6 weeks of Wuhan Experience

Say GOODBYE to Wuhan!

2008-10-10T17:20:00.004+08:00

Day 43 - 6 October 2008

Currently back in Singapore!

Ahh.. 6 weeks = 42 days = 1008 hours = 60480 minutes = 3628800 seconds just flew past us. As mentioned numerous times, TIME FLIES. Will miss all the times we spent in Wuhan with the lovely 19 people and Mr Puah! of course not forgetting the ECE people and Mr Teo!

After shifting all the luggages onto the coach, we said our last goodbyes to our hostel, WUST and the staffs, back alley, 和平大道, 长江二桥, the people, public buses, cabs, left side driving and many more!

As everyone was leaving the place we stayed for the past 6 weeks, we encountered our first problem in leaving Wuhan - total baggage weight overlimit. By how much? 120 kg! In the end, Mr Puah paid for us. RMB 13 per kg. =/

Afterwards, we raised up some money to return Mr Puah. Haiz. Hey people, let's treat it as a lesson learnt.

However, our flight back to Singapore wasn't that smooth. At Guangzhou Airport, due to numerous instructions and disorganisation flying about, everyone was frustrated and only boarded the flight at Last Call.

Before we knew anything, we are BACK in Singapore!

THANKS PEOPLE! for all the memories you have given me for the past 42 days.

Will miss WUHAN. =)

Some last photos taken...

Last Sunday in Wuhan!

2008-10-10T14:31:00.005+08:00

Day 42 - 5 October 2008

Time flies. I must say. 42 days just went by us in a flash. =/

Anyway, Geokting, Adelene, Fiza, Amirah, Benjamin and I left hostel in the morning and headed to Computer City again! Yep. This time, Adelene managed to get a hard disk for herself!

Afterwards, we moved on to a shopping centre (similar to SG's Far East), named Tom and Jerry (i think) to do some shopping. Ya. The place where I was given a make over by the girls and Geokting got a A grade imitation Fion handbag for RMB 60!

Afterwards, we took an hour bus ride, covering 21 bus stops, to Walking Street. It is where I realised that Amirah and Fiza don't like Sausages and Salmon respectively. haha.

Moved on to Walmart where Geokting, Benjamin and Adelene bought some local goods like Duck neck, Wuchang fish and other biscuits etc to bring back to Singapore.

Yep. Ended off my day with a visit to the Night Market (FINALLY!!!), where I managed to get some screen protectors for my hp and an A standard imitation LV wallet for S$8! wahaha. =P

Went to back street fast food restaurant, Victor, for one last meal. =P

That's all. gonna continue to pack my luggage! Seeya.

武汉是我家，建设靠大家! =D

enjoy the photos taken today then!

1 Day in Hankou!

2008-10-05T00:31:00.000+08:00

Day 41 - 4 October 2008

As the title explains, today is Hankou day!

Supposed to meet up at the corridor by 9.30am latest, obviously, it did not happened. Instead, Geokting, Steffi, Sebas, Julian and I gathered around 10am and left for Hanzheng Street at 10.30am, boarding the Bread Van! i.e. 面包车

Rainy days and traffic jams are never a good way to start a new day. As a result, we arrived at Hanzheng Street at approx. 11.30am to 11.40am. Haha. Soon, it is 12noon and we had to rush for a cab that is willing to send Yuting, Steffi and Sebas to Grand Ocean Shopping Mall for their 1pm Spa appointment.

A frustrating experience as no cab want to send the girls there. Simple reason - Traffic Jam

Anyway, our motives of going to Hanzheng Street are:
1) Getting several good quality but cheap umbrellas for my family
2) To bring Julian around that stretch of Hanzheng street as he never go there before
3) To grant Yuting's wish of tasting that roadside hamburger one more time before leaving Wuhan
4) Walk walk and shop if there is any

Nevertheless, the above objectives were fulfilled with the girls getting on time for their Spa appointment!

Afterwards, Julian and I window shopped all the way to Walking Street as to pick up the girls from their spa appointments. Did some shopping before dinner at AIJISEN! (again)

Met Chin Xiang, Vivien and SS and headed for the Night Market. Rather disappointing as one small portion of the shops are opened. Rest closed due to RAIN. =(

Nevermind. There is always tomorrow! hahahahaha =P

Enjoy the photos then!

Just 2 more days before we are back in Singapore. Haiz. =/

发源地!!!

2008-10-03T23:36:00.009+08:00

Day 40 - 3 October 2008

Understand the 3 Chinese words above? Wahaha. If you don't know, that is the name of the Hair Salon we went today! =) 发源地

Waking up late , Andy, Teckyi, Julian, Samantha, Clarissa, Yining, Karen, Steffi, Sebas, Weiling and myself went to 发源地, either for Hair Treatment, Hair Dye or Highlight or for a simple haircut! Yuting joined us later as she was busy sleeping.

Let photos do the work for this trip to the hair salon!

fyi. there isn't much difference for me. Just went to have hair treatment for the experience and merely tidied up my hair so that when my hair grows longer, it will not look as messy as before. =P

Before hair cut!

Hair Treatment under process

That's my hair!

Highlighting Hair

Teck Yi with his new dyed hair!

New hairstyles!

Our new hairstyles!

Deputy Store Manager! The Hair Stylist for Yuting, Teckyi, Julian, Weiling, Karen and Myself!

By the time everyone has finished getting their hair done, it is about 3pm. Hence, Teckyi, Andy, Julian, Yuting and I went to the place where we bought tea leaves yesterday to buy more! This time, we bought 人参乌龙 tea leaves instead. This time, we bought even more. About 2 jin worth of tea leaves. In return, the store owner gave us discounts and also 2 mini 紫砂茶壶.

By the time we went back to hostel, it was about dinner time, where Mr Puah cooked his trademark porridge for 1 last time! Seriously, THANKS MR PUAH FOR ALL THE TIMES YOU COOKED FOR US. THANK YOU!

Here's the end product of the washing of toilet and me in action! haha. Great sense of satisfaction =D

That's all for the day! Good night people

2 days worth of blogging

2008-10-03T00:40:00.007+08:00

Day 38 - 1 October 2008

To all Chinese Nationals - A VERY HAPPY NATIONAL DAY! 1st October 2008 is People's Republic of China's 59th Birthday!

As for Group D, we woke up early in the morning, 8am, so that we are able to go to the back alley to take some photos and grab some breakfast! Out of 5 of us, probably Fiza and Amirah enjoyed the most. Because this is their FIRST BREAKFAST since don't know how long ago!

After that, it was mostly finishing up all our videos for the whole day while the rest of the people went out to shop. Purpose - National Day Sale! lol

I must say, Kudos to Group C for finishing up the videos! Although everyone was a bit frustrated working with Windows Movie Maker, I would say, we overcame it with determination and teamwork. Once again, WELL DONE! =)

That's all for Day 38. Quite short right? haha. Actually is not, for me at least.. Vomited at the middle of the night (3am) in the toilet. Suspected food poisoning. Anyway, thanks steffi and sebas for your help last night! =D Fine now.

moving on to Day 39 - 2 October 2008 , which is today...

While majority of the people were busy compiling all the videos before proceeding to Li Xuan house at night for dinner, Yuting and I decided to go to the famous tea house located at Taipei Road, Hankou, Wuhan -- DaHeng XiaoZhuan Tea house -- to get some tea leaves.

On the way out of hostel, Elaine told us that there are 2 shops selling tea leaves just nearby our hostel. As such, we visited them and bought 6 liang of Biluochun tea leaves. =)

Afterwards, we wanted to board a public bus to Hankou before changing to taxi to that tea house, thinking it will be cheaper. HAHA. it will actually, but we made a mistake by alighting at the wrong bus stop. Ended up walking along the coastal main road that will bring us to Walking Street. ahh. Imagine 2 hungry Singaporeans walking, trying to find bus 563 (reputed that will bring us to Taipei Road) and looking for food that is not expensive. =(

Yep. these are the photos captured while walking, before we found a restaurant, famous for soyabean milk and doughsticks which serves set lunch!

Inclusive in this slideshow are photos which were captured behind our hostel, while walking to buy tea leaves.

This slideshow shows our meal at Yonghe King.

Yep. After meal, we went to the bus interchange located opposite the restaurant. HOORAY! bus service 563 starts from there! as such, we boarded 563 from the interchange directly. First time boarding bus from an interchange in China. I would say, rather messy! Let me show you something interesting.

How do we know where to board the bus? LOOK ON THE FLOOR LA! =.=

Yep. Taipei Road we reached! Finally, we reached the teahouse. YAY! But sadly, the tea house sells tea for drinking BUT not tea leaves. =(

Nevermind, we took some photos along Taipei Road before heading to Li Xuan house at 钢花南苑, which is near 建设三路. fyi, we almost cannot get there and someone suggested to us to take the private cab! So dangerous you know. NVM. we took a public cab instead. =P

Here are the photos!

And yep. the rest of tonight were spent at Li Xuan house. Serious, her parents and Li Xuan's friend (who is coming to Singapore for studies in 2 months time) parents treated us very well. Cooking more than 14 dishes of food to entertain us. Quite sad la as we won't be seeing Li Xuan soon. =/

ANYWAY, THANKS FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY!

Yep. that's all for today. AND yesterday. =D

It supposed to be Project Day...

2008-10-01T00:49:00.000+08:00

Day 37 - 30 September 2008

ahh.. it supposed to be project day today. However, we have yet to start our group video! hmmm... What we do today was only consolidating all photos in relation to food and went out!

Anyway, our group (5 of us) together with Adelene went to Computer city boarding a private taxi van. Adelene got to get a hard disk while the rest of us are going there to take more photos of Wuhan food!

That's the van we boarded.. And photos of some food we tried!

Afterwards, as today was the last day of Fiza and Amirah fasting, both of them and myself went back to hostel first as they got to prepare food for everyone.

So yep. THANKS FIZA AND AMIRAH FOR YOUR TREAT! =)

After dinner, Yuting and I went to 建设七路 aka 7th street, in bid to get some stuffs. There, we managed to taste more local roadside food! For example, Riceflour Pancake, Corn? and of course, I played the Matt Candy game. According to Xiaoling 老师, it is a local art. Pay money, turn the pointer like wheel of fortune, from there, the uncle will make the matt candy according to the shape pointed.

Cool right? I got a flower pot! haha

Here are some photos

Yep. Home-d after that and now, preparing to sleep and get ready for tommorrow video charge! =)

P.S. Sleeping at room 221 now. lol.

No Monday Blues!

2008-09-30T01:09:00.000+08:00

Day 36 - 29 September 2008

Day 36. Today is Monday. In 7 days more, we are going back to Singapore! AHH.. Time really flies. That's why we decided to spend our each day to the fullest and explore Wuhan as much as possible! =P

Today, Steffi, Geok Ting and I left for Hanzheng Street first, with the intention to meet up with the rest who are going to Walking Street later in the evening. Yuting got to change her bag at a store near Hanzheng Street as she bought the wrong bag. That explains why we got to leave hostel earlier than the rest.

