290315 Girls’ Generation @ PETRONAS Sepang F1 Grand Prix After Race Concert

 

Malaysia Put It Back On 2015!

Remember when GG said that they’ll see us Malaysian Sones soon? They kept their promise, 3 years later! ‘soon’ indeed!

But jokes aside, I was more than thrilled to hear the news when it was first announced. That Girls’ Generation was coming to Malaysia again, and thanks to (AGAIN) PETRONAS for bringing them here. Also thanks to Lenny Kravitz who (fortunately) cancelled his show at the last minute, thus giving the opportunity for PETRONAS to use their hidden card again; Girls’ Generation. I seriously loving PETRONAS right now, thanks for being rich enough to bring Soshi so that we can see them with minimal price.

It was announced out of the blue (again) but this time we have a little more time to prepare. With the minimum of RM80 per ticket, you can gain access to the concert plus you get to watch the F1 racing, under the scorching sun, what a deal! So we grab our tickets online and wait for the day to arrive.

At this moment, and age, I’m already considered a veteran Sone, and you know how love goes through time. I’m like, “oh Soshi is coming, so yeah, should I go? I should isn’t it, for old time’s sake.”

 280315 – Girls’ Generation arrival at KLIA

I had some time to spare since it was Saturday night, plus my friends were all excited to welcome soshi, so I went to the airport with them to welcome the girls. We heard about the fanevent, and how it was all going to one sweet and cool welcoming event. I was hoping that Malaysian Sones, you know, an old fandom could at least live up to the expectations and be cool about it for once.

We waited for around an hour and a half, they were supposed to arrive around 10:30pm but going through the custom checks and all, they came out an hour later. There were so many people coming as the time goes by and most of them are the faces that I’ve never met before. And soon there was a long line of people waiting at the route which the girls are expected to exit. People were briefed about the fanevent by the Sones in charge, and there were even rehearsals. Everything was okay up till this point. But the girls arrived an hour later, and by the time there were so many fans turned up, around triple the original number.

Once the girls arrived, everything changed. The fans started pushing and the path for the girls were getting smaller. The police on duty panicked, and did their best to protect the girls, while the fans did their best to get their personal moment with the tired members. But they managed to get to their vans safely, and though it was chaotic, Hyoyeon still smiled and waved at us once she got into the van.

290315 – Girls’ Generation Live at F1 Sepang

I left the house early that morning and went to straight to the venue. We got there around 10.30am and I already saw people lining up outside the entrance gate to the helipad. The weather was getting warmer, and we decided to check the F1 race before heading to the concert venue.

I got to watch the racers signing session, all the handsome racers were there, and I regret not lining up to get an autograph. Lewis Hamilton made his surprise appearance, I also saw the dashing Jenson Button. Such a sight. We walked around the carnival area, posing with sexy cars, grabbed Petronas freebies and experienced the hot air of F1 engine. Around 12pm, there were Girls’ Generation GIRL perfume giveaway at the main stage. They asked questions about F1 racing and you have to get it right to win. I didn’t get picked, boohoo.

We went to grab lunch at the Chequered Flag Café, and fill up ourselves. I had Fish and Chips, it was nice. Or maybe I was just hungry. After the trips to Surau and toilet, the weather was scorching hot that you could even fry an egg in the sun. So we went resting at the customer service center and watch a few rounds of F1 racing in an air-conditioned room. Saw a Ferrari car’s tyre busted just on the first round.

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Loooonggggg line

 

Around 4pm, we went to the concert entrance. There was a really long line. So we sat by the palm oil trees and caught up with long-time Sone friends. We passed around MMCafe business cards along the line as well. The door opened around 4.30pm, and the guards were scanning tickets. The crowd ran as soon as they get inside to get the best spot. We waited till ¾ people had entered before we entered. We’re just too old to stay in the sun or stand for too long lol.

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Running Sones

 

Ibu mysone and her posse

Ibu mysone and her posse lol

The venue was not too big, so even though we entered late we soon got pushed to the front and get quite a satisfying view of the stage. It was like the rockzone/VIP tix stage view thus I have no complains.

The concert was THE BEST ever. The only thing that annoyed me was probably Hitchhiker’s loud music (haha) but my friends did enjoy his random songs. Maybe it’s just me and my old eardrums lol.

Minho is really really really good looking

Minho is really really really good looking

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Tiffany

 

But Soshi and SHINee, they slayed.

