The Highest Step in the World Review

I usually don’t like to see plays at a theatre that much. I like movies, but I don’t particularly enjoy play, like one with a live actor on stage. If somehow I end up seeing a play, I always see the cons of the play and not the pros. Well, I stand corrected. The play “The Highest Step in the World” was absolutely fantastic. I was fascinated by the quality of the play, the plot of the story, and the sound and lighting effects.The quality of the play was magnificent, not to mention the plot of the story. It was extraordinary. David Van Belle was the only actor on stage, acting as different characters in three stories, speaking in different voices. The plot of the story, or stories, was well-played and demonstrated. The actor was amazingly in sync with the projection in the background as well as the overwhelming sound effects. The three stories about flight tied in well with one another. It was just like a movie. One second it was about this character and this scene, the next it was about another character halfway across the globe. The actor switch as one character to the next almost constantly. The use of technology and lighting in the play was remarkable. David Van Belle was actually flying; actually flying with two ropes attached to his body, floating around the stage. The actor’s clothes, combined with the lighting effect create sort of an illusion. The light seemed to be projecting directly onto the clothes, making it one minute a skeleton, and next a police officer. I think overall, the total quality of the play, all the lighting effect plus the projection, the sound effect and the amazing story line, makes this play really unique.

The play was 75 minutes, with about 30 dollars per ticket. The 75 minutes of my life and 90 dollars was totally worth it. I had high expectation for this play, and David Van Belle did not fail me. I would love to see more play as good as this anytime soon.

Retreat 2013

For the past couple of days, I've been trying to get my sleep back on track. I missed a lot of sleep earlier this week. Why, you might ask? Well, I've been in high school for three weeks so far. Most school in Richmond have a trip that takes three days and two nights for all the grade eight students in that school so that they get to know each other and make friends. My school called it the Retreat. The Retreat was on the third week of September. For me, I already had a group of friends before that, but it was fun to get away from school once in a while.

Our usual school time was 8:30 in the morning, but that Monday, be had to arrive at the school by seven sharp. Some people were late, and we started to get moving around 7:45. I didn't know how long it took us to get to our destination, camp Stillwood in Chilliwack, but the ride seemed to take forever. Out of five buses, we were the third one to arrive. 

When we got there, lots of grade eight students were already there. We walked in, and were divided into teams. Our team name was Love, and we had the worst banner there. That's a fact. Each team have at least two grade eleven or twelve students to lead the team. They were called "leaders". One of ours was horrible. In my opinion, we were the worst out of fourteen teams or so. At least there were some of my friends who suffered along with me. After that, we were sent to our cabins to dump our stuff and get used to our roommates. We had about half and hour to do whatever we wanted before lunch. Lunch was the best. The camp had all the food in the world. They had onion rings, fries, burgers, salad, you name it. I devoured my portion of food like a famished gorilla. I returned for second, and later, for third. My stomach was crammed with three plates of food. Lunch was undoubtedly fantastic!

When lunch was over, we started a scavenger hunt. It was 2% fun, 98% tiring. Basically, you wander around the camp, looking for teachers and staffs who will give you a clue of where to go next. They also give you a letter, where in the end, you put it together and form a word. The first team to finish win. For the first couple of clues, our team was hustling, running around the camp, actually trying to win. After that though, we were all strolling. By the time we finished (and of course we didn't win), everyone was exhausted. The hunt took us all the way from lunch to dinner, which was good because I was starving once again. We had spaghetti as the main course and some salad. But I'm pretty sure I only ate the spaghetti. In my opinion, I prefer the lunch just because we got a variety which we could pick from (plus I love onion rings).

We did got some free time. I think it was two hours or so. I enjoyed my time playing volleyball with my friends though I'm lousy and terrible. I don't think I'll make the team this year. The hours flew by real quick, and before I know it, we were in an area called the dome, doing our next activity. We had to make a cheer that links with our team name. Ours was Love. I'm not a pessimistic guy, but to be honest, our cheer was horrible, yet we made the top three. One team was beatboxing. That was really sick. They ended up winning the Cheer Off competition. We got sent to our cabin at eleven but my roommates kept my awake until twelve thirty. I was dead tired the next day, but it was well worth it.

The bathroom was congested the next morning since we had about fifty people sharing one. After taking turns like nice gentle human beings, us boys went to the dining  hall to get the breakfast. We had scrambled egg and hash browns.The hash browns tasted like those that you could get at McDonald's. After breakfast, we were put in to groups made out of the teams. Each big group was made of three or four teams. There were four groups. Each group did a different activity and then rotates after and hour and a half.

Our first activity was pretty awesome. We didn't do anything and that's why it's awesome. We watched the first episode of Glee. I gotta say I was interested. It was about high school students so that was probably the teacher showed us the video. We then rotated, and we ended up at drama. It was fun. We played games after games for one and a half hours. I really enjoyed it!

