alr learn

Day 43

2008-10-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

Finally after, 6 weeks we came back to Singapore. For just 6 weeks, I thought that I have left Singapore for 6 months, the moment I step on to the Singapore’s ground, I felt the warmth of my homeland, family.

We actually used half a day to travel back, we left the hostel at 11 a.m. and reach Singapore at about, 11.15p.m. we also manage to bring back our overly over-loader, though we all have to pay some fine, but I think the fine is worth it because we don’t bear to thrown away those souvenirs and presents that we brought.

Part of our hand carry luggage

We actually spend quite a long time negotiate the weight and the fine, we don’t really have a lot to spare for the fine, because we spend almost all that we have.

I can see that every one faces is getting lighter because we don’t not have to sacrifice any of our thing, we manager to bring back our things, using hand carry, instead of checking it in.

hence this is the end to Life in Wuhan, we all return back to Singapore safe and sound.

Day 42

2008-10-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

It’s the last day at china, we are all busying packing our luggage, I think we will definitely over-load our luggage, we brought a lot of souvenirs and presents, back.

We also have a hard think packing the things in.

I also ask my cousin who is not returning back with us back to come to our room to get, some of the things that we are not going to bring back, example hangers, pail, clothe pags, and etc.

I can see that most of us is going to miss the days in Wuhan.

Day 41

2008-10-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

It’s a Sunday, the last Sunday we are going to spend in China, we will be going back on Tuesday, very fast 6 weeks have pass, we have been enjoying ourselves, especially for the past few days, we have been shopping non-stop.

We also brought back a lot of souvenirs and presents for our family members, I wonder will we all over load our luggage , it will be a real hazard if that happen, but I think we really have to be prepare for the worst.

I suddenly have the urge to come back again to visit the humanities students, I will really miss them, because they are really a batch of funny people.

Day 40

2008-10-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Very soon we will be, going back to Singapore, suddenly I felt that I will miss this place, thought I might come back again, but the feeling will be different.

This is the first time that our whole group went to have dinner together, this is the first time, I try the buffet in China, the system is a bit different from Singapore, they join 2 resturant together, and we actually can go over to the other side of the restaurant to get our food but on selected items, if u eat something other than that, you need to pay for it.

Such a china name.

Jasper's spect, allan & foo face.

After the dinner, we went for some night activity, Disco Pub, we went to the VIP room, it cost only 600rmb, it is very cheap, I think all of us enjoyed the activity tonight.

It really make me miss this place even more.

Day 39

2008-10-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

Notting much happen today, I woke up at about 1 plus, then start to do my e-tutorial.

I find it easier to do today, I think it is because my mind is clearer, and I have enough rest, and finally I completed both the tutorial, I feel very relax suddenly.

Later in the day, I went out to Wu Shang Liang Fan to shop for some tea as a gift.

Day 38

2008-10-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

It’s a new day again, I went out with Mr Foo today, we went for foot massage, it’s only 38rmb, the process is about 1 hour, I think the price is relatively cheap.

After the massage, we walk and shop around, this is the first time I shop with Mr Foo, I also brought a shirt for my father, then Mr Foo actually help me to try out the size of the shirt, the measurement of the shirt is different, hence, Mr Foo is vey kind to help me try out.

We also went for dinner at a restaurant, the ambience of the restaurant is very nice, we spend about 40+rmb each, I order a shark fin with rice, but I don’t think it is real shark fin, it is more of rice vermiciliar.

Time flies, it is about 10 when we reach our room.

However Istill cannot rest because I still haven complete my E-tutorial.

Day 37

2008-10-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today is China’s National Day, Singapore’s Children’s Day, Hari Raya, and it’s our Guy’s Day, today the guys meet together to go Jiang Han Lu again, this time I shop at a different part of the place, there is a lot of Sport wear, but the price are quite similar to Singapore, hence I come back empty handed again.

But it’s a fun day, this is the first time the guys went out to shop together, however not all the guys, only Zhi Yao, Arthur, Jasper, Ian, Calvin, Jeffery, and me.

Then Zi Xiang, Steven, and Eric, I think they went somewhere else, and the girls form another team to shop, we actually meet the girls at Lao Shu Jie.

The road is also very cramp, there are lots of people outside, because China is having one week holiday.

Day 36

2008-09-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

Finally, we finish the last topic, we will be resting, shopping, enjoying, the rest of the days in Wuhan.

Today is also Jasper’s Birthday, this is the second birthday that we celebrated in Wuhan, the same thing we decorated the blackboard, and then celebrate it with the class.

decorated BlackBoard!

Birthday wish...

cut the cut...

So after the celebration we officially ended our lesson.

I also went to Bank Of China today to change the currency, however they don’t offer the service today, they asked me to return on the 6th October, I don't think there is a point of changing the currency on that day, as we will be leaving the next day.

So I went to borrow from my cousin, it is always good

to have someone that you know near you, so that we will always keep a lookout for each other. Hence noting much today, except that I buy another phone for my brother, who also wanted to change a new phone, I brought the same model as me, as I think this model is the best that the vendor sell.

Day 35

2008-09-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the golden weekend of China, but as usual we went for our D.E.C. lesson today.

Today lesson start slightly later then our usual lesson, because we are left with only 1 topic, the last topic.

We complete only half of the topic, we will complete the rest of the topic by tomorrow.

And after that we will start to enjoy our HOLIDAY, then back to our hometown Singapore.

Day 34

2008-09-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

We woke up a little bit later today, because we will be meeting the rest at the lobby at 10.30 a.m., we actually suppose to wake up to go for the breakfast from 8a.m. to 9a.m., but everyone is simply too tired to wake up for the breakfast, only few of them went for it, I went down but it was already near to 9 a.m., and the tour guide had already settle the bill, hence I didn’t get to enjoy the breakfast.

