Day 29: Infinite Sungyeol's Family Restaurant

Today is Friday July 18, 2014, Infinite's first comeback stage for "Back." My friend and I had planned to eat at Sungyeol's family restaurant for a week or so now on this day. His restaurant is located just behind the third exit of Hapjeong Station (합정역), right in Seoul. We arrived at 7:11PM, and the tables were packed, so we put our name on the waiting list, which the waitress assumed wouldn't be until 8:30PM until we'd be seated. We wasted time nearby and my friend later found out it's so crowded (usually you can easily get a seat) because of Infinite's comeback stage, which is broadcasted on their television. We came back at 9PM with still a full house. But when I was walking outside, I noticed a male figure inside...and realized it was Sungyeol inside. Many fan girls were outside the restaurant, but my friend and I went in as we were still waiting to be seated. Sungyeol was leaning against the corner of the counter, watching his drama, High School: Love On, and occasionally serving drinks to customers. I could not believe I was about a foot away from Sungyeol, my legs were shaking so badly! He looked larger than life and more perfect than ever; he still had makeup on (eyeshadow). I stood by the doorway so when he tried to bring drinks outside, he gently said "excuse me" to me in Korean and gave me eye contact.

For about five minutes I constantly took photos (as were others, and everyone else had their noise-making photo-taking Samsungs while I used my quiet iPhone). Sungyeol noticed, grabbed my phone (which had an Infinite keychain on it...), selected the Camera Roll, and started selecting all of the photos I took of him. At first I thought he was changing my background to him or was going to take a selca with me...but then he kept selecting photos (as I got a little carried away...) and once he selected them all, he tried to delete them. (You can only delete multiple selected photos on the Photos app, not Camera Roll...) so I showed him to do it individually while apologizing in Korean. I was so caught off guard and felt so guilty that I was using that scared, whiny, I'm-about-to-cry voice and kept saying 최승해요 and added 저는...delete. He deleted one photo and one video, and I deleted some more in front of him. He told me that he's deleting them in Korean and my friend translated. This was all with his straight face, as I felt so ashamed of myself. He then went back to behind the counter. Five to ten minutes later, at around 9:15, he and a manager left, with fangirls following closely behind. 

My initial reaction and concluding thoughts: I honestly felt like I had become a sasaeng fan at that moment, and felt so ashamed that I should revoke my Inspirit life. I didn't want to associate myself with Infinite as I felt so ashamed at what I had become. (Even three hours later I'm still holding off watching their comeback stage. This is much worse than Myungsoo's scandal). As my first encounter with an idol (let alone him being my second bias), I didn't want him to remember me as *that* crazy girl. He singled me out and no one else, so in that sense I felt like I had crossed the line by taking so many photos. But after clearing my head and getting multiple opinions, I am clearly just an international fangirl who just wanted to eat at his restaurant, it's not like I wait out every night hoping he'll come to the restaurant so I can violate him. And it's clearly known that this is Sungyeol's restaurant and that he works here often, so therefore fans will come here to see him and take photos. This is clearly a marketing strategy, a really well-planned one too, for more customers to come. And everyone inside is also a fan to begin with, so of course people will take photos. But then also this is Sungyeol's personality at airports, how he avoids fans and whatnot. But thinking about airports, people activately follow Infinite to see exactly what time they'll be there and take photos and videos while I was actually going to the restaurant to eat. So what I'm getting at is, I've learned to tone down my fangirl feels (though it was perfectly accepted at Dongwoo's) and respect people's privacy (I definitely gave him space, I didn't try to go near him!). But I don't think I'm completely in the wrong...I'm just very confused now. All I know for sure is he held my phone, he stood right next to me, he knows I exist (but maybe not in a good way?).

I feel bad to post any photos from this trip, and I didn't dare take any more photos of the interior of the restaurant, even after he left. I can never show my face in the vicinity of this restaurant again, and I had to pay in cash for fear that they'll track down my credit card (I'm still on their security camera ㅠㅠ), so I'm a bit sad about that. But honestly, since there are hired workers here and not Sungyeol's family, and this is located in a bustling area, it has that type of restaurant feel where you have to act a certain, high class way. Versus Dongwoo's restaurant, I felt so homey, and being immersed in my surroundings was not just acceptable, but appreciated. And at Hoya's, where I did feel a little distant from his father, but it still had a nice, quaint hole-in-the-wall setting. I just hope I'll bounce back to my Infinite obsession soon as I've definitely over invested in their upcoming concert.

