Now discover your strengths...

The other day, my aunt recommended that I try this book, "Now Discover Your Strengths," by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton. It's premise is that people spend too much time trying to minimizing their weaknesses when they should instead be finding time to maximize their strengths. People don't spend enough time nurturing their talents and abilities, which is silly, because these are the things that will push us onto bigger and better things. Rather we waste a lot of effort forcing ourselves into uncomfortable situations so that we can feel less deficient. While I don't completely agree - I think that if you see a weakness in an area and you want to get better at it, there's nothing wrong with that. At the same time however, we should spend more time being aware of our strengths - our familiarity with them will help us make better decisions.

The book discusses 34 potential strengths or themes that each person could have, and provides a password for an online test so that you can discover your five dominant themes. After the test, I found out that my themes are:

• Arranger: I'm an organizer.
  
• Individualization: It's all about the individual and why they're unique
  
• Responsibility: Well that speaks for itself.
  
• Harmony: "In your view we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat (lol). There is no need to rock it to just to show that you can."
  
• Significance: It's all about me! me! me!
  

Isn't that kind of interesting? I recognize each of these elements in myself, but I never thought that these five traits would be my dominant five. Arranger - well, that makes sense, I like to plan things and I adapt easily, because I can rearrange things as I see fit. Individualization - totally didn't see that one coming, I always thought I was more of a generalist. Responsibility - I am an older sister lol! Harmony - always has been important to me, but I've learnt the value of confrontation and arguing at Columbia. Significance - surprises me actually. Now I just have to see how the pieces all fit together...

Palin is McCain's running mate

McCain has finally chosen his running mate - the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. She's pretty conservative - pro-life, pro-Christianity, and I think pro-guns as well (not sure) - and will probably help McCain's case with the conservatives of his party. Surprisingly, Palin is also known to be a reformer - someone bold who can help McCain make the changes he wants in the US government. Not to mention - she's a she. It's kind of mindblowing, this choice of McCain's. Think about it - if Obama wins, the US will have its first black president, and if McCain wins, the US will have its first female vice-president. We've returned to the battle of the firsts started by the face-off between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama all over again.

At the same time, I can't help but feel that both presidential candidates are hedging their bets, so to speak. Obama's choice for vp, senator Joe Biden from Delaware, has been around Washington for quite a while - someone with experience that can balance Obama's youth. Similarly, McCain's pick is young on the political scene...Hm. This race is going to be interesting.

Devil Beside You

Gosh, I should just make this a blog about asian drama serials, and be done with it! Luckily, after talking to my aunt, I have discovered that my addiction to these dramas is a genetic thing. The Tangs are naturally inclined to love watching them - it explains why my dad is eagerly following his Korean drama right now, why my aunt has 57 (at least) full drama series at home, and why I have watched like 6 dramas (each around 20-30 hours long) in the past 3-4 weeks :) On the plus side, my colloquial mandarin is improving dramatically - no longer am I restricted to chinese myths and legends when I am conversing. Now I can also say expressions like "oh that's too exaggerated!" or "the road of love doesn't always run smoothly" haha.

Anyway, a bit about the "Devil Beside You." This time I decided to try a Mike He drama - one that made him a taiwanese screen legend pretty much.
Rainie Yang plays Qi Yue, a sincere good-hearted girl who has fallen for the school's resident nice guy, Yuan Yi (Kingone). She decides to tell him so, and presents him with a love letter (funny how many manga adaptations start this way). However, thanks to some miscommunication, Yuan Yi misses this moment. The entire thing is viewed by Qing Zi (Tsai Pei Lin), Qi Yue's best friend, and Jiang Meng (Mike He), a first-year heart-throb admired for his devilish/bad-boy tendencies. Despite their missed connection, Yuan Yi and Qi Yue start dating. However, Qi Yue begins to fall for Jiang Meng, who despite his rude ways, is extremely kind-hearted and cannot resist helping people in pain. Lots of personal back-story there. Yuan Yi and Qi Yue break up, and Qing Zi and Yuan Yi eventually go out. Qi Yue and Jiang Meng fall in love - but (of course) there's a snag.

They're about to become step-siblings.

Which makes their relationship taboo. Other obstacles include Jiang Meng's complex and scarring family history - which involves his mom leaving his dad and taking his younger brother (but not him) with her, Qi Yue's long-standing tendre for her deceased dad's mentee, and various third parties of the oddest kind. Anyway, after the two spend eons working through issues - including telling their parents about their relationship - they come to the main crisis. (Surprisingly, despite all this backstory, the plot of the story stays tight, and doesn't wander off like other Taiwanese dramas. Major props to the director. Back to the story...) Literally less than a month after Qi Yue and Jiang Meng's relationship is accepted by all, Jiang Meng's mother dramatically returns to the scene, and begs him to move with her to Italy. It's a chance for them to repair their relationship - one that Jiang Meng cannot pass up. However, doing so will mean that he has to leave Qi Yue behind, after all that she's sacrified for them to be together (and honestly, she's gone through a lot to be with him). Jiang Meng tells her not to wait for him - he doesn't know how long he'll be. Qi Yue is devastated, but for Jiang Meng's sake, puts on a brave front - she realizes that JM needs to know his mother to ever be completely happy. So Qi Yue numbs herself, throwing herself into work and school. This was so painful to watch, especially since the 19 episodes before this moment all focused on how the two stayed in love and supported each other through emotional obstacles. I was so into how much they meant to each other and how much they had to over come to be a "normal" couple, that to watch Jiang Meng brush Qi Yue off made me bawl like a baby. I started crying about 5 minutes into the episode, and only stopped 10 minutes to the end...it was horrendous.

The climax comes a week before Jiang Meng has to leave; there is a horribly awkward moment when Qi Yue comes across Jiang Meng as he is packing to leave. Qi Yue is cheerful, and tells him to be careful while he's in Italy, but you can feel this numbing emptiness radiating from her as she talks to him. The contrast to their interactions before is heartbreaking. That night, his friends throw him a farewell party, but don't invite Qi Yue, because they're afraid that attending the party will cause her to snap. Qing Zi and Yuan Yi (the other main couple in the story that I briefly mentioned in the beginning) go drinking with Qi Yue that night instead, and Qing Zi rails at Qi Yue for not sharing her real feelings, for being numb. Qi Yue runs away into the night, her control finally broken. Qing Zi and Yuan Yi search for her, and bump into Jiang Meng, returning from his farewell. JM freaks out when he realizes that Qi Yue is alone, and runs all over Taipei looking for her. He finds her and they have this oh-so-awful scene where he suggests that they break up. Qi Yue screams at him, finally, and runs off into the night again. He follows (this sounds so dramatic when I'm typing it), and finally they discuss the whole situation. Qi Yue cries - when you're gone, what if someone else pursues me? What do I do? Jiang Meng finally loses his control and tells her that it doesn't matter, because he will only love her, can only love her. Goosebumps! They reunite. He still moves to Italy. That was probably a lot of unnecessary detail, but I've never had a single episode of a drama touch me as much as that episode did.

I think I'm going to have to go watch it again.

Love Contract

So - I've been (and still am actually) really into this Taiwanese drama serial called "It Started With A Kiss" and its sequel "They Kiss Again." I loved the two main characters and their relationship, so I thought I'd look at some of the other idol dramas each of them has done. I started with "Love Contact," a series made in 2004 starring Ariel Lin (girl from ISWAK) and Mike He (also pretty big in the Taiwanese drama scene). "Love Contract" is about this kind of bossy girl, Xiao Feng, who's a total tomboy. Her friends see her as this really tough, fierce, loyal person - what they don't know is that she is really insecure due to an ugly burn scar that covers her shoulder and back. One night, she reveals that she wants to fall in love and be in a relationship, and so her friends set up a "Love Contract" between her and the captain of the swim team in her college. The captain, Ken, is Japanese, very dedicated to his pursuits, strong-minded, and really fit. He agrees to fulfill the contract if her friends can persuade people to join the swim team...things happen, and eventually the two fall desperately in love. It's really heartwarming to see how the previously independent Xiao Feng softens as she and Ken interact. The two have chemistry, I'll give them that. In one of the sub-plots, Ken's mother dies, and watching Xiao Fong comfort him was pretty amazing. Dramas are built on connections like these. Anyway, in the end, Ken pretty much proposes, but Xiao Fong refuses and tries to leave him because she feels like she isn't worthy of him. Ultimately, she reveals her secret to him...but then discovers the love contract (which is a physical document, sillily enough) and breaks up with him again. Ken falls into another fit of depression, and her friends try to engineer a way for them to get together.

And this is where "Love Contract" confuses and upsets me. On Xiao Feng's way to the meeting site, she has a run-in with a car, and becomes a vegetable. Permanently. There's no happy chance of her recovering. She's comatose and that's how it's going to be forever, it seems. So after grieving for a year, Ken decides to take her to all their favourite places. He brings her to where they first held hands. To the aquarium where they scuba dived and kissed underwater. To the movies, something that they had always meant to do together but never got to. He cooks her dinner - she always wanted to taste his food - and acts out this sad dialogue, revealing his despair that she's gone. Finally, he wheels her to their beach and talks to her about how he never wants to be separated from her, ever, and carries her into the ocean. And that's where it ends. A suicide attempt. There are two other short clips that follow - one where Xiao Fong comes back to life and they play in the waves, and another where they're in wedding gear and their friends (including someone who died in the accident) celebrate with them. I don't understand! These serials are supposed to be funny and heartwarming and happy - and this is not the case at all for this series! I was sorely disappointed - the series started out so well too! I really wanted them to get together - Xiao Fong should have realized that Ken was sincere and they should have lived happily together. I feel cheated of my storybook ending :(

Mosquito Bait

That's what I am. I don't know what it is - my yummy warm blood or that my skin is thin - but mosquitoes love me. The love is not reciprocated mosquitoes, please stay away!

I couldn't sleep last night - kept tossing and turning between dreams of being bitten. After a particularly fitful 10 minutes, I found out that mosquitoes had actually bit me - on my back, legs, and arms. ARGH. I am no longer me, but a canvas of itchy red dots. Help.

The 2.5 Pillars of Wisdom (the von igelfeld trilogy)

My current read is a book by Alexander McCall Smith, a sort-of Scottish author who has a very dry sense of humor. Fittingly, I first read one of his books in Glasglow last summer entitled "44 Scotland Street," which is a story about these wacky characters who live in the same building in Edinburgh. It's not the usual kind of book I read - people who know me know that I tend to steer towards fantasy/sci-fi or romance - but at the time, it seemed like a worthwhile read. Surprisingly, I was captivated - and not because I was on a plane flying 10,000 miles above ground. "44 Scotland Street" had some pretty impressive characters and (to me) showed the strange sides of "normal" people. I went on to read the next two books in the series before returning to my ever-faithful faeries.

But the other day at the library, I picked up a copy of Smith's "The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom - the von igelfeld trilogy." The little blurb on the back immediately intrigued me:

"Welcome to the extraordinary world of Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, an unnaturally tall and memorable character whose sublime insouciance is a blend of the cultivated pomposity of Frasier Crane and Inspector Clouseau's hapless gaucherie.

Von Igelfeld inhabits the rarefied world of the Institute of Romance Philology at Regensburg, which he shares with his equally tall and equally ridiculous colleagues, Professors Florianus Prinzel and Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer."

Just the names of the professors are ridiculous :). I'm midway through the book right now, and adore it! It pokes fun at pompous and serious von Igelfeld who spends his life thinking about the contradictions of the phrases "x, a friend of cardinals and popes" and "x, a friend of a cardinal and a pope." I love how the most random things are discussed in the most serious manner - from the merits of the sausage dog (to which almost a whole chapter, as well as multiple references, is devoted) to the importance of portuguese irregular verbs. "The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom" is a light-hearted funny read, and I recommend it to everyone - especially fans of P.G. Wodehouse.

