Red Eye Traffic

I met WC for lunch and movie today. WC is a relatively new friend as I only got to know him well this year, but looking back we discovered that we attended the same primary school. He claimed that he found my face familiar, but I doubt that as I defintely don't find him familiar. Sigh, me and my bad memory.

We went to Gurney Plaza (my 5th time in 3 weeks) and ate at the new Korean buffet BBQ restaurant. I saw this on my first visit but didn't get a suitable time to come here till now. The price is part of the reason - it's RM19.99++ for lunch, while there are student packages at RM13.99++. Of course we went for the student package, but unknowingly there were a few hidden charges. First, we have to pay RM3.99 for free-flow drinks, and another RM4 for the unlimited soup base. They are both optional, but it would be tough not having anything to drink. Plus, having the soup base effectively makes it a BBQ Steamboat combo. So after tax, WC and I had to shell out RM23 per person.

There are a few places outside with this buffet BBQ steamboat setup, and it costs only RM15-16 nett per person. But the difference is apparent as the Korean BBQ joint had more choices of meat and seafood, more dessert types (including ice-cream!), and well, just more of everything! While it is OK for students, it's way too expensive if you have to pay regularly. If you go for dinner there, it can cost around RM40 per person! I had quite a lot, but not a LOT, if you know what I mean. WC was an even smaller eater, so he stopped earlier. I'm quite satisfied with it, but unhappy with the 'hidden charges'.

We then walked around Gurney for 1.5 hours and talked crap while buying nothing. It was thoroughly a waste of productive time, but I guess it's good training for my future dating endeavours. At 3.45pm we entered GSC to watch 'Red Eye', which I've heard good reviews about. Of course, there were some mediocre ones but I decided to trust the Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is rare for a Wes Craven thriller to get an 82% approval rating, so I had high expectations for it.

And I was a little disappointed. I wasn't as tensed up as I should have, and contrary to prior assumptions, only 60% of the movie happens on the plane. And of course, there was nothing to make us think of the ending as a live-or-die situation. It's not a bad movie, but occassionally uneven. I even think the censors snipped off a small part, though I can't tell which.

After the movie, I sent WC to Prangin Mall as he wanted to chill out some more. It is practically on the other side of town but I am going to get stuck in rush-hour traffic anyway, so I did him the favour. I'm glad my air-con held up during the drive home, as it was quite a long queue. I felt a little thirsty but kept my cool till the end. I feel fine as I'm quite glad to be leaving all this behind in 3 days time.

And oh yeah, Malaysia turns 48 tomorrow. Dad has hinted he wanted to head down to Esplanade for the countdown, but I'm adamant about not going. There's seriously no point! I'd rather spend the time watching a movie with him, even if it's Bewitched all over again.