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RickachuSNSD

Member Since 28 Jul 2010
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#7140777 [2020.01.25] The Night My World Stopped (And I Didn’t Even Realize It) (Manil...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 09 February 2020 - 12:11 AM

January 25, 2020, New Frontier Theater, Manila, Philippines.
 
Barely one month into a brand new year, I couldn’t contain my excitement over the fact that I was going to another Girls’ Generation concert. This time, it was going to be my second opportunity to get to witness Tiffany in a solo appearance, after the first one in Taipei two years ago. And you all know that amongst all of the Girls’ Generation members, Tiffany holds a very, very special place in my heart.
 
That being said, “excited” was a gross understatement. I really couldn’t believe that finally, after five years, she was back in the Philippines.
 
In the morning, I was actually very busy. I volunteered my time and my services to help out with the fan projects that we have prepared for Tiffany. We went to the nearby supermarket and bought a bunch of Filipino snacks and drinks for her and the staff and crew. Pity we couldn’t get inside the venue to deliver the snacks and drinks, and the custom-made cake we ordered, so we just carefully and painstakingly handed them to the backstage crew, hoping that she would get all of that. And in the afternoon, we were all moving around, distributing the banners and stickers for our fan event later that night. Good thing that the front line staff was so accommodating to our requests to prepare for the fan events.
 
Suffice to say, even before the show started, I was feeling a little worn out. I keep forgetting that by this time, I was closer to 40 than 30.

 

Of course, all of that weariness melted away the moment I got to my seat. Just like in Taeyeon’s ‘S concert two years ago in the same venue, I was in the front row. But what really stunned me was the fact that I was just four chairs to the right, from my point of view, of the stairs leading up to the stage. I felt my heart palpitate at the thought and the hope of Tiffany walking down and up those stairs later during the show.
 

Spoiler

 
Oh boy, was I in for a ride. Little did I know at that time as to how much I was going to be taken, hijacked even, for a ride of my life that night.
 
Fast forward to lights out, and the opening video vignette. Everybody was already screaming and cheering their heads off, and moreso when the backup dancers, holding large glowing balls, appeared for the introductory performance that looked like a skit. But once they were done, Tiffany Young, resplendent in a striped black and white outfit, suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs high up on the stage, opening the show with a powerful performance of her latest single, “Run For Your Life”.
 
To be honest, I really couldn’t hear her singing during almost the entire song. The whole of New Frontier Theater was drowned by the screams and cheers of the couple thousand of SONEs and YoungOnes, all singing and waving their pink lightsticks. We were also holding up our banners that said, “You Are Worth The Wait” to complete our welcome to her.
 
But holy cow, Tiffany looked hot and sexy as hell. My heart was hammering so hard as I watched her. But in the back of my brain, I was just thankful for the chance to see her again. The entire 2019 was blank, as I was unable to go to any Girls’ Generation event. So starting 2020 with a Tiffany Young concert was something I was really thankful for as a SONE.
 
Spoiler

 
She quickly followed RFYL with “Over My Skin”, ramping up the energy and the electricity all the more. It was such an exhilarating feeling to experience my fellow fans singing along, and literally fanchanting on the parts like “'Cause I like it when you touch me!”, “Do nasty things and you don't judge me!”, and “You got that something that undoes me!”. At a brief moment I was so amused about it as well. This was going to be a mix of Western Pop and K-Pop for sure.
 
The next song she performed was “Heartbreak Hotel”. I remember feeling so messed up the first time she released this song. And now that she’s here, and she was singing it live, I honestly felt so much more messed up, to be quite honest. At several points I found myself just staring at her, lip-synching to the song and yet feeling my throat going all choked up.
 
After a short dance break, she then proceeded with “Talk”. Wow, she was literally going at it from one song to the next I felt my mind racing just to catch up on processing everything that I was seeing and hearing. If you talk about sensory overload, this was it. That outfit of hers, that bra top and long flowing pants and that long flowing robe, which she actually took off and tossed to the side after that dance break, was just throwing me off so much.
 
Spoiler

 
Finally, everything settled down as she then proceeded afterwards with the first talk segment of the night. Wow, I really needed the break. As always, my over-the-top fanboying self’s throat was already feeling a little rough. Tiffany then welcomed everyone, singing like she’s something out of a play or something “Welcome to Open Hearts Eve Part 2 Live in Manila”. Something like that. Man, this woman never fails to throw me off.
 
Of course, this was all going on in English. And her energy was just so high and so powerful I could just feel her excitement as well. She said that it has been five years since her last visit and performance in the Philippines, and she was so happy to be finally back. As much as we were so happy to see her, she was at least as equally boisterous about being there in front of us as well. And she was also just so full of love and hope and positivity that she has been advocating and spreading around ever since then that I couldn’t help but be proud of how much she has done in her solo career so far. I could see her bursting as she was saying things about tonight being about us, being happy and celebrating the fact that we could have even just one night to open our hearts, let our voices heard, get up and move, and dance like we don’t give a f***. Yes, her words. I’m just quoting her and rewording a bit here.
 
She then proceeded with a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”. And boy did she wreck a lucky fan during this part. I can’t remember exactly at which part of the song, but then, slowly and steadily, she actually went down those stairs, and onto our level on the ground. That lucky fan, who incidentally was my friend, who was seated two seats away from me to my left, and arguably the biggest Tiffany fan in the country, got the moment of her life. Tiffany actually her hand out to hers, and the next thing I knew, my friend was on her knees, speechless and mindblown while struggling to maintain eye contact with her.
 
And of course, everyone was screaming and cheering even more loudly at this point. It was pretty surreal for me to be honest, because I’m sure this being up close and personal during a concert was something that every fan would dream of, but when it does happen, one would just more likely freeze like an idiot and just get starstruck big time. All of the preparations one would make imagining this moment would just be thrown out the window. That is what happened to my friend.
 
Oh, and did I mention everyone just stood up and started moving like crazy? Yeah, for a moment there I thought we were in a club rather than a concert hall. Tiffany was just stirring things up, and she and us were both loving it so much.
 
We all settled down again the moment we heard “Yellow Light” started playing, frantically putting away our lightsticks momentarily and switching on our mobile phones’ flashlights cover with yellow stickers, making a sea of yellow lights for her. Yes, we literally decided on a fan event like so. And the first set ended with a mashup of Destiny Child’s “Independent Woman” and “Teach You”. At this point, I was so amazed as to how Tiffany could maintain such an intense vocal performance at such high levels of energy. She was just this bottomless well flowing with such powerful and endless energy and passion that was just stirring everyone up. In a way, the old-school, older generation SONE part of me was a little concerned as well, knowing her history of vocal nodules. But at the same time, that same SONE version of myself was so proud as to how much she has improved her vocal prowess. She worked so hard to achieve such a level of skill, and I was so happy and proud of her for that.
 
Spoiler

 
The second set opened with a video vignette. It was Tiffany on the screen, asking the audience if they’re ready to dance the night away. Oh heck, that made everyone stand up once again. The moment she made her appearance onstage, clad in a sexy white metallic outfit, the whole theater exploded again.
 
Tiffany opened the second phase of her concert with Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music”. Along with her dance crew, she was just lighting the stage up. It was such a chaotic, mesmerizing start to the next part of the concert. The loud music blaring from the speakers, the choreographed flashing of the stage lights making everything alternately go bright and dark, the synchronized dancing, and everything else that my senses failed to register were all overwhelming me, led by the powerful vocals that Tiffany was mustering through the performance. However, it was only the beginning, as she then quickly transitioned to her now-iconic debut single as a solo artist, “I Just Wanna Dance”.
 
Spoiler

 
I know I’ve said this over and over again. She was just amazing on stage. The way she was transitioning from one song to the next, the way that she was feeding off our energy and at the same time we were feeding off hers, the way she was using that energy to continue singing and dancing at her best, and enjoying all of it, taking it all in, simply melted my heart. She was just there, doing what she does best, and doing what she loves the most. I felt such a rush of different emotions just watching her perform.
 
After literally ramrodding her way through her set with “Invincible” and “Invitation”, and while I was going through all of that different waves of different emotions, she took us down memory lane with her next song. Declaring that “This is for Girls’ Generation!”, she then performed “Run Devil Run”. Oh boy, did I start dancing to it, recalling all those memorized choreography steps for that 2010 song.
Needless to say, after that set of songs, I was relieved that she decided to pause to talk to us once more. The time just flew right by as she went through one song after another, keeping the emotions and energies high. Man, she was just glowing so beautifully.
 
This part of the concert was probably the most inspiring moments of the night. We tried to make her cry at some point when she was trying to say something about what she thought was the most amazing thing that ever happened to her. We were all screaming “You! You! You!” while pointing at her, in which she cutely said, “The best thing that happened to me is me?”
 
What actually happened next was a little funny. When she reacted it’s as if she was about to cry after that, the crowd began to shout, “Iiyak na yan!” which is Filipino for “She’s going to cry!”. Of course, just like Taeyeon, she didn’t understand what that meant, so I started shouting at her in Hangeul what it meant, even making some crying expressions with my hands and face. When she got the meaning, she cutely reacted in Hangeul that she wasn’t going to cry. Well at least not yet. It was amusing, us chanting in Filipino, and then she was reacting in Hangeul.
 
Spoiler

 
Anyways, she managed to finally completely say what she wanted to say. It was such an inspiring message when she said that the most amazing thing was when she realized how powerful our voices actually are. She reminded us that despite everything, if we can use our voices for something great, and if we can all do it together, then there’s nothing that we cannot do. In some way, she was proving it to us that night. She was using her voice to sing and to inspire, and even with my old-ass body feeling weary, she managed to make me stand, sing my throat dry, cheer and scream relentlessly, with not a care in the world, and even dance.
 
And we were just halfway through the concert by this point.
 
Well at least she slowed down with my personal favorite off her Lips on Lips EP. “Runaway” is both a reminiscing and refreshing song to listen to. From a personal point of view, I grew up listening to Babyface. I remember all the chills and thrills when Tiffany previewed it in Taipei two years ago. That signature Babyface musical arrangement is just unmistakable. And as she was performing “Runaway”, I felt my heart beat in a way that I have never felt in a long time. Cheesy as it sounds, that was something both unmistakable and indescribable. That brought a tear or two in my eyes.
 
Spoiler

 
She then proceeded with the quieter mood with a cover of “City of Stars” from La La Land. I actually heard the people seated behind me gasping in pleasant surprise. I’m sure a lot of people loved the movie, and therefore were happy to see Tiffany cover this song. I honestly wasn’t really that familiar with the song itself, but the way she sang it, with that haunting touch in that voice of hers, just left me blank. I recall that I wasn’t really processing my thoughts that much. I was just staring at her, mesmerized for the nth time.
 
She then followed it up with “Flower”, making the crowd cheer when she ad libbed, “Manila, I’ll be your flower to your vase!”. But then she got us up to our feet again when “Lips on Lips” started to play. Woop. Actually, I can’t honestly remember if this was the part when she introduced the song by coaxing us to go “They go, they go, they go, they go!” slowly, giving us the pitch and the tempo that I was pretty sure we all utterly failed, much to her amusement. It was becoming a little bit of a haze for me at that point. Anyways, during the actual performance, here went that part again, on us chanting and singing “They go, they go, they go, they go!”, which was funny because I could distinctly here a few go “Leggo leggo leggo leggo!” instead. But still, being the crazy and energetic Filipino fans that we are, we actually just went on and sang the whole song with her. That prompted Tiffany to make a pause towards the end, quickly saying, “Sing this for me,” and pointed her microphone at us. Of course, being overzealous about it and all, we totally missed the beat and sang that last chorus right away. Good recovery from her backup live band. I could see Tiffany laugh a bit about our miscue. It was such an adorable moment.
 
She ended the second set with a short cover of Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood”, which actually ushered in her real last song for the set, “Born Again”. To be honest, I was really surprised when “Born Again” came out, and then I remember my heart sinking so much after I read up the story behind it. Tiffany was really letting all of her inhibitions go, courageously putting her heart on her sleeve, and giving everything she got onstage, for herself, and for her fans. And during her singing of “Born Again”, I briefly thought about my wanting to just hug her and whisper to her ear how much she is loved. She really deserved to be loved so much.
 
Spoiler

 
After the third video vignette in between sets, the encore phase of the concert opened with “Magnetic Moon”. In a long flowing and feathery white dress, Tiffany appeared onstage once again with the same energy and powerful presence as she had in the beginning. And, influenced and swayed by her alluring image, we were all up on our feet again, dancing and singing and cheering once again. For some reason, I was able to muster just enough at this point to just go along with the flow. And she quickly followed it up with an encore performance of “Run For Your Life”. Yeah, I just realized at that point as well that these two songs were actually her latest releases.
 
Spoiler

 
Thankfully, at least as far as my old-ass weary body was selfishly concerned, she decided to talk to us once more after RFYL. I remember feeling the aches and pains on my legs all of a sudden at this point when we settled down back to our seats. Tiffany, being an old sentimental softie, started by saying that she was so happy to be able to sing “Born Again” in front of us that night, seeing that it was actually the song’s first anniversary since its release. She briefly recounted the story behind the creation of the song, and then she said that she couldn’t think of anything else more special to celebrate that fact other than singing it in front of us. Also, what made that night more special was the fact that it was also Lunar New Year’s Day. And her being Korean, she made the traditional greeting, bowing down in front of us as she said, “새해 많이 받으세요! (saehae bok manhi bateuseyo)”. She then, excited as a little kid, asked all of us to join her and make a wish for this new year.
 
I think that she really couldn’t help herself at this point. After making her wish, she suddenly blurted out, “소원을 말해 ! (soweoneul malhae bwa)”, doing the kick dance. Of course, most of us suddenly caught on with what she said. And she wasn’t even done with it, deciding right there and then to sing and dance a bit of “Tell My Your Wish (Genie)” ending with shouting, “Manila, put it back on!”, in that iconic salute pose.
 
Needless to say, the whole theater exploded. Ah, the old SONE and SNSD feels all came rushing back. Yeah, if we didn’t lose it earlier in “Run Devil Run” we certainly lost it in “Genie”, at least especially for those who were SONE back in the day. Everything and everyone went nuts that I really couldn’t make out what was Tiffany saying in Hangeul and English right afterwards. I think she was asking her backup band not to start playing “Genie” or something. But she was so cute and dorky in that several seconds, capped with her iconic, and very nostalgic, eyesmiles.
 
You know, I actually felt very happy for her. Being able to sing old SNSD songs even if she’s out of SM Entertainment brings such comfort to my old and very weary SONE heart. Still makes me look forward to the future of SNSD, individually and as a group, with such optimistic and hopeful anticipation.
 
Anyways…
 
We took advantage of the fun that was going on and started chanting, “Mumshie! Mumshie! Mumshie!”. It was actually part of the plan amongst the Filipino fans as a followup to what happened during Taeyeon’s ‘S Concert two years ago, with the whole “Beshie” thing. “Mumshie”, in Filipino slang, literally means, “Mom”. And it has a similar connotation with “Beshie” that in some sense it communicates the closeness between people. Of course, she didn’t understand at first what the heck we were chanting, until two of my friends who were seated next to me started explaining it to her. She went halfway down the stairs so that she could hear them better. Afterwards, she went, “Oh, you’re calling me mom!”, and then even strutted a bit, saying, “Mommy Long Legs!”.
 
Yeah, mission accomplished.
 
The encore continued afterwards with her version of “Remember Me” from the movie Coco. And after yet another short talk with her saying how much she admires and idolizes the Philippines’ very own Lea Salonga, she then went on to sing for a bit a couple of Disney songs, “Reflection” from the movie Mulan, and “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. Both songs had Lea Salonga sing the in-movie versions, so Tiffany did that as a tribute to her. But all of that was also her introduction to yet another song that she found so meaningful, and then went on to perform a cover of “Speechless” from the live action version of Aladdin.
 
And since we were at this point nearing the end of the concert, the time came for the most sentimental part of the night, leading up to that moment when my world stopped. Tiffany got interrupted in the middle of her talking after “Speechless” with our fan made video. It was all about who Tiffany was to her Filipino fans, both SONE and YoungOne alike, and what we are thankful for because of her.
 
And that made her cry. Struggling through her obvious choking at that point, she did her signature 90-degree bow, saying “Thank you from the bottom of my heart”. We were, at that point as well, raising our second banners that said, “You Are Our Moon. We Are Your Stars”.
 
