LOCH 1983 episode guides (ep 11-19) and interim impressions

First meeting between Yang Kang (Michael Miu) & Mu Nianci (Sharon Yang), Ep 11

Ep 11: I understand Mu Nianci. I understand why she couldn’t leave Yang Kang. His voice, the way he stared at her, the way he made her thinks that she was the queen of his world when they first met. I also recognised that voice. His voice when he was fighting a commoner on the street, even before the viewers see his face. It’s him... it’s Michael Miu’s voice as Yang Kang (Yeung Hong, Cantonese). And I was as mesmerised as Mu Nianci was when he accidentally bumped her during the fight. And I smiled a smile that cracked my face in two when he flirted with Nianci. I smiled when she blushed, for he had that effect to almost any girls... I then went “ooohhh...” as we saw Yang Kang conversing with his mother Bao Xiruo, for I was like watching Li Sai Man (The Foundation 1984) joking with his sister or an ever more spoiled Szeto Man Mo (Fearless Duo) conversing with his mother. I understand why Xiruo doted on him. I understand why Mu Nianci loved him and found it so difficult to leave him...

Legend of Condor Heroes 1983: first impressions and Ep 1-10 guides

Guo Jing (Felix Wong), Huang Rong/Wong Yung (Barbara Yung),
Mu Nianci (Sharon Yang), and Yang Kang/Yeung Hong (Michael Miu), LOCH 1983)

I’ve started watching the Legend of Condor Heroes 1983 since yesterday. Only 33 years later, why not... I’m not sure I will be able to finish all the episodes, cos 60 eps is a lot for me to watch. But I do want to watch it, particularly because I want to see Michael Miu’s portrayal as Yang Kang and Barbara Yung’s portrayal as Wong Yung. The two have been considered widely as the best Yang Kang and Wong Yung ever (like, ever), thus I want to know how this conclusion was achieved. Also, it’s interesting for me that Yang Kang and Wong Yung are nemesis in LOCH, but TVB had later given Michael and Barbara four additional series where they were lovers. I mean, surely there was something in their bitter-rival chemistry in LOCH that was spot-on that made the fans and TVB rooted for them?

Inner Sanctum - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 fanfiction

What if Chor Lau Heung was indeed hit with an extremely poisoned dart/batarang during his fight with the Bat Prince when the latter held Siu Ching hostage in exchange of Ting Fung? Extension of the temple scene at Ep 36. The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong, no copyright infringement intended.

Song Siu Ching (Barbara Yung) dressing Chor Lau Heung's (Michael Miu) wound, Ep 36

Inner Sanctum

"This is important, please do as I told you," said Chor Lau Heung after whispering his instructions to Song Siu Ching. The girl only needed a few seconds to decide that his suggestions were worth following. She nodded, collected her Jade Sword and implored that Chor tai-gor took care of himself; what with his new injury from the golden batarang. When he smiled and nodded, she smiled back and made to leave. She was just reaching the doorway of the abandoned temple when she heard a gasp behind her. Alarmed, she swiftly turned to see her Chor tai-gor holding his injured arm. His face was pale blue, as if he was asphyxiated. He dropped on his knees, choking his own neck and gasped for air before falling on the floor with a thud.

'Escape from the Bat Palace' - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 fan-fiction

Premise: what if Yat Dim Hung delivered Song Siu Ching to the Bats instead of leaving her in the dilapidated temple to later be found by Chor Lau Heung? Special thanks to Tamuyen for giving me this idea. This fan-fiction is for you, my dear friend, and also for all MB fans out there. “The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung” 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong. I own nothing but my love for the series and Michael Miu and Barbara Yung.

Fell Cut trying to deliver Siu Ching to the Bats, Ep 17

Escape from the Bat Palace

"You...!!"

Wu Tit Fa had to do a double take to confirm that it was truly his old friend Chor Lau Heung who just thundered. Yes, it was the King of Thieves, alright. So uncharacteristic of him, Lingering Fragrance lost his control a moment ago as he slammed Chuen Yung Yat Dim Hung to the wall. Fell Cut, on his part, surprisingly did nothing. He just winced slightly as Lau Heung accidentally hit the hematoma he got from the last fight with the Bat Prince, but the assassin didn't flinch when Lau Heung prepared a punch.

"Mate, stop it!" Wu Tit Fa yelled in surprise. Chor Lau Heung never manhandled someone like that, let alone in a totally alpha-male, non-kung fu style. Wu's warning came a second too late though, for Lau Heung's fist already hit the target... 

Lovely when annoying: CLH ep 11 screen shots

On Wednesday, I'm going for an overseas trip until the end of Feb. I originally hadn't planned for another post until later the week when I hopefully finish a fan-fiction originating from Tammy's idea. However, I have always wanted to do screen shots of Ep 11 of CLH 1984 when Chor tai-gor said to Siu Ching that she was lovely when she was being annoying (and touching her nose gently at that, twice!). Hence, below are screen shots of that sweet scene, and the following scene where CLH learned that the annoying but lovely girl had gone. I also wrote a fan-fiction a while ago based on this scene; click here for that fan-fiction.

