Two nights ago, I found myself in the world of dreams. This hasn't happened for quite a while. In fact, I can't recall having any dreams since I got out of school.

I was at school and we were going on a field trip. We got onto a bus - but it was no ordinary bus. The interior was more spacious than your ordinary school bus, and the seats, instead of being lined up in two columns, were against the walls. We had chosen where we would sit beforehand by marking places on a chart. I had gotten the direction mixed up and sat at the right edge of a black bench at the back of the bus. I was supposed to sit on the left side, where two friends were. But since the bus was moving and I thought it would be troublesome to ask everyone to scoot over a bit so I could take my rightful place, I decided to remain where I was.

Then I noticed one of my friends was taking a picture of me using a device. I'm not sure how I knew, but I knew it was a camera. It looked very strange, with yellowish-orange and black colors.

Eventually we got off the bus and arrived at a place that seemed to be a recreational center. We all went to a room that looked very much like my language arts classroom. The teacher said to get our sleeping bags ready for later. I realized with a jolt that I had seen "sleeping bag" on the recommended items for the trip, but I had deemed it unnecessary and forgotten about it. I hadn't expected us to actually have naptime on the trip.

Then I left the classroom and began walking around. I recall walking on a grassy hill, and I think there were some fenceposts here and there. I eventually decided to go the bathroom. I saw someone I knew there. When I was exiting the bathroom, I went out the wrong door and found myself facing a swimming pool. There was a banner of some sort put up near it. The girl that I knew came out that way too. I was going to go back into the bathroom and exit through the correct door, but she said, "You can just walk around to the front." So that's what I did.

I don't remember much else of the dream. I think I had woken up from it by then. But I do recall having seen one other person in that dream - probably while I had been walking around the grassy hill. I've seen that person in another dream, too. It's been a long time since I've been able to talk to that person. I wish we could be friends again. Like we used to be.

Labels: bathroom, bus, camera, classroom, door, dream, field trip, friends, past, people, recreational center, school, sleeping bag, summer, swimming pool

I didn't know who Ansel Adams was until quite recently. While I was on a school trip to Yosemite National Park, all of the students would walk to the theater for our evening program every night (usually something informative, like about rock climbing or climate change, but one time we just hiked outside and played a game similar to hide-and-seek). We always passed by a place called the Ansel Adams Gallery, which sold gifts, and I think you can rent cameras there, too.

Once I returned from Yosemite, I visited the library and checked out some magazines. I usually look for science-related magazines at the library because every trimester we must present a scientific news article. I happened to see the magazine called Popular Photography, and I have checked out a few of the issues (not particularly new ones, but oh well). I was looking at an article about 30 photo-friendly cities in the USA when I saw San Francisco, in 2nd place. And it was mentioned that Ansel Adams broke his nose in an earthquake in San Francisco.

I've probably written about this before, but this still keeps on happening to me. I even saw the very same camera that I have - a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3A - in an edition of the Popular Photography Magazine. It was apparently a good camera for a not-too-expensive price or something. In fact, when I was at the Campanile in UC Berkeley, someone asked my dad to take a picture of him, and he had the same camera, in the same color. I suppose it's just a common camera. (Not like my old Nikon Coolpix, it was a pretty rare one. A silvery sort of color. I sure miss it, even now.) But it's still unsettling to see it in other places. It's kind of like how I'm bothered by seeing people with the same name as me.

