Arts District and Little Tokyo

Every Umami burger location has their specialty.  The "Arts District" burger has a slab of pork belly with their manly burger which I found difficult to eat and not worth the price.  But I managed to get something unique by getting order the Hatch Burger - Poutine style.

This was perfect since I was watching my weight and didn't want to eat the empty calories that came with the bun.  Poutine style: cheese gravy and bed of thin fries.  It was pretty perfect and not regrettable at all!  The Umami Burger in the Arts District has little to no wait and a hidden backyard.

We stayed inside.  Andrew was caught enjoying his fry here.
The restaurant gave us chips at the end of the night to place into jars based on how much we enjoyed our meal.  We could be as honest as we wanted however... they were watching us place the chips into the jars.  How awkward.  Thankfully we had a great time so we didn't have to lie when we all placed the chip into the positive jar.  We noticed that the staff was really bro-y.  But that's cute.

The Arts District section next to Little Tokyo has a ... meat packing feel.  If you must compare it to New York.. there is grit, art, factories and tons of development.

Lots of "boutiques" popping up everywhere.

The Santa Fe One project is massive.  It's going to bring in a new population to this area which can either destroy or patronize it's charm.  It's an interesting view from 1st street.  You can see the roof of this giant building that looks to extend for miles.

While the class arcade closes down in the Little Tokyo mall.  82 barcade is the new hotspot featuring mixology drinks for $14 and arcade games.  I thought it was cool how they projected Street fighter on the walls above the bar.  Other people can see how much you suck if you're able to sneak a game in.

Jimmy was doing well at this pinball machine until i distracted him with my camera.  Sorry babe.

Back in Little Tokyo Plaza I noticed how late this gift store stayed open and how much work it was to bring in and out all of the merchandise every day.  I hope this place stays around for a while.

Happy Birthday Martin.  We were able to gather at Wolf and Crane which I love.  The energy is young and Asian American.  Drinks are good.  People are hip.

I had this venue as a possible spot for my birthday, but ruled it out when I started planning with James.  But I'm glad that I was able to celebrate something here and checked it off my list.

Twas a nice warm evening.

Elements of a Successful Karaoke Nights

There's always something about karaoke that some people hate.  The songs were boring, they are self conscious, people are mic hogs, but we managed to overcome all of that during our Diva Karaoke night by making sure that we achieved the essential elements.

1. Alcohol
Can't do karaoke without being loosened up?  Max Studios in Little Tokyo was so lenient.  We "snuck" 6 bottles of soju and a 12 pack of beer in reusable bags.  We made sure we cleaned up and weren't too rowdy so that we weren't blacklisted.

2. Current Songs - Max Studios also prides itself in keeping up to date.  They had Rebecca Black's Friday.   Our group was really diverse.  Folks put in rock, dance, musicals, 90's R&B, pop all good energy.

3. Performing Divas - Dab won the diva award that night with his reenactment of the Little Mermaid while singing "Part of Your World."  Situated on a rock in the ocean, see Dab lift his tail yearning to have legs.

Tommy got runner up feeling the music.  First call out.

Andrew and Jlo's rendition of "Marry You" by Bruno Mars was pretty epic as well.  Channeling Glee. Really committed to this song! Awwww worthy.

4. All Sing - You have to pass the mic and put in songs that everyone will sing to.  We even got some shy ones to shine.  If you're gonna chip in for the room, you best sing a song!   Journey, Seasons of Love, Disney songs are all winners.  And because we went with a big group - 1.5 hours = $12 a person.

5. Share the Mic - If everyone looks bored while you're singing - cut it short!  We managed to be considerate of everyone's time.

At one point, there was a spill and I brought in a mop and danced with it while people sung songs from Wicked.

After party