Episodic Thoughts: “Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles” (Episode 6)
Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles <名媛望族>
TVB Series 2012
Cast: Damien Lau, Kenneth Ma, Tavia Yeung, Idy Chan, Ron Ng, Rebecca Zhu, JJ Jia, Elena Kong, Mary Hon, Sire Ma, and Vincent Wong.
Disclaimer
This is a watch as I write episodic thoughts and some information may not be accurate since this is memory based. Certain dialogue is reproduced with some creative license adopted. I apologise if there is any mistake. All opinion remains my own.
EPISODE 6
“It is not easy being the 2nd wife of Chung Cheuk Man. A man can marry many wives, but a woman can’t afford to make a mistake by marrying the wrong man. If you’re someone who can’t share your husband, take my advice, don’t marry into a polygamous relationship.”
Daily S.S.S.S variation;
Simple silly super sassy!
And that is how I feel after watching the brilliantly funny 1 Night 2 Days! Best variety show, ever! Still miss Lee Seunggi.
Anyway, before my recap, just wanna say I think I made a mistake in Ep 5 about Ben Wong’s character. His name is Chai Yat Fai, I think I wrote Choi Yat Fai! Heard it wrongly! I have also corrected that mistake in Episode 5’s recap.
Ok, recap. I think I will be brief, after too much laughing, I kinda forgot how this episode ends! Oh I remember but errr…. well, let’s see how much I remember. In this episode we see the ambitious Kwan in the name of love.
Kwan and Arthur having tea after her practice and basically he invites her to his house party in honour of his OBE where he says he will want to dance ballroom dancing with her. She is excited.
At home she borrows a gramophone and plays some western music and makes Yee Lan to practice dancing with her. By the way why does Yee Lan always look like she is sick?
Big day comes. Arthur gets to kneel before the governor I think as he gets knighted and henceforth he is Sir Arthur, thank you very much. Sir Arthur also gets the “soda cap” as Chinese calls it and it does look authentic. And we get a HUGE TV full flag of Great Britain! Long live the Queen!!
Party at the mansion. Yvonne teases 1st wife about getting ready for the 1st dance, 1st wife teases back and says she may not take to the floor when asked by Sir Arthur, so why not let Yvonne take her place in the dance and Yvonne says it wouldn’t be her, by status it should be the 1st wife. Moreover, “If you do fall down, who dare to laugh?”. 1st wife and Yvonne are both sorta pleased with this arrangement, because you know, as long as it is NOT Yee Yin. These girls just don’t know the real threat is coming!
Charles looking handsome in a tux with a heavily made up Kwan (I hate her hair! So huge, so messy looking and looks like a wig), her arms around his arm and Yvonne sees Kwan and says “Oh look at that actress, here she is with… Charles?” and 1st wife isn’t too pleased as Yvonne I think says “Why is Charles with THAT actress?”
Pause.
Actress today is nothing, but back in 1920, the word used is “hei tzi” or those in entertainment world or in this context someone who performs in public for a living for others’ entertainment is a sneer. Charles in other words can marry any poor but decent girl as 1st wife BUT not an actress or a performer, because entertainment world is complicated back then, or so it is assumed. No rich family sees an actress as daughter in law potential since they don’t associate actresses with the word decent background. Which is still the same as today. So the sneer is an insult to Kwan.
Continue.
Kwan thanks Charles for bringing her to the party (meaning he drove her here perhaps) and he gets her a champagne and Kwan takes a sip and grimaces as she says “Oh, it tastes sour” and Charles says “It is champagne, a fruity drink but don’t drink too much, you can get drunk” and she stops drinking. By the way she is wearing Arthur’s gift necklace to her.
Arthur entertains the guests, so does his 2 wives and Yee Yin is missing. Arthur welcomes Tung Ting Hang who sneers “Well congratulations on that fake medal from those westerners you so admire” and Shek Sau whose name I still didn’t catch with his westerner wife and his Chinese son played by Stefan Wong or Stephan Hyuhn with him corrects Tung and says it is an OBE, a great honour. Tung doesn’t care, Arthur doesn’t mind and when Arthur leaves, Tung laughs heartily, and Stefan laughs too until Shek Sau stares at him and he stops.
