We wanted to do this 3 weeks ago, but when we called Fandango on Wednesday of that week, we found out that all tickets to Metreon IMAX 3D were sold out. So then we had to wait until this week, as Jack was out for business trip last week. We called to buy 3 tickets on Tuesday, printed out the receipt and hoped that nothing would go wrong when we got to the theater.
The show time was at 8:30 PM on Saturday, we planned to get to the theater 1 hour ahead and wait in line, just to make sure we could get good seats we like. Maryam couldn't come until around 7:45 PM. Jack said "absolutely not, didn't you realize this movie was sold out for 3 weeks?" So I tried to push Maryam to come as early as 7:30 to wait in line, which she said twice she would try. Both Jack and I knew she would be late anyway. We stayed home to relax before we left for the movie. After we took the dogs out for a walk, Jack worked on his iPhone app, and I read the Percy Jackson book.
We left home at 5 PM. Jack didn't say anything on the road, I knew he was worried about Maryam. We parked at the lot next to the theater, which would be super expensive since we would have to park for so many hours. Metreon was such a special theater, or it used to be anyway. It used to be called Sony Metreon with IMAX. Sony had this retail/demo station for all of its products, which occupied half of the first floor. Once a while, Jack would find an excuse to take me there for movie, so that he could play with the latest Sony electronics before or after the show. It used to be the state-of-the-art place and there always was a crowd. People playing with Sony electronics, shopping at the ultra hip shops such as discovery store and other smaller vendors, or lounge at coffee shops and restaurants. Needless to say, once we got there, we planned to stay for a while.
We planned to have dinner at the Chinese restaurant called Long Life inside Metreon. That has always been our pre-movie event since the movie theater was opened 10 years ago. That explains the shock and disappointment when we found that Long Life and some of the other restaurants were out of business. We ended up having dinner at one of 3 restaurants that still survived. I had beef stew, which wasn't bad, though it wasn't Jungle Curry either. During dinner we reflected on how the life and energy of the old Metreon was gone. Even the Sony store and Discover store, along with many other original vendors of the place were closed out. Leaving many vacant shop spaces. One thing I learned about getting older was how frequently I am saying, "10 years ago, it used to be such and such." It doesn't make me feel any younger, but today is not coming back either. So I have to take advantage of every minute in my life.
We finished dinner at 6:30 and went straight to the theater entrance. There were already 5 or 6 people waiting in line for Avatar. Jack asked them how they were sure where they were sitting was the beginning of the line, they laughed thinking he was joking, and didn't give him a straight answer. So Jack went to ask the people collected tickets at the door to verify. We both brought the Percy Jackson books to read while waiting in line, but the lighting was really dim so it was difficult. I read it anyway, but Jack was wondering around and watching the entrance for the trace of Maryam.
Maryam got there at around 7:45, the long line waiting for Avatar was already wrapped around 3 times. I was glad she got there in time to look at the line, as that was the only way for her to appreciate and understood about our request for her to come 1 hour before showtime. We all enjoyed the movie. This was the second time for Jack and I to watch it, and Maryam loved it as her first time watching this movie.
The parking was $21 for us, and $14 for Maryam. Oh, the movie ticket was $17 per person getting from Fandango.
The end
I'm so glad you're finally blogging! And you've inspired me to go watch Avatar.
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