Whale sharks can grow as long as 13 meters. (The buses in Hong Kong are usually 13 meters, so imagine a fish that is as long as a bus!)
Whale sharks live in warm water, and in Asia, you can find a lot of them in the Philippines. In the aquarium in Okinawa, Japan, there are three big whale sharks living there.
Although they are very big, they do not eat big fish. They eat very small shrimps and plankton (very small living things floating in sea water, so small that you can't see them.)
When I was a kid like you, I liked Aladdin very much. I like this song very much. I would like to share it with you. I hope you enjoy and sing along!
There are some interesting characters here, like Aladdin, the Princess, the monkey and Genie. When I was a little girl, of course I liked the Princess the most. By the way, can you tell me the name of the Princess? You can write it on the comment page.
This morning during the story sharing section, we listened to the story of "Beauty and the Beast". I watched this cartoon when I was a kid like you. I'd like to share the beautiful song here with you. Lyrics are attached for your enjoyment.
I'm sure lots of you like listening to songs. I like doing it, too. But I think we listen to very different songs. I'd like to share a song that I really love here. From the lyrics, you can learn some new words, and how to write a poem. Because you can find a lot of poetic elements in lyrics.
This song is "Let there be love", originally by Frank Sinatra, and this version is sung by Westlife.
Let there be you, Let there be me. Let there be oysters Under the sea.
Mid-Autumn Festival just passed, and Chung Yeung Festival is coming. I am sure a lot of you are enjoying yourself in these festivals.
I would like to talk about how I usually spend Christmas, one of my favorite festivals.
In Hong Kong, it is not very cold in Christmas, sometimes you can see people wearing shorts during Christmas. I really hope I can have a white snowy Christmas so I can play with snow. I usually meet my friends and family in Christmas and we will have a big Christmas dinner. Although turkey is a common Christmas food, we do not have it in Christmas dinner because it is too big. We go to a hotel to have Christmas buffet. We eat a lot of delicious food!
Then, we will walk around Tsim Sha Tsui to look at the beautiful lights on buildings. It is good to have a talk after a big dinner. I like Peninsula Hotel the most. The hotel usually dangle stars outside and I like looking at it. The twinkling stars are so beautiful!
I like firework very much. And I like watching it in real than on TV. In September, I went to Macau to watch the beautiful firework. There were 2 shows of firework that night and I really enjoyed it. Gold, red, blue, green.... all sparkles in the dark sky. I like watching it with my friends and I was happy to know that my friends like firework, too. After that we had a yummy dinner and took a ferry back to Hong Kong, we were so tired but happy. What about you? Did you watch firework in Hong Kong at 1st October?
How are you? I was away from school for 3 months and I am happy to be back on 5th October. I hope all of you are enjoying your new year in school?
I'm sure a lot of you went to other countries in summer holiday. I went to Australia for 3 weeks in July and had a very good holiday.
I stayed in this place called Melbourne and went to Tasmania and Sydney. It was winter in Australia. It was very cold and I wore a lot of thick clothes to keep me warm. I went whale-watching in Sydney, and I saw real whales! I was so excited.
I also went to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, it is one of the biggest zoos in the world. I was so happy because I like animals. In the picture below you can see me patting a small kangaroo. Yes, you can only find kangaroos in Australia.
I also see Koalas and other cute animals. Hope to share more about my trip with you later.
How are you? I hope everything is fine and good. These few days, Ms. Faith and I are busy packing the books in the English Room. We are preparing the Home Reading Books for all classes next year so that all of you have good enough books to read.
What about you? What are you busy with these days?
My favorite cartoon character is cute, he is blue and pink. He has two long ears. He has sharp teeth but he is very kind. He likes surfing. He actually has 4 arms but he only shows two. Do you know who is it?
Yes, it's Stitch.
What about you? Write riddles about your favorite cartoon character and let me and others guess!
How are you? I hope all of you are having a good time while school prepares you to come back.
I just read the news today, the big BIG A38o airplane will come to Hong Kong in July. A38o is the biggest airplane in the world. It is the only double-deck airplane in the world. I hope I can see it in Hong Kong International Airport soon.
I read from the timetable, and I know this big airplane will come to Hong Kong from 9th July 2009. It will come at 1:30pm and leave at 4pm. So if you are lucky you should see it flying in Hong Kong's sky.
Last Saturday I went to IFC 2 to see a baby blue whale. Well, it wasn't a real one. It was a real size model of it. Blue whale is the biggest mammal on earth and an endangered species. That means there are getting less whales in this world and one day we may not be able to see any blue whale anymore.
