We (me and a couple of friends from our very own Shinhwa forum, mySHINHWA) left at 2.30pm from Bangsar for Singapore. Met Wenny at the bus stop in Novena, to which I will say, I am so extremely grateful to have her be there cause without her, I think we'd be pretty lost. Thank you Wenny! Checked in, had dinner whereby the service was bleagh but the food was okay though it still tasted weird somehow.
Saturday came around and that was where the 'madness' begin. Had to wake up early to meet another friend, Nora, from the forum, then proceeded for breakfast at Orchard Road at some foodcourt. The food wasn't bad and wasn't that costly, well, depending on what you ordered. The korean food that Mich and I shared was SGD6.90, converting it would be about RM16, sounds expensive but seriously, it's not. Cause the same meal is also available at Malaysia, but with the price RM20++. From there, we met up with Jojo & Wenny and after a slight hold-up, we hit the place that Jojo and I have been dying to go ever since she first mentioned the place to me. Mise Xsclusive. The first thing that attracted my attention when we reached the shop was this huge banner of Jin's DoCoMo ad in white. He looked so...bloody good looking. Naturally, I squealed his name out loud. A very typical reaction from a girl who gets excited over things easily before getting all euphoric-like. Though it was pretty small, the shop did have all sorts of stuff, stuff that you can hardly get in M'sia anyway.
So as anyone who knows me well could possibly predict, the shop got me all exhilarated. I was torn between the stuff they had and had to make up my mind which was worth getting and which wasn't. Especially since they actually cost 2.35 times of the RM. After a couple of minutes, alright maybe not minutes, more like 20 minutes or more (?), I decided on a couple of official photos as well as laminated poster of Yuichi and a huge poster of KAT-TUN from their concert (which was way expensive). Oh yeah, there was also the DoCoMo pamphlet which was a very much random buying. It had only two pages with the pictures of the guys besides the cover...a little not-so-worth it,but still okay. Hehe. I didn't splurge as much as I thought I would. Total amount spent was about SGD70, thanks to Wenny who had the member card which provided discounts.
Yuichi just looked so good that I knew I had to get this poster, even if it wasn't official. Very drool-worthy. Lol.
The official photos. I love those of Kame cause he looks so cute! It was an intentional move to pick pics of him looking incredibly goofy.
The poster's price was...well, I know if my brother sees this he will hit the roof, but anyway, it's SGD39.90. After the discount given, it was about SGD35.91, which would mean RM84.30. But it's worth it really, good quality paper (not those thin, cheap types), it's official, really big (90cmx31cm), plus it helps that they look really good in it. Especially Kame and Yuichi. Though I find Jin very much like a girl in here. I will never understand their concert outfits. It's no wonder that I like them best in magazine photoshoots cause of their normal, casual style.
I brought about SGD630 for trip and came home with about SGD200 left. Not too bad I would say. The SGD460 spent included the concert tix(SGD170), accommodation (SGD87), food and random expenses. And for me, a big spender, that's a huge feat. I remember going to Genting with about RM150+ spending money and I came home with...RM10? And that was only Genting, where there isn't really anything to buy but yet I managed to use it up all the same.
But really, with all that aside, comes down to the real topic at hand here. The reason I went to Singapore in the first place. Shinhwa's concert.
For the first time in my life, I think I really stretched my patience limit. Never in my 19 years of life have I ever been that tolerant and patient. What was supposed to be queuing at 10am on Sunday, the day of the concert, turned out to be queuing at 3pm on Saturday with shifts. Wenny, May Yee darling, Nora and Mich took the first shift till 7.30pm followed by Saf, Farina, Jojo, Cyannie and me until 11-ish pm. And more shifts followed soon after. It wasn't as bad as it sounds cause the guys came at about 10pm for their sound-check,etc. Eric arrived first, before the rest followed half an hour later. I managed to catch the other five arriving, which at the first sight of Junjin had the words 'Oh my god' tumbling out of my mouth. Then I saw my perfect dream guy, and I felt my heart skip a million beats before catching sight of the other three as they went in to the back-entrance of the stadium.
The excitement proceeded through the night causing a barely two hours sleep for me before waking up at 5.00am again to head out to the stadium again. We had to be there before 7am, hence the early wake-up call. When we got there, that was where problems arised. Turns out another batch of fans from HK and Taiwan arrived the night before, after our shift ended, and was sitting up front. Two groups who were there before us were pretty upset as they had camped out for two nights (Fri and Sat) and I totally understand how they felt. It wasn't fair for those two groups to just be edged out that way by a batch who came barely few hours before dawn on the concert day itself. To make a long story short, there were discussions and all, before they came to truce. Thankfully.
