Lapland

拉普蘭，這裡住著雪之女王
一年四季都是白雪皚皚的北邊盡頭

在那最深最冷的地方，有雪之女王的宮殿
用白雪築成牆，用冷冽的寒風做成窗的冰宮裡
隔離世界上所有暖氣

一個人冰凍的雪之女王
她是世界上最漂亮的人
也是最孤獨的人

Framed in breathtaking panaronic landscape of snow-capped mountains, the accompanying words above set the stage for the opening of the Korean drama "The Snow Queen". It is inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name.

Andersen's tales have entertained generations of children everywhere. Most of us may have grown up with stories of The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes, and The Little Mermaid.

But I wonder many of us actually know the story of The Snow Queen?

Anyway, thanks to my sis and bro-in-law, I became a loyal K-drama fan over a period of 2 weeks as I followed and chased the development of the drama on DVD. Jewel in the Palace has blazed a trail for K-drama about 3 years ago, and the fever does not look set to wane anytime soon among my folks.

The Snow Queen, with a modern kimchi twist. Flawless acting from the extremely competent cast. Beautiful soundtrack. 16 episodes of melodrama, with tears that turn on at the drop of a hat.

Our uninspired local drama department should take a leaf out of the Korean books of formulas for producing magical love stories.