Upgrade U: Car karaoke

by - June 03, 2017



When we lived in the council flats, Dad Pham used me as his megaphone. I could be heard from blocks away when I yelled from the balcony so if I was home he'd use me to call my siblings. These days he has a mobile phone to do this, so instead I use my lung capacity to belt out tunes in my car on the commute to work. I don't sing in front of other people normally but I make an exception at red lights where they can probably hear me warbling since I have my windows open (air con dries out my eyeballs - they haven't been the same since laser surgery, but vision = worth it).

I treat myself to car karaoke in the mornings or on long solo drives up or down the Coasts. I sing from the belly - no gentle throat singing for this normally quiet one. I roar for 50-ish minutes to work because I need the extra oxygen to wake me up since I don't do daily coffees like most of my colleagues. Dad is always encouraging me to do breathing exercises every morning - sucking in air to yell at songs each morning is my version of breathing exercises. On the way home I don't sing, I prefer to destress from work by listening to the soothing voices of podcasters discussing true stories of murder, rape and torture.

I have two core playlists - old school (60s-70s) & less old school (90s rap & hip hop to modern pop) - that are always there so the songs come and go as I get bored of singing along or learn the hard way there are some notes that just hurt my throat and ears. Then I'll occasionally go through phases like Beyonce's Lemonade, Disney's Moana soundtrack. I wanted to go through a Dr. Dre 2001 but I really cannot rap - I barely remember lyrics to regular songs with many less words.

Car karaoke, guys - I highly recommend for your morning commute. Would not recommend for public transport though. You may get a punch in the throat if you do.

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