The charming Lee Je Hoon started his Fan Meet held at Stephen Riady Auditorium @ NTUC on 25 March 2023, by walking alone to the middle of the stage and started asking in Korean if his fans have eaten and where is a good place for food. Fans started suggesting various places with one even mentioning her home as her mum's cooking is the best.
Lee held fond memories of Singapore since his first Fan Meet in 2017. Due to pandemic, he was unable to visit as often as he wanted. With our little red dot being one of the first few countries to lift travel restrictions, Lee made more than one personal visit since 2022, as he feels most comfortable roaming around this exciting city in his tees, shorts and flip flops. If the shopping mall is a bit chilly, he will just put on a hoodie.
Since opening his personal Instagram account in 2018, the thespian has taken a liking to "show off" pictures taken at beautiful places where he has visited, especially on this Asian Fan Meet like Manila and Jakarta. He let out a secret that after his schedule yesterday, he went back to Sentosa around 6pm, hoping to take lots of photogenic shots at Sentosa beach, Universal Studio. Unfortunately, the sky turned dark relatively early, hence Lee was contemplating if he should visit the sunny island again early morning the next day.
While his current drama Taxi Driver II, available on Viu, is more action-themed, Lee disclosed that his coming project focuses on financial crime, where he is expected to speak a fair bit of English. While Taxi Driver I focuses on introducing the dark crimes happening in the world, Taxi Driver II is on the human characterization of the evil doers, making the series more fun and comical at times. Refusing to comment if there will be any intimate relationship between Kim Do-gi (his character in Taxi Driver) and his colleague Ahn Go-eun (played by Pyo Ye-jin), he only emphasized that he had to do plenty of exercises and control his diet in order to show his ripped 6-pack in the first episode of Season 2. Lee states that he wants to try other schedules besides acting, to show different sides of him to his fans.
He really likes the varied local food offerings, but his favourite remains Hainanese Chicken Rice, the must-have meal once he lands in Singapore. While he has tried Bak Kut Teh, he has yet to taste Char Kueh Teow and Pandan Cake. While walking around the Chinatown area, he stumbled upon rows of Korean restaurants which sell his favourite street food such as kimbap, tteobokki, oden, bulgogi, Korean BBQ etc. Reminiscing that Chili or Pepper Crab is the food that will lift his spirits, along with the nice villas and condominiums that he saw while visiting his friend who stays outside the city, he is even considering to move to Singapore for long-term stay.
Asked on his attire at home, he prefers pajamas during spring and autumn, while adding on an outer jacket during the winter season. For summer, he will either put on something super light or go topless, as he does not like to turn on the aircon. Lee also shared that for the past 30 years, he has been eating an apple every morning, followed by his usual boiled eggs and coffee for breakfast. On his off days, he loves to twist and turn on his bed, followed by checking trailers / posters of new shows on OTT channels, before dozing off to sleep again.
In his most recent mobile message, he invited his group of friends for dinner at his house near Seoul Forest, on the following week. He appears excited to be meeting his 3 secondary school friends, who used to meet up for baseball. After his friends got married and have kids, it is much more difficult and now they just catch up on each other's lives. He craves for a trip to Singapore with his friends, to take a roller coaster ride at Universal Studio, walk the beach in Sentosa and watch the Spectra - Light & Water Show, displayed nightly over the water at the Marina Bay waterfront promenade. Lee further stresses that he enjoys walking around the promenade during the wee hours of the night where it is so quiet and safe, an ideal time for his calmed self to work through any problems he has on his mind. For his vacation, he usually uses noise-cancelling earphones and puts on comfortable training sweaters with caps for a comfortable flight. When Lee asked what special food or drinks that can be easily bought in Singapore, should he bring back for his friends, the crowd eventually agreed on Super Rings.
The male lead then sang a quick song, running round the stage before he goes for a short break before the Game Segment where he fielded 8 questions that were put forth by his fans.
Q1. When he is on vacation, he prefers to travel freely without any plans. To him, deciding on the destination is already a plan, hence not necessary to have a detailed tour itinerary.
Q2. His preferred travel style is to visit famous tourist attractions throughout the trip instead of just enjoying himself within the hotel. He turned into a Korean ambassador by promoting a visit to Gwanghwamun Gate, followed by a walk around the Gyeongbokgung Palace to immerse in the pre-historic culture of Korea.
Q3. He chose to travel with a senior who will pay for his luxurious travel expenses, instead of a junior whom he will need to pay for. He disclosed that his mum went for a cruise which started from Singapore, and had so much fan, making him yearn for the same trip. He does not mind sharing the cabin if the person pays for his cruise.
Q4. Accommodation-wise, Lee prefers a room with ghost instead of cockroaches as he is scared of these creepy crawlies. Although he does not like ghosts, so far, he has not met one, hence he feels he will be lucky not to meet any.
Q5. Asked to choose between not being able to get a massage or not snorkel, he immediately chose the latter as he claims to be not a sporty person. Since he likes to walk so much during his trips, a foot massage is always essential.
Q6. Lee prefers not to listen to music vs not being able to take photographs. With his Instagram account, he now likes to take photos of places he has visited, to share the beautiful and memorable sceneries with his fans and friends. He promised to upload the photos he took during this trip to his IG account after the Fan Meet.
Q7. The food lover chose to visit all the delicious restaurants in Singapore, compared to walking around the island, as that can be postponed till the next trip.
Q8. When asked if he prefers to spend his time filled with the vitality and passion of Marina Bay Sands or cycle around Singapore, he claimed that it is a difficult question, but eventually chose to cycle since he would like to explore the locations outside the city.
Taxi Driver II started its 16 episode run on 17 February 2023, showing every Friday and Saturday on Viu.
Special thanks to Viu for inviting KpopStarz to cover Lee Je Hoon Fan Meet in Singapore.
Writer: Wang | Photo Credits: En
