Mountain Hiking

I am now reading a book called 'Peak'. It's about a boy named Peak, who gets caught climbing a skyscraper. The trouble starts there. He goes to Juvenile, and a boy who read about him tries to climb a wall but falls off and dies. Peak is in hot water. Uh-oh...then Peak's dad, Josh, whisks him away to Kathmandu and gives Peak a chance to hike Everest. That's all I'll say for now. But it's a really good book, so I am on the waiting list for the book in the Library. I wonder how I'll feel, hiking? I have never really hiked on a mountain before. Well, at least not properly with gears, eight-hours-a-day hike like Peak. The longest I've hiked was about 2-3 hours? I was tired, tired, tired then. So I guess I wouldn't be able to reach the summit of mountains, like Peak. But if I'd given the chance, that'd be great, I guess. Exhausting, yes but it would be so cool! Hiking boots and clothes, cooking your own meals, sleeping in a tent, hiking, reaching the summit! Although climbing now sort of creeps me out, because you gotta have great lung capacity and stuff, and as you get up, you get oxygen issues and I hate oxygen issues. I can barely hold my breath under the water for 30 seconds. And especially that sickness Peak mentioned, how your lungs get filled with fluid and you die if you hike too fast. Ugh. Imagine dying while hiking. Nora has gone trekking in Nepal, and it seemed cool. But another problem that probably will bug me is the bathroom. There are no proper bathrooms while hiking! And even if there is, it's dirty and not-so-clean. And it's probably made with trees and holes and stuff. I hate dirty toilets. And how about taking a shower? You probably cannot take a shower while hiking! Nora trekked for 6 days. But she had a shower. I guess Peak doesn't. Ew. Sweating, sweating, sweating, and then no shower. Blecchhh. So...I guess I'm not a hiking person. Even it would be cool. I think I'm more like a lie-on-the-couch-with-a bag of Lays-with-hot shower-and Wi-Fi and T.V person. Oh well.

Haiti History & Why so poor?

Haiti History

1. Before Haiti was discovered, Taino/Arawak Indians were settled in Haiti. They were the original people of Haiti.

1. Haiti was discovered by Christopher Columbus, December 5th, 1492. Colombus declared Haiti as Spain territory. Then Spain killed almost everybody living at Haiti.

2. In 1697, the Spanish gave some of Haiti to France. Haiti was fashioned a new name: Saint Dominigue.

3.  The French brought the first 100 African slaves to Haiti, making them work day and night and treating them harshly. 

4. In Jan. 1, 1804, Haiti declared independence, becoming the first independent black country. 

5. Jean-Jacques Dessalines named the new nation Haiti in 1804. 

Why so poor?

6. To get a good job, you must be well educated. Haitians are rarely educated, not being able to read or write. So they can only get poor-paid jobs, earning one or two dollars a day.

7.Haiti was once the richest colony in the world. Haiti was once called the Jewel of Antilles, due to the fortune they made by exporting sugar, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, cotton and lots more.

8. Haiti chops off lots of trees to make charcoal to export for money, but when hurricanes and storms hit, it destroys the houses and buildings, especially without the trees, which sometimes help stop disasters.

9. One reason Haiti is so poor is because Haiti was forced to stop exporting some of their goods. Haiti used to export coffee until the 1960s when the price of coffee had dropped lower. Haiti couldn't compete with the rest of the coffee exports so they had to stop exporting coffee.

10. Another reason Haiti is so poor is because two-thirds of the citizens earn money farming crops, which could be destroyed easily by a storm or a drought. Which leads to no money.

Summer...

If I had the choice of going anywhere for summer, without my mother's annoyingly polite quotes of how great Europe is, then I would definately for sure pick Korea. And Japan and America, but that's another story. Okay, for Korea, it'd be great 'cept all my cousins are going to school during June, so I gotta play with my four-year-old cousin, which isn't the most entertaining thing in the world, but yeah. Every year, we always to go an amusement park or a water amusement park(they're conencted) but LAST year, my gran had to get a leg surgery, causing her to use crutches and definately NAWT go anywhere, and my othe gran slipped down during climbing the mountain(she wasn't like Peak or his parents-there was a good pathway and everything-sorta like a tour thing) and...she had a couple fractures, had badly scraped hereself everywhere, and had practically cut open her head. Before you ask anything, yes, it was terrible and yes, now she's better. I think. So last year, I was stuck in the house, which also meant I was stuck with the big fat textbook that I had to bring to study...it wasn't fun. I mean, if my grans healed faster 'cause of not moving and stuff, then being stuck at their home would be just fine with me. And hopefully that helped. But in a house with no computer or laptop...now that was a teeny little problem. But I lived through it. And I'm here, telling the tale. Okay, so this time I would like to go to Korea and play properly with my cousins, make sure that my grans are okay and all that happy cuddly stuff.

