MAMA

MAMA = Mnet Asia Music Awards.  It was held in Singapore yesterday, and at the last minute, I managed to secure 2 tickets to watch the award ceremony.  No, actually I secured 3 tickets, and at the eleventh hour just seconds before the transaction with the seller, he told me his friend had sold one of the tickets to someone else without consulting him.

Honestly, I don’t care about what transpired between him and his friend but that was really not a very right thing to do.  And he had the cheek to tweet ‘Sorry seems to be the easiest word ever… ‘ after that.

Eventually, only E and I made it for the concert.  Sorry about it, C.

The stage setup was awesome.  The award ceremony was a little boring at some bits, particularly when the South Korean presenters just rattled on in Korean, giving no apparent thought to like perhaps 90% of the audience who didn’t understand a single word.  But it was a good experience.  I’d never attended an award ceremony of such a scale so it was quite an eye-opener.

I will try to revert to normal, regular blogging in a few days.  Busy mugging for my JLPT examination this Sunday.

Why I Like You

And this, is the reason why I feel that it is worth the time, effort and money spent on them.  Despite being at their prime (and now on a slight decline), they never lost their humility and the human touch.  They know very well it is not their entertainment agency that got them to where they are today.  Instead they have their fans to thank everything for.

In a recent interview, the founder of their entertainment agency talked a bit about how this group came about – they were amongst the less outstanding trainees remaining after DBSK was formed.  He pitied them because they worked so hard (apart from the fact that they had also signed contracts with the agency) hence the decision to give them a chance to debut without putting in too much effort to help them.  That they would go on to become so popular with that strong a global fan base was something he did not expect.  As a result, the group was transformed from a project group (with changes to the line-up every year) to a permanent group.

This was something revealed to the public only recently (the bit about how they were assembled) but I’m sure the boys knew it right from the start.  This might be somewhat a biased comment, but I honestly have not seen another K-Pop group that bows as deeply as they do, or as often.  Just in case you are unaware, a deep bow in many Asian societies connotates reverence and/or gratitude.  What triggers this constant act of gratitude from this group (although they are easily one of the most senior, active idol groups in K-Pop now) could be the knowledge that they would not be who they are, and where they are, without the support of the fans.  Their existence depended on the love of the fans, and this is even more so than other groups (who would have the full support of their agencies).

I’ve always been somewhat a champion of the underdogs, and it seems that I have not invested myself in vain.  Various circumstances have decimated the original 13-member group to the current 9 active members – one is concentrating on his acting career (I have my theory about this official stand), two are in the army, and the only Chinese member of the group has returned to China to pursue a solo career.  Suffice to say that they have weathered through quite a bit of storm together (incuding 2 life-threatening car accidents involving members in their earlier days), and I dare say much more than other groups.

I don’t know how long more they might be around.  Nobody knows.  But I’ll be on this journey alongside them for as long as they stay together.  And the hubby too.  Unknowingly he has come to regard them quite fondly.  They are easy to love – just attend one of their live concerts and you would be touched by the apparent camaraderie amongst the members and their earnestness in bringing the best performances to their fans.

Leaving you guys with a live performance of their song ‘Why I Like You’ from their 3rd album (made famous by the song ‘Sorry, Sorry’).  I love this song, but for some reason, they just don’t sing it anymore.

<photo credits: www.facebook.com/smtown>

Weekly Photo Challenge: Family

This week’s challenge – Family.  I knew the exact picture I wanted to find to represent ‘Family’ but I just couldn’t locate it.  Might have lost it when my PC last crashed in 2008.

Found the next best picture.  Some explanation is in order – this was taken in Jan 2006 when Sugar was 1.5 years old and Paris was barely 3 months old.  The moment Paris came home with us, she identified Sugar as her mother figure – she followed her surrogate mummy everywhere and mimicked everything she did.  What happened here was, Sugar had been naughty, so she was being punished to ‘Down’ and ‘Stay’.  The puppy Paris was free to roam the house yet she chose to lie down beside Sugar.  And being a puppy, she couldn’t keep her eyes open for long.  This shot was taken when she fell asleep while accompanying Sugar in her punishment.

It was a super cute moment.  Hilariously funny too.  But I chose this picture because it sufficiently embodies the essence of a family, that is, going through thick and thin together.

The Secret to Keeping Warm

My secret to keeping warm in cold wintery weather is… wearing a face mask.  Not a secret actually, but surprisingly, not many choose to keep themselves warm in this way.  I reckon it’s becase:

1. They wear makeup and do not wish for the face masks to smear the makeup.
2. They can’t bear to hide their pretty faces.

I’m just too practical; makeup to me equates lipbalm and BB cream, and I would prefer to be warm than pretty.

