Valentina's Blog... :D

On my way to Aussie Land!

2010-12-26T10:58:00.000+07:00

Gday! :P
Right now, I'm on Bali but I'm on my way to Perth. We arrived from JKT around an hour ago! We flew in executive class. I slept like a baby! Now, Im leaving the Garuda Airlines Executive Lounge because we should be boarding by now! Again, on business class! Its been a while since I flew on business class, and Ive loved it ever since!
Ill post later! :)

Christmas 2010!

2010-12-25T10:30:00.022+07:00

Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all had a christmas you'd remember because now, theres officially 364 days 'till the next christmas!
I spent Christmas Eve at Sofia's house. We all had dinner together,we talked, we laughed, and soon, Michelle, Sofia and I left them. We got to their house at 8pm, we left at 2am! Throughout those 6 hours (6HOURS!!), us 3 watched 'easy A' and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'. We played hide and seek near the end untill my sister went hyper and started a small pillow fight.
At midnight, we all gathered around the manger. We experienced Spanish/Mexican traditions that they do on Christmas.
Anyway, yesterday morning, we all slept until 9ish. We ran down the stairs and congregated around the christmas tree. All of us had gifts from everyone. I gave my mom one of those hats she loves, my sister a waterbottle she really and my dad a tennis shirt, headband & wristband. I got a Baby-G watch, NIKE running shoes, tennis shirt, Tommy girl (search it up) - its by Tommy Hilfiger- and a small Kipling bag. Right now, Im wearing my Baby-G and NIKE! My shoes have huge cushions, I can feel the wind through my toes when I walk.
Comment to tell me about your christmas!

Christmas 'PhotoShoot'

2010-12-21T10:19:00.008+07:00

So hello! I cant believe its almost christmas! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Its so close, Mom and Dad decided we'd take the Christmas card picture yesterday! The picture was then put into a christmasy frame and sent to our family and friends. Dad wanted a pure Indonesian background, so we went to the national museum where theres tons of Indonesian statues. Mom & Dad were wearing christmas colors and christmas hats while MIchelle & I wore our christmas dresses. We got them made for us during the summer.
In the end, we used a picture we took outside the museum. Our background was this gigantic statue of horses running! It was good especially because I edited it! This friend of my moms said that we got the award for outstanding photography and creativity in Christmas cards
Ill post the final product later.
PS: Mom and Dad were the photographers!

MADNESS!

2010-12-19T09:01:00.007+07:00

Heya!!! Friday was Madness. It was also the last day of school... My activities were Badminton & Baskketball. I liked Basketball waaaay better because, well, Bromo lost every single Badminton game, Salak practically cheated in Badminton and that happenned because no-one was supervising the game!
Salak guy heard that 'there were no boundaries', and Pak Dawi actually did say that. SO, he started hitting the 'badminton ball' so hard that it easily crossed the court. I hit it back even harder and higher! Because Salak guy was a midgget, he couldnt even jump that high. Oh well, at least we werent last! :P
Basketball was so much fun! It was also really funny! Sultana told me her team was practically 2 because one of them werent even bothered to play and the other one was scared of getting hit! Luckily, Laila was in my team! She was the best!
In the end, ALMOST EVERYONE BEAT KRAKATAU, and (dont get too excited Mr.Hughes!) Rinjani was pretty good. Merapi won! :(
Ill be posting throughout the holiday!

VPA!!!

2010-12-14T19:58:00.000+07:00

Hello! Today was the VPA! It was amazing! I was flabbergasted! My favorite parts of the VPA were drama, movement, 1 song from 8th grade vocal and the last song of strings.
Drama was so cool! They all wore black so when the strobe lights were on, all you could see were their gloves and socks. They turnes 'Fireflies' (by Owl City) on & used their hands to accompany the lyrics. They actually did look like fireflies!
Movement was their coreographies telling a story. It was only 7 & 8 grade though. It started out with the 8th graders as puppets, people dressed in black take a puppet away, puppetnapped puppet finds magic lamp, out of the magic lamp comes a godsend; 7th graders! The puppet only has 1 wish & so she asks for world peace. Then they do a dance all together... It was awesome!
The song from 8th grade vocal was FACEBOOK! It was really funny because theres the guys doing: Pom, Pom, Pom while the girls were singing: facebook, everyday, every night.... It was funny! Most of the teachers were laughing their heads off!
My favorite strings piece was: Christmas Eve. Instead of using only the violin and cellos and stuff, Mr.W used electric guitars, drums, xylophone, flute and so it sounded really cool! Also, whenever he wants the cymbals to go (whoch is every 5 seconds or so), he shakes his head as if the drummer was actually hitting him. At the end, he did a huge jump! So throughout the strings performance, everybody was mostly watching Mr.W.
I wish I couldve gone today at 6 again. Oh well!

Longest blog update ever!

2010-11-15T19:37:00.075+07:00

Hello! Feels nice to be posting again! Right now, Im meant to be mapping Ancient Greece but its kind of impossible! Hemm hemm... its Ancient!

Anyway, Ill try to make as brief but interesting as I can... but lets face it: its been at least 5 months since I posted regurlaly! Its gotta be huge! So, Ill just organize by topics or events!

Dances:

- We've had 2 so far: the welcome back & the halloween dance.

- Welcome Back was in the Little Theatre.

- Halloween was in the New Gym.

- To be honest, the first dance seemed better. Maybe it was because it was my first actual dance, or because it was a small area which made the beat make the floor vibrate. I know it wasnt an eartquake!

- For the Halloween Dance, I was a fairy! Yes, I know! I bet most of you, or at least the 1 person I think I know actually checks this blog (hint hint: HI MR.HUGHES!), are thinking but arent you supposed to be scary?!? Well, yes, Halloween is normally about trying to be scary but because Im so smart, I knew most people would try to be scary and I wanted to stand out or be different, so I went with the happy side and came up with fairies! I wasnt that dressed up and no, I wasnt face-painted. All the fairy 'props' I had were green wings, green wand and green hair clasp (?) (is that the word?).

Maria (Venezuela) dancing the Joropo.

Maya was holding the United Nations Flag!

Andrea (Venezuela) & me (Colombia)
flag ceremony.

Most Latin American Moms
did the Sebucan Dance

UN Day:

- I was the flag bearer again!

- Wore same costume as last year.

- Noticed that a lot more people dressed up than last year.

- Marine Environment : theme.

- Korean drums.

- Indian dance.

- Waka waka.

- Latin American Moms danced on Stage.

- Blackberries & camera competition

- Latin American table only section in hut!

- Maria from Venezuela did a solo dance called the Joropo.

SLC:

- Mommy came

- We went overtime again

- Was just in time for preconference, but missed time for Art :(

Production:

- Ive seen the costumes.

- Ive seen the preview.

- I know the songs.

- Presents this week.

- Im not in it.

- Never auditioned.

Ill add some more pictures later!

Track & Field Meet 2010!

2010-10-02T18:10:00.000+07:00

Yesterday was the best Track & Field meet so far! Of Course, they were both rained on but at least this one was complete and not cancelled because of the un-accurateness of the weather man!

Honestly, I liked this meet better because I actually did better than before! Last year, I signed up for 400 metres, high jump and I got into the Medley Relay as 2nd runner (100m). This year, I had originally signed up for 100m dash, javelin and I also got into the Medley, this time as 4th runner (400m) but then changed to discus instead of javelin because I had gone to 1 discus practices and 0 javelin throws and because Nora told me it was really easy and that nobody else would be watching!

In the 400 metres, I was already tired by the 3rd turn and was slowing down way too fast, for high jump... I was a complete fail. I hit the bar the whole time until I got 3 huge bruises in my back, then, I didn't hit it anymore... But because I kept stopping where I was meant to jump because I was too scared. The medley was washed away last year!

Unlike last year, I feel really good about this one! When I found out I was chosen as the 4th runner, I was pretty surprised because there girls who are way faster than me and didn't get in! My time for the 1 lap was 1:25! At first, I really wanted it to rain so bad so that my team wouldn't have to loose! My first event was discus. Yesterday, Nora and I went through how we're meant to throw the discus without being disqualified. My best score was 4th in my age group, Ashley was first! My second event was 100 metres and I kept telling myself that I wouldn't think about how I would feel if I lost, or what the other people would say. Just run! I was in Heat 2 Lane 7 and I was fourth. What I'm most proud of is my relay. At the beginning, I was really nervous because our 2nd runner didnt appear and our 3rd runner was injured. We had Kelly, our alternate, but we would still be missing one runner. Finally, we chose Valeria (a really fast runner) but because she hadnt even been chosen for alternate, we had to explain 2 runners when and how to receive and give the peton. Like, 7 minutes before the race (which was more than 10 minutes after the last call) our 2nd runner appeared but we told her rules are rules, then, she brought her friends and made them talk to us which made us kinda mad but made Valeria feel bad. It WAS after the final call, we HAD chosen a better runner but NO! Tardy ran! Near the end, I was running fourth (as in bad, as in we wouldnt win) but then I started sprinting and passed 2 girls which made us second place! First team to win was JIS, too, and they broke the record!

Ill try posting more often!

Yogjakarta, Solo & Prambanan!

2010-08-10T11:17:00.000+07:00

Like, a week after coming back from Lombok, we left to Yogjakarta. The flight was impressively long but, I was accumulating miles in my Frequent Flyer card! The hotel we stayed in was the Sheraton and it was huge! The latest earthquake in Yogjakarta completely destroyed their entrance but now, its up and running! The food is OK. Its really hard to get around, too.

The first days, we stayed, relaxed and walked around town and the malls. Then, the sightseeing we came for started at 3am! Well, we actually woke up at 3:30, which delayed our sunrise view at the Borobudur temple. Our guide was buddhist so he could explain about the stupas, the patters and the Buddhas life. Unfortunately, there was no orange / purple sunrise like the ones in the pictures. Buddhi, our guide, told us about the different reincarnations of the Buddha. By 3pm, we were exhausted; we had woken up surprisingly early and hadnt had the chance to eat breakfast! The hotel packed us a 'breakfast'which included tons of donuts and sweet stuff but we had ant invasion. My Dad was so tired he wouldve been able to sleep on the temple itself! When we were leaving the temple, we bumped into Ys family! Yay!

The next day, we visited the batik factories in Solo. Most of them have glassess because of the lack of light in the place they work in. Buddhi showed the different ways of making batik and how to know whether they were handmade or printed by a computer. Later, we went to the most complete Batik museum in the world. They had batiks from the 1800s, all of them were either made by Chinese, Dutch or Indonesian people.

Soon, we visited the ruins of some temples in Solo while chasing ducks around and doing the Tarzan on with the vines on a tree!

The next day, we visited the Pramabanan temples (which were my favourite). Unicef tried to reconstruct the temples after the earthquake practically destroyed them but some are too nustable to come in.

Lombok!!

2010-07-25T14:33:00.001+07:00

As youve probably noticed, I didnt post for a while. Well, Im sorry. I went to Lombok! I left on a Sunday and came back after a week! It was lovely! Although it rained heavily almost every afternoon, the sun shined like a powerful lamp directed only at you. While 'attempting' my sandcastles, the strong waves wiped it out every time until I quit! I went to catching crabs with my little sister! Hehe! Well, while doing all this I got a tan! Yay!
The main reason why we chose Lombok was because of the beautiful snorkeling and diving sites (we didnt dive because my sister and I arent certified and dont have the PADI). Our hotels beach is really dirty! In the night, you see white blobs in the ocean and you wonder whether theyre jellyfish or just a reflection. Its actually all rubbish washing on to the shore! We went snorkeling in our beach and we found plastic stuck in the coral! Most of the coral in Lombok is either dying, dead or broken. Its amazing how the hotels dont do anything towards helping the community or the ocean!
In Lombok, we went to the 3 different Gilli islands: Gilli Air, Gilli Meno and Gilli Trawangan.

Gilli Meno
In my opinion, the best is Gilli Meno because there lies the coral garden. It contains over 35 different species of untouched coral. That section of the ocean seems to be neglected by pollution. Therefore, the number of animals is huge and the place is just so colorful! In Gilli Meno, the waves were so impacting and strong, each time they passed you would either go up or down because you were floating! Fun! In Gilli Meno, I swam down and saw 2 puffer fish, from NEMO: sea anemone, Doris, Gill, 1 sea turtle (I was less than a meter away!) and many schools of fish (there were some huge fish!). There is also a sunken ship, it used to be a restaurant but... it died 12 years ago! It is now underwater and the coral and algae has grown into and onto it, inviting big fish. I saw black fish (which look like small sharks but arent), silver fish (like the ones you'd see in a restaurant) and silver fish with green spots outlined with yellow (like the ones from NEMO!). I swam down about 5-7 meters and the sight was wonderful! Our guide said he had once seen octopuses' and squids near the ship.

Gilli Air
Gilli Air was the funnest because there are tons of friendly fish that come for bread. Luckily, the guide brought a bottle filled with bread. As soon as the bottle was brought into the water, the fish started to follow him! Yes, the coral was damaged but not as much as other places. There was a yellow with purple friend of NEMO's which the guide caught by the head. There were also those big rainbow fish, tiny silver fish, eager-looking blue fish and many more. We each got a piece of bread and we happily fed the hungry fish. My Dad, though, was surrounded by colorful fish but when one of them came around, he bit my Daddy. In Gilli Air, I also saw strong and flashy blue starfish! I touched it and it felt like rock! At the shore, with help from our guide, we learnt an effective way to catch crabs. Micho helped me but unfortunately, we only caught the small ones! I wish I couldve caught a huge crab I saw: it was beige and its claws were light blue! Pretty! Before we left for Trawangan, the crab pinchged me! It was the first time I had gotten pinched from an animal! It pinched my middle finger and it hurt!

Gilli Trawangan
Gilli Trawangan was the busiest and most populated one between the 3. In Trawangan, theres an awesome restaurant which makes really good food. There is lots of small friendly fish, but where there is small fish, theres a big one! I saw 2 huge fish! Again, the guide brought a bottle of bread and we were surrounded by little fish pecking at you!

In 2 of 3 of the islands, there is a program for baby turtles since they hatch. They keep them in a big aquarium outside at 2 months so they are strong when they are returned into the wild.

Ill keep posting!

MaRcO ...pOlO!

