Movie Bugz

Movie: Where Got Ghost? 吓到笑 (2009)

2012-01-21T00:48:00.000-08:00

Directed by the famous Singaporean director/producer Jack Neo, this is a movie made to explore the borders that lie between the beliefs in the supernatural world and the effects on the non-believers.
The movie was not intended to make everyone believe that the supernatural exists, but rather to create an awareness that there are certain lines to keep to toe and that respect is to be observed at all times when dealing with the unseen.

This is Jack Neo's first attempt at horror movies, and consists of three short stories depicting the different types of supernatural encounters in our daily lives.

First story: Roadside Got Ghost

Cai is a swindler, along with his two sidekicks; Fu and Shou and they were depicted to be performing a ritual during a funeral where they were convincing the deceased's family to purchase more paper offerings to appease the wandering spirits among them, which they claimed could bring misfortune to the family. After their successful attempt at the funeral, the three returned to their house where Cai ordered Fu and Shou to get him supper and some oranges. The disgruntled duo set off to buy supper and forgot about the oranges until they were halfway home.
Lazy to make their way back to the shops, they spotted some oranges at the roadside which were actually offerings to the lost spirits.

They hastily took the oranges, and prayed to the unseen spirits that it was not them who wanted the oranges and that they respected the spirits, but it was their leader, Cai, who insisted on having oranges and that he was not afraid of the spirits.
As they made their way back, they were unaware that they were being followed by an old lady ghost who seemed displeased with them taking her offerings.

Cai tasted the oranges and made snide remarks about how awful it tasted; much to the fury of the old lady ghost. At the same time, they were watching the TV showing the revelation of the latest lottery results and Cai came up with a new scheme to make money.

They will make phone calls to all the numbers in the telephone directory to offer lucky numbers 0000-9999 from the God of Prosperity; to create all the different possible combinations as out of all the possible numbers, there would definitely be a few who would win the main prizes and even consolation prizes. The condition is for the winners to contribute 20% of their winnings to Cai; claiming it to be part of the donation to the God of Prosperity and threatening bad luck to those who do not do it. Their plan succeeded and soon their business grew.

It was then that Cai received a phone call from someone who gave him a number and told him to pay commission if he wins. Cai was furious as he deemed the caller as his competitor, but he just tried his luck anyway. To his delight, he struck the lottery's first and second prize in the same draw. Happy with his wins, Cai was more complacent than ever.
A pale looking man approached Cai on the day he collected his winnings, and asked Cai to pay him his commission for his tip. Cai ignored him, and the mysterious looking man told Cai to beware that a car will knock him down. Cai was arrogant and walked to the middle of the street, showing him that no car will knock him. It was then that a car from the elevated highway above fell after overturning and hit Cai.
As he lay there dying and drenched in blood, the driver of the car emerged and it was actually the old lady ghost who warned him never to take her oranges again.
Cai was then surrounded by Fu and Shou and lots of oranges were seen to roll towards him.

2nd Story: Forest Got Ghost
Nan and Lei are two NS army reservists attending their camp training in the forest, and they were told to get to a checkpoint through the jungle. The mischievous duo who are lazy, decided to go against their officer's warning and used a shortcut through the jungle to get to the checkpoint; despite the rumors that the jungle was supposedly haunted. The duo were joking around when they realized they got lost and darkness had started to fall.
It was then that they stumbled a young woman's tomb, and they felt that they were being watched and followed. They were scared when they spotted the long-haired woman ghost dressed in red and ran away, as fast as they could, only to find that they were still unable to get out of the jungle.

On the next morning, during the rain, Nan and Lei were still trying to find they way out, but to no avail and it was when they bumped into Yin Yin, a plump young lady, selling bottled water in the jungle, and holding an umbrella at the same time. They asked her for directions, and realized that her instructions further confused them. As it was raining, they followed Yin Yin back to her house to seek shelter for the night.

At her house, due to their peeping tom nature, they were trying to steal a peek at Yin Yin taking a shower, and were scared out of their wits when they saw the ghost in red staring back at them and ran for their lives out of the house into the dark jungle.
As they were still trying to catch their breath, they spotted Yin Yin running after them and she told them not to be afraid as it was her and not the ghost. They were skeptical, but not wanting to be left outside in the jungle either, they followed her home and fell into her trap where they allowed her to tie them to the chairs to learn her magic tricks.
They were then hanging on a tree, while Yin Yin and the woman in red; apparently they were both ghosts, were departing happily as they have found their 'substitutes'.
After a while, the next scene depicted another batch of reservists arriving for their training and two reservists were trying to use the shortcut to reach their checkpoint, like Nan and Lei, and they got lost.
They found themselves stumbling upon Nan and Lei...

3rd Story: House Got Ghost

This is where we see the three popular characters; played by the director Jack Neo himself, Mark Lee and Henry Thia. The third story is a sequel from the famous Money No Enough 2, where the three brothers; Bao Hui, Bao Qiang, Bao Huang are depicted in their lives after their mother's death. They gathered around their mother's altar and were praying, telling their mother about their misfortunes and how she had not been helping her own sons from the other world.
At the same time, the brothers also heard rumors about the time of their mother's death could have affected their lives in luck and finances; and that their mother's dying at night could lead to bad luck for the descendants.
The three brothers then started to experience weird happenings in their houses; and were convinced that their mother is not resting in peace.

The younger brothers then pressured Bao Hui; the eldest brother, to bring their mother's remains in the urn to a temple to perform a ritual to appease her spirit and bless her sons. Bao Hui, reluctantly, brought her mother's urn to the temple.
However, he was surprised to find it reappearing in his car shortly after leaving the temple.
Convinced that his mother is not happy with the arrangements, he informed his brother who naturally disbelieved him.

The brothers were traveling from Malaysia for business, and on their way back, the trio were shocked to see their mother's apparition appearing in front of their car; causing Bao Huang to swerve their car immediately and the car almost fell off a cliff. The brothers escaped from the car unharmed, and were astonished to see that a landslide was happening right in front.
It was then that they realized that their mother was trying to save them from the tragedy.

My review/opinion:
As with all Jack Neo movies, each of the story contains a moral value and is set to educate the public; particularly the younger generation on the social, family, general responsibility.
It is an enjoyable, not to mention entertaining watch and I liked how each story depicted the realities of life; another specialty of Jack Neo's movies as well.
A recommended watch; it's not really to scare the daylights out of you, but more towards educating on the attitudes of the people these days.

Movie: The Bling Ring (2011)

2012-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

Based on a true story, this movie is about the infamous bunch of teenagers who robbed the rich and famous in Hollywood and baffled the authorities and the cops during the one year of their series of robberies.

Also known as "Hollywood Hills Burglars Bunch" or "Hollywood Hills Burglars", this group of young adolescents reportedly broke into the homes of Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson, Megan Fox/Brian Austin Green and Lindsay Lohan.
Names of these young delinquents have been changed in the movie due to legal matters.

The Cast:
Austin Butler - Zack Garvey
Yin Chang - Natalie Kim
Tracey Fairaway - Cherry Cox
Alix Elizabeth Gitter - Moon
Tom Irwin - Detective Archie Fishman
Sebastian Sozzi - Detective Jenks
Jennifer Grey - Iris Garvey
Wendy Makkena - Celia Fishman

Synopsis:
The movie starts off with the story of Zack Garvey (Austin Butler) who had just been transferred to a new school and his shy personality led to difficulties for him in making friends with his new high school classmates. He met Natalie Kim (Yin Chang), and was determined to keep her impressed by making up a tale about being invited to a party at Paris Hilton's place.

What started up as a game of lies, turned into a dangerous web of greed and crimes as Zack and Natalie successfully stole clothes and cash from Paris Hilton's house and even managed to capture photos of themselves.

Naming their activity as "shopping", Natalie and Zack soon embarked on a high-risk yet adventurous night activity of breaking into the houses of the rich and famous on their list of targets and selling their loot to a guy named "Savage".

The motive behind their actions is mainly to fulfill the fashionable tastes of the daring Natalie, who selected her targets based on their clothes and accessories which she has a penchant for and desired to make them her own. Zack would then be the one to track the celebrity's house address and their activities via Facebook and Twitter, to check when they would be out of town; for them to commit their crime.
They managed to make money out of their prized possessions from all their successful attempts, and Natalie decided to share her joy with her girl friends; Cherry, Moon whom she shared the secret with and recruited them into the gang, much to Zack's anxiety.
Zack was starting to worry when they were captured on the surveillance camera's footage in Audrina Patridge's home and she uploaded it into her blog.

When nothing seemed to happen, the gang got complacent and continued to rob houses of the celebrities the girls targeted for their fashion tastes or their desires for the clothings/accessories they spotted on the media.
The gang got bolder as the police did not seem to be able to track them; and continued to rob the homes of the rich and famous.

Zack then befriended a new girl at a neighboring school; Maddie whom he was portrayed to have a romantic interest in and it was then that Zack wanted to pull out of the gang.

Natalie was unhappy with his decision and when he refused to join in their 'shopping' at Lindsay Lohan's place, Natalie invited Maddie to join them for a fun night out and brought her to their target's house. Maddie was quite drunk and even threw up in the bathroom and insisted on going home. Zack showed up to take her home, but Maddie was furious that Zack was involved in the illegal activity and that he had betrayed her trust.

Detective Fishman, was a veteran transfer, and was often ridiculed by his fellow colleagues for not being up to date with the Hollywood buzz. However, he was the one who started identifying the trends in the burglaries; from the sweet wrappers to the types of stuffs they took that he finally led his team to believe that the criminals could be teenagers which was the main reason they could not match most of the fingerprints to their database.
His careful investigation, teamed with his intelligence brought him hot on the tracks when he found Zack on Facebook from his video in Youtube and then linked him to his friends.
He followed Zack's status updates in Facebook and even set up a trap by creating a fake Facebook account to lure Zack into believing he was a potential buyer for his celebrity goods.

The detective contacted Zack, and offered to help him if he was willing to cooperate with the police but at the same time, Savage threatened Zack that he would harm his family if he were to go to the police. When Zack did not show up for his appointment with Fishman, the detective was adamant to nail the gang red-handed and tracked them on their Twitter to learn of their next target. They were conned the first time, but they obtained warrants of search and arrest and managed to uncover the loot at Zack's house. Zack worked with them to trap Savage; on the condition that Maddie is to be cleared of the crime.
When they arrived at Natalie's house, she was on her way to the airport to fly to Las Vegas to live with her dad, and she pleaded with the police to offer them information about the gang.

The gang was finally arrested; making them one of the most prolific burglars in history due to their successful one year of robberies in Hollywood.

My review/opinion:
This is a high-profile series of robberies, and the reasons are obvious; as their targets are all the rich and famous in Hollywood. There was so much publicity about their activities and it took the cops some time to be on their tracks.
Newspaper reports that some of the celebrities were even robbed more than once; due to their exquisite fashion tastes and also the easy accessibility into their homes.
This is a rather good adaptation of the actual events; although they have changed the story a little but the the group consists of mostly popularity/attention-starved bunch of teens who just wanted excitement and to be noticed by others in their lives.
However, they used the wrong way to fulfill their needs, and the worse is, they got complacent and even greedy when they thought they are above the law.

A good movie to watch on teenagers; and the influence of media and parents' education have on their behavior. Although most of them came from good homes, but they still got themselves involved in such activity. Was it because of their parents or they were responsible themselves? Also, how could young adults like these be sucked into so much fashion trends and owning luxury items, that they could turn into idolizing these materialism to turn it into crime?

A time to look into the minds of the youngsters these days...

Movie: Dream House (2011)

2012-01-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

The synopsis
A 2011 psychological thriller by director Jim Sheridan, this is a movie about a man, Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) who moved into a new house with his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz) and two lovely daughters, Trish and Dee Dee, claiming that they have found their dream house.

As the family was happily settling down and adapting to the new environment, they were disturbed by their two girls's claims of spotting a mysterious man watching them from the window. Will calmed his family down by disproving their claims but he and his wife Libby found evidence on the walls of the house's previous owners.

Upon further investigation, Will found out that the previous family who stayed in the house were brutally murdered; and the victims were a woman named Elizabeth, and her two young daughters, Beatrice and Katherine. The prime suspect in the murder case was Elizabeth's husband and the father of the two girls; Peter Ward who was the only person at home at the time of the murders. However, Peter Ward was released due to the lack of evidence.

Will became convinced that Peter Ward has returned to haunt the grounds of his former home and worries for his family's safety; especially after stumbling upon a bunch of teenagers in his basement performing a ritual for the dead family.

Will was even more convinced of Peter Ward's presence when the teenagers muttered, "He's back" as they left his compound. Determined to find out the truth and to protect his family, Will tried to get the story from his seemingly friendly neighbor; a divorcee, Ann Patterson (Naomi Watts). When his attempts proved futile, Will continued his research on Peter Ward which then led him to an asylum or a psychiatric hospital where he learnt that Peter Ward was there for five years and that he was a a very dangerous patient who constantly bit on his own tags and even changed his own name to protect his identity.
Will was even shown a video tape of Peter Ward, and when it zoomed into the face, Will realized that he WAS Peter Ward and that Will Atenton was a name he conjured up based on his ID number on the tag: ( W1-1L 8-10-10).
It was an attempt to cope with his grief over his family's death and by coming up with a new identity he led himself to believe that he was not the murderer.

Will refused to believe the truth and walked away, but he soon realized that his family's death was true and that he had been seeing the ghosts of his wife and daughters who was still lingering around him to find out the truth and to protect him.
Will turned to his neighbor, Ann Patterson, whom he saw visiting him in the video tape, and found out that Ann was actually his wife, Libby's best friend and she believed that Will was not the murderer.

Will was then intent to find out the real murderer of his family. Together with Ann, they found out that the real murderer was a local man named Boyce, who broke into the house and shot Libby and his two daughters. At that time, Libby was trying to shoot Boyce to protect Peter but she dropped the gun which Boyce used to shoot her, leading Peter to be accused of the crime.

At the same time, as Will had finally found out about the truth, he and Ann was suddenly attacked by Jack, Ann's ex-husband who revealed that he was the one who hired Boyce to kill his ex-wife, as an act of revenge due to her divorcing him. However, Boyce broke into the wrong house and killed the wrong family instead. Jack then tried to burn the house down, to kill Ann and to again frame Will of the murder. He also shot Boyce for his mistake in killing the wrong family, and then set the house to fire. Will saved Ann from the fire, while Boyce and Jack fought with each other and ended up killed in the fire.

Will then reconciled with the ghosts of his wife and daughters, who told him that they forgave him and that he should save himself.
He turned and left, finding the truth and coming to peace with his own self.

A year later, Peter was seen to have published a book named 'Dream House' which tells his whole story and it was a best seller while Peter seemed to have settled in New York.

My Review/Opinion:
I find the plot a little similar to Shutter Island, another psychological thriller I have watched earlier but comparing the two, I must say that Shutter Island fared much better in the complexity of mystery and suspense.
Dream House was rather slow in its pace, and at the same time, it did not create much suspense as its pace already gave us plenty of opportunities to guess the rather predictable plot.

Anyway, if I have not watched Shutter Island beforehand, this movie may be quite entertaining, although I still think that the pace was really quite slow.

My TVB Drama list in 2011

2012-01-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

The list of all the TVB series I have watched last year; of course, again, there's more than that, as I just love TVB dramas.
I think there are still lots of the dramas which I have yet to review, but I will work on that soon ;)

My favorite/Top 5 TVB dramas of the year 2011:
1. Only You
2. Mysteries in Love
3. Every Move You Make
4. Suspects in Love
5. Sisters of Pearl

May I add one more; Links to Temptation as well :)

There will be more reviews coming up and also more TVB Dramas to watch, hopefully ;)

TVB: Cupid Stupid ( 戀愛星求人) (2010)

2012-01-17T19:04:00.000-08:00

Main Cast:
Steven Ma Chun Wai - Chi Yat Po
Tavia Yeung - Twinkle/Kan Ngo Lam
Michael Tse Tin Wah - Jeff Koon Sing Ho
Mandy Cho Man Lei - Anna/ Fong Cheuk Kei

Supporting Cast:
Lau Dan - Chi Kam Kwai
Kingdom Yuen - Josephine/ Chi Kam Kiu
Albert Lo - Kan Wing Chung
Ruco Chan Chin Pang - Frankie/Chung Kin Pong

Synopsis:
This is a story about how people of different horoscopes live their lives and how their horoscopes affect their perspectives of life, work, and love.
The focus is on the three main characters whose lives intertwine with each other when they meet through friendship and work.

Chi Yat Po (Steven Ma) is a simple and honest guy who worked as a fishmonger with his dad and aunt at the market and harbours feelings for his childhood friend, Lam (Tavia Yeung) whom he always helped to bail out of her failing romances/flings.
Their platonic friendship was constantly put to the test as Po tries to confess his feelings for her and yet it never materialize; and as his name means, "One step late"

The duo met Koon Sing Ho (Michael Tse) who was an aspiring toymaker with a loyal girlfriend, Anna (Mandy Cho). Their relationship was unstable despite Anna's patience towards her temperamental boyfriend.
Both Sing Ho/Jeff and Lam/Twinkle are avid believers of their star signs and the readings on their lives each day and that was how both found common interests with each other and the friendship took on to the next level when Twinkle started working in the same company as Jeff.

Twinkle then found out about Po's long-hidden feelings for her and starts to face a dilemma between Po and Jeff.
The story also revolves around the other supporting characters; such as Po's estranged aunt, Josephine who despised her ex-husband and at the same time, face pursuit of her fortune teller, Greeny. Jeff's ex-girlfriend, Anna also embarked on a relationship with his rival co-worker, Frankie.

The relationships and romances developed between the characters in the story, mainly focused on their star signs and characteristics. Who did Twinkle chose in the end?

Po or Jeff?

It was all in the star signs...

My Review/Opinion:
The star signs/horoscopes form the backbone of the plot of this drama, and moulds the characters.
I find the drama starting on a rather good note; focusing on how certain people choose to believe strongly in their star signs and readings, to the extent that it could affect their decisions in their daily lives. However, as the drama progresses, I was disappointed to see the direction the drama took as some of the characters just got rather out of hand.
At the same time, I just could not help but feel frustrated with all the three main characters who seemed to be rather spineless in their decisions at times.
Po is the timid type but yet I find myself pitying him as he lost Twinkle to Jeff, then at the same time, I felt frustrated because it was not that Po was not good enough for Twinkle but he never dared to take that step to just tell her!
Jeff, on the other hand was a totally different guy who dared to take risks and speak his mind and I guess, that's how he got his girls.
Twinkle was the most frustrating of the lot; she already knew that she had feelings for Po, and she was finding it hard to deal with Jeff, so what is there to think about when it comes to who to choose anymore?

Overall, I find the drama a little slow, but not too bad in its romantic storyline, though, if my warning is, don't root for any character/couple as they are all too indecisive in their romance!

Movies I have watched in the year 2011

2012-01-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

A quick review of the movies I have watched in the past year!
Not all of them are the latest movies in the year; as you can see and some of them are from the older releases.
Well, I am not the type who watches movies on the spot, and I tend to read more than I watch sometimes.
Of course, this is not the FULL list as there are still many more movies which I did not squeeze in:p

How has your year 2011 been, in movies?
I think I may compile another list on dramas/TV series ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 and to many more good movies to come!:D

Movie: The Roommate (2011)

2011-11-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

This is one of the movies released this year; and featured one of my favorite actresses; Leighton Meester as one of the leads.

Cast:
Leighton Meester - Rebecca Evans
Minka Kelly - Sara Matthews
Cam Gigandet - Stephen
Danneel Harris - Irene Crew
Matt Lanter - Jason Tanner
Alyson Michalka - Tracy Morgan

Directed by Christian E. Christiansen, the movie focused on college roommates, Sara and Rebecca, both played by Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester.

The Story

Sara is starting her freshman year at college at the opening of the movie; and as she checks into her hostel room, she was happy to learn that she was early, and her roommate had not checked in yet; which meant that she gets to choose the side of her bed.
She joins her other new friends; Tracy and the girls to a party where she meets a cute drummer, Stephen.

When she reaches her room late that night, she was ready to tuck into sleep until she saw her roommate, Rebecca, who appeared to be waiting for her.
Sara went to the bathroom to refresh herself and was surprised to find her roommate asleep when she was back.
Thinking nothing of it, she went to bed.

Sara soon got to know her roommate, Rebecca who appeared to be a very nice girl and who stays only 20 minutes away from college. Rebecca seems to come from a wealthy family and have a closet full of clothes and even had to borrow part of Sara's closet, but she was generous to lend Sara her clothes if she ever needs to.
Sara tried to introduce Rebecca to her other friends; Tracy and the girls but Rebecca did not seem interested in them.

In fact, Rebecca always seem to be hanging around Sara and appears to be jealous whenever Sara has other plans with other friends.

Sara was starting a new relationship with Stephen, after her ex-boyfriend, Jason, disappointed her and they broke up. However, Jason still keeps calling her on her cell phone which she didn't answer.

When Sara got home late after spending the night with Stephen, she was surprised to see Rebecca in a furious state. Sara felt guilty for not calling and apologized to Rebecca.

Rebecca attacked Sara's friend, Tracy, in the shower and warned her never to go near Sara or to tell Sara about the attack or she will be killed. Tracy, spooked by Rebecca's threats, requested to change dorms and stayed away from Sara, who was bewildered at her friend's sudden change in behavior.

Sara confided in Rebecca about her pain in losing her sister, Emily when she was 9, and showed her the tattoo she had on her chest in memory of her sister.
When Sara's interior design professor (Billy Zane) kissed her, Sara was scared and ran to Rebecca, telling her about the incident, thinking that she was seeking for comfort.
Little did she know, Rebecca then took it into her hands to seduce the professor and when the professor tried to kiss her, she screamed and recorded the whole incident, causing the professor to be sacked from the campus.

At one point, Sara found a kitten and brought it back to her to the room where she and Rebecca tried to keep it a secret from the administration. However, when one of the dorm wardens found out and gave them a warning, Sara sought help from her other close friend, Irene. Irene turned her down, but offered Sara a place to stay with her so that she could her kitten.
Sara tried to discuss with Rebecca who was not very receptive to the idea, and immediately dropped the idea.
However, Rebecca was afraid that Sara would try to initiate the topic again and while she was away at class, puts the kitten into the laundry.
Sara was devastated with the kitten's loss and Rebecca apologized for her carelessness in losing the kitten and consoled Sara.

Sara and Rebecca became closer and Sara went home with Rebecca for Thanksgiving to celebrate with her family. In her home, Sara overheard the conversation between Rebecca and her father about how Rebecca was coping in college and how she has been having difficulty in making friends in the past. Sara went out with Rebecca and was surprised to see girls who seemed to be Rebecca's old school friends, behaving rather coldly towards her. One of them even told Rebecca, "We were never friends".
Sara then bumped into Rebecca's mum the next day and was surprised when her mum asked if Rebecca was still taking her medication.

Spooked, Sara related the incident to Stephen and she started to search through Rebecca's drawers when she was out to class and she found a bottle of medication (pills) which they found on the Internet, were medication for patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. It appears that the bottle of pills were full which indicated that Rebecca never took her medication.

Recalling Rebecca's recent overprotective and possessive behavior towards her, Sara was afraid of Rebecca and decided to move out to stay with Stephen. However, she was unable to locate her necklace which belonged to her sister Emily, but still moved out anyhow.

It was at this time that Jason, Sara's ex-boyfriend, came to visit and not able to get Sara, he slips a note underneath the door. Rebecca took the note and went to the hotel room where Jason was staying, pretending to be Sara and then stabbed him to death.

Rebecca then went to the club where she tracked Irene, another of Sara's best friends and pretended to be interested in her. They kissed and Rebecca went back with Irene to her place.

When Sara received a text message from Irene saying that she needed Sara urgently, Sara informed Stephen and rushed to her place. She found Irene tied to her place and an angry Rebecca who called Sara ungrateful after all that she had done for her. She then related all that she had done to Tracy, the kitten, professor, and even Jason to the horrified Sara.
Sara, sensing her unstable mental state, apologized to her and begged for her forgiveness.
Rebecca was touched but was still adamant to kill Irene so that she could have Sara all to herself, and was attacked by Sara.

Furious, she was about to kill Sara when Stephen arrived and knocked her down, causing Sara to fall out the window at the same time.
Stephen was then unconscious while Rebecca tried to save Sara, who, in turn, killed her at the end, whispering to her, "You were never my friend"

At the end of the movie, we see Sara sitting alone in her room, telling Stephen how she does not want a roommate for a while.

My Review:
I think it was a very predictable movie, and it was just like one of the stereotypical college movies with a bit of scary parts here and there. Perhaps it was predictable, which did not create much suspense though I think the director did try to stir up the thriller part, but failed.
I find the storyline a little familiar; something along the line of Single White Female, but this was just not as good, or not even exciting on its own.

However, I must praise Leighton Meester for her excellent performance in here (I am not biased).
She played the role of a sinister and troubled teen to perfection, and I just loved how she can play the role of innocence and evil at the same time; with just a twitch of her smile.
She is just so pretty, and perhaps, she is the only unpredictable part of the movie.

I am not sure whether it's me, but does Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester just look so ALIKE?

I think that was the part that almost confused me in the beginning!
I think they should seriously consider these two girls if they were to film on siblings the next round, I almost couldn't tell them apart in the beginning as they just looked so alike!

My Verdict:
Watch it for pure entertainment, and without expectation, which was what I did on a lazy weekend.
It's not that rotten, I still enjoyed the movie anyway :)

Disclaimer: Photos are from the Internet, and are no way related to me. They are used for illustration and do not belong to me.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1 & 2 ) - The Finale

2011-11-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

The TWO most anticipated films for the years 2010 and 2011; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, wraps up the seven books on the young and brave sorcerer by J.K Rowling.

The exciting Finale of the books were split into two separate movies; with Part 1 making its debut in 2010 followed by the sequel in 2011.

Part 1 picks up from the movie's prequel, and continued from Harry's quest to uncover the hidden horcruxes to vanquish the powerful Dark Lord, Voldemort.
The pace of the movie was slow, and featured a lot of flashbacks from the first six prequels of the movie as Harry recalled the memories of his own parents, of the deceased noble headmaster, Dumbledore, and his godfather, Sirius Black while the rest of the Order assisted him in hiding from the dark forces.
The atmosphere in this First part was rather moody, and it may take time for one to pick up the bits and pieces from the previous movie, and at the same time, recalling the story from the book.

The movie ended with a cliffhanger, giving away to the excitement and unraveling of the mystery in the upcoming sequel.
To be honest, one could only feel excited towards the end of this movie as you realize that most of the action are planned for the Part 2, or the grand finale.

Part 2 started with Harry's journey to search for the remaining of the Horcruxes to destroy the Dark Lord, and at the same time, dodging the attacks of the forces.
However, situation calls for Harry and his friends to brave themselves to make their way into the Gringotts with the help of a goblin who betrayed them.

Harry embarked on a dangerous journey back to Hogwarts, with Hermione and Ron, to uncover the remaining Horcruxes which were believed to be hidden inside the school of wizardry itself.
The duel began between the good and evil as Voldemort raced towards Hogwarts upon learning of Harry's presence in the school and after Snape lost his position as the headmaster of Hogwarts.

Harry soon learnt about the truth behind Snape's betrayal and Dumbledore's death, and with the death of teachers, friends and school mates surrounding him, he mustered up his courage to challenge and meet Voldemort in a final duel, after destroying most of the Horcruxes.

