Harry Potter does the Merengue ... or...not

Linda and I saw "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" yesterday. We then ate at a Cuban restaurant in Old Town Monrovia, called Merengue Bakery and Cafe. Merengue was quite lively inside, and we could see why. The food was quite tasty and reasonably priced, the staff was friendly, and the desserts! Oh my goodness, I now have another place to tempt me on a regular basis. I had the Medianoche Preparada, and it was YUMMY. It came with Mariquitas (plantain chips--yay!), and I couldn't resist dessert, and I brought something home for another day's breakfast.

Thoughts on the movie:

• I wish that we could have seen how Dumbledore acquired the second horcrux as in the book, because it sets up a lot about Tom Riddle's history, but then I guess the movie would have been too long. So make 2 movies out of this one!
• Cute little romantic looks among the kids. I guess they needed the humor to balance all of the dark parts, although they left a lot of that out.
• When Bellatrix LeStrange came on screen, all I could think of at first was "she makes pies made out of people."
• Jim Broadbent was absolutely perfect casting as Professor Slughorn.
• I'm not sure I understand that Conversation Hourglass thing, nor do I remember it from the book.
• All of these "book" comments could have been avoided, had I not broken my rule of "watch movie first, then read the book so you won't be disappointed about what they left out." But I REALLY was hooked on those books, and my impatience got the best of me.
• I really liked Hermione's dress during the Christmas party. She looked quite lovely.
• Whoa. Malfoy is tall now.
• Great special effects. The scene where Harry gets dragged into the water went way beyond my imagination when I read about it. Wow.
• Joseph & Ralph Fiennes' nephew plays the youngest Tom Riddle. Yay!
• Cried. A LOT. Knew it was going to happen, but there were still tears streaming down my face to the point where I almost couldn't see.

Another great evening, and more fun was added when Glenn and Cindy came over and we played with toys. Linda has now been exposed to "I Survived a Japanese Game Show," and I dare her to not watch it again. I'm darin' ya, Linda.