Wednesday, March 8, 2017

2nd Fangirl Trip 2015 Flower Concert in Bangkok (Solo Travel)

If I'm going to rank all my vacations, this is probably my second favorite (first was Xignature con in HongKong) <3
It has three of my favorite things; Junsu, fandom friends and Bangkok.

Every time Junsu oppa releases an album, he does an Asian tour because you know they've been banned on TV and all by you know who. So when he released his 3rd album Flower, I knew I had to watch his solo concert at least once before he enters the military.

As usual, CJES took so long in confirming concert dates. The organizer announced the dates a month before the concert and CJES only confirmed 2-3 weeks before the concert. By the time they confirmed the concert, my round trip tickets' price was twice (280$ i know its still cheap for others but I live in a third world country, okay? lol) the regular flights to and from Bangkok. 

For concert tickets, i knew i didn't have a fighting chance against Thai fans so I just asked my friend to buy my ticket too. She has a Thai friend who helped us get nice seats. I am a naturally anxious person so i decided to fly in 2 days earlier the concert to just go around the city and pick up our concert tickets.

Unlike all my other trips, this was the first time I am actually flying and staying in a hotel alone. I was a bit confident exploring Bangkok on my own because I've been here twice. I always choose the earliest flight whenever going to other countries. While looking for my photos of this trip, I realized that i made picture comments(?) to my pictures from 1st to 2nd day. 

I was never good at waiting. So imagine me sitting on a plane with nothing to do for 2-3 hours. I was so bored. ToT


my doodle midair

I didn't know why my hair kept on going up. LOL. 




Whenever I'm in a different country, I always need to be connected with the web. It helps me search places via google maps (saved me multiple times) and information like opening times and entrance fees. So when i landed in Suvarnabhumi, i bought a traveller sim around 300-350 baht. I love how fast the mobile data in Bangkok is. I could download apps and update my apps using only mobile data. I could also play MFWP with mobile data so i didn't miss the events ToT

I usually use the leftover baht i had from my previous trips to buy the sim in the airport so they can put it on my cellphone. I once used a free sim and my phone's language became Thai and i couldn't figure out how to put it back in English. I also use Airport Rail Link (49 baht) to go to Phaya Thai where i exchange my money.

For this trip, i wouldn't be staying in downtown Bangkok. Junsu's concert would be held in Thunderdome in Muang Thong Thani so I stayed around that area. It is not long the Chao Phraya River ferries or BTS. Before my trip, i researched and asked my Thai friend how to get to Muang Thong Thani and learned that there were van stations near Victory Monument BTS station. So pulling my small luggage, i looked for the vans.


The only thing in Bangkok that I don't like is it's very hard to communicate with the locals. They are very nice but English speaking people are hard to find. I couldn't find the vans after going to three different van stations. It was so hot and i was alone so I just stopped and bought some things in the 711. One of the girls standing outside asked me where i was going and told me they don't have vans going there. So, I just chose to ride a taxi. During this time, i was chatting with my friend's on messenger joking how hard it would be to type the plate number of the taxi to them if something not nice happens to me. LOL (In the Philippines, we usually text our parents/friends the taxi's plate number so they will have an idea who to search if we don't reach our destinations.)

Before taking the taxi, I bought some nail polish remover from a mini bazaar in one of the stations and pepsi from 711.

We reached the hotel in less than 30 minutes. There were several budget hotels in the area but I chose to stay at T8 Guest House. I paid around 600-700 pesos a night for the room. When I got to the room, I was pleasantly surprised with how big it was. The floor was made of tiles though so at night, I always need to wear my shoes because the tiles were cold. The towel were old but meh i was staying in a budget hotel so that's okay.
The couch like thing was like an extra bed. Since I've watched a lot of horror movies made in Thailand, I slept on the couch during my first and second night. I didn't want to wake up with someone beside me if I slept on my bed. I also played my TV the whole night because i didn't want to leave the lights on. Sorry for wasting electricity. Teehee!

During my taxi ride to the guest house, we passed by a small market. There were several food stalls and tables and chairs. I decided to eat my lunch here. I was so anxious though because I didn't know if i'll be able to successfully order because of language barriers. I went around the market 2-3 times before ordering. After being able to order, I felt so proud of myself. Haha! 


