Episode 1 to 13 of 《祖先保佑》("Blessings")

《祖先保佑》("Blessings") is a MediaCorp drama that had started airing on Channel 8, on 23 July 2014, every Monday to Friday at 9 pm.

Lian Wending (played by Shaun Chen) was the only son of Lian Xuegeng (played by Li Wenhai), the boss of "Xiji". "Xiji" was a famous traditional Teochew pastry shop in Singapore in the 1940s. Lian Wending was in love with a songstress Lin Xiaomei (played by Jesseca Liu) but his father arranged for him to marry a rich merchant's daughter, Sun Xiulan (played by Sora Ma).

Xiaomei was upset over Wending's decision to marry Xiulan. At about the same time, Xiaomei's mother (her only kin on earth) passed away. Xiaomei lost hope and attempted suicide at a river. Wending, upon receiving her suicide note, ran to the river and tried to save her. The next moment, he was saved by someone at a swimming pool. He was delighted to see a woman whom he thought was Xiaomei. It turned out that the woman just happened to look like Xiaomei. 

He had a hard time trying to get back to "Xiji". He was fortunate to meet a kind hearted girl, Ouyang Xuan (played by Youyi) who brought him back to "Xiji" and offered him some doughnuts to fill his stomach. 

Upon arriving at "Xiji", Wending realised that it looked quite different and the bosses were Lian Daxi (played by Chen Hanwei) and Lian Shuangxi (played by Yao Wenlong). Business at "Xiji" wasn't good either. It took him some time to realise that he had actually travelled forward through time, from 1948 to present day (2014) Singapore. Lian Daxi and Lian Shuangxi were his (future) grandsons. Lian Shuangxi had a wife named Du Shini (played by Yvonne Lim) and a daughter. Lian Daxi and Lian Shuangxi thought Wending was their relative from China and took him in. Wending was a very competent pastry chef and proved to be of great help to "Xiji" .

Lian Mengyong (played by Chen Shucheng), father of Daxi and Shuangxi, recognized Wending as his father when he first saw him. Mengyong was senile so nobody believed Mengyong when Mengyong said Wending was his father.

Subsequently, Daxi tested the DNA of Wending and Lian Mengyong and showed that they were father and son respectively. As Wending looked so young, naturally people thought of him as the son. Who would have thought that he had travelled from the past to the present?

Wending also got to know the woman who looked like Xiaomei as She Meiren (played by Jesseca Liu), the boss of a chain of bakery shops called "Le Kalla" in Singapore and also the boss of a nail shop. She Meiren was also the godsister of Ouyang Xuan. 

Wenrou (played by Sora Ma), Du Shini's cousin from Malaysia came to Singapore later. Wending was shocked to find that Wenrou looked so much like Xiulan, his fiancee from the 1940s. Initially, Wenrou set her eyes on Daxi and treated him and his family very well hoping that Daxi would get her to be his girlfriend and, eventually, his wife. She appeared to be very virtuous. However, after some time, she realized that the girl whom Daxi loved was Ouyang Xuan. By then, she herself also had a change of heart. She was pretty much impressed with Wending. So she initiated a breakup with Daxi and tried to get on Wending's good books. 

Initially, Wending had a few misunderstandings about She Meiren and thought that she was a shrew. Eventually he got to know that she was actually a very kind soul beneath the strong and seemingly "heartless" exterior. He fell in love with her and they began going steady .

There were a few scenes which showed Wenrou eavesdropping on the conversation between Wending and Daxi, peeking at the contents of Daxi's laptop and checking on Meiren's background. That got me thinking. Was Wenrou as good as she seemed to be? Now, I am wondering how the story would go on. Could it be that Wenrou was actually not that virtuous? Maybe even devious? There were also a few occasions when Mengyong saw Meiren and called her "mum". Could it be that Wending travelled to the present so that he could make the right decision on his life partner in the 1940s (apart from the task of reviving the business of "Xiji")? I shall continue to watch to find out.

On a side note, there was this song "明月千里寄相思" sung by Xiaomei in the drama. I thought it sounded very much like it was sung by Jesseca Liu herself and I checked the credits shown at the end of one of the drama episodes. Indeed, it was sung by Jesseca Liu. Perhaps MediaCorp should consider giving her a role in a musical drama if they ever do film one.

Related post:

Episode 14 to Episode 20 (Last Episode) of 《祖先保佑》("Blessings")

Episodes 2 to 24 of 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2")

After watching so many episodes of 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2"), it's time for me to provide an update on the story so far.

The lady who looked like Zhang Xiao was a model named Lan Lan. Yin Zheng was the stepson of Kang Zhentian.

Zhang Xiao had an accident in one of the earlier episodes and lost a part of her memory; in particular, her memories of her past life and her recent encounter with Yin Zheng. She got to know another guy, named Kang Sihan, who turned out to be the eldest biological son of Kang Zhentian. They subsequently fell in love.

Yin Zheng, on the other hand, got to know Lan Lan. Thinking that she was the woman he had been looking for all his life, he fell deeply in love with her without knowing much about her past. He also thought Lan Lan was the lady whom he had met at the museum.

