Akazukin, wow! you're pretty fast at translating! Tks for posting it here. Just voted for Steven and Tavia.

Everybody is watching Sits through RB eyes. So very unfair! Right from the onset,TVB has never done Sits any favors, and now it is hard selling to skeptical, if not biased viewers. Reminisce of Steven as Leon Lai's lookalike gimmick which backfired. Anyway, que sera sera, what will be, will be!

I don't know about being pretty fast, but maybe if I was, I should slow down, because I did do some mistakes in the translation, and some of them are pretty silly. or maybe I just shouldn't do translation works at night.

Thank you for voting.



Now everything can swing both ways. The hypes of SITS through RB may create prejudice in some people but it also makes sure that a lot of people know about this drama. Now with people having a pre-conception that SITS is exactly like RB, just that it's a worse version, they might be taken a surprise when they watch SITS (if they do) that the series are different in contents. Since they didn't have much expectation for SITS, they might not easily get disappointed.

But it's no question I'm worried still. Like you said, the so-called strategy to sell Steven as Leon's look alike is an unwise one. And we know the result. For SITS vs RB, it's also a gamble, I'd rather TVB dragged both SG and RB into the promotion of SITS rather than RB alone. But I guess my purpose of creating that poll was to show TVB that if in case, not many people are watching SITS for RB, TVB would know that their strategy didn't work and they have actually relied on their artistes/production themselves and start to value SITS on its own merits. Like you, I have voted for Steven and Tavia too.

True, there's always a silver lining in every cloud.

Talking about expectations, be they low or high, the Sits hype seems to focus mainly on Stevia and their supposedly intense love-hate relationship, decidedly relegating Raymond's character to back burner. Imo, the Stevia hype is setting up Stevia fans for a great disappointment because though their relationship is intense, it is too bare-bones to fully satisfy whetted appetites. Conversely, because of neutral expectations towards Raymond; his character and performance, on the other hand, will stand out more and, therefore, will pleasantly surprise the viewers. Ironically, Steven fans and Raymond fans both cried foul on 'unfairness' to their respective idol. lol! On one hand, Steven fans complaint that although being billed as the main male lead thus having to take on the pressure and obligations that goes with it, actuality belies his billing and status. On the other hand, Raymond fans gripe that he is being overlooked in all these Sits hype when again, actuality proves otherwise. Haha!

Tomorrow cannot come fast enough!
Here's another write up on Sits



------------------------------
Onto a different subject:
It has been semi-confirmed though not locked in that Steven's next series will be a 20 ep. modern series entitled 誘情轉駁 (sth like: Fight against love temptation (?)) and his 2 female co-stars will be Yoyo Mung and Fala Chen. Production will commence in late July. The Producer is 徐遇安 - the same producer for SOL. The news is based on MingPao and Fala's leak, while the title of the series is from Stephen Chan's tvb blog. He wrote that the story will be a strange/bizarre relationship. We'll see!

I'm lukewarm about Yoyo Mung as I’ve never being impressed by her acting starting with HH 3(?), later in Dr. No & HOG. But then again, I haven't watched too many of her series. But like I did with all Steven’s female co-stars (爱屋及乌), I will keep an open mind and reserve opinions until I’ve watched the series. Which works out well in the past, because ‘dubious’ partnerships always turned out better than expected, and in some cases, actually knocked me off my socks.

To refresh our memory on how Steven looks as a baldie in suits, check out this video shot taken in 2007 tvb anniversary event. What a cutie!
Steven as a baldie - steven baidu

eta:
While surfing utube, I came across the video below. His performance as the defeated and exiled Chu Emperor in 2006 TVB anniversary program 2 days (?) after his eye accident. Steven came out at 2:19

He sings out the sadness, homesickness and longing, the helplessness and loneliness of a defeated Emperor, all so very poignantly projected through his voice, demeanor, bearing and gestures. His aristocratic and dignified bearing, and his noble but sad demeanor, and that 'royal' strut of his,(at 3:26) are all so impeccably done.

Not necessarily true. Except for calender 2005, Steven was on all TVB calendars even though he was never TVB managed until 2006 when he presumably and reportedly signed up as TVB managed artiste. (not so sure now )

calendars 2001 - 2003


calendars 2004

2006

2007

2008

2009



click image to enlarge.

pix reposted from: steven baidu

[TVB weekly vol.624]《蒲松齡》狐仙法拉反串撩女仔


source: LC reposted from:steven-ma.org

tamaya, I will be going on a trip today for one week, so I might not be able to come and post during this week. It's a pity I will miss the important moments of SITS first week airing and functions, but I hope I get to see a lot of nice pics and read nice things when I return. I'm sorta in a hurry so I haven't got the time to wait for the youtube clips to load and haven't read the magazine about PSL yet, hope you are going to translate it for us.

How come Steven in PSL costume was using the float which looked so modern?

I'm not too sure about the calendar thing, I was basing it on the usual treatment TVB takes to its calendar, usually those who are not TVB-managed are not in the calendar. But perhaps, Steven can be an exception. I'm not sure.



I agree, most Stevia fans will be taken in for a disappointment in SITS, but then I am one of the exceptions because I grow to love them even more after SITS. And though their screentime is not so much, it is already a huge leap from LOW days. Well, while the fans/audiences argued back and forth about these two male leads, the female lead actually sorta get ignored. But it's okay, Tavia's fans can still live comfortably with it since she gets to get two special guys.



