A less than ordinary day of mine began with Cynthia’s facial appointment at Vivocity. Armed with a book and my music collection, my plan was to sit down at a cafe somewhere and space out, which is what I am good at doing when I am alone – spacing out. So I was at Coffee Bean – a local cafe – with my glass of coffee looking for a table. Full house. I turned to an old Chinese couple who, I supposed, have more or less finished their drinks. My plan B was to quietly hide at one side of the round table, listen to my music, and read my book.
We ended up chatting for forty-five minutes, maybe an hour. I seriously have no idea that I can actually speak Mandarin! And certainly have no idea that I can understand that much Mandarin either given my Cantonese root from Hong Kong. Amazing.
But that is not the end of the story. Soon, this old couple’s son arrived, together with wife and a baby. Now, for a brief moment, faced with a family of three generations at a cafe with me being a total stranger, it was kind of awkward. I looked around, full house still. OK. I had a hearty chat with mainly the old couple’s son, for another forty-five minutes, maybe an hour. We exchanged contacts before we parted. I am no Owen Wilson. But I swear I was thinking of the movie “Wedding Crasher”. A truly enjoyable chat; way better than spacing out on my own.
Some human emotions do melt hearts.
The Mexican movie “Under the Same Moon” (Spanish title “La Misma Luna”) that we watched later in Vivocity melts hearts too. I didn’t have a high expectation. In fact, I chose to watch this because Cynthia and I are currently learning Spanish.
Several video editing glitches and slight over-dramatized plot aside (seriously who really think that stories by, say, Sophie Kinsella is realistic but yet we all love the plots), the emotions and the dilemmas people faced are as real as it gets. The acting by and large is admirable. And I wish to single out the acting of the little boy Adrian Alonso here. There is a whole array of despair, determination, and delight for Adrian to act out in tears and in laughter. Cynthia did cry and the film got my eyes watered. It’s so easy to love this character – for his street smart approach and genuine devotion to the people around him.
This movie is a journey of a little boy finding his way to his mother separated by a country border. The plot is well paced with the stories from the two sides of the border well gelled with one another. Certainly a pleasant movie to watch and one that most can relate to.
PS. I recognized the little boy from the big screen but couldn’t pinpoint who he is. Only Cynthia can recall such a detail: he has acted in “The Legend of Zorro”. Now I know.