Asian Addicts Anonymous

A Thanksgiving treat since I won’t be able to get Full House Take 2 done due to family. Too bad I can’t watch that show in advance and have it ready to go for you all. So, since I love Jiro and had no idea this show was currently airing, I’m getting this out a little late as like the first 6 episodes have already aired.

Love Starts from a Chance Encounter – Part 1

Shen Pei Ni (Maggie Wu) is in a market shopping. When she’s done, it’s pouring rain out. What to do? She has no umbrella. She decides to walk outside. When then get a voice over. Love always appears unexpectedly when you’re the most, haggard, tired and lost, when your 30 year-old life has already dried up. A man runs up, jacket covering his head. Cut is yelled.

It’s not  real, but rather a drama shoot. Someone complains wondering how such a scene will capture the audience. The female lead should build the tension first. We then rewind and dramatic music is played and the actress starts complaining of a stomach ache. Still not enough? Rewind again. Instead of a stomach ache, the actress suddenly goes blind. Seriously? We then cut to an office and writer Yan says that’s when the male lead arrives.  He will later donate his eyes to the girl. Isn’t that great?

Uh, PD Chu on the other side of the table with shorter hair doesn’t look very convinced about this drama plot. Still not enough? How about both leads go blind and one gets hit by a car. Sounds good, right Ming Ming [Ruby Lin]? The disinterested girl says yes and keeps rubbing her eye. Yan says it won’t be too hard to sweep awards with such a plot. Um…just listening and I wouldn’t watch that drama at all. 😛 Chu then glares at Ming Ming who apologizes.

Chu the asks sister Yang if that isn’t all too unromantic. They still have a drama to fill after the rain scene. Yan takes off her glasses and smiles. This is producer Chu’s first idol drama and thus she can’t take failures, right? Chu nods. Yang goes on. In the first few episodes, you change it to the past. If you don’t trust in Yang’s ability, find someone else to write the script. Chu says that isn’t the case, but before she can say more, Yang gets a call and leaves Ming Ming in charge.

As soon as Yang leaves, Chu turns on Ming Ming. The rain scene was her doing, wasn’t it? Ming Ming says it was both hers and Yan’s collaboration. Just how old is Ming Ming? She has to be around 30, how can she make such a fluffy juvenile scene. It’s obvious Ming Ming hasn’t been in a relationship. Ming Ming says that she’s been in relationships before. How man? Only three? Each time, Ming Ming was the one who was dumped. Very true. Chu then says she can accurately read people and Ming Ming is trapped by an old princess fantasy waiting for her prince to ride up. Chu wonders what would happen to her if she didn’t have this hope and fantasy. What good will life be then. We then cut to Jiro Wang [Ji Chen aka Eason] putting his coat over Pei Ni’s head. Looks like Ming Ming puts a lot of stock into this rain scene.

Chu later gets a call about an idol dropping out of the drama. What can they do? They start filming the next day and are now without a main actor. The manager on the other end of the phone tells her the idol will be available in half a year. Say what? They’ve already found their broadcast station—they can’t delay that long. Apparently the idol go injured. Ming Ming then sees a news article with a picture of Eason. Chu then sends her staff quickly in search of a new male lead. Chu turns to Yan—does the writer have any ideas. Sure, postpone the drama for two weeks. That’s impossible, they’ve got a busy famous actress. Plus, the crew is already on payroll. Every day the delay costs lots of money. Yan then throws it over to Ming Ming. Who should act the role. Ming Ming then points to Eason’s picture. Chu says his popularity has already faded. But no one else is available at such short notice. Chu is reluctant to use a brand new idol star. Yan then says she agrees with  using Eason as the drama makes the star, not vice versa. Um…not really.

We then cut to Eason filming a chase sequence where he gets injured and is rescued by a trashily dressed girl with a tattoo on her forehead. As the two drive off the scene shifts to night with a regular, broken car. It was just a memory of Eason’s glory days. Eason and his mother are getting ready to set up their stall. Looks like they are even selling illegally. They set up their stall which sells shoes and girls immediately flock.

Chu says that she will contact Eason and then start talking to Yan about script revisions. Yan says leave the script to her and Ming Ming and then leaves Ming Ming alone as she has some important matter to take care of. What a flakey woman. Ming Ming happily stares at Eason’s picture and wonders if he will become her lead actor. She then talks about how he got her through the rough days after her third relationship where she thought she’d be getting married at last. While she was talking about marriage, her boyfriend at the time says he’s not the commitment type and then breaks up with her. Harsh. Afterward, Ming Ming is listening to the radio and on comes Eason’s song. He’s a former member of red hot group HE which consisted of himself and Henry (Zhang Lun Shuo). Eason was the main singer. In that song, he was wishing the girl who had broken up with him well and help appease the hearts of the brokenhearted. Looks like he touched Ming Ming’s heart with his voice.

