BTS Permission to Dance: On Stage in Seoul — Live Viewing Teaser

Just bought my tickets for the live viewing since I can't actually be in Seoul for this show. I think it's amazing that they're going to broadcast the concert in over 60 countries IN ACTUAL THEATRES. I'm sorry, but no other artist out there is doing this right now. During a pandemic, when so many global tours have been cancelled and online concerts have become the norm, only BTS is going the extra mile to make sure their fans all over the world can partake in a concert together. Not just at home, streaming through the computer, but in theatres with other local ARMYs. I can't wait.

Photolog 2018: Day 270 of 365

Our second day in NYC began in Koreatown because we were craving Korean food and also wanted to buy some Korean skincare products. (I also enjoy the healthy amount of appreciation for BTS in the stores around there.)


There are dozens of Korean restaurants to choose from just on this one street, but we decided upon Five Senses, which ended up being one of the nicest authentic Korean restaurants I've ever been to. It's also the most expensive Korean restaurant I've ever been to, but that could just be the standard pricing in NYC (because everything is expensive in NYC). On that note, though, it was one of the tastiest Korean meals I've ever had (I have not been to South Korea, but I work with what I have access to). We started with a most beautifully golden, perfectly crispy kimchi pajeon, and then Chelsea had her usual bibimbap and I got the budae-jjigae (their version uses kimchi, sausage, ham, Berkshire pork belly, bacon, tofu, rice cakes, and ramen — so basically, it's heaven). While I think Chinese restaurants in Toronto are far superior than ones in NYC, I prefer the Korean restaurants in NYC to the ones in Toronto.


After lunch, we decided to look at some shops in Koreatown and dropped into the Nature Republic store to stock up on some skincare. I came here last year with Ronsee and bought a number of things that I really ended up loving but aren't readily available in Toronto. So this time, I decided to try some new products and ended up getting the Hawaiian Deep Sea Mild Scrub Foam Cleanser, City-Care Marine Water Toner, City-Care Marine Water Cream, Polynesia Lagoon Water Hydro Essence, Jeju Sparkling Cleanser Water, and Bee Venom Mist Essence (I wish I had gotten a couple more bottles of this mist; my skin randomly gets irritated and this mist immediately soothes it and takes away any itchiness or redness, which no other spray has ever done for me before). And because that apparently wasn't enough Korean skincare, I also ended up getting Glow Recipe's Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser and Watermelon Pink Juice Moisturizer when Chelsea dragged me into Sephora to look at makeup. So, yeah. I'm really set for skincare for like, the next year.


After spending the rest of the afternoon shopping in and around the Herald Square area, we headed back to the hotel to drop our bags off before rushing to the August Wilson Theatre to watch Mean Girls on Broadway. (We literally made it there with a minute to spare.) I almost forgot how good Mean Girls is. Tina Fey did a great job at updating the jokes and slang to fit today's teens, and the entire cast are phenomenal singers. As with the movie, my favourite character in the musical is Karen. She just gets the best lines. I find some musicals to be quite tedious or boring to watch, but this one was entertaining and funny and true to the original film. Highly recommend!


It would have been silly to be in the Theater District and not go to Shake Shack. The line-up wasn't too bad (it didn't go out the door and down the sidewalk like the last time I was there), but it was still crazy busy in there with all tables filled, so we took our orders to go to eat at our hotel (which was within walking distance). I was starving, so I got my usual Shack Stack as well as a regular single burger and a black & white milkshake. Because, you know, go big or go home. (For the amount of money and calories, I prefer getting a second burger to getting fries from Shake Shack.) And given how many burgers I've tried in and out of Toronto, I still think Shake Shack makes the best fast food burger of all time.


Five Senses
9 W 32nd Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 441-0005

Nature Republic
33 W 32nd Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 244-9444

August Wilson Theatre
245 W 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
(800) 745-3000

Shake Shack
691 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10036
(646) 435-0135

NYC (Winter 2011): Day 4, Wicked

Shawn and I spent Thursday evening watching Wicked on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre. In a word: Spectacular. (You were expecting a lame pun there, weren't you?) Phenomenal singing, fantastic story line, awesome set designs, and amazing costumes. It was energetic, funny, and dazzling. Glinda is absolutely adorable, and as "wicked" as Elphaba is, we still manage to empathize with her. I definitely felt more emotionally attached to this story than to Phantom of the Opera. While Phantom has more memorable songs and stunning opera singing, I actually enjoyed Wicked more as a whole, if only because it has clearer story-telling and better flow. Wicked definitely has a more contemporary feel, not just in the sets, but in the music and singing as well. Teal Wicks does a phenomenal job of singing as Elphaba, and while Katie Rose Clarke doesn't have quite as strong a voice, she does a better job of acting as Glinda. The scene where they sing "Defying Gravity"? Epic.

I can see Wicked being on Broadway for at least another decade. Just... phenomenal.

Of course, like the tourist I am, I totally bought some goodies before we left: a program, the original Broadway soundtrack (featuring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenowith – both of whom, incidentally, appeared on Glee in separate seasons after they left Wicked), and a coffee mug (I bought a lot of mugs on this trip). I kind of wish I had bought the soundtrack for Phantom of the Opera after the show we went to on Tuesday, but there were only two merch booths at the Majestic Theatre, both of which were in the lobby and it was just way too crowded for us to bother. The layout of the Gershwin Theatre is way more organized, so there are many more exits for people to use and many more floors to enter the theatre. And they have merch booths by every exit. It's just smart business. Majestic, take note.

NYC (Winter 2011): Day 2, Phantom of the Opera

Shawn and I walked over to Majestic Theatre to watch the Broadway performance of Phantom of the Opera. It currently holds the record of longest-running show on Broadway, and with good reason. The music is phenomenal, the singing is mesmerizing, all of the set designs are amazing, and the overall theatricality is just epic. And it has, by far, the most dramatic and most memorable entrance, ever. But, and some might throw rocks at me for saying this, I thought the story could've been told better. Watching it on Broadway makes it slightly harder to follow, especially for those who don't know the basis of the story. There's very, very little speech in the show; it's all singing, which makes it harder to convey a message. And some scenes were unnecessarily long, and made it a little bit boring, especially the "office" and "graveyard" scenes. But the scenes in the theatre and in the Phantom's lair were amazing and, thankfully, take up most of the show. Overall, definitely worth going. Even if you don't like the story or it doesn't make sense to you, the music and the stage sets are spectacular.

And because we aren't allowed to take photos of the actual performance, here are a few of the inside of the theatre: