By Sake Soju:
eXcitement
I had plans to watch December musical back in early November and happy to secure air ticket and musical ticket. It was indeed a bonus when he announced the year end concert.
However, they made it very difficult for us, international fans to get the tickets! Fortunately for me, I have my Korean colleagues to help me but it also means my “obsessions” are now known to my overseas colleagues. Oh well…I GOT A TICKET !!!
I finally arrived in Seoul after a redeye flight. Landed in the morning of 30 Dec and weather was “bearable” then. I battled the cold and queued for more than an hour for the merchandise. I should have bought all! ^^ I was trying to be “sensible”. After all, it was only Day 1.
I was to meet a fellow xiahpwa, Dolphinxiah , and we embraced when we saw each other. We have never met but had met in a junsu chat group started by another xiahpwa from Malaysia whom I met “virtually” either through JYJ3 or twitter (hmm…munie, where did we meet?). JYJ and JYJ3 had brought us new friends from around the world! It was a hectic experience for dolphinxiah to get there on time (read about it in her fan account).
eXtraordinary
Together, we went for the concert. What beautiful red sea of lights as the concert was starting. The concert slogan was brightly lited.
And then he appeared ! Opening with Elisabeth and other musical hits in an all-white outfit. It is always enchanting to hear him LIVE. I snapped just TWO shots of him from the large screen and was immediately issued warning. All respect to those who always take HD pictures and share with us ! How on earth do you guys do that?! I only managed a miserable unclear picture like this!
Even with the orchestra music where you associate with majestic music or ballads, he broke into his sexy, provocative moves for “No Reason”. And by now , everyone should have watched/heard the acoustic version of Incredible. What can I say but you’re something, something, Junsu! It was INCREDIBLE. I just wished he had performed more ballads than musical songs. He has many more ballads that will melt us all at a live concert. 11am , with guitar. was my other favorite besides Incredible. Seriously, his singing was beyond words. It was phenomenal.
I don’t understand a lot of Korean so genie time was a little hard for me to understand. But it was still heartwarming when the distance between junsu and fans were drawn so much closer. It got even closer when he ran across the second block of audience!! Now why didn’t I get those seats!!! I believe some even manage to “touch” him! *ENVY* while watching all these through my binoculars as I was way upstairs!
The night ended on a high note as always. His voice was ringing in my ears as I walked back to the nearby hotel.
Good night, Junsu.
eXcursions
Day 2 was a JYJ day. I checked out at the hotel at Jamsil and went to next hotel in Jongno-3, taking subway with a backpack and a cabin trolley bag. Almost wanted to take a taxi but thought my cash is best to be saved for JYJ merchandise! First to Crebeau Belle. Whoever had seen the cats “in person” will definitely fall in love with the cuties!
Used to be obsessed with Leo and the cats. Even made them into decorations for cupcakes.
In picture below : Leftmost is supposed to be “Leon” who had been given away I believe.
I have always loved Leo so to see him up close, I “lost” myself! I was snapping photos of the cats and ended up lying on my stomach on the floor to get close-up shots of them.
I got up before anyone see me sprawled on the floor. Luckily I got up as next moment, Papa Kim came into the shop! This is not the first time I saw him and mama Kim but never in an enclosed room where he was casually chatting with everyone. I took a picture with him OF COZ! He asked if we watched concert (in Korean). I understand a little and just replied “last night” in English. All this while, I suspect Mama Kim was in one of the rooms.
After buying more merchandise, I finally left and not wait to see Mama Kim. I had taken photo with her in August at Elisabeth. I showed Papa Kim the photo. *what was I thinking? strike a conversation when I don’t speak Korean and he doesn’t speak English?*
Next – Mickiss. Mickiss was a little messy with many, many unopened boxes, perhaps with more Yoochun’s merchandise? His aunt was there and so were many fans from Japan! As usual, I was mistaken as Japanese until I asked for stuff in English and Aunty suddenly looked up from her paperwork and smiled. Hello, Aunty! Should I or should I not ask for a photo with her? I decided not to as she was really busy at her desk buried in her paperwork. I bought a cute thumb drive and some other little items and left.
Now time to meet up with my dolphinxiah, to go Cafe JHolic. Woah, Kim Jaejoong. I am impressed. Not by the cafe decor but the idea of the plastic slips with your signature on it for fans to slip in the receipt. Now we get an “autographed” item from visiting the cafe.
