[FAN ACCOUNT] 130524 - K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia (Cube Entertainment's Fan's POV)

[FAN ACCOUNT] 130524 - K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia

(Cube Entertainment's Fan's POV)

The Evening Before (May 23rd)

My family and I arrived at Genting Highlands, Pahang on May 23rd.  Our flight was delayed for about an hour, so my energy was mostly drained by the time we arrived at the lobby of our hotel.  Before entering our hotel room, I had to first meet up with a few Melodies (Melody = Fan Name of BTOB's fan) to pass them their slogan towels and lightsticks.  (For those who did not know, the slogan towels and lightsticks that I am referring to are the official support merchandise produced and sold by the talent management company.)  The first day of the concert was happening on that evening.  The tickets that I bought for my family and I were for the second day. 

From our hotel room, we could hear the songs that the artists were performing.  Our hotel was right next to the main entrance of the concert venue.  I could particularly hear BTOB's 'I Stole Those Lips (Irresistible Lips)', 'Wow', 'Second Confession', and G.NA's 'Oops!' because when those songs were performed, my family and I were walking somewhere outside, looking for a place to eat. 

It was about half an hour past midnight and my family members were already sound asleep but I was still up, watching TV.  I then received a text message from a fellow Melody-and-K-popper.  I was supposed to pass her some slogan towels too but we could not meet up before the concert that evening because of my delay in arrival.  We then made a quick appointment to meet up outside of a coffee house near the lobby of the hotel where the artists were staying at.  There are a number of different hotels at Genting Highlands and those hotels are connected by walking paths and buildings.  So, I just followed the sign boards and some directions from that Melody friend of mine to get to our meet up place.  I finally reached the place and I knew that I was at the right place because I could see a number of people gathering and waiting outside of a coffee shop.  At that time, the artists were having a break after the first day of concert at the coffee house.  I met my Melody friend there and passed the slogan towels to her.  We had a little chat and I met some other K-pop fans.  I was told that BTOB, my favourite group out of the performing line-ups, had already gone back to their rooms.  I decided to wait with the other fans to try my luck at catching a glimpse of the other artists who were going to come out of the coffee house sooner or later.  BTOB's senior label-mate, G.NA (pronounced as "Ji-Na"), came out of the coffee house with a manager from Cube Entertainment and  some security guards.  They walked towards my direction, making me feel more excited but I tried to contain my excitement and I took a step back to give way.  G.NA was literally about one metre away from me.  I blurted out "Hi, G.NA~" and she looked at me while smiling, waving, and saying "Hi!" back.  That made me feel so happy and thankful!  She is not only a very beautiful woman, but she is also kind and genuine towards her fans and others.  Not long after that, 4Minute, also BTOB's senior label-mates, made their way out of the coffee house.  A manager went out first with a cake from 4Minute's fanclub.  The girls followed after that, surrounded by security guards.  The girls were all-smiles as they walked pass fans.  Like G.NA, they really looked like porcelain dolls up close.  Apart from BTOB, G.NA, and 4Minute, the other artists in the line-ups of K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia were Sistar and Brown Eyed Girls.  I was not sure if Sistar and Brown Eyed Girls had already gone back to their rooms earlier on or not, but I decided not to wait any longer and walked back to my room. 

G.NA coming out of the coffee house and walking towards my direction(!)

4Minute coming out of the coffee house and walking towards my direction too(!)

The Concert Day (May 24th)

From the afternoon, I joined the other fans lobby-stanning (Lobby-stanning, a.k.a. hotel-stanning, is a term used to refer to fans waiting at the hotel lobby where their favourite artists are staying at, hoping for a chance to see the artists with their own eyes when the artists go out to have a meal, walk somewhere else, or off to a rehearsal or show.)  Of course, security guards were there to make sure that fans did not go overboard and that the other guests of the hotel would not go through too much of a difficult time because of the hoarding of fans.  I felt bad for the other guests because there were times when they had to squeeze their way through the fans to get to the hotel lobby.  Fans were kind enough to make way when necessary but still, the overwhelming number of gathered fans at a hotel lobby can be quite frightening to anyone who is not used to that.  Nobody got hurt, though.  We patiently waited and queued at the hotel lobby for hours.  Our biggest 'enemy' at that time was not the long hours of standing but the cold highland wind that occasionally blew in from the front entrance of the hotel. 

The concert was about to start in a couple of hours, so G.NA walked out to the hotel lobby first, surrounded by an entourage of staff members and security guards.  Sistar and 4Minute then came out one after the other.  My Melody friends and I were anticipating BTOB the most.  We kept waiting.  The authority at the hotel lobby announced that BTOB (and Brown Eyed Girls) would not be coming out soon.  Some even claimed that they were already at the concert venue since rehearsal, but fans knew better that they were not at the venue yet because some fans really waited at the hotel lobby since morning.  Nice try but you cannot easily fool fans, okay?  Fans are extra alert, extra attentive, and extra informative.  Most fans were already on their way back or to the concert venue but a number of fans remained at the hotel lobby area.  I even had some time to briefly followed and 'stalked' managers from the talent management companies, especially Cube Entertainment, when they wandered at the lobby area.  My Melody friends and I wanted to stay at the hotel lobby until BTOB came out but it was already ten minutes before showtime.  We did not want to miss the start of the concert, so we decided to make our way to the concert venue, which was about fifteen minutes away by foot.

The managers

On the first day, the order of performing artists was BTOB-G.NA-4Minute-Brown Eyed Girls-Sistar.  I expected the order to be the same for the second day but it turned out that Sistar was the first performing act.  My seat was at the front row and the two seats on my right as well as the two seats on my left belonged to fanboys.  So, I was surrounded by fanboys!  I enjoyed Sistar's performances since I knew some of their songs.  In fact, I was familiar with all of the songs that the group performed that evening.  After Sistar, it was G.NA's turn to perform.  I screamed my lungs out especially when BTOB's Il Hoon came out to perform his part in G.NA's 'Oops!'.  G.NA also performed the English version of her debut song, 'I'll Back Off, So Live Well', among other songs.  Then, 4Minute went on stage to perform their songs.  4Minute is one of my top K-pop acts.  The second last performing act was BTOB!  Woohoo~~!  As expected, I went insane when BTOB came out.  From the first song, 'I Only Know Love', to 'Secret (Insane)', to 'Second Confession', to 'Wow', I gleefully sang along and followed some of the dance moves.  The guy sitting next to me was surprised and asked me, "Waa... You even know all their dance moves?".  I smilingly nodded and continued cheering.  Brown Eyed Girls was the last performing act.  I was not very familiar with some of their songs but I still enjoyed their performances.  During Brown Eyed Girl's turn to perform, the group's manager came to the front of the stage area among the security guards and stood near my seating area.  At one point, he briefly scanned the seating audience area and I happily waved at him.  He saw me and nodded.  

Sistar

G.NA

4Minute

BTOB

Brown Eyed Girls

When the concert was over, I walked to my hotel room, feeling tired but happy.  I simply love it when I can smile after a concert no matter how exhausting the day has been. 

Nice Little Escape

Update 130409 - Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDVI8OYXxCs

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A few weekends ago, some of my closest friends joined my family and me on a little getaway.  We booked an overnight stay at Retreat & Training Centre of Siar Beach, Lundu.  I'm glad that we took some time out despite our piling assignments and upcoming midterm tests back then.  I felt like we really needed to unwind for a short while.

Before checking in at the resort, we stopped by at Lundu Town to have lunch.  We also visited the park for a short while.

Taking a stroll along the beach was calming and refreshing.

My friends and I played soccer at the sand-field provided there.  It was all of us girls against the goalkeeper.



During our BBQ session, we made a surprise birthday celebration for two of our friends.

 After an overnight stay, we checked out with tired bodies but happy faces.

I hope that there will be more chances for getaways like this to take place in the future.  It's refreshing, fun, and uplifting.

Back in December

Catch Up Post #4
(Last)

Back in December 2012

2012 Asia Super Showcase in Malaysia [Fan Account included] 

Remember that I bought a V.I.P. Zone ticket for this showcase last time?  The time was finally coming!  BTOB in Malaysia~~~!  Woohoo~!  You know what?  I think I'll make a short fan account on the showcase, then include a few pictures below.  I never got to make my fan account.  Yup, terribly busy!

