My friends Nicole & Jenn came down to visit from Portland last week, and we caused quite a bit of trouble. We invaded Japantown, which will suck you in with its unbelievable cuteness. Here, Nicole and I are getting into a brawl in Neo Tokyo or whatever. My hundred-hand-slap is useless against Nicole's fire breath! :( x 100

We did other things, mostly drinking and shopping. We decided to check out all the tiny bars that are directly in my neighborhood, so here are some quick mini-reviews of each

Zeki's - Directly downstairs from new apartment, has Connect 4 and PEAR CIDER ON TAP!

Encore - Super secret upstairs karaoke - short lines, low ceilings, low singing quality, no taps? What???

Bacchus Kirk - Rowdy, rowdy bar with super nice bartender who gave us free shots of something that tasted like melted mint ice cream, and made Nic & Jenn pint-glass sized mojitos.

Bigfoot Lounge - I got 3/4 of a free Guinness when the keg blew. Giant bigfoot statue takes up valuable seating space, and a little too much taxidermy for my taste

Vertigo - Hidden-in-plain-sight tiny danceclub right around the corner. About 8 people can dance comfortably, so the 12 people rocking out to funky progressive house had the place packed. Hope to DJ here some time

Mint - Over by Aaron & Jason's hood, not mine. Seriously fun karaoke bar, definitely where I will be making Rachel & Corey go when they come visit. They have a camera pointed at you so the people in the back of the bar can watch you on TV.

# posted by Pete Ellison @ 8:41 AM