Day 1 - Thursday
We left around 4 pm and got stuck in rush hour in Salt Lake. I didn't remember it being that bad but it took us 1 hr to get from 33rd to point of the mountain... 1 HOUR - that's ridiculous. We headed to one of my big brother's homes in Orem and yes, I took the wrong exit... turned around... went down a wrong street (one over too many) so first day of the trip 2 wrong turns..not bad in my book. :) It was nice to visit with John and Mikey, drop off the books of my dad's that he wanted. Hearing more about my marital situation and knowing that Liv and I were driving alone, he walked us to the car and told me to pop the hood. :) I miss that. The manners my dad taught my brothers and the example he left them of how to care for a woman. He confirmed I needed more oil, which I had guessed, and sent us on our way. Yes, I do know how to check my oil and had intended to do so at the next gas stop - it just touched me that he would think to do that for me. I'm sure at 63 he didn't think he'd be looking after his 49 yr old little sister.
We stopped in Spanish Fork, heading towards old stomping grounds, filled up with gas, oil and diet coke with peach flavoring. We arrived in St George around 11 pm and had a great night in a new hotel. We stayed in the Tru Hotel, one of the lines from Hilton.
Day 2 - Friday
Check out was at noon but we were good and were gone by 11 am. We are sleeping creatures lol. The trip to LA was shorter than I remember, I think that happens when you are the one driving.
We hit a bit of rush hour but the delay was mostly on the opposite side of the freeway, the slow down to random 40 mph every now and then - a BONUS! Didn't get lost at ALL on Friday. Google took us up by the graveyard and past the Warner Brothers Movie Lot on our way to our Hilton Garden Hotel 3 blocks from the Hollywood Bowl. Having her dad fund our trip was a plus, as he is a Diamond member with Hilton and receives perks like free water, discounted parking, and free breakfasts at the restaurant.
We had dinner at the restaurant that night, deciding to have sit down, real food lol. The steak was down as requested and delicious, Olivia ate 1/2 her burger, and we finished ALL of the steak fries with bacon and bleu cheese appetizer .... soooooooo good. The beds were a little harder of mattresses with fluffy flat pillows. Olivia went to get the extra ones from the closet, opened the bag and proclaimed that someone had farted in the bag and zipped it up. LMAO. We didn't use them.
Day 3 - Saturday - FESTIVAL
We slept in and missed free breakfast but had a couple of doughnuts from our goodie bag. We headed to the festival around 3 so we could hit the booths outside.
This year the regular ones were there but required different things which was nice. Korean Air and Delta Air have teamed up to fly internationally - super excited about that. I'm all restocked on my reusable ( nonplastic ) tote bags. I now have 4 tiny Korean flags lol, I won 10 facial masks, got some vitamin samples and lighted foam sticks to use during the concert.
I heard many fans comment on the line up that they weren't getting tickets because even though Super Junior and Taemin were coming, the tickets weren't worth it. I admit that I was skeptical at the line up but they all did a great job and it was very enjoyable.
The MC is from a variety show that we watch, he was funny and he was the first act. All Asian idols are trained as singer/dancer/actor/models so that they can perform anywhere. He sang & danced, has a good voice! He was a total fan boy with one of the artists and I'll mention that at that artist. His name is Kim Yeong-cheol and he came out for the first half in a bright green suit with orange inside the coat and orange socks to match!
I really need a better camera on my phone or just to take a good camera with me period.
Lovelyz, a girl group I'm not familiar with except one song was next. They remind me of Twice but slower and with less members. The female MC is a member of this group. The did a good job, were very cute, had on great outfits.
There were several solo artists:
Ha Sung-woon from the group Winner was there as a solo artist. You could tell he was nervous but he did amazing - I don't expect anything less from idols, they work too hard. He was really cute and STORY TIME.
Early that afternoon when Liv and I were lazing around eating our doughnuts, I opened the black out curtains to look out at the street and weather. While car watching (no one really on the sidewalks) I noticed a guy looking very "touristy". He had his phone out and up, like he was filming and chatting while doing so. When the sirens blared (on and off all night - gotta love LA!) he turned to find them with his phone, kept going forward then back. I mentioned what I thought so Liv came to see and give her opinion. We both decided he looked like an idol but too young for Super Junior - only one other solo artist but probably not - there was no security, he was all alone, no face mask or hat. Before we closed the blinds he passed the hotel across the street where two Korean women were just heading out. They noticed him, gasped (hand over mouth and everything), phones up and followed him. He had quickly turned away upon seeing them and increased his pace. When Sung-woon came out on stage, his hair had indeed been dyed that color and we confirmed it was him wondering around - ALONE. A few blocks down is not the best of neighborhoods so we wondered where he was coming from and rather perplexed as to who let him out alone to wander the streets of LA.
