[Bret L]

I suggest Japan:

"Parts shopping in Asia

Updated 7/3/08 - added info on Hino Audio

My "day job" takes me to Asia fairly frequently. When I have spare
time, I've tried to seek out decent shops that have tube audio-related
parts.

Japan:

If you should ever find yourself in Japan, or would like an excellent
tube audio adventure trip, you need to go to Akihabara. Akihabara -
"electric town" - is Tokyo's electronic shopping district. Mostly
what you'd expect - consumer electronics stuff - but has a good amount
of little places that sell DIY parts. Especially in the area right
around the JR Akihabara train station, there are some little stall
shops that have some really nice stuff.

Here's an English-language page with some good introductory info on
Akihabara.

Some photos of Akihabara:

Standing in front of the Tokyo Radio Department building (to the
right) looking North

In front of JR Akihabara station, looking Northeast across Chuo-dori.
The station is just out of sight to the left.

On the Southwest side of the station, looking North towards Chuo-
dori. Radio Kaikan is to the left.

Across Chuo-dori from the station, looking South. The "Radio
Center" (small stalls selling parts) is under the tracks across the
street, under the Icom sign. You can see Yodobashi Camera on the far
side of the station to the left.

I found that buying two pairs of Tango OPT's in person in Japan
actually paid for my airfare from Denver (USA) to Tokyo... granted, I
got a great ticket price ($450 round trip!), but still, some things
are much cheaper there!

The easiest way to get to Akihabara is to take a JR train to Akihabara
station. You can also get there by other train lines or subway, but
I've always found JR is easiest for the non-Japanese visitor. Most JR
trains in the Tokyo metro area have signs and announcements in
English.

Akihabara station is North of Tokyo station, and East of Shinjuku, at
the intersection of the Sobu and Yamanote lines. JR has a good
English-language map of the Tokyo rail system, and also English maps
of major stations that will help you find your way around Tokyo.
Coming from Shinjuku, either take the Chuo/Sobu local train (yellow)
towards Yoyogi and Chiba (a local train that makes lots of stop), or
take the Chuo line rapid train (orange) towards Tokyo station, then
change to the Chuo local train at Ochanomizu (just get off and walk
across the platform to the yellow train). One stop and you're at
Akihabara. From Tokyo station, take the Yamanote line (green) towards
Kanda and Ueno - I think it's two stops to Akihabara.

Once you're at the station, it can be hard to orient yourself. The JR
English map of Akihabara station which will help. This map is
oriented correctly (with North up). Note that the Electric Town exit
is under the tracks to he West of the station, and you will exit
either to the North or the South of the tracks. The Central gate and
the Show-Dori exit are on the same side of the station (East), but the
Showa-Dori exit is across the street (basically into the Yodobashi
Camera building).

A note on finding your way around Akihabara: when you're trying to
find a place, and are looking at one of the maps provided by a web
site... there is no standard as to which way is North! You have to
try and orient the map relative to a known landmark. Akihabara maps
almost always show the JR Akihabara station, but North may be up,
down, left or right.

Another note is that things are usually a lot closer than you think by
looking at the map. I've walked a few blocks only to realize that I
passed the place I was looking for. Many of the maps are very small
scale - what may look like a normal US city block on the map might
only be 10 yards or so, so be careful and pay attention.

Also, remember to look up. Many shops are in upper floors of
buildings, and are not obvious from the street. Usually they have
signs up on the building. Don't be afraid to walk up the stairs - you
never know what you'll stumble into!

If you're looking for parts, here is a wonderful resource: An English-
language web site that lists many of the popular stores! (Careful,
their map shows West as up).

Note that almost all the web site links below are to Japanese-language
pages. You may have to set the encoding to Japanese to view them
correctly. Even if you don't read Japanese you can gain useful info
from these sites by poking around, or use Google translation.

I've been spending so much time in Japan lately that I decided to put
together some of my own maps. These show the places that are
important to a DIY audio guy. I don't show any of the dozens of
computer shops, gaming shops, or Anime houses. Sorry they take some
time to load, but I wanted to make these detailed enough that you can
find the shops...

North is up (towards the top of the map) in all of these.

The first map shows JR Akihabara station and the immediate area:

This shows the area immediately West and South of the station:

Next is the area to the immediate North and West of the station:

And then the area a bit further North:

The first stop to make is right outside the JR station to the West,
underneath the Sobu line tracks that lead back towards Ochanomizu (and
Shinjuku). Called the "Radio center", there are two floors of mostly
tiny stalls that sell all types of electronic stuff. Here is a map
showing the stall layout (in English!) Many have generic selections
of LEDs, switches, and connectors, but there are shops that specialize
in things like relays and transformers that are particularly nice.
Amtrans has a stall here, which sells tubes (mostly expensive) and
also has a good selection of sockets that are hard to find. There are
also shops that specialize in CCTV, ham radio, and light bulbs, among
other things.

Another interesting place to browse is under the tracks to the South
of the station. No idea what the place is called, but they have lots
of really old parts. I found some nice Japanese paper-in-oil caps
here. You can find it by going out the Electric Town exit to the
South (left as you exit), and walk along the tracks and cross the
street. There's also a little tube specialty shop in this area that
sells tubes, transformers, and relatively inexpensive kits.

