Two Movies And A Babe

Unlike most timid Saturdays which I'm almost always used to, today I woke up a little early than usual - I'll be getting ready to play ninang to Gaby, Pau's baby of four months. Pau and I go a long way since our good old Intel days - we were both process and equipment engineers in Test Engineering for CPU. We became close friends when we got the chance to travel alongside fellow engineers during a month-long engagement in Penang, Malaysia. Now, we're both working in different companies but haven't lost communication since.

Gaby's Christening was held at Holy Trinity Parish in Bacoor. My folks drove me to the church, and as early as 9:00 a.m. we're already parked outside the church grounds, waiting for the rest of the party to arrive. People started coming in thirty minutes after, and by a little past 10 a.m., the baptismal rites were celebrated together with the other ninongs and ninangs. It was followed by a simple celebration at the Baller residence which, I just discovered yesterday, was just 10 minutes away from ours. But I guess the bestest thing that happened is seeing the familiar faces I’ve come to be good friends with. Of course there’s my kumareng Pau, then there’s John and Art – both are co-Intel Alumnus and good friends as well. Oh yeah, Kuya Lerry, who was Pau’s former boss, was also there. Too bad I wasn’t able to stay longer because me and my folks still have somewhere else to go. Nevertheless, lunch was a sumptuous treat with an Ilonggo twist, kwentuhan, and kodakan moments. (Pixies will up in my Multiply site soon!)

SShhh, sleeping babe on board... :)

John Sanchez and Art Villones (Si Mayor at si Congressman! ^_^)

The latter part of the day was spent on a double-movie date with my parents at SM Mall of Asia. Since we’re all filled up from the delicious lunch at Pau’s, we decided to watch X-Files: I Want To Believe first since Wall-E isn’t showing until 4:00 p.m. that day (The earlier screening times for Wall-E were blocked for a corporate booking.) Here’s my take on the flick: true, the entire storyline was a bit of a drag BUT somehow it was a huge relief for me as an X-Files TV series fan that they actually opted to deviate from the usual alien-abduction-turned-FBI-experimentation plot that we’re so used to back in the glory days of the series. It’s a good thing, too, that both Moulder and Scully have aged quite gracefully plus the fact that the chemistry between have simmered up a little and a little more of human nature have been displayed by the two protagonist of the story. Prior watching the movie, most reviews I’ve read regarding the movie commented that the movie came a little too late for loyal fans and new fans alike. Well, a bit true; but I guess it’s never too late for Chris Carter to want to be able to bring redemption to the characters of Moulder and Scully. Overall, I give the movie a three-star rating. Not bad, eh?

After watching X-Files, we still had an hour to spare before the next movie so we just had lite snacks at Bread Talk, then went around for a lazy stroll in the mall. Thirty minutes before screening time, we bought our bucket of popcorn and drinks before settling in our reserved seats for our next round of movie. As for Wall-E, well… one word: BRILLIANT! While I'm never a big fan of Disney-Pixar movies in the past, this one's got my curiosity roused from the moment I saw the full theatrical trailer a couple of months back. And although my expectations for the movie was high, it never dwindled when I saw the flick on the big screen - in fact, it was more than I expected. In short, I love Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class)! ^_^ Everything about him - his curiosity, his innocence, his appreciation for life, and his affection for EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) was altogether funny, touching, and - believe it or not - downright romantic. *Sigh* I give it a two-thumbs-up rating, truly a must-see for the young and old alike. ^_^

"In short, it's going to take a robot's love to help make the world go round. " - Andrew Stanton, creator of Wall-E.

Sometime around 6:00 p.m., we were on our way home. We were supposed to have a pitstop at North Park along Macapagal for dinner but decided otherwise since my parents wouldn't want to risk getting caught in a post-payday traffic along Aguinaldo Highway. So dad just drove us straight home and we had dinner at home instead.