Sydney isn't lame. Its one of the best scenes in the world believe it or not particularly with the Asian girls. Probably second only to Pattaya/ Bangkok. For $300 you a model quality girl to spend an hour with in the middle of the city. The Caucasian places cost more in return for less service and then upsell you with extra's. Many of the Caucasian girls are great for sure but many even the really young ones have such poor attitudes I just can't stand them.
Now in Thailand the scene used to be absolute amazing and foreigner friendly. Some of the girls if you find the right one would be happy to hang out with you all day for $300 and provide you with amazing porn star experiences. However you have to find the right one, have good chemistry. There are plenty of sharks who will want every last cent from you for the least amount of service and bolt as soon as your done. The economics at the gogo bars are you buy a drink, buy the lady a drink so that's say $15, pay $40 to take them out, usually $80 to $120 for an hour with the girl. So thats at least $135 but then you're paying rent for your room which is say $70 a day. So its not that cheap. If you wan them to say overnight that usually $250 or so which is quite good but to be honest most of them these days try to get out at a 3am to 6am which is hardly that great. If you're lucky they'll stay with you the whole day if they like you but the flip side is that they think they'll own you for the rest of the trip! Check out Pattaya Addicts and StickmanBangkok
Phillipines is apparently similar but with better english and crap food.
Japan is definitely not set up for foreigners. There are a few places thought. Check out rocketreport. Kabuchiko is a place to rip off tourist. I would not go without a local. Same with other places in Asia like Hong Kong. I once got ripped of $400 bucks to sit with some ugly old Phillipino's in a club there that didn't have a cover charge. I can only imagine the prices they would charge in Tokyo for the same crap.
The Japanese girls in places like Ginza and 5Star are just stunning. They speak English. They are service oriented. Then you get a choice of Korean, Chinese, Thai, Taiwanese, Hong Kong and the odd Vietnamese. Sure all Asian but some are darker, some have quite different faces, they smell different, make different sounds... You have great choice. If you like Caucasians then there's a steady stream of backpackers from Europe and Latin America. Despite my bitching I'm sure you just need to find a few nice ones out there. You just gotta find them. Then the massage places have really really nice girls. Its great fun to charm them and if they like you they may sleep with you for a price. You got privates if you're really rich and apparently you get what you pay for but I just can't bring myself to pay a weeks wages for an hours worth of fun.
Prostitution is decriminalised but the do gooders, feminazi's and conservatives always want to bring the police back. That would only bring back the gangsters, people traffickers and the police corruption. The girls are free to work as where they want and they move around alot when the conditions are better else where. Sydney is amazing fun for punters. I hope it lasts.