Love Myself or You?

The drama Love Myself or You? (also known as Pleasantly Surprised) is a Taiwanese romantic comedy that has kept me thoroughly entertained. It stars a tremendous cast with the two leads being Puff Guo and Jasper Liu, with the two supporting members being Lene Lai and Jolin Chien. The drama aired on Sanlih Entertainment Television (SET) from May 23, 2014 to October 17 with 22 episodes to its name.

Plot

Du Kai Qi's (Puff Guo) dream in life is to become the sous chef of a famous French cuisine restaurant called Figaro Cuisine - and it's about to come true! As a child, she had a very rough time due to a broken home, but after eating the food from the restaurant's owner, she's inspired to become one of the best chefs there when she's grown up. Now she only needs to beat her rival, Cheng Le Xuan (Lene Lai), who is also pining for the spot of sous chef, in order to claim what she's been aspiring for for years. However, Figaro Cuisine's executive chef, Ji Yong Qian, who's had a crush on Kai Qi for quite some time, sabotages her dish for the sous chef promotion test because she turned down his advance just earlier that day.

When it is time to judge their entries, Yong Qian leaves it to the new intern of Figaro - Ah Jie (Jasper Liu), an innocent and cheerful looking guy. However, Ah Jie has a few secrets of his own. For instance, he may be just an intern, but he's studied French cuisine in France and goes by the name Louis, his real name is Fu Zi Jie, and he is the son of Figaro Cuisine's owner and ShiFu Restaurant Corporation's President, Fu Zi Yuan; but the biggest secret of all is that he and Kai Qi are childhood friends.

When the judging is finished, Le Xuan is proclaimed the winner of the test due to Kai Qi's plate being unknowingly sabotaged, and Kai Qi's dream is shattered, her hatred being turned onto Ah Jie who is surprised to see that his former friend is unlike the cheerful girl she used to be.

With Ah Jie's sudden appearance at Figaro Cuisine, things at the restaurant become so much livelier. As time goes on, Kai Qi and Ah Jie grow closer to one another as they respect each other's culinary ability, but then find they that their respect for each other soon turns into something more. However, with the reappearance of Cheng Hao Wei (Jolin Chien), Kai Qi's former love interest, and other certain events, the pair are soon torn apart and their relationship is put to the test.

Overall

Love Myself or You? was a nice and refreshing drama for me to watch as it was something different than my usual pickings. That being said, I did very much enjoy watching this show, but not just because it was something new, but because it was genuinely a good show. While I found that Du Kai Qi's character was a bit too proud at most times, it did add to her character and really made her interactions with Ah Jie much more interesting and funny. I found the acting to be decent, the chemistry between the cast to be endearing, and the overall plot to be heartwarming. At times there were certain events in the show that made me laugh at how predictable it was, however, overall I enjoyed each and every moment. Love Myself or You? is a nice and very sweet drama that I would recommend to anyone willing to try a new Taiwanese drama.