Sunday, January 13, 2013

[FAN-ACCOUNT: Part I] Keeping the Faith Alive because Love Won’t Make U Cry or Ask Y


Hello y’all was geht? ^^ This post is a super mega ultra late account of the first ever K-pop concert that I attended, Bigbang's Alive Tour in Manila on October 24, 2012 at the SM MOA Arena. I already made this draft since last year but I was only able to post it today. Anyway, enjoy reading! 

It’s been a long time huh? Now this update will be long, spazzy and very detailed blow-by-blow so I divided this trip to parts rather than make one long-ass post and get you guys bored because I’m a boring person. Please be warned that since this is a fan-account, this will be spazzy and there might be grammatical errors you grammar Nazis might notice so yeah, I apologize in advance. But who cares really haha and this is my blog so Also all pics are mine unless stated otherwise. 

This blogpost and update is all about me and my very close friend, Opel – whose name by the way is similar to the recent storm that hit the Visayas – Ofel (lol Pel sorry I had to emphasize this just because HAHAHAHAHA!), trip to Manila on October 24,2012 for the K-Pop group BIGBANG (Opel’s been a Cebuano VIP since 2007) and their Alive Tour here in the Philippines~ and our series of unfortunate events and side tours *throws confetti* It’s my second time flying to Manila but this is Opel’s first flight. This trip is our first concert trip together in our 20 years of existence hahahahaha and this is also our first time to actually fly all by ourselves. *pats self* XD

Long overdue fan-account because I was tired from the trip, I didn’t get to sleep and rest for 72 hours and just read the rest of this entry to know haha ♥

The Concert Announcement
When we heard of the World Tour, we were not really expecting our country will be included in their “World Tour”. Because the Philippines is always not part in Asia nor in the World in most concerts lol. So we kind of shrugged the idea and possibility of them coming here and moved on with our lives but on July 2012 (?) they announced via BIGBANG’s Official Facebook that the Philippines is included in their World Tour omg Opel was soo happy she even thought of selling internal organs just to be able to attend the concert. The same idea came to my mind, honestly. But we all know it won’t be the best idea.

So fast-forward after 2 months of “saving” and  begging to our parents to give us money for concert tickets, we ended up buying General Admission tickets each for one of us on Sept 2012.

credits: Ovation Productions

Initially, we wanted to buy the Lower Box seats because as much as we wanted to buy the VIP tickets, we can’t really afford it. The Lower Box seats were the only option we got since it’s next to VIP 3 standing and we can choose to sit right in front of the stage (the same as the VIP 3 standing section only that we’re ‘elevated’).

On the day Ovation Productions, the official concert producer, announced the selling of tickets, we panicked. BECAUSE WE STILL DON’T HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY LOWER BOX SEATS SHET. We also got trolled when someone said all tickets were already sold out ON THE ACTUAL SELLING DATE. But it turned out many people reserved tickets online thus the sold out news. Good thing was after 3 days; all unpaid reserved tickets were opened to public. MUHA.But due to certain circumstances, we were not able to buy the said ticket we opted. Since we also had to save and beg for airfare so yeah, General Admission tickets. Anyway, it’s the thought that counts. We were there at the concert venue, we spazzed together with our fellow VIPs (BIGBANG’s fanclub name u-know) we enjoyed ourselves and had fun! And I did not really want to say this lol but omg WE WERE BREATHING THE SAME AIR AS BIGBANG!!!!!!

The Concert Ticket Purchasing
So on September 2012 after school we went to SM Cebu to buy concert tickets. I had to borrow money from our friend, Zarah (yes, special mention because we love you!!). Thank you Zar! ^^ 


Since it was still a weekday and I had classes on Friday, we went home immediately after spazzing hahahahaha!


Flight Reservation via JEJU Air
No kidding 8D. We booked via Zest Air and not Jeju Air lol. As a Tourism student lol, I did the online reservation for us. The lesson we had during Transporation Management and Airline Management classes were very helpful good thing I paid attention lmao. It was also my first time to do such thing. After buying concert tickets, we looked for possible flights to match with our budget. I asked Opel if she would want to stay in Manila and maybe go on a tour or something but since we’re really tight on budget, we chose to book the first available flight for departure on October 24th from CEB – MNL (5:40am) via Zest Air and did the same for our return flight on the following day, Oct 25th MNL – CEB (3:40am).

Before and After Instapic.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mom’s officemate for lending us her credit card in order to pay for our flight reservation. We paid her immediately after receiving Zest Air’s confirmation. ^^ We did not book for any hotel accommodation because we are osm like that. Trust me, it was fun but the exhaustion was double the fun haha!

