By My Side 不凡的爱

November 30, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: AIDS, AIDS awareness, bu fan de ai, by my side, channel 8, chen hanwei, drama review, drama serial, drama series, elvin ng, mediacorp, rui-en, singapore, terence cao, vina lim, zoe tay, 不凡的爱

this drama debuted on Tuesday, 28 October 2008, at 9pm on Channel 8, and airs in collaboration with World AIDS Day (1 Dec). it attempts to inform, warn and educate the public about AIDS.

additional info:
World AIDS Day 2008
buy (RED) save lives
wiki
World AIDS Campaign
UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

THE DRAMA

This drama stars:
Chen Hanwei as Chen Bufan, Zoe Tay as Lin Xinya, Rui-en as Zhang Yuhang, Elvin Ng as Chen Buqun, Terence Cao as Zi Xin/Zi Jian, Vina Lim as Chen Tiantian, Zhu Houren as Lin Chunxiao, Zhu Yu Ye as Wang Qiuyue, Chen Tianwen as Andy, Brandon Wong as hui-gou (grey dog), Ong Ai Leng as Cecelia, Ye Shipin as hei-ma (black horse), Benjamin Heng as Xinya’s brother, Melody Chen as Xinya’s brother’s wife

This drama starts with Chen Bufan (Chen Hanwei) passing out after coughing incessantly, and he is taken to the hospital, with his wife Xinya (Zoe Tay) and daughter Tiantian (Vina Lim) following him.

Flashbacks show that Chen Bufan is a loving husband and model father. He works in a meat factory, and his wife is a tutor. Their daughter, Tiantian, is 6 years old, and they are well liked in their neighbourhood.

Scenes in the current and past show the set of events which happened after Bufan discovered he has AIDS. His entire family were discriminated against, and life became very painful for them, as they were regarded like the plague.

I gave up 1/2 way. It got boring and kind of pointless, as it was really miserable… All the info in a drama setting was definitely better than doing it in a magazine programme. I appreciate the fact that this drama set out to create awareness among the masses, and it did it’s job.

Chen Hanwei was brilliant! He looked so sickly, and looked like he was going to collapse and die anytime.

Zoe Tay’s role was quite pointless. She was so cold, and strict.

There was no chemistry between her and Chen Hanwei, even in the beginning, when they were supposed to be a loving couple. Therefore, I was not surprised when they were having a cold-war and all. You couldn’t feel the love between the couple.

On the other hand, I thought Vina Lim as Tiantian did a good job, and kept the life in the show. she was the one who asked questions which everyone watching would, at one point or another. so I think she can be called the audience’s conscious-voice

Rui-en was quite an ’emo’ character, and Elvin Ng was the one who managed to melt her heart. Rui-en and Elvin as a couple… they were quite sweet.

Terence Cao in the show — quite meaningless. really.

OVERALL, this drama did what it was supposed to do — create awareness about AIDS, and warn people about its dangers. it attempted to show how a family’s love can change almost every situation, and also focused on current issues like unfilial children, discrimination among kids due to adult’s thoughts…

FINAL RATINGS: 3.1/5.0 (Fair)

THE REVIEW BELOW is done by my sister, KiM:

I think that the plot is very simple and it almost seems like that were trying to stretch a 10 episode drama to 20 episodes. The show was quite bland and colourless, and I gave up watching it half-way through.
The show was made to get people to be aware that AIDS is a very dangerous illness and how you could prevent yourself from getting it as well as informing audiences how you could contract AIDS.
The show also shows how people with AIDS are discriminated against and that it is not as easy to contract AIDS as getting a common flu.
Chen Han Wei’s acting was really good in the show. He had to look sick throughout the whole show and he achieved it. Zoe Tay’s character in the show was very bland and it did not show her acting skills. Rui-en’s acting was to her usual standard as she normally does not act in very challenging roles. Elvin Ng was trying to be cool in the show and really did not bring out any acting skills.

I’m sorry, I didn’t have the time, and I was not interested in doing a review for this. If this review disappointed, I’m terribly sorry!

