My 9-Hour Karaoke Marathon At Redbox

I love to sing although I am not a good singer. And I am pretty sure I am not alone. Luckily for all of us who like to sing but can't sing well, there are karaoke outlets to satisfy our cravings for belting out hit songs unabashedly.

I have not been going to karaoke for quite some time, so imagine my excitement when I heard that Redbox Karaoke offers a Dinner Buffet package that starts at 6pm and allows you to sing till 3am in the morning! That's a whopping 9 hours of singing!! The price was only RM48++ per person* so it was a good bargain.

So early this week, my two friends and I ended up at Redbox Gardens. We were there right on the dot at 6pm. After registering ourselves at the counter, we were led to our private room.



I like that the room was spacious and clean.

There were some pretty new songs for us to choose from, but I was disappointed that some songs that I wanted to sing were not available.



Songs like Paradise (Coldplay), Count On Me (Bruno Mars), Arms (Christina Perri), Someone Like You (Adele), I Wanna Go (Britney Spears), Summer Rain (Matthew Morrison) and Louder (Charice) were not available.

I was actually quite irritated when I found that they had the song My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson but without the lyrics!! How was I supposed to sing?

I was however quite happy they had songs like Fall For You (Secondhand Serenade), Wish You Were Here (Avril Lavigne), Pumped Up Kicks (Foster The People), Cheers Drink To That (Rihanna) and Right There (Nicole Scherzinger).



As expected from a karaoke outlet, the buffet food were nothing to shout about. Here are some of the food I ate.

Sushi, oyster, sausages, chicken meat ...



Butter prawn, vegetables and garlic rice...



I had to spit out the butter prawn after biting halfway as I found that it was not fresh at all!

Scallop, beef, vegetables ...



The scallop was actually not too bad.

Beef, fish, crab, prawns ....



The fish was OK but I'm afraid the rest were below average.

Vegetable salad with various dressings ....



There were also ice creams, fruits and freshly made temaki but I did not take any photos of them.

Oh well, I was there to sing first and to eat second, so I was not too particular about the food. Besides, I did not have any high expectation of the quality of the food there so it was OK.

Since it was my birthday month, I made full use of my birthday vouchers. I redeemed one voucher for a free bottle of sparkling juice.



Thank goodness for this sparkling juice! It helped soothe our throats singing non-stop for 9 hours! Well, not exactly 9 hours as we spent the first hour eating actually. Haha!

I also used another birthday voucher which is a Buy 1 Free 1 voucher. Since there were three of us, we only needed to pay for two people. That's a good deal especially when we could sing all the way until 3am, don't you agree?

*The price RM48++ is only for dinner buffet from 6pm - 10pm (Mon - Thurs only). You can stay on to sing till 3am but this offer together with the price is subject to change from 19th Dec 2011 onwards.

FIRST COMMENTER

All I Want For Christmas Is ....

Tis the season to be jolly....Christmas season is here! Do you feel the festive spirit?

While shopping malls are in full swing with the Christmas decors, I can't help myself from humming a Christmas tune or two. I guess the yuletide spirit has gotten to me!

There is still one full month of Christmas mood to be enjoyed so I am going to enjoy it to the fullest! Now what do I want for Christmas? Let me see...

1. A Macbook Pro

2. A Steinway Grand Piano

3. An iPad 2

4. A full year's supply of Snowflake Taiwanese desserts

5. An all-expense paid trip to Switzerland

6. Winning the lottery

7. No house chores for a year

The list can go on and on....but all I want, all I really really want for Christmas is to be healthy and happy. Yes, that's all I want. How about you?

Let me end this post with the newly released music video of Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber singing Mariah's Christmas song of the decade - All I Want For Christmas Is You! Enjoy!

Christmas Time Is In The Air Again

It's that time of the year again.

Can you smell it? Feel it? Taste it?

Yes! I am talking about the most wonderful time of the year - Christmas time.

And Christmas is coming early to my blog this year. Can you see the snow falling? Well, actually it's not really early. Today is exactly one month before Christmas Day. Since we can't have snow falling in Malaysia, then the least I can do is have snow falling in my blog! Haha!

The shopping malls around PJ and KL have started putting up Christmas decorations, although they were quite slow. I heard from my Filipino friends that the malls in Philippines were already playing Christmas songs as early as October! Wow!

Anyway, there is nothing that can put me into Christmas mood more than Christmas songs. So today I would like to share with you this wonderful, soulful, slightly jazzy song written and sung by my favourite singer, Mariah Carey. It's called Christmas Time Is In The Air Again.

