Demon Dave

the fact that deserted mountain roads are within 15 minutes drive from my place. Went out this morning - drove for an hour and didn't see anyone. Miles from civilization, with only monkeys and the occassional bear to keep you company! Half way up the Minami Alps, you get great views like this: but the roads are narrow and not maintained, and after heavy rain parts can become like this: but I have to say despite being lowered, our Accord Wagon had little trouble getting through - 10/10 for tein suspension

Dude - everything you asked has been covered a million times before - suggest you do a search International driving permits are usually valid for a period of 1 year (from date of issue). If you renew the license while still in Japan, then it becomes invalid - this is done to force people staying more than a year to get a Japanese license. Don't know what you have to go through if you've got a Aussie license, but us Brits just hand over our British license and get a Jap one back.

ADSL....100mbps for 2,400 yen :drooling: and not forgetting beer vending machines

IMHO this entire board has way too many post whores and "whore threads" as it is...do we really need another one?

we've got one of those trees, with the little orange flowers, in our garden. Massive it is. Smells so nice this time of year - trouble is it only lasts for about a week or so...

Yeah - like to go, but for the problem (as ever) is work. Sunday is OK - just won't be able to get Monday off. And I don't think I'm up for driving around 10 hours continuously from Okayama to Yamanashi after the festival ends on Sunday evening...

Just wondering who's going? Link is here Sunday 28th Nov 2004 at TI Circuit, Aida. 20th anniversary this year, so they might have something special going on....

Can't agree more. Autumn in Japan, by far the best season (especially now the typhoons have gone!)

after reading all these posts regarding trains, I'm suddenly glad I only ride on them about...ohh, maybe twice a year at most...

I've been driving 10 years: 5 in England and 5 here. Never got a ticket of any kind Not one. Never been stopped by police either. **expecting to pulled over now I've said that**

not seen any street racing myself... but I do see plenty of drifting, mainly up in the mountain passes.

Ozi-jins!

thinking about it

looks like I've got my work cut out for me trying to keep up with you two... gonna have to rely on that home-field advantage even more now

I reckon it's an embarrassment *shakes head* bad enough stick skyline lights on something that clearly aint a skyline. But a GTR badge aswell :bonk: some people have entirely too much time on their hands...

Lookin good Justin DIY in the street - bet you got more than a few strange looks from the locals, 2 gaijins, car in pieces, swearing loudly when "that bl00dy bolt won't come undone!" lunch at Makudonarudo's I see Have you noticed much difference with the new intercooler on? Is the turbo more laggy? Looks like the front cross member is covering a large part of the cooler up - any plans for a new bumper - get more air into it?

You guys need one of those special "bubble roofs" they used to make for the GT40

I've always been into cars since an early age, but I didn't really follow the Grp A tournaments - rally and F1 were my main interests. I can remember visiting the NEC motorshow (UK) from an early age and it seemed I was at Donington park (about 10 miles from my house) almost every other weekend - whether it be to watch the racing, check out the Sunday market or head-bang away at the Donnington Monsters Of Rock Festival First time I became aware of skylines was probably around '96 when a friend of mine somehow managed to get his hands on some Jap car brochures and the R33 GTR was amongst them. Of course, we hadn't a clue what the text said!

Same as Rezz - futon on Tatami mat floors for the first two years, then the luxury of a proper bed since then. Got to admit I don't find anything wrong with futons, it's just that I'm so lazy I can't be bothered pulling out the cupboard and nite, then packing them away the next morning...

I so agree with that 20A thing. Our place is pretty big, including an outbuilding with 3 offices that I use as my school and still, the entire thing is run on 20A. I've lost count of the number of times I've been in the middle of a class only to have the power go out when the wife downstairs starts cooking dinner!

Sorry we've had to cancel this weekend - sometimes the weather can have such terrible timing. Not to mention my doctor informed me this morning that the nasty little cough I've had the past couple of weeks is actually pneumonia Not feeling too well at the moment to be sure... but hopefully be alright again soon.

Bl00dy hell - the thread on the bad things about Japan seems to be growing by the second! Bit of a group therapy thing going on. Trouble is, I don't want to put people off coming...well maybe those arogrant Americans but, to keep things in perspective there are a lot of great things about living in Japan. So come on then - why do so many foreigners live here? What do we like about it? 1. The lack of Crime. I love the fact I can (accidently :Oops: ) leave my car unlocked and my windows down in my garage for over a week and no one nicked my stereo, camera or car for that matter. 2. Service stations (for those of us who are lazy!) The guys (and gals) at the service station will do whatever you want Well, within reason clean your windows, pump the gas, check the tyre pressure, oil etc and even stand out in the middle of the road to hold up traffic and let you out. 3. The Cars Nuff said on that 4. Japanese women. Better not let my wife hear that 5. The Environment sure they're doing a grand job of fcuking it up, but for the most part it's still lovely Unless you happen to be living in one of those dirty great cities...

hehe...Japan's mountains - gotta love 'em Looking forward to seeing you. If you get lost, don't worry just drive towards that massive volcanoe - were just a tad north of that. If you want to get here the quick way, I highly recommend GTR Airlines: Justin - shame you can't make it this time, next time eh. And you lot are lucky. I'm working Fri and I'm working Mon And if I want to be technical about it, I'm also working Sun.

I take it that most people in here have no long term plans to stay in Japan? I'll add another one then: Having to deal with the fact that 90% of the foreigners you meet here won't stay more than a few years....kinda puts a downer on making new friends.. boohoo

Yeah...in the past we've covered the positive things about life in Japan, only fair we now cover the things that really pi55 us off hehehe kinda like a gaijin group therapy thread this DaiOni I know what you mean about losing English ability. When I returned home last month so many people came up to me and said my English had changed - most said my accent had become Canadian! :DHuh? But day to day, sometimes I struggle to remember less common words - in essence my vocabularly becoming simpler and my grammar patterns more Japanese in style. Funny thing is my wife and friend (who returned with me to the UK) said they had no problem understanding my English, but were completely confused when my parents spoke to them!