It turned out that Lan Lan used to be an assistant of Yin Zheng's uncle, Yin Chenggui. Yin Chengui was involved in illegal activities in Thailand. Lan Lan failed to run away from Yin Chenggui's control and subsequently suffered injuries from a car explosion. This might be due to her disobeying Yin Chenggui's instructions. She was badly disfigured. She subsequently ran away from the hospital.

At around this time, Zhang Xiao's father came into the picture and revealed to Zhang Xiao that she had a twin sister. So, instantly, Zhang Xiao knew that Lan Lan was her twin sister who was separated from her since young. What was unexpected was that Zhang Xiao's father was not her biological father. He just happened to save Zhang Xiao's mum and brought her to the hospital. Zhang Xiao's mum passed away after giving birth to Zhang Xiao and Lan Lan. Zhang Xiao's adopted father did not have much income then and could only afford to raise one child. Thus, he gave Lan Lan to another family for adoption.

It also turned out that the lady in the picture which Kang Zhentian had was the biological mother of Zhang Xiao and Lan Lan. Their biological father was a good friend of Kang Zhentian. Zhang Xiao's adopted father was the expedition guide who led Kang Zhentian and his friends on the expedition in the 1980s.

Yin Zheng was demoted to be the manager of the logistics department after he got Zhang Xiao to pose as Lan Lan to act in their company's mini-movie. Kang Sihan was naturally promoted to be the acting Vice President of the company. Yin Chenggui somehow managed to fake the death of Lan Lan to make Yin Zheng get over her and work on taking over Zhen Tian Corporation.

At this time, Zhang Xiao's best friend, Xinyi came back from overseas. As it turned out, Kang Sihan was the ex-boyfriend of Xinyi. However, Xinyi would not give up on him and was bent on reconciling with him. Zhang Xiao, being a very kind hearted girl, did not want to hurt Xinyi. Hence, she kept her relationship with Sihan a secret and decided to give up Sihan. In episode 23, we realized that Xinyi was pregnant with Sihan's baby. Upon knowing this, Zhang Xiao was even more determined to break off with Sihan. Sihan finally proposed to Xinyi after much internal conflict. 

In episode 24, Yin Chenggui somehow managed to insert snapshots and videos of Sihan and Zhang Xiao's moments spent together (which he got someone to take secretly during the couple's trip to Hong Kong) on the slideshow that was shown to their (Sihan and Xinyi) wedding guests. 

• Qoo10 - DVD Scarlet Heart 步步惊心 (Eng Sub) Complete Series China Drama : CD

• Qoo10 - DVD Scarlet Heart II / Scarlet Heart 2 步步惊情 (Eng Sub) Complete Series ... : CD

Episode 1 of 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2")

Yay! MediaCorp had started broadcasting the TV drama Serial《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2")  last night at 10 pm on channel U. from Mondays to Fridays. I was pretty much looking forward to this. 《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2") was the sequel to《步步惊心》 ("Scarlet Heart").

《步步惊情》("Scarlet Heart 2") started off with emperor Yong Zheng (played by Nicky Wu 吴奇隆) saying "If you can't return to this world, I'll look for you in your world". He put a jade ring and hairpin in a small treasure chest and gave instructions for the treasure chest to be sent to the northwest - Ruoxi's  homeland. On their journey to the northwest, the troops escorting the treasure chest and other valuables met a sandstorm. 

Fast forward to the 1980s. Five guys went on an expedition to find the legendary treasure chest. They met with a tornado, survived it and miraculously found the treasure.

Now, back to the modern era. Zhang Xiao (played by Cecilia Liu 刘诗诗) woke up from her coma in the hospital. For three months, she kept visiting the museum every day to look at those paintings and other stuff that were once familiar to her. 

One day, she saw a person who looked like emperor Yong Zheng (played by Nicky Wu) and tears just kept flowing down her cheeks. Later she found out that he was the manager of Zhen Tian Corporation and his name is Yin Zheng. She subsequently applied for a job there and her interviewer was someone who looked like the tenth prince. This tenth prince look-a-like did not intend to employ her. The chairman (played by Damian Lau 刘松仁) of the Zhen Tian Corporation happened to pass by, had a short conversation with Zhang Xiao and decided to employ her. Later, he instructed his staff to do a family background check on Zhang Xiao. Then, there was a scene which showed a picture of a lady with long hair who looked like Zhang Xiao. Now, I am wondering. What was the relationship between the chairman, the lady in the picture and Zhang Xiao?

Episode 1 ended with Zhang Xiao walking at the stairway. She saw a lady who was dressed in a Qing dynasty costume fall down. When that lady got up, Zhang Xiao was shocked! She looked like herself (Zhang Xiao). Was that lady Ruoxi? Now, who is who?

I shall continue to watch and find out the answers. 


Related posts:

《步步惊心》 (Scarlet Heart)

Quotes from Episode 14 of 《球在你脚下》("World at Your Feet")

《球在你脚下》("World at Your Feet") is a MediaCorp production and is currently airing on Channel 8, from Monday to Friday at 9 pm.

I like these lines from last night's episode (episode 14).