Kwan sitting with Charles who had to go to entertain guests and Jimmy with Ho Yee sits with her to entertain her and Jimmy asks “Should I call you Taukeh Choi or Miss Hong?” and Kwan smiles and says any of the names will do. Jimmy has to leave to entertain guests and Ho Yee sits with her to express her admiration for Kwan’s opera skills and finally she too left and 1st wife and Yvonne come over and sit and Kwan politely greets them and Yvonne says “I see you came here with our Charles..well, we have been trying to get Charles to find a girlfriend..” and Kwan tries to explain when Yvonne continues “But big sister, we have never been successful have we? Charles is to picky. He doesn’t even like those university graduates, educated, pretty, young, from good family background. No, he doesn’t like any of them” and Kwan gets angrier as she hears what they have to say, implying she is not good enough for Charles as 1st wife says bluntly “My son will never marry an entertainer like you as 1st wife. I will never allow it!” and Kwan angrily says “I have never intended to do that as well!” when Arthur walks over and says casually “I see the 3 of you having some nice chat” and Yvonne says “Charles was so rude to just leave his guest alone so big sister and I came over to chat with Taukeh Choi. Charles is so wrong to leave her here alone, since he brought her here as a date” and Kwan looks upset as Arthur says “Actually, I was the one who invited Taukeh Choi and she is here as my date”. Shocked looks all around. Arthur says “Taukeh Choi, may I have the honour of the first dance with you?” and Kwan smiles and stands up, her pride salvaged as 1st wife and Yvonne sulked at the shocking turnaround when 1st wife says to Yvonne, “I suppose I would not be as upset as you” as Yvonne says “Big sister, I have no problem with this. As long as it isn’t 2nd sister…” and I suppose 1st wife agrees. Petty petty women.
Meanwhile Arthur knows Yee Yin is nowhere to be seen and he isn’t happy.
Yee Yin in her room with her mom, and she isn’t dressed and her mom asks why not and Yee Yin says “I don’t feel like socialising today” as her mom chastises her “Your husband has this party in honour of his great achievement and you as his 2nd wife should be there, whether you like it or not! Sitting in this room, like a spoilt rotten child with your gege type temper isn’t helping things” as Yee Yin sulks as she says “Why should I go down there and show my face and pretend that everything is ok between us and so I was the one who was wrong and not him? He wronged me first mother!” as mom says “Yee Yin, sometimes he overindulges you too much! If you don’t go down there, guests will think he no longer favours you and your position in this family will be threatened! That other wives of his will win! Yee Yin, you must work hard to retain your position in this family and in his heart! One day when he is tired of your temper tantrums and throw you aside, then you will know the consequences of your actions today!” and the maid says “My lady, I may be only a servant but allow me to say this; master did bring those necklaces up to your room that day, it shows he is sincere in patching things up with you” and Yee Yin reflects on this.
Kwan dances with Arthur, rather awkwardly but he is smiling, she is happy when out of the corner of his eyes Arthur sees a dressed up Yee Yin with her mom walking towards the dance floor when they lock eyes and Arthur dances more energetically with an even wider smile, using Kwan to ignite Yee Yin’s jealousy and Yee Yin is jealous as she sees them spinning and spinning and Arthur eyeing her and Kwan smiling happily, unaware what is going on when Yee Yin feels faint and fainted with mom shouting “Yee Yin! Yee Yin!!” and Arthur sees her faint and he was spinning Kwan around and he suddenly stops, Kwan almost fall down but Arthur catches her hand in time and then just let go and abandon her at the middle of the dance floor and rushes to Yee Yin. All this in a split second moment and he quickly carries her into the mansion, and poor Kwan, humiliated, in the middle of the dance floor and Yee Yin’s mom walks to her and says “Girl, the show is over. Obviously Arthur was using you to make my daughter jealous. Don’t let all these get to your head. You are nothing but a chess piece used by Arthur just to get to my Yee Yin” and she walks away and Kwan almost in tears from the humiliation that turns into rejection.
Yee Yin in bed and Arthur starts to walk away when Yee Yin says “Don’t go, please don’t go, stay with me” and he sits down and smiles as she says “I am sorry I fainted. I spoilt your party” and Arthur says “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” and silence as Yee Yin says “I suppose I owe you an apology” as Arthur smiles “Don’t you mean I owe you an apology?” as Yee Yin says “About Chai Yat Fai… I..” and Arthur says “It doesn’t matter..” and Yee Yin smiles and Arthur says gently “Rest now…” and he gently push her down onto the bed and says “Close your eyes now..” and she smiles as she does so and he looks at her for a little while.
Pause.
They reconciled. I seriously like this couple. I like how they’re not ruled by sex or by passion alone but by love and mutual respect. A very cordial and yet loving couple. I do think Yee Yin loves Arthur even if leaving him will mean a lot at stake.
Continue.
Breakfast. Yvonne says “2nd sister you are so lucky. One faint and you have our husband rushing to you and staying with you the whole night” as Yee Yin apologises for spoiling the mood for being sick and Arthur says seriously “What is it with breakfast today, so much vinegar (chou in Chinese which is the same sound as jealousy) and Yee Yin smiles and Yvonne smiles smugly as well. Yee Yin says to 1st wife “Sister, I won’t be having dinner tonight. I will be at my mother’s place for dinner, Yee Hei is back from Japan” and 1st wife says “Send my regards to your mother”. Ho Yee meanwhile is hoping to find someone to take her to the theatre to watch Kwan in her first performance in HK before the public eye, no one is free to go.
Dinner at Yee Yin’s house and we see her brother, Yee Hei, making them green tea as Yee Yin asks “You learned only to make tea in Japan?” and Yee Hei says “Of course not sister, I also learn about business management” as Yee Yin says “Then you must also visit your brother in law” as Yee Hei says “Yes I must, after all he paid for my education all these years” as mom says to Yee Yin to ask Arthur for a job for Yee Hei and Yee Yin agrees to ask Arthur about a job.