We cut to the present and Ming Ming is scolded for singing her heart out in a record store. She then asks the employee if he has any of HE’s CDs. He takes her to the special bargain bin. She tells him that only Henry retired and that Eason will soon be starring in a drama, so he’d better move the CDs to a better placement. The store owner wonders how he can be popular as Eason runs a stall downstairs and frequently uses the toilet.

Ming Ming goes downstairs and happens to see him running away from the cops. Ming Ming cannot believe she’s seeing her idol there. He runs by her and she’s super excited about their first meeting. Now if only they can be closer.  While Eason flees, he gets the call about the drama and says that he’s interested. So text him and contact his manger. Just when he thinks he’s outrun the cops, one caches up. When he runs back, Ming Ming believes its fate bringing them closer. He then crashes into her and the shows go flying. Eason asks her if she doesn’t know how much the fine is. Quickly help him pick things up. Ming Ming does so and he grabs her arm as the cops get closer and runs for it. This makes Ming Ming’s day.

They get to a back alley where Eason pushes her against the wall and leans in close. Ming Ming asks what they are doing there and he just whispers “shh.” He then leans in closer for a kiss. Well, fake kiss to fool the cops. They see this and run in the opposite direction. Once they leave, Eason picks up his goods and gets ready to leave while Ming Ming just stares. What’s wrong. Did she really want him to kiss her? She says no and starts babbling and he just bids her farewell while she clings to the shoe she picked up. She walks home and wonders if the shoe is her first date present. Say what? Overactive imagination. Shakes head.

Ming Ming gets home in a daze and happily goes to her room where she finds men’s clothes and a foot. She starts freaking out. Don’t blame her. She crawls off her bed and then tries to sneak away silently. She gets a foot cramp and then digs for her phone. She calls Yan and says there’s a pervert in their house. Yan tells her not to panic and she’ll hurry over. The man then wakes up and Ming Ming cries. The man comes out and the newly arrived Yan and Ming Ming blindly start attacking. The man tells them to back off—it’s him, Shao Tian [Lin Geng Xin].

Shao Tian holds a compress to his head and says to blame his jet lag. Plus, his mother (Yan) never told him that she rented out his old room to Ming Ming jie. Yan then asks why he didn’t call her before leaving America. He then asks if he must call her to let her know he’s been retrenched and needs to come home. Ming Ming jumps up. Retrenched? He tells her to calm down and listen. The homepage he designed was too awesome and would work even without him around, so he lost his job. So what’s his paln? Shao Tian says he’s still popular and doesn’t need to fall back to his mother’s job. So is he saying Ming Ming who works for Yan is down and out? That’s right. He then comments that Ming Ming seems to look older and older each time he sees her. Oh come on. She doesn’t even really look like she could be in her 30s yet. Yan then goes to beat her son for blaming it on her devilish ways.

Shao Tian then sniffs and looks around at the horribly disordered house with empty food boxes and clothes strewn every where. Shao Tian cannot believe that Ming Ming is really a girl. He tells her to clean up for once in her life. Ming Ming and him then start bickering and trading insults like children. LOL. They are cute together. Yan then interjects to get the two to stop. Their relationship hasn’t changed at all. Yan then says that Shao Tian arrived at the right time. She has to go to Singapore and would like him to help her take care of Ming Ming—as if Ming Ming is a helpless child. Ming Ming is shocked to learn that her master is going away. Yan tells her not to worry and delay Chu from finding out. All Ming Ming has to do is submit the scripts on time.

At this time, Eason’s mother confirms that they really want her son for the lead role. She plays hard to get and makes certain that it’s a leading role yet again. Fine. She and Eason do panic as the filming date is the following day. Isn’t that too sudden? Eason’s mother then says she has to talk to her son first and then she will call them back. She is over the moon. Their recent street vending article really helped them out. Eason then sits down all depressed. Don’t tell her he doesn’t want this. He then looks back at a poster on the wall from his days in HE. Dreams are better off left as dreams and not become reality since it hurts more when they are over. His depression surprises his mother. What’s wrong. Eason fears rising to heaven only to fall into hell again. So he thinks about rejecting the offer since he can’t take another bout of failure. His mother doesn’t believe he’s really finished with it. Tell her honestly. Eason tears up and acts all dramatically and his mom slaps him. He then goes over to the poster. Was his acting as a depressed person good enough? His mom compliments it. Seriously? It was all an act? Eason then says they of course can’t let such an opportunity pass them by. His mom then rushes out to call the person back about the script so her son can start practicing.