The Moving Checklist

Hurray, I'm almost done with my errands checklist for when I moved to Singapore. And it only took 3 days! This is due in no small part to my Dad, who is the furthest thing from a procrastinator there is.

Checklist
- HOUSE
~ clean it. (check)
~ get bed sheets and other misc from Ikea. (check, but I'll probably go back)
~ unpack. (waiting for pm to leave first)
~ wall decorations (see above)
- CELL PHONE
~ figure out what my current cell phone plan is. (check)
~ add nual as free caller (random plan thing). (check)
- INTERNET
~ get it. (check)
~ buy and set up wireless router. (check)

Now all I have to do is fully unpack and set up my room. Yay.
-

I never thought I'd be interested in table tennis but...

The Olympics have always been incredibly important. They represent the best of the best in varied sports, and watching the feats of skill, strength, and agility displayed during the few weeks of competition has always been extremely exciting to me. Usually I save my enthusiasm for the gymnastic or swimming events - but this year, my favourite Olympic moment has been watching the women's table tennis semi-final between Singapore and South Korea. Tomorrow is the final - between Singapore and China...AHHHH!

Either way, I'm pretty stoked. Singapore's guaranteed at least a silver this Olympic Games - this is going to be our first medal since we became independent!

Couch Potato

Last night, I started the very popular Taiwanese drama "fated to love you" which was recommended by a friend of mine whose girlfriend loves the show. She's an ISWAK fan as well, so I assumed we had similar tastes. I watched the first six episodes last night, and while its not the worst drama I've seen, I'm not the greatest fan. Up till episode five, I actually hated it and wondered why I was putting myself through such tv drama (answer: i am an idol drama addict...*sigh*).
The story is about a "sticky note girl," Chen Xin Yi, who is very passive and is always taken advantage of. She's the girl in class who always shares her notes - even with those who skipped class to go out drinking or something silly like that. At work (which is where the drama starts), she ends up doing everyone's projects for them because she just can't say no. She's always dreamed of meeting her prince charming - and thought she had when she met the office stud, Gu Chi. She takes him on a cruise, intending to sleep with him to prove her love, but due to an unfortunate comedy of errors, ends up not only in the wrong room, but also in the arms of the wrong man. This (hot) fellow is Ji Cun Xi, the successor to a business empire in Hong Kong. Madly in love with his long-term girlfriend, Cun Xi intended to propose to his Anna on the cruise and arranged a lavish proposal ceremony. Anna doesn't show - but Xin Yi does. Cun Xi later helps Xin Yi get rid of her money grubbing boyfriend, while Xin Yi pretends to be his bride at the cruise party. They part ways...

Five episodes later, it turns out that Xin Yi is pregnant, a fact that is revealed on the news. Cun Xi's grandmother, who desperately wants a great-grandchild, forces her grandson to marry Xin Yi. Xin Yi agrees so that the Ji family will save her hometown (long complicated business drama). Cun Xi is extremely reluctant to get married but does so when his grandmother threatens to tell his Anna (who is a ballet dancer in NYC) about the whole sordid affair. Illogical to say the least. Cun Xi treats Xin Yi like crap. However, in episode six, he begins to unwillingly fall for Xin Yi - he gets extremely protective when she befriends another guy, and hangs up on Anna to make sure Xin Yi is alright. Which redeems the series....but still.

FTLY seems to be a derivative work of ISWAK. The relationship between the two main leads is similar: the main male character is smarter, wealthier, and more independent in every way, while the female lead is a "sha" (silly/brainless) girl who is tied to the main lead in some random way. I have to admit that I do like the female lead in this show - she's smart except for her doormat tendencies, and I love that she does community service (volunteers at an orphanage). She's a good actress - she's not overly girly, and just really quite lovable. But the male lead pisses the hell out of me! He's arrogant and demanding. This is somewhat due to the direction of the drama - Cun Xi is a decent actor. I feel like the producers/directors of the show should have made us more sympathetic to the character in the beginning so that when he started acting like a complete jerk, we wouldn't be so annoyed. They try to do this by introducing the Anna love story and revealing his romantic proposal idea, but I feel like this isn't enough, especially since they put this sub-plot right after the REALLY REALLY FREAKING ANNOYING intro to the series.