2nd ANNIVERSARY!!! :)

November 14, 2008 in Personal

Dear Readers,

TODAY IS THE DAY! 14 November 2008!
~i’m the girl who reviews~ qingling.wordpress.com is 2 YEARS OLD!

thank you for the continuous support, and for all the help and suggestions which you all have provided me with. without all of you, this site wouldn’t be a success, and might not even make it past 2 years! if not for the support of all my readers, i don’t think i’ll be able to write this post, celebrating my 2nd anniversary!

THANK YOU AGAIN!

I HOPE THAT YOU ALL CAN CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ME AND PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IF YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ANYTHING!! :) i really appreciate your views, and all the help you’ve rendered me the past 2 years!

THANK YOU, all my readers!

i hope i won’t disappoint in my future endeavours, like the new TVB review site ~i’m the girl who reviews: TVB~ qinglingtvb.wordpress.com, which will officially open TODAY!

in the years to come, 14 November will be an important day for me, as both my sites will be celebrating their anniversaries! i hope that all of you can look forward to that day too, as i hope to have something new to offer you every anniversary! :)

Yours sincerely,
qingling~

plans for 2nd anniversary!

November 13, 2008 in Personal

Polls CLOSED; results revealed!!

November 13, 2008 in Personal

With 2 days to go to my 2nd Anniversary, the polls will ‘close’
(actually, i can’t really close them, but only delete them, but i don’t
want to, so i’ll just tally the results here!).

RESULTS:

“interested in TVB drama reviews by qingling?“

yes: 106
no: 98
maybe: 30
other: 8
– As long as you continue to do this site, I’m ok with anything.
– ya,but still prefer singapore drama reviews.
– and taiwan dramas as well =D
– yes! more work huh :D
– no way!
– 3 are from spammers. grrr.
:dsfsdgheg
:dsafsdfdg
:asdasfa

“TVB drama reviews: blog url??“

qinglingtvb.wordpress.com: 37
tvbdramas.wordpress.com: 25
tvbqingling.wordpress.com: 13
tvbonline.wordpress.com: 5
tvbserials.wordpress.com: 4
other: 4
– qingling.wordpress.com/tvb
– tvblife.wordpress.com
– crap
– better don have it better…

“name for new TVB drama review blog?“

~i’m the girl who reviews: TVB~: 54
TVB dramas :) : 50
qingling’s TVB drama reviews: 19
TVBdramaReviews: 16
TVB drama reviews galore! : 7
other: 16
– xxx (8)
– xxxx (2)
– nonsense
– TVB@qingling
– f***
– sfopsdgjuweiogjweif
– fsdpqkjwoijeifasf
– sdasfsdf

THANK YOU FOR VOTING!!

on 14th November 2008, qingling.wordpress.com will celebrate its 2nd ANNIVERSARY, and the new TVB site will officially open!

~i’m the girl who reviews: TVB~
qinglingtvb.wordpress.com

thank you again!

qingling~

PLEASE STOP SPAMMING

November 8, 2008 in Personal, Uncategorized

I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE SPAMMING MY POLLS, USING THE ‘OTHER’ OPTION.

PLEASE STOP.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO VOTE, please choose a ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘maybe’ OPTION, OR DON’T VOTE AT ALL.

IF YOU’RE REALLY UNHAPPY, DON’T USE ‘beat about the bush’ METHODS, and just be upright and LEAVE A COMMENT.

I’M VERY IRRITATED with THIS.

PLEASE STOP.

(I’ll be closing the POLLS on 12 November 2008.)

THANK YOU.

qingling~

update!

November 3, 2008 in Personal

hi everyone!

here’s an update on what is happening here on ~i’m the girl who reviews~ qingling.wordpress.com!

REGARDING the NEW TVB DRAMA REVIEW BLOG:

1. the tables have turned in the polls, and ‘no’ has taken over ‘yes’. with only over a week to go, i’m not sure what to do now, as the results are so close, but ‘no’ is winning! of course, a win-win situation would be for me to continue with the TVB drama review blog, so as to not disappoint those who have voted ‘yes’, and for those who have voted ‘no’, you don’t have to visit the TVB drama review blog. it’s harsh and direct, i’m sorry, but i can’t think of anything else to say, or anything better to do at this crucial moment in time. PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS, AS THIS DECISION IS STILL NOT FINAL! THANKS :)
2. the results for the url shows tough competition between qinglingtvb.wordpress.com and tvbdramas.wordpress.com, but the former is winning.
3. for the blog name, ~i’m the girl who reviews: TVB~ has been the clear winner from the start.

