Para Para Paradise

I don’t go to arcade games much nowadays.
At least not as much as when I was 15 when arcade gaming centres are like religious temples to me. Nowadays, XBoxes and PS2s are around with better games and much superior graphics. About the only time I’d play in the arcade right now now is when I feel like kicking some sorry asses in Daytona USA.

I spotted this curious-looking machine when I was in Sibu earlier during the week.
It’s a Para Para machine. Para Para, is of course, a type of dance move that rivals only the Melbourne Shuffle in terms of popularity. The only difference is that instead of shuffling your feet madly like you’re holding your pee and wanna go to the toilet, you move your arms madly like you’re scolding that idiot who’s taking too much time inside the toilet.

I remember when I was at Mambo Night in Zouk Singapore a few months back, the nerdy college kids on the platform did it with such style I said to myself “Mannn… one day, I want to be just like them!”
Anyway, I decided to give the machine a shot.

The Para Para machine has an octagonal platform with sensors around it to detect hand movements. You’re supposed to move your hands in sync with the moving arrows on screen. And this is how I went.

My condolences to all the mosquitoes I whacked during the dance.


Why is it that when a young Malaysian couple hugged in public, they were arrested and sent to court. Yet when Dr M and Rafidah hugged in public, it’s perfectly ok?

132 Replies to “Para Para Paradise”

  1. Hahaha…
    That was fast…when I clicked to leave a comment, the word change from “S…” to “mosquitoes”.
    Anyway, have a good weekend & Cherrio!

  2. I once saw this guy at Genting doing the Para Para dance…damn keng weih. So many girls standing around admiring him…so guys take note.

  3. I used to be quite pro at this. Of course, that was quite a few years ago, and now almost nobody plays it here except for pre-teen ah bengs and ah lians.
    Still, nice attempt. It was funny how you used your head and legs as well. =P

  4. omg kenny! that is such a classic!! love the way you make me laugh at this ungodly hour of the morning… (10am).
    thanks!!
    love,
    jo

  5. kenny, you really look like a pig!!!. i wonder if you’re going to live long with all that cholesterol in your system.

  6. Gosh! Finally, I’ve managed to trace the reason for the tremors I felt!! For a while, I thought I was the cause! Thank God…it’s only kennysia trying to be Aaron Kwok!

  7. That was so moving…you’re perfect American Idol material, Kenny! I’d hug you, but the Pope, I mean, DBKL, might pwn my ass for it.

  8. This Para para machine no kick la. You should look out for the real dancing machines. It involves leg movement, jumping up and down, left right, kaki kangkang also got!

  9. You can come on down to KL, I’ll show you 5 different varieties of the same game. XD Frankly better to spend your tokens on a House of the Dead 4 machine though. 😉

  10. ke ke ke. Don’t mean to be rude but damn kaku la wei. But then again, you’ve got the guts to do it. I on the other hand will not. Haha…good one. I laughed so loud in the office, everybody has been giving me this stare.

  11. lol i used to be obsessed with that machine… played it a few time everyday… and developed my own dance moves and stuff
    ah well…. maybe one of these days I should go and show off somemore… if i can remember.. bleh

  12. I worship Melbourne Shuffle man…. What —shuffling your feet madly like you’re holding your pee and wanna go to the toilet—
    I’m hurt *sigh*
    Anyway… what the hell… Freedom of Speech Mar

  13. I speak with much disgust on your para para post.
    As a fellow paralist located in singapore,
    Let me enlighten you . Para Para is a dance evolved from the japanese traditional dance ” its the motion of the graceful falling leaves”
    Its has been around since the early 90s . And the music used in para para is call Eurobeat – italian dance music . Eurobeat is also used in all episodes of intial D.
    It has nothing to do with Aaron kwok although its a poor rendition of para para.
    There used to be a group marketed by Avex Trax to spread the dance moves all over asia and US. Sadly they have disbanded to pursue there own dreams.
    In Japan, roppongi district there is this largest disco ( Velfarre) in Asia, having a night dedicated to para para where fellow paralist get together to dance the night away.
    Para Para is not some ah beng dance unless you play free style ( i gt nothing to say ) Every Para Para song has its own set of moves , and is used all over the world.
    This link below is a old link which captures the para para community in singapore , between competions and media coverage.
    http://sg.geocities.com/psychopalace/home.htm
    http://paraluke.tripod.com/events.shtml
    Sadly the fad in singapore has gone down, but a true blue paralist will not consider it as a fad, for myself i have done it more than 5 yrs despite being a mother

  14. hehehe,apa la tu macam robot.always had a way to laught at ppl when they use that machine in arcades.sum are just plain tossing n whacking,cacat betul

  15. omg. the para para thing is for real??? daammnnn…
    kenny.. bad. badd!! lucky its in an empty arcade… hahahaha.. there would be fits of laughter if u did it in some packed arcade!
    but i have to say.. the music sucks.

