(Sidetrack a bit... after reaching home from school, I found that the extra underwear that I packed into Caleb's schoolbag was all wet. I asked him why it was all wet and he said," I don't tell you. It's a secret." When I tried to probe further, he said,"I'll tell you my secret when we reach the place that you're going to bring me to." I was like... kids nowadays!!! They really pick up so fast. I tried to ask him is it wet coz he had water play in school or he peed in his pants but he said no, and refused to say any further. Ha... but I was still able to outsmart him. By late afternoon, it dawned on me that he had soiled his underwear and his teacher had washed it for him. So, anyway, when I said that to him, he laughed very cheekily and said yes. Hmm, at the back of my mind, I do wonder how many more years can I outsmart my son.)
So, back to the show. Well, it was a real treat for Caleb coz I brought him to Burger King for dinner before the show started so he got to eat fries and nuggets. Then we met up with Kimi and Auntie Lorraine just before the show started. Whilst waiting for the show to start, I could see a very distinct profile of the audience. Majority were little boys about Caleb's age or slightly older and were mostly accompanied by a parent. And most of the boys had some Thomas the Train apparel on. There were T-shirts/ polo Ts, pants, jackets etc all with Thomas the Train pictures on them. Caleb himself was wearing his Thomas the Train crocs. The organisers were very clear who their target audience were and allowed food and drinks into the hall and gave out booster seats for their little audience.
Whilst waiting for the show to begin, there were people dressed as train conductors mingling with the guests and taking photos with them. Caleb was slightly nervous but was game enough to go forward to take a photo with the train conductor.
Stage before show started
Here's Caleb and Kimi sitting amongst the audience and drinking apple juice. Through Aunty Lorraine's great connections, we managed to get seats very near the stage.
When the show started, the lights were dimmed and the story teller (who's an ang mo) came out in a tweed suit and tried to "ra-ra" the crowd by asking for audience participation to help to look for Thomas. That's when Caleb kinda lost it and started crying "I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME!" I had to try my very best to calm him down. Thankfully the music started and the curtains rolled and we saw Thomas and he got distracted. And after a while, he didn't feel so scared and went on to enjoy the rest of the show.
(I was kinda prepared for his reaction though coz the Sunday before, we had gone to the zoo with Kimi and family and watched their new rainforest show and Caleb had the same reaction. The zoo show was really loud and there was an angmo who pretended to be a bad guy who wants to cut down the rainforest. Caleb was frightened by the loud sound system and the bad guy in the zoo. He cried buckets for almost 20min, demanding to go home the whole time. So before we went into the hall, I actually tried to prepare Caleb that it might be loud but if it's too loud, I'll help him cover his ears. Unfortunately it didn't quite work and it also didn't help that the story teller looked like the bad guy from the zoo.)
Well, after the show, we were in for another treat coz Aunty Lorraine got very good "lobangs" and had gotten us a slot to the "meet and greet" session with the trains and the fat controller. They only allowed about 10 families in and we were the very lucky few. Actually the "meet and greet"session was more of a photo taking session with the trains. We were led backstage and waited for our turn to stand beside the trains featured in the show. But it was good enough for Caleb and he told me after the photo session that he likes the fat controller.
Diesel the Truck
Percy, Fat Controller and Caleb
Me, Caleb, Fat Controller and Thomas the Train
Caleb and his best friend Kimi posing with the show's poster after the show.
I think Caleb really did enjoy the show except for his initial reaction. He still talks about it and would relate certain parts of the show that were more exciting, like when Percy got trapped at a quarry and Thomas came to his rescue. Hopefully, after his experience here, he would react better when he watches other shows like this.
