Monday, April 21, 2008

Classic Scenes Concert - Spectacle

Hi Hi sisters ...... hmmmm, wondering at this time, is HRH roaming around the streets of Manhatten? Will he try to catch a show later tonight in Broadway? Ohhh, lucky lucky New York sisters, what are you doing staring at the computer? Go out and look for HRH, he's in YOUR city now!!

Hehe meanwhile, I'm trying to catch up on my writing of places and events that I've attended in the last little while. So behind, here it goes ..... April 8, 2008

It was a very gloomy spring day, heavy rain coupled with strong wind and chilly temperature. The grey sky looked so soaked that I thought it’s about to fall down on the city any moment. Normally on a day like this, it’s best to take it easy, cover your head with a blankie and go zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ………. However I couldn’t, cause I had BIG plans that night - it’s the BYJ Classics concert!


I do enjoy soft soothing music with beautiful melody, may it be western, Chinese, Japanese or Korean. But I have to confess that my knowledge in classical music is just about as good as my Japanese, which is - no matter how loud, how long and what tune it plays, it will just go blank on me :) Therefore I was quite hesitant to attend a classical concert, especially on a dismal day like this. What if I really doze off and snore out loud like a pig? Well, it’s not like JunSang is sitting next to me with his shoulder ready in case I bop my head sideways :)


This was the fourth theme of the Classical Scenes – ‘Spectacle’, which was held in the Tokyo Opera City, Shinjuku. The ‘Art’ concert was held earlier that day at 2pm, this last concert was scheduled at 7pm the same evening. Again, kiyomi and cloudnine were so kind to include me in their outings.

Since we had to wait for the tickets from kiyomi, cloudnine and I were lingering outside the reception entrance. By now, most sisters have already gone into the hall to purchase the BYJ goodies. As I glanced over sideways, I noticed a cluster of sisters were gathering around a man. I checked again, that man was no other than the ‘almost as famous’ Mr. Sohn!


You say, c’mon, it’s only Mr Sohn, not HRH! Yes, I know I know, but I read about this man and saw his pictures with Yong Joon 1000 times, and now he was just a few feet away from me! Mr. Sohn actually looks better in person than in pictures. He is very courteous and never stopped bowing to Yong Joon’s fans. He finally left the ‘cluster’ and made his way towards the entrance. As he walked by me, cloudnine told me to go up and say ‘hi’. My logical mind was holding me back telling me to stay put, but my instinct suddenly took over as I didn’t even know where my courage came from. I stuck out my hand and said, “Hi, Mr. Sohn, nice to see you. I’m from Canada.” He looked a bit surprised and repeated, “ah, from Canada!” TWICE, I suddenly felt very self-conscious and retreated. Cloudnine started chatting with him while my mind was wandering .... “will it feel something like this if I have a chance to meet Yong Joon?” Anyway right after us, Mr. Sohn was surrounded by crowds of fans and he needed security guards to guide him away.


At this time, kiyomi appeared with the tickets and it’s time to go inside the concert hall :

The yummylicious concert programme, what a treat to the eyes :) It's huge too, you know?

The cheerful Ikko-san, who always gives a hearty laugh, sat beside me. She proudly showed me her US $1 bill, bid from an auction. Hahaha, wonder what happens if Yong Joon uses it in New York now??

As we all know, there are 6 classical music pieces in Spectacle. Maestro Kim SeiKyo came on to the stage. To be honest, since we were so far away, I couldn’t really see him that well. Thanks to the diligent effort of heippieh who linked all the classical music pieces with associated movies and shared her views in her blog. Dear flowerbossa has also graciously translated the thoughts of Yong Joon on each piece of music so we can appreciate his preference and taste in classical music. Without flowerbossa’s introduction of Maestro Kim SeiKyo after the Saitama event, I’d never have enjoyed his conductorship as now.


The lively and animated conversation between MC Ms. Kim Tei and Mr. Sohn has also livened up the solemnity of the concert. From what cloudnine has translated for me, it’s mostly about teasing Mr. Sohn for not prepared enough to speak to the family. Poor Mr. Sohn, he looked so uncomfortable and appeared off-guard by the questions. After all 6 classical pieces were performed, Maestro Kim gave BYJ family a nice finale - Winter Sonata's ‘From Beginning to Now’. Wow, what a pleasant gift to our ears :)


Hehe of course, knowing how much our BYJ sisters know how to enjoy life, this was not the end of a fantastic evening yet. The classy kiyomi and tamatama have already reserved a table for us to wine and dine up on the 54th floor of the Tokyo Opera City. We sat by the window in the romantic Sabatini restaurant, which I felt more like I was vacationing in an Italian villa. The evening Shinjuku sparkles like a crown encrusted with colored jewels under our eyes. At a time like this, at a setting like this, with sisters like these, how can I not be grateful for what I am experiencing?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaime,

Oh how I love your witty and humorous writing! Looking back our meeting with Mr. Sohn, now I feel that I was so stupid. I'm sooo happy that it was not Yong Joon. That was my first time to speak to him, and we weren't really
chatting.
I just wanted to apoligize that I had translated his posts into English and posted on Quilt withoug his permission. Why I spoke in English? Now I'm so ashamed for having spoken only what I wanted to say at a stretch.
I was just a typical ajunma!
Poor Mr. Sohn!, he was very very patient to listen to us.

cloud nine

HeippieH said...