Ever since I arrived home after my trip, I've been feeling a bit out of sorts. For one thing, my dad left for Shanghai, China, to visit his family. It's pretty quiet because it's only my mother and I around the house. That's kind of a good thing, and kind of a bad thing. I'm not really used to having less noise around the house. But it's kind of good since I get to talk my mother more than usual. (My cell phone ringtone is starting to annoy me, though. I figure I should change it, but I actually still haven't figured out how)

Speaking of my cell phone...I'm still frustrated at it. Sometimes I think I don't get any signal. One time I was walking home from school and needed to call my mom, so I whipped out my cell phone and dialed her number. I kept hearing it ring, and ring, and ring, and finally I was told that the call wouldn't go through or something. I kept trying this over and over while I walked. I finally managed to reach her when I was near a school (I think the schools should all have cell phone coverage). What good is the cell phone if you can't even use it? Also, my mom said she called me on my cell phone, but I don't think I ever heard it ring. She says I probably had my cell phone on mute or some other mode where you can't hear the ring, but I don't know...I think perhaps it really is hard for me to get a signal, which will be troublesome if I ever desperately need to get in touch with someone.

Recently, I visited Cold Stone Creamery, my favorite place to get ice cream. There's actually a place Cold Rock Creamery, but I've only seen it in Australia. (It's not bad either. They have some different flavors.) My mom had some coupons, and I always leap at the chance to save money on yummy food. Cold Stone now has warm sundaes (we had a buy-1-get-1-free coupon for it, but sadly it expired before we had the chance to use it...) and I think my mom might like those. She used to complain about how ice cream was too cold for her. It kind of ruins the point of ice cream if it's cold (and it isn't all that fun to drink "ice cream soup") but it still does sound like it would be tasty. And it'd be nice during the winter.

When I was younger, I had trouble eating hot food. I would refuse to eat anything that was too hot (in fact, I even went so far as to put ice cubes in my hot chocolate so it would cool down to a reasonable temperature). My parents would say, "It's not too hot," but when I tried it, I thought it was still too warm. I wonder if we have different senses of temperature and taste. They don't see any difference in taste between water bottle brands, but I actually have slight preferences in water bottle brands. Also, I hear people are more accepting of alcohol when they get older because their taste buds have died and they can't taste the bitterness as much anymore. If so, I guess it's good if I have a sensitive tongue since that means I'm still young. (It does conflict with my trying to act like an old person, though. But you can't have both. It reminds me of a conversation I heard...A girl was saying to her friend that she didn't want to take some pills because her mother told her not to, since there was a drowsiness side effect. "So don't take it," said her friend. "But I need it..." said the girl - it was carsick pills. Her friend said, "Then take it!" Basically, there's no middle ground - she can obey your mother or she can save herself from being carsick)

Labels: ansel adams, camera, carsick, cell phone, choice, cold rock creamery, cold stone creamery, ice cream, inconvenient, magazine, photography, popular, signal, taste, temperature, tongue, warm, yosemite

My dad recently decided to remind me of what he wanted on his gravestone when he died. He said, "A gardener, a wife, and a father."
"Huh? A wife?" I asked, bemused.
"No! I meant a husband!" (Forgetting his gender, perhaps? Or just not paying enough attention to what he's saying?)

I think he is becoming old and forgetful. He nearly lost his wallet today, but luckily was able to retrieve it. I thought it had probably gotten stolen, but luckily that wasn't the case. Imagine how dangerous it would've been if credit cards, driver's license, and money had all been stolen. -_-;;

Recently I got a new camera, except this was a Canon one. I couldn't understand why the image looked fuzzy in the image window and I was pretty confused about how to use it. Then my dad told me to read an instruction manual which he had opened up on the computer. He was all pleased with himself, saying, "I never read the instructions, but I read them this time. If you had read the manual in the first place, you would've had known how to use the camera."

I'd like to remind you all how important it is to read instructions. Sometimes I slip up on test questions or homework just because I didn't pay careful attention to the instructions. (I'm usually too impatient to bother reading thoroughly, so if I'm reading the instructions for something, like a game, I often just skim through it)

I was looking at the TV screen and there was some commercial for Etrade. There were some babies talking, except with voices that were like adult voices, not baby voices (a dub, I suppose). I didn't really understand the commercial. Nowadays I really don't understand most television commercials. A lot of money is spent on advertising, so...Doesn't it go to waste if the people watching television don't even understand what the commercials are trying to say?

