InspectorGadget

It's unusually warm for this time of year. IG

I'll be there with my partner and possibly a few other mates. I'm not sure if it will be on the 15th or the 16th though. IG

Here's the TAS website:4 http://www.e-autosalon.net/tokyo/english/index.html Jan 14-16 are the dates, with the 15-16th being public days. IG

I found it. It's the Domo-kun FAQ: http://www.cardhouse.com/travel/japan/domokun.htm IG

Just bring the Aussie dollars and change them. If you change into US then to Yen, you'll be getting shafted twice with exchange fees and commissions. Just remember that Japan is a cash based society. A lot of places don't accept credit cards, and often you will not be able to use your foreign c/crd in Japan.

Hey Drunkenmaster, To speed things up, try having a look at this: http://atlantic.photoisland.com/photoshari...ng/jpgconv.html It's free and resizes them in batches. IG

You can find a lot of the 'regular Aussie vegeies at the local supermarket. But you can also find a lot of other really weird stuff there as well. That's the fun part of living in another country. Trying everything out. IG

That's another thing that you'll see. In many of these places, they refer to burgers as 'sand' (ie an abbreviated version of sandwich) McD's did have a Tofu burger at one stage, but by all accounts, it tasted like eating an eraser. Japan has it's own selection of fast food joints as well. Here are a few that spring to mind: Genki Sushi: A Kaiten sushi (revolving) restaurant specialising in serving . . . . .sushi. Lotteria: Crap burgers MOS Burger: Halfway decent burgers CoCo Ichiban Curry (CoCo's Number 1 Curry): Japanese style curry. Bloody good and really cheap. The Chicken Katsu Curry with a cheese topping is brilliant. I go there every Tuesday night (ie tonight) Ramen (Chinese Noodle) restaurants are EVERYWHERE. The Japanese are obsessed with this type of food. Okonomiyaki: This is like the Japanese equivilent of pizza. Egg, cabbage, ham, cheese, corn and cornstarch shaped in a circular shape with a sauce that tastes like BBQ sause on top. It's pretty good stuff. Soba-ya: Buckwheat noodles. Really good and refreching on a hot day. You often eat them cold. Tonkatsu-ya: Deep fried pork cutlets in a light batter on shredded cabbage. Great food when you have a hangover (nomisugi) IG

Diesels are available, but no one ever uses them. They're mainly used as company work hacks. The 4WD's are about the only passenger vehicle on the road here that run on diesel. IG

Nailed it in one Evo_Lee. Give it a month and they'll be back to normal (ie doing nothing) and people will just start using their ketai in their cars again. Pathetic isn't it. IG

Japan Today is saying that: Small motorcycles = 5,000 Cars and Large Motorcycles = 6,000 Trucks and Busses = 7,000 http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&...&cat=&id=317518 Either way, It's going to get expensive really quickly if people continue to do it. IG

Tokyo would be more expensive, but it depends where in Tokyo you are. It is a huge city. I'm in Ibaraki, one prefecture North of Tokyo. IG

I budget around 80,000-100,000 a month for living expenses. That includes food, electricity, gas, public transport (I don`t have a car here), eating out, beer and beverages, satelite TV, Internet, cellphone, newspaper, telephone etc. Basically everything apart from rent. With the car, it varies a lot depending on the size. The kei cars have a lower road tax, insurance and shaken costs. Expect to pay for * Insurance (Really expensive here, especially if you are a Gaijin.) * Road Tax * Shaken * Fuel (about 110-120yen per litre at the moment) * Expressway tolls (very expensive if you are travelling long distances. That's why the trains are so popular) * Changing tires for winter and summer (depends on your area). * Car parking (varies by area). Overall, owning a car is a REALLY expensive option.

So my initial translation of "Don't forget to wind the speedo back" was a little off then? :-P IG

Not quite correct. That particular fine comes into play if you try and evade a breath test. Under the old laws, it was cheaper to try and speed off, or refuse to take the test, if you saw the police breath testing on the road ahead. The new laws just correct that. With regard to the new cellphone laws. I was slightly off. The police can issue instant fines of 7,000 yen if they catch you talking on a ketai while driving. However, if you refuse to pay the fine, the courts can increase that to 50,000 yen. Sorry for the misinformation. The Japan Times article wasn't particularly clear. IG

If you can get hold of a copy of the Japan Times from last Friday, there is a big write up of the changes in there on Pg 10. Most of the other changes were aimed at Bosozoku. Eg Removed or poorly fitted exhaust = 50,000 yen. Noisy driving (such as gunning the engine) = 50,000 Refusing a breathalyzer test = 300,000 Mob riding = Instant arrest (once they catch them) Also, all the new bank notes are being released today. http://202.221.217.59/print/business/nb06-...b20040616a3.htm

Japanese road laws have changed effective today (November 1st 2004) From today, anyone seen driving while holding a cellphone can be stopped and issued with a 50,000yen fine and one demerit point. The old laws banned ketai useage while driving . . . . . . . but the officer involved would have to show that using the ketai was impairing your driving. Hence the reeason no one was EVER pulled over for this, and everyone just ignored the law. The same changes to the law also apply to bicycle and motorcycle riders. So be careful everyone. IG

Last weekend it was two days of volunteer work at the ken International Festival. Next week, more volunteer work at another town festival and helping a friend move house. The following weekend . . . sleep.

Batten down the hatches. It looks like No 24 is becoming a possibility. IG

I'm a hunchback. ! :wassup:

Hajimemashite Ikeri Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. (InspectorGadget bows deeply forming his body into the perfect 'ku' shape) Welcome to the forum. I'm a noobie here too and they're a friendly bunch. InspectorGadget

sugey, proununced "Su-geeeeeh" is the new cool hip way of saying "sugoi", meaning cool or amazing. It's used by younger people. Older people still say "sugoi" kuso, probably is pronounced "ou-saw", meaning false, or wrong. You can call someone an "ou-sot-ski" meaning 'liar'. 4 is "yon". "Shi" (also the number for 4) is rarely used because it sounds like the word for "death". This is also the reason that anything with the number 4 is not popular, and that hotel room numbers will usually miss out the 4th floor and room numbers ending in 4. Likewise with apartment buildings.

Tamari-mura, near Ishioka in Ibaraki-ken. Rice fields, lotus root swamps, kaki orchards, bad teeth . . . . . and people rocking on their balconies playing "Deliverance" on their shamisens.

The fact that students don't have even pay attention in class to graduate. Damn thinking of that There was that elementary kid, a number of years back, who went to school early one day, killed a fellow student, cut his head off and left it impaled on the school gate for the other kids to see when they arrived. . . . . . . AND HE STILL GRADUATED WITH THE REST OF HIS CLASSS!

29) It's cheap to fly to the rest of Asia from here. 30) Pension refunds (if you leave after 3 years. If not you get shafted)