In this same vicinity, there's a building right next to the station
outside the South Electric Town exit that's worth wandering through
called Radio Kaikan. Inside are a number of shops catering to various
hobbies, including a few DIY electronics paces. Wakamatsu has an
audio shop in this building on the 4th floor. Also on the 4th floor
is a shop called Kimuramusen that sells cables, as well as some
speaker drivers and tube audio stuff. Elsewhere in this building are a
number of specialty hobby shops, a bookstore, and a ham radio store.

To the right of Radio Kaikan is another building with small shops that
mostly cater to tourists looking for duty-free export electronics (you
can get this stuff cheaper at home), but there are a couple of shops
worth seeing inside. In particular there is a full-range speaker
store that sells lots of Fostex and many other brands of speaker
drivers. They sometimes have some good deals on surplus drivers as
well as some brands you never see in the US.

For general electronic components, one of the best places is Tokyo
Radio Department (TRD) building. Here is an English map of the
building. The TRD building is just outside the station, just to the
West across Chuo-dori (Chuo Avenue), the "main street" of Akihabara.
Inside the TRD building you'll find four floors of parts sellers,
specializing in everything from metal case parts to resistors and caps
to vacuum tubes. This is one of the best places I know to buy things
like tube sockets, passive components, and Alps pots.

Definitely visit Noguchi Transformers, in the basement level of TRD.
Don't count on anybody there being able to speak English, but if you
come knowing what you want, you won't have any problems. Check out
Noguchi's website, and you can at least figure out what they have, and
get the prices (in JP Yen).

Outside TRD and across the alley is a shop that sells all types of
wire and cable called Oyaide. They have materials to make some nice
interconnect and speaker cables.

NEW 7/3/09

Another shop that sells Tango, Hashimoto, and Tamura transformers, as
well as a good selection of full-range speakers, is Hino Audio. Hino
Audio is just south of the station. If you come out of the station
facing Chuo-dori, make a left and walk down Chuo-dori until you cross
a small bridge, then turn left. You can't miss Hino, they have
several storefronts a block or less down the street. Unlike some
shops, you can speak English here - at least one of the employees
speaks good English. Hino will also respond to emails in English
(most Japanese shops just ignore any email not in Japanese).

Their email address is . They tell me they
will also ship to the US, so if you want some Japanese iron or drivers
shipped, they can take care of you.

Last time I was there I picked up a Tango choke-input choke and a pair
of Pioneer "30th anniversary" PE-101A drivers (not available outside
Japan). I also shot a few photos of Hino:

Outside

Transformer inventory... Tango, Tamura, Hashimoto, and James

Drivers... Fostex, other full-range drivers

Tubes

Another shop I really like is Classic Components. Classic Components
is mostly a tube vendor, but also carries sockets, Tango and Hammond
transformers, capacitors, and other tube-related parts. This is the
best tube shop I've visited in Japan so far. Don't expect bargains on
rare NOS tubes - they are as expensive here as anywhere - but I have
occasionally found very good prices (like Amperex 8608's for $9.00
each), and also a surprising selection of unusual US tube types (like
dual-cap VT-235 and 2C26A tubes).

Classic Components is hard to find, even if you read Japanese. Follow
their map (on this map, North is actually up)... look for a small
yellow brick building (near the end of the street). There's a small
PC shop on the ground floor. Take the elevator (to the left of the PC
shop) to the 5th floor. Very little English is spoken. They take
credit cards... so you will be tempted to spend more than you
planned

Andix is another tube shop. Smaller than Classic, it may be worth a
visit. It's located a bit North of the Electric Town exit. Note
their map has North to the left... the shop is on the 4th floor (I
think), and there is a sign on the outside of the building.

Of course there are many electronics shops that cater to the general
electronics DIY crowd (as opposed to tube audio geeks). Some carry a
few tube-specific parts but focus on other items. A few of note:

Wakamatsu is one worth looking at. They have a small building with
six floors, located a few blocks North of the station along Chuo-
dori. Each floor has different stuff, ranging from PC parts to audio
parts. They also have an audio specialty shop in a the Radio Kaikan
building (above) just outside the South Electric Town exit.

Akizukidenshi has been recommended to me, but I have yet to visit
them. Judging from their web site they have a good parts selection.

Sengoku is another large general electronics shop.

There's a small shop that sells surplus parts cheap on Sotobori-dori,
a block West and a little South of the station... sorry, I don't know
what it's called. Nearby, a little further along Sotobori-dori near
where it crosses the tracks is a test equipment store that has an
interesting assortment of old and new test equipment.

If you're interested in headphones, or just want to see the mother of
all consumer electronics stores, you must visit Yodobashi Camera in
Akihabara. The Yodobashi store is in the opposite direction from
"Electric Town", to the Northeast of the JR station. If you go out
the Showa-Dori exit you wind up right at Yodobashi. It is a big
store, hard to miss.

Yodobashi also has other stores (in Shinjuku, for example), but the
Akiba store is the best. Almost half a city block in size, with six
floors of electronics, plus one floor each of food, books and music,
and golf items. Their headphone / earbud / IEM selection is mind-
boggling; I estimate several HUNDRED different models, from $1.00 to
$1000 or more. And you can listen to any of them (OK, not the cheap
blister-packed ones, but pretty much everything else). Don't expect
to find US or European models any cheaper here than anywhere else, but
if you want Japanese phones like Denon, Sony, or Audio-Technica you
may find them cheaper here than elsewhere. I know for a fact that A-T
phones are cheaper here than in the US, and you can be assured they
are not cheap Chinese knock-offs. And there's a good 24-hour sushi
place outside on the ground floor, and another one on the 8th floor in
the food court (cheaper conveyor-belt sushi).

