As the D-Day approaches for my first overseas trip for 2010, my excitement has been steadily building up. Travel preparations, fixing our itinerary, researching for inland transpo options, etc. However, my excitement went to a screeching halt yesterday and the culprit? The Korean embassy in the Philippines.

This is like, the biggest irony of all ironies. Being someone who has been a granted a South Korean visa twice in the past, I was the one whom everyone asked as regards our visa application. I even checked all my companions’ individual applications before we submitted them to the embassy. I am even one of the ‘resource persons’ at one Filipino forum regarding applying for a tourist visa to South Korea. You know what happened? Yesterday, all our visas were released. All, except mine.

I think the biggest mistake we ever did on this instance is that we just let a representative fix our visas for us, unlike before when we did it on our own. What happened was, the representative claimed our passports from the embassy yesterday, but mine was held back. According to the rep, the person at the window was looking for me and mumbled something about some trouble with my passport. The thing is, the rep did not understand what the embassy person said and did not actually bother to know what exactly was wrong with my passport, so now I’m left in the dark as to what the problem was. I don’t even know if my application was processed or not. The rep did not even get back the claim slip for my passport. So now I have to go to the embassy on Monday with no idea what to say and no papers on my hand whatsoever to explain to the embassy why I’m there.

The even more irritating part is, I was just vegetating at the mall the entire afternoon yesterday and I was not informed about this until barely 15 minutes before the embassy closes. If I was told about it earlier, I could’ve dropped by at the embassy myself and I would not be spending the entire weekend worrying about it. I was even supposed to start packing today but because of that, I don’t feel like lifting a finger anymore. Talk about a buzz-killer.

If it turns out my application was not processed for whatever reason, then there is no way the visa will be released in time for our departure on Thursday (unless there is someone who can coax the embassy to release it on the same day, but I don’t have a ‘Hiroko’ here ). In that case, I urge my companions to please start learning how to use the subway map as early as now.

===

All of us were wondering what exactly was the problem with my application. If it’s about my bank certificate, that can’t be it because my other friends have lesser money in the bank and they got approved. If it’s about my being a government employee, then why are Tita Ruby and Tita Susan off the hook (all three of us work in government)? If it’s about my certificate of employment having no dry seal, Charity’s COE also doesn’t have one and I’ve been submitting the same COE for the other two times I’ve applied before and I was granted a visa. And they can verify with my office any time if they have any doubts. If it’s about me being an e-passport holder (as in, they might not be familiar with it), another one of my companions also has an e-passport and she got through. If it’s about my passport name being slightly different from the names appearing in my supporting documents, well, my personal data are exactly the same as it were in 2006 and 2008 and they gave me a visa, so what makes it different from now? Really, which one is it?

Two friends remarked that maybe the people at the Korean embassy reads my blog and they just want to see Agent P in person, that’s why they are asking me to appear at the embassy personally. It’s ok if they are fans, but what if they are Wannabe fans who got alarmed when I said that I will throw a grenade at the AM office? (Three things: (1) I don’t own a grenade; (2) even if I own one, what are the chances that it can even pass through airport security? (3) last I heard, AM has moved out of its office building because JDG decided to terminate the lease contract.)

===

Ey peeps, watch out for the concert tonight. BKF-Taiwan is going to make history. Start sharpening your claws, the antis are going to be frothing in the mouth about it for sure.

Hey, remember StarM? Yeah, I know we much rather just erase that godawful greedy company from our memories, but this company has just made news. Good news. They lost their case against Rain.

Court says singer Rain not responsible for canceled U.S. concerts

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) — A Seoul court ruled Thursday that South Korean pop singer Rain and his former management agency JYP Entertainment were not responsible for canceled concerts in the United States.

South Korean concert organizer Wellmade STARM had filed a suit against Rain and JYP seeking 4.57 billion won (US$3.96 million) in compensation for 16 canceled performances out of a scheduled 35 during his U.S. tour between 2006 and 2007.

STARM, which paid 10 billion won in advance for performance fees and copyright commission, claimed the concerts were called off because JYP did not disclose the fact that the Korean singer was sued by an American firm over his stage name.

In February 2007, the singer and JYP were sued over copyright infringement on the use of the name “Rain” by U.S. recording firm Rain Corporation. The company, which worked with an American band also called “Rain,” demanded the South Korean singer drop the English translation of his name in the U.S. The Nevada District Court later dismissed the case, ruling there was no evidence that Rain Corporation suffered actual damage.

