A piece of her
I received an autographed photograph with a personal message from Linda Chung recently, so I wanted to share it with you guys.



(Click for larger image)

It makes me really happy to know that Linda recognizes and remembers me and that she has seen my websites. I really love the picture that Linda autographed; she looks really pretty. Hopefully one day I will have a chance to meet Linda! For now, an autograph and a personal message is good enough for me.

Updates on Heart of Greed II
If you haven’t heard it by now or read it on my site, then here’s the “official” announcement in a post: According to Linda, Heart of Greed II will be releasing in 4 months – that’s right, in August 2008. They are quickly filming so that the series can air in time. I’m so excited to watch this series! Linda says the script is really good.

  • The biggest buzz about the series right now is the following “spoiler” – Moses Chan‘s character will die in episode 32 (out of 40).

    Many people are worried and upset over this.

    I personally believe that this is false and misleading information leaked by TVB to trick the audience and create buzz for Heart II. I don’t think Moses will die. Although Heart II is also a family drama filled with conflicts and pain, this time around, I think they will keep the family intact. The main theme of the series [as I see it] is about union and “coming together” to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. All 7 children have to be together otherwise there won’t be a “happy family” (ga ho) with a “full moon” (yuet yuen) to “celebrate Mid-Autumn” (hing chung chau).

    I have a feeling that episode 32 may have a storyline that puts Moses’ character in danger [and could cause him to die], but he will survive.

    I really don’t believe this “spoiler”.

  • The opening themevideo?
    The news mentioned the other day that the entire Heart II cast dressed up in traditional Chinese wedding attire in order to film a fashion show scene, which would double as scenes for the “opening”. I think it’s referring to the themevideo. The participation of Jack Wu and Shirley Yeung [who play the younger Ha Yu and Lee See Kei and thus are not in the "modern" story] make it impossible for the footage with Shirley and Jack to be used anywhere else.



    In the original Heart, the cast filmed some special footage for the themevideo as well. Locations included the family shop, outside of “Seung Joi Sum’s” (Linda) house, and inside of the “Tong” family’s mansion featuring the entire Heart cast.



    I really like the “look” for the themevideo from pictures released so far. The theme is eye-catching and everyone looks really good. However, I think it looks a little bit too “Chinese New Year” more than “Mid-Autumn”. Nevertheless, I’m not complaining. I’m happy Heart II filmed custom scenes to be used as footage in the themevideo.



  • “Yu So Chau” (于素秋) = “Yu So Sum” (于素心)
    There was a lot of confusion initially about Linda’s character name in Heart II. It turns out that she has two names. Her original birth name is “Yu So Sum”. According to a reader of this blog, Raymond Lam‘s character gave her the nickname “Yu So Chau” – which I think she adopts as her “main” name. I think it’s really sweet if this is true. I hope it is. Raymond and Linda’s relationship stems from childhood (they grew up together).

    “Yu So Chau” is a very calm and intelligent girl. She’s similar to “Seung Joi Sum”, but not as emotional and will not have so many excessive crying scenes (this time, Tavia Yeung – whose character name is actually “Suen Ho Yuet” – gets to do many big emotional scenes). Linda hopes to give the audience another fresh performance with this role.

  • How to choose between two “Dak Dak Dei’s”?
    In Heart, “Dak Dak Dei” (Moses) and “Alfred” (Raymond) were indirectly fighting for “Seung Joi Sum” (Linda). These two characters were completely different. One was someone who was always there for her but she had no romantic feelings for while the other was someone she loved but hurt her time and time again. One was rather outdated while the other was cool. One would always appreciate and yearn for her company while the other criticized her as “stupid” and “annoying”. One would always tell her his feelings while the other kept everything to himself. Thus, “Alfred” and “Dak Dak Dei” clearly had distinct personalities. While “Seung Joi Sum” never had to make a true “decision” between the two, the audience could decide who they liked better.

    This time around, it’s much trickier to choose…

    Linda says Raymond’s character – “Ah Ho” – reminds her of “Dak Dak Dei” but with an “Alfred” feeling. Raymond’s role is a 100% good person with no flaws. He cares very much about his family. What I find interesting is the fact that he’s “Dak Dak Dei” but with an “‘Alfred’ twist” of sorts. Linda says their relationship is complicated and blurry because they are “siblings” [but not blood-related of course]. It also doesn’t help that Linda’s mom is evil and hurts and plots against Raymond’s mom over and over again. Their romance will be painful and full of drama indeed. Raymond and Linda both hope to take their chemistry to another level and promise to bring something “new” to the audience.

