15 November 08

TMG had organised a mums' night out, an opportunity which I leapt at. I was a bit surprised to hear that it was to be from 6 until 10pm, but since I found it so hard to stay up last time I went out it was probably a good idea. This meant that I had to leave Emily's whole evening routine to Nick; he has done most of it before, but not the whole thing on his own.

So off I went to Shibuya at the appointed hour. Leaving the station I found it to be heaving with shoppers and early revellers. The famous Hachiko Square, the multiple zebra crossing that a lot of people will have seen on Japan footage, was one mass of bodies when the lights went green. I have lived in Central London and travelled at rush hour there often, but nothing prepares you for this experience.

Arriving at the restaurant I met Stephanie, who had organised the evening; the remainder of the party turned up soon after and we were soon ordering cocktails. I took a chance and ordered one called 'Kamikaze'; thankfully it was just to my liking: vodka-based with lime. Whether it was due to the drink or my inate clumsiness, as I was passing a dish across the table I sent a carafe of sangria flying over Cindy and Steph. Luckily for me they were both wearing black, but I was still mortified. The food was fairly good - a range of dishes from right across Asia. The only thing that marred the occasion was that the people at the next table were all smoking.

We didn't stay long though, as we were due at a karaoke venue at eight. Another couple of ladies joined us there, and we were shown to our private room, which was very comfortable, with squidgy banquettes and plenty of space for us 8. We wasted no time in punching in the numbers for the tracks we fancied singing, and ordering more drinks. As we had chosen an unlimited drinks package I felt it necessary to order an umeshu (plum liqueur) on the rocks about every ten minutes, to make sure I got good value from the deal.

I was disappointed to find that I still haven't regained the lower tones that I used to be able to reach before I got pregnant. To be honest, you find yourself screeching the lyrics most of the time, especially as the booze took effect! The disappointing thing was that as so many tracks were being selected, hardly any of the ones I chose came up. My choice of 'Summer Nights' from Grease was very popular with all though.

All too soon our two hours was up, and we all wished we could stay longer. Unfortunately it was not possible to extend and we had to leave. We all vowed to do it again soon. Steph and Maia had to go home, but the rest of us weren't ready to go yet. We wandered around Shibuya trying to find a drinking hole, eventually ducking into a basement bar that was advertising 'Live & Drinks'. I really thought we would find ourselves in a strip joint but actually it was a live music venue. It was fairly quiet in there as the musicians had packed up, so we could have a bit of a natter. Strangely the place closed at 11.30 though. We decided we had better call it a night at that point and made our way home. I felt perfectly safe to take the train and walk back from Tamachi, thereby saving a big cab fare. When I got back I found that Nick was still up, watching football highlights!