You can find some additional info on Akihabara by surfing and
Googling, but there are not many pages in English. Here is one, an
"official" Akihabra web site. Designed for tourists who want to buy
products and duty-free sales, it still has some useful info.

A note on money: Most small parts shops accept only Japanese cash.
Some high-end places, and those that cater to foreign tourists like
duty-free places), and departments stores (like Yodobashi) will take
cards. The best way to get Japanese cash is not at a foreign exchange
booth - just take out cash from an ATM. Not all ATMs support foreign
cards or speak English, but all of the ATMs at 7-11 stores seem to
work and have an English option. They change a small fee (~200 yen)
just like in the US. You can also use cards at machines from American
banks like Citibank, but they're harder to find."



http://www.pmillett.com/parts_in_asia.htm

[Patrick Turner]

Please forgive me in advance for top posting a reply to your informative
OP.

But there is so much in your message, its easier for everyone to read
what I think without the scrolling.

I have no doubt there are remarkable products available in Japan.

Its just that i don't seem to want anything from Japan right now at all,
and remarkably, apart from the occasional OPT and PT which have failed
in Lux amps which I have tried to unsuccessfully service because those
parts were so difficult to obtain 30 years after the production ceased,
there has never been anything I've wanted from Japan.

My cousin married a Japanese lady of great beauty and emarkable passion.
I felt could have done well to marry a Jap lady myself, but the eventual
price for the experience that must be paid is remarkably high all things
considered.

But even with hij the marriage didn't last, and as soon as the 2 kids
became young adults she had so much passion for life compared to my
cousin at 50+ that she feel in love with the dance instructor at a class
she dragged him along to. Opps, wife runs off with instructor.
He's had a mental breakdown since. The whole business demonstrates to me
the older you get, the better you was, and you cannot forsee outcomes.

After finding that supposedly normal Oz ladies were fairly allergic to
marriage I did consider a purposeful visit to Asia but the language and
cultural and cost and trust issues were way beyond my modest means.

From what I see, there is great interest in my website from peoples in
asia, and I welcome their enquiries.
Unfortunately, I see so very few asian websites which I would learn very
much and thus want to make a vist in person.
So I doubt there would be any purpose for me to travel to asia to
explore tha place. The asians would wonder WTF was I there for and so
would I.

I'd only ever spend on travel or a holiday if I have money to burn, and
still be well off.

Meanwhile, I have to earn a living and pay bills, so while on a holiday,
gazing at shielas I could never have on beaches while the local guys
look at me dangerously isn't something I aspire to.

My sisters have travelled, and so has my mother, and frankly I don't see
what good it did any of them.
I travelled once to Bali for a month in 1981 which taught me once and
for all what was dead wrong with most people around me at home. Compared
to the poor but smiling people in Bali the locals here all were grossly
greedy, and lustful and were well riddled with all the other of seven
vices which made having a huge involvment with any one of them most
likely more painful than rewarding unless I was extremely careful. I
learnt naturally to never get involved unless it proved beneficial. This
allowed business, but not that rip off craperama called love.

I just never ever think of taking a holiday.

I like what I do.

I like myself.

I know I ain't ****in perfect.

At 62, the bars and clubs and shenanigans and fornications possible on
some holiday are grossly boring prospects for me. I think very
differently to how I was at 31.

So I don't need to escape.

But I quite enjoyed a 100km ride in the countryside yesterday on a
bicycle.

Patrick Turner.





Bret L wrote:

I suggest Japan:

"Parts shopping in Asia

Updated 7/3/08 - added info on Hino Audio

My "day job" takes me to Asia fairly frequently. When I have spare
time, I've tried to seek out decent shops that have tube audio-related
parts.

Japan:

If you should ever find yourself in Japan, or would like an excellent
tube audio adventure trip, you need to go to Akihabara. Akihabara -
"electric town" - is Tokyo's electronic shopping district. Mostly
what you'd expect - consumer electronics stuff - but has a good amount
of little places that sell DIY parts. Especially in the area right
around the JR Akihabara train station, there are some little stall
shops that have some really nice stuff.

Here's an English-language page with some good introductory info on
Akihabara.

Some photos of Akihabara:

Standing in front of the Tokyo Radio Department building (to the
right) looking North

In front of JR Akihabara station, looking Northeast across Chuo-dori.
The station is just out of sight to the left.

On the Southwest side of the station, looking North towards Chuo-
dori. Radio Kaikan is to the left.

Across Chuo-dori from the station, looking South. The "Radio
Center" (small stalls selling parts) is under the tracks across the
street, under the Icom sign. You can see Yodobashi Camera on the far
side of the station to the left.

I found that buying two pairs of Tango OPT's in person in Japan
actually paid for my airfare from Denver (USA) to Tokyo... granted, I
got a great ticket price ($450 round trip!), but still, some things
are much cheaper there!

The easiest way to get to Akihabara is to take a JR train to Akihabara
station. You can also get there by other train lines or subway, but
I've always found JR is easiest for the non-Japanese visitor. Most JR
trains in the Tokyo metro area have signs and announcements in
English.

