[Jan 2020] Day 04: Golden Child 1st Concert Future and Past Day 1 Venue Festivities

January 18th has finally come, the first day of Golden Child's first solo concert Future And Past! This concert takes place at Blue Square I Market Hall in Itaewon. I'm glad to be back in a familiar venue after seeing Infinite during their That Summer 2 concert series here.

I'll give a quick debrief on the painful experience of preordering the official Golden Child concert merchandise. Woollim posted on Golden Child's official Twitter on January 8th at 2PM KST here that preorders would be on everlineshop.com from January 9th at 2PM KST through January 11th. On January 9th at 2PM Woollim released the merchandise list here. The goods site (both Korean and global) crashed right away and a few minutes later an official tweet stated preorders would be postponed for one hour. At 3PM the site was back up, however only 2 items were listed (and we knew the site previously listed 9 items) and the site continued to crash with each click of the button. Within time more items were added to the site, however about an hour and a half later, only 7 of the 9 items were listed. I gave up waiting for the remaining items and went to check out on the global site. However they forced me to enter a shipping address and pay for EMS shipping - is this not to pick up at the venue? I didn't want to pay for shipping and decided to not order. Eventually all 9 items were posted and soon after all items were sold out. Then the site was completely down, as if they just took everyone's money and ran...hours later the site was back up.

I had also looked on the Korean site (you need to create a separate account from the global site) and proceeded to check out, and they also charged shipping. Later on they removed the shipping fee on the Korean site.

Eventually the sites started working again and the items were back in stock, all except for the lightstick pouch. On the 11th my friend let me know that it was back in stock, so I placed my order on the global site (the Korean site doesn't accept foreign credit cards) and incurred the ridiculous shipping fee. There were only 2 lightstick pouches left in stock before I placed my order. Now I just hope I can pick up my order at the venue...

Another note, there is a limit of 5 per item. Even though there are 10 versions of the ID photo, I could only order 5.

And now fast forward to January 18th, the first day of Golden Child's first concert! I arrived at Blue Square around 10:30AM to the gorgeous banners spread throughout the venue.

So many of these double banners are on display.

And at I Market Hall is the large banner, along with posters on the glass.

There is also a standing banner of the available concert goods.

There were two lines: one to purchase goods and one to pick up preorders. Those in line to purchase were given an itemized sheet. There were about 10 in line for pick up and maybe 20 in line for purchase. All the goods and transactions would be done inside the hall. Of course I foolishly got in the wrong line at first, but then I was able to stand right next to the glass and take a picture of the posters.

Right at 11AM, the doors opened. Once the line moved and I was inside, I could see the display of all the merchandise. Behind the counter were several tables containing all the available merchandise.

For pick up, there were four sections, split by name (if Korean), as well as English and Japanese. The last section was for dealing with refunds. I picked up my order, and asked for my shipping refund. They gave it to me in KRW even though I paid in USD, and it seemed like they shorted me...unsure of what exchange rate they used. My friend also had an order but she wasn't going to the concert, so she had previously asked to change the name on her order to mine. The worker at first asked if I had her passport, then said my passport works. And again I got her shipping refund as well.

Next I wanted to buy additional goods, including 6 more ID photos. The worker said the maximum per order is 5, so I had to use the dim sum sheet to mark 5, complete my purchase, and then use another dim sum sheet to mark 1, and make another purchase (there was no one else in line so I could make back-to-back purchases).

Here is all the merch I collected. I'll have unboxing posts in my main blog.

Afterwards I asked staff about some housekeeping rules. Ticket pick-up starts at 3PM at the box office. You need your confirmation number (which I had printed out) and passport, and you can only pick up that day's ticket. Also there are small lockers that you can rent out, which opened at around 4PM.

I dropped off all my merch and came back to the venue at about 2:45PM. There were also two wreaths to celebrate Golden Child's first solo concert; I believe one from Kakao M, and the other from Music Bank.

I picked up today's concert ticket at the box office. Unfortunately the design is Interpark's generic design rather than one to match the concert's theme. But nonetheless it felt so satisfying seeing my own name on my ticket! And yes it says I bought this ticket on January 8th; that is because I kept improving my number; you can read about that experience on my main blog here.

Next was collecting goodies! Fansites and fans were all hanging around under the overpass next to the venue, selling slogan sets and handing out freebies. On Twitter you can see when a freebie is about to be handed out, and then a swarm of fans would get in line and hopefully make the cut to receive the goodie. Other times I'd blindly get in a line. And sometimes I'd get in a line too late and they'd run out. Overall, it's a really fun experience being with other fans and enjoying the work and support of others.