Well, Steven's fans finally got what they wish for Steven to be partnered with a more experienced actress. As for Yoyo, I used to think she was a nuisance to lead since I didn't think she was pretty and found her acting bland (in Good Against Evil (series with Deric and Tavia), and The W Files), but my view of her changed after The Charm Beneath. Her acting was also good in Father and Son, so if you want a warm startup to Yoyo, probably you can watch these two series (The Charm Beneath and Father and Son - she share good chemistry with both Moses and Bobby respectively). Her performance in HOG is only so so, not particularly good nor bad. But since HOG, Yoyo's image hasn't been so good in HK, especially after her involvement with Ekin Cheng, and she has been heavily criticised for her acting in Threshold of Persona, even though they only based it in the first episode. Well, I would still prefer Yoyo to Linda any day, and Fala has a lot of potential in her. So this time round, the partners don't seem too bad for Steven from my point of view. Seems like Steven is on a roll these days for a series with 1 guy and 2 girls relationship. Perhaps TVB thinks it's too slow for Steven to mentor one at each time, they assigned him two at each time now (j/k). She has been in the industry for quite long.

Tavia in Sits & photo wrongly posted in Steven's tvb blog
haha! Those careless tvb blog manager. Unbelievable! (shake head)



Akazukin, have a safe trip. I think Steven was just fooling around with the life saver probably after the take.

48 Sits promotional event pix in steven-ma.org

[url="http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg116/clayling/tamaya/sits/sits2-2.jpg"]

bottom 3 pix credit Tungstar

^ thanks for the photos! I was just rewatching SITS....the scene where Steven was infected with that disease was really awesome! Made me more of a fan, but as usual, his work is always of high standard.

I hope they air the modern series with Tavia and Steven soon! Just watching SITS makes me anticipate this series even more! Hope they get a happy ending. I'm off to catch up on my Steven-fandom by reading earlier posts

Welcome Akane - a semi Steven fan, make yourself at home here. So as not to get lost in your self-guided tour here, I suggest you check out the catalog of translations here Enjoy your stay!


"Sweetness in the Salt" Promo
Sunday June 7, 2009 Hong Kong
Credits to tungstar, stevenma.org, tavia.org, and the-sun
Credits: translation to hyn5 @ hynt5-hyn5.blogspot.com

Producer, Lee Tim Sing laughs and says the series will not beat "Rosy Business" in ratings.
Leading lady, Tavia Yeung admits that there is a lot of pressure, and says, "We do have confidence [in the series] because the series did very well in Canada [and overseas]. Both "Salt" and "Rosy" are series about essential items, and my character changes from a naive person that knows nothing to a boss of the house hold. The similarity it [the character] has with Sheren's fourth wife, is that they both are very brave."

"A Watchdog's Tale" was originally supposed to air, but TVB decided to air "Salt" because of the success of "Rosy". Steven Ma praises Sheren Tang and Wayne Lai on their acting abilities. Steven already admits defeat in ratings compared to "Rosy", but "Salt" will still bring surprise to the audience.
news reposted from Tavia thread

OMG! A gem of a news article shining amidst the many rehashed Sits news reports. I will take time to whip it up.

Some salient teasers:
「等我！」"Wait for me," 2 simple Chinese words, but coming from Ji Yuen's mouth, they are imbued with infinite feelings and meanings that are beyond words. Wait for me to come back, wait for me to take the risk on you behalf; dang.....ngoh!!


Steven quotes:
Ji Yuen is like a man balancing on a tightrope. If I were given a second chance to pick between JY and Hin again, I would still pick JY.

I would not say I did an excellent job, but I will say this, I did the very the best that I could. I gave it my all.

Steven's friend recorded/download the series for him and they watched the series together. When done watching the whole series, Steven had this to say: If you ask me my personality, I would say it is most like NJY. NJY is me."

wenweipo
reposted from:steven-ma.org

p/s wait for me to translate this piece.

prose by: 端着茶跑 (Steven baidu webmistress)
灰色·聂致远（写在tvb首播前夜）
2009-6-7 21:37 　

Grey – Nie Zhi Yuan
Penned on the eve of its broadcast.
When I wrote Outstanding Qing Trio essay,*
I often pondered, “Zhi Yuan, what color are you?”
I had contemplated black or maybe white.
But ended up with grey.

Grey,
stuck between black and white.
His tragedy is precisely that he is neither black nor white.

At one time, he was unwavering in his stance.
That absolute sincerity,
That enthusiasm and devotion.
Even when reviled to the face by other people,
he resolutely believed what he did was righteous.
But his convictions were shattered,
like the ground falling away from under his feet.
What’s worse is that,
the ground itself was removed by himself.
Thus, placing himself beyond redemption,
unable to find the tributaries of life

Butterflies maybe beautiful,
but the pain of pupa transforming into butterfly
is like stripping of skin and breaking of bones.
The crushing of tendons and bones
to reconstruct a new person

It needs courage, willpower and strong conviction.
He resolutely ripped off his old garment
smeared with flesh and blood.
Staking everything on a single throw of the dice,
all for a ray of illumination.
Coming out from the darkness
going towards the light,
the body casts a long, long shadow,
like a chain
trailing his feet,
binding his spirit.

Actually, he is but a simple person,
who has loved ones,
who has goals,
but look at him
always knitting his brow.
…Zhi Yuan seldom smiles,
who would have thought, his smiles are so beautiful.

Why?
Because of the darkness surrounding him?
No,
It’s because of the ray of hope inside him.

Author’s thoughts:
These are only phrases, inadequate in expressing my feelings towards Nie Zhi Yuan, this fellow. Haven’t written for a long time now; feel that my writing did not aptly convey the feelings deep in my heart. 真糟糕! What I most fear is that I might defile Zhi Yuan. What moved me the most about Zhi Yuan are his willpower and courage.
Here’s to consistent top ratings.