梅仁信: 其实人生就像喝这杯茶一样，会苦一阵子，可绝对不会苦一辈子。

叶来香: 因为会越冲越淡。

梅仁信: 淡一点好啊！人生就是要简单，太浓的东西对人生不好。

Which can be translated as:

 Mei Ren Xin: Life is like this cup of tea. It may taste bitter for a while but it won't be bitter forever.

Ye Lai Xiang: The more water you add, the more bland it becomes.

Mei Ren Xin: The more bland, the better! Life should be simple. It's no good if it gets too complicated. 

• Qoo10 - [MediaCorp] World At Your Feet TV Drama Series (water bottle_pendant s... : Sports / Outdoor...

《细水长流》"Youthful Aspirations" on TesTube

I happened to see the Trailer on 《细水长流》"Youthful Aspirations" yesterday afternoon. What drew my attention to the trailer was, of course, the song 《细水长流》, which was one of my favourite songs. I had no idea what type of show and what TesTube were all about then. So I watched the telecast on Channel 8 last night at 10.30 pm.

I realized that《细水长流》"Youthful Aspirations" is a TV musical drama with Romeo Tan （陈罗密欧）, Rebecca Lim （林慧玲）, Xu Bin （徐彬）and Julie Tan（陈欣淇）as the main cast. TesTube is a brand new showcase of content where the audience gets to influence what goes on television, the Internet and social media. Viewers can watch, rate and vote for the drama of their choice. We were told at the end of the 30 minutes telecast that we could go to meclub.sg or xinmsn.com/Testube to cast our votes so that MediaCorp will decide whether they would make it into a drama serial.

I think this is something different/fresh for the local Chinese drama serial scene. I have always liked musical plays so I really welcome the idea of making《细水长流》"Youthful Aspirations" into a musical drama serial and incorporate 新谣 into the drama.  I also liked the pairing of Romeo Tan （陈罗密欧） and Rebecca Lim （林慧玲）, Xu Bin （徐彬）  and Julie Tan （陈欣淇） too. 

What sets a musical play apart from a drama serial would be the difference in the backdrop used and the duration/length of the story. In the case of a musical play, it's performed on a live stage so the backdrop would be limited and not as real as a drama serial which can be filmed outdoors with many different places as the backdrop. With more time, a drama serial can also develop the story further.

If you liked this show, remember to cast your vote at xinmsn.com so that we can see this made into a drama serial soon.

Last Episode of 《千金》("Precious")

The last episode of《千金》("Precious") (Episode 34) was shown on 28 Feb 2014, MediaCorp Channel 8.

In this episode, Qianjin (played by Jeanette Aw) finally figured out that the An family's secret prescription could be in the sandalwood beads that her mum had already given her. She used a chair's leg to smash the beads and found a small note with an address in Beiping on it. She passed the note to Li Chuanzong (her boyfriend, the adopted grandson of Li Dahai) to find out more about it. 

Qianjin and her cousin, Ling Zhichu (played by Dai Xiangyu) then went on to confront Li Dahai, the person who killed Qianjin's maternal grandmother, An Tianlan and was also responsible for the deaths of An Tianlan's maternal family and husband. Qianjin told Li Dahai she had already found the secret prescription but she would not give it to him. 

Li Dahai then grabbed hold of Qianjin as a hostage to get them to give him the secret prescription. Ling Zhichu, in the process of trying to save Qianjin, accidentally killed Li Dahai. Ling Zhichu then instructed Qianjin to tell the police and other people that he was the one who killed Li Dahai. He would hide in the mountains and continue his work with the guerrillas. 

Xinyi, the adopted granddaughter of Huang Yuena, was upset that Ling Zhichu and Li Chuanzong both did not want to marry her. She hated Qianjin, so she put a lethal poison in the ginseng soup that Qianjin made for Huang Yuena. She was thinking of killing two birds with one stone. She could kill Huang Yuena and put the blame on Qianjin. She would never have thought that Xinrui (Xinyi's sister) would be the one who drank the soup, was poisoned, vomitted blood and died. She came in too late to stop Xinrui from drinking the soup. Xinyi was extremely upset, went crazy and stabbed Qianjin. Huang Yuena shouted for help and her servants came in to catch Xinyi. Huang Yuena ordered the servants to kill Xinyi but Qianjin, in her weakened state, still pleaded with Huang Yuena to let Xinyi go. 

The next scene, Qianjin went to visit Li Chuanzong. Li Chuanzong told her he had gone to find the address she had given him. It was a treasure trove of the An family. There was no secret prescription. Qianjin gave the treasure to Li Chuanzong to help them fight against the Japanese and said she would wait for him. 

The show ended in the modern day (2011) with a group of tourists visiting "千金汤"，a shop that served herbal soup which was opened by Li Chuanzong and Qianjin before Li Chuanzong went off to fight the Japanese. In the group of tourists, there was a guy who looked like Ling Chaoyan (Qianjin's father, played by 霍震谚).

When this Ling Chaoyan look-alike was looking at a stick of candy, there was a flashback of Ling Chaoyan and Xiruo (Qianjin's mother, also played by Jeanette Aw). Then a girl who looked like Xiruo came, took the stick of candy from the guy and commented that the stick of candy looked interesting. She then introduced herself as Huang Peishan and was in the same tour group as him. He then introduced himself as Ling Yiran. This whole scene was similar to how Ling Chaoyan and Xiruo got to know each other except that this time round, it was the girl who took the initiative to talk to the guy (it is 2011, after all).

