‘What could have been’ – an LOCH 1983 fanfiction

I had a very weird dream the other night. I saw Yeung Hong and Wong Yung in a fight, but YH wasn’t fighting WY. Instead, he (in his gorgeous orange white Jurchen garb) protected WY from something. I can’t think of anything permanent from his outburst of heroism, but I find it interesting that the scene appeared in my dream. Hence, this fanfiction. Hope you like it, and Happy New Year!

Source

Wong Yung lost count on how many times she and Yeung Hong had been head-butting since they knew each other. Surely at least 10 times? Fifteen times? The thought passed by uninvited, of course, as she flung her sword forward and then lifted it again to parry Yeung Hong’s slashing spear. To think that the spear once belonged to Uncle Yeung, Ching gor-gor’s adopted uncle...

“Why don’t you just give in?!” Yeung Hong screamed as he whirled and slashed low to target Wong Yung’s legs. Missed again. “I’m getting tired of fighting you!”

“Same here!” Wong Yung retorted. “It’s so boring to always defeat you!”

Yeung Hong’s dragon eyes flashed. He disliked being patronised, much less by Wong Yung. “Well, today you’ll know defeat!” He whirred and executed a series of close-range attacks before suddenly delivered a roundhouse kick. Wong Yung ducked, but a naughty protruding root from one of the many trees in the bamboo forest they fought in caught her. She tripped and fell on her back, just in time to avoid Yeung Hong’s roundhouse kick.

“Hah! I got you!” Yeung Hong lifted his sword high to execute a fatal, if not lethal, strike.


“You say!” Wong Yung reached for her fallen sword to parry again.

Yet a sudden roar froze both enemies to their own positions.

Season's Greetings and Michael Miu news and photos

One can wait for 40 years... but one finally wins an award!!! (Source)

Apologies for the lack of updates... I'm still in love with Michael Miu and Barbara Yung, it's just that I am more engaged with another genre and actor at the moment (Okada Masaki and J-ent, if you must ask...), in addition to being quite busy with work.

Anyway. Merry Christmas 2017, and may you have a beautiful end to 2017 and a beautiful 2018. Be happy, healthy and in peace.

In the jianghu news, I have just found out that Michael Miu won the 2017 TVB Malaysia "King" award, along with Jessica Hsuan (who won the "Queen").  Apologies that this news is a month late, for they won it on 25 Nov 2017. But hey, this is the first award for Michael for 40 years IIRC, so congratulations!

Michael won the King award for his role in "Line Walker: the Prelude" while Jessica won for her role in "My Unfair Lady". Michael and Jessica also won the "My Favourite TVB Drama Characters" award for their roles in the respective dramas.

I was always a bit sad that, prior to this award, Michael never won an award despite his amazing skills... but now yeah! He won one! Michael himself said that he made movies not because he wanted to win an award, but it's good to have them nonetheless.

They should give you more awards, if you ask me, Michael! Congratulations once again! Some recent Michael Miu photos after the break.

Update on Barbara Yung's gravestone

Barbara's grave in June 2017

Hi all... My apologies for not updating this blog for more than a month. About a month ago, Rob Radboud informed me that our friends in Hong Kong couldn't find the place for Barbara's gravestone. Thus, possibly the gravestone will be moved to Mainland China. I somehow felt sad about it, because Barbara's hometown was in HK, and I'd love to see the gravestone installed in HK. However, of course I know that Lam Chak et al had tried their best, much more than what I could do from behind my computer in Australia...

Then I think two weeks ago Rob informed me again that now Andrew Chan will bury Barbara's gravestone in the same square of grave as her own ashes. It seems that there is a belief that it would be much better for Barbara's spirit if the gravestone does not leave her grave. It might be a Chinese culture, which I somehow understand and respect.

The Vast Desert 大沙漠 Part 2

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CLH et al went inside the house and found only one stone statue of Kuan Yin. They went out again when Little Phoa said that Stone Camel was so scared. CLH deduced that the blind Stone Camel realised who killed thos burglars. When Chor tai-gor returned to the crime scene, he realised that the Kuan Yin stone statue was gone. In its place was a pan full of braised beef that was so inviting to the hungry men. Always wary, CLH, Wu and Ki Ping-yan did not eat the beef dish. A dog barked inside and ate the dish without any sign of food poisoning. Still, our friends knew that whoever killed the burglars had not only left the food, he/she had annoyed these wanderers by releasing a dog who immediately ate the food. Disgusted, Wu threw away the beef dish outside. After a while, they heard a scream outside and realised that Little Phoa died eating the poisonous braised beef that Wu threw out of the window.

CLH now realised his enemy was the Stone Kuan Yin, a very skilful swordswoman who was also very good at the art of disguise. She killed the burglars and disguised herself as a stone statue. In the previous story, the Stone Kuan Yin also ordered Chiu Ling-siok to ruin her own face so that the Stone Kuan Yin remained the prettiest woman on earth (or at least in the Central Plains).