* Her previous essay on Steven's Qing character trio - Kangxi, Tsung Man, Sheung Zi
steven baidu

Thanks for the link Tamaya!!!

Did they play any games during the promotion?

Yes, blind tasting of stuff. I think


no video available yet

to see sits promo pix go to steven-ma.org


steven baidu has a fraction of the total pix posted.

Tamaya, pls update us on the rating of SITS in HK. I am anxious to know the outcome and i certainly hope the results will be good. This will give Steven more confident and boost his popularity too.

Ok!

Steven Ma Walks the Tightrope for Transformation.
Source: wenweipo
Translated by: Tamaya @ http://asianfanatics.net



The series airing right after Rosy Business originally should have been Steven Ma’s “A Watchdog’s Tale”. However, halfway through RB’s broadcast, TVB suddenly decided to pull out Dog, instead opting to air the series “Sweetness in the Salt” (Sits) produced by Lee Tim Seng, also starring Steven Ma. Ma Zai says it was as if his character in the series was tailor made for him. During the shooting, he felt as if he was reliving his own life journey all over again.
　
After its completion, Sits was first released overseas. Its audience’s responses were extremely enthusiastic and warm. Steven’s friend(s) recorded the series for him, and held a “showtime party”. Not only can preview the series in advance but also able to watch the show with the male lead, how good can it get? When the series ended, Ma Zai took a deep breath, and remarked: “If asked whom does my personality most resemble? Most resemble Nip Ji Yuen. Nip Ji Yuen is me.”

But what kind of person is the male lead, Nip Ji Yuen? Tenacious in doing good. Remember kindness, forget hate. Faced with any slander, he will only grit his teeth and bear it. He never defends himself, opting to keep his silence. This man holds fast to his conviction, even if he were the last person left on earth, he would still hold fast, nothing will shake him off it. Nip Ji Yuan has always believed that his godfather, Lok Ying Guan, who has nurtured him from young into a useful person, and who has wholeheartedly taught him martial arts, and has led him onto the righteous anti-smuggling career path, was a good person. He thought the latter was loyal. When later he witnessed the evil doings of his godfather, Nip Ji Yuen could accept his godfather’s deception, but neither could he forget his indebtedness to him. When he held his dying godfather in his arms, Ma Zai truly felt the excruciating pain in his heart, uncontrollably welling up from deep inside.

In real life, Ma Zai has also experienced the hurt of being deceived by other people.

“Until the problems emerged, only then did I believe that the person whom I had always being thankful to and had never hated can be a bad person. I was truly hurt. At that moment of hurt, I was very disillusioned, that kind of feelings cannot be expressed in words.”

Thus, his personal experience enabled him to fully portray the pain and suffering of betrayal felt by Nip Ji Yuen. It is this kind of unreasonable injury that led Ma Zai to fight back, just like how Nip Ji Yuen fights back at his diabolical godfather. Upholding his principles, keeps his promises. When portraying Nip Ji Yuen, Ma Zai felt as if he was reliving his own life journey once again. “When you made a promise, you must keep it.” This oath includes his attitude towards love.

Nip Ji Yuen loves Sing Suet, even though he understands she will not forgive him for killing her parents during his undercover mission. But even though they cannot be together, he will, nonetheless, discreetly protects her. Nip Ji Yuan is a level-headed and perceptive person. It is exactly because of his psychological burden, that his love for Sing Suet is so much more intense, so much more deeper. To ensure Sing Suet’s happiness, Ji Yuen willingly relinquishes his beloved to his good friend, Ting Hin. When Ting Hin is sick, Ji Yuen accompanies Sing Suet to look for the miracle doctor. When they discover that the doctor’s village is hit by a plague epidemic, Ji Yuen stops Sing Suet at the entrance to the village from following him. He would rather imperil himself by venturing alone into the village to look for the miracle doctor. Eyes reflecting deep feelings, he says to her: “Wait for me!” (dang ngoh!)

“Dang Ngoh!” Two innocuous words, yet imbued with infinite feelings. “Wait for me to take the risk for you! Wait for me to come back…”, countless words all conveyed through these two words. The enticement of a series comes from the haziness lodged between reality and fantasy. Many a time, what people longed for are often portrayed and conveyed through the characters’ words and actions. When the viewers look at Nip Ji Yuen, they will feel as if their loved ones will also love them just as much. This vicariousness through the characters is the lure for pursuing the series. This scene, these two words, stirred and moved the hearts. Likewise, the real life Ma Zai, is he not waiting for such a love to appear. That he could say words of such deep emotions must be somehow drawn from his own past experiences.

Character wise, Ting Hin is sincere and loyal, decent and lovable; undoubtedly a more favored and crowd pleaser character. Nip Ji Yuen’s thoughts are complex; his emotions, unstable. Ask Ma Zai if given the chance, would he pick the more crowd pleaser, Tin Hin?

“Even if given another chance to choose, I would still choose Nip Ji Yuen; a Qing dynasty undercover. Extremely challenging. Balancing between love and loyalty, like a person walking on a tightrope, anytime can slip and fall over, shattering body and bones. A persona non grata to both sides. I won’t presume to say I did very well, but I had given it my all to fully portray Nip Ji Yuen’s inner thoughts.”

reposted from: steven-ma.org

revised copy

3 sits promo vids 7-6-2009 in youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbry0RDq1TI...feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yks4H5imVig...feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsvMGGVGwCA...feature=channel

Thanks for the updates! That was a wonderful article! Makes me appreciate his character more in SITS. Wonder how the HK audience is perceiving it *gulps*. I had a relative online asking me whether she should watch it...obviously I said yes (for ratings' sake!). Then I was asked 'is it as good as Rosy Business?'....hmm tough one. I was honest enough saying the two stories aren't comparable because they each sell something different. Then at the end, it came to whether I thought it was good or not, if not they'll not watch it because they've seen RB already. So obviously I said good...

