LPJ wandering in China, Wuhan

Day 41

2009-04-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

Maybe it’s due to excitement; I woke up very early today to get myself ready for the trip back to Singapore. Before I leave, I happened to meet the aunty who sells the egg la main. The familiar face sending us off with her 2 grandchildren. Saying good-bye and controlling my tears may be one of the hardest things. I can still remember the warmth of her hand when she touched me. She also asked me if I’ll be back and I had to be truthful and said “probably not”. She started sobbing later *Hate this feeling*. Whatever it is, she said something that I think it’s meaningful. She told me that as much as I hate to leave this place, I still have to. Cause I have my family, my parents in Singapore. I have to always think of them. Her words make me realize that I’d not meet my family for quite sometime and I’m starting to miss them.
When I reach the airport, everyone, including me was taking pictures. Too bad my camera’s battery got exhausted and I had a hard time getting my pictures since I used other people’s camera. We were having fun at first, but as the time to check in get closer and closer, I try to avoid them so that I won’t cry in front of them like what I did with the aunty in the morning. The journey back home makes me reflect on what I’d learnt throughout this trip and if I had achieved my learning plan. All in all, I did achieve what I want though this trip. Not only have I taken my first flight, but after this trip, it makes me realize that I am able to co-switch between different the two global cultures (Singapore and China). In the future when I go to China, I will not compare between Singapore and China. Instead, I will blend into the culture and adapt to the place as I am not there to compare and critic, but to learn. There are many things that I do not know and I hope to make a trip back to China again in the future to gain more knowledge and experience.

I really love that place and I’m gonna miss it immensely. But, somethings have to be left behind in order to move forward … which is exactly what we are doing.

Outside dorm before leaving

Saying good bye
She sobbed
Our luggages

We got to board a bus to take the plane to GuangZhou.

It's rainning at that time

On our way back to Singapore from GuangZhou Bai yun airport

I will miss them dearly

My sis and I (Mr. Wong said that we look alike)

Lastly, I had my chicken rice and it taste heavenly!

Day 40

2009-04-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Masita, Hajar, Joey and I went to Han Zheng Jie to get Masita’s father’s slippers this morning. We intend to just buy it and leave that place. But we cannot resist the temptation to shop. So we ended up ahopping for sometime and then leave that place. When we reach our school, we walk around the neighbourhood to say good-byes to the locals there as they’re really nice to us. It's really nice to see them for the last time since I can pridict that I won't be seeing them in the future. One of the shop owner even gave us a souvenir each and ask us to come back often. *Hope so* We also went to the salon to get our hair done for the last time to finish up our package. The time taken in the salon was very long as Benedict perm his and they have a hell lot of customers. In addition to that, the "bye-bye" time with them is also very long. We even took pictures of the worker’s there. When we’re o our way back, we then realize that it’s very late. The packing of stuff was alright and I seek help from Haja. Hope it will be a fine and safe journey tomorrow.

Near Han Zheng Jie
Joey and me!

The owner actually put our photos on the shelve so that people can see

With one of the Egg La Mian owner

Ben with his hair stylist

Randolph and one of the staff there

Jar and 2 staff

Me and my wet hair

All the staff at Fa Yuan Di

No 53 and me!

Last shot

Day 39

2009-04-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

As what I’d mentioned yesterday, I went back to that shop with Zee Min to get my dress. Though ther;s no more discount, but i still thik that it's worth the price. After the purchase, Zee Min and I just walk around that area for several hours She brought quite a number of things and it's definitely a fruiteful trip for her. As for me, i didn't buy much stuff. After the trip, we went back for farewell party as well as Rocco's birthday party.It was until that time then I realize that it’s Rocco’s birthday. He’s 20 years old already. I guess that’s the most memorable birthday party he ever had, With all his friends around him and 3 birthdays cakes. During the farewell party, some of the local students cried. Maybe it’s because of us leaving and they’re getting a little too emotional. Anyway, I really hope all the best to them and we will definitely wait fir them to come to Singapore to visit us and have fun =)

Japan's food in China

How the Si Men Kou looks like
Fire saying his last words.

3 birthday cakes!

Journey and me

Fighting for the cake

Clearing up the mess

The birthday boy (Rocco!) and I

Day 38

2009-04-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

I had my final presentation today. *Yeah!* That also mark the end of my module here in China. I will be really free. Though I got bombarded by Mr. Wong, but I think the questions that he asked help me to stimulate my thinking. After the presentation, I went over to Si Men Kou with two of my newfound friend in China to shop. In my opinion, it’s better than Han Zheng Jie. The trip to that place today is very fulfilling as I manage to get some of the stuff that I like. I’m going to go there tomorrow again to get a dress. (I regretted not buying today). I learnt something new today. if you buy something from the shop houses, it is a must to bargain. To Singaporeans like me, 90 rmb for a dress is considered as cheap. But in china, it’s quite expensive. Price of a top can go down all the way from 130 rmb to 35 rmb! See the difference? One tip for you if you want to buy really cheap stuff here is that you don’t shop in shopping malls, but in shop houses. And when you want to bargain, ask the local to bargain for you. Anyway, I went to KTV with the locals today. Guess what, they only have Chinese songs. No Amy Winehouse’s song. Since I can’t sing Chinese songs, I slept there. Okay, that’s all for today. I’ll go back to the place that I went today tomorrow to get the dress that I want.

Group A!

Out to shop

Ye shi (Night Market) -- I was told that these people come out at night as the police are not working at that time.

Singing with Zee Min

Everyone's tired

Day 37

2009-04-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

There’s no lesson today. Only for some group who wants to present today will have to go to the usual classroom block to study. I was actually clearing my blog posts today and so, I stayed in my room for almost the whole day. Maybe some shopping around the back street after I finished updating my blog. I got myself a nail polish there – nothing amazing.
After all the shopping, Vivian and I went to the usual classroom black to interact with the students. Since I only get to know that there’s such activity in the afternoon, I wasn’t very sure of what to do. Well actually those who went don’t really know what to do. We were shocked to see so many local students (I heard international) and they started performing out of nowhere and next we were divided into 2 groups and we got to interact with them. Can you imagine, I actually talk for more than 2 hours without knowing it. By having such activities, I actually made new friends again. But too bad I’m leaving this Sunday =(

I'm starting to pack already!

The guy came intomy room to fix my toilet light today. Finally I don't have to bathe in the dark!

During the interaction time with the locals
They performed for us

Mr Wong found himself a good place to sit.

More performance

My newfound friend

Day 36

2009-04-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

I was at another branch of the WUST. The place was just huge! Beautiful! Perfecto! Lovely! I” went there for some leadership training stuff. I was really tired in the beginning and don’t even have the strength to joke around with Zee Min. Just imagine a person sleeping at 5 the day before climbing rocks and playing high elements. I’m lucky that I didn’t fall from the high elements. Cause that’s the one that I’m most afraid of. Anyway, they group us into different groups and at the start of the day, we had some interaction games. That’s like a boot camp isn’t it? Actually I’m not the only one who’s tired there. The rest of my group mates were also tired too. But we manage to joke around. After the team building games, we went off to have our lunch and visited the dormitory of the other group of students who stayed there. They actually stayed in an apartment. With television set and a cleaner to clean the place every week. That’s like a little different from my place. But something to make me feel better is that the place that I’m living now has got more places to shop as compared to the other group. No wonder they need that television set to keep themselves entertained. *Opps…*

After the lunch break, we went to play trust fall, high elements and rock climbing. Fun I must say. When I reach the dormitory, I was so tired that I slept on my bed within minutes after dazing at my laptop for sometime.

Getting ready in teams
Me jumping across for high elements

Giving massage (Wei Guang is a lucky guy as he's in front of me!)

Before climbing the rock.

Me climbing up... up.. up.. but still didn't reach the top

Unscrewing...

Me and Wei Guang

Group shots of the whole OIP group Another group shot with the LSCT

Day 34, 35

2009-04-07T05:21:00.001-07:00

I was touring for the past 2 days to Lu lin mountain at Jing men. That place is just lovely! Just a little history of that place:

Lulin bing (Lulin force) is one of the two major agricultural rebellion movements against Wang Mang’s Xin Dynasty. Their collective strengths eventually led to the downfall of the Xin Dynasty and the establishment of a temporary reinstatement of the Han Dynasty. But the empire still fall afeter 2 years due to the infighting and incompetence of the Lulin leaders. Basically, the place is more like a battlefield and how the people survive and stay in that mountainous area.