[FAN ACCOUNT] 121211 - 2012 Asia Super Showcase (Melody's POV)

Since the venue of the showcase was in Kuala Lumpur (KL), I had to take a flight from Kuching to KL.   I (with my family) had to go for an afternoon flight on the same day of the showcase.  It would be better to depart earlier but I had a presentation in the morning.  So, right after the presentation at campus, I dashed back home to change and my uncle sent us to the airport.  We weren't late for boarding at all.  In fact, the flight was delayed for almost half an hour!  >.<  I usually wouldn't mind a slight delay but that day was different.  I needed to rush to claim my showcase ticket as soon as possible.  I tried to remain calm because freaking out wouldn't make me magically transport myself to KL in a blink of an eye, would it?

So, when we reached the airport in KL, dad and I went to the taxi ticketing booth while mom and my sisters went to get our luggage.  When we got in the taxi (which was a van, actually, since a taxi could carry maximum four passengers only and there were five of us) and directed the driver to bring us to Kenanga Wholesale City, the venue of the showcase.  I wasn't in a rush to actually enter the showcase venue yet because I bought a ticket with numbered seating.  However, I needed to get my showcase ticket first.  After getting my ticket, we were sent to our hotel by the driver to check in.  A funny (and quite stressful) incident happened when we were on our way up the elevator.  The maximum capacity of the elevator was three people but all five of us got in with our luggage, thinking that it would be alright.  The next thing we knew, the elevator doors wouldn't open when we reached our floor.  Dad called the receptionist and seconds later, the doors opened.  Without resting, right after we dropped off our stuff at our room, we rushed back out to go to the showcase venue.  (Yes, my family members went to the showcase venue too just to have a walk around because the venue was also a shopping mall.)  This time, we didn't go by taxi but we went there by monorail.  Rushing to the nearest monorail station without slowing down was tiring but we had to keep going.

This is the fanboard that I made and brought along to the showcase.

It reads "I only know BTOB", derived from BTOB's song, 'I Only Know Love".

Once we reached the venue after walking non-stop, I was so drained but I got some of my energy back when I saw the V.I.P. entrance.  I waved goodbye to my family members and went in.  There were already a lot of fans in the venue.  Even though I got a V.I.P. seat, it was quite unfortunate as the seat number that I got was among the furthest from the stage within the V.I.P. Zone.  Oh well...I just got to live it.  So, I waited patiently along with everyone else as there were minutes left to the start of the showcase.  We could hear occasional screaming from the audience whenever they thought they saw glimpse of idols backstage.  LOL  I can totally relate.

The audience waiting for the showcase to start

So, the first group to go on stage was the group I went there for.  BTOB!!!  OMG OMG OMG...  BTOB members were really on stage in front of my freakin' eyes!  They appeared on the stage with their intro song, 'Born to Beat'.  I screamed so much but I tried to cool down so that I could enjoy their performance as much as possible.  I swear I was crying in joy inside, but on the outside, I was far too excited.  I could see BTOB!  I could see sweetie Eun Kwang!   The boys sounded so great live.  Even their presence was beyond amazing.

After their intro song, the music for 'I Stole Those Lips (Irresistible Lips)' was heard.  They performed that song so energetically.

Then, the upbeat feel was halted for a while as BTOB performed their balladry song, 'Imagine'.  The meaning behind the song is just honest and disturbing (in a strangely good way).  Click here to see the meaning of 'Imagine'.

'Imagine'

The next song was 'I Only Know Love (Lover Boy)'.  The song has such catchy chorus and mid-verses [*I just confidently created this term.*], in my opinion.  I like the choreography too.

After 'I Only Know Love (Lover Boy)', BTOB had a talk session.  Each member introduced himself.  One of the fanservice-like thing that made fans squeal was when Min Hyuk was about to introduce himself.  The boys were sweating so much after the dancing and partly because of the humid weather.  Just as Min Hyuk started to speak, Chang Seob who stood next to him wiped Min Hyuk's sweat.  Aww...how sweet!  They then smiled and laughed.  Peniel, the English speaker of the group, stated that Malaysia is just so beautiful and he would love to visit Malaysia again for a non-performing-related vacation.  Min Hyuk also stated that Malaysia is a country that he would always go back to.  The MC asked BTOB to sing an acapella, so they sang the chorus of 'Monday to Sunday'.