This Christmas song, taken from Mariah's 2010 Merry Christmas II You album sounds like a classic to me (I almost can't believe she wrote this!) and evokes images of snowflakes, reindeers, christmas trees, snowman, and everything Christmas! Enjoy!

Note: The recording is not very good - you might want to turn up the volume a little.



Christmas time is in the air again
Christmas chimes reminding me of
When we fell like the snow
So deep in love
High above us the evergreens
Sparkle with lights and feel the breeze
As we made future Christmas memories.

Christmas shoppers glance at us and smile
'Cause the mistletoe is occupied
And the dream is to share
This Christmas cheer with you all year
And not wait till the morning
When Christmas time is in the air again.

Mr. Grinch simply can't resist
Warming up when he looks our way
Even Old Scrooge makes a Christmas wish
For a honey to hold Christmas day
And to feel love like ours always
La da da, da da dum

And the dream is to share
This Christmas cheer
With you all throughout the year
And not wait till the morning
When Christmas time is in the air
Christmas time is everywhere
Christmas time is in the air again.

FIRST COMMENTER

And Now For Something A Little Different

I thought I'd mix things up a bit today, taffetadarlings.  Friday night, I was thrilled to attend my good friend Jensen's CD release party at the Living Room downtown (click here to read the artists' bio on the Living Room's site) .  To learn more about this super talented singer/songwriter and to find out where to buy her self-titled album, check out her webiste.

Random Notes 20

1. I am getting more and more upset with my current telco. I did a speed test of their Edge connection and this was the result.



It was so freaking slow I could not even get my Twitter timeline updated on my iPhone!

When I switched to 3G expecting a faster connection, guess what happened? My phone line suddenly vanished! Poof! People could not even call me after that! How ridiculous is that?!

2. I noticed more and more restaurants are installing this call button. At the press of the button, we can summon the waiter to our table to get the menu, make an order, pay the bills or make a complaint. How convenient!



The only problem is when customers misuse it when they let their children play with it. Can you imagine what happens when a young kid keeps pressing the button? I pity the poor waiter!

3. I normally eat nothing but fruits for breakfast. But once in a while, I like to go to OldTown White Coffee for my breakfast. I would either eat their Western Platter...



Or their steamed bread with butter and kaya.



But sometimes I rather go PappaRich to eat their half boiled eggs, toasted bun with butter and kaya plus a cup of hot coffee! Yummy!



4. Take a look at this photo. Make a guess. Do you think this is coffee, milk tea or Milo?



Hint : It is not sweet

5. I love desserts!!! Do you? My current most favourite dessert shop is Snowflake Taiwanese Dessert! For those of you who have eaten there, do you prefer the Grass Jelly, Taroballs or Soya Ice series?



I love the pearls, lotus seed and the chewy taro balls! A perfect dessert on a hot day!

You can take a look at the menu HERE.

Usually I would add more taro balls as it is my favourite topping! Want to learn how to make your own taro balls? Read HERE.

6. Last week, I watched the much anticipated movie, Kungfu Panda 2. It was pretty awesome. But somehow, I felt it was not as good as the first movie. What do you think?



The one thing I like about the movie is the very cute and adorable Baby Po!



Isn't he cute? I wish I can have a baby panda as my pet! Haha!!



Well, the movie was filled with lots of funny jokes and wisdom one-liners. So it was definitely still a good and enjoyable movie! Just that I went in the cinema hall with too high an expectation I guess.



7. If you have been reading my blog or following me on Twitter, you will know by now that I love the rain. One afternoon it rained so hard I could not get out of my own car! So I took out my iPhone and recorded a short video of the rain from inside my car.



Oh my, I just love the sound of the rain hitting my car windscreen! Call me weird but I find it so therapeutic!

Luckily I was not rushing for an appointment or any important event, so I waited for the rain to become less heavy. With such heavy rain, it would be pointless to leave the car even if I had an umbrella with me, don't you agree?

8. Talking about rain, I hope it would rain tonight. I just love sleeping while listening to the rain! But if it does not rain, I do have another option - create fake rain sound!

Yes, with this amazing Sleepmaker Rains app on my iPhone, I can select the kind of rain sound that I like and play it while I lie in my bed! Haha!



9. I don't know what's freaking wrong with me, but I am starting to get addicted to this song that features a flying cat called Nyan Cat, with the body of a Pop-Tart, and a rainbow trailing behind it!

Play this video and see if you like it. And read about the origins of Nyan Cat.



Well? If you like it, you can try the longer version (about 3 and a half hours!!!) HERE and see if you can sit through the whole duration without killing yourself! Good luck!! LOL!

FIRST COMMENTER

Loud Speaker Vs Redbox Vs Neway Karaoke

I love to go karaoke and sing my heart out! How about you?

