The Panda and the Eagle

The PANDA

Kung Fu Panda overview:

Enthusiastic, big and a little clumsy, Po is the biggest fan of Kung Fu around...which doesn't exactly come in handy while working every day in his family's noodle shop. Unexpectedly chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Po's dreams become reality when he joins the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five -- Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey -- under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu. But before they know it, the vengeful and treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung is headed their way, and it's up to Po to defend everyone from the oncoming threat. Can he turn his dreams of becoming a Kung Fu master into reality? Po puts his heart - and his girth - into the task, and the unlikely hero ultimately finds that his greatest weaknesses turn out to be his greatest strengths.

As I promised Lai, we took ALL the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. Of course, we watched the very FIRST showing of the day! Lesser people that way. Only thing was, we were in a RUSH to get to Galleria! Yes, the first show was at 11 am, but for one reason or the other, we ended up leaving the house at 1030. We used the red van (hehehe) so that we could all fit.

So anyway, when we got to Galleria, the driver dropped us off at the entrance and we all jumped out. I remember distinctly thinking that any passerby looking at us would wonder what in the HECK we were thinking having 7 kids, and all looking like they were born one right after the other! Hahahahaha!

Right before the escalators, Japa took some kids to get some shakes somewhere downstairs. The rest I took upstairs to get tickets and some popcorn, juice, soda and hotdogs. Yes, you can shake your head at this part. Imagine me with all sorts of bags hanging from my arms and hands carrying everything until we met up with Japa. He wasn't better off either, with the amount of plastic cups he was trying to hang on to!

And we settled down to watch. It was Rogan, Riley, Japa, Ranger and Kocet. In front of us, a little bit to the side, were the girls: Reese, Raegan, Rielle and Raine. The movie was great over-all, not withstanding the fact that there was so much kung fu, I was thinking that the kids ---at least the boys--- would go into karate chops as soon as we got out of the theater! Not to worry though, as all of them were well-behaved. Ranger I didn't have to worry, as he was fast asleep after a third of the movie was done. Oh well.

The rest of the kids though were rocking with laughter, especially towards the end of the movie. Lai, Riley was shaking with laughter and he thoroughly enjoyed himself! No yaya at that! :) I swear, these movie tickets were the best buy ever!

On the way home, we even had various discussions on what happened during the movie!

The EAGLE

As part of the big to-do in July, we are going to have the kids sing the responsorial psalm during the mass. Originally, we planned to have Rielle sing the solo part (the verses) while the rest of the kids sang the refrain. When I distributed the lyrics to all the kids, and as they were waiting for me to get ready for the movie, I played the song and listened as they tried it out. I told them their parts and I waited.

From the very start, the refrain kids complained: the refrain was just too high! All of them were having a difficult time hitting the high notes, including Reese (which surprised me since I thought she had a relatively high voice)! I started giggling and told them to keep trying. And the poor dears did, they really did.

We continued the singing in the car and I decided to try and switch it. With a sigh of relief all around, the refrain kids belted out the verses in varying pitches, hehehe. I quickly put a stop to that one! After a few minutes, they got it together and sang as one. Sort of. Will definitely need some practice.

For Rielle, ahhh...here's the Eagle part: she sang the refrain perfectly! With feeling, with the purest voice. It made my hair stand on end. And moved me to tears, which I quickly squelched, just in case any of the kids were looking at me :) There was one time, while she was singing her solo, that she felt really consious....and she smiled....and I heard a difference in her voice. I turned around and asked her if she smiled or made some facial expression. She looked surprised and asked me how I knew. I told her there was a difference in the way she sang that particular part. Ever since that comment, she sang the whole verse seriously, with much feeling.

So much so, that when we arrived at La Vista for lunch, I called Bang aside to listen to Rielle. And as expected, she started tearing up. Rielle's lilting, pure voice was enough to do that, I tell you!

So Lai, make sure you listen to your dear daughter when you arrive. Oh, and have some tissue ready when you do, hehehe!