Never thot I would have followed any Korean Drama……always wondered what some pple are so crazy over korean stuff and idols etc!!
I have seen only one Korean drama previously which was “Winter Sonata” …..i didn’t even have the patience to follow it through as it was weepy, slow, boring …the only saving grace was the beautiful winter scenery. Occasionally I did chance upon some drams shown on cable but they really all look the same to me!! Weepy, yelling, horrific thick yellow tone foundation, burly looking squarish face male leads……just not enticing to watch at all!
But yet a strong korean wave was brewing where pple were hopping onto lucrative tours to Korea to see the backdrop for this drama, that drama…..learning Korean!, buying LG, Samsung products and listening to K-pop!
Last 2 weeks, I finally understood what the fuss is all about…I was rather addictively watching this top rated korean drama called “ My Lovely Sam-Soon”. When in Hk during a dinner, my friend pulled out this DVD set to show another another friend and they were discussing the story and actors etc. I commented…yuks you all watch this weepy stuff? And told them about ugly korean men, weepy storylines etc etc…..blah……. they said this is not too bad but left the dvd on the table. I picked it up and was quite attracted by the nice packaging. Read the synopsis on the back cover and found the story quite interesting…..it was a typically bridget jones movie storyline but it sounded something that maybe I can really relate to! Ha…! But I knew it would be funny.
The dvd also mentioned…..” many single women desire to travel and think life will be fine like that but ……”….hmmm…something that sounds familiar…..
I asked my friend where to get it….she couldn’t reply for a few minutes and said “aiyah, you take first….i go get another copy”…..i wondered why so difficult to find the shop meh….later when I said I will pay her….she said the price was HK$50 for the whole set. Wow! That’s 8 dvds…..ok…think I knew where it came from. But amazing how economically priced things can come out of panda land…and they look so well packaged too! Suddenly, the west definitely feel like suckers who can pay up to US$50 for 8 dvd set…..hmmmm….ah….they dunno what they are missing.
Anyway, the drama got me addicted from episode one!! Sure I knew it would be a cinderella story but the lead actress (Kim Sun-ah) is such a delight to watch! She is unlike other typical korean female characters or heroine that are petite, pretty, soft spoken, crybabies etc…instead she is a slightly plump, tall lady who scolds and whack pple upside down….she is also cute with her “sah da jie” actions….just very natural. She doesn’t wear pastel looking girly stuff but always jeans, cheap trendy t-shirts and a sling bag. This is very real as this is really what you see gals wear on the street! Her name is Sam Soon which is actually a very obiang generic korean name for girl in general….she hates her name a lot and always try to change it to something else. She is trained French pastry baker, and of course unlucky in love. She has no car, no university education and not married at 30. her jerk like bf ditched her on xmas eve and soon she lost her job.
But soon, by chance in the male toilet…haha she met a rich, good looking 27 year old guy who owns a French restaurant! (yeah…how real can u get?! )…..he is cold and slightly self centered , basically feel a lot of hurt due to a past incident with gf and family . They don’t get along at first and of course do not match as a couple. The lead actor Hyun Bin is at first just another tall and young boyish actor. (he is actually only 23 in real life!). He is not exactly strikingly handsome but after a while he is indeed charming. The role he plays – Sam Sik is always immaculate in designer togs and gelled hair but main thing is he has a really good built and is 1.84m tall. Desirable. Height does have its big advantages. Definitely no bae yong jun aunty killer looks here. He looks 10 times better.
Although he is always loggerheads with Sam-Soon, he is charmed by her goal in life, liveliness ….anyway she adds spice to his life. He is constantly secretly amused by her nonsensical ways. However, Sam-Sik is still in love with his gf from school who left him suddenly 3 years ago due to a secret illness (ok….korean dramas cant live without adding some “illness”)…..she is this sweet young thing who is indeed very pretty with long beautiful flowly hair …..a girl that any guy with like instantly. And she is very sweet too…..but the good thing about the show is that the story develops so that you know he can’t live without sam-soon being a part of his life anymore. There were some scenes where sam-soon and the sweet gf stand together and they are like worlds apart!!! One so big sized and loud, one so lovely, sweet and pretty……its really funny…..but the sweet girl lost…..which IS something that hardly happens in drama land.
The show have also many hilarious moments that got me laughing like crazy…..like when sam-soon wanted to forget sam-sik and went to hike a mountain in jeju where she cursed and swear like crazy in heavy rain at sam sik for introducing this place while panting to reach the summit!! Also when sam sik wanted to forget her and started strangling, slapping and kicking a stuffed toy pig (which reminds him of her)!!! Haha…..also sam-soon and sam-sik were next to each other in the restaurant toilet and sam-soon farted so loudly not knowing he is next to her!! Haha…..and also the rules sam-soon wanted sam sik to follow when the were dating…..like declaring his love for her in front of everyone in a train, taking cute pictures of themselves on the cellphone, making out in the cinema, buying couple rings….all this are little things that probably most gals would think are romantic…..but its really funny when u act them out. He also went for a silly madcap karaoke session with her mum and sis just to win her mum’s approval.
The guy suddenly became a wimp in front of her but he likes it this way……she became someone he can come for comfort besides his work and life.
This show was a big hit in Korea in 2005 due to its realistic portrayal of a new generation of single ladies in their late 20s or early 30s. the story is simple but the actors acted well and its funny and heart warming too. For once the pretty gal was left with nothing but she too accepted the fact that sam sik’s love for her is only forever in memory. the lead actress portrayed the role very well, the actor was acting 27 but after a while esp when his hair is not gelled, u can see he is very young. Heard he is quite new in the industry but gaining popularity quite rapidly. Hope he will take on more projects after this. There is also a American born korean in the show was acts as the sweet gf’s doctor. He is sort of like a beef cake but is very typically good looking. However, his character doesn’t develop much just a vase I guess.
There are also a few touching moments where Sam Soon have “conversations” with her father who have already passed away. She pours out to him on her misery to fall in love with a man who truly loves her and also of her fear that her current happiness will not last with Sam Sik. Outside she may be tough, strong and fierce but at the end of the day, she is emotional and sentimental.
This show may be too perfect in some ways where plain girl meets handsome rich boy but like I quote a forum I read “ lets all forget about reality for a moment and live happily in drama land!” haha…..
As much I as I hate to admit it, after watching this show, I did have the urge to go korea! And also to get the cool cellphones the characters were using and yeah, last weekend I went for korea food! One girl on the forum said this craze better die down soon for her or she will just crazily buy air tickets and fly to korea immediately!
However, I wouldn’t want to learn korean…..still think the language is not exactly the most refined soundly one. But its good to see that ladies are attaining more “power” or more say in a male dominated society like korea. It’s a good balance cuz the men (be it younger or older) still need to strive and bring the MAIN bacon back but seems the ladies can make key decisions for the family and also their own career of interest.
When compared to Japanese dramas, I think Japanese dramas still have a rather old-school feel to them. Whereas korea is up and coming for many things like their film industry, electronics, cosmetics, fashion, design. But maybe I am wrong, as I haven’t watched any Japanese shows recently.
Whether or not I will actually carry on to watch another korean drama remains to be seen, but at least ncw, I will be looking at korea on the classified tour pages….haha!!