There were two trot singers, both well known in Korea and in their late 60's. As Asians, yep they still look great, still have energy and sounded amazing. Liv and I loved Choi Jin-hee's dress and Tae Jin-ah made Olivia's day by coming onto the stage in a BRIGHT yellow suit, coat and hat! He even made security unhappy by walking into the audience and greeting fans. :D
Jung Eun-Ji from APink (they came 3 yrs ago when we were there) came as a solo artist. They sound great as a group but when they can show that they really can sing and sing extremely well on their own? It makes my heart happy.
Kim Bum-soo, he name sounded really familiar so I looked him up. I didn't recognize him but apparently he's been in the business for 20 yrs and is only a few years younger than me. He is one of the top singers in Korea and the place went WILD for him. This venue and event is mostly rich, older Asians or rich Asians and their kids. Fans of the kpop groups or idols who come fill up other seats. He jumped off the stage, held a baby, greeted fans and even did an ENCORE. I've never seen an encore at the festival. He came back from another entrance, through the crowd, the spotlight, the MC's, no one but those he was singing by could find him until the chorus.
Remember I said the MC was a HUGE fanboy? He is, of Kim Bum-soo. He admitted it to all of us and he showed it - so cute. He would sneak back on stage to film a song or take pictures. He would come out and do the hand clapping along - it was fun to see a star be another star's fan.
Two Korean Opera Singers CAME! A tenor and a soprano: Choi Won-hyun and Kang Hae-jung. I was raised on Opera, I was trained to sing Opera, I love Opera with all my heart and soul; therefore, I am PICKING about my opera singers and these two did NOT disappoint. Such clear beautiful notes, no sliding to notes, no breathiness - ahhhhh - it was heaven and I had bliss for 4 magical songs. The guys behind us were critical at first until the tenor hit his notes and they noticed me filming each song. That's right fools, idols hit great notes but opera singers hit stronger, longer ones.
6 Band came again, they were there last year but as Rose Motel. Rose Motel disbanded but the two guys that started it stayed and just renamed the group. Again, the guys behind us were critical because yeah, one of the dudes looks old and funny but they sound great, are an actual band and the funny looking guy? He knows how to get a crowd hyped!
=The two people we went for:
SUPER JUNIOR and TAEMIN
SOOOOOOOOOOOO worth the short travel. I may never get to South Korea or be able to get tickets here in the states or they may be disbanded by the time I can. Both SJ and Taemin are with the same company, SM Entertainment and have both been around for over 10 yrs. Taemin is a part of the group SHINEE but his other members are serving in the military and he does solo as well.
Professional, veteran idols .... AHHHHHHHHH ... is all I can say, so, so worth it. Super Junior used to have over 12 members and many subunits but as of right now, there are only 8 members. They just finished a comeback tour around Asia. Taemin came straight from his solo Asia tour, they have tight schedules but came the 12 to 14 hr plane rides to see us and perform 3 songs. What they do for their fans.
My camera sucks, I couldn't get all 6 of them on stage, they were so spread out, the camera man couldn't and didn't on the big screen so enjoy Leetyuk (leader of Super Junior) and Donghae (my bias) - white suit is Taemin. Oh yeah - being the veteran group they are, the leader didn't care and was the first of all the performers to jump from the stage and run into the fans to meet them. Olivia said Leetyuk has had no justice as he is much more handsome in person - bad photographers.
We were shocked that Taemin (main headliner - people wanted encore from him but it didn't happen) wasn't the closing act. Instead a hip hop group DJ Doc was. They came 3 yrs ago so we were familiar with them - another group that gets the crowd hyped.
We were a little further back than we wanted but it was what we could afford and honestly we were just happy we were able to go!
Still not too bad of seats but my old eyes... sigh I'm saving up to sit back in the garden boxes again (in front of us in the picture) and next year we are bringing my DIL Abby along - a true girls weekend. :)