Hence we meet at the arranged time and went to another 2 attraction, these attractions were not as good as the yesterday trip, we went to Xun Yang Lou, after which we went to the Pi Pa Pavilion, then lunch and start to travel back to Wuhan.

inside xun yang lou

level 2 the meeting place for 108 heros

Wei Qi with Zhi Xiang

figurine of 108 heros 1 (centre)

figurine 2 of 108 heros 2 (right)

figurine 3 of 108 heros (left)

These figurines are National treasure, only 3 sets.

one is display here, second damage will producing, third brought by a rich Singaporean.

er... forgot who is this guy, should be someone from 108 heros

Pi Pa Ting

Me with Pi Pa Ting

3 Siao

from left: Xiao Wang (local tour guide) , Allan (TOUR RISK) , Xiao Li (tour guide)

Group photo at Pi Pa Ting entrance.

Everyone was tired, caused all of us was sleeping in the bus.

By the time we return, it is about 6 +p.m. already.

Noting much happen today, caused most of the time were spent on the bus.

Day 33

2008-09-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

We woke up at about 6 plus in the morning to get prepare for our Lu Shan hot spring trip. This is the second trip out of Wuhan after Chang Jiang.

The first destination we reach is the “Bai Lu Dong Shu Yuan”, this is a school of the ancient period, it has been around for since the Tang dynasty. Which mean it is around for more than 1000 years.

Map of the School

school time!

D.E.C. textbook? luckily it's chinese classical book

cross this bridge and all will pass D.E.C.

Zhuang Yuan Bridge

candid shot 1 at Bai Lu Dong School

candid shot 2 at Bai Lu Dong School

White Deer

oh my DEER!

all Pontank?

This is Kong Zhi

This is FOO ZHI

After the school we went to climb the hill, we went Jiu Dian Ping Cliff, This mountain is very high and magnificent, we took 3 hour to go up and then down the mountain, though the time taken to travel is long and tiring, but I think it is worth the effort. We took a lot of Photos with the natural scenery.

entrance

allan and the mountains

long long way to go.

tire!!!

OH! finally... resting!

with the water fall.

Boy Band

allan rocks!!!

clean and green!

er.... photo with the nature.

And after the long and tiring walk, we went to Long Wan Hot Spring o relax our tense muscle, at first everyone seem not interested in the hot spring, however went we start, I think everyone enjoyed, the place is much better then what I expected, the place is very high class, they have a lot of different pool, and relaxation area they provide a lot of service, example foot massage, pedicure, cleaning ear wax, and etc., but of course Everything have a price to pay, they charge for all this services, however I think, the price are still consider cheap to us, ranging from 30rmb to maybe 100+rmb.

After the hot spring, we went to rest in the hotel, this hotel is also much better then what we excepted, the room is very big and the toilets is also very clean.

Though I have write a very short journal, but I think the fun that we had cannot be express in words, you have to come to the trip personally to feel it.

the trip is COOL MAN!

Day 32

2008-09-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today is a very rush day for us, we went for the IS lesson conducted by the local lecture Mr liu Yi Qiang.

He teachers us, the Overview of the Political System of Modern China.

I think it is a very boring lesson, I think this is the first IS module conducted by the local lecture that I think is boring, I guess it is because I am not interested in politics, but I still try to pay my very attention to the lesson, finally the lesson ended at 10 a.m. and we then went back to our room to rest till 2.30 p.m. and then go out for industrial visit, we went to Wuhan Digital Media Engineering Technology, this company focus on animation, they do animations for advertisement like for the Olympic 2008, and some local product movies example “7 Celsius”, and also some educational series show like “The Story Of Confucius”.

Front Desk

office ... busy working

work piece...

group photo

This company is organized and sponsor by Hua Zhong Normal University and Wuhan East Lake New Technology.

They also have couses for the Adults, they will also be given a certificate by Hua Zhong Normal University.

After finish visiting the industries, we went to the Student Exchange programe, finally this day arrived, but some of our friends lost the enthusiasm to perform for the night, I was quite shock in the first place because the local students have actually reserved a slot for us to perform, and I think it is bad that we suddenly tell them we have cancelled the item.

nicely decorated stage

performace by the local

But luckily we did not disappoint ourselves, we went up to the stage and complete the performance, I am very grateful to all my friends that dance up on stage, would like to say that WE ARE THE BEST!

Frankly speaking I enjoyed myself, I went up to play game and also forfeited because I lost the game, and also received a calligraphy written by the local student, the calligraphy was very nicely written, “有朋自远方来”

And finally the event ended and we all went back to our room to rest and get prepare for the Lu Shan Trip tomorrow.

Day 31

2008-09-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

Today is a very special day, we took 2 IS module at one go.

The first one is on Overview of the Economic System of Modern China teach by Mdm Wang, the local lecture who teaches us Business Strategies in China and Chinese Etiquette previously, and the second one is on the Over View of Chinese History by Miss Xiao.

I think both the topic is quite interesting, but I prefer the second topic, the Chinese history, I always find interest in the history, however the class don’t seem interested in the topic.

I get to know today that China actually have a period where they uses coupon to redeem the ration, because there was a shortage of food to supply to the nation, I was told that even you have the money, you might not even have the chance of getting extra potion of the rations, mostly everything need to use the coupon to redeem, for example: matchsticks, soap, bean curd, and etc. After the Economic lesson, we went for the history lesson, I can see that Miss Xiao is quite tense when she teach us.

I heard that she is on the way to get a PHD, hence I think this is also one of her assignment, I understand that she is tense maybe because this is the first time she is teaching, and she also need to translate some words into English. And after, this two lesson we ended the day.

We went back to our room to rest, and I went down to the lobby to change my phone that I brought yesterday, because I suspect that someone uses the one before I do, I have found some pictures inside, and the vendor agreed to change the phone for me.

We then go out for dinner about 8 p.m., when we return we went to Mr Foo room to see our common test result, the marks is higher then I expected, I scored 89, I think its quite high but I think that there are still a number of people that score higher then me.

