Friday, August 22, 2008

TVB's Heart Of Greed / Moonlight Resonance cast - Dinner @ Noble Banquet, Bukit Bintang

I had been following Astro's Wah Lai Toi "Heart Of Greed" TVB series when I sighted a contest being held to meet with the cast of the series over dinner in Kuala Lumpur. Checking out Astro's website, I clicked on AstroLife and entered the contest. Couple of days later, I told Mom about the contest and she was skeptical that I would be able to win her the chance to meet with the cast. I like the drama but I entered the contest more for my mother as I know she would be thrilled to meet them up close and personal.

I had forgotten about the contest till I received an email from Astro...

" Thank you for participating in the recent "Heart Of Greed" Contest organized by AstroLife and TVB. We are pleased to inform you that you have won 2 invitations to the溏心夜宴Heart of Greed Dinner with the invited 溏心风暴Heart of Greed stars (Ms Louise Lee (李司棋), Mr Ha Yu (夏雨), Ms Michelle Yim (米雪), Mr Moses Chan (陈豪), Mr Raymond Lam (林峰), Ms Tavia Yeung (杨怡) and Mr Louis Yuen Siu-Cheung (阮兆祥) at this event.
Please find below for the details of the event:
Date : 16th August 2008 (Saturday)
Time : 7.00pm – 10.30pm
Attire : Smart casual
Venue : Noble Banquet 阳城宴会厅, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur"



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(L-R) Raymond Lam Fung, Tavia Yeung, Louise Lee, Har Yu, Michelle Yim, Moses Chan Ho, Louise Yuen

I was excited for my mom but couldn't let her know till the next morning as she had already turned in for the night when I read that email. I was wide awake that night and had trouble falling asleep and was already up at 7 am. When I finally got hold of my mom on the phone and told her the good news, she didn't seem to believe me! It took me a couple more minutes to go over the news before it jolted her senses and she was indeed happy!

So, came August 16 (we had to "abandon" my sis and Aly, who were here in Malaysia visiting) and made our way to Noble Banquet. We were speculating how many people will be attending and thought maybe there will be about 7 tables and hopefully one TVB star will sit at one table each. Well, that was wishful thinking...

When we reached there we found out there were 50 tables of invited guests (500 people in attendance!!!) and my hopes were dashed to take photos of them, let alone WITH them. Security was rather tight and I managed to shove my camera in an opening along with many others to just click away at whatever was there! They were sitting in enclosed section with some VIPs and media folks, taking photos with the VIPs and signing autographs away.
Raymond Lam, Moses Chan, Louise Lee & Har Yu




Moses Chan Ho
Hahaha...Moses Chan saw me at one point and he decided to smile and pose for me, so sweet of him. With that, he won me over and I'm now a fan of his! Here's a collage of Moses Chan's pics (the ones with the vertical strips in the background were the ones taken through a small gap, the other two from the stage).
Louise Lee & Moses Chan
A shot of Moses Chan having a chat with Louise Lee through the opening too!

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Here's part of the cast of Heart Of Greed / Moonlight Resonance. Of course if you had VIP access, one would have been able to take a proper shot like this! Hahaha...

We were then told to take our seat as dinner would be served shortly. At the same time, Episode 39 and 40 (the finale) of Heart Of Greed would be telecast on the big screen and LCD TVs for all to see (a couple of hours earlier than the actual screening time for Astro subscribers that night). The 7 cast members then made their way to stage and I decided to take a chance and rush towards the front and had the opportunity to stand on the first row! Here are some of the photos I took...Precious Pea, there's Moses and Tavia for you ;o)

collage3
Raymong Lam Fung & Moses Chan Ho

Tavia Yeung, Michelle Yim
Tavia Yeung & Michelle Yim

Louis Yuen, Raymond Lam, Moses Chan - 3 Men & A Baby
Three Men & A Baby - Louis Yuen, Raymond Lam Fung & Moses Chan Ho. Seconds after this shot was taken, the baby was crying for his mother! I'm sure most of us won't cry if we were in Raymond Lam Fung's arms! Hehehe...
Tavia Yeung, Michelle Yim, Louise Lee
The photographers asked Tavia Yeung, Michelle Yim and Louise Lee to give the thumbs up and say something good for one of the sponsors, Wong Lo Kat (the herbal drink)!

Tavia Yeung
Tavia Yeung kinda reminds me of a younger version of our Malaysian Michelle Yeoh.