UPDATES ON qingling.wordpress.com REVIEWS

1. i’m finally done with the “Crime Busters x2 叮当神探: FINAL REVIEW“
2. next up will be an overview of “By My Side 不凡的爱” Mediacorp synopsis HERE
3. before Part 2 airs, i hope i can do a thorough review of “Love Blossoms 心花朵朵开: Part 1 FINAL REVIEW”

i hope i won’t disappoint in my new project and in my upcoming reviews!

THANK YOU FOR THE CONTINUOUS SUPPORT :)

AND… my 2nd ANNIVERSARY is coming soon!! {i’m excited!!}

Yours,
qingling~

Crime Busters x2 叮当神探: FINAL REVIEW

November 1, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: channel, crime busters x2, dawn yeoh, ding dang shen tan, drama serials, drama series, Dramas, entertainment, mediacorp, paige chua, shaun chen, singapore, tay ping hui, zhang yao dong, 叮当神探

this drama ended on Monday 27 October 2008, at the 9pm slot on Channel 8.

this post will focus on the last 3 cases, and the general review of the entire series.

Cases 4,5, and 6 were all linked to Yu Jie, and her past. Ultimately, it also linked the story back to the Surgical Maniac.

CASE 4: Fallen Angel

this case surfaced when Daxiong and his team were informed that the mentally unstable Chen Zhihui hanged himself in the mental institute. Chen Zhihui had stabbed James Tan, and murdered him a few months ago, but as his mental health posed a problem, he was serving out his sentence in the mental institute. When Daxiong and Jingyi investigate, they discover that the last person who went to visit Chen Zhihui was ____. they pay ___ a visit, and Jingyi starts sneezing non-stop after smelling an incense he has in his house. they find no leads.

meanwhile, Jingyi decides to break up with Dazhi, and leaves him feeling miserable. while nursing his sorrows, he meets an innocent young lady, Xiaoyun (Candyce Toh), and discovers that she has the gift of foresight. they save a young girl from being knocked down by a cyclist (did you notice who was riding the bike? CSS 2 finalist Zijie!). he brings her back to her uncle, Xue Youren (Rayson Tan), and observes the meeting of a group, the ‘White Cloud Group’, where their followers are dressed in white. Xiaoyun is called ‘fairy white cloud’, and she uses her gift to help the people who seek advice on matters.

when Cantik’s daughter, ah-boy, gets kidnapped, Dazhi brings her, Jingyi and Daxiong to ask for Xiaoyun’s advice. Jingyi smells the same incense which makes her sneeze, and finally manages to link ____ to the “White Cloud Alter”. Xue Youren insists that they are not a cult.

Xiaoyun manages to locate ah-boy, and Cantik is elated. Xiaoyun enjoys spending time with Dazhi and has fallen for him, but Xue Youren strictly tells her not to look for him anymore, and insists that she must listen to him, as he loves her the most, and that Dazhi might not be as good a person as he seems.

it is revealed that Xue Youren is taking advantage of Xiaoyun, and Dazhi attempts to expose him. meanwhile, Yu Jie and Jiang Zaixi investigate on the whereabouts of ‘one-horned dragon’. Zaixi investigates, and gets Monkey and Xue Youren to meet up. Realising that they’ve been set up, Xue Youren sends Monkey away with some money. Obviously, Xue Youren has had something to do with the child-smuggling syndicate…

Dazhi gets into trouble when he is too impulsive, and has absolutely no proof that Xue Youren is taking advantage of Xiaoyun. Xiaoyun refuses to reveal the truth. the ‘White Cloud Alter’ is revealed to be a crime syndicate… Xue Youren ensures that Xiaoyun’s divinations come true, and resorts to setting fires and injuring people to make people believe, become followers, and donate large amounts of money to them.

