I’m back! I have just returned home recently after a long 9 days 7 nights vacation in Egypt with my parents during this Chinese New Year break. In general, I had a very enjoyable trip despite having needed to take a lot of tiring flights (4 international, 2 domestic), hefty price tag to pay for the trip, and required to wake up super early on multiple days to follow our tour schedule.
In this trip, I have visited most of the famous attractions in Egypt, from its capital Cairo to Aswan and Luxor. I have taken over a thousand photographs (expected due to the many awesome temples and scenery there) too. I’m not that fancy on Egyptian food and fortunately, most of our meals were Western style as we spent some nights on a cruise ship and had some meals at hotels’ buffets.
Without further ado, here are some of the awesome shots I have taken at the trip (only limit myself to put 50 photographs here out of the over 1000 shots I have taken):
Ruins of Memphis ancient city, Cairo
Sakkara step pyramid, Cairo
Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, Cairo
Khan El-Khalili Bazaar, Cairo
Citadel of Salah Din and Grand Mosque of Mohammed Ali, Cairo
Egyptian Museum + Mummies Room, Cairo
High Dam, Aswan
Unfinished Obelisk, Aswan
Philae Temple, Aswan
Nubian Village, Aswan
Abu Simbel Temples, Aswan
Temple of Kom Ombo, Kom Ombo
Temple of Edfu, Edfu
Colossi of Memnon, Luxor
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Luxor
Valley of the Kings, Luxor
Karnak Temple, Luxor
Luxor Market, Luxor
Nile River Cuise (from Aswan to Luxor) + Felucca Ride + Esna Lock
Other random pictures – City view of Cairo, hot air balloons + sunrise over desert + keeping all the entrance tickets (including tickets to toilet which is chargeable there)
We have also visited several local shops selling Egyptian papyrus, alabaster stones, cotton and essential oils. I only bought a miniature set of 3 pyramids (represent the 3 Great Pyramids of Giza of course) and a magnet for my house fridge. I’m not keen into most Egyptian souvenirs except for the sand art bottle that I couldn’t find in Cairo (bought one at Dubai International Airport during my flight transit instead as a consolation..haha).
It is winter now in Egypt but still the Sun over there is intensely glaring (that’s good for taking pictures though). This is my first time seeing vast desert and my first time riding on camel and horse carriage too. In conclusion, I do had a very enjoyable trip. A lot of memorable experience in this travel and feeling of awe looking at the magnificent tombs and temples and knowing more on the rich history and culture of ancient Egypt. I am particularly intrigued by the scale of the ancient buildings, their near-perfect symmetry, the intricate carvings/facade works on the architectural elements, and the brilliant play of light and shadow. For people in architecture field like me, this travel is simply excellent.
Now, it’s time to start thinking on where to go for the next Chinese New Year break in 2021.
I was very excited when my friend successfully helped me to buy tickets for Jacky Cheung’s concert during the ticket launch three months ago while I was in Australia. His tickets are so hard to get. I remembered I did try to buy the tickets myself through online purchase. However, the website kept crashing and the tickets were all sold out in twenty minutes. Fortunately, I have one friend who planned to queue at Quill City Mall for the ticket launch and he decided to help me along. That’s so awesome.
Jacky Cheung is a well-known Hong Kong Cantopop singer and is one of the four ‘Heavenly Kings’ in Cantopop music. He is also being known as the ‘God of Songs’ due to him having a lot of classic songs that won huge number of awards in the past and for having the best singing skill among the four ‘Heavenly Kings’. I have never watched his concert before and so I am very eager to watch it this time. He seldom return to Malaysia to organize one and we may not be able to see more shows from him in Malaysia in the future. So, this is like a golden opportunity for everyone. His ‘A Classic Tour’ in Kuala Lumpur took place for 3 days (26th, 27th and 28th January 2018) at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil and I attended the first one (yesterday’s evening).
Since it’s a Friday evening, quite a number of people were late to the venue due to the rain and traffic congestion. Many were not expecting (me included) that the show will start on-time at 8pm due to Malaysian culture of being late. I was wrong. The show started sharp at 8pm while I (and my parents) had just entered and were queuing to go to the washrooms. A lot of people were still queuing outside to enter the stadium. We rushed inside and had a hard time finding our seats in the fully packed stadium with all the lights already off. Hence, we missed out the first two songs by Jacky unfortunately.
The show was awesome. Jacky put a lot of effort in it. Usually, a singer who is performing oversea will usually slack down and deliver performance of lesser passion and quality. Well, that’s not the case for Jacky. The stage (it’s a four-side stage) is beautifully crafted with all the possible motions to allow for a creative animated display while Jacky is performing. The lights are fantastic and the state-of-the-art technology helped elevate the whole atmosphere into a very exciting and engaging nature. I didn’t expect that the standard of concert’s set design in Hong Kong’s famous Coliseum is brought into Malaysia for the very first time and I’m exceptionally delighted. Every audiences is also given a free light stick to make the whole stadium more electrifying and synchronizing.
Jacky delivered the songs and dances with huge passion. I can see that he was tired after half of the show (couldn’t blame him as he will be 57 years old this year already) but he insisted on performing with awesome effort and quality. His singing skill is still magnificent and his live performances are brilliant. There are also a lot of dancers and other performers on the stage in some parts, and it means that this is seriously a grand big-budget production. It is certainly worth the money of everyone who has paid to watch his concert. Totally deserving. Furthermore, the show is 3 hours long (started at 8pm and ended exactly at 11pm), which is more than I’m expecting earlier. The only thing that is not the best is that Jacky didn’t perform some of his hit songs. Well, this is forgivable since he has a lot of great songs and it’s impossible to sing all or most of them in a single show. At least, he still did covered most of his classic hits and I got to sing along too, indulging myself into the excitement. I am not his fans (I hardly hear his works) and I’m surprised that I can still remember some of his songs and their lyrics.
So, here’s some of the clips I have taken during the show…just a short clip…enjoy if you are into Jacky Cheung. There is one part when there was someone who is proposing to his girlfriend right near where I was sitting…wow…what a romantic way to propose but it’s really noisy that it’s impossible to hear a word from them:
His concert here for his worldwide ‘A Classic Tour’ (he did mentioned that this is his 132nd stop) is amazing! Now, that’s a top-notch show that other singers can learn from. I had an awesome time watching it and it was certainly a great experience! This is definitely my first highlight event of the year! The next one shall be my graduation early next month! Hopefully I will get to see more great events coming in for the rest of 2018!
