My Fun Christmas, 2008

I had a very fun Christmas! You know why? It all started when I woke up to pee. But, I figured out that Santa Claus might have just arrived and is putting a gift in my stocking. If he sees you trying to sneak up at him, he won't come, really. So, I went back to sleep and tried to hold my pee so Santa would have time to put his gift inside.

Thoughts came rushing to my head. Oh no! I thought. Mom surely forgot to put milk and cookies on the table. What if Santa doesn't come? What if he gives me coal? What if he won't give me anything at all? I just tried to stay calm and I waited for the morning.

Three hours later, I woke up and I figured out it was morning. So, I went down the ladder of my bunk bed (I'm on the top bunk) and quietly went to the door. Until, I saw Dad opening his eyes so I went down and rolled under my bed. I then peeked a few seconds later and he was asleep once again. I opened the door and closed it quietly.

I rushed to my stocking and then, there was a book, Ramona The Brave, and a cute toy chihuahua I named Charly. It was a boy, I had to admit. So, I went in the room and opened the book. Charly just gazed at me and I pet him and hugged him.

Seven minutes later, I heard a door open. Oh no! Perhaps my parents noticed I was gone and then, they would come to say" WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOUNG LADY?" But, it was Mom and she saw the cute dog and the book. "Good morning! What did Santa give you?" was her first question. I showed it to her. He also gave me a letter. It said my sketch was totally helpful and that I was nice this year. I gave him a sketch because we moved to a new house and he might drop the things in our old house. But, it was pretty complicated.

And then, at exactly 11:00am, we left for church. Of course, we prayed and I made a long prayer greeting Jesus "Happy Birthday!". And then, we gave Buknoy, the crossing guard, a hat, a calendar, P200 and much more.

I felt pretty happy giving him that. So, we headed to Papa Roding's house and ate lunch. It was a feast! Lengua, inihaw, fruit salad! It made me so hungry and then afterwards, I felt so full just after 4 servings of rice and inihaw.

After nearly two hours and a half, we left for National Book Store. I finished Ramona The Brave as quick as three people can finish eating a large family pizza. And then, we went to the bookstore and I bought two books: The Trumpet of The Swan (half way to the end) and Marley and Me (haven't started it yet). I was planning for Holes and The Egypt Game, or Yolanda's Genius and The Westing Game but I found The Trumpet of The Swan's summary touching and witty and Marley and Me's summary wonderful and touching.

So, I bought two books, got P700 from my lolo (grandpa in English), welcomed Charly to my stuffed toy collection and had a very good Christmas!

The Aquarium of the Pacific

It was a nice sunny Saturday when I woke up. We were in my Tito Edwin's house in Glendale which was near Sylmar, the place with wildfire. I said" Good morning." I still felt so sleepy. Dad and I then did "Lie Down With Daddy" (for information, check out my 2007 posts) until Mama Gloria came and introduced a super delightful machine. Dad's back hurt all the time so she found the solution. She gave him a massager that left him distracted.

I showered, brushed my teeth and we left at exactly 10:51am. We brought our suitcases by hand. Then, we went to Porto's, a Cuban restaurant which specializes in BREAD, yummy BREAD! I ate some sandwiches and some rolls and I was full. Then we drove back to Tito Edwin's house since Dad wanted to go to the bathroom. There we met with Tita Marge, Ate Bettina or Ate Spongebob as she wants to be called and a little boy who was waving back to my hello's. I was wondering who he was. Yey! A new playmate, I thought. When they went down, I got along with him. According to Tita Marge, his name was Cito or Crisanto Agustin. He was the three year-old son of her officemate and she often babysat him with Tito Edwin. I thought he would be a naughty boy but he was so polite. Also, he told me a story about when he went up his stairs, he saw smoke from far far away. He amazed us a lot! He was polite, he answered all our questions, he was charming, he was so adorable and he gave us news about the fire he saw up on his staircase.

So, afterwards, we drove to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Tita Marge's car behind ours. I felt sleepy so I slept. Mom then signalled me to wake up because we were in the Parking Lot of the park. We then went to the park, where we met little Cito. I kept challenging him to go to scary places. "I dare you to go to the Shark Lagoon!" I kept telling him. He said back with a frightened face" Okay!" We then went there. Little Cito wasn't afraid. We went to the aquarium where most of the fishes, lobsters and seahorses could be seen. Cito nearly cried when he saw a diving lobster. Tita Marge tried to console him. Afterwards, we kept going around the indoor park! I have to admit....This was better than SeaWorld! Why, you ask? Because.....

1.) It's indoor so you don't have to keep walking in the heat!
2.) They have 3D shows.
3.) Their bathrooms do not smell like chlorine.
4.) It has a fabulous 2nd floor!
5.) Humans get to feed sharks!
6.) Scuba divers have their own show.
7.) You get to touch nearly every fish there!
8.) Photography is allowed!