The only ones left were in Nagini; Voldemort's pet snake and also Harry himself.

Without a doubt, the outcome was of course the good triumphed over evil, as usual with most magical and fantasy movies, but Part 2 was an exciting mix of suspense and thrill, along with the twists and turns of the story; as excellently spun by the creative author.

It is no surprise that I enjoyed the Part 2 more than its prequel!

A word of caution from me though; it may be better to have read the book before you watch the movie; particularly this finale as you may not have an idea about the whole movie.
It may be entertaining, yes, if you just watch it as a movie, but then the whole story would be a waste if it was not made known prior to the movie.

If you ask me, I would prefer the book anytime compared to the movie, as I have always loved reading books and movie adaptation from books were never that good as compared to the original storyline.
A great finale and a marvelous end to the wizard's epic!

KBS: Boys Over Flowers 꽃보다 남자 (2009)

2011-03-19T05:11:00.000-07:00

No. of episodes: 25

Main Cast:
Koo Hye Sun - Kim Jan Di
Lee Min Ho - Gu Jun Pyo
Kim Hyun Joong - Yoon Ji Hoo
Kim Bum - So Yi Jeong
Kim Joon - Song Woo Bin

Supporting Cast:
Other Ladies
Kim So Eun - Chu Ga Eul
Han Chae Young - Min Seo Hyun
Lee Min Jeong - Ha Chae Kyoung
Lee Si Young - Oh Min Ji
Park Soo Jin - Cha Eun Jae
Kim Min Ji - Jang Yu Mi

Jan Di's Family
Ahn Suk Hwan - Kim Il Bong
Im Ye Jin - Na Gong Joo
Park Ji Bin - Kim Jang San

Gu Family
Lee Hye Yeong - Kang Hee Soo/President Kang/Mrs. Gu
Kim Hyun Joo - Gu Jun Hee
Jung Ho Bin - Jung Sang Ruk/ Chief Secretary of President Kang

Yoon Family
Lee Jung Gil - Yoon Seok Young/Ex-president of Korea

So Family
Im Joo Hwan - So Il Hyun

School:
Gook Ji Yun - Choi Jin Hee/Ginger
Jang Ja Yun - Park Sun Ja/Sunny
Min Young Won - Lee Mi Sook/Miranda
Jung Ui Chul - Lee Min Ha (suicidal student)/Min Jae Ha (model Haje)

Synopsis/Storyline:
This is the third adaptation of the famous and best-selling Japanese manga; Hana Yori Dango by Yoko Kamio following the the Japanese version of Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers, and the Taiwanese version of Meteor Garden.

Following the suit of the success of the other two adaptations, the Korean version here in the form of Boys Over Flowers was just as popular and a huge hit in Asia and even in western countries.

Since it is an adaptation, the base of the story is similar whereby the leading character lies in the strong and determined yet plain-looking girl who struck back at the four most influential boys; who called themselves Flower 4/F4.

She gained the disapproval from other fearful students, but on the contrary, she won the heart of the leader of F4; who admired her for her courage and character.

In this version, the leading girl is Kim Jan Di(Koo Hye Sun) and her family runs a laundry shop.

Jan Di has a younger brother; Jang San who is intelligent and witty.

By chance, she entered the prominent and prestigious school meant for the rich and famous and was disgusted with the arrogant behaviour displayed by most of the students there.

She was looked down by the rich brats in the school, which caused her to maintain a low profile to avoid trouble especially when she was informed that the F4 is a bunch of the four most influential boys in the school who will make one's life a living hell if they were offended.

Unfortunately, Jan Di's character cannot be hidden for too long and she finally stood up to F4 when her one and only best friend in the school, Oh Min Ji (Lee Si Young) accidentally offended the F4 and she was victimized.

Jan Di struck back at the F4's bullies and terrorizing and gained the attention of Gu Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho), the leader of the notorious F4. She was surprised to see that the boy she admired from his quiet and kind personality whom she found playing violin in the woods; Yoon Ji Hoo (Kim Hyun Joong) was also part of F4.

Gu Jun Pyo was fascinated by Jan Di's strong character, and tried to win her heart by offering her to be his girlfriend after kidnapping her and giving her a total makeover at his home. However, Jan Di was disgusted with his behavior and turned him down immediately.

Gu Jun Pyo soon began his mission to court Jan Di, as he was truly mesmerized by her chracter. Jan Di was uncomfortable with the attention and fear shown towards her by the students in the school and tried to distant herself from the gang.
Gu Jun Pyo continued to win her heart through many ways while Jan Di was actually interested in the quiet and kinder Yoon Ji Hoo.

Yoon Ji Hoo, on the other hand, harbours deep feelings for her childhood and first love, Min Seo Hyun (Han Chae Young) who was a famous international model.

She returned from overseas and Jan Di was jealous of Ji Hoo's attention on her.

Seo Hyun was kind to Jan Di, and helped her when she was bullied by the three jealous girls in the school.

She invited Jan Di to her birthday party where she announced her decision to leave the modelling world and to further her studies in law.

Ji Hoo was devastated when Seo Hyun left, but with the encouragement of Jan Di, he followed suit and flew after Seo Hyun.
Gu Jun Pyo then spent time with Jan Di, and even tried to get her to go on a vacation with him and the other F3.
At this time, Yoon Ji Hoo reappeared, but he seemed to have transformed into a totally different person and seemed to be particularly flirty with the girls they brought along with them on the trip.

Jan Di and Ji Hoo met at night, where she tried to console Ji Hoo who was upset over Seo Hyun's decision, and when Gu Jun Pyo found out, he was furious and broke up with Jan Di.
Jan Di and Ji Hoo then was isolated by the rest of the school as they were blamed for betraying Gu Jun Pyo.

Jan Di then was brought home by Gu Jun Hee (Kim Hyun Joo); the elder sister of Gu Jun Pyo who came back to Korea to teach her brother a lesson. She made Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo face each other in a series of competitions to decide the winner and to determine the fates of both Jan Di and Ji Hoo whom Jun Pyo wanted to expel out of school and F4.

Jun Pyo, blinded by his jealousy for Jan Di and Ji Hoo, gave up and allowed Ji Hoo to win the competition. However, Ji Hoo already tested Jan Di's true feelings and he did everything to prove it to Jun Pyo.
The romance between Jun Pyo and Jan Di was not an easy one, as they faced various challenges from Jun Pyo's mother and Jun Pyo's enemies.

In one event, Jun Pyo was badly beaten up by a guy who wanted to avenge his brother's death caused by F4 in the beginning of the series and Jan Di was injured when she tried to shield Jun Pyo from the chair flung at him.

When their romance is on a more stable path, Jun Pyo's father fell ill; causing Jun Pyo to mature as a grown man and take over the family's business.

He went to Macau, and promised his mother that he will only concentrate on the business and nothing else, to ensure that his mother will not cause trouble to Jan Di in his absence.

Jan Di missed him dearly, and after not receiving any response during the correspondence, she decided to fly to Macau to visit Jun Pyo.
Jun Pyo, however, refused to meet her and kept putting her off by using the excuse that he was busy with work.
When the remaining F3 arrived in Macau, they managed to sneak in to visit Jun Pyo and demanded an explanation on Jun Pyo's refusal to meet Jan Di.
They were furious with Jun Pyo's cold attitude and his obstinacy that he wanted nothing to do with Jan Di anymore and that he had changed.

Ji Hoo then arranged a meeting between Jan Di and she was heartbroken when Jun Pyo told her about his decision.

The other F4 members then spent time to console her; especially Ji Hoo who tried to cheer her up.
Jun Pyo was jealous when he found out through the private investigator he hired to track Jan Di's daily activities.

Jun Pyo, was in fact still in love with Jan Di, but he had to give up due to his responsibilities and he was deeply distressed as he missed Jan Di very much.

When Jun Pyo finally returned to Korea, he was angered when he found out that his mother arranged for a party and invited Jan Di and his friends. She tried to humiliate the poor Jan Di by inviting her to play the piano and then announced Jun Pyo's engagement to a lady; Ha Chae Kyoung (Lee Min Jeong) who was the daughter of a CEO of a company which Jun Pyo's mother is interested in.
Jun Pyo tried to run away with Jan Di, but he took Chae Kyoung's hand by mistake.

The duo started off on the wrong sides of each other; but Chae Kyoung fell in love with him and tried to court Jun Pyo.
Jan Di was upset but was consoled by Ji Hoo, and the duo reluctantly joined Jun Pyo and Chae Kyoung on a trip where Jan Di almost drowned and Chae Kyoung was upset to learn that Jun Pyo and Jan Di were in love with each other.

Jan Di, then decided to leave and visit her parents in the fishing village, and Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo both went after her.
Jun Pyo, was unfortunately hit by a car and ended up in a coma in the hospital.

When Jun Pyo finally wakes, he had lost his memory of Jan Di, despite remembering everyone else. He was also misled by another girl in the hospital who pretended to be his girlfriend.
After they were discharged from the hospital, the girl continued to mislead Jun Pyo and they planned to get married. At their engagement party, Jan Di tried one last time to help Jun Pyo remember her by letting herself fall into the pool and Jun Pyo, in a state of urgency, jumped in after her to save her, and it was then that he remembered Jan Di.

When Jan Di graduated, Jun Pyo made a promise to her that he will come back for her after three years when he had established his family business.
The final scene was a happy one; as Jan Di is now a nurse working at missionary camps and Jun Pyo is a successful businessman.
He came to her work site and proposed to her, and was then joined by the rest of the F4.

- Happy Ending!~ -

Character/Cast Analysis:
Koo Hye Sun as Kim Jan Di

She is supposed to be the headstrong and tough type, and it was definitely against her character to bow down to power and wealth. Well, initially she did hide her courage to strike back against the influence of F4 for fear of getting herself victimized but she stood up when her own friend was bullied. Hmmm, was that really righteous or selfish?
She was infatuated with Yoon Ji Hoo because of his gentle personality, and she thought she was in love with him. She thought she hated Gu Jun Pyo but was slowly touched by his love for her (who wouldn't be anyway) and she did change for him and he for her too. She truly did love him and her love showed in her jealousy and distress when Jun Pyo hurt her again and again. The best scene which showed her feelings was when she rushed to shield Jun Pyo from another strike by his enemy. That was the classic scene in all Hana Yori Dango adaptations!
This character was supposed to be a plain-looking jane and not really pretty and all that, but of all the actresses in the different adaptations, I must say Koo Hye Sun is the prettiest and most adorable version of this obstinate and strong girl. I loved her expressions and could really feel for her when she cries and laughs. It was really a good job done by this young actress!

Lee Min Ho as Gu Jun Pyo

He is the leader of the notorious F4 and is the future heir to a multibillion corporation run by his family. It is no wonder his arrogance and complacency then. His upbringing and family background probably attributed to his chracter; and he always thought that money could solve everything. The transition in his character can be observed as the series progressed as he was becoming less of a bully but more of a compassionate person. He also mature as he was forced to carry the responsibility of the family's business on his shoulders when his father was ill and he had to learn to prioritize between his family and his love for Jan Di. It was really pitiful to see him in such a predicament and really unjust to a young adolescent like him though he could have at least told Jan Di about it rather than hurt her so badly. It is definitely not approved as a gentlemanly behaviour.
Lee Min Ho bears a haunting resemblance to Jerry Yan Cheng Xu; his Taiwan counterpart who played the same character! They looked so alike and even had the same expressions! I felt like I was just watching Jerry in a korean drama!
Looks aside, Lee Min Ho was quite hilarious and natural in his role as well; expressing his pain and joy to reality.

Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoo

He is probably the most humane in the F4 and he is the more reserved and quiet one compared to the rest. The reason was slowly revealed in the series, as he had lost both his parents at a young age and his grandfather was indirectly the cause of it. He found it hard to cope with the loss, and I guess his overbearing grief caused him to retreat to his own self and break away from the rest of the world. He was led out of his coccoon by Jan Di's strength and he found himself enjoying her company. He was initially only fascinated by her courage to stand up to F4 but he realized that he truly did like her more than his first love, Min Seo Hyun whom I believed was more of an infatuation. By then, Jan Di was already in love with Gu Jun Pyo, and he was the nice guy who was always there for her to protect her and to comfort her.
I have always thought that this character was the most confusing one; as sometimes he makes me feel that he himself does not know what he wants compared to Gu Jun Pyo and the rest of the F4 gang.
Kim Hyun Joong is another actor who bore a striking resemblance to popular fellow Korean actor, Bae Yong Jun!
Somehow I didn't feel that he could portray the character perfectly as his appearance and outlook were not convincing as the reserved type; but rather, a more playboy type. Anyway, he was still not too bad as the guy who could stand up to his best friend for a girl he liked and loved.

Kim Bum as So Yi Jeong

The playboy of F4; he was naturally suave and charming and had his ways with ladies. In this series, his casanova personality actually stemmed from his past romance and also his family background. He fell for Jan Di's best friend, Chu Ga Eul but he pushed her away, convincing her that he is never interested in her type. He was just fooling himself, really as he did really loved her.
He finally realized it anyway, towards the end and he was more fortunate than Ji Hoo that Ga Eul was still waiting for him.
Kim Bum definitely fit the bill to play the romeo of F4 as he had that cute boyish charm with him and he was just so cool in all his scenes that it is impossible not to like him!

Kim Joon as Song Woo Bin

He is the most underrated member of the F4; but he is also another playboy like Yi Jeong. Somehow, in this drama his family was hinted to be associated to the mafia. I felt he was more of a righteous friend rather than a playboy as despite him being in the background most of the time, he does contribute to the strong union of the F4 and it was clearly shown in the scene in Macau when he appeared to save Jan Di from being bullied by the gangsters in the back lane.
Kim Joon is quite dopey to play this role, but I have to admit, that gave him a very cute outlook as the helpful and likeable Woo Bin. He could have had more focus, but well, this is following closely to the adaptation of the comic anyway, so too bad for Kim Joon to take a back seat in this drama.

I planned to just summarize the rest of the characters, but I have to commend the following performances and fellow actors:
Kim So Eun as Chu Ga Eul

This girl is just unbelievably sweet; and I am not referring to the character but the actress herself! She is just so pretty and her innocent look is just so heart-melting and charming, even for girls!
I loved her so much, and wished there were more scenes of her! She was such a lovely choice compared to Rainie Yang to play this role!

Kim Hyun Joo as Gu Jun Hee

She is the strong sister of Gu Jun Pyo and had been disciplining him in their parents' absence. Despite her tough attitude towards her brother, she truly did care and loved him and was often arguing with their mother over Jun Pyo's freedom in choice. I have seen Kim Hyun Joo in amazing performances in her other dramas, and I must say she did not disappoint in this role although it was a different one compared to her other roles.

Lee Min Jeong as Ha Chae Kyoung

She is the only daughter of a CEO of a company which is of great benefit if in alliance with Jun Pyo's company. She is also a headstrong type, and was against marrying someone whom she does not know and objected to the arrangement. However, she fell for Gu Jun Pyo and started to woo him. She was definitely the type who would not sit and wait for things to happen, but too bad, she was not the partner Jun Pyo had in mind. Maybe, if Jun Pyo had not met Jan Di first, she would win his heart as well due to her character.
Lee Min Jeong was more of a sweet girl rather than a tough girl to play this character who was supposed to be spoilt and yet in desperate need of love and attention but nevertheless, she did play the sadness in her eyes very well when she felt rejected by Jun Pyo.

Han Chae Young as Min Seo Hyun

She was the first love of Yoon Ji Hoo, and like the F4, she was born and raised in a rich family where she had to live up to her family's expectations rather than for herself. She was beautiful and seemed perfect to everyone for a girl who had it all; career as a top international model, wealth, and love but she chose to abandon and go for her own path. Compared to all the other female characters, I must say she is the one with the most spunk to be able to say aloud what she truly wants and DO it.
This was a different role for Han Chae Young whom I have always remembered as the jealous sister in Autumn in My Heart but she was quite believable as the gentle and soft-spoken yet determined type here.

Lee Hye Yeong as Kang Hee Soo

Compared to the Taiwan version, this version of Jun Pyo's mother was more like an evil stepmother who was just plain cold and heartless type. She did everything for the family and company's benefits, or so she thought, and yet, she lacked the most important characteristic of a mother; to be caring and compassionate towards her own children. She is successful as a world renowned businesswoman but as a mother, she failed miserably.
Lee Hye Yeong just had that charisma to play this character perfectly, even making her hated throughout the series though I felt that the character was made to be too cold-blooded and could have used some motherly factors as well, since they were her own children after all.

Favorite Scenes:
1. All Scenes of F4 together; hilarious as ever!

2. Scenes of Jan Di and Gu Jun Pyo

3. Scenes of Yi Jeong and Ga Eul

4. Scenes of Ga Eul and Jan Di

5. Ga Eul's facial expressions and any scene of her sweet face :)

6. Scenes of Chae Kyoung

7. When Ji Hoo just took Jun Pyo's cookies and ate it, in spite of Jun Pyo's excitement!

8. F4's support for Jan Di

9. Jun Hee's appearance and how she raced with her brother and then just hit him right in the middle of the road!

Interesting Bits in this version1. Jan Di had a younger brother; whereas Shan Cai in Meteor Garden is the only daughter.

2. F4 continued to university whereas Meteor Garden only focused on high school.

3. Gu Jun Pyo was even depicted to have taken over the family business, but there was no mention about his education at that time? Did he drop out of university or what?

4. So Yi Jeong and Chu Ga Eul's relationship was more developed; whereby Yi Jeong and Ga Eul got together in the end.

5. Yoon Ji Hoo's parents both died in this adaptation and his grandfather caused it? His grandfather was even the ex-president of Korea but he became a doctor. Somehow, it was just a little weird.

6. So Yi Jeong had a complicated family background and even had a first love.

7. There were more development into the stories of the lives of the F4; besides Song Woo Bin.

8. The games for the competition between Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo were more challenging and exciting here!

My Review:
This drama adaptation followed most of the major parts of the story; although their arrangement/sequence of the events in the story differed from the Taiwan's Meteor Garden.
I noticed that they combined Part 1 and Part 2; and just finished the story with Jun Pyo's recovery from amnesia and proposing to Jan Di.
I must say I prefer this version of the adaptation compared to the Taiwanese Meteor Garden as the scenes were more interesting and there was rarely dull moments. Furthermore, they kept the amnesia scenes short and focused on all the important and more anticipated scenes of Jun Pyo and Jan Di being together.

I loved the OST, and it is no wonder they were such a hit in so many different countries!
I'd love to watch this again and again, and I recommend this to anyone who had not watch it yet even though you may have watched Hana Yori Dango and Meteor Garden. Trust me, it IS worth the time!~

Interesting bits about this Korean version, the actors and actresses are all so good-looking and charming that it's impossible not to fall in love with the drama! :)

Since there are so many adaptations of the famous manga, I wonder whether the Westerners or even Hong Kong TVB will follow suit and create their own version of the adaptation? :)

TVB: The Greed of Man 大時代 (1992)

2011-03-18T01:31:00.000-07:00

No. of episodes: 40

Theme Song by Adam Cheng and Alan Tam

Cast:
Fong Family
Damien Lau Chun Sun – Fong Chun Shun
Yammie Lam Kit Ying – Lo Wai Ling
Sean Lau Ching Wan – Fong Chin Pok
Ng Wing Hung – Fong Fong
Loletta Lee – Fong Teng
Carol Yang – Fong Man

Ting Family
Lai Suen – Ho Chin/Grandma Chin
Adam Cheng Siu Chow – Ting Hai
David Siu Chung Hang – Ting Hau Hai
Michael Dao Tai Yu – Ting Yik Hai
Ng Kai Ming – Ting Wong Hai
Derek Kwok – Ting Lei Hai

Supporting/Others:
Vivian Chow Wai Man – Yuen Mui
Amy Kwok Oi Ming – Long Kei Man
Bowie Lam Po Yee – Chan Tou Tou
Kenneth Tsang – Long Seng Bong
Law Lok Lam – Yip Tin
Lau Kong – Chow Chai Sang
Kong Ngai – Chan Man Hin

Synopsis/Storyline:
The story started from the 1970s and spanned for three decades, and the main plot revolves around the two families; Tings and Fongs and the ever dramatic stock market.

1970s
The first few episodes bring us to the glorious moments of Fong Chun Shun (Damian Lau) as the most successful player in the stock market and was even the prominent leader of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He had a best friend whom he had known since childhood; Ting Hai (Adam Cheng). However, Hai was the total opposite of the educated and cultured Fong as he was a brutal, ill-mannered and unreasonable man, believing that everything he does is right and he just cannot comprehend the whole world disagreeing with his views.

Hai’s girlfriend, Lo Wai Ling (Yammie Lam) was a high school student who helped to care for his four sons during his absence (he went to Macau to search for his ex-wife who left him as she could not tolerate his volatile behavior). Ling and one of his sons were caught for stealing from a shop as they did not have money to buy food. Fong helped to bail them from the police station but he refused to bribe the police to settle the case. Ling begged him as she was afraid of a criminal record and finally Fong agreed. Fong sent Ling home and was shocked to witness for himself the chaotic environment the poor girl had to live with at Hai’s house.

Ling, however, following the incident, decided that it was enough and wanted to leave Hai. She wanted to focus on her studies and give up on the days living in fear. Hai could not comprehend her decision and blamed it on Fong for intentionally taking her away from him. Hai constantly pestered Fong and Ling; leading to Ling detesting him.

At the same time, Fong was facing a major crisis as high and corrupted authority officials tried to bribe him to manipulate the stock market. During this time, Fong decided to manipulate the whole stock market to his advantage and that no one could control him, winning the admiration from Yip Tin, another expert in stock market and the partner of Fong as well.

In one incident when Fong was rushing to the stock market, Hai appeared and argued with him and the police ended up arresting him. Hai blamed Fong for being cold-blooded towards an old friend. He then continued to pester Fong. His mother, who was working for Fong as a nanny to care for Fong’s four children, was allowed by Fong to return to Hai to help him to manage his family and care for his four sons. Hai misunderstood his mother’s return as Fong’s way of revenge to dismiss his mother due to their conflict. Hai continued to find fault with Fong and in an incident, hit Fong badly that Fong ended up in a coma.

Ling and Fong had fallen in love, and Ling helped to care for Fong’s children during his coma. When Fong finally woke up, he lost his memory and even his ability of speech and limbs. He became slower; and was struggling to fend for himself. He finally recalled his past and found a job with a newspaper vendor. They have lost their days of glory when they were living in a luxurious mansion since Fong’s coma, and the Fongs, together with Ling now stayed in a government flat.

Fong had finally managed to pick up the pieces of his life with his family, when Hai suddenly reappeared one day at his home. Fong had just learnt his way home, followed by his eldest son, Pok when Hai made his way into their home. Hai argued with Fong and it ended up in a fight where Hai brutally beat Fong to death. The whole incident was witnessed by Pok.

Hai then fled to Taiwan to escape imprisonment due to the manslaughter of Fong after the incident.

1980s
Following Hai’s disappearance from Hong Kong, the Fong still continued to pick up their lives. Fong’s four daughters have now grown up beautifully under the governance of Ling who had given up her studies to become a bus driver to support the children. The eldest daughter, Fong Fong had also given up her studies to help to support the family in the absence of their father and also eldest brother, Pok.

Pok had been sent away by Ling due to his rebellious and obstinate behavior following his father’s death to be disciplined by a local master. Fong Fong grew up hating her brother, for his irresponsible ways and for not being the man of the house since their father’s death.
The younger sisters, Fong Teng and Fong Man managed to make their way into universities and they missed their brother dearly.

Ling was searching for Pok who rarely kept in touch with the family and she finally found him under a bridge, He now repairs electrical items and refused to go home with Ling, but was forced home. Fong Fong continued to pick on her elder brother, until one day, when Grandma Chin, Hai’s mother came to visit the family. She used to be the Fong’s nanny, and all the girls were delighted to see her, except Pok. He got up from his sleep and started reprimanding Grandma Chin for her son and grandson’s evil ways and blamed the Tings for causing the death of their father and the downfall of the Fong family.

Ting Hai’s four sons have established a powerful triad society in Hong Kong; to the displeasure of their grandmother, who retreated to a monastery to repent for their ways and refused to stay with them. She was ashamed to face the Fongs and when Pok said all those things to her, she knelt down and begged for their forgiveness. Ling then realized that Pok was not being useless, but was in denial over their family’s misfortune.

Ting Hai’s eldest son had also fallen in love with Fong Teng, and their romance was disapproved by the Fongs and Teng was almost disowned by the family.

During this time, she found a job as a reporter and met Chan Tou Tou (Bowie Lam), a renowned stock market player from the States who returned to Hong Kong to fight with his own father. Pok had also bumped into Yip Tin, his father’s old friend who became his mentor to teach him about stock market.

Ting Hai was in jail for fourteen years for killing someone in Taiwan and his four sons established a new home for him in Taiwan when he was released from prison. Hai was unhappy with the arrangements and misunderstood his sons for not being filial when in fact; his sons did not want him to be arrested by police when he returns to Hong Kong. He secretly came back to Hong Kong to reunite with his family. He met up with Teng and pleaded with her to forgive his mistakes and not blame his son.

When Teng and Hau break up, Hau also turned ruthless especially when Ting Hai was arrested by the police after he held Ling hostage in the hospital.

The Ting brothers then blamed the Fongs for their father’s arrest and terrorized them.

The youngest sister, Fong Man even jumped to her death after being raped by Yik Hai and was humiliated in court during Ting Hai’s trial.

Ting Hai was also convicted of the murder of Fong Chun Shun finally, and was sentenced to death.

His sentence triggered the fury of his four sons, who then instructed their triad members to kill the Fongs and the remaining daughters; Fong Fong and Teng Teng were brutally pushed to fall to their deaths.

Pok somehow survived and escaped to Taiwan while Ling, angered by the incident tried to run down the four brothers of the Tings but failed. She ended up losing her mind, and landed herself in a mental institution.

1990s

Pok managed to escape to Taiwan after the death of all his sisters, and with the help of Long Kei Man and the triad members in Taiwan, he finally made his way back into the stock market and returned to Hong Kong to challenge the Ting family in a winner takes it all.

He emerged victorious with his foresight and the Tings made one wrong bet, losing their whole fortune in a blink and landing themselves in massive debt.
Ting Hai then took his sons to the top of the building and pushed them off one by one, telling them that as men they ought to die in dignity and not in shame after their loss.
He jumped off himself after his sons, but he somehow survived and ended up in a mental institution.

Pok finally avenged his family's death; and it was considered a good ending after so much tragedy and at least, there is one last standing among the poor Fongs.

It was a classic and memorable, not to mention a victorious scene for this epic drama.

Cast/Character Analysis:
Damian Lau as Fong Chung Shun

He had it all; fame, power, wealth, a happy family and even romance came to him when his best friend’s girl fell in love with him. His life can be considered perfect, but nothing is perfect in this world and the worst thing that could happen to him in his life is to have a best friend in Ting Hai. I do not understand how someone like him could be best friends with an idiot like Ting Hai. It was the biggest mistake in his life and a costly one too; as it subsequently affected the next generation as well.
Fong is a righteous man in character and incredibly talented in investing in the stock market, making him highly sought after by greedy and corrupt officials to help them to control the stock market. The worst is his own best friend pushed him to the hands of these people and it was also his best friend who killed him with his own bare hands. Fong had done nothing wrong in his life; except having Ting Hai as his best friend.
I feel that this is one of Damian’s best role; as he transitioned from a calm and confident man to an almost invalid, gaining the sympathy of everyone who watched the drama.

