PROUD
October 21
Let's say it's begin on Monday after PE. I heard my name being called to the office. So I went up, the assistant principal told me that I got a academic pass due to the fundraiser and I get to choose which class to use it, but I don't know which one to pick. Then I saw candy in math class so I picked it. On Tuesday or Monday, my team have a soccer match against his team in PE. He kicked the ball and I tried to block it, I didn't success kicking the ball out but it went straight to the side of my stomach and hit my bone. My friend, Ave, stood next to me and screamed : "OMG! You just hit Tiana." I was holding my stomach after the ball hit me, it was hurt but is not as hurt as my heart even the ones that I don't know concerned about me but he just look at me and walk away without a word. I felt very angry and I told Nhu-because she's my teammate that until I hit the ball to his head then I'm satisfy but I know for sure that I'm not going to be happy if that happen because I love him so much. It felt like a heartbreak to me, it happened lots of time but I'm still don't get use to it. Later at lunch his friend, Deejay, asked me why I don't talk to him and I like him. I told Deejay that because he hated me that's why I'm scared or I don't want to talk to him. Deejay told me that because I don't talk to him that's why he hated me, and it I talk to him he's not going to hate me. Now back to the dream, it was Halloween at that time and I'm in Mrs. Beals's class and it was funny that we went Trick-or-treating and later that math period, we have a substitute. We didn't do anything for math we were just getting candies and have a Halloween party. Our sub wants the class to sit close together so she arranged the sits and I get to sit next to him, his friend, Mico, in front of us. There was a big candy bag, I'm on the side for candies, my friend next to me try to get in for candies. It was so funny that my little crush grab my friend out and went in next to me, I wonder he wants to get candies or to be next to me. Later my other friends weren't be able to get candies because it was so crowded and they didn't want to go in, so I gave them all of my candies and I don't have any candies left. On the other hand, he and Mico got lots of candies and asked me to have it together, we sat and ate it and laughed, I tried to talk to him liked Deejay told me. It was a really good thing that when the period ended he asked me to be his gf and ours relationship started, it sure jump so fast. After school there is another party that belonged to his friends, he brought me with him. Everyone was laughing and especially Deejay, he kept making fun of me, but I love it though. Like a few hours later or a long time later, something happen between that time was a mystery, I have no of it. But suddenly we jump to a wedding it was just weird. It seems like I don't know what to do for a wedding and they took two people for an example. They didn't take Mico and Summin (a couple that's also our friends) nor me and him, but he and my friend, Nhu. Another friend and I always suspect that Nhu also like him and now this happen, it was just so weird. Then no one really pay attention about the couple though, after they both said "I do", they suddenly kiss each other, and it's looked like Nhu did it willingly. Everybody was giving a long "ooohh", the thunder appear, I didn't hear the thunder but a loud "crack" I know immediately it's the sound of my heart cracking, breaking and falling apart. The rain started to come down, everyone is still surprised about the two, I ran away some of friend-I don't know why they there and Nhu followed me but stop when the rain is too big. I kept running and he's didn't follow me, I stop, having no balance and fall down sat there and crying. It was the weirdest dream I ever have, I wish it just end at the part where we came to the after school party and met his friends, it'll be the best dream ever if it end like that. Life is never perfect and fair, its not like what you always it to be. Now back to normal life something happen that is very bad at lunch, when I told my friend that she said it's really bad because that happen. At lunch he and Nathan went to the bench after finish their lunch like always but there is no space left, and it always happen to be the place where I put my backpack and binder is the only space left. Since I'm not there, he put my backpack and binder down in the wrong position and and my binder fell open. It opened in the position of the pocket where I put all the stuff about me and him. In there are cards with our names and wishes that we'll be together forever from my friend, and hearts, and a drawing of me and him from Nhu. Nhi and I sat on the back of the building and I walked back I saw what happen I turn around and told Nhi and told her to go get the binder and her backpack for me I'll go to the restroom. When I got out something worse happen, Nhi opened to the pocket to check is the drawing still there. When she open it Dylan grab the drawing and ran to him, trying to show him what it is. Nhi ran in between Dylan and him trying to take the drawing back and bump into him, fell his Gatorade. She got the drawing back though but she told me he was mad she didn't even dare to look at his face and she said sorry a lot. All of his friend was there : Nathan, Deejay, Mico, and him I can't face them until they forgot about this. I hope nothing will happen tomorrow, such a horrible day I have today.
GREED OF MAN (CON.)
This is my greed of man videos collection, I will not post up the two themesongs because it takes so long, but enojy !!!
DANCE OF PASSION
Chinese Title: "For Moh Wong Sah" (literally translates to fire dance yellow sand) No. of episodes: 32 Year: 2006 Cast: Ada Choi Siu Fun as Jiu Yook Bowie Lam Bo Yee as Yim Man Hei Gigi Lai Zhi as Kai Ming Fung Moses Chan Ho as Sung Dong Sing Kenny Wong Tak Bun as Sung Dong Yeung Charmaine Sheh Si Maan as Ka Chun Fun Maggie Siu Mei Kei as Long Yuet Supporting Cast: Chung King Fai as Yim Lo Ye (father to Man Hei) Chan Hung Lit as Uncle Ma Chow Ka Yee as Siu Kam Rebecca Chan Sau Yu as Siu Hung (aunt to Man Hei) Foreword Dubbed 'War and Beauty II' by some due to the reappearance of more than half of its cast, I would consider this drama to be an equally good, if not better, TVB series. I've been waiting and waiting for TVB to return to its days of writing a script consisting of strong characters, secrets, lies, revenge, and hypocrisy and The Dance of Passion gives me all of that. An exceptionally well-acted, compelling series. Highly recommended. Quick Summary Northwestern China, 1930's. Yim Ka Po is a remote desert village located somewhere in northwestern China. It is a village inhabited by two families battling in a power struggle, the ruling Yim family and the more or less useless, gambling Sung family. The Yim tribe is headed by Yim Man Hei, a ruthless, deaf man and the Sung tribe is headed by Jiu Yook, the intelligent widow of the former Sung leader. Their lives are governed by their traditional emphasis on the purity and 'honour' of the women in the village, with any kind of destruction of a woman's honour having the power to bring the entire tribe down. This creates both internal and external tension within the village, with both families engaged in a cat-and-mouse game to reveal any suspicious activity concerning the women of the village. The women, in turn, rise above their suffering in an effort for self-preservation, sometimes befriending each other for support (Ming Fun and Chun Fun) and at other times turning against each other in the worst of ways (Long Yuet and Kwai Lan). The tension and drama all culminate in one of the most ridiculous endings in TVB history, which all but destroy the credibility of this series. You really have to see the ending for yourself because it is so hilariously out of place that I am pulling my hair out just thinking about it. I'm still mad about the ending. Anyway, for those of you who want to know who dies, here's the list – Jiu Yook, Jiu Yook's son Dong Hiu, Kwai Lan, and Bowie becomes blind too. On Acting Ada Choi was just weird. Usually she plays two kinds of characters. Type 1 is playful, young, and ever-energetic (Armed Reaction IV, Healing Hands I-II, Files of Justice), Type 2 is ladylike, gentle, and intelligent (Where the Legend Begins)... and as a person, Ada comes off as girly, friendly, and genuine. Jiu Yook is none of those things. She is young in age, but old in the sense that she has a high social status and is also a mother. She is calculative and yet everything she did (bad or good) was motivated by one thing only: her beloved son, so in that sense she is compassionate and does have a heart. While Ada did a good job portraying the many facets of Jiu Yook, including her transformation to the mellow, I-live-for-nothing-now-that-my-son-is-dead woman... there is something that isn't quite right with her. It could have been a breakthrough role, but in my opinion Ada was wrongly cast. Gigi Lai's performance gave me the shock of my life. She has never been on the top of my 'Actress to Watch' list, especially after her horribly overrated and overacting performance in War and Beauty (W&B). She's a sweet girl in real life, but she is one of TVB's ugliest criers (along with Flora Chan, Yoyo Mung, and Tavia Yeung). Thank goodness she only has one or two short crying scenes in DOP. In fact, she is exceptional in here and I commend this series for changing my opinion of her. Kai Ming Fung was my favourite character of this series, and Gigi gave her depth, strength, intelligence, and plenty of personality. Dare I say, she delivers the series' strongest female performance. Charmaine Sheh is in her 700th role as the weak, quiet waif and delivers nothing extraordinary. With that said, she has surprisingly excellent chemistry with Moses Chan and her friendship chemistry with Gigi Lai (who her character rivalled in W&B) is equally phenomenal. There are times when she whines too much as Chun Fun, but in general she gains the audience's sympathy with her character's many troubles. I have never really liked Maggie Siu, probably because she often plays icy characters (Healing Hands, At the Threshold of an Era) and even comes off as cold and unfriendly in real life. But I felt she gave a very nice performance here as the gentle, devoted wife Long Yuet. She was equally good when her character became a little stronger and smarter when she had to take over the family's leadership role. Good chemistry with Kenny Wong too. Kenny Wong, the least well-known member of the main cast, gives a good performance of a useless man. Not great, but adequate. But I have two words for him: Button up. No one needs to see your bare chest for more than one episode, thanks. Bowie Lam was excellent as usual. His performance was somewhat overshadowed by other actors whose performances improved so much in this series from past performances (Gigi Lai, Moses Chan, Maggie Siu, even Charmaine Sheh). Bowie, on the other hand, is consistently excellent. In particular, he made a very convincing deaf man who spent much of his life concealing the fact that he was deaf. He also has great chemistry with the entire cast. Moses Chan was a shocker too. I have never liked him in drama, but here he proves that he has improved a lot. He made a lovely couple with Charmaine Sheh's Chun Fun and achieves a remarkable balance between controlled emotion and explosive anger as Dong Yeung that I can only describe as shocking. I guess this series proves that many in TVB can act, as long as they're in the right role. Ke-le-fe nominated for Most Improved Actress Chow Ka Yee was wonderful as Siu Kam. Her performance was impressive simply because she was able to effectively emote even though she was behind a scarf 90% of the time. The older actress who plays Kwai Laan was also really good. Chan Hung Lit's accent is annoying as hell but he is one competent veteran actor and this series proves is once again. The one glaringly bad performance in this series comes from Chung King Fai, who plays Yim Lo Ye. A true pity because he is the oldest actor (and supposedly the veteran one of the cast). Why was he so awful? Because he seemed like a jolly old man, like Santa Claus almost. Yim Lo Ye is supposed to be cold, calculative, and unbelievably chauvinistic, but I see no sign of that kind of sinister intelligence in Chung King Fai's performance. I can only imagine what Lo Hoi Pang would have done with this role. There is also something wrong with the way Chung talks, like his speech is rhythmically wrong. I can't quite explain it. Basically when he talks there are unnatural pauses and he also speaks way too slowly – by the end of his sentences my eyes have already glazed over! Rebecca Chan's totally blank expression as his mentally disabled sister was more interesting to watch. On Characters Favourite Character: Kai Ming Fung. A strong woman who was truly in love with her husband and did everything in her power to protect him. Favourite Couple: I do like Ming Fung and Man Hei, no matter how badly Man Hei treated her. I also liked Long Yuet and Dong Yeung at the beginning of the series. Dong Sing and Chun Fun were fine but too predictable. Most Useless: A toss-up between Sung Dong Yeung and Yim Man Tin. Sung Dong Yeung was rash, impulsive, and unable to protect his family – he's like a cow, all strength and no intelligence. Man Tin was basically a dog to his father, obedient with no mind of his own, except his lovesick obsession with Ming Fung, who he earlier abandoned because he was such a coward. Greatest Transformation: Long Yuet. Though Jiu Yook could also take this award, her transformation was reasonable, because she lost the one motivation she had, her son. Long Yuet, on the other hand, suddenly became a more manipulative, cunning, and cold person for her family's interests, while her love for her husband (which is what drove her at the beginning) somewhat dimmed at the end. I blame the writers. Most Pitiful: Nope, not Chun Fun, who many a time whined about how everyone connected to her is ultimately doomed. Not Ming Fung, who was raped by Man Hei. Not Jiu Yook for being married at a young age. I thought the most pitiful was Kwai Lan, who was not only raped by her master but became pregnant, then suffering from illness when her fetus died and was never removed from her stomach, and then ultimately murdered (by Long Yuet, of all people). Or maybe Dong Hiu, Jiu Yook's young son who was accidentally shot and killed by Man Hei. Best Scenes Plenty. 1. When Ming Fung confronts Man Hei about her will to leave and how she will do anything to leave: “If you don't let me leave I will continue to do everything in my power to do so. One day passes and I will burn down your house. Another day passes and I will burn down your business. As long as I am your wife, I will be against you”. 2. Whenever the two families meet to discuss various issues. Enormous tension and amazing acting by some of the veterans. 3. When Ming Fung discovers that her aunt-in-law (Rebecca Chan) isn't actually mentally disabled. Only an actress of Chan's calibre can convey so convincingly without uttering a single word. Things That Make You Go “Huh?” - How Ming Fung ended up falling in love with Man Hei. She had always been against her arranged marriage and loathed the man, and then he ended up raping her as well. What woman in her right mind would end up falling in love with a man you already hated and then raped you as well? Totally illogical. - Same goes for Chun Fun. In a sense Dong Sing raped her as well because Chun Fun thought she was sleeping with Dong Yeung. How on earth did she end up falling in love with Dong Sing? - Did Man Hei actually love Jiu Yook or was he just regretful about accidentally killing her son? I suspect he did love her for some time but then realized that Ming Fung was the woman for him. Criticisms There are some negative reviews out there about this series, and also websites and media reporting that this series started out with high ratings and then declined in popularity as the drama went on. Although personally I highly enjoyed this series, I can understand why the ratings dropped so drastically over time. Here are the three main criticisms I have with this series. - Cinematography: Although the desert and mountain terrain is breathtaking at first glance, the series is eternally stuck in its yellowish background that gets very tiresome on the eyes. Trust me, by the 15th episode I thought I'd be getting jaundice. - The premise of the series can really turn off modern audiences – in this day and age where La Femme Desperado wins the TVB award for Best Series, I'm pretty sure many people feel disgusted by how much women suffered in the storyline of this series. I know I was one of the ones who were pretty sickened by it. While War and Beauty was adored for its presentation of women as strong, intelligent, and powerful figures, I figure that you have to see this series as entertainment and not get so caught up in the whole 'omigod I can't believe they treat women this way' social aspect in order to enjoy this drama for what it is – good writing, good direction, good acting - The ending: I praised the writers of War and Beauty for giving us an unconventional yet fitting ending, and I condemn the writers of The Dance of Passion for ruining the previous excellent 31 episodes with the final 10 minutes of the drama where they unsuccessfully attempted to 'connect' the ancient element of this series to the present day with scenes of tourists in the modern age visiting and taking photos of the village. This, along with the scene of an old granny who looked nothing like Charmaine Sheh grinning from ear to ear as she spotted the aged Moses Chan in the crowd was supposed to be touching, but I laughed. Through the Grapevine I watched an interview with the cast members shortly after I watched this series. Some interesting discoveries (voted by cast members): Gigi was the pickiest member of the cast and has a long list of phobias including heights, bugs, and germs. She also packed so much for filming that she exceeded the travel limit. Bowie was voted the most caring cast member: he bought down jackets for the entire cast as well as the filming crew. Moses Chan and surprisingly Charmaine Sheh were voted most able to withstand the tough conditions of the desert setting (including sand blowing everywhere, a mini tornado during filming and getting stuck in a well for hours to film one of their love scenes). This series was nominated for a slew of TVB Awards including Best Series, Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actress/Actor, and Most Improved Actress. Kenny Wong won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Dong Yeung in this series. PS I do not own this review.THE REMEMBRANCE
Cast:Chilam Cheung
Kenix Kwok
David Siu
Betsy Cheung
Summary: (Spoilers!) The story starts out as Chilam and his non-blood brother David are going back to Shanghai for a new beginning. There are some flashbacks which tell the two men’s childhood stories. 17 years ago, Chilam’s family went to Shanghai because his father had to start his new job as chief of police. The leader of Shanghai triads wanted to bribe his father so that his father would cover the triads’ illegal work. However, his father was a very good man and he refused to accept any money. The leader of triads then hired his henchmen to assassinate him. Both Chilam’s father and mother were blown up in a restaurant. Chilam then became an orphan. David was also an orphan and he adopted Chilam as his brother. Both Chilam and David grew up to become professional killers.