After a trip there, we went to Queen Mary's for a stroll. Cito was fascinated but he was starving. "I wanna go and ride the ship!" he demanded. He asked once we went on it" Why aren't we moving?" I bent down and told him" Cito, this ship broke down years ago!" Then, he began asking for food. We left the place and went to Chen's, a Chinese Restaurant. I loved their soup and chicken! After the yummy dinner, we need to go back to Orange County so, we said good-bye to that happy-go-lucky guy, Cito. Tito Sonny told Dad the freeways to go to avoid the wildfires in Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills. Tito Edwin used his GPS. So, we all had to keep quiet to find our way. We made it to Orange! Hooray! This was a very good trip!

My Super Fun Halloween!

My Halloween experience was so fun! I was Hannah Montana for Halloween. I didn't want to be a fairy queen because I felt like I got so used to it already.As I dressed up, I felt super excited! Ate Tin-tin was dressed up in a hotdog costume. I actually thought I looked like Cher. We were going to go trick-or-treating at Tita Joelle's house. I've never been there before! But, first, the most exciting part was we were going to fetch my dad from the train station. Mom and I took pictures in the car first. The first one she took was quite blue in color but the second one was perfect! Once Dad saw me, he was like" NNNNNYEK!". Then, we went to Tita Joelle's house. Her house is in a subdivision and it has tons of decorations on it! It included the drawing of Jada of a house or a little kid. Once we went in, she welcomed us inside. Jason was there, playing Rock Band with Ate Tin-tin on the vocals. Many people were thinking I was Britney Spears. Then, I met with Jada and a new girl, her cousin Allison. My mom tried to joke she was Jasmine for Halloween but she was really Ariel. She screamed" I AM ARIEL!" But, soon, it was time for dinner! I had a little bit of pancit and four pieces of chicken teriyaki. I didn't eat much so Mom told me to eat bananas to make me full. I also laughed because Jason did the vocals on the Rock Band game. The song was so funny! Then, it was time to trick-or-treat! There was this new guy who thought he was so mature. His name is Sean, who was Luke Skywalker for Halloween. I got tons and tons and tons of candy. I also entered a haunted house and wanted to cry. It was sooooooo scary! There were dead bodies and bones and witches under a tent. I gave them a 10 and wanted to call the paramedics! I was sooooooooooooooo freaked out! Then, I just followed Jason (who was a fat referree) and Sean. So, we passed nearly fifty houses until we went back toTita Joelle's house. Mom then fixed my hair. I wanted to play with them. So, I went upstairs and I asked" What 'cha playing?" They said Jason was the "dooky" and all and we were supposed to hide from him. If he finds us, we evacuate and then go to other places. I teamed up with Jada and Allison. And then, Sean changed the game to the Detective Funk Club. Once we were playing, I tripped over a humidifier and so did Ate Tin-tin. Here are our detective names:

Sean-Detective Funky
Jason-Detective G Man
Ate Tintin-Detective Lingo
Me-Detective Marco Polo
Allison-Detective Saxophone
Jada-Detective Private

Until it was time to go. Oh, well, this party will last forever!

My Super Fun Halloween

My Scholastic Book Fair Experience

The Books I Ended Up Buying In My Book Fair:

Story:

Scholastic Book Fair came to our school! I didn't have any money with me, just a P100 bill so I just peeked in. Many books were stacked up properly from junior novels to graphic comics. I looked a one book that reminded me of one Scholastic book I wanted to buy. I asked the staff saying it wasn't available. I went upstairs, slumpy and not knowing what else to buy. During English class, I saw more books I could afford with just P100. But, the book was a survival guide about totally embarassing moments called "Just My Luck", the hippest and latest survival guide in our classroom for P95. But it wasn't the one I really felt like buying the most. The paper smelled of old, expired mangoes and it was very brown. The next day, I got my The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming for P595. It got wet so I asked for a refund but they won't accept it. I wept and they just gave me a 10% off on a new book since my mom gave me a 500 left. The next day, I brought the new book and refunded it. I bought two other books. Here are all the summaries of the books I bought:

Just My Luck

By Robin Wasserman

This brings advice that makes you avoid all your embarassing moments. This says throw it all away. The four best friends in this book will help you! For Girls Only but I avoided reading it because I already know how to avoid embarassing moments.

The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming
By Laurie David and Cambria Gordon

This taught me how important stopping global warming is. This destroys our world. Why is it important now? Earth is the only home we have now. Read on to find the effects of global warming.

The Wedding Planner's Daughter
By: Coleen Murtagh Paratore

12 year-old Willafred Clancy Havisham is a classics reader, a cherry cordial eater and the world's worst wisher. But when she moves to Bramble, Cape Cod with her glamorous widow mother, Stella, all her wishes are coming true. She has her first-ever best friend, Tina Belle, she bonds with her hip, candy-making Nana and her widow mother falls for Willa's English teacher, Sam. All Willa wants is the perfect father. Sam is perfect dad material who had enough experience! But, before her mother says I do, disaster strikes! Will Willa be able to undo the damage and make the wedding a success?

