A happy little world

When you were but just a little tot, did you wish for magic powers? Did you have imaginary friends that you talked to and play-acted with? I think it's pretty common for kids to do all that. I remember one of my friends even had this elaborate sketch once - she drew out this magic wand, but it was no ordinary one. If you look closely, the shaft of the wand had buttons all along it. As in.... push button 1 for instant ice-cream, push button 2 for sunshine on a rainy day, and so forth. Hmmm....I think it is no wonder that she ended up becoming some kind of mechanical engineer or something, coming up with a complicated contraption like that. Anwayway, I remember being a bit dumber and simpler. I would try to cross my hands over my shoulder, nod my head once - hoping to try to make people disappear. Hee, sounds familiar? yeah, from time to time, I'd try to copy that gal from "I dream of Jeannie." It was entertaining enough in those days. Hee, I was a picky and anti-social kid, couldn't you tell? Always wanted to make this and that person vanish into thin air at the command of my nod! haha. Even now, when I run into people I just don't know how to deal with or just plain don't get along, I'd still secretly wish they would exit my sphere! Sooooo childish, right? :)

Anyway, in some small way, Hanwha resort came to resemble that kind of utopia for me, if just for a few days of my life. It's coz in that very isolated place, I had practically everything that I needed, and was surrounded daily only by faces of those whose company I enjoy. Ya - no frowning boss, no nosy co-workers, no voices nagging me about my expanding waistline......What's more - our most favorite one of all, mr. handsome, was just literally steps away. I don't know if he rested well or not, but for all the worry the family has about him working so hard, there's something quite intrinsically comforting & peaceful about knowing that he is safe and sound in his bed before you yourself turn in. Dunno - probably same reason that's why parents tend to peek in on their children before they go to bed at night.

Anyway, Mr. Handsome was so very good to us to spare us a day of leisurely activities before he returned to Hanwha to preoccupy 100% of our thoughts. I got a lot of sightseeing in my first day - Park BOF, Lotte Hotel to visit old acquaintances - you know, all the usual suspects that I won't elaborate on, since you've read about them so much already.

Oh yeah, you all know by now that Jeju is famous for their tangerine and orange farming, right?

This couldn't have been better timing - seems like it was peak season for plucking. There was so much activity at all the tangerine/orange stands all over town, and those spectacular orange-dotted groves were an amazing site. Hee, when we drove by a particular large and happening stand, we let out these ooh's and aahs instinctively at the abundance of citrus fruits on display.
What does our wonderful cab driver do? He immediately parks aside, jumps off, and buys us a big handful!! Such a thoughtful man, that Mr K - we really really lucked out with him!

Now... back to the Park BOF location, which I simply adore. I remember the first time when I was in Jeju in March and drove along that spectacular coastline long before there was any noise about erecting this Park BOF - it was easily one of the more memorable images of Jeju that I took home. Maybe that's why I live on a coastal state? Have always been a fan....Anyhow, the one that BOF overlooks was really something else, and even more bewitching when the bad weather turns it a bit angry, transforming those water curls into these ferocious waves.

I wonder if one day, he drove by on the way to one of his fishing expeditions and thought similarly.....or maybe he merely recognized it for the prime piece of real estate that it is....but one thing I know, if Park BOF ever becomes defunct, he'll have one mighty fine home to retire to! I'm really glad he picked this out-of-the-way spot so that visitors & family get an opportunity to get out and enjoy some of the other finer aspects that Jeju has to offer.

So, back to Park BOF - Wah! So many pictures!

Mostly the recent ones from his 2005 Asia tour and recent magazine layouts. We were lucky the crowd was fairly under control this day since many fans had not yet arrived, and got to look through all the pics ever so carefully. Ahhh-haahhh-haahhh ! I know one fellow fan who'll never live this down - hee, hee, I spotted her happy face on one, two, no........make that a big fat three(!(!) pictures on the wall, right there by his side. I remember smirking secretly to myself and planning how I will break to news to her when she arrived the following day...........and of course, how I plan to "torture" her with it! Haha - if that is not proof you've gone overboard as a BYJ fan, I don't know what is! (Hee, of couse I'm joking again at her expense - she doesn't come to my blog either, so I'm safe!) I'd imagine that he had a hand in picking out those pics destined for this exhibit...
OK, in her "defense", those were 3 pics of the same occasion, just taken from different angles. So, to those jealous ladies out there getting ready to plan your own attacks, remember this: in essence, she was just very very lucky once. But of course, way more than enough, I know!

