p0p-prinCess

2011-04-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Reflections !

At the start of the trip, I set out to learn more about the way of life in China (narrowing down to Hubei, Wuhan). The learning process involves searching the net an also personal experience. Learning more about a foreign country is both fun and interesting and it changes my view of (some of) the people in China too, in a good way. The way of life in Singapore and Wuhan is very different. Initially I had difficulty getting used to it, but as the days passed, I managed to adapt, and that allowed me to enjoy this trip more. Breaking the barrier is an important move to make as it allows you to discover things that are hiding behind it that makes it all worthwhile. I came to this trip knowing what to expect beforehand and I told myself that I must try to adapt to the living lifestyle and environment no matter how it turned out to be. That was what kept me going.

I learnt how to accept people and their culture when I’m in a foreign country. For example, spitting and littering in public places is prohibited in Singapore but not in Wuhan. The people would usually make a deep disgusting sound to clear their throat (get the phlegm out) before spitting it on the floor, carpet, stairs, elevator, practically everywhere. I used to give comments like “What is this? What is their problem? Why must they do that?” I went to search the net and it states that it is actually a medical thing – getting phlegm out of the body is important. After knowing that, every time I hear that deep disgusting sound, I would just go “Oh man, not again”. Littering is one thing I cannot stand seeing, especially when there is actually a bin nearby but one chose to throw it onto the ground. I witnessed it a few times in different places, many times was when we were climbing the wu dang shan. One time, I saw a little girl throw the satay stick on the ground after finish eating her food. A thought then flashed across my mind, they must be doing it as they are brought up that way. One more thing I cannot stand is smoking, the people in Wuhan literally smokes everywhere, even in prohibited areas like hospitals. We are brought up in a country where smoking is banned in most public areas, therefore we are not used to be forced to breathe in secondhand smoke. Although these are the few acts that irritate me a lot during this trip, I learnt that different countries have different practices. Apparently to them, spitting, littering and smoking almost everywhere are acceptable and normal. We have to understand that and not complain and compare their country to Singapore. After all, that is their way of life.

Independence is another important thing I have learnt from this trip. As we are away from home and our parents are not with us, we have to do everything ourselves. From chores like sweeping the floor and washing clothes using washing machine to waking up early in the morning and buying meals ourselves. Although we machine-washed most of our clothes, we still have to carry the clothes up to the fifth level to unload them, insert coins and wait for it to finish washing. It was my first time ‘operating’ a washing machine! After that, we have to go back up and collect the clothes and hang them in our dorms to air dry them. I actually enjoyed doing the chores as the days passed as it became a routine. Doing everything myself also made me feel more grown up and I also feel a sense of accomplishment as I do not have to depend on my parents. It also made me realize to never take things for granted, in this case, my parents.

Through this trip, I experienced many new things:

- First time visiting a TCM ‘clinic’.

- Dyed my hair, did manicures and pedicures with friends.

- Tried many kinds of street food etc.

I would definitely miss the friendly people and also food (Especially xiao long baos and strawberry red tea) there !

Overall, I enjoyed the trip a lot and made many friends, both locals and of the same course. I have to thank them for making this trip a memorable one.

2011-03-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

Day 19 and 20 !

We woke up early to prepare for the trip to wu dang shan .

The journey was so long that all of us fell asleep even though there’s a show playing at that time .

We reached the bottom of wu dang shan at around 12 and took our lunch in a restaurant .

The restrooms near the restaurant did not have doors !

I was told that the reason was that the government felt that they should invest on something more important than toilet doors .

Qiuyan even contemplated if she should use it or not .

After that , we got our tickets and made our way to the bus stop to wait for a bus .

We explored a few places and many temples , and have to keep getting on and off buses .

At the entrances of a few temples , there are high steps and we're supposed to walk over it instead of stepping on it .

I didn't know that and kept stepping on it until i was told that we're not supposed to do that .

I felt guilty .

All along , I was curious about the high steps , but did not take the initiative to ask what was it for .

We also saw some interesting things like trees hanged with some red pieces of cloth (people write their wishes in there before hanging it up) .

And a well if a stone creature with dragon head at the bottom .

People are supposed to try to aim coins into the creature's mouth .

None of the people i've seen succeeded .

After that , we checked into a hotel .

The room was awesome ! (Nearly 5 stars !)

Too bad we only got to stay there for one night .

The next morning , we had our breakfast there before setting off to wu dang shan !

We took the cable car up for the first part of the journey up to save time and strength .

The mountain was filled with people and we have to squeeze our way up .

The experience was not very good as the people there were aggressive and they would just push you if you’re in their way .

Adding on , I saw many people littering on my way up .

Even though there was a dustbin just a distance away from them , the people would just throw it on the floor .

It is not illegal to litter in China .

Their reason to litter is that there are people working there to pick up litter and it’s their job to do so , therefore it is not wrong for them to litter .

I even saw a little girl throw a stick on the floor after finish eating the hotdog !

I guess this kind of practice is trained from young and parents are responsible for how their child behave in the future .

We didn’t spend long at the peak of the mountain as there were still many people waiting to get up .

The area of the peak was very small and was packed with people .

Space for taking photos was quite limited too .

I was quite disappointed as it was far from what I expect it to look like .