Here is everything I got! Also a Jaehyun fansite had extra cup sleeves from his birthday cafe event, and had a box of them that she let fans take as much as we'd like! I hadn't seen this box, but my friend graciously gave me an extra she had. Also that banner at the bottom is the one given at the concert to hold up during the encore stage.

I'll write about my concert experience in the next post.

After the concert, I saw a total of four wreaths, including one from JBJ95 (and Star Wars co-MC) Kenta.

Afterwards, I tagged along with a mutual (who I was so flattered when she followed me back awhile ago!) and her friends. In the middle of dinner, I found out that these other Goldenness are also really big in the fandom community and I was so shocked that I was eating dinner with them! And they even knew who I was too! This connection between international Goldenness felt so special, and even though we had all just met, it felt like we had been friends for so long. Honestly I had thought I'd be doing all my concert festivities alone, but it turns out I've made lasting friendships and hope that Golden Child will bring us all together again!

[Jan 2020] Day 03: Sinchon, Music Bank Arrival, Hong Kong Dessert Cafe

It's Friday, meaning it's Music Bank day! I planned to see Bomin arrive at Music Bank for his MC gig in the early afternoon. So I spent a leisurely morning in Sinchon.

I first visited the Sinchon Graffiti Tunnel where Golden Child had unofficially announced a June 2018 comeback. I didn't realize that I always walked by this area that there was such a tunnel when I was studying at Yonsei!

Next I visited Yonsei University. When I studied here in 2014, majority of the main walkway was under construction. But now that I see the end result, the stone walkway looks quite basic...

Then I went into the heart of Sinchon, just outside of U-Plex where Golden Child held their first "Wannabe" busking.

I walked through U-Plex to get to the subway station, and saw Bomin Dahlia ads! I asked the attendant if I could take pictures, and she kindly stepped out of the way.

Here is another ad.

Afterwards I decided to kill time by enjoying yuzu tea, a veggie croquette, and cheese bread at Paris Baguette overlooking U-Plex. These were my three go-to items during my study abroad, and they still taste as amazing as ever.

Next I went to the KBS Building to try and see Bomin. Boy was I nervous! This was my first time trying to see an idol closely by myself; I had always chickened out of other opportunities. But I gaiend courage to try and make the most of this trip - after all I came to Korea to see Golden Child!

Some guy walked up the stairs and a small group of girls followed with cameras, but I have no idea who it was...

When a black van pulled into the lot, everyone rushed over to greet the special person. Turns out it was the other MC, Shin Yeeun, and it was her birthday today. There was a huge crowd around her as she slowly made her way to the building.

Later on another black van came in, and we flocked over until the van parked. The driver got out and walked toward the building; there was no one else.

Later on four guys came walking through.

I asked foreigners who were nearby and they said they were the new group 2Z, which I later found out just debuted a few days earlier.

Then the remaining people started to leave; I guess Bomin wouldn't come until a little later due to concert rehearsals. I walked toward the building entrance in sad defeat, and saw a Yeeun truck support.

Afterwards I went to Hong Kong Dessert Cafe (오후홍콩) where Sunggyu had his photoshoot for 10 Stories.

The cafe is very quaint and the inside really is reminiscent of a Hong Kong cafe. They offer pineapple buns and butter pineapple buns, as well as an assortment of drinks.

Though I wasn't able to see Bomin today, it was another fulfilling day for my Woollim heart!

[Jan 2020] Day 02: Blue Square, Mapo-gu, Anyang Art Park

Today, Thursday, January 16th, is my first full day in Seoul, and I wanted to make the most of it by visiting all the crucial places for a Woollim stan!

I started the day early by visiting Blue Square, the venue for Golden Child's concert. Unfortunately no decorations were up yet.

Afterwards I visited none other than the Woollim Entertainment Building! Conveniently it is on the same subway line as Blue Square. When I first saw the building from the end of the block, I was blown away. It felt so surreal. The last time I was in Korea, it was just a few months shy of the opening of the Woollim Building. Though I never got a chance to go inside NIT, I'm so happy to have finally made it here anyways.

I first stopped outside NIT Coffee to take pictures of the beautiful display.

Next I took photos of the Woollim Building.

I felt so awkward having a photoshoot with my lightsticks but it had to be done!

And lastly I dropped off my fan letter in the mailbox. I had originally written this letter after my KCON18NY experience to give to Golden Child during KCON18LA, but failed to hand it off. I hope now they'll be able to read my letter^^

I had completely forgotten to look around for the new Woollim Building, and instead walked through the neighborhood to Infinite's old dorm. The dorm has since been torn down. At the time I took this photo, I thought it was the brick building...but looking back at my first experience here, the old dorm is actually two doors down from the restaurant, so the gray building on the right. The old dorm had a brick design similar to this brick building though.

Nearby is Infinite's favorite restaurant during their trainee days.