The Vast Desert 大沙漠 Part 1

The Gobi Desert (source)

As I’m watching nervously for Hurrican Irma to batter Florida USA (Hannah, stay safe!!!), I’m reading the second Chor Lau-heung novel from Ku Lung titled “The Vast Desert” 大沙漠. It’s over 200 pages of PDF as well, so I will try to finish reading it in 4-5 weeks. I read this novel in the Indonesian version; I suspect the translator is the same with the one who translated “Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea” 血海飄香. The writing style belongs to a slightly older period, perhaps the 80s, which in itself is nice to read, albeit a bit confusing at times. The chapter in PDF started with “Chapter 13”, which is weird. It does not follow the chapters in the last novel, which ended in Chapter 17. “The Vast Desert” has ended in “Chapter 28”, so it has 15 chapters. I’ll just assume Chapter 13 is Chapter 1 then.

Part 1 (Chapters 1-3)

After his adventure in the last novel, Chor Lau-heung returned to the Fragrant Boat in the hope that he’d get a delicious lunch from the girls. However, So Yung-yung, Li Hung-chao and Sung Tim-yi were nowhere to be seen. Upon finding a black pearl on top of a pile of yellow sand, Chor tai-gor’s blood boiled. He deduced that Black Pearl, the son of the Desert King we saw in the “Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea” 血海飄香. Black Pearl left a note: “You took my horse, I take your women.” Capitally disturbed, CLH rode his horse (well, Black Pearl’s) towards the Western Desert (I assume the Gobi Desert).

Update on Barbara Yung's tombstone

Sina's news on initiative for Barbara's tombstone

Apologies for the slow update on Barbara's tombstone. Last night, Rob informed me that the Hong Kong fan-club has persuaded the local newspaper to upload news about relocating Barbara's tombstone. The news was published yesterday (5 September 2017). Some of the HK media that uploaded this news are HKON and Oriental Daily (this is the e-paper of Oriental Daily).

In the Mainland, Sina has also picked the news for their own website, as seen here. The title of the article implies that the tombstone is definitely going to be returned to Hong Kong.

翁美玲心形墓碑欲运回香港

We know this is not a certain case yet - I wish it is... so let's keep praying and trying.

At the moment, we're still hoping that Lam Chak et al in Hong Kong will be able to secure a place for Barbara's tombstone in HK. If by October (which is next month) we have not found a place, we need to ask Andrew Chan if it's okay for him to store the stone in Cambridge first until we find a place in HK. Funds can be raised for that storage as well; some Mainland fans have contacted me, stating that they are willing to donate some funds for the storage. If anyone would like to contact Rob directly, his email is rmmmm1959 at hotmail dot com.

The rest of the Sina article is under the break. It says that Michael Miu and Felix Wong have been contacted, but so far there has been no traction. I hope we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel soon. I have also embedded a YouTube video I found just now about this news. Xinhua also put this news online, see here (Thanks to Rob Radboud for the link).

Update 13 September 2017: Friday last week (8 Sept), Lian He Ban Bao (a Singaporean newspaper) published the news about Barbara's tombstone. Last Saturday, Rob Radboud sent me the scans. The scans are below the break, courtesy of Ann (Singapore).

Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea part 4

This post summarises Chapters 11-16 of the "Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea" (血海飄香) of the Chor Lau-heung series. I have wrapped up the story and provided my short commentaries as well. I like the story, and I hope you like it as well!

The horse reminds me of the desert horse Chor tai-gor used in this story. Source: Xue Daixun

Chapter 11 (CLH tracked Ling-siok)

Chapter 10 ended with Chor Lau-heung evading Kaypang Pek-giok-mo’s poisonous claws by feeding his opponent the painting he carried inside his robe. Yet, Pek knew that the roll of paper was important to CLH, thus he didn’t want to give it so easily.  Despite CLH’s verbal tactics, Pek got nosy and opened the roll to see what was in it. He frowned.

“Why do you keep a painting of the late Leader Jin-lo’s widow?”

CLH couldn’t believe his luck. The beautiful Chiu Ling-siok apparently married the late Kaypang leader!

Yet, she apparently had changed her name into Yap Siok-tin, for Pek didn’t recognize who Chiu Ling-siok was. Pek also said that Mrs Jin had always been an amazing and pious woman, such that the sinful Pek admired her. CLH thus deduced that Chiu Ling-siok had turned a new leaf after marrying the former Kaypang Leader.

Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea part 3

This post summarises Gu Long's "Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea" Chapters 8-10 (total 16 chapters). I have finished summarising Chapter 10, and I am approaching the end of the story. Should be able to wrap the summary this weekend. 

So far, the mystery here is about a letter... (Source)

Chapter 8 (CLH finally found a clue)

Chor Lau-heung dove into Tay-bing Lake, pursued by the hypnotised Fell Cut. Here we learn again that Chor tai-gor was an excellent swimmer and diver (duh, his house was a boat!), and he was very fast and agile in the water. CLH almost effortlessly immobilised Fell Cut underwater and brought him back to the lake shore. CLH then dove back to the lake and pursued the harpist, who turned out to be a white-robed monk playing the zither on a small boat. The monk didn’t seem to realise that his zither had a lethal effect to Fell Cut. The monk was none other than Biau-ceng Bu-hoa, the monk CLH saw in Chapter 3 (Bu-hoa = flowerless). The monk recognized CLH despite the latter’s disguise. Giving up, CLH unmasked himself.