Upon reaching Hanzheng Street using Wuhan's public transport, we decided to shop Hanzheng street again, where we ate at the roadside stores again! wahaha. Seriously, I think those roadside food store owners know me already because I am their regular customers! lol

After that, we walked to Walking street, where we will find the shop where yuting bought her bag yesterday. In the process, we stumbled onto this commercial street, 民众坊. Another mini-back alley where nice clothing and imitation shirts can be found. Afterwards, guess what we found?

AIJISEN! haha. Obviously, everyone was excited about it as we managed to find one of the 4 Aijisen Ramaen shops in the big big Wuhan! Yep. Had dinner there and trust me, the food there is nice (although tastes a bit different from what you can find in Singapore) and cheaper!

Window shopping at the Aijisen Shopping mall (i.e. Grand Ocean Shopping Mall) where numerous brand shops that are familiar to Singaporeans (such as Mango, Hang Ten etc) can be found. Ohya, probably the main highlight of the night was accidental spotting of 1 Spa shop. Yep. the girls were crazy about it. =P Booked an appointment on Thursday afternoon, 2pm.

Cabbed home and that's all!

Tomorrow is Project day!

Photo Montage of today's trip

Wholesale Market!

2008-09-29T00:32:00.003+08:00

Day 35 - 28 September 2008

Today is a Sunday. Sunday = Family Outing, as what our government always says. Am I right? Haha.

So yeap. We had a family outing to Hanzheng Street (汉正街). This is our family (no in order)

SS (i.e. wife), Suelyn (i.e. Eldest Daughter), Vivien (2nd Daughter), Andy (Youngest son), Sebas (i.e. wife sister) and Chin Xiang (i.e. MAID).

Anyway, Hanzheng Street is not just a street. It is a name for 1 whole AREA comprising of numerious streets where uncountable distributors are located. According to the locals, it is so big that 1 week is not enough to shop every store, every item!

Haha. Of course, everyone managed to purchase what they want before we proceed on to Walking Street to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner.

Ohya, while at Hanzheng Street, we also managed to try several roadside stores. Mind you, the food are really unique and tasty!

After dinner, we wrapped our shopping day at Walking Street visiting the underground shopping mall (that underground bugis market) before heading home early. For what?

WAHAHA. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADELENE! =)

Seriously, I heard that she was rather sad because she was alone at the hostel for the whole day. =( Nevertheless, I hope that she enjoyed the surprise birthday bash we had prepared for her (quite last minute) and yeap, Happy Birthday once again! =D

Photo Montage of our Outing!

Back to Nature!

2008-09-28T00:22:00.000+08:00

Day 34 - 27 September 2008

Last Excursion organised by the school - Visit to Wuhan's Botanic Gardens and East Lake (东湖).

Nothing much about the Botanic Gardens, just went there to take a look, walk around and enjoying Mother Nature. Just like Singapore's Botanic Gardens, except there is a greenhouse full of exotic and sub-tropical flowers and the area is big (and a bit porly maintained, in certain areas)

Afterwards, we went to East Lake. Part 1 of East Lake was visit to the Moshan area of East Lake. fyi, East Lake is divided into several tourist areas, and we are going to visit 2 of it.

At Moshan, we went to several tourist sites and took numerous photos. Probably the main highlights of the day were:

1) Visiting the Chu Market where everyone spent RMB10 to wear ancient clothing

2) Finding a spot to picnic

3) Visiting 楚天台 (highest point at East Lake) where we experienced the music performance using the bells replica (rmb the set that was found in the museum?) and enjoyed 东湖 scenery!

Yep. After enjoying all the fun, we moved on to another part of East Lake where 10 of us shared a tourist site-seeing vehicle to move around the park. Visited 屈原memorial hall etc.

That's all for our last excursion in Wuhan, with our day ending with dinner take-aways from the local market found at the back alley =)

P.S. Autumn is coming (FINALLY). Meaning? Temperature is dropping drastically. Therefore, COOL!

Presentation, Sale, Dinner

2008-09-27T00:29:00.004+08:00

Day 33 - 26 September 2008

As the clock strikes 1am, everyone headed to room 219 when we wished SS a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! =)

That's you. WAHAHA.

Yeap. Hope you have a wonderful birthday celebration with the durian, lemon, flowers etc!

Woke up early in the morning (7am) and headed to ss room to finish up the ppt slides. In 2 hours time, everyone from MDE and ECE were sitting there with all kinds of feeling, awaiting for their turn to present their hard work. I would say, well done everyone! =)

It was a pity that Xiaoling 老师 was not available to see us presenting as she had to go for invigilation for another examinations. I know that she would like to see how we do our presentation. Never mind, she had a photographer who stayed throughout the presentation to film us presenting!

Presentation ended at approx. 3pm when some of us headed to the nearby shopping centre (which was having their anniversary sales, remember?) while the rest headed to Walmart to get food for tomorrow's excursion picnic.

Photos of presentation!

That's my group! Same attire, if you had noticed.

The guy who has been filming for the whole day

CX group presenting..

Vivien's script. But she did not use it in the end. LOL

Rather disappointed with the anniversary sale. Firstly, I wasn't able to get the belt and pants I wanted because there are limited stocks, which were sold out within the first 30 mins of its opening (i.e. morning when we had presentation la!)

Secondly, the vouchers we had can be only used if we spend a minimum amount! ahh.. Somehow felt like being scammed. Nevermind. I managed to get a pair of earrings I saw for my friend. =P

Time flies and it was dinner time! Today's dinner was FOC! wahaha. All thanks to Mr Puah! For treating us dinner at the restuarant again. However, as there wasn't enough tables, we had to spilt into 2 groups at 2 different rooms at 2 different timings. LOL. Dinner was nice, but too much =P A total of 13 or 14 dishes? Too many until I cannot remember! =.=

Yep. thats all for the day. Tomorrow excursion again! =)

Enjoy some photos Mr Puah's treat!

Our final IS lecture. =/

2008-09-25T22:42:00.003+08:00

Day 32 - 25 September 2008

As you can see from the title of this blog, today is our very last IS lesson with Xiaoling 老师.

Speaking about Xiaoling 老师, I would say, she is a very good teacher. Although her lessons might be a bit boring or too long (the number of slides are seldom below 100), we do see the effort put in by her as she tried to get as much information as possible and give us. Whenever we need help, in terms of academic or adapting to life in Wuhan, she will do the best in solving our problems and helping us.

Haiz. Once more, thanks Xiaoling 老师 for all your help! we will miss you definitely!

After IS lesson, everyone went back to hostel to do their own stuffs. In the meantime, Mr Puah was going to cook porridge for everyone again! Hence, I decided to go down and help, not forgetting to see how Mr Puah cook the fabulous, tasty porridge he always cooked. =P

Yep. Had dinner and now, continue to finish the IS powerpoint slides which will be presented tomorrow! =P

IS Topic - Buddhism =P

This is our group!

Day 30, 31 - 23, 24 September 2008

2008-09-25T01:00:00.003+08:00

All right. Let me blog about yesterday and today in 1 post.

Day 30 - 23 September 2008

I would say, a relatively short day for me. Had IS lessons in the morning, followed by Test 2. Had lunch before going down for a game of table tennis, captain ball and badminton. Erm, i think it is more of games of fighting against the wind. =.=

my Answer booklet! =P

Day 31 - 24 September 2008

Another day in Hostel while my roommates, Andy and Benjamin, together with Vivien, Suelyn and Chin Xiang, went to Computer city to get some stuffs and thumb drives as gifts for the staffs from WUST.

Yep. By right, I am supposed to start doing the IS PowerPoint slides with SS today.

Instead, we did nothing but chatting, eating, accompanying shopping etc. OHYA, we have a total of 2 $50 vouchers which value will be multiplied by 2 on 26 September! YEAH. will be going to the nearby shopping centre to finish off the vouchers (and getting the belt I want which will be having promotions on the day iteself) on 26 Sept, Friday!

That's all for the day. Do enjoy some photos taken today! Mostly are the food we bought from the back street

All right, I missed out something about today, which I am not supposed to reveal until 26 Sept. So STAY TUNED! =)

Hitting 30!

2008-09-24T21:30:00.012+08:00

Day 29 - 22 September 2008

Yep. Time flies. Day 29 = 5th Monday in Wuhan. In 2 weeks time, we will be on our way to the airport flying back to Singapore.

Somehow, do have mixed feelings when thinking about this. Anyway, let's not talk too much about such things.

Fortunately for us, there is no lessons on Monday. Therefore, majority of the people are able to sleep late after travelling whole day. As for ECE ppl, hmm. They had lessons. =(

Anyway, I did not sleep in on this very day. Instead, Shiuan Shiuan and I woke up earlier (approx. 9.30am) because she has to see doctor for consultation. Yep. Guess what happened instead. Upon reaching the hospital, the queue is so long that students are queueing OUTSIDE of the hospital! =.=

Common sight in School! People reading newspapers

THATS THE QUEUE I WAS REFERRING TO!!!

Hence, we decided to go to MacDonald's for breakfast instead. Upon reaching, we ordered Hot Cakes plus 1 Pork Patty and Big Breakfast. However, what came to us is 'McSpicy' and Teriyaki Chicken Burger. LOL. Afterwards, what we realised is that the MacDonald's staff forgot to switch the menu to lunch and dinner. =.= Anyway, we just took what was given and decided to go for shopping, since there was time.

Photos of the sicky eating Macs!?!

First, ss brought me to the Converse shop located at level 2 where I bought a polo tee same as the one herself, vivien and suelyn bought the other time. Yep. 70% discount. Quite cheap I would say for a Converse shirt. Ohya, it was then I experienced how a lady does shopping. ahh.. Forget it.

As you know, like most shopping centres in China, purchases have to be made at a centralised cashier. It was then we realised that we did not bring enough money! ahh.. short of 20 odd RMB. So what's the result?!?

Pay for a portion of the purchases first before heading back to hostel to get more money! =.=

Anyway, the journey did not take too long. On the way back, we met Andy and Benjamin, who were on their way to top-up their pre-paid card. We borrowed RMB100 first and headed back to the Converse shop. Later on, both of us are supposed to meet Andy and Benjamin at the shopping centre before going to see the doctor at 2.30pm.

All right, the 2 guys did not appear as they went to the wrong shop. BY 2.30pm, ss and I, headed to the hospital for her medicial consultation. This time, visiting the school hospital was almost the same as the past few visits I came with the rest except.... PROCEEDING TO LEVEL 3 for injection!?!

Somehow, other than the normal medicine prescription the female doctor issued for ss, she issued another prescription that wrote 注射处方and say ss need to have injection for her cough. ahh.. fortunately, there wasn't anyone and ss skipped this 'nightmare'! =P

Anyway after hospital, it was all rest time, badminton, dinner and preparation for Test 2 on Tuesday!

张三丰!!

2008-09-24T11:42:00.014+08:00

Day 27, 28 - 20, 21 September 2008

Do you know who is 张三丰? Haha. Correct! He is the legendary Marital Arts master reputed to have founded Taji Quan, which in turn founded Wudang Sect. 武当派.

