Coco and Vivi at KCON 2013: A Whirlwind Recap

It's been a week since we got back from KCON, and we've finally settled enough to start posting some of our experiences.  Brace yourselves for an extremely long post containing an absurd amount of photos...

I wasn't even planning on going to KCON because I like to pretend that I'm a responsible adult and can't just drop everything to go to Korean conventions in other states, but when I woke up on Friday and realized I had no plans for the weekend, my husband and I decided to just get in the car and road trip it at the last minute.  I'm so glad I did! KCON was an absolute blast.  Here are some highlights:


The line to get into KCON was enormous, and unfortunately Viki's panel featuring Sean Richard Dulake and the ladies from Dramabeans was one of the very first panels of the day, so we only caught the tail end of it.

Fortunately, we were able to talk to Javabeans and Girl Friday after the panel, and they graciously agreed to play a round of Kdrama "Would You Rather" for the camera.

So yes, they're just as delightful and hilarious in person as they are on Dramabeans.  Seeing them in real life also made me feel a bit starstruck because I'm pretty sure that anyone who has every watched a Korean drama has also read something on Dramabeans. The only other time I ever met anyone remotely famous was on a plane to Albuquerque when I swear Robert Redford walked past me to use the lavatory. This experience definitely tops that one, though I suppose I could work on building a stronger celebrity-o-meter.

Javabeans and Girlfriday weren't the only ones we interviewed.  We also really enjoyed getting to know the many kdrama fans at the convention a little bit better.  Here was the first of our questions:

We got a lot of great responses, including some from Soompi, Viki, and 24-7 Kpop.  I love how some of these people didn't even bat an eyelash before deciding on their villainous alter-egos.

This was just the first of our questions.  We will have more of these fan question videos coming up in the next few days!

In the afternoon, we tried the "Anyone Can Cook Korean Food!" workshop, which should have been titled "If a chef prepares everything in advance, I'm sure you morons can figure out how to stir it all together, right?  Right?"  We successfully manged to put sauce into our bowls for some delicious bibimbap.

Okay, so I cheated and didn't place everything into a beautiful pile before I started eating.
Apparently, even stirring a bowl of stuff is beyond my capabilities.

Bibigo, the company who ran the workshop, gave everyone free Psy masks in honor of their most famous sponsor.
They also gave everyone free nightmares.

Of course, we also wandered over to the dance workshop, where everyone was learning sweet moves in preparation for the big concert.  It took us about four minutes before we realized we really didn't belong.

What the dancing should look like.  Notice how everyone is moving at the same time! So fun!

What our dancing actually looked like. I have no idea what either one of us is trying to do, but I feel pretty confident that none of it appears in EXO's music video.

What I really enjoyed about KCON was that there was always something going on at any given moment.  Coco and I (and Coco's mom, who was the biggest Kpop fan out of the whole bunch) just ran around looking at everything.

There was a center stage that constantly featured performers or competitions.

And, of course, plenty of Kpop cosplay to observe.

But seriously,how adorable are these two girls dressed as Crayon Pop?

Most importantly, there were about a million food trucks serving delicious food.

Coco tried these amazing bulgogi buns.  I went more traditional with a burger, which was great until I discovered that every single port-a-potty was out of toilet paper.  NOT an ideal situation to face after eating food truck burgers....I'll say no more.

The other great thing about conventions is that they give you all kinds of random free stuff with your food:

I was so excited about this Kim Soo Hyun poster!  Is he too young for me? YES! Do I have anywhere where I could reasonably hang a poster of a young Korean actor without being creepy? NO! But it was free, and that alone makes me happy.

Sadly, because my KCON trip was pretty impromptu, I wasn't able to stay for the concert on Sunday night.  Fortunately, Coco was able to attend, and she took some pictures to rub it into my face (and---by extension--everyone else's faces who didn't get to go.  Let's all moan about our misfortune together, okay?)

So excited for the concert to start! Who wouldn't be excited with a hot pink glow wand?

F(x)

EXO playing.  Look at that crowd!  So many Kpop fans, all in one place!  The energy at the whole convention was pretty amazing.

I'm definitely sold on attending KCON next year.  Stay tuned for some more KCON fan videos, as well as Coco's stab at KCON speed dating!

