On Friday June 12, Shin Hye arrived in Hong Kong at 4:12pm (HKT). She would exit the airport via Exit A of Hong Kong International Airport's arrivals hall. Exit A has 2 openings. One is at the side, and one is at the end of a extended pathway. Together with some HK fans, I went to the airport early to anticipate her arrival with a bouquet of flowers. At around 4:20pm, a group of reporters crowded at the side opening. then literally 10 seconds later, Shin Hye came out!!! She was immediately swarmed by fans and reporters. She received the flowers from us.
Then she walked along the connecting hallway to the carpark of the airport hotel. It was quite a long walk, but she was very elegant and waved to fans cheerfully. Then she boarded a car and it drove away.
The next day, the event started at 3:00pm but some HK fans and I arrived early to get places with a good view.The stage was designed such that the media would be placed in front of fans so it was important to get a good place to watch the event. By noon, the mall was already full of fans and spectators awaiting Shin Hye's arrival.
Shin Hye arrived with a 'catwalk'; she descended from a floor up to the stage via an escalator. She looked sooo beautiful just like an angel descending from the heavens. The background music was her drama Heirs' theme song (by Lee Honggi). Then she walked onto the stage wearing a beautiful navy dress and navy heels. She said "Hello" in Korean and Cantonese. Fans responded with a united "Saranghaeyo!" and lots of screaming and cameras clicking away.
She said she was really happy to be in Hong Kong and kept waving to her fans. Shin Hye also waved to her fans watching from the floors above. After posing for photographs for the press, she started the playing games with fans. There were 2 games and I was picked for the 1st game *insert fangirl screams*!
Ok so the 1st game was a food game. Two teams of two people each competed against each other. Shin Hye would call out the name of the dimsum she wanted (in Cantonese), then one of the members of a team would have to guess what it was and get the food item using a pair of chopsticks. Another member of the team would catch the item with a plate and give it to Shin Hye who would verify whether it was correct or not. In the end, my team won (yay! teammate!). My teammate and I both won a copy of Shin Hye's photobook each. My teammate got crowned as Dae Jang Geum and I got fed dimsum by Shin Hye LOL. It was fun.
The 2nd game was a modelling game. 3 fans were picked to dress up + imitate Shin Hye's poses from some of her magazine photoshoots. It was very hilarious and Shin Hye had a good laugh out of it. The fans imitated her really well with the use of props!
After that, Shin Hye took a group photo with all her fans.
Then, it was time for media interview. During the interview, She revealed that she likes Hong Kong food a lot and she went to a restaurant that serves yummy HK food the night before. She said the next leg of her tour is Taiwan, and she is currently deciding where to stop for FM tour after Taiwan. Other than that, she hopes that she will be able to have a proper FM in Hong Kong next year.
When asked about her style, Shin Hye said although she wears formal dresses for public events, when she is not working, she actually likes wearing tank tops and jeans. She likes to do sports and listen to music during her free time.
Toward the end of the interview, Shin Hye revealed that she learned something really sad this morning - her grandpa passed away. Originally she planned to stay in HK until Monday, but she decided to cut her trip short and return to Korea tonight because of that. Fans fell silent at the news, and suddenly there was an outburst of "Fighting!" "Shin Hye him-nae!!" and a lot of sympathy. Shi Hye was very touched and said she was ok, and was very grateful for fans' support and understanding. We are so sorry for your loss, Shin Hye. It must had been a difficult day for her. Our thought and prayers are with her and her family.
After that was time for the fansign. It was announced that because Shin Hye had to catch a flight back to Seoul, so the fansign would be kept simple: no header (name) for the fansign, no hugs and no hand shaking, in order to allow her to leave quickly for the airport. Fans were very understanding and the fansign was done very swiftly. I conveyed our condolences on behalf of fans to her and she said she was ok, and that she would stay strong. I also gave her a present on behalf of PSHIFC and international fans - a Daniel Wellington watch.
After the fansign, it was time to say goodbye. Shin Hye once again thanked her fans, and said she was sorry about having to break the sad news earlier. She said although her grandpa passed away and she is in Hong Kong, he would be very happy to know that she is surrounded by fans today who love and support her. She thanked fans over and over again. It was an emotional moment. We love you, Shin Hye. Please stay strong.
The event ended with cheers and a promise that she would be back to see her fans in Hong Kong in the near future.
