TVB: Sisters of Pearl 掌上明珠 (2010)

No. of episodes: 28

Cast:
Kiki Sheung Tin Ngor - Chu Pik Wan
Hsuan Jessica Hester - Chu Pik Ha
Macy Chan - Chu Pik Lam
Bowie Lam Po Yee - Ho Cheung Hing
Michael Dao Tai Yu - Hung Yew Sang
Joyce Tang Lai Ming - So Lai Sheung
Joel Chan - Chow Yuk Tsai
Savio Tsang Wai Kuen - Ho Cheung Fatt
Lily Leung - Ngan Yu Yoke
Lau Kong - Chu Siu Cheung
Coleman Tam - Lo Pak Tim
Pak Yin - Mrs Lo

Synopsis/Story:
Chu Pik Ha returned to her maiden home following the death of her husband, and upon invitation of her sisters after witnessing the way her mother-in-law treated her.
Unknown to her two sisters, it was Pik Ha's plan to return home and attempt to inherit the family's pearl business, which is currently run by her eldest sister, Pik Wan and her husband, Cheung Hing.

When Pik Ha started to win her father's affections and also her son being adopted as the grandson of the Chu family, Pik Wan sensed danger and her intentions and started to get her into trouble to get her out of her father's favour.
She instructed her husband, Cheung Hing to create trouble for Pik Ha's work at the pearl shop but Cheung Hing was secretly helping Pik Ha to solve most of the problems instead.
Pik Wan was then furious and suspects that her husband had not gotten over his feelings for Pik Ha. (Cheung Hing was supposed to marry Pik Ha initially but Pik Ha refused and married someone else, therefore their father re-arranged for Cheung Hing to marry Pik Wan instead)


With their cousin, Hung Yew Sang's interception, Pik Wan and Pik Ha's misunderstanding deepened.


Their father's sudden demise saddened all the three sisters but they were in for a bigger shock when an unknown woman turned up at his funeral and then a few days later at their home during the announcement of their father's will.
The woman turned out to be their father's long time mistress, So Lai Sheung and she was also stated to inherit part of the family fortune, and her sharing would increase if the child in her pregnancy is a son and the heir to the family.

The three sisters were furious and denied her position in the family, but their grandmother stepped in and allowed Lai Sheung to stay in the house, according to their father's will, and to give birth in the house.

What everyone did not know was that Lai Sheung was a tool set by their own cousin, Yew Sang to inherit part of the family's fortune. It was all a plan; from her meeting and seducing the old man to having his child and entering into the family based on that fact.


Lai Sheung did not lead an easy life, especially when youngest sister, Pik Lam was intent to make her life miserable in the house.
She almost suffered a miscarriage when Pik Ha's son, Tim Chai threw the marble balls on the floor.


Pik Wan and Pik Ha continued to fight over the pearl business as Pik Wan was worried that she was losing out, especially when even her own husband still has feelings for her sister. Pik Wan resorted to all sorts of tactics to kick Pik Ha out of the picture, and the worst being to separate Pik Ha from her son.

Pik Ha's mother in law won the custody of the child and Pik Ha was forced to bid farewell to her only son who was to follow his grandmother overseas.



Pik Ha bode a bitter grudge against her elder sister after that and plotted to take the business away from her no matter what, and even seduced her brother-in-law, Cheung Hing, who was still in love with her.

Pik Lam, was disappointed with Pik Ha's doings and her attempted adultery with their eldest brother-in-law.

Pik Lam herself faced a dilemma in love relationship when she put up a show and tricked their honest and innocent worker who hailed from Malaysia, Chow Yuk Tsai to marry her, in a bid to escape from another arranged political marriage.

After their marriage, Pik Lam refused to consummate the marriage with Yuk Tsai and denied her love for him, although she was starting to fall for his sweet and kind gestures towards her.
In one incident where Pik Lam accidentally declared that she does not love Yuk Tsai and that she was only using him, Yuk Tsai was devastated and decided to let her go by agreeing to a divorce.
Pik Lam regretted her words and Pik Wan saw opportunity to win her sister's vote for her running for the company's Chairman, by helping to patch the couple back with each other.

