Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Megamind for Mega Bday Boy

before watching the movie, i didn’t know brad pitt lent his voice as metro man. and i didn’t know that ben stiller had a hand in the making of this animated feature. we had a lovely surprise when we saw the end credit!

also, i didn’t know that there’s a twist in the end for the bad guy, the good guy and the nerd-turned hero-turned villain! freaking genius, man! well, you’d expect no less than the creators of ‘shrek’! always had a knack for wacky, funny, original stories to animate!

nways, all i knew was that there’s a new animated feature playing, and it’s funny, and it’s got superheroes. perfect ingredient for a birthday boy to just chill out and enjoy.


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we went to ibn battuta mall for the movie, and mind you – this was only the 3rd time we watched a movie in dubai.

  1. the first ever was ‘madagascar’ in 2008 (when i just arrived in dubai)
  2. the second was ‘cloudy with a chance of meatball’ in 2009
  3. the third was this one, ‘megamind’ in 2010
  4. (oh, earlier this year we did watch ‘avatar’ on 3D but that doesn’t count because it was just the 2 of us on our anniversary, and mr. khairul’s family was here in dubai & babysat the boys)


see, setahun sekali je tengok wayang! why?

  • the tickets are overpriced – 30 dirham per person, or 48 dirham for a 3D show. that’s 144 dirham for my whole family (this is before kahfi hits 2 years old – now he goes in for free). and this is EXCLUDING popcorn sets, which would take it up 30 dirham more or so.
  • we’re a family yang rather spend more on makan-makan best rather than sitting in front of a big screen!
  • also, when you have 3 kiddos under the age of 5, it kinda narrrows down the movie choices! must be a movie fit for kids, but also enjoyable for moms and doesn’t drive the dads dead-bored! now, looking at mr. khairul’s taste in cinema, the movie-for-kids and doesn’t-bore-dad combo movies are pretty rare!
  • it just felt more peaceful watching movies on dvd in the comfort of our home!

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the kiddos are excited waiting for bapak to get the tickets. then created havoc inside the cinema running around while we bought popcorns – nearly crashing into huge standing advertising boards!


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next one, we watched sammy’s adventures ya? we caught the trailer while waiting for ‘megamind’ to be on, and the 3D image is fantastic. seemed more real, more out there – really, an animated snake practically jumped out of the screen and slithered his way right to my face!


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kazim was sitting on my lap. he was on his best behaviour – the only time he made noise was when he went goo-goo gaga over the 3D glasses that i was wearing. well, giggly, cooing noises are always better than a loud, bawling baby!

kahfi refused to wear the 3D glasses at first. rimas kot. however, when the movie started, mr. khairul just forced it onto him, and once he saw what the glasses are for, he immediately sat up straight, very still while looking at the screen, mesmerized. probably amazed at how ‘alive’ and ‘popped out’ everything is! ha, tau pun!

khaleef – well, the birthday boy had a good laugh all the way. armed with a huge tub of popcorn and icy coke, he’s all fine by himself.

me? it was just nice to sit back, hold hands and curl up beside my very own metro man. macam masa dating-dating dulu!


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this coloring book was given complimentary which each movie ticket. khaleef was so excited, he carried it everywhere.

well – part I of khaleef’s birthday celebration is done. special makan-makan, next?


* * *


if you want cute-sy animated movie, go for ‘sammy’s adventure’ because ‘megamind’ is one bad-ass of a movie! with most of the jokes made for adults, it’s memang ‘blue, bad and brilliant!’ when even the villain is loveable, you know you got an interesting story there.

you got kids, you got time? – go watch it! 3D tak 3D pun jalan!

MUSIC : mr. khairul likes the cool soundtrack – awesome rock numbers from yesteryears! of course, the only song i recognize is the last one, michael jackson’s ‘bad’. haha. but i must say, the hardcore rock sound goes well with the movie. probably because of megamind’s black-leather-spiky-lightning-symbol thingy of his costume!

LEADING LADY : and, excuuuuse me – but what’s with the very well-endowed leading lady? yes, yes – mr. khairul was drooling away, “this movie should’ve been called roxanne richi!” last time even pocahontas was heavily criticised for having a leading character be drawn to be so sexy, curvy and busty. hmm, even princess fiona wasn’t this sexy!

