Jiro Wang, You're Beautiful Inside and Out!

Jiro Wang with his Cosmopolitan Award
for being one of Taiwan's most beautiful in 2012

He wears a smize (smile with your eyes) while he looks around his adoring fans. His lips finally curve and his pearly whites register his signature grin.  Jiro Wang’s face lights up the room as the fans’ screaming reaches its deafening level. He knows that he has to show his best for everyone who came just to see him. Not only the Jiro Wang who is an idol, a singer and an actor, but also the Jiro Wang who people from around the world came to love for his big heart. He always makes it a point to personally connect to as much people as he could during his events. He never complains when he’s tired from signing thousands of CDs and posters. He continues to smile and wave even when he’s about to drop from exhaustion. He helps people in Taiwan and China by making a microfilm for children with mental disorder and donating tents, clothes, food, and other necessities to hundreds of victims of the Sichuan earthquake recently just to name a few. 

He is Jiro Wang. He’s beautiful, inside and out.

Huang Tai Jing is the latest role Jiro’s portraying for the Taiwanese version of You’re Beautiful. He was handpicked to star as the lead role Hwang Tae Kyung, which was played by Jang Geun Suk in the original Korean idol drama. A lot of speculations came out even before it was announced that Jiro Wang will be the 3^rd Tae Kyung after the Korean and Japanese adaptations. He did not deny nor confirm that he’ll be doing the drama series and even said on Weibo that he’s not beautiful, what he knows is he’s a handsome man. Park Shin Hye even went to Taiwan for a cameo, but even after pictures of her with the Taiwanese Go Min Nam came out, the actor to play Tae Kyung was not yet verified. Jiro was insanely busy during this time, shooting and promoting for different projects which include Absolute Boyfriend with Korean actress, Gu Hye Sun, who became famous as Geum Jan-di in Boys Over Flowers; Go Go Go (Jie Jie Li Zheng Xiang Qian Zou) with Chinese actress Ruby Lin, who is also the producer of this drama; Beautiful Kingdom, a movie with mainland China actors; Boy, Boy, Boy/My Boyfriends (movie); K.O. One Returns, a sequel to his Taiwanese drama series with the same title; and his first solo album, What Are You Waiting For?

He bounces from one country to another, from Taiwan to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia for tapings, shootings, concerts, and promotions that it seems like he cannot squeeze another drama in his tight schedule. However, everyone was pleasantly surprised when the cast of You’re Beautiful was finally confirmed and Jiro will play Tae Kyung. When asked how different Tai Jing from Tae Kyung, he answered that he is more manly and serious compared to Geun Suk’s sensitive and almost childish portrayal of A.N.Jell’s lead singer. This comparison with the Korean Tae Kyung is putting a lot of pressure on Jiro since the former was able to popularize the drama worldwide. Ratings will be the number one factor. If he pulls this off, together with the whole cast, he is totally made.

You’re Beautiful stars Jiro Wang as Huang Tai Jing, Su Li Wen/Lele  as Gao Mei Nan/Mei Nu, Huang Ren-de (黃仁德) as Jiang Xin Yu, and Evan Yo as Jeremy. They are the Fabulous Boys of A.N. Jell. They held a successful press conference and fans event last May 6 and 10, 2013 respectively. The reception for the cast and anticipation for the drama were quite positive during the events that fans around the globe can’t wait to watch the show. You’re Beautiful premiered last Sunday night at 10:00 PM through Taiwan’s Formosa TV. GTV will have its first showing on May 18, 2013 at 9:00 PM coinciding with Singapore’s Channel U, and Hong Kong’s TV Drama Channel 1, on the other hand, will televise it at 7:30 PM.  

Here’s a sneak peek:

Click here for the 12 minute teaser.

The rest of the world would have to wait when their country’s TV networks will buy the series to be shown locally. It will be the same here in the Philippines where we’re still waiting for Jiro’s Absolute Boyfriend dubbed in Filipino to be televised at ABS-CBN’s channel 2.

Jiro Wang Update:

Jiro is presently wrapping up K.O. One 3 and has just finished shooting for a horror movie entitled, Horrible Dolls (Wraith or Blood Dolls) which was filmed in China and Japan. He also recently gave painting lessons to mentally disabled children. He will be having his first solo concert in Japan with one show on May 31 (Osaka) and two shows on June 2 (Tokyo).

The Day I Met Jiro Wang

photo courtesy of Jiro's fans in FB

Note: This is a very late post (7 months old) of the day I finally met Jiro Wang in person. 
Scroll down at the end of this blog for an update on Jiro.

