Awesome Okinawa
Awesome Oppa, Awesome Okinawa.
Caution: Article is only in English as it has been a long day and I had to put my thoughts in writing overnight, leaving myself hardly any sleep. I also have an early morning flight to catch so not sure if I can post this the morning after the event. I can only do my best, so please bear with me.
There is also no Chinese translation. But that can be easily solved by using the translator on the right hand column of this post. In fact it can translate this post into any language which you feel most comfortable to read.
Apologies for any typo or grammatical error. No photography was allowed during the event, except for the photo/video shoot session.
We are ready, Oppa!
How should I sum up Park Sihoo-ssi’s Enishi 2023 Okinawa “Future Diary” event? Awesome! Awesome Oppa Park Sihoo-ssi and also the sun, sand and sea in Okinawa…and with the cosy little sparklers party to round off the evening!
I arrived in Okinawa in the morning of Wednesday, 6 September 2023. This was after a red-eyed flight from Singapore to Hong Kong, with a really brief stop over that had me hurrying from one plane to hop onto another. So I was droopy, drowsy eyed and tired when Okinawa greeted me cheerily!
It was a beautiful day
What a beautiful day it was on arrival and also the next day, Thursday. It was blue skies and beautiful days, despite the hot weather. We made it to the private beach at Moon Beach Hotel where we stayed…albeit just to take some photos of the sun, sand and sea for a postcard keepsake. And the sand! My, what pristine, soft white sand indeed!
Our Oppa Park Sihoo-ssi arrived on Thursday 7 September 2023 around noon and was spotted at both Seoul Incheon and Okinawa Naha Airports by fans. I encountered him as he was heading out for dinner around 7-something in the evening. I had to make a dash out from the hotel lounge which was at the far end and just managed to catch a glimpse of him walking down the slope towards the exit of the hotel. I could barely see him in the dark walkway, only a black distinct figure of him. He turned back to wave when I shouted “Sihoo-ssi”. So I guess that must be him! Kekeke! 😄
Sun, sand and sea
Well, the day of the Enishi event, 8 September 2023, dawned but with more of a cloudy sky, not as blue as the previous days. But the highlight of the morning was to reconnect with some of our Japanese sisters who were there to attend the event. Good to see you again, ladies! So glad you are still here rooting on our Oppa! And good too to make acquaintance with new fans or sisters I haven’t seen before.
Day turned into evening…and the event! And of course, the anticipation of meeting Oppa Park Sihoo-ssi!
We anticipated our Oppa
Two hundred ardent fans stood ready to welcome Park Sihoo-ssi as the curtain was lifted and the Emcee, the beautiful Kim Taehee came on stage. She gave a warm welcome to all the fans who came from different parts of Japan, and also us with one representative each from South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and myself from Singapore. She then got us to unanimously shout out “Sihoo-ssi” to welcome the man whom we have all been waiting for.
Park Sihoo-ssi came in from the side door to our shouts. So slim to the point of being scrawny but so swooningly handsome he was. His hair was styled short at the back but with long bangs at the front, giving him an elegant look that showed off his well defined cheekbones. He wore a loose black shirt with beautiful embroidery or embossed print at the bottom and he had tucked the shirt front into the dark blue jeans he wore. Matching his overall dashing and yet casual look, he had on a pair of blue and white sneakers. Awesome!
An awesome welcome to Okinawa
As his way of welcome, he went from table to table and gifted us personally with a garland which he put round our necks. Then we took a table photo with him. These will be emailed to us later by the organiser.
As you know, I don’t understand Japanese and barely know any Korean. This time, the lady who always graciously provided me with a rundown of the event couldn’t attend the event. So, you guess it. I can’t figure out in detail the conversations, so I will only briefly give you a run down. Hope the information I barely discerned is correctly interpreted.
The event theme is “Future Diary” but in fact it barely scratched the surface. Nope, there was no news shared on his future works, to all our disappointment. So, no, we don’t even have the vaguest idea when and what his next work will be. We can only hope it will come soon!
