My Mom is so much in love! ♥_♥
And no, not with my Dad, but with someone else whose age is almost the same as mine, and I totally don’t mind it, in fact, I support her all the way. He’s tall, handsome, seems nice, and the name is Lee. Min. Ho.
The guy is pretty famous among girls, but if you’re not familiar with him, let me help you get to know him a bit.
Lee Min-ho is a South Korean actor popularly known for his roles in the TV series Boys Over Flowers (2009) as Gu Jun-pyo, and the hit action drama series City Hunter (2011) as Lee Yoon-sung. With a face and body like his, it wouldn’t be surprising at all that he already has more than 20 endorsements, the latest being for the Philippine-based clothing brand bench/.
My Mom is a dedicated housewife for already 16 years, a full-blooded homebody, and her only leisure these days is to go head over heels for this Korean hottie. So when I read the news at Yahoo! News Philippines that Lee Min-ho would be visiting the country on November 16, 2012 for a Benchsetter Fun Meet at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, I immediately informed her, and oh boy, you should’ve seen her reaction and how she swore in excitement.
It was a fun sight, seeing my mother so elated. And so, as a supportive daughter, I offered to pay for the tickets and to go with her, which included me not going to work since the event fell on a Friday.
We learned that what we needed to be part of the fan meet were invitations which we could acquire through purchases of bench/ items with Fix Professional products. Seat locations depended on the minimum single-receipt amounts:
Patron – 1,500 pesos
Lower Box – 1,000 pesos
Upper Box A – 800 pesos
Upper Box B – 500 pesos
We opted for the 500-peso worth of invitations, which were then exchanged with actual tickets at the ticket booth of the coliseum on the day of the event.
Combining my mother’s extraordinary patience and her determination to see Lee Min-ho in person (though not close), she waited in line from the time we arrived at around 2pm ’till 5pm when the gates at The Big Dome were opened, while I wandered at the nearby mall since I have the tendency to drop dead (figuratively) whenever I stand doing nothing in idle lines.
I came back at around 4:30pm and the crowd was impressive. I went to McDonald’s for some fries and saw that the lines stretched up to the Telus building in Gen. Macarthur Ave., Araneta Center. How’s that for a simple fan meet?
Gates opened at 5pm and by around 6pm, we were already comfortable on our chosen seats at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Our location at the Upper Box B was pretty decent considering that we only paid 500 pesos for it. I actually felt sorry for those in the Patron area ’cause the event wasn’t a concert, so I guess it didn’t feel all that good to be standing and pressing themselves against each other, while the spotlights seemingly incubated them like chicks. Many of them had their arms raised, fanning themselves for some air.
While waiting for “the moment”, my Mom tested her binoculars (Yes! Like a girl scout, she brought our real, heavy binoculars from home! XD) to see if she could see the people on the stage from her place. Luckily, yeeeeeeessssss, she could totally see up close!
On a side note, I had an interesting find inside The Big Dome. There’s this pair of foldable binoculars called Eyemax that’s made of paper and, of course, lenses for only 75 pesos. For that price, it can make its user 4x closer to its subject, though it’s not very comfortable in the eyes. Patented by Ivergo International, Eyemax is handy and perfect for concert places like the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 🙂
Anyway, I didn’t know Lee Min-ho’s real effect on girls until that day. At past 7pm, the crowd started screaming when photos of him were shown on the stage. I’m talking about mere images here, of him, for his bench/ endorsement. No real him yet.
Then it was proved how age doesn’t matter when it comes to being a true Lee Min-ho fanatic. With an emcee talking on stage, an energetic grandma was shown on the screen for the audience to see. She was, indeed, very proud to be an enthusiast of Lee Min-ho.
And I guess the guy is really that hot to be able to capture even the heart of an old lady. If not, the fan meet wouldn’t gather such a large crowd. Can you believe that the 16,500-capacity Smart Araneta Coliseum was full that night just for such an event?
There was even a pissed off lady who sat beside my Mom who said that she was supposed to be in the Patron area, but she couldn’t be accommodated anymore, so there she was, unfortunately sitting with us in the Upper Box B. But what could be more unlucky that night than not being able to get in? Yes, she also said that there were still more people waiting outside.
The event’s organizers surely knew how to push the right buttons of girls. Before 8pm, the crowd began cheering as the stage showed… No, not Lee Min-ho yet, but dancers walking to the center where they danced to popular K-pop songs Nobody by Wonder Girls, Sorry, Sorry by Super Junior, Fire by 2ne1, and Gangnam Style by PSY.
Everybody sure was ecstatic when the dance numbers were done! After all, it wasn’t those that the people went to The Big Dome for.
We thought there would be other stuff to show, but then, there he was, finally! Waving to thousands of his fans in a very demure way. So ironic with how wild his admirers went upon seeing him. hehe.
The whole program comprised of a question-and-answer portion wherein the questions were sent by millions of fans to Twitter, Spin a Prize, Look Alike contest, and Act that Scene, wherein lucky contestants were picked before the dancers performed.
Funny thing about the event was that, I’m quite confident that about 99% of the audience can’t understand Korean, but then they roared in excitement every time Lee Min-ho spoke… in Korean! The same goes for his every movement, especially whenever he licked his lips or smiled. It was funny, amazing, and mystical at the same time. And of course, it was even more amusing to see my Mom going crazy right beside me, so I didn’t try to stop her.
The fan meet ended past 9pm. Like a ride in the amusement park, we spent more time waiting in line than the actual ride itself. But I guess it didn’t matter to the frenzied enthusiasts who might have went home very much contented, and who knows, maybe many of them weren’t able to sleep that night or even the succeeding nights. hehehe.
As for my Mom, of course, I don’t have to say how the night made her year. She. Is. Mad. About. Him. In fact, she also went to SM Mall of Asia with my sister and her boyfriend the day after next for another Lee Min-ho event. Her location was way closer to the guy that time that even my sister’s boyfriend understood why she is enamored with the Korean star.
Mom is a very simple person. She’s never into material things (Except perhaps when it comes to lotsa food! ^_^). So for her simple pleasures (which are just a few), we support her and let her do what she wants. 🙂