The baby whale model behind me is about 9 meters long. An adult whale can be as long as 2 buses! And its heart is as big as a small car. Although they are very big, they feed on small shrimps only. So you can imagine how many shrimps they eat every day. Dirty ocean, big ships, over-fishing and whale hunting are the main reasons why blue whales are getting less. So, if you want to save the big blue whales, make sure you don't make the ocean dirty, do not eat too much seafood (yes, I know it is yummy, but eating less means the sea animals can eat more) and, if you go to Japan, do not buy or eat whale meat.
Let's work together to keep this earth clean and healthy for all human and animals!
I like the song "Moon River", as I searched on youtube, I found another lovely version to share with all of you. It's sung by Sarah Brightman, a famous female vocalist. She sang Beijing 2008 Olympic theme song "You and Me" with another Chinese male vocalist.
This song is particularly calm and soothing to hear, with lyrics on screen I'm sure you'll find it more enjoyable.
I just discovered an online game. If you can score 40 you are already better than me. This game tests you on how well you know about the world. Honestly, I think I still need to learn a lot more. You can try this game here:
Some of you may be confused about the animals I introduced in the Funny Animal Video Exercise entries. So I would like to introduce the animals to you. You can read the following link:
Character: Griz the Bear and Larry the Lynx (or big cat). Background: the thing Griz counting is called "Mileage", it's a scheme carried out by most airlines, "miles" refer to the distance flown by an airplane. The more "miles" you have, the easier you get a free airplane ticket to go travel again. That's why Griz is so concerned about the "miles" he has
Both Griz and Larry are flying.
Griz: (focused on his counting) 690, 691, 692...
Larry: (calm and cool) Hi Griz. Griz:Hey Larry. (still busy counting) 693
Larry: What are you doing?
Griz: I'm counting my miles, Larry. 694 (still busy counting)
Larry: (trying to disturb Griz) 197
Griz: 695. Quiet Larry! (so that he can focus on his counting) 696
Larry: 232
Griz: (angryily) Would you cut that out? 697
Larry: 780
Griz: Seven hundred eight..... (clearly he's disturbed by Larry) OH NO! (shaking his head) You did it!
Larry: That was easy.
Griz: (since he failed to count he has to start from the top) 1, 2
Larry: 9 (still disturbing Griz)
Griz: 3, 4 ...
Larry: 7
Griz: Stop it Larry!!!
What can you learn:
** count in an English way
Usually, when we see 697, we read it as "six hundred and ninety-seven". But in spoken English, especially American English, we usually break it down into 6-97, so we read it as "six ninety-seven" and we understand that is 697.
I guess everyone in the school knows what happened on 29April. Yes, it's the show day of our big musical - Noah's Ark.
Everyone was busy that day. And so was I, I was busy taking photos and having fun with the cute animals.
To be honest, the word "GREAT" is just not enough to describe how great the show was. I used to perform a lot on stage and I truly think this performance was an outstanding one. All of you who participated in the show did a very good job. You are all professionals! Some of you may have realised that I'm an animal-lover, so I was super-delighted that day because a lot of the students dressed in animal outfits and I just couldn't stop cuddling them! Being busy taking photos, I failed to take photos with a lot of cute students. Anyway, those I took are nice enough. I showed the pictures to my mother and she agreed that the kids in our school are cute, very cute.
OK, I figured out how you can improve your English through some interesting videos. First, read the following drama.
Character: Foxy the Fox and Jack the Rabbit, they both work for Frontier Airline. Background: Foxy is a beautiful fox and Jack admires her for a long time. (Foxy is flying and Jack catches up.) Jack: (Trying to look excited) Foxy! What a coincidence. Foxy: (Calm and unsurprised) Come on, Jack, you've been on my tail for 400 miles. What's up. Jack: (He was a little stucked because Foxy knew it was not a coincidence) Uh... OK..well, actually I...I'm planning to Cancoon next week and I just thought you if you weren't doing anything, maybe we can hit the beach together? Foxy: (Still not excited nor surprised) The beach, huh? Jack: Picture this -- you, me, a bottle of suntan lotion and these furry little paws. (Foxy is not interested and turns away without a reply.) Jack: (Still hopeful) I'll take that as a "maybe"? Then, watch this video:
This is a TV commercial from an American airline called Frontier Airlines.
What you can learn: **portray a character using dialogue.
**listening skills (the English spoken in the video is American English which is actually quite fast for most of you, but as you practise, you can listen and understand more.)