BTOB's talk session

The next song by BTOB was 'My Girl'.  OMG I love this song!  It's an easy-going, love-confessing song and it has a beautiful acoustic guitar intro music.  The song doesn't have a particular choreography, so the boys walked around the stage to get closer to the audience.  Of course, fans started to scream so much and the screaming could be heard even with the song's music being played.  From my place, I could see Peniel taking a selca on stage using a fan's polaroid camera.  *Not jealous, not jealous*  The members looked straight into some fans' eyes when they got closer.  Towards the end of the beautiful song, Eun Kwang even sat at the edge of the main stage and swayed his feet like an adorable child.  Why?????!!!!!!  *Mental breakdown*

Then, BTOB performed their debut title track, 'Secret (Insane)'.  Malaysian fans must have been most familiar with the fan chants of this song because they chanted so loudly and clearly.  *Proud*  At the second last chorus of the song, there was a technical problem and the music suddenly stopped.  BTOB kept singing and fans' chanting accompanied BTOB's singing, making the rest of the song sound seemingly better that the one with background music.  

BTOB Hyun Sik: "You make me go insane.."

Fans: "Sane!"

BTOB Hyun Sik: "Give me so much pain.."

Fans: "Pain!"

BTOB Hyun Sik: "I won't be back again.."

(While BTOB Min Hyuk rapped..) BTOB Sung Jae: "I wanna hate you.."

BTOB Eun Kwang: "You make me go insane.."

Fans: "Sane!"

BTOB Eun Kwang: "Give me so much pain.."

Fans: "Pain!"

BTOB Eun Kwang: "I won't be back again...~~"  *Then, he stopped and giggled.*

*Even more proud*

The MC came out and BTOB had an interview session.  BTOB answered a few randomly picked questions from a box.  An interpreter was on stage too.

[P/S - I might rephrase the sentences but the points remain the same.]

Question: How would you spend a day in Malaysia?

BTOB Eun Kwang: "One day wouldn't be enough.  I would spend two days here."  *Fans, including me, screamed and cheered.*

BTOB Sung Jae: (To audience) "Would you like to spend a night with me?"  *WTH Sung Jae!  Don't even start!  You're the youngest member!*

Question: What is your ideal type of girl?

BTOB Hyun Sik: (In English) "Beautiful girls!" *While moving his hand in the audience's direction with a wide cheeky-ish smile on his face*

The MC asked Il Hoon to do his famous Kiyeomi Player (Cutie Player).  Three fans, who were selected way before the showcase started, were called on stage to do the Kiyeomi Player with him.  You can watch how Il Hoon's Kiyeomi Player looks like in a fan-recorded video of the showcase below.

Cute, right?

BTOB then performed their last song for the night, 'Wow'.  It was "wow" indeed.  There were still EXO-M and the main act, Super Junior-M left for the rest of the showcase but I already used up my energy on BTOB.  Haha...  I enjoyed EXO-M and Super Junior-M's performances too.  Oh ya, I was standing on my chair throughout the showcase.  So, my legs were absolutely sore and aching.  Other fans did the same.  I met a new friend, an Exotic (EXO's fan) whose seat was next to mine.

Fans went crazy because of the three groups.

The full song list of the showcase

After the showcase ended, I waited for a while with my new friend because a lot of people were waiting for the elevators.  When we reached downstairs and went out, I met my family members who were waiting outside.  It turned out that there were quite a number of parents and family members waiting outside the mall throughout the showcase.  Mom said that they could hear fans' screaming even though the showcase venue was 15 floors above and in an indoor location.  We made our way back to the hotel.  I was beyond tired.  To add to that, I had to complete my university assignment and part of my degree thesis.  How hectic, right? I just have to be strong and keep going.

After the showcase ended

My showcase ticket

.. [End of Fan Account] ..

My flight back home was two days earlier than the rest of my family.  I had to go back early because I had so many university stuff to do.  Back at home in Kuching, grandma and my little cousin stayed over.

