Exactly a year ago, I was with my sister and brother at the Araneta Coliseum for Super Show 3. It was a fun night indeed. And the happiness I felt at that time, I experienced again last week.

I mentioned earlier that I was in Singapore for Super Show (SS) 4. I never thought it would be possible for me, to go to another country for a concert. But as what  others say: if there's a will, there's a way. And I had all the will, so all I needed to do was find the way or all the ways.

PLANNING FOR THE SHOW

Immediately after I found out that Manila would not be part of the SS 4 tour, I started asking friends if they had friends in Singapore who could buy tickets for me. The tickets for the show were being sold on a weekend and on the first day of the sale, tickets were to be sold only to OCBC card holders. I did not own an OCBC card. Plus, tickets for SS3 in Singapore were sold out last year, so to get tickets for sure, I had to ask someone living there to buy them.

What I wanted originally were moshpit tickets (or standing VIP), similar to the ones I bought in the previous SSs I've been to. Those tickets were all sold right away and so I got balcony tickets, which would be like Upper Box B if I was watching in Araneta. Not what I really wanted but hey, I still got the tickets,  many thanks to a friend of a friend.

 

I thought I was all set for Singapore after getting the tickets, but boy I was wrong. As my mom was placing the reservation for airline tickets, we found out that my passport would be valid for less than six months by the time I go to Singapore. I had to get a new passport, which of course would take time. Sure, there's a media courtesy lane but I had to get a letter of endorsement from my boss then to avail of that. In case you are not aware, I work mostly outside of our office, which meant getting a letter of endorsement would entail extra time. Apart from that, I was about to tender my resignation. It just did not seem right to ask for a letter and then tell her I was leaving my post. But I guess the universe was on my side because a colleague who also needed to get a new passport had a friend at the DFA who could help us get our passports at a shorter period of time. And so I got my passport. But just when I thought everything was going to be alright, there was one more problem.

I was moving to a new company and I had to start working there on the 16th. My trip to Singapore was on the 17th though, and it did not seem proper to ask for a vacation leave on my second day of work. But again, the universe was on my side because my new boss allowed me to start officially on the 21st instead. She even told me to enjoy my vacation. So to Singapore I went with my brother Pox.

OCULAR VISIT

Pox and I arrived in Singapore on the 17th, a day before the concert. Since we were not familiar where the Singapore Indoor Stadium was, we decided to get directions and check out the site.  When we got there, we saw other ELFs (Everlasting Friends or what Super Junior fans are called) who looked like they were waiting for someone. I decided to join the group and found out that they were waiting for none other than the SuJu members who were in the stadium for their rehearsal. I told my brother that since we were already there, we might as well wait. We didn't wait for long because after like 30 minutes, the boys started going out of the stadium. I tried to take photos but because the crowd got excited, myself included, I forgot that my camera had a zoom function and decided to just click and click. The photos may just seem to show random people, but I swear, those random people include the SuJu oppas. 

 

 Even after the vans had left, some fans still wanted to get a glimpse of the boys.

 

 SHOW DAY

 

FAN MERCH

The following day, my brother and I decided to go to the stadium early so that we could get some SuJu merchandise. We wanted to get the blue fan light sticks. At the Araneta last year, all the light sticks raised by the fans looked really beautiful. Anyway, the merchandise booth was scheduled to open at 1 p.m. We arrived at the stadium at 12:50 p.m., and the queue for the goodies was just sooooo long. You'd think those in the queue would start leaving after it began to rain but no one left the line even if some did not have an umbrella. You know what they say, no pain, no gain. And like everyone else, my brother and I waited.

The show was starting at 6 p.m. so when I saw that it was already past 5 and there were still around 30 people before me at the queue, I started to worry. What if there was no merch left for me? While I only wanted to get the fan light stick, initially, I thought that buying a name tag for my luggage, a cable winder and a shirt wouldn't be a bad idea. Since I had been waiting for five hours, I might as well get more stuff, right? At 5:30 p.m. though, one of the organizers told us that we had to leave the queue because we were no longer going to be served.  She said we had to go inside the stadium because the show was going to start soon. I was pissed. My brother even blurted out the F word because, well, we waited for so long. The girl  apologized several times, to us and to about a hundred other fans waiting in line. There was nothing we could do.

As my brother and I were about to enter the stadium though, I saw another booth which had no queue, selling SuJu CDs. I decided to check it out first since I don't have the first album and the Super Junior Happy CDs yet. When I got to the booth, I saw something even better, the SS 3 DVD which I have been looking for for the longest time. I decided to get it instantly.

 

THE SHOW

I was still a bit pissed when I got inside the stadium because I still couldn't forget the four and half hours of waiting in line that had gone to waste, but the moment the lights went off except for the blue fan lights, I had totally forgotten about it. I was all smiles the moment the boys started singing Super Man. 

Just like the previous SSs, the show lasted for about 3 hours. The synchronized dance moves, solo performances, video intermission, funny costumes, fireworks, and fan service were still part of the show. I would not say it was similar to going to the previous shows though because SS4 had what economists would call, value added.

The boys had a stage which moved this time around. But that's not all. There was a water fountain too. Picture this, fireworks and a water fountain, while the boys are singing and dancing on the moving stage. The only word I could think of while watching was:"WOW!"

 

 

I mentioned the costumes. The costumes are wackier this time because they are dressed up as popular characters. They were dressed as vegetables in SS3.

Leeteuk - Hulk Hogan

Yesung - Chuckie of Child's Play

Shindong - Britney Spears

Sungmin - Marilyn Monroe

Eunhyuk - chicken mascot (I am not sure where that chicken appeared but he still looked cute anyway.)

Donghae - Charlie Chaplin

Siwon - Superman

Ryeowook - Gollum

Kyuhyun - Steve Jobs

 

 

Apart from the usual fan service, which involves shaking hands with the fans and taking polaroids with them, the boys this time around asked a fan to be Sungmin's girlfriend and to come up the stage. The girl's favorite SuJu member however, is Kyuhyun so when Leeteuk asked her who she would choose to be her boyfriend, she picked Kyuhyun. While on stage, the boys taught her some dance steps she would be doing with Kyuhyun for one of their songs. She is one lucky fan.

 

Overall, it was an amazing night. I had a lot of fun and I was just really happy. The SuJu boys have that effect on me. No matter now sad or upset I am, I just have to listen to their songs or watch their videos and I feel much much better afterwards. I don't know how long that will work for me but for now, I am happy.  If Happee Sy of Pulp Productions, who made SS2 and SS3 in Manila possible, would by any chance say she's bringing the boys to Manila for SS4, I am definitely watching the boys again.

 

 POST SCRIPT

I saw this article : http://kavenyou.com/highlights/lasers-fireworks-water-jets-and-shining-stars-at-super-show-4-in-singapore/ and question number 3 is very similar, if not exactly the same to a question I posted on Running Into The Sun's Facebook page when they asked what question would we want to ask if we get to meet SuJu.  Haha. I am a reporter after all.