**Oral English (There are some terms and expressions like "Whats up?" "Huh?" "..hit the beach ...") You can try using these terms and expressions in your daily conversation.
6. Which Uniform? This is an easy book to read, (P.2-3 standard) and good to read with P.3's reader "Sam's New Clothes". The book tells you different kind of uniform you can see in different schools (summer and winter), from different uniform groups (Cub Scout and Brownie). You will find it interesting to know a lot more about different uniform!
7. What's for Dinner?
It requires basic fluency of English to read this book (P.4 standard) and it's a good book to read with P.3's reader "Midnight Snacks" and P.4's reader "What's Cooking at the Zoo?". This book brings you to different restaurants where different cuisines are served. There are dishes from Thailand, China, India, and many more countries. You will explore more menus and dishes. If you like food and cooking, this is the book you can't miss.
If you want to read these books you can come to me and borrow it for one day. These books will be available in the library soon.
Recently I am tidying up the books in the English Room and hope to provide more interesting story books for you to borrow from the Library. As I tidy the books I found some books which I would like to recommend to you.
1. My Travel Scrapbook - My Visit to Boracay This book is quite advanced and for students who have fluent English. (P.5-6 standard) This is a first-person story about visiting Boracay, a sun and beach paradise in the Philipines. As you read the book you feel like travelling too! If you love travelling around and like sun and beach, you may find this book an enjoyment to read.
2. My Holiday Scrapbook
It is another holiday scrapbook, but suitable for students who enjoys reading easier stories (P.3-4 standard). This book tells you a girl's visit to Australia. It features a lot of photos to help readers' understanding to the story. If you like Koala Bears, have been or wish to visit Australia, you will find this book interesting.
3. Land of the Dinosaurs
This is a fiction about dinosaur, the pre-historic animals whose fossils can be seen in museums only. This book is quite easy to read. (P.3-4 students, some P.2 students can try, too). Few children went to a place and they saw a lot of dinosaurs, they took a lot of photographs of them. If you are interested in dinosaurs this book is your book to read.
4. A Bird from Siberia
This book is for studnets who have fluent English. (P.4-5) And it is good to read with P.4's reader "Flying South" because it talks about a Black-faced Spoonbill called Bill and his journey from Siberia, northern Russia, to a warmer place, Hong Kong. You will feel like flying and travelling with Bill. If you are interested in birds and want to know how they migrate, you will find this book interesting to read.
5. Meeting Anthony
Suitable to P.3 students who want to practise their TSA Oral, this book introduces a new friend called Anthony to you. By asking Anthony questions, you know the family and life of Anthony. Reading the story aloud helps you with your oral practise and it is an easier and happier way to help yourself with TSA.
I had a very healthy and outgoing Easter holiday. I went hiking with my friends. We walked from Tung Chung to Tai O, it was tiring but fun. Two days later I went cycling with my friend again. We cycled in Tai Po and we went to Lam Tsuen, where you can find a "Wishing Tree". You can make a wish by throwing a piece of red paper tied with a tangerine up to the branch of the tree.
On our way to Lam Tsuen we saw these beautiful flowers at the side of the road. They were so colorful. I could not resist so I stopped and took picture with them.
It was a lovely holiday because I had a lot of exercise.
I watched this video today and I realised it's quite interesting to see airplanes assembled and painted. It's like making models! This video is about Dragonair A330, from parts, to a plane, to a painted plane.
I found some video clips about sign language, you can watch them and learn some.
Sign language is very useful because it helps you communicate with the mute and deaf. Sometimes, some universal sign language can help you break the language barrier and communicate with people from other countries.
How many times have you listened to an aircraft announcement? Well, every time you go on board a flight you must hear an announcement telling you the basic information. Sometimes it's quite boring to hear because it is all about the same thing. And yes, this flight attendant has the same feeling about boring aircraft announcement, so, he did this - RAP this out!
The first minute of the video was about David Holmes, the flight attendant of Southwest airline, introducing himself and inviting the passengers to clap a beat for his rap, as you watch the video, you can also refer to the following lyrics (it's only part of the rap, I only managed to find that much on the Internet). "I've had five flights today and I can't do the regular boring announcement again otherwise I am going to put myself to sleep."
"Shortly after take-off, first things first/there's soft drinks and coffee to quench your first"
"Carry-on items go under the seat/in front of you so none of you have things by your feet.
"Before we leave, our advice is/put away your electronic devices."
