SHANGHAI SPRING ROLLS AND A DINE-IN… MOVIE THEATER?
It’s always a sad thing to leave to go back to school to start another semester from break. This one will be even sadder for me since I’ll be starting my last semester at Purdue. But at the same time, it will also be nice to get back to the grind and see everyone from school again, and in the whirlwind of the semester, I’ll still be trying to find time to apply for jobs and attempting to figure out what I’m doing with myself come May.
For dinner last night, we had a dish that my grandma had in her village during festivals. I guess the best way to describe it is like a giant spring roll, where you put all of these ingredients into it, roll it up, and then eat it, kind of like a burrito. Here are some pictures if you’re having a little bit of a tough time envisioning it.
- I already took a pretty huge bite out of it.
- The full array of spring roll fillings.
The fillings consisted of a wide variety of vegetables, meats, and egg as well. You can leave it soft with the filling inside, or put it on the stove in a frying pan to crisp up the wrapping (kind of like how spring rolls are found in many Chinese restaurants). It’s always a really fun dish to have, and certainly one of the home-cooked meals that I’ll miss while I’m over at school. For dessert, we sliced into a leftover cake that my boss, Dr. Mac, had bought for a holiday event at the office.
- It looks like a giant Oreo inside!
After dinner, it was off to Menlo Park to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Granted, this movie theater was 26 miles away from our town (the closest one is only 7 miles away), but there was something special about this theater: it was a full-service dine-in theater. Yep, AMC had begun to convert older theaters and build new theaters that catered to those that wanted to blend dinner & a movie into one comprehensive experience. The kitchen offers a full range of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, finger foods, and dessert, and the in-theater bar also serves up beer and mixed drinks. The ticket for a night showing ran for $15, which is about the same as watching an IMAX movie or watching a movie in 3D; the price of the food and drink won’t help to make your wallet any happier (then again, when has movie theater food ever been not ridiculously overpriced?). But the accommodations inside our Cinema Suites theater were impressive. Take a look:
- That looks comfy.
- I’m not a pirate, I promise!
Yes, there are nice swivel trays that you can put your food on, and then there are the power reclining leather seats. You read that right. It’s definitely the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in to watch a movie in (even beating out the furniture in my home). Our showing for the movie was at 10:45 p.m., and let’s just say that judging from the people sitting next to us, the following equation applies very well:
Late-night movie showing + food / drinks + reclined leather seat = drowsy / dead asleep movie viewer. Side effects may include snoring.
It was definitely a cool and fun experience, but not something that I would do every time I watch a movie (I would run myself broke with the steep prices). But the theater was really big, and being fairly new, the digital projection system was crystal clear. I’d say that this is one of those experiences that people should go try if they get the opportunity. Definitely something different, especially for a fairly frequent movie-goer like myself.
But alas, all good things come to an end. This winter break was fantastic; there’s really no other word to describe it. Until next time, New Jersey.
Categories: Fast Bites
Chu On This 
save some for me please