Slice Of Life #216 - Chinese Chess - Tuesday, June 4th, 2019

    Okay... My chess class is over. Today, I had my Chinese Chess class, and I have to say, I learned a lot. The person that teaches me chess is an "international grand master". He competes internationally and arises as the champion in almost all of the competitions he attends.
    Before class, I was working on my Free Choice Writing Project (FCWP) so that I could get it finished before the end of the school year. I would then be able to publish it and have it put in the "5DH Library".
    I had gone down about 15 minutes before 7:00 (the time my chess class was supposed to start) to get my chess set out and organize everything. After that, I sprinted back up the stairs, taking them 2 by 2, just to get up so I could work on my FCWP.
    I finished writing chapter 11 of my FCWP when I heard the sound of a doorbell. Again, I sprinted, but this time down the stairs (*Please do not sprint up or down the stairs at home. In fact, don't sprint up or down the stairs anywhere. You could get seriously injured and you may or may not end up with a broken body part.*). I watched as my teacher came into my house.
    We started to play some chess. I improved every time I played it. I moved my horse. "Thank you!" My teacher said as he ate my horse with an elephant (I'm playing Chinese Chess, and Chinese Chess is different from normal chess).
    "Dang..." I said. I made another move, eating a soldier with my car. My teacher moved his horse.
    We kept on playing. After a while, my teacher told me that I had already won. All I had to do was move my car down. My cannon was positioned in a spot where I could eat the king if he moved to the left, and my horse could eat the king if he moved forward. Now that my car was in position, the king couldn't go anywhere without being eaten.
    We played one more round of chess. After that, my teacher started teaching me a few things. He put a few chess pieces on the chess board. "Do you know how to win?" He asked me.
    I started messing around and trying to figure out how to win, but after about 3 minutes, I asked my teacher how to win. "Look, it's pretty easy. You mark this elephant. The elephant will move up. Because you are already marking the elephant, you eat it. If the other elephant decides to eat you, your king can afly over and eat the other king. Then, you can win."
    He started testing me to make sure I understood. When I didn't know what piece to move (and it was a really easy decision), he would make me think so that I would remember it for a long time.
    "Don't worry if you forget what to do. We're humans, not computers. Computers will never forget things, but humans will." My teacher told me.
    He kept on teaching me new things. After that, we played another match. And just like that, my class was over.
    I had learned a lot today.

Slice Of Life #215 - Camping - Tuesday, May 28th, 2019

    I opened the boot of the car to take out my camping gear. Today, I was going to be going camping with my Boy Scout troop. I saw my friends waiting for me in the elementary foyer. I walked into the parents' lounge, where we were all waiting because it had an air-conditioner. Estefano, one of my patrol-mates, was playing a really weird game.
    After a while, we transported all our materials to the cars and the buses. The bus ride was really cool and fun. We saw a plane that was a balloon, so the plane was just levitating up in the air, and we laughed at it for a pretty long time. Now that I think about it, I really don't know why it was funny, but it was just really funny.
    We also played truth or dare, and we dared Toby, one of my friends, to lick his palm. The next time he chose dare, it then became lick a palm tree (Toby hasn't licked one yet, but I doubt he's going to do it anyways).
    After the bus ride, we unpacked everything from the car. As soon as we came down from the bus, it was immediately a bloody battle between us and the insects. I took out my insect repellent and sprayed it on myself.
    We found a good spot to camp and started to set up our tents. After we set up our tents, we went to cook our lunch. I then realized that I forgot to eat my breakfast, so I ended up eating it for lunch. We talked to each other for a while after lunch, then went to wash our utensils.
    When everyone was here, we crossed the road to a clearing next to the beach, where we did some rank advancement. We learned new things so that we could get to the rank of Scout in Boy Scouting.
    I was one of the first people to finish all the requirements, so I then went to have a Scoutmaster Conference with Scoutmaster Graham. After that, I went with our Senior Patrol Leader, Christen, to work on the Totin' Chip, which allows you to use a pocketknife, saw, and axe when you go on other camps with your troop.
    I managed to earn the Totin' Chip, so I then went to play at the beach with a few of my friends. We saw a whole "crab army" - we saw at least 25,000 small crabs. After playing on the beach for a few hours, we went back to the campsite to make dinner. For dinner, we were having hamburgers. I helped cut the burgers in half. Edwin did all the cooking, and Leo put the ham and vegetables inside the burger. Because I was vegetarian, I ate burgers with only vegetables in them.
    After that, we built a campfire and started it. We told each other jokes and performed the skits that we had organized under short notice. We planned it over a course of 2 minutes and never practiced it...
    We saw 5 satellites flying together over us, and so we went to the beach to check it out. We also saw Mars and Uranus from the campsite.
    Sleeping was really hard to do. I managed to sleep for a few hours, but then woke up because lots of other people also couldn't sleep and started chatting to each other - really loudly. They then started to play The Game of Life on an Ipad, which was even more annoying because they started talking even more.
    When we woke up the next day, it was a fierce battle between us and the mosquitoes again. The first thing we did was to take down our tents. Next, we went to boil water for breakfast because we were having instant noodles. I ended up eating 2 cups of instant noodles and a slice of bread. We also made ham and cheese sandwiches.
    After that, we did a quick sweep around the large campsite to pick up trash. After that, we went home. Those 2 days were 2 really fun and meaningful days, as I had earned my Scout rank and Totin' Chip.

