My 2017 Summer Vacation (Part 1) | Philippines

In the duration of 6 weeks I made it to two countries --Philippines and Canada! In an earlier post I told you about my Canada journey and now I'm sharing my Philippines one!

I stayed in Philippines for 3 days and I went to my mom's university, spent time with my grandparents, went to a museum, did an escape room and had a lot of halo-halo (a special dessert with shaved ice and lots of other ingredients)!

When we went to my moms university, we met up with some of my mom's friends! At my mom's university there were two statues: The Oblation (A naked man) and Uplift (Floating woman, bottom right in collage). They were really cool! We also went to UP Town Center, where I ate an El Fuego (one above the black) for dinner. It had ice cream and cake inside the marshmallow!

We also met with my mom's cousin and his children. Together we went to an escape room with a theme based on mutants! We were able to get out, fortunately (top right photo in collage)! After that we got bubble tea.

During the stay we also went to the Ayala Museum. In the museum, it tells you all about the Philippines' history. There was also a virtual reality experience!

Dogs are so cute! I got to spend some time with Princess and Prince (bottom row, left side of statue)! Princess and Prince/Taba (Taba means fat and that is all he responds to) are the names of the dogs that my great-aunt has. They are so cute!

Although all these things were fun, the highlight was eating sisig! Sisig is parts of a pig's head that have been chopped up and cooked together with shallots, onions, garlic! It was actually really good!

What is the most extravagant thing that you've ate?

MeZoeSelf 

My 2017 Summer Vacation (Part 2) | Canada

Sorry I keep forgetting to write! Anyways, this summer I went back to Coquitlam,Vancouver! It took 12 to 13 hours! Ugh, it was so tiring! But, it was worth it once we got there.

There were a lot of exciting things I did this summer; such as, I attended my first bridal shower and wedding, enjoyed myself at a summer camp at my dad's old university, played with the cutest dog ever, went rock climbing, and other fun things!

This is me and my cousin in our flower girl dresses!
(me still gaming :p)

For the wedding, I was a flower girl with one of my other cousins and two of my auntie's nieces. At first, I had absolutely no idea what a bridal shower was! And it didn't help that my mom kept telling me that at a bridal shower is where you give the bride an actual shower! But I had great fun that afternoon!

During the wedding, I was quite nervous! But it turned out okay. One thing I really liked was all the candies that was there for the taking.  There were take-out boxes and you could just fill them up with all the candy you want!! But, obviously, my absolute favourite part of the wedding was the ceremony!

The best part of my vacation, though, was the rock climbing!

Left: Me on a hard climb
Top Right: Me starting my ascent
Middle Right: My brother bouldering
Bottom Right: Me going up a 40-meter ladder that sways

I love rock climbing! Because when I got to the top, I feel powerful! :p  I also love doing it because it challenges me!

I did the most climbing during the session, then came my dad, my brother, then my mom. One of my favourite parts of it was the auto belaying! What you do is you clip yourself to the rope, then you just climb up. When you want to stop, you just let go and you sort of free fall for a second, then you slowly descend! It was so cool!

Actually, rock climbing was how my mom and dad met!

Blueberry Picking!

Blueberry picking! This is like an annual summer tradition for my family! This year we found some good blueberries; they were really juicy! To find them all we did was pull down some branches! They were all hiding! Something I love about going blueberry-picking, apart from picking the berries, are the fresh smoothies they serve at that place! I had a raspberry one!

This is India, my cousins' dog! She's a bernedoodle -  a Bernese mountain dog crossbred with a poodle. We all had so much fun with her over the summer!

But the best part was visiting spending time with my cousins again!

What did you do over your summer?

MeZoeSelf

Tung Chee-Hwa

Hi!! I'm going to be writing about Tung Chee-Hwa (because I've got to do this for a Cub Scout badge!!). Also, sorry that I haven't been posting anything. I've just been very busy! :(

Tung Chee-Hwa was the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong and he served for two terms (1997-2005). Tung was born in Shanghai on July 7, 1937. His family were rated the 16th wealthiest in HK, with a total value of US$3 billion (his family got a lot of money from their family business)! He moved to Hong Kong when he was 12.