Adam Cheng as Ting Hai

This is the most insane and unreasonable character I have ever seen in all the dramas I have watched. He is really a mad cow of a villain; and yet at times he made it seem like he was not the real villain by the way he kept finding reasons for everything he had done. It is confusing really, I felt like laughing at his hilarious ways and at the same time, hating him for everything he had done. He is just a useless rat; refusing to admit his own mistakes yet continuously praising himself for his own righteousness. He used violence to settle most of the issues, and yet he never felt he was wrong but rather the victim for his actions. Everyone is wrong, except him and he could find reasons for everything he had done. It is really ridiculous and you just wished him dead from the very start, for how could a person like this exist on the face of earth?
This meant that Adam Cheng was truly successful in portraying this scumbag to be hated by everyone. If Damian was the most sympathized character, Adam, on the other hand, must be the most hated character and I must say, one of the worst characters TVB ever created.

Yammie Lam Kit Ying as Lo Wai Ling

She wasted her youth and future on two men; and to some, she may be the instigating point of all the tragedies in the story. However, if it was not for her, we would not have the storyline for the Greed of Man. She was foolish enough to get involved with Ting Hai at a young age, but she repented her ways when she stuck to the Fong family. For a girl, she was truly strong and determined and I guess it had to do with the way she grew up and the difficulties she faced during your young age. She did not deserve her ending though; sadly, after all that she had done.
This must be the first time I have seen Yammie in a cold and warm character like this; and she must be applauded for her excellent portrayal of a woman scorned and how she fought her way through with the Tings.

David Siu Chung Hang as Ting Hau Hai

He is the eldest son of Ting Hai, and appeared to be the most sensible or at least the only one who had a mind. He seemed to be the most righteous one and even loved Fong Teng with his whole heart. However, when Teng broke up with him, he became as ruthless as his own father and plotted mishaps upon the Fong family. How could Ting Hau Hai just be so cold and ruthless towards the woman he loved? He was far worse than his own father, at least his father could never bring himself to kill the woman he loved.
This was a memorable role for David Siu to play; and also the most despicable. This role of Hau also proved to us that birds of a same feather do flock together, and despite how nice he could be in the beginning, he still had that despicable gene in him.

Michael Tao as Ting Yik Hai

The second son and also the most despicable one (please be ready for the repetitive use of despicable as I describe these hateful Ting brothers!). He was demanding and arrogant like his crazy father, and only sought violence as the only solution. He was also a sex pervert, and he raped the youngest sister of the Fongs; Fong Man, causing her death. When his eldest brother passed the mandate to him to decide the fate of the Fong family after their father’s death sentence, he happily did so by ordering all of them to be brutally killed. This character had no sense of humanity in him at all!
This must be Michael Tao’s most despicable role as well, and also the most memorable one. If Ting Hai is hated, this is also another one that everyone should hate and despise!!

Ng Kai Ming as Ting Wong Hai

This is the third son, and supposedly one of the educated ones; as he was a lawyer. Well, lawyers may not necessarily be good, and like his brothers, he also used his education and profession to do evil. There was not much focus on this character except during the father’s trial but he is just the same as his brothers.
I rarely see Ng Kai Ming in tv series except during the 80s, and if you feel that he reminds you of someone, well, he does, as he is the real brother of fellow actor Lawrence Ng Kai Wah.

Derek Kwok as Ting Lei Hai

He is the youngest brother and a doctor. Don’t think he is the best of the lot, as he is just as hateful as the rest of his brothers! As a doctor, he also smuggled drugs for the triad society and is just another bastard of the Tings. We see a very young Derek Kwok in this role, but not much of a highlight in the series, except as part of the Ting brothers’ troupe.

Sean Lau Ching Wan as Fong Chin Pok

He is the eldest son of the Fong family and is also the main protagonist of the drama besides Ting Hai. When he first appeared in the drama, he seemed like a useless scumbag who was just plain lazy and good for nothing, but you could tell that he was no fool either. He was a great big brother who would stop at nothing to protect his sisters from danger, taking up the responsibility of being the man of the house. I loved it when he finally returned to the scene in the 90s, and plotting his revenge against the Tings for his family’s death.
Sean Lau is incredibly good in his acting, and it is a pity that we seldom see him on screen. He depicted the role of a calm and cool guy really well, and his facial expressions when his own sisters were killed or hurt by the rascals were just classics! Excellent, and definitely my favorite character in the whole drama!

Ng Wing Hung as Fong Fong

She is the second eldest daughter but she was the most temperamental one of the lot. She irritates easily and yet was really cowardly when things happen. She chose to hide behind her siblings and refuse to stand up to injustice for fear of danger. All she wanted was just peace and a low profile life.
Ng Wing Hung is always good in her acting, and I had always wondered where she’d go after the 90s (married?). She depicted the role of this emotional lady really well, and she is just believable as a down-to-earth type. In fact, she connects with most of our inner self that sometimes we too want to hide and just live in peace, without wanting to get ourselves in danger.

Loletta Lee as Fong Teng

She is the second daughter and the university graduate. With all her education, she was also the one who fell in love with the enemy; Ting Hai’s eldest son, Hau Hai. However, she too woke up from the romance and decided to break off all ties with the Tings as she could not forget their father’s death as caused by Ting Hai. Being the most highly educated sister, she was also the calmest of the lot, and she was not afraid to face the Ting brothers nor was she worried about the dangers posed by the bastards. However, she did not meet with a good ending as she was also forced off the building by the sore losers, when they lost their father’s trial. It was definitely the biggest mistake in her life to be involved with the rat; Ting Hau Hai and it was great that she realized that.
Loletta Lee is a really sweet and beautiful girl, and she played her role believably well, making everyone love and empathize with this strong and yet ordinary girl choosing between her family and love.

Carol Yang as Fong Man

She is the youngest daughter and the most timid one; making her the easiest target for the Tings. She was the brightest in her studies, and she was always a high achiever. Unfortunately, she was raped and blackmailed by the bastard of Ting Yik Hai and lived in fear ever since. She was ashamed of herself and her predicament worsened when she was publicly humiliated in court about her affair with Yik Hai. She suffered further blows when she returned home and found bills stuck all over the flat building she lived telling of her as a scandalous woman and she decided to end her life by jumping off the building, before the very eyes of her family.
Carol Yang is always a sweet girl and I really liked her a lot, but like most of the actresses in this drama, she disappeared from TVB after the 90s. She really made everyone love and pity the sad character of Man Man and her tragic end.

Vivian Chow as Yuen Mui

She is an honest and exceptionally thrifty young girl, saving her hard-earned money and enduring leftover meals with her grandmother whom she stayed with in the low-cost flat. It was not hard to understand her anger then when she found out that Pok used her hard-earned savings in the stock market. She fell in love with Pok, and was disappointed when Pok turned her down but she was the one whom he really loved and married in the end anyway.
I am a fan of Vivian Chow, and I have always loved her in all her roles as she always played demure and lovable characters. The character of Yuen Mui fitted her personality of an innocent young girl like a glove and there is no one else who could this role like her.

Amy Kwok Oi Ming as Long Kei Man

She is the daughter of Long Seng Bong, the corrupted high-ranking officer who tried to bribe Fong Chun Shun. She was not really loved at home as her father was cheated of his fortune by her siblings and mom. She made a very humorous appearance when she fought with Pok for the same taxi and was pushed out onto the road. She then tracked him down, making him apologize for pushing her. She then fell in love with Pok, but was upset that he chose Mui instead. She and Mui helped Pok with his plan for revenge.
Amy Kwok was still quite new in acting, and honestly, I remembered her more for her amazing ability to cry and cry!~ Although in this drama, Sean Lau chose Vivian as his wife, but in reality, Amy was Sean’s choice of a lifetime partner and they are now happily married

Bowie Lam as Chan Tou Tou

He is the son of Chan Man Hin who was a very powerful speculator and also a corrupt leader in the stock exchanged board; but he had a very bad relationship with his father. He hated his father for abandoning his mother and him, and the hatred deepened when his father would not even listen to his pleas to see his mother for the last time at her death bed. Tou Tou is based in the United States and is exceptionally talented in manipulating and investing in the stock market, establishing a solid reputation in the field. He returned to Hong Kong to battle against his father, but his complacence and pride caused his downfall as well. He hired Teng Teng as his personal assistant in Hong Kong, despite already having five personal assistants from the States. He then fell in love with Teng, and this stirred jealousy in Hau. After the incident where he lost to his father and also a dispute with Hau, Tou Tou seemed to have disappeared from the scene and only reappeared in the last few episodes.
He had returned to Hong Kong to avenge Teng's death (he was updated on the news revolving their family; which created headlines as well anyway), and focused on striking down the hateful Tings. He was victorious in the beginning, but one unheeded advice from Pok (whom he got acquainted with via the stock market; actually they knew each other earlier as Pok helped him before but this round, they were both playing behind the screens and he did not know it was Pok helping him. He thought it was just another expert) made him lose badly when the stock market crashed.
Bowie Lam is absolutely the right choice to play this character who was just cool and collected. It was just too bad that Teng did not reciprocate his love earlier, but he was truly a good man as he still avenged his beloved woman's death.
Besides Pok, this is my second favorite character in the drama!!~

Memorable Scenes:
1. Fong Chun Shun working at the newspaper stall after waking up from his coma, and how his children supported him. That was a classic and tear-jerking scene!
2. Ting brothers crossing path with the Fong family when Pok was bailed from the police station.

3. Pok and Mui sharing a sweet and melodious scene where they performed a rendition of Red River Valley in both English and Chinese. This song became a hit in the 90s.

4. All the stock market scenes

5. When Pok reprimanded Grandma Chin for her son and grandsons’ doings and showed us that he was a real man. It was really touching and heart-warming to see how he truly felt for his family’s mishap and how he chose to be in denial after suffering such a big blow during his childhood.

6. Man Man jumping off the building and the expressions on her siblings and Ling, was just unforgettable and jerked at our emotions.

7. Ling trying to run the Ting brothers down with her bus but to no success.

8. Pok finally gaining his victory in the stock market, and beating the Tings. That was the BEST scene ever!

9. The Tings being thrown off the building one by one, now that is a classic and finally, a GREAT Ending for all the evil they had done to the others.

10. All the scenes of Mui and Pok

11. How the Fongs bravely stood up to the threats of the Tings

Interesting bits:
1. All the sons of Ting Hai also had the name Hai (literally translated to Crab) as part of their middle names. Ughs, what an insult to the actual crabs.
2. Sean Lau and Amy Kwok, as mentioned are a real life couple who are married. Perhaps they met on the set of this drama?

3. I found out from Wikipedia that Yammie Lam had been insane in real life like her character here.
4. To be frank, sometimes I feel that Ting Hai’s sons are worse than their father as they raped, killed and did all the worst things imaginable. Then again, at the same time, at least his sons were brave enough to admit their wrong doings and that they are scoundrels although they are still cowards as all five men, did not dare to face a fair trial.
5. There is a Ting Hai effect on the stock market in Hong Kong after this drama; and it seemed that every time Adam Cheng’s drama is aired, the stock would drop by the points. (refer to wikipedia for more details on the Ting Hai effect).
6. Take note of a lot of songs by Alan Tam, Beyond played throughout the drama.

My verdict:
This is the most popular and watched classic in the 90s and it featured almost all the interesting elements; from the excitement of the ups and downs in the stock market to the complex and heart-tugging relationships between all the characters. Undoubtedly this is also the most memorable and tragic drama of all; from the fates of the main and good characters in the drama and leaving the viewers frustrated when the bad guys live till the last episode; of course, there will be less drama if they died earlier. Anyway, the ending was definitely satisfactory as we finally get to see the evil brothers all die, but the only thing is that Ting Hai still did not die, what a coward!!
It is not really that great of an ending as the Fongs were all dead; and the Tings deserve to die more than a thousand times for everything they had done.
This drama brought a lot of tears and anger when I watched it, and even the theme song sounded really emotional and was suitable for the overall theme. I highly recommend it ; but I am sure almost everyone had watched this drama before. Anyway, worth a re-watch and another, to see the exceptionally strong and talented cast in this epic drama!~

TVB: Once Upon a Time in Shanghai 新上海灘 (1996)

2011-03-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

No. of episodes: 40

Cast:
Sunny Chan Kam Hung - Hui Man Keung
Gordon Lam Ka Dong - Ting Lik
Nadia Chan Chung Ling - Fung Cheng Cheng
Adam Cheng Siu Chow - Yu Chan Hoi
Poon Chi Mun - Fung Keng Yew
Patrick Tham Yew Mun - Chan Hon Nam
Shirley Cheung Yuk Shan - Wong Yuet Kei
Law Kar Ying - Henry
Lee Kar Seng - Lok Tin Yau
Carol Cheng - So Chat Hau/ Chat Koo Leong
Maggie Cheung Ho Yee - Khoo Ching Wah
Amanda Kwok Po Wai - Lui Hei
David Lui Fong - Cheung Kwai
Bowie Lam Po Yee - Tse Tong
Noel Leung Siu Bing - Kong Chi Kwan
Florence Kwok Siu Wai - Fong Yim Wun

Special Appearances/Cameo:
Eric Tsang Chi Wai - So Ng
Gallen Lo Kar Leung - Kok Sei Wai

Synopsis/Storyline:
Set against the turbulent backdrop of Shanghai in the 1920s period and boasting of an amazingly star-studded cast to once again bring the story of the famed drama The Bund to life.

This remake of the 1980's classic was successful in bringing the notoriously charming characters of our hero, Hui Man Keung, then played by Chow Yun Fatt to life and once again, set our hearts beating with the rapid development in the storyline as the drama progresses.

Sunny Chan plays Hui Man Keung in this remake; and he seemed to be the perfect choice as he bear a resemblance to the suave big brother and continued to mimic his signature style of Hui Man Keung to perfection.
Hui Man Keung was a virtuous and righteous student who started out in Shanghai, but eventually involving himself in the high profile triad society in the tumultous era.

He and his best friend, Ting Lik (originally played by Ray Lui Leong Wai, and in this remake, played by Gordon Lam) then ventured to establish their own careers amidst their struggle to survive in this turbulent period.

Then comes the high profile gambler in Shanghai, Yu Chan Hoi(Adam Cheng) who was probably one of the more virtuous man living in that period. He took over the largest and notable casino in Shanghai from his mentor who was murdered by another mafia leader, Fung Keng Yew (Poon Chi Mun) in an event of conspiracy to protect his own position.
Hoi swore revenge for his mentor, and resided in Shanghai, handling the casino and at the same time, protecting his mentor's only son, Lok Tin Yau (Lee Kar Seng) who was a good-for-nothing but overly ambitious young man who created trouble everywhere he went.

Yau set his eyes on a dancer in his own casino's theatre; Kong Chi Kuan (Noel Leung) and wanted to woo her, but Chi Kuan only had her eyes for Hui Man Keung who had rescued her from danger multiple times.
Chi Kuan was already married, however, when she was younger, her family married her off to another family to be a wife to a young boy whom she had to care for like her son.
Yau offered to bring her 'husband' fishing, but he actually intended to kill him, and he drowned the poor boy. The whole incident was witnessed by Ng (Eric Tsang), a compulsive gambler and he used it to his advantage to gain benefits from Yau whenever he gambled in his casino.
It came to a point when Yau was infuriated with Ng's constant demands, and he assassinated him on one night when he was supposed to hand over a large sum of money to Ng.
Ng's death angered his sister, So Chat Hau (Carol Cheng) and their workers at the pier (they run a logistics/shipping company) and Chat Hau vowed revenge.
Chat Hau found a gold pen beside her brother's body and concluded it was Yu Chan Hoi's doing. She confronted Hoi who promised her an answer within three days.

Yau blamed it on his follower; Kam, whom he paid to disappear from Shanghai for the time being. Chat Hau was unhappy when Hoi could not produce the murderer, but she was appeased that the truth was finally revealed.

However, Hoi soon found out that it was Yau's doings, but due to his promise to his mentor, Hoi let him go when Yau promised to repent.
Yau then found fault with Chat Hau and even burnt her company down, leaving Chat Hau and her workers in a rut.
Hoi then hired Chat Hau in the casino, much to Yau's chagrin, and he continuously created trouble to get Chat Hau out of job in the casino. Hoi prevented him from doing so by protecting Chat Hau.

Chat Hau's fiance, Kok Sei Wai (Gallen Lo) then returned from overseas, and he was supposed to marry Chat Hau. However, Chat Hau soon realized that Wai was also a gambler and even caused her company to be burnt down. Realizing how heartless her man was in person, she severed all ties with him. During this time, her longtime friend, Tse Kong (Bowie Lam) who was secretly in love with her all the while, took care of her, but she rejected him.

Chat Hau slowly fell in love with Hoi, but Hoi was actually in love with his first love, Khoo Ching Wah (Maggie Cheung) who was now the companion of his rival, Fung Keng Yew.
Ching Wah bore a deep hatred for Hoi, who disappointed her many years ago when he failed to show up on the day they were supposed to elope. Ching Wah refused to forgive him. Unknown to her, it was not that Hoi did not want to elope, but he was actually kidnapped by her father and was almost beaten up to death. Her father objected to their relationship as Hoi was just a trishaw puller at that time.
Ching Wah turned Hoi down and continued to make him jealous by acting loving towards Fung Keng Yew.

Hoi then promised to give up everything he had and elope with Ching Wah again to start a new life. They promised to meet up at the train station, and Ching Wah turned up but Hoi, due to a last minute emergency to rescue Chat Hau was almost murdered by Yau, failed to appear at the station once again.
Ching Wah, was furious and decided to marry Fung Keng Yew and even hinted that Hoi was better off dead.

Fung Keng Yew took her idea, as he wanted Hoi to disappear from Shanghai and got rid of Hoi by planting a bomb inside his car. Henry (Law Kar Ying), Hoi's trusted assistant managed to trace one of the servants who was sent to beat Hoi years ago, and Ching Wah finally learnt of the truth. She regretted her actions and rushed to the scene, only to see for herself Hoi's car exploding into flames.

Hoi was then believed to be dead, and Hui Man Keung was furious when he found out that it was his best friend, Ting Lik who planted the bomb in Hoi's car.
Man received the same order from Fung who wanted to kill Hoi, but he told Fung that he could convince Hoi to leave Shanghai voluntarily. Fung appeared to agree with Man but he summoned Lik after Man left and ordered Lik to kill Hoi.

Man was upset with Lik and Fung's plans and at the same time, he was in a dilemma as he had fallen in love with Fung Cheng Cheng (Nadia Chan), Fung Keng Yew's only daughter.
Cheng Cheng was persistent and constantly tried to win his attention but Man was being cold and aloof towards her.

Cheng Cheng's best friend, Wong Yuet Kei (Shirley Cheung), on the other hand was jealous of Chan Hon Nam (Patrick Tham), their classmate who had been admiring Cheng Cheng since university days as she had fallen for him and she reminded Man to accept Cheng Cheng's love.
Man continued to hurt Cheng Cheng, but finally realized his love for her when a false alarm of a bomb in Fung's car caused him to worry for Cheng Cheng's safety and they finally ended up together.

Man then proposed to Cheng Cheng who agreed to marry him, and in the period leading to their wedding, Man was assigned to work out a business deal with Japanese on behalf of Fung.
Hoi, who did not die, came back to Shanghai to run the casino and learns of the Japanese conspiracy in Shanghai.
Hoi found out about the identity of the Japanese and warned Man that he could be betraying his own country if he were to proceed with the deal.
Man then changed his mind at the last minute, and foiled the business deal, creating havoc when the Japanese spy was killed and he had to run into refuge.

Man then escaped to Hong Kong, where he met up with Chi Kuan whom he sought refuge with. They fell in love, and Man married her.

Man faked his death to prevent Fung Keng Yew from searching for him.
Lik pursued Cheng Cheng, who rejected him and Lik, frustrated, revealed to Cheng Cheng about Man's death, but Cheng Cheng did not believe him.

Cheng Cheng and Hon Nam then travelled to Hong Kong to search for Man and Cheng Cheng was devastated to learn of Man and Chi Kuan's marriage.
Cheng Cheng then returned to Hong Kong, and Lik continued to woo her.

When Fung learns of Man's existence and his fake death, he decided to make use of Yau's hatred for Man (Yau blamed Man for the death of his lover, who was the Japanese spy) to kill Man.

However, Yau killed the pregnant Chi Kuan along with her brother and grandfather while waiting for Man to return from work.
When Man arrived at the scene, he chased after one of the assassins who told him with his dying breath that it was Fung Keng Yew's doing.

Man swore revenge for his family, and returned to Hong Kong to join forces with Yu Chan Hoi.
Hoi was bitter towards Fung after the death of his beloved woman, Khoo Ching Wah, who was murdered by Fung after she tried to escape to rid Hoi of a murder charge (she was the murderer).
Man and Hoi then joined forces to fight against Fung Keng Yew and to plot his downfall in Shanghai.

Character Analysis:
Sunny Chan Kam Hung as Hui Man Keung

He is the main character and probably one of the protagonists in the story.
He started off as a poor but strong-willed student, and his capabilities led him to become one of the most notable figures in the Shanghai triad society.
I feel this character can confusing sometimes, as he could be righteous and being practical at one point, and then he could be so cold-blooded as to kill people for business and even acting cold towards the girl he loved.
I feel he himself is confused as well, as he is not sure what he wants sometimes.
He wanted to do things right, but yet he ended up working for the triad society and yet he battled with his conscience all the time. (I mean, is he okay?)
Then he fell in love with Cheng Cheng, and he pushed her away, blaming her status as Fung Keng Yew's daughter and as he despised Fung, he did not want to associate himself with him at all. Well, did he ever ask Cheng Cheng what she wanted?
He could be so cold-blooded towards a soft-hearted and sweet girl like her, it's despicable to me too!
When he finally accepted her, he vowed not to worry about anything else except the love of his life, and yet he broke her heart again when he betrayed her father and ran away. He did not even contact her; well, he tried but he chickened out at the last minute for fear of being found by Fung. What I could not get was, how could a righteous man like him who was supposed to be a true gentleman could say that he loved Cheng Cheng and yet could marry Chi Kuan during that short period when he was in refuge in Hong Kong? Like hello, is he clear whether he truly loved Chi Kuan or was he just indebted to her? Does he even understand love?
I find his character truly disappointing, and I don't think he deserved a great girl like Cheng Cheng at all. He even had the cheek to object to Cheng Cheng and Lik's wedding, c'mon, he hurt her again and again, and he had already backed on his own promise by marrying someone else, and he still wanted to keep her to himself?
Rather selfish, I must say, and all in all, a very confusing character.
Did he deserve to die? Well, nobody deserves to die, and it's funny how he was killed when he finally has made a decision to leave the triad world; a firm decision at last which was never realized.
Sunny Chan was rather stiff in his character, but he does resemble the big brother Chow Yun Fatt and he acted rather cool most of the time which was rather charming in the drama to play Hui Man Keung to reality.

Gordon Lam Ka Dong as Ting Lik

He is the best friend and partner in crime of Hui Man Keung, and is the second leading character in the story. However, compared to Hui Man Keung, I must say that Lik is a more believable and realistic character.
Lik could do things with more certainty and not worrying about this and that. When he kills, he kills cold-heartedly and not without hesitation. It is the same way with the way he works and loving others.
When he fell in love with the first girl who was the mistress of another triad boss, he truly protected her. Then he fell for Cheng Cheng, and he pursued her relentlessly when he learnt that Man had died in Hong Kong. Actually, I think he had already fallen for Cheng Cheng long ago, but he was afraid to make his move as Man was his best friend. With Man out of the way, Lik made his feelings clear and dared to profess his love to Cheng Cheng and did not even give up.
I liked his character which was rather manly as he did everything without regrets.
Despite his ruthless ways, he was a commendable character but I did despise the way he treated Cheng Cheng after he married her which was rather despicable too!
Gordon may not bear resemblance to Ray Lui in the character of Ting Lik, but Gordon truly was meant for this character, a guy who can be ruthless and yet can be loving and silly when he was in love with the girl he admired.

Adam Cheng as Yu Chan Hoi

He is the God of Gambler in Shanghai, and he owed it to his mentor and saviour who taught him all the skills of victorious gambling. When his mentor died as a result of murder conspired by Fung Keng Yew, he vowed revenge upon Fung and stayed back in Shanghai to take care of his mentor's casino and his mentor's son, Lok Tin Yau. He handled the casino very well, establishing it as the leading casino in Shanghai, and posing a threat to Fung Keng Yew. He is a righteous man and he did a lot of things to help Yau, even though he knew that Yau was pretty much a scumbag. However, this character is also another confusing one as he could be really determined and righteous at work but when it comes to love, he failed miserably.
He loved his boss's daughter, Khoo Ching Wah, but he was misunderstood by her for years for failing to turn up at the train station to elope back then and yet he never succeeded in explaining the truth to her. He was rather weak when it came to dealing with Wah, maybe out of his own guilt towards her and he was hurt by her words and actions again and again that you felt pity for him but then you wonder again, isn't this guy supposed to be the most influential man in Shanghai?
Like Hui Man Keung, he was less determined when it comes to making important decisions compared to his accomplices and friends.
I find Adam rather inconsistent in his acting as Yu Chan Hoi, as he could appear rather stiff or wearing the same expression most of the time.

Law Kar Ying as Henry

Without a doubt, this is the best friend and trusted assistant of Yu Chan Hoi mentioned above and the one who could make decisions firmly. Despite coming from a wealthy background and being a young master at home, Henry decided to follow Hoi as his follower and remained loyal to him at all times. He was a rather comical character who could be silly at times, but yet you respect him for his noble deeds when he did everything for Hoi.

Poon Chi Mun as Fung Keng Yew

He is the rival of Yu Chan Hoi, striving to be the most influential (or the only) in Shanghai. He got rid of everyone who posed a threat to him in the city, and he was involved in all sorts of activities, even illegal ones without regards to his own conscience in order to stay on the top in the turbulent city. He was despicable throughout the drama, and never hesitate to take any action when needed. He killed and murdered people heartlessly, and the only one he truly cared about besides himself, was his only daughter, Fung Cheng Cheng.
This main antagonist may be hated by everyone but he was there for a reason; for creating all the drama and turmoil in the story.

Lee Kar Seng as Lok Tin Yau

This is a character which is more despicable than Fung Keng Yew, in my opinion. Fung Keng Yew at least had a reason to be the villain, as he wanted to maintain or strengthen his position by getting rid of threats but this guy, he was protected and well taken care of and had nothing to worry about, but he created havoc here and there. He prided himself as being the only son and the sole owner of the largest casino in Shanghai and took things for granted. He is just a plain arrogant and good-for-nothing rat, and it is just annoying to see him appear each time.

Bowie Lam as Tse Kong

He is a very pitiful character, but I like him for his loyalty and determination. He was the loyal worker who helped Chat Hau and Ng with their family business, and he was secretly in love with Chat Hau for so many years and yet he had to see her move on from her fiance Kok Sei Wai to Yu Chan Hoi. He thought he had the chance to win her heart when Kok Sei Wai was erased from her heart after his despicable act, but he lost once again to Yu Chan Hoi. He then worked for the Japanese, to earn more money to be compatible with Chat Hau. It was really sad to see that he had to face continuous rejection from her despite his efforts.

