Arts and Cultural Troupe performance

The day before, my brother and I performed in an annual performance at DBS Auditorium.

My brother performed the day before I did. He was one of the little dogs that gave the sweet- loving tigers sweets, until the tigers got a toothache. So, they had to pull the decayed teeth out.

Mine was reading several poems to the audience and doing some kungfu stances. We had read 3. One was about a general's report to the king, saying how a good horse should look like, do etc. Another was to say how we should keep on improving.

I kind of like going onto the stage to perform. Makes me feel like a star. But I detested the make-up. I mean, who doesn't hate the sticky sensation that is on your lips and face when you perform? Worst of all, it's very hard to get rid of.

I like performing. Do you readers have any experiences of performing?

Diablo

My chinese teacher, Mrs Chan, had invited some teachers to teach us how to play the diablo, which is a 2-sided yo-yo which originates from China. The teachers taught us some tricks and did a performance for us.

Later, we all bought some diablos. It took a Looooooonnnnnnggggggggg time. It had'nt arrived even though school was over! All we had to do was wait........wait..........and wait...........till school was open. Then we could get the diablos. sigh sigh...............

Chemistry

Again, I am back to RI. For another course. This time, the main focus is on chemistry.

Now, we were greeted by mrs Lim and mdm Yu, who were the 2 instructors for the course. Strangely, in this course, there were only boys! Except 1 girl.

My team first started of with endothermic and exothermic chemical reactions. Mdm Yu gave us some chemicals to mix with water to find out if they are endothermic or exothermic reactions. Next, we did a couple of experiments like making a stalagmite out of sodium acetate and making a board stick to a beaker with a mixture of barium hydroxide and ammonium thiocynide.

Next came the 2 main demonstrations. Mdm Yu filled a paper cone with iron (III) oxide and aluminium powder. She then added thermit powder and a strip of magnesium ribbon, lighted it and sparks flew everywhere, flashing in orange and green. All that was left was a lump of iron shaped like the paper cone. Next was adding water then sulfuric acid to sugar and voila! Pillars of spongy, burnt carbon rose out of the tube.

After lunch, we used lemon's citric acid to conduct electricity and light up a LED. It took 2 lemons to do so. Next, we did a few worksheets and learnt about fuel cells.

The next day, there was another demonstration. Mdm Yu added phosphorous solution to potassium chlorate wrappings and BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!! They blew up. Then there was a lab activity and we were supposed to mix 0.1 g luminol, 2 g anhydrous sodium carbonate, 12 g sodium hydrogen carbonate, 0.25 g ammonium carbonate, 0.2 g copper(II) sulphate and 12 ml of hydrogen peroxide altogether and the mixture glowed! Just like a glow stick.

Next, we had a competition to see who could launch the highest Alka-Seltzer rocket. We mixed 120-130 ml of water with 1.5 Alka-Seltzer tablets ,pluged it tight and shook the mixture 13 times. It flew all the way to the top of the building. And we won. We got a pedoric table as the prize. We then had a demonstration on what had happened inside the body of the rocket and what was the winning formula. Then was another end of another course.

R.I. course

Mum had signed me up for another course. Today, we went to the Raffles Institution. It was beautiful there. There were about ten blocks of buildings there. Different students from different schools all gathered at the main entrance, the Atrium. Some sec students were taking down names there. I registered and went around to explore. There was a swimming pool, a baseball court, a dining hall, even a Popular bookstore! What you want, they'll have it.

I met this guy named Triston. He was P5 and was in the same school as I was.

The sec students split us into the different courses we had signed up for. Triston, some other guys and I went off to the biology lab and were greeted by Mrs Lim, our teacher. She explained the course and the techniques we were going to use.

Started the day by learning what a forensic scientist does. Mrs Lim explained that he will look for even the smallest clues to find out who was who. We learnt that DNA could be found almost everywhere, from hair roots to tissue. He also uses gel electrophoresis to filter DNA. The DNA is negatively charged. Hence, if put in an electric current, it would travel towards the positive side. As it does, the already cut up DNA will go through the gel, leaving behind 'footprints'. Then, the matching job comes in.

Triston and I got ready the gel and filled the electrophoresis tray with liquid ions. Then, we ran the thing in an electric current of 100 V for 30 mins. After that, we dyed it blue and left it aside.

