[Fan Account] A Trip of many FIRSTS!

I still can’t believe it! I’ve met Rain, saw him with my own eyes. Everything seems so surreal. Since this is the first time I’m doing this, I’d like to share my very eventful weekend, that was filled with wonderful memories I will cherish forever.

My Rainy Day 1-April 7th2011 : LCCT Malaysia ~ It’s RAINING!

RAIN Welcomes You To The 2011 Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix (F1 GP)

At 5:55 PM (Malaysian Time), my flight landed Kuala Lumpur’s LCCT terminal. I was so excited that I had finally arrived!

Upon claiming my luggage, I was told that I needed to get the SkyBus,(which is an airport transfer bus from the terminal to KL Sentral, where I will be checking into my hotel). Since this was the first time that I am travelling to Malaysia by plane, I had no idea where to go, but fortunately the airport staffs were kind enough to direct me to where I was supposed to go and I was able to catch my bus as scheduled.

As the bus left the airport, and I settled into my seat, I looked out the window and was surprised and thrilled to have been welcomed by a huge poster of someone close to our hearts, no one else but Mr Jung Ji Hoon himself. Yes! During this 2011 F1 GP in Malaysia, everyone was welcomed by a huge poster of Rain as we head into the capital city from Malaysia’s LCCT Airport. It was great to see that the sponsors did do their part in promoting Rain’s performance in Kuala Lumpur. Street banners of Rain’s Performance and the Malaysian 2011 F1 GP decorated the streets all along the highway. It goes to show how internationally recognized Rain has become, even when some refuse to acknowledge it. Being associated with such an International event such as the F1 GP is a statement by itself! I am so proud that Rain has come this far, and will continue to go further.

I would have liked to have taken pictures of the banners so I could share them with everyone (actually, taking a banner home wouldn’t be such a bad idea as well!!) but no, I did not manage to do it, as it was a raining that evening, and it was getting dark already. I was pleasantly brought back from my day dream (from an overdose of posters on the highway!) by a Cloud who had gone out of her way to help me (as well as some others) out in making this wonderful weekend happen. She had helped me obtain my Formula 1 & Rain Concert ticket, brought us to greet Rain at the airport and kindly hosted my first Korean dinner in Kuala Lumpur. It was one of the best Korean dinner I had ever tasted. Thank you so much, kind hearted Cloud…words could not describe my gratitude to your overwhelming kindness.

My Rainy Day 2-April 8th2011 : KLCC, Kuala Lumpur ~ Familiar Face

RAIN in KLCC

We decided to go to Suria KLCC, which is a shopping mall attached to the Petronas Twin Tower. Today was the least hectic day in Kuala Lumpur. I managed to check out the Petronas Art Gallery, but before that, I managed to get myself Rain’s Fashion Concert DVD – I was so happy as it is quite difficult for me to purchase the Korean version with English subtitles back home. Even in Kuala Lumpur, not all the concert DVD I wanted had English subtitles - maybe I should start on those Korean lessons, pronto! ^^

After browsing through the shops, we hung around at Dome Café for a while, accompanied by some cookies, marshmallows and Hot Chocolate ~ really cozy for a rainy day. Yes… like the day before, it was also raining today, so most people remained indoors until the rain stopped. We were able to catch a glimpse of Hoobastank’s performance on the big screen before heading to the car park.

At the escalator heading toward the parking lot, I was pleasantly surprised to have been greeted by yet another poster of Rain looking at me as we were about to leave KLCC. It made my day even more special! ^^

My Rainy Day 3-April 9th2011 : Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur ~ Rainism!

RAINing at the Heart of Kuala Lumpur

Today was mostly spent to get some souvenirs for my family back home. Its not always that I go off on holiday, so I planned to get something for them today as I know that I will not have time to do it another day.

I spent most of the day at the heart of one of Kuala Lumpur’s famous shopping district, which is the Bukit Bintang area. Other than getting my souvenirs I was also able to get Rain’s Coming World Tour DVD today.

I was so glad I found the Korean Version of this DVD too. It seems as though I get one gift from RAIN a day, as stock of his CDs were limited at the shops I went to. Nonetheless, it was enough to make the day even more worthwhile. I also managed to collect some flyers to share with fellow Clouds that were not able to come or were not able to do some sightseeing while they were here.

While doing my rounds along Bukit Bintang street, I was able to spot more posters around the area, and managed to even tweeted it so that it could be shared by everyone.

The first I saw were the banners on the street lights – the same banners that decorated the highway when I arrived.

The second sighting was quite hilarious to me as they made a guy wear a banner of the F1 GP and Rain’s Concert at the entrance of a new refurbished mall. I salute this guy’s courage to stand out in public like that!

