In Photos: Highlights Of Rowoon’s Fan Meet in Manila

Name That Character and Guess the Music Video games

Before Rowoon took on the stage, the event, hosted by Kring Kim, kicked off with fun games. Select Rowoon fans were challenged to guess the name of his K-drama characters and guess the title of his group SF9’s songs based on music video screenshots shown on the big screen.

Rowoon meets his Filipino fans

When it was time to introduce Rowoon, the crowd went wild and couldn’t contain their excitement, cheering “Rowoon! Rowoon! Rowoon!” repeatedly. As soon as he emerged from the backstage, he was obviously in awe of the warm reception. The first word he said was “Wow!” and he proceeded to greet his Filipino fans, saying, “Mabuhay Filipino fans! Ako si Rowoon.” Then he said through a translator, “Sobrang na-touch ako kasi hindi ko inakala na ganito karami ’yung pupunta dito. Sobrang salamat po.”

Rowoon tells his fans: "Mahal ko kayo!"

A short Q&A followed, wherein Rowoon shared that he’s currently preparing for a new project and that this isn’t the first time he has been to the Philippines. When host Kring commented, “Sorry, guys, nasa-starstruck talaga ako. Napaka-gwapo!” Rowoon laughed and said in jest, “Yes! Yes, I am!” and the crowd burst into laughter. Kring then asked, “Do you know any Filipino words?” To which, he replied, “Mahal ko kayo!”

Filipino lessons with Rowoon

The next segment was “Filipino Lessons,” where he had to speak in Filipino based on certain emotions. For fear, he was asked to say, “Nakakakaba naman ’yung chika mo beshie.” For happiness, he had to say, “Sa Globe Kmmunity, K-ganda ng araw araw.” He also made his fans laugh when he said in Filipino, “Ipagdadasal ko ang munting kaligayahan mo.”

Rowoon samples Filipino food

He was then introduced to Filipino food, and even shared that he ate lechon twice. Rowoon had to pick from a box which would indicate what food he would have to try. He got to try turon (“It’s not sweet and I think it’s perfect after the exercise,” he said) and taho (“Sa palagay ko, kailangan ko dalin sa Korea,” he said through a translator; he even added, “So good!”).

Rowoon plays sipa

He tried playing sipa onstage; sipa is like jegichagi in Korea. When he couldn’t successfully do it, the funny Rowoon said through his translator, “Please forget about this.” He said the sipa was too light, that was why he was having a hard time kicking it.

Rowoon tries on a barong

In the next segment, the tall and handsome Rowoon had to try on the traditional formal shirt for Filipino men, the barong. He removed the blue and white striped long-sleeved button-down he was wearing, revealing his inner white shirt, and put on the barong, much to the audience’s delight. Like a pro model, he walked onstage, showcasing the barong he was wearing.

Pinoy Henyo game with Rowoon

What followed was a Pinoy Henyo game, where Rowoon had to guess what was being flashed on-screen with the help of the audience. He would ask whether what was shown in the photo was a food, place, type of clothing, etc., and the crowd would answer him back through signals (circle above the head if it was “yes,” an X gesture if “no,” and finger on the side of the forehead if “maybe”).

At some point in this game, the fans couldn’t help but coach Rowoon and shout the correct answers. To not spoil the fun, Rowoon’s sense of humor shone, as he would pretend to not have heard what the crowd was saying and still continued on asking questions. When he heard everyone shouting “Tteokbokki,” he said through a translator, “Hindi ko talaga alam ang sagot.” But he played along and “tried” to guess the answer still.

Rowoon gives pieces of advice to his fans

Next up was the Fans Q&A segment, where there were featured questions from fans who asked Rowoon for advice. On the question “how do you express your affection or love to your friends,” he said through his translator, “Feeling ko hindi ako magaling sa mga expressions to my friends. But even though, na kahit hindi ako magaling sa expression, my friends all understand.” When he was asked about his coping mechanism and what the things he does if he’s troubled with something, Rowoon shared candidly through his translator, “Kapag may stress, ina-accept ko na talaga ’yung stress. Kasi [kahit] gusto ko ma-release, hindi rin siya mawawala agad-agad. So I think I just fight with the stress. You can fight with (sic) the stress!”

A fan asked him what he does when he feels like giving up on his dreams and when it seems like nothing is going as planned. Rowoon said through his translator, “Sa palagay ko, mas malaki ’yung meaning ng failure compared with success. So mas gusto ko po ’yung mga fail na mga tao compare (sic) sa mga success (sic). So you can achieve more and more. Ngayon, kahit nahirapan tayo, on the next, kung may panahon na tsaka masaya na tayo, so memorable na ’yung mga failure na nangyari sa buhay natin.”

Rowoon also shared that he likes struggles because it’s the measure of true success, adding, “S’yempre may mas malaking struggle rin na mararating sa buhay natin. Just encourage yourself, and pinaka-importante is just trust yourself. Pinaka-importante ’yun. Kapag naniniwala kayo sa sarili niyo, s’yempre malalabas din ’yung mga best result.” Then he was asked to share his advice to someone who’s losing confidence, he shared, “If ever may nagawa akong bago, panibagong projects or plans, s’yempre natatakot din ako du’n pero kahit ano mangyari, sa’yo ’yun, so ’wag kang mag-regret. Just go with the flow. Just trust yourself and go with the flow na lang.”

Rowoon designs a bayong for a lucky fan

After that segment, Rowoon designed and signed a native bag (bayong), which was later given to a fan. His choice of design was a hand in the middle with stickers of a butterfly and the Philippine flag. As to why he put a hand on it, he said that it’s like a high five or hi-touch to his fans. “So ’yung color brown and orange, ’yan po ’yung mga struggles. And ’yung flower naman, meaning is peaceful.”

Speed Trivia with Rowoon

There was also a 14-question Speed Trivia game, where Rowoon would say if the information shared about him is true or false. Here are tidbits of trivia about him: his blood type is B; his debut year is 2016; his pet cat’s name is Choco; his Catholic baptismal name is Marcelino; his foot size is 280mm; his favorite part of his face is his eyebrows; his MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is INFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging) (he shares, “Actually, I [don’t] really believe in MBTI pero ito ’yung result na nakuha ko. Pero I have an introvert, extrovert, both sides"); he doesn’t like the horror genre because he gets nightmares so he likes the romance genre; his favorite coffee is iced americano (which he usually drinks after exercising); his hobby is playing tennis (which he learned when he was doing the series “Extraordinary You”); his nickname is “Gifted Face.”

Rowoon sings "No Goodbye in Love" to end his fan meet

Before the fan meet ended, he told his fans through his translator, “Sana ’wag niyo po ako kalimutan and please support and cheer me. And I think this is really the biggest gift that you gave to me today, and sobrang parang nag-heal po ako dahil sa inyo. And sana ’yung mga cheer ko ma-receive niyo rin para kung ano ’yung mga [plano] niyong gawin, basta tiwala lang kayo sa sarili and he will always cheer for you.” Rowoon wrapped up his first fan meet in Manila with a performance of his song “No Goodbye in Love” for “The King’s Affection” OST.