Bad news first. Here are my four reasons to avoid this Cdrama.
1. The age gap between the actors is 19 years.
The actor Shen Lin is 39 years old while Rosy Zhao (aka Lu Si Zhao) is turning 22 in November. They play characters who are similar to their real ages.
She begins as a kitchen porter (i.e., person in charge of food preparation like cutting onions, peeling potatoes, deveining shrimp, and so on) at a hotel restaurant while he’s a hotelier acquiring her hotel. By chance, he tastes her fried rice and falls in love with her cooking. Because he’s a picky eater, she’s promoted to be his private chef.
If you don’t mind the May-December romance, and the imbalance in wealth, status, education, and power, then go for it.
2. She’s a pushover with her trashy friend.
I don’t need a crystal ball to predict that her friend’s gold-digging antics will get her in trouble. I know that writers employ the “bad friends” trope to demonstrate that the heroine has a heart of gold. But in this drama, her choice of friends illustrates her lack of self-preservation. I’ll be skipping many scenes with her bestie.
3. Clumsiness + Bad Luck
She’s a divine chef but she fits the stereotypical cute heroine afflicted with pathological clumsiness, and bad luck. At their first meeting, she nearly burned down the stock room. And she foolishly doused him with water. Then, at their second meeting, she stupidly covered his Ferrari in flour out of a misguided effort to avenge her trashy bestie. I really don’t get what message these writers are trying to say when the LOVE of one’s life is also the BANE of one’s life.
4. All Chinese actors, lol
I’m channeling my Angry Social Justice Warrior (SJW) alter-ego….
No Oscars for you, show!!
If this show wants to be considered for the Academy Awards, then the producers must follow the new guidelines for diversity! They should cast one of the major characters from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group in China! Where are the Mongol, Uyghur and Hui Chinese actors? What about the white-, black-, or Latino-Chinese? Why are the lead actors white-skinned, doe-eyed, straight-haired, and good-looking?
This is a raaaayyyyyy-cist show! Racist, I tell you!!!
Joking aside, I wish Hollyweird would stop their virtue-signalling.
Now the good news. Here are my three reasons to watch this show.;
1. It’s porn. Food porn.
As soon as she steps out of the bed and draws the curtain in the morning, you’ll see a montage of food preparation and harmonious plating that will leave your mouth watering. To me the montages set the tone of this cdrama. They’re seductive.
Instead of the camera showing a harassed chef working at a frenetic pace in a utilitarian kitchen, it glamorizes the visual experience of the heroine Shengnan cooking food. The camera only has to present each glossy detail of the ingredients and finished dish for us to feel this desire to eat. Shengnan doesn’t have to belly-dance or to expose her cleavage to make us ogle at her. She only has to dice the carrots, blanch the peas, boil the shrimp, and arrange them all on the plate with Spam (Spam??!! That’s nasty stuff!) for fried rice to make us fall for one of the seven deadliest sins: gluttony.
2. The male lead.
He reminds me of Cha Seung Won!! A shorter version, but just as suave.
source: @seungwon.fanpage’s Facebook
3. The encounters between the two leads are new and original.
I don’t want to talk about “chemistry” because it’s the one thing fangirls gush about “chemistry” without understanding that it is largely fabricated with editing, lighting, physical space, background music, and special effects.
But the first encounter of Jin and Shenghan is a good example of “chemistry” done right.
I’ll compare it with the first encounter of Park BoGum and Park SoDam in their drama “Record of Youth” so you’ll see the difference.
You can watch the clip of “Record of Youth” here.
Here’s my interpretation:
Sodam was a diehard fan of Bogum. She was so thrilled to do his make-up that when she met him for the first time, all she could do was stand there, tongue-tied. He asked her why she didn’t call him, but she couldn’t give a coherent answer. Then, because she was glancing at him instead of paying attention to her task, she dropped her lotion. Good thing that Bogum was paying close attention to her, and caught the bottle.
In other words, she was acting like a typical fan: nervous.
When she skipped the face mask, he thought that she wasn’t as attentive as the make-up artist assigned to his friend. But she told him that he had a good skin which needed no face mask, and he smiled. As she applied his make-up with quick and light dabs, the OST began playing. The whole world receded in a blur, and it was just the two of them. He became the focus of her silent attention. She turned on her professional mode. He had a scratch on his cheek, but she showed not even the slightest bit of curiosity, and simply patched it up.
After she was done, he thanked her. She did a fine job, effortlessly, serenely.
Chemistry Rating of their first meeting? If we’re going to be honest here, it’s a zero.
Their faces were so closed to each other that they could have been breathing the same air. But I didn’t feel any frisson of giddiness.
Why is that?
