Erwin in Wuhan

Returning to Singapore!!

2009-10-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

Day 42:

Today is the day we RETURN to Singapore :) Everybody woke up at 7am + & prepared to leave for Singapore. Everybody was just doing last minute checks and cleaning up the area before leaving the room. People helping one another to buy breakfasts so that we won't be feeling hungry and have enough energy to carry the luggage. Hahaha. Guys can be seen helping the girls to carry heavy luggages down the 3 floors of stairs. All the scenes seen are just because everybody are excited to go home. Haha.

Me & "Ah Yi".
She took care of us for 6 weeks.
Repairing spoilt things in our rooms, changing bed sheets & toping up the electricity for us.
She also made sure no strangers are allowed into the hostel that keep us sleeping safe for the past 6 weeks.
Do you noticed she dressed very nice today? Haha. :)
Ah Yi!, you will be missed deeply :)

Group Photo of MDE outside the hostel we lived for 6 weeks :)
The gate for our flight to Singapore.
Oh my god! I can't wait to reach Singapore when I was at the gate. :)

Leaving the airplane @ Singapore!!
Group picture before leaving the arrival hall. Hahaha.
Not everybody was there though. :)

Me & My Dad.
He came to fetch me.
Picture taken by Mr Lim Choon Boo :)

Reflections:

On our way back to Singapore, all of us were very excited. In that emotions of happiness, there were also feelings inside us which makes us can't bear to leave Wuhan. The cheap food & the nice people here. However, we have stayed long enough and experience much enough that will make give us valuable lessons and experiences that I have never experienced before. This trip has proved much with not only experiences but also taught me to live alone and independently. I will miss Wuhan!

Stayed in & did packing.

2009-10-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

Day 41:

Didn't join them for shopping as I did not have much money left to shop and also I pretty much got everything I wanted; for myself, family and friends. So, I stayed in alone in the room. I took my own sweet time to blog and pack my luggage. After a while, I realised Anyu was also in the hostel. I thought I was the only MDE that didn't went shopping. Surprisingly, her reason why she didn't go is the same as me. Haha.

After packing my luggage, I accompanied her to print a photo for her friend at a Super mart. Her friend was somebody she made while shopping for her groceries, surprisingly her friend is also 17 years old. Then, we headed over to the spectacles shop the tighten her spectacles as it was getting loose. We then had dinner. Pretty much sumed up the whole day. Haha.

Reflections:

Today was the last day and last night we would spend in Wuhan and this hostel. I would certainly miss everything here, the food and the people. So used to waking up by roommates alarms, people knockings on the door & the noises made by people talking loudly outside. But, it was time to go home. The memories I had here will always be with me. :)

Last Shopping at Grand Ocean

2009-10-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Day 40:

This was the last time I went shopping. Another group of MDE went to another place near Yellow Crane Tower for shopping while the rest didn't join them. Instead, we headed over to Grand Ocean, YES again. Haha.

We rented a van and head over there.

We guys and Anyu in the van :D

Upon reaching, we were all hungry and headed to Ajisen to had our lunch :)

Me & the "twin tower" in Wuhan? Haha.
Not sure what is that building.

After which, we had our farewell dinner with the student leaders.

Mingyu, Me, Jarold & Edy. :)

Coincidentally, there was a wedding dinner at the resturant we were having our farewell dinner at.
Their wedding date was chosen on 10/10/09 :)

Look at all the guests.
Hahaha.

The alley the bride walk down with the groom. :)

Groom & Bride.
Blessing them with eternal happiness. :)

Lastly, group photo with the lecturers & student leaders.

Reflections:

The transport we took today, the van driver actually drove on the pavement where people walked and against traffic. He waited for a clear spot and cut into the right traffic of lane. This is something you would never ever see you in Singapore. Even if you do, that driver would most probably get fined. Driving against traffic and onto pavements. Haha.

Presentation on Assignment 3

2009-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Day 39:

Today is our presentation of showing our flexsim on assignment 3. It was pushed so far back because we were not given a classroom for our presentation. At first, we were all not sure how to present as ppt slides were not needed. However, we were not the first group and we saw how the other groups presented and mr loh giving comments. When it was our turn, it turned out to be rather smooth. :)

Me setting up the presentation models.

Me explaining on the final of assignment 3 :)

I'm counting down the days we would be going back as it gets closer. Haha.

Shopping to Chicony & Lao Shu Jie

2009-10-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

Day 38:

We went to another shopping centre today. However, it was not the ideal place for us to do our shopping. The price were way too expensive. So, we decided to have our lunch at Ajisen Ramen.
It was so much cheaper than Sinapore prices. We only pay S$10 dollars each. :)

Entrance of the shopping centre.

My meal I ordered.
Onion with beef coated in sticky rice. :)

Our table ordered 13 side dishes.

1 of the side dishes I love a lot is the unagi sushi.
Look at the size of the sushi. :o

After which, we went to a street with alot of guy's stuff.
However, all of which doesn't suit my taste so I didn't get anything much.

2 more days left! :)

Slacking & Doing Assignment 3

2009-10-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Day 37:

Today was another slacking day at hostel. We finally started on assignment 3 as the presentation could be tomorrow morning. Joseph Loh came over to our hostel to help us with the assignment teaching Polim first & then helped Chin Kuang with his enquiries. Woke up quite late today as I fell asleep at 5am while watching movie.

We had lunch at wanton again. I ordered beef wanton and fried rice as I was feeling quite hungry. I guess I will miss the wanton here when I leave for Singapore next monday :( .
After lunch, I fell asleep on my bed. The first time I had an decent 3 hours afternoon nap. Hahaha. When I woke up, I felt very very refreshed.

Reflections:

As days begin to countdown, I'm starting to list down the things I would actually miss in Wuhan when I leave for Singapore. The last week is passing so fast its actually only 5 more days left of me being in Wuhan. I'm so so gonna miss the people, the cheap food & the chance to bargain for shopping here. I'm so gonna miss Wuhan. :(

Shopping at Grand Ocean

2009-10-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Day 36:

Today was another day of shopping! I bought myself 2 shirts, 1 nike running shoes and 1 headphones with mic. Hahaha. Below are the pictures :)

Nike shoes cost me $592 yuan :)

These 2 shirts costed me $200 yuan.
Hahaha. :)

Headphones with mic that cost me $55 yuan.
Will be able to skype and listen more clearly already (:

Reflections:

While shopping today, a beggar approach me and my group of friends to beg for money. I would never see this in a shopping mall at Singapore. The security guards would most probably drag the beggar away. I really pity the beggars some times. They have no other way to earn money but to go to beg for money at shopping malls.

Theme Park & Shopping

2009-10-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Day 35:

Our day started off with us going to a theme park near Han Kou. It was a little different from Singapore as you would have to pay for every ride you wanted to go.

Then, it was time for shopping. Before shopping, we had lunch at "Zhen Gong Fu" (Real Martial Arts). The food is very healthy, filling and delicious. It cost us only $25 yuan and it is definitely worth it.

After which, I went shopping and got myself a jeans and a wallet.

$150 yuan CK jeans.

Polo Village Wallet $65 yuan.

Reflections:

I noticed in China, you can practically bargain anywhere. Even in a grand shopping mall, you can also bargain. This is so awesome. Imagine doing that in Singapore, all you get would be a stun look and a BIG no to cut the price as it would already be fixed. I want to bargain where ever we go for shopping. My friend today cut the price of a big she wanted to buy by half. That is such a big drop man.

Cut and Dyeing of hair.

2009-10-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

Day 34:

Today I decided to cut my hair as it was growing very untidy and unkempt. I went back to Mouse Street and cut a new salon with very nice furnished facilities. I decided to dye it too because it was very cheap and having a discount as it had just opened.

Me & Ming Yu with our new dyed hair & the salon behind.

I dyed a colour reddish brown but I wanted it darker so it wouldn't be so obvious. It could only be seen under sunlight.

The brand they used to dyed our hair.
abcde Hair Color. Haha.

