Jo Hyun Jae

Adventures in JHJ country (4)

wulijohyunjae | May 6, 2009 | 7:00 am

The Baekjae incense burner

JHJ as the homeless Jung Eun Sup in “Sunshine”

We’re flying home today (5/5/09), so we’ll just leave you with a few notes that I took on this trip. But first I must tell you our great discovery on our last day. In the lobby of our hotel is a replica of the incense burner that the Queen designs for the King and crafted by Moraksu at the end of “Seo Dong Yo”. When we saw it, we exclaimed: “We’ve come to the right place!” This Korean gilt-bronze Pongnae-san incense burner (that was unearthed in 7 A.D.) embraces the profound philosophy of Buddhism and is a great example of the exquisite Baekjae Dynasty craftsmanship. This national treasure portrays through the carvings the world of the hermit God in the legendary Pongnae Mountain.

Some observations during our trip to Seoul:

–We were taken for Japanese everywhere! Everybody spoke to us in Japanese, the hotel staff, the taxi drivers, the shopgirls…….I know this is the Japanese Golden Week and there are many Japanese in town, but to assume that any oriental-looking woman (even when she speaks English) is Japanese hurts my national pride. Seriously, we were just amused.

–Koreans in the service industry mostly speak two foreign languages — those in high-class hotels and restaurants speak English and those in the little shops and local eating places speak putonghua (Mandarin.) Many waitresses and salesgirls are Chinese of Korean ancestry who come to Seoul from Shantung province in N.E. China. They are usually here on one- or two-year contracts. One day for lunch we wanted to eat that famous Korean dish pig’s trotters. You have to recall that scene in “Sunshine” when JHJ’s Jung Eun Sup and Song Hye Kyo’s Ji Yean Woo are having French pastries and the other guy bursts in with pig’s trotters that Song used to like. That’s the specialty restaurant we were looking for, and after we sat down, we could not make ourselves understood until the waitress heard us speaking in Cantonese. “You’re Chinese! not Japanese.” From that moment on, we were served like queens (she even gave us extra soup, but it was also extra hot!) We can speak both English and Chinese, so we have the best of both worlds.

–Most Koreans are very helpful. We managed to take the Seoul Metro most of the time, especially to those far places. We have done some research and we are well prepared, not to mention we are women of the world, so we’re not like babes in the woods. But sometimes we’re not sure which side of the track we should take. Always there would be some kind soul who offered to help, and surprisingly these were more often than not older people. So we’ve not been lost even once.

–Speaking of taking the metro (subway), we saw so many soldiers on leave everyday on the train. They’re wearing their camouflage uniforms and caps, and would you believe it, even then M could remark how come their hair is longer than JHJ’s at the Korea Fan Meeting. Of course that’s not the case, but the hair of Korean soldiers is longer than American GIs’. Many of the soldiers wear glasses and two are carrying guitar cases, so we wonder if they’re “entertainment soldiers” (but they don’t have the looks.) The soldiers are all carrying satchels or knapsacks, so it’s obvious they’re going home to spend a few days. Quite a few have their girlfriends hanging on their necks; they probably go to the camp to fetch their boyfriends (can’t wait and who can blame them?)

–We also observed something else on the subway trains: people selling all kinds of things like umbrellas and flourescent pens on the cars. Remember that’s how Song makes her initial appearance in “Sunshine” when she first encounters JHJ without actually making contact. The pedlars of assorted wares that we saw were all middle-aged men, so they had no business (unlike the pretty Song who sells quite a few in the drama.) Also twice on the trains we saw blind men with a music box hanging from their necks and a plate in one hand for people to put donations, and they had better luck than the hawkers.

–In the pedestrain subways that we had to use in crossing the big roads, we saw quite a few homeless men (no women) who started preparing for bed as early as 8 p.m. Seoul in this respect is like other cities like Tokyo, New York, London — prosperous, bustling, cosmopolitan metropolis which all have this “homeless” problem. Remember how the JHJ character Jung Eun Sup in “Sunshine” had to spend a night among the homeless to avoid his father’s henchmen? Never realise “Sunshine” is the most realistic of JHJ’s dramas; it actually reflects certain aspects of life in present day Seoul.

–Forgot to mention Myeong Dong JHJ now has a new routine. He used to shout “Jo Hyun Jae! Jo Hyun Jae!” when he escorts us out of his shop. The second time we visited him on this trip, he shouted “Jo Hyun Jae! Fighting!” He’s fun! Also would like to report that apart from the umbrella, there are other new JHJ souvenirs — a “singing” plastic cup (JHJ sings “Like the wind by your side”), battery-operated, price: 80,000KW!!!!! Even we are not that crazy. For that price, we can buy 5 JHJ CDs. Other new souvenirs include a metal piggy bank and kitchen gloves (but they don’t have JHJ’s.) These merchants really know how to make us part with our money.

