Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday!

Happy Halloween!!

The admin girls in our office dressed up as "Prom Queens" for fun. There were a few people in each division that decided to participate. We had some really cool costumes in each division! Very creative :) Kay headed out early (around 5.30ish) to hand out candy at her friend's house and afterwards, they decided to trick-o-treat! Gosh, she brought back a whole lot of candy!! It was freezing outside, gosh, really really cold. Firecrackers / fireworks were going off all over the place. I was suppose to head over to MB's place to drop off a package that she was going to courier for me but I did not want to head out as it was cold and Halloween is a pretty freaky night to be out driving around. I hate fireworks. Totally freaks me out!!!


on another note....

Happy Birthday R!
Aaaah, you are now 1 year older! But hey, just think.... you are always 1 year younger than me! :) Happy Birthday honhon!! Much love to you xoxoxo

Early Xmas Shopping
After work, I headed over to The Bay to pick up a Estee Lauder cream / serum for myself and to do a little bit of early Xmas shopping for my mom. She loves EL lotions/moisturizers and right now EL is currently selling gift boxes for Xmas. I decided to pick up a gift box for my mom. One down, a few more to go (who am I kidding? plenty $more$ to go...) As I was paying for my purchases, the EL sales lady noticed my SW's black pumps and we started talking about shoes (one of my fave. subjects besides LV!). It's so cool when people notice your shoes esp. those hot little black pumps I own! I for one, also check out other women's shoes, maybe I have a shoe fetish?? ~_^ Anyways, we got on talking about B2 plus my shoes and I told her I also have the red ones. She thought that was really deserving and she, herself was thinking about buying the black ones but she didn't think they would be comfortable because of the height of the heel. I told her these shoes are super comfy and I love them. I feel so sexy in them! She agreed. They are HOT!

Weekend Errands

2 day weekends are NEVER enough..... what do you really need to do or what do you really want to spend your time doing..... to clean or not to clean is the question???

Saturday
On this day, I ended up at my mom's house to help put together her IKEA cabinets which came in a million freaking pieces!! My brother showed up after 1pm to help out and he continued on while I was at my facial. I had booked a facial for 4pm at A Touch Above because originally my mom planned for us to be there on Sunday instead. She changed her mind at the last possible moment..... Thursday night, of course. I don't even want to blog about the stress I had trying to put that stupid cabinet together. More on the destressing! The facial was amazing and def. well worth the $50 + tip. She was really really good, gave me a really great back, arm and face massage. She used only the best products from France (Decleor) and my face was really glowing after I left the salon. Of course I was feeling so relaxed and not ready to go back to stressing out about the IKEA cabinets but I knew I had to head back. So after I was done at the salon, I headed back to my mom's. Because mom invited us all for dinner that meant even Kay had to go. She stayed home earlier in the afternoon while I was over at my mom's but after my facial, I picked her skinny bum up and we headed back. The rest of the night was pretty much putting together the cabinets, eating dinner and helping my mom organize her kitchen with the new cabinets. It was a pretty long and tiring night.

Sunday
Kay and I ran errands on this day. We headed out a little late in the afternoon because we were kinda chilling at home. The one hour change really screwed up my sleeping schedule. Our day consisted of driving over to Richmond and East Vancouver to hit a few different Value Villages to look for Halloween costumes. We also went over to IKEA to return an item I bought last weekend with mom and we also headed over to Rona's to pick up some mini wheels for a project I'm working on. At the third Value Village, I finally found a prom dress within my price budget to spend on a costume. I almost gave up because I could not find anything within my price range nor my size. We also found Kay a black dress for her witch costume (she's recycling my Halloween props froom last year). After that we decided to head home for dinner and call it a night. Really didn't get all we could have gotten done over this weekend but it's never long enough.

I broke....

.....my LV Ban... but I could not help myself, I COULD NOT resist BUYING this one.

Kay's Sick Day

Poor Kay, she had a really terrible day today. It all started early last night, she felt a little bit of a back neck pain and it wasn't so bad that she couldn't lie down or sit up. But just a light throbbing pain in the muscle.