"At Least I Have You" - Fearless Duo version

Apparently, I love Zhi Shao Hai You Ni (At Least I Have You) so much that one MV with this song is not enough. Turned out, Alam Tam also sang this song with the amazing Teresa Carpio. Since Alan Tam sang the Fearless Duo memorable theme song as well, I find it befitting to have Alan's and Teresa's version of At Least I Have You for the Fearless Duo MV. Lyrics and Pinyin are below the break. I uploaded the MVs to Dailymotion and Vimeo. "Fearless Duo" 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong, no copyright infringement intended. 

Hope you enjoy this version too with Szeto Man Mo and Lam Chor Yin! Click this one for the Chor Lau Heung 1984 version. 


"At Least I Have You" - a Fearless Duo 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"Days of Happy Laughters" - happy MV of The Foundation part 2

I promised I would post a happier MV of The Foundation 1984, and here it is. I found that Michelle Pau's "Days of Happy Laughters" as the most suitable song, hence I used the songs but embedded different scenes of TF here. Click this post to see the original scenes of Ep 4 with the song as the background.

"The Foundation 1984" is the property of TVB Hong Kong, no copyright infringement intended. Lyrics are below the break. I have posted the MV on both Dailymotion and Vimeo. Tamuyen has inspired yet another happy The Foundation MV; we just need to find the music. Oh, and the MV below has a bit of Lok Wan as well, so hope you like it, Tammy!

Meanwhile, enjoy!

"Days of Happy Laughters" - The Foundation MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"Heart Break" - The Foundation 1984 MV

There's a reason I have only produced one The Foundation 1984 MV (well, actually 1/3, cos the MV was combined with CLH and FD as well). The story is just downright too sad. However, as I've stated in another post, I can't shake off my love towards Li Sai Man and Chun Sik Sik, despite what he did to her later. I can only 'blame' Michael Miu and Barbara Yung for that. So at times, I'd just watch the MVs found over the internet, mostly from YouTube. However, I still want to see an MV that shows LSM's regret after what he did to Sik Sik. Since I found practically none (perhaps because I didn't browse enough), I decided to make one myself. Hence this MV, bearing Dave Wong's aptly titled "Heart Break" song. The MV shows Li Sai Man's regret over what he had done to Sik Sik; all for the throne. Hence the opening is the lonely coronation scene where the new Emperor was not happy despite being the new ruler of the Tang Dynasty. 

The Foundation 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong; no copyright infringement intended. Song lyric is below the break. I obtained the translation using an Indonesian translation I found at YouTube, combined with Google Translator (hence feel free to point out my mistakes). Pinyin is from the Chinese Lyrics. Uploaded to both Dailymotion and Vimeo. I have a happier MV of The Foundation down the pipeline, but for now, I hope you can still enjoy this (very) sad MV... (if "enjoy" is the right word for that).




"Heart Break" - The Foundation 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"Turning" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

I always wanted to do a CLH 1984 MV with a new age piece as the music background, but I doubted whether it would fit the series. But when I found out about "Turning" by Italian-American Suzanne Ciani and Taiwanese Chyi Yu (Qi Yu), I considered it would fit Siu Ching's feelings to Chor Lau Heung. Of course, the "someone else is in [his] eyes"in this context was not a woman; rather, it was his own free wandering life that made him left the Palace and the girl he loved. To me, this song fits Siu Ching's original wish that Chor Lau Heung would leave the wandering life in favour of a royal life, but eventually the girl realised what was truly important, and dashed towards CLH's boat to be with him. 

 "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung" 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong; no copyright infringement intended. The MV is uploaded only to Vimeo. The beautiful winter snapshot was taken from Pinterest.

The "Turning" lyrics and the beautiful original MV featuring Suzanne and Chyi Yu are below the break. I can't believe I wasn't aware of Suzanne Ciani and Chyi Yu until a few days ago! Palm/face! Chyi Yu's angelic voice lent some ethereal ambiance to "Turning". The fact that she is from Taiwan (although she sang an English song here) also made me think "Yeah, this piece should fit". 

I hope you like this piece. Have a nice weekend!


"Turning" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"At Least I Have You" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

This CLH Heung 1984 MV starts with some scenes from Ep 11. The MV mostly focuses on how CLH would sacrifice himself to protect Song Siu Ching because he loved her so, and how he was so scared to lose her (or got worried whenever she was upset). Several versions of "At Least I Have You" (Zhi Shao Hai You Ni) exist, and I do love some of them (Alan Tam's and Sandy Lam's in particular). But I picked Leslie Cheung's version because the tone  somehow fits with the MV theme. "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung" 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong; no copyright infringement intended. Dedicated to Michael Miu, Barbara Yung, and Leslie Cheung...

I've uploaded the MV to both Vimeo and Dailymotion, both with high res and lower res (higher res tends to be difficult to stream). Hope they remain there. Pinyin and English translation of the lyrics are below the break. The English translation was obtained from Diana S from YouTube. Enjoy!

