Dissecting the Title
It has been years that I have come across a title that is simple and yet so meaningful. Of course the title does not represent the storyline in a major way but in a way, this is a series about hope. The joke is you can't buy hope. It's there it's there. But I like the title. But in Cantonese, the title is "Gai Si Dik Tung Wah" if I am not mistaken which simply means The Fairytale Story of The Wet Market" which is also a very beautiful title, if you do not read fairytale as something not its real meaning. This is not, and I repeat THIS IS NOT A STORY ABOUT FAIRIES, GAYS, QUEERS or whatever insulting denominations you use to describe the homosexual community though there is a gay couple in here.Or maybe " The Legendary Tale of teh Wet Market".
Length
Very rare these days for Longwinded TVB -10 tapes/20 episodes
Casts-Characters
There are many faces that I recognise but I can't or I do not know their names. So where it is otherwise indicated, below are the names of the characters that you'll encounter in this series.
Gallen Lo - Wong Ha Pak
Har Yu - Wong Yee Chai
Ng Wing Mei - Ruby/Ah Bei
Tang Ho Kowng- Ah Roy
Melissa Ng Wing Mei - Chu Chu/Yuen Weng Chu
Loh Hing Fai - Steven
Li Ka Sing - AH Got
Lau Hiu Tung (Ah Belle) - can't remember the character's name.
Onn Tak Juen - Tai Chung Wan
Others- Crazy Keong, Ah Keh, An Ngah, Ah Ray
Verdict
I can tell you the major faults of this series and yet I can honestly tell you that it has been a long long time that I would smile watching a series. It is not because this is a comedy but because this series somehow touched my heart. And it has "heart" written all over it. I smiled watching the ending, though I did not like the way they ended it. But if you must.."Funn, what should I watch this year?", and I would answer spend you money on this one. because it is worthed every single penny you use to watch the 10 tapes. So put this one on top of your MUST WATCH list. You won't regret the money spent.
Summary
Observations of various happenings in and out of the wet market by one vege-man, Ah Pak played by Gallen Lo. And the story goes beyond Ah Pak and though little time is spent on other characters, we know their problems, heartache, and funny stories. Basically, this is a story about relationships. At first comedy then it became serious drama towards the end.So I would term it as pseudo-comedy.
The Plot/Storyline
The story begins with Ah Pak who is your typical wet market guy who sells vegetables. The thing is that he is extremely well liked and he is a mild mannered man married to a woman who thinks that she is stuck in a hopeless marriage to an uneducated and unrefined man who has much more unsophisticated members of the family, such as his football fan of a father, his little brother who is destined not for greatness but for an oridary life and his smart sister. Then there were buddies from the wet market and an childhood friend who is feisty and bitchy. The real story begins when Ah Pak discovered his wife's affair of the heart with a man named Steven and from thereon nothing is the same again for this man who hopes only for a contented life.
Aiyor....What the hell?! So Who is Who?
Before I proceed, I'd like to post a warning here for those who hates me for revealing the ending.because anything beyond this paragraph will reveal almost the entire content of this series.
Who, What, Why, When, How Come & Huh?!
For those with little time to watch this series, below are some of the major questions asked and answered.
Why Chu Chu left Ah Pak?
Technically she didn't leave him, but Ah PAk told her to leave and stay apart for a while but she ended up going into the arms of the other despicable lovesick fella called Steven, supposedly 100 times more sophisticated, 1000 more educated, a million times more handsome than our Ah Pak, which I agree. But still....
Why In The First Place Chu Chu Married AH Pak If She...
True, I also asked the same question. After being married to him for 7 or 8 years, and I assumed she married young, she felt that she was stuck in a marriage from hell. when her supposedly rich mother came for a visit, she felt inferior that all her friends married doctors, became successful whilst she who used to be top student in her school married a nobody who sells vege. She had a mundane and ordinary job and a much more ordinary life, and so she became very disatisfied with everything. And then came the dashing lovesick Steven who didn't really know the meaning of the word.."Oi!I am married lar!" and pursued her like nobody's business. they never showed whetehr she slept with him or not but at least they were having this affair of the heart whilst drinking expensive wine and dining in French restaurants. Well at least she has expensive taste. But she married him because of love I guess and the fact that she was pregnant kinda pushed her towards AH Pak and then she lost the baby. But after years and year of living with his family whom she thought as no good people who knew only how to party and terribly unrefined she couldn't stand it anymore. And so she began her next phase in life with another man.
