It’s summer again, with the sun shining brightly.
Vancouver’s summer is always mild and comfortable. On a wonderful
summer day, perfect for napping, my eyes began to drift closed. Everything was
blurry and suddenly I saw a tunnel in front of me — I started walking into it
slowly, as if being hypnotized.
Where am I? Is that the theme song from the IYY 85
Youth Festival?
Isn’t this the Hong Kong Coliseum?
And—are those the stars from back in the day?!
Wow! Many Icons of the 1980s!
·Music legends Alan Tam, Leslie
Cheung, Anita Mui
·TVB’s “Five Tigers”: Tony Leung, Andy
Lau
·Two of the future “Four Heavenly Kings”: Jacky
Cheung, Andy Lau
·1985’s newly crowned Miss Hong Kong: Charlene
Tse Ning
·1984 New Talent Singing Champion: a very
youthful Dicky Cheung
·The rarely seen Michael Kwan
·Chow Yun-fat, before he left TVB
·The incredibly beautiful Yammie Lam
·The charming “gweilo” Keith Kwan
Chiu-chung
·Mak Lei Hong , wife of actor Jackie Lui
Chung Yin
And so many more iconic singers and new stars of the 1980s…
It was dazzling, but full of energy and youth!
Suddenly, the scene outside the Coliseum went quiet again.
On the ground, I vaguely saw a ticket…
A Leslie Cheung concert ticket?!
Venue: Hong Kong Coliseum, Hung Hom
Date: August 4, 1985
Wait... isn’t this 2025? That ticket is 40 years old. Is it still valid?
The Coliseum only opened in 1983, so in 1985, it was still
quite new. As dusk approached, I clutched the ticket and walked in. The
security guard was friendly and let me sit closer to the front. The audience
next to me said she’d been eating instant noodles just to afford the most
expensive ticket. Turns out, mine was worth HKD $180—the priciest
tier! No wonder I got a front-row seat.
Here he comes!
It’s really Leslie Cheung, rising slowly onto the stage—giving
his first-ever solo concert. He wore a blue suit jacket and white shirt,
looking fresh and elegant.
He started with the song “The First Time” then
followed by another song that I love: "Silently Swimming
Upstream", composed by the most famous Hong Kong composer Joseph
Koo with lyrics by James Wong.
"Work with heart, work with effort, strive to become
a true singer…"
And he did it—this was his first solo concert at the grand Coliseum!
Next came the romantic "Obsession",
composed by Michael Lai with lyrics again by James Wong.
Leslie’s charming eyes, intoxicated expression, and gentle voice enchanted the
crowd.
Then came "I’m
Willing":
Like sleeping cradled in
clouds As if lost in a
cloud-like dream With you, everything’s beautiful Even our breaths feel poetic.
It sounded like a beautiful poetry.
Time for some upbeat tracks—he performed two Japanese cover
hits: "Monica" and "Wild Wind" —
both huge at the time.
He even stepped down to shake hands with fans—people swarmed in front of me
with excitement!
Next was the theme song for The Duke of Mount Deer,
starring Tony Leung and Andy Lau. It started with powerful music, leading into
the light-hearted "Luck Will Come Eventually".
After the cheerful vibe, it was time for more romance.
Leslie changed into an orange shirt and white suit jacket to sing the sweet
ballad "Tenderness and Affection":
Please listen to me
Please tell me your history tonight
Please whisper to me
Please show me your history tonight
Then the mood shifted again as he performed the edgy dance
track "Love Cross", showing off his wild side.
Finally… my favorite song: "A Moment", with its beautiful, moving melody—it completely
drew me in. So romantic and familiar, because the English version is none other
than "Casablanca."
He followed with another classic love song, "I
Am Sentimental by Nature", with composer Michael Lai at the
piano. It felt like every female fan imagined herself as Mo Siu-Nung, Leslie’s
lover in the drama Once Upon an Ordinary Girl.
Leslie joked, "The love song is written by this chubby
guy!"—referring to Michael Lai, his mentor.
