Smurfs & Elephants

Four years ago, Milan was "invaded" by the Cows. These days, the city is being invaded by the "elephants". Elephant Parade started last September 16, 2011 in Milan after Amsterdam, Rotterdom, Anversa and London. The open exhibit will be finished on November 15, 2011. They say there are 50 elephants around the city. we only "hunted" 12. i guess i can better hunt down the others if i have no kids with me. I usually don't bring the stroller in going to the city proper. so, expect Zendra to cling on me. we don't exactly know where the elephants are located, so that's the real fun of the event, i guess. =)

After the exhibit, the elephants will be bidded at Christies, and the proceedings will go to the Asian Elephant Foundation.

We are scheduled to watch the film Smurfs (I Puffi), but we really go out earlier to hunt some elephants first. My son Jaki is more enthusiastic to search for the elephants. when he sees one, he exclaims, "Mamma, guarda.....dai andiamo fare le foto." (Mamma, look, let's have a foto). Then he keeps on memorizing the names of the elephants.

Zendra is a bit scared though. She doesn't want to be photographed alone with them. I captured one moment. she thinks her brother Jaki is at the other side.

Hub and mom are still at work, so they just joined later after we watched the film.

(oops, i saw double fotos uploaded, never mind)

While walking around, a lady clown approached us and gave balloons formed into bear and flower, and of course, it's not free. i donated 7euro (that's all i have in my wallet, i seldom bring cash) to the ABIO (Italia per il Bambino in Ospedale). It's a non-government organization for kids at hospitals. Then they filmed us. (Was that for tv feature?) i just smiled. One guy keeps on offering Jaki a "sword balloon", but Jaki's not interested. He's 9! If the guy offered ben 10 or Hot Wheels, Jaki could have been more ecstatic. There's a little coloring corner too in their booth. the other guy suggested we stop-over. i told them, "thanks, we need to catch a film".

So, after the quick elephant hunting, we lined up for the Smurfs film. the gate opens at 12noon. the first showing will be at 12:30pm. I only paid 20euro (10euro each), for me and Jaki. Zendra is free. But, she has to pay extra 2euro for the 3D eyeglasses. was the theater in crisis too? the last time we watched Toy Story 3, the eyeglasses are free.

It's Zendra's first time to watch in theater. She was very excited and during the wait, she keeps on singing. there are extra foam seats for the kids to elevate them, so they can watch better. Happy Feet 2 sneak preview cheered up the kids. I bet Jaki will keep on tracking when will it be shown. it only says "coming soon". Zendra fall asleep 15 minutes before the film ends. on our way to the exit she was awaken and sing the Smurfs song. "la la la la...."

We're starving. it's almost 2pm. We went to McDonald's Galleria first. Ooops, too crowded. The long lines will starve us more. We tempted another McDonald's in front of the Duomo. Same long lines. Even i use my card to pay for quick orders, the problem will be the seats. So, i told Jaki, "we can't eat hamburgers for now, nor pizza. let's go to Ciao Ristorante."

I'm glad there are no lines and lots of seats. I got bucatini al ragu', carne a lonza arrosto, pane and banana. Mom and my hub arrived and joined us.

After lunch we went to Decathlon and bought some Nike t-shirts and sweatshirt for Jaki. We bought the towel that my other son, CJ requested.

It was a fun Saturday for the kids and us adults as well. We went home around 5:30pm and two pests were knocked-out on the bus.

Another event next weekend for the kids. It's a bit far away from home. I hope we'll have the chance.