New Puppy

On the Friday about two weeks ago, my uncle brought me a puppy that his dog, Happy gave birth to from Cameron down to my house in DJ. This puppy was the smallest puppy that Happy gave birth to. He looked like a biscuit so I automatically named him Biscuit. He has a beige coloured fur and is very pretty. I have never rared a puppy before in my life so it was a challenge for me as I did not know what to expect. Turns out, taking care of a puppy was not as hard as I thought it would be. 

Biscuit is almost 6 months old and he is growing a set of teeth. Because of that, he always love to chew on things. He chewed on so many things while living here such as the carpert, the wood plank, slippers that were lying on the ground and the automatic gate's wire! He especially loves chewing on rubber. Due to all his chewing, we had to make a few changes to our house. My dad had to fix the wires himself and it was a lot of work. Although he does a few things that does not make us happy, he is a good dog. He listens well and he learns fast. 

Since two weeks ago, he has learned a few things, such as sitting, lying down and going to a specific spot to potty. I am very proud of him as I did not know he could pick up these things these fast. Biscuit also has a very big appetite. He would eat whatever he thinks is edible off the ground. Even bones that do not smell good. As long as he could chew it and swallow it, he would do it. It was very odd to me that he did so but I guess it is because he is either hungry or he is teething and wants to chew on something hard.

I am very glad I got Biscuit as a pet and I hope to make a lot of memories with him in the future. 

A Man Killed His Childhood Friend As A Favour Part 2

As the interrogation stretched into the wee hours of the night, Trapp pressed Cho. She didn’t believe Lee wanted to commit suicide, the detective said. He had purchased plane tickets to return to South Korea and sent his wife flowers and a letter saying he was coming home, Trapp pointed out.

Cho’s story grew stranger. While maintaining that Lee wanted to die, he began enumerating reasons he’d grown to resent his longtime friend over the years. Cho said his family lost their home to debt collectors in South Korea years ago as a result of a bad business deal Lee made, for which Cho was the guarantor. In recent months, Cho said, Lee was blackmailing him, threatening to get Cho and his family deported from the U.S. if Cho didn’t go along with his demands.

Then about a month before his death, Lee came over to Cho’s home to drink and passed out on the couch. In the middle of the night, Cho said, he awoke to find Lee, drunk and naked, in their bedroom. Lee, he said, was sexually assaulting his wife. Embarrassed, confused and afraid, Cho said he pretended to be asleep.


“I want to know,” Trapp responded, “as a husband, a father, as a man, as the head of the household, how did you feel?”


“I wanted to kill him,” Cho said.


Cho’s first-degree murder trial began this month in a top-floor courtroom in downtown Santa Ana.

Suicide is a sign of failure of moral upbringing, so it stigmatizes the whole family.

Cho’s defense attorney, deputy public defender Robert Kohler, told the mostly non-Korean jury that cultural context could help them make sense of what may seem an improbable story.

Kohler also called to the stand Cho’s wife. The woman looked neither at her husband, who wiped away tears with trembling hands in the defendant’s seat, nor at the jurors weighing his fate as she testified in a barely audible voice.

Years ago in South Korea, she said, Lee made a pass at her, which she rejected. Then about a month before his death, Lee drunkenly came into the room where she and her husband were sleeping and touched her inappropriately, the woman said. She fought him, but didn’t make a sound or wake her husband because she was ashamed, she said. In the following weeks, Lee raped her, she said. Twice. But she never told her husband about any of the incidents.

On Monday, he took the stand in his own defense.

Right up to the last moment, he never thought Lee would go through with the plan, Cho said.


“Whether I liked him or I hated him, he was a friend,” he said. "I was begging him, let's stop this. I was trying to save him."


“Were you thinking of saving him when you put the gun to the back of his head and pulled the trigger?” Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Simmons asked.


Cho testified that it was only when Lee insulted his wife and his daughter that he pulled the trigger.


