Asia Update #18 - Japan again

Hello from Tokyo, Japan. Spending a week here visiting customers and training our new sales guys.

I go to Japan and what do we eat for the first few days - western food. Which is too bad, considering that I really like Japanese food. Had dinner at McDonalds on Sunday when I got in (went with one of our sales guys, and his little army of kids - I owed him and his family dinner, and it was the only place he felt comfortable taking them to). Pasta for lunch on Monday. Went to a Tex-Mex pub for dinner that night (and watched a band playing Hawaiian music). Chinese style food for lunch on Tuesday. Finally got out to a sushi bar on Tuesday night. Here's a picture from it… Much like the sushi bars we have in the States (except that you have to order in Japanese…).

Did get more Japanese food after that. This included a traditional Japanese breakfast, which looked more like something I'd have for dinner than for breakfast - had a bowl of rice, some cooked beef, a soup, etc. Even went to lunch one day at Denny's, where I ordered a rice bowl of unagi (eel) and some udon - not stuff you see at Dennys in the States.

Most of the nights here involved too much alcohol and not enough sleep. The Asian culture definitely places a premium on entertaining guests from out of town. In the US, when someone comes from out of town, it is hard to find someone to go to dinner with them. People would rather go home and spend time with their family (or in my case, get out for a night ride). In Asia, you automatically assume that you will be spending the evening with the guests and not get home until late. And this is after a 10 hour day (Asians average about 200 more hours of work a year than Americans). Seems like they wouldn't be able to spend much time with their families (maybe that's why they do it?).

Tuesday night (the sushi night) we went to one of the seedier parts of the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Lots of prostitutes, pimps, people handing out fliers for various strip shows, etc. In this way it was somewhat similar to what we saw in Thailand, though a bit more conservative than in Thailand. The area had more buildings and neon lights, as opposed to open bars (explained by Tokyo actually having winters, unlike Thailand). Here's a picture from it…

My mountain biking buddies will probably get a kick out of this - there is a deliver service in Japan called "Endo Express". Saw a truck with this written on the sides. Couldn't get the camera out in time to take a picture. Cool name - just too bad it isn't the name of a bicycle or motorcycle courier company…