Presumably Ling Yiran and Huang Peishan should be the descendants of Ling Zhichu and Qianjin respectively. There was no mention of their actual identities, so I could only guess this much. Perhaps those flashbacks of Ling Chaoyan and Xiruo was to hint to viewers that Ling Yiran and Huang Peishan were the reincarnations of Ling Chaoyan and Xiruo, respectively? 

Below are just some of my thoughts on this drama:

1. Huang Yuena had known that her son, Yakun, had been secretly visiting Xiruo and helping her. When Huang Yuena got someone to burn Xiruo's house, I don't understand why she told the person to do it as soon as possible. Shouldn't she tell the person to make sure Yakun was not at Xiruo's house before doing it? In the end, Yakun was burnt to death in the fire while saving Xiruo and her unborn daughter.

2. It was very sad that such a nice girl like Xinrui should die in such a manner - poisoned to death.

3. There was no mention of what happened to Xinyi later. Was she arrested for murder? 

4. We were also not sure what happened to Ling Zhichu and Li Chuanzong. Did they survive the war? 

5. Did Qianjin ever get married and to whom? 

6. Why should Qianjin visit Li Dahai just to tell him she had found the secret prescription but she would not give it to him? 

7. The An family's secret prescription which Li Dahai kept harping on, turned out to be just a treasure trove. Why in the world would someone claim to have a secret prescription and run the risk of having the whole family killed for it when it did not even exist?

Nevertheless, it was still an interesting drama to watch. Apart from the fact that Xiruo is a mute girl just like Juxiang in 《小娘惹》"The Little Nonya", there were very little similarities between the plot of 《千金》("Precious") and《小娘惹》"The Little Nonya"

Cast of 《信约：动荡的年代》"The Journey : Tumultuous Times"

The names of the actors and actresses who will be cast in 《信约：动荡的年代》"The Journey: Tumultuous Times" were released yesterday on xinmsn.com.

Jeanette Aw will be acting as Hong Ming Hui and Andie Chen will be acting as Hong Dang Yong - the children of Hong Shi and Yazi. Romeo Tan will be acting as Zhang Yan, the son of Zhang Tianpeng and Mingzhu. Felicia Chin will be acting as Zhang Min, the adopted daughter of the Zhang Tianying and Huiniang. The actor to portray the son of Zhang Tianying and Huiniang has yet to be confirmed. Click here for details.

As what I have expected, the story of《信约：动荡的年代》"The Journey : Tumultuous Times" will revolve around the children of the three couples ( Hong Shitou and Yazi, Zhang Tianying and Huiniang, Zhang Tianpeng and Mingzhu).

Tumultuous Times will be set in Singapore during the 1940s to 1960s and slated for a year-end broadcast in November this year. 

Looking forward to it. 

Related posts:

《信约：动荡的年代》"The Journey : Tumultuous Times"
Episodes 29 and 30 of 《信约：动荡的年代》"The Journey : Tumultuous Times" (Last Two Episodes)
Quotes from Episode 18 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"
Episode 30 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"
Last Episode of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

 (Last Two Episodes)

《潜行狙击》 ("Lives of Omission")

《潜行狙击》("Lives of Omission") is a 2011 Hong Kong television drama produced by TVB that is currently airing on MediaCorp Channel U at 10 pm, every Mondays to Fridays.

One of the main characters in the drama was "Laughing Sir" (played by Michael Tse 谢天华). This character was a spin off from the TVB's successful television crime drama 学警狙击 (Emergency Unit), another drama that I had enjoyed watching.

In 《潜行狙击》("Lives of Omission"), "Laughing Sir" was an experienced undercover officer and had returned to the Hong Kong Police Force force working as station sergeant of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB).

It was very interesting and exciting to watch the police officers going undercover, how they went about busting those crime syndicates and catching the criminals. 

Last night, Tarzan (a drug dealer) and his triad members were caught by the police just when Lajiang (a leader and member of the Yee Fung triad, played by Ben Wong 黄智贤 ) was leaving Tarzan's territory after striking a deal with Tarzan. In the meantime, Michael (played by Bosco Wong 黄宗泽), Laughing's informant, burnt the warehouse of Tarzan which contained the drug Ketamine. I had thought it was Michael who called the police to get rid of Lajiang. We were in for a surprise. 

The next scene, Harry Kung (played by Damian Lau 刘松仁), the senior superintendent of CIB, came into the interrogation room. Lajiang told Harry Kung that he just happened to go there to relief himself. Harry claimed that Lajiang's acting skills were too lousy. Lajiang further said that he was sent by Harry to go undercover in the Yee Fung triad for many years and nobody had ever suspected him. That was quite unexpected. Interesting! 

We wondered how many more undercover officers were there in Yee Fung triad that were not made known to us yet? We shall see... 

《千金》("Precious")

《千金》("Precious") is a TV drama that started airing on MediaCorp Channel 8 from 10 Jan 2014, at 11 pm on weekdays. 

