multi-masking

January-April: How It All Began

I’ve always been impulsive, especially when it came to financial splurges. If I want something, and I had the money (or at least, the credit limit), I immediately go for it. Which often leads to buyer’s remorse more often than not. But this time, I don’t regret it, because I know I got more than what I bargained for.

I wasn’t really a die-hard fan of Super Junior, but the moment I learned they were doing a Supershow here in the Philippines on April 10th, I knew I couldn’t miss this. Not for anything. Not for the world. How could I pass up an opportunity to see them perform live? When my office colleague Kel had told me they were reserving standing VIP tickets, I had to tell her to count me in. Screw the fact that it was Php8K. There was no prepayment necessary for the reservation process, and I kept telling myself if push comes to shove, I can always rely on my Citibank VISA.

We made the reservations sometime around January. Waiting seems to be the hardest part in everything. We were anxiously biting our fingernails, wondering if there would still be slots for the standing area by the time the organizers got to our reservation. And then one day, Kel got a message saying that our reservations were confirmed, we got the slots we wanted. I forgot when it was, maybe it was around February when we paid for the ticket. I ended up using my credit card, so, thank you, Citibank! ^^

About two weeks before the Supershow, the organizers announced that they were holding a merchandise sale for online sellers who wanted to sell cheering goods and other stuff. A friend was putting up a booth and asked for help from me and some others from our Minoz text clan, so we marked our calendars for that. I am so thankful I decided to show up that day because they were holding a raffle for passes to the press conference — I was one of the 10 lucky winners! More than enough reason to get psyched for the Supershow, right? I was really grateful for this early birthday present from the Lord. ^^ Up to now, I still am.

The week of the supershow, my wits were just about everywhere. I minimized all distractions at work because I had to cram a five-day workload into 3.5 days. Oh yes, I needed at least a day and a half in preparation for the supershow hahaha. After weeks of agonizing on whether or not to book a room at Edsa Shang, I decided that spending another Php8K is sheer madness, so I just thought I’d go with other hopefuls at the airport to see the boys fresh from their flight.

April 9th: Shattered Dreams
To say that I was excited to go to the airport and await Super Junior’s arrival was a very big understatement. I came in to work at around 1AM Manila time, so I had to wait work 4-5 hours before I can log out. Luckily my co-worker Zyra said it was okay to leave around 6AM, since it was Araw ng Kagitingan [Valor Day] and not too much traffic on the streets because of the holiday.

Around 2 or 3AM I got a text from my clanmate Chelle saying there was a comment on the Supershow Facebook fan page that someone had called in to check and found out that Super Junior will be taking the VIP route, meaning going to the airport will be pointless since we will not be seeing them at all. I relayed the information to Zy. We thought it’s a 50-50 chance of it being a decoy. Anyways, since we only had limited time left at work we decided to focus on our tasks first, and then discuss it once again upon logout.

At 6AM, Zy dropped by my workstation and we both reluctantly decided that we needed all the rest we can get before the supershow, so it would best not to take our chances at the airport. I was really bummed because I even wore a sapphire blue blouse in preparation for this, but she did have a point — we were going to line up early Saturday morning at Araneta, plus, I still had my sister’s birthday celebration to attend to that day. Yeah, it’s crazy. The Supershow fell on the same day as my sister’s birthday but I begged her to move the celebration a day earlier. Hahahaha.

I stayed in the office a couple more hours in spite of my approved half-day leave to do as much tasks as possible — I really needed a distraction. My heart was already feeling pretty heavy, but I managed to get some things done.

I managed to get a 3-hour nap at home before leaving for my sister’s birthday celeb. On our way to Greenbelt, Chelle was texting me updates she had been getting from the time the boys arrived in Manila. I almost died with envy at this one person who happened to be another clanmate’s friend — that person had followed Donghae (yes, my Donghae) to the restroom, called out his name, to which Donghae had politely responded with a bow, AND CAPTURED IT ALL ON VIDEO. Aigoo.

Yes, I was really insane, hahahaha. While waiting for our meals, since the restaurant we were in had free wi-fi access, I kept checking Donghae’s twitter and tweeted sweet messages. Puahahaha. I hope he didn’t get bothered or burdened with those.

Since I was attending the press conference, my sister made it clear that I had to dress nicely just in case Donghae or the other boys take notice. We were advised to dress like media people, or just make sure that we didn’t look like fans or kids. So we went and bought a new pair of jeans (which I really really needed). Because of the shopping. we got home pretty late, I think it was already 9:30PM, so I had to hurry up and pack my stuff to make sure I had everything I needed before going to sleep. I was in bed before midnight after texting Zy that I would probably be at Araneta around 3AM Saturday morning.

April 10: D-Day!
I woke up a little past 1AM. I’m not sure what time I fell asleep, now that I think about it, but I was pretty sure I slept another 3 hours. See how much of an Eunhyuk fan I was — it was hard for me to leave the house because of the “Let’s Go Dream Team” rerun on KBSW. Hahahaha. I think I left around 3AM. Luckily, the bus driver was really stepping on it so the travel time took only an hour, considering how far away Las Pinas was from Cubao. Zyra was already in line when I arrived. She reported that we were the third group to fall in line, with less than 15 people combined for the 2 groups ahead of us, so not bad, right?

Kel got back from her Pulp Live duties (taking pictures of the venue and interviewing fan club heads, stuff like that) for a quick ciggie break. We started chatting with the other people around us, our SuJu biases and stuff — these conversations are really refreshing and fun; I really love how fandom can unite total strangers, even if just for a day. There’s nothing like spazzing together with somebody who shares your bias. Love it, love it, love it.