 After lunch, I walked around the area with a goal of finding Thunder Dome. It was summer so it was very hot. Muang Thong Thani has lots of Outlet stores which people who loves shopping banded stuff would love. I saw Impact Arena where the boys had their concert in years ago. Impact Exhibition and Convention Center was also around the area and it has air conditioning so I went inside. There was a cafe convention, i think, going on and when I asked the lady in the reception she said it was free so i decided to go kill time there. I grabbed a taxi back to T8 after successfully finding Thunder Dome.



I showered and rested for a while before meeting Salinee 💞 She is a Thai fan who i met on a facebook community. She is so nice and even treated me to some Japanese food.
She gave me this gorgeous fanart she made 💕 So talented.

I went around the night market beside Pradoo market to sight see. I dropped by 711 to buy some yakult and breakfast for next morning. I walked back to my hotel which was around 5 minutes away from the market.



DAY 2
I didn't really have an itinerary for day 2. All i was thinking about was collecting my concert ticket and buying the spicy dried mango and dried plums my boss asked me to buy. I went out around 10 and went to the place where I saw vans the day before. I found vans going to Mo Chit BTS stations and rode it. I couldn't understand how to pay but eventually learned that you just give the payment to the driver. 

From Mochit Station, I went to Siam BTS station. I went to Siam Square instead of Siam Paragon. I saw a small manga shop and browsed inside.
I walked around Siam square before going out and walking on the streets around Siam area. I decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants around but there were so many people and i felt shy to go in crowded restaurants. I was looking for restaurants when I saw the Hello Kitty Cafe from the other side of the street. I looked at the menu and decided to go back there for dessert. However, there was a long queue when i went back so I wasn't able to try the desserts in the cafe.
I found a restaurant near the KPOP shop I always visit in Siam area. I ordered stir fried noodles with sea food and tom yum sauce. It was very spicy but it tasted nice and had a good-sized portion.
From Siam square, I walked to MBK mall. Before entering MBK, I decided to have a look at Bangkok Art Cultural Center. There were interesting displays and shops inside so if you have time, please do visit it!

To be honest, I only went to MBK for these goodies. The spicy dried mangoes and dried plum are yummy!
I had more hours to go until my friend's friend who bought our tickets gets off work so I went back to Siam paragon and ate some stuff form Mcdonalds. They have something called 'Patongo' which is like 'bicho bicho' in my country. They had a chocolate dip for the Patongo and i drank Fanta because i only get to drink Fanta in other countries.

I found an old style theater and decided to watch Cinderella to kill time. However, they weren't showing Cinderella there. They pointed me to another building were another theater was located inside. I asked first if the movie was showing in English language, which luckily it was, before purchasing the tickets. I had 2 bloopers here. I thought i could just enter the cinema after buying the ticket but i was  stopped. And then, when i saw people coming out of the cinema, i thought i could enter but i was stopped again. It was so obvious that i was a foreigner. LOL.  The seats were comfy and the cinema was cold. A song dedicated to the King was shown but i have no idea if it was like a national anthem or what. I just imitated the people standing in the cinema.
After the movie, i went back to Siam Paragon. I sat for a while before i got a text that i can meet the girl who bought our tickets. I got my tickets and headed back to Mochit station.


I rested for a while in Siam Paragon before getting a message from the person who bought our tickets that i can meet her already. I got my tickets and rode the BTS to Mochit station again. 
When i got there, i tried walking to Jatuchak market which was kind of a lousy idea because i don't even know how to get there. LOL. There was a blog entry where it said to just follow the people going in the park and i did. However, it was going to Jatuchak Creep instead of Jatuchak market. Jatuchak creep has lots of new and second hand items for sale and lively mini open air restaurants. I walked around it. Its shaped like a running oval where the shops are outside the oval and in the middle were the food sellers. But since i was alone and it was getting late, i decided to just go back to my hotel.

DAY 3.
D-DAY! I woke up very early because i was excited. My fandom yeobo, Hanna, will be flying in the morning. They will be staying in the same hotel as I am so I waited for them in the morning. My vanity table was beside the window so I occasionally looked outside the window to see if my Malaysian girls arrived. When i saw a taxi and 3 girls wearing hijab went down, i grabbed my keys and went down to fetch them. LOL. I hugged Hanna when i saw her. We've been talking for years on twitter but never really met in person. Hihi! 