The ladies:
Nadia Chan Chung Ling as Fung Cheng Cheng

The most beautiful and sweetest girl in the drama, and may I say, the most pitiful character as well. She was loved and admired by most guys in the drama, but yet her heart only yearns for Hui Man Keung who hurts her and pushed her away all the time. She was in a love-hate relationship with him, and her predicament was all because ofher identity as Fung Keng Yew's only daughter.

She never did ask for much from him, except his love and undivided attention and yet he could never grant her that. She finally gave up on him when she found out about his marriage to Chi Kuan during his refuge period and his cold behavior towards her when he returned to Shanghai.
She finally accepted Lik who had been persistently courting her, and even married him. However, she was treated with Lik's constant jealousy and suspicions towards her feelings for Man and their marriage did not work out. Cheng Cheng then decided to leave Shanghai after her father's death and to further her studies.
I find her really pitiful as she is just too naive and innocent, and everyone around her, is just lying to her, including her own father and her beloved man. How could one go through a life like that, even with all the riches in the world?
I loved her character, and her costumes and hairstyle, Nadia just looked so pretty and every bit like Fung Cheng Cheng should be, it was just a perfect fit of a character to play!

Carol Cheng as So Chat Hau

She is also a loyal lover, but she faced misfortunes in both life and love. She had a great family business, but was ruined by the person she had loved and waited for so long. The love of her life lied to her and betrayed her, and she was disappointed. When she finally found a new direction in life, she fell for another man, but only to be turned down and away by him. She did not ask for anything but constantly sacrificed for her man, and yet, she was disappointed.
I liked her, as she was another woman who was true and loyal to her own feelings.

Maggie Cheung as Khoo Ching Wah

She is the companion of the Shanghai tycoon and triad, and yet her heart only yearns for the man whom she swore to hate for the rest of her life. She may appear to be a confusing character, but she is truly not. She does know what she wants, it is just that she chose not to, giving way to her pride. She did not want to face disappointments in her life, and made the decision to marry Fung, thinking that she would lead a carefree and happier life from then on but that turned out to be the biggest mistake in her life as Fung changed in his attitude towards her after their marriage and in the end, she was even murdered by him. A tragic end for a strong character like her.
I loved Maggie in this series, she looked absolutely stunning and beautiful as the desirable Khoo Ching Wah and it is no wonder why two most influential men (they are even tycoons) were fighting for her.

Noel Leung as Kong Chi Kuan

She is another pitiful character, and she had to lead a very tough life at a young age. She was sold off as a young wife to a boy young enough to be her younger brother and she was blamed for his death by her mother-in-law who constantly abused her. She fell for Hui Man Keung and was deeply hurt when he rejected her and told her that he only saw her as a younger sister and she left Shanghai to reunite with her own family. When Man met her again in Hong Kong, she did not hope for much as she knew that Man only loved Cheng Cheng but she was touched when Man married her and she was enjoying her blissful moments with him. She was even pregnant with his child but unfortunately she was killed by Yau, due to Fung's doings.
Noel was just perfect for this character and her facial expressions were just excellent to play such a innocent and pitiful character; it was almost like the character was created just for her.

Florence Kwok as Fong Yim Wun

It's a pity that this is just a supporting character, and I will add her to another of the pitiful characters and also an unsung hero.
Everyone could see she loved Hui Man Keung and she did so much for him behind his back and constantly helped him whenever he was in trouble but he never did realize.
Florence was a great actress but she was rather underutilized in this drama not because she was not good, but well, you can't have everyone in the leading roles, right?

Somehow, all the female characters in the drama were more courageous and outstanding compared to the men who may seemed to be a little wimpy (some of them).

Chemistry/Relationships
Sunny and Gordon

The main characters of the whole story; Hui Man Keung and Ting Lik were definitely the most iconic characters who created the whole plot.
They were the best of buddies, and yet in love, they could be considered as rivals as well as they both fell for the same woman. However, Lik was noble enough to onlu pursue Cheng Cheng when Man was speculated to be dead. The buddies could not join forces when Man decided to go against Fung Keng Yew while Lik could not agree with him, and that was the only (or the main highlight) point in the drama when the two main characters decided to go separate ways.
I liked the chemistry of both guys, and how they would stand for each other, and not betray either even in critical times.

Sunny and Nadia

They were supposed to be the main couple, and yet I just felt frustrated each time when Hui Man Keung pushed her away. It was sweet when they get together, but somehow you could just sense that their romance was short-lived and probably never meant to be as Man was constantly doubtful over their relationship right from the start due to Cheng Cheng's identity and Cheng Cheng was constantly pushed to make a choice between her father and her lover. It was just rather tragic to see this two young people who were very much in love just kept falling apart because of others around them!

Gordon and Nadia

I kinda also yearned for this couple; as I have always liked Gordon and Nadia together, and it is rather rare to see them paired together! Their compatibility and chemistry is just amazing, and in this drama, you cannot help but root for Ting Lik as he was always the kind and charming guy who was there for Fung Cheng Cheng when she was unhappy or needed help. Cheng Cheng kept pushing him away (just like how Man pushed her away) but she eventually realized that he truly loved her and she accepted him.
He had already fallen for her right from the start; it was love at first sight for him but he was disappointed that she was interested in his best friend instead.
I loved it when they finally got together, and she married him, despite Man's objections.
However, I despised how Lik treated her after marriage, it was sad, I thought he loved her and yet he gave in to this own jealousy. It was his own fault that the marriage fell apart! Somehow, Cheng Cheng seemed to be taking after Khoo Ching Wah's path in her marriage to Lik but they were just, oh, so sweet together , before marriage, that is.

Sunny and Noel

This was also an ill-fated couple, and somehow I just didn't feel that there was much sparks of romance between them as it was just too brief of a period.
Sure, it may seemed like Hui Man Keung fell for her when he married her but somehow I just feel that it was more out of gratitude than of love.
Anyway, Chi Kuan died shortly after also, and well, it just seemed to solve Man's problems of still yearning after Cheng Cheng (not to be mean though).

Patrick and Shirley

They are a cute couple; and you could just sense that they would end up together somehow when you see them bickering all the time.

Law Kar Ying and Amanda Kwan

This is also another hilarious couple who added to lightening the mood of the drama.

Carol Cheng and Bowie Lam

I rooted for Chat Hau to be with Tse Tong as well, but she never did. He was a loyal guy, from the start and it was just so heart-wrenching how he worked for the Japanese just to be compatible with his beloved woman and yet to be turned down by her.

Carol Cheng and Adam Cheng

While Tse Tong loved her, Chat Hau loved Yu Chan Hoi as well but her love was finally reciprocated after Khoo Ching Wah's death and yet at the same time, there just don't seem to be much chemistry between them somehow, in my opinion.

Best friends Shirley Cheung and Nadia Chan

Wong Yuet Kei was a true friend, and I just loved how these two girls were comforting and helping each other in times of need. When Cheng Cheng was yearning for Hui Man Keung, Kei helped her and even reprimanded Man for treating her best friend that way. When Kei misunderstood Cheng Cheng and Hon Nam whom she had fallen for, Cheng Cheng also helped to fix them up.
I just loved to see girly friendships like these!~

Conclusion

This is one of my favourite dramas, and I would highly recommend it for the magnificent settings, not to mention the astounding cast comprising of the most established and talented bunch.
It was an enjoyable watch, albeit the violence and cold-blooded killings around but it was well-balanced with the love and relationships which was just pretty much, the basis for the chaotic Shanghai decade in the 1920s-30s period.

ATV: I Have a Date with Spring (我和春天有個約會) 1995

2011-01-28T02:24:00.000-08:00

No.of episodes: 40

Main Cast:
Sharon Tang Shui Man - Yew Siu Tip/Butterfly
Kiki Sheung Tin Ngor - Hung Lin Sai/Hung Dai Tai/Nancy
Joey Meng Yee Man - Lan Fung Ping
Erica Choi - Kam Lo Lo/ Lulu
Kong Wah - Sam Ka Hou
Raymond Choi - Donny
Thomas Lam Cho Fai - Dai Gai Lok/ Lok Dai Gai
Tam Bing Man - Yew Kuan Kei/Siu Tip's father
Leung Shan - Mui Lan Sin
Nam Hung - Kui Sau Kuen
Johnny Yip - O'Campbell
Baby Bo - Pin Pin
Crystal Tin - Fei Fei
Eric Wan - Ah Wah
Ng Yuen Yee - Kam Mei Lai
Bau Hei Jing - Lily Ma
Chun Kai Wai - Bobby
Allen Ting - Danny

Synopsis/Story:
This is the story of a singer in the 1960s; Yew Siu Tip and how she started her singing career.

The drama was filmed in flashbacks, with the first few episodes showing Siu Tip aka Butterfly (Sharon Tang) who flew back from Canada after retiring from the entertainment for years for her concert, organized by her best girl friend, Kam Lo Lo who owned the Lai Fa Palace which holds memories for them and it was the very place where Siu Tip started her career as a singer.

Siu Tip fondly recalls memories of her youth when she reaches Hong Kong, and the drama went back in flashbacks to the 60s, when Siu Tip was just a young and energetic girl.

She was the only daughter in the family, and was very much adored by her paternal grandmother and her father, who was also a street singer, Yew Kuan Kei(Tam Bing Man), and her father's companion, Auntie Mui/Mui Lan Sin.

Siu Tip loved singing, but her father, being in the entertainment industry himself discouraged her from entering the field as he believed that it was too complex for girls.

Siu Tip secretly sought the help of Auntie Mui who helped to enlist her in a singing competition.
During the qualifying rounds of the competition, Siu Tip met two other talented girls; Lan Fung Ping (Joey Meng) and Hung Lin Sai (Kiki Sheung).

Fung Ping was an illegitimate daughter of a herbal shop owner, and her mother, being the second wife/mistress was constantly bullied by the first wife, Kuen (Nam Hung) who had no child of her own.

Fung Ping entered the singing competition due to her love for singing but was criticized by her stepmother for being materialistic.

Hung Lin Sai was originally known as Hung Dai Tai, and she grew up in an orphanage run by church. She was the rebellious one among the girls, and was often at loggerheads with the chaperon of the orphanage.

She changed her name to Lin Sai and even gave herself an English name, Nancy, to give herself a more glamourous front.
She sang English songs and was rather arrogant during the qualifying rounds, bragging that she would definitely win the competition.
She was then humiliated when her chaperon came to the scene and dragged her home, grounding her for the next few days.

Siu Tip was shortlisted as one of the finalists for the competition, along with Lin Sai and Fung Ping, and also another girl, Yuen Pik, who was not talented but somehow she managed to enter the finals.

Siu Tip's dad was furious and objected to her participation in the finals, but he finally gave in after much persuasion by Auntie Mui and Siu Tip.
Siu Tip sang really well, and she even helped Fung Ping, who had to secretly steal out of home to sing at the finals, by lending her some of her accessories.
Siu Tip was supposed to win the competition but due to a conspiracy among the judges, Yuen Pik won the competition due to the influence of her sugar daddy.

Siu Tip emerged as the first runner up.

Fung Ping returned home and was greeted by Donny, a young guy who was a band member who had been courting her for a while.

He tried to cheer her up and slowly, she fell in love with him.

Her stepmother criticized her and her mum, for flirting with guys and even tried to kick them out of the shop and house. Fung Ping's dad was very ill, and he died, leaving them with a will which states their inheritance of the house and shop along with the stepmother.
However, the stepmother was not happy and wanted everything to herself, and tried to get her hands on the will. Fung Ping's mum gave in to her.

After winning the competition, Siu Tip wanted to pursue her career in singing, despite her father's protests and was then offered a job in Lai Fah Palace nightclub, run by Uncle Po. However, her father refused her from performing in public as he found that humiliating for a young girl. Auntie Mui then helped to persuade him again, and Siu Tip promised her dad that she would only sing and would be decent that her father finally agreed.

She then helped to introduce Fung Ping, who was desperately looking for a job to Uncle Po who hired her as well.

They were also surprised to see Lin Sai as well, and together they joined the Lai Fah performing group, and even met Kam Lo Lo or known as Lulu, a longtime singer in the nightclub.

The four then became bosom buddies and were inseparable since then.

The story then developed into exploring the four girls' lives and their love relationships.

Siu Tip fell in love with Sam Ka Hou (Kong Wah), a very talented and aspiring saxophonist/musician performing in Lai Fah.

Ka Hou, on the other hand, was rather indifferent towards her, much to her frustration and she was left helpless.
Actually Ka Hou was also interested in her, but he was a sensible guy and he felt that he ought to focus on his career first rather than love, as taught by his mentor, O' Campbell, who shared his experiences when he was younger and taught his students, of whom included Donny, to strive for success in their careers and not be looked down upon by others due to their profession.

The owner of Lai Fah had a son, Lok Dai Gai, who just returned from overseas and he was attracted to Siu Tip, appearing at the nightclub every night to watch her performance. He was rather stiff and silly at times, and was easily fooled by the girls when they manipulated him to make Ka Hou jealous.
Siu Tip, gave up on playing games, thus pushing Dai Gai to Lulu to break the news gently to him that Siu Tip does not like him but Lulu and Dai Gai ended up together.

Fung Ping, on the other hand, was in a supposedly happy relationship with Donny, but she was soon burdened with his gambling debts. Her girl friends advised her to leave Donny as he was not just a compulsive gambler, but also a womanizer but Fung Ping refused to listen. She was being pursued by a noble inspector, Wong Ka Sing, who protected her, but she still chose to stand by Donny. She found out that Donny was a gigolo, to earn money to pay his debts and she was hysterical, attempting suicide, but Sing and her friends, advised her and Donny decided to turn over a new leaf, accepting the job of a band leader in Vietnam.
Fung Ping then left with Donny to Vietnam, along with the child in her (she was pregnant at that time), and they struggled to make a living there,
They both got married, but they also died during the chaotic times in Vietnam during the war as well.

Lin Sai, the only one among the four who did not believe in men and love, also fell for a playful sailor, John, who, initially only courted her out of a bet with his friends. She was furious when she found out and enlisted the help of her sisters (girl friends) to play a trick on him. The two slowly did fall for each other, but their romance was an ill-fated one as John was reported to have died in a shipwreck while Lin Sai then died of cancer.

Siu Tip and Ka Hou's relationship also hit the rocks when Siu Tip became famous after performing Ka Hou's specially composed song for her during the floor show (the prime time show) at Lai Fah when their star singer, Pak Long could not manage to turn up on time. When Siu Tip became famous and signed a recording contract, she tried to help to promote Ka Hou's composing talent to her producer by insisting that she wanted Ka Hou to compose her songs.
Ka Hou was furious when he found out as the producer chided him with condescending remarks. They got into a row.

Ka Hou then also decided to pursue his career in the States and promised Siu Tip that he would be back after three years and that they would keep in touch with each other during their distant relationship period.
Siu Tip then reluctantly agreed but she never heard a word from Ka Hou during the three years despite her continuous letter writing to him. Three years then spanned to a few more years and then the story returned to the first few episodes, where Siu Tip went to Canada and was back to perform one last show before Lai Fah Palace nightclub shuts down.

Unknown to her, Lulu arranged the whole concert as a reunion with the old group who used to work at the place and also a few more surprises for her.

Siu Tip was surprised to meet all the old timers from the nightclub and even the photo of the four of them. She was in for another surprise when Lulu introduced Danny as Fung Ping's son, whom all thought was aborted when Fung Ping went to Vietnam.
The biggest surprise of all, came when Siu Tip was performing on the stage and Ka Hou appeared beside her, replacing Danny as the saxophonist. It turned out that Danny was raised by Ka Hou who found him in Vietnam during the war.

Everyone expected Siu Tip to be elated but she stormed off after her performance, and she was furious at Ka Hou. Siu Tip demanded an explanation but all Ka Hou could utter was 'Sorry'.

Lulu was disappointed at how her arrangements turned out and then tried to patch things up between Siu Tip and Ka Hou by arranging for a farewell dinner for Siu Tip before she leaves for Canada again. Lulu faked an illness that she cannot be overly excited, thus forcing Siu Tip and Ka Hou to pretend to be loving and adoring to each other. However, Lulu accidentally burst her own bubble, and Siu Tip ran off.
As Ka Hou tried to chase after her, he was hit by a car, and was then admitted to the hospital. Siu Tip stayed by his side and Ka Hou then finally told her what actually happened over the past 30 years.
He was actually caught in the war and met another girl, Siu Ling who almost died while saving him and Danny. As Ling was crippled, Ka Hou stayed by her and took care of her out of gratitude.

Siu Tip was touched by the story, but she still could not forgive him as she had finally had enough of Ka Hou's attitude towards her, blaming him for being cold towards her when they were young, and how he could treat everyone so well but yet could be so cold to her.

The ending was rather vague; with Siu Tip singing on the stage and accompanied by Ka Hou. I don't think they ended up together, and it was rather a mirage, as Siu Tip had flown off to Canada in the scene before that and the last scene of the dance, did not seem to fit in at all, as it did not look like their age, but rather a legendary romance of them.

Character Analysis:
As this was based on a true story, I am not sure whether I should do a character analysis but anyway, just a brief one:

Sharon Tang as Yew Siu Tip

She is a cheerful person, which is not surprising since she had it all and was considered the most fortunate out of the four girls as she came from a decent and clean family background. She could choose her own path and destiny and still had her parents and family to support her. Although her mother left her, but she was never short of mother's love with the presence of Auntie Mui in her life.
Sharon Tang may seem a little old to play the young girl in her early 20s but I still find her act convincing, just not too cute though.

Kiki Sheung as Hung Lin Sai

She was the most pessimistic of the lot, even compared to Fung Ping but she was the most determined and hard-headed. Perhaps it was due to her growing up in an orphanage which made her own such a tough attitude and the survival skills. She would not bow down to fate, and worked hard to establish her own success. It was also due to her environment that she found it hard to trust anyone; especially men. It was fortunate for her to have found friends in the three girls.
She did fall in love, but was furious when she found out that she was just a bet. Compared to other women, she was definitely tougher in handling the situation.
Kiki Sheung played this character perfectly, which was not surprising since she is a veteran actress and I feel that the character of Nancy fitted her.

Joey Meng as Lan Fung Ping

She is another unfortunate girl, like Lin Sai, but she is better off in the sense that her parents were still around although the situation was chaotic at home. She was also the more fortunate one in romance as she had a doting boyfriend despite his compulsive gambling ways. However, she did have everything going tough for her though; from work to her family and even her love life. She is probably the second most pitiful one next to Lin Sai.
Joey is the youngest compared to the rest of the actresses, and she is just so sweet and believably demure as Fung Ping.

Erica Choi as Lulu

This is the happiest one of all; perhaps owing to her happy-go-lucky character as well. She had to work to help support the family at a young age of four, but yet she seemed to be enjoying herself in everything she does. She dared to dream and love, and she was the most fortunate of all as she finally had it all; marrying a rich man and not having to worry about work anymore. She was the only one who truly had a happy ending.

Kong Wah as Sam Ka Hou

He was supposed to be the most charming and suave guy, but honestly, I just find him annoying at times, the way he tried to act like he was just so cool and oh-so-hard-to-get kind.He was focused on his career and was the favourite among all the other students to his mentor, and it was probably due to this that he felt obliged to remain obedient and to keep up to his mentor's expectations. Sometimes though, he was kinda wimpy at love as he cannot even find the courage to admit his love nor did he ever profess his love for Siu Tip before. It was just frustrating to see Siu Tip being rejected over and over again. I did not blame Siu Tip for not forgiving him at all in the end, and she was right, he could be kind to the whole world and only cruel to her.

Favourite scenes:
1. All the singing scenes of the four girls

2. All the scenes of the four girls, their friendship is just heart-warming!~

3. The scenes in Lai Fah Palace nightclub especially when they unite to argue with the slutty Yuen Pik

4. The scenes of Siu Tip and Ka Hou

5. When Siu Tip and Lulu started being friends with Lin Sai

Blooper
In Episode 10, when Lin Sai gathered the girls to check out on Yuen Pik flirting with Wong Ka Sing, Lulu was observed to be wearing the gold sheer frock, but when she appeared outside the stage with the rest, she was spotted wearing the golden yellow dress!

Conclusion
This is another of my favourite drama, and I'd definitely recommend it for the lovely and lively oldies, and also the colorful costumes and lives of the characters in the 1960s.
I've always loved movies/dramas set against the colorful background of the 1960s.
The drama tends to drag a little after Siu Tip became famous; from episode 25 or 26 onwards and it was only until the last few episodes before the concluding episode that it turns back to its pace when Siu Tip returns.
However, over all, I still enjoyed the drama, and I must say this is one of ATV's best! =)

TVB: My Better Half (老公萬歲) 2010

2011-01-28T02:22:00.000-08:00

No. of episodes: 20

Cast:
Michael Miu Kiu Wai - Ching Sum
Maggie Cheung Ho Yee - Ko Lai Sum
Michael Tse Tin Wah - Ching Yee
Teresa Lee Yi Hung - Miu Ling Chi
Mandy Cho Man Lei - Yuki Yau Ka Lei

Supporting Cast:
Ching's Family:
Chu Wai Tak - Ching Yi Cheung
Suet Nei - Lam Bat Hang

Ko's Family
Lee Fung - Kam Ngan Fa

Friends
Mimi Lo - Poon Lei Sin
Derek Kwok - Kong San Sou
Oscar Leung - Hung Cheut Sek
Grace Wong - Sou Sin Hung
Wu Fung - Lou Cheung Chuen

Special appearance: Jamie Chik as Nurse

Synopsis/Storyline
Michael Miu plays Ching Sum, who married Ko Lai Sum (Maggie Cheung), a wife who controls and watches his every move.

Lai Sum is always suspicious of Sum, on whether he is fooling around outside and checks on him at all times, giving him a hard time when she finds anything amiss with her husband.
Sum, on the other hand, did not defy his wife, despite being ridiculed by his colleagues and friends, especially his own younger brother, Ching Yee (Michael Tse) who was a self-professed casanova, and he never believed in impossibilities in love.

Yee crosses path with Miu Ling Chi (Teresa Lee) whom he was at loggerheads with and yet they ended up being colleagues.

The duo then fell in love with each other, and their sparks were about to blossom into romance when Yee bumps into Yuki (Mandy Cho) who was his first lover from high school.

Yuki was now married to an older Japanese man, who was paralyzed and she was taking care of him. Yee still has feelings for her; as she was his first love and he helped to support her studying abroad. Yuki told Yee about the Japanese's kindness to her when she was in Japan and how she ended up marrying him out of gratitude as well. Yuki then sought Yee's help to stir her husband's jealousy; and to cure his paralysis.

When her husband recovered, Yuki once again left Yee to return with her husband.

Yee and Ling Chi grew a little distant but Yee was still unsure of his feelings for her and Yuki.
Sum also begged Yee to reveal the truth to Lai Sum; who was suspicious of her husband from the first day of their marriage due to one single incident; Lai Sum found a lipstick stained handkerchief in Sum's pocket while taking out his coat and she was upset that her husband had cheated on her right from the beginning.

It turned out that the whole issue started from Yee, who had an affair with Yuki at that time when she first returned from Japan and Yee enlisted Yuki's help to convince his sister-in-law and Lai Sum is finally appeased and the couple was finally reconnciled with Lai Sum having a peace of mind from then on.

Yuki then returned to Hong Kong and sought Yee, as her husband had passed away, much to the displeasure of Ling Chi who was hopeful that her romance with Yee would finally blossom. Yee was in a dilemma between Yuki and Ling Chi but Yuki seemed to be victorious with his affections.
However, Yee soon realized that he was truly in love with Ling Chi and they ended up together.

Yee was about to marry Ling Chi, and it seemed to be a happy ending until Lai Sum found out that she could not bear a child due to health problems.

They went for a medical check-up and wanted to go for the in-vitro fertilization to bear a child but to no avail. They finally found the suitable donor from Ling Chi, and ironically, Yee faced the same problem with child-bearing due to his frivolous ways in the past.

It seemed like a crazy situation, with their partners each unable to bear a child and yet the solution could be found in their siblings' spouses!
However, it was soon to be done, with Ling Chi willing to bear Sum and Lai Sum's child although their parents were skeptical about the results as well.
Ling Chi finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and they were in for a shock when a crazy lunatic took their baby and almost threw him off the roof!

It was all a happy ending, with Yee and Ling Chi finally marrying in the church and the whole cast even performed a rendition of the theme song which coincidentally, was the song from Chow Yun Fatt's old movie, 'Diary of a Big Man'.

Cast/Character Analysis:
Michael Miu as Ching Sum

Honestly, I find this character a little wimpy as he could not even have the courage to tell his wife or to own up to something. Alright, so he had to protect his own brother's benefit, but at the expense of ruining your own marriage? That seemed a little too far-fetched.
It is obvious that Michael Miu had been away from acting for a while, as there were some scenes where he did not seem that natural and could be a little awkward sometimes. The scene where he posed as the famous "Hao Kor" from EU, that was also too insane and unnecessary.

Maggie Cheung as Ko Lai Sum

Despite her taking such a long break from acting, Maggie is still her best at playing this unbearing wife character. She wore her facial expressions really well; displaying mild and tough in a balance although some of her roles could be crazy.

Michael Tse as Ching Yee

The casanova, and a comic as well who provided light moments to the drama. Despite being a playboy, he was pretty loyal to his first love and I guess it was also due to him hurting from Yuki's sudden departure that he sought comfort in hiding himself behind his philandering mask.
Michael Tse played this character really well; trying to be cool on the exterior but yet being a lovestruck puppy on the inside.

Teresa Lee as Miu Ling Chi

This character is the typical lady trying to find fault with the playboy and yet end up falling in love with him. Then she struggled to maintain her cool but she is no longer the tough lady anymore. Teresa had also been away from acting for some time, and I find her acting a little exaggerated in this part, compared to her previous acting. I believe that all the crazy scenes were not needed to express this character's personality.

Mandy Cho as Yuki

She is the damsel in distress, the one who needed protection, love and attention from her men and yes, she is the one who managed to attract her guy with her sweet and innocent looks as well. Mandy Cho fitted this role with her doe-eyes and innocent personality, making her believable as the guy that most guys would have a soft spot for.

Supporting characters:
Derek Kwok and Mimi Lo were hilarious as a couple, and best friends to the main characters. They definitely added more comedy merits to the drama!~

Conclusion/Verdict:
This is a light-hearted drama, albeit a lot of predictable scenes.
It is certainly a comeback drama for Maggie Cheung, who finally returned to the television scene after such a long time and she did not disappoint the viewers as her acting remained consistent. Besides Maggie, we also see Teresa Lee's return to TVB series and this is the second collaboration of Michael Miu and Michael Tse since their triad series, EU.

Initially I thought this was a drama based on the story of Chow Yun Fatt's movie, 'Diary of a Big Man' revolving around two wives as the theme song was exactly the replica of the song from the movie but yet, it was a totally different story, except that the man of the show shared a common similarity; whereby they were afraid of their wives.
Watch it if you are in for some laughs and comedy revolving around marriage and in-laws!~

Note: Photos are all copyright of TVB.com and are only for illustration purposes.