This morning, I get a really worried phone call from the nurse at her school, stating she is very upset, crying and in a lot of pain at the back of her neck. I needed to go right away to pick her up and take her to emergency. I was like "WHAT?!?!?" What could have caused this? She was fine last night and she obviously slept through the night without any pain. I thought she might have had a bad accident at school and broke something. I arrived 45 minutes later (doing some crazy construction on my street) and picked her up. She did not look so terrible, she had visitors (her friends from class) visiting her in the nurse room. Apparently, the nurse suggested that I take her to BC Children's Hospital just in case it was something really bad like a pinch nerve or menagitis. I was like "HUH?!?" She looked like she was in quite a bit of pain but nothing to be freaking out about. I decided to play it safe and drive her to the Children's hospital. Gosh, there is major construction work going on everywhere!! It took me forever to find parking which I didn't. I ended up parking in the temporary parking meters by emergency. We waited around for almost an hour and when we finally saw the doctor, she told me what I had already knew. A tight muscle. Last night, she was chatting on the phone and playing on the computer at the same time for about 4 hours. I warned her not to be in that position for so long because she was going to get a very sore neck/back pain if she continued to do so. There is also a general rule in the house where if you are on the phone, you are not allowed on the computer and vice versa. Well I think she has learned her lesson. The doctor gave her a couple of children's advil and she was starting to feel better. We headed over to Safeway after the visit because she was quite upset that she was missing out on hot dog day. We purchased some hot dogs/buns, potato chips and juice for our own little hot dog day. It was sort of nice to have the day off to spend with her even though we spent most of our afternoon running around to the hospital/Safeway and right after lunch, we need to head over to R's place to check his mail.

Look what arrived today!!!

My Murakami Panda Leather Cowhide Keychain from Karen Kooper!! Click here for more photos..... included with my package: a photo of her front page (her website) featuring LV items, a photo / coupon of $50 off any handbag, a LV photo ad featuring the handbag "Antigua", a LV postcard ad featuring a charm. She even sent a LV box and gift bag with my purchase. My keychain was wrapped with LV tissue paper, sealed with LV stickers, she handwrote a thank you on to a LV menu (from a LV function) and wrapped the box in the invite to a LV function! I have heard that she sends extra items with her packages but I was not expecting all these cool items, all I was expecting was my new keychain. She is really awesome, really great customer service and will def. shop with her again!

Aaaaah the smell of a new Louis Vuitton piece...... I don't think I want this piece to patina, it's beautiful just the way it is....

Cold

Oh my gosh, it's so berloody cold today! The first REAL day of fall in Vancouver. Downtown was cold, real cold, and real windy. It felt like it was ready to snow! Ok, I'm exaggerating. But darn cold today... will drop down to 6C tonight......

Hello Kitty Wedding Dress

This evening, I was surfing Banana Republic's website looking at dresses, I am loving dresses. I found quite a few that I would love to buy but most of them were no longer available in my size or colour so I decided to google "dresses" to see what it would come up with. I found this hilarious site! Ugly Dresses dot com. Funny stuff and I found a Hello Kitty wedding dress! ~Cute~

Lunch with Katy and Erin

Look who dropped by for lunch today!! Isn't Katy the most adorable little girl??? She's growing so fast!! What a sweetie :) More Photos here....

Circle Craft 2006

Circle Craft Christmas Market is being held November 8 - 12 2006 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. I go to this craft market every year and sometimes I come home with lots of craft items and sometimes not. If any of you are interested in attending, print the coupon for $2.00 off admission.

