Dec. 31(Grand Central Station,UN&MoMA)

The first stop we went to today was Grand Central Terminal, seeing it really made me know why I heard people criticize the demolition of Penn Station. It's really quite magnificent, the extent to which they build their train stations is quite something.

UN, we didn't really see a lot of it since we didn't take the tour.

MoMA(Museum of Modern Arts) was quite something, too. We saw a lot of famous paintings, like Matisse's The Dance, Picasso's Three Musicians& Les Demoiselles d'Avignon , Monet's Water Lilies triptych , Rousseau's The Sleeping Gypsy, some of Dali's, Miro's and van Gogh's. We didn't see van Gogh's The Starry Night, which was one of the paintings I wanted to see, it was in a special exhibition. But it was still nice, seeing all these artwork that you usually see in textbooks.

Dec. 30( Guggenheim Museum, The Met)

Since we slept late on the 29th, everyone slept late and we left late. We got to the Guggenheim Museum at just after noon, and "evaded" another long line because we had the "City Pass". I don't know about the artwork inside , but the building is really something, Frank Lloyd Wright was the designer. I've heard of it before and the architecture really isn't something to miss.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was, as almost everyplace we've been to, crowded. I guess I'll have to come at least another time, the Met isn't something you can finish in a day, don't even think of it. The museum is huge, I guess it really lives up to it's name, they have a huge collection of artwork and even someone who isn't into art, like me, can recognize the value of a museum like this. They have a great collection of Egyptian artifacts including a small Egyptian temple. I've already talked about how I'm "mildly" interested, you can guess that I took a lot of pictures.

For dinner, we met up with my cousin who's working in the fashion industry here in NYC. She came with her boyfriend and we ate at a "pricey" restaurant (An average of 20+ USD). It tasted well and cost a lot.

Arrival at NY& Dec. 29(Statue of Liberty& Empire State Building)

Well, we arrived at LaGuardia Airport on the evening of Dec. 28, the day before yesterday, and were picked up by a family friend who's also a pastor from our church in Taiwan, he currently works at the American Bible Society here in NY, they live at Long Island, which is also where we'll be staying for the week.

Yesterday, our little "group", which consists of my family and him, his wife and his two daughters who are in 8th and 5th grade, got up at around 7 and went to take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It took us around two hours, which we spent standing in line, to get on to the ferry, it was totally crazy. But I guess it was kinda worth it, the statue is really worth seeing, it's quite something. Then we went to Ellis Island, which is the "gate to America" since it once was a place where immigrants had to pass through to enter the states.

After that we went to the Empire State Building, where, guess what? We encountered a long line again!! After waiting in-line for an hour and walking up six floors, we finally got to the 86th floor. The view was great, we could virtually see the lights, it was dark already, of the whole city of NY.

Then, after eating diner, we walked to Times Square. It is really a sight. I mean, really, how many places are there in the world where it's as bright at night as in the morning? It's really one of a kind. But as great as it is, I won't go there for New Year's Eve, it'll be to crowded and I prefer comfortably watching it on TV thank you very much.

On Christmas-The First Gift

(This isn't like a blog entry; it's more like a thought about Christmas.)
(The title doesn't mean "on Christmas (day)", it's more like "Concerning Christmas")

Christmas, it's a season of love, a season of gift giving, and a season of warmth in the cold of winter. It is a season of shopping, of Christmas trees, of Santa Claus and a lot more. But what is Christmas really about, what is this holiday which causes major traffic jams in cities around the world really about? There must be more. It actually is quite surprising; it celebrates the birth of an infant, 2000 years, in a manger, in a small town in the Middle East.

Two thousand years ago, in Bethlehem a small town in Israel, a child was born. He was born in a manger, not in a palace or a house of power, but in a humble manger. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)." A king was born to us, but he was not born to be served, but to serve. Not only to serve, but to die for us, die so that our sins may be forgiven “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5)." "The Word became flesh." God came down as a man, he walked our roads and he felt our pains, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15)." God gave us the first gift, which is also the greatest one, his one and only son, Jesus Christ, who lived to die for our sins, so that we may be holy again.