Chor tai-gor then explained to Bu-hoa how three people had recognized him today. The first one was the monk himself, the second one was Fell Cut, and the third one the killer. Bu-hoa threw away his zither into the lake upon hearing Fell Cut’s name for the latter was a murderer, hence Bu-hoa’s zither has been tainted (for Fell Cut had heard its melody). Bu-hoa later discussed the killer’s Jinsut; that it originated in Arab and was brought to Japan via the Mainland.  CLH returned to the lakeshore, installed Yat Dim-hung safely on the branch of a large tree, and returned to Kilam. He reintroduced himself properly as CLH to Leng Chiu-hun (who just woke up with a prostitute sleeping in his bed – gosh…). Leng reported that he heard of a stranger monk in town (named Thian-ing-cu) who wore a long thin blade as a weapon.

Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea part 2

Since Chor Lau-heung is apparently a controlled drinker, I now feel that
this gorgeous art by Xuedaixun is appropriate here

Continuing on last week's summary of "Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea" (Chapters 1-3), here I post the summary of Ch 4-7. This Chor Lau-heung story from Ku Lung was written in 16 chapters, so I should be able to cover all chapters in four posts. From Chapter 7, each chapter seems to be quite long, hence it does take me a while to read and summarise each chapter.



Chapter 4 (CLH taking a fake ID)

The Sin-cui-kiong swordswoman confirmed that the dead female was not part of her school. Also, a young woman in her school committed suicide after getting pregnant, just after the famous poison disappeared from her school. The woman (who finally revealed that her name was Kiong Lam-yan) gave Chor Lau-heung one month to find the thief and the murderer.

Not one to shy away from misteries, CLH accepted the challenge. However, he still had time to day-dream about Miss Kiong’s pretty face, such that Li Hung-chao commented that he “won’t find her beautiful anymore when she shoves her sword on your throat next month!”

CLH gleefully replied that Miss Kiong used no sword as a weapon, to which Hung-chao riposted as she battered her eyelids, “Ah, so she used a kitchen knife, eh?”

Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea

Sorry for the two weeks' hiatus. Was still immersing myself in the blissful realisation that Candy and Terry were finally reunited, ahahahaha! But I'm back now!

This tai-hap has the Chor Lau-heung vibe to me (Source)

Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea - a Chor Lau Heung original story by Ku Lung

I’m currently reading an original story of Chor Lau Heung by Ku Lung (Gu Long) in Indonesian. It seems the original title is Xue Hai Piao Xiang (血海飄香, Hyut3 Hoi2 Piu1 Heung1), but the Indonesian PDF was only titled as “The Romantic Thief” (“Maling Romantis”). The literal translation of the characters should be “blood, sea, float/flutter, fragrant”, which may be loosely translated to “Fluttering Fragrance on the Bloody Sea”. The PDF is 212 pages, and I’m only on Chapter 3. But it’s actually quite interesting, such that I’m determined to finish it.

It will take some time to finish it, though. One of the reasons is because the names in the story is written in Hakka (Hokkien), hence I have to get used to reading through the names. I can recognize Chor tai-gor’s name immediately though (“Coh Liu-hiang”), as well as So Yung-yung (So Yong-yong), Li Hung-chao (Li Ang-siu) and Sung Tim-yi (Song Thiam-ji). For the benefit of the readers, I’ll try to summarise this story per chapter. I won’t bother with standardizing the names; I will just write the Hokkien names in Hokkien, except for Chor Lau-heung’s and his adopted sisters; I’ll write them in Cantonese. If Wu Tit-fa appears, I will definitely write his name in Cantonese as well.

LOCH ep 39-52 contents and highlights

GJ's last meal with his Freaky (but lovely) teachers, Ep 43

My apologies for my absence last week; I was just busy with some private stuff… I also didn’t make anything special this week. One of the main reasons was because I have been immersing myself with another genre (J-manga), specifically on my recent awareness that a Candy Candy novel that rewrote Candy White Ardlay’s love story exists since 2010 (Candy Candy the Final Story). For those also growing up with Candy, you can read my reverie here. For those who don’t know what or who Candy is, and have no intention to read, perhaps I can direct you to the last few episodes of LOCH 2017? I haven’t finished uploading the episode highlights, despite the fact that it ended last April. My apologies, but at least now I have kicked myself to post this… next weekend I should be able to return to the old 1980s MB series once more.

Ep 39

Content: GJHR found the Book of Wumu; MNC jumped off the cliff to prevent GJHR from giving the Book to WYHL; YK mourning MNC; GJHR found Yinggu’s hut and got the instructions to meet the Southern Emperor

Highlight: MNC jumped off the cliff.

Downfall: Yinggu’s wig…OMG please rescue me from that wig…

Tinker Belle

Credit

The girl walked nervously towards the bush, her red bells tinkling merrily as she walked, betraying her trepidation. Upon arriving at said bush, she looked behind to see that no one was following her before entering the bush, carefully such that the branches did not unravel a single thread of her sky blue dress. The dress, as blue as the sky above the gentle river behind her, was, after all, her favourite.

