Taiwan FM Fan Account by Eva

So, here’s the highly anticipated fan account from our lovely Eva! And it’s even more daebak than expected! 😛

Hello Tryp and avid readers of her awesome blog!  First, I would like to apologize because I’m not a good writer; however, I would love to share my roller coaster experience with our beloved Lee Seung Gi.  This is my first fan account so please bear with me. Warning: This is VERY long and I hope I won’t bore you to death… hehehe

There are other celebrities I liked before I’ve known Lee Seung Gi but he’s the first person that I really admire, constantly followed on what’s going on with him, and the first one who drove me to this insanity… and you’ll find out later why LOL. I don’t know where to draw the line between an avid fan and a stalker so please let me know if I cross the line of a stalker… I hope I didn’t cross that line, LOL.

Plans on going to Taiwan

I’ve wanted to go to Singapore fan meeting but wasn’t able to due to work commitments and other personal reasons.  One day, I’ve got a message from Yon asking if I’m going to Seung Gi’s fan meeting in Taipei, Taiwan.  I don’t understand Korean nor Chinese so I’ll be lost if I go by myself so I didn’t plan on going. But I really wanted to go so bad since I’ll have the chance to shake the hands of our King Seung Gi and the proceeds are going to charity so how awesome is that!  So when Yon said that she’s looking for a roommate and she doesn’t mind to be my personal translator lit a tiny spark of hope.  After thinking really hard– for few minutes LOL, I told her I’d go and I’ll just tell my boss when he comes back from leave. LOL.  Because that same day Yon asked me was also the last day to sign up and we have to pay that day per the Airen organizers instruction!  The allocation of seat arrangements are: (1) in the order of payment received (first come first served), priority to the fan club Airen 4^th, so on and so forth.  Unfortunately, the only one who can help me transfer the payments can only do it home, but she doesn’t get home until around 5pm and the cut off time was 6 pm! Imagine how worried I am because what if something happens on the way to work like traffic which, by the way happens often here in Seoul.  So, on that day:  my plan on going to Taiwan hasn’t been approved by my supervisor… Check!  Payment made right before the deadline, seating location unknown… Check!

Finding out about LSG flight

Since money is tight, I’ve always been notorious on looking for best airfare deal and purchasing tickets ahead of time because it’s a lot cheaper. Waiting for Lee Seung Gi’s flight schedule is not an option for me because we usually find out that information the last minute and the airfare will be over my budget. I’ve got two options, first is the flight to Taoyuan Int’l Airport via Incheon and the other is $100 cheaper through Songshan Airport which is a lot closer to the city via Gimpo, however the second option will mean that Yon and I will be arriving at different airport since she’ll be at Taoyuan.  After, asking her expertise opinion I’ve decided to take the Taoyuan and since there are 3 different flights via Korean Air on 1 Sep, I have 33% chance to be in the same flight with but that’s if he’s flying on 1 Sep.

Guess what? Few days before my departure day, I found out from Yon that SGi and I are on the same flight!  There are THREE different flights going to Taipei that day and his going to the same flight as mine!!! How awesome is that?!  You have no idea how excited I am so Yon suggested that I should write a fan account when I come back from the fan meeting.  I have these crazy scenarios in my head like what I see on Tryp’s site like: Oh, I’d be able to take pictures and videos when he gets to the airport, the check-in, immigration, lounge, and maybe I can get autographs for myself, Yon and Tryp, and if I get really really really lucky – a picture with him too!!! Ha! Yeah right! Let me tell you what really happened back here on planet earth.

D-Day of Departure

With too much excitement circulating in my body, I couldn’t sleep for the couple of days plus I’ve been busy at work too so that didn’t help much either.  I bought my presents to him, packed my luggage and clean my house the last minute, and ended staying up late the night before my flight.  Dominoes effect of unfortunate events – left my house late, found out that the bus that used to go to the airport in front of my apartment doesn’t exist anymore so I have to take the subway, arrived at the airport late, line at the check in looked like people decided to fly out on the same day, with the useless airport gal employee telling me I can make it on my flight so I have to stay in that lane, good thing I use the brain cells I have left and went straight to the information booth and told them that I’m running late so I was able to check in ahead, but no matter what I do, I’m already too late, our King SGi already arrived and went inside the immigration straight to the Korean lounge.

