I may be the 100th person doing such a review about the latest cinema in Kuching, but what the hell. I’ll do it anyway. So, if you guys have read about MBO Kuching in my previous post, then you know about how excited I was when I knew it would be opening. Well, I wasn’t as lucky as Norman, Fahriee and Aprilia whom were invited to attend the media preview (Small time unknown bloggers like me don’t get such privilege), but I decided to check out what MBO has to offer in comparison to STAR and Lotus Five Star (LFS) (Notice these two cineplexes share the word ’star’?) on Friday.
Initially, I wanted to go at night, but Irene and Keeman suggested I should go during office hours to avoid the typical Kuchinginite ’sakai’ mode which would turn MBO Cinema into a can of sardine. Well, I was glad I heeded their advice because when my movie ended (at about 6pm), the line was till the entrance which was almost 30 meters.
Anyway… yeah, rite.. the experience, or the cinema itself. A few quick glances around the whole area would write a huge ‘EXCLUSIVE’ on your head. By any standards, this is the way cineplexes in Kuching should be. Lavish, different and glamor. The walking isle was different, the scene was different, and even the hallway and seating method was different. STAR and LFS would have a lot to do to beat MBO’s first impression. Colorful decoration lights were everywhere that I felt I was in a carnival of something similar. One thing that kind of bothered me was the toilet. It looked fantastic from the outside, but looked kind of ‘unfinished’ inside. I could find construction debris here and there, although not many. Nonetheless, it was slightly better than those you’d find at STAR.
The hall (My movie was showing in Hall 1) was new, with the term ‘Bau Cina‘ or ‘Chinese smell‘ clearly making it into your nostrils once you entered the hall. The seats were comfortable, and what was best is the fact you can do away with the ‘couple seats’ as the armrest of the seats could be folded up. The screen was placed a few meters below, and it looked kind of steep and far from where I was seating. I wasn’t comfortable with this as i though it would be unpleasant to have the screen lying so low down and so far away. I think the angle from my seat to the screen was 45 degrees. Steep, right?
Well, that uncomfortable feeling went away the minute the movie started. I notice the advantages of having seats at this angle. One in particular was the inability of those seated in front of me to block my view as they were seated about 30cm lower than me. If someone were to block your view, he must be really tall, or you would be really short ;P . In addition to that, I had ample leg room, and the seats were large enough, I think that I could basically seat two kids at 10 years of age, in one seat. No wonder they charge half for kids below 12. (Forgive my shots… Had to ‘curi amik’ these shots.. Say the sign which says “No photo taking in the hall“)
The sound system itself was massive, and impressive by any means. The movie itself? Err.. read about Final Destination 4 here…
Nonetheless, MBO Cinema is a good benchmark for other cinema operators in the city. Despite the rather steep ticket prices (check out the price above: Click to enlarge), the facilities are worth the money. The only question now is about maintainability of the cineplex, because Malaysians in general have no problem making something fantastic, but maintaining them is a very, very sad story to tell.
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by headsteadi, on September 14 2009 @ 12:20 am
Finally something nice to look forward to when I go back to Kch.
[Cyril]
Yes bro… Finally!!
by keeman, on September 14 2009 @ 12:49 am
Hahahaha…Sakai Mode of Kuchingites…nicely described. :p
I noticed the steep seating arrangement as well. Not sure if other halls are the same.
Anyway, a nice place to go watch movie for say…2-3 years to come? hehe.
[Cyril]
Yep.. 2-3 years, untill GSC decides to make it even biger here in Kuching (If they come that is)… and I’m not sure about other halls.. but when I was walking out, and passing the screen itsel, there was like a huge cliff or canyon down there.. Owh my..
