Travel Journal...Day 4

My dad and I hanging around the hotel hammock

After having a great time in the Las Olas resort, we started heading back to Panama City. We couldn't reach Panama City by the end of the day so we stayed at a hotel in Coronado beach. The hotel had a private beach exclusive for the people staying at the hotel. Even though we couldn't really enjoy it since we could only stay there for a day, the beach was great. Then we finally came back home at around 6 P.M. Our trip to Chiriqui ended.

Travel Journal...Day 3

In front of the beach. By the way, that's me.

My dad finally decides to drive back to David, the capital city of the Chiriqui Province. I am glad to get of Boquete. After struggling a bit with the roads, we finally make it back to David, where we eat lunch. My dad decides to rest in the beach. So we drive south towards the pacific ocean, and we find a decent hotel with the beach right next to it. We have a good time there. The waves and the winds blew away all of my worries. It was great there.

Travel Journal...Day 2

A Coffee Factory in Boquete, a small town in the province Chiriqui

The long tedious ride from the Panama City to Boquete was horrible. Covering hundreds of miles by a rented 4x4 Toyota, We finally reached Boquete at around 8 P.M. Dinner at an old restaurant was horrible as well. I didn't get the reason people visit here so much. There is nothing to do here. Maybe it's because of the Coffee Factory above, but I'm not interested in Coffees.The hotel was also not very satisfying. the bedsheets weren't washed and there were bugs everywhere...

A Surprise in the Subway Station

I was walking down the subway station with my usual, bright disposition. There were homeless men, clad with sheets of blankets, cardboard boxes, newspapers and worn clothes. But I saw this slovenly, young boy. He had a small body. With an affable manner, I spontaneously encompassed him. However, when I saw his face, I was electrified by who he was.

It was Holden, who used to be my best friend back when we were in Elkton Hills together, sleeping in the subways station. His face showed a despondent expression. I quickly woke him up. He was in a turbulent, untidy situation.

“Hey, Holden, wake up!” I said while shaking him with my tremulous hands.

“Goddamn it, why did you… oh, Kun Hee, long time, no see,” He said, but he didn’t look surprised.

“What are you doing here, sleeping in the subway station? You look like a recluse!” I said. I took him to a café nearby, but I had to hurry up (I had a meeting to attend). As we walked towards the café, I saw that his clothes had an abrasion.

“Yeah, I had struggled these days,” he said.

In the café, he told me in a cursory manner, what has happened to him since he was flunked from Pencey Prep. I had to make a conjecture that he has been drinking, for his breath smelled like my alcoholic uncle John. His attitude was lackadaisical, and I could tell that he wasn’t glad that I came because he barely seemed like he was listening to me. In a brusque manner, he left the café with a lousy excuse and said that he had to go and meet someone pivotal. I was only trying to extricate him from his situation by giving him sage advicies.

Half a year…Already

Kun Hee Yeo

February 23^rd, 2009

Embarking towards a new place

Called Panama

Lucky Seven, they say

With Panama being my seventh country

I felt like

A nomad

I was tired and rankled

Of moving to new places

My spirit has become lackadaisical

The effort I’ve poured in

To make new friends

Went all to waste

The moment I stepped on

Gate 42, with my one way ticket

To panama

Now, it is October

Half a year

Already

Made new friends

Restored everything

Panama feels like

My home

This safe, serene place

I want to stay here

Here, in Balboa Academy

Till I graduate

Please don’t confiscate my life

Anymore

Destiny, don’t make me move

Ever again

Holden

Irresponsible, unaccountable and uncontrollable

A teacher’s worst nightmare

There is no other

Boy like you.

You are

Limited edition

Sarcastic, ironic.

You’re a critic.

Picking on everyone’s

Flaws

Liar and a sadist

Complains about everything

Never tries to achieve anything

Do you care about

Your future?

Booted from Elkton Hills, Whooten School and Pencey

Which school

Is the next?

Failing four out of five subjects

A very bright future

I see

Book Review: Ark Angel

Anthony Horowitz shows an action-packed thrilling story in his book Ark Angel. The protagonist is a fourteen year old teen called Alex Rider- the son of a professional assassin and the nephew of a dead spy who has worked for the MI6(British Secret Intelligence Service). This book is definitely for boys who hate reading books (This book will make them want to read) or somebody who likes to read books with thrillers and suspensions in every chapter.

During the story, Alex Rider is intentionally drawn into an adventure involving a Russian billionaire called Nikolai Drevin and his son Paul Drevin, even though Alex couldn’t realize it until the climax of the story. The antagonist Nikolai Drevin is later on revealed as the worst criminal in the world and the CIA makes Alex Rider find evidence so they can arrest him. He later on discovers an evil plan by Nikolai Drevin about Project Ark Angel and his adventure towards stopping Drevin starts.

Alex Rider wants a normal teenage boy life. However, his dream to be a normal teenage boy cannot be accomplished because he is already trained and destined to be a spy for MI6. Unlike his friends in his school in London, Alex is always spying for MI6. He is the vital weapon for MI6 because nobody will think that a 14 year old boy can possibly be a spy. Ark Angel is a book full of thrilling moments that will make you continue to read until the end.

Ark Angel is the sixth book of the Alex Rider series. Although I don’t think it is the best book of the series, Ark Angel is a very compelling book. Every end of the chapter, Anthony Horowitz leaves a cliff-hanger that made me read more. When a mystery is solved, another mystery is introduced that keeps the reader entertained. Also, at the end of the book, AH leaves a huge mystery that makes the reader wonder what will happen in the next book of the series.

However, there were some moments that were impossible for a fourteen year old boy to solve. For example, Alex escaped from the top the top of a building that was set on fire by walking over a rope to the building next to it.

This book is obviously set in a modern setting, probably the 21^st century. Ark Angel was a medium sized book (327 pages) and a book that suites for boys aged 11 to 15. The book was a little bit boring during the first 50~70 pages because during those pages the book only introduced the characters. But as the book gets near the climax, the story gets really intense. Realistic setting, intense plot, diverse characters and mysterious chapters are all contained in Ark Angel. I strongly recommend this book.