Actually, I didn’t witness a few seconds of this one, since I was busy asking permission from the bouncers if I could just get close enough to hand Tiffany her own special banner that we have prepared for her, similar to what we gave Taeyeon before. Of course, I had to ask permission. They were saying no, but I couldn’t blame them one bit since they were just doing their jobs. Fortunately, Tiffany saw me with the banner the moment she said, “Can I have one?”, and started walking towards me. She reached down enough for me to stretch my arm out and hand her the banner.
 
The funny thing though was that I distinctly remember that I was just so intent and focused that she’d get her banner that I didn’t realize that I wasn’t able to soak in the moment. And the moment I got back to my seat, I was telling her to flip the special banner over for the instructions. I didn’t even realize that she said, “Thank you, love,” when she saw me handing her banner and “Thank you so much,” after she got it. I didn’t even realize how close I got to her. It was just afterwards, when a friend of mine sent me a photo and a video of my actions, did I realize what I actually did. Yes, she was just that amazing. Tiffany was just so amazing that once you get close, you’d totally forget everything you’d prepare for.
 
Spoiler

Yep. That's my moment right there.
 
After the group photo, Tiffany was still trying to change the mood so that she would stop crying, raising the banners that we gave her and going, “Manila! Manila!”, and us replying, “Tiffany! Tiffany!”. And that’s where her team came out and handed her roses, one after the other. It was the last stop of her Open Hearts Eve Part 2 tour, and it was only fitting that her team celebrated for a bit. That ended up with Tiffany now openly crying, saying that “You guys always make me cry”, to which we chanted, “사랑해! 사랑해! (Saranghae! Saranghae!)”.
 
Tiffany replied, “나도 사랑해요! (Nado saranghaeyo!) But I still have one last song for you guys…” And with that, I knew what was coming up next. Tiffany said it so succinctly and sincerely, describing this last song as the one that started it all. The one song that made them believe that they’re all starting on a new journey to create a new world, and that here we are, doing it all over again… On Year Thirteen.
 
I screamed, “다시 만난 세계! 다시 만난 세계! (Dasi mannan segye! Dasi mannan segye!)”, watching her walk towards her piano man, prompting him to start playing.
 
And that’s where we held our final fan project. I, along with six others in my row, quickly held up our cardboard cutouts of the other Girls’ Generation members’ faces. Bobbleheads, in fact. I was holding Taeyeon. We wanted her to sing “Into the New World” in the most special way possible. And as the piano man was playing the intro, she noticed us, going all soft saying, “Huuuuuuuh… 너무 귀여워! (neomu gwiyeowo!)”. She started walking a bit towards us again, “I feel like they’re here,” pointed to me, and said, “Here, here, Taeyeon!” This time, I was paying attention to what she was saying and doing. I noticed her looking at me, telling me to lip synch Taeyeon’s part as she, along with the rest of New Frontier Theater, started singing, “Into the New World”.
 
I did realize one more thing as well that made me so happy, and made this night extra, extra special. It was actually the first time “Into the New World” was performed in the Philippines. Ever. And any SONE would tell you how special this song is. Right now. From now on. Forever. “Into the New World” is that song that would just make everyone feel so nostalgic and so emotional.
 
And just when I thought things wouldn’t get any better and that things would finally start to wind down and come to an end, Tiffany pulled off one more surprise. After “Into the New World”, looking all so emotional, she slowly walked towards the stairs going down from the stage, softly saying, like an innocent kid asking permission, “Can I get that?”
 
I was totally thrown off balance, caught completely unawares. I got totally blanked.
 
And that was the moment where my world stopped.
 
She wanted to get our bobbleheads. My mind went totally blank, unable to process anything else except for handing her my Taeyeon bobblehead. I didn’t even remember receiving the rose from her in exchange. Yes, that’s what she did. Each of us received roses in exchange for our bobbleheads. She personally went down to our row and did all of that. I sat there like an idiot, unable to absorb and process at that time what the heck actually happened right there and then.
 
When she got back up the stage, that was it. She was so thankful for such a wild and special night with us. And yes, it was. It was such a crazy night full of emotional rollercoaster moments and rides on the feels train.
 
Spoiler

 
As always, at the end of it all, I feel a little bit conflicted. A little over two hours still felt short, but at the same time, I didn't want to be too greedy. I wanted her to take her much-deserved rest after all that touring, as this was the last stop for Open Hearts Eve Part 2.
And as always, for the nth time, after the concert, I was all drained out. It has always been like that. And over and over again I have been saying this. That was when all the aches and pains started the come to me. Two hours just went by, just like that. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the concert, leaving everything on the stage for her.
 
I also felt very thankful, as always. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean. And on top of that, I was also happy for my fellow Philippine SONEs. Not only did we get ourselves another Pink Ocean of our own, but finally, we got to experience “Into the New World” in our home soil. We got to experience an entire concert with Girls’ Generation, even if it was only Tiffany. But most especially, I am very happy for my fellow Philippine SONEs who got to see their favorite idols for the first time.
 
And as I write this, there is always that realization that makes me a little sad. Despite all of these efforts, living through with the fact that I am just another nameless and faceless SONE filling up the Pink Ocean still left something missing. But what makes me go on doing this is the thought that as long as I give my all to the Girls, then I should not have any regrets whatsoever.
 
Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the thirteenth time in this lifetime, it didn't feel old. Just different, making me grow that much older and more mature as a SONE. In that special corner of my mind and my heart, in my own little way, I love them. The events that unfolded during the course of the night were all nothing short of amazing, as expected. But Tiffany took it a step further, a notch higher, a degree better, and everything else in between, making it into something that only she and the PH SONE present that night would understand. Just like Taeyeon, I never realized that Tiffany had such an ability to do so. On Year Thirteen of Girls’ Generation, and my thirteenth concert was Tiffany’s.
 
And yes, from now on, Tiffany is the "Pambansang Mumshie (National Mom)" of the Philippines. These are things would forever be cherished between her and Philippine SONEs. And I daresay no one would ever take that away from us.
 
But still, the bottom line still seems to be, as always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die."
 
And just like I said in Phantasia, I am one with you girls in saying, "언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계 (It's something we'll do together to the end, into the new world.)."
 
And that, I promise.
 
Tiffany-Young-Open-Hearts-Eve-Part-2-in-
This is our group photo during the official photo op session after the concert.


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#7115324 [2018.12.14] You Are Our Beshie (Best Friend) (Manila, Philippines)

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 17 December 2018 - 01:26 AM

Apparently, the year 2018 had at least a couple of Girls’ Generation-related curveballs to throw at me. Nobody, myself included, would even think about having Taeyeon do a stop of her ‘S concert tour, given the historical experiences of us trying to get Girls’ Generation here.

So imagine the explosion of hope and euphoria when our dreams and aspirations of finally having a confirmed solo concert stop became a reality.

I was fortunate enough to experience PERSONA last year in Hong Kong, so, together with what I’ve read and watched about the previous stops in Seoul, Hong Kong, and Bangkok, my expectations were pretty high. Here we go again, witnessing one of the best solo acts in KPop gracing the stage and all primed and prepped to give everyone a night to remember.

And this time, it was going to be in my own home soil.

It was funny too, since I was just in Taipei a few months back for Tiffany’s fanmeeting. Here we go again, busting the wallet for yet another concert.

Fast forward to the day. The curious thing about the venue was that it was darned small, compared to the other usual places around Metro Manila, and compared to other KPop concert venues. And it was right in the heart of one of the most dense and busiest areas on northern Metro Manila. Getting a parking slot alone was a chore for me.

What made up for that little hassle was the fact that, for some Divine Intervention, the ticket I managed to snag got me a front row seat. Yep. You saw that right. I got me a frigging front row seat, and almost at the center of all the action as well. Like whoa. I was really muttering loudly, “Is this serious? Like really? We’re seated in the first row? Really?”

Spoiler

Yep. THAT close.

I was immediately blown away. It admittedly took a while for me to calm down after that slap of reality.

The concert started on time. Damn I wish we could have that every single time there’s a performance in the Philippines. There is always this tendency to start things late. In fact, I was a bit worried because the concert here started way later compared to our neighboring countries. To put it into context, we started at 8:00PM local time, which is equivalent to 9:00PM KST. That’s late.

Anyways, all those worries aside, we were about to get a really nice treat. We immediately flooded the New Frontier Theater with our very own version of the Pink Ocean. The first time we were able to fill an entire concert venue with such, as the previous Girls’ Generation appearances in the Philippines were in multi-group concerts. That alone was very special.

The concert started with the band coming, led by pianist Hong So Jin, more popularly known as Hong Ttochi, as the lights dimmed. We were already screaming our heads off while they were setting up, and from where I was sitting, I could see the band giggling and smiling as they prepared to play. Once everything settled down, the entire concert hall blared and burst into an amazing showcase of sounds, videos, and lights, eventually ushering in the first song, “Here I Am”. The stage background video panels opened, and Girls’ Generation’s leader Kim Taeyeon descended onto the stage from high up. And off the bat, we were holding up our blue banners that said “우리이킹 도착했습니다”, or “Our King Has Come”, finally welcoming her into our neck of the woods. Honestly, I couldn’t hear the song very well, as we were all screaming our heads off yet again. Understandable, since this is the first time Philippine SONE got to have a solo concert of any sort from Girls’ Generation. Resplendent in a fiery red outfit and flanked by her backup dancers, she immediately took to the stage like the queen… or in this case king… that she was.

“I Got Love” followed the opening song. I remember my first reaction to this one: “I Got Love, I got dead”. And yep, all the more with the live performance. I got dead once again. Her sitting so majestically like a boss in that hexagonal structure was just so badass for her. There was no extension stage, so all the dance parts were done where she stood. And because we were so loud cheering and screaming, maybe too loud, Taeyeon had to bring her head mic closer to her mouth so that her voice can be a little bit more audible to hear. That last pose in the end of the song further reflected how majestic, how boss-like, and how king-like, Taeyeon is. And mind you, we were just starting.

“Fire” was the third song of the night. The people behind me were already saying that their throats were going dry and aching. I chuckled, remembering my own first concert experience where my throat ran dry by the time the third song came about, all those years ago in 2012 in Bangkok. Now that’s also where and when I got to appreciate the official Girls’ Generation lightstick. In unison, those who were carrying and waving their respective official lightsticks found that they suddenly turned red, in sync with the atmosphere of the song. “Fire” is such a powerful song, with an equally powerful performance. This was quickly followed up by yet another unreleased song, “Love You Like Crazy”. And Taeyeon wowed all of us by doing her mini-trapeze act, swinging in the air a couple of times. We didn’t get the full version of it though, as the venue’s size restricted a lot of things.

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We were finally able to catch our breaths and rest a bit afterwards as Taeyeon paused the performances for the first talk portion of the night, or so I thought. This really, and pleasantly, surprised me, as the talks that she gave that night proved to be very memorable, maybe even more memorable than her performances. And this first one actually set the tone for the rest of the concert.

She started off with the usual greetings and questions if we missed her, in which of course we cheered and screamed that we did miss her. But then she threw the curveball that made all the difference in the world for Philippine SONE. She actually said, in Filipino, “Kamusta na kayo, mga beshie?” which literally translated to “How are you, friends? (Or “best friends” since “beshie” is the Filipino gay lingo slang for “best friends”)”. That made every single person in the audience go explode like nuts. She also acknowledged the first banner that we were still raising up until this point. She then went on and acknowledged the presence of the Scary Nun from the Conjuring, Jack Skellington wearing a Santa Claus hat, and that damned scary doll Annabelle in the audience.

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And she was just warming up. Literally. After a few more banters, she remarked about the weather, saying that, December in the Philippines, coming from a cold and dry Korea, is so hot and humid that she didn’t have to use any moisturizer. But not to be outdone, she said that maybe it was because of her red-hot outfit that was making the atmosphere warm. Oh, Taengoo-yah.

I think this talk segment went longer than anticipated, simply because of how loud and how long we were cheering and screaming at her. She concluded this segment by saying that she feels much better now that she’s performing in front of us despite all of the things that has happened during the preparations for this Manila stop. She said that she hoped that her feelings at the moment that it was not wrong to decide to come here and perform would be the same feelings she would carry back home after the night was over. And yes, a lot of us were aware of how difficult it was to even get SM to agree to a Manila stop of the ‘S Concert Tour, making this night a whole lot more special for everyone involved. She then ended the first set with yet another amazing performance of “Something New”. I tell you, Taeyeon going from completely professional mode during performances to full dork mode during the talk segment and then back absolutely flawlessly was something that always blows my mind.

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After the VCR segment that also showcased the “Up & Down” performance by live band, the second set opened with “Do You Love Me”, another new song. And this was followed up by “Rain”. I really love how much the official lightsticks were coming into play during the concert, changing colors along the way to suit the mood of the song she was performing at the moment. “Rain” is also a favorite of mine, which I oftentimes find myself singing to whenever it literally rains in the place where I was at any particular moment. And of course, since this is another popular song of hers, we were singing to it almost the entire time. But we did mess it up in the end, as we miscued on the long pause in the last few bars of the song leading up to “…dreaming in the rain…” part, much to Taeyeon’s amusement. It was a nice change of pace, going a little slow after that explosive first segment.

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After these two songs, she talked to us some more. She commented about not expecting this much love and support from us in the audience. Like dang girl, we waited three years for you to come back. We were cheering back at her, “Beshie! Beshie! Beshie!” in which she finally understood what it meant as “Friend”. And just as a lot of the fans in the audience thought she was going sentimental, they started chanting “Iiyak na yan!”, which meant, “She’s going to cry!”. Of course, she didn’t understand a word since the chant was in Filipino. I, being in the first row, actually tried to explain it to her, screaming in Hangeul what it meant, “울어요! 울어요!” but I failed. She also gave up eventually, just saying to us that she’s sorry but she doesn’t understand. Later on, she would though. She added however that going around the world performing is a very interesting experience, as she was learning the fans’ languages. She also said that it really doesn’t take much to communicate to one another and that even if we spoke different languages, we could still somehow understand each other. But, Taeyeon being Taeyeon, she couldn’t help but make a funny addition to that already sentimental and meaningful thought that it’s all because of the translator backstage. Taeyeon was also amazed as to how much we knew her songs, singing along with her almost the entire way so far. She said that she was getting so much energy from us because we were singing, cheering, and fanchanting at almost every step of the way so far.

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She then proceeded with “All Night Long”, another song from her latest Korean album, followed by a very fun performance of “Baram x3”. And we did keep up with her impressions about us being able to go with the flow with her, singing, cheering, and fanchanting. Yep, based on what I’ve seen in the fancams of the previous stops, Philippine SONEs are the loudest and the most energetic bunch thus far. And it seemed that Taeyeon thought so too, as she was pointing her mic to us a lot of times, especially during “Baram x3”. The atmosphere was just so warm and energetic and fun. Normally I would be feeling tired already at this point, but somehow, I felt that it was just getting started.

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“Why” came up next, which is yet another personal favorite of mine. I actually found myself acting all silly and dorky, singing and dancing in my seat while trying to wave my lightstick like a complete idiot. But I didn’t care. It was at that point as well that I realized how much fun I was having that night, not a care for the outside world for that span of time I was watching Taeyeon share so much love and happiness. And again, we were singing with her as well, with some of us hitting and others missing the high note part before the dance break. I was really immersing myself at the moment, following the choreography of “Why” while singing along, and of course fanchanting at the top of my lungs, “Kim Taeyeon! Kim Taeyeon! Kim Taeyeon! Kim Taeyeon!” during the dance break part of the song. I simply love “Why.”

She then took another break, cutely running to the backstage to prepare for the next set. This ushered in the introduction of the members of the band and the backup dancers, all while the instrumental version of “Good Thing” was being performed. It was good that everyone in the audience were familiar with the band members, starting off with pianist Hong Ttochi, cheering them on as loudly as we could. I even overheard some people behind me crushing on her. Damn that band was amazing. And the backup dancers were really showing off their moves as well, making us all feeling awed and appreciative of their part in the concert.

After the video segment with the piano version of Something New playing in the background, we slowed things down once more with “One Day”. It was honestly a welcome change of pace once more, making me recall that part in PERSONA back in Hong Kong where we were just chilling as if we were in a jazz lounge or something like that. And actually, there were some thoughts that were also running in my head, making me relate to the song as it communicated some of my personal hopes and dreams towards a certain someone. I remember smiling weakly and tightly and feeling my heart flutter a bit, sensing some degree of hope that indeed, one day I will… one day I will be able to do the things I’ve been wanting to do towards that special someone. Taeyeon, and Girls’ Generation as a whole, do have their ways of making me realize my feelings every now and then.

And furthermore, I couldn’t help but think as well that Taeyeon was also trying to say something through this song. I dunno… maybe I was just being delusional or overthinking things at that moment.