Of course, they sang a duet: the melancholic "Blue Mood",
which Leslie performed running and singing—absolutely giving his all.
And then—let’s get wet?!
Because the next song was "H2O". My
Form 1 Chemistry teacher taught us H2O = water, Leslie’s song… ever
since, Leslie’s H2O is what stuck in my mind.
Midway through, he changed into a yellow outfit—still just
as handsome and stylish.
Concerts often feature guest stars, and this one brought out
another icon: Anita Mui. She sang "Love is Over",
followed by a duet with Leslie—"Fate".
Such feelings are worth remembering…
Alan Tam had his "Romance on a Rainy
Night", and Leslie had his "Romance in the Rain".
Both were adapted from Japanese songs but had different styles. Leslie wore a
trench coat as he sang a playful "Rhythm of the Rain".
After that, the performers took off their raincoats. The
female dancers were so sexy—most likely they were from Miss Aerobic Beauty
Pageantat TVB in 1985.
Next, we returned to heartfelt ballads. Dressed in a white
shirt, white pants, and a unique vest, Leslie sang "My Devoted
Self" and "For You Only".
Of course, he didn’t forget the iconic "The Wind Blows On".
Before I had enough of his charming gentleman look, he
changed again—this time into a refreshing summer shirt to sing "A
Young Girl’s Heart". And yes, there were plenty of teenage female fans
at the concert!
Then came "Not Afraid of Loneliness"—with
over 10,000 people in the Coliseum at night, hardly to feel lonely.
Another outfit change? Why not—it suited the summer vibe!
Every outfit looked great.
Every song was amazing. Truly one of the very best concerts ever held in Hong Kong!
Then came "Because of You", and I
suddenly felt this strong urge to hold onto this moment.
Leslie said: "Tomorrow morning, when you wake up all groggy… think of me."
Preserve yesterday, deep in my heart
Never letting go, carrying it into the future
For one day, when I’m lonely again
I can relive this love
Wait… was that music coming from a radio?
Am I in my bedroom?
Turns out—it was all a dream.
Life is like a dream.
Beautiful memories slip through our fingers.
May 14, 2025, marks 40 years since the passing of Barbara
Yung Mei Ling, one of Hong Kong’s brightest television stars. Born on May 7,
1959, Barbara’s life was tragically cut short at just 26 years old, at the peak
of her career. For many, her death remains a moment frozen in time—shocking,
sudden, and deeply felt.
I still remember that day vividly. I was only seven years
old, just a child being picked up from elementary school by my mother. As I
came out from school, I overheard schoolmates’ parents talking about someone
who had died. “Who died?” I wondered. And then I heard the name—Yung Mei Ling.
Although I was too young to fully grasp the weight of the loss, I could sense
the shock all around. She was beloved, talented, and so young.
At that time, Barbara was starring in The Rough Ride 挑戰,
one of the dramas that showcased her immense talent. Watching the theme song 我與你他與我today takes us right back to
the ambience of the 1980s—the fashion, the decoration, and the golden era of
Hong Kong television.
Barbara had already made a huge name for herself with her
unforgettable role in The Legend of the Condor Heroes 射鵰英雄傳 (1983),
which catapulted her into stardom. But my first memory of Barbara was
actually through a lesser-known series—The Foundation 決戰玄武門,
which aired at the beginning of 1984. I was in grade one. I didn’t understand
much about the adult world, but I was captivated by the show’s beautiful
countryside scenery and its episode songs 不見我淚流. Even now, those
melodies linger in my mind.
Being so young and still learning to read Chinese, I didn’t
even know her real name in the drama. To me, she was “colour colour,” 曹色色
a name I made up based on the pronunciation I heard. Until I grew up I realized
her name in the drama is 秦惜惜 Chun
Sik-sik. One of the songs 不見我淚流began
with the line “Hold my heart, hold my hand,” 牽我心牽你手
but in my ears, it became “Sky my heart, sky my hand” 天我心天你手 an innocent mishearing that still makes me smile.