Not that I am any good at singing, mind you, but isn't that what karaoke is all about? If I can sing like Adam Lambert or God forbid, Justin Bieber, I don't need to go karaoke, do I?

Last December, I went to Loud Speaker Karaoke in Kota Damansara for the very first time.



I usually go Redbox or Neway for my karaoke haunts, but I wanted to try this new kid in town.



The only thing I like about Loud Speaker is their touch screen unit where you can choose and key in the songs you want to sing! You can choose by country, language, top hits, new releases and many other categories!



I opted for language. Look! They have a wide variety of songs in different languages! OK, why is the word "English" spelt as "Englisd"?



OK I admit other karaoke outlets like Neway and Redbox also have all these options but they don't have touch screen units.

My problem with Loud Speaker is that their song selections were not as updated as Redbox or Neway. I tried to select Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are, a relatively new song at that time, but I could not even find Bruno Mars in the male singers category! What a disappointment!



Now Redbox (picture above) may have the most updated songs compared to both Loud Speaker and Neway but I think their service sucks! The counter staff is rude (most of the time) and they like to disable the karaoke machine before your time is up! *

If you have ever been to Redbox buffet, you will know that their food sucks big time! If you are more into singing than eating, my advice is don't go for the buffet.

However, if you are more into eating than singing, then it's better to go to Neway as their food are much better. But seriously, if you are more interested in eating, why bother to go karaoke at all? Haha!!



Nowadays the newer karaoke outlets have wireless microphones. This is great because I hate all those wires hanging around that might cause you to trip over them!

But I hate it when I get screeching sounds from the mike! It's so irritating when I am singing my favourite song! Do you know how to prevent the screeching sound?

I was told that when the microphones and the speakers are too close to each other, they will cause an echo resulting in that loud irritating screech! So the solution is to move the mikes away from the speakers. Problem is, most of the karaoke rooms are too small for this, so perhaps you will need to turn down the sensitivity of the mike.

Well, I tried but it didn't really work!



Ok, I shall mention about the tidbits. Oh yes, I am never ever happy with the tidbits in karaoke outlets!

Now I am not complaining about the quality of the tidbits although they are not of high quality. Whether it is Neway or Redbox (I don't remember Loud Speaker has tidbits!), the tidbits are compulsory. Yes, like it or not, you are charged anywhere between RM12 to RM20 for the tidbits!

So when you enquire about the price, the counter staff will tell you the price per head, but that does not include the price of the tidbits! Why can't they just include everything in the price per head? Many people do not know about these hidden charges until they see the bill.

Would you like to hear me sing? I have recorded a small part of my own singing and would like to share it with you. I'll be singing my favourite Mariah Carey's song of all time, We Belong Together. Let's listen to it, shall we? Click below to play...(now don't puke!!! haha)



So how do you find my singing? Good? Bad? Pukey?

Of course it is not me singing! LOL!! It's actually Mariah Carey herself! But using this amazing iPhone app called Ringtone Maker Pro, I managed to change her voice into a male voice! Haha!!

This is my iPhone screen showing the fun Ringtone Maker Pro app.



Using the original song, I can create a ring tone for my iPhone. But instead of just creating a ring tone of the original song, I can speed up the song or change the pitch higher or lower to suit my fancy!

Notice the "pitch" buttons at the bottom of the screen? Mariah Carey's voice is at the "zero" level. To make her sound like a man, I tuned it down three notches to "minus 3".

That was fun!! Haha! I guess it's too late for April Fool's Day, but I hope you enjoyed this post! Now who wants to go karaoke?

*Based on my experience at Redbox The Curve

FIRST COMMENTER

Random Notes 19

1. It had been a very busy week for me. So busy I did not have time to blog about my visit to Taal Volcano in the Philippines last January. I also had no time to blog hop. Hopefully my schedule next week would be less tight! But some people told me being busy is good! Really? I think I need a break!

2. I have started an online newspaper called The Panda Daily. Read it HERE. OK, it's not really a newspaper but simply a collection of my tweets and the tweets of people I follow on Twitter in newspaper form. Haha!

3. Have you done your Income Tax? I have not even started thinking about it! I am just too lazy! I hope to get working on it next week but knowing how well I procrastinate, I may just postpone it to the very last minute.

4. I have eaten at OldTown, GeorgeTown and OldTaste. Have you? I can't believe that both GeorgeTown and OldTaste are exact copycats of OldTown right down to the interiors and menus! As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

5. Remember the panda head Eric Lee gave me for my Christmas gift last year? IT IS GONE!!!



Why gone? Well, my mom gave it away to my sister's children as she thought I was too old to play with it! Now I can't take a photo of myself hiding behind this panda head! Boohoo!