Reflections:

While waiting for the dye to "eat" into our hair(which would probably take half an hour or something), the hair stylist asked us where were we from. They guessed Guangzhou & Guangdong. Most of the locals here guessed so. I'm not sure why either, most probably we have the same accent as them. We then said we were from Singapore. Most of them never heard where is Singapore. Another hair stylist even asked is it in China. Haha. I guess Singapore is not yet well known to everybody yet.

Shopping at Lao Shu Jie

2009-10-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Day 33:

Today we followed the girls to a shopping place called "Lao Shu Jie" (Mouse Street). It was so a bad bad decision. Because that shopping street mainly sold girls stuff and left us guys nothing to do. It was a bad day for shopping but we managed another type of night stalls during the night time at the place.

Mouse Street.

We finally saw a store selling dog meat.
But, none of us wanted to try it.
To me, it was way too cruel killing a cute dog just to eat it.
However, I feel nothing eating other meat, just not dogs.

Reflections:

At the road side stalls near Mouse Street today, we came upon a person selling very very CUTE puppies with a lot of breeds for only $100 yuan each. The breed includes golden retriever and dalmations. It was so super cute. Everybody was so tempted to get a dog. Singapore would never sell dogs this cheap. If they do, I would definitely buy one. However, I'm not sure how they are able to get so much puppies and different breed. One of the reason could be they have alot of big dogs of all breeds.

Written Test 2

2009-10-02T05:50:00.001-07:00

Day 32:

Today we had our 2nd written test on BPE. It started at 10.15 a.m. and ended at 11.45 a.m.
I managed to finish more questions this time round compared to the first test. But, still not enough time to finish all the questions.
Finally, its over! No more lecture and tests. Only left with last presentation on assignment 3.

Reflections:

I noticed the people here are very humble. While we were at the restaurant having our dinner, we kept saying thank you to a waitress that is serving us. She giggled and asked why we were so courteous. So, I'm guessing she is not used to people being so courteous to her and also that the local people here are not as courteous as we are.

China National Day!

2009-10-01T11:27:00.001-07:00

Day 31:

Happy National Day to China! :)
Woke up late today because we didn't have any lessons today.
When we went for lunch, we were supposed to write on a note book whenever we went out of the campus. This is to help keep track of us wherever we go. Due to the recent death of a Singapore Polytechnic guy, Joseph Loh want us to sign out and in when we go out of campus. It includes the timing, the location and our signatures.

Zhong Rong & Adrian below signing out before we went for lunch.

At the wanton shop we had our lunch, the tv was showing the National Day Rally of China at Beijing. It was definity different from Singapore as the population in China is bigger.

Look at the colourful parade on TV. Haha.

Reflections:

The Singapore Polytechnic guy who died is actually my friend. He was my senior during my secondary school years. He was attacked at a pub and died due to loss of massive bleeding. He really didn't deserve to died that way. I'm sure there will be justice as the attackers were arrested within hours of the attack. R.I.P Vincent Chia. You left me with memories as a friend I would never forget. I was shocked and very sad when I heard the news. I guess that we should learn from this and not visit such sleazy places which there would be a chance for people here to attack us. This goes out to all the students and friends whom are overseas either for studies or vacation.

Presentation On Assignment 2

2009-10-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Day 30:

In the morning, we had our last IS lessons on Taoism and Buddhism.
In the afternoon, its our presentation for our assignment 2.
It went well and I felt a workload off my back. Haha.

Adrian, Edy, Me.
Me & my group members.
Can you see the photo on our first slide of our presentation?

Me presenting!

Reflection:

As it was my 2nd time presenting infront of our class, I felt less nervous and also able to speak louder. It's just how they say that you would get bolder and better if you do something over and over again.

Gathering Session with China Students

2009-09-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Day 29:

We had chapter 10 lecture today. The power was cut out throughtout the whole school today except for the canteens. As we would need our laptops for the quiz after lecture, Mr Loh didn't go through the lecture and gave us the quiz immediately. This is because we would need the remaining power in our laptop to do our quiz.

After lessons, we headed back and had early dinner because there was a gathering session. It was just coming together with the china students and played interaction games. In between the games, there were performances by ICT & MDE students.

As we went into the room for the games, we were asked to picked a card number. So that, they could choose volunteers from the audience to played the game.

Roy with his hiphop dance.

Next up, Edy singing a chinese song.

Me & Jun Ru showingour card numbers.
I got picked to play a game! Hahaha.
Lucky blue colour number 2.

The game was about transferring water from cups to cups.

Me and the cup. Haha.

An example of how it is done.

Me in action! Haha.
I was last in the queue.
I would then transfer the water into a bowl.

However, our team lost and we had to do a forfeit which was reciting a chinese or english tongue twister.
Unfortunately, I had to do the chinese tongue twister.
Oh my god, my chinese is terrible.

I don't know how to read! Haha.

After that, it was another game which was musical chairs.
The particpants had to do an animal action as they walked around the chairs.

Yoke May with her bunny pose!

Another game was the pole game.
Going under the pole without touching it. Haha.
It was hilarious.

The host holding the poles.

Group photo of MDE with the host and china students. :)

Reflections:

Today power cut off really made me realised how important electricity is to our life. Without it, we could hardly do anything. It also made me think of civil defence we had during my secondary school time. Please save electricity! It is essential and very important to our life.

Medicine Factory Visit

2009-09-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

Day 28:

Lessons started at 10am today. We had another lesson on BPE Chapter 8 and as usual we had our quiz after the lecture.

After lessons which ended at about 12pm today, we had lunch and had our Medicine Factory Visit. It mainly describe the process of the how the medicine is done and measures the worker have to take when entering the laboratory for work.

However, we were not allowed to go into the buildings to see the process.
So, we only walked around and the tour guide described the process from outside.

A view of the factory after we alighted from the bus.

The tour guide bringing us around the factory and explaining to us.
I'm guessing he is one of the staff working there too.

Being led around the factory.

A very short factory visit trip. :)

On our way back to the hostel, we saw a traffic controller controlling the traffic outside our school.

Reflections:

As you know, the amount of traffic in China is a lot. It would be good to have a traffic controller to help control the traffic. Furthermore, it is outside our school, it would also help protect the safety of the students. However, the traffic controller would have to endure the long hours of heat and standing at the same spot. Nevertheless, he also have to be in top form so he can be alert all the times. Otherwise, he may not only put the drivers in danger but also himself in danger.

WuDang Shan

2009-09-27T08:34:00.001-07:00

Day 27:

It was the morning of our 2 day 1 night at WuDang Shan.
We woke at 6am and met at 6.30 am to have breakfast.
Assembled early in the morning at 7am and set off to climb the WuDang Shan.
Destination: Jing Ding
Distance: 4km from the foot of the mountain.
Time: Approximately 3hours.
Steps: 4000 over.

Woohoo. Morning Physical Training.
Hahaha.
We can actually choose to take the cable car or walk up the hill. Out of the 4 lecturers, only Dr. Tan chose to walk up the mountain with the students. The other 3 lecturers actually took the cable car up with some of the students that also chose to take the cable car up.

Distance Evidence.
Haha.

& Off we goooooooooooooooooo.

First, it was down hill then up hill all the way.

lalala, still down hill. easy peasy.

The start of uphill steps.
Starts to get tiring.

I got so tired that I needed a chair to sit down. Hahaha.
No lah, I was joking. Dr Tan needed a rest as he was so tired climbing the steps.

Our first pit stop (rest stop).
Yellow Dragon Summit.
Haha.

One of the student was feeling unwell and dizzy as she climbed up.
A guy rushed to her aid with a first aid kit applying medicated oil on her head so she could carry on.

This flight of stairs is the longest flight out of all we have climbed to the top.

Last 3 of MDE!
Eshlyn, Me, Jun Ru.

That Eshlyn lah, so slow.
We all have to wait for her. HAHA.
No lah, I was the slowest and taking my time to enjoy the sceneries.
Eshlyn and Jun Ru was nice enough to wait for me.
Not forgetting the tour guide too. :)

Finally, we reached the cable car but not the peak yet!

Me with the nice scenery behind.

Me with the Jing Ding behind me at the top.
Can you guys see?
Oh my god. Haha.

Finally we made our way up to the Jing Ding. :)

Look at how steep it is. Haha.

