Food is Expensive too

Last night I inadvertently stepped up my Japanese culinary experience a few notches.  Ended up at a Teppen Yaki place called Moncher TonTon for Kobe beef that was essentially the nicest Benihana you could ever imagine with a private grill chef for each set of diners (in my case, just me) cooking a 10 course meal in front of you.  One of the best meals I can ever remember.  Whatever the meat they call Kobe beef in the US is, it's not even close to the stuff they serve here.  Just a whole different animal.  That fact is amplified by the price of the meal here - which was unexpectedly the most expensive meal I think I've ever had also...  I had planned to do 2 more great dinners here, now I'm going to look for the Tokyo version of Whole Foods and snag some pre-made sushi meals.  

Speaking of Sushi, because it is 'golden week' here (some big holiday honoring the ancient emperors from what I can gather) the Tsukiji fish market is closed until Tuesday which means I won't be able to check it out - or eat sushi.  That also should tell you something about the quality of Sushi here, that the restaurants wont even open if the market is closed since they don't have fresh fish from the market that day.

Also, I've gotten the impression that the sight of a lone American man wandering the streets of Roppongi screams "I'm looking for a prostitute" since whenever I leave the hotel at night I'm bombarded by African men asking me what I'm looking for and offering me free drinks at strip clubs.  I guess it's not totally surprising, but it was unexpected.  I'm not certain who walks down a street, is stopped by an african man offering 'whatever you want' and decides 'this guy seems trustworthy, I'll go with him to find some sex', but who knows...

This 'golden week' phenomenon evidently explains why the night life has been dead here also since people get out of town for the holiday.  Might try to check out some type of sporting event (baseball, karate, etc.) tonight or tomorrow before I move on to Beijing Tuesday.

For today, I'm headed to the imperial palace and some other gardens and Museums on the way to "Electronics City" which is supposed to be pretty sweet.

Time for breakfast.