I can barely remember the last time I went to see a movie in a cinema..or a cineplex as they are called these days. I do recall when my daughter was small, whenever we went over to KL, I would take her to see a movie while the mother was on a shopping frenzy. If I’m not mistaken, we watched “A Goofy Movie” at The Mall…and later, we went to see the very touching “The Tigger Movie” at Mid Valley. Melissa insisted that we went to see “Lilo & Stitch” too but that seemed to have slipped my mind completely.
Well, after all this time and after all these years, I finally went to one again. When Melissa was home, we went to watch “Madagascar 3” at a cineplex in town…
They call it a trioplex, probably because there are three halls showing three movies simultaneously…
I guess they have more in the cities like in KL…but I would think three is more than enough for a small little place like Sibu and there is another cineplex as well in another side of town.
The tickets are by no means cheap these days…
– RM9.00 each but I hear that if you wait a little longer when a movie has been showing for quite a while, you can get the tickets a little cheaper…and it seems that if there are fewer than 5 persons, they reserve the right to cancel the show…
Luckily, there were 6 altogether that day and thus, as they say, the show must go on.
They still have the tidbits stall outside…like at the cinemas in those good ol’ days…
I can remember how I hated it very much then as people would make it a point to buy kuaci (pumpkin seeds) to eat while watching the movie. It was bad enough that they would make a horrible mess of the place but the incessant cracking sounds of the kuaci would be so distracting and at times, it would even drown out the dialogue in the movie. Tsk! Tsk!
If we go back some more, there was a time when the cinemas were not air-conditioned and smoking was permitted. Imagine somebody coming out from a movie with the lingering stench of cigarettes on his clothes even though he himself did not smoke at all. It amuses me a great deal even till today to recall how everyone in the cinema at the time would break into wild applause everytime a hero came to the rescue or when the Roman soldiers would ride their horses towards the enemy castle or the cowboys would show up in pursuit of the Red Indians. Don’t ask me why they did that as I wouldn’t know myself but that was exactly what people did then.
Some of the heroes from my time are still around, obviously…like Batman…
…or Spiderman…
…but gone are the days when they would be painted by hand on canvas, all the movie posters on display outside a cinema in those long gone days.
Inside, it certainly is a lot more comfortable these days with air-conditioning and cushioned seats unlike the bedbug-infested wooden or rattan ones that we had during our time…
…and of course, the stereophonic sensurround sound today is a whole lot better than what we had before. You may see somebody kicking a can in the movie and you will hear it dropping on the ground behind you.
Like before, they have trailers before the actual movie starts…
…but I would think the best part of going to a movie would be the opportunity to go out with friends and loved ones and spend some quality time together during these modern times when many would be too busy for one another or too engrossed in watching their own movies or doing their own thing on their ipads and what-have-you.
It was definitely not a great movie – just a fun-filled and relaxing one and both my daughter and I enjoyed ourselves very much. We certainly look forward to doing this together again sometime…
FOOTNOTE:
Happy Dragon Boat Festival aka the Zhang Festival or the DuanWu (Double fifth) Jie to everyone celebrating! Enjoy your dumplings!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
My children like the penguins from Madagascar.. I love to move it, move it *shakes bum*
My favourite? Maybe the giraffe…two steps forward, one step back. LOL!!!
first time I heard that the show will be cancel if less than 5 person …
I will be watching this movie tommorow.. 🙂
have a great weekend ya…
Oh? You haven’t watched yet? It’s been on for a while now. I dunno if that’s just a threat as the show before mine, I saw only two girls coming out of the hall…and they still showed the movie. We don’t have so many people going to the movies here – most would just get the cheap pirated DVD or download from the internet free to watch at home, the whole family!
I have not been stepping to cinema for more than 5 years,since my son was born…..
He’s big enough. You can take him to watch cartoons…and kiddy shows.
Watching a movie with our love one is worth it even though the movie might not be in our favourite category… hahahaa….
Kuaci? Yes, i remember they sold for 10 cents 3 packets.. the red and white paper wrappings.. but those days, I used to buy choc sweets, it was a privilege then… hahaha…
I remember I went to watch a movie, bought 10 Crispy bars (Kandos) 10 sen eact, RM1 only…and it wass oooo nice and I finished it all while watching the movie. Fell sick after that, came down with fever. Chocolate, like durian, is heaty…
It has been so long I have not watched movies. I remember I only watched during CNY whereby my favourite Jacky Chan show will be shown. Happy Dumplings Day to you too. Enjoy your nyonya chang, hehehehe!!!!!!!
Same to you. Yummmm…lucky thing I saved a few, or else so kesian…no zhang to enjoy for the festival. Wah!!! You so hebat – Jackie Chan fan kah? I’d better watch out – your kung fu kicks and karate chops… Me, I only know pork chops and chicken chops. LOL!!!!
