Deciphering The Title
Cantonese title is "Mong Seong Seng Jan" which is..drumroll please.....When dreams Come True! Very positive title and I believe this series was broadcast during the Cnhinese New Year, even more positive. This title has also the names of 4 lead characters in this series, Ah MONG, Ah SEONG, Ah SENG & Ah JAN thus MONG SEONG SENG JAN.
Length
10 tapes/20 episodes
Cast-Characters
Jackie Lui - Anthony Lei Seong
Lui Fong - Ka Seng
Mui Siu Wai - Yip Yi Mong
Jessica Hester Hsuan - Cheong Mei Jan
Mark Kwok - Yun Man Tat
Yuen Siu Cheung - Yu Weng Fatt
Florence Kwok - Flora
Yew Ying Ying - Ah Kei
Verdict
Lovely series. Lighthearted, nothing dramatic and yet full of heart. What I like about this series is the simple storyline, the chemistry between the actors, the unexpected love-relationships, a touching story within a story and a very happy ending. I would certainly recommend you watch this series, because in here, you'll find top notch performances and you might even smile a little watching the ending for Ah Jan and Grandpa Wong's story. Whoever that said this series stinks perhaps watched too much of ATE. It's time for something less out of this world. Though not entirely realistic, sometimes even predictable but this series wins in terms of performances and the heartfelt storyline of certain characters. Do watch it if you have the chance.
Summary
4 desperate individuals who knew each other years before reunite and open a company that looks for missing objects for their clients. Little did they know all 4 have missed something in their lives and in the end, found their own happiness. Certainly a story about dreams and making it come true.
The Storyline
Lei Seong is the typical workaholic who unfortunately failed as a businessman. his wife leaves him with his young son and all of a sudden he realised he is all alone, no money, no house, no wife and no son.
Ka Seng is a tai driver who has a kind heart and helpful nature. Because of helping Lei Seong and breaking a few traffic rules along the way, he losses his driving license (for 3 months) and is down and out, without a job, no girlfriend and a past that he is afraid to let his policeman father know.
Yip Yi Mong or Ah Mong is the type of girl that does not exist anymore; she is kind hearted, ever helpful and always forgiving. She will be the first to pay even though she knows the other party may have cheated her and she is one who is easy to get along with, the ever positive person. However she has a wish that she thinks she could never have; whenever she comes home she will say "I'm home" even though the house is empty, because she hopes one day her real mother, a woman who gave birth to her out of wedlock and a woman whom she calls Auntie (because her auntie has since married a policeman 20 years ago and Ah Mong asked her mother to call her her neice so that her aunt could have a happy marriage without having to explain Ah Mong's existence) will reply back and say "Home so soon? Go take a shower, dinner will be ready soon". And she hopes to find the boy who wrote her a love letter when she was just a little girl.
Cheong Mei Jan is those type of women that no one would want as a friend. She is so demanding, bossy and counts every single penny before she spends them, her rich and good looking accountant husband, Yun Weng Tat leaves her for his secretary, Bonnie. After braving insults from the mistress and crying her heart out,she decides to start a new but little does she know that this new life of hers will prove to be far fruitful than being just Mrs. Yun.
What do these 4 individuals have in common?
They were all once neighbours at a place called Lo Fu Ngam, which was torn down years ago. Because of being down in their luck, they pulled together their last resources, money and Seong's office place and formed a company that looks for lost items for a fee. The company proved to be quite successful, though the prfit may not be much. As they look for lost books, lost computers, lost report cards, anything at all, they themselves found what they've lost years ago;
Ah Seong found his conscience again and knew he has not been a good father and a good husband. Though his separated wife, Ah Kei was seeing a doctor, he nevertheless wanted to reunite with her until one day he realised AH Kei may not want to be with him anymore. And then he met Flora, a former beauty queen in his old school and a former classmate who was beautiful, rich and successful. They started going out and he thought for once he would have a chance of winning the custody of his son if he has a family for his son to go home to. Unfortunately, Flora didn't think the way he did and she wanted Ah Seong all for herself. And when he broke out with her, she pestered him and was even more possessive. What will Ah Seong do?