But I feel like money is often squandered nowadays in general. A lot of teachers at my school have document cameras. my science teacher's document camera didn't seem to be working properly last time she tried to use it. Isn't it a waste of money, then?

And earlier today, my parents and I walked to the campus a local high school, which I will probably be attending when I move up to high school. Some gates were locked, but we did find a way into the school. (Isn't it pointless to lock some parts of the school and not the others? I know they wanted to leave doors open so the people who play sports on the weekend can get in, but if they're going to do that, why not leave all the gates open? It is considered to be an "open campus", after all (so students can even leave the school to have lunch elsewhere).

My mom wanted to get a feel for the campus, so we walked around peering in the windows. The main office looked pretty nice. It seemed spacious, the chairs looked cool, and there were fancy nameplates... And yet the brick walls of the school look like they aren't in such good condition. (But the school is forty years old, so I suppose I should expect it) And the desks seemed kind of small. I wonder how the money is being spent.

The campus was pretty big, though, bigger than expected. I think my mom thought there were too many classrooms. I was looking at the names of the teachers. I thought they were pretty interesting names. I saw "Birdsong" on one classroom and "Goldenkranz" on another.

I was considering becoming a teacher. I think elementary school might be good, but not kindergarten or first grade (a little too young). Perhaps third grade or fifth grade? By then people are pretty aware of things, and still pretty innocent, untouched by the worries of the world. But if I were to teach high school or college, a lot of students would be taller than I was, which would be pretty intimidating. (I know I shouldn't let size put me off, but it is inconvenient being short. You have to be careful to make sure drivers see you or they'll run you over.)

Labels: camera, canon, commercial, condition, document camera, forgetful, gravestone, instructions, locked, money, name, office, open campus, school, short, teacher, television, wallet

It seems to me that handheld electronics still hold their popularity. A lot of people would like to have a DSi, the newest version of the Nintendo DS. The DSi comes with a camera, and you can edit people's pictures (like distorting them or drawing on them). It also has a shorter charging time. However, I think I heard that it doesn't have a Game Boy Advance game slot. So that automatically crossed it off the list for me. I have a Game Boy Advance, but the screen is very dim and hard to see because it is not the Game Boy Advance SP kind (those ones have brighter screens). I use my DS to play Game Boy Advance games. That is more convenient since you can carry a DS game and a Game Boy Advance game with you just by having your DS, and you can play either depending on what you're in the mood for. Besides, you can take photos with a camera or a cell phone and you could play around with the pictures on the computer.

However, not everyone has the luxury of using the Internet, so a handheld console such as the DSi could provide great entertainment. In fact, even an electronic dictionary would be a novelty. I realized this when my mom mentioned her coworker. Her coworker has a daughter, who has an electronic dictionary. (Actually, it used to be mine, but I never used it anyways, so it has passed hands) Apparently it was a great help to her. I just look up things on the Internet if I need them, but my mom's coworker's daughter isn't allowed to go on the Internet, so she can't just look up things the way I do.

And of course, there are plenty of people who aren't simply forbidden from going on the Internet, but really don't have access. For instance, in Africa, only a small amount of people has access to the Internet. I wonder what it would be like not to use the Internet. I have been using it for years, so I am reliant on it, and it would probably seem slow and inconvenient having to research using actual books (le gasp!), plus I would probably have to actually go outside to entertain myself (another gasp! I am largely an indoor person). The Internet has some good parts, but it also has a dark side - people can get scammed, have their identities stolen, and they can addicted, ruining their eyes and probably making them overweight.

