This fine establishment has to legally close around 11 or 12 i think, so to visit afterwards requires a covert operation, a few nods, a couple of winks, and the old lady out front will raise the security door and rush us into the building. The motorbikes get wheeled around the corner, down an alley, a secret knock on the door will wake up the old man who clears space for the bikes in his front room. And so once again we have thwarted the cops, no-one would ever suspect that illegal singing would be taking place. Criminal activity is such a rush. The police will have to go back to fighting the heroin trade and chasing young hoons racing around the lake.

Is there something unwholesome about three guys in a dingy karaoke room? The fake plastic vines above at least add some credibility, surely.

Now that i have this site up, i don’t quite feel like writing anything, so here is a picture of a street corner in the hanoi old quarter instead, it’s just down the road from my hotel. Amazingly there seems to be wifi coverage all over this area (and it’s quick!), not bad for a “developing” country.

In 3 days i have unfortunately discovered karaoke, scarily one of the available song selections was the theme from “Neighbours”. Who would have thought that in a dodgy street near the train station, in the upstairs room of someone’s house (which is their karaoke business) the theme from Neighbours would be belted out with much gusto. I wouldn’t be surprised if the owners have since decided to pursue some other means of income (or at least taken the sledgehammmer to the karaoke machine), i’m sure the peace and quiet alone would be worth it.