6. Have you eaten the banana kaya dessert from Domino's Pizza?



I found it pretty good with banana slices, pandan kaya, topped with cheese and sprinkled with icing sugar! Not exactly healthy, but what the heck!

7. Last week, I ordered a spaghetti bolognese from Domino's Delivery. But they refused to deliver unless I order a pizza!



So I ended up ordering a personal pizza and a spaghetti bolognese plus a banana kaya dessert! Am I greedy or what?! Their strategy worked! Dammit!

8. I like listening to all types of music including Malay music! I am a fan of Sean Ghazi and this is quite an amusing song sung by him, with Ida Nerina as Mary and Adibah Noor as the wife. If not mistaken, I think this song was originally written and sung by the late P. Ramlee. Have a listen! Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!



Mari-mari kawan dengar ini cerita
Perempuan sangat mudah cemburu buta
Kalau suaminya sangat bergaya
Dia so jealous, tidak percaya

You know apa yang jadi pada suatu hari
I perang besar you see!
Tapi baik juga, sudah hilang bengkak
Benjolnya dekat sini you sudah tak nampak!

Di office saya ada seorang secretary
Potongan badannya…
Namanya “Mary”
Merah bibirnya macam cherry!
Salah pandang macam Halle Berry…

Dia mengajak saya pergi makan angin
You know, she wants to ‘romance’
I tanya “Ke mana?”
She said “Kebun bunga”
Ini chance baik I said “Ok, Senorita!”

Tiba di sana si Mary mula-lah posing
She makes badan I sejuk
Terus I shivering
She said “Don’t be afraid my darling”
Saya jawab: “I like this kind of thing..”

Kita pun pergi duduk dekat satu bangku
And then she said “ I love you!”
So then what did I do? I think you pun tahu…
Sudah tentu I kiss the girl bertalu-talu!

Saya pulang ke rumah cukup senang hati
Tapi my wife ternampak lipstick on my pipi

*
Dia menerkam dan menggigit,
Saya tak malu, terus menjerit!

Perabot IKEA terbang melayang-layang
Menghentam my belakang!
I would like to tanya
Kalau you yang kena
Wife you juga cemburu jadi what will you do?
Wife you juga cemburu jadi what will you do?
Wife you juga cemburu jadi what will you do?

I Love Hong Kong And Bruno Mars!

By the time you read this post, I would already be in Hong Kong. Yes, this is my first time going to Hong Kong so you can bet that I am excited!

I'm gonna visit the Ocean Park, Hong Kong Disneyland, Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, The Peak and The Arena Of Stars! And of course I am gonna shop till I drop and eat till I am fatter than the fattest Panda! Haha!

It's all about shopping and eating in Hong Kong, I was told, so that is what I'm gonna do there!

Meantime, I would temporarily stop my current Manila travel posts, but no worries, cos I will resume them once I return from Hong Kong. Of course, I have scheduled a few posts with special topics while I'm away so be sure to drop by and leave your thoughts.

Who knows, if I like your comments, I might send you a souvenir from Hong Kong! ; )

For today, I would like to share with you this favourite song of mine called Grenade. It's sung by Bruno Mars who will be in KL in April to give a concert. Here's the live studio version. Enjoy!!



Easy come, easy go
That's just how you live, oh
Take, take, take it all
But you never give

Should have known you was trouble from the first kiss
Had your eyes wide open
Why were they open?

Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked
Cause what you don't understand is

I’d catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya
Listen babe
I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for ya baby
But you won't do the same

Black, black, black and blue beat me till I'm numb
Tell the devil I said “hey” when you get back to where you're from
Mad woman, bad woman,
That's just what you are, yeah
You’ll smile in my face then rip the brakes out my car

Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, yes you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked
Cause what you don't understand is

I’d catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya
See I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for ya baby
But you won't do the same

If my body was on fire, ooh
You’ d watch me burn down in flames
You said you loved me you're a liar
Cause you never, ever, ever did baby...

But darling I’ll still catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya
Oh babe,
I would go through all this pain,
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for ya baby
But you won't do the same.

The Lazy Song

I am feeling so lazy today! Really I am.

I just don't feel like doing anything at all except to lie in my bed and maybe, daydream!

Those of you who have been expecting my post on my Manila travels, I am sorry to say I will have to postpone it to another day. Really, really sorry about that.

It's just one of those days you know, when I don't even feel like writing a long post and putting up photos and things like that. I don't want to go out and meet up with friends. Or go out shopping or to the movies.

