I took a deep breath as I gave my code to a person. I walked up toward the judges and handed them 3 pieces of paper full of musical notes. Next, I walked up to the piano and bowed. Everyone clapped. Then, I gently put my hands on the keyboard and gently pressed down a few notes. Not long after, all my focus drifted to the song, and I forgot about everyone watching me. All my mind could do was press down the keys and wait for the results.
Remember, press down the pedals. I reminded myself. Now, check my hand position. Both of my hands should be moving by one octave. Okay... It's the ending. Play really soft. PLAY THE LAST 3 NOTES LOUD!
The song ended with a bang. I got up from my seat, took a few steps forward, and then bowed. Everyone clapped, and in my opinion, the loudest clap I had heard so far.
I was at a piano competition. It was the Malaysian Round of the Hong Kong International Youth Performing Arts Festival (HKYPAF), and I was just done playing my song - The Ballerina. I had left school 45 minutes early today just for this competition.
I looked at my piano teacher sitting at the front row. He was smiling a massive smile that seemed like it was contagious, and I started to smile too.
Walking back to my seat, I saw the 2 people sitting next to me giving me a thumbs-up. One of them I just met, one of them I already knew. I patted the place where my heart was, relieved that I didn't mess up. My dad turned to me, and in a loud whisper, said that I did a great job.
Because the awards ceremony was supposed to be at 7pm, and it was already 5:30pm, we didn't have any time to go home. Unfortunately, the event was delayed by 1 hour 30 mins, as there were delays in the results coming back up.
Before my competition, I had heard mothers with younger children ask how long the kids would have to wait to get the awards. The people had said that they would serve the younger children first, and then the older children.
But, that wasn't what happened. Instead, they started with the oldest children first, with the ones that were playing Mozart and Haydn pieces. It was literally 45 minutes before they even got to the diploma section - that meant waiting for about 6 more sections. And that would take another 45 minutes.
But when the time came, it was worth it. I learned that I had got the gold award and the best performance award. My smile was so big that it seemed like if it got any bigger my mouth would pop. I smiled a wide smile as I walked up the stage to collect my award.
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Slice Of Life #146 - Currently (Again...) - Tuesday 18/12/2018
Okay. Unfortunately, I have nothing to write about today. So I will do a currently post... I promise I will have something to write about next week - I have a piano competition tomorrow. I'm feeling anxious about it...
Currently...
- I just reset my password on this app I use to learn Spanish on - Duolingo. I am at crown level 13.
- I'm starting another lesson on Duolingo called People 3. I think it's a pretty lame name - no offense...
- Yeah! I completed People 3 and this lesson on Duolingo called School 2 without getting anything wrong.
- Woah! You can study Klingon on Duolingo! For those of you that don't know, Klingon is the language in a game called Star Trek.
- I am learning Malay and Chinese in Duolingo. It's really, really, really easy - for me, at least.
- I am going to my room to get my Neeuro Senzeband. The Neeuro Senzeband is able to sense your brainwaves, and you can also use the Neeuro Senzeband to play games - you need to use your brainpower to play games (and you need a phone, too).
- I have connected my Neeuro Senzeband. I am now playing this game called Multitask Master, where you have to Multitask between two things. This game is hard. I failed.
- I am now playing a game called Junction Control, where we have to control the flow of traffic lights. I passed the level!
- Haha! When you fail, all the cars blow their horn.
- I am doing an assessment on the app right now.
- I am done with the assessment.
- I got 97% for attention, 100% for spatial, 95% for memory, and 90% for decision flexibility.
- And... I have to eat dinner. Bye!
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Slice Of Life #145 - Currently... - 11/12/2018, Tuesday
Currently...
- I am on my way home from school to a shopping mall. Today is a holiday in the state (Selangor) my dad works in, but not for me, as my school is in Kuala Lumpur. Last year was a holiday, but our school moved.
- I see my friend's car on the road in front of me.
- I am eating guava and dragonfruit.
- Ha! We overtook my friend's car!
- We are now next to each other (in terms of cars).
- He is waving at me like crazy.
- I am trying to signal to him to play this game called charge. FYI, charge is not a video or digital game.
- No! He doesn't understand!
- My friends car just overtook us again.
- I am reading a book called Rules. Its a really good book.
- I am staring at the Twin Towers (one thing I love about the new school is the fact that the view of the Twin and Petronas Towers. The view is amazing).
- We overtook my friend's car. He is waving at me like crazy again.
- We are approaching the shopping mall now.
- I am looking at my clarinet next to me. Recently, I managed to get my gold belt, which makes me a gold belt star, and I am the 3rd person to get it this year. (In band, we now get to earn "belts", and for each song we pass, we earn a belt (the belt is a ribbon). There are 11 selected songs that were selected, and after you pass all 11, you get your gold belt. After you pass another 11, you get your double gold belt, and I am now working to get my double gold belt.
- We are now getting a ticket to enter the shopping mall parking lot. My dad is trying to find a place to park, but we can't find any so far.
- I am listening to a really good song in Chinese that I am learning to play on the piano. It's 4 pages long (the notes). I am singing along to the song.
- YES! He found one!
- Now, its time to go shopping! Catch you later!
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Slice Of Life #144 - A Trip To Penang - December 4th, 2018 - Happened During 1/12/2018-2/12/2018
I lay down in the car. There were books next to me, and I looked up at the top of the car. It was night, and we were going to Penang. We just finished dinner, and were now on the highway. I heard the hushed voices of my parents, talking to each other. I closed my eyes as I fell asleep.
"Get up," I heard the voice of my dad. "We're there."
I got off the car. We had reached my uncle's house, but it was 2 in the morning. I walked calmly until I heard the sound of barking coming from the very house. Apparently, my uncle had bought a dog that was pretty aggressive, and had named it Jacky. Because it didn't recognize our smell, it started barking at us, and my uncle had to hold him tight.
My uncle already had a dog that was older than me. He had been here for even longer than my whole life, and I think he knew my smell by heart, so he just looked at me as I walked into the house.
My uncle lived in Penang, had recently renovated his house, and I could tell the difference. I don't think he did much to the front part of his house, but the toilets were way cleaner now, and there were 2 toilets (but only 1 with a toilet bowl). He didn't have a store room anymore, as I think he demolished the wall, which meant that his kitchen was way bigger now. The kitchen door was now a sliding door, and he moved his dining table into his kitchen (which is pretty big - about the size of a normal room - it's only partly a kitchen). Other than that, he now had a sofa - with not very comfy pillows.
I then went into the room we always slept in when we lived in his house. I un-folded the fold-out bed, then put it on the floor. I then lied down, then fell asleep again.
I woke up to lots of barking. I got up and went outside to look. The sky was starting to light up, casting a yellow glow over the ground. I looked at Jacky. He was barking at another white dog that had came in front of the house, and the dog was barking back. I then went back into the room. My parents had woke up too. They told me to go brush my teeth. I found out that my uncle was going to buy breakfast for us. After brushing my teeth, I went to take a bath.
When I came out, my uncle had came back. I went to see what was for breakfast. Yeah! Noodles for breakfast! I thought. After eating breakfast, we packed up and left my uncle's house. My dad came here because he had to give a presentation, and he was due to talk at 11:00, which meant that we had to leave at 9:00, as the place we had to go was about 1 hour away.
Upon reaching the destination, my dad went upstairs to make sure that his slides for the presentation was okay. At about 11:30, (there were delays to the presentation), my dad went on stage and started talking. After the talk, we went to eat lunch. I thought that the lunch tasted pretty good. After lunch, we had to go home, as it was a 4 hour drive from Penang back to Kuala Lumpur (KL - where we live).
My dad got a few gifts for talking. One of them was a book, but we gave it back, as we already had the book. We brought home a cute little rabbit - that was made out of a handkerchief (the eyes were made out of seeds). The rabbit was in a little basket, which was made out of coffee bags (it was real flexible). They also gave us a calendar for 2019, which would be able to be made into things that were similar to office files - but I forgot the names of them, which would prove to be useful.
We took the presents and walked back to the car, and drove home.
I then went into the room we always slept in when we lived in his house. I un-folded the fold-out bed, then put it on the floor. I then lied down, then fell asleep again.
I woke up to lots of barking. I got up and went outside to look. The sky was starting to light up, casting a yellow glow over the ground. I looked at Jacky. He was barking at another white dog that had came in front of the house, and the dog was barking back. I then went back into the room. My parents had woke up too. They told me to go brush my teeth. I found out that my uncle was going to buy breakfast for us. After brushing my teeth, I went to take a bath.
When I came out, my uncle had came back. I went to see what was for breakfast. Yeah! Noodles for breakfast! I thought. After eating breakfast, we packed up and left my uncle's house. My dad came here because he had to give a presentation, and he was due to talk at 11:00, which meant that we had to leave at 9:00, as the place we had to go was about 1 hour away.
Upon reaching the destination, my dad went upstairs to make sure that his slides for the presentation was okay. At about 11:30, (there were delays to the presentation), my dad went on stage and started talking. After the talk, we went to eat lunch. I thought that the lunch tasted pretty good. After lunch, we had to go home, as it was a 4 hour drive from Penang back to Kuala Lumpur (KL - where we live).
My dad got a few gifts for talking. One of them was a book, but we gave it back, as we already had the book. We brought home a cute little rabbit - that was made out of a handkerchief (the eyes were made out of seeds). The rabbit was in a little basket, which was made out of coffee bags (it was real flexible). They also gave us a calendar for 2019, which would be able to be made into things that were similar to office files - but I forgot the names of them, which would prove to be useful.
We took the presents and walked back to the car, and drove home.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Slice Of Life #143 - Competition - Tuesday, 27/11/2018 - Happened on Sunday 25/11/2018
The white car door slammed. My dad's hands clutched the steering wheels as he drove out of the gates that marked our domain, and drove to the place where I always had my robotics class. Today was the day my robot would see the light of the day.
Today was the very day of the 10th Steam Cup Malaysia, and I was ready to go. I was dressed in my blue shirt that everyone was supposed to wear at the competition, and my battery (of the robot) was fully charged. I had stayed up until 11:00 at night to prepare for this competition, making last minute changes to my program.
I had downloaded the commands to my robot, and now it was ready to go. I would need to change the time my robot would move for, as I had to tell it how much to move forward by time - it's hard. (Rules for the competition are here - I hope it's not copyrighted)
After registering in the competition, I went to feel the platform. Oh, no. This isn't very good. The surface is so smooth! I'm gonna need to make my time a lot lesser! I thought.
I quickly opened my computer. I opened my program. I decided to decrease all the speeds by 20, but when I tried it out, it wasn't enough. My robot managed to push the bottles off the platform, but my robot fell with it too. I decided to decrease it by 20, but the lines got real long, so I had to wait quite a while to get a turn to try. And when I did, it missed the bottles too.
I decided to try going from the 2nd box. This time, my robot didn't fall, but didn't push the bottles down either, so I decided to increase the time by a little bit. It also missed the ending point because I didn't turn enough, so I decided that I had to turn more, and I would be done for my 2nd box.
I was experiencing the urgency of needing to do things fast. I needed to get all the times right so my robot wouldn't fall.
When the time came for the competition, I was there right away, because if they called your name 3 times but you still weren't there, you were disqualified. I was the 1st to go. I made sure to place my robot properly in a good starting point, and it moved forward. Good, I thought. It was just the right amount my robot was supposed to go forward, and my turning was smooth. But when it went forward to push the bottles, it fell drastically like a helpless baby.
