setokityan

Eat and be merry with Phoebe Yap in Hua Hee Makan.

Ready, set, cook: Host Phoebe Yap ‘woking’ up a duck dish.

By SETO KIT YAN 
skyseto@thestar.com.my

THE final episode of season five of Hua Hee Makan airs tomorrow, and its host is already feeling restless thinking about the next season.

Little did Phoebe Yap know that hosting a simple local food travelogue would make her a household name.

Having hosted Hua Hee Makan (Hua Hee Jiak Ba Ba in Hokkien) for the past two-and-a- half years, the singer-turned-radio deejay has become one of the most recognised faces.

“It’s a show that everybody watches with their family members. Nowadays, when they see me in public places, even the maids would point and whisper to their friends ‘Itu Astro’,” mused Yap, 29, as she mimicked the maids’ excited expressions at a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur.

In the show, strangers would invite the vivacious lass into their kitchens where they share cooking tips that have been their families’ best-kept secrets. Now, after 65 episodes, Yap feels at home in just about anybody’s home.

“When I was first approached to host Hua Hee Makan, I played it cool while agreeing to take on the show. But I was bursting with excitement about the enormous potential of such a show,” the cheery lass recounted.

For viewers who are unfamiliar with the show, Hua Hee Makan explores the Hokkien food scene in the country. Yap visits Hokkien homes and stays on as a guest to learn each family’s secret recipes and specialty dishes.

In the current season, Yap has visited homes in Sitiawan and Ayer Tawar in Perak, Yong Peng in Johor, and Penang.

“We get our ingredients fresh from the wet market early in the morning. Then, the aunties will share tips with me as we prepare their families’ dishes.

Although it is usually the mothers who do the cooking, sometimes the cooks are the fathers or even the sons,” said the chatty host, whose roots go way back to Yongchun county in Fujian province, China. Yap, who has three younger brothers, was born in Malacca but spent her growing-up years in Johor.

“More importantly, we learn the history behind each dish we prepare. So, home viewers will further understand the history and culture of the Hokkien community.

“I really appreciate how this show has opened my eyes to Hokkien culture and tradition.

I’m always excited to share what I’ve learnt with viewers,” Yap said. The show has introduced traditional Hokkien fare such as o-chien (oyster omelette), huat kueh (prosperity cake) and Malaysian Hokkien bak kut teh (pork rib soup) among others. For the series’ new season fresh concept will be unveiled - tune in to find out more.

Catch tomorrow’s episode as Yap shows you how to prepare two Heng Hua dishes: Muscovy Duck Essence (a time-consuming double-boiled soup) and Heng Hua Dragon Balls (deep-fried meatballs).

Hua Hee Makan airs on Hua Hee Dai (Astro Ch 333) Sunday at 9pm.

(source: thestaronline; story also in > The Star > Star2 > TV > page 29 > on Saturday 26 May 2012.)

story link: http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/26/tvnradio/11338340&sec=tvnradio

isnap video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-0y56a9PQ&feature=relmfu
isnap photo gallery: http://mystar.my/isnap/p/?d=22052012&s=stphoebe_22052012

A sneak peek at Astro’s upcoming Chinese content.

BY SETO KIT YAN
skyseto@thestar.com.my

CHINESE content on Astro has become increasingly inspired with constant changes to suit subscribers’ tastes.

Star2 met up with Astro vice president of Chinese Customer Business Choo Chi Han and Astro senior assistant vice president of Chinese Customer Business Chiu Keng Guan recently to get a sneak peek of upcoming projects.

It appears that the new line-up of shows are designed to appeal to all ages. First up is a reality-type show targetting children and their parents that will be aired on Xiao Tai Yang (Astro Ch 325).

Choo offered: “The brand new kids talent showXTY Kids Talent Show 2012 is specially produced for children ages four to 10. It’s really about kids’ stuff, unlike previous shows where kids would behave like adults. The show is open to all Malaysians. Since it’s a Chinese programme, participants must be able to speak Mandarin.

“We try to make Xiao Tai Yang as educational as possible. Auditions will be announced as soon as we are ready for it.”

What talents are required for the talent show – singing, dancing, telling stories or playing instruments?

“We are looking for all of that as the programme will showcase all sorts of skills,” added Chiu, who is director of top-grossing Malaysian Chinese lunar new year films like Tiger Woohoo (2010) and Great Day (2011).

Recently, a new documentary series, Traditional Trades, was launched on AEC (Astro Ch 301). “It tells of traditional trades going extinct and gives an insight into local lifestyles,” Choo explained.

According to him, one of their most exciting programmes yet is a travelogue titled Europe 360. “It’s a new concept travel show involving interaction on the Internet. Viewers can participate in the shooting of the show right from the start,” said Choo.

“We started filming Europe 360 this month and hope to go on air in August. Using new technology, we can shoot 360° so viewers can choose the angle from which they want to watch the show.

