Some more photos

Here are some photos from this summer. Click the image for a better view.

Niagara Falls, Canada

                                   

Bald Eagle at African Lion Safari, Canada

Fireworks on Victoria Day

A Swan at Safari Niagara, Canada

Divers at Canada's Wonderland

Porcupine at Safari Niagara

138: Attempt the "Behemoth" at Wonderland for a second time

A view of Behemoth's tallest drop

On Tuesday August 21st, at approximately 6pm, I thought I was gonna get a heart attack. Seriously, this is the scariest thing I've ever done. I can't believe I did it though! I, along with my friends, went on the now second tallest and fastest steel roller coaster in Canada, the Behemoth. I felt like backing out many times but we told funny stories in line to keep ourselves distracted from what we were about to experience. Then, we reached the front of the line, went into the terrifying seats that look like they provide no protection at all and by then, it was too late to back out. So I closed my eyes, while saying "oh my gosh" non-stop and telling my friend that I hate her for making me do this (even though I actually wanted to do it too). However, before the ride went full-blown I told her I loved her, in case I die on the ride and it's my last words to her (by now you can probably tell that I overexaggerate most things). But honestly, it was so scary but fun at the same time. I screamed the entire 3 minutes. The ride's highest point is 230 feet and it goes at 124km/hr. Would I recommend this to anyone? Sure, if you like danger, thrills, and have a really good heart. 

Me in front of the Behemoth after surviving it 

#76: Watch all the ‘best picture’ Academy Award winners from 1980-2005

I've noticed a common theme among academy award winning movies. They all have at least one really sad scene, most of them involve someone dying and there's usually a narrator who attempts to sound profound. Some of these movies were amazing and a select few were ok but not my taste. My top 5 would be "Rainman," "A Beautiful Mind," "Amadeus," "Forrest Gump," and "Ordinary People" though I must mention that there is scene in "Terms of Endearment" that is probably one of the best scenes I've ever seen that contains some very brilliant acting (if you watch it, you'll know what I'm talking about when you start tearing up). All in all, I'm glad I watched them.

# 101: Go to a legit concert

Juno Award winning Canadian RnB singer Jully Black had a free concert in my city for the Canada Day weekend and it was great! She performed "Until I Stay" (my favourite song by her), Sweat of the Brow, 7 Day Fool, Running and a whole bunch of other songs. It was a lot of fun; there were old men dancing and lots of fist pumping going on. She has a very strong, soulful voice and seems like a nice person :). Free concerts are a great way to have fun this summer; I think I'll be going to a few more! What was your first concert?

Update: I also went to see Lights, who performed "Drive my Soul," "Toes," "Banner" and some songs from her latest album. She was great!

Lights

P.S. The blog will be up and running now since summer has officially begun! Hope you all enjoy your summer!

"Life is not a mystery to be solved, it is a reality to be experienced"---Van Der Leeuw

Here are the 10 most important things I’ve learned in life so far, based on both experience and observance (in no particular order):

-If you don’t have anything good (as in positive, uplifting etc.) or useful to say, don’t say anything.
-Life is simple and if you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll see that everything will be fine in the end.  Things may happen that don’t make sense or that are upsetting now but in the future, their purpose (whether direct or indirect) will be made clear. Nothing (good or bad) lasts forever.

 -Our lives are relatively short (compared to the vastness of time), so it should be cherished and enjoyed. The time we waste won’t ever be given back to us so we really should make the most of every moment we’re here.

 - Relationships should never be about gain. Being selfless without being taken advantage of is ideal. A romantic relationship should not be started unless you are happy with yourself and ready to share that happiness with someone else.
-Actually treat others the way you want to be treated no matter how they treat you, but know when to leave if you’re in any sort of danger (physical, emotional etc.). You can’t be surprised at the way things are in the world if you are only contributing to the negative/immoral aspects.

• Laughing keeps you young and healthy. So does refraining from smoking and doing harmful drugs, not drinking alcohol, drinking lots of water, exercising and constantly learning new things.
• Reading is great (so is Jeopardy!). It’s important to not believe everything you read though.
• Follow your own dreams and goals, or you’ll end up miserable and might have already wasted many years before you realize it. Also, don't be afraid of aiming too high; the human mind is amazing and can accomplish some great things. 
• It’s important to have at least one great friend and/or one real-life role model. They keep you humbled, sane and motivated. It’s also a good idea to try to be these things for others.
• There is no point trying to figure out the answers to those deep philosophical questions (meaning of life etc.). The only thing that matters is that you have some sort of idea or faith (your own personal answer) that you can live with and are satisfied with or you’ll find yourself going crazy searching for an objectively correct answer that will most likely never be known or doesn't even exist.  