“Gemini” was next. And just like PERSONA, this was another chill moment. I like this pacing in the concert to be honest. It gave us a moment to catch our breaths and recharge our batteries for a bit after all that display of warmth and energy. And for the longest time, there was just something magical about Taeyeon singing ballads and slower songs that always capture me in some manner that was hard to explain, let alone describe.

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Anyways, after performing, Taeyeon talked to us some more, saying once more that she was really amazed as to how much energy Philippine SONEs were giving her. Our show of love and support for her in that degree was making the night memorable for her. She said that it felt like the (football) World Cup when we were chanting her name, which I realized we were doing it with such energy and vigor. Of course, we responded by doing so once again, chanting her name, “Kim Tae-yeon! Kim Tae-yeon! Kim Tae-yeon!”. She said that she felt that we would win the World Cup if we all went there and fanchanted the way we were doing that night.

She referred to the weather once again, breaking that sentimental mood. It was the first time she experienced a hot December. And apparently, she did notice that it did rain in Manila on the day she arrived, and even earlier in the day while she was preparing for the concert. It was also in this segment that she made another hilarious comment. She shared to us that she was wondering what does Santa Claus wear when he’s in the Philippines, saying something about if he’s going around in a sleeveless top, going topless, or even wearing a bikini, because it was so hot. Dang, Taeyeon showing her byuntae side there. She did cutely apologize for such random thoughts leading to unnecessary questions, silly girl.

Before going on, she said that since it is December, and that the venue was pretty small, it reminded her of her Christmas concert last year in Seoul. Everything was so intimate and that she could see a lot of the fans’ faces and all, so this Manila stop reminded her so much of that Christmas concert. She then said that she decided to perform a couple of songs from her “This Christmas: Winter Is Coming” album, starting with “Christmas without You”.

Dang it. That made my heart ache once more. Despite the Christmas vibe of the song, it was lonely love song as well. I found myself taking deep breaths in an attempt to expel the negative and painful vibes creeping inside me and just to enjoy the performance for what it was. So, I just sat there, waving my lightstick all glowing beautifully pink to the beat of the song. And this was followed by “I’m All Ears”, yet another sentimental song. If this set wasn’t relaxing enough, barring that previous talk segment when she went all dork, then I don’t know what it. Like I just previously said, it was something subtle, it was something magical. It was soothing, but at the same time caused a little heartache personally. Ah, the things Taeyeon can do to one’s heart.

We had another talk segment right afterwards. Of course, it didn’t help relieve that small pang in my heart when Taeyeon said that these two songs were her favorite from her Christmas album. Yeouch once more. But then she uplifted my spirits once more when she said that SONEs are the funniest people in the world, and that Philippine SONEs are the funniest bunch. She added that she was feeling down because of the cold weather, but tonight, she was much better, feeling so cheery being with us, laughing and just simply being happy. She said something really special, that she was able to talk a lot, be emotional a lot, and laugh the most when she performs, and she was so thankful that we were able to give back a lot of that positive energy and love and support to her. We created this cycle of sincere love and support between and amongst us that made everything just so special.

And then, in true Filipino fashion, a lot of us were again chanting, “Iiyak na yan!”, sensing how sentimental the moment became once more. And of course, that confused her once more, since she still didn’t understand what that meant. However, we were reacting so loud and so long to what she said that she got distracted and totally forgot what to say next. She ended up saying a lot of random things, trying so hard to recall what she was supposed to say. It was such a cute and funny moment watching her trying her hardest to remember, and then eventually giving up. We were just reacting so much to almost everything she was saying that these talk segments really took a lot of time.

“Gravity” was up next. This was yet another new song from her. It felt, at least for me, a bit haunting. It was steadily slow that somehow had this haunting feeling. “Fine” was of course, highly anticipated. Finally, we were treated to that instant-legendary acapella part that showcased Taeyeon’s powerful vocals. Honestly, that sent so much chills and goosebumps when she started singing that part. I mean, I’ve already known how enchanting and how powerful and how overwhelming her vocals can be, but seeing this one that much closer was a totally different experience in a whole new level.

And personally, “Fine” is my favorite, as I can relate so much to the song as well. If I have to rank Taeyeon’s solo releases so far, but limiting it to the promoted or carrier songs, “Fine” is my number one, with “Why” a close second. I mean, that song is just so good in so many ways, from the vocals to the pacing to the melody, to just about everything. And then I further got goosebumps when she was going for the juggernaut at the end of the bridge part with the powerful and high notes. Oh, and even up to this point, the singing, screaming, cheering, and fanchanting were all still on point. I tell you, the energy and the enthusiasm of the Philippine SONEs present were still as high as they were in the beginning.

The last song in this set was “Feel So Fine”. Honestly, I totally lost track at this point, not realizing that this was the last song of the main act, and that the encore was going to be up soon. That was how much I was enjoying the concert thus far. And the upbeat tempo of the song made everyone, yet again, sing along so much. But in a way, I was also hit by the reality as to how fast time quickly passed by. We were almost at the end of this very memorable and precious first experience of a Girls’ Generation-themed solo concert.

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The encore performance opened up with “Time Lapse”, my personal B-track favorite. I didn’t even realize that it started playing. But when it did, I instinctively choked. “Time Lapse” was another song that always make me go through some waves of feels. Taeyeon was in this cute white sheer dress with her hair all in a braid belting out yet another emotionally-charged performance of the song. Just like PERSONA once again, I was getting so much chills, but the rest of my emotions were all riding up and down in waves that I really couldn’t describe or even visualize right now.

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But the thing was, since the crowd that I was with was more joyful and funnier than my other Girls’ Generation concert experiences, the feeling was a little lighter in mood. Everyone was enjoying the concert, that was for sure. Oh, and it was also at this point that we had the second fan project, raising up the pink banners this time around with the words, “11:11 너는 우리의 오랜 소원 (You’ve been our 11:11 wish)”. Which was true. A lot of people in the Philippines have been wishing for the longest time to have a solo concert, and right now it was all unfolding before our very eyes. Those in the balcony formed a mosaic that said “KTY” flanked all around by hearts and a crown. At first there was so much difficulty doing it, which was understandable since it was the first time we tried doing a message mosaic.

She talked to us once again afterwards, where she first acknowledged the 11:11 wish banner. And we took the opportunity to show a small sign to her that said that we have prepared a special banner for her. I was pointing to the girls sitting next to me and then one went up to hand her the special banner that said “PH SONE HERE I AM” with some instructions for her at the back. At first she didn’t know what to do because she didn’t notice the instructions, and she was also trying to figure out what the message mosaic actually said. She took some moments to go up the stairs at the rear end of the stage in an attempt to get a better look of the message. It was all so hilarious and cute to watch her and finally getting the message.

What was also cuter was her reaction when she finally noticed the instructions on the back of her special banner. That’s when she realized that her banner was different as well. She was so cute saying “Mahal ko kayo”, which she also knew it meant, “사랑해” or “I love you”. Also, she was also so cute wondering how in the world we knew that we were going to take pictures, in which we did. A cameraman quickly ran up the stairs at the rear portion of the stage while Taeyeon posed with her special banner with all of us in the audience filling the background, still holding up our pink banners. A couple more stuffs were also brought to her, starting with a copy of the blue and pink banners that we were holding ourselves, in which Taeyeon said it was her souvenir from us. And dang it, she was so cute saying “Thank you” and “고마워”. The next were a Jack Skellington toy and a photobook with a collection of messages from SONE, in which she read a couple of them out loud.

And at that point, the audience was again chanting, “Iiyak na yan!”, in which Taeyeon finally got what it meant and responded that we wanted her to cry from way back and that if we wanted her to cry, then this wasn’t the way to do it, much to everyone’s laughter. She then said that she was feeling a bit sad that she knew that this was coming to an end, but if we call on her again, and if we do it loud and hard enough, then she’ll come back. What made that statement more precious was when she said, “Magkita tayo ulit (Let’s see each other again)”.

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“Circus” was the penultimate song of the night. In the center of that stage, Taeyeon was literally glowing, basking in all the love and attention as she sang for us. But she made this particular performance more special, as this was the part where she was hoisted up in the air once more, this time while sitting down on a specially-designed seat, looking all the more majestic and awesome.

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And finally, in a long shower of white perfumed confetti, the chanting of her last song of the night, “I”, prompted us to sing along as well, giving her the cue to start a couple of bars later. Of course, everyone knew and appreciated the sentimental and monumental value of “I”, as this was the song that started everything for her solo career. At this point, I was sure that everyone was giving their all, and whatever was left in their tanks that night, giving Taeyeon all the love and support and cheer that she rightfully deserved.

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And afterwards, that was it.

As always, at the end of it all, I feel a little bit conflicted. A little over three hours still felt short, but at the same time, I didn't want to be too greedy. I wanted her to take her much-deserved rest after all that touring, as this was the last stop for PERSONA.

And as always, after the concert, I was all drained out. It has always been like that. And over and over again I have been saying this. That was when all the aches and pains started the come to me. Two hours just went by, just like that. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the concert, leaving everything on the stage for her.

I also felt very thankful, as always. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean. And on top of that, I was also happy for my fellow Philippine SONEs. Finally, we got to experience our own Pink Ocean. We got to experience an entire concert with Girls’ Generation, even if it was only Taeyeon. But most especially, I am very happy for my fellow Philippine SONEs who got to see their favorite idols for the first time. And furthermore, I knew how difficult it was to get this Manila stop for the ‘S Concert Tour. There were so many challenges and so many issues and problems hounding this one from start to finish, and I am very thankful that we were all able to get together and get this done.

And as I write this, there is always that realization that makes me a little sad. Despite all of these efforts, living through with the fact that I am just another nameless and faceless SONE filling up the Pink Ocean still left something missing. But what makes me go on doing this is the thought that as long as I give my all to the Girls, then I should not have any regrets whatsoever.

Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the twelfth time in this lifetime, it didn't feel old. Just different, making me grow that much older and more mature as a SONE. In that special corner of my mind and my heart, in my own little way, I love them. The events that unfolded during the course of the night were all nothing short of amazing, as expected. But Taeyeon took it a step further, a notch higher, a degree better, and everything else in between, making it into something that only she and the PH SONE present that night would understand. I never realized that Taeyeon had such an ability to do so.

And yes, from now on, Taeyeon is the "Pambansang Beshie (National Best Friend)" of the Philippines. And Philippine SONE would also be remembered for being the funniest bunch of SONEs there is right now. These are things would forever be cherished between her and Philippine SONEs. And I daresay no one would ever take that away from us.

But still, the bottom line still seems to be, as always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die."

And just like I said in Phantasia, I am one with you girls in saying, "언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계 (It's something we'll do together to the end, into the new world.)."

And that, I promise.

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That's me at the end of the concert. As usual, exhausted as heck, but very happy, in so many levels.


  • 5


#7111400 [2018.09.23] No. You Are My Light In My Dark. (Taipei, Taiwan)

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 26 September 2018 - 08:22 PM

The unique and special thing about a fan meeting is that you would get to experience some things that are more intimate in nature, compared to a concert. Sure, a concert can already overwhelm you with so much emotion. But a fan meeting can take your feels for ride, up and down, left and right, in its own crazy way.

 

And yet again, a random decision sent me packing a backpack and flying back to my second home. Crazier still was the fact that once more, just like the last two trips that I made, it was just all about going to see my beloved Girls’ Generation. And my short itinerary was planned around that reason. Well, this time, to see one member.

 

The Tiffany Young Asia Fan Meeting Tour. Taipei International Cultural Center 台北國際會議中心. Taipei, Taiwan.

 

But again, before I actually start recounting that wonderful experience, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures. Just like Holiday to Remember in Seoul before, security was very strict regarding taking videos and photos. And again, I was in a pretty open spot, making it hard to ninja photos, and I could get easily caught if I violated the rules. I actually saw some who got caught and were asked to step out. I couldn’t and didn’t want to risk that.

 

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Cameras don't really do justice in this case. I can still see her pretty clearly from my seat.

 

Of course, what made this extra special was the circumstances surrounding Girls’ Generation post-October 2017. The feelings going into the fan meeting were pretty new, to be honest. Here she was, striking it out on her own as Tiffany Young. And given what we’ve all seen the past year, you’d think that she’d be a different person on stage that night.

 

She wasn’t. She wasn’t at all. I’ll explain as we go along.

 

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I brought two light sticks. One was from Holiday to Remember. The other one I bought from the official Tiffany Fan Meeting merchandise. 

 

Fast forward to 6:00PM, local Taiwan time. The lights dimmed, and for the umpteenth time, the entire hall lit up in an ocean of pink. The opening VCR blasted through the big screens, displaying snippets of Tiffany’s “Over My Skin” music video. As we counted down from 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, big doors at center stage opened up, ushering in the moment everyone was waiting for. Tiffany strutted on stage, opening the fan meeting with an amazing performance of “I Just Wanna Dance”.

 

The thing is though, I didn’t really see her clearly when the spotlight shone on her. Right then and there, I was actually blinded by a sudden burst of tears while being distracted by the pounding of my heart in my chest and the sudden lump in my throat. For that one second, I really couldn’t believe that I was seeing her again. It has been so long, and that exhilarating rush of excitement and happiness upon that realization completely thrust me into the experience.

 

I eventually regained my composure, just in time to join the rest of the crowd in singing, cheering, and fanchanting along “I Just Wanna Dance”. That’s when I finally noticed how hot Tiffany actually looked, that white outfit with her left shoulder exposed (like seriously, what is it with this woman and her exposing her shoulder?) and knee-high black boots.

 

And after that, the show proceeded to the talk portion. There were two emcees accompanying Tiffany onstage, one was the main emcee and the other was there to help translate Mandarin to English and back when needed. The main emcee had decent English, but she did need help from time to time. She opened the talk portion by saying how sexy Tiffany looked, prompting her to make a couple of poses that pretty much knocked down quite a number of people in the audience.

 

They initially kicked it off with a couple of questions, which obviously a lot of people were curious about, centering on Tiffany being “Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany” and “Tiffany Young”. Tiffany described her typical day, where she would wake up at 6 in the morning to prepare for her acting classes, which lasted from 9:00AM to 2:00PM. Afterwards, she would go to the studio to work on her music until 10:00PM when she comes home, do her homework for her acting classes, and then call it a day at midnight. Rinse, repeat.

 

See what I meant by learning more intimate things about her?

 

What made this part really cute was the short Mandarin tutorial that the emcees had with Tiffany. They had her saying, “不對! (Right or wrong); 不是! (Yes or no); 沒有! (There is or there isn’t)” stuff like that. It was really funny.

 

The questions on the acting part was also funny. It started out seriously, but then for some reason they ended up talking about Tiffany being in a serial killer role.

 

Like she hasn’t been slaying the fandom for the last eleven years.

 

The first part of the talk portion, named “Remember Me”, had Tiffany show some pictures of what has happened to her over the past year, and explaining the story behind them. This was where a lot of the good and intimate stuff I referred to earlier started. What I am about to share are the highlights of this part of the talk portion. The actual length of this part was obviously longer, since there was a lot of random bantering in between.

The first picture was her at the KIIS FM radio station. Tiffany shared that KIIS FM was actually special to her since she grew up listening to that FM radio station. She didn’t imagine that years and years later, she would be a guest of the show. Imagine that.

 

The second picture was a screencap of her television performance on FOX 11 LA. Tiffany said that this was also special to her, recalling the time when she was a little girl that her grandfather would catch the morning news on FOX 11 while she prepared to go to school. And, just like KIIS FM, she couldn’t believe that one day she would be on the show itself.

 

And, being the wonderfully gracious person that we have all known so well, she kept of thanking and crediting the fans for requesting “Over My Skin” to played over the radio, and it was because of that effort that landed her an interview segment on KIIS FM and that TV performance on FOX 11.

 

The third picture was her photoshoot in Scotland for the new H&M global music campaign that she recently announced on her social media. Now this one was hilarious, since she mentioned that during that particular photoshoot session with the sheep crossing the street, the darned animals were actually pooping as they walked in front of her. Tiffany couldn’t stop giggling every now and then as she recalled that experience, and the emcee actually made that particular part funnier by walking in front of her hunch over and pretending to poop as well. It was like the emcee couldn’t believe Tiffany’s story.

 

Ah, the things you do to make money sometimes.

 

The fourth picture was her first photo with her current short hairstyle. She explained that she and her stylist were running around the dressing room, experimenting and matching clothes and accessories that would be used for her new “Teach You” music video. I actually felt her excitement there as she recounted the story, understanding how much she enjoyed having lots and lots of input into the styling to be used for her production.