How did Ah Pak found Out?
Thanks to Ruby, Ah Pak's old childhood friend turned mean bitchy demanding woman. She thought that her fiance, Ah Roy (Tang Ho Kwong) was having an affair with CHu Chu (she was his secretary for a while and they always seemed to talk in the office and was very close) and dragged Ah Pak to confront them, only to find her own fiancee not there at all but another man! And so Ah Pak knew and asked only that she come home for dinner. She didn't until late at night and he thought everything was ok again.
So everything wasn't ok?
Nope. The guy was persistent and he cornered her at the park and though she had made it clear that she will never leave her husband he managed to kiss her and the whole family and neighbourhood friends saw what happened. Whilst the father and sister and brother went to shout at Chu Chu and the guy, Ah Pak and Ruby just stood there in silence. That was when Ah Pak to cool down the heated arguments at home between the father and the daughter in law told Chu Chu to leave for a while. But what he didn't know was that was the end for both of them. But he had hopes that she will come home.
She Didn't Come Home?
Nope. During one time when Ah Pak was delivering veges to a restaurant, he saw that Steven playing the piano and his wife who now cut her hair short and weraing an expensive looking gown listening to his rendition of some high class music. he stood there and looked at her and then he saw a refelction of himself in the mirror and saw his big tummy, disheveled hair. And his wife saw him and after a brief talk, he agreed to a divorce. That was when he realised things was going to change for him. And the first thing he did was to lose weight and find himself a new shop.
What New Shop?
You see he had been doing his neighbourhood business in the wet market for years. Then the wet market people raised the rent to unreasonable amount and so all his gang, those that sold parok, fish, meat had to move out. Ruby at first promised them a place in her new project, some sort of a wet market within a big shopping complex. But she left the job and the project because of Ah Roy and Ah Ray and so in the end nobody had shops anywhere. Ah Pak started a small vege distribution business with these few friends and later worked his way up to moderate success before his brother screwed everything up.
Wait! Who..who the heck is Ah Roy and Ah Ray?
Ah Roy was her boyfriend of two years, someone she seduced from another woman. But on her wedding day she found out that all along she was a third party in a relationship that had gone on for a decade in secert. Ah Roy was gay with her best friend (whom she betrayed by stealing his idea of the wet market in a supermarket to avoid being sent to some godforsaken country for business), Ah Ray. But she didn't make a fuss, in fact she simply walked away because this was one woman with big ego and pride. And when she went back to work she realised she couldn't face the two of them anymore and so she resigned and went into business with Ah Pak because by this time she was in love with Ah Pak.
WAIT!!!!How come she fell for him?
Because he thought she was depressed and since they had nothing better to do, he invited her to this 2 days camp on relationships, where lonely men and women gathered and introdused themselves. She went there for the prizes but ended up seeing Ah Pak in a new light because by now Ah Pak shed off his extra weight but still was the same nice guy she knew. And she realised he could be considered as potential boyfriend material. And so she went into business for profit and also because she fell for him already and she wanted to help him.
What About Ah Pak?
Unfortunately, when Ah Pak found out about her feelings he simply rejected her and they became friends. But over time when she went on long holidays elsewhere he began to miss her, miss their talks, miss the way she would teach him how to do business. And so he was already falling for her without realising it. Unfortunately...
UNFORTUNATELY WHAT?!!
The wife came back into his life crying because we assume Steven was a jerk who mistreated her. And during one night at almost the end of the series, they sklept with each other and lived together again when AH Pak was kicked out of the business by his over confident brother and selfish sister in law. For a while he was happy.
How Come The Brother Kicked him out?
You see AH Got was what people called "Like a wood", because he was honest, straight, naive and stupid. All his life he lived under the shadow of his much more intelligent brother. But he didn;t mind that until he married Ah Belle , who was pregnant with his child and who spent a night with him because Ah Keong rejected her. This woman incited the breakup of the family. plus the fact that Ah Got joined this Confidence building class whether he saw himself as a piece of shit(no joke!) that people will no longer step on. He had so much confidence that he dabbled into the share market and earned big bucks. But the wife wanted more. After overhearing a secret that Ah Pak was actually the illegitimate son of his father and a woman who used to be a nightclub GRO who later married a rich man and thus now became Mrs Cheong, she threatened her father in law that if he did not handover the management of the business to her husband who wanted to do business the fast way, she will tell the father's GF Ah Ngah, and more importantly she would tell the secret to Ah Pak, who actually knew about that fact from Ruby. He became scared and thus handover the business and AH Pak feeling betrayed left the business left the house and left the family and lived with Chu Chu.