After taking pictures of this peculiar guy, we went into the mall and saw that there was a booth selling the F1 tickets inside and right beside it was yet another poster of Rain, and more excitingly, a promo video of the 2011 Malaysian F1 in Sepang. I chose only to take the part where they showcased performances of previous years and Rain’s upcoming performance. I was so proud to see that his name is being associated with huge acts such as Fatboy Slim and Jamiroquai who performed in the years before.

My Rainy Day 4-April 10^th2011 : Race & Concert Day!!!!! ~Friends

12:00 AM - Preparing for the Rain

As the day before was so eventful with our poster hunting and all, we did not manage to get a wink of sleep anticipating this day. We arrived home at a friend’s house quite late, and prepared our things for the next day.

So, in between my 3^rd and 4^th Rainy Day, I was busy preparing a message that I wanted to write behind a sketch I had spent 3 weeks perfecting for Rain. This sketch had taken some time for me to finish because even though I love to sketch, I am only confident at sketching portraits of people’s faces. This particular sketch was a huge challenge for me as it is a sketch of a whole person. However, the 3 weeks spent was not felt at all, and even though I am still not so happy with it, I decided to brave the criticism and make this gift for him. I hope he likes it. The message I wrote for him, was a simple one – since I was unable to express myself too clearly, my friend finally helped me edit the text. Thank you, chingu! ^^

3:45-5:45AM Welcoming The Rain! ~ I’m Coming!

We were fetched by kind hearted Cloud , a Cloud from Shanghai and another Cloud from Korea - a mini version of Rainism World Cloud combination ^^

Due to the lack of sleep, all of us thought we could sleep in the car, but even though we hardly knew each other, we managed to talk like we have been friends for a while, thanks to Rain. We were all very excited that the lack of sleep did not bother us at all. Before we realized, we had already reached the LCCT arrival hall.

Some Clouds were already on standby outside the exit door when we arrived. With Cloud Malaysia's president who had a greeted us. She had a beautiful LED signage bearing the letter 'R' to greet Rain. After waiting for awhile, we were asked by the organizers to line up tidily and to please not take any pictures and strictly NOT to touch Rain. “He is very tired, please understand”, he said. The Shanghai Cloud told him that we only wanted to give Rain some souvenirs and welcome him, that we are very educated (and I hope all of us are educated in this matter). He was kind enough to take the souvenirs and food for Rain and loaded them into the car while we patiently waited to greet Rain.

We saw Rain coming. He is a neck turner for sure xD so tall and so handsome (someone told me he is more handsome in person and she is correct!) He waved and walked straight to the waiting car. Some very excited fans couldn't contain themselves and headed towards his car. After he got into his car, it started to head out. From inside the car, even though he had a long and tiring flight, he still managed to smile and wave back at us *melts* xD

8:30AM Getting to Sepang from KLIA ~Freeway

Since my friend and I wanted to watch the race (yes, we are also F1 fans!), our kind hearted Cloud dropped us off at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on her way home with our Shanghai & Korean Clouds. They needed to rest before the concert as our Shanghai Cloud had a flight back home right after the concert since she had work commitments the next day. I admire her dedication!! Aja! Aja! Hwaiting, onni!

At the airport, we had breakfast. I was so starstruck that I got hungry! ^^. We headed to the bus stop and got on the bus to Sepang, it was so sunny that morning. From where the bus stopped, we had to walk up a hill and cross the area to make our way to the main entrance and the 'mall area' of the circuit.

On our way, we passed the post-race concert area where Rain will be performing. They were setting up Rain’s concert stage,

and 2 massive Rain posters were already up, ready to greet fans at the entrance this evening *eye candy* ^^

10:00AM-12:00PM My F1 Hero-Michael Schumacher ~ How to Avoid the Sun!

Yeah, I’ve been a fan for years now and this is my first time to see him in person ^^ so I’m excited too. The autograph session starts at 12 noon and for Team Mercedes Petronas where he is at now, was only allocated 20 mins to greet fans and get autographs. We queued for about 2 hours or so in the hot sun. I’d really like to learn the way to avoid the sun from Rain, that say-it was so sunny! When the moment finally came I managed to get 2 autographs from Schummi, he signed my cap too ^^ it was so fast, I got my autograph, thanked him and wished him a good race, he only reacted after I was about to walk away, and said “Thank you!” *happy*

Being starstruck and able to meet 2 of my favorite people in one day is all my poor heart can take I think, I’m still on cloud 9 and not planning to get down anytime soon xD

1:00PM Onwards - Happenings around Sepang

A Cloud from Penang, Malaysia called BLee joined us just as we were almost done with Schummi. She came for Rain only, so she managed to hang around the concert area while the race was on and was lucky enough to snap a picture of Rain practicing ^^ With her permission, she was kind enough to allow me to share her photo here.

