Tae Wang’s army journey- Day 2

The past week or so have been busy…well not so much busy as the fact that it’s the festive season and more time was spent with hubby. Was too lazy to write. Besides, I just found out that I tend to be rather long winded in my writing….which means it take up quite a bit of time. ^^ Maybe if I try to leave out a little more details it would be faster but it’s not me…so, please bear with me as I will be a little slow in this.

After the fiasco of the previous night, we all woke up bright and early, determind to enjoy ourselves. We were going to Jeju today to visit the filming sites. BYJ, it seems would still be filming in Danyang. Actually, Mgr An told us later that he was very surprised that we decided to go ahead with our original intinerary. He had expected us to stay on. haha! Think he really has to learn about fans from other countries. After nearly 7 hours of flight and spending thousands of dollars, we didn’t just want to see BYJ. We want to see Korea too! And eat! And shop!

The Dae Myeong resort that we were staying at wasn’t too bad. Not sure if the crew also stayed in the same hotel but they had the TWSSG poster on one of it’s pillar:

Our 1st hotel in this journey- Dae Myeong Resort:

And the view is quite good:

And oh…they had the same pretty flowers (cabbage?) that I was blogging about earlier here. And I’m still trying to find out what it’s called.

Because of the change in our itinerary, we would have to give up some of the places on our itinerary. We were discussing with Mgr An to see what we could skip and what were the places we absolutely had to go. Then Mgr An had a brain wave…we could probably squeeze in a visit to In Soo’s place on the way to the airport. But it would mean a late lunch as our flight was at about 2pm. Bless the girls…no one complained.

So, our driver sped towards Mokdong…..

If you have watched ‘April Snow’ (BYJ’s last movie with Sohn Yeh Jin), then you would know what I was talking about. Actually, In Soo’s place (or rather his marital home) is really someone’s house. I think she still lives there but probably not all the time. Ms Kim is a big fan of BYJ too but unfortunately, she’s never had a chance to meet him as she had to stay out of the way when they filming at her place. But she is truely a nice lady and her house is decorated with all things related to BYJ…many of which were given to her. You can read a brief report about her on soompi here.

The visit was a little short as we didn’t have much time but luckily I had the opportunity to visit the place last year together with bb, Irene, Sheila and Style. Took lots and lots of photos then. ^^

April Snow: Going back home after getting all his wife’s things from the police station:

This is the back of Ms Kim’s house. Can’t remember what that blue cupboard thing is…wonder if bb remembered….but it was still there.

April Snow: Sitting in the hall, all sad and confused…

Same hall but different pictures..hehe! She’s put up all his photos here and there’s a huge AS framed up photo right at the end. bb took many a pose with this photo last year. ^^

April Snow: Trying to figure out the password on his wife’s phone…

Same table, same keyboard, even the same ‘wedding’ photos…Ms Kim also has a whole shelf of things and memorabilia given to her by the many fans who visit her place. There are even 2 guest book there for the fans to sign.

April Snow Director’s cut: Preparing food in the kitchen after being discharged from hospital…

Ms Kim had placed a whole series of the photos from this scene just above the sink. Imagine BYJ preparing food here….. Unfortunately, this scene only appeared in the Director’s cut version.

I had the chance to take photos of Ms Kim’s garden last year and it really is a very nice cozy place. I believe BYJ filmed a scene here in this garden as well but can’t remember if it was in the Director’s cut version or it was taken out completely.

The visit to In Soo’s house during this trip was really quite rush and thus we didn’t have the time to visit his grocery store….hehe! I said his grocery store but of course he doesn’t own it. He just shopped in it int eh movie…again scene only appeared in the Director’s cut version I think. I believe both Tigger and Yokee have some ‘exclusive’ photos as they were there during this shoot. Hehe!

April Snow Director’s cut postcard (credit as labelled): Standing outside the grocery store..

Took this picture last year. The grocery store had lots and lots of BYJ photos on display..and just as many photos taken with fans. ^^ The distance fans would go…Just how did they managed to find out all these little details?

Not sure I would be able to find my way there again as In Soo’s house is really out of the way but it was a pleasant visit.

Soon, we were on our way to Kimpo airport, for the 1.40pm flight to Jeju. We were really excited..but hungry. However this time, we were all prepared..with snacks. Hehe!