The two men are in Shanghai and have been hired by a wealthy man to assassinate the leader of the triad. On the same day, Kenix and her father have just come back from France. Kenix's father is hired to be a French-Chinese translator for an important meeting. Kenix and Chilam get to meet each other and Chilam then finds out that Kenix was the baby that he had met on a train 17 years ago. Back then, while Chilam’s family was on their way to Shanghai, Kenix’s parents were trying to run away with her in their arms. A rich and powerful army man wanted to marry Kenix’s mother; therefore, the couple tried to get away. However, they were caught and the mother had to go with the man. Kenix’s father then thought that his wife had committed suicide and was very depressed. He took Kenix with him and they both left Shanghai for France. Chilam, the young boy, had witnessed everything; therefore, even though he only knew Kenix for a day, he already knew of her past.
Chilam and David are preparing for their new mission to kill the leader of the triads. One night, David goes to a bar called Xa Loi Phi and meets the lady owner there. Her name is Betsy. He falls in love with her right away. He tells her that he has to do something very important tomorrow and promises to come back to marry her. Then the two men go off to do their work. The scene takes place at a ball. Coincidentally, Kenix and her father are there also. Chilam sees Kenix playing the piano and then the shooting starts. Kenix is scared and tries to hide from the flying bullets. Her father goes up the stairs to rescue her and Chilam jumps up there also. There is a guard standing between Kenix’s father and Chilam. Chilam tries to shoot the man but accidentally shoots her father. Her father dies. For some reason, Kenix becomes blind; perhaps because of the gunfire smoke.
Chilam and David fail their mission and try to run away. David tells Chilam to go to the bar to take care of Betsy. Chilam gets chased and it is at this time that he meets Ching. Ching is the daughter of the king of triads. The rich man who hired Chilam and David now sees that their mission has failed. He orders his henchmen to kill the two. David has to hide and tells Chilam to go tell the leader of the triads that David knows who wants to kill him. The leader then hides David in jail so that nobody can find him and waits till the day of David’s release to know who is behind the assassination.
Ching falls in love with Chilam. Meanwhile, Chilam finds out that Kenix is blind and that she tried to commit suicide in hospital. He immediately goes there and lies that he is her father’s best friend. Now that she doesn’t have any relatives, he will take care of her. He takes her to Xa Loi Phi bar and leaves Kenix in the care of Betsy. Ching then invites Chilam out on a date with her and while he is not home, things happen. Betsy’s drunken brother accidentally goes to Kenix’s room and tries to rape her. Kenix gets scared and runs out on the street. Because she is blind, she gets lost and is kidnapped by a man. This man then sells Kenix into prostitution. On the way home, Betsy sees a person wearing Kenix’s shoe but she doesn’t know that it is Kenix. Chilam then gets home and gets mad at Betsy’s brother. He runs out to the streets and finds another of Kenix's shoes. Betsy says that she might know where Kenix is and they go to find the man who leads them to the brothel. Ching wants to go with them, but Chilam gets mad at her and yells at her to go home.
At the brothel, Chilam rescues Kenix and is beaten up by the owner’s henchmen. The owner says that if he wants to take Kenix out of there, he has to take part in a boxing match and win because the owner has put a heavy bet on it. Chilam is beaten up so badly but he tells himself that he must win because he has to rescue Kenix. Suddenly, Ching’s father who is the leader of the triads comes and solves the problem. He asks Chilam to work for him but Chilam refuses.
Betsy understands Chilam and she says that Chilam must have fallen for Kenix for he risked his life to rescue her. Chilam starts to realize that he loves Kenix. However, he knows that one day when Kenix regains her sight, she will recognize that he was the one who shot her father. He refuses Ching’s love for him. Ching gets depressed and decides to be a nun. Meanwhile, David is released from prison. The leader of the triads find out that his friend’s son is the person behind his assassination. He solves his triads’ problem and wants David and Chilam to work for him. David is really happy because he sees that this is his chance to get rich and become a leader. Chilam doesn’t care about the work and only stays to support David.
David later finds out that Kenix’s father was shot by Chilam and that Chilam has fallen for her. David tells Chilam that it is dangerous to keep her with them. From that time on, he starts to suspect Kenix of pretending to be blind and always picks on her. Chilam sees that and he decides to buy a new house and takes Kenix out with him. He buys a ring and asks her to marry to him. However, at this time, Kenix has to do a surgery for her eyes, which means she can see again. Chilam knows that when Kenix can see again, he will lose her. However, he can’t be that selfish so he lets her do the surgery. He asked Betsy to take care of Kenix because he has decided to leave Shanghai. He doesn’t want Kenix to see him. When Kenix can see again, she starts looking for him. When she sees him, she recognizes the murderer and then realizes that the man she loves is the murderer. She goes mad, holds a knife and accidentally stabs him near the heart. She runs outside and Chilam chases after her. She says that everything he has told her was a lie. Chilam tells her that he has lied a lot to her but his love for her is true. He says that he has known this day but he couldn’t control his feelings for her. He cries and says that he truly loves her. Kenix declares him to be her enemy and that she cannot love the person who has killed her own father. She buys a ticket and decides to leave for France but later, she cannot leave. Chilam goes wild when he thinks that Kenix has left. David punches him on the face and tells him to wake up to make a new start. Chilam obeys David but deep inside, he isn’t happy.
David and Chilam are the trusted aides of the leader but the leader somehow likes Chilam more. He judges that Chilam is a good person and David can betray him at any time. He later decides to kill David and wants to give his properties to Chilam. Chilam of course doesn’t want money but David starts to suspect that Chilam will betray him. He also thinks that his love, Betsy, is falling for Chilam. He begins to get jealous and beats Chilam. Betsy then tells him that Chilam doesn’t love her. He only loves Kenix.
After leaving Chilam and Betsy, Kenix has nowhere to stay. She runs out of money and wants to find a job. She reads the paper and sees that someone is hiring a translator who knows French. She wants to apply but then finds out that the place is really a brothel with professional prostitutes. The owner there persuades her to be a prostitute and she in her depressed moments agrees. At the club, Kenix gets noticed by a very wealthy man named Fung who loves her at first sight. He pays her to be his partner for one month. While they are on the street, Chilam sees Kenix and chases after her into a drug place. He asks Fung about her, but Fung says Kenix’s name in French. Fung doesn’t know Kenix’s real name and says that she is a professional prostitute. Chilam thinks that he has mistaken, so he leaves.
Fung takes Kenix to a meeting with other people. Coincidentally, those people include David and Chilam. Kenix sees Chilam and starts to run away. Chilam chases after and catches her. She has changed her name and doesn’t admit that she was the girl he knew. She says words that hurt Chilam’s feelings and leaves. However, deep inside, she is hurt as well. Chilam becomes so depressed that because of him, she has decided to ruin her own life by being a prostitute.
Fung’s identity is then revealed. He is actually a secret agent who works for the Chinese government. He and his people do underground work to help prevent the Japanese from invading China. Suspecting that Fung is not just an ordinary man, Chilam forces Kenix to leave him. Fung then tries to kill Chilam because Chilam has known everything. However, when Fung is about to shoot Chilam, Kenix, who always wants Chilam to die, pushes Fung to the side and the bullet doesn’t hit Chilam. Then Fung tells Kenix to leave him because he has his missions. He doesn’t know that if someday, he will be forced to kill her to keep the secrets. Chilam tells Kenix to leave the prostitution but she doesn’t listen. He then goes to see the Shanghai’s leader of triads’ wife, who is Kenix’s long lost mother. Kenix insults her mother for re-marrying another man and she then leaves Shanghai without telling anyone. Also at the same time, David keeps suspecting that Chilam might betray him. Chilam says that he won’t fight with David just for money and feels guilty about Kenix’s mischief, so he decides to leave Shanghai and heads for A Nhi Bang, his homeland.
Ching, who is a nun right now, misses Chilam and decides to go to A Nhi Bang looking for him. They meet each other at A Nhi Bang and encounter the Japanese soldiers. The soldiers try to kill them and they have to hide in an empty house located in a snowy mountain. Ching’s church-uniform is accidentally burned, a sign that Ching is no longer a nun. At one night in the house, Ching somehow induces Chilam so the two sleep together. Chilam promises Ching to take care of her forever. On the next day, Chilam wants to go down the mountain to look for people and food. He hears voices of children from a school. He goes near and surprisingly, Kenix is the teacher of the class. She tells him that she has forgiven his guilt and that she wants to be with him. Hurtfully, Chilam already has a relationship with Ching but he tells Kenix that no matter what happens, she is the only one he loves the most. Kenix decides to stay at A Nhi Bang and tells Chilam and Ching to go back to Shanghai. Ching then discovers that she and Kenix are half-sisters. Later, all of them go back to Shanghai.
While Chilam is at A Nhi Bang, David plans to assassinate the leader of triads. However, his plans fail and he has to hide from the police and the guards. Chilam finds David and tries to get him out of Shanghai. The leader’s guards follow them and send guards to kill David. David knows ahead and now he mistakenly believes that Chilam has betrayed him. He then reveals to Chilam that he was the person who put the bomb in a restaurant to kill Chilam’s parents. Chilam is shocked by the news and says that he has to kill David to get revenge for his parents. However, Betsy stops Chilam; David and Betsy then get on the truck and drive away. They don’t know that a bomb is set on the truck so everything explodes. Chilam believes that David and Betsy have died. The leader soon finds out that Chilam is the son of the chief police who he had murdered 17 years ago. Knowing that Chilam is looking for the enemy who killed his parents, the leader sends people to murder Chilam.
At this time, Ching wants to get together with Chilam. Kenix meets Fung again and Fung reveals that he truly loves her. Chilam gets jealous and wants to leave Shanghai with Kenix. He is afraid to tell Ching the truth, so he writes her a letter. Ching guesses the content of the letter and wants to speak with Chilam in person. At this time, the leader has his guard to shoot Chilam. Ching runs to Chilam and accidentally gets shot. She becomes unconscious and doesn’t want to wake up. Chilam promises Ching that he will marry her and that the letter is a proposal. Then Ching wakes up and they have to prepare for the wedding. On the night before the wedding, Chilam and Kenix spend their last time together. In their saddest moments, they indeed sleep together.
The next day at the wedding church, David phones Chilam and tells him who is really behind his parents’ assassination, and that is the leader of triads, Ching’s father. The leader knows that Chilam has known everything, he still agrees the wedding because he knows that his daughter truly loves Chilam. At that night, he commits suicide so that his daughter will have happiness with Chilam. He also passes his entire legacy to Chilam. David wants the leader and Chilam to kill each other. However, it turns out that Chilam gets the entire legacy, David has gone wild. Therefore, he decides to join into the Japanese forces and indeed becomes one of their leaders. At this time, Kenix finds out that she is pregnant. Fung asks her to marry him and that he will accept the baby as his own child. Kenix agrees and after the wedding, they both leave for France.
Three years later in Shanghai:
It is the 3rd anniversary of Chilam and Ching's marriage. Kenix and Fung come back to Shanghai because Fung has another mission to do. Chilam, Ching, Kenix, Fung, and Betsy all meet again at Betsy’s bar. Chilam and Kenix still have feelings for each other. Chilam keeps wanting to see Kenix so he goes to Kenix’s house. At this time, Betsy has a son by David. Kenix also has a three-year-old daughter named Nhu, who is also Chilam’s daughter but he doesn’t know. Ching gets mad upon knowing that Chilam keeps seeing Kenix, so Chilam promises her that he won’t anymore. He starts to concentrate on being a good husband.
The Japanese are invading China. Chinese important people have problems with each other; one person doesn’t believe the other. They have to unite to fight back Japan. There is a man whom everybody trusts. He will come to Shanghai to unite the Chinese forces. However, the Japanese wants to kill him, therefore, he will only come if he knows that he is under a perfect protection. Fung and his leader see that at Shanghai right now, Chilam is the only person who can take this responsibility. Fung goes to see Chilam and asks him to provide forces and guards to protect this important man. Chilam refuses to help. He says that he doesn’t know anything about politics, so he won’t join them. Fung tries to persuade Chilam to help but he fails. At the end, Fung thinks of a plan which he knows that once he applies this plan, he will lose his happy family. He takes Kenix’s daughter, Nhu, and hides her. He then goes to tell Chilam that Nhu is his daughter with Kenix and that if he doesn’t agree to help, Nhu will be killed. Chilam indeed agrees. Kenix gets angry at Fung and decides to leave him.
