“The night is new, the faces are friendly. So have a few and let me play some new songs, some blue songs. The mood is always right every night at the Paradise Café. The world outside may make its own madness, but here we hide the world away. No headlines. No deadlines. We’ll make them disappear while you’re here at the Paradise Café.

“The room is kinda smokey. The phone ain’t working. The same old broken keys don’t play, but no one seems to mind it because someone’s buying and we’ll all get through one more day.

“Just me and you around the piano. Not much to do, but dream away. So stay and I’ll play on. I’m all yours for a song all night long at the Paradise Café. Forget the one who love you then lied and left you. Forget the love you almost had, but if you must remember the way it left you, we’ll make it feel good to feel bad…just me and you around the piano.”

-Barry Manilow

I spent the last night of my first time in Hong Kong (香港) at this lounge before heading to catch my train to the airport. A glass of cabernet followed a pinot noir. Entirely by myself, I was looking forward to the next couple of weeks in Japan (日本). I felt on top of the world on this other side of the world: far from home enjoying some wine and music in this lounge. It was incredibly liberating being in this most magnificent of cities alone. I took the scene in from the bar and imagined myself the next great tycoon unwinding after having closed a few business deals in Hong Kong (香港) and ready to close a few more in Tokyo (東京).

Whenever I look back on this scene at the Chin Chin Bar (請請吧) in Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀), I can hear Barry Manilow singing Paradise Café and vice versa.

Hong Kong (香港), I miss you…