2010-06-24T16:29:00.009+07:00

Like, 4 days ago, Marco (my dog) became a Dad and I became an aunty! Mommy also became a granny! The Mom is called Debbie, shes a black Lab and shes a 3 year old. Marco is a chocolate 4 year old Lab.
There were 4 pups, 2 black and 2 gold. 2 boys, 2 girls. This morning, unfortunately, the blacks died. The reason is unknown but it is most probably lack of heat and milk. Each pup was as big as my hand. Micho and I helped feed the remaining pups with the low-lactose milk and the dog-milk.
The boys name is Sasha and the girl is Kyra. We will try to go to the kennel every week and keep you posted!

French Tribute to the Young Audience

2010-06-21T11:33:00.000+07:00

Sorry I havent been posting lately, I will catch as soon as possible.

On Thursday the 10th, I went to a the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra concert at the Balai Sarbini Concert Hall in a mall. It was freezing and long. It took 2 hours but luckily, Starbucks was just around the corner! There was only one interval, meaning, 1 piece of music couldve been about about 20 min! There were 53 musicians, 1 conductor, 1 narrator & 1 dancer. They played 4 pieces:
1. Symphony n4 in C minor
2. Nyi Ronggeng
3. Petite Suite
4. Peter and the Wolf

Nyi Ronggeng was my favorite because it was the fastest and it had a lot of percussion. There was also a Balinese dancer included.
Their conductor is Micheal Cousteau. He has an afro and he looks quite young! He has lead tons of concerts.

Some Boarding School in the Alps!

2010-06-10T12:43:00.001+07:00

So... Yeah. Ive been wanting to kind of like record some of my dreams, most of the ones I can remember have aliens in it! AWKWARD! Normally, I forget them as soon as I wake up, some are really clear and other and O.K.

I slept for 10 hours! I went to bed (by accident) at 12:30am and woke up at 10:10am, cool right?!? I havent slept like that for a while! Bet I had quite a long dream, but fortunately, I dont remember the details. After thinking about my dream, I've realized this dream has been influenced by N & Ys skype chat and POINTBLANK - ANTHONY HOROWITZ.

It all starts with math class in a boarding school (that would be Pointblank), I'm sitting right next to Nora and, of corse, we're talking while working. Theres a teacher, he actually looks like my neighbour (!) and he caught me talking to Nora. He gave me a warning. The next day, we have math again. Only this time, Ms. Marrello was the teacher. Again, I'm sitting next to Nora and we talk. I get caught and she tells me I have to complete some pages from the RMB by today. Being me, I go out to loook for paper and I go into some teachers room, theres something in the air. It doesnt smell that well but I can feel it falling in my skin. While I'm walking in, the teacher who looks like my neighbour asks,"What are you doing here?". I OF CORSE tell the truth, he gives me the sheet of paper and tells me to never go in a teachers room!

While I was trying to find my way through the school (I had never been in that part, meaning, I wasnt meant to be there), I could sense the feel of the environment changed although everything was exactly the same (meaning: something was up)! Walking through the corridors, I peeked through the door and saw a completely normal classroom, only this one had some sort of scientific stuff. There was a table - like the one at the doctor where you're meant to lay down - and I saw a girl in her pyjamas. This girl, she was a lot like me! There were adults in the lab robes or something with masks and stuff. They were injecting some sort of yellow liquid substance through her nose and mouth but the the girl didnt respond. It's as if they were abducting her!

This is is where it all made sense! This is the part where Pointblank kicks in! When I had walked in the teachers room, that liquidy substance had sort of cloned me. In the weird room, they were changing the voices and features with plastic surgery! In Pointblank, though, normal homosapiens are making the changes. In my dream, it's aliens trying to take over the world! Weird, right!

Day 5 - Getting Sticky!

2010-06-10T00:31:00.000+07:00

Today, I woke up with the ringing of the intercom. Suddenly, Mommy -accompanied by Marco-, and my sis were rushing down the stairs screaming in joy! I had just woken up and I didnt know what was happenning so I... GO WITH THE FLOW! When I entered the garage, I saw our gardener holding the mouse trap with his hands! It was the glue kind of trap, it caught 3 mice. FYI: Ive never seen a mouse before (excpet for Jerry!)!

After having lunch, I went to the eye doctor, mostly known as the opthalmologist. Mommy said VIP, thats right, and instead of waiting in those uncomfortable and sometimes dirty waiting rooms, we get an awesomely furnished room with 3 jars of cookies, a T.V and theres always a man right there to offer you a drink! Those are the reasons why Dr.Y is the only doctor I like to visit! And, as always, I have 100% vision on both eyes.

Did I mention Mom, Michelle and I went ''windows" shopping?
Hehe, I got some stuff ( more like most!).

Day 4 - Piano & Dentist in 1!

2010-06-08T17:37:00.000+07:00

Today, I had my first piano lesson in months. We are testing different teachers to see which one is right for my sister and me. Today, Ms.E came to the house. It may have been mean and malicious but the funny thing is, I heard her scream when she saw my dog and it reminded me of how the electricians in Egypt almost jumped as high as the ceiling when they knew we had a big dog. They jump so high they were so close to the chandelier! In Egypt, we also had our maids'' daughter come over and play. We didnt speak arabic and she didnt speak english so we had to teach eachother by pointing at things and drawing. Anyway, when we let Marco in the house, she screamed and shrieked at the same time, tipping over my plate full of OREOs and making him eat the cookies, scare F to death and have F climb and stand on the sofa (almost heading for the window). The product was more weight for Marco, damaged eardrum for us and a very suspicious and precarious F. Other than that, the class was good.

After having lunch, we went to Dr.Yuni, the dentist. This was also our first dentist appointment in quite some time. We had the x-rays taken and molds created and, meanwhile, we watched T.V! It was sooooooooo long since I had used one of those x-ray machines. Theyre fun! You know that machine where they kind of put youre head in a position so that you have something in your ear? Well, it had been such a long time, I thought they were meant to go in your jaw. Almost all the machines in that room have like a laser or a sensor in them! At the end of the appointment, Mom and the Dentist decided my sister would have extensors and I would have braces. If theyre big enough, I think I'll have mine either blue or purple. What do you think? Any suggestion?

While my Mom was confirming the next appointment, my sister was playing on the DS and I was watching T.V. They were showing some kind of Talent Show and at that time, there was a 17-20 year old girl singing and 'dancing'. I'd like to say no comment but then thered be no point in writing this last part of the post. It seemed as if she was having some sort of electric shock or seizure. It was funny because I think she was trying to be a Beyonce, to be more exact, I'll say she was a Beyonce wanna-be. She had the leggings the high heels, the tanktop and the jacket. Plus, her hair was tied back into a ponytail. It looked like the outfit Beyonce was wearing in the 'Single Ladies' video. Her singing was good though!

Ok, enough of my criticism for today!

Day 3! Still in Indonesia!

2010-06-07T18:19:00.000+07:00

Well, this has been a day! Sorry I havent been posting lately! I will later! I'm going to Lombok & Yogjakarta soon. I'm going to be snorkeling, trying to be a certified diver, making our huge sand-castles, having a tan and visiting Borobudur, so I guess I'll have lots to write about!

Today, I had to wake up quite early because I was going to have a medical check-up. You're not meant to eat before a check-up, so, Mommy made the arrangements early. That way, we (Micho & I) werent as hungry.

At Global Doctors, I had a blood test. When I heard they were taking blood from me, my smile turned upside-down! I'm really normally extremely scared of anything like vaccinations, inkections and blood tests. Today, I was a bit melodramatic though! The nurse who did the blood test was obviously very experienced! They had to get 4 of those tubes with my blood! I didnt feel a thing! She's way better than they are in Colombia! She cleaned it, put cotton and gave me a piece of bandage. It kept on bleeding through Michelle's test so she put a band-aid. I already took it off and all I have is a small red dot (where they put the needle) and a little bruise.

Unlike my blood test, my sisters included screaming! Of corse, Mom was there for her!the problem is her veins are tiny. the same nurse cleaned and tightened her right arm first. Then, she went to see if the other arm was any better, but no. So she continued with the right arm. Michelle's veins are so thin, the nurse had to dive and look for the vein with the needle. Duhh, that hurts!

Tomorrow, I'm having my firsy piano lesson in, like, 8 months and I've only practiced for,like, 2 days! Wish me luck! I'll tell you how it goes!

Ashley's Home-made Cookies are Amazingly Awesome!

2010-06-01T20:46:00.000+07:00

Presenting!... AAAHC!
Today, Ashley brought AAAHC (Ashley's amazingly awesome home-made cookies) to school. Ashley made them from scratch! They're not just any kind of cookies: they're chocolate chip cookies! The chocolate chip is dark chocolate (you can actually tell once it's in your mouth!) and they're soft and melted-ish! The actual cookie is also soft and is a fantastically flabbergasting combination! The name says it all!
No offense to D'TOKO or Starbucks (I Love Starbucks!) but AAAHC were etter than their cookies! Well, that was it. And, if some of you were wondering how this can be tagged as English: I'm advertising! Is this mystifying to you?

Yearbook Signing!!!

2010-06-01T20:37:00.000+07:00

Hey hey hey! Lots of people havent signed mine so... You should, or else! JK, JK! Oh, and, by the way: Please make it colorful!

McDonalds Cha Cha Slide Advertisement for Happy Meal!!

2010-05-31T19:29:00.000+07:00

Hyun Jin - McDonalds' Happy Meal!
People, mostly ages 8-adulthood.
Funny. Inviting. Body Language!

Hyun JIn's ad. was my favorite because of the moves and the faciel expression (body language). My favorite part is 'How low can go? Can you go down low? All the way to the floor?' Hehe! Link (short version): www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eN9KP6l0Zs

Here's the link for an Egyptian McDonalds add. Funny! Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ajRIgTJNA&feature=related

Lying VS. Asking Questions!

2010-05-31T19:00:00.000+07:00

If I was offered a choice between lying and asking questions with the result of getting honest answers I would choose asking questions with the result of a truthfull answer because the more you lie, the more people will start to dislike you. Also, asking questions is just normal, people ask every day.

The uses of asking questions and getting a truthfull response is trust: people will know you're giving them the right answer. You wont feel guilty! Questions work for almost anything!

Bye! I'll miss you!

2010-05-25T18:44:00.001+07:00

6th grade has gone so quickly now! We're in our last weeks of school! I'll miss so many peepz! Isnt it weird when you're in the holidays and you feel like you want to be at school but when you're at school (not in break for certain reasons) you feel like being in holidays!

I can remember the 1st day of school when I was in JIS but I didnt have a class! I had to stalk Dina because she had a good schedule. I also remember how Nadia. P and I had to run to Mr. Smith for our schedule! I also remember the moment I stepped into Ms. Marrellos class! I still remember what I was wearing on the first day and I have it all except the shoes because if you didnt know, I lost them in the ESP!
This is the fastest Ive ever adapted kind of thing. I remember in Egypt, I was late for the 1st day of school by like 5 minutes and they were already talking about themselves. Only 1 girl made space for me! The others were too busy talking and staring.

√@£aβ∑RŤ

ωüZ ĥΞrε!

(and in Math Club!)

Lots of people and some teachers are moving this summer. So, thanks for making 6th grade the awesomest of all! Your awesome (some!... JK!)!

There are tons of memorable moments in 6th grade! Pansing, ESP and more!

Thanks!

(There's an awesome Garfield gag below!)

VPA Tomorrow!

2010-05-25T18:18:00.000+07:00

OMG! I just realized the show's tomorrow! I wont tell you the songs or what we're gonna do, its a surprise! I wont ruin it, just like some other people have! Not mentioning any names! But, FYI: the 8th and 7th grade songs are better!

I've Dissected a Frog!

2010-05-25T17:35:00.000+07:00

You know when you're little, you think dissecting is cruel and mean. I used to say that... until today! In Science we're learning about bones, muscles,tendons, ligaments and joints. All that stuff (there's one word for it!)! So, Ms. Marrello brought trays of frog legs so we could roast or fry (optional) and identify whether they are joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles or bones in our mouth!

JK, JK, JK!!

Ms. Marrello would never make us do to that! Would she? (HINT HINT: I'M TRYING TO MYSTIFY YOU!) Nope! We (in pairs) got legs along with a tray and instruments. All the skin was taken off so it looked like chicken although it smelt like fish! Messed up, right?!? This reminded me of the pigeons and bunnies that people sell in Metro (like a Hero) in Egypt! The first time my Mommy and I saw it, we both kind of shrieked and held eachother tight, while the chef and the butcher were laughing! Silly us!

Well, this time I worked with Ari (not Airy! Hehe) and were bit grossed out! At the beggining, I was all excited until the smell flowed into my brain! I felt lke fainting, my legs were shivering! FYI Young Woo: we spilt some frog juice on the table by accident! Thats why I cleaned it properly (unlike AIRY!)! But at least we didnt let the frog hop it's way out of the tray and onto the table!

The task was to make an incision and separate the muscle from the bone! It took a while to get a hang of it but you soon get used to it. Our frogs' legs' muscles were wobbly and squishy while Young Woos' and Ashleys' was all hard! Looks like someone missed out on the work-outs! Lots of people had different techniques to separating the muscle but I like making a wide incision right next to the bone and cutting my way around. Some people like using the pointers (yes AIRY! They are called pointers, not sticks!) to stab the frog!

I've dissected a Frog!

Before the dissection, I promised myself I wouldnt be minding the frog juice and I would be touching the frog without hesitation. When we got the frog and in the dissection, I would shriek even if an instrument touched me! Are'nt I so brave? And in the end, I would actually enjoy poking the muscle we had separated!

lAtE BiRThDay PrEsEnt!

2010-05-25T16:38:00.002+07:00

Hey! So, yesterday, some of you could've seen me walking around with a green teddy bear bag. Well, that was Reina's late birthday present! It was cool. It had a fluffy blue pensilcase - she has a matching purple one, 4 scrunchy curly thingies (red, white, orange and yellow) - she has tons of them!, earrings in the shape of those scrunchy curly thingies, a yellow keychain in the shape of a bow - she has that one too! and a jelly thingie that keeps things cold!

Thnx Reina! <3 ILY!

Other gifts I got from friends were: Nora - necklace, Michelle - bracelet. From my parents & my sister (also Michelle) - 2CDs, nail stuff, DS and more.

ILY - on top of this!

For other people wondering why I got presents: my birthday was on the 14th of May! I turned 12!

