Having completed their three concerts in Taiwan on the evening of September 11th, SNSD took an Asiana Airlines flight back to Korea from Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport at 1.30pm the next day, where they were greeted by over 500 waiting fans. At the sight of SNSD, they shouted, “Don’t go,” repeatedly. The girls waved back and smiled at fans, while also promising, “We will be back next year!”
The eight girls of SNSD, minus Sooyoung who is resting at home after an accident, flew to Taipei, Taiwan on the afternoon of September 8th. At the airport, the girls were surrounded by twelve security guards and sixty staff.
They held three consecutive concerts from September 9th to 11th as part of their ’2011 Girls’ Generation Tour’ and sang a total of 32 of their hit songs during the 3-hour concerts in front of more than 31,000 fans.
The ticket sales for the concerts is estimated to have generated a staggering amount of NTD 93 million ($3.14 million) and along with the sales of official merchandises of about NTD 11 million ($372,000) , it was calculated that SNSD’s trip to Taipei this time around made more than NTD 104 million ($3.51 million)!
This is SNSD’s second trip to Taiwan and they wanted to go sightseeing and shopping, especially at the landmark skyscraper Taipei 101, according to Hyoyeon, but due to the packed schedules, the plans had to be forfeited.
In the third and final concert on September 11th, SNSD and SONEs celebrated Hyoyeon’s birthday. Fans sang Happy Birthday in English, as well as forming her name in the audience using green cards. Despite having cake and icing on her face, thanks to her other members, Hyoyeon said happily, “Thank you for everyone’s wishes. I am really happy and I hope we can return to Taiwan for a concert next year with nine members.”
Also during the third concert, the girls were touched by fans’ special events such as forming the words “Don’t go” in Korean using green lightsticks among the pink ocean, as well as the sea of pink ribbons thrown by the audience. Even Taeyeon, who hardly ever cries, teared up at the gestures. The girls felt sorry for having to leave especially after seeing the efforts from fans and they said it is too bad they cannot turn back or stop time. However, they promised to come back as nine in the future.
Besides that, Taiwanese fanclubs’ support group spent NTD 330,000 ($11,000) in conjunction of the concerts. From the total, NTD 180,000 ($6,000) was spent on props and equipments for the special events during the concerts while the other NTD 150,000 ($5,000) was spent on food, mainly 21 local delicacies, including a refrigerator filled with various snacks and fruits.
During the press conference for the concerts on September 11th, the girls said the “Soshi Fridge” is very memorable to them. Taeyeon said, “We love to eat snacks and fruits so this special fridge is like a treasure chest to us. It was really creative!” while Sunny said, “The fridge will be auctioned and donated for charity in the future so we are really touched.”
The refrigerator with autographs from the eight members will be auctioned online at noon on September 24th with a starting price of NTD 9,999. The girls also mentioned that their favorite local food are the famous pineapple tarts and pearl milk tea!
Taiwanese SONEs also made a booklet to introduce the local delicacies, which was also translated into Korean. Fans provided various food support for three days, from main courses to snacks, prepared and delivered by 50 people with three vehicles. Some people joked that the girls were being treated as queens and even the presidential candidates will not get such special treatments!
During the concert, Tiffany said, “Thank you everyone for waiting a year for us! Taiwan is the first overseas stop for the second tour and I am really proud of you guys. We are actually very nervous because Sooyoung isn’t here. She is doing well and is recovering quickly because of your support.”
Tiffany and Hyoyeon were also spotted shopping at LV right after they touched down in Taipei. Tiffany, who seemed to have not shopped enough, said, “We only stayed for 10 minutes and there was already a huge crowd of fans!”
