UPDATE: May 16, 2008

Myanmar: Myanmar cyclone death toll nearly 78,000

• “The cyclone’s official death toll has nearly doubled to almost 78,000 and another 56,000 people remain missing two weeks after the devastating storm, state television reported Friday.”
• The Red Cross fears the toll may be as high as 128,000; the U.N. estimates more than 100,000 died. The U.N. estimates some 1.5 million to 2.5 million survivors are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Aid groups have reached only 270,000 so far.

Sichuan, China: Survivors pulled from rubble of China quake(There are also links to videos of the damaged caused if you follow the link)

• “Officials have said the quake’s final toll could reach 50,000.”

• “The official death toll had risen to about 22,069 on Friday, and another 14,000 still were buried in Sichuan.”
• “The U.S. Geological Survey said the latest tremor measured magnitude 5.5, one of the strongest among dozens that have shaken the area.” ( Can you believe that even though it’s been a few days now, aftershocks are still going on and are THIS strong?!)

Bear in mind that these are all “official” numbers and that unofficial numbers tend to be higher.

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Have you guys heard about the earthquake that occurred in the Sichuan Province?? I’d be very surprised if not! It was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and the death toll is exceeding 12,000. Aftershocks from the quake reached Taiwan, India, Vietnam, and so on and so forth. Ahh…Is this world coming to an end? Just last week there was that Myanmar Cyclone, where death tolls reached about 40,000 in addition to the thousands missing. Furthermore, a Red Cross ship with aid going toward Myanmar ending up sinking because it hit a submerged tree trunk -___-

I’ve said this to several people, but I’ll say it again…either global warming is really taking its toll on us and the world is coming to an end, or I’m just old enough to understand what’s going on in the world nowadays.

Although it’s several months away, this summer, as many of you know, I will be going to study for about a month in Chengdu, China. With the current natural disasters going on, people are getting really concerned! Even me! Especially since the school I will be attending is Sichuan University in Chengdu. A student from the university actually filmed the earthquake while it was going on too! Check out the article and video by clicking >Here<.

Our advisor emailed us saying:

“I contact the Sichuan faculty last night. Chengdu is spared from the horrible earthquake, even though it is just 60 miles from the epicenter. I also contacted the IPE office, and they told me that our seminar will continue as planned.”

But yes…I can’t imagine being in their position. It’s heart breaking hearing about these events. Let’s hope for the best to the people in China and Myanmar.

(I think I write too much….time to focus on cutting down again..)

These past few days have been busy for me…I feel like I’m always on the go and I need proper sleep. But anyhooo.

My bro and I took my father to the airport just a few hours ago…and boy was that entertaining.

We arrived at the airport around 7:50pm, which seemed right on time since my dad said the plane was to leave at 11:00pm. When we got there though, we were the FIRST people in line..? One of the workers then told us that the line would not be formed until 9:30p….ehh?? that did not make sense at all since you usually had to be checked in at least 2 hours before departure on international flights! My dad pulled out the paperwork and I saw that it actually said “0110″ -__- so basically…1:10 am..and not 11:10 pm… we were a “few” hours early… My brother and I roamed a bit, got food, starbucks for my dad and etc. Did I mention that I have a test tomorrow? lol anyhoo

We finally said goodbye to my dad around 9:45pm when he got all his stuff checked in. To get out of the the parking lot, we had to pay the meter machine. I put the ticket thing in and we had been there 1hr and 59minutes, which would cost $7. At first I was going to pay in cash, so I pulled some money out but my brother kept commenting on using a credit card, so I took out my credit card and put it in the machine. The machine kept rejecting my card though! We double checked the image of how to put the card in, tried several more times, and then got fed up with it and tried putting cash in instead. Then the f-ing machine rejected my cash too! wtf?

Finally, we switched to a different machine. I inserted the parking stub into the meter and it read “2:00hrs.” I put my credit card in again but it still got rejected. Again, we checked the image as to how to insert the card, read everything and it wasn’t like I had credit problems or anything either! Finally, my brother turned my credit card the other way and inserted it..and voila. HOWEVER..by that time, the machine read “2:01hr”… so I got charged $9….

Apparently..I can’t think out of the box…and it ended up costing me an extra $2.

Whats on my mind:

• It’s still cold again outside
• Chai tea latte’s with soy, extra hot or with ice, are for winners
• Folklife Festival is soon, does anyone want to go? I went last year and there is tons of good food..and TONS of hippies…
• One more midterm this afternoon and I’m golden
• Raisin bagels are quite tasty
• I want to start a business, and I have 2 in mind…and they’re not in this country
• I absolutely hate it when I have to touch door handles with my bare hands
• Should I buy a better camera?!
• I have an addiction… to Flickr
• It’s my brother’s birthday today! Be sure to wish him a good one and remind him that he’s getting to be an old man =D
• I want to go to Canada!
• I haven’t kept up on reviewing movies like I use to
• I reserved the Rebel Xti from May 23-May 29th =D
• Jdoramas: I love Puzzle, ROOKIES, and Last Friends. Still need to see Hokaben and Gokusen 3
• Wii Mario Kart is awesome. Try to beat me.
• Why haven’t I tried playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl yet?!
• I want to take more pictures…..but of what?
• I can’t wait until this school year is over

The weather has been crazy lately. One day it’s snowing, one day it’s raining, another day it’s just super cold and windy. Since of yesterday though, I believe spring has finally come! Or at least I hope so… It’s short-wearing season! I’m tired of being cold, lets have some sun already. The good weather reminds me of all the fun times I had last spring and summer =] Let’s have just as good of a time this year…or even BETTER!

It was warm enough yesterday that I could run around my yard in shorts taking pictures without any concern =D I also discovered that since I’ve came back from Japan, I need to take my actual camera around more often because my phone camera really disappoints me.

You know what else good weather means?? I can finally wash my car! whooey! I’ve been feeling embarrassed about it lately whenever I drive people around, so it’s about time Samurai Silver gets a good washing.

Do not click anything that says “Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)” - WordPress adds it…not me.. damn you wordpress

It has arrived! I rarely ever do this, but I decided to check my mail today, and to my surprise, there was a package for me =) My KENSOSHI CDs came in! I now have KENSOSHI’S 1st Album and their 4th single “Bokuno Mirai” ^^

If you haven’t already, please check out their stuff!

Official KENSOSHI site: click >here<

To check out the official KENSOSHI myspace and taste of their music: click >here<

And if I haven’t told you the story a billion times or you haven’t read about it, here is a link to my thorough post about how I discovered KENSOSHI when I was on my trip to Japan: click >here<

“Our voices reaches your heart through the sky…” - KENSOSHI

Both CD’s are right down my alley of music and I love it =D I’m so, so glad I discovered these guys.