|
the us is going to be a blighted plagueland for the foreseeable future and i would certainly hope any country with sense doesn't let americans in i'm under the assumption that it's never getting better here, tbh
|
#
?
May 5, 2020 20:50
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 08:27 |
|
|
Martytoof posted:There's way too many variables IMO. My gut feeling is that, yes, the travel restrictions will be lifted, but even if it is open for tourism the chance of a second wave of COVID has me re-evaluating my own plans for a December trip. I'm super happy I managed to visist Japan just right before everything got really bad (two weeks in february).
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2020 20:57
|
|
That reminds me, I was supposed to be on a flight to Japan in two days
|
mikeycp posted:the us is going to be a blighted plagueland for the foreseeable future and i would certainly hope any country with sense doesn't let americans in Even bubonic plague didn't stick around forever as a pandemic even though several hundred people still contract the disease every year. Might take a couple of years until things more or less return to normal, though. Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for any Japanese 80s style rock or such?
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2020 21:16
|
|
|
Bofast posted:Even bubonic plague didn't stick around forever as a pandemic even though several hundred people still contract the disease every year. presumably people were trying to fix that, though also by never i mostly mean for the rest of my lifespan, however long or short that may be
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2020 21:18
|
|
|
Well since Japan has closed its doors to foreigners and Japanese onsen have closed their doors to visitors, Arima Onsen have put up virtual tours of their onsen. Now you too can get the full Arima onsen experience by sitting in your bath with a VR headset on! http://onsenvr.com/en/ Its pretty cool how Japanese places have started doing these things. I especially like this Tokyo museum that lets you just walk through the entire museum https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=i7hrHfp7VE2
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2020 21:27
|
|
|
Yes, I will sit in a bathtub with an electric device on my head.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2020 23:40
|
|
|
Bofast posted:Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for any Japanese 80s style rock or such? Blue Hearts and yankee poo poo like Yokohama Ginbae, forever. B'z, Spitz, Loudness… This is my record hunt right now. https://youtu.be/7gckW7F8id0
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2020 00:08
|
|
|
Bofast posted:Even bubonic plague didn't stick around forever as a pandemic even though several hundred people still contract the disease every year. P model and the solo stuff by their front man hirasawa susumu rules
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2020 01:43
|
|
|
With the cancelled trip and increasing likeliness of tourism not resuming for the rest of the year I'm tempted to see what cards I would need to play to get transferred to my company's Tokyo office (though I'm pretty sure the answer would be to stop being a computer toucher and start being a sales person or some other truly awful trade off). As long as I can't speak to anyone in person I might as well add a language barrier to the mix too, right?
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2020 20:55
|
|
|
captkirk posted:With the cancelled trip and increasing likeliness of tourism not resuming for the rest of the year I'm tempted to see what cards I would need to play to get transferred to my company's Tokyo office (though I'm pretty sure the answer would be to stop being a computer toucher and start being a sales person or some other truly awful trade off). As long as I can't speak to anyone in person I might as well add a language barrier to the mix too, right? From what I hear it's almost always the opposite case (bolded).