Journal - Tuesday, 25th May

2010-05-25T10:18:00.000+07:00

I know I've said this a lot but... OMG! Its almost the end of the year! I feel apprehensive! Today, we're dissecting frog legs! I'm nervous! It's probably going to get repulsively messy and icky with all the muscles, ligaments and tendons hanging around but at the same time: I'm excited! I've never done this before and I've heard Mommy talking about the time when she had to dissect a sheep, it was alive! Her face was horrified! I've also heard stories of people dissecting bunnies, my Dad had to dissect a frog, it was also alive. My Dad contradicted the teachers and chose to study rather than kill an animal. In some schools in Colombia, you are obliged to do it. I bet not a lot of people were pensive about this but dont you think a considerable amount of frogs had to be killed so we could dissect them?

Ok, moving on. Today, I had P.E and I think we had our last hockey class. Ever since we started playing some hockey games, Camden had us flabbergasted while he scored every other 10 seconds! He used to play hockey in Alaska. To be honest, I'm rubbish at hockey but today, I actually got a good hockey stick and I scored up to 5 times! I normally never score! In my opinion, the highlight of P.E was touch, swimming, gymnastics and a little bit of hockey (especially when I score! Hehe!)!
Touch was awesome! At te beginning, I thought it was going to be super-broing because we had to learn how to catch the ball and that 'move' where you leave the ball, the peroson behind you picks it up and passes it ti the person next to them. That thing made the game really slow. The touch highlight was when I didnt have a cold and was scoring and especially when Sultana & Vicky tried to 'tag' Yasmina, who had the ball, and she ran all the way to the other end of the field! Haha!

Math Retest!!

2010-05-24T18:03:00.001+07:00

Yay! Today, in math (& break!) I had the retest! I got a B for the Blue Formative, which was, more than I expected. I went to Math Club and studied with my Dad and I tried as hard as I could (some people could actually see me slapping myself and banging my head against the test! Hehe) but I just didnt have what it takes.
For 2 nights Daddy helped me with my Math. I went to Math Club (which was really helpful) about 3-4 times along with B, A, N & H. Finally, today, I woke up and reminded myself of the retest... I was scared! I hid under the covers and waited for the alarm to ring!
Today, on the to my cubby, I looked at Ms. Marrello's desk and found Noras' and my grade. We both got 96% (A)! Yay! PS: I've never been that good at fractions anyway!

Sorry!

2010-05-24T17:24:00.000+07:00

Hey guys! I'm so sorry! (I feel chastised!!) I haven't really been posting like I used to! Its just that, the number of books I need to write about is behemoth! Heres some of the books I need to summarize:
-More than half of "Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket
-Point Blank
PS: The series is 13 book long (Lemony Snickets!)

OMG!!!

Its the end of the year!!

(Ok, I'll get back to work!)

I'm Jonas... The New Receiver

2010-05-24T17:14:00.002+07:00

JONAS
RECEIVER OF MEMORY

Well, the Ceremony of Twelve has passed and I haven't been assigned... I've been selected, I will now be receiving training from Not-To-Be-Spoken-Of. I am now the Receiver of Memory, some people say I've been greatly honored but I will receive extreme physical pain.

At the Ceremony of Twelve, the Chief said the 5 essential attributes for a Receiver are intelligence, intergrity, courage, wisdom and the Capacity to See Beyond.

I've received a single printed sheet saying: I am prohibited from dream-telling, I may lie, I am not allowed to apply for release and I shall not apply for medication related to my training.

The Capacity to See Beyond, not long ago, I was playing catch with Asher and an apple when suddenly the apple changed but when I blinked, it all came back to normal...

Flip Flops Advertising Deconstruction!

2010-05-23T17:30:00.001+07:00

2008 Frogs & Worms!

By Havaianas

1. Symbolism: When something stands for something else. This advertisement doesnt have symbolism.

2. Body language: How the model is placed. There is no model in here.

3. Camera angle: How & where they put the camera. In this ad, they put the camera below it. That way, you look up to it.

4. Special effects: Effects added by computers or cameras. There are no special effects in this picture.

5. Lighting and color: Lighting and color are used to attract attention. In this advertisement, the colors are very bright, making it the first place your eyes look at.

6. Beauty and social standing: The beauty of the model and how she stands. Theres no model in here.

7. Layout and graphics: Again, layout and graphics are used to drag attention. The graphics in the picture are awesome!

Last 3 Weeks!

2010-05-18T18:59:00.003+07:00

OMG! Practically, we are in our last 3 weeks of school! I cant believe the year flew by so quickly! First: I'm the new girl getting lost trying to find my Robotics class, trying to get inline for the pizza (which I only got twice) or making my way through the big and tall high-schoolers! and now: I'm writing this! The year is over!

110 words throughout the year, WOW! From one of the first words like ventriloquist and seizure, the ones nobody even remembers like traumatic and rampant to the latest words taken from 'the giver' like chastise and petulantly.

In my opinion, the highlights of the year were:
-Madness Days
-ESP BOGOR!
-5th Grade Visit
-Any field trip
-Dance/VPA Shows
-Pool Party (way back!)

Anyway! WOW! I cant believe its almost over (I guess you already got the point!)! Oh well: so many people are moving after the end of the year!! BooHoo! :(

On the other hand, we dont have health next year! I've survived the puberty unit (with Alona!)
I love the 6th grade area! I'll miss it so much! Good Times, good times! Nora knows what I'm talking about!

Advertising Writing!

2010-05-18T18:49:00.003+07:00

Cargo Pants

Target Audience

Girls 9-13

-Looking cool
-Big pockets
-Price
-Comfort
-Color

Are you the type of girl who likes moving around, feeling comfortable and looking good without having to carry stuff in your hands? Well, the cargo pants are perfect for you: they come in different bright colours from yellow-purple and have around 6 large-sized pockets, the awesome cargo pants can be readjusted by either using a belt or the buttons inside! Hurry, there's a special discount today: 40% off (in the limited edition version) ! And: if you are our 17th costumer, you get a free t-shirt of your choice!

The Giver - Summary 20 words

2010-05-11T11:30:00.000+07:00

Jonas feels very apprehensive about the Twelves Ceremony and the family talks about their feelings and try to correct them.

Psych - The Pilot

2010-04-19T11:12:00.000+07:00

We watched another crime episode from an awesome series, Psych. Crimes and suspense all around, love it!

Crime: Fake kidnap & murder.
Criminal: Mr. McCallum.
Victim: Kamden McCallum & Mal com Orso.
Witness: Malcom Orso.
Detectives: Sean, Gus & police.
Investigation: Began with = Who kidnapped Kamden? & ended with = Who killed McCallum & Orso?
Clues: Pictures, interviews & blood on dog's whisker.
Evidence: McCallum's and Orso's dead bodies, gun in Orso's hand, blood on corner of the table, dog-bite medicine & Mr. McCallum's cut wrist.

6 Elements of a Mystery - In Pictures!...

2010-04-12T20:05:00.000+07:00

1. Clue: Clues are very important as they help the detectives prove anything about the crime. This picture represents a fingerprint, which show the indentity of either the victim, criminal or witness.

2. Detective, sleuth, private eye: Someone who solves the case. This picture shows a classic detective, he has the hat, magnifying glass and the coat.

3. Suspects: People who are involved with the crime in some way, they are suspected to be the real criminals. In this picture, there are several suspects. They are standing in he special room to get a picture.

4. Victims: Victims are the people affected by the crime. In this picture, the owner of the computer is the victim because he is being affected by the computers reaction.

5. Criminal, bad guy: The person who committed the crime, this by the way, is a real one.

6. Witness: Person or group of people who have seen the crime being committed or the victim.This picture shows the witness trying to carry a body.

Monk - Voodoo

2010-04-08T19:12:00.001+07:00

Today, we finished watching the Monk, which, by the way, is coming to its last season. The only episode we watched was about voodoo and 5 killings. If you are not a fan, or at least a watcher, Monk is an awesome serie about a detective or consultant called Monk. He has this phobia, so, he needs to keep everything spotless and organized.

This episode starts with an old power-walking lady being killed by a baseball but 3 days before she was killed, a voodoo doll was sent to her. There are several more killings, and with all of them, a voodoo doll was sent to them 3 three days before their death!

In one of the killings, a very elderly rich man, Mr. Robert, is murdered, and again, there is a voodoo doll in sight! Uncle Robert lives with his niece, Angelie, and risk of heart attacks. Ironically, the doll has it heart out!

The last voodoo doll Mr. Monk is sent to research is Natalie's, his assisstant, she for one, is really creeped out by it, REALLY!They search for ways to 'uncurse' Natalie, so, they bring Reverned Something (IDK). The potion he makes is ment to be rubbed on her neck, not drunk, but Natalie did not know that! Obviously, they call 911. Aparently, Angeline is a paramedic and goes alone on the ambulance with Natalie!

In the Reverends van, Monk sees Angeline in the newspapers dressed as a paramedic, carrying another victim of the supposed voodoo dolls! Later, the Reverend mentions Angeline coming to buy some of his voodoo dolls.

Soon,Mr. Monk connects the dots! The power-walker was killed by the baseball, the golfer was killed by lightning! She attended as a paramedic to help them, and somehow, managed to access their house. She left a box with their voodoo dolls at their house but, it was marked as if t had been sent 3 days before their death. There was no address. That means, she had not killed them. On the other hand, she poisoned her uncle while he was asleep and put a voodoo doll. Natalie was next, she was meant to be decapitated.

Half-Way Around The World In 100 Days!

2010-03-30T17:44:00.005+07:00

Did you know plastic is not biodegradable but after centuries of being in the ocean, it turns into plastic dust?

Did you know that about 100,000 marine animals including turtles, dolphins and whales unneccesarily suffer from getting tangled or choking on debris?

Did you know 6 million tonnes of debris are added to the ocean per year?

Did you know 90% of aquatic debris is plastic?

Did you know the average person uses 90kg of plastic per year?

Did you know about 1 million seabirds die from debris damage?

Did you know 2 million plastic beverages are used in the U.S alone and less than a quarter is recycled?

Did you know around 300 species die from getting tangled or choking on nets, rope or debris?

Did you know about 60,000 plastic bags are used every 5 minuted in the U.S alone and that less than a sixth is recycled?

Well, those are the just some of the reasons for Plastiki's existance. Plastiki is a new and unique kind of boat which takes more than 3 years to bring to life! The Plastiki is made of special plastic, about 12,000 old re-purposed bottles filled with gas, solar panels, wind turbines and a bike. A 100 day food-supply and hydroponic garden has been implanted into the Plastiki. Plastiki's goal is to raise awareness of plastic waste worldwide.

The Plastiki has already launched it's 100-day-long voyage from San Fransisco to Sydney, an 11,000 mile long trip. It will cross the Pacific ocean. So far, the Plastiki has traveled for 11 days.

The special plastic mentioned above is actually thousands of chimes of tesselated strips of srPET plastic. Every so and so, worms and coconut husks are added to the human waste (and I mean, the waste!) to fasten the decomposition. The bike will produce energy for some of the equipment and will also keep the crew fit!

If you have any questions or doubts, please inquire at www.theplastiki.com or CNN, not me!

100 Words

2010-03-24T17:51:00.001+07:00

(Sorry guys, it's kind of late but never mind!)

OMG! We've finnally reached the 100 words! I really thought we'd only reach this point at the end of the year. I cant believe it's so far into the year already! The sad part is we'll now have to take a huge test on all of these words!
Anyway, bla bla bla... I just forgot what I was about to say! Well, normally, when you think of 100 words, that seems a lot. Just saying.
Bla, bla, bla... Good luck. See you soon! Bye...

Vocab 10 - Pictures

2010-03-18T16:58:00.005+07:00

primitive

godsend

melancholy

ambivalent

impeccable

glamorous

probation

despicable

beckoning

melodramatic

The Unfortunate Events - The Austere Academy (5)

2010-02-16T17:58:00.001+07:00

The Austere Academy

Lemony Snicket

*****

As you all should know, the children were unfairly 'expulsed' from Lucky Smells LumberMills by 'Sir' and because Mr. Poe is 'too busy to find a proper home', they were sent to the terryfying Austere Academy which I'm regretful to remember, their motto means 'Remember you will die'!

Sir is a very unfair man, so unfair, obnoxious and self-centered, he put Sunny as his assistant and all of them living in the Orphan Shack which includes moss and fungus on the roof, pink hearts on the walls, hay stacks for beds and crabs everywhere!

As last time, Count Olaf and CO. will have intruded, this time, with the authority of a teacher! Every nigth, he will torture them and legally take them. Will he be able to do it?

Journal - Wednesday, 10th February, 2010

2010-02-10T14:06:00.002+07:00

OMG! Today was Daddy's birthday! The bus came early this morning when Dad was coming down the stairs but I will give him the cards today after school! Unfortunately, it's also Young Woo's Birthday...

Today, I finished my fitness tests. These are my scores but BTW, I will retest my mile and maybe the pacer and push-ups because I dont know whether I improved or not and I need to beat Nora at something:
- Mile: 9:14 (my best score yet is 8:28!)
- Pacer: 41 (last score: 39, best score: 43)
- Sit-Ups: 100 (they stopped us at 100, best score: 102!)
- Push-Ups: 25 (last score: 24 or 25, this should be my best score)

Today, we had to share the upper gym with 2 7th grade classes and we did the pacer like this: first boys, then girls with both grades at the time. 6th grade beat the 7th graders in both. Martin beat all the boys from Mr. Ragios, Ms. Dennis' and Mr. McMullens and Caroline (Ceci) beat all the girls too!

Today, I have 'ballet'!

The Unfortunate Events - The Miserable Mill (4)

2010-02-09T18:16:00.001+07:00

The Miserable Mill
Lemony Snicket
****

In this chapter of the Baudelaire childrens lives, they will taken care of (ish) by Lucky Smells Lumbermill in PaltryVille. However, what they didnt know was that they would be working for Lucky Smells Lumbermill for years in exchange of keeping Count Olaf away from them. As we all know, like the many other guardians, these wouldnt last.

Like you should know, the Baudelaire kids can only count on Mr. Poe if it relates to coughing. He will never believe Violet, Klaus or Sunny about any of Count Olaf's disguises or mischievious plans. Of Course, he will never get the right details.

Because of the 'deal' they made, Count Olaf will 'supposedly' be kept out of their lives. Count Olaf & co. will have to disguise themselves to infiltrate and accomplish their evil plans. This plan, however, involves infiltrating Klaus' brain!

