Starring:
- Jessica Hsuan 宣萱 as Molly 凌 敏 (Mall姐)
- Natalie Tong 唐诗咏 as Cherry 凌禹勤 (勤力妹)
- Frankie Lam 林文龙 as Gordon 文念深
- Vincent Wong 王浩信 as Saving 程日暉
- Chris Lai 黎诺懿 as Hanson 何志超 (賤Han)
- Samantha Ko 高海寧 as Tin Mut 田蜜
Acting: 8.5
Storyline: 8
Overall: 8.5
Grade: A-
Other than the ambiguous ending that left me duh-ed like most viewers and the last few episodes a little dull due to less of Saving and Cherry, I pretty much enjoyed this drama serial. It’s the much anticipated comeback for 宣萱 (Jessica Hsuan) & 林文龙 (Frankie Lam) to TVB, plus my favourite pairing of 王浩信 (Vincent Wong) & 唐诗咏 (Natalie Tong), not forgetting 黎诺懿 (Chris Lai). It’s a breakthrough for Vincent Wong, Chris Lai and Samantha Ko.
The drama has an interesting title called “不懂撒娇的女人”. We can easily associate this title to most modern career minded women, particularly in metropolitan cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
Men in general, would still prefer gentle women and those who would not 管他们太多, and also those who specially know how to “teh” aka 撒娇. This is where they lose to their more gentle counterparts in mainland China and Taiwan.
This is often due to the cultural differences and how independent women are in different regions.
Nonetheless, there are pretty much close-to-reality examples of how HK women found it hard to balance their work and personal lives. In order to climb up the corporate ladder, they have to sacrifice not just their sleep and time, but maybe also their romances or even family members. Some women would shun relationships, while some would crave for it.
The director would probably let you discover the other/softer side of Hong Kong women as the drama progresses. While they may not know how to “act” gentle, their way of being “gentle” is to support their other halves through thick and thin and not leaving them. This is where their tougher side would help in their relationships and also being a good mental support.
Sometimes, all men need is just their other halves to be supportive while they are out in the business battlefield.
However, the main problem is the “Trust” issue. You should trust your partner as in all relationships but there are so many things that the men in the drama do, that eroded the trust from their girlfriends.
Insecurity would cause women to be overly demanding and it would make men shun them further. It is like the egg and chicken issue.
There are topics about men who go over to Mainland China to work will usually end up with a 小三, and ended up being cheated by these ladies. Watch how these HK ladies 提防小三 & 赶走小三。 There are also cases whereby older men ended up with very young foreign wives.
The ever so typical topic about women above 30 years old would have problems getting a marriage partner definitely would spark much debate as we see how singles would go around on matchmaking sprees to know more eligible men.
However, most practical women would go for not just looks but also career prospects of these men.
Nonetheless, I still feel that is not all that you should look for in a man. I seriously think Saving is a more dependable guy than Gordon Man in the drama despite that he is not rich and all.
Some very career minded women may also end up sacrificing less time for their families and ended up in broken marriages. They have less time for their kids as well and it is sad that the kids could only see their mums when they fall ill.
The reality is everyone is too busy making a living, struggling to survive in this world, that they do not have the chance to really live a life that they should.
千万别得罪女人。You give her a house, she will give you a home. You give her shit and she will give you hell.
Men would usually shun when women broach the topic of “Marriage”. While not every relationship would end up in a marriage, that’s where most women would hope to see their relationship progress into ultimately.
That’s also the major obstacle between Saving and Cherry. The man is afraid of marriage while the lady yearns to get married.
It is not a case whereby Saving is not a responsible man but he just has this very big phobia of such a great commitment to start a family, since it is about 2 families.
And I just don’t like how they carved Cherry’s character towards the last few episodes. There are some things while we can somehow understand, but not exactly.
You may leave the man you love so that he can pursue his dreams and ambitions but why is it that you cannot support him through his ambition course you feel that is too not stable or not secured enough?
They made it seem as if she is just one lady who wanted to get herself off the shelf by the age of 35, which I don’t think is the main reason.
