Next project sounds great!

http://caamedia.org/blog/2016/02/19/fast-and-the-furious-star-sung-kang-talks-about-his-career-and-future/

I really like reading his interview like this! We need to know more about when we can watch his next work or the past works that has not been widely distributed. His idea of traveling world to introduce people's relationship with cars, sounds very interesting. While car sharing culture (and/or auto drive feature) seem to be getting popular, there will be always some individuals who are so obsessed with specific cars and must own one. We will learn a lot by knowing what those people have in their mind.

Clam Chowder at Pier of Bay Area sounds yummy!

Shot by a better camera!

Let me share this video as well. I was there, and shot same thing, but I didn't take the whole thing in one video because I wanted to take pictures in between. I actually recognize the person who took this video because Sung retweeted his post in the past. I also realized that one of the links I have from my blog is his site. I wasn't sure if I should say "hi" to him. Well, he would've felt strange if I did. So, I guess I did right -- didn't say hi.

Anyway, after watching this video, I once again feel that I wanted to talk to Sung more! Just like last time in NYC. I guess I was extremely lucky back then, that I could walk a few blocks next to him talking all the way about Ultraman and other stuffs. I wanted to ask him many thing, but at the same time, I don't want him to think I ask too many questions. That was my dilemma. What I wanted to ask are -- if he has any plan to resume tweeting, if he received my birthday gift last year -- I know he was kind enough to tweet a picture of the birthday present I sent to him 2-3 years ago, but I'm not sure if he got the one last year. But I don't want him to feel that I make this important (at least for me) reunion time being about me. As a fan, I should share more about how I liked his works. That's also something I could not deliver at that time.

I have an idea. Why don't I start writing a script for myself, so that I know what to say next time I get lucky enough to talk to him again. I want to share my story with him, too. He once mentioned that it's interesting. But he is just such a nice person that he cannot say "I don't care about your life." But hope he actually meant it. But that's already several years ago, and I cannot blame  him if he does not remember any of them.

Anyway, Justin and Sung's success story cheers us up a lot. I relate it to my success (well, it's not as big as theirs, of course, but in terms of getting some stability in my life and steady career growth, etc.), and that's one of the reason I've been so persistently in love with him.

Don't know what to say?

http://fastandfurious.wikia.com/wiki/Han_Seoul-Oh
http://www.buzzfeed.com/fast6/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-fast-and-the-fur#.ofdre9jol

It's great to hear about the characters in the famous franchise directly from the mouth of the person who directed them. I knew most of them, but it's really cool to get a truly authentic confirmation in person like this. I am lucky! (and crazy, of course.)

So, there are many articles and other fan sites about the characters. I still do not believe Han has any last name in this series because that's what Justin mentioned in the past somewhere, which I didn't hear in person by someone who watched a YouTube clip shared with me. But I guess it doesn't matter. If people want to call Han Seoul-Oh or Han Lue, they can.

I enjoyed Leo's answer in this video, too. I was happy that I could let him know I like his OZ accent because that's totally different from the character he played in Tokyo Drift. He is no where close to that mean personality. But he looked really mean! I guess that means he is a really good actor.  :D

He looked a little tired

   

Let me write what I was thinking when I was watching Q & A session in the front row of the theatre after Tokyo Drift film screening completed.

I was so excited to see Sung, Justin, and Leo walking to the chairs below the screen, which is just about 2-3 meters away from me! Wow~~ it's Sung right there! I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I just had to quickly stand-by my iPhone6 for photos and videos.

I kept hoping that Sung finds me and we can get eye-contact. I was ready to wave my hand. But looks like I was too close and it was hard to see my seat area from them because of lighting. In fact, the guy next to me raised his hand during the Q & A session, but the moderator never looked at him. I guess we were just too close.

So, but I was still glad that I got the first row and closest enough that I can see them very clearly and take a lot of pictures and videos.

At the beginning of Q & A session, the moderator let Justin talk first, which was expected. Justin shared a lot of great stories and episode that make us very excited about his past and future works. Then, it was Sung's turn, but somehow, Sung didn't know what to day. It made me worried -- Sung might be in a bad mood or very tired. Hope anything bad happened to him or around him. If it is seriously bad thing, he wouldn't come out.  So, I quickly tried erasing my negative feeling. But even when the moderator tried having Sung speak up again for the second time, Sung remained quiet.  Then, I started worrying again -- what happened to him? Why he isn't talking? Then, I tried remembering what it was like when I saw the same type of Q & A session after Finishing the Game. I remember he was quieter than Justin or the other casts. He might be just being him. After it comes to the audience's term to ask questions, Sung finally started talking and he smiled and sounded pretty all right, which made me feel very happy.