All the people making their way to the top by climbing the steep slopes :)

This woman carried the baby all the way up to the Jing Ding(Golden Palace)
& the baby is adorable, isn't it? :)

Finally! The Jing Ding (golden palace).

The tour guide said it would be lucky if you could place a coin inside and let it stand.

I tried and I succeeded!

I placed a 50cent coin at the top left. :)

Alvin & Eshlyn touching the poles and walking one round around the Jing Ding's main house.
They said it would bless you with wealth.

Me descending from the Jing Ding.

We were going to take cable car down the mountain.
It was pre-planned and agreed by everybody the night before we climbed the mountain.

Look at how steep the cable car is travelling.
Reminds me of Genting Highlands.

Me and Eshlyn into 1 cable car.
Haha.

A view from the bottom up the mountain we climbed.

Day 26:

It was finally the day for our 2Day 1Night trip at Wudang. The assembling time as usual was very early in the morning at 6.30am because of the long travelling time. This time it would be longest travelling time we would ever experienced which is approximately about 6 hours plus.
The power supply strangely cut off in the middle of the night at 3am leaving us preparing in the darkness before leaving our rooms.

Most of us had at a late night and fell asleep almost immediately when the bus ride started.
After the long trip, we finally reached our first tourist attraction, Tai Zi Po (Prince's Mountain).

While walking up the hill of Tai Zi Po (prince mountain).

Entrance of Tai Zi Po (prince mountain).

It was drizzling and I was slightly wet on my hair.

While travelling around the mountain, there were steps to walk across to enter a certain building.
We learnt that guys should enter with left leg and girls with the right leg.

Polim demostrating using the left leg for guys to cross over the ledge.

Anyu demostrating using the right leg for girls to cross over the ledge.

We then headed over to the 2nd tourist attraction.

Walking up the long flight of stairs.
After which, we checked into a 2 star hotel and slept in early to get ready for the next day Wudang Mountain Climbing

Reflections:

While climbing up the Wudang Shan, the tour guide was rushing us because we were the last few and we were already behind schedule. Dr. Tan was quite pissed with the tour guide because he don't see the point of rushing up a mountain. It was tiring enough to climb the mountain but the main purpose wasn't about climbing but also admiring the sceneries while climbing up. If we were to rush, we might missed out nice scenery to take photos with then that would be no point to climb up the mountain already. Well, I'm guessing there are different point of perception from different stands. In summary, this actually applies to life which depends on to complete anything, you would have to take a step at at time. The difference in you and others is only how fast you would reach the peak of the mountain. The most important thing is to not give up and have the great determination to accomplish it.

IS Insight to China and BPE Chapter 7

2009-09-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

Day 25:

Today started off with us having IS lessons at 9am in the morning. While walking there, Edy called me and told me the classroom number was 210. I was rather shocked as we never had lessons at level 2 before. Upon reaching, the classroom look like a computer lab. At first, we thought it was because there were no other classrooms so they just gave us a computer lab. However, we were then told to on the computers.

What happened next actually shocked us and I hope to see this implemented in schools at Singapore. The teacher had a master computer at his desk. The master computer controlled all of our computer screens and switching it over to the ppt slides that was at his screen too. We could then see him using his laptop from our computer screen we are sitting at and explaining his lecture to us. Today's IS was about Chinese Business Etiquette; what to do correctly when doing business at different scenes/scenarios. e.g. Eating(lunch/dinner) at China and US.

Today IS was really beneficial to us in the future as we can practice the things we would have to take note from the lecture. It would not only cause misunderstandings from customers but it would also help the company boost their business.

This was the screen at our computer telling us to concentrate.

Computer Lab in our Foreign language school.

First slide of Chinese Business Etiquette in the ppt slides.

Finally, end of the lecture on Chinese Business Etiquette.

Reflections:

During lunch today, while I was deciding what to choose to buy for lunch, a group of girls came and shoved their way through to buy their lunch. We (me, Chin Kuang & Zhong Rong) were taken aback and shocked by their behaviour. It is because it is not only dangerous but they were also girls which may turn around and accuse us of molestation in the scuffle. Soon, we realised that this is the culture for people here to buy food. If you want to eat or have your order taken, you would have to shove your way through and make your order. This is something we learnt today about the culture of people buying food here.

BPE Chap 6 + National Day Celebration Concert in School

2009-09-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Day 24:

Finally, we had lessons on BPE and it started at 2pm in the afternoon today.
Mr Joseph Loh was sick for the past few days and just fully recovered not long ago.
That explains why we did not have lesson last few days since we came back from 3 gorges.
We had lunch at canteen 3 before heading over to class.
Today lesson covered chapter 6 and as usual we had a quiz on it after the lecture.

After lessons, we had dinner at a restaurant and the food was delicious. In addition, the price of it is also cheap. We only paid 10 yuan each for an awesome dinner. However, I did not take any photos of it.

As we headed back to our hostel after dinner, we decided to go take a look at the mini concert they are having at the admin block.

It was a mini celebration of the national day that is coming up next week in China. Their holidays is actually 1 week. How cool is that?! Singapore nation wide holiday is only 1 day. Haha.

Look at the amount of people watching the concert in the campus.
& the nice view of the admin block at night.

Credits to Zhong Rong for the photos.

Reflections:

As I was watching the celebration, I was at the same time looking out for my personal belongings which was my wallet at my back pocket. This is because, the crime rate here is very high and I heard the pickpockets here are very good and professional. Furthermore, the place was very crowded. I actually tired putting my wallet in my front pocket but because its huge, it is very uncomfortable for me. So, I would just have to be alert and caution with frequent checks at my back pocket while watching the performance.

Outward Bound Activities

2009-09-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

Day 23:

Today was Outward Bound Activities. We were divided into groups and our first activity was creating a tribe of our own. Firstly, we have to come up with a tribe name. We then had to design our tribe's flag and costumes. We also have to come up with the names for our master and the fellow lower ranking people in our group. At the end, we would have to come up with a skit and showcase how we actually came up with this tribe.

It was kinda fun, main purpose of this activity is actually to bond us all together and get the ball rolling for the upcoming activities.

Gathering up at 8am in the morning!
Group Photo!

Designing our flags and discussing about the skit.

I'm Xiao Long One!

& Xanier is our Long Nu!
The head of our tribe.
hahaha.

Our small skit.

Xanier fighting off the dinosaur(daniel).

The dinosaur has fallen!

Group tribe photo.

Next up, it was the activity for rock climbing.

Securing the hook onto me.

Me climbing the rock wall! :)

When we finish climbing the rock wall, it was time for lunch as it was already 12pm.
After lunch, we had a 2nd session and it was at 2pm which includes another set of activites.

First set of activity was falling backwards onto my fellow friends arms.
This is trusting them and I was tied at my ankles and wrists.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Phew, sighing a heave of relief.

Next up, it was high elements.
I'm guessing this activity test your courage in heights.
In this activity we have to leap across that distance from one plank to another with only a safety rope secured onto us.

Adrian easily leaping across the distance.

This is the girl which I was very proud of, Shun Qing.
When she was up there, I could tell she was very scared.
All of us help cue her to jump by shouting 1, 2, 3.
However, she didn't jumped across the ledge.
When she finally did, all I heard after that was applause.
After she came down, she was in tears partly because she successfully did it and also because the person supporting her rope was impatient with her and want her to leap forward as she was taking up too much time.
In any case, she did it, we were all very proud of her.
Well done Shun Qing! (:

Leaping forward.

21 guns.
Wuhan Group Photo

Class JO2 Photo :)

Reflections:

When we were doing all this activites, there were many people giving directions and cue to help one another. Its hard to listen and do exactly what they say, it may also confuse the person trying very to hard to listen to everybody around trying to help. Like what I learnt in camp last time, it would be good if only 1 person were to give out clear instructions to the person executing the activity. This way it would be better and clearer allowing the person to execute his actions calmly.

Industrial Visit to Coca Cola Factory

2009-09-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Day 22:

We had our Industrial Visit to the Coca Cola Factory today. The main purpose of this trip is to show how a production process in a Coca Cola Factory actually operates. The flow and the overall process.