Over all the day ended for me in a happy mood, because I passed my common test.

Day 30

2008-09-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

Finally!

The common test ended, the questions are very straight forward, but then there are still some question I not sure how to do, the method is about the same, I am very sad that I can’t do it.

I think passing this paper should be alright, but if want to get high score might be a problem, I am worried.

There is no lesson today, because in the morning we studied in our room and then take the paper in the noon at 2.30 p.m. the feeling of taking this paper is quite special, this is the first time in my life that I take a test overseas, I also brought a phone from the vendor below our hostel, I think the price of the phone is quite cheap, just about S$150, it is a touch screen phone, I think it is a imitation of Samsung, the outlook of the phone is quite refine, hence I think it is worth to buy it, but 1 thing to worry is that after we return to Singapore we have no place to repair our phone if the phone breakdown.

Hopefully I am able to use this phone for as long as possible.

Day 29

2008-09-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today, we went for Chinese traditional paper cutting lesson, it is conducted by Mr Lu who teaches us the Chinese painting.

The time passes quite fast, because I can see that the class is enjoying the lesson, everyone is concentrating on the cutting.

I have cut a few design, we learn how to cut the different of leaves on the paper, example 3 leaves , and you fold it into half to become 6 leaves, another half to become 12 leaves.

10 leaves

8 leaves

3 leaves

After the lesson, we went back to our room to study for common test tomorrow. Hopefully I can pass the test the first time I take, I am very worried, the common test will be conducted in the afternoon at 2 p.m.

Day 28

2008-09-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

Today we were all very tired.

I think it is because the common test is coming and everyone Is busy studying and then sleep late, almost half of the class is dozing off during the D.E.C. lesson, worst of all is that it is the first lesson for topic 5, but luckily we manage to understand part of it at the end of the morning lecture class.

Mr Foo knows that everyone is tired hence, he allow us to have a longer break from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., after the break every one look more fresher and understand all those that Mr Foo teach. The time table change again, we told that the student exchange programe was being postphone again, but we were being arrange to meet the local students first at 6p.m. at blk 8 teaching building, it was a nice experience, during the meeting I was call up to give a speech, but was not prepared at all, so I mustard up my courage and walk to the stage to give a very short speech, saying that we are happy to meet the students here, and also enjoy staying in Wuhan, and so on. We were also told to take a small piece of paper that contain the local student name inside, hence they are the so call partner that we will be meeting, however because my partner Pan Ling Ping is having lesson so I din’t get to meet her.

me giving a short speech

But she send me a greeting message, she have my number because I actually exchange my number with the local student leader Shi Ai, and she pass my number to her, I was told by the local students that my partner is a refine and elegant girl, hopefully what they say is true.

After meeting the students we went to a local Fast Food restaurant to have our dinner, the meals there is much more cheaper than KFC and some others, it cost about 15rmb for a meal, with a burger, chicken drumstick, chicken wing, and a drink.

After dinner, I went straight back to my room to revise for my common test that is coming on Wednesday.

Day 27

2008-09-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

I felt very bad today because, we were suppose to gather at the lobby for the student exchange programme at 12 noon, but I overslept and was 1 hour late.

But luckily when we go down, the rest were working on the material that we are going to use for the programme.

About an hour or two later, we get into our position and start to rehearse our dance.

I think we get the steps in quite fast and about 4+ we went back to our room to rest.

We gather again at 8p.m. to rehearse again, this time we were even faster, we spend about an hour getting the things done.

It was earlier then what we expected, hopefully tommrrow we will do well for our dance and all the fellow friends will like it.

Day 26

2008-09-20T00:32:00.000-07:00

Today time pass very fast, I woke up at 12.30 in the noon and went out at about 1p.m. with my friends to look for computer device, we did not really see something that we want.

We saw a phone.

It was a imitation of Nokia, the imitation was a very finely done one, if you don’t look close to it, u cannot see the different between the real one and the imitate one.

But the price is quite expensive about 1000+rmb.

The time passes really fast, after we eat our lunch, it’s about 5p.m. and then we came back to study for our common test on Wednesday.

I also try to do the assignment 1 for the IS module, but there is some part I still don’t understand how to do.

Then at 9.30p.m, we all gather at the lobby again to rehearse for the student exchange programme.

We are doing the Macarena dance, hope that we will be able to put up a good show on the actual day.

Day 25

2008-09-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

It’s a Friday, we went for our lesson conducted by the local lecture Mr Wang, about Chinese Tradition Philosophy, this lesson I think was quite a boring subject to the rest, the lecture talks about Lao Zhi, Meng Zhi, etc. and some of the classical of Chinese, all this things that he is talking if you never heard it before or not interested I don’ think the subject will be interesting.

And in the afternoon, Mr Foo completed Topic 4, finally this topic is completed, we are left only with topic 5.

And we are 4 days to our common test, I am very worried, hopefully I can pass with flying colors for the first time I take it.

During the night I call my mother, I really feel so bad, because this is the second time I called my mother after so many days in china.

And very fast we are half way through the trip, I suddenly feel that I will miss the days in Wuhan, hopefully if I have the chance I will come to Wuhan again.

Day 24

2008-09-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

It’s a tiring day for me, I think because I don’t have enough sleep.

As usual we went for DEC lesson, I finally understand a little bit of topic 4.

We were also told that the common test date has been change, I feel that our trip here is somehow like disorganized, because even though we were given a time table in Singapore, but when we come to china the time table is always changing.

From the first day we come there has already been some miscommunications, I thought I will change after some time when we settle down, thought it is better now compare to the first few day we are here.

Never mind, they can change the time table as long as we are able to complete and pass the module.

Day 23

2008-09-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

We started on D.E.C. topic 4 today, this topic make me headache.