(20+) Video | Facebook(Sometimes
the song is muted. If this happens, I will open 鮑翠薇 決戰玄武門 不見我淚流 to turn on the music and then keep playing the video. This
way both the scenes can be watched and the song can be listened at the same
time)
The scene that left the deepest impression on me was when
Xixi bid farewell to the male lead, Jiang Feng, on the beautiful grassland—from
1:07 to 2:45 in (20+) Video | Facebook. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but I’ll never
forget how Xixi always had an umbrella with her. Although the drama aired more
than 40 years ago, some of the scenery, costumes, and props are still very
captivating—especially when paired with the perfect soundtrack. To me, it’s a
classic among classics.
Barbara Yung Mei Ling may have left us far too soon, but her
memory continues to live on through the stories, songs, and screen moments she
left behind. For those of us who were children then, she was a star that lit up
the screen and our imaginations. Forty years later, that light still shines.
Happy Lunar New Year 🧧 In the year of snake 🐍 I wish everyone good health (the most important), happiness and be always safe. Too many cyber scams these days and the number of victims has been growing. It makes me to miss my childhood when there were no emails, no scam phone calls and the connections between neighbours were stronger 👬❤👭❤👫❤
細個時邊有網上詐騙去買豬仔🐖 最多俾阿婆呃買咗啲爛水果🍎 願蛇年無人上當，大家都有福星高照 🌟
Let's listen to the Chinese New Year song 歡樂年年 performed by Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui during my wonderful childhood time in 1985😊
Have you noticed another Hong Kong superstar in this video? He became one of the Four Heavenly Kings 四大天王 in the 90s 🕺
Day 10 (August 3, 2023) Crown Princess
was travelling south to head back to Vancouver. It would arrive in Downtown
Vancouver in the early morning of August 4. We got the whole day at sea on
August 3.
As usual, let’s start with breakfast.
Food was about the same and I enjoyed having congee again with shredded carrot
plus diced celeries on top.
Since all the passengers were on the
ship, it must be a good chance to put all the clothes out for sale 😉
I don’t think I have posted any photos
of its fashion store. Here it is!
Some of them had discount, probably
due to it being the last day of our trip!
But no discount for pirate Stanley.
There was discount for certain
jewelleries too! Now I learned the trick, wait for the last at sea day.
They got Swarovski, no discount
though.
There were various activities in the
morning🌞including complimentary massage taster in Lotus Spa, morning Zumba
fitness in Club Fusion, end of season sale (fashion – maybe it was the one I
saw), Chinese herbal formulas for health in Wheelhouse Bar and culinary
demonstration in Princess Theater.
We joined the most popular one –
culinary demonstration🍳
It was a show full of laughs😂 The MC
(who I saw everyday in the production shows at night and sometimes in the
Piazza) in the center was a great speaker and had a very good sense of humor,
but I forgot his name. The one on the left is called Mariusz from Poland and
currently lives in Norway. He is the director of restaurant operations. The one
on the right is called Roy from the Southern Part of Philippines. He is the
executive chef.
I forgot what they cooked. But I
recall it was very funny every time when Mariusz was being naughty and trying
to make a mess😈 Sometimes they would say “Take picture, take picture!” then all
would be facing the same direction (either left or right) and smile. This was
more like an entertaining show😆
At the end of culinary demonstration,
many restaurant staffs were invited to the stage.
After that, we had the opportunity to visit
a kitchen behind the dining room.
I think it’s a good idea that the food
waste can be converted into a small amount of energy for the ship and also food
quantity should be reduced or limited to decrease the waste of food. It’s nice
to see lots of food selection offered in the buffet but we should be educated
about the impact on our oceans and environment with the food waste.
