Gogo goes to Japan... (Well not just yet!)

[gogo419]

Well after much procrastination and watching flight prices continue to go up over the last few months i have finally locked in the final dates and bought airfares for a mate (his half of the payment is on its way to my bank acct...) and myself to Japan for another ski trip to Niseko. (My 5th trip in 6 years) I will edit this post with more of our details in the coming days. I just had a sudden urge to start the thread.. Even if we don't leave till 18th January..

Anyway watch this space as i slowly start to build everything together!

Ohh also. We have 4.5 days in Tokyo as well. I have traveled around Tokyo 3 times now i think? But If anyone wants to suggest things to do? It would be great as we have nothing set in stone. There is a sumo tournament on while we are in Tokyo so front row seats are on the agenda!

Thanks!!

gogo

 

[Taezar]

Check out CNN.go and Fotopedia's Japan app for some ideas.

 

[gogo419]

Well!! The clock is ticking down slowly and it is almost 24 hours till QF582 leaves.. I have been checking available seats all too often since we entered T-80 on Tuesday.. A while back i called the service centre and got the three of us in to 30 A B D. 2 minutes a go i managed to move a little further forward to 26 A B D. I have been slowly packing my snowboard bag on and off for the last 7 days.. All that needs to be done now is toiletries and throw in the laptop charger before i leave home tomorrow morning.. Accompanying me are to IFF's (Infrequent flyers?) They don't have a FF number... One of them will be accompanying me into QP in PER.. They can figure out who...

Anyway i'll give a brief breakdown of the trip!

18 JAN QF 582 PER-SYD (1.5hr transfer layover) IFF's say they want Krispy Kreme's... I personally hate them.
18 JAN QF021 SYD-NRT
19 JAN Arrive in NRT 6.05 am. Train into accom in Asakusa. Leave luggage and travel to the snowsports shopping precinct, one of the guys needs new snowboard boots.
20-23 JAN in Tokyo, Undecided on exact plans.. But will be doing, Skytree, Fuji day tour, Possibly Disneyland... (We are three 20 year old males... haha.. I'm sure there are some shenanigans to be had there..
24 JAN JAL503 HND-CTS, Travel up to Niseko on bus
25 JAN-7 FEB Snowboarding!!!!
8 FEB Skymark flight CTS-NRT, 6 hour layover in NRT QF022 NRT-SYD
9 FEB QF581 SYD-PER

Anyway, thats all for now.. I have got a new Gopro Hero 3 Black.. So there will be heaps of Snowboarding videos and timelapses of our travels that will be uploaded to Youtube and linked to on this thread...

cheers gogo

*Time to go look at the seat map again..

 

[smit0847]

You'll have a great time! I stayed in Asakusa I think - it's nice but a fair way away from the action of Shibuya and Shinjuku.

Im guessing the snowsports shopping is in Harajuku where the rest of the retail is?

I would highly, highly recommend a trip to Ageha is you like clubbing - its quite simply the best club I have ever been to (incl London, NYC and Ibiza).

 

[smit0847]

PS - dont drink a bottle of vodka on the flight - Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

 

[gogo419]

You'll have a great time! I stayed in Asakusa I think - it's nice but a fair way away from the action of Shibuya and Shinjuku.

Im guessing the snowsports shopping is in Harajuku where the rest of the retail is?

I would highly, highly recommend a trip to Ageha is you like clubbing - its quite simply the best club I have ever been to (incl London, NYC and Ibiza).

I lie.. I am 20 other two are 19... So will have to stay on good behaviour in Tokyo.. But once we are in Niseko, that will be another story..

Smit0847 this is the area we are going to. Went there last season and its amazing how many shops there are!!!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z188/sandy19571997/SkiShopTokyoMapxx_.jpg

Buying ski/snowboard gear in Tokyo 2012/2013 - Ski Forum

gogo

 

[gogo419]

Quick little update. Check in was a breeze.. Straight through and the lovely lounge angels were more than happy to allow me a second guest in PER QP.. Boarding QF582 in 25 minutes or so! Hopefully SYD transit will be a breeze as well!

gogo

 

[amaroo]

Make sure you get the skytree tickets on line...we stupidly queued for 2+ hours back in Oct.

Have a great time!

 

[jetlagger]

Hope you are having a nice time.. Japan is simply wonderful & the snowboarding is guaranteed 1st Class

 

[gogo419]

Tokyo is now complete.. Arrived in niseko this afternoon.. And all ready to snowboard tomorrow! Went to the Skytree around 4pm one afternoon.. Got a pass telling us to queue up at 5pm to buy a ticket.. So we wandered in the shopping centre.. Then it was a 20 min wait to buy ticket! Much better than your queue by the sounds of it amaroo..

Also one thing I forgot to post.. One of the 747's they are using on the route qf21/22(old 4 class layout) they are letting platinum and gold members select premium economy seats! So the three of us made good use of the tiny extra bit of room! FA said that they have doing this for a while because the economy capacity is quite lower than the other 747 on this route... I'm not complaining!!!

 

[gogo419]

Hope you are having a nice time.. Japan is simply wonderful & the snowboarding is guaranteed 1st Class

No snow in niseko last 3 days! but starting to fall again tonight... Hopefully the gods will send heaps in the coming hours!

 

[jetlagger]

Tokyo is now complete.. Arrived in niseko this afternoon.. And all ready to snowboard tomorrow! Went to the Skytree around 4pm one afternoon.. Got a pass telling us to queue up at 5pm to buy a ticket.. So we wandered in the shopping centre.. Then it was a 20 min wait to buy ticket! Much better than your queue by the sounds of it amaroo..

Also one thing I forgot to post.. One of the 747's they are using on the route qf21/22(old 4 class layout) they are letting platinum and gold members select premium economy seats! So the three of us made good use of the tiny extra bit of room! FA said that they have doing this for a while because the economy capacity is quite lower than the other 747 on this route... I'm not complaining!!!

Great to hear.. & any exit row in Y is the better choice on the QF21/22

 

[amaroo]

Tokyo is now complete.. Arrived in niseko this afternoon.. And all ready to snowboard tomorrow! Went to the Skytree around 4pm one afternoon.. Got a pass telling us to queue up at 5pm to buy a ticket.. So we wandered in the shopping centre.. Then it was a 20 min wait to buy ticket! Much better than your queue by the sounds of it amaroo..

Also one thing I forgot to post.. One of the 747's they are using on the route qf21/22(old 4 class layout) they are letting platinum and gold members select premium economy seats! So the three of us made good use of the tiny extra bit of room! FA said that they have doing this for a while because the economy capacity is quite lower than the other 747 on this route... I'm not complaining!!!

Did you enjoy Tokyo?

 

[gogo419]

Did you enjoy Tokyo?

Very much!! However it's my 4th time there.. And I love the city!! But running out of tourist things to do!!! Need to head out and explore some of the other cities and use some of the Shinkansen trains..

 

[gogo419]

Allright don't know if anyone is interested!?

But i have finished editing my snowboarding video for anyone that may want to watch it!

Its 12 minutes long... If your not wanting to watch it all i suggest watching the second half as the best footage is during the last parts of the video!

[video=youtube;OF_bBLiYHhk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF_bBLiYHhk&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[amaroo]

How good was that!

Don't know how you dodged all those trees & still kept hold of the camera Great camera work....why it wasn't bumpy - I'll never know.

Like the sound track too.

 

[TheEmu]

That was great! Gobsmacking scenery and good music! And silly people sliding down white slippery stuff - what's not to like?
Thanks for sharing - really enjoyed it!