Traveling to Singapore & Tokio, what could I bring?

[claudioggs]

Hi all,

I' traveling this week to Singapore, I'll spend 2 weeks there.
Then I'll be in Tokyo 3 days and 1 day in Kyoto.

Do you know of any interesting telephone piece than I could/must bring?
Do you know where to search?

Thanks
Claudio

[Greg G.]

Are you offering to hunt for us?  If so, there's a couple of asian phones on my wish list.

[claudioggs]

Probably I'll have space in my bagage for more than one, well, depending on my wife's shopping...

Claudio

[LarryInMichigan]

I don't know about Singapore, but just about everything in Japan is obscenely expensive, so buying a phone there may not be an economically feasible option.

Larry

[mienaichizu]

I went to Tokyo couple of years ago and luckily I bought a vintage 60's phone from a local interior design shop. And that phone is not Japanese make, my guess its a French make. A couple of WE's were also on sale. I didn't find any Japanese phones on sale. There are not too many antique shops in Tokyo as well as in Kyoto. I have been to Kyoto also and I did not find any vintage telephone.

The weird thing is, though Japan is advance in technology, there are still some establishments that is still using their rotary telephones and even rotary payphones.

[mienaichizu]

try to ask the locals there, you will be lucky if you can find Type 3 and 4 models by NEC, Fuji, Toshiba etc... Japanese phones were made by different companies but all have the same model.

[claudioggs]

Thanks for the advice.

I found this in Singapore, but was too expensive, sg$ 650 (around $ 600).
It's a British Ericsson 300? with Chinese dial.
Right now I'm in Indonesia, nothing here.
Tomorrow in Japan, I hope to have some luck :-)
I'll let you know.
Cheers.

[Greg G.]

Thanks for the advice.

I found this in Singapore, but was too expensive, sg$ 650 (around $ 600).
It's a British Ericsson 300? with Chinese dial.
Right now I'm in Indonesia, nothing here.
Tomorrow in Japan, I hope to have some luck :-)
I'll let you know.
Cheers.

Cool looking phone, but for some reason the vintage Asian phones in Asia seem to be prohibitively expensive.  That's about the same price as this one:  http://www.ioffer.com/i/telephone-1936age-agone-515900036

[LarryInMichigan]

Thanks for the advice.

I found this in Singapore, but was too expensive, sg$ 650 (around $ 600).
It's a British Ericsson 300? with Chinese dial.
Right now I'm in Indonesia, nothing here.
Tomorrow in Japan, I hope to have some luck :-)
I'll let you know.
Cheers.

Cool looking phone, but for some reason the vintage Asian phones in Asia seem to be prohibitively expensive.  That's about the same price as this one:  http://www.ioffer.com/i/telephone-1936age-agone-515900036

Everything in Japan is outrageously expensive.  I do work for a company here who used to have occasional visits from their Japanese dealer.  Whenever he came, he wanted to be taken to Walmart and a shopping mall, and he would go on a shopping spree because prices here are drastically lower than in Japan.  I have no idea how he brought everything home or what sorts of import duties he faced.

Larry

[Greg G.]

Reminds me of a story on the local TV news I heard way back in the 70s.  Whenever a certain Japanese merchant ship came in to the Port of Seattle, the stores near the waterfront would stock up on toilet paper because the crew would come in and buy it all up.

[mienaichizu]

that is a cool looking phone! though it is expensive