Anyhow, as you know, the concept at the Park BOF Jeju is no different than the one in Seoul. You've probably read about this before, but what I thought was really cute and a little different about Park BOF is this little corner especially reserved for people to show-off their Joonie bear creations - that's all those photos clipped up there on the wall on the second pic below.


I still have yards to go to be convinced to own one of these coz I just ain't exactly a fan of this type of doll, but I've gotta admit that I love the individual touches and care that the sisters go through to make their bear really their own. Anyway, it was a nice touch to acknowledge that.....

As for the special exclusive items that can only be found in Jeju? Well...I couldn't tell if it was succesful implementation of my buying moratorium or maybe my heart just wasn't too moved by the offerings this time around. I think I picked up some of my favorite things - which means, photos and postcards, and my wallet breathed a giant sigh of relief.

Too bad I cannot show and tell - this was what bb had referred to before - i.e. this is where I saw a sister get her digital pics deleted by an employee, right there and then, for taking one unauthorized pic somewhere on the premise. Rules are rules, ladies. I have to say it was handled nicely.

After this, we were off to do more sightseeing (which I'll also skip due to irrelevance here) and then head to pick up a close Japanese sister who was flying in that day. By the latter part of the pm, we arrived at the familiar Jeju airport and excited awaited the arrival of our dear friend. Jeju airport, although going through some quick modern updates, is still a relatively tiny place. There's just the 2 baggage claim carousels, and after that one main departures double door exit. When those glass doors slide open, you can either turn right or left down a short way through a barricaded short segment to get to the main waiting hall. So, we positioned ourselves in the middle, did our no-blink exercises and prepared our throats for a nice yell-out greeting when she arrived. But.......30mins, 45 mins, 60 mins passed,.....we were getting worried...did we have the wrong flight information??? Did we miss her somehow??

After much frantic searching and phone-calling, we finally reached her on her cellphone.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I see......
So thaaaaaaaaaaaaat's what happened!
Oh, how could we not have guessed???

Well, turns out that a rumor was brewing over at the Gimpo airport that BYJ might - that's MIGHT - be flying to Jeju that day. Needless to say, she didn't board the plane and decided to remain there to test her luck waiting for him!

We're like "WHAT IN THE WORLD?????!!!!!"

"Oh me oh my," I thought to myself....That means........
Then I thought, "But wait! I'm not ready yet!" This was supposed to have been tomorrow's agenda! Yeah - some of the major fan clubs already in Jeju had said tomorrow! Who to believe? Who to believe? Well, we figured we'd take a look for ourselves and think later.......

Help! My faint-prevention pills haven't been ingested, my clothes weren't proper, my hair looked like I'd played with the electrical socket one time too many (darn those jeju winds, I tell ya!!!)

Well, ready or not.....right there and then, out of the blue...the BYJ trail has begun! That's how it always annoyingly catches you ill-prepared!
Mercy!

So, I dunno what came over us - we alternated between excited chatter and serene dumbfounded looks.....hah! All this over a piece of.........totally and wholly unconfirmed news. Remember, she said "MIGHT", "I dunno, MAYBE", "NOT SURE" a whole lot, but to a BYJ fan, no matter.........we spent the next chunk of time fixated over our handphones, and you guessed it...waiting, waiting, waiting,........and trying to will that phone to ring with good news.

My "BYJ mode" kicked into action, and I start getting a bit hyper. Surveyed this, surveyed that. We then spotted a small group of Japanese sisters, maybe 9-12 of them, and suddenly our hopes were raised to a whole new level. That's coz they belonged to Mr. Goh's tour. That must mean something, right?? Unfortunately, they did not confirm nor deny the rumor for us. The sisters weren't able to communicate with us and maybe, they weren't supposed to, who knows?. Anyway, their mere presence was encouraging enough.

