A Short Course on Relationships

I ran across a random blog on Wordpress and saw this - thought it's very cute (and true) so I want to post this "short course on relationships" here:

The six most important words:
I apologize, I made a mistake.

The five most important words:
I am proud of you.

The four most important words:
What is your opinion?

The three most important words:
Can you please...

The two most important words:
Thank you.

The one most important word:
We

Up

Holy Cow, did you know that movie tickets cost $11 now?? 2 adults + popcorn + drink = $30. Holy. Things are getting pricey out there! The last theather movie SQ and I went to watch was Wall-E. (1 year ago!) Yesterday night we had a movie date to see Pixar's newest movie, Up. Ok, you probably got the gist that we like to watch Pixar films...





I briefly heard that Up was good, but don't know anything about the storyline or the plot. I guess that's sometimes a good thing - I go in with no expectations and get a nice pleasant surprise. I really like Up. The story does a great job tying everything together - it actually made me cry a few times! I know, how can a "cartoon" make someone cry? Watch it for yourself, there's a deep love story in there. The Asian boy, Russell, in the movie, was actually quite adorable - though maybe borderline annoying in some scenes. But overall, it's a good movie - thumbs Up from me!

New Beauty Skincare Products

Below are some of the hot new products in the Beauty world! I was able to try these products and think that they are quite nice. Unfortunately, I haven't used them long enough to realize the benefits of their beauty claims! P.S. General rule is that you have to use the product religiously for 30 days before you can say if it works or doesn't work...

Clarins High Definition Body Lift

Clarins High Definition Body Lift redefines the hips and thighs, minimizing the appearance of cellulite.

Retails for $65

Lancôme Genefique Serum

Lancome Genefique Serum is a Youth Activator that boosts your genes' activity to stimulate the production of youth proteins.

Retails for $78

La Prairie Skin Caviar Crystalline Concentrate

This luxurious serum contains plant extracts, peptides, amino acids and even diamond, mica and quartz crystals to give your skin youthful glow, to make it firmer and increase skin’s elasticity, and to soften appearance of wrinkles.

Retails for $375

Airplane movies

SQ and I haven't watched movies in ages - there is really nothing showing in the theater that interests us all that much and rentals are kinda blah at the moment. When we had Blockbuster, we did watch a lot but now we're kinda on a dry spell.

However, on my recent Transatlantic flights, I had nothing better to do than to watch a few movies. Between the 2 long flights, I watched 4 movies:

1. Confessions of a Shopaholic

This movie is adapted from a book by Sophie Kinsella, which got quite popular. Poor acting, bad plot, everything is so stupid. Not even worth a DVD rental. This girl shops and maxes out her credit card. She gets a job, and then she impresses everyone with her silliness? Who cares? Her character is annoying. Kinda reminds of Legally Blonde but at least Reese Witherspoon can act.

2. He's Just Not That Into You

In addition to the fact that there are tons of big stars in this movie, the movie itself is very good. It is totally a chick flick, but I loved it. I find it very funny and heart-warming. I especially liked Ginnifer Goodwin's character. She's very cute and portrays so many girls out there - dreaming of finding Mr. Right and trying to read & overanalyze very little "sign" the man gives out.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ok, one word to describe = BORING!! This is the stupidest movie I've seen. Very poor acting by everyone in this movie! Brad Pitt nominated as best actor? You've got to be kidding! Cate Blanchett was also bad. The movie consists of flashbacks as Cate's daughter reads a diary left by Benjamin Button to the dying Cate in the hospital. So really boring and stupid.

4. Coraline

This is a 3-D animated show based on Neil Gaiman's novel. While the computer graphics were amazing, the plot is only so-so IMO. Dakota Fanning, of course, does a fabulous job being the voice of Coraline Jones. Despite it being animation, this movie is quite dark and scary. It's not really a young kid movie - teenagers yes, kids under 10, no.

