Llamas :)

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Haha, it's kind of hard to read, it says, "Aren't these llamas so cute" in Llama font. On (Gmail) Buzz, one of my friends posted this cute little website that lets you type things in llama font: http://llamafont.com/. You guys should go there and type something in llama font too! On the bottom, there's a place that says WHO/WHAT/WHY. Go to the WHAT and WHY and you'll see why those people created llama font in the first place. And I totally agree with them. :) You'll see what I mean when you visit the website. :P

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Hey, have you guys ever read the Hunger Games series? My friend recommended it to me and it's really good! You should read it if you haven't already. There are three books in the series: the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. (You can't underline stuff on Blogspot for some reason so I just italicized the titles instead of underlining them; I don't think it really matters to you though, does it? :P) I don't really feel like summarizing the books; it's a lot more interesting when you have no idea what's going to happen. :) So basically, in my opinion, summary=spoiler (even if it doesn't tell the ending). :P

Here are the pictures of the covers. Remember not to judge a book by its cover though!

Bored...

I'm kind of bored, so I'm just going to talk about random stuff. :P My brother's friends are over so I don't really want to practice my french horn or piano, and I'm taking a break from my homework for now.

Anyway, have you guys ever tried Vita(brand) Lemon Tea? It's my favorite "box drink", personally. :) It's so annoying when my brothers and his friends drink all of it though. >:( But my mom buys more for me. :) It's not a very good sign when she has to buy almost 3 packs of 6 every week though.... It looks like this, by the way, in case you ever want to try it:

New French Horn

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I got a new French Horn!!! I got it like, last week during Spring Break. It's a Conn 10DR. I used to use the school one which is a Conn 8D, which has a lot longer tubing and bell. The 10DR has shorter tubes, which is good (because it's easier to hit high notes, etc.) but I'm still getting used to it and all. :)You know, the funny thing is, this person sits next to me in band and he has a Conn 10DR too. But before I knew it was a Conn, I was like, "Eeew it's a Yamaha"(that's supposed to be an insult to the horn, but of course I didn't say it out loud) but then my french horn teacher recommended it to me when I was looking for horns to buy; it was really good, and I ended up getting it myself...what a coincidence. When I look it even now, sometimes, I'm just like, "This is sooo ugly!!! Bleh!" but at least it plays well. In the picture, it's kind of hard to see but what gives it such an ugly, amateurish look is the engravings and decorations on the round circle things (I don't know what their called). But what's ironic is that the decorations are obviously meant to be there to make the horn look nicer. Oh well, at least it has a good sound and is easier to play with. And that's what's most important...sort of...right? Hehe.... Well I'm going to have to deal with it and make myself like this horn, or else it's just $3600 thrown down the drain. That's how much it cost by the way; I know, it's A LOOOOTTTT. But I plan on using it for the rest of my life/french horn career, pretty much. :)

Oh, and is anyone trying out for SF Youth Symphony? It's a REALLY good youth orchestra/symphony, and it's by no doubt better than any youth orchestra in the Bay Area, if not, better than any nation-wide. Because after all, it's in direct relations with the SF Symphony, which is ranked 2nd or 3rd within the US, I think. Oh and guess what?!? They get to play in the Davies Symphony Hall, every single practice. :O It's like, if you make it, you get CRAZY opportunities like practicing in the Davies Symphony Hall every week, being coached by highly prestigious SF Symphony members, and lots more. That's why I don't think I'll make it. It's like, they're

The Bar of Calculating People's Levels on Quality of Playing (wow, such a long name! :P)
San Francisco Youth Symphony level

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My level! It's actually not farthest to the bottom, thankfully. :)
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Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!!!!

Easter is a time when people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A few days before Easter, Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. Before, the wages of sin was death, so basically, all of us would be dead since we're all sinners. But Jesus died for us because he loved us, so now we don't have to die! :) And Easter celebrates the time when Jesus rose from the dead. :D So Easter is a good and fun time, so we should have fun celebrating Easter! But also remember what you're celebrating about. :)

