Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts

Wow, two days in a row.  I found this awesome song just now, when I was looking at one of my favorite cover artists on Youtube.   The Piano Guys, truly a group of extremely talented people.  This recent addition has just made my day even better.  This mix/mashup is very light and just feels very uplifting.  This truly is a beautiful piece.  Thank You Piano Guys!




Monday, February 27, 2012

Better Days

You know, it's been a while since I've posted on my blog.  I'm here today to offer my non-existent readers something.  A song.

I was watching Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice the other day and I discovered this song.

Better Days.

Something just touched me when I heard this song.

I just think that there is something about this song that is sooo uplifting.

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again





I hope that those that do read this blog, just understand...that whatever you do...there is always that there will "just [be] a chance that we'll find better days..."

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.