 2 Thai and 9 Japanese. The resort was called Kita Shiga and is in Nagano prefecture.
First day was awesome and I went from hardly standing up to making a few turns without falling over.
Aprie Ski was going to Onsens. An onsen is basically a hot bath usually heated by natural hot springs - being on the ring of fire, having volcaneos and earthquakes has some perks! The town had loads of public onsens, us boys only visited 1 or 2, the girls visited a few (they are split by sex). They are always taken in the nude.
The hotel we stayed in was basically 1 foreign boys room, 1 Japanese boys room and 1 girls room. The foreign boys room was the nominated party room. However I was very tired and it didn't help that everyone except me was conversing in Japanese. I ended up trying to sleep in the corner of the room only to be bundled every 30 minutes until about 3am.
The Sunday was a little more successful, trying out some other runs which were harder -steeper and a little more narrow - yet easier than the begineer slopes - had little camber so I didn't end up at the side of the slope.
The return journey was a right chore - onsen followed by lunch followed but trying to find a sort cut and failing followed by slow eratic driving. What really cheesed me off was that after 300km of driving with no stops we then stopped for an hours break only 45 minutes from home. The Japanese sat around chatting and the foreingers were itching to get home. I just wanted to get to bed after little sleep over the weekend (I couldn't sleep in the car).
Finally I have internet!
My first proper post, sorry for the wait everyone!
9th and 10th of February were not too interesting, spent wandering around shops so wont right any more than that!
9th and 10th of February were not too interesting, spent wandering around shops so wont right any more than that!
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