I wonder is it because I am tire or the topic is really hard to understand, I am now worried for my common test that is coming next Tuesday, topic 1 to 3 I can only do it only when I refer to the book.

But I still don’t have the mood to study. Hopefully I can faster get out of the holiday mood, and get back to my studies, I must not drag anymore.

Today, Mei Har and Seok Hiang change room with the humanities girls, Arthur and Zhi yao went down to help them move, I help them only till the later part, I feel so bad.

Hope that they will enjoy staying in the new room.

They move from level 5 to level 8, and it is the same storey as my cousin.

Day 22

2008-09-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to the classroom to learn Chinese painting from Mr Yi, this is also the day that I am waiting for, I like Chinese calligraghy and painting.

Brush, Paper, and Ink

He teach us how to paint bamboo, I think he teach us that because bamboo might be the easiest to drawn, it uses only line, however you must also be experience to make the painting look real and nice.

practicing

I enjoyed the lesson.
In the noon, we went back to the classroom for our last lap lesson in China.

Master Piece By: Master Goh Wee Loon Allan

I actually received a SMS from my father, I was very touched, I did not expect my father to message me, I feel bad also, I should be the one to take the initiative to message him.

Suddenly I miss the laughter sound of my family members, though I am happy here also, but nothing wins the warmth of family.

Day 21

2008-09-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

It’s a very long day today, we went to Jiang Han Road about 11 a.m. today, and return back t about 10.30 p.m., very tired.

We went to Hao Xiang Lai Resturant to have our lunch, I ordered a black pepper chicken meal, they come with appeitizer, soup, salard, drinks, and a main dish, the potion is very big, and we also order some dim sum, this is the first dim sum we ate in china.

We then shop and walk around the area, thought we walk for such a long hours but we guys din buy anything, however the girls did came back with a few bags in their hand.

The place is very big, but the things over there don really suits us because China is changing to winter time soon, so most of the shop is selling long sleeve shirt and winter clothing, which don’t suite us in Singapore.

We also went to the sport shops, like Adidas, Nike, but the shirt price are still quite steep, so we need some time to think if we want to buy not.

Today we also take back our exam result, I was quite happy, with the result, I score higher gpa then last time, my friends tell me that among the five of us I score the highest gpa, I was very happy, but at the same time also feel back because, Mei Har is the one who always teach me, and I actually score better then her, however I was glad that everyone in my group pass.

Day 20

2008-09-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

Today is mid-Autumn festival, I have been waiting for this day in China since the first day I came.
The celebration here is quite different here, they do not take play with lantern, like we do in Singapore.
This morning we woke up early to go to the Hubei National Museum, I feel that the display here are more authentic then the one at jing zhou.

Hubei National Museum

sign board

accessories

hair pins

belt

crown

yue wan guo jie sword

qing hua ci vase

We also went to listen to the ancient music, I like the music.

Musicians

full set of the side bell

Sad thing happen after the concert my camera spoil.

We went to the east lake after the museum.

East Lake

Me & the East Lake

long stretch of road along East Lake

After that we went for lunch, something unhappy actually happen during the lunch, because the food was not to our liking and we were told to pay 30rmb, and my friends find it quite expensive, as for me I think anything will do.

However all this unhappy things ended at the restaurant.

We then went back to our room to rest till about 6.30p.m., then we went out to eat dumpling with Mr Foo, and then went to the supermarket near-by to shop, as it is mid-Autumn festival today I also brought a box of moon cake from the supermarket.

It is very cheap, the usual price they sell is 168rmb, but they sell at 20rmb now. The taste is good, and I also brew Chinese tea to drink, I also invited Mr Foo and my cousin to my room to share the moon cake.

mooncake and tea

We also play mahjong in our room for the third time, however this time we play for just a little while, because we are planning to go to Jiang Han Road in tomorrow early morning This is the most traditional mid-Autumn festival I ever celebrate, because I drink tea and ate the moon cake, most of all I celebrate it in China.

Day 19

2008-09-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

It’s a Saturday, I woke up about 9 a.m., to get ready for my trip to “Chang Chun Guan”, it’s a Taoist temple, this is also the first temple that I visit in Wuhan. Mei Har and I took a bus to the temple by ourself, we over shot the bus stop and the bus went all the way to the opposite of “Chang Jiang”, because we have to save some time as we will be meeting the rest at the lobby, at 4.50 p.m., so we took a taxi back to the temple.

main entrance

This temple is quite famous in the area, however I think today is not the day for the people to go pray hence there is not many people in the temple praying.

we engaged her to tell us about the temple

one of the section in the temple

very long joss stick urn

a section that pray to guan gong

fortune dragon

touch only with left hand

We spent about one and a half hour at the temple, it was about 3 p.m. when we left the temple, we actually walk all the way back from the temple to the hostel.

It took about 45 minute to 1 hour to travel back.

This trip is quite memorable as this is the first trip that I uses the public transport in Wuhan. We went to “Gui Yuan Hotel” to have our mid-authunm festival dinner with the principal, teachers and the humanisties students who join us yesterday.

part of the humanities students who seat with us

After the dinner, I show my cousin and her friends some of the places that we went, and bring them to buy some necessities.

After which we went back to our room and rest.

Day 18

2008-09-12T00:37:00.000-07:00

entrance of Yellow Crane Tower

Miss Wu, the same teacher who teaches us the cultural of the kingdom of Chu, came and teaches us 1911 Revolution and history of the Yellow Crane Tower.

She ended her lesson at about 10.30 a.m. and we were suppose to visit the Yellow Crane Tower and the 19 revolution musume at 10 a.m., during this half an hour we actually talk to Miss Wu, she is actually quite young about 28, but she is already a PHD holder, we also get to know more about her during this period, I found that she is quite friendly.