Vincent Wong has been a hot favourite since “Over Run Over and I think he is just so funny and entertaining in dramas. He is so thrifty in the drama till you cannot stand it at times but he portrayed a very down to earth and hard working man, who just wanted to realise his dream of being his own boss no matter how tough it is. He’s a very loyal friend as well.
He’s a man of his words. He will only promise something if he is sure he can deliver, which is why he mentioned up front that he could not get married.
This couple has got their very sweet moments and also very tough and heart breaking ones.
Natalie Tong is like a 小女人 in love and at work. She is an able assistant to her cousin Mall 姐 but she just couldn’t be herself since she was also under “control”.
He had been very supportive while she was going through a heart break and would always stand up for her whenever she gets bullied.
If marriage is not of an issue, they probably can just keep on going on strong for very long.
It is tough being entrepreneurs but Saving wanted to try it out while Cherry felt it is just too big of a risk and it pains her to see how Saving had to scrimp and all. They couldn’t come to consensus about the part to marry or not to marry even before they started out together.
Nonetheless, the love they had was so strong they decided to just get together and see where it leads them to.
You can see Saving was trying very hard to conquer his fear of getting married as he ate all those medication to stop his allergies outbreak or panic attacks.
However, she felt that he needn’t have to give up so many things for her yet she couldn’t do anything much for him.
Well, isn’t that all about being together through thick and thin? Sometimes, I wish they could just hang on.
I feel sad for Natalie Tong that this drama was shown during her breakup period with Tony Hong. Much pressure was on her and she had to face a lot of accusations from the media.
Well, we all know what HK media is capable of. It seems that even in real life, her relationships had never been smooth.
If not course Vincent Wong is married as well, we would hope to see them turn from a reel to real life couple for sure.
宣萱’s role as Mall 姐 is a successful career woman but is a slave-driver at the same time. She’s the type of boss that really exists.
Those that do not allow you to go toilet, go tea breaks and want you to work 24-7.
林文龙 is a frivolous man who was her ex-boyfriend. I like how he returned 16 years later to become her nemesis at work, just so that he can make her realise how unreasonable and demanding she has been to all her subordinates.
So after 兜兜转转 for so many years, they finally ended up together but there’s this trust issue since Gordon Man was a playboy.
Even though 林文龙 is 49 years old, his charisma has earned him a new nickname as 少女杀手.
The 1 actor that really surprised me was 黎诺懿 (Chris Lai). He has always been cast as a supporting goody-two shoes role in most dramas but this is one drama that you see him being 贱 to the core, not just being unscrupulous at work but also being a super 下流的色狼 and one that cheats on his girlfriend. Really suits his nick as 贱 Han.
Samantha Ko (高海寧) also delivered her role as a super teh but 城府很深, 很有心机的女人. She will do whatever she can to get to the top since she knows how to manipulate her way to men’s hearts. You would really feel like slapping her or splashing water at her at times.
袁文傑 also has a small role as the big boss of the company. Well, his appearance after many years is still as fit and this made many viewers pay more attention to him.
There are also side love lines in the supporting cast as well.
All in all, the rest of the supporting cast in the drama also helped to create some sparks and entertainment.
It’s really nice and very 贴切 to the daily societal problems that we face, though of course there will be some exaggerated parts, since it is a drama after all.
不懂撒娇，但懂得不离不弃的女人才可贵。
There may be many “tough” women around, but just remember this guys…
Every woman will have a softer side that will only be shown to that special one. It may be in the form of making breakfast for you, helping you to sort things or providing you support, blah blah blah. Women can be the shelter to your storms.
It’s not just about being teh to satisfy the chauvinist side of men.
It’s the little little things that would mean a lot to them as well. So just pay attention and appreciate whatever your lady prepares for you.
Just remember that 女人其实比男人还有韧性度. There’s always the versatility of being tough and soft at the same time.
There are talks of a sequel but why not make it just 1 or 2 special episodes to give the audience more 交代?
I still ship Saving and Cherry. =)
Hope to see them collaborate as a couple again. It’s really very natural and you can feel the chemistry.
Looking forward to Vincent Wong’s new Drama, 踩过界 “Legal Mavericks”, which is showing every weekend in HK now.
Here are some of my favourite quotes from the drama:
