Nori Bong

Yesterday eveninig after meeting up with some friends, we all decided to take a trip to a “nori bong” since Barry and I had never gone yet and here is what the experience entailed…

Before coming to Korea I had heard of the word and thought it was just karaoke at a bar, but boy was I mistaken.

“nori” means sing and “bong” means room, so together it means “singing room” and that is exactly what it is. It’s not a bar, but it’s a place where you rent rooms to sing with your friends. So, you rent a room out, I think it was around 4,000 won per person ($3.00) for 8 people and you sing your heart out privately with your friends. You get your drinks and snacks at the front desk where you pay and then they set you up in the room, equipped with two tambourines and two microphones.

The music videos are another story…many of the songs were in English (I think all actually) but Korea has changed the music video and it is always about a boy and girl in love, so think of any song in English and put a Korean boy and girl in love and you’re transported to a nori bong.

It was a great cultural and social experience, one that I will never forget…here are some pictures from the night!




(the hallway into the nori bong)