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Yummy Yummy
Yummy Yummy is an episodic drama filmed by Singapore's now defunct SPH MediaWorks and Hong Kong's Television Broadcasts Limited in a joint collaboration. It was released in August 2005. The series is notable for being one of the few Singaporean co-productions in a language other than English or Mandarin Chinese.
YAU HOK LAI, DANIEL, the son of the owner of the well-known local restaurant Ho Ting Roast Geese, along with CHAN KA LOK, a chicken seller, and CHOW CHI YAN, a girl who works for her father’s transportation company, is admitted to the cooking competition ‘Yummy Yummy’ that is organized by a local TV station. Led by the PR Officer of the TV station, CHOW MAN HEI, MANDY, all entrants head for Singapore to compete with other contestants. Soon after his arrival, LOK becomes a good friend of the Singaporean representative TERRY NG. While playing ‘Truth or Dare’ with other contestants, TERRY is requested by LAI to tear down a road sign, about which he seems a little hesitant. The head of the Singaporean Team, who is nicknamed MONITOR, doesn’t want to lose face and makes TERRY go and steal the road sign at the designated place.… ...
MONITOR and LAI are in competition with each other for the title of the team Captain. LOK makes a long distance call to his adoptive mother AU LAI YUNG. TERRY accidentally overhears their conversation, which reminds him of his angry mother. He misses his parents an awful lot and cannot help but sneak back to their food store to see how they are getting on. YAN is afraid that she will be the first to be screened out. HEI understands her worries and offers to take her out for a drink, hoping that this may help relieve her stress. LAI goes out for a walk, during which he has a row with a rich Singaporean girl YUKO. YUKO believes that LAI has scraped her car but LAI insists that he is innocent. In the confusion, LAI pushes YUKO into the sea. The competition starts – each team is required to go to the designated food store and enjoy the authentic Singaporean dishes with fifty dollars only.… ...
It is later found out that the boss of Ching Kee, Uncle CHING, is MARY’s long-term nemeses, which explains why TERRY is so afraid to be confronted with him. The Blue Team has won the first round while the Orange and the Green Teams are heading for the final checkpoint. Knowing that their situation is getting worse, LOK figures out a way to make TERRY finish his job. The Yellow Team manages to reach the final checkpoint in the last minute and finally proceeds to the next round of competition. YUKO brings LAI home to see her father, during which he is forced to tell a series of lies. TERRY confides to LOK that he fears his mother MARY but respects her a great deal at the same time. YUKO gets seriously drunk. LAI has no choice but to bring her back to the guesthouse he is staying in. Having spotted the pair together in the guesthouse, HEI believes that LAI is going to sexually attack the girl.… ...
YUKO urges LAI to go and meet her father again. LAI is so annoyed that he calls HEI for help. TERRY calls his father up asking for useful tips about cooking Hainanese Chicken Rice. CHING discovers this and is more assured that he is right not to teach TERRY and his team mates. LAI returns to Ching Kee after disappearing for a few hours. Thinking that he was skiving off, LOK gives LAI a terrible telling-off. LAI runs off after being shouted at. TERRY and YAN try to persuade him to go back but LAI refuses. LAI’s father YAU KWOK TUNG asks him about the progress of the competition. Not wanting to disappoint his father, LAI changes his mind. As the Yellow Team is about to be disqualified, LAI turns up suddenly and joins his team mates for the competition. The Yellow Team has secured entry to the semi-final and will have to return to Hong Kong for the next round of competition.… ...
HEI is thrilled to get a long distance call from her boyfriend MARCO. There is a burn hole in YAN’s mattress, which makes her liable for compensation. Knowing that YAN is innocent, HEI tries her very best to intercede for her. LOK returns from Singapore and is warmly welcomed back by the people in his neighborhood. TERRY goes to find his girlfriend JANE in the red-light district but is caught in trouble. Luckily LAI and LOK come along in time to save him. LAI brings LOK and TERRY to his father’s restaurant, where he meets his eldest sister WAI SUM and gets slagged off for being too lazy and complacent. YAN’s father is in China waiting for kidney transplantation. YAN is so concerned about his father that she urges her mother WU YUK BING to pay him a visit. The Hong Kong leg of the competition begins and the eight entrants are required to finish the spicy noodles within twenty minutes.… ...