But You Said The Brother was stupid..
True! He was stupid. All Ah Pak's hard work went down the drain when there were threats to close down the business by the health inspectors because of bad veges. Moroever, by that time Ah Got's investment in the share market went kaput (bust) because of the fall of the HK share market and thus he owed people large sums of money. He blamed the wife, the wife told him to go kill himself and he went into hiding and tried to kill himself unsuccessfully.
How so?
Ah Pak came in time with Ruby to chase him half the street and dragged him to the hospital where his wife almost had a miscarriage. By then, everything was forgiven and in his own words, Ah Got "decided I want to be a chicken rather than an eagle because at least a chicken knows how to lay eggs". His wife agreed and became a good wife and daughter in law.
What About Ruby and AH Pak?
Should have been A-OK but Ruby freaked out when she saw couples arguing and she imagined it was them. And so she rejected him but regretted it ever since and 2 years had passed and they bumoped into each other again and each had a GF/BF in tow. ANd then another year passed and this time they were single and smiling at each other. THE END.
WAITTTTTTTT!! That's it?
Yep. That was why I said I hated the ending.
What about that AH Ngah and Ah Keong?
The father became attracted to Ruby's wild auntie who married 3 times but actually was a nice lady. And she gave him a chance and discovered it won't work and became friends again. And she wnet to Holland to look for the man that she avoided at first, a former gangster who tunred over a new leaf and became a chef.
Ah Keong who never kenw the emaning of love fell for Ah Keh and though the relationship was a bit bumpy at first, the ending was that he followed her to overseas and saw her graduate from the university.
What ABout Chu Chu and Steven?
Chu Chu left Steven and went back to Ah Pak. But it wasn't because of love but because she was afarid. Steven loved children and she couldn't give him any. And so when he proposed she freaked out. Ah Pak thought she finally came home and told Ruby that Steven abused her and neglected her. but that wasn;'t the truth when Ruby saw Stevene unshaven face and drunk desperation in finding Chu Chu. That was before we knew she couldn't give him children and so she left. Actually they loved each other very much and in the final act and the most giving act of all, Ah Pak took Chu Chu to see Steven and went home alone. And that was because Ruby gave him one big hard slap when he refused to listen to her that there was something funny between Chu Chu and Steven and that he was now the 3rd party and he was no longer the husband of Chu Chu.
What About Ah Roy and Ah Ray?
Not one mention of them in the last few tapes. So I guess they were well and happy being gay.
Best Scenes
Plenty. But I especially loved the interaction between Ah Pak and Ruby. Those scenes clearly showed who was the more clear headed one.
One scene that almost had me crying. When the brother kicked Ah Pak out of the business and was smug about it, he walked out angrily and the father ran after him and tried to explain that perhaps they should give Ah Got a chance. It was then Ah Pak turned to face his own father and tearfully and angrily accused his father of betraying his trust. That his father was selfish because he was afarid to let him and Ah Ngah know the truth. That he didn't care who his mother was and that he was disappointed that his father was a lying useless coward. And he stormed off leaving his father hopelessly feeling like a loser. Excellent scene.
Another touching scene would be when Ah Pak and Ruby tried to look for Ah Got who was about to kill himself in an aprtment. Ah Pak didn;'t know where he was and when he saw a curtain feelm in one of the apartments he knew his brother was there. Then his brother ran out and Ah Pak chased after him, telling him to stop but his brother begged him to stay out of his problems and ran and ran, until Ah Got saw a car ran over Ah Pak. he ran to Ah Pak who was lying down on the road, in pain. Ah Got immeidately held his brother up and ran to the hospital and saying things like " You'll be ok, when I was little you used to carry me like this, now let me carry you", and that was when Ruby shouted "Had enough of fun the both of you?". Ah Pak was only testing his brother and it was quite funny and yet touching scene.