How will they escape this time?

Grand Pa's Life As A Child During WW2 - 'Digital Journal'

2010-02-09T16:33:00.005+07:00

October 1937

Today, 1938, Daddy left for war. He will fight in the sky for our country, Germany. He made me promise to take care of the rest of the family and to be a good boy. At that time, we were all crying.

Yesterday, he packed his bag and I helped him choosing clothes. He took most of it, it'll be a long time at war. Every time he looked at Mommy or me, we both got the feeling he wanted time to stop. That was the last time we ever saw him.

...

I cant sleep tonight, there are so many news about war on the headlines like: Germany in Poland, More Jewish Found Hiding, More Concentration Camps Inaugurated, Italy and France Declare War on Germany, Germany Breaks Treaty of Versailles, No More UK, Winston Churchill for Prime Minister, Hitler - 'Germany deserves peace, Germany needs peace', Rommel VS. Monty, Can Germany Conquer Russia?, Spain is Neutral, Nazi Over Germany and more but that's all I'd like to think of.

I know I can hear sirens, rubble falling to the floor, the chopping helicopters and most of all, people screaming and crying, my Dad was one of them...

October 1938

We got Daddy's first letter since he left! He says he misses us and that he's been learnign how to use guns and air machines! There have also been some air attacks but fortunately, none of his friends have been hurt!

September 1939

A man just came by our house, he was wearing a camouflaged army uniform with helmets for protection. He came to tell us that since war has been declared to us by Italy and France, it is for our own safety that we all evacuate and fast, before the train gets full and we need to be separated.

Rat Disaster

2010-02-07T14:20:00.001+07:00

(Before you start reading, just want to let you know that I was supposed to write this on Sunday, 1st Feb, 2010!) Attention, be careful. Pictures may be harmful if you are picture-sensitive-phobic. Wait, there are no pictures!

BREAKING NEWS!!

Welcome to the fake 'Sunday Post', this is Valentina Friedl reporting from her house in the study room at 11-ish am.

At 11-ish am, a victim was found by 2 little girls and a dog, Valentina, Michelle and MarcoPolo Friedl, in a compunds park, near the monkey-bars when they were out playing. It was found lying upwards with its tiny arms and nails very dirty. The victim was filled with mud, its mouth was open and suspiciously enough, there was a red spot near its heart. That spot couldve been blood or tomato!

Attention: There will be many more victims as the rainy season continues and sewers will begin to flood. BEWARE!

Unfortunately, the rat or the criminal still hasnt been identified. The death couldve been caused by food-poisoning, car-accident or natures claws.

This was Valentina Friedl reporting live from Assem Dua 60, Jakarta, Indonesia!

FYI: No pictures were taken as it was too intriguing and the photographer, me, had no camera in her hands.

Journal - Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010

2010-02-03T20:30:00.000+07:00

Today, I had a quiet Visual Exploratoin class, amazing, right?!? By quiet I mean nobody was talking. This lesson, we ditched the tree impressionism painting and started another project which is completely abstract! We learnt about 'Wassilly Kandinski', a Russian artist who 'painted' music. This is about how we feel the music, he used a lot of circles and triangles. Anyway, we listened to the exact same piece of interesting music which lasted 8:something and drew whatever came to mind. Next class, we will see the video and add some color.

As I said before, I have Dance Club on Mondays and Wednesdays. I didn't go on Monday, but I went today. In this blog-post, I will finally reveal my dances...(drum-roll, please!)...(waiting!)...Bollywood and Ballet! I filled up the form wrong, I had signed up for Hip Hop and Contemporary/Lyrical.

Well, today, was Ballet! It was fun! We did stretching, jumping and learnt about the feet and inner thigh direction. I used to do Ballet before but we never learnt about jumping, at least I don't think so! I still need to learn about the jumping and hopping and twirls.

Mariah, our Ballet teacher is a high-schooler and had nothing prepared. The class was fun and the steps and kicks and positions are completely confusing now. Bye!

The Unfortunate Events - The Wide Window (3)

2010-02-03T20:09:00.000+07:00

The Wide Window
Lemony Snicket
****

In the 3rd book of the series, the Baudelaires stay on top of Lachrymose Lake with Aunt Josephine, she has recently become a widow when her husband, Ike, went into the Lake without waiting an hour after eating, he died when the Lachrymose leeches ate him up. This soon, becomes her death, too. Since the death of Ike, shes been afraid of everything, even the welcome mat, she comes up with absurd reasons.

As usual, Count Olaf is in disguise and ready to strike. He blackmails Josephine but she escapes, it was that or a nervous breakdown! As you've probably noticed, he always comes with part of his 'gang' in disguise as well!

My favourite part is when Aunt Josephine starts panicking when she is 'rescued' from the dark and smelly cave. She expected to stay there for the rest of her life with provisions the children had supposedly brought. I also like the part where Violet practically screamed at her begging for the hairband, the only thing she said before finally giving in was, 'But I need it to keep my hair in a bun!'!.

How will the children escape this time?

Unfortunate Events - The Reptile Room (2)

2010-02-02T17:20:00.001+07:00

The Reptile Room
Lemony Snicket
*****

All books in the Unfortunate Events Series have been written by Lemony Snicket and are all about the Baudelaire children, Count Olaf, their guardian and the troubles they have to go through to stay safe. However, every book has something special and different in them!

This time, the unfortunate Baudelaire children have the greatest guardian yet since their parents! It is Uncle Monty, Montgomery Montgomery, a soon-to-be world-wide known herpetologist. He studies snakes and has discovered a new specie.

However, as you may have read in the first book, Count Olaf escaped from Mr. Poe, who did nothing about it, after attempting the marriage to Violet and is ready to strike again.

This time, the guardian will not be aparted from the children in the way they were before, but Count Olaf will disguise himself in any possible way in order to get close and set nd frame a murder.

Interested? Read the series!

Vocab Definitions 7

2010-02-02T16:07:00.002+07:00

1. cask: A wooden barril where drinks are kept to age (eg: wine, champagne).
2. cynical: Similar to whining but worse, being un-cooperative.
3. provisions: Supplies/sources (eg: food).
4. subvert: Making things go wrong on purpose, un-cooperative, for personal/positive issues, like sabotage.
5. accumulate: To collect, gather more of.
6. congregate: When everybody/group of come together, like accumulating.
7. ominous: A signal/sign, often in the negative way.
8. contradict: Going against, to disagree/argue, kind of verbal agressive.
9. adversary: Opponent/enemy.
10. flabbergast: To be amazed/astonished dumfounded, positive and negative, not a very strong word.

Journal - Tuesday, 2nd February, 2010

2010-02-02T14:33:00.001+07:00

Well, its last block!

Guess what? I signed up for dance club on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Monday, I'll be with Ysabelle and Alisha. On Wednesday, however, I'll be with Maya. The 2 dances are completely different so that'll make it easier to memorize the moves.

Bell rang!

Journal - Wed 27 2010

2010-01-27T20:38:00.002+07:00

OMG! On Wednesday, Maya, Lucas, Alisha, Ysabelle, Nicole and I went to the Dance Club Auditions. We were taught 2 coreographies by Ms. Parent, hip-hop and comtemporary/lyrical. After that, we had time to practice un between auditions. I was so nervous because I kept on forgetting some steps from both coreographies.

Unfortunate Events - The Bad Begginning (1)

2010-01-27T19:22:00.005+07:00

The Bad Beginning

Lemony Snicket

*****

As you all know, The Series of Unfortunate Events was written by the famous Lemony Snicket! It is set in England. There are 13 books in the series.

The Bad Beginning is about the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny. In this book, the beginning, the terrible terrible news arrives, their parents have all vanished in the disastrous fire and now, come and go from house to house, relative to relative. In their parents will, they say they shall be raised in the most approppriate way by their relatives. It also mentions that the Baudelaire fortune is not to be used until Violet, the eldest, is of age.

Their first adoptive 'family' was Count Olaf, a very weird, short-tempered, intelligent, smelly and demanding man. He gave the 3 of them, including the
baby, difficult chores and tasks. He onced assigned a dinner for 13 people!

As time goes by, they realize (duh!) Count Olaf is a bad and ambitious man looking for their fortune
! He has set up a smart plan to gain over the fortune. Will he be able to outsmart Klaus, Violet and the young and confused Sunny?

I reccomend this book and the series to the type of readers who like reading series.

Journal - Wednesday, 27th January, 2010

2010-01-27T09:49:00.002+07:00

OMG! P.E was amazing! We, by we I mean Mr. Shwart's class and Mr. McMullen's (me), were separated by the color of the bibs and then into gender. In my team, there was Reina, Ashley, Jade, Yasmina, Alisha, Natalie, Anne and others but we were against Leila's team. The thing is, nobody in our team could get her! Oh Well, we lost, they won. Happy? I scored the first one!

There's not much I can say, this is only 2nd block but here I go!

Today, Wednesday 27 January 2010, the dance club auditions are open! Only people I know who've signed up for it are: Maya, Lucas, Annika and Mahika! Today, we'll be taught some hip hop dance which was coreographed by Ms. Parent, Ice (9th grade) and some other guy.

Guess what? I finished 'The Bad Begginning' from the Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket! I finished it within 4 sessions of reading!!

I cant wait for Friday to come, I need to think of something else to wear since I didnt know it was a demo! Mr. Hughes told me that the tennis games JIS vs. Singapore should be very good. Right now I can see that huge banner saying,' (dragon) Welcome To The Home Of The Amazing Dragons!!!! (dragon)'!

Naga, naga, naga!
Oi, oi, oi!
Naga!
Oi!
Naga!
Oi!
Naga, naga, naga!
Oi, oi, oi!

Peepz: get ready for the IASAS games! Remember to bring your pom-poms and face paint (especially Maya!). DO NOT FORGET TO BRING SCHOOL SPIRIT! How many 3D glasses should I bring?

Naga, naga, naga!....

Haiti's History

2010-01-26T12:36:00.007+07:00

Haiti has many reasons to be poor:

1. People are not being educated properly, education leads to progress. Did you know that from Haiti's population, only 30% go to school but from that 30%, 2% goes through 3rd grade? This is due to the difficult tests given in French and the fact that most parents can not afford to pay for school.

2. Many people are illiterate, making them unable to apply for a job.

3. Haiti has had many bad governments, there have been several dictators. One of them, Henry Christophe, named himself king of Haiti.

4. When the colonies invaded, they stole whatever they could. Not only the colonies, but the governments!

5. Hurricanes have been hitting Haiti constantly since 2008.

6. Haiti doesn't have many natural resources.

7. The President Avril went on a mission to Taiwan but when he came back, had no food or money.

8. All Haitian pigs were declared to be bringing African Swine Flu by the International Aid Agencies and because of that, they were killed, leaving Haiti starving.

9. Haiti doesn't trade with with a lot of other countries because they don't really have extended industry skills.

10. Prices are too high for them and they don't have enough money.

Vocab Sentences - January 23rd 2010

2010-01-23T19:34:00.003+07:00

1. As Stuart says, the dead, living dead and soon-to-be dead are put in catacombs to be buried, die or die again!

2. The intentional burning, arson, on this residence is a regretfull crime.

3. I manipulated Michelle, my little sister, to change the channel.

4. Children should feel equally submissive to both their parents and teachers.

5. In some old cities, cobblestone can still be seen in the streets.

6. Nadia P's word of the day yesterday was 'meticulous' because she was doing her science work slowly and carefully, step by step.

7. The assailants particpated in the assail of an unlucky person walking in the street.

8. Garfield and Oddie are so not inseparable.

9. Yesterday, the 6th graders should've felt obliged to wear blue & white so we could be the great example for the rest of Middle School.

10. Garfield decieved his Jhonnny when he said he was on a diet and secretly kept assailing the lasagna!

Journal - Wednesday, 20th December, 2010

2010-01-20T12:57:00.006+07:00

Its third block! We just finished the first part of our timeline, the halves and quarters of our grandparents life. I remember the interview, Dad and I found stuff out we didn't even know, like, how he learnt Spanish!

When we read 'Peak' and we read the part where they were the last to board the airplane it reminded me of when we were on our way to Bogota. We were in Lima, Peru and were eating a tuna sandwich but when Dad goes to check if its time yet, we have to run like 3/4 of the track to get there. Near the end, Michelle fell!

The day is almost over, all that is left is the rest of English, break and French. I still haven't done the French worksheet! Before English I had Maths, break, Visual Exploration, lunch and SSR.

In Maths, we learnt or revised how to measure the area of irregular shapes and in Science, we tried to complete 'Crack the Code' although Ivan said the answer out loud.

Ms. Bammi was absent today so we had a substitute. Today, we finished our weird opposite-color-blending drawing, my colors were green, yellow, red and purple. After that, we were supposed to draw 3 different trees with Sharpies using and focusing on lines and texture, I only got halfway through the 2nd one.

Today, in French, we will be working in this project about clothing, its fun! We get to use computer and search for clothes.

Au Revoir!

Update on Haiti

2010-01-18T19:29:00.006+07:00

From having a smile like this, they went on to disaster!

On Tuesday, last week, a devastating earthquake of 7.0 hit Haiti, affecting about 3 million people, 3,000,000 to make it look bigger, a third of their population. No one has rested since. Houses were destroyed, people were evacuated and some, have no clue of where their family could be.

Well, the rescuers have been quite effective! More than 60 people have been rescued since Sunday. All the orphans are starting a new life in the United States and help is being brought from all over the world. Many victims of the earthquake have been relieved from the pressure and weight of the rubble.

The negative stuff is this: 16 rescuers have died during their mission, some babies are predicted not to survive the flights and many people are now desperate for help as some of them will soon die for bacteria infection and blood loss.

Some fortuitous people have used all the breath, time and ways of communication to cry for help. Ken B., a tourist, sent an email to his wife and sons 10 minutes before the quake. His wife hasnt heard of him since.

Young students who were doing community sevice in Haiti were also trapped in Hotel Montana, a now bundle of ruins, these, unlike Ken, have been rescued and sent back to their homes.

A 69-year-old Mom, Anne Zizi, has been rescued on the 7th day although she was underneath the rubble of the national cathedral for an entire week! Her husband and son, Maxime Janvier, live in the US and only the daughter remains in Haiti.

