Entertainment Building Thursday. (Yes, this is a KPOP article)

This past Thursday was yet another Korean holiday, Foundation (Founder’s?) Day, in which the Joseon Dynasty founded the country that would be known as South Korea. But you know, instead of spending the holiday doing traditional, cultural things, Maria, Anna, Priscilla, and I spent half the day walking around the Gangnam area of Seoul looking for, yes, you know it, the entertainment buildings that founded most of the popular KPOP groups (I had to incorporate Foundation Day somehow…)

Anyway, our day started off meeting in Apgujeong, which was the easiest way to get to the old SM building, the company that brought you many bands like Super Junior, Girls’ Generation (SNSD), SHINee, EXO, f(x), and much more.  Personally, I’m not a big fan of SM, but since we were doing an entertainment building search, we might as well have included one of the Big 3 companies (the other two including JYP, which we did that day too, and YG, which we did the first Saturday we were here. Look at me busting out my KPOP smarts…) There were quite a few fans waiting around the building, which is very small when you think about how many groups SM has (and how many people are in each group…Like, 13 boys in 1 band, SM? Yeah, I’m looking at you, SuJu…)  It just didn’t seem to add up how crappy that building looked. I mean, sure they had a nice big banner that covered the front of it with ads for EXO and f(x), but come on. The back side wasn’t impressive, as most back sides should be. Anyway, there were a handful of fans there, or sasaengs. IDK if you’d necessarily call them sasaengs, though? Maybe the local fans, because they’re probably there everyday. But like some of them seemed and looked like international fans, so they could’ve just been that and wanted to sight see the entertainment buildings like us.

These are the only shots of SM I got, because frankly I don’t care about SM. Sorry. Those are the pretty ads of pretty bands that hide their pretty crappy building.

Anyway, on to building 2, which was originally supposed to be JYP, since it was within walking distance to SM. Kind of. If you like 15-20 minute walks along a major shopping area in the richest district in Seoul.  But, as it turns out, we kind of got lost looking for JYP and detoured and went all the way around. Which eventually brought us to the Cube Entertainment Studio, home to B2ST, 4Minute, BTOB, and as of right now, since his exit from the military, Rain (or Bi, pronounced Bee, and formerly of JYP. More KPOP smarts coming out.) Well, the Cube Ent. studio has a cafe on the bottom, where devoted fans can go and chill and pay for (probably) expensive coffee while waiting for a chance to see their favorite idols. We didn’t linger because, well, I happen to also not be a huge Cube fan either. Well, with the bringing in of Rain and my tiny love for B2ST that I will not let grow for financial and mental reasons, I just might change that. But still, no.  Later, we found the Cube Entertainment administration office, which looked a lot bigger and made enough sense to be an entertainment company’s office because of how big it was. Below are some pictures are Cube Studio, Cube Entertainment offices (I only took pictures because I imagine Rain’s beautiful body gracing the same area), and a comeback poster of BTOB, who I have not heard music from and can only lovingly refer to one of the members as Crazy Eyes because he has crazy eyes. To me, anyway. I really should’ve gotten a shot of beautiful B2ST, though because Doojoon is handsome and Yoseob reminds me of one of my best friends back home (Maruel, I’m looking at you…)

We then walked twenty steps almost and found the infamous Dunkin Donuts (which B2ST endorses, lol) that lies across from JYP Entertainment. And thus, we found JYP. Of course, I did the obligatory video where you whisper JYP in JYP’s presence because, you know, the JYP whisper is the greatest invention ever made and will never cease to entertain me. If you don’t get this joke, then do yourself a favor and listen to ALL of JYPE’s artists’ songs. I guarantee you, you will find over 100 songs (maybe not over 100…okay, like 20) with the JYP~ whisper before, during, or after it. TRUST. ME.  However, it did not summon JYP into my presence as I hoped it would (no, I’m just kidding. But I’m not. Am I?)

I’ve been told a lot of fans have gone to JYP and sat at the adjacent Dunkin Donuts to wait for JYP oppars to come out. Which should’ve stopped me from being a saesang, but we lingered there for an hour, which I felt bad because we never gave the other entertainment companies that chance. The only reason why we stayed there so long was because the actual workers kept moving cars and people kept coming in and out of the building that it made us delusional and hopeful that it might’ve been 2PM or someone else worth waiting there for. Nope, just a bunch of trainees, dancers, and other people I don’t know. What a bust. I guess it’s not meant to be. YET……..

  
Asian poses at JYP…as Maria judges from behind…

  
Inside the DD, there’s a bunch of idol paraphernalia, but not just of JYP artists, but Cube as well. Only because Cube is just right there. Like literally, right there. This is the only group that matters to me, though. 2PM. Some autographs from them. 🙂

Also, fans signed some stuff and the store posted it up so I guess the idols can see it when they walk by? My favorite is in the middle, to Wooyoung, whose single “Sexy Lady” came out last year. Hence, the message…

We then went to look for the new SM building, which looked 10x better than the crappy first building we went to. It also had less fans waiting around. Funny. Anyway, this is it. Like I said, not much fanfare because I don’t like SM as much.

The last building we saw was FNC, which I think is home to FT Island and CN Blue? I don’t know…I’m not sure. :/ But it was, by far, the quietest building there.

After our tour of the buildings and after dinner, we decided to go to the Express Bus Terminal underground shopping area, where we saw a fan meet for FT Island, one of kpop’s rock band. Like, they play their own instruments. They’re like Hanson or The Jonas Brothers or something. I wouldn’t know. Again, I’m not a fan. Huh, this is making me realize how much of a kpop fan I am, which is to say not really when I only stan a few bands from YG and JYP specifically. Huh. Anyway, this is what a fan meet looks like. I’ve only seen pictures of fan meets on Tumblr, so I got to somewhat experience one. It’s kind of like when you put a few hot guys who can sing in the same room as a bunch of hormonal girls and the girls can’t do anything else but scream their heads off and take really good, high-res pictures despite spazzing out. Yeah…that.

There must’ve been over 200+ fans, but I’m sure that only maybe less than 100 got to see them because we went shopping and came back within an hour and they were all gone, the staff members were already cleaning up. That, or Korea is very efficient.

And that was my Thursday, guys.