After the talk with her, we went to the Yellow Crane Tower, the place is quite big, with very nice senery, it’s a petty that Ms Wu cannot join us as she was sick and need to consult a doctor.

with one of the scence inside Yellow Crane Tower

wishing bell

allan & the wishing Bell

the main building Yellow Crane Tower

When we visited the main tower, we went up level by level, and then while we were at the souvenirs shop, we were there for quite a long time, and we were suppose to meet 12.10 p.m. at the lowest level of the tower, however we reached there at about 12.40 p.m., I can see that Mr Foo was very angry about this, because we make the others wait, we were very sorry about this, there was a delay because we went to engrave our names on the seal, and because a group of us was doing it, hence the time was being delay.

We then went for lunch, on the way to the restaurant Mr Luo brought the fresh lotus seeds, I have seen people selling it at the street but do not dare to buy, because I am not sure of how to eat it, will it was good thing that Mr Luo brought, however most of the people don’t dare to eat it. I think the taste is similar to corn.

fresh lotus seeds

I think the food at the restaurant was quite ok, it was very cheap, we order about 10 dishes and we only pay 28rmb each.

fried fish

vegetable with stone

toufu

After lunch we visited the 1911 revolution musmuem, it was quite boring, because there is only tables, chairs, and some halls, noting much to see, however, we manager to learn how does the revolutionist work at that time, and also get to see how their office look like.

statue of Sun Zhong Sun

whole view of the building

notice to the public about the collapse qing dynasty

testing on the phone

matrix

Hence our trip end, we were all very tired, and I went back to my room to rest.

At about 7 plus we went to pack dinner back to our room to eat, I ordered something different “fried nian gao”, the same old thing the taste is not bad, except that it is oily.

About 10 plus, the other batch of Ngee Ann Chinese Studies final year students arrive.

The most important thing is that my cousin is also one of those that come, I knew it only today because she was unable to contact me for the past few days.

I was really happy to see her here.

Day 17

2008-09-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

It is September 11 today, everything is fine today. as usual we went for D.E.C. lesson, we complete topic 3 today, it means that we will not touch any more D.E.C. topic until next week.

In the morning one of the classmates found a insect inside the bread that she eat, I felt a chill down my spine when I heard, because we brought bread from the same shop, I was thinking did I ate any insect without noticing. I am starting to do my e-tutorial today, and have completed. When I was doing I found that some of the things that I have learn in topic 1, I have forgot how to do, but I score full mark for the first attempt, and then will, I still remember the things in topic 2, I attempt 3 time before I score full mark.

Day 16

2008-09-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

The first thing, that happen this morning is that the electricity supply in our room is cut off. This is the second time.

The supply cut off because we have exceeded the amount that we have use, but I was told that we have already pay the full bill, hence when they top up the amount we do not need to pay any more money.

Today is also Teachers’ Day in China, we went for lunch with Mr Foo, I ordered a wax duck clay pot rice.

lunch with Mr Foo

waxduck claypot rice

The clay pot rice here is slightly different because they did not add the dark soy sauce, however the taste is good. We also ordered a ice-cream, the waitress say that it was their shop special dish, we waited for a very long time before they serve, and when they serve I think it was very normal, I think they recommend this is because there will be flame on the ice cream when they serve.

see any flame on the ice cream?

After school. We went to Yong He for dinner, the shop is slightly different here, they have more varity of noodle and rice, the food here is more local, the one in Singapore is more Taiwan style. We also went to buy a few small artificial flower for Mr Foo, because it is China Teachers’ Day today.

FLOWERS!

Day 15

2008-09-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

As per normal today, we wake up early for lesson.

This morning we attended the lesson conducted by the local lecture, the lesson is about Business Strategies in China and Chinese Etiquette.

I feel that’s this is a very good lesson, because we can understand more about the Chinese Etiquette, we don’t normally get contacted by this in Singapore as the etiquette in Singapore had already been either been westnise or mixed with the other races in Singapore, as Singapore in a multi racial country. This is also one of the

things that i wanted to learn in China,

I learn a lot from this lesson, like how shall we deal with the business man in china , and what should we do when we attend a banquate.

However it was sad that most of the class is not paying attention to this lesson.

After which we went for lunch and then attended the lab lesson conducted by Mr Foo, there is problem with the lesson today again, because not all of us have the plug to on our laptop, I was one of those, worst of all I also didn’t bring my battery along with me.

So for the whole lesson, I only used the laptop till the end when the rest have finished.

After the lesson, Mr Luo, our coordinator, came in to have a talk with Mr Foo, and then they decide to change the student exchange progamme that falls on Thursday to some other day.

We will be joining with the other batch of humanities students, who will join us in this hostel this coming Friday. Nothing much happen after that, and hence the day end again.

Day 14

2008-09-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Monday, the starting of the week, as per normal we went to the class room for D.E.C. lesson.
Mr Foo continue with the rest of topic 2, he was planning to start with topic 3, luckily he did not because today topic 2 is very complicated to me, but I manage to understand it at the end of the lesson.
We found a new stall to eat again, for the past few week we have been walking pass these stalls but we did not dare to try it, however because we were really very lazy to go out to pack back the food, so we decide to try it.
We actually tried 2 stalls today, I ordered fried noodle from the first stall and find that the fried noodle smell nice but the taste is bland.
Then we order dinner from another stall, I order a fried “Hor Fun”( they call it chao fen), it is very nice and they also added a lot of ingredient also, and of cause the price is also cheaper than the first stall that we tried in the noon.
Today Zhi Yao went back to the saloon again to ask the people to straighten his hair as he had his hair being perm yesterday, he spend another 100+rmb, because when he straighten his hair back, the chemical they used had actually spoil the dye and the colour change, hence he need to pay to dye his hair for the second time.
This time round Mei Har went together with them, she also had her hair done there, but till now she is still not back, the saloon haven complete the job. Hopefully I will not have a great shock when I see her tomorrow.
Tonight the whole group meet 8 p.m. at the lobby to discuss about the performers that we are going to put up for the student exchange programme on Thursday.
The discussion ended quite fast, we decided to sing “Home” , but I'm not sure if they are going to change it because I heard that they might change the item, hopefully they don’t change.

