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Sun, May 29, 2005
I had a dream
I had a dream this morning. I can't remember all of the details. Dreams are strange in nature, adding bits and pieces of our lives into a montage that we call a dream.
I was in a man's home. It wasn't an expensive home. It was relatively old with lots of wooden furniture, the type that you can move around, not the built-in wardrobe type. It was open with windows all around; windows with wooden frames. I seem to remember ceiling fans.
At one side of the flat, I was able to through the window see strange things that looked like trees except that they were huge hanging mobiles planted in the ground; very artistic and very typical of the man's nature. A few seconds later, the mobiles disappeared and there were instead tables spread out in a 'U' shape, tables big enough to seat 12 people each. It was a restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, with fanned paper napkins, pink actually. There was a 鬼佬 sitting at one of the tables and a waiter serving him. I suddenly remembered the restaurant that I'd seen downstairs. It was the same restaurant although if the dream was reality, it wouldn't be possible; for the restaurant to be both downstairs and at the back of this man's home somewhere up in a high-rise building.
I turned around and we were sitting down at a table having dinner. The man's wife, 曾華倩, perky and sprite as ever, was there sitting to the left of me. The man's personal assistant and one other person were there too. One talked about computer problems (職業病？) and then the man asked his assistant about a problem he was having with his music composition program. Although the man had retired from professional singing, he was obviously still deeply involved, writing his own music, possibly for others to sing.
I was petrified. This man was one of the greatest. We had known each other although only for a minute far far in the past but he was still a great man. He wasn't my idol but he was still wonderous. I had nothing to say but they didn't seem to notice. While talking about the music composition program, I had the urge to offer my computer help but repressed the urge because more than appreciation for my computer skills, I wanted the man to appreciate me as a friend, if not now then later.
Suddenly, as is common in dreams, I was in the kitchen in front of the dish washing basin. I was washing a cup, at least I thought it was a cup. It turned out to contain dish washing powder used in commercial dish washing machines like the ones I attended while studying at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. I looked over to the right and there was a huge commercial dish washing machine, probably the same size as the one I used at the Baxter College dormitory at the university. Of course, this was the man's home. There shouldn't have been a commercial dish washing machine here but this was a dream. Anything goes.
曾華倩 came in and told me that I didn't have to help with the dishes. Somebody grabbed a couple of bottles of beverage from the fridge and then we were in the adjoining room, like a dining area but not the one where we had dinner. The man was there and I was beginning to calm down and become comfortable around him. He looked great, the way I remember him from our time together in Sydney many years ago. We picked up our brown bottles of beer from the table although my bottle mysteriously became a clear bottle of 7-up or something similar.
We talked a little.
And I woke up.
After playing with our dogs in the garden, I went back to our own kitchen and began making a cup of coffee with our Breville coffee maker. Suddenly, one of the man's songs was in my head and it's still there as I write this prose:
風繼續吹 不忍遠離
心裡極渴望 希望留下伴著你
風繼續吹 不忍遠離
心裡亦有淚 不願流淚望著你
過去多少快樂記憶 何妨與你一起去追
要將憂鬱苦痛洗去 柔情蜜意我願記取
要強忍離情淚 未許它向下垂
愁如鎖 眉頭聚 別離淚始終要下垂
Some men are truly great.
Copyright 2005 Gregory Charles Rivers 河國榮. All rights reserved.
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on Sun, May 29, 2005, 08:13
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Comments
ha,ha.....會不會是"你真超人"的訪問太深入你心呀,
所以會有"曾華倩" 入夢 :）
Posted by: wan | Sun, May 29, 2005, 09:48 | Respond to this comment
I suppose you were referring to Leslie (notwithstanding the fact that 曾華倩 had nothing to do with him).
He has been a part of my life ever since I was a child. I still dream about him now and again. Yes, you're right – he's truly great.
He will be in my heart forever.
Posted by: Vicky | Sun, May 29, 2005, 15:21 | Respond to this comment
yes, it was Leslie
it was a dream (a real dream) and 曾華倩 just happened to be Leslie's wife!
Posted by: 河國榮 | Sun, May 29, 2005, 15:50 | Respond to this comment
HI,
我係睇「壹週刊」知道你有HOMEPAGE的…
你好叻呀！
我以為你唔識打中文字,
你真係好叻呀…
我屋企人都好鐘意睇你做戲=)
SUPPORT YOU !
Posted by: JellY | Sun, May 29, 2005, 18:56 | Respond to this comment
You can give a result for your family，friend and your h.k fans!!
Posted by: I like hok wok wing | Sun, May 29, 2005, 19:05 | Respond to this comment
Mr Rivers, I'm confused, you mean in your dream, 曾華倩 is Leslie's wife? But not in reality, right?
Hmm, I guess you just missed him too much. Did you ever get a chance to meet Leslie in real life and have a lengthy chat with him before?
