EPISODE 9 July 10, 2008

Samsoon & Cyrus' Rules of (Contract) Dating:
1. Wala akong obligasyon sayo. Wala tayong obligasyon dahil hindi kita girlfriend. (Cyrus)
2. Wag na wag mo na akong hahalikan kayaga ng ginawa mo kanina kasi kung hindi mapapatay na talaga kita. (Samsoon)
3. Pwede kitang akbayan... halikan sa oras na gusto ko. Lalong lalo na pag kailangan kong patunayan kay Mama na girlfriend kita. (Cyrus)
4. Ayoko ng tanong nang tanong lalo na tungkol sa personal kong buhay. (Cyrus)

--- all rules are from ASKSS Episode 9

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1. I don't have an obligation to you. We don't have an obligation with each other because you are not really my girlfriend. (Cyrus)
2. Don't you ever kiss me like what you did before, else I'll kill you. (Samsoon)
3. I can wrap my arms around you... kiss you whenever I like. Especially if I need to prove to my mom that you are my girlfriend. (Cyrus)
4. I don't want you to ask intrusive questions repetitively about my personal life. (Cyrus)

Sam Soon & Jin Hun's Rules of (Contract) Dating:
1. Hyun Jin Hun and Kim Sam Soon voluntarily agree to pretend to date until December 31, 2005
2. Hyun Jin Hun won't initiate any intimacy. The same applies to Kim Sam Soon.
3. If a display of affection is necessary it'll be done under consensus.
4. Kim Sam Soon will not ask Hyun Jin Hun any intrusive questions. She won't ask again when he doesn't want to answer.
5. Hyun Jin Hun will respect Kim Sam Soon's personal rights.
6. We'll only pretend to date but we won't really date. Ever! And no two-timing allowed.

Clause 1, 2, 3, & 6 from MNIKSS Episode 3
Clause 4 & 5 were mentioned only on MNIKSS Episode 4
(Jin Hun will try to re-write the contract in MNIKSS Episode 7 & 13)

Although Samsoon reached number 10, she did not go home. She lurked around and we met Amber (Mi Joo) for the first time as Samsoon listens to the little kid's rendition of "Ikaw" ("You").






+100 overall execution of meeting Amber
Even if I love the cinematography of this scene in the original MNIKSS, I also like how they were able to capture the same mood even with the simplicity of the execution in ASKSS. Maybe it's the presence of the kid that keeps the same mood.

In MNIKSS, Sam Soon went to the restroom since she feels nauseated after she deliberately said "Saranghaeyo" (I love you) to Jin Hun, to make their pretend relationship more realistic, while Jin Hun talks with his mother about Sam Soon, their relationship and Hee Jin (Hannah). We missed the Hee Jin part in ASKSS because until now, Hee Jin hasn't appeared and wasn't even mentioned yet. While the mother and son is having a heart to heart talk our Sam Soonie lurks around the house and found the cute Mi Joo playing with her xylophone.

+100 for Amber
I like that Amber plays the piano. Isn't it so cute to see a little kid playing the piano? And speaking of cute, I find her really cute. Even though Amber's personality is more reserved than her all-smiles Korean counterpart Mi Joo, I kinda like her shy and about-to-cry face. She looks cuter in television than her photos. Too bad they did not have a close-up shot of Amber. As I've mentioned before, kids are one of my weaknesses, as long as they can act well they can melt my heart. Amber's scene is too short, thus I can't tell yet whether she's good or not. But as long as Cheska can act as good as Suh Ji Hee, she will be my new darling.



Seems that Mi Joo's personality is more cheery because she was grinning when this strange ahjumma* approached her (*ahjumma is a Korean term for older women). Well, if I were Mi Joo I must've laughed as well. When Sam Soon was about to introduce herself to Mi Joo, she retracted before she was able to say her name completely and immediately changed it to Hee Jin. And out of the blue, she asked the clueless kid if her dad's name is Sam Shikie. At that point, she was able to capture the kid's heart and they had their bonding moments in the Hyun's kitchen. And as Mi Joo enjoys the company of her new-found ahjumma friend, Sam Soon enjoys bashing the entire Hyun family through her doughs.

In ASKSS, Samsoon asked Amber to teach her how to play the piano. I just wished they had longer bonding moments in ASKSS.

+50 points for Nicole
I was surprised that I will find the characterization I'm looking for in this series through a cameo character first. Even though she was so mean and condescending on the previous episode, when she apologized to Cyrus about her behavior and explained her side, I can't help but somehow feel for her. I hope this will be more evident and hopefully consistent in Hannah's character.
I would have given a higher point for this, but Nicole suddenly went back to her usual evil self when Cyrus attempts to defend Samsoon.