No!
My robot had fell. Now, all I could do was hope that my 2nd round would work. I went back to my computer to download my 2nd program, and went back to my platform for the competition. During the 2nd time, I survived for longer. My robot moved forward but barely missed pushing the bottle off the platform. It then moved back, and then turned a perfect turn, but barely missed the bottles. When it backed up and turned again, it moved forward, then fell off the platform. I was almost at the ending point, but I had fallen. What was even worst, was the fact that I didn't push down any bottles.
Then, I went to see another activity, where the robots had to transport as many batteries as they could in the fastest time possible. I saw one robot that was really good. It used only 2 motors, and managed to complete the whole course (you was supposed to use 4 motors for this activity, but somehow this robot was able to do with 2). At the end, even the judge was really surprised, and was literally just looking at the robot, wondering how it managed to work.
After lunch, I got to see many robots fight. It was kind of like king of the hill/ladder, and all the robots had to fight to be at the top. After 1 minute, the robot at the top was the winner. If there were 2 robots, the one that was the lightest would win.
When they were trying to determine whoever was 2nd place, something amazing happened. A competitor asked the judge to check the size of a robot. It was then determined that the robot was oversize, and the person had 1 minute to modify it and make it smaller. The boy was left with no choice but to take off what had made him win all the rounds he had played in so far.
Cause' the robot, was an absolute god. I saw it kill 2 robots within 5 seconds 2 rounds in a row. But he had to remove his strongest weapon. At the end, all 3 robots in the round were at the top. Because of that, the lightest robot would win. Because the boy had took things off his robot, he won 2nd place.
I may have failed drastically in this competition, but what was most important, was the fact that I got to experience what it was like to take part in a harder activity, as I took part in an easier activity last year (click here for last year's competition). The most important thing was the fact that I learned something new, and got to experience something new.
Friday, November 23, 2018
The Glow of Lights - Wednesday, 21/11/2018
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| An LED lightbulb Credits: https://goo.gl/images/sqE5yw |
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| My happy face when we got the LED lightbulb to light up. |
But what's the science behind the click? After all, it may be easy to press the button, but hard to understand the science behind it. That's what we learned a few days ago, on Monday. When we went down to the science lab, we grabbed a box with an index card, foil, a round battery, a LED lightbulb, and a piece of tape. We had to use all of this to construct a flashlight, or some thing that could light up when we pressed it, at least. Foil is a conductor of electricity, and we can use the foil as a wire. Because of that, I cut a small strip of foil and taped it to the long end of the led lightbulb, which was the positive end. Then, I cut another small strip of foil and taped it (lightly) to the negative end of the lightbulb, which was the shorter end. After that, I pressed the foil harder so it would light up. And it did!
From this activity, I was able to learn about how flashlights work, and was able to build one (that you can't really hold easily - lol). This is the world of wonders, and this is the perfect time to discover it.
Efficient Energy - Wednesday, October 21st, 2018
Grade 5 is the grade where you learn about sustainable energy. In our school, we get lots of experiences where it's not possible to define them - it's too good. Today, we had Mr. Hector Ingram come to our school. Mr. Hector Ingram is from Aberdeen, Scotland, and this was his 5th year coming to our school to talk to us about sustainable and renewable energy. He has lived in Malaysia for 15 years now. I thought that his slideshows were really good because it included some interaction between him and us instead of him lecturing us - which never happens at this school, anyway.
He also talked to us about biofuels. I learned that the energy of biofuels came from plants, and he introduced us to "fast grass", which is REALLY FAST GROWING GRASS. They would burn the fast grass and use it to make electricity. At the end, he let us keep the seeds of fast grass (but I kept it in my pants but forgot to take it out, and I think I left it in the washing machine, and I hope my mom didn't wash it.) Apparently they are edible, which I think are cool.
I think that Mr. Ingram came here to grow the fast grass, as they can only be grown in the tropics and Malaysia is in the tropics.
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| Credits: https://goo.gl/images/tXDz6b |
He also talked to us about wind energy. Mr. Ingram's family also owns a wind farm in Scotland with 8 turbines. I found out that the costs of building a wind turbine were quite high, as the small ones costed about $2 billion, while the big ones costed $2.5 billion.
One of the questions asked was: "How long does it take to earn back the money that you spend to make the wind turbines?"
"About 7-8 years." Mr. Ingram replied.
Wow! I thought. It's going to take a while a while to earn all that money back!
He also talked to us about how the wind turbines generate electricity and make money. I learned that the more revolutions a minute the the turbine turns, the more electricity it generates. In order to make profit, you need to have a wind speed of at least 48 kph. If the wind speed was too high, the wind turbines would automatically adjust to be able to get the most amount of electricity. But if the turbines were made of metal, why wouldn't lightning be able to harm it? We found out that there was a lightning rod at the top of the wind turbine and that there were really strong insulators by the turbine, so even if someone was touching the turbine, the person would be perfectly okay. And then came the question: "Why are there no wind turbines in Malaysia."
Even though the wind during the monsoon season in Malaysia had winds faster than the amount required to make profit, you can't just have a wind turbine turning for 1/2 a year. It wouldn't be able to make much profit, as normal turbines only turn 80% of the time.
I thought that Mr. Ingram's presentation was great, and he really knew about the topic. I loved the idea of wind energy, but it would take a while for everywhere on Earth to use it. I believe that in the upcoming future, we will be using that sustainable energy so we stop using as many fossil fuels and can make our Earth a better place.
One of the questions asked was: "How long does it take to earn back the money that you spend to make the wind turbines?"
"About 7-8 years." Mr. Ingram replied.
Wow! I thought. It's going to take a while a while to earn all that money back!
He also talked to us about how the wind turbines generate electricity and make money. I learned that the more revolutions a minute the the turbine turns, the more electricity it generates. In order to make profit, you need to have a wind speed of at least 48 kph. If the wind speed was too high, the wind turbines would automatically adjust to be able to get the most amount of electricity. But if the turbines were made of metal, why wouldn't lightning be able to harm it? We found out that there was a lightning rod at the top of the wind turbine and that there were really strong insulators by the turbine, so even if someone was touching the turbine, the person would be perfectly okay. And then came the question: "Why are there no wind turbines in Malaysia."
Even though the wind during the monsoon season in Malaysia had winds faster than the amount required to make profit, you can't just have a wind turbine turning for 1/2 a year. It wouldn't be able to make much profit, as normal turbines only turn 80% of the time.
I thought that Mr. Ingram's presentation was great, and he really knew about the topic. I loved the idea of wind energy, but it would take a while for everywhere on Earth to use it. I believe that in the upcoming future, we will be using that sustainable energy so we stop using as many fossil fuels and can make our Earth a better place.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Slice Of Life #142 - Currently... - Tuesday, 20/11/2018
Currently...
Very detailed statistics:
Day of the Week: Tuesday
Time: 5:19pm
Date: November 20th, 2018
What I am doing:
- I am taking out my robotics set.
- I am taking out my robot.
- I hear shouting coming from next door.
- I am going to modify my robot to prepare for my competition this coming Sunday. Because today is a holiday, I just went to practice just now in the center.
- The activity I selected in the competition is "Annomous Smartbot".
- I have decided to add something that covers my battery to secure it and ensure that it doesn't fall - I got that idea from a friend in my same robotics class.
- I have decided to add some gears in front of my hands so my robot doesn't fall off the platform during the competition - if it falls, it ain't gonna be good for me.
- I am checking my email.
- Ugh. When I recorded me playing a song on my clarinet for my band teacher so I could earn a belt, she said that I was "really, really close!" She said that I had to "remember that the key signature was a B♭, which meant that the low and high B's were B♭'s, but I forgot, so I could not pass.
- I am checking my private email now - which is the opposite of my school email, which I am using to write my blog.
- My robotics teacher sent me the program for my robot so I could work on it at home. I will download it now.
- I am trying to add extra "legs" to the robot.
- I dosen't work. It elevates the robot too much so the wheels do not touch the floor.
Friday, November 16, 2018
What We Train Our Brain To Do - Friday, 16/11/2018
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| Credits: https://goo.gl/images/o5rKuk |
This year, Ms. Stone, our counselling teacher showed us a really cool video of the people competing in the Para-Olympics. They were singing a song where they kept saying that they were the super-humans, which I agree with. In this video, they performed lots of amazing stunts, and I have to say, I cannot do better than them. They came sliding down really high places and did lots of flips in a WHEELCHAIR. You have to listen to this song. There are so many cool stunts and the music is really good.
We also learned about neural pathways, and that if we keep working on doing something really well, we can do it. Say that if I practiced a musical instrument every day for 1 hour, every day my neural pathways for playing the piano would improve. Currently, I am working to improve in playing my clarinet, as I want to get a gold belt star as soon as possible. Because I am working hard, I now have 3 more belts to pass in order to get a gold belt star (I passed a belt today).
Overall, I think I am doing pretty well on having a growth mindset. If I was to rate myself on how well I am having a growth mindset, I would rate myself 4/5 stars. Throughout all these amazing years, I have learned a lot about having a growth and fixed mindset and now try to have a growth mindset at all times.
Electricity in Our Body - Thursday, 15/11/2018
Yesterday, we had a really fun activity where we experimented with Makey-Makey's. I thought the activity was really fun and really used a lot of our brain power (which is good, by the way - in my opinion, at least). During Science time, our technology teacher, Mr. Katz, brought a few Makey-Makey's to show us and let us experiment with them. We had to connect the Makey-Makey's to the computer, and make a sound with it. There was a Makey-Makey software, where we could play songs with it by pressing the keys (it was a small piano with 6 notes) . Our 1st challenge was to make sounds on the "piano" without touching the keyboard. After about 3 minutes of messing around, we found out that all we had to do was to make the wires with "alligator clips" touch the metal parts on the top side of the Makey-Makey, which were labeled Earth. Different sounds would be produced as the different wires touched the Earth area.
Our next challenge took a long time to figure out. We had to find out how to make sounds on the piano without touching the Makey-Makey, but just touching the tip of the wires. After connecting every wire to the Makey-Makey, there was one wire left, and that was the yellow wire. We took the yellow wire and attached it to the Earth section. Because 2 wires were able to transfer electricity to each other, when we made the metal tips of 2 wires touch, they made a sound on the piano. But that's constantly holding the key down, and if it's constantly holding the key down, I can only make one sound! I thought. I told my teammates what I thought.
"At least it's a start..." Hwan, my teammate said.
My other teammate, Ivan, began messing around, connecting all the wires together, trying to find out a way to pass the electricity from one wire to the other, making the piano on the computer sound. Then it worked. But how? Then we realised. Water is a good conductor of electricity, and our body is composed of mostly water, which meant that our body was the thing that was transferring the electricity to the other clip to make a sound!
"Congratulations," Mr. Herbert, my homeroom teacher said. He walked up to the front of the class and grabbed an orange basket with holes. The basket was filled with vegetables and other things. "Sort out the things in here that conduct electricity, and the ones that don't. Because we knew that things with water conducted electricity, we were able to sort it out fast.
Next, we connected clips to the objects, and touched the objects to make sounds on the computer. I managed to play the really good sounding band song we are currently playing - we are going to be playing it at the concert.
