VLD Week 3

Reporter: How did you feel when your father informed you that your family would escape to Rach Gia?

Ly: I felt kind of happy but I’m also scared. I’m happy because I could escape from the cruel teachers that humiliated me in front of my whole class, and I’m also glad that I could be free from being bullied, also because I’m tired of being noticed and watched by everyone in school after I’m criticized. Not to mention, I was thankful that I didn’t have to be separated from her family and I don’t have to be going to the re-education camp. I’m a little bit scared though, I’m scared that we wouldn’t be able to escape, but I believe in my father, so I try my best to not worry about the escaping plan.

Reporter: What do you think about Quan’s escaping plan by using The Lucky Dragon to Malaysia?

Ly: I think Quan is brilliant at making plans, he can make plans so great and I don’t worry a thing about his plan. Actually, I agreed to his plans, and I really think we could make it. I am actually excited to start the plan at that time.

Reporter: What scared you the most as you started your journey to Malaysia?

Ly: I’m not really scared of my journey, but probably what I fear the most is that Malaysia wouldn’t accept us, and we might be sent back to Vietnam. I am not scared that we might not find Malaysia, because there’s Quan and Captain Cu that can navigate.

Reporter: How do you feel when you first saw Bidong?

Ly: I felt disappointed, because Bidong seems horrible, and it’s not what I thought it would be. I actually expected a much better situation there, but it seemed worst.

VLD Week #2

Dear Kaylyn,

The morning that my family escape, my grandparents left first. At about 8a.m, they went to the bus stop and started their journey. We have decided to meet up later on, in the nearest post office in Singapore.  Then, bout 2 hours later, me and my 2 sisters started our journey. We three have packed all of the stuffs we need, and then we went to another bus stop, not the same as my grandparents’, since if it’s the same, they can be tracked down. Our entire plan went well, and my parents were going to leave at night, after their work is done. When they left, they told me that they turned on all the house lights, so that inquisitive neighbors that passed by didn’t think that my family had escaped.

The next morning, we all at last arrived in Singapore and meet up to our meeting point. My grandparents were the first one to arrive, since they started their journey first. They didn’t seem to have any problem in this journey, they seemed fine, especially my grandmother, she seems to be really excited with this trip. Me and my sisters were the one who arrived next. As we arrived, we immediately find the nearest toilet and clean our faces, making ourselves to seem new. Then, our parents arrive. They join us in the edges of the post office, and my father suggested finding a spot to rest down, and so we did.

We rest down in a small coffee shop near the office, and we planned our next plan, about the using of our sold boat. My brilliant mother, as usual, suggested to just take a look at the boat we planned to use, even though it’s illegal. She told us that we don’t have many choices, but my oldest sister doesn’t agree. She said that since the boat isn’t ours anymore, we would have no chance in escaping. This idea is different from my mothers’. My grandmother seems to agree with my mother’s idea, and so they both decided to take a look at the boat.

In the evening, when we decided to meet up again, my mother came to our spot with a big smiley face. She immediately sits and explains to use, about her idea of taking the boat and run away. She told us that we can use the rising tide to move the boat, without any sound. She said we could cut the boat first, and then use the tide to move it, and when we’re far enough we could then start the engine, which can be start by my grandma. At first, my sister doesn’t agree, but after discussing for a while, we decided to follow my mother’s plan.

At night, we started the plan. So, first my mother and grandma will cut the boat free and use the tide to stir it. Then, there’s sand spit about 100 meter after the shore, and the other family member will be waiting there. Everything went well, and at last they have succeeded their mission, everyone is now in the boat. My grandma is so happy because we succeeded. She’s just like uncle Tan, though she didn’t lost her foot, but she has the same happy spirit like him. My grandfather is already quite sick, so he always complains about this trip, pretty much the same as Aunt Binh. 

Suddenly, there's someone coming from below, a men, about 170cm tall I guess. He looks very muscular, and strong. All of my family were surprised, especially my grandpa. He immediately shrieked as he saw that men. Then, I started to break off the pause, I asked, who is he. Then, he ask me back.  So, i explained to him, all of the things that happens to me and my family. He seemed to be very delightful to hear my story, and he told us, that he's willing to help us. This is because he founds the government boring, and he has no family back home, so he decided to come with us. This is a good thing, since he's working on the boat, which means he will help us to reach our destination. I'm so relieved after hearing his answer. Oh, and his name is Cu. He asked us to call him Captain Cu.

Yes, we're saved now. I'm so happy. I'll get back to you again later on. Bye bye.