Saw some cute face masks on the recent trip to Seoul and decided to buy a few for our coming trip to Europe.  The two cutesy ones are for me, and the black one with a white cross for the hubby.  I didn’t think he would be interested in cutesy face masks, but guess what he asked me when I showed the loot to him?  ’How come mine is so ugly and yours so cute?’

Sigh.  It’s so hard to read his mind at times.

Comparing

The Chinese have a saying – 人比人，气死人。 Succinctly translated, it’s just a life anecdote telling us not to compare or pit ourselves against others because there is no end to it.

It’s true.  The hubby is always reminding me not to compare my life to others’ because I have absolutely no idea what they have gone through, or are going through.  The grass always looks greener on the other side, but it’s all about perception, and what the other side wants you to see.

Third Time Lucky!

So E and I were checking out Seoul at the first opportune moment by signing up for a visit to the Korean DMZ last Friday.  After the visit ended, we headed for Hongdae, making use of the city’s comprehensive subway system.  And almost at the same time during the journey, we were both attracted to a blue backpack carried by a young man.

I steathily moved slightly closer to him and stared at the bag intensely, looking for a brand name I could work with.  I found absolutely nothing useful, and then we arrived at Hongik University Station too soon.

With a little tinge of regret, we got off the train.  Throughout our whole exploration of Hongdae are, I was keeping my eyes open, hoping to find a similar backpack.  I cannot explain why I like it – perhaps it was the unique shade of blue that deeply captivated me, or the rather uncommon boxy look.  Either way, suffice to say that I could not get it out of my mind.

That night, we returned to explore Myeongdong, wanting to be somewhere nearer to our guesthouse.  And you would not believe it: as we were walking out of Myeongdong shopping area back to our guesthouse, we saw the backpack again.  This time, it was carried by a young Korean girl.  Because we wouldn’t be able to communicate with her and that it had also started raining then, we didn’t approach her to ask about the backpack.

This uncanny coincidence of seeing the same backpack, twice within the span of just a few hours, was just too… weird.  After we individually washed up and were winding down for bed, E and I started searching online for this elusive backpack, hoping to find out where we could purchase it.  And I tried all sorts of keywords and permutations, but nothing useful showed up.

E surmised it wasn’t such a lost cause because if we can see it twice in a day, it must be really popular.  And this boxy design seems to be ‘in’ this season.  Shouldn’t be too difficult finding it.  And she also declared that she was going to go up to the person and ask about the backpack if she saw it for the third time.

I saw it for the third time the next day.

I was alone when I saw a fellow SJ fan carrying the bag.  She was talking to her group of friends when I walked by and saw the backpack.  I hesitated, because not knowing how to speak Korean much, I was wondering how we were going to communicate.

Then I saw, or rather, heard a glimpse of hope.  She was speaking in Mandarin to her friends!  I mustered the courage to approach her and asked about the backpack.

Unfortunately, the backpack belonged to her friend, and not her.  She merely borrowed it, and didn’t know where her friend bought it.  At least I established that the backpack was bought in Seoul.  I was walking away when I thought I probably should at least get the brand name.  And so I headed back to the girl and asked if I could take a look at the backpack to see if I could ascertain the brand name.  She helpfully agreed, and even suggested that I could take a picture of the backpack, if it helped.

It did, because I found the brand name on the two decorative round bits on the cover.  To cut the long story short, I discovered on their website as to why the backpack was so popular – a variant of it was carried by Park Shin Hye, an actress, on a Korean drama called Heartstrings.

E and I each bought the blue backpack.  And then somehow, I managed to get the hubby on my side –  he too, wanted the backpack, in dark brown (I think my emphasis on the fact that this backpack could not be found anywhere in Singapore did the trick).

This backpack episode is by far the most hilarious incident encountered during my recent trip to Seoul.  And I am really starting to believe this theory of being ‘third time lucky’.

사랑한다

The title of this post reads ‘Saranghanda’, written in Korean, just in case you were wondering.  This was the message that was hopefully passed on to Super Junior during the second Seoul concert last weekend when the whole stadium lifted up this banner during the predetermined song.

I don’t know enough Korean to write and read, but fortunately enough, these 9 characters are commonly seen enough for me to recognise them.  In short, the banner reads ‘Love You,  Super Junior’.

It was a simple, but touching fan project.  Glad I managed to make it for their Seoul concerts second year in a row.

Now that I’m back home, it’s time to sit down and study for next weekend’s JLPT.

For Da Boys

Still in Seoul, and the purpose of this trip was really mostly for da boys. I know this may not make sense to some people but hey, we are all entitled to have our own little indulgences, no? I mean, some people drink and smoke, and others drive fast cars… my little indulgence just happens to be closely related to 13 boys.

Be back home tomorrow and naturally will be back to slightly more regular blogging.

