Saturday, December 31, 2011

Year in Review

Well, its January 1st, 2012.  A New Year.  I think it is appropriate for me to blog about this year, as it was a very important and satisfying year for me.  Also, because I just started with Facebook Timeline, it will be easy for me to see what happened 365 days ago.

January:
January was pretty hectic as I had just received my first camera, the Fujifilm Hs10, and was taking pictures of everything.  If I remember, I had a steady group of friends that I sorta clung onto, which sadly as somewhat drifted away.  In January, I began to follow specific tennis tournaments with my favorite player Novak Djokovic.  I listened to the Australian Open on their online radio whilst follow the scores online.  He won the Australian Open on January 29th 2011 (according to my Facebook Statuses). During school,   I met with a Japanese WWII veteran who was part of the ill-fated kamakazi squadron.  January was also the month when TAS facebookers got hooked onto Family Feud, a game that everyone was addicted on during that time.  Finally at the end of the month, my family and I traveled to our old home in Singapore for Chinese New Year.  There we saw old friends, and ate old foods.

February:
Like I said earlier, we traveled to Singapore where I hung out with old friends.  Mainly Sibonay, one of my oldest friends from Pre-K.  We ate tons of good food in various places in Singapore, including the best buffet in the world, The Equinox at the old Stamford Hotel.  During CNY, we also went to Maxine's house for dinner and some harmless dice gambling.  (Tasha won tons!)  February was also the time when I learned about the Arab Spring.  Articles about Mubarak and tiny debates flooded my Facebook during this time. Mubarak finally steps down in February 11th 2011.  Later in the month, news of Qaddafi also took over my Facebook.  My friends and I once again had mini-debates while sharing links of news articles about the matter.   I also attended, Kendra, Iris, and Emma's birthday party at the ACC.  It was crazy.  Later in February, we had Spirit Week.  That was crazy.  I took tons and tons and tons of pictures of all 5 days of Spirit Week.

March:
March was a scary month for me, and maybe everyone.  March was the month of the huge earthquake in Japan that led to numerous deaths and the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daichii nuclear power plants. During this time, I became a crazy Facebook poster, giving updates on the things that occurred.  I spammed Facebook with my news updates daily.  Many said it was helpful, many said it was annoying.  On March 11th, 2011, a 8.9 earthquake struck the coast of Japan.  My immediate concern was for my friends at ASIJ.  Once I knew they were fine, I began to truly realize what occurred.  I began to create my updates through CNN, BBC and NHK.  My first Update was about how one of the power plants' cooling system failed.  On that day, I posted about potential tsunami waves in Hawaii, Taiwan and Philippines. I also attempted to insert other news such as the one about the Qaddafi attack on Ras Lanuf, a major oil pipeline.  However, my main concern was that of the earthquake. On Day 1, I reported on the initial death toll figures, the power plant situations, as well as other general information. By Day 2, rescue efforts began, while the status of the Fukushima Daichii Reactors were very volatile. The death toll increased as well as the news about the leak of radioactive gas.  On Day 3, the status of the reactors were still very shaky, while authorities in Japan began testing people for radioactive poisoning.  Supplies from various countries around the world were also being airlifted at the time. By Day 4, a cold front had moved in, so victims and rescuers began to suffer the effects of the cold.  Also the reactors were still very volatile. By Day 5, the death toll rose up to 3,000+, while the Japanese economy began to plummet.  By Day 6, the reactor situation had not been resolved and the death toll rose up to 4000+.  On Day 7, news of exposed fuel rods in one of the reactors was released and the death toll rose up to 5000+. Finally on Day 8, the reactor situation had not been resolved and the death toll rose up to 6000+.  By that time, I grew tired, and officially stopped updating about Japan.  Though by that time, news of Qaddafi began creeping onto Facebook.