RIP Sony Ericsson P900

Well, I think my phone is officially dead. Yesterday after work, I headed over to the Fido store on Georgia street to purchase a new charger, I figured it might be the charger that was not working. But when I got home and plugged the new charger into the stand, it still would not charge my phone. Today, at lunch, I headed over to the Fido stand in the Royal Centre Mall to ask them about my phone. After explaining my situation to them, they guessed that my cellphone's battery life is at its end therefore it is no longer charging. They did not have a P900 battery in stock and will probably not stock any accessories for this phone because it is 3 years old which means it's obsolete! I asked these guys if I could upgrade my phone (price reduction on a cellphone) because I am an existing customer and they told me currently they cannot but in November of 2006 they will be able to do so. The guy told me to call Fido's customer service and inquire about this because they should be able to upgrade me over the phone. But on Monday, I had already called Fido's customer service asking about this and the customer service rep told me Fido no longer offered this service to their customers. I was like "WTF?". Oh well, I guess I will ask the Fido store on Georgia street since I will be heading down there tomorrow to return the charger.....

*Update October 19/06 - the problem was my battery, I exchanged the charger for a new battery but had to pay an extra $16.00! I wish my battery died earlier in the week as my father lef for HK on Sunday and it would have been way cheaper to bring back a battery! Anyways, my phone is now up and running. Yeah!! Apparently, the battery life for this phone is only a year but my battery lasted about 3 years!! Wow! Made In Japan. Yep, the best electronic products are Made in Japan. The sales girl had a battery available because she had just ordered the same battery for another customer so she figured she should order a couple extra to stock. Lucky me! Gosh, it feels good to have my cellphone back!*

LATE 2 Days in a Row!!

Monday

On this very morning, I woke up at 8.32am because my alarm did not go off! Apparently, my alarm clock did work but a certain someone (yes, R - YOU) did not KNOW HOW to turn OFF the alarm so instead of turning it off or asking me to turn it off, YOU turned OFF the volume!! I didn't get into the office until almost 9.30am which meant I had to give up my lunch or stay later. I opted to give up my lunch. It was a long and tiring day, Mondays are dreadful.

On a happier note, I won an auction on a Vernis Reade PM in Hazelnut, it's beautiful and what a deal! The price I won it at is about $400 CDN and in new condition considering this purse was made in April of 2004. It looks brand new and as stated by the seller, never used. Currently, the price of this bag is about $780 or so. Although this seller did not have the MPRS or ALAV, I posted this auction on the purseblog forum for authentication. Purse bloggers assured me it was the real thing so I got a great deal, I can't wait to receive it. Ok, LOUIS VUITTON Ban starting NOW.

Today

I was at the bus stop at 7.30am and my 7.30ish bus never showed up nor the next two buses!! I waited 30 minutes before a bus finally showed up. I ended up being 30 minutes late for work. This really sucked because now I have to stay half hour today because I need to run a quick errand on my 30 minute lunch. I also found out this morning that my charger is not working and my cellular phone is DEAD. Crap, I did not back up my cellular and I hope I can access all the info on my cell. So now I have no cell phone and boy it sucks. I am going to Fido after work tomorrow (I do not have my phone with me) to see if they know what is the problem is.

Ok so it feels like another Monday and it's pretty grey out there. It's also starting to feel a lot like winter, it's breeeezing cold out there! I hope this day goes by fast, I am starting to feel really tired and it's not quite 10am yet!!