+50 points for Cyrus' attempt to defend Samsoon one more time
Although I missed Jin Hun's heart-melting description of Sam Soon on the last episode, I'm glad there was another attempt from Cyrus to defend Sam Soon. "Oo nga bata ka edukada maganda, pero wala kang binatbat sa pagkatao ni Samsoon," Cyrus told Nicole (Yes, you are young, well-educated, beautiful. But you are nothing compared to Sam Soon). This time it's much better, but still not as good as Jin Hun's description of Sam Soon.



This time, Samsoon found out that Amber is not a mute through the family's maid. Instead of through the drunk Jin Hun. But I don't think it makes a big difference anyway.
I'm just thinking whether "Momo*" will be present in ASKSS. I really hope it will still be. However with Samsoon's personality it's quite unlikely. But I'm still hoping. It would break my heart if "Momo" will not be present in ASKSS.
(*Momo is a character in Michael Ende's children's book with the same title. Momo is a little girl who doesn't talk not because she is mute, but because she prefers to listen to other people's problems. Sam Soon likes to associate Mi Joo to Momo. And the book plays a part in Jin Hun and Sam Soon's love story as well. That book became famous as well after it was mentioned in MNIKSS. It took me sometime to be able to get my own copy because it's always out of stock in bookstores and internet shops.)



+500 for not letting Cyrus play the piano yet
Jin Hun picks-up Mi Joo from the kitchen, thanks Sam Soon for making Mi Joo a ring (made of dough) and deducted one month's interest on her debt. The uncle and niece went ahead and Sam Soon was left in the kitchen (I don't know up to know why they did that. She's their guest right? Maybe he was thinking that Sam Soon should clean up the mess she did in the kitchen before she can go upstairs). Sam Soon went upstairs afterwards. She heard a piano being played which prompted her to enter the music room (uninvited). We saw Jin Hun cutely playing a nursery rhyme ("Three Little Bears" from "Full House") to the equally cute little Mi Joo. Secretary Hyun Sook requested Jin Hun to play "that" song. Jin Hun obliged and plays "Can't Help Falling In Love". As he gracefully touch every keys, Sam Soon stood still, dumbfounded, blushed and all. She may not have fallen in love yet with this gentleman who plays the piano effortlessly (err... not really effortless since Hyun Bin is not comfortable in playing the piano. He had to take a crash piano lesson prior to MNIKSS, whereas it was really Kim Sun Ah who plays the piano well), but she must be thinking that "This jerk knows music?" as what our local Samsoon verbally blurted out in this episode ("Tignan mo nga naman, maski pala pusong-bato mahilig din sa music!").

I love that Amber is the one who plays the piano in ASKSS. If we have cliches, Korean dramas have theirs too. And it's the piano scene. It's quite rare (especially in MNIKSS times) to find a drama without a piano scene. Because in Korea it seems like almost every kid had to take piano lessons. We also had our share of piano lessons as kids, but not as popular as it is in Korea.
Although we missed Sam Soon being swayed in Jin Hun's music, it's fine that they did not let Cyrus play the piano yet. It may look awkward at this point. It's not very common to meet a guy who knows how to play the piano here in the Phillipines. And it's equally unlikely that if you find one, he will suddenly sit down and play the piano voluntarily. It's good enough that they establish that Cyrus knows how to play the piano by letting us, and Samsoon, know that he's the one who taught Amber how to play "Ikaw". In that way, it won't be too awkward if he will play the piano later on.




+500 "Ikaw" vs "Over The Rainbow"
Nice choice... a very nice choice indeed. "Over The Rainbow" is a beautiful song (and a beautiful 'piano song' as well). It's very popular in Korea. But it's kinda very elitist here in the Philippines. If you ask around, how many people will tell you that their favorite song is "Over The Rainbow"? But how many Filipinos consider "Ikaw" as their favorite song or their theme song? And on how many weddings was it played? I had my "Ikaw" moments as well before. It may not be my favorite song anymore, but I still like it.
I also love the short exchange of dialogues between Cyrus and Samsoon when she was trying to lure him to play "Ikaw". It was funny. I just hope he stalled a little bit more to make everyone curious why he hates the song that he taught to Amber.
I hope they will also give justice to "Ah Reum Da Oon Saram", another important song in MNIKSS.


-250 for the second kiss
They kissed again... yes, it's funny but still my point is I'm loosing the thrill of the first real kiss, the more their lips meet unnecessarily.