If jurors decide Cho did not intend to kill his friend until the moment he pulled the trigger, that he shot in the “heat of passion,” they have the option of finding him guilty of voluntary manslaughter. If they doubt that story and instead find that he decided earlier to kill the man, they could convict him of first-degree murder, for which he could get up to a life sentence. Jurors began deliberating Thursday morning.

Whatever they decide, the friendship that spanned more than three decades, survived financial debacles and crossed the Pacific ends with one dead on a roadside in Anaheim and the other in a California prison cell.


Cho said he left behind the man he once considered closer than his siblings and his parents, even his wife, and drove into the night, not once looking back.


“I realized, I did it,” he said. “I did it.”

A Man Killed His Childhood Friend as A Favour Part 1

Beong Kwun Cho stood with a cocked Smith and Wesson revolver in his hand.

Crouched less than a foot away was his childhood friend, a man he’d known for more than three decades since they were schoolboys in South Korea. Years ago, Yeon Woo Lee had been the one to carry the hahm, the chest full of gifts, at Cho’s wedding -- the equivalent of a best man. Now, Lee was on his knees.

Cho’s mind ran through the events that led them to this moment, in the dead of night on a sparse industrial corner of east Anaheim, miles from the cheery glow of Disneyland. He waited for one bicyclist to pass, then another. He heard the rumble of an approaching train.

He squeezed the trigger, then it was over. He watched his friend slump forward.

Prosecutors call it first-degree murder. Cho says it’s not that simple. A street sweeper discovered the body of Lee, a 50-year-old South Korean national with bulbous eyes and round cheeks, before dawn Tuesday, Jan 25, 2011.

The man lay next to his rental car, blood pooled around his head. On his back were large, muddy footprints and next to his body, a cigarette butt, a flat tire and a jack.

To investigators, the scene seemed self-explanatory: A tourist unfamiliar with the area was changing a flat tire on a poorly lighted street when an attack or accident befell him. But when detectives sent the body out for an X-ray of the head wound, they saw the single bullet that had pierced his brain, back to front, before lodging in the front left side of his skull.

Records at E-Z Rent-A-Car led investigators to Room 146 at Howard Johnson, where the owner said Lee had paid cash and asked to be kept off the registration books. Detectives next retraced his steps to a Fullerton motel he’d stayed at earlier. He had listed two 714 phone numbers. One was for a prepaid “burner” phone. The other took them to a sand-colored home in Cerritos.

Around midnight, less than 24 hours after Lee’s body was found, Cho answered the door at the home where he lived with his wife and two daughters. He agreed to help investigators and drove himself to the police station.


“Looks like it is something important?” Cho asked in Korean, feigning confusion.


Cho claimed that he’d last seen his longtime friend, who was visiting from South Korea, during dinner at a sushi restaurant Monday night. He’d been calling Lee all day Tuesday, and thought it was strange he couldn’t get in touch with him, he told homicide detective Julissa Trapp and a Korean-speaking officer. He thought perhaps Lee had abruptly left for South Korea, Cho told the detectives.

A couple of hours into the interrogation, Trapp switched her tone and asked her what really happened. Cho then took out his cigaratte and started telling the story. Cho’s two daughters grew up considering Lee an uncle, he said. Their families vacationed together. The two men did business together. Then a few months ago, Lee asked Cho for a favor he wasn’t sure he could do, even for his closest friend, he told the detective. Lee’s motel business in South Korea was foundering. His marriage was falling apart. Lee told Cho he wanted to die, but didn’t want to burden his family with the trauma and social stigma that comes with suicide, Cho said.

Lee tried to hire people he’d met at nearby casinos to kill him and make it look like a random crime, Cho said, but they demanded payment ahead of time and he didn’t trust them to go through with it. Ultimately, he turned to his best friend.


“He said there is no other way -- this is the only way,” he told Trapp.