 

The fifth picture was her selfie with Hyoyeon and Sooyoung that she posted on Instagram regarding “Teach You”. She shared the story of her messaging in the Girls’ Generation group chat as to who was available for a couple of days to help her shoot the music video. She mentioned that Yoona, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, and Sooyoung all chimed in and volunteered. However, only Hyoyeon and Sooyoung matched on the schedule of the filming. Tiffany then took the moment to also add how wonderful and how thankful she felt that her members are continuously supporting her and are ready to help her at a moment’s notice whenever it was possible. Tiffany couldn’t help herself in saying in a loud voice, “GG4EVA!!!” afterwards, much to the delight of the audience as well.

 

I took, and still am taking, comfort in that fact.

 

I also thought about it as well. It might be just me, but she was feeling so genuinely ecstatic to be on a stage in front of her fans. After being in some relative isolation and all – she did say that there were times she was sad in L.A. – she was really excited to share the music she can call her own.

 

Anyways, the second segment of the talk portion was called “Tiffany Young Big Data”. Heh. Typical Taiwanese attention to the latest technological trends. I should know. I got my PhD. in this country.

 

The big screen behind Tiffany and the emcees showed several keywords for them or the audience to pick. We were all screaming for them to select “Hwang Miyoung” or “황미영”, which made Tiffany scrunch her face, looking all annoyed, in a very cute manner. And that just made us scream louder.

 

The first keyword was “Taiwan”. It was talking about her memories of Taiwan, mentioning about “Phantasia”. She then added that she was really looking to put in more effort on showing a new side of herself that is less cute, but still, she couldn’t help herself. She said something in Korean that I couldn’t initially make out, except on the last part when she said “…gomawoyo!” and then made a huge heart pose.

 

That hit me. Her speaking English looked and sounded sexy and mature. But the moment she switched to Korean, Mushroom Fany took over. Just. Like. That.

 

Remember what I said about Tiffany Young still being the same, and not really a different person? This is just the beginning.

 

The next keyword was “Work”. She reflected about the challenges about bringing in the American team, the Korean team, and the Taiwanese team just to put together the fan meeting. But the big bomb she dropped that moment was that her album was almost complete, targeting a Spring 2019 release. She added that she wrote all of the songs of the album. Talk about hyping things up. I could really see that she was just bursting with excitement to finally finish everything she spent a year preparing and putting together herself, putting in all the love she can muster – that she said that this is the only way she knows how to show her love for her fans – and share it to her fans.

 

Next is “Prince”, leading to Tiffany saying how her dogs Prince and Princess were doing. They were actually left in Korea initially when she went back to L.A. last year. Eventually they did fly to the United States as well, but she said it was super hard. She did thank the fans once again for asking how her babies were doing. Yep. We weren’t just concerned about her alone, that’s for sure.

 

The fourth keyword was “Fast 3s”, in which she will be given five seconds to give three answers to a question. The question was, “What the difference between life in Korea and life in L.A.?”, in which Tiffany was so witty enough to say, “16 hours” without batting an eye. Oh this girl. She did fail though, so they reset the game and she was coached by the fans, eventually saying “Time, language, and food.”

 

The fifth keyword was “Fashion”, which led to Tiffany recounting the first time H&M invited her for an event. Tiffany shared the moment when she fangirled over meeting Baz Luhrmann during the H&M x ERDEM Runway Show & Party. What was good, and hopefully that would come true as well, was that she actually asked him if he can direct her next music video once the album is complete.

 

And that led to the next segment of the talk, in which Tiffany already confessed that she was really bad at it the last time out in Bangkok. This was the shirt drawing part where she drew herself on the shirt, but then she ended up looking like Chibi Mariko-chan instead. The shirt was then raffled off, along with a few concert merchandises. Lucky people who got those prizes, especially the shirt.

 

The talk part ended, and the second VCR was shown. It was mostly some recorded behind the scenes of her working on her new music. But what surprised me the most was seeing Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds working with her. Like Babyface is a freaking legend, and he’s working with Tiffany Young! I was mindblown. This upcoming album was definitely going to be good if he’s there.

 

The second set of the fanmeeting opened with Tiffany performing “Talk to You” and “Fool” from her “I Just Wanna Dance” mini-album. Seeing her perform once again proved that she hasn’t missed a beat. Despite her being away for a while, she still had this special aura onstage when she performs. And that just made me go all mesmerized again. Just like any other Girls’ Generation performance.

 

After those two performances, she paused for a bit, taking the time to pour out her heart again. She admitted that she was concerned that it’s been a long time since she has seen her fans, and that she was now thankful that we’ve all patiently waited and stayed put just for her. My heart sank while listening to her for some reason. And that distractedly made me recall once more as to how much I love her, how much I would be willing to just stay put and wait for her to complete her work that she wanted so much to share with us. And that made me realize once more that behind that beautiful smile of hers was all the burden she was carrying because of her now chosen path.

 

And it was at that moment that I also noticed how pretty she looked. A far cry from her first outfit. She was this insanely pretty woman, her short hair neatly framing her bright face under a black hat. Tiffany was in a black long-sleeved top and checkered pants, making her look very chic.

I briefly wished that I could carry some of the load off her shoulders, off her heart.

 

And if that wasn’t emotional already, her next song actually broke me down. Sitting on the stairs at the center of the stage, she started rendering her cover of Lauv’s “I Like Me Better”. Admittedly I couldn’t make out the song at first, but when I realized what she was actually singing, I cried.

 

I was crying so hard.

 

I realized that even my own case, one of the happiest moments that I have with myself was when I was with Girls’ Generation. I have oftentimes liked myself best when I was with them, when I was with her. That was why I was always laying it out for them whenever I was in a Girls’ Generation event or concert.

 

Truly, I like me better when I’m with Girls’ Generation. With Tiffany.

 

And that feeling was further amplified afterwards, when she herself admitted that she was becoming more emotional than she expected. She shared that when she went back to L.A. she had to take some time to figure herself out while trying the new things she has always wanted. And she added that she would continue to do the things that she knows to do, because those are the only things she knows how to show her love for her fans.

 

There she was again, pouring out her heart to the fans who loved her so much. And here I was, looking so crap ugly all messy with my tears.

And that's just that. She kept on saying "for my fans" or "to my fans" almost every other sentence. That fierce dedication to the people who believed in her since Day One, 11 years on, is still burning so much within her and keeps her going through this new path she has forged for herself.

 

And at that point, my head and my heart were screaming that I missed her so much. That I missed them so much.

 

Her being emotional continued with her performance of the next song, her cover of “Remember Me”. We had a fan project prepared, the first of two. We switched off our lightsticks and turned on our phones’ flashlights, creating a beautiful sea of stars gently waving at her. And as the song continued, I could hear her voice cracking as she was visibly struggling to keep her composure. At one point she was whining at us. I spied at the big video screens, noticing the cameras panning at us a bit, capturing that beautiful image of this young woman enjoying an intimate moment with her fans.

 

“Remember Me” ended the second part of the fanmeeting, making way for the third VCR showing the behind the scenes of her “Over My Skin” music video. And we all knew what that meant.

 

The third and final part of the show opened with “Over My Skin”. Finally, I got to see this performance live and alive. And she didn’t just sing the song like she did on FOX 11, she actually danced to it as well, just like in the practice video that I was sure knocked everyone dead a few months back. Clad in a sexy leopard print outfit, she blew us away with her performance. Oh, she was owning the stage at the moment, confident of the song that I was sure was just the first of many that would tell the world what and who Tiffany Young was all about.

 

Afterwards, she talked to us once more, cutely whining as to how much fans always get her surprised and emotional with their fan projects being all creative and romantic. And that was the thing about her. There she was, looking all hot and sexy in her outfit, and yet every time she talked she sounded like this innocent, starry-eyed young woman living the moment as she fulfilled her dreams one step at a time.

 

Even if she said that she wanted to change herself a bit and to be more mature, the Tiffany, the Hwang Miyoung, that we have all grown to love, is and will always be there. That bubbly baby with the cute and innocent eyes and that sincere smile will never go away.

 

Tiffany then gave us a preview of her upcoming single, “Teach You”, singing a couple of lines just to whet our appetites. She then continued on to say that she would keep on working hard for her Young Ones, which she also said her Forevers. She really knew how to play with words. And she really thought about the fandom name a lot.

 

Dang it, she was just the sweetest sweetheart. I honestly wanted to go for “Fanypacks” as her fandom name, but the extremely sentimental nature of “Young One” was just too huge of an impact. We all saw that tonight. And what we saw reminded us why we love her, why we love Girls’ Generation. Tiffany is Soshi's biggest fan. She is the biggest SONE. She reminded the rest of us about what and who Girls’ Generation is all about, individually and as a group.

 

That was the cue though for the second fan project of the night. The big screen behind her on stage lit up and started playing “파니TV(Fany TV)”, an obvious play on “탱구(Taengoo TV)”. It showed clips of her dancing, eating, all acting cute, and a brief history of her career all the way back to debut, all while “Sailing(0805)” was playing in the background. I couldn’t get the message captions flashing at the bottom of the video right away since they were in Hangeul and Mandarin, but when she turned around, she was in for another surprise. It was really more of a trip down memory lane, from what I understood.

 

Us on the upper levels and on the sides were holding out our banners that said, “No Matter What, In Young, We Trust”, while the ones in the center lower levels were holding out white and red cards that made each block of seats combine together to spell out, “T4EVA”, one block, one character or letter, which meant “Love T(iffany) forever”.

 

That left Tiffany stunned for several moments. What a moment.

 

And I was crying again.

 

Once she regained her composure, and after saying “Thank you so much” over and over again, she, in that familiar innocent tone of voice, said that she wanted to go up the stairs to get a better view of the whole thing and then take some pictures and videos of everything she was seeing. The moment became lighter as she teased her photographer Tony about making sure good photos were taken.

 

At this point, it became a bit awkward, since everybody knew that we were drawing the fan meeting to a close. None of us wanted it to end, including Tiffany. She was asking us if there was anything else we wanted to see. We all went screaming “다시 만난 세계!” or “Into the New World!” right away. She obliged, singing and performing a few parts of that now-iconic KPop debut song, starting with her own part. She even mimicked her memorable mistake in the chorus part as well. People would think that we were just being sentimental fools. But they don’t realize how much that song means to Girls’ Generation and their fans, no matter which member and no matter what fandom name. And we take every opportunity to sincerely sing “다시 만난 세계” with our beloved SoShi, every single time.

 

And being in “Holiday to Remember” last year, I honestly and personally felt it was a fitting ending to the fan meeting. After saying her farewells, thank yous, and goodbyes, bowing low as always, she strutted off the stage like a model that we all wanted her to do.

 

I’ve been saying this over and over again. At the end of it all, I feel a little bit conflicted. Two and a half hours felt short, but at the same time, I didn't want to be too greedy. I wanted her to take her much-deserved rest to prepare for her activities. She did share a lot of her big plans that she pouring out so much of herself to accomplish.

 

And I was all drained out. It has always been like that. That was when all the aches and pains started the come to me. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the fanmeeting, leaving everything on the stage for her.

 

I’ve also said in a thousand times before. I am very thankful for such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean.

 

And, as I’ve also said before, as I write this, there is always that realization that makes me a little sad. Despite all of these efforts, living through with the fact that I am just another nameless and faceless SONE filling up the Pink Ocean still left something missing. But what makes me go on doing this is the thought that as long as I give my all to the Girls, then I should not have any regrets whatsoever.

 

Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the tenth time in this lifetime, it didn't feel old. Just different, making me grow that much older and more mature as a SONE. In that special corner of my mind and my heart, in my own little way, I love them.

 

To Tiffany,

 

I've been a fan for eight years now. And I have been saying over and over again that I have never stanned anyone this hard and this intense before. And I don't think I'll ever do so for another.

 

Tiffany Young. Tiffany. Stephanie Hwang. Hwang Miyoung. No matter how I put it, no matter how you show it, I have loved you as fiercely as the day I've realized my true feelings for you. At this point, I don't care if this is a mistake, a hopeless case, a crazy situation, or otherwise. I. Love. You. You have made me smile and cry at the same time. You have made me happy and sad at the same time. You have turned my world upside down and inside out that I could not even remember anymore why and how I fell in love with you.

 

The fan meeting reminded me once more how much I love you and why, despite the apparent hopelessness of my case, I still continue to do so. You were just there, right in the middle of the spotlight, soaking all the love you deserve. You say that we are your light in the dark. I say no. You are my light in the dark, and I am just a reflection of that light, shining back at you. You say that you like yourself better when you're with us. I say that the me that I see whenever you're around is the me that I like best. You say that we are your once in a lifetime. I say that you're my once in my lifetime I can never replace, and nothing and no one else would come even close.

 

Although my heart aches in acknowledgement of reality, it's a pain I'm willing to bear, no matter how foolish it sounds. I love you, Hwang Miyoung. I love you, Stephanie Hwang. I love you, Tiffany. I love you, Tiffany Young.

 

From your SONE, your YoungOne, right now, from now on, forever.

 

 And as always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die."

 

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As always, tired and exhausted as heck. My throat was pretty dead afterwards.


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#7078864 [2017.08.05] 꿈꾸듯 함께한 10년. A Holiday to Remember. A Milestone to Cherish. Fore...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 13 August 2017 - 07:26 AM

Alright, of the bat, maybe at this point people will really be starting to call me insane for busting this much already. It wasn’t very long ago when I was in Hong Kong for Taeyeon’s PERSONA tour stop. And now I committed once more to arguably the most significant event I can go to.

 

A Holiday to Remember. The 10th Anniversary Fanmeet. Seoul Olympic Hall.

 

Of course, what made it crazier for me was that I was going into this with like rookie level knowledge of Hangeul. This obviously wasn’t a concert where there are more performances than talking segments and therefore would require less knowledge of the language. It is quite the opposite. So, for this fanaccount, I would referring a lot to the translations done by two people that I was lucky enough to meet after the fanmeeting, known famously on Twitter as SONExStella and itnw0628.

 

But that didn’t diminish at all the intensity of the feelings and thoughts that I experienced, and I hope I can share them with you in such a way that would reflect the atmosphere and the environment that prevailed during that time. And I warn you readers, there were a lot of nostalgia and feels that went down during the fanmeet, so I will apologize in advance if I end up saying that I cried and bawled a lot here.

 

Obviously, the fact that this was a milestone in their careers, and with all the promise of a “Holiday to Remember” that would rock SONEs to the core as much as possible, I was anxiously looking forward to this. Thanks to a tiny window of opportunity, I was able to snag an SM Global Package for this one. It put a nice little dent on my wallet, but after all was said and done, it was all worth it.

 

Before I actually start recounting that wonderful experience, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures. Just like Phantasia in Seoul before, security was very strict regarding taking videos and photos. I was in a pretty open spot, so I could get easily caught if I violated the rules.

 

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My seat was in the first row of the block, and there was some space in between blocks. So I really couldn't ninja photos because the staff were going back and forth in front of me.

 

Anyways…

 

We got to the venue at around five in the afternoon. The place was packed with people in the sweltering Seoul summer heat. Of course, as Sooyoung requested during the VLive broadcast, almost everyone I saw there were in the pink dress code. Including myself, of course.

 

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Ready to rock and roll in pink!

 

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They gave us these at the entrance. Yay! Free lightstick! And the banner we were suppose to hide until much later.

 

Fast forward a little bit to seven in the evening. The lights dimmed, and the entire Olympic Hall was filled with yet another of the fabled Pink Ocean. After the “Holiday” teaser blasted on the center big screen, all eight members of Girls’ Generation appeared from up the ramps, walking down to the stage, and, for the very first time ever, did the full live performance of “Holiday”. I already love the song when it first came out, and seeing them perform it live just made the appeal all the more intense. Just like the previous experiences, it was such an exhilarating feeling, witnessing them all together on stage once more. And they haven’t missed a beat.

 

Not to mention that it has been two freaking years since I last saw them live. Gosh, all the feels right away, realizing how much I missed them, all of them. I couldn’t even begin to describe how my heart was beating and thumping so hard in my chest when they graced the stage, all resplendent in shiny costumes, with the letters “gg” attached on the left side of their chests.

 

“Holiday” was already enough to get things rolling, but they upped the intensity even more by following it up with “Party”. Well, it was summer after all. And I really love “Party” as well. Tiffany was looking extremely excited, ad lib-ing her intro, “Hey SONE! Do you know what time it is? It must be party time! Here we go!”

 

And being the sentimental idiot that I am, I was already welling up. Gosh, the fanmeet hasn’t technically started.