The person she was waiting for was sitting in the bush, waiting for her, fidgeting. She tsk-ed.

“You know, Chor tai-gor is the thief here, not me! I don’t like this hide and seek!”

“Well…You’re supposed to be his adopted sister, surely you share the trait in hide and seek…”

The girl glared. Although she had been missing him earlier, seeing him sitting like a coward annoyed her. She snapped. “Shut up! Now tell me that you’re ready for this.” When the person she talked to mumbled, her blood boiled. She stomped her left foot and, as she said, “I knew it! You’ll never be ready!” she turned back to leave.

Jianghu meetings vs modern meetings

I'm still slow in updating because of my recent European trip... so pardon this short trivia. I have a fan-fiction in mind, short as it is, which I hope to post in the next weekend or earlier. Meanwhile, have a nice weekend, and please help us with the relocation of Barbara's tombstone! (Chinese translation is here).

Just in case the writing is too small:

The Chinese translation for our appeal about Barbara's tombstone

Thanks to Anna Zhou for translating this message for me. Anna used simplified characters, hence for our Taiwanese and HK readers, I also include the traditional characters here. My apologies for any mistakes in the translation. Also sorry for not uploading anything last weekend, I was knackered after the overseas trip...

朋友們，我和Rob Radboud需要你們的幫助。正如我前一篇文章中提到，Barbara（翁美玲）劍橋的家人將會更換掉之前的白色墓碑，添加她母親的名字上去。我和Rob一致認為之前白色的墓碑值得保留，而不是被丟棄......對我們而言，最好的去處就是Barbara在香港紀念堂。

然而，我們需要香港有人幫助我們，但還未找到。搬運墓碑將是件乏味的工作，涉及許可證和一筆不菲的費用。但我相信有志者事竟成。

如果您願意幫忙出一份力，請發郵件給我。我們急切尋求居住在香港、或經常往返於香港的朋友。這件事情必須在兩個月內進行，最晚到8月中旬，否則舊的石碑就可能被丟棄。

多謝

Barbara Yung's life in Cambridge

The CCAT art building where Barbara used to take her art classes

So the previous post was about my visit to Barbara's grave last week, accompanied by none other than Rob Radboud. This post is about the "Barbara Tour" I had in Cambridge with my knowledgeable guide, Rob. Click this to read Rob's report on this trip and click this to read our appeal to relocate Barbara's old tombstone to Hong Kong. 

I spent the first afternoon in Cambridge, a fine Thursday afternoon, visiting the CCAT (Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology – now the Anglia Ruskin University), about 10 min walk from the city center. CCAT was Barbara's and Rob's pre-university school back in the late 1970s. Rob showed me the place where he first talked to Barbara; a CCAT canteen that has now become a computer lab. He'd notice her already, the quiet Chinese student, always sitting by herself with a black note book, writing. But it was one day in that CCAT canteen that he first talked to her. He approached her and asked what she was writing. She looked up and, with a very bright smile, showed him what she'd been writing, in Chinese. 

Relocating Barbara's old tombstone

Barbara's old tombstone will be replaced with a new one in two months' time

Guys, Rob Radboud and I need your help. As you may have read from the previous post, Barbara's family in Cambridge will replace her old white tombstone with a new one, where her mother's name will be scribed on as well. Rob and I think that the tombstone should be preserved instead of being thrown away... and the best place for us is Hong Kong, where Barbara's memorial tablet is located.

However, we have not found a person who can help us from the Hong Kong end. It will be a tedious task, involving surely permits and money, because transporting the tablet won't come as cheap. But as long as there is a will, surely there is a way.

Thus, please email me if you'd like to help with this endeavour. We definitely need someone who lives in HK, or at least frequently visit HK. The plan has to move forward in two months, say by mid August, otherwise the old stone will not have a place to go (i.e. will be abandoned). Considering the historical value of the stone, I highly recommend we try to raise fund and work on the bueraucracy to move the stone to HK somehow. 

Visiting Barbara's grave with Rob Radboud

Barbara's grave on Friday, 23 June 2017, cleaned and spruced

Last year in July 2016, when I first visited Barbara's grave, I wondered if I would come back there soon, if not at all. This year, I've been very lucky though, for I could come back there again. Double luck, because my visit to Cambridge coincided with the visit of none other than Rob Radboud, Barbara's former Dutch boyfriend (Thank you, Universe!).

Hannah introduced Rob and me through Facebook. Hannah was originally going to go to the UK as well. It would have been a wonderful thing to meet her for the first time in the UK, in Cambridge of all places. But, it was not meant to be, for Hannah had a personal thing to do with her family in the US. So it was that one cool Thursday summer (22 June) that my bus arrived in Cambridge and I met Rob for the first time. After some pleasantries, he directly took me to the CCAT (Cambridge College Art and Technology), now Anglia Ruskin University, and then to his old apartment where he spent a wonderful year with Barbara. The next day, we met again at Barbara's grave. This post is about the visit to Barbara's grave. I will write another post about other Barbara-related places I visited with Rob in Cambridge. (edit: click here to read that post)

Michael Miu's birthday tomorrow (Sunday, 18 June 2017)

An oil painting of Huang Yaoshi 2017 (Michael Miu) by Cheng Zhifeng(陳志峰)

Tomorrow, well, in less than two hours in Hong Kong, will be Michael Miu's birthday. He will be 59 years old tomorrow... may he always be healthy, happy and prosperous (that goes also for his family). 

