We enjoyed the China House at the Cecil -- loved the view. They opened one near San Stefano that was closer and we often caught a movie at San Stefano and then walked across the street to the China House located there. Great fried green beans!

It is like night and day going from Egypt to Japan but we enjoyed both places immensely. Singapore would also be a good place to look as well. We visited there and felt it was a bit more open to Westerners than Japan.

We lived and taught in Tokyo from 2009 to 2011. Would have stayed longer if not for family wanting us to come home (previously we were in Alexandria, EG). Our school was very similar to St. Marys. Salary was excellent, especially the second year when the yen was down (85K the first year, 115K the second). The school paid 1/2 of our rent -- they found the apartment for us (within a 15 to 20 minute walk to school). My wife worked at the school as a non-teacher and we actually paid our expenses on her salary and saved most of mine (except for travel). Thousands of places to eat in Tokyo that are very reasonable. We did travel within and outside of Japan. Can be a bit pricey within Japan but well worth it. While the people are not as open to Westerners as the Egyptians were, I found them to be friendly and willing to interact with us. Met several who we spent time with on weekends who loved to show off the sights of the city. It is very easy to live and teach in Tokyo. Our students were great -- never a problem and highly motivated. Made coming back to the US and thinking about teaching to be a bit of a downer, but thankfully I was ready to retire. Many of our staff members had been teaching in Tokyo for over 20 yearss so if you get a good school, it might be tough to leave.