Karaoke Pilipina
(Special Report by The Alien from somewhere near Manila, The Philippines - some time and dimension near our own)
Typhoon Ofel is raging outside, and I'm nursing a headache from too much "videoke" and way too much San Miguel beer. It wasn't Karol's, but the next day felt the same. RedBox was Manila's answer to our favorite uptown joint. Imagine private rooms for your own karaoke enjoyment, but not the cramped boxes you see in the Korean and Japanese places. This was widescreen TV plus high-backed pleather spacious booth. If you don't feel like karaoke, there was also a poker table (bring your own cards and chips). Pick your songs with a handy remote (English, Philipino, Japanese, and Korean!). One of the other rooms had a pool table. This is full service, baby.
The song selection was... strange. Every Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow song you never heard before. If you want to find a song by the Clash, be sure to look under "T" for "The". I learned two local hits - Picuh Pizza (sung to the tune of I Will Survive) and I Love Manila. My team shamed me with their dead-on renditions of Umbrella, Always, some Spice Girls song, and some Paris Hilton song (although I didn't recognize the titles, I knew all the words).
But the best part was the video behind the songs. There was this blonde lady who showed up in just about every one of them. She always had a pensive/sad/missing absent boyfriend look. Sometimes she was sitting on stairs. Sometimes walking by the beach. I think she was dipping her feet in the pool at one point. If the lady wasn't in the video, then there would be montages of Australian beaches, the Grand Tetons, and the White House. But the most important part was that it had nothing to do with the song.
Somebody had a phone that could record movies, so unfortunately there is a grainy film of me just waiting to be posted online (my own zabruder). Trust me - you will not be getting a copy.
No zombie brothers, no Hell bathroom, no Jimmy-style southern hospitality. Just four hours of karaoke stylings, with the aftermath of Typhoon Nina waiting outside (her sister Ofel was due the next day).
Typhoon Ofel is raging outside, and I'm nursing a headache from too much "videoke" and way too much San Miguel beer. It wasn't Karol's, but the next day felt the same. RedBox was Manila's answer to our favorite uptown joint. Imagine private rooms for your own karaoke enjoyment, but not the cramped boxes you see in the Korean and Japanese places. This was widescreen TV plus high-backed pleather spacious booth. If you don't feel like karaoke, there was also a poker table (bring your own cards and chips). Pick your songs with a handy remote (English, Philipino, Japanese, and Korean!). One of the other rooms had a pool table. This is full service, baby.
The song selection was... strange. Every Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow song you never heard before. If you want to find a song by the Clash, be sure to look under "T" for "The". I learned two local hits - Picuh Pizza (sung to the tune of I Will Survive) and I Love Manila. My team shamed me with their dead-on renditions of Umbrella, Always, some Spice Girls song, and some Paris Hilton song (although I didn't recognize the titles, I knew all the words).
But the best part was the video behind the songs. There was this blonde lady who showed up in just about every one of them. She always had a pensive/sad/missing absent boyfriend look. Sometimes she was sitting on stairs. Sometimes walking by the beach. I think she was dipping her feet in the pool at one point. If the lady wasn't in the video, then there would be montages of Australian beaches, the Grand Tetons, and the White House. But the most important part was that it had nothing to do with the song.
Somebody had a phone that could record movies, so unfortunately there is a grainy film of me just waiting to be posted online (my own zabruder). Trust me - you will not be getting a copy.
No zombie brothers, no Hell bathroom, no Jimmy-style southern hospitality. Just four hours of karaoke stylings, with the aftermath of Typhoon Nina waiting outside (her sister Ofel was due the next day).
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posted by cfrye2000 at 3:15 AM
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