[HK-Drama Review] The Stew of Life (2009)

“The Stew of Life” is a TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited – one of two television stations in Hong Kong) drama centered on the life “normal” family. It is a comedy that teaches viewers the morals of life as it goes through the story of this unique & funny family. This drama is great for a family to sit down and watch together!

Here is a little bit more info about the drama without giving away any spoilers! Ng Man Tuk is somebody who works with plants. The company that he works for strives to develop techniques and ways to grow the healthiest plants. He is the head of the family and somewhere along the line, the characters in the drama and viewers themselves may even consider him a chauvinist. Lo Siu Lai is a cooking teacher who is very warm-hearted and caring and thus is admired and respected by the community and more. Lo Siu Mei (May) is a flower shop owner who is a materialistic girl and holds high requirements for her “man.” Having been divorced from her husband just 2 years ago, she feels that he still owes her everything in the world. Ng Choi Nei (Charlie) is a journalist who is a nice girl and holds strong opinions. She is viewed as the “leader” at work and does not care about what other people think about her and goes ahead with what she feels is right. Lee Sing Kei is Charlie’s initial boyfriend in the story and works as a highly thought of employee at some marketing company. Lau Tak Yan is a very skilled and admired photographer who works at the same company as Charlie. They both work at a company that they don’t want to work for and also start out as enemies… but what awaits them is unknown to them both. Yau Kai works for Ng Man Tuk and is passionate about healthy plants (sounds cheesy doesn’t it? :O). He is a kind and caring person but he lacks the physical attractiveness and manners that society judges as handsome/good-looking/etc.

The drama goes through the family and work lives of these connected people and draws on the morals that it is trying to teach: don’t judge a book by its cover, know when to speak and when not to speak, family will always be there for you no matter what, money doesn’t solve everything, and my favorite saying of them all, CARPE DIEM! (which means seize the day… which essentially means, take the opportunity when given so that you don’t regret it in the future).

Personally, I have been watching TVB dramas since I was born. Even though many people will say that it’s not as good as Korean dramas or American TV shows, I find that they are full of morals that are pointing you in the face. It is a funny series that a whole family can sit together and enjoy while both kids and adults can learn a thing or two about life. If you have never watched a Hong Kong drama before or if you have watched one or two but never really liked them, then I wouldn’t recommend watching this series first (I would recommend other ones first!). I found it enjoyable and funny and very knowledgeable (not only the morals, but also about cooking, journalism, and a dab about the entertainment world). However, it doesn’t hurt to take a little peek and see how this style fits you!

Also, Fala Chen sings the opening theme song for this drama. It is called “A Pair of Perfect Match”/絕配的一對. I mean, she came to become a part of the TVB family because of her wins at various beauty pageants (Miss Asian America, Miss Chinatown USA, Miss NY Chinese, Miss Chinese International – from these contests, you can probably tell that she’s Chinese-American) and started acting in 2006. She is starting to become one of the more popular young stars (along with Linda Chung, Bernice Liu, etc.). But I must say, her voice is nice and she hits the higher notes really well too.

If you would like to watch this drama Vietnamese dubbed (US Long Tieng), you can go to coiphim. If you would like to watch this drama English subbed, you can go to mysoju. For the Vietnamese dubbed one, it is hosted on megavideo so you can only watch a certain amount of “minutes” during a certain period – so beware of it!

And in the end, would I tell people to watch it? Of course YES! lol 🙂 [lol, this COULD be my TVB bias :D]