Biscuits, Chuck Norris, Beach, and Cockroaches....

Last week, Grades 4 to 9 went on our long awaited trip to Pattaya, where we stayed for two days. Apparently, nobody knew what the place we were staying at looked like (well, one person did, but never mind). However, this did not suppress our excitement. As far as we're concerned, if we were going for two days outside the walls of the BGIS campus with no studying, no quizzes, and no homework whatsoever, we were very very EXTREMELY happy.

So we hop on a large bus that will take us to our destination. We store our bags in a "baggage room" below where the seats were and we went up to take our seats and brace ourselves for - possibly - the best trip we will ever have this year, and the best trip ever planned since the existence of our school.

My friends quickly spotted TVs on the bus and - since I was assigned to bring in DVDs - asked me to put one on. They decided to watch "Game Plan", and we did during the trip.
Almost halfway, we made a stop at one of those rest places found on highways. What was so good about this stop? Well, Starbucks, KFC, and McDonalds to name a few. Almost everyone - except the teachers who headed for Starbucks to get iced coffe, or at least Ms. Lauren - entered McDonalds screaming out "Double Cheeseburger! Fries! SUNDAE!". However, our very stict and stern Pstr. Hong who was in charge to set us "naughty" and "unreliable" and "un-trustworthy" kids straight blurted out in his heavy Korean accent "No! No hamburgers!".

We stare at him in disbelief. Cries of "WHAT?" suddenly erupt. I myself was going to order a double big mac (which is not that huge here) and was looking forward to the cheese and beef patties. Downcast, I ordered a taro pie and a sundae...... Only to find out that Pstr. Hong was fooling around and we can buy a double big mac.

WHAT? I wasted my money for the order I didn't want and now we can eat burgers?

After minutes of pondering, I ordered a double big mac and got on the bus again. I was annoyed..... very.

Around 30 mins. later, we finally reach our destination and we find out that the beach - although not one of the most beautiful beaches here in Thailand - is right across where we were staying. Everybody cheered. Yes! With the ocean so near, we can swim!

Then, once again, the ever so strict Pstr. Hong tells us we're not going to go to the beach. We weren't going to get sand on our feet whatsoever and nobody - absolutely nobody - was going to get wet with ocean water while were there.

Everybody retorted, revolted, and sounded out their disbelief and strong rejection against this motion. If we were sent to Pattaya (which, if said here in Thailand, will mean BEACH), why weren't we going to the beach? And why are we staying at a place right across the beach? IS this some kind of an insult? Are we just supposed to stare at the beach from the front gate?

The trip was going bad to worse every minute.

After about twenty minutes of being locked up in our bus because of room inspections and room assignments and because Dr. Steve was the one who assigned the rooms and only Pstr. Hong came here so Dr. Steve has no idea what the place looked like, we finally got down, unloaded our bags, and went to our specified rooms. My roommates quickly dropped their bags on the bed and we turned our aircon on and left.

After this we ate lunch and we started games. By the way, we were divided into two teams: the Black Biscuits and the Blue Chuck Norris.....

You probably won't even hear teams named like this in the future.....

So we played games and we, the blue Chuck Norris, honestly beat the heck outta the Biscuits.
Look here:

1.) Basketball: After halftime, the score was around 22 - 2 with us leading.
2.) Soccer: this was quite close though. We got goals in on first half, one more on second, but they got one on second too.
3.) Volleyball: We bet them through serves. I think the final score was 7-21.

After that, we got the chance to go back to our rooms to shower and relax. Before this, however, Pstr. Hong shouted at us boys about not helping to pack up and that was supposed to be our duty as men. For goodness sake.... He could've just asked! Nicely!
Anyways, our room was freezing cold and we absolutely loved it. Our friends even came to our room and expressed their jealousy. I only heard this because at this time, I was showering.

After this we had a night of chapel, prayer, Coke and Sprite along with cookies and ice-cream and the movie premier (at least in our school) of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

After this, we were sent back to our rooms to sleep..... But no one did. Everybody partied in their rooms. We invited other boys to our room and we drank Coke and told and did crazy stuff. However, we did go to bed.

In the morning, the Korean kids were forced to go to Chapel and for what reason I do not know. The rest of us who were left behind then went to Dr. Steve and pleaded him to take us to the beach, and we once again reasoned out we should go to the beach cuz we're in Pattaya! Unlke Pastor Hong, Dr. Steve is an easy going guy and he agreed. So , with seven or so people, we crossed the road..... to the beach.