TVB: Every Move You Make (讀心神探) 2010

2011-01-27T02:22:00.001-08:00

No. of episodes: 20

Cast:
Bowie Lam Po Yee - Linus Yiu Hok Sam
Bosco Wong Chung Chak - Trevor Ho Lai Yin
Crystal Tin Yiu Nei - Ma Dam Phoenix/Yip Chin Ting
Aimee Chan - Perlie Ching Pui Yee

Supporting Cast:
Police team
Chris Lai Lok Yi - Mak Wing Hei
Loretta Chow - Wu Hau Ying
Jack Hui - Kan Ho Ming

Ching's Family
Susan Tse - Chung Sau Han
Yu Yang - Ching Siu Hong
Lau Kong - Ching Siu On
Fung So Bor - Lo Sui Heung
Helen Ma - Ching Yin Ha
Mannor Chan - Ching Yin Ping
Matthew Ko - Kelvin Cheung Chi Kit
Chui Wing - Ching Sau Yip

Cast appearing in the cases:
First case:

Samantha Ko - Annie Leung
Raymond Cho - Gordon Lam
Eileen Yeow - Ng Mei Yue
Benjamin Yuen - Lo Man Kin
Jason Chan - Anthony Ho Wing Kwong

2nd Case:

Helena Tam - Daisy Liu
Stephen Huynh - Donald Lai
Janet Chow - Ngai Wing Shan
Choi Hong Nin - Wilson

3rd Case:

Macy Chan - Emily Chow
Candy Cheung - Katie Lam
Jack Wu - Edmond Tang
Ching Hor Wai - Chin So Fun
Jason Pai - Hung Kwan
Eda Chan - Ling Tan Tan

4th Case:

Bowie Wu Fung - Wong Chun Yu
Kong Ming Fai - Wong Hiu Tung
Vivien Yeo -Fan Xiao-li
Luvin Ho - Wong Pui-man
Angela Tong - Yuen Ling Chi
Hugo Wong - Xiao Gang

5th Case:

Felix Lok - Yiu Tin Po
Nancy Wu - Tang Ping Ping
Ngai Man Wai - Tsang Wing Sing
Mak Ka Lun - Lo Chi Fai
Lau Yat Fei - Chow Peng Jun
Bond Chan - Lee Siu Kong

6th Case:

Max Cheung - Kwan Lo
Wong Ching - Tan Tsui
Chang Tse Sheng - Leung Wing Tai
Ruco Chan - Chiu Man Hoi
Jeanette Leung - Lam Lim Chee
Samuel Kwok - Wong Tin Wing

Synopsis/Storyline:
Linus Yiu Hok Sam is a detective specialized in applied psychology; being able to read criminal from their body language and facial expressions, making him one of the most competent and highly regarded senior inspector in his region.

Upon returning to West Kowloon police department after completing his studies, he found himself with two new subordinates; Madam Yip/Phoenix and her subordinate, Trevor Ho who will now be reporting to him.

His way of handling cases spurred mixed reactions from both Phoenix and Trevor; especially Trevor who was constantly in disagreement with him when he decided to release suspects without any reasons.
However, as time progresses, Linus trained his subordinates in reading suspects' facial expressions and body language to determine whether they are telling the truth or pulling a prank, and solved mysteries successfully.

In terms of romance and relationship issues, Linus had to deal with a childhood trauma whereby he witnessed his father's disappearance and suspected death when he vanished in a boat explosion before his very eyes.
He constantly missed his father and tried to search for his father whom he believed to be still alive, particularly after hearing the prediction from a prominent fortune teller, Yuen Ling Chi. He soon found his father and invited him home to the family. However, his father turned out to be a swindler by profession and was blackmailing his mother.

In the case which involved his father, Linus caught him when he was trying to hurt his stepsister, Perlie, and put his father in jail.

His father decided to turn for the better as he was touched by Linus's sincerity and filial piety, and Linus promised to wait for him.

Phoenix was slowly drawn towards Linus, despite him knowing it.

She had a son whom she had to take care of after separating from her husband. She admired Linus for his intelligence and wit in solving cases, but she also found herself falling for him.

Trevor, on the other hand fell for Linus's stepsister, Perlie and the duo started going out, hiding their relationship from Linus while Trevor slowly gained his favour.

The whole drama revolved more on the case solving while the relationships and romance take a sideline.

Character Analysis:
Bowie Lam as Linus Yiu

I have always liked to see Bowie in roles like these; as he always exuded a certain mystery around him and is especially good in detective roles. Linus is a very reserved man, and finds it hard to trust in others, perhaps due to his own knowledge acquired in the field of reading others.
He may have been too absorbed in his own expertise that he found it hard to blend in with the other realistic elements in life.
The character is rather hard to decipher sometimes; being cold and warm at the same time, and not sensing love and care from others around him.

Crystal Tin as Phoenix

Originally from ATV, I find Crystal rather natural in most of her scenes although at times she looked rather blank in reacting to the different change in the situations of her roles. She did not have much of a significance in her role, besides appearing besides Linus most of the time, but she did portray the role of a confused divorcee who was awkward around a superior whom she was attracted to quite well, and was quite at ease in the role.

Bosco Wong as Trevor

This is usually the type of Bosco's role; being the defiant and stubborn subordinate who always thinks he is right. He returns as yet another hard-headed and strong-willed cop, and sometimes I felt like he was just bringing his character from Burning Flame 3 into this role; and maybe it was also because he was paired with Aimee once again.

Aimee Chan as Perlie

I have always liked this sweet actress; and she was good as the spoilt and cute little sister who always wanted attention. She could improve more in her facial expressions, and like Bosco, I find her role almost similar to that in Burning Flame 3.

Susan Tse as Chung Sau Han

After seeing so many evil roles of her, I must say I was pleasantly surprised that she played this innocent and constantly abused mother of Linus to perfection that I could not help but feel pity and rage for her most of the time whenever she is being verbally abused by her in-laws.
A veteran actress at her best! =)

My opinion:
I have enjoyed dramas like these all the time, and this is yet another interesting storyline although it is similar to their western counterpart's Lie To Me.
However, watch it if you are in for crime-solving like me, with a new twist.
I love psychology-based drama, and TVB seems to be going towards this direction, or are they totally running out of ideas, as I have noticed lots of TVB dramas lately picking up after Japanese and Western dramas?

I liked it nevertheless, and it's not draggy at all in the storyline =)

TVB: Square Pegs (戆夫成龙) 2003

2011-01-27T02:18:00.000-08:00

No. of episodes: 20

Cast:
Roger Kwok Chun On - Ting Seung Wong/Pao Kai Chung
Hsuan Jessica Hester - Ling Choi Fung
Leila Tong Ling - Ling Choi Tip
Raymond Cho Wing Lim - Pao Kai Chung

Supporting Cast:
Winnie Yeung - Yeung Pui Kwan
Angeline Lo - Mai Chu Lin
Benz Hui - Ting Yau Lik
Chun Wong - Ling Shun Cheung
Rebecca Chan - Lau Seung Seung
Yuen Wah - Pao Hing Fung
Lee Sing Cheung - Pao Dai Fu
Natalie Wong - Ka Ying Ying
John Tang - Kong Wing

Synopsis/Storyline:
Ah Wong is the main character in this drama; believed to be the long lost son of the Mai Chu Lien and Ting Yau Lik who runs a famous biscuit shop in the small town.
The couple lost their son when he was eight, which led to the wife going crazy during his disappearance. Actually their son had died when the husband took him to the city to seek for medical help, but the husband could not bring himself to tell her the truth thus lying to her that their son was lost on the way.

One night, after more than 10 years later, a grown man with a serious injury on his head appeared on their doorstep and Mai Chu Lien believed him to be her long lost son. Lik refused to admit him but after witnessing his wife's miraculous recovery upon meeting her son, he accepted Wong's presence as a gift to his family.

Ah Wong is a grown man but with a mind of an 8-year old following the major injury on his head. He could not remember anything that had happened that led him to the doorstep, thus began his life in the Ting household as the long lost son.

He crosses path with Ling Choi Fung, the eldest daughter of tea merchant, Ling Shun Cheung who often helped him whenever he was picked on by the other mischievous kids. Ah Wong liked her a lot and followed her around, calling her "his little wife".

Choi Fung's stepmother, Lau Seung Seung were always at loggerheads with her and she cared only for her own daughter, Choi Tip. When Mai Chu Lien runs into Seung Seung, she reminded her of a marriage promise made by Seung Seung 10 years ago at the gambling house. Seung Seung had promised to marry her daughter to Lien's son as Lien had helped her to settle her gambling debts at that time.
Seung Seung did not take her seriously as she thought that Lien was still insane as her son was still missing.

When Seung Seung found out that Lien had found her son and that Ah Wong was mentally challenged, Seung Seung panicked while Choi Tip begged her mother not to marry her off to Ah Wong as Choi Tip was in love with the rich merchant's son, Pao Kai Chung.

Unknown to her, Pao Kai Chung had set his eyes on Choi Fung instead.

Seung Seung, devised a plan to request Kai Chung to marry her daughter immediately, and Kai Chung mistook Seung Seung's request and sent his proposal to marry Choi Fung.
Choi Tip was devastated when she discovered that Kai Chung had intended to marry her sister, but Seung Seung then devised another plan to switch both Choi Fung and Choi Tip on the wedding day as Lien also wanted Choi Tip to marry Ah Wong on the same day as Kai Chung.

Choi Fung was misled to believe that her father was kidnapped by the bad guys and needing the ransom, she agreed to marry Kai Chung, with the intention to save her father. Halfway through, Choi Fung and Choi Tip exchanged places and Choi Fung ended up marrying Ah Wong instead!

Fung was upset when she found out that her groom was Ah Wong and tried to leave the Ting household but to no avail. Lien demanded the truth from Seung Seung and then made Fung stay back as Ah Wong liked her so much.

Fung then went against all her mother-in-law's wishes, causing much discomfort between both mother and daughter-in-law.

Kai Chung, on the other hand, was also disappointed to learn that his bride was Choi Tip and treated her coldly as he did not love her.
Choi Tip had listened to her mother and drugged him on the wedding night so that Kai Chung had no choice but to accept their marriage. Kai Chung tried to spend as little time as possible at home
to avoid meeting Choi Tip and was even annoyed when Choi Tip constantly brought food for his lunch at the company.

When Choi Fung advised Kai Chung, he decided to turn for the better and treated Choi Tip better.
Fung, at the same time, also treated Wong as a small kid whom she was entrusted with.

Then Ah Wong bumped into a young lady, Yeung Pui Kwan who recognized Ah Wong and had been searching for him since his disappearance.
She was bewildered at his change and his loss of memory and tried all means to get close to him, and Kwan ended up being his private tutor at his house.

She was jealous of the intimate moments shared between Fung and Wong, and tried to find out more about Ah Wong's past.

She accidentally trailed Lik to an isolated house and found that he had a mistress and Lik confessed to her that Ah Wong was indeed not his real son.
Due to the secret of Lik's mistress, Kwan and Lik became closer which led to Fung's suspicion that they were having an affair.

Ah Wong also started having nightmares and was afraid of Kwan who often tells him stories and forced him to recall his past.

It was then that Ah Wong was revealed that he could be the son of Pao Hing Fung, and that he was the real Pao Kai Chung instead of the existing one.

Fung was eager to help Kwan to uncover the dark sides of Ah Wong's disappearance as she wanted to restore her freedom and return Ah Wong to his rightful fiancee.

Together, Fung and Kwan worked on investigating into the drama that unfolded from Ah Wong's disappearance plot to reinstating him as the heir to the Pao family, bringing the downfall to the existing Pao Kai Chung and Fung's sister.

The whole plot was revealed to be the doings of his own uncle who had wanted to control the family fortune to the extent that he was willing to sacrifice his own nephew.

When the truth slowly unveils, Kwan was happy that the real Kai Chung finally remembers her and Fung starts to realize that she had fallen for Ah Wong.

However, when Ah Wong regained his memory and is restored as Pao Kai Chung, he ended up being friends with both Fung and Kwan, not choosing either of them.

Character Analysis:
Roger Kwok as Ting Seung Wong/Pao Kai Chung

This was perhaps the best breakthrough role played by Roger, and Ah Wong was absolutely adorable and lovable in this series!
He was just so innocent and funny, and the best part is, Roger was just so natural in his role that made it so perfect.
Thumbs up for such an excellent and memorable performance!~ Roger would always be remembered for his wonderful portrayal of a naive and mentally challenged man who was just so well-liked!~

Hsuan Jessica Hester as Ling Choi Fung

What can I say, this role is just what Jessica does best; the determined, stubborn and strong-willed lady who would never succumb to situations.
She never disappoint me as she did a good job here too, but was overshadowed by Roger's outstanding performance.
I still like Jessica for her defiant ways especially when dealing with her demanding and unreasonable mother-in-law.

Leila Tong as Ling Choi Tip

She is sweet alright, but her character was a little despicable in the beginning too; tricking her own sister who loved her so much into taking her place to marry a mentally challenged man. It is all because of love, but she was really a little selfish.
Leila was good as the doubtful and guilty sister who did not want to do something like that but yet had to turn to her selfish side. She also constantly put on a pitiful face with her husband which really worked well with her naturally doe-like eyes.

Raymond Cho as Pao Kai Chung

He is always the sidekick in most series, and I guess it is also due to the fact he could not really fully express himself with his facial expressions when it comes to the critical moments in a drama. At times I find Raymond rather stiff and blur when it comes to his scenes, not knowing how to react. He could still carry his roles well nevertheless, playing a really good and evil guy too.

Winnie Yeung as Yeung Pui Kwan

She played the crazy and over anxious fiancee of Ah Wong, and at times it gets rather annoying. I guess it suited her well, as she could really make herself look anxious and at times almost to insanity when she was frantically making Ah Wong remember his real identity.

The other veteran actors and actresses were just marvellous in their roles; as they added to the color and humor of the drama, making it all lively and enjoyable.

My opinion:
It is a very interesting and enjoyable drama and there is not a moment when you get bored especially when Ah Wong comes to the screen.
The length of the drama is just right too, and is not draggy in the storyline.

I would watch this over and over again; a really enjoyable drama for the whole family, if you are in for some laughs! =)
This is Roger Kwok at his best! =D

TVB: The Legendary Four Aces (金裝四大才子) 2000

2011-01-27T02:17:00.002-08:00

No. of episodes: 52

Cast:
Nick Cheung Kar Fai - Tong Bak Fu
Bobby Au Yeung Chan Wah - Chuk Chi San
Gordon Lam Ka Dong - Man Jing Ming
Marco Ngai Chun Kit - Chow Mun Bun
Esther Kwan Wing Ho - Chow Yuet/Chow Heung
Yvonne Yung Hung - Sek Lau
Nadia Chan Chung Ling - Princess Ping Ting/ Chu Ping Ting
Annie Man Chung Han - Chuk Hiew Lin

Supporting cast:
Ellesmere Choy Chi Kin - Emperor Jing Duk
Anne Heung Hoi Lan - Lee Fung Jie
Derek Kwok - Chu Chi Kin
Akina Hong - Empress
Rebecca Chan - Chan Siu Yung
Lo Hoi Pang - Prime Minister Wah/ Wah Tai Si
Mimi Chu - Mrs Wah/Lam Hong Yuk
John Tang - Wah Man Mou
Florence Kwok - Lau Yu Fa
Celine Ma Tai Lou - Ha Heung
Candy Chiu - Chun Heung
Koey Leung - Tung Heung
Karen Lee - On On
Ha Peng - Mrs Man
Bowie Wu Fung - Tung Guang Duk

Synopsis/Storyline:
Suzhou is well known for her scholars in the region, and during the Ming dynasty, there were three especially talented scholars which the region boasted of.
The three young men; Tong Bak Fu, Man Jing Ming and Chuk Chi San were the pride of the Luk Ngai Association and they have clinched most of the scholarly awards from all the competitions, making Luk Ngai school as one of the most prominent schools as well.

Tong Bak Fu was famous for his painting skills, whereby he could bring life to his drawings while Man Jing Ming was known for his strong writing skills which displayed much energy and life in the words written. Chuk Chi San was known for his wits and speech and the three often collaborated to win competitions.

Chu Chi Kin was annoyed with their arrogance and thus invited Chow Mun Bun, a talented young man from Persia to challenge the three scholars to strip them off their title as the Top Scholars in Suzhou.
However, Chow Mun Bun was also intent to challenge Tong Bak Fu in particular, blaming him and his family for the downfall caused unto his own family.
The two parties signed a life and death agreement; whereby if Tong Bak Fu and his friends lost, they would have to blind their eyes and if Chow lost, he would have to cripple one of his limbs.

Tong Bak Fu's mother was worried for her son's safety and after witnessing Chow Mun Bun's extreme training, she decided to enlist the help of her maiden family in Cheung Lok Fong to train the three scholars up, although that meant incurring the wrath of her own husband who forbade her to contact her family ever again.
In Cheong Lok Fong, the people were known for their violence but they were all for the righteous reasons.
All three lacked the critical skill to win the competition; Chi San had to train and regain his sight, Jing Ming had to acquire courage to defend himself and Bak Fu had to gain emotion and passion.

The rookies in Cheong Lok Fong, led by the Holder of the Knife who was Bak Fu's maternal uncle, and together they devised the training plan for the three guys.

With the help of the folks in Cheong Lok Fong, Bak Fu and his friends were soon ready for the competition.
The trio won the competition, and Chu Chi Kin broke Chow Mun Bun's arm in public.

Bak Fu then decided to go for the Imperial examinations but was forbidden by his father, who believed that there is a curse on his sons who will die on the journey to the capital for the examinations. However, when Bak Fu insisted to go for the examinations, his father allowed him on one condition; he must first get married and have a son.
Therefore Bak Fu started to search for a wife, and his first wife (through arranged marriage when he was very young and sick), Siu Yung tried to match him with Chuk Hiew Lin (Chuk Chi San's younger sister).
Bak Fu, on the other hand only intended to marry Chow Yuet, who made him feel love for the first time and he had fallen deeply in love with her.

However, things turned complicated when Bak Fu and his friends' teachers turned up dead. (He was murdered by Chow Yuet whose real identity was an assassin) Bak Fu and his friends were really upset and initially they suspected Chow Mun Bun.
Chow Mun Bun and Bak Fu's misunderstanding slowly cleared when a monk told Chow Mun Bun that it was all a misunderstanding caused by him that Chow's grandfather was accused of theft by Tong's grandfather. Furthermore, Bak Fu helped to clear Mun Bun from the murder charges and upon release from jail, the four became best friends.

Bak Fu then married Hiew Lin as Chow Yuet had gone missing and also due to the fact that Chi San insisted on the marriage to maintain Hiew Lin's sanity.

Jing Ming on the other hand, met Chu Ping Ting, who was disguised as a man to walk the streets and she accused him of stealing her Imperial seal when she lost it. Jing Ming was annoyed with her behavior and especially after she caused him to miss the Imperial examinations. Ping Ting slowly fell in love with him and was constantly doing a lot of things to please him.
However, Chu Chi Kin wanted Ping Ting for himself; as Ping Ting was the only daughter of the royal Duke Ling and was his foster sister. She was a true princess and Chi Kin did all he could to break them apart.
Jing Ming soon realized he missed the princess, and when she was arranged to marry the Tartan prince in a political marriage, Jing Ming then ran after her and pleaded for her to stay. He finally professed his love for her, much to the displeasure of the Tartan prince.
However, with Chi San's help, Jing Ming was able to prove his love for Ping Ting by drinking poison which the Tartan prince refused to drink.
Jing Ming and Ping Ting finally got together, but their relationship was not all easy as they still faced obstacles and objections from Ping Ting's father.

Bak Fu encountered someone who looked like Chow Yuet, and tried all means to get to her, and ended up working as a servant in the Wah household where the girl was also a maid servant. He found out that she was not Chow Yuet, but was Chow Heung. His antics initially annoyed Chow Heung, but when he helped to coach the young master Wah Man Mou in improving his studies, Chow Heung found herself liking him.
It was through the Wah household (which was actually the home of the Prime Minister Wah) that the scholars got involved in the country politics as they helped the Prime Minister to fend off the evil schemes of the devious ministers, especially Duke Ling.
When Bak Fu and Chow Heung were about to be together, Chow Yuet re-appeared and demanded that Bak Fu leave Chow Heung and be with her.
Bak Fu soon realized that he loved Chow Heung instead of Chow Yuet, and chose Chow Heung instead, much to Chow Yuet's disappointment.

Chi San on the other hand, while helping Bak Fu to court Chow Heung, encountered the arrogant chef in the Wah household, Sek Lau who was constantly at loggerheads with him. Needless to say, the duo fell in love when Chi San helped Sek Lau when she lost her sense of taste and they got together.

Mun Bun and Hiew Lin also grew fond of each other but faced the biggest barrier as Hiew Lin was Bak Fu's wife although they never consummated their marriage. Bak Fu willingly divorced Hiew Lin and finally the love birds could be with each other.

The four scholars also helped to matchmake the Emperor with a peasant girl, Lee Fung Jie and thus was favoured by the Emperor himself.

The drama had a happy ending; with all of them ending up with each other and having children too!~

Character Analysis:
Nick Cheung as Tong Bak Fu

This was supposed to be the most talented of them all, as he was the most well known for his arts and poetry. He was also known as a playboy, although in the drama, it was more of the girls were running after him.
He was quite full of himself too; maybe because he knows his own skills and intelligence. He finally realized that there are things he could not conquer when he met Chow Yuet and also Chow Heung.
I find most of the scenes with Tong Bak Fu really hilarious, and Nick Cheung, did a great job although a more suave and charming actor could have played Tong Bak Fu too, but I was convinced that Nick did it best =)

Gordon Lam as Man Jing Ming

This is the most righteous and he constantly reminds everyone to do good by repeatedly reciting that famous line from Confucius.
He was so serious half the time that it was finally good to see emotions in his face and eyes when he fell so hard for Princess Ping Ting. Nevertheless this is a good man to be husband and responsible father material.
Gordon Lam was just perfect for this role, and he really made one love Man Jing Ming more even though he was so honest and straightforward. This is undoubtedly my favorite character among all the scholars, perhaps because I am also a fan of writing!~

Bobby Au Yeung as Chuk Chi San

He was supposed to be the materialistic guy, always calculating down to that every last cent. As a brother, he was definitely protective of his younger sister. He was also really funny whenever he fought with Sek Lau, but he is one of the more realistic character as well, though I wonder what makes him a true scholar anyway.
Bobby Au Yeung has always been a great actor, and putting him in roles like this is just so natural for him.

Marco Ngai as Chow Mun Bun

This is the most versatile; from a spiteful man to kind and charming man who could have had any lady but he only had eyes for Hiew Lin.
Marco fits the description perfectly, and he was really good; the way he transformed from that cold-blooded and supposedly evil Persian man to reveal the real goodness he had in him.

Esther Kwan as Chow Yuet and Chow Heung

If Marco was versatile, then Esther was even more as she had to play twin sisters with opposite personalities. One was a cold-blooded and spiteful assassin while the other a kind hearted and humble servant girl. Both had to fall in love with the same man, and almost caused the two sisters to rivalry. It was interesting to see Esther switch between the cold personality to the warm one when Chow Yuet and Chow Heung met. I loved Esther in all her roles, and I was quite happy to see her in this drama too!~

Nadia Chan as Princess Ping Ting

Nadia is another of my favorite actress, but I have to say that she was more suited for a demure and kind princess rather than a playful and demanding princess. I find it rather hard to believe her in this role, and there were times when she just didn't seem like herself in this role. Nevertheless, she still looked pretty enough to be the lovely princess.

Yvonne Yung Hung as Sek Lau

I don't have much comment as she was quite natural as the fierce and demanding chef, and her scenes with Bobby were also quite enjoyable.

Annie Man as Chuk Hiew Lin

She is another of my favorite actress, what can I say, they casted a lot of lovable actresses in this drama and that's why it was such an enjoyable and much anticipated drama! She was perfect as the cute and high-pitched little sister of a scholar, and she expressed her emotions so genuinely that she is probably the most realistic character in the drama!

Favorite Couples in love:
Tong Bak Fu and Chow Heung/Chow Yuet

I preferred Bak Fu with Chow Heung obviously, as Chow Yuet was too cold for me. Their chemistry was definitely real as this was a real couple in life, therefore, no need to comment much, they are a match made in heaven!

Man Jing Ming and Chu Ping Ting

I have always wanted to see this two pair up and it was finally a reality in this drama. They had so much chemistry, and they just looked compatible with each other. Too bad that this pairing was not done often! =P

The other two couples did not seem that compatible in their matching although they did have their hilarious moments, and I still prefer the above two.

Favorite scenes:
Plenty!
1. All the scholar competition scenes, as it was fun to watch the match of wit and intelligence and to see the four perform!

2. Scenes of Man Jing Ming and Chu Ping Ting!

3. Scenes of Tong Bak Fu in Wah household, particularly when he had to fend off advances from Ha Heung whom he often called Yeh Heung (means faeces in ancient Chinese)

Songs:
1. The theme song was sung by all the eight characters, and it was just so melodious and suitable for the drama

2. Another sub-theme song was a duet sung by Esther and Nick, which was really nice but I have to say that Esther and Nick can't really sing that well =P

My opinion:
The cast was fabulous for this drama, and you can see that it is an star-studded cast, making it one of the most popular and anticipated drama. The storyline was great and it was absolutely an entertaining and memorable watch.
I had watched this over and over again, and I am still not bored.
Watch it for the humor, the wit, the romance, the cast, you name it, you can still enjoy it in the drama.

It is no wonder this also made it to my favorite drama list!~

TVB: A Chip Off The Old Block (巴不得爸爸) 2009

2011-01-27T02:17:00.001-08:00

No. of episodes: 19

Cast:
Ron Ng Cheuk Hei - Chor Chi
Sunny Chan Kam Hung - Chor Fan
Shirley Yeung Sze Kei - Ching Lan Fun
Myolie Wu Hang Yee - So Fung Nei
John Chiang - Ko Shan Chuen
Gigi Wong - Tam Lan Ching
Louis Yuen - Ngau Ching Wing
Carlo Ng Ka Lok - Shing Sap Yee
Natalie Wong - Yue Fa
Irene Wong - Yue Yuk
Mandy Wong - So Fung Lin
Nancy Wu - Leung Pin Pin
Chun Wong - Leung Ting Dor
Lo Tsan Shun - Cheng Kwan Min
Li Ka Sing - Manager Kwan
Lee Fung - Tse Dai Bik/ Mrs Leung

Synopsis/Storyline:
Chor Chi is a capable young man at work, working for a tobacco company. Due to his excellent capabilities, he was constantly being promoted. However, his father, Chor Fan was unhappy with his line of work as he perceived selling tobacco as doing bad to others.
Chor Chi then moved out of his home due to the conflicts he had with his father to lead an independent and carefree life, free of his father's constant naggings.

However, when Chor Fan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Chi had no choice but to move home to take care of his ailing father.

Chi and Fan constantly annoyed each other; especially Chi, who could not stand his father's old-fashioned and unreasonable ways, hence they are at loggerheads with each other.

Chi then meets a wealthy businessman, Cheng Kwan Min who made him a good offer to work for him. While Chi was leaving the coffee shop, it was raining very heavily and when he got into the elevator, it was struck by the lightning as witnessed by Fan who brought an umbrella to the building for Chi.
Chi was then transported back to the 1960's era; back to the era of his young father.

The Young Fan almost hit Chi but then they became fast friends, with Fan bringing him back to his rented house where he stayed with a few other tenants and with the landlady, Tam Lan Ching. Fan was unaware that Chi was his son who came from the future and treated him as buddies.