April:
In April, I went to my 2nd Cambodia Mission Trip with my Church.  It was a very good trip as many of my classmates went along as well as the fact that we stayed in a hotel this time.  We stayed in 1 place for the whole week, which allowed me to bond with many of the children.  To this day I miss the kids from Battambang, and especially Yong Yort.  During the trip, I ate crickets, frogs, and field mice. Awesome!  In April, I went to my second Taimun Conference as a Human Rights delegate.  This time, I main-submitted a resolution (that barely anyone did), which sadly did not pass.  Though, the experience was quite rewarding in the end. Finally, I was also MSTAIMUN Environmental Chair and Head of Tech once again.

May:
May began with excitement as news of Osama Bin Laden's death flooded Facebook as well.  In May, I went to two birthday parties, one after another.  First Celine's, then Laureen's. May was also the time when our first schedules came out.  They were tentative of course.  Then, towards the end of May, I began to follow the French Open, Roland Garros, with much gusto.  I kept track of the games during my classes, while posting messages on the Roland Garros online radio.  I repeatedly asked radio broadcasters to do shoutouts for the tennis fans in Taiwan.  Towards the end of May, Mr. Bishop's old office in the tech booth, was cleaned out.  Jenn and I went in and tried to take some stuff for our friend Charles, while also visiting the catwalk for the last time before she graduates. Finally, I went into Finals mode and began studying for all my various courses.

June:
School ended on June 1st, and summer officially begin.  On June 3rd, I celebrated my birthday with my friends in Taiwan.  We went to the Waterpark for the 3rd time in a row, and then to ACC. It was a great birthday. Two days later, I went with some of my friends to Miramar Da Zhi to watch a movie and hangout at the arcade also.  That was pretty fun too. We left for the States a couple of days later for the summer.  In the beginning of summer, my family and I went to the East Coast for a college tour.  We started in Boston and drove all the way down to Washington DC. Along the way, we ate tons of good food and tons of good restaurants.  Later we went down to Florida, where we went to 4 different Disney parks and 2 different Universal Studios parks.  It was awesome.  It was a very good experience as we had a book that gave us all the different strategies in going to the parks, such as how to beat lines, when we should go and where we should go and eat.  We also went to the Wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a mini Harry Potter land within one of the parks.  It was pretty cool as there were shops to buy wands and other various paraphernalia.  On June 28th, I officially turned 16, and celebrated my birthday again, in the States.  Once we came back from Florida, I was enrolled in a 6-week SAT Cram class.  It was terrible. However, I did learn alot in those classes.  In the afternoons, I coached Tennis at our local Country Club.

July:
July was a very calming month as I went into a routine, where I would wake up, go to class, come back and coach, go home do homework. The cycle would go on and on.  However, I did find time to do other things such as go Indoor Skydiving with my friends and my brother, as well as go White Water Rafting with my family.  That was scary, because during the ride, our boat flipped over in the middle of a rapid.  Towards the end of the month, Pottermore went Beta.

August:
Because of MCC's renovations, there was no Moraga Open this year which was very disheartening.  In August, I went back a day early to go to the Peer Support Orientation, as well as hanging out with my friends.  We went to the beach which was pretty fun.  Junior year began on August 10th.  In August, I also joined our Youth Group's worship team.  That was pretty nice, as I felt that I had gotten closer to God with the worship team.   August, felt like a very chill month, even the school began.

September:
September was a pretty fun month, as everything soon fell into routine once again.  I went to Emily's birthday party in September, while I continued to survive in school.  On September 11th, I pulled an all-nighter watching the US Open Semi-Finals match between Federer and Djokovic.  The match was very good, one of the best I've watched.  Then on the 13th, I pulled another all-nighter watching the US Open Finals match between Djokovic and Nadal.  This match was not as good as the Federer/Djokovic match, but it was still pretty good.  On September 24th, Field Day happened, which meant more pictures.  I took 2802 pictures in one day.  It was pretty crazy.