I am on another (very important) deadline next week, hence I'm not sure if I can dedicate time to make something for Michael tomorrow. But just in case, just in case I cannot, at least I want to give him an early happy birthday... and a gratitude for coming into my life so early in my childhood... and reappear again recently as Chor Lau-heung, Li Sai-man, Szeto Man-mo, Tung Pang-fei, and yes, even as Yeung Hong (Michael still gives the best Yang Kang/Yeung Hong to date, IMO). And most certainly, most recently, as Huang Yaoshi, the Peach Blossom Island Master.

In this post, I insert four paintings that have been painted by at least two painters for Michael. The first one up here is an oil painting of Huang Yaoshi (LOCH 2017) by Chen Zhifeng (陳志峰), as acknowledged by Michael in his Weibo dated 6 June 2017. This might be the info page of Chen Zhifeng. I know not the identity of the painter of the three paintings after the break. Let me know if you do know. 

"The Dream on a Floating Boat" - a CLH 1984 fan fiction

Despite distancing himself from the Princess, Chor Lau-heung was just a normal man. I often wonder what he thought of when he was just alone with Siu-ching on the boat... Contains a link to the mature content. This old MV of mine has the background story...

"You're beautiful" Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

The waning moon was high in the sky when several coastal birds suddenly flew past the floating boat. Chor Lau-heung absent-mindedly watched the birds flew past, wondering how similar he was, just recently, to the birds. Just recently, before he met her. Song Siu-ching, the girl who turned his world upside down.

He remembered their argument, or rather, her objection to his "indifferent" attitude to her love. Then, after he made peace with her, she consoled him about his mistakes. And just over an hour ago, he managed to persuade her to sleep in So Yung-yung's cabin, because the extra cabin wasn't ready yet. Her tiredness was the only thing that made her obliging to his suggestion; she yawned as she said good night. She asked if he was going to sleep soon; he said yes.

Yet, he couldn’t sleep. Too many things in his mind that just prevented him from sleeping that night. He did try to sleep in his cabin, but after an hour of tossing and turning, he gave up and returned to the deck.

Yeung Hong singing, Huang Yaoshi in talk show

I'm going away for two weeks' business trip, so I might not have time to post something new soon. I certainly did not last week, but I will try to post something small by next weekend...

In the mean time, here's Michael Miu's Yeung Hong (LOCH 1983) singing "Iron Blood, Loyal Heart" and the second 1983 OST with Sharon Yeung Pan Pan. I like Sharon's sweet voice... and I totally am hearting Michael's voice. Like, TOTALLY. I'm a bit restless today, but just listening to his voice singing calm my heart just now. He's magical to me...




Then, after the break, we have Michael Miu, Li Yitong (2017 Huang Rong) and Chen Xingxu (2017 Yang Kang) talk show and TV coverage in Hong Kong. The news coverage was in relation to the LOCH 2017 airtime in HK, which reportedly receives good rating.

Commemorating Barbara: 'Who Can Change' - a Michael/Barbara MV

Today, this morning, 32 years ago, Barbara Yung left us.... I have written quite a lot about her passing; notably my analysis that she had a depression. I have also written a timeline of her and Michael Miu here.

Since the last few days, I've been watching Fearless Duo at night, one of the reasons was because it was a funny series... yet at the same time, it rings true the most to Michael's and Barbara's story. Because of that, I also use Fearless Duo's famous OST for this latest MV. Performed by the ever charming Alan Tam, 'Who Can Change' is without doubt the closest song I can think of that tells the story of Michael and Barbara... their friendship, and their (possibly restrained) affections. Granted, it's a sad MV... but it also gives me some bitter-sweet MB moments. I hope you like the MV despite its sad tone.

The Vimeo version is below the break. For this MV, I have also revised the translation of 'Who Can Change' provided by Wehaiyo, for I feel that translation is not prosaic enough for the MV (thanks a lot, though for the translation!). My version of the translation is also below the break.

So... yes, once again... we love you and we miss you, Barbara. This time though, people will be laying flowers on your grave next to your mother's...You're not alone now...

Take care, my dear girl... always shine like the brightest star up there...

Many Happy Returns!

Okay I'm SO going to make this!

“Chor tai-gor, long time no see!”

Chor Lau Heung nodded excitedly as he saw Szeto Man Mo walking into the garden pavilion with Lam Chor Yin, who was carrying a medium-sized colourful package. “Glad that you make it here, A Man,” Lingering Fragrance nodded to the couple, “ – considering your wife’s pregnancy.”

Chor Yin smiled as she caressed her enlarging stomach. “I’m fine. Plus, I can’t miss her birthday!”

“True,” A Man said as he took the package from his wife’s hand. “Where should we – Ah! Li tai-gor is here!”