Chi kept trying to find the wardrobe in which he came out of when he appeared in the 1960's era, but to no avail. He even came to a lot of misunderstandings with the landlady's daughter, Ching Lan Fun, who mistook him as a pervert.

Fan then helped him to find a job in the local store; Dor Dor department store where he met the young Cheng Kwan Min, who was the relative of the boss of the Dor Dor department store.

Chi then tried to trail Cheng Kwan Min to try to get back to the 2008 year, but to no avail. He started putting up with having to stay in that era, and helped Fan in a lot of his daily life.

They crossed paths with So Fung Nei, who was a con woman who ended up working in the department store as well, and even introduced her innocent younger sister, Fung Lin to the same store as well to try to befriend rich men.

They also met Shing Sap Yee; also known as Sap Yee Siu who was constantly boasting of his excellent achievements of having graduated from three universities and constantly dressed to the riches. He was with his two wives; and when they lost all the money to their lavish spending, they also ended up renting a bunker bed from the landlady.

Another unwelcomed tenant was the demanding constable; Ngau Ching Wing who also rented a room with the landlady along with his intelligent and adorable daughter, Bo Bo.
Fan was trying to find a way to return to his era, and yet at the same time, he started to understand his father more and realized that his father was truly a good man. At the same time, he also started to want to know who was his mother.

He suspected the annoying Fun, whom he had started to grown rather fond of but was suppressing his own feelings for fear that she could be his real mother. Fun was also interested in him but was shy of the consequences.
Chi rescued Fun from a bomb incident and even celebrated his birthday with her in the hospital, telling her that she was the most important woman in his life (he actually meant that she was his mother). She was elated to learn that Chi truly thought of her that way.

The more Chi learns of his father's past, the more guilty he start to feel for treating his father that way.

He learnt that his own father was an adopted son of the wanton mee stall owner; Ko Shan Chuen, who was constantly at loggerheads with the landlady due to their businesses.

Ko ended up marrying the landlady after trials and tribulations, and became Fun's stepfather.

In a twist of incidents, Cheng Kwan Min got hold of a 2008 award and start to devise a plan to buy the landlady's building to build his own empire.

Chi tried to salvage the damage but he ended up going back to the year 2008, where he was greeted by Fun who told him that she was from the 1960's and had been waiting for him to come back. It seemed that it was all a plan to get him to return to 1960's to make him remember all that had happened in the 1960's and it was a plan hatched up by Fan and Fun. However, at the same time, Cheng Kwan Min was also trying to foil his plan of going back to the 1960's to intercept in his scheme to take over the building and changing history that he won't become rich anymore.

Who will succeed in the end?
Of course, this being such a light-hearted drama, it is not hard to guess that good will always triumph over evil and that it would be a happy ending! =)

Character Analysis:
Ron Ng as Chor Chi

He is an ambitious young man who would stop at nothing to achieve success and wealth that he had sometimes overlook the most important thing in live; to treasure his loved ones. Returning to the 1960's did do him some good, when he start to witness life during then and how his father was like.
It was nice to see a stubborn young man like him learning the valuable lessons in life, and also learning to deal with his emotions.
Despite his tough exterior, you could also see him struggling with his regrets for not having the chance to have known his own biological mother.
It was harsh that he learnt that he was just an adopted son in the end.
Ron Ng was perfect for this character, as he played Chi with much arrogance and pride and yet was humbled when he had nothing at all in the 1960's.

Sunny Chan as Chor Fan
This is one man who was trying to be a good man all the time, and only believed in doing good for everyone and that good will always come back to you. Nobody is mean in his eyes, and he despised people with motives. For instance, So Fung Nei whom he fell in love with and was trying to change from the start.
He can be so righteous that sometimes it made him look really silly in the drama.
Somehow Sunny Chan is always casted as a downright silly righteous guy; which sometimes can be quite annoying too.

Shirley Yeung as Ching Lan Fun

She is a pitiful girl who was switched with another girl; making her the real daughter of the Dor Dor department store. However, she was casted away by both mothers making her feel neglected and almost running away.

She fell for Chi, and was upset with him for not expressing himself. Actually she followed him all the way to the present and it was really nice to see them end up together.
Shirley Yeung is perfect as the demanding and yet sweet girl; I just love this actress so much! =)

Myolie Wu as So Fung Nei

She is the materialistic and arrogant woman who only had eyes for wealth and she was intent to meet a rich man so that she could have it easy. She fell for Fan but would not admit it as he was not her type and it would do her no good. She constantly suppressed her feelings and eventually lived to be spinster to old age.
I must say WOW, for Myolie's fabulous acting skills, she really made So Fung Nei such a devious and at the same time, hilarious character. You couldn't help having a love and hate feeling for this character.

All the characters added so much color and life to the drama that it was really interesting to see each and everyone of them in their roles.

My opinion:
This is something like the 72 Tenants meet the Old Time Buddy style of drama, with lots of tears and laughter in the scenes.
I enjoyed watching it; and all the characters/cast, as I have mentioned just made the drama all the more lively! Definitely worth a watch!

Season of the Witch

2011-01-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

Cast:
Nicholas Cage - Behmen
Ron Perlman - Felson
Claire Foy - Anna (The Witch Girl)
Stephen Campbell Moore - Debelzhaq
Robert Sheehan - Kay
Ulrich Thomsen - Eckhardt
Stephen Graham - Hagamar
Christopher Lee - Cardinal D' Ambroise

Synopsis/Storyline:
The Crusades war started in the beginning of the movie and lasted some time. Behmen and Felson were both appointed knights serving the church to battle against the non-believers of God at that time including witches.
Behmen lost faith in the sanctity of the mission when he witnessed innocent women and children falling under the sword as well, and returned with Felson to home.
They soon discovered that the Black Plague had swept across Europe and killed most of the townspeople.

Behmen and Felson were summoned by the Cardinal D' Ambroise, who was also infected with the plague to perform a mission.

They were to escort a young girl who was accused of witchcraft and who was responsible for the plague to the monastery/abbey in Severac to be judged by the monks and strip her off her witch powers.
Behmen initially refused as he was angered by the Church constantly abusing the powers to put innocent people to judgment.
He was thrown into jail and when he saw how terrified the poor girl who was accused as the witch was, he agreed to the Cardinal's orders upon one condition; that the girl would be given a fair trial.

Behmen and Felson would set out with Debelzhaq, a priest and guided by a swindler, Hagamar whose crimes would be pardoned if he were to show them the way to the Severac monastery. On the way, they encountered a honest and courageous lad, Kay who was an altar boy trailing them from the beginning of the journey. He pleaded with them to allow him to join them on their mission for he wanted to be Knight after the mission.

Behmen told him to go home but he challenged Felson to a fight, and after witnessing his courage and skills, Behmen decided to let him join to assist them on their journey. They stopped by at the woods at night to put up for the night and they took turns to watch over the girl inside the wagon.

Eckhardt was the first one to take the shift and was later joined by Debelzhaq who volunteered to take over his shift. However, as Eckhardt was unable to sleep as he was missing his only daughter, Mila, who had died in the plague, he started chatting with Debelzhaq.
It was then that the witch girl pleaded with Eckhardt not to leave her alone with Debelzhaq and Eckhardt was surprised at the terror felt by the girl towards Debelzhaq and proceeded to question her from near.

The girl then pulled the key from Eckhardt's neck and escaped into the dark of the night.

The men chased after her and ended up in an isolated town which was also infected by the plague. Eckhardt, while on the chase, was disturbed by images of his dead daughter and was accidentally killed by Kay.
The men then found the girl and brought her back to the wagon, and buried Eckhardt.

They continued on their journey, and they came to a broken down bridge whereby they crossed the bridge with extra caution.
Kay almost fell of the bridge, and the girl saved him with only one hand, displaying an extremely unnatural strength.

They arrived at the infamous Wormwood forest; where bravemen were known to have been missing and were never found when they enter the forest.
They put up the night at the forest out of desperation due to the thick fog surrounding them. At night, Behmen found Hagamar attempting to murder the witch girl to end their journey so that everyone could go home. Hagamar was starting to be terrified of the girl and blamed her for Eckhardt's death, and he was afraid that they would all die if they continue on the journey.

The girl was then seen to be able to summon the wolves and the men had to ward off the attacks of the packs of ferocious wolves.
Hagamar died in the attack; and ended up being devoured by the hungry wolves while the team escaped. Behmen and Felson started to have doubts of the girl; and even Behmen started believing that she was no ordinary girl.

Behmen then wanted to kill off the girl, but was stopped by Felson as they caught glimpse of the monastery. When they arrived at the Severac monastery, they were devastated to find that the monks have all been infected with the Black Plague and had died.
They found the Key of Solomon book however; an ancient and sacred book containing all the rituals to dispel witchcraft and evil.

Behmen summoned Debelzhaq to perform the ritual and it was then that the girl started reciting all their sins and made them retreat with guilt and shame. When she relived the guilt in Behmen's heart about killing an innocent woman, Felson was taken aback as to how she would know and Debelzhaq then realized that she was not a witch, but being possessed by a demon.

Debelzhaq then proceeded to recite the rites for exorcism and the girl then transformed into a demonic being; melting the cage.
The men then ran to uncover more holy water to battle against the devil and found several monks died while copying the pages from the Key of Solomon.
They then realized that it was the devil's intention right from the start to deceive them into believing that it was a witch and the real objective was to come to Severac all the while to destroy the sacred book of the Key of Solomon so that darkness would rule forever.

They then fought with the devil; and the devil twisted Debelzhaq's head while he was reciting the rites of exorcism.

Kay then took over and continued reading while Felson and Behmen struck off the possessed bodies of the monks.

Felson died and even Behmen suffered serious injuries, but the devil was finally destroyed with the full ritual of exorcism as performed by Kay. Behmen, with his last dying breath told Kay to take good care and to protect the girl, Anna, and to send her home.

Kay and Anna, upon giving them a proper burial and Anna thanked them, asking Kay to tell her of their brave deeds and together, the two set off with the Key of Solomon in Kay's hands.

My opinion:
I was preparing to watch a witchcraft movie, and was thinking from the start, "not another movie to talk about the Church's evil doings! Why do all the movies have to go against the Church"
I admit that even I was starting to believe that the girl was innocent of witchcraft and as the movie progressed, I was doubting my own verdict and start to suspect of her being a very powerful witch.
I did not expect such a huge change; it was all the while an exorcism movie and frankly speaking, I never did like exorcism movies.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that I was not really having high expectations watching this movie that I found it quite entertaining although I did find the notion of the whole movie rather confusing as well.

Were they trying to portray the Church as good or evil, or they were trying to blame it all on the Devil for causing all the evil in the world?
Ultimately, perhaps it was also trying to tell us that evil had existed for a very long time, and that the human beings acting on behalf of religion had already been infected with the courses of evil.
I was also telling my partner that in the movie, the devil was portrayed to want to deceive them into bringing it to the monastery. This is due to the fact that the devil always wanted to challenge the highest authority of the religion (good).

It is true, sadly, that most people are often telling others that they are acting in the name of God but yet performing evil deeds, killing and slaughtering others.
God never asked us to do something like that; rather, on the contrary, God always tells us to love one another as He had loved us.

Nicholas Cage did another good job here; as usual but at times I find him a little underrated in this movie as a crusader who was constantly feeling guilty of his sins.

Newcomer Claire Foy was not bad to mislead the audience as the innocent girl and then the devious witch and finally into someone more than that. That was quite some transformation.

The cast were quite good in general, but the storyline could have been more interesting to inject meaning into the movie, and not leave everything to the imagination alone.

It was a rather entertaining movie, but don't try to decipher too much into it, you will only end up confusing yourself.
I just find it a little terrifying at times; as I am not one for a lot of horror and even violent scenes like the

SBS: My Girl (마이걸)

2011-01-27T00:31:00.000-08:00

No. of episodes: 16
Languages: Korean/Mandarin with English/Chinese/Malay subtitles

Cast:
Lee Da Hae - Joo Yoo Rin
Lee Dong Wook - Seol Gong Chan
Lee Jun Ki - Seo Jung Woo
Park Shi Yeon - Kim Sae Hyun

Supporting Cast: (credits to Wikipedia)

Jo Kye Hyung - Ahn Jin Kyu
Hwang Bo Ra - Ahn Jin Shim
Lee Eon Jeong - Yoon Jin Kyung
Byun Hee Bong - Seol Woong (Gong Chan's grandfather)
Kim Yong Rim - Jang Hyung Ja (Jung Woo's mother)
Ahn Suk Hwan - Jang Il Do
Choi Ran - Bae In Sun
Jung Han Hun - Joo Tae Hyung (Yoo Rin's father)
Han Chae Young - Choi Ha Na (the real granddaughter, cameo)
Jae Hee - Lee Mong Ryong (Ha Na's husband, cameo)
Oh Ji Young - Seo Hyun's assistant / traveling companion

Synopsis/Storyline:
Joo Yoo Rin is the typical street girl who had been living her life wandering and running away with her compulsive gambler father.; traveling from one country to another since she was a child and thus picking up different languages which helped in her work as a tour guide.

She always helped her father to settle his gambling debts.

On one of her tours, her tour group was late to the airport and she had to figure out a way to stall the plane from taking off; thus she hatched up a plan to pretend to bid the last farewell to her heartless fiance who is taking off, gaining the sympathies of the airport staff.
She pretended to search for her so-called fiance on the aircraft and annoyed Seol Gong Chan who was on the flight to Japan and he deliberately got her off the plane.

Seol Gong Chan is the sole heir to the Top Avenue Hotel corporation in Seoul and was on a search for his missing cousin sister, as instructed by his ill grandfather who was the Chairman of the hotel. He was racing against time to fulfill his grandfather's wishes as he was on his death bed. His grandfather, Seol Woong regretted turning away his own daughter thus causing her death in Japan, and now his only wish is to locate his only granddaughter to make the retribution to her.
As Gong Chan was running out of time and ways to locate his cousin sister, he met Yoo Rin once again. Her linguistic skills made him enlist her as his translator when he had to entertain guests from China to close a business deal.

Yoo Rin then started secretly putting up at the Seol's villa which Gong Chan used to entertain his guests upon hearing that no one stays in the villa except to clean up once a month as she was running away from her father's debt collectors. When Yoo Rin was found stealing and selling the tangerines from the family orchard, Gong Chan turned her away.

However, Gong Chan soon had an idea out of desperation after seeing Yoo Rin's magnificent lying skills and asked for her help to pretend to be his cousin sister to help his grandfather recover from his illness despite him disliking her lying and cheating antics.

Yoo Rin was initially reluctant as despite her being able to lie to survive, she did not want to con a dying man as it was against her principles to do so.

However, she was also pushed to desperation due to her father's mounting debts and also Gong Chan's kindness for not reporting her to the police following her incident at the villa,she reluctantly agreed.

Thus began Yoo Rin's entrance into the Seol family as the long lost granddaughter of Seol Woong.

Yoo Rin's presence was warmly welcomed by the whole family; including his widowed aunt, Bae In Sun, and the family's butler, Jang.

What initially started off as an act to comfort an old man soon turned to be Yoo Rin's comfort zone as she started to feel the warmth of a true family, after all the attention and love showered upon her by the family.

She also found herself slowly drawn towards Seol Gong Chan, who was finding romance back in the arms of his ex-girlfriend, prominent tennis player, Kim Sae Hyun.

Gong Chan's childhood buddy cum best friend, Seol Jeong Woo, who was a playboy found himself attracted to Yoo Rin and tried to win her heart although he knew that Yoo Rin is deeply in love with Gong Chan, who was unaware of her love.

However, the more time that the duo pretended to be fake cousins, even Gong Chan started to love her more than just a cousin, much to Sae Hyun's jealousy.

Sae Hyun wanted to make a public announcement about her relationship with Gong Chan to avoid rumours with other celebrities, but was opposed by Gong Chan and his family to protect Yoo Rin's identity and she was frustrated. Also, she started suspecting Gong Chan's feelings for Yoo Rin and was exasperated that she may be losing to his cousin sister.

Sae Hyun then found out that Yoo Rin was a fake, and tried to expose her, but was stopped by Gong Chan and Jeong Woo who did not want to lose Yoo Rin.

Yoo Rin was continuously hurt by Gong Chan and Sae Hyun's intimate relationship, with Jeong Woo acting as her protector at all times.

Gong Chan was starting to be jealous of the duo and tried to speed up the search for his real cousin but to no avail.

He then found out that his real cousin may have been dead, devastating both him and Yoo Rin who realized that she would have to live up to her lies forever and may never have the chance to be with Gong Chan ever.

When grandfather Seol Woong decided to introduce Yoo Rin publicly during the company's anniversary, Gong Chan announced that he will be transferring to Jeju Island to work. However, when it snowed at the airport and delayed his flight, he was reminded of Yoo Rin who told him that it was her birthday everytime it snowed and he decided to go against all odds and be with Yoo Rin.

The two attempted to elope but at the airport, they changed their mind and went home. Their grandfather was furious with Gong Chan taking Yoo Rin away before the ceremony but Yoo Rin explained that she was going to meet her adopted father.

Sae Hyun then came across Yoo Rin's biological father who was in Top Avenue Hotel with information of the long lost granddaughter. It was a coincidence that the real granddaughter was saved by Yoo Rin's father and he was asking for money for the information he had found. Sae Hyun was spiteful following her break up with Gong Chan and with him for choosing Yoo Rin over herself, and proceeded to intercept the bit of information from Yoo Rin's father, not knowing that the man was Yoo Rin's father.
She hid the information from Gong Chan, leading them to believe that the real granddaughter was dead so that Gong Chan could never be with Yoo Rin.

However, in a fit of a rage, after witnessing Gong Chan and Yoo Rin's intimate relationship, she decided to expose their deeds.

At the same time, Gong Chan had already discovered that his real cousin may still be alive and planned to send Yoo Rin to Jeju Island and will join her after telling his grandfather the truth and present him with the real granddaughter.
Sae Hyun foiled his plans by telling the grandfather earlier, and Yoo Rin was then expelled from the house during Gong Chan's absence, with the grandfather telling her to leave Korea and not to appear in front of the family ever again.

Yoo Rin then put on an act and conned Gong Chan into believing that she will be leaving for Jeju Island when in fact she proceeded to Incheon International Airport soon after and left for good. When Gong Chan was informed by his personal secretary Yoon, he chased after her but she was already gone.

Gong Chan and Jeong Woo searched for her for two years, but to no avail and the duo was not interested in all the matches their mother/aunt helped to arrange for them to get married.
By chance, Jeong Woo spotted Yoo Rin while sending Gong Chan off to the airport. Gong Chan was supposed to fly to Japan to track Yoo Rin's tour company but he then found Yoo Rin's name card with one of the flight passengers and flew back to Seoul and registered himself for a Seoul Tour.
Yoo Rin refused to have anything to do with him anymore due to her promise to the grandfather to repent for her sins, but Gong Chan was persistent.

Jeong Woo was devastated to find that he was once again late to meet Yoo Rin and that Gong Chan had gotten to her first.
Gong Chan was also surprised to find that his grandfather had located the real granddaughter and the reason he was not telling Gong Chan was to avoid him to go after Yoo Rin during the two years.

When Yoo Rin's father approached Sae Hyun again, Sae Hyun went to test Yoo Rin and told her to return Gong Chan to her and explain the whole story to the Seol family.
Yoo Rin agreed and told Sae Hyun to arrange for the meeting. She then hatched up a whole story telling how she and her father had plotted the whole thing by hiding the real granddaughter so that she could take the place of the granddaughter and left.

Gong Chan and everyone refused to believe her, and he was devastated when Yoo Rin said she no longer had feelings for him.

Sae Hyun was touched by Yoo Rin's actions and pleaded with the grandfather to forgive her, as Yoo Rin was only lying. Even Jeong Woo, Aunt Bae and Uncle Jang spoke to the grandfather about forgiving Yoo Rin and the grandfather finally came to his senses.
He summoned Yoo Rin and told Yoo Rin to go after Gong Chan who was supposed to take off to Japan and not come back again.

Yoo Rin found Gong Chan at the Building 63, where he went to reminisce about their love before he left and the lovers reunited again.

At the end of the drama, the real granddaughter was revealed to be Choi Ha Na (from Delightful Girl Chun Hyang) and she was married to Lee Myong Rong (also from the same drama) for a cameo appearance! =)

Character Analysis:
Lee Da Hae as Joo Yoo Rin

This is a delightful character and such an adorable one too! Although she was supposed to be deceitful, but you just find yourself loving her more and more as the drama progresses. Her antics are just hilarious and her sweet face made it all look more believable. She is the happy-go-lucky type until she met and fell in love with Seol Gong Chan and that was where you start to see different emotions displayed on her face.
It's my first time watching Lee Da Hae in a drama and I totally was a fan after that. She just have that sweet and adorable face to play the character to life!

Lee Dong Wook as Seol Gong Chan

This is the suave and charming guy who was expected to behave wherever he went as he was destined to be the next heir to the multimillion corporation of the Top Avenue Hotel. He often behaved according to the books but he finally found true happiness and let loose when he met Yoo Rin. It was probably due to that fact that he found himself falling for her as she was just the most genuine and realistic person he had ever met although he never did like liars. Her antics attracted him and he found that he could just be himself when he was with her, compared to Sae Hyun whom he had to adhere to protocols.
Lee Dong Wook had very likeable boyish charms and he was just the ladies type of man. It was funny seeing him transform from a prep and proper gentleman to finally being a thick-skinned type when he tried to get Yoo Rin to stay.

Lee Jun Ki as Seo Jung Woo

He is the typical playboy turned devoted lover when he found his match to be challenging. Jung Woo is always covering Yoo Rin from her miseries and he eventually fell so hard for her that he could not get himself out of it anymore. It was really touching to see him pine after her so much. Guess that's what you get sometimes in retribution to fool around and toy with others' feelings?
Lee Jun Ki was perfect with his playful looks to play that devoted puppy in love and his expressions were just priceless, enough to make anyone melt in empathy for him.

Park Shi Yeon as Kim Sae Hyun

She was the supposed antagonist of the show, and she was really an arrogant person. She was so full of herself that she believed she could have everything in the world. Perhaps it was also due to the fact that she was such an achiever in successes that she could not admit defeat or failures in her life/relationships. She was quite spiteful and sometimes you just could not help but detest her for all her doings, for someone who is such a hypocrite; acting all good and noble in public but yet so selfish and devious from inside. Maybe that would be a realistic character as well in this materialistic world.
Park Shi Yeon did not have much expressions on her face except spite and trying to look cool and angry at the same time.

Other characters:
Ahn Jin Kyu and Ahn Jin Sim

These two are Yoo Rin's childhood friends and are just hilarious as siblings. Despite their crazy exterior, they are both devoted friends who would go all the way out to help their friend in need.
Jin Kyu was really funny in his pursuits of Secretary Yoon, and I especially love the scene whereby he sewed the splattered tangerine just because it was one that was given to him by Secretary Yoon.

Aunt Bae and Uncle Jang

This is a pair of drama king and queen; as both are artistic and extremely passionate people. They are both kind at heart and loved Yoo Rin so much that they even named their newborn daughter Yae Rin to remember her.
I loved Aunt Bae especially when she was with Jung Woo's mother, always making sarcastic remarks in retort to the woman.

Favorite Scenes
There were too many that I could not pick anymore; from hilarious to romantic scenes!
But definitely, the top of the list is every scene with Gong Chan and Yoo Rin! They are just so lovely together.

I also loved scenes with Jung Woo and Yoo Rin, he was always there for her whenever she needed someone!

I also like scenes of the buddies; Gong Chan and Jung Woo together. Despite being buddies, they were also rivals in love as they compete for that one woman they both love yet at the same time, they only wanted to protect her.

Favorite Quotes:
1. Yoo Rin: Good Luck will be bestowed upon you!
2. Yoo Rin: Every time it snows, it is my birthday
3. Seol Gong Chan: When did I become such a thick-skinned person like Joo Yoo Rin?

My opinion:
If you ask me, I am definitely biased, because this is My FAVOURiTE drama of all times and I just could not get enough of it!
I would watch it over and over again!
If you are not into soap Korean operas, this may be the choice for you as it is truly a light-hearted drama promising lots of laughs and light moments =)

**All images are properties of SBlS.co.kr (official website of My Girl) and are only for illustration purposes and do not belong to this website **

TVB: Sisters of Pearl 掌上明珠 (2010)

2011-01-17T00:47:00.000-08:00

No. of episodes: 28

Cast:
Kiki Sheung Tin Ngor - Chu Pik Wan
Hsuan Jessica Hester - Chu Pik Ha
Macy Chan - Chu Pik Lam
Bowie Lam Po Yee - Ho Cheung Hing
Michael Dao Tai Yu - Hung Yew Sang
Joyce Tang Lai Ming - So Lai Sheung
Joel Chan - Chow Yuk Tsai
Savio Tsang Wai Kuen - Ho Cheung Fatt
Lily Leung - Ngan Yu Yoke
Lau Kong - Chu Siu Cheung
Coleman Tam - Lo Pak Tim
Pak Yin - Mrs Lo

Synopsis/Story:
Chu Pik Ha returned to her maiden home following the death of her husband, and upon invitation of her sisters after witnessing the way her mother-in-law treated her.
Unknown to her two sisters, it was Pik Ha's plan to return home and attempt to inherit the family's pearl business, which is currently run by her eldest sister, Pik Wan and her husband, Cheung Hing.

When Pik Ha started to win her father's affections and also her son being adopted as the grandson of the Chu family, Pik Wan sensed danger and her intentions and started to get her into trouble to get her out of her father's favour.
She instructed her husband, Cheung Hing to create trouble for Pik Ha's work at the pearl shop but Cheung Hing was secretly helping Pik Ha to solve most of the problems instead.
Pik Wan was then furious and suspects that her husband had not gotten over his feelings for Pik Ha. (Cheung Hing was supposed to marry Pik Ha initially but Pik Ha refused and married someone else, therefore their father re-arranged for Cheung Hing to marry Pik Wan instead)

With their cousin, Hung Yew Sang's interception, Pik Wan and Pik Ha's misunderstanding deepened.

Their father's sudden demise saddened all the three sisters but they were in for a bigger shock when an unknown woman turned up at his funeral and then a few days later at their home during the announcement of their father's will.
The woman turned out to be their father's long time mistress, So Lai Sheung and she was also stated to inherit part of the family fortune, and her sharing would increase if the child in her pregnancy is a son and the heir to the family.

The three sisters were furious and denied her position in the family, but their grandmother stepped in and allowed Lai Sheung to stay in the house, according to their father's will, and to give birth in the house.

What everyone did not know was that Lai Sheung was a tool set by their own cousin, Yew Sang to inherit part of the family's fortune. It was all a plan; from her meeting and seducing the old man to having his child and entering into the family based on that fact.

Lai Sheung did not lead an easy life, especially when youngest sister, Pik Lam was intent to make her life miserable in the house.
She almost suffered a miscarriage when Pik Ha's son, Tim Chai threw the marble balls on the floor.

Pik Wan and Pik Ha continued to fight over the pearl business as Pik Wan was worried that she was losing out, especially when even her own husband still has feelings for her sister. Pik Wan resorted to all sorts of tactics to kick Pik Ha out of the picture, and the worst being to separate Pik Ha from her son.

Pik Ha's mother in law won the custody of the child and Pik Ha was forced to bid farewell to her only son who was to follow his grandmother overseas.

