SS501 Persona Tour Shanghai - Sidelights

The last fangirl trip in Shanghai has tested my fangirl skills and maturity. One of the things that fangirls do is STALK.

When we arrived in Shanghai, stalking was not discussed as a must. We were happy to look at Hongkou Stadium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongkou_Stadium) by day. Even if we were not expecting to see the men rehearse, we still went to the stadium on Nov 13th just to find our way and not to get lost on concert day itself.

In the light (or gloom) of day, Hongkou was buzzing with activity. We were sidetracked a bit by the sidewalk sale going on. In a short span of time, Ems was able to buy a pair of boots, mittens and other pasalubong. Another thing that fangirls does is SHOP FOR MERCHANDISE . I was surprised that we did not do that right away but checked out what the local vendors were offering. Is that a sign of maturity? :)

One of the things that we were happy to see was the big concert billboard beside the stadium. We realized that we were looking at the ticket sales window. The I realized that we forgot to get our photo taken below this big billboard. Many overseas fans especially the Japanese were taking photos earlier. Are my fangirl skills in CAMWHORING getting stale? :(

During concert night, we were so happy that we were very close to the center stage and catwalk. Julie and I studied past Personas and realized that many of our fave songs especially the ballads were sung in the middle stage and catwalk so we bugged my brother-in-law Ramon to make sure we get seats near that area. Wasn't that a very skillful move? :)

And of course let us not forget what fangirl do all the time - BUY CONCERT MERCHANDISE! Surprisingly I kept to my budget. I only got the official photobook. Did I just become a mature fangirl? :)

Fangirls usually go crazy over unofficial merchandise. I actually only bought the ecobag, calendar and green light stick. The rest of the stuff in the photo below are gifts from Ssangchu Chinese fans who we bumped into after the concert. Is this another sign of maturity? :)

Or not? Because I couldn't resist buying the Boys Over Flower OST, Dong Bang Shin Ki's Rising Sun concert dvd and Close to you single (because Yunho is the featured member photo at the back cd cover). So I guess I am not yet as mature as I thought I would be? :)

SS501 CDs to be released in Manila!

Philippine fans of SS501 (read Double-S 501) is all abuzz as news of the release of their cds Super Hits, Find and Deja Vu came out. Although there is no official word from the record label carrying the boys' cds locally, the release is most likely to happen this month!

I am personally happy to hear this because I have been wanting to get the boys' cds since the Hongkong fanmeeting but only managed to snag UR Man in Seoul through the kindness of my brother-in-law Ramon.

The Super Hits cd was released in Taiwan and other asian countries like Hongkong and Singapore. Find and Deja Vu were also released in Japan. Our source also said that the albums will not be re-packaged so we will get similar looking albums as the ones released overseas.*

I hope that all fans of SS501 including the fans of Kim Hyun Joong (the group's leader) more popularly known in Manila as Ji-hoo from Boys Over Flowers support this great move.

The rest of SS501 are Kim Kyu Jong, Park Jung Min, Kim Hyung Joon and Heo Young Saeng.

*Note: Local packaging is usually horrible. :(

Eeni, mini, mainimo!!

I've been wanting to post about this but I'm still lazy....lazy as ever. All I want to do is watch dramas from my tri-nation fandom. And this chart seem to represent what I am pre-occupied with except for my SMAP fandom which is another story altogether.

In 2003, I discovered Meteor Garden which led me to discover Vic Chou, Jerry Yan, Ken Chu and VanNess Wu.

In 2005, I discovered Hana Yori Dango which led me to discover Matsumoto Jun and Oguri Shun.

Last January 2009, I got on the Boys Over Flower boat which led me to discover Kim Hyun Joong, Lee Min Ho, Kim Bum and Kim Joon.

I know I have it bad when I would watch something more than once. I think I have it reallly bad because right after watching BOF thrice, I dug out my MG dvd and started watching it again. I have a sinking suspicion that I will also dig out my HYD episodes soon after.

That bane of my existence "Youtube" also added fuel to the fire when people started posting videos comparing the 3 versions that led me to asking ME, who do you like best? My answer may change later (cop out! hahaha!) but at this very minute, here's what my heart tells me. From the bottom...

