Monday, September 29, 2008,
Wednesday, 24th September 2008.
Day #31
Wednesday started off with the usual SDC class in the morning, well, I’ll speak of that in the next post. After which, we decided to go SHOPPING at guan gu, honestly I have no idea where that is, what is the meaning of that two words and what kind of place is that. So anyway, we went back to our rooms, put our bags and other stuff down before heading there. We wanted to take a bus, but apparently they don’t accept notes (we don’t have coins), so we took a cab. Maximum 4 passengers in one taxi, the same as Singapore! We were lucky to get a cab that would take us 5, but his terms were an additional 5yuan (actually it’s additional 10, but we bargained to 5 hahaha.
Hilarious.
The taxis in China are different, very different. They have bars between the front seats and the back seats of the taxi! I’m guessing this is to minimize if not stop people from using robes to threaten the taxi, or steal their belongings/money, which also tells us that the people who initiated this plan knows about the dangers of taking a taxi and like people to be alert and aware of what is going on around themselves.
And so, we reached the roundabout of shopping centres. Not bad I must say, impressive. Shopping centres around a roundabout similar to suntec city, with each shopping centres almost three times the size of vivocity? Well yeah, it’s HUGE! Unlike vivocity, one afternoon wouldn’t be enough to browse the entire shopping centre, even for guys, if you know what I mean. First, we headed to Mac’s to have our lunch, with thanks to Guan Bin who lent us his Mac’s membership card. We were deciding on a buddy meal, it’s really cheap! Like $7 SGD for a buddy meal, however there were five of us, I decided to fly solo after their suggestions. The burgers sides were very much different from the Mac’s in Singapore, except for their McSpicy burger, which was kind of similar, and of course, the Pepsi. The price here at Mac’s is so much cheaper than KFC where it is almost three times cheaper than KFC, while being as delicious.
After our lunch, we went around shopping, well, yeah guys shopping. Pretty much shopping at bugis with a little bit of heeren back in Singapore. There were a few interesting shops though, one of which sells figures, necklaces of popular games and shows such as “Lord of the Rings”, “World of Warcraft”, “Warcraft III”, “Heroes” and a few more. The stuff there is very cheap too, I think I’m going to go back there and buy something from there next week. Walk around we did, and came across Levis and Adidas. The prices there are approximately the same as the stores in Singapore, thus we didn’t get anything from there. After hours of walking around the shopping centre, we went to the electronics shopping centre right next to us.
BARGAIN BARGAIN BARGAIN EVERYTHING! That was what we were doing the whole time. We went to many stalls and compared prices, as three of them wanted to buy external hard disks. Took a really long time, they did. Well, it was quite funny, playing around with words of technology. I merely educated them a little on the brands, their specialities and general knowledge about them. In the end, I bought one ipod charger and one 2GB memory card for my phone, which totaled to about 150yuan, 30 SGD. Cheap? Yeah I would say so. At about 5pm, we hailed a cab back to the university. Unfortunately, instructions weren’t clear and the driver ended up making a wrong turn to the wrong place, not too bad as we realised it as soon as he made the turn and clarified with him. With a good temper (I assumed taxi drivers in China are mostly hot-tempered), he made a U-turn and drove us back to the university, costing about 25 yuan, $5 SGD. CHEAP! We were very tired, and rest for the night, ending the day off.
Today’s quite an experience. The bargaining, shops and different styles of clothes in shops of shopping centres in China. There were mostly long-sleeved shirts and t-shirts as the seasons of autumn and winter approaches, while the colour purple is quite commonly seen here, very different from Singapore. In Singapore, most people regard purple as international gay colour, of course only applicable to guys. The taste of styles, clothes and even shoes are different, which made shopping quite interesting to us, foreigners.
10:16 PM
Sunday, 21st September 2008
Day #28
After about 7 hours of beauty sleep, I woke up and headed to the bathroom for a morning shower, followed by breakfast downstairs. I didn’t really have much appetite so I just ate a pau, an egg and a mantou that’s about it. The food seems very vegetarian because almost everything there was vegetables, including the fillings inside the pau. A short while later, we headed to our bus and left for the Wudang Mountains. As usual, we switched buses so as to head further into the mountain to the base camp. There, we started our hike to the peak of the Wudang mountain.
It was cold, but we were equipped with jackets and windbreakers. It’s dry, but we were armed with water bottles. We were prepared. The path first started going downhill and a little bit of uphill, it was of no challenge to us. Then, we began overtaking the people in front of us. As time passes by and we progress further, the steps started to ‘grow’ while the humans tire slowly, but surely. Soon enough, fatigue got the better of us. Cold misty air around us became water that cools molten metals, we perspired and panted. We screamed, we huffed and puffed, that wasn’t all, what we shouted, were encouragement, not whines, the best part. We cheered each other on, young and old, overweight and underweight, tall and short, fit and the unfit. As we go along, we kept encouraging each other, while seeing the scenery around us, carved and engraved stones that speaks Chinese culture. There was one particular flight of stairs, we couldn’t see the top of it. The steps that seemed like we’re climbing to heaven, steps that are never-ending. As we climbed, we counted, we encouraged, we sweat and panted. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY STEPS, those steps weren’t low, they were HIGH BIG STEPS! “Just keep climbing, just keep climbing”, “just keep breathing, just keep breathing”, “just keep going, just keep going” these three phrases were in my head the whole time, taken from a movie, finding nemo, a really catchy tune. As soon as we reached the cable car station, the first sight of civilization, a sense of achievement rushes to me, and I must say, it felt really really good. After shopping and taking photos and resting while waiting for the tour guide, we proceeded to finish climbing the mountain, about 300m to the peak of the sacred mountain, the golden roof.
Magnificent sights, majestic birds, carefree creatures around the peak, they just seem so natural, like those in Chinese paintings. Well, at the core were man-made structures such as temples and altars where important figures stood with prestige. There were many people praying to these statues of the gods and figures. There at the peak, we took many pictures to celebrate our victory. Peace, happiness, achievement and serenity definitely filled the atmosphere. Quite an experience. Personally, as I mentioned before, I love nature, and conquering mountains is one of my most favourite hobbies that I enjoy very much. This was no exception. Conquering the Wudang mountain is really something that I am very proud and thankful of. Aside from the sense of achievement gained after conquering mountains, climbing mountains also trains one’s physical strength and more importantly, mental strength. Mental strength can be applied at many areas of one’s life, including work and academic life, something that people tend to neglect, many people feels that physical strength and intelligence overrides mental strength. This is one of the many ways to educate and drill into people the importance of mental strength, a life-time attribute to one’s life.