Reached Jejudo at about 3pm and met with another incident again. This trip really happening. Joannie’s lugguage was damaged when it came out! We spent at least a good 30 minutes trying to negotiate with Asiana Airline. They wanted to give a compensation of either 20,000won or give her a cabin lugguage, both options which we rejected as we felt they were not adequate. I mean, a normal lugguage would cost at least S$100 and above. It was quite funny at one point though. It seems a VIP was arriving soon (a politician I think) and the airport officers were quite nervous about a bunch of angry looking female tourists standing around. So they were trying to get us to move aside. We were so angry at the poor compensation offered and the inflexibility of the officers that we contemplated staging a protest in front of this politician…whoever he was. Sure make big news the next day. Wahahaha! But of course we didn’t lah. We just talked and thought about it but we wouldn’t do this to BYJ’s country. In the end, Joannie decided to come back to SG to claim from Asiana Airline. I believed it should be settled now….

But of course, this meant that we were really, really behind schedule. Mgr An suggested we go for quick lunch before going to Park BOF Jeju. But then hor, Park BOF closes at 6pm! Ottoke??? Only one solution- skip lunch, go Park BOF first and then go for dinner. Told you all this was a diet tour. hahaha!

Park BOF Jeju had moved to a new location since late last year. This new location seems less err….’ulu’ (not so ‘countryside’). But I missed the unusual looking house in the old Park BOF..It had more character….

Old Park BOF Jeju (2006):

New Park BOF Jeju (2007):

Here’s the address. But if you cannot find it, then ask the driver to look for the Jejuyo Ceremic, coz Park BOF is just next to it.

Park BOF Jeju has 2 stories. The ground floor is for you to empty your wallet…The 2nd floor is to feast your eyes. ^^

There are lots and lots of photos on display upstairs and there are even sections on his Asia visit. But not many photos from Singapore leh…sigh… However, the video clip on his Singapore vist was quite long (part of the compilation of his first Asia visit) so we were quite happy. Strangely, even though we knew the whole event very well, inside out (the CMs spent a whole month sweating over his visit), we still wanted to watch it again. So there we were, crowding around the TV screen. Oh..another strange note…this video was done especially in Japan…not for sale….Hmm…..

Besides the Asia visit photos, there were also photos from all his dramas and movies and photos never seen before…all blown up mega size. It was really droolicious. Unfortunately, cannot take photo. 🙁

You can also take photo with ‘BYJ’. Hehe…you can be with BYJ, Joon Sang or even Dam Deok. Soon, quite a few of the girls were busy queuing up, combing their hair and putting on their lipsticks. Well, if you cannot take photo with the ‘real one’…the ‘half real one’ also good. I didn’t take any but some of the photos for the girls turned our quite good…almost real.

And oh…they had lots of things that he wore in the various movies and dramas on display as well. Like the WLS script book that are full of his scribbles…his glasses etc…

If after feasting on these untoucheble things, you feel this strong urge to give way to those desires and wants…you can head downstairs. There are lots of things on sale here….as long as you are willing to spend. hehe!

And look…posters of his old CFs. These are really collectibles now as he hasn’t done many CFs for the last few years.

Inside another room, there were some Joon bears (done by fans) on display. You can also leave a message for him there though I’m not sure he goes down to look at them. But I still wrote something anyway….what was the message? hehe! Well, let’s see if my wish and message comes true.

And oh…I like this section. Should have found out if we could borrow the costumes or if they preform the tea ceremony sometimes. But you can buy a cup of coffee (the kind that BYJ likes) and sit in front of this big plasma TV. That day, they were replaying Episode 22. hehe!

Finally, after many, many urgings from our guide and Mgr An, we left Park BOF.

Now that we had finish feeding our eyes, it was time to feed our stomach. And it was really strange how once I left Park BOF, I felt hungry immediately. ^^ The power of BYJ. Got BYJ…no need food also can, Wahaha!

So now, it was time to decide where to eat. The guide gave us 2 choices. One- normal food. Two- BBQ Black Pork or Pig (as we are used to calling it). As Jos said, initially, there were 2 groups…and then slowly…slowly…the majority wanted to have the BBQ Park. I guess we were all hungry and wanted a good meal. I tried the Black Pork last year and thought it was just so-so.