Chor Lau Heung whipped his head to see Li Sai Man sauntering into the pavilion; one of his arms holding Chun Sik Sik tightly as if she’d run away if he didn’t do so.  It’s not a secret in their small group that Chor Lau Heung and Li Sai Man had an unspoken rivalry, hence Man Mo held his breath to see if the two dashing tai-haps can actually act civil this time.

'The Manslayer' - Huang Yaoshi LOCH 2017 MV

Today is Barbara's 58th birthday! Happy birthday, my darling girl! I miss you so much...

So, I plan to make something for her... but I had to finish a Huang Yaoshi MV first... the 4th one I made (the 3rd one with the real action scenes, not just the stills). Music is from Rurouni Kenshin Samurai X movie (2012), Track #7 (Hitokiri Battousai). Hope you like it!



The Vimeo version is after the break.

'The Heavenly Jade Flute' - new HYS MV ft. Naoki Sato's Hiten

Anyone like Naoki Sato's 'Hiten' from Rurouni Kenshin 2012 movie? I'm using that music for my new Huang Yaoshi action MV above. The title of this video is 'The Heavenly Jade Flute', a combination of one of Huang Yaoshi's signature moves (Jade Flute Swordplay) and Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (飛天御剣流, Flying Heaven-governing Sword Style).

I've always loved Naoki Sato's 'Hiten', and I totally heart the Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy (Takeru Sato is Kenshin-reincarnated!), so I am happy that Hiten fits this Huang Yaoshi MV. 

Hope you like it! The Dailymotion and Vimeo versions are after the break.

New Way of the Dragon 2015

I can't believe I missed this series/movie! Michael apparently starred in a 2015 production of the "New Way of the Dragon". Remember Bruce Lee's iconic "Way of the Dragon"? Not that I've watched the old movie, but I've seen enough of snippets to know it's amazing. And If I'm not mistaken, Michael was part of the 2015 remake. Not sure who his character was; I am on a deadline now, but I just HAVE to post this video!

Oh, and pay attention to the way he fought. Michael appears on minute 1:15. He STILL HAS IT! Very little cable, strong, strong stances, strong jabs, AMAZING!!!

Here's the link to watch the series (total 36 episodes), thanks to YouTube User rrden3. I'll post more info about this series when I have more.

Making MV subtitles with iMovie (Mac OS El-Capitan)

Huang Yaoshi is always charming, even on raw iMovie...

Since I bought a Macbook 2016 (rose gold!!!) last November, I had been on the edge about using its iMovie to make Michael/Barbara MVs. I’m not that fast a learner for techs like this. But then, my six years old Dell is already so slow that making MVs causing me stress instead of happiness…

So last December, after staring at my laptop for a while, I decided to just bite the dust and make an MB MV with the Mac iMovie. The first one I produced was UWS’ ‘A Thousand Dreams of You’ (ft. Leslie Cheung!). I was quite pleased with the result, hence I kept on using iMovie. FYI, the last MV I made with Windows Live Movie Maker was ‘Eyes on Me’ (CLH, ft. Tanya Chua). 

I feel the need of writing this post, mostly to remind myself of my own tricks to make MVs with iMovie, and who knows, some people might benefit from it too. The most important tips I’m going to make are how to make subtitles in iMovie, cos iMovie Titles suits are surprisingly not superior to Windows Live Movie Maker. And the WLMM that I used was the one for Windows 7; i.e. not the most advanced version…

'You're the Best in the World' Huang Yaoshi MV part 2 (LOCH 2017)

Finally I have time to make another MV of our charming Michael Miu as Huang Yaoshi from the LOCH 2017. I hope YouTube and Huace don't take the MV down... cos I'll be so down... (update 24.04.2017: YouTube so far allows my MV... but Dailymotion blocks it. Go figure...).

This is the second time I used 'You're the Best in the World', the iconic 3rd OST of LOCH 1983, sung by the ever-present Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng. I made the first MV in July 2016. It was a still MV, consisting of still images from the LOCH 2017. Since LOCH 2017 has ended now (yessshhh I haven't finished recapping the episodes...sorry...), we have all the scenes from the series. Huang Yaoshi had very limited fight scenes, and the first few ones were drop dead disappointing because of the excessive use of 'internal strength' (read: CGI-ed wind etc) instead of hand-to-hand combat. But after he encountered the Quanzhen, we finally enjoyed some good fights between them. I also include the Mt. Hua contest between HYS and Guo Jing.

Enjoy! The Vimeo version, the Dailymotion version (blocked by DM),  the translation of the Cantonese lyrics and the Yale romanisation are below the break. Oh, and the Cantonese version of LOCH 2017 will be aired on TVB on 8 May 2017 (thanks Wkeej and CBWarm for the info). I hope we can hear Michael and Ray Lui in their own voices...

Chor Lau Heung’s love to Song Siu Ching

Siu Ching asking if Chor tai-gor liked her (Ep 11)

Phuong has recently left some very nice comments on my posts, particularly the Chor Lau Heung posts. Thank you, Phuong, truly appreciate your presence! Some of Phuong’s recent comments were about CLH’s love to SSC, for I did indeed express doubt on how much Chor tai-gor loved SC.