In order to head down to the visitor’s centre of the mountain, we took cable cars down. MADE IN CHINA, yes, made in china. When I first sat in the cable car, the first thing that came to my mind was safety and the engineering aspects of the whole system. There weren’t any backup beams/supports. If the cable were to fail, or any part connecting to the cabin, chances are anyone would not be able to survive the long fall into the wilderness. I sat there in the cabin, looking around, thinking about other matters, thinking about natural cliff rock climbing and many other random issues to pass the time. Another “Made in China” experience! Soon enough, we reached the bottom.
We rushed back to our bus for lunch then a long trip back to the university. Halfway through the journey, I was awoken by nothing, so I just listened to music from Jabez’s mp4 player until something came along. The bus began to slow down such that it was almost jogging speed. The turning to the east at our perspective was closed, with a signal pointing to the left, indicating a blockage of the turn to the east. Our bus driver had to choice but to head forward along the expressway, heading west when we were supposed to go east (again in perspective of the road before the blockage). A no U-turn sign was seen, it’s rules self-explained. (there was one lane that became a make-shift lane for the opposite direction) Soon after, our bus driver began his many-point turn, attempting a U-turn to the right direction, to the east. Traffic began to build up at both directions, after 5 minutes the police showed up. Climax. Knowing what happened, I just stayed in my seat listening to music, while others assumed all sorts of situations. Hilarious assumptions. I giggled. After which, the police led us and the traffic behind us to the original road. It’s interesting, there’s a message at the top of the police car that says “zhu ni ping an” (means have a safe journey or be safe). Soon, we continued our journey to the university, arriving there at about 9.34pm. Walked back to our hostel, showered and have our good night’s rest.
10:10 PM
Saturday 20th September 2008
Day #27
Early in the morning at 6am, Wen Yao wakes up and prepares himself for another weekend trip to the Wudang Mountains. After showering and final packing of stuff, we left our hostel at around 6.45am to assemble downstairs. Off we go to the Wudang Mountains! Here’s a little history of the mountain.
In years past, the mountains of Wudang were known for the many Taoist monasteries to be found there, monasteries which became known as an academic centre for the research, teaching and practice of meditation, Chinese martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist agriculture practices and related arts.
SIX HOURS LONG bus journey to the mountains from our university, as usual we all fell asleep during the bus ride. When we reached the visitors’ centre, we took another bus ride of approximately one hour to the starting point of the mountain. There, we began our little journey to two sites picked by our tour guide. Up up up the stairs we go, and into the buildings of the Taoist priests. Many temples and statues were found there such as the Jade Emperor, Gods, turtles and snakes. It seems the Taoist holds these figures to high esteem, especially the Jade Emperor, also known as the King of Heaven and Earth. We visited the different halls such as the Prince’s Studying Hall, the Emperor’s reading room, very much the oldest Chinese culture. Everything there is so Chinese, if you get what I mean, truly immersion. I got so influenced, I really wanted to buy Taoist swords, daggers and other souvenirs such as jade pendant, bronze keys and plates just to have something from ancient Chinese culture in my home back in Singapore. At the very end, there are superstitious things that you do to bless yourself, such as tossing a coin into a pool of water with a dragon statue inside, what you get blessed with depends on where your coins end. For that, I had both coins on the nose and on the head of the dragon! It’s really difficult. Another was throwing a coin to hit the drum and into a jade bucket, and I got it on my first try! The third is by far the most difficult out of the three. We have to throw a coin from a distance through a square hole and hit the bell behind that, that I didn’t manage to succeed. I fail at basketball hahaha! Again, superstitions, but they don’t harm do they? I have learnt much about the order and how the ancient Chinese people used to live. After a while, we left the mountain for dinner, followed by staying in a 3star hotel for the night.
As soon as we arrived (some of us were in doubt, if the bus was just going to turn around), we were quite disorientated. The whole place was really in a bad condition, it’s so bad, I would say the hotel is a 0 star motel, because of the building next to it that seems to be combined with the main one. Well, it’s really quite a sight, a disgusted one. I was expecting insects and bugs cohabitating in the rooms. As soon as we entered, to our surprise it wasn’t so bad, in fact, it’s better than usual! Yup! It’s quite good to be honest, worthy of a 3-star made in china hotel, no offence there. And there, we had our good night’s rest and recuperate for tomorrow’s mountain climbing.
10:08 PM
Friday 19th September 2008
Day #26
LOOOONG DAY! Started off with really dry IS lesson by the dean of School of Foreign Language. Now now, again, the lesson is really boring and dry. Not that the teacher is boring, the content is. Well, after IS lesson, we went to have lunch at a nearby canteen before going back to the school for SDC LESSON! Yeah, that’s why it’s a long day. 8am – 4pm. SDC lesson, how should I describe it? One way would be, one of the most mind-numbing 2 hours+ in my entire polytechnic life. The content, the mathematics and formulae coming out from years back, the concept, it’s really very challenging, at least to me. At about 4.15pm (yes I remembered the time cause it’s the time my brain exploded) BRAIN DEAD! Well yeah I understood most of what Mr.Jian said but, I’m not sure if I can apply that given the luxury of time. To add to the pressure, that question holds 25% of the entire examination. Yup, went back to the hostel, the first thing I did was to DESTRESS (Games for a few hours!) before packing our bags for a trip!
10:07 PM
Thursday 18th September 2008
Day #25
System Dynamics & Control common test, with an overall weightage of 25%. Still having fever, I took another two panadols before walking to the School of Foreign Language to take our test. I find the test much more difficult than what I expected, even though the questions that came out were those that aren’t out of the blue, they’re common questions, but challenging, at least to me. I suppose I did fairly average, but I screwed up my first question and a major question about rotational mechanics, disappointing. I think I missed my A grade for SDC, sigh. Still sick, I headed back to my room and took another long nap since SDC class in the afternoon was cancelled. As for dinner, we went to have a something from the western cuisine, “pirated KFC” recommended by Guan Bin. It’s three times cheaper than the actual KFC and the meals are quite similar. However, when the meal came, they looked very different. It’s quite good in my opinion, and good value for money, I wouldn’t mind having dinner there again. After all, it cost $2 SGD. That’s something new we tried adding to “Made in China” experiences. Yeah. Pretty much it, nothing else worth mentioning happened.
