Giles and Alex hit Japan - June 2022

[Giles]

Well, it has been a VERY long time coming.

I last saw Haraki and the crew in March 2020, and I think it was Jan or Feb 2020 for @Alex .

Needless to say, we miss all of them a lot.  Zoom may be good, but it ain't a substitute for real human interaction.

Alex and I went to the Japanese Embassy in London today with reams of paperwork and applied for visa's to visit in June.

It seems that unless something very untoward happens, we will have visa's in a week.

Very excited, we have. LOT of catching up and planning for the future to do…..

[Giles]

Oh, and the flights take 3 hours longer than the last time we went, courtesy Mr Vladimir Feckin Putin (despite his protestations today, that it is all our fault) 

And I'm also looking forward to spending a week of quality time with my son…..I should have said that in first post, but forgot 

[Oaktavia]

That sounds really cool. Hope y'all have a lot of fun and get what needs sorting out at the same time.

[Kasi]

Nice [emoji108]

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[mclaincausey]

Happy for y’all. Have a wonderful adventure!

[sabergirl]

Glad to hear you’re going to be able to see the Japan crew. This thing has kept us all apart long enough.

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[J-IV]

Hoping the visa process goes smoothly!

Really looking forward to some Father/Son debauchery in Japan. Take plenty of flicks pls!

[Matt]

LOVE following along with Japan trips.  Can’t wait!

[louisbosco]

don't get stuck in a typhoon this time 

[Giles]

Yeah, that was a tad irritating 

[Giles]

Well, we have our visa's….

[Daniel San]

Bon voyage 

[louisbosco]

crack a smile will ya

[Giles]

Not sure you're allowed to on passport/visa photos….

[mclaincausey]

I'd be careful @Giles posting that, at least scrub some of the information like passport #

[Daniel San]

Good Point mclaincausey
Very dangerous these days

[Kasi]

To be honest, there a lot more to the passport photo  and visa when you scan them

Pictures you can’t see pop up and other information

are covered in fun and colorful UV-reactive hidden images that can only be seen under a blacklight.

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[mclaincausey]

That's supposing that someone just wants to use it to forge a passport. There are numerous ways that this kind of information can be used to make your life suck for a period of time, including other forms of identity theft.

End of the day, discretion is the best approach with this kind of information IMO–each disclosure of this kind of information adds to your risk, a sort of death by a thousand cuts. Assume they already have a bunch of your personal information, and adding to the pile is not in your best interest.

This is not a controversial take in information security and fraud circles.

[Giles]

@mclaincausey:

I'd be careful @Giles posting that, at least scrub some of the information like passport #

Thanks @mclaincausey , I've deleted it.

I left my passport under the pillow (put there so it could not be easily stolen  >:() in a sleeping car between Warsaw and Prague a long time ago.  I only realised it was missing, when I turned up at Prague airport a few days later..  Of course it never turned up.  I am sure there are multiple Giles Padmore's operating in the old Soviet Bloc….

Luckily I knew the British Defence Attache in Prague pretty well, he sorted me out in double quick time, so at least I was able to get back to Blighty with not too much delay.

[mclaincausey]

Oh lord! I think Gilesinsky tried to sell me a piece Haraki made himself