magnet.

People say that you can't measure love. 

That you can't measure a feeling. But what if you could? Everything we feel is in some way related to out brain. So why can't we take a look at our brains to tell us about our feelings?

At Stanford University, the neuroscientists had a love competition.
*CLICK HERE* for the article on it.

The video is below

The Love Competition from Brent Hoff on Vimeo.


I think it was cute. Though it may seem that all it's doing is reducing love to a science. The way how almost everyone came out of it saying that thinking about love for 5 minutes was a sort of trippy experience shows that love is somewhat like a drug.

However, I wish they had included some middle aged people in it. Perhaps they couldn't find any volunteers at that age. Haha. Only the young and old will admit to being in love. The middle aged ones are probably too busy chasing down dreams of money and fame to think too much about love.

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splash.

Just a little piece that I think everyone should read.

If They're Not Husband or Wifey Material, They're Not Worth It. 

I completely agree with the article. I mean, how many people now can say that they would be more than happy to marry their current boyfriend/girlfriend. Guessing that most would say no. That their current relationship is only good for now but not for a serious long term thing.

So why bother in the first place? Why go into a relationship in which you can't see a future? Knowing that one day somebody's heart is going to be broken in two. Knowing that tears are going to be shed.

Perhaps it's just me that looks too far ahead. 

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eager.

I will readily admit that I am social network addict.

Can barely go a day wanting to check facebook or twitter and now instagram.

However I sometimes do feel that there is such a thing as too much information. Last time, when you meet someone new for the first time, it took time and effort to get to know them better. Now, just add them on facebook and you have access to all their details. What they like, where they've been, who they hang out with. Everything is just a click away.

Then there is twitter which a lot of people seem to have mistaken as a personal diary. Yes I 'follow' you cause I want to know what's up with your life. What I do not want to know however is how pissed off you feel every single time or how sad you are because you got into a fight with your significant other.

Oh how technology has changed our lives.

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boing.

Having lived right opposite the playground when I was younger, I did spend a great deal of time there every evening.

One thing I liked and disliked about it were the see-saw's. The problem was that you always needed someone to go with you. So what happens if there are an odd number of kids in the playground that day? Well, either you don't go on the see-saw at all or you had to take turns. Hmph. And even if there was someone to go with you, you had to make sure they weren't too heavy or too light. Otherwise the see-saw wouldn't work out as well.

Once on the see-saw, I loved the going up part. I mean, who doesn't. It was the dreaded coming down part that I disliked, the thump when I would hit the tyre was painful. But then before you knew it, the pain was gone and you'd be on your way up again while the other person would be suffering.

Why am I talking about this? A bit random right? Talking about see-saws.

Well I was thinking how relationships are like see-saws. Yes perhaps not the most original thought but I still wanted to get it out nonetheless.

After all, in relationships, you'd need to find that one person who would just rightly balance you out. That when you've hit the low points in life will be able to bring you back up and vice versa. 

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trois.

Last part of my Paris trip.

As we were leaving in the afternoon, didn't plan much for the day so we had a later start. Checked out, left our luggage and then made our way to Notre Dame.

But not before admiring the snow! Thus my first proper experience with snow is not in Manchester, but in Paris. 

Everything was covered in a blanket of white. So pretty =D.

Something that didn't cross my mind was how the snow would affect my trip. Got to Notre Dame obly to find that we couldn't go up the tower due to the snow =(. Major bummer. Going up was suppose to be one of the highlights of my trip cause of the gargoyles. 

Change of plans to go to Saint Chapelle instead for the stained glass only to be yet again disappointed. Turns out that it was closed. So instead decided to go for some hot chocolate at La Chalotte de l'isle. Of course it being Paris got slightly distracted on the way by a bird market.

Scary looking chicken. 

Pretty red birds.

Finally we got to the island of St. Louis where the hot chocolate was. Most of the shops there were still closed but thankfully the hot chocolate place was open. 

Just stepping in you can already smell all the chocolate-y goodness. 

The chocolate fondant.

The hot chocolate. Which was seriously rich. It was as if all they did was melt a bar of chocolate into the cup. Definitely recommend sharing it between two people. Perhaps even three if you plan on ordering other things. 

So with warm chocolate in our tummies, we made our way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and say goodbye to Paris. 

More like au revoir. Definitely plan on heading back some time in the near future. 

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safe and sound.

Perhaps this opinion of mine may change when I am put into that situation, but for the moment, I don't see why some people don't like it when their significant other checks out a member of the opposite sex.

After all all they're doing is looking. So if you are afraid that your significant other is gonna leave you and run off just because someone is hot, clearly your relationship needs major strengthening.

It's like saying that if you have a pet dog at home, that you are not allowed to think that other dogs are cute because it might mean that you are gonna give your dog away for a cuter one. What makes the dog yours is not the fact that it is the best looking one out there, but because it has been there for you every time you come home.

