SMTOWN Live World Tour III in Singapore

Wow. Just, wow. SMTOWN was just the most amazing concert ever. I was a little skeptical on whether I should go at first, but boy, am I glad that I decided to. I was really impressed with most of the performances and I especially enjoyed the collaboration stages. Anyway, here's how my day went down.

My friends and I reached pretty early - around 1pm, considering the fact that we got seats. We were disappointed when the merchandise booth stated that the lightsticks were sold out, but we were so happy later when we got free ones from Samsung by just waving. Lol. We took it one step further and did body waves as well. SO. EMBARRASSING. We also went around collecting hand banners which was a lot of fun. Most of them were EXO ones though. I'm not complaining - I just wished that I could have gotten some SHINee and the TVXQ one. Uh well.

So cool! But what do I do with them now?

Things seemed pretty bleak in the evening when it started pouring like crazy. The sky looked so dark it gave me such an end-of-the-world feeling. But the ominous clouds eventually cleared and we were all so thankful.

Fast forward to when we entered the concert venue. There were so many people that I think they gave up on bag checks, so we got to our seats pretty quickly. Our seats were pretty decent, and the atmosphere was awesome. And we absolutely had no idea that the extended stage was going to be so close. Haha we kinda freaked out.

Mandatory ticket shot and an awesome view.

My amazing concert companions ^^

Anyway, the concert itself was just uh-ma-zing. I was definitely looking forward to seeing EXO the most... just because. It was my first time seeing EXO, BoA, f(x), Kangta and Super Junior live. And they were amazing. All of the acts were, even though there were some slip-ups (literally - lots of the artistes slipped on stage and some fell).

Thankfully my kungfa panda didn't fall at this part.

While it was disappointing that some of the performances were lip-synced to - EXO's 'History' and 'MAMA', SHINee's 'Lucifer', and the one that upset me the most - Taeyeon's 'Devil's Cry', the collaboration stages were really impressive. I especially enjoyed Changmin's and Kyuhyun's 'Just the Way You Are' and 'Open Arms' by Ryeowook, Onew, Baekhyun and Chen. Of course, it was also great getting to hear TVXQ's 'Humanoids' even before it was released. Lucky us. Hehe.

Oh god Baekhyun please come into my open arms.

Of course my favourite Taemin and SHINee charmed the socks off of me with their cute little antics and English. Haha!

2min moment at 2:37. Urgh Taemin can you get any cuter?

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And Internet War ft. Jonghyun and Taemin. That totally sent all of us into fangirl spasms. LOL.

Lol at how Taemin has to bend to be on eye level with Jonghyun.

The weather took a turn for the worse when BoA was performing 'Only One'. It was horrible that I missed the Sehun and BoA dance break because I was busy putting on my poncho. I was so looking forward to that part! :(
I was so impressed with f(x) when they performed Electric Shock (how apt lol) live in the heavy rain. It was totally a the-show-must-go-on moment and I was incredibly touched.

And as if on cue, during the last song 'Hope', the rain suddenly stopped. It was like the heavens knew. I was even more touched and even though it was a happy song I started tearing up. It was beautiful. Even as I write this and reminisce I feel like crying. Hahaha I'm such a softie, pfft.

Anyway, to end off, I am so glad that I decided to go for this. It was indeed the biggest K-pop event in Singapore thus far, and I anticipate the next one in 2014.

Do check out Dinoseoul's write up here, photos here.

And also watch the highlights of SMTOWN Live World Tour III in Singapore that I did if you haven't! :)

D-DAY

Today is SMTOWN. SMTOWN is today. Can I just say how excited I am? Wow, seeing so many artistes (of which I all like - I know, so many) performing over a span of four hours is gonna be really insane and absolutely fun! I can't wait to see SHINee perform since they were the first K-pop group I ever liked. But man, am I looking forward to watching EXO? I've been following them since Teaser #1. And I really love them okay.

Okay. So fangirlish. Meh. Goodnight!

Flowers Have Blossomed Again

So I got the limited edition of S.H.E's latest album and the contents are super pretty and they look perfect, the songs are perfect, asdfghjkl everything is perfect.