Upon reaching, we were told to walk in an orderly manner into the place which I dont know why. Perhaps, they just want us to be more orderly and organized, just in case we were to make too much noise as we walk in a big group.

We were then led to a room to show us a video about the history of Coca Cola and the other branches in China.
After which, we were showed to the viewing gallery of the process in a manufacturing Coca Cola Company.
Here are the pictures!

Entrance of the Factory.

Queueing up orderly and walking into the factory.

We were given a glass bottle of coke each when we entered the room for the video.

After the video, we headed over to the gallery and see the processes in the factory.

This woman is doing a manual check on the empty bottles before it goes into the process.
Bottles which fail the test would be placed into the red cartons in near the worker legs.

This guy worker is actually sliding the metals into the machines.
The metal is actually the top part of the can drinks you see in our daily lives.

The packaging section.
Workers below arranging the packaging and stacking it up nicely.

We then headed over to the exhibition hall and see all the designs of the coke bottles from the start till the present, with even some of them at limited edition design.

A big design of the Coca Cola Brand at the entrance of the Factory.

Reflections:

Just last night, I finally made a call using skype over back to my family. I had a short chat with my family using the webcam too. Time flies as it had already been 22 days since I arrived. My mum uses msn and I frequently keep in touch with her at Singapore via chatting with her online through msn. Its just nice to see how my friends around me have been trying to keep in touch with their families over at Singapore. Adrian make calls back once a week to just inform them he is doing fine, a very common method. My friend, Eshlyn actually write emails back to her mum. I could actually imagine her mum relaxing and reading the long email her daughter writes. That is just so heartwarming and sweet. I really miss my family!

IS in the morning, Grand Ocean Shopping Centre after class.

2009-09-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Day 21:

We had another IS lesson today and it is about Chinese Traditional Philosophy which includes Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The lecturer name was Philip An and he started off his lecture by having a rather thorough talk about the Chinese History. His lecture lasted from 9am to 11.30am. With 179 slides, he only finished 90. He would continue the rest of it on another day.

After lessons, we had our free time and some of us decided to head over to Grand Ocean shopping centre again.

Upon reaching, we decided to have beef steak for lunch.
As usual, it was delicious & was certainly worth the value of how much the beef steak cost.
& on the other hand, this restaurant has the best toilet out of all I have ever experienced in Wuhan.
It has a nice sweet smelling when I enter the toilet and also classical soft music playing at the background.

The waitress cleaning the table with detergent and using a cloth to wipe it clean.

Finally, the food has arrived. Chicken Chops & Beef Steaks :)

After lunch, we went seperate ways and do shopping.
I didn't buy anything much.
Just accompanied Adrian & Daniel to shop for jackets as the weather here is turning cold.

Adrian trying out a jacket.

After a long day at shopping, we decided to have dinner at Macdonalds'.

Night Pictures of the entrance of the shopping centre.

Reflections:

On our way there, we took cab and I saw the same scene as the first time when I took a cab here in China. Barriers dividing the driver and the passengers in the cab. The other time I took the picture of the same scene, it was a different barrier, the other barrier had metal poles. I guess all cab drivers can design the way the barrier in any way they like. They also can choose not to use barriers to divide themselves from the passengers. However, I see barriers in almost all cabs. I reckon its just a matter of playing safe to prevent themself to get robbed at knifepoint by passengers.

Cruise to Magnificent Three Gorges Dam, BaiDi Cheng & Beautiful Sceneries down the Shennong Stream (Yangtze River)

2009-09-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Day 18:

The trip started off with us assembling very early at 6.30 a.m. and a long bus ride of 5 hours before reaching the city of Three Gorges.

Our first destination was the Three Gorges Dam.

Upon reaching, we were given a small talk on the history and the overview of the dam.
They even have a stimulated model of the whole dam.

This reminds me of the talk I actually had at Singapore's Marina Barrage.

Students listening attentively to the talk given by our Tour Guide.

After the talk, we were given time to go look around and take pictures of everything outside.

Me at the highest peak of the dam. Haha.

Group picture with the dam behind us.
Alvin, Mingyu, Xanier, Erwin. :)

Me and the dam behind.
This dam is huge compared to the one we have at Singapore, Marina Barrage.

After which, we had a walk around a park near the dam.

Some very beautiful flowers nicely placed outside the entrance of the park. :)

I love this picture because it shows how neat the trees are planted.
Very nice view.

We finally boarded our long awaited cruise.

Nice corridor leading to our rooms at Level 1 of the ship.

Our room number: 107. :)

Now lets take a look inside the room!

Well at least there is a television, however we only had one channel to watch.
Other channels didn't had coverage.

Edy and our beds behind.

Look at the toilet!
It's bigger than what we have in our hostel but very squeezy.
& like what Zhong Rong said when he came to our room.
You need yoga to close the door from inside.
Because it's very squeezy.
Hahaha.

Day 19 and 20:

We awoke at 5.30 a.m. to get ready so we could have breakfast at 6am.
The tour guide had warned us about the food before we boarded the ship.
Well, the food on board the ship was acceptable to me.
After breakfast, we alighted from it and headed to see BAIDI CHENG.
The breeze was very strong there and the weather was perfect.
With nice sceneries and perfect weather, what more could I possibly ask for? Haha.

The long bridge we have to walk to get to the other side.

While walking the long bridge.

Me posting with the long bridge behind me. :)

Take a look at this flag!
It has my surname & it's green in colour.
My favorite colour. :)

After that we transferred to another boat and travel down the Shenong Stream (Yangtze River).
As we were travelling down the streams, the sight of the mountains at both left and right are very beautiful.

I could just stand there all day and admire the scenery with the relaxing breeze blowing against my face.

View from inside our cruise.

Some random shots of the beautiful mountains.

After which, it was time for lunch!
How they actually annouce that its time for lunch and informing people on boat that it is ready for lunch is by using speakers to annouce throughout the boat.

A painting on our way up to the restuarant in our cruise to have our lunch.

Our lunch!
Everybody was famished because the portion for breakfast was rather little.
We practically finished up everything. :)

Take a look at this picture of a mountain.
Does it looks like a footprint to you?
It's actually a left footprint on the mountain.
So cool.

This would be the picture of the day.
Look at the reflections of the mountains. :)

A shot of me taken by Polim's DSLR. Haha.

We then alighted from our boat and headed to small boats upstream of Shengnong River.

Me and Edy on the sampan as we were rowed upstream.
The people rowing us up the boat is really fit.
I can tell its super tiring and difficult to row upstream against the flow of the river.
The tour guide on the boat with us told us that we could call them "Huo Ji" which means boat workers.
To them, its a very good respect to them which actually means good brother to them.

You could actually see them using paddles to row up the river.
After reaching a certain depth, the captain and the vice captain of the sampan use long bamboos to push the sampan forward by thrusting it into the ground and pushing it foward..
At this point, the depth is actually about 4 - 5 metres.

As the depth gets more shallow, the water is more clean and clear.
Edy actually tried drinking it from the river by scooping it up with one hand.
Then, when the water is too shallow, the jump off the sampans and pull us upstream with only strong thick ropes wrapped around them.

Their footwear is actually straw sandles.
The one we wore during our water rafting at Lulin Shan.
The difference is that their design is actually very nice.
Too bad, I didn't took a picture of it.
I believe most of their sandles are customized made.
Straw sandles actually protect the sole of their feets and make it less slippery while walking on the wet rocks as they pull us up the stream of the river.

They are very fit and they only earned 30 for each trip.
At the end of the trip, we all gave some tips for them which are little to us but actually helps them alot and long way.

Our tour guide singing a folk song to us.
She said last time in their town, if the girls do not know any folk song, the girls would not be able to get married.
Also, when you like a girl, the most common gift over there would be the stones(pebbles) near the upstream of the river.
The guy would slowly and carefully picked the most beautiful one before giving it to the girl he likes as a token of love.

