Hear my interview with Dan Tani, former astronaut, about what life was like on the International Space Station.
China- Hawaii
The 15th of June:
My favorite thing to eat was Xiao long bao because of the soup inside the outside layer.
Getting my silk coats was fun to get because they are fun to wear and I like seeing people’s reaction to seeing me in them.
The Ping pong ball floating art in the National Art Museum was fun to watch because it is an abnormal thing to see.
The 16th of June:
Travel day to Chengdu
The 17th of June:
My favorite thing that I did today was hugging a panda because the pandas are so soft and they are so cute.
My favorite thing that I saw were the pandas because they are adorable. They walk around, eat, and sleep.
My favorite thing I ate was dan dan noddles because they are spicy but sweet.
The 18th of June:
My favorite thing I saw was the irrigation ditch because it was made by people with shovels a thousand years ago. That would take a lot of work.
Walking on a rope bridge was my favorite thing to do because I like swinging the bridge and it annoys my sister.
I liked eating the mushrooms at the farm on the hill because the mushrooms were cooked perfectly.
The 19th of June:
Travel day to Beijing
The 20th of June:
My favorite thing to do was walking through the Summer Palace because there weren’t many people because the palace hadn’t opened until 8:00 but the hotel has a gate to the Summer Palace.
My favorite thing to eat was the Gung Bao Ji ding because of the spicy and sweet sauce.
My favorite thing I saw was the Red dinosaurs in a red cage because they are red dinosaurs in cages.
The 21st of June
Travel Day to Honolulu
The 21st of June
My favorite thing to eat was a Zippys burger because it tasted like American food and I was sick of Chinese food.
Swimming was my favorite activity to do because I love swimming.
My favorite thing to see was seeing the clothes we bought because I bought shirts with neat designs and pants with neat colors.
The 22nd of June
My favorite thing to see was a turtle while surfing.
Surfing was my favorite thing to do because it was fun.
The wagyu beef course of Chef Mavro’s was my favorite thing to eat because it was cooked perfectly and it tasted fantastic!
The 23rd of June
My favorite thing to do was going into a submarine because it was so wide and the sub was so tall that you could only tell how tall it was when you went down into the submarine.
My favorite thing to see was the submarine because it was so exciting inside and the amount of technology was amazing!
My favorite thing to eat was Uncle Clay’s shave ice because the shave ice has natural syrups and it makes the shave ice taste better!
The 24th of June
The Honolulu Art Museum was fun to see because of the different types of art in it like the Japanese wood block paintings.
Surfing was my favorite thing to do because I love surfing, the waters warm and it is fun to do tricks like backwards Buddha (where you sit on the board backwards in a Buddha position).
My favorite thing to eat was the salsa tuna stack from Alan Wong’s because it contains salsa, raw tuna, guacamole and fried wontons.
The 25th of June
The admirals boat was both my favorite for doing and seeing in Pearl Harbor because of what happened when the Japanese attacked.
The strip loin with French fries was my favorite thing to eat at a restaurant called Town because they were covered in butter.
The 26th of June
Beach day
Surfing and swimming were my favorite things to do because I love swimming and surfing because if it is hot, swimming and surfing cool you down.
My favorite thing to eat was at Mr. Tanaka’s of Tokyo. I ate steak and chicken. It was delicious!
My favorite thing to see was the little show the chefs do at Mr. Tanaka’s of Tokyo because they do unbelievable tricks like throwing knives up into the air and throwing shrimp tails into the air and into their hats.
The 27th of June
Flying home.
Protected: End of Year Thank You Video
Lego Movie
The Lego Movie is about this guy named Emmet. Emmet lives in a world where people use instructions instead of building things without them. Everything has instructions, for instance, they have an instruction book for how to live your life. Anyway, Emmet finds this piece called the piece of resistance, which is the only relic that can stop the kragle from being released by Lord Business. The kragle is a relic that can freeze people so they stay the same forever. The master builders, the greatest Lego builders in the world, will not let Business win. Sadly the master builders are not great enough to take down business. If they were caught, Business would put them a device called the think tank. The thing tank is a device that makes master builders make instructions for the world by torturing them and the scanners connected to the master builders’ heads would read their minds and it would be put into a computer. Emmet, with the help of Vitruvius, an ancient master builder, Wildstyle, another master builder, Metal Beard, Uni-kitty, Benny, and Batman, will stop Lord Business from releasing the kragle. Or will they? I would rate this a 10 star because the song is so catchy. Everything is awesome! I love Legos so it was like watching a dream. Also because I love that they have so many Lego worlds. It is a child’s paradise!
Best Buddies 5k
I just ran/walk a 5k for Best Buddies this past weekend. Best Buddies is a charity that helps people with intellectual disabilities. It was at a different location this year because of the government shutdown (it’s usually on the National Mall). So this year you had to do two laps to finish the 5k.
I had to watch two kids while doing the walk/run. That was not an easy job. One kept on running off and the other looks up to me so he stayed with me. After the 5k we saw Kevin Spacey, the Wolff Brothers, and Capital Cities sang.
They raised $2.5 million at the event. If you want to help raise money or you want to learn more go to www.bestbuddies.org.
Spider Silk and its many uses
Spider Silk in the future can contribute to medical, recreational and scientific purposes. Scientists, are working on making Spider silk from goat milk, farming spiders, using alfalfa, and using silk worms. All of these are clever ideas for collecting spider silk but all of those ideas have flaws.
