Zodiac Karaoke

One of the original Richmond Karaōke joints that has somehow survived and even now is still here! Those days of Do Re Mi and the old Aberdeen with the bowling alley are long gone yet this is one of those places that is still around… and is still doing the same thing, how is that even possible? Stepping in here brought me back to the days of laserdisc and smoking allowed inside these type of late night hangouts, well with the times and technology. the film of smoke is gone, the big laserdisc that somebody had to manually change are also gone, and also… the place has been renovated! A few songs as the older Chinese wanted a good time and I decided to tag along for some drinks, we were taken to one of their private singing rooms.
They have ‘Febreeze’d’ this place quite well, as the lingering smoke from yesteryear is gone and now you have a karaōke joint that is with the times more on the Chinese side of things with cordless mics, touchscreen song selectors and drinks still be served up to give you some liquid courage before you become some sort of new William Hung and rock on till the mid-​morning! It was a weekday, it wasn’t busy, we came in at around 10 PM… which seems to be too early a time to drop into these types of establishments so I was able to really view this place… and the dark walls and floors are whats around you. With the songs that the people I was with were putting in, every memory of late school nights and good times prevailed. The sound system in the room we were in was pretty good, with no accidental mic bumpage where you get the ‘Banshee’ screech that could break a window, and the easy use of the touch screen selector could control the pitch and volume of the song was very responsive.
We only ordered wine for the night, and everytime it came they would pour it into a small glass container and take the bottle back after they poured it in front of us. As for the longest time we were the only ones here, the service was bang-​on. The place is still here, located in a plaza that has a bunch of food options, and after you eat you can swing on by… one who has stayed with the test of time.

this place is horrible! we had some beer and a bottle of vodka and ended up with an 800 dollar bill! room charge is 50 per hour which is ridiculous for such a shitty place! 100 dollars «cleaning fee» for smoking in the room! And 15% service charge on top of everything! There was no service wtf !! How is this place still open! Is it a front for drug cartel or something

I’ve driven by this karaōke joint many many times but never thought of coming here. One Friday night, we decided to go here for an hour to have a few drinks and sing some songs. When I used to karaōke, there were books and folders in respective languages. You peruse the books while your companions sing a dull song. Now, it’s one remote, in Chinese. You have to figure out how to navigate the one tiny screen and cross your fingers you chose the language you want. In the end, we gave up on singing and decided to play classic drinking games. Which actually turned out to be much more fun.
You can choose a traditional lounge style where you sing in front of everyone else, or a more private box style. Drinks are standard Chinese bar drinks. (Budweiser, Chivas etc)
You can check out Larry L’s take on our night here :
²⁄₃₀ of 30 Day Unilocal Challenge