How to Fangirl/Fanboy at KCON: Good Idea, Bad Idea

KCON is in a week, and I'm getting really stoked to go and meet a bunch of fellow Kdrama/Kpop fans! If you haven't heard of KCON 2013, it’s an all-things-Hallyu convention organized by the Korean network, Mnet, that will takes place next weekend in Los Angeles. The convention features concerts from top Kpop artists, workshops and panels on Korean pop culture, fun contests, and artist engagements.  I'll be walking around filming footage for some YouTube videos and taking pictures of all the beautiful K-fans for a KCON slideshow.

I don't know about you, but the thought of being around my favorite K-stars makes the inner fangirl in me go a little crazy. Now, I don't want anyone to get too out of control when the time comes, so in order to be ready for KCON this year, let’s review some good ideas and bad ideas about how to fangirl/fanboy.

1. Good Idea: Fangirl/Fanboy so hard that your favorite band feels the love.
    Bad Idea: Fangirl/Fanboy so hard that you faint from too many feels.

2. Good Idea: Create a poster that says, “I love you Oppa!” for your favorite bias. 
    Bad Idea: Create a poster that says, “I just. I can’t. Can’t even. This. jklasdfhdfa” because the feels       are preventing you from forming coherent sentences.

3. Good Idea: Cosplay (dress up) as your favorite Kpop or Kdrama Star to show them your love.
    Bad Idea: Cosplay (dress up) as your favorite One Direction or Twilight star. 

4. Good Idea: Go to KCON to meet your favorite artists and get their autographs.
   Bad Idea: Go to to your favorite artist’s house and make forcible entry to meet them and get their autograph.

5. Good Idea: Be in Kdrama Fighting's YouTube videos and photos from KCON. 
    Bad Idea: Be in police surveillance videos and photos from trying to sneak backstage at KCON.

I'm really excited to see you all there! KCON 2013, here we come! Have you ever had an extreme fangirl/fanboy moment? Tell us about it in the comments.

Let's Get Pumped Up: KCON 2013!

It's that time of year when every Kpop and Kdrama fangirl and fan boy's dreams are about to come true at KCON 2013! KCON is a convention organized by the Korean network, Mnet, that will take place on August 24th-25th in Los Angeles. The convention features concerts from top Kpop artists, workshops and panels on Korean pop culture, fun contests, and artist engagements. This year, I am lucky enough to get to go and represent Kdrama Fighting! to the Kfan community.

Confession: I am much more of a Kdrama fangirl than a Kpop fangirl, so I am not well versed on Kpop groups. However, I figured that in order to be an informed reporter and an enthusiastic concert goer I better do my research. I just happen to be visiting ViVi this last week, so a couple days ago we were working on the blog and I started playing songs by EXO and f(x). I kind of didn't want to love Kpop, but as we sat there, we got sucked in! It's just so catchy! It shouldn't come as all that big of a surprise considering that I was American pop fangirl in the 90's. As we listened, I kept saying, "Oh no, no, no. I can't help it. I didn't expect I would like it. Now I'm going to be a Kpop fangirl!" I guess Kpop just sneaks up on you!

Now I've joined the ranks of the Kpop fangirls, and there's no escaping, so what better way to prepare for an amazing Kpop lineup than to listen to a YouTube playlist featuring all the bands that will be at KCON 2013? This year, we will be graced with the presence of G-DRAGON, EXO, f(x), 2AM, and TEEN TOP. I've created this KCON playlist for those of you who, like me, may be a little rusty on the songs of some of the groups, those of you who just can't contain your excitement until the big weekend, and those of you far away who will have to just shut your eyes and imagine you are there.

                

I just bought all my tickets for the event and I am super pumped to go! I hope that some of you can make it and that I get to meet you. I'm going to be walking around wearing a Kdrama Fighting t-shirt, taking photos of fun people and events for a slide show, and handing out stickers so that people can come see themselves on the site afterwards. I hope some of you cosplay because Vivi and I get absurdly excited about costumes. I look forward to reporting on all the fun booths and activities for you after the event!

So, who's going? Who are you most excited to see and what convention workshop or panel are you looking forward to? Anyone dressing up? Comment below.