After coming back from our 5 minute break (for us to go to the toilet and talk to our friends), Mr. Herbert showed us things that he called energy sticks. When he touched both ends of the energy sticks, they would light up because the energy was going through your body. In other words, you were completing the circuits. I thought that even if the whole class held hands, the sticks would light up.
When we all held hands together, the energy sticks lit up. YES! I was correct! We did the same thing with 2 sticks, and the 2 energy sticks lit up also!
Throughout this lesson, I learned a lot of valuable things. It never came to my mind that energy could flow through my body, but now I know that my little body is capable to doing many things!
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| A Makey-Makey (it actually is called a Makey-Makey for a reason that I don't know) is basically a circuit board. |
"At least it's a start..." Hwan, my teammate said.
My other teammate, Ivan, began messing around, connecting all the wires together, trying to find out a way to pass the electricity from one wire to the other, making the piano on the computer sound. Then it worked. But how? Then we realised. Water is a good conductor of electricity, and our body is composed of mostly water, which meant that our body was the thing that was transferring the electricity to the other clip to make a sound!
"Congratulations," Mr. Herbert, my homeroom teacher said. He walked up to the front of the class and grabbed an orange basket with holes. The basket was filled with vegetables and other things. "Sort out the things in here that conduct electricity, and the ones that don't. Because we knew that things with water conducted electricity, we were able to sort it out fast.
Next, we connected clips to the objects, and touched the objects to make sounds on the computer. I managed to play the really good sounding band song we are currently playing - we are going to be playing it at the concert.
After coming back from our 5 minute break (for us to go to the toilet and talk to our friends), Mr. Herbert showed us things that he called energy sticks. When he touched both ends of the energy sticks, they would light up because the energy was going through your body. In other words, you were completing the circuits. I thought that even if the whole class held hands, the sticks would light up.
When we all held hands together, the energy sticks lit up. YES! I was correct! We did the same thing with 2 sticks, and the 2 energy sticks lit up also!
Throughout this lesson, I learned a lot of valuable things. It never came to my mind that energy could flow through my body, but now I know that my little body is capable to doing many things!
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Flowing Swiftly Like Water - 13/11/2018
Throughout the week (or 2 weeks, maybe), we worked on learning about energy and circuits. Because we were in the "Sustainable Energy" unit, our teacher arranged times for us to go to the science lab below us (if you drilled a hole below our class, you would have to walk only a few meters to get to the science lab).
In the first class, we learned about circuits. A circuit is a little like a circle, and is used to pass the current of electricity along. We had a box, where we had to figure out how to use some wires, a battery, and make a bulb light up. Because I had never done it before, I found it a little challenging at first (like, the very, very, first - I know it doesn't make sense), but I got the hang of it and found out how to make it work. After that, we had to find out how to make the bulb brighter with 2 batteries. Ok, yes, it was pretty obvious. We just used 4 clippers and connected it to one lightbulb. 2 batteries would be able to power up a lightbulb and make it brighter. Ok, after everyone was done connecting the 2 batteries to the lightbulb (It only made it slightly brighter), we had to make the bulb even brighter. Because we had joined forces, we now had 8 clippers to use, and we had already used 4. My partner, James, thought "More electrons, more light. The clippers are used to let electrons pass, so all we have to do is add extra clippers!" It worked. After completing all these activities, we had to do some paperwork. (Sometimes I just wish we can just do fun things and not do paperwork - LOL) After 2 days, we went down for the science lab again for our 2nd activity - learning about how switches work. We had everything we used in the 1st activity, but we had a cardboard, 2 fasteners, and a paper clip. Because I already knew a little about conductors of electricity, it was pretty easy for me. We just had to put the paper clips through the fasteners, and poke the 2 fasteners through the cardboard. Under the cardboard, we put the clippers at the end of the fasteners so we can ensure that the fasteners don't fall off, and the electricity gets passed onto the fasteners, which are conductors of electricity. Paper clips are made of metal, and metal is a conductor of electricity, so it can pass the current of electricity to the clippers, which will transfer the electricity to the lightbulb so it can light up. If you pull the paper clip upwards, you would brake the circuit, and the lightbulb would turn off.
In the 3rd and final activity, we worked on "circuit puzzles". We all had a "booklet", which had names of fruits on them. This was so we could see what puzzles we had already done, and which puzzles we needed to work on. On the top, there were holes. We could see foil in some of the holes, and in some of the holes, there were no foil, so it was black. The foil was connected to other holes, and we had to use 2 clippers and touch the parts with foil to see which parts were connected and which parts were not. If the foil was connected, the lightbulb would light up, indicating that the circuit was complete. Your goal was to find all the places where the foil was connected, write down what you think, and flip the first page to see what was under. If you was correct, you would get happiness, and if you was wrong, it was okay.
From these 3 classes, I learned that things as simple as a paper clip and cardboard can make lots of things happen. Small things really have the potential to make a miracle.
In the first class, we learned about circuits. A circuit is a little like a circle, and is used to pass the current of electricity along. We had a box, where we had to figure out how to use some wires, a battery, and make a bulb light up. Because I had never done it before, I found it a little challenging at first (like, the very, very, first - I know it doesn't make sense), but I got the hang of it and found out how to make it work. After that, we had to find out how to make the bulb brighter with 2 batteries. Ok, yes, it was pretty obvious. We just used 4 clippers and connected it to one lightbulb. 2 batteries would be able to power up a lightbulb and make it brighter. Ok, after everyone was done connecting the 2 batteries to the lightbulb (It only made it slightly brighter), we had to make the bulb even brighter. Because we had joined forces, we now had 8 clippers to use, and we had already used 4. My partner, James, thought "More electrons, more light. The clippers are used to let electrons pass, so all we have to do is add extra clippers!" It worked. After completing all these activities, we had to do some paperwork. (Sometimes I just wish we can just do fun things and not do paperwork - LOL) After 2 days, we went down for the science lab again for our 2nd activity - learning about how switches work. We had everything we used in the 1st activity, but we had a cardboard, 2 fasteners, and a paper clip. Because I already knew a little about conductors of electricity, it was pretty easy for me. We just had to put the paper clips through the fasteners, and poke the 2 fasteners through the cardboard. Under the cardboard, we put the clippers at the end of the fasteners so we can ensure that the fasteners don't fall off, and the electricity gets passed onto the fasteners, which are conductors of electricity. Paper clips are made of metal, and metal is a conductor of electricity, so it can pass the current of electricity to the clippers, which will transfer the electricity to the lightbulb so it can light up. If you pull the paper clip upwards, you would brake the circuit, and the lightbulb would turn off.
In the 3rd and final activity, we worked on "circuit puzzles". We all had a "booklet", which had names of fruits on them. This was so we could see what puzzles we had already done, and which puzzles we needed to work on. On the top, there were holes. We could see foil in some of the holes, and in some of the holes, there were no foil, so it was black. The foil was connected to other holes, and we had to use 2 clippers and touch the parts with foil to see which parts were connected and which parts were not. If the foil was connected, the lightbulb would light up, indicating that the circuit was complete. Your goal was to find all the places where the foil was connected, write down what you think, and flip the first page to see what was under. If you was correct, you would get happiness, and if you was wrong, it was okay.
From these 3 classes, I learned that things as simple as a paper clip and cardboard can make lots of things happen. Small things really have the potential to make a miracle.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Slice Of Life #141 - International Fest - Tuesday, 13/11/2018 - Happened on 9/11/2018
Last Friday, we had an event that we have every year - International Fest. But this year, it was really exciting for me. Because I was the oldest Malaysian in the elementary division of the school, I was going to be leading the flag parade with the "oldest Malaysian whose been here the longest", "non-Malaysian student whose been here the longest", "youngest Malaysian", and the "youngest Malaysian whose been here the longest". I was also going to carry our school flag and be in the front of the parade with the principal. Because it was decided that I was going to lead the parade near the end of the school day, I didn't have to go to the practice, which meant that I didn't have to miss band - this happened the day before the parade.
Before the parade started, I went to the very front of the line. The oldest grade (in this case, grade 5), would lead the parade, followed by all the younger grades. For some reason, the principal became very strict about not going in front of us (for the "normal" kids). High school percussion came to play for us, and I felt good for them because I think they got excused from class (not that I don't like to learn, because I love school). But on the other hand, I felt bad for some of them, because they were carrying really big drums - and they were using their shoulder to support all the weight.
The parade was supposed to end in the amphitheater, where we would do talk about the nationalities we had in the school. I saw the kindergarten kids waving at us from below. "How old are you?" I asked the girl who was the youngest whose been here the longest.
"5." She replied.
I thought about what grade she would be in. She was probably either in prep-junior or senior, and had probably joined in prep-reception. We walked throughout the school, "collecting" all the kids from all the different grades. The cleaners were "hiding" in the toilets, taking pictures with their phones, looking at all the commotion.
When we reached the amphitheater, I didn't really know what to do because I was not at the practice. Apparently all I had to do was walk to the front and stand on the "stage". I thought that it was really unfair because the person carrying the Malaysian flag wasn't even Malaysian.
This year, it was a little different. Like always, when your country was called, you would stand up and wave your flag provided by the school - your own country's flag, at least (and make some noise, if you want to). The country you got on your flag depended on what your passport was (that was registered with the school) But this year, when the country was called, the flag bearer of that country would walk up to the middle and place it in one of the 6 the pots in the middle, unlike the previous years, where you only got to carry the flag during the parade. In the previous years, after the parade, you would give it to an adult, who would help you put it in the pot. Other than that, this was the first year we were doing it outdoors, as usually it would be indoors, in the studio. If it rained during the ceremony, it would take place in the gym, but fortunately, it didn't rain, and we got to do it in the amphitheater.
Because the flags were being called in alphabetical order, Malaysia, my beautiful country, was called in the middle. Lots of people stood up and make noise. I cheered, although I didn't have a flag - I gave mine to the little kids that led the parade (the youngest in the school, and the youngest that had been here the oldest - if that makes any sense to you). After the parade, we were called up to the front and acknowledged.
After the parade, we had art class, and after that, we had recess. And during that time, I FINALLY MET MY 3RD GRADE TEACHER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, all my teachers, beside my 4th grade and 5th grade teacher (in other words, my current teacher), have left. And now my 5th grade teacher is retiring after this year. That leaves only my 4th grade teacher. She said that she would be going to my graduation, which is good (like, she promised...)
I talked to my REALLY, AMAZINGLY, INSANELY, SURPRISINGLY, SERIOUSLY, EXCELLENT, MARVELOUS, SKILLED, TALENTED, GOOD - really, Ms. Victor (I guess I say that to every one of my teachers) - teacher before I went to play. We were supposed to have our snack together, but people were getting her to go here and there, and we couldn't find her. Fortunately, I was able to talk to her during lunch time. After a few minutes, I said goodbye as I walked to class.
Before the parade started, I went to the very front of the line. The oldest grade (in this case, grade 5), would lead the parade, followed by all the younger grades. For some reason, the principal became very strict about not going in front of us (for the "normal" kids). High school percussion came to play for us, and I felt good for them because I think they got excused from class (not that I don't like to learn, because I love school). But on the other hand, I felt bad for some of them, because they were carrying really big drums - and they were using their shoulder to support all the weight.
The parade was supposed to end in the amphitheater, where we would do talk about the nationalities we had in the school. I saw the kindergarten kids waving at us from below. "How old are you?" I asked the girl who was the youngest whose been here the longest.
"5." She replied.