Fanprojects! Cebuano VIPs are jjang~ *panjak panjak*
As headed by Zirih and Raine from Cebu VIPs, along with 6 other VIPs we made our very own fansign for BIGBANG! Bigbang Philippines organized a fanproject called a Digital Frame where VIPs can took pics of themselves bringing/holding their fansigns for oppars and it will then be compiled to an album – the digital frame. On October 18, 2012 we met in Magellan’s Cross for the fansign preparation but since there were only few of us, we moved the fansign picture taking chuchu the following day. So to not totally waste the day, we conceptualized the fansign. J


Too bad there were only few of us on October 19 since it was already a Semestral Break week and people went home in their provinces while some were having Final exams for this semester. But we were still able to finish the fansign and submit our entry on time so YEY!

Also during the conceptualization, we thought of letting BIGBANG have a taste of Cebu by giving them Dried Mangoes, Danggit and give them a small gift like a guitar or a ukulele but because of time and money constraints, we did not push through with this ‘project’ for the boys. But it was okay because Zirih and the rest of the Cebu VIPs bought something:

*insert bigbang gifts here* c/o Cebu VIPS
Zirih bought a VIP3 ticket we hope she was able to throw the gift on stage HAHAHA :D


October 22, 2012 BIGBANG IS IN TOWN YO WOW FANTASTIC BABY
It was reported BIGBANG will arrive at 11am but it was moved to 3pm.
*insert Taeyang instagram here*

*insert Gdragon tweet here*

*insert Dara tweet here*

Dara recommends eating Jollibee Spaghetti to them omg JOLLIBEE should get BIGBANG as endorsers!!!!
*insert Dara photo here*

Sandara is in town. Omg DARAGON is REAL. Lololololol. *bricked*
*insert Dara pic here*

What is panic? MSBDJKLWEN; GH ; OUBEGNMGOPJWEGUBNDSJK VNWIOGHWEIOGNIGNLUOGT792HQ[4-975TGNMLDMSGKLNWGJ ERIOGHERONH;LDJHIOERHJG;ONMHPKER89YNIPRE IOEWHGU9ERGHIORHY8RIPIPYHEIONG;LWEKJIH0WTNJIWTH8WOHB NOIHTOIERJGIPEYOHWNEO;HWIT IHEYOUEHIYLH *INSERT MORE KEYBOARD SMASH LANGUAGE HERE* OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GDRAGON I LOVE YOU.
So yeah, as you all probably knew BIGBANG stayed in EDSA Shangrila and they enjoyed swimming in the pool omg fans saw them half nekkid esp Daesung and Taeyang!!!! Then GDragon also joined in the fun /screams/. Dara was said to be with the Gym instructor guy omg I’m sorry I don’t know his name but I saw him training Bom in 2NE1 TV lol. Bom was eating mais then. Mais = corn. Then it was said Dara was with TOP and Seungri shopping. *insert TABISAN and PANDASAN shippers here* lolololol
I kept on updating Opel all these updates via SMS since she was at school waiting for enrolment. ENROLMENT Y U COCKBLOCK US?!!!! *insert Changmin WAE gif here*
HAHAHAHAHAH omg


Preparation! Preparation! Omg is this really is it?
This is our first concert experience. ALL BY OURSELVES. Isn’t it amazing? We’re slowly feeling and embracing the idea of being ‘adults’ because of this trip omg. So yeah we prepared ourselves, our things, our wallets and our heart, mind and souls. We did not have a DSLR so sorry no HQ pics for this update. But I am a ninja. We were informed few days before the concert that DSLRs aren’t really allowed. Opel has a Digital Camera so we thought; it’s okay even if it won’t be as HQ. Remembrance! Memorabilia!

But then, a day before the concert it was announced all types/kinds of cameras is prohibited inside the Arena. Wtf. But it did not stop us bringing Opel’s camerahahahahahaha! Sorry concert producers and organizers “Naega saranghananeun I’m so sorry I’m a bad boy”. We also brought some Goldilocks with us hahahaha in case we ran out of money. I forgot to bring water good thing Opel brought one so we shared. ^^ I also brought an umbrella because there apparently was a storm and in case it will rain in MNL, I bought an envelope where I put all the necessary documents for our flight reservations, our pre-ordered goodies and a notebook just in case we bump into BIGBANG for an autograph.