Pause.
I did hear Yee Yin calling her mom mom but from this scene I also heard like Yee Hei calling Yee Yin his half sister? So I suppose this mom is not her mom but Yee Hei’s mom? I am a bit confused here. Anyone can clarify?
Continue.
Mom tells Yee Hei to go upstairs as she wants to talk to Yee Yin and so he leaves. Mom asks Yee Yin “How are you and Arthur now?”
And by the way she says Cheuk Man but for the sake of consistency I use Arthur. In fact only Arthur calls Charles.. Charles. And others don’t call Arthur.. Arthur but rather Mr Chung or husband or master or Cheuk Man but not to his face as Cheuk Man. Wives always call him “lou yeh” as in Husband. But they all call Jimmy.. Jimmy.
Yee Yin says “Better than before” as Mom says “Do remember your brother’s welfare if you intend to throw another gege type temper tantrum” as Yee Yin says “Mother, don’t you worry. I will never jeapordise Yee Hei’s future” and she says this in a genuine way.
Kwan’s 1st performance of the night, nervous but more upset as she doesn’t see Arthur but Ho Yee is there as Arthur takes her there and then leaves as he has something to do. Ho Yee tells Kwan “I am sure father will be attending one of your shows soon. After all, you are here for a year!” and she leaves excitedly and Kwan is not happy even as she performs to a full theatre. And here we see another scene interjects with this scene, for reasons I do not know why except it looks artistic doing that as we see a glaring Kwan performing (and poorly according to my fellow viewer next to me) and Arthur walking hand in hand with Yee Yin, happily, smiling.
Next scene we see is Kwan walking happily into a restaurant and says Mr Chung is expecting her and she walks in smiling, almost takes a seat when she turns and sees Yee Yin sitting down there. Shocked, Kwan says “I am sorry, there must be some mistake…” and she starts to walk away as Yee Yin says “Taukeh Choi, please do sit down. Arthur and I was spending some time together just now” and a guy comes to Yee Yin and says “Madam, Mr Chung says he won’t be able to join you for lunch today” and he walks away and Yee Yin smiles at Kwan and Kwan looks awkward and upset. Yee Yin says “Taukeh Choi, I heard your debut was a success. Congratulations. I am sorry Athur and I couldn’t attend, we were busy with some other engagements” and Kwan says it is ok though she looks quite upset and Kwan must have said something because Yee Yin then says “It is not easy being the 2nd wife of Chung Cheuk Man. A man can marry many wives, but a woman can’t afford to make a mistake by marrying the wrong man. If you’re someone who can’t share your husband, take my advice, don’t marry into a polygamous relationship. You know Arthur, he was upset with me but we have reconciled after the dance. I have promised myself never be upset with his antics anymore..” and Kwan doesn’t look happy at all.
Pause.
My memory of this scene is poor so my recap is poor. In effect Yee Yin was telling her that Arthur was using her to get to Yee Yin and Yee Yin herself does not appreciate Kwan hoping to be wife no. 4.
I can’t remember if this scene was after the dance or after the lunch with Yee Yin or a combination of 2 scenes as one. But the dialogue did happened.
At home, Kwan is so upset she is almost in tears and Yee Lan says “If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t” and something happened in between as Yee Lan says “Like you said, he was rushing in aid to his fainted wife. You shouldn’t be upset over that” and Kwan says “I am not upset about that. I do not believe he is using me like a chess piece. I refuse to believe it!! He can’t have done all that and then just abandoned me! Not after all that he did! Who does he think I am? He has feelings for me, I know it. Someone who doesn’t have feelings for someone else will never have danced so happily the way he did. Never!! I will get to him; I will win his heart!”
And she was really really determined. I believe her too because Arthur doesn’t mind adding a 4th wife into his collection but I also believe Arthur genuinely loves Yee Yin. As for Yee Yin, I too believe she loves Arthur but she also has to live by Arthur’s rules for the sake of her mom and brother because Arthur pays for everything.
Yee Hei and mom visits Arthur who smiles happily, 1st wife wary and Yee Hei goes straight to the point to ask for a job with Arthur since he really wants to learn about business and he has studied business and admires the resilience of the Japanese and how quick thinking they’re in business. Arthur agrees and 1st wife says “You must start at the bottom level, after all you wouldn’t want anyone to say you are riding on your brother in law’s wealth for success” and Yee Yin says “Big sister, Yee Hei is independent since young and he certainly knows how to socialise with others and I can assure you he will be just fine”. In other words, my brother ain’t gonna start work as some clerk you biyatch! First time I see Yee Yin being slightly rude to 1st wife. Arthur agrees and will let Yee Hei work under Jimmy and Yee Hei is happy.
At night at the balcony, Arthur tells Jimmy to teach Yee Hei about business at Man Hang Trading and to use Yee Hei’s potential connections in aid of the business so as to widen the business which Jimmy wants to but Arthur won’t allow him to expand until they win some government contracts and that is where Yee Hei comes in and Jimmy quietly says “Father, what is there to teach? Yee Hei is more educated than me, he knows more than me probably and could probably learn everything and be independent faster than expected”. Arthur says “Jimmy, he may be better educated or knows more people, but if you work hard, be conscientious and be dedicated to your work, you don’t have to worry about Yee Hei being more successful than you” and Jimmy nods.
