City Connections Review

1) I believe that what I did that made my presentation better was that I included my great great grandfather in it, which showed how my family got to Australia. I also think that the video of New Year fireworks helped me improve the presentation because no one else had a video and it ended the presentation with a bang (ba-dum cheee).

2) I would improve my voice and would memorize my lines. I would also find better images (i.e. less pixelated). I would have put in more information, I think that I could have included famous wars and landmarks. I would have also put in more information about my ancestors.

3) I probably learnt more about Sydney than any one else in the class! But I also enjoyed learning about Sweden and Norway and especially Kuala Lumpur. I think I learnt a lot about other countries' resources such as oil, coal, gold, and tin.

4) I was slightly nervous when I was picked to go first, but I overcame my nervousness and did it. I also stuttered a lot while performing, so I got some facts mixed up as well as some names. But I think that I did a good job on providing important information to my audience. Next time I would rehearse my presentation.

Here is the link to my presentation.

New Years Resolutions

Yay!!! It is a new year and 2010 is gone, with everybody waiting for what the new year will bring them, I have some of my own new years resolutions that I need to think about. Why do I need the resolutions? Well I think that they will help me in the future and keep me with a positive attitude, these are my two main resolutions to help me through the year.

1. Improving my grades

I think I have to improve my grades because, last year my grades dropped and my parents nagged me a lot and I felt really guilty. But this year I want to stop all the regret, the nagging, and be a better all round student, I could even get a prize in the process, such as an XBOX360 or PS3.  I feel confident and happy to set this goal and will do my very best to achieve it.

2. Getting Organized

 I feel that this is one of my biggest problems. I am usually unorganized and sometimes turn in homework late or can not find a certain book or disc in my room. Before the winter break we had to do a "locker cleanup" which required taking out paper and organizing books in piles and putting things in appropriate places. Their was a lot of stuff I had to take out, when I looked into my locker I found piles of recycling paper, water bottles, hats, and even a pair of binoculars! I find that I must get more organized or I will lose things and my life would be a mess.

Me at Fort Santiago in Manila

Over the break I went to two places Bali and Manila. Manila is where we spent our christmas, we had to wake up at six in the morning and flew a 3 hour flight from KL where we arrived there at five in the afternoon. When we got to my grandparents house they were already having dinner, but it did not matter to me, I was just happy to get there and see all my relatives. The majority of the time me and my cousin played Halo Reach on the Xbox, but my family and I also went to Intramuros where we learnt about the history of Manila. The most interesting part was when the tour guide explained how the US changed Manila in three decades from what the Spanish had done in three centuries.  He also talked about the brutal occupation of the Japanese during World War 2 and how they and the Americans massacred Filipinos and destroyed most of Manila.
On Christmas day the entire family rushed down stairs and opened all the presents, it was like a riot except with presents. The main presents for me were probably Call of Duty: Black Ops and Guitar Hero 5.

Me at the show/temple

After staying in Manila for a week we flew to Bali were we spent our New Years with my family's friends. Every day we went to the beach, where we jumped over the waves that were about two meters high (from the ground) and went under the ones that went eight meters high. We went to Water Bom and went on nearly all the slides. We went to a show/temple where you could watch people act as demons and monkeys while looking at statues of demons and monkeys. The best part of the trip was probably the food, pizza nearly every day. Although on the last day we went to a beachside restaurant called the Potato Head Beach Club, the name is already strange enough but even more unusual, the restaurant was made out of window shutters, and it was designed to look like a nest which was 100 meters in height. The food there was normal and great. But while I was devouring my burger, a drama unfolded that forced me to interrupt my meal half-way through.

My dad's friend rushed up from the beach and said "Someone's drowning!"  We all went there and watched as two helpless people drifted away from the shore and safety.  They were being pulled out to sea by the current.  The security guys alerted the lifeguards and they came two minutes later with a yellow surfboard.  One guy swam out on the surfboard but it took ages for him to get past the big rollers which kept pushing him back, until he finally reached the first person.  I was really worried until then so I thought "Yay, they're ok."  The other person was much further out.  But was also soon saved by two lifeguards on a jetski.  That was probably the most intense part of the holiday.