Pik Wan tried to win most of the votes by enlisting her husband's help, but little did she know that her husband was also eyeing the post and was already scheming to win all the votes for himself behind her back.
Cheung Hing had always wanted to plot revenge against the Chu family with the exception of his love, Pik Ha due to the fact that they indirectly caused the death of his father, who was an employee in the company and was framed for a mistake that Pik Wan had made.
He committed suicide in depression but Cheung Hing told everyone else that he had died of illness.

Cheung Fatt, his younger adopted brother was upset to learn of his plans to overtake the company and tried to advise him to stop his evil deeds, but to no avail.

Even Cheung Fatt was led to cover for his crimes; Cheung Fatt was framed for murdering the old grandma of the three Chu sisters.
Their grandma had uncovered Cheung Hing's crimes and went into a paralysis state where she could not speak. When she was about to recover her speech abilities, Cheung Hing pushed her into the pond and she died. Cheung Fatt took the blame onto himself and was led by Cheung Hing to commit suicide in jail to cover the whole truth altogether.

Yew Sang was starting to be aware of the scheming Cheung Hing, and he had slowly fallen for his second cousin, Pik Ha whom he had grown fond of.


When Lai Sheung gave birth to a son, she refused to follow Yew Sang's plan to leave her son and take part of the fortune which Yew Sang will share with her and go back to her village. She refused to part with her son, and soon gained entry into the pearl company as well.
She became defensive and warned Yew Sang against taking her son away.
At the same time, she grew close to Cheung Hing who helped deliver her son.


Pik Ha tried to seduce Cheung Hing who left Pik Wan and filed for divorce to be with Pik Ha. However, her plan failed when Cheung Hing overheard her talking to Yew Sang that it was all a plan to foil his schemes to take over the company.
He then convinced Pik Wan to return to him and then started feeding her pills to make her lose her mind, to enable him to take over the company easily.

As Pik Ha and Pik Lam realize his intentions, they tried to persuade Pik Wan to stop taking the pills but to no avail. Cheung Hing even threatened to kill Pik Wan if they refused to sell him their shares.
Lai Sheung had no choice but to give in to him too as she wanted to protect her own son. Pik Ha and Pik Lam sold their shares to him and the Chu sisters lost their family business to the evil Cheung Hing.

Yew Sang was also crippled in an accident but he supported the three sisters when they collaborated and united to start up a smaller pearl business.

Cheung Hing tried to break all their profit paths but Yew Sang hatched up a plan to make Cheung Hing lose it all.

In a rage, Cheung Hing tried to kill all of them but Yew Sang sacrificed himself to save Pik Ha.

Cheung Hing lost his mind in the end, while all three sisters remained with each other and won their family business.

Character Analysis
Kiki Sheung as Chu Pik Wan

She is a very insecure woman who also lacks of self-esteem despite being the one in power and authority. It was perhaps due to her position as the eldest daughter in the family and she constantly wants to be ahead of the rest. She was afraid of her younger and more capably sister, and the threats of a newly found stepmother and her unborn heir to her existing position.
She was not that evil actually, but she was just so consumed with her need to protect herself when she started feeling that she is losing all that she had that she had to first step up on her own defense. You could see in her expressions that she looked confused sometimes, and had to battle with her conscience before making a decision.
Kiki Sheung is no doubt an excellent veteran, and she is one of my favorite actresses, despite being cast as one of the antagonist in this drama.

Hsuan Jessica Hester as Chu Pik Ha

She is the most intelligent and ambitious sister of all, and she knows her own capabilities very well. This is one woman who knows how to be independent and to protect herself well. In contrast to Pik Wan, she is confident of herself and thus would not succumb to fate. Following her husband's death, she had planned to get away from her in-laws and plotted to return home and to have a hand in her own family business. She had planned it so well that it was really unbelievable that she had it all at the back of her hands. However, she was not all that evil either although she almost misled everyone to believe that she was the main antagonist as she, like Pik Wan, had to battle with her conscience despite wanting to inherit the family business. You could see her strong feelings for her siblings, and her emotions were the most genuine with her own son.
Jessica is also another great veteran actress who could bring her characters to life, and again, this is also one of my favorite actresses of all time. I wish TVB would give her more significant roles, as I do miss seeing her in all the great dramas produced.

Macy Chan as Chu Pik Lam

Of all three, this is the weakest sister and it could be due to the fact that she was the youngest in the family as well. She swayed in her opinions and is easily influenced; making her the most vulnerable tool to be exploited by her sisters and the antagonists in the drama. Her role is rather insignificant sometimes; besides adding to the shares of the company and her ability to vote for the managing board. As I've said, it could be due to the fact that being the youngest, she was always pampered by her father and all the elders in the family that she never had to deal with difficult situations where she had to decide.
The only time you finally see her transform to being a real adult who could finally come to terms with herself is when she realized that she had fallen for Yuk Tsai. Even then, she needed her sister's help to reunite with him as she had too much of a pride to tell Yuk Tsai.
Macy Chan is a relatively new actress but she had shown much improvement in her acting skills, although you could see that she is struggling sometimes to bring emotions to her eyes and face. There were times when she seemed to be blank and the expressions seem to be the same for some scenes as well, even when she is supposed to be really miserable.
I like her though; as she is really sweet and definitely suitable for vulnerable and innocent roles like this.

Joyce Tang as So Lai Sheung

This was supposed to be one of the antagonist as well, but at the same time the protagonist as well. You can't help but feel tickled by all her antics as she struggled to deal with her own naivety and materialism while having to act as a noble woman in the family. I enjoyed her expressions and her natural greed which was portrayed realistically. You won't feel hatred for this woman, but rather, pity and love for such a down-to-earth person that she is. Perhaps she is the most genuine person in this drama that could relate to an everyday woman from the village.
Joyce Tang is no doubt another excellent actress, as she portrayed her roles to perfection.

Bowie Lam as Ho Cheung Hing

Finally, the real and main evil antagonist in the drama who had all the audience deceived from the very beginning as he played the innocent and dictated poor husband and son-in-law of the Chu family. He had no respect from people but yet he was just so kind and caring to his own wife and sisters-in-law. It was really deceiving until it is revealed that he had been plotting his own motives to take over the entire family business. What started as a small plan of revenge towards Pik Wan and her father for causing his father's death soon expanded into a huge plan of greed and authority as he slowly plotted to overtake the entire family business.
He was so consumed with his own greed that he had started to lose his conscience when he pushed his own brother to death. He was a very selfish and vindictive man, but you could see his soft spot when he was dealing with Pik Ha, that only one woman in his life whom he really loved, which is why he was so devastated and turned even more mad when he realized that Pik Ha was only toying with him.
Bowie Lam is definitely the man for this character as this actor can just hide so much emotions behind his blank expression!

Michael Dao as Hung Yew Sang

Like Lai Sheung, this was supposed to be the main antagonist in the beginning but then turned protagonist towards the end. It was rather confusing for the audience whether he was the good or bad guy as he was constantly switching his roles. At one point he was intent to gobble the family fortune with his carefully hatched plan with Lai Sheung but yet you could see how he battled with himself when he tried to be Mr Nice Guy with his own cousins. I guess that was when he had started to fall for cousin Pik Ha when he could not bring himself to cause the family too much misery.
It has been a long time we have seen Michael in evil roles like these, but he is still good as a veteran actor although sometimes I do find his expressions a little more exaggerated.

Savio Tsang as Ho Cheung Fatt

He is the most unrecognized role and yet he is the only truly kind and honest man in the show. He worked with his conscience and never wanted anything for himself. He is constantly thinking for others, and he was really one of the most pitiful guys who never had anything in return. He was the adopted son in the family and he often felt indebted to the family that he listened to his brother although he did not agree to the evil deeds. In the end, he was even led to believe that he ought to sacrifice himself for the family to repay his adopted father's deeds.
For all that he had done, he gained nothing good in return.
This is the first time I have ever seen Savio Tsang in a good role as he is constantly cast in evil roles that it was really surprising. Nevertheless, it was a good job done and it showed that he is another versatile actor, although, I think he looked more believable as a nasty guy sometimes.

Joel Chan as Chow Yuk Tsai

For a man, this is really one naive and innocent character and it's funny that he was supposed to hail from Malaysia (or Borneo). He perceived everyone as good and with no evil intentions. He fell for all the tricks of the trade and even stupidly believe that he was responsible for sleeping with Pik Lam when he was drunk. He did love her with all his heart and it was also quite disheartening to see how he felt when Pik Lam revealed that she was only using him to get away from another arranged marriage. It was funny how he even agreed to paper marriage when Pik Lam refused to sleep with him after their marriage. He was so naive that this character became a little unbelievable sometimes.
Joel Chan was inconsistent in his expressions sometimes although at times he did fare quite well in portraying a simple-minded guy.

Overall review:
I enjoyed the drama, although at times I did find the storyline dragging itself a little. The drama seemed to be come one after another that it did not seem quite that believable anymore, perhaps the writer himself/herself was getting confused with the concept of what he really wants.
However, it is still a drama with lots of family relationships and it makes you think what is truly important in the end; money or love.

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SBS: Stairway to Heaven (천국의 계단)

No.of episodes: 28
Languages: Korean, Mandarin with English/Malay/Chinese subtitles

Year produced: 2003

Cast:
Choi Ji Woo - Han Jung Suh/Kim Ji Soo
Kwon Sang Woo - Cha Song Joo
Kim Tae Hee - Han Yoo Ri
Shin Hyun Joon - Han Tae Hwa/Han Chul Soo

Supporting Cast:
Ha Jae Young - Professor Han Soo Ha (Jung Suh's biological father, Yoo Ri and Tae Hwa's stepfather)
Lee Hui Hyang - Tae Mira (Yoo Ri and Tae Hwa's biological mother, Jung Suh's stepmother)
Jung Han Yong - Han Pil Su
Lee Cham - Director Jang

Child Actors:
Baek Sung Hyun - Young Cha Song Joo
Park Shin Hye - Young Han Jung Suh
Lee Wan - Young Han Tae Hwa
Park Ji Mi - Young Han Yoo Ri

Synopsis/Story:

This is a heart-wrenching tale of how two destined lovers from childhood had to face trials and tribulations to be with each other and in the end, made a promise to meet each other in heaven.


Han Jung Suh and Cha Song Joo were childhood friends, who grew up together and both shared the pain of losing one parent to illness. They knew they were destined for each other since they were young and yet, as fate would have it, their love was constantly put to the test.


Jung Suh was expecting a better life when her father decided to re-marry, and married a famous actress, Tae Mira who had two teenage children of her own to be brought into the marriage. Jung Suh was warm to her two newfound siblings, although they were skeptical of her; especially Yoo Ri who was especially jealous of her good fortune and life, and the attention showered by the good-looking and promising Song Joo.
Tae Mira treated Jung Suh well initially to win the trust of Jung Suh's father, but soon showed her true colours when Jung Suh did better than Yoo Ri in the school examinations.

Jung Suh's nightmare soon began when Tae Mira slapped her and abused her whenever her father is out of town. She kept it to herself, and even refused to confide in Song Joo who was concerned about her new life with the stepmother.
Jung Suh suffered in silence, for the sake of her father's newfound happiness in her stepmother, and anxiously anticipated the day that she would leave for her studies in the U.S together with her sweetheart, Song Joo.

When Tae Mira and Yoo Ri found out about their plan for the abroad studies, Tae Mira persuaded Jung Suh's father to postpone sending her abroad, much to the misery of Jung Suh.
On the day when Song Joo was scheduled to depart for his studies at the airport, Yoo Ri locked Jung Suh in the attic and mother and daughter lied that Jung Suh was nowhere to be found.
Tae Hwa helped to release Jung Suh from the attic who raced all the way to the airport, but Song Joo had already gone into the departure hall, much to the pleasure of Yoo Ri who hid there watching.

However, Jung Suh was surprised when Song Joo re-appeared as he could not bear to leave without saying goodbye and he presented her with a unique heart necklace which was paired with his own lock necklace. The necklaces were a pair and could be joined together. They each put on the necklaces for each other and bade each other a sad farewell.

