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In Tokyo till 19 August

Started by azleonhart, 31 July, 2015, 07:34:32

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azleonhart

Dear forummers / lurkers, i'm still in Japan (Nishi-hachioji, Tokyo to be precise) until the World Yoyo Contest ends.
I wouldn't mind meeting some players around the area, and jam some kendama (the scorching hot weather though, maybe the evenings are ideal?).
Do reply below and let me know. Thanks!
What the trick?

The Void

I'd recommend heading to Nobu-san's store Decade - players often meet there. Plus, contact Su (@su_lab on Instagram), as Su Lab/Kyandamabu have a meet every Tuesday evening. (It used to be at Kawagoe station, but I think that's changed.)
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

azleonhart

Quote from: The Void on 31 July, 2015, 10:36:22
I'd recommend heading to Nobu-san's store Decade - players often meet there. Plus, contact Su (@su_lab on Instagram), as Su Lab/Kyandamabu have a meet every Tuesday evening. (It used to be at Kawagoe station, but I think that's changed.)

@The Void met Su-san and Nobu during KWC. Both are awesome folks to chill with. Su-san was my prelim block partner then. Also went to Decade with the Sweets crew! Very nice store concept. As you may already know, made a trip to Xiphias as well.
I'll contact Su-san about that weekly meet.
What the trick?

KenSan

#3
@azleonhart  Am in Tokyo at the moment and am thinking of going to spinworkx and decade this Friday. Not sure if we will be there long as am always trying to keep the kids occupied and cool. But if your around it would be cool to meet another forum member. Not sure about time yet.


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3rd place @ BKO 2016 Adv. Division. :-)

azleonhart

@KenSan, i'll be at the World Yoyo Contest in Akihabara from tomorrow.
Decade's Nobu will also be there to promote Catch and Flow, but not sure what day. Come on over!
It's at Belle Salle Akihabara.
What the trick?

KenSan

@azleonhart will try and get over sometime on Friday. Hopefully see you there!
3rd place @ BKO 2016 Adv. Division. :-)

azleonhart

Had a wonderful meet with @KenSan!
We jammed for nearly two(?) hours when he had to leave.
Thank you for coming, and keep shredding!


(I forgot to mention the cute shredder he brought along! Your son rocks!)
What the trick?

KenSan

Hey @azleonhart Nice photo! 8)

It was really cool to meet you and talk and jam a little dama! Not sure if it wass 2hrs but the heat out there does seem to make everything feel like double the time!

I managed to get over to Spingear after lunch (Fantastic Chinese ramen  & Gyoza at the UDX complex) and pick up another blue Oz for my brother and a sneaky natty for myself!

My wife took a couple of photos of us talking and playing so I might start a little thread when they get back just to show off my few acquisitions whilst in Japan!

Hope we can meet again one day

Stuart
3rd place @ BKO 2016 Adv. Division. :-)

azleonhart

#8
Yess! Hope to meet you again sometime, @KenSan!

Ah, yes. The sweltering heat of the Japanese summer.
I don't consume pork, so it's pretty hard to locate a chicken ramen shop nearby (closest is Asakusa)!. Apparently there was a kebab store nearby the venue that was well received by the locals.
Ahh you sneaky man! Did the missus notice? Hahaha!

I hope to be able to pay a visit to EKO in the future (even more so if it's in Denmark!)
And i told myself i'll try to make it to KWC every year.
It's quite a daunting task, considering the higher cost of living (nearly 4x) in Japan, but i love meeting my dama friends!
What the trick?

KenSan

Ha ha not sneaky enough @azleonhart , she did notice but let it slide. She may even have a little kendama surprise for me when she and the boys get back tonight!

That would be pretty cool to get to the KWC every year looks like a fantastic event. The most expensive part for us going to japan is the flights :o otherwise prices are not to dissimilar to England food and drink wise, and luckily we can stay with family so no accommodation fees.



3rd place @ BKO 2016 Adv. Division. :-)

azleonhart

@KenSan, how much does a flight ticket from Britain generally cost?
Tickets from Malaysia go as low as GBP 75 for a direct trip to Japan.
I'm pretty thankful that it's that cheap, though.

KWC takes place in the Hiroshima prefecture, and players get to stay together (thanks to Gloken for setting us up).
What the trick?

KenSan

@azleonhart wow wow wow :o! That's very reasonable. Figures though distance wise. My brothers girlfriend is Polish and that's the sort of prices they pay when going to Poland.

Are you ready for this...................................It costs on average about £2000 to get me my wife and two boys to japan. Obviously there are deals to be had if you keep you eyes peeled but your lucky if you can get and adult fair for less that £500. Also Noah is 6 and at school so we can now only go on holiday during school holidays, and the nice people at airlines and holiday company's are fond of doubling there prices at these times!!

I'm just a lowly CNC machinist so I'm not made of money, which I keep pointing out to my wife but luckily her parents are very helpful when it comes to helping out with airfares. Also Its cheaper for us to go to them than them to us but they do come over from time to time.
3rd place @ BKO 2016 Adv. Division. :-)

The Void

Glad to hear you guys had a good time/meet-up.

My flight for September was ~£550. I could have sneaked it as low as about £450, I think, but that would have been with insane travel and layover times. As it is, I'll still be travelling for over 30 hours, with 2 flights, from my front door in Bristol to my hotel in Tokyo. Europe's probably about as far as you can get from Japan, so the fares figure. A direct flight would be pushing £1000.

Still... I'm really looking forwards to it!
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

KenSan

@The Void yeah direct flights have really gone out the window now. This visit was our first non direct flight (Air France). We used to always use Virgin, and there prices were very comparable to indirect flights and obviously cut travel time a lot. However they stopped flying to Japan at the end of January, so now you've only got the big boys flying direct and the prices seem to reflect that!

What we have done since the beginning of this year is join airline mailing lists so that we here about all the deals first hand!

I love Japan!

Anyway I'm sure the JKA event your going to will be fantastic. I told the in laws about it but whether or not they go I don't know.
3rd place @ BKO 2016 Adv. Division. :-)

azleonhart

@The Void, all the best judging WKO! I hear Sander will be judging with you.
I really dislike long travel times. Had a friend who wanted to take the 9-hour train ride from Tokyo to Osaka since it only costs 2,400yen.
Luckily i managed to dissuade him from doing so by finding a 1.5-hour flight at the same cost.
For me, each hour wasted in the train could be spent discovering new places.

@KenSan, i usually keep an eye out on travel fairs, since they provide the best value for me. For some cases, booking the flight waaay early (like 3-4 months above) gets you really good deals.
I also want to find research ways to 'hack' airline deals (overbooking, fuel dumping, etc etc) to get the most out of my travel.
What the trick?