It’s because he was looking fixedly at his face in the mirror and she was looking intently at every feature of his face and every pore on his skin. Nothing happened in this scene to fan our imaginations that they had a heightened awareness of each other. There was no sexual tension, no physical attraction, no mental connection.
Even the bottle-catching moment was lame. It didn’t add any value to story…except perhaps to show that Bogum had good reflexes.
But…
it’s neither Park SoDam’s nor Park Bogum’s fault that NOTHING special was emoted in 2:58 minutes of the script. I blame the screenwriter. I thought that he/she wasted the opportunity. The first encounter should have had ooomph! considering that we have two highly anticipated and much adored actors working together for the first time.
But oh well. I guess, I’ll have to wait and see Episodes 3 and 4 then, right?
Then let’s compare this to the “chemistry” in “Dating in the Kitchen.” This scene is a shorter than the RoY clip by a minute, but the connection was established.
Here’s my interpretation again.
Jin saw the fire in stockroom and saw that both the fire alarm and the water sprinkler didn’t turn on. Calmly, he dragged a chair to the room, removed his jacket, and rolled his sleeves up. He took out a cigar and lit it with his lighter.
Meanwhile, the girl Shengnan came running in with a basin of water. A bandanna covered her nose and mouth from smoke inhalation. She stopped at the doorway when she saw Jin. She didn’t want the fire alarm to go off as she didn’t want it revealed that she’d been cooking in the storeroom. So she charged in and threw her basin of water at him to stop him.
I admire his restraint. Most people would have bellowed at her.
He only looked at her in exasperation when she asked if he’d started the fire with his cigar. Wordlessly, he beckoned her to come over and hand him her empty basin. He put it over his head as cover him as he set off the sprinkler with his lighter. They both quickly became totally drenched but neither uttered a word. He stepped down from the chair, gathered his jacket, and laid the basin on her head like a metal mushroom. Then, he walked out of the room, still without saying anything.
After a few steps, he turned around to glance back at her. She, too, turned to look at him, causing the basin slid on her head to rest at a tilted angle. With her sopping bandanna tied around her face, and the basin perched precariously on her head, she should have looked woebegone. But I’ve to give it to her: she looked radiant under the sprinkler.
But I can easily imagine that the whole encounter amused him.
It was in the way he looked darkly at her but covered her head gently with the basin.
It was in the contrast between what he COULD have done with her, like insulted, berated and fired her, with what he actually DID, that is, he put out the fire with minimum fuss and a sense of humor. Leaving the basin on her head was his little revenge for her throwing the water at him.
And I like that he just didn’t walk away. He looked back to see how she took his joke.
And I like the timing of it. He looked back as her metal hat slipped. The silliness of her appearance should have made him chuckle but the fact that he didn’t tells me that he was moved by the vision of her.
As for her, she should have been yapping like a terrier for his bizarre action. But their eye contact confused her. For a moment, she was trying to figure him out. Then, the shouting of her coworkers pulled her from her daze.
So if you ask me to rate their chemistry here, I’d give it 4 out 5. Chemistry is in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder. “Dating in the Kitchen” gave me an:
a. intense interaction between the characters,
b. expressive body language,
c. romantic ambiance, i.e., getting wet together in a confined space,
d. meaningful eye contact,
e. heart-stopping moment even without OST
f. and — this is important — instant intimacy between two strangers.
That’s why I say “chemistry” should be a word used sparingly by indiscriminate viewers.
And there were more moments like this to satisfy my hungry heart.
I can list more reasons to watch this Cdrama but I need to stop now so I can catch up with “Flower of Evil.”
Let’s enjoy “Dating in the Kitchen” and hope that it’ll end happily.
***************
Updated 9/22/2020
Fern, here’s the actor flexing his muscles as he closed the doors. I’m grinning here because he didn’t need to strain a muscle really. The doors weren’t 100-pound barbells. Such male vanity!
LOL. Are you going to watch this show too @pkml3, and FFD all the bestie’s scenes? (Both her friends bug me but I guess they are dragged in to create situations for her in which to be dumb or smart and to move the plot along.) I didn’t think you’d touch it since you’ve got so much on your plate already.
I’ll be watching it serenely for my in between times. In between work, FoE, Stranger 2, Missing, Alice, volunteer work…. It’s a great stress reliever, but I’ve to wait for the subs to be surer of what’s going on.
I’ve conjectured before about why couples’ ages difference, where the man is much older, has never bothered me … it’s never been much of an issue among people I know and I see happy marriages there. My own parents’, for example. As long show has him as he’s a gentleman, it’s all good. 🤔
Thanks for giving us this thread!! 😁
oh la la. i’ll check this out. thanks pacmule3
Note on Cha Seung Won-he is the king of food porn-love to watch him cook on Three Meals A Day and on the Spanish hostel show. The man is a supermodel and a versatile actor-can be funny , tragic, sexy, athletic. And would say he looks better as he ages.But I love himmost when he prepares meals. He creatively uses available ingredients. I really wishI had smellovision when I watch those shows.