Well, I am the tv guru in the family and my entertainment opinion is highly regarded hahaha *jokes*

They should do more promotions~~~

some vids from TVB.com
vid1
vid2
vid3

Too much buffering in the vids for me to watch, though.

Akane, Good for you. Hopefully, your relatives will enjoy Sits too. Here's to high ratings for Sits!




pix credit to:26fun@ATX-828

Sits pix cache in steven-ma.org
reminder: pls. click image to enlarge to screen size.

Sits promo 6/8 on TVBE and TVB8

TVBE onsite reporting in Cantonese
Steven praises Tavia's acting skill, tis' time for her star to shine brightly. Tavia chimes in: Bling! Bling! (shining stars) http://www.sendspace.com/file/mgveg8


Tavia says Steven not only took good care of her during Sits production by making her soups but even right now, he would call her up and ask her if she's working in the studio today, if so he will bring her some soup or herbal tea. While she is saying that, Steven is sitting beside her smiling ever so sweetly. Lol! What a man!

------------------------------

TVB8 in mandarin

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kuf91h


vids credit to: http://steven-ma.org

for easier viewing access: steven baidu or youtube

^ aww seems like steven and tavia are great friends. I already watched Sweetness in the Salt (oversees) and i must say it's pretty good, very interesting indeed.

Breaking News!! Steven as performing guest in Toronto, Canada.
US and Canadian Steven fans, mark this event on your calendar, Steven will soon be in your neck of the woods. See info below. All those who can attend the event, mark this on your calendar. Drive all night if you must for this once in your lifetime (maybe) chance to meet Steven in person to show your support for him.

Event:Toronto CHIN PICNIC Canada National Day 2009
Date: 2009.07.01 (Wed)
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Canada Exhibition Place
hotline: 647 426-8875
Entry fee: None





news credit to

The average rating for Sits 1st episode is 29 points.

29 aren't bad! I think its on par with Rosy Business?

Steven seems such a sweet guy...Tavia is so lucky she gets taken care of by her senior. Actually, I'll be quite happy if they went out together for real even! (erm, I'm not going crazy...its meant to be a compliment of Steven considering I'm a long devoted fan of Tavia's)

Anyway, I hope the rating is good so they release Stars sooner. I can take a nice romantic series to relax my senses of all the 'drama' series I've been seeing lately.

RB's 1st week avg rating was 28 points.
29 points was for Sits' 1st episode only. So will have to wait and see what Sits' 1st wk rating
on Monday. Btw, Sits' rating info was disclosed by Raymond in his interview.


And is taken as such. Steven and his soups..lol! I suggest he set up shop in TVB studio to sell soup -- like in Steps selling "leng tong" to his fellow workers, but female co-stars will receive weekly complimentary soup as beauty and stamina booster!


I'm looking forward to Stars, too.

Steven is not only nice to his female co-stars but also to his male co-stars, too. Listen to what his 2 male co-stars said about him in their radio interview with Cha Xiu Yan. First time seeing Raymond and Pierre in a series, they both impressed me with their fine acting.

[090610]Interview Portion: only Steven's related

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/GBgLW6Z6m0c
Loose translation of transcript
Cha: What was it like to collaborate with Steven? 3 males

R: This was my first time acting with abundant screen time in a Qing drama. Ma Zai has lots of experience in ancient drama. And so he shared his opinions on how to walk, to gestures and so on.

Cha: You asked Steven?

R: Yes! There’s this one scene, late in the series, by then we had had already collaborated for quite a while and also this scene talked about our feelings for Yeung Yi. Two men conversing. He helped me a lot on the script, and in the actual shooting of scenes. We both discussed. Really he helped me a lot, because 2 men fighting over a woman is a very difficult scene to act well. During that time, we had lots of communication over it. So I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to him. (Hmm, wonder which scene he's talking about? )

Cha: Wow! Truly put a lot of thoughts into it. People think that shooting a tv series is like doing a stage show, get in position and then start performing, but actually quite a lot thoughts went into it.

R: Yes, we’d put a lot of thoughts into our scenes.
Cia: What about you, Pierre? Was it your first time collaborating with Steven, too?

P: Yes, it was. This senior colleague’s experience is rich. Lots of inputs...not only to me

Cha: like a big brother?

P: Yes, like he would discuss about camera angles with director. “Wei, how about if we try it this way or that way? We would all discuss about it. Besides acting, he would also pay attention to the front stage details. And also backstage stuff. Conversely, as to the lines, I don’t think he made much changes to them at all. Because they were already well written to start with. So once we took our positions, we would do our own thing in our styles to perform our scenes




credit to: steven-ma.org

Bling! Bling! the future star shines brightly!



gifs credit to: Hu, webmaster of steven-ma.org


So adorable, so sweet! Bling! Bling to everybody!

Steven Ma was almost blinded by hot wax drip.
Steven Ma is currently filming an ancient TVB series, Pu Songling. A few days ago he hurt his arm, and now he almost became blind. At the time, Ma Zai was lying on the bed pretending to be a corpse. The hot wax from the candle inside the 7-star lantern hanging above the bed he was lying on unexpectedly dripped onto his right eye. Fortunately, his eyes were closed, thus preventing the wax drip from getting into his eye. But the pain jolted him bolt upright on the bed, his eyelid instantly turned red.

