It was no doubt a night to remember for fans of South Korean leading actress, Ha Ji Won. On January 10, local and regional fans of the 36-year-old actress gathered at Singapore Conference Hall as Ha successfully kicks off her 1^st Asia Tour Fan Meeting in Singapore.

From the start till the end, Ha showed endless charms. Not only is she a versatile and hardworking actress, Ha can also sing. Dressed in a simple yet elegant purple dress, Ha started off the night by delivering a sincere and genuine performance of Baek Ji Young’s That Woman – an official sound track of Ha’s hit drama Secret Garden. Not only did she sing in Korean, Ha also sang in Chinese and English as she gave her very own live rendition of Ah Niu’s 对面的女孩看过来 (Look over Here, Girl in Front of Me) and Lenka’s The Show.

Even though it has been 5 years since the broadcast of the drama, memories of the 20-episodes drama series remains fresh to both fans and Ha herself. Her performance made them reminisce of the tough and loving Gil Ra-Im (Ha’s role in Secret Garden). Together, they walk down memory lane as a video of Ha recently visiting the filming sites of Secret Garden played on the big screen onstage. Her joy was evident as the video shows her enthusiastically recollecting the memories of her time as Gil Ra-Im and even attempting to re-enact the wire scenes she did as a stuntwoman in the drama. To many dismay, Ha shared that she actually has a fear of heights (Acrophobia) and had to practise her stunts many times in order to execute it perfectly. However, her love and passion for action-packed scenes overpowers her fear and she added, “I will work hard to overcome the phobia and bring you more cool scenes in the future”.

When quizzed on her relationship with her fellow Secret Garden co-star, Hyun Bin, she shared that Hyun Bin is a nice friend and they often encouraged and keep in contact with each other through text messages. The 32-year-old famous actor also had nothing but good words to share about her. In a congratulatory video message, Hyun Bin praised Ha to be a hardworking and outstanding actress and added, “As a fellow actor, I can feel that she is in a league of her own in our country. Ha Ji Won has a lot of different colours and charms that other actresses don’t have”.

Not only Hyun Bin, other co-stars who have worked together with Ha too feels the same way. In another congratulatory video, her co-star of the drama ‘The Kings 2 Heart’, Lee Seunggi shared “I have been observing Ha Ji Won from the side, and she’s kinder than any other actresses”. Ha revealed that she bonded with Lee through food. Whenever they had free time in between filming, they would often eat together in which Lee would always bring her to the nicest food place in the vicinity knowing her love for food.

Her managers added to her testimonial by describing her as a person who works hard, “recording her lines on her phone so that she can listen and practice them during her breaks” and an “angel with an invisible wing”.

In an effort to better communicate with international fans, the star shared that she has been learning English actively. Even though there was a translator on stage to assist her, Ha often tried to answer and talk to the fans in English to the best of her ability. The language barrier felt almost invisible. Well, of course, majority of the crowd have also pick up Korean language in the course of watching her dramas and even answering her questions even before her words are translated.

Also, Ha went up close and personal with 8 lucky fans over 2 rounds of games. The first game was the “Cappuccino Kiss Challenge” in which 4 fans had to compete to get the most whip cream foam on their lips in order to earn a Polaroid with Ha. Even though the initial rule was that only one fan would get a Polaroid with her, she specially requested to take a Polaroid each with the fan. In the second game, 4 other fans played a shooting game to reminisce her role in Empress Ki. Ha personally helped the contestants to use the arrow and bow and the rewards for the game included a 15-sec eye contact, a handshake with her as well as a hug. In contrast to the tough and feisty girl on screen, Ha showed her bubbly and feminine side, often smiling and laughing gracefully while actively interacting with her fans.

As the event draws to an end, Ha expressed her happiness of being able to come to Singapore and spending time with her fans. To keep the memory of the fanmeeting closer to her, she went around the Conference Hall with a video camera and shared that whenever she misses her Singapore fans, she would definitely watch the video. Her touching encore performance had fans and Ha crying tears of happiness as Ha delivered her last performance with her digital single 나 지금 이자리에 (Now in This Place).

Declaring her love once again for Singapore fans, she took one last bow as she shouted “I love Singapore” to the crowd. The Hi-5 session quickly followed up after the fan meeting. Fans were given a gift by Ha as they exited the Hall.

Special Thanks to KMTV for organizing the event & a special shout-out to the amazing host Evelyn Kuek!