His friend, Cho told police, orchestrated the entire scenario. It was Lee who procured the gun and a box of ammunition. Lee drove around scouting out possible sites, choosing a couple spots near bodies of water because he was superstitious. Lee arranged for them to go to a gun range together for target practice, and took Cho to a Wal-Mart where he bought black knit gloves and size 13 shoes — props to make his death look like a robbery.


Lee then chose the date for the deed, Cho said: his wife’s birthday. It would be his last gift.


After dinner that night, they each drove their respective cars to the spot Lee had picked out. Lee flattened the tire, ransacked the glove compartment of his rental and smoked a final cigarette. He handed Cho the revolver wrapped in a T-shirt before dropping to his knees with his back to his friend, Cho said.

Are You More Forgetful Than A FIsh?

Whether it's Dory having alzheimer's or having a brain the size of a goldfish, fish are tend to be very simple-minded creatures. Even though fish diverged from land vertebrates 450 million years ago, both have developed similar vision to hunt, escape predators, and avoid collisions. Researchers have hypothesized that we see the same motion illusions as a result of convergent evolution, where organisms not closely related independently evolved similar traits as a resuly of having to adapt to similar environments.

What about attention span? One particular report found that the human attention span is down from 12 seconds in the tear 2000 to 8 seconds today. Our use of the internet and mobile devices is theorized to play a role, but either way goldfish have a 9 second attention span, trumping that of a human. When it comes to forgetfulness, a study using African cichlids gave fish food reward in a particular zone of an aquarium for three days in a row. Then the fish were given a 12 day rest period before being reintroduced into the aquarium. Using motion tracking software, the cichlids showed a distinct preference to the area of the aqarium where they had previously received a reward.

Studies have even shown goldfish can remember things for at least 3 months, distinguishing between shapes, colours, sounds, and even navigating mazes. On top of this, goldfish can recognize their owners. So ultimately, fish have been shown to have quite good memories. After all, they need to remember prey types, avoid predators and even avoid our hooks after being caught in the past. When it comes to pain, we're actually quite different than fish. When you injure yourself receptors in your body send signals to the neocortex where the sensation of pain is processed. But many fish lack nociceptors and all fish lack a neocortex, so pain isn't experienced in the same way.

Cats

It amazes me how many things we do not know about cats. A domestic cat is a small, typically furry, carnivorous mammal. They are also one of my favourite animals. They are often called house cats when kept as indoor pets or simply cats when there is no need to distinguish them from other felids and felines. Cats are often valued by humans for companionship and for their ability to hunt pests such as rats, mice and so on. There are more than 70 cat breeds.

Cats have a strong, flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth adapted to killing small prey. Cats can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small animals. They can see in near darkness. Like most other mammals, cats have poorer colour vision and a better sense of smell than humans. Cats, despite being solitary hunters, are a social species and cat communication includes the use of variety vocalizations such as mewing, purring, trilling, hissing growling and grunting, as well as cat pheromones and types of cat-specific body language.

Cats have a high breeding rate. Under controlled breeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by neutering and the abandonment of former household pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, requiring population control.Cats have been known to extirpate a bird species within specific regions and may have contributed to the extinction of isolated island populations.

Since cats were venerated in ancient Egypt, they were commonly believed to have been domesticated there, but there may have been instances of domestication as early as the Neolithic from around 9,500 years ago (7,500 BC). A genetic study in 2007 concluded that domestic cats are descended from Near Eastern wildcats, having diverged around 8,000 BC in West Asia. 2016 study found that leopard cats were undergoing domestication independently in China around 5,500 BC, though this line of partially domesticated cats leaves no trace in the domesticated populations of today.

Worst Olympic Injury News

Few days ago, I read an article about this French athlete, Samir Ait Said that snapped his leg as he attempted to complete his vault during the team preliminaries. Now I am going to share with you what I read.

A French Gymnast, Samir Ait Said who dramatically broke his leg at the Rio Olympics had his pain further compounded when hapless medical staff accidentally dropped his stretcher as he was hurried out of the stadium.