Ah Pak after his wife left, simply sat in the living room and for days he had not cried but for that one scene, he cried his heart out in silence. Yes, people curse the wife!Bad wife!Bad wife!Bad wife!Bad wife!Bad wife!Bad wife!
Crazy Keong. Any scene with him in it. He was very funny.
Most Favourite Scene/Ultimate Classic Scene
It was a simple scene but I wish to vote it as my favourite of all.
Ah Pak and Ruby was in that love camp, and she was walking by one night and bored to pieces with those wierd jerks when she heard someone playing the guitar and singing.It was AH Pak playing the guitar and singing the series' themesong. now I never really heard the themesong because I always fastforwarded it to save time but in that almost last episode, I heard the song and it was brilliant. Gallen sang it with so much feelings and the song was so nice, somehow that scene was almost magical, with soft wind blowing at Ng Wing Mei's hair, and the way she looked at him and smiled sweetly and eyes shone brightly, and the way he sang, you know she was beginning to see him in a new light. It was then Ruby fell for Ah Pak. I loved that scene and especially the whole dreamlike effect of it.
Most Favourite Characters
I have 2 favourites, one of them I didn't like at first.
Ah Pak was my favourite character in here because he was a bona fide nice guy. Even when his wife gave hism that "green hat" to wear, he didn't scream, he didn't shout, he simply let her go, maybe because he knew that she wanted more and he couldn't give it to her. When the father betrayed him, he wasn't heartsick over the business but rather because his father became a coward. When his brother screwed up the business, he simply started all over again and said "if losing this business will bring back my brother, it's alright". He was indeed a good man. In fact too good a man. Patient, soft spoken, smart, hardworking, fillial, a good brother, an excellent husband. It was no great wonder why Ruby fell for him.
Ruby or Ah Bei because she had fat legs and big nose when she was a little girl. She was loud, rude, nothing feminine about her at first and she was arrogant as hel;l. But after the Roy and Ray being Gay incident, she mellowed down drastically. Ah Pak told her to relax and when she did, she realsied she didn't really hate her father who abandoned her mom after striking it rich in a lottery that actually half of it belonged to Wong Yee Chai many many years ago, that when she was Roy and Ray, she realised they made a great couple. When she finally let go of everything, she became one of my favourite character in this series, because though Ah Pak knew logic and could be reasoned with, when he was down, he couldn't see straight, especially the fcat that his co-workers were one lazy bunch of people, that his wife actually loved Steven but left him for a reason. Ruby could see everything very clearly, eventhough she may not say much. She woul dhave my vote as the most clearheaded character in this series. And though she was disgusting at first, she became truly a good woman towards the end, all thanks to Ah Pak.
Most Unexpected Nice Guy
Poor Steven. i thought he was a jerk, running after people's wives. i thought the wife came back because he abused her, and then he truned out into a total wreck trying to find Chu Chu. He said to Ruby he wanted to earn lost of money to give her a good life, and he couldn't understand why she just left. That scene alone, I guess I should ahve kicked myself for betting he was an abuser, a mean bad adulteror who will dump her. But actually Chu Chu left him because she copuldn't give him children and she was afraid and when she saw Steven being so good looking, young, successful, with soe many pretty lady workers around, she saw herself as old and childless and that was why she left him. but they patched thinsg up in the end, thanks to Ah Pak and Ruby. So I guess, SORRY STEVEN!
Biggest Jerk
If a woman could be called a jerk, then she will be it. Ah Belle. Hated her man! Annoying, irritating. At first I thought why Ah Keong didn't want her, so nice and after a few more episodes you'll know why.
King of Jerks - Bigger Than Biggest Jerk
Onn tak Juen's Tai Chung Wan. he was the first real love of a young Ah Ngah, the wild auntie of Ruby. After great moments he left her note and said that they better end before the realtionship begins for good memories sake. years later she saw him again and was ready to accept anything, including him stealing from her , insulting her and the last straw was when he said he didn't love her and beat Wong yee Chai up for the bag of money that they wanted to take to the bank. She finally realised ghe changed big time and became a jerk. The King of jerks.
Most Unreasonable Character
Ah Got. You have gotta give it to this guy..see himself as a piece of shit and damn proud of it. I cheered when Ah Pak punched him and his father pushed him when he refused to ackowledge that he was repsonsible for the downfall of the vege-buysiness and still talked and gloat about being Superman Lei Ka Shing. Could have been the most hated one if not for this one below...