The wait...was 12 hours long. I bloody well pushed my patience & tolerance really far. From 7am till 7.15pm, which was the time we were allowed enter the concert venue. The weather was horrible. It was damn hot....then it suddenly rained. Stopped after 10 minutes, whereby I was half-soaked and hid out with Jojo in a phone booth for shelter, and then it was hot sun again. The sun after the rain was a real killer cause it meant it was warmer than before with the vapour rising and all. Then after an hour, came the dark skies again with droplets of rain. It got me wondering if it was all a bad sign. Luckily, we were then moved into shelter but it was pretty tiring still and the boredom was really taking its toll on us. The lack of sleep wasn't helping either.
By 5pm, things lighten up as the sleepiness wore off. Shinhwa's merchandise were also out for sale. T-shirts, magic cube and photocard pack with prices of SGD40, SGD30 and SGD10. My first thought was getting the t-shirt but after seeing how it was, I decided it wasn't worth the SGD40 but we got the photopack instead which was really worth it.
14 pics in all. 2 groups ones and two for the individual shots.
So here I am wondering now, why in the world did I suddenly forgot all about him and ran to Kame instead.
My two favorite pics, especially the one of Dongwan. He can be dorky without even trying. And the best part is, he doesn't look stupid but instead looks incredibly cute, especially when he smiles/grins!
LUG. Funny name, but their voices are great! We heard them rehearsing on Saturday night and they really got our attention with their voices. So on Saturday when it was finally placed on sale, we immediately grabbed the CD even though it had only 5 songs and was sold for SGD10.Plus, it was autographed both on the CD and cover booklet. They are a new group, but definitely with the potential to rise to fame.
Shinhwa-sites' name cards. Some sort like that anyway. A form of promotion. Smart. But honestly, I was really surprised when I saw it cause the cards are not those typical A4 paper, but the other smooth-textured kinds which are not exactly cheap. And I had no idea that the sites/forums would promote themselves this way!
The concert began with LUG's performance of two songs. But I felt bad for them cause before the first song (a ballad) ended, Shinhwa appeared at the very back to get into position, getting everyone distracted from LUG and started screaming for Shinhwa instead. Though Shinhwa weren't that obviously seen cause they were at the far behind in the dark at the top level, it was still pretty obvious there were six figures there. When Shinhwa's turn came, that was when the hype was brought to a higher level. Before the concert began, while we ushered in, MVs of theirs started showing and the fans started screaming...which was all very much amusing to me. 'Perfect Man' was the first song which I would say was perfect itself as the opening. Way to work the hype up.
The experience of watching them live....totally different from seeing them on DVD. It was exhilarating, crazy but really, really fun. Me and my friends got the free standing tickets, so getting there early to get the front row was crucial. And we did get front row, behind the barrier, just right in front of the stage! The speaker was right in front, so it got the adrenaline rushing even more so. If anyone doubts their singing, I can honestly say, forget it. They can sing and dance. They are not those manufactured boybands who just stands there looking good. Especially Hyesung. When he sang 'Same Thoughts', you could just tell he really has the voice. I was really amazed by just watching him sing.
The guys were freakingly cute! Everything seen before from gameshows, behind the scenes, etc...were all true. They really share that bond and the childish-affectionate personalities. Junjin messed with Hyesung by picking up a soft toy to prod him in the arm. Minwoo gave Dongwan a playful smack on the behind. The members made fun of Junjin as he attempted to speak English and Dongwan kept interupting. Junjin and Andy making the 'heart' sign for the fans. Minwoo hugging Andy bfore proceeding to kiss him the cheek. Hyesung seemed incredibly hyper for the night though, it was obvious with his constant grins and dancing. I couldn't help grinning myself either when I saw him all-hyper. Andy came up to our side of the stage to give a cute 'heart' sign and a cross of his arms with a playful look. That got everyone screaming like mad cause he didn't say much during the concert but suddenly there he was, with the shy smiles and all. Hyesung didn't came much to our side of the stage though, close enough but not directly in front of us. He's always more of the middle person.
Mich and Cyannie went insane with their Junjin-madness. They kept screaming for him and I would have to say, their screaming 'forced' Junjin to look their way when he was sitting at our side of the stage during 'Weak Man'. Junjin did react to them, thrice, and one of it had him mischeviously sticking out his tongue at them. Lol. I felt like it was a Junjin-infested screaming side and they nearly got me screaming for him as well. Naturally, I screamed and cheered for all 6, though I was more focused on Hyesung in the first place. Lol.