Day 34
The journey to the place wasn’t as far as the last few tours I’ve been. So it’s nice. It’s only a 3 hours ride. Yes, only 3 hours. And as usual, I slept through the ride without going for toilet break. Those that went for the toilet break told me that the condition of the toilet wasn’t that nice. There’s only 2 options – one with full of blood and vomit and the other one is with full of shit. Guess I’d learnt something from here. Next time when I’m using the public facilities, I will be extra careful and be more considerate. Cause I can understand the feeling of the next person using the public facility. Ok, back to the bus ride. The bus driver love honking. He can just honk at anything. If I still have my phone with me, I can just stuff the ear piece into my ears and listen to whatever music I have instead of the honking sound. *sign*
When I reach that place, I’m like “Wow! Finally!” The place is simple and nice. If it’s not because of the Flexsim, I can just relax and enjoy the night there. But anyway, I toured around the Mei Ren Gu and one of the village there. The Mei Ren Gu has got waterfall and it’s my first time seeing it! *Haha.* One thing that I like about this trip is that I don’t have to climb a lot to just see a little part of the scenery (Eg. Wudang trip). The village visit was still alright. I get to see how people grow mushrooms, one of my favourite food. Though the locals there may not have cars and bungalows, I was told by the tour guide that they are quite rich. They choose to stay there to live a peaceful life till they die. As for the younger generations there, they don’t live there. They went off to town to live =) We had a campfire after our dinner with some people performing and some of the students from Ngee Ann singing.

Day 35
Visited the lulin gu bing and one of the cave there. The lu lin gu bing place is a place where the solider fight there in the past. I climbed a lot and it’s nice to see how the people in the past fight. I always doubt the dramas that I’d watched. The scenery looks fake to me. But after this trip to the lu lin gu bing, the place really look like those in the dramas. So don’t doubt those dramas. After visiting the lu lin gu bing, I had my lunch and went off to visit the cave. The journey was horrible once again. With the sound of the honking and my undigested food in my stomach, you can imagine the feeling. The journey was longer than I expect it to be. So as usual, I slept. Actually many people slept through the ride I guess. When I reach that cave, I’m really excited as it’s my first time. I expect to see those diamonds and sparking stones. But too bad, I think I imagine too much. I didn’t get to see what I want. But still, the experience is worth the trip there.

The place I stayed
Room key/card

This is how my room look like

These are not dung, but for growing mushroom

At Mei Ren Gu

This rock is meant to be slept. She's not crazy.

This is how mushroom growing looks like

Villagers still use this when their daughter gets married. The parents will give this to their daughter.

Chestnut comes from this thing

House that's made of stones

For bees... Bee house?

Waterfall!!!

Campfire's burning now...

Clive singing... There are girls who want him after he sang...

I find this interesting. Look at the words.

Lulin force

This is how people live in the mountain (in the past). There are fruit trees around. So people will surely get food.

Knock this 3 times and you will be lucky! I'm lucky now!!!

Scenery pictures to enjoy

We climbed a lot. But not as much for the Wudang mountain

I'm strong! This is heavy ok. But I cannot carry more weight.

Tour guide saying good bye to us...

Getting into the cave

Nothing much in the cave. But it's cooling inside =)

Before we get out from the cave we got to climb again. Round and round...

One last picture before we leave...

Day 33

2009-04-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

It's Saturday and there's no tour! *Yeah!* So that means I’m free again. Basically, the whole bunch of us is broke already. So we went to the Bank of China at Hankou to change our left over SGD to RMB. However, we failed to do so as the bank only allow exchanging of USD. Whatever it is, I manage to get another 600 rmb.

Harja, Masita, Clive, Randolph, Benedict and I decided to go back to the same place that we went the day before to get clothes. Clive brought a Dior shirt! *See, someone’s rich huh* Whatever it is, it took us a long time in the shop. The rest of the day was accompanied with rain and more rain. So it wasn’t as fun as the day before.

Also, I went for massage today and was told that my body’s quite healthy. *I knew it!* But I was laughing all the way as the process was way too ticklish. Nothing much happened today too. So that should be all =)

By the way, I lost my phone. I guess it must be because of my carelessness. So for everyone out there, look after your belongings and don’t take them for granted. I’ll miss my old phone that has been with me for more than 3 years…

My lunch!
It's not nice to shop in this weather

The end.

Day 32

2009-04-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

No lessons for today and Harja, Masita, Clive, Randolph and I went to Han Zheng Jie to shop around. Actually we didn’t really go to Han Zheng Jie. But the place that we shopped is very near that place. We went to Jiang Han Lu instead, which is the place that Masita, Harja and I went last time. The group of us had lots of fun and we buy many stuff! I brought a bucket bag and a belt and it cost me around 118 rmb! (I think it’s considered cheap)
First, we took a cab there. It’s the illegal one. I think it will cost a lot if we took the one that goes by meter as it took us around an hour to reach that place. *Luckily* Next we walk around and reach a street which sell lots of clothing, but they are all not suitable for us. So we all headed to a shopping mall and shop for our stuff. The weather wasn’t that good. It rained halfway through our journey so my shoes are like soaked with all the rain water, together with some sand. *Yuck*
After the whole journey, we rushed back to Mr. Loh’s house to have the dinner that was planned a few weeks ago. It was really heart warming to see the teachers and students eating and watching movie together. Since the few of us were late, we helped to wash the dishes and clean the table. I love the part where some of us hide in one of the empty room and talk crap. And yes, I showed off my bag to almost everyone =)

Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong.We treasure our heritage and take pride in shaping our own unique way of life.
Not too sure why I chose this NE message to talk about, but through this gathering at Mr. Loh’s house, it makes me miss my country. Whenever people in China asked me where I’m from, I’m always proud to tell them that “Yes! I’m from Singapore though I look like a local!” Singapore is my homeland and I’m proud of it!

In the cab
Street selling nice food

School for the muslim?

Shopping for bags

Guys can shop better than us!

At Ajisen

Green tea ice cream *Yummy!*

Shopaholic for the day!

Day 31

2009-04-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

I had my 2nd presentation today. The feeling was worst than the first presentation as my group was the first to present. *scary* I’m suppose to propose a better plan that help the company called PCK Super Rack (S) Pte Ltd to save cost to at least 15%. When I first read the assignment sheet, I almost freak out cause I don’t understand what is it all about. Luckily Mr. Wong briefed us and guided the class about it and it makes it a little easier. Something that I learnt today – When you propose your idea to your boss and it requires the company to fork out money, you need to have a very strong evidence to support your idea. Actually, its common sense, but it is not easy as the support that you gave may be good enough for you but it is not the case for your boss.
After the presentation, Haja, Masita, Vivian, Clive, Randolph and I went for hair treatment. *Finally!* The guy actually told me that I do not need that treatment as my hair is healthy enough *laugh* Whatever it is, I still went for that treatment as I want it to go according to my plan =) So now, my hair is lie soft and silky. Not to mention bouncy too! Also, I brought 2 bags today!!! Should have got that like a few weeks before so that I can carry it around here in China.

Dinner with Zee Min, Vivian, Masita and Haja

Place where I brought one of my bag

People dancing in such a cold weather. We joined in too =)
Treatment!

It's fun to talk to the guys behind us

No 53! They have their own individual number.

The lady who blow dry my hair!

Day 30

2009-04-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Time flies… it’s the 30th day and I had my final test today. Before going for the test, the whole group of MDE students, together with the LSCT students went to the WUST new campus. The new campus is really big. It’s like many times bigger than the current one I’m in. They even have a library that talks about the history of the school.
Guess what, I get a chance to look at anatomy again. (Cause we visited the medical school) The place has got more varieties of human bodies as compare to NUS. They even have those with diseases *Wow*. When I look at those bodies, it reminds me of myself, aspiring to be a medical professional a few years ago. The professor told us that the bodies are donated by the people. Also, I mixed around with the students studying there and this is what I realize – it’s easier to communicate with them as they’re also nice and friendly, just like Joey and her friends. It’s such a waste for us to know them at this time (when we are leaving). We should have known them earlier.
After the trip to the new campus, we had the final test! Also, there will be a presentation tomorrow. My second last presentation in Wuhan.

If you smoke too much, your lungs will be like that.

Library with the school history
Tour guides
With Prof Pang Ke -- dea of WUST Internation College Welcome message
Hosipital in school

Lunch

The new campus has got lake

This is where the teachers stay

With the locals

Saying good bye

Day 29

2009-03-31T00:24:00.000-07:00

It’s Hui Miang’s Birthday today!!! From ISO2! Yes! She’s from my class. So as usual, I went to the class and I was shock to see Xiang Yu with that big big birthday cake. Hui Miang came at a later time and she must have felt very touched. Haha. Whatever it is, the whole class sang birthday song for her in Chinese, English and even Malay (That’s her first Malay birthday song!). Oh, I brought a gift for her. People who know her will be shock. It’s a bangle! I’m going to force her to wear that.

After the lesson, Haja, Masita and me went to the street to get the nail polish remover and we end up getting more than what we need. All right, that’s it for today! I’m going back to Singapore soon… Damn, I hate this feeling..

Hui Miag making wishes.

Eating
She's too happy

Before

After

Test 1

Mr.Wong explaining assignment 2

Instant noodle at Hajar's room

Got these stuff from street

Owner gave me this for free

Day 28

2009-03-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Had the usual lesson today, except that it was only 1 hour and Mr. Wong only briefed the class about assignment 2. The rest of the time was spent doing that assignment in room 116. That’s why there’s really nothing to blog about today. Maybe except for the little break time when I’m doing the assignment. Both Vivian and I went out to the street to look for some food and to have some fresh air while Hui Miang was bathing. So I got myself some stuff that I’m sure some of my friend in Singapore will get shock. It’s earrings and bracelets. They’re pretty cheap.

