Just bought plane tickets to Japan...

[unreal]

You mean they looked like girls.

Hah no, I know they were girls, I know my anatomy!

[bsodmike]

Congrats Hoang Want to see LOTS of pics

[sleepyhead]

It's a fantastic place. DO read up on the ettiquette because, as you say, it is a completely different culture and almost everything that we'd consider polite here is rude over there, and vice versa! Learning the most common pleasantry phrases will also get you a very long way - pleases, thank you (no, thank you, no, thank you.. it can go on a while), good mornings, good evenings etc.

Generalising, they are an amazingly friendly and welcoming people, and they have a pretty good sense of fun and humour outside of business. They will laugh at you at some point, but you can laugh at them too

We got some basic words down and have 'pseudo conversed' with a few of the Japanese D1 drivers (you can imagine very broken up japanese/english conversation). I'll have to make some business cards up! Be fun.

...
Also mate are you going around Japan outside of Tokyo?? If you are you better buy the Japan Rail Pass otherwise you won't be able to do day trips out of the city it will cost you INSANE amounts of cash. The Japan Rail Pass is £202 quid for 7 days but it lets you travel around the whole country unlimited and even covers bullet trains. Example trip: Osaka to Tokyo is 3 hours on bullet train and don't have to change trains. Without rail pass its 9 hours and change 6 times and costs £100-120 quid one way! Also make sure your phone is 3G if you intended to use it over there as non 3G phones don't work over there!

Check out http://www.japan-guide.com for more info and this other awesome site they got 360 degree panoramas of places in Japan http://www.360cities.net/map#lat=34....-castle&zoom=7

I don't think we are planning on going much outside of Tokyo as we are using the plasmo(?) cards. My phone is supposedly 3G...however I'm taking it more as a camera than to call people.

I think I mentioned it before in a Japanese thread, but I would really like to go, but not sure what to do when I'm out there. I think I would wantto experience the place (like working there for a couple of weeks) rather than just "visit". Got the money and time, just no-one to go with me because I know I'll bottle out doing random stuff, which I would probably regret not doing later.

Buy a ticket now; I can give you the flight times/number and you can buy a ticket too. We can amend the ryokan to accomodate another person (it's about 7100 yen per night)...just as long as you don't mind hanging out with some otakus

[Kumagoro]

ACID303, well done on getting a placement I knew you would get on. I envy you a lot I wish
I could go back and do it again. (I will PM you some useful links when I get time)

=============
With regards to the Rail travel card. I don't recommend getting it, its not that a great a deal
unless you really do some hardcore travelling around the country.

[Marcos]

Just read through the thread, i'd really like to visit there too

initially for a couple of weeks but then if i like it i'd like to go for longer, what do you reckon is the minimum funds you need to save for the total 2week trip?

And this page is great:

http://www.japan-guide.com/event/yokohama-expo/

only thumbnails but its that kind of thing that just makes me think, why havent we got anything like that??

[sleepyhead]

Well we are going with a complete budget of approx £2000 (inclusive of flights, hotel and food). There should be enough cash for small spending; only what we really want that we cant get here will we purchase.

[dbh]

Five more days to go and I'll be in Japan!

[PeterStoba]

only thumbnails but its that kind of thing that just makes me think, why havent we got anything like that??

Liverpool had La Machine :d

[Marcos]

Liverpool had La Machine :d

really??