It reminds me of this funny quote I saw on the wall of my math classroom. "Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together." I'm not sure exactly who said the quote, but when I searched it up, apparently Oprah Winfrey did... o_O;;

I was, and kind of still am, a video gamer in my youth. My DS has been my "best friend", and my camera is currently, but especially for me, stuffed animals were my best friends. (I mean inanimate objects, I'm not counting people here) I liked stuffed animals better than dolls - dolls are so hard and stiff and pointy, but stuffed animals are squishy and soft and don't have creepy eyes - and I used to bring them to school quite often, back when I was in elementary school. I could play with them after school in the YMCA daycare on the school campus. Those were good times, even if the stuffed animals were dropped on the ground, and thus became rather dirty. I don't think I could bring them to school anymore, because my backpack is so crowded (it's pretty heavy, so I'm lucky that I use a roller backpack in this case), and I don't know what I would do with them anymore... It's always more fun to play with your stuffed animals if you're playing with other people, but I doubt I could easily find someone who didn't think it was silly, and if the stuffed animal was too "distracting", it would probably be confiscated.

The reason why I brought up stuffed animals was because we had an opportunity to win them in science class. We were reviewing our vocabulary words and my teacher decided to have us play Bingo (except we call it Newton). She would say the definition of a word and players would look for the word on their game board. (It's important to know your definitions well so you won't be confused about where to put your bingo markers) The prize for getting 5 in a row was a stuffed animal. She had a few out at a time to choose from. I got a polar bear, though it wasn't my ideal choice of animal, since I didn't really like the other animals at the time. (Sorry! No offense intended) Apparently, the stuffed animals used to belong to the teacher's daughter. I think it's sad to give away your stuffed animals, but maybe my opinion would change when I'm older...I mean, if you don't use your stuffed animals, they're not getting the love I deserve...I really don't know.

Labels: africa, best friend, bingo, camera, convenient, dictionary, duct tape, electronics, game boy advance, handheld, internet, newton, nintendo dsi, polar bear, prizes, quote, stuffed animal, video games

The building I am speaking of here is the California Academy of Sciences. It was completely only recently. It's located in Golden Gate Park, pretty close to the De Young Museum. I heard it had started being built ten years ago...Wow, that's a long time.

We arrived at the museum around maybe 11 am or so, I believe. I should've gotten up earlier (I woke up pretty early in the morning, but stayed in bed being lazy) but it's too late for that now. The line was really long...My family had thought that since it was Black Friday, a lot of people would be out shopping to get deals, but it turned out that wasn't true. There were a lot of people there. I guess it's because both the kids and the parents have the day off, so it was a good opportunity for them all to go to the museum. We had to wait for quite a while. Luckily, we made it inside before they started metering. (Metering is, supposedly, only letting people in when people leave the museum. I'm sure that must've been annoying for the people who wanted to go in.)

We started out by going to the rainforest. There is a four-story rainforest in the museum. Quite a few animals were there, such as macaws (which are a kind of bird, they look like parrots), frogs, lizards, butterflies, and other birds. I tried to take pictures of them, but there were kids shoving me, the glass on the cases (some of the animals are in display cases, but the birds fly free inside the rainforest building) was reflective, and besides, the birds and butterflies moved around too much. In fact, I think some of the animals in the museum were mocking me or something, because they would suddenly move when I pressed the button to take the picture. (I couldn't think of how to describe that...I think there was some other term for it, having to do with shutters or something)

Afterwards, we went down to the aquarium. Lots of fish there, some that really huge...My dad was commenting on how it would be tasty to have sushi made out of the huge fish, but my mom said that it wouldn't taste good and would be tough to eat. (Well, there was a term she used, but it was in Shanghainese, so I don't know how to translate it) There were some jellyfish, which I discovered come out nicely in photographs. I will probably upload them somewhere later on, once I get all the photos onto the computer.

Speaking of photos, I ran out of batteries on my camera...I think that my Panasonic Lumix seems to run out of batteries even quicker than my old Nikon Coolpix. I really miss using Nikon. This is a bit off topic, but I heard that Canon and Nikon are the two best brands of cameras...But more folks say that Canon is better. I don't remember whether I've used Canon cameras before or not. If you have a camera, what brand do you have? Does it work well?