Wow you have so many postings lately, I got to take some time to read them all! From the pictures they look so interesting. Sorry for being away busy with all kinds of stuff. Chat with you later, at the meantime, please take care and enjoy life!

Love,
-H.

gosijo said...

Hi Jaime, cloud nine and everyone,

Haha, the Mr. Sohn encounter incidents are so cute! Hehe, my imagination can't help running away from me and attributing some of his discomfort on stage to being pre-occupied with processing the fact some of his blog posts have reached a much wider audience than intended. He doesn't need to worry. They only show him as an excellent writer (he can express profound ideas in very few words) and deep thinker.

bbmag said...

wow... what a fantastic account! thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

You .. one lucky lady !!!
That's all I'm going to say.
Thanks for sharing all these wonderful experiences ...

love,
Y.

jaime said...

Hahaha dear cloudnine,

You're so cute! Now, you remind me that 'YEAH, you spoke to Mr. Sohn in ENGLISH'!! He must be wondering why?? Oh really, your first time talking to Mr. Sohn? I am sure he appreciate your effort in translating his blog so more sisters get to know him and YJ :)

Hehe, but you're so right though. Looking back, I would have just stayed back and left the poor man alone. He was swarmed by so many fans that night after the concert. Everybody wanted to shake hands and talked to him, he was looking for help, did you see it?

Anyway, thanks for the great experience - I think I kind of get a glimpse of what it'll be like if Yong Joon appears. I wouldn't even dare to imagine the chaos, I think I have to order myself an armour before June 1, just in case :)

love ... jaime

jaime said...

Hi my dear h,

really? too many postings? I thought I was taking it so slow and not writing often enough :) Hehe, please don't worry about reading them, I just want to record my experience in Japan. I still haven't forgotten my Fairy series - have so many parts to follow.

I just read your wonderful post on the April poem in KOB. It's so beautiful, I'll comment in your blog, ok?

Please take care!

love ... jaime

jaime said...

my dear gosijo,

You are so right, I think Mr. Sohn had to process many dialogues he had with YJ's family that night in his head. Eventhough he has gone through so many memorable events with YJ, I think he's still overwhelmed by the tremendous love shown by so many Japanese sisters.

Me too, I appreciate cloudnine for translating his thoughtful blog posts so we can enjoy the witty side of his character.

Please enjoy spring, miss you!

love ... Jaime

jaime said...

hehe princess ..... thanks!

Can't wait for you to be here, so many Japanese sisters are eagerly waiting for you :)

love ... jaime

jaime said...

hi hi yee,

Yeah, I am always thankful and wouldn't even dare to abuse that luck. I also believe in sharing the happiness I feel, hopefully it will bring a smile to other sister's face.

Yee, I finally found the Tokyo Takarazuka theater. It has shows running year round, how lucky I am!I'll just pick a musical I enjoy one of these daya :) This is English site of Takarazuka :

http://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/english/top.html

You can watch it w/ your daughter too when you visit Tokyo in September.

love ... Jaime

xiaoyi said...

Dear jaime,
How are you dear? Seems that you are enjoying so many YJ's events in Japan!! So happy for you. So sorry for not able to visit your blog for some time, have been really busy with my 2 monkeys... ha ha!! By the way, I've created a new blog for Korean music, do drop by some time.
Btw, will you be attending the Osaka event, hope u can make it!
Take care & lots of love!!
xiaoyi

jaime said...

hi dear xiaoyi,

so nice to hear from you. hehe, 2 monkeys, they must be so cute and precious! Please enjoy the time with them while they are young. I didn't believe people telling me kids grow up so fast but now I do. I practically watch my boy grow into a young man right in front of my eyes in the few months we are in Tokyo (my gosh, and he's not even a teenager!)

Hehe me too, I hope I am lucky enough to get a ticket to the Osaka Event.

Really, a Korean music blog?! Oh, you are so talented and knowledgeable. Can I access it from your blog? Hehe, now I can enjoy Korean songs, thanks to you.

Please take care!
love ... Jaime

xiaoyi said...

Dear jaime,

How's your son adapting to the new environment, I bet it must be tough but it's better to have changes earlier than when he's getting much older (that's my personal opinion).

He he... don't say that dear, i'm just learning. I have always love Korean music, so decided to collect them...and gosh...there's so many great singer/musician in Korea. Yes, you can get to the blog via my YJ blog or here's the link
http://korean-music-xiaoyi.blogspot.com/
Loves, xiaoyi