However, my screaming-attention changed when I noticed something I had never thought would happen. Whenever each member started singing, there would be cheers and all, shouts of name and probably even declarations of love, but when it came to one member, those cheers and screams seem to fade and die. Whenever it was Minwoo's turn...it just seems to quiet down a little with the lack of 'Minwoooooo'....'Ooooooo', or whatever. I thought nothing of it at first, but then when it came to their fifth song 'Angel', cause it was a ballad and no dancing involved, after singing their own parts then they would proceed to stand there, moving to the slow beats. It was only after Minwoo sang his part then did I noticed he was looking down most of the time when it wasn't his turn to sing. He seemed to be discouraged somehow by the lack of cheers for him (Hyesung got the most cheers...lol) and his head was dropping low. I knew that wasn't Minwoo's style during concerts as he would usually wave along to the fans or smile and grin, etc.
So...not wanting Minwoo to feel left out, I proceeded to scream his name out loud everytime it was his turn. I felt extremely silly to be honest, considering I was in the front row and no one was screaming along with me and the people behind me were not screaming at all. People at the seats probably were, but there wasn't much for those standing. However, as embarrassing as it was, I screamed his name anyway. When it came to 'I Pray For You', three songs after 'Angel'...things hyped up a little more as it was a cheerful-jumpy song. The members were all moving around the stage as they sang. But then Minwoo came over to Eric who was standing close to our side before suddenly placing his arm over Eric and proceeded to mention something to Eric as he grinned and pointed. Pointing...at the very direction I was standing with my friends. The first thought was that it was just a coincidence and he was possibly pointing elsewhere but it wasn't. Instead of pointing straight, say if you were refering to someone at the back, he was pointing down, diagonally as if you were pointing to someone in front of you who's at level lower. And the stage's elevated so... it's kinda hard to believe but it's real.
It was further affirmed as he came to our side of the stage another couple more times after that (more than he did for the other side). He shot smiles at us and danced his cool moves right in front of us...as in standing on the speakers which as aforementioned, were right in front of me and my friends. But the one that got me seriously blushing, which I had never mentioned to any of my friends was the part where during one of the upbeat songs after 'I Pray For You' had him looking directly at our direction with his arms crossed with this...funny-curious look on his face with a small smile while the rest were dancing and fooling around. I should mention now that while everyone were holding out their lightsticks and stuff, I had my arms crossed on the barrier as I nodded my head to the beat and sang to their songs. He looked as if he was imitating me...which yeah, is incredibly unbelievable-like, even I can't consume that down myself. I got flustered that I quickly averted my eyes to Hyesung instead. It probably wasn't anything, but I have a sneaky suspicion that he heard me screaming his name when no one really did, hence his sudden attention. And right after the whole name-screaming which were followed by screams by other fans as well, his mood changed rather obviously. He was suddenly more hyper and began fooling with the rest as they danced.
Soon after was Hyesung's solo performance of 'Same Thoughts' and then it was Minwoo's solo with 'Battle','Let Me Love You' and 'Bump!'. The crowd started warming up to Minwoo cause really, who wouldn't? His performance was...explosive? It was way upbeat with the smooth dance moves and all, and anyone who has seen Minwoo dancing would know he is the master of dance. As usual, he stripped on stage...well, half-stripped and that got the crowd even wilder. A change of shirt on stage, leaving it unbutton, showing of his well-toned body...you could just melt! I could hear girls gasping and screaming, basically getting 'high' over him. The best part was for 'Bump!' at the near ending, it seemed as if he came to our side on purpose. He aimed one his amazing grins before proceeding to get on with his bloody-temperature-rising dance move (which I think got every girl blushing)...on the speakers once more. But seriously, all the while...he was just right in front of me as in if we were to walk straight ahead, we would directly bump into each other.
From what I've always read, the members usually proceed to the side that often calls out to them. And in this concert, it was probably our side for Minwoo. And it was only after the screaming. I'd like to think he actually noticed and heard, and that was what boosted his motivation again and for him to come over to the speakers to perform and all. Anyhow, the gesture of his to keep returning to our side of the stage, right in front of us and all...was really nice of him and it seriously made me and my friends' night extra special. So thank you Minwoo oppa...not like you're ever gonna see this anyway, lol, but yeah, thank you.
The long hours were definitely worth it. So was the money spent. Getting to see them live and all...nothing can compare to this memory for the year. 10th September 2006 is definitely one of the very best days in my life.
Edit: This post is bloody fan-girlish. My brain feels weirded out.
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