For a few minutes we dipped our feet in the water. We had no intent of swimming unless we were allowed by "THE HONG". A few minutes after that, the Korean kids came out of chapel and saw us there on the beach. Pastor Hong talked with Dr. Steve then said we will go to the beach after breakfast. Personally, I think he was forced to let us go to the beach cuz we were there and the other kids would be so disappointed if he didn't let them go to the beach too.

So after breakfast we went to the beach. Everybody dipped their feet. Minutes later, everybody was knee-high in the water. Pstr. Hong probably realized there was no way he could stop us from swimming, so he finally gave the go.

So we swam for a few minutes. After the swim, me and Mr. Brian pushed Mr. Mike in, which resulted in me getting dragged back to the ocean and swallowing ocean water.

After this, we had indoor games. Fortunately for the biscuits, they won the Bible Quiz and musical chairs, but that's all.

So in the end, blue Chuck Norris won and it was altogether a fun trip. We packed up, went on the bus again, and headed back to school. We stopped by at the same place we stopped the last tim once again.

This time, nobody stopped me from getting a Double Big Mac......

Interview....

So our blog assignment for today.....

If we were able to interview a famous person, who would it be? Why that speicific person and why would you want to interview him/her?

So as I sit down here in front of the computer here at the computer room with my fellow Eighth Graders and Ms. Lauren, I began pondering who should I choose to intreview.

Geroge Washington slipped into my mind. "Why'd you lose all your teeth?" I also thought of Hitler. "Why the heck did you hate the Jews?" George Bush. "Were you really friends with the bin Ladens?" Napoleon. "Were you poisoned?" Britney Spears. "What's up with the bald hair?" Harrison Ford. "Even though you're 60, how come you still do your own stunts?" And numerous other people came to my mind, living or dead.

But I began thinking.....

Who was the person who knew the answer to EVERYTHING Someone who was really powerful. Someone who knows all the answers to the mysteries of this world and this life?

Who better to interview than God Himself?

So it is obviously impossible for me to sit down and interview God over a cup of coffee (Milo maybe, or hot cocoa. I'm sure He drinks everything) because if I did, I would drop down dead. However, a writer is not limited by the world's standards because writers use their imagination.

So why would I want to interview God? Like I said, He has all the answers. He knows everything. He knows what, why, when, where, and how. He's been here since the beginning of the world. In short, He knows absolutely everything a man wants to know.

So what questions do I ask Him? Well, we should only give five questions, so here they are, but I'm sure these are only five out of a hundred queries.

1.) Where is Eden located?
2.) Where is the Ark of the Covenant?
3.) Where is Noah's Ark?
4.) Where is the grave of Moses?
5.) Where are Joseph's bones located?

I know my questions are archeological. Spiritual answers can be found in the Bible anyway, so I'm just going to ask God the locations of Biblical antiquities. Hehehe.... It would be really exciting if these things were found. It would probably cause quite a stir in other religions.

Anyways, it would be a great honor to meet God face to face..... and not die, that is. But as it said in the Bible, ALL (emphasize on ALL) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

I guess I just have to wait 'till I go to heaven to see God..... and interview Him over a cup of coffee (Wait, do they have Strbucks in heaven?)........

The Oval Theory

History has always been a big interest to me. From Julius Caesar to the Holocaust, I've always had a keen interest for the past.

And since history jives with it, I also love archeology. Or at least anything about it. Tomb Raider in games, Indiana Jones in movies, books about archeology.... Somehow, I share the same joy of the character who discovers something amazing.

But could this be the same case in the Bible? Could science possibly prove the Bible true?

Indeed, yes.

Numerous times has there been proof supporting the Bible. Kingdoms and kings mentioned in the Bible jive with historical records. Places mentioned still exist today. Plants only found in the deepest of oceans were found on mountaintops. And numerous archaeologists - Christian and not - agree that the Bible gives definite records and is used for research.

Yet people believe the world was formed by an explosion of atoms which - by sheer coincidence - fell into place just like that. They believe that men came from apes. However, in truth some planets are older than the theorized date of the Big Bang, and none of the apes today seem to be evolving to become humans.
So I began thinking, what discovery could prove the Bible true? What discovery could prove scientists' belief wrong? What discovery could possibly and finally prove that God truly does exist?

How about the place where all things were created?

In Genesis, God created the first living beings in Eden with the Tree of Knowledge and Life. After the fall of man, God cast out Adam and Eve from Eden and placed a cherubim and a flaming sword to guard its entrance.

So did God destroy Eden?

Throughout the process of creation in Genesis, it is always mentioned after every creation that God saw it was good.

Would God destroy something He saw that was good?

Definitely not.

So if Eden still exists, where is it today?