April Updates

I haven't posted anything in such a loooong time!!! So, let me just fill you in on stuff that has happened in April:
-Had a CM Branch Honors (piano) recital. (Bleh.... >:P) I had to play my Bach piece that's pretty hard (because there's like, three voices in that one song; it's hard to explain), but makes me sound really amateurish nonetheless because it sounds easy.
-Had Valkarie tryouts (Lynbrook/high school dance team). I made it! In fact, practices start next week.... :P
-Went to my friend's house for a sleepover. :D We baked and decorated a cake that turned out pretty good! Really sweet though. At first, the cake took like, forever to bake; we would check every 10 minutes after it was supposed to be done, but the skewer/toothpick always came out wet. But it was finished eventually. :)
-A mother and father bird came to our fence (that divides our house and the neighbor's house), built a nest, and laid four eggs! The eggs hatched and the baby birds were really healthy and cute. :) At first, all the babies did for the whole day was tilt their head up to the sky with their mouths open, waiting for food. They looked really funny too, because since they can't open their eyes, they didn't know what was going to drop into their mouths. But I'm serious, that's what they did for the WHOLE day; they slept like that too. I bet their necks must have been sore. :P After about a week or so, they started growing feathers, opening their eyes, and actually sat normally (like, with their heads facing forward and mouths closed :P). Unfortunately, yesterday, they grew strong enough to fly, and the family flew away. :'(((((
-I went to my friend's birthday party yesterday at Laser Quest. I used to think the place was really scary since it's so dark and you don't really know where you're going when you walk around, but now, it's just kind of normal, like there's nothing special about it. It was fun though!
-Today's Easter!!!! :D
-Star Testing starts next Tuesday. Not really prepared for it.... D:
So that's basically what happened during April. Oh, and Spring Break also ends today. :(

Classical Piano Showcase/Recital 2011

My piano recital was this morning; it was called the Classical Showcase 2011 because everyone there played pieces from the Classical period. And this was one of the most exciting and special concerts I have ever been to!

So today's theme was the Oscars (we had a red carpet event in the end). :) The first part was the actual recital part where everyone played their pieces. However, every family got a voting sheet where they got to pick who they thought deserved the Best Sonata, Best Sonatina, Best Clementi/Kuhlau, Best Performance, etc., awards. Also, in between the categories of performances, one of the concert arranger/planner people gave a mini speech on background information about Classical composers and other music-related stuff. After the recital was over, we had an intermission where we went upstairs have refreshments. There was cake (everyone got a piece with their name written on it in icing!), cookies, and drinks. During that time, the four girls who arranged and planned this concert got together and tallied all the votes together to come up with the final winners. The third part of the concert was the actual red carpet event. If you won, you actually had to say stuff! We didn't have to say too much stuff, but just like the thank you's to parents, audience, etc. But at first, I was like, freaking out because I didn't know we had to say something; if I knew, I would've prepared something ahead of time. Anyway, when they called a winner, he/she had to go to the stage. The walkway was covered with a red "carpet" that we had to walk on though, but it wasn't really a carpet at all. It was a thin sheet of fabric that was super slippery, so everyone kept on slipping on it when they walked up. :P In between the announcing of the winners, we also got trivia questions. :) That's why they gave the mini speeches about composers in the first part of the concert. There's this one girl that knows a bunch of stuff/has really good memory, so she answered three questions (and got three prizes). Sigh...I kept on raising my hand but they never saw it! Maybe I should have raised it higher.... :P But the end, I got the Best Beethoven award so it was all good. :)

Anyway, today was the first time I actually had a good time at a recital! Usually, I get really bored while everyone else is playing, but today, I actually paid close attention to the performances since we had to cast votes. The only bad thing about the recital was the fact that my mom made me wear a Chinese traditional dress that was uncomfortably tight.... D:

Bible Verse of the Day

Here's your Bible verse for the day (Abba means father):
"Abba," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. But let what you want be done, not what I want."

Mark 14:36

In this verse, Jesus is praying to God. He knows his fate; he was going to be persecuted and will die on the cross soon. In the verse, he is asking God to take this burden and pain away. However, later in the verse, he says to God that if His plan and will is for him to go through such a painful process of dying on the cross, he is willing to do it.

How we can reflect on the verse
Imagine this: you got caught stealing something, and for some reason, the court says you have to be sentenced to death; however, your friend comes and dies for you so you don't have to pay the price. Pretty crazy, right? I don't think any of my friends will be willing to pay their lives for me. I mean, I think they will be willing to pay other stuff for me, but definitely not their lives! But in a similar way, that is what Jesus did for us. Jesus didn't want to go through such excruciating pain as to dying on the cross, but he was willing to do it for God and for us (Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins). So in return, we should have more respect for what they had done for us. Also, we should follow learn from Jesus' doings. He didn't want to go through the pain, but he did it because it was God's will. Jesus could have ran away so he didn't have to face death, but instead, he chose to follow God. And that is what we should do. Sometimes, spreading the Gospel to your friends might be hard, but it is God's will, therefore, we should do it anyway. By doing the right thing (examples: not cheating on a test, not being influenced by peer pressure, etc.), you might not benefit from it at first (you get a bad score on the test, you get made fun of by the people at school), but God will be happy and will reward you in the end. :) So we should follow Jesus' example by doing things the hard, but right, way, and doing things the way God wills for it to be.

