Oh My Janey

KPOP Festival: Music Bank in Hong Kong 2012

Runner-up titles for this blog post include:

  •      Happy But Broke
  •      The 8-year-old Dream, Finally Realized
  •      My First Date with ChangMin
  •      The First of Many Meetings With ChangMin
  •      The Night I Cried in Public and Didn’t Care

But alas, I decided that a simple one will do, because a long and passionate rant of the most emotional night of my life will make up for it.

On June 22, I made my first overseas flight without my sister. It was exciting but a bit nerve-wracking as well. I had the entire trip planned out. Go watch the concert, and  get as close to DBSK as possible to give them my letters. I didn’t go to Hong Kong just to see them live. I went to Hong Kong to let them know I exist okay! /spoken like a true delusional fangirl

But seriously, when we arrived at the airport, the only thing on my mind was to look for a group of fans going crazy and follow the crowd. If a Korean celebrity (anyone of the artists performing for Music Bank) is nearby, then it’s definite that fans will be there. Sadly, the airport was so quiet and there’s not a single oppa in sight. As much as I wanted to stay in the airport and spend the entire day waiting, I couldn’t. Hehe.

We had the entire day to spend whatever way we like since the concert still the next day. So we roam around the tourist spots in and near Tsim Sha Tsui and be the best fangirls in the world. Hong Kong Records was our primary destination and hoarded DVDs and CDs! Hehe. Hey, shipping is expensive and it’s not always easy to buy KPOP and JPOP DVDs!

After our tiring first day in HK, June 23 finally arrived! But we didn’t directly head to the Asia World Expo because what were we going to do there anyway? We have reserved seats so we didn’t have to line up to have better seats. While waiting for the concert, we took a cable car ride to see go to Ngong Ping Village. And finally after lunch, we went to the bus station near the cable car terminal. From there, we took a bus to Asia World Expo. My heart went thump thump when I finally saw the arena! OMG THAT’S WHERE I’LL SEE MY CHANGMIN, my heart cried.

When we reached the arena, there were already tons of fans wearing fashion blogger outfits. There were multiple lines and Haszelle and I were so confused! Why are these so many lines? There weren’t any sign, indicating if the fans lined according to their seat number. So we approached one fan and I have NOOOOO idea how we understood each other. But it turns out that different fanbases were giving away freebies! Rich fans are rich, okay.

And you know me, whenever I hear the word “free” I rush to the nearest line and eagerly wait for my turn. Haszelle and I saw fans carrying the same DBSK banners so we knew Hong Kong Cassies were giving away something, too. But we couldn’t see any DBSK line so we lined for the CNBLUE freebies instead. But that’s perfectly okay with me because CNBLUE is my second bias! I am forever baffled at how rich the fans are. In my pack, I received a CNBLUE banner, CNBLUE photocards, candies, a Yong Choding sticker, and a guitar pick with a CNBLUE silhouette! I was a happy camper.

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Fangirling in Hong Kong

It’s like a whirlwind romance (with Koryan boys, of course).

I learned about the KPOP Festival: Music Bank in Hong Kong last May and in less than a week, Haszelle and I ordered our concert tickets online. But we couldn’t immediately buy plane tickets and had to wait about two weeks before we could book our flight. After about two more weeks, we made a reservation for a hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui. So on June 22, I jumped on a plane that will take me to where the love of my life for 8 years would hold a concert.

Before I say more of my weekend affair at Hong Kong, let me explain how this came to be. I just got back from Korea when I heard about the concert. A part of me was happy that I finally went to the land of the oppas, but another part was incredibly sad that I didn’t get to see any oppa. So despite being almost broke, I made an impulsive decision to watch this concert. And I’m glad that Haszelle is as impulsive and as in love with DBSK as I am. It’s also lucky that she’s YunHo biased and I’m ChangMin biased so seeing TVXQ (despite JYJ no longer in the group) felt as if it’s the right thing to do.