Chilam provides his people to protect the important man. On the other hand, David with his Japanese forces tries everything to kill this man. David doesn’t mean to help the Japanese; he just wants to make Chilam’s life miserable. Ching then finds out that her husband and Kenix have a daughter. She gets mad and slaps Kenix. Kenix tells Ching the truth that Chilam only loves her, that they had planned to leave Shanghai together, and that the letter wasn’t a proposal but a break-up letter. Ching then realizes that Chilam doesn’t love her. So she now tries to help her sister to get Nhu back.
David later discovers the hiding place of the important man and goes there to kill him. The man dies and the Chinese forces have broken. Fung’s leader gets Chilam to be the responsible person, so Chilam gets caught. Chilam tells Betsy to take everybody out of Shanghai to avoid danger. Kenix wants to rescue Chilam so she agrees to get back with Fung so that Fung will release Chilam. On the day that Ching, Betsy and her daughter leave Shanghai, Chilam is released. Fung drives Kenix and her daughter to the train station to unite with Chilam. Fung knows that Kenix doesn’t love him and he also has his missions to do. He can’t go to France with her. Chilam finds out that Kenix leaves with Fung, so he goes find her. They all leave Shanghai together and head for Thien Son.
The Japanese people are invading Thien Son. Kenix wants Chilam and Ching to be together, so she takes her daughter and leaves. Ching also wants Kenix and Chilam together, so she also leaves. Betsy meets David again and David thinks that his wife and Chilam are living together. He gets mad and shoots into their house wildly. He accidentally shoots his own son who is also in the house. David takes his son’s body and leaves the place. Chilam and Betsy get chased by the Japanese and then get separated. Months later, Chilam meets Ching at a hospital. She is now a real nun and taking care of the wounded people from the war. She tells him that she now has found her true happiness. He then joins a group of soldiers and goes back to Shanghai.
Years later, he becomes a policeman and the Chinese have driven the Japanese people out of China. He goes back to Xa Loi Phi Bar and meets Betsy there. Betsy takes him to a pagoda to see a person. That person is David. David has become a monk to live a quiet life. He has regretted his guilt and now wants to do good work. Chilam then goes to a clock repairing shop and recognizes Kenix’s clock. He keeps standing in front of the shop to wait if somebody will take the clock. One day, a girl comes in and takes the clock. He follows the girl to a house. He recognizes that this house was the one he bought for Kenix when she was blind. A woman comes out and it is really Kenix. She recognizes Chilam and they hug each other.
My Opinion:
Performance: Chilam Cheung: During this time Chilam just entered showbiz; therefore, I'm very surprised and impressed to find his acting so natural and convincing in this early work of his. He has successfully portrayed every trait of his character. Great job!
Kenix Kwok: Even though this was only her second serial for TVB, she has indeed done a wonderful job. She was very convincing playing a blind girl. You could tell her eyes were not moving but still speaking to give you the feelings. She was also excellent at playing a girl who was torn between love and hatred toward her man. Kenix did a great job as a newcomer in this piece of work.
David Siu: No doubt, David has never disappointed me in any role he played. He was just simply excellent, very convincing as an ambitious man who never trusted anybody.
Betsy Cheung: I notice this actress rarely appears in series nowadays. The last series I saw of her was Cold Blood Warm Heart. She was a great actress who was good in every role she got.
The overall plot: Remembrance was indeed one of the best TVB works I saw. The story was very well plotted and well casted. It is definitely worthy of collection.
Favorite character: Chilam Cheung
Favorite villain: David Siu
Favorite couple: Chilam-Kenix: It is a shame that TVB does not pair this couple again in a second series. They definitely have chemistry. If TVB ever pairs them again as a love couple, it's like a dream come true for me.
Summary: (Spoilers!) The story starts out as Chilam and his non-blood brother David are going back to Shanghai for a new beginning. There are some flashbacks which tell the two men’s childhood stories. 17 years ago, Chilam’s family went to Shanghai because his father had to start his new job as chief of police. The leader of Shanghai triads wanted to bribe his father so that his father would cover the triads’ illegal work. However, his father was a very good man and he refused to accept any money. The leader of triads then hired his henchmen to assassinate him. Both Chilam’s father and mother were blown up in a restaurant. Chilam then became an orphan. David was also an orphan and he adopted Chilam as his brother. Both Chilam and David grew up to become professional killers.
The two men are in Shanghai and have been hired by a wealthy man to assassinate the leader of the triad. On the same day, Kenix and her father have just come back from France. Kenix's father is hired to be a French-Chinese translator for an important meeting. Kenix and Chilam get to meet each other and Chilam then finds out that Kenix was the baby that he had met on a train 17 years ago. Back then, while Chilam’s family was on their way to Shanghai, Kenix’s parents were trying to run away with her in their arms. A rich and powerful army man wanted to marry Kenix’s mother; therefore, the couple tried to get away. However, they were caught and the mother had to go with the man. Kenix’s father then thought that his wife had committed suicide and was very depressed. He took Kenix with him and they both left Shanghai for France. Chilam, the young boy, had witnessed everything; therefore, even though he only knew Kenix for a day, he already knew of her past.
Chilam and David are preparing for their new mission to kill the leader of the triads. One night, David goes to a bar called Xa Loi Phi and meets the lady owner there. Her name is Betsy. He falls in love with her right away. He tells her that he has to do something very important tomorrow and promises to come back to marry her. Then the two men go off to do their work. The scene takes place at a ball. Coincidentally, Kenix and her father are there also. Chilam sees Kenix playing the piano and then the shooting starts. Kenix is scared and tries to hide from the flying bullets. Her father goes up the stairs to rescue her and Chilam jumps up there also. There is a guard standing between Kenix’s father and Chilam. Chilam tries to shoot the man but accidentally shoots her father. Her father dies. For some reason, Kenix becomes blind; perhaps because of the gunfire smoke.
Chilam and David fail their mission and try to run away. David tells Chilam to go to the bar to take care of Betsy. Chilam gets chased and it is at this time that he meets Ching. Ching is the daughter of the king of triads. The rich man who hired Chilam and David now sees that their mission has failed. He orders his henchmen to kill the two. David has to hide and tells Chilam to go tell the leader of the triads that David knows who wants to kill him. The leader then hides David in jail so that nobody can find him and waits till the day of David’s release to know who is behind the assassination.
Ching falls in love with Chilam. Meanwhile, Chilam finds out that Kenix is blind and that she tried to commit suicide in hospital. He immediately goes there and lies that he is her father’s best friend. Now that she doesn’t have any relatives, he will take care of her. He takes her to Xa Loi Phi bar and leaves Kenix in the care of Betsy. Ching then invites Chilam out on a date with her and while he is not home, things happen. Betsy’s drunken brother accidentally goes to Kenix’s room and tries to rape her. Kenix gets scared and runs out on the street. Because she is blind, she gets lost and is kidnapped by a man. This man then sells Kenix into prostitution. On the way home, Betsy sees a person wearing Kenix’s shoe but she doesn’t know that it is Kenix. Chilam then gets home and gets mad at Betsy’s brother. He runs out to the streets and finds another of Kenix's shoes. Betsy says that she might know where Kenix is and they go to find the man who leads them to the brothel. Ching wants to go with them, but Chilam gets mad at her and yells at her to go home.
At the brothel, Chilam rescues Kenix and is beaten up by the owner’s henchmen. The owner says that if he wants to take Kenix out of there, he has to take part in a boxing match and win because the owner has put a heavy bet on it. Chilam is beaten up so badly but he tells himself that he must win because he has to rescue Kenix. Suddenly, Ching’s father who is the leader of the triads comes and solves the problem. He asks Chilam to work for him but Chilam refuses.
Betsy understands Chilam and she says that Chilam must have fallen for Kenix for he risked his life to rescue her. Chilam starts to realize that he loves Kenix. However, he knows that one day when Kenix regains her sight, she will recognize that he was the one who shot her father. He refuses Ching’s love for him. Ching gets depressed and decides to be a nun. Meanwhile, David is released from prison. The leader of the triads find out that his friend’s son is the person behind his assassination. He solves his triads’ problem and wants David and Chilam to work for him. David is really happy because he sees that this is his chance to get rich and become a leader. Chilam doesn’t care about the work and only stays to support David.
David later finds out that Kenix’s father was shot by Chilam and that Chilam has fallen for her. David tells Chilam that it is dangerous to keep her with them. From that time on, he starts to suspect Kenix of pretending to be blind and always picks on her. Chilam sees that and he decides to buy a new house and takes Kenix out with him. He buys a ring and asks her to marry to him. However, at this time, Kenix has to do a surgery for her eyes, which means she can see again. Chilam knows that when Kenix can see again, he will lose her. However, he can’t be that selfish so he lets her do the surgery. He asked Betsy to take care of Kenix because he has decided to leave Shanghai. He doesn’t want Kenix to see him. When Kenix can see again, she starts looking for him. When she sees him, she recognizes the murderer and then realizes that the man she loves is the murderer. She goes mad, holds a knife and accidentally stabs him near the heart. She runs outside and Chilam chases after her. She says that everything he has told her was a lie. Chilam tells her that he has lied a lot to her but his love for her is true. He says that he has known this day but he couldn’t control his feelings for her. He cries and says that he truly loves her. Kenix declares him to be her enemy and that she cannot love the person who has killed her own father. She buys a ticket and decides to leave for France but later, she cannot leave. Chilam goes wild when he thinks that Kenix has left. David punches him on the face and tells him to wake up to make a new start. Chilam obeys David but deep inside, he isn’t happy.
David and Chilam are the trusted aides of the leader but the leader somehow likes Chilam more. He judges that Chilam is a good person and David can betray him at any time. He later decides to kill David and wants to give his properties to Chilam. Chilam of course doesn’t want money but David starts to suspect that Chilam will betray him. He also thinks that his love, Betsy, is falling for Chilam. He begins to get jealous and beats Chilam. Betsy then tells him that Chilam doesn’t love her. He only loves Kenix.
After leaving Chilam and Betsy, Kenix has nowhere to stay. She runs out of money and wants to find a job. She reads the paper and sees that someone is hiring a translator who knows French. She wants to apply but then finds out that the place is really a brothel with professional prostitutes. The owner there persuades her to be a prostitute and she in her depressed moments agrees. At the club, Kenix gets noticed by a very wealthy man named Fung who loves her at first sight. He pays her to be his partner for one month. While they are on the street, Chilam sees Kenix and chases after her into a drug place. He asks Fung about her, but Fung says Kenix’s name in French. Fung doesn’t know Kenix’s real name and says that she is a professional prostitute. Chilam thinks that he has mistaken, so he leaves.
Fung takes Kenix to a meeting with other people. Coincidentally, those people include David and Chilam. Kenix sees Chilam and starts to run away. Chilam chases after and catches her. She has changed her name and doesn’t admit that she was the girl he knew. She says words that hurt Chilam’s feelings and leaves. However, deep inside, she is hurt as well. Chilam becomes so depressed that because of him, she has decided to ruin her own life by being a prostitute.
Fung’s identity is then revealed. He is actually a secret agent who works for the Chinese government. He and his people do underground work to help prevent the Japanese from invading China. Suspecting that Fung is not just an ordinary man, Chilam forces Kenix to leave him. Fung then tries to kill Chilam because Chilam has known everything. However, when Fung is about to shoot Chilam, Kenix, who always wants Chilam to die, pushes Fung to the side and the bullet doesn’t hit Chilam. Then Fung tells Kenix to leave him because he has his missions. He doesn’t know that if someday, he will be forced to kill her to keep the secrets. Chilam tells Kenix to leave the prostitution but she doesn’t listen. He then goes to see the Shanghai’s leader of triads’ wife, who is Kenix’s long lost mother. Kenix insults her mother for re-marrying another man and she then leaves Shanghai without telling anyone. Also at the same time, David keeps suspecting that Chilam might betray him. Chilam says that he won’t fight with David just for money and feels guilty about Kenix’s mischief, so he decides to leave Shanghai and heads for A Nhi Bang, his homeland.
Ching, who is a nun right now, misses Chilam and decides to go to A Nhi Bang looking for him. They meet each other at A Nhi Bang and encounter the Japanese soldiers. The soldiers try to kill them and they have to hide in an empty house located in a snowy mountain. Ching’s church-uniform is accidentally burned, a sign that Ching is no longer a nun. At one night in the house, Ching somehow induces Chilam so the two sleep together. Chilam promises Ching to take care of her forever. On the next day, Chilam wants to go down the mountain to look for people and food. He hears voices of children from a school. He goes near and surprisingly, Kenix is the teacher of the class. She tells him that she has forgiven his guilt and that she wants to be with him. Hurtfully, Chilam already has a relationship with Ching but he tells Kenix that no matter what happens, she is the only one he loves the most. Kenix decides to stay at A Nhi Bang and tells Chilam and Ching to go back to Shanghai. Ching then discovers that she and Kenix are half-sisters. Later, all of them go back to Shanghai.
While Chilam is at A Nhi Bang, David plans to assassinate the leader of triads. However, his plans fail and he has to hide from the police and the guards. Chilam finds David and tries to get him out of Shanghai. The leader’s guards follow them and send guards to kill David. David knows ahead and now he mistakenly believes that Chilam has betrayed him. He then reveals to Chilam that he was the person who put the bomb in a restaurant to kill Chilam’s parents. Chilam is shocked by the news and says that he has to kill David to get revenge for his parents. However, Betsy stops Chilam; David and Betsy then get on the truck and drive away. They don’t know that a bomb is set on the truck so everything explodes. Chilam believes that David and Betsy have died. The leader soon finds out that Chilam is the son of the chief police who he had murdered 17 years ago. Knowing that Chilam is looking for the enemy who killed his parents, the leader sends people to murder Chilam.