Samir's leg snapped as he tried to complete his vault during team preliminaries on Saturday, with the sound of the injury echoing through the arena. As he crumpled to the floor, medical officals tended to him in front of a shocked crowd. After a delay of several minutes, he was eventually wheeled out and raised one arm to acknowledge the loud ovation he received from the crowd. But just minutes later the athlete was in even more excruciating pain after medical staff attempting to bundle him into a waiting ambulance dropped the lower end of the stretcher.

This incident is very horrifying and I feel sad for Said as he cannot compete in other events that he is supposed to take part in. This must have been such heartbreaking news for France as they lose a participant participating in the Rio Olympics. I do hope that he will heal as soon as possible and can get back on his feet without any permanent damage.

Pokemon GO News

On the 11th of August, a young woman, lodged a formal complaint that she has been raped by a Pokemon. She told officers that she had been sexually assaulted by a giant Pokemon in her apartment in the Russian capital city of Moscow. The married woman, whose name is unknown, had reportedly been playing Pokemon GO before she fell asleep. She claimed that she woke up to find a huge Pokemon lying on top of her body and says it was raping her. 

The woman said that the Pokemon disappeared when she jumped out of bed, but says the Pokemon GO app on her phone could still detect the same virtual character's presence on her bed. She woke up to tell her husband what had happened who told the police officers that he did not believe her and told her to see a psychiatrist. 

Russian news website Bloknot reports that the police did not believe her either and that the woman then went to see a psychic who was unable to help her. 

Ivan Makarov, the woman's friend told reporters that she told him that there are too many Pokemons at her place and even the dog can sense them. She says that the dog barks whenever she plays Pokemon GO. In the end she accepted her husband's advice, in desperation, and had booked an appointment with a psychiatrist.

In my opinion, I feel that the woman might be a bit crazy due to playing too much Pokemon GO. Pokemon GO is an iOS and Android app that was launched on July 2016 and has gained a tremendous amount of downloads. We should not play the game excessively and play it during our free time.

An Ice Cream Diet

Not too long ago, I read an article about this person eating nothing but ice cream for 10 days. This ice cream is known as Halo Top and it is low in calories, low in carbs and loaded with proteins but is it too good to be true? 

Halo Top is made by a little-known L.A. creamery with a staff of 10 and they distributed this ice cream in health-food joints around the United States. The cartons boast "240 calories per pint" in large letters on the front. For context, that is 1/4 of what is in Ben and Jerry's and 1/5 of Haagen-Dazs. Halo Top also claims 1/6 the fat and carbs and 25% more protein than typical ice cream.

It is known to be tasted like your typical ice cream. Not simply like a frozen protein shake or like Arctic Zero brand "frozen dessert", which is about as satisfying as eating snow. This stuff was real. This person then decided that for 10 days, she would eat nothing but ice cream. 

In the end, after 50 pints of ice cream over the course of 10 days, he managed to lose 10 pounds and 3% of body fat. He also lost some water weight but no discernible muscle mass. Half and inch of muscle was added to his chest and it slimmed his waist from 1.5" to 29.5". 

The Nutrition Twins said they do not recommend eating ice cream all the time. This is because "If someone does do this long term, the saturated fat is pretty high," the Twins pointed out. "[And] you are missing all those vitamins and minerals and everything you are missing in whole grains, all those nutrients that you find in whole foods."

Dogs

Dogs are a best friend that always has our backs. And do you ever feel like your dog just understands you? It turns out that humans and dogs both respond to emotional sounds. When your dog hears you crying or laughing, the response in their brain is similar to that of a human’s. In fact, they interpret your crying as another dog whining.

Did you know that dogs often curl up into a ball when sleeping to conserve body hear and protect their most vulnerable organs in the abdomen from predators? Leaving them some clothes that smell like their owner will actually help them with separation anxiety. While you may think you have the smartest dog, animal psychologists believe that most dogs are about as smart as a 2 year old human. Dogs can understand more than 150 words, count up to 5 and notice simple errors such as 1+1=3. Dogs are also capable of solving spatial problems. For example, they learn the location of hidden treats, find the fastest route to the park and operate mechanisms such as latches.

