Limes, strippers, and oversized burgers.

It's been quite busy lately - I've finally managed to get a job that will cover my living costs (and then some), bartending at Tokyo Sports Cafe/Lime Bar.  It's in the infamous district of Roppongi, an area notorious for being foreigner friendly (read: much more expensive than anywhere else, full of people eager to make your wallet lighter).  That also means it's got more strip clubs and hostess bars (where men with money pay to spend time with girls who in real life wouldn't go near them - a bit like prostitution, but without the sex) than you can shake a... er... stick at.

Working in a sports bar, then, is about as sleaze-less as

 it gets in terms of local nightlife, although the company does own other, less, shall we say, 'family-oriented' establishments, whose employees often bring clients in so they can get comission on the stupifyingly highly priced bottles of champagne they get the wealthy customers to buy.  In fact, a lot of the time it's less Tokyo Sports Cafe and more Lime bar, where models get free drinks (just the female ones, male models get a 50% discount) and the vip karaoke lounge is open until 9am for the one or two actual paying customers (and the many members of staff who are paid to entertain them) who want to sing all night.

Still, it's definitely giving me some useful skills (I'm talking about bartending here) for getting a job anywhere in the future, and I'm improving my japanese (slowly).  I'm still teaching kids one afternoon a week, too, which is simultaneously frustrating and hilarious - especially now that I'm in the process of directing their Christmas presentations.  'I'm a Little Teapot' has never been cuter.

In slightly less important news, I discovered that the McDonalds here do something that I think is called a 'Mega Mac'.  Imagine a Big Mac.  Now double it.  You should have a mental image that will either make you want to throw up the wholesome food you no doubt had for lunch, or salivate all over your chips.  

Not exactly local cuisine I'm desperate to sample.