Yup, I am a great fan of Jackie Chan. I think I have seen most of his movies if not all. So you better beware. Hahahaha!!!….at least you know pork chops and chicken chops.
Any chop is better than no chop at all. LOL!!! 😀
Over ther so relaxed let you snap photos . Here it’s like going through a strip search. All sorts of intimidating warning plastered all over .
I thought you retired and is eligible for retiree rate? They still charge u full price? Those big cinema here hv all sorts of discounts..for student..retiree…purchase through credit card…and Wednesday discount.
I just took during the trailer. My daughter said they might think I was recording the whole movie…so I did not try doing that when the movie had started. Got retiree rate? Not here, I think… No student rate either – everybody the same. Only cheaper when already shown for a few days…
It is so expensive to watch a movie here. It’s NZ$15 per adult and NZ$10 for children/student for a standard movie. For me, nothing beats watching a movie on the big screen..not even a blue-ray can beat that.
When I was younger, I often wonder why is it everytime I’m in a cinema, it rains and when you go out from the cinema, the sun will be shining and the road is not wet. Only when I was in my teens did I realise that the ‘raining’ sound is actually the kuaci sound…duh! ( woi! don’t laugh, ah…muahahaha..Justyn always says that his mom is actually blond on the inside.).
LOL!!! I thought you were going to say the noise from the whirling giant fans sounded like rain. I guess by your time, the cinemas all air-conditioned already… Wah!!! 1 movie RM30-40…*faints!!!*
Yeah, it’s quite pricey but the experience is totally worth it. Enjoyed my movie sessions in Wellington 😀 The nicest cinema would be The Embassy. Really grand! Only one hall so limited show times.
Aha!!! Maybe Auntie Shereen can take us to see a movie…or maybe even a musical in Auckland? Hehehehehe!!!! Let’s hope therell be a good one on when we’re there. Wink! Wink!
Seldom go to cineplex. Mostly we bought DVD and watch at home. More relax.
I watch DVD…after a few minutes, fast-forward till the end of the movie. Ok, finish watching liao… LOL!!! 😀
Bought a couple of dvd here, rp6000 works out to be rm2. Got your keroncong too, no karaoke, just mp3.
Haiz!!! Was hoping I could sing a few during our next karaoke session…”Ini … dia si jali jali…lagunya enak, lagunya enak…merdu Sekali…” LOL!!!
RM 9 is considered cheap compared to KL!
It’s around RM 10-12 depending on location.
Sigh!!! Our time…50 sen and we could enjoy the show – front row seats! LOL!!! 😀
Woah really? Smoking was permitted in the cinema way back then? That was bad! Here in the Philippines, there are now booster seats available for the kids and food trays too! Do they offer that over there too?
That was in the 50’s. Once the show started, they would open all the side doors. They had high walls so people would not be able to see from outside…but in the daytime, the thick black curtains would be drawn for that purpose but it would be hot and stuffy inside. I dunno elsewhere…but here, I don’t think we had all those – what you see is what you get! 😦
did you know senior citizens could get a cheaper ticket rate, for movies that have been shown for more than 2 weeks in the cinemas. My parents always catch the movies at half price, only RM6, from the usual RM12 🙂
I don’t think they have that here and I don’t think movies will be shown for that long either. I saw a scribbled notice with RM7 written on it but it was in Mandarin and I don’t read the language. Maybe it was saying that the tickets would be reduced to that after a few days – they do that for everybody, not just old people like me… 😉
Woah ! You brought in your camera and started snap snap snap ? stupid cinemas in Penang prohibited me from taking my dslr in, and asked me to deposit the camera at their office =x
Small town here mah… They’re not bothered, I’m sure.
and i think this is the very first time i read about you going for a movie!! hahaha.. reminds me that i have a free ticket from GSC that i need to use before my birthday month ends..
Free ticket for one? If two, maybe I can tag along? Then it will be my 2nd movie in a long, long while…Wink! Wink! LOL!!! 😀
I hate that kuaci eating sound too…Just like a huge hamster sat next to me. Then the kuaci shell will be scattered all over the floor.
Yes, I always thought that was a horrible habit. Dunno why they had to do that when watching a movie… 😦
I seldom go to see a movie in the theatre. I suffered when I have to sit in a place for too long. Knee pain lah. However, we went to two movies in the states and it is worth the suffering. Men in Black and Prometheus in 3D. Oh ya, I remember those hand painted canvas movie advertisement outside the theaters. Gone are the days.
Ya…those were the days. I would not have gone if it wasn’t to accompany Melissa…to let her enjoy herself during her holidays at home.