Unlike the 3 specialized receptors in our eyes to distinguish colours, dogs only have 2. Because of this, they see black, white, blue and yellow. Meanwhile, their brains do not interpret red and green, but instead see grey. There are many types of dogs in the world but one of the few intelligent dog breeds are Border Collies, poodles and German shepherds. However, these are measures of intelligence that compare to our own. Dogs are amazingly smart in other ways. Some of you might have probably heard of drug sniffing dogs, but did you know that dogs can sense seizures, detect low blood sugar and can sniff out cancer? In one study, dogs were able to identify 30 of 33 cases of prostate cancer by smelling participant’s urine. Their sense of smell is 10,000 to 10,000,000 times more sensitive than humans depending on the breed. A secreted fluid from their nose helps them smell by capturing scent chemicals in a thin layer of wet mucous on their nose.

On top of it all, humans really do love dogs. They help us decrease stress and anxiety and it is clear why they have become such an important part of our lives.

Colours (Narrative)

The walk in the cold winter night seemed very refreshing as white feather-like snowflakes gently kissed my cheeks and melted. There were many squares of warm yellow light and families enjoying cups of hot chocolate as they watched movies or looked into the flickering orange flames of the fireplace. I walked on. The strong wind tossed the snowflakes with more force against my face but it did not deter me. Within a few minutes, the wind turned into a snarling beast hurling tiny bullets of pain at my cheeks. I turned for home which was around the corner. The coat, hat and gloves that seemed so warm when I had left home now gave no resistance to the monster trying to kill me with its breath of wind and ice. My numb feet slipped and slide on the sidewalk. Excitement mixed with fear dawned me towards home. Home is where I could shut the door on the howling beast of winter.

Before I could step into the house, I saw her. She was sitting by the tree with her bright yellow coat trying to keep herself warm. Her hair, which was as black as coal and contrasted with her pale skin tone, was tied up into a neat ponytail. She must have caught him staring at her because she turned around and smiled at him. He did not expect that as his face flushed bright pink. He walked up to her and offered her to go into his house to warm herself up. From then on, they started to talk to each other more often and developed a relationship.

Orange was not a colour that fit him, or so people had always told him. Although she never commented about how he dressed, he assumed that she would think the same way as the others. She had been with him for over a year now, and he absolutely fell in love with her. From her striking sky blue eyes, to her hair which was a rich shade of mahogany. Had she smiled, the world would sigh with contentment. Had she laughed, the world would laugh with her. And had she wept, the whole world would want to comfort her.

A few years passed by, she was walking down the aisle, linking arms with her dad. He was standing on the opposite side of the room, awaiting her soon to be father in law to hand his daughter to him. She was in a pearl white wedding dress that made her look like as if she was a princess. It was as if she just walked out of a fairytale. He could not be any happier.

Ways To Make Time For Creativity When You're Busy

We all get busy during the week whether it is our jobs, school and many more. There are many ways to make time for creativity when we're busy.

Firstly, instead of unplugging, use your smart phone as an advantage. For example, you should jot down your ideas into your smart phone. This would help you think more and give an idea on what you want to create or invent.

Secondly, hold yourself countable and join or signing up for a class. This will help you be committed into helping you be creative. Edumatarians did a research and proved that creativity is a nature for human beings. Since the caveman era, we would draw on the caves and dance. It does not matter whether you're good at it or not but it is highly recommended that everyone expresses yourself to be creative. By joining a class, you would be able to socialize and be around people that are as creative minded as you.

Thirdly, cut out a corner on the internet for part of your creative workplace. Platforms such as Tumblr are great for exploring your own creative interests. You connect with people online that share your interests and can remain anonymous if you don't want the other person to know who are you.

