You guys.

I got to attend Junho’s fanmeeting here in Singapore, on 8 December 2023, and I am still kinda in a daze right now, a full week later.

I mean. I got to see Junho in the flesh; in REAL LIFE. 😱

How very surreal, honestly. 🫠

When I’d asked on Patreon, if you guys felt it was worthwhile for me to write a post about my experience even though I don’t have great photos and videos, I got a resounding, collective ‘yes’ in response – so here I am.

For the record, I will be sharing other fans’ photos and videos, which are much better than mine, to help to make the fanmeeting come alive for you, as much as possible.

So here’s an upfront THANK YOU to all my fellow Junho fans, for taking such great pictures and videos, and being so generous to share them with all of us. ❤️

CONTEXT: WHAT KIND OF FAN AM I?

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’d know that it’s been a looong minute since I’ve attended an in-person fanmeeting.

I have to admit that I am just not the kind of fan to get on a plane to go see her fave artists; it’s an expensive endeavor, and my budget doesn’t quite allow for such big splurges.

Also, I’m a huge homebody, which means that even if a star were to come to Singapore, I’d have to really love them enough, to want to brave the crowds for them.

I did it once for Gong Yoo, 10 whole years ago, when I had my big Gong Yoo adventure in Tokyo.

And now, I got to go out and brave the crowds to see Junho too.

Yes, that says a lot (for me), about how much I love Junho. 🥰

HOW I ENDED UP GOING TO THE FANMEET

Honestly, even though I knew that Singapore would be one of the stops for Junho’s fanmeeting tour, I wasn’t actually sure that I would be able to go.

As many of you know, I had a pretty major surgery on 29 September 2023, and spent several days in the hospital, before I was allowed to go home to continue my recuperation.

Tickets went on sale when I was still in the hospital, when I was in no shape to actually think about anything, really.

I was discharged on 2 October 2023, which was the day ticket sales opened to the general public (versus Live Nation members), and as you can imagine, I wasn’t in great shape still, even though I’d been discharged.

But thanks to Princess Jasmine, who gathered all the information for me, and then sent it to me, and even tried out the ticketing system for herself, so that she could explain to me how it worked, I was able to purchase my ticket, despite still being drugged up on painkillers.

Thank you, Princess Jasmine! 😘

ACTUALLY GOING TO THE FANMEET

As it turned out, even though the fanmeeting was 10 full weeks after my surgery, come time for the fanmeeting, I was (and still am) not quite back to my pre-surgery self.

And so, it was still a little daunting to leave the house to go to a big event, since my surgical wound was still tender, to the extent that when I was in a moving vehicle, I could feel every bump, jerk and vibration, in the wound itself.

That definitely added to the pre-event nerves, but I put on a girdle to support the wound (which is on my abdominal area), and my comfiest, cushiest shoes (for shock absorption purposes 😅), and headed out, already feeling in a daze, that I was actually going to be seeing Junho ‘live’ – ahhh! 😱

As MC predicted, the excitement definitely helped to buoy me along, and I sometimes almost forgot that I was still nursing a surgical wound.

Heh. Such is the power of Junho, yes? 😁

ARRIVING AT THE VENUE

It was pouring heavily when I got to the venue of the fanmeet, The Star Theatre, but I didn’t mind, coz there was a nice sheltered walkway from the train station to the The Star Vista, which is the mall in which the theater’s located.

Also, the mall had put up these twinkly, dainty star lights for the festive season – aren’t they pretty? 🤩

I thought they were suitably festive, for my big evening of Junho. 😁

I quickly found my way to the escalator leading up to the theater, and found this sign, which informed me that I was, indeed, on the cusp of my evening of Junho.

The escalator brought me to Level 3, which was a holding area of sorts, where fans stood around and waited for the doors to open.

This was a multi-stage process, in a manner of speaking, because the doors that I’m talking about, aren’t the doors to the auditorium, but to the escalators leading to the foyer of the theater area.

