Planning Friday nights often involves the dilemma of having to choose between going out to a bar with your friends or snuggling up with your other good friend, Netflix. If only there was a way to accommodate both your social and your introvert side…
Well look no further! Pang Pang Karaoke Bar is only a few metro stops away from campus. If you are thinking, “Are you kidding me? Karaoke? Isn’t that for old people?” let me briefly draw you into the fascinating world of karaoke.
In Asia, karaoke is a widely popular form of entertainment for both the underage and the adults. The word ‘bar’ can be misleading, since it is actually composed of multiple private karaoke rooms in different sizes, which varies in price. In Pang Pang, they range from: one to four people room for $25/hr, five to 12 people room for $30/hr or better yet, happy hour is $15/person from 8pm to 3am. Don’t worry about all these numbers the lovely ladies at the counter will calculate for you the cheapest rate at the end of the night. Reservation for the room isn’t absolutely necessary but recommended.
The lobby has a reception/cashier desk and a lavishly decorated waiting area.
In no time we were handed our mikes and were led down the long corridor to our soon to be stage/room, while T-Swift’s “Shake It Off” was being butchered by some guys in one of the other rooms. Our four person-room was equipped with a large television screen, two sofas on the side with a large table in the middle for drinks and some space to dance around in. With the dim lights and a disco ball in the center of the ceiling, there was a certain 70’s vibe that was generated in the room.
Note: Don’t dance on top of the sofas as tempting as it can be, there is a security camera in the room and the employee will personally come to tell you off. Not that we experienced this first hand….
You can order drinks from the beginning, or in between since there is a bell button, located by the door that directly calls them and the employee can awkwardly come in between your songs to place your drinks. The price of the drinks can add up pretty quickly when you are busy singing away so watch out.
In terms of song selections, there are plenty of recent and old songs from Maroon 5’s “Sugar” to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” Although the buttons on the remote are in Korean, there are only three buttons that you really need and the Korean employees can help you with this: the big reserve button, the red delete button and the play button.
Paying tribute to good ol’Avril Lavigne and her infamous ‘Sk8er Boi.’
After three hours of non-stop singing to all your favorite songs since middle school, you will surely want to end the night off with some well-deserved McDonald’s that is conveniently just across the street. Don’t forget to order a bottle of water to soothe your sore throat!
Image obtained from: http://www.allfunemployed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_0844.jpg
Some photos are the author’s own.