Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year


Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu, my dear sisters! Hope you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous year!


Hehe, got back from Hong Kong in time to spend New Year in Tokyo. Are you having a wonderful time with your family now? I hope our Yong Joon is with his loved ones now to welcome in 2009 :)

Friday, December 19, 2008

Merry Christmas!


Hi Hi my dear sisters,

You may think that I got so distraught from seeing our prince in the Yokohama Event that I am still hallucinating about Christmas? Hehe it's not the case, the fact is I will be off to Hong Kong to spend a sparkling holidays (I heard) there. As some of you know, my mom and sister have paid me a (kind of) surprise visit from Toronto in the past week. Tomorrow we are flying to Hong Kong and our relatives will be holding a big reunion party (many I've never seen in my life) for us at Christmas! Haha, what was a low-key 'eating & shopping' trip turns out to be one big warm family gathering, all thanks to my mom's arrival! So my dearest sisters, despite the uncertainties in the world, I am grateful that we still have our health, family, friends, Yong Joon and each other. In this joyous season, I wish you all a very peaceful and warm Christmas! Please take care in the cold weather, we'll see our prince in the MBC award on Dec 30?

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Yokohama Christmas Event III


Dear sisters ..... thank you for being so patient with me and for all your kind comments in the last few posts. I promise I'll reply tomorrow, ok? Shall we continue?

As we were settling into our seats, the familiar MC Ms. Kim Tei appeared. Her face is a bit rounder after giving birth and looked real cute. She said we could treat this like a date with Yonsama, hehe, she really knew how to talk straight into the family's hearts. There was a brief presentation from Megane Ichiba on the 15 million yen generated from the sales of the 'I wish' project. The fund will be donated to the Nepalese children, imagine how Yong Joon felt being able to reach out to the young ones in need?

The first singer opening the concert was Kang YoHwan, who sang the theme song in Hotelier. The screens were showing Shin DongHyuk's running scene, crying scene, pool scene @@ ..... Honestly, I really feel sorry for whoever is within the same vicinity of HRH when it comes to a woman's line of sight. We were all oohing and aahing at Frank Shin, who could spare an extra pair of eyes to look at YoHwan ssi on stage? Now, can any sisters tell me what the guy was wearing that day? I personally can't, sorry :) When the first song is finished, all of a sudden, the image on the giant screens switched!!


Our prince appeared in front of his family with the sweetest smile. He looked so dashingly handsome, still in his healthy long hair and dressed in a grey jacquard jacket, darker grey muffler and jeans. He was sitting in a studio with very warm Christmas decor, in front of a TV set. At first I thought this is his living room and the woman maybe a Japanese interpreter or satellite staff. There's a man next to him and upon closer look, yeah, he is Yong Kwok (aka Ryu Seung Woo) from Winter Sonata. Hehe, but regardless, my eyes were still fixated at our prince, drooling like a little puppy dog :)


You know what a perfectionist our Yong Joon is and every move of him in public is always so well thought out. Maybe this attempt on satellite communication is a first for our prince, so in the beginning, there were times when Yong Joon and Ms. Kim Tei were practically talking over each other. See how his cute eyes were wandering :)

At other times there were these long pauses and Yong Joon didn't know whether to talk or not. We were laughing and he was also laughing heartily with Yong Kwok too :) So playful that his body was tilted to one side and hit his head on Yong Kwok's arm!


He looked so relaxed and joyful like he was seeing his 'real' family and spending an enjoyable day with us. Hehe, Ms Kim Tei told us Yong Joon could see us in the arena, I instinctively sat up straight and fixed my hair, how stupid of me! Then Kang YoHwan talked about the background of the gift song 'You're my everything'. He knows how much Yong Joon loves his family, so he decided to write a song to express this love as a gift to him, how thoughtful :) Oh oh talk about being thoughtful, all these time the kind babasan had been patiently translating every single word for me by my ears. Thank you so much babasan!

Next the French version trailer of Winter Sonata anime came on, what a bonus! Yujin was in Paris by Notre Dame and other famous sites. Her eyes were swelling with tears when she saw the cassette tape that reminded her of JunSang. Our princess bb has blogged about the contents of the entire trailer.


