Rundown with the whole crew in Japan

So Andy got here 2 nights ago and Nisha got here 1 night ago, a few random notes:

- Went to Shibuya (giant times square like area) with Andy the first night and just drank beer on the street and people watched. I know for a fact that there is nothing illegal about drinking on the street in Japan, but it is considered a little low class, but what does that matter to me?

- I think Andy and Nisha's favorite thing about Japan so far is the grocery store. Basically, we can't go in there without shashimi being purchased and consumed. They seemed particularly impressed with the 298 yen (about $2.50) sample of fatty tuna that had about 6 good size pieces and probably would have gone for about 15 buck in a US sushi restaurant.

- Last night in Tokyo we ended up in Ginza, which is kind of a Park Avenue high class district. After wondering around a little bit we see a basement bar that says "Country Western" and figured we have to check this out. Anyway, ended up being on of the smallest bars I have ever been in with about 8 patrons and a four piece Japanese old-time country music outfit. Certainly one of the strangest bars I have ever been in, but we did listen to a few songs and have a good time.

- We trucked up to Matsumoto today, which is up in the mountains, and certainly one of the more attractive Japanese cities I have been to. We had dinner at the hotel tonight and once again were treated to horse shashimi, which is evidently the local specialty here. I was wondering what the deal with this was, after my previous horse experience, but evidently I just stumbled into the two places in Japan where horse is the big thing to eat, up here in central Honshu and in southern Kyushu. Anyway, the horse was quite tasty once again, but perhaps I need to move on to a new local delicacy.