OCTOBER 24: D-DAY HI HIGH I’M SO HIGH FLY FLY IN DA SKY
I WAS STILL ONLINE VIA TWITTER UNTIL 2AM. HAHAHAHAHA. I told myself I’m not going to sleep because omg excitement. Who cares with Haggardo Versoza and Stress Drilon? I’m a zombie. After buying some Goldilocks, we went home immediately because le preparation. We did not pack that much, only the essentials like enough food to sustain while queuing, water, money for the pre-ordered unofficial BIGBANG merch because the Official merch is expensive for someone like us who are tight on budget, and money for transportation from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 4 to SM Mall of Asia Arena (SM MOA Arena) and to SM North EDSA back to SM MOA Arena.

At 3AM, I was already done preparing with my stuff. I brought a small backpack and the envelope for the documents haha I felt like I was simply going to school that day plus my Green hoodie for the cold. At exactly 3:30am I think we arrived at Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).



Opel arrived first, she was with her father. They live in Consolacion and it’s near the airport so they arrived early. I currently live in Oppra, Kalunasan that’s like in the Uptown so it kinda of took us (more than) 30mins to go to the airport. It was a record time considering it was still early dawn and there was no traffic so yey. Not going to worry about future domestic nor international flights because by next monthweek we will officially be living in our new house there in Jugan, Consolacion.

Moving on. So yeah, we’re so excited already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The exclamation points won’t do any justice how excited we both are. Upon checking in, we went through security check first. We went through a total of 3 security checks. Wow MCIA, quota. Good job on that. 


I was hoping there would be WIFI because I Googled and it said there IS. I was able to connect to the free WIFI although I couldn’t connect to the Internet.


Ang eyebags. Bow

I know. So jejemon. But who cares?! This is fun!

'No cameras allowed'




Cue Tohoshinki: Baby sky~ all the dreams and hopes made of your life (?) hahaha

Our flight is scheduled to depart at exactly 0540 hours and arrive at 0630 hours. An hour flight of adrenaline rushes and butterflies in our stomachs because we haven’t eaten breakfast nor slept well. This is the fun I am talking about.

Touch down. Can you feel it?
Upon arriving, we didn’t really know what to do. Opel and I were tired and hungry and excited omg eottokhe. Should we go eat breakfastfirst or go to SM MOA Arena or call our fellow Cebu VIPs who were already in MNL?  In the end, we called some friends up and asked for directions lolwtf, decided to go to SM MOA Arena then grab breakfast.

We kind of debated on which type of transportation to use to go to SM MOA. Prior to our flight, I Googled again and found out there were airport shuttle buses for Terminals 1 to 3. Fare is Php20.00 but it was still early then so we had no other choice but travel by taxi. The first thing that really came to our minds was the taxi fare. Honestly speaking, yellow airport taxis are pricey compared to the usual white taxis. Even here in Cebu, yellow airport taxis are pricey. But we also considered our safety. News about taxi crimes in Manila was rampant and to be honest, it alarmed us. So many what ifs? came to mind. Our parents told us to be very very extra careful and alert at all times especially with our belongings and surroundings. I mean it is better safe than sorry right? So there. The debate was between low-cost taking risks vs. possibly higher cost but safe travel. Finally, we decided to take the yellow taxi. We were mentally calculating the possibly taxi fare we will be paying. I remember during our first flight with Tita Agnes last 2009, we paid almost Php400.00 from NAIA Terminal 3 to Baclaran riding a white taxi.

The good thing was the driver is polite and is trustworthy. The sun was up by then and I’m like, OMGSUN! Haha~ the roads were really big like in one lane there’s 3-4 columns of cars so that makes it around 8 columns of cars on the road. We were in between 2 buses so the yellow taxi felt really small hahahahahaha. After some turns I already saw the “Arena”. The building with an “eye” design was seen already so I’m like, ‘hey look it’s there’ *points* The yellow taxi driver asked if we will disembark at the front or at the back of SM MOA so I told him at the MOA Arena. It was a block away from the mall SM MOA and I saw the famous “globe” thing in MOA so I’m relieved that we’re already getting there. Hi BIGBANG. Hello to Opel’s dreams. We did not know where exactly to disembark so the taxi driver turned to SMX Convention Center and dropped at us at SM MOA. We only paid Php142.00! OMG Manong, we love you! The buildings were really big like super BIG we don’t have that much buildings and venues here in Cebu. There was the SMX Convention, the SM MOA Arena and the SM MOA. Super big buildings~we hope someday, someday Cebu will also have one super big venue for concerts besides Waterfront Lahug and CICC. Hello SM Cebu SRP in a few years’ time!

For now, I will end this here mwehehe because it’s already long for a single post~ promise in the next blogpost it will finally be about the BIGBANG and some DONGBANGSHINKI/JYJ escapade. J Thank you for reading and please take time to read the rest of the posts. Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this spazzy fan-account HAHAHAHAHA ♥


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