I like Phuong’s comments on the matter of CLH’s love to SC; she explained it systematically that it works for me, who tends to prefer someone expressing his love, instead of just showing his love. Since Phuong’s comments were posted on a CLH episode recap (Eps11-16) that I wrote in September 2015, I asked her if I could copy her comments onto a new post. With her permission, here they are. I label her comments as “Phuong” with normal fonts and mine as “Icha” with blue sentences. Thanks a lot, Phuong!

Phuong:

I rewatched CLH again (I lost count of the # of times I watched it lol) and I don't think I ever question his love for SC. He seems to be attracted to her the first time he met her as can be seen in the way he treats/talks to her. He only called her miss Song like once (when he introduced her to Zo) and the rest of the time, he naturally called her by her given name vs him calling miss Wah/Koh/Kam thru the whole movie. He also touches her /holding her hands every chance he got. I do agree that they didn't realized their feelings for each other until episode 11 at Dr Cheong's place. It was then that SC realized she loves him and when she asked to call his name again and cried that it touches a part of CLH's heart and he realized he has feelings for her (deeper than just friends) when he was told she had left, hence the shock/disappointment/sadness.

MB Couple Trivia Part 2

Tung Pang-fei and Ho Doh-wan (UWS Ep 12)

It’s been a while since I post my first MBTrivia… Recently, with all the problems around me, I feel like I need something light to ease my day. Hence, the second MB Trivia here, about birthdays, favourite meals and the number of kids that MB characters would have (plus A Leung – Dragon Ying, cos we can’t just leave them out…). Hannah and I did this session last January, but I haven’t been able to post it until now…

Now, moving on! Special thanks to Hannah for this post, she provided most of the answers here.

Oh, and I hope to post the next batch of LOCH 2017 episode highlights this weekend. Deadlines, stay away from me now, God knows I need my MB/jianghu time!

LOCH 2017 highlights for Eps 29-38

Huang Yaoshi (Michael Miu) as he learned Huang Rong had died (Ep 29)

LOCH 2017 has wrapped up this week for iQIYI (and - ahem - YouTube) viewers, and it was an enjoyable  ride. I will make my final impression post later, perhaps the end of next week (cos I have, you know, deadlines...). However, I finally made time to catch up with the rest of the episodes to properly write some comments. Cos I have no time for detailed comments, I will generally just write the contents and highlights of each episode. Episodes were downloaded from Wuxiarocks, so thanks a lot WR for uploading the episodes.

Ep 29

Content: GJ et al escaping WYHL’s boat; GJ et al arriving at the Niu Village, met Shagu and found the secret room inside Shagu’s house; HYS mourning HR; Lu Guanying meeting Cheng Yaojia; and GJHR eavesdropping WYHL’s plan on the Book of Wumu

Fourteen years without Leslie Cheung

Those who watch my MVs might have realised that I'm a big fan of Leslie Cheung. Well, not really big apparently, cos I forgot that 1 April 2003 was his suicide, hence this Saturday 1 April 2017 was already 14 years when Leslie left us...

Thanks to Pangchu from Kaypang Gallery, I remembered just before the day was over. I didn't make the deadline before my midnight, but at least in Asia it's still 1 April now. Hence... these videos are for us all, Leslie Cheung fans...

The Invincible Courage 勇者無敵 From Yang's Saga (1985):

Who was this lady?

Update 24 August 2017: Sally Chan has confirmed that the lady in question was indeed Barbara Yung. Sally scanned the photo from a microfilm a while ago. Thanks, Sally!

A few months ago, Cynthia sent me some photos of Michael Miu and Barbara Yung, many of them I had never seen. One of them was the photo above that I eventually used in the "In the Rain" MV.  Cynthia labelled the photo as an MB photo, hence I took it that the woman on Michael's lap was Barbara. However, I always had my doubts about the photo, because the scan quality is so low. Plus, the woman could very well be Jaime.

Then, a few days ago, a new reader Nelly contacted me and talked about some MB things, including this photo. I asked Nelly if she was sure that the woman was Barbara, and Nelly said she was certain. The woman had a smile diagnostic of Barbara. Then I asked Hannah too, and Hannah also said she thought the woman was Barbara. Since I was still in doubt, I did a simple experiment with the photo to see if the woman was Barbara... or Jaime.

LOCH 2017 Ep 45 Huang Yaoshi vs Quanzhen

My apologies for the sloppy update of the LOCH 2017 commentaries. I can assure you though, the series is worth watching. The scenes of Huang Yaoshi being deceived into believing that Huang Rong was dead, the scene of HYS vs Quanzhen for the first time, the death of Ouyang Ke, the massacre in Taohua Island, everything was amazing. There are imperfection, but not too much to take me away from enjoying the series.

And the latest icing in the cake is HYS vs Quanzhen after Quanzhen thought that HYS murdered the Five Freaks of Jiangnan. The fight was in Ep 45, go see it now just for the fight.

I hope to post more commentaries late next week, for I have three more deadlines next week. I might post something light for the weekend, but if not, I'll see you next week!