Tavia Yeung, Michelle Yim, Louise Lee, Har Yu
Tavia Yeung, Michelle Yim, Louise Lee & Har Yu

Raymond Lam Fung
Raymond Lam Fung - who sang a song for us during dinner

Noble Banquet's Yummy Food
The food at Noble Banquet was good! Here's some shots of the food
From 12 o'clock (anti clockwise)
Individually foil wrapped Abalone with mushroom and wheat gluten resting on a bed of stones set on fire with alcohol (pic right below); Deep Fried Fish Fillet drizzled with Wasabi Mayonnaise served with diced Honey Dew Salad; Pumpkin Ball with sweet peas, celery and carrots; Individually wrapped Lotus leaf rice; Salt Baked Chicken and for dessert, Chinese Pancake and Custard Sponge cakes.

IMG_3835 Table 40_tn
At this point, I was just happy that I got the opportunity to take photos of the TVB cast on stage. Astro had a photographer going round taking photos of the guests from each table. It was nice of Astro to take note and send the photos to us via email after the event. Here we are, Table 40.

Towards the end of the dinner, the emcee made an announcement that there will be a lucky draw to pick three table numbers and the winners will be able to take a group photo with the cast. I encouraged the rest of the guests on Table 40 to chant our number...The emcee called out, "9". Our heart sank a little. Then he said "9+1, 10!", our heart sank further. We kept chanting, "40, 40, 40, 40, 40...till he called out, "Lastly 20"! We were disappointed and I was telling myself that we should not have been deprived of taking a pic with the cast. Then suddenly, the emcee announced, "We still have a bit more time left and have decided to draw another number to take a group photo with the cast". Our faces lit up and we started chanting again...till the emcee said "40!!!!". Everyone at Table 40 squealed in excitement and couldn't believe our luck!
Pic with Heart Of Greed's cast
All the guest at Table 40 went home happy that night. So, I manage to take photos of the TVB cast and also take a photo with them. Albeit not alone, it was still a privilege as not many had a chance to. Mom even manage to shake hands with Moses, Tavia, Michelle and Louise! We left Noble Banquet happily and I was happy that Mom was happy. Like my brother said, "You made Mom's day, no...you made Mom's year!". Hahaha....and Astrolife helped me ;o) Now, I'm looking forward to seeing the TVB cast again in Moonlight Resonance.

Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy. ~Gretta Brooker Palmer



34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wahh, they are such professionals! Can you imagine having to keep smiling and smiling and smiling for all those hours? :P

Anonymous said...

Haiye... so lucky of you!! So Moses is indeed a lady killer lah :P

I don't watch TVB dramas by the way... too much conflict.

HairyBerry said...

yerrr, you always win competitions one...i'm so jealous.... ;D

what a nice dinner that! with the hottest tvb stars somemore...a duet between you and raymond would have been fantastic! ;D

MochaSourcream said...

Oooo... lucky u... had dinner with leng chai n leng lui... envy envy... totally agree with your quote that u will be happy when u make others happy!! Thumbs up

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! You have some lovely pictures there! Have no idea what TVB's Heart of Greed is, but looks like it's popular!

Big Boys Oven said...

wow! we are so happy for you, having such a great chance of a life time to meet up with fantastic cast of actors and actresses!

J2Kfm said...

wah ... so so lucky la u! the food comes a close second, the glittering cast deserves all the attention.

wmw said...

Kenny : Yes, but I think smiling is still doable, but not having to talk for hours, hehehe...

Jason : I can understand why Moses Chan is such a ladykiller as he exudes a very warm personality.

Nic : Haha...Eh,you forgot that I'm a Chinese "banana"? I would definitely be dumbstruck if I went on stage; in awe of Raymond Lam, having stage fright and not knowing a single word to sing! LOL!

mochasourcream : Thanks, yes...that's one of the ways to find happiness :o).

Lyrical L : Hahaha...thanks. I hardly have time to go online for chat nowadays but I'm sure if you ask Precious P, she'll tell you all about it (Pssst....she has Astro On Demand!).

BBO : Thanks, it's a nice feeling!

j2kfm : Yeah, the food came second but most of the dishes were surprisingly good.

Precious Pea said...

I like the collage of Moses especially the one on the bottom left. SO SO SO SO SO SO CUTE!!! Thank you for thinking of me. Hahaha! And also how come the group photo you so front? If i were you, i would go behind and stand in the middle of moses and raymond. Eee....so excited. You should watch Moonlight Resonance. MUCH MUCH MUCH nicer than Heart of Greed.

Tummythoz said...

Starstruck! But-hor, Raymond Lam Fung looked a bit blur.

Your luck (or is it ability) to win contests never ceased to amaze me. Congrats to both u & your happy happy mom!

Anonymous said...

Yerrr!! I luuuurve Moses, and kenot see the photos!! :(

This show is what ppl call Pau Yue, issit? And the one Moses won for Best Actor or something?