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 00:39
|
|
|
captkirk posted:With the cancelled trip and increasing likeliness of tourism not resuming for the rest of the year I'm tempted to see what cards I would need to play to get transferred to my company's Tokyo office (though I'm pretty sure the answer would be to stop being a computer toucher and start being a sales person or some other truly awful trade off). As long as I can't speak to anyone in person I might as well add a language barrier to the mix too, right? especially in Tokyo the opposite seems to be true, there are some firms with IT staff that are mostly foreign. I think it depends on the requirements, but if you're interfacing with other parts of IT in a global company, knowing the systems and how to operate with other offices would be more important. if you're trying to be the IT person as computer janitor for a local office it might be tougher, but that all depends. one big difference though -- software dev paychecks especially aren't as stratospheric as they are in, say, the Bay Area, Seattle, or other parts of the US. They still pay well, but not always six-figure (USD adjusted). that said, that level of paycheck isn't required to get by in Tokyo at all.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 00:54
|
|
|
harperdc posted:especially in Tokyo the opposite seems to be true, there are some firms with IT staff that are mostly foreign. I think it depends on the requirements, but if you're interfacing with other parts of IT in a global company, knowing the systems and how to operate with other offices would be more important. if you're trying to be the IT person as computer janitor for a local office it might be tougher, but that all depends. I'm a site reliability engineer at a tech company (think software dev but with more knowledge about how servers work) but our Tokyo office is actually a sales office. So even if I can get transferred to our Tokyo office I would be working with a software team out of the US.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 05:40
|
|
|
peanut posted:Blue Hearts and yankee poo poo like Yokohama Ginbae, forever. BB2K posted:P model and the solo stuff by their front man hirasawa susumu rules Thanks 
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 06:35
|
|
|
captkirk posted:I'm a site reliability engineer at a tech company (think software dev but with more knowledge about how servers work) but our Tokyo office is actually a sales office. So even if I can get transferred to our Tokyo office I would be working with a software team out of the US. Just apply at a Japanese company, there's always lots of jobs for ops ppl.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 07:20
|
|
|
genki desu ~~~~ (^^)
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 08:55
|
|
|
My EMS packages have been stuck in logistics hell for the past four weeks now. I know delivery to USA has been cancelled but I'm in Canada -- c'mon JP  I've been kind of curbing my non-travel depression by popping into VR and doing some google streetview tourism of where I was supposed to be today. Today is arrival day, and a short jaunt from HND to Hamamatsucho, then on to Tokyo Stn. for my train to Osaka. But first maybe a little sightseeing around the area. Mhm. Very nice. And now onto Osaka. Since it's clearly not 10pm when I'm arriving I'm doing a little walking tour from Shin-Osaka to Namba for my AirBnB. Definitely a different vibe to this city. I don't think it comes across very well on Google Street View so I'm looking forward to seeing it in person in 2021, dog willing. I know from the outside this sounds absolutely braindead, but doing the GSV in VR is really fun, it turns out. Who'd have thought?
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 12:41
|
|
|
So I had my job interview and it went very well. The position isn't in Tokyo though, it's in Okinawa. I really had gotten my hopes up for Tokyo so it's gone from something I'm really excited about to just something I'm.considering 😔 I'm also looking at best case scenario a 15% pay cut and no relocation help, though maybe I can negotiate a better deal as we move forward. It's going to be hard to figure out because they use a bonus system which sounds very common. So how's Okinawa? I'm a little worried about typhoon season. The cost of living looks very good. I suppose it's still a good opportunity to practice Japanese. Do they still have sweet Lawson's selection and prices at convenience stores? Im not enthusiastic about the entire foreigner community being military, do I have that stereotype right?
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 13:26
|
|
|
I hated Okinawa when I was there for 3 days limited to American Village and the surrounding walkable area.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 14:40
|
|
|
Macaroni Surprise posted:So I had my job interview and it went very well. The position isn't in Tokyo though, it's in Okinawa. I really had gotten my hopes up for Tokyo so it's gone from something I'm really excited about to just something I'm.considering 😔 okinawa is beautiful and the food is very good. the us army there are known for raping and murdering locals and generally being scum but nobody is going to treat you weirdly if you dont look like a soldier or just explain that you have nothing to do with the base
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 14:44
|
|
|
Macaroni Surprise posted:So how's Okinawa? I'm a little worried about typhoon season. The cost of living looks very good. I suppose it's still a good opportunity to practice Japanese. Do they still have sweet Lawson's selection and prices at convenience stores? Im not enthusiastic about the entire foreigner community being military, do I have that stereotype right? It’s Japan’s Hawaii (for those who don’t want to go to Hawaii or Guam). Very built around the tourist industries, especially outside of Naha. You can tell right away that the major roadways were built by Americans after WWII, the size and scale of the suburbs outside Naha is more like America than Japanese cities. It’s fun and there’s a lot to say for being outside Tokyo to start. Plus you’d get to learn not just Japanese but Okinawa-ben, and probably some real local stuff as well. But it’s not the big big city, and much more requires a car and driver’s license.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 15:01
|
|
|
Okinawa sounds like a really cool place to like.. rent a motorcycle and go coasting up and down the island, but I've been looking at it and not being a beach type person I can't imagine it'll be something I do often. I'd much rather do a mountain onsen 
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 15:13
|
|
|
Shibawanko posted:okinawa is beautiful and the food is very good. the us army there are known for raping and murdering locals and generally being scum but nobody is going to treat you weirdly if you dont look like a soldier or just explain that you have nothing to do with the base Keep your hair long
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 18:36
|
|
|
Martytoof posted:My EMS packages have been stuck in logistics hell for the past four weeks now. I know delivery to USA has been cancelled but I'm in Canada -- c'mon JP Back when I bought my VR headset I used the VR version of Google Earth to fly around Mt Fuji and parts of Tokyo, so I won't judge
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2020 19:23
|
|
|
Outgoing EMS from Japan has been stopped and they have like a months long backlog for the stuff that did get into the system before the late April deadline.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 03:09
|
|
|
I wonder what'll happen to stuff slated to ship, say, a month or two from now
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 07:22
|
|
|
mikeycp posted:I wonder what'll happen to stuff slated to ship, say, a month or two from now A lot of places have removed EMS and SAL as shipping options and suggest FedEx and DHL instead. Some will delay shipping if you prefer that. I have a box that made it to the post office two weeks before the EMS cutoff but didn’t make it out. 