At this time, Ching wants to get together with Chilam. Kenix meets Fung again and Fung reveals that he truly loves her. Chilam gets jealous and wants to leave Shanghai with Kenix. He is afraid to tell Ching the truth, so he writes her a letter. Ching guesses the content of the letter and wants to speak with Chilam in person. At this time, the leader has his guard to shoot Chilam. Ching runs to Chilam and accidentally gets shot. She becomes unconscious and doesn’t want to wake up. Chilam promises Ching that he will marry her and that the letter is a proposal. Then Ching wakes up and they have to prepare for the wedding. On the night before the wedding, Chilam and Kenix spend their last time together. In their saddest moments, they indeed sleep together.
The next day at the wedding church, David phones Chilam and tells him who is really behind his parents’ assassination, and that is the leader of triads, Ching’s father. The leader knows that Chilam has known everything, he still agrees the wedding because he knows that his daughter truly loves Chilam. At that night, he commits suicide so that his daughter will have happiness with Chilam. He also passes his entire legacy to Chilam. David wants the leader and Chilam to kill each other. However, it turns out that Chilam gets the entire legacy, David has gone wild. Therefore, he decides to join into the Japanese forces and indeed becomes one of their leaders. At this time, Kenix finds out that she is pregnant. Fung asks her to marry him and that he will accept the baby as his own child. Kenix agrees and after the wedding, they both leave for France.
Three years later in Shanghai:
It is the 3rd anniversary of Chilam and Ching's marriage. Kenix and Fung come back to Shanghai because Fung has another mission to do. Chilam, Ching, Kenix, Fung, and Betsy all meet again at Betsy’s bar. Chilam and Kenix still have feelings for each other. Chilam keeps wanting to see Kenix so he goes to Kenix’s house. At this time, Betsy has a son by David. Kenix also has a three-year-old daughter named Nhu, who is also Chilam’s daughter but he doesn’t know. Ching gets mad upon knowing that Chilam keeps seeing Kenix, so Chilam promises her that he won’t anymore. He starts to concentrate on being a good husband.
The Japanese are invading China. Chinese important people have problems with each other; one person doesn’t believe the other. They have to unite to fight back Japan. There is a man whom everybody trusts. He will come to Shanghai to unite the Chinese forces. However, the Japanese wants to kill him, therefore, he will only come if he knows that he is under a perfect protection. Fung and his leader see that at Shanghai right now, Chilam is the only person who can take this responsibility. Fung goes to see Chilam and asks him to provide forces and guards to protect this important man. Chilam refuses to help. He says that he doesn’t know anything about politics, so he won’t join them. Fung tries to persuade Chilam to help but he fails. At the end, Fung thinks of a plan which he knows that once he applies this plan, he will lose his happy family. He takes Kenix’s daughter, Nhu, and hides her. He then goes to tell Chilam that Nhu is his daughter with Kenix and that if he doesn’t agree to help, Nhu will be killed. Chilam indeed agrees. Kenix gets angry at Fung and decides to leave him.
Chilam provides his people to protect the important man. On the other hand, David with his Japanese forces tries everything to kill this man. David doesn’t mean to help the Japanese; he just wants to make Chilam’s life miserable. Ching then finds out that her husband and Kenix have a daughter. She gets mad and slaps Kenix. Kenix tells Ching the truth that Chilam only loves her, that they had planned to leave Shanghai together, and that the letter wasn’t a proposal but a break-up letter. Ching then realizes that Chilam doesn’t love her. So she now tries to help her sister to get Nhu back.
David later discovers the hiding place of the important man and goes there to kill him. The man dies and the Chinese forces have broken. Fung’s leader gets Chilam to be the responsible person, so Chilam gets caught. Chilam tells Betsy to take everybody out of Shanghai to avoid danger. Kenix wants to rescue Chilam so she agrees to get back with Fung so that Fung will release Chilam. On the day that Ching, Betsy and her daughter leave Shanghai, Chilam is released. Fung drives Kenix and her daughter to the train station to unite with Chilam. Fung knows that Kenix doesn’t love him and he also has his missions to do. He can’t go to France with her. Chilam finds out that Kenix leaves with Fung, so he goes find her. They all leave Shanghai together and head for Thien Son.
The Japanese people are invading Thien Son. Kenix wants Chilam and Ching to be together, so she takes her daughter and leaves. Ching also wants Kenix and Chilam together, so she also leaves. Betsy meets David again and David thinks that his wife and Chilam are living together. He gets mad and shoots into their house wildly. He accidentally shoots his own son who is also in the house. David takes his son’s body and leaves the place. Chilam and Betsy get chased by the Japanese and then get separated. Months later, Chilam meets Ching at a hospital. She is now a real nun and taking care of the wounded people from the war. She tells him that she now has found her true happiness. He then joins a group of soldiers and goes back to Shanghai.
Years later, he becomes a policeman and the Chinese have driven the Japanese people out of China. He goes back to Xa Loi Phi Bar and meets Betsy there. Betsy takes him to a pagoda to see a person. That person is David. David has become a monk to live a quiet life. He has regretted his guilt and now wants to do good work. Chilam then goes to a clock repairing shop and recognizes Kenix’s clock. He keeps standing in front of the shop to wait if somebody will take the clock. One day, a girl comes in and takes the clock. He follows the girl to a house. He recognizes that this house was the one he bought for Kenix when she was blind. A woman comes out and it is really Kenix. She recognizes Chilam and they hug each other.
My Opinion:
Performance: Chilam Cheung: During this time Chilam just entered showbiz; therefore, I'm very surprised and impressed to find his acting so natural and convincing in this early work of his. He has successfully portrayed every trait of his character. Great job!
Kenix Kwok: Even though this was only her second serial for TVB, she has indeed done a wonderful job. She was very convincing playing a blind girl. You could tell her eyes were not moving but still speaking to give you the feelings. She was also excellent at playing a girl who was torn between love and hatred toward her man. Kenix did a great job as a newcomer in this piece of work.
David Siu: No doubt, David has never disappointed me in any role he played. He was just simply excellent, very convincing as an ambitious man who never trusted anybody.
Betsy Cheung: I notice this actress rarely appears in series nowadays. The last series I saw of her was Cold Blood Warm Heart. She was a great actress who was good in every role she got.
The overall plot: Remembrance was indeed one of the best TVB works I saw. The story was very well plotted and well casted. It is definitely worthy of collection.
Favorite character: Chilam Cheung
Favorite villain: David Siu
Favorite couple: Chilam-Kenix: It is a shame that TVB does not pair this couple again in a second series. They definitely have chemistry. If TVB ever pairs them again as a love couple, it's like a dream come true for me.
PS I do not own this review.
LIFE FOR LIFE
"Life for Life" is surprisingly not as bad a TV series as I thought it was going to be. The cast ensemble, consisting of Cheung Dat Ming, Marianne Chan Miu Ying, Mui Siu Wai, Che Tin Wah, and others, was a refreshing combination of actors and actresses. The series, as advertised, is about a novice Soul-Snatcher (Che Tin Wah) of the heavens who fell in love the first day on the job with the generous Fong Ka Hei (Mui Siu Wai) who doesn't have long to live because of a health ailment. Deciding to switch the fates of Fong with the bossy and seemingly heartless lawyer, Chong Yuk Xue (Marianne Chan), he changes the date of their deaths in their Books of Life and Death. However, things get complicated when his actions are found out in the heavens and the fates of these two women are permanently switched. What appears to be a meaningless series turns out to be a penetration into the human psyche--or am I just interpreting too much these days?Cheung Dat Ming, since "Justice Sung II", has not made an appearance in a series lately. His performance in "Life" was certainly more bearable than "Justice", though--forgive me for saying--his physical appearance is sometimes hard to get by. In "Life", he does a pretty good job of portraying his role. Mui Siu Wai, who also has not made any recent series, is back in "Life" and it is interesting to watch her play the part of someone who did not have long to live suddenly have back a normal life. Most notable though, is Marianne Chan's performance where she goes from a despicable person to a changed and likeable personality.
The most successful point in the series is the analysis of fate and the environments we are brought up in and how our personalities, thoughts, and values, are inevitably shaped by the environment we are born into--which, if you are an atheist, is just randomness and probability. The idea of the haves and have nots also comes into mind, where a person's actions are always imprisoned by what he/she holds at the moment.
What is disappointing about the series is the seemingly rushed ending. Not enough attention is given to development of love between the main couple and I could still not understand why the Soul-Snatcher was never punished for switching the fates. Just when things begin to get heated between the two women whose fates were switched, the series concludes with one dead and the other jailed, without giving more time to develop their new character.
PS I do not own this review.
THE CHARM BENEATH
Cast: Moses Chan
Gigi Lai
Yoyo Mung
Anne Heung
Mandy Cho
Sharon Chan
Storyline: '
Storyline: '
The Charm Beneath' is a very complicated series because of its rather complex storyline. As you can tell from the Chinese title 'Yin Zhi Sui Fun' (in Cantonese) it is about makeup. The Zhu family is managing a makeup shop called 'Geng Fa Tong' (in Cantonese). They go through many family and business troubles because the other side of the Zhu family, the second uncle and aunty, are very greedy and always try their best to cause problems so they can have all the money and take full control of the makeup shop. The second uncle and aunty are very devious but surprisingly their son is nothing like them;, he is a kind and good-hearted young man. There are many surprises and twists in this series, which makes it very interesting.
Cast Analysis: Moses Chan- In this series Moses was great! He worked well with his character and he could do both humorous and upsetting scenes. Moses played his character wonderfully. He was very good in the comedic scenes because just listening to his jokes and looking at his face would make the audience laugh. He was a really funny character.
Gigi Lai- Gigi was not a humorous character like Moses. She was much more sophisticated and elegant, taking things seriously. Gigi did a good job in this series but I found that her character was sometimes a bit too serious and this may have made some of her funny lines not as humorous as they could be. But Gigi showed in this series how excellent she can cry because when she was upset you could just see her tears come out so naturally. She also showed that she can work with a variety of characters since this character is has a different background from her 'Shades of Truth' character.
Yoyo Mung- In this series Yoyo was pretty good but I found that sometimes she would have the same facial expression over and over again. I think that she can be really funny though because she and Moses were both very humorous whenever they had scenes together. Yoyo has improved from her performance in 'Split Second' and this character has showed that she can act well when given a character with more meaning and depth.
Anne Heung- Anne was pretty good in this series. She had a range of facial expressions and her tone of voice suited her character's emotions. I do think that Anne needs to work on her crying skills though because she cannot cry very well. In the scenes where she cries she would have a sad look on her face but no tears seemed to come out. This is why I think that her performance was not as good as it should have been. Anne's character went through so many upsetting problems but still no tears seemed to come out.
Mandy Cho- Mandy's character was quite cute and sweet. I think that Mandy has improved from 'Guts of Man' for her crying skills and acting. She acted pretty well as her character in this series, even though it was not as big a role as in 'Guts of Man'. Hopefully TVB will give Mandy more opportunities to improve and have more variety in characters.
Sharon Chan- Sharon was pretty good in this series but I found that it was a bit unfair that her character didn't have as much scenes as it could have. I guess it is for the storyline's sake but Sharon should be given more chances in TVB. I think Sharon definitely improved in acting since her 'Dreams of Colours' series. Sharon acted very well and her facial expressions were really good! I hope that she will be given more opportunities in TVB too.
Conclusion: To conclude this review, I would like to say that 'The Charm Beneath' is a fantastic series. Some people say it starts off slowly and boring but I disagree. 'The Charm Beneath' links many things together to make itself a fantastic masterpeice.
Cast Analysis: Moses Chan- In this series Moses was great! He worked well with his character and he could do both humorous and upsetting scenes. Moses played his character wonderfully. He was very good in the comedic scenes because just listening to his jokes and looking at his face would make the audience laugh. He was a really funny character.
Gigi Lai- Gigi was not a humorous character like Moses. She was much more sophisticated and elegant, taking things seriously. Gigi did a good job in this series but I found that her character was sometimes a bit too serious and this may have made some of her funny lines not as humorous as they could be. But Gigi showed in this series how excellent she can cry because when she was upset you could just see her tears come out so naturally. She also showed that she can work with a variety of characters since this character is has a different background from her 'Shades of Truth' character.
Yoyo Mung- In this series Yoyo was pretty good but I found that sometimes she would have the same facial expression over and over again. I think that she can be really funny though because she and Moses were both very humorous whenever they had scenes together. Yoyo has improved from her performance in 'Split Second' and this character has showed that she can act well when given a character with more meaning and depth.
Anne Heung- Anne was pretty good in this series. She had a range of facial expressions and her tone of voice suited her character's emotions. I do think that Anne needs to work on her crying skills though because she cannot cry very well. In the scenes where she cries she would have a sad look on her face but no tears seemed to come out. This is why I think that her performance was not as good as it should have been. Anne's character went through so many upsetting problems but still no tears seemed to come out.
Mandy Cho- Mandy's character was quite cute and sweet. I think that Mandy has improved from 'Guts of Man' for her crying skills and acting. She acted pretty well as her character in this series, even though it was not as big a role as in 'Guts of Man'. Hopefully TVB will give Mandy more opportunities to improve and have more variety in characters.
Sharon Chan- Sharon was pretty good in this series but I found that it was a bit unfair that her character didn't have as much scenes as it could have. I guess it is for the storyline's sake but Sharon should be given more chances in TVB. I think Sharon definitely improved in acting since her 'Dreams of Colours' series. Sharon acted very well and her facial expressions were really good! I hope that she will be given more opportunities in TVB too.
Conclusion: To conclude this review, I would like to say that 'The Charm Beneath' is a fantastic series. Some people say it starts off slowly and boring but I disagree. 'The Charm Beneath' links many things together to make itself a fantastic masterpeice.
PS I do not own this review, enjoy the video, I upload it but you can find it on Youtube, enjoy !!!
October 16
Nothing special again today though. He asked me to borrow a dollar again. I told him a don't have a dollar anymore because I spent it all for my lunch, but I forgot that I have quarters. Later when I came back to class after school my friend hand me my tie because it's tie day and I let them borrow my. She showed my that my friends ripped a part of it I was so mad so I told the teacher. I don't know why Mrs. Beals dismiss late today so he walked pass us and stop by to take a look. He wanted to see the tie my Mrs.Beals said he can't and she said sorry because she can't do anything about it and walked outside. He still standing next to me, and asked me to let he see the tie, and I handed to him. He tried it on but the tie was half way from being tied Mrs. Beals came in and told him to take it off. He look so cute when he tried it one, but too bad I can't see him with the tie completely being tied. So he put the tie on the desk and go out joined his brother and went home.