October:
In the beginning of October, my brother and I went to watch the Nadal and Ferrer Exhibition Match. It wasn't very exciting because the game was rigged and such.  In October, Mawi Asgedom came to visit our school.  He was a very inspiring speaker and was one of the best people I have heard.  Later, I became part of the Much Ado About Nothing tech team, working with the new tech teacher Mr. Held.  I was once again, backstage manager.  On October 20th, I learned that Qaddafi was killed in Libya.  I also learned, on October 21st, that I would be part of an MUN team going to Singapore.  My application for Head Chair was accepted.  That was awesome. On October 23rd, I was at our cast party, when someone knocked my camera into the pool.  It died.  But was resurrected later. On October 29th, the worship team performed at the PTA International Food Fair, which was pretty cool.  I also volunteered to help with one of the clubs getting creamed in the face with shaving cream.

November:
November was a month of anticipation.  Our Youth Group finally had our first Youth Retreat in two years.  It was so much fun!  The Dance Production was also in this month, as well as the release of the 4th Inheritance Book by Christopher Paolini.  It was a very good read, though the ending was very disappointing.

December:
In the beginning of December, the main concern was exams.  In December, Serena and I also DJ'd the middle school Candlelight, the middle school winter formal.  On December 8th, I found out that my application for a leadership position in MS TAIMUN was accepted and I was the Deputy Secretary General.  After exams, on December 15th, I attended our winter formal, Frolic.  It wasn't very exciting, but still quite fun.  Afterwards, winter break began, and most of our family came back and spent a couple of days in Taiwan.  The cousins did stuff like, eat at Momo's, go ice skating, bowling, lazer tag, and a lot of other stuff.  Finally the month ended on New Year's Eve.


This year, was a very good year, as there was a balance of both hardship and accomplishment.  I would definitely say that this year was very very fun, and I am eager to see what 2012 has for me.  

Swan Lake

Wow, I've been meaning to do this post for a long time....

Anyhow, this year's dance production was pretty awesome.  I was one of the lead techies doing Swan Lake.  I ran the board along side TC Tasha Ing and FX Jake Cooper.  I had an awesome time being in the booth after 2 years and I'm glad to say that I haven't lost my touch.  My favorite scene in the dance production would definitely be when Odelle is captured by the Rothbarts.  I really loved doing that scene because it just looked really epic when it was done perfect.

Sigh...Next Year's tech will be awesome!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Much Ado About Nothing

So, its been about 2 weeks since the play and I've had some time to think about what happened.

This year, I joined tech so I would be able to learn under the new teacher, and maybe get into Cultural Convention this year.  I envisioned myself as becoming TC or Tech Coordinator (Stage Manager) where I finally get to run the show as the head techie.

In the end, I became Assistant Technical Director (which meant I did everything), as well as ran the backstage crew.  The stage manager positions went to two students who were IB Theatre students who needed to be involved with the play somehow.  Both had zero technical experience which made me quite angry.  Also, I later realized that I wouldn't be going to Cultural Convention either due to external circumstances.

However, in the end, I got to work with an awesome tech teacher, and I learned a lot of new things.  I got to build tons of new things and do things that I've never done for tech before.

All in all, I would say that this was an awesome experience, but it would have been better if some things were in my favor.


Monday, August 15, 2011

College ----> Florida

Well, in the last few weeks, I was in the East Coast touring colleges.  We were in Boston, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC.  The colleges that we went to see were: Boston College, Brandeis, Tufts, Columbia, Muhlenberg, Haverford and Georgetown.
I really like Haverford, but I won't discuss about it on here.

A good thing about the college tour was that we got to eat alot of good food.  Tons of good seafood (East Coast), and other goodies. I have pictures on Facebook.

We also went to New Jersey where we saw some old friends and had a big party there also.  (I just realized that all of my good experiences somehow revolve around food. That's depressing).


Now onto Florida.