Back to the topic...There were other things in the museum as well, like dead animals. I saw some jars with things in them; one jar had a fruit bat, another had a snake, and a third had black rats. The rats looked kind of nasty. You know, I once heard that although squirrels and rats are similar (can carry the same diseases, and both are rodents...or at least rodentish), people tend to dislike rats more than they dislike squirrels. Personally, I just think it's funny how when the squirrels run it looks kind of like a wave. (I mean waves in water, not a person waving their hand)

The museum also had some penguins. They're bigger than the penguins I saw in Australia, I think. When I was in Australia, we saw some dwarf penguins, which I believe are the smallest species. They live in the wild, I guess, but you do have to pay to go see them. It's actually quite interesting. It was nighttime when they were coming in from the ocean, so it was hard to see them at first. But then eventually I could make out groups of penguins swimming to shore. Sometimes, if they got scared (there were a lot of people watching, though from a distance, and besides, there were seagulls on the beach also staring at the penguins) they would run back into the water instead of crossing the beach. But once they thought the coast was clear, then they would all sort of line up, and then run like mad across the sand until they got into the safety of the bushes. It was really funny. I thought the penguins were quite amusing, but I had to leave because we were supposed to meet some other folks to eat dinner in a Chinese restaurant. Sigh.

Well, this post is getting really long and confusing, so I shall continue another time.

Labels: animals, aquarium, australia, batteries, beach, birds, butterfly, california academy of sciences, camera, fish, macaws, museum, penguins, preserved, rainforest, rats, running, squirrels, sushi

I think I became a scratching post for cats last weekend or something. Let me start with a bit of explanation.

Lately my dad and I have been going biking once a week, for the purpose of exercise and some good ol' fresh air. Can't do wrong with it. (Unless, of course, you live somewhere very polluted, like China; then maybe you're better off not breathing...) We paid a visit to Hoover Park in my town. I've been there before, but I usually took a different route to get there. You can get to the park by going to the very end of my street and getting to the railroad by finding a gap in the fence. Then, cross the railroad and go up and you'll get to the park. My mom doesn't want me to go in that way since a train could suddenly come, or whatever. Just like this problem about a guy named Bobo that I did last year in math class. (I don't know if this is a true entrance to the park or if someone unofficially made it) The main way to get the park, though, is to go to a different street, and to the very end, and there's the actual sign that says the park name and such.

When we were heading back from the park, I noticed a black and white cat wandering around and so I got off my back. I watched the cat for a while and decided to whip out my camera, which I had conveniently brought should I have a good photo opportunity on the bike ride. I tried to take pictures of the cat, but whenever I thought I had a good position, it (I wasn't sure whether it was male or female, I guess my knowledge of animal genders is rudimentary) kept turning and walking toward me. At first I thought it was going to attack me, perhaps (I know that's far-fetched, but cats don't like me too much. My dad's friend's cat tries to hide its face when she sees me, and another time there was a cat, the cat of my mom's friends, but it was a lazy sort that didn't like people) but then, when it was about to collide with my legs, it would swerve just a bit to the side, so instead it brushed against my pants. My dad said that the cat couldn't reach an itch and so was using me to fulfill that purpose. D: How offensive to be made into a scratching post!

Anyhow, today, one of my friends showed me her Chinese book. She doesn't study Mandarin at school, but she does go to Chinese school, I believe. I am glad that I'm not in Chinese school. Only very recently did my mom tell me one of the reasons why. One reason was apparently because of my dad - he says that he convinced my mom it was not a good idea, though I have no idea if that's true, considering it's my dad. The reason my mom told me had to do with behavior. She said that different cultures can have different views on things, and different ways of doing things. And, well, according to my mom, I was actually in Chinese school for a short time. Apparently there was a woman who needed to pick some other kids and me up to take us to Chinese school. My mom says that the woman was in a rush and she pulled me along too quickly, so I fell and hurt myself. And my mom decided to take me out of Chinese school. So, I guess a good thing resulted of a bad thing. :p

