groovbusta

Finding Neverland... I was sobbing like a baby at the end

Tears rain down EVERY time I watch Finding Neverland. The scene when they recreate the play for their mom at home... killer. I've watched it at least a dozen times.

Two others that have been mentioned:

Dead Poets Society

Good Will Hunting - "It's not your fault. It's not your fault..."

In no particular order:

New Moon - Elliott Smith

Sound of Silver - LCD soundsystem

The Shepherd's Dog - Iron and Wine

Alive 2007 - Daft Punk

Kismet - Jesca Hoop

Went to an Ma Chambre http://www.ma-chambre.com/loungebar.html recently and there were plenty of rich, drunk Japanese girls guzzling champagne and stumbling through the hallway like easy targets.

I liked interior of Ma Chambre. Went there for a party about a month ago and had a good time. But yeah, the front bar is small and I wonder if they fill up the place regularly.

We stopped by 57 last night for a few drinks. It's actually a restaurant with a large bar area in the front but it's setup pretty nice for a private party or something. Otherwise, good spot to start the night off.

Restir in ginza and mid-town is amazing. If I went into fashion 100%, I love to be a buyer/SA for that retail space.

Completely agree. Restir in Midtown is sick.

how has air and yellow been recently? i didn't club last time. i was hustlin.

Air and Yellow still have decent parties once in a while, but it all depends on who's spinning. Went to Warehouse in Azabu-juban last night and it was crawling with hotties... Stephane Pompougnac was visiting, so he drew a good crowd.

If you're looking for a more local flavor, Genius in Ginza or even Alife in Nishi-azabu are good bets too.

Has anyone checked out the reopened Pure in Shibuya? It's in the old Xanadu space... all you can drink all night for ￥３５００!

You should guys should hit up A.I. or Blacklist party and tell me how they are. I've been curious...

Been to a few Blacklist parties and it's like Feria/Midas without the military guys and unapproachable models. Lots of gaijin and english speaking j-girls so it's target rich to say the least.

Was at the last one at A.I. and it was packed. Had to wait forever to get drinks but lots of beautiful people... you guys will have fun!

Why not just use a softbank prepaid phone? http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/en/prepaid/about/index.html

I usually pick one up for friends who visit so they don't have to slum it on the payphone. You can buy them at any softbank shop and some conbini as well. Sometimes the coverage is a little bootleg but overall I think its a good idea for people who are here for a short time. You do have to buy a handset (some are wicked cheap anyway) but I think --but don't quote me-- you can use an old one if you have it.

Why don't you just rent a keitai at Narita? Most of my friends do that when they come visit... only a few hundred yen per day and incoming calls are free. Unless you're gonna be here for a month or something...

Okay, so I'm going to singapore for 5 days! Thanks

You will be bored out of your mind by day 3... take a side trip to Malaysia.

Go to Taipei for the shopping and cheap nightmarket eats. Drinking and clubbing in Taipei are great too.

Shanghai has ok shopping and really sweet higher end restaurants. Decent nightlife scene as well.

I think most people you talk to would say Taipei is better for shopping. The food and nightlife just depends on what you like more... imho Shanghai just isn't at the level of Taipei, Seoul or HK yet. Obviously nothing compares to Tokyo!

With a two week trip and 10 of those days in / around Tokyo, it doesn't leave you much time to see the other parts of Japan.

If you had a week to travel outside Tokyo, I would recommend taking the shinkansen all the way down to Kyushu and then work your way back to Tokyo.

First, visit Fukuoka and a couple of the hot spring towns like Beppu on Kyushu island. Every part of Japan has their local culinary specialties and in Kyushu they're famous for Hakata ramen or tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen. Although you can find great hakata ramen in Tokyo, you'll enjoy the smaller places in Kyushu too.

After a night or two on Kyushu, head back towards Tokyo and stop in Hiroshima for a night and do a day trip to Miyajima island. Famous food include Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (with noodles) and delicious oysters.

Next stop would be the Kansai area (Osaka-Kyoto-Nara). People have already posted regarding these cities and definiitely worth a few nights. Great food like okonomiyaki, takoyaki and their own style of sushi.

Between Kansai and Tokyo, you can stop off to see Mt Fuji, visit onsen and beaches on the Izu peninsula or do the Hakone loop. Hakone can also be done as an overnight from Tokyo, so either way.

If you head north of Tokyo, the Nikko area has lots of cultural sights as well as outdoor hiking trails and foliage.