Sorry it’s not a comment on the drama butcouldn’t resist commenting on this star and his cooking. Yum.
😂😂 I didn’t know that!! I thought Three Meals a Day was hosted by Lee SeoJin.
I’d love to watch Cha Seung Won! Where did you watch this Three Meals a Day, Spanish Hostel edition?
👍 hakuchi! Viki only has Eps 1 to 4 subbed. But I think Kissasian might have more episodes subbed.
Thanks for the thread. I am loving this drama after watching Ep. 1-4. I was a bit hesitant about the real life 18 year age gap between the main leads but I have to say I am not noticing it here. They are working great together and I am totally on board for their romance. (In contrast to Jerry Yan & Shen Yue where I felt the 20 year RL age difference and decided to pass on that drama for several reasons) Not minding the set-up either: pretty standard CEO/Employee trope of 1,000 dramas, but with enough of a twist.
Loving the food! Note to self: don’t watch this drama before meals as you will get hungry.
I haven’t seen the male lead actor Lin Shen before, but I am really enjoying his performance here. Both Lin Shen and Zhao Lusi are very funny in this drama.
I agree. I thought the age difference would show especially during that car scene when she called him “mister” to grovel. But he took it in stride.
He could be just as petty and petulant as a kid. Picking at his food? Ordering all those dishes at 11pm? 😂
My problem with Jerry Yan’s drama is Shen Yue. 😂 I don’t find her cute and adorable. If it was Rosy Zhao or SunQian (from Dr Cutie), then yeah, I can imagine them with him. Even if there’s an age difference.
But Shen Yue, Xing Fei (Put Your Head on My Shoulder), and Tang Song (or Seven?), they don’t naturally exude that “sweet and innocent girl” image so they look fake and calculating when they try it. 😂
I am in love with this drama. 😍 It’s such a feast to the eyes especially the oh so yummy food 😋 I liked that there’s so many encounters of the main leads that’s new and original. And yeah, who eats those abundance of food at 11pm? 😁 But Jin’s face says how yummy it is. ☺️ It better have a happy ending. 🙏
I’ve never laughed a lot with the dramas I’m seeing now so this one is my cake! 😆
The various Three Meals A Day shows are available at Dramacool (www.watchasian.net)
I have been loving this couple ever since I saw the trailers and the age gap is not an issue for me here in this drama. These actors just click for me.
The car scene is taken straight from the original source film. They changed it a little bit for this drama version, but yeah it is too funny!
Also the scene in Ep. 3 (or was it Ep. 4) where he eats the uncooked mushrooms and she gives him the dish soap and then bubbles-hahaha!
The BFF was kind of annoying in the film so I was hoping that maybe they would make a few changes for the drama version. Hopefully her character will get better as the drama goes on.
Other things I like about this drama:
4. I like that their birthdays are on the same date. He was waiting for his mother to greet him but his mother forgot.
5. I also like the “Cinderella” motif in the first two episodes. In Ep 1, she dropped a spoon as she was sneaking out the kitchen and he picked it up. In Ep 2, she pretended to be a stranger and walked past him in the corridor but she dropped her bandanna and he picked it up and handed it back to her. lol.
Then, in Ep 4, wasn’t she the girl who snuck past him on the stairs? She bumped him and he fell on the box of Chinese cabbage? Wasn’t that Shenyang?
I’m glad that she’s not a pastry chef, though.
@Table122000, it’s in episode 3. I’m afraid I’ll be Shenyang too if there’s bubbles like that. Poor Jin, he became a bubble machine. 😂
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFKaHcxp_Vj/?igshid=1raoq3n369z1n
Awww yes! They have the same birthday! But Jin didn’t even get a birthday greeting but Shenyang got a thick red envelope from Grandpa but she didn’t take it. ☺️ There’s a Grandpa here too, cool. ☺️
Oh yes! Jin said the spoon is like a glass slipper but his shoes, I didn’t even think Shenyang paid attention to it?
How quick was she to take her bandanna and quick of him to say you’re welcome? 😂 He knew from her eyes! 😍
No I didn’t think it was Shenyang who bumped Jin into the cabbage box 😂
He’s having so much new experiences and it’s all from her 🥰
Why? What’s if Shenyang is a pastry chef?
hahaha. Bubble machine! That’s cute.
See? I’ve never seen that in a kdrama, too.