First day at the job, Jimmy is rather arrogant to Yee Hei as he pointedly tells Yee Hei to call Arthur Mr Chung since he is the boss and even if they’re family, this is the office and Yee Hei realises what is going on and says to Jimmy “Shall I then call you Mr Chung as well?” and Jimmy says nonchalantly “Up to you” which means of course as Jimmy tells him to drink the whiskey or whatever alcohol which is the good stuff and Yee Hei observes the drinks are even better than out there but surely a worker’s salary can’t afford all these (implying Jimmy uses company funds to supply for his lavish lifestyle) and Jimmy says “What do you mean?” and Yee Hei says “Look, we are both half orphans dependent on someone to help us climb up in our career, hoping for success. We are the same breed. We are not enemies, but we can be friends. If we can work together, we will be great partners” and Jimmy says “We can’t be friends… I believe by right you are my uncle and I should call you.. uncle?” and the frost is melted and both men laughs.
And story shifts to Kam Muk Shui, now very sick with fever, needs money to see doctor, silly Siu Yau agrees to collect a debt from someone on behalf of Lui Hai because Lui Hai promises to lend her that money so that she can take Shui to a doctor. She went with Shui’s friend who told her to wait as he goes to the toilet as he is nervous, as the debtor is someone difficult and she couldn’t wait and so she goes right up, it is an opium den and she demands the money from the debtor who said he will pay her if she agrees to sleep with him and he pushes her to the bed and yes, tried to rape her as Shui suddenly bursts in, punches everyone, takes her away and they run as the debtor’s men chase after them and as they reach some outer gate, he tells her to hide and run as fast as she can when he signals her and yet he faints there and there because he is doing all that with high fever. And what does Siu Yau do? Well, she screams “Shui Gor! Shui Gor! HELP! SOMEONE! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and I am surprised the debtor doesn’t hear where she is. What a silly reaction. Anyway we then see someone walking towards her and she looks up and we see a man’s feet, wearing westernised shoes. Take a big guess who that is!
I suppose that’s how she meets Charles. At this point I will say Charles likes Kwan but is not in love with her. They’re just childhood friends turn adulthood friends.
No jumpy scenes, no bad editing, all flowing well tonight with some good scenes. I really enjoy Damien and Idy’s scenes. They’re the ideal couple.
Ok, FUNN’S REPORT CARD for this episode.
Remember,
E = Exceed expectations meaning truly awesome
A = Acceptable
B = Boleh lar (in Malay for Ok lar or can do lar)
C = Ceh! (in ordinary speak, you can say same as meh! or just so-so which is lesser than boleh lar)
D = Dreadful meaning terrible
F = Fail, worse than dreadful but nowhere near…
EF = EPIC FAIL which is worse than F by the way, so worse it is the pinnacle of worse as in worst.
STORY
An absolute A. This series is getting more enjoyable and although less focus on Kenneth’s Charles, I find there is a good balance at this moment. I especially enjoyed the cold war between Arthur and Yee Yin. I am still wondering about whether Yee Yin truly loves Arthur or likes him and bears with him for the sake of her family. My feeling is, she is proud of Arthur, respects him and in her own way loves him even if she does have to put down her pride for him.
PERFORMANCES
All around A, especially Damien in his concerned husband mode. I am sorry to say, I just don’t buy his sexy seducer mode. That would have gotten a C from me. But tonight, more on husband in love with a wife he suspects doesn’t really love him mode and that is a strong A sort of performance.
Kenneth Ma, very little scenes.
Sire Ma is cute and bubbly, nothing much but serviceable and she gets an A from me.
Vincent Wong is still a miscast but he can act, no doubt about it. I give him an A because I like him.
Bak Yan is still an E for me. She is scary looking as well, and make up also E because it fits her character perfectly.
Idy Chan is better at those dignified quiet moments rather than dramatic parts. In episode 5 she was terrible but here, since most of those scenes are quiet angry wife, she is a strong A.
Mary Hon as a deeply jealous wife and Elena Kong as the cocky mouthed wife both also gave strong performances and so A and A for both.
Ron Ng is busy being sick so not much yet. And I don’t see any point to his role.
Rebecca Zhu is sometimes ok, sometimes not. She overacts a lot in this episode but certainly I believe this is her first role, if not first major role? She handles herself well and takes practice but the talent is there. I am eager to see her scenes with Kenneth Ma, how they fall for one another and I hope Kenneth gets to show his romantic side. And Rebecca gets to act as someone other than jumpy worried as she is for a few episodes now. So for this episode, she gets a C. Would have been a B if she didn’t screw up the last scene with her shouting since she was supposed to be hiding.
Everyone else is servicable.
