#i couldn’t get tickets last time bc it was 10am on a wednesday like i was at work

[sophegg]

FUCK i really wanna see lovejoy live

[jeongjaehyuns]

ok since kellie posted her fancam i thought i’d finally stop being lazy and do the same too :’)

i mentioned this a little bit before but earlier this month, i was lucky enough to get tickets to see nct 127 at the apple music event in la and was able to see them perform! this was by far one of the most amazing and intimate experiences i’ve ever been able to be apart of and being able to see nct 127 doing what they do best together is something i’m going to cherish in my heart for a very long time! here is the link to the full playlist of all their performances!! 

underneath the cut will be a much more detailed and in depth account of everything that happened at the event if anyone is interested in reading more about it! ♡

ok hello if there are people who actually decided to keep reading thank u so much and buckle up bc u are in for a riiiiiiiiiide (ridin on that VAAaaaaAAAAan, KEEP dRIVINGGGggGGG) ok anyways! HERE WE GO!

[ ! ] btw the first part is just me talking about everything that happened before the concert so pls feel free to just skip to the last paragraph instead LOL

so when news came out that nct 127 was going to be coming back to the u.s. and perform on jimmy kimmel and that tickets were FREE, my friends and i hi kellie, hi tracey all tried to get some tickets for both the taping and the concert and was able to make it on the waitlist! i don’t live in california but both of my friends do so i told them that if any of us got confirmed tickets, i’d be flying over there for the weekend to attend the show! it’s kind of all a blur now bc the only thing i can remember within that week was stressing out so hard over tickets because the way the whole thing was set up was just SO STRESSFUL because despite being on the waitlist, there is no 100% guarantee that you’d get tickets and they start giving out tickets to people from within a week before the taping to the day of the actual event so really, it was just one massive waiting game. but a week went by and none of us saw any signs of getting tickets and flight ticket prices kept fluctuating for me so i just went ahead and booked my flight anyways without a confirmed ticket pls don’t ever do this omfg please please PLEASE don’t ever do this!!! and PRAYED that one of us would be able to get tickets ;; a few days went by and then nct kept releasing more news and how they’d be performing at mickey mouse’s 90th birthday celebration so tickets for that were also available too and once again, we made it on the waitlist!!! and played not one but now two (2) waiting games!!!! :-)))

honestly i rly don’t remember much that happened during this small time frame bc i was so stressed and anxious over these tickets that it rly took a toll on me physically and mentally LOL but yeah so on wednesday the 3rd, nct 127 posted on their instagram about how they’d be having a special performance partnered with apple music and i was about to start my math exam but the moment i read their post, i ran to the bathroom faster than i’ve ever ran before and of course, i requested tickets and made it on the waitlist again!!!! SO NOW IN TOTAL, IT WAS NOT ONE, BUT THREE (3) WAITING GAMES!!! GAMES THAT I WAS STARTING TO GET SICK OF PLAYING!!! anyways yeah so basically my friends and i made it onto all 3 waiting lists and at this point we really just wanted to be able to make it to at least one event ;;;

fast forward to friday, aka 1 day before mickey mouse and 3 days before kimmel and apple music and also the day my flight leaves for la!!! my friends and i all got a big fat no from mickey mouse saying they wouldn’t be able to accommodate our ticket requests bc they were full so we we re like ok!!! whatevs!!! we still have kimmel and apple to try for!!! so here i am… at the airport… getting ready to leave with no!!! confirmed!!! ticket!!! my flight was quite early in the morning so i was at the airport overnight and it was like around 11:30pm when i was doing homework and i got a notification on my phone… thinking it was just some random notification when in reality, I GOT MY CONFIRMED TICKET FOR THE APPLE MUSIC EVENT :’) it’s a blur to me bc it happened so fast and so suddenly but all i remember was that my jaw literally dropped for the longest time and my hands were shaking so badly bc i cOULDN’T BELIEVE IT??? i wasn’t able to sleep that entire night nor was i able to sleep on the plane from all the adrenaline so that saturday really was an interesting day for me LOL anywho i made it to la safe and sound and spent saturday and sunday hanging out with my friends while we prepared for monday :’)