I only know Titanic is one of the most
famous movies and the love story was very touching. It’s weird to know that
Titanic ship had many sewage holes on its sides just above the waterline to constantly
dump all the human waste into oceans directly😕
Nowadays all human waste must be
treated properly before it is drained into the seas. There are two categories:
black water and gray water. Black water is the wastewater from toilets and gray
water is the wastewater from sinks, showers, laundries and kitchens. Although
gray water sounds less disgusting, it can pollute the oceans too. That’s why I
would recommend the cruise lines to supply eco products for hair wash, body
wash, dish wash and laundry if possible (I know this might not be possible but
if no one cares about it, our oceans will be full of toxic with chemicals and
microplastics😨).
Black water which contains poop and
urine must be handled carefully before it is drained into the oceans. Both gray
water and black water are sent to ballast tanks at the bottom of the ship.
Unlike gray water, black water needs to be disinfected or sterilized by UV
radiation to transform it into safe and bacteria free water before it can be
discharged.
Back to the kitchen tour, we got staff
waving to us🙋
Thanks for their hard work to prepare
meals for us. But none of them were wearing masks though.
I believe the last time I saw an eye
wash station was in one of the laboratories in my workplace.
Still a long lineup for the kitchen
tour after our turn.
One of my favourite spots was the
desserts and pastries in International Café on Deck 5, just next to the Piazza.
Good Spirits on the other side of
International Café provided cocktail drinks🍹
Fine Arts Gallery is located in front
of the Piazza on Deck 5. It is more spacious compared to the arts gallery in
Koningsdam🎨
Some of the pictures look familiar. I
saw them on Koningsdam, must be from the same artists or organization.
There was a Creative Towel Folding
Demonstration in the Piazza at 11:15 am. I thought Princess cruise doesn’t do
towel animals. On my first cruise with Royal Caribbean in 2012 and my second
cruise with Holland American in 2023, the room attendants provided towel
animals for my stateroom every night. But it never happened on Crown Princess.
I was happy to see that they had a
show on the towel folding 😊
See how skillful men can be in folding towels 簡直是男人的巧手✋
Although no towel animals in my
stateroom, the variety of displays in the demonstration was much more than I
saw on the other cruises.
Which one do you like the most? I like
the little doggie and the little chicks 🐶🐤🐤🐤
Time flies, lunch time after the towel
folding show. Same place for lunch – Horizon Court.
A staff informed us about desserts/cakes
served on the other side in Horizon Court. Wow! My favourite😃
Most of them looked delicious. In
fact, some could be super sweet. To be safe, pick the chocolate or coffee ones.
I got one of these cups but it didn’t
taste good.
Number of activities in the afternoon,
one of them was Deal Or No Deal Game Show in Princess Theater.
A cruise passenger joined the game. There
were 20 suitcases on the screen. I didn’t know how it works so I was excited
for the contestant when a suitcase she picked show a large amount such as $350,
$400 or $1000. Yay!
Oh no! The amount chosen will be
removed that means she would not get it. I see, she should pick suitcases that
show a small amount such as $0.01, $0.25, $0.50 or whatever are on the left
side.
After the contester picked a few
suitcases, the banker offered $88 – deal or no deal. If I were her, I would
accept, 88 is a very lucky number in Chinese which means I will be doubled
rich 💵💵😄
Another fun activity I watched was
Martini Demonstration🍷 in the Piazza! Very entertaining!
If passengers preferred a quiet place,
they could go to the Library 🕮 on Deck 7.
All cruise lines have photo shop 📸and
the photos they sell are of course expensive. I did purchase the photos taken
by cruise photographer when I took the Royal Caribbean cruise in South East
Asia, it was my first cruise experience. These two times, I didn’t buy any
photos offered by cruise ships.
I think it really depends on the
passenger’s preference, experience and budget. Some may want to buy it for the
first time (just like me). Some may think it’s worth to buy anytime that they
are with their significant ones.
The long photo gallery is located on
Deck 7 parallel to Crown Grill Restaurant. I recall one photo costed about $20.
Compared to my first cruise back in
2012, technology became more advanced. It didn’t require to ask my name or
stateroom number. They just took photos and sent a preview to my app or put in
the photo gallery. I think because I was wearing Medallion that’s why I was
being kept track of my location. In the near future, this can be done by facial
recognition as well.