Randy Lewis is one scientist who is working on ways to produce spider silk. Randy is using Golden orb weavers for this project. Randy is using all the techniques for making spider silk but he is finding that using silk worms is the most promising method to produce because there are many silk worms, they don’t have to be caged, and they can be raised together. The bad part is silk worms don’t make much silk on their own. Other promising methods are harvesting protein from transgenic goat milk (transgenic means one animal’s or plant’s DNA mixed with another’s) and taking out the proteins in transgenic alfalfa. Many other methods are not viable because they are too slow or in the case of raising spiders they will try to eat each other.
There are a plethora of spider silks but the Golden orb weaver only makes six. The six are Major Ampullate, otherwise known as major dragline, and spiders use this silk to climb. Next is the minor dragline silk which provides a scaffolding for the construction of the web. Spiders use the Aciniform silk to wrap their prey in. The next type of silk called the Piriform silk which connects one strand to another. Flagelliform silk is used in the inner spiral of the web and it prevents prey from bouncing off. Aggregate silk is the sticky substance on the flagelliform and helps catch prey.
Spider silk has many uses and scientists are looking for more uses. The medical uses includes making tendons, ligaments, and surgical sutures. The military is looking for uses of spider silk and they figured out that spider silk is stronger than Kevlar , which is a human made fiber. It is also is better as a parachute rope materiel and as an airplane arresting wire. Spider silk can also be used for recreational purposes such as fishing line. Spider silk can also be used to make space suits. In the future there will be more everyday use for spider silk such as to make shirts or to improve cotton.
There are some ethical concerns about transgenic animals and plants. The ethical concerns are that people may be allergic to these animals and plants, also transgenic technology may be misused, and transgenic plants may cross pollinate with other plants making the other plant a hybrid. All of these concerns have answers such as that it is unlikely that most people are allergic to these plants and animals. Ethical consideration is already in place for animals and plants. Some farmers are organic farmers and if their plants become transgenic plants they won’t be able to sell their crops (the rule has been lifted for Randy).
In the future spider silk will help us in scientific, recreational, and medical uses. Randy and his team are trying to create enough silk for products, but sadly that won’t happen for awhile. The first product made of spider silk will be fishing line because it doesn’t need a large amount of spider silk. as we can see spider silk will create stronger fibers for such products as bullet proof vests, parachute ropes, and airplane arresting wires. Who knew spider silk is stronger than steel?
Japan
When my family and I arrived in Japan we went to the Shangri la hotel and had room service. The next day we went shopping, and we went to the Pokemon Center and Tiffany. That night we went to the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program reception. The next day we went on the Diet tour, then the fish market and we got shaved ice there. We ate lunch at a sushi place with the rest of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program group. We also went to the Nezu Museum and then we went to the ANA hotel and rested there for a bit. We had another reception that night and it was fun. I got to see my old friend at the receptions. He doesn’t speak English. My family and I had to leave the second night to go to Hawaii so we left early from the reception. We had a great time with the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program and we hope next time will be better.
Hong Kong Disney
My family and I went to Hong Kong Disney. We had to go on the MTR to get there. (MTR is Hong Kong’s metro.) We arrived a bit early so we could beat the crowd. When we got in the park we went to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin. When it was 11 A.M. we got a guide to the park. The guide was great and with the guide we got to go to the front of the line. We got to go to Space Mountain, the high speed space ride RC Racer ride, the Stitch Encounter show where I talked to Stitch, Autopia the car ride, and I also got my own Student I.D. for Monsters University. We had our tour guide until 6 P.M. We also got to see the parades. It rained a lot while in Hong Kong Disney but otherwise it was great. We also got to ride Mystic Point. Mystic Point is about when Mr. Mystic brings back a magic music box which can bring any inanimate objects to life. Sadly his traveling monkey Albert activates the box. There are many different rooms like the China room, and the tiki room. We also got to go on Grizzly Gulch. Grizzly Gulch is just like Big Thunder Mountain. We had the best of times at Hong Kong Disney.
Monsters University
Monsters University is a great movie. MU a.k.a Monsters University is about Mike and Sully who are in the scaring program. Mike and Sully want to become the top scarers. One problem, Mike and Sully are kicked out of the scaring program by Dean Hardscrabble, the best scarer in the Monster World. They join the fraternity called Oozma Kappa because Mike made a bet with Dean Hardscrabble that if they win the scare games they can go back into the scaring program, but if they lose Mike and Sully have to leave MU. The members of Oozma Kappa are Squishy, Don, Terri and Terry, and Art. Oozma Kappa is the worst fraternity there is but Mike and Sully have to train them to become scarers. The competitions they go through are the Toxic Challenge, Avoiding the Parents Challenge, the Hiding Challenge, the Scare Maze, and the Scare Room. Another problem is Mike isn’t scary. When Mike figures out that Sully made the scare level on the scaring room easy, he goes through a real door to the human world to show he is scary. Sadly Sully and Mike are trapped in the human world. The only way back to the monster world is to collect enough scream energy to open the door. Sadly they have to scare adults, not kids. Mike comes up with a plan so Sully can scare the adults. Sully and Mike escape the human world and are expelled. They get jobs in the mailroom at Monsters Inc., the scream energy collecting company. They manage to become a scaring team at Monsters Inc. I would rate this movie a 4-1/2 stars because I loved Mike, but I thought it was drastic for Pixar to make Mike and Sully get trapped in the human world.
Papa Louie Games
These are the best long but fun games about owning a restaurant. You could make pancakes, frozen yogurt, tacos, and so much more. The problem in these games is Papa Louie needs somebody to run his restaurants. I have tried every game and I love every one of them so far. The goal is to make your customers gold star customers. How do you make a customer a star customer? Well you make them happy every time by giving them what ever they want. Some of your customers are Tyler, Edna, Prudence, Hugo, Utah, and Kahuna. I would rate these games a 3-1/2 because sometimes you can be annoyed and I have played these games for a long time so I just get impatient.