ok so then despite getting tickets, we had no idea where the location of this event was going to be bc 1iota (the event organizer) wasn’t going to release the information until 10am monday morning and we were planning on waiting in line like early early to get a good spot so we had to be ready and out of the house by 9am!!! bUT WAIT!!! 9am was also when the english version of the mv was going to be released so me and kellie were both !!! bc we wanted to gif the mv so bad!!! so now at this point it’s like 7am and we’re all like half awake trying frantically to get ready and i’m over here trying to stream nct on the radio and listen to the world release of regular eng ver and then somewhere in between all of this, both kellie and tracey ended up getting their emails for confirmed tickets too??? so yeah at this point all three of us are running around like crazy ppl bc we weren’t expecting all of us to go but now all 3 of us get to go!!! so yeah i brought my laptop with me and tried to gif in the car but the connection from my hotspot was so slow so i just sat and cried instead :-) ALSO!!! remember how information about the location was supposed to be released at 10am? yeah well they changed it on us again!!! they delayed it to 2pm so at this point me and kellie rly wanted to d*e bc we did all of that rushing for nothing omfg but fast forward to 2pm, they released the information for the location and since we were already in the hollywood area we went there right away so when we lined up, we were like number 10 in line!!! :D

i wasn’t able to eat at all that entire day just bc i was so stressed and so nervous from everything that the hunger didn’t hit me til like 20 mins before the actual event omg ;;;; i remember saying “omg i’m so hungry” and the girl beside me was like “well sweetie, you’re about to be fed real good rn” and i just died laughing oh my god but yeah i had a priority ticket so i was let in around 7:30pm-ish and the event started at 8! i got barricade again just like last time at kcon ny, my view was reeeeeeally good!! ! i would say even better than kcon’s even tho i was front and center for kcon ;;; back when we were in line, the event organizers kept asking us how we were doing and each time i would tell them that i was super nervous and they’d ask why and i would explain that i just get super nervous before seeing nct omg it’s really true tho idk what it is but i just feel so QUEASY before seeing them… like the fact that you go from seeing them from your screen to seeing them in front of you is just a very STRANGE FEELING FOR ME OK but they kept repeating how we were all going to have a good time and that the space inside was super small so it’s going to be nice and intimate with them and they said how no matter what spot you get, you’re still going to be super close to them… one of the staff members was like “you’re going to be so close to them they’re going to sweat on you” AND GOD THIS JUST MADE ME EVEN MORE NERVOUS KASDJKSAJDKAJDKA