Most Hated Character
I hated her from the start, and I hated her throughout. That is te wife, Chu Ch. She felt so ashamed of Ah Pak, she never defended him when her mothers hurled insults at him. i mean can't she just say "Awwww motherrrrrrrr! SHUTTTT UPPPPP!!!!" But I tell you why she didn't. Because she too felt ashamed of Ah Pak. So Steven is a great guy but to me she simply had no taste or shall I say too expensive a taste. Leaving a really good guy for....ok so TVB deemed it fit to give us Steven a nice guy, someone we can't hate but stillllllll.....Which is why I like Ruby so much because she saw past the fat tummy, the ordinary looks, the average lifestyle, the wet market, the occupation and truly saw Ah Pak as AH Pak. The wife was simply blinded by those idea of glamour. Ok, so Steven was a nice guy, who cares?! Hated the wife.
Most Favourite Couple
Not Ah Pak and Ruby though. I suspected it slightly but didn't really thought of it. Ah Ray and Ah Roy. Cute gay couple and kudos to the two actors for being almost intimate with the way they looked at each other.
Most Annoying Couple
Who else but Ah Got and his wife...
Best Aspect
There was soemthing very Japanese with the direction of the series, since Japanese series are famous for its loud music intermix with sassy camera work. In here you'll see plenty of those. You have gotta see it to know what I am trying to say, and I loved it. I thought the camera work for certain scenes was verty professional and nicely done. Especially when Ah Got was crying at end and the camera work was so...you know just watch it and you'll see my point. And I loved it that this series knows when to slow mo and when to stop, just enough for you to rush out and rent the next tape. Each tape is a cliffhanger. And I especially loved that Gallen singing-Ng Wing Mei looking at him scene. it was done in slow mo, with soft wind, very beautifully shot. Excellent direction and soemthing refreshingly different with great songs or background music.
Worst Aspect
I hated the first 3 tapes and I seriously regretted renting this series on the advice of the video centre guy who said "Eh, rent this one lar..very good you know...". Because the first 3 tapes everybody talked at once, and so everything was so loud. People were practically screaming and shouting, and evrything was so messy. And they went on and on and on and on about the missing lottery ticket supposedly in the possession of Ruby, for 3 tapes or so. It was boring! And then before I watched it my reliable source said that "You know, the wife will come back and beg for him to accept him, etc etc tec, stupid show", and guess what she was wrong! The wife came back for a very different reason. But I just can't stand the first few tapes and I thought oh my, typical love story. But I stood by it, went throught tapes after tapes and I guess everything has its bad moments. See past them and everything is smooth sailing. But My god, were they loud!
Why Melissa had to wear a short wig almost 90% of the series? To show a more sophisticated her? I thought if the other way around would be better. That she ahd short hair and let it grow because she was mroe feminine now and thus placed more emphasis on looks and outer physical appearance. Somehow short hair didn't fit that bill. At least not for me.And I am not saying that short hair means ordinary but rather long hair would have her trying it in knots or buns or whatever you call those Oscar-ballroom hairstyles.
Most Disappointing Aspect
The ending. Sure they let us know what happened to those few poeple but must they end it like a cliffhanger? Thos ethat thought the ending was like that, do notice that there is this "To be continue", (yes, wrong Englsch, I used the exact same sentence used by TVB), and don't stop or think there's a sequal. fast forward the song and the last 5 minutes will wrap everything up. But it was disappointing because in the first place the story ain't about Ah Pak and Ruby and so why they ended with Ah Pak and Ruby? What about the others? Maybe for one I wished for a renunion kinda ending,. but at least here something different. But you'll smile watching the ending.
X-Files 1: Mulder, Scully, take a look and tell me if you can..what happened to the money?
You see, Ah Pak lent some hundred thousands to Chu Chu but there was no explanation why she needed the money. later the father who knew about it ran to ZChu Chu's house and began insulting her, with really insulting things like slut, adulterous, no shame, wants Ah Pak's money like the one she borrowed, and she tearfully denied it all and said she had a reason.
Now my question is, what's the reason? because I am pretty sure they never mentioned the reason at all! Quite a big mystery and a bit of an X-Files in here.
X-Files 2: Mulder, Scully, didn't that happened somewhere before?
You'll see a little resemblance to Moonlight in here in terms of the storyline.