Dreams have been ruined, and nightmares lived. A couple were millionaire on Tuesday, owning a hotel, now, all they own, are bad memories and rubble. For a Haitian orphan, things are starting to get better, 1 rib is broken and is in need of respiratory support, she should now be on her way to Miami.

If you are back there, rememeber youre loved ones will never forget you no-matter-what and that youll soon be home. Help is coming for you.

Haiti Chaos!

2010-01-14T17:59:00.004+07:00

On Tuesay 12th January, 2010, one of the biggest earthquakes in 20 years hits Haiti, one of the many islands in the Caribbean. The most affected city was Port-au-Prince, the capital city, as the epicentre was right next to it. On the Richter Scale, this quake measured up to 7.0!

Just to show you how hard the impact was, here are the 2 pictures of before and after the Earthquake at the Palace:

Before

After

It's demolished! You can even see how the sky went pale and the sun didnt shine! Can you feel the tension and how nervous they are in the last picture? I can!

Everything fell! From schools to Palaces!In one of the schools, 50 were killed and many more were injured! People, including children, got stuck under the heavy and dusty rubble. Unfortunately, many of them did not survive and more than 100,000 people were estimated to die, more have dissappeared.

These people couldve had a wonderful future, now, they need to start from zero. They couldve had children and a happy family, now, they dont. Theres were no ways of using phones adn theres no light. Can you see the sadness in their eyes?

Many companies are trying to make donations as fast as they can, like, the Swiss Red Cross, they've helped a lot with injuries of the head adn rescuing survivors. The only problem is that these people run on 1-2 dollars per day so there arent many useful resources. Please think about it.

This earthquake has been related to/called in many ways:

- Pact of the Devil

- End of the World

- The Chance to Show You Can Help

Burning Up

2010-01-13T17:25:00.005+07:00

Burning Up

Caroline B. Cooney

*****

Burning Up was written by Caroline B. Cooney and is set in Connecticut.

Burning Up is about the investigation Macey Clare sets to herself as her local history project on the Demitroff's barn, it had burnt out in 1959. There were many rumours of whether Mr. Sibley was burnt with the arson or not.

After having a friend die in the shootings of a small and dangerous neighbourhoods and having her hair on fire because of arson, she becomes more and more interested in it. The only problem is that whenever Macey and Austin, her cute neighbour and classmate, try to ask questions surrounding the incident, they change the topic! Can their beloved town be able of hatred an violence?

As they keep on inquiring, their grandparents and Moms get involved. Are they able of hatred an violence?

At sometime, they even ask their own grandparents who was the culprit and what they did to help Mr. Sibley!

I reccomend this great whodunnit to anyone who might sound interested in it because you wont be able to let go!

Journal - Wednesday, 13th January, 2010

2010-01-13T16:07:00.004+07:00

Wow! It feels funny writing 2010!

Well, I'm tired and the first thing I thought when I got home was, 'I need to do a blogpost on today!'. The days are going slower and slower. The days are also getting grayer and grayer, colder and colder! Right now, outside my window, I can see the palm tree leaves maddly flapping around. OMG! I just noticed it was raining, it started in a flash! I hope the seats outside dont get wet. Looks like not all people are 'repelled' by rain, I just saw Jack, my neighbour, skipping abount in the rain!

My feet hurt although I didnt walk much today! Today was a 'White*' so tomorrow will be a 'Blue' Day. Today I had Indonesian Studies with Pak Dawi, Maths & Science with Ms. Marrello, P.E with Mr. McMullen and last but not least: English & Social Studies with Mr. Hughes!

In Indo. Studies today, we set the class rules, responsibilities and consequences, made the first page of our binders and talked a little bit about pets and how their different for every culture.

With Ms. Marrello, we learnt & revised how triangles are classified (angles and sides) and how to find out the measurement of the missing angle in the triangle.

For Science we recieved a new sheet where we need to fill the missing spaces with the bank of words about the Layers of the Earth, we also watched a video on the Layers of the Earth. We listened to a song talking about them too! It's so sticky, youll end up singing the chorus, heres the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9j1xGaxYzY. If you havent figured out yet, our unit in science is: Tectonic Plates. Last year we listened to a song about how volcanoes erupt, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcFtpWjZwlE.

In P.E, we were separated in groups of 3, I went with Sultana and Vicky. Soon, Sung Min was added to our group for a Touch Rugby match against Alisha, Emma. F, In Jai and Yasmina. The funniest parts where when someone dropped the ball, Sultana and I would start singing, 'Apple bottom jeans and the boots with furr, she got the whole club looking at her. She hit the floor, she hit the floor. Next thing you know, shes going down low, low, low!', out loud, then, we'd burst out laughing. Again, if you havent figured, we were talking about the ball, another victim of Gravity. Guess what? I saved the best for the last, when Yasmina had the ball, Sultana and Vicky tried to tag her but she ran all the way back to where we were supposed to score! After that, Sultana, Vicky and I couldnt run anymore because our stomachs hurt from laughing!

Last but not least, English and Social Studies! We cut up all the vocabulary words and stapled them on the one and only 'Wall of Words', at the end, it was a masterpiece. We got 20 minutes of silent reading and we read Peak twice. This time, Peak is not so sure he can escape this avalanche!

At last, home, sweet, home!

As soon as I got home, I started to play with calculator, you know, adding 1 to the number! I reached about 1'400 until I started this blogpot.

Journal - Tuesday, 12th January, 2010

2010-01-12T08:47:00.003+07:00

Well, its the second day of school! I'm still a bit excited but at the same time tired. Because we've started a new semester, some of our electives get changed. Instead of having Health, Robotics and Drama, I'll start having Indo Studies, Visual Exploration and Music.

We just finished reading Peak, by Roland Smith, it's about a 14-year-old boy who illegally climbs buildings and someday, somehow, gets the chance to climb the biggest mountain on eart, Mt. Everest! I think it's a great book so far!

Before reading, we had the free seating, this time it got harder and harder! I, unfortunately, did not win a free seating. I ended up sitting next to Maya and Neil with my back to the board. The good thing is, we have 'portable' chairs, the ones with wheels and all the bad ones have been taken out.

Well, today my schedule is:
- House
- 6th grade meet in Little Theatre
- English & Social Studies
- Break
- French 1B
- Lunch
- Maths & Science
- Break
- Visual Exploration
- Home Sweet Home!

I hope we dont get much homework so that I can watch TV, play on my XBOX and Marco and probably go in the pool.

Guess what?!? Marco, my dog, has a girlfriend! I havent seen her but I know she's a Labrador, her name is Bruni and that she isnt aggressive to him like the other girl-dogs he's met!

I cant believe we're in the last half of the year! I'll miss 6th grade when it's over!

My Holidays

2010-01-11T10:39:00.007+07:00

For the holidays, Mom, Dad and Michelle and I went to Colombia, which is on the other side of the planet, to spend Christmas Eve and New Years Eve with our family. To do that we had to take lots of long flights, 3 of them had the 'ice' program installed so we could watch movies, play games and stuff. The 5 flights took more than 24hours!

Movies:
During the holidays I saw about 15 movies or more but only 3 of them were at the cinema. The first one was Avatar 3D, we went to the cinema all together with my grandma, we got to keep the glasses! These were plastic and black, the lenses were also black, not blue and red. It was amazing! Did you know it took 4 years to film it? No wonder, it was amazing! What I wish I could keep from that movie are the flying dinosaur birds, the weird horses and the tree of souls. That bond they have is special! When we came out of the room, we were amazed! I know most of you haven't watched it yet, which you should, so I won't say what it's about.

Anyway, with my Dad, Grandma, Mom and sister went to watch 'The Princess and the Frog' and 'Alvin & the Chipmunks 2' and I don't want to be too harsh but they're boring and bad, apart from the Single Ladies singing and the funny fairy godmother and alligator, the movie's concept is too basic.

In the airplanes, the best movie I watched were: Night at the Museum 2: Return of Kamunrah and the best TV show was CSI: New York and Friends.

Oh! I almost forgot! At the hotel/club my sister and I loved watching the Mexican serie called 'El Chavo'! It's about the children's daily lives, its just hilarious! These children live in a poor neighbourhood and go to school but the teacher, Sr. Jirafales is in love with Kiko's Mom, Dona Florinda, and vise-verse. She is so in love she spills the coffee when she sees him and forgets to take the curls off! The teacher is so in love, he cant stop staring and bringing flowers, if you watched it, you'd know how funny it is! Its in YouTube and in Spanish!

Family:
The whole point of coming to Colombia was to spend time with our family and that is mostly what we did. At my grandparents from my Dad's side we played Risk and Uno and in Risk I was able to beat everyone by destroying Grandpa's army! I rule the world! Ive been playing that game for years, now!

At my Grandma's from my Moms side, we bought a Monopoly game only instead of buying Wall street, you buy a castle or national symbol. Mom won and I was broke!

Airport Troubles:

Well, we didnt exactly have 'Troubles' but we had to fly with Emirates and Taca. It was like this: Jakarta - Dubai (out at 1am 18th, 8 hour flight & stayed in the Dubai airport for 5 hours), Dubai - Sao Paolo (12-14 hour flight, stayed in Sao Paolo airport hotel for 12 hours, out of Brazil at 10pm), Sao Paolo - Lima (5 hour flight and stayed in Peru for 3-5 hours and Lima - Bogota (3-5 hour flight, home at 1am 19th)! These were the times for our flights! Between the flights, we visited Starbucks, slept on the new chairs and walked around!

Christmas:

For Christmas Eve, we all went to my grandparents from my Dad's side and watched a little bit of TV (el chavo), had dinner and delivered the gifts! Here are the things I got: Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2, 2 pairs of earrings, 1 calendar, 1 Totto bag and lunchbox, 1 wallet, 2 bracelets and being ble tospend time with my family!

New Years Eve:

For New Years Eve, we went to my Grandma's and played 'Super Bank Colombia' until 11:55pm 31st December, 2009! At midnight, Michelle and I drank a tinsy-winsy of champagne, ate the 12 grapes, and did the countdown for the new year! We all had a swell year! We went to the hotel at 3am although we were supposed to leave at 1am! On our way, we found a store on fire, big fire with firemen and police people, next to a gas station and we were surprised to see it didnt explode!

Among Friends

2010-01-10T11:28:00.006+07:00

Among Friends
Caroline B. Cooney
****

Among Friends was written by Caroline B. Cooney and is set at a high school in the United States. I chose this book because its about the difficulties friends have with jealousy and it isnt like the other books. Among Friends is written in the perspective of Awesome Threesomes, Jared, Ansley and Paul as diaries/journals so it's sometimes hard to keep up with.

Among Friends is 'A timely-tale about how the high school peer group punishes the pursuit of excellence' as Richard Pek said. This book, as I said before, is about the difficulties some individuals have with jealousy, it's also about the fall of The Awsome Threesome which is made up by Jennie, Hillary and Emily. It has been falling apart since the summer as it was the first holiday when Jennie didnt contact her B.F.Fs at all, she was working on her own Christmas musical but soon, at school, everyone is proud but Emily and Hillary, they feel disgust and jealousy.

Jennie's opinions of her 'friends' were: they're awesome, we're awesome and together-forever friends until it became: I need to be their friends, they're awesome and mean.

Emily feels jealousy all over and is afraid she'll explode of it but, too late! Her opinions on her attittude towards Jennie is: we shouldnt be this this harsh with her, shes perfect!

Hillary's opinion on Jennie is: everyone is saying she's perfect, I'm disgusted by her, and her opinion on her attittude towards Jennie is: she deserves it!

One day, after all feelings have been hurt and noticing there are only trophies and not a single picture of her with her parents, she runs away from everything, home and school, and gets lost. Its been 2 days, will she find her way back? Will they be able to fix their problems and discover again what used to be their friendship?

Stormbreaker

2009-12-13T14:19:00.012+07:00

Stormbreaker
Anthony Horowitz

*****

As you all know the wonderful series of Alex Rider started with the book called 'StormBreaker' was written by Anthony Horowitz. This book is set in England. This is such a good book, it was turned into a movie, and the movie is also great! This book kept me reading on the edge of the chair, seat, bed, whatever!

StormBreaker is about Alex Rider, who's uncle, Ian Rider, died. Ian Rider had been a great spy although his cover was a bank employee. Ian Rider had taught Alex about self-defense, many languages, rock-climbing and skiing with the intention of making him a spy although Alex did them as a hobbies.

This 'Alan Blunt' and 'Mrs. Jones' who went to the funeral claimed to work with Ian and needed to talk with Alex about his future and the money from the bank so Alex, uninterested, went. There, he was taken to the office next to his uncles. The place was really a spy center, only the cover was, Royal Bank. Here, Alex accidentally finds out its not really a bank and that his uncle didn't die in a car accident.

From then, they forcibly used 14-year-old Alex to spy Sir Herod Sayle, an evil, creepy and lebanese guy who plans to provide 'Stormbreakers' to every single school in England as a gift, his cover is another teen who won a prize to be the first to use those computers and meet the creator. Yassen Gregorovich, Ian's killer and a known Russian murderer, works for him. He now needs a week of training for survival and fights.

But something is wrong with that technology, software is completely new and something is suspicious about him, that is why the teen has been sent to complete his uncles work for M16, British force.

My favorite part is near the end and the middle ,where Alex is explained what the Herod Sayle himself about what his goal is with those stormbreakers and when Alex is threatened by Yassen, Yassen doesn't even try killing the teen, but his boss! This is such a good part, it made me cry! Like, all the stuff hes been through and there he is, right infront of his only known relative's killer and he wont kill him. And then, I feel scared, glad and sad. This is unexpected and that is what I like about it. My other favorite part is when Alex saves the whole country from the Stormbreakers in public!

I reccomend the Alex Rider series to everyone! I can't wait to read the next book, Pointblank!

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

2009-12-12T12:31:00.005+07:00

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

Ally Carter

**** + 1/4

The Author of the book with the longest name ever is Ally Carter, the story is set in Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women and in the US.

This book is about Cammie, she's the principals daughter. She has Bex, Lizzie and Macey as her friends. At her school, they get extra credit for breaking CIA codes, they learn martial arts and self-defense in P.E and the latest in chemical warfare in science. What a school right?!? If you haven't figured out yet, it's a spy school. Their cover is that their school is a boarding school and that their girls with normal lives.