PS I love you
PS I love you
October 14
I post this blog quite late today because I was so busy yesterday. There is really nothing special happened between us yesterday. At third period, my teacher said that after first semester we'll switch PE period with elective, but if you have ELL class you'll keep the same period but probably different teacher. First PE period is only Luna and Olden, I don't want to have Olden but as long as I have with him even if it Olden. I just afraid that he'll go to Silver Creek for high school not Evergreen then I can't be with him and maybe I'll never see him again. I'm starting to play for the same class with him then after second semester I'll start to pray for the same school. Between fifth and sixth period I came to Mrs. Beals's class like always, I bend down to get my book, I knew he's standing behind me, but I didn't know he was so close. I stood up took a step forward and turned around, but I didn't see him, so I stepped on his foot and when I turned I bump into him. "I'm sorry," I said. "What are you doing ?" "Sorry, I didn't see you," I apologized quickly. I kept recalling what happened on Monday it made me so happy and I kept laughing and never stop. He did it to me and I did to him, it was so funny, my friends talked about it more and made me more and more happy. At lunch, I brought them the hot dogs in Vietnamese style that I made on Sunday. They said it's delicious, they even said if I married him, there will be new dishes everyday. I was so so so happy. This morning, like always, I checked his Myspace and I saw his status read : "hahah new gurlz" I just hope it's me. Even if it's not me I won't feel sad because it was no different then before.
PS I love you
PS I love you
UNDER THE CANOPY OF LOVE
Editor : Blog's owner (I don't own this review)
Cast:
Kevin Cheung
Niki Chow
Bosco Wong
Ha Yu
Kate Tsui
Claire Yiu
Natalie Tong
Charles Szeto
Plot
Alan (Kevin Cheung) and Fiona (Niki Chow) met when they went to school but when Alan changes schools, they didn’t meet again until years later. When they realize that they were childhood sweethearts, they became a real couple. But of course, no TVB series is ever that simple, Bosco and Claire come in as the 3rd and 4th factors.
Nick (Bosco Wong) looks at Alan as his “brother” and always wants to help him out, so he holds back his feelings for Fiona but when Alan leaves, he expresses them. Karen (Claire Yiu) is technically Alan’s boss but she starts to have feelings for him when she sees how sweet and caring he is.
Coco (Natalie Tong) is Fiona’s younger sister. At first she only focuses on college but when she becomes pregnant thanks to her boyfriend, Jason (Charles Szeto), her studying was pulled to a halt.
Likes
Bosco Wong
If you were never a fan of his, then watch this series because it will make you a fan. He is so funny in here with all of his witty remarks and cute clumsiness. He looks up to Kevin like a real brother so he is willing to do anything for Kevin, even give up the one person he loves. I think he is so sweet!
Kevin
He is the kind-hearted leading guy (typical TVB male lead) but what makes him different from the others is the fact that he is straightforward and stubborn. He does not quit even when he feels like he is losing. The way he treats Niki is so sweet; he always cared about her even though they aren’t together anymore. Then when he was willing to leave so that Nick and Fiona could get married, that was touching.
Ha Yu
He is funny like always. I love his character, mainly because he’s so much like my real dad. I’ve liked him since I saw “When Rules Turn Loose” because he is the cool dad in there but here is the strict dad. It’s a nice change.
Dislikes
Claire Yu
For some reason I have never really liked her. She has this snobby face to me. I was mad at her when she lied and said that Kevin was her boyfriend when he clearly wasn’t. How rude is that? Niki didn’t even do anything to her!
Mimi Lo
Her character was so annoying! She was like a leech that didn’t leave Alan alone. I wanted to come in the TV and kick her out of his house. She was so mean to Fiona (Niki) for no reason, which was just stupid.
The character Chris
She had it made for her. I mean good boyfriend, loving family, good job, and lots of friends but she was still a shallow person. It was bad enough how she used Nick but then she made her boyfriend Martin leave her; that was too rude. I think that when she was dumped the viewers were supposed to feel sorry for her but I didn’t. I thought she deserved it. I kind of wanted Martin to not come back to her so that she knows how it feels to be hurt by someone you really care about (she hurt Bosco when he really liked her).
INTO THIN AIR
Editor : Blog's owner (I don't own this review) "Looking for a missing person is as difficult as looking for a needle in the ocean."
Starring: Michael Miu Kiu Wai - Gou Zhong Jing / Jing Gor / Dai Jek Lo Melissa Ng Mei Hang - Lai Xiu / Ah Xiu Kenneth Ma Kwok Ming - Koon Ching Wan / Koon Sir Bernice Jan Liu Bik Yee - Man Dai Bo Power Chan Kwok Bong - Super
The Story:
The story begins with Michael working on a case of murder. The police were hot on the trails of a killer with the nickname of "Rose Killer". On the operation day, Michael's son appears on the street and calls his father. Michael gives him a tight slap and from that day onwards his son vanished.
Two years later, Michael has left the police force and started a private investigation agency. He has three efficient workers, played by Bernice, Power and Vivien Yeo. Together they help people find their missing things. Michael hopes to find his son one day, but for two years, he has disappeared without a trace. Michael meets Melissa and together they work on cases. Kenneth is a police officer who is in charge of the "Rose Killer" case.
Micheal develops feelings for Melissa after awhile. Kenneth and Bernice start to like each other too but Bernice does not want to admit that she loves him.
The Cast:
Michael Miu as Gou Zhong Jing Honestly, this is my first time watching a show with Michael in it. I did watch "The Academy" but only a few episodes because I didn't like it. So this is sort of the first time I'm seeing Michael. No doubt, Michael's acting is really good, since he's been in the industry for so many years. I really like his character too, for being so determined and not giving up on his son.
Melissa Ng as Lai Xiu I like Melissa in this show, period. Since watching her first performance in "A Kindred Spirit", Melissa has improved and grown a lot as an actress. Although I started liking her in "Dream Of Colours", I've only become a big fan after "Into Thin Air". Her character is great, a simple extra who acts in TVB series and helps her father with the part time extra's agency. Lai Xiu was always there for Dai Jek Lo and helped him with his cases and giving him support. But I don't like her twin, I'll come to that later.
Kenneth Ma as Koon Ching Wan If you don't like Kenneth or think he's a pervert [I don't know why so many people do], then "Into Thin Air" will change your perspective of him as a guy and as an actor. Kenneth hasn't gotten many good roles, his evil role in "The Driving Power" will easily be forgotten and his role as a member of the S4 in "Triumph In The Skies" was as good as invisible. I have not seen "The Scavenger's Paradise" and "The Herbalist Manual" so I'll not comment on that. This has got to be Kenneth's breakthrough role. I've always seen him as a one-dimensional actor who only plays the stupid or easily forgotten roles but Koon Sir will live in my memory, until my TVB obsession ends. What makes his role really great is his relationship with Bernice.
Bernice Jan Liu as Man Dai Bo As a Bernice fan, I watched "Into Thin Air" just for her sake. I wanted to skip this series but hearing how good the story and her chemistry with Kenneth was, I decided to catch up with everyone. So I managed to finish the first twelve episodes or so in two days, I just couldn't stop. Bernice has really improved since I first saw her in "Survivor's Law" and becoming a huge fan of hers. Her character is cute and lovable but the main factor that made her so interesting was her relationship with Kenneth. I can easily list down all the cute moments they shared in various episodes.
The Comments: Overall, this is a really good series. The first twelve episodes or so on the cases were really exciting and you just want to know where the son is. But I was really shocked at the end of episode twelve with the son's appearance. I was thinking about what the producer was gonna fill the next eight episodes with. And that's the turning point of the series. The series gets pretty boring from then on, and the only excitement that keeps me going is the relationship between Bernice and Kenneth.
There were many unnecessary parts in the series after that. I really don't understand why Michael had to slap his son, if I was his son, I'll hate him my whole life and never forgive him. Ironically he forgave him and went back to him and lived life as usual. The end. And Michael's character is one magnanimous guy, how can you forgive your best buddy who slept with your wife and had a son which whom you thought was your own and loved him so much! That's too ridiculous! And how come they just die like that in a crash, goodness, the poor boy!
And the part where Power falls for Bernice! NOOOO! How come Bernice seems to like him? And in the end realizes she loves Kenneth and the end, they get together? What's the point of Power falling for Bernice? Feelings just popped out of nowhere and from this second onwards, Power likes Bernice and Bernice likes Power. And Kenneth becomes his love rival. Luckily Bernice doesn't end up with Power, or I'll yell at the producer and write in an appeal to TVB.
NOOOOOO to the twins part! How come Melissa has a twin that pops out of nowhere suddenly? I was so confused as to who was the real Lai Xiu, honestly I had no idea! And the sisters having a bet on whom Michael will choose. And how come he couldn't tell who was the real Lai Xiu and even had a passionate kiss with her sister? Man I don't understand.
The Love: The first case, about the "Rose Killer". So creepy that I was freaked out in broad daylight. And the part where Melissa and Michael found the "bodies", goodness I freaked out! But I like how the producer wrote the case out, so complex and I couldn't guess who the real killer was! So shocking and such an unexpected twist!
All the scenes of Bernice and Kenneth. Bernice pretending to be his girlfriend. Kenneth thinking he slept with Bernice and wants to take responsibility. Kenneth and Bernice working together on the fake passport case. Kenneth confessing his love for Bernice and kissing her on the street. Blah blah blah, I can go on forever!
Worth Watching? Overall, yes it is. Watch it for the story or for the cast, and you'll fall in love with the show and list it as one of your favourites. You'll probably become a fan of Kenneth, Melissa or Bernice. For my case, I became a fan of Kenneth and Melissa, since I'm already a fan of Bernice. For those of the younger generation like me who has never seen "The Academy", you will start to notice him.
Starring: Michael Miu Kiu Wai - Gou Zhong Jing / Jing Gor / Dai Jek Lo Melissa Ng Mei Hang - Lai Xiu / Ah Xiu Kenneth Ma Kwok Ming - Koon Ching Wan / Koon Sir Bernice Jan Liu Bik Yee - Man Dai Bo Power Chan Kwok Bong - Super
The Story:
The story begins with Michael working on a case of murder. The police were hot on the trails of a killer with the nickname of "Rose Killer". On the operation day, Michael's son appears on the street and calls his father. Michael gives him a tight slap and from that day onwards his son vanished.
Two years later, Michael has left the police force and started a private investigation agency. He has three efficient workers, played by Bernice, Power and Vivien Yeo. Together they help people find their missing things. Michael hopes to find his son one day, but for two years, he has disappeared without a trace. Michael meets Melissa and together they work on cases. Kenneth is a police officer who is in charge of the "Rose Killer" case.
Micheal develops feelings for Melissa after awhile. Kenneth and Bernice start to like each other too but Bernice does not want to admit that she loves him.
The Cast:
Michael Miu as Gou Zhong Jing Honestly, this is my first time watching a show with Michael in it. I did watch "The Academy" but only a few episodes because I didn't like it. So this is sort of the first time I'm seeing Michael. No doubt, Michael's acting is really good, since he's been in the industry for so many years. I really like his character too, for being so determined and not giving up on his son.
Melissa Ng as Lai Xiu I like Melissa in this show, period. Since watching her first performance in "A Kindred Spirit", Melissa has improved and grown a lot as an actress. Although I started liking her in "Dream Of Colours", I've only become a big fan after "Into Thin Air". Her character is great, a simple extra who acts in TVB series and helps her father with the part time extra's agency. Lai Xiu was always there for Dai Jek Lo and helped him with his cases and giving him support. But I don't like her twin, I'll come to that later.
Kenneth Ma as Koon Ching Wan If you don't like Kenneth or think he's a pervert [I don't know why so many people do], then "Into Thin Air" will change your perspective of him as a guy and as an actor. Kenneth hasn't gotten many good roles, his evil role in "The Driving Power" will easily be forgotten and his role as a member of the S4 in "Triumph In The Skies" was as good as invisible. I have not seen "The Scavenger's Paradise" and "The Herbalist Manual" so I'll not comment on that. This has got to be Kenneth's breakthrough role. I've always seen him as a one-dimensional actor who only plays the stupid or easily forgotten roles but Koon Sir will live in my memory, until my TVB obsession ends. What makes his role really great is his relationship with Bernice.
Bernice Jan Liu as Man Dai Bo As a Bernice fan, I watched "Into Thin Air" just for her sake. I wanted to skip this series but hearing how good the story and her chemistry with Kenneth was, I decided to catch up with everyone. So I managed to finish the first twelve episodes or so in two days, I just couldn't stop. Bernice has really improved since I first saw her in "Survivor's Law" and becoming a huge fan of hers. Her character is cute and lovable but the main factor that made her so interesting was her relationship with Kenneth. I can easily list down all the cute moments they shared in various episodes.
The Comments: Overall, this is a really good series. The first twelve episodes or so on the cases were really exciting and you just want to know where the son is. But I was really shocked at the end of episode twelve with the son's appearance. I was thinking about what the producer was gonna fill the next eight episodes with. And that's the turning point of the series. The series gets pretty boring from then on, and the only excitement that keeps me going is the relationship between Bernice and Kenneth.
There were many unnecessary parts in the series after that. I really don't understand why Michael had to slap his son, if I was his son, I'll hate him my whole life and never forgive him. Ironically he forgave him and went back to him and lived life as usual. The end. And Michael's character is one magnanimous guy, how can you forgive your best buddy who slept with your wife and had a son which whom you thought was your own and loved him so much! That's too ridiculous! And how come they just die like that in a crash, goodness, the poor boy!
And the part where Power falls for Bernice! NOOOO! How come Bernice seems to like him? And in the end realizes she loves Kenneth and the end, they get together? What's the point of Power falling for Bernice? Feelings just popped out of nowhere and from this second onwards, Power likes Bernice and Bernice likes Power. And Kenneth becomes his love rival. Luckily Bernice doesn't end up with Power, or I'll yell at the producer and write in an appeal to TVB.
NOOOOOO to the twins part! How come Melissa has a twin that pops out of nowhere suddenly? I was so confused as to who was the real Lai Xiu, honestly I had no idea! And the sisters having a bet on whom Michael will choose. And how come he couldn't tell who was the real Lai Xiu and even had a passionate kiss with her sister? Man I don't understand.
