The event was to be held at 2.30pm at Movida at St James Powerhouse, so me and Tedheads made plans to be there before 1pm. When we strolled leisurely over from Vivo City's linkway bridge, we could already spot an obvious row of fans queuing outside Movida. Some fans were also taking photos with a huge Junsu banner in St James carpark.
I think it was around 1pm when we reached, and we were already almost reaching the end of the stairway. But I think there were less than 100 fans queuing at that moment in time. We sat down at the stairs and got ourselves comfortable for the wait. There was also someone filming (from xinmsn) and taking photos of the queue.
Only after 1.30pm did more fans stream in, mostly via taxi, some came via Vivo City. They had to queue and sit on the floor, as we were almost at the end of the stairs. The queue extended and snaked behind, so I can't see how many people were there. A group of girls in a few places in front of us started blasting music with their portable speakers. Started off with Junho's
"放开我" (Nothing to Lose) and
"我爱你" (I Love You), but immediately followed by Junsu's
"Xiahtic" and other TVXQ songs like
"Mirotic",
"Wrong Number", etc... I told Tedheads
"Purple Line" would have been suitable, since purple is Junho's official fanclub color. But it never got played, and in fact, not many fans were actually wearing purple
(though I was).
The weather was blazing hot and humid, and the organizers didn't let fans in till close to 3pm. Apparently, they were having the press conference inside while we we waiting outside in the blazing heat. Entry was slow as there was a bag check, and we had to show our tickets, AND get them punched by a hole-puncher. I was kinda worried that the staff were going to punch it randomly without looking, and I'd end up with a hole in Junho's face. But fortunately, they were indeed paying attention when doing their job. We also had to be unceremoniously stamped in red on our left arm as proof of our entry.
There was some confusion at the entry, as the staff told us that Junho was signing the ticket card card holder. And some fans didn't bring it.
Once we entered Movida, the welcomed feeling of cool air-condition greeted us. Fans were already crowded at the front, so we decided to station ourselves on higher ground for better view, as compared to closer proximity.
FM 93.3 DJ Chen Liyi was the host for the event, and she appeared after all fans were in, made some random speech to hype up the atmosphere and warned the fans AGAINST using flash photography during the entire event. But still there were people doing it.
Junho appeared promptly after we were asked to chant his name LOUDLY and REPEATEDLY by Liyi. He introduced himself in Korean, and she started to interview him in Korean
(snippets of interview can already be seen on xinmsn or razortv).
His favourite Singapore dish is Hainanese Chicken Rice, which he had just tried the day before. And he also likes Chilli Crab
(Junsu prefers Black Pepper Crab though, same as me).
Liyi asked if he likes anything else, and he looked so blur, trying to recall what he had eaten, and their names. But in the end, he said something in Korean to Liyi, and then in Mandarin into the mic, "忘了..."
(I forgot...).
When asked what he thought of Singaporean fans, he responded while smiling shyly in Mandarin "我觉得新加坡歌迷很漂亮。"
(I think Singaporean fans are very beautiful.), to which the fans present responded with roaring screams and cheers.
After the interview, he went off to get a drink of water. While Liyi started off the games with the fans. First off was "Scissors, paper, stone". Three rounds to decide who was the winner. Fans were selected randomly, and one by one they went up to pit their skills against Junho. But all three of them lost within the first or second round to him. They left the stage after a handshake with Junho.
Second game was "Strength Game", where you have to touch your palms with your opponent's and push, whoever loses balance first is the loser. Three fans were selected, the first fan lost after a few "one touch" with Junho's big hands. The second was also the same.
As Liyi kept emphasizing that if no one won, the fan won't get anything, and the prizes would be wasted. For the third and last fan, Junho actually went towards the fan after "one touch" of their palms, and hugged her!!! The whole floor was in chaos, screaming like mad from his sudden and unpredictable move. Junsu must have been so proud and jealous of his hyung... First a kissing scene in the music video for
"放开我" (Nothing to Lose), and now hugging his fans openly...
Even I didn't expect the shy Junho to take the initiative to hug the fan, I'd thought it'd be the fans who make use of this chance to lose balance and "fall into his arms accidentally"...
After the games, he sang
"我爱你" (I Love You) live to the fans. I thought his voice in the higher parts sounded similar to Junsu's. And when he sung higher parts, he has the same demeanor or body language as Junsu. You'd not miss out the fact that they are fraternal twins after all. Similar, yet uniquely different with their own charms.
It was a REALLY short fanmeet, or time REALLY flies when you are having fun, as the next item on the itinerary was already the taking of group photo with Junho. In groups of 15, fans queued to get up onstage to receive a pre-signed A5 postcard from Junho
(a pic of him in white against red background), before posing for 2 pics with him, and then shaking his hand and going off stage.