I must admit, I prefer Coffee Cojjee decor and ambience. I thought it was cozier. However, jholic was truly designed with his fans in mind, with JH room, JJ room, smoking room.. and the sofa area on upper level. This was last stop. I would have gone to Bum’s Story but with so many junsu’s events that week and jaejoong’s busan concert, I am sure there were many fans in town and Bum’s would be their ideal place for New Year’s Eve! I skipped Bum’s this round but I had been there twice last August, when I went for Elisabeth.
New Year’s Eve didn’t just end here. We went back to hotel to catch Yoochun on TV as presenter for SBS awards! Yoochun appeared near 12 midnight and I dashed out for the bell ringing at Jongno immediately after Yoochun presented! I would have preferred to spend New Year’s Eve counting down with junsu at his concert but sigh, it was impossible to get tickets for that night. And … 5,4,3,2,1 “Happy New Year from Seoul ” was my message to all my friends , who are , one hour earlier in my home country. 🙂
eXtravagance!
1 Jan. Woke up in the same country as the boys ! Decided to pick up my December ticket and visit Kyobo bookstore. Jaejoong’s mini concert and fanmeet DVD was available at Kyobo but boy, it was heavy. I didn’t buy it as I was not sure how I could fit that in my bags. Besides the DVD, I was told there was a magazine ? Anyway, I didn’t find it. Collected my ticket from Sejong Theatre which is only across the street from Kyobo and was holding on to the ticket with bare hand standing along the windy road (I realized I lost one glove!), “one more day before I see junsu on stage again!”. And off to Dongdaemun for shopping!
2 Jan, I went on a shopping spree along Garosugil. It was on impulse that I bought a Helianthus backpack which apparently Yoochun was seen carrying one. I am regretting now! Why didn’t I buy a Moldir instead?!?!
Met dolphinxiah again at Myeongdong to visit NII. Much as I want the poster, there is nothing practical for us to buy at NII this time of the year as they are all winter clothing. We had a late lunch before we bade farewell. We will meet again I am sure!
eXcellence
It was time to get ready for the musical. Quick shower and off I go to Sejong Centre. I was 1.5 hours early. I bought my program book and waited anxiously for the door to open. Obviously, 99% are there for Junsu but we were all well behaved. No screaming as he appeared on stage. I was glad I was holding on to my binoculars and watching his facial expression in the first few scenes when he met her. His smitten, lovestruck look with a constant sheepish smile was too cute to be missed! If you are watching December, do zoom in on him after the first scene. There was no translation but the actors and actresses were very good and even without full understanding of their conversation, the few sad scenes brought tears to my eyes. Intermission and I was busy updating the girls on whatsapp chat group. 🙂
Act 2 began and Junsu/Jiwook is now an adult. He looked very mature in that 3-piece suit but he looked good. He again did his sexy dance move at the end! He is real teaser. Of course we fans cannot hold back much longer and had to cheer/scream when he did that! The encore song was really nice and I think it was not in his December album. I will have to convert someone’s fancam to audio. I so did NOT want it to end because it means… That is the end of my Xia trip! I didn’t get to see him or even his parents that night. Maybe next time?
His singing, his performance is awesome , just brilliant, excellent. What other words can I use ? Fabulous, Spectacular, etc. ec.
eXhausting ?
Final day in Seoul, 3 Jan. I made one more trip to Cafe Jholic. I bought merchandise from Belle, Mickiss, I must buy something from Cafe jholic! I ordered my regular latte and a piece of cheesecake. Errrr Jaejoong ya, you must tell your staff to defrost the cake completely before serving! The cheesecake was half frozen. Well, I guess no one cares how the cakes taste at Cafe Jholic. I made my purchase – coffee mug. In picture below, I already used it at home and use it for my homebrew cafe latte.
Stuffing all my clothes into my bags, I see no more space jaejoong’s DVD set. I will have to give that a pass. Time to go to the airport and what shuttle bus did I take? 6002!!!!!!
This is indeed a Xia or JYJ trip for me. A lot of shopping, a lot of walking but it is all well worth it. I got home and our chat group continued in keeping each other posted of the happenings. We hope we will all meet for JYJ concert in Seoul when it happens. I sincerely hope all JYJ3 followers can make it there too and we could perhaps hold a big JYJ3 banner!
Happy New Year to everyone and JYJ forever! ^^
[This fan account was on my computer for quite some time after my Seoul trip and I went to Bali from 10-12 Jan, not expecting it to be “xiatic” again!]
***
uneXpected – Bali
One week after my Seoul trip, I made a trip to Bali to celebrate my birthday on 10 Jan (Fri). The minute I touched down, my whatspp had tonnes of messages. Junsu is in Bali !?!?!? OMG. And soon , the actual venue was also revealed through some fans who recognized the place. OK, that is far from where I stay. I was at Seminyak while he was at the South of Bali . He posted sunset photos, I posted sunset photos. It is like we are staring at the same sunset but sigh… at least 17 km away.