The Love: The first case, about the "Rose Killer". So creepy that I was freaked out in broad daylight. And the part where Melissa and Michael found the "bodies", goodness I freaked out! But I like how the producer wrote the case out, so complex and I couldn't guess who the real killer was! So shocking and such an unexpected twist!
All the scenes of Bernice and Kenneth. Bernice pretending to be his girlfriend. Kenneth thinking he slept with Bernice and wants to take responsibility. Kenneth and Bernice working together on the fake passport case. Kenneth confessing his love for Bernice and kissing her on the street. Blah blah blah, I can go on forever!
Worth Watching? Overall, yes it is. Watch it for the story or for the cast, and you'll fall in love with the show and list it as one of your favourites. You'll probably become a fan of Kenneth, Melissa or Bernice. For my case, I became a fan of Kenneth and Melissa, since I'm already a fan of Bernice. For those of the younger generation like me who has never seen "The Academy", you will start to notice him.
The song is sang by Bernice Liu. Enjoy !!!
TRIUMPH IN THE SKIES
Editor : Blog's owner (I don't own this review)
First of all, I love watching TVB series and by far, this is one of the best shows I've watched from TVB in a while! This is definitely worth watching!
The Not-So-Great Parts
The plot was a little exaggerated. And Flora Chan's character "Belle", seemed a little too "faithful", believing in the "Triangel" would grant her true immortal love. That was pretty cheesy. Also, in the end when Sam proposed to Zoe and she said "I'll answer you when we close our eyes and count to 5, then look up at the sky and if something flies over us, I'll say yes"... God, they're at the AIRPORT!! Of coarse there will be "stuff" flying over them - PLANES!
The ending was also a bit disappointing. I was really into the Zita-Donald-Issac triangle relationship and was hoping for Zita's decision in who she'd choose. But in the end, she chose neither of them! She did the "let's just be friends" thing. I thought that was disappointing and quite lame.
The Good Stuff...
I loved the plot and how Sam and Belle's relationship was told back in flash-back mode. I especially loved how parts of the show were filmed in Rome... that gave it a more romantic feel. And it was awesome how all the couples in the show were paired off when they were in Rome, it's almost as if Rome was a special place to them. And the show had lots of sensitive parts. Like when Vincent went to Rome after being devastated to find that Belle still had feelings for Sam. Right after he decided to forgive Belle, he saw a litle girl on the road and a car was about to hit her, he dashed out and saved the girl, but he died. That was really sad, I nearly cried! And I love how Sam and Belle's relationship all connected and went in a circle, all back to the Triangel. The cast all did an extrodinary job, but one little thing - their English! When the scenes required them to speak English, I could hardly understand what they were talking about (besides Zita, she had decent english).
Conclusion...
Overall, this series is worth watching! I give it 2 thumbs up! Good job TVB! I hope there will be a continuation to it! (I really hope to find out who Zita will choose).
THE LINK
Editor : Blog's owner (I don't own this review)
Cast
Eddie Kwan as Lam Ka Wai
David Siu as Ah Chun
Gigi Lai as Ah Kei
Amy Kwok as Lam Zhi Shan
Ada Choi as Chai Suet Yee
Lam Ka Wah as Lam Ka Dat
Lam Kei Yun as Ah Hing
Intro
"The Link" is a series about the Lam family--the struggles within themselves and their struggles with the rest of the world. The Lam family has four children: Lam Ka Wah, Eddie Kwan, Amy Kwok, and Lily Chung. Ada Choi is the villain in this series. Wow! This is very rare but she did a great job. She has an affair with Lam Ka Wah and destroys the Lam family from within. Overall the series contains many smaller stories about each of the members of the family.
What about the story
If you don't want to know what happens in this series, please refrain from reading this section. Here are some key events in the series.
Eddie and Gigi get married but the Lam family despises her, forcing the two to move out and start their own trucking company.
Lam Ka Wah has an affair with Ada causing her to get pregnant, and this leads to a divorce between Lam Ka Wah and Lam Kei Yun.
David and Amy also get married but they get a divorce after some family problems.
Amy is pregnant but her baby dies because of David; she decides to become a nun but David falls into a coma causing Amy to realise that she still loves him.
Lily gets pregnant and gets kicked out of the house.
Ada tries to hurt Gigi's baby and kills her father.
Ada is a fugitive on the run and tries to set fire to the Lam business with the Lam family inside.
Gigi is held hostage by Ada but Ada falls off a building and dies.
The family reconciles and buys a new business.
What about the cast
Everyone did a great job in this series, especially Ada and Amy. It is rare to see Ada as a villain but she did such a great job that this series was such a hit.
Best supporting actor
David Siu
Best supporting actress
Amy Kwok
Best villain portrayal
Ada Choi
Watch it or forget it
Although some scenes were a little dragging, this series was good overall. A great performance by Ada Choi. This is a good series for Ada Choi fans because you can see her as the bad girl.
THE VAMPIRE RETURN
Editor : Blog's owner (I don't own this review)
How long : 20 episodes
Foreword We often see Sau Mun in movies but not in dramas. How about seeing her acting as twins in this ghost story?
Story/Introduction on characters
1. Cheung But Ping – Chin Siu Hou He is a ghost catcher but has to switch his job when business turns bad. He has more than he can bargain for when three women love him. Oh – I should make a correction – it should be two women and a ghost. He likes the demure Piew Suet but has to let her reincarnate for her good. He later develops feelings for her twin elder sister, Piew Hung. Tin Lai tries to come in between them and he gets very annoyed with her.
When she is dead, she creates a lot of trouble for him by turning many people into vampires. He has to seek help from his master and senior.
2. Cheung Nam King – Lai Yiu Cheung He is But Ping’s senior who envies him for his good luck. He has wished to fall in love but no one gives him the chance.
3. David – Chan Kai Toi David is a manager for a foreign company and is But Ping’s friend. If not for him, But Ping will never know that he loves Piew Hung. He likes Piew Hung and tries to date her. He showers her with gifts and also makes her gentle. But Ping gets anxious when Piew Hong seems to like David. David unwittingly becomes But Ping’s matchmaker instead.
4. Qu Yan – Lou Nam Kwong He is But Ping’s superior who always throws his weight around. He likes Tin Lai but he is so pathetic to become a vampire like her when she is hungry for his blood.
5. Cheung Hor Yi - Chor Yuen He used to be a famous ghost catcher but business turns bad. But after subduing Tin Lai, people flock to him to have their fortune told again.
6. To Tin Lai – Kwan Bo Wai Her father is rich so he pampers her to be a conceited and spoilt brat. She likes But Ping and keeps on demanding for his attention. She is angry to know that he likes Piew Hung instead. She threatens to hang herself to scare him but a cat topples her stool to cause her death. Since then, she comes back to seek revenge as a vampire.
7. Piew Hung – Cheng Sau Mun She is frank and behaves like a man. No one treats her like a woman although she ties plaits and that includes But Ping. But Ping enjoys quarreling with her. She is upset after Piew Suet leaves but tries her best to console him. She is flattered when wooed by David but discovers that they belong to two different worlds.
8. Piew Suet – Cheng Sau Mun She is demure and soft-spoken. She dies when young as Yu Meng accidentally causes her to be drowned. She doesn’t blame her and helps her to get clients. But Ping falls for her immediately, not knowing that she is a ghost.
Even after knowing it, he doesn’t change his mind. However, their romance is short and she being aware that Piew Hung loves him, encourages But Ping to accept her. It takes him a long time as But Ping shakes his head over Piew Hung’s behaviour. Both are two totally individuals.
9. Yu Meng – Lo Yuen Yan She is an old whore in the brothel and takes care of the twins. She is very remorseful over Piew Suet’s death and still needs her help even after that. Why is she the most popular courtesan and many men keep asking for her?
That is because Piew Suet blinds them with her appearance to trick them to go into bed with her. After Piew Suet’s departure, Yu Meng decides that she has earned enough money to retire from the job for good.
10. Fu Chung Yuk – Lui Yu Yeung He is the police station inspector. As westernized as he might look, he slowly begins to believe the existence of vampires under But Ping’s influence.
Songs The themesong is ‘Waiting Foolishly’ while the subtheme is ‘Finally Being Serious for Love’ by Sau Mun. Well sung by her and could be found in her 1993 album. They are very enjoyable to listen to.
Conclusion
This serial is trash. It has the same old storyline on how a man loves a pair of twins. Please go for ATV productions if you wish to watch vampire stories. I can’t believe that this sloppy drama is from TVB. The scary scenes can be so fake and the ghost catchers look so clumsy.
TVB has underused all its artistes. Siu Hou only shows his fighting agility while Bo Wai is still in her usual villainess role. The only surprise comes from Sau Mun who plays the twins of different personalities. So this drama is strictly only for her fans.
Sukting’s ratings :
On acting : *** (Scale of 5) On story : ** (Scale of 5) On songs : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)
The song is named : 痴心等待 and sang by Sammi Cheng enjoy !!!!
INCURABLE TRAIT
Editor : Blog's owner (I don't own this review)
Cast
Lam Man Lung as Wah To
Felix Wong as Cao Cao
Wan Yeung Ming as Kwan Yin
Ng Wing Mei as Cheung Miu Sum
Chung Lai Kai as Wah Yuk
Intro
"Incurable Traits" is a historical adaptation of a legendary healer named Wah To, who supposedly can cure any ailments and revive the dead. The time period is during the Three Kingdoms Era and also the end of the Han dynasty. Wah To is played by Lam Man Lung who accidentally gets acquainted with Cao Cao (Felix Wong). Cao Cao places a puppet ruler, Emperor Ling, on the throne. Cao Cao dies of a brain tumor but lays the foundation for his son to establish the Wei dynasty. Wah To is very compassionate and his goal is to get rid of all diseases in the world. He befriends Kwan Yu, a general for the Shu Empire, but unintentionally angers Cao Cao. In the end, Wah To dies by the hands of Cao Cao.
What about the story (Spoilers!)
The story begins with Wah To sitting in prison and writing his life's work. Wah To then spits out blood and dies. After his death, Cao Cao burns Wah To's work and he also dies because no one can cure his headaches except Wah To. There is a flashback and now Wah To, his family, and Kwan Yin are trying to escape the war. Wah To loves to study medicine but his dad disallows it. While in the camp, a girl is accused of adultery and his dad confirms it. Wah To disagrees with his dad but his dad is angered. Wah To follows the girl to town and sees that a famous doctor named Cheung, also says that she is not pregnant. From that day on, Wah To was determined to become Cheung's student. Wah To applies to be a cook at doctor Cheung's house but Cheung Miu Sum, doctor Cheung's eldest daughter, forces Wah To to leave.
During the struggle, Wah To drops a piece of jade. Cheung Miu Sum grabs it and says it belongs to her. After this confusion, Wah To discovers that she is his arranged wife. Wah To is allowed to stay but can't reveal the secrets about the marriage. Wah To treated Kwan Yin's friend and they became close friends. Later, Wah To is given three tests and he passed all three, so Doctor Cheung accepted him as his student. Now Doctor Cheung learns of the marriage. Wah To's dad refuses to let Wah To study medicine and we learn why. Wah To's dad was a very famous doctor under the Han emperor. Doctor Lee Mun and Wah were best friends. Doctor Wah finds a cure and saves the empress's life but she commits suicide later on. Lee Mun accuses Wah of killing the empress and so Wah was to be executed. Cao Cao helps spare Wah's life by being hit 30 times. Lee Mun becomes the royal doctor and Wah becomes a peasant. Cao Cao establishes a school of medicine in Xuchang. Wah To is finally allowed to study medicine. His first task is a plague but Cheung says its nothing.
Excellency Wong shows up and asks for the cause and Wah To tells him. Cheung accuses Wah To of trouble. Chueng Miu Sum pretends to contract the disease and her father reveals that it is a plague. Wah To was released to find a cure with Ng Po, a con artist. Excellency Wong's father contracts the plague. He orders a cure within four days. Wah To and Kwan Yin search for a rare flower for the cure. Wong's father dies and decides to kill Chueng. Cheung flees and meets Ng Po. They decide to scam the villagers by creating a cult that would heal and protect people from illnesses. Now no one wants to be cured by Wah To. Kwan Yu captures Ng Po and makes him look like he had contracted the plagued. Ng Po asked Wah To to cure him and Ng Po told the truth about the cult. Now everyone asks to be cured by Wah To. Doctor Cheung is humiliated and leaves for Xuchang. Coincidentally, Wah's family leaves for Xuchang also because Wah To wants to study medicine there. Ng Po travels with Wah To because no one cared for him. The two families bump into each other in Xuchang. The Cheung family stays with a rich man, who is in love with Cheung Miu Sum. The Wah family stays at an old house.
Wah To and Cheung Miu Sum fall in love but Doctor Cheung disapproves of it. Wah To agrees to work for Doctor Cheung for three years in return for study and marriage. Time progresses. Kwan Yu, Chang Fei, and Lau Bei swear an oath to be brothers to form the Shu empire, while Cao Cao made the emperor a puppet ruler. Wah To sneaks near the school of Xuchang to look inside. Coincidentally, Cao Cao and Emperor Ling are there. Wah To was seized when he noticed there was something strange about Cao Cao. Cao Cao released Wah To when he learned he was a student studying to become a doctor. One night, Cao Cao has a horrible dream and wakes up with a horrible headache. His doctor could not cure him and Cao Cao tried to kill him. The doctor flees. Cao Cao tries to excuse himself and meets Wah To.
Wah To informs Cao Cao that he could cure the headaches but Cheung shows up and says that Wah to is only a laborer. Now Cao Cao despises Wah To. Wah To is angry and leaves the Cheung's house. He opens his own medical school. Cheung Miu Sum asks the rich man who is in love with her for money. She helps Wah To open the school. When the school opened, profits dropped because Wah To was too kind and offered free treatments and gave money away. Cheung Miu Sum is very angry.
Doctor Cheung tells the rich man about Wah To and so Wah To has three weeks to repay the money. Wah To decides to cure without a store and leaves to find patients. When he was gone, Lan Ting, Cao Cao's foster daughter, shows up to the store with Cao Cao's third son, Cao Chung. Ng Po tries to con them but Lan Ting finds out and agrees that Wah To is also a con artist when Wah to returns. Wah To follows them and sees Cao Chung answer a puzzle raised by people from a different empire. Cho Chung measures the weight of an elephant by using water and weights. Lan Ting and Cho Chung are taken back by some officials. Cao Cao learns of his son's cleverness and is proud. His son however, has a heart ailment that keeps him from being active. No one can cure him. Wah To goes and works for a prostitute place and cures prostitutes.