Haiti Earthquake Update Post

Last week, an magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. Haiti was in serious condition. But now, help is at hand.

Aid trucks, convoys and planes are sending medical supplies and food from all over the world. This truck, is carrying relief supplies. Even though medical supplies and food are being sent to Port-au-Prince(Capital of Haiti), it is never enough for all the patients. An emergency communications officer describe it as "Patients who were not critical only three days ago are now critical. It's horrible." Hopefully, more will be delivered quickly so the patients could be treated.

The Haitian embassy collected baby formula, diapers, toiletries, vitamins, medicines, batteries and clothings and are sending the truckfuls of supplies to Haiti. U.S. paratroopers also gave some 70,000 bottles of water. 40,000 high-energy biscuits were delivered to the citizens as well.

The Haiti earthquake was devastating, and hopefully more aid will be on the way sooner or later to help the victims.

Haiti Earthquake

Why are these people from the picture screaming and running away?

On the 12th of January, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, around 5 p.m. Lots of buildings and houses collapsed, falling on people, injuring or even killing them. Schools fell down as well, killing the teacher and most of the students. People were running and screaming in all directions, trying to survive. Loads of people were stuck in the building, the debris blocking their way. They have been trying to squeeze out of cracks in buildings, but it hasn't been very successful. When the earthquake struck, no telephone connections could be made. When the earthquake stopped, the citizens of Haiti dug through rubble and debris with their hands or shovels, hoping to find survivors. Dead bodies were all over the streets. People were running around, screaming for their kids, wives, husbands. How sad would it be, not being able to see your loved ones forever. Not enough medical supplies, foods and clothes could be provided. Hospitals collapsed too, so the injured weren't able to get a proper treatment. This earthquake was a nightmare. A big, big tragedy, something that we could relate to, since we are living in Jakarta, where earthquakes are a problem.  

Mom's B'Day and Anniversary!

Today, 12th of January is my Mom's birthday and my parent's anniversary!! It's on the same day, and they are both very special so we're probably going out for dinner on the weekends. My Mom recently got an iPhone 3G from Dad, so she asked my sister and I for an iPhone case. I know, it sort of spoils the whole surprise present thing, but I guess it's better than buying Mom something that she doesn't want. Today, I woke up and was still so drowsy and all I could think about was sleep(huh, what kind of daughter am I?) but then suddenly a streak of lightning crossed my mind and I remembered that it was Mom's birthday. So I shouted out "Happy birthday, Mom!" and Mom replied "Thanks!" from the kitchen. And for breakfast, we had this special Korean meal that you're supposed to eat on your Birthday. But while I was eating, I couldn't help thinking how different my birthday and Mom's was. Our family couldn't even eat breakfast together because Dad came home late last night and he woke up late. So my sister and I ate by ourselves. And it was Mom's birthday! Also, it was a busy school day so my Mom still had to wake up early and cook. She couldn't really make a big birthday breakfast in the morning, so there wasn't much special dishes, unlike my birthday where there's almost eight or nine different things to eat. Even if it's on a school day. And I'm complaining about my birthday! I should seriously go home and sincerely wish Mom a happy birthday, and a happy anniversary. And after dinner, I hope Mom bought the cake so we could sing her happy birthday and she could cut the cake and feel special and good. I mean, not like my family don't appreciate or ignore Mom's birthday or anything, but it was just so..different and less grand than my sister's or mine's. On the weekend, when we're out for dinner, maybe Dad would take us out to a hotel for dinner and it would be grand and fancy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Swimming...swimming...more swimming. SWIMMING!

The first day I came to Bali with my Mom's friend and my family,(28th of Dec.) all we did was relax and swim. After lunch, we changed into our bathing suits, slathered ourselves with spray sunscreen and went out to swim. There were several swimming pools(more than five, I assume). And it looked really good with the relaxing theme of the hotel, because it was sunny, flowers and palm trees were all over the place, and the pool was glittering blue. It was beautiful.