(Copyrights reserved to all the images and clip in this post)
TVB love to deliver shocks in their annual awards presentation by announcing result that is surprising to the majority of people. It is no exception for this year as well. The Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards 2017 is delayed a month to make way for all anniversary dramas to finish airing and also to express the much grander 50th anniversary celebration the television station is having in late 2017 that extends now until early 2018. Here below is the full result for the awards (held on the evening of 21st January 2018) along with my opinions for each categories:
TVB Anniversary Awards 2017’s Winners List:
Best Non-Drama Programme “The Ahistoric Grandpa Cooking Show” – WINNER “Miss Chinese International Pageant 2017” “Love at Last Sight” “Feng Shui for the New Year” “Cantoxicating!” “Dinner Ma’s” “Eating Well with Madam Wong (Sr. 3)” “Dream in the Ring” “HK Gag Gag” “Anchors with Passport (Sr. 3)” “The Place We Call Home” “Neighborhood Treasures (Sr. 7)” “Public Housing Outing” “Hong Kong Round the Clock” “Easy Come Easy Health” “Good Cheap Eats (Sr. 6)” “Cantopop at 50” – WINNER “Pay It Forward” “Sidewalk Scientist” “Retiring in Paradise” “Litigation at Home” “Big Big Kids Awards 2017” “All Work No Pay Holidays (Sr.2)” “Young and Restless” “Buskkkkk Music” “The Big Big Channel Nite” “Amazing Summer Splash” “Fun Abroad” “Chef Minor (Sr. 3)” “C AllStar Thai Odyssey” “Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2017” “Faraway Brides” – WINNER “Starry Starry Talk” “The Sisterhood Traveling Gang” “Bazaar Carnivals (Sr. 3)” – WINNER “Sir Ben Prop Guide” “Helen Goes to Kyushu” “The Ultimate Street Sorcerer” “Sammy on the Go” “Line Walker: The Hunting Game” “EYT: Anniversary Edition” “Diva Liza 50-Year Special” “TVB Anniversary Gala” “The Heavenly Party” “DoDo Goes Shopping (Sr. 2)” – WINNER “Tung Wah Charity Show 2017” “Gala Spectacular” “Dickies on Tour” “J.S.G. Awards Presentation 2017”
Opinion: Didn’t expect that TVB decided to hand out five awards in this category. I enjoyed ‘The Sisterhood Traveling Gang’ but it lost. Anyway, I didn’t have much interest in this category every year. Moving on…
Best Host(s) Lee Ka Ting & Helen Tam (“The Ahistoric Grandpa Cooking Show”) Gigi Wong (“Eating Well with Madam Wong (Sr. 3)”) Maria Cordero & Luk Ho Ming (“Good Cheap Eats (Sr. 6)”) Nancy Sit, Michael Lai, Raymond Cho & Karen Tong (“Cantopop at 50”) Mayanne Mak, Kaki Leung, Roxanne Tong, Crystal Fun, Tiffany Lau & Bowie Cheung (“Sidewalk Scientist”) Tony Hung (“Retiring in Paradise”) Luk Ho Ming, Louisa Mak & Crystal Fung (“Young and Restless”) Bob Lam, Mayanne Mak & Linna Huynh (“Chef Minor (Sr. 3)”) Janis Chan (“Faraway Brides”) Lai Chi San (“Starry Starry Talk”) Evergreen Mak, Joyce Tang & Elena Kong (“Bazaar Carnivals (Sr. 3)”) Benjamin Au Yeung, Mayanne Mak, Luk Ho Ming, Bella Lam & Liz Ji (“Sir Ben Prop Guide”) Helen To (“Helen Goes to Kyushu”) Sammy Leung, Samantha Ko, Mayanne Mak & Jacqueline Wong (“Sammy on the Go”) Carol Cheng, FAMA, Kenneth Ma, Edwin Siu & Priscilla Wong (“DoDo Goes Shopping (Sr. 2)”) – WINNER
Opinion: I do expect the hosts for ‘DoDo Goes Shopping (Sr.2)’ to win because it’s Carol Cheng. Anyway, she is really good in hosting and her chemistry with FAMA and also the other co-hosts are amazing and fun to watch.
Most Improved Female Artiste Rebecca Zhu (“May Fortune Smile on You”, “A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”, “Hong Kong Round the Clock”) Samantha Ko (“My Unfair Lady”, “Bet Hur”, “Sammy on the Go”, “Gag Gag Summer”) Mayanne Mak (“Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2017”, “Sammy on the Go”, “Line Walker: The Hunting Game”, “TVB Anniversary Gala”) – WINNER Zoie Tam (“May Fortune Smile on You”, “My Unfair Lady”, “Legal Mavericks”, “My Ages Apart”) Roxanne Tong (“Provocateur”, “My Dearly Sinful Mind”, “The Tofu War”, “Sidewalk Scientist”) Jacqueline Wong (“Provocateur”, “Nothing Special Force”, “Sammy on the Go”)
Opinion: The first shock of the evening. Mayanne Mak would be my last choice in this nomination list and yet she ended up winning. Artistes who are doing non-drama programmes are usually not being much acknowledged but here she comes taking home this prize to everyone’s surprise. I would prefer Jacqueline Wong to take this as I do see that she really improved a lot this year. Hey…where is Sisley Choi? She deserves a nomination here as she is seriously the most improved actress of all for this year. But hey…surprise later on.
Most Improved Male Artiste Owen Cheung (“The No No Girl”, “Legal Mavericks”, “HK Gag Gag”, “Amazing Summer Splash”) Matthew Ho (“May Fortune Smile on You”, “Tiger Mom Blues”, “A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”, “Tiger Mom Blues Returns”) Luk Ho Ming (“Good Cheap Eats (Sr. 5)”, “Sir Ben Prop Guide”, “TVB Anniversary Gala”, “Young and Restless”) Hugo Wong (“May Fortune Smile on You”, “Legal Mavericks”, “The Exorcist’s Meter”) Hubert Wu (“The Exorcist’s Meter”, “My Ages Apart”) Mat Yeung (“My Dearly Sinful Mind”, “Bet Hur”, “Love and Construction”, “All Work No Pay Holidays (Sr.2)”) – WINNER
Opinion: I knew Mat Yeung is finally going to win. His hard work for the past many years is finally paid off. The other deserving candidates, Owen Cheung, Hugo Wong and Matthew Ho can wait for the coming years to get this.
