Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

I guess anyone who has ever watched this film will truly end up being “Enchanted”.  It is a wonderful modern-day fairy tale that young and adults alike will love. Even my husband, loved it and wouldn’t mind watching it over and over again.

Amy Adams did a great job playing the part of Giselle which is somewhat like Snow White.  Her portrayal of Giselle was nothing short of being a Disney Princess which is complemented by her singing voice.  We loved the songs that anyone could easily sing-along with.  In fact, my daughter memorized most of them. 

What makes it very fairy tale-ish is the presence of a wicked queen, Queen Narissa, cum stepmother (played by Susan Sarandon) which transforms herself into an old hag which is then transformed into a giant dragon somewhat like the queen in Snow White and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty combined.  Then there’s this chipmunk named Pip who’s constantly helping and saving the Princess, just like Jaq and Gus in Cinderella.

And most of all, there’s the ever present knight in shining armor, the Prince who’s going to sweep the Princess off her feet.  Only this time, Prince Edward (James Marsden, Cyclops in Xmen) never truly sweeps her away although we have to give him credit for having tried to do so.  I guess that’s why we can call it a modern-day fairy tale because it has all the makings of a fairy tale with a twist.

All-in-all it’s one of the best movies we have ever watched.  It is worth your time and money.   So if you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do.  

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SPOILERS AHEAD:

Penelope is a film worth watching.  A film produced by Reese Witherspoon, it is about a blue-blooded heiress named Penelope (played by Christina Ricci) whose only fault was being born to the Wilhern clan, which was cursed by the town’s witch.  As a result of the curse, Penelope was born with a pig snout for her nose and the only thing that would break the spell is when she is loved and accepted by one of her own. 

Her parents, scared of how other people would be seen and treated by other people, faked her death.  She then grew up in the confines of their mansion until the day came when she had to meet guy of nobility who would love her for what she is.  And so the search and the match-making began.  But every single guy walked away as soon as they see her face, except for one.  But for some reason this guy didn’t want to marry Penelope as well.  Thinking that it was hopeless, Penelope ran away and tried to assert her freedom.  She went unnoticed for months until one day, she was discovered.  Contrary to what her parents thought, the people accepted and embraced her.  She became an instant celebrity and she was just adored by everybody.  Her mother though, was convinced that people only see her as the “human pig” and are only fascinated because of her peculiarity.  Her mother insisted that she marries a blue-blooded guy so that the curse will be broken permanently.

It was then later found out that being loved and accepted by one of her own meant that, by loving herself for what she is, the spell would be broken.  And so it was, when she finally admitted to that she loved herself for what she is.  Her mother was so dumbfounded with this revelation, that she could have broken the curse a long time ago, if only she had accepted her daughter for what she was.

The guy (my new favorite James McAvoy, Mr. Fawn in Narnia) who liked him but didn’t marry her anyway, on the other hand, didn’t actually marry her because he didn’t come from a noble family and couldn’t possibly break the spell.  That’s why he had to let her go and refuse to marry her.  In the end, Penelope found out about this and realized that she was capable of being loved despite her appearance and that somebody already loved her even before she ever loved herself. 

The film was a feel good movie, a romantic comedy which shows us the importance of self-acceptance despite all our imperfections and flaws.  For in the end, as the song says “learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all.” 

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Xianelle will be turning 5 years old on June 17th.  Last year, her birthday celebration was truly a blast, not only because it was a big one but most importantly it was the first time we celebrated in the Philippines with our families and friends.  That’s why for us that celebration she had last year is yet to be paralleled if not surpassed. 

Tian and I didn’t have plans of throwing a party for our daughter’s birthday this year.  But upon her request we just might give in.  She’s been talking about her birthday for months now.  I guess she still couldn’t get over party last year.  We’ve been reminding her though, that if and when we celebrate her birthday this year, it wouldn’t be as grand as last year’s.  But knowing kids, they’d be happy when they see some balloons, a birthday cake, gifts and have games on their birthday.

We were thinking of having the party at McDonald’s.  Having attended a number of these parties as well as those in other fast food joints, Tian and I have come to a conclusion that McDonald’s has the best package and is the most fun.  What we like most about a McDonald’s party is that they have a lot of games and prizes for the kids, which gives life to the party.  Children are happy just to get a piece of sticker as long as they get something.  So we are more inclined to holding her party at McDonald’s, well not until Xiane was invited to a classmate’s birthday party at Café Ceramique.

Café Ceramique is a Café cum restaurant at The Mall which can also be a venue for birthdays and other events, like team building purposes.  There, they had face painting and were able to do some artwork like painting mugs, figurines, etc.  They also had a “closed-door games”, where parents were asked to go out and wait at the dining/café area.  I was sure that my daughter had a great time during the party because on our way home she was already telling me that she wanted to have her birthday party there.

