Eleven years ago on
this date, June 3, I met my all-time favourite boy band New Kids on the Block
for the second time in three days…. So let’s rewind back two more days, eleven
years ago.
1 June 2012: My
kiddos were still young so when I planned this trip to Jakarta from Singapore
to catch New Kids on the Block in concert after almost 20 years from the first
time I had seen them LIVE in Singapore in 1992, I decided I would make it a
family vacation. We toured Jakarta and in the late afternoon, when it was time
for me to head over to the concert venue to do the meet-and-greet and go for
the show, the kids remained behind at the hotel with my mother and husband.
It was nerve
wrecking to be honest because I did not know what to expect. Imagine, I was
only 13 when I last saw the guys in concert and back then, my family was not
very rich so I had seats in nose bleed land but was grateful to still be at the
show. Not too long after, they disbanded. I swore I would move to Boston to
hunt them down and funny thing is.. I did finally move to Boston in 2000. As
much as I never stopped listening to their music, I was busy trying to survive
and the thought of looking for them never did cross my mind.
Although in 2007,
someone looked me up on MySpace and asked if I would accompany her for Jordan’s
solo concert. We met up and remained friends up till today. We attended two
shows of Jordan’s on the same day and met him twice.
I moved back to
Singapore in late 2007 and little did I know the guys would be getting back
together in 2008. What bad timing because if I was still in USA, I would be
attending a concert each month!
Anyway, I was glad
to find out they were coming to Asia. Both Jakarta and Manila and I got tickets
to both shows. But let me continue with Jakarta first.
I purchased the
most expensive tier for the meet-and-greet experience for Jakarta. I don’t even
recall what they called it but I believe it was the Ultimate. Which meant, when
I do meet the guys and have my photo taken with them, it will be just me and
them. Whereas the other tiers meant, you would take your turn with 9 other
women and it would be a group photo.
It came my turn and
I tried to remain as calm and cool as I possibly could. The guys were great. No
matter how nervous you might have been, they made you feel comfortable and so
much at ease. It was so easy talking to them. I was decked out in my denim
jacket with NKOTB patches all over it. Joey thought it was cool. I can’t really
remember exactly what we spoke about during that meet. But one thing that stood
out was when I showed Donnie my newly acquired tattoo at the back of my neck
that read, “I count the blessings that keep our love new. This love will last
forever. I see it all now.” He held my hair back and I melted but remained
calm. Then he read it out loud and said, “Oh this is Jordan’s” and yelled for
Jordan who skipped towards us and held my hair (melted again) and used his
finger to run through the lyrics tattooed on my skin and started singing. OH MY
GOD! I thought I had died and went to Heaven. If this is what waiting 20 years
held then I would do it all over again!
I finally fulfilled
my lifelong dream of meeting the guys. Oh! And not to mention I had my KNIGHT
sandwich photo taken!
I was front row for
the concert and it was amazing. I could not believe I was there! The energy was
so great I am glad I did not pass out.
But let’s fast
forward now to the best part.
The next day, the
family and I arrived back in Singapore at about 5pm on June 2. We got home, and
mum and I had to unpack our bags from Jakarta, only to re-pack it with fresh
clothes for Manila. By 10pm, we were at the airport again, waiting to hop on
the flight to Manila. This time it was just her and I.
Mum has been a long
time fan of New Kids on the Block too. And I thought this would make a great
memory keepsake for her and I to do something this special together. So I
purchased 2 more Ultimates for her and me for Manila.
What I did not
mention earlier was, a few weeks before the trip, I was so excited for mum to
also be able to meet the guys, but we were informed that meet-and-greet in
Manila would be cancelled. I was heartbroken, for mum. So I did everything in
my power to try and get it going again. I tweeted Donnie probably a billion
times begging him to try and do something about it because I wanted my mum to
be able to meet them and she was so excited about it. I never got any response
and reply from him but I am pretty sure he made it happen because it was back
on again!
…. Fast forward to
when we had to be at the venue for the meet-and-greet. My mum was as cool as a
cucumber!
There were like 15
of us waiting in line for our turn to get in to the room where the boys were. I
have done this before, a couple days before so I literally knew what to expect…
or so I thought I knew… because this time it was different! So VERY different! The
whole Manila experience was extraordinary!
While we waited in
line, Donnie came out of the room and went down the line and hugged every
single one of us. How can you not love this man? He has such a beautiful heart
and soul.
So while we again
waited for our turns to go in the room to meet the guys, everyone else was
pushing one another to take a turn first because they thought if they waited
till the last, they would get more time with the guys. It doesn’t work that
way.
I told mum to just
go on ahead first since she was excited about it. So mum goes in. I was next. I
waited patiently but realized it was taking longer than usual. About 15 minutes
had passed before the door opened and Earl signaled me to head on it. I was
confused. Where was my mum? Was there another door that the fan would exit
after meeting the guys.
Well? My question
was answered when I walked in and I saw mum, sitting comfy on the couch, seated
beside the guys and chatting up a storm. I join them. We talked and so many photos
of us with the guys were taken. Donnie and Jordan then asked mum and I to play
ping pong with them. It was as if time stood still.
Usually they guys
are told not to sign any items during these meet and greets but my mum asked to
sign her hat and they gladly did so.
But soon mum left
after her 30 mins with the guys (15 mins alone and 15 mins while I was there).
It was my turn and I had my 15 minutes with them.
I asked them to
sign my jacket which I wore in Jakarta and their management said NO because they
had already signed an item. And that was when beautiful Jonathan butted in and
said, “Of course we will sign it. The other was for her mother.” And so they
signed my jacket.
Joey then
commented, “Hey! Where did you get this from? Because I saw another fan wear it
in Jakarta.”
“Joey! That was me!”
Joey, “Oh! You came
twice?”
“YEH!”
It was group photo
time and I mentioned this is the best birthday present a girl could ever ask
for. And they actually sang Happy Birthday to me.
Those are memories
that will last a lifetime.
I truly believe we
had this special experience because of my tweets to Donnie but who knows. Some
may say it is favourtism but I believe whole heartedly it has nothing to do
with favoritism. It’s probably because it was refreshing to see someone like my
mother who appreciated their music and we were calm and collected and treated
them like how we would treat our next door neighbour. I think we had all enjoyed
ourselves that we lost track of time.
Thank you Donnie, Jordan, Jonathan, Danny and Joe for those beautiful memories.