Anyway, we went to the main pool, threw all our belongings onto the deck chairs and got into the pool. Unfortunately, diving was against the rules and disturbing others were also against the rule so my Mom didn't let me jump in. :( The cool water was the perfect thing to my sticky, sunscreen-covered arms and face. It sort of soothed my skin. So I swam around, doing somersaults in the water and practicing my freestyle and stuff. I didn't really swim constantly, not like swimming lessons but more like floating on the water and melting away all the stress from school. And it felt great. Then I played with my little sister, making human pyramids and doing underwater handstands and trying to make a underwater routine. So we swam more and more and more...until six in the afternoon.

So that day was really all about swimming. 

Swimming...swimming...and more swimming. I have one more word.

SWIMMING!! 

2nd day in Bali

I woke up at 8:00 a.m., even more frazzled out than the first day, due to all the swimming. I seriously could not wake up, but my Mom made me wake up, constantly saying "Wake Up!". I had a big, big day scheduled for me...fun...I ate Rice Krispies for breakfast, then had to leave right-away. We had a guide and a car ready for us. But the car was very, very hot. The A.C. would not reach and go to the back part of the car, where I was sitting. So we drove, and drove, me sweating. And after a bazillion hours, we stopped in front of a shop selling Batik, wood bowls and dishes, wood toys, massaging oils, etc. At least it was air-conditioned there. I bought an impossibly silky scarf there, which I loved. My sister bought presents for her best friends, and my Mom bought a lot of other this and that. After shopping for about 1 hour, we left the shop, to go to the Monkey park. It was like, a small hiking trail with monkeys all around, walking freely. Our guide told us NOT to buy bananas or else monkeys would jump on you for the bananas. So we didn't. And mighty good thing too, for the monkeys really did grab on peoples' clothes for bananas. There was one time I was really freaked out. I was near a pool designed for monkeys, when I looked back and this monkey was running towards my way. I screamed and ran for the guide. The monkey scurried to this other way, but if I was still where I was, the monkey would've actually touched me. It might not sound scary, but it was. My Mom didn't come with us-she doesn't like monkeys that much. After we hiked about 15 minutes, we came back to the car, totally freaked out. Especially the kids(me, my sister, mom's friends' son.)

The next stop was lunch. We went to a very famous pork rib restaurant, and it was packed! And very, very hot. There was a very long line, and it was already about 3:00 p.m., so I was very hungry. I couldn't wait until to sit down and eat! Soon enough, we sat down on a table. People were already sitting there, but they were finishing up, so we thought "okay, they're almost done." But nooooooo, they ordered a second round of pork ribs!!! We waited for about 40 minutes, waiting for them to finish eating. I thought they were a bit rude, because tons of people were waiting outside and they knew that too, but they finished every single piece of pork, and they ate slowly, not even trying to eat quick for the next people to sit and eat. We finished eating at the time of 4:30.

Then we went to a museum right next to the restaurant. It was an art museum, with paintings and carvings of famous Balinese artists. It was an eclectic collection of different paintings. People dancing, Balinese people's everyday lives, the Hindu Gods...so that was pretty cool. The last stop was the Kecak dance. But it wasn't like what I expected. There was a little explanation, but the words weren't printed well so I couldn't make a word out of it. Because I don't know much about the Kecak, I didn't understand anything, so it was a bit boring. But there was one part totally dangerous!!! A guy started a fire, then a guy threw himself on the fire and kicked the fire all around, then repeated that 3 times!! 3!! Was that part of the show??? But wouldn't it hurt and burn???? Ouch...

So there went my 2nd day in Bali...I couldn't wait for the 3rd one!!

Charmed and Dangerous

*****

By: Lisi Harrison

This is the prequel of The Clique series. This was about how The Pretty Committee (Massie, Dylan, Alicia, Kristen and Claire) meet together.

Massie is invited to Merri-Lee Marvil(Dylan's Mom and the host of the most popular morning show)'s New Year Yves Party. There, she gets ditched by her best friends(Ahnna, Brianna, Lana, and Shauna), and loses her three charms from her charm bracelet. Later, she learns from a fortune-teller that when five meet together, everything would be complete and Massie would be destined to lead. Of course, Dylan, Kristen, and Alicia each find a charm each. Later, they are returned to Massie and the girls meet together for the first time, then become good friends, naturally forming a clique!(Unfortunately, Claire doesn't find a charm but Claire will become a part of the Pretty Committee.)