Upon Song Joo's departure, the depressed Jung Suh then found solace in her mysterious stepbrother, Tae Hwa.
Tae Hwa is a spiteful young man, who missed his father dearly. He was incredibly talented in art, and with the encouragement of Jung Suh, he pursued his passion for the sake of winning Jung Suh's heart whom he had fallen in love with despite her being his sibling.

Yoo Ri threatened to expose their relationship to Song Joo who was studying abroad and regarded them with disgust. Yoo Ri and her mother intercepted most of the correspondence letters between Jung Suh and Song Joo, to end their relationship and to make Song Joo pay attention to Yoo Ri instead.

Tae Hwa pursued Jung Suh who shied away from him, but they spent most of their time together when their father was out of town.

Finally, the time came for Jung Suh to leave for her studies in the U.S, and Song Joo would be back in Korea to bring her along with him.
When Jung Suh received Song Joo's call to meet him at his family owned amusement park, Jung Suh raced to the place while Yoo Ri chased after her in the family's car, despite not having a driving licence.

When Jung Suh arrived outside of the amusement park, she waved at Song Joo who was watching for her from the balcony of the park. They both tried to rush to meet each other and Jung Suh was then hit by an oncoming car driven by Yoo Ri.
Yoo Ri was petrified with the massive accident she had caused and dragged the blood-covered Jung Suh into her car to cover her deed.

Worried, she drove Jung Suh to the hospital and ran around trying to get the doctors' attention when she overheard about victims without an identity. She changed her mind and placed Jung Suh's identity card with a burnt victim to mislead others that Jung Suh had died.
She then drove Jung Suh to her own biological father's home and begged him to take her in. Her father then called her brother, Tae Hwa, who came and decided to keep Jung Suh, who had lost her memory for himself.

He coined a new identity for Jung Suh; calling her Kim Ji Soo, and he changed his own name as well, now known as Han Chul Su and the duo lived together, along with his father.

Kim Ji Soo, is now a designer who runs a small boutique stall selling her own produced creations in Namdaemun Market, and led a happy life with Chul Su, whom she believed was her longtime boyfriend.
She supported his father's gambling debts as well; much to the chagrin of her close friend cum boutique partner.

Song Joo, on the other hand, still grieved over Jung Suh's death whom he refused to believe has been dead and constantly relived the scene of the night he met her. He arrived at the main road and only saw a bloodied picture of him and Jung Suh together at the beach when they were children.
Song Joo, is now set to be the next Chairman of the corporation and is betrothed to Yoo Ri, who had been helping him at work for the last five years.


Song Joo is portrayed as a playboy, but deep down inside, he had never forgotten Jung Suh. When he caught glimpse of Jung Suh on the carousel in his own amusement park while he was wishing to see her for one last time, he could not believe his own eyes until he saw her descend from the ride and into Han Chul Su's arms.

Song Joo then embarked on a wild goose chase after Jung Suh who could not recognize him and told him that she is Kim Ji Soo.
Refusing to give up, Song Joo enlisted the help of private detectives to investigate into Kim Ji Soo's background, with the help of his mentor cum assistant, Director Jang.
He then schemed to buy Kim Ji Soo's boutique stall, forcing her to accept a contract with his company to collaborate on attractive fashion designs.

Ji Soo was initially put off by his pursuits but soon found herself attracted to his persistence and loyalty to his dead girlfriend, much to the anger of Chul Su.

Unbeknownst to her, Chul Su was afraid that the truth would soon be revealed if she was to become closer to Song Joo.

Yoo Ri was also feeling insecure and unhappy with the re-emergence of Jung Suh's presence in Song Joo's life and his constant attention to her old rival.
When Song Joo was finally giving up hope that Kim Ji Soo is Jung Suh, Yoo Ri almost ran her car into Ji Soo, causing her to regain her memory of her real identity.


Jung Suh now ran after Song Joo frantically, trying to tell him about her findings but he no longer believed her as he thought that she wanted to be Jung Suh due to his deep affections for her.