 The rest of my family went to shopping malls around KL while they were still there.

Dad saw BTOB's standee in one of the malls, took a picture of it, and WhatsApp'ed me the picture.  He even posted the picture on his Facebook wall, making people think that he's a fan too.  LOL

Victoria's Early Birthday Surprise

It's like a customary among my circle of closest friends to hold surprise birthday celebrations.  It's getting harder to come up with a potentially successful surprise each time.  For Vic's birthday, we planned to make an early birthday surprise.

Vic is a huge fan of Manchester United.  So, that explains the theme of the cupcakes and gift.

Christmas

Our area's Catholic community went from one house to another for Christmas carols.

Christmas tree 

Christmas carol at our house

Bambi, Our New 'Family Member'

My sister's friend had quite a number of dogs and puppies at her home.  She was giving away a few puppies.  Bambi, a playful and unladylike female puppy, was given to us.  She was born in October 2012.  Her favourite food is fried chicken.

Meet Bambi.

Family Gathering Dinner

My uncle, who's my dad's youngest brother, was coming to Kuching after a while with his wife and son.  We had a family dinner at a restaurant since it's hard for all of us to gather together at other times.

My uncle, aunt, and youngest cousin

Yes, this picture is blurry and can't be fixed.

My nephew (cousin's son) didn't want to stay still.  Haha...

Back in November

Catch Up Post #3

Back in November 2012

BTOB as Guest Group for 2012 Asia Super Showcase in Malaysia

Which Melody [Note: Melody is the official name of BTOB's fans.] wouldn't get excited over this?  Malaysian Melody, I mean, considering that it's a showcase in Malaysia.  First, the fact that BTOB would be in my own country was intriguing itself.  Second, that would be BTOB's first visit to Malaysia.  Third, BTOB is just awesome~~!!!  I had not decided whether or not I was going to go to the showcase at first.  As time went by, I made up my mind that I was going.  So, I bought a V.I.P. Zone ticket, priced at RM600.  The showcase ticket wasn't the only thing that I had to think of.  Since I live in East Malaysia, I needed to travel to West Malaysia by plane.  Therefore, I had to get flight tickets and book a hotel too.  I didn't get it all figured out at first, so I just told my mom about my intention to go to the showcase and I was going to pay for the showcase ticket on my own (and I did!).  We already had a confirmed plan of visiting KL in November as a family trip and all out tickets and accommodation were booked.  Lucky me...'cos mom gave a green light for me to have another (short) trip to KL in December for the showcase.  And guess what?  My other family members were going to KL too!  Are they crazy or what?  The same thing happened last time when I was going to DiGi Live K-pop Party where BEAST, 4Minute, and G.NA performed.  Thus, it was no surprise to me.

My receipt of the showcase ticket purchase 

As one of the projects to celebrate BTOB's first visit to Malaysia, BTOB's Malaysian fanclub, MYBTOB, collaborated with MY-CUBEFAMILY and CUBICBEATZ to create a photobook for BTOB.  I contacted the organiser of the showcase, under MYBTOB's name, to inform them about it and the organiser confirmed that they would pass the photobook to BTOB on our behalf.  The photobook project was called Project WOW.  'Wow' is the title track of BTOB's second mini album.  There's an official pose for 'Wow'.  It can be written as "W'o'W" and there's a meaning to it.  The two W's at the sides represent three fingers at both sides.  The small letter " o " represents an opened mouth.  The inverted commas represent eyes.  So, we had to do the W'o'W pose and submit the photo along with our messages to BTOB.  I got my sisters to participate too.  ^^

My W'o'W pose 

Camy's W'o'W pose 

Carina's W'o'W pose

Family Trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL)

So, my family and I went on our trip to KL.  My grandma, uncle, and cousins went along.  We booked one hotel room and all nine of us fit ourselves in it.  Somehow, my sister, Priscamy, and I always got the best, most complete bed.  Yea, I feel bad for that but since the others are okay with it, I'm okay too.  ^o^  During this trip, I polished my map-reading and public transport-riding skills.  I didn't even know that it wasn't hard to read maps (actual paper maps, not digital ones like the Google Maps or the navigation apps in the phone).  In fact, it can be fun, especially when you're able to find the places that you want to go to and the best routes to get there.