On the way to Incheon Airport, we saw lots of little tents (of assorted colours) along the shores of the Han River. May 5 is Children’s Day, a public holiday in Korea, and families are out enjoying a picnic, basking in the sun, and having fun. Our Korean friend tells us May 8 is Parents’ Day but they don’t get a holiday. May 9 is Jo Hyun-Jae’s birthday and it’s a Saturday. Most of us get a day off, so let’s celebrate, wherever you are!

We enjoyed our 5-day stay in Seoul. We love Korea (because of JHJ.) We’ll be back!

(Photo 2 — courtesy of CAFEKorea.)

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Adventures in JHJ country (3)

wulijohyunjae | May 5, 2009 | 7:00 am

COEX, Seoul

The pear

This morning (5/4/09) we went on an important mission — to deliver our birthday present to JHJ. We have already mailed him a birthday present (in mid-April) — nothing fancy or expensive, just something we thought he’d like. Then we saw this 10,000-piece TIMEWARP model (for assembly) and we remembered Ryu Jin said JHJ spent his (limited) spare time in between shooting of “Seo Dong Yo” working on the model of a dinosaur. We have taken a photo of the box but we do not advertise here, so use your imagination. We can tell you that when completed, the model looks like a very intricate roller-coaster, and you can roll a steel marble and it will race all over the tracks at high speed. Assembly requires brain power, care, concentration, and patience — all qualities which we believe JHJ possesses. We just want him to have some fun. Since we’re coming to Seoul, we would just drop it off at the Star n Hit office which is within walking distance from our hotel. And that’s exactly what we did.

Then we went to the COEX Mall (photo 1) which is also very near to our hotel in Gangnam-gu (south of the Han River.) COEX bills itself as the largest shopping centre in Seoul and the largest underground mall in Asia, with an area of 85,000 sq.m. COEX actually stands for “convention” and “exhibition”. Apart from shops (and it has all kinds of shops under the sun), it has facilities for conventions, exhibitions, and seminars. The anchor hotels are the COEX Inter-Continental Seoul, the Grand Inter-Continental, and the Oakwood, as well as the World Trade Centre.

We went to the basement shops, first to the very large Bandi and Luni Bookstore which had everything except JHJ magazines, and second to the supposedly very large Evan Record (that’s how they call themselves — singular!) which made us very mad. We asked the man at the cashier where the OST (original sound track) of Korean dramas were and he said: “No Korean drama, only Japanese.” We were incredulous! How could that be? So we asked a young man who was busy rushing around the premises, and he tried to look for the CDs that M wanted but without success. I was so afraid he would find the OST of “Forbidden Love” and it turned out to be 15,000KW! They had nothing of JHJ’s except (in the DVD section) “Seo Dong Yo” (110,000KW = US$90) and “G.P.506″ (25,300KW = US$19), both with English subtitles. But we already have these, in fact, multiple versions of SDY. We wonder why JHJ’s DVDs and OSTs are out of stock. There are only two explanations: 1. they sell too well, so they’re sold out; or 2. they don’t sell well, so they’re not replenished. What do you think?

We needed more fruit, so we went to the basement supermarket of Hyundai Department Store (also in COEX) which was as expensive as Lotte. We wanted to get the brown pear which featured so prominently in”3 Dads/1 Mom”. Remember that scene when the JHJ character, the stingy Han Soo Hyun, is paring the pear for Na Yong, all the while complaining how expensive it is? Well, we can confirm that pear is really very expensive (about US$10 for a big one.) In the Han Soo Hyun tradition, we decided to forego the pear for some strawberries, a whole box of which cost less than a pear.

For dinner we decided to try another restaurant recommended by my friend. Last year when my husband and I were in Seoul, this friend who’s working in Seoul treated us to a “Dae Jaen Geum” type of dinner, you know, with about 15 dishes prepared in the royal palace style in the famous traditional Korean restaurant Gogung. But what I remember best was the coffee shop he took us to after dinner, in a trendy part of Seoul called Samcheong-dong. I wanted to re-visit that area and asked him for the address. M checked it on the map and said let’s take a taxi since it’s only two metro stops from our hotel. That was the start of our epic journey.