This holding area had a nice big restroom for guests to use if they needed to, and I noticed that there were a bunch of Korean fans resting on the long bench at the restroom entrance.

That’s when it dawned on me that there were going to be lots of fans who’d flown in specially for this event.

Wow.. I have so much respect for fans who have the dedication to do that, seriously.

Soon after I made my restroom stop, queues started forming at the two ends of the holding area, because there were two escalator entrances, one at either end.

Once they opened the two stations for people to pass through, we went up a loooong escalator, which brought us to Level 5, the actual entrance area of the theater, where we scanned our tickets to enter through the gantries.

We had to then go through a security bag check, before we were allowed to enter the foyer area proper.

Even though I’d been pretty near the front of the queue to enter the theater area, the foyer was already full of fans, and I realized that these were all the fans who’d won seats at the soundcheck party, and had already seen Junho, by this point.

That would explain the high level of buzz already in the air, as I entered; these folks were already high on fangirl adrenalin, after seeing Junho! (So jealous!🤭)

There was a side table where these printed placards were stacked, with signs instructing fans to pick one up for the fanmeet.

These were prepared by the fan club folks, and I love how they’d thoughtfully put instructions on the English side, so that we’d know what to do with it.

This way, we’d be able to seamlessly participate in the event that the fan club had prepared for Junho, even though most of us weren’t actually involved in prepping the event. Nice.

I liked that this allowed me to feel included, even though all I was doing, was attending the event. 🥰

(THANK YOU, FAN CLUB FOLKS! 🙆🏻‍♀️)

There was a giant queue at the merchandise station, which I opted to bypass, because I’d already splurged on a top-tier ticket and wanted to save money (yes, I am a bad fan 🙈).

There was also a big crowd around two tall round tables near the merchandise queue, where people were gathered to write notes to Junho on post-its, which were then posted to two big boards nearby.

It didn’t register in my head that these were actually for the fanmeeting itself, and that perhaps I should also write a note to Junho; I was more intimidated by the large crowd, and didn’t feel up to getting into the thick of it, for a chance to write on a post-it. 😅

In retrospect, this was a dumb decision, but.. it’s too late now. 🙈

I’ll talk more about these post-its later.

What I did do, was go to a different counter, where I could redeem the photo-card that came with my ticket.

This is what my own little piece of Junho looks like (I took these pix after getting home, as you can tell from the fact that the background is my mattress cover 😅):

After I got my precious photo-card, I didn’t know what else to do with myself, plus, I was feeling quite overwhelmed by the crowd as well, so I made my way to my seat.

I went up another flight of stairs to get to the correct auditorium door which was stated on my ticket, and there, a few pleasant ushers guided me and a few other people, inside to our respective seats.

At the time that I got to my seat, it was about 6:45pm, and there were still 45 minutes to go, before the start of the fanmeeting.

There were very few people in the auditorium at this point, so I happily sat in the semi-darkness, amid the roving lights, and soaked up the feels.

They were playing Junho’s music over the PA system, so I also felt like I was getting a bit of an education, coz I am (clearly) a bad fan; I don’t know Junho’s music like most other fans do.

But, I did recognize his voice right away – so that counts for something? 😅

This was the view from my seat:

THE FANMEET

My caveat: I’m writing all of this from memory, coz I didn’t take any notes, and went in not even really sure if I was going to write about the experience, so if you were there, and notice that I’ve got some details wrong, feel free to share the more correct version of events, in the comments!

I can’t remember the exact time, but I do know that the fanmeeting didn’t start at 7:30pm sharp.

I was a little antsy in my seat by this time, because it felt like I’d been waiting forever to see Junho, but that all melted away, the minute the lights dimmed – which prompted a collective screeaam from the audience – and the spotlight shone on a single mic on a stand, in the center of the stage.

Obviously, this was for Junho, and everyone was clearly extremely excited, because it felt like every little shift in terms of the stage or lights triggered a scream from the audience, heh. 😁

But, Junho didn’t come onstage just yet.

First, we were treated to a little slideshow, giving us a nice little overview of the various shades of Junho: as an idol, and also, as an actor.