 

After “Party”, the girls did something that I was extremely hoping that they’ll do to introduce themselves. I literally jumped out of my seat for joy, stamping my feet with so much excitement when I heard Tiffany kick off the introductions with, “안녕하세요! 보석보다 빛나는 파니 파니 티파니입니다! (boseok boda bitnaneun Fany Fany Tiffany) (Hello! This is brighter than gems Fany Fany Tiffany!)” and then coaxed the rest of the girls to do the same, in a cute manner.

 

Yes, they were all doing their debut era introductions. I don’t think I ever heard and seen them do that live in all the years that I’ve been to their concerts. Well, I did become a SONE only in 2010, so I totally missed out a lot during those precious early years.

 

Taeyeon was up next, doing her 꼬꼬마 리더 태연 (Ggoggoma Leader) (Kid Leader) introduction. Gosh she was so cute looking so awkward doing so. By the way, even if it was just beginning, there were already so many nostalgic throwback feels going on. Seohyun went next, and we all know that she is the prim and proper막내 서현 (Maknae Seohyun) (Youngest Seohyun).

 

And then Sunny took her turn, looking really embarrassed trying to personify her old 활력소 써니 (Hwalryeokso Sunny) (Energizer Bunny Cutie Sunny), and then quickly passing the spotlight to Yoona. And the 매력 소녀 윤아 (Maeryeok sonyuh Yoona) (Charming Girl Yoona) did not disappoint, cutely laughing along the way. Hyoyeon did not hesitate do show some dance moves when she went, “안녕하세요! 댄싱퀸 효연입니다! (Hello! This is Dancing Queen Hyoyeon)”.

 

The nostalgic trip continued with Yuri going, “안녕하세요! 흑진주 유리입니다! (Heukjinjoo Yuri) (Black Pearl Yuri)”, and 명랑공주 수영 (Myeongrang gongju Sooyoung) (Happy Princess Sooyoung) Sooyoung capping it off in a cute voice, but then fell awkwardly embarrassed as well.

 

After a few more words, the staff brought a lovely pink cake out. It was Girls’ Generation’s 10th anniversary after all, and a celebratory cake was obviously in order. That part actually made for a few laughs, because Hyoyeon and Seohyun struggled with the lighter, getting teased about being too weak and making up excuses that the lighter was broken. Yuri even called for a matchstick instead. But Hyoyeon was able to finally make the darn thing to work, lighting the candles. The girls even made it more special when we were all singing “Happy Birthday to you” by prompting us to sing “사랑하는 소시 소원 (Saranghaneun Soshi Sowon)…”. And then it became funny when the girls assigned Seohyun to cut the cake. But she couldn’t decide where to cut it, worrying that she might destroy it. So she simply said that we should just assume that the cake has been cut.

 

After the staff wheeled the assumed cut cake away, the girls finally settled down to formally begin the first talk portion. This was a fanmeet after all, and there are lots and lots of talking to occur. It was at this point that my rudimentary Hangeul was beginning to fail me, but regardless, it didn’t actually diminish the fun one bit.

 

They then proceeded to their first talk segment, making it sound cute by going “Talk Talk!” Sooyoung and Yuri emceed this first section. Basically, each picture of the girls, arranged by age on the big screen, had a key word in which they would explain or expound on. And obviously, Taeyeon’s picture was up first, revealing the words “Samchon fan”. The girls quickly started their banter, recalling all those times when their older uncle fans were giving them health supplements, vitamins, and healthy food, as compared to cuter gifts they receive from their younger fans. They also recalled the celebrities who were also uncle fans, and then pointing out that Sunny’s uncle fan is like the boss of the samchon fan division. That made us all laugh. I daresay, if you don’t get the joke, then you’re not a SONE.

 

This continued for quite a bit, going through different topics like their experiences of performing in military camps, coming up with good choreographies for their group dances and joking along the way as to who made the most mistakes (again, if you don’t know who that is, you’re not a SONE), and how the fandom name “SONE” came about (it almost became “Honey” at one point). At this point, they decided to do a two-line poem for 소 (So) and 원 (Won) to describe what SONE is to SNSD. While Sooyoung and Sunny managed to get really nice ones, Hyoyeon made a really silly one, Tiffany made a really cheesy one, and Taeyeon failed like three times before she saved herself. It was really funny.

 

The segment proceeded with reminiscing about their CFs, asking each other which ones were the most memorable ones. Goobne Chicken, Domino’s Pizza, Samyang Ramen, Banana Milk, and Maple Story all came back to mind. The girls then wondered if they were ever going to do a CF for alcoholic drinks. Now there’s a thought.

 

Sooyoung’s picture flipped to reveal “Leg Beauty”.  Wow. How appropriate. And then they proceed to boast about which body part they were proud of. Sooyoung, aside from her legs, said that she was proud of her hair. Taeyeon had her shoulders. Hyoyeon talked a bit about her eardrums (yeah, her eardrums). Yoona said her hands are the best. Sooyoung and Yuri skipped Sunny, saying that it was very obvious to everyone what her best body part was. This prompted Sunny to start doing the boob dance, making the rest of the girls scream, telling her to stop, and us fans laugh and cheer really loud.

 

As for Seohyun, well, I was kinda expecting what she would boast about, and she did not disappoint, promptly putting her elbow up. I remembered how much Taeyeon was scared of Seohyun’s elbows. The girls kept teasing her for a bit, complimenting on her entire body line and even asking her to turn around and show her back to the fans. Yoona then joked that Seohyun should just stay like that with her back turned for the rest of the show. To cap things off, Tiffany showed off her beautiful teeth… well gums actually, since hers were really pink, just like her lips. Trust Tiffany to always have to do with something pink. And then Yuri said her neck was the best. The last two topics were “Hook Song” and “Skinny Jeans”. Of course, it cannot be avoided that “Gee” would be mentioned in this case. Oh, and this was the point where Hyoyeon’s lipstick incident, where she got caught on camera walking in the airport with lipstick smeared on her teeth. I didn’t understand it at first, but when I caught on, man that was hilarious.

 

For the next part, Taeyeon and Sunny took over as emcees. The girls showed a number of their “Best 3” stuff. For the first one, from bottom to top, their best three songs were “Gee”, “Holiday”, and, of course, “Into the New World”. And if you thought it was just gonna end there, you’re dead wrong. The girls proceeded to form teams for a quick “Guess the SNSD song” game. Sooyoung and Sunny were “Tall and Short” (which earned loads of laughs). Hyoyeon and Yoona were the most unimaginative, going for “Hyo-yoong”. Yuri and Seohyun were the “Shampoo” team. Taeyeon and Tiffany were “Blue Pink” (to which Seohyun commented something about them being “Blackpink”, as in the girl group). And after much banter and roasting, Team Blue Pink won. Their prize went missing though.

 

Anyways…

 

The next part was the girls’ “Best 3 Choreo”, where, again from bottom to top, it was “Genie”, “Catch Me If You Can”, and, once again, “Into the New World”. This was quickly followed by their “Best 3 Styles”. “Party”, “Genie”, and “Gee” was shown here. And then, their “Best 3 Concert Performances” were shown. The third placed performance was “Show Girls”, the one that they did for MBC as part of their comeback two years ago. The second one was a concert video vignette of them all dressed up as men. The first one, and I kinda expected this as well, was the Tokyo Dome Into the New World ballad version performance. Honestly, after so many times of watching that, I still get all ugly-faced crying and bawling and whatnot. But then, the girls started giggling and all when the video was playing, and Sunny quickly stood up and pretended to leave the stage when her part showed up, with her all crying and whatnot. Taeyeon and Seohyun saved the moment by saying that indeed it was a very meaningful and emotional performance for them. And of course, without saying it out loud, everyone in the hall knew why.

 

Up next, Tiffany and Yoona took over as emcees for the next part, which was a quiz “Let’s Talk About SoShi”. The point of the game was if one of them is able to answer a question about a member, then she will get a gift-wrapped prize. The first question was already so funny, since nobody could remember what was the name of Sooyoung’s first puppy that she raised. And then finally, Taeyeon got it right, blurting out the name “Cha-Cha”. Yuri got the next question correctly, answering that it was oysters that makes Sooyoung’s stomach ache. And Yuri continued her roll, answering correctly that it was during drama press conferences that Yoona became nervous the most.

 

Would you believe that? I mean, after all this time, the most experienced SNSD actress can still get the jitters every drama press conference.

 

One of the funnier ones was members randomly blurting out Hyoyeon’s bad habits, trying to answer the question as to when does she think that she’s ugly. Hyoyeon even quipped that she was digging her own grave by even asking that question. Finally, Sooyoung got it right when she answered when Hyoyeon comes in late but then acts all cocky and whatnot. Another funny thing was that when it was revealed that Yuri’s special skill was writing letters, to which Taeyeon said, “That’s a special skill?” A third funny thing was when Sooyoung answered “A mirror” to the question of what item makes Seohyun cry. Man, seeing SNSD roasting each other with such savagery is so much fun.

 

I have to say, this next part was so meaningful for me, for several reasons. For starters, I narrowly missed out on the “Into the New World” Asia Tour in Taipei back in 2010. And it still eats me a little bit inside until now. Secondly, I only became a SONE in 2010, so I really missed out a lot of their early performances. So imagine my surprise and shock when I realized that “Tinkerbell” started to blare through the hall’s speakers. And, a few seconds later, I felt my heart bursting in my chest when I saw Taeyeon walking down from the audience in her bright red oversized sweatshirt, emblazoned with the number 22 and the words “Taeyeon” and “Girls’ Generation” in big white letters. You got that right. They were all donning replicas of their old costumes from 2008. And gosh, I was so shocked that it took a few seconds for me to realize that I was just standing maybe like twenty, thirty feet away from the Kid Leader. The goosebumps were really crawling all over my skin.

 

Taeyeon and Hyoyeon made their way from the audience to the stage, meeting the others to sit at the middle of the stage steps. Aside from the two, Sunny was also in red, while Seohyun, Tiffany, Yuri, Yoona, and Sooyoung were in white. With the full impact of the realization dawning on me as to how big and how far back this, well, throwback will be, I actually started crying. Seriously. I was like, “OMG, I’m gonna see a blast from the past.”

 

And I actually did. Because right after “Tinkerbell”, the girls proceeded to perform “Ooh La La”. Now there’s more nostalgia for the fans who were with them since the beginning. And dang, I can say that they were doing quite fine, with similar energy levels as was then back in the day. I really found it so adorable right before the bridge part of the song where Tiffany cutely jumped out from behind their formation, ushering Seohyun’s part. Gosh, I swear she looked like a kid. It was all so cute.

 

And then, the last two performances really took the spotlight for me. “Kissing You”, the original version mind you, came next. And next thing I knew, the girls were actually waving their lollipops. Just like the old ones they used to wave around. And we found ourselves doing the old fanchants, just like back in the day. But the last performance for this segment was really the icing on the cake, and I was so happy to finally witness this one. The girls actually performed their second career single, “Girls’ Generation”. Now talk about nostalgia galore. Like I said, I never saw this performance live, so finally seeing after all these years was such a treat. I am actually quite happy that they thought about performing this, and putting it last for this segment. That was an entire twenty minutes full of happy memories right there.

 

After exiting the stage and another video vignette, they proceeded to another lengthy talk segment. This time, they were wearing very pretty and colorful dresses. They talked a bit about the last set, commenting on something about how it was so long since they wore such costumes and performed their old songs. Taeyeon even said that the lollipops that they were using were actually the old ones and they didn’t make new ones. They had to look for it and wash it since it was in storage for so long.

 

Hyoyeon and Seohyun emceed this portion, which was to answer some questions that fans posted. Some of the funnier ones were Tiffany automatically flashing her infamous eye smile that always knocks everyone dead. And Taeyeon, ever the dork, was actually hovering in the background, scanning the sticky notes on the board propped up behind them. She actually couldn’t decide which question to pick out and answer, that dork.

 

At this point, they began telling each other some personal thoughts, down the line. Taeyeon faced Yoona, saying how proud she was of her dongseang. Yoona’s thoughts to Yuri was to always be healthy, and that her eonnie was so cool and pretty. Yuri turned to Hyoyeon, who said that she was so thankful to be together for 17 years. Hyoyeon turned to Seohyun, saying that she was her pride. She actually did it in a funny way, not being able to make eye contact. I didn’t honestly understand if it was because Hyoyeon was afraid to laugh or to cry. It was probably the latter, since Seohyun, ever the softy, was already tearing up way before.

 

I’m sure that Seohyun is everyone’s pride. Not just within SNSD, but also within SONE. Seohyun grew up really well.

 

And speaking of Seohyun, her message to Tiffany was very fitting of her image and personality, saying how thankful she was for all of her eonnies being with her all this time. Bless her heart. She was crying already, to which Sooyoung whined, telling her not to cry. However, those tears became infectious. After Tiffany told Sunny that she is so proud that they have all become so incredible and that she hoped that they can all continue to love each other without changing, Sunny was already struggling to keep composed. Sunny then proceed to say to Sooyoung that she was sorry for everything, and that she was so thankful for everything as well. And just to lighten the mood, she even joked about her actually being a man. And lastly, Sooyoung, from way across the stage, turned to Taeyeon, expressing something that I think all of us are always silently worried about our Kid Leader. Sooyoung reminded Taeyeon that she can always lean on her shoulder, regardless of whatever.

 

They then took the stage once more, this time for a more sentimental segment. I guess an SNSD special event will not be complete without some performance of their now-monumental debut song, “Into the New World”. The lights came on, and I saw them all seated at the top part of the stage. When the first few bars of the ballad version started playing, I immediately felt a lump on my throat. I almost choked, realizing that I was about to witness another heart tugging moment. But then, I felt myself crying again, especially when Tiffany wasn’t able to finish her part properly because she was also crying, holding Sunny’s hand. Tiffany, who was seated at my right end of the row, was actually facing Sunny while she sang her part, and then grabbed her hand. Man, that did me in, seeing how emotional they can still get singing “Into the New World”. Yeah, I cried. Again. They next sang “One Last Time”, a song off the “Holiday Night” album. It had such a different, serious, but still an emotional vibe to it. That beat, that rhythm, there was something about it that left an equally mysterious something inside me. Not to mention I realized how difficult this song actually is towards the end, with all of those high notes and all.

 

Afterwards, we come to the last part of the program. Man, at this point, I didn’t realize that three hours already went by. After a short video vignette showing the teaser of “All Night”, the lights came on once again. Resplendent in super sparkly attires, they opened this part with Yoona’s cute voice blasting “I like to party!”, ushering in “All Night”. Of course, since this was the first time they were performing “All Night”, everyone was super excited once more. It was a pity though that we had no idea how to fanchant this one, unlike what you have probably seen in the music shows. That would have been epic as well, with 2,500-plus strong SONEs present.

 

They then proceeded to perform yet another iconic song. The moment the girls formed a single line, with Yoona up front, even in darkness, we all knew what song that was. “Genie” started playing, and we started fanchanting. It was nuts. I actually missed all the fanchanting. It is such an energizing stress reliever to go all crazy singing and fanchanting to SoShi songs. And of course, that ending pose with the sharp salute was always something to enjoy to see.

 

The girls paused from performing, and took the time once more to talk to us. And then, another big highlight of the night happened. I was told that this was done in absolute secrecy, and that the Girls have no idea about this part. While they continued talking, a video suddenly interrupted everything, taking everyone’s attention. Of course, we fans in the audience already have an idea what it was, since we were told beforehand, but we didn’t know exactly when it was going to happen during the fanmeet.

 

This was the “What SNSD means to SONE” fan project. Way beforehand, fans were asked to send handwritten messages answering that question, “What SNSD means to SONE?”. And now, the Girls got to see our heartfelt and sincere responses. With the instrumental version of “Sailing” playing in the background, the Girls watched the video, and obviously slowly being moved to tears. Yoona, I think, was the first one to break down and cry. After all these years, she still has a very sensitive heart towards whatever fans do for her. I think Seohyun cried next. She too was also a softy for such acts. But she was so overwhelmed that she needed to hug Tiffany and Yuri. But of course, we all love them for that. Heck, I was already crying myself, with what rudimentary Hangeul I can muster reading through those messages as well. I think some minutes in, the Girls realized how much their SONEs love them, and how much they have done for their SONEs, that all of them started tearing up, one way or another. They couldn’t get their eyes off the big screen as the video continued showing such wonderful and sincere messages.

