IBADAN & all I need......

I had been to Mr Price with my younger daughter when it was noised all over Ibadan that it was opening and even though I had been slightly disappointed as I had not found anything exciting for me in there, I was still very optimistic about the mall and what promise it held. 

Reason is, from time to time, I pack up and leave Ibadan to spend a weekend in Lagos for some R & R  (rest & relaxation for the uninitiated). Ibadan has few places that can hold my attention for any length of time. It has abundant watering holes but for a person like me who has two growing and very savvy young ones to entertain, these watering holes in Ibadan do not suffice. They are mostly 'joints' which pretend during the day to want to entertain young people but get down to the business of satisfying the crowd that just would like to get drunk later in the day. I hate getting drunk!

Our time in Lagos, aside of all the TLC (tender loving care) that I get from my aunt and her family and the excitement the girls experience at seeing and being spoilt rotten by her, is usually to watch a movie, do some shopping for items that are either unavailable in Ibadan or sold at really exhorbitant prices for the simple reason that they are scarce. 

So, imagine my excitement when I heard rumours of a cinema in Ibadan? I had seen the Shoprite sign and knew it would open soon, but did not know it was a mall,mall.

Fast-forward to this morning, I had woken early as always, looking forward to some reading in the morning, swimming with my daughter around noon and then back home to get ready for a new week. I started to read and got suckered into this very delicious book and of course felt no inclination to leave either my bed or the book I was enjoying. I tried to get my husband to do the trip to the pool but he balked-cases pending, driver not here, etc, all excuses that made me decide swimming was not for me today. 

Dropped my daughter off, left the pool and tried to decide what I felt like doing instead. Should I go and  buy the  rug I want for the living room today or just go and see a movie? I dunno. I turned into Kokodome at the last minute. I would stop by and see the cinema, if it was truly live. I entered the mall and got sidetracked at the CASH & CARRY. I needed a few things, none of which I was ready to buy today so, it seemed a good idea to window shop. I walked around noting the prices of some of the things I would be back to buy and then PHCN struck! I remembered then what my reason for coming into the building was and hightailed it to the 3rd floor where the cinema is located.

I kid you not, I met too many people standing before the escalators unsure what to do. I even had to turn 2 guys back from taking the escalators going down, up the stairs. My advice to the owners of the mall is to put some stairs in there fast! Or a disclaimer, ASAP, otherwise they may be sued pretty soon. My tupence......

I made it up there and I already liked the things I saw. I scanned the offerings for today and the only thing in my time bracket was 'Olympus has fallen' which had started 15 minutes earlier. I figured if they show trailers as usual, I could not have missed much. I paid, got a ticket and was shown into theater 4 with cries of 'enjoy your movie'. I walked in and was overcome by the noise that I am always shocked by in cinemas. I settle down and enjoy the movie.....

WowZees!!!I could not have chosen a better movie for my premiere movie in Ibadan! The pace, story-line and action had every cell in my body pulsating with their reaction to the adrenaline fix! I enjoyed it! The moral of the story also was not lost on me and for someone who feels patriotism acutely, I had tears in my eyes at the movie's end. But this is NOT a review of the movie!

I also love the use of space by the designers of the mall, sensible guys! Plus, the theater was cool, I even started to shiver at some point as I wasn't dressed for going to the cinema at all!

I stopped to buy my daughter some popcorn, stopped to re-direct more folk who wanted to hurt themselves on the escalators and skipped out of the mall.....My Ibadan is perfect now, I thought! Yes, I have all I need in Ibadan now....well, almost! When Shoprite opens, then Lagos-Ibadan expressway will have to write me a formal letter to get me on it......!

The website for the cinema is www.filmhouseng.com/ibadan, do go see a movie, take the kids, but please ensure they see age-appropriate movies. Ibadan is rawking!!!