Update 19 April 2017

I'm still here, just being busy with real world problems... 

Min 3:28... did Michael deflect that sword himself?

Surely it was a prop sword, but it seems he deflected it himself with HYS's jade flute (the sword then hit a piece of wood). 

That reminds me of when Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn deflected a real sword from an Uruk Hai in Lord of the Rings... Not that the sword in LOCH 2017 was real... but still cool...

My 1980 Jianghu (Gongwu) OST list

I told Hannah a while ago that I was listening to a compilation of 1980 Jianghu/Gongwu Original Soundtracks from iTunes. Hannah asked me for the list, but I haven’t got around to it until now.

Hope you find it useful. I'm sure Spotify etc can also provide you with this list. Let me know what else to add, I’m most interested in the TVB 1980s songs. I’ll also update this list as I find ‘new’ songs to add (I want to add the Foundation songs etc). The detailed songs (with Chinese characters to copy-paste) are after the break. All songs are in Cantonese.

The Godmother

Source: Rob Radboud

Apologies for the silence; I’ve been having some deadlines and writing blocks that made my submissions not progressing much. I will still publish my commentaries on LOCH 2017, though I’m already 3 weeks behind the schedule now. However, publishing those commentaries mean that I need to watch the series again, and I need to dedicate a special time for that, which I don’t have at the moment. Nonetheless, I miss MB… a lot. Hence, this article for this weekend.

Only recently I learned that Barbara had a godmother in Hong Kong. The kind godmother was no other than Mrs Lee Heung-kam, who portrayed Mrs Kam in ‘United We Stand’ 1984 and the Old Lady Kam (Kam tai-kwan) in ‘Chor Lau Heung’ 1984. Mrs Lee also portrayed Abbess Ruthless in ‘Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre’ 1986, and as Tony Leung’s mother-in-law in ‘Yang’s Saga’ 1985.

If I Loved You Less

Update 18 March 2017: I've edited the info about Michael/Barbara concert in Singapore. I don't think it was in 8 April 1985, for Barbara already cut her hair by 6 April 1985. Hence, some premises for this article have been revised accordingly. I have also added some newspaper clippings here and there.

I am somewhat reluctant in writing this, but I thought I’d give it a go. The reason for my reluctance is because bringing up the past can disturb the present. But… I just have to write this.

I am new to MB (since September 2015, that’s considered still new IMO), though I’ve been a fan of Michael and Barbara separately. When in late 2015 I realised their unfulfilled potentials as a couple, I was rather devastated. Then I tried to balance myself by thinking that Michael and Barbara would, just as Michael said, just share a friendship or, again as Michael put it, brotherhood, instead of unrequited love. I even wrote it as such when I wrote a post during Barbara’s commemoration last year. That Michael and Barbara might have had a thing, but they doused it off. And that’s that. But it was just a vague guess…

Upon receiving some old photos of MB from Hannah and Cynthia last December and January, I became more certain about one thing: something did happen between Michael and Barbara in 1983-1984, and it was quite big that it almost changed MB’s relationships with their official significant others at that time. Thus, this post is about how I came to that conclusion. With all due respect to Kent Tong and Jaime Chik, particularly Jaime who has been a very amazing wife to Michael… allow me to write up my speculations here.

LOCH 2017 commentaries for Eps 21-28

Resort-owner Huang Yaoshi welcoming his guests (including myself) at the gorgeous Peach Blossom Island

Apologies for the lack of update, I have an (exciting) personal matter (which Hannah helped sorted) which temporarily halted other things …

I’m so late with the commentaries for episodes 21-24 last week, hence I just combine them with the comments for eps 25-28. I haven’t finished re-watching episodes 24, 27 and 28, so I will add the comments for those episodes later.

Also, yesterday was the cremation of the body of Mrs Liu, Barbara Yung’s mother. May she rest in peace now and reunited with her gorgeous daughter…

Episode 21

Barbara Yung's mother passed away

The late Mrs Liu Ming Yee by Andrew Chan, Barbara's godson, via Rob Radboud

Barbara's mother passed away last January, and I didn't know this until now. Some fan I am... Mrs Liu Ming Yee was 90 years old when she died on 17 January 2017 in Cambridge... and I was too busy with deadlines to notice this!

hung head in shame...

Back to Mrs Liu's death... Andrew Chan provided info from his Weibo that Granny Liu had been ill since she was born, and she had a stroke a few years back. Her funeral will be on 23 February 2017 (next week!) in the Cambridge City Crematorium, and her ashes will be buried next to her daughter's grave. Which means, the next time me (and Hannah) visit Barbara's grave, we will also pray for Mrs Liu...

Beautiful jianghu artworks of Barbara Yung

 Definitely taken from Song Siu Ching (see her hairstyle and necklace)

When browsing Rob Radboud's website, I unexpectedly found two beautiful artworks of Barbara in the jianghu style. I can't read the Chinese characters, hence I cannot identify the artists. However, their arts are really gorgeous that I need to put them here. I have, however, identified the original art pieces, hence I also put them here after the artworks of Barbara.

If you know any other pieces with such a style, do let me know. The other artwork is after the break.