Reflections:

While on the boat, I was actually relaxing on a chair and having a chat with my friends. Something caught my attention, I saw a old women allowing her grandchild I suppose to actually do her business there at one corner of the ship. She was apparently oblivious to any onlookers and didn't care about the shyness. The scene which happened was at level 2 of the ship and the nearby toilet was at level 1 of the ship. Surprisingly, I didn't only witness one of such scenario. While back on the cruise, we were actually admiring the sceneries at the roof the cruise when we saw the same thing. This time it was a grandfather which help her grand-daughter to pee over the railings onto the floor of the roof. The reasons I would be guessing at this kind of scene would be; One, priority are given to young children, so at the sight of onlookers, they would just turn a blind eye to it. Two, they were afraid, on the way to the toilet, the grandchildren would not be able to hold it in and let it out on the way there. Three, they are lazy and anything goes for them.

Goodnight world!
It's time for sleep.(Its currently 2.30 a.m. !)

Oh yes, the weather is turning cold these few days.
It has been raining for the whole of yesterday.
People are starting to fall sick.
Get well soon, Yoke May(flu), Alvin & Jarold (headache). :)
As what Mr Loh said, you just have to keep yourself warm and drink more water.
Thats all we have to do to prevent ourselves from getting sick.

First written test

2009-09-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

Day 17:

We had our first written test today. When we recieve our answer booklet, we were shocked because it is finally something we saw after a long time; Ngee Ann Polytechnic Common Test Answer Book! Hahaha.

The written test was so-so, but I didn't have time to complete it. Oh wells, it's over already anyway. I would have to do better for the upcoming quizzes, assignments and written test then.

Is this familiar?! Hahaha.

Reflection:

We had soccer today after lessons at the field. Without fail, there is marching by students each time on the track. I soon realised it is compulsory for all students to learn the march and the commands shouted by the officers. I feel that this is a very good training or can also be a so called "CCA" for them as it not only train their discipline but also help them keep fit.

2nd IS Lesson + 1st Presentation

2009-09-16T08:18:00.001-07:00

Day 16:

The day started off with us having our 2nd IS lesson; Insight to China. Today's lesson talks about everything you need to know in a Chinese Marriage, starts from the steps, the items, why on certain items like oranges and also table manners. The second half of the lesson then talks about the Fengshui of chinese, mainly focusing on the bedrooms of our homes.

You can see the teacher using the headphone with a microphone attached to it to teach his lessons.

All we have to do is to pick up the same headphones and listen to his lesson.

Reflections:

I find that this way is a very interesting way to teach lessons in China. It is also something that is not seen in Singapore before. The advantage in this is that, the words that come out from the lecturer mouth can be clearly heard over the headphones and also the teacher do not have to project his voice loudly so that everyone can hear. However, the disadvantage is that it would be kind of uncomfortable after a period of time wearing it. I believe it can be improved to a better design to help make it more durable though.

Students in the class paying attention to the teacher lectures and copying notes.

We changed bedsheets again!
Now its confirmed, every wednesday they would change bedsheets!
Goodnight world. (:

Orange plucking & BBQ with china students

2009-09-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

Day 15:

Today was a so called. interaction day with the China students here. The activities were plucking oranges and a BBQ in the night. Pretty relaxed day as the meeting was at 1.30pm allowing us to sleep in longer.

We headed over to the orange farm first to pluck oranges and explore a farm in Wuhan. Over here, plucking oranges and eating is free. You can eat as many as you want, it would still be free. However, if you want to bring back some, they would charge you for it. They charge you through the weight of the total amount of oranges you picked. The instrument used to measure the weight is a traditional weighing scale, those you would normally see in a medical shop that sell herbs.

After plucking oranges, we return to campus and headed over for BBQ, the BBQ style is a tad bit different from Singapore style. The difference here is we would sit around the fire we started and barbecue our food.

The trail for us to walk into the Orange Farm.

Upon reaching, i realised the colour of a orange when it is not ripe yet is green, however still edible, just a tad bit sour.
Well, partly because when I buy oranges at Singapore, it would already be fully ripe and it will be orange in colour.

Presenting to you ORANGES. hahaha.

Group Photo again :)
with a nice scenery as background & oranges around us.

Reflections:

Barbecueing here has a unique style different from Singapore, they even barbecue vegetables like cucumbers and mushrooms. We also have to sit around the fire we started to barbecue because the pit is designed in such a way. I feel this way is better as we can communicate and share thoughts with one another(friends) while barbecueing.

Lab Test & Soccer

2009-09-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Day 14:

This is what we saw on the blackboard when we entered our classroom at 9am today. We were not sure who did it but it certainly did brighten up my day. I'm guessing the people who did this are girls that we will be interacting with tomorrow. :)

We had a mock lab test in the morning and then the actual test in the afternoon. Relatively okay because the format is the same with only the figures changed and additional question. And I saw my first 3 quizzes marks today; 21, 21, 25. :) All upon 30. I hope to do well in this module. Results out on 18th this friday! Good luck to me!

After the lab test, we had a soccer match with another group of china students there.

Reflections:

Soccer is really universal. Even if you speak another language with them, they will still allow you to play with them. Everyone is more than welcome to actually invite you to play with them or against them. I feel that playing with each other will help learn from each other's skills or style and also they would be able to play against new faces to pit their skills. In any case, it would be just a work out and having fun together. Today was a friendly match. We won again. Hahaha. I feel that people here are really nice and very friendly.

City Tour to Han Kou Beach & Wan Da Mall

2009-09-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Day 13:

Today was a pretty relaxed day. It started off as we had an approximately 1 and a half hour ride to Han Kou Beach & Wan Da Mall. Upon reaching Han Kou Beach, it was a very beautiful park(although they call it a beach, it feels more like a park to me) and I feel that it would be the best place in Wuhan to actually relax, exercise, fly a kite or just sit there to enjoy the breeze.

Entrance of Han Kou Beach.

Pictures of around the beach. :)

Look at the neat rows of trees planted.
Looks so relaxing.

You can rent a 4 person bike too!

Group Picture!

Alvin, Me, Mingyu & Xanier.

If you are bored, you could even buy a kite and start flying it.
Awesome.

After a short moment at the park, we headed over to Wan Da Mall to shopping and have our lunch.

Adrian and Me making our way to the mall. :)

Hahaha, me and eshlyn taking picture as we were walking down the street with this erm, foot statue?
Hahaha.

The places here look like orchard road in China Version.
Hahaha.

Finally we found a place alike to Teppanyaki for lunch.
Best choice ever.

The chef in the cooking.

Chicken Chop! Looks delicious right?

& Rice! :)

Adrian enjoying the food.
Hahaha.

Adrian posting with the drink that was complimentary to us.
The cost of our lunch is $22 yuan. :)
Cheap cheap.

Reflections:

On our way out of the shopping centre, I saw alot of motorbikes parked outside which a lock chained onto the back wheel. Almost all the bikes is chained. In Singapore, this scene is rather rare and this shows how the people do not trust the safety of leaving their bikes without the locks. Subsequently, it also shows how they protect their vehicle when they go shopping even when the place is so open which is just outside the entrance of the shopping centre.

Wuhan City Tour - Yellow Crane Tower, Hubei Museum

2009-09-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

Day 12:

Today was City Tour! We went to Hubei Musem and the Yellow Crane Tower. We assembled in the morning at 7.15 am at the usual spot when we went for Lulin Shan and off we went to the city. It would was an hour ride there.

Upon reaching, we were told that the muesum opens at 9am so we went to the park nearby to see the sceneries and sights to kill time first.

And thats me with the very nice background behind. :)
Finally it was the time for the museum! We have to go through a security check before able to gain entry to the museum.

Interior of the museum.

Adrian and Me with the museum at the background.

After the museum tour, we headed over to the "Xiao Chi Jie" and had our lunch.
That street sells many good and delicious food. How I wish this street was near our campus because I'm kind of getting bored of the food around here already. Haha.

Entrance of "Xiao Chi Jie"

Stalls on the left and right of the streets with tables at the centre.

The payment here is by buying a card and topping it up with cash.
Same system as our campus.
I'm still wondering why don't they implement this for the bus transport. Haha.

After lunch, we headed over to the Yellow Crane Tower.

A street leading to the Yellow Crane Tower.

Entrance of the Yellow Crane Tower.

Look at the magnificant building. :)

Very nice portrait at the first level when we entered the Yellow Crane Tower.