I have read from somewhere that this drama serial was supposed to be the remake of 《小娘惹》( "Little Nonya") but was heavily edited to suit the Chinese context for viewers in China, with Jeanette Aw and Dai Xiangyu (previously known as Dai Yangtian) as two of the drama cast. I was quite eager to watch it even though I don't usually watch TV shows at this time slot.

When I first saw the shots on TV, I thought the setting of the drama was in the Republic of China (中华民国) era. However, when I watched the first episode, I was surprised to see the actors and actresses dressed in Qing dynasty costumes. As I watched further, I realized that 《千金》("Precious") was set in the period of the late Qing to the Republic of China (中华民国). 

千金 usually refers to girls born into rich families. However, in episode 3, I learnt that in Xicheng, only girls who were born into rich families with some form of disability were referred to as 千金  (at least that was what they said in the show). 

Up till now, I find that the similarities between 《千金》("Precious") and《小娘惹》( "Little Nonya") were not that apparent. It was like an entirely different story. If I have never read about it being the Chinese version of 《小娘惹》( "Little Nonya"), I probably would not notice any linkage between the two dramas.

So far, so good...

Last Episode of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

In the last Episode of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage", Mingzhu found out that Dong-en had been coughing out blood and urged him to see a doctor. Dong-en then told her he was actually poisoned and there was no cure for that. He also told her about his plans to cancel his engagement with his bride-to-be from China and that he had already made a will to ensure that his business would have a successor and that his grandmother, Mingzhu, Huiniang as well as Xiuxiang would be well provided for even after he passed away.

Zhang Tianying, Huiniang and Zhang Tianpeng managed to sell their ointment to some shops on consignment basis and also used the ointment to help the poor people. 

Zhang Tianpeng managed to find Hong Shi and persuaded him to go back to his wife and son. Hong Shi told him that he was very much perturbed by the fact the Yazi had previously allowed Heilong to carry her on the street without any struggles and ate the porridge that Heilong bought for her. Zhang Tianpeng went to look for Yazi and asked her about this matter. Yazi explained to him that at that time, she was near starvation and ate some wild mushrooms which happened to be poisonous. Heilong managed to save her in time but she was already very weak. She had no strength to struggle and she ate the porridge because she wanted to keep the baby (Hong Shi's child) in her alive. She said she believed that Hong Shi was still alive. She was willing to wait for him to return, even if it meant a lifetime. She was even willing to wait for him in her next life if he did not come back in this lifetime.

Hong Shi then appeared in front of Yazi. While I expected Yazi to be overcome with joy and run to Hong Shi, it seemed that she nearly fainted. Heilong suddenly appeared and wanted to shoot both Zhang Tianpeng and Hong Shi. The three of them started fighting. Somehow, Heilong and Hong Shi slid over the edge of a cliff with Heilong pulling/holding onto Hong Shi's feet. Zhang Tianpeng managed to grab hold of Hong Shi's hands in time. Yazi then took a big rock and threw it at Heilong, causing Heilong to fall to his death.

Before Dong-en set off to China, he paid a visit to Huiniang in Singapore. He also bethrothed Huiniang to Zhang Tianying. After Dong-en left for China, Huiniang dreamt of him telling her that he had left and would not be able to see her children. Huiniang woke up feeling very upset. Then, we were shown a scene of Dong-en lying on the floor motionless followed by a scene of a ship. It seemed that he died on the ship. I was actually quite sad to see that a good person like Dong-en should die in this manner -poisoned to death and died on board a ship.

Throughout the show, Xiuxiang had mentioned several times that the Zhang's (Dong-en's) ancestors had done many evil deeds and this caused them to have no descendants. At the end of this drama, with the demise of Dong-en, they had no more descendants. Maybe this was to prepare us for this eventuality? But more importantly, this was caused by Zhang Guangda! 

I was glad that at the end of the drama, Mingzhu finally ended up with Zhang Tianpeng and they both had a son. Zhang Tianying and Huiniang had a son and a daughter. Yazi and Hong Shi subsequently had another daughter.

《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage" was supposed to be the first part of a trilogy planned by MediaCorp. I wonder if the second part of "The Journey" would revolved around the children of the three couples mentioned above? We shall see...

Related Posts:

Quotes from Episode 18 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

Episode 30 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

• Qoo10 - [MediaCorp] The Journey: A Voyage TV Drama Series (drinking glasses_po... : Household Goods

Episode 30 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

Last night was the second last episode of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage". Zhang Guangda (played by Terence Cao) wanted to beat his concubine, Mingzhu to death. Dong-en (played by Elvin Ng) tried to stop him but was not his match. Zhang Tianpeng (played by Li Nanxing) came to their house in time to save Mingzhu (played by Chris Tong) and brought her to the hospital. Dong-en was held captive by Guangda and was fed mercury laden poison for refusing to reveal the true location of the tin granary. According to Guangda, this would not kill Dong-en immediately but his health will go downhill day by day.