A few days later, I'm finally barely able to post some pictures from this visit. The banchan included radish cubes (which don't really go with fried chicken) and salad with noodles. We ordered boneless fried chicken, which came with fries, chips, and three sauces: ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce. Honestly I couldn't savor this meal and have been trying to bury this dinner out of my memories so I don't have much else to say.

A week after this traumatic outing, I was forced to pass by here after I swore I wouldn't come back. It was pretty calm, and I noticed the restaurant's delivery motorcycle! I was too excited that I took a blurry photo -.- Also the Seattle friend I was with this time mentioned something as we were passing by here. It turns out that this restaurant is an international chain and there is literally one branch directly across from my home university...what...

Day 25: Myungdong Station

Today I browsed through Myungdong Station, which has little shops within the subway station. There are at least two independent Kpop shops, which can be easily found just by walking around. I went to one that has fan goods that aren't tacky, such as Kpop student name tags for 1,000₩, lightsticks, faux leather bands, beaded jewelry and phone caps for 7,000₩. Inside, there are many Kpop albums and other official goods, such as DVDs and photobooks. I was surprised that this store still has several copies of the first press edition of L's Bravo Viewtiful 2! Also in the Infinite section, there were packets of IU&Infinite Elite mini posters for 10,000₩. Also there were slogan towels, and I found an official Infinite Man in Love era one for 15,000₩!

I ended up buying the Infinite phone cap, which has the Be Mine era logo, the Elite poster set and the slogan towel!

I couldn't help myself and visited these shops again. One shop had a large selection of T-money cards (cards used for public transportation and more) with idol photos lamenated on top! Sadly they are 10,000₩ each while regular T-money cards at convenient stores are 3,000₩. Also this shop had one copy of the first press of L's Bravo Viewtiful Part 1! And also there were Infinite collection card packs sold individually for 3,500 Won each; I was so tempted to buy them to complete my rares...I ended up buying a Myungsoo T-money card and his photo essay book, just so I could complete my postcard collection (review to come).

So in all, while Kpop can be found all over Seoul, I suggest Myungdong Station for more collectible, official merchandise, as well as hard to find first press editions, as well as pretty fan goods (meaning they don't exploit faces, but rather just have the logo and is more so simplistic and doesn't scream out fangirl). Next time I'll have to check out that other store in hopes for more rare Infinite merchandise.

Day 20-25: Purchasing Infinite Concert Tickets

Infinite's Summer Concert 2 is set for August 7-10 and 14-16, and with my luck, my summer quarter finals end on the 7th! This is going to be one boring entry about struggles of ticketing wars for idol concerts and my boring ticketing stories...rereading them, I don't even know why I'm sharing all of this. Official 4th Generation Inspirits (which I'm still beating myself over the head for not purchasing) can buy standing 1, 2 and 4 on July 7th, while the general public can buy standing 3 and sitting on July 9th. To go into the battle of the ticket war, I went to a nearby PC bang in search for comfy office chairs and quick internet. But when it turned 8PM, the servers were down as too many people were buying tickets. In the end, I disappointingly bought off a ticket from my friend's friend.

The following night at 2AM (so technically July 11th) is known as chicketing (cancellation + ticketing), so I headed back to the PC bang from 11:30PM until 4:10AM, desperate to buy a ticket for myself, as the cancelled tickets should be released soon. Just before 2AM, one or two standing seats would show up here and there, but were already gone by the time I clicked on them. Around 2:08, about 50-80 standing seats and 20-50 sitting seats were available for every concert date, but the servers were still pretty slow. Eventually I was able to choose from standing 3 and 4, but because this was my first time encountering actually selecting seats, I took my time and eventually all seats were taken. Again disappointed at my stupidity, I waited for 4AM in case more would show up, which they didn't. So I walked back to my dorm in utter defeat.