And then, finally, it happened: Junho made his entrance, and I’m so grateful to YouTube user sh3jh, who captured it all on camera for us.

Entrance + Opening performances

Check out Junho’s casually laidback silhouette, as he saunters onstage to take the mic, and then after an offhanded “What’s up, Singapore?,” launches into an opening rendition of “Nobody Else.”

Entrance + Nobody Else

Eeee!!!

At this point, I thought I should mention that I didn’t scream much at all, for most of the fanmeeting.

I just had this dazed, goofy grin on my face throughout, pretty much. The cuter or swoonier Junho was, the bigger my goofy grin got. 😁😅

For the curious, Junho did speak a fair amount of English during the fanmeeting, though there was also a translator who remained a disembodied voice throughout. She would translate whenever Junho would speak Korean.

If you’ve seen footage of Junho speaking English in the early days, versus now, you’d be able to see that he’s come a long way, in getting more fluent and confident in speaking English.

And I really felt like a proud fan, to see him be so much more at ease speaking English now, with his international fans; it shows how much effort he’s put into it, and how much progress he’s made, as a result. 🤩

After that, Junho took some time to say hello to the audience, and you can check it out here, credit to YouTube user JosLovesFood:

Junho’s voice

You can’t really hear it in the recordings, but live, you could hear that Junho’s voice wasn’t at 100%.

From time to time, he’d turn away from the mic to cough or clear his throat, and you could hear that his speaking voice was deeper and huskier.

I mean, my heart was definitely wobbling at the huskier voice because, dang, it’s sexy 🔥, but at the same time, as a fan, I felt so bad for him, that he was feeling under the weather, and was still pushing himself to perform, for us. 💔

Thank you, Junho-shhi, for doing that for us, but please, please take care of yourself first, and do feel better soon. 🥹

The opening set

He sang a couple more songs in this opening set, and my favorite was “Nothing But You.”

I like the groove of it, and the synthesizer sound has a throwback feel that I dig. Also, it’s got a pretty strong rock beat anchoring it, but still manages to sound so breezy and catchy. Likey muchey. 😍

(In fact, that’s the song I’ve got on loop right now, as I’m typing this. 🥰)

This is also probably as good a time as any, to mention that I was really very taken with what I think of as Junho’s signature move, with the mic stand.

He has this way of using his foot to pivot the mic stand, so that it swoops up (like, practically jumps up, but with a really smooth sort of motion) from lying on the ground, right into his hand. He did this several times during the fan meet, and it was as cool, every time. 🤩

His years of experience using mic stands, from his many years as an idol, totally shows – he makes it look so natural and effortless, and I spazz. 😍

There’s a clip later on in this post where you can see him do that move (I’ll let you know when to look out for it), but for now, here’s the first set of songs, credit to YouTube user sh3jh.

Canvas

Nothing But You (my fave from this set! 😍)

Flashlight

Fan Interaction Segments

After the opening performances, an MC joined Junho onstage for the fan interaction segments, of which there were quite a few.

I think that’s the difference between a fanmeeting and a concert.

In a concert, the emphasis is on the performances, whereas in a fanmeeting, the emphasis is on the opportunity for fans to interact with their idol.

The MC kicked off the segment, with a bit of small talk with Junho, and the key takeaway that we all got from this segment, is Junho saying that one of the things he likes to do, particularly after an event, is to search his name (ie. on the internet).

That is so candid of him, isn’t it?? 😁

Junho-shhi, if you’re reading this, would you consider also reading my k-love confession post in your honor? It’s where I talk about all the things that I admire about you. 🥲

MBTI segment

After this, the MC asked Junho about his MBTI type, and Junho stated that he’s an ENTJ.

I was quite amused at the fact that Junho says that his MBTI type keeps changing each time he takes it, because of the various characters that he plays.

I have some experience with MBTI, and have worked with people certified in administering MBTI, and as I understand it, your MBTI type does not change over time.