  16. omg. the para para thing is for real??? daammnnn…
    kenny.. bad. badd!! lucky its in an empty arcade… hahahaha.. there would be fits of laughter if u did it in some packed arcade!
    but i have to say.. the music sucks.

  17. Haha! Cute.
    Anyway, a few months ago, I captured this guy totally absorbed in that game in an arcade in SG. I’ve even got a video of it but it’s only a short 8 secs. Check it out.

  18. oh mannn kenny! you are DA man! *burst out laughing*
    *grins*
    kudos to you, for the courage for it! i dont dare to go and do para para. hur :p

  19. Please do something to improve your dancing, would greatly help you to impress more girls during partying 😛

  20. Please do something to improve your dancing, would greatly help you to impress more girls during partying 😛

  21. kenny, u look fat there, probably u can get to become one of those slimming studios’ model, and u can endorse their packages on your site. Serious.
    dyeh

  22. Dude, I think that it’s wrong to charge them in court over it, yet you got a couple of things wrong.
    They weren’t arrested. They were summoned and they contested the summon that is why they are being charged in court. It’s pretty much the same with a speeding ticket. You either pay the summon or contest it in court, but the later doesn’t mean you are ARRESTED. It’s really inaccurate to say that.
    And also, do you believe that a gf/bf is the same as Rafidah/Mahathir hug and not more intimate?

  23. Dear Vincent,
    A hug is still a hug no matter a couple or our respective leaders. I mean the reason why they claimed that they should be found guilty over a hug is because “a guy and a girl should not have body interection in public” and this quote does not include on the purpose of a hug. I still believe that this is just simply ridiculuos as this is not “indecent” no it’s definately not. You will need tons of trees to be chopped off to produce out a tons of papers to summons everyone out there now.
    Regards,
    Penny

  24. Gawd, tats so brave of u…got onto tat freakin machine…i would rather die than to play with it in the PUBLIC!!! n its funny the way u do it…at least thr IS a person dancing stiffly…besides me…Wat a good day today!! mwahahahahaaa…

  25. WTF??? Once again you made me laugh. LOL. That was madness. I won’t even do it in public and get people to flim me! HAHA

  26. WTF??? Once again you made me laugh. LOL. That was madness. I won’t even do it in public and get people to flim me! HAHA

  27. kenny, there is sth wrong with the ‘name’for the comment. Everyone who commented have their name as the one above them and the real name below them.
    In case u can’t get it. I can forsee that the person after me who comment, is call ‘few’…

  28. sorry, I made a mistake. There isn’t any mistake. But I am still correct, as few is the next to comment 🙂

  29. My gawd. Your blog is amazing and you’re like the father of humour. HA. Love it. Keep it up! Seems like everybody loves you. (:

  30. Can’t help but make the conclusion that by looking at your comments, the gals really adore you but there are some sour grapes guys around…
    haha… guys, FUNNY does really turn gals on.

  31. ermm…this game is actually super outdatd liaoz…
    Singapore was such craze in Singapore abt 3years ago…
    LoLz…
    btw, how come tat arcade so empty one har?

  32. Its so funny. my bro saw this video and comment tat he tot tat para para already no one play. and he ask how come an uncle is playing it!!
    lolz

  33. HAHHAHAHAHA. omg loved the video. i couldn’t stop laughing from the start to the end. hilarious! you were like learning how to fly/ take off. ahhaha.

  34. para para is rather out in singapore… i cant rmb e last time i dance that. anyway good move! you look soooo ‘CHARMING’. LOL!

  35. haha, the para para dance game was “in” quite a few years ago. I used to play it quite well when i was in Primary 5, although I can’t dance for nuts now. Good job for attempting it though! Btw I’m in sec 4 now. 🙂

  36. wuahahahahahahaha……………
    hahahahahahahahahahahhaha,………………..
    haaaaaahahahahahahaha……….Uuuuwweeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk……
    damn…..i vomit my dinner……

  37. wahahahahhahahahahahhahahhahahahhahahahhahaha! that was one funny shit! i actually teared as i laughed out to ur dance move!!! kenny kau batu hidupku!! lol.