Around 5 or 6AM, the guard asked us to move our line from the entrance of the patron/upper/lower box sections (goodbye comfy seats) to the pavement. One of the people from the first group was smart enough to start a list of the people in line, so that we have something to hold on to just in case a problem came up with the lining up and stuff. The last in our group, Mars, arrived by then so our group was complete. Zy left at around 8 to freshen up for the Supershow and promised she would be back by 11, so that Kel and I can leave for the press conference. Kel also had to go home at around 9 because she said she wanted to freshen up too for the conference. Hahaha, so not fair. Peace, Kel!

Since we lost the roof that sheltered us, the sun was really beating down on us from where we were lined up. I was oscillating from different tasks to keep myself busy. Chatting with Mars about Sungmin and DBSK, chatting with the girl behind me about Donghae, listening to the Supershow 2 album on my Opus, et cetera. Finally, Kel came back dressed up like a professional reporter on the road, so it was time for me to change too. My clanmates and the other people were laughing because they thought I was joking about wearing a vest. They didn’t realize that I was serious about that. Anyways, I badgered Kel to finish her stick so that we could take a cab to Edsa Shang. It was already almost 12NN and I was really nervous about the traffic. The organizers had advised us to be there 20 minutes before the call time, which was 1PM. Luckily, there was not much traffic on the streets (thank you Lord!), and so we arrived at Shang around 12:30.

Press Conference: Close Shave
I texted one of the organizers to check if she was there at the venue. I guess things have been really going crazy at Palawan Hall, where the press conference was to be held, because I had already sent her 2 messages and got no reply. Luckily, I saw one girl from our line who won a press pass too, so, at least there was someone I could coordinate with without having to bother the organizers. There was a bit of trouble going on, so we had to wait for our turn to go in — SM Entertainment was really being strict and the organizers didn’t want to screw our chances to be there at the press con, so they kept asking us to wait until it mellowed down a bit. I think it only took an hour at most, but it felt like forever. One of the winners looked like she was about to cry, and I could really understand how she felt.

Fortunately, things did mellow down quite a bit, so we were finally allowed to register and go inside. At the sight of food, I suddenly remembered how hungry I was, that all the nervousness and excitement for the past few days only made me nauseous at the very sight of food. So I stuffed my small plate with a slice of pizza, one serving of pasta, and a bulgogi skewer.

Finally, it was time to come in. Prior to eating, we winners have been briefed that only 2 minutes were allowed for picture taking and strictly no flashes were allowed. Once we see their signal to stop taking pictures, we had to stop. Naomi (one of the winners who I felt really comfortable talking to) had pointed out to me that since we were only allowed 2 minutes and there were 10 Super Junior members in the room, it would be better to take videos.

We were instructed to scatter lest we give the Korean staff the impression that we were a fan club gatecrashing the press conference, so I complied and distanced myself from the others somewhat. Some of them were seated with the other press and media people, but I spied a hotel manager giving orders to line up some chairs at the back, so I thought that was a prime location, kekeke. There was a big pillar in the middle of the press conference hall so as soon as I saw them adding more chairs, I kept on moving until I reached the wall. Perfect, no pillar obstructing my view of the boys when they come in

Camera set for video in full zoom (which I regretted later on kekeke), check. Corby set for audio recording, check. The MC was giving an introductory speech about the legendary South Korean boy band. And then suddenly, the boys walk into the room. In order of appearance: Sungmin, Yesung, Donghae, Kyuhyun, Heechul, Siwon, Eunhyuk, Ryeowook, Shindong, and Leeteuk. Claps filled the room as they faced the audience, stretched their right arms with their palms out and said “Ohayo!” (not sure if that’s how it’s spelled, kekeke), which they did three times, facing the left, front and right. I believe, this was the signal for the picture taking to commence. ^^

Then the major sponsors (?) joined the boys for another photo session — lucky people huhuhu. I believe I heard the MC say “thank you, everyone” so I thought that was the signal that the picture-taking was over. I looked around for the other winners but they were still in their positions, continuing with what they’re doing, so I thought, what the heck, and then turned on the camera again.

There was another set of lucky people (dunno how they were selected) to ask the boys questions. I’m pretty sure while most were media people, some of them were from the SuJu fan clubs. Aside from Donghae’s “jinja yo” moment, another highlight of the question-and-answer portion for me was when a guy had asked about Teukigayo. Leeteuk and Eunhyuk’s reactions were priceless. I thought that was one of the best questions asked. ^^ Another epic moment was when Sungmin demo’d a flying kick. I was really clueless why he did that, I think I need to replay the press con vid I took. And Yesung’s response per the translator: “I can do something better than that, but my foot is hurting right now.”

Siwon’s Oh My Lady was mentioned in passing, with the Leeteuk (I think) saying that when they saw the kissing scene he had they were really envious of him. Another classic Siwon moment was when he spoke in English per Teukie’s request in response when asked if they have a ritual before they perform onstage: “We pray to God.” Waaah. This really made me look forward to his solo performance of “Who Am I?” At one point he was looking (actually, more like staring intently) in our general direction, I caught this on camera — and this got me really paranoid. I was thinking, “Are my armpits that wet?”

Of course there’s more to that, please forgive me for not being able to put everything in here yet. Anyways, it was over all too soon. Since were given strict instructions to behave like media people, my happiness was really brimming inside of me so as soon as Kel and I got out of the hotel, we had to smoke and scream our lungs out. We even screamed inside the taxi on the way back to Araneta, that was how high we were.

To be continued…