+300 for the rules of dating

Samsoon & Cyrus' Rules of (Contract) Dating:
1. Wala akong obligasyon sayo. Wala tayong obligasyon dahil hindi kita girlfriend. (Cyrus)
2. Wag na wag mo na akong hahalikan kayaga ng ginawa mo kanina kasi kung hindi mapapatay na talaga kita. (Samsoon)
3. Pwede kitang akbayan... halikan sa oras na gusto ko. Lalong lalo na pag kailangan kong patunayan kay Mama na girlfriend kita. (Cyrus)
4. Ayoko ng tanong nang tanong lalo na tungkol sa personal kong buhay. (Cyrus)

1. I don't have an obligation to you. We don't have an obligation with each other because you are not really my girlfriend. (Cyrus)
2. Don't you ever kiss me like what you did before, else I'll kill you. (Samsoon)
3. I can wrap my arms around you... kiss you whenever I like. Especially if I need to prove to my mom that you are my girlfriend. (Cyrus)
4. I don't want you to ask intrusive questions repetitively about my personal life. (Cyrus)

Sam Soon & Jin Hun's Rules of (Contract) Dating:
1. Hyun Jin Hun and Kim Sam Soon voluntarily agree to pretend to date until December 31, 2005
2. Hyun Jin Hun won't initiate any intimacy. The same applies to Kim Sam Soon.
3. If a display of affection is necessary it'll be done under consensus.
4. Kim Sam Soon will not ask Hyun Jin Hun any intrusive questions. She won't ask again when he doesn't want to answer.
5. Hyun Jin Hun will respect Kim Sam Soon's personal rights.
6. We'll only pretend to date but we won't really date. Ever! And no two-timing allowed.

MNIKSS' rules of dating might be more clear and detailed, but I like the casualness of ASKSS' rules of dating.
Another cliche of Korean dramas are contract dating. But here in the Philippines, it's very unlikely. A pretend girlfriend or boyfriend, yet there is, but literally a contract - I don't think so.

In MNIKSS, after leaving Jin Hun's mom's house, they went to a nice restaurant. Jin Hun was still furious that Sam Soon asked him to play "Over The Rainbow", Sam Soon, although apologetic, was already mad as well with how Jin Hun treated her. It leads to their first attempt to cancel the contract and we witness a funny discussion on how Sam Soon will be able to pay her 50 million won debt. As Sam Soon was about to walk out, Jin Hun recognized a 'detective' of Na Hyun Sook. He wrapped his arms around Sam Soon immediately and that leads to their "written rules" of dating.

In ASKSS, Samsoon was expecting Cyrus to drop her off at her house. Cyrus told her that he is not obligated to do that and that started his rambling about HIS rules.

One thing I noticed was again the hint of weakness in our local Samsoon. Both contracts were dominated by Cyrus / Jin Hun's rules. In ASKSS, Samsoon simply input "Don't kiss me again, or else I'll kill you". But in MNIKSS Sam Soon managed to add "Hyun Jin Hun will respect Kim Sam Soon's personal rights" which is more powerful (and she'll use it against Jin Hun in a future argument).



+25 points for Samsoon's retraction
I was about to hate Samsoon again when she said that she liked Cyrus' kiss, but before I can managed to react, she retracted immediately and insulted Cyrus in a very Sam Soon-ish way.

+15000 kilig* points for Cyrus Oppa*
(*kilig - a jittery feeling normally expressed when you are thrilled with something /someone *Oppa is a Korean term used by females to address their older brother, an older male or their boyfriends)
Although I can't understand why he needs to smile like that at that point in the story, I can't help but be thrilled with his sweet smile while looking at the very unladylike Samsoon calling a taxicab. Is our Cyrus falling in love as early as now? Or he just can't stop himself from smiling at the thought of this weird girl who knows nothing but bicker with him?
Samsoon, I wish you saw him smiling like that.


-5 for Maureen's dialogue
I just have to say this (although it got nothing to do with the storyline), when Maureen told Samsoon, "Oh, you're wearing make-up today", I can't help but laugh sarcastically. Isn't Samsoon wearing make-up everyday even if she was sleeping? Go figure!


+50 points for the funny Sonia
Sonia got me laughing once again when she was getting paranoid about her children's whereabouts. It was just funny seeing her behaving like that, while being clueless that her youngest is just upstairs sleeping and her eldest is paying off their debt. And who can forgot her punchline to Samsoon, "Sosyal ka na pala ngayon!?" ("So you're an elite now?")?


Following the plot up until MNIKSS' 4th episode, I was surprised that it made a big leap to MNIKSS's 9th episode. But I'm not too sure, because from this point forward, it was really difficult to determine which MNIKSS episode / scene they are trying to interpret. So I just made some assumptions based on context clues, dialogues and reactions. I might be wrong though, so I would like to apologize as early as now.