I was disappointed that he wasn't going to sign the album. Or the fact that he wasn't even going to sign on the spot, as this meant less time spent upclose with him, despite having paid much more than other fans from other packages for this upclose and personal fanmeet. And the staff were giving wrong information at the entrance, making some fans panic about not having brought their ticket card card holder along!!!
Nevertheless, we waited till towards the last to go up. Though there were still fans around, they refused to go up, and we were kinda "forced" to go up as the security was shouting for us to hurry up, and that we're "the last batch". I was the last "girl", and I was teaching my friend how to use my camera to help us take photos, and didn't even realise that the security had been calling me repeatedly "girl, girl, girl!!!" to hurry up. Even Tedheads didn't realise that he was calling me, till she noticed that he kept looking at her then at me, hinting for her to go get back back into line. LOL...
Indeed I was already "the last" in this batch. But a fan was so excited, she forgot to get her autographed postcard from Junho, and cut into my line, pushing me behind. So I couldn't give our gift for Junho together with Tedheads. But according to Tedheads, he seemed quite curious in our gift, and kept turning it around to see what it was... She was trying to tell him in English that it was a T-shirt
(which we had laboriously hand-painted specially for him, and also one for Junsu in our "Brothers Love" T-shirt series), and a nice Chinese revolution-themed notebook for the avid Chinese-culture fan Junho.
Observing Junho with his fans is quite interesting, he's REALLY shy and polite, but he tries very hard to listen to what they try to say to him. I found myself with a smile on my face, as I observed his interaction with the excited fan, who cut into my line, in front of me. When it was finally my turn, he was smiling widely, and I smiled warmly back at him, he passed me the autographed card, I bowed slightly as I took it
(aftereffects from recent trip to Japan), and extended my right hand out for a handshake. He took my hand firmly, and shook it. I said "Kamsa hamnida" to him, and he responded with a humble "Thank you.". And we both turned to find a place in the crowd of fans behind us, for the photo-taking. No fans wanted to be in the front, as that meant that they were further from Junho. I just said out loud to Tedheads, "Nevermind, I'm short, I'll stand at the front...", it was a bit chaotic. Then I realised that Liyi asked the fans to let Junho have some space, and they opened up a gap beside me, for him to squeeze pass to get to the back of the group. We were asked to hold up the autographed postcards while we took the photo. Twice. Then Liyi told us that we can get a handshake before going down.
Again I queued for my turn patiently, he was smiling and thanking his fan one by one. When it was my turn, I smiled warmly at him, I extended my right hand out for a handshake, AGAIN bowed slightly as he took my hand firmly, and shook it. Actually our fingers entangled a bit somehow, I don't know how, but I had problem grabbing around his entire hand
(by the way, his hands were HUGE, and his fingers were LONG, but his hands were rough... manly hands I guess... ^_^), there was a jerk, before I managed to grab his entire hand, and him mine, and get a firm hold before the handshake itself. My hands are much smaller than his, but my grip was as firm or maybe even firmer than his. Tedhead agrees... LOL...
I said "Kamsa hamnida" to him AGAIN (
didn't know what to say, now on retrospect, I should have said "早点回来哦！" (Come back soon)), and a smiling Junho responded with a sweet "谢谢！".
Then it was Tedheads' turn, and I waited for her offstage. Then it's out of Movida.
Most fans left for Resorts World after this, and we waited a while till we saw their bus come out, and noticed Junho seated at the right-hand side of the bus, so we went over and I knocked twice on the window
(like how you'd knock on a door to request entry). Instead of him drawing the curtains open
(his windows had drawn-up curtains), a few teenage girls at the back of the vehicle opened theirs, saw us, glared at us, and pulled the curtain
(their side) close abruptly. I was a bit surprised, as I was used to having curtains drawn open when I knocked, not drawn closed. I don't know what's wrong, but there weren't ANY fans around at that time...
Anyway... Unfazed by the unsatisfactory response, we walked off for Vivo City for a meal before going to Resorts World for the showcase. We need our energy for the showcase! And the vehicle exited the carpark gantry with two vans and a taxi behind them, after we walked off.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
キット (^^,)v
언제나 비가와도 칠흙같이 캄캄한 어둠이 와도...
그대 곁에서 기다릴께 ...Nothing better than that...[Color - Melody & Harmony]
誰かのために
For someone’s sake
僕らはここで
we are here,
小さな事しかできないけれど
Although we can only achieve small things,
一秒だけでも
Even just for 1 second,
世界上に涙止めて
We still want to stop all the tears in this world,
笑顔になってくれるのなろ
And turn them all into smiles
My music is my life
For you, for your smile...
