We say she bagged the constellation prize.

Indeed, for the girl with the golden opportunity to shine her light beyond this land, the sky's the limit. And like any regional-star-in-waiting worth her salt, she is near impossible to track down. The elusive celeb now flits between alternate worlds of stardust glamour - filming a movie in the dark alleys of Hongkong, indulging the Shopping addict in her in Taiwan, bantering with MTV veejays in China. To paraphrase a famous tagline, all you need is a visa.

This frequent flyer spends half the year out of the country, forgoing home-cooked meals for hotel room service, collecting more passport stamps than some of us do bus tickets. Even now, as the promotional blitzkrieg for her latest projects - her fourth Mandarin album, appropriately titled Missing You, her maiden movie outing, The Truth About Jane and Sam, and its soundtrack - goes into hyperdrive here this month, she is likely to miss much of the action. Currently in Taiwan to plug her album, Fann returns for the gala premiere of Truth before winging her way to Yunnan, China, to film TCS's period mega-drama, Swordsman.

One could almost say that she's morphed into - The Fann-tom Star.

EPISODE ONE: STAR WOES

"I need time," she wails, running her fingers through her hair in mock desperation. "There's so much to do, and so little time!" After being bestowed with a co-ordination miracle, we finally pin down Fann Wong for a photo shoot one May afternoon. If the actress-singer is feeling any strain at all, she sure doesn't show it. Although the svelte, 1.71m-tall lass admits she's lost some cheek with her hectic schedule ("I weigh only about 49kg now."), she's a picture of high spirits and good health - on beam-alert, ever-ready to break into a wide sunny grin.

She's also a beacon of possibility, radiating enthusiasm like a motivational speaker. You tease her about being a pro at doing publicity in Taiwan. "I don't want to be a pro at anything, because it means I stop learning," she says earnestly. And with the sagacity of Yoda, she adds, "What's good about juggling different projects is that everything will always feel like a fresh experience. You'll never get bored."

At the asteroid speed her career is hurtling along, Fann can't be at the bottom of the learning curve. Her whirlwind schedule for May: Wrap filming for TCS 8 serial, Out To Win. Finish recording Missing You. Whizz to Taiwan for promotions. Her whirlwind schedule for 25 May: Interrupt work in Taipei to fly back home in the evening. Attend costume-fitting for Swordsman at TCS. Finish by the wee hours of the next morning. Fly back to Taipei. Phew.

Her hard seems to be paying off - big time. The cherubic celeb garnered a win beneath the gilded wings when her lauded turn as a self-centred stockbroker in Out To Win attracted close to a record one million viewers during the serial's finale.

PART TWO: THE DARK SIDE

"I spew vulgarities, smoke, take drugs…" she says, furrowing her brow as if in disapproval. "Oh, and I get into a catfight with another girl." The squeaky-clean actress is telling you just how disaffected the rebel she plays in The Truth About Jane and Sam is. "I really enjoyed the novel experience," she enthuses. "The director even told me, after we wrapped the catfight scene, that people finally realize how fierce Singaporean girls are," she says, with mischievous pride. When you ask her if her edgy role is potentially damaging to her pristine image, she demurs. "We'll have to see, won't we?" she chirps in a sing-song voice. "But with [director] Derek Yee, I know I'm in good hands."

"It is in the good hands of this Hongkong auteur that Raintree Pictures have placed their faith to make their second film (after Liang Po Po - The Movie) a hit - here and hopefully, abroad. It looks promising, judging from a hush, hush sneak peek at excerpts. Though the 24-year-old Taiwanese singer Peter Ho is endearingly guileless as a tabloid photog, it is scene-stealing Fann who's most likely to impress as little Ms. Understood.

So can the man who molded Anita Yuen from mere pretty face to credible thespian with C'est La Vie Ma Cherie turn Fann Wong into hot property in Hongkong?

"I don't like to fantasize about things that aren't concrete. Regional stardom? I don't dwell on these expectations. I focus on specific tasks," reasons the 28-year-old. "Like today, my job is to look good in the photos. Marketing the movie is someone else's concern."