  38. alamak~!!! like a robot la u.. hahah FARNNY!!!! include head and legs somemore.. CREATIVE la u.. LOL
    the hugging issue is such a BOLLOCKS!!!

  39. Laughing my ass off Kenny. So you’re aspiring to be a “paralist” too? Gawd.. Next they’re gonna call em salsa’ist, jazz’ist, tango’ist, chacha’ist and the list goes on..

  40. aiyoh…the pro version not that pro leh…where i come from in singapore some people actually dance to the game moving the entire body not just using hands…it has somehow evolved into a dance training centre for ahbengs and ah lians aiyoh…once i remember this 3 girsl playing para para taking turns, my frens and i went to watch movie came back and they were still there! gosh…not bad for a first try though haha
    cheers from singapore btw ur blog totally owns xx!

  41. HAHAHAHAHA that was the funniest para para thing I’ve ever seen! Have seen some really funny ones but u’re definitely the winner! U just look retarded doing the head thingy.
    Stay away from those para para machines ya? =)

  42. lmao… looks like someone who’s sleepwalkin and bumped into an ATM… you should see those in Sungai Wang plaza… hulaneh, can laugh for the whole day if you sit in Spec Body Art watching them…

  43. ehhh. those two guys in the video arent pro.
    hahahaha. nice try kenny. so funny! if i were to use my legs + hands, i think i would’ve fallen over.

  44. Kicking some sorry asses in Daytona USA? I heard of pros playing Daytona in M’sia. Are you one of the legendary folks that amateur “racers” admire?
    For the professional “racer”, The Daytona USA community is small around the whole world. Maybe you can upload a video of how you kick some sorry asses the next time.
    Just a suggestion…

  45. I have no time for GAME!
    haha:)
    一个女孩子在洗澡,另一个男孩闯进来,女孩最想遮住哪??? (Haha, click and see…very funny answer!)

  46. Wah lau eh Kenny, I never have the guts to try this machine man… Then again I think the space is too small for me lor… the sensors all light up the same time! LOL!

  47. I refuse to play that game because of how dumb it would make me look (although I still find the dancing foot one slightly addictive).
    However, the many times I’ve seen someone play, I’ve NEVER seen anyone use their head before…

  48. ok… tts another darn funny entry!
    i’ve neva gathered enuf courage to give those machines a try! but you did! haha… you r da best kenny! haa.

  49. You look like your trying to land an airplane with all those irratic signals, and thank goodness , you didn’t… LOL……You crezy, crezy , Kenny….LOL
    Don’t try out for cheerleading either!!….I’m gonna play it again!!

  50. Hmm… looks more like the dance Ultraman or Gaban does prior to transformation. I remember Chao Sing Tze doing something similiar before. So, Kenny, you have the potential to be a comedian. Keep up the good work!

  51. i love para para… 🙁
    loved playing it in melb… pity Kuching doesnt have one… gotta go all the way to Sibu… grrr

  52. lmao…’nice’ moves you got there..but i guess its ok for a first timer…xD
    but seriously, its so funny i could watch it over and over again.=)

  53. Just like to comment about para para.
    I am very much into this dance, I will not say into the machine. Because when I was in Melaka, there is no such a arcade machine there. But I was already start learning all the para para dance by my own already. when I came to KL few years back, and found out that there is such a machine in the arcade for para para, I cant help but going to tat arcade everyday. One thing about para para, if u dance para para, the original dance, it’s actually a very nice dance. I just dont get it when people do the free style dance, it’s just not how para para should be. And no meaning if u r dancing ur free style using the para para song and machine at all. People who really wanna play this machine, should really go n learn up the dance before approching it. 🙂 Ganbate Kudasai Ne~~

  54. As an owner of a Para Para Paradise 2nd Mix arcade machine.
    It really shows how much I love the game. I got it into it just like all us beat players of DDR and Drummania and Guitar Freaks. I realize Para is a set dance form but there is a competitive side of me that wants to take the game to the hardest level I can. So I had to “improvise” the standard Para routines to suit the extra arrows that came in the Expert modes. As a result, I have my own routines which I use for all the songs I play in Free Expert play.
    My favourite routines are “Burning Desire”, “Night Of Fire” and “Boom Boom Fire”
    I also have a dedicated section of my website which
    shows one how to disassemble, reassemble and repair an arcade Para Para machine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Navigation