Vacation in My Own Way (2020)

Mixed feelings: the drama doesn't come close to reach its full potential, but it's not a bad watch

PORTRAYAL OF EATING DISORDERS
I'm starting with this point because it could potentially be problematic to some viewers.
The drama specifies right from the start that the FL suffers from anorexia, probably exacerbated by trauma. I have luckily no personal knowledge of this disorder, but even so I could recognize some issues with how the show depicted it.
I can somewhat understand why the drama has the FL start eating with gusto once she has amnesia, since her not being able to remember her past and not having to deal with her stressful job could make her able to overcome the psychological barrier she had towards eating. It's probably simplicistic, but fictionally it could make sense in my opinion.
What I found less excusable is how the show doesn't portray any of the physical issues a person suffering from anorexia might have once he/she starts eating normally. I was expecting her to show some discomfort or nausea, but nothing happens. The drama just has her going from basically only drinking juice to eating full meals (and more), as if her stomach wouldn't somehow be overwhelmed by such a drastic change of diet.
I was still able to enjoy the drama but, if this is a sensitive matter to you and you wouldn't be able to ignore it, you might want to reconsider watching this.

STORY
The plot isn't amazing, but it has its good moments.
To me the drama shined when set in the village with Chef Moon cooking, Bella being carefree and Seol Ah having fun with the rest of the villagers.
On the contrary, the parts revolving the business power struggle and family secrets were both boring and exaggerated. Having these parts is something that I have grown accustomed to in Korean dramas, but here they got tedious quite fast.
I would have preferred if the 'big bad villain' was set in ruining either just one of the two leads or maybe only the village, but he's seemingly the root of all evil in the world.
Having the same person being the catalyst of everyone's misery felt like an unbelievable coincidence and reeked of contrivance. It was also more suited to a pure revenge makjang than a romance/healing melo and so I found it quite jarring, as if there were two different stories forced into one.

ACTING AND CHARACTERS
Acting is good all around.
The two leads are very likeable and the child actress playing Seul Ah (Go Do Yeon) is a delight to watch. She's adorable and very natural on camera.
Chef Moon and Designer Bella are pleasant characters; they both have their good and bad sides and interact well with each other even if they don't have a particularly passionate chemistry together. Anyway, they make for a quite endearing couple that was easy to root for.
With Eric Mun being 40 year old and Go Won Hee just 25, I thought the age difference would be very apparent, but that wasn't the case and I could easily believe that they were only a couple years apart. I hadn't watched anything either them previously starred in and I was very pleasantly surprised by both. They really managed to give life to their characters.
I'd also like to point out (since this is usually a common fault of dramas set in rural villages) that the characters of villagers aren't annoying as I was originally afraid of. They are obviously often used for comic relief, but it wasn't overdone and the interaction among the various characters was to me one of the most enjoyable aspects of the drama.

MUSIC
The music really suited the atmosphere of the drama well.
There were some instrumental pieces which I found really pleasing, but beside those I didn't notice any particularly noteworthy song.

REWATCHABILITY
I do not exclude I might someday want to rewatch this show, but it's unlikely it'll happen soon. In that case anyway I'll probably skip all the company business and evil plotting.

OVERALL
In my opinion this drama had the potential to be something really good if the writers had put more importance on the healing aspect, by giving more space to the FL overcoming her eating disorder, the ML coming to terms with the tragic loss of his parents and Seul Ah finding her new family.
As things are, I still found the drama enjoyable, but (with the exception of a quite compelling cast) it lacks any unique feature that could have made it stand out from the rest.

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Episode 1 was lively, funny ? and engaging. My first feeling about this series after watching episodes one through 10 were “awwww how cute” and “ouuuu this is going to be good.” The series starts out at a very fair pace and somewhat picks up along the way. I know that this series has been described as a romantic comedy and I do get the feeling that there are some comical elements to this and definitely lots of little cute scenes but I will also say that there is some depth to this which is very rare for romantic comedies. What I mean by that is that this seriesseries managed to give you a good laugh and make you smile but at the same time it also manages to invoke various emotions in you. Some of the characters can easily be seen as ourselves in our every day lives whether it’s love, family, work or friendship. This series seems to embody work life, family drama, comedy and internal things. I am truly surprised. I am also a bit sad because I chose to start watching before it’s fully completed and I was in a waiting mode.

Ep 10-16Welp, it’s over and it was enjoyable. I enjoyed that it wasn’t too complex however I honestly felt like it was missing something. After the mid series build up with the dun dun duuun moment there was never a really big comeback moment, it sort of just happened. You the way the villain wins and the good guy starts plotting and you get excited. I got excited but it was like annh. The ending while not horrible just seemed to be missing some spice.