VLD Week 1

Part A:

Dear Kaylyn.

Things aren't going very well these days, I just received a bad news from my parents. They told me that beautiful waltz my sister played. They didn’t know anything about the fire until we all arrived home later at night. My family has been accused by the government wrongly. The government was lying. They’re just finding someone to be we’re going to have to move out tomorrow morning. They have decided to escape from this trouble that the government made. As you know earlier, the rumors that were spreading were all fake. My parents didn’t do those stuffs the government accused. They’re not the one who caused the neighborhood to blow off, since they’re not even there. At that time, they’re at my school, listening to my sister’s piano recital, enjoying the blamed on, so that they’re free from the complains of the other entire neighborhood.  

Unfortunately, we can’t do anything now, since everybody else thought my parents were the one who caused this disaster. The worst part is that they didn’t stop to threaten us. Just now, in the morning, my parents were taken to the police office. The officer in charge there told them that they’re going to take all of our belongings and facilities. This includes our home, money, and togetherness as a family. They said that they’re going to separate us to different parts of the country. My mum will be sent to Vietnam, my dad to China, my eldest sister to Japan, my second sister to Africa, and me to Myanmar.

Therefore, my parents decided to escape. We have made our plans. Tomorrow morning, we’re going to grab some food, for our trip. We decided to go somewhere save, somewhere where no one could find and capture us. This means no one could know, including you. So, I’ll just give you a couple clues. It’s where peace exists every day, and we could reach there by boat. It isn’t very far, but it will take us a few days or weeks to go there, this place has a very good view, and I can see quite a bright future there.

This escaping scheme makes me scared, but I try not to worry about it. I will just listen to alll the stuffs my father told me. I’m quite afraid to go there though, since I didn’t know many things. I didn’t know what this particular place would be like, but all of the things I told you earlier about this place is the only things my father have told me. I just hope that everything would be alright, and that we all could be save. I hope we could arrive there safely, and I’ll write you a letter as soon as I arrive. Tell the others that I’m okay. I’ll miss all of you…

 Wish us luck.

Feodora, your cousin

Part B:


I think i'm more like Phan Thi Chi. This is because we both try not to worry about stuffs that we supposedly worry. We both try to make assumptions about what might had happened to the letter or his father for PPhan, and I tried to assume that this place would be just perfect, and we could have bright future. I try to believe all the things my father told me, though I actually don't really know what's actually there, in that place my father called save. This is the same as Phan Thi Chi, he doesn't actually know what's in Rach Gia, he just assumed that Rach Gia would be a prefect and better than Ho Chi Minh City. He didn't actually remember what Rach Gia looks like, but he just assumed that it's better.

Project #5 - Biography

                The person that makes me here now, my dad, is John Bernardo Kosasih. He is not considered as young, but when you looked at him, he actually looks young, but the truth is, he’s quite old in age. He is 52 years old this year and he has been married with my mother for 25 years this year. He is a very good person, with a great personality. He seldom gets mad, but when he does, I’m positive that you wouldn’t want to face him, ever. Jakarta is where he lives, from childhood until now. “I was born in Jakarta, 31 July, 1960.”He explained to me. Now, he is the director in a textile company, PT Daya Manunggal.

                My dad lives in a very peaceful residential area when he grew up. He was raised by his parents, Budiharto and Wieke Kosasih, which is also my grandparent. Specifically, he lived in Daksa, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. He has a very loving parent, which cares so much about him. The family he grew up in is very close to each other, and together with his other 3 siblings, auntie Inggrid, auntie Melan, and uncle Kiki, they always try to make their parents happy, and became a good family.  During kindergarten and primary, he studied in PSKD Mandiri, a school near his house, which is still standing until now. In Junior High, he studied in SMP Ora Et Labora. In there, he received more knowledge than before. After that, he went to study in SMAK 1 Pintu Air, a school near his church, which is apparently my church too. He enjoyed his school year a lot. “Feodora, you should remember my words. Junior High and Senior High are the best time of your life. You should enjoy them, don’t be too stressful, just enjoy life.” He told me. In his school year, he always got either rank 1, 2, or 3. This is his proudest and best achievements. Ohio State is the university he went to, and until now, he’s always proud of it.