“Also, we’re using High Definition so the show will air on Zhi Zun (Astro Ch 310) and Wah Lai Toi (Astro Ch 311).

“We’ll have our own website, with our own apps, so viewers can follow us from day one and get updates with videos and pictures. We’ll also open our itinerary to voting, such as where our host will be having lunch and what she’ll be eating.”

The host is Lenna Lim, the winner of 2011 Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant. The Fala Chen lookalike is also making her moviedebut in New Village 1949, currently in production.

Hua Hee Dai (Astro Ch 333) is also producing season six of Hua Hee Makan with a new concept as well as season four of Hokkien serial Hua Hee Everyday which is projected to air in September or October.

The current season of Hua Hee Makan is hosted by Phoebe Yap and airs every Sunday at 9pm followed by Hua Hee Everyday starring Freddie Ng, Vicky Tan, Julie Chew and Ooi Sooi Hak at 9.30pm.

(source: thestaronline; story also in > The Star > Star2 > Movies > page 19 > on Thursday 17 May 2012.)

story link: http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F5%2F17%2Ftvnradio%2F11275516&sec=tvnradio

Din Tao: Leader Of The Parade dances its way to Malaysia after drumming up a hit in Taiwan.

Dynamic trio: (From left) Director Fung Kai and actors Alan Kuo and Crystal Lin promoting their movie, Din Tao: Leaders of The Parade.

By SETO KIT YAN
skyseto@thestar.com.my

DIN Tao: Leader Of The Parade,which is Taiwan’s top-grossing movie of the year, lives up to its hype when hundreds of local fans gathered to catch a glimpse of director Fung Kai and the movie’s leads Alan Kuo and Crystal Lin showing off their drumming skills at the star-studded premiere in Kuala Lumpur recently.

During the press conference held last Monday, award-winning TV director Fung, who is making his big screen directorial debut with Din Tao: Leaders Of The Parade, said: “Temples and dintao (a religious ritual performed to express the people’s belief and gratitude to the Gods during religious festivals) are essential elements of Taiwanese culture, and I’ve always wanted to make a movie about dintao.

“We’d like our film to reach a wider audience, but it’s not feasible to compete on a technical level as Western films are more advanced in that aspect. Hence, it’s wiser to focus on the cultural aspect and inject our film with a local flavour that makes it unique and therefore special in its own way.”

He was right as Din Tao: Leaders Of The Parade became a runaway success when it was released in Taiwan last month, where it has since grossed RM30mil. Twentieth Century Fox Films soon snapped up the rights to distribute the movie overseas.

As the son of well-known late Taiwanese stuntman-turned-filmmaker Blackie Kuo, strapping singer-actor Kuo practically grew up on a film set. “I actually started acting when I was a child but my passion for music took me along a different path. Who knew I’d end up doing well in movies, too. I’m really glad Fung gave me this opportunity to demonstrate my acting abilities.”

Since Kuo is a true-blue rocker himself, he imagined it would be fun and easy filming his character A-tai’s drumming scenes. “But after one whole day of drumming, my hands wouldn’t stop shaking when I sat down to have my meal,” recounted Kuo, 31, who has a dozen movies and TV dramas and half a dozen albums under his belt.

Meanwhile, singer-actress Lin who plays Min Min, A-tai’s love interest and the only girl performing in the dintao troupe, was asked how she coped filming with the boys.

“I thought of myself as a guy and played the character as one of the boys. It was a very enjoyable time making the movie as the guys all treated me as their little sister and took good care of me,” said the gorgeous lass, who last starred in Singaporean romantic comedy Old Cow Vs Tender Grass.

Din Tao: Leaders Of The Parade is mainly in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Mandarin with Chinese and English subtitles. The 123-minute movie also stars Alien Huang, Liao Chun, Chen Po-Cheng, and Samantha Kuo.

The movie tells of A-tai who dreams of going to the United States to become a rocker. So, he quits music school in Taipei and returns to his Taichung hometown to visit his parents, who operate a dintao troupe.

His mother (Samantha) is overjoyed at his return, but his father (Chen) is not so thrilled. Meanwhile, his father’s dintao troupe is struggling to make ends meet and is often bullied by a rival group headed by Wu (Liao) whose dintao troupe is the most popular in the region.

To motivate the troupe’s demoralised members, A-tai takes them on a countrywide walk in search of inspiration to revamp the traditional folk art form.

With the help of Min Min, he even manages to get Wu’s son (Huang) to make up the numbers in his troupe after landing them a spot in a national cultural show aired live on TV.

Din Tao: Leader Of The Parade dances into local cinemas today (May 17, 2012 Thursday).

(source: thestaronline; story also in > The Star > Star2 > Movies > page 23 > on Thursday 17 May 2012.)

story link: http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F5%2F17%2Fmovies%2F11295263&sec=movies

isnap video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBAk0YgJ7qg

isnap photo gallery: http://mystar.my/isnap/p/?d=15052012&s=stdintao_15052012