Crazy Rich Asians

Nick greets Rachel and Peik Lin in front of the sprawling Tyersall Park mansion. He apologizes for giving confusing directions, but Peik Lin says that it’s no problem and asks him how long his grandmother has lived at Tyersall Park. He confirms that his grandmother has lived there since childhood, further sparking Peik Lin’s curiosity about who his grandmother is. Peik Lin leaves as Nick and Rachel enter the party. Rachel is surprised to find out that Nick also grew up at Tyersall Park. He tells her about his childhood at the house, especially his fear of a taxidermized Singaporean tiger that is on display.

As they move into the party, Rachel is in awe. She meets many of Nick’s family members and finds out Nick’s Uncle Harry thinks she’s a member of the Taipei Plastics Chu family. Rachel explains that her family is from California, though originally from Guangdong in northern China. Nick’s Aunt Felicity asks if she’s friends with the Getty oil family, but Nick quickly ends the conversation and moves Rachel away from them. He introduces Rachel to his grandmother, Shang Su Yi, and Rachel greets her in English, forgetting to use Mandarin. His grandmother replies in English and does not seem excited to meet Rachel, so Nick takes Rachel to get punch.

They run into Astrid, who takes solace in their presence. Nick takes Cassian, who is getting fussy, and puts him to bed. Rachel and Astrid run into Oliver T’Sien, a distant cousin who fills Rachel in on all the important guests at Shang Su Yi’s party. He tells Astrid that he thought he saw Michael in Hong Kong with a child, but the child didn’t look as cute as Cassian, so it couldn’t have been him. Astrid worries that the man Oliver saw was in fact her husband.

Peik Lin reports back to her parents that Nick’s grandmother lives in a huge house on at least 50 acres. They think she is exaggerating, but Peik Lin shows them where the house is using Google Maps. The Gohs are surprised to see that Tyersall Park doesn’t show up on Google Maps, instead appearing to be undeveloped land that is part of the Botanic Gardens. Peik Lin describes the house and the cars parked in front of it that were for transporting VIPs. They decide to take a drive down the road near the Botanic Gardens and come across the same gate that Peik Lin saw guarded by Gurkhas. Wye Mun wonders how, as a leading real estate developer, he had no idea that a property like Tyersall Park even existed.

Shang Su Yi’s rare Tan Hua flowers are coming into bloom, so the entire dinner party moves to the terrace to eat and watch the flowers bloom. Nick takes Rachel to the terrace using a shortcut so that they can have it to themselves for a moment. Then, as it fills with people, they all eat. Nick offers to get Rachel a piece of his favorite chocolate cake. Rachel strolls around the terrace and finds Oliver, who continues giving her a crash course on the party guests. This includes Jaqueline Ling, who wants her daughter Amanda (Mandy) Ling to marry Nick. Jacqueline hints to Nick that she wants him and Amanda to stay connected.

Astrid worries about Oliver’s assertion that he saw Michael in Hong Kong with a child that wasn’t Cassian. She tries to put the idea out of her head as she and Rachel sit together at the fountain. Nick talks to his grandmother, who he calls Ah Ma, about Rachel and asks if she’d like to get to know her better. Ah Ma agrees to meet her without hesitation but suggests that they come to stay at Tyersall Park next week, to avoid people’s judgment. Meanwhile, Oliver overhears Jacqueline on the phone with Mandy, who is begging her to get the next flight out of New York lest she loses her chance with Nick. Jacqueline then confronts Oliver, who calmly tells her that Nick is in love with Rachel and that Mandy is too late. However, Jacqueline takes that as a challenge, referring to Mandy as an “exquisite piece of art” (215), implying that Nick will want to “collect” her once he sees her again.

Astrid struggles with her husband’s apparent infidelity. She thinks back to when they met. She first saw him in 2004 in a charity fashion show run by one of her cousins. She met him afterward and all but demanded they see each other again. Michael didn’t think she was his type, assuming she was a stuck-up, rich girl, but they ended up enjoying each other’s company. Later that night, Astrid reached out to him, and he invited her back to his hotel room. She wanted to take offense to his forward offer, but she also liked him, so she decided to go. They made love at his hotel.

Driving home from the party, Astrid is consumed with jealousy. She is determined to get home to catch Michael in his lie. In her haste, she crashes the car into a tree while swerving to miss a work truck’s open door.

When Rachel wakes up the next morning, she acknowledges that she enjoyed the Tan Hua party but feels uneasy about what she’s getting into with Nick’s wealth and status. He lived a humble life back in New York, so she was completely shocked to find out the truth. Nick reveals to Rachel that they will go stay at Tyersall Park and insists that his family likes her a lot, even though she feels like she made a fool of herself. They decide to order room service for breakfast, and Rachel asks if Colin’s family really owns their hotel. Nick confirms that they do, and Rachel tells him that Peik Lin told her after she learned that they were going to Colin Khoo’s wedding. Nick remembers that he is going to Colin’s bachelor party for the weekend and suggests that Rachel attend Araminta’s bachelorette party.