Well, because it's a girls-only school, they don't how to react when guys come around unless they've been at a normal school. Well, in CoveOps, which is field training, she meets some guy called Josh during their first 'mission', find out what their science teacher, Mr. Smith, drinks at the fair. They start to meet in town without any permission at sleeping time. Her friends encourage her to go out with him again and again, because she likes him and vise-versa so it's like their personal little mission, know more about him.

One day, the CoveOps 2nd mission and her date collide! She needs to explain everything to both, Mom and Ryan. Guess how it ends?

My favourite part is when she goes out for her last date with him where's she's supposed to clarify everything to him but when she's going back, she gets snatched by the CoveOps teachers and gets blindfolded but Josh did notice. Then all the alarms and action go out. Josh follows the van which has supposedly kidnapped her...

I reccomend this book to girls who like this kind of book, it's just the beggining of a series and the next book is called 'Cross My Heart & Hope To Spy'.

The Rescuers - House On Fire

2009-12-10T20:07:00.008+07:00

The Rescuers
Allan Zullo
*** *

The Rescuers was written by Allan Zullo and is set in all of the USA. The Rescuers is a fiction and picture-less book although it sets pictures in your mind, alright! The Rescuers is practically 10 greatly described stories of how children risked their lives for other kids and adults.

Sorry, Nora! My favourite story is where the teenage girl stays to babysit about 5-7 children, all from different ages from 10 & under. This is my favourite story because ecause it's the best and the most descriptive! If you want to know more and how it ends, read the book!

My favourite part of this story is when the girl has to save the 5 children and her boyfriend from smoke-inhalation and death. This story was the most descriptive and forced me to keep reading and reading non-stop!

When I finished the book, which was months ago, I started thinking about how much courage those kids mustve had and if I'd done the same thing.

I reccomend this book to my little sis, Michelle, who now reading more challenging books. I just know you'll love it!

They Found my Phone!

2009-12-10T18:06:00.005+07:00

Well, first, I'd like to thank the Transportation Department for turning my phone into the Checkpoint and the Checkpoint volunteers for their time and giving me my phone back! If it weren't for the Checkpoint and Transportation Department, I would probably be pleading for my phone. I sound like an actress in her speech for an award, don't I?

The Transportation Office and Checkpoint were the big roles in the newly named mission: 'Recovering Valentina's Phone!', so original, right?!? When I knew the bus-driver had taken my phone to the Checkpoint, from then, I knew I could trust the people who facilitate our way around school. The Checkpoint is just wonderful! I am so grateful that JIS even has a Checkpoint! The Moms who volunteer put most of their time and day into it! Thank you!

Now I know the real story! I accidentally left the phone in the bus, it was kept in the bus until it was turned into the Checkpoint, and thankfully, Maria's Mom took it from the Checkpoint before it was closed! I got my phone yesterday but strangely, I only had about 4 texts!

I was so glad when I received phone! Maria's Mom had called my Mom on Friday but Mommy didn't tell me so I could feel the excitement of getting my phone back.

On Monday, as I was walking in the class, Maria asked me if I had lost my phone, I answered yes. Then, she told me she had it... but at home. It was until Wednesday, yesterday, that I got it back.

Yesterday, while I was doing my homework, I started with Rp.33 and full battery. Well, I texted and used my phone so much, I ended up with Rp.20 and a dead battery! That's how much I missed it, a lot!

10 Picture Definitions-Vocab 5

2009-12-10T16:22:00.012+07:00

pleadingly

embezzle

traumatic

adhesive

embankment

eclectic

lagging

revelation

malevolent

dejection

One of the very few Reasons I don't like Blogger

2009-12-09T16:27:00.011+07:00

Overall, I like Blogger, but it sometimes drives me crazy! This was, actually, a blog post on the 1000 Flood Relief Buckets but NO... Moms computer decides it wants to delete my work, I'd already written about 5 big paragraphs!

It's not fair! One single mistake and VRUMM! There goes your work! It said it had saved it so I searched for it in the 'Manage Posts' window but it couldn't find my post! Then, I tried 'Previous' or Ctrl-Z, this time, it worked but it wasn't enough! Only 1 sentence appeared.

Now, has anybody else had this problem? Last time this type of thing happened to me, was in Egypt. I was writing this huge e-mail with pictures attached and all to these really good friends who were in Canada and it left! I had never tried to write/type that much before (the writing was even colour coded for each paragraph) or attach pictures! From then, I never tried to write e-mail ever again!

This blog post was made so I could express my anger and frustration in a healthy and un-noisy way (although I just screamed). Thank you

Vocab List 4 - Pictures

2009-12-08T18:11:00.010+07:00

1. Pensive

2. Seminary

3. Innovation

4. Extortion

5. Jubilation

I Lost my New Phone!!!

2009-12-03T16:54:00.007+07:00

How to lose a phone in Middle School :(

I need your help!

Just three months ago I thought that having a phone was the most wonderful thing in the world, but it was just giving me worries!!! I need to take care of the phone before, during and after school.

At the beginning, it was just to keep contact with my Mum because of heavy traffic in Jakarta: I could spend so long in the bus and Mommy was unable to communicate with me. Soon, I used the phone to text and call my friends.

It was wonderful to send a text Daddy who was somewhere in the globe and get a reply from him saying, 'I love my princess. Dad!!', or to get abracitos and company from a delicious chocolate milk just as I was just arriving home, Mum knew from my texts that I was on my way back and very tired!!

This story began two days ago or Tuesday, when I helped my friend find her phone by calling her on the way to the school, I might've left it it there, I put my phone back in my backpack. At 3 pm I had a look inside my bag and couldnt find it! What happened? I have no idea!! There are many ways and places where it couldve been lost or stolen:
- I lost it in the bus... I could've put it in the outside pocket.
- I lost in my classroom...
- I went to the check point almost 9 times because I thought that if somebody found my phone, well , the checkpoint would be the place to drop stuff or belongings which are not ours. Nothing happened !

I am new in JIS, new in MS, new responsibilities and because of that, I sometimes don't know what to do. I told Mum about it and Mom said, " Let everybody know that you lost your phone, inform everybody who needs to know: the homeroom teacher, transportation, the security, everybody, maybe the people found it and you can get your Daddy's gift back!!!!'.

We talked about it with some of my friends and, apparently, some of them lost theirs 2 or more times, some people say that to lose phones in MS or HS is practically normal. But, think about it, who would keep something which is not theirs? For who is it normal? Not for me or my family. That is imposible. My sister and I were educated to be honest, polite and responsibe. Should it be normal for us to keep something which is not ours?!?

I am very sad now, it is not just the money my parents put in that mobile. I am feeing bad, it was my first phone! My phone was only three months, still new and full of good memories. Why I didn't I put it inside the locker? I put it inside my bag and forgot everything the teachers had ever told me! Why?? The guilt is eating me up, bite by bite!!

We can not lose anything in school. If somebody found something, he or she needs to drop it at the checkpoint ASAP! Why should we need to suffer for a phone?!? Today it's the phone, tomorrow what ?

This is a call to everybody, help the school be a safe enviroment. Help the students have a pleasant year at JIS. I am so happy to be in JIS, I am so proud to be a JIS student. Help me recover my phone, have a look around you, it is a Nokia 2600 with a black case, gift from my daddy!

Description of phone:
- Nokia 2600
- Colour of phone: Dark Blue
- Has a camera
- Phone is in black case
- Has different pictures rotating as a background
- About Rp.34.000 as pulsa
- Not a lot of battery, probably out already

Remember:
- Valentina Friedl, P5, 6th grade, Ms. Marrello.
- Nokia phones can charge with any Nokia charger

Thanks!

Why is Fresh Water so Scarce? Geoactive Questions El Niño

2009-11-24T12:22:00.005+07:00

Here are the questions from the GeoActive book, page 229, questions: 1-5.

1. List the main reasons fro water scarcity.
2. What is a drought? What type of hardships do you think that a drought could
cause if you were living in a village in a poor country such as Ethiopia?
3. How does land degradation affect the supply of fresh water?
4. (a): What is El Nino?
(b): Why does El Nino often cause drought in Australia?
5. Observe the map showing the global effects of El Nino in 1982-83.
(a): What effects does El Nino have on the availability of fresh water?
(b): Name the countries and describe the problems that arose from decreased
rainfall caused by El Nino.

Bintaro Lama Field Trip

2009-11-18T18:43:00.012+07:00

On the 12th, the sixth grade from JIS was packed up in many different little buses heading 2 different ways, Water Treatment and Bintaro Lama Kampung. I went to the Kampung. We were going to the Kampung for Social Studies, as we were and still are learning about water especially to see how the community clean the water. The ride was about 35 minutes long, which was great because I was getting bored.

Here are the 3 different stations we visited during the field trip and what they did in them.

Station 6-AquaTabs & Air RahMat:

- We learnt about AquaTabs, Air RahMat and how and when to use them. We were shown some examples of how to do it too.

AquaTabs:
*1 little AquaTab can purify 20 liters approximately!
*They are also really cheap!

Step 1:
- Put appropriate amount of AquaTabs in the specific amount of water.
Step 2:
- Let the water sit for 30 minutes.

Air RahMat:
*Really cheap!
*With Air RahMat, about 10ml can clean 1 liters which is really heavy.
*Should only be used for clear water.

Step 1:
- Pour the specified amount of drops per liter into the lid.
Step 2:
- Pour the drops from the lid into the water.
Step 3:
- Shake the bottle with water in it for 30 seconds.
Step 4:
- Let the water sit for 30 minutes.

Station 2-Hygiene / Public Health Promotion:
- We entered the 'Little Mosque' and were taught about WatSan's goal about the hygiene in the Kampung and ways of forbidding bacterias from human feces contaminate animals, ground, food and hands.

5 Crucial Times You Should Wash Your Hands:
- Wash your hands before and after eating.
- Wash your hands after using the toilet.
- Wash your hands whenever they feel or look dirty.

Avoiding Bacteria:
- Wash your hands with clean water.
- Wash your hands with soap, preferably 'anti-bacterial'.
- Carefully rinse with water.
- Dry with dry towel.
- Build & use a toilet with a septic tank.
- Don't let your food come in touch with any contaminating thing: feces, rubbish, waste, etc.

Station 4:
- What we learnt about PUR:
* Also for use in Pakistan.
* Rp1.000 per packet.
* 1 packet = 10 liters.
* Also used in floods and places where there is no access to potable water.
* Creates sedimentation, flocculation and co-agulation.

The ride back was hilarious! Maya tried to drink her whole giant water bottle with-out separating her lips from it, she said I was allowed to TRY and make her stop or laugh and BTW: I did a great job!! I took her I-Pod and put all the normal music she listens to, BAAM! I put 2 of the most funny and cute songs ever!! FYI: they are 'Peanut-Butter Jelly Time' and 'Gummy Bear Song'! She burst out laughing and spat all the water to Nora, I'm glad that wasn't me! In her second try which was after calming down, I clicked an Afro-Latin song called 'Bandalu!'. Again, she burst out WATER!! The other funny part of the ride was when I was drinking my amazing strawberry yogurt when the bus suddenly stopped and the bottle tipped over... her arm smelt like strawberry!! LOL!

What I have learnt during the trip, was all of the above and that, you should appreciate what you have because someday you won't have it and that you don't need everything to be happy.

LOL! RECYCLE! LOL!

Wind In The Willows

2009-11-12T17:08:00.006+07:00

Wind In The Willows

Kenneth Grahame

Wind In the Willows is a classic, it was written by Kenneth Grahame and I understood is was set near the river in England.

Wind In The Willows is about Rat and Moles adventure through the forest or woods to Badger and Toads encounters with near death, the police, jail and much more.

The reason why I gave this book 2 stars was because the book to me, although it's a classic, was very boring, it was so boring: it took me a month and a bit to finish it! I didnt find it that interesting. You might not think the same as I do about the book.

The best part I could find was the whole part: from when he is changing into the costume until he finds his way home using the same car he ad stolen before. I also like the part where Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger attack Toad Hall, its been invaded by ferrets by force, in the middle of the night. I like these because it's what kept me awake during SSR and the whole time I was reading the book!!

Water Questions

2009-11-10T18:45:00.008+07:00

Hi! These are the questions from the GeoActive book! This blog post has now been updated and now has the answers.

1. What percentage of the world's supply of water is fresh water?
- The percentage of fresh water on Earth is 3%.
2. Where is the world's supply of fresh water found?
- Fresh water is found in Ice-Bergs and Glaciers.
3. Even though the supply of fresh water is abundant it is still a problem. Why?
- It is a problem because, even though it's abundant, the population of the world is fastly growing.

4. Observe the map of world average annual precipitation (opposite).
- 4a) Describe the changes in rainfall occur as you move from the southern to the northern tip of Africa.
- As we move from the southern to the northern tip of Africa, you can see how the annual precipitation increases, and suddenly falls.
- 4b)Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the western to the eastern tip of Australia along the the Tropic of Capricorn.
- From the western to the eastern tip of Australia, the rainfall stays in the range of >400-800mm of water, the only part where Australia gets from 800-1600mm of water is at the north or near New Zealand.

5. Observe the map above of water availability per person.
- 5a) Observe the map above of water availability per person.
- 5b) Which parts of the world appear to have a small amount of water per person?

6. Observe the diagram of water use.
- 6a) What are the main uses of water?
- 6b) Which uses have increased the most over the last century?

Water Treatment Plant

2009-11-09T16:31:00.017+07:00

Water Treatment Plant Trip

5th of November, 2009, Ms. Marrello's, Mrs. Titus's, Mrs. Fischer's, Mr. McKibben's, Mr. Profrock's and Ms. Voss's homeroom had an educational field trip to the Water Treatment Plant in Jakarta to let the students see the different steps to make the dirty water from the river into clean, potable water as our new unit for Science is Water.

Step 1:
The first step was where there were 2 tanks where the river ran through, the first tank was used to clean the water by not allowing the big sized pieces of litter to go through large and tall metal sticks, each 2 hours, there should be a machine which is practically a scooper, used to scrape of all the rubbish which has been collected so the water will be able to go through. There is another tank which does the exact same thing, only for smaller pieces of rubbish. This is not infiltration.

Step 2:
A chemichal called Alum was put into the water, the Alum had a chemichal reaction, making all the big parts of the dirt float onto the floc which was created by the Alum. The floc looked like sand but was sand-colored because there was sand and litter in the river. The river was so dirty, I saw a dead fish floating by!