And around the corner is the back door of Infinite's old practice room, as seen on Sesame Player.

I had breakfast at Infinite's favorite restaurant, 행복한 마당. I've been craving their 김치찌개 ever since I first had it in 2014. And of course it's also Myungsoo's favorite^^

The ahjummas there were very sweet and asked me if I'm an Infinite fan. I asked if I could take pictures and they let me. I was surprised that there are now Ace memorabilia in here too along with Infinite...

Here's my order. I came shortly after they opened at 9AM and soon after a businessman also came for a meal. It's nice to see locals coming here too.

Afterwards I took the subway down to Anyang, south of Seoul. It was definitely an experience leaving Seoul because there's less English and there are multiple subways on the same line, so I wasn't sure how my trip would pan out. My main purpose for this excursion was to go to Golden Child's filming location for "Spring Again," Anyang Art Park (안양예술공원). Once I made it to the vicinity of the park, I was clearly really lost. A local approached me and I asked for directions. He was very kind and ended up giving me a guided tour of the entire park for 2 hours! We conversed almost entirely in Korean. I was really proud of myself, though halfway through I realized I shouldn't be so naive in case I was abducted. But in the end it all worked out.

Here is the tunnel that Golden Child ran around in.

And at the end of the tunnel is the wavy platform Golden Child sat on.

And here is the bridge that Golden Child crossed.

I'm unsure of the exact location of other scenes, such as the park benches they sat on. But overall I'd recommend exploring the entire park; parts of it are on the sidewalks while other parts are actually in the mountain. There are also stamp stations throughout the park.

The kind stranger offered to grab food afterwards, but honestly I was so tired. I took the hour trip back to Seoul and had black chicken ginseng soup at the famous Tosokchon. I had always wanted to order the black soup from here but the first two times went for the classic which I loved. The black version was masked with a lot of sesame flavor to my disappointment; next time I'll be going back to my classic.

For my first full day, I'm so happy to have visited so many places on my Inspirit / Goldenness tour and can't wait for what else is in store on this trip! 

[Jan 2020] Day 01: The Arrival and Myungdong

My flight arrived in the afternoon, giving me little time to enjoy the city on my first day. I took the subway from the airport to Myungdong. This was my first time using my official Infinite T-money card!

I spent the evening in Myungdong. First I had dinner at 강남면옥 for 회냉면 which I've beem craving. Then walking around the area, I heard 3 Golden Child songs! The first I heard "Wannabe" for a split second. The second, I heard "Lately" in Olive Young just as I found Bomin's Lilybyred ad. And the third Holika Holika played "Compass".

I also found Bomin's Dahlia endorsement for the fabric mists. Bomin's endorsement power won me over and I got one of each.

I also went to Music Korea and found this beautiful display for Golden Child. I'm only missing the Jangjun special photo and the first normal version of Re-boot I found, it looked like the Jangjun photo was inside! I also met 2 Hong Kong Inspirits and we bought the last 3 copies of Woohyun's kit video on the shelf. They had sold out of the DVD version. They still had Golden Child's 2018 Season's Greetings for sale as well.

I also went to the Myungdong Underground Shopping Mall and one of the Kpop shops there had 2 copies of Woohyun's DVD. I also found the postcard set from his fanmeeting, as well as several copies of Lovelyz' 4th generation fanclub kit.

At the end of the day, I got all 5 Dahlia mists, Re-boot normal version (I didn't see Deluxe available), Woohyun Arbor Day 2 Kit and DVD, and Woohyun fanmeeting postcard set.

As for the Re-boot album, I did pull the Jangjun special photo^^ along with the Tag photocard.

Just getting around the city and walking the streets, I really felt like living here is second nature! Of course I'm still a tourist, but everything I do here just feels so natural.

[Jan 2020] Introduction: Long-Awaited Seoul Trip

The first and last time I was in Korea was in the summer of 2014. So much has happened since then;  in Seoul, the Woollim building and NIT Coffee were built, NIT Coffee closed, Dongwoo's restaurant closed (not to mention this being my favorite restaurant in the world), etc. In terms of Woollim, Infinite now has labelmates Lovelyz, Golden Child, and Rocket Punch. In terms of myself, I'm now not just an Inspirit, but a Woollim stan. And now I am going back to Korea later this month for Golden Child's first solo concert Future and Past! I have been waiting for Golden Child's first concert for a long time, and am so thankful to revive this blog because of this.

This upcoming series of posts will outline the days of my trip. Since I tackled many tourist sites during my time in 2014, this trip can focus more so on being a Woollim stan!

Please excuse the messiness of these posts - within each post it'll be disorganized with word vomit and photo dumps; I plan to organize them once I'm back from my trip.