And so, I can only conclude that Junho must be deep in his method acting, for his characters to actually have an effect on how he tests, on MBTI. 😅

The whole segment was quite cute, with the MC handing Junho an iPad where various characteristics of the ENTJ type were listed, and asking Junho to circle the ones that he felt accurately described him.

First, it was cute because Junho ended up circling just about every item on that grid. Heh. He’s always such an over-achiever, isn’t he? 😆

Second, it was funny how, when he circled the box that said “patience,” the entire audience went, “Nooooo~” – because everyone didn’t think of him as being patient, ha.

It’s quite cute, how Junho then asked fans to give him an example of when he wasn’t patient. 😆

Check out the clip below (credit to X user @2pmleejunho06):

I have to confess that I was part of the chorus of “Nooo’s” during this segment, but on hindsight, I actually agree that Junho is patient.

I think that he was just differentiating between “patience” and “strong desire to win,” which was another box on the grid.

I think all of us present, were probably thinking of how competitive he tends to be, especially when playing games, and we probably equated that to being impatient, thus the chorus of “Noooo’s.” 😅

But if you think about how long Junho’s been working at his craft, and how he’s risen from being disdained by folks for not being handsome enough, when he’d first debuted, and how he’d felt like the least busy (ie, least popular) among the 2PM boys, in the early years, he’s really been patient, hasn’t he?

He never gave up, and just kept working hard, and working to improve himself, and get better at the various facets of his craft, over the years, until he’s reached this moment – his moment – when finally, FINALLY, he’s being acknowledged in the way that he could only dream of, once upon a time. 🥹

I take it back, Junho-sshi; you do absolutely have patience. 🥲

Drama segment

During this interview segment, the MC brought the focus to Junho’s two most recent dramas, “The Red Sleeve” and “King The Land.”

First, for “The Red Sleeve,” Junho was asked to re-enact one of the scenes, which you can check out here (credit to X user @Labyrinth_101):

The part of this segment that left the bigger impression, though, was the one for “King The Land,” where the MC asked Junho to re-enact one of the well-known lines – “Why aren’t you always thinking about me?” – in Singlish.

It’s hilariously cute, and Junho’s pretty darn spot-on, with his Singlish cadence. 🤭

Check it out here (credit to YouTube user sh3jh):

Tee hee hee! Adorable, yes? 😍

Fan messages segment

Next up, was the fan messages segment, and it was only at this point that I belatedly realized that by walking past these boards in the foyer, I’d passed up the chance to potentially interact with Junho, one-on-one. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I said it was a dumb decision, didn’t I? 🙈

ANYWAY.

Junho picked several messages from the boards, and had one-on-one interactions with these very fortunate fans, and then took selfies with them.

Some selfies were technologically enabled, ie, the fans didn’t actually get to get up close and personal with Junho, but the cameras made it such that they were photographed in the same frame.

And then, for other cases, Junho did go down to personally speak with the fans and take the selfies together, like, literally take their phones in his hand and snap the photo for them. Ahhh!

And those fans also got hugs, you guys. HUGS.

Faint. 🫠

One lady said that she’d brought her entire family to Singapore for a holiday, just so that she could attend Junho’s fanmeeting.

Another revealed that she’d only become a fan because her husband had gotten her to watch “King The Land,” and now, he’d come to attend the fanmeeting with her.

Junho then took a selfie with her husband, and it was SHO CUTE! 😆🤩

The interaction that sticks in my mind the most, though, is the one where the fan said that she’s a nurse from Malaysia, and that Junho had been a great source of happiness in her life.

She said in her note, that if Junho saw her message, she only wished that he’d say out loud, that he is happy.

Junho was super touched by this message (as was I), and he asked her to come up front, and he went down from the stage to greet her face to face, and take a selfie with her, and give her a hug.

Sooo heartwarming and sweet, seriously. 🥰

Check it out here, credit to YouTube user JosLovesFood.

Giveaway segment

The final fan interaction segment was a lucky draw event, where a table of prizes was brought out, which included bottles of Sauvage Dior, which he endorses, and a grand prize of a pair of sunglasses by Gentle Monster.