 

And it wasn’t the end of it. After the part where the music played Tiffany’s part in the song, “저 먼 길을 돌아 다시 만난 세계는 너야 You know it’s true… (Jeo meon gireul dora dashi mannan segeneun neoya You know it’s true…)”, a scene of a phone being unlocked with the code “0805” prompted us for the next part. We quickly got out our hidden message banners that said, “꿈꾸듯 함께한 10년 (Ten years of dreaming together)”, and with our pink lightsticks also at the ready, we prepared ourselves. Our cheers made the Girls turn around to face us, and we surprised them with such enthusiasm as we put up our banners and lightsticks and began to sing, “Into the New World”. The original version, this time around. I have to admit, I was ugly-crap crying at this point, overwhelmed so much with the outpour of love towards the Girls. And I was ugly-crap singing myself hoarse as well, trying to keep up with the rest of the fans. I tell you, I felt like I was looking really whatever bawling and singing. And the Girls also couldn’t help but cry as well. Tiffany turned around to hide her tears while Sooyoung and Yuri were subtly crying. Seohyun and Yoona were openly in tears while Taeyeon tried to stay strong and smile, pointing her microphone at us to capture our singing. Sunny and Hyoyeon were also trying their hardest not to bawl.

 

These fan projects during live events are the best. I was really thankful that I was able to be a part of it, being able to openly express how much I have grown to love Girls’ Generation. I really couldn’t describe all of my feelings coursing through me at that point, except for gratitude and love towards the Girls. It was something that is so magical and so pure and so exhilarating and so overwhelming all at the same time. But at the same time, I found myself pouring out my sincerest apologies to them, for not being able to be there since the beginning. I wasn’t a fan for ten years, only seven. And I have carried that regret in my heart ever since.

 

Afterwards, the Girls struggled through their tears to express their gratitude and say their thanks to this small expression of our own love that we have done for them. And just to stop the tears from flowing, they tried to lighten up the mood after a few minutes.

 

And then, they performed the last song for the night. And the first few bars sent me bawling once more. I had both hoped and braced myself for them to finally sing this song live. And finally, after a year since its release, they finally did. “Sailing (그 여름) (0805)” started playing. I started bawling. That song has a special place in my heart, since Sooyoung wrote those lyrics with SONE in mind. Sooyoung even said that everything that they wanted to tell SONEs were put into that song. It was such a touching gesture on her part.

 

And come to think of it, a lot of the songs in the “Holiday Night” album were also expressions made towards SONE. The Girls really prepared a lot for this. And when I thought I couldn’t cry any harder, I just did. And the sentimentality-fueled emotions washed over as well. Sunny couldn’t finish her part while singing, finally breaking down to tears as well as we kept our banners up while waving our lightsticks. She bent over, hiding her face while still standing. Taeyeon took a few steps to pat her on the shoulder, comforting her. The bond these Girls have… witnessing such actions just makes me feel some warmth in my heart.

 

And that officially concluded the fanmeet. For the umpteenth time, the Girls said their thank you’s. But I really think that we fans were more thankful than they were. At least I was. And as they finally started to say their farewells, they sang a portion of one of their new songs, “Light Up the Sky”. Now that song is something special as well. I felt that it has the same meaning as “Complete”, “Forever”, and “Sailing”. I also felt that all of the Girls really like that song as well. And we actually sang with them.

 

But any Girls’ Generation event will not be complete without us cheering together their motto. As always, being able to say this out loud with them is again a special thing. Being able to say with them, “지금은, 소녀시대! (Jigeumeun, So Nyeo Si Dae!) (Right Now, It’s Girls' Generation!) 앞으로도, 소녀시대! (Apeurodo, So Nyeo Si Dae!) (From Now On, It’s Girls' Generation!) 영원히, 소녀시대! (Yeongwonhi, So Nyeo Si Dae!) (Forever, It’s Girls' Generation!)” strengthens that bond all the more.

 

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Me after the event. And I was exhausted as heck.

 

I’ve been saying this over and over again. At the end of it all, I feel a little bit conflicted. A little over three and a half hours felt short, but at the same time, I didn't want to be too greedy. I wanted them to take their much-deserved rest to prepare for their activities scheduled for this celebration.

 

And I was all drained out. It has always been like that. That was when all the aches and pains started the come to me. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the fanmeeting, leaving everything on the stage for them.

 

I’ve also said in a thousand times before. I am very thankful for such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean.

 

And as I write this, there is always that realization that makes me a little sad. Despite all of these efforts, living through with the fact that I am just another nameless and faceless SONE filling up the Pink Ocean still left something missing. But what makes me go on doing this is the thought that as long as I give my all to the Girls, then I should not have any regrets whatsoever.

 

Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the ninth time in this lifetime, it didn't feel old. Just different, making me grow that much older and more mature as a SONE. In that special corner of my mind and my heart, in my own little way, I love them.

 

But still, the bottom line still seems to be, as always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die."


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#7073896 [2017.06.11] 너는 나의 후회없는 청춘이다 You Are My Regretless Youth (Hong Kong)

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 01 July 2017 - 06:50 PM

Another great write-up, as usual!  Sorry for the belated read and response, but hey at least I liked your photos right!???  But seriously, these are always great to read; I'm honestly surprised you can remember everything in such detail; I'm sure if I attended and wrote something, it'd just be a deluge of badly taken photos and "ah, she was pretty and sang some songs but I kinda forget but yeah, you should go if you can!" kind of nonsense.

 

But thanks for taking the time to write down your thoughts, not just for the people who couldn't attend, but also because I think someone should (needs to?) write the sentimental things too, if even to just remind us of the bigger picture, and not just mention the set list and rant about how pretty Taengoo is.  Uh, though, that's always nice too heh.

 

Hope you enjoyed Hong Kong~  Next time, try to go when I'm there (jk) :P

The trickiest part in every concert that I go to is how to balance my time between taking photos and simply immersing myself, taking it all in. Obviously, I was leaning towards the latter, because I want to experience everything with my own eyes, and not through a phone screen (considering especially how much I blew for this trip lol). 

 

SNSD concerts have become my sanctuary of sorts. Especially the last four years where everything was really stressful and depression and so energy draining and all. Now that I think about it, I've been really depressed as of late because of the stresses at work that I just flop to bed when I get home oftentimes, but being in Taeyeon's concert gave me a much-needed boost, even if it was for a short time. I badly needed it. All these thoughts that the posted in the account went through my head as I watched her perform that night. Like I said, I also grew from just spazzing and fanboying to something else whenever I watch concerts now. I understand how much effort they put into it to make fans happy, and I feel I should just be as serious as well and try to return all that love and cheer that they give.

 

Heck yeah. Hopefully we can meetup someday. Wherever part of the world.


  • 1


#7072106 [2017.06.11] 너는 나의 후회없는 청춘이다 You Are My Regretless Youth (Hong Kong)

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 14 June 2017 - 06:52 AM

June 11, 2017. AsiaWorld-Expo Hall 10, Hong Kong.

It has been two years since Phantasia in Seoul. And since that time it has honestly been a rollercoaster ride for me in real life that I ended up badly needing another chance to get away from it all, and to be with the one thing that makes me happy in so many different ways.

Taeyeon’s 1st Asia Tour. PERSONA in Hong Kong.

It was a little bit special in the sense that I wasn’t able to get tickets the first two rounds of it. And then one day I got mentioned on Twitter that there were additional seats made available. I immediately grabbed the chance, and well, third time was indeed the charm. Next thing I knew, I was furiously planning my trip to a place where, like Bangkok and Seoul, I’ve never been to before. It’s funny how it only takes a Girls’ Generation event to make me travel to new places. I know. It’s insane. It’s crazy. But I still did.

I knew that this was going to be so different from the previous Girls’ Generation concerts that I’ve been to because this was Taeyeon’s own solo concert. She was a singer first and foremost, and the songs that she has released through the two years that she had solo promotions were different from Girls’ Generation in so many different ways. But still, as leader of my beloved girl group, there were still similar vibes and feelings that made this just as special.

Fastforward to the day itself. I arrived at AsiaWorld-Expo not really knowing what to expect. I was initially walking around and seeing mostly people young enough to be my students. I felt really old to be there that for a moment or two I asked myself what was I doing there. But shaking it off, I thought that I needed to be there. I needed to show Taeyeon, at least, that even after so long, she still has my love and support.

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That's how close I was seated. Unfortunately, because of my height, that really didn't help much later on when the concert began.

When they started letting us in, I had to pinch myself several times, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Yes. I was finally inside, and all the feelings that I always had whenever I’m in a Girls’ Generation concert started swelling up inside once again. Yes. This was it. PERSONA was upon all of us.

The lights dimmed, and the famous and fabled Pink Ocean for the umpteenth time flooded the concert hall, echoed by the screams and cheers of thousands of SONEs eager to meet Taeyeon and show all the love that she deserves. And after the opening vignette, she burst into the scene, powerfully starting off with the very short version “U R” that immediately brought tears to my eyes. Not only did her immediate presence shook me to the core, but the song itself is actually one of my favorites. I was screaming my lungs out and singing my throat out, as if I was singing the lyrics back to her.

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Well, because she was as she sang it. And until now, as I write this account, I’m still bursting into tears recalling even just that opening moment. The stage where she stood made her look all the more majestic, like the queen that she deserves to be.

She then proceeded to “Feel So Fine”. All of us were singing and fanchanting with her with all the strength and energy that we could muster, and it made for such a very magical start. And as Taeyeon was climbing down the stage, it really dawned on me that she was really there. I could see already how happy she was, feeding off all that energy and electricity that she was seeing and feeling from all of us. And that made me very happy as well, seeing her happy.

And that cycle of love and support only continued with “I” as she started walking to the extended stage. I personally love “I”. And I was actually singing to it for the most part in my days in Hong Kong leading up to this night, building up the excitement and the hype. And she became much more majestic when she was being raised up the platform on the extended stage during “Make Me Love You”. And of course, we were all fanchanting back, asking Taeyeon to make us kiss her, touch her, want her, love her.

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The next thing I knew, my throat was already hurting like hell. And we were just getting started.

Fortunately, after that, Taeyeon took some time to talk to us. But that didn’t stop us from cheering her on. It was actually funny to cheer on her on even as simple as her picking up a water bottle and taking a couple of sips. But this was her moment to be all funny and dorky once more, despite how glamorous she looked in that hot white dress with black trimmings. And she couldn’t stop laughing as well whenever a fan or two managed to scream something audible to her. And we loved her for it. What was really contrasting about her at that moment as well was that her face looked so dorky when she was asking us “Are you ready?”, all while rocking that glamorous dress.

“Fire” came in next, ushering the first of our many prepared fan events. Us in the nearer blocks had red lightsticks ready while those in the raised blocks had yellow ones, creating an awesome sea of fire for her to marvel on as she sang.

The next few minutes afforded us some moments of rest as a video of her singing “My Funny Valentine” was being played, bringing the first set to a close and ushering in the next set. I briefly felt the exhaustion already creeping in, but I knew that we still had a long way to go. As always, I couldn’t let myself drop dead. That would be a huge disservice to Taeyeon.

She opened the next set with “I Got Love”. Hot dang, she transformed from a glamorous white angel to a fierce lady all clad in sexy black. Man, she really knew how to soften people up during the first set, and then set them up for the knock down at the start of the second set. At least that’s how I felt. And it was an extended version of “I Got Love” since it included an amazingly hot dance performance with her backup dancers.

Here’s the thing, since I was so carried away, I honestly didn’t notice the “**** you” moment that people were talking about during “I’m OK”. Going back to the fancams, that’s when I saw it. Well, I was on the other side of the stage from where Taeyeon was during that moment when she even flipped the finger. Oh well, I honestly find it not such a big deal since it was all for pure performance. Anyways, she continued that bad-ass attitude with “Eraser”, accentuated further by those metallic bar-like wall partition-thingies that the backup dancers were rolling around the stage.

“Sweet Love” was next, making things mellow down a bit from the bad-ass-ity of “I’m OK” and “Eraser”. I was amazed. I already knew that Taeyeon was very versatile, but this concert was really showcasing how much versatility she can afford to have. “Sweet Love” was a such a jamming-like song, making me flow with it. But still, how can someone with such a small and fragile-looking body can belt out such powerful tunes with such amazing vocals? Kim Taeyeon was certainly it.

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And the jamming session continued with “Gemini” and “Lonely Night”. Holy mother in the high heavens she was making me just flow along, like being carried away quietly and sweetly with such little effort. I think this was the kind of performance that Taeyeon wanted to do. The woman just wants to sing, and this was certainly her comfort zone. This was certainly her own stage. I tell you, “Sweet Love”, “Gemini”, and “Lonely Night” all felt like I was in pub, drink in hand, watching this amazing woman doing a quiet jamming session.

Afterwards came the second talk, making me snap out of my relaxed state. This was probably and arguably one of the biggest highlights of the night. At first, she was asking us what was that thing we did during her performance of “Fire”. We started shouting “Fire”, but she didn’t understand it at first. It took a few minutes for her to finally get it. It was just so funny watching her finally getting it, saying sorry for not getting it along the way. Taeyeon then went on doing some cutesy stuff, doing different heart poses and blowing kisses. Of course, we all went crazy for it. What made it funnier was that she was learning on the spot how to say it all in Cantonese, stumbling along the way.

As she was reading some of the fan signs being held up for her to see, she came across one that floored me. After she read out loud, “You are ****ing awesome”, and cutely reacting to it, she then replied out loud, “Yeah, you guys are ****ing awesome too”. And that made the entire hall explode with cheers and laughter.

There was no “Hwi Jae” in Hong Kong, so she went straight to “Love in Color”. Everything became calm and quiet once more. I was constantly reminded as to how amazing her vocals really was. And that continued on to “Rain”. I really love this version of the song, slowly starting it off with such sweet piano sounds, and then progressing to the original version. Oh, and this also ushered in the second fan event. We broke out our purple lightsticks this time, creating a soft purple ocean for her in which Taeyeon thought we were mimicking soft raindrops. And what made this performance more amazing was that we were all singing along, “Dururururu-doo-doo… Dururururu-roo-roo!” over and over again, prompting her to say “Thank you” and “Good job, SONE” afterwards.

She did a short talk again afterwards, saying that we did an amazing job so far with the fanlights, and then proceeded with “I Blame on You”. The transition to this powerful and dramatic vibe left me in pieces for the bajillionth time that night. I swear, whoever decided on this sequence of songs deserves a medal. I know I said it before, but that night just made me forget everything else. For the first time in two years since Phantasia, I let myself go and just go along with the flow.

After another video segment, “Cover Up” came up next to start the third set. This was actually the most upbeat and energetic set of all. From the get-go, we were again up on our feet, waving our lightsticks like nuts and singing and fanchanting like crazy once again. It was pretty hard for me to keep up to be honest, since I’m a shortie, and I’m an oldie compared to most of the people in the audience. I was getting really tired at that point, but I really tried my hardest to feed off the energy that was being generated.
Oh, and did I mention that Taeyeon looked so cute in those pigtails and denims? And that part with the hula hoops just added to the cuteness. And dang it, making us all go jumping towards the end just upped the energy all the more. And without missing a beat, she quickly proceeded to “Hands on Me”.

If the previous set made me all relaxed and just go jamming, this set was designed to make everyone to simply have fun. And that vibe continued with “Stress”. I found myself with renewed strength, getting my second, third, fourth, wind, especially when Taeyeon took off her denim jacket. So despite me not seeing her clearly on stage because everyone was on their feet, I was enjoying myself with renewed enthusiasm. And darn it, for the nth time, she knocked us dead when she cutely stuck her butt out and then cutely ran backstage.

Fortunately, she let us rest and recover at the start of the fourth set. Dressed in a sexy knitted white top and white pants, she opened with “When I Was Young”, and then followed with “Secret”. Personally, these two songs touched me a lot, since I could relate so much to the lyrics and the messages these two songs convey, amplified by how the stage lighting made Taeyeon look and sound so angelic. I ended up in pieces and in tears once more. At that point, I was reminded as to how much I can relate to her. Out of all the members of Girls’ Generation, it is actually Taeyeon with whom I share the most similarities with. And seeing her perform these two songs in particular made me end up with such a huge lump in my throat and an indescribable feeling in my heart that made me cry once more.

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And then Taeyeon talked with us some more. I can understand some, but it was still unfortunate that my Hangeul wasn’t really up to par enough to keep up with what she was saying. And my Cantonese was actually down to zero. There were some awkward moments, but it was still a very enjoyable talk segment.