Day 13

2008-09-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

It’s a Sunday, the first Sunday that we spend at the university.

We woke up at 12.30, to get ready to go out to shop and to have our lunch.

We went the university southern gate again, it is totally different from the night, some of the roadside stalls are not open yet, we went to one of the small restaurant, and order some food, it is quite oily because we forget to tell the person to use lesser oil, but the taste of the food is good, I think it is quite cheap, each of us pay about 16rmb, there is about 3 meat and a soup and rice. After lunch we wanted to shop around but most of the stall are still not open, therefore Arthur, Zhi Yao and Seok Hiang suggested to go for a haircut and dye their hair, I went in with them, to take a look but come out of the saloon after awhile, as I have just trim my hair before I come to china, hence I never join them.

the utensils

hot plate meat

seaweed soup

pork rib

beer duck

a tub of rice

3 of them were in the saloon, and I went back to the hostel alone.
After about an hour or two.
They come back, and I find their hair quite ok, but they complain that it is not nice.
I heard from them that it is quite cheap about S$20 plus.
No matter the haircut was nice or not nice, it what done cannot be undone. So we went out to pack dinner back to eat. I ordered a curry fried and, I think it taste weird , I think maybe I am not use to the way they cook curry here.
These are the event that happen today, the day ended in a safe and sound manner.

Day 12

2008-09-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

We woke up very late today, it was already 3 p.m. when I woke up.

We had a nice rest however noting much happen today as we stayed in our room for the whole day.

We went out to pack our dinner back.

Therefore there is noting much to write for today.

I had actually webcam with my family members in Singapore, as they had a gathering today because one of my cousin is celebrating her birthday, so I actually meet most of my family today, it had been 2 weeks since I last see them.

I really miss the presence of my family members.

Day 11

2008-09-05T02:15:00.000-07:00

parade of the ceremony

Today is quite a relax day, there is no lesson, we went to the outdoor theater at 8 something to attend the welcoming ceremony of the students and military student.
There was already quite a big number of people at the parade, but I was told that not the entire batch of student were there, as some of the foreign student are not willing to attend the ceremony.

look at the number of uniformly seated students

It was really a manifiance scene the big batch of military was seated uniformly on the little bench that they brought with them.

The ceremony ended at 9 plus and then it was a free and easy time for us, we brought some food back to the room to eat and then continue with our own work in the room.

We were in the room till 2.15 then we went to the lobby to wait for the rest to go for the industrial visit.

It was a IT company “Vad On-line Education Technology Co., Ltd.”

Front desk

paying attention? to the speaker.

the office

me on infront of the screen, but of course no lesson.

section in the university

group photo infront of the screen

I was told that this company was funded by Hua Zhong Normal University. They actually join with the university to create a web for E-learning (Distances Learning) for only the whole of China. They cater this service for those working adult who are still unable to enter the university.
We also visited the studio that was being used to teach the students all over China using the internet.

I was rather fascinated that when the students have question to ask the Lecture, the school could actually connect you to the classroom using webcam.

Webcam

I was also told that the student could take their test and exam and do their homework using the computers, the student will also gather at the individual local centre to take any test or exam, if they pass the entire test they will also be rewarded with the qualification of the course that they take.

After the visiting the office and the theater, we have our own free and easy time again, today me and my friends when to a different place to shop, no longer at the west side of the campus, we went to the southern entry of the campus, we also found out that there are actually more thing to shop with at this side the price here are relatively cheaper than those at the west gate that we are staying, as they are only like a small scale shop and not those big malls at the west side.

We also brought something to eat on the way back.
The food here has more variety.

They had more shops over here.

We actually brought some presents from the shops over there.

As tomorrow is a Saturday there is no lesson so after we finish shopping we played mahjong, this was the second time that I play mahjong in this trip.

The first time is when we were on the cruise to 3 gorgers, and this is the second time.

Day 10

2008-09-04T01:51:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that we woke up the earliest after the trip back from the 3 Georges.

I woke up at 6.15 a.m., it was raining heavily outside but luckily I have brought an umbrella to shelter me back to my room yesterday.

It was such a coincidence that we met the rest of the group at the hostel lobby, hence we walk together to the classroom.

When we reach the classroom the local lecture Mr Luo Zhu Bing was already there, but we were not late.

Mr Luo teaches us about the growth of educational system in china.

Mr Luo teaches us in mandarin as his english was not that good.

However we still understand what he is trying to teach us, thou we are tired as the lesson was too early but I can see that the class is trying the best to pay attention to the lesson.
Today is also the first D.E.C. lap lesson, this lesson is very different from the past lap, because it was being conducted in our own room. Mr Foo was worried that the rain might actually soak into our bag and spoil our laptop, so he decided to be more hard-working to go up and down between our room, to teach us and install the programmed.

Day 9

2008-09-03T00:38:00.000-07:00

It was a nice day to sleep, I do not feel like waking up to go for lesson, however it was impossible, I force myself to get up, and when in to bath to refresh myself.

I woke up at 7.10 a.m. and left the room at 8.15 a.m. thinking of the long walk from our room to the classroom, I really feel very tired, but it is still a must to walk.

Nothing much happen today, Mr Foo started D.E.C. lesson topic 2, it is actually not hard to understand, the questions are also not hard o solve, but I need to take some time to solve and digest it, the questions might get quite messy and complicated and lost while I am doing it.

No matter how complicated and lost I am, I manage to finish the question when the lesson ended.

We also went out for dinner.

And after dinner, we brought back a whole spring chicken back to our room and eat it.

It was raining heavily outside and I brought a umbrella to shelter me, the weather outside was cold.

And hence when the chicken was brought back to the room it is actually cold.