He posted this when I arrived. I arrived later in the day than him. But that is not enough palm trees/coconut trees for him. I tweet my version
Of course he is not going to see these pictures but my sunset view went more and more beautiful as the sky changed colours
Junsu-ya, where are you? Hiding in the private resort?
The next day I just wanted to go South to be nearer to his resort just to try my luck! OK, my friend FINALLY agreed but we are to go to this other resort for sunset view. Alright, not that I want to stalk him but I guess to be nearby is good enough.
And then he tweeted a beautiful sunset view.
Now I could have been at the other end of the sunset as I tweet this:
I think I must have tweet a few more pictures to him. Not that he is going to read fans’ tweets but he should get out of the resort to see even more beautiful parts of Bali ! I guess he chose to go shopping instead.
I stayed at this place for many hours looking over at the sunset and thinking the boy must be on the left side of this photo ….. 11 Jan night was also when Chelsea was playing against Hull City. I strongly believed he is in the room watching football on TV with his buddies.
On Sunday, I left and bade farewell to Bali and Junsu. I knew there was no chance to bump into him at the airport as I checked the Korean Air schedule. The next flight was 12.30am 13 Jan.
I turned back to take a last shot at the immigration counters. He will be here … later.
I thought he was likely to be at airport 10.30pm on the day I left. True enough, he left that day. Sigh… no chance to see him . But woah… what an uneXpected trip – to be in the same place for holidays as Junsu and about 1 week after I saw him at “December” ! What a coincidence.
I guess this really marks the end of my Xiatic trips. What a great start to 2014 ! 🙂
Shared by: JYJ3
Thanks to Sake Soju for sharing her fanaccount with us ^^
I didn’t know there was a “Mickiss” store. What are they selling in Mickiss?
Hi,
Mickiss has been there for a while.. it sells yuchun & mickey-inspired merchandises! A must go for JYJers & Chunsas when they visit Seoul, since that’s the yuchun related place u can go to in Seoul now..If you’re lucky, you can meet Yuchun’s aunt as she manages the shop!
Yes. Aunty was there when I was there. ^^
Thank you for sharing such a lovely account of your trip.
Waaahhh!!! Fun & excitement filled trip for Dolphinxiah & you!!! Next one.. JYJers unite for JYJ con later this year ok!^^ woohoo!!!
Wow.. this is really a nice fan account.. thank you for sharing the Bali experience also,.. It has a really beautiful sunset no wonder Junsu choose to be there to relax and just unwind.. I should add this place to “must go” list.. It looks like a really cool place to just charge up yourself.. ^__^
Junsu was in an eXpensive resort so I believe he has even more access to the beautiful views. I had to queue to get into some bars with views. ^^ But yes, Bali is indeed a place to go for beach holiday.
Wow! great fan-account I really enjoyed reading through it, thanks a lot! I wish i could have seen Junsu for the end of the year, but *sigh* alas it wasn’t meant to be >_<
I planned to watch his musical but after I booked my air tickets, the year-end concert was announced and I get to see him “twice”. Lady Luck was rewarding me for a tough 2013 I guess. ^^
Woot woot woot very thorough and nice fa, Sake. It was truly an amazing trip. Yes, finally met in person with Sake_soju after some time in xiahpwa wa chat group, well not only xiahpwa. We have chunsa as well and we love jj too.
Sake, after in JYJland for a week, junsu came to bali same time as you. You are fated to be in the same land again hehehe. Each time Sake showed sunset photo, junsu always updated twitter too.
We are planning to go as group for JYJ concert with all wa chat members, right Jess? We’ll come back to Seoul again. Please let it come true. It will be super fun!!
Kekeke… better bring all ur cute xia towels to wipe ur tears when we go for JYJ concert wakaka!!!
Indeed.. those sunset pics were beautiful.. Sake and Junsu are like communicating with each other via sunset pics!
Yeay!! Visit Bali, everyone!!! promoting Indo tourism here^^ Hey!! even Junsu & Yuchun love it!!
@Dolphinxiah @chunst @Sake Soju
Hell Yeah! We will be together and back in Seoul for this year JYJ concert when they release their new album! For sure! Always Keep The Faith!
I am indeed looking forward to their concert and a chance for a big get-together. a fan project with jyj3 or something!
count me in tooooo..hehehe…
JYJ concert + JYJ day with all of u here 😉 that’s my wishes from last year!