Akihabara station is North of Tokyo station, and East of Shinjuku, at
the intersection of the Sobu and Yamanote lines. JR has a good
English-language map of the Tokyo rail system, and also English maps
of major stations that will help you find your way around Tokyo.
Coming from Shinjuku, either take the Chuo/Sobu local train (yellow)
towards Yoyogi and Chiba (a local train that makes lots of stop), or
take the Chuo line rapid train (orange) towards Tokyo station, then
change to the Chuo local train at Ochanomizu (just get off and walk
across the platform to the yellow train). One stop and you're at
Akihabara. From Tokyo station, take the Yamanote line (green) towards
Kanda and Ueno - I think it's two stops to Akihabara.

Once you're at the station, it can be hard to orient yourself. The JR
English map of Akihabara station which will help. This map is
oriented correctly (with North up). Note that the Electric Town exit
is under the tracks to he West of the station, and you will exit
either to the North or the South of the tracks. The Central gate and
the Show-Dori exit are on the same side of the station (East), but the
Showa-Dori exit is across the street (basically into the Yodobashi
Camera building).

A note on finding your way around Akihabara: when you're trying to
find a place, and are looking at one of the maps provided by a web
site... there is no standard as to which way is North! You have to
try and orient the map relative to a known landmark. Akihabara maps
almost always show the JR Akihabara station, but North may be up,
down, left or right.

Another note is that things are usually a lot closer than you think by
looking at the map. I've walked a few blocks only to realize that I
passed the place I was looking for. Many of the maps are very small
scale - what may look like a normal US city block on the map might
only be 10 yards or so, so be careful and pay attention.

Also, remember to look up. Many shops are in upper floors of
buildings, and are not obvious from the street. Usually they have
signs up on the building. Don't be afraid to walk up the stairs - you
never know what you'll stumble into!

If you're looking for parts, here is a wonderful resource: An English-
language web site that lists many of the popular stores! (Careful,
their map shows West as up).

Note that almost all the web site links below are to Japanese-language
pages. You may have to set the encoding to Japanese to view them
correctly. Even if you don't read Japanese you can gain useful info
from these sites by poking around, or use Google translation.

I've been spending so much time in Japan lately that I decided to put
together some of my own maps. These show the places that are
important to a DIY audio guy. I don't show any of the dozens of
computer shops, gaming shops, or Anime houses. Sorry they take some
time to load, but I wanted to make these detailed enough that you can
find the shops...

North is up (towards the top of the map) in all of these.

The first map shows JR Akihabara station and the immediate area:

This shows the area immediately West and South of the station:

Next is the area to the immediate North and West of the station:

And then the area a bit further North:

The first stop to make is right outside the JR station to the West,
underneath the Sobu line tracks that lead back towards Ochanomizu (and
Shinjuku). Called the "Radio center", there are two floors of mostly
tiny stalls that sell all types of electronic stuff. Here is a map
showing the stall layout (in English!) Many have generic selections
of LEDs, switches, and connectors, but there are shops that specialize
in things like relays and transformers that are particularly nice.
Amtrans has a stall here, which sells tubes (mostly expensive) and
also has a good selection of sockets that are hard to find. There are
also shops that specialize in CCTV, ham radio, and light bulbs, among
other things.

Another interesting place to browse is under the tracks to the South
of the station. No idea what the place is called, but they have lots
of really old parts. I found some nice Japanese paper-in-oil caps
here. You can find it by going out the Electric Town exit to the
South (left as you exit), and walk along the tracks and cross the
street. There's also a little tube specialty shop in this area that
sells tubes, transformers, and relatively inexpensive kits.

In this same vicinity, there's a building right next to the station
outside the South Electric Town exit that's worth wandering through
called Radio Kaikan. Inside are a number of shops catering to various
hobbies, including a few DIY electronics paces. Wakamatsu has an
audio shop in this building on the 4th floor. Also on the 4th floor
is a shop called Kimuramusen that sells cables, as well as some
speaker drivers and tube audio stuff. Elsewhere in this building are a
number of specialty hobby shops, a bookstore, and a ham radio store.

To the right of Radio Kaikan is another building with small shops that
mostly cater to tourists looking for duty-free export electronics (you
can get this stuff cheaper at home), but there are a couple of shops
worth seeing inside. In particular there is a full-range speaker
store that sells lots of Fostex and many other brands of speaker
drivers. They sometimes have some good deals on surplus drivers as
well as some brands you never see in the US.

For general electronic components, one of the best places is Tokyo
Radio Department (TRD) building. Here is an English map of the
building. The TRD building is just outside the station, just to the
West across Chuo-dori (Chuo Avenue), the "main street" of Akihabara.
Inside the TRD building you'll find four floors of parts sellers,
specializing in everything from metal case parts to resistors and caps
to vacuum tubes. This is one of the best places I know to buy things
like tube sockets, passive components, and Alps pots.

Definitely visit Noguchi Transformers, in the basement level of TRD.
Don't count on anybody there being able to speak English, but if you
come knowing what you want, you won't have any problems. Check out
Noguchi's website, and you can at least figure out what they have, and
get the prices (in JP Yen).

Outside TRD and across the alley is a shop that sells all types of
wire and cable called Oyaide. They have materials to make some nice
interconnect and speaker cables.

NEW 7/3/09

Another shop that sells Tango, Hashimoto, and Tamura transformers, as
well as a good selection of full-range speakers, is Hino Audio. Hino
Audio is just south of the station. If you come out of the station
facing Chuo-dori, make a left and walk down Chuo-dori until you cross
a small bridge, then turn left. You can't miss Hino, they have
several storefronts a block or less down the street. Unlike some
shops, you can speak English here - at least one of the employees
speaks good English. Hino will also respond to emails in English
(most Japanese shops just ignore any email not in Japanese).

