I can’t believe it’s been a week already. Why does KCON seem so slow to start and then, once it starts, WOOOSH! It speeds by in a blink of an eye. I miss my friends and co-workers already. If you missed the memo, I had 3 panels in LA (So Your Kid Is A K-pop Fan, Hallyu Fans Over 30 & Confessions of A K-drama Addict). I was super busy and absolutely enjoyed running around like a chicken with their head cut off. The only negative thing I can say is that I didn’t take enough pictures. I wanted to take so much more of the people performing. Hopefully, I will get the chance next year. So let’s get into this KCON LA Recap!

Day 0 (Thursday)

Normally, I get to LA quite early so I have time to check out early check in and watch the access trading ticket wars (you know where you can get high touches & red carpet access) but this time I didn’t get there until much later. My flight was uneventful and smooth, though the ride from the airport to the hotel was crazy. I should have recorded it but let’s just say that our Uber driver was a very interesting sort and at one point decided to watch a Youtube video while driving. Yeah, we ended up taking Lyft for the rest of the time.

After a quick refresher and checking into the hotel (which was amazing) my friend and I ended up at Bugogli Hut. We were starving! Let me say, if you are ever in town, definitely check it out because the price is pretty good for AYCE and the soju was delicious. I just wish that they had more flavor options.

Once dinner was over, we headed back to the hotel because we knew it was going to be a busy day. After two bottles of soju though, we laughed all through the night.

Day 1 (Friday)

Friday started a bit earlier than normal, when my eyes decided to pop open at 3:47 am. I forgot that even though your mind knows you are now 3 hours behind where you normally live, your body doesn’t know or care. Thankfully my friend was wide awake as well so I didn’t have to stay quiet. We chit-chatted until it was socially acceptable to be awake, and started getting ready. Our hotel was about a 10-minute walk from the venue and I quickly decided that I never want to stay anywhere else.

Check in went unbelievably well. I think it took all of 5 minutes. We took a quick tour of the convention center and it was absolutely beautiful. This year, there seemed to be a lot more k-beauty companies than last year and the convention stage seemed larger. There were many more artists performing on the stage, like Hee Sun Lee and Justin Park.  So much talent on that stage and I really wished I had more time to take photos.

Quicker then I realized, it was time for my first panel, So Your Kid Is A K-pop Fan. I have to say, this panel is my baby. When I first pitched the idea of having a panel for parents to talk about what K-pop is and to answer any questions or concerns parents might have, I didn’t think it would be accepted. This year, the panel was well attended and we got really good feedback from some of the audience which made my heart smile. I’m sending a huge thank you to my co-panelists, The K-pop Konverters , who were amazing on the panel as well. The panel flew by. I wish we had time to answer everyone’s questions and that the panel lasted longer then it did.

After the panel, we returned to the panel room to stash my equipment and went in search of food. The K-Con food market was delicious! And hot. And crowded. The food is always very tasty but unfortunately, you won’t see any pictures because I stuffed EVERYTHING in my mouth before remembering to take photos. I’m sure they are floating around on social media if you really want to see them.

Once the convention was over, everyone headed over to Club KCON. This was my first time attending it and while the music was great and I enjoyed getting full sets from Crush and Dynamic Duo, I couldn’t hang for a long time. I guess my age is getting to me (ugh).  Once Dynamic Duo and Hee Sun Lee performed, my friend and I left to find some food, alcohol and much-needed sleep.

 

Day 2 (Saturday)

Day 2 started normally. Got some breakfast (yay) put on all my clothes the right way (trust me this deserves to be recognized) and got to the convention center by 10 am. I had a wonderful chat with Amore Pacific about some of their products that I’m excited to share with you, so be on the lookout for that within the next few weeks.

 

After my interview, I had just enough time to down something to drink before it was time to head to the Hallyu Over 30 panel. We were in a smaller room than last year but that didn’t stop people from crowding in. All the seats were taken and some people chose to stand in the back so they could hear what myself and the other panelists had to say. I am extremely grateful for that. This was the first time I did the panel without the other original members so I was nervous that people wouldn’t enjoy it without them. Again, everyone was having such a great time, we went over time and got kicked out. I really need to see if I could do to panels about being an older fan because there was still so many topics we wanted to touch on but ran out of time. Next time I will definitely find a way to get o everyone’s questions.

After I de-stressed from the aftermath of the panel, I headed over to see Black Music in K-pop. I’ve been trying to get to this panel for years. The panelists were amazing and some of the subjects had people nodding their heads and snapping their fingers. I really hope they put a recording of their panel online somewhere because they really did a superb job on a topic that could have riled up a lot of hurt feelings.

Saturday night was the first night of the concerts and this was the first time I didn’t know all of the groups. Crush and Dynamic Duo performed well though it was very brief. Momoland also performed on Saturday and I was pleasantly surprised. Fanboy loves dancing to their song Boom Boom but it wasn’t until I saw them perform live did I start to like them to. I don’t want to use the “s” word (stan) but it’s getting close.

Before I knew it, the concert was over and it was time to go. KCON has this weird way of making the days seem long and the nights very short. My friend and I went back to our hotel, grabbed some food and I passed out before I even turned the lights out. I think I’m getting old.

Day 3 (Sunday)

THE LAST DAY! how did time fly so quickly? Today was a fun day especially the Confessions of A K-drama Addict, which I was invited to sit on. Seriously, who doesn’t want to sit around and talk about something they love for an hour? I had a great time at it and hoped the audience enjoyed it as well.  After the panel was over, I had some free time to walk around the convention (finally) and pick up some souvenirs. I tried to take some pictures with the people I was with (I was so horrible about taking pictures this year) and just enjoy the little bit of time that was left of KCON LA.

Sunday went by so damn fast. I wish I could tell you more about what happened on this day but I was so tired that I couldn’t even make it to the end of the concert. I know it was amazing though. *sigh* If you want to see some of the photos that I took with the people that I love, make sure you check out my Instagram @youngajummah. The rest are going to be on Facebook, when I finally get a chance to do so.

Ugh, this post is longer then attended so I will end it now. Let me know if you went to KCON LA and if you did go, what was your favorite part?