Tung Chee-Hwa

He took over his family business in 1981. But, since 1985, their company was heavily in debt and on the edge of bankruptcy. However, Henry Fok helped the Tung family, with support of the Beijing government. Then Tung Chee-Hwa grew closer with the government and was appointed to  Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Then he went to to run for the first chief executive of  Hong Kong.  On 11th December 1996, he was sworn in.

Later in his years, Tung Chee-Hwa's popularity and reputation became ruined because Hu Jintao gave a speech in public about Tung Chee-Hwa's poor governance.

During his time as Chief Executive, Tung Chee-Hwa looked into the financial crisis that was spreading through Asia and had hit Hong Kong. His work was affected a lot by the crisis and the public criticized him for his governing style.There also was a plummet of jobs and less value in the stocks. Also, he proposed a lot of new structures, such as Disney Land!! Another thing he did was re-design the new Hong Kong airport.

Tung Chee-Hwa is now 79 and retired. He had many accomplishments. In 2006, he won a Grand Bauhinia Award, Hong Kong's highest award which recognizes his significant contributions that he has made.

Book Review - Out Of My Mind

This is a book review on Out Of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. I read this and I was crying so much! I hope you like this........

Title:
Out Of My Mind
Author:
Sharon M. Draper
Summary:

This book is about Melody, a girl who can't walk nor talk. The things she can't do with her body, she makes up with things she can do with her brain. When she finally makes the quiz team her team betrays her. Will she forgive them or will she stay miserable forever?

Opinion:

This book was awesome!! Even though I was crying at some parts, it just showed how good this book is and how good the story line is. Out Of My Mind shows that everybody should be treated the same, no matter their disabilities and their weaknesses.

Rating: 5/5


I hope you will read this book yourself, I recommend it highly. If you have read it, please tell me what you thought of it!

A friendly reminder: Make sure you have a box of tissues close by! :)

MeZoeSelf

Book Review - The Menagerie (Trilogy)

Today I'm going to write a book review on The Menagerie Trilogy. I hope you enjoy and chose to read this book. I highly recommend this if you like mystery and mythology (I also like this book because there's a girl named Zoe in it! )

Title:
The Menagerie
Author:
Tui T. Sutherland
Summary:

The main characters in this book are Logan, Blue and Zoe. Blue's and Zoe's families are the owners of the Menagerie. Logan is just a regular school kid until he finds something under his bed. Logan one day finds himself inside a Menagerie (Zoe's families one,) and finds out that what he thought were mythological were actual real! He finds himself on a hunt to find the six griffin cubs that had gone missing.

Opinion:

I think that this book is a really good book. It's rating is 4.5/5. I think that it would be better if they had more BOOKS!!! I think that these books are really good overall, though.

Title:
The Menagerie - Dragon on Trial
Author:
Tui T. Sutherland
Summary:

This book is the continuation of 'The Menagerie'. Logan finds out that the goose that laid golden eggs has been killed and everybody blames Scratch, the dragon. Logan and Zoe must prove Scratch innocent before they are forced to shut down the Menagerie.

Opinion:

I think this book has a good twist in the story which is totally unexpected and I like it because it then makes you think 'wait, what?' I also like that it's original. I rate this book 5/5 because it's even better than the first book.

Title:
The Menagerie - Krakens and Lies
Author:
Tui T. Sutherland
Summary:

In this book Logan and Zoe have to find out who's sabotaging the Menagerie and put a stop to them. Also, Logan finds himself trying to save his mom at the same time. Will they be able to save the Menagerie?

Opinion:

I think this book is really good especially because they add suspense and things like that. I rate this book 5/5 because it's really interesting and intriguing.

Thanks for reading this post! :) ! I hope that you will read these books and if you do get a chance to read them, then I hope you will enjoy them.