Both MONITOR and LAI get through to the final. Among his father’s stuff, YAN finds a birth certificate of a baby girl called CHOW MAN HEI. In the meantime, HEI also comes to suspect that CHEONG is his biological father who dumped her and her mother when she was still a little girl. She goes to verify with YAN but YAN denies it. The final competition to be held in Zhuhai, China will last for three days and two nights, in which MONITOR and LAI will be working along with their former team mates. Both teams are required to catch as many chickens as possible in the first round. They will not be given any tools and the winners will be allowed to stay in a hut for the night. YAN spots a fishing net beside a river, which she would like to use as a tool to catch chickens. But in just a second or two, MONITOR comes along and grabs the net. In the confusion, TERRY and YAN lose their balance and fall into the river.… ...
LAI has finally won this round. Thinking that HEI has seriously disrupted the filming, the TV producer orders her to leave immediately. HEI has no choice but to wave goodbye to LAI and his team mates. Then comes the highlight of the competition – each team is required to prepare three dishes with only a bag of salt, a knife and a box of matches. The judge, Master LAW, is really impressed by the dishes prepared by both teams and cannot really make up his mind until the final dishes are presented. LAI has lost the competition. His father gives him a few words of comfort and LAI is resolved to achieve something. HEI returns to her post but most of her work is not recognized. TERRY decides to stay in Hong Kong to look for his girlfriend JANE. ‘Yummy Yummy’ is re-shown on TV and has surprisingly caught the attention of LOK and his one-time team mates. LOK invites LAI and others to a gathering through SMS messaging.… ...
LAI goes back to work at Ho Ting Roast Geese Restaurant. He is so generous that he has given out a great number of coupons, which annoys SUM to a great extent. SUM assigns him a routine counting job at the warehouse, which is quite an offence to the lad. Feeling so upset, LAI goes to confide in TERRY and LOK. LOK’s adoptive parents CHAN WAI and YUNG are not happy with TERRY for he has made no contribution to the family. LOK suggests TERRY help out at his parents’ chicken stall but TERRY ends up causing the couple a lot of trouble. Ho Ting is invited to participate in the filming of a TV program which promotes Hong Kong as a tourist destination, but SUM doesn’t welcome the idea and turns them down right away. HEI offers to go and talk to the management of Ho Ting, hoping that this will help maintain her status in the TV station. Not long after, LAI comes and asks HEI to do the filming, which gives her a great thrill.… ...
LAI feels too ashamed to face his father. He claims that he is having a holiday in Macau but TUNG has soon found out that it is just a lie. SUM insists that LAI deserves some punishment but TUNG doesn’t take her advice and even lets him take charge of the newly bought food magazine, which irks SUM beyond measure. The TV producer refuses to compensate Ho Ting. HEI goes and asks her supervisor for an explanation but ends up being blamed for causing the trouble. HEI gets furious at the accusation and offers her resignation at once. Knowing that YAN’s staff have had repeated absences from work, LOK offers to help out without hesitation. YAN is so impressed with his thoughtfulness and begins to suspect that he is in love with her. YAN runs into LAI, during which she gives him a telling-off for causing HEI to lose her job. LAI, however, has got no clue what she is talking about.… ...
HEI is heartbroken to find that MARCO has been cheating on her. She is so disappointed in this man and kicks him out of her home immediately. To make it up to HEI, LAI would like to hire her as the Deputy Chief Editor of the food magazine. HEI has declined the offer, though. TERRY catches sight of JANE in Central. Not wanting to miss a chance, he keeps wandering around Central hoping to see the girl again. Knowing that his parents are coming to Hong Kong, TERRY immediately asks LAI for a proper job and manages to book a deluxe suite in a prestigious hotel. In order to further convince MARY, TERRY decides to take his parents to the magazine’s office for a visit. A few days after his parents have flown back to Singapore, TERRY returns to the chicken stall to work. CHUN and MARY have not yet left Hong Kong. They follow TERRY to the chicken stall and find out that their son has told a pack of lies.… ...
