HONG KONG DREAMLAND 2
going back home
from September 7 to September 22 2005 in the homeland of Leslie Cheung
Dear GorGor, you see, I kept my promise and I went back home. This trip to HK is to follow your footsteps even more than the first time, but before I start let me send a big hug to the old and new friends I met here and let me apologise from the bottom of my heart to those I would have liked to meet and I couldn't for the lack of time. I really do hope it will be possible next time. Because, for a weird fate, time in HK is never enough.
For people who loves you each trip in HK begins and ends from your Star on the Avenue of Stars, TST, of course!!!
Like last year we stayed at the InterContinental Hotel, in TST, which - I do believe - is a blessed place. The place where you met Mr. Tong must have something special, right????
On these stairs, years ago, you posed for a picture and before, I think, an unaware you went upstairs to meet the love of your life. It's sure that this hotel has something special!!!
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I love another place in HK a lot and this place is Sheung Wan and the area around Hollywood Road, which begins in Central! It must be that - like you - I like to go around for antiques - especially jade! - or maybe it's just that you've been here, because your father owned his tailor shop where now we can find the old Fai Kee shop? Anyway, you took a picture here for 'All About Leslie', in Upper Lascar Road, I place where I would stay for hours!!! And we also find a shop which sells your pictures!
Not far from Hollywood Road, there is a suggestive street full of small temples. I think it should be Tai Ping Shan Street, but I could be wrong. Here is your Chi Kung Miu temple, the one where you and Mr. Tong burnt your incense towers. Smell of incense is everywere, just like your fairy presence. Dear gals, if you visit HK, don't miss this place for any reason!
Talking about temples we also visited the Wong Tai Sin temple in Kowloon City, the Tin Hau temple in Yau Ma Tei and the wonderful Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill. After your passing away, somebody pretended that you could have found your eternal rest here, but we know it wasn't true. Yet, the nunnery is very peaceful.
In the area around Central and Sheung Wan there are many places related to 'The Kid', like Square Street. Unfortunately we missed On Wo Lan and 'Gau Kee', the noodle shop where you ate while shooting the movie. We will visit them next time, like Alabar in Happy Valley.
To reach Hollywood Road, climb the suggestive Ladder Street from Queen's Road Central and take your time to wander in the old HK, visiting the famous Man Mo Temple. Then toward East, at the crossing beetwen Hollywood Road and Pottinger Street, here a place where you often go, the gay disco Propaganda. Yup!!!! Sooooo intriguing!!!! I have to admit that this place lit up our wild fantasies...
But there was another important disco in your life! At 38 D'Aguilar Street in Central now there is something different, but during 80s this was a legendary place where you with Danny Chan, Roman Tam and - according to my info - Mr. Tong - came for fun!!!
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Continuing to visit Lan Kwai Fong and Soho, close to Central - two familiar places for you - I looked for Red Star Bar & Café where you shot your outstanding MV 'Grieving Man' and director Yonfan shot the cult movie 'Bishonen': while we found La Dolce Vita (G/F Cosmos Building 9-11, Lan Kwai Fong, Central) were Terence Yin mentioned about you in 'Bishonen', we couldn't find anymore Red Star Bar & Café (26-30 Elgin Street, Soho, Central).
Always in Soho, here the French restaurant 2 Sardines, where you loved to go! It's in Elgin Street too!
Let's stay a bit more in Central! My dear Leslie, I think you weren't at Ken Qi Salon in Central Building for a hairdo this time! Definitely you were buying something at Dunhill in Prince Building, where you've been the guest star on October 2002!!!!
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You loved shopping here as well as at the Landmark! We enjoyed a coffee twice at the Cafe Landmark.
Like the metaphor of a reality which can't be denied or forgotten the Mandarin Hotel is always there, day and night. You can see it from every part of HK! But this time I could come to term with it. Since it was a place that you loved so much, let's pay a visit and have an excellent afternoon tea at the Clipper Lounge. Do you know that I could recognise the place where you sat?