Ming Ming is working on her laptop and munching when she sees the shoe and recalls the alley incident. She tries to shake herself back to reality as she has work to do, but her heart won’t stop quickly beating. She decides to use this to help her write the script. We cut back to the rain scene with Eason and Pei Ni standing outside the store. Eason removes his jacket and places it above their heads. He doesn’t mind going with her. Pei Ni smiles and nods and the two walk off together. A motorcycle comes and Eason quickly pulls her out of the way, dropping his jacket. Is she okay? Pei Ni shakes her head and the leads walk off together into the rainy night.

Ming Ming finishes the script and happily says she can send it to Yan. She then starts sniffing. What’s that smell. She grabs her laptop and walks out.  The place is completely clean thanks to Shao Tian. He’s even prepared her the breakfast she always loved. These two. So cute. When Shao Tian starts talking about her boyfriends, Ming Ming tells him there was no fourth, fifth, or sixth. Say what? She’s been single since she broke up with number 3? He then says Ming Ming obviously can’t get over him. Loyalty is one thing, stupidity is something else. Ming Ming then says she has someone else she already likes. Really? They just haven’t started their relationship yet. LOL. Such a dreamer. When he asks who it is, Ming Ming demands he fix her computer since he’s so idle.

Shao Tian takes a look at her computer while she reads over the note that Yan left her about adding an accidental kiss to the first episode. How can she do that? He tells her not to force it if she can’t. He then exclaims over her pictures of Eason. Don’t tell him that’s the guy she was talking about earlier? Ming Ming quickly grabs the laptop away and scolds him for prying into her files instead of fixing it. Shao Tian then takes a poster out of the trash. Ming Ming is horrified to see her beloved HE poster all crumpled up. So she was really talking about Eason, huh? Ming Ming says that Yan is also devoted to Eason. Ming Ming says she has to love the male lead to write a wonderful script. Shao Tian tells her to go off and write her script. She angrily takes back the laptop and says he doesn’t need to fix it any more. He then tells her not to forget the shoot starts tomorrow.

Eason meets with Chu and starts preparing for the role while Ming Ming works hard and Shao Tian cleans and takes care of her by bringing her bread and milk. The set starts coming together and Eason stares in awe. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?

The next day Eason’s mother rushes in to get him ready to go and sees him sitting in shock. He didn’t stay up all night, did he? His mom also thinks he’s continuing the act from the previous night. Eason says its not an act. He can’t believe something like this has happened. His mom pinches him and tells him this time it’s real and not to be nervous. It’s time to embrace their future.

Chu says the lucky hour is approaching. Where are the leads? The female lead is already their in make up while Eason arrives late. Chu scolds him for being late. He didn’t know this and feels very embarrassed. Not off to a good start. To top it off, Yan is also not there yet. Shao Tian is driving while Ming Ming is trying to put on her makeup. He comes to  a sudden stop so she smears it all over her face. Ming Ming then gets a call from  Chu asking where Yan is. Chu says Yan is in Singapore and that Ming Ming will be taking care of things for the moment. Ming Ming says Chu hung up and urges Shao Tian to go faster. Red light.

Ming Ming and Shao Tian arrive and she rushes off to the film site. She seems very unsure and out of place. She then goes back to the wardrobe and makeup and happily looks at the clothes for the leading pair. She’s amazed. She then puts on a yellow jacket saying Eason will be very handsome in it. She then starts posing. She looks so silly. She then rushes to get the jacket off as Eason and his mother approach. His mom leaves him to prepare. Eason takes out the script and starts looking at it as the hiding Ming Ming peeks out at him and has a fangirling moment and tells herself she needs to calm down. She then knocks into a light. Eason looks back and then cautiously gets up and goes over to the wardrobe. He pulls the clothes back and sees Ming Ming there. Awkward.

Ming Ming gets up embarrassed and he looks hard at her. Has he’s seen her before? Ming Ming replies that they have met before and goes to tell him she’s the drama’s writer, when he confuses her with the stylist and requests to help change for the upcoming scene. Ming Ming comes out. Help him change? Yep, he doesn’t need to tell her what he’s supposed to wear does he? He pulls off his shirt and then goes for his pants. Ming Ming yells at him to stop and confesses she really doesn’t know what he’s supposed to wear because she’s the writer, but he cuts her off and says because it’s her first day on the job. LOL. Let the girl get a word in edge-wise. Eason then says that this scene calls for the jacket she’s wearing right now. Ming Ming apologizes and then says she was only trying it on and it got stuck. Eason says that she only needs to check for tears and not try the clothes on. He then tries to help her with the zipper. This puts him up close with her and he suddenly remember where he’s seen her before.