After 15 minutes, I asked M if she was sure it was very near our hotel and she said “Sure!” After another 10 minutes, we suddenly noticed our taxi did not have GPS (global positioning system — for navigation.) While we were wondering, the driver took it out from his doorside and stuck it above the meter and turned it on. Then he started to key in the address, one stroke at a time, while we watched in concern as traffic was very heavy. But nothing happened even after he hit ENTER about a dozen times. He kept muttering to himself and we could not communicate with him. We showed him the address (in Korean) again and he entered the last four numbers and voila! map appeared! Sigh of relief — from both the front and back seats! No sooner had that transpired than I screamed: “We’re crossing the river!” We’re crossing the Han River which meant we’re going from South of the river to North of the river. And the restaurant was supposed to be just a few miles from our hotel. Want to know what happened? My friend gave me the address of the resturant in both English and Korean. M chose to read the Korean address, and with her kindergarten Korean, mis-read “Samcheong” as “Samsung”! It took more than an hour to finally reach the restaurant, and I couldn’t find it in my heart to tell you how much the fare was. All I’ll say is: if the fruits cost as much as a JHJ CD, the taxi fare is the DVD!We were watching the meter with eagle eyes, and every time it jumped, our hearts jumped as well. Now this taxi meter had a horse racing next to the numbers. I wasn’t sure whether the horse raced faster or my heart!

By the time the taxi driver dropped us off at 8 Steps (yes, that’s the name of the restaurant, interesting, isn’t it?) we were a little dizzy. We had to climb the stone steps up to the arty-looking restaurant, and I counted 10, not 8 steps, which already prejudiced me against the place. Then we were given a table outside (because inside all booked.) The wind was starting and the temperature was dropping, and the little boy at the next table was coughing. So we decided we could not survive the cold and the possibility of catching a virus and decided to leave. By that time it was nearly 8 p.m., so we walked around the area to try to find another restaurant, but discovered many only served coffee and cakes. We were afraid by the time we finished dinner, we might not be able to find a taxi (like last night), and this place was more remote. So we hailed a taxi and got back to a part of town that I knew from last time — to an Italian restaurant called “My Ex-wife’s Secret Recipe”. My husband has said: “No man would divorce a woman who could cook like this!”

We had prided ourselves that we managed to get around on the metro (subway) most of the time on this trip to Seoul. But this one taxi ride wiped out all our savings for all previous trips. M was feeling very chagrined, but I told her now we have experienced everything, including crossing the Han River by taxi (we’d only done it on metro before.) We crossed the Han River a few times a day (on the metro), and this time we used a different bridge since we were travelling by taxi. We had said that it would be fun to walk along the many bridges than span the Han River. So I threatened M that we had to walk back to our hotel after dinner since we’d wasted so much money, but when I saw her blanch I hastened to add: “Just kidding!” We got back to our hotel (by metro) and started to work on this blog at once. Tomorrow is our last day in Seoul.

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Adventures in JHJ country (2)

wulijohyunjae | May 4, 2009 | 7:00 am

The church in “Love Letter”

Interior of church

Yonsei University

The bend

Today (5/3/09) is Sunday, so we went to church in the morning. Please note I wrote: “we went to church”, not “we went to mass”, even though we are both Catholics. Our plan this morning was to go to Junglin-dong Yakhyun Catholic Church, you know, the church in “Love Letter” where Andrea is ordained as a priest in the very first scene of the drama. By the time we arrived at 10:30 a.m., I guess mass was over. We saw a layman leaving with the prayer books. The church was empty except for a single worshipper. We went in and said a prayer (for our families and JHJ.) We admired the stained glass windows and (secretly) took a couple of photos.

Then we went out and walked around the grounds. I was last here in August 2008 (after seeing JHJ off to join the army), and everything was as beautiful and serene as I remember them. This very elegant church, built with bricks, is just 32m. long, 12m. wide and has a 22m. high bell tower. It has no complicated ornamentation but it evokes a feeling of solemnity, and has become the model for Korean church construction. Some information on Junglin-dong Yakhyun Catholic Church: Designation: Historic site no. 252. Period: Joseon Dynasty 1892. This is the first western-style cathedral to be built in Korea. “Yakhyun” is the name of the hill between Malli-dong and Seoul Railroad Station. Long ago the area was covered with fields of medicinal herbs, “yakhyun” meaning “full of medicinal herb fields”, hence the name of the church.