I thought about what grade she would be in. She was probably either in prep-junior or senior, and had probably joined in prep-reception. We walked throughout the school, "collecting" all the kids from all the different grades. The cleaners were "hiding" in the toilets, taking pictures with their phones, looking at all the commotion.
When we reached the amphitheater, I didn't really know what to do because I was not at the practice. Apparently all I had to do was walk to the front and stand on the "stage". I thought that it was really unfair because the person carrying the Malaysian flag wasn't even Malaysian.
This year, it was a little different. Like always, when your country was called, you would stand up and wave your flag provided by the school - your own country's flag, at least (and make some noise, if you want to). The country you got on your flag depended on what your passport was (that was registered with the school) But this year, when the country was called, the flag bearer of that country would walk up to the middle and place it in one of the 6 the pots in the middle, unlike the previous years, where you only got to carry the flag during the parade. In the previous years, after the parade, you would give it to an adult, who would help you put it in the pot. Other than that, this was the first year we were doing it outdoors, as usually it would be indoors, in the studio. If it rained during the ceremony, it would take place in the gym, but fortunately, it didn't rain, and we got to do it in the amphitheater.
Because the flags were being called in alphabetical order, Malaysia, my beautiful country, was called in the middle. Lots of people stood up and make noise. I cheered, although I didn't have a flag - I gave mine to the little kids that led the parade (the youngest in the school, and the youngest that had been here the oldest - if that makes any sense to you). After the parade, we were called up to the front and acknowledged.
After the parade, we had art class, and after that, we had recess. And during that time, I FINALLY MET MY 3RD GRADE TEACHER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, all my teachers, beside my 4th grade and 5th grade teacher (in other words, my current teacher), have left. And now my 5th grade teacher is retiring after this year. That leaves only my 4th grade teacher. She said that she would be going to my graduation, which is good (like, she promised...)
I talked to my REALLY, AMAZINGLY, INSANELY, SURPRISINGLY, SERIOUSLY, EXCELLENT, MARVELOUS, SKILLED, TALENTED, GOOD - really, Ms. Victor (I guess I say that to every one of my teachers) - teacher before I went to play. We were supposed to have our snack together, but people were getting her to go here and there, and we couldn't find her. Fortunately, I was able to talk to her during lunch time. After a few minutes, I said goodbye as I walked to class.
The Thing We Use Everyday - 9/11/2018, Friday
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| Mr. Baker showing us how much oil they usually got when drilling. |
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Slice Of Life #140 - BLOBFISH!!! - Tuesday, 6/11/2018 - Happened on 16/5/2017
I heard the click of my teacher's Apple phone as he opened it. I was in Chinese class, and the story that we were reading was about dogs. When it said that dogs lived for only about 10 years, I was curious and we decided to look up how long animals live. So, we searched 'how long do animals live' and found a link on Wikipedia. It said that most dogs live lives of around 10 years, while turtles live to be hundreds of years old.
Then I came up with an idea to prank my teacher. My really good 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Victor, had recently read us the book 'Pink is for Blobfish' by Jess Keating. Because of that book, I had learned about blobfish, and no offence, but they are horribly, dreadfully, seriously, unbelievably, really, inexplicably ugly. Like, no offence. I got my teacher to search up blobfish, as I wanted to see his reaction.
"Oh, that's ugly!" My teacher said. He turned the phone away from him so he wouldn't have to see the animal (you can search it up at your own risk!) "Why in the world!"
"Apparently it was voted the world's ugliest animal." I said.
"I need to vomit." He made weird noises like he wanted to vomit.
I laughed.
"That's it." My teacher said. "I'm searching for beautiful animals."
He pretended to be relieved as he looked at beautiful animals on Wikipedia. The panda and the peacock were at the very top. I wonder what cameras were used to take the pictures, because the quality was pretty good.
"Look, the panda and the peacock look so good, unlike your best friend: the blobfish."
I laughed at his joke as I smiled and continued to finish the story and started to complete a few questions.
P.S.: This was originally drafted to be my 40th Slice of Life, but now I'm writing it 100 posts later!
Then I came up with an idea to prank my teacher. My really good 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Victor, had recently read us the book 'Pink is for Blobfish' by Jess Keating. Because of that book, I had learned about blobfish, and no offence, but they are horribly, dreadfully, seriously, unbelievably, really, inexplicably ugly. Like, no offence. I got my teacher to search up blobfish, as I wanted to see his reaction.
"Oh, that's ugly!" My teacher said. He turned the phone away from him so he wouldn't have to see the animal (you can search it up at your own risk!) "Why in the world!"
"Apparently it was voted the world's ugliest animal." I said.
"I need to vomit." He made weird noises like he wanted to vomit.
I laughed.
"That's it." My teacher said. "I'm searching for beautiful animals."
He pretended to be relieved as he looked at beautiful animals on Wikipedia. The panda and the peacock were at the very top. I wonder what cameras were used to take the pictures, because the quality was pretty good.
"Look, the panda and the peacock look so good, unlike your best friend: the blobfish."
I laughed at his joke as I smiled and continued to finish the story and started to complete a few questions.
P.S.: This was originally drafted to be my 40th Slice of Life, but now I'm writing it 100 posts later!
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Slice Of Life #139 - Goodies! - Tuesday, 30/10/2018 - Happened on Saturday, 8/9/2018
I walked into the hotel room. There were lots of bags inside the hotel room. My dad had been in a 3 day medical conference to earn 20 CPD (continuing professional development) points, from this year onwards, all doctors in Malaysia needed to earn 20 CPD points in order to keep practicing medicine. This 3 day conference allowed doctors to earn 20 CPD points, but it was a 3 day conference. This year, the conference was held in Ipoh, which is my dad's hometown.
My dad got to meet his parents and go eat at great places. On Saturday, we went to Ipoh to meet him, and from there, we planned to stay one more night and then go to Cameron Highlands and stay one more night there. My mom liked to go to Cameron Highlands because she said that it was colder, and we don't get to experience that in KL (Kuala Lumpur), where we live now (and trust me, according to Google, the temperatures today ranged from 24 to 32 degrees celcius, whereas in Cameron Highlands, temperatures drop down to 17 and rise up to 23 degrees celcius only.)
When I first entered the hotel room, I looked inside the bags. There were lots of things inside. I went through everything. There were literally pens, brochures, notebooks, and all sorts of useless and useful things. I fished through everything, and there was literally everything you could imagine. What do companies give away now days?! I thought. There was even food, and some sample creams for doctors to try out. Hehe, now that you've gave it to me, for free, I guess I'll try it. Thanks for the free cream!
I looked through everything. There were even heavy things inside, which I thought was some type of electronic thing, but apparently was paper. Because my mom wanted to go to the nearby mall to see what there was to buy, I had to leave everything on the bed (and it was really messy - if you was a cleaner, you would be wondering what had happened inside the room.)
After coming back from shopping, we went to this place called Lost World of Tambun. I got to soak in the hot springs, and watch the 'Fire Percussion' show. In my opinion, the Fire Pwercussion show was a little "over" because the people were literally drinking poison to make the fire (to make it look like they were spitting fire). There were a lot of things involving fire, but I do have to say, the people were really skilled. I just hope they don't get hurt! After the Fire Percussion show, we exited the theme park and went back to the hotel.
My dad got to meet his parents and go eat at great places. On Saturday, we went to Ipoh to meet him, and from there, we planned to stay one more night and then go to Cameron Highlands and stay one more night there. My mom liked to go to Cameron Highlands because she said that it was colder, and we don't get to experience that in KL (Kuala Lumpur), where we live now (and trust me, according to Google, the temperatures today ranged from 24 to 32 degrees celcius, whereas in Cameron Highlands, temperatures drop down to 17 and rise up to 23 degrees celcius only.)
When I first entered the hotel room, I looked inside the bags. There were lots of things inside. I went through everything. There were literally pens, brochures, notebooks, and all sorts of useless and useful things. I fished through everything, and there was literally everything you could imagine. What do companies give away now days?! I thought. There was even food, and some sample creams for doctors to try out. Hehe, now that you've gave it to me, for free, I guess I'll try it. Thanks for the free cream!
I looked through everything. There were even heavy things inside, which I thought was some type of electronic thing, but apparently was paper. Because my mom wanted to go to the nearby mall to see what there was to buy, I had to leave everything on the bed (and it was really messy - if you was a cleaner, you would be wondering what had happened inside the room.)
After coming back from shopping, we went to this place called Lost World of Tambun. I got to soak in the hot springs, and watch the 'Fire Percussion' show. In my opinion, the Fire Pwercussion show was a little "over" because the people were literally drinking poison to make the fire (to make it look like they were spitting fire). There were a lot of things involving fire, but I do have to say, the people were really skilled. I just hope they don't get hurt! After the Fire Percussion show, we exited the theme park and went back to the hotel.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Slice Of Life #138 - I'm Going to Melaka! - Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018
Currently...
- It is : in the morning.
- The sky is looks pitch black, but I can see signs of brightness in the distance.
- I am very excited because I am going to Melaka again!
- My bag is already packed.
- I am dressed in my school uniform, and I am ready to leave at moment now.
- I do not like the fact that we have to wear our school uniform even though we are going on a trip. Okay, it's so they can recognize us so we don't get lost. At least we get to wear the pants of our choice.
- I am telling you that this is going to be a short post because I will have to leave soon (because I don't want to miss the bus to Melaka!).
- I wonder what happens if you miss the bus to Melaka.
- I am making sure that I have a book in my bag.
- Okay, I do. I have Anything But Typical in my bag to read on the bus.
- That's if, I don't play Chinese Chess - or something else - on the bus. But the bus ride is 2 hours anyway. Plenty of time to play.
- I am going to wear my mint green watch because I just realized that I am not wearing it.
- Apparently the hotel doesn't have any clocks, so we have to bring our own watches to keep track of time.
- I am looking forward to doing the elevated ropes course at Skytrex Melaka when we reach there.
- I am going to search up our hotel - Hotel Puri - On Google.
- It is a Chinese hotel.
- Woah! 4 star rating! (out of 5 stars)
- Woah! The luxry package in Hotel Puri includes a Peranakan tea set! According to my art teacher, a Peranankan vase is RM500 (because she bought about 10-20 of them for our school). And it's only RM608.
- Speaking of the price, it makes me wonder why it ends with a 8. Usually they end on a 10 or 100 or 5.
- I am logging onto a typing game.
- And... I have to go now.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Social Change Makers Conference (SCMC) - Tuesday, 9th October, 2018 / Thursday, 11th October, 2018
Changing the world isn't the work of one person. Changing the world is the responsibility of every human in the world. Everybody in the world has a big responsibility that lies on their shoulders. The world is filled with people who are being the change the wanted to see. On Tuesday, the 9th of October 2018, we had a small part of our Social Change Makers Conference (SCMC). Dr. Teh Kok Hoi, who is a pediatrician and works in the cancer ward in the KL Children's Hospital.
In my opinion, I think Dr. Teh was very passionate about what he was doing. I think he sub-sub-specialized because he told us that he was a pediatric hematologist and oncologist. I think most of what he was doing was trying to get us to go to the hospital to go care for the patients. He talked to us about how the patients needed to believe that they could get cured, have hope, and have a family to support them. Unfortunately, I didn't really learn much from his talk because my dad is a pediatrician and I already know quite a lot about medical things (not to brag, but I know lots of medical terms and what they mean).
