Month: July 2020
Niki’s Indian Food – A Restaurant Review
By Svara Jayasinghe
Niki’s Indian Food is a restaurant in Santa Ana California that serves Indian and other South Asian cuisine. Because of the Covid rules we had takeout and went home and enjoyed the food for dinner. This place doesn’t really have the best ambiance and for the price they charge the portions are very little, but the food is delicious.
We ordered garlic naan, white rice, chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, chana masala, chicken shahi, and some vegetable samosas. The food was amazing! If we ever pass the area again we will definitely get some food from here. We really enjoyed the food and highly recommend Niki’s Indian Food.
Kiran Piano Recital Spring 2020
Dunkin’ Donuts – A Restaurant Review
By Svara Jayasinghe
Dunkin’ Donuts is a coffee/donut chain that has stores located all over the world. We ordered glazed donuts, boston creme donuts, and maple donuts. The service is great and the staff are extremely kind and helpful.
The donuts and coffee are delicious and always taste nice and fresh. We went inside and sat down and enjoyed some donuts and coffee. Overall we had a great time and recommend Dunkin’ Donuts.
Note: We went to Dunkin’ Donuts before quarantine in early March.
Peterson’s Donut Corner – A Restaurant Review
By Svara Jayasinghe
Peterson’s Donut Corner is a donut shop in Escondido on the corner of Escondido Blvd. We ordered glazed donuts, maple donuts, vanilla donuts with chocolate drizzle, and chocolate donuts with vanilla drizzle.
The donuts are freshly made, the staff are extremely friendly, there is an endless selection to choose from, and the donuts are large in size. My family and I really enjoyed the donuts and definitely recommend Peterson’s Donut Corner.
The Yard House – A Restaurant Review
By Svara Jayasinghe
On July 4th, my family and I went for dinner to the Yard House in Carlsbad. The Yard house is a restaurant that is located in the Shoppes at Carlsbad. It is a sit down restaurant that has a bar included. First, we ordered some appetizers. We ordered some nachos and some boneless, barbecue, buffalo wings. Both of these appetizers were delicious and we all really enjoyed them.
After we finished our appetizers, we started ordering our meals. Simran ordered the BBQ Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger. In Simran’s opinion the burger was a little bit messy and dry. She also says that if you are an athlete, or have a big appetite, you might want to order something a bit bigger as the burger is a little small.
Kiran ordered the Braised Beef Ravioli. She really enjoyed her dish. She says the ravioli and the sauce tasted great, but there was a little too much cheese, but other than that she enjoyed her meal. Mom ordered the Cobb Salad. She loved it. Mom was full after eating the appetizers, but she thought the salad was great. Dad ordered the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. He liked his sandwich because it was flavorful, spicy, and not too dry. For dessert we ordered and shared 3 triple chocolate cakes and some vanilla ice cream. We really enjoyed the food at the Yard House and definitely recommend the restaurant.
Svara’s Spring Recital – June 2020
Kiran 200 Breast Short Course Junior Olympics 2020
The Internet has made Everybody an Expert
by Simran Jayasinghe
During the ongoing pandemic, I have noticed that people do not want to listen to public health officials. For example, a lot of people don’t want to social distance, or wear masks when they go out, even though there is a lot of scientific evidence that these measures reduce the spread of the virus. Public health officials continually try to convey the importance of wearing a mask in public, and staying at least 6 feet apart from strangers, yet we still see pictures of crowded beaches and cases keep climbing.
I think this is partly because the Internet has made everyone feel like they’re an expert on everything, including COVID-19. With a quick internet search, you can bring up thousands of results on a given topic. The internet can give you info on anything from how to build a bookshelf, or cook food, to information on COVID-19. There is a lot of information because anyone can post on the internet, experts and non-experts alike. Having a lot of information can be great if you want to read multiple different restaurant reviews to see where you want to eat, but is not as helpful when you want to find information on COVID-19. It is important that people know how to tell when a source is reliable, and when facts are good or not. Another important thing to remember when reading articles on the Internet, is that you can read about people’s various opinions, and facts. I came across an article from NPR about how the internet is making people experts, that was published in 2007, but is still, if not more relevant today, in light of the recent pandemic. In the age of the internet, it is important to check the place you are getting your information from, because not everyone on the internet is necessarily educated in what they are writing about. Nowadays, anyone can easily get a domain name, build a website, and start posting information.
I don’t know what it was like before the Internet, but my dad says that before the Internet, people asked their teachers, doctors, and health officials for information, or went to a library and read published, peer-reviewed books. Since we can all get information on the Internet quickly, from the phones we all have in our hands, people think that what they read on the internet can be more important than what public health officials say. It is also easy for people to only look at information that agrees with their point of view, and make an information bubble for themselves. For example, if you only follow one news channel, you are most likely only going to hear news that favors a certain viewpoint, and that is usually going to be the viewpoint you suscribe to. The Internet is overall, an amazing resource, but in the time of a pandemic, can bring up problems.
NPR Article: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15671312
College After Covid-19
by Kiran Jayasinghe
The novel coronavirus has changed all of our lifestyles, from work to sports to school. My swim team has just resumed practices after three months of quarantine. My dad holds all his meetings at home, just a few feet away from where I do my online school Since I was already homeschooled, corona hasn’t changed much in terms of education for me. But I think it will continue to effect our education system in the years to come, and I wonder if I’ll have the same college experience in a few years that a traditional college student would have had.
If we don’t have a vaccine for Corona virus by the time I get to college, then we’ll still need to take preventative measures to keep ourselves safe from infection. This means schools will need to have some form of social distancing, which may even include remote online learning. I’ve been homeschooled for my entire life, so while online learning won’t be hard, the college experience — debates with classmates, study groups and group assignments, team sports — might not be a reality for me.
Even if we have a vaccine, the way we learn could change. University and colleges may find online teaching to be more cost effective and switch to using tools like virtual reality goggles and other online resources. More schools may abandon the traditional schedule and lean towards more asynchronous classes, giving students less of the normal college experience.
And since online learning poses challenges to students and may not be the first choice for many people, going to college could be less of a priority for some. This may lead to less enrollment, which means budget cuts in schools or higher prices for students (or both). If Coronavirus is still at large by the time I go to college, the education experience we have now may not exist.