The Perfect Match (Taiwan)

Drama name: The Perfect Match
Country: Taiwan 
Year: Mar - Aug 2017 

Oh wow, it's really been so long since I last updated... My apologies, have been not much in the mood to watch anything current... plus daily life stress... Hope everyone is doing well and healthy. This drama came out in 2017, almost 3 years ago... I started Episode 1 but then left it on hold all these while... haha! Decided to pick it up again and it was quite nice! 

So, what's this drama about?

Hou Tingen is a Cordon Bleu trained top chef who is in charge of La Mure, one of the finest restaurants around. He is famous for lobster curry and one day he stumbles across an internet article which boasts a street food version of his signature dish at incredibly affordable price. He sets out to the night market to check out if the claims were true. 

Tingen meets Wei Fenqing, the street food vendor who claimed that her lobster curry sandwiches were just as good as the top chef's dish. He challenged her on the spot and prepared his curry sandwich using Fenqing's ingredients for the local folk to sample. Everyone there was blown away by his food. Fenqing's ego was hurt, she went to Tingen's restaurant the very next day to taste his lobster curry. 

She challenges Tingen to a battle, that within 7 days she can make the lobster curry just as good as his, provided that he would teach her how to cook it. Haha, I know right... the story line is already kinda ridiculous right from the start... But yeah, that's how it goes... 

The drama continues with Tingen teaching Fenqing how to cook his signature dish and how their relationship developed within the 7 days with family history secrets coming out and eventually threatening their love for each other. 

Overall thoughts

It is a light hearted rom-com, with not many really bad villians... The leads had good chemistry and the supporting cast were good, thus creating an enjoyable watch with the warm friendships from the night market crew. This drama is a bit cliche with the chaebol and poor girl kind of theme (if you are familiar with Korean dramas you'll know what I mean!) However, if you have watched Pasta or Wok of Love, this drama is definitely better than those two combined! 

Best parts of the drama

As with any food dramas, your eyes will have a food feast with all the fine dining dishes and also some Taiwanese street food! The show also starts off with some curry history which is kinda nice to know... 

Huo Tingen's apartment is really nice, please excuse the shirtless screenshots... :D 

As I have mentioned, the leads have good chemistry together. You'll have the full usual romance scenes, from scooter ride to rain and umbrellas.. princess dancing and eventually the kiss... ah, for such which girls would be super happy to get in a rom-com! :D

Tingen's food truck! It's a refurbished VW van... 

Notable scenes

Okay, this is what everyone is waiting for... yup, the super steamy first kiss! Man, Chris Wu can really kiss... you won't be disappointed! XD

Special mention

I had to mention this character from the drama, Xiaobin. He is Tingen's best friend and also right hand man. Haha, he's super funny, loyal and the bromance between them brings the comedy in... 

Conclusion

Okay, this is the part where the drama became kinda draggy... I read the comments and reviews online, and I do agree with them. As usual, there will be some kind of conflict between the leads and makes them separate for awhile. It turns out that Tingen's step dad and Fenqing's dad were supposed to be business partners back then. Fenqing's dad had the recipe for the curry, which Tingen's step dad stole after the guy got into a scooter accident on the roadside. 

With that stolen recipe, Tingen's step dad managed to build the empire which is what Tingen and his step brother are running at the moment. The leads separated because Fenqing's mum did not allow her daughter to marry the step son of the man who might have caused the death of her husband (Fenqing's dad) 

So with all drama ridiculousness, Fenqing inherits the empire and runs it like a boss. Sometimes, I wonder what script writers aim to build in people's minds... haha, I mean just imagine, she's just a street food vendor and then within 7 days or maybe a couple of months after and she can become the top chef of a Cordon bleu standard. It's just a bit stretched to me. 

But yeah, that's how the story is, Fenqing and Tingen's roles were reversed... Tingen became a food truck vendor serving food to make people happy, but he himself was not happy... the irony... 

It's a happy ending, don't fret just yet! The second lead decides to help them and brings them back together with a lawsuit. Yes, kinda like how they started.... Fenqing's group is suing Tingen for making a cheap version of their coronation chicken (a recipe which both Tingen and Fenqing developed together) So yeah, it was an awkward moment with the lawyer and everyone present. 

