Southeast Asia Blue Carpet Premiere of X-Men: Days of Future Past

I have always thought that the kids are lucky kids. They have so many of our friends and family loving them. I never thought much when I won tickets for the Amazing Spider-Man 2 red carpet and press conference, but the kids were lucky and ended getting up close and personal with the cast. Totally unexpected.

This time round when the social media was buzzing with news and contest for the new Xmen Days of Future Past, I also tried winning some tickets too but didn't have luck with that.  It was a good friend of mine, Wenshing who alerted me to a twitter contest by 98.7FM that was about to end in a couple of days.  With work and having 4 kids in the house, it took me till the very last day of the contest before I got to submit in a photo entry.  Leroy was super cooperative with the "make-up" and shoot as he had wanted to meet Logan, Wolverine and Hugh Jackman in person. 

Leroy with his many expressions while cosplaying as Wolverine Junior!

I guess his luck was really good as he was actually announced as the first winner out of 8 from the FM98.7 giveaway with his photo entry!  Woohoo!  Then it suddenly dawned on me that I have gotten myself into a lot of work and possible disappointment.  Having been through the red carpet event for Spider-Man, I know it's gonna be chaotic to the max with the Xmen as well.  Over the next few nights I kept thinking of ways to secure photo opportunities for Leroy with Hugh.  Should I approach the organizers, the contest people, the media owners or venue sponsors through social media?  I think I tried all, but as expected, were met with polite rejections or non-replies.  I mean, who the hell is Leroy after all?  So I ended up telling him it's all up to his luck this time, Daddy did whatever he could. 

I took half day leave on the actual day itself, to ensure that I would not too far off from any potential queue.  At the Spider-Man red carpet, there were probably enough winners to fill a huge movie theatre and we didn't even get a glimpse of the stars when they walked down the carpet.  We were pleasantly surprised when we reached Lido and found that there wasn't a queue at all and we had our little fun taking photos at the venue.  I joined the winners' queue when it started forming and got to know that the first person actually reached at 11am when the event stated from 5.30pm.  That to me, is dedication!  For us, 4pm was probably just right.

Leroy enjoying his walk on the blue carpet while being led to the winners' pit.

Leroy showing his pass in front of the stage, for being the winner of the 98.7 twitter photo contest.

Leroy was given the star treatment when we were brought into our winners pit via the blue carpet.  Fans probably tried practicing their screams and whistles on Leroy before the real stars arrived.  We were given the best location, right in front of the stage and we also need not squeeze as there were ample space for us!  Great job, and we really felt like winners this time!

 

Leroy entertaining himself, while waiting for his hero.

There were pretty much nothing to do for Leroy during the wait.  All he wanted was to meet Wolverine in person and he didn't understand why the wait was so long.  But he got excited when he saw mutants amongst us!  There was a group of cos-play enthusiasts who dressed up in elaborate latex suits at the venue and Leroy got to take photos with them too! 

Awesome peeps at the event.  They were really into their character and Leroy got to take photos with them too!

Leroy was in a great position, and would have managed to take photos with all the local celebrities when they walked past. However, there are TWO sides to a whatever-colored carpet event and we didn't manage to get all. Being the only kid around, he did however manage to snag quite a fair number of photos with local celebrities.

The friendly stars who stopped for Leroy. :)

Daddy had to practice taking the photos too for Wolverine.  It was not easy, as I had to balance him on the barricade with one hand and take photos with my camera using the other. 

Test shot with a pair of friendly twins from Vietnam! I feel so old! Lol!

We waited and waited until Hugh Jackman finally arrived but it probably took another hour before we finally caught a glimpse of him in person.  My heart was pounding, would I be able to get him to take a photo with Leroy this time?  Chances looked good this time, one more person and he will reach us!  I got my camera ready!  But alas!  My heart stopped and vulgarities almost came out my mouth when Hugh walked over to the other side just before reaching us!  The fans on the other side of the carpet decided to rise to the occasion and screamed at the top of their voices and it got Hugh's attention.  I must think of something now, and immediately I told Leroy, "brace yourself, I am going to hurl you over the barricade and you go grab his suit!".  No go, as he promptly looked at me with his mouth wide open in disbelief.

Hugh Jackman, just seconds away from reaching where Leroy and myself were!

Then I looked over to where Hugh was now and noticed that the lady in black (see top photo) beside him looked at me.  Without a second to lose, I saluted her (meaning to say sorry), did a few clicking action (self-explanatory), raised my index finger (meaning to say just one) and then pointed to Leroy!  She nodded!  I could see that she whispered a few words to Hugh and then led him over to where we were!  It worked!  Daddy mission accomplished and I got not one, but the few photos of Leroy with Hugh!  I was probably over the moon that I didn't even notice the bad focusing, hence the bad photos!  Darn!

Daddy completed his mission and Leroy got his photos with his hero, Hugh Jackman!

I would have tried taking a photo with Fan Bing Bing and Peter but they all walked past us on the other side where there were lots more fans!  That was the flip side to staying over at the winners pit as compared to the public area and by the time they reached us, they were probably too tired too.  But with the photos of Leroy and Hugh in my memory card, I wouldn't complain. 

It was already 8pm by the time the blue carpet event ended and we had to rush for a quick sushi takeaway dinner before going for our movie premiere one hour later.  Bumped into the emcee for the event, Pei Fen too. 

A nice photo with Lin Pei Fen before we went for our movie!

By this time, Leroy was already pumped up and acting like a little monkey in anticipation of his movie treat.  I must say the idea of traveling though time and changing future is not new but watching it unveil in the show with all the mutants is rather amusing.  Leroy enjoyed pointing out to me the different characters he met earlier and stayed awake throughout the show.  However Leroy would have enjoyed more actions and fight scenes though.  Both Leroy and myself enjoyed watching the movie for sure! 

Leroy posing with the great posters before we left the place.

I was still debating on my mode of transport back when I received a Whatsapp message from a close friend, Mervin who happened to be at the premiere as well and we managed to hitch a ride home in his car too!  What a way to end the day of adventure with celebrities for Leroy and myself!

Leroy continues to be a lucky boy after all!