For my dad, playing golf, reading books and traveling was very enjoyable, and he likes it so much. How he met my mother isn’t a long story, it’s a simple but unique story. So, first, he was introduced to my mother by his friend, which is apparently also my mother’s friend. Then, they started talking and became good friends. After that, they started being together and then got married. My father started his carrier not long after he finished university. This is before she got married and met my mum. He started working as an engineer in a computer company. He didn’t really enjoyed being an engineer, so he moved to a textile company as a salesman. With hard work and perseverance, he slowly reached a higher position, and now, he became the director there. He is proud of his achievements nowadays. During his journey on becoming the director, he got 3 kids, which was me, and my 2 sisters, Alicia and Gabriela. He loves being a parent, especially having a child and watching them grow up, slowly by slowly.

          My dad has a purpose in life, and that purpose is having a peaceful and happy life. Until now, sometime he weren’t able to achieved it, but most of the time he have succeeded. He is extremely proud of being a loyal and trustworthy person, and he’s also proud of being a person, that could resolved his own problem, but of course with the help of the Lord. The problem that he experiences a lot was usually family problems, and misunderstandings. My dad isn’t perfect, and sometimes he faced problems, like misunderstanding. With me, my sisters, and sometimes with my mom. Luckily, those misunderstandings were able to be solved, by the closeness of our family, and with the help of the Lord.

For him, his most important success in life is his current position in his carrier, and also being able to support his family. For these successes, he would thank God the most, then, he would like to thank his family. This includes my sisters, my mother, and the whole big family. Me and my big family ( My dad’s family and also my mom’s family) are  the most important people in his life. This is because, for my dad, he is the head of the family. Therefore, he thinks that it’s already his responsibility to take good care of the family, and love them every single day. According to my sister, our dad is a nice guy, and he has a funny way of talking. “Daddy always tries to be the best dad, though sometimes it doesn’t work. He always put his family needs above his individual needs. Overall, I think daddy is a very good person, and should be emulated.” My sister shared to me. 

    Answer to the questions:   

           1) While doing this project, I learned much more about my dad. I just figured out his life, and how he actually met my mother, and how he felt about his life. Also, while doing this project, I learned how to make a biography, step by step, even though the biography that I make isn’t amazing, but its life, learning slowly by slowly. Apart from that, I also learned to write in third-person point of view.Lastly, I also learned to describe events in chronological order.

Project #4 - Alphabiograpy

A is for Alicia

Alicia is my friendly sister. She’s older than me by 2 years in age, but 3 years in school. We like to tell stories to each other, but sometimes, some stuff aren’t told to each other, since I don’t think that it’s important to tell her. I am not an expert about her, but I do know quite a lot about her. She’s a good sister, so as my oldest, Gabriela. Both of them are kind and helpful. I love the both of them so much!

C is for Crayfish

Crayfish is probably my favourite seafood. I always eat it in a Toechew Restaurant, in Beo Creasant, somewhere near Henderson road in Singapore. It’s the best crayfish ever there! The crayfish is cooked with cereal, which makes the taste even more delicious. Every time I went to Singapore, it’s a must to stop by and eat there. Even though there’s this one time that I have no time to eat there, the other time I will surely visit there. I enjoyed eating crayfish a lot.

D is for Dip

Dip is a nickname given by my biggest sister for me. We all have nicknames, and her nickname is Bip. Yes, all of our nicknames are similar. She got the idea “dip” because the name of the alien in Phineas and Ferb is “Meap,” and from that time, meap became our favourite word. Afterwards, we decided to give nicknames for ourselves, by adopting the idea of “meap.” So, mip, dip, cip, pip, and bip became our nicknames, which only me and my sisters that knows.

F is for Flagjo

Flagojo is the combination of initials in my family. Feodora, Lawrentia, Alicia, Gabriela, and John, The first time flagjo is used is by my dad, he’s the one who make this initials. My family likes to use flagjo a lot. We use this for our family’s emails, skype, and msn. Even though it’s odd to hear “Flagjo,” but I actually like the word, since every time I hear that word, it reminds me of my family.

J is for Justin Bieber

Me and my sister likes Justin Bieber, but my dad hates him so much. He tries to convince us of how bad he is. “Justin Bieber Is like dancing monkey mask, the one people like to play in the streets.” Last time, when I told him I want to watch his concert, he told me that it’s better for him to take me to the streets, watching monkey mask dance then watching Justin’s concert.

M is for Mixed Emotions

My family is unique. We can get mad at one another, but laugh together a second afterward. Additionally, we can tell secrets to one another, but the confession time could probably change into a riot. Changing emotions is normal in my family. All of us nearly do it all the time. That’s why, being in my Family is fun, and we could express various emotions anytime.

O is for Open

Open can be the word to describe my family. We aren’t very close to each other, like best friends, but we are open to each other, and care about each other, more like true friends. We can share problems, and our family will be able to help us solve it. Not only problems that we can share, but cheers and happiness were shared too. We’ll cheer together during happy time, and help each other during hard times.