Pik Ha bode a bitter grudge against her elder sister after that and plotted to take the business away from her no matter what, and even seduced her brother-in-law, Cheung Hing, who was still in love with her.

Pik Lam, was disappointed with Pik Ha's doings and her attempted adultery with their eldest brother-in-law.

Pik Lam herself faced a dilemma in love relationship when she put up a show and tricked their honest and innocent worker who hailed from Malaysia, Chow Yuk Tsai to marry her, in a bid to escape from another arranged political marriage.

After their marriage, Pik Lam refused to consummate the marriage with Yuk Tsai and denied her love for him, although she was starting to fall for his sweet and kind gestures towards her.
In one incident where Pik Lam accidentally declared that she does not love Yuk Tsai and that she was only using him, Yuk Tsai was devastated and decided to let her go by agreeing to a divorce.
Pik Lam regretted her words and Pik Wan saw opportunity to win her sister's vote for her running for the company's Chairman, by helping to patch the couple back with each other.

Pik Wan tried to win most of the votes by enlisting her husband's help, but little did she know that her husband was also eyeing the post and was already scheming to win all the votes for himself behind her back.
Cheung Hing had always wanted to plot revenge against the Chu family with the exception of his love, Pik Ha due to the fact that they indirectly caused the death of his father, who was an employee in the company and was framed for a mistake that Pik Wan had made.
He committed suicide in depression but Cheung Hing told everyone else that he had died of illness.

Cheung Fatt, his younger adopted brother was upset to learn of his plans to overtake the company and tried to advise him to stop his evil deeds, but to no avail.

Even Cheung Fatt was led to cover for his crimes; Cheung Fatt was framed for murdering the old grandma of the three Chu sisters.
Their grandma had uncovered Cheung Hing's crimes and went into a paralysis state where she could not speak. When she was about to recover her speech abilities, Cheung Hing pushed her into the pond and she died. Cheung Fatt took the blame onto himself and was led by Cheung Hing to commit suicide in jail to cover the whole truth altogether.

Yew Sang was starting to be aware of the scheming Cheung Hing, and he had slowly fallen for his second cousin, Pik Ha whom he had grown fond of.

When Lai Sheung gave birth to a son, she refused to follow Yew Sang's plan to leave her son and take part of the fortune which Yew Sang will share with her and go back to her village. She refused to part with her son, and soon gained entry into the pearl company as well.
She became defensive and warned Yew Sang against taking her son away.
At the same time, she grew close to Cheung Hing who helped deliver her son.

Pik Ha tried to seduce Cheung Hing who left Pik Wan and filed for divorce to be with Pik Ha. However, her plan failed when Cheung Hing overheard her talking to Yew Sang that it was all a plan to foil his schemes to take over the company.
He then convinced Pik Wan to return to him and then started feeding her pills to make her lose her mind, to enable him to take over the company easily.

As Pik Ha and Pik Lam realize his intentions, they tried to persuade Pik Wan to stop taking the pills but to no avail. Cheung Hing even threatened to kill Pik Wan if they refused to sell him their shares.
Lai Sheung had no choice but to give in to him too as she wanted to protect her own son. Pik Ha and Pik Lam sold their shares to him and the Chu sisters lost their family business to the evil Cheung Hing.

Yew Sang was also crippled in an accident but he supported the three sisters when they collaborated and united to start up a smaller pearl business.

Cheung Hing tried to break all their profit paths but Yew Sang hatched up a plan to make Cheung Hing lose it all.

In a rage, Cheung Hing tried to kill all of them but Yew Sang sacrificed himself to save Pik Ha.

Cheung Hing lost his mind in the end, while all three sisters remained with each other and won their family business.

Character Analysis
Kiki Sheung as Chu Pik Wan

She is a very insecure woman who also lacks of self-esteem despite being the one in power and authority. It was perhaps due to her position as the eldest daughter in the family and she constantly wants to be ahead of the rest. She was afraid of her younger and more capably sister, and the threats of a newly found stepmother and her unborn heir to her existing position.
She was not that evil actually, but she was just so consumed with her need to protect herself when she started feeling that she is losing all that she had that she had to first step up on her own defense. You could see in her expressions that she looked confused sometimes, and had to battle with her conscience before making a decision.
Kiki Sheung is no doubt an excellent veteran, and she is one of my favorite actresses, despite being cast as one of the antagonist in this drama.

Hsuan Jessica Hester as Chu Pik Ha

She is the most intelligent and ambitious sister of all, and she knows her own capabilities very well. This is one woman who knows how to be independent and to protect herself well. In contrast to Pik Wan, she is confident of herself and thus would not succumb to fate. Following her husband's death, she had planned to get away from her in-laws and plotted to return home and to have a hand in her own family business. She had planned it so well that it was really unbelievable that she had it all at the back of her hands. However, she was not all that evil either although she almost misled everyone to believe that she was the main antagonist as she, like Pik Wan, had to battle with her conscience despite wanting to inherit the family business. You could see her strong feelings for her siblings, and her emotions were the most genuine with her own son.
Jessica is also another great veteran actress who could bring her characters to life, and again, this is also one of my favorite actresses of all time. I wish TVB would give her more significant roles, as I do miss seeing her in all the great dramas produced.

Macy Chan as Chu Pik Lam

Of all three, this is the weakest sister and it could be due to the fact that she was the youngest in the family as well. She swayed in her opinions and is easily influenced; making her the most vulnerable tool to be exploited by her sisters and the antagonists in the drama. Her role is rather insignificant sometimes; besides adding to the shares of the company and her ability to vote for the managing board. As I've said, it could be due to the fact that being the youngest, she was always pampered by her father and all the elders in the family that she never had to deal with difficult situations where she had to decide.
The only time you finally see her transform to being a real adult who could finally come to terms with herself is when she realized that she had fallen for Yuk Tsai. Even then, she needed her sister's help to reunite with him as she had too much of a pride to tell Yuk Tsai.
Macy Chan is a relatively new actress but she had shown much improvement in her acting skills, although you could see that she is struggling sometimes to bring emotions to her eyes and face. There were times when she seemed to be blank and the expressions seem to be the same for some scenes as well, even when she is supposed to be really miserable.
I like her though; as she is really sweet and definitely suitable for vulnerable and innocent roles like this.

Joyce Tang as So Lai Sheung

This was supposed to be one of the antagonist as well, but at the same time the protagonist as well. You can't help but feel tickled by all her antics as she struggled to deal with her own naivety and materialism while having to act as a noble woman in the family. I enjoyed her expressions and her natural greed which was portrayed realistically. You won't feel hatred for this woman, but rather, pity and love for such a down-to-earth person that she is. Perhaps she is the most genuine person in this drama that could relate to an everyday woman from the village.
Joyce Tang is no doubt another excellent actress, as she portrayed her roles to perfection.

Bowie Lam as Ho Cheung Hing

Finally, the real and main evil antagonist in the drama who had all the audience deceived from the very beginning as he played the innocent and dictated poor husband and son-in-law of the Chu family. He had no respect from people but yet he was just so kind and caring to his own wife and sisters-in-law. It was really deceiving until it is revealed that he had been plotting his own motives to take over the entire family business. What started as a small plan of revenge towards Pik Wan and her father for causing his father's death soon expanded into a huge plan of greed and authority as he slowly plotted to overtake the entire family business.
He was so consumed with his own greed that he had started to lose his conscience when he pushed his own brother to death. He was a very selfish and vindictive man, but you could see his soft spot when he was dealing with Pik Ha, that only one woman in his life whom he really loved, which is why he was so devastated and turned even more mad when he realized that Pik Ha was only toying with him.
Bowie Lam is definitely the man for this character as this actor can just hide so much emotions behind his blank expression!

Michael Dao as Hung Yew Sang

Like Lai Sheung, this was supposed to be the main antagonist in the beginning but then turned protagonist towards the end. It was rather confusing for the audience whether he was the good or bad guy as he was constantly switching his roles. At one point he was intent to gobble the family fortune with his carefully hatched plan with Lai Sheung but yet you could see how he battled with himself when he tried to be Mr Nice Guy with his own cousins. I guess that was when he had started to fall for cousin Pik Ha when he could not bring himself to cause the family too much misery.
It has been a long time we have seen Michael in evil roles like these, but he is still good as a veteran actor although sometimes I do find his expressions a little more exaggerated.

Savio Tsang as Ho Cheung Fatt

He is the most unrecognized role and yet he is the only truly kind and honest man in the show. He worked with his conscience and never wanted anything for himself. He is constantly thinking for others, and he was really one of the most pitiful guys who never had anything in return. He was the adopted son in the family and he often felt indebted to the family that he listened to his brother although he did not agree to the evil deeds. In the end, he was even led to believe that he ought to sacrifice himself for the family to repay his adopted father's deeds.
For all that he had done, he gained nothing good in return.
This is the first time I have ever seen Savio Tsang in a good role as he is constantly cast in evil roles that it was really surprising. Nevertheless, it was a good job done and it showed that he is another versatile actor, although, I think he looked more believable as a nasty guy sometimes.

Joel Chan as Chow Yuk Tsai

For a man, this is really one naive and innocent character and it's funny that he was supposed to hail from Malaysia (or Borneo). He perceived everyone as good and with no evil intentions. He fell for all the tricks of the trade and even stupidly believe that he was responsible for sleeping with Pik Lam when he was drunk. He did love her with all his heart and it was also quite disheartening to see how he felt when Pik Lam revealed that she was only using him to get away from another arranged marriage. It was funny how he even agreed to paper marriage when Pik Lam refused to sleep with him after their marriage. He was so naive that this character became a little unbelievable sometimes.
Joel Chan was inconsistent in his expressions sometimes although at times he did fare quite well in portraying a simple-minded guy.

Overall review:
I enjoyed the drama, although at times I did find the storyline dragging itself a little. The drama seemed to be come one after another that it did not seem quite that believable anymore, perhaps the writer himself/herself was getting confused with the concept of what he really wants.
However, it is still a drama with lots of family relationships and it makes you think what is truly important in the end; money or love.

** All images are properties of TVB.com (Official website) and are only for illustration purposes; not for distribution **

SBS: Stairway to Heaven (천국의 계단)

2011-01-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

No.of episodes: 28
Languages: Korean, Mandarin with English/Malay/Chinese subtitles

Year produced: 2003

Cast:
Choi Ji Woo - Han Jung Suh/Kim Ji Soo
Kwon Sang Woo - Cha Song Joo
Kim Tae Hee - Han Yoo Ri
Shin Hyun Joon - Han Tae Hwa/Han Chul Soo

Supporting Cast:
Ha Jae Young - Professor Han Soo Ha (Jung Suh's biological father, Yoo Ri and Tae Hwa's stepfather)
Lee Hui Hyang - Tae Mira (Yoo Ri and Tae Hwa's biological mother, Jung Suh's stepmother)
Jung Han Yong - Han Pil Su
Lee Cham - Director Jang

Child Actors:
Baek Sung Hyun - Young Cha Song Joo
Park Shin Hye - Young Han Jung Suh
Lee Wan - Young Han Tae Hwa
Park Ji Mi - Young Han Yoo Ri

Synopsis/Story:

This is a heart-wrenching tale of how two destined lovers from childhood had to face trials and tribulations to be with each other and in the end, made a promise to meet each other in heaven.

Han Jung Suh and Cha Song Joo were childhood friends, who grew up together and both shared the pain of losing one parent to illness. They knew they were destined for each other since they were young and yet, as fate would have it, their love was constantly put to the test.

Jung Suh was expecting a better life when her father decided to re-marry, and married a famous actress, Tae Mira who had two teenage children of her own to be brought into the marriage. Jung Suh was warm to her two newfound siblings, although they were skeptical of her; especially Yoo Ri who was especially jealous of her good fortune and life, and the attention showered by the good-looking and promising Song Joo.
Tae Mira treated Jung Suh well initially to win the trust of Jung Suh's father, but soon showed her true colours when Jung Suh did better than Yoo Ri in the school examinations.

Jung Suh's nightmare soon began when Tae Mira slapped her and abused her whenever her father is out of town. She kept it to herself, and even refused to confide in Song Joo who was concerned about her new life with the stepmother.
Jung Suh suffered in silence, for the sake of her father's newfound happiness in her stepmother, and anxiously anticipated the day that she would leave for her studies in the U.S together with her sweetheart, Song Joo.

When Tae Mira and Yoo Ri found out about their plan for the abroad studies, Tae Mira persuaded Jung Suh's father to postpone sending her abroad, much to the misery of Jung Suh.
On the day when Song Joo was scheduled to depart for his studies at the airport, Yoo Ri locked Jung Suh in the attic and mother and daughter lied that Jung Suh was nowhere to be found.
Tae Hwa helped to release Jung Suh from the attic who raced all the way to the airport, but Song Joo had already gone into the departure hall, much to the pleasure of Yoo Ri who hid there watching.

However, Jung Suh was surprised when Song Joo re-appeared as he could not bear to leave without saying goodbye and he presented her with a unique heart necklace which was paired with his own lock necklace. The necklaces were a pair and could be joined together. They each put on the necklaces for each other and bade each other a sad farewell.

Upon Song Joo's departure, the depressed Jung Suh then found solace in her mysterious stepbrother, Tae Hwa.
Tae Hwa is a spiteful young man, who missed his father dearly. He was incredibly talented in art, and with the encouragement of Jung Suh, he pursued his passion for the sake of winning Jung Suh's heart whom he had fallen in love with despite her being his sibling.

Yoo Ri threatened to expose their relationship to Song Joo who was studying abroad and regarded them with disgust. Yoo Ri and her mother intercepted most of the correspondence letters between Jung Suh and Song Joo, to end their relationship and to make Song Joo pay attention to Yoo Ri instead.

Tae Hwa pursued Jung Suh who shied away from him, but they spent most of their time together when their father was out of town.

Finally, the time came for Jung Suh to leave for her studies in the U.S, and Song Joo would be back in Korea to bring her along with him.
When Jung Suh received Song Joo's call to meet him at his family owned amusement park, Jung Suh raced to the place while Yoo Ri chased after her in the family's car, despite not having a driving licence.

When Jung Suh arrived outside of the amusement park, she waved at Song Joo who was watching for her from the balcony of the park. They both tried to rush to meet each other and Jung Suh was then hit by an oncoming car driven by Yoo Ri.
Yoo Ri was petrified with the massive accident she had caused and dragged the blood-covered Jung Suh into her car to cover her deed.

Worried, she drove Jung Suh to the hospital and ran around trying to get the doctors' attention when she overheard about victims without an identity. She changed her mind and placed Jung Suh's identity card with a burnt victim to mislead others that Jung Suh had died.
She then drove Jung Suh to her own biological father's home and begged him to take her in. Her father then called her brother, Tae Hwa, who came and decided to keep Jung Suh, who had lost her memory for himself.

He coined a new identity for Jung Suh; calling her Kim Ji Soo, and he changed his own name as well, now known as Han Chul Su and the duo lived together, along with his father.

Kim Ji Soo, is now a designer who runs a small boutique stall selling her own produced creations in Namdaemun Market, and led a happy life with Chul Su, whom she believed was her longtime boyfriend.
She supported his father's gambling debts as well; much to the chagrin of her close friend cum boutique partner.

Song Joo, on the other hand, still grieved over Jung Suh's death whom he refused to believe has been dead and constantly relived the scene of the night he met her. He arrived at the main road and only saw a bloodied picture of him and Jung Suh together at the beach when they were children.
Song Joo, is now set to be the next Chairman of the corporation and is betrothed to Yoo Ri, who had been helping him at work for the last five years.

Song Joo is portrayed as a playboy, but deep down inside, he had never forgotten Jung Suh. When he caught glimpse of Jung Suh on the carousel in his own amusement park while he was wishing to see her for one last time, he could not believe his own eyes until he saw her descend from the ride and into Han Chul Su's arms.

Song Joo then embarked on a wild goose chase after Jung Suh who could not recognize him and told him that she is Kim Ji Soo.
Refusing to give up, Song Joo enlisted the help of private detectives to investigate into Kim Ji Soo's background, with the help of his mentor cum assistant, Director Jang.
He then schemed to buy Kim Ji Soo's boutique stall, forcing her to accept a contract with his company to collaborate on attractive fashion designs.

Ji Soo was initially put off by his pursuits but soon found herself attracted to his persistence and loyalty to his dead girlfriend, much to the anger of Chul Su.

Unbeknownst to her, Chul Su was afraid that the truth would soon be revealed if she was to become closer to Song Joo.

Yoo Ri was also feeling insecure and unhappy with the re-emergence of Jung Suh's presence in Song Joo's life and his constant attention to her old rival.
When Song Joo was finally giving up hope that Kim Ji Soo is Jung Suh, Yoo Ri almost ran her car into Ji Soo, causing her to regain her memory of her real identity.

Jung Suh now ran after Song Joo frantically, trying to tell him about her findings but he no longer believed her as he thought that she wanted to be Jung Suh due to his deep affections for her.

Jung Suh then decided to leave with Tae Hwa, but the guilt-ridden Tae Hwa decided to send her back to Song Joo's arms.

Tae Hwa drove the unsuspecting Jung Suh who was sleeping in the van after taking fever medicine to her mother's beach house and called Song Joo.
He then left when the duo met up.

Song Joo verified Jung Suh's identity by quoting his favorite phrase and Jung Suh gave him the reply only known to both of them.
They then joined their necklaces and hugged.

Song Joo brought Jung Suh back to her home, who was welcomed by her own father and the pretentious Tae Mira. Yoo Ri put up a fight but Tae Mira warned her against it.
Tae Mira and Yoo Ri then sought the sympathy of Song Joo's mother, who was the CEO of the company and she forbade Song Joo to marry Jung Suh.

Song Joo was to be engaged with Yoo Ri, but Song Joo had other plans. He planned to give the ring to Jung Suh instead but she declined as she had to save Tae Hwa from the police station where he was held for fraud and selling fake paintings. (It was the doing of his own mother, Tae Mira to stop Jung Suh from getting close to Song Joo)

Song Joo and Jung Suh then agreed to be friends following his engagement to Yoo Ri, and he even sent her away, to avoid them meeting again.
However, Song Joo missed her dearly and in the end, Song Joo decided to give up everything to be with Jung Suh.

It was then that Jung Suh was diagnosed with eye disease which was then confirmed to be cancer. Jung Suh persuaded Song Joo to go back to his mother's aid when the company faced a major crisis, and Song Joo asked for his mother's blessing for their marriage.
His mother was defiant, and was starting to dislike Jung Suh for coming in the way of Song Joo and Yoo Ri.

Jung Suh kept her illness a secret from Song Joo, and broke up with him, retreating herself to the beach house while she slowly lose her sight.
Tae Hwa went after her and took care of her, and he also informed Song Joo.

The two men persuaded Jung Suh to undergo the surgery to recover despite it having only 50% recovery rate.

It was not fully successful as Jung Suh did not regain her sight, and when she was about to be discharged from the hospital, Tae Hwa tricked her into putting on a wedding gown and led her to her own wedding, planned by Song Joo.

Tae Mira and Yoo Ri were hysterical at the wedding as the following day was supposed to be Song Joo and Yoo Ri's wedding. Tae Mira then threw her tantrum and Tae Hwa and his father appeared, exposing all of the mother and daughter's schemes to the whole world.

Song Joo's mother finally gave her blessings to the painstruck couple.

Tae Mira was sent to a mental institution while Yoo Ri was jailed for the accident.

Song Joo and Jung Suh started to lead their life as a newlywed couple. Jung Suh expressed her wish to see Song Joo for one more time to Tae Hwa and he started to plan his own demise by misleading everyone that he will be pursuing his art career in Paris.
He then created his own car accident and donated his cornea to Jung Suh.

Jung Suh then regained her sight after the cornea transplant but her cancer cells had spread and she need to undergo another operation.
However, Jung Suh refused to, and Song Joo, in his exasperation, told Jung Suh that Tae Hwa's death and sacrifice would be in vain if she didn't and Jung Suh was hysterical.

Jung Suh endured the cancer and spent the last of her days living happily with Song Joo.

One day, she asked Song Joo to drive her to the beach house and Song Joo refused to, knowing that her time is up.
She persisted and Song Joo drove her there, where she finally laid to her rest in Song Joo's arms by the beach.

Two years later, Song Joo was seen playing at the white piano by the sea, asking Jung Suh whether she could hear him.

Character Analysis:
Choi Ji Woo as Han Jung Suh/Kim Ji Soo

What can I say about one of the most popular K-drama actresses? Choi Ji Woo is definitely a drama queen!
She's good at all the crying scenes, and she just has this unbelievably sweet looks about her. She's not as pretty as most of the other actresses that I like, but somehow, there's just something about her that is really appealing and that you will find connecting with her whenever you watch her in dramas.
I liked how she finally transformed from the soft Jung Suh to the tough Jung Suh who finally knew how to stand for herself when she regained her memory. I guess she had picked it up from Kim Ji Soo who had lived on the streets all the while.
She did much better in this drama compared to Winter Sonata, although she seemed to relive some of her facial expressions from Winter and also Beautiful Days.

Kwon Sang Woo as Cha Song Joo

This is my first time seeing Kwon Sang Woo in a drama, and I must say I really liked him! He has a charm around him, and of course his boyish good looks earned him extra brownie points. He has extreme versatility as I found him switching from a pained lover to a playful and extremely mischievous friend. He portrayed all his expressions realistically, and most of the time, I find himself sympathizing with him. This is one strong character who does not allow anyone to push him around, as he stood for what he believed and would not let anyone tell him what to do, even if that is his own mother.

Kim Tae Hee as Han Yoo Ri

She is supposed to the second antagonist in the story; next to her evil mother Tae Mira but sometimes, I do find it hard to believe that such a pretty girl is capable of such evil deeds.
I guess Kim Tae Hee's image is not so suitable for this character, and her facial expressions were not convincing enough. Whenever she is supposed to feel jealous or evil, she would only know how to enlarge her eyes and that is supposed to make someone look evil??
Guess Kim Tae Hee is too demure to pull off a convincing act as an evil stepsister!

Shin Hyun Joon as Han Tae Hwa/Han Chul Su
He had this kind look and sometimes I find his character annoying but still, you feel that he is the main protector for Jung Suh. Without him, she would be in much more pain and misery. He had this ruffian look and the way he dresses was too much of a pauper than an artist. Overall, this is one pitiful character who just did not deserve what he had done for everyone so far although it was the route he chose for himself.

The child actors
Park Shin Hye as Young Jung Suh

Adorably cute, she was just the right person to play such a demure character! She was so kind and her doe-like eyes just gave off that right expression and pain that she felt. Somehow she looked more like Kim Tae Hee compared to Choi Ji Woo, and it was weird that she grew up to be Choi Ji Woo! =P

Park Ji Mi as Young Yoo Ri

This is one evil girl; she had that conniving look in her eyes and you just feel hatred for her and furthermore, she played such a despicable role. Sometimes I felt sorry for her as well, as she came from an undesirable background herself and she was probably pushed to survive on her own and had developed such possessive skills, porbably to defend herself. Above all else, it's her own parents to be blamed for her upbringing when she was young.

Baek Sung Hyun as Young Song Joo
This is a very cheerful boy and he really looked like Kwon Sang Woo too! This is a good choice as both portrayed the character of Cha Song Joo to life! I liked this actor; he really had very charming expressions as a young price!

Lee Wan as Young Tae Hwa
This guy was quite annoying, to be frank, but I found his expressions really good too, that he could make me annoyed anyway, in the first place!
Did you know that he is Kim Tae Hee's brother in real life?

My opinion:
This is truly a tragic drama; it was full of tragedies and miseries right from the beginning. (Well, after all, what would have made the drama had it not been for all the tragedies, right?)

This was like a typical Cinderella story, whereby the biological daughter gets all the suffering, all thanks to the evil stepmother and stepsister.

It was really heart-wrenching to see how the two ill-fated lovers constantly were prevented from being with each other and when they finally do, they are still separated from death.

Be prepared to cry buckets over the scenes; especially if you are an emotional person as Jung Suh really had it tough for her since her childhood, that sometimes you just wished that her father never married the stepmother or that Jung Suh should just pluck some courage and told her father and Song Joo about the abuses.

I liked this drama a lot, as I found it to be really touching and it was truly an emotional ride; a typical romantic soap opera. I guessed I also liked Kwon Sang Woo in this drama, who was really just unbelievably loyal and charming; everything that a girl could wish for in her Prince Charming.

I have watched this a few times, and I will always bring it out of the shelves to re-watch it once in a while to relive that true gift of love =)

Don't watch it if you're a guy...haha, just kidding!
If you're not one for dramas and mushy romantic lines, this is not a drama for you.
If you are sentimental and romantic type, then yes, do watch it to see what love is truly all about. It is not all about sugar and spice, there's really lots of sacrifices and persistence as well, not to mention devotion and loyalty.

What can I say more, this is one of my favorite dramas =)

Media Corp: New Beginnings (红白囍事)

2011-01-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

It's the New Year, and therefore, this will be the first drama I have decided to post to welcome the New Year.
The title of the drama is significant as it brings New Beginnings to all of us in the New Year =)

No. of episodes: 20

Cast
Jeanette Aw as Cai Shiya
Elvin Ng as Ye Jiajun
Tay Ping Hui as Li Zihao
Jesseca Liu as Tang Wenxi
Zhang Zhen Huan as Li Ziyang
Tracy Tan as Cai Shihui
Joshua Ang as Cai Shicai
Lin Mei Jiao as Yan Ruyi
Richard Low as Cai Fulin
Hong Hui Fang as Li Xiuyun

Synopsis:

The drama is about the lives of the four main protagonists; Li Zihao, Cai Shiya, Tang Wenxi and Ye Jiajun and how their lives intertwine with each other.
The story has a unique twist of bringing both the wedding and funeral business together, and how each affected the other.
Both businesses were never related to each other, and the Chinese communities especially often shun funeral-related matters when it comes to dealing with auspicious events such as weddings. This drama portrays the dealings of the businesses and how the nature of the businesses were perceived by the general public; especially the most shunned funeral business.
This being a Singaporean drama, there were also family elements and romance intertwined to give it that perfect twist.

The Plot:
Li Zihao grew up assisting his matchmaker mother in handling weddings, and has thus developed his interest in arranging/planning weddings for others. He particularly took interest in the customary traditions aspect of wedding planning and helped his parents to care for their business, which deals with supplying items and pastries for the traditional Chinese weddings.
Having a matchmaker mother and also a Feng Shui expert for a father definitely helped to boom the business further.
He bumped into Tang Wenxi, a talented and prominent wedding dress designer who hailed from Taiwan and is based in a bridal boutique in Singapore. They both became fast friends after Zihao helped Wenxi out in an unexpected drama with one of Wenxi's customers and even set out to start their own wedding planning business along with Zihao's younger brother, Ziyang.
Wenxi and Ziyang started off on the wrong path with each other, and Wenxi constantly found fault with him. However, Wenxi slowly fell for Ziyang, while Zihao had fallen for her earlier.
Zihao also crossed path with Cai Shiya, the eldest daughter and the caretaker of the Cai Funeral Services. She had a rather pitiful background whereby she gave up her studies for her younger siblings to help her widower father to run the funeral business, and in the meantime, lost the love of her life who could not accept her profession. Shiya hired Ye Jiajun, a handsome and decent young man who sought the job. Unbeknownst to Shiya and the her family, Ye Jiajun was there to seek revenge for his father whose death was believed to be caused by Shiya's father.
Jiajun slowly fell in love with Shiya, despite his spiteful mother's protests and he had to pay the price for that when his mother found out about their forbidden love.
Will the four characters and their love relationship end out well in the end?