What are the ten most important things that you've learned?

“When you’re young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious.” Carrie Bradshaw

(This is an old post that I wrote and deleted but decided to post again because I really like it :))

Remember when we were children?  We could say anything we wanted, be as honest as we wanted, and no one would mind because they knew we were just kids. Or, they would be mad at us for five minutes.

Remember when we were children? All we wanted to do was explore the world and find treasure or things no one had discovered because it was fun and there were no worries in our lives.

Remember when we were children? We asked a hundred random questions in the span of a week because we were so curious about everything and everyone around us.

Remember when we were children?We would walk up to just about anyone and be their best friend within two minutes because we didn’t judge anyone, hold grudges and had an open mind.

Then we grew up.

We don’t say what we want anymore because we’re afraid of what others will think. They might think something far from reality.

We don’t look to explore the world anymore, just the back of the store we work in for a bit of money.  It’s where we spend most of our lives anyway.

We don’t ask random questions anymore because we’re afraid of sounding dumb or getting weird looks from others.

We don’t walk up to anyone anymore because we fear rejection and have been told not to trust strangers.

But why don’t we do these things anyway?

Why do we care what anyone else thinks of what we honestly say or think of them? It’s like a cyclical game that we trap ourselves in.

Half the people we know now, we won’t know in a few years. Most of the people we encounter in day, we won’t see tomorrow. And even if we do see them everyday for the next five years of your life, what difference does it make?  At the end of our lives, we don’t want to be regretting not saying, doing or asking things just because we were afraid of what someone would think. We should do what makes us happy and in the most honest way possible. As long as we know what we’re doing and the truth behind it, we’d be at peace with ourselves and that’s the most important thing. So long as we’re not trying to intentionally hurt anyone, we should do what we really feel like doing and say what we really feel like saying. It just makes you feel so much more alive and real. Even if some won’t understand you, some will. That in itself is a great feeling.   

I’d like to think that if there is some sort of judgment day, we would be judged based on our thoughts and intentions behind every action, not just the action itself. 

Why do we spend our lives caught up in a menial job? It’s like a meaningless other world that we get lost in.

What good would it do for you at the end of the day? Put some money in your leather Gucci wallet, of course. But is that a reason to lose yourself?  I don’t believe it is. No one should get so caught up in something so mundane and routine that they become living zombies.

The point I’m trying to make is that many people become boring and stop enjoying life when they become adults.  It’s really sad and disappointing. I don’t ever want to lose my “childish” mind. I already feel like it’s slipping away but I try my best to hold onto it. By that, I don’t mean that I’m afraid to become independent, go out into “the real world,” and be civil.  I mean that I don’t want to stop questioning, I don’t want to stop being real and honest, I don’t want to worry about every little thing that happens, I don’t want to give up on my desire for adventure just because it’s what the majority of society does.

Assuming that this is our only chance at life (that there is no other after), I want to make it the best that it could possibly be. To do so, I choose to remain “a child.”

 

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it"-Confucius

Here's some of my photography from the past year. Click the image for a better view. 

#122: See Cirque du Soleil (or a similar show)

On April 27th,  I went to see "Dralion" by Cirque du Soleil. This Chinese themed performance by the renowned Canadian company blew me away. There were unbelievable acrobatics, elaborate costumes and interesting live music. The show comprised of everything from juggling like I've never seen before to a display of flexibility in an aerial hoop. For more information and a preview of the show visit:  http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/dralion/show/about.aspx 

My ticket!

It was so amazing! I highly recommend it to everyone (it's appropriate for all ages).  If I had to choose a favourite act (which is very hard to do as they were all great) I would probably go with the aerial Pas de Deux, in which a couple performed acrobatic feats on a long piece of cloth hanging from the ceiling. I applaude their courage, strength, flexibility and trust in each other for that was something that must have taken lots of practice, hard work and natural talent. In fact, I could say most of those things about the majority of acts I saw in Dralion.  