Jung Suh then decided to leave with Tae Hwa, but the guilt-ridden Tae Hwa decided to send her back to Song Joo's arms.

Tae Hwa drove the unsuspecting Jung Suh who was sleeping in the van after taking fever medicine to her mother's beach house and called Song Joo.
He then left when the duo met up.

Song Joo verified Jung Suh's identity by quoting his favorite phrase and Jung Suh gave him the reply only known to both of them.
They then joined their necklaces and hugged.

Song Joo brought Jung Suh back to her home, who was welcomed by her own father and the pretentious Tae Mira. Yoo Ri put up a fight but Tae Mira warned her against it.
Tae Mira and Yoo Ri then sought the sympathy of Song Joo's mother, who was the CEO of the company and she forbade Song Joo to marry Jung Suh.

Song Joo was to be engaged with Yoo Ri, but Song Joo had other plans. He planned to give the ring to Jung Suh instead but she declined as she had to save Tae Hwa from the police station where he was held for fraud and selling fake paintings. (It was the doing of his own mother, Tae Mira to stop Jung Suh from getting close to Song Joo)



Song Joo and Jung Suh then agreed to be friends following his engagement to Yoo Ri, and he even sent her away, to avoid them meeting again.
However, Song Joo missed her dearly and in the end, Song Joo decided to give up everything to be with Jung Suh.


It was then that Jung Suh was diagnosed with eye disease which was then confirmed to be cancer. Jung Suh persuaded Song Joo to go back to his mother's aid when the company faced a major crisis, and Song Joo asked for his mother's blessing for their marriage.
His mother was defiant, and was starting to dislike Jung Suh for coming in the way of Song Joo and Yoo Ri.

Jung Suh kept her illness a secret from Song Joo, and broke up with him, retreating herself to the beach house while she slowly lose her sight.
Tae Hwa went after her and took care of her, and he also informed Song Joo.


The two men persuaded Jung Suh to undergo the surgery to recover despite it having only 50% recovery rate.

It was not fully successful as Jung Suh did not regain her sight, and when she was about to be discharged from the hospital, Tae Hwa tricked her into putting on a wedding gown and led her to her own wedding, planned by Song Joo.




Tae Mira and Yoo Ri were hysterical at the wedding as the following day was supposed to be Song Joo and Yoo Ri's wedding. Tae Mira then threw her tantrum and Tae Hwa and his father appeared, exposing all of the mother and daughter's schemes to the whole world.

Song Joo's mother finally gave her blessings to the painstruck couple.

Tae Mira was sent to a mental institution while Yoo Ri was jailed for the accident.

Song Joo and Jung Suh started to lead their life as a newlywed couple. Jung Suh expressed her wish to see Song Joo for one more time to Tae Hwa and he started to plan his own demise by misleading everyone that he will be pursuing his art career in Paris.
He then created his own car accident and donated his cornea to Jung Suh.

Jung Suh then regained her sight after the cornea transplant but her cancer cells had spread and she need to undergo another operation.
However, Jung Suh refused to, and Song Joo, in his exasperation, told Jung Suh that Tae Hwa's death and sacrifice would be in vain if she didn't and Jung Suh was hysterical.

Jung Suh endured the cancer and spent the last of her days living happily with Song Joo.

One day, she asked Song Joo to drive her to the beach house and Song Joo refused to, knowing that her time is up.
She persisted and Song Joo drove her there, where she finally laid to her rest in Song Joo's arms by the beach.


Two years later, Song Joo was seen playing at the white piano by the sea, asking Jung Suh whether she could hear him.



Character Analysis:
Choi Ji Woo as Han Jung Suh/Kim Ji Soo

What can I say about one of the most popular K-drama actresses? Choi Ji Woo is definitely a drama queen!
She's good at all the crying scenes, and she just has this unbelievably sweet looks about her. She's not as pretty as most of the other actresses that I like, but somehow, there's just something about her that is really appealing and that you will find connecting with her whenever you watch her in dramas.
I liked how she finally transformed from the soft Jung Suh to the tough Jung Suh who finally knew how to stand for herself when she regained her memory. I guess she had picked it up from Kim Ji Soo who had lived on the streets all the while.
She did much better in this drama compared to Winter Sonata, although she seemed to relive some of her facial expressions from Winter and also Beautiful Days.