Cheung Miu Sum mistaken that Wah To is around enjoying himself. Meanwhile, Cheung Miu Sum is forced to marry but Wah To rescues her. Cheung Miu Sum was forced to end her relationship with her family to marry Wah To. They marry at Wah To's house while it was raining. Even their bed was wet. Wah To becomes a street doctor with the help of Ng Po and Ah Orr. Cheung Miu Sum asks her mother for help but her dad takes the money back. Now Wah To is determined to get into the school. Wah To required a recommendation from an official but he wanted a bribe. Cheung Miu Sum decides to help but Wah To insults the official. Meanwhile, Cao Chung's ailments get worse and Cao Cao opens up the school to find a cure. Wah To meets Kwan Yu who offers him a job serving the Shu empire. Wah To turns him down because he wants to study in Cao Cao's school. Wah To decide to find a cure for Cao Chung. He heard rumors of a man who had the same ailments and got cured. Coincidentally, Lan Ting and Cao Chung also are on this same clue. Wah To runs into Lan Ting and Cao Chung but they have a misunderstanding, when the three find out that they are on a false lead. Cao Chung and Lan Ting fall into a pit.
Wah To jumps in to help them as the villagers went for help. In the pit, they find the body of the old man and Wah To finds some clues. As they are being lifted out, the overhead collapses and Lan Ting stops breathing. Everyone confirms that Lan Ting is dead but Wah To manages to revive her. All the villagers give him the nickname of "Wah To the Medicine God." Lan Ting finds out Wah To's purpose on the journey and is impressed. She learns of his goals to attend the school and wishes him good luck. They depart. Cheung Miu Sum works at a prostitute parlor to earn money for Wah To. Wah To and Cheung Miu Sum are embarrassed at her father's birthday. They are ordered to eat in the kitchen. Lee Mun arrives to hand an invite to the school. Cheung thought it was for him but learns that it was for Wah To. Cheung eagerly says that Wah To is his son-in-law. Wah To arrives at the school and learns the identity of Lan Ting and Cao Chung. Wah To opens up the old man's body and points to a hole in the heart and says that Cao Chung suffers from the same problems. Cao Cao promises Wah To that he could attend the school. Lee Mun is worried about his position. Wah To is given special treatment and given a very big place to stay. Lan Ting visits him regularly to help find a cure.
Lee Mun is also trying to find a cure. He wants to use an artificial method to cure Cao Chung. On the other hand, Wah To wants to use pig skin to patch up the hole and use a pain killer from Ma Fu Tong. Cheung Miu Sum is worried because he spends too much time with Lan Ting. The flower Ma Fu Tong can only be found in Shu territory. Wah To and Lan Ting go in search for the flower and are captured by a cult. They are rescued by Kwan Yu who takes them back to his camp. A spy in the camp report to Lee Mun about Wah To. Lee Mun accuses Wah To of treason to Cao Cao. Wah To's family is imprisoned along with the Cheung family. Wah To wishes to return home but Kwan Yu's generals won't allow it. Lan Ting steals Kwan Yu's seal and crossed but are captured. Later, Lan Ting convinces Kwan Yu to release them. Wah To and Lan Ting arrived home to find that Lee Mun is making preparations to heal Cao Chung by the artificial method. Wah To reveals that the method would poison Cao Chung's blood and later kill him. Cao Cao is angry at Lee Mun but still orders for Wah To and his family to be executed.
Wah To tells Cao Cao that he can cure Cao Chung. Cao Cao delays the execution for three hours. Wah To operated on Cao Chung by inserting pig meat and used the flower as painkiller. After the operation, Cao Chung still did not wake up. Wah To understood the reason and ordered some noodles to be brought to Cao Chung. Cao Chung smelled the noodles and woke up. Wah to explained that the effects of the flower had worn off already but Cao Chung fell asleep. He woke up because he was hungry. Cao Cao awarded Wah To the position of royal doctor and demoted Lee Mun. Wah To wanted to find a cure for Cao Cao but Cao Cao refused and said he was not sick. There was a huge battle to be fought but Cao Cao fell ill with headaches. Wah To gave him some sleeping potion and when Cao Cao woke up he was angry. However, he found out that the battle was won because the other side wanted to anger Cao Cao into attacking without preparations. Cao Cao invites Wah To and his wife to attend a party with the emperor. Cheung Miu Sum gets embarrassed at the party because all the other ladies had fine jewels and a big house.
Cao Cao visits Wah To's house to find it old and unsuitable for living. Cao Cao sat on a chair, named by Ng Po. Wah To showed him some exercises but Cao Cao fell asleep because the movements were very slow. Cao Cao gave the family a huge house to live in the next day. Cao Cao takes Lan Ting and Wah To to battle with him. The battle was between Cao Cao and Kwan Yu. Wah To learns of Cao Cao's ruthlessness. When Wah To returned home, he finds that his wife had changed. She only cared for riches. One day, Cao Cao had a headache and ordered Wah To to come. Wah To was busy with another patient so sent his student. Cao Cao was angered but Wah To eventually came. From that day on, Cao Cao restricted Wah To to the school. Lee Mun comes up with an idea to poison the waters of the enemies. He convinces Cao Cao to order Wah To to come up with the poison. Wah To refuses and is ordered to be executed. Lan Ting comes up with a plan.
She promises the poison but delays it. Kwan Yu helps by not wedding his daughter so there is no war to be fought. Cheung Miu Sum notices a change in Wah To. He was leaving early and coming home late. She also found a hairpin in Wah To's bed. One day she saw Lan Ting with Wah To. They were practicing exercises. She accuses Wah To of having an affair. Cao Cao hears of this and asks Lan Ting if she had feelings for Wah To. Lan Ting says yes because she wants to protect Wah To. Lan Ting does have strong feelings for Wah To but knows that he only loves his wife. Cao Cao orders Lan Ting and Wah To to be married because he wants Wah To to be in his family. From then on, Wah To had to follow Cao Cao's orders. After the marriage, Cao Cao promoted Wah to to be general so Wah To had to develop the poison. Lan Ting comes up with a plan and embarrasses Wah To in front of Cao Cao's generals. The generals protest and Wah To does not have to go to battle. Cao Cao ordered Wah To to make the poison within ten days or his family will die. Wah To and Lan Ting ask for Kuan Yu's help.
Kuan Yu helps the family escape but Cheung wanted to stay for the riches. Kuan Yu forces them to board but Cao Cao orders troops to stop the escape. Lan Ting saves Wah To and she is captured. Lan Ting is put in prison and Cao Cao attacks Kuan Yu's camp to capture Wah To. Wah To helps heal the soldiers and ignores Cheung Miu Sum because he blames her for Lan Ting's capture. Kwan Yu is hit by a poison arrow and Wah To saves his life. Cao Cao goes crazy and kills many students at the school. Lee Mun escapes and informs Wah To. Wah To returns to heal Cao Cao and rescue Lan Ting. Before he leaves, Wah To tells Cheung Miu Sum that he loves her. Wah To returns and agrees to heal Cao Cao under three conditions: restore the school, Wah To wanted to write a book of his life's work, and thirdly the release of Lan Ting. Cao Cao agrees. Lee Mun wants to keep the book of Wah To for himself because Wah To wanted to redistribute it to everyone.
The surgery is being prepared and Kwan Yu is slain. Cao Cao orders a celebration for Kwan Yu. Wah To grieves for his death. On the day of the surgery, Wah To wore a headband to remember Kwan Yu. Cao Cao was angered and ordered Wah to to be locked up. He also burned all his books. Cao Cao allowed Wah To to rewrite the book. When it was almost finished, Wah To told his wife to retrieve the final pages in his room. Lee Mun tricked Cheung Miu Sum and took the copy. It accidentally got burned except several pages. Chueng Miu Sum took these pages away. In his cell, Wah To tried desperately to rewrite his book. Wah To coughed out blood and died. Cao Cao died shortly because he knew no one could heal him again. After this, the Cheung and Wah family open up a doctor office and completed Wah To's dream. The last pages of his book was given to all students. In another part of China, Lan Ting is teaching people how to do exercises. She reveals the method of the mythical doctor Wah To.
What about the cast
Felix Wong played a very good Cao Cao. He is such a good actor that it makes this series worth watching. Felix also appears in many series like "Legend of the Condor Heroes 1982" and the "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils". Lam Man Lung as Wah To also did a good job. He appears in series like "A Colorful Life" and "Witness to a Prosecution".
Best supporting actor
Wan Yeung Ming as Kuan Yin
Best supporting actress
? as Lan Ting
Best villain portrayal
Felix Wong as Cao Cao
Worst character portrayal
Chung Lai Kai as Wah Yuk
A little history
The legend of Wah To is very famous. He was rumored to have lived around 145 AD to 265 AD. According to the series, Wah To was much younger than Cao Cao and Cao Cao dies in 220 AD shortly after Wah To's death. Wah To then was probably born around 185 to 190 AD. The series starts with the formation of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu. Towards the end of the Han dynasty in 220 AD, China was demoralized and plagued by natural disasters and corruption within the government. Cao Cao rose from the son of a palace eunuch into a very powerful general. He controlled the emperor and the palace. Cao Cao also successful placed his son on throne. After Cao Cao's death in 220 AD, his son became emperor and established the Wei dynasty (220-265). The Wei dynasty was the all-powerful kingdom and conquered Shu in 263 and Wu in 280 AD. Cao Cao was probably born in 155 AD. He suppressed the Yellow Scarves Rebellion in 184 AD and became even more powerful. Emperor Ling was forced to seek his protection but Cao Cao placed the emperor as a puppet. Cao Cao had locked Wah To in prison because he was very paranoid. He didn't refused for Wah To to operate on his head. Wah To died in prison and all his works were burned.
Watch it or forget it
I disliked the ending because in the beginning, the viewers already know what happened. It ruins the story. There were many scenes that were boring. The love story between Wah To and Cheung Miu Sum was also boring. I wanted Wah To to leave her and run away with Lan Ting. The cast is what makes this series worth watching not the story. There is another TVB adaptation to the character of Cao Cao called "Where the Legend Begins".
Intro
"Incurable Traits" is a historical adaptation of a legendary healer named Wah To, who supposedly can cure any ailments and revive the dead. The time period is during the Three Kingdoms Era and also the end of the Han dynasty. Wah To is played by Lam Man Lung who accidentally gets acquainted with Cao Cao (Felix Wong). Cao Cao places a puppet ruler, Emperor Ling, on the throne. Cao Cao dies of a brain tumor but lays the foundation for his son to establish the Wei dynasty. Wah To is very compassionate and his goal is to get rid of all diseases in the world. He befriends Kwan Yu, a general for the Shu Empire, but unintentionally angers Cao Cao. In the end, Wah To dies by the hands of Cao Cao.
What about the story (Spoilers!)
The story begins with Wah To sitting in prison and writing his life's work. Wah To then spits out blood and dies. After his death, Cao Cao burns Wah To's work and he also dies because no one can cure his headaches except Wah To. There is a flashback and now Wah To, his family, and Kwan Yin are trying to escape the war. Wah To loves to study medicine but his dad disallows it. While in the camp, a girl is accused of adultery and his dad confirms it. Wah To disagrees with his dad but his dad is angered. Wah To follows the girl to town and sees that a famous doctor named Cheung, also says that she is not pregnant. From that day on, Wah To was determined to become Cheung's student. Wah To applies to be a cook at doctor Cheung's house but Cheung Miu Sum, doctor Cheung's eldest daughter, forces Wah To to leave.
During the struggle, Wah To drops a piece of jade. Cheung Miu Sum grabs it and says it belongs to her. After this confusion, Wah To discovers that she is his arranged wife. Wah To is allowed to stay but can't reveal the secrets about the marriage. Wah To treated Kwan Yin's friend and they became close friends. Later, Wah To is given three tests and he passed all three, so Doctor Cheung accepted him as his student. Now Doctor Cheung learns of the marriage. Wah To's dad refuses to let Wah To study medicine and we learn why. Wah To's dad was a very famous doctor under the Han emperor. Doctor Lee Mun and Wah were best friends. Doctor Wah finds a cure and saves the empress's life but she commits suicide later on. Lee Mun accuses Wah of killing the empress and so Wah was to be executed. Cao Cao helps spare Wah's life by being hit 30 times. Lee Mun becomes the royal doctor and Wah becomes a peasant. Cao Cao establishes a school of medicine in Xuchang. Wah To is finally allowed to study medicine. His first task is a plague but Cheung says its nothing.
Excellency Wong shows up and asks for the cause and Wah To tells him. Cheung accuses Wah To of trouble. Chueng Miu Sum pretends to contract the disease and her father reveals that it is a plague. Wah To was released to find a cure with Ng Po, a con artist. Excellency Wong's father contracts the plague. He orders a cure within four days. Wah To and Kwan Yin search for a rare flower for the cure. Wong's father dies and decides to kill Chueng. Cheung flees and meets Ng Po. They decide to scam the villagers by creating a cult that would heal and protect people from illnesses. Now no one wants to be cured by Wah To. Kwan Yu captures Ng Po and makes him look like he had contracted the plagued. Ng Po asked Wah To to cure him and Ng Po told the truth about the cult. Now everyone asks to be cured by Wah To. Doctor Cheung is humiliated and leaves for Xuchang. Coincidentally, Wah's family leaves for Xuchang also because Wah To wants to study medicine there. Ng Po travels with Wah To because no one cared for him. The two families bump into each other in Xuchang. The Cheung family stays with a rich man, who is in love with Cheung Miu Sum. The Wah family stays at an old house.
Wah To and Cheung Miu Sum fall in love but Doctor Cheung disapproves of it. Wah To agrees to work for Doctor Cheung for three years in return for study and marriage. Time progresses. Kwan Yu, Chang Fei, and Lau Bei swear an oath to be brothers to form the Shu empire, while Cao Cao made the emperor a puppet ruler. Wah To sneaks near the school of Xuchang to look inside. Coincidentally, Cao Cao and Emperor Ling are there. Wah To was seized when he noticed there was something strange about Cao Cao. Cao Cao released Wah To when he learned he was a student studying to become a doctor. One night, Cao Cao has a horrible dream and wakes up with a horrible headache. His doctor could not cure him and Cao Cao tried to kill him. The doctor flees. Cao Cao tries to excuse himself and meets Wah To.