“Thank you for having us.” – Tiffany.

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Her solemn look during Back Hug

 

There’s nothing better than a lack of rehearsed show lol. The girls were playful all throughout, Yuri kept forgetting to cover Yoona’s lines, she even laughed out loud during The Boys and not even sorry for it! And there was the infamous Tiffany vs. The Ribbons, right during the part ‘babo!’ in Gee. She apologized for it in a very adorable way, and kept laughing afterwards. They kept grinning while dancing, always checking each other’s parts during choreography and (mostly Yuri) just darted around randomly, forgetting her position and laughed.

Yuri

Yuri

In total they sang 10 songs, and they changed costumes once. But the weather kept changing, from sunny to cloudy to windy to drizzling to pouring rain. They sang random songs like Back Hug, Complete and Kissing You, it was just too awesome to explain. Tiffany especially sugar coating Malaysian Sones with her adlibs, “Malaysia put it back on”, “Malaysia… you make my life complete” and so on.

Grumpy Smurfny

Grumpy Smurfny

Seo

Seo

Tiffany also said that it’s the first time they sang Back Hug overseas. They said that they were touched with our pink ‘Finally, You’re Back’ balloons, and Sunny (despite her grumpy mood that day) still remembered our ‘Finally, You’re Here’ fan event from 3 years ago! They were sorry that Yoona was unable to join and hope that we will invite them again soon.

Taeyeon

Taeyeon

seohyunsmall

Seohyun

“Please have us back.” – Tiffany.

“It’s the first time we ever performed this long with our fans, outdoor in this weather!” – Tiffany.

They looked genuinely happy for their trip in Malaysia, and we can’t feel any prouder. In total there were 18 posts from their social media about their trip here. They care. *wipe tears*

Her skin looked Malaysian lol.

Healthy Yul

After the concert, we went straight to the airport, to send them off. There were fans waiting too but this time, we behaved. The security tightened even more, and there was a wall of guards around them as they walked. They walked proudly (lol), without worrying about the fans hoarding them. They were split in two groups, for security reasons. Sooyoung, Taeyeon and Seohyun were in a group, and I remember Seohyun being really friendly with fans, she even accepted gifts. But honestly I was more focused on the second group, because both of my biases were there lol. Sunny, Hyoyeon, Tiffany and Yuri came in the last group. Sunny walked at the front, and I said to her clearly, “Sunny, thank you for coming!” She noticed me and waved and smiled at me. I felt so special at that moment haha. I said the same thing to Hyoyeon but she waved at everyone. Tiffany didn’t bother with us at all, but she looked so cute in her pink hoodie. Yuri too was ignoring us at first, as she kept plugging in her earphones as she walked. I kept calling her name and soon begin to complain in Malay words out of frustration, and then she looked at me and waved. Lol why.

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Bye bae

 

Cool lah konon

Cool lah konon

They all waved at us once they passed the gate towards security, and that’s where you got the swag fany pose pic captured by my friend.

Swag sangat

I watched them through the observing glass tower until they disappeared at the duty free stores area. They were still waving at us even when they were going through the customs check. I caught Hyo and Fany waving at my direction in my fancam. Tiffany was especially adorable like a little kid as she waited her turn for check.

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Bae and Sunny

 

There it goes, my best 2 days in 2015 so far. And unexpectedly, I care about the 8 girls again. Oh well, I guess I’ll continue to support these girls.

 

The 27th Golden Disk Awards in Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia (15-16 January 2013)

GDA.

Since the first time I heard about the rumors that it will be held in Malaysia, I refuse to believe it. Well guess what, it just happened this week lol. Despite me being in disbelief and not planning to go to the event, I did bought tickets a few days before day 1 show lol. I realized that this could be a once in a lifetime thing and not going to let it pass me by.

So I took a day off and go to the event. Haha.

Day 1 was more exciting for me, because all of my favourite groups are there (except SNSD). KARA, FT Island, Beast and CNBLUE were all there on day 1. We managed to catch the red carpet appearance up close. They all are so good looking lol. The show was great, they had great sound system and the stage was pretty amazing too. Though there was a bit problem with the fan zones because it’s not like how it was described in the plan before. Kara had to perform Pandora twice due to technical error. Poor them, lucky us lol. But over all it was a great show.

