DaiOni

anyone have any recommendations for shipping companies (yokohama - sydney)?

not surprising at all Not too long ago there was a scooter accident outside my house. The rider veered off the road and into a light pole (given the conditions, I'd have to assume he was most likely drunk). He didn't even get a blanket. A few bystanders came and peered over at him. Then had the same sort of group commitee.* The cops arrived - dragged the poor bugger off the edge of the road. Then the ambo arrived (luckily the hospital is very near my house) - and he got literally chucked onto a stretcher. Between the actions of the cops and the ambo guys, I sure as hell hope the guy didn't have any spinal damage! I was stunned. Of course, after the accident comes the cruel world of the japanese insurance system... * admitedly we didn't venture out either - but, at the time, I couldn't see how we could help at all (with 4-5 people on the scene already, and not expecting the level of incompetence)

you don't

"Without her I'd probably be down at super autobacs every month, about 10 minutes after getting paid, ready to spend, spend, spend!!" ahem.... umm....... yeah.... I've taken on a kids juku to pay for my bad habits.

the moral? when you marry a japanese woman, they also give you a collar and a leash haha, like I can talk.......

oh, and another place you should be able to draw money from visa (perhaps also cirrus, etc) - the post office (at least, the bigger ones)

"24 hour ATM access is now commonly available at most of the convenient stores." dependant on where you are - though for 95% of travellers, it won't be an issue (not many of you would venture out of the cities). credit card use is definitely still hit and miss, but getting better. Foreign credit card use is more of a hassle - but I can vouch that autobacs don't have any issues with it. Credit card usage is a little different in japan - at least in my experience, it is. With my japanese visa, they always ask 'nankai' (how many times) - it seems to be more of a pseudo-eftpos than a credit card. If you ask for a single debit - they will take the money out in one hit. If you want it spread over four debits, they will take 1/4 each month (and, I assume, add appropriate interest on top). They've asked if I want to do this with my foreign card as well - not sure if that would work or not! (I'm guessing, no) - but I always go the single, anyway. If they ask you 'nankai' - just say: one It's nice to live in a country where you can comfortably have a grand or so in your wallet and walk down the street without fear - but that doesn't remove the risk of losing your wallet It goes without saying, but, be careful

...on the other hand, yahoo gives you a much more likely chance of finding what you want - whereas shop shopping is usually a 'lucky find' affair (unless you've spotted something in one of the parts mags) I also find yahoo a little dangerous, as clicking on the link all to often = an empty wallet

* Mazdaspeed rear spoiler - seller noted that it needed to be painted (moot issue, as it was red anyway), but didn't note that wing adjuster cover (or whatever it's called) had been forced open and didn't sit level anymore - and, conveniently, didn't photograph the wing from that angle * Center console - seller noted that there were two small holes in the leather, and photographed them - but photographed them from an angle and zoom that made their scale impossible to be gauged. Admitedly, if it wasn't a last minute bid, this could have been verified * Apexi intakes - brand new, in the box. Fine (but I have no idea how apexi expect you to make the braces line up... grr) maybe i'm just unlucky? Now these are all minor items, and easily remedied - but I can't help thinking that someone as fussy as me might have their annoyance exponentially magnified if there was something wrong with, say, a set of turbos, coilovers, and so on - something that might not be an issue when a visual inspection is available.

I agree with informer - yahoo is great, but the luxury of seeing the gear in the flesh is worth the hassle of venturing out to the stores. Out of 3 or 4 things I've bought on yahoo - only one has been EXACTLY the condition listed by the seller (and that was a new item!). I've been to the upgarage near chiba station - not bad, though pretty small. Plenty of skyline stuff when I went there. In my area, stores I've also been to garage-off (good store) and autobacs second hand. Still haven't managed to navigate to the local up.

the manuals will probably be gone by now.

some of the aquarium shops here would blow your mind - much better than anything I've seen in australia - stingrays, in particular, are really popular right now. as for other (non-marine) pets, cats are probably the most popular. The strangest thing I've seen in a pet shop was a huge owl. In fact, lots of strange birds. Ohh, and lots of colourful lizards/reptiles too.

Your service records, in all probability, would have been in the 'other' manual (ie: not the one that tells you what goes where and what to push). I can't see why they would remove that from the vehicle, before export - unless it's policy to clean out the glovebox edit: spellink

BTW, if you look around, I'm sure you CAN find 'cheap' beef restaurants. A local restaurant in my area serves a big (by japanese standards) size steak (aussie beef - in aussie dimensions, not paper thin, not overly fatty) + salad + soup + bread for around 1800. That's comparative to aussie prices (IIRC), and almost as good - it's been a lifesaver for me.

I may have missed it (didn't read in depth), but did anyone mention the fact that MOS burger offers burgers that use sticky rice, instead of bread, for buns - that's a pretty unique slice of japan. bikuri donkey = funniest restaurant name in japan. btw, it's a well known fact that domokun is a sentient turd, and (to most), not edible.

there's a handful of small(ish) diesal vehicles (or at least there have been, not sure about now). nissan laurel springs to mind

the car didn't come with manuals?

JGTC, Super Taikyu, rally, etc - are on TV a lot, but, yeah, I think only on cable

the tanabe site is listed in the links sticky - check it out (I gave up on the site because all the flash sh1t gave me a headache)

"price isn't an issue" maybe you'll change your mind soon the above idea ain't a bad one - but good luck registering the car

Harajuku is in the middle of tokyo nearest circuit.... ummm... the freeway

trouble with coilovers, wheels, anything heavy - postage gets prohibitive at that weight (for a yahoo purchase - could well cost more than the auction item).

just curious to see if your experiences are anything like mine. As far as I can remember, I've driven 3: 1. Suzuki Wagon R (fairly new one) - drove perfectly normal - absolutely nothing special, but perfectly putt-able around town. Pedal handbrake was a bit wierd though. In hindsight, I think the fact that it was an auto made a big difference (maybe) 2. Honda Beat (about 91 I think) - pretty horrible in 1st gear, not much better in second. Had a typical honda rev-ability. Power is a relative concept, but I really was disappointed (and I wasn't expecting a lot). Only drove it for a couple of minutes - but I could sense that it would be a fun cornering car. 3. Last night's effort... this: early 90s mitsu toppo. Oh my god! Redefined "light clutch" - almost wasn't there. Nearly put my foot through the floor every gearchange. Absolutely unbelievable (not in a good way) gearing - I was doing 35-40km/h and needed to shift into 5th :bahaha: what is your opinion on the world of kei?

seven is desirable full stop - regarded as a very lucky number here

Cold and overcast + another major earthquake. nah, not the best of days here.