The best part of being a visitor in Japan is that you can buy the JR pass from your home country and then use the shinkansen at a fraction of the cost fro those that live here. Good luck and have fun!

eat at Side Street Inn!!!

where can i find region free dvd players in akihabara

specific store names / locations needed

Any of the players under ￥５０００ should be region free... I got one at Don Quixote for less than that. Unless you want to go for a high end model...

I need some clubs to go to for friday and sat.

hiphop/mashup would be cooler than cool. Models would even be better.

sorry for the late post... if you're looking for hot, young, eastern european models then you should go to grace building in roppongi... the models get in and drink for free... they hang out in the B1F club called Feria. on 2F is a hip hop club called Midas... 3500yen to get into both places and you get two drink tickets.

sounds like you had a great trip!

i've also become a master in the art of bringing much over the limit. one of the best way is to buy a snowboard case and then fill it with as much stuff as you can (snowboard bags are pretty big nowadays anyway, i can pretty much put as much stuff in mine as in my big suitcase). then, pretty much all airline either let you take the bag for free ( i'll count for a bag if you are only allowed 2 suitcases as it's the case for north american companies) or you have to pay a very small extra (never more than 30-50 dollars, even with low-cost in europe). the beauty of it is since it's oversized, they never weight it (i've done it at least 20 times and no company has ever weigthed the bag).

The airlines are catching on to the snowboard bag trick too... I was moving from SF to Tokyo less than two years ago and had my snowboard bag stuffed b/c of the no weighing the oversized luggage rule. Well, to my surprise they weighed it and I was a good 10kg over so had to repack my carry-on to fit the extra weight. They said they just changed the rules because more baggage handlers were getting hurt lifting snowboard bags in particular.

Like someone mentioned above, it's hit or miss on the weight limits... you might get lucky with certain airlines or check-in staff... but all in all they are just being more strict.

I say ship it by container.

I think this thread is the blind leading the blind. Anyways, enjoy your stay in Tokyo...

djrajio... you couldn't have described this thread any better... haha...

If I had friends come visit for only 4 days, these are the top few things I would do with them... again, most of my visitors stayed for 7+ days and it wasn't enough.

1) Tsukiji fish market - go around 5:30am and you can see the daily tuna auctions. Roam around the market stalls and just soak in the atmosphere and all the fresh seafood... by far my #1 must see/do in Tokyo. Then eat the freshest sushi in your life at one of the many joints around the market... prices are reasonable. Closed Sundays and some Weds.

2) Shop/explore Harajuku, Shibuya, Omotesando, Aoyama and Daikanyama. Use the sufu guides to locate specific stores or just roam around and discover places for yourself.

3) Eat, eat and eat.... it's nearly impossible to have a bad meal in Tokyo and everyone has their favorite ramen, yakiniku, yakitori, sushi, shabu shabu, katsu, etc. joint and most are impossible to find if you don't have someone show you where to go. The alternative is eating at the department store or mall restaurants. You'll end up paying a little bit more, but a lot of famous restaurants open up a branch at these places.

In Roppongi Hills I would recommend Pintokona kaiten sushi (mentioned earlier by someone else), Kushinobo for kushi-age (deep fried battered sticks) or either of the tonkatsu places (one next to Pintokona in Metrohat, the other 5F of west walk). For awesome cake/dessert go to Harbs. For something more upscale and great pastires go to L'atelier de Joel Robuchon.

Tokyo Midtown Tower in Roppongi opened up a few weeks ago and it's still packed with people. The shops are supposed to be more design focused and the outside garden area is pretty nice too. Midtown has a bunch of restaurants... casual dining is downstairs and they have a bunch of nicer restaurants, some even with outdoor seating, towards the back, near the Ritz-Carlton hotel. But it's almost impossible to get a reservation at any of the nicer restaurants right now.

If you want something more along the lines of a neighborhood izakaya... check out either www.bento.com or www.gnavi.co.jp/en/kanto/ for restaurant reviews and maps.

4) Nightlife... if you're gonna be in Tokyo w/your gf then you probably want to avoid Roppongi. Most of the places are meat markets, although Grace is halfway decent. It's mostly an expat/model crowd, but usually loads of fun. All mix downstairs at Feria, hip-hop upstairs at Midas and then a couple floors of lounge space. Club Vanilla was good for a Japanese club experience, but it just closed... and I think for good.

The hip-hop mecca is club Harlem in Shibuya... also good in the area Womb, Atom, Club Asia.

5) Onsen - there's a new place called Zaboo in Nishi-azabu but I heard it's only for women. For a really cheesy Japanese experience, you should check out the "onsen/spa world" in Odaiba. Odaiba is a man made island with tons of shopping malls, arcades, bowling, entertainment complexes for people to hang out. It's southeast from the center of town and about 20 mins by subway. The onsen world even has a pool where you can soak your feet and have little fish eat away your dead skin... my friends said it was a trip. Again, it's not a traditional onsen, but very Japanese nonetheless.

