Day 39-42: M2U and Applying for Infinite's Fansign Event

On July 28, 2014, Woollim announced a series of three fansign events for "Be Back" for the upcoming weekend. The first one will be held in Sinchon's U-Plex (the same exact place as Toheart's) on Friday, August 1 at 8PM. To apply, you must purchase the album from the CD store M2U, located on a side street behind U-Plex, next to a CU convenient store. The application period is from Monday, July 28 at 10AM to Thursday, July 31 at 7PM.

This store is small, but compact with lots of official CDs and DVDs and more. The outside has a big banner advertising Infinite's fansign event.

You enter the store, go to the cash register, and tell the worker how many albums you want to purchase as they have boxes of "Be Back" waiting to be bought. I purchased three albums and wrote my name and phone number (as a way of identification, not for communication) next to the next available number on this signup sheet. The worker let me take a picture of the sheet, which I stupidly took in square mode. I came at 9:19PM and was already 932-934! One person before me (based on this sheet) bought 20 albums...I didn't know so many people had already purchased albums before me, and there were still three days left of the application period. The worker stapled together three lottery tickets for me, which I kept (other stores require you to drop it in the lottery box). My albums also came with my choice of rolled posters, so I got one of each.

Here is the outcome of my purchase. I was confused as to why I would keep my tickets, so I went back to the store on July 30 (also to see how many albums were sold). The worker spoke English well and explained that you just need to check the website for your name, and if you're on there, bring your ticket and passport to the event. I went at 7:52PM and already 3541 albums were sold...I just saw one girl who bought 75% of one page of the sign up sheet...that's like 30+ albums?!? But at least each person can only win one entry into the event, so 3541 is technically not the number of people I'm competing against, it's just some people are more greatly weighted. Only one more day left to go...

On July 31 at 9PM, the store's website will announce the randomly selected 150 winners for the event.

I've been pretty lucky this entire summer with my Inspirit life, so I'm hoping three entries is enough. But honestly, with my anxiety for others paying attention to me, I've been losing some serious sleep and wouldn't mind not being chosen...(especially what if Sungyeol recognizes me...?).

I visited the store again on July 31 at 7:30PM, and there were no Be Back albums or posters in sight. I saw the worker at the counter, calculating the winners for the event and highlighting them in red. I tried to get a closer look but it was difficult...

Well...the website announced the winners at around 9:10PM, and I didn't get chosen. My friend's two friends bought 10 albums each and both got in, so maybe that's the lucky number. By the way, the albums here were 17,000₩ each, while other stores are around 13,000₩ ㅠㅠ

Day 23: SM Pop-Up Store and Not Attending Toheart's Myungdong Fansign Event

I went to the SM Pop-Up Store today, located in the Lotte Young Plaza in Myungdong. I'm sorry if you're an SM fan, as I'm only going to talk about this store from an Inspirit viewpoint for the most part.

The ground floor has a makeshift spot near the front entrance for SM, with majority Exo products. But on the counter were some Infinite 2014 Season's Greetings! I had such a long struggle about whether or not to buy this for the past eight months, but now that it's in front of me, I had to buy it. It cost 32,000₩ (no discount dispite half the year being over) and to my surprise it came with a poster! My poster was ripped but the workers are very nice and willing to help exchange it.

Next to the Infinite calendar where clutches with HO:YA brand...Infinite related?

The basement is where the bulk of the SM Pop-Up Store is, with a photo op with a cool Exo wall. If you're an Exotic, save your money for visiting this store as practically everything has Exp written all over it. They sell mostly stationery type products, like postcards, stamps, pens, pencils, erasers, as well as clothes, bracelets, necklaces, pillows...and much more. There are also official CDs, DVDs, photobooks and more of the SM artists. And Kris has been removed of the photocards, though his name is still on the posters.

Following that, there are absolutely no Infinite products down here, except for the Toheart album along with other SM albums. Speaking of Toheart, since we're in Myungdong...

Saturday, July 12th is Toheart's last makeup fansign event, this time at the Seoul Royal Hotel in Myungdong at 8PM. My friend and I entered the main lobby at 6:30PM, and there were these beautiful signs posted saying that the Toheart event is on the third floor! Just seeing this, I couldn't contain my feels.

On the third floor, there was floor space surrounding the staircase, and then two enclosed ballrooms on either side and a table with a concierge guy for the event in front of the Grand Ballroom. There were five other young women here, but sooner or later many more followed (though it seemed like fewer than 100 showed up...meaning there could have been empty seats inside the venue...). Inside the ballroom, you could hear the album playing on a loop, but very faintly.

At 7:28, the doors opened and they let people through the doors. It looked like people invited to enter had these orange slips. You can also see inside, where there are TVs displaying the stage, and then you can see the actual stage with the beautifully huge Toheart poster as the backdrop. At 7:58, they closed the doors, and the remaining fangirls waited outside in hope of glimpsing inside if the doors opened.

It was quiet for a few minutes, but then at 8:05, you can hear through the walls the Toheart introduction! Woohyun and Key spoke for about 30 seconds, then it was quiet for awhile.