On Thursday, October 11th, we had more people come to talk to us - it was the official SCMC day, but Dr. Teh was occupied on Thursday, so he came to talk to us last Tuesday. We had Janine Williams come, who volunteered at the Chin Women's Organization (CWO). She brought a few refugees with her, and I thought that what they were doing was great. I felt bad for the refugees (well, I felt bad for them the whole time) because of what happened to them. Ester, who was 13 years old, but she didn't remember how she escaped from her country, because she was 7 at the time. Stephen was not so lucky. He was 17 years old and remembered the terrible story of how he escaped. He was crammed into a car with lots of other people and was secretly driven past the Malaysian border from Thailand. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 161,140 refugees registered with UNHCR in Malaysia - as for the night of Wednesday, October 10th, 2018. There are 139,740 of the refugees registered with UNHCR are from Myanmar, 77,130 of them from Chin, which is a state in Myanmar. Unfortunately, refugees don't have many rights in Malaysia (more like no rights...), but our new prime minister is working to give them more rights. When I asked the refugees what they wanted to do with their lives, Stephen wants to be a musician, while Ester wants to be a singer.
Other than that, we had Swan Tan come as a representative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). She told us about what they were doing in Malaysia, which included exploring the natural habitats of Malayan tigers. WWF Malaysia was established in 1972. They held anti-poaching patrols, and if they found any clues, they would work with the government to find the poachers. She told us that WWF Malaysia was in charge of about 90 environmental protection and sustainability projects. They also put cameras in forests so they can see what the animals in the forests are doing. The Malayan Tigers are currently endangered (there are now only 250), and they are working to raise the population of the tigers.
We also had Naima Ismail come, who helped the Health Equity Initiatives (HEI) as a translator, and founded the Somali Women's Association Malaysia (SWAM). If refugees had a UNHCR card/UN letter, they would have 50% discounts in public government hospitals, but that would still be a lot of money for them, because even if an operation was 30,000, they would still have to pay 15,000, and they probably would not be able to afford it. As a kid, Naima lived in Somalia (and is from Somalia) and underwent sexual abuse, as boys would always beat up her and her brother. Unfortunately, according to their tradition, girls that didn't stay in their house would bring shame to their family and community, and I am VERY AGAINST THAT. Currently, she is working to give refugees free healthcare and advocate refugee rights in Malaysia, because unfortunately, refugees don't have many rights in Malaysia. Fortunately, our new prime minister is working to give refugees more rights in Malaysia so they live a normal life.
But what I was really looking forward to, was to see Siti Kasim talk to us. She was a lawyer and activist, and everybody knew her. She fought for the indigenous people of Malaysia, the Orang Asli. Unfortunately, people are trying to take away land from the Orang Asli. One of the most recent cases involved of 10,000 acres of their land trying to be taken away and be made into a durian plantation. While I loved durian (yeah, I LOVE it), I am also VERY AGAINST THAT. She and some other lawyers are trying to educate the Orang Asli about their rights, and fortunately, they are setting up blockades so people cannot take their land to stand their ground. She does all this without getting any return, which I think is great because she is doing good things but not asking for anything back. The company actually offered Siti bribes, but she rejected them all (thank you for rejecting them!) - and I got her signature!
We also had Munirah Hamid come, who was the founder of the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. She provided food and medical services for the homeless & poor who didn't have any soup to eat. As a child, her mom always told her to do what she thought was right, and if she wanted to do something, she had to actually take action and do it instead of just wanting to do it. And when she saw lots of homeless & poor on the streets, she decided to give them some food to eat. The Pertiwi Soup Kitchen provides 4 meals a week to the homeless, and usually they are from 9-10pm. They also would provide medical services so they all wouldn't have wounds or scars on their body.
Ana Popovich is a 7th grader in our school and does weekly cleanups with her mom, Amy Popovich, who is a math teacher (and she also teaches in our school). She told us about a recent case, they found 20 kilos of plastic in a whale, which was why it died. When on holiday, they found out about Trash Heroes and they emailed the Trash Heroes organization, and they started a chapter in KL. There are 6 Trash Hero chapters in Malaysia. So far, their chapter has collected 3458kg of trash, which is NOT GOOD. They also make audits, and they send the information to various organizations. They also introduced us to Eco-Bricks, which are ways of using trash that cannot be recycled to build things. Something I found surprising was the fact that there is a school built of Eco-Bricks. I think this is actually a great idea, because they probably bend better instead of bricks, and if they were to fall, they wouldn't hurt as much as normal bricks falling on you. So far, they have 512 volunteers and have organized 48 cleanups so far.
All these people are doing things to make a difference in the world. They are not looking to be popular, but are looking to make a difference in the world. They all are from different organizations, but have something related in their blood. They all know that if they want something to change in the world, they have to make that action and "be the change you want to see in the world", like Mahatma Gandhi previously said. In the end, we left them with RM500 to help them with their cause. These notable people left us with a valuable lesson, and that is to do what you think is right.
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| Dr. Teh speaking to us. |
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| Meeting the refugees and Janine Williams |
On Thursday, October 11th, we had more people come to talk to us - it was the official SCMC day, but Dr. Teh was occupied on Thursday, so he came to talk to us last Tuesday. We had Janine Williams come, who volunteered at the Chin Women's Organization (CWO). She brought a few refugees with her, and I thought that what they were doing was great. I felt bad for the refugees (well, I felt bad for them the whole time) because of what happened to them. Ester, who was 13 years old, but she didn't remember how she escaped from her country, because she was 7 at the time. Stephen was not so lucky. He was 17 years old and remembered the terrible story of how he escaped. He was crammed into a car with lots of other people and was secretly driven past the Malaysian border from Thailand. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 161,140 refugees registered with UNHCR in Malaysia - as for the night of Wednesday, October 10th, 2018. There are 139,740 of the refugees registered with UNHCR are from Myanmar, 77,130 of them from Chin, which is a state in Myanmar. Unfortunately, refugees don't have many rights in Malaysia (more like no rights...), but our new prime minister is working to give them more rights. When I asked the refugees what they wanted to do with their lives, Stephen wants to be a musician, while Ester wants to be a singer.
Other than that, we had Swan Tan come as a representative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). She told us about what they were doing in Malaysia, which included exploring the natural habitats of Malayan tigers. WWF Malaysia was established in 1972. They held anti-poaching patrols, and if they found any clues, they would work with the government to find the poachers. She told us that WWF Malaysia was in charge of about 90 environmental protection and sustainability projects. They also put cameras in forests so they can see what the animals in the forests are doing. The Malayan Tigers are currently endangered (there are now only 250), and they are working to raise the population of the tigers.
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| Naima Ismail advocating the rights of refugees and how they don't have free healthcare. |
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| Me (in the gray shirt) getting Siti Kasim's signature. I seem happy, right? |
But what I was really looking forward to, was to see Siti Kasim talk to us. She was a lawyer and activist, and everybody knew her. She fought for the indigenous people of Malaysia, the Orang Asli. Unfortunately, people are trying to take away land from the Orang Asli. One of the most recent cases involved of 10,000 acres of their land trying to be taken away and be made into a durian plantation. While I loved durian (yeah, I LOVE it), I am also VERY AGAINST THAT. She and some other lawyers are trying to educate the Orang Asli about their rights, and fortunately, they are setting up blockades so people cannot take their land to stand their ground. She does all this without getting any return, which I think is great because she is doing good things but not asking for anything back. The company actually offered Siti bribes, but she rejected them all (thank you for rejecting them!) - and I got her signature!
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| Munira's great slides |
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| Munira Hamid introducing us to the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. |
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| Ana and Amy Popovich speaking to us about Trash Heroes |
All these people are doing things to make a difference in the world. They are not looking to be popular, but are looking to make a difference in the world. They all are from different organizations, but have something related in their blood. They all know that if they want something to change in the world, they have to make that action and "be the change you want to see in the world", like Mahatma Gandhi previously said. In the end, we left them with RM500 to help them with their cause. These notable people left us with a valuable lesson, and that is to do what you think is right.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Slice Of Life #137 - Flash Floods - Tuesday, October 16th, 2018
Water quickly fell and hit the ground hard. I could hear water swishing down the road, and see circles of water in the road. Drops of water plummeted the ground hard, and rushed down the downhill road as if they were ants rushing to tell their friends that they had found food. We couldn't go anywhere, for we didn't have a umbrella. We were eating in an open air restaurant, and every single of the tables slowly filled with tiny little dew drops. I saw innocent motorcycle drivers waiting for what seemed like forever for the traffic lights to turn green. While they waited, they were splashed with lots of water, and when the light did turn green, they accelerated and drove off.
Because of the weather, we had to wait before we could go to our car. I saw a lady that we knew well, as she worked at the restaurant take a long stick and push water off the roof (after Googling what it was supposed to be called for 3 mins, I give up, and I will just call it a roof.) She then put a big bucket below the roof and waited for it to fill up. What's she doing? I thought. Because it was just one bucket, so I didn't question it. But then another big bucket came. And another. Until there were 3. I asked my mom what they were doing.
"Why ask me? Ask them!" She replied, which was basically all she always said. But that was not all. I saw buckets come one after another, and it never seemed to end.The buckets quickly filled up, and they had to replace them with other buckets. There was so much rain falling from the sky, but there was no water, because they were doing a major repair in the water treatment factory.
Then a thought hit my mom's brain. "Oh... Maybe their taking the water to wash the plates because there's no water!"
"Wait, are you allowed to do that?"
"Obviously not."
"Like I thought."
As I saw more and more buckets come, I was starting to believe that what my mom said was true. Then I saw something inside one of those blue buckets. The thing inside it was transparent. It took me a few seconds to analyze what it was in my brain.
Then it hit me. Cups. I couldn't believe this.
"Should we report them?" I asked my mom.
My mom rejected my suggestion, because she said that it was 'tattle-tailing'.
What a beautiful planet we have! And it's slowly getting destroyed. It has rained so much these days that I cannot believe it. At the beginning of the year I read an article that said how some countries would get lots of rain, but there would be droughts in others. But what do Homo-Sapiens hold? We're humans! We're supposed to care for each other! Yet we use rainwater to wash cups. I cannot believe it. What have we become!?
Because of the weather, we had to wait before we could go to our car. I saw a lady that we knew well, as she worked at the restaurant take a long stick and push water off the roof (after Googling what it was supposed to be called for 3 mins, I give up, and I will just call it a roof.) She then put a big bucket below the roof and waited for it to fill up. What's she doing? I thought. Because it was just one bucket, so I didn't question it. But then another big bucket came. And another. Until there were 3. I asked my mom what they were doing.
"Why ask me? Ask them!" She replied, which was basically all she always said. But that was not all. I saw buckets come one after another, and it never seemed to end.The buckets quickly filled up, and they had to replace them with other buckets. There was so much rain falling from the sky, but there was no water, because they were doing a major repair in the water treatment factory.
Then a thought hit my mom's brain. "Oh... Maybe their taking the water to wash the plates because there's no water!"
"Wait, are you allowed to do that?"
"Obviously not."
"Like I thought."
As I saw more and more buckets come, I was starting to believe that what my mom said was true. Then I saw something inside one of those blue buckets. The thing inside it was transparent. It took me a few seconds to analyze what it was in my brain.
Then it hit me. Cups. I couldn't believe this.
"Should we report them?" I asked my mom.
My mom rejected my suggestion, because she said that it was 'tattle-tailing'.