Louis Vuitton VIP Items - Karen Kooper

As already mentioned today, I did not win the ebay auction on the Red LV Spring Street purse which was a huge disappointment but I did find another rare item, Louis Vuitton Murakami Panda Leather Cowhide Keychain, this piece is a limited item, LV only released so many and was only available in Japan and France. I really really wanted this item for quite some time and have been talking about for MONTHS!! The person selling this item, took some pretty sh*tt* photos on his PC cam and I could not tell if it was real or fake. This person did not have the MPRS or ALVA (Authentic Louis Vuitton Addict) badge which makes this auction a risky one to bid on. Without those links backing the seller up, you could be bidding on a fake piece (a really good fake!). Many sellers (who do not sell massive amounts of LV items) do sell their own personal items on there and do not have the MPRS or ALVA which means you have to know your Louis Vuitton items (or join a purseblog and ask for advice from some serious LV addicts/experts) and take a chance. Anyways, this seller did not have the back up and I thought his item was somewhat suspicious, I decided to post the auction on the LV purse fourm for advice. Oh yes I must mention that his excuse for selling it was pretty lame and the starting bid was really really low ($100USD) which also made me a suspicious. I posted the link on the purse forum to see what other LV addicts thought of the item and it came back as a FAKE. Another fellow purse addict, sent my attention to Karen Kooper, she is a well known seller and she carries many items that you cannot even buy in the LV store! She had the Murakami Panda Leather Cowhide Keychain in stock and yes, it was quite a bit more money but she is reputable and I know exactly what I am purchasing. Bonus the keychain is brand new! I had dropped the item into my "shopping cart" and debated purchasing this item for quite some time (most of the afternoon actually). I am suppose to be on a LV ban until my next birthday (purchased too many LV items within the last few months) but this item is something I have been trying to find ever since I first heard about it and found out that it was only released in Japan and France, a did make it to USA but boutiques sold out of it really quickly! After hours of debating, I decided to make the purchase. I had a slight technical error while trying to order the item on the website but Karen took care of it immediately. Exceptional Customer Service, she is def. someone I would put total faith/trust in. I heart Karen Kooper! I can't wait to get it, I'm so excited!!!

Sadness x 2

Today, R left Vancouver to head back to Taiwan and his next trip to Vancouver is in 4 months. He'll be back for Valentine's Day which is nice because I haven't celebrated a Valentine's Day with him in a long time. But it's sad to see him go even though it was becoming a little bit crowded in our apartment and he was really screwing up our routine. (Love You Hon!) Another loss was an ebay auction that I was bidding on. I really thought I had it and I could not believe the jerks that bidded up to the very last minute!! Sh*t, I knew I should have bidded up to $470.00USD instead of $400.00USD. This purse was exactly the colour and style I was looking for. What a find! Louis Vuitton has discontinued this little cute purse and I am really pissed off that I lost this auction. Currently I am looking for a red purse to go with my brand new shiny red pumps! There are a couple of other auctions that I am currently watching but sadly not exactly what I am looking for. If I was to purchase a red purse, I would want it to be a unique piece as I would not be using it as an every day purse. *sigh* Maybe I'll buy a Reade PM, there are two red ones left at Louis Vuitton (Hotel Vancouver), I am watching one online but it is a little high for a second hand LV. For only $250.00 more, I can purchase a brand new one...... what to do.....See below for outbidding details (I'm psycho_pat2000) and cute little red Spring Street purse by LV.

What a sad sad day it is today. This weather really does set the mood of our day, pouring non stop rain.

IKEA

What a crazy day to be going out to Richmond! There were two unrelated car accidents on the Knight Street Bridge on the north side (heading into Richmond). I was stuck on Knight street for over 30 minutes!!! UGH. Stupid me decided to take Knight street instead of Oak Street because IKEA is right off Knight Street bridge and I did not want to drive around Richmond. I hate driving in Richmond, people do not know how to drive in Richmond!!! I was thinking about turning back and heading home but I really really wanted to pick this up from IKEA. A week ago, R, Kay and I headed to IKEA to check out the POANG Chair and an office chair. This one really is comfortable and very sturdy, although it is a little bigger than I wanted it to be, it sits very comfortable. I love the fabric and the style of the chair. Next on my list is the POANG Chair with matching foot rest. Right now I am in the process of re-organzing my living space to be more open and comfortable. This chair will be in the corner and will be used as a foot spa / reading area. Can't wait... now I am just waiting for my cubed bookshelf.....

Hot Shoes

My little red pumps have finally arrived! Check them out! I love them :)

JT's newest music video!

