coldel

As Will said traditionally tattoos were only on Yakuza who are the Japanese mafia - it tends to be less of a problem if you are western as they know that tattoos are not a sign of criminal involvement.I actually got my tattoo done in Tokyo, sat next to a Yakuza guy getting his back done - he spoke some English, was a really good few hours actually! So I did the onsens before that - I did play for a football team and in the hot summers wore sleeveless tops and I got a bit of a reaction but not to the extent Will mentioned above (which I can imagine could happen if you are Japanese). You wont get in an onsen with any tattoos which is a shame as its such a unique experience. I went to a gym once and said I had a tattoo, they let me use it that once but I had to change in a cubicle not in the general changing area and I had to wear a long sleeve top. Oh and thought of some other things in Tokyo overnight! Pachinko vanues - gambling is illegal so the guys go in and drop thousands of ball bearings into machines which can return more at the bottom (think the penny shove style games in the arcades) - if they get more then they take them to a clerk and get a prize which could be a teddy bear or something branded to that establishment - you can then go outside and find a vendor who will buy that teddy off you for the amount you should have won so they sell for like £500 or something if you win big. Just their way of dodging the laws! Karaoke - you must do this, its not like UK karaoke - you will often find stressed businessmen go and do this on their own after work to wind down before going back home. Make sure you go for ones that have deals, you can pay something like £20-£30 each and you get plates full of great food, all the alcohol you can drink and 2 hours in a karaoke booth (with English subtitles so you can sing along!) Make the most of the food - worth learning about yakitori, katsu, and all the different variations of food (sashimi is lovely and even though it might not appeal) If you want a boozy night out Roppongi (not to be confused with Roppongi Hills which is very different) is bar and club lined - I did an all nighter along there once, started at 7pm did about five bars/clubs and ended up having pepperoni pizza at 4am in a diner before clubbing on till 7am and then heading home! Shinjuku has tonnes of stuff, but it is very much the more commercial part of Tokyo, very busy, lots of department stores (such as Iseten I think its called) the train station itself is sprawling and covers something like 4km of walkways. So its tempting not to venture far. But you are in a great hub so make sure you get on the metro (which will astonish you with its reliability, never late, never delayed, it just works all the time - and watch out for the white gloved 'shovers') and venture off to different parts of Tokyo.

Wouldn't worry about red light district, one of the safest cities in the world Tokyo. You can wander through there 2am and never know what you just wandered through. What to do in Tokyo, so much cool stuff, the typical touristy stuff to do on a first trip: Meiji Shrine and harajuku area, all the alternative Japanese plus a huge shrine area - go on a weekend and you will probably see a traditional Japanese wedding (have to be millionaires to marry there so its pretty amazing) Sumo wrestling isn't as popular as it used to be but for a foreigner its a stunning day out - think its on in May, you will need to check - great thing is you wander around the outer arena and literally have the wrestlers walk past you, they are 30 stone of solid muscle, enormous! Shibuya, where all the cool kids hang out and has the multi way pedestrian crossing as well as the bronze dog there (Hachiko, google it) There is a national park in Shinjuku, you will be able to walk there, fantastic tranquility in a busy city There is a twin tower government building, you can go to the top for free something like 48 stories, great view of the city, again walking distance from Shinjuku Roppongi Hills for your posh shopping experience, similar can be said of Ginza which has all your designer stores plus traditional theatre Also get the tram across to odaiba you will go over the rainbow bridge which is amazing Fresh sushi at the fish markets, but make sure you are there for 5am latest Try all the local food, just don't ask what it is, you will enjoy it more If you have no tattoos, get yourself into an onsen - get naked - be brave In terms of places to visit outside Tokyo, Nara is a good shout, I never got the chance to go to Okinawa, wish I had. Oh and if you are near Yotsuya station, you can visit this pub the Three Threads for an English pint - it was my local! Very bizarre building in the middle of such massive high rise apartments. I lived in the apartments on the left of the photo!

Lower it and complete the look!

I used to live in Tokyo - when I am home tonight will compile my dossier for you "Sumi-masan" is the first word to learn, it effectively means 'excuse me' in any context and you will use it a lot staying in Shinjuku! Accommodation is expensive but food is relatively cheap - I remember using the Tokyustay hotel chain I think its called for fairly cheap, reasonable quality western style stays around Japan.

Absolutely, although the problem is that the Yes campaign have driven a hard message that voting No is being anti-Scottish, which is clearly not the case. Some people I know who are going to vote are going to vote No but are seriously worried about the violent repercussions from the 'Braveheart' Yes voters who think they have let the country down voting no.

Its because both countries will suffer if they split up and Westminster knows it. They only plus for Scotland if they go it alone is exactly that, they can make whatever decisions they like, it doesn't mean they will be financially sorted which is what Salmond is trying to convince everybody of. In terms of the energy sector, it is not wholly Scottish owned, the UK government subsidies heavily all the development that goes on within these businesses. As much as watching the debates is interesting, it doesn't even scratch the surface of what will happen if they go it alone - they are purely popularity contests which contain about 0.1% of the facts - both sides have so much to hide.

Sure they were pointing at the car...

