Nothing Purple About This Trip...

You heard it right, this last trip to Hongkong has nothing purple in it. None whatsoever! I did not buy anything purple. That is a first!

But I was happy with my loot nevertheless. It shows how diverse and wide my love for asian entertainment has become.

From Korea, of course the main purpose of the trip was the SS501 Hongkong Fanmeeting. That little credit card looking thing was the most expensive purchase - it was the ticket to the event!!!

From Japan (well originally Korea..hehehe), I finally got my most coveted concert dvd of Tohoshinki, also known as Dong Bang Shin Ki or TVXQ. I have been wanting to get their T Concert DVD filmed in Saitama and to find a marked down Hongkong release was a blessing.

From Taiwan, I got the 3rd and latest cd of Jerry Yan, from the Taiwanese F4 (who fellow fangirls call our first loves). I was surprised and happy with this latest work of Jerry because he experimented with techno punk rock, a little hip hop and R&B.

And last but not the least from Hongkong and Macau, I got the latest cd of Soler and as an unexpected and added bonus, their 1st concert dvd. I adore their MV and would find a way to upload it for everyone to enjoy.

And okay, that little long thingy there with a photo is a bookmark of - - U-Know Yunho of Tohoshinki who I am giving a lot of love to these days as well. *shy smile*

My first taste of SS501 and finally Kim Hyun Joong in the Flesh!

I was supposed to post something else but could not concentrate much as I was getting ready and excited about this fanmeet in Hongkong. Several weeks back I posted about my obsession with Kim Hyun Joong and his reality tv show called We Got Married.

Soon after that I was on youtube whenever I am not working or sleeping and got to know his group called SS501 who debuted in 2005 and is now gaining a lot of popularity in Asia. I was lucky to be part of their 1st Hongkong Fan Meeting with the help of a friend. Here goes what happened as cross-posted from soompi forums (http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=105&view=findpost&p=13835248).

Hello everyone!!I just came from the Hongkong Fan Meeting and here's my account of that glorious July 1 day.

The event was held at Hitec in Kowloon Bay. My friend and I went there on the evening of June 30th so that we know how to get there and not get lost on the day of the event! It was a very intimate venue and I was already telling myself that even if I sit at the last row, I would be happy because I can still see them clearly from 200 meters.

On the day of the event, there were tons of fans not only from Hongkong but saw from China, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Australia. Showing the Philippine flag, my friends (6 of us) and I were subjected to photos from the press and one interview by Arirang Showbiz News. When we got to our seats, we cannot help but scream!!! My seat was 6 rows from the front!!!! And what's more the stage has a mini catwalk, the end of which is where we are. I told my seatmate that if anyone of the boys dare go to the catwalk I would die!!

The show started around 3:45 to no fault of the boys. Seems there were fans who did not have seats and some are complaining they cannot see the stay from way right or left. While the commotion is being settled, mvs of the boys were played and everyone sang along. The boys came out after the promo mv of the Asia Persona Tour.This is it!!! I only knew about the boys since February 2009 and after only 4 short months I was blessed to be able to see them up close. I love their outfits. Of course I suck at taking photos but I tried my best to concentrate but I always fail everytime. I was especially happy to see that HJL's hair is not curly that day!! Young Saeng and Baby were the same in person and in pics. Jung Min has a very thin face and looks healthier on screen. My revelation for the day is Kyu Jong. The boy is absolutely, definitely more gorgeous in person. Photos do not do him justice at all!!

Leader's nose is a bit red so he must have caught a cold but his eyes are to die for! He seems to be wearing colored contact lenses. I do not know cantonese and korean so I only relied on my friend who is learning korean and can understand some of what they were saying. One of my most favorite parts is the interview where the boys seemed to have ganged up on Jung Min. They all were asked to say something good and bad about each other and when it was Young Saeng's turn to talk about Jung Min - hahahaha!!!

The boys were soooooo playful that day. Jung Min and Baby were pretending to fight. Kyu Yong was pretending that the X board he was holding was a gun and was shooting Baby, etc. Then host asked the fans what we wanted Leader to do and I heard everyone saying dance sexy back but what the heck next thing we knew there was a guitar being brought to the stage. Kyu Jong acted as the mic stand and patiently waited while Leader took of his gloves.

For some reason the rest of the boys solo thing became aegyos. Kyu did a cute wassup, Baby did a cute Song Calling for You dance, Young Saeng did his now famous Gee dance and Jung Min did his cantonese proposal. Then they were handed roses. We thought they would be going down the aisle and give to girls but instead they did a raffle. I am so unlucky at these things. So each boy picked a number to take a polaroid shot with the roses. I almost fainted when they announced Section 2 - that's my section!, Seat 9 - god that's my seat number!, Row H - WTF!!! That's 2 rows behind me!!! Oh well. I was happy to see the boys hamming it up when polaroids were taken. All 5 ladies were lucky. One of them got the surprise of her life as many of you already know. Jung Min suddenly lifted her for the photo taking!!!