Zhang Tianpeng went back to Dong-en's place but was arrested by the police. At this point, I was wondering who else could save Dong-en. Ardon then said must be Heilong (played by Pierre Png) - you need a baddie to deal with baddie. True enough, Zhang Guang Da was killed by Heilong. Incidentally, Charlie Zhang happened to see Heilong walked out from the crime scene and he too was shot dead by Heilong. So Heilong indirectly saved Zhang Tianpeng and Dong-en.

All this while, Huiniang (Dong-en sister, played by Joanne Peh) was in Singapore with Tianying. Dong-en had entrusted her with the task of passing the documents containing details of the new tin granary to their granduncle in Singapore. Huiniang was also the one who informed Zhang Tianpeng about Zhang Guangda's intention to kill Mingzhu. While Zhang Tianpeng went to Malaysia to save Mingzhu, Huiniang stayed behind in Singapore and helped Zhang Tianying produced a new ointment. 

After Zhang Guangda's death, Zhang Tianpeng told Mingzhu that he would wait for her as he knew Mingzhu would want to stay behind to look after her mother-in-law who got stroke. Mingzhu told him she would not leave even if her mother-in-law passed away. She wanted to be in control of her destiny. Zhang Tianpeng told her he too, wanted to be in control of his own destiny, so he would continue to wait for her.

Tonight is the last episode of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage". Will Mingzhu end up with Zhang Tianpeng? Who will Huiniang end up with? Will Hong Shi be able to kick his opium addiction and reunite with his wife, Yazi (played by Jeannette Aw)?  What will be the ending for a bad guy like Heilong? We shall see tonight, at 9 pm on Channel 8.


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Quotes from Episode 18 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"
Last Episode of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

• Qoo10 - [MediaCorp] The Journey: A Voyage TV Drama Series (drinking glasses_po... : Household Goods

Curry Chicken

Cooking curry chicken used to be a daunting task. My late grandma was a nonya and was very good at cooking curry. Whenever she wanted to cook curry, she would put all the spices needed into a motar and pound them to make the curry paste. She would make coconut milk the traditional way by adding water to shredded coconut, placed them in a cloth to squeeze out the coconut milk just like what 蕙娘 Huiniang (played by Joanne Peh) did in the TV drama serial 《信约：唐山到南洋》 ("The Journey: A Voyage"). So basically, everything was freshly made from scratch.

Now, there are so many different brands and types of curry paste. However, I was not satisfied with the end result I had with most of the curry paste that I had tried. So, I had to combine curry powder with some sambal chilli paste and salt to get the taste and colour of the curry gravy that I wanted. 

Recently, I bought the A1 Instant Chicken Curry Sauce for cooking the curry chicken.

This was what I did. 

1. After peeling the potatoes, I put them in a bowl of salt water to prevent them from oxidising and to add a bit of saltiness to them.

2. I heated some oil in a wok and stir fried some garlic in it. 

3. Next, I put in all the chicken pieces (1.2 kg) and potatoes (300 g), then added all of the A1 Instant Chicken Curry Sauce. Mixed well, added water.

4. When the mixture started to boil, I added 2 packets of the Kara UHT Natural Coconut Cream (200 ml each, actually one packet would be good enough). Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and it was ready to serve.

The taste was just right - spicy and salty enough. I didn't even have to add more seasoning to the curry. Just what I wanted. :)

Quotes from Episode 18 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage" is MediaCorp's blockbuster of the year.  It is currently airing on channel 8 at 9 pm, Monday to Friday. 

Quotes from Episode 18:

善恶都在心。
心正则正，心恶则恶。
所以我们要时时刻刻警惕自己，
要行正道而非歪道。

which was translated as:

It's our intentions that make us good or bad.
We can decide to be good or bad.
So we have to constantly remind ourselves to keep to the right track.


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Episode 30 of 《信约：唐山到南洋》"The Journey: A Voyage"

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Final Episode of 《小小传奇》("Gonna Make It")

Oscar was accused of putting "Black and White" company's benefits at risk by the shareholders and was relieved of his duties as CEO. Wenya was chosen as the new CEO. 

As soon as she became the CEO of "Black and White", she thwarted the expansion plans of Black and White in Beijing in order to spite Oscar. Mei Na (played by Lin Meijiao), together with 2 more shareholders decided to get Oscar back as CEO of Black and White. She said Wenya was not suitable to be the CEO of Black and White because the things Wenya did was not in the benefits of the company. Oscar, on the other hand, did not do anything to harm the company. Oscar then resumed his post as the CEO of Black and White.

After Xiao Xiao got her right hand injured as a result of trying to save Wenya, she had to go for physiotherapy to regain the use of her right hand. During one of the physiotherapy session, she met Ning Jing, a celebrity and had a little chat with her. Xiao Xiao then commented that Ning Jing's new hairstyle made her look much older. Ning Jing was offended and made an excuse to go.

Some time later, Ning Jing appeared for a charity show and received very good response on her new image styling. She revealed that Xiao Xiao was her new hair stylist. From then on, Xiao Xiao received good publicity and finally made it!

Wenya flew to Florence, Italy alone. She met a hairstylist and intend to open a hair salon there.

Xiao Xiao's father came to her every month for a haircut. His wife did not say anything about divorcing him anymore so long as Xiao Xiao did not call him "Daddy".  