Their email address is . They tell me they
will also ship to the US, so if you want some Japanese iron or drivers
shipped, they can take care of you.

Last time I was there I picked up a Tango choke-input choke and a pair
of Pioneer "30th anniversary" PE-101A drivers (not available outside
Japan). I also shot a few photos of Hino:

Outside

Transformer inventory... Tango, Tamura, Hashimoto, and James

Drivers... Fostex, other full-range drivers

Tubes

Another shop I really like is Classic Components. Classic Components
is mostly a tube vendor, but also carries sockets, Tango and Hammond
transformers, capacitors, and other tube-related parts. This is the
best tube shop I've visited in Japan so far. Don't expect bargains on
rare NOS tubes - they are as expensive here as anywhere - but I have
occasionally found very good prices (like Amperex 8608's for $9.00
each), and also a surprising selection of unusual US tube types (like
dual-cap VT-235 and 2C26A tubes).

Classic Components is hard to find, even if you read Japanese. Follow
their map (on this map, North is actually up)... look for a small
yellow brick building (near the end of the street). There's a small
PC shop on the ground floor. Take the elevator (to the left of the PC
shop) to the 5th floor. Very little English is spoken. They take
credit cards... so you will be tempted to spend more than you
planned

Andix is another tube shop. Smaller than Classic, it may be worth a
visit. It's located a bit North of the Electric Town exit. Note
their map has North to the left... the shop is on the 4th floor (I
think), and there is a sign on the outside of the building.

Of course there are many electronics shops that cater to the general
electronics DIY crowd (as opposed to tube audio geeks). Some carry a
few tube-specific parts but focus on other items. A few of note:

Wakamatsu is one worth looking at. They have a small building with
six floors, located a few blocks North of the station along Chuo-
dori. Each floor has different stuff, ranging from PC parts to audio
parts. They also have an audio specialty shop in a the Radio Kaikan
building (above) just outside the South Electric Town exit.

Akizukidenshi has been recommended to me, but I have yet to visit
them. Judging from their web site they have a good parts selection.

Sengoku is another large general electronics shop.

There's a small shop that sells surplus parts cheap on Sotobori-dori,
a block West and a little South of the station... sorry, I don't know
what it's called. Nearby, a little further along Sotobori-dori near
where it crosses the tracks is a test equipment store that has an
interesting assortment of old and new test equipment.

If you're interested in headphones, or just want to see the mother of
all consumer electronics stores, you must visit Yodobashi Camera in
Akihabara. The Yodobashi store is in the opposite direction from
"Electric Town", to the Northeast of the JR station. If you go out
the Showa-Dori exit you wind up right at Yodobashi. It is a big
store, hard to miss.

Yodobashi also has other stores (in Shinjuku, for example), but the
Akiba store is the best. Almost half a city block in size, with six
floors of electronics, plus one floor each of food, books and music,
and golf items. Their headphone / earbud / IEM selection is mind-
boggling; I estimate several HUNDRED different models, from $1.00 to
$1000 or more. And you can listen to any of them (OK, not the cheap
blister-packed ones, but pretty much everything else). Don't expect
to find US or European models any cheaper here than anywhere else, but
if you want Japanese phones like Denon, Sony, or Audio-Technica you
may find them cheaper here than elsewhere. I know for a fact that A-T
phones are cheaper here than in the US, and you can be assured they
are not cheap Chinese knock-offs. And there's a good 24-hour sushi
place outside on the ground floor, and another one on the 8th floor in
the food court (cheaper conveyor-belt sushi).

You can find some additional info on Akihabara by surfing and
Googling, but there are not many pages in English. Here is one, an
"official" Akihabra web site. Designed for tourists who want to buy
products and duty-free sales, it still has some useful info.

A note on money: Most small parts shops accept only Japanese cash.
Some high-end places, and those that cater to foreign tourists like
duty-free places), and departments stores (like Yodobashi) will take
cards. The best way to get Japanese cash is not at a foreign exchange
booth - just take out cash from an ATM. Not all ATMs support foreign
cards or speak English, but all of the ATMs at 7-11 stores seem to
work and have an English option. They change a small fee (~200 yen)
just like in the US. You can also use cards at machines from American
banks like Citibank, but they're harder to find."

http://www.pmillett.com/parts_in_asia.htm

[Bret L]

Have you even been off that small island of yours?

[Ian Iveson]

For a real break, somewhere is needed with no valves, no
audio, no internet, and no opportunity for sordid and futile
lechery.

Timbuktu is nice this time of year for cycling.

Perhaps hiking in the Swat Valley.

Caving in Nangarhar.

A safari in Somalia.

Or an extreme farming activity holiday in Quandahar.

Ian

[Patrick Turner]

Bret L wrote:

Have you even been off that small island of yours?

Twice.

I went to smaller islands, New Zealand for fortnight's honeymoon, and to
Bali for a month, some 18mths after I divorced that terrible wife after
being married only 18 mths.

NZ seemed like another State of Oz, and Bali taught me what's wrong with
materialism and religion.

I've never felt the need to travel much OS.

Last year I rode 10,100km on my bicycle, just to stay a little fit.
That's travel isn't it?

Much fukkin betta than poncing around in Paris sipping cafe lattes at
enormous expense.

I see enough of the US on TV and don't feel any need to go there.

I see enough of many other places to tell me they are ****e holes.

Patrick Turner.

[Bret L]

On Jul 9, 4:55*am, Patrick Turner wrote:
Bret L wrote:

Have you even been off that small island of yours?