“11:11” and “Why” came up next. People were talking raves about how these combined together produced a beautiful performance. And yes, they were right. I absolutely loved how Taeyeon and her live band was able to seamlessly combine the two. She started softly and calmly with “11:11”, but that didn’t stop us from singing along, especially on the “Nanananana-nanana…” part. That guitar accompaniment was really a nice touch. I’m happy that decided to do a live band accompaniment for this concert. It’s actually a very refreshing feeling compared to the other KPop concerts I’ve been to. And “Why” was such an overwhelming feeling for me, especially during the parts where we sang along, and then towards the end when I was screaming my tired lungs and ravaged throat out “Kim Taeyeon! Kim Taeyeon! Kim Taeyeon!” over and over again. I actually love “Why” as well. To be honest, I remember loving it so much that I was practicing the choreography to it several times, trying to get it right.

The encore set opened with “Fine”. Dressed glamorously yet again, this time in gold, she belted out “Fine” with as much emotion as she could. If anyone has any doubts as to Taeyeon’s vocals, they can go shove those doubts down the drain once they witness her performing “Fine” live. And after a short talk, she continued on with “Time Lapse”. I’ve seen previous fancams of it before, and it had such a chilling effect on me. Seeing it live amplified that feeling. It was such a beautiful and, for the nth time, an overwhelming experience witnessing the magic unfold in front of my eyes as she performed “Time Lapse”. At that point, words failed me. I couldn’t describe it. I couldn’t think of the words to describe what I felt, letting myself get lost once again in the song. The only thing I was conscious about was me crying again. The rest was really abstract to me I couldn’t really describe it.

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And Taeyeon was really laying it all out on that stage in front of us.

The concert came to its conclusion with “Curtain Call”. Man, time just went by, and we were at the end of it. And we did our final fan event for the night for her, raising our purple banners that showed, “너는 나의 후회없는 청춘이다”, which meant “You Are My Regretless Youth”. Indeed, Taeyeon has become our regretless youth. Getting to know Kim Taeyeon made me realize how much she is the embodiment of a fountain of youth. Despite her growing old through the years, she kept herself young, and kept me young as well. All the antics, all the dorkiness, all the cuteness, all that energy, all the love, all the enthusiasm, all coming from our inspiring Kid Leader, our adorable House Fairy, our lovable Paper Human.

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And honestly, me emulating her? I never regretted it. Not a single moment. I learned so much from her. Like I said, out of the members of Girls’ Generation, it’s Kim Taeyeon who I can relate to the most. And that video at the end, showing the different sides to Taeyeon, that made PERSONA all the more meaningful. Tonight was the night where I bore witness to the different personas of Kim Taeyeon that she longed to show to the world. And I was grateful for it.

But of course, the concert was over, but the night wasn’t. We waited for several long minutes, even singing and fanchanting to “Lion Heart” being played over the speakers of the hall. I honestly wasn’t sure if there was still something else at that point, so imagine my thankfulness and gratitude when she appeared once more, looking so adorably cute in that black PERSONA shirt and denim shorts studded with even cuter pin badges. She spent like five more minutes, thanking everyone and giving all of us SONEs hope that a Girls’ Generation comeback was near.

That second encore, just spending the time just talking to us, was so precious. I was so thankful I got to experience it, even if I didn’t understand half of it. I knew she was tired as well, but she going out and spending just a bit more time talking to us was a really, really, really precious thing. And ending it by saying, “Goodbye, I love you, and please take care going home” made it all the more precious.

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As always, at the end of it all, I feel a little bit conflicted. A little over three hours still felt short, but at the same time, I didn't want to be too greedy. I wanted her to take her much-deserved rest after all that touring, as this was the last stop for PERSONA.

And as always, after the concert, I was all drained out. It has always been like that. That was when all the aches and pains started the come to me. And after the concert was another one hour bus ride to get home. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the concert, leaving everything on the stage for her.

I also felt very thankful, as always. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean.

And as I write this, there is always that realization that makes me a little sad. Despite all of these efforts, living through with the fact that I am just another nameless and faceless SONE filling up the Pink Ocean still left something missing. But what makes me go on doing this is the thought that as long as I give my all to the Girls, then I should not have any regrets whatsoever.

Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the eighth time in this lifetime, it didn't feel old. Just different, making me grow that much older and more mature as a SONE. In that special corner of my mind and my heart, in my own little way, I love them.
But still, the bottom line still seems to be, as always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die."

And just like I said in Phantasia, I am one with you girls in saying, "언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계 (It's something we'll do together to the end, into the new world.)."

And that, I promise.

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And yes, that's me at the beginning holding up our banners for the last part "Curtain Call"


  • 3


#7072102 [14.05.2017] Seeing Taeyeon was one of the best days in my life

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 14 June 2017 - 05:38 AM

It's always a very happy thing to see fellow SONEs finally getting their chance to meet our beloved girls for real. Congrats on seeing Taeyeon and being a witness to such an amazing concert!


  • 1


#7064765 [PROJECT] Soshified "#SONEPromise"

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 30 April 2017 - 09:22 PM

Hello to all fellow SONEs! :welcome:

As we have been anticipating, 2017 is the 10th year anniversary of the debut of our beloved SoShi. :woot: Soshified has lined up this video project in preparation of our wonderful Girls' comeback.

This video project is entitled, "#SONEPromise" to showcase 10 years of us being fans and supporting the Girls in our own ways, big and small. :)
This is our big chance to show to the Girls how much they have changed our lives in all these weeks, months, and years that we have been their fans. :D :blush:










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Mechanics: :D ;) :laugh:

1) Let's take a trip down our favorite memory lane with SoShi. Whether you're new to the fandom or a die-hard-full-blown SONE, we all have that fondest moment and treasured memories while being a part of the fandom. Let's take this chance to share these happy memories with each other, and of course with the Girls.

2) So here's how we're going to do it:

a.) Step one:

i.) Choose a PHOTO capturing your FONDEST SNSD-related memory. Some example of extreme spazzing maybe be (but are not limited to):

- You being present in an SNSD concert, music show, or fan signing event.
- You being present in a fan gathering, a KPop event (like your KCON or your local KPop-themed event shared with other fans).
- You with your most treasured SNSD-themed merchandise, or even your entire collection of SNSD-themed merchandise.
- You making friends and bonding with fellow SONEs or fellow KPop fans in general.
- You participating in a volunteer event representing SONE or Girls' Generation.

AND/OR

ii.) Especially for SONEs who have been a part of the fandom for a long time, choose a PHOTO taken during your earliest possible time of you being a fan and a more recent PHOTO capturing your more recent time of you being a fan. These two times may also be any of the following:

- You being present in an SNSD concert, music show, or fan signing event.
- You being present in a fan gathering, a KPop event (like your KCON or your local KPop-themed event shared with other fans).
- Your most treasured SNSD-themed merchandise, or even your entire collection of SNSD-themed merchandise.
- You making friends and bonding with fellow SONEs or fellow KPop fans in general.
- You participating in a volunteer event representing SONE or Girls' Generation.

iii) If you are taking a current picture for the project please include our official Soshified hashtag, #SONEPromise, in the picture either printed, handwritten, or on an electronic devices, etc.

b.) Step two:

We also want you to:

i) Create a short, personal one-liner message that is closely related to the lyrics of the song "Promise" (which is in the "I Got A Boy" album). Just in case, the lyrics are here:

Spoiler



Submissions:

i.) Once you are done preparing your selected photos, upload them in a good and reputable photo sharing site such as imgur or imgbox (the ones that the forum typically uses to upload photos). This is to preserve the quality of the photo that you would want to submit.

ii.) Send us a link to the uploaded photo, along with the following information:

Preferred Name (be it your SSF username or nickname or whatever name you are comfortable with sharing publicly):
Country of origin or nationality:
Current occupation (e.g. you started out  as a student, and now a full-grown queen of your own company):
Occupation when first became a fan:
Age:
Years as a fan:
Message from Step 2:

You can do so by one of the following ways:

- Via Soshified PM to RickachuSNSD

- Through email at ssfsonepromise@gmail.com

We will put this all of your SONE goodness and wishes in a video montage and upload it on Soshified's official YouTube channel for the Girls to see. Of course, this will also be promoted on all of Soshified's social network channels, which includes Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. :sorcerer: :yes: :thumbsup: This is our big chance to once again show to the Girls how much we care for them, how much they mean to us, and how much they have affected our lives, one way or another.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reminders:

1) Deadline for submissions of your photos is on May 31, 2017. 11:00 PM (23:00) Korean Standard Time. :dry:

2) If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with RickachuSNSD via Soshified PM or at RickSNSD@Twitter. You may also send your questions through ssfsonepromise@gmail.com.

3) Due to the possibility of resource constraints, not all submissions may be included in the final version of the video.

4) Please take note that this video is for the Girls to see. It is not a project to earn views and whatnot on YouTube. If the Girls see this and appreciate this, then that is enough for us.


  • 7


#6932077 [2015.11.22] 언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계: Taking Another Chance at Fanboying (...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 08 December 2015 - 06:58 PM

Same thing happened to me when I went to see TTS when I was in Seoul last year at a M! Countdown show, was not allowed to take picture nor record video but at least I have other evidence to validate my story.

Haha. Yeah, I have at least one too. But that one very embarrassing to make it public... for now. Maybe when I get all crazy and whatnot I'll eventually share it.


  • 1


#6931429 [2015.11.22] 언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계: Taking Another Chance at Fanboying (...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 08 December 2015 - 01:43 AM

Wow, congrats for seeing the girls at their Seoul concert and thank you for this story.   :D

Thank you. It is kinda a bummer that they were so strict with the picture taking for us mere mortals. Like if they catch you, they're gonna make you stand up and go with them and then make you delete the photos in front of them. I mean, yeah, I get it with the copyright and stuff. But wow, just wow. Gotta admire their increased vigilance when it comes to that.

 

At least that's one big item off my bucket list, to see them in their home turf.


  • 1


#6921770 [2015.11.22] 언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계: Taking Another Chance at Fanboying (...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 24 November 2015 - 02:17 AM

November 22, 2015, Seoul Olympic Arena, Seoul, South Korea

 

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Yep, that's me, outside the Arena. From a tropical country to a really cold one. So you can imagine how much I was freezing my butt there.

 

It took me two years since I first became a fan of Girls' Generation before I first saw them in a concert back in 2012. Now, three years and five more concerts later, I am so thankful to have reached yet another milestone in my life as a fan.

 

To finally watch them in their home turf.

 

Yes. The Girls' Generation Phantasia 4th Tour kickoff concert in Seoul Olympic Arena, Seoul, South Korea.

 

My third solo concert and seventh overall. My first in Seoul.

 

As I am writing this and recalling of my experiences, I just couldn't help but cry. From the moment I stepped inside the Arena until this very moment, I am still overwhelmed with all of the experience that it still makes me choke up and cry. I still couldn't believe that I finally got to see them perform in their home turf.

 

Taking pictures wasn't allowed and it was being strictly enforced, so I apologize for that in advance. No pictures for this one.

 

I gotta admit. The moment I got to my seat, the magnitude of the reality hit me. I couldn’t believe I was inside Seoul Olympic Arena, just minutes away from my third solo concert. And again, in their home turf. I really couldn’t help but cry at that point, thinking of how thankful I was that finally, I was going to check off a big item on my bucket list and finally, finally see them in their home turf. For like three minutes I was just hyperventilating and crying over that realization.

 

Once the lights went out, the fabled Pink Ocean for the nth time flooded the entire Arena. As always, it was such a beautiful sight, and an exhilarating feeling, to be a part of it, waving my own lightstick amidst thousands in unison.

 

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This was the prepared fan project

 

I realized from the opening vignette that the girls did have more input and were more involved with this one. Heck, it's the first time that they've spoken during the opening video. And then, things got exciting right away when the girls appeared and gracefully stepped down a flight of stairs the moment the curtain dropped, opening the concert with "You Think". Resplendent in dark blue and white outfits, the girls easily captured everyone's attention from the get-go. Almost everyone went bonkers when Seohyun did that split.

 

The jazz version of "Tell Me Your Wish" was admitted unexpected. It was totally a new thing for me and I really didn't think that they would do it that way. After so many years of seeing the concert version with Tiffany's rap, this was indeed a new thing for me.

After "Bump It", I was honestly surprised later on when they popped those blue outfits open, revealing an even sexier white costume underneath. Apparently, that was the cue for "Show Girls". Like wow. Tiffany's awesome introduction while the girls were putting their white gloves on to complete the concept was just jaw-dropping.

 

And of course, after the first set, the always welcome introductions were made. As always, being able to see and hear them go, "하나, , ! 안녕하세요, 소녀시대 입니다!" was such a very fun moment. It was funny to see Sunny going all cute again and then Taeyeon missing her cue since she was busy drink her water. After that, they were talking too fast for this newbie Korean learner to follow fully.

 

And towards the end, which I thought was a flawless transition, they were talking about the old-fashioned microphones suddenly appearing behind them, cueing the next song, "One Afternoon". I personally love that song from their latest album. But I was surprised with the next song, "Paparazzi". I mean, the transition from one song to another was just so smooth. Well, I shouldn't be surprised, since they were still in those sexy white outfits. The crowd was just amazing going "Boom! Boom! Boom!" and "Ra-Ta-Ta!" on cue.

 

Another video was shown, but what sent goosebumps up and down my spine was that in the end, they were playing the tune of "Merry-Go-Round". I wasn't a fan back then, so when I heard this song, I was again overwhelmed with emotion.

 

The next set opened with an all-too-familiar introduction, followed by the expected fanchant of "Doo-Too-Roo-Toot-Doo-Doo, Kissing You Baby! Doo-Too-Roo-Toot-Doo-Doo, Loving You Baby!" The girls looked so cute in their girly outfits with big ribbons on the heads, sitting on enormous replicas of hair and makeup stuff like lipsticks and mirrors and hairbrushes while singing. "Kissing You" really takes me back, a lot. And mind you, this was the original version, not the rock version.

 

After another short cute and funny talk, and I was pretending to understand every single word they were saying, they went on with their next song, which was another personal favorite of mine, "Green Light". It was so funny seeing Yuri fail in that matching game that was going on while they were performing. And it was also fun fanchanting with the crowd while we go "Beep Beep!".

 

After "Paradise", and another cute and funny banter as they exited the stage, the next video appeared.  I think this was the part where they were playing rock-paper-scissors and then at the end, Sunny got cheated, since she clearly won the final round, and was forced to go into the photo booth last. She cutely surrendered, and then started bantering as well as she hopped inside. Come to think of it, I did miss seeing cute Sunny. 

 

This part was the special stages, kicked off by TaeTiSeo's performance of "Adrenaline", followed by Sunny and Yoona singing Maroon 5's "Sugar" as they walked through the crowd, much to everyone's delight, and then capped off by what a lot of people wanted to see, SHY. Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, and Yuri were looking so bad-ass with Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It", their outfits reminiscent of "I Got A Boy".

 

The next video was another funny banter about "What Girls Talk About". It was hilarious that the girls were mentioning "Chamomile", "Earl Grey", and "English Breakfast," as their preferred tea, and then Taeyeon goes "먹자!". Typical Ahjumma Taengdork. God, these girls talk a lot whenever they're together it's hilarious. Oh, their outfits in the video gave the next song away.

 

"Lion Heart". Man, as always, it was so energizing to go "지금은 소녀시대! 앞으로도 소녀시대! 영원히 소녀시대!", and to go "Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh-oh! Oh-oh!" Of course, it was my first time seeing them perform "Lion Heart" live and alive, and it made recall all the happiness I experienced watching them on TV and on live streaming while they were on promotions.

 

And after making us happy with "Lion Heart", they proceeded to knock everyone out with "Check". But then, they threw another curveball by going all cutesy with yet another all-too-familiar song that made everyone go fanchanting like crazy.

 

"Gee". 'Nuff said. At this point, you know how insane fanchanting during "Gee" can be.

 

My throat was completely out long ago, having lost it within the first hour of the concert, but that didn't stop me from risking permanent damage to it for the nth time. Again, at that point, I was growing tired. It's as if my body was starting to give out, whispering to me to give up. But no, not for them. Even if I wasn't as young and healthy as I used to be when I first started this journey as a SONE, through all the weariness, aches, and pains, I willed myself to push on, just for them.

 

The next video actually made me think about things. It was when Yoona was interacting with this AI computer. Yes, mankind just wants to be happy, despite all the worries and tragedies and flaws in the world. And for this late afternoon concert, yes, it was just all about happiness. At least for these two and a half hours, we were all happy, just enjoying each other's company.