"If you have a seat on a row with an exit/we're gonna talk to you so you might as well expect it. You gotta help us out in case we need you/if you don't want to then we're gonna reseat you."
"I didn't know how they were going to react, but I like to have fun at work. People started getting off the plane and said to me 'that's the first time I have listened to the emergency instructions'."
Speaking after the break down, David Holmes said he was worried how the passangers would react, but was satisfied in the end. By the way, do you know David Holmes, the flight attendant in our story, shares the same family name with one of the most famous novel character?
It's quite breezy these days. And Easterly wind dominates, that means the wind is blowing from the East. So, what will happen if we have strong east wind? The east of Hong Kong will be cooler and the west of Hong Kong will be hotter. Why is that so? It's because there are hills (the tallest one is Tai Mo Shan) at the centre of the New Territories which block the wind from blowing to the west and cooling the land. As you can see from the picture above, the numbers show the temperature in degree Celsius in Hong Kong. You can see that the temperature at the east is lower than that of the west.
I was looking at the Government Flying Service Website, as I looked at the aircrafts, I found something very interesting.
Click to this link to view a photo of a Eurocopter (or "Dolphin"), a helicopter used by Government Flying Service. As you move the cursor on the screen, you can see the aircraft laterally. http://www.gfs.gov.hk/Document/3D/ec1.swf
I really like this song, this is a song sung by Asia diva Faye Wong (you're probably too young to know who she is). This song is also the theme song of a popular game named "Final Fantasy".
Enjoy the song and the lyrics.
Whenever sang my songs On the stage, on my own Whenever said my words Wishing they would be heard I saw you smiling at me Was it real or just my fantasy You'd always be there in the corner Of this tiny little bar
My last night here for you Same old songs, just once more My last night here with you? Maybe yes, maybe no I kind of liked it your way How you shyly placed your eyes on me
Oh, did you ever know? That I had mine on you
Darling, so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer
So let me come to you Close as I wanted to be Close enough for me To feel your heart beating fast And stay there as I whisper
How I loved your peaceful eyes on me did you ever know That I had mine on you
Darling, so share with me Your love if you have enough Your tears if your're holding back Or pain if that's what it is How can I let you know I'm more than the dress and the voice Just reach me out then You will know that you're not dreaming
Darling, so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer
I started my day with a big breakfast. A detailed clean of my pets' cage and I bathed my pets, too. I didn't call up my friend, so I was all on my own. It's up to me to do whatever I like. I chose not to sleep away my Sunday because I think it's a waste of time. Instead, I chose to do things that I normally don't have time to do on weekdays.
I played flight sim X at home, landed a few times without sweat. Then I went out for my yoga class.
After the yoga class I was so hungry, and I felt like having a good relaxing afternoon tea. So I went to Harbor City, I chose an alfresco cafe and ordered a dessert and a cup of coffee. The weather was good, breezy, foggy and cloudy, so I didn't get sun burnt even though I was outdoor.
St. Sophia Church in Harbin is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in Far East Region. It was built about 100 years ago (at 1907) by the Russian when they ruled the Chinese city. The word "St. Sophia" means "God wisdom".
This church is in Byzantine style, one of the most recognizable features of Byzantine style is the onion dome.
Outside the church there were people feeding pigeons. I think pigeon and church make very good combination. They both signify peace and love.
Forbidden City at Shenyang (at Northeast of China) ? You may think I'm kidding. No, there are another Forbidden City at Shenyang, I just visited there during Chinese New Year.
Shenyang is the capital city of Liaoning province of China, and it was homeland of the Manchus who ruled China during Qing Dynasty.
The old buildings are still in use now, but is no longer the boundary of the city. The inside of the palace is almost identical to that of Beijing. The Manchus copied the Forbidden City in China and built it in Shenyang, the first two emperors did stay here but after that other emperors treated it as a holiday palace.
Royal palaces in China has a similar format, red walls and yellow roof. The format here is a little different, note the layer of green tiles below the yellow roof. The green tiles resemble the green grassland, an important root of the Manchus.
How are you? I hope all of you are now prepared for the new term.
Sorry for my late update of the blog, I was traveling during Chinese New Year and when I was back to school I was busy with my new lesson plans.
I'm very excited and happy to share my tour to the Ice City of China with you. During Chinese New Year, I went to the 3 Northeastern Provinces of China (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning). It was my first time to places like this cold. How cold? Minus 10 to 20 degree Celsius, that means, much colder than the refrigerator at your home!