It was twelve o'clock which means lunch. I couldn't remember what we had but I know for sure that it was really tasty. We had another activity after lunch, and it was art. We created and decorated our picture frame where we would put tomorrow's group photo in it. After that, we had a chance of either going on a hike or free time. Which one did you think I picked? Free time, duh. It was like three hour. I started with basketball, then moved to football then soccer and then back to football. Just let me tell you something: when you're having fun, three hours seem like three minutes. Before I know it, it was dinner. Dinner was mash potato and chicken and lots of other stuff, but I didn't notice anything else beside the potato and the chicken. That was my dinner right there.Two plates of those and I was basically set for the night.

After dinner, we had one more activity and then the main activity of the three days come. Charades!!!!!! The teachers claimed to be unbeaten for the last who-knows-how-many years. Each team was paired was paired up with another and after that round is complete, one team rotates while the other stays. Our team was the mobile one. For every answer that we got correct, we get a point. In the end, we total up the points and see who won the Annual Retreat Charades 2013. And of course the teacher won. The second was basically like the first one. My roommates were like gorillas on the loose. They were maniacs. I couldn't get a good night sleep at all.

The next day was also the last. After breakfast, we cleaned up which was a rough job for us boys. Then, it was basically free time up until we leave. On the bus, I was trying my hardest to fall asleep, but people around me were like blowing an air horn in one of my ear and play a tuba in the other. That's why I'm still making up for all the sleep I've lost, or at least trying to.   

Richmond Public Library's 2013 Teen Summer Reading Club

Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Goodreads Summary:
Still reeling from their experiences in Roanoke in 1600, Jonah and Katherine arrive in 1611 only moments before a mutiny on Henry Hudson’s ship in the icy waters of James Bay. But things are messed up: they have lost the real John Hudson, and they find what seems to be the fabled Northwest Passage—even though they are pretty sure that that route does not actually exist. Will this new version of history replace the real past? Is this the end of time as we know it? With more at stake than ever before, Jonah and Katherine struggle to unravel the mysteries of 1611 and the Hudson Passage...before everything they know is lost.

Review:I have always loved the books from "The Missing" series. The series was never boring. Torn wasn't an exception. I found this book suspenseful. At the end of every chapter, Haddix ended it with a catchy line that completely hooks me in, forcing me to read more. I was unable to stop reading. 
Every page was interesting. The author, Haddix, really described the main character Jonah and his thoughts. It was really easy to make connections as I read along. This book is fascinating. It's about time travel, so people that like science fiction would really enjoy this book, or the series in general. But truly, I think anyone can read and still enjoy this book. 

Caught by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Goodreads Summary:

Jonah and Katherine are accustomed to traveling through time, but when learn they next have to return Albert Einstein’s daughter to history, they think it’s a joke—they’ve only heard of his sons. But it turns out that Albert Einstein really did have a daughter, Lieserl, whose 1902 birth and subsequent disappearance was shrouded in mystery. Lieserl was presumed to have died of scarlet fever as an infant. But when Jonah and Katherine return to the early 1900s to fix history, one of Lieserl’s parents seems to understand entirely too much about time travel and what Jonah and Katherine are doing. It’s not Lieserl’s father, either—it’s her mother, Mileva. And Mileva has no intention of letting her daughter disappear.

Review:This author is amazing! I have to say that this book, Caught, was the best book that I've read from her. She has an outstanding imagination. This book takes you to the future, where secrets of time travel unravel. We might all have thought of time as a straight line, with the left side as the past and the right side as the future. That's what everyone thought about time travel, before it was invented. But Haddix has thought differently. In this book, through the characters, I found out that Haddix had illustrated a picture of time. Time is circular, in which the past can change the future, and the future can affect the past. For example, a man might go back in time and somehow stopped his mother's marriage. If he stopped his mother's marriage, then how could he have been born in the first place, not to mention growing up and going back in time to stop the marriage? Time is perplexing, expecially with time travel involved.Overall, I love this book. It's imaginary. That's true. But somehow, Haddix thought of all these factors of time travel, and they all seem very logical. This is a book that will totally get you hooked. It's amazing how Jonah and Katherine was living so normally, and when time travel gets involved, it messed up everything. This entire series, The Missing, is all based on future technology. Science fiction has always been my favorite genre to read. It's amazing how Jonah and Katherine was living so normally, and when time travel gets involved, it messed up everything. Time professionals rely on the two 21st kids to fix all the mess. They have been brought back to Albert Einstein and his family to fix the 1903. Can Jonah and Katherine somehow fix all the problems that Second, their once-friend-now-enemy has made, purposely, to ruin time? Can they fix time before it's too late?  