Self shot of me and the magnificant tower. :)

Group Photo!
1, 2, 3. :)

A shot of me with a painting behind at the highest tower of the Yellow Crane Tower.

Ming Yu, Alvin, Me :)

Reflections:

As we were eating lunch at " Xiao Chi Jie ", me and my friends couldn't find a seat. When we eventually found one, we were already very famished. We wanted to all go get food together and nobody wanted to take care of the seat. My friend then suggested using a tissue packet to book a seat. Thinking back, it may worked in Singapore hawker centers or any eateries. However here, it would certainly not work and your tissue packet may even disappear. Another scenario I saw was that my 2 friends sat at a 4 table seat, with 2 empty seats, another 2 friends just join in after asking if they are allowed to sit. This is rarely seen in Singapore as many Singaporeans are more shy than the people here. That is a difference I noticed about the personality in people here over the people at Singapore.

First Day of IS; Insight to China

2009-09-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Day 11:

A beautiful day started off with us having our first IS lesson in the morning & our IS was insight to china. It basically tells us about the history of China followed by the history of Wuhan.
Recap!

Country - China
Province - Hubei
City - Wuhan
Hahaha. Basic knowledge.

Well, our teacher's name is Anna and she was using a video to illustrate the history of China to us.

She then showed us the rivers at Wuhan by drawing it out on the blackboard.

Things she wrote on the blackboard. Haha.
Giving details of herself and contact so we can contact her.

There it is, using a animated video to show us the history of China.
Other stuff she talked about is actually the culture here and also introduced us the famous delicacies here in Wuhan.

Group picture with Teacher Anna and Joseph Loh after class. :)

After lessons, we headed over to a shop which sell western food and I tried chicken chop.

Interior of the shop.

There they are taking their time to take their orders.

The drinks they offered us for our set meals.

The chicken chop we ordered. :)
Looks delicious but however there are bones.

After lunch, we headed over to the field to do some workout and celebrated Shun Qing and Ming Yu's birthday.

ME! Holding the frisbee.

Birthday Boy! Ming Yu. :)

Birthday Girl! Shun Qing. :)

After the celebration, we decided to play soccers with the China students.
It was fun but very tiring. I guessed that I didn't play soccer for a long time and thats explain my poor stamina. :(
LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WATCHING US PLAY.
Oh My God. haha.
Our opponents doing 5 push ups for every goal we scored.
Vice versa for us.The Final Score? 5 - 2.
We WON! :)

Reflections:

Actually the people here are very friendly, they welcome us to play with them when we ask if we could join them. After the match, we even exchange numbers so that we can play again next time. He even introduced us to their shop that sells milk tea. Haha. The teacher teaching our IS class was also very friendly. She answered most of the questions patiently in english when some of my classmates prompted her. Such patience and warmness from the teacher actually makes me more motivated to study too.

Another typical BPE lessons + afternoon nap

2009-09-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

Day 10:

Woke up feeling good today because lessons started off at 2pm with IS cancelled in the morning. However, tomorrow would be the first day of IS in the morning at 9am! Woke up at 12pm and off we went for lunch with us skipping breakfast to catch more sleep.

It was another typical ordinary lesson at BPE, with Mr Joseph Loh teaching us Chapter 3 of flexsim. I'm kind of starting to understand how flexsim works. Then, it was quiz after the 3rd chapter. I was still kind of not used to having quiz straight after the chapter is taught finish. However, it has its own advantage, we could still recall what the chapter is about and would be able to do the quiz easier. Imagine if every BPE lessons we were to have this. In just 10 days, we could actually finish 10 chapters and the 10 quizzes. How fast is that?! But I still doubt so it would be possible.

After lessons, Edy headed back to the hostel first because he was sick, perhaps too much of oily food we have eaten here during our 10 days stay here. Get well soon Edy! I had a nap and did not join the others for dinner. My friend helped me bought take away rice and ate at the hostel instead.

Chicken Fried Rice :)

Reflections:

Finally, I'm starting to feel a tad bit stress on studies. With assignments to complete and written test next week, we still have to juggle with blogging and complete our tutorials in flexsim. Oh man, just have to endure and get through this because everyone is also facing the same thing.
Come on everybody at Wuhan MDE peeps, we will get through this! With motivation and encouragement from one another, with care shown in every way, nothing is impossbile for us.

First time taking the taxi in Wuhan

2009-09-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

Day 9:

The day started off early in the morning at 9am. Woke up quite late because I had a late night rushing my work and rushed off to lessons. Weather today was the coldest I ever felt since I came to Wuhan.

When we returned from lessons, we were shocked to see the bed sheets finally
changed. Now we know, every wednesday they would change the bed sheets.

Me and Edy then headed to the shopping mall we went a few days ago.
Edy wanted to meet his friend and we decided to take the cab. Well, it was his treat so why not?
Haha.

Reflections:

As we can see the taxi have a metal liked fence to protect the drivers from the passengers.
I guess because here they are many cases of robbery on taxi drivers therefore they would implement this to protect themselves. In Singapore, we do not see this as Singapore is already considered a very safe country. So, I'm very happy to a be a Singaporean and also to live in Singapore! :)

Upon reaching, me and edy decided to have lunch at this restaurant which sells steak.

I ordered the chicken chop set and edy ordered a beef steak.

Look at it!
Mouth watering isn't it?
The cost? $40 yuan for mine and edy's meal set cost $55 yuan.
Compared to Singapore, it is cheap and also very delicious.
I would rate this as the best food I ever tasted here so far.
However still not the cheapest.

Edy shielding himself from the hot splattering sauce with a big napkin as it was very hot.
Well, actually the waiter asked him to do that to protect his clothings

The meal set we ordered consists of:
Chicken or Beef which comes with spagetti and fried egg.
A cup of Red Tea.
2 loafs of fresh French Bread.
Soup of the Day.
And a bowl for you to get fruits from the buffet.
YES, you heard me. Fruits Buffet.
Worth it?
You decide. :)

Satisfied Me. :)

Coldest Day in Wuhan

2009-09-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

Day 8:

We slept in a little longer today as lessons started at 2pm. Woke up at 12pm and met up with others for lunch at the canteen. Didn’t eat much because the food there wasn’t really tempting my appetite and also I wasn’t feeling very hungry. However, I just bought 2 hot-dogs and green tea which probably could last me a while till after lessons.

Joseph Low briefly went through lesson 1 and straight after it was our first quiz on Flexsim. Relatively straightforward questions as we are allowed to refer to notes. Then, we had to complete Lesson 1 & 2 and was assigned topics to our assignment which would require us for presentation.

Our classroom number and name.

Joseph Loh teaching us lesson.

The teacher's desk.

Painters hanging dangerously from a rope only and painting.
Unlike Singaporean bangala workers which emphasis on safety as first priority.

We having Wanton as dinner ;)
Daniel, Adrian, Eshlyn, Shun Qing and Me! (clockwise)

Reflections:

While having dinner today, we heard fireworks outside the shop we were eating in.
Most of us ran out of the shop just to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. I which realised that a new shop had just open and the owner is celebrating the opening. Shocking to me, as i walked along the streets towards to fireworks, i could see the locals around me couldn't care less about the beautiful fireworks. Compared to us Singaporeans, we are so easily fascinated by the beautiful fireworks as we do not get the chance to see it so frequently and also so up close. Locals living there are so used to fireworks shooting everywhere because they are allowed to buy fireworks.
This could be something we should get used to too.

Tour around Campus & Exercise!

2009-09-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

Day 7:

Had our first lesson on flexsim today at 10am.
Tested out the program by following the help guide.
Still quite blur with the program and had problems finding the bottleneck.
Joseph Low can't solved it too, he say he will help me with it tomorrow.
Thanks!

Joseph Low teaching flexsim.

Joseph Low helping Eshlyn with her problem.
Haha.

After which finished class at 12am and went for lunch at Wanton Shop again!
Later in the afternoon at 2pm, met up with other NP students at had a tour around school to see the facilities and buildings.

The girls enjoying the air-con in the classroom.
Because it was a very very hot day.

Surprisingly we found another canteen while walking around the campus.

