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.
Three weeks ago, I asked a Korean friend whether he was going to the Asian Games (AG). He asked me back, "What Asian Games?"
His response made me think that, if the locals have no idea about the 2014 Asian Games that are going to be held in Incheon starting Friday, September 19, the organizing committee's efforts to publicize the Games might not have been enough.
Tickets
On the first week of August, I called up the AG trunk line to inquire about the tickets and was able to talk to an English-speaking staff. Funny thing was, she gave me a website not at all linked to the AG official website for the tickets. She said, for foreigners in Korea, we must get our tickets from this website, and for Koreans, there would be another website.
But the funniest thing was, in the AG official website, it says that for foreigners outside Korea, you must get your tickets through your respective national olympic committees. Hmm.
Right there, I already smelled chaos.
Official Website
The official website http://www.incheon2014ag.org/index is written only in Korean and English. I surfed the English pages last week and discovered links not working, messy lay-outs, and the English and quality of writing badly need improvement. If only the organizers hired professionals or perhaps, outsourced this to a competent advertising company, I would have understood most of what I was reading.
Venues
Most important for me was the venue location because if I were to actually watch the games, I should know where I was going. Last week, I looked for the 'Facilities' of the basketball matches. It indicated 'Samsan World Gymnasium'. So, I told my Filipino friends, who were looking forward to watching the Smart Gilas Basketball team of the Philippines play, that Samsan would be the venue. But suddenly, last night, another venue was added: Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium. I wondered if the organizers only decided today that another venue would be used for the basketball matches.
I just hope that the official website now indicates the correct venues for each sport. I hope.
No information hotline
Although the Asian Games brochure I got from the headquarters of the Korea Tourism Organization indicates a telephone number under 'Information', it's actually just a trunk line operated by a girl who claims to speak English, but didn't actually understood what I was saying.
Today, I called again the 'trunk-line' so ask whether there was any 'face-painting' event around the sports site. Usually, during Korean festivals, there would be a 'face-painting' booth where everyone could have their face painted with different colors and design related to the event. I thought that it could actually be a good idea if there was one at the Asian Games, so that participants from Asian countries could have their flags or national colors painted on their faces.
A Filipino friend, who's planning to watch the games, asked me today whether there would be any 'face-painting' at the site. So, I called the trunk-line again and my call was transferred to an English-speaking staff who bluntly told me she didn't know anything. At all. Geez.
I am wondering if the organizers just hired volunteers or have not briefed them where to source the information about what's actually happening at the Asian Games.
I guess if I want to know something about the Asian Games, I should refrain calling the useless 'information' telephone number, and just have to check the official website and cross my fingers that what I read there is actually the correct information.
Controversies
I found a write-up on the sports controversies on this Wikipedia page about the 2014 Asian Games. It involves cycling and basketball. I don't have all the facts about it but I wonder if the allegations have some semblance of truth to it. Hmm. Intriguing, actually.
But the most glaring controversy doesn't involve sports. It involves, what else, K-pop! Even in the Asian Games, K-pop lords over! Ha-ha-ha! It's about the trio JYJ, who used to be members of the K-pop boy band,TVXQ. Early on, the Asian Games organizers appointed JYJ to be the Games' ambassadors, even singing its theme song.
According to this petition, JYJ was "unilaterally dropped from the opening and closing ceremonies" when their former agency came into the picture. This enraged their fans everywhere. Hell hath no fury like a K-pop fan scorned, indeed.
By the way, the recorded music when you call the Asian Games phone number is the AG song sung by JYJ.
Where's the Asian Games app?
Yes. I was expecting an Asian Games app! This is South Korea, where the tourist information, bus stops, subway system and even my Starbucks have an app! And in a country where you can shop for your groceries at the subway station platform by just using an app!
I am a tennis fan and I always download my apps for the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and just this month, the US Open! And having these apps always keep me informed and updated with scores and the schedule. I even downloaded the Sochi Olympic Games app last February!
But those Grand Slams are just one sport, while the Asian Games are 36 sports! So, where in the kimchi world is the Asian Games app? They have none! How primitive! I'm still shaking my head in disbelief!
(The only poster of the Asian Games I saw in Seoul
was at the Korea Tourism Organization headquarters)
Oh, well. While I have a feeling there would still be glitches and controversies in the next two weeks, I just hope they won't be as bad as they already are.
So, I am crossing my fingers, legs and eyes, and hoping that, aside from those 'Needs Improvement' aspects of the 2014 Asian Games, this would be a successful gathering of Asian countries in the name of sports.
I hope! Really.