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Ashfall is an amazingly written novel by Mike Mullin, about two lovers, both struggling to survive the apocalypse. No, not the one with zombies, but more realistic than that. The violent volcanic eruption from Yellowstone had left the state of Iowa buried in the ash. Every single human being was striving toward the one goal: survive.Humans were no longer humans. We lost our root, the root that had separated us from other species. Humanity. Sure the eruption took away everything, destroyed the old world, the world of food and electronics, but our root was given up by us. We were no longer considerate, caring human beings that we used to be. We are no different from scavengers, from animals. We are all struggling to survive. Yes, but wouldn’t it be easier to put our brains together, consider the predicament, and work it out? But no. We lost our brains. We’d given up our humanity. What do we have to be fond of now?“For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn’t taken our humanity. No, we’d given that up on our own.”

Mike Mullin has an interesting way of writing. He really doesn’t describe the settings or characters that much, but as you read on, you can really sense that you know the characters or the settings and could relate. This book was full of non-stop action, with conflicts and problems around every corner. You can never guess the next situation, because the story is full of twists and action, enough for two books even. Not a single page bored me, and I was totally addicted before the first two chapters even ended. He was also able to add humor once in awhile to lighten up the gloomy mood. A great book needs great characters to go along with it. Mike Mullin had done just that. He had created two very intelligent characters, both in different ways. Both are mentally strong, though both of their families are missing. One died, and the other was in a different city. Overall, both characters are relatable, easy to understand, and very carefully described. Ashfall is way too real, especially under the great writing and description of the author. It will be a long time before we smell the reeking odor of sulfur, but Mike Mullin made the story feels as if it could happen any minute, any second. The scariest part ? It could occur some day.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Rickriordan.com Summary:

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Review:I never thought I would like Egyptian mythology, but this book just broke the rules. I have always enjoyed the book written by Rick Riordan. In fact, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series is my favorite series of all time. In this book, Rick Riordan found a way to combine humor, nonstop action and suspense in a tale of heroism and breath-taking adventure. I like the way he had chosen the point of view for this book, or points of view. He had taken both characters, Carter and Sadie Kane, and told his story through both of them, really allowing the reader to relate and understand the characters . I thought  that is really creative, and make this book stand out from other Rick Riordan's book I've read. When I first pick up this book, I didn't really like the way it starts.  But as I read on, the start didn't seem so bad. It linked with the ending, which I really liked, because it works as an introduction to the next book in the "Kane Chronicles".I found the plot very interesting, with two siblings, separated at the age of six, for the good of humanity. I like the twists of the story, because I can't guess what will happen next. The whole plot circles around the two main characters, with their main goal to stop Set, the god of chaos. Rick Riordan had repeated the goal through many characters, made it obvious that Set must be killed. But it the end, the two Kanes freed Set, trusting him to not mess up again, as there is a bigger problem to be dealt with: Apophis is escaping. 

The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

Rickriordan.com Summary:

Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods haven't given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians.And now their most threatening enemy yet - the chaos snake Apophis - is rising. If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished. First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells. Oh, and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is exactly?Narrated in two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.Review:The book itself is exactly like the summary. If you think the summary is good, then the book is good, at least from your point of view. From my point of view, the summary isn't very interesting and didn't really grab my attention. But since I've already read the first book, I kept my finger crossed that Rick Riordan had written this book in a way that it would be as great or better than the first one. I was expecting just that, but unfortunately, Rick Riordan did not deliver. Just like the first book, I do enjoy how the author wrote his story from two characters. It helps the reader relate and understand both characters instead of just the one story teller. I like how the story circles around one major conflict, really describing the danger and the reason why it must be solved. Rick Riordan also added humor to his writing, like ever other book that he had written. The humor lightens up the gloomy mood surrounding the main conflict, so that's good.That's enough of the "good" of this book. Now let's get to the "bad", shall we? I have a feeling the characters are mainly lucky, rather than actually skillful. For every of the problem along the way, they seems to have a simple solution that doesn't seem really realistic. Right off the start, the two characters receive gifts that would end up helping them later. They also got help often along the way, so it wasn't actually the characters solving it. And when they finally have a problem that they have to solve themselves, their solutions aren't very convincing or realistic, but Rick Riordan, through his magical writing, made it seem reasonable. At the end, there was a twist. Usually twists are good, but not this one. Instead of Sadie or Carter defeating the main antagonist, it was another character who did this. And that character was barely spoken about, not to mention well-described. If you read the book, you will know what I'm talking about.Usually, I like books written by Rick Riordan, because they're usually quite interesting and full of electrifying moments. This was somehow not good enough. It felt as if Rick Riordan didn't spend an adequate amount of time on this book. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the third book of this series  different from this one. Different in a good in and different as in different in the conflicts and the plot, because those are the two main things that put this book below my expectation. Don't get me wrong here. I love Rick Riordan books, as well as the style of writing and various climatic events that would keep the reader doing their constant motion of flipping, but for reason, this book isn't one one of those ones.  I was somewhat disappointed by this book and it did not fully meet my expectation. 3/5, and that's me being slightly generous.

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

Goodreads' Summary:

He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld. Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles.

