Lights, Camera, Action

I went for my first movie night out last night. I lived in Siem Reap for a couple of months before coming down to Saigon and so was starved of movie nights. The only option in Siem Reap, is the Wednesday night movies shown at Rosy Guesthouse in town, there are no cinemas in Siem Reap. So I was looking forward to seeing a movie in a proper theatre. We chose the CT Plaza out near the airport as it seems on the face of it the closest multiplex to where we are living. The taxi did seem to go a long way round but on checking the map the day after it was the quickest way. There is a road that looks quicker, but it appears to simply just end as you get close to the airport. I’ll have to check that out.

I wasn’t disappointed, the Megastar cinema and indeed the CT Plaza, out near the airport were excellent. We arrived early to give us time to grab a bite. Tickets duly booked, we wandered off to find the food court. The food court on the 2nd floor looks uninteresting and the food not really appetising. Everyone seemed to be enjoying what they were eating, and the place had a convivial atmosphere about it. But the pictures of the food were, well not very interesting. I took ages making my mind up then went for the spaghetti bolognese, I know, I know! The guy should his head and make a cross with his fingers. I guess that was off the menu. I ordered the Ravioli, look just bear with me will you? The guy should his head and make a cross with his fingers. I guess that was also off the menu. I asked if it would be easier for him to simply tell me what was available, it fell on stoney ground. In the end I went to the next stall and ordered Spicy Korean beef with rice, that’s more like it, I hear you cry! And quite frankly, it was! It took an Nuclear winter to arrive, but, when it did it was brilliant. Just the job and it left just enough room for the popcorn.

In the movie theatre at last and I am pleased to report that the seating is good and the prices are great compared to the UK. A taxi out and back, a meal before hand, 3D cinema ticket, popcorn and a large drink for $20.00 is fantastic value in anyone’s book. I could have done without the noisy little kids sat right in front of me, but not knowing the Vietnamese for “shut the hell up” meant I had to swallow that. The movie, “Star Trek into Darkness” was really good as well so all in all a great start to movie watching in Vietnam. Being used to ridiculously stupid Thai advertisements, I even found the inane Vietnamese ones tolerable. I’m going back on Wednesday, it’s half price night!