Haha love it Ian! I have caught someone taking a selfie of mine in the background and in a car park was asked by a passer by if I could step to the side so he could take a photo of it when I went to get in and drive off! I wish I had grabbed a photo of both!

It is somewhat ironic, that the people involved in the energy industry that Salmond seems to have chucked his eggs into, he has very little support. I don't want the UK to break up because we are just getting ourselves back on a level footing after a disastrous recession, if a Yes vote goes through it will set us back years, both countries. If they want to go for it, then good luck go for it, but if boot were on the other foot and England wanted to cut loose the UK and I had the case put forwards as Salmond has, I would be seriously concerned that this guy is just making it up as he goes along and has no plan on how to actually make this work.

Absolutely, they should have more control - but economically surely its a no brainer that as part of the UK they are stronger. Funny how Salmond doesn't mention that the UK government subsidises a lot of the development that goes on in the energy industry, to the tune of billions, all that will go and it will be the Scottish taxpayer that has to stump it up.

The most likely outcome is probably the worst, that the no vote wins 55 to 45. So it doesn't actually put the whole debate to bed but still leaves it open, even though its meant to be a vote on yes or no and thats it. The debate will just rumble on. As I said previously on this thread, my neighbour is CEO of a Scottish power company and knows that the promises made by Salmond on oil and the like are very inaccurate and very short-termist (and this guy has regular meetings with the energy minister of the UK), any money that they think they will make will be swallowed up by the costs they need to recover when they try to cover all the benefits that Scotland offer over England and the rest of the UK in the long run. Somewhat ironic that there is so much anti Tory views from Yes voters when back in the 70s they were really popular as they are believe it or not a low taxation party which sits quite well with Scotland. It was only the closing of industry and the introduction of Poll Tax in Scotland first that changed all that. I am not sure how well high taxation which is Salmonds policy will sit with Scottish people? I am no expert but the way I see it is if they vote Yes, both England and Scotland lose, its just a piece of national pride that wins.

Deposit will cover this but won't cove the loss in rent. I'm gutted. Hopefully the new ones will be better! A good tenant is worth their weight in gold aren't they God yeah. We had a Polish couple move in, the guy was a builder and said if we paid for the insulation materials at cost price he would insulate the place. Also our old neighbour reported him sat out on the upstairs window ledge polishing the outside of the windows the other day!

Bugger. We have a property we rent out but haven't a clue how to chase costs if they did a runner - mind you the tenants have been in there for 7 years now! Could you not literally rock up with some mates on their moving out day and if necessary call the police?

If you ask VERY nicely you might find someone on here willing to take a look who might be local, its not unheard of. And just imagine the drive home in it When I bought my VX220 it was a hot balmy summers evening, I had 170 miles ahead of me, roof down and away I went. Got home at 11pm with the roof still off! It was a BRILLIANT drive.

I think the forum has spoken - many an experienced head has said DONT DO IT which would be good enough for me

RB25DET is absolutely bomb proof!

Do you not have a retainer? I know its usually six weeks rent but would offset it?

I like Scotland also! Still want them to say No, be such an inconvenience for Scots to have to convert 10,000 Scottish dollars into 5 British pounds to pay the toll to get into the UK when visiting by car

I don't have a 'team' nor the skills to do things myself - so buying tatty and fixing up is not on the agenda If you don't have guys that can do fixer uppers for you on the cheap, buying tatty can turn into a lot of money which would mean selling at a higher price doesn't equate to a better margin on return.

Tried selling mine on here a few years back - certainly no where near £150, I think a local scrappie offered something like £30 each.

This I can see the point of the weakest seller approach, but whenever I buy a car I buy with a view to selling at some point - my VX220 went in a week, much more specialist than a Zed, during November, so totally out of season. I sold it at a couple of hundred quid below asking price. It sold because when I was buying I paid good money for a car which was spotless, no marks, no bubbling, good mileage etc. I am happy to pay that bit more because I know it will mean come sale time I want it sold quickly and put me in a good position to hold my nerve in terms of price.

I kinda said my piece and backed out as I knew this might go the distance! Having read through, seems to me that those that donate say once a year or less are the ones defending this - those that donate regularly seem against it. From a charities point of view, yes its great to have your name all over social media and go viral, a nice short term boost, but its not those sorts of donations that will ensure that charity is still doing good stuff this time next year, the people that did the ice bucket challenge will have long gone and the charity will be a blip in the history of Facebook. Thats when they rely on the SMDs of this world to keep them going, just as they have done for years before. So I can see why people see some of the videos as something rather vain and quite hollow in terms of 'donating' - but like I said, a charity will never turn away money, its great to have a big boost.

I do miss my VX220, stunning car but really was a third car for warm weekends so wasnt getting the use it deserved Actually miss the white Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia I got in my early twenties - I grew up in Dagenham so whilst everyone went the Fiesta Escort route I decided for something a bit different - leccy windows, a blower that worked and an electric aerial! It had all the mod cons. And a fuel injected 1.6 litre engine, at the time felt like a missile

Going to go with the earlier comments, Ford Focus all day long for me. Parts are dirt cheap and readily available. Plenty of cars up for sale so wont have to travel far to check a few out. Generally cheaper than German alternatives.

Ah yes, those of us with special names