He expressed his right eye is beset by disasters. A few years back, his right eye was injured while filming another series. He joked that after the eye injury, he was later awarded “My most favorite male character”. So this time, is the accident an omen to winning another award?

He quipped: “If had to be blinded or hurt before getting an award, that would be terrible.”

“Luckily my eyes weren’t open then, else the hot wax on my eye would have had melted the contact lens inside. Then would have to rush to the hospital because the eye could be blinded anytime.”

When recalling his injuries, Steven still seemed slightly shaken. He said he seemed fraught with injuries making this series; first he bumped his head, then hurt his hand and now almost lost his sight. He joked that his body has no one piece of good flesh left.

News compiled from various news snippets.


Like always, Steven always played down his injuries with jokes.





news credit to: steven-ma.org

OMG! What happen to our hero? I hope he'll be ok. I remember his eyes were injured by a horse few years ago and he won my favourite character in the award presentation. Did Steven hurt his hand as well? He has a bandage on it in the photo.

I hope SITS rating will improve next week (fingers crossed)

awwwwwwww Steven does not look well!! I hope that he takes a long break after filming... I too hope that the SITS ratings are stable but have to wait until monday to find out... anyways, tamaya, do you have a link for the whole interview with Ngo Ka Nin and Raymond Wong??? thank you!!!

Stephen Chan posted news of Steven's upcoming guest performance in the Cantonese Opera. Lots of pix and 2 vids. Steven will sing the cantonese opera version of Pitnol's themesong, Dai Nui Fah.




paraphrasing his message.
June24, HK Cultural Center will hold a charity opera show to commemorate Mr. 關海山. Steven will be participating in it, too. He will sing a duet Dai Nui Fa 帝女花之香夭with Ms. 石安. Although Steven had pull an all nighter with just a few hours of sleep the night before, he appeared in top spirits and was totally absorbed in his singing practice. His eyes were swollen because last night filming was all crying scenes. Ma Zai said he had not practice singing opera for a long time, but his singing was pretty good. Please check out these precious vids.

Pls leave message on Stephen Chan blog to show support for Steven.

http://blog.tvb.com/stephenchan/files/2009/06/dsc06215.jpg






p/s Steven's swollen eyes (at least his right eye) were probably due to the eye accident too.

Hope he's fine too.



Look at this BF3 Astro poster with Steven in it. And him the only one without the helmet.
Astro so wu long. lol!

Happy Ji Yuen, won't see much of that in Sits.




Looking forward to this coming Sunday Sits promo.

screencaps credit to: steven-ma.org

thanks for the link tamaya!!! I just hope that Steven and Tavia go onto the radio station next week or something so we can hear what they have to say lol! thanks again for the links!!!

Wow! Steven fans everywhere. Steven's promo poster in Sabah, Malaysia for his upcoming appearance in the mall.

credit: steven-ma.org exclusive

Steven mention in Fala's interview.
In a recent interview with Cha Xiu Yan, Fala talked about her role as Laughing Sor and on how she defeated her rivals to finally clinch the much coveted role. Ms. Cha snuck in the rumor that she (Fala) knows how to brush up to the top brass, and getting the covet role only serves to heighten it, so how can she dispel this rumor?

Fala (embarrassed) admitted that she does not communicate very well with her colleagues therefore may have given them a wrong impression of herself. She does not sugar coat her words and seldom praise people, but will bluntly and directly say what is in her mind. But she is trying to improve in this area which she admits is lacking. She then brought up Steven in her conversation.

"Because we are right now shooting Pu Songling, in the beginning Steven and I were brothers. I was pretending to be a male then. But later I became a girl and fell in love with him. We shared lots of scenes together. After a period of shooting and he has gotten to know me better, he msn me, he said: "Ah Mui (he calls me Ah Mui, younger sister) Ah Mui ah, actually Ah Goh admires how very diligent you are in your work, but sometimes when you communicate with other people, you may want to pay attention to the way you talk, make it easier for the other people to accept."

full interview: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Rzg4OoVABqA
@ 8:57

Steven mention: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/WtOr7wwPZDY


credit link and transcript to Steven-ma.org

^ oh now I think I know that legend~ about a devil who wants to attend school so dressed up to be a guy and fell in love with one of her classmates? In that case I hope for a Steven-Fala pairing. I quite like Fala actually...her only downfall is her accent in cantonese but I do commend her. I think she works much harder in that department than other overseas actress. Most people from Canada are exposed to Cantonese anyway but Fala actually has Mandarin background and to speak cantonese to her level today...its very good.

I hope they air Stars of Love soon...like really soon. It won't be warehoused right? Esp with Micheal's popularity on the rise! There's nothing good to watch recently...

continuing costumes clash2 re post 1409 customes clash1

steven wtlb vs kevin beyond



steven sits vs bosco in-laws war



steven sits vs chao zhi kwong safeguards



steven sits vs 何启南 safeguards



credit to: baidu tvb

wow, I never noticed costume clashes! You must have a very very good eye! hehe

Any news as to SITS's first week average rating is? I do hope they get good feedback. It was unfair for it to be broadcast overseas first because it does affect the ratings whether we like it or not- one way or another. Hope it's well respected as a series in its own right, rather than a shadow of RB.

Those costume clashes are reposted from Baidu tvb. Tavia has lots of costume clashes with other actresses, too Very interesting to see. The source is in my above post.



No news of Sits' rating yet. If it was good, I'm sure it will be announced in tomorrow Sits' promo event.