A lot of people were against my decision. A lot of people were telling me to think about it long and hard before I do anything rash. But it’s not a rash decision, you see. I had been waiting for that opportunity for the past 8 years and I felt as if I’d have to do it then. I don’t think I’ll ever see the 5 of them at the same stage in this lifetime, but I’d be fine to see ChangMin and YunHo perform live. Though of course, I’d love to see JaeChunSu in concert, too.

But once I explained that it’s something that I’ve wanted for a long, long time and that I promise to not grow old without savings, friends and family had been supportive. I can never thank them enough.

It was an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. It was Haszelle’s first time to leave the country so it made me feel all grown-up and responsible. But it was weird because responsible is a word that people won’t use to describe me. But I had no one older to depend on the way I used to, so I had to act a bit more independent.

It was also the first time I went out of the country without my sister. She’s often the one who holds our pocket money and keeps the passports. Her not being there made me all paranoid. Heh. I really wanted her to be there for tons of reasons, actually. First, she’s my travel buddy! But I did not (and do not) have enough resources to fund for us both. Second, she’s the first person I fangirled with over DBSK! We both wanted to see them live but she said she’d be more bitter if YooChun was there. Ha! And third, well, she’s my sister.

I’m pretty sure there’ll be a next time, though, and by that time, I’m pretty sure my sister will be rich enough to treat me. Hohoho.

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Hello, Damon

Just because I’m not on Team Damon doesn’t mean I can’t fangirl over Ian Somerhalder. Ha! Unless you’re hiding under some rock, you probably know that Ian visited the Philippines this week. You also know that he was here for Penshoppe. But what you probably don’t know is that I belong in the minority, Team Stefan! Hehe. But stilllll, how can I let this opportunity pass?

So when my officemates learned that Ian would be in MOA yesterday, May 24, we started planning to go there, too. I almost didn’t want to go because of some reasons but I don’t know. I just can’t let it pass. Come on, it’s the one-half of the Salvatore brothers, I couldn’t NOT go.

And we did go! Kimpee, Ate Karen, their friend Sarah and I trooped to MOA along with hundreds more. We arrived at around 3PM and there were already so much screaming and the crowd was already so thick. We couldn’t think clearly and we were just running and went straight to the crowd. We couldn’t even pick a good location where we could see Ian better.

First, I just want you to see the crowd we had to face:

The little ones (including me!) had to exert so much effort just to see Ian. And we were pushed forward and squeezed and harassed and sweated like pigs. And I suddenly realize that I can never watch a concert while standing like that. I simply wouldn’t see the stage! When Ian came out, everyone was screaming. I couldn’t react because I couldn’t see him! I couldn’t even see the projector. I didn’t even know where he is. OMG. I hate being small. Tall people like Kimpee and Ate Karen didn’t even make much effort and clearly saw him. NOT FAIR HAHAHA. But I did see him after being pushed about 50 times. That’s when I started screaming, when I finally saw him and his grogeous face. Actually, I ended up screaming even when he still wasn’t there. I just got carried when I heard other fans screaming, okay.

AND OMG IS HE GOOD-LOOKING OR IS HE GOOD-LOOKING. Dayum, can’t believe he’s 100 times better looking in person!

Anyway, I now present to you the lousiest and blurriest photos taken that day. I had to take it all without looking at the viewfinder. I am not making an excuse for my photography skills because it’s lousy anyway. But I could at least complain that I hate my height at that very moment. Please forgive the photos with the cropped out body parts. I swear it’s not intentional!

I just kept on shooting and most photos came out like that. T_T [Read more…]

Day Two in Seoul (Part 1)

Yes, I am also amazed at my blogging speed. It often takes me a week or more to update but look at me go. Ha!

Our second day in Seoul is probably my favorite. The weather was perfect! I wish everyday we spent in Seoul was like that. I wish the weather in the Philippines was like that. I’m tired of waking up every morning drowning in sweat. Haha. But we can’t always get what we want, eh?