Review: After reading the second book of the "Kane Chronicles" series, it was so bad that I wasn't really interested in picking up another book of the same series. But after a while, I had my second thoughts, and decided to give this book a shot. I was hoping Rick Riordan would change up the unconvincing resolutions while keeping the same level of intensity and humor. And thankfully, this last book in the series did live up to my expectation.The Serpent's Shadow might not be equally as good as the first book of the series, but it was undeniably better than the second. Number one: this book is humorous, definitely more than both the first and the second book combined. It made the plot and conflict off this book not as challenging as it should be, while making the book entertaining. 

Number two: the plot is interesting, with intense events, electrifying moments, one after another, and relatable as well as exciting characters, both new and old. And number three: a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying ending concludes the series (which I think is about time).The humor in this book is what made it so different from the other two. The two characters, Sadie and Carter Kane, had told the story in a very brother-and-sister way, making every chapter amusing to read. I laugh my head off every so often (every two minutes). With all the humorous sentences, phrases and dialogues, the two main characters in this book seem to say something like "We just survived doomsday, you know. We saved the world. No big deal, really. Now we can have a nice laugh over it." I was never bored, because I was too busy laughing over the humorous details and events every page or so.Though with the humor, it couldn't hide the true conflict and the plot. Humor did make it less troublesome, but it was still obvious that the conflict is dangerous and challenging. And in order to solve the problem, there must be action and intensity, and you can never get enough of those. This book is full of electrifying moments chasing one another like heartbeats, pages after pages, chapters after chapters. Endless battles between the gods and non-stop action from the characters are never enough in this book. The high level of intensity is kind of like when there is just too much air in a balloon, it exploded. The events are just too intense and breath-taking that they leave me standing on the tip of my toes, frantically flipping pages to find out what will happen next.

Rick Riordan is great at combining non-stop action and laughable events in just simple paragraphs and sentences, sometimes even small phrases. He had put them together so well, like mixing ice cream and coke together (not very appealing, I know), but he mix them so well that you can have a taste of both, in a perfect combination. Action and humor literally alternate, one after another, making laugh my head off and suddenly holding my breath and quickly flip the pages. I had kept my fingers crossed, hoping this book would be more Rick-Riordan-like, and thankfully, this book is just that.5/5, no doubt what so ever. 

My Summer

As you can tell, summer is coming to an end. School will be starting in less than a week. For everyone, school starting back is horrible. I wouldn't be so bad if your summer was marvelous or just simply satisfying. By enjoying, I mean traveling places, hanging out with friends, stay home and relax, and NO SUMMER SCHOOL. That would be a perfect summer, but unfortunately, that only exist in my dream.

My summer was not the best that it could possibly be. Summer is always two months. How long is school? Eight months? Nine months? That's like four times the summer. So what I really think is that summer should be free of work. It should be full of relaxation and pure fun. Sending your child to school is definitely not the rightful thing to do in the summer. That was exactly how the beginning of my summer went. My mom shipped me off to summer class. I spent a full month, my whole July, on a math class. I could have used that full month, which was half of my summer, to play video games or hang out with friends. For educational purposes, that might be good. But I have got nine months of education already. The summer is the time where I take time off. With the math summer school, I couldn't enjoy the first half of my summer.

When I finally finished the summer school, it was already August 2nd. Did I mention that I have a piano exam on August 14th? For the whole first half of summer, I got stuck with a math class. For half of August, I got stuck practicing for the piano exam. That was like one and a half of my summer gone. Gone in the trash because of two things that I thought shouldn't happen during the summer. That was why I felt so relieved when I took the exam. Two months of practice all came down to ten minutes in the exam room. After the exam, I got three full days off, which mean only video games. No piano, no work, nothing like that. Just video games. After my three days up in the cloud, I finally returned to earth. I had to read and take swimming classes after three days in paradise. I had to go the wedding of my friend's cousin, but that was great. I love it. After the wedding, we took three camping trips with our friends. One was to Capilano. Another was to Mission, B.C. And the last one was to Cultus Lake, Chilliwack. So as you can tell, August went way better than July. It's not even a close competition.

My summer did not go the way I expected it to be, but you can't change it now. School starts in six days, and when that comes, I would hear people yakking about there fabulous summer, and I'll just silently slip past them. Well, I just have to enjoy what's left of the two months summer.

Squamish and Whistler

If you hear the word "Squamish", what is the first thing that come to mind? It sounds like a horrible vegetable, but it's not. It's a small but fascinating city, neighboring by Vancouver, B.C. My family and I didn't explore the city (or the town, whatever you want to call it), but we did visit a famous site, called Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Not the best-looking waterfall in the summer, but compare to all the other falls I've seen, this one totally eliminated the rest.

