Wrap-up: TWICE fan meeting in the PH

TWICE’s first fan meeting in the Philippines was brief but fun—kind of like a live edition of Time To TWICE, but with infinitely more snacks

It was an electric crowd of thousands of Filo-ONCEs at the Mall of Asia Arena ahead of the much-anticipated TWICE fan meeting—the girls’ third time in the Philippines, after two successful concerts in June 2019 (Twicelights) and October 2023 (Ready To Be).

Sponsored by Oishi, the fan meet brought together fans from all over the Philippines, many of whom won tickets via online raffle, powered by TWICE-themed snack packs which went on sale over the past couple of months, UTI levels be damned.

Suppose it was all worth it though, the moment the stage parted to reveal our OT9 in their custom Oishi jerseys, ready to play with the audience and with each other, of course.

The excitement is much-deserved; with Chaeyoung unable to make it to the Bulacan run of Ready To Be (RTB) last year, this was in fact her first time back in the Philippines—and the first time the nine of them graced the stage together—in five years.

The fan meet ran for roughly an hour, starting off with a pre-show raffle for lucky audience members. Later on, their prizes would be revealed to be items worked on by TWICE members themselves during the event.

Some highlights:

TWICE nailing those Filipino phrases. Dahyun introducing herself as “Ako si Dahyun. Baliw.” + Jihyo saying “Maganda si Jihyo!” + Mina saying “Ay naku talaga” = HILARIOUS. (Fun note: Earlier during their meeting with local press, it was Momo who used maganda in a sentence—as in, Maganda si Jihyo. I swear to god the Anghang, Anghang agenda is so alive.)

TWICE making snacks. Of course, Dahyun’s snacks are purely chocolate; of course, Jihyo named her snack “ZYOSNACK” and of course, Jeongyeon would name hers… Yoo Jeongyeon.

TWICE packing snacks. The games were done in units, so it’s Anghang Anghang (MoJi) vs Sweet Sweet (MiChaeng) vs Corny Corny (JeongDa) vs Cheesy Cheesy (NaSaTzu). The mechanics: One member is the shopper, one member is the bagger, most bags finished wins (criteria later changed into most snack bags packed because TWICE would always contest the mechanics lol). Shoppers: Mina, Momo, Nayeon. Baggers: Chaeyoung, Jihyo, Sana. Tzuyu was supposed to be an arbiter of sorts, but since anything goes in any TTT, Tzuyu ended up helping her unit anyway :D As with any competitive TTT segment, this was a riot—except with Mina and Chaeyoung, who were chill throughout haha. Momo and Jihyo ended up winning a giant Oishi sack, much to the envy of the other members.

TWICE “remix” dancing. They brought out the roulette for this one—triggering everyone’s concert-related PTSD :D My favorite segment was Jeongyeon and Dahyun dancing “Alcohol-Free”, Corny Corny style, in tandem with an Oishi mascot. (Oh to be a mascot operator in this fanmeet!) And Momo rigging the roulette to “Set Me Free” because how the hell would you dance “Cheer Up” in an Anghang Anghang manner, right?

TWICE dancing with the audience. Prior to the main show, the organizers chose dancers from the audience for this segment—chosen participants were asked to dance certain choreos for the TWICE units to guess. We may not have had OT9 stages, but we had several pocket unit stages instead.

TWICE members shooting balls at other members who are in giant chicken suits. This was definitely so TTT coded! Jihyo already throwing balls at Momo even before the host said go?? Nayeon and Tzuyu throwing balls with both their dominant hands?? Dahyun trying to count balls twice?? Jeongyeon pranking Sana by making a ball magically disappear?? And then there’s Mina just casually counting balls out of Momo’s costume, no big deal… Anyway, Sana was so cute in that costume! How even does anyone pull that off??

Bonus segment: Birthday greetings for Dahyun and Tzuyu! With the special participation of Nayeon and Jihyo helping ONCEs sing the birthday song in Korean haha.

How can anything feel too long and too short at the same time!? Trust TWICE to defy even time and physics haha. Sure, this was no three-hour concert, unlike the RTB runs, but it was just as fun watching the girls enjoy themselves, playing with the crowd, snacking and dancing throughout.

TWICE may have been here for barely 24 hours—flew in the night before, then flew out right after the fan meet—but here’s to hoping they had a fun enough time to want to visit again. For sure, ONCEs would be waiting as always!

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TWICE’s first fan meet in the Philippines was held on June 1, 2024, at the Mall of Asia Arena.