Visit Tokyo: Pasela Resorts - Ginza

We had such a great time singing Karaoke at Round 1 in Osaka, that my kids wanted to do it again in Tokyo.

There were a lot of Big Echo locations near our hotel, but they didn't have the greatest reviews, and were pretty pricey on top of that.

After researching online, I found The Tokyo Chapter blog, which had a lot of great info on karaoke with kids in Japan.

It's through her blog I discovered Pasela Resorts.

With several locations throughout Tokyo, Pasela offers karaoke rooms and room + drink / food packages. The rate is high compared to other karaoke rooms in Tokyo, and much higher than what we'd pay for karaoke rooms in Hawaii (we paid nearly $30pp for 2 hours just for the room), but the rooms come with all kinds of perks, like complimentary snacks, water, toys for kids, blankets if you get cold, and so much more!

The karaoke rooms (there are plenty of rooms, including themed rooms which cost more) are also clean and spacious (and there were tambourines in our room!), and even the restrooms had all kinds of amenities (like mouthwash).

We did find the room was warm, and it wasn't until an hour in of our two-hour rental did we figure out how to turn it on.

Song selection is made via a touchpad, and you can change it to English and search by song / artist.

They have most of the newest American hits and well as lots of oldies but goodies.

We decided to order some food and drink while singing.

Tapioca Matcha Latte

The Variety Plate had Onion Rings, French Fries, and Fried Chicken.

Strawberry Milk, Melon Soda

Creme Brulee Honey Toast

Everything was great!

We had a lot of fun at Pasela - we wished we rented the room for longer!

Pasela Resorts - Ginza
Japan, 〒104-0061 Tokyo, Chuo City
Ginza, 6 Chome−13−16 パセラリゾーツ銀座店 Ｂ１Ｆ

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Wave808 Karaoke

I recently planned a birthday party at Wave808 Karaoke for my daughter's 17th birthday. They are located in the 808 Sheridan building and have 15 themed karaoke rooms—4 small rooms, 4 medium rooms, 3 large rooms, 2 party suites, and 2 large party suites. According to their website, their karaoke rooms are equipped with Healsonic karaoke machines that offer over 200,000 top karaoke songs in 14 different languages.

It was easy to reserve a room online and communication with Wave808 Karaoke was great. They offer food and drink menus, but you have the option to bring in your own food at no additional fee. However, you must purchase all drinks from them, including water. If your group is 6 or more, an automatic 18% gratuity will be charged to the total bill.  

The girls had a great time and the only downside was when they arrived the valet parking was full so they had to look for street parking. They are open Monday through Saturday from 12pm to 2am and Sunday from 12pm to 12am. 

Wave 808 Karaoke
808 Sheridan Street,
Honolulu, HI 96814

808-509-8080

 

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Chingu Revisited

I returned to Chef Chris Oh's Chingu during Grand Opening weekend with Nadia and Dara.  There were so many things on the menu I wanted to try!

Best Fries Ever

Korean Fried Chicken

Kimchi Fried Rice

Chips n Dip

Oxtail Kalbi Jjim

Bone Marrow Corn Cheese

I loved the Korean Fried Chicken, which had a tasty Gochujang Honey Glaze.  The Kimchi Fried Rice was nice and spicy, and Nadia's fave.

I ordered the Oxtail Kalbi Jjim, because Tommii Lim, the artist behind Chingu's mural, recommended it, and it did not disappoint.  The 12-hour braised oxtail was fork tender and simply delish!

The Fries were served with a kimchi sriracha aioli - addicting!

And once again, I wanted to eat the entire bowl of Bone Marrow Corn Cheese. 

Mural by Tommii Lim

After indulging ourselves, we went into one of the karaoke rooms and sang the rest of the night away.

Thank you, Chef Chris Oh!

It was a great night of food and fun!

Chingu
1035 Kapiolani Blvd

Honolulu, HI 96814

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Chris Oh's Chingu Now Open

Culinary superstar Chris Oh (founder of Seoul Sausage Co, co-founder of Hanjip, managing partner of Escala, co-owner of Nomad Kitchen) has brought his Korean-style cuisine and flair to the just-opened Chingu on Kapiolani Boulevard.

As soon as you make your way to Chingu and see the fab mural by LA-based artist Tommii Lim, you know you're in for a treat.

Art by Tommii Lim

I was fortunate to have attended a media tasting to sample a few items:

Watermelon Soju

Watermelon Soju is not uncommon on Oahu, but Chingu's is elevated with Fruity Pebbles and Pop Rocks!

Dukk Bokki

If you like spicy, you must get the Dukk Bokki!

Rockin' Roe

Mix up the assorted flying fish roe and sesame rice - so delish!!

Chicken n Cheese

This was my favorite dish of the night.  Chicken with a Thai gochujang glaze is served along side cheese, which is heated at the table.

Bone Marrow Corn Cheese

Scoop the marrow into the corn and Parm, mix everything up, and indulge!  I wanted to eat the entire bowl myself!

Chips n Dip

Love this take on Chips n Dip!

Tuna Tomahawk

A giant Korean BBQ-glazed tuna collar!! 

Pork Belly Bao Buns

One of the guests immediately wanted another order after taking one bite!

The food was absolutely delish.  Chingu, which means "friend" in Korean, offers the perfect Korean-style bar food that you can bond with friends over, and the restaurant also offers the perfect setting to make new friends (they have karaoke rooms!!).

Thank you Chef Chris for bringing your influential vibe and culinary talents to the islands! 


Chingu
1035 Kapiolani Blvd

Honolulu, HI 96814

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Air Park Karaoke Lounge

Nadia and I, along with a few other friends, recently went to Air Park Karaoke Lounge.

With 11 private rooms accommodating various party sizes, as well as a social lounge, Air Park Karaoke offers state-of-the-art equipment, and we were looking forward to a very entertaining evening.

Upon arrival we took some Rainbow Shots and ate dinner in the social lounge area (we brought in food from CPK) until our room was ready.

We reserved a Small private room (seats 6).

Since it was our first time at Air Park Karaoke, we had to learn how to use the touch panel to select our songs, but once one of the employees showed us how to work the panel, we were ready to start singing!

I liked that Air Park Karaoke had a lot of current songs along with some old favorites, and that a lot of the videos were the actual artists' videos versus those sometimes (okay, always) cheesy karaoke videos.

It was such a fun night.  We had a two-hour reservation and we ended up extending the room for an hour because we were all having a blast and didn't want the night to end yet.

I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed so much.

I can't wait to go back to Air Park for another memorable night!

Air Park Karaoke Lounge

510 Piikoi St
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 591-8292

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Toma Enterprise Karaoke

It's been a very long while since I've gone out to sing karaoke, so at a recent get-together, when someone suggested that we go sing karaoke after dinner, I had no idea where to go.

Luckily there were other people who knew where to go, and we ended up at Toma Enterprise Karaoke.

We ended up in a really spacious room with a very sophisticated karaoke/entertainment system. 

In terms of the song selection - there were hundreds, if not thousands of songs to choose from (even hundreds of foreign language songs).

We did have a lot of difficulty working the remote for the karaoke system though.  Whenever people would enter the numbers for their song selections they'd have to repeatedly push the numbers because it just wouldn't "take."

The only other drawback I found about this place was the parking lot - it's very, very, very small, so be prepared to find street parking.

The owners were really nice and overall I thought Toma Enterprise was a great place to go sing karaoke!

Toma Enterprise Karaoke: 2221 S Beretania St, Honolulu, HI; (808) 947-7022

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