13 哭
The set list of the evening managed to find its way back to HK Live 2007. Although there weren't musicians playing all the string instruments live on stage, the intro was still as haunting as one could recall, the open-air venue suddenly fell into complete silence. This song was about unrequited love and the never-ending yearning for closure, no matter how much time may have elapsed and life circumstances changed. Once again, SL delivered this recently rearranged ballad with exquisite precision and heart-wrenching emotions. I quietly sat through the entire song with goosebumps on my forearms and chills running down my spine. I could sense that some of the audience may have been thrown off a little by the strings arrangement at the end of the song, however, everyone was awestruck by SL's performance.
14 詞不達意
This number was not part of the regular set list of HK Live 2007, however, it was a surprise welcomed by all fans during the encore segment last year. Given that the majority of the audience was Mandarin-speaking, I could sense that people could connect to this song a bit more than 哭. Having said that, 詞不達意 was a great song choice after 哭, as the two songs were very introspective and perfect for performing at night. I was deeply touched by the chorus: 我無法傳達我自己 從何說起 要如何翻譯我愛你 寂寞不已. SL's rendition was deeply moving, without any exaggeration or self-indulgence. It was the simplest and sincerest connection.
15 走在大街的女子
SL briefly went backstage and the pre-recorded multi-track background vocals suddenly filled the evening air. SL returned to centre stage and delivered 走在大街的女子 in a cappela, as she so wonderfully did since her concert in HK last year. There may not be any more surprises left to this song, nonetheless, SL's performance was impeccable and the audience loved it. SL also showed everyone what a great vocalist she was.
16 聽說愛情回來過
After changing into her final outfit, SL said a few words about all the ballads that she performed that evening, and wished that we would only remember the joy but not the sorrow brought back by our memories. She also said about the meaning of the following song 聽說愛情回來過 could go beyond romance; it could also include love between families and friends, a bond that could defy time and distance. SL delivered this touching ballad with all the sensitivity and emotions that I anticipated and more. Surviving life's disappointments is a difficult but inevitable lesson that one must learn. Fortunately, her music never failed to provide us with a stream of strength and comfort, and more importantly, the courage to face more challenges. I sang quietly throughout the entire song, and let whatever bittersweet feelings and emotions drifting to and fro my heart. I always found this song therapeutic.
17 當愛已成往事
When introducing this song, SL said that it had almost become a tradition and cheerfully invited everyone to sing loudly with her. SL sang her part with ease. As soon as she finished her verse, we went straight into 別流連歲月中 我無意的柔情萬種, and then everyone just joined in more than willingly. When it came to the chorus where Jonathan Lee echoed passionately, a young male audience uninhibitedly stepped up and sang that part. The duet was good fun, and I could tell everyone enjoyed it immensely. Upon my return from California, this young male audience added me to his facebook and we began to exchange our respective experiences that evening. We didn't know that we sat so close to one another. SL's music is truly magical, which can bring strangers and people that live far away together.
18 至少還有你
Without a doubt, this was SL's anthem of all anthems. SL invited everyone to sing along, well, as if she had to ask! I always found the bridge of this song most touching. We had all waited for so long to be there that evening, and yet time was also slipping away through our fingers. There was so much more we wanted from her, and at the same time we also found that we had received more than we ever expected.
19 愛上一個不回家的人
This was another anthem, which was also her very first Mandarin single. I was very pleased that Anthony altered the arrangement again. The new arrangement was edgier and even more energetic than the "Home again without you 3:00 am remix version". All the male dancers came out to join SL, and seriously, who wanted to go home on a night like this? As soon as this number was over, SL returned to the backstage, and the lights were dimmed.
20 鏗鏘玫瑰
Well, people started to rush towards the stage and within a few minutes, one could not find a free spot. Everyone was cheering like an earthquake and the spirit was simply overwhelming. It did not take long for SL to reappear on stage. I was surprised that 鏗鏘玫瑰 was picked as her first song for the encore segment. I never thought that the title track of SL's last album with Rock Records/Seed would arouse such passion and fervent reactions from the audience! I always loved the lyrics and SL's performance was confident and mesmerizing. After the song, some people were complimenting how beautiful SL was that evening. SL accepted such comments wholeheartedly and joked that as long as it was a compliment (like how young and how beautiful she was), she could always hear it no matter where. SL was adorable.
21 依然
In my mind, 依然 remains as SL's ultimate power ballad - a signature number that can hardly be replaced. Whenever I listen to 依然, whenever I hear the words 風吹我的衣襟, 然後載浪花飛奔, 沾你身, bittersweet memories always come crashing back from nowhere, reminding me of how far we have all journeyed since the debut of Fuir la Cité, City Project Part II. So, I was more than grateful that evening, when Anthony played on his keyboard the ever familiar intro of 依然. The crowd roared emotionally. As if it was second nature, everyone who gathered in front of the stage started singing in unrehearsed, perfect unison. At the end of the song, I truly felt connected. We were there for each other, attesting to the truth that "time melts into nothing, and nothing's changed."