Eason then talks about how coincidental it is to her meet her as a stylist there. Wait a minute. She has no idea what he’s supposed to wear. Don’t tell him she’s a fan who snuck in? Ming Ming admits to being a fan and gets closer. Eason covers his chest and backs away. She tries to tell him she’s the show’s writer, but again he doesn’t listen. He doesn’t like to make his fans sad. Since she put in so much effort, he’ll reward her. He backs her into a corner and leans in close for a kiss. Ming Ming straightens up and puts her foot against the wall. Just as he’s about to kiss her, her phone rings. She starts looking through a bag an can’t find her phone. Oh, no! Where is it? Eason points out that is his bag. Whoops. She then looks through her bag and answers it. It’s Chu asking if she’s there yet. Ming Ming says she has arrived and will head over immediately. Eason is surprised to learn she really works there. Ming Ming then manages to get the coat unzipped and rushes out as Eason’s mother rushes in.

His mother wonders why he’s half naked. Did he do something with that girl? Nope. She then tells him to hurry up as the female lead is ready. Eason quickly puts on the coat and we cut to Ming Ming rushing to the studio where Shao Tian demands to know here she wondered off to. He couldn’t find her. Ming Ming apologizes and says she was busy as Chu storms over. Chu finally got a hold of Yan who says that Ming Ming will be in charge of any problems with the script. Can Ming Ming handle that? Huh? Pei Ni is NOT happy with the script for the first episode. Uh-oh. Enter Eason and his mother. Chu is very cold to them. They are trying to solve a problem here. Enter Pei Ni. She ignores Eason’s greeting and introduction and demands to know if the writer is there. Pei Ni is then introduced to Ming Ming. Eason then apologizes for mistaking her for a stylist earlier.

Pei Ni clears her throat and says she can’t act out this first episode. The overall story is fine, but this first episode is pure romance with little dialogue. She then starts asking questions and demanding Ming Ming tell her what’s behind all this stuff. Ming Ming is uncomfortable, but tries to explain to the bet of her ability. Pei Ni then apologizes and says that the kiss scene added in seems very frivolous and she wonders why all dramas now have accidental kiss scenes (true, it can be annoying in some cases). Poor Ming Ming didn’t even want to write the kiss in. She turns to Chu who places everything on her plate. Ming Ming fantasizes about bawling Chu out, but can’t say a word. Chu then says she understands Pei Ni’s concern and had already mentioned such things earlier. She then tells Ming Ming to quickly change the script.

Eason then jumps on the changing the script bandwagon as the kiss scene didn’t make sense to him either. Poor Ming Ming. Thrown under the bus when it’s not entirely her fault. Shao Tian then jumps in. What’s so hard about a kiss? A kiss is a kiss. Chu asks who he is and he introduces himself as Yan’s son. He then shows them how easy an accidental kiss is and trips into Eason’s mouth. The girls stare on in shock and Eason looks completely befuddled and disgusted. Shao Tian straightens up and says that’s an accidental kiss and that’s all there is to it. Omo. What an attitude.

In the parking garage, Ming Ming scolds Shao Tian for going to far and kissing Eason. He stops. He just doesn’t understand Ming Ming. Is that really making her angry? Shouldn’t she be angrier at how useless she is. Harsh. She didn’t even talk back. She’s followed his mom for how many years and can’t even take care of herself. When will she grow up? He then gripes about her pretending to be a stylist in order to get close to Eason. Ming Ming quickly says that’s not what happened. Does he really think of her like that? Ming Ming starts yelling at him and he says she’s the only one who sees herself as low and walks off to get the car. When he pulls the car around, the hurt Ming Ming is nowhere to be seen. Well…he was sort of right to scold her, but he did go too far.

Ming Ming is morosely wandering the streets alone when she comes across a wedding photo shoot. She then sees her ex-boyfriend who said he was a commitment phobic. What a liar. He tells her he’s getting married today and is taking his wedding photos. Het hen says he lied to her since he knew how much she had yearned for marriage. Harsh, dude. That was just disrespectful and wrong. Shao Tian then walks up and overhears this part of the conversation. Ex then says he has no regrets over what he did. What an ass. Ming Ming turns and walks away while Shao Tian angrily walks over and punches him. Nice!

So…just how complicated will the relationships get on this show? I think Shao Tian might actually like Ming Ming as more than an older sister and Jiro’s Eason is set to woo her just so he doesn’t get canned but really does fall for her. And we have other characters not introduced yet. Let the drama behind the drama begin!

I really like the dichotomy of seeing what’s playing out in Ming Ming’s head and what is reality. Can’t wait to watch more of this 🙂