Twice.

I went to smaller islands, New Zealand for fortnight's honeymoon, and to
Bali for a month, some 18mths after I divorced that terrible wife after
being married only 18 mths.

NZ seemed like another State of Oz, and Bali taught me what's wrong with
materialism and religion.

Both interesting places, but neither is an electronics manufacturing
nation.

Neither anymore is the US-but you might find that 95% of North
America is nothing like what you think it is. What you think is
America is Hollywood and New York.

[Patrick Turner]

Bret L wrote:

On Jul 9, 4:55 am, Patrick Turner wrote:
Bret L wrote:

Have you even been off that small island of yours?

Twice.

I went to smaller islands, New Zealand for fortnight's honeymoon, and to
Bali for a month, some 18mths after I divorced that terrible wife after
being married only 18 mths.

NZ seemed like another State of Oz, and Bali taught me what's wrong with
materialism and religion.

Both interesting places, but neither is an electronics manufacturing
nation.

Neither anymore is the US-but you might find that 95% of North
America is nothing like what you think it is. What you think is
America is Hollywood and New York.

Some 33 years ago when I was in NZ and some 27 ys ago when in Bali, I
hat not the slightest interest in electronics and was a builder.
I enjoyed the places I went to but of the two it was Bali which taught
me how the third world survives while staying happy.
In NZ I spent the time driving around to see the view, and get to know a
young wife. It was a blissfully happy time.
In Bali I was single, and chased women I met and took one around the
island for 10 days to give her a honeymoon she never had when her
marriage had gone west because the man turned out to be gay. Again, a
very nice time it was. But when I returned to Oz and tried to continue
the relationship with this lady, she just couldn't seem to commit herslf
to me. And then she even moved from Darwin to Sydney, and I saw her a
few times, but no man was good enough, but then she couldn't bond with
anyone either. She couldn't orgasm either. Then I losy track, and I next
saw her in 1988, and she'd put on all thie weight, and she was working
in a pizza store just near where I grew up. She was aunit with the store
owner who was a sleasy looking guy a lot older than me. Both chain
smoked, and probably drank too much.
I have never seen her since. So travel has ongoing sagas, and often they
are empty and unhappy lead no-place sagas.

After Bali, I got accused of being a minimalist. Some women thought
they'd never "do any good" with a man like me because I was not
ambitious to make a fortune. I knew I couldn't get rich wielding a
hammer and saw, but I thought I had a good life free of huge worries.
I got yo think that the world was full of people all wanting what
couldn't be had, and if that wasn't true, then could they please prove
otherwise? No ******* or bitch ever did. I heard ppl say "I havn't got
to proove anything to you!". My response was "OK, then do without me."

In the 10 years after 1981 I met many women who had travelled and all
seemed to be broke, but yearning to travel again. Runaround sluts, all
of them. Its nasty of me to say that but its technically true. None
wanted to settle with anyone, and all got bored very easily. They had a
short sharp bell curve of involvement with men. I could see their
pattern and enjoy it while it lasted but there wasn't anyone else around
I could have met. So when they came and went, no hard feelings, and they
kept travelling, and I stayed put and paid off the mortgage on the house
I'd bought. They thought I was boring.
Now I am 62, and all those shielas are probably still broke, and stupid
as ever, except they probably don't like a **** like they used to.
None ever mainatined a friendship.

I would never say I thought the US was like Hollywood or New York.
Although I would say Sydney and Melbourne have become closer to the US
city model we have seen on TV so often. I have seen a few documentaries
of people who have travelled in the US and they have found it to be just
slightly different to the false Hollywood model, or the hard edged NYC
model. I think that what the world does see on TV and in movies made in
the US does enormous damage to the reputation of the US. The media here
is saturated with US made movies, and there has rarely ever been any
that I have ever liked. I have never ever had any urge to go to the
country which could produce Elvis Presley, or Micheal Jackson.
And in my formative adolescent years we saw the US invade Vietnam and
lead to thousands of unecessary deaths. I was vehemently anti US while
growing up. I remember Joan Baez, and I much liked Bob Dylan's song,
Masters of War. The Beach Boys sang flippant songs about **** all and
the beach culture, and I lived near the best of Sydney's beaches where I
experienced beach culture. Plenty of shielas about the spashing waves
like on Baywatch, except there were no silicne tits. It was rampant
nihilism to be sure, where pretty faced girls watched out for the next
pretty faced surfer boy who was training to be a lawyer. Lots of putting
on the agony and putting on the style, the US style, all leading
nowwhere afaiwc. I went against the grain of the youth on my upperclass
side of town and became a bikie, and I much liked working people from
the less pretentious side of town.
I've never liked the gun culture of the US, and the bible bashers there.
But I like Rye Cooder and Taj Mahal.
But unfortunately, as much as I know I like many US individuals I have
come to know via the internet and without wasting a penny on travel,
I also know I don't desire to travel to the US. I don't think US people
would like me very well either if they knew me well.