Mr Wong's lesson

Doing Assignment 2Hui Miang just cannot sit still

Place where I get my accessories.

Oranges for only 2 yuan

Ishikawa!

Day 25,26,27

2009-03-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, I was at Joey’s house for the past few days. I will start this post from day 21. 4e
Day 21
It’s really a hectic day for me today. I got to rush like one mad woman. First, I woke up a little late for my factory visit (luckily I’m not the only one). I was at Yangtze Optical Technology Ltd and though I wasn’t very interested in the process of manufacturing, it was an eye-opening experience as one cannot see this type of technology in Singapore. The company that we went is the first largest in China and the second largest in over the world. *Wow*
I’d already provide some brief introduction to what is optical fibre all about so I shall not talk about it and bore you out. However, I would like to compare the difference between the two companies that I went (Wugang Steel Mill vs Yangtze Optical Technology Ltd).
Wugang steel mill
- Noisy
- Dusty
- Warm and hot (I ca understand as it is a steel mill factory!)
- Tough job (To me)
Yangtze Optical Technology Ltd
- Quiet (When we’re not around)
- Clean
- Air conditioned
- Tough job but not as tough as the steel mill
After the trip to the factory, the LSCT group (except Xinhui) went to Wuhan University to look the sakura. The MDE group (except for those going to Joey’s house) went to the shopping mall where the wal mart is located. Something really funny happened when I reach the dormitory. I only realize that I don’t have the key with me and I can’t open my room’s door! So ran around the school to look for that little key.
Mr Ng was really nice! He actually accompanied me to look for Tang shifu. *So nice right!* But she’s out for lunch till 2. Mr Loh on the other hand was “nice” enough to contribute by laughing at me.
Guess what did I do in the end? I went off without my toothbrush and other stuff. (Mr Wong was the one who reminded me that I don’t have my toothbrush and someone told me that I got to share with Wei Guang!) But the things there are cheap. So no worries! I don’t have to share with him =)
Day 22
We woke up quite late. Around noon if I’m not wrong. Had our lunch at a restaurant near the house. Surprisingly, the fish bone does not have those irritating little fish bones on it and food are nice. After eating, the group of us went shopping. It’s a shopping mall. So the prices of the clothes are similar to those I Singapore and those that attracts me are like 400+ rmb!!! I will never buy that!
Zee Min shop like one rich tai tai with no budget. If I’m not wrong, she spent like 600 over dollar in rmb! That like over hundred in Sin! Other than over spending, she can actually spend like 5 hour plus at one level in the shopping mall. After shopping around that shopping mall, then we realize that that’s not the main attraction. Cherry, Joey, Yepp and that spendthrift Zee Min went to do their nails and we went back to the house to have our dinner.
Day 23
It’s the last day and I hate this feeling. Joey’s parents and aunty really makes me feel that I’m living with my own family members. The smile and sincerity touches me and though I hate to miss the Saturday tour, I think it’s worth the sacrifices. I hate to wave good bye to them. The beef and the Jiaozi is the best I’d ever tried. I’ll miss them... and will never forget this trip.

Day 25

Optical cable produced by the company

More products from the company!

One of the staff and the interpreter
My ticket to Jing Men
She's studying her test that's on Monday!

How considerate!

Toilet roll that's cut into half by Cherry ;)

"Make yourself home"

Sweets with worms in it!

On the way back to school

Han Kou Train Station

Group shot before entering the train station

I was told by Joey that this dog may get killed for it's meat. Poor thing...

Outside the train station

Entering the train station

Train got delayed by half an hour!

Boarding the train!

View from the train

Day 26

Firework out of nowhere outside the restaurant

While waiting for the food to be served, we played poker!

*eww*

Fighting for food

Shopping around...

Just look at Zee Min (wearing green)

Zee Min's hand

One Big Family! Haha. I like this picture.

Most of them are from Zee Min

Day 27

Wei Guang can really cook

Preparing the curry chicken

Don't get cheated by this picture

This is what she produce!

From this to...This!

Thanks to the them for the great food!

Love the beef!

Last meal there and we got to go back soon

Joey can play this! Can you imagine???

Outside the house before leaving

Random shots. But somehow reminds me of my bro and me.

This trai station is way better than the rest i'd boarded

My train!

I guess they put luggage or other goods here. Railway mode for cargos???

On the way to board the bus

That's all!

Day 24

2009-03-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

I dirtied my bag yesterday. It’s like oily and dirty cause of the sweet potato I brought yesterday. If I’m not wrong I think I dump the wrong plastic bag into my bag and it soiled my bag. It’s my favourite bag okay. I carried it around with me in China for the past few weeks. Even though I know it doesn’t fit my top sometimes. Okay, so enough of my complain. My main point here is that I paid only 2 yuan to wash my bag and you know what, the aunty even helped me to dry it. So nice right! Oh my.. I love her!

Alright, back to my daily routine. I had my last lecture with Mr. Wong *Yeah!* This also means no more quizzes! But it also means the coming of all the assignments. *eww* Before Mr. Wong teach us, he actually told us that we will be going to a fibre optic factory tomorrow and brief us a little. The following are the information that I took while he’s briefing the class:

Fibre optics can be used in many areas such as operations (medical) and many high tech products. It does support board band at a faster speed. For example, many channels can pass through the fibre optic at a high speed. The materials used for fibre optic is also plentiful. Unlike copper, the materials from the firbre optic come from some minerals from the soil.

Anyway, after all the briefing, I had the usual lesson and quiz.

The whole OIP group of students also had a presentation for the locals here and it’s really funny to see some funny groups presenting. I really hope that the locals will like the presentation and performance.

Guess where I went next??? I went to play pool with Masita, Haja and Clive. This is my first time playing and I’m really lousy. My stick can just fly off cause it’s heavier than I expect it to be. But Hui Miang told me that it’s light. Anyway, I played and continue to be lousy. I love this game!!! I don’t care if I’m lousy at it or what, but it’s really fun to like walk around that table and laugh at people. It’s expensive to play such game in Singapore. So, I’m going to practice here in China and be a pro before going back to Singapore =) By the way, Clive taught me how to play and he can be a good teacher. Go and find him if you need help! Haja is also good. See, the people I went with have got pool background. Though Masita has got a pool background, her skill is similar to mine. (Ok, a little better.) So fun to play pool! I want to play again!!!
Alright, that’s it for today. I’ll be going to Joey’s house from tomorrow all the way to Sunday. So you guys won’t see me blog.

Till then…

Preparing for the presentation.

Mr. Wong seem to be anxious...

Me, Haja and Masita wearing new clothes.

More and more people coming.

Skit that's really interesting.

Zee Min was loud!

Benedict from my group. He's really nervous.

My leader!

Performing Rasa Sayang

Zee Min and Fire!

Haja playing (She's good)

Clive teaching Masita

Clive teaching me (It's not as easy as what you think!)

See, I'm so good that I can put the stick behind me!

Clive in action

Day 23

2009-03-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

Had my flexisim test today and I wouldn’t say that it’s very tough, but there’s a little struggle. I’m asked to create a model for McDonalds and improve it. After class, the whole mde group stayed back and practice for the presentation for the locals tomorrow. (All thanks to my group!)
Once the practice was over, Masita, Haja, Benedict, Joey and Cherry went to shop around the region. IT’s not very long and Haja brought a shoe! *laugh* Haja warn me not let her spend but still, I manage to. In fact, I’m the one who wanted to get shoes and I promised the owner that I’ll come today. But the shoes here in China are really small and it’s not easy to get one pair of size 39-40. We meet up with Randolph and Clive at a later time for hair treatment! (I didn’t do it though) The process of them doing hair is really fun as we talk and joke around with the people there. By joking and making friends with them, it really makes me think that I’ve already blended in to their culture.
Next we went to have our supper at “Fake KFC” and back to the dormitory.

The lights that's moving all the time (Scary)

Breakfast
Lunch

Discussing on schedule to Joey house

Mr. Wong teaching

Practicing Malay song

(This is the best picture I have the rest are all blur)

They don't like people to see their plate number right?

Sweet potato

See, they're enjoying

Shampooooing...

It's a chewing gum!

Clive hair

It's a restaurant! We went to the "Fake KFC" again. How can it be hotel?

Day 22

2009-03-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

I will be having the Simulation test tomorrow. *Nervous* Mr. Wong’s lesson starts at 1.oopm today. *Thank God* as I slept real late (5am) the day before for some blogging stuff.

Anyway, I went out with Joey and friends for lunch today (They intend to do this for the rest of the weeks till we leave). We ate porridge and it’s nice! It’s not oily and you can control the saltiness of the porridge. Think I might want to have that in the future.