Geographically speaking, the Bible only tells us the four rivers that run through the garden: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. The Pishon and Gihon are unidentified today, but the Tigris and Euphrates means that Eden was somewhere in Mesopotamia. Modern-day Mesopotamia still exists today, only with a different name: Iraq.

So could Iraq be Eden? Could the present-day battleground be the place where God walked and dwelt?

I say no.

In Genesis 3:22, God made it clear He doesn't want man near Eden. Therefore, no man has seen or walked in the Garden for centuries.

So where is it? The Bible doesn't mention Eden after Genesis.

Alas, my friends.... this might not be so.

Michael Phillips, author of Rift in Time gives a compelling theory on Eden's location. And guess what.... we look toward Exodus for answers.

When Moses was in Midian, he went to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he talked to God through a burning bush. He was instructed to removes his sandals, since it was holy ground.

Also, after freeing the Israelites, he received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai.

Sinai.... Horeb.... both mountains. God talking to Moses.... God giving the Commandments to Moses....

According to Phillips, they are one and the same place.

But what significance does this hold with eden?

In Phillips' research, there are only two places in which God dwelt and walked for a brief period of time: Horeb and Eden.

They are, therefore, the same place.

Moses was told it was holy ground. Maybe because God walked and dwelt there? God talked through the burning bush. What better tree to talk from than the Tree of Life? The Ten Commandments. He gave at the same place He issued his first commandment.

With the theory of Horeb and Sinai being one, the burning bush being the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Life being in the center of Eden, there is only one conclusion....

The center of Eden is a mountain, and there rests the Tree of Life and Knowledge.

The second I read this theory, I was amazed how parallel all the information were. Could it be? If Mt. Sinai is discovered, could it lead to the discovery of the garden where life began?

Like Phillips, I believe that Eden is somewhere here on Earth, guarded by the cherubim and sword. But only in god's perfect time will it be revealed. Fin

I LOOOOOOOOVE PLAYSTATION!

I've been an avid gamer since that fateful day when my dad came back from Thailand (I think) and brought home our very own PlayStation One. Of course, at this time it was still those big, square, grey ones and not those tiny travel-size mutations they now call PS1. Before PlayStation me and my dad only had the ol' Family Computer and we spent our days playing Mario and that old tank game (the name escapes me). Actually, I could say that only my dad played because I was just two or three that time and my interests at that time were coloring blank pieces of paper and scribbling nonsense, acting as if I knew how to write and I had my own sign. However, the arrival of the PlayStation changed everything.

Until that time, I actually never heard of PlayStation. My dad, apprently, has been playing Tekken 2 with his friends on PS (Tekken is now a big fighting game on PS console). My dad brought it home and he showed this big grey square thingimajiggy and even in the eyes of a three year old I knew that it was something.... cool. So my dad then started to play Tekken 2, pushing away on the controller as I sat there beside him, my jaw hanging and my eyes bulging with amazement. How in the world did they create something this magnificent? So it was only a few minutes before I asked my dad to let me have a go and - the innocent three year old I was - I started puching on the controller with absolutely no idea what I was doing.

Years passed and my minded started to mature and mesh and I began playing my own games, but they were still kiddy games like Toy Story 2 and Crash Bandicoot Racing. I occasionally watched my dad play his games which were too scary for me to play at the time. He would dive into places unvisited for centuries in Tomb Raider (and what makes this game creepier is the theme songs that appear now and then when there's an enemy or you find yourself in a huge place loaded with traps) and blow away zombies in Resident Evil (the first one. Definitely scary!). So I marveled at his agmes and sometimes even tried to help him if he's stuck. I wasn't that great a help back then, but now I have a wider knowledge in gaming than my old man.

And once again, years passed once more and I finally got my PS2. Not only did I upgrade my gaming status, I also got tp play DVDs on it! So I started gaming away and - me being almost eleven - I started to play more games that challeneged me. I don't remember much of the games. I do remember Enter the Matrix which I finished. I still played Tekken, the fourth one, and eventually unlocked all the caharcters. I tried playing GTA: Vice City. Unfortunately, my dad caught me hacking a guy with a chiansaw and he never let me play it again.

And now, I am still an avid gamer. I finsihed Metal gear: Snake Eater which I love. I completed God of War II and I'm certainly looking forward to the third installment. I loved Hitman: Bloodmoney. Currently, my fancy is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Games I'm looking forward to are The Force Unleashed, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Mercinaries 2.

I love gaming, though I haven't had the luxury of trying online gaming on my PS2. However, I have my sights set on buying PS3, but I'm not sure when I'll get it. I think I'll just have to wait and see. ~ Fin