Thank u so much sake for sharing this wonderful experience with us..what a precious moments^^
Thank you all got the lovely comments. My “Virgin” fanaccount post. ^^
Bali trip “with” junsu was really unexpected. Imagine my reaction when I found out through the gals in chat.
Meeting a few of you in person finally had also “opened” my eyes to fellow JYJers. Continue commenting on jyj3 and hope we meet in person! If coz if you are one of those that post negative comments, beware… Don’t let me meet you. Haha.*eveil grin and rotten eggs in hand^
Thanks for the sharing! I must say you are a fine example of a JYJ fan, someone with a bias but who also loves and respects the other members. I enjoyed yr Bali pics and Leo is seriously cute, and I’m not even a cat lover!
Due to budget “constraint”, I have to “focus” on one . If I can, I would have attended ALL activities (solo or as a group) and all official merchandise ! They are magnificent trio and you guys (or us, fans) make this fandom worth joining and sharing.
Hey Sake! Great fan account! Really enjoyed reading it. Glad you decided to write one…which you should long ago. The photos are great too. Daebak! 👏👏👍👍
I think I may have just left the fanaccount in my computer within sending but afer the Bali trip… i decided to send . Wonder who really saw him in Bali (in restaurants or while shopping).
hi sake.. i enjoyed reading your fan account, thank you so much for sharing that wonderful experience.. 😉 ive been wanting to watch junsu and jae’s concert but since my savings is not enough so i reserve it for JYJ concert hopefully they have one this year.. 😉 im keeping my fingers crossed and looking forward to meet all of you in person.. 😉
Continue saving ! There are lots to to in Seoul !
I mean lots to DO in Seoul.
And lots to visit : Crebeau Belle, Mickiss, Bum’s Story, Cafe JHolic..etc.
Unless they have new endorsement, we are now left with Moldir, M Limited , NII to buy to show our support. But if contract with NII is ending… we will see what is the next product they endorse!
(I still have Nature Republic skincare UNOPENED since 2 years ago. I have to throw them away now since I bought a lot just to get standees, posters. Now I have unopened Tony Moly products too… ).
@sake soju
i watched Elisabeth in last August but wasn’t able to visit Crebeau Belle, Mickiss and Bum’s Story because of time constraint ..*sobs*…you were so lucky, sake. and when junsu was in Bali, i hesitated to go since i didn’t have enough information on his whereabouts etc. *sobs again*…hope to go together with other xiahpwa or other JYJ family in their next concert so I won’t feel alone and clueless.
I was there in August for Elisabeth too. Met another two fans at the venue and went to bums with one of them after the musical! I think we managed to get in to restaurant after midnight because many fans were there. Ah… Looking forward to next trip..
Thank you for your awesome detailed fan account!!!! Can someone tell me what is Crebeau Belle?
Crebeau Belle is skincare product/cosmetics brand. This shop we visited is run by Junsu’s mum I believe. When you enter, you see more Junsu merchandise than the skincare products ! The products are on display but our eyes were feasting on junsu’s merchandise. Thanks to a blog page (http://sugarnoona.wordpress.com/tag/yoochun/), I found my way there. Note that there was a little error in direction to Mickiss where it was indicated take elevator to 5th floor and room 505. It was 9th floor, room 925.
The 3 cats are housed in one of the rooms in Crebeau Belle and as long as you do not disturb them (no flash photography, no hitting the glass to scare them, no making noise, etc), the staff allows you to take as many photos as you want of the cats and the surroundings.
@Sake Soju (@sake_soju)
wow! wow! wow! you are cool and awesome^^ thanks for the fanaccount, i enjoyed reading it!! 😀 you’re lucky to visit places and watch Junsu/JYJ in their activities. one more thing, connecting with fellow xiahpwas/ JYJers seals the bond and fondness 🙂
Was lucky and glad to meet fans that are positive and share common “interests” . (So anyone who supports only one and slime to other TWo of the trio , I think best not to meet. Haha)
Hey Sake,finally i finish reading it…I like to call with your real name!! Haha..yeah,nice to know you..was it in bangkok i met u for the first time?it was really short chat,but Im happy that we still keep in touch..I remember that I was just msg &tweet you in twitter and we were telling each other what shirt ,color we wear for the concert..Luckily its easy to find me among all the xiapwa haha..Love the fanacc..short and sweet.Makes me want to go to Bali too!! ^_^
But Munie…before we met in bkk we started chatting on twitter. I forgot how they started. Oh well… Yes glad we met at Incredible concert in BKK!
I meant how *that started