BAD BUDDY AT THE GMMTV EXHIBITION IN OSAKA
The 2022-2023 GMMTV Exhibition is currently on in Osaka (the exhibition website is linked here, with Lawson Entertainment's English article about it linked here).
Bad Buddy has a small corner devoted to it, and quite by chance I was lucky enough to visit.
It's not the flashiest of exhibitions, but it still was emotionally quite overwhelming to see props and wardrobe that might actually have been used in the series. So to share the experience, I'm posting my photos here for all Bad Buddy fans who can't make it to Japan at the moment. 💖
(above) One half of Bad Buddy's corner at the exhibition
(above) No, I'm not in this photo (nor any of the others), but it's the second half of BBS's corner; how sweet is it that the lady on the left came to GMMTV's exhibition wearing Ayan's hoodie from The Eclipse? 😍
(above) These are the outfits that Pat and Pran change into after their market visit in Ep.6, also displayed with Pran's PP bag (although the bag doesn't appear with this red-brown overshirt in the series); PatPran are still dressed like this at the Beachside Bet, and Pat's top here is also iconic because he tries to roll up the non-existent sleeves at Ep.6 [4/4] 1.14 😂
(above) A close-up of the photos to the left of PatPran's Ep.6 outfits (actually just stills from BBS)
(above) Everyone knows Pat's favorite among all of Pran's t-shirts 😍
(top) The glass display case with assorted props and photos; (middle) a close-up of the display, with Pat's Baseball Mom t-shirt from Ep.5, one of Ink's friendship wristbands, smiley/frowny notepaper, and Pran's coloring kit – not the same one that we see in Ep.1 [1I4] or Ep.5 [1I4] though, since that set is probably double-tipped marker pens whereas this one is a set of coloring pencils; (bottom) a close-up of the photos to the left of Pran's coloring kit – apologies for the shadow cast by the metal frame of the glass display case
(above) The globe, Pran's glamour photo and his alarm clock are on the bedside tables in his student apartment, and you can see them at Ep.2 [1I4] 1.16 (it's a different bedside table from the ones in the series though); a close-up of the globe can be seen in BBS at Ep.4 [4/4] 11.30; every Bad Buddy fan of course will recognize the earphone case and earbuds (that Pat loans Pran at Ep.4 [1I4] 12.49), the PP earphone bag, Pran's doorhanger, Oishi green tea and Nong Nao
(above) A close-up of Pran's alarm clock, his PP earphone bag as well as the earphone case and earbuds loaned to him by Pat
(above) Posters and still shots on display
For me, the highlight of the exhibition was the memory board from Ep.12. 😍 It was not exactly the same as what we see in the show though. Some bits were quite different, e.g., there are photos and a cartoon of Nong Nao with a bouquet that aren't in the show. Pran's astronaut keychain is also missing – I hope it wasn't stolen! Still, most of it was the same (even if the placement of some items on the board was different) and it was such a thrill to be able to see the details up close.
(above) The memory board at the exhibition; it's not totally identical to what we see in the show but most of it is the same
(top) The memory board in BBS at Ep.12 [3I4] 2.33 for comparison; (bottom) a montage of close-ups from series – for translations of the little notes and messages refer to this link here
(above) The staff labels are actually lanyards for the Archi musical crew that we see Pran, Wai and Toto wearing at Ep.9 [1I4] 6.43; the photos are mostly stills from the show
(top) Pran's birthday postcard to Pat (at the top left of this screencap from the series at Ep.12 [3I4] 2.52) is a little blurry in the show; (bottom) this photo of the same postcard at the exhibition is a lot clearer – the translation of the message (according to this link here) is "I miss you. You’re all grown up now. Just stay by yourself a while longer. When I come back, I’ll be your gift." 💖
One of my favorite items on the memory board was the following postcard because it's full of interesting little details:
Pat's condo address (in Thai) is 75 Jasmine Condo, Sukhumvit 53, Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10800 (according to @recentadultburnout at this link here).
We can now tell that this was a play on the address of the actual filming location for Pat's apartment: Jasmine 59 Hotel, 9 Sukhumvit 59 (Boonchana), Sukhumvit Road, Klongtan-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 (see this link here for the write-up). The production team kept the name Jasmine and the Sukhumvit location as a cheeky wink I suppose. 😍 Dunno how Singapore's postal service would know where to send the postcard though, if there's no mention of Bangkok or Thailand in English! 😂
Pran's address in Singapore (Blk 94, Lorong Limau #86-05, Singapore 320047) isn't a real one, but whoever came up with it definitely has some familiarity with Singapore-style addresses (or at least bothered to look it up). This is because it follows the standard format for HDB residential addresses (block number and street name, then unit number, and finally Singapore + the postal code after).
The street Lorong Limau actually does exist (lorong is the Malay word for street or alley, roughly the same as soi in Thai I suppose) but there is no Block 94 there, nor is 320047 the correct postal code for it (the last two digits should be the block number). It's also nowhere near the Marina Bay Sands, and Pran's unit (#86-05) would be the highest in the land since the 86 refers to the floor level (making his block taller than MBS, and indeed any other building in Singapore!). 😂
Pran refers to himself as "แค่เพื่อน" (khaae pheuuan) on the postcard, and addresses Pat as "ครับเพื่อน" (khrap pheuuan). These were also their codenames for each other, with which each saved the other's contact details into their mobile phones.
However, in BBS it was Pat who was "แค่เพื่อน" (khaae pheuuan) in Pran's phone, while Pran was "ครับเพื่อน" (khrap pheuuan) in Pat's phone (see Ep.1 [4/4] 8.56 and Ep.8 [3I4] 3.11). Did they switch things up after they got together? 💖
Also, when you bring the two codenames together you get the title of Bad Buddy Series in Thai: แค่เพื่อนครับเพื่อน (khaae pheuuan khrap pheuuan). But I think by now every BBS fan knows this. 😍
The following photo taken at the exhibition is a close-up of PatPran's high school and university student cards:
Their faces were photoshopped a little crudely, but I'm impressed that they even have logos for the school and university. We all know that they studied at South Technology University (the university is named on the poster for the Kwan-Riam musical at Ep.9 [1I4] 6.18 and in the subtitles for the rugby scoreboard at Ep.9 [2/4] 15.49). As far as I can recall their high school wasn't identified by name in the series, but you can see it here: Prasertsilpwittaya School (โรงเรียนประเสริฐศิลป์วิทยา). Prasert means "excellent; glorious; sublime; superb; outstanding" (definition on thai-language.com), silp means "art" and wittaya means "science/learning".
The handwriting on the paper cup at the exhibition looks identical to the one in the series:
(above left) The coffee cup in BBS at Ep.12 [3I4] 2.44; (above right) the coffee cup at the exhibition
I'm inclined to believe it's the same cup, even if (or maybe because? 🤔) it looks a bit flattened from transit and handling. The translation of the message written on it is "You just bought me a cup of coffee, this is the first time! Why are you so stingy? Ai'Prannnn!!!", posted on Twitter at this link here. 😍
And that's basically all I have for Bad Buddy's corner at the GMMTV exhibition in Osaka. Just one last photo from the memory board to round things off though:
Posting the photo above partly because I don't remember it in the series. But also partly because it looks like a Behind-the-Scenes photo of Ohm and Nanon that could also pass for our prim Pran with his cheeky Pat. 💖 คิดถึง BBS!
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