We also invited Mr Foo over to try the chicken as he was the one who told us about the chicken, though the chicken was cold but it is very nice, we finish the chicken in no time.

Day 8

2008-09-02T01:35:00.000-07:00

It was a long day for us, we slept at about 1 a.m. yesterday because we celebrated our friends’ birthday.

Today the lesson starts at about 8.45 a.m. we slept for 6 hours and then wake up to really attend our first D.E.C. lesson.

We first attend 2 hours lecture conduted by Mr Foo, the very moment lunch break Mei Har and I went out of the school again to collect another cake sponser by Mr Foo to celebrate Arthur and Seok Hiang birthday with the class in the classroom. We actually decorated the blackboard and wanted to cover it using the screen, however because I did not keep a look out for their arrival, they saw the board, and hence it was no longer a surprise anymore, but never mind Mr Foo continue with his lecture first and then during we took out a small amount time during tutorial to celebrate their birthday.

Birthday cake...

blowing candle.

Arthur and Shuxian cutting the cake

I think this is a very special day as this is the first time we celebrated friends’ birthday at a classroom overseas.

decorated board

After the lesson end the five of us went out again to have our dinner, on our way to dinner we went to buy a hub for the internet connection in our room, then we pass by a roadside stall, and went to buy some games and shows from them.

It is really cheap, only S$2, I think it is actually a pirated CD.

We then went to a supermarket nearby to shop, I brought some tea leaves and a simple tea set back, so that we will be able to drink the tea to clear the oil in our body as the food here is quite oily at times.

Most of all mid-autum festival is arriving soon, I am looking forward to this day as this is the first time I celebrate the festival without my family and most of all in China, I would like to see how the local celebrate the festival.

There are actually stall starting to sell mooncake, however the price of the mooncake is about the same as Singapore, they are not cheap.

We end the day in our room, in conculsion thought it was a long day, but we had spend it in a very meaningful way.

Day 7

2008-09-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

Today we wake up at about 11.00 a.m.

I was quite excited at first, because I thought that we will be attending the first DEC lesson at 2.30 p.m. but due to some miscommunication again it was actually lesson conducted by the local lecture Miss Wu about the culture of kingdom of Chu.

our classroom

Even though this was a lesson that was being arrange in a miscommunication way, I think I have actually enjoyed this lesson.

The classroom was located quite a distances away from our hostel, we need to walk for about 20-30 minutes to reach there, however I think I have already adapted to the life over here except that the air here is really dusty.

We also celebrated our friends Arthur and Seok Hiang birthday in our room in the night, we went to breadtalk to get a mini cake for them, this is the first time I ever celebrate friends birthday overseas.

funny 5

mini cake for Arthur & Shuxian

We plan to give them a surprise, but we ourself were also rewarded by another surprise given by the person who attended to us, she forget to give us the candle.

As it was already late on the night most of the shop has already close, Mei Har went around some others shops that were open to ask if there were any candle for sales, but to no avail. Hence we decided to use lollipop and lighter to pose off as candle.

We had a great time, it was actually quite fun to celebrate in this manner.

Day 6

2008-08-31T23:47:00.000-07:00

last breakfeast

Today is the last day on the boat, we had our last breakfast in the ship and leave the ship at 7.30 in the morning and head to a museum in “Jing Zhou” to see a crop that was being buried during the Chu dynasty.

hubei national museum
the tortum of the chu's

It was amazing that we are still able to see the muscles of the crops even though it was a crop that was more than a thousand year.

We also visited the gallery that shows the silk and brede and the things that were being using during the Chu dynasty.

entrance.

After the museum we went to the ancient city wall that’s was left behind during the three kingdom period.

guang yu's knife
photo inside the city wall with liu bei and company

There was noting much to see at the city wall, I heard from the tour guide that the government did not build talk building inside the city wall, because they wanted to preserve the scene of the city wall.

inside the ancient city wall
steps up the city wall

Afterwhich we went somewhere near the city wall to have our lunch, and than travel back to the university.

It took about 5 hours to travel back, we had a long sleep on the bus.

Straight after we return we went for dinner, while I was paying for something, to my horror the person tell me that the notes I gave her was a fake one.

fake money

But luckily it was only 20rmb.

We then go back to the hostel to wash our clothing.
clothes haning outside our room

It was quite a nice experience as when we were in Singapore there were actually ready-made place for us to hang our clothes but in here we have to tie strings to hang our clothes to dry them.

Day 5

2008-08-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

WOW! It’s about 6.00 a.m. and I have to wake up because we are setting out to one of the sight in 3 gorgeous. I am very tired, because I slept for only 4 hours. But no matter how tired am I, the sight of the scenery wakes me up, It was a grand and magnificent sight, all these natural sight we see cannot be find in Singapore.

with one of the mountain in San Xia

with the local guide, Miao Miao

the sampan that we took to tour.

We also see the suspended coffin, u will find it unbelievable to see the coffin up there, till today no one is about to explain how the coffin get to the top.

coffin on the cliff

We also went for another scene later, we have to transfer to a sampan to see the scene.

the sampan rollers

the chief of the sampan rollers

The sampan rollers are mostly of an older age, as the younger generation had mostly went to city area to work.

I was told by the local tour guide that, if you are interested in any of the girl in their tribe you just have to step on her feet, and if she also interested in you she will reply you by stepping you back, if she is not interested in you she will just ignore.

However if you wanted to marry her you have to work as a sampan roller for 3 years.

We also went to “Bai DI Miao” (White Emperor Temple) it was actually a place that was use to commemorate “Liu Bei” one of the historical figure during the three kingdom period.

300+ steps up to Bai Di Miao

main entrance of Bai Di Miao

entrance of the Bai Di Miao

finally inside Bai Di Miao

There was a lot of tablets carving here some of the writing on the tablets were actually written by some of the important figure in china example “Jiang Ze Ming”, and some tablets were actually left behind last time.