But I don’t get what she did wrong with those mushrooms. If they’re the kind of button mushroom that’s sold here in the US, then they don’t take long to be cooked. When I saute them, they’ll be done in less than 10 minutes. If I toss them in boiling water and simmer them, they’re done in 6 minutes. It shouldn’t take long really.
I thought he had an allergic reaction to the mushroom. Not food poisoning due to uncooked mushroom.
And I didn’t get why she had to slap him, though. But oh well… I thought it was slapstick.
lol. Talking about shoes…didn’t she steal his shoe when she ran back to her hotel room on that night she dropped in on him?
Yes, he recognized his eyes!
Oh? It wasn’t Shenyang? Good. Because I did wonder, what was she doing there when she was prepping the luncheon upstairs?
Pastry chef = more fattening.
As a regular chef, she’s giving me ideas for food for dinner. But if she were a pastry chef, she’d give me ideas for DESSERT. And that’s bad for me. I’ve to watch the sweets.
Yup! That’s new alright! 😄 Yeah that slapping was off too because how can he vomit just by slapping him? 😁
I wasn’t sure if she put different mushrooms or she put some other ingredient that made it poisonous. But they didn’t say that he’s allergic to something so it has to be the mushroom.
He wanted the Witches Brew? But I think she didn’t want to make that but instead was making mushroom soup. 😄
I looooove mushrooms! 😋
Ah ok I get it with the pastry chef ☺️ Yes, I’m watching sweets too, not that I’m into them but if I like a dessert then I like that dessert. 😬
So true that the show gives us ideas about food. I want to try the Finger Licking Fried Rice with Spam 🤪 I’ve never had fried rice with salted egg before 😆
Yeah she stole one of his shoes when she went to his hotel room. But wasn’t he a gentleman anyway? He even put pillows incase she falls again on the floor.
Same here, I love mushrooms!! But I can only cook four kinds: button mushrooms, portabello mushrooms. dried mushrooms, and Campbells Mushroom soup. lol.
He wanted Witches Brew. Remember? His assistant said that Shenyang was hitting on him, that’s why she raises a ruckus everytime they’re together.
Jin said no. She was different from the others. She was his “nemesis.”
Then his assistant said “she loves you so much and she wants you dead.” And he began obsessing about that and concluded that she wanted to SEDUCE him. And that’s when he ordered the Witches’ Brew.
Weirdo.
What do you mean fried rice with salted egg? Isn’t salted egg just egg with a sprinkle of salt? Don’t they usually have scrambled egg with fried rice anyway?
The Spam was kinda weird, though.
I did try fried rice with salty fish. I liked that. The salty fish tasted like dried flakes of anchovies.
By the way, do YOU wash your rice before cooking it? We had a “discussion” about this on soompi. (lol. It was more like a lecture, to tell you the truth) I don’t wash the rice and folks said I had to.
Okay, going to bed now. I was going to work on Love Lasts Forever Ep 9 tonight but oh well….
Campbells Mushroom soup cracked me up but I used it too 😂 Those mushrooms that you mentioned are yum, I also love shiitake mushrooms.
Yeah he wanted the Witches Brew. So did he wanted to check whether she was seducing him through that order? 😄 I thought it was good too that the actual food has messages which only them two can understand. Like that other food which I forgot the name. He said she’s begging for mercy because she’s been cooking the whole night and morning.
Yes. They were communicating with food…well, at least HE thought they were communicating with food. Who knows if it’s all just a figment of his imagination?
It was cuttlefish ink pasta.
The assistant thought the message was “your heart is as black as the cuttlefish ink.”
He said, “Cuttlefish squirts ink when it’s fleeing. It means she’s begging me for mercy.”
I laughed then.
He was very impressed with her creativity.
Yes, we wash our rice before cooking it. 😉 Wash it before you cook it too ok even just once. If you want put the water from it to your plant, it’s good for them. 😊
I’ll explain the salted egg here while you sleep. I’ll finish my chores too before I go on with the other dramas. I’m getting obsessed woth this cdrama it’s not a good sign 😂
Good night! 🙇🏻♀️
You’ll definitely have to finish LLF ok, please. ☺️ It’s a must that it finishes properly here. 😉 Thank you! 🙇🏻♀️
My Omma said we wash the rice before cooking to get rid of dirt and some say it lessens the sugar in it. 😊 It’s a must.
With the salted egg, it’s eggs that’s been soaked in salted water so it’s very salty 😆 Have you heard of Irvin Salted Egg Chips or Fish from Singapore? Yummy 😋 I’m trying to find the clip where Shengnan explains how to cook the finger licking fried rice. Yeah fried rice usually has scrambled eggs. ☺️
Oh yeah it’s the cuttlefish ink pasta. ☺️ I would be impressed too if I got shown all of those food and eat it too. 😋
I have to say I like Lin Yu Shen’s look here than without any moustache or beard. I usually prefer my ML clean cut/shaven but his looks here is good for me. 😊
I found it, the process for finger licking fried rice, it’s from 16:40 in episode 1. Shengnan uses salted egg yolk ☺️.