Now, Tavia Yeung as Kwan. I will give her an E. Why? I expected HUHHHHH HUHHHH HUHHHHH again but she surprised me with a performance that is controlled without OTT outbursts in those scenes when she is angry or when she is very upset. She certainly shows the jealous side very well. As long as she is not the seductress or doing sexy scenes, to me she alternates between A and E. Tonight, a solid E because you can feel Kwan’s simmering anger, her jealousy and her eagerness to win Arthur’s heart. At first it may have been attraction, but after her humiliation, it will be all out war, just to show to Yee Yin and the wives and Arthur himself, she is not a chess piece to be used and thrown away. Tavia shows all that anger and determination in her eyes.
MAKE UP, WARDROBE & HAIR
A general B but for Kwan’s hair and most of the lady’s hair where there are various wigs and you can tell they’re wigs, a D. Kenneth’s hair gets an EF. I feel there must be some major setup by the make up department because he looks like he belongs in a comedy with that sort of hair.
PACING & EDITING
A, definitely. Getting exciting, editing is better, and pacing is tense. The last scene was certainly suspenseful.
DIRECTION OF THE SERIES
An F. Why? Episode 6, and I still have no idea what this series is about. Prominent family? Lust? Sex? Inheritance? What? I like a series with a direction and this one without a direction to me is like a series about anything and since there is no set rules, it means this series can give rubbish stuff or good stuff. I hope it won’t be like the rubbish Gong II, where there are no rules or rather the producer just breaks all of them in the name of entertainment and I got scarred by that stupid series. So far SSSS isn’t going that route yet. After watching Gong II, I am happy to say TVB will never ever stoop so low. Never! But TVB can self destruct which I hope they won’t.
OVERALL RATING
A. Good episode tonight, getting better.
If you’re not watching, don’t give up until you reach episode 5. That’s where things stabilised and gets interesting. It is almost an unwritten rule for all TVB series. Episode 1 is terrible or OTT and so give it until episode 3 to 5 before abandoning it or continuing with it. But if this genre is not your type, better not start at all. It won’t fit into your type any which way you see it.
This Episodic Thoughts was written by Funn Lim, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com, and was originally posted at http://silverspoonsterlingschackles.blogspot.com.
- Episodic Thoughts: Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles (Episode 1)
- Episodic Thoughts: Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles (Episode 2)
- Episodic Thoughts: Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles (Episode 3)
- Episodic Thoughts: Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles (Episode 4)
- Episodic Thoughts: Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles (Episode 5)
Thanks for the detailed Reviews!!!
I m one of those that hahas will FIRST watch the ending or at least let me know what’s going on in that episode, then only started watching!!
It’s haaappyyy to hear that Tavia is doing well 😉
I love to see how she n Damian develops!!!
I watch this for Tavia n Damian xD
Funn, I love Authur and Yee Yin too. They seem so sweet together. Don’t want them to be apart but i guess she leave him for good in d end mayb.
Totally agree with you. Damian and Idy make an awesome couple. I’m really looking forward to see what happens with them.
Don’t really care much about Rebecca Zhu’s character … There doesn’t appear to be too much of a story there (at least not yet).
After watching 6 episodes, I tend to say that Rebecca Zhu only had one or two expressions in her role. Well, she was a newbie, but I think she could do more for this rather important role. Her role was much heavier than Ron Ng’s.
I don’t think the producer should cast a brand new artiste to act this heavy role in an anniversary production. He should give this opportunity to a more experienced actress, and the drama series will be more entertaining.
But who can play this role and still be that young and fresh? I can’t believe I am saying this but Fala would have been quite ok.
The artiste does not have to be very very young, just a few years younger than Kenneth Ma but she has to be fairly experienced and knew how to act. Nancy Wu is not a bad choice.
Sorry sandcherry, just saw your comment or question in regards to Nancy is not a bad choice… I think she will be better too… Plus might be more newsworthy for promotion given her past link to MM?
Agree with you absolutely.
The “rumour” will make a big hit again in TVB, plus the drama series will be more “smooth” and entertaining for the audience. It is almost a pain to watch Rebecca Zhu. Her facial expressions and dialogues did not seem to connect very well.
When I watched Episode 6, I was pretty certain that Arthur (or SIR Arthur) loves the second wife most!
Pretty sure about that. 😉
Great review again Funn. 🙂 good job.
Idy’s role is the best one i think, TY’s acting has begin OTT again and her impression doesn’t suit the entire episode too, way too OTT. And Rebecca, her hairstyle with two ponytails su, made her face even roundier and big size.
@veejay you want to die 😛
But I do praised TY before in my previous post :P, I said she’s pretty despite having that exeggerating nose.. and her acting are sometimes good sometimes bad.. haha.. so there’s a balance of good and bad in my posts regarding TY’s acting hehe.
TY acting is brilliant, so not OTT in my view. Idy can be bland at times.
Agree with your comment about Rebecca’s hair. OMG, she looks chubby. Funniest hair award should go to MM… The wave is ridiculous lor…
Personally I don’t Tavia Yeung, and her acting is fairly limited (very much the same), but I think she is doing well in this type of character. Or her acting is limited to this type of character ….. too proud, too confident, and does not want to lose.