Till then…

K-Pop Demystified V: K-Pop Fandom

When I first got interested in K-Pop, there was really quite a bit of learning to do because this well-oiled industry works very differently from english and mandarin pop music.  A closer cousin to K-Pop would be J-pop, of course.  With their close proximity geographically, their entertainment industries have cross-pollinate to become what they are today.

First things first… did you know that the fan club of each band/group has a unique name and an official colour?  Who decides on the names and colours?  Sometimes the entertainment agencies themselves decide for the bands or groups when they first debut, but sometimes the fans get to have a say.  Here’s a short list of some of the more interesting fan club names + their official colours:

1. Super Junior: E.L.F. (Everlasting Friends) + Pearl Sapphire Blue
2. DBSK: Cassiopeia + Pearl Red
3. 2PM: Hottest + Grey
4. 2NE1: Blackjack + Hot Pink
5. RAIN: The Cloud + Silver
6. CNBLUE: Boice + Blue
7. B2ST (read as ‘Beast’): B2UTY (read as ‘Beauty’) + Dark Grey

Some of the fan club names above are self-explanatory (for example Hottest because 2PM is the hottest time of the day and Blackjack because 21 is the highest number you could hit while playing blackjack).  Others are less intuitive, like Boice is a combination of the words blue and voice and E.L.F. is something the agency created.

As for colours, it makes perfect sense to assign a unique colour to a band or group so as to better identify their supporters in combined concerts.  In fact, it becomes very interesting when the idol groups come together to perform at some concerts for example the Dream Concert.  Fans of different fan clubs are assigned different blocks so you could imagine the plethora of colours you see at the stands.  Furthermore, it generates more income for the entertainment agencies.  Lightsticks, balloons, tees, blish etc. are just some of the merchandise available for sale to fans.  And that is on top of the CDs, DVDs and concert tickets.

It is expensive being a devoted fan.  Trust me.

I got a bit lazy and didn’t want to search through my external hard disk for this original picture so I lifted this from my Chinese blog.  I took this during Super Junior’s 2nd concert tour in Taipei.  It was a beautiful sea of sapphire blue, and at one glance, you know you are at a Super Junior’s concert.  In contrast, it would be say… a sea of red if you attended a DBSK concert or pink for an SNSD concert.  I can only applaud the industry for being so organised.

And what ‘duties’ does a K-Pop fan have?

First off… fan chants.  This fant chant thingy irritates a lot of people, myself included initially.  Thing is, it is a culture to fan chant during the singing.  I’m not sure how and why it started, but it’s kind of fun when you pick it up, the fans get involved and really, the idols are expecting it.

Just in case some of you are not familiar with what I’m talking about, watch this video and hopefully you’ll understand that fan chants are actually supposed to be very systematic and organised.  It’s rather messy in this video and I tried looking for a video with the Japanese fans involved (they are the most disciplined when it comes to fan chanting) but without the subtitles, an untrained ear might not be able to decipher the fan chanting from pure cacophony.

Other than fan chants (which necessitates the need to learn all the songs), there are other ways fans can show their support.  The more traditional ways are providing food support when the idols just released an album and are attending music programmes, birthday gifts and show support when the idols are involved in individual projects like acting in a tv drama series or musical by means of rice wreaths.

What?  Rice wreaths?  Yup, you read it right and I think this is unique only to them.  The picture above shows a portion of the rice wreaths sent to a tv broadcasting station in South Korea on the day of the official press conference of Poseidon, a Korean drama starring Siwon, a member of Super Junior.  I really like the idea of rice wreaths over flower wreaths because to what happens after this is, the celebrity who received all these rice would donate them to the poor.  Hey, rice is definitely more useful than flowers and I think the South Koreans definitely got their priorities right.

As for food support, you will be surprised at how organised the different fan clubs can be.  I know I was really awed when I first saw the pictures.

This food support project was intiated by one of Siwon’s Korean fanbase.  They prepared food and beverages for the whole crew and staff during his first episode of filming as an MC for a music programme.  Anybody could see that a lot of care had been put in to assemble to ‘care packages’.

This fanbase is not unique.  In fact this is the norm in the K-Pop industry.  And I truly worry for the young fans who have no earning power but are spending so much on their idols.  If it’s any comfort, the fanbases are very systematic in asking for donations for such projects and each individual usually doesn’t have to contribute very much.  This is truly the epitome of power in numbers.

My Sassy Puppy

My sassy puppy bullies everyone in the family, so much so that sometimes Paris runs off in the middle of a play-fight to hide at my feet.

And guess what the puppy does?  She comes trotting along, rests her head on my lap and ‘complains’ to me about how Paris left in the middle of a pleasant game.

And how could anyone say no to such a cute puppy?