Day 6 - NASA Kennedy Space Center

Get ready to take off! Today our students were able to visit the Kennedy Space Center run by NASA. It was definitely an educational experience as the students were able to see an IMAX movie about the International Space Station. During lunch they were even able to meet a real live astronaut. This was followed by a bus tour where students got to visit the hangars and launch pads of the shuttles and rockets. The biggest surprise came when we actually got to enter the Launch Assemble Building where NASA had not opened it to the public in thirty years! It was a tall and spacious building that you would be at awe. There we even saw the real shuttle Discovery up close. We were lucky because the shuttle will be moved to a museum in Washington next week.

Interesting fact: The Launch Assemble Building that the students entered was the one where they filmed Transformers 3!

Oh and we finally got to see lots of Alligators too! (from a safe distance of course.)

Day 5 - Disney [Magic Kingdom]

Have you noticed that Disney World is just so big that we had visited less than a third portion of the whole resort? Here are more stories of our second visit to Disney.

 Ashley (5D)
Today we went to Walt Disney World Resort. I felt very excited. At first we went to Tomorrowland Speedway, where I drove a race car. Luckily we were all taller than 137cm. Otherwise, we would not be able to play this game. I find this game very fun because I could drive the car myself.  Then we played the Barnstormer. It was like a roller coaster but a slower type. Still we felt very excited about it. Then it was time for lunch. Today I did not eat any more french fries. I ate grilled salmon with something rice like called couscous. After that we went to Splash Mountain and Tom Sawyer Island. We felt very excited so today it was full of fun, excitement and happiness.

 Tiffany (6A)

Today we went to the Magic Kingdom in Disney. We had lots of fun there and enjoyed the day very much. At first, we went to the Adventure Land. We played a lot of games. I liked the Pirates of the Caribbean most. This was the game that we sailed through the Spanish Main with Join the Captain. The reasons that I liked it most is that:  1. There was a mini water splash.  2. Water bombs 'bombed' the water. 3. It was similar to a haunted house, but it was not too scary. If you ask me which game was my most favorite one beside the Pirates of the Caribbean, it would be the Splash Mountain. This was the greatest water splash ride that I've ever tried. When I first saw it, I felt nervous and scared. My heart was pumping quickly. However, the game was set in an animated and  relaxed tone so I was calm. 'Whoosh...Ah!!' The boat rushed down a 65-degree hill. We screamed out loudly and raised our hands up. Cyrus was too scared that he hid behind the seats.

Day 4 - Disney World [EPCOT]

We had loads of fun today at Disney! And here is the recap of the day by some of our students. Enjoy!

Janice (2A)
I was happy today because it did not rain and I have played many interesting games. I played Test Track twice because it went very fast like a roller coaster! Soarin' is wonderful too! I feel like flying in the sky. At lunch, I had a bowl of beef udon. It was a great day. 

Justin (6B)
We went to the EPCOT part of Disney World. EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. We went to different attractions. We went to Soarin', Nemo, Test Track, and Spaceship Earth.  Let me tell you about Soarin'. Soarin' is a famous attraction which we had to wait for more than two hours. This virtual flight is high in the mid air. I think it is boring because I hate flying around for watching the scenery. Next,we went to the Nemo ride, where we got on a car to check out the underwater world. It was fun because the pictures of Nemo and his friends were very realistic.  After that, we went to Test Track. It shows the making and testing of a vehicle. We need to sit on a car and pass different road tests. At last, we went to Spaceship Earth. It tells the history of human discoveries. As we came out, we played a series of games about the future. For example, we drove a futuristic car and raced against a villain. We had a good time today. I hope I can play more games tomorrow.

Breaking News: Help Desperately Wanted

Have you seen these scenarios at home?
- Keys, wallets and cell phones always 'mysteriously gone' and left-behind somewhere indeed.
- A used wet towel is mixed with dry clean clothes in the suitcase.
- Dirty smelly socks, snacks, and miscellaneous items spread all over the bed and floor.

One more scenario: - (Speaking bluntly to a server)   "I want more juice."    Period.
When the server is back with the drink, nothing is said from our kid to thank the server for the service and not even an attempt to make eye contact.

Maybe these scenarios won't take place at home because some of our kids are being served too well. But after these couple days of observations,  most teachers (and parent helpers) think that our kids desperately need a COMPLETE MAKEOVER!

Let us work together to help give our kids more opportunities to sharpen up their manners and basic life skills. Will you join us?

Day 2 revisited

Unfortunately our wifi access hasn't been the strongest so uploading the videos may take a little more time...

Here's a sneak peak at our students' performances. After 30 hours of transit and about 3-4 hours of sleep, I'd say they performed like professionals!

Click the link below:

USF Florida Quest: APSKT String Ensemble

Day 3 Dinner at Bubba Gump

 Have you seen the movie Forrest Gump? We took our kids to its signature restaurant - Bubba Gum. Kids had a taste of American cuisine here. After a long tiring day of adventure, kids enjoyed the drinks more than the yummy burger. You should have no trouble to predict what they wanted to do when they're back to the hotel. Right. Sleep.

Here's a short clip of their first "American" style dinner at Bubba Gumps

Many thanks goes to Mr. Cheng, who is also helping out to update this blog and taking many of the photos. We also have quite a number of photographers in our group giving us photos including Dr. Lee, Mr. Poon and Ms. Tang.

Day 3

Here is a recap of today's adventure written by one of our students - Jack Mau (6B)

  Today we went to the Islands of Adventure. There were many amazing games there. First we went to the World of Harry Potter. We had an amazing ride with the creatures in Harry Potter. Then we played the River Adventure of Jurassic Park. We rode on a boat to see the dinosaurs on the shore. They were terrifying. In the end of the ride, we came to a high fall and a huge splash. At last, we played the Adventure of Spiderman. Wearing 3-D glasses, we rode a roller coaster above the streets. It looked like we were really Spiderman and it was realistic. We had a fun time in the park.

Click the links below to see some of our fun:

River Adventure of Jurassic Park

Splash Zone Fun - Our kid's most favourite-free-simple-fun-with no lineup attraction at Universal Studios

 Stay tuned for more coverage on our adventures at Universal's Studios.

Day 2

Our kids are so amazing! With only a few hours of sleep and a brief rehearsal, they were able to give a good show. Our kids simply rocked and very much impressed our US friends.

USF is beautiful and HUGE!  As we strode along the promenade with tall leafy trees on the each side, we often found little cute squirrels chasing up and down. Our kids would then get very excited.

After the visit to USF, we got a taste of America by shopping at the world renowned Walmart. From fresh produce and groceries to everyday household items, kids were amazed at their bulk sizes and low prices.

But as you can see, road trips can be pretty......tiring.

We had a great feast at night. The Chinese restaurant that we went was located at the Chinatown area in Orlando. The food was tasty but our kids did not eat much for they had a late lunch earlier. I would say that the food is more than enough that it can feed us for two more days! Check out the leftover they had last night and you will realize how much gourmet we had.

We've added a few more collage photos below.

In addition, here we proudly presents our Florida Quest trailer.

Rise and Shine

It's a lovely sunny morning in Florida. Our kids are eager to start their day despite of the lack of sleep from last night. Most of us only got three to four hours of sleep. But I believe we can make it up on our road trips today. We are heading to the University of South Florida. Performing at their School of Music, I'm sure that we'll make a legend there. Stay tune to more stories...