The singing and dancing was great. I am so happy that I got to hear them sing live most especially A Song Calling for You. After the last song, the boys left the stage for a moment and got everyone organized for the photo taking. 10 people up on stage at a time. Five seconds of opportunity. When the organizers sceream 1-2-3 Cheese and Snap, you do your thing with the boys...I mean pose. And posing could be having your arms around them like one fan did with Baby to which he gave a happy thumbs up. Or handing banners and stuff to the boys to hold for you. Or put your head near them and do the peace sign. The boys seem to be game.

When it was our turn to go, I was so nervous. I could not remember what I was going to say to whoever boy is in front of me. This was their places before the photo op. When we got up the stage, I landed in between Kyu Jong and Young Saeng. I had eye contact with Kyu Jong and told him in English we are from the Philippines and before I knew it the blasted girl shouted the count and all I could do was hold on to Kyu's shoulder and bent a little. After that we were herded away but before we left Kyu turned around and said thank you and bye. Then I tapped each boy on the shoulder as we went down. They were all nice and waved goodbye most enthusiastically Jung Min who was last before you go down the stage.

Sorry for the long post but I had to get this done before I forget. I will be cross posting this post in my blog and will also try to upload the dismal clips that I took with my mobile phone.

I am forever hooked and is now starting to scrimp and save for any of the Asia stops. My appreciation goes to girls at Triple S Philippines board, the ladies of Fly with SS501 who adopted us (we even have sample Tony Moly stuff and giveaways!!!) and produced those awesome seats. Also a shout out to fellow members in soompi from Singapore who were a row behind us. It was great meeting you!

How to spend money without going to the mall and shopping online...

1. Have friends who travel a lot

Japan - May and Rachel went to Tokyo weekend of March 8 to attend Ken Chu's Get Real Concert. Perfect for me who wanted to get SMAP's latest single Sonomama (http://www.smap-sonomama.com/) which was released March 5th.

Taiwan - Girlie and Zainee went to Taipei the same weekend of March 8 to attend Vic "Zaizai" Chou's Fan Meeting at Taipei Formosa Hotel. Perfect for me who wanted to get F4's cd with the mini-concert dvd at Danshui last January 19th and the official soundtrack of the drama Wish To See You Again (http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/did-3591/code-c/section-index/pid-1010666986/).

Hongkong - Ophie went to Hongkong the same weekend of March 8 on a personal vacation. But Sino center is very near her hotel. Perfect for me who wanted to get Vic Chou's movie dvd Linger (http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-c/section-index/pid-1010096930/) which was released March 8th. I had to get it from Hongkong because their version has English subtitles.

2. Have friends who sell/giveaway their collection

Hongkong - MJ has to move back to London and she has the complete set of Mars manga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(manga). With plenty of SMAP X SMAP tv show cds thrown in for free, it was perfect for her to just Fedex everything to me in Manila.

3. Have colleagues who travel overseas for a much needed break

Singapore - Scarlette, one of our IT personnel went in early March. Perfect for me who needed to get my Anan magazines (http://anan.magazine.co.jp/) with Takuya Kimura on the cover from my Singaporean friend Joyce.

Malaysia - Leo, who works with me is in Malaysia this weekend. Perfect for me who wanted to get the Taiwan drama dvds of Sweet Relationship (http://us.yesasia.com/en//PrdDept.aspx/code-c/section-vidoes/pid-1005156159), Devil Beside You ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_Beside_You)and Why, Why Love (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Why_Love). Why Malaysia? Because the dramas when released locally are sure to have English subtitles. You won't find subbed original dvd dramas in Taiwan and rare/more expensive in Hongkong.

And here I am sitting at home astounded by the realization that this month alone, I was working my usual long hours and just had enough energy to drive to and from work and yet I spent about USD 500 from 5 countries. Amazing!

Snuggled within the comforts of my doramas...

Last week was another one of those weeks when I would go home past midnight from work. And as I have done the past 5 years, I turned to my solace for major stress...drama watching.

After buying these purple cd cases to house my tons and tons of cds and dvds, I found dramas that I have not seen at all.

I picked one japanese (Itazura na Kiss) and one taiwanese drama (Devil Beside You) to watch and that kept me glued the whole week. I would watch a couple of episodes during the work week (lunch break and as soon as I get home) and come the weekend, an uninterrupted marathon time!!

Stress gone..back to my purple but toxic world...looking forward to the long Easter Weekend where I can settle into another marathon. Movies await! Linger from Hongkong (yes MICHI, I also went dvd shopping..hahahaha!) and Hero from Japan. Yokatta!

The Budding Chef's First Overseas Trip

It was Butch's first overseas trip so I was excited to see Hongkong (http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/index.jsp) again with fresh eyes and in the eyes of my budding chef.

It was already getting colder when we arrived. Loved the autumn chill! It made walking for miles and miles bearable. Despite the shock of seeing Chungking Mansion...we adapted to our surroundings and promptly went on to do what we wanted to do - see places we were not able to see back in 2004 and see friends we have not seen for a long time.