After which, it was free and easy.
We then had a little workout with some of the guys playing basketballs
& most of them jogging.

Me trying a 3-pointer shot :)

Sweaty me!

Group photo of those who went for the evening work out :)

Reflections:

I miss Ngee Ann Polytechnic sheltered walkway around the campus.
Today was a very hot day at Wuhan.
From buildings to buildings, we were most of the time under the scorching sun.
The scorching sun was making everybody moody and dehydrated.
Most of the local students were using an umbrella too.
Obviously, they too cannot stand the heat from the sun.
We gotta appreciate the facilities of the campus in Singapore compared to here.
Oh wells, I'm going to get more tan. Hahaha.
Free sun-tanning!

Beautiful Sceneries at Lulin Shan & The Ride of My Life

2009-09-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Beautiful Scenery at Lulin Shan

Everyone gather up at 7.20am and got ready to set off to Lulin Shan.
On the way there, everyone was so tired that they fell asleep on the bus.
Upon reaching we had our lunch and set off for the water rafting.
Too bad I can't bring camera on board so there isn't any photos.
However, there is a photo of us taken by a camera man at the start of the slope.
First time rafting and it was an awesome experience.
Tagged up with Edy. Haha.
Then, we headed over to see the waterfalls.
Very nice view of the beautiful waterfall.
And finally, after a long tiring day, we checked in at a 1 star hotel on the mountain.
The best accommodation we had since we come Wuhan.

Me, Edy & Daniel in the bus before setting off to Lulin Shan.

Me and Edy.

Group picture, Zhong Rong, Edy, Erwin, Daniel, Adrian, Jun Ru. (clockwise)

On the way there, everybody was so tired that we all fell asleep.
It was a long 4 hours ride to Lulin Shan.

The hat they gave us when we reached Lulin Shan.

Group picture!
Daniel, Adrian, Chin Kuang and Myself.
We were wearing the same event shirt. hahaha.

We headed for lunch then off we go for the water rafting.
A truly enjoyable experience.

The only picture we had.
Bought this from the camera man at $15 yuan. hahhaa.
Nice right?
Look how much fun Edy and Me is enjoying.
HAHA!

After rafting, we headed over to see the waterfall.
We walked through the place and admire the beautiful waterfalls.

Entrance of the pathway we took to the Waterfalls.

Beautiful walkway.
Looks like a scene from Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Take a look at the rice crops.
Must have taken sweat, blood and time to grow till this stage.

They have a dustbin along the pathway for tourists to throw the rubbish.

Finally, we reached the first waterfall!
There is a few more waterfall down the path.
Very nice view right?
It's spectacular.

While walking to the 2nd water fall, we saw another nice scene of waterfall.
Nice nice? :)

& an another one.

& an another big waterfall, almost the same size as the first one we saw.

A photo of Daniel and Me :)

A random shot of another small waterfall :)

A view of a nice lake.

A shot of me making my way to the waterfalls.

Haha, another shot of Me and Daniel at the beautiful lake.

Group photo again!

A photo of the beautiful waterfall and me :)

& finally the best photo at the waterfall ever!

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

ME AND EDY LOVER PHOTO!
hahaha.
The waterfall behind us is call a Lover Waterfall.
Hahaha.

After which, we settled down for dinner.

After dinner, we checked into our hotel.

Our room number.

They uses the card scanning system to unlock the door.

Now, take a look inside the hotel.

TV, oh my god.
It's been long since i watch a television.

The interior of the toilets

Although still squat, but its very wide.
Much better than the one we have at our hostel.
If only, we have this toilet at our hostel, i would be more than satisfied.
If only..

After putting down our luggage, we headed for a night performance near the hotel.

Gathering a hotel lobby before setting off.

Random shots of the night performance.

Everyone gathering for the campfire.
Can see a very nice bonding session among those villagers and residents that live around there.

One of the dancers teaching them how to dance to a song.

Lastly, I'll end this post of myself. Haha! :P

A green shirt i got myself at Lulin Shan. :)
it cost me $20 yuan. haha.

Day 6: The Ride of My Life

I call this day The Ride of My Life because the drivers drive us around the mountains at very high speed and making sharp turns which swing us from left to right, up and down.
Just 1 wrong move & you may see us tumbling down the sides of the hill in the bus we are in. Of cos CHOY; touch wood.
After breakfast, we were driven to the 绿林山南寨 to see the history of army fighting on the moutains before.

Welcome to 绿林山南寨

Edy, Shuai Ge, Me!

Me and the beautiful view.

Testing out the bow and arrow.
First time holding onto it.

Reflections:

The drivers here are really neglecting the safety of their passengers. While driving to 绿林山南寨, the drivers use horns at blind spots to warned the oncoming traffic. Yes, that is a good technique. However, they are still driving at that top speed. What if there is an oncoming traffic travelling at that same speed too. I really can't imagine the outcome. Not only on moutains do they do that, they travel at high speeds on normal road and highways too. Subsequently, they even drive against the traffic to cut lanes and overtake the traffic. Super dangerous. Now, I finally appreciate the drivers at Singapore than over here.

Orientation around School

2009-09-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Day 4:

Today, we met at 10am at the lobby for our around school orientation.
It was to show the route to the building of the place we would be studying at.
On the way there, we would have to climb uphill towards the building.
It would be a good morning exercise for us after eating so much unhealthy food. Haha. However, the hill is not as steep as the one in Ngee Ann.
Upon reaching, we showed to our classrooms.
The classroom has a unique design compared to ours at Singapore.
The tables are all connected in one stretch and the seats are like the seats in cinemas.
Very unique and different from Singapore schools classrooms.

On the way to our building we would be studying at.

Uphill.

Passing by the general building of the university.

Uphill again!
Exercise exercise! haha.

View of apartments while walking to our destination.

Me and Jarold at a relaxation place near the place we would be studying at.

Students relaxing under the shade on a very nice green slope.
Yes! we finally reached.
Interior of the school from the front gate.

Look at the chairs, very unique. Unlike Singapore classrooms.
The tables are unique too, its connected.
Back in Ngee Ann, we mostly have our own table to ourselves.
Right here, its connected.

This dustbin can be found outside the classrooms.
You can throw rubbish into it depending on whether is it recyclable or not.
Very innovative product.
Helps divide the different type of rubbish.

The guys and girls checking the toilet which we would be using while studying here.

And the orientation ends here, very fast.
Most of us were already hungry and so we headed out for lunch.

We tried the wanton shop that Joseph Low recommended us.
It is super super delicious.
The most delicious and healthiest food I ever tasted since I came here.
The wanton is very tender and full of taste.
The soup is not very oily and delicious too.
I'm going to rate this 5/5.
Recommended by me too!

This bowl of noodles is called Ji Xiang Wanton Mian.
It is $5 yuan only!

My beverage! Xue Bi. :)

Awesome Lunch.

Maximising the use of the hangers to dry our clothes we got back from the
laundry service.
This afternoon, we went to send our dirty clothings to the laundry service.
& we collected it 40 minutes later.
Very fast services.
It cost us only $13 yuan each room for 3 days of dirty laundry.
Cheap, yes.
Fast, yes too.
Haha.

For dinner, we went to try the Ma La Huo Puo, Spicy hotpot.
It is very spicy.
It is also very delicious.
The soup based is standard and the food is choosen by ourselves.
Sadly, I do not like most of the choices there.
Therefore eating very little, but still very delicious.
Each item is pierced into a satay stick.
At the end of your meal, they calculate the price by counting the number of sticks on your
table.

This would be good to eat during a very cold weather. :)

After which, headed back to lobby and had our briefing for tomorrow's activity.

Guess the activity tomorrow? :)

It's Lulin (Green Forest) Resort Tour!

Woohoo, it includes Water Rafting and Waterfalls Viewing.
Can't wait for tomorrow!
Night.