Of course, I still have 75% of the show to go. I'm hoping I end up liking it - I think the actors are all really sincere, but that the direction and script drag it down...but there's still hope right? Off to check out episode 7....

Hwaseong Fortress

Yesterday, my dad took us to one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites, Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Korea. Hwaseoung is around 30 km from Seoul, and is basically a walled city built by King Jeongjo between 1794-1796.

Hwaseong Fortress was built over two and a half years, from 1794 to 1796. Designed by the architect Jeong Yak-yong, who was a leader of the practical learning movement (Silhak), the fortress walls incorporated aspects of Chinese and Japanese architecture as well as Korean. Yak-yong really encouraged the use of science and industry in his plans, which lead to the use of brick, instead of just traditional stone, as a building material. Furthermore, Hwaseong's walls were also built using cranes and pulleys. I've heard that King Jeongjo actually wanted to make Suwon the new capital of Korea instead of Seoul, but I'm not sure if that's true.

The city was really pretty though. There are four main gates to the city, as well as myriad other "water gates". This is Paldalmun, the south gate of the city.
the top of the gate...
a better view from the Hwaseong official site.


After wandering around the south end of the city for all of 10 minutes, we decided that we were too hot to actually walk around the circumference of Hwaseong as we had planned, and returned to the car to drive around the city. Right beside the car, people were drying chilis. Nice.

mmm. if only i liked chili...
sightseeing by car - so much more comfortable than sightseeing on foot!

After making a loop around the city, we paused at a particularly picturesque gate, Hwahongmun, which is one of those water gates that I mentioned earlier.

so pretty!!! Supposedly one of the top 10 views in Suwon.
kids playing in the stream. the little boy was hunting for his sister's flip-flop...adorable!
hwahongmun from the front.
the stream cuts across the entire city. i'm guessing it was the main water source back in the day.

After gazing at all the pretty greenery and walking around the gate, we returned to our car - only to discover that the battery had completely died on us! My dad tried to start the car up multiple times, only to be met with a somewhat spluttering noise. We called the car company to come jumpstart the car for us, but it took them ages to find us since we weren't actually in Seoul. Luckily we managed to entertain ourselves fairly well while waiting...

we found a small general store near the road, and immediately bought ourselves ice-cream. Mine had solid lumps of sugar in it...
waiting for the car company...we were excited by the motorcycle guy stopping by our car, but he turned out to be a random passer-by who needed to make a phone call.
the dragon train tour of hwaseong. the 3 cars in the back are designed in the shape of sedans, which were the main mode of transport for the King.
that's what's under the hood. fascinating isn't it...NOT.

afterwards we drove home as fast as we could.

你

I am obsessed with this song. It's one of the theme songs to "They Kiss Again" sung by the female lead, Ariel Lin. LOVE LOVE LOVE this song!!! It's so beautiful - I hope one day I find someone that means this for me.

here are the lyrics:
風輕輕 我聽見你聲音
你對著我叮嚀 要注意自己的心情
雨輕輕 我聽見你聲音
你拿著傘靠近 為我遮著風擋著雨
一點點想哭泣一點點想著你
你的愛很珍惜 我總依賴著你的記憶

