Some thoughts about a recent trip to Japan.

[wanderingfighter]

Think the appetizer thing is cultural. They don't do it for restaurants here, but if you go out for drinks a lot of places expect you to pay for a side dish to go with it.

I guess it's some sort of cover charge since tipping is not expected.

I heard of someone in Japan that they got stuck with a $300 dollar charge like this and the people responsible for running the establishment he was at attempted to intimidate him when he refused to pay. Though this was in the Roppongi part of Tokyo so I guess it comes with the territory since that's a place where the Mafia operates.

That's bad. There was a story about a bar out here in Itaewon that was putting zolpidem (sleeping pills) into customers drinks and then charging thousands on their credit cards. Some dodgy bars out there.

It looks like Brock is the go to guy when it comes to Japan. Mind you, if he finds it so xenophobic I question why he would want to live their indefinitely considering his hero Trump is making his homeland great again. Talk about flip flops.

I don't think I'm going back to Japan unless is for a very short duration. I didn't like the vibe. I'm back in Thailand now and the difference between the way people are is night and day. Though one bad part about this whole thing is that I spent 10 days drinking in Japan and was offered an amateur fight on November 4th (when I came to the gym yesterday) during the big festivals here and ended up declining it. This is my 2nd declined fight in less than 2 months at some point I need to either slow down with my obsession or take things serious. The Japan trip completely threw me out of focus and hurt my pockets. Plus I might be addicted to alcohol.. once I start I don't stop and then I end up days without training with all sorts of physical problems. But then I won't drink for 4-5 months and out of nowhere go on a drinking binge and have to re-start all over. It doesn't help that Japan is a culture of alcoholics. It's socially acceptable to be visibly drunk in public there and alcohol consumption is expected in social circles. I need to stay away from that place.