Justin Timberlake's "My Love"

Thanksgiving Dinner

Tonight, we celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom and grandma's house. Our family doesn't normally celebrate Thanksgiving and if we do (once every few years), we usually end up going out for dinner but this year, R is in town and he wanted to eat turkey. He loves to eat turkey (because he is a big turkey! hahaha kidding!!) and since we only get the chance to eat turkey a couple times a year (which is more than enough for me!), mom offered to cook us all a Thanksgiving dinner. Turkeys are usually larger than 10 pounds but since we have a small immediate family, mom, grandma, r, kay, me, auntie i, and my brother, I ordered a speciality turkey from Choices. It's not an organic or free range turkey but they do not use any hormones or chemicals in the meat or feed. Since my mom agreed to cook us dinner, she invited the usual group of people: my brother, auntie i, mom, grandma, and of course myself, Kay and R. I should have probably gone over to my mom's earlier than 4.30pm but it was really hard for me to get up early and get ready. I still had to go out to buy the red wine and an apple pie from Choices (which is delicious! It's made with 50% whole wheat and real fruit, I am not a "pie person" but this is one pie I will not hesitate to finish off!). My brother actually ended up at my mom's earlier than I! What a shock! When we arrived, my brother was just finishing off with my mom's trim (my brother is a part time hairdresser) and up next was Kay. She is LONG OVERDUE for a cut! I wanted her to get a cute little bob cut but she did not agree. He trimmed about 2 inches off and kept her layers, gave her a little trim around her bangs (although she is currently trying to grow them out) and in the end, it looked really nice. She is one lucky girl, I never got any hair cuts from a stylist when I was 12!! My mom put a bowl on my head and started to cut! Ok, not THAT bad but def. not a cute little stylish hair cut! After Kay, my brother straightened my hair with his very fancy expensive hair straightener. I love it! Bone straight. I have been thinking about getting a japanese hair straightening appointment at one of the local japanese salons because I want to have my hair straight straight. But it's really really expensive and can only last up to 6 months or so depending on your hair. My brother managed to get my hair straight straight with his straightener but it took quite some time, I have a lot of thick hair! I am debating if I should purchase one of these hair straighteners. It's def. a really good straightener and it's from Japan so I know it will last. It's probably going to cost me about $200 but I'm sure it will be worth it. I don't know, I need to think about it. After my hair was done, I headed over to the kitchen to help with dinner. Preparation of dinner is very time consuming and eating dinner is over in a matter of 30 minutes! Now I know why we don't do turkey dinners very often! There was a ton of food, my mom prepared potato salad (my grandma's fave.), creamy fettuccini with shrimps, cream cheese/crabmeat perogies, halibut wrapped with bacon, stuffing for the turkey, vegetable soup, ceasar salad, baby roasted potatoes and turkey! Crazy amounts of food, tons of leftovers. It was a really good dinner though and it was really nice to spend the time with all my family. I hardly ever get to see my brother and it's nice to see how happy my mom was to see her son. He hardly ever comes to visit her, boys are selfish that way. Boy, I'll be sick of turkey real soon..... a few photos from the dinner.

More Shopping

Today, we headed downtown for some shopping. First stop, The Bay for a pair of Stuart Weitzman's little red pumps because R wanted to make up for not being here and missing my b'day. A new pair of shoes is a way to a girl's heart, well my heart anyways! (plus Louis Vuitton goods or diamonds.... ) Last week while shoe shopping with Jas, I saw these pumps at the Bay. These are exactly the same shoes I bought a few weeks ago (from Holt Renfrew) but instead of being soft napa black leather, these ones are shiny patent red leather, super sexy and very hot! I love wearing red esp. pumps or little boots! I didn't get a chance to try them on even though I wanted to but I figured if I put them on, I wouldn't be able to take them off. Besides, I already owned a pair of the black ones. Now since R wanted to buy me a pair of shoes, this is the exception, we decided to head over to The Bay so I could try them on to see how pretty they looked on my feet. But when we got there, Browns were sold out. :( Wow, those little red shoes didn't last long on the shelf! I bought my black pair only a few weeks ago and the red ones were not available at all, then I see the red ones last week which means they were probably only on display for two or three weeks before selling them out! Anyways, the sales associate looked up the shoes on the computer and found 3 pairs in my size at the Holt Renfrew in Ontario. We had to prepay the shoes so she could transfer them to Vancouver. The girl put them on an express shipment and hopefully, I should see them by Friday. So excited!!