Chen Zhihui was a follower. 6 months ago, Xue Youren was approached by another follower, Evan, who wanted James Tan dead, for James had found out too many of his secrets. Chen Zhihui was sent to kill James, but now Evan returned, and wanted James’ wife dead, for she held the evidence which James had collected against him. first, Xue Youren ties Xiaoyun up, to prevent her from hindering his operations. He tries to kill 3 birds with one stone, by sending someone to kill James’ wife, and he would knock Jingyi and Dazhi down, as they knew too much. his plan fails, and Jingyi and Dazhi end up in the hospital. although Jingyi was not badly hurt, Dazhi remained in a coma.

Xue Youren runs away. Xiaoyun manages to escape, but faints. she awakes in the hospital, and keeps vigril by Dazhi’s side. when Dazhi wakes up, he finds Xiaoyun unconcious. she has brain cancer, and must be operated on immediately. Dazhi, recovering, keeps the unconcious Xiaoyun company, and plays her favourite song, as he bought her the CD which she wanted but was out-of-print already.

when Xiaoyun awakes, she has forgotten who Dazhi was, but he starts anew with her, now truly in love with her.

Xue Youren and Monkey are found dead. Jiang Zaixi had kidnapped them, hoping to find the whereabouts of ‘one-horned dragon’. Xue Youren finally tells that he knew ‘one-horned dragon’ was in Thailand, 8 years ago. Zaixi kills Youren and Monkey.

CASE 5: A Pact with the Devil

a reporter was killed a few months back, and his brother comes to Daxiong and team with a back-mail note he found among his brother’s things. with this note, Daxiong suspects that the reporter, Song Guanghua, did not just die of a drug overdose, but was murdered.

among Song Guanghua’s things were pictures and an incomplete report about a child-smuggling syndicate. Daxiong is sure this is the reason for his untimely death. meanwhile, Zaixi does some digging, and suspects that philanthropist, Xu Manling’s husband, Du Min, is actually ‘one-horned dragon’. the couple and their 2 children had relocated to Singapore a few years ago, from Thailand.

with Yu Jie, the two of them pose as reporters to find out more about Xu Manling and her husband. however, they are unable to find anything, and rouse Manling and Du Min’s suspicions.

Yu Jie’s brother, Yu Qing, comes back. he is the head of a child-begging syndicate. upon meeting Jiang Zaixi, he finds him familiar, and warns Yu Jie not to get too close to him. Yu Qing is determined to locate ‘one-horned dragon’, and stopped at nothing to find him, including killing Song Guanghua, and getting Yu Jie to doctor the autopsy report.

Daxiong and team manage to get Yu Qing’s picture, and attempt to find him. they spot him in a picture taken of Xu Manling and Du Min, when the philanthropists were raising protest against developers who wanted to buy the land an orphanage was on. on that day, Yu Qing was going to kill Du Min, but was interrupted. Daxiong and Jingyi pay the Du’s a visit and warn them about Yu Qing, whom they think is out to take harm them.

however, what Daxiong and Jingyi don’t know is that Zaixi had kidnapped the Du’s 2 children, and handed them over to Yu Qing, who demanded ransom from Du Min, and for him to deliver the ransom personally. Du Min was about to walk out of the house when Daxiong and Jingyi came.

Yu Qing loses his cool, and takes out a knife, wanting to harm the 2 Du children. however, Yu Jie arrives in time, and begs him not to harm the children.

Later on, Daxiong and Jingyi visit Yu Jie, and she tells her story, where she recalls the love and care her brother gave her, even as they had been kidnapped, and forced to become child-beggers. she tells them that her brother begged the kidnappers not to amputate Yu Jie’s leg, only his, but he’ll beg for enough money for both of them. the surgeon had a face mask, so only her eyes were visible, and she had a red birthmark behind her right ear… she said: “小弟弟，你连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒你。”

but Yu Jie told Daxiong and Jingyi that her brother had already died many years ago, when they were in the orphanage.