10:06 PM
Monday, September 22, 2008,
Wednesday, 17th September 2008
Day #24
This morning, I woke up with a spear through my head, a bad headache. My body felt as if I just ran a marathon, I was feeling really weak and crappy. On top of that, I had class in the morning; it’s a SDC tutorial to prepare for the common test the very next day. So yeah I was feeling like crap during the whole lesson, trying to pay attention at times, trying to rest at times. Went back to hostel and took a really long nap of about 6hrs, waking up in between to take panadols every 4 hours. I woke up in the evening, still having fever, to study for the common test till about 12am. Took another two panadols and went back to sleep. I ate a total of 8 panadols that day! I’m always ever so unlucky, getting a fever just before my exam and common test. Previously, I fell sick with a fever the weekend just before my exam week, and now a fever the day before my common test, how dreadful.
1:06 PM
Tuesday, September 16th 2008
Day #23
The day started off with SDC tutorial in the morning. The lesson was very fruitful, as I understood most, of not all of the content as preparation for the upcoming common test. Lesson ended just before noon, and headed to canteen 3 for lunch once again. I must say I’m getting more used to the food here, it’s really not bad, especially the kebabs and the meat I forgot what kind =S. APPLE YOGURT DRINK, bought that once again costing 4rmb (80cents SGD), it’s really my new favourite drink!
In the evening, around 5pm, we were told to go to the school of foreign language for a mooncake festival celebration! So yup we went there! Guess what! I saw a puppy, about 8 weeks old, my guess is a shih tzu. So the event started off with a few announcements of celebrations of sorts. First was BIRTHDAYS. Kok Long and Guan Bing’s birthdays, we sang them a birthday song, together with a huge birthday cake! Right after that, we had another celebration for the top 3 scorers for their respective paths, to recognize their achievements. The top 3 for year3s are all in this China trip, top 3 for year2s path 1 are all also in this china trip, and the third place for year 2 path 2 is here! Impressive, but also very competitive, emphasizing on very. Congratulations to all!
After all that, Kok Long commenced the MOONCAKE FESTIVAL CELEBRATIONS! Hoo hooo mooncakes. There were many many mooncakes already cut and placed at the side tables, with cups of orange juice and green tea. We helped ourselves to the mooncakes and drinks as we should. The first thing I did was play with the little puppy! The puppy is really very adorable, however, it seems the people around him/her doesn’t know much about dogs. The puppy looks really overwhelmed with so many huge giants having their eyes set on the puppy. Just minutes before, the puppy was quite active moving about as it has only 2 to 3 people playing with him/her. Not to add to his/her stress, I moved away silently after giving an reassuring voice. My friends and I went to join a conversation between Desmond and some year2s, discussing about academics in poly life as well as university and its requirements. He gave us a brief reality check and what we should really aim for in order to be qualified to enter NTU or NUS, to study a course of our choice. It seems to me Desmond knows when to be serious, and when to play. That discussion really helped me a lot, given that I am not really sure about the requirements to study in a local university.At about 8.35pm, all of us went up to the 4th storey entrance to view FIREWORKS. As we left the building, four boxes of fireworks were spotted in the open, with guan bing and the rest preparing them while Lina and a few others handing out sparkles to play with. We helped the China students to familarise themselves with the sparkles as it seems that they don’t really know how to play with it, it’s hilarious, not in an offensive aspect.
PHHHEEEEEWWWW! BOOOM! FIREWORKS! “woooaahhhhhh” the vocal expression that was heard among the crowd that gathered behind me. Indeed, the fireworks are beautiful and splendid. A sense of belonging bloomed inside of me, the feeling of which you’re around people that you know. As the fireworks are being blasted into the starry night sky, the eyes of students were set onto the night screen as each firework bursts into clusters of colourful glitters resembling stars as cheery voices accompanied the fireworks. It was a spirit of celebration, everyone was celebrating. This event further opens up the heart of those were still too shy to come out of their shells. More interactions, group photos, smiles and laughters filled the atmosphere. About 9pm, we took our leave.
12:10 PM
Monday, September 15th 2008
Day #22
8.15am, the sound of my dreaded alarm rang. This alarm signifies the release of our exam results. I predicted that I would most likely get horrendous results as I was still sick on the day of my first examination. I fell sick 2 days prior to my first paper, the weekend just before my ASAS paper, down with a fever of 38+ degrees celsius and couldn’t study on Saturday as well as Sunday. Also, I believed I got distracted from what everyone defined as negative, addiction of computer gaming. True enough, my results are below expectations. I had 4Bs and 2As and one A+ with a grade point average of 3.42, the worst I have attained in my polytechnic academic life. I believe in this philosophy that I came up through life experiences, that whatever I choose, and what I have chose to do and not to do, I will not regret it. That I will reap what I sow. Therefore, I have to do better than before, to pick up my GPA, having a higher chance to enter OCS in army as well as going to a local university. Other than taking back our examination results, nothing worth mentioning happened today.
12:08 PM
Monday, September 15, 2008,
Saturday, September 13th 2008
Day 20.
at dawn, six in the morning, a disturbing tune resonated throughout the ship. Waking up from our sleep was inevitable. so yeah, we woke up, rushed and got ready for breakfast at the restaurant section of the ship. had my fill, it's not too bad. Shortly after, we left to board a smaller touring boat.
this boat, cruised through rivers and valleys. where coffins of ancient times can be spotted on the ship. these coffins are called suspended coffins, where it is hard to reach them. everyone was outside of the ship, some were at the top viewing deck, some were at the front, and some at the back. the view and scenery was really magnificient, gardens of eden. hours that seemed like minutes past, and we docked at a small little port where we transfer from the touring boat to small wooden boats cruising through the gorges on the Shen Nong Stream, a tributary of the Yangtze River. 4 men (even those older than 60) were powering the raft carrying about 23 people in total. there was this area, at the end of the trip, the men had to jump off the small boat and pull the boat using ropes, as it is too shallow to paddle using oars. just then, i put my hands into the water, and it's really refreshing! cool clear waters. 4 men, pulling the boat containing 19 people at that time, it's stunning, their resolve to earn a living for themselves and family. We, even as modernised people should take this as a learning point. Not to give up easily and keep trying.
on our trip back, we sang a song that's connected to their tribe. although i forgot the song already, it's quite interesting yet simple to understand. as soon as we took off from the small boat, we visited the row of shops selling souvenirs. again, i bought alot! including chopsticks. Also, two ancient chinese musical instrument, egg-shaped with holes, similar to a flute. Soon after, we headed back to our boat. It's good that ancient musical instruments such as these are still being kept and used, made and sold, not to be forgotten. I would say the depth of China's history and rich culture are second to none. These chinese work so hard just to earn a living, let alone living in comfort. Valuable learning points that all should learn, including myself.