No, I just want to stay home, preferably snuggled up in my bed and do absolutely nothing at all! Have you ever experienced such a day?

Anyway, The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars sort of summed up my feelings at the moment. Listen to this live studio session and tell me if you feel the same. Enjoy!!!



Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

I'm gonna kick my feet up
Then stare at the fan
Turn the TV on, throw my hand in my pants
Nobody's gonna tell me I can't

I'll be lying on the couch
Just chillin' in my snuggie
Click to MTV, so they can teach me how to dougie
'Cause in my castle I'm the freaking man

Oh, oh
Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I can

Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
Nothing at all
Nothing at all

Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X
Meet a really nice girl, have some really nice sex
She's gonna scream out 'This is Great!'
(OMG this is great)
Yeah

I might mess around, get my college degree
I bet my old man will be so proud of me
But sorry pops, you'll just have to wait

Oh, oh
Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I can

Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

Nothing at all
Nothing at all
Nothing at all

Random Notes 18

1. After our reunion dinner on Chinese New Year Eve, my family and I took a leisure walk around Pavilion Shopping Mall in KL. A lot of shops were already closed so we were surprised to see this Fossil outlet left opened with lights turned off and no one inside!



Wow! I should have just gone and in and helped myself! How careless of them! Or maybe they have invisible laser beams that will fry anyone who enters the doorway! Better not take any risk - I still want to celebrate Chinese New Year the next day! : )

2. I have finally figured out my way around Sunway Pyramid after all these years, believe it or not! I have always lost my way in Sunway Pyramid as I seldom go there, but last Monday, while everyone resumed work after the Chinese New Year holidays, I took the day off to visit this shopping mall.



After walking around and looking at the floor plan, I soon realized it was not as complicated as it seemed. Shall I celebrate my first achievement in this Year of the Rabbit? haha!

By the way, I have never tried skating at this ice rink. And now I am simply too shy to even attempt it!

3. Do you like Starbucks or Coffee Bean? I normally prefer Starbucks but since I had a RM25 Coffee Bean voucher with me, I visited the latter the other day in Mid Valley Megamall.



I ordered their most expensive drink, which was the Ultimate Mocha (RM15.30) and also tried their Red Velvet Cake (RM8.90). Not bad!

4. I spent part of my Chinese New Year holidays watching Glee Season 1 and Lady Gaga live concert.



I bought these good quality DVDs during my trip in Bangkok last year and it was worth it! Only about RM40 for Glee (6 DVDs) and RM7 for Lady Gaga!

5. I also watched this cute cartoon called Panda Kopanda simply because I like anything to do with pandas! Haha!!



While others watch Doraemon, Pikachu or Ultraman, I prefer to watch Panda Kopanda instead! Haha!

6. Talking about pandas, I would like to thank Eric Lee for giving me this panda head for my Christmas gift last year! How nice! Now I can always hide behind this panda face when someone takes my photo! LOL!



7. I would also like to thank dear blogger friend, Merryn for making me this beautiful angpow fish for Chinese New Year! Did you notice the hole in the middle is shaped like the ancient Chinese coin? Don't you think it's lovely?



8. After eating all the Chinese New Year food for so many days, I was getting quite sick of them! So imagine how refreshing it was for me when I went to Papparich at The Gardens Mall and ordered these!


Fried rice - simple and tasty!


Toasts with butter and kaya - heavenly!


Hot honey lemon tea - soothing!

9. OK, here's a poem I composed for the Chinese New Year and which I sent to some of my friends on the first day of the new year. I have made some little changes to the poem and decided to share it with you all today. Enjoy!!

So here we are the New Year of the Metal Rabbit,
So how's your New Year - is it great or you just don't care?
It's the time of the year when your work can take a backseat,
Now let's read this poem specially written by your friendly Panda bear!

How I wish the Chinese New Year holidays will last forever,
Or at least lasts all the way from now till December!
Imagine no working for one whole year,
And go traveling the world all over!

Alas not working means no income,
Unless you are as rich as Bill Gates or Donald Trump!
Or having Oprah Winfrey as your mom,
Then no worries even during the economic slump!

OK let's stop dreaming and just enjoy the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit,
Stuffing myself silly with pineapple tarts, arrowheads and kuih kapit,
Getting fat this holidays is no impossible feat,
Ladies, I just hope you won't end up buying clothes at Ms Read!

Chinese New Year is the time when I refuse to look at the music sheet,
Or play the piano for my guests like a perverted self-exhibit!
All I wanna do is just relax and eat, eat, eat!
Here's wishing you all a Happy Chinese New Year of the Metal Rabbit!

FIRST COMMENTER