OK ANYWAYS ENOUGH OF THAT, ONTO THE ACTUAL CONCERT! when we got in, the event was actually on a rooftop and so the scenery behind the stage was just soooooo pretty and then they had a playlist of their songs playing in the bg and it was just really nice to listen and enjoy while we waited for them to come out :’) the members kept hiding behind this door and some of them started waving and they were all teasing us so hard bc the moment we saw someone there, we would all start screaming and they just wouldn’t stop :’) then they finally played the apple music documentary video for us and i just remember all of us screaming a lot LOL but then the lights went off again and then we all watched them walk onto the stage one by one and oh my GOD the wait for them to finally start just felt like forever and then next thing i know, the sirens went off and all i hear is “GET IT LIFTED” and then firetruck started omg i was trying to get jaehyun’s attention but then mr. nakamoto yuta… YUTA… looked over on our side and me and him made eye contact for a good solid 3 seconds and i just about lost my shit omg… HE IS SO INSANELY GORGEOUS IN REAL LIFE I WAS RLY GOIN THRU IT… JAEHYUN WHO??? AND THEN HAECHAN OMG… haechan came over to our side like 75% of the time and he is the cutest, most adorable person on this planet!!! he was always smiling and waving and i really can’t think of anything else to describe him other than the sun bc he quite literally was shining that night!!! i think it was halfway through firetruck that we started to realize that the stage was like… a little slippery??? but it wasn’t until limitless started where we really noticed the members starting to slip and stumble here and there ;; also there’s this one part where jaehyun went up super close to me during limitless and i about died… i’ve said this before and i’ll say it again but even after seeing him irl, HE IS SO HANDSOME IT’S UNREAL… HIS VISUALS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD I CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD but yeah the staff members would go on stage after each song to try their best to dry the stage but for some reason that wasn’t enough ;; i have no idea why the stage was so slippery but my guess was that it was pretty cool up on the rooftop and with the amount of people there, there was so much body heat in the air and then that mixed with the cool air = condensation??? i also think the shoes the members were wearing had like absolutely no friction at the bottom so it made them slip even more ;; they were also using a fog machine too but idk if that was actually the reason why the stage was so slipper omg but yeah after firetruck, they performed limitless and then they had a small ment here and mark talked about how it was a very special day for them (bc they just came straight from performing at jimmy kimmel too) and then johnny screamed something along the words of being apple music’s next up next artist and he was just so happy!!!! and then mark said that they’ve got october all to themselves and they were so happy to be able to be here with all of the fans! jaehyun also said that the place was so wonderful and said all the fans there were so wonderful and johnny came in to say that they had rehearsals the night before but being there with all the fans, it was a totally different feeling ;~; after that they performed touch and then when it came to cherry bomb (OT10 VER WITH JUNGWOO BTW), this was when things started to look a little :/// bc taeyong had already fell back during touch and at this point i was already beyond worried bc i would rather have them stop the whole thing all together rather than have them risk getting injured just to perform for us??? i shouted so many times to “be careful” in both korean and english T________T IT WAS LIKE THE DREAM CONCERT ALL OVER AGAIN WHEN THEY PERFORMED IN THE RAIN not to mention they had comeback promotions to do once they back to korea too so i rly just wanted them to stop ;;; i also think the members were all starting to get a little discouraged from all the slipping and stumbling during each performance and it kinda just looked like they were all really sad that they couldn’t put on a perfect performance ;; at this point the stage was soooooo slippery and i think they were more focused on not falling rather than performing and my heart rly just was in pieces ;;; taeyong fell again in cherry bomb during the leg split dance and it looked so painful oh my god i was just so WORRIED and i wanted it all to stop so bad ;~; but after cherry bomb ended, i think the members went back down to talk to the staff and then they came back up with different shoes! but finally!!! alas, they performed regular!!! since they switched shoes, the performance went pretty smoothly so i felt a little at ease! taeil, doyoung and mark were still wearing their original shoes so there were a few times when they slipped a little but thank god none of them actually fell ;; despite the song being a released earlier that morning, a lot of the fans did really well in learning the fanchants and singing along with the boys so i think it really helped in boosting the members’ confidence after the prior performances ;; there was a small ment here and doyoung talked and johnny translated it saying how basically the members felt really apologetic that they couldn’t put on good performances bc of the slippery stage and i was yelling with all the energy i had left in my that it was ok!!! that they were doing amazing and that they shouldn’t feel sorry!!! IT WAS KILLING ME INSIDE THAT THEY FELT THIS ASKDJKASDJAKJSDKD I WANTED TO ACTUALLY D*E but then they promised they’d come back to show an even better performance and doyoung held up his lil pinky!!! and then johnny asked how taeyong was doing and he answered back “i’m okay!!!” IN THE CUTEST WAY POSSIBLE… I JUST WANTED TO GIVE HIM ONE BIG FAT HUG T________________T and then taeyong said the last mission they had left was to take a picture with the fans and took out the selfie stick to take a picture with everyone! it was so cute TwT 

but yeah, overall the whole experience was really really amazing minus the slippery stage and for the most part, i was really impressed with how organized 1iota was! i’m really grateful i got to be apart of it and it still feels like a dream that i got to attend the event and see them perform and promote their new album here in america!!! they were amazing performers and did so well despite everything! i was really really proud of them ;; anyways, thank you to everyone that made it this far!!! i hope you enjoyed this fan account! i know it’s a super long post but if i don’t write it all out now while it’s still somewhat fresh in my mind, i’m going to forget it by the end of the month so i hope you all understand! thank you so much! ♡

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 8 RECAP: The Journey Home

Monday:

Today was a struggle to get up. I sat there all day in class zoning out. We had a vocab quiz today and are working on finishing up lesson 10, our last chapter. We also talked a lot about our bonding event last Friday and poked fun at Felix who was acting a fool at karaoke after drinking too much booze. 