Posted by: Arthur Heng | Sun, May 29, 2005, 20:57 | Respond to this comment
"Mr Rivers"? makes me feel old ;-)
>Mr Rivers, I'm confused, you mean in your dream,
>曾華倩 is Leslie's wife? But not in reality, right?
right.
>Did you ever get a chance to meet Leslie in real life
>and have a lengthy chat with him before?
I met him in 1985 in Sydney Australia. I drove him and a couple of his crew from Sydney to Canberra. We have coffee down there and then drove back. On the way back, Leslie drove. His crew slept while Leslie and I chatted. It's at least a 2-hour drive ;-) His English was perfect.
Posted by: 河國榮 | Sun, May 29, 2005, 21:48 | Respond to this comment
Hi,
I saw your homepage from a Malaysia newspaper.So i come to take a visit.I am your FANS.You are a special guy and have a very kind heart.I am sure that all agree this.You have many FANS at Malaysia.We all support you forever.....
Posted by: Felix | Sun, May 29, 2005, 23:37 | Respond to this comment
I miss Gor Gor very much too! Was he nice and talkative?
Posted by: Jess | Mon, May 30, 2005, 06:54 | Respond to this comment
嘩！嘩！嘩！
全首中文歌那麼長你都可以用中文寫出來，你的中文水準比我想像中還要高，
果然是高手，佩服！
看來我以後都可以安心在你的 blog用中文 留言好啦。免得我 D "水皮" 及”有限度”
的英文睇到你一頭霧水 :>
Sapphire ;-)
藍寶
Posted by: Sapphire | Mon, May 30, 2005, 08:34 | Respond to this comment
Sapphire, sorry to disappoint you but I found the lyrics on the net and pasted the part I needed into my message adding appropriate br's and styling.
that said, I can read most Chinese characters and have no problems reading most Chinese newspapers and magazines (and scripts of course). so throw caution to the wind and type as much Chinese as you like ;-)
Posted by: 河國榮 | Mon, May 30, 2005, 08:37 | Respond to this comment
Wow! What a quick response! I did'nt know your're there.Cutting-edged technology is really shrinking our world, er?
Copy & paste, that's what I though in my mind. I not a dummy!! Ha Ha....
Posted by: Sapphire | Mon, May 30, 2005, 08:46 | Respond to this comment
When I was reading your post about "the man" I knew you were talking about Leslie.
Posted by: Miranda | Mon, May 30, 2005, 11:05 | Respond to this comment
果然係個奇怪的夢!還把曾華倩及哥哥入夢!=)我一直都很好奇,你的中文名是怎麼得來的?是你自己想到的,還是有人給你起的?你跟哥哥的名字相同,是意外還是...?
Posted by: cherrie | Mon, May 30, 2005, 11:09 | Respond to this comment
Greg, I think u r really honest! But I won't think any lesser of ur Chinese, as I had some of ur Chinese proses. Ur r simply amazing. I wish I can type Chinese and Japanese some day.
BTW, happened to have watched Leslie's last movie (the one starring w/ Karina Lam) over the weekend. Wondering whether shooting that movie had aggravated his depression and led to his tragic death. I feel sorry for him and will miss him dearly for a long, long time.
After reading some of Greg's proses abt depression and watching that movie, I get to understand that mental sickness a bit more. In fact, I had always found Greg's articles very interesting and intriguing. Being a coffee lover and an inexperience dog keeper, I had learnt a lot. Thx Greg!
Posted by: Alison | Mon, May 30, 2005, 12:22 | Respond to this comment
hum..I am a fans of leslie,I miss him so much..
It is a little bit surprised to find out that you are Australian although I know you for a long long time from TVB's program. I used to thought that you are from Canada,don't know why.You are a great actor and I love your performance.Also,your cantonese is really good:)
Anyway, when i discovered that you are from Australia I feel more close to you as I had been in melbourne for two years as a international student.Australia is really a great country and most people here are very friendly to foreigner:D
Also it is nice to know that leslie had been to Australia and you miss him too...It makes me feel that I am not alone and he is really great as people know him in person also like him.
Posted by: Capri | Mon, May 30, 2005, 23:20 | Respond to this comment
河生，:-D
Merci! The higher-res. one looks gorgeous on my "long-distance cousin".
Good Day!
Sapphire
Posted by: sapphire | Tue, May 31, 2005, 08:42 | Respond to this comment
I know Y Capri wld think Greg is a Canadian 'cos he appears to be very down to earth and friendly; as Canadians are :-D !
Greg,
U look kinda tired in ur latest pictures. Afterall, u r in the show biz n looks still matters (even if u r a "sick-lick-pie actor"). Keep up ur good look and get prepared for more blown up full-size posters like the one u did for "Perfume". I have to admit, I really like the picture in ur home page. U kinda look like Kim Robinson in that picture. Was it taken in a studio? Take care n have a gd day!
