25 July 2008

翻滾吧!蛋炒飯 Rolling Love


Title: 翻滾吧!蛋炒飯 Fāngǔn Ba! Dàn Chǎofàn
English Title:
  • Jump! Fried Rice
  • Rolling Love
Country: Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Year: 2008
Episode: 12
Cast:
  • 卓文萱 Zhuō Wén Xuān (Genie Zhuo)
  • 汪東城 Wāng Dōng Chéng (Jiro Wang)
  • 唐禹哲 Táng Yǔ Zhé (Danson Tang)
  • 小薰 Xiǎo Xūn (Albee Huang)
  • 黃萬伯 Huáng Wàn Bó
  • 黃嘉千 Huáng Jiā Qiān (Phoebe Huang)
  • 劉喆瑩 Liú Zhé Yíng (Queena Liu)



SYNOPSIS
飛輪海 Fēilúnhǎ (Fahrenheit) - 恆星 Héngxīng (Star)
Mi Qi Lin owns a restaurant called Egg Fried Rice in  a small seaside town in Taiwan. The locals are lining up daily to eat egg fried rice, the restaurant's bestseller that is offered in a limited quantity of 100 servings everyday. However, Mi Qi Lin only knows how to make this particular dish and nothing else.

Guan Xiao Shu was traveling in the area when she suddenly needed to go to a bathroom. Xiao Shu was a famous singer-songwriter but she lost her sight due to a car accident. She intends to be independent but she can't help to rely on other people sometimes.

Mi Qi Lin offers his restaurant's rest room to help Guan Xiao Shu. While in the restaurant, she also took the opportunity to taste the egg fried rice and she found it really delicious. She liked the food so much that she brought her friend Leng Lie to also try the dish.

Leng Lie is a famous chef and he manages his father's hotel. He is in love with Xiao Shu but they get involved in a car accident before he can confess his feelings. Whenever he attempts to discuss the possibility of a shared future with Xiao Shu after the accident, Xiao Shu rejects him because she thinks he is doing it out of remorse and not real love.

When Leng Lie proposes marriage to Xiao Shu, she rans away to start anew and to become independent. She goes to Mi Qi Lin's restaurant and she asks him if she can stay at his place for a few days until she sorts things out.



REVIEW
卓文萱 Zhuō Wén Xuān - 永不消失的彩虹 Yǒng Bù Xiāoshī De Cǎihóng (The Rainbow That Never Disappears)
The premise of Rolling Love is really strange. I can understand if a chef can make only one particular dish really well and the other dishes he makes are nothing special; this just means he is skilled in one particular area and passable or mediocre in others.

Mi Qi Lin though is a different case because he can make one delicious dish but the rest of his dishes are unappetizing to the point that no one is willing to eat it. In this case, it's like two opposing points are in effect within him; he can cook and he cannot cook.

To further establish Guan Xiao Shu's importance in Mi Qi Lin's life and career, Xiao Shu is presented as someone who taught Mi Qi Lin how to eat properly as well as how to taste food and ingredients, which eventually lead to him becoming a better chef.

Honestly, this is where the drama lost me. I can understand if Xiao Shu shared some secret knowledge she garnered from her expert friend Leng Lie about food and cooking but that's not the case. What she shared is the common knowledge of eating food slowly to really relish the taste and different food ingredients have different tastes.

Another issue I have with the drama is making Xiao Shu blind for most of the duration of the drama and then she is suddenly presented with an option to see again by undergoing an eye operation in the last few episodes. I think the drama's writers are getting carried away their creative license because there are very few instances wherein people who became blind can regain their eyesight through an operation that does not require an eye donation from someone else.




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翻滾吧!蛋炒飯 Rolling Love