5:30PM Onwards-Anticipating the Rain ~ Feels So Right!

Around 5.30PM, we left the circuit and walked to the concert venue, it started to rain. People were already lined up at the entrance according to their zones. Once the line started moving our hands were tagged according to our zones and at inside the concert venue, the sponsors handed us T-shirts and a concert worthy goodie pack that had some glow sticks, whistles, etc. Well done, organizers!

Before the concert began, they had announced the finalists and Winner of the Malaysia Ford Model’s Contest – most of the crowd was not very pleased as we had waited for a couple of hours and thought Rain would be performing already. After that they had an opening act by Malaysia’s hip-hop artiste Joe Fizzow, which was not bad – warmed up the crowd pretty well.

Finally, after a looong wait, the moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived. The concert started! Rain appeared on stage after their introduction, which was the laser

show just like the one in Rain The Best in Beijing. His performance with his santokki dancers or it is now The General Hospital Team was so energetic that it really lifted my spirit throughout the show. All the tiredness felt while waiting for them to come out literally just disappeared. It was a worthwhile wait after all. I remember before the concert some of us were wondering how long or short the concert would be, I was dreading the fact that after all the wait we would only be presented with just a few songs, but in the end he ended up performing 13 songs!!!!

He sang: Rainism, It’s Raining, You, Harudo, How to Avoid the Sun, With U, Fresh Woman, , Hip Song, Love Story, Love Song, Friends, Bad guy, & Instead of Saying Goodbye.

I was quite surprised (but pleasantly so!) that he sang Friends as the last time he sung that song was at The Asian Games Closing Ceremony last November. I am glad he did as I missed his Rain’s Coming tour. The performance that night was PERFECT and everyone there thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Rain is AMAZING! Even with such a tight schedule, he was still able to perform and present us with a truly WORLD CLASS performance. “Cheongmal Kamsahamnida, Rain!” Thank you so very much for putting up such an energetic and awesome performance. I can’t wait to see you in Singapore! Since this performance is not considered to be a full blown concert, I’m sure I will not be disappointed with the one in Singapore!

Shortly after the concert, we met up one last time with our kind hearted Cloud and our clouds friends from Shanghai and Korea. Kind hearted Cloud was going to send Shanghai Cloud to the airport as she had some work obligations the next day. She too shared her fan account at:

http://rain-cloud.co.kr/common/board/content.asp?

ref=1469&board_id=b_08042315352775&page=1&search_what=&keyword=

We said our goodbyes and took some pictures for memories together. ^^ It was a great pleasure ladies!

We were so tired after the concert, but managed to get some of our OWN souvenir items from around the concert area! With permission, of course! ^^ We made our way back to the hotel with hearts of pure joy and excitement from the concert which I will cherish forever.

Here are the things that will be my memorabilia from this FIRST concert of mine:

My Rainy Day 5-April 11^th2011 : Back to The Basic – Home I go!!!!!

Ah … it is time to say goodbye to Malaysia and fly back home. I never thought that I will fly to another country to see a concert before but I did LOL!!!

I’m even planning to go to Singapore for Rain The Best next May xD I don’t know what is happening to me but I surely enjoy every moment of it. See you in Singapore, Rain ^^

As if all the excitement and wonderful experiences wasn’t enough while I was in KL, I had another reminder of the concert as we bumped into Rain’s dancers rushing to their flight back to Korea. Our Penang Cloud, BLee (who was also taking a flight later that day) managed to snap a picture of them here:

As my plane touched down, I was welcomed by the rain once again, and it made me smile a little. I was left with one of the most memorable trips of my life.

I call this fan account “A Trip of Many Firsts!” as it is the FIRST time in my life to actually go to another country just to watch a concert and race. It was my FIRST Rain Encounter, my FIRST Rain Concert, my FIRST Live F1 Race, my FIRST encounter with Schummi, and most of all, my FIRST to meet such a warm, and dedicated group of fans that made me feel like part of a big family that exhibits the true meaning of friendship.

To my chingus…old and new, I thank you for making me part of this new and wonderful experience. One that I will never forget for a lifetime.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed reliving my experiences.

See you in Singapore!! ^^

Special thanks to:

Rose, Dida, BLee, huhuhuhu, Rain-Malaysia for making this trip a memorable one.

Posted @TheCloud
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/common/board/content.asp?ref=1474&board_id=b_08042315352775&page=10&search_what=&keyword=

Translated into Japanese
http://ameblo.jp/625rain/day-20110419.html