Hopefully this points you in the right direction... but like everyone already said it really depends on your particular tastes and energy level.

Enjoy.

Are you only going to be doing the metropolitan centers, or will you have access to a car to head out to the surrounding areas? West coast cities have crap public transport, so a car is essential if you wanna head out for day trips. East coast cities have more options like trains, buses, even cheap flights.

If you're going to have access to a car/train/bus in some of the cities, then: SF, LA, Chicago, Montreal, NYC, Miami.

From New York, it's only 190mi/300km to Boston and only 200mi/320km to DC. There are loads of trains/buses that transport people through those 3 cities. I wouldn't waste one stop on your RTW ticket for Boston or DC if you're already going to NYC. Your ticket will be better used to go south to Miami.

Good luck.

Can anyone recommend a really nice boutique or mid-size hotel in Hanoi? The 5 star chains are very affordable, but looking for something a little more unique, either architecturally or design-wise. Most of the "boutique" hotels I've seen on the web have been closer to the 2 or 3 star range.

I'm heading to Hanoi & northern VN for about 11 days during Japan GW... only have the flight booked so far. Planning to do kayaking in Halong Bay and some hill trekking in Sapa.

Do you think I'll have time to check out Hue or Hoi An if flights are available? Or should I just kick it in Hanoi and soak up the local scene?

strangest/coolest places...

that i've been to: ngorongoro crater (tanzania), borobudur (indonesia), annapurna sanctuary (nepal), lhasa (tibet), lapland (sweden)

that i want to go to: petra (jordan), aconcagua (argentina), myanmar/burma, sri lanka

best: singapore, cathay, ana

worst: southwest, bmi, korean

you'd be surprised how cheap an around the world plane ticket can cost... my friend did a 6 month trip and it was about 2000 USD... london, russia, turkey, india, china, se asia, australia, hawaii, sf, ny.

http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=9&category=6

Are you referring to the Tenkaippin (天下一品)Ramen joint? It's a pretty famous ramen chain in Japan, pretty good for a chain.

there are at least three other ramen joints in the same vicinity that are way better imho... i don't remember the names of them, but there is one on the other side of roppongi crossing, near the pet store and upstairs... they do ramen in individual stalls and you can customize the amount of garlic, green onions, chili, noodles, fatty pork, etc. by checking off boxes on the little paper they give you. it's also a chain and they have a place near shibuya station near 0101 (marui jam)

there is a good shoyu/shio ramen place downstairs and next to the bali relax massage place. you can grill your own meat on a little clay pot stove they give you at your table. it's somewhat novel, but good.

the other place we go to in roppongi serves up some wicked spicy tan tan ramen... it's on the main drag, kinda close to the little street that you turn up to get to the grace building, velfarre or lime.

all three of the above places are on the other side of roppongi crossing from the ramen place shown above. again, sorry i don' t know the names of the places... be aware, they get very crowded weekend nights and afterhours... enjoy!

true, west london can be pretty yuppie but i had to drive to my office which was close to heathrow, so couldn't do anything east, although i did like islington a lot. still, lots of cool shops, clubs and restaurants in west, sw london and there are plenty of younger working professionals to meet, not just the upper crust. shepherd's bush is also in west london... so it's not all bad.

there are some nice neighborhoods on the northern line too... camden, chalk farm, golders green...

side street inn (near ala moana shopping center) is a must must eat! basically an expanded bar, but they serve up great local bbq and food. local chefs go here to eat and drink after work.

other places i love... rainbow drive-in for locomoco, north shore shrimp trucks, sushi masa in the ward center (masa is a friendly character), sushi sasabune on king street (remember to order omakase at both places) and ono hawaiian foods on kapahulu for truly local food.

oh i miss hawaii!

I lived in London for two years from '00-'02 and had a brilliant time. My company transferred me there for a couple years, so was able to live in central london. I had no idea where to live, but would have stayed in west or sw london if I did it again.

Best part of living in London was the easy and cheap travel to the rest of europe. I was able to get to the continent at least once a month, mostly on weekend trips. Other great things about london are... the pubs, the nightclubs and the live music scene and summer music festivals are good fun too. Food is generally crap, except for some of the ethnic stuff like north african or Indian and the very high end places. Pub food is edible, but it gets boring pretty quick... just drink beer for dinner.

The worst thing about london are the prices!

check out the itchy guides... dunno if you can pick them up outside the UK

http://www.itchylondon.co.uk/