So next time when Christmas come along and you're giving presents, don't forget the first gift, which was given by God to all mankind, Jesus Christ, the Savior.

Trip

I went on a three day trip to Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec with family& friends. It was fine, I guess, as long as my little sister and her "friend" turn down the volume of their talking and so on. It was a lot colder there than here in Toronto, about 10 degrees colder, but it's still bearable. Anyways, we went to a few places and some of them were quite cool, in Ottawa, we made a stop at the Canadian Parliament and then we went to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which I admit doesn't sound too cool, and its normal exhibits only strengthen that, but then, there was a special exhibit that is cool, as long as you like ancient Egypt and don't freak out when you see mummies. There was an exhibit, "Tombs of Eternity: The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt", and since I'm "mildly" interested in Egyptology, which must have something to do with my uncle who, I believe, has a PhD in Egyptology, I loved it, it's not like you can see a real mummy every day.
Later we went to a catholic church, a big one, Saint Joseph's Oratory, at Montreal. And I have to admit, disregarding the problems in their theology; Catholics really know how to build a church.
Then, we went to the Olympic Tower, which wasn't a lot. The Biodome was better, there were all kinds of different animals in it, and it was.....just cool I guess.
Then there's old Quebec City, which was fine, I wasn't in a good mood then, it was way too cold for my liking. The next day, yesterday, we came back, passing through Kingston on the way.
Please forgive me if it wasn't a very interesting entry, I don't really know what to put in.

I'm really looking forward to the trip to NYC, I haven't really been there before and I..... Guess I just look forward to it.

Photos from the three day trip

Last Week of School

It's the last week of school, there's tons of HW. I'm just sick of it.Looking forward to the53 day winter break.

University of Waterloo& Weather& Random stuff

Last Friday, my family went to the University of Waterloo. It's a pleasant school, and since it isn't located in a big city, it has a bigger campus, which makes it "feel more like a university"(That's what my mom said), although it is quite cold, even compared to Toronto. I went on a general campus tour and an engineering tour (software engineering). I'm mainly interested in computer science, which at Waterloo is in the Math Department. I think I'm interested in it because it's "computer" and "science", LOL, just kidding, I'm interested in it because I think I'd like to have a career related to it and because......I like it. We went to Waterloo because it is considered No.1 in computer science in Canada, and since it's near, we decided to visit. I am actually considering taking my undergrad studies outside of Taiwan, there are, naturally, some reasons. Some of the reasons are because A LOT of the schools outside of Taiwan offer better Computer Science programs than those in Taiwan, and I can also skip the university entrance exam in Taiwan, YEAH!!! And since the tuition in Canada is much more affordable than that in the state, it's possible that I'll pursue my university education here.

The weather here is beginning to become quite terrible, it's started to be freezing cold; literally, it was as low as -10 today. Walking outside is becoming more and more unbearable, so I'm thankful that I won't have to last through the whole winter here.

I bought two books last Thursday when we went to Costco, they're "The Appeal" by John Grisham and "Change of Heart" by Jodi Picoult, both are great writers and I look forward to reading them, but they'll have to wait, for a reason......... No, I'm not that hardworking, it's not because I have to study more, though I do, it's because I'm gonna read the books borrowed from the library here, since I can read the two books later and not the library books. I still have like 5+ books at home that I haven't read yet and a few that I hope I can get and finish before I leave Canada.

OK, I guess I've made up for not writing for a long time, or maybe not, anyways we'll be at New York from the 28th to the 3 of January (New Years Eve!!! Time Square!!!), after that we'll go visit my uncle at LA on the 7th and leave for Taiwan on the 20th, arriving home on the 21st, thus ending the half year "trip" to Canada.