(Since this is a Singaporean drama, and it had such a promising title, you can be assured that the ending is a yes =)

Whole Story:
Since young, Li Zihao had often followed his matchmaker mother to weddings and he enjoyed the happiness and smiles on the faces of the couples that he developed a strong interest in taking after his mother's footsteps.
He grew up to help his parents in their wedding buiness; supplying essential betrothal items needed for the traditional and customary Chinese weddings. The family also runs a pastries shop, selling the traditional baked pastries for the different Chinese clan weddings.

When Zihao's own cousin ran into a crisis(his girlfriend got pregnant), Zihao and his mother stepped in to help to arrange the rushed wedding and Zihao found himself getting involved in the wedding planning. He met Tang Wenxi, a talented bridal dress designer based in the bridal boutique whose owner, Raymond approached the duo to start up a wedding planning business with him.
Wenxi and Zihao went into the business with high hopes only to be disappointed when they found out that they were conned of their savings and were left with a huge pile of debt by the former owner. They then ended the business and slowly picked up on their own strengths.

During Zihao's cousin's wedding, Zihao had to deal with Cai Shiya whose customer had set up a funeral wake at the same void deck that Zihao had earlier booked for his cousin's wedding.
Although Shiya could not help anything with the arrangements (due to the family's adamance), Shiya and Zihao became friends after that, even though Shiya warned Zihao that due to the nature of their businesses, they should not meet anymore.

Shiya had a difficult past as she had given up her studies for the sake of her younger siblings to help her widowed father in the family business (funeral services) and to send her younger sister, Shi Hui to university.

Shi Hui grew up to be a materialistic and arrogant young woman who was ashamed of her own father and mentally challenged younger brother and even begged Shiya to prevent them from attending her own convocation. Her father was devastated when he found out about Shi Hui's intentions but still forgave her, blaming himself for the unhappiness caused due to his profession to his daughter.
Shi Hui started her first job at a bank but soon lost interest, and got involved in a modelling career where she met Li Ziyang, a passionate and professional photographer who also happened to be the younger brother of Li Zihao.
She dumped her university boyfriend, whom she found boring and started a relationship with Ziyang.

At the same time, Tang Wenxi who was initially annoyed with Ziyang also slowly fell for his boyish charms and Shi Hui intentionally left evidences of her sleeping with Ziyang to drive Wenxi away. Wenxi was upset when she found out about Shi Hui and Ziyang but was even more surprised with Zihao's confession that he had liked her all along. Wenxi slowly accepted Zihao for his kindness and steadfast love.

Shi Hui, on the other hand, was more obsessed with fame and wealth, and started courting a rich diamond merchant, much to Ziyang's anger. She then dumped Ziyang and went on a holiday with the rich businessman, only to return pregnant with his child. She then coerced the businessman to marry her, despite protests from her own family. When she suffered a miscarriage, she was devastated when the rich guy dumped her and she started to realize that her family had never forsaken her.

Shiya, hired a young man who came answering for the job vacancy ad for the funeral services, Ye Jiajun. She was initially puzzled as to why a bright and decent graduate who was a former engineer with a promising future would choose the profession but she soon found herself impressed with his dedication and hard work in the field.
She promoted him despite the protest of the older workers in the the company, but at the same time, found that they faced problems with their funeral services. An accidental fire during a funeral set off a bad reputation for them in the press after that.
Unbeknownst to her and her father, it was Jiajun who started the fire and also caused her to sack an old employee.
Jiajun was there for revenge, as instructed by his spiteful mother who blamed Shiya's father, Cai Fulin for her husband's death.

Jiajun soon found himself falling in love with Shiya and could not bring himself to harm her family, much to the anger of his mother and she decided to take matters into her own hands.

In the fire incident in which Jiajun's mother wanted to kill Shiya and herself, she was touched when Shiya went all out to rescue her and before her death, she finally forgave Cai Fulin and granted Jiajun her blessing to be with Shiya.

It was all in all a happy ending in the end as the four characters got married in a joint wedding on the beach, organized by themselves, bringing the title to life, in bridging both the auspicious wedding planners and the shunned funeral planners in one single wedding!~

Character Analysis:
Tay Ping Hui as Li Zihao

This is a very kind-hearted and gentle man for his character. He was always one to help others and never once worried about himself.
I liked how calm he was in handling most of the crises in the weddings; this is really one good wedding planner to have for most brides, don't you think?
He was just so shy when he had to deal with his own love life, that it was really frustrating how he could keep quiet about his feelings for Tang Wenxi. He was just so giving that he even could give her up to his own brother.
However, a good and kind character like him was definitely rewarded for his kindness when he also found his true love to return to him with open arms.

Jeanette Aw as Cai Shiya

She is always my favorite actress and it was really fresh to see her in a cold-like character like this time in the drama.
Despite her hard and cold exterior, actually you could see that Shiya was just a woman like any other inside.
Jeanette played Shiya really well, and I loved her facial expressions when she was trying to suppress most of her emotions in front of others. I guess that was what you get when you are the eldest in the family and the superior in the family business. She was always controlling herself, and never letting go. When she fell in love, she thought she had someone finally to lean on and you could feel her frustration (not anger) when she realized that Jiajun was not sincere with her.
It was also good to see that she was finally happy, and not uptight for once during her own wedding! =)

Jesseca Liu as Tang Wenxi

I liked her smile, and her warm character. I was surprised when I was told that she was a Malaysian actress in reality!
Wenxi is a rather weak character at times, although she tried to portray her strong exterior. I felt that she lacked confidence in carrying her own strengths and in expressing her love. When she fell for Ziyang, she was often hiding from him and was finally upset when she realized that she had lost Ziyang to the bolder Shi Hui. She was lucky to have Zihao constantly watching her back.
I think she actually liked Zihao from the start; it's just that she did not realize it or refuse to see him as partner material which made her prefer the suave and playful Ziyang instead.

Elvin Ng as Ye Jiajun

Despite his good boyish looks and charming eyes, I find Elvin a little stumped in his expressions sometimes. He was rather stiff in his acting and also facial expressions. It made it hard for us audience to tell or feel his emotions; whether he was in love or if he was sad.
The character was supposed to be like that, maybe?

Supporting cast:
Zhang Zhenhuan as Li Ziyang

A very playful but yet suave character who had every lady swooning over him (honestly, what's so attractive about him anyway?) I thought he would fall for Wenxi, but he chose the rebellious and seductive Shi Hui instead and the interesting part is, I'd never expect the playboy to fall so hard for someone in the same game like him.
I liked to see how Zhang portrayed the heartbroken playboy but yet he displayed a strong exterior to show he was unfazed by it all.

Tracy Tan as Cai Shi Hui

She was probably the almost-antagonist in the drama, and she was kinda above it all. She was embarassed of her own roots and was never pleased with anything she had, despite almost having everything she could have.
It was good that she finally learnt her lesson and understood the true meaning of gratitude.

Joshua Ang as Cai Shicai

Despite his shortcomings and mental challenge, Shicai is actually one of the most liked characters. He had such a pure and kind heart, and he was always there for his own siblings, protecting his two sisters with his acquired skills in martial arts whenever they are in danger. Joshua made this character really believeable, not to mention highly likeable!

Richard Low as Cai Fulin

A devoted father who dedicated his life to caring for his children after his wife's death, he is your typical father's day model. He was haunted by his past, and he constantly blamed himself for causing a good friend's death. He is a businessman driven by compassion and emotion, and he is often helping others more than making profit. It is hard to find a businessman like him these days.
I loved how this character is always so forgiving as a father, and compassionate as a funeral provider and a caring employer. One of the best characters in the drama!~

Lin Meijiao as Yan Ruyi

After watching her play the evil and scheming first wife in the Little Nyonya, it was really a change watching her portray this bright and cheerful matchmaker who brought joy to all the weddings she helped to arrange. It was funny how she could bring so many couples together but yet frustrated when her two sons remained single.
I liked this character a lot too, as she was constantly smiling and never frowned despite the problems faced. Veteran actress Lin Meijiao really played this typical aunt of a matchmaker to perfection, and I enjoyed the scene whereby her expression changed from happiness to disapproval when they bumped into a funeral in the first episode! That was a classic =)

Hong Hui Fang as Li Xiuyun

Perhaps the most annoying character of all in the entire drama, this woman cannot see light and is just obstinate in blaming others for her husband's death. She was so blinded by her hunger for revenge that she failed to prioritize in bringing her only son up in the right way. It was a surprise that Jiajun still managed to be a man of conscience despite having this mother with such a distorted view. She was just spiteful and there was no sense of happiness in this character. It was good when she finally realized that she had been wrong all the while and finally grant her son happiness (and may I say, freedom from her own spite) at her death bed.

Review:
This is definitely a recommended and must-watch drama, especially if you are planning a wedding (like me!)
I love the sharing of the details in the all the customs and traditions of Chinese weddings.
Even if you are not following the traditions, there is no harm to find out more and treat it as extra knowledge.
I love the light-hearted drama and how all the characters are just so natural and alike to us in real life. Furthermore, the drama also addressed typical social issues and brought the moral part into it, making it truly valuable to the society.

The weddings featured each had a unique story, not to mention the touching sentiment of it.

The same goes for the funerals, and how filial piety means in the modern society. It is really educational and enlightening to see how we have been blinded by all the perceptions today.

I say, go watch it! =)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!~

2011-01-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

Doing my rounds of New Year wishes for all my blogs, and this is also another blog that I just simply cannot leave out.
I may not be really good in updating this blog, but I do spend time to write my reviews and to share my thoughts.

2010 has been a year where I did not really watch a lot of movies (REALLY!), but instead more dramas, as you can see in most of my review compilations.
I don't know why, guess I was just tired after work and on weekends, and I didn't really like to join the long queues or make my way into crowded cinemas where I cannot thoroughly enjoy the movie.

Dramas were generously shared by another close friend of mine, and I have been catching up on some TVB, Taiwanese, Japanese and even Korean dramas which work just fine.
Of course, most of the reviews are still pending, although I have posted on a few.

Anyway, I am currently doing a re-run of some of my old favorite dramas and will be doing my write up for them pretty soon.
I hope to fill this blog with more interesting and exciting movie/drama reviews and maybe even some TV shows, if I have the time for them..LOL =P

I will be posting up soon, after I complete a few dramas on hand, in fact, I am already writing up the review on my favorite Korean drama which I have just finished yesterday.

It is a brand NEW year and I thank those who have enjoyed my blog, and my apologies to those who was disappointed in the lack of updates.
2011 will be different, I will do my best to maintain this blog (and all my other blogs too) to keep them constantly updated and fresh to all of you.

If there is any movie/drama you are interested in and have yet to see it on my blog, do drop me a note and I will see what I can do about it.
Of course, nothing illegal...no porn, and too much violence yeah =)

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011~~

TVB: Maiden’s Vow 鳳凰四重奏 (2006)

2010-09-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

No. of episodes: 30

Cast:
(To be separated into the four different stories to depict the four generations as the same cast was casted in each story)

First generation:

Charmaine Sheh - Ngai Yu Fung
Sammul Chan - Wang Yuk Lun (Sap Yee Siu)
Joe Ma - Yu Chi
Kiki Sheung - Tung Dai Hei
Wu Fung - Wang Sin Kei
Irene Wong - Yung Dak Sin
Chun Wong - Eunuch Cho
Lau Dan - Ngai Bing Fan
Maria Chan - Fa Chin Hung
Akina Hong - Wong Ka Cheung
Evergreen Mak - Lien Chong Hien
Lily Leung - Empress Dowager Chi Hei

Second Generation:
Charmaine Sheh - Wang Chi Kwan
Joe Ma - Lee Kat Cheung
Elaine Yiu - Cheung Lei
Eric Li - Dan Lai Chak
Kiki Sheung - Tung Dai Hei
Irene Wong - Yung Dak Sin
Akina Hong - Chuk Ngun Chi
June Chan - To Suk Han
Lily Lee - Koo Siu Mei
Cha Cha Chan - To Lai Gun

Third Generation:
Charmaine Sheh - Pak Wai Chan
Joe Ma - Dai Lap Yan
Joel Chan - Henry Bat Ha Kau
Law Koon Lan - Nanny Ying
Ram Chiang - Mo Yung Chiu
Annabelle Lau - Lui Ying Hung
Devily Leung - Chien Chi Seung
Ben Wong - Gai Yee Kin
Celine Ma - Woon Yuen Yau

Fourth Generation:
Charmaine Sheh - Dai Sze Ka
Joe Ma - Fong Ka On (KO)
Sammul Chan - Sheung Yat Kat
Sherming Yiu - Siu Yuk Jing
Ken Wong - Tang Pang

Synopsis:
The story revolves around this Phoenix Chinese Restaurant from its origin and the relating events spanning for four generations in the family who started this business.
The story breaks up into the four different generations of the family; starting from the 1900s, set in the period of the end of the Qing Dynasty for the first generation.

Ngai Yu Fung was the only daughter of the Ngai family and was treated as the pride of the family. Her parents loved and provided for her, hoping that she would marry someone of the same social status of the family; if not better. However, Yu Fung only had eyes for her childhood companion who was also sadly, the servant boy who worked in the kitchen. Her parents disapproved of their blossoming relationship, despite the lovers’ pleas and cries. When they decide to elope, her mother begged her to stay back and agree to the marriage to save her father’s failing business and the whole family from crumbling apart. For the sake of her family, Yu Fung agreed to the marriage, breaking Yu Chi’s heart. He then left to study the arts of culinary skills from a retired eunuch from the palace.
Yu Fung’s marriage was doomed from the start.

Her husband was not only the only son of the Wang family, but he was also a disobedient and spoilt child due to the fact that he was the only male descendant in the family.

Everyone tried to please and protect him, and as a result, he was only interested in enjoying life and slowly, he swindled the family’s fortune and caused the death of his own father.

Yu Fung rose to help the family, and slowly she revived the dying Phoenix Restaurant which was also supposed to be sold to pay her husband’s debts. However, in those last days before the restaurant was sold, she made a fortune and slowly, the Wangs climbed up the social ladder again. Yuk Lun then went back to his old ways, and even when Yu Fung gave birth to a baby daughter, he wanted to sell his daughter to fund his gamblings; causing Yu Fung to lose faith in him.

Yu Chi came back and was the one who helped her throughout the family crisis, after he mastered his culinary skills but Yu Fung remained loyal to her husband although they have been accused of adultery. When the war broke out, Yu Fung and Yu Chi died in a tragic train accident, with each other still trying to reach out to the other.

The story then fast forwarded to the 1920s where Wang Chi Kuan, the daughter of Yu Fung and Yuk Lun is now a student who was actively involved in the patriotism movements, much to the disapproval of her grandmother.

She then did the unthinkable during that period; by falling for her teacher, Lee Kat Cheong and convinced him to reciprocate.

The couple eloped and tried to make odds meet. When things turn for worse financially, Chi Kuan secretly found a job to serve in a restaurant and eventually agreeing to dance, much to her husband’s anger. Kat Cheong, on the other hand was trying to study to become a doctor and had to endure the hard labor in the mines.
When one of his fellow labor friends died due to the negligence of the mine company, he was persuaded by a friend to join the revolution. He finally agreed after his mother died and he left town while Chi Kuan found her way back to her family and helped to run the family restaurant. The couple was separated for two years and when Chi Kuan ran into Kat Cheong again, he appeared to be working for the Japanese and was branded a traitor to the country. However, the truth was that Kat Cheong was actually a spy agent and he wanted to overturn the Japanese ruling. He was eventually discovered and he had to flee the country; leaving Chi Kuan behind after spending a night with her on the train. After his departure, Chi Kuan was pregnant and she waited for him for the rest of her life.

In the 1960s, Chi Kuan was seen talking to a young little girl who eventually grew up to be Pak Wai Chan, Chi Kuan’s granddaughter. She was looking for a job on one fateful day when she bumped into Dai Lap Yan who saved her from the chaos on the streets and as fate would have it, she married the man.

She became a housewife after their marriage as her husband was a male chauvinist who would not hear of his wife having to work to lighten the financial burden of the family.
Wai Chan became bored eventually and with the help of her nanny (Law Koon Lan), she found a job in an advertising company where she attracted the attention of the young entrepreneur of the company, Henry. When Lap Yan found out, he was furious, and this led to a rift in their relationship.

Things turned worse when Lap Yan had to report to his wife with the merging of the company and the husband and wife then made a pact. Since Wai Chan was rising in her career, they would switch roles whereby Wai Chan would go back to her husband if he is willing to stay at home as a house husband while she goes to work.

In truth, Wai Chan wanted to teach her husband a lesson to learn about her role as a housewife and to lose his pride and chauvinism. The couple then learnt to accept each other’s indifferences and they had a daughter. They migrated to San Francisco and died in a earthquake.

In the present, 2003, Dai Sze Ka, the daughter of Pak Wai Chan and Dai Lap Yan, is nothing successful like her previous ancestors.

However, she was a very hard working, and independent young woman, albeit still struggling to make ends meet as a beverage waitress. She experienced a few failed relationships and no longer had faith in marriage.

Fong Ka On, a prominent accountant/investment banker was stood up by his fiancée at the altar and when he bumped into Sze Ka, the two ended up in a one night stand. They slowly fell for each other, and moved in together. However, they were unable to tolerate their differences and had a few heated arguments where they broke up again. Sze Ka found out she was pregnant after their break up and although she wanted to tell Ka On, she was disappointed that he accused her of cheating on him with her ex-boyfriend, Sheung Yat Kat who was actually a homosexual. She gave birth to a baby boy, whom Ka On misunderstood as Kat’s son when he bumped into them at the launching of her new cookbook at her newly renovated family restaurant; the Phoenix restaurant. Ka On eventually found out the truth and tried to win her back again, in marriage.

Review/My General Opinion
It was a very interesting twist in bringing the four different background stories together and intertwining them to maintain the continuity. The storyline centered on the difference of views and roles of women in different stages and how time changes the importance of the aspects of independence.

Character Analysis
First Generation
Ngai Yu Fung by Charmaine Sheh

She was the gem of the family, where everything was for the best of her. However, for a woman living in that era, she was a strong-willed and determined woman who was willing to bend the traditions. Sadly, she did not have a choice when her family was put to the test and filial piety took over her choices in life. Although she was not happy in her marriage, she still fulfilled her duties as a wife and remained faithful despite being neglected in her marriage. She helped her in-laws in maintaining the family business despite her philandering husband and was true to the old traditions as a perfect wife.
I felt that she portrayed a true picture of mentally abused women and the concept of inferiority towards the weaker sex back then, but she also depicted the contrary whereby perception may not necessarily be the truth in physical.

Yu Chi by Joe Ma

He was a loyal and poor servant boy who crossed the boundaries when he fell for his young mistress. Although he knew it was unacceptable and he would not be successful, he still tried to fight for his own love and future. He had to accept defeat when the one he loved chose to give up. Even though he could not comprehend her decision, he accepted it with a big heart and chose to leave. He eventually came back and stood by her side faithfully, protecting her from the vicious lies and drama in her marriage. He never lost his love for her, and maintained faithful till the end.
This is one excellent example of a perfect man for a husband! How many guys could remain faithful to you after all the years, or even after you are married?
It may sound silly, but this is a great portrayal of the power of love, and how pure it is and undying. It makes you want that kind of love which will never fail or break your heart!

Wang Yuk Lun by Sammul Chan

This is one scumbag I would want to kick out of the scene from the start. He had no interest in his own life and his own family; in fact, he had no matters, nothing at all. Perhaps it was not his fault to start with as well, as the family seemed to spoil him since young and then pushed him against what they brought him up in. It must rather confusing to be allowed to do whatever you want then be told that you need to be serious. He was trying to grow up but he was still stuck as a playful and young boy. To a certain extent, he was rather pitiful as well.

Second Generation
Wang Chi Kuan by Charmaine Sheh

She was determined like her mother, and was even more stubborn. She went against the tradition and she was more courageous when she eloped with her teacher and turned her back on all the conservative rules. She slowly matured into a more steady and understanding person after marriage and she remained devoted and trusting towards her husband even when the whole world accused him of being a traitor to the country. She was one classic example of the growing stage of a student towards a woman and I liked her courage in everything she does; her ability to speak up and believing in your own rights!

Lee Kat Cheong by Joe Ma

It was so sad that for a male protagonist, he seemed so weak and helpless and just a cowardly. I hated how he could not admit that he had fallen in love too, and that he had to be forced by a young girl to confess his own feelings. This is a rigid character who held on to his own beliefs and rules; yes, he was overly bounded by the rules in his life that he never stopped to realize that there are choices. He was extremely stubborn as well, but he also slowly learnt to accept the differences and his transformation was imminent when he joined the revolution and fought for his country. I do despise him though, for leaving behind his wife and child when they needed him. He is really fortunate to have a wife who loved him so much to stand by him and waited for him.

Third Generation
Pak Wai Chan by Charmaine Sheh

Sweet and lovely, she was so perfect as the caring and devoted wife who stayed at home and made sure her husband's needs were taken care of. It was interesting to see how intelligent she was as she breezed through all those classes her husband made her take. She was brave as well, when she decided to go against the odds to go to work without her husband's knowledge. I laughed when she did so much better than her chauvinistic husband and even had him reporting to her. She finally had it when he constantly discriminated her and she made them switch roles to teach him a lesson.
I loved the transformation from a doting and obedient wife to a powerful and independent career woman who spoke her own mind.

Dai Lap Yan by Joe Ma

MALE CHAUVINISTIC pig! He was just so full of himself and expected his wife to just stay at home. He was in constant denial, well, perhaps that was understandable for men at that time when he realized that he was not capable enough to be considered for a promotion and worse still, his wife (the woman in the house) was doing so much better. However, I do admit his courage to bow down to his wife when he agreed to switch roles and that was where he transformed to become a more understanding husband.

Fourth Generation
Dai Sze Ka by Charmaine Sheh

She may seemed a little eccentric (it was probably the hairstyle) but I felt she was a very independent and strong woman who did not want to rely on anyone to support her through her life. She shunned marriages and was not a crybaby when she realized that she was pregnant and that she had lost her man. She never even begged to go back to him or give in when they had arguments, because she believed that she had herself to fall back on. I truly loved this character who fought for her aspirations and achieving what she believed in.

Fong Ka On by Joe Ma

He was rather successful, but yet he cannot have the best of both worlds when he lost his fiance to his wedding photographer. He tried to deal with it and ended up sleeping with another woman. While he tried to figure it out, I thought he was rather a coward compared to the woman he just slept with as she just shrugged it off. He displayed an OCD streak but it was impressive how he dealt with it for the sake of the woman he loved. This is a rather confusing character; and a selfish one no less, but he slowly overcame his own obstacles and listened to his heart!

What I Liked about the series was the focus on feminism issues; and the evolution of women’s role from one age to another. It was like a transition from conservative minds to the eventual declaration of independence which was truly inspiring. It also portrayed women as stronger than what was generally depicted and the importance of their roles in the family and society.

What I Disliked about the series was the recycling of the main actor and actress! LOL, although to a certain extent, I can understand that they were trying to do that to maintain a visual connection to link them back to the original storyline, but I think that would serve the purpose for Charmaine only, and Joe, does it make sense that Charmaine meets the same guy every generation? It seemed a little ridiculous and distorted the meaning of the show to some star-crossed lovers who were trying to rekindle a lost romance through reincarnation which was totally not the focus of the show!
It also seemed more like the cost-effective approach could really rip the meaning of the drama apart.

What could improve
I think the skipping of Pak Wai Chan’s origin was not really in tune with the storyline, as suddenly she just appeared and was said to be Chi Kuan’s granddaughter. I felt that if there was at least a little flashback into Chi Kuan’s daughter (even if she died early), it would be more coherent with the flow and continuity of the story.
Yes, and the varying of the cast, especially for the male character played by Joe Ma would certainly spice things up even more.

Special Credits
Bravo to Charmaine Sheh and Joe Ma for their excellent portrayals of all four characters, it was not easy to play four different people with distinct characteristics and behavior in one single drama and the transformation was just flawless.
Perfectly done, and I am truly impressed with their stamina to keep up with something which seemed like running four different dramas all at once!

My Conclusion/Verdict
It was a great watch, as it was different from all the other typical TVB dramas although I can’t say the same for each story within the whole drama. It felt like watching four different dramas with one same title; isn’t that effective?
It is also educational to learn about the roles of women and the differences in the perception and treatment towards women back then and now.

Rating: 7 out of 10

P2 (2007)

2010-09-01T04:58:00.000-07:00

The movie's synopsis was a thrilling read when I saw it on one of the posters advertising its due release in 2006.

I find the movie really good; despite the 2-star cast which was probably the reason the lack of popularity of this movie.
All the same, I find this movie really entertaining and really am amazed at how such a simple storyline could be turned into an exciting 2-hour roll.

Synopsis:
Christmas season; and it's the eve of Christmas, 24th December and everyone's looking forward to get home for the holiday season to celebrate the joyous occasion.

Rachel Nichols is Angela Bridges; a businesswoman who also coincides with the word workaholic. She slaves her Christmas Eve away and was the last to leave the office to be home for dinner with her family.When she finally reaches the car park to her car, it was bad news that her car wouldn't start. It was even worse that the whole car park was deserted and she was unable to receive a signal on her cell phone.

She was surprised and doubtful when Thomas (Wes Bentley) came to her aid and invited her for dinner at the guard's office and she politely declined his offer, stating that she has plans with her family.

When Angela was unable to get help from the building's security, she had to make her way back to the car park and she was knocked out where she found herself tied to a chair in Thomas's office; and she was all dressed up in a dress in front of a dining table and Thomas, the security guard was proposing a toast.

She pleads for her freedom and when her pleas fell on deaf ears, she screamed bloody murder and planned her own escape.

She soon found out that this was all planned and that her car's breakdown was no accident. In fact, this Thomas guy has been observing her for months on what I should call an obsessive infatuation and he went to the extent of ramming the car into the guy whom he thought took advantage of her in the elevator months ago, and he did that in front of her very eyes!~

The whole movie was a race against time to get out of the carpark and the guard's office on level P2 which proved to be futile since it's Christmas's Eve and no one's working!

Even the cops who came over to check the place out left; much to her despair.
Anyway, as how all things come to an end, the movie did have a rather pleasant and much anticipated ending which left a huge relief in the audience when Angela finally managed to outwit Thomas and even killed him in defense and left that horrifying car park in her long long journey home.

I liked the suspense created in the movie and how the director and scriptwriter just kept building the intense moments and the muffled screams in me, as I bite into my pillow and wished that Thomas could never find her and kept on wishing for the sweet and happy start of the movie.

Rachel Nichols did a brilliant job as a frustrated and distressed woman who was also terrified at the same time and Wes Bentley, gosh, if I had that same poker, I would knock his head out with it.And that dog....sorry to all the dog lovers, he was way too noisy and annoying in the movie.

It's not his fault anyway, but he had a bad and lousy owner!

If you are feeling bored and really wanna learn a trick or two about getting out of a car park and not staying late after work, give this movie a try:)

Rating: 4 out of 5I still have the creeps of going down to the car park!And I love the white halter dress Rachel wore; she looked really hot in it too;)

(Taken from my xanga; www.xanga.com/angelstarchristy)