“The cancellation of concerts in the United States did not result from Rain’s copyright infringement suit,” the Seoul Central District Court said in its ruling, noting it was caused by contract problems between the singer, a U.S. company and a Hawaii-based promotion firm’s shoddy preparation.

The court also said there was an exemption clause in the contract that gives Rain and his agency immunity from responsibility for disputes with a third party.

In a separate case, Rain and his former agency were sued by a U.S.-based entertainment firm over canceled concerts in Honolulu in 2007. The two parties later reached an agreement after a three month legal dispute.

The 27-year-old singer and actor, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, is one of the most popular male celebrities in Korea and is also widely known across Asia. He starred in the Hollywood blockbuster “Ninja Assassin” late last year.

ejkim@yna.co.kr

Credit : Yonhap News

Kasi naman, how kapal could this company get? Rain’s career and reputation got tarnished because of their ineptitude, and they had the nerve to sue him?? Good thing the Seoul courts listen to reason and justice has been served. Congratulations, Ji Hoonie!

===

In other matters…

I really, really admire - ok, admire may not be the correct term, but I can’t think of any other word in place of it - fans who find excitement in receiving a towel that Rain used to wipe his armpits. Ugh. As in UGH. In Hong Kong, he faked blowing his nose on the towel before throwing it and everyone in my section literally gagged at the sight. What more this one?? If I was the one who caught that towel, I will throw it right back at him. Yeah, I know it’s Rain and he probably has no B.O. (I wouldn’t know, but let’s just assume that he doesn’t) but still… an armpit is an armpit. GROSS. I’m not going to even mention that he’s sweating like a pig when he wiped his pits with that towel. Wait, I think I just did.

===

There’s a little discussion in Soompi about Rain being too much of a workaholic to start a family. I’m not going to delve into that… yet. I’ll just wait a few more months and THEN we’ll talk about it.

Remember the famous Dancing Inmates from Cebu? After becoming globally famous for their rendition of Michael’s Jackson’s Thriller (if I’m not mistaken, they earned a place at the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest number of people dancing to Thriller at the same time), they have added another feather on their cap by being included in the Blu-Ray edition of Michael Jackson’s This Is It. MJ’s own longtime choreographer Travis Payne created a routine for them and Travis, together with dancers Daniel Celebre and Dres Reid joined them in this uber-cool video that will be part of the goodies included in the blu-ray version. Check this out!

Credits: SonyPicturesDVD at YouTube

This was posted on the ‘net a couple of days ago but I didn’t see it until now, basically because I was out of town having an unexpected dry run of my Seoul trip. This was a photo from the Jakarta leg of Legend of Rainism. From what I gathered, fans who got tickets for the VVIP section had an opportunity to have a class picture with Rain before the concert. I personally know someone who had VVIP tix for this show, so I quickly scanned the faces in the photo.

credits: Rain Asia/Rain Germany/sixtofive1982

The woman in yellow is Ms K, a Japanese fan whom I first met with and shared rooms in Macau for the Six To Five concert. The one on the other end is, of course, Cloud PH’s very own Hiroko.

I could say they’re lucky, but knowing how much these two ladies have invested time, effort and money on Rain, I’d say they’re rightfully deserving of this opportunity instead. Especially Hiroko, who, in my humble opinion, should’ve been given that spot beside Rain in this pic. What am I saying, she deserves a photo with Rain, just her alone with him and no one else. Especially in Jakarta. Why? I can’t give details (and if you are among those who know the details, I advise you to just keep it to yourself), so I’ll just say that if not for Hiroko, we won’t even see, much more guess the identity of that sketch of Rain’s ideal girl at the Japan fanmeeting.

===

In other matters: What is up with that news item about Rain’s alleged private plane? According to the translation at K-bites, the private plane was revealed and it was so eye-catching at the airport because it has a full-body photo of Rain painted on it. A lot of Korean netizens are envious of Rain because of this and his many other properties. Too envious, to the point of saying that Rain did not donate anything for Haiti despite being too rich enough to own a private plane while a certain Hallyu star gave out a hefty sum. Why they’d point it out to compare, I have no idea, but that’s too tasteless, if you ask me.

source: Naver

Anyway, I don’t know what the person who ‘revealed’ this piece of info about the plane is trying to pull, but anyone who has followed Rain at least since 2006-2007 know very well that the plane in question is not his own private plane, but the special Korean Air flight with his face painted on as part of their sponsorship deal for his World Tour. That person who came up with this news is, sorry to say, really really STUPID. He should be fired or at least reprimanded by his editor for coming up with a false story that is too embarrassing because even ordinary followers of Korean entertainment know the facts behind it. Now whether Rain really has a private plane or not, we really don’t know. And if he does, so what? He’s rich, he worked hard for it, so he can spend his money any way he wants.