What a ride. 12 years; 13 albums. It is amazing how they have managed to stay together for so long despite all the things that happened. Every artiste/group has had their own problems and hurdles but honestly, you just can't compare them to those of S.H.E's - Ella's hip-shattering accident in 2003 and her getting depression, numerous reports on Hebe's sexuality, to most recently, Selina's accident which resulted in third-degree burns and the hiatus in their group activities, just to name a few... Just, wow. Of course, Selina's and Ella's weddings did make us feel really happy for them. How sweet was Lawyer 'Ah Tiong' when he took the initiative to make their relationship public at their concert in Taipei?

And this music video of Ella's solo song featuring none another than the leading lady and her husband themselves...

Everyone has to stop being so sweet, seriously.

While many critics have doubted their return after Selina's accident, die-hard fans (like me) have been awaiting it. My dad said they wouldn't, and I almost cried (for real I'm not kidding).

But they did, and it excited me so much when photos from their photoshoot in Milan were released.

After all these turbulence, I'm sure S.H.E has again rooted themselves as the top girl group in Asia. And they are totally deserving of that title - they can sing (all of them have solo EPs/albums), act (Ella's portfolio is growing day by day), host, and they are just the sweetest and most down-to-earth people ever.

I don't see myself ceasing to support them anytime soon, after all, they were my first ever idols... And one doesn't simply forget their 'firsts'. Lol. I'm hoping that they have promotional activities here because I'm really missing them a lot after seeing them for consecutive years at their autograph sessions.

我永远爱你们, 永不说再见.

On a final note, HIM, are you really expecting me to plant these sunflower seeds?

While I Was Gone

I know, I know. I've been away for a very very long as I've been busy with school and Dinoseoul (I'm writing there). So I'm gonna try updating on some significant events that I actually remember.

30th September: Keane Strangeland Concert
I've never been a super big fan of Keane or anything but I got free tickets so why not right? And am I glad that I went! The atmosphere wasn't quite like any other concert I have been to... it was pretty chill. I was especially awed by Tom Chaplin's amazing vocals - he sounds exactly the same as he does on the record! And I did take a slight liking to pianist Tim Rice-Oxley. Hehe.

11th October: Brian Joo Up-Close and Personal Concert
Again, I got free tickets for this - all thanks to Rachy! I think in K-pop now, solo artistes are often overshadowed by idol groups and Brian Joo is one of them. He is an awesome vocalist, he can dance, he speaks fluent and American-accented English (oh yes me gusta) and he is genuine. The concert literally brought fans 'closer' to Brian as the setting in Butter Factory was a really intimate one. Although I wasn't familiar with most of his songs, I still enjoyed it a lot - I really love 'Domino' and 'Let It Die'.

Oh and because of Rachy, again, I got to go up and snap a picture with the man himself! It was funny though, when I had to tell him that my name was Rachel so he'd write her name on the poster. Haha!

27th October: Recording
The Poly bunch met up for audio and video recording of 'Starships'. The video recording was a failure though and we ended up, uhm, camwhoring. What's new? That said, I'm sure we will be more productive the next time we meet for filming.. I think.

Don't ask me what I was doing.

31st October: Halloween/Skyfall Preview
So Chapman students had the privilege of catching Skyfall more it premiered in Singapore! I'm not going to spoil it for anyone but it actually might be the best Bond movie to date! Love it when the antagonist is batshit crazy.
And because it was also Halloween, I dressed up as Bond!

No I'm not that light.

2nd November: 2NE1 Fan Gathering
So my favourite K-pop girl group had a guerrilla showcase in Singapore, which was a big big thing since things like that are rarely held in Singapore, what more a K-pop group? The squeezing from the audience was horrible and there was this inconsiderate girl in the second row standing on a freaking stool but other than that it was fun and amazing... partly because it was free. Haha! Nevertheless, I still managed to take awesome photos!

My personal favourite :)

Check out the rest of the photos here and Rachy's write-up here.

3rd November: Melodi's Birthday Celebration
And then our dear Mel turned 20! Her parents, the Poly bunch and Cally held a surprise for her and I didn't know if she cried because she was shocked by my face or if she was touched. But either way, I'm glad the surprise was a success! Thank you Mel's parents for having us (and to Mel's mum for cooking extra rice for me). I had a blast! Love you Mel!

No prizes if you guess where this is from.

Happy birthday girl! ^^

I'll try to re-visit this space as often as I can! I promise... I really do...