So the same goes for relationships. Nothing wrong with admiring the 'view' ;). 

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deux.

Okay this is gonna be a lengthy post so bear with me.

Saturday morning started out relatively early, perhaps too early as most shops had yet to open for the day. We did however stumble upon this little antique market on Rue Monge where I was very tempted to buy some rings and necklaces but with a price tag of 40euros for a necklace it was way out of my price range. There were a ton of interesting things such as swords and even this Autobridge playing board.

Wanted to head into

the Pantheon 

but got kinda distracted at the market for too long. Headed to the newparistours meeting point at the St. Michel fountain around 11am for their free tour. We had Amanda as our guide for the next 3.5 hours and it turned out to be a very good tour as she was both informative and entertaining.

Saw the Pont des Arts which is where couples go and 'lock' their love and throw away the key into the river Seine. Romantic? Cheesy? Unrealistic? Either way I thought it was a nice part of being in Paris.

Perhaps those who do have a lock on the bridge carry a spare key just in case the love doesn't last?

Covered most of the touristy places of Paris so was more than happy to tip the guide at the end of it all. After having lunch it was then a short walk to where else but the Eiffel Tower. What is a trip to Paris without a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Didn't go to the top but even from the bottom it was a sight to behold.

The Eiffel Tower.

After that made our way to Galeries Lafayettes which was way overcrowded. They had a gorgeous ceiling which I forgot to take a picture of but considering it was just a shopping mall was really pretty. 

Bout some macarons from 

The passionfruit and chocolate one was delicious. They also had one that had chili in it which might seem strange but was surprisingly quite nice as it had that little 'kick'. 

Went to the Arc de Triomphe after where I did not know I had to climb up like hundreds of steps to get to the top. Well worth it though. Had a magnificent view of Paris at night as well as getting to see the Eiffel Tower light up for their light show.

So bright and twinkly =D. 

After that headed back to the Latin Quarter for dinner as everyone was pretty tired out from the long day. However, Andrew, Sonia and I headed back out to walk along the River Seine wanting to make the most of our Paris trip. Funnily enough we three were the oldest in the group but yet the only ones with the energy to go back out. 

We were rewarded with a glimpse of just how beautiful Paris could be at night.

The Notre Dame. 

Wandered around a little longer before deciding to call it a night. But no before stumbling upon the bookshop(Shakespeare and Co.) as well as a jazz bar that were on my list of things to see. Only while getting 'lost' did I find these places. Haha. 

And that was day 2. 

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un.

Ah Paris. One hears so many wonderful things about it all the time. So when I finally went there, was slightly afraid that Paris was overhyped and that it wouldn't meet my expectations.

Thankfully, it did. It's such a beautiful city that I would love to stay there for a bit. Perhaps not for life but at least for a month or two.

Flight was delayed for an hour so by the time we landed in Paris it was 5pm instead of the scheduled 4pm. Paris Beauvais was a small airport so getting through immigration was quick. And then it was a 1.5 hour bus ride into Paris itself as Beauvais is more like the country side. The Metro/RER was relatively easy to navigate thanks to the app I downloaded on my iPhone.

Got off at the St. Michel-Notre Dame spot for my first proper sight of Paris. It was dark and cold but even then Paris was beautiful. Although slightly lost at first, managed to find Hotel Marignan(thanks to Julian's app of Paris; what would we do without iPhones I swear) where we would be staying. The guys' room was on the fifth floor which meant an extra 2 flights of stairs compared to us girls to climb but they had a balcony!

View from their balcony.

Checked in with no hassle as the lazy at the counter spoke perfect English. Unloaded our luggage into our rooms which was a lot bigger than I thought it would be after hearing about how small Paris hotel rooms could be and then it was off to dinner.

On the suggestion of the lady who checked us in we ended up in Le Volcan(10, rue Thouin) for dinner. Bout a 10 minute walk from our hotel as it was next to Place de la Contrescarpe(where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out). Three course meal for 12euros was decent I guess.

Campaign Pate for my appetizer.

Cheese and bacon thingy for main course. 

For dessert I had a cheese and chestnut puree dish but was too eager to dig into it hence the lack of a picture. It was really yummy though. 

By the time we were done it was 11ish so wandered around a little and then went back to rest up for a long day ahead. And so day 1(more like night) in Paris was over. 

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always have.

This time tomorrow I hope to be sipping on a glass of wine watching Parisiennes go by.

Can't wait for my first ever trip to Paris. 

Kinda nervous though. A country where I don't speak the language.

Not to mention the fact that I have either overplanned my trip or underplanned it. Not sure which one as some parts of my itinerary are extremely detailed whereas other parts are just blank in hopes that I will get distracted by something.

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