Perth Reddit users have helped a Jacky Cheung fan pin down the Northbridge barbecue shop where the Hong Kong superstar filmed scenes for a TV music special more than 35 years ago, and the answer came from a mix of sharp eyes, old street signs and one very good family connection.
A rabbit hole that started with a sign
The original poster explained that they and their mum are lifelong fans of Cheung, one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Cantopop. They had discovered he filmed a whole music special in Perth around 1989 and 1990, titled 我在栢斯的日子, or "My Days in Perth".
In one scene Cheung works in a small Cantonese barbecue restaurant, with a sign reading "Hong Kong Barbecue House" and, in Chinese, 順德燒臘飯店. The poster's first guess was the much-loved Hong Kong BBQ House on Francis Street, which still has 順德 on its sign, but the streetscape didn't quite match.
Photo: The Logical Positivist via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). William Street, Northbridge.
The Auto Masters clue
Within hours, several Perth Reddit users zeroed in on an Auto Masters sign visible in the background of the footage. Long-time locals said the car service business sat for years on the corner of William and Newcastle streets, and others matched the art deco building and the Salvation Army building on William Street in the shot looking north-west.
The consensus: the restaurant stood on the corner of William and Newcastle streets, on the site now occupied by Korean restaurant Marubang. One user posted a then-and-now comparison of the corner, and another said the old lot has since been redeveloped into mixed-use apartments and shops.
"In the first photo you can see Auto Masters sign in the back. It was on the corner of William and Newcastle." - a Perth Reddit user
"They were accommodating the TVB crew"
The thread's best moment came when one user said the shop had been owned by the parents of close family friends, who hosted the TVB crew in 1989 and still have photos with Cheung. According to the same user, filming was organised through a local tour company and also took in Hyde Park, Kings Park, Lake Monger and a chase scene through Forrest Chase.
Others said members of the same family now run Chinese barbecue restaurants in Morley and elsewhere around Perth. These accounts come from Reddit users and have not been independently confirmed.
The poster said the shop owner even makes a cameo in the special as "Auntie Lois", and shared a YouTube playlist of the full program so other fans could watch.
Photo: Orderinchaos via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The Roe Street Chinatown entrance in Northbridge.
A reminder of Northbridge's Chinatown roots
The thread turned into a trip down memory lane, with users recalling long-gone Northbridge favourites and one even remembering being interviewed in the Hay Street Mall by a TVB crew a few years later. Plenty also admitted the thread had left them craving roast pork and dim sum.
"I love reddit for this kind of stuff." - a Perth Reddit user
The poster, who is planning a return holiday to Perth next year, said they now hope to eat at the family's restaurant when they visit.
Sources: r/perth thread "A Hong Kong Music Movie at a Northbridge BBQ shop in 1989".
Hero photo: The Logical Positivist via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinatown, Northbridge, 2023. File photo, not a still from the special.
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