Best Supporting Actress Stephanie Ho (“Recipes to Live By”) Kaman Wong (“Tiger Mom Blues”) Mandy Lam (“Lo and Behold”) Joyce Tang (“Lo and Behold”) Kelly Fu (“Burning Hands”) Vivien Yeo (“My Dearly Sinful Mind”) Eileen Yeow (“The No No Girl”) Samantha Ko (“My Unfair Lady”) Zoie Tam (“My Unfair Lady”) Toby Chan (“Legal Mavericks”) Tracy Chu (“Legal Mavericks”) Rebecca Zhu (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) – WINNER Grace Wong (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Harriet Yeung (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Elena Kong (“The Unholy Alliance”) Elaine Yiu (“The Unholy Alliance”) Alice Chan (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Susan Tse (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Katy Kung (“My Ages Apart”) Sharon Chan (“Heart and Greed”)
Opinion: Second shock of the evening. TVB gave us surprise on all the awards in female categories. Yes, Rebecca Zhu has improved in her acting too, but I don’t think her performance deserves a supporting actress win yet. Her role in ‘A General, A Scholar And A Eunuch’ is also too ordinary and easily forgotten. I can see just now that she herself was very surprised when her name is announced as the winner. I would prefer Elaine Yiu, Susan Tse, Sharon Chan, Grace Wong or even Samantha Ko to win.
Best Supporting Actor Hugo Ng (“Burning Hands”) Matthew Ho (“Tiger Mom Blues”) King Kong (“Destination Nowhere”) James Ng (“Destination Nowhere”) Mark Ma (“Lo and Behold”) Fred Cheng (“Provocateur”) Mat Yeung (“My Dearly Sinful Mind”) Max Cheung (“My Unfair Lady”) Lai Lok Yi (“My Unfair Lady”) Andrew Yuen (“My Unfair Lady”) Owen Cheung (“Legal Mavericks”) Timothy Cheng (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) John Chiang (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Jimmy Au (“The Unholy Alliance”) Joel Chan (“The Unholy Alliance”) – WINNER Kwok Fung (“The Unholy Alliance”) Carlo Ng (“The Unholy Alliance”) Benz Hui (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Brian Tse (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Kenny Wong (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Ram Chiang (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Ho Yuen Tung (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Hugo Wong (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Hubert Wu (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Louis Yuen (“Heart and Greed”)
Opinion: I’m happy that Joel Chan won. I noticed him several years ago and he had already been doing awesome job back then. It’s finally time for him to win and he totally deserved it. I was quite nervous before the winner is revealed because I’m worried that Jimmy Au (another favourite and he also starred in ‘The Unholy Alliance’ with Joel Chan) may win because of his seniority and popularity as being Hong Kong’s version of James Bond. He can take that nickname but his performance is too plain. Joel is very emotional when delivering his acceptance speech.
Global Netizens Favourite Series “Rogue Emperor” “Recipes to Live By” “May Fortune Smile on You” “Burning Hands” “Tiger Mom Blues” “Destination Nowhere” “Lo and Behold” “Provocateur” “Married but Available” “My Dearly Sinful Mind” “The No No Girl” “My Unfair Lady” “Phoenix Rising” “Bet Hur” “Legal Mavericks” “A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch” “The Unholy Alliance” “The Tofu War” “Line Walker: The Prelude” “Nothing Special Force” “Oh My Grad” “The Exorcist’s Meter” – WINNER “My Ages Apart” “Heart and Greed”
Opinion: This is a new category and it allows all people (not just from Hong Kong) to vote online for this one. I’m delighted that ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’ won because it really deserved. It’s such a small production with lesser known cast and yet able to make huge impact with great and touching storyline and wonderful performances by its actors and actresses. Does that mean this series will not win the ‘Best Drama’? Yes…unfortunately.
Most Popular TV Partnership Vincent Wong & Natalie Tong (“My Unfair Lady”) Vincent Wong & Owen Cheung (“Legal Mavericks”) Edwin Siu, Raymond Cho & Matthew Ho (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”)– WINNER Ruco Chan & Nancy Wu (“The Unholy Alliance”) Joel Chan & Elaine Yiu (“The Unholy Alliance”) Moses Chan & Jessica Hester Hsuan (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Benjamin Yuen, Priscilla Wong & Pakho Chau (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Kenneth Ma & Hubert Wu (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Moses Chan & Bobby Au Yeung (“My Ages Apart”) Ha Yu & Louise Lee (“Heart and Greed”) Maria Cordero & Luk Ho Ming (“Good Cheap Eats (Sr. 6)”) Benjamin Yuen & Mat Yeung (“All Work No Pay Holidays (Sr.2)”) Myolie Wu, Nancy Wu, Mandy Wong, Elaine Yiu, Selena Li & Paisley Hu (“The Sisterhood Traveling Gang”) Carol Cheng, C Kwan & Luk Wing (“DoDo Goes Shopping (Sr. 2)”) Wayne Lai, Edwin Siu, Raymond Cho & Raymond Wong (“Dickies on Tour”)
Opinion: I’m happy for the three actors from ‘A General, A Scholar And A Eunuch’ to win because their chemistry on-screen is really awesome and fun to watch. I remembered a lot of funny scenes involving the three of them in that drama.
