Lee Seung Gi begins Manila 'voyage' with taste of Philippine culture

MANILA, Philippines ?— When K-drama superstar Lee Seung Gi arrived in Manila on Friday, the first order of the day was a taste of the local culture.

So, on the "Vagabond" lead star’s first night on his first time ever to the Philippines, he had Cebu-style lechon at Rico's.   

In an interview early Saturday, the 32-year-old actor also asked for recommendations on what to bring home to Korea. He was advised to find a miniature jeepney souvenir.

Seung Gi is in the country for a fan meet organized by CDM Entertainment and ABS-CBN Events, which have joined the fan meet trend by bringing in some of the lead stars of the Korean drama titles the network giant has bought for airing.
 
Planned since last year, the fan meet happens Saturday tonight, October 12, at 6 p.m. at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao. It’s the first leg of an Asian tour dubbed the Vagabond Voyage after his ongoing hit series on Netflix.  

Through an interpreter, Seung Gi said, "I feel so happy to be here. It’s my first time in Manila and I feel the warm love of my Filipino Airens. That’s why I’m so excited to be here and to see them and meet them personally later."

Airen (after the Chinese term for “beloved”) is how Seung Gi has chosen to address his fans.
  
He noted that some of his Filipino Airens travel all the way to his other fan meets overseas just to support him.  

Called South Korea’s Triple Threat Entertainer because he’s an actor, singer and host, Seung Gi is expected to deliver song performances during the fan meeting, tickets to which have been priced P4,000 to P9,500.    

When asked whether he considers himself more as a singer or an actor, he said that he gets this question all the time and he always thinks hard of it before answering. “But I think, I’m a person who focuses on the present and pours everything that I have on that current project, and that happens to be Vagabond as of now.”

He, however, promised to come up with an album in the near future. “The album has not been structured properly yet, it’s still in planning. But if I were to write a song for the fans, it would really be to (reveal) how I am, as of now. To let them know how I have been doing. Because the thing that I just want to say to fans is gratefulness, a lot of gratefulness. So, I would rather pour that energy to creating an album and giving them songs that they like.”

Meanwhile, the Airen Philippines fan club, which claims to have almost 2,000 members, spared no expense in preparing gifts for the actor, his mother and manager, with a dessert buffet spread and fancy floral arrangements set up backstage to make the actor and his entourage of 13 truly experience Filipino love and hospitality, a source told The STAR.

Seung-Gi hopes his presence here will make Filipino fans realize again that K-dramas are fun to watch. “I want them to realize that the quality of our TV shows is increasing, they could trust the K-drama when it comes to plots, storylines and that’s what I want to achieve on this TV show.”

When asked about his accomplishments so far, including being a mainstay of the Forbes Korea power celebrity list since 2010, Seung Gi said, “My job is being an entertainer. To be honest, while it’s a great honor to be on these lists, to be given these awards, I don’t put a lot of sentiments into it. I’m very thankful that a lot of fans love me for who I am and I will cherish it for a long time.”