22 傷痕
Frankly
, at this point of the evening, everything had become a blur. Everyone was gathering very close to one another, it was a complete chaos and yet everyone knew exactly his/her place! Everything just fell into the right places in an organic, intuitive manner. We all sang along, shouted, screamed, and applauded as hard as we could. The evening breeze was no longer chilly. Nobody wanted the concert to come to an end, but we all knew that this would be the final number of the evening.
SL thanked everyone for being such loyal followers for that night and all the years past. She wished us once again a joyful mid-autumn festival. When she was ready to disappear (for real that evening), a representative of the concert sponsor stepped on stage and brought Anthony a huge bouquet (Anthony, who was so very sweet, thought the flowers should go to SL!). Then the representative introduced some executive from the casino, who carried an even bigger bouquet for SL. The executive thanked SL for giving such a spectacular concert and was certainly pleased with the turnout. SL thanked everyone one last time and the concert officially came to an end on a perfect note.
Looking up the evening sky, where the autumn moon was shining in its immaculate glory, as if I could hear SL's angelic voice still ringing relentlessly in my ears....
在SD Sea World﹐看完了殺人鯨 (Shamu) 的表演﹐我們信步到了Shipwreck Restaurant。因為太陽酷曬﹐氣溫太高﹐我們胃口一般﹐於是兩人分享了一客 Half-rack Baby Spareribs。沒料到烤排骨水準很不錯﹐肉質鬆軟﹐肉汁濃淡適中﹐吃得我們吮著手指頭回味無窮。配菜雖然有點辣﹐但茨條十分香脆。料不到Sea World一頓快餐也這麼合心意。
這是一所設計前衛的澳洲酒吧餐館。我們第一次路過的時候看見吧裡站滿了酒客﹐沒有進入。第二次剛好是晚上六點鐘左右﹐還沒到高峰時間﹐於是樂得在比較優閒的環境下享用了一頓頗為別緻的晚餐。頭盤是脆薄的小型pizza﹐烤得香脆彈牙。我點了一客招牌漢堡﹐半生熟牛肉﹐追加烤蘑菇及菠蘿﹐厚厚的堆積如山﹐美味誘人。T所點的羊排燉得鬆化入味﹐配以茨蓉﹐十分暖胃。
Bondi pizza
Bondi Burger
Lamb Shanks
在SD沒有吃過一頓中餐﹐離開前我們忍痛不去 IHOP﹐嘗試了旁邊的鐵鍋。這是一間新式的中餐館﹐店裡的裝潢 (如大佛及兵馬俑) 曾使我們擔心他們的菜單都是用來蒙騙洋人的。我們還是冒險點了兩道菜﹐分別是蒙古干貝及粵式烤鴨﹐結果喜出望外。蒙古干貝燒得火候恰當﹐烤鴨雖無法跟全聚德﹑大董相比﹐然而鴨肉鮮美﹐佐以半圓的白蒸包而非所常見的薄餅﹐別具一番風味。
蒙古干貝
粵式烤鴨
環球片場的午飯是Flintstones的巨型烤雞餐﹐一言以蔽之﹐乏善可陳。反而午後坐過了遊客例牌必乘坐的guided tour 旅行車參觀片場一周後﹐我們跑到了 Ben & Jerry's 各買了一客 Ice cream sundae。已忘了上一次什麼時候吃過B&J﹐他們的sundae 較之 DQ 或 Baskin Robins 稍勝一籌。我承認我的個人基本要求仍和一個小孩子沒有什麼分別﹐隨隨便便已快樂了半天。
白天遊畢環球片場及看完電影﹐晚上來到荷里活大道﹐剛好遇上了Beverly Hills Chihuahua 在El Capitan 的首映典禮﹐交通擠亂﹐路人雲聚只為一睹主角/配音名星的風采。我們在Kodak Center 樓上的uWink 享用了一頓奇異的晚餐。uWink 是雅達利的始創人經營﹐餐館的概念十分前衛時尚﹐每一張餐桌上都有多具的touch screen 熒幕﹐客人可以選擇語言﹐直接點菜﹐還可以和在座所有客人參與多種電子遊戲﹐從常識問答﹑機智策略﹑甚至撲克賭博﹐應有盡有。每一個小時分數最高的客人還可以得到獎品。環顧四周﹐發現以IT及年輕潮人居多。是晚我們點了 Chicken and Pesto Cabana﹐Rock and Roll Quesadilla﹐Mac and Cheese 及 誘人萬分的 Dessert Sampler。雖然食物的素質只屬中上之選﹐然而餐館氣氛不錯﹐最適宜一群朋友工餘閒聚。
Chicken and Pesto Cabana
Rock and Roll Quesadilla
Mac and Cheese
Dessert Sampler
到了LA﹐T 嚷著要去唐人街買月餅﹐於是甫進城便直闖華埠。只是到了LA 已是九時多﹐什麼店都關門大吉。好不容易找到一間金鳳酒家。這間酒家的裝修停留在七十年代﹐牆板滲著一種年事湮遠的氣味。雖然菜餚不錯﹐但以海外的中餐館而言﹐這間只能在歷史上稍勝同業一籌而已。及後我在酒店的旅遊雜誌做了一點research﹐提議去漢宮。雖然我們光顧的一晚有點冷清﹐然而菜餚還是蠻精緻的﹐如百花釀蟹鉗﹑八寶冬瓜湯﹑翡翠蝦球﹑烤鴨二吃。下次來到LA﹐想吃一頓不錯的中餐﹐不妨考慮漢宮。
最後一天我們專程到了小東京一遊。
13 哭 
I was so engrossed in her first two songs, when the background chorus started singing "Baby never never let you go," the song title was at the tip of my tongue but it just escaped from me until the first verse (I was so immersed!). SL performed three dance tunes back to back effortlessly. I was gradually psyched up, although the demographically diverse audience was a bit reserved. When 不還你 first came out in late 2000, I was indifferent to the song. However, after SL incorporating this tune in her mega dance medley in Live 2005, it became fun and interesting. 