I stayed up until 2AM everyday from thereafter, desperate for a ticket, but doing this for three days straight, I was so exhausted and ready to give up. But I heard that on Monday, July 14th, at 8AM you can do something (which I later founded out was for Korean accounts to request upgraded tickets, meaning it doesn't apply to me), so I got back up at 8 and checked. There were still zero tickets available until 8:06AM (when I was practically about to give up and go back to sleep), when I saw one ticket available! I quickly clicked on it and was actually able to buy it; only one ticket available out of all of the seven concert dates, and I was able to buy it! I was in shock as it was random to release just one ticket, and perfect timing that I had checked at that moment. Despite the far seat, I will still be able to see Infinite one last time...probably my very last time...

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!

Day 16: The Brilliant Motor Festival K-Pop Concert in Songdo Experience

The Korean Speed Festival/Brilliant Motor Festival takes place this year in Songdo, Incheon from July 4th to 6th (it was postponed due to the Sewol accident).

On the 5th, there is also a Kpop concert scheduled from 7 to 9PM! The lineup included Akdong Musician, Girls' Day, Infinite and DJ Doc.

Tickets are free, but my Korean friend helped me to get a mobile ticket first through some online registration, which I then traded in at the festival for two wristbands (one for me, and one for a guest). We arrived at the venue (which was about a two hour bus and subway ride from Sinchon) at 4:45PM and surveyed the scene.

The entire center section was already filled with umbrella tents, and therefore fangirls, but we were able to find a cozy spot to the car right close to the fence. This was the view I had of the stage. There is also a small extension in the center, and three large screens. There was also a large screen displayed outside of the main gate, for those who couldn't enter the venue.

With two hours to kill, more and more people started to fill the area. Some time later, the MC had an interaction with the audience, asking two questions relating to the Kpop performances tonight. At around 6:15PM, the screens showed the racing special of Infinity Challenge. Eventually many policemen arrived in front of the gate and sat cross-legged, about a yard apart from each other.

At around 7:10PM, the show finally started! Akdong Musician came out from the left side and started off with "200%." They then spoke to the audience and people in the center started standing up...I think she told people to stand up or something,but then the police told them all to sit back down. They performed four more songs, including "Give Love." I haven't listened to Akdong Musician before, but I definitely like their funky, yet gentle, kind of music.

Next was Girls' Day, who also performed four songs. Most of their dancing was them on the floor, so I honestly couldn't see them much. At one point they also stepped onto the extension. Directly after their act, many fans were satisfied and left the venue, allowing Inspirits for a better view!

And then...Infinite's "Last Romeo" blasted while their intro video played on screen! Everyone then suddenly stood up and police told us to sit back down, which some did, but eventually we all stood back up again! Then Infinite walked on stage from the left, wearing their white lace outfits (that I had predicted and wanted!) and they jumped straight into performing "Last Romeo!" Of course, they sound perfect performing live. After "Last Romeo," the MC came out and introduced Infinite, and each member stepped forward and introduced himself. Woohyun did aegyo (as the MC commented on) and Sunggyu distinctly laughed "hahahaha!" Then they performed "Memories!" While Girls' Day only performed  dance numbers and hits, I'm so happy Infinite performed a non-main track! At certain parts, Sungyeol, Dongwoo and Myungsoo came to the far right side!

When Sungyeol was up on the screen, Myungsoo was on the right side of the stage and kept staring at Yeollie on screen in awe for a long time...Myungyeol is just too cute!

Afterwards they performed "Nothing's Over" and at the end, as always, Myungyeol (on the right side of the stage, like OGSLA) made a heart! There was one more talk time, saying that the last song would be "Be Mine." Directly after, Infinite quickly went off stage. Woohyun was of course the last member off, doing fan service (as the MC commented on again).

I had recorded Infinite's entire appearance, which lasted just over 19.5 minutes, with one hand and took photos with the other hand. I ended up with a out-of-focus video and blurry photos...now I know that I should just take one good video and just take screenshots later...oddly enough, after Infinite's act finished, I didn't have post concert depression like from OGSLA; I think it's because I (wishful thinking) know that I'll see Infinite again while in Korea, whereas in LA, I knew they were leaving for good. I'll post up photos and screenshots of my fancam soon.