Florida is awesome.  Tons of amusement parks, friendly people, and awesome food.  We went to six theme parks.  Universal Studios, Universal Islands of Adventure (Harry Potter), Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, Disney Magic Kingdom, and Disney Animal Kingdom. For some reason this time, I sort of overcame my fear of rollercoasters, as I went on tons this time.  Some of my favorites include: Rip Ride Rockit, Rocket-Roller, The Forbidden Journey, The Incredible Hulk, and the Dragon Challenge, just to name a few.  I also went on some really interesting rides: The Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Mission Space.  I was quite impressed with the technology involved in the rides.  

The difference between Universal Studios and Disney World is basically: crowd control.  At disney, they have special "walkers" for people who come early in the morning to the rides.  They keep a huge rope as they "walk" everyone into the park.  Later, they keep everyone happy by getting people to "fastpasses" or providing wonderful service that makes waiting in line worth it.  At Universal, no such system exists.   Finally I recommend anyone who is going to Florida to check out the amusement parks, to buy the book: The Unofficial Guide to Disney World _____ (year)...it is a very useful book because it helps "hardcore amusement park people" have fun.  It cuts wait time by 80%. 

Well that was my first few weeks of summer...it was awesome.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

School 2011-2012

My junior year just started last week, and so far its been fine.  My schedule this year is very relaxed, and yet also quite challenging.  My main goals this year are: To score A- or higher in all my classes; To get a 2000+ on my SAT, as well as a high score on my ACT; To be apart of this year's Upper School Drama as well as the Techie that goes to Bangkok for Cultural.  Other than that, stay alive, and stay happy.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

End of an Era

Well, it began with "The Boy Who Lived.."  It has been a wonderful series..and I am thankful that I have been apart of it.  I remember watching the first Harry Potter, as well as reading all the books. 

I used to boast that I could read fast, and one of the examples I would always use was: "I read Harry Potter, The Order of Phoenix in 2 hours."  While this was usually not true, I still remember reading the books over and over and over.  20 times, 50 times, even 100s of times.  Whenever the new book came out, I would read it non-stop to get the story.  Right after I finished, I would re-read it again to soak up any details that I may have flew over.  Harry Potter books are one of those books that will always show you something different every time you read it. I think my favorite Harry Potter book of all time would be the 5th.  It was quite long (which shows that reading it in 2 hours is almost impossible), and yet it was very gripping. The death of one of my favorite characters, Sirius Black, was quite sad, but I did understand why. In all, as many people say, "the books are always better than the movie", and in this case, it is quite true.

As I have said to many people, I have been very disappointed with many of the movies.  I personally believe that movie adaptations are usually bad, and in some cases the Harry Potter books.  I think that movies 1 and 2 were the best, because the books were short and they could keep every thing in.  3, 4, 5, and 6 were mostly bad as they created many plot holes and sort of kept things abridged.  I was quite glad that they split number 7 into two parts, as it allowed the producers to add more things in.  In the end the Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 were quite impressive and I actually enjoyed the movies. 

In all, it has been a wonderful 10 years.  While, it never seemed that long, it is true that the series will live on forever.  It is possible that an Extended Universe will be created, similar to Star Wars.  Finally, I would just like to say, that it truly is an end of an era, and I hope that this series will be kept alive through the billions of fans around the world.  I will definitely "force" my kids to read the series, as I did before. 

Fin.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Week 1 Day 1 (Questions)

Wow...first day, while the SAT itself wasn't that bad, it was after I took it, when I found out that I had a ton of stuff to do.  I studied the wrong vocab words which meant I had to cram them, and also I have to do make-up homework.  Sigh...tomorrow is another day.

In other news, I got a job! Teaching tennis...pro bono...not that I mind.

Today is my birthday in Taipei, and tomorrow is my birthday here...XD.

Thank you all my friends (who actually read this) for wishing me a happy birthday!

:)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Week 1 Day 0 (The Beginning)

Well its official, tomorrow I begin my Elite SAT Cram Course.  While I did take a practice SAT on Saturday, I am so not looking forward to tomorrow's SAT.   Anyways, this post was just my way of ranting before tomorrow.

