Digital 2D - MI4 Ghost Protocol movie at GSC Maxx Cinema Berjaya Times Square - Good!
I watched the 2D movie Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol last night. Never had watching a movie been so exciting for me that made my old heart jump and beat so much faster. Old me let out a lot of "oohs and "aahhs" at the fast paced action, especially the climbing/swinging scene of Tom Cruise at The Burj Khalifa Tower. Gave me vertigo!
This sensational exciting experience was possible only by watching it in Maxx Cinema, with its wide big celluloid screen and terrific sound systems. It was like what we used to say many years ago in the 1980's a "sense-surround" feeling. I grew up in the 1960's watching movies in big screen stand-alone cinemas of Shaw Brothers and Cathay Organisation that seats from 1000 to 1500 people. All these old cinemas have closed down and the new cineplexes in shopping malls took over. The Maxx cinema experience should be the only way to watch movies as it captures the viewer's imagination making them feel like they are part of the action in the movie.
The Burj Khalifa Skyscraper, Dubai.
. Go see a movie in Maxx and you'll know the difference.
Lobby of GSC Maxx cinema halls
Clowning around...Jedi wannabe. Coming soon in 3D.
Inside the Maxx Hall - 555 seats. (didnt took a good shot)
The celluloid screen (is it still called celluloid I wonder...)
View of the Indoor Theme Park from the 10th floor cinema lobby
I sat here at the Rest area (near the cinema) to rest. It has a close view of the roller coaster tracks.
I sat and waited, hoping to catch a close view of people screaming on the roller coaster as it climbs up, but at 8.45pm the ride was empty - no passengers riding, and it looked more like a "ghost ride".
Old Shaw Brothers' B B Park
While Berjaya Times Square has taken over as the new amusement center with its thrilling indoor theme park, let us not forget the well loved old amusement center - the old Shaw Brothers' B B Park. It was demolished in the early 1970's to make way for Sungei Wang and Bukit Bintang Plaza which opened in 1977. The Bukit Bintang Plaza's main entrance is located in this spot now.
B B Park - my childhood haunt. This is the main entrance on Bukit Bintang Road but we used to enter BBPark through its back gate (from Imbi Road).
Mr. Cheong Yoke Choy's old mansion's bomb shelter
Going back to Times Square brings back childhood memories. I was born and grew up near Times Square. The site of Times Square used to be Cheong Yoke Choy's old mansion, a well known rich chinese man in the early 1900's. His mansion's front entrance faces Pudu Road (Pudu Jail). In the 1960's when I was a kid, we and some neighbours sneaked into his vast compound one afternoon through an opening at the back perimeter fencing, through his small rambutan orchard, to do some exploring. We wanted to see for ourselves the much talked about bomb shelter in his backyard, for hiding from Japanese bombings when Japan invaded Malaya. The rich chinaman's mansion and the bomb shelter was an enigma to us nosy inquisitive kampung kids. Satisfy our curiosity we did!
After walking through the rambutan trees and bitten by lots of mosquitoes, we found the bomb shelter built in an open field which is a distance behind the mansion. I saw a small entrance (sort of looked like a small cave to me, maybe about 6 or 7 feet high and 7 or 8 feet width) but it was stinking with urine and I just hung around near the entrance because I was afraid to walk inside. The bomb shelter's entrance faces the direction of the old mansion (which is the direction of Pudu Jail). If I remembered correctly, the shelter had 2 openings for entry or exit, and its sort of U-shaped. The sloping tunnel dugged into the ground leading deeper into the shelter was bricked up. If you are looking down from above the air, all you see is a field of green grass with a higher mound in the middle.
With Times Square built on it, the location of Cheong Yoke Choy's old mansion's bomb shelter would roughly be in this location of Times Square's main entrance and lobby. So each time I walk into this entrance, childhood memories of that afternoon of trespassing brings a smile to my face.
View of Imbi Road from Times Square looking towards the direction of Sungei Wang Plaza
Opposite of Times Square is Sungei Wang, and KL's Golden Triangle. This premier tourist district of Imbi Road, Bukit Bintang, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Alor used to be a settlement for the early Chinese immigrants/labourers who arrived from China in the early 19th century. All these early Chinese pioneers (whom we call chinaman in the old days) contributed to the growth and development of Kuala Lumpur leading to its prosperity today. If you are of Chinese descent, and if you are in this tourist district, take some time to ponder Kuala Lumpur's history....how these chinamen built up the chinese community and where we are heading to.
Whether you are a Generation X or Y or Z....dont forget your roots!
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12 NIV)