^ thanks!

to see all 37 pix go to its source: steven-ma.org

pix first, then translation. Enjoy!

compilation of various news reports
on.cc 2009 06 14
Steven wears jade to ward off evil spirits.
Steven attended the Sits promo with his hand bandaged. He expressed that he was hurt during the shooting of Pu Songling. “Recently had been very unlucky. First, my head got hit, and then my eye got hurt. The producer said that making ghosts and gods (supernatural) series will provoke the evil spirits, so suggest I wear jade to ward them off. But I'm not superstitious so didn't wear any.”

Steven hopes his injury (hand) will heal soon because next week he will be in Sabah for a promo function, and while there, will participate in a badminton competition. As for Sits' ratings, Steven said they fell between his expectation of 27-28 points.

The title is so misleading it boggles my mind.
Steven specifically says he doesn’t believe jade will ward off evil spirits, yet the title says otherwise.




Producer Lee reported that Sits' 1st week avg rating was around 27-28 points.
news credit to steven-ma.org

wow...Steven looks really good (despite being bravely bald for new series). Really matching with his co-star that day~~~

27-28 average...wonder why the rating is such a 'secret' only the producer knows...hmmm

Thank you for keeping this thread alive all the while when I was away.

Gosh, poor Steven got a lot of injuries lately. I hope he is okay and will recover soon. My heart hurts to see him injured so much when filming. Work is important but so is health. And to see him still trying so hard in the rope pulling game when he is having an injured arm, I was worried he might get injured further. But luckily, he seems okay and they seem to have a good time playing around.

The joke he made about the possibility of omen getting injury as to getting award, the laughters I had left a sour feeling in my heart. But since he is already injured, I hope he will get an award this year.

27 points rating for the first week of SITS is only acceptable in my opinion, especially considering they also count the HD rating. It's not too bad nor too good. But then again, SITS has been aired overseas. I have been to hk discuss forum and TVB should know that SITS had a lot of disadvantages for having aired overseas and aired after RB. Those who don't like SITS are mostly fanatic supporters of RB who don't want to get any series ahead of RB (even the unshown BTROC and Door of Wealth is subject to their prejudice). But those who like SITS find themselves can't wait for the next episode and decide to download the whole series off the internet. Moreover, I have seen some of them reporting that they aren't able to watch SITS on TV despite the fact that they want to, because they aren't yet home at that time. So I guess 27 points are acceptable.

Good news is I find that people in hk discuss forum are warming up to SITS. The feedbacks now are better than the feedbacks they gave in the time of airing first two episodes. And a lot of them are starting to feel and admit that the two series are of different type, SITS being more light-hearted. So let's hope that the rating will increase in the coming weeks.

Another thing I note is that a lot of people in hk discuss forum seem to not yet able to appreciate acting skill and differentiate it from the character. So far, HK response to Hin vs Yuen are still like the overseas. I just hope they will start to appreciate Yuen once he started to repent. But then, I think it will be difficult to make them shift camps from Hin-Suet supporters to Suet-Yuen supporters. As I said before, the Hin-Suet startup arrangement really pose disadvantage for Stevia. But I'm still appreciating their chemistry much more.

Hi, always happy to see you around. Yeah, I was a bit disappointed by Sits' rating too.
Anyway, the Sits cast seem to have had a good time in the promo. Tough to participate in a tug of war with an injured arm, but tougher still to be shod in high-heels. For their next series, Stevia can play Mr. and Mrs. Smith, TVB version, haha! I've stopped visiting Sits HK discuss forum and tvb sits forum since last Tuesday. Reading the postings only depresses me.

Written by Sits PA
Title: Ma Zai compassionate ‘leng’ soup brand
Date: 2009-06-15
Translator: Tamaya

As the saying goes, good colleagues are hard to come by, and harder still are good colleagues who are also caring, and I was so fortunate as to encounter one.

Actually shooting Sits was not easy at all, a lot of fighting scenes, plus the filming was done when winter was at its coldest, which added to the hardship. Especially so for female lead, Tavia. To act her role of “nui hap” ( female warrior) she suffered utmost hardship. I recall there was this scene whereby Sing Suet was forced to jump into the sea to escape her pursuers. It was 9 degrees Celsius then. Even though Tavia had pre-prepared herself against the bitter cold by wrapping herself in 4 layers of saran wrap, and had brought along ginger tea and a hot water bag, but still when she was assisted out of the water, she was shivering uncontrollably with cold, truly pitiful to see.

Also, Tavia suffers from vertigo (pressure imbalance in the ears). Once while shooting an outdoor scene, she felt dizzy and nauseous, and had to go to the hospital for treatment. Faced with such hardships, Ma Zai’s compassionate ‘leng’ soups were like an oasis, nourishing everyone’s spirits which were fast going crazy from all those overnighter shooting of scenes!!

Who could have thought eh? That a man could be so considerate as to know to make soups. Tavia plus others plus myself were all first timers partaking soups made by a male. So touched! Ma Zai compassionate ‘leng’ soup/herbal tea brand was truly of very high quality. Full of rich ingredients such as 花膠啦、white fungi . And so very delicious!

Besides soups, Ma Zai also treated the cast and production crew to a BBQ; prawns, crabs and clams, haha! Our hard work was truly worth it.

Haha! I’ll stop right here before everybody starts salivating. Let Tavia shares her joy at partaking Ma Zai compassionate ‘leng’ soup brand ba.


tavia's vid on Steven's leng tong
credit: tvb sits.com

That Steven shared his soups with his co-stars and crew members is not new to old timer Steven fans, (Susan has uploaded pixs of Steven & his soups in her blog.) but Tavia was the first one to break the news of Steven's leng tong to the press. I think. So, props to Tavia!