Good Luck (to myself)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Week 0, Day 0 (The Horror)

Hey, my non-existent readers, this summer I plan to blog daily about this new SAT Cram Course I will be partaking.  This will be a interesting way to practice my writing, as well as throw in some vocabulary to make me sound prestigious, when in actuality I will sound pretentious and perhaps deranged.  Wish me luck as I endure the hellish journey in which I will have to complete over a time span of 6 weeks.  I pray that I won't become a lifeless cadaver afterwards.

As first impressions go, Jack Sung, the "director"(?) or "founder" of this Elite program, has failed.  When I first met him, he was: short, seemed to have OCD and quite downright depressing.  After a few minutes talking with him, I was more or less correct. He was short, most definitely OCD and very depressing.  The way he described the sheer amount of work I would be partaking, was so depressing, it took me all of my willpower to not stab myself with the pens on his desk.  An example week, he explained, had the following:
Monday: SAT Test - Lesson with Writing Teacher
Tuesday: Lesson with Writing/Reading/Math Teacher (Quiz?)
Wednesday: Same
Thursday: Same
Friday: Same (Vocabulary Quiz?)

Also, he explained that each day I would have to memorize 50 SAT words, which would later be tested at the end of the week. (250 words a week)  Each week would be the same.  No breaks, no fun, no actual "summer" life.  4.5 hours of class a day, and 3 hours of homework every night.  Goes to show you that this summer will be quite depressing and downright suicidal.  It seems that the only people that are filled with zeal over this class, are my parents and the TAS parents that recommended this program.


Notice: Due to the nature of this blog-post and subsequent posts, anyone who has gone, or is affiliated to the Elite Educational Institute, please do not take these words by heart, and only regard them as one's thoughts of the matter.

Friday, June 3, 2011

What a day...

WOW....I had so much fun today.  The level of fun I experienced was unimaginable.  Today was my early (very early) birthday party.  I had planned for paintball 3 weeks ago, but it was rained out.  This postponed event became the best I have had in the last 3 years (as I went to the waterpark all 3 years).  We began rather later, as we left at about 11, whereas last year we left at around 9.  After arriving at around 11:40, Pelix, Paulina, Ginnie, Daniel and I first went to the UFO, which was pretty great, but because we didn't have Emily for our Best Combo Ever, it wasn't as epic.  After doing a couple more turns, we switched to a different ride.  (Currently, I am not sure what the ride is called, but for now it shall be named: Dual-Pink Tube Ride.) This ride was ok, as I sat by myself due to the fact that we had an odd number, however it was quite fun as sometimes I fell of my tube and had to propel myself forward to get to it.  It wasn't very dangerous, but it made me realize what a "bob-sled" team felt like.  Seeing as the Tarzan Rope/Slide was finally open, we decided to definitely try it out.  It was very fun, as all of us attempted to do some crazy swing/jump but most of us ended failing.   After, we all decided to be brave and do the Twisty/Free-fall slide.  Now me being brave and all, decided to do the Free-fall slides.  At first it was pretty exhilarating, but after a few rounds I got pretty bored of it.  After about 15 minutes, we headed towards the center to have lunch.  As tradition, after lunch we went to the Lazy River to let our food digest.  There we took some underwater pictures, relaxed, basically a long cool down.  Afterwards, we met up with Emily and Young, where we quickly decided to head back to the Tarzan Rope/Slide in case it closed again.  After another couple more rounds, we headed back tot he UFO where we reunited the Best Combo Ever, our first ride was the best, as we all were quite full after lunch, therefore increasing the mass.  After once again, rotating the people we went back to the Dual-Pink Tube Ride, the Twisty/Free-fall slide, the Huge Castle of Water, and finally back to the Lazy River.  Once again we took pictures, and relaxed.