I associated Mrs. Ruiz and Marcus' conversation to Na Hyun Sook and Yoon Hyun Sook's conversation in MNIKSS episode 9.
In ASKSS Mrs. Ruiz and Marcus was talking about a strategy to get rid of Samsoon in Cyrus' life.
In MNIKSS Na Hyun Sook and Yoon Hyun Sook was talking of a scheme on how to use Sam Soon to get rid of Hee Jin in Jin Hun's life (and Na Hyun Sook said she will deal with how to get rid of Sam Soon afterwards).



-500 for the money offer cliche
I was actually enjoying this episode until I reached this part. Two Claras* offering 2 million pesos for Mara* to stay away from Cyrus. I feel like I was watching another afternoon melodrama. (*Clara is a character in a long-lived soap opera "Mara Clara" in the 90s that displays the stereotypical villainess in Philippine Drama history; *Mara, the heroine of the said soap opera depicts the stereotypical martyr female heroine)
I am unsure whether they seriously included this sequence as it is or they have the intentions of showing this as a parody. Again it they are, it is still not working.
The best parody for me in this situation was the one that was presented in Dal Ja's Spring. The rich mother of Dal Ja's boyfriend was against her. She meets with Dal Ja and handed an envelope full of money (checks). Dal Ja thought that she was trying to bribe her to stay away from her son, so she started her litany about her self, her pride, her stand, her love - and was just embarrassed at the end because the money is actually meant to be her boyfriend's allowance.
If ASKSS will try to do cliches with the intentions of doing parodies, I hope they will have the same clear approach.

-10 points for the Money-Rain scene
Nothing's wrong with the scene from Samsoon's imagination but it just reminds me so much of "My Girl", So, for a second, I was a bit confused whether I was watching MNIKSS remake or My Girl remake.



The closest scenes I can think of from MNIKSS was the temple scenes in Episode 9. Na Hyun Sook may not have offered Sam Soon money to stay away from her son, but she used her to get rid of Hee Jin. She called her to join the Hyun family as they show respect to their deceased family (Jin Hun's older brother, sister-in-law and father) in a temple. It was at the time when Jin Hun and Sam Soon already terminated their contract, thus they are no longer a "couple" and Hee Jin already returned. Sam Soon despised the fact the she was being used by both Na Hyun Sook and Jin Hun. She don't want to meddle with their family affairs any longer, thus resulting to her filing her resignation from Bon Appetit (though, of course the main reason for her resignation was the incident from Episode 8 - SPOILER: when she lovingly cooks congee and bakes a cake for Jin Hun only to find out that he and Hee Jin are back in each others arms).

I like Regine's acting. I like that she answered back. But I hate it that she was crying. Seems like our Samsoon loves to cry often. Well anyway, if I were in Samsoon's place I would have cried as well. How evil can Mrs. Ruiz get? Directly insulting Samsoon right on her face. It is still making me feel uneasy seeing a character as evil as Mrs. Ruiz in ASKSS.

+100 points for Eugene's one-liner
But thanks to Eugene's one-liner, I was able to recover. "Layas ba o balik? Paano ba?" ("Go away, or go back? Which is which?")
(Mrs. Ruiz went out of the kitchen, saw the employees eavesdropping, shouted "Go away! Go back to work!", then Eugene blurted out, "Go away or go back? Which is which?")

Samsoon handed her resignation a bit too early than in MNIKSS. With a reaction a bit dramatic. And Jin Hun a bit too furious. I cannot gauge this scene yet because I'm not sure whether they were trying to do an interpretation of Sam Soon's first resignation attempt or they simply added this as an independent scene. But one thing is for sure, I hate Samsoon's dream.





-1000 for Samsoon's dream
I hate the simplicity of Samsoon's dreams. Another indication of her weak personality. I'm not saying her dream is worthless, it was indeed a good one - yet too lousy and overused. She was simply dreaming of having a simple quiet life with her family which was almost the opposite of the distinct and clear dreams of her Korean counterpart. In MNIKSS Sam Soon said that she don't want to live a simple life - like her dad. She wants to be "someone". She wants to be able to open a bakeshop that will be the most famous bakeshop in Korea. And of course to be able to get married to a guy that won't cause her any pain. And, let us add her ultimate goal of changing her name.
I still want to give our Samsoon the benefit of the doubt. In MNIKSS, Sam Soon's dreams were mentioned all throughout different episodes. Although Kim Samsoon Buot's dream was mentioned in general, I hope she is just telling this to make it clear to Cyrus that she don't want him and his mom to mess with her anymore. I hope there will be another venue for her on the next episodes to redeem herself and be the strong and determined Sam Soon that I used to know.

RATINGS: 30.9% vs My Girl 19.7%
(ratings courtesy of: aria_Productions of RVMM)