ENDING : i almost thought that ‘megamind’ would fall into cliched ending where the retired superhero returned after being coaxed to do so, at a pressing time of need. but nope – in the true art of unpredictability and unexpected endings, the ‘megamind’ creators managed to pull off an endearing ending, and yes, unexpected! bravo! (no spoilers here, ok!)

oh, by the way, anybody else notice the avatar-blue-inspired megamind’s skin? cerulian blue is the new in-color, then! well, enjoy the clip! hillarious!



Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Raya Haji Feast

selamat hari raya haji, everyone!

dubaians celebrated eid adha today, 16th, unlike our family and friends back in malaysia who will celebrate hari raya haji tomorrow. it’s kind off weird for me. this was the first time i called abah to wish selamat hari raya, and forgot that he hasn’t celebrate it yet! hihi.

as usual, here in dubai, malaysians gather at the matrade office, oud metha building for the eid prayer. my boys were all-blacks today. being the only female, i have every color in the world to choose from. hihi.

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there’s a huge improvement this time around – kahfi and khaleef kept their sampin and songkok on for much longer than last hari raya. haha.

 

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yes, that’s kahfi on his routine run-around walk-about activity. and while kahfi roamed around the place, khaleef made friends with izani – and they instantly hit it off.

 

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ah, the food.

 

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fida, did you make these yummy buns & delicious mini pizza?

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yes, those (pict above) are my two trays of baked mac & cheese i brought for the pot luck. hopefully sedap and semua enjoy makan! hihi. and the next picture is the roti canai that myUAE pro (msian assoc) ordered specially for this makan-makan

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lin, if you’re reading this – are those brownies yours? coz i think i remember eating them at your place last raya. sedap sangat!

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there’s even baklava! which i didn’t get to try. somebody brought cakes too. kesian khaleef wanted the chocolate one, but when we finally got to it, it’s completely GONE. really. yang tinggal only half of the tutti frutti cake.

 

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some sitting on the soft orange blocks that act as sofas, some on the swivelling chairs, most of them standing and some groups were even sitting on the carpet floor.

every malaysians were enjoying the scrumptious dishes! i myself were stuck at my corner because of kazim, so mr. khairul were coming and going – adding yummies to my plate! hihi.

 

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me with the ladies : us, wives of malaysian government officers in dubai

 

to dear fairus (who had gone back to malaysia for good), i really miss having you around during these gatherings! and fida, nape takde tadi? but it was a nice surprice to meet a friend of mine back in my melbourne days, akmal. it just brought a piece of melbourne back in the recesses of my mind…

to akmal, call me! forgot to invite you to my place this 19th la! *smile*

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every year, raya gatherings in dubai for mr. khairul wouldn’t be complete without a photo session with his fellow malay college alumni.

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decked in the school sampin, their smiles showed a bond that transcends age. heck, even us wives are dubbed mcobanita (mcoba stands for malay college old boy assoc)!

and as usual, abg faisal’s wife kak muna and i enjoyed making fun of our husbands’ obsession with their alma mater. udah udah le tu bang oii.

 

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kak muna & me, kak muna, kak rozi (abg zaim’s wife) & me

 

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kahfi!

thanks to aunty lin for coming to the rescue! haha. lin’s hubby bob was like, “syigim, ko tengok apa anak ko dah buat,” and i thought he broke the large glass flower vase that was blocking the stairs. rupa-rupanya there he was taking off his pants, socks and shoes and was sitting on the floor scratching! 

drama hari raya haji!

* * *

last year, i remember clearly going to my dear friend fauziah’s house for beraya with her delicious homemade roti canai. and in the evening of last year’s raya haji, we were enjoying fairus’s satay – grilled right in her backyard.

this year, fauziah went back to malaysia for raya haji, and fairus had gone back to malaysia. this was a quiet hari raya haji for us. went straight home to plan a birthday dinner for khaleef since we didn’t go for a special dinner yesterday.

beraya-raya haji will have to wait til this weekend – to whom this may concerned – jangan lupa on the 19th, 3pm onwards, people!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Facebook Bday Wishes For Khaleef

i do this every year, for each and every one of my boys. for me too, of course! i compiled facebook birthday wishes, and i dumped ‘em all in a posting in my blog. 10 years down the road, they’ll thank me. hihi.

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bday khaleef5

 

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bday khaleef1

bday khaleef2

bday khaleef3.1

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THANKS! keep ‘em coming, people!

5ive

dear khaleef,

happy birthday to our cookie monster!

bday

all our love,

bapak, mak & adik-adik kahfi & kazim

check out these postings too!

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