Sunday, December 12, 2010


It's TVB 43rd anniversary and somehow I realized that without great HK drama productions, my life would be so boring. It's through dramas that I get to see stories that I wouldn't expect and to see emotions and feelings that wouldn't be expressed so vividly in daily life.

Recently just completed watching 幗梟雄之義海豪情 (No Regrets) and 蒲松齡 (Ghost Writer aka Po Chung Ling).


No Regrets - The second part o
f Rosy Business, it tells the political turmoil and rampant opium trading in the 1930s; in which everyone experienced their darkest times with the WWII that followed when the Japanese troops invaded China and Guangzhou fell under the Japanese army.


Ghost Writer -
Po Chung-Ling was born in Jinan in a family of New Year print. He is very bright, his father, Po Poon, had therefore always hoped that he could one day carry on the family business. However, Chung-Ling never liked doing business and detested the corruption of high officials. The drama tells the story of how Chung-Ling met Sum-Yu and the little female fox goddess. Of which he spent the rest of his life writing "The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai".

Very glad that No Regrets won many awards in the TVB Drama Award last Sunday.


Sheren Tang - The character of Cheng Kau-Miu is such a complex character and I admire her guts and bold spirit. She eludes a kind of female protagonist charm that I really think she deserves the best actress award.

Wayne Lai - The male protaganist in the drama, Lau Sing. His pair of eyes has expressed all sorts of emotions and he too deserves the best actor award.


Fala Chen
- Lau Sing's bed-ridden sister, Lau Ching, who has heart disease in this drama. I think guys would have gawked at the scene where she stripped naked in front of the Japanese soldier. Lau Ching's character isn't as rich as Kau-Miu or Lau Sing, but I think she still acted well despite the simplicity of this character. She's beautiful even with minimal make-up. Happy that she won the best supporting actress award.

A flashback on some of the best TVB dramas that I've watched.


At the Threshold of an Era
(1999) - Despite being 105 episodes long, it was my first glimpse of the dark side of business world where villains plotted scheming tricks for fame, greed, and glory. Gallen Lo, Louis Koo, Kenix Kwok, Florence Kwok, and Ada Choi were my idols back then.


Reaching Out (2001) - Another long drama of 50 episodes telling the story of 3 orphans. The most prominent character was Hiu Guan/Hiu Nga both portrayed by Kenix Kwok. The first drama that I watched twice.


Seven Sisters (2001) - A classical Chinese ghost stories between a scholar and female spirit. The first drama in which I fell in love with Charmaine Sheh's character, Yuk-Tsan: A willful and spoil-brat but kind-hearted girl with a tragic ending.


Country Spirit (2002) - The story takes place in a winery in China in around 1900-1930. It tells the scheming merchants in wine-making, as well as the touching love story between a widow, who is part of a ghost marriage, and her husband's house servant. Back then, the dramas were produced in video tapes and it was kind of old-school to rewind the tape before viewing. It was the drama that sees the break-through of Charmaine Sheh's career in the entertainment industry. Her character of Shun Fung reminds me of Jeanette Aw's character in Little Nyonya. Together with the breathtaking scenery shots in Guangxi and the nice theme songs, it was one of my most memorable HK period drama.



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