I boarded the plane not seeing him at all – I saw his Cody, his back up dancers, his manager, even Lee Seo Jin (LSJ) but not our SGi …not even his back or his shadows…Nada…zit…nil…then when we arrived in Taiwan, I only saw a glimpse of him when he was at the Immigration but he’s on the VIP lane so he got out there real quick.  It felt like the time stopped at the Immigration, but I was surprised to see LSJ in front of me, there are only four people between us!  I saw him again by the baggage area and I left before him because I’m hoping that SGi is still out there.  But by the time I got out, there’s no sign of him or his fans so I know that he’s been long gone.  I wanted to cry so much due to great disappointment…no not only cry, I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole! I felt like I failed Tryp, Yon, and the rest of SGi’s entire fan all over the world big time! I thought I’ll be able to show great pictures and videos for those who couldn’t make it on the fan meet.

That day was such a 100% total failure and even PD Na would yell at me lovingly “Silpae” aka “Fail”. LOL.  I’m still carrying my gift bag so I can give it to him personally at the airport.  I saw LSJ exiting the terminal but no sight of SGi crew.  When I noticed LSJ still waiting for his ride, I was tempted to give my gift to him or to his assistant so they can hand it to SGi since I’m sure that they’ll see each other later on… LOL, but it felt so wrong so I decided not to do it. After standing at the waiting area with my head/shoulder/spirit/heart hang low, now I can go to the restroom since I’ve been holding it for quite some time now due to fear that I’ll miss my chance to see SGi… LOL!  I didn’t give up though, I prayed that may God give me a chance to give my gift to him, I know there’s nothing important or they’re not even expensive but I just want to give it to him.  Guess what again! God heard my prayer! When I got out from the restroom, out in the far corner, I saw SGi’s manager, cody and the rest of the crew waiting for their ride.  I think I run so fast that I didn’t even feel that my luggage weighed 35lbs in my hand… LOL… and I run straight to the manager and asked him if he can give it to Seung Gi… he warmly accepted it…. Yes! Thank you God for that!

First Day in Taipei, Taiwan

This day is NOT really one of my best days in my life and I’ll have to write it in the bottom of my list, but Number ONE on my Worse Day of my Life! Ha! Finally I met Yon. We’ve only been in contact via messages and emails and it’s nice to finally meet her in person.

I told her my wonderful experience on the way to the hotel.  She’s probably been thinking to herself how lucky person I must be… LOL!  By the way, I almost forgot to mention you about our seating arrangements.  We found out days before the Fan Meeting that Yon and I are separated because someone messed up with the seating arrangements and didn’t even bother to fix them.  We even left messages on the Airen notice board but we didn’t get any response back.  So my interpreter will be seating on the other side of the planet earth.  Ok enough about that and let’s go back to my exciting day! LOL!

We found out later in that afternoon through Tryp that SGi will stay at Palais De Chine which is on a different district from where we are staying at and away from the venue.  Our hotel is about 10-15 mins walking distance to the tallest and largest green building in the world, the Taipei 101, and across that bldg is the venue, so we decided that we’ll explore that area Monday after the fan meet.  That night, we went to the famous night market called Shihlin Night Market.  So with my luck out of sight that day, I think you would have guess what happened next.  We found out that SGi had a dinner at the famous restaurant in Taipei 101, Din Tai Fung! Ha! So there goes my first day of fan girling. LOL!  After reading my first fan account, now you learn the things of NOT to do BUT never ever lose hope because once you read my Part II you will say that it is true — there’s always sunshine after the rain ^_^

D-Day of Lee Seung Gi Live Show in Taiwan

Yon and I arrived at the ATT 4 Fun around 11-ish and saw merchandise and Airens booths being set up.  There’s already a long queue for merchandise pick-up during that time.

We hang out in the area and met other wonderful Airen fans from different parts of the world.  Around 1300, as I was leaving the merchandise booth, I saw people running and gathering around this one van by the entrance.  I called Yon and in a flash she was running so fast at that location!  She’s a pro! I didn’t even say any word except her name and she knows what’s going on.  Being a beginner, I followed her, trying to grab my camera in my purse but as soon as I got there, he’s already out of the van and headed inside the building. All I caught in the video is another glimpse of him in seconds! Again! LOL!

Yon and I were not one of the lucky 80 people who got picked to attend the press conference at 1400.  However, we decided to stay in the waiting area and chat with other Airens.  At 1400, they started to let the people in and, lo and behold, they asked for more people to come inside!  Yay! The funny thing is, people just crammed each other in one line, Yon and I ended up separated, but fortunately her friend was right next to me. I was afraid that her tiny body will get squashed due to nobody wants to move back.  The crazy things we do. LOL! They’ve already started the conference when we got inside and we were seated few feet away from the lucky ones & media.  I was able to take seconds of videos before we were told that only media personnel and certain individuals are allowed to take pictures and videos. Even though I’m fuming inside, it’s ok because I was able to see what’s going on and Yon’s friend Jasmine translated some parts to me.  See quick video:

Seung Gi was given presents/tokens of appreciation/gifts. You’ve probably seen the pictures/videos and, the questions & answers translated by Ay at Tryp’s blog site. I really admire Tryp’s dedication for her never ending support on keeping us up to date.  The press conference lasted in less than an hour, too short for me hehehe. After that we’ve decided to grab something to eat while waiting for the fan meeting at 1800.