So for the past 2 days, all of us headed to Mt. Wudang!

The 5 hour bus journey starting at 8am is our first obstacle to overcome before heading 武当山. To our surprise, the bus driver and tour guide is the same as the one we went to 长江三峡. Fortunately, this time the tour guide did not asked us to sing song etc as he knew that we needed rest.

Approx. 11am, we reached Mt Wudang town for lunch. To some of us, we were a bit surprised about the whole Mt. Wudang. We were expecting the town to be like "A small village beside the mountain". Obviously, that scene belonged to hundred years ago. LOL

Anyway, after meals, we headed to Mt. Wudang for part 1 of visit. Visited 太子坡and trekked at some part of Mt. Wudang. Seriously, Mt. Wudang is really very big and tall, highest peak being 1612m above sea level. OHYA, we came in contact with something we always see floating above us at ground level - The CLOUDS! (fyi, they look like mist too..)

Making contact with clouds is a very wonderful experience. Although you cannot see the water droplets, you can always feel it around you! =D

Back to the restaurant where we had lunch for dinner before checking in at the hotel together. Unfortunately for ECE, they have to be separated into 2 different hotels as there wasn't enough rooms for everyone.

FYI, our hotel name is Finance and Accountant Train Center (财会培训中心). LOL

Day 2 at Mt. Wudang started at 6am when the hotel service personnel gave us a morning knock on the door (like Mr Puah). Breakfast at 6.30am before we leave the hotel at 7am.

Upon reaching the foot of Mt. Wudang again, the whole group of Ngee Ann students are being divided into 2 main groups - 爬山or 坐缆车 to the peak! Haha. I am the only representative from MDE to climb. =P

If I am not wrong, the distance climbed is either 40km or 53km. I would say, it is a memorable challenge for me. Trust me, if you have the chance to come to Mt. Wudang, pls climb and you will enjoy the process. OHYA, don't forget to bu a walking stick! I bought 1 for S$4. Good quality and more importantly, YOU WONT GET SUCH A LOW PRICE IN SINGAPORE! fyi, a lot lecturers bought this walking stick back to Singapore. wahaha =P

Upon reaching the peak at 10.30am (meaning my climb took 2.5 hours la), I was surprised that all my friends, who chose to take the cable car, HAVE NOT REACHED THE TOP YET! Some of them are either in the cable car, reaching or still at the cable car station waiting to board. Apparently, there was some jam or disorganisation at the bottom. =.=

Anyway, by 11am, almost everyone was here and we went up to the peak, known as the Golden Peak (金顶). Over there, you can have a great view of the whole of Mt. Wudang. The air was cooling btw. Some of us engraved names of our family members on 平安锁where we locked it at the peak. =)

After that, we descend the mountain via cable car before heading to the same restaurant (late) for lunch and headed home. By the time we reached home, it was 9pm.

That's all for the weekend!

Some comments about this trip:

1) Some of us are a bit disappointed about when we did not visit the so called "Main Hall" where Zhang San Feng Statute can be found and Taiji Quan masters train. (Those we always see on TV la). Soon after, I realised that it actually existed. However, while blogging, I realised that this place actually existed. HOWEVER, it was burnt down in 2003. =( one good news is that no one was injured and the Zhang San Feng statue was moved away before the whole palace was burnt into ashes. HAIZ

2) Somehow we felt that Mt. Wudang is too commericalised. When we go to this famous Taoist Holy Mountain, something is lacking. However, we are unable to identify what is lacking . Is the tourist attraction being over-exploited? Maybe.

=P

Different Friday.

2008-09-20T00:18:00.002+08:00

Day 26 - 19 September 2008

Yes. A very different Friday for me today. For the first time, it is sports, not lectures or bus rushing, in the morning. Suelyn, Chin Xiang and Vivien went for a run while Shiuan Shiuan and I decided to play table tennis. Of course, main highlight of the morning - MacDonald's Breakfast!

Talking about breakfast at MacDonald's in China, there are 2 bad news for Singaporeans. Firstly, breakfast end at 10am. Kind of early for typical Singaporeans. Remember one of the early posts I mentioned about breakfast timings in China? Another evidence which differentiate the lifestyle of a typical Chinese and Singaporean.

Second bad news, MacDonald's in China is not HALAL. I think this news should be hitting the Muslims more badly than typical non-Muslim Singaporeans. WHY? China MacDonald's serves pork in breakfast! =.= Simple reason.

Here are some photos of the MacDonald's breakfast we had!

After enjoying our very first China MacDonald's (pork) breakfast, we went to walk around for a while before returning to our hostel to rest and do some work. At approx. 4plus, cooking green bean soup was the way while some of the people went to 建设七路to shop.

Probably the only thing which added spice to this special day is the rabbit peeing incident. LOL
Guess what happened? As the rest of those stayed back went for dinner along 建设二路, I offered to babysit Amirah's rabbit. And I supposed you know the result? Rabbit peeing on my bed while the green bean soup over boiled and my power adaptor came in contact with water. =(
Fortunately, with the help of Suelyn in taking care the rabbit, I was able to dry/air my mattress, send the mattress cover for washing while settling green bean soup.

Yep. A bit unlucky right? Haha. =P

That's all for the day. =) 2 days 1 night to Mt. Wutang!!!

So do you still like eating Watermelon?!?!

2008-09-19T20:02:00.003+08:00

Day 25 - 18 September 2008

Yes. The title is delicated to Mr Ng Chin Xiang. So do you still like eating watermelon?

Anyway, today's morning started rather differently as compared to the past few days. Early in the morning before IS lesson, a war was waged between 4 guys and 1 Chin Xiang. Yep. Andy, Benjamin, Teckyi and Julian pinned Chin Xiang down on the floor and shaved his leg hair. This was his first birthday present of the day. Yep. I wasn't involved in the action because.. I was still brushing teeth! Probably the only contribution I made is providing the warriors with toothpaste. LOL

After the war, had IS lessons before continuing with Mr Puah's BPE lesson. Let me tell you, from tomorrow onwards, NO MORE BPE LESSONS! wahaha. Cool right? The last chapter (i.e. 10) is covered and done!

Anyway, this doesn't mean we can enjoy our days in Wuhan as the free time would be used on finishing our assignments and presentations!

Yep. Main highlights come in at 11.30pm. It was planned that no one should wish CX happy birthday throughout the day until 11.30pm, hoping that CX will feel that his only birthday celebration is the morning 'shaving war'.

So at 11.30pm, while he is at Sebas, Steffi, Yuting's room for group discussion, we gave him a surprise birthday party using WATERMELONS! wahaha. forced him to eat up the whole half watermelon in order to remove something that is planted inside the flesh.

OHYA, all these were organised by Julian! =P

All right, there was a birthday cake prepared after he finished his watermelon. Yeap.

That's all for the day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIN XIANG!!

P.S. his dettol has been spiked with red tea, which was used 2 times! wahaha
=P

WUST new campus!

2008-09-18T01:07:00.002+08:00

Day 24 - 17 September 2008

Main highlight of the day starts at 1pm when we board the bus to the new WUST campus at 黄家湖.

The 'WOW' factor was present upon reaching the new campus. It is evident that the campus much larger, magnificent and cleaner, as compared to the campus we are staying.

After alighting from the bus, we moved on to the School of Foreign Languages. Let me tell you, the host really took our visit/exchange very seriously. The school presented flower bouquets to the lecturers while we had a photo taking session in front of the entrance. After that, we went to a classroom at level 3 where the Student Union President gave us a speech about WUST.

WUST Student Union President giving a speech

Samantha and Nicholas, representing Ngee Ann Poly, MDE and ECE

After all the welcoming formalities, we were paired up with a local student. My partner of the day is called 王琦. (I hope I never type her name wrongly). We went for a campus tour where we visited the self study areas, sports courts, hostel exterior, 7-storey library (reputed the biggest in Hubei province) and the canteen. In the process, we played a telematch organised by the Student Union (supposedly. =P )

My Chinese Counterpart, 王琦and I

The day ended with dinner at the 3 level canteen before we went back to our 老校区.

P.S. Rather an interesting experience to interact with the students. In the process, I realised several 'learning points' or interesting stuffs.

1) Somehow, they do not know that Singapore is made up of 3 main races, Chinese, Malay and Indians. This is evident when my partner asked me how come there are some Singaporeans looking like Africans etc etc. In addition, my partner was quite surprised that we have 4 official language, that is Malay, Mandarin, Indian and English. The locals here somehow thought English is the National Language of Singapore. That's why they are always surprised when we speak Standard Mandarin.

2) For every Year 1 University students, regardless of age and sex, all have to attend military training for 2 weeks. However, that does not equate to joining the People Liberation Army (Armed Forces la). For joining the army, they have to attend military schools instead. Anyway, Li Xuan was there when we saw the military training under going in process! haha.

3) Know what? WUST has a history dating as far back to late Qing Dynasty. Approx. 100 odd years? The founder is one of the more prominent late Qing Dynasty officials, 张之洞. FYI, WUST did not exist as a single entity under very recent years (approx. 10 years ago?) The current WUST is made up by several smaller institutes. Cool right?

Doctor's Day!

2008-09-17T23:54:00.004+08:00

Day 23 - 16 September 2008

After a day of fun, class resumes on this very day!

IS lessons by Xiaoling 老师 followed by Mr Puah's BPE. Today's BPE lesson was rather short as quite a number of us were sick. Hence, lessons ended at approx. 11am before some of them proceeded on to the school hospital.

Upon reaching there, guess what, the hospital closes at 11am for afternoon break and consultation resumes at 2.30pm!! ahh. As a result, we went to the nearby canteen for lunch. As compared to the few canteens located near our hostel, the food there is much more tastier and the environment is much better for dining! (and there are much more varieties!) I think the class should go there more often for meals. =D

Back to hostel to rest before proceeding to the hospital with the sick ppl for medical consultation.

Although I am not consulting the doctor, the experience is quite different from the past 2 times I visited the hospital. GUESS WHAT, there is only 1 pharmacist and 1 doctor on duty. Not only that, this arrangement will last till 18 Sept!

It was known later that most of the doctors went to the hospital located at the new campus for 'inspection', i think.
After this medical visit, we had dinner. YEAP, porridge by Mr Puah again! This time is Salted Egg Porridge plus Pipa Duck. WAHAHA. thanks Mr Puah again! =D

Like what he always said, that is what hostel life is all about. =D

That's all for today. =)

P.S. Something interesting happened in the hospital. For the past 2 visits to the hospital, I seldom see people queueing for medical consultation or collection of medicine. However, the 'queueing up syndrome' is visible in the locals. Probably due to the big group of us queueing up, waiting for medical consultation and collection of medicine.

So is it our actions that influence everyone to do the same? Did our actions have such a great impact? Food for thought. =D

Enjoy the photos then!

Have you seen a real Panda??