I meant to say “I don’t like Tavia Yeung”.
I think Tavia is an E too. Completely agrees with Funn. Not easy to get the right expression through the eyes… But she completely showed the soul of her character through it!
Bak Yan is so amazing.
As for Rebecca, I know this is her first role and I should be patient… But her silly screaming for help scene really annoyed me…
It was not Rebecca’s fault. She was a brand new artiste. It was the producer’s fault to pick her for this heavy-duty role. She was not capable yet to handle this type of character.
Sandcherry is right… TVB and their over promotion of beauty queens. Do you Nancy would have been a better replacement for Fala?
No offense but Nancy is not right for this innocent sort of role. She has been in too many scheming or mature roles she is to me on screen too old. Rebecca Zhu is right but she just needs practice. I understand why Fala was 1st choice
This make me wonder if lead role like TY needs to undergone any audition first like Rebecca did for her role before she gets this Tsz Kwan role?
Also, Siu Yau’s character will change towards the middle of the storyline. I think she will not be that innocent, and Nancy Wu can easily handle the change of personality of Siu Yau.
Audition? Probably not. Imagine you are fadan and you still need to audition is something of an insult unless she really wants the role.
An insult? Then they really need to pull their head out of their arses; even leading actors in Hollywood have to audition. The only problems are the time constraints and TVB’s lazy ways.
@Puff,
Silly screaming describes Rebecca’s raw acting best. I can’t stand her either.
Funn:
Nancy Wu did very well as an innocent and dumb girl in “Gloves Come Off”. A good actress has to be well-rounded in acting all types of roles. As long as she can handle it, her fabulous acting will change the audience’s impression and image of her.
I used to like watching Bak Yan, but she either looked too old in SSSS or her makeup was terrible.
But she’s meant to be old if she is Yee Yin’s mum. Yee Yin is not exactly 18 22 ok…
I dont think she’s Yee Yin’s maternal mother, she just raised her to gain her own benefit..
You are right. Idy Chan’s brother (son of Bak Yan) is Idy’s half brother only. It tells us very clearly that Bak Yan is not Idy’s maternal mother. She just took her to Shanghai and raised her thereafter.
The make up was I suppose deliberate.
Thank you for the recap. 🙂 It’s nice to keep up-to-date since I’m juggling far too many dramas at the moment. Seeing as everyone’s reaction has been fairly positive, I’ll have to pick this up soon.
Funn, have you ever thought about adding screencaps (or would that be far too time consuming)? I know it’ll affect some people’s bandwidth though…
Screencaps is not within my control since Jayne posts the recaps I have no say in the layouts. But way too much work.
Anyway guys,
Since I will be missing more than a week’s worth of broadcast, I have decided to stop my Episodic Thoughts at ep 7 (Jayne is obviously busy with the Superstorm and all, so the recap may take some time to be posted). No point in continuing since I won’t be able to follow up 3 episodes from now. Much apologies. I will do a proper review later on when I come back and chase the episodes. Very very sorry!
No need to be sorry.
I have been reading and enjoying your SSSS Episodic Thoughts very much. Hope you still can continue.
Happy Holidays.
@Funn,
No need to be sorry but where are you going? LOL.. I’m so 8 here..hehe
I am going to a land where its most famous resident is a dead guy with a huge army accompanying him to his afterlife and other places.
So cool~ Funn..must be that famous tomb in china?? btw, are those armies really real? I mean did they really accompanying him after his death?? or they were merely clay made armies? =\
Awww come on Veejay you should know!!
Clay made armies, not real. Qinshihuang will never waste real army to make those clay army. He was a military man, he knew what a waste to kill real soldiers.
hahahaha.. I read too many rumours! btw, Funn my friend who just came back from China said she will never go back there AGAIN cuz she had this bad experience there in the hotel.. A mainlander spit at her shoes and she had to throw it away immediately. disgusting.. she said they even spit it on the carpet.
Which hotel your friend went to? Some cheap 1 star hotel? And where? I went to Beijing and the experience was wonderful. I don’t expect to be greeted with smiles, but they weren’t rude eventhough 1 or 2 were close to being rude. I make it a point to go to reliable hotel and I can say the hotels I stayed at, service was impeccable but then my expectations were low. Everywhere else was great because I avoid buying stuff at those road side stalls, my stomach has high tolerance to street food and toilets were clean. Cleaner than in Malaysia I can tell you.
I will however avoid Macau. Didn’t like it there, and so hot. But food was great.
Veejay, if you have a chance do go to Beijing if you’re a history buff.
My coming trip I will visit not just one dead guy BUT 2 dead guys, a city famous for its lake, a water town and hopefully bump into Wallace Huo but I doubt it.
China will be my least favourite country to visit, my first and most like is Japan cuz of the manga, anime and food etc. I will visit China one day maybe when I’m older later like in the 40s etc lol. I thought of visiting Australia this year end though. Yah.. Msia’s toilets.. can be erhmm “dirty” sometimes, remember that news where a guy got his a$$ bombed while sitting in the toilet seat in the public toilet? Poor guy..
