Tag Archives: summer vacation

Boracay Summer Vacation

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This may be a little late, but I wanted to share a place that I went to during summer vacation! For those who don’t know, Boracay is a famous island in the Philippines with many smaller islands to visit. There are plenty of fun activities to see and do and one of the most unique beaches because of the beautiful white sand and super clear water. 

During my trip, I went with my family for three days and by the end of it, I was exhausted. We did plenty of things. On the first day, we arrived by a small plane and checked into our hotel after weaving through narrow, busy streets. Our hotel was very nice, with four stories, a pool, a restaurant and a quick way to the beach. Our room was on the third floor and it provided a nice view of the floors underneath. For the most part, the first day, we just swam in the pool and the ocean and ate dinner. Every dinner, we could see a fire dance show, which was really cool to see. It was hard to take my eyes off of the performers and their tricks and it’s something that you should definitely see for yourself.

The second day was the most action-packed day of our trip. With a guide, we planned a day full of activities, starting off with visiting a different island and snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling and it was very interesting. But we did have a little bit of a scare. If you’re aware of sea snakes, you should also be aware that they are extremely venomous (specifically the black and white striped ones). Unluckily for us, our snorkeling spot happened to have one of those snakes and at some point, we must have startled it as it left its resting spot and began to rise up to where we were snorkeling. Safe to say we left quickly onto our next destination, lunch.

After lunch, we had planned to go back to the hotel and save more activities for tomorrow, but after some convincing, we ended up doing the rest on that day. We changed boats and headed to a floating facility in the ocean that had the rest of our activities for the day. The first one was banana boating. A banana boat is a floating tube with handles on it and is pulled by a motor boat. On a banana boat, the goal is to hold on for the entire ride, but  as easy as it sounds, once you lose your grip, it’s difficult to get back up. My family managed to get through the ride without falling in (even though I almost fell in).

The last thing we did that day was parasailing. Most of my family were not on board with the idea, but I managed to convince my cousin to go with me. When I had first seen other people do it, they didn’t look like they were super high up, but then I got on it and looked down, it was a lot higher than I thought it was. Despite the elevation, the view was spectacular and definitely worth it. My cousin and I got nice and comfortable in the air, taking in the peaceful silence and the view of the ocean and land. 

The third day was much more peaceful. A calm walk down the beach, nice swim in the ocean and pool, and lively night walks on the beach, looking at various vendors to buy from. After that, it was time to go home (being where we stayed with our cousins in the main island of the Philippines). We knocked Boracay out early on the two month trip, but it was definitely a highlight.

I definitely recommend going to Boracay if you ever get the chance. Whether it’s to experience the beautiful beaches morning, midday, or night; or to participate in the various water activities they have, or to look at the culture, it’s undoubtedly a place you’d want to miss going to. 

-Nicole R.

Summer Adventures

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When it comes to summer vacation, all I can think of is relaxing, traveling, lots of road trips, and just couple of months without having to worry about anything school related. Summer is a time to go out and have fun with family and friends. It’s to go explore and go on some adventures. I am one of those people who can’t just stay in my house during the summer. I love to go on adventures and to explore and see the some of the wonders of the world we live in. And of course with every adventure comes in food. I love to taste different types of food each country has to offer.

One of the best summer vacation that I’ve been to is going to Mexico. Recently for my birthday my parents gifted me a cruise to Mexico. Though the cruise was only there for less than 8 hours. We got to go explore different places and book an excursion in Mexico. It was the BEST! And the excursion that we book involves food. Actually it is all you do all day your Mexico. We get to try different authentic food from Mexico and explore at the same time. And of course we also get to buy souvenirs to bring home to remember the trip. Once back on cruise, again all you mostly do in a cruise is eat! For 4 days straight I had no chores, nothing to worry, other than to eat and have fun by enjoying all the cruise has to offer! Food in the cruise I was in was amazing. Especially “Guys Burger.” And then comes the disembarking process. The process I’m pretty sure a lot of people hate the most. Don’t you just hate it when vacation is over and you get back to normal? Yeah well me too!

Another best vacation that I’ve been to is traveling around Europe for 2 weeks. Me and my mom love to travel. It’s out goal to travel all the countries someday. When we went to Europe first thing we landed on London. There we visited family and we got to go around London. Funny thing is we actually got to see some of the Royal family because it was when HRH Kate and William were visiting a local hospital/charity where my godmother works. We didn’t get to meet then but we saw them. And next to our trip was Paris. It was short one because we tried to fit 5 different places/4 countries in the span of 9 days. We explored the city of Paris and got some yummy croissant and the best hot chocolate for breakfast. Then our next stop Brussels, Belgium. Where again we explored for a days and went to Amsterdam the next day. In Amsterdam we get to explore the city and the history of Anne Frank.

Up next was our trip to Italy. First up was Milan. In Milan we got treated with an amazing homemade Italian pasta. The pasta is made in front of you and it was amazing. Then next to our trip was Lake Como. In Lake Como we got to see the beautiful Lake and its beautiful view by taking a boat around it. Ended the night with an amazing street pizza. Yes it was pizza that they sell on the streets with their little cart. It was delicious. We have a family in Milan that told us about this trick. We spent not even half of the price you pay in a restaurant and the pizza was so much more delicious. And last to out our trip was Rome. We climbed up to the top of the St. Peters Basilica for a total of 551 steps.

Our Europe trip is definitely an adventurous one. I was hoping someday to visit all these places with a little more time than usual. And explore it more. I advised if your an adventures type of person is to go to Europe and explore the cities. Because in every corner especially in Italy you see something different. Most likely something exciting. With awestruck views. And the food. We cannot forget about food. The food that I really enjoyed the most was in Italy and London. And if your a cheese lover Amsterdam has a lot of really great and delicious cheese. It was a really good experience.

“To travel is to take a journey into yourself”-Danny Kaye

-Marielle E.

Essay: Should school be starting earlier?

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For as long as we can remember, school has started in September, usually after Labor Day. However, this year it started two weeks earlier, a controversial change among parents, students, and teachers. While some think that this change will benefit students, a popular belief is that it is a dreadful decision.

Summer means late nights, beach time, and sleeping in. As a result, the remaining question is: is it okay for the school to cut our summer? Of course, there are academic benefits but they introduce us to nights of little sleep and stress earlier than normal.

Of course there are many benefits to school starting earlier. For starters, it gives teachers more time to prepare their students before AP and IB tests. Furthermore, it means less time wasted after AP and IB tests. And starting earlier means getting out of school earlier, a benefit to some seniors since all University of California schools with the exception of Berkeley start in late September.

However, there are many downsides. One of them being that you have less time to do summer homework. It is very hard to find time to play sports, go on vacations, and have fun with your friends as it is and school starting earlier doesn’t help the situation. Cutting our summer could give us even less time to finish the pages and pages of summer homework we have.

Another issue that comes along with school starting earlier and a shorter summer are the constraints it puts on family vacations. Trying to find a time when sports don’t conflict with vacation time becomes very difficult when school starts at a different time.
One factor that must be taken into consideration is that only this summer and next summer will be affected. After these two summers, the school year will fall into routine again. Although it may seem inconvenient right now, over time this will become insignificant due to the fact that school in August will become a standard start to school.
In the end, school starting earlier may be better academically, but it introduces stress, summer homework, and many other problems sooner than necessary.

-Melika R.