Plans for winter vacation

Time really flies. Just blink of an eye, and the first semester of my university life is about to come to an end. So fast...

I had always liked the winter vacation, for it is not too long nor too short.
And I certainly love the Chinese New Year. It's a special occasion for family reunions and gatherings.

Apart from having fun, I have also planned some things to accomplish during the holidays. First of all, I'll kept my habit of reading Advanced and Time magazines. The articles they chose are so interesting that I can't have enough of it. Not only can I enjoy myself in reading it, I can also improve my reading ability and vocabulary at the same time! What a great deal! Next, I would like to attend a TOFEL or IELTS class to sharpen up my English skills. Since I'm determined to go abroad for post-graduate study, when to take the above exams is just a matter of time. Why not prepare it from now? Thirdly, I want to review the things I've learned this semester. Why? Because I've always believed the saying "practice makes perfect". If I review the lessons all over again, there's a better chance that I'll learn and comprehend better when I enroll in the next semster's courses.

Although these may seem a tough challenge, I really mean it and I'm determined to accomplish it!

What would we as a group do if we won the lottery of ten million dollars?

What would we as a group do if we won the lottery of ten million dollars?
Of course, we would take advantage of the "accidental fortune" first to travel around the world to places that we have long been eager to visit. It would be a great opportunity to broaden our horizons.

Secondly, we would like to help the school build a library, for it is an irreplaceable part of school education. A complete collection of books and archives is definetely a necessity for higher education.

Thirdly, we would like to invest in ourselves. For example, buying books for further study can be a great way for making us a more knowledgeable person. We can also learn many valuable things through extracurricular activities.

Lastly, for the welfare of all human beings, we would like to do some philanthropies through establishing foundations or simply making donations by the way of providing food, shelter, supplies, and education for the refugees, homeless, poor, handicapped, and malformed. After all , returning back what you get from society is really, really important.

The Christmas Shoes

I would like to share this really touching music with everybody.

It's lyrics are so special in the way that it expresses love with sincerity that differs from the common pop music, which seems a bit unrealistic.

By the way

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sun Moon Lake

2007-12-15,16

Every often or so, our family (including relatives) has formed the habit of going on vacation. We usually picked the vacation spot convenient for every one of us, which is, by far, the middle part of Taiwan. Because some of them live in Taipei, others live in Tainan and Kaohsiung, and still others, like my grandfather and grandmother, live in Penghu. This time, it's no exception, we decided to go to Sun Moon Lake, which is located in the central part of the island.

After driving for nearly three hours, the lake finally came into view, glistening and glowing under the bright sunshine. As we drove along the lake shore, we couldn't help but immerse in the beautiful emerald green waters. When overlooking the lake, it makes me think of the beautiful coast of places like Hawaii. It's a feast for the eyes! No wonder Sun Moon Lake is one of the must-go spots for tourists worldwide!

During the two day trip, we visited various places near the lake. We even went "canoeing" again. Although it was tiring, we had a lot of fun.

I had always liked the family reunion, for it brings us closer together. Besides that, going on a trip makes me feel revitalized and energetic in the midst of the pressure from heavy schoolwork.

It truely makes me feel refreshed and gives me the momenteum to keep on going and face the challenges in life.

Taipei 101 Observatory(part 2)

When the elevator door opened at the 89th floor, darkness fell before our eyes, making the observatory rather mystical at first sight. As we stepped out of the elevator one by one, everyone sprinted out in every direction with excitement. After a few seconds of "running ", the city of Taipei came into our sight, dazzling in our eyes.

Since we are not in a hurry, we took our time walking around appreciating the 360-degree spectacular view it offers. To me, the view is just mesmerizing...

Simply unforgettable...

Taipei 101 Observatory(part 1)

On the first day of a brand new month, December, my friends and I agreed on my suggestion to visit the Taipei 101 Observatory.

We bought entrance tickets at the fifth floor, then lined up waiting for our turn to get in the elevator, it was a exciting moment not only for us but also for the other vistors, most of them are from Japan. Although we couldn't understand what they were saying, we can judge by their facial expressions that they were very enthuiastic! We couldn't wait to get in the elevator from the very moment we bought our tickets, so when it's "finally" our turn after waiting for a few minutes, we streamed into the elevator as fast as we could.

When we stepped into the elevator, we saw that there were two LCD panels located on both sides facing us, bearing on it is the current height, location, elevator speed, and the timing of how fast the elevator travels to the 89th floor observatory. To our amazement, when the very moment the elevator door closes, the lights in the elevator went out, replacing it is a beautiful, colorful, imaginatory picture of the horoscope, sparkling in the darkness. As the elevator "shoots" up, the values on the LCD monitor rose quickly as well. We watched in awe as the elevator traveled at 38 km/hr. No sooner than 37 seconds, here we were, at the highest observatory in the world! (By the way, the speed of the elevator also broke the world record )

To be continued...

High Speed One opens

A new high speed rail link between London and Paris has brought the two capitals closer together, shaving 20 minutes off the journey time. The link that starts at London's St Pancras station also cuts 25 minutes off the journey time to Brussels. This report from Rob Broomby:

The French opened their stretch of the high speed line back in 1993, a year before the tunnel under the English Channel itself opened. The high speed line to Brussels was finished in 1997; and now, ten years after that, Britain has finally caught up with its 12 billion dollar line High Speed One.

At 11:01 the First Eurostar, named "Tread Lightly" to emphasise the environmental advantage of rail travel, edged smoothly out of the station heading for Paris. Just minutes later, the first fast train arrived from Brussels and passengers spilled out onto the platform to give their first impressions of the journey:

PASSENGERS: Great, yeah, very fast and… it's fantastic. Great, you said right - it was a wonderful journey.

But much of the excitement here has focused not on the fast links to Europe but on the lovingly refurbished Victorian train-shed - a jewel from the age of steam - now sporting what claims to be the longest champagne bar in Europe, and it sits under what was when built the largest single span roof in the world.

But most of Britain's mainline trains trundle along at nothing like the 186 miles per hour of the Eurostar. Rail enthusiasts are already asking, if this is High Speed One, when will there be a High Speed Two? The answer is still, no time soon.

Rob Broomby, BBC

This is the article that I adapted from the section "Learning English - Words in the News" from the BBC website. It not only provides interesting articles but also highlights words or phrases plus the explanations for you to learn. I think the words or phrases they picked for you to learn are quite useful actually. I'm eager to put it in my article if I have the chance. Speaking of the high speed railway in Europe, I have already want to take a ride in it for a long time. Especially the route below the English Tunnel, that sounds pretty exciting to me. I really wonder how they could build a railway under the sea. Hmm...wish I could visit Europe next year during the summer vacation. Hope...