2008-09-17T22:03:00.001+08:00

Day 22 - 15 September 2008

So have you seen a real Panda? if the answer is no, please view this post with envy. WAHAHA. just kidding. Not trying to be arrogant pls.

Today is Results day. I suppose everyone had mixed feelings about it. Anyway, I was 'waken up' by someone's joy about his results. =.= 8am you know!?! Anyway, I got 3.42 for my GPA. thought the results were fairly reasonable and acceptable for me, except a shocking C for Electronic Commerce.

Anyway, had breakfast for the first time since day 2 from the local market behind our hostel. After that, majority of us went to Wuhan Zoo.

YES. the purpose of going is to take a look of China's National Treasure, PANDA.

It took us about 1 plus hour to reach the Zoo. By then, it was about noon.

Speaking about the zoo, everyone was saying that the living conditions are very poor for the animals. Of course, it was compared against the Singapore Zoo. I do agree that the living conditions are rather bad. However, somehow sometimes people forgot something. The entry fee for the zoo is RMB 20 per person. Is it really 一分钱，一分货？You get what you paid for? Sorry. I don't know. This may be the reason, this may be just an excuse.

The Zoo:

Anyway, we managed to see the two pandas SLEEPING!?! Was a bit disappointed. BUT NEVER MIND! =P From there, we realised that those 2 pandas used to be staying in Sichuan. However, due to the earthquake, all the pandas staying there have to 'move house' temporary. Hence, 2 of them came to Wuhan Zoo. Erm, as expected, the living conditions are better than the others.
In the zoo, we managed to see another 2 national treasures, 金狮猴and albino bear.

Here's the Panda!

Anyway, with our mission accomplished, we went to Mac's for lunch before coming back to rest. Had a mini-game of badminton before dinner. Tonight's dinner was rather special. Guess what, Mr Puah decided to cook Roast Duck porridge (or congee, i not sure the term. Just know is 粥. Wahaha) Surely, it was very nice and got the '家乡菜' feeling. Anyway, THANKS MR PUAH!

yep. thats all for the day! =D

Day 17 to 21 - 10 September 2008 to 14 September 2008

2008-09-17T19:09:00.001+08:00

Hi people, I am back. Finally from the 3 gorges cruise.

Notice that I have not posted anything since Wednesday, 10 September, before we went for the 3 gorges cruise. So yea, everything would be found in this post!

Day 17 - 10 September 2008

I would say, this day was rather eventful (to a certain extent). First and foremost, allow me to wish Steffi a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Had BPE in the morning (w/o breakfast again). Finished Chapter 6 before going to level 2 canteen for lunch with Shiuan Shiuan. Shared 1 番茄炒蛋锅仔饭with her. Actually we wanted木桶饭as there would have more rice. However, the lady gave us the wrong one. NVM. Anyway, it tastes not bad.

Afternoon was basically resting in the hostel, same as the day before. Seriously, I realised that unlike the first 2 weeks, everyone spent almost every afternoon this week in the hostel resting. Not enough rest? Maybe.

Anyway, the main highlight of the day came in the evening. Preparations for the mini celebration was done after Steffi (tgt with yuting and benji) went to the supermarket for necessities. Yep. That was part of the plan. Sebas went to collect cake while the rest of us went to get something each for the mini-party. As expected, Steffi was shocked went she came back as we celebrated her birthday along the common corridors! =P with all the food duh.
Hope she enjoyed this very unique celebration planned by her very own sister, Sebas.
Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFFI!

That's all for day 17. =D

P.S. I realised that we should have more activities or gathering along the common corridors. Somehow, it really feels like home when everyone gather together outside each rooms and chat, sing song or play games. Maybe that's the type of 'hostel life' students should 'enjoy' while studying overseas which Mr Puah always mentioned!

Day 18 - 11 September 2008

All right, after an eventful day on the 1oth, 11th was quite peaceful for me. Rather resembles Monday the 8th.

IS lecture on China Religions by Xiaoling 老师in the morning before continuing BPE Chapter 7 by Mr Puah. The IS lecture kind of reminds me of CSE lessons during the AJ days. Haha.

WAHAHA. the long awaited TEST 1 arrived! I would say, the difficulty of the test is all right la. Just that some questions requires a lot of thinking although it is an open book exam.

By the time my test ended, canteen opening hours for lunch was over. Hence, lunch was at the local market at our favourite fried rice store (i think everyone from MDE only patronise that store for some unknown reasons). Tried Roast meat fried rice plus egg. Rather nice. Ohya, the store owner drinks beer directly from the bottle while having his lunch with his family. Seriously, Chinese people treat beer as if it is plain water. HAHA

As mentioned, afternoon was slacking in the room, doing quiz before going for dinner at the fast food restaurant at the local market. Collected my 2nd toy! =D OHYA, it was so kind of the fast food restaurant manager as she gave 20 of us and Mr Puah a CJ7 soft toy too! =)

That's all for me. BTW, some of the girls went for hair treatment at a salon near MacDonald's, I think. Shall go there one day with the rest of the guys. WAHAHA =D

Day 19 - 12 September 2008

Yep. After spending almost 4 afternoons in the bunk, we are going to Chang Jiang 3 Gorges Cruise! I.e. 3 days 2 nights away from Campus again... LOL.

Reached front gate at 7.30am, hoping to get a front (and comfortable) seat. FYI, the bus we took is the same as the one during the city tours. A 5 hours bus ride to Yichang 宜昌. I hope I did not get the chinese name wrongly.
OHYA, before I forget, Mr Puah did not follow us to 3 Gorges (i bet he was happy) because Adelene was feeling sick. Hence, Mr Teo accompanied us for the whole journey! THANKS MR TEO =D

Upon reaching yichang, we had an outstanding lunch before proceeding to the main attraction of the day - The Three Gorges Project / Dam 三峡大霸

Seriously, I was quite excited about the whole 3 gorges 'expedition' as I have been wanting to go and take a look. Living up to expectations, the dam was HUGE and MAGNIFICENT.
FYI, the motive(s) of building the dam is to 1) Control water flow as to minimise floodings downstream and 2) Generate electricity through the usage of hydro technology.

OHYA. although this area is a tourist attraction, not everyone are able to enter using the 'expressway' built just for this project. Tight security clearance/special permit is required. For those w/o permit, they would have to enter using the mountainous area, which take more time and is more dangerous.

Before I continue, allow me to announce something. WE FOUND A CHINA POST BOOTH and they sell POSTCARDS!! Hooray! =D

Afterwards was dinner at a restaurant which do not have enough spoons and off we go to the cruise! 4 star local cruise named 贵妃号
We were supposed to board the cruise by 7pm. Instead, the ship waited for us until 8pm. Cool right?? HAHA. FYI, The majority of the passengers in the cruise are Ngee Ann students and lecturers. lol. That's why they can afford to do so.

the day ended with us checking into our comfortable bedrooms and spending time either at the KTV (erm...) or at the top deck of the cruise (the temperature WAS cold okay.....). =D

Day 20 - 13 September 2008

All right. We are supposed to wake up at 6am in the morning. =/ Guess how we woke up. The cruise will start playing music at 6am as alarm and start to spam their PA system, asking the passengers to "report" to the restaurant for BREAKFAST. ahh....

After that, we transferred from the main cruise to a small tourist ferry 江景一号 to visit one of the tributaries, Shen Nong Stream (神農溪) . One of the main attraction of Shen Nong Stream is the hanging coffins. Yep. After the dam is fully functional, those coffins will be completely submerged in the waters as water level would rise as high as 175 m about sea level. =(

FYI: the higher the coffins were, the more respected the dead were. interesting leh?

Midway through the cruise, we changed into the 'sampan'. Each boat is maintained by 6 伙计. 17 passengers + 1 tour guide per boat. BTW, the boat brought us to one part of the stream where we tasted the mineral water. Surely, it tastes the same and BETTER than those bottled mineral water!! =D

Yep. The tour guide and one of the 伙计sang their 土家族 songs for us! seriously, it was nice.

After that, we went back to the ferry before boarding the main cruise for lunch.

OHYA people, can consider immigrating here during old age. WAHAHA

Afternoon was more of resting time for all except the some of us. Spent most of my time staying at the top deck chatting, admiring the scenery etc. An announcement would be made, asking passengers to come up to the top deck as the cruise passes through the 2 main gorges, 巫峡 (where we saw the famous 神女峰) and 瞿塘峡, which ends with the City of the White Emperor (白帝城).

Dinner followed before we disembark for City of the White Emperor, an ancient temple complex. Currently, it became an island due to the rise in water level caused by the building of the dam. I would say, rather disappointed with the timing because by the time we reached there, it was very dark. =(

OHYA, I bought a comb made of 黄杨木 for my grandmother from there. =) According to the tour guides, only the royal families or the wealthy in the past can afford.

Afterwards, we returned back to the cruise for dinner and our eventful day ended. =)

Day 21 - 14 September 2008

Breakfast at 7.30am. Again, the cruise personnel just kept spamming the PA system.
Anyway, most of us ton the whole night hoping to see sun rise. However, by 6am, the cruise docked at the place we embark on Friday. Rather disappointed, we saw no sun but only the sky lighting up slowly. HAIZ.

After disembarking, the bus drove us back to WUST. During the journey, it was evident that the bus driver and tour guide wanted to come home early because it was Mid-Autumn Festival. To the Chinese, Mid-Autumn Festival is as important as Chinese New Year as it is a time where families reunite or 团圆. That's why when some of the people were buying tibits at 1 petrol station during toilet break, the bus driver was very frustrated and threaten by pressing the horn continuously and kept moving forward, away from the petrol station.

Anyway, it was understandable as they were away from home for some time.

Upon reaching our hostel, we unpacked our stuffs before some of us going to the fast food restaurant for late lunch/early dinner. HOORAY! my 3rd toy. 2 more to go! =P

In the evening, Mr Wong planned a mini-celebration for Mid-Autumn Festival. An IS lecturer (I not so sure the name) from Singapore just arrived and joined us too. So were the ECE ppl. OHYA, probably the highlight is the Salted Egg Lotus Moon cake brought from Singapore Shangri-la! WAHAHA. sure, it was tasty. A photo taking session followed after that and the day ended off enjoying some beer treated by the ECE guys. WAHAHA. =X

a Mid-Autumn Festival away from Singapore w/o pomelo, candles and lanteen etc.

Another day of rest.

2008-09-10T00:21:00.008+08:00

Day 16 - 9 September 2008

This morning is different from previous mornings. IS lecture at 8.15am, BPE test at 10.15am. HOWEVER, Adelene, Teckyi, Andy and I did not attend the lessons at all!!! =P

Wait. We did not pon lessons for nothing okay. Teckyi is accompanying Andy to visit a dentist because Andy is having a toothache. As for me, I have to accompany Adelene to visit the school doctor as I am the only one with the experience before. Anyway, I got to visit the doctor in order to get some more medicine for my slight cough and sore throat. Also need to shun bian buy the 川贝枇杷糖浆for Shiuan Shiuan and Andy.

