I wrote this article after Super Junior's concert early this year here in the Philippines but I had to keep it away from the internet because I sent this to Pulp Mag hoping it gets published but sadly it wasn't. Hope you enjoy reading my AWESOME SUPER JUNIOR EXPERIENCE!! =)
I became a fan of Super Junior right after they had a concert here in the Philippines April of last year. I was already a KPOP fan that time but I didn't pay attention to Super Junior until my friend showed me fancams of their SS2 Manila concert. My friend also told me how they were so close with each other, how they loved their fans and all those positive notes about Super Junior. In an INSTANT I became a fan. I started watching their music videos and performances. It was soo perfect since they had their comeback summer of 2010 that was Bonamana. I loved that song! When Ms. Happee Sy announced that they will bring back Super Junior in the Philippines, my friend and I didn't hesitate to give go signals to watch their concert.
Starting June of 2010, we already started saving for the concert tickets. I am so thankful that Ms. Happee announced the concert date super ahead of time as to give us fans time to save up. Since we are from Cebu, we have to save up double time because our expenses will be doubled. We have to pay for the plane ticket, concert ticket and hotel accommodation. It's still 9 months before the concert but we (my friend) talked about SS3 Manila like it's a month away already. Then both of us would spazz talking about it.
We were so sad that the Ticketing Event was cancelled. It was supposed to be an event where fans from different cities in the country would have had a chance to grab the best seats in the concert but sadly it was cancelled.
By October 2010, we already booked for a plane ticket from Manila to Cebu. Weird right? :D The reason was it was a promo by the airline company so we grabbed the opportunity. We need to be super thrifty since we have doubled expenses since we are from Cebu.
Fast forward to the selling of tickets last December 1, 2010. Ticketnet SM Cebu opens @ 10 AM. My other friend ( there were 4 of us who watched the concert) accompanied me at SM Cebu. Believe it or not, I skipped classes just to buy tickets because we were panicking that we might not be able to get the best seats. We excitedly count the money and our world crashed when the in charge told us we need to reserve online. We didn't know that UPPER A CENTER seats needs online reservation, we were panicking. We immediately looked for the nearest internet cafe inside the mall. It was really nerve wracking. After we sent our reservation, we ate our lunch (nervously) hoping to get a reply from Ticketnet but sadly we didn't. The in-charge in Ticketnet SM Cebu told us to just call Ticketnet main office for a faster transaction. I didn't know my friend was constantly calling the main office and fortunately we got in! So we reserved tickets through the phone and paid at Ticketnet SM Cebu and got our tickets! Though we wanted the UPPER A CENTER Section 300-302, but it's okay as long as we already have our tickets, we can now breath. We got UA CENTER 319 Row I by the way it was soooo worth it! We were so ecstatic to get hold of our tickets.
After we bought our tickets, we immediately booked a flight from CEBU to MANILA. Yes, it was again a promo by an airline company. As I have said we had to be super thrifty. =))
Fast forward 3 days before the concert. We were so busy making the projects. :) We had so much fun making it. It was like a pre-celebration for the four of us. We were so excited that our goal for that day was to finish all of it like tomorrow was already the date of the concert but in reality we still have another day to finish it. =)) We were like "wait..diba we still have Feb 25 evening to finish all of this?". Hahah! So we went home and excitedly packed our bags for Manila. I slept only for 2 hours. Our flight was @ 6:10 AM so we had to be 2 hours early in the airport. As soon as my friends arrived, we greeted each other with a VERY BIG SMILE on our faces that indicate the "This is it" expression. We also had a fellow passenger who was gonna watch the concert too. Why I knew she was going to SS3 Manila? She was wearing a "Siwon ♥" shirt! She sat in line with us. :) So we arrived at NAIA at 730 AM and went straight to the hotel.
February 26, 2011:
We went to SUJU fiesta since we weren't able to go on Feb 25. SUJU fiesta was great! It was a SUJU haven! I usually don't like wearing ballers but I did buy because I just can't resist. It was a SS3 Manila baller. :) I also bought the PULP SS2 Manila edition at Pulp's booth. My other friend had a meet up with her friend who was from Manila. So we waited in front of Araneta just to feel the SS3 Manila essence. It was sooo great seeing lots of ELFs flocking in Araneta wearing their customized SUJU shirts. I also saw some Absolute All Access Korean staff taking pictures outside Araneta. The local security personnel really had this "I can't believe this" look while scanning the front (red) gate of Araneta coliseum like he couldn't believe there is much love for Super Junior. My other friend came back from her meet up so we went back to our hotel to prep ourselves for the concert.
This is it.