After the strolling around the Bay, we decided to head over to Louis Vuitton because my SA had given me a call this afternoon to let me know that she was back from Japan (she went on a three week holiday) and she had put aside a Louis Vuitton catalogue for me. A catalogue? Yip, a new catalogue. When we arrived, the store was super crazy busy! We looked around the store while waiting patiently for my SA to see me. R picked up a beautiful messenger bag from the men's line. All leather in a dark grey colour, reasonably priced at $1420.00. The details include:

Brass hardware with brushed palladium finish

Sari canvas lining

Front flap with double push-lock closures

Two pouch pockets directly underneath front flap

Adjustable canvas shoulder strap

Exterior back flat pocket

Interior zipped pocket and a large gusseted pocket

Is this not a lovely messenger bag and this piece is very classy, sophisticated and very beautiful. I think R should buy this one because he has been looking for a soft briefcase for quite some time and never been able to find one he liked. I am encouraging him to buy this one while he is in Europe next month because it will be approx. $400 difference in price! But we'll see, it takes a little bit of effort to convince him, he is not like me at all. If I see something at Louis Vuitton and I am in love with it, I will not leave the store without it :)

And of course, I ended up buying a little something for myself. I can never go into the LV boutique without buying something. I know I have a problem. This lovely pochette wallet is what I have been eyeing for a little while. I couldn't decide on whether to buy it in the monogram, damier or the epi leather. But made my final decision based on where the product was made in. This one is made in France and I think the LV Monogram is a little more classy than the Damier print, the epi leather is nice but I found it a little too hard so really my decision was somewhat already made. Such a beautiful piece :) While I was strolling around the store one last time, I noticed a LV customer was eyeing my Speedy bag, I was thinking there must have been something stuck to it. She came up to me to ask me about my Pastilles Multicolore Chains Keyring which is attached to my Speedy handles. She told me she noticed the one in the display case but wasn't sure what it was used for. She asked me about the price and I told her if she really liked it, she shouldn't ask about the price, I told her it was quite a bit of money but I felt worth every penny. I told her I used it as a charm for my bag to personalize my Speedy and yes it could be worn as a bracelet. I told her if she really liked the one in the display case then she should pick it up because this item is a special order item and I told her how they had mistakenly ordered another one because my SA forgot to cross my name off the list. Originally I had to ask my SA to order this one because this LV boutique does not carry this item. If she bought it, we are probably the very few to own this item in Vancouver. She did not hesitate, she bought it right away along with a few other purchases. I like this chica, my kinda girl ;) After shopping, we decided to call it a day and headed home to make dinner. Overall, it was a really great day! Besides spending it with my hon, R, I ended up with a new pair of shoes (on order) and a new LV wallet.

Shilo Living, Cubed Book Case

R and I just came back from Shilo Living and J&M Jewellery.

We headed over to Shilo because I forgot to return Chantale's (the girl that helped me on Saturday) call from yesterday. Last night, she called me to discuss my quote but I was on the phone and when I finished with my first phone call, I forgot to return hers. This afternoon, I decided to see her instead so that I could speak to her in person about my quote. I cannot believe how dead on she was with my book case! She drew up a diagram with the dimensions and it's pretty close to the ideal cubed book shelf that was in my head. She's really awesome! I am so excited, I cannot wait to see it when it's finished. She had given me two options, the first one being a one piece at 60" x 60" priced $550 (11" deep shelves) or two pieces to make a one piece at $440. We decided to go with the two pieces even though I really wanted it as one piece. But living in an apartment, I am afraid that I will have trouble moving the one large unit into my place. Because I placed the order today, I should be able to see it in 4 to 6 weeks (I beat the Christmas rush). Oooh how exciting! I cannot wait to see the finished product. At first, I was a little bit skeptical about Shilo because in their window, they display a range of country type furniture and I am not at all into the country style. But she knew exactly what I wanted and she knew I wanted a contemporary style unit. The unit will be in a dark stain (their darkest) and I will have 16 cubes! It will be so nice to finally have this piece in my living room so I can organize my books, dvds, and little display items onto this case. This will be a showcase piece, will post photos as soon as I get it!

