splashing about.

though annoying and sometimes pointless trying to get downtown proper in boston for a night out, the allure of seeing the ocean and being at the harbor somehow always wins out in my decision making process. sometimes, i feel good about my decisions to make the trek (and deal with the transportation failures of boston); at other times, i wish that i could erase two hours from my life and move on with my night.

last night, a few friends and i decided to go to the volvo ocean race area which has been set up at fan pier. the allure was there, along with the promise of some good tunes for listening, and a very unique space. i made my way to puma city last night to check out what i've heard many people talking about.

not to be overshadowed by the nomadic pop-up puma shop... the volvo ocean race, the main event, is a strenuous nine month long extravaganza hitting major port and sailing cities around the world as their stopovers including one of my least favorite port-towns (qingdao) and some of the most interesting places in the world like cochin, the capital of the communist-elected state of kerala in southwestern india. having been on the high seas for a few months myself, this race is an extreme and explorative type of competition.

the puma city space is an interesting bit of mobile architecture which consists of two dozen extremely modified, 3-tier stacked shipping containers which form the shopping, nightlife, and lounge space adhering to all international building codes and completely moveable. this pop-up space is both interesting conceptually and in actual execution.

but, last night...something was missing. the space was great, the lounge-y couches are pushed back from the center of the bar area against the sides of the space so that they almost seem like hidden compartments and the center can have a dance floor seemingly free of seated onlookers. the night was billed as "<3throb vs. thunderdome djs" it sounded like a pretty good reason to make my way downtown (grr) all dressed up.

wrong.

the puma city bar was TINY which caused wait times of up to 20 minutes for a simple gin and tonic sloshed into a plastic cup by bartenders who didn't really look like they had ever made a tasty alcoholic beverage in their lives.

the music was nowhere NEAR loud enough for a pleasant musical experience -except the corner of couches where we decided to plop ourselves after finally having acquired drinks at the dull bar. *sorry boston globe guy who had to shout over the speaker in his ear to interview us*

further on the music, the djs did a really poor job of mixing the music that i'm sure they were trying to play so that the very diverse type of crowd would all be happy and dance. the loops went too long at times, they didn't know how to drop anything well, and really? blur?

essentially, i'm glad i went. it was a fun night and since puma city is making its sole stop in north america right here in boston, it will be an architectural experience that few will get to party in.

as a final note, as a few friends and i had finally let ourselves be free of puma city, i was stopped on the walkway by a very cute, bubbly and stylish girl who asked to take my picture for her boston style blog. after a few quick snaps of mine and then also my boy's outfits, i come to find that i have finally met martine of beyond boston chic. she was probably the first boston blog that i ever linked to and i'm so excited to have finally met this fashionable lady!

here's to a new week.