My last journal entry

After my Japan trip, I went to my cousin's house to spend the day there before school starts. I stayed there for a day and played their computer and playstation 2. :) It was so fun and we played badminton and soccer too. We ate chicken rice and Long John's Silver and spend the day playing and laughing. Soon school is starting and I would have to stop playing and studying. Hope to do better this year and get good grades. Since I did not study much during the holidays, I would have to catch up by doing a day to day daily revision and study. The holidays were so fun and memorable that I find it sad that it is ending soon. Nevertheless, I am going to cherish it and get good grades so that I can go on holiday again. :) HAHA my blog is done, woot!!

My fourth journal entry

On Day 5, we went shopping at sapporo city. Sapporo was so big that we spent so long shopping over there. After shopping, we went for lunch before going to a place in sapporo where all the big chocolate outlets were located and a muscical box shop. That place sold ice-creams and seafood which were delicious and nice. All the shopping and eating took the day and soon we were heading to our hotel. We were sleeping in tatami rooms and although there were no beds, except for the mattress, it was relatively comfortable. That hotel offers a hot spring and I went there with my cousin. After the hot spring, I slept very well. On day 6 after having our breakfast, a buffet, we proceeded to the outlet factory where there were many items on discount. After shopping around at the outlet factory, we had to take a plane to Tokyo before taking a plane back to Singapore on day 7. After the plane landed on Tokyo, we headed for the hotel which served us chinese food and later went to sleep. Day 7 came and our vacation was coming to an end. Our tour guide saw us off at the airport and our tour group and guide boarded the plane and headed to Singapore. It was a seven hour long journey and soon we reached Singapore. My family was there and we bid farewell to our aunt and her family and thanked them for taking care of me. I really enjoyed the trip and hope to return there someday again. That is the end of my japan journal entry.

My third journal entry

I continue with day three and day four of my trip to Japan, Hokkaido. On day three, we went to Ainu village, and on the right is the statue of the first leader of Ainu village. The Ainu village is one of Hokkaido's better Ainu Museums where Ainu culture and lifestyle is shown. This culture is soon fading so the japanese government has took measures to instill this culture to the youth. The Ainu are a people with a cultural and racial background which is different from that of the ethnic Japanese. They have been populating Hokkaido, northern Tohoku, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin, but today only a small population remains mainly in Hokkaido. After being introduced to the village we proceeded to having a steamboat lunch. After lunch we went to see the brown bears, the fiercest wild animal in Hokkaido at Noboribetsu Bear Park. The bears were not really wild as they had been kept in an enclosure so they were not as fierce as those from the wild. Actually they were quite qute as they begged for the apples we were holding and waving at us. After that we proceed to the hotel to rest and sleep. On day four, it was relatively short as we had to take a four hour long journey to sapporo city where we would continue to be on day 5 and 6. By the time we reach sapporo city, it was time for lunch and at 2pm we were given free time to walk around and explore around. After that, it was time to head for the hotel. I will continue day 5 and 6 in the next entry.

last review

Got to quickly wrap everything up before school starts, so trying to finish the assignments. Today the review is about the Singapore Flyer where dozens were trapped due to a malfunction, when one of the drive motors experienced a short circuit causing the halt. More than 100 people were left trapped in the flyer for over a few hours while some were lucky to be lowered to the ground by harnesses. A passenger trapped accounted that it was very hot as the air-conditioning when off but later came on again, some could not control their bladder and had to urinate in the cabin. Some had to miss their flight back home to celebrate Christmas while others who decide not to go on the flyer were also implicated as their passports were with their friends who were trapped onboard. The Singapore Flyer, the world's largest observation wheel is set to undergo a series of checks before it is allowed to function again. A ride on the Singapore Flyer takes around half an hour and the wheel has been operational since February.

Sanlu milk scandal

Long time since I have blog, well can't help it had to go for holidays and attend CCA. I will try to finish everything as quickly as possible.I continue with my review, this time about the Sanlu milk scandal. This case has been discussed among many and trials are going on for those involved in the production and making of the chemical. The tainted milk has been said to have killed at least six children and making other 300,000 ill. The company has since declared bankrupt and has tarnished China's food industry far beyond it's borders. Families have been filling lawsuits for compensation and the case is starting to shed more light as things are now clearer as to why they did that and investigations showed that they tried to make it look high in protein. Lawyers have started to speculate that the minimum sentence for them is at least 10 years in jail. Fonterra, New Zealand's largest dairy conglomerate that held a 43 percent stake in Sanlu, said this week that Sanlu would be managed by a court-appointed receiver who would sell off the company's assets and repay creditors over the next six months and has written off its $114m investment in Sanlu, the company said. The ex-head of the firm could get a death penalty if convicted of knowingly selling the tainted milk. Do you think the sentence is too heavy? Give me your comments!