So it’s from McDonald’s to Café Ceramique.  But after a few weeks we got to talk about her birthday again and this time she changed her mind again.  Now she wants her party to be held at McDonald’s again.  So I had to ask her what made her change her mind.  I sensed that it could be the fact that they didn’t give out prizes at Café Ceramique during the games.  But my daughter said that the place/the game room was “too tight”, meaning not having enough space to move about.  Well, I could see her point having seen the place myself.  I agree that the place was quite small to accommodate 20 or so children.  So there you go, if and when we finally decide to give a party, it’s going to be at McDonald’s.  I am just amazed that my daughter is now making her choices and she’s only turning five.  In any case, we only want her to have fun and enjoy.

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It's been a while since we watched in the Cinema.  Our last date at the Cinema was a few months back when they showed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers.  I remember watching Transformers by myself while Tian and Xiane went to see Harry Potter. 

Last Thursday, March 20, we watched this new 3D animation from 2oth Century Fox,  Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who.  Even before it was shown, Tian was already telling me that we will definitely watch it on the big screen once it's shown here in Doha.  So we did!  It was also our special treat for Xiane for being good both at home and in school.

Horton Hears a Who is a story about an Elephant named Horton who goes by the tagline “People are people no matter how small”.  Horton (voice by Jim Carrey) lived in an island and enjoyed a happy and carefree life and the admiration of young animals in their community. But all this change one day when he heard a sound coming out of a tiny speck that was being blown away by the wind.  Believing that there could be life inside the minute speck and that it was in a very precarious condition, being blown from one place to another, he was determined to keep the speck safe and sound.  He then later finds out that there is not only life in the single speck but a whole community of people who called themselves Who and that tiny speck where they live in, Whoville.  The people of Whoville oblivious to their place in the universe, that is not knowing they’re just a microscopic speck in a big, big world, minded their own business and lived as if nothing can ever affect their existence.  Well at least not until the Mayor (voice by Steve Carell) heard the voice of Horton and started communicating with him.  He then realized the recent strange occurrences that had been happening in Whoville, like tremors, etc. was due to their being just a speck. 

Having accepted their place in the universe, the mayor then asks Horton’s help to protect them; Horton, on the other hand, promised to do whatever it takes to protect them even if it meant having to deal with being ostracized by his community, his fellow animals.  Everybody, with the persuasion of the maternal, self-righteous Kangaroo, came to believe that Horton was going crazy and is a danger to the community.  But of course in the end, the truth and the good prevailed.  Who would have thought that two beings from completely different worlds, who were never aware of each other's existence to begin with would come together to save each other.  Whoville was saved and Horton redeemed himself and gained back the respect and admiration of his community. 

What I loved about it is that it was really entertaining and funny.  I couldn't stop laughing at some parts, especially that part when Horton was trying to cross the hanging bridge.  And I wasn't the only one, everybody in the Cinema was laughing so hard.  Another thing that I liked about the film is that though hilarious it teaches us important lessons in life-  that we do not exist alone, that everything around us matters to our existence. We may not see it's relevance at the moment but somehow, someday it may have its significance in our lives.  This leads us to the other insight that the film tries to impart, and that is the value of life.  Every single one and every single life in this world is precious no matter how insignificant or little they may seem because after all we are all part of this thing we call the universe. 
 

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I remember two years ago, it was Lent and we were spending our holiday in the Philippines.  The Lenten season and the Holy Week is celebrated quite differently in my home country especially in the provinces.  In the Philippines, there’s the traditional “Pasyon” or the singing of the “passion of Christ” in the homes.  The Stations of the Cross are not only limited inside the church or the church grounds but rather on the streets where the re-enactment of the Stations of the cross takes place on Good Friday.  In some provinces, devotees turn themselves into flagellants and some even emulate Christ by having themselves crucified each year during Lent.  But after all the sacrifices and acts of penance, people always look forward to Easter Sunday, a day that symbolically marks our rebirth in faith.  It is a time when look forward to renewed hope and spiritual healing. 

On Easter, families usually celebrate at home; some go to the beach for a swim and barbecue.  If we were in the Philippines, we would have done the latter.  Now that we're here in Qatar, we were invited to celebrate Easter at a friend’s place.  We had a lot of food and the children, all 6 girls and a boy had fun with the Easter egg hunt.  All the kids took the egg hunt seriously and with a little help and coaching from the grown-ups, they were able to find all the eggs (well almost).  Everybody had a good laugh because the parents were as eager as the children to find the eggs.  It was almost like we were egg hunting as well.  Xianelle ended up getting 3rd prize with Isabella.  They were all happy to get chocholates for their prizes.  We stayed until 7pm and left to attend mass at the PSD (Philippine School Doha).  Unfortunately, there wasn’t any parking space available and the venue was so packed that a lot of people were outside the premises.  It was then we realized that we couldn’t possibly hear mass.  If it were just me and Tian we would find a way to squeeze ourselves in.  But having a little girl with us just made it quite impossible.  So we decided to just go home. 

We did have a great time with our Easter celebration.  I just wish that we were able to hear mass. 

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