You see Ah Pak's real mother qas quite well off and told the father that Ah Pak was quite smart and if he travelled a bit he would have great success. And our hero's father, feeling that he had let his son down, deliberately said hurtful words and kicked him out of the house. now that was after he screamed at his fatehr for being a coward, so it wouldn't be a big surprise if AH Pak thought the father meant what he said. But Ruby told him surely you knew that he was doing this because he wantsed you to follow your mom..and he nodded.
Now that was so similiar to Moonlight where our Nancy Sit kicked the daughter Charmaine out and forced her to marry our Steven Ma and leave home. And she left with a brojken heart thinking nobody loved her and she was so stupid to think like that. In this Hope For Sale it was quite logical for the father to do what he did because we are talking about careers. In Moonlight all the hoo-ha and in the end she became and EDITOR'S WIFE. May I stress WIFE. Not EDITOR, BUT WIFE. What's the big deal? And the way Nancy Sit kicked her out was unreasonable because there wasn';t any prior heated argumenst before so surely the daughter could see through all that nonsense. But she didn't and she was so stupid! Blame it on the writers though.
X-Files 3: Mulder, Scully, did I missed something?
It was strange how the stort suddenly shifted to another unknown emotion. For example, ever since Chu Chu worked for Ah Roy, she dressed nicer, and cut her hair short to reflct a change in her. We all know she was having an affair with Steven but Ruby didn't know. When at one time they walked into the office with the same dress, and may I stress this was after Ruby recommended Chu Chu the job and was being extra nice to her, Ruby began to hurl insults at Chu Chu, saying that she didn't fit the more high classed dress and she should go to her wet market husband. i was confused big time. when did the rivalry began? If they showed Chu Chu being in the office of AH Roy, whispering into eahc other's ears, then fine..I undertsand Ruby's anger and jealousy but this hapened like all of a sudden. Caught me offguard. But I have a theory, that perhaps TVb forgot to write ior perhaps edited it out. Ruby was jealous of Chu Chu big time for having same taste with her and wearing the clothes a bit more nicer. Probably but still confusing as hell.
Performances Rated
A few standout ones, and few that needed fine tuning. But overall great preforamnces by everybody.
Best Performances
Har Yu. Welcome back! It has been a long long time since I last saw him.
That woman that played Ah Ngah. Anybody knows her name please E-Mail me. i was told her name is Cheong Sook Yee but I doubt it. So I dare not put this name in the cast list.First look I thought she was Emily Kwan. Heard her voice and thought she was So Yoke Wah. Both also can play the character of Ah Ngah but this actress did an excellent job., And she could sing too!
The guy who played Crazy Keong. Is his name Chan Kwok Bong? . He was hilarious in here but I do wonder, why the skinhead look?
Li Ka Sing. Luckilly didn;'t spelt it wrongly because it could've been Li Ka Shing. Anyway, he is very good with those annoying and irritating characters like in Plain Love II as Sek Choon. But he was evil there. in here he is plain stupid and weak. Great performance and especially the desperation that he conveyed for his character and the way he cried like a big litttle boy who lost his favourite toy.
Ng Wing Mei. She is very good at playing women that you hate at first but take away all her bad habits she is actually a nice lady who needs a bit of a warming up so to speak, and she is always playing women who fell for a guy that is in love with someone else and at last whe he falls for her she freaked out. In fact this character of Ruby is very similiar to her charcater in Ups and Downs. Great work and she sounded sincere with everyline she delivers. I guess honest acting.
Bad Performances
Nobody in here is so bad that thye're the worst but neverthelss some bad acting, courtesy of that Tang Ho Kwong that now reminds me of a salted fish-dark, dry and flat.He looks like he is in pain and I feel his pain. And I suppose his Ah Roy is supposedly charming and great guy because well, Ruby is so crazy about him, and he turned out to be gay, which is quite a nice twist to the otherwise ordinary boy loves boy who loves another. But still...he looks like in pain. I feel painful watching him.