A bit more time passed....no calls, no news....I sometimes honestly don't know how I - only the most impatient person I know - managed to not develop fits of rage during these incessant periods of uncertainty :)
I even found time to try a few "nods" there - aw shucks, the crowd of sisters didn't vanish according to plan!!! hahaha, don't mind me being me......

Ah.....then came some much needed diversion. Thank goodness!
It wasn't the sister we came for, but another few lovely recognizable faces now stood in front of us. Wow! It seems like some of the ladies on the packaged Expo tours were just getting in! Such good timing! And some much needed consoling hugs!!

What a good time we had catching up, and of course, breaking the "news" (if you can call it that?) to them! Hah again! No concrete news yet, and they're already thanking their lucky stars!! What kind of warped world is this?? :)

OK - this is mishio afterall. I couln't stand it anymore! I called my Gimpo spy (haha) and asked for an update. Nothing....no news...no confirmation either way.....OPSOYO!!!!

So now, it's getting to the n hour mark, and if the electric socket didn't do it, my frustruation was making my hair defy gravity. Some of the newly arrived sisters pulled me to go make some rounds with them...we started asking anyone...no, make that begging (!) anyone for some news. But...still nothing!

Then one of the sis received a call.........
I'm afraid it was bad news. BYJ was NOT coming in tonight after all. She was really sure.

Swish!..........That's my mood plummeting.

Klunk!.............That's me falling to the ground from shock.

AAAARRRGHHHHH!.....That's my primal scream to release the frustration.

All this for nothing! Oh well, so I won't be the first nor the last disappointed fan.

As we turned around to leave, wah! another familiar face in a crowd of more EXPO-bound tour groups have arrived. More hugs, more celebration.........

So now the crowd was swelling...even though he was said to NOT be coming. Huh???

Who to believe? What to believe?
I called my Gimpo pal once more, but she was still holding her ground there and wouldn't budge even though it was getting late and she had no further information of substance. I'm trying to figure how much more I'm gonna be waiting for her...Should we return the hotel and come back for her when her spirit wanes? Afterall, the one hour it takes to fly here from Gimpo would give us enough time to head back out here to greet her....

Then, one of the other Japanese sisters then pulled me aside and said she got another call. BYJ is most definitely, 100% NOT coming in today! 100%!!! Can it get any clearer than that? Let's go already...................

I'm now numb with confusion & disbelief.
I'm also feeling sooooo guilty - you should've seen those gals who arrived from Japan. They hadn't had a chance to unwind from the flight and hadn't eaten either for some reason....looking downright exhausted, some of them. And it was all my fault. Had they not heard the misguided news from us, they'd already have headed out to Lotte where they were staying. But.....by this time, their tour bus had other assignments, and they now had to wait another 1.5 hours until their ride could be rearranged. I'm so sorry, I'm looking for a place to hide!

So they spread themselves on some of the seats in the waiting area, while we mopped around abit, decided where to have dinner, and also to stay with them until they got their ride. That's the least we could do, right? Finally, our taxi driver informed us that the hours we booked him for was running out, so we bid them farewell and boarded our taxi to go home. As one of my good pals hopped on, something strange overcame me. I don't remember this part very clearly, but there was definitely this stone-like heaviness in my belly. Something, somehow didn't feel right. I refused to get in. Oh.....geez, mishio. How many people are you going to torture today?? You've already made 20 Japanese sisters miss their ride, and now you're gonna dole out your pain to your nearest and dearest BYJ sisters too??

We discussed things a bit, and then thanked and sent our dear taxi driver off his merry way. We then walked back towards the airport. We still had to make good on our promise to pick up our friend - why wait at the hotel when we can wait here in the company of friends?

Not more than 5 mins later, another call came through to our cell! A number that I didn't recognize...

It was..........my taxi driver???!!!???

What on earth???
Well, I know next to no Korean, but some numbers I recognize. Thank the stars I actually recognized the ones he used. Because that was all I could make up more or less, but ahhhh..........was it ENOUGH!! He confirmed for me that BYJ was on his way in, like........RIGHT NOW!