Most Popular Series Song 四方 (“Rogue Emperor”) – Hoffman Cheng 心暖 (“Rogue Emperor”) – Kenneth Ma & Niki Chow 乾杯 (“Rogue Emperor”) – Ronald Law, Hoffman Cheng & Yao Bin 天賜的味道 (“Recipes to Live By”) – Maria Cordero 財神駕到 (“May Fortune Smile on You”) – Wayne Lai, Amy Fan, Pal Sinn, Matthew Ho & Kelly Fu 一輩子守候 (“The Princess Weiyoung”) – HANA 不變的愛 (“Tiger Mom Blues”) – Edwin Siu 迷 (“Destination Nowhere”) – Fred Cheng 獨來獨往 (“Provocateur”) – Gallen Lo 地盡頭 (“Provocateur”) – Fred Cheng 真心真意 (“Married but Available”) – Fred Cheng & Stephanie Ho 印記 (“Married but Available”) – Kayee Tam 籠牢 (“My Dearly Sinful Mind”) – Alfred Hui 你走的那個晚上 (“My Dearly Sinful Mind”) – Fred Cheng 我有我美麗 (“The No No Girl”) – Nancy Wu 我不會撒嬌 (“My Unfair Lady”) – Stephanie Ho 手中沙 (“My Unfair Lady”) – HANA 陪著你走 (“My Unfair Lady”) – Kayee Tam 我不歸去 (“The Legend of the Condor Heroes”) – Kayee Tam 用愛邁步 (“Phoenix Rising”) – Kelly Chen 久別重逢 (“Eternal Love”) – HANA 十倍奉還 (“Bet Hur”) – Fred Cheng 心眼 (“Legal Mavericks”) – Vincent Wong 愛近在眼前 (“Legal Mavericks”) – Stephanie Ho 戰勝吧 (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) – Fred Cheng 一觸即發 (“The Unholy Alliance”) – Ruco Chan 家中的太陽 (“The Tofu War”) – Nancy Sit 天網 (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) – Pakho Chau 忘記我自己 (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) – HANA 安守本分 (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) – Vivian Koo 快樂快活人 (“Nothing Special Force”) – Kayee Tam 畢業之後 (“Oh My Grad”) – Mag Lam 你在我心間 (“Nothing Gold Can Stay”) – Jinny Ng 到此一遊 (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) – Hubert Wu – WINNER 遙不可及 (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) – Hubert Wu 泣血薔薇 (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) – Jinny Ng 誇世代 (“My Ages Apart”) – Hacken Lee 別再記起 (“My Ages Apart”) – Jinny Ng 我本無罪 (“Heart and Greed”) – Susanna Kwan 欲言又止 (“Heart and Greed”) – Vincent Wong & HANA I Promise (“Heart and Greed”) – Linda Chung
Opinion: My preferred choice is the ending theme song for the series ‘Line Walker: The Prelude’ by Hana Kuk. The song and its melody is much more beautiful than the others.
Most Popular TV Female Character Elena Kong (“Tiger Mom Blues”) Kristal Tin (“Destination Nowhere”) Koni Lui (“Lo and Behold”) Jessica Hsuan (“My Unfair Lady”) Samantha Ko (“My Unfair Lady”) Natalie Tong (“My Unfair Lady”) Sisley Choi (“Legal Mavericks”) – WINNER Tracy Chu (“Legal Mavericks”) Rebecca Zhu (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Nina Paw (“The Unholy Alliance”) Nancy Wu (“The Unholy Alliance”) Elaine Yiu (“The Unholy Alliance”) Nancy Sit (“The Tofu War”) Roxanne Tong (“The Tofu War”) Priscilla Wong (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Moon Lau (The Exorcist’s Meter”) Susan Tse (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Mandy Wong (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Ali Lee (“My Ages Apart”) Susanna Kwan (“Heart and Greed”) Louise Lee (“Heart and Greed”) Michelle Yim (“Heart and Greed”) Eliza Sam (“Heart and Greed”)
Opinion: Third shock of the evening…but I’m actually agreeing on this outcome. Sisley Choi defeated a lot of favourites (Ali Lee, Nancy Wu, Elaine Yiu, Elena Kong, Natalie Tong, etc) to take this prize to everyone’s surprise again. However, I find that Sisley Choi really did very well for her ugly role in ‘Legal Mavericks’. She is very natural and her performance is amazing in that one. Hence, I’m actually fine with her winning this although many others may disagree with me. This is just like what happened when Grace Wong won for her character in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ that shocked quite a lot of people in the previous edition of this awards. No wonder there is not even a nomination for Sisley in ‘most improved’ category. She immediately elevated to the ‘favourite female character’ category. Anyway, she talked too much during her acceptance speech just now.
Most Popular TV Male Character Tony Hung (“Recipes to Live By”) Ben Wong (“Tiger Mom Blues”) Gallen Lo (“Provocateur”) Raymond Wong (“Married but Available”) Eddie Cheung (“The No No Girl”) Frankie Lam (“My Unfair Lady”) Vincent Wong (“My Unfair Lady”) Andrew Yuen (“My Unfair Lady”) Natalis Chan (“Bet Hur”) Owen Cheung (“Legal Mavericks”) Raymond Cho (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Edwin Siu (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Jimmy Au (“The Unholy Alliance”) Ruco Chan (“The Unholy Alliance”) Cheung Wing Hong (“The Tofu War”) Lai Yok Yi (“The Tofu War”) Pakho Chau (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Michael Miu (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Benjamin Yuen (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Kenneth Ma (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) – WINNER Hubert Wu (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Bobby Au Yeung (“My Ages Apart”) Moses Chan (“My Ages Apart”) Bosco Wong (“Heart and Greed”)
Opinion: Happy for Kenneth Ma to win this award again (he had won this before back in 2012 for his role in ‘The Hippocratic Crush’). However, this means that he is not going to win best actor later and I pitied him for that. He hardly get any good roles in recent years. Then, he had this role as ‘Ma Kwai’ in ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’ and he did very well in it. This must be his chance for best actor. But again, he didn’t have the luck to snatch it. I hope that he will get more good roles later on and will one day win best actor. He deserves it.
Best Actress Lin Xia Wei (“Burning Hands”) Sharon Chan (“Tiger Mom Blues”) Elena Kong (“Tiger Mom Blues”) Kristal Tin (“Destination Nowhere”) Jacqueline Wong (“Provocateur”) Nadia Chan (“The No No Girl”) Jessica Hsuan (“My Unfair Lady”) Natalie Tong (“My Unfair Lady”) – WINNER Sisley Choi (“Legal Mavericks”) Nina Paw (“The Unholy Alliance”) Nancy Wu (“The Unholy Alliance”) Nancy Sit (“The Tofu War”) Roxanne Tong (“The Tofu War”) Priscilla Wong (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Mandy Wong (“Nothing Special Force”) Ali Lee (“My Ages Apart”) Susanna Kwan (“Heart and Greed”) Louise Lee (“Heart and Greed”) Michelle Yim (“Heart and Greed”) Eliza Sam (“Heart and Greed”)
Opinion: Fourth shock of the evening. TVB really do it all wrong for the female categories. I’m really disappointed that Kristal Tin did not even make it into top 5 list as revealed in the ceremony. This is a big snub for Kristal as I find her performance in ‘Destination Nowhere’ is the best of all in 2017. It was such a challenging role and she nailed it, and yet a lot of people had simply forgotten or ignored her. She is my pick for best actress. Natalie Tong! Well, for me, she is not a leading actress material yet. My other choices would be Elena Kong, Nina Paw, Ali Lee or Jessica Hsuan. I never even have a sight on Natalie Tong and she prevailed in the end. I also disliked that drama ‘My Unfair Lady’. It was such a boring series.