P is for Pedro

Every time I hear the word “Pedro,” it reminds me of the night on 2010, when I watched World Cup Semifinal with my dad. We woke up in the middle of the night, then watch football. It was Spain’s match. Pedro is one of the players there, and I found him egoist on playing, he don’t want to passed the ball. This results on being changed on the ending of the game. From that day forward, me and my dad likes to make fun of Pedro.

R is for Roxanne

Roxanne isn’t my family name, but it’s the second name for me and my sisters. My parents gave me that name because there’s “anne,” which is similar to my grandma’s name. I actually love the name Roxanne, I think it’s a great and cool name. I’m glad my parents gave me this name, since it’s a good name. Also, having this name actually connects me and my sisters, since we can talk about our feelings towards our name together, which then makes us closer.

S is for Sydney

Recently, I just visited Sydney. It isn’t the best trip, but I actually enjoyed it there. I never went to Sydney before, but my family does. Last time, when I’m not yet born, they went to Sydney. My sister cries during the flight every time, and yes it’s a bad thing. This time, my sister didn’t cry at all, but we both got air sick. I vomited and got dizzy during the flight. This is the first time I got air sick, and this isn’t a very good experience.

T is for The Pacific Place

The Pacific Place is the mall I visited the most. I can go there like 3 days a weak. Usually, I went there with my family, we enjoyed it a lot. This is because it’s very near from my house. Normally, I went there to eat, for dinner, lunch or supper. Pacific Place is just like my second home, I’m comfortable being in there, especially when I’m there with my family.

V is for Volleyball

Sports aren’t really my thing, but I do love playing them. Volleyball is one of my favourite, it’s nice playing volley. Playing volleyball connects me and my sister in a way, since it’s one of the things we do in common. She likes to comments me on how to be a good volleyball player. It’s a good thing though, but sometimes, she just talks too much that it become annoying.

Answers to the question:

1) The process on writing this alphabiography isn’t simple. I started out by choosing the letters, but then, in the middle of writing, I found it hard to write the paragraphs. So, I continue writing paragraph, one by one. I enjoy writing the paragraphs, since its telling stories about my experience, which I like to do. I think I do well on finding letters for my alphabiography. Since I think the letters and the heading that I pick is quite good. My favourite story is F, F is for Flagjo. I like that story because I think it’s a good story, telling about my family.

2)The 3 objective details are : 

1) I just visited Sydney. This is a true detail that people can prove. You could ask my parents about it, and their answer will be yes. This is because recently, on Christmas holiday, we went to Sydney for vacation. 

2) It's very near from my house. This is a real fact, and you could ask all of my family members, and their answers will be the same, my house is near to Pacific Place. Pacific Place is just 5 minutes away, sometimes less than that. 

3) Roxanne isn't my family name, but it's the second name for me and my sisters. As you can see, my family name is Kosasih. So, Roxanne is just an additional name for me and my sisters. You could ask my parents about this second name of mine. 

The 3 subjective details are :

1) I love the both of them so much! This is a subjective detail, since it can't be proved. You can't ask my sisters of how I felt about them, because it's my feeling. This makes this sentence have no prove and is subjective.

2) I enjoyed eating crayfish a lot. It's another subjective detail, since it's only me who knows whether I enjoyed eating it or not. No one knows how I felt about it, and if I do tell them how I felt, they maybe don't believe me, since there's no prove.

3) I'm comfortable being in there. No one knows, whether I'm comfortable being there or not. If you ask my parents, they'll just answer what they simply thought, while sometimes, what they thought was wrong. So, this is another subjective detail. 

3. I think what I did well is explaining the events of my story. This is because I know the story, and I've experience it. Which is why I could explain it nicely and clearly. For me, I think the hardest part of making this alphabiography is being descriptive and also explaining with only few sentence. This is because I don't really remember all parts of the story, which makes it harder to be descriptive. Then, I used to explain stuffs with lots of sentence, but in this project, we should only use few sentence. This makes it harder for me too. 

Project #3 - Bible Story

David and Goliath

1 Samuel 17



                I’m not a famous warrior that everyone knows. I’m just a shepherd who take care of my father’s sheep. I’m the youngest from eight sons of Jess. Every day, my job is only to go back and forth from Saul’s tent to my father’s sheep. I often went to Saul’s tent because 3 of my brother, Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah were there, in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. Yes, my every day job is extremely useless and tiring, but I actually enjoyed it. Watching the sheep, looking at the war, and taking care of my brother, even though they didn’t really care about me.