Next we went to Yonsei University where the Korea Fan Meeting was held on July 19, 2008. Yonsei is one of the top three universities in Korea, known as SKY, the other two being Seoul University and Korea University. Yonsei was established in 1885 and is currently celebrating its 124th anniversary. The slogan “the first and the best” is everywhere on campus. Yonsei University is the setting for that part of “Love Letter” when the three lead characters are enrolled at university. We walked for more then an hour on the big and beautiful campus, very green and red/pink (trees and flowers.) We recalled those scenes between Andrea and Eun Ha, and between Andrea and Woo Jing, and especially that heart-rending scene when Andrea was going to give Eun Ha a bouquet of flowers, only to see she’s already holding the flowers that Woo Jing had given her, and they’re going to a concert together. This happened on that now famous road with a bend (Photo 4) which looked prettier than in the TV series because of the trees and flowers in bloom. It’s a minor miracle that I who have no sense of direction managed to locate that place to show M.

In the afternoon we went to Myeong Dong again. M had been trying to get the OST of “Love Letter”, “Forbidden Love” and “Sunshine”. We went into every CD/DVD shop we could find, without any luck until we hit upon this little shop on the way to the metro station. The very knowledgeable shop assistant dug out “Forbidden Love”. One look at the price and M screamed: “80,000 KW???!!!” (around US$65) The average CD is less than 15,000 KW. The man said “Very rare!” (in English.) I could read the conflict in M’s mind — “To buy or not to buy?” 80,000 KW is an exorbitant price, but of course everything is supply and demand. The “Forbidden Love” OST is not available anywhere, and this could be the last copy in circulation. “Very rare!” the man reiterated, and M capitulated. She knew she would regret it if she didn’t get it. At least now it’s her pocketbook that’s hurting and not her heart.

After doing a little work at the hotel, we went out for dinner — to Cheongdam-dong, the most upmarket entertainment area South of the Han River. The restaurant Queen’s Park was recommended by a friend of mine who’s working in Seoul. It’s one of his favourite restaurants that serves casual Western food. As soon as I sat down, a pretty waitress brought a footstool and set it beside me. “For your handbag.” Interesting! The food was excellent — it was supposed to be a 4-course dinner but we were served 5 courses because they made a little mistake about the entree and gave us an extra salad as compensation. M was so pleased with the food that she wanted to see the chef. I reminded her she’s not Han Yi Joon, so instead we just paid our compliments to the chef whom we discovered was Korean. We suddenly came up with a brilliant idea — wouldn’t it be great if we could hold a private birthday party for Hyun-Jae here? The restaurant is not too big, and it has a warm and cozy ambience. Dream on…..After we left the restaurant, we could not get a taxi. We saw the road was lined with Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, etc. — all expensive European cars. Nobody came in a taxi except us. We had to walk all the way back to the main road before we could flag down a taxi. We were very surprised that the taxi fare back to the hotel was one-third less than the fare to the restaurant. We checked with the Concierge and found out those black taxis parked in front of hotels cost more than the silver-grey ones on the streets. Well, it’s fitting that when you go to an expensive restaurant, you take an expensive taxi, right?

We’ll try to retire early tonight, that is, before 12. We attempted too much last night and ended up with panda eyes today. Good thing we are mirror images of one another so we can’t tease one another about it.

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Adventures in JHJ country (1)

wulijohyunjae | May 3, 2009 | 12:30 am

The traditional Korean house

The JHJ umbrella

We arrived in Seoul last evening (5/1/09) and checked into our hotel a little after 9 p.m. Would you believe that most eating places (including the hotel coffee shop) closed at 10 p.m?

This morning (5/2/09) we set out on a mission right after breakfast. In all our quest for JHJ souvenirs, we’ve never come across the umbrella you see above. Our “spy” told us it was only available in Bao Yong Joon territory. So we took a long trip north to Choongang High School. As we were crossing the Han River on the Seoul Metro, we suddenly remembered what JHJ said on “Night Heart” (YSMM) that his girlfriends were all over Seoul, from South of the Han River to North of the Han River and we had a good laugh. As we were emerging from Anguk Station, we heard the Platters’ “Only You” blaring from a magazine/newspaper shop. We knew we’d come to the right place.

It took about twenty minutes to walk from the metro station to the high school. On the way we saw a Tourist Information Centre, so we thought we’d make sure we’re on the right track. Guess what? The lady in charge sent two of her girls to guide us to our destination. We pretended we’re going to the school which was not open on Saturday. We took a picture in front of the Choongang High School anyway. This high school became famous as the setting for the early part of Bae Yong Joon’s “Winter Sonata”.

