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Hakuba Party - the beat goes on!

Hakuba Party

Hakuba

Big Air

Okay so Tokyo is a busy place - no I mean a really busy place. You can get lost just crossing the road!! When you've had enough of the crowds - its time to head for them hills. One place you might like to try is Hakuba - home of the 1998 winter Olympics. A group of us headed out there for a weekend of chilled out music. But to get there we had to try the "Bullet Train!" What an experience. It's like being on a jet gathering speed on a runway - except it doesn't take off! Plenty of room and in flight service. Three hours later and you're in the town of Hakuba. As its a winter town it is out of season - but you can participate in guided walking tours, mountain biking or river canyoning. Whilst we were there the town was playing host to an endurance competition, so competitors and tourists mingled together to the chilled out sounds of several local groups.

What's the delay?

Okay, lets get the apologies over and done with first. I APOLOGISE! I'm here in Tokyo - a city with one of the fastest networks available and my apartment has no fiber connection!!!! My landlord is having talks with NTT and is now looking favourably at the installation of fiber optics in all the apartments in the block. Wont be long now before I have a screaming internet connection of 100 mbps and will then be able to update this blog more regularly. Speaking - or is it writing of What's the delay - One things for sure - it aint the Japanese transportation system. The subway is superb and the trains run like well oiled Swiss machines. And to make everything run like clockwork and avoid those "lengthy" delays they employ people wearing white gloves - not Michael Jackson wannabees I might add - to push people onto those trains. Its quite funny to watch a train pass you buy with some Japanese people doing their impersonation of "Garfield" being plastered up the window!! These "pushers" are the only people I have seen running to work with big smiles on their faces - for some it aint the pay that makes the job worth while its the people you have to "push about."

Getting Ready or Oh God do all my socks match!!!

Well, the suitcase is packed - well almost - a man's got to leave some things to the last minute - it's the law!!! Had an email from the exporters to say that the stuff that had been shipped out wouldn't be at my Tokyo address until the 26th August. Going to have to pack extra towels then!