For so many days we spent, it didn't snow, but we saw snow everywhere. The photo above shows me in a skiing site at Harbin. There I had my first ski experience. I first thought skiing is a difficult sport, after I tried, I just love it! It's not too difficult to ski.
On the 3rd day we visited the Harbin Ice World. There, you can see tall ice castles and ice lamps. It's just BEAUTIFUL! It was the coldest night of the entire trip, I believe temperature there was only -25 degree Celsius. And that was the only time my camera couldn't function well. It was very cold to step on the snow, normal shoes we wear are not thick enough to keep the cold air from invading into our feet. In order to keep my feet warm, I put a hot bag (the small one you probably put in your pocket during winter) under each of my foot. If I don't do this I can't imagine whether I can stand 2 hours on snow!
I'll share more about my trip in the upcoming blog entries, so stay tuned.
You might have heard of it in the news, US Airways 1549 ditched (emergency landing on water) in the Hudson River about 6 minutes after takeoff. What happened shortly after takeoff was that the airplane crashed into a group of birds in the air. The birds damaged the engines, therefore the engines cannot "fly" the airplane anymore. It's just like a car without an engine, it cannot move on the road. So, if an airplane cannot fly, what will happen? Fall down immediately, hit the ground and everyone dies? Well, not really. Airplane designers are very clever, they design the plane in such a way that, in case of engine failure, the plane glides down. So there is a chance that the plane can be brought back to earth safely even if the engines do not work anymore. So, why can this heavy airplane float on water? It's because of the special design of this airplane. There's a device called the "ditch button", when this button is pressed, the airplane closes all its valves and openings so that water cannot go in. That's why the airplane could stay above water and all passengers were safe from being drown.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, usually just called the "Iditarod", is an annual sled dograce in Alaska, where mushers (the driver of the sleigh) and teams of typically 16 dogs cover 1,161 miles (1868 km) in eight to fifteen days from Willow (near Anchorage) to Nome.
Looks difficult to you? Let me put it this way, Iditarod is a marathon run in a very cold and snowy countryside. 1 sleigh driver + 16 dogs = 1 team.
It's a very famous event in Alaska, people from around the world pour in just to watch the brave mushers and dogs.
So, how cold is Alaska? You see, these few days are the cold days in Hong Kong, that is about 10 degree Celsius, in Alaska, it's anywhere between -13 to -5 degree Celsius, and it's snowing with strong wind! Imagine how difficult it is to just go outside in this kind of temperature, not to say racing on a sleigh day and night. Recently there is a TV program about Iditarod on Discovery Channel and it's my new love. I'm so impressed and motivated by the mushers and the dogs. They can combat with the severe weather and overcome hardship. I hope I can have that sort of courage and determination to deal with my challenges in life.
It's cold... Your mummy and daddy probably asks you to wear more clothes these few days and you may think they're very nagging. When I was a kid, I thought like this sometimes, but later I realise how true my parents are. So, now I make sure I take good care of my body so that my parents don't have to worry about me.
There is a Chinese saying, "your body is given by your parents, so you must respect and take good care of it". I think it's very true. I'm not only thankful to my parents for giving me a healthy body and a good life, I'm also thankful to the fact that I'm healthy and I don't need them to worry about me.
I recall the first winter I had with my chinchillas. One day they were abnormally inactive because of the cold weather. They didn't even respond to their favorite food, I was so scared and worried. I bought them a heater quickly and they felt good after this. So I thought, I was so worried when my chinchillas fall sick, I guess my mum feels the same when I'm not feeling well. I think taking care of yourself and free your parents from worrying about you is a way to love them. So, if you want to show your love to your parents, don't just say "I love you", but also take good care of yourself.
Happy New Year! I wish you all had a good holiday and revised well. It's exam week and I'm sure everyone is busy preparing for this (including the teachers). I think many of you may be very afraid of exams, so I would like to talk about it here.
When I was in your age, of course, I had two exams in a year. I wasn't really afraid of exams because I know I always prepare for it and I believe preparing at the last minute is always inefficient and difficult. I remember I liked exam days a lot because I could leave school early and spend more time at home.
How, I don't study at school anymore, but I still have exams. You may think, "What? You have exams?" Yes, I do have exams, but not that kind like you sit in the classroom for 1 hour, it's the exam in life. You see, even at my age I have to cope with different challenges in my life, making myself learning more, acquire more knowledge and skills and test myself on how well I know it and how well I can control it. I basically like the process of pursuing knowledge because I feel good to be filled by knowledge and wisdom.
What is the largest fish in the world?