I like the idea of turning ocean
plastics into a new product like the watch straps for Medallion device ♻ I
didn’t know that before I purchased my own from somewhere else.
I think Princess should advertise their sustainable products
widely and mark down the price. I really wanted to support but couldn’t afford
$19 USD per piece.
Let’s return to my stateroom E630,
here’s the hallway.
What was the view from my room? It was
like an oil painting of the ocean.
It was the last dinner on my Alaska
cruise ship. I believe I started with Alaska Cocktail, followed by Grilled
Marinated Portobello Mushroom. We also shared Grilled Kingklip Palermitana. I
decided to choose Princess Love Boat dream for my last time dessert😊
Towards the end of my dinner, I saw
some customers waving their napkins, what’s going on?
Music was on, lots of restaurant
staffs started coming and moving their bodies with a big cheerful smile. It was
like a party at that moment🥳
Let’s continue with the party🎉Dance
performance in the Piazza! So just Dance! Dance! Dance!
Then a speech given by Captain
Christopher Lye for a farewell address.
Many crew members showed up in the
Piazza to drive the atmosphere to the climax!
What about the show in Princess Theater? It was The Voice of the Ocean – Cruise Nightlife - Princess Cruises hosted by the Cruise Director on the last night of the cruise for an audience
that includes three high-profile team coaches that may include one of the guest
entertainers, the Hotel General Manager or even the ship’s Captain! Just like
the hit TV show, the trio of coaches will listen, but not see the performer, as
they decide to turn their "I Want You" chair to choose the singer to
be on their team. Once teams are chosen, coaches will then each pick one
finalist. The audiences will vote to choose the best of the best👍
There were about 8 or 9 contestants and almost half from Canada and half from US. An Asian woman in her 60’s sang “My Heart Will Go On” in front of 800 audiences. She was definitely not the best but I admired her courage.
I didn’t watch the whole show as I needed to pack my stuff, attach a coloured/numbered luggage tag to my luggage and have it outside my stateroom at 9 pm (I should have chosen Self Assist Walk Off, this way I could just keep my luggage and carry it by myself as it was less than 5 minute walk for my luggage pickup after disembarkation, it was not much of a difference).
My partner told me the last contestant was the best one in his mind. This participant performed “What a Wonderful World”🌎
After I left Princess Theater, I
passed by Conference Center on Deck 6. It is actually a room with two ping pong
tables🏓
Normally the room was full of people
playing table tennis. It was empty on the last night of the trip. I guess
everyone was busy packing stuff.
While I was packing my stuff, I found
the souvenir I purchased including the fancy notepads and Denali Dreams soap.
They were all made in Alaska and inexpensive.
After I finished packing, I still had
some time to walk around the ship. I went up to Horizon Court and it was empty.
Good! Finally could take a picture with nobody there😉
Some of the paintings in Horizon Court
are fascinating, they show a beautiful coastal town that tourists must love to
visit for a relaxing vacation.
Similar paintings can be found
anywhere on the cruise.
I thought I could go to bed early but
I was asked to go to Princess Theater again as 9:30 show was different than
7:15 show. This time we got Shea Rafferty to perform. I recall he was good,
worth to see!
It was after 10:30 when the show was
finished. Where to visit at the late night? Skywalkers Nightclub on Deck 18 was
for those who liked to drink and dance until pass midnight.
On August 4, 2023 at 6:30 am, I was awakened by my partner. Why that early?
“Look out from the window. We are already back to Vancouver!”
“We will cross under Lions Gate Bridge
again, is that what you like?”
So nice to go under Lions Gate Bridge
again! Let’s have a final breakfast before we leave the ship.
Crown Princess👑was getting close to
Canada Place. Another ship was already there, ahead of us?
It was Celebrity Millennium. How could
this be possible? I am pretty sure our ship left Ketchikan before Celebrity
Millennium. It arrived at Canada Place before us.
Getting close! Getting close! Finally
docked at Canada Place. Home sweet home💕