Back to the Chinese book before I forget what I'm supposed to be talking about. To practice for her test, my friend read me a story from her book. It was a strange story. The main character was a guy who had only one eye, no arms, and I think he was missing a leg too. And he had holes in his mouth because he had to write and draw with his mouth (putting a paintbrush in his mouth or something, seeing as he didn't have hands). Then there was another story which she started to read (but she was interrupted by the bell ending brunch) which was about a girl who had only half a brain, or something like that, and she had to get a surgery, and she liked to play sports... (Which I, surprisingly, could understand by hearing my friend read it - I mean, the part about the character liking to play sports) And apparently she got seizures or something. What kind of things do they teach you in Mandarin?! Sounds pretty vicious to me, but my friend says they just write strange stories to make it more interesting. -_-;;

Labels: bike, camera, cat, chinese, chinese school, culture, disability, entrance, injury, itchy, mandarin, missing limbs, movement, park, railroad, rush, scratching post, seizure, story, street

I'm talking about the magazine drive. Every year we have it to raise money for our school. The students try to sell lots of magazines (or they can donate money differently instead, $20 counts as one "magazine subscription").

You can earn prizes like Jamba Juice smoothies, Weepuls (little furry collectible things, the sixth grade girls this year thought they were so cute because they went "Awwww!"), even an iPod Touch if you sell enough magazines...But it's really hard to do that unless you have lots of relatives who like to read magazines, you're a superior salesman (and how would that work? You're not allowed to go sell door-to-door. That's lame considering you were allowed to do that for the Walkathon in elementary school. So they're saying older kids are more likely to get kidnapped?!), or you just have lots of money to spend.

This year there was a dog that rolls over. When it senses movement in front of its face, it rolls over. It's a pretty hard prize to get, though. And the class that sells the most magazines will get a 10-foot long snake. Maybe I should win one for my dad. It can be his birthday present or whatever.

Speaking of snakes, I had a dream about a snake. I was in some sort of observatory place in a rainforest, I think. My family and some other people were in it, sitting on wooden benches, peering out at the wilderness. The previous president, George W. Bush, was also there, but he didn't say anything. He had a very small snake. It was short and skinny with a wider head. I forget the exact color but I think it was a dull brownish sort. George W. Bush left and dropped his snake on the floor. I was freaked out since I wasn't sure whether the snake was fond of biting or not.

More recently, I had another dream about an animal. This time it was about dolphins. I don't know much of the specifics of the dream but I was in a room, with my mom, and maybe more people, but I don't remember if there were. There were dolphins there and I tried to get on the back of one to ride it. The dolphin flopped around in a panicked fashion until I let go of it. My mom left the room and I was leaving too but the dolphin, which had been resting on the ground, jumped up and made a really ugly face, like it was going to bite. I was frightened out of my wits and ran out of the room. I hope that doesn't mean I'm going to have a negative run-in with dolphins in the future.

My French teacher told us something amusing recently. She took her class last year to a restaurant called Crepe Daniel. The students were excited since they thought they would be able to practice their French skills...No dice. The restaurant had been owned by a French person a long time ago. Now it was a Chinese owner. The French teacher said, "I don't know, maybe you could practice your CHINESE at the restaurant."

My new camera arrived. It's a dark blue Panasonic Lumix. There is a really funny feature to it. It's called Transform and it says in the manual, "Changes the subject to a slim-looking or glamorous appearance." It's like how before cameras were invented, people would paint portraits of people instead, and they would try to make the people look better than they actually looked.

Labels: camera, chinese, crepe daniel, Dogs, dolphin, door to door, dream, french, funny, george w. bush, magazine drive, mandarin, president, prizes, restaurant, rollover, sales, snake, transform, vicious

My trip to Australia was pretty good overall (because I like Australia as a place), but there was a string of bad things, as well.

