The Rise of the Guardians

I seldom do the movies at the cinema of late. Sitting still for almost 2 hours usually cause my back to act up the next day. And this time wasn't any different. Had to deal with a stiff back (and the continuous pain) the next day. Age is catching up. Body parts aren't that well oiled any more. And pain stays longer too. 8(Anyway, Son was the one who put it into the kids' heads this idea of going for a movie. We've been doing tonnes of stuff this hols but not done any movie yet. So it was not surprising that everyone was super enthusiastic about the idea. And I got talked into it.....

Finding a movie is a breeze these days with apps like CineApp. We decided to watch The Rise of the Guardians at Jitra Mall... for one simple reason. The kids wanted to adjourn to Tutti Frutti for frozen yoghurt after the movie.

We had a badminton session earlier in the day and so had to rush a bit to get ready. Friend bought the tickets on her way back home. Kids helped to hang the laundry while I rushed out to collect some goodies from another friend. We made it to Jitra in good time.

The cinema was quite empty when we got in. There were two other groups of people in the cineplex besides our group of 7. Movies aren't complete without popcorn and drinks. So we got those as well.

The Rise of the Guardian had awesome animations. The story is about how Pitch and his minions tried to kill the innocence of the children of the world. He wanted to turn their hope into nightmares and fears, warmth into cold... the sort of evil schemes which are supposed to plunge the world into a cold and destitute place. Enter the Guardians to save the day... Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Sandman, Tooth Fairy... and an inclusion by The Man on the Moon of Jack Frost. Jack Frost is usually associated with the bad but in this movie he's the good guy who saves the day. Anyway, after some suspense and many intense actions, with the help of one sole little boy who continued to cling on to his belief of the existence of the guardians, Pitch lost and hope was restored. Where there is hope, there is also happiness. Jack Frost was the hero of the day.

This is a movie which probably would appeal to kids at different levels. Many Malaysian kids today are unfamiliar with characters like Jack Frost and Sandman. Santa and Easter Bunny are familiar enough because of their associations with Christmas and Easter. The Tooth Fairy is probably identifiable too. Anyway, it's action-packed enough to keep the eyes riveted to the screen. But many of the subtle and underlying tales (and origins) would probably be lost on the kids.

I think the themes are not bad... the belief of one child could ignite a fire for others to believe and in the end gave strength to the Guardians to overcome Pitch. Life is kinda like that too... we need encouragement from others to believe and hope often times. Strength from those who believe in us....

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are the faces of commercial Christmas and Easter. The tooth fairy... well, Other Half and I used to play tooth fairy with our little gal, till we made a slip and our gal came to her own conclusion that her Papa was the tooth fairy. But all of us need a little magic in our lives sometimes.... the awe and wonderment, the belief in something, someone.... And we need heroes to admire too. So the movie was nice in that sense. Plus Good triumphs over Evil. Who doesn't like a happy ending like that?

And yes! We went to Tutti Frutti after the movie despite the rain. Friend and I decided to forego the dessert and sat outside but the girls were sweet enough to share theirs with us. In the end, they left theirs for us and went back inside to tax their brother's. 8) after Tutti Frutti, the kids were reluctant to part... so we adjourned for dinner at Rong Reang. Rong Reang is a Thai restaurant, quite popular in Jitra.

This is prawn tanghoon... supposed to be my favourite. But this one seems to need rice to go with it. It's not a dish that you can take on its own, despite being tanghoon based.

Our own local calamari... though not quite in ring form. They're a little heavy on the oil though. The kids are small eaters. In the end, I had to push them to finish this dish.

Seafood curry. Not bad. On a hungry stomach, this would be a winner. Unfortunately, most stomachs had yoghurt filling up most of the space. So finishing it took some effort.

Mantis prawns in dried chilli - Son's favourite. Incidentally, this was also a belated birthday treat for him from Friend. Since it was his favourite, he finished this one.... He has a penchant of ordering the same food each time we go out..... We need to make memories for the kids and ourselves. Time flies and before long, each one will be leaving the nest. Just like the Tooth Fairy who took the teeth to preserve the memories for each child... Memories give meaning to our lives. They put smiles (and sometimes tears) on our faces. Sometimes we forget the reason for many things. Memories sometimes serve as reminders and reasons, as Jack Frost discovered from his memory the reason for him being chosen to be Jack Frost and eventually a Guardian. As he remembered he became more convinced and determined that he should guard and protect the innocence of the children.

For me, this hols has been a journey of discovery too in a way. I am ever reminded that much of the meaning that we get our of life often comes from the relationships that we form in our lives. And these are memories in the making too.... It reminds me too of memories of recent past, when I used to do stuff like this for Son and co too....