My favorite part was when Massie's ex-best friends ditched her, and then Dylan, Alicia and Kristen stood up for Massie. I liked that part because it showed a strong bond of friendship between them, and I think friends should support each other just like the Pretty Committee.   

The Mysterious Benedict Society

*****

By: Trenton Lee Stewart.

This book is amazing!!!! I can't even describe how good the book is! This was definitely a five-star-worthy novel.

It starts off with an ad in the newspaper.

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" A very talented boy named Reynie Muldoon decided that he was fit for that ad, and headed off to the location the ad instructed to go to. There, he takes several tests and he passes them all. Later, he meets with 3 other kids(Sticky, Kate and Constance)that have passed the tests as well.

After the fourth and last test, the foursome meets Mr. Benedict, the reason of this whole ad. Later, they find out that Mr. Benedict is on an important mission to save the world, and that he needed very special and talented children to help carry out the mission, which, only children could accomplish. The mission was to stop an evil man named Mr. Curtain from brain-sweeping the world! Lately, Mr. Curtain had sending out messages to people's minds, brain-sweeping them slowly. 

So Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance go to the Institute, a school Mr. Curtain had built. They spy on Mr. Curtain and his lately movements to find out what he was doing. I won't tell anymore...read the book!

My favorite part was when Constance swallows the licorice. While Kate was spying, she  threw  a marble at the guard, then sneaked off, accidentally stepping on a piece of licorice left by a guard. When the guard found the marble, he found that the licorice he spat out was gone. So the guards inspected everybody's shoes. Of course, Kate had the piece of licorice stuck to her shoe. Fast as lightning, the tore the licorice off and passed it to her Reynie, who passed it to Sticky, who passed it to Constance. Constance, without any clue, lifted up the licorice and said, "What is this?" Luckily, the guards hadn't seen Constance holding the licorice yet, but they were turning around to where Constance was sitting. At the last minute, Constance realized what she was going to happen, so she swallowed the licorice! The soggy, dirty licorice that had been stepped on Kate's dirty shoes!!!! Blecchhh...   

Bali!

On December 26th, my Mom's friend came over to our house. Our family and her family were going to go to Bali together. So we spent the 27th shopping for last-minute things, and then we were off!

4:30 a.m.

7:00 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

6:00 p.m.

10:30 p.m.

This is the most important times on 28th, when I left for Bali. First thing up, my Mom woke me up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready to go to the airport. Since our plane left at 7, we had to move quick. We skipped breakfast, and came early. So we went to Starbucks to fill up our stomach. My sister and I had hot chocolate and cinnamon buns. Then we boarded the plane and left for Bali! I slept the whole way, waking up twice or thrice. But that was all. So I can't really remember my plane trip. 10 a.m. was when we arrived at our hotel and had checked-in. My room number was 254, while Mom's friend's room was 255. We were right next to each other. :D So then, we changed into our swimsuits, practically bathed in sunscreen then went out to the pool. 6 p.m. was when we finished swimming and got showered for dinner. I ate a burger. It was good, but not as good as Burger King. :( Then we walked around the beach, which was right next to the restaurant. There were a lot of little crabs and shells. The beach was decorated with lanterns, and it was beautiful. I wrote my name in the sand with my shoes. It got erased all the time because of the tide, though. After dinner we all went in and brushed our teeth and got ready for bed while Mom and her friend talked. Ah. It was a tiring day.

CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm sorry I didn't post for a long time...I was lazy on Christmas, and then my Mom's friend came, and then we had to go to Bali and there was no computer there...so...sorry, but I'll write away ASAP.

On Christmas morning, I woke up, completely frizzed out, because I didn't get to sleep much on Christmas Eve(obviously, read my christmas eve post!). But I remembered that it was Christmas, and most important of all...PRESENTS!!(hehe) so I looked under my pillow and there was my present from Santa! I got presents from my family too, so I'll list them underneath. And I will put the pics on later, as soon as I can.

1. Juicy Couture wallet

2. Blue velour tracksuit

3. Matching blue shoes

4. Black cargo pants

5. Jeans

6. A scarf

7. A green dress

8. Rp. 500,000

9. A book(that i really wanted)

10. 3 DVDs

So that day was all about presents and food and everything...I loved all my presents!!!!

Hope you guys all had a great Christmas too!!