Step 3:
Sedimentation takes place because the floc gets too heavy, making it sink to the bottom, because there is so much dirt in the river, the water needs to be put into many 'filters' otherwise, there shall be little visible dots floating all around the water. The floc in taken into a Treatment Plant where the floc will be used to build bricks and stuff.

Step 4:
After Step 3, comes disinfection, where the water is almost safe to drink. To take out the smallest visible rubbish, they have 1 meter high pile of special sand where the water will be cleaner.

Step 5:
For Step 5, Chlorine is added to the water. From here, the water is potable. The water goes to the reservoir and is sent to your taps when you need them.

Each day they will compare the probability of diseases in river water and their clean water. So everytime you are using tap water, remember where it has been through!

I once read a little book called 'The Litter Queen', it was the Kipper stories and just now, I realize that there's not really a difference. The only difference is that the rubbish I'm talking about right now is floating on a river while the Litter Queen is polluting her city.

Would you like our river to be as polluted as the Citarum River?? I hope not, it is considered the most polluted river in the world! It is so contaminated, the people who use their boats to move from one place to another arent being able to move as fast as they did!! I hope the people using or littering the river have finnally understood that they should be more careful of where they put their rubbish. So dont just stand there! Use recycling bins, dont use plastic bags as much, dont waste electricity!

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!!

Hurry Grandma Hurry

2009-11-03T10:11:00.006+07:00

Hurry Grandma Hurry

I chose this poem because I thought it was funny, is about a boy and how he treats his poor old Grandma and because it had lots of rhymes.

This poem was written by Jack Prelutsky and I found it in his poetry book called 'Pizza As Big As The Sun'! The whole class chose a poem, narrated it while filming and had to edit the clip using 'Pinnacle Studio 12' program to practice uploading videos to the desktops without any problems and learning how to use the new 'Flip Cameras'! . Hope you enjoy!

Credits

Written by: Jack Prelutsky
Filmed by: Mr. Hughes
Narrated & edited by: Valentina Friedl

Thanks for watching!

Water Cycle Steps

2009-11-02T16:06:00.007+07:00

Monday, 2nd November, 2009

Water Cycle Steps

Evaporation:

Caused by the heat, evaporation is when water leaves it's liquid state and into gas. This picture shows a lake/river/compound of water evaporating in the middle of the day.

Condensation:

Condensation is when water leaves it's gas state because it cooled down and turned into liquid state water, stays beneath the nearest upper surface. This picture shows condensation in the tank.

Precipitation:

Precipitation is also known as rain and is the action of the liquid-state water falling also mainly known as 'raining'. This picture shows a man trying to cover himself from the rain.

Infiltration:

Infiltration is when the liquid-state water is absorbed/soaked by the soil and/or sand. This picture/diagram shows how the soil has absorbed the 15mm of water after an hour. I couldnt find a good picture, sorry!

Brind & the Dogs of War

2009-10-22T15:53:00.005+07:00

Brind and the Dogs of War
Christopher Russell
****

Brind & the Dogs of War was written by Christopher Russell & is set in England and France, when these countries are at war.

This book is about a boy who's name is Brind, he was adopted by Sir Edmund and his wife when he was just a baby. Brind lived and grew up with the dogs also called the finest hounds in England which were owned by Sir Edmund, he was very proud of them. The hounds leader was Glaive, the closest hound to Brind. But Brind doesn't have the perfect life either; he gets beaten by Tullo -the masters hunter- and has to sleep in the kennel and act like a hound too.

His master was called by the English army to defend his country, they'd like to have his hounds as a weapon. In the middle of the night, the dog-boy gets woken up and starts crossing England as to get to the English Channel [I think that was it] and cross it in the middle of the night. All this was in a wooden container filled with his family [the hounds] and the other wild dogs belonging to the other knights.

After arriving at France, the English army settles down in a camp and the next day; the battle is ON! During the battle, Glaive gets hurt while the other dogs in his pack are dead and runs away into the French Territory. Brind, having seen the pain his best friend was going through encouraged him to find him but he was quite late... He encounters a traitor -trying to kill him- and a young french girl about his age who wants to escape her country as she knows she is know an orphan. Together, they find Glaive, cure him from his deadly wound, find Brinds master, make it through the terrible storm & kill Tullo.

My favourite part of the story is when Phill -one of Sir Edmund's staff- finds Brind, Glaive & the girl getting attacked by Tullo [he's now acting like a maniac] in the middle of the woods [french territory] and is attempting Brinds death, Phill knows Brind is just a child and tries to defend them by using his 'sword skills' but dies in the act. This is my favourite part because Christopher really describes the scene and uses characterization, my favourite part of the description is when Phill actually gets killed: ...and Tullo's hunting knife swooshed through his neck and... he was dead. The sudden stop just makes it so... I don't know, SUDDEN!

I recommend this book to my little sister who's always wondering what the book I'm reading is about!

Journal - Friday 16, October, 2009

2009-10-22T11:28:00.015+07:00

Friday, 16th October, 2009

Journal - Day 1

Well, gladly, Friday was the last day of school before the 'First Semester Break'! Finally, we could get some 'relaxation time' and 'beauty sleep'! As if that wasn't enough, we were to receive our shipment from Egypt, Daddy would arrive from Kuwait and it was Madness Day!!

GO BROMO! Everybody had a normal simple school-day until 1:20, the Madness had arrived! Almost everybody had their volcano shirt on and there were cheers from the very beginning of the day! I , personnally think I cheered quite a lot as I had one day of preparation! Yes, I had understood that the Madness Day was to be on Thursday!! I had to wash my Bromo shirt again and wait another 24 hours to wear it again!
Unfortunately, the REAL Madness was only at the end of the day, '[sniff!]' and Maya and Nora were absent because they were sick or in Australia which meant there were even less Bromos in our homeroom.

I had lots of fun during the Madness Events. At the begginning of Madness, the whole of Middle School got separated into their volcanoes and grades. Each grade would go to the 3 different stations and compete.There was the 'Under & Over' session, 'Tug Of War' battle and 'Water Relay' event but as fun as they all were, the Water Relay beat them easily as it involved water and was the most refreshing and fun [kind of obvious!]. In the Water Relay, Bromo was 3rd and Krakatau had the hardest bucket to deal with! YAY!

The other 2 events were the noisiest and during the Under & Over competition, my ear-drum was pounding so hard because I had Salak's Thomas and Santi screaming their Salak hearts out. Thomas was shouting so loud, his face was becoming red!! Unfortunately, Merapi was 1st and Salak was 2nd. Don't get too upset, Bromos, we were 3rd!

The Tug of War battle was the most painful of all as surprisingly, the other teams were extremely strong. Krakatau was so strong, every Bromo had their heels on the field and the yellows could STILL pull us easily! I felt like a baby trying to get a toy out of Marco's mouth! Marco is my doggy!

Well, I guess that was Madness! Every 6th grader headed down to the buses or the cars soaking wet! I was still excited, extremely happy and had my feet in 'Sea World Shoes'!

B.T.W, I , personally think I cheered quite a lot as I had one day of preparation! Yes, I had understood that the Madness Day was to be on Thursday!! I had to wash my Bromo shirt again and wait another 24 hours to wear it!

From there, everybody parted different directions... Almost everybody I asked were going to Bali but instead, I was to stay and encounter the new world of the boxes!! YES! That meant my sister and I would get separate rooms [!], the rest of our clothes [another !], our toys and jewellery [not that I have much!]!

When I got home, I got changed into dry clothes and tried out my bike. It felt so good to have my own bike back! I joined up with Lisa who was visiting Hannah and we gave almost all the 7 cats a bath, played tag in Hannah's enormous garden, picked some cherries from their cherry tree, played and sang along with Hannah on the piano and took a look around the house until Hannah's Mom called and ordered us to get out of the house as she had felt the Earthquake in the center of Jakarta. From then on, we played Grounders and Soccer where we got our laugh hour and started singing about 3 & 1/2 hot potatoes!! It was awkwardly hilarious!! They left to Hannah's house but I stayed playing soccer with a very kind neighbour from B.I.S!

I returned home maybe 2 or 3 hours before Daddy arrived and we created welcome signs and dinner, we watched Mad Money with Mom and Dad and went to sleep.

GO BROMO!

The Colombian Flag & its history

2009-10-13T20:06:00.011+07:00

The Colombian Flag

Colombia's flag colours are yellow on top, blue in the middle and red at the bottom but these colours weren't chosen by anyone just because...

Simon Jose Antonio de la Santisima Trinidad Bolivar y Palacios Ponte Blanco [!] commonly known and way shorter as Simon Bolivar was Venezuelan but died in Santa Marta, Colombia. He was born on July 24th 1783 ion Caracas, Venezuela and died in December 17th 1830, he died at quite a young age.

During those years, Spain had conquered Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Bolivia and the Spanish people were stealing our gold forcing his main goal to be setting independence and peace in these countries. His last words were about forgiving and his dream: that those countries become one!

Step by step, his 'dream' came true and became President of many countries.

President of Colombia: December 17th 1819 - May 4 1830.

President of Venezuela: August 6 1813 - July 7th 1814 & February 15th 1819 - December 17th 1819.

President of Bolivia: August 12 1825 - December 29 1825.

President of Peru: February 17th - January 28 1827

But as he gained power, he became more and more wanted by the Spanish, soon, he fled to the outside of Bogota, Colombia and one day, escaped from his shelter and into a cold freezing river underneath a bridge. The river he stayed in for a while was so cold, he got a terrible disease or cold.

His death at the age of 47 was caused when he went to war on December 17th 1830 to Santa Marta with tuberculosis, which was probably caused by the river.

Vocab List #2 Definitions

2009-10-13T16:37:00.010+07:00

Here are the 10 definitions [homework]:

A *seizure* is when somebody or something has a cramp in their muscle and don't have any control over it.
*Swarming* is when there are tons of people or animals crowded and messy [no pattern].
A *venture* is when someone starts an adventure OR trying something new.
*Dignity* is when someone or an animal has their head up high, meaning they are proud of themselves and have control over their behaviour.
To *knead* means when you 'massage' the dough.
*Illuminating* means when theres a light giving light and like in the cartoons: when someone has an idea.
*Virilty* means someone [not necesarily guys!] who is attractive.
*Jittering* means when something or someone vibrates or moves from one side to another without a pattern.
The word *Hispanic* means people who are from Spanish-speaking countries OR people from Spain.
*Trepidation* means when someone or something feels something bad is coming or going to happen, anxiety & fear & nervousism.

Voices After Midnight

2009-10-08T09:03:00.009+07:00

Voices After Midnight

Richard Peck

*****

Voices After Midnight was written by Richard Peck and is set in California & New York through time.

Voices After Midnight is about Luke, Chad and Heidi. They came along with their parents from California to New York for the holidays so they have rented a house which appears to be new but that's only the first two floors...

During the nights, these children hear and encounter voices which after some time leads them with their 'gifts' to a parallel world in 1888 or later. The voices say, ''Stay awake, Emily! Try to remember the park during summer, the park, Emily! The park!'. Unfortunately, the confused kids do not know what to expect when they cross Heidi's temporal room or bathroom door, Tyler's room or Heidi's???

When the three of them couldn't sleep very well, they had a quick look in the attic which obviously seemed to be the maid's room where they found a beatiful gown, normally used for balls and dances and all that kind of stuff! This dress allowed Heidi to be seen in the parallel worlds.

During the blizzard of 1888, Emily and Tyler get stuck in their old elevator because of the overwhelming ice. Will any of these three young talented children be there in time to save them??

My favourite part are the encounters with the spirits/seeing them -especially the old man refusing to sell his building-, the ball dance and the rescue from freezing death. These are all my favourite parts because Richard Peck puts you in the most amazing places of the stories and for me sometimes I just had to stop reading it, open all the doors in my room, LEAVE the lights on and BREATHE!! It's too amazing to explain! He describes stuff so well, you dont need to imagine you're there. Just POP! You know you're seeing everything happen, sometimes even escaping, climbing, running! Richard puts soo much emotion and description into it. I am looking forward to reading one of his books!

I reccomend this book to Maya, Nora and everybody who likes time-travelling, ghosts or spirits and suspense in their books!!

Is there a Lizard in the Pool?

2009-10-03T12:59:00.004+07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, we have all united to conmemorate this lizard's death...

OMG! Is it dead? Is it not? My sister found a lizard last week! My Mom thought it was asleep and alive but it was really dead. Half an hour after the discovery, my sister and I were still playing with a long metal tube trying to move and wake it up. Apparently [or according to my sister], the black spots at the bottom of the pool were the lizards poo!! DISGUSTING! But if it wasnt poo, then WHAT THE HECK was it?!?!?Fortunately, none of us swam in the pool that day.

When Mom thought the lizard had a swim long enough for it, she called the driver and asked him if he could take it out immediately. Pak Supardi took the tube and moved the lizard until the steps, he now used it to move her up the wall and got hold of the tail. After the Lizard was put on a table, it had its mouth open, its eyes were closed and it was yellowish yellow!

2 hours after we put it in the sun, its eyes were open and it was green!!!! Mom says it died with a completely relaxed face and dignity, not like the other dead lizard I found squashed in the road [you're glad I don't have a picture of THAT!!]

The Lizard is now in a plastic bag in the middle of nowhere because th flies or birds made holes in her back and were eating her!!! Again, DISGUSTING!![

Vocabulary sentences

2009-10-02T10:57:00.004+07:00

Here are the 10 sentences:

(1) The young ventriloquist made his doll sing without moving his lips.
(2) Being 'malicious' is bad.
(3) I was bellowing loudly and innapropriately during SSR [NOT!].
(4) A mortal is someone who can die.
(5) I was overwhelmed by the amount of homework given today.
(6) I made a blunder when I mispelled a word.
(7) Marcopolo is always sitting idly - waiting for food -.
(8) Michelle was perplexed and mad by her homework.
(9) My sister is rampant all the time because I tease her.
(10) The desert is vast, dry and full of sand.

I & Me

2009-09-30T18:49:00.007+07:00

Here are the 6 sentences using the words 'I & me'.

I:
- My parents and I feel good!
- A friend and I got 9:06 in my mile run!
- My sister and I got hit in the eye by a dirty sock.

Me:
- Michelle and Marco came with me to the Booster Hut.
- At the zoo, the orangutan sent a kiss to my Mom and me.
- In the U12 Medley Relay Team [track & field], there is Jamieson, Ah Lim, Annika and me.