I went to take a nap in my cabin for hours before the dreadful alarm woke me up from my soothing nap. We were instructed to go up to the top of the ship, to have a deck view of (Cruise through the Yangtze River, passing through the Wu Gorge, en route viewing the Shennü (Goddess) Peak at Wushan County, passing through the Qutang Gorge, Kuimen Gate.). Some peaks were named after animals such as the lion and the eagle, due to their appearances, yet again, interesting. after all that, i went back down for another beloved nap.
It evening, we had our dinner at the same restaurant before going off to climb a small hill, visiting Baidicheng (白帝城 White Emperor Town). A place where events involving Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang took place. Although i don't know much about these events due to my poor command of the chinese language, i'm confident it has something to do with the three kingdoms =) we looked at bones, pictures, and bought MORE souvenirs. They sell this special comb made from trees, that can help heal your scalp and hair, improving your hair quality, as you would think, yup, i bought one of those.
A blessing yet again, for the fortunate me to visit such places, learning about China and important figures such as Liu Bei, king of Shu and Zhuge Liang, his right-hand man, his advisor. The romance of the three kingdoms is a very famous story known worldwide, and to have first hand sight of these areas, truly appreciative.
11:02 PM
Friday, September 12th 2008
Day #19.
started off with an early morning wake following which is an all time record of six hours drive to the THREE GORGES DAM! well, of course having lunch in between, which i had like probably 7-9 bowls of rice =) so yeah we arrived at the massive dam of China, a famous tourist attraction.
there are 3 stations where we visit, also what i'l be talking about. the very first, at the top of the hill. this is where i spent the MOST money! we went to take a look, the view at the inside of the dam it's really cool. it's like an elevator of five stages for ships to go through, using water levels. even china have high technology like this. impressive. next we went to the souvenirs shop and bought lots of stuff! not to forget we spent lots of time there.
moving on to the 2nd station, the don't-know-what side of the dam, where we see a huge structure blocking the flow of the river. so as usual, we checked out the souvenir shop. though the standard of the shop's quite pathetic compared to the first, the prices are HALF of that at the first. there, i bought EGGS and 7 of them. hahaha stone eggs. and left for the bus, our schedule's pretty tight thus we don't have much time at each station. moving on to the last of the 3, it's more of a park. this garden where objects and machines that plays a part in the dam are displayed, well most. this place, allowed us to see the common view of the dam, the lower river side of the dam. it's beautiful! and the tour guide told us that we're really lucky. as red waters are a rare sight, due to something about rocks and i can't remember what.
after which, we headed back to the bus, where it brings us to our final destination, the cruise ship! honestly, i do not have high expectations of the condition of the ship. then we looked. Victora Cruise, astonishing! very big, lots of cabins, looks clean from afar. as we travelled down the stairs, it turns out we had to turn RIGHT, and not straight ahead, that wasn't our ship. as we walked across planks, to our horror, our ship was in a really bad condition. engine room looks like it could explode anytime, leaks here and there. well, thats the bottom deck. moving up to 2nd floor and above changed my first impressions of the ship. it's not so bad after all. we unpacked, took a peak at the toilet, and went on to explore the ship. going to the anchor room, the viewing deck, bar and the front of the ship, also, the gambling room! was pretty tired and slept really early.
my opinions? a little better than what i was expecting, be it from toilet to viewing deck. not bad! well, i killed a giant mosquito and a spider just as i first entered the room, and once in a while banging into things as it's quite cramp, other than those, it's okay! i didn't think that we'l be having a cruise during this study trip, and this is my first time on a cruise, so it's really fortunate. to be able to go on a cruise during a study trip, at the same time learning all about China.
model of the dam and ship gate.
tesla coils in red alert! they really look alike huh.
this is FAKE! we were surprised and filled with excitment until...we realised it's not this ship. 
thats how small our room is. but really cozy, comfortable in my opinion.
6:30 PM
Thursday, September 11th 2008
Day #18
disappointing.
at night, approximately 10pm, something extraordinary occured in the very toilet of our apartment. THE PIPE EXPLODED! okay not literally, but you get the idea. so yeah, he was pumping the toilet drain as it got stuck then he noticed there was a leak at the clean water pipe below the basin, he tried to close the valve, but it turns out otherwise, he turned the wrong direction! so the toilet begun flooding! he took off his shirt and shorts and started screaming "call mr.lee call mr.lee! HURRY!" out of curiousity, we rushed to the toilet and took a look. tried to call mr.lee using jabez' phone but we couldn't reach him. so, we did this black and white hand game to decide who should go in and get himself wet to help jabez. SHIWEI! so he whined a little and took off his shirt and begun using a cup to scoop water from the floor to the toilet bowl, HILARIOUS! we burst out in laughter! really really funny! then i took off my shirt and took a look at the pipe and kind of fix it for the time being. it's just closing the valve. =)
exhilarating.
immerse immerse immerse. fixing toilet pipes to getting used to eating at canteens. quite unique experiences here. back in singapore things like this wouldn't happen, and if it does i'l just get my dad to fix it, if not i'l fix it only when the situation is dire. well yeah. living on my own, managing my finance, food, academics, the experiences.
priceless.