Therefore, at approx. 8.15am, the 4 of us went to the Administrative Office of the International School at level 5 of 'WUST Block 50'. Seriously, the staff there are quite helpful as they assist us in a lot things. For example, the lady helped us to notify the school hospital that 2 of us are going to visit the doctor while another staff drove Andy and Teckyi to the dental clinic. THANKS!! (although they won't be seeing this post. But anyway, I am very grateful for their assistance in every thing in order to make our stay in WUST/China as comfortable as possible..) =D

Anyway, the visit to the hospital is a completely different experience when I go the other time. This time, there are more patients and doctors (have the polyclinic feeling). Maybe it is morning?? Who knows. Anyway, (as usual and expected), the whole hospital seems lack of system and organisation. You can just enter any room for consultation, no queue tag etc. OHYA, something interesting. Temperature taking requires the patient to leave the room and wait for 5 minutes, with the thermometer. Haha. that's what happened to Adelene. Probably because the thermometer is an old one ba.

Afterwards, most of the afternoon was spent on resting/slacking before most of us (together with Li Xuan) went to 建设七路for some 烧烤dinner and visit the "pasar malam". The pasar malam is quite similar to normal flea markets with nothing special there. Examples of goods available there are watches, female wear, mobile phone accessories, books, household necessities, wallets, bags, posters, shoes, socks, toys, DVDs and earings etc

THE END. =D

Quiet.

2008-09-09T17:54:00.004+08:00

Day 15 - 8 September 2008

Time flies. Today is day 15! On this very same day 2 weeks ago, we were in Changi Airport, knowing nothing about this place in China. As of now, this place has became our 2nd or 3rd ... xth home! (i think).

Anyway, most of the time today is spent in the campus. We had BPE in the morning, followed by lunch at the Halal Canteen of WUST before everyone decided to rest in the hostel, either blogging or preparing for test 1 tmr. Yep. Nothing much eventful except me being:

1) Waking up a bit earlier and decided to have breakfast in the school canteen!!! (to my disappointment, everyone overslept. Hence, only Benjamin, Andy and I went for breakfast)

2) Washing our room's toilet. All right. I know there is no big deal about it. But it is the sense of satisfaction/achievement I had after seeing our room toilet being so clean. =D

3) Eating 龟苓膏 from the local market located behind our hostel.

Have been thinking, sometimes it is nice to have days that are not that eventful. Because they are the only times which allows people (esp. nowadays, when everyone can be easily stressed and whatsoever) to sit down, recuperate or calm themselves down. =)

Stay tune then! =)

adventures out of campus!

2008-09-08T22:02:00.005+08:00

Day 13 & 14 - 6 & 7 September 2008

Yep. Out of campus during the weekend. This weekend, we went to a place out of Wuhan, known as 绿林山庄. Woke up early as everyone got to report at the school gate at approx. 7.30am. An approx. 3 plus hours bus ride soon followed. First, we entered an expressway known as 汉十高速. Seriously, the bus drove freaking fast. Our journey on the expressway was accompanied by rural farmlands and houses on both sides of the expressway.

2 hours later, we exited the expressway. At that point of time, I was a bit 'excited'. REALLY!! Because... WE ARE GOING TO DRIVE THRU THE RURAL ESTATES!!! Seriously, never did I expect that there would be a chance for me to enter and experience any 乡村life FIRST HAND. The scenery was beautiful, air was fresh. Water bulls, crops plantations, scattered 'kampongs' and marketplaces could be seen along the way. Soon after, we entered the mountainous area. where settlements, mountain goats and cows can be found living.

FYI, the average annual income for the people in rural areas is approx. RMB 3000 to RMB 4000.

Speaking about this journey, our experienced bus driver was driving speeding all the way, overtaking and turning sharply at turns. Of course, 'horn-ing' the trumpet all the way! Someone commented that this is no different from Crazy Taxi! lol. Nevertheless, I enjoyed. HAHA

Approx. 11.30am, we disembark for a countryside style lunch before purchasing straw sandals in preparation for our water rafting and drifting activity. Seriously, wearing the straw sandals is a good experience and you should try it if possible! Rather comfortable and nice looking.

For water rafting activity, I was paired up with Clarissa. Fortunately, (to my relief), nothing major happened to her because I know, she was very scared about the activity. Anyway, everyone had fun in this activity! (i hope. =P )

Bathing was next in the public toilet facilities. Seriously, it is an open bathing area. Something like those bathing facilities in the older swimming complex. Had a quick bath before everyone returned to the bus.

As everyone was expecting to check-in into the resort/hotel, the bus took us to 美人谷. AHHH. Everyone was like.... hmm. I shall not say. Fortunately, the scenery of 美人谷 did not disappoint us. The waterfalls, streams and cliffs were beautiful.

After that, dinner and check in. Day 13 ended with something special. Some of the ECE ppl, Benjamin and Mr Puah sponsored the purchase of fireworks! Yep. Something we could not do in Singapore. Fireworks and a game of mahjong ended my first night out of campus. =)

The next day (Day 14), we woke up EARLY in the morning 7.30am for breakfast. HAIZ. seriously, one thing I don't like about large (and guided) tours is about the timings. Unless you have a good tour guide (which in this case, NOPE), going through a tour is like a refugee (quoted from Mr Puah. wahaha). Serious, it is rather obvious that the people in-charge of this tour is trying to finish their itinerary (hence finishing their jobs) while neglecting the customers' welfare. =.=

Anyway, we went to 英雄山 for trekking or hiking etc. A place of historical value. If I did not remember wrongly, the history could be traced back to Eastern Han Dynasty, where a military camp was once situated.

Went up as high as 883 metres above sea level, the scenery there was beautiful (as expected la). Surprisingly, the weather wasn't as cold as expected. hmmm..

Headed back to the resort for lunch before another 4 plus hours of bus journey continued.

In conclusion, TIRING + FUN = WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE

School starts tmr morning 9am. =.=

Coke, Pizza, Wander

2008-09-08T19:57:00.008+08:00

Day 12 - 5 September 2008

Early in the morning 8 o'clock, everyone from NP went for a walk. As everyone walked to 教四楼, we boarded the bus that brought us to the fort. After 1 plus hours, we finally reached Coca Cola Factory. Upon reaching, we watched a video with a free bottle of coke. Visiting the manufacturing process was next, before we went to the exhibition area where items of historical value are kept. The trip ended with group photos outside the factory and headed to Walking Street. 江汉路步行街.

Although the nature of visit to Coca Cola Factory is similar to those we used to visit in Singapore (for example, Gardenia Factory), however, it is still rather interesting as we are able to understand better on how Coke and 7-Up etc are being manufactured. This factory, I would say, depends mostly on machinery and minimum labour. According to the guide, the maximum production capacity of this factory is up to 150,000 boxes of drinks per day! 1 box could be either 12 or 24 bottles of coke. Yep. Ohya, they used Block Staking for storing of goods too. LOL

Talking about Coca Cola, I still got a feeling that Pepsi is more popular in Wuhan. Haha. Reason being, most soft drinks I see that are available(as of now) in Wuhan is PEPSI!! lol.

Some photos showing us at the Coca Cola Factory and Wuhan Special Economic Zone!

Anyway, after the visit, the bus driver took us to somewhere nearby Walking Street. There, the whole group of us went to eat Pizza Hut (hence fulfilling some of their wishes of eating KFC and Pizza Hut in China. LOL). In China, Pizza Hut is known as 必胜客. Sounds weird?? Haha. "Sure Win Person". Anyway, Yining, Weiling and I shared a 12" Hawaiian Pizza and had 1 plate of pasta each. Sounds lot? Yep. We did NOT eat dinner at night. haha.

After meals, everyone went to a underground 'Bugis Market' on the recommendation of our Chinese counterpart, Li Xuan. The place is known as Happy 站台. All right. Everything inside is either food or clothing. More of females shopping haven. Just patrolled around the area for 2 hours waiting for the rest. After that, Shiuan Shiuan, Vivien, Suelyn and I detached from the main group and went back to Walking Street to shop ourselves. SERIOUSLY, IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND POSTCARDS IN CHINA!! except China Post. =.= SIAN RIGHT?

What are you doing!?!

Anyway, the main group went back first as we have yet to finish shopping. I saw a pair of jeans i like. HOWEVER, the cutting doesn't not suit me. Sad =( So I went home empty-handed. HAHA.

Ferried across Chang Jiang before cabbing home. OHYA, did something secretive at 11pm too. HAHA. =X

Photos at the ferry terminal:

That's not all for the day. On the way to the jetty (which I brought them to the wrong one), a little girl approached us to sell roses. yep. I was the target. Initially, I refused. However, she continued to follow us in bid to sell us the roses. Out of a sudden while crossing the road, she stopped and hugged my leg! AHHH. Nevertheless, we managed to shake her off with the help of the 3 girls with me. =.=

Serious, a very unforgettable experience. Speaking about this, I remembered the incident everyone saw (also at Walking Street) during the City tour. A boy was chasing after a guy in 20s, wanting him to pay for the damaged roses. So what exactly happened that day? Haha. I suppose the boy pestered the guy to buy roses. Feeling irritated, the guy might have pushed the boy to the floor, hence damaging the roses in the process.

Sometimes, are those children forced to do it? Seriously, I got a feeling that they are part of an organisation. yep. That's all for the day. Going out of campus for the next 2 days! =)

Small small.

2008-09-08T16:03:00.013+08:00

Day 11 - 4 September 2008

Today is Thursday! Meaning? 8.15 am IS lecture by Xiaoling 老师 followed by Mr Puah's BPE. Today's IS lecture is about the History of China. Hmm. as I mentioned before, the lecture is kind of refresher course for me. =P

As for BPE, today is a bit special. There are 2 Chinese lecturers (or Teachers or Students, I not sure. But more like the staffs la) sat in Mr Puah's lecture. RESULT? Everyone was very attentive and 乖 so that the Chinese staffs would not have a bad impression of Singaporeans. LOL. Talking about this, (my personal view), the intent for such behaviour is incorrect. Somehow, everyone (subconsciously) knows that a well-behaved behaviour should be upheld during lessons at all times, not when there are outsiders sitting in. However, for some unknown reasons, people do not do that. HAIZ.

All right, after lessons, Shiuan Shiuan, Vivien, Teckyi and I decided to go out of campus ourselves (in a small group) without the rest. Shiuan Shiuan got to change her spoilt mouse bought at the computer city yesterday. In addition, we got to change all the spoilt (or should I say, poorer quality) fake iPod earpieces and of course, BUY STAMPS FROM CHINA POST!!!

Hence, after placing our books and laptops in the room, 4 of us went to the bus stop outside school and boarded bus 702 to 宝通禅寺素菜馆to sample the vegetarian food as the elderly uncle (the one we met on the bus yesterday) recommended their food. At the same time, we can sample the food for Andy! =P Yep. the food is not bad, if comparing to vegetarian cuisine standards and reasonable priced! About approx. S$8 per person for 3 dishes, 1 soup and 1 rice dish. The service is good too. The only thing that we did not enjoyed in the restaurant is the ordering of similar dishes. (our mistake la. =.= )

Ohya, Teckyi don't really eat vegetarian food fyi.

