Last week was a busy week for everyone in our grade: it was experience week! The week to run away from school and take a mini vacation in the middle of the year. The point of experience week is of course, to experience the ‘outside world’ instead of getting cooped up in Hong Kong and doing the same things everyday. The choices for ourgrade this year were to go to Chiang Mai, Thailand or Beijing, China. Most people ended up choosing Thailand, possibly because it was farther away/the itinerary was more enticing and adventurous.

A not-so-good picture of Bangkok.

Having chosen Chiang Mai with some of my friends, I was extremely excited for the chance to get as far away from home as possible. Not that I hated my brother or something family-related, but I was itching to get out and away. At the resort itself, I never actually remember giving a second thought about home (On the flight back, I realized I never thought even once about it). The only problem for me however were the waves of bugs everywhere secluded like puddles (well maybe not so much). My favorite activities were climbing and kayaking, probably because I liked them so much anyway. The sad part about climbing was that I just didn’t seem tall enough to reach one of the climbing stones halfway through resulting in me ‘flying’ through the air on a harness twice- I do have a bit of acrophobia. Hilariously, when conducting a capsizing drill during kayaking, me and Jacelynne, my partner, fell off the boat- but the boat didn’t flip. It took a few tries to get it upside down just to flip it back upright. *sigh* Another point of interest was the closeness to Burma- I was afraid armies would storm in any second! The part I enjoyed least was the flight from Bangkok home- it being a flight home after a week full of fun, and although I have always loved plane rides I ruined it with a movie I didn’t end up enjoying (maybe there wasn’t enough action).

The border to Burma, as we were told. Funny wall you got there?

I think the most memorable, well, memory from this trip was the hilltribe village because it seemed so different from home. It’s not my first time seeing bamboo-reeds-wooden planks houses in real life but it still shook me how people were forced to live in such conditions. I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t really conscious of their conditions until I came home- I was so indifferent! Truthfully, the sad part is these villagers weren’t even accepted in society because they weren’t fully Thai but came from Tibet instead, and treated as outcasts. Why is it so that there must always be people who are helpless in every century, decade after decade? History is cruel and repetitive, hopefully not so in the future.

During this trip, I was a risk-taker and balanced because I tried things I had never tried before and I even volunteered to go first on some activities. I was also balanced because I made sure to keep a balance between my activities, eating and video gaming. I was extremely careful to keep a balance while drinking water and not eating so much junk food so that I had enough energy for the rest of the day.

In the end, I absolutely loved the trip and would love to go on another similar one. I would most definitely enjoy it, and have enjoyed this experience. I am very pleased that everything I thought would be in this trip was included, and more. Overall, this was a wonderful and new experience for everyone I’m sure, and even educational!

After completing this unit with the really long title, I think I would get a 3.9 on the stress levels meter because now I feel like anything I do with dividing, adding and subtracting fractions is a mess. I, however did not put much more effort to improve my skills, so (ah!) sudden understanding of wonky grades. The things I DID like about this unit was pretty much everything other than fractions. So, overall, I could have done a wonderful job but I didn’t. Oh well.

Think about it. Look here later. It’s only coming…

7F Tin Hau Temple 2013 from Chance E. on Vimeo.

Today during Drop Everything and Design Day, better known as Drop Everything and Die Day (just kidding!) we began a project for our humanities class. Now the thing I like the most about this day was creating the page. I wish we had more time to work on it though, because most people seemed to be having a bad time. If we had more time, I could be able to go through everything with more detail.

In the unit of algebraic patterns in math, I am looking at Human Ingenuity as the Area of Interaction to show how people can invent patterns to help themselves in daily life. I will also learn how people use patterns in daily math and problem solving.

As a student who studies on a hill near a theme park, this theme park is thought of avidly by us. Especially the games and fun to be had.
Even whether it is harmful to the environment is noticed by us.

Recently I have noticed that hotels have been built by the theme park one hill away from us. Then I became aware of a plan to expand on a hill directly next to us: the last patch of green before our school, and many residences after.

But I must ask: is Nam Long Shan really worth saving?

Maybe the economy is most important. The theme park has been losing money. That’s why they’re expanding, right? Expanding will bring more visitors and money, right? Isn’t that what they all really care about?

Or is the environment more important? The animals are going extinct. Maybe there’s a new species on this hill alone, right? Don’t we have to save it?

What do you think?

I think we should save this hill.

But wouldn’t the government say, “Go away little boy and girl”? Does anyone really listen to young people, like me?

We need to speak up for nature; we need to speak up for the environment.

Have you watched the Lorax? It’s happening here. Right here, and now. No one does anything about it. The government sells land to businesses, businesses build all over the land, destroying the habitats.

Need another example? Look at Penny Bay.

Once it was a beautiful bay.

Now it’s Disneyland. Built on a slab of concrete dumped into the sea. We should really be more careful of what we’re doing to the planet! But is was all for money.

Money isn’t as important, or is it? Can we buy life with money? Are our lives worth money?

Can an entire species be wiped out, just for money? Yes it can.
But ideally, should we be doing that? Is this really a benefit to human society?

Will it lead to our own extinction?

“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues!” -The Lorax

It’s been a while since I last posted!

I won’t be posting a lot here anyway, to inform anyone who actually cares about that…

I think Whitney’s organization and ways of thinking is very detailed and is focused, but she has problems there and I hope she can fix them.

I saw liked how creative your presentation was, but I really want you to work on your time management and your planning.

Lately, our class has been engaged in another book club. The book I’ve chosen is called “The Pirates of Pompeii” by Caroline Lawrence. The book is mainly about a strange happening: Children are disappearing. It’s up to the four friends, Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus to find out what and who is taking the children.

Out of all the characters, my favorite is Nubia. I believe Nubia is a principled and tolerant person. She is also a caring thinker, and committed to her friends, but she gets separated in this book.

If and when you have the time, I hope you will find one of this books in the series and read it!

Hello everyone!

I haven’t really posted anything lately… but I’ve been working on quite a few projects (at the same time).

Well, uh, here’s a melody to pass the time, if you have any.
Twilight Techno
That’s all for today then!

Same question as last time:

What would you be if you were to be a piece of food? And why?

Victory!

“Soap” is now shelved. Hooray!

- Cookie 26