sigsputnik

yep i think you're right about the sesame. we tried some the other night and it was great!

That's 30 - Love.

Hi guys, I just posted a bunch of pix of record stores in another thread. More pix of cars coming soon. Sig.

Across the road is...uh...can't remember the name (think it's Dance Music World). Anyway, two floors of house and hip hop. Lots of re-issues and that: this is where I found my copy of Eric B and Rakim - Juice a few years ago. BUT I don't remember seeing listening facilities - many places DON'T let you listen to records (which is a joke if you sell white labels and that, in my opinion). There's a hip hop store just next to Dance Music World. Spec Ops pix: Spice Records is another worthwhile visit. Split across several stores again: ...and the hip hop specialty store. LOTS of tracks and represses, with rarer tracks on the wall. No listening facilities, but they will let you inspect the record grooves visually, if you're concerned about how good that Stetsasonic record is. Another store just around the corner, listening facilities in the front window. On this visit they had heaps of repressings of Jungle Brothers - Done by the Forces of Nature. Reco Fan Shibuya is a decent visit. Plenty of signs, you won't miss it. Here's a shot of the records sitting outside the shop: ...and a shot from inside. The boxes you see here are mostly rare groove, so if you need a drum loop from The Meters or Apache, you could find it here. To the left out of shot is many more crates of 12s, mostly house, r+b, hip hop. There's a lot more to this shop but time was running out and I had to split. HMV is also well represented, and they have a dance music floor. They used to have decent listening facilities but for some reason they're gone now. Tower Records is down the road if you're into that sort of thing. Lessons: 1. Bring LOTS of cash. 2. If you see a track and aren't sure, it may well be gone the next day. I've learned this the hard way. 3. Bring LOTS of cash. Cheers.

Hi guys, I thought I might post some photos of the record stores everyone's talking about, seeing as how I found myself out there today. Most of the shots taken inside the shop I had to do very discretely in case so excuse some of the poor focus/framing. This is (part of) Shibuya, though you'll find a decent number of record stores in Shinjuku also. For starters, this is Cisco, which some have mentioned. It's a great record shop, they let you listen to stuff, lots of white labels, test pressings, bootlegs, mashups, advance pressings, promos etc. It's split across about six stores, each with a specialty. Here you can see the techno one. House... House II... Sign for the hip hop store Second hand record stores are fairly plentiful. You'll find a fair few in apartment blocks, which are converted into record stores during the day and living quarters at night. This one's next to Cisco, but there are others tucked away in alley ways etc. Down the road is Manhattan Records, again split across stores. Going down into the House store: Covert pix from inside, splinter cell style: cont'd...

hey guys thanks heaps for the input, really appreciate it! just called qantas to find out prices for unaccompanied luggage and they're quite hefty - Y1410 a kilo. That's not far off the over-weight charge for normal baggage. the post office looks a little better - Y6750 for 10 kilos (sliding scale, looks like). but you're right, now that i think of it i've never been charged over limit ever. i might risk it...

>SKYGTRLINE!!!! I have a result for you. See your PM inbox. God, don't keep it to yourself LET US KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. The suspense is killing me. Tell me. TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME. PM OK. Go ooooon.

Hi everyone, For the first time in my trips here I'm concerned I'll have far too much stuff to pack in my suitcase. Can anyone give advice on ways to get stuff home? Sig.

ChaserV, Shibuya is where you want. I am a vinyl junkie and I get my fix at Shibuya. You'll find a new record shop every day. I've bought about half a crate of vinyl since I arrived. ^_^ As for clothes, in my opinion the clothes here walk all over the clothes in Australia. I avoid the b-boy shops outright, but they really only describe a small portion of the clothes around here. I'd advise you to hunt around Harajuku, Shibuya and Ameyoko. I've found the most mind-blowing stuff in titchy basement shops or up alleys. The biggest problem is getting the sizes.

