The Glory of the Noraebang

Still sitting on some Japan pics, but with parent-teacher conferences and the aftermath of the trip (read: 8+ hours of sleep per night for a week), it's been tough to find time.

Of course, our utter musical hedonism this weekend didn't really help. This marked our first noraebang doubleheader--a considerable slide down the long, slippery slope to addiction. For those unfamiliar with the noraebang, or "song room," it is undoubtedly Korea's greatest contribution to the world, with all respect to King Sejong, of course. (And East Asians argue back and forth over who invented it first.) Anyway: in the West, weekend warblers have to belt out their tunes in a classic karaoke bar, in front of dozens of strangers all competing for time on the same open mike. In Korea, though, karaoke establishments rent out small private rooms to parties of 2-10, which not only cuts down on the competition for mike time, but also ensures that any flops will only leave you humiliated in front of your closest friends.

Call me hooked.

And this weekend, Nana and I indulged twice: once at the humble Brown Noraebang in our apartment building, where we sang with college buddy and amateur rock god Mark Lee, and once with a crew from the school at a spacious "luxury noraebang" in the Hongdae neighborhood downtown. Never in my life had I imagined that one day I would wake up with my vocal chords sore. Before this year, I didn't even like to sing!

In related news, Nana has scored a cult hit among the coworkers with her rendition of Europe's "The Final Countdown," rated as VH1's "Most Awesomely Bad Metal Song Ever."