Winners’ seat numbers were called out, and the camera would zoom to each winner’s face, so that we could see them on the big screen – but winners didn’t get to receive their prizes directly from Junho, sadly.

They would pick up their prizes after the event.

Too bad about not being able to receive their prizes from Junho, but still! Winners! Picked by Junho! (Also jealous. 🤭)

More performances

I think we were then treated to a video segment, while Junho made a wardrobe change.

And the video segment included this sweet handwritten letter from Junho, to all his fans (credit to YouTube user JosLovesFood):

I honestly don’t remember much else about the video segment. 😅

All I know is, Junho looked magnificent in the glittery studded leather jacket and otherwise all-black ensemble, when he returned to the stage.

Woahh. So cool. So handsome. So wow. 🤩

I couldn’t tear my eyes away (not that I’d torn my eyes away before, but.. you get what I mean. 😅)

I don’t remember the order in which Junho performed this set of songs, but this second set included “So Good,” “I’m in Love,” “Can I” (Korean version), and “Zero Point.”

And I just wanted to say that my favorite of this set, was “Can I.”

I’ve really, really liked “Can I” ever since the Japanese version was first released, and it’s grown on me more and more, since then.

Not only is it very catchy, it’s also a song that’s very difficult to sing, and I imagine, difficult to write.

And yet, he nails it so effortlessly, with the very wordy lyrics, the wide vocal range, and the phrasing that sometimes barely allows any room to breathe – AND he performs the complicated, detailed dance choreography in perfect sync, at the same time, like it’s all second nature.

SO impressive, y’all. 🤩🤩🤩

I feel that this really demonstrates his abilities as a songwriter and singer, and I couldn’t feel prouder, as a fan. 🥰

Here are the various performances from this set – again, credit to YouTube user sh3jh.

Please enjoy:

So Good

I’m in Love:

Can I (Korean version) (my fave from this set 😍):

Zero Point (so happy and cute!):

Fan video event

The point when Junho said that he wanted to take a group photo with the audience, was when the fan-prepared video event finally happened.

The fan club folks had painstakingly prepared a video, including clips of Junho (there’s one bit where you can see him do his mic stand move! 🤩), as well as messages from fans.

We all held up the placards when prompted by the screen, and I struggled to sing along to the lyrics onscreen (see what happens when you’re a bad fan and don’t know Junho’s songs by heart? 🙊😅).

You can check out the fan video here (credit to X user @Leejunhodotsg):

Junho’s closing words

Much too soon, it was time for the fanmeeting to draw to a close, and Junho took to the mic to share his parting words.

The thing that strikes me about this, is, how empathetic and grateful he is, for all the fans.

I mean, we know how hard he works, in order to host these fanmeetings, and yet, here he is, acknowledging how hard it is for fans, to attend these fanmeetings, and thanking us, telling us that we are the reason that he feels he can’t stop.

And then he tells us that his dream, right now, is to keep moving in the same direction as us fans, so that we can all progress together into the future. And then he said that his wish was for us to be always healthy, and always happy, even as we think of him.

Awww. So heartfelt and so thoughtful; this is one of the things that I’ve liked about him, from the start. 🥲

Check it out here, credit to YouTube user JosLovesFood.

The finale

And then, it was time for the finale, sniffle. 🥲

Junho performed Ride Up, while waving to the audience, and giving us the occasional heart 🥰 – and that transitioned into a full-on waving, heart-sending session, in the midst of a burst of confetti, once the song was over.

It was cute how he told the audience to go eat, and then when the audience said that they wanted him to treat them, he said (in Korean), “Let’s go to my house,” which is a reference to one of 2PM’s iconic songs. 🤭

And then, he said that they could go to King Hotel, room 91 (a play on Gu Won), hee.

As cute as finger hearts are, my favorite bit was when he blew a kiss, to the audience. 🫠 That felt more personal and real, I felt. 🥰

I’m actually glad that the audience didn’t call for an encore, like in other concerts or fanmeetings; I think we all knew that Junho was already pushing himself really hard, for us. 🥲

Watch the whole finale here, credit to YouTube user sh3jh.