At J&M, I wanted to show R the two engagement rings that I looked at and yep, I was right. He liked the more heritage/antique delicate-looking ring. He thinks the first one is too gaudy. I told him I would love to see the ring with a 3/4 carat solitaire diamond (nothing less that 1/2) but a 1 carat would be really really nice. He has until August 7, 2008 to give me the ring.... Will keep you all posted :)

R is BACK ....

from Taiwan for 10 days!! YEAH!! Yep, I know 10 days is not long and I am only taking 4 days off work (well 5 including the stat on Monday - "Turkey Day") then he'll be off again, maybe heading back to Vancouver in 3 to 4 months..... that sucks but that's how life is at the moment so enjoy every moment!

L'Untouchable

The Untouchable
L'untouchable

France, 2006, 82 min, Color, 35mm

Directed By: Benoît Jacquot
SCR: Benoît Jacquot
CAM: Caroline Champetier
ED: Luc Barnier, Marion Monnier
MUS: Vijay Jaiswal, Monu Rao
Cast: Isild Le Besco, Marc Barbé, Bérangère Bonvoisin, Parikshit Luthra, Neetu Jhanjhi

In Benoît Jacquot's assured, compassionate and compelling feature, the ravishing Jeanne (Isild Le Besco) lives and works in Paris as a struggling stage actress. Her once-promising career is stagnant, and something is clearly missing from her life, emblematic in the fact that she never knew her father. When her mother (Bérangère Bonvoisin) tells the nervous Jeanne that her father may have been an untouchable, the lowest strata of the strict Hindu caste system, she quits her Brecht production, take a job in a trashy movie to make money and abruptly sets out on a quest to find him, and, perhaps, discover herself in the process.

As Jeanne searches for her father in a vibrant, colourful India, Caroline Champetier's hand-held camera provides an immediacy to the action that borders on cinema vérité. Jeanne enlists the help of a young man (Parikshit Luthra) to serve as her guide to the strange place, and her wandering becomes more than the simple act of finding a name on a slip of paper, but an existential exploration. Director Jacquot--who most recently appeared at the VIFF with À Tout de suite, also starring his muse, Le Besco--is an auteur with a singular vision. The heroes of Jacquot's films, often young, female and disadvantaged, stumble into life-changing experiences, flail about, and occasionally stumble back out again. Their understanding of their lives is fragmented and chaotic, and in this, The Untouchable is genuine in a way that few films dare to be.

IMO, this movie would have been better off as a rental or a weekend movie. Because I caught this afterwork, after a long day, I was not in a "thinking" mood. The film played itself out pretty choppy and every point in the movie was to be assumed by the viewer. I didn't like the two camera views, one being as the view and the second one being the character's view. I guess my eyes were already tired and to have the film in her view which was pretty shaky as if the camera was a handheld. Maybe this movie would have been better if I was ready for it. Not as good as "Dans Paris".

VIFF 2006 & Shopping

The Vancouver International Film Festival has started! I love attending the VIFF and every year I try to catch at least 4 or 5 films (although the last few years, I’ve only made it to 2 or 3). This year, I’ve planned out the film titles / times on a schedule and I am hoping to catch at least 5 or 6 this year!