Feilong was employed by Oscar to work at Black and White to do sales/promotions. He said some of Feilong's ideas actually can work. Feilong's two friends worked at Star salon. One was good at washing hair and the other was good at making latte for customers.

So, as long as one is willing to change and learn, with determination, passion and the right opportunity, one can make it!


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Episode 17 of 《小小传奇》("Gonna Make It")

Episode 17 of 《小小传奇》("Gonna Make It")

《小小传奇》("Gonna Make It") is a MediaCorp drama that had started airing on Channel 8, on 30 September 2013, every Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Last night was episode 17, which was the 4th last episode.

Below were what Xiao Xiao (played by 陈欣淇 Julie Tan) said to Liu A'man (played by 王禄江 Bryan Wong) in episode 17 which were quite touching.

“...不过我从来没有忘记，当初你是怎么栽培我的。当全世界都放弃我的时候，是你，你给我机会。你没有放弃我。所以现在，我也不会放弃你。”

which was translated as :

"... but I've never forgotten how you groomed me back then. When the world world turned its back on me, you gave me a chance. You didn't give up on me. So I'm not giving up on you either"

There were also many other touching moments in this episode.

Xiao Xiao also went to persuade Bao'er (a celebrity played by 郑秀珍 Jacelyn Tay) to continue using A'man as her hairstylist for the upcoming Star Awards. 

A'man also told Xiao Xiao many things that sounded very pessimistic yet realistic.

A'man had a wife named Monica (played by 许美珍 Cynthia Koh). However, Monica had long left him for another man (who was serving a jail term). However, A'man did not divorce her. I believed A'man till loved Monica and regretted neglecting her when he first started his career/business.

On his deathbed, A'man still hoped to see Monica. Xiao Xiao rushed to get Monica and got into a fight with Monica because Monica refused to go with her. They ended up in the police station and Oscar (Xiao Xiao's boyfriend, played by 徐彬 Xu Bin) had to bail Xiao Xiao out. Xiao Xiao and Oscar then went to the hospital just in time to see A'man for the last time.

At the end of this episode, this song 《落幕的心情》was played. This was also the theme song of 《舞榭歌台》, a TV drama produced by SBC (Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, now called MediaCorp) in 1988. This drama and song used to be popular too. 


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《情话》("Different Types of Love")

《情话 》("Different Types of Love") was one of the songs used in the Drama Serial 《最后一个大侠》("The Last Swordman"), which was shown on channel 8 in 1991. This song was sung by Beyond. The music was composed by 李伟菘 （Paul Lee Wei Shiong） and 李偲菘 (Lee Shih Shiong). Lyrics were written by 姜宁.

To sidetrack a bit, 《最后一个大侠》("The Last Swordman") was one of those drama serials that I had enjoyed watching in those days. The leading actor and actress were 周初明 (Chew Chor Meng) and (郑惠玉) (Zoe Tay) respectively - two of my favourite artistes. If I remembered correctly,《最后一个大侠》("The Last Swordman") was the first period drama that 周初明 (Chew Chor Meng) and (郑惠玉) (Zoe Tay)《最后一个大侠》("The Last Swordman") had acted in. Both of them looked so cute in the drama. Chew Chor Meng's character grew up in the jungle and when he first appeared in the show, he looked like an orangutan.

《情话》("Different Types of Love") had another version in which the lyrics were different but I preferred the version used for this show. The lyrics were so cute, talking about different types of love (with so many 情）. 

歌词：

人间有 兄弟之情 手足之情
朋友之情 患难真情
父母之情 冷暖亲情
男女之情 款款深情

有人多情 有人无情
有人风情 有人豪情
自作多情 欺骗感情
一见钟情 反目无情

哦哦哦 欢情 苦情 情情情
激情 伪情 情情情

问世间 情为何物
问世间 情归何处
我不知情 我不知情

问世间 情为何物
问世间 情归何处
只知做人要有真情

Which can be translated as:

In this world, there is love between brothers, siblings's love,
love between friends, true friends in adversity,
parents' love,  family love,
love between a man and woman, true deep love.

Some people are affectionate, some are heartless,
some people are romantic, some are lofty,
unrequited love, deceive other's feelings,
love at first sight,  love turned into hatred.

Wo wo wo, happy love, tragic love, love, love, love.
Passionate love, pseudo-love,  love, love, love

What is love?
Where will my love be?
I don't know, I don't know

What is love?
Where will my love be?
I only know that we have to be true to people.

《骤变》("Sudden") - Identical Twins

The final episode of《骤变》("Sudden")  got me wondering, is it so easy to swap identity for identical twins like Yixin and Weiqian in《骤变》("Sudden") who looked exactly the same? 

Identical twins have the same DNA, so it is not possible to differentiate them based on current DNA testing. However, their fingerprints are not exactly the same. Fingerprints are influenced by environmental factors experienced during pregnancy. Click here to read the details.

Thank goodness, it is still possible to differentiate the identical twins based on fingerprints even if they look exactly the same!


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Jiemin (played by Sora Ma) and Wentai (played by Ian Fang, Qiliang's cousin) managed to track the location of Dalun's car. Subsequently, they informed the police. Shenghua was shot by one of the policemen but managed to get into the warehouse where Yixin had held Weiqian and Dalun captive. He talked to Yixin before he breathed his last.