After Infinite's performance, DJ Doc performed. But many fangirls, including myself, left right after. Out of the main gate, many fangirls were heading towards the cars to see Infinite leave, but I think they had already left. At the subway station right next door, two rows of policemen formed so we had to walk by them to enter the station. And from here, we had a fantastic view of the main gate's live screen of DJ Doc, and we could hear the performance very clearly from the station.

I am so thrilled to have been able to see Infinite again! At OGSLA, I was so starstruck that I didn't feel in-the-moment and just took photos, but this time, I took a video and really saw Infinite. Though come to think of it, I didn't really get to see Sunggyu. Oh, and Dongwoo and Hoya have natural dark hair color again! Hopefully this is the concept for the upcoming repackaged album. Also it's so wonderful to see Woohyun's left arm functioning! I hope it has fully recovered! And seeing Myungsoo's cute haircut in person was too much!

Day 15: Infinite Hoya's Family Restaurant

Today I visited Hoya's family restaurant, which is located a bit outside of Seoul. By subway, take Line 1 to Incheon and get off at 부평역, which ends up being the most confusing shopping mall ever. There are 31 exits, so try to follow the signs for exit 21 (it's best to ask people!). Once you come out of the exit, keep walking straight for less than a minute and make an immediate right at the next street. Then the restaurant is directly on the left, on the second floor!vThis restaurant used to be 돈까스타 (Tonkatsutar) the tonkatsu restaurant, but they changed it to 돈수백 (Donsubaek).

To enter, walk up the stairs located just below the 노래 sign and go through the glass doors! Inside are several tables, a television playing Music Bank (too bad Infinite just ended their "Last Romeo" promotions), and little areas dedicated to Hoya and Infinite!

This restaurant now serves pork soup, which my Korean Inspirit friend said is common in Hoya's hometown, Busan.

The food was delicious! Kimchi and radish are on the side, so you use tongs to refill yourself, and other banchan was provided, such as seasoned green onions and two sauce jars. We weren't sure how to eat our dishes (we just ordered the first dish, Pork Soup with Rice), so Hoya's dad came over and told us to pour one spoonful of each sauce into our soup. (There was also another older woman there who called this man "Hoya's father," which is how we figured out these were Hoya's parents)!

And now onto the designated Hoya areas. Once entering the restaurant, directly to the left is a signed, framed poster of Hoya from Second Invasion Evolution, with some photos of Hoya from Destiny.

Then next to this was the cashier counter. In front was a "Last Romeo" pin and a purple birthday bear for Hoya.

Behind the counter, on the right, was some fanart of Hoya and Hoya's "Last Romeo" photocard. Also the laptop was on an Infinite fanpage (maybe fan cafe?)! When I went to pay, Hoya's dad was very reserved and hardly spoke, so I sadly was too discouraged to say that I'm Hoya's fan and came all the way from the US! Directly after leaving the restaurant, I really regretted it...I definitely won't make this mistake at any of Infinite's other restaurants!

Nearby was also a wall with the restaurant's name in Chinese and English (which is also the website).

Directly across from the counter was a Hoya shrine. Firstly, there was a clock from Destiny era, and a plate with Infinite's autographs!

Next to that was a storage container, then an old plate from their previous restaurant with a First Invasion baseball cap!

And past this was a very narrow hallway with gorgeous display of Hoya's photos and some notes from international Hoya fans and fansites (I saw ones from Japan and Taiwan). The walls are filled with posters and concert goods.

Here is a load of my photos. This is a beach towel from Second Invasion Evolution, signed by the members! You can see Sungyeol's old and new signatures between this towel and that plate.

And here is some greasy Hoya throwing hearts!

And some beautiful canvases of Hoya performing, along with a Reply 1997 photo.

And here is a long table full of small fan photos, fan notes (the post-it message board isn't here anymore), Hoya's photocards and concert goods. It's so long that I took three photos to capture everything.

And here's the middle section.

And the final section.

And lastly, there is a cutout of Hoya tucked into the corner. He seems so shy hiding behind the plant!

Also here's the business card if you want more information.

My experience at Hoya's restaurant was amazing, and I was so starstruck just being in the presence of his parents! My only regret is not talking to his parents...but the memories I made here will definitely remain forever.