Ka Seng at first liked Ah Mong but realised Ah Mong treated him as a friend. Then he fell for Ah Jan when he looked beyond her pettiness and found out that she is actually a very nice girl driven to be the way she is because of her one dream. However, Ah Jan didn't fall for him that easily. He did many things, and at last he got what he wanted, Ah Jan's total devotion. Alas, ex husband Ah Tat, tall dark and handsome, came back to reclaim Ah Jan. What will Ka Seng do?
Ah Mong was too nice to begin with but along the way, her kindness paid off. She befriended an old hermit who was the exact copy of Ah Jan in terms of their concern for money and that old hermit liked Ah Mong so much he even spent money and bought her a very expensive bracelet. This was after she found out that the old man has been lying to her all these time and that he wasn't a pitiful poor old man, he was actually very rich and also very lonely. At the same time, she met Uncle Wong's (the old man) kind hearted and hardworking assistant, Ah Fatt who gradually realised he was falling in love for her. But Ah Mong was waiting for the boy who wrote her a love letter to turn up, a boy whom she only knew as "The Boy With Glasses". Will she be able to accept Ah Fatt's love and more importantly, will she be able to achieve her dream of one day calling her aunt Mommy in public.
Ah Jan clearly had a happy childhood, though her parents were extremely poor. She had such good and happy memories of her parents and their little seaside home, she used all her savings to buy the house and at last even begged her heartless ex husband Ah Tat for money to continue renovating the house. The reason why she had to do so was because of Ka Seng. Ka Seng had an old girlfriend begging him for money and he had none. So he wanted to borrow money from someone and Ah Jan took the opportunity in the hope of gaining more money through interests in the money lent to the ex girlfriend. She lied that the money was from a triad boss and Ka Seng must guarantee that it will be paid. Unfortunately, the ex girlfriend turned out to be a con woman and the money was lost. With creditors pursuing Ah Jan to repay the renovation debts, a half renovated house and no clue as to where to get the money, Ah Jan became so desperate she went to Ah Tat and begged for money. Ka Seng who always thought of Ah Jan as money minded and materialistic saw her begging and knew she had a secret she could not tell. He followed her and saw her trying to renovate her small house but only made matter worse. By then he was slowly falling for her and finally, renovated her house in secret and gave it as a present to her even though he had confessed his love to Ah Jan and Ah Jan had refused him steadfastly. When she saw the house, she was touched and slowly changed her mind about Ka Seng until one day she realised she loved him. But then Ah Tat came beg begging her to forgive him, and though she repeatedly said no, Ka Seng told her to go for Ah Tat. Heart broken, she ran away. On the day she was supposed to leave for Malaysia with Ah Tat, she went to the airport and told Ah Tat that they were over and she loved Ka Seng. Right at that moment, ka Seng who had earlier received a call from Ah Seong, told Ah Jan the happiest news that Ah Tat had kept from her all these while and was the motive for him coming back to her. What was the happy news and will she be able to accept that news?
One more question. Will this series end in the way we hope it will? Answer is yes and no.
General Comments
When I saw the first episode of this series, I was thinking Ah Jan will be with Ah Seong and Ah Mong will be with Ka Seng. Then came Ah Fatt and so I thought Ah Mong will be with Ah Fatt, Ah Seong will go back to his wife BUT Ka Seng and Ah Jan? NO WAY! And then came Flora and all became quite a mess for me. Not the series' fault but my own over active imagination. This series has some unexpected twists in the love relationship, a very refreshing twist indeed. And below are the ending revealed for the main characters.