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Here's the Queen's Pier in Central, were scenes from 'Viva Erotica' and 'A Long And Winding Road' were shot.
One day we went at the 43th floor of the Bank of China Tower! Such a wonderful building! We gave a look to HK from here. And everytime your words came up to my mind, that you wanted "to take a good look at Hong Kong". Sigh! After all I think you loved this town very much, since you are still here.
And here the most important bank, always in Central, the one where your Mr. Tong worked. Standard Chartered, the best bank in HK, somebody told me.
Once you said that if there is a place that we must visit in HK, this is the Peak! So we went to the Peak again! Climbing the Peak with the Peak Tram is an amazing experience!!! We enjoyed the wonderful skyline from morning to night, remembering of you in 'Moonlight Express', and we had lunch and dinner at the Café Deco, where many scenes of 'He's a woman she's a man' were shot!!!! Excellent international food - pizza and pasta for me with San Miguel beer - and outstanding view!!!
The Peak Lookout: we know that Mr. Tong went there with Mrs Nansun Shi and friends... but I think you loved this place too...
But if there was a place where you and Mr. Tong enjoyed to go, it was Pacific Place in Admiralty!
What a wonderful experience, having a lunch or a superbe buffet for the afternoon tea at Cova!!!! Just a suggestion: don't miss their Dolcetto! Like you, Leslie, I adore red wine!
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Always Pacific Place: here the Esprit shop were you met Kenneth and UA Admiralty cinema where you watched George Clooney's "Confessions of a dangerous mind", on March 20, 2003... Sigh!
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While we were on the lift in Pacific Place a beautiful girl suddenly looked at me and told me, "I know you! You're the webmaster of Leslie's Pillow!" It was soooo nice!!!! I would like to receive a message from her!!! If you read this, please... write me!!!
And how to forget your beloved Conrad Hotel, always Pacific Place?? The Conrad is exactly what you see if you look through the ceiling of Cova restaurant!
Three days of our holiday were completely dedicated to you, dear!
On September 10 we attend the seminar 'Forever Adored – In Reminiscence of Leslie's Artistic Seminar' at HK International Trade & Exhibition Centre, Kowloon Bay, organised by http://www.leslie-cheung.info. Prof. Nathalia Chan talked about you for hours screening videos of your excellent performances. Title of the seminar was 'From Nomad to Days of Being Wild – A Study of Leslie's Narcissistic Images in His Films' and of course the hall was full!!!!
On September 11 we celebrate your birthday at the HK Convention and Exhibition Center in Wan Chai!!!! 'Our Little Wish for Leslie' by Leslie Legacy Association was simply memorable!!!!
see more pictures and special page
On September 12 in the late morning we went to the Flower Market in Prince Edward Road West just to get a wonderful buch of flowers for you!!!! Surprise!!!!! Every florist asked us if we wanted flowers for you!!! We met a lot of fans there, especially from Singapore, and we spent some good time together. I hope you enjoyed our flowers! Carmen, the lady of the shop called Pui Kee Florist (G/F, 2-8 Flower Market Road) was very nice and promised the best service to all Leslie's fans in future.
We went to your house in Kadoorie Avenue. About a 10 fans where there and also some hidden paparazzi. One female assistant came out with your driver Ah Kang and they set up the flowers, carrying some of them inside. Fans said in previous days and hours they constantly took flowers inside. On your balcony a lot of orchids... as always. While we went away a van arrived with Florence Chan. She carried some boxes of good food from Fook Lam Moon to share with your Mr. Tong. He misses you so much, dear Leslie!
Your house is a silent oasis of peace in crowded Hong Kong. All your fans keep silent and pay deep respect, as you deserve.
In the afternoon we visited the 'Farewell My Concubine' Art Exhibition by Red Mission, which was very nice. It was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, a place where you often went for award ceremonies and events. We enjoyed the making of of 'Farewell My Concubine' with a lot of people and it was so hard to not being moved by your beauty, your perfection, your talent and your devotion!