- I became carsick a lot. Apparently BMW sports cars tend to be fast overall so if you're driving on a winding road, it's easy to feel carsick. And sometimes you end up with a reckless driver, for instance, Andrew. Sure, he drives alright, but he tends not to drive within the speed limit. I heard he got so many tickets for speeding that eventually he was told that he can either not drive for a while (three months?) or he has to stay within the speed limit. So he set this thing on his car which makes a noise whenever he drives over 60 km/h. But even then I wonder if he notices it. (No offense to him if he does notice it.)

- We went on a tour of the Sydney Opera House - my family, David, Michael, Meggie, and Andrew. My dad used to live in the suburbs of Sydney, but he never went inside the opera house (back then you needed to see one of the shows to get in...My mom muttered to me that he was a cheapskate and they never spent much money on her). My mom had already called Lily, who works for a travel agency, to book English tours for us. The English tour is longer than the Mandarin tour, and anyhow I can't understand much Mandarin, so it would be pointless for me to take the Mandarin tour. But then Gary, my dad's friend, called Lily. First he said he was Meggie's friend (which confused Lily, who didn't know who Meggie was at that point) and then Gary insisted on having Mandarin tours instead of English. Luckily, it got changed in time for us to take the English tour.

- My camera broke. Aaaaah! This is probably one of the worst, if not the worst. I have a Nikon Coolpix camera which I've been using for quite some time. So it's dear to me... (I have a strange attachment to objects which I've had by my side) It broke while I was in Cairns, having ridden the Rainforest SkyRail (it's like one of those lift things, which are either amusement park rides or used for skiers...) to get to a place where they have animals, like butterflies, koalas, wallabies, and reptiles. Anyhow, maybe I was swinging the camera too much, or it was just really bad luck, because when I tried to turn on the camera, it would say there was a Lens Error and you couldn't turn it off unless you took the camera battery out... I really don't want to buy a new camera (I don't know how to fix it, and I heard getting someone to fix it for me would cost even more) because of the money and also because I'd miss this camera. My parents insist they could buy the same kind of camera, but that seems pointless to me. If you have camera knowledge, please give me some tips here!

- My mom's wristwatch broke. The strap came apart and we can't seem to put it together again (it still tells time, but now since you can't wear it, it's just like a clock). So now she had to switch watches. She figures she's probably going to try and buy a new one - she wants that is durable and which doesn't need its batteries replaced (like a watch which has a solar battery, which is what she was using, or one that you can wind up every day. Omega watches are the wind-up kind, but Omega watches are pricey... So my mom wouldn't want to use that to wash dishes and do laundry and things like that, and people could steal it, if you know what I mean).

There's more, but I'll continue it in a further post... (I suppose that's more than three bad things, huh?)

Labels: australia, bad news, broken, camera, carsick, drivers, english, mandarin, mixup, opera house, speeding, sydney, tour, watch

When I was looking at the Blogger home page, I noticed that this blog now has 50 posts. That's pretty cool. I hope someday it will reach 100 posts (and not through spamming this blog on the weekend or something like that).

I'm writing this post in between bouts of Wii Fit. The most recent exercise I was doing was Lunges - 20 repetitions. I really hate doing lunges when I'm using the Balance Board. Not only is it monotonous but it makes my legs hurt and I start wobbling and losing my balance. But since I am competing with my dad for first place on the records, I have no choice but to keep doing it.

Since today is Sunday, I went to my piano class a bit before noon. I think my piano teacher is a bit lonely since her son is grown up and she is divorced, and she talks a lot. She said that a lot of people are sick, and how she has low blood pressure and gets dizzy, and how it's a problem that shows up when you're older. By the end of class she was telling us about an expensive mattress she bought which made her back pain go away. I don't say anything most of the time.

My dad took photos of my mom and I for our visas. Apparently you need a picture of yourself, against a white background, for your visa picture. (Sounds pretty lame to me, but I guess I have to, since I'm being forced to go to China later this year. At least I'll be able to see Japan while I'm at it.) I always have to visit my relatives in person once in a while. I wish they'd move nearer to me, but I think they probably wouldn't want to, even if they could.

Labels: blog, camera, exercise, piano

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