The Deathly Hallows

Awake and feeling refreshed from a good night's sleep, we have one objective in mind; to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. It came out in Thailand on the 14th and there is a cinema in Bangkok. We haven't booked tickets and don't know how popular it is going to be, so it is a risk to go all the way to the Cineplex in case tickets are sold out, but it's a risk we are willing to take. I wanted to see it, and Rachelle hasn't stopped talking about seeing it and gets very excited in the process. We check-out, leave our bags at the guesthouse, skip breakfast and get a Tuk-Tuk.

We get dropped off, but not at the Cineplex. The Tuk-Tuk driver says something about the building opposite, but his English was poor and his directions incomprehensible. We ventured the way he pointed in hope that all would become clear. We went into a shopping mall called Siam Discovery. It was huge. The type of mall you get in America with absolutely everything in it on a grand scale. After asking a security guard "cinema?", he told us to go to Floor 4. On Floor 4 we asked a cafe employee the same question and she said it wasn't in this mall, but in the Siam Paragon and pointed us in the direction. We walked outside and there it was, another huge mall, bigger than the last, with even more inside it. We head straight up to Floor 5 where the cinema is. The queue is long and we worry about tickets selling out. Luckily there are about 9 screens showing Harry Potter. We queued for an hour. Rachelle was so excited she nearly peed herself. When we arrived at the desk there was lots of choice; films every half hour, 3D or 2D, and plenty of seats to choose from. We chose 12PM, 3D and centre-back.

With an hour to get food, it needed to be fast; fast-food that is. Seeing Burger King on the list of restaurants in the food court gave us little choice, because BK cravings kicked in. I had a Triple Outlaw (three burgers, stacked) and Rachelle had a Double Outlaw. It hit the spot. We had a quick look around the mall, got a bit lost and then headed into the cinema. Before the film started, everyone stands for the Thai national anthem, played to an inspirational set of clips involving the King.

We both loved the film. Rachelle was so happy that we got to see it, but sad that there wouldn't be any more Harry Potter films. We had a little look around some more of the mall and I bought a book before we found a Tuk-Tuk and headed back to our guesthouse. By the time we were back, there wasn't much time before our bus to Koh Phi Phi Island at 6PM. We grabbed snacks for the journey and sat under shelter whilst it rained before getting picked up by a man who took us on a long walk to the bus. They put the film 300 on the television for us. It's the first bus we've been on that has only tourists on it; not one local.