ICAC 2009

I especially like this approach to investigation dramas more than the dragging storyline of the same characters over and over. It could be nice to watch when the storyline is good with a mix of crimes and personal life, but in these cases, it’s better not to have too much of randomness. This was 5 episodes long so 1 episode per case.

Anyway, the ICAC Investigators included:

Jessica Hsuan as Annie (Episode 1)

Raymond Wong as Henry (Episodes 1-4)

Pakho Chau as Kenny (Episodes 1-4)

Gregory Lee (Episodes 1-2, 4)

Fiona Sit as Sam Sam (Episodes 2-3)

Maggie Siu as Carrie (Episodes 3-4)

Mariam Yeung as Matilda Yeung (Episode 4)

Andy Hui (Episode 5)

Sammul Chan as Ka Ming (Episode 5)

Cases:

Episode 1 was about the crafty handling of money between a couple and one of the assistants at the husband’s company. There were also others involved in the acts (including Ellesmere Choi). Bowie Lam and Crystal Tin portrayed the husband and wife while Vivien Yeo was the assistant. Jessica was leading the case while Raymond Wong, Pakho Chau, Gregory Lee and various other ICAC investigators were following the suspects. Lau Kong made an appearance as Crystal’s father.

Episode 2 involved a conspiracy between a group of friends who had inside information regarding a building project in an attempt to benefit from the compensation fees. Sonjia Kwok, Yoyo Mung, and Halina Tam were best friends while Derek Kwok portrayed Sonija’s husband and Raymond Cho was Yoyo’s boyfriend. The ICAC investigators involved in this case were Raymond Wong, Pakho Chau, Fiona Sit, and Gregory Lee.

Episode 3 was about three guys trying to con the insurance company by faking a death with all the legit information throughout the whole process of buying the insurance policy to the death scenes. Johnny Ngan was the guy who posed as the deceased’s brother. Maggie Siu was leading the team this time around with Raymond Wong, Fiona Sit, Pakho Chau, and the others involving in the case. Jason Chan also made an appearance as Fiona’s boyfriend.

Episode 4 was dealing with some clever tricks between the construction workers, the agents (which could be called middlemen), and the actual company that needed people to work on their projects. Kenny Wong portrayed the middleman. Maggie Siu was leading the team again with Raymond Wong, Pakho Chau, and some others as the investigators. Mariam Yeung also made a special appearance as one of the madams of ICAC.

Episode 5 was trying to shoot two birds with one stone since it involved two cases – one major and one side one though it intesected with each other, affecting one’s progress and both had to do with cars. Evergreen Mak and Louis Yuen were the bad guys this time around while Stephen made an appearance for the other case. Andy Hui was the person in charge while Sammul Chan and others were investigators.

*Note*: Detailed episode summary and analysis will be posted up in the future.

 

Only Want To Be With You

I was quite excited in getting this album, however, I think that I actually like the last two albums (In The Name Of…Love and So Far, So…Close) better because of its style. This one, though trying to etablish a new style – mixing in traditional songs with new music but is not as appealing for some strange reason. Though I must give credit for the efforts done with the album.

I must add that it actually takes awhile to sink in since it sounds better the second time around, especially the song ‘Only Want To Be With You’.

The MVs were quite interesting and creative, especially with the song ‘West Dowager’ with its complexity of imagery and other illustrations set in.

YesAsia Link: http://www.yesasia.com/us/only-want-to-be-with-you-cd-dvd/1014022031-0-0-0-en/info.html

 

Health Over Talent

I’ve been busy lately with other matters that I haven’t had time to stalk celebs’ blogs. However, upon my roaming craze today, I just stumbled upon an entry that literally shot my attention up several notches. Eric Suen just mentioned in this entry that his vocal cords are getting worse. I literally stopped my multi-tasking and went straight to my blog to talk about it. While I was collecting my thoughts and trying to form all these words and still am, I thought of all the other singers and what if they too ran into trouble? Please, please, take good care of yourselves and don’t exert too much. You can take a break and your fans will still wait for you but IF you exert too much and lose it, then we will never get to hear that awesome voice again. I want to send this message to everyone out there who has a dream and not just celebrities. Like Eric said, health is more important than anything else. If you don’t take good care of yourselves, you won’t have enough energy or the health to pursue that dream.

Sadly to say for Eric, who has been suffering from vocal cord hemorrhage, will be taking a break from singing. He is supposed to release his next album next month but has to push that back further. However, on a brighter side, he will be focusing on filming serials for the upcoming year.

Let’s hope he gets a good break to rest his voice and recover. (I honestly hope he does because I honestly cannot think of anyone that I could listen to that has such a soothing voice anymore. There’s Nicholas Teo but that’s beside the point. It’s not the same.)

Blog: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/eric-suen/

 

Yong Yuan Shi Ni by Deric Wan

Uploaded by: molikjundr

Having been a Deric Wan fan for so long, I found myself missing out on a lot of his songs and serials also. Maybe it was because I was not into modern serials much when I was little since I was too engrossed in the whole ‘wuxia’ world that was paved out in different novels and ancient serials.

To talk more about music, I can’t believe I didn’t even discover this song yet. (Although I do know of the Vietnamese version and knew it was from a Chinese song from the sound of it. But never knew it was Deric’s.) It’s so awesome and really like Deric’s voice in here (like any other that he sang).

Anyway, I’v been hunting down his old TVB serials to watch, such as ‘Conscience’ and ‘The Blood of Good and Evil’ but can’t seem to find the latter since I prefer it more after reading a review of the first one mentioned. Maybe it’s because I’m a Maggie fan so it’s hard to accept such a plot that doesn’t plan on letting Deric and Maggie end up together. I was only watching the first few episodes but I was really disappointed of the plot and where it was heading, not to mention the many flaws that was so apparent. (I must admit that recent TVB modern serials are better since it managed to cover all bases or try to do research to not make a fool of themselves too much.)

As of Deric’s recent serials, I haven’t been catching up on it but hope he comes back with an awesome role soon. (Not that I mind that he portrays any role since he’s capable but would still want to see some surprises.)

 

Love Story

Uploaded by: winglizzzz

I first watched Eric Suen in an ancient serial called ‘Dynasty Doctor’  (or Rogue Doctor)because I purchased a set of DVDs and they sent me the wrong one, which I get to keep. However, I was glad all the same that I have a chance to watch Eric. His performance was hilarious and the plotline of a decent one with a mixture of comedic moments as well as serious times. There was also the martial arts (of course) involved complementing the chinese medicine theme. As I was searching for more information on him, I found out that he’s also a singer. Based on my past records of being obsessed with actors slash singers, I had to hunt down his songs to check if he’s any good. My first choice of clicking a sample song was a good one hence my continued support of him until now. Yes, it was ‘Love Story’ (愛的故事). It was an old song but was really good. His voice has matured over the years now, bringing a different feeling to the song when he sing it again in recent concerts and events, but it is still good as always.