The Swimming Carnival/Wet 'n Wild

    I heard the beep of Coach Jorge's whistle and got up on the blocks.
    I steadied myself, putting my strong leg, my right leg, at the back so I would be able to get a decent head start.
    "On your marks," Coach Jorge said. I put my hands down by the blocks and tightened my body.
    "GO!" Coach Jorge shouted. I blasted off and dove into the water. We were swimming freestyle, and I knew that lots of people in my heat were pretty fast when it came to freestyle.
    Kick! Kick! I thought to myself, frantically pulling my arms back and fourth, trying to reach the finish line first.
    I saw the flags in front of me, telling me that there were 5 more meters to go. I kicked and pulled my hands and legs even harder. I slammed my hand on the finish line. Yes! I had came 2nd out of the 25 meter freestyle race. A teacher gave me a wristband. A wristband was what the P.E. department gave us every year as a compliment for finishing the race.
    I opened the gate and headed outside for the next activity - wet and wild. Because I was given the number 2 by Mr. Ross, I headed to the slip and slide, which was the first activity my group (group 2) was going to do. Chris went first, and I went next. I ran and fell on my belly, sliding on the soap on the slip and slide.
    Our next activity was a game where we were given a container with holes in it. We were supposed to cover the holes with our teammates and get the water in the container to another bucket, where we would empty the container. We then ran back to fill the container with water again, covered the holes, and brought the water to the other bucket. The team with the most water in the container then won. Our team tied with another team for 1st place.
    Next, we went to an activity where we had a few sponges. We were to fill the sponge with water, then run to another bucket to release the water in the sponge. Then, another teammate would run to fill the bucket with water as we ran back to pass the sponge to another person. Overall, we got 2nd place.
    After that, we got to eat snacks. Each person was allowed one bag of popcorn and one popsicle. Overall, I thought that today was a meaningful day of exercise. We all had a lot of fun. It was a great day.

Slice Of Life #214 - I'm Back! - Tuesday, May 21st, 2019

    I'm back from Taiwan! I've just came back not long ago. I'm probably going to unpack my bags tomorrow because it's really late now. In fact, it's Wednesday, but I'm making up for yesterday's slice.

    I watched a whole lot of TV shows on the plane. I managed to finish 8 TV shows (each of them were 30 minutes).

    Yesterday, we went to the Tzu Chi Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. Other than that, I also got to go to the Tzu Chi University in Taipei. I got to take a glimpse of the silent mentor program, which is a program where people donate their bodies after they die for the cause of medicine. Some of the bodies are frozen and heated up to body temperature 3 days before they are used, and students can conduct surgeries on the bodies as practice.

    After the program, the students show a lot of respect to the donor, as the donor is a teacher to them, a person who has sacrificed their body for the students.

    I'm really tired now, so I'm going to be continuing this slice next week. Bye!

Slice Of Life #213 - Band Concert - Tuesday, May 14th, 2019

    We all quietly filed onto the stage. I clutched my clarinet tight. Looking up towards the audience, I could see lots of eyes staring down at us. I heard the Gamelan players play songs beside me.
    I carefully took my seat on the chair and opened my file. My friend, Aidan, took out the pieces that we were going to play for the concert. Then, we put our clarinets in rest position.
    I watched as Leo and Sahana walked towards the podium. "Welcome to the Grade 5 band's portion of tonight's performance. Thank you for coming."
    They were telling the audience about our first selection for tonight. After they finished talking, my band teacher waited until they were ready. Then, she checked the percussion section to make sure that they were ready.
    Ms. Endel, my music teacher's, hands went up. My instrument went up to my face. And with 4 swift movements of her hands, I took a deep breath and started to play.
    After 4 measures, the rest of the band joined in. Not after long, we finished the song. Then, we started playing the woodwind features. The flutists played a short part of the Nutcracker, our oboist played the Snake Charmer, the clarinetists played The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and the saxophones played Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
    After that, we played Dance of the Jabberwocky. Then, the brass section and percussionists played a few songs.
    Finally, we played The Tempest. We had been learning how to play our instruments for a year now, and we were now ready. I watched my music teacher's hands move quickly. I took a deep breath and played a deep, concentrated sound.
    The song lasted for about 2 minutes. At the end of the song, we all stood up. Everyone clapped for us. They clapped for about 20 seconds (and I'm not exaggerating).
    Our principal, Ms. Julie, came up onto the stage to say a few words. After she was done, we all walked off the stage with delight. I smiled, knowing that our parents were obviously amazed.
    I smiled and stepped off the stage.