They also showed us some videos from the Premium Event DVD on Yong Joon's last visit to Osaka and Kamakura. When Yong Joon was riding in the limousine from Kansai Airport to the hotel, he said his memories of Japan from his previous trips were only confined to hotel rooms. This time he really wanted to venture out to see more Japan. You can see Yong Joon was much more comfortable and determined this time compared to his April Snow and Image visits. Hehe, he is a man of his words. After the TWSSG event in Osaka, he did explore the temples of Kamakura bright and early one spring morning.


Even the Japanese family was gasping when they saw him wandering 'freely' on the streets of Kamakura!

The next singer was Woo Sung Min who sang the theme song 'The road' from April Snow. He is still young and shy like in the Saitama Event, but he has a wonderful voice. Then Ryu was the last singer to close the concert, he sang our beloved 'From beginning to now' and 'My memory' from Winter Sonata. Oh oh I meant close the concert portion, who else but our one and only prince could close the Christmas event for us!


Eventhough the main star was obviously Yong Joon, but throughout the event, Yong Joon always involved his friend in everything. When the 3 very lucky fans' seat numbers were drawn to receive personal autographs from Yong Joon, it's the joint effort of Yong Joon and his buddy :) At one point, Yong Joon rested his right hand on his buddy's shoulder. Yong Kwok explained to the audience that we might be envious of him, but Yong Joon wished he could place his hand on our shoulders', what a diplomatic friend :)

He appeared so relaxed and often so playful with Yong Kwok, not trying to present a perfect act in front of us like in Osaka. I felt like he was so natural as if he were my younger brother, a cousin, even a nephew.


Good times passed by so fast, soon the event was coming to a close. Our prince thanked Ms Kim Tei and told her she looked beautiful, so nice of him knowing how tired a new mom can be. H wishes his family health and happiness for the Christmas season and 2009. Then Ms Kim Tei asked us to sing 'Silent night' (in Japanese) to our prince, I became a bit sad as the thought of ever seeing him this way again seems so remote for a 'passersby' like me. Subsconsciously I didn't want to let go as this very special and precious man was disappearing from my sight. I thanked dear cloudnine and babasan for staying behind a little after the concert so I could cool my feelings down first.

In this holy and peaceful Christmas season, I sincerely pray that Yong Joon will have the best of everything installed for his future, love :)

pictures credited as shown

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Yokohama Christmas Event II


Hi Hi my dear sisters .... thank you for your patience and understanding. This Christmas event meant something special to the family not only because it's the first of its kind for us. Maybe we didn't have enough 'alone' time with our 'Paeha' in the Osaka Premium Event, now this unexpected rendezvous became a bonus gift to warm our hearts :) Our thoughtful cloudnine once again has arranged a wonderful itinerary for us. First, we pampered our tummies in this chef Kihachi Chinese fusion restaurant at the Yokohama JR station.


The other ladies had a more elaborate lunch, I had a basic set - grilled fish salad and clear soup to start :

Just had this craving for fried rice and finished off with a sweet coconut soup, yum yum :)

Cloudnine's beautiful friend Masayo commented that my fried rice was so small and she was right, I was starving later :( Haha, but at least we learned this time, we reminded ourselves not to drink too much tea and went to the washroom before heading off :)

Because of the rain, it felt really chilly and damp but our mood was high and hopeful. There were a steady stream of fans walking towards the arena. By the time we arrived at the Arena at 3pm, we saw a long queue by the main entrance. Well, we thought we'd do the same and followed the queue to the end of the line to go into the Photo Exhibition Hall. We walked and walked around the building, up & down the stairs, cloudnine met some sisters along the way, walked and walked some more....... aiyaya, where's the end of the line?!


At that time, we realized we'd practically ZERO chance and even if they let us in, absolutely zero time to look at the photos. Sigh, I guess there is something I never learn in a Yonsama event, you have to bring your tent to camp out the night before! We decided to wait back at the main entrance and luckily, we were able to grab a few copies of the Nikkan Sports special @@


A bit disappointed at missing Yong Joon's exhibition, but I quickly recovered as I had a mission - to report every details that my tiny brain can hold (sorry in this case, not too much :) Cloudnine kindly let babasan and I sat together and ours seats were pretty good. We were on the first level to the left of the stage, with an overhead screen not too far and a wide aisle right in front of us. You see, it's different from the Osaka Premium Event which the proximity of your seat to the stage was crucial; here in Yokohama, it's the closeness to those giant TV screens that mattered. As you see, there were 7 of them - 1 in center, 2 on each side and 4 up on the hanging screen cube, so many many fans were very happy :)


