Japanese people know how to party

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In the evening, Masuo hosted a party at his apartment. The guests were mostly university friends, International Relations grad students I think. They were kind enough to attempt conversation with me, and I was lucky a couple of them spoke very good English. I tried to tell them a little about New Zealand, and they enjoyed the New Zealand wine I'd brought with me. I learned that when drinking in Japan, you should keep an eye on your friends' glasses and make sure they are always topped up. Likewise, it's rude to pour your own drink, even if you've just poured your friend one. But it was nice to see that certain customs are universal - students everywhere drink a LOT.

The Tokyo Metro finishes just after midnight, even on Saturdays. So if you go out late, you have to stay out all night, something I haven't done for years.

We went to Club Atom in Shibuya, which had three floors - hiphop and R&B, psychedelic house and trance. Each time I started to get a bit tired we just checked out the music on the other floors, and I almost always found something that got me jumping up and down again. I enjoyed the freedom of knowing that even if I was dancing like a dork, I would never see anyone there again 😱. All the floors were pretty crowded, but the guys were (mostly) respectful. The middle floor had stages set in the dance floor for girls from the crowd to show off, and half-naked male dancers were strutting their stuff on the front stage. I had an awesome time dancing all night. Thank you very much to Kimberly for taking me 😊.

It was already light when we dragged our tired feet to a ramen noodle bar. It makes great end-of night-food - even yummier than a pie or kebab. We went home and slept til the afternoon.

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