Easter Event

As you guys may or may not know, Easter is coming up on April 24!!! :D Easter is a big celebration, and occurs every year (at different times though). If you're wondering why the day we celebrate Easter keeps shifting each year, check out this website; it'll explain a lot about this subject!
http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhelpdesk/qt/whyeasterchange.htm

So what exactly do we celebrate about during Easter? Well, Easter celebrates the time when Jesus, the Son of God, rose from the dead three days after being persecuted/killed on the cross. This was a really important moment for all Christians during that time and is still very important now; that's why we still celebrate it to this day! :)

And here's a chance for you to celebrate Easter along with a bunch of other Christians. :) At my church, we're having an "Easter Mystery Event" on Saturday, April 16th! It's after the regular service; the service ends at 8:00, then we have the Mystery Event until 10:00 at night. The church (Westgate Church) address is:
1735 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA
If you're planning on going, bring:
-$5
-a plastic spoon
-a flashlight
-a helmet
-an Easter basket
-your friends!!!!!!! :D
I hope you guys go! I'll be there too! :)

Bible Verse of the Day

Hey, sorry I haven't posted in a while. :( I have another recital coming up tomorrow; it's the theme concert of the year. Everyone's going to play some sort of Classical piece (songs from the Classical Period in music history). I'll write more about it tomorrow after I actually go. :)

Anyway, here's our Bible verse of the day; enjoy!!!

Worry makes a man's heart heavy. But a kind word cheers him up.

PROVERBS 12:25

I think a lot of people right now are constantly worrying about homework, piano (like me!), finding a job, and etc., so maybe next time, you can say a kind word to cheer them up! :D

Yosemite Pictures (below)

Sorry, the spacing got REALLY messed up once the post got published. I spaced it out all neatly and stuff (with the arrows actually pointing at the right place) but everything got shifted. So just ignore the arrows next to the captions. :P (Haha, there's a caption saying, "This is me with my cross-county skis" and it's pointing to a picture of a rock.)

Yosemite Pictures

This is a picture of random mountains I took on the bus to Crane Flat.

Above is my group and I sitting down with all our "crumb-catchers", ready for lunch after snowshoeing on our first day at Yosemite! We're eating sun-butter and jelly sandwiches. :)

(To the left): Aaaah, such beautiful snow!!! The people in the background are my fellow hiking group people. I think they got stuck on the bottom of a mini snow hill....

This is me with my cross-country skis! :D (The picture's sideways.) :(

my cabin---->

<----Cool rock! It was outside of the Indian Cave.






<---This is me at the OMG Rock!!! In the back is Yosemite Falls. :)

I'm drinking Yosemite Falls!!! :P --->

This is the Spider Cave. You might not be able to see the place where we exited, because it's REALLY small and tight! That's what made climbing it so hard.... :P

My First Earnings ($$$) :P

Hey guys, guess what?!? Today, I got a $75 check from ECYS in the mail today! This is my first time actually earning money from something other than Red Packets from my grandparents during New Years or my birthday. :P I got the money from helping out at the ECYS Wind Orchestra practices and concert. I hope to do more of this stuff in the future if I have the opportunity to!!! :D

Now, what should I spend the money on??? :P Just kidding; I'm saving that money (for something, I don't know what)!

Yosemite

I'm back from Yosemite!!! :D I actually came back yesterday night, but I was too tired to post anything. We were supposed to leave last Sunday morning, but we ended up leaving Monday morning because Yosemite was out of electricity after the big storm. But at least we got to play with fresh snow when we got to Crane Flat!

We stayed at Crane Flat for a day and a half or so. Since there's a lot of snow there, we went snowshoeing and cross-country skiing! I personally loved cross-country skiing.

For our first lunch, we ate "sun-butter" and jelly sandwiches! The sun-butter was made from sunflower seeds; the Yosemite people decided to feed us that stuff instead of peanut butter to avoid allergic reactions. And the jelly was rasberry jelly, which was also really special. :)

On Tuesday (afternoon), we rode a bus over to Curry Village/Boystown. It was really muddy there, so it wasn't as fun as Crane Flat. The snow was also really dirty...but that's ok...I guess. At Curry Village, we mostly hiked rather than doing activities in the snow like we did at Crane Flat.

