Part II, Novice Fan's Bumbling Beijing Odyssey

[Happens to everyone, right? Your ears catch a few notes of a familiar tune and suddenly a rush of the memories come crashing back to you - where you first heard it, what you were doing, ...etc. Well, his music was seemingly blasting from every street corner during this trip, even on the in-flight radio stations, hence....... ]

11-12-2005

The Eye of the Storm...

After some peaceful Z's (no..., I didn't meet a "handsome stranger" in my dreams that night, hee), I awoke ready to take on whatever this new day may bring. Good looking day, at least from the vantage point of my window up above). It was 5:30am when my eyes could not stand to be closed anymore (sorry, roommate, time difference...). Passed some time conducting a rather disappointing and unsuccessful search through the TV channels for YJ news, so then I decided I might as well get ready for this exciting day.
Afterall, the BIG premiere fan meeting is on the agenda today!

And for this monumental event, we were all given instructions to dress to impress!

I know what you all are thinking, but neh, we were not talking about make-up and fancy dress.

Impress..., as in, impress BYJ with love & support.

(READ: Wear everything and anything with BYJ on it that you can find!)

Ohhhhh, I really struggled with this one. Procrastinated as long as I could. Sorry, family, I'm more into supporting from my heart. You know.....… SUBTLY.
Just not yet quite comfortable with decorating myself from head to toe with HIM! That would make me too much of a target for the media. (But heavens! Until this trip, I never imagined there would be such creative ways to add YJ to one's wardrobe. I'm impressed. Really!)

For the sake of solidarity, however, I had no choice but to go with the flow.
GULP!
Donned on my T-shirt with the biggest, smiliest, sweetest BYJ face you've ever seen (or so it seemed) and took my chances. You know, the face was really BIG.....extremely gigantic...astronomically huge.....seriously JUMBO!
I really think I need a mask!

Well, next, I had to excuse myself to the business center to put on my "work" hat for a little bit. Got good help logging onto the net, and although my intentions were good, I was suddenly consumed by a resurgence of my Quilt,JF & KOB addictions. Bad. Bad.

Ended up spending a whopping hour reading all the latest news with you all back home instead of doing anything productive. Believe me, I was seriously envious. Some of you got much better looks that us there in Beijing. Thanks for all the sisters who worked so hard on providing the quick updates!

Before I declared bankruptcy from the computer charges, I decided to go see if anyone I knew was up already. On my way out, at the help desk were a couple of very pleasant 20-somethings reading sections of that days newspaper. It was just a split second when one of them turned the page, but I screeched to a halt, having caught the face of our YJ on the front of the entertainment segment. Yes, yes, yes... you guessed it.. Of course, I felt an urge to exercise my jaw muscles once more.

M: "Errr..whacha all reading?"
Her: "Today's newpapers."
M: "Hmm... That's BYJ there in the front, isn't it?"
Her: "Yes (puzzled)...how can I help you?"
M: "Do you think I can look at that page after you're done?"
Her: "Are you a fan?"

AI - YO!

"YES!" I'm thinking loudly: Who else on earth would wear this?????
I comfort myself by rubbing the biggest, smiliest, sweetest YJ face on my belly. Since that paper was the hotel's copy, she kindly gave me directions to the bookstore to purchase my own.

Anyway, after witnessing the chaos of yesterday, I just could not resist asking,

M: "BTW, didn't you all have meetings prior to the arrival of big guests, you know, just to plan organization, security, etc.?

She: "No, we didn't have meetings like that."

M: "What about after seeing the commotion yesterday? Didn't the managers sit down to discuss a better plan for today?"

She: "No, I don't think so. I haven't heard anything."

M: "Well, can you please request that to the higher-ups? I mean, I almost got knocked over yesterday! That can be trouble for your hotel if anyone got hurt."

She: "It's just that we didn't know it would be like this."

M: "Exactly! Now that you've seen the BYJ phenomenon, would you please ask them to do something?"

She: "But, we haven't needed to do that for other celebrities."

AI - YO!
I recognize a wall when I see one. A perfectly solid, concrete one here.

But, gee, miss, who do you think you are talking to? HUH?
I, of course, know lots and lots about hotel management.
I've done my homework, you know!

Do you EVEN have any idea just how many times I've watched "Hotelier"?
hahaha!
(Oh my, is this what they call distortion of reality?)
See, see pic on left - Did I mention I just love him in blue?:)

Anyway, I followed this kind lady's instructions to the bookstore in search of those BYJ newspapers. No luck! BTW, never, ever take that AM paper on your desk for granted. In this part of town, newspapers are not sold from bookstores, convenience shops... You don't dunk a few coins into boxes in the street corner and help yourself to a paper. Newspapers are sold from pushcarts... i.e. they do not keep still and you just have to walk and walk around to find them. And when you find them, they may not carry that one paper that you're dying to have.