In conclusion, the environment and food is good! haha.

Some photos taken at the Vegetarian Restaurant:

After that, we walked to computer city. Hmm. Let me see, approx. 1 km or more? haha. Nevertheless, the walk was enjoyable (sounds weird) as this was the only time we could slowly observe the surroundings and sharing all the nonsense.

Yep. Mission accomplished as we changed the spoilt mouse, earpieces that do not have QC, purchasing those weird weird fishes on behalf of Julian. AND I BOUGHT THE STAMPS I WANTED AFTER 11 DAYS!

BUT here comes the problem. There isn't any post cards available for purchase. =.= I suppose postcards or 名信片will be my target for the next few days!

Speaking about the Post Office, I realised something interesting. Other than handling normal postal duties, they do handle remittance (which Singpost do handle too) and BANKING! apparently, China Post does allow the placement of fixed deposits and Saving accounts! Lol. However, when purchasing stamps, I do observe that there is some lack of organisation in the post office. Somehow the impression of the post office is messy and complicated. Yep.

After that, we told a double decker non-air-conditioned bus to 徐东大街's 销品贸to meet the rest of the people. A wonderful experience as this is the first time talking a double decker bus in China. Anyway, the bus fare is more expensive (RMB1.50) compared to a non-air-conditioned single deck bus (RMB1.20)

On board the double decker bus:

So while waiting for the rest of the class to arrive, the 4 of us went to Walmart first. Yep. THAT WALMART WHICH WE ALWAYS READ IN SCM NOTES. haha. Walmart = Giant = Carrefour. Got my idea? haha. Bought toilet papers and tissue papers before meeting the rest at KFC. Their beloved restaurant.

KFC in China is different from KFC in Singapore. Firstly, they do not serve 'Crispy Chicken'. Only Original. Secondly, they have more burger meals then Singapore. For example, Grilled Chicken. Thirdly, they sell egg tarts too! As expected, KFC do not have chili sauce at all. Like MacDonalds.

After that, the rest went to Walmart while Suelyn joined us to walk around the shopping mall before bus-ed home. =)

Some photos taken at 徐东大街:

Personal views:

Travelling in China is rather easy, I realised. Reason being, every bus stop do have the travel guide. The only problem about this travel guide is that we got to know which street we are going (as they do not show the landmarks nearby, which is the case in Singapore). In addition, travelling in smaller group is much simpler as there are less restrictions and more freedom. Seriously, I don't really like travelling in big groups. However, there are pros and cons. The pros of big group is safety. Yep. thats all for today . =D

Day 10

2008-09-04T00:41:00.001+08:00

Day 10 - 3 Sept 2008

Day 10 in Wuhan, Day 3 of official lessons. Morning was as normal, except waking up (or leaving room) a bit earlier and managed to take away some food from the canteen for breakfast. Business Process Engineering lesson by Mr Puah before we went to 武汉电脑大世界, which I called it Sim Lim Square of Wuhan. For your info, there are more than 1 IT malls or computer centres in that area. Yep. So the place we went is just 1 of the many. =P

Tata!

Nothing eventful to take about at the computer city, just purchased 1 Samsung 250 GB Hard disk (costing about RMB520) and 3 fake iPOD earpiece at approx. S$2 each (after bargaining by the girls. =.= ).

OHYA, there was a post office there! and it is opened! Sending Airmail back to Singapore is rather cheap, RMB 4.50 for a post card, which is approx. S$0.90. However, disappointed I was as the stamps were sold out! I suppose I would have to come back another day to purchase the stamps.

Went to 徐东大街's 销品贸. YES. the name of the shopping mall is 销品贸. A direct translation. Probably the main attraction there are KFC and Pizza Hut. However, (to everyone disappointment), both restaurants were full. Hence, the group decided to go level 5, think the name of restaurant is TreesTalk, 树语. (sounds familiar to Breadtalk? haha. Ordered a cup of Watermelon with a mini umbrella and magic wand costing RMB 20 (real ex.) and some clay pot chicken rice with lots of chili.
OHYA, the service in this restaurant is really very good. Haha. the best since I arrived in China. If they are in Singapore, there is a high probability that the majority of the service personnel will get the GEMS award. Lol.

TreesTalk

Yep. After that was 'patrolling' around the shopping centres before going home for rest!

P.S. There are certain events happened today which I would like to comment on.
FIRST, on our way to Computer City.
On the bus, we met a elderly man who enjoyed speaking to Yining (especially) and Karen. Let me see, I estimate his age around 70 years old, seems well-educated (i suspect he had university education before) and went to Singapore once in 1956! From this conversation, I realised a few things about Wuhanese (or should I say, senior Wuhanese):

N.B. Some of the points can be extended to Chinese that are not from Wuhan.

1) Proud of Wuhan
2) One China Policy
3) Myths about Singapore
4) Attitude towards Japanese due to World War 2

Allow me to elaborate a bit about the above-mentioned points.

1) Proud of Wuhan
Obviously, the uncle is very proud of Wuhan. During the conversation, you can see the 'enthusiasm in his eyes' when speaking about places of Wuhan which we must go visit, the culture and history and others (for example, the Chu Culture, 东湖, 武汉长江第一 and 二桥 etc). I sensed, most China Chinese (I would refer them as Chinese Nationals instead) somehow are full of pride and proud about their own culture, history, achievements and also the Chinese Civilisation as whole. Another example is the recent 2008 Beijing Olympics. Yep. got my meaning?

Speaking about this, I am going to do something which I don't think is 'correct' due to lack of common factors/variables or differences in culture between Singapore and China. COMPARISON! Didn't people realise Singaporeans lack the sense of pride/proud in our own culture, history and achievements? Or should I rephrase it, the Singaporean sense of pride/proudness is diminishing as compared to the past. A classic example (i would cite) is the National Soccer team. Once upon a time, everyone was so supportive of our own soccer team. For now, hmm.. =X Is it a result of globalisation or westernisation of our country? Seriously, I don't know.

Let's move on anyway.

2) One China Policy
I hope everyone knows what I am talking upon reading the above sub-title. Somehow in the bus, one part of the conversation was on the Taiwan issue. As expected, the elderly uncle still think that Taiwan is a province of PRC, not another sovereign state. Of course, he disliked Chen Shui Bian, the former president of Republic of China (Taiwan) due to the chaos he created. He did make one comment, "希望你们新加坡能帮上忙". or something along this line. I got a feeling that he is refering to the corruption charges against him as I remember that Singapore was one of the locations where the corrupted money is being transferred to.
Another enough of the One China Policy and 一国两制.

3) Myths about Singapore
Somehow, this eldery man do has some 'wrong impression' about Singapore. When I refer 'wrong impression', i am referring to myth. For example, he thought that the punishment for theft in Singapore is cutting of fingers! Haha. Fortunately, we clarified with him about this issue. I still feel weird on what made the uncle thought Singapore laws are so strict. lol.

4) Attitude towards Japanese
Remember I mentioned about the cutting of fingers myth? I clarified with the elderly that it was a practice by the Japanese when they occupied Singapore during WW2. During this spilt second, I sensed a change in 'attitude' by the uncle when I mentioned Japanese. Somehow, I still got a feeling that he disliked the Japanese. Yep. Maybe all Chinese Nationals do feel the same? I don't know.

Allright, I know you are tired upon reading my blog. YES. me too. Seriously, I dont know what am I typing already. So yea, good night people and stay tune! =)

P.S. China's L plate?

It seems to tiring yet not exactly so.

2008-09-02T22:24:00.007+08:00

Day 9 - 2 September 2008

Ok. I remembered what I wanted to write already. I was walking along the streets when I suddenly thought of this phrase.

人生何有意义？每天只是 “读书，走路，睡觉。”

How do you feel about this comment? Haha. Somehow, I felt, for the past 1 week, life have been the almost the same. (except those tours around Wuhan la). Probably we are still adapting to the unfamiliar lifestyle in a foreign territory. Yep. Let's hope I can come out with a new phrase in time to come. BTW, ss and some others are addicted to this phrase.

All right. today is kind of a tiring day. Slept quite late last night while waking up earlier than normal days as IS lesson starts at 8.15am. Today's IS lesson is about introduction of Wuhan. Hmm. To me, it is kind of an refresher course because I did read abit about Wuhan some days before. (Wikipedia is a good website. =D ) Probably the only major issue during this IS lecture is the release of IS oral presentation topics and the way of grouping. Xiaoling Laoshi has decided to let us group ourselves within each division as she understood that different divisions have different activity schedules. Yep. I am waiting for my new groupings. To be decided by the 14 girls. =.=

After IS was BPE lecture and tutorial (quiz actually), with lunchtime in between. Everything went on smoothly before class is dismissed. Afterwards, the majority of us (except Teckyi, Julian, Shiuanx2, Vivien and Suelyn) went to rest(or afternoon nap) in the hostel. For us, we did some packing and tidying of our rooms etc before going for a game of badminton. enjoyed the games and chatting with the lecturers, who were there for some time before going for their dinner.

Ohya. we went to the local market for exploring. Haha. Seriously, it was a VERY VERY different experience exploring the local market. Rather different from the local neighbourhood we went last week. Photos will be uploaded soon. Some interesting shops that can be found :

1) Lan Shop
2) Pool shop
3) Some family matters/marriage matters consultation service? lol

Anyway, I think, if possible, we should go there often and observe the lives of native Wuhanese. Personally, the best place to experience local culture is not those places of interests or attractions, but such places, where people don't really desire to go at all. HOWEVER, do not do it at the expense of personal safety!!

Yep. Thats all for today. Stay tune! =)

Happy Teachers' Day!

2008-09-02T21:04:00.004+08:00

Day 8 - 1 September 2008

Yep. Today is Monday! (ya, lessons officially start today. =.= ) We had our very first lecture at the Level 7 of the International School building (i.e. Block 50) with Mr Puah.
Subject: Business Process Engineering
Seriously, to sidetrack, I kept linking everything Mr Puah was teaching to St John. =.= I was thinking, a lot things we learnt in class is actually what we have been doing daily for the past 18 to 19 years of your life. Hence, lectures (to me) are just converting what we already know(or have been practising) into paper/theoretical knowledge.

After the lesson, we went to the new level 2 canteen. The food there is slightly (i think, or maybe the same) expensive than level 1. However, there are more varieties and the food taste nicer.

Shopping (more of windows shopping) in our campus vicinity before some of us went for badminton while the rest decided to sleep in the room.

Yep. 7pm is time to gather. Mr Puah, Mr Wong and us went to a restaurant nearby for dinner. Yep. Dinner on us as today is Teachers' Day! =) ohya. plus one cake too. haha. Hope that Mr Wong and Mr Puah enjoyed this dinner! Happy Teachers' Day Mr Wong and Mr Puah!

Hmm. Thats all for today. Nothing much as bulk of the day was lesson and resting. =P

P.S. Oh man. I suddenly forgot what to write. Never mind. Wil write in tommorrow's blog if I remember. Sorry! =P

POST OFFICE!!