On Wednesday, we hiked over to a place called the Indian Cave, I believe, and climbed through it. It was really fun! Next to the cave, there was a rock split into two called "Split Rock" (what a coincidence!). The space in between the rocks were only about three feet wide; it was super narrow! At first, when we walked in, we had to be blindfolded because it was supposed to be a surprise. Inside, we then un-blindfolded ourselves and did an activity where we had to arrange ourselves in "birthday order" from least to greatest without talking. That was PAINFUL; barely one person could even fit in the tight space, but we still had to squeeze ourselves into the correct birthday arrangement. We ended up getting into the correct order though! :D Further down the hiking trail, we reached a huge rock that had a bunch of holes in it. Our Yosemite Institute (YI) Instructor told us that this area used to be the home of many Native Americans, and the holes were used to grind nuts and food. That was also why the cave we climbed through is called the Indian Cave. However, within four years, all the Native Americans were driven out of their homes so they could make Yosemite a Native American-free national park. (I have no idea why though.)

The next day, we went on our Challenge Hike up to the "Oh My Gosh Rock". On our way, we passed by Columbia Rock, then reached our destination (the OMG Rock). The hike up to the rocks were pretty steep and tiring to climb, but it was really worth it. The view at the OMG Rock was stunning; the Yosemite Falls could easily be seen to the left of the rock, and to the right were the beautiful ice-capped mountains! :D The only thing bad about that day was our lunch; we ate pita bread and hummus, which was really gross. But at least we had Fig Newmans!

Haha, speaking of which, almost everything we ate there were some sort of Newman brand food. Once, we ate these Oreo type of cookies, but they were called Newmans or something. And instead of Fig Newtons, we ate Fig Newmans! :P But my YI Instructor said they like to buy Newman-brand products because they're a non-profit organization, and all profits go to a good cause. :)

On our last day (Friday), we went to the Spider Cave. Wow; when I think about it, it's hard to believe that just yesterday, I was still hiking up at Yosemite! Anyway, we went to the Spider Cave and climbed through it. It was pitch black inside, so we had to listen carefully for instructions from the person in the front and pass specific instructions to the back. In my opinion, it would've been a better idea to do the Spider Cave in the beginning of the week, because it gets people to bond with each other in the group (especially the people directly front and back of you), and it's almost like a game of Trust. You have to trust the person in front of you to tell you the correct instructions, and have to care enough for the person behind to give them clear instructions as well. So it felt kind of out-of-place to do such an ice-breaking type of activity on our last day. It was fun anyway though! And FYI, they call it the Spider Cave because it looks like a spider, but as far as we know, there aren't too many spiders in there. :P Native Americans also used the Spider Cave as a hiding place when people came to take them out of their homes during those four years I mentioned earlier.

After the Spider Cave, we ate lunch at a cemetery! It wasn't creepy at all though; it was sunny, bright, and happy. :) There, we learned about a guy called Galen Clark, who was the person who helped Yosemite become the first federally-protected place in the U.S. (Yosemite wasn't the first national park though, Yellowstone was.) Here's a biography of Galen Clark (and Yosemite, kind of) in a nutshell. When he was 40 yrs. old, he fell sick with pneumonia. At that time, cures for sicknesses were still ineffective and scarce, so his doctor predicted that he only had six months left to live. So he decided to spend those months wisely. He traveled to a place where is now called Yosemite, and fell in love with it. He dug his grave (near the place where we ate lunch at) and planted five(?) Giant Sequoia trees there to "guard" his grave. He then went to work on spreading the word about this land to friends and family through letters, and even contacted President Lincoln. I'm not sure, but I think President Lincoln was the one that approved of Yosemite to become federally protected. Later, President Teddy/Theodore Roosevelt was also invited to come visit Yosemite. After word spread for some time, more and more people started to come to Yosemite. Some time later, Yosemite became a national park. And Galen Clark's doctor was definitely wrong; Yosemite sure did good things to his health, because he lived to be 96 years old (or something like that)!!!! And when he died, he was buried in the grave he dug for himself earlier. :P

Overall, the trip was pretty fun! Some people in my hiking group were really loud though; they screamed like, every two minutes when they tripped over a rock or something...but I guess that's better than having awkward silences all the time. :P

I have a lot of pictures, but I can't post them up right now because my dad hasn't put them on the computer yet. I'll (hopefully) put some pictures up some time though!!! :D