What a beautiful planet we have! And it's slowly getting destroyed. It has rained so much these days that I cannot believe it. At the beginning of the year I read an article that said how some countries would get lots of rain, but there would be droughts in others. But what do Homo-Sapiens hold? We're humans! We're supposed to care for each other! Yet we use rainwater to wash cups. I cannot believe it. What have we become!?
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Slice Of Life #136 - The Man - Tuesday, 9/10/2018
"Ugh." I heard the sound of a slap as I went down the dark, gloomy stairs. My parents and a few of their friends were talking as we went down the stairs. I clutched my blue water bottle in my hand as I went down the stairs. I hope everything's OK down there. I thought in my brain.
I was in the headquarters (or at least I think it's their HQ in Malaysia).When we went down, I saw a young man in a blue shirt sitting on a chair outside the toilets. He was reading something, but made sudden movements in the process. He also produced sour sounds, and everyone didn't dare to go close to him. My parents met a old friend, and they started talking together. After 3 minutes of talking, we started talking about the young man that was sitting outside the toilets. She said that she would always come and read. When we went down to the carpark, we talked about him in the car. We decided to go up and talk to him for once.
Uncertainty flew around in my mind. How would he react? What would he do?
"Is there anything we can help you with?" My dad asked.
"No, I'm fine." He smiled.
"We were just wondering why you're still reading here. It's real dark here. Do you want to go in?"
"No, thanks."
"Do you live close by?"
"No."
"Well, feel free to go in if you need to."
"Ok."
After talking to him, we found out that he was a normal person. My dad told me that the man suffered from a disease called 'Ticks' (That how you spell it?). I felt really bad for him. He probably didn't have many friends because of this disease, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't control the sudden movement he made.
We went in and met a guard (well, not really a guard, but a person that walked around the building with a flashlight every night making sure everyone was safe). When we asked him about it, we found out that the man would stay in the store room in the guard house. He stayed 1 hour away from the building, and his parents would come and pick him up every now and then. His dad was old, while his mom suffered from Alzheimer (which is a disease where you can't remember things. I also think that that's how you spell Alzheimer.), and his brother was working. When he tried to help mop the floor, his hand made a sudden jerk, and all the water splashed on the floor. I felt bad for him because I knew that he wanted to help in the community, but there weren't many ways for him to do so.
There are a lot of diseases these days, and I hope that as we progress into the future, we will be able to fight them and win the battle so all of mankind is free of fear and know that we got the cure.
I was in the headquarters (or at least I think it's their HQ in Malaysia).When we went down, I saw a young man in a blue shirt sitting on a chair outside the toilets. He was reading something, but made sudden movements in the process. He also produced sour sounds, and everyone didn't dare to go close to him. My parents met a old friend, and they started talking together. After 3 minutes of talking, we started talking about the young man that was sitting outside the toilets. She said that she would always come and read. When we went down to the carpark, we talked about him in the car. We decided to go up and talk to him for once.
Uncertainty flew around in my mind. How would he react? What would he do?
"Is there anything we can help you with?" My dad asked.
"No, I'm fine." He smiled.
"We were just wondering why you're still reading here. It's real dark here. Do you want to go in?"
"No, thanks."
"Do you live close by?"
"No."
"Well, feel free to go in if you need to."
"Ok."
After talking to him, we found out that he was a normal person. My dad told me that the man suffered from a disease called 'Ticks' (That how you spell it?). I felt really bad for him. He probably didn't have many friends because of this disease, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't control the sudden movement he made.
We went in and met a guard (well, not really a guard, but a person that walked around the building with a flashlight every night making sure everyone was safe). When we asked him about it, we found out that the man would stay in the store room in the guard house. He stayed 1 hour away from the building, and his parents would come and pick him up every now and then. His dad was old, while his mom suffered from Alzheimer (which is a disease where you can't remember things. I also think that that's how you spell Alzheimer.), and his brother was working. When he tried to help mop the floor, his hand made a sudden jerk, and all the water splashed on the floor. I felt bad for him because I knew that he wanted to help in the community, but there weren't many ways for him to do so.
There are a lot of diseases these days, and I hope that as we progress into the future, we will be able to fight them and win the battle so all of mankind is free of fear and know that we got the cure.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Slice Of Life #135 - ISA Testing - Tuesday, 2/10/2018
Boy, am I relieved know that ISA testing is over. Over the past 2 days, we had the International Schools Assessment (ISA). Over the past couple of weeks, kids just like me in international schools were going to be doing a test just like this, according to their grade. In our school, grades 3-10 would do the ISA test, while grades 11 and 12 would be studying for their IB exams, which was way more important than the ISA test. Yesterday, we had 2 math tests and 1 narrative writing test.
In my opinion, the math tests weren't too hard, but the narrative writing test took a lot of creativity. They gave us a topic, which was A COMPUTER IN A RUBBISH BIN, WHICH I THINK IS A PRETTY BAD TOPIC. Ok, it was a good topic, but it would be considered 'a weird topic'. In the end, I decided to write about how the computer belonged to a undercover CIA agent, and the CIA agent had to go and get his computer back. Another thing I was concerned about was the time limit. We were given 30 minutes, and with a topic like this, I think we really should have longer time to write the story.
Today, we had a reading test and a opinion writing test. I found a few of the questions in the reading test challenging, but in the end I think I managed to find the correct answer. Well, I'm pretty confident with my answer.
After lunch, we had the writing test. Now came another topic. Music is not just fun, but is also good for you. I knew that music was good for you, but I was only able to come up with 2 reasons. Music can brighten someone's day and reduce stress and help with depression. Playing a musical instrument may help you to make new friends, and may also improve their motor and cognitive skills and build new connections between your neurons. I would usually write 5 paragraphs, but because I didn't have enough reasons, I had to stick with 4. I think I did pretty well in this test, and I hope to see some good results (well, everyone does).
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Slice Of Life #134 - Johnny English Strikes Again - Tuesday, September 25th, 2018 - Happened on Sunday, 16/9/2018
The metal doors of the elevator opened. People filled out of the elevator, most of them holding jackets or something to keep them warm. It was 10:00 at night, and I was watching a movie. We had wanted to watch a movie about Malaysia's 14th general election, and how we made our voices heard (post coming up on that movie in a few weeks!) Because there we could not watch that movie, we decided to watch Johnny English Strikes Again.
At first, I wasn't really interested in the movie because of it's name. No offense, but that movie really needed a better name for kids that don't know how to differentiate the good movies from the bad ones.
After buying our tickets, we decided to go home so I could take a bath and bring a jacket so it wouldn't be so cold. When we got home, I quickly took a bath and my mom helped me take my jacket out from the closet.
As we went back into the cinema, I could feel the icy cold air-cond gush outside the room as we opened the door. We went to find our seats, and sat down to enjoy a nice movie.
Before the movie, Rowan Atkinson, the person acting Johnny English had a gun and shot it in the air with no bullet to tell us to silent our phones, and some kids started laughing. I didn't get how that was funny, but the movie got me laughing like crazy. I literally couldn't stop laughing. The only sad part of the story was the time when Johnny English got fired, but the rest of the movie was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My favorite part of the story was the part where Johnny English wore Virtual Reality (VR) glasses. It doesn't really make sense, but it is really funny. And by really funny, I mean - you can't stop laughing.
The reason I like the movie Johnny English Strikes again is because of the creativity of the people who wrote the script. There were some parts that probably would not be possible with the technology we have now or would probably not be happening in real life, but they thought of all that and decided to add it into the movie. There are also some really "common sense things" in the movie, but even though they were "common sense things", if I was stuck in a similar situation, I would probably not be doing what Johnny English was doing.
When the movie was finished, I was really satisfied with the decision we made as a family to watch this movie. We were all talking about the movie, making it a great, fun, day.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Slice Of Life #133 - When A Car Meets A Motorcycle - Tuesday, September 18th, 2018 - Happened on Sunday, September 16th, 2018`
The car wheels screeched as the car made a stop. "Woah..." My dad said. I sat up. Staring out the window, I could see that a car had crashed into a motorcycle, but it wasn't any normal crash. The bumpers of the car were ripped into 2 pieces, and the motorcycle was reduced to shreds.
My dad stopped the car at the side of a restaurant. My dad rushed to help. I could clearly see that the people helping the seriously-injured-covered-with-blood-man were asking for more tissues from the neighboring restaurant, which probably meant that the man was losing blood quick.
When I was finally able to get a closer view of the person, I could see that his white shirt was smeared with blood. A few men were using packs of tissues to try and stop his blood loss.
I was wondering why nobody was going to the nearby hospital, which was literally less than 100 meters away. After about 1 minute, me, my mom, and my dad went to the nearby hospital to seek help. Apparently we had to wait for a freaking ambulance, so me and my mom stood there on standby while my dad rushed back to help.
Not long after, he called my mom. He told her to tell the hospital to bring a wheelchair over so they could send the patient over to the hospital. The nurses told us that there was no such service, which I thought was ignorant, because life was obviously more important than the services they provided. Why couldn't we just use the wheelchair to go save someone's life? Plus, if the wheelchair broke, I would be willing to pay for it.
I found a brochure of theirs, which had their motto. I forgot the exact words of the motto, but it basically meant "we try to give our customers the best service we can". But now, it basically meant "we don't care about our customers".
Because we didn't have a wheelchair, we had to help the injured person walk over to the hospital. They shoved the emergency door open. He was put on a hospital bed with his shoes taken off. Because there were too many people inside the emergency room, we had to go out.
We went back to the site and told the driver of the car that she had to be present of the hospital. We were scared that if she was not present, they would not help the injured man. After that, we left. Our mission was complete.
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Melati Wijisen (Wy-sen) - Wednesday, 12/9/2018 - Happened on Friday, 7/9/2018
5th grade is really a special grade. For one thing, it's the last grade of elementary school. But in my school, 5th grade is the grade known for its best unit, a unit that covers lots of things, and a unit that changes who you are. A change makers unit. And because of that, we get to meet lots of notable people.
Last Friday, we had Melati Wijsen, the 17 year old co-founder of Bye-Bye Plastic Bags come to our school to talk to us. She first arrived on Thursday to talk to the high school students for their Global Action Program (GAP). Next, she went to middle school, and then came to our grade, 5th grade.
5th grade was lucky because in the whole elementary school, only our grade got to meet Melati. She talked to us regarding how she started Bye-Bye Plastic Bags, which happened on a day in 2013, when they were learning about notable people that helped change the world. Walking home that day, she and her sister, Isabel, said that they didn't want to wait until they were adults to make a difference. They wanted to get started immediately.
They found an interesting subject, garbage. But garbage was too big of a subject for them, they thought. So, they focused on a realistic subject for them kids that fell under garbage, plastic bags.
After a long time of persistence and determination, the two sisters were able to get contact with the governor, where they negotiated and managed to get the governor to sign a contract banning plastic bags from their home, Bali, by 2018.
She also told us about some of the problems she was facing. She told us that the plastic industry made about 40 million per annum. It's hard to tell someone to stop earning 40 million (I don't know what currency), and the plastic industry didn't want to stop.
She said that she was planning to start a pilot project to empower children to chase their dreams, because maybe, because of one of them, the world will be changed.
Other than that, she thought us 3 lessons she learned because of Bye-Bye Plastic Bags.
Last Friday, we had Melati Wijsen, the 17 year old co-founder of Bye-Bye Plastic Bags come to our school to talk to us. She first arrived on Thursday to talk to the high school students for their Global Action Program (GAP). Next, she went to middle school, and then came to our grade, 5th grade.