                One day, when I greeted y brother in the battle line, I saw Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath. He is extremely tall and he uses bronze helmet, coat, greaves, and javelin slung on his back. Those stuff weighted about 57kg in total. I was totally not afraid of him, but I’m pretty sure the other Israelites were. They were wondering of how they’re going to be able to fight him, and they’re also talking about the prize that will be given for the one who kills him. While they’re thinking about that, I’m imagining what it would be if I won against him, since he don’t trust God, and I do.

                Suddenly, I was called by Saul, the head of the Israelites. He told me that I wouldn’t possibly able to face him, since I’m just a boy, but I replied him, “When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from my flock, I went after it. I struck it and rescued my sheep, and both of the bear and lion were killed by me.” Saul gave me a silly face, thinking that I’m lying, but I told him, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and bear will deliver me from the hand of the philistine. Also, I’m sure that I’m able to win.” Saul seems to believe me, but I don’t know whether he’s joking or not. He asks me to go fight Goliath, and so, I did. He dresses me up in his tunic, which is super uncomfortable. He gives me sword and armor, but I didn’t use them in the end, I told him those things weren’t my style.

                Then, I went out of his tent with my shepherd look. I immediately tell Goliath that I wanted to fight him. He thought I’m playing around, so I explained to him what I’m here for. “I came against you n the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel. With Him, I will win against you, for you have defied him.” So, at last Goliath gets ready to fight me, and the battle started.

                I can see in his eyes that he thought I’m a joke. As Goliath moved for the kill, I reached my bag and took out a stone. I slung it into his forehead, and he fell.  I’m relieved and surprised of how weak he actually is. Apart from that, I’m also happy, since because of my won, Israel, my nation could be free from the Philistine, since their toughest warrior died.

                          I’m so pleased for what I’ve accomplish. I have glory God's name, believe in Him always, and I’ve make my dad proud. This is probably my best achievement in my life. What isn’t better than winning a fight against the toughest, biggest, and scariest champion? So, I guess, this is a very good experience for me to learn to always praise God, and that with His strength, nothing is impossible.

Answer to the question:

1) I choose this story because my Sunday school teacher have been teaching me this story since I'm small. Also, this is the only story title that I'm interested to write when Ms Anika hand me the small paper, full of ideas of what to write about. In the process of writing the story, I first read all of the verses in 1 Samuel 17. Then, I cut down parts of it that I don't think is needed. After that, I paraphrase it and add some thoughts, and there you go, my result. I think I do quite well in explaining the background, since It's easier to do it. 

2) The most difficult part when writing this story is during the body through the end. This is because I don't really know how to take the ideas and put it together into a clear paragraph. Also, I think it's because of the words in the Bible is kind of hard for me to understand. The body is difficult to write because if we make a little mistake there, all of our story would be ruin. 

3) The part that I enjoyed most is when I'm writing the introduction. This is because it's the start, so I'm still excited to do this project. Apart from that, when I'm writing the introduction, I thought this task isn't very hard, so I' enjoyed it, but as I go further, I figured out that this is a very hard task. In addition, I also enjoyed the part when I'm describing Goliath, since I think it's kind of fun to describe the toughest champion in the Bible. 

Project #2 - Newspaper Article

Answers to the question :

The structure/language features that I use are headline with large font for emphasis, direct quotes, table to present information and by-line. Headlines are important in my news report, since without it, readers wouldn't be able to figure out what's my news about, which eventually makes them not excited to read my paper. This are in larger font because i want to catch the readers' attention. Direct quotes are used so that the news are more believable, and it's also important to keep readers reading and enjoy the news. The table that I use is line graph, which is very important. This helps me to explain about the decreasing election votes. I also use by-line, which is also important, because without it, readers wouldn't be able to know who write the news. Also, with a by-line, it helps me to prevent any plagiarism ahead. 

Project #1 - Adventure Ad

My Purpose in creating this advertisement is to inform the readers about my tour, so that people who is in search of tours could know about my Hong Kong Tour. In addition, by creating this advertisement, i am also persuading people to join my Hong Kong tour, so that i could have more customers.

The best 2 language features in my advertisement is the eye-catching title and also the various pictures i put. I put the title on bold and the biggest among all because i want the readers to know about this tour advertisement. This is important because without this, readers wouldn't be able to know how spectacular and amazing this tour is. The pictures that i put were also one of the best features, since those pictures make the advertisement look real and attractive. This is important because it will make readers more excited about the tour and want to join it, since the pictures look believable.