After eating, I went to the class and the whole class was basically practicing the Flexisim. Mr. Wong seems to be a little serious today. Maybe he’s stress. He must have squeezed all his brain juice the night before for the test. After the lesson, Haja, Masita, Zee Min and I went to the “Fake KFC”. Trust me, it taste better than the local KFC. Must try!

I went to withdraw some money after that and I’m supposed to go back to the dormitory together with Masita, Haja and Zee Min to study for my test. But somehow, Masita, Haja and I manage to go back to the shop that I went a few days before to check if they have replenish their stock and guess what… They did and I brought more clothing back! Cool.
Total amount spent on clothing à 228 yuan

My lunch (Porridge)

Isn't he stressed???

Menu

Counter

Interior design of the restaurant

Mine and Zee Min's food

Nice?

Possible is anything

Shoes that I wanted few days ago.

New top!

New dress

New tight!

Day 21

2009-03-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Mr. Wong’s lesson starts at 1.00pm today as we reached the school quite late last night. *See, he’s actually showing his fatherly love to us*
I woke up a little early to finish up my blog. But due to some technical problems with my laptop as usual, I didn’t manage to blog about my trip to Wudang Mountain on time. It’s quite annoying as my laptop is seriously running too slow! But anyway, Joey and Cherry came knocking on my door to ask me for lunch. *Shocked* We had some Ma la (Spicy) noodle and a dumpling. Can’t imagine that they can eat so much. I wasn’t able to finish the ma la noodle, so I intend to just leave it there and walk off. But Joey said “chu he ri dang wu …” (Sorry, I can’t type it in Chinese) It’s a poem that I recite before when I was young. The poem tells us how difficult it is for the farmers to have their harvest. Every single grain comes from their sweat and hard work. So I cannot waste food. *Stress* And guess what, I eat till my lips are a little swollen and I’m been trying to stop my mucus from coming out of my nose. Luckily Mr. Wong’s lesson is at 1 ad I tell them that I got to go for his lesson. *Relieve*
During lesson, Mr. Wong told the class many interesting stuff and relates them to the Wudang Mountain. As usual, we had our lesson and quiz.
I went to eat with Xiang Yu and Zee Min after the lesson and headed down for another lecture done by Xu Bin lao shi (Joey and Cherry invited me there and I just go. I thought it’s some psychology lecture but it’s not exactly that) The whole lecture was in Chinese and in my opinion, I like the way he delivered his lesson. It can be interesting at times. One funny thing is that he didn’t know that there’s a Singapore student there and at times he will say things like: (Translated)
When I talk to Singaporean students (which I think one of them might be me) I realize that they can speak good Mandarin. So I just speak back in Mandarin. They make be want to sign up for English course…
There are of because many other things that’s funny. But overall, it’s really nice to have an opportunity to attend their lesson. (Especially when the lecturer does not know that there’s a guest). In my learning plan, I mentioned that I wanted to know the culture differences between Singapore and China. Maybe through Xu Bin lao shi, it makes me realize that the way teacher teach here in China and in Singapore is more or less the same. The only difference is that the powerpoint slides are filled with lots and lots of words. I think if there’s pictures, it will be better =)

It doesn't look spicy, but it is!

Mr. Wong and his history

How Egypt looks like 5000 years ago

Temple

3000 years ago (one of the last pyramid)
The tomb stone was built on such a dry and usless land: why? So as to preserve those mummies

To guard the tomb

They stop building pyrimids, but this type of structures for temple

What the Egyptian worship

Blue mosque

Mr. Wong claims that these are the heroes. Does he look like he has got any six pack back then?

Mode of transport in Mount Everest

This is luxury to Mr. Wong!

Mr. Wong looks concern when Wei Guang's laptop crash.

Dinner

Gym card! Not mine but Charlotte's one.

In general, many students try not to make too much noise in his lesson as they are afraid of him.

I tried my best to take his picture but failed. I don't want to get caught by him. If I'm not wrong, he's also the discipline master there.

They came over to my room! What happened to Joey?

DILUTED Nescafe! Think I better drink the coffee that I always drink.

Tried something similar to this. It taste like some edible stuff with lots of preservatives.

Day 19/20

2009-03-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

I was at Wudang Mountain for the past two days. My legs are like aching now cause of the two days trip to Wudang Mountain. We got to climb for the first and the second day!

Day 19
As usual, we got to wake up early today to get ourselves ready for the trip. Guess what, I manage to sleep through the bus ride without going to the toilet. Maybe it’s because I’m already used to the long distance ride. When I reached the restaurant for lunch, I was famished. The food tasted so good though it’s just veggies and little meat. The fact that I loved them wasn’t because I’m hungry, but it’s because they do not have much oil. After eating, we went to visit the places of attractions at the mountain – mainly temples and more temples. By the way, there’s a lot of climbing to do! Well since it’s once in a lifetime, I decided to just climb it. If Mr. Wong can do it, so can I!

At one of the temple, I actually saw some kids practicing kuangfu and the master was really strict on them. He will just punch the stomach when anyone did something wrong. *ouch* Before this trip, I was still thinking living in Wudang Mountain means no stress, no trouble. But I was definitely wrong about that after I saw the way that master train his student. I over heard him saying that the position of the hands cannot be higher than the nose. So you can imagine how tough it is to be like them.

After visiting all those places of attraction, we wet back to the same restaurant for dinner and to Wudang hotel to sleep for a night. The hotel is like one of the best place to live in since we come to China. When I asked for hair dryer, they really provide me with one. How nice will it be if we stay ther for a few more days…

Day 20

At 5.30am, Mr. Wong came knocking on my room door to wake me up as I wanted to bathe. *Thanks Mr. Wong*. Though I wanted to stay in the hotel for a longer time, I can’t. The thought of climbing the mountain again just turn me off. Though it’s not easy, I think it’s worth climbing as it trains your willpower and makes you exercise. I spent more than an hour to reach the summit. While I’m climbing, I saw many people climbing and panting like me. Some are old and some are young. In order to motivate myself, I thought this to myself “If these aunties can make it, I must also do it!” Those aunties that climbed the stairs are really tough. I’m impressed by them. Oh, talking about this, I actually saw a man and a lady peeing on rocks! (Well, actually they hid behind those rocks. But it’s damn funny cause I don’t see such thing at Bukit Timah hill)
When I reached the peak, I’m almost half dead. But it’s an achievement! And I appreciate whatever I saw at the top of the mountain. Luckily we chose to take the cable car down. It wasn’t as scary as I though it would be. *dissapointed* But anyway, it saved me from walking down. I had my dinner at the base of the mountain. It was edible. After eating we boarded the bus and went back to school. By the way, I had stomachache while I was climbing the mountain. But the condition became ok to bad on the way back. *Luckily* See, I’m STRONG!

Lunch
Li Bai poem

The ticket marks my journey to Wudang Moutain

Queueing for the bus

Mr. Wong told me that I can jump into this if I didn't do well for my exam. Not a very good idea though.

See, he's trying to pose like me (my trademark pose) but since he cannot balance, he held my hand. (It's really not an excuse!)

One of the master there I guess.

Tough trainning.

The master will hit their stomach if they didn't do well.

See, we're really tired.

Mr. Wong might go to Wudang Mountain someday to learn some Kuangfu. He seem very keen to learn.

The trainning was tough. They exercise for 1 whole morning.

Guess what is this (not the pipe from the toilet)

It's this well that contain some holy mountain.

He can carve chinese characters on a rice grain!

Wonder how he climb up the mountsin.

Dinner

Toilet roll with no hole in

Hotel

Day 2

Why can a man enter the ladies here?

Tough life -- he's resting on the second picture

We're already tired from a few steps

They do practice recycling

100 steps *NO!*

Kids younger than me selling souvenir.

They remind me of one of the NE message:

No one owes Singapore a living.

We find our own way to survive and prosper, turning challenge into opportunity.

In Singapore, I guess many kids with their age are enjoying their life. They don't have to worry about anything with regards to money. Well, When I was that young, I don't even know how to count money! So you can see how blessful I am and seriously from them, I see the NE message. They find their own way to survive and prosper and turn challenge into opportunity. Can you imagine if they behave like me whe I was at their age. They will not have food to eat I guess. On the other hand, I believe that this 2 boys will be able to learn how to grow up faster than many of the people who are bless at the early stage like me. Till today, I don't even treasure the things around me. But for them, I strongly belive that they will and forever will. I also think that they will be one of the many useful people in the future =)

Me in front of those LSCT people

Half dead. I can't even smile!

I guess this is how they iron their clothes.

Finally... Very near to the highest point..

The 3 of us are just too tired. You can tell.

Read this!

She's carving my family names on the lock.

This is the first time I got to admit that my chinese wasn't that good as I don't even know how to write my family members name. I got to ask this lady to show me and I just go "AH.. Dui dui" which mean "AH.. Correct correct"

My dad name's wrong but still it's a complete family

Some auspicious words on it.

Important moment...

Next time if anyone come, do look for my lock!

Guess this is the first time you see people throwing money willingly

The colour of the bar faded away due to many people touching

Aunties sliding down from the side of the stairs. My only conclusion is to get some luck from it.

