h1n1 and asia song festival

EVERYONE around me is sick. Everyone. At first, a lot of us were afraid that it was H1N1 going around but thank goodness, it isn't. I've also discovered just HOW afraid I am of that flu...I mean, people say it's just like the regular flu but there's such a stigma attached to H1N1. I've been avoiding people with face masks, steering away from people I know are sick, constantly covering my face from germs, obsessively using hand sanitizer, and downing the hot fluids (tea, soup, water) like there's no tomorrow.

It's been working, to a certain extent. I sometimes feel the headache or sore throat coming on but then viciously attack it with hot fluids. I'm seriously obsessed. I get sick really easily and it lasts a long time for me. And even though I know what's going around the international kids ISN'T H1N1, I'm still scared.

Weird. I feel mean :(

Anyways, besides worrying about actually having H1N1, I was afraid that the Asia Song Festival would be canceled because of the flu. But amazingness prevailed and the ASF went on as planned!!!

Jenny and I got there super early, at 8am and lined up in the "Tiket Exchange Place for Foreigners" line hahaha. Jenny ended up leaving the line because she had already printed her ticket out so she wasn't in that line anymore. I stood with a few other DMC Ville people and ended up getting a really cool ticket. We got VIP tickets.

I think since we were foreigners, they let us all get the VIP tickets. Can I just say I was totally NOT expecting that? I thought I would sit with Jenny, who since she printed out her ticket, had to sit in the stands. But still, pretty exciting. I wish Jenny, Naanhee, and Jennifer could have gotten VIP tickets too though :( I missed them during the concert :(

Anyways, I went from the "tiket" exchange line to the supposed VIP line but it wasn't really the VIP line. This concert was really disorganized. They kept on shuttling us from location to location and it never really made any sense as to why they did that. Finally they just sat us down right outside of the place where we would go in (yeah, doesn't make sense but hard to explain).

After taking in the odiferous scent of decaying green waste for about an hour and 45 minutes, they finally let us in. Some middle-school age girls tried to make a run for it but thankfully, the person leading our group (R13) to our seats reined them in and SENT THEM TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!!! YESSS WOOOHOOOOO!!! JUSTICE IS SERVEDDDD!!! *ahem* sorry. Momentarily transported to the age of 4, when things like that made me the happiest person on Earth lol.

But our seats were really good. Hopefully I can sketch it out...

_________________________________________________________

-------------------------------- STAGE

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--------------------------- FIRST FEW SECTIONS

----------------------------------------[gate]----------------------------------

---------------------------- [camera stand] ------ [me!!!]

So really, not that bad.

And I got a TON of good pictures out of it.

Lee Da Hae from Full House was one of the presenters!!! I went CRAZY when I saw her. Brian and I were joking when I first came here that I should stalk her and take pictures of her...little did I know that she would BE there! She looks super pretty in real life...gorgeous :D

OOHHH!!! Before the concert started, Rita and I went to Home Plus to grab some snacks...on the way there, we saw some guys wearing super sketch clothing. It was like they'd taken it and ripped it off of themselves in random places. It was great. I stalked them and took pictures. Love it hahaha.

I think instead of going through the concert step-by-step, I'll just post my thoughts on each act.

Show Luo (Taiwan): He was good. His performance was good as the "real" opening act of the festival. He was energetic and his dancing was pretty good. Can't say the same for his songs though...They were kind of run-of-the-mill.

2NE1 (Korea): These girls are HUGELY popular in Korea, so I was surprised that they were the second act in. They were amazing though. I'm pretty sure everyone else besides these girls lipsynced. Their energy were great and their songs??? SO CATCHY!!!! hahhaa loved it :D Marissa almost started crying when they came on stage...cute <3

Ho Ngoc Ha (Vietnam): For a model-turned-singer, I think she did well. Her songs were upbeat but not fast-paced enough for the crowd. But her singing ability is pretty good. I did enjoy her songs and was surprised that they were in English...I think I would have definitely liked them better in Vietnamese :D

K-Otic (Thailand): I actually really liked these guys. They started off with a traditional Thai dance, which wasn't what the crowd expected. I'm not sure how the crowd reacted but I LOVED that they went basic and traditional on such an international stage like this. They smoothly transitioned into the hip-hop/break-dancing routine and did it well. They're energy was great!!! They had a really international group too hahhaa...Thai, Korean, and Japanese. Loved it!!!

Ekin Cheng (Hong Kong): This guy was the oldest person performing but he definitely kept up with everyone else though lol...but seriously...what was up with that skirt???

mihimaru GT (Japan): Love. That is all...also, the girl is super cute lol.

Chris Lee (China): Her fans were all over the place, going crazy but...ummm...she wasn't that good. Her dancing was okay and her songs all sounded like rip-offs...

V6 (Japan): They were the special guests of the concert and I thought they were great. Their dancing was fresh (compared to the repetitive hip-hop) and later on, when they were on stage, it was almost like they were having a mini-dance-off with Super Junior. Cute :D

Ruslana (Ukraine): I still don't know why they invited her. She's almost too foreign for the Korean/Chinese/Japanese majority at the concert. No one knew her...No matter how much energy she had, or how crazy her songs were, no one got into it. So sad :(

Gackt (Japan): He was AMAZING!!! He has this very...alternative image and I love it. His act had some of the BEST music and he was different too. AHHHH! hahahaha

Girls Generation (Korea): SO OVERRATED!!!! I think it's really easy for a group of people to sing together. I'll give them the fact that they look good and dance well BUT if you're going to name yourself "Girl's Generation" and play to stereotypes of "sexy" women, then I probably won't like you to begin with. They were fun, but in the larger picture...ugh. Not the girl's generation I want to see for my future...if they chose that name to mean something lol.

Agnes Monica (Indonesia): She was a little weird at first. Trying too hard and all that shizznit. But then she totally made up for it when she sang "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson...like really sang it. And she's an amazing singer. I got goosebumps when she had us sing with her...all without music. Beautifully haunting.

Super Junior (Korea): Another group with TONS of people in it. I'd heard of it before through Jenny, Teresa, and Tina at Davis but this was the first time I'd actually heard their music. It's super catchy and they're good dancers. Good combination :D Not my favorites because, again, I can't tell how good of singers they are when there's 13 of them singing together, but still...entertaining.

Big Bang (Korea): Ahhh...best for last :D Seriously, they came in with a bang and left with one too. They had the best songs (even if they were missing a member and another member seemed like he was sick) and were WELL worth the wait. I loved seeing G-Dragon on stage, after obsessing over his strangely cool "Heartbreaker" song...and T.O.P. really is the master :D

Overall, well worth every minute :D