2008-08-31T23:03:00.015+08:00

Day 7 - 31st August 2008

Ohya, forgot to say something, yesterday was the last day of the 7th Lunar month. okay, trying to be random.

We started our day with scolding by Mr Wong. Reason being lack of punctuality. Yep. It was our fault. So I do not have any comments about it. That did woke everyone up about punctuality. A good wake up call. =P

Most of our time today were spent in Hankou, one of the 3 towns in Wuhan. The other 2 are Wuchang and Hanyang. Hmm. I think I mentioned it before in yesterday post. Anyway, we went to 2 of the main attractions in Hankou, Hankou JiangTan and Walking Street. Some of us did not go to the jiangtan because they went to the nearby church/mosque for their Sunday service etc.

Hankou Jiangtan is 'divided' into 4 phases. However, we only went to phase 1 and 2 of the jiangtan because phase 3 and 4 are either under development or too far. Other than being a leisure park for the locals, Hankou Jiangtan also serve another mission, to prevent/control flood or overflows of Chang Jiang. Anyway, when we went there, the park is like a sports complex. You can see people playing badminton, tennis, squash (but use tennis racket) and fishing. On the other side of the park, senior citizens gather around to listen to Chinese Opera (as seen at Zhongshan Park) and families 'picnic-ing' under the tree, chatting or reading newspapers.

Photos of Jiangtan!

After the 'free and easy' walk along the jiangtan, we gathered again and went to the Walking Street. The Walking Street is something like "Orchard Road of Singapore". The only difference between these two is that no cars are allowed in the Walking Street. It is more like a HUGE pavement with shopping malls/retail stores on both sides.

For lunch, we ate at a Korean restaurant. Something like Seoul Garden. But it is non-buffet and more "Korean-style".

Some photos from the Korean restaurant!

After all the walking and shopping, we went back to hostel for a rest before going for a volleyball game with the people. =)

That's all for our first Sunday in Wuhan, hmm.. kind of tiring yet interesting. Haha.

P.S. Guess what I realised, I didn't know that Wuhan is like of like Shanghai. Along Chang Jiang, everyone can see the foreign-style buildings that were once built and occupied by the British, Germans, Russians, French and Americans etc. Some survived after all the wars, some did not. In terms of cultural/historical interests, I felt glad that these buildings remained (or survived) and were being used as government offices or banks etc. Seriously, without these buildings, I would not even know that Wuhan (or Hankou) used to have foreign concessions (sth like Shanghai) due to unequal treaties by the colonial powers of the past.

ohya, I FOUND 1 CHINA POST OFFICE AT WALKING STREET!!! sadly, it was closed on Sundays. =(

journey back to 春秋战国時代

2008-08-31T21:05:00.007+08:00

Day 6 - 30 August 2008

Yep. Today was part 1 of the Wuhan City Tour. I think the tour was conducted by an external agency. And yep, they gave everyone a round hat, which resulted me looking like a terminally-ill patient going for an overseas trip in the photos. LOL. BTW, it was another raining day! =.=

First, we visited the Hubei Provincial Museum. Most of the collections basically displayed artefact of ancient Chu State, which existed during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States period. An extract from Wikipedia about the Chu State:

"a kingdom in what is now central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BC) and Warring States Period (481-221 BC).
Its ruling house had surname mi (芈), and clan name xiong 熊, and originally was of the noble rank of zi, roughly comparable to a viscount.
It was originally known as Jing (荆) and then as Jingchu (荆楚). At the height of its power, the Chu kingdom occupied vast areas of land, including the present-day provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Henan, Shanghai, and parts of Jiangsu. The Chu capital was at Ying (郢), around modern-day Jingzhou, which is located in what is today Hubei province."

Yep, so to say, Wuhan, which is part of Hubei province, is part of the ancient Chu State during the 春秋战国時代.

Anyway, the artefact are rather interesting and of great historical value. For example, the sword belonging to King Guojian of Yue (越王勾踐), or commonly known as Sword of Goujian. You can read more about it if you want =D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian
Another one would be the Spear of Fuchai, which belonged to King Fuchai of Wu (吳王夫差), arch-rival of Guojian. However, the artefact wasn't at the museum as it was loaned to Beijing for the Beijing Olympics. =(

BTW, you would know who the 2 kings are if you have read before the story, 卧薪尝胆. =P

Anyway, I think the most fascinating exhibition is the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. For this exhibition, I think i should let photos to do the work. =D For more info, can check this website too! I think their explanation is more accurate than what I am going to say. =P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Marquis_Yi_of_Zeng

After the visit to the museum, we went for lunch at the shou yi yuan xiao shi jie. Kind of a food street with a lot local delicacies. Probably everyone enjoyed the best is the Soup Bun (tang bao) AND Beancurd skin (Wuhan delicacy). Quite a wonderful experience because there are a great range of variety of interesting (and weird looking) food. For example, Yuting mistaken the prawns as cockroaches. LOL.

BTW, something to reflect. I realised that (as of now), the foodcourts/centres uses electronic cards instead of cash. Something like cashless purchase like those in Singapore Kopitiam. Is it a trend in China? probably yes. Maybe this is done to minimise 'corruption' and centralise all funds flow in a specific food centre.

After the meal, we continued to move on and go to the Yellow Crane tower (Huang He Lou). It is built on top of a hill. Apparently, there are lots of legends about the origin of yellow crane tower. One of the more famous one involved one of the 8 immortals, Lu Dongbin. Anyway, we went up the tower and took numerous photos. Seriously, the view from the tower is magnificant. rather pity because it was raining. Ohya, everyone complained of cold. =P

In short, the yellow crane tower is a must go attraction in Wuhan. I think. =D

Before i end the post, I realised something about Wuhan. Most of our day today were spent in Wuchang District (also the location of the famous Wuchang Uprising in 1911 against the Qing Manchu Dynasty). Maybe majority of Wuchang is quite developed, the infrastructure is completely different from what I have elaborate (briefly) in Day 1 posts and others. The infrastructure, planning of roads, traffic flow etc are much better as compared to day 1. Maybe this is the 'real Wuhan' people are expecting. Ohya, this could be a result of uneven development of a city? lol

Yep. that's all for today. Take care! =)

P.S. somehow the Yellow Crane Tower was burnt down at least once in every dynasty since Tang Dynasty. =.= The most recent one was in the 70s or 80s, i think.

Steel Mill and more! (erm. I think thats all. LOL)

2008-08-31T00:12:00.006+08:00

Day 5 - 29 August 2008

Hmmm. How Iron man got his armour? Or should I say, where did Iron Man got his armour materials from? Iron ore la. =.=
Yep. So is steel. All right. I am bored now. So please tolerate my nonsense.

Anyway, we visited the Wuhan Steel Mill today! BTW. today is a raining day. First 'cooling' day since we arrived here on the 25th August.

As expected, no photographs are allowed to be taken in the steel mill. So let me briefly elaborate what we went thru!

Firstly, we went to the control room and saw the tip of the furnace. According to Mr Wong, the furnace is about few stories deep. However, we are unable to go and take a look because we lack of the safety equipments required. The purpose of the furnace is to melt the iron ore (which is normally iron oxide) into pure iron, while in the process removing the impurities. Actually, this is kind of familiar la. Think I learnt during Secondary School Chemistry. A wonderful sight nevertheless.
OHYA. the control room somehow reminded me of the Senoko Incineration Plant control room! LOL

After that, we went to the area where steel sheets are being produced (compressed from 20mm to 1.0 mm, i think. cannot rmb until which breadth le). A magnificant sight I would say. the factory is at least kilometres in length i think! However, it was rather a pity to see the actual work in process as the machines are still warming up for production.

Thats all for the Steel mill! I would say, a huge piece of land is required. It is huge! Ohya, just something to comment, I somehow got a first-hand experience on how 'safe' china workplace is. Not being saractic, but probably the safety precautions is not as good as Singapore workplace. Nevertheless, I believe Wuhan will still improve in years to come! =P

After the visit, it was lunch at a shop selling Islamic food. yep. ate egg 'xiao mian', or sliced noodles. The taste was rather interesting. After that, we went back to hostel to take a rest, before SS, Vv, Andy, Benji, Karen, Teckyi, CX and I went to play basketball and table tennis.
OHYA, I finally played table tennis on a table! YEA.

Yep. thats all for now. Rather nothing much to write about today. Lets hope there is more to come tmr! =) City tour =P

Again, enjoy the photos montage! (Not that many though).

the day of different experiences

2008-08-30T22:40:00.008+08:00

Day 4 - 28 August 2008

Today is special. Firstly, it is our first IS lecture by our Chinese lecturer (Ms Xiaoling). Secondly, this is the first time in my life (in my memories) that I visited a doctor out of Singapore!

View some photos before continue reading!

Lets talk about the IS lecture. The lecture topic is about introduction to Hubei.
As for details about Hubei, I shall not write down here as everyone is able to find the information easily from books and internet. Instead, what I realised that the Chinese lecturers teaching style is rather different from Singaporeans. It seems to me that their powerpoint slides/learning aids etc is packed with information. Reason being they would like to give as much information as possible to students. Also, they don't give NOTES!
For Singaporean style, it is about giving notes and lecturers explaining the main points, rather than explaining every single point of each topic. Ya. So please don't be surprised that an introduction session powerpoint has 174 slides!

Later on, I realised that the main reason behind the difference in teaching style is the difference in teaching directives. For Singapore, I believe everyone should know, 'Teach Less, Learn More", or should i say, learner-centred learning. However, for China, it is about 'Teacher/Lecturer-centred learning". As such, Chinese teachers/lecturers would always pack their lectures/sessions full of information because in the eyes of the students, a good lecturer is a person who explain every single detail to the students. Anyway, since China (or should I say WUST) is 'teacher-centred learning, why do they don't give notes? LOL. Maybe they do, but not for our lectures. haha.

Anyway, speaking about our lecture, I did feel a bit sad for our Singaporean students. Not exactly 'criticising' them, but they did showed that they have a poor understanding of Chinese history and culture. It is rather difficult to give an example here.
However, I cannot exactly really fault them. There isn't a subject in Singapore schools like Chinese Culture or Chinese History. Or should I say, not all schools have. As far as I know, for some SAP schools, there do have a subject (compulsory) like Appreciation of Chinese Culture, where certain Chinese histories are being taught too.
Probably I am more concern about the lack of interests in Chinese History or Culture by Singapore students as a whole, as we are Chinese. =( Kinda a bit of waste actually.

Let's move on. After the lecture, we went back to our rooms to tidy up our stuffs and have a rest. It was then I decided to go and see a doctor (after discussing with my mother) as all the medicines, cough lozenges etc are not taking effect. At 2.30pm, Mr Puah, Mr Wong and the Chinese lecturer (i think she is HU Lao Shi) accompanied me to the School Hospital at the other side of the Campus. YEA. Serious, u will know when I post the photo.
THE HOSPITAL DOES NOT LOOK LIKE ONE FROM OUTSIDE!!!