Du Min finally comes with the ransom, and is beaten up by Yu Qing, who reminds him of what he did to them many years ago. Du Min finally remembers them, and expresses his regret for all the bad things he’d done in the past. he now tries to make up by being charitable, but he knows that he’ll have to answer for his actions some day.

he accepts his fate, and does not beg Yu Qing to spare his life. Yu Qing is greatly disturbed by this, and goes mad, threatening to saw off Du Min’s leg, like how they did to him years ago…

Daxiong and Jingyi arrive in time, and take custody of Yu Qing and Du Min.

it’s not over. Zaixi had put CCTV cameras in the go-down where the Yu Qing and Du Min showdown took place. irritated that revenge was not taken, he plans something else…

a romantic dinner with Yu Jie, no doubt, is part of his plan. it arouses Yu Jie’s suspisions, when he says: “你哥哥连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒他”, which sounds stangely familiar. she writes it down, and pastes it on her wall… then attempts to rush to the hospital to look for her brother.

but Zaixi is waiting outside. he kidnaps her, and she sees the birthmark behind his right ear… he? or her?

CASE 6: The Surgical Maniac (Part 2)

Daxiong and Jingyi rush to Yu Jie’s house, to find the piece of paper. they take it to Yu Qing, who tells them what took place many years ago…

Yu Qing had always cared for his sister, and the day they were kidnapped, Yu Jie was eating the first ice cream Yu Qing had ever treated her to. they were on their way home from school, when they were abducted by a child-begging syndicate.

Yu Qing had begged the kidnappers not to amputate Yu Jie’s leg, but only his, but he’ll beg enough for her too. he recalled that phrase “小弟弟，你连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒你。” was said by the surgeon, only known as Blade.

they later realise Jiang Zaixi’s past. Jiang Zaixi was actually Zhu Yanmei, a very promising surgeon. his/her past was told by Duofu, Daxiong’s father, who used to be a professor in the surgical department, and Zaixi/Yanmei’s professor’s good friend. upon knowing the truth about her health (she was born with 2 sex organs), her professor felt threatened, and refused to accept a student like her; she had to choose and take the necessary procedures to make herself a man or woman. she refused, and her professor resorted to underhanded means to malign her, and kick her out.

they find the body of her professor, and he was killed by the surgical maniac. hence, they deduce that Jiang Zaixi/ Zhu Yanmei is the surgical maniac, and that he/she’ll make an appearance at her professor’s funeral, where Duofu was giving the eulogy.

with Daxiong and Jingyi on duty, staking out the place, Duofu is actually posing as bait, to lure Zaixi/ Yanmei and they need to find Yu Jie’s whereabouts, and of course, catch him.

Zaixi runs up to the roof. after emphasising again and again that he is the winner, and having SMS-ed a website to Daxiong, telling him that he’d know where Yu Jie was after watching the video there, he jumps off.

the video showed him performing surgery on Yu Jie, and she died. Yu Qing, who is in jail, is devastated.

Daxiong and Jingyi, after avoiding each other and being awkward around each other for a long time… finally end up together.

REVIEW

cases 4, 5 and 6 were related, and i was quite impressed with the facts about the past, linking directly to the present. even though cases 4 and 5 involved the deaths of people who seemed completely unrelated, we had to look at the big picture.

even though case 4’s main focus was the death of James Tan, and the suicide of Chen Zhihui, involving the “White Cloud Alter”, Xue Youren’s cover for a crime syndicate, the case focused more on Xue Youren’s past, and his links with the child-begging syndicate and ‘one-horned dragon’.

i pretty much enjoyed case 4, as i thought Candyce’s character, Bai Xiaoyun, was so cute, and the chemistry she had with Jackson Tan’s Dazhi was really sweet. of course, Rayson Tan is a brilliant actor, who played the evil, schemeing and cold-blooded Xue Youren really well!

also, what was nice was that the focus altered from Daxiong and Jingyi to Dazhi and Cantik…

case 5 was full of vengeance, and where Yu Qing appeared. it was also in this case where many secrets were dug up, and Yu Jie’s child-beggar days were revealed. everything gets a little clearer, regarding the whole ‘one-eyed dragon’ and child-smuggling/begging syndicate. Zhang Yaodong’s acting was really quite good! i’m seeing him in a different light now, as the kind of actor who can play a revengeful kind of person… he looked so evil and so crazed, when thinking about revenge. that was all he lived for, and that was really scary.