Told you money is almost everywhere

and there are really many people touching the bar

To prove that I did reach the peak!

Intersting. Wonder if lion eats cup noodle and drink coke.

Cup noodles that's expensive. 8 yuan!

15 yuan, but really hugh portion

Cable car

Queueing for cable car

You got to hop into it very fast.

Reaching the base

See. the number of people queueing up for travelling up

Nice right.

I almost fell down! But I won't die as the back is not mountain.

They're suppose to look tired.

I like this picture. Hajar loves my trademark pose.

I'm not a nerd! I dare to steal a police car!

Shophouses

Got to read this too.

Zee Min brought a sword

Stopover at petrol station

Going back to Wuahan

Day 18

2009-03-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

While i shopped for Ice present, I saw this... Guess what is it?

It's actually advertisment for something... Creative?

My trademark pose with Ice present.

Look at my hair... There's not much changes at the end of the day..

The cake that we ate straight from it.

Zee Min can eat a lot...

Joey, Ice and me

Zee Min loves to sing... Her voice is almost everywhere.

Ice, Clive and Randolph.

Joey and I

It’s Ice birthday today and I’m so honored to be invited by her. She’s such a sweet person. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I said that I wanted to visit the salon. What I’d decided is to get myself an extension so that I can play around with the hair. But anyway, the situation in the salon is damn messy, so I just decide to cut short. I wanted a concave hairstyle. The whole process of cutting and shampooing the hair is interesting, but due to limited time, I didn’t pay much attention to my hair, I just pay and immediately went off. I think I’m going to visit that place again next time, probably before I go back to Singapore. By the way, I’m like so jealous of Masita. Her hair is so damn nice!!! Too bad for me as I have fine hair. Maybe I should have just go for the Beijing 101 to grow more hair first before cutting it short.

Because of my my hair, I was late for Ice party. That was like so no very nice of me to do that. Luckily she don’t mind. But seriously, I’m very sorry for that. We had karaoke and it was in a very big room. Must have cost a bomb I think. Also, it’s really interesting to see people eating straight from the cake instead of cutting it. Once again, I would like to thank Ice for inviting me and last but not least HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Day 17

2009-03-19T09:24:00.001-07:00

This is how I charge my phone after the table was removed.

Something intersting: There's 2 new zebra crossing behind the school back gate. But the problem here is... Who's going to obey the rules, as seen from the picture, cars can even parked on it!

MDE with Xiao Ling lao shi

The 2 lecturers from Ngee Ann with Xiao Ling lao shi

(Mr. Wong always stands out)

Xiang Yu giving out token of appreciation

I'm going to miss her cause she's really a nice teacher

Going for Xiao Ling lao shi class with the LSCT people

I had my last IS lesson today and it’s on my favoutrite subject – Business etiquette. Many people thought that the Chinese are rude, but there a reason behind the way they do things.
In Chinese eyes, Mian Zi (Face) is very important and if you want to do business with another party, never insult, embarrass, shame, or yell at a person. If you have any disagreement, do so privately with that person to help him save some face. By helping them to save their face, they too, will also do the same thing to you. That’s why it is always nice before you embarrass anyone in public.
Also, in Chinese eyes, it is important to have guan xi (relationship). Someone who has got no relationship will be regarded as half-Chinese. If you are a foreigner, the Chinese here will not expect too much from you as they think it is forgivable to make some mistakes.
In order to not lose someone face in the public, the Chinese sometimes used non-verbal communication, whereby the Chinese rely on facial expression, tone and posture to see how someone feels.
Some of the slides I find it interesting include:

If you want to do business in China, these are some important tips to learn!

The first step is to find a strategic location.

Next time when you eat with your chinese business partners, I guess you should know what to do!

The last IS lesson is the most interesting to me. Though there are times when I get bored of it, It is still my favourite subject and I’d been waiting for a very long time. When Xiang Yu present the token of appreciation, my mind was like “No!” I thought I hate IS, but in fact some of the facts are pretty interesting and to be honest, I’d learnt a whole lot of things.
After the lesson, I wet to have my diner, then to Hajar’s room to study. Can you imagine, studying for a open book and it’s a small test? But anyway, I went and we actually got distracted by what type of hairstyle to have as we will be going to the salon the next day =D

Day 16

2009-03-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly, I woke up quite early. I can still have time to buy my breakfast behind the street. Brought Re Gan Mian cause my brother wants to know the exotic food here =) After the breakfast, I had my first presentation in Wuhan. I wasn’t nervous until I reach the classroom.

The overall presentation was alright. However, I still think it can be better. Nothing is perfect.

Xiao Ling lao shi lesson was the next and I received notes from her again. That’s really nice of her. She actually printed out one big stack of notes just for us. She continues to teach us about religion like Taoism and Buddhism.

Since we are going to Wudang Mountain this coming Saturday, I paid extra attention to that particular topic. These are some of the information given by Xiao Ling lao shi:

The 4 famous Taoist holy mountains include:
1. Mt. Wudang in Hubei (Going there this Saturday and Sunday)
2. Mt. Longhu in Jing xi
3. Mt. Qingcheng in Sichuan
4. Mt. Qiyun in Anhui

The Wudang Mountains were known for the many Taoist monasteries located there. It was later known that as an academic centre for the research, teaching and practise of meditation. The monasteries in Wudang Mountains were emptied, damaged and neglected during and after the Cultural Revolution of 1966–1976, but the Wudang Mountains have lately become increasingly popular with tourists from elsewhere in China and abroad due to their scenic location and historical interest.

Something that I think it’s interesting…

I’m sure may people must have watched movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Well, the last part of the scene was filmed there. Never thought that the director don’t mind making the trip all the way to Wudang Mountain. Maybe the scene is just way too beautiful. We shall see after I come back from Wudang Mountain on Saturday night.

Other than religion, we also talk a little about political issues. Like who’s the president, vice-president etc.

I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow’s lesson as Xiao Ling lao shi is going to teach us on business etiquette in China. I put that as one point in my learning plan. Hope that there will be time tomorrow for her to teach us.

Try doing this in Singapore =)

Re Gan Mian

(Famous in Wuhan!)

Take note LKT =)

My corridor... It's cold by the way...

Did you see the white part?

Don't eat it!

Butterflies are like fluttering in my stomach.

Presentation

I'm trying to spit into the bin

Looks nice but tasteless

Lunch

I've been eating this since the day when I know the stall exist.

Food to keep me awake!

I think this is interesting, one country two system.

Don't think you get to see something like this in Singapore.

But it's really common here.

Cars not parking on the road.

Brought a shoe here!

Nice clothing

Shall wear and take pictures of it next time

His shoes are really cheap.

18 yuan for 1 pair.

Ja brought the last pair.

Mac as dinner

Look at all the junkies I'd brought

Day 15

2009-03-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 7 plus reluctantly in the morning to get myself ready for the trip to Wugang Steel Mill. As much as I wish to sleep, I can’t. All thanks to Mr. Wong’s “Chan Mali Chan”.
The factory that we visited is known as Wugang Steel Mill (Actual: Wuhan Iron and Steel Group). Some interesting facts that you may want to know about this company are as follow…
Listed: Since 1999 on Shanghai Stock Exchange
Employees: 90,000Revenue (2006): US$ 5.7 billion

Though the figures looks nice, I believe that it takes lots and lots of hard work. This is the first time when I visit a steel mill and it’s an eye opening experience for me. The place is really warm due to the burning of steel. (I’m thinking that we should visit there on the first week. It will make us warm) Though there’s a staff talking when I’m in the steel mill, I couldn’t really hear him. And I’m standing really near to him.

When we reach the school, Mr. Wong briefed the whole class on the steel mill process. He agrees that the place is too noisy and that the noise can cause deaf (never thought of that). He also briefed us on the process of making steel.

The first step of making steel is to heat and melt Iron ore into liquid iron. Remove impurities and make it into pure iron (not good enough as it is soft) therefore, there’s a need to add different elements to make it stronger. The hot liquid will be poured into mould (1.7m long) when it’s out. The machines will change the shape and sizes (ranges from 1.3mm-25mm).
Something that I like about this company is that the process of making it’s end product id fully automated. By doing this, the number of workers will be lesser. (With less workers, there will be less problems from the workers such as resistance.

Even though the company is rich and making profit, they still keep their first output and make it into a sculpture.

On the bus to the company

Just a few more steps to see the process of steel making.

Outside the factory

What is she doing?

I'm blocked

Quality assurance (not very true for some points)

The overall steel mill is big enough such that 30-40 thousand of people lived i that community

Bus driver driving

Got to carry so many helmets!

CCA carnival

0.20 yuan

(It's not even cents in Sin dollars)

Cheap and good lunch

Told you that it's nice.

Yougart drink

(4 for 10rmb plus a cup!)

I brought 2 while Zee Min and Vivian brought one each to share with me =)

Ice cream

At first, I thought it's really chicken inside... however, it turns out to be...