MeZoeSelf

Summer Road Trip 2016 | San Fransisco

Hi!!! I'm sorry that I've not gone on my blog and made new posts, but I've been so busy with things this summer 2016! This post is about what I've done during the Summer so far.

Part 1

San Francisco

The road trip to San Francisco was 2 DAYS long. I  felt so carsick!!!! We stopped over in Salem, Oregon and stayed in a hotel for the night  before continuing on in the morning. Most of the time in the car, I was singing songs to the radio to cheer myself up.

Fisherman's Wharf

At Fisherman's Wharf we saw sea lions, street performers, and we went to this awesome place where they sold clam chowder in a bowl of sour dough bread! At that restaurant ( Boudin ) I ate ham and cheese with bacon for lunch. For my drink I had strawberry soda and it exploded!! It was quite funny when that happened (because I shook it on purpose!)

Lombard St. (Crookedest St.) 

The climb up to Lombard St. was so, so, so steep! But, it was worth the climb. Being up there was awesome!!!

China Town

In China Town the main highlight for me was the dim sum there. We had lunch at a famous dim sum restaurant. It was famous because Obama ordered take-out there and went to pick it up himself in person. I'm not sure of this but, I think that also Stephen Hawking went there because on a board there was a picture of him there. So we waited for around an hour and a half to be seated and then the food came......... DUN DUN DUN!!!!!! It turned out that we had ordered way too much food! We ordered sooooo much food that we had enough to eat for dinner too! So that's what we did, we had it for dinner. :)

Tram

When we got on the tram, I was a bit scared at first. Partly because we were going down a hill and then going back up! All the kids weren't allowed to go on the first cabin because they might fall out of the tram so I was quite sad. : (

Muir Woods

Muir Woods was definitely my favorite part of the trip. All the trees that I saw made me overwhelmed!!! The were so tall and so big!!! We were sadly not allowed to touch the trees because they may have ticks in them. I was soon happy because I got a bingo badge!! Basically if you find all the the objects on your card in a line you can get the badge!

This is what we basically did in San Francisco this summer, but this wasn't all that we did during this summer.   We also went to Vancouver, but I'm going to put that in my next post!

The Aviary

At my school, the Year 4's went on a field trip to Hong Kong Park. I thought it was very interesting so I'm going to tell you about it. ( By the way, this post is also for my homework.)

When we arrived at Hong Kong Park, we had to stay in our groups with our parent helper. While waiting for the other classes to arrive, I just looked at the fountain. It looked like the water was a wall, like a curtain. As we made our way through the park, we passed the pond. In the pond there were a few turtles and  lots of fish! We also saw one or two water skaters, though. Our parent helper was also asking us questions about the pond and we noticed that some fish were better at camouflaging than others because of the color of their scales. We also noticed that the fish would come close to us, as if they wanted food! I think that the fish were very, very hungry!

The fountain (Singwa Lim)

The pond (Photo credit)

After getting to the park and eating our snack, we headed to the aviary. The aviary is basically a big green house, but not really a green house. It has trees and stuff like that but, humans put them there. Inside I saw lots and lots of birds, some of which had very colorful feathers, but I also saw some that had feathers that were rather dull. I liked more the birds with the brightly colored feathers, although I think they felt a bit awkward because we were all staring at them. Although they were very beautiful and graceful, some of the birds pooped on us! Naughty, naughty birds!

The aviary from the outside (Photo credit)

Some of the birds eating (Photo credit)

Since we'd spent quite a long time in the aviary, we started heading to the place where we were going to have our lunch. We then ate our lunch and played hand games, told stories, and other fun stuff!

After that we went back to the school in the bus. I thought it was quite fun to go there and I want to go again.

So, have you been to the Hong Kong Aviary or Hong Kong Park before? If you have, what was your experience? What was your favorite place? If you haven't been there before, I'd recommend going.

MeZoeSelf

Chicken Z-Wings

For my Cub Scouts "Cook" Badge, I have to prepare and cook dinner for my family.  One of the dishes I made was my Chicken Z-Wings.  It was quite easy to make.  Everyone loved it, especially me.  I had 6!!!