 

Anyways, the girls took to the stage once again, opening with "Mr. Mr.". The heavy electronic music and the flashing lights brought them out with a bang, ushered in by Taeyeon's powerful "Let's Go!". I dunno, but I found myself crying at this point. Not the first time, mind you. But I honestly found it strange to be crying at that point. Maybe because "Mr. Mr." was the year where it got so difficult for the girls. Maybe that was it. I was literally choking on my tears while struggling to join the fanchanting. My voice was breaking going, "지금은 소녀시대! 앞으로도 소녀시대! 영원히 소녀시대!". After "Sign", they did a "The Great Escape"-"Run Devil Run" combo. Admittedly, that once again sent shivers up and down my spine. The same with the remix version of "Mr. Taxi". The girls looked so wow in their lighted outfits.

 

"Catch Me If You Can" opened the next set. The fanchanting was just so amazing it was exhilarating once more. The combination of the girls' powerful dancing and the crowd's boisterous cheering and fanchanting has lit things up once, if everything wasn't already lit up from the get-go. As I write this part, I feel that I'm not just doing enough justice to what happened during this performance. It was just amazing.

 

After "Fire Alarm", "The Boys" blared through the Arena, making all of us thunder, as in thunder, back with "GG!" to start the fanchanting once again. The heavy beats of "The Boys" was just exhilarating, making me go "지금은 소녀시대! 앞으로도 소녀시대! 영원히 소녀시대!" and "Girls' Generation make you feel the heat!" with as much energy as I could muster, whatever was left at that point.

 

A longer talk followed once again. The girls went all silly passing out their microphones by color code, with Tiffany obviously claiming the pink one while Taeyeon cutely remarking why hers was black. At this point, the girls were catching up with all of the individual activities that they were doing so far, highlighted by their teasing and egging Taeyeon to sing a few lines of her successful solo single "I". Seohyun and Hyoyeon tried to egg her on. Seohyun also mentioned about the new and upcoming TaeTiSeo album, which we were of course highly anticipating as well. Seohyun and Yoona were also pointed out to be having movie appearances, much to their embarrassment.

 

And then came the most touching moment of the concert. And this one still gets me in the feels as I write this fan account.

 

Yes. I'm talking about the ballad version of "Into the New World". Needless to say, I was totally speechless because my throat was blocked from all of my crying. I just let my tears fall as I waved my lightstick. I would never know if the day would come that I would not cry whenever I hear this song anymore, especially the ballad version. I'm not even sure if I would want to not cry. Ever since I first heard this version during the Tokyo Dome concert, "Into the New World" became all the more that special to me, in so many different levels.

 

As was with every concert, SONE prepared something for the girls. The moment Tiffany hit that high note after "Saranghae", we threw our hidden pink paper airplanes with messages for the girls, promising to them that yes, we will be there for them and with them as they go into this new world. I cried even harder seeing the girls cry in surprise. I clearly saw Yuri in particular in tears as they all bowed and waved to the crowd, ending the main concert.

 

As the lights went out, it was quiet for just a second. The crowd slowly started singing "Complete" as we all patiently waited for the encore. We didn't do much, as the lights came back on again to another video showing the girls' preparations for Christmas, and a short celebration at the end. And with that, the girls appeared in stage once more for the encore part, starting with a very appropriate song, "Snowy Wish". That song is always fun to listen to. But to me, there was a bit of sentimentality there as well, making me tear up a bit for the nth time. I don't know why older songs make me cry, or at least get teary-eyed. They just do. What made this more fun was the fact that the girls were tossing around goodies to the fans. And they were also horsing around with the pink paper airplanes that landed in the stage. Of course, since I was seated in the second floor, I wasn't able to get any. Lucky for those at the mosh pit. Blame me for being too old and too short for the mosh pit. Oh well.

 

They continued on with the Christmasy theme with their English Holidays song, "Like A Diamond", still throwing around goodies and playing around with the paper airplanes. It was such good and dorky fun watching them horse around the stage like kids. Taeyeon was teasing with the fans as well, pretending to be undecided where and when to toss the goodies.

 

They had yet another short talk afterwards, egging the crowd to do the "Love and Girls" dance. And speaking of "Love and Girls", they have a big shoutout to their beloved concert director, Rino Nakasone, showering her with so much love. It was such a dorky moment while they taught us the moves on-the-spot. And once they were sure that we got it, "Love and Girls" started playing. And boy did we all started dancing on our seats. I remember back in Taipei even standing up and doing the "Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!" dance.

 

And at the end of it all, we all got another pleasant surprise. The girls started singing "PARTY", but with a twist. They changed the lyrics to suit it with the winter and Christmas season. For starters, Seohyun opened with "We love winter!" I honestly hope to God that SM would release this during the Christmas season as an official track. Like seriously, I would definitely need a Soshi-themed Christmas party, and this song is definitely perfect for such. And yeah, remind me later to prep up some marshmallows, hot chocolate, and cappuccino.

 

And now, here comes the dramatic and very personal part. As always, at the end of it all, I feel a little bit conflicted. A little over two and a half hours was obviously short, but at the same time, I didn't want to be too greedy with their time. And as always, after the concert, I was all drained out. It has always been like that. That was when all the aches and pains started the befall me. And after the concert was another one hour train ride to get home. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the concert, leaving everything on the stage for the girls. Two and a half hours was obviously too short of an experience at this point.

 

I also felt very thankful, as always. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean.

 

And as before, even though it still makes me sad whenever I think about it, living through with the fact that I am just another nameless and faceless SONE filling up the Pink Ocean somehow didn't hurt as much, at least as far as this concert experience was concerned. I thought that as long as I give my all to the Girls, which I did, then I should not have any regrets whatsoever.

 

And just like the previous concert experiences, this one would go down as yet another chapter as to how much I do love Kim Taeyeon, Jung Sooyeon (yes, she's still in the list), Lee Sunkyu, Hwang Miyoung, Kim Hyoyeon, Kwon Yuri, Choi Sooyoung, Im Yoona, and Seo Juhyun. Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the seventh time in this lifetime, it didn't feel old. Just different. I feel that a part of me being a SONE has grown even more mature, that for sure that part of me will always love Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun, in that special corner of my mind and my heart. In my own little way, I love them.

 

But in addition, there was something really special about this experience as well. It was a few hours after I got home that I got to start thinking as well. In the five years that I have been a fan of Girls’ Generation, calling myself a SONE, I have started to wonder about it all the more.

 

What is it about the girls that makes me give so much of myself to them, even if they don’t know that I exist?

 

What is it about them that I forget about my own limits and push my body so much that after the concert, I end up crashing almost every single time?

 

What is it about them that I would be willing to go through all of this just to see them live?

 

But still, the bottom line still seems to be, as always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die." In addition, yes, at this point, I am one with you girls in saying, "언제까지라도 함께 하는거야 다시 만난 나의 세계 (It's something we'll do together to the end, into the new world.)."

 

And that, I promise.

 

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I managed to ninja a photo after the concert. The staff was super strict, and there were a couple just a few feet behind me.


  • 1


#6859427 [OTHERS] What It Means To Be a SONE

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 01 August 2015 - 03:24 AM

For some reason, I came back to this and read through it once again. Man, it still holds true until now. And I hope I can hold onto that promise by trying to live up to what this wants to say.

 

Thanks again for reminding me that being a SONE is worth it all.


  • 1


#6804646 [DONATE] SONEforNepal: Earthquake Relief Fund

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 04 May 2015 - 02:13 AM

Name: Rick♥SNSD
Country: Philippines
Amount: USD 100.00
Method: Crowdrise


  • 1


#6794888 [2015.04.12] When One Song Made Everything Special (Ciudad de Victoria, Bulac...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 15 April 2015 - 02:04 AM

Oh, and spot-on fan account btw :) I'll make sure to stop by and read this once in a while to relive the experience, haha. Still can't get over how short it felt though. Bawi tayo sa solo concert dito on their next world tour (hopefully this time!) :D

I occasionally stop by my own fan accounts to relive the experience as well. Hahaha. Being a sentimental fool, most likely. :P

Yeah, I try to keep it as real as I can. Being able to watch SNSD perform live and alive is just something that I am so thankful for that I want to keep it real.

 

Glad to know that kid leader was enjoying herself in their performance ^_^ I hope that a solo comeback would be imminent for the band huehuehue (I did not force or push myself through to go to the event :/)

I am happy too that she was seen going here and there all smiles and whatnot.

I hope so too for a comeback, well they said that they will have a comeback later in the year. Let's all wait for that one. :)

 

Looks like you had a blast, Rick!

 

I always enjoy reading your fanaccounts; this time was no different.  That part when you talk about Complete... *_*

 

Thanks for the account, the great pictures, and even a video haha!  I doubt I'll ever get to see the Girls anytime soon so... they should visit the Philippines more often so we can read more of your fanaccounts!  Hope you're recovering nicely :P

Thank you!!! ^^ Yeah, I try to keep it as real as possible from what I've seen.

And regarding my reactions to "Complete":

 

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Like seriously. Right in the feels. I cried so hard.

 

Either they visit again or I exert more effort now to see them somewhere else. Korea? Japan? Who knows?

 

Judging from the story and the pictures (and the video).  I take it you had a fun time at that concert.  I can tell you look really happy to see them so much,

I did. And I am very happy to see them. I really don't get that many opportunities, so I try to grab the ones I can grab and just cherish the entire experience as much as I can.


  • 1


#6793798 [2015.04.12] When One Song Made Everything Special (Ciudad de Victoria, Bulac...

Posted by RickachuSNSD on 13 April 2015 - 03:00 AM

April 12, 2015. 7:30PM. Philippine Arena. Ciudad de Victoria, Bulacan, Philippines.

Second time in the Philippines. Sixth time in this lifetime.

Best of Best in the Philippines 2015.

Of course, this was going to be my first concert appearance of Girls' Generation as eight members. From the get-go I knew it was going to be different. I just didn't know from the start that it would be special.

Girls' Generation was part of a four-idol group lineup which included Red Velvet, BTOB, and Super Junior, who closed the show. Of course, in this account, as always, I will be focusing on Girls' Generation. By the way, this was also the second time that I saw BTOB and Super Junior.

Well, I realized that I've been SoShi-deprived for more than a year. I was honestly worried because I'm actually back home in the Philippines. And that meant less chances to see Girls' Generation live compared to Taiwan. Well, being optimistic about it, that only means that I have to exert more effort to fly out of the Philippines to see them live somewhere else.

Anyways...

Firstly, I was relieved that Yoona was able to join them. At least they were complete as eight members for this concert. So yay.

After I daresay a very impressive performance by Red Velvet, and a very exciting stint from BTOB, I was shaking in my rubber shoes when the Arena dimmed and the big screen monitors flashed the opening video, ushering the entry of Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun onto the stage. It was reminiscent of their earlier entrances where the stage backdrop opened, revealing eight silhouettes standing in front of countless flashing lights. And obviously, all the SONEs in the audience started screaming their heads off.

So much so that I've barely heard the opening bars of their first song, Mr. Taxi.

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Clad in their pink "Mr. Mr." dresses, the girls took to the stage right off the bat. My hands were literally shaking as I struggled to watch, take pictures, sing, and fanchant along. It has been so long that I quickly made my throat hoarse from all the screaming, singing, and fanchanting. All while waving my pink lightstick and my foam banner along the way.

And as always, the girls looks gorgeous. I was so thankful that they seemed so energetic and enjoying themselves, soaking up all the love that we SONEs could muster for them.

Taeyeon sure was having lots of fun that night.

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Well, except for Sunny, to be honest. I was worried what was going on with her since she seemed like she wasn't well.

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They proceeded immediately to their next song, "Genie".

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I'm really sorry for the quality of some of the pictures, as I was still shaking at this point of the concert. More so when Tiffany did her signature exclamation, "Philippines, Put It Back On!". I honestly didn't hear the second part of that sentence because of all the screaming that was going on the moment she said, "Philippines..." So basically all I heard was:

Tiffany: "Philippines..."

Audience: "KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yeah, that's what I heard.

Seems like I still couldn't believe I was seeing them again after so long. At least I got a shot off on their ending pose for "Genie".

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I really just couldn't describe it. I was feeling shaky all over my body as I continued watching the girls perform. For such a long while I felt that same old feeling again, all the excitement, all the anxiety, all the gratitude, of being able to see them live and being able to be a part of a huge throng of SONEs showing all the love and support for them. Even if I knew it was only going to be for a short time, I felt as if I was feeling so light and giddy again, so full of energy, all devoted towards the girls.

Afterwards, they paused for introductions. As always, hearing them live and alive, in the flesh, doing their introductions, going, "1, 2, 3! Anneyeonghaseyo, So Nyeo Shi Dae imnida!" sent shivers up my spine.

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And oh, they were such a tease! They mentioned about their new single, "Catch Me If You Can", and even did a sample of the song. I really thought they were going to perform it afterwards. I was actually jumping up and down at the prospects of being first dibs again, like what happened with "I Got A Boy" two years ago in Manila.

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But instead, they performed "Hoot" as their third song. Still a great song. Still fanchanted my throat out, along with the rest of the SONEs.

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Thank God for a more decent camera. Hahaha. These close up shots honestly killed me on the spot.

And next up was "Gee". As a signature song, it was obvious that this sent me back in time. It was so great to hear everyone go "Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee, Baby, Baby, Baby! Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee, Baby, Baby, Baby!" along with the rest of the fanchant. It was always a super fun experience to fanchant to "Gee".

Tiffany made it more special by ad-libbing at the beginning, "Uh-huh! Listen Philippines! We missed you!"

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For some reason, I ended up taking a lot of pictures of Taeyeon. I was glad that she was having lots of fun, smiling brightly and enjoying herself.

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And just like Genie, I got a shot off at their ending pose. Well, part of it at least.

I didn't honestly expect the next one, but when it blared on, I welcomed it rather excitedly. "Kissing You". I remember at this point that my throat was really hurting a lot and I was beginning to get exhausted from all the cheering and fanchanting and singing that I remember feeling light headed a bit.

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And at least during this part Sunny was trying to cheer herself up and smile more. I was honestly relieved. And this was the part where they started walking towards the extension stage to be a bit closer to the audience, who were of course still cheering their heads off.

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After "Kissing You" came the biggest, most unexpected moment of Girls' Generation's performance.

They all walked back to the main stage.

The lights dimmed a bit.

They formed one straight line side by side spanning the middle part of the main stage.

And when the first bars of their next song played throughout the Arena, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I really couldn't. I was stunned for a few seconds when I realized what they were about to sing.

They were about to sing "Complete'.

I was in total shock. I totally did not expect them to sing "Complete". I totally didn't. Next thing I knew, I was crying my eyes out. I still couldn't believe it. "Complete". After three years from first hearing it, and crying my eyes out in Bangkok, here it was again. I fumbled around with my camera, trying to catch the moment unfolding right in front of my eyes.

And failed. It was just too much for me.



At this point, you can obviously see how stunned and shocked I was. I kept saying over and over again that I wasn't ready to see them sing "Complete". And with that one song, it turned this concert, which I was simply expecting to be just another KPop concert featuring the girls, into something special. Something very special. Tiffany said it herself afterwards, "It's been a long time since we sang 'Complete' for you guys." Yes, yes it was. And you girls got me right here so much that honestly until now, as of this writing, I still couldn't get over it.

And the last song was, of course, "Mr. Mr." I was admittedly, so stunned still with the previous performance that I couldn't catch any decent photos for "Mr. Mr." But suffice to say that I did my best to continue on, singing, cheering, and fanchanting like no tomorrow.

 



After the concert, as always, I was all drained out. That was when all the aches and pains started the befall me. And after the concert was another four hour drive through heavy traffic to get home. At the end of it all, I was exhausted and all worn out from the concert, leaving everything on the stage for the girls. Thirty minutes obviously was too short of an experience.

I also felt very thankful, as always. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such multiple opportunities see and cheer for Girls' Generation, live and alive, in the flesh. I am forever thankful and grateful for all the chances that I got so far to be a part of the Pink Ocean.

And just like the previous concert experiences, this one would go down as yet another chapter as to how much I do love Kim Taeyeon, Jung Sooyeon (yes, she's still in the list), Lee Sunkyu, Hwang Miyoung, Kim Hyoyeon, Kwon Yuri, Choi Sooyoung, Im Yoona, and Seo Juhyun. Being there yet again, seeing Girls' Generation for the sixth time in this lifetime, for the second time in my neck of the woods, it didn't feel old. Just different. I feel that a part of me being a SONE has grown even more mature, that for sure that part of me will always love Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun, in that special corner of my mind and my heart. In my own little way, I love them.

As always, with great confidence, I can say, "I love you, Girls' Generation... and I always will... 'till the day I die."

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Yep. That's me outside the venue. Didn't realize that it was that big.

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And this is me inside the venue. My seat was at the Lower Box but whoops. Almost VIP.

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And this was the foam banner that I was talking about, the same one in which Sooyoung was refering to in her Instagram post.


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