You have a really lucky streak eh? Next time must collaborate with you on contests! You buy lottery or not wan?? :D

Glad your mum had a good time! :)

Sharon Y. said...

Wow... it's Dining with The Stars!

Anonymous said...

When I read Kenny's comments, I am reminded of me smiling at my wedding. Even though I did not give much speech, just many "thank yous", my mouth was sore at the end of the day. :)

p/s That's a good photo of you at the end. Hope to see more of you in future photos. :)

wmw said...

Precious P : Shhh...who says I'm in front leh??? Hahaha...

Tummythoz : My mom was happier than me, hehe! He wasn't blur, more like aloof!

kat : Especially for you, I have sent you the same pics separately to your gmail account :o) Yeah, it's the Pau Yue show...Tong Sum Foong Po. Oh, did you know about two months back, I also won a iPod Shuffle from Astro, hehe...

Durianberry : Well, more like dining in the same banquet hall as the star ;o).

Lee Ping : Long time no "read" from you! Thanks for dropping by. Yah hor, wedding dinner have to keep smiling and smiling also. Hahaha...

Anonymous said...

Wahhh.... Moses looks delicious!! So much better than pretty-boy-in-green-cardigan. Best set of pearly whites too... :D
Thanks! :)

Beachlover said...

I watch this drama when I was in KL..I still didn't see "The End".and my family keep watching Korean drama all the time:(Lucky you..Next time put my name too,OK?

Precious Pea said...

Opppsss!!

Anonymous said...

Is this the 2nd Serial intro? I am trying to get the DVDs from KL but apparently not out yet.

蓝双子 said...

hey, really nice pictures u got here... kekeke...

i still miss the dinner very much ler..

wmw said...

Kat: Yah, initially I like Raymond more than Moses but after dinner that night, I now like Moses more than Raymond!

beachlover : Ooooh, just google for the synopsis and find out the ending then :o)

Precious P : Hahaha....

jencooks : No, not the 2nd series..still from the 1st one, Heart Of Greed. The 2nd one is "Moonlight Resonance"

bluegemini: Still thinking about the dinner till now? Hahaha, yah lo, that was one special dinner.

Simon Seow said...

Lucky you. Yueng Yi so pretty. I want to picture with her. lol. They didn't use your group photo for the newspaper. If not I would have seen you in it.

choi yen said...

Wow, what a lucky girl~~ *envy*envy*

Btw, I'm watching the 2nd series - "Moonlight Resonance"

ai wei said...

yerrrrrrrrr. so nice. *envy envy* and there is moses n raymond. both are my fave!

Anonymous said...

Aiyah Chan Ho!! He so man ah!! That ex-gf of his shld stick with him ah!
I wanna tell Maei Suet also I've been watching her movies (1970s) and dramas with Ngah Si TV(1980s) why she no grow old one. That Shirley sister of her no more acting liao ah...where is she now? Bad bad man she met...

Actually I don't watch TVB dramas since early 90s. Just read them on newspaper everyday cannot escape when u read Chinese papers.

wmw said...

Simon : Doesn't Tavia look like a young Michelle Yeoh? Hahaha...maybe Astroview magazine next time got.

mimid3vils : MR better than HOG???

ai wei : Yalah, the two most leng chai around. Bosco leh?

jo : Huh? I dunno about Shirley and the bad bad man she met. You must tell me next time we meet up.

Ethan W. said...

Wah, apa ni?

I just realized that Raymond's green over-shirt thing in the first picture looks too tight on him!

Not manly man already D:<

wmw said...

Ethan : Yah, hence why I like Moses more since than night ;o)

Anonymous said...

Holy Moly..!! yer so LUCKKKYYYY.. GIRL..!!! i'm a big fan of this show..!!! i wanna meet them too..!!

Anonymous said...

Can i used your photos..?? in my entertainment blog.. and credit it back to you..?? please donch feel obligated ya.. if you donch want. no biggie at all.

wmw said...

C-Rex : Yah, that night there were 500 fans in attendance! Good series.

Mama Bok : Can, you can use the pics, it's got my watermark already...no worries. Remember to send me the link when that post is up, wanna see ;o)

Unknown said...

Ooo.. you got to meet the cast!
I watch too much TVB dramas during the weekends on cable tv that during the weekdays, I realise I am watching repeats! LOL

wmw said...

Keropok Man : Wah! You're that hooked? :o)

Anonymous said...

Already posted up.. but gonna do another write up.. so busy these few days.. coz' the brat went to school first time. Here's the link.. http://www.crazychinesewoman.com/2008/09/moonlight-resonance-cast-live-in-malaysia/

Many thanks again..! yer the best..!

wmw said...

Mama Bok : You're most welcome!