Who ate the rest of Lee Seung Gi’s Kimbap in Manila? So ask the Airens on Twitter.
In the recently concluded Fan Meeting of Hallyu Star Lee Seung Gi, entitled “Vagabond Voyage In Manila” last October 12, 2019, my sister got lucky to win the Korean Rice Roll (Kimbap) that Lee Seung Gi made live in the course of the fan meeting.
I have read the fan account of my sister and I belatedly realized that her post stopped at the fan meeting – it did not disclose whatever happened to the rest of the kimbap, specifically the five slices left after Lee Seung Gi fed one to her.
An Airen myself, I feel the need to make an accounting of who actually tasted Lee Seung Gi’s Kimbap for transparency, char.
Anyway, let me take off where Hya stopped in her post – upon the conclusion of the highly anticipated fan meeting.
I think it should be known that it passed through my sister’s mind to share the Kimbap with our longtime Airen friends such as the Admins of the fandom sitting in the front seats and those who were with us when we attended Lee Seung Gi’s fan meetings in Singapore and his military discharge in South Korea. However, she said, looking at the six slices, it was truly not enough, so she was constrained to be greedy and take it with her when we left the venue.
I guess it would have turned out differently if upon exiting the venue, we could still linger in the hall because that would have been an opportunity to share it with our Airen friends. Unfortunately, when we were ushered to the exit, it was a different one that leads out of the New Frontier Theater and we could not linger there. What is more, the Airens that we know were still inside the venue and judging that we were still floating in Seventh Heaven, our minds were clouded from thinking rationally that we could have waited…?
So we headed back to our hotel which was about Two Hundred meters from the venue. Our other sister’s family, which is based in Laguna, also stayed in the hotel to be with us so that we can spend time together after the fan meeting.
Upon reaching the hotel, our companion, Mayora RR went to her room without any hints of wanting to eat the kimbap, maybe because she doesn’t consider herself a rabid fan of Lee Seung Gi compared to us who would fly abroad to see him (but she flew from Surigao to see him, lol) . In fairness to her, she has been a fan since 2 Days and 1 Night days.
Next stop is our other companion, my friend, Gay, (who flew in from Cebu to attend the FM) whom we dropped at our room after taking pictures of the precious lunch box, saying we still have to go to my sister’s room to share the good news. We had to call our sister to pick us up in the lobby because we couldn’t go to their floor. Our sister said they suspected something good happened since we were so excited during the call.
Inside their room, Hya happily and proudly said she won the Kimbap and showed them the polaroid pictures and the plastic box containing the rice roll. My 13 year old niece shared in our joy by jumping up and down and screaming with us. Even my 6 year old nephew was jubilantly joining us and was hopping up and down the bed too, so happy with the rest of us. My brother-in-law was also delighted for Hya, in his own silent way, haha.
Our other sister did some photo ops with the kimbap and after snapping more than enough photos to immortalize the kimbap, Hya said we have to eat it that night. I asked, why? She said because Lee Seung Gi was not wearing gloves while making it, so it would spoil quickly (Hya’s first course is Food Technology lol). Yes, sorry ladies, fangirl feelings aside, it’s a fact that the Seung Gi germs would ruin it sooner than later. Confronted with whether to eat the kimbap and experience how Seung Gi ssi made one and whether to preserve it and be left wondering forever how it tasted, the rational choice is obviously to enjoy the kimbap made by him.
So, who ate the kimbap?
The first slice Hya ate with Lee Seung Gi feeding her.
Hya indulged herself with a second slice of the kimbap while retelling the moment, amidst gleeful screams and disbelief.
The third slice was mine. Hya didn’t think Seung Gi ssi would give her the entire roll and in her mind, she was thinking of asking him to let her take some with her upon leaving the stage because she was thinking of me. She said she was so relieved when Lee Seung Gi said it was hers to take.
The fourth slice went to my niece. Although she doesn’t consider herself a fan of Lee Seung Gi, she watches and enjoys his shows from time to time, especially the variety shows. When she was four years old, she could sing “Losing My Mind” and dance to the tune thereof. She grew up knowing him and she calls him Seung Gi ajussi now, hahaha… She almost went with us to pick Seung Gi up in his military release but decided not to go when she learned it was far plus it was the end of autumn and thus cold. I actually asked her if she wanted to go to the fan meeting with us, but she said that she respects Seung Gi ajussi but the diehard fans deserve to watch him more.
The fifth slice went to my 6 year old nephew who calls Lee Seung Gi “Tito Seung Gi”. When “Hwayugi/ A Korean Odyssey” was airing, he got a haircut and sported a Son Oh Gong haircut and calls himself the Monkey King. With what happened to Hya and all our swooning and screaming, he concluded Hya has got herself a boyfriend, Tito Seung Gi, lol.
We saved the last slice for my friend Gay, who was already getting ready for bed when we went up. She’s not really visible in social media and not also very vocal about liking Lee Seung Gi but she has been his avid fan since 2 Days 1 Night which is about ten years ago.
So there goes the whereabouts of the famous kimbap all accounted for.
Thinking about it now, I regretted eating my share in one mouthful, like how a kimbap is ordinarily eaten. I was still afloat with ecstasy from meeting Lee Seung Gi that I could not even remember how it tasted. All that I could remember is the cheese flavor because I am a cheese person and I love everything with cheese. For a moment, I even forgot that there were also quail egg and grapes in the roll because its taste did not register properly in my brain. I had to ask Hya if there were eggs there. Huh?
The thought that Seung Gi ssi was holding a fan meeting in Manila was already hard to digest in the first place, how much more the fact that I was eating kimbap prepared by him? Never in my wildest dream did I ever think of eating something prepared by Lee Seung Gi. So, sorry that I could not elaborate on its flavor.
Jagiya, how could this be? It’s unbelievable. In the fan meeting, you said the first memory is the perfect memory, referring to your first memory with Filipino Airens. The first memory of me meeting you the first time in 2012 is still very clear in my mind. We were screaming ‘Philippines’ to catch your attention and let you know there were also Airens in the Philippines. During a hi-touch session with you in 2013, I remember telling you to please visit the Philippines, and you readily said ‘Of course!’. It took many years, but you came to make our Airen dream come true.
Like Hya said, dreams do come true. With Seung Gi, it does.
By yenskay_airen
(Thanks for the space, TPF!)
Related stories:
Lee Seung Gi wins the hearts of Pinoys
5 Moments From Lee Seung Gi’s “Vagabond Voyage” Fan Meeting In Manila That Made The Wait Worth It
Fan Account: Lee Seung Gi’s Vagabond Voyage in Manila