Anyway, the experience of visiting a doctor is rather different. In that 'hospital', there is only 1 doctor working. Anyway, that doctor don't really look a doctor. Serious! I got a feeling that the doctor job is just to prescribe medicine to patients who are unsure of which medicine to buy! Sorry! =P LOL. Let me briefly describe the steps of visiting a doctor in WUST (or China).

1) Pay a registration fee of RMB 0.50 and get a consultation slip
2) Queue up and wait to see a Dr.
3) See the Dr and tell him/her what are you feeling bad about your body (anyway, the doctor suddenly got interested in me(as in asking me a lot qns) because Hu laoshi told her I am from SINGAPORE. LOL)
4) Get the prescription and bring the slip to the pharmacy counter
5) Pharmacist will tell you the price of the medicine and pls go to the registration counter and pay
6) Collect your medicine! =)

Anyway, I wanted Antibiotics actually. But the doctor, for safety reasons, did not give me. Instead, she gave me Roxithromycin. However, here is the irony. I checked with my friend later at night. GUESS WHAT. He said actually Roxithromycin is a type of antibiotics. LOL

Just to conclude, a different experience in visiting a doctor with MBBS (Singapore) and someone from China! LOL.

That's all. Stay Tune, Channel 5. (just being random)

All right. It is my birthday.

2008-08-30T18:35:00.013+08:00

Day 3 - 27 August 2008

Remember I said day 2 of wuhan officially ends with a dinner from the local market and a game of dota?!? yep. Unofficially, the day did not end that simple. At 1200 hours sharp, I remember the door was knocking. At that time, the guys were in chin xiang's room, doing their personal reflection after the game of dota. Upon opening the door, I only saw chin xiang standing outside with a torchlight shining at his face! I was like, erm, please don't act as a ghost and come and scare me pls. Immediately I turned my back and went back to the computer. yep. the surprise came. Everyone started to sing the birthday song and gave me a pillow bash! =.=

Anyway people, thanks for the red date tea and 'apollo' cake! =)

8 hours later, it is time for our first lesson by Mr Puah! The lesson is more of an introduction about Business Process Engineering and settling some administrative stuffs. However, the lesson ended earlier (approx. 11am) because the WUST student services personnel is coming to our rooms to settle the internet connections to our laptops. Hooray! Finally, internet access is enabled after 3 days. Seriously, speaking of this, I got a feeling human beings are heavily relying on technology. Personally, I don't think that is good for human beings because IT (or technology as a whole) are supposed to assist people in their daily lives, not becoming a necessity in human lives. If one day, there isn't any electricity available (i.e. all technological appliances unable to work), how will humans adapt to this kind of lifestyle? hmm...

Anyway, enough of deviation. Approx. 1pm, all of us gathered together (together with our chinese counterparts) and went to Zhongshan Road and Zhongshan Park. The park is something like a combination of Singapore's Botanic Gardens, Escape Theme Park and Sculpture Parks. If I did not remember wrongly, we spent almost 2 hours in the park, spending time on taking photos and playing in the theme park.

Talking about this, I remember something Mr Puah said during the lesson, which I thought is rather true. When Singaporeans leave Singapore for overseas trips, they tend to forget about their image and have the so called "heck care, just do it" attitude. Haha. Maybe the term "heck care, just do it" attitude is rather serious. But currently, I cannot find a more suitable term yet.
For example, everyone can just stop and take 'jump shot' photos, scream etc or do actions that people normally won't do in Singapore streets. Is this singaporeans? Haha. Do Singaporeans are more self-conscious when they are in Singapore? hmm. a good point to ponder about. =D

After the Zhongshan Park tour, we headed for to the shopping malls along Zhongshan Road. Hmm. bought 2 shirts at RMB 55 (buy 1 get 1 free la). Anyway, the clothings in China now are rather cheap (in a sense that promotions are going on) because of the following reasons:

1) Summer is ending. Hence, every retail stores would want to clear as much summer clothings as possible because it would not be advisable to keep till next summer due to possible changes in fashion trends OR business costs etc

2) Post 2008 Beijing Olympics. About the same explanation as point 1. However, the main reason is that products that are producted for Olympics should be sold quickly before the Olympics fever is over (resulting in lost in value of goods)

Dinner at a food court where i found my beloved white fugus desert/shop (which is good for my current BAD sore throat and cough) and went to mei shi jie to do some final supermarket shopping.

Yep. Everyone took taxi back to WUST. Each taxi can seat 4 passengers. I realised that Wuhan taxi and other province taxis are rather different. (based on my experience) Somehow, I feel that Wuhan taxis are more safer as compared to other provinces.

Our taxi journey was rather smooth as compared to others.

Ohya. Thanks again to my friends again. for your YE JIU HUA HONEY and your chocolate blueberry cake (which i din eat actually. =D )

Once again, enjoy the photo montage! And thanks for enduring reading such a long naggy post!

I would say, First Day in Wuhan officially!

2008-08-29T23:23:00.005+08:00

All right. the title spells out everything.

Yep. First shock of the day. Andy, Benjamin and I woke up late! we woke up at 7.40 when we are supposed to meet everyone for breakfast at 7.45am at the common corridor. BTW, everyone did not meet at the sipulated time. =.= Result: everyone reached the canteen at 8.15am and there isn't any food to eat!!

In the end, everyone went to the roadside stores (or local market, i should say) behind the hostel to take-away their breakfast. Huge varieties of food at rather cheap prices.

Reflection of this incident:

WUST canteens are rather different from Singapore schools canteens. For WUST, all canteens have a fixed opening time. As such, if anyone miss the opening time, NO FOOD! Hmm. rather unique. Anyway, another cultural difference between China and Singapore STUDENTS (i meant students). Based on the opening time, I can infer that the Chinese students' breakfast time are different from Singaporeans. Why? Is it because we tend to wake up later? haha. to be confirmed again =P

Anyway, signs of lack of standardisation (in terms of cleanliness standards, stores organisations etc) can be detected at the local market. Probably these are the reasons why Singaporeans (or should i say, foreigners) are discouraged from eating from these stores. HOWEVER, i realised something, isn't such type of markets are common in the 60s, 70s or even 80s Singapore? Another thing, the locals eat from there DAILY! hmmm... something to think about. Why people are discouraged from eating at such areas. lol

After breakfast, everyone attended a simple, yet serious welcoming ceremony, hosted by our China counterparts. After that, we went for orientation, getting ourselves familiarise with our classrooms and the school environment.

The whole morning ended with visiting the nearby supermarket and lunch (at macs again. =/ )

After resting in the hostel, everyone gathered at around 2.30pm to purchase for the China prepaid cards. On our way there, we walked passed one of the neighbourhood. It was rather interesting walk as everyone could experience the local culture in wuhan. Firstly, the whole atmosphere of the neighbourhood is rather relaxed. Sights of people rushing from point to point, buying groceries etc could not be found. Instead, the adults were playing mahjong, Chinese chess, poker cards along the street. Children are playing their toys or basketballs, women are chatting with their neighbours etc. That is how relaxed the neighbourhood is. An experience which are seldom detectable in Singapore.

Anyway, we got our prepaid card from a local telecommunications shop afterwards. However, it took us some time before we are able to purchase the cards. For me, I would say it is a communications problem within the main telecommunications company and their branches.

Yep. Day 2 in Wuhan officially ends with dinner from the local market and a game of dota? opps.

Please enjoy!

Day of Adapting

2008-08-29T23:20:00.003+08:00

Day 1 - 25 August 2008

PHOTOS

All right. Let me recount briefly on what happened today. =)

4.45am --> Arrival in Changi Airport T1 with my mother and grandmother
6.30am --> Started to check in and cross the immigration counter after the final sent off by my family and dear classmates, who stayed overnight at the airport.
8am --> Board the plane the journey to China starts =)

Seriously, nothing much has happened UNTIL we reached Guangzhou for transit.
I remembered that everyone was worried because Suelyn lost her luggage. Fortunately, her luggage was taken (mistakenly) by someone from ME dept. Everyone was relieved when the luggage was found. ANYWAY, both luggage looked very identical!

Morale of story --> It is always important to check your stuffs before you leave, anywhere/any situation. Haha, in this context, always check the luggage tag (don't assume the particular luggage is yours when it looked like YOURS). Use prominent and unique tags to 'identify' your luggage. When i mean prominent and unique, I am refering to rafia strings or those used to tie rice dumplings, no ribbions pls.

Anyway, after that, there is something more 'exciting'. When we were preparing for transit, there was a commotion at the transit luggage counter. It involved the transit officers and a group of Chinese tourists. Initially (based on the exchanges between them), the officers, who wanted to minimise the queue length, requested the Chinese tourists to leave the luggage at the counter. However, the tourists refused to do so as they want to see their luggages being checked in properly. Hence, the quarrel started. Nevertheless, everything was sorted out and everyone was happy.

Apparently, on the surface, onlookers may think that Chinese people may be selfish and crude in nature, reason being they do not want to co-operate with the authorities for the benefit of others. However, later I realised that there might be another side of the story. Apparently, it seems to me that the Chinese tourists are rushing for their transit flight. As such, they would only feel safe if their luggage to enter first as they do not want to board the plane w/o their luggage. Hence, their actions may be justified. However, they could have negotiated 'peacefully' with the officers instead of quarrel? Maybe this could be the 'cultural difference' between Singaporeans and Chinese? hmm..

Anyway, we should not place judgements on people based on the first impression as it would be unfair to them as we do not understand what is happening.

So, journey to wuhan continues.. Ohya. Guangzhou Airport stuffs are expensive. A can of coke can go as expensive as S$5.

Upon reaching Wuhan international airport, we boarded the shuttle bus to WUST. On our way there, it is rather interesting as Wuhan looked entirely different from what we expected. Disorganisation and non-uniformity of roads, buildings and public structures can be seen everywhere. So are poor maintenance. Air pollution (Guangzhou too) are evident everywhere. However, attempts for a 'greener environment' can be seen as trees are being planted along the roads. Although this journey to WUST is rather short (approx. 30 to 45 mins), a lot things can be observed and allow students to further appreciate Singapore. For instance:

1) Poor management and planning of estates as old, run-down shophouses and new shopping centres etc are together
2) No proper traffic laws being respected
3) No 'CLEAN' environment along the streets etc

I was rather glad that everyone learnt to appreciate singapore during this SHORT journey. HOWEVER, there is something which I would like to comment. Personally, although it is good to appreciate singapore, I feel it would be unfair for Wuhan if the students have a bad impression about the city. Reason being, the areas we covered in the journey could be just the small /rural areas of Wuhan. Yep. Anyway, the city of Wuhan is developing, so some areas would be that poor. Maybe in 10 years time, the whole city would be different? =)

Yep. Nothing much for the rest of the day, except everyone feeling 'stunned' by the state of the hostel rooms. However, despite of all the complains by everyone (initally), personally I felt glad to see everyone working together to make their rooms as comfortable as possible. =)

Dinner at MacDonald's and our first night was full of screaming and boiling of drinking water. =P