The second I positioned inside my car, I knew it would be a never-ending drive. I really hoped the sight that we would be visiting pay off for all the time on the car that I had to put up with my sister. I had to say that the highway was really nice. Off to my right were the mountains, and off to my left, the ocean stretched in all direction. Mountains were everywhere, and island popped up here and there every five minutes or so. Pine trees grew on both sides of Highway 99. We drove with our parents' friend, who could be a great tour guide. At one point, he spotted Grouse Mountain and Mt. Seymour looming in the distance like two huge humps on a camel. He pointed out all the sights on the way, from every mountain to all the bays and islands to our left. Horseshoe Bay was surrounded by mountains and trees; so dazzling it looked like a beautifully painted picture. As our car rounded a curve, I could faintly notice what I suspect was Stanley Park, though I doubted it, beautifully in the distance. As if reading my mind, our friend just wiped my doubt away, assured me that it was one hundred percent Stanley Park. The view was gorgeous. I already loved the highway, and we weren't there just yet.

Though the view alongside the highway was great, the drive still took forever. But of course, we arrived at Shannon Falls at last. I was expecting the waterfall to be huge and elegant. I was expecting a huge stream of water to pour from top of the mountain. I was expecting to be deafened by the sound of water. I was expecting all that stuff, but as always, I let my hope get a bit too high. Shannon Falls was neither huge nor elegant, and instead of pouring water, there was barely a stream of water. The sound wasn't as loud and deafening as I hoped it would be. It wasn't all that bad. The water was coming from all the way from the top, and as the water come down, it bounced of rocks after rocks before flowing into the calm, peaceful pond at the bottom. The water flow wasn't as big as I though it would be. It was as if someone was pouring water from a bottle. The second the lid was opened, the water came out strong and powerful, but as the bottle got emptied, it became broken and unstable. I really liked it, since it was the first true waterfall I've seen so far. I would surely come back next year, hoping to see the bottle getting refilled.

After we were finished with the waterfall, we kept heading north, towards Whistler. This drive was shorter, and the views were the same, with mountains, lakes and trees appearing at every glance. We let our friend-tour guide did what he does best: pointing out landmarks. I really enjoyed and appreciated him feeding us geographical information. If I aced my geography test on B.C, thank you. We arrived at Whistler Village in no time. We were all starving, so lunch sounded the best that circumstance. We visited a spaghetti restaurant, and since we were famished, anything would sound tasty. I gobbled down my soup as well as my spaghetti, then unable to finish my dessert. After we got that out of the way, we wandered around the place and ended up at the place with the chairlift, where you get your bike up the hill, and free roamed downhill. I found that pretty cool, though I was no professional with bikes. 

We left as suddenly and quickly as we had came. I enjoyed the day-trip as much as I enjoy soft drinks. Though on our way back, we got jammed in some horrible rush-hour traffic for more than thirty minutes. But after the wonderful day, that didn't seem so bad. You can't be lucky forever!        

Wedding

Note to self: when someone invites you for a wedding, try your best to show up and don't even think of refusing. Maybe the formal way of clothing might not be my thing, but the dinner and all the festivities really make your day. I just went to a wedding of my friend's cousin, and it really wasn't bad at all.

As I said before, dressing formally in a suit with a tie and dress socks weren't my thing at all, though this wasn't my first time dressing like that. After getting myself dressed (which took a while), my family and I left to find the place where the ceremony (no, not the restaurant just yet) was held. When we got there, I casually walked in, found my friend, and popped myself in the last row of chairs. Let's just say the ceremony was not the most exciting event that Saturday. We just all sat there and listened to a lady from the government speaking and announcing. That might have been exciting for my friend's families and siblings, but for me, I just sat there, with my feet sleeping under the chair.

When it was finally over, someone announced that there were "refreshments", which was just another word for food. At least that was the interesting part in that room. After that, I just sat around because I really didn't know many other people beside my friend, his family and mine. Then one of his cousin came to me and started a conversation, then introduced me to his brother. They were both pretty nice guys. But of course, when I was finally having fun, we had to leave.

I thought that was it, but believe it or not, my parents said that everyone in the wedding ceremony would come to a dinner. Of course, how did I not know that? More tie, dress socks and probably isolation as well. But I figured that it would be a luxurious restaurant, so at least that wasn't bad. 

When we showed up for the dinner, not everyone was there, so the plan was delayed by half an hour. When it finally started, I was starving as if I hadn't seen food for ages. I've got to say that the food was luscious, and since I thought I hadn't eaten in ages, they tasted even better. All the dishes for my food portion that the waitress served were all gobbled and devoured in seconds. I guess you couldn't worry about manner when you're famished.

When that was done, we moved on to the entertainment with the bride and groom, along with guesses among the crowd who were willing to volunteer. That was probably the best part of the night. The crowd and the two newly married wife and husband started some usual wedding games, and I had to say they were all hilarious, with constant jokes from the stage and ear-bursting laughs and cheering from the audience. I really enjoyed the wedding.

At last, we (as in all the people who were present at the restaurant) gathered all our stuff and left. I have to call it a night! 

Younger Siblings

You know how annoying it is to have a younger sibling? They can be really irritating. The worst part is that you have to deal with them every single day. Sometimes I think having an older sibling might be way better. Younger brothers or sisters can be a pain that you can never get rid off.