Wah To informs Cao Cao that he could cure the headaches but Cheung shows up and says that Wah to is only a laborer. Now Cao Cao despises Wah To. Wah To is angry and leaves the Cheung's house. He opens his own medical school. Cheung Miu Sum asks the rich man who is in love with her for money. She helps Wah To open the school. When the school opened, profits dropped because Wah To was too kind and offered free treatments and gave money away. Cheung Miu Sum is very angry.
Doctor Cheung tells the rich man about Wah To and so Wah To has three weeks to repay the money. Wah To decides to cure without a store and leaves to find patients. When he was gone, Lan Ting, Cao Cao's foster daughter, shows up to the store with Cao Cao's third son, Cao Chung. Ng Po tries to con them but Lan Ting finds out and agrees that Wah To is also a con artist when Wah to returns. Wah To follows them and sees Cao Chung answer a puzzle raised by people from a different empire. Cho Chung measures the weight of an elephant by using water and weights. Lan Ting and Cho Chung are taken back by some officials. Cao Cao learns of his son's cleverness and is proud. His son however, has a heart ailment that keeps him from being active. No one can cure him. Wah To goes and works for a prostitute place and cures prostitutes.
Cheung Miu Sum mistaken that Wah To is around enjoying himself. Meanwhile, Cheung Miu Sum is forced to marry but Wah To rescues her. Cheung Miu Sum was forced to end her relationship with her family to marry Wah To. They marry at Wah To's house while it was raining. Even their bed was wet. Wah To becomes a street doctor with the help of Ng Po and Ah Orr. Cheung Miu Sum asks her mother for help but her dad takes the money back. Now Wah To is determined to get into the school. Wah To required a recommendation from an official but he wanted a bribe. Cheung Miu Sum decides to help but Wah To insults the official. Meanwhile, Cao Chung's ailments get worse and Cao Cao opens up the school to find a cure. Wah To meets Kwan Yu who offers him a job serving the Shu empire. Wah To turns him down because he wants to study in Cao Cao's school. Wah To decide to find a cure for Cao Chung. He heard rumors of a man who had the same ailments and got cured. Coincidentally, Lan Ting and Cao Chung also are on this same clue. Wah To runs into Lan Ting and Cao Chung but they have a misunderstanding, when the three find out that they are on a false lead. Cao Chung and Lan Ting fall into a pit.
Wah To jumps in to help them as the villagers went for help. In the pit, they find the body of the old man and Wah To finds some clues. As they are being lifted out, the overhead collapses and Lan Ting stops breathing. Everyone confirms that Lan Ting is dead but Wah To manages to revive her. All the villagers give him the nickname of "Wah To the Medicine God." Lan Ting finds out Wah To's purpose on the journey and is impressed. She learns of his goals to attend the school and wishes him good luck. They depart. Cheung Miu Sum works at a prostitute parlor to earn money for Wah To. Wah To and Cheung Miu Sum are embarrassed at her father's birthday. They are ordered to eat in the kitchen. Lee Mun arrives to hand an invite to the school. Cheung thought it was for him but learns that it was for Wah To. Cheung eagerly says that Wah To is his son-in-law. Wah To arrives at the school and learns the identity of Lan Ting and Cao Chung. Wah To opens up the old man's body and points to a hole in the heart and says that Cao Chung suffers from the same problems. Cao Cao promises Wah To that he could attend the school. Lee Mun is worried about his position. Wah To is given special treatment and given a very big place to stay. Lan Ting visits him regularly to help find a cure.
Lee Mun is also trying to find a cure. He wants to use an artificial method to cure Cao Chung. On the other hand, Wah To wants to use pig skin to patch up the hole and use a pain killer from Ma Fu Tong. Cheung Miu Sum is worried because he spends too much time with Lan Ting. The flower Ma Fu Tong can only be found in Shu territory. Wah To and Lan Ting go in search for the flower and are captured by a cult. They are rescued by Kwan Yu who takes them back to his camp. A spy in the camp report to Lee Mun about Wah To. Lee Mun accuses Wah To of treason to Cao Cao. Wah To's family is imprisoned along with the Cheung family. Wah To wishes to return home but Kwan Yu's generals won't allow it. Lan Ting steals Kwan Yu's seal and crossed but are captured. Later, Lan Ting convinces Kwan Yu to release them. Wah To and Lan Ting arrived home to find that Lee Mun is making preparations to heal Cao Chung by the artificial method. Wah To reveals that the method would poison Cao Chung's blood and later kill him. Cao Cao is angry at Lee Mun but still orders for Wah To and his family to be executed.
Wah To tells Cao Cao that he can cure Cao Chung. Cao Cao delays the execution for three hours. Wah To operated on Cao Chung by inserting pig meat and used the flower as painkiller. After the operation, Cao Chung still did not wake up. Wah To understood the reason and ordered some noodles to be brought to Cao Chung. Cao Chung smelled the noodles and woke up. Wah to explained that the effects of the flower had worn off already but Cao Chung fell asleep. He woke up because he was hungry. Cao Cao awarded Wah To the position of royal doctor and demoted Lee Mun. Wah To wanted to find a cure for Cao Cao but Cao Cao refused and said he was not sick. There was a huge battle to be fought but Cao Cao fell ill with headaches. Wah To gave him some sleeping potion and when Cao Cao woke up he was angry. However, he found out that the battle was won because the other side wanted to anger Cao Cao into attacking without preparations. Cao Cao invites Wah To and his wife to attend a party with the emperor. Cheung Miu Sum gets embarrassed at the party because all the other ladies had fine jewels and a big house.
Cao Cao visits Wah To's house to find it old and unsuitable for living. Cao Cao sat on a chair, named by Ng Po. Wah To showed him some exercises but Cao Cao fell asleep because the movements were very slow. Cao Cao gave the family a huge house to live in the next day. Cao Cao takes Lan Ting and Wah To to battle with him. The battle was between Cao Cao and Kwan Yu. Wah To learns of Cao Cao's ruthlessness. When Wah To returned home, he finds that his wife had changed. She only cared for riches. One day, Cao Cao had a headache and ordered Wah To to come. Wah To was busy with another patient so sent his student. Cao Cao was angered but Wah To eventually came. From that day on, Cao Cao restricted Wah To to the school. Lee Mun comes up with an idea to poison the waters of the enemies. He convinces Cao Cao to order Wah To to come up with the poison. Wah To refuses and is ordered to be executed. Lan Ting comes up with a plan.
She promises the poison but delays it. Kwan Yu helps by not wedding his daughter so there is no war to be fought. Cheung Miu Sum notices a change in Wah To. He was leaving early and coming home late. She also found a hairpin in Wah To's bed. One day she saw Lan Ting with Wah To. They were practicing exercises. She accuses Wah To of having an affair. Cao Cao hears of this and asks Lan Ting if she had feelings for Wah To. Lan Ting says yes because she wants to protect Wah To. Lan Ting does have strong feelings for Wah To but knows that he only loves his wife. Cao Cao orders Lan Ting and Wah To to be married because he wants Wah To to be in his family. From then on, Wah To had to follow Cao Cao's orders. After the marriage, Cao Cao promoted Wah to to be general so Wah To had to develop the poison. Lan Ting comes up with a plan and embarrasses Wah To in front of Cao Cao's generals. The generals protest and Wah To does not have to go to battle. Cao Cao ordered Wah To to make the poison within ten days or his family will die. Wah To and Lan Ting ask for Kuan Yu's help.
Kuan Yu helps the family escape but Cheung wanted to stay for the riches. Kuan Yu forces them to board but Cao Cao orders troops to stop the escape. Lan Ting saves Wah To and she is captured. Lan Ting is put in prison and Cao Cao attacks Kuan Yu's camp to capture Wah To. Wah To helps heal the soldiers and ignores Cheung Miu Sum because he blames her for Lan Ting's capture. Kwan Yu is hit by a poison arrow and Wah To saves his life. Cao Cao goes crazy and kills many students at the school. Lee Mun escapes and informs Wah To. Wah To returns to heal Cao Cao and rescue Lan Ting. Before he leaves, Wah To tells Cheung Miu Sum that he loves her. Wah To returns and agrees to heal Cao Cao under three conditions: restore the school, Wah To wanted to write a book of his life's work, and thirdly the release of Lan Ting. Cao Cao agrees. Lee Mun wants to keep the book of Wah To for himself because Wah To wanted to redistribute it to everyone.
The surgery is being prepared and Kwan Yu is slain. Cao Cao orders a celebration for Kwan Yu. Wah To grieves for his death. On the day of the surgery, Wah To wore a headband to remember Kwan Yu. Cao Cao was angered and ordered Wah to to be locked up. He also burned all his books. Cao Cao allowed Wah To to rewrite the book. When it was almost finished, Wah To told his wife to retrieve the final pages in his room. Lee Mun tricked Cheung Miu Sum and took the copy. It accidentally got burned except several pages. Chueng Miu Sum took these pages away. In his cell, Wah To tried desperately to rewrite his book. Wah To coughed out blood and died. Cao Cao died shortly because he knew no one could heal him again. After this, the Cheung and Wah family open up a doctor office and completed Wah To's dream. The last pages of his book was given to all students. In another part of China, Lan Ting is teaching people how to do exercises. She reveals the method of the mythical doctor Wah To.
What about the cast
Felix Wong played a very good Cao Cao. He is such a good actor that it makes this series worth watching. Felix also appears in many series like "Legend of the Condor Heroes 1982" and the "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils". Lam Man Lung as Wah To also did a good job. He appears in series like "A Colorful Life" and "Witness to a Prosecution".
Best supporting actor
Wan Yeung Ming as Kuan Yin
Best supporting actress
? as Lan Ting
Best villain portrayal
Felix Wong as Cao Cao
Worst character portrayal
Chung Lai Kai as Wah Yuk
A little history
The legend of Wah To is very famous. He was rumored to have lived around 145 AD to 265 AD. According to the series, Wah To was much younger than Cao Cao and Cao Cao dies in 220 AD shortly after Wah To's death. Wah To then was probably born around 185 to 190 AD. The series starts with the formation of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu. Towards the end of the Han dynasty in 220 AD, China was demoralized and plagued by natural disasters and corruption within the government. Cao Cao rose from the son of a palace eunuch into a very powerful general. He controlled the emperor and the palace. Cao Cao also successful placed his son on throne. After Cao Cao's death in 220 AD, his son became emperor and established the Wei dynasty (220-265). The Wei dynasty was the all-powerful kingdom and conquered Shu in 263 and Wu in 280 AD. Cao Cao was probably born in 155 AD. He suppressed the Yellow Scarves Rebellion in 184 AD and became even more powerful. Emperor Ling was forced to seek his protection but Cao Cao placed the emperor as a puppet. Cao Cao had locked Wah To in prison because he was very paranoid. He didn't refused for Wah To to operate on his head. Wah To died in prison and all his works were burned.
Watch it or forget it
I disliked the ending because in the beginning, the viewers already know what happened. It ruins the story. There were many scenes that were boring. The love story between Wah To and Cheung Miu Sum was also boring. I wanted Wah To to leave her and run away with Lan Ting. The cast is what makes this series worth watching not the story. There is another TVB adaptation to the character of Cao Cao called "Where the Legend Begins".
The song is named : 雨一直下 one of them is the trailer from the movie and the other is not. The trailer is Cantonese and the other one is Mandarin. Enjoy !!!
October 9
This morning because my mom forgot to get my lunch and I came to school late. At school he and my friends already there, I walked pass the lower patio to go to my class I saw him already half way to the basketball court. I saw he looked back at my direction, I wonder did he saw me or not but then he continue his way. When I reach to my class my friends told me that he went away, I said I know I saw him. She said because he came but didn't see me only her and another friends of mine so he left. I told he he doesn't like me at all why she said that, just like I'm so special or important to him. She said because the other days when I'm there he sits like a few feet away and wait for his friends. Today he's not he only stays for a little bit then left. I told her I don't know, then like five minutes after she told me that I saw him come back and sits where he used to and wait for his friends. She made me feel so so so happy for the whole day, I don't know is it true or not. There always lots of questions between me and him, he said he doesn't like me and he already have a girlfriend, but he always acts like he likes me, what is going on ? When I walked to my second period class, I walked pass him because he was at the door, drinking Caprisun. "Hey, you have a dollar ?" He asked and I turned back immediately in surprise, "What the..""Just kidding, " he smiled back and said. It made me even more happy, and I gain more hope in him but as I having more hope and one day he'll say he doesn't like me at all I will be more disappoint. At lunch he asked me for a dollar again I asked why he need a dollar he just said he needs to buy something. I didn't want to let him borrow it, but I love him how could I say "no" to him especially when his cute face is smiling at me with his cute voice saying "please" so many times how could I say "no". I let him borrow it but I kept telling him to give it back on Monday, he was drinking his water and told me to give it to his friend, Nathan, who is standing next to him. When I gave it to Nathan I think he did said "thank you", it's the first time ever when ask me to do something for him and he said "thank you". Then I came back to my friends, one of them said he'll never give back my dollar to me, just like when he borrow her 50 cents and never give back. Another said I have to stop doing what he told me to because he doesn't like me at all, he just taking advantages off from me. They seem to forgot that whenever I do something for him I always think about it before I do it. So I told them that I want to see will he treats me different from my friends or not, will he give back my dollar on Monday or not. Then when we transit from fifth to sixth period I stop at their class like always and when I walked pass him. He saw me and, "Hey, Tiana." I turned back and looked at him while he smile after he called me and walk to me also taking out something from his pocket. I still look at him and he told me that I can have my dollar back because he doesn't need it anymore and he put it on the desk that is near us. From that time, the whole day, until now, and maybe will be in the future until I know the answer it will always be in my mind. I kept wondering is it true that he did really need a dollar or he and his friends just want to see will I let him lend money or not. After I gave him my money and explain to my friends, I turned my attention back at him again and I saw he and his friends standing at the corner talking and laughing and looking at me or my direction. I don't really know why, but I'm still happy about my day nothing bad happen, he talked to me just like his friends, he smiled at me and joking with, great day.
PS I love you
PS I love you
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