I went to Tokyo for a concert, most expensive trip ever. It was ok. I had misconceptions about China but after my visit, I can say better see for myself before confirming! But of course if you’re not into whatever they have to offer, no point in going. Korea is somewhere I like to go, but language is a problem. Australia… no interest. Europe too expensive. America Visa may be a problem.
But Malaysia got a few nice places to go. Recently went to Singapore, bled dry from the cost. Better go to HK for the same price.
I recently went to Taiwan. The place is very clean, including public toilet. People there also friendly.
Funn, have a blast! Tell us how it is when you get back. I’m with Funn on Japan / Tokyo — been twice and Tokyo is overrated for me. Like Funn I also went to a concert in Tokyo — it was friggin’ expensive. Kyoto was fantastic though.
Funn, if you can manage to teach yourself the Korean alphabet you should be good. South Korea was AWESOME (but then I’m a Korea-file). The locals are extremely friendly and helpful as long as you respect the ‘age status’ culture there. We also got random ahjummas / ahjussis coming up to us trying to practise their (dysmal) English. It was cute.
Whoops, meant dismal. Hahaha!
And Funn, didn’t you go to China like 2 years ago? To the same place(s)?
I heard Korea is super friendly!
Yeah I went 2 years ago but to Beijing. This time to Shanghai, Xian, Hangzhou, Suzhou…
China is very very big.
BUT Japan transport system is awesome.
If anyone in Tokyo, do visit Ghibli Museum. Beautiful town, awesome museum!! That to me was the best.
I have many stories of super friendly Koreans from my trip in the spring. Many went out of their way to help us. One family took us around Busan for an hour trying to find our hotel. Another 2 students spent like half an hour trying to explain to us how to get to our hostel in Jeju Island (the island doesn’t “exist” on Google maps and they only have a bus system, no subways). Then we had older couples who brought us refills in restaurants of water and side dishes (they didn’t even work at the restaurant). Some restaurant owners even gave us extra rice and food for free when we ate really quickly, thinking we were hungry (when in reality we were in a rush to get somewhere).
The funny thing is that whenever we went to restaurants they would seat us smack-dab in the middle of the restaurant so that the locals could enjoy the “freak show” that we provided. They were fascinated b/c we looked Asian (I went with a group of 4) but conversed in English. While I can understand some Korean and know enough to ask questions and get around, it is obvious to them I’m not Korean. A lot of them couldn’t understand why we were Asian but said we were from Canada. One older man was like “but you look Asian…you know, black hair, brown eyes”. LOL.
They do seem fascinated with Asians who can speak English don’t they?
Enjoy your vacation in China Funn!
New avatar again nice one though and I was starting to wonder if you were the real Funn, haha…
Funn:
We just returned from our trip to China and Hong Kong. In China we visited Shanghai, Hangzhou, Huangshan, Nanging, Wuxi and Suzhou. We were on a guided tour.
The scenery was beautiful, especially in Huangshan, but the food was terrible for us. My whole family of 3 all got diarrhea and cold during the last few days of our trip. Hotels were very luxurious(rated 5-star international), the rooms were huge but with poor maintenance. Water leaked from taps and shower stalls. We were only provided with 1/3 to 1/2 roll of toilet paper and 1/3 box of Kleenex every night.
The worst thing for us was their toilet system …….. no flush toilets except in hotels. There was usually a flush toilet for handicapped in some nice and big restaurants, but the chance of getting it was very low as we were on a guided tour. We were only allowed 10 minutes to go to washrooms.
Anyway, it was our first trip visiting China. Other than poor food and terrible toilet system, we enjoyed it, especially the beautiful scenery in Huangshan.
We were very lucky, too, because we had very good weather on the whole trip, but it was very crowded everywhere. We were there on China’s National Holiday (8-day public holiday). We had to wait 2-1/2 hours for the cable car to go up to Huanghan.
Funn:
Have a very nice holiday, and tell us about your experience on this China trip upon your return.
@Sandcherry,
Did you visit HengDian studios?? It would be cool if you did.
No I did not visit HengDian. It was not included in our tour. I think it is located in another province.
We visited Sung City in Hangzhou and 3 Kingdoms Film/TV City in Wuxi (where the Chinese TV drama series “Romance of the 3 Kingdoms” was filmed. We had a boat tour in one of those warships with the names of those emperors. Great!
Have fun Funn! Gosh, you are all so lucky to be able to go here and there… I can’t wait until it is my turn. I thought the bathrooms in China were clean(depending on where you go). I heard the toilets in Taiwan are bad and you can’t put toilet paper into the toilet or else it would clog.
We visited Taiwan many many years ago. It was true when you went to some scenic places because they did not have flush toilets.
In China, all toilets are not flush toilets (except the ones in those good and fancy hotels), and you cannot put toilet paper into the toilet or it would clog. We had to put toilet paper in their garbage bin. Everyone has to squat and you need to have strong knees to do it. That is the main reason why we hesitate to visit China again in future.
