Mayhem in Metropolis

What else can you see inside a Riyadh Mall? An amusement center. Yes, amusement centers, just like a mini version of Star City and Enchanted Kingdom. And we're writing an amusement center experience. You might think we only took the children of our acquaintances in one and then write this experience from an onlooker point of view. Well, you see our dear readers, there are a lot of things we do for this blog. Crazy things. Like riding rides. In our mid-20s. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In our abayas.

Let the madness begin...

There's a new mall in the intersection of Takhasussi and Tahlia Streets. It's hard to miss because it's the biggest building in this part of the city. Also, at a certain angle, the building looks like waves and is fitted with glass windows. The Panorama Mall's interiors are wide and clean. You can even do cartwheels without interruption for a few good minutes (or until spotted by the guards). Almost all shops are now open. The food court too. The Panorama Mall is the newest hangout of the Pink Tarha ladies, particularly Trader Vic's (a review coming up!). But it was an experience in Metropolis, the mall's amusement center, that was etched (forcefully) in our minds. The experience was hysterical and crazy!

We were attracted to the colorful amusement center. We were too shy to try the rides at first because we're not sure if ladies are allowed. We haven't seen our type (20-somethings and in our abayas) have a go at it. It does seem pretty awkward in our imagination. But because we love our dear readers and we want to bring you every possible 'good' and new things in Riyadh (also to channel the inner children in us), we decided to ask the men in charge of the rides if ladies are allowed. They said we should come at an earlier time when there'll be fewer people around. And that's what we did. We returned.

When we did, we had our game face on. We were hellbent on trying every ride available to us. We went to the concierge and bought a pass card which sells for various denomination. We got the SR100 card and picked our first ride...

The Apollo.

It seemed like an innocent ride and the children who went before us seemed to have a good time. What could be so bad about flying a smaller version of EK's Fly Away (one of my favorite rides in EK!)?! What's so bad about being thrown round and round in the air? Well, everything!

This is the Apollo in motion.

Eyecandy and I rode one carriage each. The ride started out slow but the next thing we knew, we were flung in the air in an instant! There was barely enough time to react and adjust. And then the carriage we were on started going up and down too, like in an Octopus ride. It was fun at first but it got dizzying the next. When the ride was finished, our shouting stopped but the cursing began. Lol. We were surprised at how the Apollo shook us. It could've turn into a puke fest. Fortunately, it didn't. Unfortunately for us, we realized that this is not our thing anymore. We're too old.

To pacify ourselves, we decided to play at the arcade. We picked a random shooting game and went at it.

Determined to gun down the zombies of The Silent Hill.

On the way to our next ride, we spotted this "perya" looking game where you throw the ball and hope it falls into one of the marked circles. It's SR10 for four balls.

Perya game. :P

I holed a ball on the first try and I won this:

Yey! A pink leopard for a Pink Tarha!

The other ladies also won their own stuffed toy after the second try. I decided to name this pink toy "Jamaica"... Why? Well, it's in honor of the next ride:

E and S at the Jamaica.

This is more innocent-looking than the Apollo because you just have to sit down and the whole "bench" will go in circles. Again, we were stupefied by the force. No time to react as the beast goes on and on in a clockwise motion. If not for the handle bars that were keeping us in place, we could have been thrown to the roof and beyond. Actually, we were losing control of ourselves; our bodies swaying in and out our seats and our legs beating hard. We were shouting our lungs off. It was embarrassing because those who were near the ride (or okay, almost everyone in Metropolis) were looking at us. Yeah, we know what they were thinking but we kept on shouting louder as the Jamaica went for its counter-clockwise spin. Akala namin tapos na! When the ride was over, Eyecandy couldn't even reach the nearby bench anymore. She slumped at the railing of the Jamaica and refused to move. Our hair were flying in all directions.

What's more embarrassing though is watching two kids, as in teeny weeny little kids, thoroughly enjoy the ride while we looked beaten at the bench nearby. Bummer! We are sooo old! Lol.

We needed a break from the madness so we ate at the food court first before going to the last ride for the evening (and probably our last ride in Metropolis ever!). We forced Eyecandy to join us at the 4D Cinema even if she was threatening to beat the crap out of us if she'll go dizzy in there again. We assured her that we will just sit down, put on special glasses, and watch a mini movie in a large screen. No need to scream death threats. Lol. We forgot to mention the part where our seats move in relation to the movie and that special effects like a swoosh of air will be felt physically. She got dizzier after. :P

We did not bother with the other rides. We were done, through, finished, kalas! But for those who are interested, there's the Drop Tower and a huge, inflatable slide. Also wall climbing and ice skating. There's even a barbershop for the kids. We're sure kids will enjoy Metropolis. Obviously, we adults had a grand time humiliating ourselves. Hahaha. We'll take it easy from now on. We're not going back unless we'd like to air our angst and frustration through valid shouting and cursing.

We'll settle for this na lang.

So even if we turned out to be such wimps in the Metropolis, we found out that hey, ladies can actually "enjoy" the amusement centers in the mall. They're not for men or for children alone. Also, we found out that once in a while, it's okay to give in to madness. You'll never know what's in store for you.

§undrenched

PS. If you happen to be in Metropolis the same time we did and saw our antics, NOPE, those ladies were not us, lol remember that we're more poised in real life. Heheh. Do join us in our next crazy adventure! :P