Melissa Ng. I always thought she improved tremendously. In here she is very inconsistent. One minute she lost all her sophistication and thus became just like Gallen and the others and then suddenly after that Steven guy appeared, she became like a bit more high classed than she was. Her expressions were very limited and at times I felt like...why not another actress? When Ng Wing Mei and Melissa stood next to each other, though at times Ng looked a bit fake, I meant pretentious in her performance and yet I see more emotions in her than Melissa's. I do not know how to say this, I mean she was ok in here but very very inadequate in something. And that something so happens to be facial emotions which she had none. She was very cold. I guess in real life Mellisa would give people this impression that she is a verfy uptight, proper lady, which translates as cold and unapprochable. She has this face of great elegance and sophistication and she seemed out of place in here, which i guess was what the director wanted. To show us she did not belonged there in the wet market. But at times I felt Melissa's interpretation of her Chu Chu as a bit too distant, a bit detached and thus I feel nothing for her and I would rate that as bad bad acting.But that doesn't mean if I feel something for her she is good. It depends.
Most Excellent performance
People used to call jim a wood of an actor but he improved tremendously and if there is one reason to watch this series, make it Gallen Lo. His Ah Pak made me sit up and notice him. He was gracious as AH Pak, honest in his emotions that sometimes you would think is that Gallen or Ah Pak the character. I could feel his anger, his frustration and somehow I could feel for his plight. I hated the wife because Gallen gave us an Ah Pak that was a really good man. His ATE was disastrous, his Yip Wing Tim ugly and unrefined. Here as AH Pak, the ordinary man from the wet market, Gallen injected into his character great dignity and integrity that you can't help but cheer for him or cry for him. It would be a great pity indeed if Gallen leaves TVB because I feel he is probably the best actor in TVb for the younger generation. I admit, i thought perhaps Gordon Lam would have been perfect as the ordinary folks but Gordon is too cocky of an actor to have our sympathy when his wife leaves him. gallen as a person is warm, freindly and humble, and these are the very same traits that you'll see in his Ah Pak. Excellent performance by this actor that has never ceased to amaze me with his ability to grow as a mature actor, and I believe he will get better, if only he doesn't leave TVB. And his singing was with great emotions, though his voice was a bit lacking. But soemhow I could see some sort of honesty in his acting in here. I used to laugh when people rate acting that is great as honest acting. i thought how to rate it as honest acting. You must watch his Ah Pak to know what that means. Gallen gave his mosty compelling, dramatic, emotional and best acting in here and I don't care if anyone diagrees. A simple series, a simple ordinary character leading a simple life, and Gallen made it into the most enjoyable single performance ever. And he made this series into a success. And Gallen alone would be enough of a reason for you to watch this, and tolerate those scream fests earlier in the episodes and even the anti-climatic ending. And do notice his change of view but never his persona as Ah Pak. Excellent.
Now what is YOUR problem with this ending?
Too ordinary. Too rushed. Too uninteresting. Too unconnected to the rest of the story we have see before the ending. And too speculative though we know they will be togetehr at last though it may have taken them 3 lonely years.
What's In A Name...
Ah Pak in chinese means Uncle. Ah Got means like a wood, meaning wooden and useless. Chu Chu sounds like Pig Pig but could actually mean Pearl Pearl. Soh Keong means Crazy Keong.
Special Recommendation By Funn
Buy that song. BUY THAT THEMESONG. Now listen here, look at this necklace and you'll slowly fall asleep and whatever I tell you to do you'll do just that. Sleep, sleep, sleeping......BUY ....THAT...THEMESONG...BY GALLEN....NOW. Awake!
A Repeat : The Verdict
Skip the first 2 tapes if you just but don't miss the rest. Excellent family drama for everybody, young and old. Had some boring moments but overall I highly recommend this one. Again I reepat, taste differs. I may like it but you don't. But I can't see any reason why you will like it.Anyway this is not a feel good series, not about one man getting rich along the way but it has its feel good moments like the closeness of the wet market people, friendship, familial relationships. If you're into that and not expectint torrid and horrid love affairs, or big explosions, dying members of the family, bigger plots to take over the wet market business or the fish guy plotting against the vege-guy to take over the business or Gallen falling and having women falling for him every 10 minutes like ATE, this is the one for you. And permit me to say this..good taste my friend.
Interesting Fiction
One look and I know Gallen does not know how to play guitar. And his singing improved tremendously but I can't help but wonder, if Jacky Cheung was the one doing the singing, could have been better.
Interesting Possible Fact/Rumour
That Gallen plans to leave TVB because 15 years with them and he needs a little space to breath. Nahhhh it's all about the money...dum.dum.dum.dum.dum.dum.
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