I love the couple pic of Tavia and Steven. Haha....i wonder whether Tavia had her hair tight up, to match Steven. Steven is so nice.....making soup for Tavia n others.
tamaya - I absolutely love the idea of Stevia playing Mr n Mrs Smith TVB version.
SITS getting 27-28......It's ok considering it has been shown overseas. Lately most of the series have been getting low ratings. I believe RB got abt 29 in the first week too. Hopefully SITS ratings will increase......

I think she knew of the water gun fight so wisely tied up her hair so it wouldn't look messy if wet.

[090615](tvbe) onsite reporting of Sits 2nd promo & interviews
请勿随意转载,多谢合作!!!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8usnab

when repost pls credit: steven-ma.org

eta:
Bad luck comes in three’s for Steven
Synopsis of Steven's interview: He was asked about his bandaged right arm. He explains he hurt his arm while shooting a scene in PSL. Trying to act cool (瀟灑 xiu sa), he stepped onto Lin Chun's hand, leaped and reached for the branch with his hand to pull himself up onto the tree. The act was performed successfully, but several 'takes' were needed before the act was accepted. In one of them, his hand slipped while holding onto the branch, inadvertently straining it. The pain was minor until he played badminton the next day when it worsened.

Trouble does not come alone. Besides injuries with his head and right arm, his right eye was hurt too. In another PSL scene, he was lying on a bed beneath an over-hanging 7-star candle lamp. Unbeknownst to him and others, the candle had been melted down to complete wax. The melted wax slipped and plopped onto a huge area around his eye, promptly scalding him. He yelped in pain, and bolted upright. Luckily he had his eyes closed then. He dared not opened them until the wax cooled down and hardened. Only then, did he gingerly peel off the wax blob from his eye. It was such a freaky incident, and once again happened to his right eye.

---------------

Poor Steven!

Thanks for the translation and video clips. Steven is a very caring guy, just reading on how he helped other in their acting by giving tips and even bothering to watch the performance to make sure everything is alright shows that he is very caring. Of course, soup is also another form of his care. Sometimes I wonder how he has time to cook all these soups. Did he once say his father cook them or he cooked them himself?

Stevia as Mr. and Mrs. Smith? I haven't watched the movie so I don't know the story goes. But I would love Stevia to pair up in a romantic comedy. Really want to watch Tavia in a comedy since she hasn't been in one and I want her to expand her horizon, and Steven is a natural talent in comedy. It would be interesting to see them paired up in different genre, it may give a fresh feeling.

I think as compared to hk discuss forum, the tvb forum posters are not too hard on Steven. Many Steven supporters and I still see a lot of them able to differentiate the character from the acting, but only a very small minority is able to do that in hk discuss forum. I don't know whether it's because they haven't watched up to the part where Ji Yuen starts making up for the mistake he had done in the past, but once it got up to that part, I hope they will start to appreciate Ji Yuen, or at least Steven's acting.

Just finished downloading the clip and notice that TVB has noted on people's requests of having a new ending for SITS. I guess posting in TVB forum really matters. Raymond Wong said that they will still have to further look at the response and have a talk with Producer LTS. So there maybe a chance in filming a new ending? Actually, I'm pretty satisfied with the ending since I'm all for Stevia ending, although I don't really like how the ending goes but I can accept it. Although I'm quite okay with filming a new ending (since we already have the version of Stevia ending so another version is just an addition), I'm quite concerned how the refilming of the ending will go. I mean, won't it disrupt the continuity of the characters? Hairstyles are a small matter, but I know Steven was so engrossed in his character throughout the filming of SITS. Won't it be hard for him to re-enter his character after pulling himself out of it for 2 years? I know he is a professional actor, but asking him to re-enter this depressing character just for another 2-3 episodes sound like asking too much. Especially since he is still filming PSL, which seem like a totally different character other than the hairstyle.

But if they really film another ending, what kind of an ending will they give to Ji Yuen? Being alone in the end, finding someone else, or die in replace of Ting Hin?

I wonder where tamaya and other Steven's fans go. Anyway, to keep this thread moving. Tavia attended a radio interview with Cha Siu Yan, Steven was mentioned in some part. I only translated the part mentioned about Steven, not really anything new, but as long as relevant to Steven...

Cha Siu Yan = C
Tavia = T

[C and T talked about BTROC]

[C and T briefly talked about the pressure of SITS and talked about Tavia's first collaboration with Raymond Wong. Tavia said that Raymond Wong is very quiet but when he talked, he would often talked about his wife. And this caused her to have no imagination as his onscreen partner.]

C: Then, do you have any imagination facing Steven Ma?

T: This one, I have. This one, I have. This one, the imagination is older brother.

C and T: Hahahaha...

C: Yes, Steven Ma is really like a big brother.

T: Yes. But actually...

C: Everyone...

T: Actually it's a good thing, I feel. Because I feel that besides needing to have a collaboration feel with your partner, if you have the family feeling offscreen like a brother or good friend, it will help us to get into the character in the series more. If I treat you as nothing but a colleague, I will feel very alien, and the acting won't be real.

C: Steven Ma, in the series, is your big enemy.

T: Yes.

C: And Raymond Wong is your first lover.

T: Actually, to be accurate, my first lover is Steven Ma.

C: Yes, but you guys didn't continue, and then, no more?

T: Because actually we like each other, but due to the relationship and something he did caused me to develop the feelings of hatred against him. I don't like him. And also because I enter the Wu family, I develop "ching yi" with the second young master. Actually, that kind of love is not present. The one present is the "yi" (chivalry, loyalty, friendship).