Day 2 was also great. I reached there late since I went to work. We bought tickets in front of the entrance after haggling with an illegal seller lol. But it was cheap. We missed 4 acts which 2 are my faves, T-Ara and Miss A. But it was okay since Sistar and f(x) were still wasn’t performed. I can’t forget that beautiful duet between Hyorin and K.Will.

These are the photos during red carpet on day 1. lol the barricades. Can’t do anything about it.

From day 1.

Nicole was so exited while announcing Beast. lol in-laws.

Day 2. I take more fancams than photos since I was further behind this time.

 

I’m happy so many people turned up despite the venue being far from the city. Sepang International Circuit is an F1 racing track and I think it’s cool for us to held concerts at racing tracks haha.

I saw many casual kpop fans came, mostly working adults and family filling up the zones. Fans who were there was so supportive of all artistes. I’m proud. lol.

I hope SNSD will held a solo con in Malaysia this year. This year Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium can now be used again ~

Heard rumors here and there about the 9 to visit Malaysia again like they promised in March last year. Hopefully it’s true ~

Seoul Backpacking Day 4 – Itaewon, Soshi G-Factory, Melon Music Awards

When I wake up that morning of day 4, it was drizzling outside. Rain during winter made it a lot worse, it became even more colder than usual. But despite the weather, we determined to continue our itinerary for day 4, which is a visit to the multicultural Itaewon.

We took subway to get there and it was still raining. We each brought an umbrella which was provided by our guesthouse. Itaewon is really multicultural. There were shops in various languages along the street also a lot of restaurants selling foreign food. We even found a restaurant selling Malay food but it was overpriced. Like 10,000krw for Asam Pedas? Better eat them back at home. Lol.

Our quest was to look for a Halal Korean restaurant that I found while making research on internet, Muree Restaurant. After asking a helpful guide who was on duty, we found the Islamic Street that leading to the Seoul Central Mosque. There were so many halal restaurants along the street, mostly selling Indian or Arab dishes. There were also a lot of Malay words on the banners in front of their premises, lol telling me just how many Malay tourists had come here that they have to compete for customers. It’s true though. We bumped into so many Malaysians there it almost feels like home. After climbing the steep road, we finally found the restaurant.

We had bulgogi, kimchi fried rice and kimchi egg roll with side dishes. It was delicious.

After filling our appetite, we head over to Seoul Central Mosque just a few meters away for Solat Zohor. It was Friday, and the mosque was full with people. A few local Muslims tried to converse with us, in Korean, of course lol but I only understand less than half percent of what they’re saying. They thought me and my sister were foreign students lol.

After leaving the mosque in the shivering cold we felt hungry again lol. We tried Bunggeoppang (Fish Carp Cake with red bean fillings) from a nice ahjusshi vendor and then rested for a while for authentic Turkish kebab at Pasha Deli Café. The kebab was nice but the Bunggeoppang was nicer! The hot red bean filling just melt in your mouth and I still remember the taste!

Soshi faces were everywhere in Seoul, and Itaewon is no exception. Aside from Yoona face covering the Innisfree shops, I also saw Soshi Baby-G ads at bus stands and also at the G-Factory there. So we went there just to take closer look. Soshi is everywhere in the shop.

After Itaewon, we wanted to shop at Ewha Woman University so we hop on the train to get to Sinchon. But when we get there, it was still raining, maybe even more than before so there weren’t a lot of shop opened. Disappointed, tired and cold, I decided that we should go to Olympic Park instead.

Going to Melon Music Awards was not in our itinerary. But we went to the venue just to pass the time. I was hoping to see the idols on red carpet but due to the weather, there wasn’t one outside. Disappointed once again, we were ready to go back to Chungmuro but then; suddenly an ahjusshi gave us two tickets. We couldn’t say no, since we were already there. So we took the tickets and went in.

We sat next to two Singaporean friends who were Sones. The stadium wasn’t full even when it was almost broadcast time. The staffs had to re-arrange the audience to make it look full. Lol.

T-Ara hardcore fans

The show was great, and there were a lot of young enthusiastic fan girls screaming their hearts out for Infinite. Lol I think Infinite is more popular than other boy groups in Korea right now. Even though Beast was also there, but B2UTY screams are not as high pitched as Inspirit.

We didn’t wait till the award was over because it’ll be chaotic sharing trains with the fangirls. We left right after 2NE1 flawlessly performed I Love You.

 

Next: Day 5