Best Actor Tony Hung (“Recipes to Live By”) Wayne Lai (“May Fortune Smile on You”) Ben Wong (“Tiger Mom Blues”) Gallen Lo (“Provocateur”) Eddie Cheung (“The No No Girl”) Frankie Lam (“My Unfair Lady”) Vincent Wong (“Legal Mavericks”) – WINNER Raymond Cho (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Edwin Siu (“A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch”) Ruco Chan (“The Unholy Alliance”) Lai Yok Yi (“The Tofu War”) Pakho Chau (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Michael Miu (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Benjamin Yuen (“Line Walker: The Prelude”) Roger Kwok (“Oh My Grad”) Kenneth Ma (“The Exorcist’s Meter”) Bobby Au Yeung (“My Ages Apart”) Moses Chan (“My Ages Apart”) Ha Yu (“Heart and Greed”) Bosco Wong (“Heart and Greed”)
Opinion: Congratulation, Vincent Wong! He has an amazing role as a blind lawyer and he delivered in ‘Legal Mavericks’. I find both him and Kenneth Ma are equally good in 2017 and I have to give the edge to Kenneth Ma because of his seniority. Since Kenneth has won ‘My Popular TV Male Character’, Vincent must get something and so, here it is. However, I do find that he is a bit too early on winning best actor. I’m sure he would have plenty of great roles later on and hence having more chances to win this next time (but not Kenneth). That is why I felt bad for Kenneth in losing this one. I seriously don’t mind him winning both ‘My Favourite TV Male Character’ and this ‘Best Actor’.
Best Series “Rogue Emperor” “Recipes to Live By” “May Fortune Smile on You” “Burning Hands” “Tiger Mom Blues” “Destination Nowhere” “Lo and Behold” “Provocateur” “Married but Available” “My Dearly Sinful Mind” “The No No Girl” “My Unfair Lady” “Phoenix Rising” “Bet Hur” “Legal Mavericks” “A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch” “The Unholy Alliance” “The Tofu War” “Line Walker: The Prelude” “Nothing Special Force” “Oh My Grad” “The Exorcist’s Meter” “My Ages Apart” – WINNER “Heart and Greed”
Opinion: TVB should reveal the top 5 for this category. I’m particularly surprised by this outcome too. My preferred choice would be ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’. I didn’t watch ‘My Ages Apart’ but I do heard some good comments for that drama. I didn’t expect ‘those good comments’ (not really as critically-acclaimed as ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’) would translate to ‘best drama’ win, the last major prize of the evening. I didn’t expect a drama which is themed on nonsense and exaggerated stuff get to win this top honour.
Special 50th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Awards
Liza Wang, Luo Zhongbing
Opinion: This a special award to coincide with the station’s 50th anniversary and it replaces the usual lifetime achievement awards. That means Liza Wang is getting this prize again (she had won Lifetime Achievement before several years ago). The other one, Luo Zhongbing is a behind-the-scene man who worked relentlessly for TVB and is acknowledged now with this honour.
That’s it for TVB Anniversary Awards 2017. It concluded after a ceremony that slightly exceeded its planned two and a half hour broadcast time. ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’ took the most awards (3 – theme song, popular male character, and global netizens favourite series). ‘Legal Mavericks’ is just behind with 2 wins (best actor, popular female character). ‘A General, A Scholar, And An Eunuch’ also performed better than expectation with 2 wins (supporting actress, partnership). ‘The Unholy Alliance’ had one win (supporting actor). These are my favourite TVB series in 2017. And none of them won ‘best drama’ in the end as that prize went to ‘My Ages Apart’ (and I didn’t watch that because I don’t like drama that is excessively long…it has 50 episodes and I also don’t like its premise). ‘Heart and Greed’, the third installment to the highly successful ‘Heart of Greed’ franchise failed to win anything (unlike its predecessors that swept a lot of awards last time). Well, that is expected because this third installment is poorly made and is no where near the quality of the first two ones.
Alright. That’s a wrap up to TVB dramas and awards for year 2017. Now, it’s time to move on to new and coming dramas in 2018.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
My city, Kuala Lumpur is considered slow in terms of construction boom compared to many cities in China or even in our neighbouring South East Asian countries. However, there are several (actually multiple) interesting skyscraper projects on-going (either in construction stage or still in proposal phase) in the city currently that deserve some attention worldwide.
Before I proceed, do you know that building above 150 metres high is classified as a tall skyscraper. Building above 300 metres is then called supertall skyscraper while megatall skyscraper refers to building beyond 600 metres high (currently only three buildings in the world are megatalls; Burj Khalifa, Shanghai Tower and Mecca Royal Clock Tower). Based on data available from Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Kuala Lumpur has about nearly 50 tall skyscrapers (above 150 metres high) with 3 of them being supertalls (Petronas Twin Towers as two and Telekom Tower). Kindly take note that KL Tower (421 metres high) is a telecommunication tower and hence, not to be included.
The present five tallest buildings in the city are (as of 2016):
1. Petronas Twin Tower 1 (452 metres, 88 floors)
2. Petronas Twin Tower 2 (452 metres, 88 floors)
3. Telekom Tower (310 metres, 55 floors)
4. Ilham Tower (274 metres, 64 floors)
5. Petronas Tower 3 (267 metres, 60 floors)
The five tallest buildings in the city are all beyond 250 metres mark. Wonderful. KL can be considered home to plenty of skyscrapers eventhough we still lose out to bigger cities like Hong Kong, New York, Chicago, Shanghai, Dubai, etc.
The five tallest buildings currently under construction in the city are (as of 2016):
1. KL118 Tower (644 metres, 118 floors, to be completed in 2020).
2. Fairmont Kuala Lumpur Tower 1 (370 metres, 78 floors, to be completed in 2019). (Surprised of very lack of real data of this project despite it is already under-construction now)
3. Four Seasons Place (343 metres, 65 floors, to be completed in 2018).
4. Fairmont Kuala Lumpur Tower 2 (278 metres, 71 floors, to be completed in 2018).
5. Banyan Tree Signatures (240 metres, 55 floors, to be completed in 2016, that’s this year!).
Glad that there are still many skyscraper projects under construction in the city despite the poor economic situation especially the current crisis in the country. Wishing for these buildings above to be finished quick.