Here is the recipe in case you want to try to make it yourself.

Ingredients:

25 chicken wings

4 cloves of garlic

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce

I tsp of rice wine

1 tsp sugar

Black pepper

Italian seasoning

Instructions:

ù  Wash chicken wings.

ù  Mince the garlic.

ù  Add a bit of oil to pan.

ù  Cook the garlic for about one minute.

ù  Put in the chicken wings.

ù  Stir around for a bit.

ù  Add in the rice wine and the light and dark soy sauce.  Stir for a bit.

ù  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

ù  Put sugar in. Add a bit of water if too dry.

ù  Cover and cook on low heat for another 10 minutes.

ù  Add in Italian seasoning.

ù  Serve!

Enjoy!

MeZoeSelf

My Current Top 3 Stuff - Part 1

Hi, this blog is telling you what my top 3 everything is! Anyway, here it is...

Favorite Songs

1)  Telephone by Lady Gaga



2) Rather Be by Clean Bandit


 3) Cheerleader by OMI



Favorite Book Series

1) Goddess Girls by Joan Holub and illustrated by Suzanne Williams



2) Harry Potter by J.K Rowling



3) Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene




Favorite Song Artists

1) Taylor Swift



2) Katy Perry



3) Adele
 



Favorite Colors

1) Purple



2) Silver



3) Turquoise





Favorite Flowers

1) Tulip



2) Rose



3) Orchids





Favorite Games

1) Minecraft



2) Game of Life



3) Taboo




Favorite Gamer

1) Popularmmos



2)Stampylongnose



3)iBallisticSquid



Thank you for reading my post! Maybe you might have something to relate to in my post, or maybe someone you know can relate to this? I'm going to try to get the part 2 out so you can check it out.

MeZoeSelf

Nature

Nature is everywhere.

It is wherever we look,

At each place we see,

Even in a book.

Trees and flowers, cacti and mountains.

Nature is beautiful, it warms our hearts with joy.

From everything I know, nature can help us with stuff.

I bet everybody knows this, even little boys.

I certainly like nature.

It is a beautiful thing.

Nature can make you happy

It makes you feel like a true king.

We have to be careful with nature.

Because it may fall apart.

Leaving us with nothing.

Nothing, except for our heart.

By Zoe

Camp!!!!

Hi! Sorry I haven't been writing a lot on my blog but, right now I'm going to write about my Year 4 camp and my scout camp.

Year 4 Camp

Day 1

I felt really excited and nervous on the first day of camp because I have never been away from my family for one day, let alone two! My mom and dad came to the bus stop with me to say bye and I was really sad! Once we got to school we had to put our luggage in the gym ( We are also going with 4V)

Our luggage ( 4S is on the right and 4V is on the left also, I'm in 4S)

We got on the bus to Cheung Chau and I sat next to my best friends and once we got to the ferry I had a secret lollipop to make sure I wouldn't get sea sick!

Anyways, on the way to the campsite we had a sandcastle competition and this is the picture. We also did a scavenger hunt and my team won for that one!

Once we did get to our camp site ( The Salvation Army Bradbury Camp) we made our beds and had dinner. I loved the dinner! It was tomato soup and it was so delicious!

Day 2

During day 2 of year 4 camp we were working with the T.I.G (Treasure Island Group) and my group did the beach activities first! We played Beach Fury and I got 3rd place! We played some other games and then we went to do rock climbing!

We then went to the foyer and got our pack sandwiches and there was a candy bar and a chip bag inside! I had a ham sandwich but I realized that there was butter in it! Also, when we were eating, one of my friends saw that Mr. Benny (our physical education teacher) had put his chips inside his sandwich. So she went to tell him that and then told another teacher and he said that he also had chips in his sandwich! Then she went and told our V.P and he disappointed her by saying "I also sometimes put chips in my sandwiches, girls". Then we just laughed!

 We had more activities such as making smore's, a night walk and a navigation activity.

We also went to this Indian-Thai restaurant and we had lots of good food and we had quite a lot of fun telling riddles.