At Kuching International Airport, on the way to KL 

I blurred the faces of a couple of those in the picture because they're total strangers to me and I need to practise internet ethic by not making their clearly shown faces go public without permission.  *Good girl* 

Our dinner on our first night in KL was at a food court in Sogo KL.  We walked on foot to the mall because it was not far from our hotel.

 

We walked inside Sogo KL after dinner to shop (or window shop).

 One of the days, we went to my mom's cousin's house.

Guess what?  Since there were nine of us, my mom's cousin, who insisted on having us over, sent three cars to our hotel area to pick us up.  It was kind of mind-blowing in a funny way. ^^

We took pictures with Dwayne, the young son of my mom's cousin.

Then, we were sent back to our hotel. 

We also went to Genting Highland theme park.  I missed the chilly atmosphere and the rides there after not going there for several years.  It wasn't so cold on the day that we went there, though.

 We went on a number of different rides and I even bought a watermelon shaped lollipop for my younger cousin.  I actually bought another candy and a couple of DVDs there too.

 We spent our last couple of days walking here and there to shopping malls.  With the existence of light rail transit (LRT) and monorail as intergrated public transports around KL, it was easy to commute without spending too much on transportation.

 With sisters and cousins in one of the malls 

Oh, we bumped into some relatives at the mall.  What a pleasant coincidence!

We also stepped our feet on Pavilion's ground. 

The morning after our flight back home from KL, I had to attend a conference about entrepreneurship/ business corporations.  My friends and I promised each other to wear baju kurung, just because we wanted to.

Here are some of my closest friends.

Starcall Superfan Contest

For those who didn't know, Starcall is a smart phone application that allows fans to receive real-time (or close) video calls from K-pop idols.  When I got my smart phone, Starcall was among the first applications that I installed.  SK Planet, the developer of this application, held a contest called Starcall Superfan Contest to reward fans who have been supporting the idols and the application.  The co-organiser of the contest contacted MYBTOB to invite us to become the representative of BTOB's fans in Malaysia.  I took part in the contest but I definitely didn't expect anything like winning at all.  I just wanted to be supportive by participating.  One of the challenges that we needed to do was Photo Challenge, where we had to pose our most likely reaction when we receive a Starcall video call from our favourite idol(s).  Another challenge was Super Challenge, where we were supposed to do a one-minute dance cover of our favourite idol(s).  The Photo Challenge wasn't so hard for me.  I only needed to be me, you know.  For the Super Challenge, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the challenge because I haven't been practising my dances since....my freshman year in university.  But I did the challenge anyway just out of the spirit of being supportive.

My Photo Challenge submission 

This was taken just for fun.  Hehe...

My crappy Super Challenge submission
Don't watch if you judge people so easily!  Haha...

Twilight Finale - Breaking Dawn Part II Premier

I was never a real fan of Twilight.  My sister is, and it so happened that her school's brass band was doing a fund-raising event by selling movie tickets to the premier of Twilight - Breaking Dawn Part II.  Since it was for a fund-raising, I bought one ticket for myself.  I told my friends about the event and they bought four tickets.  I looked forward to watching the premier with my friends.  Even my family members were going.  And about the movie.....I loved it!

Our movie tickets

 Before the movie

Dad's Birthday

As a family tradition (or it seems so to me), we went to a seafood place for a dinner in commemoration of dad's birthday.

Dad and my youngest sister 

Mom and my younger sister

BTOB Eun Kwang and Min Hyuk's Birthdays

It's thrilling to me to know that Eun Kwang's birthday is just one day after my dad's!  Is that a sign, God?  *Wink wink*  It is common for fans to do a trending on Twitter to let the world know about their stars' special days.  Min Hyuk's birthday is only five days after Eun Kwang's.  Cool!  I took an extra effort to take a proof picture of Eun Kwang's birthday trending and not Min Hyuk's because I'm biasedly in love more excited about Eun Kwang.  Min Hyuk, I love and support you too.  Please know that.

Happy #LeaderKwangDay