TokyoLondon and...those smoothie hats

Coming to London is a bit like going to New York. You think : neons and flashlights, cornershops full of disgustingly nice snacks, police sirens breaking your daily routine and somehow the idea that what did not happen to you home definitely will here. Wel,l there is one thing for sure, the Karaoke booth experience did not happen to me in Paris and it did in London.

To me, karaoke was either British 80s classics friday pub singing (a rather fascinating for a young 16 year old on a language trip to Cornwall), Chinese restaurant dessert singing table tour in the 13th in Paris,but karaoke in a booth...no, this did only exist 10 000 km away in Tokyo in a movie (Lost in translation).

So, were we going to wear pink wigs and inside out T shirts ?
Were we going to become Scarlett Johannssen and Bill Murray for one night ?

Not really, but my first karaoke in a booth certainly did feel of Japan...with the 80s classics of course, London is still part of the UK after all.
The place is in the heart of Soho (see, why we French think NYC coming here) and from the outside looks like a cheap Japanese fastfood takeaway place. When you enter, all of the sudden the 80s are full on but not because of the screams you can hear in the background ("Annnd IIII say thaaank you for thhhe musiiiiic"...actually that's Sweden) but because of the striking reconstruction of those cartoons we all watched when growing up (long before family all sat down and had dinner watching the X factor, way before News at 7 became a mass...I'm talking days when our mums carefully only allowed us that precious hour of television).

Here I was in the bar of Uncle Kaz-san,wondering at which point Ranma, Jeanne et Serge (sorry folks, no clue how that one got through to the English version), Dragonball Z were going to come and take me with them in a singing booth.
Not long after 12 of us were screaming and openly offending our Rock legends not even caring that Ranma, Jeanne et Serge and all their Japanese friends might have strongly disapproved.
This is also what London is, this extraordinary mix of experiences and people in one deeply British rooted place.

But changing subject, I hear you wonder how knitting is going.
Well you can now find us in the shops !