Ah Mong
One car accident changed her life. She was ok but her mother blurted out that she was her daughter in front of her husband and mother in law. And guess what? She should have told them years ago because the husband said, Poor Mong who had to endure such difficulties all her life. At last Ah Mong had a mommy, a daddy and a grandma and it was her lifetime dream. Her second dream was the boy with glasses and it turned out to be Ah Fatt. he was wearing contact lenses all these while and he himself didn't know she was the girl he wrote the letter to, because like he said, he was young and he was playful. He didn't mean what he wrote in the letter and Ah Mong who was very disappointed ran away. Ah Jan told Ah Fatt that she had been waiting for the boy for 18 years and realising that all along the woman that he loved actually was looking for him, he ran after Ah Mong and apologised. he explained himself and at last Ah Mong accepted him and they became an item. A happy ending indeed.
Ka Seng
He had a criminal record which he was afraid to tell his father but when his father forced him to join the police academy, he told his father the truth. At first disappointed, his father at last accepted the truth and Ka Seng became a happier man. And Ah Jan at last knew the truth as to why Ah Tat came back for him, and Ka Seng and Ah Jan became an item again. A very happy ending.
Ah Seong
He got rid of the possessive Flora by acting far more possessive than she was, and his wife, Ah Kei realised she still love him and they got back together again, happier than before. His son's birthday wish came true. Very very happy ending.
Ah Jan
At the crucial moment, Ah Seong called Ah Seng about what he heard Ah Tat telling Bonnie; that Ah Jan was Uncle Wong's long lost grand daughter. Ah Tat wanted to reconcile with Ah Jan and then cheat Uncle Wong's money to pay off his debts which was kinda ridiculous plan, I mean that guy may be 70 but he had many more years to go and the moment they reconcile and Ah Tat ask for money, Ah Jan would have known his true intentions. A failed plan from the beginning. Anyway, Ah Jan's mother was very much loved by her father, Uncle Wong right up until he fell in love with Ah Jan's father, who was poor. She ran away and married that man and went to live in Malaysia. Later they moved back to Hong Kong and lived in the small seaside house and then moved to Lou Foo Ngam which was how Ah Jan knew everybody else. Uncle Wong had been looking for his estranged daughter and a grand daughter he never knew. For his 70th birthday, Ah Jan was his present and they were reunited, amidst happy tears, because all along the girl he had disliked and then liked was his grand child and only living relative. The happiest ending of all.
THE END
Wait!! How Ah Tat that scum husband knew about Grandpa Wong? : He was Grandpa Wong's accountant and Ah Fatt knew Ah Tat was from Malaysia and asked him to look for Ah Jan's parents, where he was given two names, the mom and the dad's. Clearly Ah Tat could easily trace the info back to Ah Jan and her parents.
THE END
Best Scenes
Plenty. But my favourite would be the ending reunion scene, where after Uncle Wong blew out the candles on his birthday cake, Ah Jan walked in and he said to her; "Why were you so late?", because he didn't know the truth yet. And Ah Jan walked to him, told him her mother's name, her father's name, told him a story about what her mother told Ah Jan about Grandpa Wong, gave him her birth cert and her family photo, and Uncle Wong was crying, almost in shock and said "Please don't lie to me" and she called him Grandpa (I think) and both were crying and he immediately grabbed her and hugged her, never wanted to let go saying ; "I have been a failure as a father to your mother but I'll be good to you" and they both cried. This scene was the most touching scene of all and I myself was on the verge of crying, seeing them reunited. You'll feel the same way because throughout the series, you'll see Ah Jan remembering her past, looking at photos, buying the house whilst Grandpa Wong crying when he remembered his daughter, remembering the past. Though they were neighbours, he never really know about Ah Jan's past because he never asked her. I was suspecting half way through the series that they were related but one scene, which was very touching also confirmed it all. One day Ah Jan and Grandpa Wong both rushed to the market to but some sort of a white flowers and the final scene in that episode showed Ah Jan using a thread and a needle made a necklace out of the flowers she bought and Uncle Wong did the very same thing. It seems that when Ah Jan was little, her mother told her that her grandpa would make such flower necklace for her on her birthday. then you will realise both of them were living in the memory of their past, which was a beautiful past. We never got to see Ah Jan's mother since she died but you knew Ah Jan and Uncle Wong must have loved her very much. I love the ending and the above scene because it told us so much by showing so little.