Day #18
woke up really early today, in which i can't explain why. around 6.30am? ridiculous! today, the dean of school of foreign language's here to teach us about China's history and culture (part 2)! well yeah, with all due respect to him, it's pretty dry thus boring. i slept a LITTLE during the class as i was sitting in front of his face. I actually learnt alot from this man about China, as compared to other teachers.
relunctantly, i went to canteen 3 to have lunch with the rest. the phrase that was piloting me is "immersion, immersion, immerse myself into China" so yeah. ate rice with dishes there, again, the meal cost ONE DOLLAR SGD hahaha. cheapo. then there's this incident. A girl accidentally spill this guy's food on the floor. she was shocked for a moment followed by apologies and her card (u use this card to pay for food, similar to ez-link). even so, the guy simply gave her a black face, ignoring what she said, took the card with force and left to buy food for himself. this kind of ungentlemanly act is disappointing. well yeah it's the girl's fault. but awww the look on her face, so pitiful, a sorry face. a least say it's okay perhaps? other than that, it is normal for china students to shoulder nudge others without looking back or apologising, not to mention the professionals of cutting queue.disappointing.
at night, approximately 10pm, something extraordinary occured in the very toilet of our apartment. THE PIPE EXPLODED! okay not literally, but you get the idea. so yeah, he was pumping the toilet drain as it got stuck then he noticed there was a leak at the clean water pipe below the basin, he tried to close the valve, but it turns out otherwise, he turned the wrong direction! so the toilet begun flooding! he took off his shirt and shorts and started screaming "call mr.lee call mr.lee! HURRY!" out of curiousity, we rushed to the toilet and took a look. tried to call mr.lee using jabez' phone but we couldn't reach him. so, we did this black and white hand game to decide who should go in and get himself wet to help jabez. SHIWEI! so he whined a little and took off his shirt and begun using a cup to scoop water from the floor to the toilet bowl, HILARIOUS! we burst out in laughter! really really funny! then i took off my shirt and took a look at the pipe and kind of fix it for the time being. it's just closing the valve. =)
exhilarating.
immerse immerse immerse. fixing toilet pipes to getting used to eating at canteens. quite unique experiences here. back in singapore things like this wouldn't happen, and if it does i'l just get my dad to fix it, if not i'l fix it only when the situation is dire. well yeah. living on my own, managing my finance, food, academics, the experiences.
priceless.
my friend took this when i was fixing it, i look fat huh. =D
3:41 PM
Wednesday, September 10th 2008
Day 17.
started the day off with SDC and ended class at 4pm with SDC. i must say it's really mind-numbing to absorb so much within a day. well, after all we have to squeeze 16 weeks of content into 5 weeks. at night, was old school style barbecue (involving more than 70 people) with tree branches (cause we didn't have fire starters) and wooden barbecue pits made by tying poles together. pretty cool really. using robe to tie wooden poles together to form a table. almost forgot, with the china students!
innovative.
so i helped out first by setting up garbage areas, then to plucking out small little tree branches as fuel for barbecue pits. down to earth! soon after nat came to join us, and got poked by a green coloured caterpillar, went to tell guan about it and treated his wound. then i went on to do something i like to do best, starting the fire! fanning the pit for fire to grow together with guan and azzuri. the china students were sorting out the food, arranging them on tables while waiting for us to prepare the pits. so yeah thats how we start out the whole event. as soon as our station up and good to go, we moved on to help other stations, totalling about 4 stations. soon after, we began cooking! pits were filled enthusiastically with various food within seconds, both their hands were already armed with food ranging from satay sticks to mushrooms.
food were passed around as kind gestures, between singapore students and china students. I was helping with the cooking at the 'veg' station, flipping food, heating marshmellows and conversing in CHINESE, mainly saying, "zhe ge hao le, shui yao?" ["this is done, who wants?"] while getting replies such as "ni chi ba, ni zu hen duo you mei you chi" [you eat, you cook so much but didn't eat much] yup, pretty common. they're nice people. during this whole time, i'm always distracted by the retriever hahaha. he/she (named xiao Q) is very friendly! littleQ loves to play fetch! there's this moment where the dog was at the tap area, littleQ was licking water off the ground, so i went to take a clean cup, filled it with tap water and gave it to the dog, littleQ drank from my cup! refilled and gave littleQ again =) then something happened. the china students were panicky! they were looking all over the garbage area for a knife. they said, this knife have been passed on since about 12years ago. soon after, i went to help to clear the place and left to buy some food then back to my dorm. yup end of the day!
this simple yet fruitful event has opened up ourselves once again and promoted interaction between both schools, knowing each other better everytime. I believe most of us, as a whole, students from both singapore and china enjoyed the barbecue very much and definitely, i appreciate the hospitality of the china students.
6:42 AM
Tuesday, September 09, 2008,
Tuesday, September 9th 2008
Day #16
okay. it's morning at 6.45am, mak wen yao woke up! went to wash up, changed and rushed downstairs! we were scheduled to gather at 7am. yeah 7am. I usually wake up 10-15mins before the meeting time, wash up get changed and head off already, not to forget,THATS ONLY IN CHINA! so yeah. off to high elements! the adventure place's just a camera view away. we strolled there. I was expecting rock climbing, abseiling and sorts, pretty similar to OBS and AQ. and true enough, thats what i saw! rock climbing wall and high elements station, also, i saw a labrador retriever, a friendly one at that! and another black dog which i couldn't identify its breed.
we started off with icebreaking games. i feel that it's pretty interesting. the instructor's really good. he's quite interesting, funny and able to capture our attention. the icebreaking games are really successful in my opinion. it helped to get everyone out of their shells and talk to people outside of their circle of friends. on top of that, smiles and laughters seen from each of our faces, despite the scorching sun. next, we were split into three groups, myself being in the 3rd group. we're supposed to come up with a group cheer, logo (drawn on a flag), call sign (something you paste on your sleeves), group name and group phrase. so, what we came up was,
Group Name: Shi San Yao (mahjong's 13 wonders)
Group Phrase: Shi San Yao! HU! (13 wonders win!)