First of all, they don’t respect your privacy. They think that they have the right and access to everything you have. They might take your iPod without asking, for example. Then they will lie straight in your face that they don’t have it. It’s so disturbing. They will got your room and fumble with your stuff when you’re not present at home. When you come back, something is always gone or messed up. Hey, I need my privacy, so if you go and mess with my things, don’t ask why I hate you.

The parents always love them more, because they're younger. The younger brothers or sisters get more attention. Before they were born, you were the king (or queen) of the house. Then they pop up and snatch all the care and attention away from you in a blink of an eye. Everytime you fight with the younger members of the family, you always lose. Parents are always, always on their side. Even if they totally deserve the punishment. For example, if they ruin your video game system, your mom will be like “He’s still little, blah blah blah...” I can’t stand it if someone really deserve to get punished and somehow got away. 

You were having your friends over, and having a marvelous time. Then your little brother run down the stair laughing. You turn to see what’s going on, and spot your underwear on his head. You buried your head in your hands, trying to muffle out your friends’ laughter, turning pink and pinker every second. Another thing is that the younger siblings can basically do something stupid or horrible in front of a new friend from the neighborhood, and totally ruined your reputation. I have my life, and you have yours, so don’t come and ruin it.

Having a younger brother or sister is so annoying. Annoying is an understatement. They’re a flea under your skin that refuses to disappear. But there’s nothing you can do to change it, so you should be trying to cope with it, or wait until you’re old enough to move out.  

Playland

Time seemed to pass by slower than usual. Our class was on a school bus, waiting to arrive at the amusement park. All of us were excited and impatient, some more than others. The half an hour ride to Playland seemed to last like an hour. This was our grade 7s graduation field trip, and all of us looked forward to this day.

As the bus rolled to a stop in the parking lot, we all stood up impatiently. My feet were asleep since the bus started its way to our destination. Half of me wanted to stay on this bus, because I was never a big fan of rides, but the other half really wanted to get off, and enjoy this last field trip in elementary school. That half won, and I hustled down the bus.

All of us hurried in. When we finally got past the entrance, our teacher reminded us of our meeting time and place, though none of us were really in a mood to listen.

“Now you may go,” said the teacher, “and have fun!”

As soon as he finished his sentence, some of us had already started to sneak away. Before I knew it, we were all scattered. Some headed for the best rides, some ran to catch up with others. I just stood there, watching people move. Finally, I followed a group of my friends. They were heading for the “Hellevator”, the ride that I feared of before we even arrived. It basically lifts you up sky high, and suddenly drops you all the way down.

“C’mon, come with us,” said my two friends who had the guts to ride it.

I quickly glanced at the the ride and replied, “I think I’m good.”

There were two reasons I didn't want to ride it. First was because I feared the height of the drop, and second was because the line up was long. Not just our school decided to go on a field trip on this very fine Tuesday, other schools have too. I should have realized that when we were in the parking lot. There were at least a dozen bright orange school buses outside.

When my two friends finished their rides, we wandered around, finding some other cool rides. We couldn’t find anything, and eventually, it was time to meet up. Most of our classmates were there. The teacher told us our next meeting time and place, and we were off again. But this time, I found myself in a different group with 3 other people. This group was quicker at choosing rides, and we ended up doing more rides than I expected. I chickened out on two of them, and rode the other three. It was one of the best times in the entire school year.

Out of the three rides that I rode, I enjoyed two of them. One was the wooden rollercoaster. As you can tell by the name, the ride was made out of wood. One thing that was so great about this ride was that you felt like you were going to fall out, when actually, you wouldn't. It was a lengthy ride with one big drop. Nothing much. I shared a seat with one really good friend of mine, and the two of us were laughing as well as screaming during the ride. The other ride looked like a Ferris wheel lying on the ground. My friend and I stayed in the same cage as each other. As the ride spun us around, it also stood up vertically, up to the point where we were going upside down. It was a great experience for me.

As much as I wished we could stay, we couldn’t. It was time to finally head back to school. The ride back seemed shorter, though I knew that it was just me thinking so. Back at the school, we were welcomed by younger students. We. the grade 7s, would graduate in two days, and this field trip was the perfect way to bid us farewell.

Should Electronics Be Allowed in Class?

You are in class, reading a book. Suddenly, you came across a word that you have never heard of. The dictionaries were in the very back shelf, and unfortunately, you sat at the front of the class. You just also had a tired basketball game. Would it be better if school allow electronics during class?

First of all, that would save the school a lot of money. Think of all the computers in the computer lab. That’s a lot, not to mention that they’re not normal computers. They’re high-tech computers. What if the students already have an expensive and advanced laptop at home? All the school computers would be a waste. The students could just basically bring their laptop to school and save the school tons of money. Sure the school could have a few just in case, but would it be better to allow the students to bring their own laptop or electronic device to school and save a lot of money?