The Cirque du Soleil truck outside the coliseum 

    

#14:Visit England (again)

This was amazing. I visited England as a toddler but obviously can't remember, so it was a place that I really wanted to see and explore. Having done so with my family for 10 days, I can now say that it's now one of my favourite places. It's energetic, exciting, clean, filled with interesting history and has beautiful scenery. This is what I did, along with some of the photos I've taken:

The Great Court, British Museum

We visited the British Museum, which was huge (biggest museum I've ever been in). There, I saw the famous Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and ancient art from all over the world. We spent a few hours there but only covered 2 of 5 levels. I'll definitely be going back one day to finish the rest!

Rosetta Stone

London Eye and Thames River

We also went on the London Eye, the world's third largest Ferris wheel, which allowed us to get amazing views of the city, including the Big Ben Clock Tower. It went really slow and did not feel like a Ferris wheel at all. It's pretty unique because it has large capsules that hold about 15-25 people.

Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus both reminded me of Times Square with their buzzing energy from the crowds.  They're just great and beautiful places to hang out, take photos or go shopping. Speaking of shopping, Oxford and Regent Street were filled with some of the largest stores I've seen. There was even a "National Geographic" store (1 of 7 in the world) and M&M (candy) World, which had 4 levels of just M&M products!

We took a trip to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards. I thought it was really cool to see the band of guards marching along and performing this ceremony for an enormous crowd of tourists. I didn't get a chance to go into the actual Palace this time around, but I admired the flowers, golden gates and statues from the outside.

Buckingham Palace and crowd during Changing of Guards

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Monument, which was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London, was a mission for my sister and I to climb (more so for me). We made it to the top, 311 steps later, to get another great view of the city and the London Bridge. The Great Fire wiped out a Cathedral where the stunning St. Paul's Cathedral now stands. I wasn't allowed to take photos of the inside but it was beautiful; the painted ceilings especially amazed me.

Climbing the spiral staircase of the Monument

Madam Tussuad's wax museum was much better than I expected  (after having just been to a wax museum in Niagara a few weeks ago).  It didn't only have wax figures, but also a very cool ride that shows the history of England and a 4D movie.

Wax figure of Princess Diana

 I did and saw other things, but these were some of my highlights, along with going to Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station (Harry Potter lover) and meeting/hanging out with my second cousins. I had a lot of fun and will definitely be going back soon!

Platform 9 & 3/4

#53: Ride an Elephant

Riding an elephant 

This was so much fun! Probably one of the best days of my summer so far. I rode an elephant at African Lion Safari! We were really high up but the elephant walked slowly so it was really cool. It was quite the experience. Pretty indescribable; I recommend you try it sometime. Also, the elephant show was amazing. These creatures are very talented. They painted, scored a goal and played basketball.

One of the well-trained/talented elephants I witnessed 

#65: Watch and read every Harry Potter movie and book

I just finished watching the final installment of my favourite movie/book series. It was amazing and I loved it. I don't want to give away anything but I'll just say that it was humourous, heartwarming and action-filled. This is definitely my favourite movie of the 8.  It just ties up everything and shows how relevant everything from the previous movies were. It's great how these movies didn't become lower and lower in quality as they went on, in my opinion. This is one of few series that has maintained itself up to the end. I am definitely going to miss going to the theatre to watch HP (thankfully there's Netflix and DVDs).

The books were great. I started reading them when I was 10. They were the first fairly long novels that I could read in two or three days without putting them down.  J.K. Rowling is a genius at her craft.

P.S. I cannot wait to go to London (28 more days), I'm totally going to platform 9 & 3/4 at Kings Cross Station haha.

Wax figure of HP at the Niagara's "Movieland "
(taken on my visit there in 2011)

#133: Make lasagna

Today I made lasagna with the assistance of my mother. It was fun making my favourite food and it turned out great! It's actually pretty simple to make. Now I can definitely survive living on my own haha. There are hundreds of recipes for it online. I used a basic one from allrecipes.com that included ground beef, tomato sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, lasagna noodles and water. I'm enjoying learning how to cook these days, it's really fun and useful.

My lasagna: Before

...And after (tastes better than it prob looks)

On another note, we (fam and I) are booking our flight to London, England! We're leaving on Aug. 14th. I've been to London when I was a child (about 3 years old) so obviously I don't  remember and would love to go again. I'm soo excited! :)

#120: Climb to the top of a rock climbing wall

This was pretty spontaneous. I went to a Canada Day festival at our main city park to just hang about and to my pleasant surprise there was also a rock-climbing wall! So of course I took the opportunity. It was cool and fun. Climbing that thing a few times would definitely be a full arm workout!

I think I'm almost over my (minor) fear of heights by doing this and going on Dropzone too.

