The Sunday Drive
Out on a whim, my eldest Daughter and I decided to have a slow drive to Jaya One, just to let her have a small glimpse of my World. There was a Star Wars event happening and I wanted to let her see what kind of mischief I used to enjoy when I was so much younger. And also, I wanted to get some 3D printed 1/35 scale motorbikes (which I saw on Facebook a day earlier).
I highlighted the numerous 'Historical' places that had taken place on our route and stuff like that. I felt that although the information was overwhelming, she kinda took it well, maybe out of politeness. She might know the route yet but I tried to link them with the places she had entered just to make sure she does not get 'lost'. This happened to me a few times when I was a kid since my Parents drove us around. It was only when I started to drive that my mind more or less linked the places and routes together, giving me a rudimentary sense of location.
But first thing first...
We needed to have something to eat, never mind if it was already four in the afternoon. Call it a late Lunch, a pre-Dinner meal or even Lunner if you want but we're damn hungry. We bumped into a friend of mine, Mr. Chan and after a brief chit-chat, he politely left us alone to enjoy our meal.
To be honest, really entering back to Jaya One after so many years, there was a lot of changes and as expected, a lot of emptiness. To me, it was as if the place had picked up and moved on, while discarding the dead baggage while at the same time, tried to be as normal as possible. But we can see that the foot traffic is not that healthy, even if I compared it years ago.
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| A fulfilling meal at GoduBab Cafe. Since its a Sunday and all, the bill of RM59.35 sounds reasonable. We did enjoy the meal and she did ask a lot of questions about Family ties, Sci-Fi, and... stuff. From the conversation, I had a brief glimpse or window of where her interests lies in Sci-Fi. Still, it is not my nature to force her into my World. |
The Wonderful disappointment that is... Star Wars.
Imagine visiting one of your on and off favourite Uncles. He is sitting in one of the dimly lit corners. Sometimes he has gifts for you which can be very exciting and sometime, it is just inconsequential. Most of the time, it is the same stuff repackaged over and over again. You still want to see him, hoping that one of his gifts is a hit and over time, as you moved on, it became meh and you're actually embarrassed to introduce him to your kids. The outcome can be either embarrassing, irrelevant or just plain boring.
I dreaded the choice of bringing my eldest to the point of really questioning my move. Like any excited parent, I would really want to share my Interest with my children and hoped that they too, would be interested. In the last decade, I have seen many FB friends who did that and it does not last. More like fatique setting in and they did it out of politeness while being forced. I do not want that. She did ask what was the last or rather, latest Star Wars movie to which I replied was, "The Rise of Skywalker", a film I wanted to bring them to watch before the Pandemic struck and before all that indigestable woke shit came out.
Seeing that the whole Event was nothing more than booths being set up by some people I knew and Cosplayers walking around with bathrobes and lighted stick, I knew she was bored. Even other areas of the building had more foot traffic. After a last detour to catch up on a friend who has a model kit shop there, it was time to leave as she needs to get a memory card; one of the somethings that Jaya One does not have.
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| It felt as if we were walking into a barren display area or some kind of a second-hand bazaar. If there ware some decorations such as fabric cave walls, this might work. Seeing some of my friends manning the booths there, I did not want to stop by and chat since I know my kid is not really interested. |
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| The only consolation is that I was able to get a RM5.00 3D printed figure since the 1/35 scale bikes were all sold out. |
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| Sabertrio is a home-grown Company which does a lot of beautiful lightsabers. Seeing them on display really made me wished I had one and hoping that the numbers on the price tag was in Japanese yen... |