My second journal entry

Just came back from Hokkaido, Japan!! I am going to blog about it of course, it was a seven day trip so I will have to summarise it into a few entries. Day One was basically taking the air plane to there before proceeding to the hotel to rest and eat. Oops did I mention I was following a tour. Yeah anyway yes and I had to transfer hotels because we were going to many places. I was following my aunt and my cousins for the trip so we could bond too. It was very fun and I enjoyed myself thoroughly for the trip. It was snowing and I played snowball fights with my cousins as well. Day Two we went to ride the snowmobile!!! It was extremly fun with the ride lasting for an hour costing 10000 yen. My tour guide and tour leader were very good, friendly and humourous. After riding the snowmobile, we procceeded to having our lunch and continuing with the trip like going to visit the chocolate factory. The chocolate factory was kind of cool where we could see the workers working and exploring around. The factory was very big and spacious with some exquisitive collectibles that the owner collects. As Hokkaido's sun sets very early, by 4.30pm we would have to proceed to our hotel to rest and eat. Day three and four would be continued on my next journal entry as there are too much to write about.

My first journal entry( holidays)

The holidays are here!! whee!!. This year my holiday would be "interesting". Just returned from my cousin's wedding in Singapore. Not bad lar the food quite nice and the ambience is good. Sorry I don't have pictures of this, but however I can show u the banquet room. Met my cousins there and had a good chat. I feel that it was a good opportunity for bonding with them and having fun. Although my holidays are not that fantastic now but wait the best is yet to come. I might be going to Japan with my cousins. Till then this is all I've got.

My third review ( Newspaper article )

Thailand turmoils

Thailand has been in a critical condition since protesters fron the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have sieze the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Bomb blasts, grenade explosions and gunfire have since caused 7 people injured making this one of the most strongest protest after the one which forced Mr Samak to stepped down after the court ruling that he had taken part in cooking shows. The reason for this protest is for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his government to step down. Thai shares have since dropped because of the airport chaos. The country's powerful army chief has stated that he will not support the (PAD) but has urged the government to dissolve and hold new elections. However Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has since rejected the general's call for a new election and reassures that the government will continue functioning till the end. This is a catastrophe for Thailand and I feel that the thais are harming their economy by doing this and with the refusal to step down by Mr Somchai, this may continue for a much longer period of time and cause much harm to the economy and also the inconvience caused for tourists who are stranded and can't get back to celebrate festive seasons like the Thanksgiving holiday. Relatives of those stranded will be worried sick and I strongly urged for this to stop

My second book review

Today I continue on my second book review, titled The Chaos Code. It is a adventure story and a very brillant book. It starts off by introducing a boy named Matt Stribbling. It is the summer vacation and Matt has to stay with his archaeologist father after receiving news that his mother was too busy to let him spend the vacation with her. Matt did not really enjoy the idea of spending the vacation with his father as he was always too busy with his work examining fossils or strange things. Upon reaching the house, Matt finds it in a mess but didn't really suspect anything as the house was normally messy, but later when he was being knocked unconscious and discovers some sandy footprints, he realised that the whole situation was not as simple as it seems. later, he recieves a letter and uncodes the message telling him to find his Aunt Jane. During his stay with her, Matt meets up with the mysterious Julius Venture and his equally mysterious daughter Robin. He soons find out that his father had been searching for an ancient code, one rumored to have brought down the Mayans, and maybe even the fabled civilization of Atlantis. However, it has fallen into the wrong hands, now a madman has been using high tech to decipher it and the code is being readied for new and evil uses. Together, Matt and his friend Robin has to travel around, battling terrifying sand creatures in an effort to stop the code from being activated. This book is interesting and will keep anyone captivated.

My first book review

Today I start with my first review. The review is about a book titled Small Steps, written by Louis sachar the bestselling author of Holes. Mainly, this is the story about a boy named Armpit. He got his name because a scorpion stung his armpit making it red and hot. Armpit was send to Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility because he landed two boys into hospital . You see, Armpit was a African American and at that time racism was quite rampant and upon trying to get to his seat, a boy purporsely tripped him and Armpit demanded money for the spilled popcorn. When he refused, Armpit got into a scuffle with the boys and ended up having two boys sent to the hospital. After being released back to his hometown Austin, he decided to take small steps and just keep moving forward. He started to set five goals, five small steps.

1)Graduate from high school

2) Get a job

3) Save money

4)Avoid situations that may get violent and,

5) lose the name Armpit

Although, he had set some goals, he find himself taking bigger steps, leading him into trouble. After getting involved in a ticket scam with his old friend X-ray, things start to get worse and he find himself in all kinds of difficult situations. However, lucks seems to be with him and he always get aways at the last minute. After almost being framed for murder, he starts to reflect and try to concentrate on taking small steps and instead of trying to go high, he decided to be down to earth. He decided to set five goals again and this time try to follow it.

1) Graduate from high school

2) Attend two years of Austin Community Colleage

3) Do well enough to transfer to the University of Texas

4) Don't do anything foolish and,

5) lose the name Armpit

The story has many mindblowing adventures and some touching scenes. Even though I am not a avid reader, I was deeply captivated by the story. There are some scenes that typical adolescents face. School work, stress, boy-girl relationships and many more. This book has a good arrangement and everything flows well. The author has done a good job of writing it with a good array of colours and unexpected things. I strongly recommend everyone to read it.

Introduction to my blog

Basically this blog is my holiday project. I would have to post 5 reviews of books, magazines or newspapers. I would also have to post 5 journal entries of my holidays.