Let's Party 'Till the Sun Comes Up....

So there we were, celebrating my friend's birthday at a little bar/restaurant in the Shinjuku District of Tokyo. As the evening wore on, it became apparent that we would have to cut the party short because some people had dorm curfews, and the trains were going to stop running soon OR stay out all night. Although I protested the latter choice, mostly due to a long train ride home the next day, work starting in the next few days, lack of sleep the night before, and my old lady tendency to prefer to stay home and knit rather than go out on the town, I was far outvoted. Seeing as I had no other choice, I was determined to make the most out of my first (and last?) all-nighter in Tokyo. Of course, being in Tokyo, the best activity to pass the wee hours of the morning is karaoke. Many karaoke places have special deals where you pay a set amount for a karaoke room from 11pm to 5am (when the trains start running). We ended up paying 2300yen (about $23) for a room and free drinks all night. Not a bad deal- much cheaper than a hotel! Thankfully, we got a pretty big room so I could sleep on the benches! After gallantly staying awake until about 2:00 I hit the hay. I must have been tired because I was able to sleep through my friends' beautiful renditions of the latest Japanese pop songs and classic American hits (only one other person fell asleep the whole night!) When our night out ended, I thought it would be bright outside (there are no windows in karaoke rooms), but as we walked outside it was as if nothing had changed and it was still only midnight! However, as I wearily made it back to my friend's dorm, looking forward to sleeping in a bed after a night dozing on a thin bench, the sun began to come up. I didn't see too much of it, however, because we were asleep by 6:00. So, although I wasn't awake the whole time, I have officially pulled an all-nighter in one of the biggest cities on earth!