We had such a great time and it hadn't fully sunk in how much I'm gonna miss this small class. After class Bunny and I went to the computer lab to work on our listening homework, but not before I asked my teacher to write a recommendation letter for me. Which she happily obliged. I'll probably get it emailed though since I asked her pretty last minute. I also went down to the main office in the building to request my grade (Record of Study) for the month of August to be mailed to my house back in Reno. It's all really coming to an end. Bittersweet. After class today Bunny and I went to one of our favorite potsticker places right by campus. We stuffed our faces with veggie, curry, and spicy Korean style potstickers while reminiscing over the past two months. After we ate we headed home to relax and start the packing process.

Tuesday:

Today was our last day of class. Our teacher brought us egg scallion pancakes as a parting gift, as well as my letter of recommendation in a sealed envelope. I’m so surprised!! Our class was pretty laid back today. Wednesday is the actual last day of class but both Bunny and I leave Wednesday to head back to America. I'm so excited to surprise my friends and roommates by landing in Reno on Thursday instead of Saturday!!! It's going to be great. After class, and taking our last pictures and giving our last hugs, Bunny and I headed home as we weren't too hungry and needed to finish up packing as well as do laundry and a bunch of other stuff.

Here’s some Taipei flicks I took from the bus window... I’m going to miss this city!!

Later in the evening Bunny got us some boba, as I wasn't too hungry still.. I also got Bunny to start watching Insecure. She loves it and I'm so happy she's watching it!!!

For dinner we ate at the soy sauce braised place. Everyone there was so happy to see us and loved my hair (it was in a fro). When we left we told the workers we were going back to America and that this was our last meal here in Taiwan, and one of the workers even hugged us goodbye. So so sweet. We rode the bus back home and took the scenic route to take in the last few sights of Taipei night life.

We also watched the live stream of the eclipse tonight. It was cool!!!! I watched it on twitter because the US is like the only place where it's a full eclipse. It's only partial in other countries.

Wednesday:

Today I got up at 9:30am to get ready. It was so sad seeing Bunny’s stuff all cleared out already. She had left early this morning around 5:30am. I got up, and went to breakfast alone at our neighborhood spot. It was delicious as always, but I was eating all alone which made pretty sucky. I hadn't realized how attached to Bunny I was until I had gotten back to the room and was sitting on my bunk bed steps crying. I had an emotional moment and I was SO happy to be by myself. After I pulled myself together, I packed up the rest of my stuff and headed down to the main office to return our keys.

I left the house around 11 to head to the bus with all my luggage. It was a struggle getting around but I managed to make it to Taipei main station and onto the express train to the airport by 11:45am. I got to the airport around 12:30. I tried to check into my flight just before 1, but was told it was too early to check in for my 5pm flight, and I had to wait until after 2... So I found a table and an outlet and just sat and waited it out. I came back down to the ticketing area around 2 and was able to weigh my bags and my big bag was only a few pounds overweight!!! PROUD!!!! So I switched some stuff around and got the weight down with no problem. I was checked into my flight by 3 and headed to security. I got some food at Burger King (it was cheapest) and ate there in the food court. I headed to my gate and sat there a while before they moved our gate and delayed my flight by an hour. So I switched gates and waited at the new gate on a lower floor. We began boarding at 6:20ish... and our original flight departure time was 5:20. But the flight is only 2 hours and I have an aisle seat, fairly close to the front of the plane (because I checked in so early), that it shouldn't be too bad. Part 1 of my journey home begins NOW!

After getting off the plane I went to baggage claim and got my bags. My smaller bag came out first. I originally thought my bigger bag didn’t make it (because it was taking so long) but then I saw a small woman dressed as a flight attendant standing next to a huge burgundy bag (my bag) and looking around. She retrieved the bag from a separate baggage carousel, right next to the one all the other bags were coming out of. This other carousel was labeled "oversized baggage claim"... lol of COURSE. So I waved her down and rushed over and took my bag off her hands.