5th grade was lucky because in the whole elementary school, only our grade got to meet Melati. She talked to us regarding how she started Bye-Bye Plastic Bags, which happened on a day in 2013, when they were learning about notable people that helped change the world. Walking home that day, she and her sister, Isabel, said that they didn't want to wait until they were adults to make a difference. They wanted to get started immediately.
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| Us with Melati Wijisen |
After a long time of persistence and determination, the two sisters were able to get contact with the governor, where they negotiated and managed to get the governor to sign a contract banning plastic bags from their home, Bali, by 2018.
She also told us about some of the problems she was facing. She told us that the plastic industry made about 40 million per annum. It's hard to tell someone to stop earning 40 million (I don't know what currency), and the plastic industry didn't want to stop.
She said that she was planning to start a pilot project to empower children to chase their dreams, because maybe, because of one of them, the world will be changed.
Other than that, she thought us 3 lessons she learned because of Bye-Bye Plastic Bags.
- Lesson #1 - Teamwork - Teamwork makes the dream work!
- Lesson #2 - Think outside the box!
- Lesson #3 - Persistence & Commitment.
She ended with one of her quotes - "We kids may only be 25 percent of the world's population, but we are 100 percent of the future!"
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Slice Of Life #132 - 999 - Tuesday, 11/9/2018 - Happened on 2/9/2018
Our car sped down the highway and slowed down as we reached the Subang toll near the North Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE). We took out our SmartTag and scanned it to pass. Our car then picked up speed again as we moved into wider space. I was in the car heading home from dinner with my mom, dad, and uncle.
After a few minutes, we saw some white smoke ahead. My dad steered the car over to the right, where there were lesser smoke. As we passed, I got up on my knees and looked back. I saw what I think was a lorry. I couldn't catch a good glimpse of the "thing", but judging by looking at the front of the car, I think it was a lorry. Surrounding the lorry was all white smoke, so white that you couldn't see anything that was behind it.
Lights from above illuminated the smoke, but that didn't help. Nobody was able to see whatever was was happening inside the smoke.
I really wish that everyone's safe there. I thought. What I saw was an very unusual sight to see here in Malaysia. Smoke puffing out of a lorry? That was common. But the amount of smoke we saw was very unusual. After all the things I've ever saw in my life, I don't think I have ever saw that much smoke from a lorry. It was literally the amount of smoke you would see from a rocket blasting into outer space, except for the fact that it was a little bit lesser.
After a few minutes, my dad decided to call 999. Because he was driving, my mom helped him call 999. Her hands trembled as she pressed the number 9 continuously 3 times.
When the operator picked up the phone from the other end, my dad explained the situation. After my dad explained the situation, the operator asked a bunch of questions. He asked so many questions using so many sophisticated words that I'm sure he probably was reading the questions from a piece of paper. I'm also pretty sure that the operator was able to check our destination by checking the destination of the phone, because he asked if we were present at the scene, because he asked that question and questions similar to that about 5 times.
After a while, he transferred our call to the fire department, who told us that they were already on the scene and told us that it was a fire. I breathed a sigh of relief and sank down in my seat.
After a few minutes, we saw some white smoke ahead. My dad steered the car over to the right, where there were lesser smoke. As we passed, I got up on my knees and looked back. I saw what I think was a lorry. I couldn't catch a good glimpse of the "thing", but judging by looking at the front of the car, I think it was a lorry. Surrounding the lorry was all white smoke, so white that you couldn't see anything that was behind it.
Lights from above illuminated the smoke, but that didn't help. Nobody was able to see whatever was was happening inside the smoke.
I really wish that everyone's safe there. I thought. What I saw was an very unusual sight to see here in Malaysia. Smoke puffing out of a lorry? That was common. But the amount of smoke we saw was very unusual. After all the things I've ever saw in my life, I don't think I have ever saw that much smoke from a lorry. It was literally the amount of smoke you would see from a rocket blasting into outer space, except for the fact that it was a little bit lesser.
After a few minutes, my dad decided to call 999. Because he was driving, my mom helped him call 999. Her hands trembled as she pressed the number 9 continuously 3 times.
When the operator picked up the phone from the other end, my dad explained the situation. After my dad explained the situation, the operator asked a bunch of questions. He asked so many questions using so many sophisticated words that I'm sure he probably was reading the questions from a piece of paper. I'm also pretty sure that the operator was able to check our destination by checking the destination of the phone, because he asked if we were present at the scene, because he asked that question and questions similar to that about 5 times.
After a while, he transferred our call to the fire department, who told us that they were already on the scene and told us that it was a fire. I breathed a sigh of relief and sank down in my seat.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Slice Of Life #131 - Sent Home - Happened on 4/9/2018 - Tuesday, August 4th, 2018
Ok. Some of you may be wondering why I am posting this post earlier than usual. Well, it's because I was sent home. Here's how it began. I was in class, and my eyes were itching like crazy. My teacher, Mr. Herbert, suggested that I go to the nurse. Because our school followed a strict buddy system, I had to go down to the nurse with a friend.
Usually I avoid the nurse, because I realized that there isn't much meaning (not that there's no point) in going to the nurse, because you body just goes back to functioning like usual at the end of the school day. But because my eye was itching like crazy, I would have gone anyways, even if my teacher didn't ask me to go to the nurse.
After about 20 minutes in the nurse's office, he told me that I would have to go home. He called my mom to tell her that I would have to go home. My mom told the nurse that she would reach the school within one hour.
During my time at the nurse, I did hear about some funny incidents, but I'm not going to talk about them in this post because I don't think they are appropriate to post here. Anyways, I grabbed a book and started reading. Problem was, all of the books in the nurse's office were all books below my reading level, so I was basically stuck with pictures.
After a while, the nurse went up with me to grab my bag and all my belongings so I could bring them home. In the process, my eye started to itch again, I think because of the environment.
Every once in a while, the nurse would put some normal saline. according to my dad. According to my dad (again), he says that the amount of salt in normal saline is equal to the amount in our blood.
Because I went up to my class to get my belongings, I was finally able to read books that were my level, specifically One Half From the East.
I feel pretty unlucky to have to miss PE/Phys Ed/ Physical Education because today was the day we were going to use the new artificial field in our new school. Plus, we were going to play capture the flag, which I think is fun. Other than that, today was library day, which was the day we would go to the library to borrow, read, and return books. Since today was day 7, a odd day, my grade, grade 5, was allowed to the library for recess. I wanted to go to the library for recess because the new library is SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO COMFORTABLE, especially the pillows in there.
Other than that, today was the second day of ASAs (After School Activities), and I had photography, which I think is really fun.
I wish that I can go to school tomorrow, because tomorrow I have really fun activities, and I hope my conjunctivitis (red eye) recovers by then.
P.S.: I am very proud of myself for typing most of this post without looking at the keyboard because I had some ointment in my eyes, which blinded me from being able to see. Now, I can see clearly now, so all is fine.
Usually I avoid the nurse, because I realized that there isn't much meaning (not that there's no point) in going to the nurse, because you body just goes back to functioning like usual at the end of the school day. But because my eye was itching like crazy, I would have gone anyways, even if my teacher didn't ask me to go to the nurse.
After about 20 minutes in the nurse's office, he told me that I would have to go home. He called my mom to tell her that I would have to go home. My mom told the nurse that she would reach the school within one hour.
During my time at the nurse, I did hear about some funny incidents, but I'm not going to talk about them in this post because I don't think they are appropriate to post here. Anyways, I grabbed a book and started reading. Problem was, all of the books in the nurse's office were all books below my reading level, so I was basically stuck with pictures.
After a while, the nurse went up with me to grab my bag and all my belongings so I could bring them home. In the process, my eye started to itch again, I think because of the environment.
Every once in a while, the nurse would put some normal saline. according to my dad. According to my dad (again), he says that the amount of salt in normal saline is equal to the amount in our blood.
Because I went up to my class to get my belongings, I was finally able to read books that were my level, specifically One Half From the East.
I feel pretty unlucky to have to miss PE/Phys Ed/ Physical Education because today was the day we were going to use the new artificial field in our new school. Plus, we were going to play capture the flag, which I think is fun. Other than that, today was library day, which was the day we would go to the library to borrow, read, and return books. Since today was day 7, a odd day, my grade, grade 5, was allowed to the library for recess. I wanted to go to the library for recess because the new library is SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO COMFORTABLE, especially the pillows in there.
Other than that, today was the second day of ASAs (After School Activities), and I had photography, which I think is really fun.
I wish that I can go to school tomorrow, because tomorrow I have really fun activities, and I hope my conjunctivitis (red eye) recovers by then.
P.S.: I am very proud of myself for typing most of this post without looking at the keyboard because I had some ointment in my eyes, which blinded me from being able to see. Now, I can see clearly now, so all is fine.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Slice Of Life #130 - Currently, Tuesday, August 28th, 2018
Ok. Hi everyone! I was in a book called "The Secret Coders - Potions and Parameters". It's the 5th book in a great series. You're not allowed to do book recommendations in Slices (I'm pretty sure - but I don't know why.), so I'm going to stop talking about that.
Currently...
- I just realized that a new Secret Coders book is expected soon and that I am missing out. The 6th book is supposed to be coming out on October 2, 2018, according to Google Books.
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This is going to be the last book in the series!
- I am looking forward to the next Clarinet Masterclass at school - wait. I'm actually looking forward for next Monday, where I finally get to bring my instrument home. Apparently my instrument, the Clarinet, is the instrument with the most parts in my 5th grade band (it has 6 parts).
- I am playing a game on starblast.io. I am playing team mode. In the game, I am in the Paerodem System and the year is still 4338 (I think.)
- I am on the pink team.
- I am collecting a bunch of gems. I have 19 gems.
- Yay! I get to upgrade my ship!
- My base has been upgraded.
- I have 13 gems.
- Someone is attacking me.
- My teammate and me are fighting back.
- He died!
- I get to upgrade my ship again but it costs 80 gems.
- No! Someone is attacking me.
- I am fighting back.
- I am moving around and trying to dodge his bullets.
- I hit him 5 times.
- 8.
- HAHAHA kills me.
- I respawn.
- I have 59 gems.
- I donated them all to my team.
- People are stealing my gems.
- I bought a mining pod.
- We are attacking a team.
- I died.
- I am trying to attack the team again.
- I am dealing damage.
- I died.
- I have to leave now.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Slice Of Life #129 - RIP
Hi! We meet again! I am now eating while typing, so I think that it might take me a while to actually finish this post. I am in my dad's 3rd clinic (FYI, my dad's a doctor) writing this post. After this, I have to complete my one page of homework. I don't really care if I don't finish homework today because:
 |
| Indo Mee-Goreng (this was labeled for reuse) Credits: https://goo.gl/images/PcwPYu |
- Tomorrow is a holiday!
- My teacher dosen't care if we hand in our homework late (but not too late). As long as we hand in our homework, he's happy.
Wait a sec.
Did my mom just kill a lizard?
...
Wait! MY MOM KILLED A LIZARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, the doctor in the clinic is saying it was unintentional and that it was an accident.
I KNOW THAT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! SHE DOESN'T GET THE WHOLE POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yeah, she)
Now, A lizard's dead.
That is so sad.
A life was lost - not that I even like lizards anyway.
But,
I still feel bad for the lizard.