Group Cheer: okay we have 3. one to make fun of other ppl, one to celebrate our win and one for general.
win, leader: shi san yao oie! us: HO! leader repeats, us: SEH! leader repeats, us: HO SEH BO!
making fun, leader: ta men huai bu huai! us: HUAI! everyone: da pi gu da pi gu, da pi gu da pi gu, da pi gu da pi gu, da pi gu. (meaning beat backside)
okay the third i'm pretty lazy to type out =P
Group Logo: Thirteen in a triangle, 13 people, and we're group 3, 3 sides in a triangle.
this simple planning about our group really enhance our friendship with one another. we discuss, input ideas and combined them all! the very start of team-bonding in today's event. we all took turns to sign our names on our group flag! yup! next we're supposed to plan our entrance, preferably something related to journey to the west, with people acting as sun wukong, tan sanzhang (the monk), zhu pajie (pig) and the last one i forgot. so yup we planned our act as well! it's pretty funny really! laughter brings the world together, we laughed tons! good times, good stuff.
next we assembled together to display what we have, our cheers, acts. hahahaha, MY GROUP'S THE BEST! well in my opinion, my group's performance seems the best. yeah! see what team-bonding activities can do? corny as it may sound, but amazing changes can be made through these simple games.
next is ROCK CLIMBING! oh man i would say, MY FORTE! (i suppose) hahahaa! i love this kind of adventure activities. so yeah we cheered and shouted tips for people climbing, applaud when they stop. Rock climbing tests your determination, perserverence and mental strength. so anyway, my arms were still aching since eons ago! (the thursday i pulled my muscle? yeah it's still in effect! well at least i think it's pull) meiyue surprisingly climbed pretty high for a girl her size. so anyway i managed reach the top! man it isn't easy at all. but because i was lucky enough to have experience rock climbing, i could execute a few techniques i have learnt. everyone climbed pretty high as if they were doing their best, and it looks like they were! while people with long hands and legs have the upper hand, it's not the deciding factor. it is the mental strength, the perserverence and the courage to pick up this challenge to overcome YOURSELF, yes yourself and not the wall. The wall is just an instrument used to defeat yourself. Quoting from the instructor "there's no win or lose, it's whether you did your best or not" our instructor was very impressed with us, as he mentioned. we even bothered to take out our socks to climb. then we were dismissed for lunch! on the way, i took a picture with the labrador retriever! hahaha he's really friendly, well as expected from a labrador. the dog's quite poor thing though. his diet isn't really healthy, as seen from his teeth and fur.
After lunch, we came back for another warm-up game to wake up from our inner sleep. then we formed a human train and blindfolded ourselves. Exactly the game we planned for the AQ boys, yup! this game requires one another to trust, not to abandon the person behind, a confidence and trust activity. As each of us couldn't see anything, all we have is the person in front of you, and behind you. thus, whatever the front person does, you most probably have to follow him/her. Lina was the first person, she was guided by mere claps coming from a distance away by the instructor, pretty impressive in my opinion =) played before, but fun! as discussed earlier, we agreed on a strategy which is, jerking the left shoulder means there's something you have to go up, while the right shoulder means go down.
next (hahaha yeah this is the second last one already) we were instructed to form 2 groups, each having 15 people, to build a bridge to withstand the weight of a bottle filled with water. materials given were 8 wooden chopsticks, 4 pieces of A4 paper, stapler and staples, 8 pieces of straws and 8 plastic cups for half a group. here's how it goes. each group is further split into two, each creating half a bridge and at the end of 40 mins we combine them together. however, we are required to work within our half of the group, away from every other group. only 2 meetings of 3mins each are allowed, with one person from one group throughout the duration of the challenge. we put our minds together, giving inputs and suggestions on how to build our bridge, such as the same concept of a bamboo raft and a truss structure. As students from aerospace technology, we used engineering theories to build our bridge, finally using the truss method. i'm quite impressed with our group as we did not argue nor shoot down any suggestions, instead, we used most of the suggestions to keep improving on our design, incorporating experiences and academic knowledge into this challenge. following which, is the high elements station.
honestly, we didn't have much time left for this station. a person would have to climb up nine metres high to get to a platform, jump across a gap of approximately one metre to get to the other platform. thats not all. they have to lean back in a squatting position against NOTHING so that the belaying instructor could lower them down (and the way he lowers people down, is really FAST but safe) yup. as i have already tried similar activities such as inverse rappeling, i should let others have a shot at this. we cheered for our friends, applaud when they get down! it's encouraging, even for people who have experienced this many times. this activity i would say, is testing your courage and ability to trust a qualified stranger with your life, as well as overcoming height phobia. yup. thats about all for today!
Day #16
okay. it's morning at 6.45am, mak wen yao woke up! went to wash up, changed and rushed downstairs! we were scheduled to gather at 7am. yeah 7am. I usually wake up 10-15mins before the meeting time, wash up get changed and head off already, not to forget,THATS ONLY IN CHINA! so yeah. off to high elements! the adventure place's just a camera view away. we strolled there. I was expecting rock climbing, abseiling and sorts, pretty similar to OBS and AQ. and true enough, thats what i saw! rock climbing wall and high elements station, also, i saw a labrador retriever, a friendly one at that! and another black dog which i couldn't identify its breed.
we started off with icebreaking games. i feel that it's pretty interesting. the instructor's really good. he's quite interesting, funny and able to capture our attention. the icebreaking games are really successful in my opinion. it helped to get everyone out of their shells and talk to people outside of their circle of friends. on top of that, smiles and laughters seen from each of our faces, despite the scorching sun. next, we were split into three groups, myself being in the 3rd group. we're supposed to come up with a group cheer, logo (drawn on a flag), call sign (something you paste on your sleeves), group name and group phrase. so, what we came up was,
Group Name: Shi San Yao (mahjong's 13 wonders)
Group Phrase: Shi San Yao! HU! (13 wonders win!)
Group Cheer: okay we have 3. one to make fun of other ppl, one to celebrate our win and one for general.
win, leader: shi san yao oie! us: HO! leader repeats, us: SEH! leader repeats, us: HO SEH BO!
making fun, leader: ta men huai bu huai! us: HUAI! everyone: da pi gu da pi gu, da pi gu da pi gu, da pi gu da pi gu, da pi gu. (meaning beat backside)
okay the third i'm pretty lazy to type out =P
Group Logo: Thirteen in a triangle, 13 people, and we're group 3, 3 sides in a triangle.
this simple planning about our group really enhance our friendship with one another. we discuss, input ideas and combined them all! the very start of team-bonding in today's event. we all took turns to sign our names on our group flag! yup! next we're supposed to plan our entrance, preferably something related to journey to the west, with people acting as sun wukong, tan sanzhang (the monk), zhu pajie (pig) and the last one i forgot. so yup we planned our act as well! it's pretty funny really! laughter brings the world together, we laughed tons! good times, good stuff.