In the evening we celebrate your birthday with close friends in one of your favourite restaurant in Woo Sung Street, Jordan! Sun Dau Kee, of course!!! And we ordered your menu!
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And of course we had a lot of shopping about you: pictures, books, memorabilia and a lot of visits to HMV, Wide Sight, Sino Centre, in TST, Mong Kok and Central. In Causeway Bay, just in front of Queen's Cafè Konditorei there is a shop by UFO: the owner respects you very much!
In the most crowded corner of the world, i.e. Causeway Bay, we went to look for 17-21 Matheson Street and your former coffee shop. Now it's a boutique.
And in Hysan Avenue we found Queen's Cafe, were Wong Kar Wai shot some scenes of 'Days of Being Wild'.
But there is a place in Causeway Bay that your fans can't miss. It's your beloved Fusion!!!! I don't want to think it was the place where you ate the last day of your life, I want to think that here you enjoyed your life with good friends! The restaurant in Sunning Rd is excellent and so... 'Leslie's style'!!!
In Happy Valley we had a funny dinner at Cafè Very Good! Was it true that you usually ate ball fish, congee and goose intestines???? Surely you were there for midnight noodles with Mr. Tong and friends on September 2001 and they also hung up the page of the newspaper with you to the wall! If you want to see it, go to the restroom!
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And, in Causeway Bay, this is the Regal Hong Kong Hotel where some scenes of "The Chinese Feast " were shot by Tsui Hark!
If there is something that a visitor can't really miss in HK is travelling by tram and double decker bus! In this way tourists have the chance to visit parts of HK that can't be seen usually and enjoy amazing views. In this way, we could see Stubbs Road, where your Rosaryhill school is seated, Broadcast Drive, where all TV stations are seated and you lived when you worked for ATV, Happy Valley and the Jockey Club, and - while I was still trying to recall why the name of Pok Fu Lam Road was so popular to me - the unfortunate Queen Mary Hospital. Sigh!
And then... going around by tram always makes us thinking to 'Nomad'!
Staying in HK in September could mean... celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, carrying around coloured lanters.
Happy Moon Festival, Leslie!!!
And it happens that you decide to go to The Peninsula Hotel in TST for an afternoon tea, like you loved to do, and find your friends Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi sitting there enjoying theirs with others. This time The Peninsula was perfect! To queue is an obligation, but this time the service was excellent like their renowned afternoon tea!!! Especially the tiramisu dessert served with granita... he he he...
Looking at the ceiling and the entrance of The Pen, it's impossible to not think of you! Miss you so much.
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In WanChai we went to look for Fook Lam Moon, G/F, 35-45 Johnston Road. We decide to wait for the next time to have a superb lunch there, but it's evident that this is a very elegant restaurant, just perfect for your and Mr. Tong!
Everybody knows you went to Stanley to shoot some scene of 'Moonlight Express'. Friends told us that that restaurant doesn't exist anymore, so we have an exquisite lunch at Bayside Brasserie (excellent pasta and chocolate cake!) and we went for crazy shopping at the popular Stanley Market!!!!! So funny! Stanley Bay is so different from HK! It's the Santa Margherita Ligure of the East!!!!
Our visit to Repulse Bay, near to Turtle Cove, the place where you definitely wanted to live in your dreamhouse and where you actually lived some years in 90s, happened by chance and it was so unexpected that you must have had some parts in our sudden decision to go there from Aberdeen! There was The Verandah there, which waited for us, and we had an amazing unforgettable afternoon, with tea and champagne! The dress reharsal of Paradise!!! I guess you loved it too! And I love 109 Repulse Bay Road soooo much!
Our holiday in my dreamland is over. On the very last day of our trip we went back to your house to say, "Thank you". And Bingo barked...
See you next time, Leslie!
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