My Very First Blog

Remember To Forget Me.

That's a rather strange title for a song, right?

It's the theme song for the popular Chinese horror fantasy drama "Wu Xin : The Monster Killer" (or Wu Xin Fa Shi 无心法师). Composed by Alfred Hui for HK TVB, this song had played in my mind so many times that I have lost count!

If you had watched the series, you would understand the title of this song. If you have not, it would be quite difficult to explain it. Well, it's not too late - you can still catch it online but make it fast, as I heard that the sequel to this 20-episode drama will be coming soon later this year.

This song is the Cantonese version specifically for HK TVB, not the original Chinese theme song. Watch the video below to listen to the song.



I am so looking forward to watch the sequel! I hope that it will be as good and enjoyable as the first one. So, before Wu Xin : The Monster Killer 2 makes its appearance, I guess I had better record my own piano version to this beautiful song.

My playing was not perfect - there were a few errors and notes slips here and there - but I was too lazy to do another recording. So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed playing it. And feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you think! Oh, and if you like, do follow me on Soundcloud :)

This is my piano version of the sub-theme song from Fan Bingbing's The Empress Of China (TVB version) called "The Secret Of Tears". Originally sung by Jinny Ng, I found this song to be extremely addictive! Hope you like it! : )



You can listen to my piano version of the main theme entitled Queen HERE.

If you like, do follow me on SoundCloud for all my other piano performances and recordings HERE.

Lately, I have been following a Chinese drama called "The Empress Of China" (Wu Ze Tian) starring Fan Bingbing as the lead actress.

This historical drama, produced by Fan Bingbing herself, boasts a budget close to US$50 million, making it the most expensive TV series in Chinese history. One of the attractions of this drama is the lavish costumes worn by the actresses in the show. Unfortunately, the costumes were deemed too revealing by China's censorship authorities and many scenes were edited to show less cleavage.

Despite the censorship regulations, the series still enjoy high ratings in China. I guess the censorship has in a way hyped up the show even more. When Hong Kong's TVB station aired the show dubbed entirely in Cantonese, they employed additional CGI measures to play safe. And that's the version I am watching now on Astro - the 'very clean' TVB Cantonese version.

I guess Fan Bingbing must be very disappointed because according to reports, she actually went through a lot of hardships wearing those elaborate costumes!

Story-wise, I am not sure if the show sticks closely to the historical facts - I have a feeling it does not, but then again, I am not very well versed in the life of Wu Ze Tian, the only female Chinese emperor in history.

Besides the story, the acting and the costumes, I found myself drawn to the music, especially the theme song of the show. There are two theme songs - the China version and the Hong Kong version. The theme song in China is called Wu Zi Bei sung by Jane Zhang, with music written by Aarif Rahman, one of the lead actors in the show.

And then there is also the opening song in the China version called Qian Qiu sung by famous singer Sun Nan.

However, since I am watching the Hong Kong version, I am only familiar with the Cantonese theme song called Queen sung by Joey Yung. This theme song is also treated as the opening song for the show.

Queen is such a beautiful song that I fell in love with it at the first hearing! And since I get to listen to it every time I watch the show, naturally I began to hum it and soon found myself playing it on the piano.

And so, here is my piano version of The Empress Of China theme song. Please excuse my mistakes and slips, which inevitably occurred as I did not really practise before I made this recording. Enjoy! :)

Happy 50th Malaysia Day to all my fellow Malaysians!

Today September 16th, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Malaysian Federation. A historic day back in 1963 where Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore helped to form Malaysia, although Singapore left two years later.



What are your plans for the day? For those in Kuching, Sarawak, perhaps you may want to attend the Malaysia Day Parade at Padang Merdeka. Some of you are probably already somewhere enjoying your holidays since last Saturday.

Whatever your plans are, one thing's for sure. There will be no Monday blues today! Yippee!!

Anyway, to celebrate Malaysia Day today, I would like to play the 1Malaysia Theme Song on the piano. If you recall, I already played it last year - Listen to it HERE.

But this time, I shall improvise the song a little bit by adding an introduction and adding new material halfway. I shall call it '1Malaysia Theme Song Version 2'. Hope you like it! : )

I am quite fond of Singapore's MediaCorp TV drama series. Sometimes I think they are better than some Hong Kong TVB dramas!



I like the song and had played it on the piano a few years back. Recently, I decided to play it one more time and recorded my playing on SoundCloud. Here's the result. Hope you like it! : )



Over the years, I have played some other theme songs on the piano. Here are four of them ....
Cloud Atlas Theme Song
1Malaysia Theme Song
Angry Birds Theme Song
Age Of Glory Theme Song

Have you watched the movie Cloud Atlas starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry? It's a 2012 movie produced and directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski (of 'The Matrix' fame) and Tom Tykwer.



I was a little late in catching this movie but I was really thankful I did not miss it. Cloud Atlas, which was based on a 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell, had blown me away! It was a little confusing at first, but I soon found it entertaining and interesting, to the point of it being deep and thought provoking.