next we assembled together to display what we have, our cheers, acts. hahahaha, MY GROUP'S THE BEST! well in my opinion, my group's performance seems the best. yeah! see what team-bonding activities can do? corny as it may sound, but amazing changes can be made through these simple games.
next is ROCK CLIMBING! oh man i would say, MY FORTE! (i suppose) hahahaa! i love this kind of adventure activities. so yeah we cheered and shouted tips for people climbing, applaud when they stop. Rock climbing tests your determination, perserverence and mental strength. so anyway, my arms were still aching since eons ago! (the thursday i pulled my muscle? yeah it's still in effect! well at least i think it's pull) meiyue surprisingly climbed pretty high for a girl her size. so anyway i managed reach the top! man it isn't easy at all. but because i was lucky enough to have experience rock climbing, i could execute a few techniques i have learnt. everyone climbed pretty high as if they were doing their best, and it looks like they were! while people with long hands and legs have the upper hand, it's not the deciding factor. it is the mental strength, the perserverence and the courage to pick up this challenge to overcome YOURSELF, yes yourself and not the wall. The wall is just an instrument used to defeat yourself. Quoting from the instructor "there's no win or lose, it's whether you did your best or not" our instructor was very impressed with us, as he mentioned. we even bothered to take out our socks to climb. then we were dismissed for lunch! on the way, i took a picture with the labrador retriever! hahaha he's really friendly, well as expected from a labrador. the dog's quite poor thing though. his diet isn't really healthy, as seen from his teeth and fur.
After lunch, we came back for another warm-up game to wake up from our inner sleep. then we formed a human train and blindfolded ourselves. Exactly the game we planned for the AQ boys, yup! this game requires one another to trust, not to abandon the person behind, a confidence and trust activity. As each of us couldn't see anything, all we have is the person in front of you, and behind you. thus, whatever the front person does, you most probably have to follow him/her. Lina was the first person, she was guided by mere claps coming from a distance away by the instructor, pretty impressive in my opinion =) played before, but fun! as discussed earlier, we agreed on a strategy which is, jerking the left shoulder means there's something you have to go up, while the right shoulder means go down.
next (hahaha yeah this is the second last one already) we were instructed to form 2 groups, each having 15 people, to build a bridge to withstand the weight of a bottle filled with water. materials given were 8 wooden chopsticks, 4 pieces of A4 paper, stapler and staples, 8 pieces of straws and 8 plastic cups for half a group. here's how it goes. each group is further split into two, each creating half a bridge and at the end of 40 mins we combine them together. however, we are required to work within our half of the group, away from every other group. only 2 meetings of 3mins each are allowed, with one person from one group throughout the duration of the challenge. we put our minds together, giving inputs and suggestions on how to build our bridge, such as the same concept of a bamboo raft and a truss structure. As students from aerospace technology, we used engineering theories to build our bridge, finally using the truss method. i'm quite impressed with our group as we did not argue nor shoot down any suggestions, instead, we used most of the suggestions to keep improving on our design, incorporating experiences and academic knowledge into this challenge. following which, is the high elements station.
honestly, we didn't have much time left for this station. a person would have to climb up nine metres high to get to a platform, jump across a gap of approximately one metre to get to the other platform. thats not all. they have to lean back in a squatting position against NOTHING so that the belaying instructor could lower them down (and the way he lowers people down, is really FAST but safe) yup. as i have already tried similar activities such as inverse rappeling, i should let others have a shot at this. we cheered for our friends, applaud when they get down! it's encouraging, even for people who have experienced this many times. this activity i would say, is testing your courage and ability to trust a qualified stranger with your life, as well as overcoming height phobia. yup. thats about all for today!
the two dudes on the right side are my classmates, and i was climbing in this picture =)
i think this is a labrador retriever, really friendly!
8:47 PM
Monday, September 8th 2008
Day #15
Monday! FREE DAY! this day we have no lessons no scheduled activities! they moved today's lesson to 3days before, a friday. so yeah. i woke up around 9am (and a few times before that) and went to do a week's worth of journal, which is blogging. so yup. i practically stayed in my bunk the whole day, to rest my arms (remember i pulled my muscles on thursday?) for adventure; high elements tomorrow! yeah! a simple yet fruitful day, in terms of work done. =)
i didn't join jabez and the rest for table tennis, again, resting my arms! hahaha.
Ending off, it's a pretty short day.
8:32 PM
Monday, September 08, 2008,
Sunday, September 7th 2008
Day #14
Sunday! woke up at 7am, went to wash up and powder bath again! reached the same restaurant at 7.30am for breakfast. at 8am we went to visit the ancient army camp at Lülin, which has a history of over 1000 years and is a scenic site. really really nice there! something about the history of China, integrated with nature and beauty =) climb climb climb up the stairs! on the way visiting different statues such as stone tables usually with chinese chess, and people. We went to many spots, such as this grassland where it used to be a battlefield (i think) if not an army camp. really really cool! i've never been to such places before and this is definitely an eye-opener. as we trekked to different parts of the forest, we came across many structures of historical china, ranging from army men to goddess, to temples of the phoenix. this trip really opened up my eyes, being a nature adventurer, this is the perfect thing that i would want to be involved in! this kind of nature trips helps me to retreat from the bustling city where technology is everywhere. It keeps me composed, relaxed and reflect about myself.
okay you probably wouldn't understand what i'm saying, so i'm keeping this short, a picture speaks a thousand words! now, what about ten thousand pictures?
Just outside the restaurant. 
Chinese Generals who were once here. 
Up up up we go! 
okay, i honestly have no idea my friend was taking this picture. i was scratching my shoulder =P
this is a really really deep well! we threw a huge rock in it and can't hear the bottom
A leech! 
yeah, i like to climb, do i actually have a spiderman pose?
Male and Female goddess trees. now which is which?
this is about the general at the next post. hehehe.
yeah! thats me! sitting on the general's buffalo!
gigantic chinese chess!
two super far distant pictures taken with jabez's camera! (thats Mr.Jian)
The Battlefield!
Myself with an army flag!
A picture at a bunker =)
A picture where the general stands when giving orders to his troops!
okay i've posted hell lot of pictures! hope they don't bore you! thats day 14 for you!
