Meeting my destiny
PARK SIHOO-SSI’S DRAMATIC THANKSGIVING FESTIVAL 2017 – DRAMATIC ENCOUNTER SERIES
施厚君的2017年戏剧化感恩节活动 – 戏剧化的相遇系列
We have been warned in advance that we will have an encounter with Seungyu’s destiny. But what they didn’t say was that this encounter would change our destiny forever as we would fall further under the spell of Kim Seungyu or more specifically, be totally swept away by the charm of the Korean actor who played the role of the Princess Man! Park Sihoo-ssi!
We certainly met with our destiny last night at Park Sihoo-ssi’s Dramatic Thanksgiving Festival!
If you have thought the courtier in the old Joseon era was charming, think again! Park Sihoo-ssi in his traditional hanbok and then changing into an attire more in keeping with the times is completely lethal! That was the conclusion that I drew for myself! I met my destiny last night, face-to-face!
If I don’t get the facts right for last night’s performance or missed any segment, other than not understanding Japanese and Korea, I have to blame it on Park Sihoo-ssi for sweeping me off my feet! So focused I was on taking in every bit of this dashing man on stage, I was oblivious to everything else. My destiny really enthralled me that much! Kekeke! 😄
So this was how it went last night…
Park Sihoo-ssi’s Dramatic Thanksgiving Festival kicked off with the theme “An encounter with Seungyu’s destiny” in Fukuoka, so it was focused exclusively on the drama “The Princess Man” (“TPM”).
We were kept waiting for the performance to start and our patience were a little stretched from the wait. A long promotional video was played with Park Sihoo-ssi seated at the table of a sidewalk cafe, trying to write something. Then it was cut to the introduction of this drama festival and the highlights of the memorabilia on sale and the Japan Official Fan Club (JOFC) membership. The program then paused before an overhead announcement came on with the usual no photo taking, no videos, switch off your handphones etc. Then again there was a pause. Sigh! It was a waiting game!
Suddenly the curtains on stage were drawn…closed! Huh? And then the lights dimmed. A projection of a part of the script from TPM appeared on the curtains! Remember when Kim Seungyu kept Lee Seryung waiting on the bridge? He told her he had purposely kept her waiting so that she would grow impatient and when he finally did appear, she would be happy to see him?
Well, this was exactly it! Part of the act! So when Kim Seungyu appeared as a silhouette behind the curtains, he received overwhelming applause!
Then it was curtains up and Kim Seungyu stepped up in his dark blue and deep green hanbok, looking absolutely dashing! Six years have past since the first airing of TPM and Kim Seungyu still looked exactly the same! No, Park Sihoo-ssi, you haven’t aged one bit!
Being in a traditional hanbok, he felt he had to behave as a genteel man would have behaved in the ancient times and he did! Rather formal, one hand behind his back! His feeling was that a hanbok was best suited in a drama and during filming. Having to wear it last night on stage, he felt a little strange, out of place and that made him a little nervous. Hah! Maybe that was the reason why he was so distracted and when caught many times for not paying attention and missing what the emcee asked, he appeared a little embarassed!
The emcee, the lovely Kim Tei, teased him and asked him to walk across the stage and he did, his figure so striking as he waved and smiled to his audience, Yes, he was certainly cool as one lady in the audience shouted out loud!
Then it was a long interview as Park Sihoo-ssi took to the high stool. Not an easy task wearing a hanbok! Half the time, he was standing or leaning against the stool, I thought!
The interview focused on some of the best scenes in TPM, well loved by the audience, starting with shots not part of the drama proper. Kim Seungyu decked in an all white hanbok undergarment lying on his side and teasing the camera. Swordsman Kim Seungyu jumping off in flight silhouetted against the dim forest backdrop. Park Sihoo-ssi still wearing his hanbok trying to keep cool in the outfit. Kim Seungyu bare chested pouring a bucket of water over himself. Kim Seungyu wearing a black top practicing his sword work. Park Sihoo-ssi getting his hair done so that he could wear his gat or as they called hat during those times. The dramatic sinking ship scene that should get all worried but everyone was smiling!
Park Sihoo-ssi explained that these were taken throughout the drama filming, when they had spare time in between shoots. One time, he thought he needed some exercise and to move his stiff body a bit. The silhouette photo of the swordsman came about because of what he did. The hanbok was not easy to wear as there are many layers so it was very hot. He had to cool off every so often using a fan or pouring a bucket of water over himself at extreme times. Now, that photo of the bare chested Kim Seungyu pouring water over himself that had every woman swooning? It wasn’t in the original script but was incorporated as a result of his action! Hahaha! 🙂
He shared that to style the hair so that he could wear the gat was not easy and often took at least an hour to get done. His real hair, which he had to grow long for TPM, had to be weaved together with the hairpiece. Very time consuming. Today, with his short hair, it was merely a hairpiece being used so it was quick.
The sinking ship scene was the hardest scene as it was shot in May when the sea was still freezing. The waves from the rocking boat was also most difficult and very often they find themselves almost drowning during the filming. It was a cohesive team of cast and crew at work that made this scene more bearable!
There were different segments of best scenes that were the choice of the audience, but unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out the categories, so I will just rattle off what I saw. One was the temple scene of Kim Seungyu with Lee Seryung conversing…sorry can’t remember what it was now, tired! Then the scene on the rocks by the river where they wrote a poem with brush and water and the memorable scene at a temple when Kim Seungyu declared that he could not forget Lee Seryung even though he tried to.
