Norae Bang!

Our little group minus photographer Jen.

L-R Me, Seamus the random Irish Guy, Kelly, Richard, Jeff, Dan

I sang karaoke for the first time last year in China and have been addicted ever since. Unlike Western karaoke, you rent a small room, bring or order food and drinks, and sing your heart out for as long as you care to pay for the room. In China, it's called KTV (Karaoke Television). Hoping over one country, you have the Korean Norae Bang ("bong" not bahng). This literally translates as 'Singing Room' (Norae - singing, Bang - room).

Flash forward to last Sunday when the group of us met at Nashville's around 2:00pm and then somehow (must have been the cola) ended up at a Norae Bang hours later. This was my first Norae Bang experience in Korea and has to date (I went again last Saturday) been the best. The the selection of English songs put Chinese KTV to shame, and since we were a group of Westerners, we didn't have to wait while 8 Chinese people sang 8 Chinese songs that none of us knew or could even attempt to sing.

We spent a solid hour singing our hearts out to numerous Spice Girls songs, something that I think was an attempt at Metallica and then finished the evening with a raucous rendition of Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer". It was the best Sunday since arriving in Korea.