365 #20 Sing sing sing

So, while I sometimes sing like a hyena, that has never stopped me from 'doin ma thang'. When I was in college, my housemates and I used to spend our afternoons (when there was no class!!! *in case my mum wonders*) at the karaoke clubs screaming our guts out. Everything from Jay Chow, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Michael Learns to Rock, Tao-Zi, Air Supply, Fish Leong, Boys 2 Men, Stephanie Sun, Britney Spears, Karen Mok, Faye Wong, A-Mei, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, you know, the typical songs from the world's most emo singers - you name it, we could sing it. We put our souls into those songs. We'd belt them out like we were superstars ourselves. We knew every note, every high, every low. There were 5 of us in the group, and being 18-20 year old girls, one of us would undoubtedly be suffering from a broken heart or unrequited love. Hence the deep emotions. 

We'd jump on sofas, mimicking our idols on stage or on the music videos. We'd laugh, we'd string air guitars, we'd stand (for the ovations), sometimes we'd cry, when the words we were singing resonated with our heartaches. And through all of that, we were never even drunk. Really. I don't know about anyone else, but karaokes with my girls were the soberest fun I have ever had (when the men join us, that's another story - somehow boys always seem to need some drink as an excuse before they start singing). Of course, another reason there was no alcohol for us was also because we refused to part with our allowances for something as silly as beer or whiskey! We were girls who much rather spend our parents' hard earned money on shopping! :p

It used to be real cheap too. Okay, it was like almost 15 years ago, but those were the days when a whole afternoon (noon to 5pm) of singing with a set lunch and two drinks would only cost a measly 12 RINGGIT each! Yes! In KL! 12 RINGGIT! We even had a room to ourselves! Okay, the cost would range from RM12 to RM25 depending on which set lunch you chose, and we always took the cheapest one, which more often than not was a plate of 'fried spaghetti', but whatever! Beggars Students couldn't be choosers! The trick was of course to go in the afternoons and not the nights, when the cost would go up literally 20 times. And the other trick was to sneak in mineral water and cans of soft drinks in our hand bags to quench our parched throats because our allocated two drinks were definitely not enough.

Karaoke continued even after we all graduated, of course. And I did it with many of my new found friends and colleagues. It was all great times. It was never about how well someone sang. Mind you, on the contrary, it was highly boring to go into a session with some people who thought they were professionals and took karaoke so seriously that it almost felt like a personal mini concert. The funnest times were always had with a bunch of people who just wanted to 'let off some steam' and take the mic-key (pun intended) out of themselves. I tell you, after (wholeheartedly) singing with someone, no matter how bad you or they sound, you will walk out of that room feeling a whole new bond, like you've seen into the depths of their (fun) hearts.

These pictures here are all of the time when the hubs and I went back to my hometown in summer last year. Super mi and I (who had a crazy fun session of Karaoke in Phnom Penh on our vacay together) decided to plan a karaoke night and have our whole family 'rock it' for the first time together. I tell you. It was crazy fun. If you've never tried it. Please go. And be as silly as possible. You don't even have to sing. You can do what I also love to do: be a back-up dancer.