It was the second day of September in 2012. My cellphone's alarm clock woke me up at 5:30 in the morning and I took a peek out of the sheets. I felt cold and stiff, then wondered, "Where the heck am I?" I looked around, saw a small lamp hanging by the head of my bed, and to my left side, my sister was sound asleep snuggled under thin bed sheets. I do share a bedroom with my sister, but I don't remember ever having an air conditioner. A few seconds passed and finally my brain cranked itself up. "Oh yeah, we're in Hong Kong and today is THE DAY!" I woke my sister up, told her that we need to go out early since we were expected to be at the venue at 7:00 o'clock, and I wasn't sure how we could get there on time. It was our first trip to Hong Kong and we got lost a couple of times the previous day when we visited the tourist spots. Since my sister and I have always been slow in the AM, we walked out of the hotel at 7:30. We were staying along the Tsim Sha Tsui area, and it was a short walk towards the MTR station, so I thought it wouldn't take a long time to get to Causeway Bay. We took a ride going towards Hong Kong island, got off the Admiralty interchange station, and took a very long walk going to the blue line where we need to catch the subway that will bring us to the Causeway Bay area.  Good thing when we reached the terminal, Windsor House was just a couple of blocks away. We walked along Great George St. going towards Victoria Park and a few minutes after, we saw the place where we'll finally meet Jiro Wang in person!

Windsor House in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Jiro Wang's What Are You Waiting For autograph signing event
held in Windsor House Hong Kong last September 2, 2012

Upon reaching the Windsor House, we saw a group of teenage girls huddled just outside of the mall. They were busy preparing LED and sign boards with Jiro's name and some words in Chinese (obviously, I don't understand any of it). I tried to find Teresa, who I talked to in the forum site of www.jirowangzfamily.com and who was nice enough to enlist me to join their group. At first, nobody wants to talk to me since I can only address them in English. I was afraid my Mandarin was so bad, that I might even say weird things to them. Fortunately, Samantha came to the rescue! She speaks fluent English and I was able to say that I'll be joining them during Jiro's event. She directed me inside the mall and asked me to wait in an area where we could watch the show with a good view. 

Samantha (the girl with blue highlights) and members of the jirowangzfamily

Teresa Wong, admin/coordinator of www.jirowangzfamily.com,  is very nice and accommodating

Waiting for the show to start, my legs were turning into jelly for standing up for more than 5 hours that I thought I would faint, but loud screaming on the right side of the stage electrified my senses. At a little after 15:00, Jiro Wang appeared on stage. My first glimpse of his handsome face was so surreal that I thought I was dreaming. Only the loud voices and shrieking of girls pulled me earthbound and let me know that everything was happening for REAL! 

One of the first few pictures of Jiro I've taken during the event

Jiro sang some of the songs included in his album and was game enough to participate in the activities with his fans. Even though I couldn't understand a word they were saying (my brain keeps on shouting: sub-titles, please!),  I was so happy that I really don't care at all. The next thing that happened after Jiro's mini concert, definitely made all the fatigue go away. We lined up towards the stage to have our CDs signed. My sister, Karen, who didn't have one and couldn't enter the area for autograph signing, was very lucky that day. One of Jiro's fans, who stood beside me, had two albums. I asked her if she could just let my sister borrow one of her copies, so that she could see Jiro up-close. She was kind enough to agree and that's how my sister and I came to meet Jiro Wang, had the CDs signed, and shook his hand. 

Jiro signing my CD :)

I remember how warm and firm his handshake was. He has long, slim fingers and his hands were kind of smallish for a big guy like him. His face looks the same as how I see him on TV, but I was able to witness how smooth and delicate his skin seems to be, his muscles are beautiful, and his smile is unforgettable. He's so cute that I wanted to just squish his face, but I was also so star struck that all I could do was say, "Hi Jiro!"

me and my sister, Karen
(the woman beside me let my sister borrow one of her CDs so that she can also meet Jiro)

The experience left me so exhilarated that after seeing Jiro up-close, I seem to float and felt quite disoriented. My sister, Karen and I didn't want to leave the Windsor House while Jiro was still there, but hunger and exhaustion took over. We didn't have a choice but to say goodbye to everyone and take a last glimpse of Jiro, who was enjoying signing autographs for hundreds of his adoring fans in long queues in front of the stage.

Here are more pictures from the event: 

photos with watermarks courtesy of tungstar/ent.qq.com

My autographed CD and freebies from Love More:

Jiro Wang update: 

Jiro will once again visit Hong Kong tomorrow, April 20, 2013 for a Love More event. I wish I could be there, but I can't. :( So, anyone who wishes to see him in person, have a CD autographed, and even take a picture with him, be at the Sasa store Room 101 2/F, 2-6 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The event starts at 1:00 PM.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/JiroWangOfficial for more updates on Jiro.