   
"At Least I Have You" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

'Childhood acquaintance' - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 fanfiction

A boy rescued a little girl when she fell into a rabbit hole. Dedicated to all things fluffy and happy in the world (I think I need this after Alan Rickman’s death yesterday). Also dedicated to Michael Miu and Barbara Yung, of course... The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong. No copyright infringement intended.

Can't find a pix, so I stole from Kaguyahime Monogatari (Little Kaguya and Sutemaru)

Childhood acquaintance 

The boy watched as the rich-looking little girl stumbled over and fell into the hole. He gasped and then screamed "Idiot!!" before he ran towards the rabbit hole. Lucky for the little girl, the hole wasn't a deep one. Still, the fall would hurt her.

"Are you okay?" He peeked through the hole. The afternoon sunlight illuminated the hole slightly, such that he could see her little face crying from shock. "Don't cry. I told you not to chase the rabbit, but you still did that. Idiot."

"Will you just shut up and help me?!" came the unexpected order from the hole, slightly echoed. The boy chuckled. "I take it you're not injured, then?" He asked her. When she said she didn't know whether she was injured or not, he rolled his eyes heavenwards. Girls! "Try getting up, see if you can stand up." The girl did so and then screamed.

Chor Lau Heung, the Detective (a CLH 1984 MV)

Chor Lau Heung and Wu Tit Fa sleuthing the Bat Prince, ep 35

Chor Lau Heung was not just famous for his gravity-defying skills and martial arts. He was first and foremost a great detective. This MV is an attempt to portray some sleuthing scenes in "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 1984" series, in particular surrounding the mystery of the Bat Prince and the Viper Sword. The series is the property of TVB Hong Kong; no copyright infringement intended. Music is from my favourite spy/detective series; the BBC "Spooks" opening theme by Jennie Muskett. Also featuring Ying Man Lei (Kwok Fung), Song Siu Ching (Barbara Yung), Wu Tit Fa (Chan Wing Chun) and Yat Dim Hung (Austin Wai) as some of my favourite characters in the series. 

I'm uploading the MV at Vimeo only because I don't want to risk my Dailymotion account being banned, since I'm using a Western music. Hence, MV is under the break. Hope you like it!

"The Return of the Bat Prince" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 fanfiction

What if Chor Lau Heung didn’t defeat the Bat Prince during the last duel? What if he fell into the cliff instead, presumably dead? What would Siu Ching do? The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 1984 is the property of Gu Long and TVB Hong Kong, no copyright infringement intended. Dedicated to the ever charming Michael Miu and Barbara Yung.

Yuen Tsui Wan (Simon Yam) vs Chor Lau Heung (Michael Miu), ep 40

The Return of the Bat Prince

Princess Wing Ching strode along the corridor towards Emperor Father's chamber; her faithful Jade Sword in her left hand. It was past midnight already, and most likely her father was already asleep. She didn't need to talk to him, though. She just needed to make sure he was alright. She arrived at the door, whispered to the guards not to announce herself for fear of waking His Majesty up, and slowly opened the door. 

Wu Tit Fa and Master Yuen Hung were there accompanying the Crown Prince outside the main chamber. Upon registering her presence, the three men frowned. The Crown Prince spoke first. 

"I Am What I Am" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984

The following MV was inspired by Leslie Cheung's number "I Am What I Am". The song talks about his sexuality, which he decided to openly admit to the public. Here I apply a different context for Chor Lau Heung, in which he was just a normal man who fell in love with an amazing woman, yet their backgrounds were so different. Hence, when he had to choose between staying in the Palace with his love Song Siu Ching or returning to his wandering life despite her absence, he chose the latter. However, after returning to the Fragrant Boat, he still wished she was with him. The last scene depicts his disappointment upon learning that she wasn't coming (or so he thought....). 

Music is "I Am What I Am" by the late Leslie Cheung. "The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung" 1984 is the property of TVB Hong Kong. No copyright infringement intended. Yale romanisation and English translations are below the MVs. I took out the numbers for the MV subtitles, but I retained them here. 

   
"I Am What I Am" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

"A Love Before Time" - a Michael Miu/Barbara Yung wuxia MV

Happy New Year again, guys! Was hoping to catch some sleep today, but MB bugged me to produce a new MV. Hence, here's the three MB wuxia series of The Foundation, Chor Lau Heung and Fearless Duo. Music is from my favourite Coco Lee, A Love Before Time (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), composed by Tan Dun, music by Yoyo Ma. I was originally accustomed to the English version, but upon understanding the meaning of the Mandarin version, I love the latter more. I post here the two versions, Mandarin and English. Have uploaded them to Vimeo, and will do that with Dailymotion either soon or tomorrow. Gotta catch some New Year sleep...

The premise is similar to my Karmic Connection fanfiction, which apparently has drawn some good readerships. I have no LOCH footage, and I don't think I can do justice here, hence I only present The Foundation, Chor Lau Heung and Fearless Duo.  The Pinyin and English lyrics are below, in addition to being embedded in the MVs.

Mandarin version (updated from 02/1/16):

 
"A Love Before Time" Michael Miu/Barbara Yung wuxia MV (Mandarin ver) from Icha74 on Vimeo.