My Personal Letter

                                                                                                       Brgy. Balulang, Phase II
                                                                                                       Cagayan De Oro, Phil.
                                                                                                       October 7,2015        



     To my dear friend Alexandra,
         

                   First of all I'll have to thank you for accepting the offer as my letter-partner.
    And I've been meaning to ask you, from where did you get your name "Zane"?  Just adding 
    curiosity anyway. Thank you for teaching, punishing and slapping me with the ball a couple
    times during Volleyball practice (and I'm not meaning to offend you). You are very depend-
    able when you are taking lists of those who are VERY and I mean VERY noisy people in 
    our class, you are not biased and very beautiful; wherein most of our classmates have a crush
    on you, some of them are even---umm what term should I say this?---- they consider you as "
    Crush ng Bayan", and their fantasy (from the way I see it).You are seemingly fun-loving
    especially when playing Volleyball and Truth-Or-Dare. As what I observed in your phone,
    you really love to take selfies right? Your Kuya Mj never told me anything about you, and
    from the way I see it, you are very close. Okay, I'll have to tell you something about the
    rumors going around the class, if you hear your name in those rumors, quickly deny it
    because it is not real. Okay? Anyways, back to topic, I'm sorry if I did anything that could
    offend you. Whether there's a problem or not, you can lay it on me anytime. :)

           
                                   
                                                                                                                 Sincerely,
                                                                                                        Alekhine Joseph S. Araña

Bohol: A Voyager’s Bizarre Expedition (My Travelogue)

      On May 28, 2011, we went to Bohol for a short vacation trip. It was really fun going there, we even boarded a ship. While inside the ship, my father gave us medicine to avoid seasickness, we ate so much food, drank so much softdrinks and took some pictures while we were aboard. It took more than 3 hours to go to Bohol, so we waited and waited and waited until we got to our destination. After taking a ship, we rode a tricycle to Tagbilaran City and checked in a hotel.

  The next day, we visited my father’s grandmother, or our great-grandmother. We took pictures with her, and had a chat with her. After that quick visit, we took Nanay Inse with us and went to The Hinagdanan Cave near Panglao. We saw so many ancient paintings like a painting of Medusa and some other snake-like man. There was a small lake inside the cave, it wasn’t technically a small lake because the tour guide said that the lake is 50 feet deep (perhaps if I heard it right).

    After that quick visit, we ate at Panglao Island Resort in Panglao. Right in front of the resort, was a seashore, but my father let us swam in the pools. After swimming, we ate on top of the resort for a view of the golden sunset.

 The third day, we went on a floating restaurant and ate like we never ate before because it was an Eat-All-You-Can type of restaurant. Although it wasn’t FLOATING in mid-air, but floating on water. It took the path of the Loboc River, there it stopped for a few minutes because there were children presenting us their native folkdances. After riding  the floating restaurant, we went to a small zoo and saw so many Tarsiers! The Tarsiers were so small but their eyes were almost as big as their hands!

          And lastly, the fourth day, we went to the world-famous Chocolate Hills! At first I thought it was literally made up of chocolate, but I was wrong all along. It was raining back then, so we waited a few minutes until the rain was gone and we took the stairs to a viewpoint for the Chocolate Hills to be seen. As what I’ve said, it was raining, the tour guide said that if it was raining , the hills will turn green. And it did!

   After visiting the island of Bohol, we boarded a ship again to Cagayan De Oro, it took 5 hours to get home because it was raining very hard. Once we were home, we rested and went to sleep never forgetting about the most bizarre expedition in my childish life.

My Safari Experience : Scouting The Extinct Existence

            Before I start my storytelling about my journey, Lance, William and I have been arguing about what the biggest animal is, is a lizard a Dinosaur or not, and are the Dinosaurs even real. In this blog you find out more about these questions. So sit back, relax and enjoy this blog. 

              In my journey through the wild life, I interacted with so many extinct animals like the Dinosaurs, Mammoths and Saber-toothed Cats. I didn’t only see land animals, I also saw the aquatic life while inside an underwater tunnel. There, I saw the Megalodon; the largest shark known, the Dunklesteus; the 2^nd largest aquatic Dinosaur, and the world-famous Mosasaurus; the BIGGEST and I mean BIGGEST of all aquatic life.

             One of the most fearful animal that I saw is the Mosasaurus and do you know why? Obviously it was very dreadful in its size. It was the last of its kind; the Mosasaurids. Its name means “Meuse Lizard”. Its length was about 59 feet that is equivalent of 4 Dinosaurs in the size of a T-Rex. Although, the Mosasaurus has poor eyesight, it has MASSIVE teeth that can tear any piece of flesh like a plankton. That’s why it’s first on my most fearful animals list. 