Social Media Addiction

With social media being used by 1/3 of the world, they have clearly had a big impact on society.
Surprisingly, most internet users are not able to control how much time they spend online. Though it is more of a psychological addiction as suppose to a substance addiction, brain scans show that these people have the addiction similar to those who are addiction to substances such as drugs, alcohol and so on. This is because social media rewards society with very little effort required and that makes the brain rewire itself making you desire these stimulations. You then become to crave all these neurological excitement after every interaction. This makes it sound very similar to a drug.

Teens nowadays use social media because they are needy. It is something that they think will complete them as a whole. It could also be because they have a lot of doubt in them and they are then searching for confirmation.

It does not mean that if you are on social media all day that it makes you addicted. You cross the line when you realize that you cannot go an hour or even 30 minutes without checking your social media. This is a problem that occurs to people nowadays. For example, you might notice that you are texting a friend although they might be right next to you. Interacting behind a screen will not make a person sociable or friendly.

In the end, I learnt that we have to limit and discipline ourselves the amount of time we go on social media a day. Social media addiction has became a big problem and people should start looking up from their phones and realize that there is a big world out there to explore.

Colour

According to the dictionary, colour is defined as the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way the object reflects or emits light. Life would be terribly drab if colours did not exist in this world. I cannot imagine a world where there are no colours. Everything will look very dull and it would be very sad to live in such a place. Landscapes and seas take life from the different shades of greens and blues, the colours of the rainbow, the different colours of fishes in the sea, and the multicoloured flowers.

We only start to realize what colour truly means in our life on a grey winter day, when it is cold and the sun does not shine. Here we stop to think what the moon must look like in all colours of grey or how tiring it would be to live on the sun with its constant red firery colour. Based on a study, psychologists believe that in northern countries there is a large number of people who commit suicide simply because there is an absence of light and colour for such a long time, because of the cold and dark winter all day long. It is advized for people to paint their homes in "happy" colours such as yellow and green to prevent someone from being depressed. Just imagine how happy we will become when we see a beautiful rainbow in the skies. All those colours make up for the dull coloured skies and makes the world a much happier place.

Colours bring a lot of imagination for painters. Painters would not exist if there were no such thing as colours in this world. Many painters often copy the pictures of nature and wildlife, other times they imagine a scenery and paint it with unique colours. They light up our walls with pictures. Colours in the advertising business is extremely important. The use of certain colours and not others will attract the attention of a buyer more than words in an advertisement. The wrappers that covers tinned and canned foods at supermarkets also play an important role in the sales business and all this is because of colours. Photography is also a very wonderful art especially when a moment in nature becomes immortalized by a clock of a camera.

If there is an absence of colours, the world would not be like what it is today. In other words, we should appreciate the fact that we are able to see such amazing and unique colours till this day. The world would be such a dull place if colours did not exist.

News Article: Mom and child died inside car while dad cleared snow around them

Recently, I was reading this news article about how a mom and her child died inside a car while the dad cleared snow around them.

This incident takes place in New Jersey. A mom and her 1 year old son died in the car while the dad was clearing snow around them due to the heavy blizzard. As the mom and her children, a 1 year old boy and a 3 year old girl tried to huddle for warmth, the dad, a man who was not identified, told them to turn on the engine so that they could on the heater while he was shoveling the excess snow that was piling outside the car. He was shoveling about 20 minutes and when he checked on them, they were all unconscious. 

He then quickly called 911 for help. The ambulance then rushed to the hospital and the mother and her 1 year old son was pronounced dead while her 3 year old daughter was facing serious injuries. 

They were unconscious due to the clogged tail pipe. The tail pipe of the unfortunate families car was clogged with snow and because of that, carbon monoxide managed to seep through the ventilation and got into the car. Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that hits quickly with no signs of warning. 