As soon as the girls left, we descended on the shop right in front of the school. And it did have the umbrella! We were so thrilled! We checked out the other umbrellas featuring Bae and 4 or 5 other Korean actors and decided JHJ’s was the most elegant. Bae’s had some trimmings but it looked too cluttered.

It was fine when we left the hotel but it was raining quite heavily by the time we got to the high school. The shopkeeper said: “You have your umbrella, so your purchase is most timely.” On no! We couldn’t use that! We had to buy another ordinary umbrella for the day’s use.

On the way back to the metro station, we went up a slope and looked around the outside of some traditional Korean houses (see photo 1) — the kind that Andrea and Eun Ha live in when they first attend university. The souvenir shop owner told us that the one used in “Love Letter” had been torn down. Do you remember Andrea sitting in front of their house and crying? There were so many buckets and potted plants in front of these that there was no place for Andrea to sit here!

After lunch we went to Myeong Dong to buy other JHJ souvenirs. Our old friend “Myeong Dong Jo Hyun Jae” was very happy see us, and like last time we almost cleaned out his shop! He did the usual routine when he escorted us out, shouting “Jo Jyun Jae! Jo Hyun Jae!” M was most amused, since this was her first encounter with Myeong Dong JHJ.

By this time the rain had stopped, so we shopped some more in Myeong Dong for JHJ CDs (OST) and other stuff. By the time we sat down for tea, we were weighed down with our purchases. We managed to secure this splendid table for two in front of the glass facade which gave us an unobstructed view of the busy thoroughfare. And we sat there for an hour sipping Caffe Latte and eating Tiramisu and watching the world go by. Seoul has a lot of beautiful young people, but of course no one could hold a candle to JHJ.

We noticed quite a few young soldiers walking with their girlfriends. We also saw four on the metro. We were wondering how come so many soldiers were on leave, along with our JHJ. Oops! The cat is out of the bag! Hush! Hush! Later! These soldiers were all wearing their camouflage uniforms (the green and brown one that JHJ was wearing in that photo with his mates.) These soldiers were quite tall and broad and not bad looking either. They all looked so happy, especially those who were with their girlfriends. What is JHJ doing? How is he spending his leave? With his family and friends? Will he leave us a message? We wish!

For dinner we of course went to Baekje Samgyetang (ginseng and chicken soup). We were very surprised it was already three-quarters full at 6:30 pm. Apparently it has gained in reputation in the last eight months. We can report its ginseng and chicken soup is as good as ever.

We haven’t had any fruit for nearly two days, so after dinner we went to Lotte Department Store. They had such mouth-watering fruits but all so expensive. We finally brought four honey tangerines and six bananas which cost as much as a JHJ CD!

When we got back to our hotel, we still had to do our homework. First we had to take a photo of the umbrella. We tried doing it in the room and in the bathroom (for optimum lighting.) Can you guess where the above photo was taken? We had to snap the photo from the underbelly of the umbrella because it has two layers (the top layer is black.) So it’s an umbrella you can actually use (you’re not walking around advertising for JHJ.) And then we had to write this report. Yawn! Yawn! So sorry, very tired. Good night! Till tomorrow……………

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We spent Valentine’s Day with Jo Hyun-Jae (Part 3)

wulijohyunjae | February 20, 2009 | 6:37 pm

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DAY 3 (2009.2.15)

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 6:25 p.m., so we still had the whole morning to spend at the photo exhibition. We were there promptly at 10 a.m.

We did the usual routine — took more photos, watched the video (for the Nth time), checked out the souvenirs, and posted more messages. We were like two old-timers, even acting as volunteer ushers — directing newcomers to the right sections.

We loitered there all morning, savouring every moment, saving every data on our P.C. (memory) — they had to last till at least June 2010.

We saw a Japanese man who was acting suspiciously. Actually he was openly taking pictures and videotaping which was suspicious since such activities were supposedly prohibited. We guessed he must have been commissioned by the authorities. Since M and I could only take photos of one another, I decided to give this professional a chance to prove his skills. I asked him to take a picture of M and me, actually two — one with JHJ’s breathtakingly handsome photo at the entrance and one with the flowers. The latter included Lee Dong Gun, unfortunately, because the man apparently did not understand my sign language when I indicated I did not want Lee in the picture. The whole of Lee was there in the photo, but I lost half of my right arm. Professionals do things differently from you and me.

M and I did one last round — to make sure we didn’t miss anything. And then we said our Goodbyes to Hyun-Jae. I don’t know if M would kill me if I reveal here HOW we said Goodbye. We looked lingeringly at those big posters (the ones outside) and we couldn’t help but caress Hyun-Jae’s face…..and hair…..and eyes…..and nose…..and ears……..We even contemplated (for a crazy moment) stealing the posters (the official fan club staff was off on weekends), but desisted for fear of making newspaper headlines.