           Next is the Saber-toothed Cat. It is a member of various extinct groups of predatory mammals that have long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth. Despite the “cat” in its name, it was never close to a modern-day cat. This cat has a speed that can race up a Cheetah, this cat has stealth skills that can put Chameleon to shame, this cat has senses that can even surpass Wolverine from the X-men and lastly this cat has a very, very, VERY fierce heart, and do you know why? It has a VERY fierce heart because it can kill an Elephant, a Rhino and other colossal animals, what else would you call it if it can annihilate enemies at this size?

 And lastly , the  Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Its name “Tyrannosaurus” means “Tyrant Lizard” and “Rex” means “King”. Why is it worthy of being called “King”? Due to its speed, strength, skill, and power, no other terrestrial Dinosaur would dare try this baby out. Although it has a very large head, its jaws are also chisel-like blades that were sharper than a SN-2 knife. What more could you ask for? For this 13-foot killing machine can withstand any terrestrial Dinosaur alive!

Did you ever wonder why in Jurassic Park, why does the T-Rex never die easily? Not just because of its strength, but also in its pride, no king would ever accept loss right? So now you know. And this was my Safari Experience, seeing animals like never before, with info of course! Why’d you think I know these things? No offence. Peace Out!

Coolest Video Game: Assassin's Creed

                 The coolest video game for me is the series: Assassin’s Creed. I ranked it 1st on my all-time favorite video games. Mostly their stories are from different eras and different places of the world. Examples of these are Firenze(Florence), Romagna (Rome), Venenzia(Venice), Monteriggioni, Victorian London, Masyaf, China, The Ocean Pacific, Paris , America , and Russia. The developer of this game is Ubisoft Montreal, a British company with lots and LOTS of cash. This game starts with a child whose past is tragic, until he/she finds a trainer to help him/her seek who  made his/her life miserable. Aside from the brutal kills, violent combos and HD graphics, this game also talks about mystery, history and strategy, especially Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Although most people only notice the blood and gore of this game, they don’t notice the message of the story. Just like in Assassin’s Creed II, the main protagonist is Ezio Auditore da Firenze and he seeks vengeance for his slain father and brothers whose cases are treason. The primary suspects were Rodrigo Borgia, a Spanish pastor-turned-Pope Alexander XVI and his right hand man, Uberto Alberti, a Gonfaloniere (town crier) of the Renaissance. They are the reasons why Ezio’s mother, Maria Auditore was traumatized. Ezio begins his journey where he assassinates the henchmen of the so-called “Gonfaloniere” so that the “Gonfaloniere” will get out of his shell. Ezio also collects the feathers of his late brother,Petruccio, so that they may remind Ezio’s mother that when there is still family, there is also hope. And that’s why I love this game.

        What's an Assassin? An Assassin is a counter part of a Templar, in which will be discussed further, an Assassin is a person of very wide knowledge,skills,talents and strengths. He/she is very patient, silent, cunning and quick-witted.He is held responsible for the Apple of Eden (or the Apple of Adam and Eve) and if he/she lets the Apple of Eden fall into Templar hands, then also he/she breaks The Creed;therefore he/she will be killed.Those are just the traits and rules of an Assassin. The true meaning of being an Assassin is continuing the protection for The Light (or the people who can't defend themselves) through heroic acts, it can be in a less violent way or if the Assassin is forced, then he/she is forced to kill the target. The main and most efficient weapon that is used by The Assassins is the

          Xiphoid (Hidden Blade), a small knife hidden under the arm and covered by a leather arm piece. It was first used by the greatest Assassin, Altair Ibn-ahad  and then handed down to Ezio,Connor,Edward,Arno and so on and so forth. It was then used by some Assassin-turned-Templars like Haytham Kenway, the father of Connor Kenway.

         

        Next is Assassin’s Creed VI: Syndicate, this part of the series begins with a character whose past is still unknown. This character’s name is Jacob Frye, a gangster Assassin. He is the leader of the gang “The Rooks”; a small resistance turning into a large army from the British Templar Colony. What is a Templar? A Templar is a knight whose sole purpose is to multiply the reputation of the Crown through violence and money, also they are responsible for the loss and the breaking of the Sword of Eden and Apple of Eden. Jacob plans that his fallen nation will rise over its desperation, that’s why he established the Rooks. And now you know why I love this series. It doesn’t just show violence and parkour, it also shows hope, honor, love and  loyalty. And at the end of each episode will show an important value : “It’s better to have faith in something than none at all” this is what Connor Kenway said. That’s why it’s the coolest video game ever.