Despite our hopes of starting the day early, we still left the hostel at around 10AM. Quite late, I know. We headed first to Bukchon Hanok Village which was only a block away from Insadong. Instead of walking, we rode the taxi  since we learned that it wasn’t that expensive anyway. Heh. And besides, we were running quite late. It would take us 20-30 minutes if we’d walk.

We had quite some troubles communicating with the taxi driver, though. He couldn’t read English so he couldn’t understand what was written on the map. We also probably couldn’t pronounce Bukchon right because he couldn’t understand us. Heh. But he did understand Insadong so he dropped us there.

Good thing tourist information centers are abundant in Seoul! There’s one in almost every tourist destination. They gave us a map around the village and learned that there are actually 8 viewing spots in Bukchon. But since we were running quite late, we decided to only go to 3 spots!

View #1 is Changdeokgung Palace, the one we passed by yesterday! It’s just amazing how you can be right in the middle of the city, then this kind of view would surprise you. It’s a welcoming site, and I sure hope that the people who see this everyday appreciate it. It’s a nice remember of your identity, of where you came from and where you can possibly go.

After View #1, we decided to skip #2 (Ha!) and went to the Bukchon Cultural Center. It’s not exactly part of the 8 views but it’s on our way so why not. And we indeed made the right decision of visiting the center.

There’s a little museum where you can learn more about Bukchon. Hanok is what you call the traditional houses thus, Bukchon Hanok Village. There are about 1,000 hanok houses in the area and only 33 are owned by the government. But still, it’s nice to know that the government even help the house owners in preserving the hanok houses. This just shows how the government are hands on when it comes to taking care of their culture. It’s amazing that you can really see all their efforts pay off.

Visiting the hanok village is actually one of the best parts of the trip. In my opinion anyway.

What I love about Seoul #19342: The brochures are amazing. By that time, we’ve already noticed how they seem to give so much importance to art everywhere! Be it architecture, design or landscaping, you can see how they give importance to art. It’s everywhere! It’s in every street corner, in every wall and store windows. It didn’t came as a surprise to see brochures looking like a work of art. We made sure to take tons of brochures everywhere we go. It’s free anyway. Heh.

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Day One in Seoul (Part 2)

Hello! This is the second part of the first day of my 5-day trip. Try saying that five times really, really fast.

I’ll start with where I leave off in my story-telling. After our short and quite tiring trip to Changgyeonggung Palace, we went back near our hostel and scouted for a good place to eat. Surprisingly, our walk back Sungkyungkwan area seemed shorter. We’re either really hungry that we decided to walk fast or we’re just a bit more familiar with the place.

My mother said she couldn’t eat too much and bought donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. There are tons, LIKE TONS, of Dunkin Donuts in Seoul and the one near our place is three stories high. I guess it’s really popular in Korea? But nothing can beat Starbucks where the line extend to the streets! There sure are a lot of coffee shops in Korea. There’s one in almost every corner.

For our first meal, we chose this one dining place where we can grill beef and pork. Yep, our first meal’s samgyeopsal, and we were surprised that we spent more in the Philippines when we ate samgyeopsal. Maybe because we’re in Korea, or maybe because we’re really hungry, that’s why I enjoyed our samgyeopsal meal in Seoul by greater lengths. It was so good! We also ordered rice and were surprised that the rice looked different.

When you come to Korea, make sure to try their rice! I don’t know what rice it is but it’s so good! And for some reason, their service water was amazingly good, too. (Yes, you can go ahead and count the number of times I’ve said ‘good.’) Even before we ordered, they were already delivering side dishes! So when you eat in Korea and you don’t eat that much, make sure not to order too much because they’ll give you heaps of side dishes anyway.

After lunch, mommy and ate went back to the dorm while my father I looked for international calling cards. Roaming isn’t available in Korea (Hindi rin uso ang SIM card!), and my parents need to check on their business everyday. We passed so many convenience stores before we came across one Family Mart that sells the precious cards. We walked quite far but it’s okay! I got some time to explore the stores near Hyewa Station! [Read more…]

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