We then decided to leave, as waiting around would be too much. As we exited the main entrance, you can see a luxury van (which we didn't notice on the way in...?). There were several fangirls surrounding this van, but we decided to just go. I hope someday I'll see Woohyun Toheart in person!

Day 22: Infinite Dongwoo's Family Restaurant, Lotteria, and Not Attending Toheart's Sinchon Fansign Event

Today, Friday, July 11, is Toheart's rescheduled fan signing in Sinchon, at U-Plex! Sadly, the venue is on the 12th floor, where it only consists of a large, enclosed room and a narrow walkway beside the escalators. While I live in Sinchon, the sad reality of not seeing (or hearing through the walls) Woohyun, I decided to visit Dongwoo's family restaurant (and speak to his parents) instead!

By subway, get off of Guri Station (구리역)  and take exits 1, 2 or 3. Take a right and at the end of the block, cross the intersection both ways to the street with Woori Bank (우리은행) and continue down that street until there's another intersection. Staying at the corner, turn right and walk two blocks until there's a dead end. Dongwoo's restaurant is the last business on the right, first floor! You can see the sign that reads 인창 쭈꾸미, then you know you're in the right place.

When you step into the restaurant, there is just Dongwoo everywhere! But first off, you take off your shoes and sit on the floor. This restaurant is known for grilling octopus, so we ordered two orders of octopus, along with some other sides (cheese was one, but I'm not sure what the other was). If you don't know what to order, I recommend what we ordered, shown above! 

You wait for the octopus to cook thoroughly, then cut the octopus into bite sized pieces and add the cheese and bean sprouts on top. Next, take a mint leave, top it with a piece of seaweed, then octopus, and wrap it up and eat! It's so delicious! The waitress also pointed us to a rack of aprons for customers to use, as the sauce can be messy.

After we finished the octopus, the waitress recommended adding an order of stir fried rice (marked as the last item on our order form), which was white rice with seaweed, to mix it with our leftover sauce. I highly recommend this, it's a perfect end to a wonderful meal!

Later on, a man came in, sat down and started talking to a woman. The man later appeared to be Dongwoo's dad (as he also stayed around the counter) and was talking to a family member!

Afterwards, I stared in awe at all of the photos. There were so many official posters (including those life size Japanese posters!), photos, fanart, everything lining up the walls and columns of the restaurant. There are too many to post here!

The waitress saw me taking photos and quietly pulled me by the waist to an enclosed room, turned on the lights, and revealed more Dongwoo photos on the walls! I was so touched by her gesture, and glad she didn't find me creepy for appreciating these photos for such a long time. She even came back a few minutes later and offered to take my photo!

There are also Infinite's autographs on the wall, along with Infinite clocks and news articles.

I still had my shoes off as I went to the restroom. When I came out, Dongwoo's dad chuckled and told me there are slippers I can use...I felt so embarrassed, but happy he was so lighthearted and funny! I then went to pay, but Dongwoo's dad was sleeping at the counter, which is also filled with lots of photos and photocards (BTD exterior postcard!) so I felt too awkward to take pictures! Also there is a stack of fanart postcards of Dongwoo on the counter. Once he woke up, I got a few pictures and this time didn't say I was a fan of Dongwoo as it was already obvious by the staff. Overall, I loved my experience so much here! I'll definitely come back soon! Here is the business card for more information.

On my way through the subway, something caught my eye in the trash can: an Infinite Lotteria cup! I was so temped to be a bum and pick it up..,until I came to the conclusion that Infinite cups were still available at Lotteria. Lotteria is a fast food burger chain by the Lotte conglomerate, and in the entire month of June they offered an "Infinite Pack" that didn't actually include anything Infinite-related, except for their cup and a Korea World Cup cheer towel that Infinite is seen modeling in these posters (which have since been removed, as it's past June).

So after Dongwoo's, I decided to step into Lotteria for a soda! I couldn't order just an empty cup because they had to do an inventory count or something, so I got a Cola (...they didn't offer Pepsi?) and cleaned the cup with a wet nap. This cup is so beautiful, how can someone throw it away...

As I live in Sinchon, after leaving Lotteria I got off at the Sinchon Station, which is directly underground of U-Plex. It was now 9PM, one hour into the fansign event, so I decided to stop by and check it out. On the 12th floor, about 15 other girls my age were sitting around and waiting. There was a TV tucked in the corner playing the "Delicious" music video on a loop. There were a couple of guards standing behind a podium, answering several passerby about the event taking place. At times this man would sneak into the venue from the back door (located directly in front of the podium), and now I regret not following him. At 9:33 I hear three bursts of fans screaming, then at 9:35 a worker opens the back door and I can hear on the microphone Woohyun briefly, then Key speaking! This lasted two seconds, then the worker closed the door again. By 9:42 the doors open and fans flood out. I later walked to the main entrance, which revealed about 100 seats. I saw the stage up front and wishfully thought Toheart would still be there...oh well, I'll try to see them at their next fansigning in Myungdong!