After the waterpark, we all packed into two cabs and headed to ACC.  There we went to the Jacuzzi and the pool, where we played around, took pictures and had tons of fun.  Afterwards, we had dinner at ACC and basically that was the end of my Birthday party.  All in all, I had tons of fun with all my friends, and I hope 365 days can go by faster.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

My Resolution 2011

COMMITTEE: Human Rights
Question of: Prevention of Unethical Clinical Trials
Main Submitter(s): France
CO-SUBMITTERS:
CO-SPONSORS:

Recognizing that unethical clinical trials is a crime against humanity, involving human subjects participating in biology, clinical medicine, psychology, and other social sciences;

Reaffirming that clinical trial is unethical when the human subject has not given their consent;

Reiterating that the, “The Nuremberg Code” and the “Declaration of Helinski” both have principles that should already be implemented all around the world;

Reminding that the definition of crimes against humanity include  inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health;

Recalling that this issue can go ignored without increased amounts of public awareness;

The General Assembly:

1.      Proposes that an United  Nations Unethical Clinical Trial Committee, be formed to implement clauses 2 to 8;

  1. Calls Upon all Member States to surrender medical and employee records to the United Nations Unethical Clinical Trial Committee, so that preliminary investigations can be carried out, at facilities such as but not limited to:
a.       hospitals, clinics, universities;
b.      the identity of patients will be protected during the investigations;
c.       if the preliminary investigation has yielded results, investigations will be carried out on said individual;

3.      Strongly Urges, that a hotline will be created that will be connected to the UNUCT so that people can anonymously report an unethical clinical trial for investigations;

4.      Expresses its hope that the More Economically Developed Countries(MEDC’s) would regulate and prevent the private medical corporations based in their nations from exploiting the more vulnerable populations of the third world countries for the purpose of their own financial gain;
a.       if the government discovers that the private medical corporation is indeed conducting unethical clinical trials, subsequent investigations will be carried out on said corporation;

5.      Declares that Member States can begin increasing public awareness at appropriate age groups of unethical clinical trials through means of but not limited to:
a.       education  providing means of but not limited to:
i.        seminars, lectures;
ii.      textbooks on previous unethical clinical trials,
iii.    the IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Student’ Association) will raise the awareness of the  ethical concerns when conducting clinical trials to the medical students;
b.      media such as but not limited to:
i.        radio, pamphlets, internet, television, advertisement;

6.      Requests that all Member States to provide full co-operation with regional offices of the UNUCTC, when apprehending a suspected individual;
    1. with consent of the nations involved, allow the UNUCTC to extradite criminals in cases of unethical clinical trials, and try the criminals in an international criminal court,
                                            i.            if the local law enforcement are compromised by intervention from third-party individuals, either financially or physically, then the International Criminal Court should have jurisdiction of such cases and enforce UN mandates,
                                          ii.            suspects will be tried under the ICC, under the grounds of crimes against humanity,

7.      Urges that member nations with current hospitals conducting clinical trials to ensure that all clinical trials’ information is updated frequently on the International Clinical Trials Registry Programme;
a.        countries must ensure that future approved clinical trials to be imputed onto the ICTRP;

8.      Further Requests that all Member States to begin setting up rehabilitation centers with individual departments focusing on the different tests run on victims for the purpose of restoring confidence in victims towards safe medical facilities which includes  such but not limited to
a.       Sanctioned Medical Personnel, Counseling Facilities;

9.      Further Invites those member nations with victims of said unethical clinical trials to begin remunerating the victims financially;

  1. Suggests that a meeting should be held every five years to review the status of the implementation of clauses 2-8, and will be open to member nations, doctors, and other respected members of the medical community.



Taimun 2011

As I was reading some of my old posts, I realized that I did a Taimun post, and that I had yet to do one this year.  Anyways, this year I was part of the TAS Taimun team, in which I was the Delegate of France for the Human Rights committee.  Our topics this year were somewhat, boring compared to last years.  They were: The Prevention of Unethical Clinical Trials, and The Protection of Journalists in Armed Combat Areas.  I being somewhat interested in medicine, chose the first topic. After many practices at school, my resolution was, in my opinion very well done.  This year, I became a Main Submitter for my topic, as I was one of the somewhat unorganized few who chose this topic.