HEI finally accepts LAI’s offer and joins the magazine. HEI gets a call from her maid Aunt LUK saying that MARCO has had a car accident and is lying in the hospital. HEI is so worried about MARCO and hurries to the hospital right away. Once again MARCO makes a sincere apology to HEI and begs for forgiveness. HEI is so deeply moved and the lovers make up soon afterwards. TERRY asks for a job at LAI’s magazine, in the hope that this will give JANE a better impression of himself. LAI wants to introduce some changes to the editorial direction of the magazine, which is strongly opposed by HEI. Under the threat of bird flu, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has ordered WAI and YUNG to close their chicken stall, leaving the couple in genuine financial difficulty. But with the help of TERRY, they manage to sort out the problem. TERRY decides to move out of LOK’s home. YAN is surprised to know that HEI is reconciled with MARCO.… ...
WAI and YUNG are LOK’s adoptive parents. One day when LOK asks WAI about his biological mother, WAI, without reason or rhyme, flies into a fit of rage. This makes LOK hesitant about meeting his real mother. Knowing that LOK has been longing to see his mother, WAI gets so angry and insists that his mother is to blame for the death of his father. LAI wants to change the cover headline of the latest issue of the magazine. Feeling that this is so ridiculous, HEI gives him a terrible telling-off in front of her colleagues. To make himself less embarrassed, LAI points out that HEI is suffering from breaking up with her boyfriend and is still in a state of emotional turmoil. This, however, has humiliated HEI in the worst way possible. TERRY asks LOK’s sister CHAN KA PO to pass JANE the first issue of the magazine. As he is about to leave, he spots JANE in the street, who is dating a dandy. This comes as a real blow to him.… ...
WAI is worried that his business will sooner or later be affected by bird flu. After serious consideration, he decides to close the chicken stall. LAI and YAN are happy to offer a job to LOK, but LOK turns them down respectively and instead decides to join a chicken farm as a worker. LAI suspects that HEI is going to see MARCO off at the airport. He goes to follow her but is discovered eventually. LOK finds it so hard to adapt to the new working environment. Thinking that there is no future at all for him to stay on the farm, he finally decides to return to the city centre and look for a new job. TERRY learns from a magazine that the dandy who went out with JANE has married another girl. He is so worried about JANE and has made her a comfort card, which brings a ray of sunshine to the girl. TERRY is so impressed by JANE’s reaction and becomes convinced that he and JANE will get back together someday.… ...
HEI cannot really concentrate on her work after running into CHEONG. LAI has noted this, and to cheer her up, he has bought her a lot of nice food. CHEONG makes a call to YAN saying that he is all right. HEI, who is next to YAN, asks to say a few words to ‘Uncle CHOW’. Having heard HEI’s voice on the phone, CHEONG feels so pleased. LOK is offered a job by a noodle shop and is required to work in the kitchen. The head chef, SHING, doesn’t like LOK and keeps shouting at him. Feeling so frustrated, LOK decides to look for a new job and scans through the Classified Post during the break. The noodle chef, Master LO, thinks highly of LOK and cooks him a bowl of Dan Dan Noodles. SUM rebukes HEI for running an article which TUNG’s friends may find offensive. LAI tries to intercede for HEI and, in a fit of impulsiveness, he declares his love for HEI, which shocks everyone there to the core.… ...
LAI and HEI’s colleagues start to gossip about them. Regardless of what they say, LAI is resolved to woo HEI, which makes HEI extremely embarrassed. Master LO offers to teach LOK how to make noodles. YAN blames Master LO for eating up the soup she prepares for LOK. Master LO sees through YAN but LOK insists that he only regards her as a good friend. HEI and LAI get trapped in the lift. LAI grabs this opportunity to express his love for HEI but HEI rejects him at once. TERRY has lent all his savings to JANE but not long after, he discovers that she has spent all the money on clothes. He is so disappointed in JANE and finally decides to give up on her. SHING makes up an excuse to dismiss LOK, which irks Master LO. Master LO can no longer put up with SHING and decides to resign right away. LAI is reluctant to see HEI after being rejected. He pretends to be sick so that he can skive from work.… ...
LAI blames YUKO for being too nosy but YUKO claims that it is the best way to win HEI back. LAI starts to believe her. Knowing that MARCO is marrying, HEI gets so depressed. She and LOK, who is also depressed for some reason, go to the pub for a pint. She drinks herself into a stupor and refuses to go home. LOK has no choice but to bring her back to his home. YAN is surprised to learn that LOK has given up his dream as a noodle chef just for the sake of money. To realize his dream, she tries to borrow money from LAI so that she can set up a noodle shop and hire LOK as the chef. As a friend of LOK, LAI agrees to the request. LOK learns from Master LO that the owner of a new noodle shop is going to employ him. He is so happy that he tells YAN the good news at once. YUKO reveals to LAI that HEI has stated clearly that she will never accept his love.… ...
LAI has lost a great number of clients within a short period. He tries his best to attract clients to his magazine but in vain. CHEONG who is recovering from the kidney transplant operation returns to Hong Kong for a good rest. YAN brings HEI to a photo studio, where they took their family photos together. She hopes this will help HEI recall her childhood memories and in turn patch up her relationship with CHEONG. HEI gets so upset as soon as she spots a photo of CHEONG holding a baby girl. WAI suspects that PO is going out with someone. Being worried that PO will get cheated, he decides to follow her around and see what is going on. PO and the guy have disappeared in Kowloon Tong where a lot of love hotels can be found. This makes WAI extremely angry and worried. When PO returns home, WAI immediately questions her about her boyfriend. With nothing to hide, PO honestly reveals that she has been dating TERRY.… ...
LAI who is in no mood for work has entrusted his business to his third sister WAI LAN. YAN’s staff CHOY has lost over $100,000 worth of goods. YAN plans to borrow money from a lending institution so that she can compensate the client. Knowing that YAN is in great financial difficulty, HEI offers to lend her money. YAN is deeply moved but regrets having lied about her true identity. SUM comes to the magazine’s office asking to see LAI. She claims that the magazine will be taken over by Ho Ting unless LAI can show up at once. In the meantime, HEI, LOK, TERRY and YAN have respectively received an SMS from LAI. LAI’s message is so strange that everyone is worried he is going to take his life. TERRY finds some information about rock climbing at Tung Lung Island. Believing that it has something to do with LAI’s disappearance, everyone hurries to Tung Lung Island to have a look. LAI gets hurt while rock climbing.… ...
Knowing that TERRY and PO have gone to Kowloon Tong again, WAI gets so angry and beats TERRY up in the street. Just minutes later, WAI comes to realize that it is a misunderstanding and that the pair have gone to Kowloon Tong for voluntary work only. LAI is reluctant to rely on his father and decides to find a job himself. But no matter how hard he tries, he doesn’t succeed. YUKO follows him wherever he goes, which is a great nuisance to LAI. LAI gets so annoyed with YUKO and asks her to leave him alone. SUM takes over the magazine and dismisses TERRY right away. Without a hawker license, TERRY and LOK go to sell noodles in the street. Having been harassed by the local gangsters all over again, they have no choice but to move to the backstreet. LAI sympathizes with them, and to help them out, he asks his staff to come and have an interview with them. With the increased publicity, LOK and TERRY have won more and more business.… ...
The TV station discovers that MONITOR has bribed a member of their staff. For this reason, MONITOR has been deprived of the championship and the award will be given to LAI instead. LAI is awarded a shop and he decides to share the honor with LOK, YAN and TERRY. He plans to run a restaurant together with his best friends. YAN gets drunk and in a state of stupor, she reveals that she has met his dream man. After she wakes up, HEI, being so curious, asks her who has stolen her heart. YAN who is deeply in love with LOK dare not reveal the truth. She ends up telling a lie by making up a figure called KWONG. SUM has cancelled HEI’s column and transferred her to the Complaints Section. Feeling so frustrated, HEI offers her resignation. LOK gives her a few words of comfort and encourages her to concentrate on looking after their new shop.… ...
