Japan Times

Now that the semester is done, and I've all but had it up to my eyeballs in Lyapunov functions, Linear Matrix Inequalities, congestion control algorithms and whole host of other things that no one cares about, the summer of fun can begin. Well the 2-3 weeks of fun, anyways. What better way than to kick it off with my first ever trip on a boat larger than the center island ferry.

And what better way to celebrate a trip on a 4 deck gargantuan mammothocity than with a beer or twelve. Yes indeed, let me introduce the Tokyo Bay Yukata boat cruise. 2500 yen for 2hrs of all you can drink fun and frolic on a big ass boat. Special thanks to Dean for arranging the tickets for this, especially since when we got there the tix were sold out as evidenced by some poor sad sack running around looking for scalpers.

As I said, it was a big boat, a couple "below decks" where most people were sitting around eating and drinking, and the two upper decks, with more sitting and eating and drinking, but also a bit more dancing, and a few less families. I met a few interesting people, including a cool group of Korean tourists, several random groups of Japanese people and one particularly amorous girl who seemed to be having fun squeezing the butts of passers-by.

As an extra coolness factor, many of the people on the boat were wearing yukatas (think of a kimono, but lighter and thinner, so you can wear it in the summer without losing 10 pounds). There were also the signature "yukata dancers" shakin' their booty on the dance floor to liven the place up even more (not that it needed it with a bunch of drunkards running around taking pictures and trying to spot fireworks in the distance). All in all a good old time.

Labels: japan, tokyo