The five tallest buildings proposed in the city are (as of 2016):
The first design looks like a shorter version of Shanghai Tower. Second one looks quite good while the third one charms from its crown treatment. Hard to choose if you ask me.
3. Oxley Tower 1 (380 metres, 83 floors).
4. Oxley Tower 2 (380 metres, 83 floors).
5. Tradewinds Square Tower B (288 metres, 61 floors).
Hoping to see at least some of the proposals above get to be materialized very soon. But like I said earlier, the economic downturn in our country currently is not looking good to ‘breath life’ into these amazing proposals. If most of these projects (under-construction or under proposal) are to be really completed in the next five or ten years, then Kuala Lumpur would become a much denser city with a more stunning skyline to enjoy in near future. I’m looking forward to that!
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
This week is filled with tragic news of passing away of two notable Hollywood stars. They are David Bowie on 10th January 2016 and Alan Rickman on 14th January 2016. In 14th January 2016 (which also happens to be my eldest sister’s birthday as well as her eldest son’s birthday), Celine Dion’s husband, Rene Angelil also passed away. That makes the count to three. What a bad week especially to the fans of these legends.
I have actually not heard of David Bowie until after his death that I started to see many paying respect and tribute to this man all around in social networking sites. Perhaps it is most probably due to that his fame as a singer peaked at the time when I’m not even born yet. I’m not in the generation that listen to his songs, and hence not knowing him much. Hence, I need to do a bit of research about him first. David Bowie was an English singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, painter and actor. He was a figure in popular music for over five decades, and was considered by critics and other musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s.
Bowie’s songs and stagecraft brought a new dimension to popular music in the early 1970s, strongly influencing both its immediate forms and its subsequent development. A pioneer of glam rock, Bowie, according to music historians Schinder and Schwartz, has joint responsibility with Marc Bolan for creating the genre. At the same time, he inspired the innovators of the punk rock music movement. While punk musicians trashed the conventions of pop stardom, Bowie moved on again—into a more abstract style of music making that in turn became a transforming influence. Bowie’s impact was enormous; he changed the nature of rock music, and changed his own approach repeatedly. During his career, he sold an estimated 140 million records worldwide. In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, and in the US received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
He died of liver cancer on 10th January 2016, at the age of 69.
Rest In Peace, David Bowie.
Next is Alan Rickman. I guess many would not know who he is by just calling out his name. Well, he is the one portraying as Professor Severus Snape in all eight Harry Potter films. Ahhaa…now you knew him. Besides than his iconic role in the Harry Potter film franchise, I didn’t watch any of his other films unfortunately. He had actually starred in over 50 films. Back to the Harry Potter films, I do remember well of how wonderful he portrayed Snape, a professor whom at first people hated him as he was too cool, mean and unfriendly towards Harry Potter. However, as the film series progresses, people loved very much on his character which is actually a good and a caring person ‘after all this time’ to Harry Potter. We will miss you, Alan Rickman…ALWAYS.
A little biography of this wonderful man; Alan Rickman was an English actor and director, known for playing a variety of roles on stage and screen, often as a complex antagonist. Rickman was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in modern and classical theatre productions. His first big television part came in 1982, but his big break was as the Vicomte de Valmont in the stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Rickman gained wider notice for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series. In 1995, Rickman earned a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of the title character in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny. He won a BAFTA Award for his role in Robin Hood.
He died of cancer on 14th January 2016, at the age of 69 too.
Rest In Peace, Alan Rickman.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
After giving my attention on several supertall skyscrapers under construction in China in my previous blog post, it’s time to shift back the focus to one supertall also currently undergoing construction back in my home city, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the controversial KL118 Tower. Why I said it is controversial? Because the project is receiving much more criticism than praise from the citizens regarding the need of the city for another supertall building. People also questioned that the budget (over RM 5 billion) allocated for it may be of better use in other areas. It is also criticized for its location as the site of the project is in the vicinity of many heritage buildings (Petaling Street, Stadium Merdeka, Stadium Negara, Methodist Boys School, Victoria Institution, etc) and the tower and its surrounding proposed complex development will leaves huge impact and further heavy traffic to the area.
Whatever the criticisms are, the project is given the nod to proceed but not much details are publicized about the tower since then. The KL118 Tower makes up part of a complex of development known as Warisan Merdeka (Heritage Independence) development that also includes residential towers, shopping mall, etc. The tower itself has 118 floors, and will easily surpass Petronas Twin Towers (452 metres high) as the tallest building in Malaysia. There has been speculations till now over the final height of the tower. Previously, it is tipped to be slightly over 500 metres. Then, the height is revised to allow the building to go taller without adding more floors by amending the design of the spire, the finishing crown to the skyscraper.
So, what’s the height it would be? Based on the elevations or sections drawings available (leaked online), the building will be slightly over 600 metres. The height indicated from the ground floor is at about 75 metres till the top showing 715 metres. Hence, after the reduction, the building will reach full height of 640 metres. However, I think the structure / antenna above the spire will not be counted as the architectural height of the building. Hence, the final height of the tower would be about 610 metres. And there is a feeling in me that I think the tower will be of 615.7 metres (2020 feet high) in the end, to coincide with Wawasan (Vision) 2020; the year 2020 of which we targeted to achieve the high-income / developed nation status for Malaysia. It is also the year the tower would be opened to the public after its estimated completion in 2019.
Scale comparison of KL118 Tower (third from left) with other built supertall skyscrapers in the world. Petronas Twin Towers are on the most right:
Architectural drawings (plan, sections & elevations) of KL118 Tower. Here you can see quite clearly how the spire looks like, and the observation and viewing sky decks occupy four floors of the tower. And there’s a restaurant on level 113! :
Current site condition ( 2014 – 2019, now still construction at foundation and base level, long way to go):
When completed, it will be one of the top ten tallest buildings in the world (probably in 6th or 7th place). Now, after seeing more images / renderings of the tower, what is your thought on its design which is obviously based on diamond. KL118 Tower (I think the name will change later on when it is opened) is designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects, an Australian architectural firm. It’s a nice, sleek and futuristic design, but I hope that they can do more on its elevations and its top part which is a bit boring. It is not as appealing or as impressive if compared to Petronas Twin Towers besides than its height. Still, KL118 Tower would be a good addition to the skyline of KL.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
It has been a while since I last posted updates of several skyscrapers currently under construction in China. The country is no stranger when it comes to building extremely tall buildings, especially in their mega cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, etc. Here below are updates (latest construction images that will surely take your breath away) of four supertall skyscrapers in China currently under construction, but will very soon be completed.
