The night we were bought drinks by a transexual...

I've officially finished my first week of uni, and I'm officially hungover. In Japanese, 'hungover' is '二日酔い' (futsuka yoi), which when directly translated means "second day drunk". However, I have no idea why it is only two days, because my first experience of Tokyo nightlife has had me feeling more than a little worse for wear for the entire weekend! On Friday, Omolola and I went to a salsa themed nightclub in Roppongi. We went to this neck of the woods on the recommendation of a really cool girl I know from Gakushuin, so we were expecting great things. Nevertheless, once we stepped off the subway, it was clear that this part of Tokyo was a little less well to do than most - in fact, it was bloody petrifying!

Bathroom photo Roppongi style

I didn't know before, (but oh man, I definitely know now!) - Roppongi is the notorious red light district of Tokyo, where hoards of dodgy looking foreigners buzz around the neon-lit, hedonistic streets. After being in Tokyo for quite some time, seeing so many non-Japanese people all in one place surprisingly made me a little uncomfortable and suspicious - I'd been so used to leaving my bag wide open with my purse in blatant view as I walked around, but not so much now we were walking past delights such as 'Club Tits', being flocked by hoards of dodgy looking lads-on-tour-come-Japanese-yakuza groups. It was like we had been transported from Tokyo to a downtown Malia stag weekend. Not the best start to the night!

We saw the salsa club, and decided to give it a shot (anywhere would have been better than outside on the street we were currently standing on), so we rode in the very swanky elevator up to the third floor, half expecting it to be packed with 40-something spinsters practising their tragic salsa moves to distract themselves from their terrible empty lives, half expecting some horrific brothel of doom. However, when the doors opened, a crazy mad dance floor of salsa inspired dance and techno beats came into view, filled with young Japanese people, South Americans and the occasional transexual (come on, it's Roppongi). Sigh of relief.

The Japanese definitely know how to party. The music was incredible, and the people in there definitely knew their moves. Everything I had previously imagined about Japanese people dancing (I was thinking a sort of 'all standing in a line doing the robot in unison whilst looking embarrassed' kind of thing) was torn to shreds, as the crowd made up their own crazy salsa-eqsue moves and screamed and laughed and drank way too much. We became instant friends with one particularly keen/drunk girl who was dragging her tired looking boyfriend around the dance floor, plus her friend, who was still in her business suit and had come straight from work. Watching her dance in her suit was one of the funnier things I have experienced, very typical of Tokyo!! Other interesting feats from the night include dancing with an old businessman (seriously, he must have been about 75...god only knows what he was doing in a Roppongi at 3 in the morning. Actually. I'm not sure I want to know). Waiting for the first train at 5.30am was surreal - as we were finishing our night, businessmen were waiting in line to start their day of work. I, however, chose to spend the rest of my day lying in bed and eating green tea cookies. Each to their own.

In other news, I've done my first Japanese karaoke (very weird), eaten rice for breakfast (very very weird) and seen someone pushing a dog around in a pushchair (...too weird). I've joined the dance club at uni to make myself look like even more of a silly foreigner. And I'm loving life in Tokyo! xx