Love ya, Oppa!
There was a run down and sharing of Enishi photos and where some of these photos were taken – from Season One to Eight. Gorgeous photos of Park Sihoo-ssi was shared and stories behind them. As you will probably know, his exclusive Enishi magazines are now a collectors’ items, with photo spreads that are to die for! Spreads and spreads of our Oppa looking awesome! I need to go home and start taking my Enishi out and relive all of them again! Kekeke! 😄
Oppa shared his recent activities and in particular, his vacation in Japan covering Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. He enjoyed all the sights and sounds of these three places. Being a foodie, he loves his Japanese food like the Tendon (天丼) or Tempura Rice Bowl in Asakusa and the yakitori in Osaka.
Fun vacation in Japan
And Emcee Kim commented that after a long absence from social media, he had been fast and furious with his postings during his vacation that his fans could hardly catch their breaths. He laughed and said he was learning and experimenting, particularly with TikTok and he was having fun.
Has he been to Okinawa before? No…actually, he got that wrong. He has been here before and has a two-volume picture book to show of Ishigaki, an island that is part of the Okinawa Prefecture! Now, that is another book series I should whip out again and ogle at all those gorgeous Oppa shots! So, yes, he has been to Okinawa and this is his second visit. Kekeke! 😄
Fun and Games in Okinawa
There was a “Future Diary” session which fans had earlier submitted requests on what they wanted Park Sihoo-ssi to act in the future, including some scenarios and scripts. Four or five fans’ requests were chosen. And surprise! They had to act what they wrote together with Oppa! What a shocker but one or two of them were really good!
There was a “Challenge” session where Oppa would challenge the participants chosen on stage to guess who he mimicked in his dancing, singing and drawing. Ok, I love our Oppa to bits, but looking at him do those challenges, I wouldn’t vouch for his dancing, singing nor drawing. They challenge him! He can’t dance, sing nor draw for nuts! No wonder some of the fans had a tough time guessing! Kekeke! 😄 But they got rewarded with a hug, polaroid shots and/or post cards! Never mind if they guessed correctly or not, our Oppa was such a sport!
Looking dashing in his Yukata
Then he went in for a costume change while we were taught the traditional Okinawa dance by a group from a local dance troop. And guess what? The next thing we knew, Oppa came out wearing a green print Yukata! So bright and awesome he looked! He made us swoon again and more with his joining the dancing ladies. And he made us squeaked with joy and laughter as he danced down the stage to every table, high fiving and dancing as he went. Awesome!
And then the event came to a close – at least the indoor part and Oppa came up on stage to say his thanks and goodbye.
We were herded table by table down to the basement level for the fireworks. But guess what, it was totally different from what was usual and expected, probably due to local restrictions. So we played waving the sparklers instead. Remember Goo Yongsik and Hwang Taehee with their sparklers in “Queen of Reversals”? Tiny little personal “fireworks”? We did that in small groups according to our tables with Oppa taking the lead! Small scale but great fun, especially when we were given a warm hug each by our favorite man! And he ended the evening giving us a picture postcard as a takeaway gift!
Oppa loved his hand held fireworks!
Nice end on a thoroughly awesome and cosy event! Thank you Park Sihoo-ssi! It was good to see you again! And our greatest wish for your future diary? That you will soon take on a brand new work and show the world again your acting brilliance! We miss this so much! We have great faith in you, Oppa! Fighting!
PS: Sorry ladies, I didn’t get any good photos this time. I was seated on the last table way at the back so it was a big distance to the stage. So I can only share some blurry photos to accompany this article!
Instagram Reel Video – Park Sihoo: Awesome Okinawa, 9 September 2023
Instagram Reel Video – Park Sihoo: Awesome Okinawa, 9 September 2023
Credits – Many thanks! Park Sihoo Instagram, TikTok & Weibo, ParkSihooSsi.com, ParkSihooHongKong.com