@agdr03 LOLOL,… I’m practically rolling on the floor here at that bubble machine clip. That was absolutely hilarious. What a novel couple moment: enjoying time together, shaking out burps and bubbles from your beau. 🤣 😍 😂
So true @GB! 😂 I was beside myself when I saw it the first time but I realised it still has the same effect whenever I see it 😂 Can’t fault either of the actors there nor the director. Besides the slapping, it was an awesome scene 🥰👍🏻😉
Yes. Will skip scenes with toxic bestie. Have to spend my limited viewing time wisely.
Yes, the man being considerably older is generally not a problem for me as long as he doesn’t come off as a lecher, pedophile or pervert. If Jin does something out of bounds, let’s call him out.
This drama has me laughing and I also skip the parts with the besties (they annoy me). I switch between dramacool and dramabustv when watching (both sites have up to ep 10 with eng subs). What hooked me initially is the food – beautiful and so delicious looking.
I found all the kitchen stuff pretty stupid. She’s a kitchen assistant but she arrived after everybody? Ingredient must be prepared before not after… They are chiefs in a 5 stars hotel but they can’t cook a steak? She’s the only who can actually cook…
They could come with a more plausible plot. Every encouter between the leads is far-fetched.
I like the male lead. The FL is too careless for now.
The way they film the food is really beautiful!
@packmule3, I watched it on YouTube-but I didn’t think it was a Three Meals A Day show. I just put Cha Seung Won in my search. The hostel is on a pilhrimage road to, I think, Satiago Da Compostella. They got Asian and Non-Asian guests. It’s kind of like Youn’s kitchen in Spain-with interesting takes on cultural differences-watching people enjoying Korean foos, watching the actors in a more natural setting (it’s edited and produced, of course, but you get the realities of seejng these people xweat and actually work).
Where canI watch this C Drama? I have YouTube,Viki Rakuten, Asian Crush,Netflix and Amazon. My mouth is watering just reading the comments here. Thank you
Haha. You’re like me!! I pay for my Viki and Netflix. My Amazon is “free” because of Amazon prime. We also have Disney+ and Apple TV. They came bundled with our internet service and Mac products, respectively. Then my Youtube free trial membership ended and I didn’t renew.
The funny thing is I still end up watching dramas from Kissasian and drama oil because they have a bigger library/selection. Don’t you just wish all the dramas are in one site?
“Dating in the Kitchen” is on Viki. It’s also on dramacool per @ RoseJade. They have more episodes subbed already on dramacool.
Cha Seung Won was in the news many years ago bec he’d been raising his wife’s son as his own when the biological father filed a paternity suit and asked for monetary compensation. The son apparently didn’t know that Mr Cha wasn’t his real dad until the lawsuit.
Mr Cha had been married to his wife for more than 20 years when this ex suddenly popped out.
😂 I knew the drama wasn’t going for realism when the manager served the fried rice. 🤪 That fried rice survived a fire, water from sprinklers, and hours of just laying dormant on a plate. I’m sure the grease on that Spam would have congealed and the rice would have been cold by the time they served the dish to Jin. But I thought oh well… I’ll suspend my disbelief as long as there’s something worthwhile.
The steak? I thought it was Jin’s fault. He should have specified if he wanted the meat medium-rare, medium or well-done.
Even the potato and the red wine challenges weren’t possible. The cooking times of her recipes were different so she would need a lot of hands to finish everything all at once so she could serve them at the right temperature.
I stay out of the kitchen and let the caterers take care of everything. I can do 5 courses if I prepared a couple of the dishes a day before a party (like the salad and appetizers). But 10 dishes? All at the same time??🙅♀️
That will need extra bodies. 👩🏽🍳👩🏼🍳👩🏻🍳👩🍳👩🏿🍳
@packmule3, I had read this about Mr. Cha and what I also love is that he has his daughter’s name tatooed on his shoulder. It’s always blurred out. I also like that his wife is a noona. She’s a tad older than he is. (I get a kick out of this because I’m my husband’s noona by 5 years and we’ve been married going on 36 years but been together for 41). Anyway going to duperficial island, Mr. Cha is so handsome and fit-his shower scene in Greatest Love and his sauna scene in Man in High Heels were almost pornographic.
And speaking if food porn, super thanks for telling me I can find thd C Drama on Viki. These dramas,movies and reality programs from Asia have opened up a wondrrful world to me and are a sure fire way to get through the pandemicwhile skcial didtancing-no mask needed.
