15 weeks to go! That reminds me of... karaoke!

This is a karaoke machine. Karaoke is very popular in the Philippines. I remember many times lying awake in my hut in a 'resort' somewhere, listening to the muffled sounds of pop music and off-key singers in a karaoke bar somewhere far off. I also remember once flicking through channels in a hotel room to discover (much to my horror) that they have a karaoke channel. 24 hours a day, you can tune into classics such Greensleeves and 500 Miles, with a highly sophisticated MIDI accompaniment, fluorescent lyrics along the bottom of the screen and some poorly paid American model grinning in the background.

If you're thinking of trying karaoke over there, pleeaase do everyone a favour by learning the words first (this helps if you want to get a good score and not make a complete fool of yourself), by singing in tune, and by doing it in the daytime so you don't disturb the sleep of some poor fellow in a nearby hut.