A Guide to Singing L’Arc~en~Ciel Karaoke in SM North EDSA
Originally posted on Tumblr.
L'ArCASINO Live Viewing will be held on October 24 at SM North EDSA - The Block Cinema 2. The show starts at 7PM so if you don’t have anything else planned that day, you’ll probably be hanging out in the area before the event.
What most people don’t know is that SM North has a good number of karaoke places where you can spend your time singing L'Arc~en~Ciel and other Japanese songs as long as you know the numbers of the songs.
We already have an easily browsable partial list of songs. And a complete one for L’Arc~en~Ciel.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at our KTV options.
Quantum Amusement - 3rd Floor
First stop is Quantum. This arcade has 5 booths and one open karaoke, all of which use TJ Media TKR-304P machines.
The price per song is one token, with one token = ₱5. They also have a promo where you can get tokens cheaper if you use their automated token dispensers (e.g. 27 tokens for ₱100).
To “rent” a room, you’ll have to follow the steps described in the picture below:
This pic is from Quantum SM Aura, but the process is mostly the same - you write down 5-15 song numbers beforehand and give it to the attendant who will enter it for you once it’s your group’s turn to take the booth.
There’s no formal process in singing in the open karaoke. Just drop your token, enter your number, and then press Reserve to put it in the queue. You can sing multiple times as long as you don’t hog the stage all to yourself.
World of Fun - 3rd Floor
Next stop is Quantum’s next door neighbor: World of Fun. They also use TKR-304P machines, but the area is smaller - only 3 booths.
The process in using the booths and the open karaoke is pretty much the same as Quantum - reserve songs and fall in line. WoF’s booths are slightly better than Quantum’s IMO.
Like Quantum, they also have a promo for cheaper tokens (e.g. 50 tokens for ₱200). Unfortunately, songs are also more expensive at 2 tokens each.
Club Synergy - Basement Foodcourt
Your last option is Club Synergy at the Basement which puts it closer to Cinema 2 than the other two. Synergy is also run by Quantum Amusement so they also use the same tokens and have the same promo. The booth renting process is also the same.
This branch doesn’t use TJ Media machines, though. They’re using old Kumyoung Vivaus Pro II machines that were last updated on 2007. If you’re only planning to sing L'Arc~en~Ciel this isn’t going to be much of a problem because most of their singles are from before 2008 (I’ve verified Daybreak’s Bell is there), but if you’re planning to sing about, say, how you’re the number one princess in the world, you’ll have to go to the other arcades.
On the other hand, Kumyoung machines have classic songs not present in TJ Media so it’s not all that bad.
One last thing: the booths aren’t that good. When I tried the booths out, the aircon was dead. The machine even stuttered a few times while I was singing The Fourth Avenue Cafe. The only things good about them is that they’re more spacious than Quantum’s and WoF’s booths, and there is no waiting time since not a lot of people want to sing there.
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Before I forget, no, the machines do not have romanized lyrics. TJ Media machines display furigana while Kumyoung (below) display both furigana and hangul.
Depending on your reading skill, you might have to bring your own lyrics or search for them on the spot with your phone.
(This is another possible problem with Synergy - weaker basement phone signal means you might not be able to search for lyrics inside the booth.)
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So where should you sing while waiting for L'ArCASINO?
Quantum is the default choice for karaoke singing. The main downside is that it’s usually packed on a Saturday afternoon and you may have to wait 30+ minutes to get to your turn on the booth.
World of Fun may cost twice than Quantum, but it’s still cheap compared to most KTVs so it’s not a bad alternative if the queue is too long at the latter.
Given the poor quality of their booths, you shouldn’t consider Synergy unless you really don’t want to fall in line, or unless you really want to sing KY-specific songs.
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If you want to join us or just want to meet us so you can browse the full TKR-304P songbook, please check us out here.