IN PHOTOS: Sparks fly at Park Hae-jin’s Manila fan meet

MANILA, Philippines – Sparks definitely flew as one of Korea’s most recognized actors, Park Hae-jin, finally held his first ever fan meeting in the Philippines on November 23 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City. 

The Man to Man actor was greeted with loud cheers and warm smiles as he stood alongside the host for the night, Sam Oh, to greet his fans.

When asked if it was his first time to visit the country, Hae-jin said that while it was his first ever fan meeting in the Philippines, he’d been to Manila before to film a scene for an upcoming drama.

Right after a short interview, Hae-jin actively participated in all of the activities in his fan meeting, the first of which was the food taste test. For this segment, the actor was asked to try different local dishes such as adobo, lechon manok, and sisig, as well as desserts such as bibingka and sapin-sapin. He then had to say “masarap (delicious)” if he liked a dish.

Being a lover of foreign cuisines, Hae-jin took a spoonful of each dish and said masarap each time. Hae-jin found the names of the Filipino dishes cute, and noted that bibingka tasted similar to a Korean dessert his mom makes back in South Korea. 

For the second part of the fan meeting, Hae-jin was asked to say several Filipino lines to 4 lucky fans. He did his best to say lines such as: “Ang ganda mo (You’re beautiful),” “Date tayo, ha (Let’s date, okay)?” “Mahal na mahal na mahal kita (I really, really, really love you),” and “Salamat sa pagpunta (Thank you for coming),” much to the delight of his fans. 

The next activity was a game of reenactment. Another set of names were drawn, and this time, the lucky fans got to reenact scenes from some of Hae-jin’s shows with the actor himself. After the activity, Hae-jin thanked the fans who did the scenes with him despite the language barrier. 

Hae-jin admitted he was worried about whether he still had fans in the Philippines and if anyone was going to come to the event. The actor then thanked his Filipino fans, saying he’s happy with how things turned out, especially since the fans were very passionate and gave off such great energy. 

As a treat for everyone who came, the actor sang his own rendition of the Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me.”

But Hae-jin’s fans also had a treat for him: a video presentation that showcased his fan club’s local activities, including their charitable works. After watching the video, Hae-jin said that he sees every good work that they do through photos posted on Instagram and other social media platforms.  

When asked for his final message, Hae-jin thanked his fans for supporting him, saying that because of their support, he was able to muster up the courage to come back to Manila for this event. 

Hae-jin then asked his fans to support his upcoming drama. He also said he can’t wait to come back to Manila. – Rappler.com