Day 3

On the last day of camp we woke up then we had some free time then it was time to go shopping! For my mom and brother I bought this type of bracelet that had their name carved on and for my dad, a cute little turtle I also got my auntie a bracelet although it wasn't the same one as my mom and brother. It was a rope bracelet.

Anyways, once we were all done shopping we ate our lunch and got on the ferry and then we went back to school where we waited for our parents. But some people, like me, wanted to do their after school activities. So we waited for the bell to ring and went of to our activities. So I did my netball and blah blah blah blah. Then my mum came to pick me up to go home where my family gave me a BIG hug!

 Cub Scout Camp

Day 1

When we were waiting for our bus to Sai Kung, me and my friends were playing on the AstroTurf doing cartwheels and running around. Then it started raining really hard and we all had to go inside to get our raincoats on because our bus had arrived. I sat next to Helen (a senior sixer) on the bus and all of us were singing parodies of songs plus, it was super fun! Once we arrived at our campsite we went to our dorms and all the girls were in the same dorm! After we had made our beds, we went to get our dinner and soon after that we went on a night hike and after that we went back to our dorms to sleep.

Day 2

What we did on the second day is we did our morning routines ( brushing teeth, getting changed etc. ) and then we had our activities and had our breakfast then we did group activities such as the fire activity and the navigation one but we didn't have enough time to do the last activity so we did that the next day. We also had a performance where there was skits and songs and other stuff like that.

 Day 3

On this day we had breakfast then we did the last group activity which is lashing and it was really fun! Then we got packed, got into the bus and left for our homes. I felt that there was a mixture of sadness, happiness and exhaustion whirling inside me! 

 I hope you liked my post! Have you gone on any camps? Have you been in a scout group? Feel free to write comments on my posts.

MeZoeSelf

My 2015 Summer

(This is a VERY late post!)

Hello! Over the 2015 summer holidays we went to Toronto, Canada and we did a lot of fun things and I want to tell you about them! I know it is already 2017, but I forgot to finish this! Oops!

The flight to Toronto was very long and I only watched videos! We were in Toronto for a couple of days before we went on a road trip. We first of all went to Ottawa.

Ottawa

 After we checked into the hotel, we down town for dinner and walked to the Parliament. After that, we were tired so we went back to the hotel to sleep. The next day we went out for breakfast at Cora`s with my dad`s friend. Then we went to the Parliament and had a tour during the tour I saw some of the prime ministers.

Quebec City

When we were in Quebec City we went to the Citadel and we bought a really cute stuffie (stuffed animal) squirrel! We also went down town and saw people doing street performances. I also went and got maple ice cream but I got Bubble Gum ice cream. We all went on a night cruise and you could dance with the DJ or you could go up onto the top deck.

Montreal

My favorite part of Montreal is when we went into the Labyrinth because it was a maze and I love mazes! We also went downtown.

Other

• I went Glow In The Dark mini golfing!
• I watched the movie Inside Out, too!

What did you do this summer?

Me,ZoeSelf

Percy's Journey

Hi! This is a story that I wrote for my school.  I hope you like it! 

In the middle of the night Percy ran through the forest. He could hear the leaves crunch below his feet. The sapphire blue light searched for his body. He was covered in mud. Branches snagged his clothes. His heart was racing. Percy didn't know the danger until he entered the forest.

Suddenly, Percy saw a flash and realized that he was in a dark stone cave. He heard someone talking to another person. The voice whispered, "Tonight we shall eat this boy, even if he is thin." Percy heard a laugh and footsteps. The voice was gone. He was so scared. His heart was pounding. He was sweating. He was really nervous.

He tried to find a solution. He saw some crystals that now covered the entrance. "What should I do?" he muttered to himself. There was nothing he could do; he was trapped. He thought there was no hope. What would happen now...?

All of a sudden, Percy saw something shimmering on the floor. He ran towards the object. It was a sword! He thought and thought.... Finally he had an idea. He sliced through the crystals. The light from the moon shone down on him. He breathed in the fresh air. He couldn't believe it. He was free.