The Boy who Lost his Face

2009-09-24T19:44:00.005+07:00

The Boy Who Lost His face
Louis Sachar
****

'The Boy Who Lost His Face' is written by Louis Sachar and is set at a random middle-school. You will only truly understand the title when you read the whole book.
The story is actually about a boy -David Ballinger- who's trying to be popular so he hangs out with the popular group -Roger, Randy, Scott, Ginger & [I forgot her name]- but when the boys sabotage and steal Ms. Bayfield's cane, the old lady curses David. Since then, he has made REAL friend [weirdos] and continued his crush on Tory. When he gets 'uncursed' he realizes that he didnt need to be popular to have good friends and that he had everything he ever wanted. He also accepts himself as who he is.

My favourite part is the sabotage at Ms. Bayfield, when David's new groups of friends fight the popular group and when Ms. Bayfield explains about the curse. These are my favourite parts because of the description and the Louis Sachar makes you feel as if you know all the main charaters so well. The best part from these 3 is the fight because David actually fought [punch, kick way] Roger -the leader of the gang- and not only to get the cane, but to take revenge of all the times the gang bullied, forced or even when they embarrased him. I also like the way David just doesn't give up or do everything the 'gang' does[for a change]. The action in the part where Roger punches David in the stomach and throws him on a pile on top of David's new friends and younger brother is quite entertaining

REVENGE IS SWEET!

I reccomend this book to Nora and Maya as well as 'Sixth Grade Secrets' although they may be too short for them.

Sherlock Holmes - The Adventure of the Speckled Band

2009-09-14T17:50:00.009+07:00

The Adventure of the Speckled Band [Chapter 8, pages 69-96]
Retold from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle original
*****

The Adventure of the Speckled Band is set in London and the Stone's mansion.

The Stone twins lived with their drunk Dad [he actually drinks more beer than he should] who lived in India, studied as a doctor & adopted a cheetah & a wild hog. When Mr. Stone came back to Mrs. Stone and her daughters with the wild animals, they caused fear which made the girls lock their doors while sleeping. When their mother died, Mrs. Stone gave all her income & savings to Mr. Stone but demanded that when either one of them got married, the bride would receive part of that money. Mr. Stone had stayed before his wifes death in jail for fighting & since he came from India, his temper grew stronger.

Now, it was Julia's Stone turn to marry but suddenly, after having a nervous night where she talked about the weird whistle in her room, Julia dramatically dies. Her last words were 'the Speckled Band', the doctors searched for every possible reason that couldve caused Julias death but found nothing. When Helen, the remaining twin, is having her room fixed, she's forced to go into her sisters room which of course makes her uncomfortable. On her first night in her sisters room, she heard a frightening whistle but without knowing from where...

Helen has escaped to talk to Mr. Holmes, desperately!!! Will Sherlock & Mr. Watson find out who killed Julia before its too late?!?!?!?

This is my favourite story from the book because it is the first story I read where Sherlock Holmes actually didnt start thinking of the killer the right way. The vocabulary was also so intense, I could feel my heart beat!! I was amazed, surprised & thinking of who the killer could be.

My favourite part of the story is when they actually describe Julia's death because it is too exciting [not that I like her sister dying!!], it kind of pulls you into reading the whole story! My second favourite part from the story is when Mr. Watson & Mr. Holmes break in to [not really] the Stone's mansion & pretend to be Helen Stone where they finally uncover the killer AND the secret weapon's true identity.

I recommend this book to readers who like mystery/horror books [if you really really like them; read the Goosebump series and/or the Witch saga]. NOT recommended to readers who dont enjoy thin books/stories.

We Will Meet Again!!

Characterization- Laura Sibbie

2009-09-10T13:44:00.005+07:00

Characaterization - Laura Sibbie
Sixth Grade Secrets was written by Louis Sachar, where the main character is Laura Sibbie, a student in sixth grade near the end of the year.
Laura is my favourite character in the book because I like the way she defends her club, her friends and isn't a snitch [someone who tell evrybody off]. I also
like the way she doesn't give when at war with 'Monkey Town'.

In page 5, Mr. Sachar shows
that Laura cares about SOME people's feelings when he writes:'...but she also thought it was a tacky
thing to say infront
of the man.'

Laura shows she dreams about being the
President of the United States ,admires George Washington and absolutely HATES
being called pretty in page 8-9 when Louis
writes:'Laura's goal was to be the first woman to become the
President of the United States.' 'Dont call me pretty!'

In these two pages, Louis also shows that Laura wants to be a pig farmer after being The United States President when Laura says:'That's it!! I wanna be a pig farmer!.'

In page 39, Louis shows what the Laura's main problem is when he makes Laura writes the following note to Gabriel, a classmate:

'Hey Gabriel,
I think your'e uglier than a two-headed frog. I'll kiss but only to save Pig City, not because I like you.
I hate your guts
Laura '

At the end, Laura and Gabriel end up as really really good friends and Laura as a really kind girl graduating from sixth grade.

Sixth Grade Secrets

2009-09-06T19:45:00.004+07:00

Sixth Grade Secrets
Louis Sachar
*****

Sixth Grade Secrets was written by Louis Sachar, the story is set in the US at a school. It is about Laura, who forms parts of Mr. Doyles class and is near the end of the school year. Laura creates a secret club called 'Pig City', named after her cap, with her friends Tiffany & Allison when they know that clubs are no longer allowed in school. To encourage people to join the club, Laura sneaks in at school before it even starts to write silly messages on the board like: Pigs Fly High! or Pigs Rule! To join the club you must give insurance, the insurance is to show to the whole school in case that person tells anybody -not belonging to Pig City- about the club. But when Laura asks Gabriel if he would wear a muu-muu [hawaiian dress] for his insurance, it doesnt go as well as they both planned. Instead of asking for him to wear the dress, the words; 'Kiss me' came out. From here, fights in Mr. Doyle's sixth grade class between Pig City, Monkey Town & Eagle's Nest citizens become nothing but ordinary.

Sixth Grade Secrets is one of my favourite books because I just love the way Louis writes -as if he were an experienced child, or as if he were there-, he is very deatailed and intrigues you to read the next chapter or read more books of his. I am indeed, looking forward to reading another of his books.

My favourite part of the book is [almost everything!!!] when the Pig City citizens mustarize Gabriel & how Gabriel took revenge of Pig City mustarization 'episode' as he stole the the Pigs treasure chest, where all the insurances are kept, and exposed them to the whole of Middle School.

Louis Sachar is also the great author of 'Holes', 'Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom', 'Survival Guide', 'Sideway Stories from Wayside School', 'Sideways Arithmethich from Wayside School', 'Wayside School is Falling Down', 'The Boy who Lost his Face', 'Someday Angeline' and 'Johnny's in the Basement'.

Pigs Rule!

Earthquake hits Indonesia

2009-09-03T08:17:00.010+07:00

Earthquake hits Indonesia

On the 2nd of September, Indonesia got hit by the strongest earthquake I've ever experienced [actually, its the only earthquake I've ever experienced!] which reached the 7.6!!! Many houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged. And I, was very scared.

Natural Environment

Indonesia is one of the islands most affected by earthquakes, the reason is that Indonesia is in the 'Ring of Fire'. The way earthquakes are formed is by the movement of the Tectonic Plates which are underground and when they move; the land above it shakes alot.

The village which was most affected by the earthquake was Tasikmalaya. The reason why Jakarta didnt suffer as much Tasikmalaya did is because of the place where the epicenter was. The epicenter was in the ocean, to the south of Indonesia while Jakarta is in the North-west part of Indonesia. The earthquake was 40 km underground, 200 km south of Jakarta.

At the end of the day, Indonesia received a strong tsunami warning but luckily, Jakarta is doubted to be affected by it [phew] as it is very far away from the ocean. The tsunami would be created by the movement of the earthquake.

Jakarta is lucky to be flat. If it wasnt, then the city would be covered in landslides. The landslides in Tasikmalaya and Bandung have killed 77 people, destroying plantations, shelters and memories. Many people have lost all of their relatives.

People Interacting with the Environment

Most of the ways people got hurt during the Earthquake is because: they didnt know what to do, paniced and ran wherever they thought was safe or the buildings [made by man] drastically started shaking, the objects fell and hurt them.

After the Earthquake, people started to go to their houses or evacuate the city [!!!] which made an intolerable traffic making it harder for the ambulances to get through.

My Experience

I felt the Earthquake but never really realize it [I thought it was the boys trying to push the bus!]. I was in the bus talking to a friend, when we were amazed by how strong the boys were [it was really the earthquake]. We only realized it when the other bus mates told us about it.

I tried to contact my Mom and Dad but the earthquake was so strong, the phone connections were blocked, I used everybody's phone and none of those calls were answered!I got worried until Daddy somehow called me.

When we dropped off the Mahers, I could see their Mom so worried her face was red and she was crying. When I arrived, I saw everybody evacuated, sitting on the streets, some crying. Mommy ran to me with her worried face and hugged me soo hard, she was about to make my eyes pop out!!! When I saw Micho [sister], the first thing she said was, ''I'm hungry. Do you have food??'',!!. As the time went by, I decorated my writers notebook and shared my Cheeetos. They ony let us in at 7pm.

What to do in case of an Earthquake:

- During the quake, you should always remain calm and go under a structured object [eg: table, chair, doorway, etc.]

- After the quake, walk [dont ever run] into an open space.

* Try to always have shoes with you

Roald Dahl

2009-09-01T19:45:00.007+07:00

Roald Dahl
*****

Roald Dahl was born on the 13th Septembre, 1916, in Llandaff and died on 1990 at the age of 74. He is the proud son of Harald Dahl & Sophie Magdalene Husselbergs. Roald had several siblins who, unfortunately some died either of measels, measels encaphalities or appendicitis. Sophie died on November 17th, 1967 while Harald died in 1920.

His first wife was Patricia Neal -an actress- who got divorced on 17th November after suffering 3 strokes. Roald's second wife was Felicity Crossland with whom he married on the same day.

He was the father of 3 daughters & 1 son [Olivia 20th -1990-, Chantal Sophia - April 11 1957-, Theo Matthew Roald -July30 1960- and Ophelia Magdalena -May 12 1964-. From these 4, Theo suffered serious head injuries after his baby carriage crashed into a taxicab in 1960 and Olivia died of measle encaphalities on November 17 1962.

He is my favourite author because I really like the way he expresses himself in his books, he makes you feel as if you were right there; watching it all happen. Roald also uses really easy words and I've been reading his books since I was 8 years old, I am looking forward to reading the rest of his books. He has published more than 70 books.

Roald is the author of many children and adult books, some of his kids classics are Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Matilda & his biographies. My favourite kid books written by Roald Dahl are Charlie & the Chocolate Factory [****], Matilda [****] & Danni, the Champion of the world [*****].

The reason why Danni, the champion of the world is my favourite book is because at the end of the book you realize how Danni and his Dad supported eachother in any condition, it also shows you that nowmatter what, Danni's Dad loved him. And it makes you think about the fact that you don't need to have everything in the world to be happy.

Before Roald was an author, he worked for Shell Oil Company where he got transfered from London to East Africa. In 1939, he accepts to work in the Royal Air Force [a.k.a: RAF] for which he moves to Nairobi, Kenya so he gets trained but when hes in action, he has a plane crash in Lybia, 1940 & is taken to the military hospital in Alexandria, Egypt where his serious injuries get treated.

He used to write short stories on the roof when he was a child, but after the plane crash, he spent his days in a chair with some snacks next to him. His advice to future authors is to read a lot and to write whatever is on their mind & make stories out of it.

Snatched!

2009-08-24T17:50:00.017+07:00

Snatched!

Graham Marks

*****

Snatched is written by Graham Marks, set in England which at the time is an open enemy with Russia.

Snatched is about an adopted childs life called Daniel who was found by the circus in the lion's cage. Daniel is now 11 years old & is starting to have disturbing visions which he doesnt believe are true, but they are. His visions revolve around the way he was abandoned and by who.

Suddenly, out from the fog, it appears to be the ringmasters friends daughter who tried to escape from a dangerous future she created when she was caught by Queenie -her boss's mother- stealing an illegal Russian document from her own boss's office. Queenie immediately alerted her son of the robbery.

When the girl arrived at the circus, she was terrified. Begging for protection, food & shelter which she was gladly given. But as the time goes, Daniel gets a vision about a fire in the whole circus area which someway, somehow; it was connected to the new visitor.

My favourite part is when the men from the circus go into the town of London to get Daniel after he's been accidentally captured by the boss's bodyguards. During their escape, Queenie run through the hall with a gun in her hand asking for Daniel, but he recognizes her from his vision where he is born. He suddenly realizes Queenie was his mother, the maid was ordered to get rid of him but she had mercy and left him in the lions cage. At the end, Daniel regret ever wishing to know who his real mother was.

I recomend this book to readers that like action or horror books.

Typhoon Morokat

2009-08-19T14:21:00.006+07:00

For 3 complete days, Taiwan was struck by heavy rains; causing destructive landslides. The landslides buried people and villages which are now nothing -only mud and rubbish - .

Meanwhile, the south-west of Taiwan was being attacked by the slow and deadly Typhoon Morokat. Because of Taiwan's features [mountains], the water stays in and doesn't flow out like it would if it WAS flat.

Now that the Typhoon is FINALLY over, Taiwan has been destroyed as well as the people's houses, farms and their valuable belongings. Roads have also been affected.

For two consecutive weeks, the rescuers have been in action. It is said that the death toll will rise up to 10.000 people. The rescuers have been risking their lives to find life. Sometimes, these brave people even get inside the water and succeed!!

Rescuers have been searching for the survivors EVERYWHERE! From under the rubble of the buildings to the dirty waters. They use the electricity poles and tie safety wires where they can slide down [theyre obviously in a harness] and put the Typhoon victims to safety.

Many people are still stranded in their flooded villages and are waiting on top of the highest buildings or huts which havent been destroyed yet. In this case, the rescuers will fly in a helicopter and either use a basket where several people will fit or go down the ladder take them up. When there are old/disabled people they will use baskets. then the victims are taken to safe places/shelters and theyre given food and warmth.

Rescued animals may go under quarantine or medical treatments if neded. Then, they will be taken to an adoption center where the rightfull owners will claim their pet after they have settled into their new homes. And not only are dogs being rescued by humans, but they are rescuing us.