“I thought the bathrooms in China were clean(depending on where you go). I heard the toilets in Taiwan are bad ”
It’s the opposite.
I just went to Taiwan this year. The toilets are very very clean. So, are the streets. Maybe they made great improvement from the last time sandcherry visited the country.
I guess it depends on the area. My friend went to China a few years ago and said the toilets are clean and you can put the paper in. However, with Taiwan I heard their toilet system is not good so you can’t put toilet paper into the toilets or it would clog.
I heard that a majority of them are squat toilets too… Boy, how do you go comfortably?? My friend said that in Japan,they preferred squat toilets over sitting toilets. I wonder why? Wouldn’t sitting toilets be more comfortable??
@Sandcherry,
When did you go to taiwan and did you like it, besides the toilets??
We visited Hong Kong first in 1979, then joined a deluxe guided tour to Taiwan for 9 days. We toured all over Taiwan, i.e. Taipei, Tai Chung, Fa Lin and Tai Nam. Can’t remember much of the washrooms in Taiwan, but we had to squat in one or two of them in Fa Lin. On the whole, it was a lot of better than the ones in China.
All ladies had to squat in toilets in China, except in those nice hotel rooms. There might be one seated toilet for handicapped in some big and nice restaurants, but you would have to wait for it. 80% of them did not provide you with toilet paper, even in big restaurants. There was one washroom on the highway with no door for men and no flushing for ladies. In all squat toilets, we were asked to put toilet paper in the bucket, not into the toilet.
I heard from friends, too, that Taiwan is very clean now, and I believe their washrooms are clean as well.
As a matter of fact, all the washrooms in Hong Kong are very clean now. They are well equipped with toilet paper, cleaning detergent for toilet seat cover, etc. I was very impressed. People told me that all the washrooms in Hong Kong were improved and kept clean after the highly contagious illness, SARS, in 2003.
People in China still prefer squat toilets because they do not want to sit on some toilets with dirty seat covers. I think people in China must have good knees as I found it difficult to squat.
We only had seated toilets in good hotels.
The scenery in China is way better than the ones in Taiwan. Huangshan is so beautiful and gorgeous. There is nothing special in Taiwan, and there is no comparison at all between China and Taiwan. China has a lot more history than Taiwan.
I enjoyed my trip to China even though I could take their squat toilets, greasy and spicy food. I did not think I enjoyed my trip to Taiwan.
I meant “I enjoyed my trip to China even though I could not take their squat toilets, greasy and spicy food.”
Haha… This discussion is so interesting. The first time I went to china, I flew into the huge new Guangzhou airport. I was shocked when I went to the barhroom and it was a squat toilet. I screamed to my mom – what the heck is this?! She was in a regular toilet stall so she didn’t understand what I was yelling about. Sadly, one of my most distinct memories of guilin was the smelly bathroom at the elephant trunk park. The stench was so bad outside that I didn’t even bother to go inside. After that, I tried not to drink too much water during the day so I didn’t have to search for “western” toilets.
The next time I went to china, I did the tour of Beijing, Yangtze River cruise to huangshan, and shanghai. That was much better b/c more modern facilities. Btw, when I went to kunming airport the first trip, it smelled liked salty fish. Was that a fluke?
Anyway, I know that mainland ppl prefer squat toilets b/c it’s “cleaner” to not touch the seat, but aren’t they worried about their pants touching the dirty ground? And how do old ppl w/ arthritis get up after squatting? I’d worry about falling in.
It made me appreciate living in the US for the clean, free public bathrooms that even provide toilet seat covers. Even Europe doesn’t have that.
Hahaha, Josie, your first reaction rivals mine. I was about 7 when I first visited China, and the toilets scared me too. My most vivid memory was a toilet in Kunming, where there are no toilet stalls, no walls and no doors, it’s just a room with a long drain at the side of the wall, and piles of poop littered here and there, and suspicious puddles of liquid flooding the floor. Although I refused to “go” in that toilet, was basically forced by my mom to go, as I was young, and there was a long trip back to the hotel. I remember struggling to squat with the 3 layers of thermo-underwear bunched around my knees, wearing a face mask soaked in chanel perfume in an attempt to conceal that stench (now I still can’t stand the fragrance), in that house of horrors.. oh yeah, and my mom holding an umbrella in front of me. very disturbing for a 7 year old. LOL
But as I grew older, I always try not to drink much so that I don’t have to visit public toilets.
@HST, if your friend speaks well of the toilets in China, it may be in Beijing. as the public toilets had to be refurbished for the Olympics to have at least one seating stall. However, I just went back there this year, and the conditions are definitely not as good as it was then.
squat toilets are normal in Asian countries.
Funn:
I heard that, too. But it is very hard to squat for older people, especially if they have knee problems. It is very tiring and hard to get up.
I admire the people in Asia, who can still use squat toilets.
In that case, you should not have any problems in using toilets in China.
Have an enjoyable holiday.
Ohhh Funn Shanghai and Hangzhou — I really enjoyed those when I went! I wish I can go to Xian and places like Guilin soon too!!! Have lots of fun!