Cheat my feelings...

Day 14

2009-03-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

My second week in Wuhan. Time passed really fast. I’m getting used to the place here like never before. The street behind my dormitory is like the “Koufu” and “Prime” near my house. In fact it is even better as the food is just cheap and delicious. The hygiene of the street is not a problem for me as the walls of my stomach can still take it =) My days in Wuhan are pretty much the same (From Monday to Friday) as my life here is just eat, study, eat and sleep.

Went for Mr. Wong’s lesson today and learnt Chapter 5.

After the lesson, I went back to my dormitory to check if it’s possible to transfer the pictures into my laptop. Luckily I manage to save some pictures after deleting some programmes. The simulation is getting on my nerve as my final answer and the others are different. Actually no one has got the right answer. That’s why I’m so annoyed by it. (Guess the main reason is because of my laptop. Slow like one old man.)

Anyway, it works this time and I got my photos. Joey and friends came over to visit and I’m like so touch. I’ve not seen them for a very long time. (5 days in a row I think.) They will be having a Statistic test tomorrow and I actually get a chance to study with them (Well, actually Joey only). Zee Min went too =)

Something that I realize after studying with her is that the way the locals study is very different from the way Singaporean study. (Well, Joey is my sample here) I believe that most of us spot questions before going for the test. But for the locals here, they do not spot. They just study everything they can find in the book. They even memorize the definitions. I wonder how the brain can stuff all those information.

The noodle that tast nice for the first few minutes.
Too oily. And for your information, I did said "less oil"

Tug-of-war at the basketball court
(Video below)

Simulation of the day
(Video below)

Helmets for tomorrow's trip

With the fruit seller

2 pineapples+10 oranges = 2yuan

(Cheap in my opinion, but may not be cheap to the local)

I'm asked to stick this emergency sticker behind the door

Tada! Perfecto!

The playful Journey, not studying

The serious Joey studying for tomorrow's test.

ALL THE BEST!

Purpose of having this video is to let you see the sprit in them. The "Jia You" is so loud and clear and it makes you feel like joining in too.

Simulation moving

I was at the studying block when I heard the sound of fireworks. It's like you get to hear the sound of firework out of nowhere. I was at the lift area alone fliming this and please appreciate as the lift area look damn scary.

Day 11, 12,13

2009-03-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

I was at the Three Gorges for the past two days. Though the journey was long, I believe it’s worth going as the scenery there is just gorgeous. It took me at least a day to reach that place from Wuhan (Damn long). So, the journey to the Three Gorges took place on Friday morning. I only manage to pack my stuff a few hours before as I sent my clothes to laundry on Thursday night. Thanks to Vivian’s soup.

Anyway, the programmes for this trip is as follow…

Day 1: Bus ride all the way to Yi Chang Three Gorges Dam Boarded Cruise

Day 2: Tour at 1. Shen Nong River 2. Bai Di Chen

Day 3: Journey back to WUST!

Before I start off with my journey experience, I would like to introduce the three different gorges. They are Qutang Gorge, the Wu Gorge and the Xiling Gorge. The Gorges here does not mean gorgeous women, but mountains that are just awe inspiring. Many local chinese still do not get a chance to get to that place. So, I'm really lucky to experience it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 1

Despite sleeping late last night, I manage to wake up early to get myself ready for this trip to the Three Gorges. I can still remember myself being paranoid. I was really scared that I might forget to bring something that’s important like towel for bathing etc. Can you imagine me, going back to my room several times just to make sure that I bring my scarf, food, and charger? Anyway, other than a toothbrush which was provided by the cruise, I manage to bring all my stuff. The bus ride was alright to me except for the windows that have stain on it. It makes it hard for me to take pictures from the window. During the toilet break, I went to the washroom in one of the petrol station and this is what I saw:

Though I hate it so so much, I had got no choice but to just go for it. The experience there was “AWESOME”. It smells stronger than the DILUTED ammonia I smelled before in the lab. For people living I Singapore with real toilet BOWL, please start to appreciate your toilet bowl.

Other than that, the ride was really alright because I’d been sleeping all along till it’s time for lunch. The lunch is really good. It suits my taste and it seem to me that everyone love it =)

When I reach the Three Gorges Dam, I was awed to see such a magnificent view. The mountains, the river, the rocks… Just look at the pictures and you will understand. It may not look real to you. But it is really real. The Three Gorges Dam is considered as the largest hydroelectric power.

My group leader and Radolph bullying Clive

Took some pictures during another toilet break

The only 2 IS02.

See the people who want to kill me :( Even Xiang Yu wants me dead...

Queueing for 3 Gorges Dam

I'm the first in the bus

Model on how the dam looks like

Pictures of me (For Clar - Hope it's enough ;P)

With the LSCT group!

My group!

This is to show that I've been to see the Dam Dam!

Does your toilet stink?

Use incense

After visiting the Three Gorges, I went for dinner then to the cruise. The whole tour group was actually late for almost 1hour and the cruise actually waited for us, together with other passengers. I manage to see how the cruise moved like an elevator. (Will show details before Friday)

Hall of the cruise

Finally a toilet BOWL!

My bed in cruise

Waiting to see the process of lifting the cruise up

Video corrupted so just use this picture

My hands are freezing. It's very pinkish.

I wanted to bathe in the cruise the night before. But the heater in the cruise doesn’t seem to work as the cruise wasn’t moving due to the dams. In another words, I got to wait for the cruise to move continuously for half an hour. And by the time the heater is working, it’s already 8.00am. Luckily the tour starts at 10.00am. I got to change from the cruise to a smaller one that caters for tourists so that they can be closer to the scenery. This smaller cruise actually bought us to a village (not too sure of the village name) but our final destination was at the Shen Nong River where the guys from the village used special ropes weaved by their wife to pull our small boat that looks like sampan. I was told that the better and nicer the rope, it shows that the wife love him even more.

From the tour cruise (smaller)

You get to look out of the window while you're doing your business.

Apprciate this picture as the toilet stink.

The view here is unforgettable

I'm lovin it!

At Shen Nong.

I get to sit on a small sampan and the guys will transport the whole group of passengers. The guys actually pull the sampan with their own strength when going upstream.I was told that the guys who helped to move the little boat have already been queuing since 5am and they are actually farmers back in their home town. By rowing the boat, it helped to improve their income. The pay may not be that much. It can be as little as 20 yuan per person. What I admire them is that they can get contented very easily and every single amount of their money comes from hard work. From the pictures, you can really see how tough it is to move a boat full of people.

They used to not wear any clothing...

Me sitting on the boat comfortably while they pull the boat.

The sharp edges of the stones and rocks might hurt them

I suddenly feel bad for them

Tour guide singing

Mr. Wong bought some potatoes to support the villagers

The mountain in the back of 10 yuan comes from the 3rd gorge (Xiling Gorge)

If you observe a little, the left mountain looks like a toad.

After visiting the Shen Nong River, the next visit was to the Bai Di Chen. It was quite late by the time the whole group reached. If I’m not wrong, it’s already 8.00pm when we reached. Sice the place is located in a mountain area; I got to climb the stairs, long one. Luckily it’s not as steep as what I thought it would be. Bai Di Chen is a place that showed the history of 三国演义and also many cool stuff such as coffin, skulls, temple etc.

My ticket to Bai Di Chen

You need to climb all the way up...
It's like climbing up the hill.

With 30 yuan, 2 macho guy will carry you all the way up using this saddle.
Like a Huan Zhu Ge Ge (Some chinese princess from show)

Finally! At Bai Di Chen.

Outside the temple

Didn't know that there's a need to pay when pray.
I hate to say this but by doing this, it will definitely have a negative impact on China.
What happened was that one monk actually forced Zee Min to pay. Let me emphasize again.. I'm using the word "FORCE". Luckily there's a tour guide around to help her and she don't have to pay.
My another friend actually donated 10 yuan instead of the 100 over yuan that the monk asked for it and he let him go.

Don't get cheated by dramas.
The real coffin here!
Made of tree. It's really creepy!

From this useless wood to...

This useful comb.

I was told that it is made of natural materials (Like hello, it's wood! How can a wood be artificial). This wood is also resistant to static electricity so it should be good for hair.
But anyway, wooden combs looks damn nice so I brought it =)

Day 3

It’s the last day and I got to say good bye to my cruise before leaving. I’ll be missing the bed and the scenery there. The experience throughout these few days will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. Though I must say I hate the long journey, but at the end of the day, the beautiful picture is worth going =)

Waiting for food in the cruise

Breakfast (But this is from day 2)

This place look like Singapore.

Toilet break!
This toilet is not the best, but also not the worst =)
It has got doors with locks not working. And the best part is that females share the same toilet as male ;D
By the way, the tap you see in the picture isn't working

Don't know what is it. But my dad love to eat this! Some fried flour maybe.