Calligraphy by Jiang Ze Ming

touch this statue, different parts ave different meaning ,

guys use left hand and girls use right hand.

picture with guang gong and Zhang Fei

I have also brought back quite a number of souvenirs back.
Though it was a very long and tired day for me, but I think it was a really fruitful day, all the scene that we visited drives all my tiredness away.

group photo

Day 4

2008-08-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

The first thing that I do this morning is to try to on my laptop, I was very worried that it cannot be on, but luckily it can be on, my heart relax down at the very moment, I went back to sleep till 10 a.m. and wake up to prepare for our trip to 3 gorgeous.
There was a miscommunication, we were told to meet at 12.30 in the noon, but actually we can actually meet earlier than this.
Hence it was actually very rush for us to travel from Wuhan to Yi Chang, the journey took about 5 hours.
Luckily we manage to reach there on time to register for the permit to board the cruise. Noting much happen today as most of the time we were on the bus travelling.
We “meet “the legendary no door toilet in a break half way through the journey.

doorless toilet

We then have our dinner at about 6.00 p.m. and then set off to board the cruise “Princess” at 7.30 p.m., it was raining heavily, and we had no choice but to run to the cruise against the rain. At 8 p.m. we were told to gather at a pub inside the cruise for a variety show organized by the management of the cruise.

Bording Pass for the Boat

Zhi Xiang & I shared the same room

Our group photo taken at the ship

Perforamce 1

Perforamce 2

Perforamce 3

I was selected to play a game, I was in the third place they also give me a souvenir or participating in the game.

me in the game.

After the gathering we went to rent mahjong to play.

Mahjong Session

We played till 1 plus and I slept at 2 a.m. it was really a long and tiring day.

Day 3

2008-08-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

After a long night rest, we felt energetic, we slept till 12.30 in the noon.

We went out to shop at the malls outside the campus again.

While walking, it suddenly rain and we also have not eaten our lunch.

Finally we found a “Hong Kong” style restaurant, I ordered frog leg claypot rice and also some side dish to share with my friends.

I find the food quite ok, except that it was very oily, I was later told that the local use a lot of oil to cook, and we have to tell them to add lesser oil into the food. We continue to shop after the lunch, we saw a very familiar shop “Bread Talk”.

We also went in to buy some bread for breakfast tomorrow.
Something very bad happen, after we went back to our hostel.

My Friend accidentally spill water on my laptop, I cannot on my laptop now, I am very worried, what if my laptop laptop cannot be on , I do not know where can I repair my laptop.

I was told by my teacher not to on the laptop at the moment, leave it at one side to dry.

I am very scared now.

Oh please divinities please do help me.

Day 2

2008-08-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

the main entrance of the university

This is the first morning in Wuhan Hua Zhong Normal University.
We meet the principal at 9 a.m. for the welcome ceremony, the principal started with a welcoming speech, brief us on the history of the university.

everyone settling down in the room.

the opening ceremony talk by the principal

After meeting with the principal, Mr Luo took us for a campus tour, he introduced the buildings and places to us, this was a long and tired walk, all of us was very tired from this walk, no matter how tired we are we still manage to complete the tour.

the biggest canteen in the university. got 4 level

the local student get their hot water from here.

After the walk, we had our lunch with the principal, we had a small talk with him during the lunch and I found out that he was actually quite a nice guy (not stern).

one of the VIP room inside Gui Yuan Bing Guan

the directory board to the hotel

We also learn something during the lunch, like the sitting arrangement, the host is to be seated facing the entrance, followed by the next important figure at his left and right and so on, and the guy seated nearest to the door normally is the least important figure as he have to open and close the door as and when it is needed, so he had to be seated near to it, the table that is used is a round table not like the western kind a long rectangle shaped table.

The second thing that we had learned is the toasting, I was told that when u are toasting to someone who is rank above you, the edge of your cup cannot be higher than him. Hence the lunch comes to an end, we bid farewell to the principal and then we went back to our room to rest.

At about 3.30 p.m. we went out again to shop for some daily necessities, and we also brought some back some tidbits. After buying all this, we went to “Pizza Hut” to have our dinner.

After dinner we went back to our hostel to rest and the day ended.

Day 1

2008-08-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 4 a.m. today to meet our group at Singapore Changi Airport.
I was very excited because this is the first time I am going overseas following the school and of cause also the first time that I went for an overseas trip with my friends.
We took a long time to check in because there was a long queue, we took about an hour to complete the procedure, and finally the checking in was completed at about 7.15 a.m.
We went in the custom and shop for a while at the duty free shop. And board the plane at about 7.45 a.m. and the plane set off at 8 a.m. then we reached “Guang Zhou” at about 11 something to transfer to the domestic flight to fly to “Wuhan”.
There was about 4 hour wait in between for the domestic flight to set off, and hence we walk around the airport to look for our lunch.
This is the first lunch that we took in China.
I ordered a bowl of noodles, I think it was quite nice but was rather expensive it cost about S$8. At about 3.20 p.m. we board the plane to Wuhan. And finally at about 5 p.m. we finally reach our destination Wuhan.

Wuhan domestic airport

after we get down from the plane we took this shuttle to get to the arrival hall

The moment we reach the arrival hall we saw the Wuhan Normal University coordinator Mr Luo.

Mr Luo Jian

They had arrange a bus to bring us to the university, however there was a traffic jam, and reach the hostel at about 7.30 p.m.

everyone busy loading buggage onto the bus

We were then allocated to our room and then dinner was also arrange for us.
Most of the dishes that were served were spicy and hence few of our friends cannot take it.
After which we when back to our hostel to rest, on the way back we brought a “IP card” (a local sim card) and an international phone card to call our family members.
Finally after a long and tiring day we rested comfortably on our bed.

The main entrance of our hostel.

our room 1002.

My study table.

my COMFORTABLE bed.