Reflections:

Washing of own clothes

I just realised I was so pampered back in Singapore. Back home, I have my own maid to help me wash, dry, iron and fold my clothes. Now for the first time in my life, I’m actually experiencing how to wash my own undergarments and clothes. Till now, I finally realised that washing of clothes is actually so back demanding. Just standing there to wash the undergarments for 5 minutes, my back would already start to ache. Now, I know how tired my maid would be at end of each day. Me and my roommates bought a packet of detergent and wash our own undergarments. After the 3rd day, we decided to send our clothes to the laundry service because it would be much cleaner and it is also quite cheap; 4kg of clothes for $5 yuan. However, we would still need to dry our clothes on our own as they only provide service on helping us to wash only. In addition, we would still be washing our own undergarments and socks as we feel that it would be better if we wash our own personal stuff.

Smoking of cigarettes anywhere

On our first day at Guangzhou airport, we ate a restaurant in the airport for lunch. I was shocked and surprised to see people eating and actually smoking at the same time in the restaurant itself! Chin Kuang then told me, smoking is allowed anywhere in China. Unlike Singapore, Singapore ban smoking at air conditioned shopping centres or areas and even some areas like the playground. However in China, smoking is allowed anywhere. Just yesterday at the city shopping centre, as we were playing arcade, there were people smoking in the arcade itself. I was very appalled by this scene but it is something I have to accept during my 6 weeks stay here. As mentioned in Jarold’s blog reflection, he said, “As the saying goes, "You can't change the way things are, but you can change the way you react to it".” Reacting doesn’t mean doing something about it. But in this way, it means if someone were to smoke near you, you can do so by actually moving away or walking off instead of starting a quarrel. Haha.

Customer Service

The other day I ordered contacts lenses from a shop because they do not have the stock and the price total up to $560 yuan. To me, it was okay because back in Singapore it is about the same price. However, I walked around and found out that I could have gotten it at a cheaper price at only $420 yuan! By that time, I already paid a deposit at the previous shop I ordered at. Feeling cheated, I went back to the shop and hoping to get a refund so I could get it at a cheaper price. Upon reaching, I told them I wanted to cancel it. Surprisingly, they said it is possible and refunded me. If it is in Singapore, they would have already just said no and not return the deposit. Well, it was actually a valuable lesson learnt which is to check prices from other shops before deciding to buy on something.

Check our cups we bought on the first day.
Forgot to take photo on the first day.

Kai Chung, Mine, Edy.

Goodnight world!

Shopping at City

2009-09-03T07:53:00.001-07:00

Day 3 :

HELLO WUHAN GROUP!
Group Photo outside the shopping centre.
:)

JO2 Guys
:)

We had lunch at Mac
&
this is what i order.

Delicious? Hahaha.
Hungry already I'm guessing. :b

This is so gotta be the photo of the day.
Picture taken by me as we were using the escalator :)

We walked around and decided to shop at Carrefour.

Look at the escalators.
Very interesting idea by putting items along the escalators.

The guys were thirsty and we tried using the vending machine
we saw around the shopping centre.

Cinema in the Shopping Centre.

The game which kept us playing for 3 hours in the arcade.
Hahaha.

Me, Green bear, Edy.
Squeezing in the bus on the way back to hostel.

She is in charge of collecting the money from customers.

And I got myself a green bear. Hahaha.
Actually, Daniel helped me, didn't have any tokens left.
Thanks Daniel!!

Poor old woman picking up the litters.

Litters seen around the road side stalls.

End of Day 3.
Tired!

Reflections:
We took the bus service to the city today.
The experience is absolutely different from Singapore.
Squeezing in the bus is common, however, the driver is very reckless; braking and speeding at random timings which cause many of us to almost fall.
Time to start appreciating Singapore SBS Drivers. Haha.
And also, the collection of the fare is also very different. There will be a woman in-charge to collect the fare which is $2 yuan.
She would squeeze through, shoving and pushing the passengers on board to collect money.
I feel that they should start upgrading the service by using a electronic card similiar to Singapore bus fare payment service which uses a card to tap on a machine when boarding.
This would not only help lessen the trouble of collecting money, it would also help keep the passengers safe and enjoy the journey.

The road stalls at night is also something to reflect about.
Litters of packaging food can be seen all over the places near the stalls.
It's not only unsightly but also very unhygenic. You could see the old woman picking up the litters. But, its not making a much difference as she is so old already. Now, I'm starting to appreciate the cleanliness in Singapore compared to here.

Shopping around Campus

2009-09-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Day 2:

Outside view of our hostel as we left for shopping and lunch.

The shop we had lunch at.

Chicken Fried Rice I ordered.
I couldn't finish it.
Looks ok-ok.
But it's a lot.
Some of them couldn't finish it too.

After lunch, we walked to a Supermart and bought our daily needs.
Kettle, Cups, Hangers etc.

Pictures of the interior Supermart.

Beverages in the Supermart.
As you can see, they have an unique design compare to Singapore.

A helpful shop assistant helping Edy.

I bought a pillow cover for myself.
Edy bought one too.
HAHA.
It's green in colour!
Same as my blogskin :)

Edy wanted a haircut & decided on this salon.
Check out edy's blog for this comments and opinions.
Price ?
Further down.
After Edy's handsome newly cut hairstyle face. :P

Interior pictures of the salon

Washing first.

Cutting.

Styling; Final touches.

Now for the final look:

Side View

Back View
Daniel was kissing Edy.
HAHAHA, joking.

Side ViewEdy's new haircut.

Price?
$15 yuan
CHEAP!

We saw people dumping rubbish into this small corner of the road.
Not sure whether is a place for collecting rubbish or what.

As we walked further down the street, we turned right &
Guess what we saw?

It's KFC!

KC presenting KFC.

Edy and Daniel. :)
"Sawadika-ing" me.
Sawadika is a thailand word for WELCOME.
HAHAHA.

As I went back to cancel the order I made for the contact lenses,
I saw something...

It's a look a like LION DOG!

Oh My God, nice right?
It's SO COOL.

As we headed back to the hostel, the road which was empty in the morning
is now set-up with night stalls.

Pictures of the nightlife!

This is lamb meat.
1 for $2 yuan
3 for $5 yuan

This store sells fried rice and fried noodles.
Very famous and delicious.
Quite oily though.

The food is delicious.

End of Day 2.
Goodnight!

On our way to the beautiful Wuhan

2009-09-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Day 1

Gate @ Changi Airport.

Hello Joseph Low, Zhong Rong, Gloria, Jun Ru, Chin Kuang

Plane to Guangzhou

Photo of the Day.
Beautiful shot by me.
Haha.

Taking Off! Weee.

Our meal in flight towards Guangzhou.

Guardian in the airport.

Fruit Shop in Guangzhou Airport.

We then had our lunch at a resturant in airport.

Interior of the restuarant.

Meatball Mee Fen in soup.
The soup is very oily and also very salty.
However, the meatball was very delicious.

Warm Chrysanthenum Tea.
I gotta love this beverage.
It keeps us warm and refreshed.

P.S. After finishing our lunch, as we were paying, the waitress was checking the money
in front of us to see whether it was genuine.
Too bad I did not had a chance to capture the picture of her checking.

A "funny" sign behind the toilet door
to remind users to flush the toilet.

I got a chance to experience the toilet in the airport of Guangzhou.
As what Mr Lim Choon Boo mentioned, there is a small dustbin
beside the toilet paper as most toilet system is not designed
to take to much toilet papers in the sewage system.

Automated Sensor of the toilet

A beautiful big flag of China in airport

Our transit Gate Number.

Our plane for transit to Wuhan.

Everybody was tired while waiting for the transit flight
at the gate, so is Mr Joseph Low.
Hahaha.
Nice pillow Mr Low!!

Dinner on board the transit flight.
CZ3344

Baggage Claim at Wuhan

Gathering up at the exit for everyone before leaving
to the bus.

Our dinner upon reaching our hostel.
P.S: This picture was taken before ALL the dishes were serve.
Most of us were hungry already, so we started eating first and the staff
were waiting for us to finish our meals so they can be dismissed from work.
More other dishes were serve as we ate our meal.

Our beverage was cold chilling sprite.
Awesome.

Our Unit Number :)
3rd Floor 3rd unit

Check out my handsome room-mates.
Hahaha.

Edy," Hi, I'm selling my house & below is my toilet. "

The Shower Head
(top of the toilet)

Hahaha, this will be my toilet for 42 days.