People practice agriculture in between Yi Chang and Wuhan.
I suppose it's the rural area of China.
By looking at the large piece of land and the little number of workers, it makes me realise that the food that we had everyday doesn't come easy. The farmers work hard to produce something for us to fill our little tummy. I think we should appreciate the food that we eat and not complain about it as it will be very unfair to them. This is because some of them may not even get a chance to have a proper meal (meat, veggie, rice etc.).

Say bye to Yi Chang...

Car without any plate number driving on the road!

I really want to thank the tour guides for making this trip a successful one. They have been tolerating our lateness throughout this journey. I was told that they have to share 6 to 1 room and they have lesser food for dinner. I truly want to thank them for the things that they did.

Where's the other guy???

Here he is. My other guide :D

Mr. Wong's singing

He claimed that he knows how to sing Indian song.

Just listen.

This is what I saw when I woke up on the second day.

Day 10

2009-03-12T04:56:00.000-07:00

I didn’t get to sleep well yesterday. So, I woke up at 4.00am and bathe. Weird of me as I get back to sleep again a few hours. When I actually wake up, it’s around 9.30am. (For your information, my lesson starts at 10.00am). Luckily I’m fast enough to get everything done within that short period of time and accompany Vivian to bring her clothes to the laundry on the way to the class. Both of us are the first to reach the classroom.

As we will be going to the Three Gorges tomorrow, Mr. Wong filled us up with information about that place. The Three Gorges are grand canyons situated in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. At the place where the river reaches the eastern Sichuan Basin, it makes its way deep into and through the Wu Shan Mountains. More than a million people are being moved along with homes, schools and hospitals. Some parts of the culture are being saved, and some are being lost. The building of this Three Gorges also means change in China’s social, economic and political problems.

For IS lesson, Xiao Ling Lao Shi was really nice to print notes on human sacrifices in China. That was the question that I asked yesterday. I must say she’s really fast and efficient. I just read the notes that she gave and it tells me that the ancient Chinese used to make sacrifices of young men and women to the river deities. Also, for the rich, they will most probably bury their slave with them when they passed away. They believe that all objects, including human beings belong to them and when they die; these objects have to follow them too.

Other than notes on human sacrifices, I also receive notes on the different emperors of the ancient China. It’s very informative. I’m attracted to the last emperor of China. He’s none other than Emperor Xuantong, also known as Pu Yi. From the picture , he’s thinner as compared to the previous other emperors. He was renounced his throne at the age of five. He had got an English name called Henry. As an emperor, he was forced to leave the Forbidden City in 1924. He’s just a puppet for the Japan. I sympathize him as he used to be an emperor and at the later part of his life, he became just a citizen who actually look after plants. I actually google him and I found this picture of his pigtail:

Last emperor pigtail

It was raining today
Vivian and my umbrella

Look at the window.
Raindrops

Vivian and me are the first to reach

Mr. Wong talking about 3 Gorges and Yellow River

Full of actions

I'm cold!!!

Can't even press the button of the lift properly

Pao as lunch

Snacks to keep me awake for History lesson

Zee Min not paying attention in class

Haja's eyes popping

121 slides

Took this during break time

BREAK TIME

See. Zee Min wasn't listening

One way of waking her up

Haja must be damn bored

Day 9

2009-03-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

I woke up late today, around 10.00am. But I’m not late for any lesson as Mr. Wong’s BPE was canceled. The first thing that I did when I woke up is to go into Xiang Yu’s room to get hot water for my breakfast (Instant macaroni). It tastes alright to me though I was told by Masita that it doesn’t taste good. During that whole morning, I managed to finish up the BPE assignment 1 (Yeah!) before attending Xiao Ling lao shi’s lesson.

When I stepped into the class, I was shocked to see the words “history lesson” on the board and thought that I’m definitely going to sleep throughout the lesson as it’s the subject that I hated most. However, I find the Chinese history interesting and it’s not too bad after all. The only part that I struggled is the long hours. I can’t focus.

What have I learnt today?

A hell lot of information!

· The two splendid projects by the ancient Chinese are the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.

The Great wall is made of stones and the purpose of having that is to protect the northern China from Xiongxu attack. The length of the Great Wall is about 6400km. While building it, it was estimated that 2 to 3 million died (Can you imagine?).

As for the Grand Canal, it is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. The total length is aroung 1770km. This canal is built by the ancient Chinese without the help of any modern machines. It’s unbelievable. In China, everything is possible.

· Do you know what the 4 great inventions from China are?

They are
1. Compass
2. Gun powder
3. Paper
4. Printing

· The earliest cultures in the Chinese history include the Yangshao culture (6000-5000BC) and the Longshan culture (5000-4000BC).

· What are the 3 great philosophers in ancient China?

They are
1. Confucius
Chinese call him Kong Zi. The Zi here means respect. Therefore, we can conclude from the name that people respect him and admire his thinking.

2. Lao-tse
This guy was born before Confucius and what’s interesting is that he was not born in a rich family. He worked in the library as a low ranking officer. Despite the limited chances given to him, he founded Taoism. Before I attend this lesson, I don’t even know the name Lao-tse. Now, I admire this guy and from him, I truly learn the meaning of nothing is impossible. If you want something, work hard to get it. If it comes to you easily, you won’t gain the respect of the others. No point getting it.

3. Sunzi
He was born in the Qi state and become a heroic general for the king of Wu, Ho Lu. He also wrote the art of warfare which is now a very famous book. Many businessmen are reading this book to learn some strategy when doing business as doing business is just like having a war. Strategy is something that cannot be missed.

Other than the above information, I also learn about other famous people like Qin Shi Huang, Han Wu Ji, The Silk road, Grand historian Sima Qian, Wu Ze Tian, how the emperor name come … (it’s really a lot)

After the lesson, I went to the street with Haja and Masita to get switches and get their dinner. It was funny to see Masita getting her dinner as she can’t read the Chinese characters. So guess what she did, she acted. It’s really funny. Even the seller also laughed at her. I brought some vegetable dumplings and it’s damn cheap. 5 of it cost me only 1 yuan! In Singapore, it’s like 3 for S$1.

I manage to reach the dormitory before 6.00pm, so I get to have my dinner with Mr. Wong and the rest. We went to a restaurant that cost me 11rmb (Cheap! It’s a restaurant) On the way there, we went to the market and guess what I saw, live chickens and duck. You will never see something like that in Singapore. I wonder how it looks like when they get killed. Mr. Wong told me that it’s easy to kill them as he tried doing that before. You got to hold the neck and used a knife to kill it. After that, let the blood drip and remove the feathers. Sound easy. Other than going to the market, the whole group also went to Mr. Loh’s apartment. From the outside, it looks like some hunted and old house. But the interior’s good. Better than our dormitory.
So, it’s time for pictures…

Dust in my room

The coffee I always drink here

Cup noodles

Breakfast cum Lunch

(Instant macaroni)

Sweets from Singapore

The word (History) makes me feel like sleeping

Ta-da! My glorified moment

(Got a pen when i answered Xiao Ling lao shi's question)

Wei Guang cutting his nails

Xin Hui eating

Whys is Mr. Wong so happy?

(Look at the yellow pen that's hanging on his neck. Yes, he too answered a question correctly)

Mr. Wong listening attentively to Xiao Ling lao shi

(Now we know why he can answer the questions)

He's really proud of his pen. It has been on his neck for more than 2 hours.

Leaves here are starting to grow

Veggie dumplings

(5 for 1rmb)

Meeting up for dinner

Mr. Loh showing off his bed

Television Set.. I miss mine!

Bicycle beside the stairs

(It's very dark and you can't dee the steps clearly)

Zee Min and I

Zee Min, Mr. Loh, Me and Nadiyah

On the way out to the market

Practice safe sex in China.

Cheap fungus

It's already night and the market is still open

Chickens and ducks that are going to die anytime

(Sorry for blur picture)

Menu

Hui Miang and I

Group photo

The two lecturers ordering food

My dinner

So clean

Me with mono milk

(My favourite!)

This is the place where I heard that they have prostitute inside

(Fang Fang Xiu Xian)

Strawberry

8rmb

Worth buying!

Day 8

2009-03-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

I wasn’t able to wake up early today as I slept late yesterday. The coffee really works. But I still like café nova best! Since I couldn’t wake up on time, I did not have my breakfast. I went for Mr. Wong’s lesson straight after I woke up. During the 1 hour break in between his lesson, I accompany Zee Min to get her first pail in Wuhan for her laundry. It cost her 8rmb. Same as what I’d paid for. I thought it still can be cheaper. But anyway, we did the simulation software after the break.

After the lesson, Masita, Haja, Xiang Yu, Wei Guang, Vivian, Zee Min and I went to the Wal Mart together. The Wal Mart actually sells Durians!!! From Thailand. Haja and I were like so excited when we saw the durians. We wanted to buy one and eat it outside the dormitory, but it’s much more expensive than Singapore’s one. It’s not a D24 type, but a normal durian. So we decided to just leave the place without any durian on hand.

