It’s Thursday, we do some science in the morning, and then… THEN the girls and I have a movie date!
Joe went with his cousin to buy a pair of glasses last week, and they are ready to be picked up this afternoon. All day yesterday and the day before, I tried to figure out where and when we could watch the one and only animated movie currently playing in English, and so the girls and I are heading to a new-to-us area to watch a movie today at 1pm. Joe’s meeting with his cousin at 2.30pm, and I figure we’ll be back home around-ish the same-ish time. Ish.
We have to leave shortly after 11am, because we haven’t had lunch yet, I want to buy the tickets first (the website doesn’t allow foreign credit cards), and we need to bus there and then find where inside the big mall the cinema is, and eat, and and and… Yes, my head is spinning.
While the girls are doing their school work, I run through a shower. They complete their work load, I get ready, they get ready, we grab water bottles and OMG we have to leave NOW! We walk all the way down the hill, up the stairs to cross the road, and down the other side. We find our bus stop inside the bus terminal, and wait. There are three other ladies ahead of us, so we know we’re in the right spot, and the bus should be here any second now. 15 minutes later, when the bus finally shows up, there are about 20 more people waiting behind us…
We finally get on our way, and this route is completely new to us, taking us across areas we have yet to discover.
After what feels like an absolute ETERNITY, the bus finally arrives at its last stop and our destination, the Elements mall. We’re let off in what feels like an underground bus dungeon, but luckily we’re not completely alone. Although 80% of the bus got off at the previous stop outside in the sunshine, probably right next to the main mall entrance, there are two people ahead of us whom we can follow to find an exit. The two exits tell us “take this escalator for the civic building” and “take this escalator for the MTR station”. The confusion continues, and it takes us about 15 minutes to get from the bus to the movie theatre. The mall itself is beautiful, new, shiny and sparkly. In other words, pricy.
By the time we reach the ticket counter and can buy our tickets, it’s 12.40am. Our only quick lunch option nearby is Shake Shack. Ugh. Anything but Shake Shack, pleaaaaaase! But no, it has to be this. The girls both excitedly order cheeseburgers, when I spot a chicken salad with green goddess salad dressing on the menu, and I am so relieved. Freshness! Who’d a thunk?
The girls find counter seats, and we wait for our order. But first: there’s a hand washing station right beside the pick up area, so we make good use of that. Soap, water and paper, all in the same space, just make good use of each element that attacks your hands, and you’ll have the cleanest hands around!
Luckily, the food doesn’t take too long, it’s a fast food restaurant after all, and we have our lunch by 12.46pm. We can see the movie theatre right across the hallway, so we know we’ll get there on time, we just have to hurry up and eat. I also asked when buying the tickets about commercials and trailers, as each movie theatre does this differently. Sometimes, you can walk in 15 minutes late for your movie and still catch the end of the trailers. Other times, you’re late even if you arrive on time. I know our movie will start at 1.05pm, so that’s what we go by. BUT! We still have to buy popcorn after this too…
At 12.55pm, we toss our trash and run towards popcorn. The lady isn’t even there! She takes her time walking back to her station, and we get our large salted popcorn (why is so much of popcorn around the world SWEET?). I wait while the girls both visit the washroom faster than the speed of light, and then we go find our seats. Once I’ve installed them with popcorn and movie trailers, I can go find the washroom myself.
We watch a movie called GOAT, about a young goat who gets to play professional “roarball”, basketball but in the animal kingdom, against players much larger than him, like rhinos, giraffes, a comodo dragon, ostrich and an evil horse. It’s a fun movie, but the best part is, we’re completely alone in the room. Maylin takes the opportunity to test out the movie theatre from all angles, running up and down the sides, sitting in all the rows, sitting on top of the seat, and standing. A lot of standing. Téa joins her at times, but for the most part, Téa’s eyes are fixed on the screen. Once a movie fan, always a movie fan. Nothing can tear this girl away from a moving image!
After our movie, we roam the mall for a bit. There’s very little that’s cute, cuddly or kid friendly at such an upscale mall, so we soon tire of hanging out here. But we do take a moment to appreciate the indoor skating rink, which we’re finding all over Hong Kong. One day we’ll try skating in a mall, but today is not that day either.
We bus back towards home, and I give the girls the option of getting off where we got on this morning, by Wong Tai Sin, or to go to the end station (two more stops) at Plaza Hollywood. Two different malls that should be able to entertain us for a bit, and maybe even get us a snack. We end up getting off at home, by Temple Mall, and head inside to hunt for a pineapple bun or egg tart.
We have no luck at South Temple Mall, so we cross the street into North Temple Mall. Nothing here either, but there is a MilkCafé on the ground floor, and we decide to try some of the delicious baked goods from the bakery counter, knowing that if we asked for a table, we wouldn’t be able to point to what we want. Maylin gets an apple puff, and I get a chocolate croissant thingy. It looks like an almond chocolate croissant, but is missing all traces of almonds.
It’s around 5pm, Maylin and I have snacks in hand (Téa said she was full from the popcorn still), and we decide to walk all the way up the hill. It’s great exercise, and doesn’t take as long as I may have feared before setting out. Joe is also on his way home, but will be arriving later, so we decide to wait on a bench outside our building. It’s pleasantly warm and we pass time by watching fun videos on YouTube. Before long, Joe arrives, and we can all head inside, but still wishing we had a second set of keys for the apartment.
Joe stopped at the subway station and picked up a steamed bun for each of the girls, and a pork patty on rice for him and I to share. He ended up having lunch around 3pm with his cousin and aunt, and isn’t hungry at all. The girls and I have a good giggle trying to recap our mad dash to the movies, our rushed lunch, and the wonder of having the whole movie theatre to ourselves (well, our screen at least, there were probably another 10 screens, and people milling about all the hallways). Joe’s new glasses make him look extra handsome, and he spends the evening learning how to use bifocals while watching TV and working on his computer.
I’ve seen that movie advertised. Was it fun?