Buckle up! No less than 8 kdramas are premiering in October. I can’t write “My First Impressions” for each one so recommendations from the crew are appreciated. Thank you! 💐💐💐 1. Your Personal Taxi This is a healing show. A taxi driver plays a song request for his passenger, and the ride – I’m guessing […]
Against the Current: The Tong Hua Factor
Ibisfeather asked sorbetdream this question: Still puzzling here over Jin Qi’s odd denseness. Script, actor? Here’s my pithy answer: Tong Hua. Because one of the screenwriters is Tong Hua. 😂 And here’s my long answer – This cdrama adapted an original novel by He Yanshan. Title: Lan Xiang Yuan (兰香缘) Google translation: Bond of Orchid […]
Against the Current: Lanxiang and Ophelia
One of the things I enjoy doing on this blog is drawing connections between unlikely things. This allows me to see things from a unique perspective and derive new insights from tired, old observations. @Sorbetdreams wrote, “These screenshots are beautiful! I didn’t remember Ophelia, but that comparison makes sense, and I did enjoy how everyone […]
Against the Current: Eps 21 The Orchid Gift
Before we begin, let’s just take a minute to observe how the passage of time is shown in the cdrama. In the beginning of the episode, LanXiang buys chrysanthemum greens from a street vendor. She observes that the female vendor has three baskets with her, one of which is a cozy Moses basket. The young […]
Against the Current: Ep 10 The Complicated Family Tree
Just notes for myself and whoever’s just starting this series. The Chinese family tree is complicated when compared to the Western family tree. In English, the parents of our mother/ father are simply called grandparents. The siblings of our mother/father are called aunts or uncles. And the children of our aunt(s)/uncle(s) are called cousins. We […]
Against the Current: Eps 20 The Male Orchid
Let’s recap what I said about JinQi being the male orchid. Remember these two Chinese idioms on “orchid fragrance” or Lanxiang. One, 入芝兰之室，久而不闻其香 (Rù zhī lán zhī shì, jiǔ ér bù wén qí xiāng) Literal translation: Entering a room of orchids and irises; after a long time, you no longer notice the scent. My re-interpretation: She […]
Against the Current: Eps 19 to 24 The Hero as the Orchid
In my previous writeup, I made much ado about LanXiang being the human orchid nestling between rocks. In truth, however, JinQi is an orchid too, but his fragrance is something LanXiang doesn’t notice just like the orchids in the Chinese proverbs. According to google, there are two classical sayings tied to the “fragrance of orchids.” […]
Against the Current: Ep 18 My Highlights
Let’s get down to business. A. New Developments 1. The poisoner CuiQue is poisoned. How? Maid GanTang brought tea for CQ and the housekeeper Madam Han. The teacups weren’t the same. One was plain brown clay, while the other one was subtly decorated with its cover in black finish. The difference was by design. LanXiang […]
Against the Current: Ep 16 My Brief Takes
Developments: 1. 3rd sister Lin Xiuru stops 2nd sister Lin Xiuwan’s tryst with Du Zheng. 2. 4th sister falls ill, too; physician is called. 3. Physician suspects an epidemic is spreading. 4. Duke Xiang Guo orders the Lin Mansion placed under quarantine with troops guarding the perimeter. 5. Du CuiQue offers to treat the sick […]
Against the Current: Ep 15 My Long Notes
Happy Chuseok! Where are we? Ah! Episode 15. In the previous episode, Lin JinQi (JQ) and his assistant JiuGao rushed to naval camp of Commander Yuan (aka Marquis Yong Chang) to retrieve LanXiang and YuChan. It worried JQ that the Commander didn’t return the ladies after the Wo pirates were captured. At the camp, Commander […]
Pinocchio: Ep 13 Rewatch on Saturday, September 26
The thread is open. Happy Chuseok!!! Episode 13 – 26 September 2026 Episode 14 – 3 October 2026 Episode 15 – 10 October 2026 Break – 17 October 2026 Episode 16 – 24 October 2026 Episode 17 – 31 October 2026 Episode 18 – 7 November 2026 Episode 19 – 14 November 2026 Episode 20 […]
The Ordinary Jackpot: Watch It or Dodge It?
I shall watch it for now. 🎉🎉🎉😂 If the last non-romantic office kdrama you saw was “Misaeng: Incomplete Life” (2014), then it may be good to follow it up with “The Ordinary Jackpot.” I think they can be viewed as bookends. “Misaeng” is about a young intern learning to navigate corporate world with his diverse […]
Against the Current: Ep 1 Food for Thought
This is my sleeper hit of September. I didn’t expect to like a show with the actor Liu XueYi in it, and the number of episodes far exceeded my 30-episode cap. But that scene after the women hung themselves and the camera zoomed out to show the row of skirts and shoes floating in the […]
Pinocchio: Ep 12 Rewatch on Saturday, September 19
The thread is open. Episode 12 – 19 September 2026 Episode 13 – 26 September 2026 Episode 14 – 3 October 2026 Episode 15 – 10 October 2026 Break – 17 October 2026 Episode 16 – 24 October 2026 Episode 17 – 31 October 2026 Episode 18 – 7 November 2026 Episode 19 – 14 […]