United 747 Business Class

United Airlines just recently rolled out new business class seats on their Boeing 747 airplanes. They are currently only available on 3-class International flights. On my way to Paris via Frankfurt, I got onto one of these new planes. There are a lot of business class seats – because there is an “upstairs level.” I’ve been on the 2nd level on Singapore Airlines before, but this is the first time on United. The upper deck has 26 business class seats. 1/2 of them are back-ward facing (kinda like BART), so that was new. I didn’t like the backward facing seats – when you’re airborne, you don’t feel much since the airplane is so still, but on the takeoff and landing, you notice the difference.

The new seats are very comfortable – they lie FLAT. The ones on Singapore Airlines recline but is not a 180 degrees flat.

Each seat comes with a 15 inch screen and can play movies, TV shows, music on demand. You can play, stop and rewind anytime. So that was nice. The only bad part is that if you sit inside (window seat), it is very difficult to get out to use the bathroom if the person near the aisle has his/her seat reclined. You literally have to hop over and it’s a very TIGHT space. There is also a center island between the 2 seats that hold beverages, so as if it’s not hard enough to get out, you have to make sure you don’t knock anything down!

Musée d’Orsay - Paris

I spent my free Saturday roaming around Paris. There is really nothing not to like about this city. Tons of museums and places of interest. Today I went to the Musée d’Orsay, which houses French Art of the 1800’s, picking up where the Louvre’s art collection leaves off. This means Impressionism. The Orsay has the best general collection of Monet, Renoir, Degas, and van Gogh. I saw the famous paintings below.

Claude Monet – Garden at Giverny

Edgar Degas – The Dance Class (1873-1875)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876)

Vincent Van Gogh – Self Portrait (1887)

I don’t pretend to love Art and don't exactly know how to appreciate them like some people, but it’s nice to walk in and learn a little bit of history on these famous paintings. I feel like it makes me a little more knowledgeable about the Art culture.

It's a toss-up between the Louvre and the Orsay. I like Impressionist artworks so that part I like about the Orsay, but the Louvre has so many more "famous and well-known" artwork and sculptures like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo so it's a must-go. I went to the Louvre last time, but would love to go again. I think one can spend 3 solid days there and still won't be able to see everything.

Musée Rodin - Paris

You can buy the ticket for the Orsay Museum for 9 euros or buy a Museum Pass for both the Orsay and Rodin for 12 euros and save 3 euros so I decided to pay the Museum pass. What a nice surprise at the Musée Rodin! I really had NO clue who this person is/was. So here is what I found out:

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a modern day Michelangelo and is most famous for his sculpting of human figures, revealing through the body their deepest thoughts and feelings. As I said, I don’t know Art well, but I really say that I actually the emotional connection to his pieces. The Audio guide and explanation definitely helped to make that connection ... or maybe I'm just a sucker into romantic stories? Some of my favorites:

The Kiss (1888-1889) : A passionate woman twines around a solid man for their first, spontaneous kiss. In their bodies, we can read their thoughts, the words, and movements that led up to the meeting of lips.

The Museum also houses the works of Camille Claudel, who was Rodin’s pupil, colleague, and eventual lover. Camille was 18 when Rodin was 44. They had an affair, but at the end, Rodin remained committed to his wife and left Camille. Camille did not take this break-up well, became mentally unstable and died at an institution. Perhaps this below sculpture by Camille Claudel can explain it all:

The Maturity (1895-1907) : A young woman on her knees begs the man not to leave her, as he’s led away by an older woman. The center of the composition is the hole left where their hands drift apart.

Back to Rodin, his most famous piece is The Thinker.

The Thinker (1906) : Rodin’s people are always moving. Even in this sculpture, the man is seated solidly, but his mind is millions of miles away.

I thoroughly enjoyed his museum, which is inside the historic mansion Rodin once lived and worked. There is a beautiful garden outside, filled with roses and perfectly manicured lawns. It was beautiful and would recommend this to anyone visiting Paris. It’s less popular and also less crowded, but it will not disappoint.