I watch these videos I took over and over. I never get tired of watching him talking. I should've prepared more in advance like guying all movies in DVDs or Blue Rays where Sung appears. I actually have all of them legally downloaded either via iTunes store or Amazon, but digital version does not allow me quickly show him I possess all the movies. So, I only took whatever I have in DVDs. I still feel it was so silly of me letting my tern to talk to Sung ended so quickly as I wanted to say "hi" to Leo as well. But the person behind me quickly started talking to Sung and I could no longer push the person away. :( But I was bold enough to get my 2nd tern to talk with Sung and ask about doing a quick greeting video for my friends. But I still forgot to ask him to shake hand or give me a hug. It's my challenge always -- whether or not I go with Japanese style or show my Americanized side. You know, we do not shake hands or hug very often in Japan. But I've lived in USA more than 20 years and started doing American style greeting most of the time. But I sometime just forget how to act like an American. When I saw Sung in person, my Japanese side quickly got stronger. It may be because it was after I watched Tokyo Drift. Anyway, I need to remind myself -- next time I get to see him, I'll be more American somehow -- shake hands and a hug. But I think Sung is used to with my type of a little awkward Asian who came to the states after grown up. So, hope he didn't find me strange.

I'm a proud backer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2v7U06pJo#action=share
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paliroad/pali-road

If you are a huge Sung Kang fan like me, it's your chance to show your love in a very practical way. This movie looks pretty interesting even w/o Sung. I'm already hooked and curious to know what is actually happening there. But if I were her, I don't care if I remember or not. When I woke up and found Sung cooking for me in the kitchen, I will just take that life even if it is totally different from what I remember. Even without any fancy setting like nice home and a cute kid, if it is Sung who just suddenly became a big part of my life, then, excellent. Who care about what happened. Oh wait. Sung has already been a big part of my life anyway.  :P

Kickstarter might be a really good way for raise fund for cool projects like this one. It's also great way to easily participate something you'd love to root. Seriously. I really want this to be released in theaters! Please join me if you agree. Actually, the lunch option and premier option are super attractive, but given that I just spent about total $500 for 1.5 days trip just to see Sung in LA, I cannot afford to plan another trip for a while. So, I just took $100 option. Still pretty good deal for me as long as I get to see the movie. 

Great collage of @sungkangsta in #PaliRoad from fan @cl_julyn !

A photo posted by Pali Road (@paliroadofficial) on Oct 20, 2015 at 1:52pm PDT

More famous among guys

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1602-fast-and-furious-star-sung-kangs-1972-datsun-240z/

It's always great to see an article talking about Sung and his project. He looks a lot more comfortable in these pictured when he is with FuguZ and wear casual. I wish - as always - I were there though I just met him in person last week. Oh.. it's been exactly a week passed since I saw him in LA! I miss him already.

I was also having an eventful time since then. I flew to Miami for my company's convention, and met old friends I haven't met for a few years. So, that was a great reunion, too. And of course, I showed my selfie with Sung to many people there though we were there on business. I even showed it to my clients, too. An interesting thing I found is that the reaction about seeing the picture is bigger among guys than girls. Actually, some of my female friend didn't recognize him while all of the male friends/customers to whom I showed my picture got really excited. I told my husband what I experienced.

Even my colleague who is a Korean American female living in NY didn't know him. She actually gave me "Like!" for the same picture I posted on my Facebook page. But when I asked "Why did you give me "Like!" to my post if you do not even know who he is?" She answered, "Oh, I thought it's a  nice picture, and your husband is so handsome." I laughed really hard. "Are you serious? You really though he is my husband? No~~ though my husband is a Korean, too." Then, she was surprised again. I guess I didn't share that much personal life with her though I've worked with her on many projects together. Anyway, I explained this guy is a very famous actor in a very famous movie franchise. She had no idea.

Another friend of mine from Japan also said, "Wow, isn't he handsome?" but had no idea who he is. But all of male friends/customers I spoke to -- about 50 of them in last one week knew about the movie and recognized him.

Then, my husband said, "Hollywood movies in general are mostly for men, and only less than 30% of the audience are female." Hmm.. I didn't know that. I used to watch movie even weekend. But it's true that from some point, I stopped watching movie except Sung's.

