There’s some things that seem to be more likely to happen in HK than in other places I’ve been and I’m reminded of this on occassion.

Today, it was over breakfast.

At a western-style restaurant where I often have my Sunday morning meal, I was greeted by two guys sitting at a table set for eight. Nothing terribly unusual so far since the restaurant was fairly empty and I too had my pick of seats. The expat community is generally quite friendly to each other.

Unintentionally wisely, I sat on the opposite side of the restuarant.

They were dressed in shorts, Hawaiian  shirts and flip flops (I’m recognising that some of my readers are American and will be confused if I call them thongs). This was a little odd since it’s cold here at the moment (well, for HK it’s cold). As a comparison, I was wearing jeans, jumper and boots.

As I ate, a couple of other guys arrived. Wearing budgie-smugglers, a pilot hat and with a HK flag as a cape, they sat and ordered pina coladas. Singing the Australian national anthem, three more entered, drinking Carlsbergs, wearing shorts, Hawaiian shirts and deck shoes. They knew more of the anthem than most and judging by their accents, they either haven’t lived in Australia for a very long time, are recent immigrants and holidaying in HK or happen to teach at the Australian School. Given their knowledge of the anthem, the latter two scenarios are the most likley.

More pina coladas.

A few changed into their budgie-smugglers and ordered large breakfasts. As others arrived for the party, they cheered and sang a variety of songs. Colourful leis distributed, more drinks ordered and “You’ve lost that loving feelin‘” began. Their rendition was surprisingly good as they mixed it into “Summer nights‘”. It was quite impressive – they even split the Danny / Sandy parts and knew all the words.

The group grew to 14, in various states of summer apparel and early morning inebriation, before I left, having a bit of a laugh and wondering if this is why there’s complaints about the lack of single guys in HK. My laughs were also because I can’t count how many times I’ve been with a group of girls singing these exact songs and being given a hard time by the guys we happen to have been with at the time. That said, my singing voice is horrendous and more suited to a banshee.

This was between 9am and 10am.

At an educated guess, they were preparing for a big day out on a junk. A very big day out.

Very Hong Kong.

* Thanks to Don Henley for the title to this post. This song always reminds me of rollerskating in my younger days…