Hi y'all, More pix. R34 to get the ball rolling. This place lets you, essentially, muck about. You pay your cash, and you get free internet, video games, (40,000) comics, free coffee, CDs and DVD listening, massage etc etc. Nissan Red Stage!. A Nissan dealership group, as far as I know. Bags on show. No idea what kind of car it is. Caddy maybe? Porsche 911 Carrera (I think?) Of course space is an issue over here, and this goes for parking too. Here's a storage bay for taxis. Some flats and houses also make use of this kind of thing. I've been meaning to get some more shots to document this phenomenon, but on Sundays in Akihabara they close the road to traffic, opening up six lanes to pedestrians. You frequently see the odd indie rock star, cosplay or advertising girls out and about. Grabbed this shot of a gadget shop in Akihabara. If you look closely you can see those pillows shaped like a girl's lap. Suits you sir! Ferrari Modena This GTR sounded NOICE. Sorry for the crappy focus on this, blame my a510. and my skill. Anyway it reminded me of the old Tamiya Sand Scorcher RC car. Ah, how I miss you Sand Scorcher. Someone PM'd me asking for any R31s and that. Here's one, though I must admit they aren't common around here . I suspect I'll have some more photos of these in the next few weeks though. See ya next time.

did they say exactly what you had to do? i.e. what your burden was?

is she still not returning calls???

didn't you buy this one from a dealer? isn't there a warranty?

> Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of insurance That should be on a t-shirt.

Oops, crumbs they look similar. I should do a post showing the Nissan range over here (the Toyota "Belta" was also just released).

OK, Duncan asked for restaurant pix and I have some of those for another post, but this one's worth doing now. This might be a good time to get your girlfriend, if you have one. First, it seems dessert is popular here: I don't know what the grey cream is - if anyone knows, please let us in on it. They have a place here which is designed to satisfy any dessert/cake craving. It's called "Sweets Paradise". The idea is you hand over a fee (about AU$16) and then you get to eat as much dessert as you like for 90 minutes. This is the queue to get in: Basically, there's loads of different cakes, tarts, custards, profiteroles and others rotated as fast as they can cook them out the back. Pasta and salad also, for the lightweights. They have popcorn... ...and this is a liquid chocolate fountain. Here's how it works: 1. skewer a bit of banana, marshmallow, apple, wafer or something. 2. dip it in the chocolate. 3. roll it around in nuts or hundreds+thousands if desired 4. Consume. 5. Repeat. It's very popular with the girls. There was a whole fleet of them there on the night we went. Could be part of the curriculum. Ferrari F355 Lancer Evo VI. Wen to an art exhibition recently about Gundam (i.e. big robot battle suits). This was the only photo we were allowed to take (these were about 7 feet tall) but you can find more photos here: Gundam Generating Future. 350z with some nice rims. R34 with bodykit and zorst. More pix next time.

surely there is a provision for the other party being incommunicado. personal insurance is not my forte, but being able to demonstrate such conditions is part of other types of assurance. to be frank, i'd say she has considered her situation and has realised her predicament.

jeez it hasn't been an easy intro to skylines for you, has it!

Yes, were you there??? From memory it was the next street up from "Smoker's Corner".

Hi y'all, More pix. Even though this is one of the most ordered and recycling-aware places on the planet, there's also frankly quite a lot of garbage about the place. Things are good here right now, so people throw away lots of stuff. Here you can see flat screen tvs, fridges... Even a pair of Bose 901s. They're still there day after day, slowly gathering silt and dirt. An old arcade machine no longer wanted. Still had screen but no Jamma board (didn't check very closely). R34 with diiiiiish. Very nice Honda NSX Now that's a bonnet vent. You could see the road through this thing. No idea. Hello Kitty is popular here. And worth $$$$$. That's right, SPECIAL patrol. Lowrider. Darling would it be alright with you if I pimped the Rolls? Titchy Smart Car. See ya next time

whenever i see a ferrari i don't have my camera on me - the other day in shibuya i clocked two ferrari 360s, a 1960 corvette and a maybach.

yep you could be right but gee it looked like hell. but you'd have to really want a bluebird given the taxes on old cars and the giveaway prices on other cars in the second hand magazines (e.g. Car Sensor) here.

cheers, chaps. yep, more pix on the way.

Skyline GTR cigarette lighters. Not especially cheap either at AU$85ish a pop. Proof that riced junk exists the world over. Note roof-mounted ski racks for superior handling. Nissan Cima Calsonic Version. RX7 with extra dials for go-fastness. See y'all next time.

Hi guys, Sorry it's taken so long to post new shots, just been so busy here. OK lessee what we have here. Been meaning to post these two up. Seems hotting up vans is quite popular here. Here are two examples from my recent travels. The filth! There are many different types of cop car over here, I'll try and snap some more. You better panic when you see this thing in your rear-view. BMW 645 Convertible Nismo R33 GTR G-Attack. No idea what G-attack is, anyone else have details? There are more details here but that's it. Detail of the Nismo G-Attack decal.