    Linda describes Bosco Wong‘s character as being just like “Dak Dak Dei”. He stands by her side whether she’s happy or sad – it doesn’t matter… he’s there whenever she needs him. She shares her problems with him and he’s willing to do anything for her. I really like Bosco after Wars of In-Laws II and The Seventh Day. His character is only a guest star in Heart II, but I’m looking forward to watching his scenes with Linda.




    Although Bosco and Linda will also be a couple in 80-episode blockbuster The Gem of Life, I doubt their relationship will be very cute or sweet since Linda’s role is a manipulative bad girl. I hope this couple will have chemistry.

    Obviously, Linda will end up with Raymond since Heart II was made for them to be a couple. However, it will be interesting to see how this “painful” love story develops and is resolved. I’m highly anticipating this love triangle and all of the love scenes.

  • Fala Chen’s mute role



    I really like Fala Chen. I think she has a lot of potential and is improving with each series. She’s also a very attractive girl. I think her role and performance will be very adorable and charming based on some of the pictures that have been released from filming. I also think that she will do voice-overs to “translate” her dialogues in sign language to the audience ala Julian Cheung’s phenomenal performance in Return of the Cuckoo and Shirley Yeung’s performance in The Price of Greed.

    After so many roles lately as some not-very-nice girls, I think this cute role will help Fala gain some female fans. It will also be very fresh to watch her I think. I hope Fala does a good job and continues to improve.

  • The cast’s appearance…
    Heart II the series has a very “grand” appearance. TVB put a lot of effort in packaging the series. The main family, after all, has a fortune of HK $1 billion.

    Unfortunately, I think the chosen “character look” for several of the main cast members is truly unflattering.




    Michelle Yim‘s wig needs to be burned. It’s really upsetting that she’s hiding her very pretty natural hair underneath this horrendous wig. It’s distracting and makes her look old and scary. I know she’s a villain and all, but does her evilness have to be embodied physically? It’s not convincing to me that a rich woman would opt for such a look.

    It seems that Moses went from “Dak Dak Dei” to “Gwai Gwai Dei”. For a very rich stock genius, “Ah Ga” looks strange, nerdy, and outdated with his big glasses. He kind of scares me actually. Although Moses’ outfits were quite “interesting” and old-fashioned in Heart, at least he didn’t look creepy and in the end changed to more “modern” clothes (although it was weird how all he wore in the last 10 episodes was formal suits).

    Oh, Linda… In 2007 she had unflattering bangs all year for her 2 movies Love is Not All Around and Playboy Cops and her “bad girl” roles in The Gem of Life and A Journey Called Life. I was waiting and waiting for her to lose the bangs. She tries so hard to create a distinct image for each of her roles to keep her image “fresh”, but I think she failed “Yu So Chau”. Her hairstyle looks pretty from the back, but her center part in the front does nothing but deducts from her looks. I think it makes her face look weird. I hope that she changes her hair later on in the series like “Seung Joi Sum” did. The fact that she parts her hair to the side in the fashion show/opening sequence gives me some hope… she looks so much better.

    Based on a true story?
    The first episode of 1997 TVB classic Time Before Time mentioned that the story of “Gwong Cheong Lung” being haunted by a female ghost was a famous urban legend for the people in the city. I read from a review that the storyline was indeed actually based on a true story. Does anyone have any more details on this? Can anyone confirm that this is actually the case?




    I don’t think that Time‘s story is original [meaning that TVB wrote it] because there are several Chinese opera as well as movie versions that existed way before the TVB series was produced.

    Here’s the plot from the 1993 movie version (same Chinese title of [大鬧廣昌隆] but English title Finale in Blood): Cheng Ming Pao (Lawrence Cheng – Inspector Pink Dragon) works at a radio station that has gained popularity via its ghost stories. Society is breaking down though and Cheng grabs an opportunity given to him by low-grade criminal Chen Chi (Peter Lai) to earn some extra bucks. Deal turns sour and Cheng ends up in the sea. About to drown, he is rescued by an umbrella, containing the spirit of Fong Yan (Tiu Gwan-Mei) who is looking for her lover Ma Kuang Shen (David Ng). She proceeds to lay down her tragic romance together with Cheng at the radio station. Thus creating another hit story and getting the message across to Ma…and his mistress (Chikako Aoyama)… – Credits to So Good Hong Kong DVD Movie Reviews

    I’m not sure what the storyline of the opera is, but it seems like the basic story is that there’s a female ghost – who was mysteriously murdered some years ago – trapped in an umbrella who wants to find her old lover and discover the truth behind her death. I’m really curious to find out the history behind Time‘s story and what the “real” story of “Siu Foo Yung” is.

    Please share if you have any information!