Strange Things...

I was sitting here a little bummed today, for no particular reason I have decided - and I got to thinking about money and how expensive things are here in Japan.  So I decided to make a list of all the things and prices that I could think of - - - just for comparison sake.
Don't get me wrong - EVERYTHING is expensive here but some things make you scratch your head and wonder...
(this is only a rough guide...everything is relative)

Let's start with the most important thing - alcohol!
Good liquor is cheap - Bad liquor is expensive...well, everyone's taste is different, but according to what's "good" in the States by price!
= Vodka:      Absolut $15.  Skyy $10. Smirnoff $20. (Finlandia, and all the other brands I have forgotten - are pretty cheap too)
= Whiskey:    Jack Daniels $26.  Crown Royal $17. (at home this size bottle of Crown would be $36)
=Wine:          Mondavi $9.  Clos Du Bois $13 (both small bottles)  Woodbridge $12 (for a mag).  There are all sorts of knock off wines here that we've never heard of, and you can get those at the "spontaneous buy section" right at the check-out isle where the gum and candy are in the States, for about $3.50 a bottle.
=Beer:  The most expensive thing here.  Usually you can only get Budweiser or something familiar at Costco and it's expensive.  Depending on the brand and the purchase place - a SIX PACK can run you $12 - $20.
A single beer out at a restaurant or bar is AT LEAST $7-8.  Irish/British beer (Guinness, etc.) $11-13.  And $7- $8 for a smaller 'draft beer' US brand (if they have it).
You can get Sake and such everywhere - but not much for that, so don't recall the prices.
Luckily for my wallet - I don't drink beer anymore.


Cost of food
Coke, soda, tea:  $4-$5 EACH in a restaurant.  No refills here baby.
There are some - but very few - places with drink "bars". You pay one price and go back as many times as you want for refills.  The glasses are about the size of a kids cup.
We did find a 'all you can drink' alcohol special at a restaurant here close to the house...$12 - all you can drink for 2 hours, while eating dinner!  For that price - I know some people that would put this place out of business!  Mind it is 'house' swill...still a good deal though!


Pizza Hut - $25-$38  for ONE pizza about the size of our medium pizzas in the States.
Real quick - just thought I'd throw some of the "types" of pizza you can get - and I quote:
Cheese & Cheese, Ebipuru Egg, Mayo-Q (BBQ with mayo), Seafood Mix, Dijon Mustard Sausage, Pote Mayo Gratin, Carbonara, Tuna Mild, and Super Korean Purukogi!  Sounds yummy huh? ugh.

There are a few places to get American food (i.e., cheeseburgers, pasta) but they are very expensive and sometimes you are lucky and they are true to taste.  I had lunch with a friend a few weeks ago and a cheeseburger, fries, coke was $22.  It was an OKAY burger - but not a $22 burger.
A milkshake (not that I was ever a milkshake drinker) will cost you $10-$12.  Amazing how you never really craved something until it was not readily available for $2 at your local drive-thru!!  I have yet to have the milkshake.


There is no tipping - ANYWHERE. You can tell there is no tipping because the service is not very good.  I completely understand too.  Hell, it was hard enough to get us waiters to come to your table when we were making good money - I can't imagine what it must be like to not get a tip...and still have to go be nice!  No fun.
Most restaurants - the chain restaurants - have a button on the table.  No one comes to your table until you push the button. They want you to be ready to order when they get there and you order everything at once.  No drinks, then appetizer, then meal ordering...its everything at once.
and I almost forgot ~ the piece-de-resistance...they always serve the "man of the house" first.  He always gets his food first!  My stepsons have argued that Landon gets his food first (he's 3) - but 9 times out of 10 - my husband ALWAYS gets his food first.  And you can't really sit and wait for the other dishes to come out...they NEVER all come at the same time.  It is not something they do here in Japan. When its ready - it comes out.  No being polite and waiting for everyone to get their food. If you don't want to eat cold food - you eat when it comes!

There are very few mani-pedi places either.  I was really shocked.  I was looking forward to weekly, well maybe monthly, foot rubs and pedicures - but alas, there are very few places (at least in our area) that do these services.
I did a little research and found a place in Tokyo that would do a pedicure for $126.  I don't know what all that included (better be something good and extra like the male massage parlors in Nashville???) - but that is way too far for me to travel (2 hours) and way too much to spend.  Even though - with all the walking my feet could REALLY use it! I am sure there is somewhere close to have this service done...but not like at home where there is a shop at every Kroger or Publix corner.  I miss that.


A Cab $7.10 - just to get in the cab. They don't charge for extra people like in NY. The doors open automatically. They get real upset if you try to touch the door to open or close it. I have been scolded several times!  Old habits die hard, ya know.

And something that has bothered me, and will bother me until I leave...the toilet paper.  I am weirdo about two things:   toilet paper and paper towels.
Every type toilet paper here is like gas station toilet paper.  Very thin, no two-ply, just gas station-cheap toilet paper.
The thickest thing I have found (and I have looked everywhere) - is something equivalent of a generic Kroger brand.  Not great, well - not even good - but you take what you can get.  I have decided the reason for this terrible deficiency in TP - absolutely MUST BE the water/sewer regulations.  There is no other answer. And I am VERY disappointed.

And by the way - a roll of Bounty paper towels is $5-6 dollars.  FOR ONE ROLL.
So I ration.
And the 1/4 sheet of  "ShamWow" that I jokingly got from my friend Jill before I left that States...is a life-saver!  
Who knew?!

DD