Mark Murphy's Blog: Travel Unscripted with me - Posts Tagged "barcelo"
I Can't Sing
Although I can’t sing, I was really feeling it earlier this month. I was in Hong Kong and hanging out with some locals who I had met at a wedding in Mexico a year and a half earlier. We had initially met and partied at a great property, Barcelo Palace, in Los Cabos, Mexico.
When in Mexico at an all inclusive resort you can certainly over imbibe. Since we were celebrating the wedding of Nick (my producer and a guy prominently featured in my book, Travel Unscripted) and his wife Michelle we were even more revved up than usual….and the drinks flowed.
It was a great time and I was able to enjoy developing some new friendships with friends of the family who came from all over the world, including Hong Kong, to celebrate. There was no singing at this affair, but at one point I found myself with a microphone in my hand. I became emotional as I spoke to the small group and described how I felt about Nick and Michelle. I guess you could say I got pretty choked up.
Fast-forward to this July and you could say I got choked off during my visit to Hong Kong. I met up with two familiar faces from the wedding and one new one, grabbed a couple of cocktails, and ultimately found myself in a private karaoke room at a place where you will only find locals. The song choices were consistently Chinese ballads that lamented the loss of love, putting me completely out of my element. I had no idea what words were being sung, but I could understand the meaning in the melody and the mood of those around me.
I decided something needed to change and offered to mix it up by offering to sing one of the limited English songs on the menu; Billy Idol’s White Wedding. As the whiskey flowed the music revved up and I started to belt out the tune. It didn’t take long for those around me in the small room to glance between me singing and the words on the screen.
Suddenly, one of the girls said “What is this?” I replied during a gap in the lyrics “it’s Billy Idol!”. She responded, “Who is Billy Idol?” A few seconds later she followed up with “White Wedding? What the heck is that about?”
In an almost slow motion move her eyes shifted between me and the console, or what is basically the command center that controlled everything music in our room, and then it happened. Her hand extended, the music stopped, and we were back to the sad Chinese ballads. My friends in Hong Kong had enough and effectively ended my very brief karaoke career.
As the music stopped momentarily there was a brief awkward silence as I looked around and shrugged sheepishly. The microphone made it to another reveler who immediately began singing the next song up. I was effectively removed from the singing lineup and decided my talents were best served in helping the rest of my new friends make a dent in the open bottles of whiskey that littered the table.
Am I willing to sing again? You bet. Will they let me? I’ll let you know in September when I make it back to Hong Kong!
When in Mexico at an all inclusive resort you can certainly over imbibe. Since we were celebrating the wedding of Nick (my producer and a guy prominently featured in my book, Travel Unscripted) and his wife Michelle we were even more revved up than usual….and the drinks flowed.
It was a great time and I was able to enjoy developing some new friendships with friends of the family who came from all over the world, including Hong Kong, to celebrate. There was no singing at this affair, but at one point I found myself with a microphone in my hand. I became emotional as I spoke to the small group and described how I felt about Nick and Michelle. I guess you could say I got pretty choked up.
Fast-forward to this July and you could say I got choked off during my visit to Hong Kong. I met up with two familiar faces from the wedding and one new one, grabbed a couple of cocktails, and ultimately found myself in a private karaoke room at a place where you will only find locals. The song choices were consistently Chinese ballads that lamented the loss of love, putting me completely out of my element. I had no idea what words were being sung, but I could understand the meaning in the melody and the mood of those around me.
I decided something needed to change and offered to mix it up by offering to sing one of the limited English songs on the menu; Billy Idol’s White Wedding. As the whiskey flowed the music revved up and I started to belt out the tune. It didn’t take long for those around me in the small room to glance between me singing and the words on the screen.
Suddenly, one of the girls said “What is this?” I replied during a gap in the lyrics “it’s Billy Idol!”. She responded, “Who is Billy Idol?” A few seconds later she followed up with “White Wedding? What the heck is that about?”
In an almost slow motion move her eyes shifted between me and the console, or what is basically the command center that controlled everything music in our room, and then it happened. Her hand extended, the music stopped, and we were back to the sad Chinese ballads. My friends in Hong Kong had enough and effectively ended my very brief karaoke career.
As the music stopped momentarily there was a brief awkward silence as I looked around and shrugged sheepishly. The microphone made it to another reveler who immediately began singing the next song up. I was effectively removed from the singing lineup and decided my talents were best served in helping the rest of my new friends make a dent in the open bottles of whiskey that littered the table.
Am I willing to sing again? You bet. Will they let me? I’ll let you know in September when I make it back to Hong Kong!
Travel Unscripted with me
Beyond the book, I travel quite often for work and for pleasure. Here I'll share the experiences I have while on the road - consider it an extended version of Travel Unscripted. A lot of it you will n
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