In my opinion, I think it was very unfortunate for this to happen to this family. We should always take safety precautions and make sure that your car is working smoothly as something bad might happen. Instead of staying in the car, the mom and her children should've just stayed in the house until the man finished shoveling the snow before driving off as it would be warmer and much safer. Due to the heavy blizzard, I think that it is advisable if they should just stay home and not go out. I give out my condolences to this family for this tragic accident.

Freedom Writers

Describe how writing in journals (in The Freedom Writers) helps transform the lives of the students. How does writing "free" the students from their pain?

The movie, The Freedom Writers, is about a young teacher, Erin Gruwell who was enthusiastic to start teaching. She is then challenged when she realized that her students self-segregate into racial groups within the classroom. Erin was then determined to gain the students trust on a personal and academic level but she only got to do so with the help of a few people. When she finally gained the trust of the students, she buys them composition books to record their diaries, in which they start to open up and talk about their experiences being abused, seeing their friends die, and being evicted. Meanwhile, Erin asks them to write and share their stories in a book form. She then compiles all of their work and named it "The Freedom Writers Diary". Writing helps "free" the students from their pain as they are allowed to express how they feel without being judged. Coming from an unfortunate background, the students spend all their time protecting themselves and the ones they love and all the anger piled inside them will lead to doing bad things. Writing will then help them ease the pain so that they do not resolve to doing bad things.

New Classmate

Classmates are a fellow member of a class. There are 40 students in my class. I would generally describe my classmates as a mirthful bunch. Recently, a boy from another class transferred into my class. He is known to have disciplinary problems that is why he was put into our class. He is known as Zaki. Since it has been 4 months into the school year, everyone has their own bunch of friends that they hang out with. Therefore, it was hard for Zaki to mix around. He is usually really quiet in class and only talks to a few people. I do not know him that well but I would say he is a decent person. I hope he could blend into the crowd and be more involved in the class. 

Vocabulary - Walking

Amy likes to take a morning stroll in the park along Village Street every Sunday morning. She usually perambulates up and down the street and enjoy the fresh air. However, this particular Sunday morning she decided to hike five kilometers up a steep trail. While hiking up the steep trail, she accidentally tripped on a branch and fell onto the ground. She then crawled next to a big tree and sat against it. When she stood up, she felt a sharp pain on her knee. She started to hobble. Fortunately, there was a couple hiking nearby and noticed that Amy had fell down. They charged at her and helped her treat the wound. Amy thanked the couple for their help and limped her way home.

Earth Day

5. When is Earth Day celebrated? In paying homage to Mother Earth, how do we preserve the sanctity of Earth against pollution and destruction?


Earth Day is celebrated on the 22nd of April every year. Earth Day gave voice to an emerging consciousness, channeling human energy toward environmental issues. It was first celebrated on the 1970 and is celebrated by 192 countries around the world. 

The world has been suffering from global warming for a long time now. Global warming happens due to the neglect of people around the world. Therefore, Earth Day is celebrated to bring awareness to the people around the world to protect the environment.

In paying homage to Mother Earth, we can preserve the sanctity of Earth against pollution and destruction by enforcing a stricter law. The laws that are enforced by the people in charge should be followed. We should also not waste paper and throw our unwanted trash where ever we please. We can save paper by keeping documents in electronic form and by not printing emails. We must also plant more trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This helps us reduce global warming. Lastly, we should use public transport or car pool more often. We can share our cars to go to the office or a scheduled event along with a friend. On one hand, this will help us save money and it will also reduce the emission of unwanted gases in the air. 

The Internet

The internet is basic need of the younger generation today. They could survive without food but can't survive without the internet. It is a strong addiction that could be good as well as bad. It is also easier than ever to access the internet, whether you are using a phone, a tablet or a computer. There is no doubt people are using the internet more, despite the consequences.

The internet is advantageous if people use it wisely. We could acquire information easier with the help of the internet. This can help us get our assignments done quicker. It could also help us widen our knowledge and improve our grades. The internet also allows us to communicate with people from other countries. For example, if you have a close friend or a relative that you want to keep in touch with, with just a click of a button, you could start communicating with them. Normally, you would have to send a letter and it would take from a week to even a month for the letter to reach them but now we could receive a message in a matter of seconds. 