Hope all the Canadians had a fun day!

Me at the top of the wall!

#80. Go on “Dropzone (Drop Tower)” at Canada’s Wonderland

CWL Entrance (photo by me)

Before I say anything else, please refer to #138, my latest addition. Yes, my life list has changed once again. It changed a few months ago when I added 36 things to it, and it changed again today when I replaced half of one thing with a new one.  I think that it should change from time to time simply because we as people change (even in minor ways) from time to time, and so our goals and desires change.  This is not to say that I will start changing everything on this list, in fact, I plan on keeping it very similar to what it is now (with more additions, of course)and will definitely try my best not to delete anything completely (ie. I will attempt everything at least twice). 

That being said, yesterday I went on Dropzone, the 240 ft tower, at Wonderland finally!! What an experience! We slowly elevated, and I felt that the top would never come. It just kept going up and up, while my eyes were closed of course. I finally opened them near the top to see the whole park below me and suddenly we dropped at 16 km/s, and I screamed the entire 3 seconds or so. This has always been a ride that I was terrified of. Today, I conquered that fear and I must say it was quite liberating.  It was an amazing adrenaline rush and I would definitely do it again. I had a blast at Wonderland yesterday, great place to visit as always!  (Most photos, incl. the one of me on dropzone, were taken with my friends' cameras so will be up later).

Dropzone as seen from a distance (photo by me)

"Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd rather have been talking." Doug Larson

I was inspired to write a blog on people in my personal life whose words and stories have impacted, influenced or inspired me (3 very good I’s). I love talking and listening to people when they have the time. I really do believe that everyone has a story with some sort of lesson. Even though the lessons may be overstated, cliche, or something I already knew, it's nice having living proof or an example sitting right in front of me. It's just so much more inspiring and real. I’ve been fortunate to be able to hear the advice and stories of some very intelligent and amazing people and would like to share a couple of them.

Yesterday, I had a very interesting day. I am currently shadowing my optometrist, as it is a career I would like to pursue. It’s really great hearing the patients’ reactions when they can finally see clearly. That’s probably my favourite part, and the reason I want to pursue it. 

Anyway, we talked about our lives basically. He’s a very accomplished, interesting and extremely intelligent man.  He is not only an optometrist, but an eye surgeon as well, among other things. He told me of his life in university and his love for reading.  He said if school ever feels like work, that’s not good. So very true.  One thing I definitely realized in university is that I did very well in the classes I am genuinely interested in without trying too hard, but had to “work harder” at the ones that bored me and didn’t do as well. I guess the lesson is to really find out what it is that you have a passion for. Also, if it’s something you need to do in order to get where you want, start liking it. Easier said than done, but it can still be done. He also said to reach for the top. In this case, he was referring to medical school.  However, his advice applies to anyone else regardless. No matter what you want, the goal should always be to aim as high as you could.  Not as high as you think you “maybe…possibly… with a lot of hard work” could or as high as you have to just to get by, but as high as you really could: 100%.

One person who has greatly influenced me personally is my grade 11/12 religion and philosophy teacher.  This was not a conventional teacher at all. I loved his classes though. He made us think for ourselves, argue, stand up for what we believe in.  He made me truly think about my beliefs; I actually re-considered the existence of God in that class. Main point: in our lives, we’ll hear things constantly from others and may be inclined to believe them, but it’s much wiser to do the research and try to think for ourselves before coming to a conclusion about anything. I live by the rule of always being critical of what I read or hear for it may not be the truth. On top of this, he also sees my potential and believes in me and I have a certain respect for people who do so (I think they’re very smart haha). Honestly, I wish everyone has or had a person like that in their lives. It should not be to validate your own abilities but for peace of mind and that extra push in tough times. 

I could probably list ten more people, but the final one I will write about is one whose story somewhat surprised me.  It was the pastor who guided my family for years. He told me that he was once a drunk, who constantly got into fights at bars.  He had also lived in an abusive home and in places that weren’t sanitary; on cold concrete floors with rats crawling around.  At one point he thought his life was over. It was hard to believe all of this, as I looked into the face of a kind man who, since then, had completed numerous years of education, now gave marriage counseling to couples, owned his own church and had a beautiful, happy and successful family.  It just proved to me that no matter where you come from or what your past is, you can always make a brighter present and future for yourself with some faith, strength and motivation. This is why it annoys me to hear people use their rough childhood or past as an excuse to not move forward. It’s one of the lamest excuses I’ve heard.

Have an awesome day!