Heard it Through the Grapevine - in Hong Kong

A repost from Chris' Facebook page.  December 21, 2011 from Hong Kong

four days until Christmas - Hong Kong. I just had one of those moments… A customer dinner was a OK but at a great location at the http://www.harbourgrand.com/hongkong/dining/le188-en.html near Causeway Bay. 41st Floor with Killer Views of Victoria Harbour. Both Hong Kong and Kowloon were all decked out for Christmas. Hugely. Ten story tall Santa lights and an eighty story building with 2012 la...id out vertically. You may know how it works here. There were fireworks over Macau that you could see from up there. We had a dinner mixed up some sour business talk with great chat about Asia, China and Hong Kong. I was the third wheel with two guys who thought HK was the center of the universe. and took some hits about the US that I take more of these days. After dinner, I took a taxi back to my hotel in Wan Chai and my cab was an old Hong Kong beater with an even older old Hong Kong guy as the driver. I mean old Hong Kong. Like the Dim Sum guy in the "Fifth Element" old Hong Kong. Not a lick of English, 100% Cantonese and the doorman had to tell him where I was going cause he couldn’t understand me. (It was the Grand Hyatt - a monster hotel here) This guy hit the gas hard and we careened from the taxi queue. It felt like two wheels - i don't know. Next came a CD playing Creedence Clearwater Revival at top volume - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". Top volume CCR, Top speed, Causeway Bay to Wan Chai at a sreamin pace. Lights and street walkers and other taxi's flashing buy. I then heard what I thought was some screeching off the CD – typical sounds from a pirated CD I thought– but no… it was the old skinny guy singing along in rocker English – “Ooo, Bet you're wond'ring how I knew, 'bout your plans to make me blue, with some other guy that you knew before? …..” I just sat back, put a huge smile on my face, and grooved along. “I heard it through the grapevine, not much longer would you be mine. Ooo, I heard it through the grapevine, and I'm just about to lose my mind. Honey, honey yeah.” I lapsed into a little bit of Bladerunner while I was at it....

I pulled up to the Hyatt, paid my HK$32 and told the bellman that the next passengers were in for a treat! He had no idea what I was talking about. Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Hu Jintao!See More

— in Hong Kong, Hong Kong