I’m an American Jewish person,do if you have any other Jewish folkson your blog,but given the fact that it’s aninternational space, I hope that, as we say, you all are inscribed in the Book of Life and that in the coming year, we conquer the pandemic and get closer to workd peace. AND MAY Bitches continue to flourish.
Oh! I didn’t know you were Jewish! I have Jewish cousins. 🙂
Are you ready for tonight’s Rosh Hashanah dinner?
Shanah Tovah! May you and your family be blessed with happiness, peace, prosperity and good health in the New Year 5781!!
@packmule3, Glad you too have a family with all kinds of people. We’re an international group with many religions and races.Makes holidays fun and tasty. With Covid, it’s just my husband and son. it’s brisket tonight with an Asian note-lagman soup celebrating our silk road relatives and apples and honey for a sweet new year.
Thank you for the good wishes and back at you
🌹🌼🍜🌈🌃
I saw the clip of the ferrari being covered by flour. Are they really speaking Korean ?!?!! 🤣🤣🤣 I love that scene.
Zhao Lusi really is so brilliant! She can easily make rapport and chemistry (😁✌🏼) with her male leads. She’s definitely a great actress of our generation (hihi we’re of the same age). She’s a bit underrated, I think (like not much talked about compared to Shen Yue, also was not hailed in China like Guan Xiaotong), but she’s really rising! But I’m concerned because she is REALLY BUSY since last year, filming numerous dramas at the same time plus promotions to them on the next year when they will be aired 😢.
I admit the age gap didn’t bother me after watching that clip, but I’m still not gonna watch it hahaha (just gonna make an excuse that I don’t want to get fatter after the food porn, i guess 😁) I like this ml better than Jerry Yan!
Btw @pkml3 did you watch Tiger and Rose? Not gonna watch it either but this cdrama is a hit among cdrama enthusiasts, I’m just curious about your impressions to it.
Yes. They were speaking in Korean. She tried faking it but his Korean was better than hers. 😂😂
That flour prank wasn’t bad as it seemed, though. Dry flour wouldn’t ruin the car paint but flour shouldn’t be removed with water because the flour would become like batter (or paste). If it hardens it’ll stick to the car paint.
At least she didn’t “egg” the car. That’s a prank done by kids on Halloween: they throw uncooked eggs at the car. Egg can ruin the paint.
Only watched the end of Tiger and Rose so I don’t know what to make of it.
Let’s do realism again with Jin travelling by taxi for 10 hours because flights and fast trains were cancelled due to bad weather. He heard Shengnan fell on the stairs and was so worried.
He couldn’t get assistant to organise a driver and a proper car for him? 😂
I’ve watched till episode 10 😱 and I’m still loving it. 😄
Hah! I’ve also started to skip scenes of besties and 2nd leads.
Show’s making ML a childish, kid for the FL had me shaking my head. I guess we are to swoon over how such a smart, mature, well-respected businessman-hotelier crumbles to become a jealous kiddo over a mere girl. That didn’t actually work for me, however the 2 guys stupidly competing for her was amusing.
Hotel room scene: I liked that she came and gave him a talking to and that he finally gave up his bluff of being so beyond her and practically begged for her to not date another guy. I’d have liked to have had a proper conversation between them at this stage, but show took the easy way out of throwing random hotel people at them to interrupt their significant moment.
I felt that, that was a pity (and a fail) in the show. In this area kdramas do better. Most times in kdramas, we see development from the moment rather than jump to another moment in the future and have to guess whether they’ve even had a proper conversation about their relationship or not. By the end of Ep 10, they are still not publicly admitting to be in a love relationship. 🤨
Whoa! You’re on Ep 10 already?!
So they’re going with the man-child trope? 😔 Sigh.
Taxi for 10 hours? Couldn’t he have bought a new Ferrari for himself and hired a chauffeur? 😂
I know right? 😁 Like @GB said I’m a bit dumbfounded too as to why an older smart hotel entrepreneur man like him doesn’t seem to know how to get a girl like Shengnan. But ok so it is because she’s very young? Or because he’s really not confident enough to make her his girlfriend because of his status? He’s had relationships before too so no problem there.
Oh he moved next to her apartment. 🤪
But in saying that I still like seeing them together and even if it goes silly then I’ll have the silly because it’s making me happy. 😆
Same here. It’s stressful right now so I need my happy dramas. I can only drink so many glasses of red 🍷 wine.
