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riemaynine
Okay, excuse for my corny pun lol, but I just like to share how I was thrilled when I just lately found that some of Taiwanese dramas that I used to watch when I was in grade school are available for streaming via Netflix! I have added some of them in my list, and hopefully, I can watch all of these when I have my free time.
Actually, millennials (aka 80s and 90s kids) like me have witnessed how Taiwanese "fever" reached the Philippines during early 2000s, before Hallyu flourished around mid to late 2000s. And I have to admit that before I got into Jpop culture, I also got hooked into Taiwanese pop culture. I still remember when I had a dress with Taiwan's F4 faces on it, a deck of cards, as well as teks cards (small cards with text), with stills from Meteor Garden and My MVP Valentine, candies with free F4 photocard (yeah, there were photocards already during that time!), mini magazine that featured F4, and a cord necklace with small bottle with "lavender" as a pendant when I was still a kid! That was nostalgic!
Anyway, I am writing this entry since I just recently finished one of the Taiwanese dramas I had included in my Netflix list. This is actually my most favorite Taiwanese drama - I liked this more than Meteor Garden lol. But since this was aired on Philippine television via GMA 7 about 18 years ago, I actually couldn't fully remember the flow of the story anymore, though I still remember that in the end, the heroine became a successful artist/singer. This is the drama where I got to know my Taiwanese crush, Wallace Huo! (*////*)♡
Due to, maybe, copyright reasons or whatever, I wasn't able to capture some scenes from the drama, but if anyone is interested in watching it as well, HERE is the link of the drama. It has 18 episodes, with more than an hour duration per episode - much longer than Japanese dramas. I found in some sites that this has 28 episodes, but I guess that is the television cut version? But anyway...
"At the Dolphin Bay" started with a narration about a legend saying that a dolphin served as a guardian of love since it had once helped reunite a pair of tragic lovers. A love story would develop in this place known as the "Dolphin Bay" (of course, it is so called since there are dolphins in that area)
Two orphans Tseya and Xiao Ping Gai became best friends since Tseya protected Xiao Ping Gai from the children who are bullying her. Until one time, they have to part ways when a rich man arrived to bring his grandson Tseya home. Tseya promised to come back for Xiao Ping Gai, but Xiao Ping Gai has left the orphanage with her adoptive mom when he came back few days later.
Years had passed, and Tseya (played by Ambrose Hsu) already became a general manager of SET, a broadcasting company where his granddad serves as the president of said company. He will then meet Tien Pien (played by Angela Zhang) at the Dolphin Bay, not knowing at first that she is actually Xiao Ping Gai.
Tien Pien lived near at the Dolphin Bay with her foster mom, who has their little noodle house as the source of income. Loan sharks keep on harrassing them to pay back the borrowed money from them, so in order for them to rise from poverty, she decided to join an audition in a search for new artist in SET. Through her singing, she was chosen by music director Hsiao Kang (played by Wallace Huo, and my goodness, why am I seeing former idol turned J&A VP Tackey in him, especially when he wears eyewear and his side profile lmao. I can also see Arata Mackenyu when he smiles roflol 😆), who would train her to be the new voice for "Roam in the Clouds" project.
This series is melodramatic, the reason why I teared several times, especially on the latter part of this series. I did mention that this is my favorite Taiwanese drama, but I just don't like that conflicts start to appear one after another - about family, about love, about career. I had mixed emotions while watching lol. Well, maybe I got used to Jdramas' short and straight to the point plot, but overall, this is also a very inspiring drama series, especially to the aspiring artists who once dreamt of performing on stage. While rewatching this, I just like how this drama also revolves around the music industry, and as an idol fan who is only familiar on the "surface level" of how music industry works, this drama had also triggered my excitement.
Regarding the technicalities, I actually don't mind about how the artistes acted their roles - I actually can't recognize if an actor or an actress acted good or bad. As long as I understand the plot, I can keep on watching until the end. I basically watch dramas because of the story or plot, not only because a certain actor or actress appeared in the drama. But for me, I think the artistes did their best in acting. I even wondered how much tears that they can shed - they are crying most of the time lol. Angela is so cute during that time, especially when she looked like an aidoru during her first concert (I am implying how a typical idol looks like - young, sweet, with kawaii features) - I think she was in her early 20s then? I love Ambrose's character here - such an ideal sweet guy! On the other hand, I fell for Wallace's role as a tsundere yet stoic music director, who didn't give up on mentoring Tien Pien towards reaching her dream. I just only realized that this drama is indeed old (yeah, this was back in 2003!) since there are some scenes that used a really outdated CGI, and there are times when the BGM overlaps the dialogues to the point that I couldn't hear what they are saying, but those are pretty understandable for me. But I like most of the songs they used in the series -aside from Mandarin songs, they also have Japanese and Korean songs as part of the OST. By the way, "Journey" sung by Angela Zhang is in English.
Anyway, I just miss my childhood idols! Aside from Wallace Huo, Ambrose Hsu and Angela Zhang, I also liked Penny Lin and Jill Hsu as well! I am curious about how they are doing right now - if they are still active in the industry even if they are in their 40s already. Not so sure, but it looks like most of them are now based in China, maybe?
However, I saw videos from YouTube, one is when Angela Zhang, Jill Hsu (who acted as Chen Man-ching, Tien Pien's idol and rival) and Ambrose Hsu (via video call) sang "yi shi de mei hao" (The Lost Happiness, one of the songs in the drama) in show last year and another, when Angela and Ambrose reunited. Awwww, my heart. 😭💕
I just realized how fast time flies my goodness!
Well, that's it for now! 晚安! (Wǎn ān - good night!)