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Firsly, i would like to tell that it's my first review and english is not my native language so forgive me for my poor english
At first i wasn't going to watch this drama because of the very low ratings but after seeing a few scenes from the drama and the acting line i made up my mind and watch it.
And now that i finished it i don't understand the low ratings, this drama is the kind of drama that you watch when you need a break from those complicated dramas, the plot was simple, the charcters were lovable and the story wasn't far fetched
I loved Eric Mun in this drama he was *italian chef kiss* and Go Won Hee was good as always.
I liked all the OST (especially the one sang by Colde).
I'm not saying that this drama is the GOAT but it's a well produced light drama who is worthy to be watch.

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" Eccentric! Chef Moon " was an okay drama, but nothing original.

The overall story is predictable, as many korean dramas have already used this story line before. And yet, it was enjoyable. The food scenes were well made and entertaining, as the actors did a good job with their performances. The little girl was adorable too. The village life and the villagers provided a heartwarming feeling to the drama and some comedy relief when it was needed. The business drama along with the mystery of the past were okay, but nothing that hasn't been played before. Also, the romance was just okay, mainly because the female lead was annoying when she still had amnesia and acted like a kid or worse.

So, overall, six and a half out of ten.

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The little kid stood out the most in the entire thing. The villain and the corporation arc were very lame, they wanted the drama to have some tension but it would have been better without. It just made it ever more generic. Also, it wasn't a good role for Ahn Nae Sang. Other than the kid and the food I can't see much good left in it. It shares some similarities with Couple or Trouble (2006) except that one was much better and definitely more enjoyable.

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=> a sweet and nice series. Not a Masterpiece, but feel good.

I came, by chance, to this series for Eric Mun. It's a sweet, warm drama, very well done.

PLOT: 1 famous but anonymous designer meets 1 “nomadic” chef in Australia. They then find themselves in a small Korean village, on the coast, where the ML takes refuge after the death of his parents. The FL, victim of a car accident, has amnesia. They will face, with the help of the villagers, the "great villain", a hyper-ambitious businessman, who wants to destroy the village and appropriate the FL brand.

+++ Lots of excellent actors, (even the little girl), who bring endearing characters to life.
+ A lovely romance, mature, confident, without love triangle or stupid break-up.
+ the intelligent production is put at the service of a coherent, fairly realistic story (for Dramaland :).
+ The OSTs are enjoyable but not memorable.

- Some clichés like the Great Villain, super intelligent, super knowledgeable, super powerful,... and his "unstable" daughter.
- the vision of haute couture is a bit caricatured.

I don't think that I'll rewatch that series, but I had a nice time to wtach it !
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Je suis venue, par hasard, à cette série pour Eric Mun. C'est un drama doux, chaleureux, très bien fait.

PLOT: 1 designer connue mais anonyme, rencontre 1 chef cuisinier "nomade" en Australie. Ils se retrouvent ensuite dans un petit village coréen, sur la côte, où le ML se réfugie à la mort de ses parents. La FL, victime d'1 accident de voiture, est amnésique. Ils vont affronter, avec l'aide des villageois, le "great villain", businessman hyper ambitieux, qui veut détruire le village et s'approprier la marque de la FL.

+++ Bcp d'excellents acteurs, même la petite fille, qui donnent vie à des personnages attachants.
+ Une jolie romance, mature, confiante, sans love triangle ou break-up idiot.
+ la réalisation intelligente est mise au service d'une story cohérente, assez réaliste (pour Dramaland :).
+ Les OST sont agréables mais pas mémorables.

- Quelques clichés comme le Great Villain, super intelligent, super bien informé, super puissant,... et sa fille "instable".
- la vision de la haute couture est un peu caricaturale.

=> une série douce et sympa. Pas un Masterpiece, mais feel good.

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you will not remember this drama

my feelings after watching this are boredom and frustration.

I didn’t remember ever watching this drama, so I went through some parts of episode 1 and some parts of episode 16 to make sure I watched it all the way through. and all feelings of boredom and frustration have returned! I had a hard time remembering what was so boring, but I finally understood: too much is happening here! Then you don’t know what you just watched. Was it a comedy? A love story? A revenge story? you can’t dive into it because once you’re in the world of haute couture (international designer), then the world of great cooking (international chef), then the world of corporate's intrigue, then you change your life to go to the countryside, and then you face revenge! double revenge! with a love story and adoption of a child. and this is exactly why you will not remember this! there is too much main lines in this drama. you can easily write a 16 episodes' story with the half of it.

is this worth your time? no... and yes. for the same reason as before, a lot of things are going on, some very interesting, all under-exploited, and here comes the frustration! my last word would be no. there are many interesting dramas out there, don't waste your time.

when watch this? if you have nothing else to watch, if your cinema's teacher asked for a list of "does and don't", if you plan to be a drama writer and need an example of blurpy story.

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