Yesterday I had the opportunity to experience two things: A pretty bad movie (Godzilla) and my very first earthquake. Both were equally disappointing, and I hope to all the gods that subsequent events will be equally disappointing. Well, at least as the earthquakes go – hopefully the movies – given time – will get better.
I had not been to a movie theater in the Philippines (after being here for six months), so I figured it was time to subsume myself in – what I have heard – is quite the social event. Michell had indicated that she was interested in seeing Spiderman 2, but I had a hankering for some giant, mutant monsters and was also equally interested to see what Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame had involved himself in. My Pagadian Princess and I entered into negotiations, and she finally conceded that she hadn’t seen Spiderman 1 yet, so Godzilla was cool with her.
Groovy.
We hopped on my trusty YBR125 and raced down to Robinsons. A bit peckish, we stopped for dinner at Mang Inasaal, my favorite Filipino fast food place. Michell had yummy BBQ pork (sooooo succulent) and I had pork sisig (super hot pig by-products chopped into tiny pieces and seasoned with garlic, onion, and other scrumptious things).
Satiated, we made our way to the theater and took some photos along the way. It was a 530 PM show on a Thursday night, so there weren’t many people there. Nonetheless, I was able to see what I had heard about – Filipinos texting on their phones, updating their Facebook status and talking to the screen. I grumbled a bit (chill out, uptight stoopid Kano!) but later joined them, texting some friends after we got the earthquake. Before doing that I had grumbled to Michell and asked her to turn her phone off, so she was just a weeeeeeeee bit peeved when I pulled my phone out later and started texting. Yup, I am a hypocrite. And it’s Michell’s job to remind me of how much a hypocrite I am.
The Jollibee making moves on my gal!
World of Fun – Robinson’s Arcade
World of Fun guy making moves on my gal!
Anyhoo. The theater was pretty comfortable what with it’s aircon going, and we had just gotten past the part of the movie where Bryan Cranston is yapping about seismic activity when, all of a sudden, a bunch of folks start getting up and heading for the exits. Wow, I thought, these folks are SERIOUSLY not appreciating Bryan Cranston’s acting ability! I asked Michelll what was going on and she said “Earthquake.” Then I felt it. (I think I thought the previous shakes were part of the movie’s Dolby subwoofer special effects.) Another shake and I looked up at the ceiling. “Oh, man,” I said, “I sure hope I don’t die today.” The theater shut down the movie and the security dude came in and told us to leave the theater. We joined the crush and made it to the lobby. The shaking had stopped by then and folks were clamoring for refunds or free tickets. Eyeing their bottom line, the management made the decision to have us go back into the theater. Balancing mortality against wanting to see the rest of the movie, we chose the latter and got to see Godzilla, the King of Monsters, kick serious ass.
Lobby was pretty quiet, pre-earthquake
The earthquake was pretty PG as well……
Security dude before he pulled his gun on me….
Go, go Godzilla!!
Living in the Ring of Fire here in the Philippines makes natural catastrophes a very real proposition. Earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, mud slides, volcanoes……. we got it all. Coming from the seismically stable northeast of the USA, these are something that I – or any other foreigner – simply has to get used to. Hmmmmm…… easier said than done.
The quake was a 6.3 and located off the western coast of Negros Oriental.
Shake, rattle and roll, baby.
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