Some students, especially ESL, love to have an iPod or an iPhone as a translator. They can use the electronic devices as dictionary or thesaurus. Instead of having to flip the pages in the dictionary, the students can just type it in and they have the translation. Easy, right? Most students like music. Some of them even work better while listening to music. During work period, the teacher could allow them to use their electronics, like iPod or mp3, to listen to music. That would stop them from talking to one another. They would focus on their work, instead of talking.

Notes-taking takes forever. The teacher write stuff on the board, you write them down. The students start writing, and when the teacher finish, he or she gets impatient. It would be way simpler if the students can just use the electronics to take a picture. First of all, we won’t waste paper. Second of all, it would be way quicker. More things will happen in class. The students also can take picture of their homework. Let’s say you have math homework, and the textbook is just really heavy. You can take a picture of it. You don’t have to carry that much weight. Isn’t that convenient?

There are so many good things to allowing the students to bring their own electronics to school. Not only that it help the school save lots of money, it help the students as well. They would like school a lot better. It’s a win win situation.

High School

High school is a very important shift to a student. In elementary, everything is simpler, less stressful. High school is more complicated. The students and teachers will all change. More homework will be given since this is the point when you need to be way more responsible because nobody will be around reminding you. High school and elementary are two contrasting schools.

In elementary, you only have one teacher, and you stick with that teacher for the whole year. That teacher will care more about you because your class is the only class that they teach. If they don’t mind you, then who else should they mind? They will more or less keep an eye on you. That’s not the case in high school. You have way more than one teacher. You have one for each subject, like science, math, social studies, you name it. Each of them teach more than one class everyday, so they don’t have time to keep an eye on you. They have like a hundred student out there, so you have to find a way to stand out somehow. Raising your hand and answering question, or do extremely well  on a quiz, and that will get the teacher’s attention.

You really have to be more responsible when entering high school. Unlike elementary, where the teacher inform you of everything that you need to do, assign homework and tell you the time to change subject, shift gear. In high school, there’s no one to remind you of all that stuff. After a period, you have to get to your locker, find your stuff and hurry to the next class. For a project, the teacher might tell you what you do, assign it to you, and not speak of it for a whole month. You totally forget about that project. A month later, the teacher tell the class that the project is due, but you didn’t do it because you forgot. So it’s really up to you to decide what to do for homework and keep track of thing. Be responsible!

In elementary, you get yourself a best friend and you’re good to go. You do everything with that person. Math, science, social studies projects, you do everything together. It’s not the same thing in high school. Let’s say you find yourself a friend during math period, but that friend won’t be around when you’re doing science because you guys have different classes to attend. You might still meet during lunch or after school, but not during class periods. You and your best friend can’t work with each other anymore, so you have to get yourself a lot of dependable friends in order to be last all the way from grade 8 to 12.

High school and elementary are two very different schools, but don’t be afraid of going to high school. Despite all of that problems, you might have a wonderful time and really enjoy yourself. The years at high school are guaranteed to be the best years of your life!

The Beach

A beach appears on television. It’s a deep blue color with boats or fish resting and families spending their weekends. We know it as a great place to relax and enjoy. But what a beach really is, is way more than than relaxation, and only people who have been there can describe it.

The best view of the beach is at early morning, during sunset. Before that, the sea is a calm blue bed sheet. When the sun wakes up and pops out, the beach, as if was given life, starts dancing with little waves petting the sand. The sea is no longer a dark blue color. It is now alive with shades of red and orange, mixing with the original bright blue color, fighting for space, overlapping one another. The soothing sounds of waves climbing over the shore are the steady rhythm for the sweet singing of the seagulls and pelicans. The soft and dry sand comfort your hands that had been asleep. The frozen sea chills you to the bone in one touch after spending the whole entire night in the brisk  night air.The smells of pine and coconut trees freshen the lifeless scent of the beach. The sweet scent wakes the sleeping families all around, lifted them out of bed and invited them to the welcoming beach.

Noon is the busiest time at the beach. People are starting to head out with surfboards, suntan lotions and water tubes. The crowded beach is busy with people burying garbage under waves and sand. Boats are woken up and are now cooperating with the fishermen out to sea hauling the starving fish into their nets as if they were playing soccer .Rowdy kids are running in and out of the water, dodging the waves as if playing tag. Adults are relaxing and tanning, barely supervising their children, who are curiously discovering the deep blue. The sound of screaming children and the whining of the early-aged babies drown out the soothing singing of the birds and the continuous rhythm of the waves. The scorching sun ignites the frozen sea water, that once touched will hypnotize and soothe you into the deep blue. The sweet smells of trees are now eliminated, and the awful smell of littered trash and half-eaten lunch, along with the strong scent of suntan lotion takes place.     