They checked into their room and tried the free sim cards i got them at the airport. We rode a taxi to the venue and waited for Preem (a Thai fan who bought the girls' tickets for them) to get their tickets from her. When they got their tickets, we relaxed for a bit and waited for the people in charge of concert goods to start selling.
We were earlier than them. They set up like 30 minutes before the sale of goods.
When the people ran to the line, i ran straight while my other firends ran to the back. LOL. I was one of the first 10 to be in the line LOL. I didn't want a repeat of what happened in HK where the Junsu fan i wanted was sold out. My friends had to go to the venue of Press Con since they were chosen for that while i got an autographed poster. Our other Unnie was chosen for sound check thingy were they will see Junsu rehearse.






Lining up to wait for Junsu's car
The thing that I loved in Bangkok was there were a lot freebies from fans. Here and there, there will be people giving out pictures, candies and tattoos. When I see lines, i'd fall in line and at the end, i'd get something for free. If you ever watch a concert in Bangkok and see a line, just go and stand at the end LOL
We saw a long line and told my friends to follow me.
We got this cutie fan <3

with Hanna

One of my regrets.
When I saw the preorder, I didnt order because I
 thought maybe they'd have onsite stuff. The didn't.

With Aoki. My only Filipina Junsu biased friend during this time.
She helped me with my tickets and buys me stuff from Korea :*
She has helped me a lot. 

After taking this picture, A girl
 was being interviewed in front of us and
they asked us if we wanted to join. To promote the Philippines,
we joined the interview in a local TV and told Junsu to come to the Philippines.

Nians' free giveaway. I waited the whole afternoon for this.
So cute >.<

Me, the Malaysian girls and Preem


This was our view from our seat. My seat was E13. Fifth row. So close. ToT I uploaded the picture of where my seat was on FB and my relatives commented how happy my smile was. I was truly happy. I am at my happiest doing Junsu stuff <3


My friend and I are seated together.
Its much better going to a concert with
a seatmate compared to just enjoying it alone,



accidentally, aoki and I had the same passport cover hahahaha

My first red ocean ToT


JUNJJANG~~~~~~~~





AMAZING! the time passed so fast! Junsu was super sexy during performances and the cutest during the ments. I loved how he tends to answer the questions after thinking while looking at the ceiling and how he answers in paragraphs then realizing that the translator will have a difficult job translating it. At the middle of his responses, he will suddenly falter then smile cutely while looking at the translator. Then he'd stand awkwardly on the stage as the translator translated his response in long Thai words. He'd pretend to listen and nod like he understood what the translator said.

Compared to JYJ con, I definitely prefer standing versus seated for Junsu's concert. It was so frustrating having to keep seated even when i wanted to jump because everyone was seated. LOL. Junsu's songs are very exciting and blood-pumping so its more fun getting the body loose and dance to his songs during his concert. hihihi!

Junsu's solo con was much more than I expected. I mean I saw him once already so I had an idea of how I will feel but it was definitely more exciting that the last one. He was so handsome and cool even though he had his not so normal blue hair LOL. Genie time was so funny and he was so kawaii. The fans had amazing ideas and my favorite was the KFC thingy he chose. LOL

It was my first time being inside a concert venue with red ocean. It was so pretty and i had goosebumps when people were calling for an encore. The fan project was also very organized. They released the instructions long before the concert and had the items (paper fans) on the seats inside the venue when you enter. The fan project was successful and I was so happy to be part of the many people who did it that night.

AWESOME SAUCE!~
Picture with my friend's friend who bought our ticket.
After the concert, we walked back to the hotel because we didn't think it was far. It took us around 20-30 minutes though and we were so tired even when we were high with adrenaline that night. 

DAY 4
Time to say goodbye to Bangkok and friends. We all had early morning flights and had to check out at 6am. Hanna and I took proof shots of this trip. We were so round ToT It was a very fun trip!


Our taxi driver which was flagged down by the lady who works in T8 told the taxi driver to bring us to the airport so he brought us to Don Mueang International airport instead of Suvarnabhumi. Then, when we got to Suvarnabhumi, the check in counters and the immigration lines were so long we had to run to our gate. Good thing we weren't left by our plane. LOL

My goodies:
Aoki brought my flower album to Bangkok because we rarely see each other in the Phillipines.

Concert ticket and free PVC ticket
some freebies
more freebies
Flower concert tshirt. I wore my Incredible tshirt for this concert

Lightstick. We got to have one for a KPOP concert.

The fans for the fan event.

Outside the venue, there were a lot of sellers selling Junsu/JYJ/TVXQ stuff for a cheap price. I had to buy some.