After getting through customs which was a breeze, I looked up the hotel on my phone to see how far it was. It was only an 8min walk!! So I decided to hit the road, dragging my suitcases behind me. It was dark at this point as it was after 10pm, but I found the hotel with no problem and checked in and went up to my room. I was exhausted. I talked on the phone with my mom and some friends (those of which still don't know I was at a hotel in China rather than in my dorm room), and I took a shower and knocked out. I woke up fairly early, around 6:30am and forced myself to go back to sleep for a few more hours. After 10am I checked out of the hotel, and caught the free shuttle service the hotel provided to drop me off at the terminal up the road.

I got in line at the ticketing counter and none of the workers had arrived yet. There were other passengers waiting too, but they weren't behind the ropes like I was. So when the time came for everyone to get in line, I was first in line bc best believe I didn't move when all of them tried to cut the line ;) lol.

I checked in and checked my bags with ease. I had to go to baggage inspection after ticketing , and I found out I couldn't bring lighters back to the US from China. So I had to throw away two really cool lighters I got as gifts for my stoner friends lol. The guy who was also working the baggage inspection was a total prick. HE BROKE THE HANDLE OF MY SUITCASE!! Asshole. But it's okay. I got through immigration and security pretty quickly and now I'm sitting at the gate eating a subway sandwich. I also got two cookies but they aren't half as good as they are in the US. The 12in sandwich and cookies cost me about 95 RMB.... Money of which I didn't have to spend because I was given some money by that kind Chinese guy who helped me buy my hotel on my way here back in June. This journey back to the US is 99% better than the journey here, and for that, thank you JESUS.

I board my plane in about an hour and 15 minutes (1:15) and from there I'll be on the plane for 12 hours before landing in LAX at 11am (pacific time).

My flight to Reno from LAX isn't until 6:30pm, so I'm hoping I can hop on a standby flight earlier so I can get home earlier... I'll keep you all posted ;)

On my flight to LAX from Nanjing, I got another awesome aisle seat only 4 away from first class. I’m feeling BLESSED to be at the front of the plane, but I know it's due to me checking in so early yet again. Thank goddddddd. Emptiest plane I've ever been on. The flight attendants started to close the overhead cabinets, and each row, including mine, had 1 or more empty seats in it. I was the only one in my row. Best believe I'm about to lay down and nap. 

Update: Our flight has been delayed an hour and a half on the tarmack. We are just SITTING HERE!!! Doing NOTHING!!! This is the worst ever.

Second Update*: I could not sleep a lick on the plane. I am delirious. I have watched what seems like a million movies and I feel like my eyes are BLOODSHOT.

I also have had to pee a million times since I’ve gotten on the flight so I keep getting up to run down the aisle to the toilet in my socks. HELP!!! This flight feels like an ETERNITY!!!

Our flight landed in LAX around 1pm (the original arrival time was 11am) and I can say I’ve never been more glad to be in America!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! After speeding through customs, and baggage inspection, I headed towards Southwest to check my bags for my evening flight to Reno. While I was in China, Karis texted me saying that she will be able to pick me up from LAX and spend some time with me before my next flight, so that’s exciting!! I can’t wait to see her!!

Update: Karis never showed. She texted me as if she was waiting for me at the Southwest counter, but come to find out, MY MOM COMES WALTZING FROM AROUND THE CORNER!! I AM SHOOK!! AND ECSTATIC!! MY MOMMA SURPRISED ME!!! Her little devious self. So SO cute. She made plans for us to grab lunch and catch up. I’m so so happy.

For lunch, my mom and I visited this restaurant on the marina that we’ve been going to for as long as I can remember. The food was so good, and you already know I had to order a MIMOSA!! God bless America.

After lunch, I actually still got to see Karis, despite her LIES!! Momma dropped me off at the LMU campus and I spent about 45 minutes with Karis catching up, before she dropped me at the airport. I’m so thankful to have a best friend like her. The surprise was the best welcome home present ever.

I boarded my flight to Reno with ease and am scheduled to land around 7:30pm. I am probably going to Uber home because no one knows I’m coming hehe. I can’t wait to surprise everyone. It’s going to be so great.