F1 - VanNess Wu vs. Hiroshi Abe vs. Kim Joon

Me - VanNess! Not because my love and support for him is unconditional because I do criticize his not so good performance but I still remember his Mei Tzuo after 6 years.

F2 - Ken Chu vs. Matsuda Shota vs. Kim Bum

Me - *wrestles with self* ..... Kim Bum!! But Ken is just a hair behind. Yi Jong is just too cute, the premise for his playboy character must have made it for me or is it his 1-2-3 move?

F3 - Vic Chou vs. Oguri Shun vs. Kim Hyun Joong

Me - *tears out hair*....*rolls on the floor thinking*... ahhhhh!!! it's a freaking tie between Vic Chou and Kim Hyun Joong. For Oguri Shun, I think the deal breaker is when Rui got into that priest outfit. It was totally horrible. Both Zaizai and Hyun Joongie (notice my affiliation with their nicknames? hahaha!) are first time actors in the drama but Zai's Hua Ze Lei and Hyun Joong's Ji Hoo are so good. In real life, their dry, quirky humor seem to be the same so to play the gentle and quiet characters that they played says a lot for their talent.

F4 - Jerry Yan vs. Matsumoto Jun vs. Lee Min Ho

Me - *screams*...*bites pen*...*walks around my little birdcage*...*tears out hair some more*... *gulps down more coke zeroes that I shouldn't be having at 1:00am*... both are arrogant enough, both are violent enough, both are handsome and gorgeous enough but it's Jerry Yan's Dau Ming Zi that still pulls me. I absolutely love Lee Min Ho's Gu Jun Pyo but Dau Ming Zi was dorkier when he had to be (I can still remember that little dance at the salon) and his love for Sancai seem to be unfaltering and unwavering.

So there! I finally bit the bullet and made my choice. The bottom line is that I love all 3 dramas. I love hugs and kissing scenes which HYD did not do much for me. I love how the friendship of the boys seem to be tested and MG and BOF showed that to me. The concept of being rich was just improved over time - rich, richer, richest is how I see it which is great.

The Taiwanese started the pan-Asian craze for this timeless love story. The Japanese showed they can do justice to a story from one of their own and the Koreans despite the tough act it followed raised the bar some more. Whoever will remake this story has a huge job at hand.

*Photo matrix credit goes to the one who beautifully made it and which I stole and forgot where. Let me know if its yours so I can properly credit. Du Bu Qi, Sumimasen, Mianhe.

SIDE NOTE:
Since then I have watched each and every work of Jerry Yan up to his latest Starlit.
I've seen each and every work of Vic Chou up to his currently airing Black & White (which is soooo good, worthy of a spazz another time).
Too bad Ken does not do dramas anymore but I've seen most of his acting work.
Except for Kung Fu Chef which I have not laid my hands on I've seen all of VanNess's work.
I've seen a lot of Matsujun's work and will be watching Smile soon.
I love many of Oguri Shun's work especially Hana Kimi and even bought his photobook.
I've seen Kim Hyun Joong's We Got Married reality show stint for I don't know how many times (damn youtube!)
And I'm looking forward to the work of the rest.

Fangirls are the original vampires....we never sleep! =)

It Must Be Love...

I should have been uploading and blogging about my latest trip to China.

I should have been studying my Nihonggo lessons.

I should have been working.

But all I did the past week since the Holy Week holidays was watch, stare, drool and spazz over.. KIM HYUN JOONG.

I watched his We Got Married stint (30 episodes!) twice. I googled and read everything I can on him. Watched everything that I can on youtube and everywhere else.

So I guess this must be love..again.

Ahhhh, I'm a hopeless fangirl. Falling for the smile of this beautiful boy and his witty charm.

To know more about Hyun Joong, check out http://mysugoi.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/kim-hyun-joong/

And to know more about We Got Married which is a variety show that paired celebs to pretend they were married, check this out http://ssangcho.blogspot.com/

Oh and did I mention that this adorable boy is multi-talented as well? He acts and was just in the hit tv drama Boys Over Flower. He sings and is a member of the group SS501 (read double s 501). He dances (I won't go into how sexy and good he dances here). He plays the guitar. And has his own special way of folding paper cranes...

Not posting links to the above. Go search him out for yourselves.