Episodes: 30Yr of telecast/TV Stn: 2006/TVB
Main cast: Joe Ma & Charmaine Sheh (shall intro them in the summary)
Brief Summary: Joe and Charmaine will play four characters each spanning four generations, illustrating the evolution of a family of women and their relationships.
First Generation~Qing Dynasty 1900's
Wei Yu Feng (Charmaine) was a well-versed lady from a rich family. She had known their kitchen cook Yu C2ni since young and both of them liked each other. Yu Feng's family met with problems and she was forced to marry Wang Yu Ling (Sammul Chan). Yu Ling is a "good-for-nothing" son who only knew how to gamble and play. Soon, he ruined his family business and Feng had to sell the "Phoenix Jade Chopsticks". She opened the "Feng Huang Lou" and Ci was the master Cook of the restaurant. Soon, the Wang family gained fortune and Yu Ling started to go back to his old behaviour. Feng & Ci died when the train exploded and only left the "Feng Huang Lou" & Feng's child, Wang Zi Jun.
2nd Generation~May 4th event (1919)
Wang Zi Jun was the successor of "Feng Huang Lou". Zi Jun was a cheeful high school student and she was secretly in love with her teacher Li Ji Xiang. Ji Xiang had a fiancee but Zi Jun did not want to follow her mum's footstep. So, she tried many ways and finally touched Ji Xiang's heart. They eloped and went to Tianjin. Soon, "honeymoon" period was over, the couple was poor and quarelled over small stuffs. They parted soon after that; Jun returned to Beijing and found that her mum's restaurant had closed down while Xiang became a revolutionist. The two finally met each other and found that they still loved each other. However, Xiang had to accomplished his mission while Jun had his child. Jun waited for Xiang's return while her child grew up.
3rd Generation~1960's
Zi Jun's great-grand daughter Bai Hui Zhen was married to the egoistic Dai Li Ren, who thought that woman after marriage shld become housewife. Hui Zhen worked secretly but found her way to become Ren's boss. The two also faced problems as Zhen's boss liked her very much and kept framing Ren. Zhen and Ren received a project to promo "Feng Huang Lou", which was facing a closure. Though the couple couldnt save the restaurant, they saved their relationship. Later, they emigrated to San Francisco with the un-born Dai Si Jia and died in an earthquake.
4th Generation~Present Day
The narrator of the drama, Si Jia, was a beer girl who was independent and did not believe in marriage. She dated Fang Jia An after the guy was dumped during his wedding. An was an accountant & a perfectionist. The couple cohibited and An started to control Jia's life. Jia was frustrated and the two broke up, after An saw Jia staying over at her ex-boyfriend Ji (Sammul Chan)'s house. Jia became mature and took her great-great grandmother's receipe and kept finding investors to re-open "Feng Huang Lou". An was glad to see Jia's achievement, but unknown to Jia, he actually put in money to invest in her restaurant. Jia gave birth to An's child while Ji, who was homosexual, was fond of An. Finally, in a cooking competition, Ji & Jia won and got back the missing "Phoenix Jade Chopstick". Ji left HK while An wanted to acknowledge his son. Will the two get married finally?
Comments: Given the 4 plots, this is one of the most interesting drama from TVB last yr. If the plots became an individual drama, then it wld be boring butta, i like this creativity la. I dunno if i cld say this butta this drama is like specially designed for Charmaine, who won the best actress with this drama. She definitely deserved this award! 1st & 2nd Gen's story was acceptable, but nothing new to me. However, Sammul Chan's performance in the 1st Gen was great, very different from his past roles. Good improvement wor! Joe and Charmaine were alright here, nothing new la.
I like the 3rd Gen best coz' the whole storyline was simply funny and interesting! Firstly, the hairdo, costume, and the way they spoke Cantonese was funny. Next, the supporting cast was terrific! If they are missing, then the leads cant work out magic liao. Joe's performance was way better than his previous ones. He was more exaggerating here, with his expressions and movements. I laughed at his hairdo too...super 'Elvis' style. Charmaine was equally good here, i really like to see her being smart la. The chemistry was the best in this plot and i couldnt stand the couple when they were so sweet to each other...rang wo qi ji pi ge da wor!
4th Gen started out alright, Joe was back to his suave look while Charmaine's beer gal was refreshing. This proved that she's suitable for a wide range of characters. Her way of talking was rather rough, but suddenly she sounded so refine after she opened the restaurant. Err..that part abit fake la. The change was kinda drastic la. As for Joe leh, his character was so so here, but i still like Jia An, compared to his characters in the 1st & 2nd Gen. As for Sammul, he looked very different here too...mainly coz' he acted as gay ba. Honestly, he gave me surprises and i think he's actually better than Ron Ng or to some extent, Raymond Lam. Pls return to TVB dramas soon. Hehe!
Themesong & ending song were all sung by Charmaine, but it's ordinary to me.
Ratings: 10/10 (They might be flaws here & there, but it's definitely worth the watch!)