Park Sihoo-ssi was asked to recite and act out that scene with his declaration of love, with the scene played on screen and Kim Seungyu’s part muted. He could not remember his lines as it had been a while. No worries, the script was quickly whipped out! He tried to memorise it but it took three takes before he could finally do it smoothly. His audience were forgiving and gave him a tremendous applause! Well done!
The audience also enjoyed the scene when Kim Seungyu and Lee Seryung ran to hide behind the bushes from people who were following them. The bridge scene where Kim Seungyu offered Lee Seryung his hand in courtship and she accepted was another. And the famous fan scene where he teased her behind a fan and got his first kiss.
Now..these audience choices of best scenes differed from that of Park Sihoo-ssi’s.
His choices of best overall scenes were the temple scene when he returned to declare his love for Lee Seryung and that she was in his heart was one that was similar. Another was when she came looking for him at the house of “ill repute”, ran to hide when she saw him riding by on his horse and he then surprised her when she peaked out from her hiding corner. And the final scene was the fighting between best friends.
In terms of best action scenes, his personal favorite was when he rescued Seryung from a runaway horse, talking to his friend’s second in command (sorry, can’t remember why) and the declaration of love at the temple.
The best story within a story (at least this was how I interpreted this segment) were when he had to offer his back as a gentleman to the Princess to help her up the horse. His best friend begging the doctor to give him the medicine for his mother illness and Kim Seungyu came to his rescue. And when Kim Seungyu was shot by an arrow while riding a horse with the Princess and she tried to protect him.
Following the sharing of the best scenes from both the audience and Park Sihoo-ssi, it was the XOXO quiz where the last audience remaining standing got to take a photo with Kim Seungyu. The questions asked included when TPM was aired in Korea, which days of the week, when it was aired in Japan, what awards Park Sihoo won, the highest audience rating for TPM, when the blue ray and regular DVDs were released, which generation of the Joseon dynasty was TPM set in and if international releases were in Japan, China and Taiwan.
Then it was the announcement and reading of fans’ love letters to Kim Seungyu and three winners were picked, with the best entry read by the writer to Kim Seungyu. Guess who won! Knapavalley! Congratulations! She got a photo with Kim Seungyu and he presented her with his hard won Dinga toy from the UFO Catcher. He said it wasn’t easy, he had to invest a lot of money and effort to finally win his dolls!
Then Park Sihoo-ssi read the letter he wrote…which actually were the wordings on the fans which were being sold in conjunction with this drama festival. So if you want to know what he wrote and read out during last night’s performance, buy one of the fans!
The free to shoot photo time came next and Kim Seungyu walked across the stage, making three stops of 20 seconds each for us to take photos! Cool! I love Kim Seungyu up so close!
There was a short break while Park Sihoo-ssi made a costume change. A video was shown of the coffee shop scene which Jami and Dami, his rascal cats tweeted earlier. It was a full shoot, not just of him trying to write a letter. There was more which would be revealed in Osaka! I wait in suspense till Sunday!
Park Sihoo-ssi came back on stage. My oh my, he took my breath away with his refreshing look! Such surreal gorgeousness! Grey white overall look with spotless white tee, white jeans and white shoes. A floral grey jacket with maybe white cherry blossoms completed his look. His hairstyle was a little different. A bit of a teddy bear look with their curls but forehead covered. Overall, very pleasing, very dashing, very Park Sihoo-ssi! I love it! And of course, I love him!
He sang the theme song from TPM, “I will love you again today”. It was so filled with emotion! Park Sihoo-ssi must be re-living his days as the Princess Man as he sang!
Two or maybe three other love letters were shown on the screen. The winners were personally presented with a signed poster by Park Sihoo-ssi who came down from the stage to present the poster to the winners at their seats. Lucky me, being on the aisle seat in the 2nd row, I caught a close-up look of him as he whisked by me. Totally stunning! The most gorgeous I have seen him to-date. So now you all know I am completed taken in with my destiny! Hahaha! 🙂
He walked around the audience and was immediately swarmed by his fans. He could hardly move and that was when we found out his right hand was hurting and he had a plaster on. A slight accident when he was rehearsing, I believe.
On stage again, he shared what he did the night before. He had gone exploring Fukuoka, walking around for a couple of hours and chanced upon a place buzzing with street-side stalls. He had wanted try the street food, especially the ramen, but knowing he had to perform last night, he had to abstain. He ended up with Shabu Shabu in a restaurant, though he would have much preferred Sukiyaki. Now, maybe last night, he just might go back to where it was most crowded and indulge in some Fukuoka street food! The emcee warned that his fans would now be making a beeline for the food street!
Finally, our man sang Kimiwo from his album “Forever” and he thanked his fans for their support. So ended the evening.
Afterwards, we queued up to high-five with Park Sihoo-ssi at the exit. Our man appeared happy, all smiles as he bade us goodbye. See you in Osaka, Park Sihoo-ssi! Have a good rest after you indulge the famous Hakata ramen!
Did I meet Seungyu’s destiny? Without doubt! But I also met my destiny in Park Sihoo-ssi!
Photo Credits – Park Sihoo Instagram, Twitter by @neko_jamidami, kbs.co.kr, Nance