“I’m also in Sakai mode”.. hahaha
by Fahriee, on September 14 2009 @ 6:25 am
Eheh, dude..I’m also small time blogger bah. Actually that night I got to go pun was because my friend couldn’t go..if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be able to go. :p
[Cyril]
;P Hehehe…. For me, you are a big time blogger bro. Love the way you put words in your blog. You should blog more now that you are not so busy with Breeze…If you had a fan page, i’ll sign up for free… Not kissing arse, but its the truth.. You’ve got talent.
by suituapui, on September 14 2009 @ 7:25 am
LOL!!! What does Bau Cina smell like? Like new currency notes…or a new car? Hahahahahaha!!!
[Cyril]
Anything that’s new would smell ‘bau Cina’. I don’t know how the term came into use, but its largely known as to refer to something new.. hahahha
by Coffee Girl, on September 14 2009 @ 4:27 pm
ok ok… until the “sakai mode” dies down, i’ll just continue visiting Star for awhile.
but RM10 expensive la, macam TGV or GSC pulak… so is worth it man?
[Cyril]
Go during office hours la.. it wont be that bad. But avoid Friday coz tHe Spring charge RM2 for parking on Friday no… but I agree.. RM10, is expensive, so ou hav more reason to go on Wednesday when its RM5 only at MBO. but for me, RM10 is worth it.. considering the treatment of ‘class’ you get.
by willie, on September 14 2009 @ 4:51 pm
Cyril
I would love to go there. But since my son is still small, i guess i have to wait for two more years. That place seems nice.
anyway, u guys are teachers. you have the advantage of going there while other people are working, like me (i hate it since they change my post, i couldn’t work half day like teachers anymore. Uwaaaa!!!!)
[Cyril]
Just lucky bro. On a bad day, I have to work till 6 pm sometimes, which of course will really piss me off. By the way, why not take your son to watch UP.. They charge half price for children below 12.
by hivihazan, on September 15 2009 @ 8:29 pm
i went there last sunday to watch FD but unfortunately they didn’t allow those who’re below 18 to watch…i have to go to the one at riverside there to watch…geram na eh -.-’
[Cyril]
Wahh. this is my first. They check your IC ka?? How come?? Normally Swk not so strict ba on these 18 and above things. Even pubs let underage people in.
by Review: MBO tHe Spring | Kuching Travel - Culture and Recreation, on September 16 2009 @ 6:30 am
[...] You find the original post here cyrildason.com/2009/ … | cyrildason [...]
by Irene, on September 16 2009 @ 10:15 am
Hahaha… I also wasn’t invited mar…
[Cyril]
You salah link ;P hehehe… But I thin you should be one of those going Irene.
by Robin, on September 16 2009 @ 12:57 pm
Its nice to see a “better option” besides the constant few cinemas around Kuching.
About the big time blogger, I guess it all boils down to who you know and how you make use of who you know. Connections matter. But that itself is a very sensitive issue.
I recently had to take down an entry because of this: I was there and other bloggers were not, and they invited me as a photographer, not a blogger, hence I blogged about the event and if other bloggers found out that I went but they were uninvited, chaos sure will happen. Oh well, so I explained the whole thing here instead ahahaha
[Cyril]
Owh.. okay, Now I get it about your deleted post. Funny la.. I tot, photographer and blogger always come in one package. Hehehe.. well, big time bloggers depend on connections and actually your day job. If your job requires you to stand infront of young adults, and talk about what the reproduction system is, then, I guess, you’d hardly become a popular blogger till another 5 years..heheh
by Watching A Movie in 3D | CYRILDASON.COM, on September 19 2009 @ 6:19 pm
[...] At 6:15pm, we were called into the hall. We were given the 3D glasses, and proceeded to our seats. There wasn’t anything much to shout about this hall as it didn’t differ much from the previous MBO hall I’ve sat it. [...]
by The Malaysian National Robotics Competition 2009 | CYRILDASON.COM, on October 3 2009 @ 4:52 pm
[...] now time to chill and relax… and I’m planning to start that with the movie Surrogate at MBO Cinema. Anyone wanna join? American pays.. [...]