===

Edit: I was searching from something amongst my old blogs again, found this entry, and said to myself, “omigad, it’s the wrong Bin.”

This entry comes in a little bit late but as they say… better late than later.

The Voltes Team had another one of those overnight gigs last weekend, although calling it ‘overnight’ is not entirely accurate because we spent two nights at Chie’s house. We had a Double O-nite. It was a late birthday celebration for Pre’ and Rizza, both of whom had their birthdays last December, and an advanced birthday celebration for Tita Ruby whose birthday is next month. (Actually it should be a quadruple birthday celebration because if I’m not mistaken, Ella’s birthday is also next month.) It’s also a victory party for Charity who received a promotion at work last week. With all these things that we celebrated, it’s just fitting that we had not just one, not just two, but three major feasts. And a couple of minor ones. As always, our very own Iron Chef Charity prepared the feast for us, and as always, for that weekend the only words that were heard during meal times were, “ang sarap!” (”Yummy!”) Diet? What diet? Suspended until the weekend is over!

Aside from the food, it was also a weekend full of new discoveries, such as:

1. Tita Susan learning that the thing that we use as portable storage is not called SUB; it’s a USB drive. Or maybe it’s the other way around: it was us who eventually started calling it SUB from then on.

2. AsianPoses.com. I’ve known of this site for quite some time now, but my friends haven’t so when I showed it to them, naturally, we overdosed on Asian poses on our pics after we viewed that site.

3. That Korean drama called You’re Beautiful. We made the fatal mistake of not paying attention when Charity first popped in the DVD on Saturday. It only got our full attention on Sunday - and boy, it got our attention, indeed - that we ended up staying at Chie’s house until late in the afternoon when we initially planned to stay there only until lunch time. Because of this, I’ve added “Look for a Piggy Rabbit” on my to-do list in Seoul next month.

Swooning over a scene from You're Beautiful

And because I’m too lazy and my internet is slow, I’ll just refer you to my Facebook photo album for the rest of the pics.

===

In other matters…

1. I’ve mentioned before that I found the ticket prices for Super Junior’s Manila concert to be (relatively) cheap. After I saw the complete list of ticket prices for the show, I’m taking it all back. Charging about USD70 for Upper Box seats of a 13,000-capacity venue?? What the heck were the producers thinking??

I’m really interested on the results of this concert, though, because it will be our gauge if K-pop really has a market in the Philippines.

2. Here’s something ironic: after J Tune announced something that we already knew all along, that is, @jungjihoonrain at Twitter is fake, this account had an increase in followers over the past two days. Among them, J Tune Creative itself. Although going over the list of accounts that J Tune Creative is following, I think I understand why they’d do that. They’re probably monitoring all the fake Rains at Twitter to see if they have been posting something that might be putting the real Rain in a compromising situation.

It baffles me, though, that despite the announcement, a lot of fans still believe that the Twitter Rain is really Rain or someone close to or a friend of Rain’s.

3. Speaking of something ironic: I was looking for something at my old blog entries and I chanced upon an entry I wrote sometime November 2006, at the height of the kimbap incident. It was a commentary on SHK fans at Soompi, particularly those who said that there is no way that she will fall in love with Rain because according to them, SHK prefers older men.

Ironically, these same people were among those who celebrated when H2 was announced. I just don’t know if these people are aware that Wannabe is actually younger than Bi.

Ok, so who’s the one practicing double standards now? You tell me. On second thought, I don’t think they even know what ‘double standards’ mean. Otherwise, they won’t attack me by posting that comment saying I shouldn’t reply to posts at Soompi here in my own blog, at a place that is NOT my blog. Maybe I should refer them to this thing called a ‘mirror’. Or use this line that I had repeatedly said in my old posts: “Hello, Kettle? This is Pot. You’re black.”