But gosh…I’m glad I went in the end coz the food was really good. I’m still drooling at the thought of it. Btw, black pig is unqiue to Jeju and is one of their speciality.

The restuarant’s name is 제주늘봄, and BYJ goes there when he’s in Jeju, though I’m not sure how often.

It was buffet..so we could have endless supply of food and drinks….Heaven! In fact, I think Julia and Kelly were still eating when we got up to leave. hehe!

After 2 days of little food, we were in the mood to relax….and after a few drinks, some were really letting their hair down. At one point, we were toasting each other and some of the girls were feeding each other…errr…I think someone fed Mgr An as well… hehe! Me? No lah…though I don’t mind BYJ feeding me. Wahaha!

You can see we were all in a good mood after a good, satisfying meal. As they say, a hungry woman is an angry woman. ^^

Before we left the restaurant, of course we had to visit the BYJ room. I did mention that he ate there when he is in Jeju right?

The owner had left the whole room empty and decorated with things BYJ related. I noticed that’s what most of the restaurants that BYJ visits do too…have a BYJ room for the fans to ‘breath’ in the BYJ air. hahaha! Anyway, it’ a good way to draw the fans.

The owner with BYJ…..

The place where he always sit..sorry photo a bit blur…

And why am I taking photo of a blank wall? Of course it’s related to BYJ. The nail (arrowed), is apparently his height as he had taken the photo in the same room with the owner. See, even a nail is important when it is related to him. And yes…he is tall…

We decided we wanted to leave a message behind too..from Joon’s Family. So Alicia kindly agreed to put her creativity to work. ^^

But we were really running out of time, so we brought it back to the hotel and conitnue from there. Mgr An said we could bring it back the next day.

Initially I thought we were going to stay at Citicon, which was the hotel the TWSSG staff was staying at late last year. It was more convenient as it was in town but Han Hwa Resort has more character..so I was glad to find out that we were going to stay at Han Hwa Resort afterall, which was where I had stayed at last year.

For the past 3 years, during the filming of TWSSG, the staff had stayed at this hotel and of course, it became popular with the fans too. BYJ stayed at the top floor. He had 2 rooms to himself, I believe one of the room functioned as his gym…according to Mgr An.

When we reached the hotel, it was about 8+. We were too full of soju and BBQ Black Pork to sleep that early…so hehe! we decided to try out the Korean 노래방 or Karaoke room. Always wanted to do that…as Koraoke featured so prominently in all the Korean dramas and movies. Who could forget Sam Shik (Hyun Bin) as he sang in the 노래방, with the silly tie around his head in the drama, ‘My Name is Kim Sam Soon’? hehe! That was one of the funniest scene I’ve ever seen.

And so we made our way to the Karaoke room at the hotel. We meant to stay for just about an hour…which stretched to 2 hours and then to 2-and-a-half hours.

Ok…we were not the best singers but who cares? We were having so much fun.

Initially, we sang alot of Korean songs, which proved to be rather difficult…then we sang some English songs….and then went on to sing Cantonese songs and ended up singing even Hokkien songs. (I was really surprised to find that they actually had Cantonese and Hokkien songs on their menu).

Want to catch a glimpse of it? Click on the link below and catch the Dancing Queens from Singapore. Be warned..it’s long…about 3+ mins.

JF’s Dancing Queens

Ok, ok…if you feel the need to recover after watching the above clip…. watch the original scene where this song was filmed..it remains one of my fav scene from Winter Sonata.

Winter Sonata- Dancing Queen

And after looking at all those In Soo related photos, if like me, you feel the urge to rewatch ‘April Snow’ again but don’t have the time at the moment, you can watch the MVs from this movie:

The Road by Woo Song Min
Outing by Loveholic

The songs are really beautiful.

Whew…that was a long post.

Btw, in case those of you who are not BYJ fans didn’t know. BYJ walked away with the top prize in the MBC award this year for his role as Dam Deok in the drama, Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi. He was also the most popular actor with a landslide vote of 82%. In total, TWSSG won 8 awards including the Most Popular drama.

Congratulations to BYJ and the TWSSG team!

There will be more of TWSSG photos in my next post. ^^