你就像風在說話 順著我方向
你就像海中的波浪 堆著我成長
我明白你的回答 溫柔的對話
愛情其實沒有辦法 不被感動吧 我不說謊

pin yin:
feng qing qing wo ting jian ni sheng yin
ni dui zhe wo ding ling yao zhu yi zi ji de xin qing
yu qing qing wo ting jian ni sheng yin
ni na zhe san kao jin wei wo zhe zhe feng dang zhe yu
yi dian dian xiang ku qi yi dian dian xiang zhe ni
ni de ai hen zhen xi wo zong yi lai zhe ni de ji yi

ni jiu xiang feng zai shuo hua shun zhe wo fang xiang
ni jiu xiang hai zhong de bo lang tui zhe wo cheng zhang
wo ming bai ni de hui da wen rou de dui hua
ai qing qi shi mei you ban fa bu bei gan dong ba wo bu shuo huang

english translation:
Wind gently blows and I can hear your voice
You have advised me to beware of my own emotions
Rain gently falls and I can hear your voice
You draw near with your umbrella to shield the wind and rain for me
A little bit wanting to cry, a little bit thinking of you
Your love is being cherished, I am always relying on your memories

You seem to be talking like wind, following my direction
You seem to be the waves in the sea, making me grow up
I understand your answer, a gentle dialogue
There is no way for love to not be touched, I won't lie.

ISWAK 1 Notes

So I'm back to my ISWAK madness - I'm skimming through the entire first season again and summarizing the episodes so everytime I want to watch a specific scene, I know exactly where to go. And this time I'm doing it without subtitles. My Mandarin is going to be so awesome!!!

While rewatching the first couple of episodes - when Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu are still in high school, I noticed a couple of interesting things. Firstly - I LOVE that the cool kids in high school aren't the ones who dress a certain way or act a certain way - the cool kids in this drama are the ones who study hard and follow family values. Zhi Shu is one of the few rebels in the drama, for though he's incredibly intelligent, he has few qualms when facing down his parents. But even so, he values his parents' every opinion very deeply and goes out of his way to make sure they're happy. In comparison, in American TV shows, filial obedience isn't even a factor in many shows.

Family is also a larger part of the Taiwanese TV serial (of any Asian drama series actually) than in shows filmed in the US. In every single Asian TV show that I've watched - and believe me, I've seen plenty! - family is an integral part of the show. While in many serials, the younger characters are the focus of the show, parental drama and involvement is always a given. And in many other drama shows, older characters are given equal footing in the serial. It is implicit in these shows that family will always be involved in each other's lives. Family connections and interactions are the glue that holds most Asian drama shows together (and of course, a love story).

In comparison, family isn't even an issue in most US TV shows - rarely do parents or siblings even appear in such serials. Take one of the most popular comedy shows in the US right now, "How I Met Your Mother". The show revolves around the lives of five fast friends in New York. All are independent and live without their parents. In fact, through the 3-4 seasons that have already been released, the only times family has appeared has been for the holidays or special occasions.

Interestingly, because of their intimacy, younger members of the family don't hide their character or habits from their parents. Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu aren't afraid to go drinking with their parents - even in high school. In fact, it is Xiang Qin's father who is most aware of Xiang Qin's inability to drink. Conversely, in "Friends," Monica tries desperately to hide her drunkenness from her parents at her surprise 30th birthday party. While it is appropriate to share the occasional glass of wine together, American families - at least those on tv shows - do not go out to drink and enjoy each other's company.

I have totally meandered off topic. I guess I'll have to gush about the two later :) I end with one of my favourite Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu pictures. Gosh, I hope Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng get together some day :)

To sleep, perhaps to dream...

It's official! I'm moving home to Singapore in a week. I have mixed feelings about the move; Singapore has always been familiar to me, since it's been one constant in a life of uncertainties, but I've never had the chance to really live and settle there before. Fortunately, I don't have to go through the arduous process of looking for an apartment, a roommate, etc, as my family has a place there already.

Which means of course, I finally have a permanent room. I haven't had one since Bangkok, so I'm looking forward to having a room I don't have to move out of after a couple of months or so. There's furniture in my room already - some of which I'm not fond of - but I'm going to (as Tim Gunn says on PR) "make it work!"