The attendance was 12,000 this time versus 35,000 in June, so you can imagine it's a little 'quieter' and 'calmer' without Yong Joon appearing on stage. In fact, there's this intimate and warm feelings ringing in the air, as if we were waiting for a close family member to call in long distance at anytime now ...... ring, ring, ring

sorry too tired, will continue tomorrow, ok?

pictures are credited as posted

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Nosebleedingly handsome


Hi Hi dear sisters ..... thank you so much for your warm and comforting words. I feel much better and am now wrecking my tiny brain trying to remember what happened 2 days ago in Yokohama, yikes! Please bear with me, I'm going to work on it now. Before we start, please grab some cotton balls because your nose is about to bleed after looking at this gorgeous picture. Hehe, you have to click and enlarge it to give HRH's eyelashes the justice they deserve :)



original by byjfan kaorin

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Yokohama Christmas Event I


Hi Hi sisters ...... I think you are eager waiting to know more about the event - how Yong Joon looked like, how he is doing and what he said to his family. It was very emotional for me and I am sorry I am too overwhelmed seeing how beautiful and happy he looked. I am not really in a (physical) state to write tonight so I'll just post these pictures (eventhough I know you wanted to see the prince himself, not the venue) and come back to write about the details, sorry! bb has posted some pictures of the satellite broadcast, I am sure more will be out soon when the sisters starting going home and post them.

Yokohama arena

The longest lineup I've ever seen. Even longer than at Osaka Kyocera Dome!

Reporters everywhere

Seas of crowds shivering and waiting to enter

White tents set up selling Yong Joon's goods
Nikkan Sports special issue - paper for today

Inside the venue, more crowds

SkyPerfecTV booth set up for taking subscription orders

For the 3 months of Yonsama Matsuri :)

Postcard set from the Osaka TWSSG Premium Event for sale

Winter Sonata 2 Pachinko booth (I risked my life while taking this picture, quite a few angry ajummas thought I was taking their pictures. Sigh, not easy being a blogger)

Baba san and I have settled in our seats. Haha, see how much leg rooms we had! and not too far from the screens and stage too :)

The Christmas-y stage

A look back at the Arena when the concert is finished

Really exhausted now, I'll write about Yong Joon when I feel better, ok?

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Yonsama Matsuri


Hi Hi sisters ..... the Miss 'slow news' me am posting now. You probably have all heard about the 'Bae Yong Joon Festival' in Japan SkyPerfecTV starting from 1 January 2009. For 3 straight months, they will be showing various programs and dramas of BYJ. Haha, so if you are not a Yonsama fan yet in Japan, you will be one very soon! And if you are already a fan, you'll have a ball next year!


I have to say our prince is really a superstar of his own breed. Never has there been a foreign star which received this honour and he just handled it with such grace and dignity.


Here are the 2 websites
SkyperfecTV and Hanryu for details. They are in Japanese, so I just did a very crude translation myself for practice. For a more accurate and complete translation, please refer to tomato-san's in princess bb's blog :)

3 months with many 'BYJ-contents' special programs
Broadcast program :

[SkyPerfect BYJ Exclusive Special ~ Change & Future] - SkyChan

[Drama TWSSG Premium Event 2008 in Japan] - SkyChan

[Winter Sonata complete version, subtitled] - LalaTV

[Love Greetings] - Travel Channel

[Complete Exclusive BYJ Coming to Japan Private Document 2008 ~ from inside the backstage to private image showing] - TBS Channel

[Life Experience ~ BYJ Chapter] – KBS world

As well, to commemorate Yonsma Matsuri, there will be BYJ goods for sale offered by BOFi. A special website will be set up on Dec 26 for application.