As the afternoon comes to an end,the  less crowded the exhausted beach becomes, after all the hard work of entertaining people, burying garbages, you name it. The beach is as calm as it was in the early morning. Calmer and calmer, quieter and quieter, the beach silently goes to sleep. The sound of birds singing also fades out, leaving only the silence. Wind stops blowing and trees stops the ruffling. Before going to bed, the beach has to turn off the lights, and slowly, the sun hides itself behind the mountains and dozes off. The chilly air takes its place. The beach is once again calm and soundless. The sea a dark blue blanket, covering fish and keeping them warm in the brisk night.

The beach isn’t just an area for relaxation. It has life. The heart is deep down in the center protected by marine creatures. Unlike us, the beach, when asleep, hums its beautiful song and writes words far down the horizon that simply say ‘See you tomorrow’ as the morning approach.  

Are Video Games Good?

Do you like playing video games? Most kids and teenagers, especially boys, love to play with these electronics. Video games have good and bad effects. They are like two doors, one good and one bad door. If you are discipline and know how to use these electronics just for entertainment, then you have entered the good door. But most people entered the bad ones, and that can be really disastrous.


People usually forget about their health while playing video games. They just care about what’s on the screen, and completely ignore the outside world. They forget to eat or exercise and even to sleep. The people that play a lot of video games are usually really fat, because they are not exercising enough, or to thin because they don’t eat. They are so focused on the screen that nothing else matter. After focusing so much on the screen, people usually get a mini headache that causes them to walk all wobbly and not thinking straight. One way to prevent that is to play for only about half an hour. Then go and do sports or read a book. Doing homework is not recommended because you can’t fully concentrate after focusing on the screen.

Video games can become a really terrible distraction. They can make the players ignore stuff like homework or chores. That could lead to bad grades in school, or really frustrated parents. Another horrible distraction is that the players completely lost the sense of time. They might thought that they only played for half an hour, but they actually played for an hour perhaps. For example, they started playing at 8pm, and after what seems like a flash, it was already 10pm. One way to prevent this is that you can be discipline with yourself, and promise to finish homework and chores before touching the game controls. Before starting to play, set a timer for half an hour or so, and when it rings, immediately stop playing.

The last, but very horrific effect of video games is violence. After playing really violent games, evil thoughts may come to the players’ mind. Then after playing too much of violent games, when they can stand no longer, they begin to take actions in real life. School shootings or teenagers murdering each other usually came from violent video games. Games like Call of Duty, GTA, and especially God of War, are really violent. One way to prevent this horrible effect is to check the players’ electronics once in a while, and stop them from buying any violent games. This is for parents, by the way. But check it when the players are most unexpected, like when they’re asleep, or during school. This will decrease the murders that are happening right now.

Video games are truly terrible, but don’t stop playing it. It could be an entertainment after a stressful week of school. But most importantly, be self-discipline. Only allow yourself to play for only a short certain amount of time. If you can do this, video games won’t be bad at all.

Writing Reflection

What is your favorite subject in school? Mine sure isn't language arts. Writing is never the interesting subject in school that I look forward to in school. I enjoy all the other subjects, like math and science. They are fun to learn. Language arts take days, or weeks even, to complete. All the process, like writing, drafting and editing, takes time and effort. The process was already tiring.

I am not the best writer. In the beginning, all my writing doesn't sound nice or flow at all. The structure was really messy. My introduction didn't stand out or grab the reader’s attention at all. It was just like another body paragraph, boring. I just couldn't fit in synonyms for a lame word. For example, I used the word “good”. I could have used some other words like “amazing” or “fascinating”, but no. I wrote essays and narratives that weren't descriptive enough. Adjectives weren’t used properly or not at all. I had wrong grammar everywhere, in dialogues or in normal sentences. I wasn't a great writer when I started off!

Now, I’ve learned many of the skills needed, both in school and with Ms. Reyna. They are really helping me. My paragraphs flow and sound better because of my choice of adjectives or verbs. I now put them in the right place and at the right time. I know how to explode a moment or paragraph, making more exciting. I keep reading books now and learning new vocabularies so I can easily squeeze in a few “wow words”. My grammar had improved a lot in the past few months. I learned how to punctuate dialogues and sentences with Ms. Reyna as well as in school. My paragraphs and sentences vary in length. They are more descriptive. My introduction can hook the reader’s attention and hypnotizing into reading my writing. I can see myself improving in a bat of an eye!

Though my writings are decent now, I would still like to improve. I want to be the best writer that I could be. I would like to, besides using adjectives and verbs, use figure of speech. Similes, metaphors and idioms would be great to put in a piece of writing. They would make the writing sound a lot better. I would still like to improve on grammar. I still get mixed up sometimes, and not being able to make the best out of my writing. The last thing I would like to improve isn’t actually writing. It’s reading. I like reading, but couldn’t find enough time. It would benefit my writing, allowing me to use bigger words.

I still want to achieve more, but I am currently happy with my writing pieces. I can feel myself improving. Looking at my old pieces and comparing them to my recent ones, I can see the changes in ever single way.