Indeed, the only person who was waiting in the line for the event of 10 year anniversary of Tokyo Drift in LA before me was a boy. I didn't ask exactly where he is from, but he seems to be an American born Indian. I was actually at the theater first, but I was too early (like 2 hours before the event starts), so, I had to eat Ramen in Little Tokyo and came back because the event staff said "you are too early. You should go eat something first, then, come back." After I'm back at the door, he was there waiting for the door to open. And then, the one who came after me was also an Asian male. Three of us were talking about the movie and cars, etc. It was pretty fun talking with them because we were all so big fan of Sung and Justin. They were very surprised when I said I just arrived to LA from DC today, and flying back to DC tomorrow. Anyway, there were many guys who attended the event while I did see female audience as well. But it was probably less than 40%, and nobody was like me -- a female alone. Hmm... I guess that makes me feel a real stalker.

It's really fun thinking back the time I got to see Sung. I will continue doing this for next few years until next time I get lucky to see him in person again.

It's so funny!

 I really like when Sung talks about his mom. I can tell he loves his mom a lot. It's great to know that he flew her in Tokyo when he was on set for Tokyo Drift. Back then, I was in Tokyo, too! I was working in Shibuya. Anyway, he shared this story, which is very funny and lovely. This pretty much tells who Sung is. Same video was shot and shared by the person who actually raised this question during Q&A session. He is very into Tokyo Drift, too. I recognized him because Sung posted his picture in his instagram account in the past. Check out this video, which is nicely edited, but the major part is actually same as what I shot. The link to the video can be found in the article where more info about the event shared. http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/so-what-did-sung-kang-and-his-mother-steal-from-the-set-of-tokyo-drift/ Also, it's really good to know another 10th anniversary Tokyo Drift event in planned in Bay Area in March! Wow~~ Well, I cannot make it. I cannot justify my expense even with a tax refund. But if you are around there, keep your eyes and ears on http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com Hope they do this in NYC or DC area, too!

My lifetime passion/obsession = Otaku?

To be honest with you, I claim myself as "Sung's friend" when I talk about how I met him in person. Kind of showing off that hey, I'm a friend of a celebrity. But I always follow up by saying "Actually, I'm just a fan. I was just lucky to find an event where I could see him in person and he is generous enough to let me take a picture with him." As I see so many others also getting the photo taken with him for past several years, I highly doubt that he remember them all. For me, remembering someone's face and name is getting harder and harder. It might be my brain issue, but even a few days ago, there was a guy passing by my office saying, "Hi, Mari." I quickly said, "Hi." But I don't remember who he was. It actually happens quite often for me. They know me, but I don't. Obviously, I'm not a celebrity. It's just how my brain works. Quickly erasing old memories when I need to remember something newer. But I suppose that is not how Sung's brain works. When I asked him, "Do you recognize me?" He simply said, "Yes, Mari." Wow! I guess it shouldn't be the most important thing that he remembers me because he is so busy and deals with so many other fans. If I get a chance to see him again next time, I won't ask this question again. Instead, I will ask something more meaningful. I prepared many questions/comment, but my brain started spinning and couldn't say much. I prepared a hand-writing letter, too. But i hesitated to give it to him. What if he find me so disgusting -- being as old as he is, still coming after a movie start? Actually, that is not unusual in Japan. You can find a lot of grandmother generations of people go to Korea to see Korean actors. So, I'm nothing different! I guess it's in my DNA. Japanese old women go after a Korean actor. Anyway, one thing I achieved yesterday is this video below: I wrote down names of other girls who are as crazy for Sung as I am though I still feel I'm 100% more obsessed. Anyway, I made many good friends and share our love to Sung Kang for years. So, I wanted to share my happiness with them by letting Sung saying "hi" to them by calling their names. And he did it beautifully. This video was quickly sent off to my friends and most of them already responded saying how much it made them happy. I'm so glad it worked out! I'm so glad that I could make someone happy like that. I should also give a credit to my husband who gave me a ride to/from the airport, 2 days in a row. It takes almost 3 hours round trip. And he knows exactly why I went to LA and how it turned out. I asked him, "don't you actually mind your wife spend time and effort (and money) to see another Korean guy even though he is a movie star?" He just said, "I'm not a guy from Joseon Dynasty time." I guess if I were bon in Joseon period, I get death penalty by doing this kind of thing. But hey, it's 2000s'. I actually feel I haven't changed much since I was in elementary school in many sense. That is, when I'm in love with someone, I don't hide. I feel there is no point to hide. People may or may not talk about it. But so what? That actually embarrassed many of them who are just regular guys like my classmates. I guess that's why I no longer live in Japan since a while ago. I was so happy to see Fi posted the picture I shared with her. Yes! It is the shelfie I was talking about. I did it! I normally don't share a picture of myself. But when I do, it's with Sung!