Ultimate Classic Scene(s)
The funniest scene in this series which is a collection of several scenes. I was laughing like a mad hyena.
You see, Ah Seong took his son and Ah Kei to the park one day and the next day he received one photo took by a stranger and Ah Kei and his son's heads on the photo were cut out. He immediately knew it was Flora. Now we all know why Flora, such a beautiful and rich woman never got married; she was too possessive. Ah Seong knew he had to do something, because he tried breaking off with her but she was like a pest. So he used her way and he got rid of her by being more possessive than her.
He would call her every few minutes, rush to her, show extreme concern for her, and the last straw was when he lied that his kidneys had problems and since Flora loved him so much, she should donate one of her kidneys for him. And she immediately threw him out of her house!
The best of such scenes and the Ultimate Classic Scene had to be this one scene; PLAN ONE of Ah Seong in getting rid of Flora.
He took her shopping at an expensive boutique and he bought her a red over all dress, complete with pants which were meant for women. Ah Seong looked at her lovingly and said he will wear the same clothes she was wearing, because he loved her too much and he must possess the whole of her, including her clothes. So they walked in the streets with people looking at them, Flora visibly embarrassed and Ah Seong walked the way he always did, WEARING THE EXACT SAME DRESS AS FLORA! Classic scene. And another classic scene was where he took her to a jewelry shop and he said the black pearl necklace would look good with the dress they bought the other day and he bought the necklace and Flora said; "Thank you" and then he looked at her surprised, and said the punch line; "I wasn't buying it for you, it was for me and that dress!".
Classic scenes. I tell you the best way to get rid of someone you hate is to act the same way that him/her is acting, take the traits in him/her that irritates you and use the same traits to irritate him/her. Excellent scenes.
Worst Scenes
The first few episodes with a really irritating Ah Jan. But after a while, you'll get used to her. So in a way this is one series that I could never tell you a particular scene as the worst because all were quite ok actually.
Best Performances
Everybody did a great job in here, though some were not that good but not bad either. Not one actor/actress could be said to have given the "Worst Performance".
Jessica Hester Hsuan was annoying and irritating at first but that was her Ah Jan, and not the actress. As she became a better person, she was actually quite a joy to watch though she had little screen time. However, she still the same mannerisms in all her roles. Luckily she had little screen time compared to Mui Siu Wai because if not, I would have found her boring and bland. By the way, she was very pretty in here.
Mui Siu Wai as always is very good in her roles and it seems that this actress would somehow adopt a special way of speech or words for her roles, like in this series all her sentences will end with a "Wei", which sounded more like the end of a song. She gave quite a performance in here though her character may be a bit unbelievably nice.
Yuen Siu Cheung was very good in here as the nice Ah Fatt. I enjoyed his performance and his great chemistry with Mui Siu Wai. They do look like the best of friends in here, like in real life which they are.
Lui Fong far exceeded my expectations. He is as good an actor as he is a singer, and believe me when I say, though Jessica and Lui Fong looked like an odd couple in here, and not very believable as lovers, they do have this unspeakable chemistry, like they are really comfortable with each other. I like his Ka Seng in here and though Ka Seng may be short, he is every bit a man, and a better man than that tall, dark and handsome Ah Tat.
Florence Kwok had little screen time but every time she appeared, she will catch your attention because she was very pretty in here and she was one scary woman. Good performance!
Jackie Lui could be perhaps the "weakest link" in here, together with Mark Kwok, but Jackie Lui's best scenes also happens to be the funniest part of the story with Flora. He may be wooden at first, he even looked like a charred wood, too tanned and looked tired, but his was ok. Not bad and not good. Just average and watchable.
Mark Kwok is getting too good at playing a gentleman (Kindred Spirit) and a scum (like in this series) and if you noticed, for both series he had the same wardrobe. he didn't change on single thing and yet he was like a jerk in here. His performance was the weakest amongst the weakest but he was actually not that bad, it was just that he had such an all too familiar role that was kinda boring to watch. However his best scene was of course when he insulted Ah Jan who was begging him for money. That scene he did very well, but the rest he was below average.
All the senior citizens in this series, especially the man who played Uncle Wong or Wong Hei Heng was very very good. His best scene was when he reunited with Ah Jan, which was the most touching scene of all. Excellent performance.
Special Recommendation
The theme song by Lui Fong was such a great song to listen to; such a positive and uplifting song sung wonderfully by Lui Fong. Starts with
"Na na naaaaa na na na nanana...must always believe in yourself.....na na naaaaaa na na na nanana...must never ever give up..."
The lyrics were very meaningful, uplifting and so positive which described the plight of all four characters. Excellent song. You can download the music video from this site:-
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/tvba/main.html
The song is in FILES and is the same one in TVB.com unless you can tell me where to get the MP3 version.
Funn's Recommendation
I repeat; worth a watch. Very positive and very lighthearted, so don't expect any heavy duty romance or over the top action scene with saga of how rich men are made. No such nonsense in this series. this is a series about people, dreams and how to make those dreams come true.
An Observation
Not criticisms but just some illogical stuff about this series, amongst other things.
First of all, the concept of these 4 guys' business, finding lost items, retrieving them for a fee, from computers to bags to money to pen to even dogs and cats. And they have only 4 employees who are all bosses of the company. So all day they would go out to let say Tsim Tsa Tsui to look for a dog and they will find the dog in a day. Hong Kong may be small, and thus TST smaller but it is still a very big big place! The easiest find of theirs happened to be an old woman, which was part of a rather romantic story. You see, an old man came to the office one day, willing to play a lot of money for them to find his lost wife; whom he have never met ever since he went to Nanyang to be a labourer. he came after many years and went to them for help when he couldn't find her ALL THESE YEARS. And it took them just a day and they found her, still living in her old house. Quite illogical that that old man didn't go back to his old house first. But the reunion was very well done and a cynic like me almost cried watching the couple reunited after years of marriage, neither remarried. Anyway, it surprised me that the business could have profit at all! But ignore that one small point, and just enjoy the series as it is.
Jessica as Ah Jan was supposed to be the lead in here, because in the music video and all, her face was the nearest to the camera and yet after a while, this series seemed to be Mui Siu Wai's Ah Mong's series. She certainly had more screen time, though both had good characters to portray.
And finally, the music video. Hated it at first because they showed the actors in this series lip singing to the song by Nui Fong and shaking , jumping and smiling happily. Very happy bunch of people but very pretentious. The middle parts where before the series break for a commercial, they would show some of them shaking on a sofa , smiling, simply " getting jiggy with it". After a while, I forgot about the pretentious part and realised some of them just can't shake at all, so they're not very good dancers, which included Jackie Lui, Mark Kwok and some other actors. The best shakers had to be Mui Siu Wai, Florence Kwok and Yew Ying Ying.
One more observation. The seaside house of Ah Jan's, Though the house is very small but the interior design was very beautiful, clean and organised. And great looking sofas too. I feel this series had one of the best set design for Ah Jan's rented apartment and Ah Jan's seaside house. Very simple and yet feels like a classy house. Comfortable as well.
Interesting Fact
Remember the story about Jessica arguing with Mui Sui Wai's producer sister? Which was a big big news because Jessica used Mui Siu Wai as an example in her arguments with the producer? Well, first of all now we all know why Mui Siu Wai got much more screen time in this series, because the producer of this series is her sister. AND this was the series that Jessica fought her loudest and best fight, the one where she pulled star power and she should because can't someone take a leave for an hour or so to do something rather important? I am not Jessica so I don't really know why all that argument started but I just feel sometimes nepotism is such a bad bad thing. Luckily Mui Siu Wai has enough of talent to carry a series. if not........it doesn't matter!! Doesn't matter at all! I mean some of the least talented Miss HK is still acting today in lead roles and they don't really have sisters as producers or sugar daddies in any departments and yet they're are still here, irritating us with their half hearted performances! Wow! Never thought of it that way.
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