The Gangnam District in Seoul, Korea, is one of the most affluent districts in the peninsula. On weekends, the area around the Gangnam Station is popular area for couples and friends to meet up, chat and shop. This was where I once brought a friend to be welcomed by Psy's silhouette next to the station.
Also in Gangnam, Garuso-gil is a popular hangout place where, if you want to people-watch, you can just spend an afternoon on one of the many cafes along the street and just chat the day away.
(JYJ blue wristband ticket)
And this year, as a finale to the Gangnam District's autumn festival, the District (sounds like Hunger Games) threw a K-pop concert! And the artists they featured is not just any boy band or girl band, it's....JYJ!
Weeks before the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Asian Games, fans of JYJ were posting angry messages on the Asian Games' Facebook page to express their disappointment on the news which broke out that week that JYJ was no longer performing. But a K-pop war was averted when JYJ finally got out on stage on the night of September 19 and sang the theme song of the Asian Games on stage.
Happy were the JYJ fans that night; their idols finally showed everyone why they were appointed ambassadors for the Games.
But on the night of October 5, not at the Asian Games in Incheon, but in the Gangnam District in Seoul, thousands more of the JYJ fans were not just happy. They were ecstatic, excited, wild and loud!
(YooChun)
(The crowd couldn't get enough of Junsu)
Two days before JYJ's k-pop concert, the bloggers sitting in the audience to watch the My Dear Love, Chunhyang ballet performance were given tickets to JYJ's concert. I got one, but I really wasn't intending to stand right in the middle of a huge crowd of K-pop fans screaming and shouting every time any of these artists representing a J-Y-J initial started to sing, dance or pretend to take his shirt off. Although I appreciate the free ticket from the Gangnam District, I'd rather stay back, observe and take photographs of the whole experience. This wasn't my first k-pop concert after all. I've been turned deaf by the screaming several times before. Ha-ha-ha!
(Junsu)
I was especially interested to find out if the crowd during Rain's concert in the same area would be bigger or smaller. Before he enlisted for the mandatory military service in 2011, Rain held a concert in Yeongdong Boulevard for his fans. Compared to this JYJ concert, his was smaller in scale and in attendance. Of course, even compared to Psy's concert at Seoul Plaza in the fall of 2012, which practically closed the whole of downtown Seoul, Rain's concert looked like a PTA meeting.
Now, back to the JYJ concert.
JYJ, for non-k-pop fans, stands for Jae-Joong, Yu-Chun and Jun-Su. These three bolted years ago from their previous group, TVXQ, and formed their own group. I guess that was the right thing to do. On their own, they successfully held concerts; they were the only K-pop artists to sing at the last presidential inauguration; they have been appointed honorary ambassadors of the Asian Games; and tonight, they successfully dragged me out of my Yongsan neighborhood and into Gangnam to watch their concert!
(Yoochun and Jaejoong)
And they did not disappoint. For every song they sang, their fans sang with them, even providing back-up singing for a few bars of each hit song. And even though the main stage provided a huge LED display screen which enabled the farthest audience to still see what was happening onstage, a ramp, more than 50 meters long, extended the stage outwards, letting JYJ and their dancers perform closer to the farthest fans standing along the Yeongdong Boulevard.
I was only able to catch on TV a few minutes of the opening ceremonies of the Asian Games last month. Luckily, those last minutes included JYJ's performance. That's why, when JYJ sang the last song at the concert, I recognized it. "Emtpy" was the song, and all the fans standing next to me screamed even louder. I remember the fans singing with JYJ the chorus of that song, "Let it go...let it go...let it go", which I think signaled that it was time to, well, go home.
So, thanks to the Gangnam District Office for the invitation to watch JYJ concert that night. These almost two hours of non-stop k-pop singing, dancing and screaming were indeed a Gangnam-style finale to your autumn festival.
Who else hasn't seen in Youtube Psy's music video, Oppa Gangnam Style, with its cute tune and satirical lyrics. His dancing and galloping make it even more catchy on top of the upbeat tune and lyrics.
But does everyone outside Korea have any idea about Gangnam and where it actually is?
Well, the Gangnam area in Seoul is just across the river. The name actually means south of the river, and that area consists of three wards: Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu. And Gangnam-gu has the priciest real estate in the country, and has an interesting 'expensive' character to it.
I have written a few blogs on a few occasions I managed to cross to that area: from an afternoon stroll after a wedding, to an interesting drive-through the main Gangnam thoroughfare on my way to a party, to a Friday night dinner in Gangnam, and even watching Rain's free concert!
And of course, I saw Brad Pitt in Gangnam's COEX last year when he premiered his film.
I live and work in the Yongsan area, and I rarely cross the Han River during the week for anything. But I'm not sure if it's a coincidence that with the incredible popularity of Psy's song, I find myself twice this week in the Gangnam-gu area.
First was the invitation from the Korea Film Council to watch Red Maria, a very interesting documentary film, and the second was when friends Soo-jin and James decided to meet up in Gangnam for dinner.
(Before crossing the Han River)
Soo-jin and I were coming from the Yongsan area, and James, who works right smack in the middle of Gangnam, around the Kyobo Building intersection (lucky guy!), would meet us there. As expected, driving through rush-hour traffic was not amusing, but we made it to the Apgujeong Station area in about 30 minutes, where James was waiting.
(Traffic. Gangnam style.)
As Soo-jin knew the inner streets very well, we drove through the Sinsa-dong area and ended up at the restaurant next to Dosan Park. After the valet took her car away, Soo-jin led us to the restaurant:
GOR
ILLA
INTHEKITCHEN
Gorilla In The Kitchen? Why is that name very familiar?
Aah! It's Bae Yong-Joon's restaurant! Friends Fay and Cielo had been here before, and told me that there were a lot of Japanese tourists when they visited, understandably because of Bae Yong-Joon's popularity in Japan. They must have expected to catch a glimpse of him here. But tonight, while the waitress was getting our orders, I just had to ask her if he was indeed in the house. "No", she said. A very, very 'no'. Ha-ha-ha!
And while Soo-Jin and James picked from the menu, I ordered that pasta-with-chicken-something. To me, they're all just the same. Same ingredients, different names. And of course, different prices. Ha-ha-ha!
This restaurant actually tries to be different from other dining places as it promotes healthy eating. On the menu, it indicates the nutrition facts for each dish alongside calorie count. But I wasn't really interested to know how much salt or cholesterol or fiber is in my dish. I was there to touch base and chat with friends, and not to be told how much weight I gained while swapping stories about our lives in Seoul.
That night in Gangnam, our dinner was a bit pricey, but spending time with friends is always priceless (to paraphrase that commercial). I guess Bae Yong-Joon's cost of the dietary research on the menu and the Gangnam real estate rental added a few more to our tab. I can now understand why Psy had to sing about it. Ha-ha-ha!
And that's dinner. Gangnam style. Burp!