Fortunately before the show started, we were able to switch our seats with the people right next to us since they were separated too.  I tried to take some pictures of the stage and the area but of course, they said that we are not allowed, even though the show hasn’t even started yet.  The show begun with Seung Gi’s hit song Will You Marry Me; Q&A portions; games with some lucky audience winners who got a chance to not only shake his hands but hug him multiple times, win some of his personal belongings, and his autographs; and then he sang more of hit songs.  As we all know, SGi is a multitalented entertainer. He’s very lively, witty, have great sense of humor, etc…he really knows how to grab the audience attention. He tried to learn and say some Chinese words too! If I’m not mistaken, he sang Let’s Go on Vacation, Smile Boy, Because We are Friends, Because You Are My Girl, and Slave (in a seductive/teasing moves that made lots of women went crazy/wild). LOL. Then after the show, they started the handshaking session and finally we were allowed to take pictures of him.  See:

The handshaking session went really fast, I can’t blame them because he has to shake a LOT of hands in a short period of time.  Some people even hugged him! Poor SGi, now I know why there’s a table in between, without that he’ll be grabbed left & right! I think I’ll be one of them because it really crossed my mind. LOL! As I got closer to him, my heart just went nuts! This may sound corny or insane, but when I looked at him, I thought I was gonna go blind because he is glowing! LOL! Kinda like what you see in a romantic/comedy scene! LOL! That’s how I saw him that night! LOL!  I felt like I was a little girl again back then. His hands are soft and gave a perfect hand squeeze.  Since my mind went blank and the last words I heard from other people is “thank you”, the same words came out from my mouth. LOL.  You can see that he’s tired but as he shakes our hands, he never failed to look at every person eyes with his beautiful smiling eyes and, his megawatt smiles with his dimple showing.  Man that was fast! I didn’t even get a chance to stare at him for a long time! LOL! As we head out of the door, we were given posters, postcard and tumbler as souvenirs. Then we patiently wait for him by the exit door down at the lobby.

We had a good spot at first until the guard made us move to the other side so I ended up at the very back.  Once he’s out, people went crazy again and he walked out fast straight to the van.  Then he’s gone and the fan meeting is over…Lee Seung Gi is gone…*sigh* See: 

He mentioned earlier that he’d like to go to one of the night market, so one of the Airens suggested going to one of the famous spot with not a lot of people compared to Shilin Market.  So there we went and hoped that we’ll bump into him only to find out late that night he went to a faraway place where we can’t follow him. LOL.  It’s like an hour away from where were at so we decided to call it quits for the day/night.  I planned to do some shopping on the next day and I’m scheduled to go back to Seoul in Sept 4. However, after we came back at the hotel, we learned through Tryp’s site his flight schedule is on Sep 3 and a crazy thought came in my mind.  Am I willing to pay $100 for penalty to change my flight back a day early? I kinda feel bad about leaving Yon all about herself but she assured me she’s fine with it and that she speaks Chinese so she’ll be ok by herself.

Lee Seung Gi’s Departure Day

I called the traveling agency in Seoul where I got my tickets and found out that I can change my flight with $100 penalty. I said I’ll think about it and I will call her back after 40 minutes.  So we went to get breakfast but I’m still undecided when we get back to our room. Yon told me some good advice so I decided to fly out the same time with our Seung Gi. When we came back at the hotel, the ticketing agent told me that she found out I DON’T have to pay the penalty fee!!! How awesome is that? So she asked me if I still want to go and I said definitely! I don’t know if there will be another opportunity that I can have the same flight with SGi and maybe this time I’ll have a chance to get some pictures/videos of him. Only God knows. So I took this once in a lifetime chance and braced myself.  In order to avoid my unfortunate experienced few days ago, Yon and I left the hotel pretty early, too early that we have an 1.5 hours before the check-in counter opens LOL.  So we wait at the waiting area and as soon as we see 3 females standing by the check in area, I went and stand behind them even if I have to wait for an hour! LOL. Soon the counter opens and I ended up with this young man who seems new and doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s very helpful though because I wanted to sit by the emergency exit for extra legroom, so he asked and got the permission from his superior.  However, with my luck, there was a system error so I have to wait for about 5-10 minutes, at first I thought I was in some kind of trouble that I have to stay behind…you know after all the streak of luck I experience prior to coming to Taiwan, who knows when it will end.  So after the long wait, the supervisor apologizes and I made a joke if he can upgrade me then…hehehe…but instead he gave me a business lounge pass! This time, I didn’t get my hopes up because I don’t know if SGi will have time to stay in the lounge plus he’s probably in the business or first class lounge, and I probably just have one of those regular pass. Yon and I parted ways because our plan is she’ll get some pictures/videos on the other side while I wait on the other side by Immigration area. LOL! Yes, now I learn that I need to plan things ahead of time in order to succeed…hehehe…

