Hello, Strangers
We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky
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.
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.