@LeeDale9198, I’ve seen The Romance of Tiger and Rose and loved it too. ☺️ It’s not your normal story telling because she becomes a character in her script but I thought the way the story got told was good and the ending was good enough for me. 🥰
I agree with you that Zhao Lusi is brilliant! She just blends so well with whoever she’s partnered with. She’s my fave c-actress now. ☺️
Cheers to silly but happy dramas , Queen 🥂😁
That reminds me I need to drink my moscato. 😂
@pkml3 @agdr03
Yes the strange case of the missing Ferrari. Did we only get to see it in 1 episode? Did they hire the car and then return it so they no longer have it for the filming? Since he was so determined to get back to Suhai, he should have just driven himself there in a fast car.
Don’t know that you’d call it man-child (which might have been cute or sweet) but foolishly childish, time-wasting kid who follows girl around, in a snit because she’s with another guy, and who won’t even let his poor assistant have a proper meal, just because he himself has lost his appetite. That kind of unreasonably stalker-ish jealous dude is not cute.
The scenes with just the OTP are fortunately OK. Those with some 3rd party injected into the them are at worst tiresome. I was trying to figure out his lack of reaction to his lady assistant, Li Man’s, fault-finding of Shengnan. On the one hand he tells guy assistant Meng Xin Jie to keep Li Man in check if possible, but on the other, he lets Li Man treat Shengnan like a lowly underling. Shouldn’t he also have accorded Shengnan acknowledgement in Li Man’s presence?
Either he’s deliberately hoping to reduce Li Man’s ‘jealousy’ by not doing anything to help or defend Shengnan, or he’s stupidly blind, and can’t see that Li Man, being the smart deputy she is, has already caught on that she has competition for his attention.
A similar thought crops up over Shengnan’s obliviousness over the 2 guys vying for her attention or spoiling for a fight. To her defence, I guess we can say that she’s young and inexperienced, but what could be more obvious than their saying that they both want the same piece of cake, right in front of her, and both competing to wipe the cream off her mouth.
There’s a new young man being silently introduced. We’ve never seen him before I believe, but he comes into the hotel kitchen to stare at the OTP without them knowing. Another stalker for another day?
It’s a long wait for more subbed episodes. 🙄
@GB, if I were Shengnan I would be clueless too as to why they want the same piece of cake even though Jin already said that he likes her. 😂
With the Ferrari it’s still around but I think Jin couldn’t use it because he went straight to the train station knowing that the flights are cancelled already. But really he could have driven the Ferrari to the station then called assistant to ask him to send over a driver. 🤪
Yes to Jin not trying to defend Shengnan when Li Man tried to correct her cooking. But for me I feel Jin is really not ready to be open with his relationship with her. Let’s wait till his Mom comes to judge the competition for the new head chef.
The man who was watching Jin and Shengnan in the kitchen was one of the chefs whose jealous that Shengnan has a backer in the hotel. They were talking about it before the Manager (other guy who likes Shengnan) announced the competition for the new head chef to the kitchen chefs and staff. I think he’ll be the one to hit Jin with a bottle to save Shengnan from it.
I’m rewatching because it’s too long till the next episodes 😩
Howdy! 👋🏻
Here’s a bts from this show. I believe Zhao Lusi is a bubbly and hyper person in real life. She’s so cute! 🥰 Credit to the poster.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFQ3lvYl34l/?igshid=28l12l4bkuae
I learnt the drama is from a movie “This Is Not What I Expected” with Zhou Dongyu and Takeshi Kaneshiro. The movie is nice.
By the way, the female lead is called Gu Sheng Nan, and the chinese character for her family name Gu is part of the chinese word zhao gu which can mean “take care”. The chinese character Shen means “win” and the chinese character Nan means “male”. Pretty good and strong name considering she is standing up to the male lead about 18 years her senior
@Pikapika, You’re one of the reasons I love this blog. Learning something aboutbthe Chinese language and why the letter definitions have meaning for this drama is a real treat. I’ll be watchingnit late, having found it on my Viki feed(thanks @packmule3). Looking forward to a fun time. Hooray!
I binge watched this drama yesterday. The humorous saying “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” is enfolding. At first, the male lead-Mr. Suave guy doesn’t seem attractive to me, but his gestures are somehow charming for me to continue watching.
Both FL and ML were a bit childish, the FL would cry like a baby when she felt broken hearted and the rich guy ML would have that ample time to secretly follow FL in that hotel where they’re attending a seminar.
I laughed in that hospital scene where FL was summoned to the hospital by the ML’s assistant to sign the contract related to debt payment. The FL mentioned not to take her kidney as a payment. I was surprised, that line was allowed and were not edited in China were there’s a kind of controversy with illegal selling of kidneys and other news on organ harvesting.
Meanwhile this drama will be the death of me! 🤪😂 Is it Wednesday yet? Hurrrrrryyyy up! 😂
Thanks for the info on Gu Shengnan’s name @Pikapika. I love knowing what a person’s name means. ☺️
Oh how come Li Man said the cake was inappropriate coming from Shengnan to Jin? I thought it just meant as he said, for longevity and long life etc. is there any other meaning? 😊
To understand the significance of the turtle, one needs to understand the nickname which Gu Sheng Nan has given Lu Jin, which is Lu Gui Mao. Gui Mao is a slang for someone who is overly particular and likes to pick faults. Lu in Lu Gui Mao is of course Lu Jin’s surname. So Gu Sheng Nan is saying that Lu Jin is a very picky and particular guy, which is why Lu Jin keeps asking her to change his nickname. It is in fact the name she has saved him under her phone contacts. Anyway, the Gui is the chinese character that is part of Wu gui which means Turtle. The turtle appeara as her pet and her stuffed toy and most recently the toy on the cake. They all refer to Lu Jin and her vey own nickname. Not many people would dare to call him that, since it can be disrespectful. A turtle can also symbolise being slow, so not very appropriate to put on a cake to your big big boss…
Thanks, @ Pikapika, for the explanation. Love it! I’m sure we’re missing many of the puns and wordplays in the Chinese language so this helps. 🙂
Thanks @Pikapika! I know we’d be laughing a lot more if only we knew the hidden meanings, colloquialisms and slurs that the subs cannot manage to translate. 🤔 🤨 😄
Thanks for your info, @Pikapika. Those details really help to enjoy the drama a lot more. Have watched Ep 5-6. So sad when Lu Jin had to leave. But what is up with that Li Man woman? Just because you are business partners doesn’t mean you own Lu Jin! She’s getting on my nerves already. I guess we can expect the typical 2nd FL controlling ways. The older cousin character was so funny this episode. I’m glad to see that deep down he is concerned about Gu Shengnan and cares about her.
Waaaaaaa! Thank God it’s Wednesday! 🥰
How come this lifting on the table and carrying of Shengnan gives so much feels for me?😱 Jun’s Mom offered her money and this is their conversation.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcK5zCpUQB/?igshid=1jnp7m97ffmsk
Ooooh. Nice find, @ agdr03. Did you say Ep 11? I’ll have to catch up.
I like the light and shadow on their faces. It contrasted nicely with the well-lit zone earlier when they were sitting on the couch. She was teasing him then.
When they moved over to the table, the colors became black and white. Meaning, it’s time for a serious conversation. Black-or-white. He doesn’t want her joking around about things like that.
This Cdrama is working hard to earn our “feels.”
@Pikapika, thanks so much for explaining about the meaning of the turtle. ☺️ Really appreciate it and the thing was Jin enjoyed that cake from her. He was happy 🥰
I’m only see 5 episodes. To me this drama has the feeling and light touch of a French romantic comedy. The ML has pleasingly matinee-idol features which contrast so well with his comic scenes. I could imagine him in an old black and white film. The FL is mad crazy in a wonderful way. Such chaos!
I loved the scene where they’re trying to find a pen somewhere on top of shelves. Do you know which I mean? He is standing above her on a foot stool and wraps her slightly in his overcoat. She is suddenly transfixed and he revels in her confusion, poking her head and tapping on her finger picks. I think it’s the moment when their feelings equalise.
Yes, I could do without the toxic friends and cousin but they move the plot along?
Yes Queen, it’s on episode 11. 😊 That contrast as you said was good. I liked that he told her straight to never say it again even if it’s a joke to her. There’s definitely a lot of feels in this drama. ☺️ Did you see the coat scene one? She needed a pen for Jin to sign off on his meal. She gets flustered. 😁
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFK8pgapSWY/?igshid=2pqbyfmzk616
I’m still out but I’m so excited to watch it. ☺️
@Fern, I’ve attached the coat scene above. I squealed with this one. 😂 I was trying hard not to scream in delight 😆
@Table122000, yeah I got sad too when Jin said that he will stop their arrangement. Shengnan’s tears were automatic, no distorting of face just a tear falling straight down but she couldn’t help with the sob 😭 But she still took it in stride. ☺️
@agdr03 @Fern I was giggling throughout the coat scene. He was so amused himself, knowing he was going to get her in a tizzy and all stirred up LOL. That was gold, that scene. Thanks for the links!!!
Ooohhh I like that word @GB, tizzy 🥰
Yes, a tizzy. 😆 She had been at an advantage until that point; she knew the power of her cooking and was able to tease him to reduce her debt. But with his coat around her, she was bewitched and then aware. Suddenly the tables had turned and she had to scurry away to her room. It reminded me of the ability of the sense of smell to influence the mind.
Looking forward to further episodes.