RIP, LIZARD.
Life
Anyways, back to normal life. So far, school is really fun, so that's one thing for sure. I have homework (and the other classes don't), but that's kinda' good because:
- I love homework (yes, I am a nerd - kinda' - wait. Not really)
- Something else to do at home - other than fight boredom. (ok, I'm exaggerating. Life at home's not too boring.)
BTW, I'm done with dinner. I guess I have nothing else to write about, so I might as well end he post.
This post was actually supposed to be a post about life at home and school, but the lizard was very intresting to write about, so yeah.
This post was actually supposed to be a post about life at home and school, but the lizard was very intresting to write about, so yeah.
As I end this post, I want to end with a simple message.
RIP, LIZARD.
P.S.: 撕裂蜥蜴 (ok, that's wrong. what that says is rip *like tear* lizard. Basically, it says tear the lizard. LOL.) It's supposed to be RIP 蜥蜴
P.P.S.: Kadal RIP (supposed to be Malay, but I don't think it is.)
P.P.S.: RIP lagarto (I have no idea if this is correct or not, but I used Google Translate and translated it into Spanish - Google Translate is not always correct.)
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Slice Of Life #128 - Starting Fresh - Tuesday, 14/8/2018
Today was the first day of school! This meant that freedom from boredom! Anyways, today was a really good day. We had really cool gates that we would walk through into the new school. I was walked up to my grade's common area, which is the gathering place for my grade (grade 5).
I was pretty surprised that there were already so many people in the class, because it was still 7:40 in the morning (school starts at 8:00). Because everybody came early, we started school about 15 minutes early.
Another thing that I was surprised about was the fact that there were no morning announcements. In our school, we have morning announcements everyday to tell everyone what was going on. We got to know each other, especially the new students.
Our teacher, Mr. Herbert, walked us through the daily routine. He talked about the everyday schedule, and I was happy because I found out that I was in the advanced class for Spanish (not to brag).
Next, we had recess. We had nothing to play because since our school is a new school (now, elementary, middle, and high school are all together), and the building has not been fully built, and part of it include the playground. Because of that, we had to play in an open area. There were balls to play with, so we found some chalk and made a 4 square court. I think some kids underestimated the size of a 4-square court, because we barely had enough space to hit the ball to.
When it came to labeling our things, I was surprised. I'm pretty sure we're going to bring the supplies provided by the school home (the ones that were in our "box") because our teacher wanted us to write our name on them. Apparently we had to label everything, including the gluesticks, whiteboard eraser and marker, and the highlighter, which I had never experienced before.
At the end of the school day, the teacher gave us some homework to do, which I need to do right now. So, see you next week!
P.S.: I know that was a pretty bad ending.
P.P.S.: Yes! I finished this is 13 minutes!
I was pretty surprised that there were already so many people in the class, because it was still 7:40 in the morning (school starts at 8:00). Because everybody came early, we started school about 15 minutes early.
Another thing that I was surprised about was the fact that there were no morning announcements. In our school, we have morning announcements everyday to tell everyone what was going on. We got to know each other, especially the new students.
Our teacher, Mr. Herbert, walked us through the daily routine. He talked about the everyday schedule, and I was happy because I found out that I was in the advanced class for Spanish (not to brag).
Next, we had recess. We had nothing to play because since our school is a new school (now, elementary, middle, and high school are all together), and the building has not been fully built, and part of it include the playground. Because of that, we had to play in an open area. There were balls to play with, so we found some chalk and made a 4 square court. I think some kids underestimated the size of a 4-square court, because we barely had enough space to hit the ball to.
When it came to labeling our things, I was surprised. I'm pretty sure we're going to bring the supplies provided by the school home (the ones that were in our "box") because our teacher wanted us to write our name on them. Apparently we had to label everything, including the gluesticks, whiteboard eraser and marker, and the highlighter, which I had never experienced before.
At the end of the school day, the teacher gave us some homework to do, which I need to do right now. So, see you next week!
P.S.: I know that was a pretty bad ending.
P.P.S.: Yes! I finished this is 13 minutes!
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Slice Of Life #127 - Craving for Durian
My alarm clock shook as it rang. Like always, I snoozed it. I always woke got out of bed on the second or third time it rang. I liked to get some more sleep. On the 2nd time it rang. I turned off the alarm and jumped out of bed.
All I saw when I went out of my room was a blinding flash of yellow light. Everybody was awake. My mom was doing something on the computer, and my dad was replying to a few important messages in his room. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the light, but I didn't wait for my eyes to focus. I made my way to the stairs, which was right in the middle of the second floor, and made my way down.
It was 6:20 in the morning, and we were going to eat some durian. Someone had invited us (along with a bunch of other lectures and doctors and really high ranked people in the hospital and some other people) to go eat durian in Raub, Pahang. We planned to depart at 7:00 and stop at Bentong, which according to Wikipedia, is a municipality (I actually had to google that up to find out what it meant). In Malaysia, we have some food that we call Chee Cheong Fun, and from what I heard, the Chee Cheong Fun there was really good (according to google, it is a rice noodle roll, but the word does not have anything to do with how it looks).
Everyone from my area (in terms of stay) gathered in front of my dad's clinic. Because it was so early, there was parking everywhere. I had the freedom to run around and have fun because there were barely any cars, which is a rare sight. When everyone arrived, we hopped into the 2 cars that we were driving to Raub, and drove off.
I tried to get my mom's friend to get slower and explain that she was speeding, but she didn't listen. For most of the time, she was driving at 2 times the speed limit, and if you added it up, it was faster than Malaysia's highest speed limit.
We made a quick toilet break at a petrol station. What I thought was really special was the fact that the toilet was inside the snacks area in the petrol station.
It wasn't very long after that we reached the place where we were going to eat Chee Cheong Fun.
We were lucky that we reached there early, because 10 minutes into our breakfast, there was a really long line in front of the Chee Cheong fun stall. The Chee Cheong Fun was good (especially the beancurd/tofu skin), but the sauce was way too salty. I ended up giving most of the noodles to my dad and eating fried beehoon.
When we reached the house of the person that invited us to eat durian, I quickly got off the car. The person entertained us while the others were setting up the tables. We learned a lot about durian, especially how to differentiate the different types of durian and differentiate if it was grown on flat land or bumpy land).
Then came the fun part. We got to eat the durian! He announced that he was planning of starting some type of "delivering durian to your doorstep program", and that we could help him out. Lots of people signed up (but I don't know if you can make profit because I didn't quite understand).
We ate D24 durian, which if is grown in our area is normal but tastes really good if is grown in Raub. Next, we ate Musang King durian, which is good in the whole Malaysia (no offense, but in my opinion Malaysia's durians' are by far the best. If you are a durian lover, you have to try Malaysia's durian).
We were also allowed to go to the farm, which was a privilege to us. I decided to sit in the back of the 4-wheel-drives because I was still small. We had to duck quite frequently, but I only needed to duck occasionally because I was short. All I needed to do was make sure that I dodged most of the leaves, but I would duck if there was a durian (you have no idea how much it hurts to get hit by a durian). The owner of the durian farm told us that they tied the durians to the tree so it wouldn't fall and break other durians (money does kind of grow on trees - durian=money).
I also got to pick rambutans from trees (I found out that yellow rambutans were things). I also learned a lesson - always sit in the front car because you will probably always reach first. (haha!) A car got stuck going up, and we already reached. I made my way down with the person that invited us to eat durian (the "tour guide") to find them. The run was worth it because I managed to get my phone from my mom, which I used to take beautiful photos.
I had found a durian that had been eaten by a squirrel earlier, but there were still things to eat inside eat (I don't know how to describe the thing that you eat inside the durian.) Unfortunately, when I went to see where my parents were stuck, someone let them borrow a knife to cut open my durian, and they opened it and ate everything inside it without my permission.
We found a small tiny snake. It looked like a toy snake, but after looking at it for a while, we found out that it was real and poisonous.
Time flew and our visit to the durian farm quickly ended. We thanked the owner of the farm for the free durian and said goodbye to the beautiful place.
P.S. Google really has to fix their spelling. They don't know how to spell "durian" and "rambutans"
All I saw when I went out of my room was a blinding flash of yellow light. Everybody was awake. My mom was doing something on the computer, and my dad was replying to a few important messages in his room. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the light, but I didn't wait for my eyes to focus. I made my way to the stairs, which was right in the middle of the second floor, and made my way down.
 |
| Chee Cheong Fun - Picture Credits: https://goo.gl/images/88tu5G |
Everyone from my area (in terms of stay) gathered in front of my dad's clinic. Because it was so early, there was parking everywhere. I had the freedom to run around and have fun because there were barely any cars, which is a rare sight. When everyone arrived, we hopped into the 2 cars that we were driving to Raub, and drove off.
I tried to get my mom's friend to get slower and explain that she was speeding, but she didn't listen. For most of the time, she was driving at 2 times the speed limit, and if you added it up, it was faster than Malaysia's highest speed limit.
We made a quick toilet break at a petrol station. What I thought was really special was the fact that the toilet was inside the snacks area in the petrol station.
It wasn't very long after that we reached the place where we were going to eat Chee Cheong Fun.
We were lucky that we reached there early, because 10 minutes into our breakfast, there was a really long line in front of the Chee Cheong fun stall. The Chee Cheong Fun was good (especially the beancurd/tofu skin), but the sauce was way too salty. I ended up giving most of the noodles to my dad and eating fried beehoon.
When we reached the house of the person that invited us to eat durian, I quickly got off the car. The person entertained us while the others were setting up the tables. We learned a lot about durian, especially how to differentiate the different types of durian and differentiate if it was grown on flat land or bumpy land).
 |
| Delicious Durian - Picture Credits: https://goo.gl/images/Pp9LZN |
We ate D24 durian, which if is grown in our area is normal but tastes really good if is grown in Raub. Next, we ate Musang King durian, which is good in the whole Malaysia (no offense, but in my opinion Malaysia's durians' are by far the best. If you are a durian lover, you have to try Malaysia's durian).
We were also allowed to go to the farm, which was a privilege to us. I decided to sit in the back of the 4-wheel-drives because I was still small. We had to duck quite frequently, but I only needed to duck occasionally because I was short. All I needed to do was make sure that I dodged most of the leaves, but I would duck if there was a durian (you have no idea how much it hurts to get hit by a durian). The owner of the durian farm told us that they tied the durians to the tree so it wouldn't fall and break other durians (money does kind of grow on trees - durian=money).
I also got to pick rambutans from trees (I found out that yellow rambutans were things). I also learned a lesson - always sit in the front car because you will probably always reach first. (haha!) A car got stuck going up, and we already reached. I made my way down with the person that invited us to eat durian (the "tour guide") to find them. The run was worth it because I managed to get my phone from my mom, which I used to take beautiful photos.
I had found a durian that had been eaten by a squirrel earlier, but there were still things to eat inside eat (I don't know how to describe the thing that you eat inside the durian.) Unfortunately, when I went to see where my parents were stuck, someone let them borrow a knife to cut open my durian, and they opened it and ate everything inside it without my permission.
We found a small tiny snake. It looked like a toy snake, but after looking at it for a while, we found out that it was real and poisonous.
Time flew and our visit to the durian farm quickly ended. We thanked the owner of the farm for the free durian and said goodbye to the beautiful place.
P.S. Google really has to fix their spelling. They don't know how to spell "durian" and "rambutans"
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