"a little fall of rain, could hardly hurt me now..."

... nor would I let it STOP ME from getting out and about this weekend.... and it was not just a little drop of rain - it was NON-STOP rain for the most part the last few days here in Taipei.... WET & COLD, that's the weather in my neck of the woods lately.... I think there was one day break we had last week, and that was the day I took care of Jewel the whole day and nite - so Wu Papa can go Enjoy the Flora Exhibition.... my GOOD DEED for the week... hahahahahahahahaha

Anyway, the weekend was still quite a full one for me.... looking back, I really know how to keep myself busy and occupied - and that is just fine by me, as am not one to just IDLE the day away..... reminds me of one of the BEST Compliments I ahve ever gotten from Lyn: "Rudi, I am amazed at how you always know how to plan your days... and have the energy to just keep going, keep doing things..." and I ALWAYS WILL!!!

so here's a RECAP of my weekend - just sharing...

SATURDAY, the 19th:
Dinner with the girls @ Royal Host... always a fun time, sitting around and chatting with Juliana, Sue n Cecilia... catching up is always FUN!

Right after, I went on to see the Annual Chinese Lantern Festival @ the Sun Yet San Memorial Park... always a treat to see all the beautiful, ornate, hand crafted and some, hand painted Lanterns on display... it was TRULY magical for me... Year after Year... :))
SUNDAY, the 20th
Rained really hard, so I was having a slow start... but i did manage to get myself together and drag my ass to the Bus Stop and headed on to church.... sometimes, I have a hard time going but once there, am always enjoying the service and of course, the music....Another reason why I really need to go was to take in the GAUGUIN Exhibition at the Fine Arts Museum.... it was the last day so no excuses.... long lines and all once there.... took me almost an hour and a half in line to get in... all that and am not even a big GAUGUIN fan... no matter, it was still nice to see.... Musuems are always interesting, fun, and a wonderful experience.

Manet, Picasso, Miro, Renoir, & Jean Paul Gaultier???

hahahahahaha - most of you must be quite puzzled as to what Jean Paul Gaultier doing with the likes of the aforementioned Impressionists.... well, they are all currently on Exhibit at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, that is!!!!

Juliana & I decided to take in both exhibitions in one shot.... and it was a good move.... we had just enough time to see the both shows before the museum closes.... and also was perfect timing to get out of the rain as it was pouring the whole time we were indoors, but had stopped when we were done.... so the GODS & the ARTISTS must have been on our side that day!!!

Well, the Gaultier Exhibition has been going on for about a month now.... the exhibition is Le Delfile - and it encompasses the costumes made by Mr Gaultier for Regine Chopinot's Modern Dance Ballets... I blogged about it HERE a while back - about a month ago really... and I just now finally able to come and catch it..... and it is worth all the wait... Sadly no one is allowed to photograph the costumes on display... and understandably so as they might somehow damage the fabrics.... Good thing there is a catalog of the exhibition available... so I was able to snap a few pages to share with you all... the exhibition is quite minimal - just like attending a Modern Jazz/Ballet Performance... Black background and just a touch of glitter (silver beading) hanging for accents.... everything on display was just colorful, phenomenal, and all screams GAULTIER!!!!

The other Exhibition, Manet to Picasso, is a collection of Impressionism artwork by some of the mosst famous ones in the field: Picasso, Miro, Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir, etc... paintings and a few sculptures depicting the beginnings of Impressionisms... all of these were on loan from the Philadelphia Art Museum... What a GREAT EXHIBITION.... was able to see earlier works from Miro and Renoir... ang got to know some new ones too: Bastillo & Pissaro -well, they are new to me anyway....

So it was TWO THUMBS UP for the TWO EXHIBITIONS.... just enough to satisfy the art thirst.... and wet the appetite for some more....

PHOTOS HERE

PIXAR: 20 Years Anniversary Exhibition

...and I swear, the line to get in felt as if it took another 20 years!!!

David and I tried to see it a while back - it was a weekend so it was a given that the lines will be long... of course, we opted not to see it then - as we hate anything that takes more than 30 mins to line up for... this time around I thought for sure it would be different as 1) it has been around for a bit now... and 2) it was on a weekday morning - when everyone should be in school or at work - WRONG!!!
I think everyone was thinking the very same thing - so we all ended up attending the same day... boo hoo...

anyway, the day started well enough... Juliana and I met at ROYAL HOST for some early breakfast.. we knew we needed to get fully charged for a good couple of hours of lining up for tickets.... couple of hours?? more like three and that is just to buy the tickets... once purchased - we needed to get into another line to get in... it was, at least, another half an hour plus more.... by the time we got to the actual entrance to the Exhibition - we were both in need of, a toilet run... and both starving to death as it was way into 1 PM already at that time.. so what to do? get stamped and head on to our respective Restrooms - lo and behold, another line... We can only be both THANKFUL enough for SUE coming to our rescue with McDonalds meal for each of us..Anyway, a quick lunch in Sue's car was very much needed (we also got her and Cecilia tickets btw, but because of work scheds, they did not go in till after 3PM) - right after, Juliana and I went back in with our stamps to finally see the exhibition... wait, wait, another line!!! well, at least this one was quite fast - not even 10 mins... and we were in.... of course, as expected from the amount of people in line, each exhibition room was soooo crowded that is was hard to get a closer look at things unless one lines up (AGAIN!) and move at a snail pace to each of the exhibit... but i can HONESTLY say -a all that was there was worth all the hassles of lining up!!!

We were not allowed to take photos inside or else my BATT would have died fast as there was sooo much I wanted to photograph... and normally I would have sneaked some shots, but with all the people there, I did nnot want to chance being found out... so much of the original sketches, story boards, clay figures - bnoth prototypes to actual designs used... such a comprehensive exhibition/explanation on the art of PIXAR animation that one is in sooo much AWE of the loooong process for a single sequence to be shot... HATS OFF to all those involved, TRULY!

All Pixar movies were represented, from Toy Story which came out back in 1995 through the latest, and a personal fave of mine, UP were covered.... and of course, it dates back to all the animated shorts made by the team even before any of the full length films... stand outs were KNICK KNACKS, TIN SOLDIER (was supposedly going to be the main character in Toy Story!), and a few other black & white shorts - we were treated to these short films, btw... so it turned out to be a GREAT DAY after all... and after seeing the exhibition in its entirety, all the hassles of lining up were long forgotten... Thank God for the gals, who are also avid ANIMATION fans - they helped me get through the hours of lining up...
COMPLETE PHOTOS HERE
KNICK KNACK

TIN TOY (1988)

The Art of Yin-Huei Chen

"Art is meant to be experienced and appreciated, as opposed to be understood. Ordinary people who have a hard time perceiving a painting can attribute this to their overly hard edged attempt to understand it.
-Yin-huei Chen"
=================
An afternoon at the Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan where I discovered Chen, Yin-huei - Taiwan's Premier Painter Artist of the last 40 years. The Exhibition encompasses his years and progression as an artist through all the movements... MAGNIFICENT EXHIBITION!
The Exhibition, Yin-Huei Chen : A Retrospective Exhibition, will run till the 27th of this Sept - so if you are in Taipei - do see it....