Kwon Sang Woo as Cha Song Joo

This is my first time seeing Kwon Sang Woo in a drama, and I must say I really liked him! He has a charm around him, and of course his boyish good looks earned him extra brownie points. He has extreme versatility as I found him switching from a pained lover to a playful and extremely mischievous friend. He portrayed all his expressions realistically, and most of the time, I find himself sympathizing with him. This is one strong character who does not allow anyone to push him around, as he stood for what he believed and would not let anyone tell him what to do, even if that is his own mother.

Kim Tae Hee as Han Yoo Ri

She is supposed to the second antagonist in the story; next to her evil mother Tae Mira but sometimes, I do find it hard to believe that such a pretty girl is capable of such evil deeds.
I guess Kim Tae Hee's image is not so suitable for this character, and her facial expressions were not convincing enough. Whenever she is supposed to feel jealous or evil, she would only know how to enlarge her eyes and that is supposed to make someone look evil??
Guess Kim Tae Hee is too demure to pull off a convincing act as an evil stepsister!

Shin Hyun Joon as Han Tae Hwa/Han Chul Su
He had this kind look and sometimes I find his character annoying but still, you feel that he is the main protector for Jung Suh. Without him, she would be in much more pain and misery. He had this ruffian look and the way he dresses was too much of a pauper than an artist. Overall, this is one pitiful character who just did not deserve what he had done for everyone so far although it was the route he chose for himself.

The child actors
Park Shin Hye as Young Jung Suh

Adorably cute, she was just the right person to play such a demure character! She was so kind and her doe-like eyes just gave off that right expression and pain that she felt. Somehow she looked more like Kim Tae Hee compared to Choi Ji Woo, and it was weird that she grew up to be Choi Ji Woo! =P

Park Ji Mi as Young Yoo Ri

This is one evil girl; she had that conniving look in her eyes and you just feel hatred for her and furthermore, she played such a despicable role. Sometimes I felt sorry for her as well, as she came from an undesirable background herself and she was probably pushed to survive on her own and had developed such possessive skills, porbably to defend herself. Above all else, it's her own parents to be blamed for her upbringing when she was young.

Baek Sung Hyun as Young Song Joo
This is a very cheerful boy and he really looked like Kwon Sang Woo too! This is a good choice as both portrayed the character of Cha Song Joo to life! I liked this actor; he really had very charming expressions as a young price!

Lee Wan as Young Tae Hwa
This guy was quite annoying, to be frank, but I found his expressions really good too, that he could make me annoyed anyway, in the first place!
Did you know that he is Kim Tae Hee's brother in real life?


My opinion:
This is truly a tragic drama; it was full of tragedies and miseries right from the beginning. (Well, after all, what would have made the drama had it not been for all the tragedies, right?)

This was like a typical Cinderella story, whereby the biological daughter gets all the suffering, all thanks to the evil stepmother and stepsister.

It was really heart-wrenching to see how the two ill-fated lovers constantly were prevented from being with each other and when they finally do, they are still separated from death.

Be prepared to cry buckets over the scenes; especially if you are an emotional person as Jung Suh really had it tough for her since her childhood, that sometimes you just wished that her father never married the stepmother or that Jung Suh should just pluck some courage and told her father and Song Joo about the abuses.

I liked this drama a lot, as I found it to be really touching and it was truly an emotional ride; a typical romantic soap opera. I guessed I also liked Kwon Sang Woo in this drama, who was really just unbelievably loyal and charming; everything that a girl could wish for in her Prince Charming.

I have watched this a few times, and I will always bring it out of the shelves to re-watch it once in a while to relive that true gift of love =)

Don't watch it if you're a guy...haha, just kidding!
If you're not one for dramas and mushy romantic lines, this is not a drama for you.
If you are sentimental and romantic type, then yes, do watch it to see what love is truly all about. It is not all about sugar and spice, there's really lots of sacrifices and persistence as well, not to mention devotion and loyalty.

What can I say more, this is one of my favorite dramas =)