The Unexpected Most Memorable Event of My Life

Wow! If you’re still reading my fan account I’d like to say that you are so awesome for giving me your precious time reading my very long, uneventful, boring fan account.  I’m almost done so please hang on. LOL.

So, about 7ish pm, we heard screams and commotions from the other side so we know that Lee Seung Gi is in the building.  Next thing you know he’s heading to the check point and went into the Immigration counter. There were a lot of people on my side too and I had a hard time getting a good shot of him.  When he was in line for the Immigration, quite a few females bothered him for his signature so he has to move to a different lane but they still followed him. I’m really amazed on how he carried himself — that he didn’t lose his composure, gave his autographs, and still able to smile.  Once inside, he walked so fast and went to the lounge. I decided to call it quits to give him some space so I stopped following them and I looked for the lounge. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get a glimpse of him again later…hahaha! So after walking for 5 minutes or so, having no sense of direction, I finally found the lounge and guess what?! The pass given to me is not an ordinary one but IT IS a business lounge access! You have no idea how fast my heart beats at that time, like I’m walking so slowly and taking my time checking out the area, but I keep telling myself he’s probably at the first class area so I doubt to see him here.

As soon as get inside the lounge area, guess who I saw!!! My eyes are looking straight to LEE SEUNG GI and he was looking at me too because he was at the center of the room facing the entrance! I think my heart either stopped or dropped or exploded or all of the above! LOL. But of course, I played it cool and walked on the other side of the room.  My hands and knees are freaking shaking so I send a message to Yon and Tryp and asked them what am I supposed to do…LOL! One suggested asking for an autograph and the other told me to grab this chance! But he was sitting in the middle and he was surrounded by LSJ, SGi’s manager, LSJ manager and another girl.  I was so nervous and reluctant that it took me a long time to get up and mustered my courage to approach him. I have to drink a glass of water, use the bathroom, have a self/pep talk, and I told myself that if I don’t do this one, there will be no other chance, NONE… NADA… God gave me this opportunity so it’s all up to me what to do with it~ either to use it or waste it.  So I got up, with my pen and paper on hand and, cautiously/slowly approached him.  I’ve said “annyohaseyo” thousands of time that Koreans think I’m fluent in hangul but I freakingly stuttered when I said it to them… gosh…. talking about looking stupid in front of them.

But he was so super duper nice. He gave me a puzzled look but with a smile. I asked if I can get his autograph and that I understand if he doesn’t want to but he willingly took my pen and signed his name, he even wrote my name without a mistake!!! I courageously asked if I can get a picture also but they politely said no and told them that I understand and that it’s ok with me. I looked at Mr. Lee Seo Jin and he’s smiling at me too, he’s got a nice smile and dimples too just like LSG!!!  I went back to my chair with my hands shaking and my heart beating so fast that I can go deaf on the sound. I’m so stupid that I forgot to shake his hands! LOL! I heard the boarding announcement and decided not to stick around in the lounge.  Before I left, I bid them goodbye and thank him again, and guess what I did…I asked if I can shake his hands and he stretched out his arm while looking at me with a smile! Gosh, good thing I didn’t melt or they will need to send someone to mop the floor! Hahaha! I told him that I’ll see him on his concert in Dec 1 and 2, and he looks please to hear that.

I didn’t see him again not until at the Incheon Immigration, they used the special lane so they got out before me then I saw him at the baggage area. After he had his entire luggage, he said goodbye to his crew and thanked them for their hard work, then he left the area. I don’t feel right taking pictures of him in the baggage area so I just took once he’s far away. Some people may be yelling or cussing me right now for not doing it but I just can’t.

So that’s how my journey went on this trip to Lee Seung Gi Live Show in Taiwan 2012.  It felt like a rollercoaster ride. I learned so many things and I hope you did too. LOL. Things happens the least we expect them and never ever lose hope. For me, I put my trust and faith in my God and I let Him take care of everything.  I plan my ways and God directs my path. Hope I didn’t bore you to death. Thank you for your time again and good luck on your adventure with Lee Seung Gi. Hope to see you in his concert this Dec 1 and 2!

My first Lee Seung Gi’s autograph ^_^