Sweet Relationship

Sweet Relationship - Mei Wei Guan Xi

I remember seeing a lot of negative comments regarding this drama at many forums. Many said that the first episode was ridiculously long and boring. I did, too. But the good stuff comes later on. Those who are patient enough to continue will be rewarded.

Main Cast:
Patty Hou as Chang Bai Hui
Vic Chou as Fang Zhi Tian
Alan Kuo as He Ma Yang
Megan Lai as Ren Ke Xin

Synopsis

The story begins with the death of Bai Hui's father. For twenty-something years, he was her only living family member. He was the one who had taken her to dine at expensive restaurants and trained her to taste every dish put before her eyes. Because of this, she is able to taste every ingredient in a dish. It is her only expertise. With this said, when he dies, she moves out and attempts to find a job on her own. Unfortunately, with no assets and no work experience, she fails in all of her interviews.

She stumbles upon a restaurant named Little Bear. This is the place where most of the funniest and heart-warming moments take place in her life.

When she first arrives at the restaurant, she is only a customer. The owner takes notice of her because of the way she devours every bite of her food. Other customers are attracted to her as well. Then, when she orders and tastes the Golden Soup, she decides that she has to work there. The soup was originally prepared for her by her father on her university graduation day. It happens to be the last thing that her father made for her. She insists on working at Little Bear for the fact that it's the only place where the soup exists. She wants to hold onto her father's "taste".

Unfortunately for her, the restaurant's chef, Fang Zhi Tian refuses to allow a woman to enter his kitchen. He's an austere genius chef who hates spoiled rich brats and thinks that women only know how to cry. However, with the help of He Ma (Zhi Tian's disciple), the owner and his daughter Xiao Qiang, Ren Ke Xin (Zhi Tian's childhood friend), and other customers, Bai Hui earns the opportunity to prove herself to Zhi Tian. Of course she wins and Zhi Tian is forced to take her as his disciple.

His bad temper often scares her but she admires his culinary skills. As time passes, his attitude towards her changes slightly. She vows to become a chef and prepare the exact dishes the customers need and want. She also learns of Zhi Tian's background from his adopted mother Jin Dao Po Po (played by Billie). She is shocked to learn that Zhi Tian doesn't find the joy in eating. He only eats to satisfy his hunger. Jin Dao explains to her that he was abandoned as a child at a restaurant. His parents committed suicide and it was then that he began to build a wall barricading himself. Bai Hui's heart goes out to the poor boy who was abandoned by his parents.

Just when Bai Hui begins to fall in love with Zhi Tian, Ren Ke Xin enters the picture as her love rival. Ke Xin and Zhi Tian have known each young since they were children. He was abandoned at her father's restaurant, Nan Te Forest. Ke Xin relies heavily on Zhi Tian and loves him very much. She's in constant search of his support because her mother resides in a nursing home and is emotionally unstable. She blames everything on her father, who had abandoned her mother and her and ran off with another woman. Ke Xin took up the responsibility of taking care of her mother and therefore needs support from Zhi Tian. However, Zhi Tian finds her love to be a burden because he doesn't want her to rely on him all the time. She needs to stand strong by herself. As you might have guessed it, Ke Xin is the woman with evil schemes. She does everything to prevent Zhi Tian from becoming Bai Hui's.

Meanwhile, He Ma has a huge crush on Bai Hui. He doesn't want to be just her best friend. Whenever she gets yelled by Zhi Tian or just has a bad day (usually caused by Zhi Tian), he's always there for her. But as the story progresses, he finds that he can no longer be the best friend. He wants to be more than that, despite the fact that he knows how Bai Hui feels about Zhi Tian. He eventually confesses but she's too in love with Zhi Tian to accept him. What's worse is that she tells him she never thought of him liking her.

Zhi Tian slowly falls in love with Bai Hui, but he acts like he doesn't care most of the time, and still makes rude comments about her cooking and her actions.

Ke Xin, He Ma and other obstacles stand in the way of Zhi Tian and Bai Hui's romance. What will happen to them?

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"I heard it's boring and long...should I watch it?"

I apologize for summarizing the romance of the drama. There's so much more than that. There's the fate of Little Bear, the awfully cute restaurant that is the setting of many heart-warming and heart-breaking moments. Besides romance, there's emphasis on friendship, beliefs, dreams, family, etc. It's not just a drama about this bad-tempered chef and this cutesy girl falling in love with each other. It's a drama that makes one think about dreams, and how often people get lost in theirs. Bai Hui is the perfect example. She wants to become a chef and she tries her best. But there are plenty of times when she gets confused and lost. She doesn't know whether she wants to be a chef or just someone who she knows Zhi Tian will like. The owner of Little Bear also exemplifies this example. He has little self-confidence and thinks that once he loses Zhi Tian as his chef, his restaurant will never survive. Little Bear is his dream and he tries to hold onto to it as hard as he can. But along the way, he gets lost and thinks that the only way to keep his restaurant running is to use money and try to make significant changes.

I can understand why many viewers were so thrown off by the length of the first episode. Many just stopped watching after a few episodes. I think they're missing out on a lot. This is not like other Taiwanese idol dramas where they have special effects. No one appears in this drama wearing extravagant clothing and makes a grand appearance with expensive cars. This drama is pretty realistic, if you ask me. Well, except for the fact that Bai Hui's tongue can taste any ingredient. But what makes it realistic is the fact that it touches on other aspects in life. These characters can be anybody. You could be the one with a failing business and low self-confidence. Or you could be the one with a dream and be confused about it all the time.

This drama is simply different from the others. No special effects, no exaggeration, no grandeur mansions - none of that. It's a simple drama that has many layers. And it takes time to unwrap every layer and learn the meanings.

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The Good Stuff:

- Food. I wanted to eat every dish that they presented in this drama. I'm not kidding. Everything looked so good.

- Little Bear. I love the restaurant! It's homey and I love the collection of bears near the entrance. I cried when it was torn down and made into a parking lot.

- Romance. I know it takes FOREVER for Zhi Tian to admit his feelings, but the last two episodes definitely made up for it!

- Cute moments. I loved it when Zhi Tian was over at Nan Te Forest and thought he saw Bai Hui working. And I loved it how she called from Amour and how everyone was fighting over the phone...while Zhi Tian was mad since he was the one who had originally picked up the call.

- Every episode left a warm, fuzzy feeling in me.

- Music. I loved every song in this drama, especially Joanna Wang's. Her voice is soothing.

The Bad Stuff

- Acting. Patty Hou's a newbie at acting, so I guess I could forgive her for having no more than 5-6 expressions. I also didn't like the actor who played Gu Jian Xian. Really bad Mandarin and really bad acting.

- Ke Xin's relationship with Gu Jian Xian. What was that all about? I was confused.

The Okay Stuff

- The length. As a person who watches Japanese dramas more than anything else, I was actually okay with 20 1-hour-15-minute episodes. The cute moments, the progress of the romance, and FOOD kept me going.

Reviewer's Last Comments:

This drama is a hidden jewel. I know that "They Kiss Again" and "Bull Fighting" - two highly anticipated idol dramas were airing at the same time as this one - and it's understandable that many viewers would rather watch hot guys fight over one girl, but when you want to relax and think about something you can relate to, watch this one.