This trip makes me realise that some of the locals serve people in a different way (Rude). This is what happened when Haja and Masita wanted to get some fruits from Wal Mart and I, knowing Mandarin, got to help them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Translated in English)
LPJ: May I know how much is this bag of oranges?
Wal Mart stuff: Look at the board yourself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damn it! If I were to know how to read those Chinese characters on that board, I wouldn’t be asking her.

So I asked a lady who’s not a Wal Mart worker and she’s like so friendly to tell me that I got to weigh the fruits at one the counter etc. And let me emphasize again, she’s NOT a Wal Mart stuff. I guess all us were annoyed by the way the stuff treated us, so, we just left without buying those fruits.

We had our dinner at KFC and we met this guy whose name is called Dragon. He can identify the group of us as Singaporeans because of our Singlish. He used to be in Singapore for cultural exchange program. And guess what, the school he’s attached to is NUS!!! We were actually very honored as he offered to bring us to some interesting places here in China. Xiang Yu has his number. Nothing much really happened later on the way back. We brought some walnut cake and went back to the dormitory.

More quizzes, I'll squeeze you!

Just kidding. I love Mr. Wong!

Achievement! Simulation done!

Masita and me outside Starbuck

The ice cream that won't fall.

Going down to Wal Mart

(Makes me think of Supply Chain)

Stores outside Wal Mart

Me inside Wal Mart

Apples

(I rather buy from the streets)

Durian

(8.07 for a seed)

*Shock*

Smell the butt of the durian

(My dad told me one)

Miss them

Frozen fishes

Dinner at KFC

There's a waitress to serve us unlike Singapore

Fries!!!

Zinger that doesn't taste like Zinger

Fruit punch instead of Pepsi

It's rabbit (In such a small cage)

24 rmb for 1

That's really really cheap.

Walnut cake

(Hard to slice)

With the owner

(They gave us extra pieces)

While sweeping the floor, we saw this.

Day 7: Happpy Birthday Joey!

2009-03-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

My 1st week in Wuhan is over. I’m left with 5 more weeks. I hate to count all these, but somehow, I’ll still look at the date and think of it. The weather is so nice! The temperature actually hit 20°C in the afternoon.

Had my laundry done this morning in school and it cost around 11rmb. Before going to the laundry, Vivian and I went to the street market to get our pails. It cost around S$2 if I’m not wrong. I should have bargained more. The aunty selling the pails actually recognised us as we got our flask the day before. The laundry was damn fast. I got my clothes within 3-4 hours. They’re not wet, but dry ones. See, this is fast!

Other than that, I had Mr. Wong’s class and I learnt that company can apply for ISO in order for the service to get recognise. Company has to fulfil several criteria in order to get the ISO. Also, there are 8 different quality principles for the firm to do well. Each and every department have to coordinate with one another to achieve the optimum result. I also get to learn how to use the software “Flexsim”. Though it may not be useful for me now, I’m sure it will be of good use in the future when I plan for some logistics/ supply chain processes. The quiz was tough but I did really put in much effort to do it as compared to the previous quiz. Just hope for the best I guess. By the way, the vice-principal of Ngee Ann Polytechnic and other 3 important guys actually came down to visit us. He wanted us to blend into China culture instead of the local people adapting to our lifestyle.

It’s Joey’s birthday today and she invited us to her birthday party. It was quite crazy. They actually served the biggest cake! After signing birthday song, they started to play around with cream. That was my first time. If someone did that to me in Singapore, I’m bound to slap that person. But somehow, my mood today allows people to throw cream at me. After cleaning up, we played true or dare (Mostly dare). Many crazy things happened such as calling some guy whom you don’t know and say “wo ai ni” (I love you). Time passed very fast and it’s fun mixing with these bunch of WUST students. Thanks Joey for inviting us and hope that she will get whatever she wants for the rest of the year.

Peanut milk

(Can't be found in Singapore)

Milk tea for breakfast
Food in the canteen are cheap

Pail of dirty clothing (Yuck!)

YES! I can finally wash them!

Shop name

(Like some loan shark drawing.. Opps)

The aunty was nice =)

Blood donation in Wuhan University Science and Technology (WUST)

Me and Hui Miang

The card in exchange for my clothing

Hui Miang's too hungry. She didn't eat breakfast as she didn't wake up early and now she's going to eat the tag.

Mr. Wong getting serious

Vice-principle of Ngee Ann. *Honoured*

The other 2 important guys

Mr. Wong's excited upon their arrival

Mr. Loh W.T was peeping through this door

Told you Mr. Wong's really happy

He can even dance!

Winson and me

WUST friends

The thinnest candle

Big birthday cake!

Joey (Birthday girl) and me

Making wishes

Aren't they generous?

Cat face!

Me and Joey again!

Something like popcorn. Except nicer!

Food all over!

True or Dare

XinHui using my phone to prank call someone

Zee Min got to cut her hair

Zee Min's hair

Forfeit!

Randolph was blushing!

Having fun..

Wei Guang is a lucky guy...

Coffee wakes me up!

I told Hui Miang that I'm not going to sleep and finish up my blog post, but she don't believe.

Day 6

2009-03-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

I’m supposed to meet Xiang Yu at 7.00am today to visit the church, but I was super late. (Really Sorry Xiang Yu) We got took bus 588 to Han Kou and had some trouble locating the Church, but still, we manage to overcome the problem. Cool isn’t it. The church wasn’t as new as the one in Singapore but still it’s a Church but there are a lot of people there. The service is all in Mandarin and I’m not kidding, I seriously don’t understand what the pastor was saying except for “is”, “are”, etc. Those very basic words. Luckily there’s still Xiang Yu around to help me interpreted and I can understand a little. After the service we went to eat. Food was okay.

When we reached school, it was almost 1.00pm and we’re supposed to meet Joey and friends to visit Zhong Shan Park. The park has a very nice scenery and in addition to that, they have amusement park there too. I played the roller coaster and another one which I don’t know its name. But anyway, both games were nice and there’s a little trill in it. Love it! On the way back, some of them had their face portrayed. Benedict’s and Meng Zheng had the best artist to draw their face. It cost around 20rmb to do so. Randolph rejected his drawing as it’s really terribly done.

After going to the park, we went to have our dinner at Mac Donald in Wu Shang Ji Tuan (a shopping mall). The clothing and shoes there aren’t as cheap as what we expect it to be. The price range is very close to Zara. Just imagine. Though the shoes look tempting, I’m not going to splurge on it and suffer for the next few weeks. But anyway, Joey and friends promised to bring us to place that can bargain. (Yes! Love it!) I’m not very good at that, but I love to argue with the other party.

Well, I guess that’s all for the day =)

God Bless!

Xiang Yu and I took bus 588 from this bus stop

(Just outside the school)

We alighted at Nan Jing Lu Zhan and walk all the way to the Church

We walked to HuangShi Lu

We just walk around that area as we don't even know the place

The place is full of people! Some even have to stand outside!

Bibles

Xiang Yu took this for me. Nice!

Xian Tang Mian

(If I'm not wrong)

Police Station in one small ally

Me, Joey and Zee Min

Me, Joey, Haja and Masita

Joey, Me, Journey and Charlotte

Charlotte, Haja, Me, Joey and Masita

The scenery is nice

From this photo, you can see the woman (Illegal street seller) trying to run away from the police officer. It may not be obvious to you, but I did see the process. The locals told me that "coffee money" can actually solved the problem here but it does not come cheap. The police officers will normally charge them at a very high price and whatever amount that they earned on that day will be lost =(

NE Message: We must uphold meritocracy and incorruptibility.We provide opportunities for all, according to their ability and effort.

I believe that in Singapore, it is not a common sight to see people selling on the street. I won't deny that there are still people selling pirated VCD and other stuff on the streets, but the percentage is definitely much lesser than here in China. This actually showed me that having meritocracy and incorruptibility is something we got to appreciate. Most of the time, I believe that Singaporeans take things for granted and this include having meritocracy and incorruptibility within the country. I know it's hard to make ends meet, but there are also others who pay for tax and stuff. It will be unfair to them. Therefore, it is important to have this two factors for the country to keep moving forward.

There are kids inside the cylinder shaped object

They are like hamster running inside

Me, Journey and (Can't remember name -- Someone please tell me!)

Look at the extra tourist (Randolph) behind me

There's a buser singing nearby and this kid just put in some money

Me and Journey

Me and Masita getting ready for roller coaster!

Going up... up.. up..

Me shining in the crowds (Opps!)

This is fun... Must try!

I'm the odd one out

With the LSCT group, Charlotte and Joey

This is crazy! I didn't try it.

That's not Randolph! His nose is BIGGER!

Can tell it's Haja. So passed!

Speechless...

A little bit similar... Look like chinese to me.

Clive playing with the candy.

Shopping mall that sell shoes for S$100++ some even S$200++

Please go ZARA instead

Joey and me in the mall shopping

The shopping mall

Shaolin monk performing. My camara wasn't that good, but you can at least see fim FLYING!

WU Shang Ji Tuan

Haja being rough and me feminine

(Next time don't squat in such a way, makes me think of the toilet in China)

On the way back home in the bus.

So crowded!

Beware of pickpockets!!!