But I really don't know why I don't want to travel anywhere now. But I
also know I hate being alone on holidays, so I don't take holidays. Many
ppl my age want to travel and spend and die without a penny. They retire
and spend before they get too old. But I just want to work forever and
ride a bicycle sometimes. I've no wife or person of interest to share an
old age with. There is no ultimate thrill or experience I could have
that I want. I think a nice **** would be as good as a week's holiday.
But my FQ index is now very low. ( FQ index is of course the average
female's idea of a man's ****ability Quotient ). I suspect that after
age 52.5, the FQ of an ordinary man falls precipitously and becomes a
negative number no matter what he does unless he is stinking rich and
stupid. I'm addicted to the simple way of life. I probably always have
been.
Life to me is a travel, a voyage to somewhere. There will be a Somewhere
where it just stops, a ****ing Nowhere, offering no explanations as to
why it all happened, and no re-incarnation or afterlife. So I must be
good in this life, because I cannot postpone anything until the
afterlife. Other peoples' love of music keeps me employed and useful,
and off the streets and out of jail.

Patrick Turner.

[Bret L]

I would never say I thought the US was like Hollywood or New York.
Although I would say Sydney and Melbourne have become closer to the US
city model we have seen on TV so often. I have seen a few documentaries
of people who have travelled in the US and they have found it to be just
slightly different to the false Hollywood model, or the hard edged NYC
model. I think that what the world does see on TV and in movies made in
the US does enormous damage to the reputation of the US. The media here
is saturated with US made movies, and there has rarely ever been any
that I have ever liked. I have never ever had any urge to go to the
country which could produce Elvis Presley, or Micheal Jackson.

As opposed to that exemplar of manhood Reginald Dwight. Keef had that
homo pegged....

And in my formative adolescent years we saw the US invade Vietnam and
lead to thousands of unecessary deaths.

A lot of people here opposed the Vietnam adventure. I was a small
child then. My take on it today is that it served no cogent purpose
but we could have won it in 60 days if we had not had that *******
Robert McNamara running things. As it turned out America will pay for
Vietnam forever with all the second and third and further generation
Vietnamese refugees' kids almost all of whom are spiteful, indolent
losers. The refugees themselves were decent people grateful to be
here, the kids are not and never will be. And then there are the
Hmong, who are a hemorrhoid on our ass.

I was vehemently anti US while
growing up. I remember Joan Baez, and I much liked Bob Dylan's song,
Masters of War. The Beach Boys sang flippant songs about **** all and
the beach culture, and I lived near the best of Sydney's beaches where I
experienced beach culture. Plenty of shielas about the spashing waves
like on Baywatch, except there were no silicne tits. It was rampant
nihilism to be sure, where pretty faced girls watched out for the next
pretty faced surfer boy who was training to be a lawyer. Lots of putting
on the agony and putting on the style, the US style, all leading
nowwhere afaiwc. I went against the grain of the youth on my upperclass
side of town and became a bikie, and I much liked working people from
the less pretentious side of town.
I've never liked the gun culture of the US, and the bible bashers there.

Sad to say, most Americans do not own guns and do not shoot. They are
only legal because we have a big Scots-Irish population no pol dares
**** with in their areas of influennce. A certain other ethnic group-
and because they are high on Jeboo juice the Scots-Irish think they're
okay despite any and all contrary evidence- is behind gun control
bigtime. Their contumacious behavior got them run out of a certain
country in Europe decades ago, and many died, and you think with their
supposed fear of concentration camps they'd be for an armed citizenry,
but they are not. Australia has disgraced itself by its "cut the tall
poppy down" socialist mentality and letting its women run things which
has resulted in big sister government. Don't get me wrong, the US is
going down the same disgusting route. The white male doesn't vote
anymore and the females and minorities consistently vote for the likes
of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Not that GW Bush was any good, he
was a ****head, but at least he put on the merest pretense of
decency.

How Australia and New Zealand choose to run themselves is their
business, it does not significantly impact us.

But none of the above has anything to do with electronics
manufacture, and if yiu want to understand it you have to go to
wherever it is, whether or not you approve of their choices in
lifestyle. If the #1 transformer facility was in Singapore, say, a
country I find repellent, I'd go there if studying transformers was my
concern. I only have to obey their laws while I am there.

[Patrick Turner]

Bret L wrote:


I would never say I thought the US was like Hollywood or New York.
Although I would say Sydney and Melbourne have become closer to the US
city model we have seen on TV so often. I have seen a few documentaries
of people who have travelled in the US and they have found it to be just
slightly different to the false Hollywood model, or the hard edged NYC
model. I think that what the world does see on TV and in movies made in
the US does enormous damage to the reputation of the US. The media here
is saturated with US made movies, and there has rarely ever been any
that I have ever liked. I have never ever had any urge to go to the
country which could produce Elvis Presley, or Micheal Jackson.

As opposed to that exemplar of manhood Reginald Dwight. Keef had that
homo pegged....


I never hoid of Reginald Dwight. Keef? Who's he?



And in my formative adolescent years we saw the US invade Vietnam and
lead to thousands of unecessary deaths.

A lot of people here opposed the Vietnam adventure. I was a small
child then.

I was just the right age so that politicians and army generals looked to
my assistance with their arsolic plans of futile wars.

But they could never have ever got me to fight their ****en Viet war.



My take on it today is that it served no cogent purpose
but we could have won it in 60 days if we had not had that *******
Robert McNamara running things.

Maybe just nuke the gooks eh?

I hoid army people say that's what was needed, justa couple of little A
bombs and it would be all over.

I heard it 13 years after the US was defeated at a party i found myself
at, and there were these die hard army jerks still convinced might was
right in Vietnam. Sore ****en losers they were.


As it turned out America will pay for
Vietnam forever with all the second and third and further generation
Vietnamese refugees' kids almost all of whom are spiteful, indolent
losers. The refugees themselves were decent people grateful to be
here, the kids are not and never will be. And then there are the
Hmong, who are a hemorrhoid on our ass.