A Meaningful Night

    My heart was beating fast as I walked to the front of the stage. With confidence, I said my first line, loud and clear.
    "So, what's next?"
     My friends replied me, saying their lines. And soon enough, we were off, swiftly saying our lines.
    Not after long, we reached the conclusion.
    "So the next time you use single-use plastics, think about the next 10 generations after us." I said.
    "'Cause these problems keep getting bigger and bigger." Linnea said.
    "And when these problems actually strike, the whole world will be in crisis." Karen said.
    "So please, when it's child labor or plastic pollution, go home and reconsider all this now." I said.
    "Because if we don't you'll find out soon enough that we're destroying what we call," Karen said.
    "Home, sweet, home." We all said together.
    I heard footsteps behind me as my classmates all stumbled to the front of the stage.
    I heard Linnea's 1st foot tap, signalling for us to get ready.
    And as soon as she was done with her 3rd foot tap, we took a deep breath and started to speak.
    "BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION AND NOT THE POLLUTION, BECAUSE US KIDS, DESERVE A BETTER FUTURE!" We all shouted together.
    The audience clapped and cheered. "Nice job, kids!" I heard Ms. Schneider say as we filed off the stage.
    Success! I thought as I walked back to my seat.
    We had planned this performance for a long time now, and after a month of hard work, we had finally put it into action. The Night of the Notables performance was not over. The Night of the Notables performance was a performance that Grade 5 did every year. The performance was performed for the parents.

Karen, me, and Linnea (from left to right)

    For the performance, the students would split into groups and do some research. After that, we used our own words and eventually made a script. From this experience, I thought that I was able to use my writing skills for a good cause.
    I think that memorizing my lines was somewhat challenging for me. I don't really know why this was a challenge for me, but after a while of practicing and checking my lines again and again, I was able to overcome my challenge and memorize my lines.
    There were also a few things that I learned about myself because of this performance. I learned that I had a better imagination than I expected because I was able to use my writing skills to make meaningful lines for the performance.
    From watching from the other performances, I realized everyone was able to project their voices so that everyone could hear what they said. I also learned a lot about child labor and animal testing because the other classes were able to confer their information pretty well to the audience.
    I wouldn't change anything about the performance because I thought everyone did pretty well.
    I think that I will take a few actions because of the ideas presented at the Night of the Notables performance. I will try to use less plastic and only buy products that do not use animal testing.
    Night of the Notables is a performance that Grade 5 makes every year. And from this performance, we help make the world a better place. If every school in the world did this, the world would be an amazing and peaceful place.
    Because us kids, deserve a better future! Because if this continues, kids in the future generations won't know the true definition of a future. Because they won't have a future.

Slice Of Life #212 - NOVEL KNOCKOUT! - Tuesday, May 7th, 2019

    The cold air of the library hit me straight in the face. "Good luck," Mr. Herbert said to us.
    I looked around the library. Nervous energy immediately filled my body. I wasn't expecting this.
    I had already knew that we were going to be competing against 21 teams, but it didn't really occur to me in my brain that with 21 teams came a whole lot of people.
    "Over here," Ms. Suji, our librarian, called over to us.
    We went over to a corner in the library. "I have a few things to do, so help quiz each other."
    My friend, Aadit, opened up a book and started quizzing me on it. I looked at my teammates. They were already being quizzed by other people.
    After a while, Ms. Suji came back to us again. We were going to be going to the Melawati Theater soon to take part of the Novel Knockout competition. The competition was organized by KLLN (Kuala Lumpur Library Network). Because of that, there were many schools coming to compete, all striving to become the champion of Novel Knockout.
    In the Novel Knockout competition, we were asked a variety of extremely detailed questions from 8 different (selected) books. It was a team "sport", as some people would "specialize" in a few books and memorize the details in them. The team would then compete together, as a team and answer all the questions. I had previously finished all the 8 books and was ready for the competition. I had worked extremely hard for this, and really hoped to get 1st place this year.
    Our elementary school Novel Knockout competition was first.
    "And finally... Please welcome, ISKL, the International School of Kuala Lumpur!" The commentator said.
    I took a deep breath and walked to the front of the auditorium.
For about a few minutes, the commentator explained and clarified a few things for us competitors.
    We started the Ipad questions. The first few questions were pretty easy. After only a few seconds, 10 questions were to be answered on a piece of paper. These questions were worth 1 point, but if you wrote down an answer close to the correct answer but not descriptive enough, you could get 1/2 a point.
    The Ipad questions were multiple choice questions, so you could at least get some questions correct if you were lucky enough if you didn't know the correct answer.
    Some of the questions on the Ipad and the questions on the paper were the same, which was a real lifesaver, because it always provided us with the correct answer when we didn't know the answer.
    After the elementary teams competed, we watched the secondary teams compete. The commentator would also ask trivia questions to the audience, and if we answered the trivia questions correctly, we would be able to get a KitKat and/or a free book.
    After a while, the results came out. 5th place was announced first. My heart was beating fast. I was literally shivering. I really wanted to get 1st place this year.
    "And in 2nd place..." The commentator said. We waited. "Is ISKL 2!"
    "Yes!" I yelled with happiness. I quickly went to the front of the auditorium to claim my prize, a book voucher.
    I clutched the envelope that contained the book voucher in it tightly. I had worked hard for the competition, and finally, we did it.