Hehe, it's tomorrow! Our prince's photo exhibition in the afternoon and the Christmas concert at night in Yokohama. My eyes are rested, my ears are rinsed and my tickets are ready, I can't wait! And apparently according to bb's Manager Yang : THEY can't wait either :) I'll try to report back when I have time, ok? Have a great weekend!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Stunningly handsome


Hi Hi sisters ... thank you for your well wishes for my mom and sis's visit. Hehe, they are so tired and are in dreamland now, so happy I have a chance to check out these very clear and stunning photos of HRH. These are postcards from Face Shop. Like princess said, when can we overseas fans get our hands on them? Or do they really want us to fly over to Korea to snatch them up? :) Please enjoy!


original post BYJGallery by 권오경

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Megane ITCHY-ba


He He sisters ....... no sweat, I mean in the hair department. I am happy to report that both hair and head are intact and I am ready to face my Prince Charming on Sunday :) I miss him so much already as my mom and sister will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow for a visit. That means I will not have much time to touch my PC in the next few weeks, sob sob.

Our dear gosijo came to the rescue and sent me this very cute GIF (furnished with the very witty title) of our handsome prince smiling so bashfully @@ Hehe, somebody was very itchy :)

Photobucket

Now I really really itchy to see him too! (Thanks thanks princess for teaching me how to post a GIF, love :)

Monday, December 8, 2008

Hairy business


Hi Hi sisters ...... Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We attended an 'O sooji' event this weekend. Now before you start picturing what exciting cultural grandeur I have embarked this time, it simply means 'big cleaning', sorry. Nevertheless, it's a traditional customs in Japanese society and maybe I'll write about it some day. Now, where were we? Oh yes, the sunshine boy and his hairy legs (that our princess loves)!


Well, but I really have a different hair issue to worry about today. You probably know already how ‘committed’ I am when it comes to our prince’s hairstyle, eh? When he grew his hair long, I became goldilocks; when he decided to color it light, I went blondie; he opted for the glam, ponytail look, I turned into a pony too! Hehe, don't believe it, remember this What's with the hair? article I posted before?


One challenge of relocating to a new city is you will lose the great network of personal services that you have established and been enjoying like your doctor, esthetician and hairstylist etc. Even though I would not count 'Mr. Trendsetter' hairstylist as my top 10 favorite guys in the world (well, I’ll reconsider if he stops performing his latest experiment on yours truly’s hair), but I have to admit that this guy has got the best haircutting technique. He understands the nature of his clients’ hair and considers how you can manage it at home. So silky and shiny, oh so healthy :)


So one of my concern when I came to Tokyo is 'where am I going to find another Mr. Trendsetter here'? Well, Lady Luck was on my side, and I meant Lady! I got attracted by this very elegant and cozy salon, so I decided to give it a try. They booked me with the (lady) director who is the only stylist speaking English. Like most Japanese establishment, they have impeccable service, very personal and genuine. I walked away with a very happy head and face :) and considered myself a loyal customer there.


Then a month ago, I became ‘itchy’ for other Japanese salon experience, cause I can’t compare unless I try other ones, right? So I went to this big and famous salon chain and tried out the latest Yonsama’s Osaka look. I was quite overwhelmed with the number of staffs and customers there, at least 100 of them busily hurrying back and forth, minding their own business. I was like one of the headcounts lost in a sea of scissors, hair colors, shampoos, magazines and blow dryers. Suffice to say, when these professionals did not pour their hearts into their work, the result of my haircut and coloring was less than desirable. (Well, you can tell when my hubby and son never noticed my hair change after I went to the salon, BUT this time both of them said, “mama, you look different!” Now that’s a VERY VERY bad sign! Sob sob, even the sweet mymy said, “onni, your hair is different!”)


Now, being spoiled with pampering in the very attentive Japanese style of service, I have learned my lesson and know it’s best to trust your instincts. This afternoon I am going back to my ‘Miss Tokyo Trendsetter’. I don’t expect miracles that she will turn me from a dustmop-holding ajumma to glass-slippers Cinderella, just decent enough so I won’t feel too embarrassed in front of my dear Yong Joon (Ok, via Satellite, so he won’t see me :) and Bae sisters this Sunday. You ask, what's so special about this Sunday? Remember the Yokohama event “Christmas with Family – Although We’re Far Apart”, it's the first time Yong Joon will appear LIVE via Satellite to his Japanese family! Can't wait!


Now, which style should I shoot for? His latest curly look?
or this glamorous loose tie-up look?

Hehe, I like this one the best for everyday look!

I pray as long as it's not the 'wig' look (even though his face is still so beautiful)! Now if you don't hear from me in the next few days, you know I am hiding under a pillow sobbing huh.