Yesterday we decided to have another family jaunt to the mall, this time to Festival Mall in Muntinlupa, which is an hour-and-a-half's drive from our place. With a bit of trepidation we loaded up the little ones, along with a number of towels for the eventuality of motion sickness setting in. My sister and her husband went along as well, so at least the adults-to-kids ratio was tipped in our favor.
When we arrived it was another time to celebrate: the toddler was spew-free once more! No mopping up, no changing of clothes, no sour smell in the confines of the vehicle, hurray! She's really growing up.
It was relatively early, just a little past 11. As we went looking for a parking slot in the covered portion, we first hesitated to go down the next level, as the 1.80-meter height marker rod appeared to be on a level with our vehicle's roof already! We backed off and tried to look for a slot at the ground level, to no avail. So again we approached the ramp downwards, and I went down to check whether the rod would scrape our roof. There was about a handspan's worth of margin still, so off we went, relieved.
Our older daughter was raring to catch Tangled, a rehashed Rapunzel tale that was not in the 2D cartoon format we were all exposed to as kids. I was actually looking forward to it as well. We had a light lunch while inside the movie-house, munching on burgers and fries, as there was no time for a sit-down lunch in one of the restos if we wanted to be in time for the 11:45 am showing. What got us a bit worried was that the toddler was with us as well, and this would be her first time inside a movie-house. We were expecting quite a fair bit of fidgeting and crying inside, so we braced ourselves for the impact.
It never came.
The toddler was very well-behaved, happily munching on popcorn and fries, and seemed to be attentively following what was going on in the big screen. At one point the seat was snapping shut because she was too small, so I just draped her over the seat as well as I could. Then she snuggled up in my lap and afterwards on my husband's. Our older daughter on the other hand was very happy to have seen the movie without interruptions, and told us that she loved it. She was rapt, entranced with the fairy tale.
We were able to watch Tangled with no hair-pulling on our part.
Afterwards we went to some toy shops where the kids browsed and window-shopped. No, they do not whine or throw tantrums when we go out of a shop without toys in our hands. That has always been a source of pride for us. Just let them roam a bit, touch and explore on their own, and they're fine.
Bookshops however are more challenging.
After the toy shop forays we went to Powerbooks, which is not only MY happy place, but our older daughter's as well. And to think that this branch is tiny compared to the other branches in Manila! I think that in time the toddler will get to see the merits of bookshops too. While hubby herded the little one up, down and around the shop (it had a mezzanine), the two of us, my older daughter and I, happily gazed at the aisles of books. Of course we soon had a tidy little pile!
After paying for my purchases, the lady behind the counter asked me what tote bag color I wanted for my book haul. Of course I chose purple! I have to take my hats off to the city of Muntinlupa for having the gumption to enact the banning of plastic bags and styrofoam containers in stores. That's walking the talk on being environmentally friendly!
I promised myself that I would always have a tote bag in my purse whenever I go to malls, whether it be in Muntinlupa or otherwise.
Hmmm... but maybe I should put one of my other recyclable totes in my bag instead of the purple one -- it's just so pretty!
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