Shanghai Tower, Shanghai – 632 metres, 128 floors. (topped out a year ago, pending interior works, testing of decorative lighting of building in progress)
Ping An International Finance Centre, Shenzhen – 588 metres, 115 floors. (structure and cladding rising very quickly)
CTF Finance Centre, Guangzhou – 530 metres, 111 floors. (topped out, cladding in quick progress)
Goldin Finance 117 Tower, Tianjin – 600 metres, 117 floors. (structure rising quickly, cladding still long way to go)
Don’t forget that these are only the under-construction mega skyscrapers in China that ARE NEARING COMPLETION. I didn’t include in many other on-going supertall building constructions in the country that are still years from finished. The 4 skyscrapers above are all above 500 metres mark respectively, and are scheduled to be completed and opened to public either this year or 2016. Impressive images, aren’t they? Simply breathtaking.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
The 72nd Golden Globe Awards, a major Hollywood award presentation to recognize the best in both films and television works for the past year was held successfully last night with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning as the host of the ceremony for the third consecutive times. They were very entertaining (more hilarious than Ellen DeGeneres hosting Oscars last year) as expected. Too bad, this is the last time that they would be hosting since their contract ended, but that made way for them to go beyond limit to make fun of several things at the night.
I’m very excited when the results were announced for the awards of which I’m only interested on the film categories since I didn’t watch any US dramas or series. Hereby is the full result of the just concluded 72nd Golden Globe Awards in film categories which is always seen as a hint to the coming Oscars:
Best Motion Picture – Drama Boyhood – WINNER
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Comment: Already knew from the very beginning that ‘Boyhood’ will take the highest honor for the night. It received universal acclaims (very positive overwhelming feedbacks), but not for me, who think that this is just an ordinary coming-of-age film. Prefer the brilliant film of ‘The Theory of Everything’ to take this. ‘Boyhood’ will continue its streak to win best film in BAFTAs and Academy too.
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Birdman The Grand Budapest Hotel – WINNER
Into the Woods
Pride
St Vincent
Comment: Didn’t watch all of the nominated films above. Hence, no comment.
Best Director
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Ava DuVernay (Selma)
David Fincher (Gone Girl)
Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) Richard Linklater (Boyhood) – WINNER
Comment: Eventhough I’m not really in favor of ‘Boyhood’, but I do admired the idea of filming the whole thing in 12 years for a more realistic outcome. That’s a long span of time to come to this stage of winning awards. So, Richard Linklater deserved this.
Best Actress – Drama
Jennifer Aniston (Cake)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) Julianne Moore (Still Alice) – WINNER
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
Comment: Everyone in this category is strong, but since everyone is also saying that Julianne Moore is long overdue for award, so things get easier here. Julianne Moore all the way. She deserved it, plus her outstanding performance in ‘Still Alice’ tells it all. She’s a great actress.
Best Actor – Drama
Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
David Oyelowo (Selma) Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) – WINNER
Comment: Very happy for Eddie Redmayne to win this. Another very deserving win. The role of Stephen Hawking in ‘The Theory of Everything’ is absolutely challenging in all levels but Eddie nailed the character fantastically. Then, at one point, I’m in pity for Benedict Cumberbatch and ‘The Imitation Game’ to go home empty handed despite it is another marvelous film last year.
Best Actress – Musical or Comedy Amy Adams (Big Eyes) – WINNER
Emily Blunt (Into The Woods)
Helen Mirren (The Hundred-Foot Journey)
Julianne Moore (Maps to the Stars)
Quvenzhané Wallis (Annie)
Comment: No comment as I didn’t watch all the films above (same goes to the category below). I’m fine with Amy Adams winning.
Best Actor – Musical or Comedy
Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel) Michael Keaton (Birdman) – WINNER
Bill Murray (St. Vincent)
Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice)
Christoph Waltz (Big Eyes)
Comment: Everyone is saying Michael Keaton. And so, it’s him. He is a strong contender now for Best Actor in the Oscar race too. Luckily, Eddie’s win in ‘Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama’ put him at least in a strong position to challenge Michael Keaton in the best actor race, while Benedict Cumberbatch now appeared to be a bit pushed back in current situation. It will be Michael Keaton vs. Eddie Redmayne in Academy. But I think it would be the former, eventhough I prefer the latter.
Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) – WINNER
Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
Emma Stone (Birdman)
Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)
Comment: Glad for Patricia Arquette to win this from her role as the mother in ‘Boyhood’. No characters in the film captivates me except her. She is on the winning streak to win all best supporting actress awards now.
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Edward Norton (Birdman)
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher) J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) – WINNER
Comment: Also happy for J.K. Simmons to win this. Didn’t watch ‘Whiplash’, but looking from all the buzz in favor of him to win, then I automatically joined in the crowd. He is also winning almost all other best supporting actor awards available.
Best Screenplay
Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo (Birdman) – WINNER
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Graham Moore (The Imitation Game)
Comment: This one turned to be quite a surprise. I’m not into a comedy film taking best screenplay. I prefer Graham Moore for ‘The Imitation Game’ to at least win this (only one).
Best Foreign Language Film
Force Majeure (Sweden)
Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem (Israel)
Ida (Poland/Denmark) Leviathan (Russia) – WINNER
Tangerines (Estonia)
Comment: No comment on this definitely. Never even heard of these films.
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero Six
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls How to Train Your Dragon 2 – WINNER
The Lego Movie
Comment: This is the major surprise of the night. Everyone is predicting ‘The Lego Movie’, but it turned out to be the dragons that prevail, not Lego bricks. But I prefer ‘The Lego Movie’ to win this actually. It’s a slightly more brilliant animated film last year, but still ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ is good.
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game) Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything) – WINNER
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (Gone Girl)
Antonio Sanchez (Birdman)
Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)
Comment: Okay with ‘The Theory of Everything’ to win this. Beautiful score in the movie.
Best Original Song
Big Eyes (Big Eyes) Glory (Selma) – WINNER
Mercy Is (Noah)
Opportunity (Annie)
Yellow Flicker Beat (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1)
Comment: Also no comment on this song category. I have only heard of the one in ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1).