Following, we learnt about bioengineering. We learnt that for the E. coli to glow (which was what was done), we needed it to produce green glowing proteins, which requires the GFP gene. It would be in a plasmid we named pGLO. This plasmid would also have the ampicillin resistance gene and the arabinose gene, in which needs arabinose sugar to activate it and the GFP gene. To make the plasmid be taken in, calcium chloride and heat was added to make it porous. It would then immediately be put to 0 degrees C.

The next day, we saw the results of our electrophoresis. It was a failure. As for the E. coli, there were only several colonies left, but they did glow in the dark, only when we shone black light onto it. To let us do more experiments, Mrs Lim let us see E. coli under a microscope. It was like little ovals. Cute but dangerous. And smelly...

The course was very fun. I like to go to RI 'cause it's big and something worth boasting about. Readers who are P4, I hope you would enjoy it next year.

Bicep Exhibition

Today was the last day of BICEP(BI-Cultural Education Programme). The teacher brought us to a Hokkien Huay Kuan exhibition at the Singapore Conference Hall.

At 1423-25, the teachers gathered us and P4/7, another BICEP class and we got onto the 2 buses, 5/1 went in one, 4/7 went in another.

We got there and 5/1 was divided into 2 groups, A and B. A went with the female guide, B went with the male guide. A went to visit the exhibits first. B went to visit the hands-on stalls. We went to the lantern-making stall first. We saw some lanterns being hung up and some being made by the stall holder. Some of us went to try it out while the rest hung out at others. Some others and I went to guess riddles. With every one's help, we solved all of them.

Next, we went on to the exhibits. The guide spoke while we gathered round. I learnt some new things as the guide went on.

After all the different stalls and exhibits, we were each given a worksheet to complete. Inside, there were questions about the exhibits. I managed to answer them all correctly! After that, I decided to go to the stall i missed out, the lantern-making. The stall holder taught us some wonderful techniques and we created a wonderful lantern!

My mother picked me up at the end of the class. I thought this is a very meaningful exhibition and you can even learn more about the customs of the Hokkien. Don't you, readers?

The immortal of PengLai

一提到铁拐里，常常听中国传说的人一定熟悉的。 铁拐李是最老的神仙去住在蓬莱的。传说他从前是个美男子。他被派到蓬莱去。。。。。。不可以继续说，不然会破坏气氛。

九月六日的时候，我和大姨到滨海艺术中心看一个台剧表演，叫做‘蓬莱大仙’。这次，妈妈和爸爸有家务要做，所以叫大姨陪我去看。

我们到了那儿后，做好了位子，我就先开始读关于演员的资料。我发现男主叫竟然是女的演员演呢！真是莫名其妙！

过了不久，戏将开始。。。

年轻的李玄，是铁拐李的前身。太上老君叫他发展蓬莱，他不但不停，还一番言语羞辱太上老君之后到江南越国去。虽然其他神仙对李玄的狂傲愤怒不已，但不知如何是好。。。

太上老君座骑清牛化身人形逃到凡间，大闹越国，使越国守护神越女神生气，李玄插手救青牛，却因此得罪越女神，两人以因而结不怨恨，因为李玄的确没把越女神放在眼里。

李玄带着青牛，会到黄山去找太上老君，怪太上老君没有好好照顾青牛，要和他出窍比武。一旦李玄赢，太上老君要把宝座让给他。不料，越女神巴李玄留在荒山的身体破坏，使他再不能回到原本的身子。

李玄变成了一个无体可投的灵魂，从此，来自地府的牛头马面，黑白无常又出现拘捕，走投无路的李玄只好在慌乱中投身在已经死了的乞丐，变成了铁拐李，到蓬莱去。

这故事告诉我们：满招损，谦受益。我觉得这很有道理。读者们，你们同意吗？

Planning a holiday

My family and I would be going to South Korea this holiday. We had gotten ready a lot of stuff, especially winter clothes. It would be snowing when we get there. I have read in a guide book that, in the winter, temperatures may drop to -14 degrees Celsius! That is why we prepared many winter jackets and warmers.

My father and I have gone to the library to borrow some books on Korea. The guide books sure do come in handy and they offer some maps and websites to refer to.

I am looking forward to this Korea trip. Once someone talks about it, I feel like we would be going to the airport that very minute!