After running around a few blocks and peering in every alleyway, I was finally able to catch someone with the right one! Plopped myself on a bench to flip through it. For just 50cents RMB, this was quite the reward. Yes, this was the one! So many pictures! Hmmmm, I wonder if I should get the gals one too. Before the thought could be completed, I dashed back to the vendor. Only now, the business was very very brisk.

M: "Hi, you remember me from earlier. I just bought this. May I have a few more?"

HIM: " We only have 4 left."

M: "OK. I'll take them then."

HIM [little capitalist monster, heehee :) ] "$4 please."

Ah......, the laws of supply and demand at work...but 100% mark-up? HUH???

"Do you want it or not?"

Waste of time to haggle over this amount.

M: "AI- YO! Whatever! Please just give me all that you have, mister."

I hurriedly tucked my papers away in one of my bag collection, but then....
Whoa! Wasn't I missing something? OH NO! Where was my videocam?

Careless, careless mishio. Ran back to the bench where I was before, and thank goodness there was this military guard stooped over watching my bag. It was a funny sight really ... he was prodding it gingerly as if there may be something dangerous in it. Well, after all, it is an odd shaped black bag sitting there without an owner...

Phew! Look, YJ-ssi, I'm issuing you a warning! Stop playing with my mind like that! Good thing, no loss this time! :)

So, I skip back to the hotel, beaming with pride with my find. That's when I bumped right into Lucy and the gang, all skipping even faster and carrying even larger armloads of all the different Beijing papers featuring him today!

Oh man! OUTDONE by the sisters again!
Had a big giggle, and I gave away my papers to a few sleepy heads who just got up.

Back at the hotel - very packed and noisy. Time to meet everyone for breakfast.
Beijing hotel served up an extensive international sort of buffet breakfast. It was neat to see a lot of YJ'ss entourage wandering around and enjoying a decent leisurely meal in the same restaurant as well . And it was even nicer that everyone just stood back and gave them space to enjoy the food privately. Where was BYJ this morning you ask? Not resting and sleeping after the long night before, as we would hope. Didn't know at the time, but later read that he was off doing more interviews on the 2nd floor of the hotel. After all that running about yesterday, my garments were fitting a little loose, so I reward myself by making a few extra rounds at my favorite trays (C-H-I-N-E-S-E D-O-N-U-T! :) Man, were the lines moving slowly! Stomach: Grumble! Grumble! That's cuz everyone was busy talking and comparing notes on their experiences from yesterday. You know how that goes ...this could take a long, long while. Anyway, heard a lot of stories from many ladies who have yet to catch a glimpse of YJ so far. Oh, pangs of guilt tore through my stomach and I was so secretly grateful about my good fortune yesterday (Thank you, my group leader!). I vowed to send each of them all my photos when I got home.

Next it was time to board the coach bus again.

Mister driver is smiling widely this am ... made me more nervous, really.

A few minutes after we boarded, loud operatic Chinese music began blaring from the bus' speakers.

AI-YO! See, I knew it - he was up to no good again! hahaha

For those who love this genre of music, please don't be offended. Nothing wrong with it at all. This was just not the time, place, nor mood for it, that's all.

It took no fewer than 20 or so wrinkled noses for him to get the message.

Nevermind. Off we go...

To the theatre, you ask? No...…

To sightsee a bit? No...

We were off to....

LUNCH???

Gee ...it's really feast or famine around here, but, guess it had to be this way. We plan to arrive at the theatre for the 2pm premiere at noon, and the day ahead was packed. There were no guarantees of any other nourishment opportunities until late that night.

Our meal was... another 8 course Chinese banquet meal. No, I take that back. Not "another" 8 course meal. It was pretty much the exact same 8 course meal as yesterday..... Looking at the brighter side of things, well, at least, there were no mystery dishes.

No one was hungry anyway -turned out to be good catching-up time with all the sisters and more picture taking opportunities. And showing off your latest videos. And gift and card exchanges. Seriously, by this time, almost everything BYJ that I've ever really wanted (thank goodness there werejust a few...) had been given to me as a gift. Scrap those plans to go shopping in Japan. Sisters, you all are most generous. I am forever indebted. Thank you so much!

Here's more of us:Since the newspapers did sell out early in the am, some sisters who were not so lucky decided to put this time to good use.

Now, we all "talk" about it, but, has anyone of you really, truly batted eyelashes at men? Does it actually work?

Proof is when dear Hiromi cleverly batted her way to victory! Easily snagged a copy of the much-sought after Beijing News, gladly surrendered by a bunch of dudes hanging outside the restaurant. Good work, dear! Very good indeed!