Because many delegates chose the second topic, there weren't many other delegates to merge resolutions with.  As a result, I had a rather, abridged resolution, with only three other delegates who actually merged.  The other group had about eight other delegates, who merged.  I believed that mine would not pass because mine had barely any help, however, I still had hope. 

During debate, mine was attacked frequently, however because previous resolutions took too much time, mine was debated for only about 35-40 minutes, which was very disconcerting.  However, I still enjoyed the experience of being a main submitter.

I would like to give a shout out to my two awesome chairs: Winnie Liao and Ros Wong, as well as friends that I made and some that I have met before: Paul Wu, Chris Ko, Stephanie Yang and Julia Kee. 

Well, see you all next year!

PS. I will post my final/failed resolution.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Severe Writer's Block (Singapore + Cambodia post)

Wow...this is really sad, its been 1 month since I posted on my blog.  Sadly, not much has really happened, other than the fact that I went to Cambodia for spring break (which was awesome) not much.  Oh yeah singapore in CNY was awesome also.... Hmmm I should just post now.


Singapore - CNY
Well this year, we went to visit Singapore, our old home for 5 years.  We saw old friends, hung out with some, and did a ton of shopping.  We stayed at the Hilton this year, which was on Orchard, which meant that it was easy to go shopping, eating, and to see friends.  My friend Sibonay, lived right behind our hotel which was very convenient, seeing as I went over almost every day.  We also stayed next to the new mall, the Ion.  It was huge, though we only shopped in the lower levels (cause they were cheaper).  I hung out with Sibonay, for one whole day, as she helped me get birthday presents in Takashimaya.  All in all, it was a fun trip, I ate tons in Singapore (chili crap, pepper crab, hainan chicken rice x6, laksa, and all the other greats), hung out with alot of people, and just plain had fun.  I have to do it again sometime.


Cambodia - Spring Break
Once again, I went to Cambodia as part of our church's mission trip.  This trip has been like the biggest thing that I have been anticipating for this whole year (I don't think I have correct grammar on that one, but oh well).  This year, 30+ people went, with about 7 people in my grade.  Shelley, Meredith, Joanne, Trillium, Morgan, Maxine, and Katherine.  (sorry if I actually forgot someone, i'll edit and add you in)  This year, I was part of the construction team where we went to Battambang to construct a brick fence/wall for the new orphanage building (there already was an orphanage, but they were building a new one for the kids), as well as painting the walls inside.   I really enjoyed working there, as I got to hangout with some of my friends as well as play with the orphans.  Because we stayed for most of the week, I made some really awesome friends there. This year, we had the option of staying in a hotel as opposed to the original plan of staying in an orphanage.  Sadly after staying one night at the hotel, I couldn't leave (except the time when I actually did stay, and it was bad, but I'll write about it later).  Still I believed that I helped spread God's word, as well as teaching the kids while I was there.  As always, I ate everything they served, (plus a little extra - crickets/frogs/field mice).  I really enjoyed eating the Cambodian cuisine, though the beef there is kinda rubbery.  All in all, I enjoyed my trip, and I definitely plan to go next year, and the year after.


Staying in the Orphanage.
Well it was bad, it was very stuffy, and there wasn't much wind that night either.  The girls however, has a working fan, (which led them to actually need blankets).  Though I enjoyed the experience, I couldn't handle the heat as I only received about 4-5 hours of sleep.





Wednesday, January 19, 2011

4 years...

Wow...I have had this blog for 4 years. Ever since I had this crazy idea in 6th grade to start a blog. If I remember, I started strong, with blog posts almost every month, with a new review. However, as the years gone by, I have gotten lazy, or just couldn't write anything meaningful. Recently, I have bounced back writing a couple reviews and some essays as well. Yet I think that if I had a higher number of followers, or people that actually commented. I may put more effort in blogging.

Sigh....


4 years.