Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

This last weekend found us at Daecheon Beach for Allison's birthday. We went there for the mud festival a few months before, and Big Al had such a wonderful time that we decided to journey back. This time there was considerably less mud, waygooks and rain. The days were spent in the sun, and then in an attempt to avoid the sun, and the nights were spent in restaurants and no-reh-bongs. All in all, it was a good time.

Somehow going to the no-reh-bong (singing room) has become a birthday ritual. My students informed me that a no-reh-bong is a karaoke room, while a no-ree-bong is a room where small children are taken care of. Really, there's not much difference. Below I have compiled the greatest hits list of the no-reh-bong:

What's Good To Sing With a Bunch Sauced Waygooks
-Paint It Black-- The Rolling Stones
-Barbie Girl--? (assuming you have a guy sing the guys part and a girl sing the girls part, although not necessary)
-Jeremy-- Pearl Jam
-Hurts so Good-- John Cougar Melencamp
-Calling in the Name Of-- Rage Against the Machine
-Day Dream Believer (or is it Sleepy Jean?)-- The Monkeys (or is it just David Jones?)
-Piano Man-- Billy Joel
-Born to be Wild-- Stepenwolf
-Basket Case-- Green Day

There are many more that I can't remember, although I sang them. Keep in mind that the no-reh-bong doesn't have the greatest selection of American songs. Once I find a no-reh-bong with Type O Negative, I'll never leave.

The funny thing is, there are songs that I'll be very excited to sing, but will belly flop when it actually come time to perform (it's the songs fault, not mine). One of these songs is Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer". Now this song seems to have all the right components: well-known lyrics, a loud multi-voice chorus, and the cool synthesizer part at the beginning where everyone can sing, "Woah-woah-woah, woah-woah-woah," as low as they can. However, tackling Bon Jovi is more difficult than I had initially thought. There's that part in the chorus when everyone's singing in a rather high pitch and then, dear god, it gets even higher. This is what cracks my vocal chords and ultimately sends me from the no-reh-bong without a voice. To make a long story short, you never know how difficult a song is to sing, until you try and sing it for the first time in front of a group of people. A note to the wise, approach the song "Roxanne" with extreme caution.

Special congrats must go out to Matt and Hyana. Matt officially proposed to Hyana on the beach and not in no-reh-bong with a song like I suggested. Still, she said yes.