And we almost missed Hyun-Jae’s autograph! As we were leaving, we noticed two panels (facing outside) covered with writing. On closer examination, we realized those were stars’ signatures. We quickly scanned for Hyun-Jae’s which was difficult to find (even though it was right in the centre of one panel) because it was easily lost amidst all the other more fanciful names with flourishes. His signature was pure and simple and had no decorations, unlike many of the others.

After lunch at a restaurant called English Teatime in Kintetsu, we took the train to Kansai Airport. We were listening to Hyun-Jae’s songs on our MP3s and almost didn’t hear the announcement that cars 1 – 4 were going to Kansai and cars 5 – 8 somewhere else, and that the cars would be disconnected at a certain station. As it turned out, we were in car 4.

In the course of eight months (since June 2008), I have become a seasoned star-chaser. But the only star in my firmament is JO HYUN-JAE.

NOTE: Jo Hyun-Jae’s Photo Exhibition was held in Osaka Feb. 5 – 17, 2009.

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We spent Valentine’s Day with Jo Hyun-Jae (Part 2)

wulijohyunjae | February 19, 2009 | 3:15 pm

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DAY 2 (2009.2.14)

It’s Valentine’s Day! We’re going to spend Valentine’s Day with Hyun-Jae! (or rather his photos.) The very thought warmed our hearts.

At 9:50 a.m. we were already waiting at the entrance of Kintetsu. When the second hand of the clock hit 10 p.m., we were allowed to go in. We headed for the lift, went up to the 5/F, and made a beeline for that smiling JHJ photo.

The first thing we noticed was a new flower basket (from JHJ’s Hiroshima fans.) The placing of this basket caused the Lee Dong Gun photo to be obstructing somewhat Hyun-Jae’s. M and I looked at one another, and without a spoken word, we rearranged the two photos, so that Hyun-Jae’s was now (slightly) in front.

No staff was up and about yet, so with professional speed we snapped pictures of everything. Until we got caught red-handed and were scolded (in polite Japanese way.) We just bowed and smiled, and our skin thickened by an extra mm.

Then we posted new messages on the notice board. Several messages were taken down (including ours of the day before) because the board was full, I suppose. This time we wrote in Chinese: I also wrote one for JoHyunJaeChina and JoHyunJaeTaiwan and another one for JoHyunJaeHongKong — to wish Hyun-Jae Happy Valentine’s Day and happiness forever.

We settled down to watch the DVD (actually it’s just an extract) which soon drew a crowd. It was standing room only. I gave up my seat to a little old lady. I’d already watched it 6 or 7 times the day before (while M was attempting to register with the official fan club.)

It’s Saturday. More and more people came, mostly ajumas, some with their husbands (who sat patiently through the course of the video) and children (who not so patiently listened on their MP3s or played on their PlayStations.)

We bought more JHJ souvenirs. We reckoned this was the most direct and practical way to line Hyun-Jae’s pockets while he was drawing a soldier’s pay. M bought another wall calendar, and the shop girl gave her a bag that could only hold half of it. We solved this problem by going to the Bedding Department (on a different floor) and asking for a big shopping bag (the kind used to hold pillows or blankets.) JHJ fans are smart people!

We had arranged to meet our Japanese friends Makky and Bell whom I had not seen since the Korea Fan Meeting in July 2008. Somehow we missed each other at the August 5 farewell in Seoul. M was meeting them for the first time and soon everybody was chatting like old friends. My observation: JHJ fans are all people with big hearts, full of love for their idol and fellow fans (at least those I’ve had the privilege of meeting.)

Makky and Bell took us to Osaka’s Korea Town where we had lunch (in a Korean restaurant, of course!) We exchanged notes and traded tidbits about Hyun-Jae. Makky’s JHJ site’s anniversary was coming up on February 24. We told them of our plans to start this English blog. After lunch we went to source (unofficial) JHJ souvenirs, most of which we had already bought in Seoul.

And then it was tea time. Makky and Bell said there was an interesting tea house where one could sometimes run into people of the entertainment industry. It’s a very small place, decorated with Korean stars’ memorabilia (but not even a photo of Hyun-Jae!) Already seated at a table were two friends of Makky’s — one and one-third JHJ fans. The one-third was because this Japanese lady had three loves, as evidenced by the three cell-phone straps of three Korean actors (one of which was Hyun-Jae.)