I won an award called the 'Golden Goat Award' for the most unusual story.  Can you tell how happy I was?

Please do leave me some comments regarding my story in the comments section below.

Me, Zoe Self

 

My Trip to Bali

Did you know that I went to Bali? Well, I kept a diary while we were there! This is what I wrote:

                 

Saturday 28th of March

Today we arrived at Bali! A guy named Ari picked us up and brought us to the Villa. I like the villa but it is kind of dirty. I think it is dirty because I saw a frog, geckos and a spider. It was still fun though. The owner of the villa showed us around.

Sunday 29th of March

Today was more exciting than yesterday. We went to eat breakfast by the beach! The owner of the Vvlla's name is Paul and today we found out that he has a dog. We saw that his dog (Flynn) sat on the motorbike with Paul. When my brother and I were walking around in the sand, Paul came to me and asked if I wanted to get my hair braided with beads. I wanted to so I said yes and followed him, but it took about one hour.   :(

Monday 30th of March

Today we went to a lot of places such as: Batik (fabric, dresses, fans and other stuff shop), Gold and Silver shop (sells jewelry), Rice Terraces, Tanah Lot (a place to take beautiful pictures of sunsets), Monkey Park, a coffee and tea-tasting place (where we learnt how to kopi luwak is made and where we actually had a taste of it!). We also had dinner in a restaurant where there was a cultural show.

Tuesday 31st of March

Today we stayed home and just chilled. We watched Harry Potter Goblet of Fire and my mom and grandma had a massage.

This is what we have done so far but I will add to this later.

Me, ZoeSelf 

Valentine's Day!

Hi, I'm sorry I have not done a blog post for so long, but you should be HAPPY, right? Because now I have something to share with you........

VALENTINES DAY!

I went to my friend's party (for Valentine's Day) and it was very fun! We played games, we decorated cookies, and we got to eat the cookies we decorated!  One of the games we played was Pin the Lips on Mr. and Mrs. Valentine.  My lips went to the tip of Mrs. Valentine's chin.  Somebody pinned the lips to the ear!  That was so funny!

I also made some artwork for my mom,dad, and my brother, Xtremeo! (<this is a link). Here it is!

I think my dad is the best dad ever because he is funny and he is very much like me!

I did this for my mom because she is very caring, kind and gives me cuddles everyday!

This piece is for my brother because he gave me a Pikachu and I love Xtremeo very much!  :)

I hope you like my art work but there is one more piece. My mom made one for me!!!

-from my mom (a.k.a. Buckeroomama - another link!)

Thank you for reading my post! Bye!!
Me, Zoë Self

Christmas Poem!

Merry Christmas!

I cannot wait until Christmas! How about you? 

I made up this poem, it's about Rudolph's nose.

Do you like my poem? I made it myself. 

Me, Zoe Self

Drawings

Do you like drawing? I LOVE drawing! In this post I am going to tell you about my drawings. Let's get started!

1.

Do you realize that this is the picture I used for my
profile picture?

2.

The whole reason I did this is because my school held a book cover
competition.  This is based on a scene in Thea Stilton Dancing Shadows.

3.

For Halloween we stuck this on our door so that people would know that
we welcome Trick-or-Treaters.

4.

Tooth Fairy card!

5.

This is a drawing tutorial on how to draw things that just pop up in my mind!

6.

Here is another card for the Tooth Fairy  (She might read my blog)!

I hope you like these pictures! Please comment on which one you like the most and why!

Me, Zoe Self

My Happy Halloween!

My Halloween was GREAT!  How about yours? I went as a cat-witch! We went trick or treating and I got 18 candies in total! My favorite bit was when I had my face paint on. Anyways I still got LOADS of candy because my mom had to give candy to the trick-or-treaters so I got loads of candy!

Here are some pictures.

This is me in my costume and face paint. 

This is me and my friends!

Did you have a great Halloween?  Did you go trick or treating? What was your costume (if you did wear a costume)?

Me, Zoe Self