Yixin then started a fire in the warehouse. She wanted to perish with Weiqian. She said that since she can't have the happiness that she wanted, she would not let Weiqian have it too. Dalun managed to free himself from the rope that tied him. He went into the room but could not distinguish Weiqian from Yixin. One of them told him to save the other person when he asked who is Weiqian. Then he saved the girl who answered him, thinking that she should be Weiqian because Weiqian always thought of other people first. The other girl could not be saved in time. At that point, I was still doubtful whether the girl saved was Weiqian. 

One year later, Dalun and Weiqian were at a restaurant. Dalun said that, because of Weiqian, he had changed completely and became a good man. Weiqian then said that he was a kind person to start with. For a moment, I thought she might really be Weiqian as Weiqian had said the same thing to Dalun before. Then, I thought it could also be that Huang Yixin had heard about this from Weiqian or Dalun before and tried to talk like Weiqian. Subsequently, when Weiqian adjusted the collar of Dalun's suit, her action reminded him of Huang Yixin. Dalun got a shock, but acted nonchalant and continued to take a photo with her and others. So, did the script writer decide that Huang Yixin deserved to have a second chance in life?

Qiliang managed to find Chuning at Tasmania one year after she left.  She seemed to have forgotten Qiliang. Qiliang then re-introduced himself to her. He then told her miracles do exist and, to prove it, he stood up from his wheelchair!


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I first suspected Lin Shenghua (played by Yuan Shuai) to be the mystery man who killed Huang Yixin's father (played by Li Wenhai) when Fang Qiliang was attacked in his home and Flabber (Qiliang and Chuning's pet dog) died in its effort to protect Qiliang. 

On that night, Shenghua was alone with Qiliang and Flabber at home. Shenghua was the person who got the SD card from the taxi driver which might have contain the photo of the face of the mystery man who got Lin Baofa out of the back lane after he was unconscious. Lin Baofa was the driver whom everyone thought was the one who caused the accident that killed Huang Yixin's father and resulted in Qiliang losing the use of his legs. When Shenghua wanted to pass the card to Qiliang, he said he saw someone out of the corner of his eyes and he went out to chase after that person. That left Qiliang and Flabber alone in the house. Qiliang was attacked and lost the SD card. Flabber died in its attempt to protect Qiliang.

I suspected Lin Shenghua because he and Qiliang were the only ones (besides the taxi driver) who knew about the SD card. The mystery man could not possibly know about it. Moreover, it did not make sense for him to leave Qiliang alone with Flabber and chase after the mystery man, knowing that Qiliang would be in danger. What I could not figure out then was why Lin Shenghua would want to kill Huang Yixin's father since her father was going to testify for her and be her alibi; Lin Shenghua seemed to be on Huang Yixin's side, helping Qiliang and Chuning to overturn Zhong Zhenglie's murder case. The mystery man also seemed to be helping Huang Yixin (played by Rebecca Lim) to get her acquitted of manslaughter in episodes 17 and 18. 

Finally, in last night's episode 19, the truth was revealed. Huang Yixin's father saw her leaving the office premises after the murder, not before. Lin Shenghua and Huang Yixin were worried that her father might tell the truth in court, resulting in an unfavourable testimony for her. So, Lin Shenghua drove the van and killed Huang Yixin's father. In doing so, he also caused Qiliang to lose the use of his legs.

Just when I was wondering why the truth was revealed on the second last episode (normally this would have happened on the last episode), there was another turn of events. Just as Huang Yixin was about to stab Chuning, Dalun (played by Zhang Zhenhuan) appeared with a bouquet of flowers for Weiqian (Huang Yixin's twin sister). He immediately realized that person was Huang Yixin instead of Weiqian when Chuning said to him "help me". Chuning fainted after that. Dalun asked to see Weiqian.

Huang Yixin brought Dalun to a place and he was knocked out by Lin Shenghua. Huang Yixin had another plan in mind now. She wanted to get rid of Weiqian and Dalun so that she could assume the identity of Weiqian. Will she succeed? How will the events turn out? We shall see on the final episode tonight, 27 Sep 2013, on channel 8, at 9 pm. 


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《骤变》("Sudden")

《骤变》("Sudden") is a MediaCorp drama which started airing on Channel 8, on 2 September 2013, every Monday to Friday at 9 pm.

Each episode began with the days when Fang Qiliang (played by Romeo Tan) and Cheng Chuning (played by Rui'en) first got to know each either in Tasmania. Then the next scene was fast forward to the present. 

The presentation of this drama serial is somewhat different from the usual. There were some flashes of scenes that created a certain mystery making us wonder what was in store.  

In  Episode 4 to 5, Chuning and her colleagues attended a service one year after the final hearing of the murder case of Zhong Zhenglie. Joda (played by Darren Lim) was a founder/leader of a mission group which consisted of many rich and influential members. He Jianming - co-founder of the mission group - accused Joda of deceiving the followers by using donation funds for his personal gain. He Jianming even filed a case against him. This scene looked familiar...

So far it had been quite interesting to watch the 《骤变》("Sudden"). 


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