This morning, Jas and I met at Granville Theatres at 9.30am – yes on a Sunday morning. All the VIFF films run daily for about 2 ½ weeks. Sometimes, I can catch them in the evening and sometimes I can’t. Also, due to popularity of a film, they may have an extra screening for the film. There are usually three showings per film. The film we wanted to see was called Volver with Penelope Cruz, this started at 10.00am. I really wanted to see this one because I had heard some really great reviews on this film. As Jas and I arrived a block from the theatre, we noticed there was a huge line up. OMG, it was for the movie we wanted to catch! There were a few different line ups all over the place and it seemed a little disorganized because it was a hard to tell where was for what. Apparently the way they set up the line ups were one for ticket holders, one for ticket holders picking up their prepaid tickets and one rush line up (for those who haven’t purchased a ticket). We ended up lining up in the wrong line the first time. When we figured out which line was for the rush tickets, we obviously did not pre purchase our tickets, we decided that we probably wasn't going to be able to get tickets for this one. So we looked over the other films that were playing as well. We decided on a French film called Dans Paris. At the ticket window, we heard one of the VIFF people say to the ticket person, there were only 40 seats available for Volver. Jas and I looked over to the rush line and there were way more than 40 people in that line up. Thankfully, we were not in it!!

After purchasing our tickets for Dans Paris (this movie started at 11:00am) we had some extra time to catch before heading into the line up for Dans Paris. We decided to catch some breakfast at Burger King, I have never had breakfast at Burger King and I never will again. Yuck!! Finishing off breakfast, we headed over to the line up for ticket holders. We didn't have to wait for very long because they started letting people into the theatre around 10.30ish. The movie was really good, if you are into French films or artsy films, def. go and catch this one. I think Jas enjoyed it but was not expecting the movie to play itself out the way she is used to. Hollywood blockbusters are usually more straightforward and to the point. Dans Paris storyline was narrated in a few different directions. But I really really enjoyed the film and am glad we caught this one.

After our film, we headed over to Robson street to do a little bit of shoe shopping - NOT FOR ME, FOR JAS. She was looking for a pair of Puma sneakers to replace her old ones. We hit a few different shoe stores on the street before finding a pair of Pumas that she liked and could picture herself wearing. Before making the purchase, she wanted to head over to the Bay to see if Hbc stocked them. If so, she wanted to charge them on her Hbc card. At B2 Shoes on Robson, I found a pair of cute anklet rain boots covered in a union jack pattern, very bold and bright (just like the Brits!). These were rubber boots but not like your every day ordinary rubber boots. These ones had a ½ “ heel with a pointy toe. Very chic and cute. I would def. wear them. At $98 / pair, yes it seems a little excessive but I almost bought a pair of Burberry rain boots for $300 which I did order but when the time came for me to try them on, they were not at all comfortable. I too, decided I wanted to check out Hbc’s Browns Shoes section to see if they carried these boots. If so, I could use my Hbc point card and collect the points. On our way there, Benefit Cosmetics sidetracked us because it’s in the path of the way to the shoe department. We looked around and decided to come back as the cosmetic girl was busy working on two girls getting their face done up. I found my rain boots at the Brown section but decided to hold out because I wanted to look around the Bay's shoe department first. Viola! Lucky me, I found a pair of Rockport rain boots! Very sleek, chic and sexy AND the boots match my office attire. In Vancouver, we can expect the rain to start any day now and it will shall last until the beginning of summer so I want to be prepared this year. Last year, we had a breaking record (well almost breaking) of 28 days of RAIN. Yes, 28 freaking days!!! So, I really REALLY really need a pair of rain boots. These ones are patent leather, waterproof and comfy with a little platform heel. I am so glad I waited out because even at regular price, these were $100.00 (a very good price for patent leather rain boots!) but as the cashier rang up my purchase, SURPRISE it came up to $59.99 and I was like WTF? The cashier said, oh these are on sale. I was super happy and I love surprises like that! Jas said I was a geek :) After finishing off at the cashier, we headed back to Benefit counter and Jas ended up purchasing the BADgal Lash because it is amazing! Her eyelashes looked so luscious! I ended up buying fy eye.... an eye primer for your eyelids so this will prevent your eye make up to crease or lose the colour before th end of the day. A pretty good day!

Head over to Trishaopholic to view my newest purchase! Rain Boots.