The Vietnamese who found their way to Oz after the war there have more
often than not behaved as model citizens, and better than most narural
born Oz ppl if you examine their untiring hard honest work, and the
scholarly achievements of their children.

We obviously see the world with different points of view and make
different conclusions.

I see that the Vietnamese in Vietnam just wanted to be left alone to run
their own affairs; they had come to the end of French power in their
country, and then the US comes in and interferes. That they experimented
with communism can be seen as their own tradgedy.

In the future, maybe official Party communism will founder because it
becomes too oppressive and overbearing and history will repeat itself as
it has for thousands of years in SE asia and China. The worst fear might
be that China become rather National Socialist like Nazi Germany. All
those single children from one child families may become real spoiled
brats and may very well become a pest especially with a declining US
power base, global warming, food shortages and rising sea levels, and so
on and so on. The rest of the world will just have to deal with the
threats if they arrise, but while the West so willingly trades with them
and buys their goods produced by what we would think was slave labour,
then let me say I have warned youse all!

Basically mankind is a flawed species, and there are rather too many of
us. I'm at best 2/3 through my life and have never had my own kids, so I
don't give a rat's about what happens in 50 years because I won't be
here. All I know that nothing the Pentagon has ever thought of has ever
fooled me for long while I have been alive.


I was vehemently anti US while
growing up. I remember Joan Baez, and I much liked Bob Dylan's song,
Masters of War. The Beach Boys sang flippant songs about **** all and
the beach culture, and I lived near the best of Sydney's beaches where I
experienced beach culture. Plenty of shielas about the spashing waves
like on Baywatch, except there were no silicne tits. It was rampant
nihilism to be sure, where pretty faced girls watched out for the next
pretty faced surfer boy who was training to be a lawyer. Lots of putting
on the agony and putting on the style, the US style, all leading
nowwhere afaiwc. I went against the grain of the youth on my upperclass
side of town and became a bikie, and I much liked working people from
the less pretentious side of town.
I've never liked the gun culture of the US, and the bible bashers there.

Sad to say, most Americans do not own guns and do not shoot. They are
only legal because we have a big Scots-Irish population no pol dares
**** with in their areas of influennce.

The majority of Oz cultural heritage is English/Irish/Scottish, but our
gun abuse per capita is way below the US levels.

A certain other ethnic group-
and because they are high on Jeboo juice the Scots-Irish think they're
okay despite any and all contrary evidence- is behind gun control
bigtime. Their contumacious behavior got them run out of a certain
country in Europe decades ago, and many died, and you think with their
supposed fear of concentration camps they'd be for an armed citizenry,
but they are not. Australia has disgraced itself by its "cut the tall
poppy down" socialist mentality and letting its women run things which
has resulted in big sister government.

You think the Sistahood runs Oz? Are you stone motherless crazy?
The US is a terrible place to try to exist if things go wrong in your
life. If your health fails, or you lose your job, the social security
and health system is Hard Brutha type symapthy, a kick up the arse, or
maybe you have to seel your house to get a medical operation.

I have not the slightest intention of ever migrating to the US.

Maybe you are mistaking Oz for NZ, where they had Helen Clark as PM for
years.

Now she's retired from that job she's trying to work wonders in a
position at the UN.

As for the tall pooppy syndrome, lemme tell ya there are plenty of tall
poops that need to be cut down, pushed over, or otherwise shown that
their ****e stinks. Its true of every country because there is no place
on Earth where some fuctard tries to be a little king, or a little
dictator, or just a fool, and they always need a little lowering down
off their perch. But Australians can be proud of never having a civil
war. We tend to be less likely to put ourselves on the pedestal of
arrogance. Deep down every man in Oz knows he's just a ****in bloke,
right, take it or ****in leave it. Oz was one of the first places to
introduce voting for women.
And where they want to compete with men, we give them a fair go.

Don't get me wrong, the US is
going down the same disgusting route. The white male doesn't vote
anymore and the females and minorities consistently vote for the likes
of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Your mind is full of absolute ****ing horse dung!

Not that GW Bush was any good, he
was a ****head, but at least he put on the merest pretense of
decency.

Nobody would be satisfactory for you.


How Australia and New Zealand choose to run themselves is their
business, it does not significantly impact us.

I'm so glad.


But none of the above has anything to do with electronics
manufacture, and if yiu want to understand it you have to go to
wherever it is, whether or not you approve of their choices in
lifestyle. If the #1 transformer facility was in Singapore, say, a
country I find repellent, I'd go there if studying transformers was my
concern. I only have to obey their laws while I am there.

I see ZERO need to travel anywhere to study the transformers I find
interesting, ie, audio frequency output transformers.

But the world sure travels to me to discover more about OPTs. I get
100MB downloaded from my site each day.

I don't have to burn a thimble full of jet fuel travelling pointlesly
around. I probably could learn more about what interests me but it
depends on who wants to teach me and how nice they are about doing it.
We have email, and the Internet, and so far, after many years, nobody
has proposed very much to me that would lead me to deeper understanding
and better music for my customers.

I can understand your repugnance of Singapore. But then if the
Singaporeans could read your posts here they'd never let you enter their
fine little place on God's little Earth, now would they, and it would be
because they'd think you are a person of un-good character, (ie, in
layman's terms, racist scum, imho.)

And another reason I really don't need a holiday is because I am
surrounded by so many friends.

Patrick Turner.