The internet is also disadvantageous if not used correctly. Some younger people get addicted to online gaming and this can mean they spend too much time on playing that they neglect other important things, such as studying, sleeping or eating. In addition, excessive use of the internet will cause social problems as they spend most of their time facing their computer screen than facing actual people.

To sum it all up, spending time on the internet can bring positive and negative effects to everyone. Personally, I think that the internet is a wonderful tool and the benefits of it outweighs the dangers. However, we should always be cautious and use the internet wisely.

Trip to Phuket

Last Sunday, my family and I went to Phuket, Thailand. We stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights. Phuket is known as one of the largest island in Thailand and it is also one of the most popular vacation destinations in Southeast Asia. We traveled there by an aeroplane.

As soon as I stepped out of the plane, I was greeted with Phuket's hot and humid weather. We settled into the hotel room and in a matter of seconds everyone started dozing off. This was because we had to wake up early for our flight and that was why everyone was so tired. Every morning, we would walk to the restaurant by the pool side to get breakfast. The food provided at the buffet looked really appetizing. There were 2 long tables full of different types of food, such as pancakes, bacon, sausages and many more. 

On the first night, we visited the famous Phuket weekend market locally known as Naka market. This market is located in Phuket town not far away from the Central Festival. The market is divided into two sections, covered and open. In the covered section, you would find second hand items such as bags, clothing, DVDs and so on. You will then find many food stalls outside. This is where you can gorge on delicious roasted pork, corn on cobs, exotic fruit, grilled chicken and even deep fried insects. Although the weather was scorching hot, we had an enjoyable time at the market.

Not far from our hotel, there is a shopping centre called Jungceylon. It is known as one of the biggest shopping mall in Phuket. We spent most of our days there as the mall could shelter us from the blazing sun. Opposite Jungceylon, there is a street called Bangla street. At night, this street would be filled with nightclubs blaring their music. You will also see girls dressed like prostitutes and you could even see a few transgender men walking along the street dressed in a girl's outfit. I had an amazing time in Phuket and I would like to visit even more places in the future.

Response.

I will be writing a response to Ryan Issac's post about "School Expectations". 

First of all, it is known to every student or teacher that Angsana is the "best" class in our school. I agree that we "Angsana-nians are always expected to do better than people from other classes but this does not mean that even if we are unable to meet these expectations, we should discourage ourselves to the point of morphing our own personality. We should think of it as an encouragement instead and work harder to achieve something that we would not have thought we could do.

I believe that everyone student is supposed to hand in all our homework on time. Teachers are usually more lenient towards students from the "last" few classes as they cannot learn as fast as we can. In the Malaysia context, the good students are predominantly going into Science stream and the poor students going predominantly to the Arts stream. As a result, teachers have lower expectations and give more leeway for students in the "last" few classes. 

Chap Goh Mei

Chinese New Year lasts a whole good fifteen days every year. Every year on the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year, techinically the final day of the festival, is a day known as Chap Goh Mei. In Hokkien dialect, Chap Goh Mei simple means “the 15th night of Chinese New Year”. Besides being known as the last day of Chinese New Year, Chap Goh Mei is also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. 

Just like Chinese New Year, Chap Goh Mei is celebrated with lots of firecrackers and fireworks. You will see many homes decorated with lanterns and colourful bright lights to mark the end of this auspicious occasion. In the temples, many people will be asking for the God of Prosperity to shower them with success and wealth for the coming year.

One of the highlights of this day is that you will see girls throwing oranges into the sea. This tradition is originated from Penang. It is believed that by throwing oranges into the sea, these young girls would find themselves a good husband. It is also said that if a guy who sees the floating orange in the water picks it up, that means that the single who threw the orange would be able to find a good spouse. While many no longer believe in such traditions, it is still a fun thing to do or to observe every year.