C: Outside the series, between Raymond Wong and Steven Ma, which one would you pick as a husband?

T: Can I have both of them... added together?

C: Waaaa... how greedy are you! You really become Sing Suet?

T: No.

C: Sing Suet said women can have concubine, men, no, men can have concubines, women can't marry two husbands?

T: Sister Siu Yan, you are a modern career woman. Now...

C: I'm not.

T: But I feel, how come men can have mistresses outside, have you thought that women can also have ones?

C: No. You look at people like ..., bringing disaster to oneself. Don't be involved with such a thing.

T: No. I feel that we can have such a thinking, but to do it is another thing. But we can have such a thinking. But of course, I won't do it. I'm also a traditional woman, I feel I am. But in real life, if you ask me to choose, I will...

C: You have said it out. Both also....

T: I want Raymond Wong's character of always mentioning me.

C: Hoh... so that he would mention you in front of other people non-stop. My wife... My wife... My wife...

T: Yes.

C and T: Hahahaha....

T: Steven's generosity and caringness.

C: Ha.

T: He really knows how to take care of me.

C: But he is very long-winded.

T: Long-winded is okay. What's important is he is reasonable. I'm most afraid of husbands who are not reasonable. Right? If I reason and you don't listen. If you don't mind to sit down and talk about reasonings with me, we can talk.

C: Did Steven Ma talk about reasonings with you in the filming of this series, Tavia Yeung?

T: Actually yes. But the so-called reasonings are giving opinions, not really reasonings. Because I wouldn't really do anything wrong, but he would give me pointers, because after all, he is my senior. He has more experiences in acting than me. I feel that juniors listening to seniors is very important.

C: But you already got Best Supporting Actress. What else can he give you as pointers?

T: What pointers? Very important, after receiving award, cannot be too proud.

C: He will remind you such a thing?

T: He won't remind me such thing, but I feel when communicating, I don't give people the impression of such thing. He didn't remind me such things, but possibly like when we filmed a lot and filmed one series after another, it's hard to get out of the previous character. When filming with him, maybe some character and personality of the previous one has to be shed off to get into the current character. Sometimes I sway from the character, he would remind me for this character I should be like this, I shouldn't be like this. Sometimes, I myself would miss it.

C: You have collaborated with Steven Ma for 3 series.

T: Yes, yes.

C: The currently airing is Sweetness in the Salt. The one not yet aired is Stars of Love. The one which had been aired before is Land of Wealth. Three series... you weren't able to get out of the character? You treat Steven Ma as the Steven Ma from Land of Wealth?

T: No. I'm talking about for example, I have just finished BTROC, and starting a new series....

.........

(Credit of interview: Tavia's thread; the radio interview can be found here)
----------

I think she was talking about during the time of filming SITS, she was also required to film MR. Luckily, Steven is there to remind her. I would imagine filming two different series at the same time would be difficult.

By the way, in another part of the interview, Cha Siu Yan asked her whom Tavia has had kissing scenes with and she only said, Ron, Bosco, Ray and Benny. That means she won't have any kissing scenes in SOL. Will Stevia have happy ending in SOL? Oh please, don't give me another heartbreaking or open ending in SOL. Give me full-scale Stevia Happy Ending!

Hi, Akazukin, thanks so much for the above transcript. Truly appreciate your 'gift'. I've been very busy this week.

I've listened to Tavia's interview. The link was posted on Steven-ma.org too.
Steven portion was parsed into a separate link here.

For convenient online listening without having to download files, here's the rest of the interview, courtesy of 尐北→天涯※ @steven-ma.org
part 1 and part 2

I think this is my first time listening to such a long Tavia interview, she came across as being a very outspoken and forthright person, very friendly and fun loving.

I guess to some people Steven may come across as long-winded, (and he is indeed that, sometimes) Steven himself did mention that he knew he's being too philosophically long winded when he glimpsed the reporters' glazed eyes.

But I took Tavia's praise of Steven's 包容 (bao rong) as him being tolerant or forgiving or charitable or magnanimous to others. Of course, the word generosity encompasses all these descriptions. I'm just being anal.

欲语还休，有话说不出--第七集感动的一幕
credit to: tracywoo @steven-ma.org

Hey tamaya, glad you are back. Hope you will have more free time later so as not to overwork yourself.



I totally agree. It's hard to translate such chinese words with one word. He is all that you described/translated from Tavia's words.

I don't really regard Steven as long-winded, maybe because I myself love to talk about philosophy. At least, like Tavia said, he is reasonable. I find people who spent hours and hours complaining about the same thing and repeat it again the next day and the next next day as long-winded, not the type that spent hours talking about philosophy. Because once you get to philosophy, really there is no end to it. But I take Cha Siu Yan comment about Steven as long-winded as a sign of friendship, that she feels close enough to tease him that way.

By the way, where is that chinese comments from? Yeah, JY and SS do have too much to ask that they probably don't know where to start. I love their speechless expressions in the end of that episode though. Like I said before, I loved Steven's quick turns of expressions.

Lately, I have been rewatching SITS like you know right. And in episode 24, I found something that I didn't notice before. It was during the scene where Ji Yuen, Sing Suet, and Sing Suet's uncle were sitting in a tea stand outside the city, before overhearing people talk about a strange man and woman looking at the wall of the ancestor house To built. It was before the two cameos enter, if you pay attention to Steven, he was taking the bread from the plate to offer it to Tavia. It was such a short sweet moment. It was such a small detail that I missed it the first time I watched it. But I love how he really put details into his acting.