So there's already a bed, a mini-sofa, a table, and a bookcase in my room, as well as built in closets. I want to get a lamp, curtains, a rug perhaps, a throw and cushions for the sofa, maybe another desk (and get rid of the one I have), and another bookcase. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of IKEA - so I trolled their singapore website today looking for potential furniture for my room...i love this Gustav desk! it's really picturesque, and has an old-fashioned and feminine feel that I love! I wish it were in white (I have dark wooden floors and a small room, so lighter colors would work better), but its so pretty! unfortunately, it's like, $429, which is a little out of my price range.

But I'm probably going to end up getting this Mikael desk instead. It's functional, the right color, and relatively inexpensive at $99.

I also love this chair!! It has such personality, and looks so comfortable. The print's a little kitschy, but it's so adorable. Too bad I already have a chair...

Back to stuff that I actually need.
I've wanted this lamp since I first saw it at Ikea two years ago. It was impractical to get it when I wasn't sure if I was staying in NYC post-college, but now I can! I thought about getting a more colourful floor lamp, but then I realized that this was going behind a blue couch, so it makes more sense something neutral.

I also want gauzy purple curtains, but I can't seem to find them at Ikea...guess I'll have to check out the friendly neighbourhood store. I'm being called to dinner now, but I'm definitely going to continue looking at furniture etc once I get back. I'm going to miss Bed, Bath, and Beyond ...

Muah!

For the past week, I have only had one thing on my mind - the Taiwanese drama series 惡作劇之吻 (It Started with a Kiss) and its sequel 惡作劇2吻 (They Kiss Again). I adore the two leads of the show, played by Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin - though I am constantly frustrated with them as well. I think that's what I love the most about the show - it's so human.

So the show is about a girl named Xiang Qin and the love of her life, Zhi Shu. The story begins when they're both in high school - XQ is a somewhat simple and blur girl who is the lowest class in her grade. On the very first day of high school, she falls madly in love with the smartest boy in the school, ZS. She harbors this secret love for two years, but finally decides to tell him about it in a letter. ZS completely rejects her in public, and the two become the talk of the school. That same night, an earthquake rocks the city, and XQ's new house is completely destroyed. Luckily, XQ's father's friends offer to house the forlorn family (the friends are super rich :P).

Surprisingly (not), the lovely couple who houses XQ and her dad are ZS's parents! and so the story begins. ZS is a strong arrogant jerk who values intelligence above all things. XQ, on the other hand, is an open, affectionate child, but lives in constant confusion; she's just a little stupid and slow to understand things. ZS is really really cold to XQ (I seriously almost cried, he was that mean) to XQ...but XQ hits it off with ZS's mother, and the two of them hatch a plan so that ZS and XQ will get married. Several disasters, and many years later, the two of them start unofficially "going out". Despite competition for ZS's love, XQ prevails, and in the middle of their college years, the two of them get married. The scene where ZS finally reveals his love for XQ was -so- touching, though he was a complete bastard up to that point.

I am such a sap.

Anyway, that was the end of ISWAK. In the sequel, the couple explore married life together as ZS studies to become a doctor. After deciding to be a teacher and failing miserably, XQ decides to follow ZS and become a nurse. Separations, harsh words, and love making ensue. The drama series ends with the two re-affirming their love for each other.

Lol, I can feel how stiff that summary is, but its actually really hard to describe this drama without going into too much detail! I loved this drama - at first I thought it was overacted, but after a few episodes, I got really into it. Joe and Ariel have amazing chemistry, and the director does a great job of drawing people in. The show was really well received when it came out, and I give major props to everyone involved in the series for keeping everyone interested, since the "type" of show changed so drastically. It started out as a high school love story, switched into college mode, and was briefly filmed in an office - before the second act! In the second part, the series started with them back in college, and then abruptly switched into a hospital drama.

Screw it, I think I'm going to have to do multiple gushing posts about how amazing this drama is. I learned so much about Taiwanese/Asian culture and values. And I think I got some life lessons out of it too...like how important it is to set goals (and work hard to achieve them). I also relearned how important it is to be open and honest and sincere about everything you do - that keeping your feelings bottled up inside isn't always the way to go. And that brains aren't everything.

I'll gush about some of my favourite moments in the series tomorrow :)