By the end of the almost 3-hour movie, Cloud Atlas was firmly in my list of Top 10 movies of 2012, and possibly for 2013 as well! But besides the amazing storyline, the deep meaning behind it, and the excellent performances of the actors and actresses, I also fell in love with the musical soundtrack!

The main theme is known as The Cloud Atlas Sextet. In the story, it was composed by Robert Frobisher, a bisexual English musician played by Ben Whishaw. Surprisingly, director Tom Tykwer himself actually composed this song!



The music is a metaphor for the movie itself (but you will have to watch the movie first to understand what I mean so I will not explain here to avoid spoilers). In the movie, Robert Frobisher had described it as "echoes of Scriabin's White Mass, Stravinsky's lost footprints, and chromatics of the more lunar Debussy..."

Director Tykwer had likened the music to that of Debussy's and it so happened Debussy is one of my favorite composers of all time!

For many days after I watched the movie, the music had been haunting me non stop. So it was only natural that I attempt to play it on the piano myself. I recorded a few versions - some basic, others with improvisation - but unfortunately, none was perfect.

Here is my first basic version of Cloud Atlas theme.



The beginning part (the first 60 seconds) is actually pretty easy to play. Even a beginner can learn to play it without much problem. I tried to build the music up to a climax in the middle and then slowly let it dies off towards the end. Hope you like it : )

Here is my 2nd version - a shorter version - perhaps slightly more exciting than the first.



As it's done spontaneously, there are bound to be slips and errors. I hope you like the 2nd version too.

Now, if you have more time, you might want to listen to my 3rd version, which is much longer (about 6 minutes 10 seconds) than the first two versions. This one include improvisations and new melody which I added on the spot.



If you are impatient, you can always cut to the 3rd minute where I started to insert new materials into the song.

So which version do you like best? I still have 2 more versions which I shall post on Twitter and Facebook soon. So do follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Now if you feel sleepy listening to my playing, it's perfectly understandable. The music is dreamy and is actually the kind of music suitable for bedtime! Haha! Thanks for listening! : )

Happy Merdeka to all my Malaysian readers and friends!

I love playing Angry Birds on my iPhone! I am not really into games, but I have to say that I am quite obsessed with Angry Birds!

I love playing the piano. I can play for hours and hours without feeling bored!

Recently, a friend of mine heard me play this theme song from the ntv7 local Chinese drama series called Age Of Glory or Qíng Qiān Nán Yuàn. He wanted to play it too and asked me to pass him the piano score. Unfortunately, I did not have the score because I played it by ear.

In case you do not know what show this is, and how the theme song sounds like, watch this YouTube video.



I enjoyed watching this show and tried to catch it when it was shown on ntv7 every night from Monday to Thursday a few months back. Basically the story is about the lives of Malaysian Chinese during the post war era of the 60's and especially revolved around three ladies played by Debbie Goh, Danielle Dai and Aenie Wong.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the fine acting skills of these three actresses, particularly Debbie Goh and Danielle Dai, whom I considered to be a very natural actress. I have not heard of them before so I was really blown off by their good looks and superb acting skills. Looks like Malaysia can produce good actors and actresses too and give the Singaporeans and Hongkies a run for their money.


Debbie Goh who is also Miss Malaysia Chinese International 1998 plays showgirl Rose, based loosely on the legendary cabaret dancer Rose Chan.

Danielle Dai who plays Shu Juan is a very natural actress IMHO


Melvin Sia and Aenie Wong in a scene from Age of Glory

The show was so popular among Malaysian TV viewers that it set the record for the highest ratings ever for a local Chinese drama series. Perhaps one of the main attractions of the show is the nostalgic 60's feel. The show creator even went to the extent of painstakingly constructing a full scale replica of BB Park, the famous entertainment centre in olden days KL complete with carnival, cabaret, theatres, games stalls and dance halls. For your information, the old BB Park was located at the site where Sungei Wang Plaza presently sits.

The series also showcased many popular songs from the 60's, with all the songs given new arrangements to suit the show. In fact, I found that I enjoyed listening to all those old songs while watching the show.

However, the song I like best is the opening theme song, specially written for the show. It's called Full Circle or Yuán Què and is sung by newcomer Cheryl Lee, who also happens to be the co-host of 8tv's popular singing competition, Project Superstar.

I liked it so much I started to play it by ear on my piano. Would you like to hear it?

Ok, here it is. Please excuse me if you hear some wrong notes and blunders as I'm not perfect.



Well, how is it? Do let me know!

My friend whom I said earlier wanted to play this song pleaded with me to write out the notes for this song. Oh, so much hard work to write it out! I did not have the time, so I just scribbled some notes out. Look at the mess I wrote!



I did not even bother to put in some of the left hand parts! I hope my friend knows how to improvise the left hand part by himself! But with the way I scribbled, I am not too sure if he can even read what I wrote! LOL!

Even though I could play a song I hear by ear, I am not that talented to get everything correct. Well, if I can hit at least 80% accuracy, I am quite satisfied. I just hope my chords are correct!

Meantime, if anyone reading this have a copy of the original score, please, please pass me a copy, will you?