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Sleepover Sleuths

By: Carolyn Keene

8 year-old Nancy Drew and her friends, Bess and George have been invited to Deirdre, the most popular girl in school's sleepover party. The theme is City Girls Dolls so everyone is assigned to bring their City Girls dolls. But when Deirdre's doll, Hollywood Heather, dissapears from her room, will her sleepover continue or there is a sleuth in the room to clear things up!

Splash Island Adventure

It was Tito Mike's birthday in Splash Island in Laguna. I woke up in delight. Mom gasped and told Dad, who was half sleeping" Excited na excited ang anak mo!" Daddy just groaned and turned over. I stripped myself naked and took a shower. After 15 minutes, I stepped out, dripping wet. I grabbed my towel and wiped myself dry. Mom said" The dress is on the bed!" I rushed to the room and dressed up. Mom entered and grabbed the brush and let me bow my head. She brushed my hair. I did as well and then, I was ready. We made sure that we had everything. Shower kit check, present, check! Excitement, double check!. Dad was going to his officemate's children's party since he promised. It was a bit humiliating for him. First, we stopped by McDonalds so my parents could eat, I did in the house anyway. We drove to Las Pinas since Tito Mike and Tita Chinkie were going to drive us. So as we were almost there, Mom told Dad" Nasa subdivision na tayo! Nasaan ang bahay nila?" I just sat there, reading the Junior Inquirer. It was very boring just sitting down while waiting for the most memorable adventure ever. Mom called Lola Conch and asked" Nasaan ang bahay ni Chinkie?" Then after Dad got the instructions, we arrived in the house. I brought down the present and gave it to Tito Mike. As I went in their house, I was surprised. The house was completely furnished....and neat! Dad and Mom ate a quick breakfast. I went upstairs to see the bedrooms. How clean! I told myself. The rooms were completely clean. The shoe cases were completely alligned. The TV matched the bed's color. I told myself again" They sure know the meaning of taste!" Lola called me down and she said" Angel! Ito ang aking BFF! Si Lola Violy! Mare, ito si Angel!" She gasped and as she was going to come in, Miguel shut the door closed. I waved hi to her and as I came out, I kissed her on the cheek while Miguel was making funny but insulting faces. Tita Chinkie walked up to me and gave me tons of movies to watch. I thanked her. Getting the full season 2 of Hannah Montana, Horton, A 40 in 1 DVD and more was absolutely awesome and expensive for a person. It cost about 250 pesos per DVD. Imagine that! It was a real long drive to Splash Island. As we arrived, we claimed our tickets. I was of course General Admission so my entry is free! ( I think). Then, we found a tent and chairs to sit on. It was by the water waves. Mom applied tons of sunblock on me. I begged her to let me go already but she said it wasn't okay without adult supervision. I waited and waited because they need sunblock too. Afterwards, I went off to the waves with Lola. It was exciting! We then went to the kiddie pool a.k.a Water Wahoo. I swam and swam. Lola then told me that I had to switch guardians. So we went there. I exchanged with Tita Chinx. After that, we rested for a while. Then, Tita Chinkie and I played in the waves. She taught me how to fight the waves using the Jump High technique and the Karate Kick technique. I didn't like the Karate Kick since I would sink underwater. Tito Mike and Miguel joined in and then Mom did and we transferred to the Balsa River. It was so fun! Afterwards, it was lunch. We gobbled so much. We just rested then. Tita Chinkie then forced us to go in the slide that is on top of the entire Laguna. I thought it wasn't that until Mom said so. We rode on top and my eyes were shut the entire time. I would almost tilt and fall off the raft but I would tug on Mom's shirt. We went off to take care of our stuff and Tita Chinkie, Tito Mike and I went back to the waves. Miguel then had a time out because he was a naughty boy. I spent 3 hours in the pool. I tried all the slides until we had to shower. Then, we left. That was the best Splash Island adventure ever!

The Internet: Tips to be ISafe and ISmart!

Who doesn't know the Internet? I so do! I love every flashy thing you see there from the Monopoly game in monkeybartv.com to the blog I'm writing now to YouTube! Here are tips on how to be ISafe and ISmart:

Chat Rooms

You don't know some people there so do not give away your personal details. If it's a stranger in a chatroom, how could it be any different from a stranger in the street?

Do not participate in mean chatrooms. Be friendly. If they are older than you, you may ask politely to change the topic if they may want to.

Do not gossip. You may not know that maybe the person you're talking about is there with just a different user name.

E-mail

Do not give your friends your e-mail address and password. They may invade your privacy like look into your love letters to a special someone or maybe snoop in your spam and pretend to be you subscribing to a lot of website promos.

Do not subscribe to spam. You may be subscribing to a website with a virus or it sends you many e-mails telling you to subscribe to other promos in partnership with them.

Pop-Ups

Those annoying pop-ups that tell you that you've won a prize or you are the 154,000th person to see this pop-up, do not click on it. A virus may occur and will destroy your computer programs and leave a bug inside making it useless or it may also collect information about you. They may ask you for your e-mail address and contact details so they'll bombard you with spam. Remember: if you didn't join anything, you have not won anything.