After saying good-bye to Makky and Bell around 5 p.m., we went back to the JHJ photo exhibition. We were pleasantly surprised it was still pretty crowded. Many of the JHJ souvenirs were gone, but the CD had still not arrived. I asked the shop girl and she made a phone call, after which she just said “Wait” (in Japanese.) I waited 10 minutes and asked her to call again, with the same result. I waited another 5 minutes and “made” her call again. I stood right in front of her and exerted some pressure with my formidable presence (Ha!Ha!) Actually I just looked at her beseechingly, but that was enough to produce results. She got off the phone and held up 3 fingers, struggling to find the English words. I suggested hopefully: “3 hours?” “No, no, no.” “3 days????!!!!” I shrieked. “No, no, no.” She got agitated and then disappeared behind a door. I was trying to decide whether I should pursue her when she reappeared with another shop girl who uttered the magic words: “30 minutes.” Thank God! 3 fingers meant 30 minutes? Oh, well!

M had gone back to our hotel to deposit our spoils (JHJ souvenirs bought at the exhibition earlier and at Korea Town), so I whiled away the time by watching the “Last Story” DVD again. No sooner had I pressed “Start” than all seats were taken. Again, I gave up my seat to a fellow fan since I had watched this video so many times already.

I timed my watch, and, as soon as 30 minutes had passed, I went up to the counter again. The girl saw me approaching and held up the CD, half in protest, half in surrender. She was going to charge it when I said: “No!” She looked shocked but I smiled and held up five fingers. “Five?” Boy! Was she impressed! “And another photo album.”

I met up with M and we did the rounds again, scrutinizing each photo of Hyun-Jae, committing it to memory. Poor Lee Dong Gun! His photos were totally neglected, as were his souvenirs. Out of pity, M bought one of his cell phone straps (for old time’s sake — he was an old flame.) There were also lots of souvenirs of other stars like Bae Yong-Jun, Kwon Sang- Woo, and Lee Byun-Hyun — photo albums, photo sets, necklaces, rings, magazines, Valentine stuff — but there were no takers. Everybody who was there came for Hyun-Jae.

We were about to leave for dinner when we ran into that Japanese lady again. This was the JHJ fan who bought a wall calendar but had to clutch it under her arm. We tried to tell her at our second chance encounter that she could get a bag big enough to hold it on the 8/F Bedding Department, using sign language and writing Chinese and drawing pictures. We were now meeting for the third time in one day, and we could see she was carrying the wall calendar in a big shopping bag. She rushed up to us and shook our hands, saying “Thank you” in Japanese over and over again. JHJ fans looked out for one another, that’s all. M said: “Has she been here all day?” I said: “She could say the same about us.”

We went downtown and looked around for a place to have a “romantic” Valentine’s Day dinner. We saw many young couples going down a dark flight of stairs and caught the name of the restaurant – “Love”. That’s it! Let’s try this. After venturing down two flights of stairs, we found ourselves at the foyer of the restaurant — with a bridge and stream! We were led to our private cubicle after traversing alleys and steps. And we had our own Osaka JHJ as our waiter — a fresh-faced good-looking kid (a trainee) who resembled somewhat Hyun-Jae in “First Love”. We enjoyed the decor, the ambience, the service, and, of course, the food. We only wished it wasn’t quite so dark so we could read the menu more easily.

Our Valentine Day’s adventures came to an end with our listening to Hyun-Jae’s songs which accompanied us into deep slumber.

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We spent Valentine’s Day with Jo Hyun-Jae (Part 1)

wulijohyunjae | February 18, 2009 | 9:15 am

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Actually, with his photos. On the spur of the moment, M and I decided to go to Jo Hyun-Jae’s photo exhibition in Osaka. It’s very last-minute, rush-rush, but with super-efficiency we took care of all the logistics in two days.

DAY 1 (2009.2.13)

We met up in Hong Kong and left for Osaka on Friday, Feb.13 (Black Friday!) As soon as we checked into our hotel, we headed straight for the exhibition site in Kintetsu Department Store which was right next door.

The photo exhibition was nestled in a corner of the Ladies’ Wear Department on the 5/F. From the end of the central corridor we could see Hyun-Jae smiling at us, and we sprinted towards him. (Actually it’s a larger-than-life photo of JHJ in a white shirt with a faux black tie and with his hands in his pockets.)