The leads get back together after that when mainly Tingen confessed his everything to her at the lawyers meeting. It was quite cheesy. Anyways, the drama ends with both parties running to each other (yes, true drama style) and kissing. The end. 

It's an okay drama, for those who love rom-com this would a nice one to watch if you have time to waste. I wouldn't recommend this much. It does depend on your mood, if you want a light hearted drama with romance and not too much heartache this would be okay. 

Alright then, hope you are staying safe and at home, with the covid-19 at large. See you in days to come. I'll leave you guys with Tingen and Fenqing... 

Metro of Love Review Episodes 12- 14

[Episodes 12 - 14] Couple #5 : Heart Trob

Qiu Ah Gei is a young man who doesn't really have any goals in life. One day he found a pregnancy test result in the wastebin and freaks out as he thought his girlfriend is pregnant. Meanwhile, he decides to help out his boss with some money at the bar which he works at in order to keep it from closing. He did not know that the boss ran off after that and left a huge debt behind in which Ah Gei had stood guarantor for. He had put his mother's fishball restaurant as a collateral. 

Ah Gei was still freaking out over his girlfriend's pregnancy (actually she wasn't pregnant) and decided to take a whiz at the river at his uncle's house (Yeah, I know right?!) and he saw someone drowning. He pulled the man out and it turns out to be Qiu Min Hui, his father. The thing is, his father did not age at all. What??! Yes, apparently Min Hui has discovered time travel and that's why he disappeared all these years. Yes, what again... 

Qiu Min Hui used to be a popular singer in the 80s under the pop duo, Butter and Cheese. Due to his fame, he couldn't publicly acknowledge his family and wife, Yang Zhen Ying. Eventually he got kicked out of the house and he disappeared, leaving Zhen Ying to bring up the two children.

Ah Gei couldn't accept that Min Hui was his father at first and to make matters worse, the debt collectors came to take the pub. They gave Ah Gei three days to settle the debt, failing to do so they will take his mother's fishball restaurant as well. Min Hui wanted to jump off the bridge again in order to travel back in time but then he realised that he never was a good father so he decided to follow his son around and went home with him. There were some funny moments when Ah Gei's mum looked at Min Hui's butt to confirm if he is indeed her missing husband... 

Ah Gei finally believed that Min Hui was his father when he had the keys for the motorbike named Monroe. It had been there for years and nobody has the keys. I really liked this part, it was really funny and Min Hui really looked so cool riding on his bike with the wind effects! 

The story goes on with Ah Gei trying to find a way to send his father back in time so he can help them to win the lottery and settle the debt. There were some really nice father and son bonding scenes as well. But it turns out that Min Hui was an escapee from the local mental hospital after Min Hui appeared on a TV show about time travel. He was captured and returned to the hosital.

Defying all odds, Ah Gei and his whole family including his girlfriend; stage a break-out plan to free his father from the mental hospital. They finally cracked the code of the location for the time travel and Min Hui finally gets to travel back in time. There was a closure between Min Hui and Zhen Ying. Awkward moment for Ah Gei to see his parents kissing there haha! 

Unfortunately, Min Hui forgot to take the winning lottery book back with him so Ah Gei was left broke. The fishball restaurant was gone but they decided to open a food truck business instead. Ah Gei did win the lottery after all when a little girl left some clues on a notebook she doodled on. A happy ending for Ah Gei and his family... 

However, Min Hui was still travelling in time! Hahaha, yes what the... !! The ending shows that Min Hui returns to the mental hospital through the cupboard and the year is 2034... 

Overall thoughts?

This is the craziest story by far... I had plenty of laughs from it! Although it doesn't make any sense but it was quite entertaining. The father and son moments are nice. The mental hospital patients actually spoke Cantonese so it was refreshing to understand what they said instead of reading the subtitles. 

There were just a couple of scenes with the metro line. Both father and son riding in the train and that's about it. Let's look at the crazy father and son duo again... :D