Jackie Miao

DAY 3: Lan Kwai Fong (Part 4-3)

This is Part 4 of a series of stories about my four days in Hong Kong.

With Sam Wu, Winner of Amazing Race Asia 3

After leaving Quarry Bay, I headed to get Rachel so that we can head to Lan Kwai Fong. Managed to get in touch with Mimi’s friends and hit the first bar of the night called Iconic. While we were there, I was rather surprised to learn just what a good time the people of Hong Kong know how to have!

Mimi’s friend introduced me to more guys. In fact, one of them is the jolly Sam Wu, winner of Season 3’s Amazing Race Asia! Too bad I was living in London at the time the third season was airing so I didn’t get to watch how he and his partner Vince won but I heard from friends that they were definitely well-deserving of the title!

Nevertheless, it was still nice to meet him. I told him that I was vying for the Best Job in the World earlier in the year and the bubbly Sam said, “Really?!?” and proceeded to laugh from the surprise of it all!

Here’s another picture with some of the people I met that night. Not all of them were photographed as I only quickly got together whoever was within reach before Sam headed off. You can already see our eyes getting smaller. Haha

Not long after we met, the super-smiley Sam had to head off elsewhere but the rest of us continued to barhop in Lan Kwai Fong. Here’s another shot of the man who works for the richest man in the world, Rachel and I.

By the time we got to Fong, I had already had a glass of wine and two Cosmopolitans and was feeling sky high. On the way down the stairs from the ladies room, a random stranger said hello, asked me what my name was and whisked me back upstairs for a slow dance. I can’t begin to tell you how shocked, confused and slow my mind was operating. Are men in Hong Kong generally this aggressive in bars? After what seemed like a few minutes of dancing I told him I had to get back to my friends! Phew!

6 drinks and 4 bars later, I find myself in quite a serendipitous predicament. By the time I came around, Rachel had already freaked out about my whereabouts and I only got back to her place at 11:30am with the worse hangover of the year! In the next part, see how I survive the hard partying from the night before…

Part 5 & 6 will likely be published sometime this week.

Did you know that there’s a deep house music scene brewing in Kota Kinabalu? Last Saturday night, I was invited by Amir Yusoff to attend the Moondance “Groove Your Mind” event at Luna Rossa.

Crowd consisted of local socialites and expats

Surprisingly, the turn out of the crowd was pretty good. When I moved back to Kota Kinabalu in 2002, the city just wasn’t ready to embrace deep house music back then. Today it is a different story as K.K. has grown tremendously and the city is now home to many more expatriates and repatriates. It wasn’t the right time then but it looks like it may be the right time now.

It was a pretty good turnout

Luna Rossa is just a beautiful space for this purpose, spotting a fusion of Indomalay ethnic wood carvings, statues, tactile fixtures and great mood lighting. It has the right ambiance for the delivery of tasteful beats into the bloodstreams of its visitors, a big factor to why people flocked to the dance floor with nothing but funky tunes as their cue.

Deep house lovers getting their groove on

In fact, I heard someone say the event had the vibe of Ku De Ta in Bali, while another person said it felt like he was chilling in a trendy lounge bar in Jakarta. Judging from the success of that night, I wouldn’t be surprised if people are hoping Amir Yusoff will continue to bring high quality groove parties to K.K.

People sitting at the garden area

Here are some more pictures from that night. I couldn’t resist posting the cutest pose yet from Mel C making the Asian peace sign(lower left photo), while she proudly displays the bag she ordered from TheBagBar.com.

Picture of and with people

It takes a special person to be able to pull off a parody of the sacred sign without offending those who swear by it. She kind of just whipped her finger up to her face really fast, half-ashamed of her dorkiness, as if to say she only means it if nobody’s looking (because she actually means it). Haha. This is why I love Mel… she’s such a beautiful person! Meanwhile, Sue was just giving me a hard time with the faces. She left me no choice but to use this shot of her where she’s kind of pulling a dodo face, but it’s better than scaring the children and furry animals away!

Pictures of and with people

Last but not least, here’s a shot of Amir and his partner getting some freestyle acoustic action in as additional layers to compliment the electronic tracks. The percussion just blended so well, and that isn’t always true everytime you see a set of bongos come out at clubs. In addition to being good and having a great track selection, what really sets a perfect routine apart from an “almost” great one is knowing just how much to give the crowd (no more, no less) and this level of groovy can only come from a combination of talent for rhythm and extensive experience in entertaining live, which is where Amir truly shines.

The multi-talented Amir on the bongo

To sum it up, the bad news is Luna Rossa isn’t a permanent lounge bar that offers house music on a weekly basis yet. When there aren’t any special events they operate strictly as a restaurant and wine bar. The good news however, is that Amir works with the most sought-after DJs in the region, and has plans to organize more of these parties in Kota Kinabalu as long as there is a demand for them.

If you missed this great event and are interested in attending the next one, follow Amir’s updates at FreestyleAvenue.com.