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 07:36
|
|
|
yeah, to specify, it's Japan Post not operating anymore air mail because the number of international flights has dropped so much. So now they're only doing surface shipments in limited amounts. DHL and FedEx still are operating at some level (probably because they don't piggyback off the airlines?) but not sure. In any case, international shipping is probably going to be a mess for a while.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 10:02
|
|
|
oh i'll check that stuff in the morning then. i don't know what the gf chose for shipping options back in january
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 11:41
|
|
|
harperdc posted:yeah, to specify, it's Japan Post not operating anymore air mail because the number of international flights has dropped so much. So now they're only doing surface shipments in limited amounts. I'm not sure at what level DHL is working in Japan but amazon.co.jp seems to have switched completely to DHL for international shipments, in my experience, and I got a package from amazon.co.jp to Canada, ordered May 1, shipped May 5, arrived May 7 , was surprisingly (to me) quick after hearing lots of stories about shipments out of Japan being slow/stopped (but I guess now that's just EMS/Japanpost?)
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 22:33
|
|
|
Okinawa is very similar to Hawaii economically, with a sharp drop in affluence and infrastructure just 20 minutes away from downtown. The food is diverse, and there's so much nature to explore. The airport is really well connected for both domestic/international in normal, non-pandemic circumstances. https://www.naha-airport.co.jp/en/flight/city_list/
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2020 23:28
|
|
|
Stringent fucked around with this message at 16:13 on May 16, 2020 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2020 16:11
|
|
|
The last cigarette I ever smoked was stolen from you, and that fact alone will keep me tobacco free for the rest of my life.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2020 20:52
|
|
|
I’m glad I’m an alcohol person and not a smoke person.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2020 13:17
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2020 05:07
|
|
|
Totally original idea, Japan. https://abc7ny.com/blue-angels-nyc-fly-over-flight-path-coronavirus/6132691/
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2020 05:33
|
|
|
I kinda respect how instead of multi-role fighters they just use subsonic trainers.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2020 06:14
|
|
|
Other than driving on the left, are there any esoteric road rules that one needs to be aware of when renting a vehicle in Japan? I’m planning on doing a motorcycle trip around Okinawa in 2022 but what better time to start reading and planning than now.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2020 00:43
|
|
|
No turns on a red light. The stop line at intersections may seem too far back, until a bus turns that corner and you realize they need that space. Some intersections have pedestrian/bicycle only lights, different from crosswalk lights. You can park anywhere if you leave your blinkers on, lol. Trust no one. Enjoy!
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2020 01:27
|
|
|
I think at least some parts of Japan have rules against using earphones/-buds while riding a motorcycle, so don't do that https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0000201/
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2020 10:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 08:27 |
|
|
Assuming you have a car/motorcycle license from your home country (Canada?). Make sure to get an International Driving Permit before you leave from home and have that plus your home license when driving. The other recommendation I'd make is to not cut it too close on gas, especially in the countryside. Lots of gas stations are closed Sundays and close fairly early -- 8 or 9 pm sometimes. Also, the highways are toll roads for the most part, and it's kind of hit and miss if you'll get the Electronic Toll Control card/reader on a bike if you're renting. So that means carry cash and go through the green cash lanes instead of the purple ETC reader lanes at toll booths. I know there's a portion of big highway on Okinawa that's a toll highway, and "oh I'm going to drive through the countryside" yeah but the highway cuts beyond the US bases and gets you into the countryside. Especially since the non-toll highways are generally posted at all of 50 kph 
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2020 11:37
|
|