2:53 PM
Saturday, September 6 2008
Day #13
Saturday, also, WHITE WATER RAFTING + WATERFALL DAY! wooohoooo! finally something that i love very much. okay here's the chain of events. dormitory - 4hr bus ride - lunch - straw slippers - white water rafting - shower - short journey to waterfall - dinner - hotel.
the day started with me waking up at 7.10am, while we're supposed to assemble at 7.20am. i quickly wash up, took my bag and left! leaving behind stuff that i have not packed into my bag the previous night. got into the bus and sat comfortably, preparing for a 4hours long bus ride~ i guess everyone slept during the journey. the sceneries are really really nice! i love the countryside! mountains, swamps, lakes, trees, animals. wish i could have a huge mansion like that! (like in the movie Iron Man) with a rough collie companion =) once we arrived at our destination, we had lunch at the hotel restaurant (it isn't 5 star btw), bought my very own straw slippers (can't be found in sg!) for 2 yuan, about 40cents SGD. and boarded the bus towards white water rafting area.
Put on our life jackets and boom! off we go! shiwei's sitting in front while i'm at the back (yes it's a raft not a kayak) the scenery's really nice! well, i love nature so yeah! paddle paddle paddle. nicholas has problems paddling and controling the raft cause he himself doesn't have much experience with kayaking (as inferred from how he paddles) and he's sitting in front! usually the back person controls and paddles while the front concentrate on paddling. As we paddle together, we helped other people drain their raft of water before/after we drain ours, such as pairs like lina's raft, nicholas' raft. and a few times, we joined our rafts together, back to front and back to front, my raft being the front as we have two guys, to help jabez with meiyue's raft, and nic with kay thi's raft forward. we did many crazy stuff! such as, after joining the rafts, i got off and pulled the 3 rafts forward, running against the water along the stream shouting as i exert force going as fast as i could like i'm some mad man. tiring, but fun! Even though we come from different schools sometimes speaking different frequencies, we combined our strength to work together, leaving none behind, with the strong ones assisting the weaker ones, so that we can cross the finish line together. This water rafting activity may seem like personal fun on the surface, but deep down it is really how we help and work with each other, not leaving people behind, as said, crossing the finish line together.
after everything's done, i helped this local guy there drain a few rafts and stacked the rafts on one another. went off to shower! this shower room reminded me of when i was in Outward Bound School: Sabah! there weren't any dividers for each shower head, so we were just bathing without dividers (like army i suppose?). bought this drink, apple yogurt drink, IT'S MY NEW FAVOURITE DRINK! woohoooo! it tastes really really REALLY good!
Got on to our bus and headed off to another tourist place. WATERFALL! we took a short boat ride followed by a loong walk up stream to the waterfall, and i must say it's really nice and interesting! the sceneries, the condition of the nature park was kept really well, quite natural. i love the place! taking many many pictures there.
Day #13
Saturday, also, WHITE WATER RAFTING + WATERFALL DAY! wooohoooo! finally something that i love very much. okay here's the chain of events. dormitory - 4hr bus ride - lunch - straw slippers - white water rafting - shower - short journey to waterfall - dinner - hotel.
the day started with me waking up at 7.10am, while we're supposed to assemble at 7.20am. i quickly wash up, took my bag and left! leaving behind stuff that i have not packed into my bag the previous night. got into the bus and sat comfortably, preparing for a 4hours long bus ride~ i guess everyone slept during the journey. the sceneries are really really nice! i love the countryside! mountains, swamps, lakes, trees, animals. wish i could have a huge mansion like that! (like in the movie Iron Man) with a rough collie companion =) once we arrived at our destination, we had lunch at the hotel restaurant (it isn't 5 star btw), bought my very own straw slippers (can't be found in sg!) for 2 yuan, about 40cents SGD. and boarded the bus towards white water rafting area.
Put on our life jackets and boom! off we go! shiwei's sitting in front while i'm at the back (yes it's a raft not a kayak) the scenery's really nice! well, i love nature so yeah! paddle paddle paddle. nicholas has problems paddling and controling the raft cause he himself doesn't have much experience with kayaking (as inferred from how he paddles) and he's sitting in front! usually the back person controls and paddles while the front concentrate on paddling. As we paddle together, we helped other people drain their raft of water before/after we drain ours, such as pairs like lina's raft, nicholas' raft. and a few times, we joined our rafts together, back to front and back to front, my raft being the front as we have two guys, to help jabez with meiyue's raft, and nic with kay thi's raft forward. we did many crazy stuff! such as, after joining the rafts, i got off and pulled the 3 rafts forward, running against the water along the stream shouting as i exert force going as fast as i could like i'm some mad man. tiring, but fun! Even though we come from different schools sometimes speaking different frequencies, we combined our strength to work together, leaving none behind, with the strong ones assisting the weaker ones, so that we can cross the finish line together. This water rafting activity may seem like personal fun on the surface, but deep down it is really how we help and work with each other, not leaving people behind, as said, crossing the finish line together.
after everything's done, i helped this local guy there drain a few rafts and stacked the rafts on one another. went off to shower! this shower room reminded me of when i was in Outward Bound School: Sabah! there weren't any dividers for each shower head, so we were just bathing without dividers (like army i suppose?). bought this drink, apple yogurt drink, IT'S MY NEW FAVOURITE DRINK! woohoooo! it tastes really really REALLY good!
Got on to our bus and headed off to another tourist place. WATERFALL! we took a short boat ride followed by a loong walk up stream to the waterfall, and i must say it's really nice and interesting! the sceneries, the condition of the nature park was kept really well, quite natural. i love the place! taking many many pictures there.
Went back to the hotel, unpacked, and played cards with my roommates, not to mention powder bathing! it's something adventurers do when not being able to bathe with soap and water. This came from experience once again during obs sabah and AQ (both are adventure programmes just so you know). Mr.Lee and the other students bought a whole lot of fireworks! boom booooom booom! outside our rooms at an open area. hahahaa, illegal in singapore, legal in CHINA! moreover, we're in the middle of the mountains so it doesn't matter. Again, we moved our beds to join 3 beds together, so that jabez can sleep in the same room (he prefers to sleep here than with his assigned roommates) we packed our stuff for the next day, sunday, trekking! then went to sleep pretty early, about 10pm. yup thats about all for saturday!
STRAW SLIPPERS!
bamboo boat ride!
WATERFALL!
do you see me holding a fishing stick? =)
another waterfall with jabez and myself
i like this waterfall best! it's the strongest of them all!
FIRE WORKS!
1:30 PM