It was always a wonder to me that a place that is barely a couple of hours away from the Philippines could be so different in climate, culture and overall texture. I had fun re-acquainting myself with Tsim Sha Tsui. Just roaming around the area near our place was already a lesson in sight and smell. We were already anticipating the coming days.

Whereas before we had a tour bus bring us to our classy hotel at Harbour Plaza Metropolis (http://www.harbour-plaza.com/en/index.aspx), now Butch enjoyed his first sight of Hongkong via the A21 bus. No difference since the buses were very comfortable double deckers. And did I say our bus' upholstery was purple? Such fun! I also loved the sofa of the Adidas store. Thank God the budding chef was also quick with the camera because we later found out it was prohibited to take photos inside the shop. :-D

So Hongkong was purple galore in autumn and I definitely took advantage! More about how I took advantage of purpleness tomorrow.

After a Wonderful Autumn Hongkong...My First Taste of Curfew Since Martial Law

Coming home to a buzzing airport was an experience in itself. Imagine this - you come home from a good trip, line up at immigration tired and wanting to go home since its almost 1:00am then you receive a small piece of paper saying that "due to the incident that happened in Makati today, a curfew has been imposed from 12 midnight to 5am. Please be ready with your passport in case of inspection". What the!!!!

It was the first time since I was a small child that I experienced curfew albeit short. Nevertheless, the sight of Manila's most congested avenue EDSA was a sight to behold with just a couple of vehicles plying it.

Apparently, while we (my husband Butch and travel partner Ochie) were busy visiting Avenue of the Stars in Hongkong, a Senator decided to walk out of his rebellion hearing, marched to a poor unsuspecting 5-star hotel, called the Filipino people to arms to oust the President of the Philippines which naturally prompted the military to ram their tanks into the hotel's lobby thereby causing mayhem and inconvenience to the hotel's guests and anxiety to the country's population.

My friends who I met for drinks later in the evening said that if I've seen it on TV, I would most likely borrow the British adjective "bloody damn fools" for the comedy of errors that it became. So they said thank your lucky stars you weren't here and tell us about your vacation!

So for the next few days I will most probably do tell everyone how interesting my recent trip to Hongkong was. Sounds better rather than spouting bloody damn fools every two seconds right? Jacky Chan should give these guys a few kicks in the butt.

These Shoes are love....and off to another adventure!

Ochie and I bought these shoes in the Ximending area in Taipei. There are many shoe shops there that carry locally made shoes at very, very reasonable prices, in short, cheap. Obviously from the looks of it, you would know which one is mine and which one is hers. I actually love Ochie's Burberry kinda print pair but my size is still a challenge in modern day Taipei. *pulls hair*

The price of the shoes? 390 NT$ each which is approx. 500 Php. A steal!!

These pair of shoes are off travelling again. It's been 3 years since I've been to HK so I am excited to see it again and most especially to see it with my budding chef hubby and my ever travel partner. I hope I can find more size 9 flat shoes over there.

I'll be back to tell the tale....Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!

Fandom Tourism

I was sitting at my desk eating a late lunch when the phrase hit me. Tomorrow I'll be flying to Taipei with 8 other girls of all ages, shapes and sizes to go on a kind of trip that I now call Fandom Tourism. Finally, a word to describe this crazy thing that I do!!!

For the past 4 years, I could not put a name to this hobby that I have gotten into - that of travelling to a destination not only because of the sights but also because of the events that feature my favorite asian artist.

In May 2004, I went to Hongkong to mainly attend the F4 Pepsi Event at the Hongkong Convention Center. For those who does not live in this side of the planet, F4 is a group of Taiwanese guys who gained popularity all over Asia via a drama called Meteor Garden. The group is composed of Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Ken Chu and Vanness Wu. If you're asking for more check out (http://onlyf4.proboards48.com/).

So with 17 other girls from the Philippines, we waited for F4 to arrive at the airport coming from various engagements in China. We chased after F4's van on their way to rehearsals. Imagine me running around the streets of Hongkong!!! I experienced all modes of transport from subways and taxis, to double deckers buses to the wooden ferry boat and the tram just because of the itinerary fandom brings.



A year after in August 2005, a friend and I went on a journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Japan. No we, were not there for the cherry blossoms (it was the height of summer!) or for the sights of Fukuoka, Japan. We were there to watch the concerts of SMAP. A pop group composed of Masahiro Nakai, Kimura Takuya, Katori Shingo, Inagaki Goro and Kusanagi Tsuyoshi. After F4, I became crazy about SMAP who as a group has released many albums and singles and individually acts in movies and dramas. Again for those of you who do not know anything besides American entertainment, here is a preview of who SMAP is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hHo0BHxlio

And so we walked, and walked and walked some more. From our hotel to the subway station, from the subway to the Yahoo Fukuoka Dome and back. I can still remember screaming in the streets of Fukuoka how I miss my car!

And so tomorrow is another Fandom Tourism kind of trip. I will probably see Taipei 101 as it is the tallest building in the world for the moment. But I am so very sure that I would walk many kilometres, sweat and stalk the cd stores of Ximending. I will tell the tale when I come back.