That’s it. The end of Golden Globes. So now, just stay back and wait for the official nomination list for 87th Academy Awards (Oscars) to be released by end of this week. The ceremony will take place on 22nd February 2015.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
Golden Globes serves as the first of the three major awards presentation to honour the best of motion pictures for the past year. The other two would be the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (simply known as BAFTA) and the prestigious Academy Awards (famously known as Oscars). 71st Golden Globes Awards was held on 12th January 2014, while the last two would be somewhere in February or latest March to wrap up the awards season for films released in year 2013.
Hence, Golden Globes also sometimes or quite precisely serves as the precursor or contributes a hint or two to BAFTA and Academy Awards. Hereby is the full list of winners for the 71st Golden Globes Awards:
MOTION PICTURES
Picture, Drama: “12 Years a Slave.”
Picture, Musical or Comedy: “American Hustle.”
Actor, Drama: Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club.”
Actress, Drama: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine.”
Director: Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity.”
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Amy Adams, “American Hustle.”
Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club.”
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle.”
Foreign Language: “The Great Beauty.”
Animated Film: “Frozen.”
Screenplay: Spike Jonze, “Her.”
Original Score: Alex Ebert, “All Is Lost.”
Original Song: “Ordinary Love” (music by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. and Brian Burton, lyrics by Bono), “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”
(Shown above is ‘American Hustle’, the biggest winner of the awards this year, taking home 3 trophies, while ’12 Years A Slave’ won only one, but is the last major award of the night; Best Motion Picture – Drama)
Overall comment: I didn’t watch most of the nominated films this year. Hence, nothing much to say. For best animated film, I’m happy that ‘Frozen’ wins. It truly stands out among the rest (the other nominated are The Croods and Despicable Me 2). I’m quite sure it will win for Oscars too. But I’m a bit surprised it lost for best original song category. Jennifer Lawrence is always great on her performance and I had no doubt seeing her winning best supporting actress in ‘American Hustle’ (this I didn’t watch). Leonardo DiCaprio and Amy Adams are both great too, and I’m happy they win. Also satisfied with ‘Gravity’ winning best director for Alfonso Cuaron. I watched this movie and it is wonderful! Too bad, Sandra Bullock couldn’t get best actress for this movie. I watched ‘Captain Phillips’ recently and it was another surprisingly good movie with Tom Hanks in it but it lost out both for best picture and best actor. Lastly, I already expected ’12 Years A Slave’ would win Best Motion Picture – Drama since it has received the best critical acclaims among others this year. I haven’t watch it, but I don’t think I would have interest on this kind of usually-boring movie.
TELEVISION
Series, Drama: “Breaking Bad.”
Actor, Drama: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad.”
Actress, Drama: Robin Wright, “House of Cards.”
Series, Musical or Comedy: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation.”
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Andy Samberg, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
Miniseries or Movie: “Behind the Candelabra.”
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Elisabeth Moss, “Top of the Lake.”
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Michael Douglas, “Behind the Candelabra.”
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jacqueline Bisset, “Dancing on the Edge.”
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan.”
Overall comment: I didn’t watch Hollywood’s television series. So, no comment. I still stick to Cantonese dramas.
So now, looking forward to next month for the 67th BAFTA Film Awards on 16th February 2014 and finally, the 86th Academy Awards on 2nd March 2014. This year’s Oscars is quite late, and I’m excited for Ellen DeGeneres, a very popular and funny comedian to host the awards’ ceremony. Nomination for it will be released on 16th January 2014. That’s just few more days later.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
Hong Kong entertainment mogul, Sir Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫) passed away today at the age of 106. He is popularly known as ‘六叔’ (Uncle Six) in Chinese-populated regions in Asia Pacific. Still didn’t know who he is? Well, he was the founder of Shaw Brothers Studio, a very famous production company in Hong Kong and also one of the largest in the world. He also founded Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), the dominating television company in Hong Kong from its start to the present days for almost five decades. Not as a mean of disrespect, but I have been curious all the time as I find his name in English is a bit weird (called Run Run Shaw). Anybody could answer me that? Anyway, that’s not important. His success story is more important.
Without him, there wouldn’t be Shaw Brothers, the company behind many past successful Hong Kong trademark films. Without him, there wouldn’t be TVB too, that offers us countless of Cantonese television programmes and dramas since almost half a century ago. Under his leadership in the past, both Shaw Brothers and TVB had also been acting as strong platforms to produce many Asian superstars till these days like Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung, etc. As the ‘father’ of TVB and a pioneer of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, his contribution was beyond boundary.
He was born in year 1907, at the time when emperor still rules the country. He initially started his business venture at Singapore to market films to Chinese community in South East Asia. That was in late 1920s. Then his business expanded to Malaya (now Malaysia, my country) with opening of over a hundred cinemas by 1940. He and his brother had also established Malay Film Productions in Singapore. That was his early years of success. By 1957, he went to Hong Kong which was the centre of the Chinese film industry at the time and established the Shaw Brothers a year later. From there on, he settled in Hong Kong. In 1960s, Shaw Brothers was noted as Asia’s biggest movie producer. In 1967, he co-founded TVB, the first free-to-air TV station in Hong Kong, and growing it into a multi-billion dollar TV empire. He had also established Shaw Prize, annual international awards for scientists in three areas of research, namely astronomy, mathematics, and life and medical science. The prize, known as the ‘Nobel Prize of the East’ first started in 2004.
He only retired in 2011 at the age of 104. To recognize and honour his contribution, he had been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1974 and received knighthood in 1977 from Queen Elizabeth II and the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in 1998. He had also been awarded several honorary degree from various universities. In 2007, in conjunction with his 100th birthday, he was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at Hong Kong Film Awards. Just on December last year, he received the prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Special Award for his outstanding contribution to cinema.
I used to see him appearing on several TVB shows few years back, usually in awards ceremony and for the station’s anniversary gala celebration. He would be sitting on the front row (definitely) and was accompanied with former Miss Hong Kong pageant. In recent years, he was no longer attending these shows due to his old age. Well, he is certainly blessed to have live such a long and fruitful life. It’s so hard to live over 100 years old. That’s over a century. He must have witnessed a lot of things in his life. His death today must have been a heartbreaking news to countless Hong Kong artists whom individually found success under him. Nevertheless, his legacy as the ‘Godfather of the Chinese Silver Screen’ will be forever remembered. May he rest in peace.
(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)
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