When we arrived at the hotel, we took pictures of the merchandise we bought from SUJU fiesta. It occupied more than half of our hotel bed! :D We also included our BONAMANA version A albums, concert tickets and light sticks in the picture. :) It took us almost 30 minutes to take pics of our merchandise then we really prepped for the concert. We wore our customized Super Show 3 shirts. We also had a run through the fan projects and we were good to go!
This is REALLY IS IT.
We were so excited. We arrived at Araneta entered the gates, walked up the stairs and then there it was the door through UA Center section 319. We were so excited to see the stage and it didn't fail us. It was OVERWHELMING. We were so dazed. We sat in our seat and we were like "OMG" this is GREAT. Then I scanned the venue, there were a lot of fans already inside Araneta and then I got teary-eyed. My friend told me to calm down and I said "Jen, this is sooo great. I can't believe we are here." We took pictures.
Fast forward @ 7PM. This is really is it. The lights were off. The music was on! The feeling was unexplainable! Like in the past, we only watched through fancams but at that moment we were right there watching SUJU live! Then the introduction of the members on the big screen made the people go crazy! The big dome was about to crack because of the endless screaming of ELFs. Then there they were. Donghae flying. It was funny because my friend, Michelle, didn't notice Donghae was already up in the air. She kept on wondering what was happening. LOL! We just stood the whole time. We only sat if they took a break and showed us some funny video on the big screen. The fan projects were so fun! We really participated. Every after performance we would ran back to our seats (we stood at the aisle of 320 and 319 but we made sure that we didn't disturb other ELFs watching the concert) and look for the next fan project. There was also a time that we forgot what fan project was next and we would browse our SS3 Manila guide and to think Araneta was so dark at that time. We used our light stick so we can read what fan project was next. :D My favorite perfomance was It Has To Be You by Yesung. My friend, Jennifer, and I were fans of the Korean drama series, Cinderella's Sister. We were so thrilled when Yesung sang it and we really practiced the lyrics. Come Yesung's turn, we sang----- shout at the top of our lungs hoping Yesung would hear our singing. :) It was such a GREAT FEELING. Yesung's smile after his performance was PRICELESS! Every time I watched that performance.....goosebumps. Fast forward to their last song, Wonder Boy. :( My friends and I were waiting for them to sing You Are The One because the fan project the organizers prepared for this would show how Filipino ELFs love Super Junior by waving our Bonamana version A album but unfortunately they didn't. They had the best English parade at the end of the concert. Eunhyuk's "You are so gorgeous" made the fans scream like hell. :D Leeteuk's "Are you happy?" line was so funny. Donghae's "Good Job" and "How do you fear (feel)?" was sooo hot and funny respectively. :D Of course, Henry's "You are the LOUDEST" made the people scream like your eardrums would break! We were so thrilled when Henry said this. Then here it comes their goodbye. :( Super Junior members walked around the stage to say thank you to their fans and the fans were screaming "Kajima". Kajima means don't go in Korean. :( So one by one, all of them disappeared through the backstage. :( It was the end. It was such a memorable night. It was the best night of my life. Super Junior is not just an idol to us fans. We immediately missed them as soon as they went backstage. It's not only their looks why I love Super Junior. I love SUJU's brotherhood. I haven't found any KPOP group that possesses the kind of brotherhood they have. I love the way they dance, sing, act, host, and make us laugh. Some non-fans wouldn't understand this because they have a misconception that if you love SUJU, you love them because of their looks. We didn't immediately go outside the Araneta Coliseum. We stayed inside around 15 minutes and then we went back to our hotel so HIGH with Super Junior drugs.
At the hotel after the concert.
We were so high! We kept talking about what happened during the concert. We watched our fancams and pictures until 5 AM! Yes until 5 AM! Who would want to sleep after a Super Junior concert? Of course all you want to do is talk about it! Then come 5 AM we slept because we still had a flight back to Cebu at 10 AM. :D
At the airport.
While waiting for our flight, my friend, Glesh, and I listened to Super Junior songs. Jennifer and I (yes, we have the same name) shared my earphones. We listened to Bonamana. We were okay then because it was a dance song but when Good Person was playing, all that happened during the concert sank in. It finally hit me that it was OVER. I cried like a baby. I cried like I am never going to see Super Junior again. :'( After Good Person, It Has To Be You was playing, Jennifer and I, just BAWLED. It was one of our favorite songs and we had fun singing along with Yesung last night. I noticed Glesh was like hiding something, I looked at her and she was also CRYING! Then all 4 of us were crying already! Our flight was announced and we board the plane. We didn't want to go. We still want to watch more Super Shows. So, we flew back to Cebu with feelings of sadness because we are going to miss watching Super Junior and a feeling of happiness because AFTER 9 MONTHS WE ALREADY SAW THEM AT LAST.
Thank you Ms. Happee and Pulp for making this possible. Please produce SS4. We are begging.
THANKS A LOT! SUPER JUNIOR HWAITING!