A little to the left were two BIG framed photographs on stands. Two? I did a double-take — Hyun-Jae was on the left, and his friend Lee Dong Gun was on the right. Turned out this was a joint photo exhibition (but in name only — because everybody came for JHJ.) The photos were surrounded by gorgeous baskets of flowers — all for Hyun-Jae. The Hyun-Jae photo was basically the same one as the one at the entrance, but this time he’s not smiling, just looking cool!

Several more giant posters came into view. We greedily devoured everything — it’s a visual feast! Then we saw a young lady sitting at a desk (turned out to be a staff member of the official JHJ Fan Club. ) We asked her if we could buy the posters and she said No.
“But we came all this way just for this!”
“From where?”
“Hong Kong.” (from M) “U.S.A.” (I flew from L.A. just two days ago.)
“Wow! Really?”
“Yes, really!”
“But you still can’t buy these posters because they’re not for sale.”

“Let’s check out the photos first,” I said to M. (After all, that’s what we came for.) The first photo was a bird’s eye view of the June 23, 2008 Tokyo Fan Meeting, second part (JHJ in casual clothes.) I scanned the packed auditorium but could not find myself. The other 40-something photos were mostly taken at either the Tokyo Fan Meeting or Osaka Fan Meeting (June 22, 2008), plus Hyun-Jae in T-shirt and jeans at rehearsals and entering the venues. Two were of Hyun-Jae at the “G.P.506″ press conference.

We did a quick round of the photos and came to a glass display case, within which were the following precious items:
1. a red-and-white pullover sweater (no label, so we guessed hand-knitted by Mrs. Jo, his Mom.)
2. a narrow black-and-purple striped tie (from his teenage days?)
3. “G.P.506″ poster
4. Hand-written 2008 Christmas card to official JHJ Fan Club members (read: Japanese — made us very jealous!)
5. Two autographed photos
6. Three previously unpublished photos

Next to this was a mini-theatre where the “Last Story” DVD was being played (and there was no shortage of viewers.) It was a shock to hear my own disembodied voice saying: “Beijing, China.” It was that memorable moment at the Osaka Fan Meeting when overseas fans were invited to go to the stage and each asked where he/she was from. What followed of course was the 7 or 8 of us playing “Stone, Paper, Scissors” with Hyun-Jae and me losing (Sigh!) The lucky winners were Greencup of Taiwan and a member of CAFE Korea who appeared for more than a minute on the video, immortalized forever!

The JHJ souvenirs were in another room beyond. Items on sale included the wall calendar, photo album, “Seo Dong Yo” DVD (2 volumes only), “3 Dads/1 Mom” DVD, “Only You” OST, “3 Dads/1 Mom” OST, magazines with JHJ on the cover, and two sets of photos. The desk calendar and the CD were sold out! We were told more CDs would be delivered the next day, and they were taking orders for the desk calendar.

There was a notice board on which fans posted messages for Hyun-Jae. There was hardly any space left, but I managed to squeeze one in at the bottom — “Dear HJ, You are my favourite actor in the whole world!” 95% of the messages were written in Korean which really surprised me. Presumably most of these messages were left by JHJ’s Japanese fans, so either: (1) they were all proficient in Korean, or more likely, (2) they all prepared a message in Korean. And all I could write was Hyun-Jae’s name in Korean and “Fighting!”

We went back to Miki, the official JHJ Fan Club staff, and told her we wanted to join. She asked if we had a credit card because they did not accept cash. I left M to start the process of registering while I wandered all over the place again. And I walked around (occasionally sitting down) for more than an hour (no exaggeration) and she’s still not done. Problems: telephone number not accepted, e-mail address not accepted, credit card not accepted. They tried and tried. We used all four credit cards (from different international banks) that we had between us and all were rejected. Miki said foreign credit cards usually had this problem. By the time I could memorize all the details at the exhibition site, I told M it’s time to give up. We’re doomed to be on the outside looking in. We were going to take one last look and call it a day.

While we were poring over the souvenirs, Miki came to us excitedly and said she had found a way to get round the hurdles. Poor girl made over a dozen phone calls for us. So we started all over again. Still it wasn’t smooth sailing all the way. I had to use two different e-mail addresses before I was accepted. But everything still hinged on one final detail which I’m not at liberty to disclose here. When that last piece of the puzzle falls into place, then we can become members of the official JHJ Fan Club. By the time we were finished, it was 8 p.m. — closing time of the photo exhibition, end of Miki’s work week, and three hours after our arrival at the site. We were very grateful to Miki for devoting over two hours to helping us, though we wished they wouldn’t make it quite so hard for us non-Japanese JHJ fans. Still, our persistence paid off (at least we hope so.)

And then we remembered it was Black Friday.