Ride up + ending

HI-BYE SESSION

By this time, it was 10:15pm (or thereabouts; I was too dazed to notice 😅).

I was really tired by now, honestly (my excuse is that I’m still recovering, and haven’t been out in a while), but I couldn’t pass up the chance to stay for the hi-bye session, where every person in the audience (for this fanmeeting anyway) got the chance to be ushered past Junho, as we left.

This wasn’t compulsory, of course.

If you couldn’t stay for whatever reason, you didn’t have to, but of course, I wasn’t about to pass up on the possibly once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Junho close(r)-up, in person.

By the time it was my turn to walk past Junho, it was about 11pm, and I was slightly frazzled by the tight security, where the security folks and ushers reminded us multiple times not to have our phones in our hands (because, no photos), and to keep moving.

Junho was standing in a room, with about 5-6 security people flanking him, so when I got to see him, my eyes struggled to locate him, for a split second.

And then I saw him. Ahhhh!! 🤩🫠🤩🫠🤩🫠🤩🫠

YOU GUYS.

What they say is absolutely true: Junho IS more handsome in person. ❤️🫠

It’s hard to describe; just that he looks leaner, I think, and his features just translate differently on camera, versus real life?

Or maybe it’s also the fact that he’s standing next to normal-looking people, and that amplifies his beauty? 🥲

I wish I had more time to get a better look, but 2 seconds is pretty much all I got, and before I could get a second look, I was already walking away from him, because we weren’t allowed to stop.

There were many things that I wish I could’ve said, but the only thing that popped out of my mouth as I saw him, was, “Kamsahamnida!”

He didn’t say anything or wave in response; he just stood there and smiled, which makes sense, since, by this time, I estimate that he’d already smiled at 1,500 people before me.

The whole thing was over in a blink, but I can honestly say that it was absolutely worth waiting for 45 minutes, for those 2 seconds. 🥹🫠

AFTER-DAZE + AFTER-THOUGHTS

I was literally in a daze for the entire weekend, after the fanmeeting, you guys. I’m not even exaggerating. 😅

My brain was just full of Junho, and so, even though I typically do a fair bit of work for the blog and Patreon on the weekends, I got very little work done, on this particular weekend.

And that’s perfectly ok, because Junho deserves my undivided attention, yes? 🥰

I think my favorite thing out of this entire event, was getting to experience him “live.”

Hearing his voice was one thing. It somehow doesn’t translate fully on recordings either, which is why you can’t really tell at all, from the videos, that his speaking voice was actually lower and huskier that night.

Seeing him perform was another.

It’s just more “wow” in person, because somehow, I think we kind of take for granted, a little bit, the things that we see on our screens.

When I saw all the dance moves “live,” in person, I felt more blown away and impressed, like I was finally seeing it for my own eyes, and it was all real (even though I knew before, that it was real 😅). 🤩

Watching him interact with his fans, with such sincerity, care and thoughtfulness, but also, with sprinkles of cheeky sass, was another.

I think that’s one of the best things about being present at a fanmeeting: when he’s addressing the audience, you know that he’s addressing you, too.

He even waved back, or returned finger hearts, when fans in the audience waved at him, or gave him finger hearts.

That in-person interaction – or even just the possibility of it – is really quite special. 🥰

And of course, there was the chance to see him in person, and say something to him, during the hi-bye session.

I only managed to eke out a “kamsahamnida,” but if I had the chance to do it over, I’d like to say,

“Thank you for being an inspiration, Junho-sshi. It’s an honor. 영광이에요.”

And, “Thank you for coming to Singapore.”

And also, “Please rest and take care of yourself.” ❤️

If you searched your name and are reading this, Junho-sshi – this is what I couldn’t tell you, when I saw you. 🥲

And to everyone else, thank you for coming with me, on my big Junho adventure, right here in Singapore. ❤️