i actually felt sorry for Du Min, ‘cos he was living such a civilised life now, and donating so much money to help children. i mean, he was trying to atone for his sins, and what he’d done in the past was so evil, and ruined many lives. even lives like Yu Jie’s where she is now successful, but she still lives in the unhappy moments and it has affected her psychologically, so much so that she is in so much agony, and pain, as she just can’t forget the trauma she went through. and lives like Yu Qing’s, where he now heads a child-begging syndicate, living a life like the one which ruined his, living only for revenge and nothing else.

yes, so i really felt sorry for Du Min, ‘cos even when Yu Qing was going to take revenge, and kill him, he accepted his fate; he knew he’d done wrong to all those children, and was prepared to be punished; he knew that he’d be hunted down sooner or later; he was prepared to die, but even though he knew that he would get his just desserts one day, he still gave to charity, and helped children.

these 2 cases were pretty well crafted, and were linked to the ultimate child-begging syndicate, which involved Yu Jie, Yu Qing, and Jiang Zaixi…

the last part of the 19th episode was really creepy, ‘cos that was when Yu Jie suspected that there was something seriously wrong, when the phrase: “你哥哥连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒他” came out of Zaixi’s mouth. then he kidnapped her, and revealed who he/she really was. Jiang Zaixi was a WOMAN!

i really disliked the finale, ‘cos there were just too many things to squeeze into that 45minutes (minus advertisements), including Jiang Zaixi/Zhu Yanmei’s past, told to Daxiong by his father, Lu Duofu, who had a great role as the connector who knew the whole story. i didn’t really get the part about Duofu acting as bait to lure Jiang Zaixi/Zhu Yanmei out, ‘cos it all happened too quickly! we knew that Jiang Zaixi had gone to murder his/her former professor, but it was all so random, when they just cut from scene to scene that you got disoriented. i think it was meant to give you the sense of suspense and excitement, but it didn’t work. it made me confused, and i felt that there were many loopholes.

in the end, we have a usual rooftop confrontation, with Daxiong and Jingyi pointing their guns at Jiang Zaixi, who was standing on the edge, ready to jump. he does, after declaring himself the winner, and SMS-ing Daxiong a website which would tell him Yu Jie’s whereabouts. that’s it. Jiang Zaixi just jumped off without a fight. and he’d killed Yu Jie.

the ending was really disappointing, as i felt that the scriptwriters just needed to end the show, and could not get away with an ending where Jiang Zaixi didn’t die. there wasn’t enough time in one episode to fit all those important details, and it was never explained why he/she set up ‘wanttodie’ and ‘phoenix talon’.

ok, let’s recap: being the surgical maniac, he/she was proud of his/her skills, and would flaunt them, hence the ‘wanttodie’ fanclub, where he/she had fans who admired his/her work; did the ‘phoenix talon’ organisation have anything to do with the fact that her professor had framed her before, or was it for a pure hatred of men? why then did she decide to become a man then? i still don’t get that.

overall, with the exception of the finale (which i think is VERY important!), i really enjoyed this show! it was not too complex, and had many funny and amusing moments! the plot was interesting; the acting was brilliant, and i especially liked the Jiang Zaixi/ Zhu Yanmei past, ‘cos it was unexpected, and creepy!!

it was also really interesting how Jiang Zaixi was involved in every case – from the Butterfly Sisters’ case, to the Liu Wenbao case… and of course the cases which led to the finale; i thought that was ingenious, building up his character as the show went on, and deepening the mystery.

Best roles: Jerry Yeo, Jackson Tan, Paige Chua, Rayson Tan, Zhang Yaodong, Shaun Chen, TAY PING HUI
showed improvement: Dawn Yeoh, Paige Chua, Jerry Yeo, Zhang Yaodong, Rebecca Lim
loved: Candyce Toh, Jackson Tan, Marianna

FINAL RATINGS: 4.2/5.0 (VERY GOOD)