OMG!!
OMG!!
Taxi driver......saves the day??? :)

I tell ya - we really were so blessed with this guy!
Seems like our driver must have watched us through our pain of the day and decided to pitch in. Don't ask me how he knows, but somehow when he said that BYJ was DEFINITELY COMING IN, I tended to believe him immediately. Or maybe, I was too tired of the roller-coaster to resist further?
But wait...no time for gushing...check the time!

We just had a few minutes - we literally broke into a mad sprint back to the airport!
Crud! Our prime viewing spot was usurped by other people by now. We gathered up our pals from their restful state and the excitement started all over again.

From here, things happened very fast. A few minutes later - the airport "SP" started assembling and audible "ooohhhs" and "aaahhhhs" filled the room. Looky-loose spectators gathered to watch us.

And then..........
Can it be................
After all this **&&%%&*$#@#................. :)

Amidst a double row of black clad "SP's" - I caught a glimpse of Mr Shin through the glass panes!
Cameras ready?
Videocams ready?
Ready or not...........

Here goes!!!!!!!
There, graceful as ever..........he walks out donning the biggest sweetest smile!

My mind reeled in circles and then seemed to be thinking aloud on its own...
Wow...how are you, YJ-ssi?
Long time..............
You look as great as ever......
No better than ever........
Just what kind of curve were you trying to throw us today, huh?
Huh???!!! Shame on you.....you... prankster!!! (ya, not his fault - I'm just joking!)

You know, somehow, even though I am such a meticulous detail-picker, I can never remember 100% of all that ever happens.....Somehow, like some magnet, he just drew us all in - I just remember floating along him as he headed out the short path to the airport exit.

I have to remember to commend all fans present that night on their very very good behaviour that night. I'm not normally easily impressed, but BYJ passed smoothly and successfully to his auto with a lot less impedence this night, allowing him to move a lot more slowly than before.

For all those times I'd been so frustrated at the airport, I'd actually already given up going there. But........this was different; this might be the first time at the airport that I'd been able to see him up close and tell you what he wore from head to toe! Bless his heart, he took such care to look at everyone and make eye-contact with his adoring fans. This perpetually unlucky mishio got a glimpse of what it felt like to win a big prize that night!

One thing I know I saw that night - there were these streaks of long hair poking out from his hat - I can swear I saw texture/pattern in a few of those streaks. I described them as braids to bb, for lack of a better word. Or maybe those were some carefully placed twists. Or maybe.........heehee, I've become one of those.
You know.....THOSE!! Those that only think, see, hear whatever they wanted to!
Ok, Ok, not that important, I'll just move along........

Looks like Mr Shin's expression changed drastically the minute BYJ's vehicle took off. He seemed to loosen up so much and OMG! did he actually break into a big grin ?? He stuck around seemingly a long while afterwards, as did Director Kim - perhaps for all the luggage to be loaded?
So, can anyone tell me if Director Kim speaks/understands English? I really meant it when I asked him to please get us simultaneous release of TWSSG in N America!

BTW, we were literally still floating in mid-air, but thank goodness still had the sense to figure out what to do next? Our pal....! Our pal??? Where the heck was she??? Another call....she must have been so absorbed with the action at Gimpo - she actually never made the flight. With that, and no definite further plan for her, we returned to Hanwha. As expected, there were tons of thoroughly fulfilled sis at the side lobby who managed to steal a peek when BYJ returned. Mr Shin went right back to his very stern and serious demeanor - moving about back and forth many times in the lobby to orchestrate the delivery of the their many bags and parcels, followed by countless bags of rice and groceries. It was during the tail end of these runs that I managed to sneak in the question about whether the other BOF folks including a certain someone's most favorite one :) was coming in for the Expo - but got a flat "No" answer. Oh....don't tell me you don't know which one now.........

Looking back & in light of the language gap, I guess miscommunication is nothing new in this process ...................

I hope no one fell asleep during the agonizing decription of "the wait" - told ya I wanted to be more thorough this time around.
In any case, nothing matters now. I'd gladly ride through a few rollercoasters again for this....yeah, this was going to go down in history as a very good night for me. :)