Posted by: Alison | Tue, May 31, 2005, 10:48 | Respond to this comment
河生，:-D
在我記憶中（包括以前在香港時），見你在電視出鏡就見得好多，唱K好似未聽
過，甚至連你講英文都很少聽到。
你三星期前在 ”一週刊” 的訪問中，他們說你曾在”歡樂滿東華”中過唱Karaoke，
你可否記得那一年呀？2004？ 2003？你當時唱乜歌呀？ 因為我都好有興趣週末去唐人街飲茶時租這盒舊錄影帶睇睇。（那麼大件事，請勿告訴我你忘記了！）
Sapphire ;-)
Posted by: sapphire | Wed, June 1, 2005, 07:19 | Respond to this comment
Sapphire,
I forget lots of things, especially the TV series that I've filmed. my memory is not very good for these things.
I remember the charity tv show though because we had to wait until 3am to sing, after every sensible person had gone to sleep. I'm not sure which year it was though... I'll check and get back to you.
Posted by: 河國榮 | Wed, June 1, 2005, 11:59 | Respond to this comment
Hello, I realy like you as an actor, I think your performents have depth, and I think you're kind of fuuny within the TV series.
Btw, can you really read Chinese?
Posted by: Henry | Mon, July 25, 2005, 21:56 | Respond to this comment
Henry, I can read Chinese. I've been reading Chinese TV scripts for years ;-)
Posted by: 河國榮 | Tue, August 30, 2005, 00:32 | Respond to this comment
what the/.//////
this is shocking/.....
Leslie, Greg....
You all have the same last two names... Odd.
What i know that Leslie came to sydeny in 1989 for his retirement concert, and i missed that, ( of course i havet even born yet) but did leslie came in 1985? Will i able to post this post at leslie's forum( www.lesliecheung.com.cn)
Strangly i found me and u are so close (SORRY) , because we appreciate the same person ( the one and only) and u went to UNSW, what subjects did u take?
When i grow up, i want to take a double degree in UNSW commerce and advance science which it have an extremely high UAI, 96plus/////
Wind continue to blow.....
Regards:
Yin YIn
Posted by: yinyin | Sat, September 10, 2005, 16:15 | Respond to this comment
茵茵,
you could link to the article. each article has a "Permalink", a link which will never change. the Permalink for this article is http://www.hokwokwing.hk/2005/05/i_had_a_dream.html.
I studied Bachelor of Medicine at UNSW but gradually lost interest, began to repeat year 3 and then decided to stop my studies and go to Hong Kong instead. that was back in 1986 before many of the readers here were even born!
"UAI"? what's that?
Posted by: 河國榮 | Sun, September 11, 2005, 06:30 | Respond to this comment
Hey greg..... i think u are traveling at this moment, hope u have a good trip. Just come home from drawing class, so tired.
Any way, yeah thanks for letting me to post this post in the fourm.
UAI is University Admissions Index. Which basically is your HSC ( higher school certificate mark, it is out of 100). If u want to do law you have to have an uai more tha 99.65, for Bachelor of Medicine in NSW now it cost a uai higher than mid-ninty, and an UMAT ( Undergrauate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) and interview. It is those things that makes harder to get into uni, and i just went to the unsw open day last saturday. it is kool, and scary too.!
Any way, have a good trip and enjoy ur holiday!
Cya
Regards YinYin ^_^
Posted by: yinyin | Sun, September 11, 2005, 14:07 | Respond to this comment
Dear Greg,
Hi there! Have been watching your TV series since young and one thing really amazed me ~~ You never really aged much over the years! lolz.. remember the times where my brother and I always refer you as de "鬼佬 who can speak perfect chinese" Now we just call you 何国荣..!! haha.. Will consider calling you Gregory in de future :D
I dreamt of Leslie too at times..Sometimes he looked great and at times he looked very pale... miss him very much.. can I link your page and this particular post?
Thanks! love ur blog! Very close and personal!
Posted by: Sarah | Fri, September 16, 2005, 10:17 | Respond to this comment
Dear Greg,
I am crying, when i see 風繼續吹。i also love Leslie very much. My English is so poor, because i study German. i come from the mainland china and i am a TVB fan, i like your Performance. Now i find you are so nice and friendly.
Best Regards
Posted by: sweetleslie | Sat, June 27, 2009, 07:33 | Respond to this comment
河国荣，刚刚看到关于你的文章。因为一个梦，你追了二十年，你让我很感动。
Posted by: 老七 | Mon, August 16, 2010, 22:13 | Respond to this comment
just heard about your story with Leslie, it's really beautiful. So is the dream. BTW, it's lucky to dream him, isn't it? ^^
Posted by: Reslie | Tue, August 31, 2010, 10:32 | Respond to this comment