I did it!

It's finally my tern! The video I'm sharing here today was taken by me yesterday in LA and I'm now back home in Maryland. I'm so fast and furious, no? I don't have to explain myself how happy I am now. I will share more a little by little, but I'd like to start with this video because Justin is talking about something really interesting for us -- big fans of FF series! I kind of knew Justin has no plan to come back. But it's great to know that it sounded like Justin and Vin still talks about that, while that does probably not mean Justin is likely to come back to this. But it's just not 0%. I want him to shoot something like how he did in Tokyo Drift and it does not have to be inside FF series. But I guess he is currently super busy with so many projects. I'm so grateful that he made a time to come to this event. I'm sure it's not giving him much, but he is just giving so much to us, the audience and LA Asian Community. For that, I really respect him. And I wanted to let him know so much about what I've been thinking about his works and his existence itself. I cannot believe I didn't even try talking to him, though. That's right. I didn't get to talk to him. I guess I was so focused on Sung. I wanted to talk to Justin, too. But my brain just got white out after talking with Sung. I really wanted to say Justin is a game changer and I also wanted to ask him about the scene Sean came to his father's place in Tokyo. I still want to know whose idea it was -- a unit bath with Japanese style toilet bowl. I was like "WTH?" I've never seen a bathroom like that. But I kind of liked it. I thought it's a joke and I found it really funny. But I'm just curious to know why it was there. Damn! I can't believe I couldn't talk to Justin!

Can I meet FuguZ, too?

http://www.autoblog.com/article/fuguz/

According to this picture, Sung is growing his hair. Let's see if he has a long hair tomorrow or not. I've been so busy taking care of my works and it's 11:30pm EST here. I haven't even started packing yet. It'll be a short trip, just staying near LAX for one night, but I'd better start packing because my flight leaves tomorrow morning around 10am. I have to wake up early enough to avoid morning traffic, which caused a major delay last time we drove to the airport.

Anyway, I'm still not 100% sure if I get to see him. You know, weather has been crazy. No storm predicted on my way so far. But you never know.

Even if I get there and Sung is there, do I get to talk to him? Maybe security will block me because I'm classified as cyber stalker, stalking him for 8 years? I'm harmless, right? I'm not prepared to do anything crazy. All I want is at least one selfie with him. I won't be too greedy.

Fi was so nice to let me know that she informed Sung about me. So, hope Sung is (kind of) expecting me there. Just like previous 2 times, which I'm sure he doesn't remember, hope he talks to me first before I do. Yes. That how we first contacted. I was starring at him for a few seconds, then, Sung said, "Hey, are you my friend in MySpace?" That was the very first sentence I heard from Sung talking to me in Silver Spring, MD. Then, in NYC, he said, "Hey, I know you," while I was greeting with someone else in the same event. Let's see if he recognize me again.

OK. Time to start packing!

Justin and Sung will be there!

http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/the-fast-and-the-furious-tokyo-drift-10th-anniversary-screening-w-director-justin-lin-and-star-sung-kang/comment-page-1/#comment-819897

It is officially announced that Justin and Sung will be there for 10th anniversary screening of Tokyo Drift! You have no idea how much it means to me. It's just a coast-to-coast that I have to travel on Thursday morning. Hope I'm not too oily by the time I get to see them in LA. The worst case scenario is that my connection flight at Chicago does not fly out on schedule, or my husband refuses to give me a ride to the airport. I asked him to go with me, but he said "it's OK."

Anyway, it's not my first time going to LA, hoping to see Sung in person. Last time, I failed because he did no show up in the film festival. But it'll be my first time visiting Little Tokyo. I plan to use Uber for the first time, too. Let's see how it turns out. Hope I get to talk to him and record some video as an evidence.

My colleagues told me, "you are so hard core!" Yes, I am. And very persistent/stubborn one. Hope that does not scare him off.

Actually, it is not the best timing for me to travel long distance because I have a business trip in the following week to Miami. I'm not young enough to handle two long distance trip in a week. But let's see how I can manage.