Love Blossoms 心花朵朵开

May 24, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: actors, actresses, adam chen, ben yeo, channel 8, chen shucheng, chen tianwen, constance song, drama, drama reviews, drama serials, drama series, entertainment, felicia chin, information, ivy lee, jin yinji, koh yah hwee, lin meijiao, love blossoms, mediacorp, mega drama 2008, ng hui, patricia mok, priscelia chan, rayson tan, reviews, singapore, terence cao, xin hua duo duo kai, zhang yaodong, zheng geping, 心花朵朵开

The first part (55 episodes) of this 110-episode mega-drama debuts on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 at 7pm on Channel 8.

Stars: Chen Shucheng as Tao Dashun, Ivy Lee as Tao Zi Jing, Felicia Chin as Tao Hai Tong, Zheng Geping as Yun Kai Wang, Constance Song as Tao Ling Lan, Patricia Mok as Yun Cai Xia, Rayson Tan as Kang Qing Xiong, Terence Cao as Yu Wen Hao, Zhang Yaodong as Ma Da Ji, Adam Chen as Guo Zi Peng, Chen Tianwen as Lu Gua, Koh Yah Hwee (finalist from Star Search 2007) as Tao Wen Zhu, Ben Yeo as Wang Zhigang, Priscelia Chan as Yuan Er-bo, Jin Yinji as Su Baozhuan, Eelyn Kok as Mei Wei, Ng Hui as Xiao Lei, Lin Meijiao as Pan Qiulian, May Phua as Xu Yanning, Darren Lim as Huang Yezu, Hong Huifang as Liang Miaochang, Huang Wenyong as Yu Dongcheng, Chen Chuxuan as Yiling

SYNOPSIS (credits to Mediacorp for the basic info)
i’ve rewritten the synopsis below by myself. in my own words

Tao Dashun (Chen Shucheng) owns and runs a floral nursery and has 4 daughters – Ling Lan (Constance Song), Zi Jing (Ivy Lee), Hai Tong (Felicia Chin) and Wen Zhu (Koh Yah Hwee). A widower, and having a traditional outlook, his daughters are not very close to him.

His nursery is his labour of love – it reminds him of his late wife – but none of his daughters are interested in taking over. Later, he decides to sell it to help Zi Jing pay off her gambling debts. The buyer is rich ABC (American born Chinese) Ma Da Ji (Zhang Yaodong), a young man who knows nothing about the industry. Hai Tong, being very shrewd, takes advantage of this to make life better for her father, by making Da Ji pay him an enormous amount to run the whole show. Towards the end of this installment, he realises that he actually has a son – Wen Hao (Terence Cao), with his old flame Miaochang (Hong Hui Fang).

Oldest daughter Ling Lan and her father are estranged, as he sent her to the drug rehabilitation centre when she was 18. She has not returned home since then. Her boyfriend ran away, leaving her with their daughter, Yiling (Chen Chuxuan). They currently live with Lu Gua (Chen Tianwen), who is a horrible man. He engages in illegal activity and secretly has designs on Yiling.

Zi Jing is married to Yun Kaiwang (Zheng Geping), they run a flower stall, and they have a daughter, which causes them to be constantly picked on by Kaiwang’s mother, Baozhuan (Jin Yinji), who hopes for a grandson. Kaiwang’s sister, Cai Xia (Patricia Mok), gloats over the fact that she and her husband Qing Xiong (Rayson Tan) have a son. However, they are back to live with Baozhuan because they are bankrupt. With their appearance, the harmony in the household declines further. It is compounded by the fact that Qing Xiong has a Vietnamese second wife, Yuan Er-bo (Priscelia Chan), and when Kaiwang tries to help his brother-in-law cover up, Er-bo ends up falling in love with him. Zi Jing leaves, and her compulsive gambling habits are exposed. Top it up with Qing Xiong’s schemes which make Kaiwang the scapegoat, the couple have many problems which take a long time to solve.

Hai Tong is a very shrewd woman who is proud and confident. With her boyfriend, Guo Zipeng (Adam Chen), they run a floral hamper shop. Zipeng always has to give in to her and as their relationship is not solid, he cheats on her with his old girlfriend. Unable to be humble, she dumps him and returns to her father’s nursery to start anew. There, her relationship with Da Ji advances to a closer level. Hoping that she’ll persuade him to stay, he is disappointed when she lets him sell the nursery and join his parents in China.

Youngest daughter Wen Zhu is a happy-go-lucky undergrad who wins a university beauty pageant and is talent-spotted by the TV station and cast in a drama serial. She likes Da Ji. When in the entertainment industry, she endures the wrath of actress Yanning (May Phua) who makes her life difficult. Image consultant Zhigang (Ben Yeo) becomes her good friend, and he falls in love with her. However, she starts to distance herself from Zhigang when bad media focuses on her fight with Yanning, and speculation that Zhigang is a sissy and maybe gay. Because of her brother-in-law Lu Gua’s antics, she knocks her head and develops a blood clot and is unable to concentrate on her acting career when she is constantly attacked by severe headaches.

MY THOUGHTS

First, it was Nasi Lemak in “Holland V”, then Fish & Chips in “Double Happiness”, and ending the food theme in “Portrait of Home”, was fishballs.
Last year, foot reflexology was the main theme in “Kinship”.

Now, we’re looking at a flower themed mega-drama where even our protagonists are named after flowers! They all run flower-related businesses too!

With more episodes than last year’s “Kinship”, can this drama revive the expectations of our mega-dramas? It has a solid cast – Ivy, Geping, Felicia, Constance, Rayson, Patricia – and the story sounds interesting, the kind where business problems can be focused on (unlike Kinship, where there was not much to foot relaxology than taking over a branch and starting rivals.)

The whole story seems to be mapped out for the first part, and I’m curious to know what they will focus on in part 2. It is usually the second part which disappoints.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this! Ivy as a compulsive gambler, Felicia as a strong-willed proud woman, Zhang Yaodong as an ABC (complete with an accent!), Constance as a beer-girl, and newcomer Yah Hwee as a cheerful girl who turns into an introvert.

:) SO EXCITED!!

[BTW, i realised that Felicia’s pairing with Adam again (previously paired in LET IT SHINE!) and Adam’s other love interest is Ng Hui – who was his cousin chasing him in LET IT SHINE!]