'Are you ready? Are you ready?' The 2007 arrangement started the song with this intriguing background chorus, which I found was very, very clever, as it also echoed the climatic finale of the song. Without a shadow of doubt, this jazzy number was one of SL's all time favourites, which she had performed in many major concerts since 1991. As we all know, the lyrics by Richard Lam were extremely sensual and provocative, and yet when SL delivered them in her unassuming way, the performance was one classy act. Of course, this number would not be complete without her signature hand gesture when she softly asked 請勿獨臥汗水上 Are you ready for love (as shown in photo).
Quite honestly, regardless of what other people may have said about the melody or the lyrics, or whether SL (with her stature and status in pop music) should pick a song like this, I just adore this song. I thought it was very light-hearted, fun and cute. This number reminded me of 開始, track 9 of the album 感覺完美. Although both songs were about intimate exchanges between a fun-loving couple, I found this song particularly witty and the narrative voice was full of character and independence. SL rejoined her dancers after changing her outfit (or should I say putting on a little white short-sleeved jacket) and delivered another flawlessly choreographed sequence.
Sandy Lam's 2008 Mid-autumn live concert was held at the Harrah's Rincon Casino, located intimately between LA and San Diego, California. Last time when SL performed in southern California was in April 1990, David Wang (王傑) was her stage partner (!). Four years later, SL revisited LA with her crew and recorded her 17th album "Sandy '94". Apparently SL and California shared a long, intertwined history.
After approximately 90 minutes, we made it to the casino. As soon as I saw the fences of the open air theatre, I was greeted by a surge of excitement. We could hear the ever familiar "At Least There's You (至少還有你)" playing all over the venue, and I thought: the concert didn't even start until 20:00, had the casino been playing SL's music all day long? 
I was a little surprised to see so many Asians (well actually Chinese people) in the casino. It appeared that the casino was very used to entertaining Asian guests from everywhere. The line-up at the buffet restaurant was longer than the Great Wall of China, so we gave up and ate at Cabana Cove, another restaurant in the casino. After dinner, it was only 18:40. Admission would not begin until 19:30. I decided to stay in the car and take a power nap. The evening air was getting brisk and I turned down the window a bit to let the air in. When I was all relaxed and getting some rest, suddenly I heard two people approaching and joking with each other. I sat up and could not believe my eyes! It was Anthony and Kim Robinson strolling back from dinner and returning to the backstage.
As the time got closer to admission, the crowd built up by the minute and the atmosphere was filled with anticipation. One could tell right away who were SL's fans in the crowd by the demographics, the way people dressed, and the way they carried themselves when they were lining up. By the time we arrived at the entrance, a table was set up to search each person's bag. For security reasons, I did not have a problem with it. However, the security personnel were trying to deter anyone from bringing cameras into the theatre. I lied through my teeth denying that I had a camera with me. T, who bought a new, hefty camera for this occasion, could only say that he must bring the camera with him despite he would not take any photos (still lies, I know).
To nobody's surprise, the concert set list in San Diego was largely borrowed from those in Nanjing and Shanghai (of course, minus all the fancy giant flat screens and dazzling visual effects). Nonetheless, SL's first number 我的心在跳舞 was uplifting and engaging, which started off with her immaculate, ethereal voice, and progressed into a full blown dance fest. In this tour, SL brought with her six young, amazingly talented male dancers, who brought the house down throughout the evening. SL completely nailed her vocals, with her head voice and chest voice interchanging seamlessly, and gave an outstanding choreographed perfomance without skipping a beat. The evening was getting chilly, but she was hot.
