Hong Kong Nights

A genuine Motown artist takes to the stage of the Skylark Lounge in Hong Kong every week. Septugenerian Bobby Taylor is best known for discovering the Jackson 5 and producing the group's first album. He also led  Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers and recorded a solo artist. Although he may never have hit the heights as peers like Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson, hearing the Bobby singing their hits in the Skylark is the closest thing left to seeing them live. He also sings some of his own songs like in the video posted left.

The Skylark Lounge is a wine bar in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong's ex-pat playground, and has one of the most multicultural crowds I've ever seen. Outside it's past 11 on a Friday night, the suits are off and revelers fill the street. I'd love to give a list of the other bars I visited in LKF but the memory is a bit fuzzy.

One thing  I won't forget is how the night began with Indian/Pakistani food in Chunking Mansions. Delicious meal aside, the Mansions are an experience. A city within a building, its 17 stories houses apartments, hostels, shops, restaurants, factories and even foreign exchange offices. In a typical year people of  at least 120 nationalities pass through it, leading Time Magazine to call it the world's 'best example of globalisation in action'. Like most cities, it has its social problems but Chunking is worth a visit as long as you're prepared for a bit of grit. It's become so iconic that Hong Kong's greatest filmmaker, Wong Kar Wai, set the award-winning Chunking Express there in 1994. Click here to watch the trailer. The video below gives you a taste of Chunking Mansions.