(Top, left) PICTURE: LANEIGE
(Bottom, right) PICTURE: AP
The administrative executive quickly rushed to Duxton Hill after work on Tuesday evening and was one of the first to see actress Song Hye Kyo filming.
Ms Tan is one of several Singaporean fans who have been eagerly trailing Hye Kyo (Full House), 27, and Hyun Bin (My Lovely Samsoon), 26, while they are here shooting their new drama, Worlds Within. She told The New Paper that she got the news of the shoot from a reliable source and rushed over after work with three friends.
Ms Tan, who loves Korean dramas, said Hye Kyo was shooting a scene where she was looking for someone in a back alley at the location. 'We couldn't talk to her because she was filming, but we could observe her very closely. She's very sweet and pretty, and she dressed like a school girl.'
Likewise, student Furnaces Yap, 24, said he saw a posting on the forum Hardwarezone about the shoot and alerted others through Soompi, a popular forum for Korean drama lovers.
Top, left) PICTURE: COURTESY OF ALICIA CHENG.
KOREAN HUNK: A fan-taken photo of Hyun Bin (in pink shirt) that is circulating the net.
(Right) The actor in the drama The Snow Queen.
ON LOCATION (Below) Song Hye Kyo (in shorts) filming in Chinatown.
The Hye Kyo fan made his way to Boat Quay on Wednesday and managed to snap photos of his favourite actress, whom he has liked since watching her 2000 drama Autumn In My Heart.
The noon shoot, at bustling Boat Quay, attracted at least 50 fans and curious passers-by. Mr Yap said of Hye Kyo: 'She was very friendly and she looked a lot better in person.'
Fans could not get close because the actress was constantly surrounded by several minders who formed a human barricade around her. The entire TV production has been shrouded in secrecy and information has been scarce.
Word had got out last month that the Korean stars would be in Singapore for a film project. The Korean drama fan community here started talking about it from as early as 27 Aug, and some diehard fans have reportedly been going to Changi Airport every night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two stars.
It was only on 1 Sep that the fans finally got lucky. Hye Kyo and Hyun Bin arrived with a crew of about 70 for two weeks of filming in Singapore and Bintan. Their fans have since been chasing them around the island - Boat Quay, Chinatown, Empress Place, Sentosa and Changi Airport.
The Singapore Tourism Board, which is helping to facilitate the production under the ongoing Film In Singapore scheme, would not reveal any details about the shoot. An insider revealed that the Korean producers were very strict with what went out to the media, and they did not want any disturbance during filming.
But the fans always have their ways. Some of the more aggressive ones tried to talk to the Korean crew members or the locally-hired bus drivers to get more information.
While Hye Kyo has been getting media attention, her hunky co-star has not received as much. The reason? His protective minders would stop fans from taking photos or physically block him from their view.
Accountant Jaslyn Tan, 29, a fan of Hyun Bin's, said: 'They were very alert and they kept looking at us. Once they saw our cameras, they would tell us in English, 'No photos!' 'And they were very good at blocking. One of his assistants was such a big guy that he blocked Hyun Bin totally. It was very hard to take photos.'
However, Miss Tan, who saw her idol at Boat Quay last Wednesday, said Hyun Bin would always acknowledge his fans. 'When you smile at him, he would always smile and wave back, even from afar.'
Another Hyun Bin fan, student Binnie Chen, 26, followed her idol for four days before she finally succeeded in getting his autograph at Rasa Sentosa Resort, where he was staying.
Miss Chen had gone there last Saturday with some other fans and gave the actor a cake - his birthday is on 25 Sep - when he appeared at the hotel lobby around 8pm. Miss Chen shook his hand and for once, his assistants also allowed him to sign autographs for the group of fans.
But that was it - no photo-taking for the lot. Not that it mattered, since the actor's smiling face and his 'deep dimples', as Miss Chen put it, were already seared in their minds.
Source: The Electric New Paper, Singapore
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/story/0,4136,176489,00.html