The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction of reaching the peak after climbing for so long was not there .

When we’re waiting to get down , my friends and I linked hands/arms as we were afraid to lose each other among the crowd .

Suddenly , a man just cut between my friend and I by taking our hands and pushing them apart forcefully , he even made a sound to show that he was annoyed .

How rude !

He didn’t even bother to say excuse me .

After reaching below , we took the cable car down and made our way to the same restaurant we went yesterday to eat our late lunch .

After lunch , we took a long ride back to our campus .

2011-03-26T02:27:00.000-07:00

Day 18 !

First thing in the morning: present our PBL reflections .

After that , the class decided to take a trip to Wuhan university (main one) to see the sakura flowers that already bloomed .

The journey there was LONG .

The university was HUGE .

We have to walk quite a distance to get to the place where most sakura flowers are found .

The scenery was beautiful but not what i had in mind .

I was hoping to see more of the trees with the bloomed flowers .

After that , we made our way back to the bus stop .

We took a taxi to ‘ma ying long’ pharmacy to collect qiuyan’s herbal medicine while the others took a bus to some other place to have dinner and to shop .

After collecting the medicine , we had our dinner !

We again ate at the economical rice stall as the food there was yummy and the people there are friendly towards us .

Their stall don’t usually give out spoons but because of us , they specially went to find disposable spoons for us .

I find them very warm and welcoming .

They must have been touched by our politeness as it is always a must to thank them and say bye bye before leaving their stall .

After dinner , we met up with chen ming and walked around the back alley .

We met Mr Imran and Mr Teoh there :)

We then bought shoes before going to a cafe that was still open (we went there quite late) .

I love the place a lot !

It’s interior design is very unique and it’s ceiling is covered with cardboard that are shaped to hold eggs .

How creative and eco-friendly !

The ambience was very good and there is even free wifi :)

We each ordered a drink (chen ming ordered chocolate icecream) and stayed there a while to play uno cards !

It was very fun !

There are other games available too such as a rubik’s cube and poker cards .

However , as it was already quite late , we did not stay there for long .

We promised to go there again very soon ! ^_^

2011-03-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

Day 17 !

We presented our OIE project in the morning .

We went back to the dorm to discuss what we’ll be doing for the PBL reflection presentation .

After that , we went to eat ‘zha jiang mian’ at the back alley .

It was delicious !

The owners of the stall actually can tell that we are from Singapore !

Actually , many other shop/stall owners also can tell that .

We chatted with them as we eat .

After that , we walked to the pharmacy near the greenery café to get some information for the project .

However , they were very unfriendly to us so we went to the pharmacy at the back alley .

After reaching there , we realized that the pharmacy only sells western medicine .

We were disappointed .

Fortunately , she suggested another pharmacy to use called ‘ma ying long’ and even told us how to get there .

We went back to find her for three times before being able to find the place .

We were very grateful as we didn’t purchase any drugs from her and yet she still help us out .

The place was huge and nicely furnished !

I was very impressed .

We then interviewed the pharmacist there and asked him many questions .

All our questions asked were answered willingly and professionally .

He even helped us to make an appointment with the physician there .

All four of us got our consultation for free and we have to decide if we want to purchase the herbs he prescribed .

After that , we met up with Mr Imran to have dinner together :)

The place he recommended was quite far away so we have to take the bus .

It was my first time taking a bus in China !

The bus ride was quite similar to Singapore’s except that it is much jerkier and the bus driver is a little reckless at some times .

After around 30 minutes of bus ride , we finally reached the place .

The first word that came out of my mouth was ‘WAHHHH’ when I first saw a long lane with people selling many things at both sides .

We walked through the whole lane and reached the start of another long lane selling street food .

The streets was very crowded and lively and there was a wide variety of food to choose from although a few stalls were selling the same kind of food .

There was another place that sold street food indoors , tables and chairs were set up so that people are able to enjoy the food they bought there .

There were a few stalls selling fried cocoons , I was too scared to try it but managed to take a picture of it ^_^

We then went back to the long lane of street food to buy the food we want to eat .

There are some street food sold that are rarely (or never) seen in Singapore , such as fried banana on a stick with colourful sauces and ‘bing tang hu lu’ (malt candy-coated fruits on a stick) .

After eating , we walked back to the long lane with people selling many different things such as clothes , watches , accessories and many many more .

We took a bus back in the end .

The rest of the time is spent on completing the project that is dued tomorrow morning .

2011-03-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

Day 16 !

I didn’t go to the coca cola factory as I was unable to get out of bed on time (because I slept very late on the previous night) .

We went for lunch before taking the lecture test at 2pm .

After the test , we went to the back alley to shop for clothes and coats (for the cold weather during the trip to wudang shan) .

We tried bargaining but did not get the best deal as we are not very skilled at bargaining and did not dare to lower the price too much .

The owner of the shop will always have reasons to prevent us from bargaining: ‘The things sold here are already at their lowest price’ or ‘We are clearing stuff and this price is the lowest you can get’ or ‘By lowering to ___ amount , I’ll be making a loss’ .

After hearing their reasons , we just nod our heads and spend some time considering if it is worth buying .

Usually I’ll still end up buying the stuff .

We then went to a shop that sells things such as bracelets , earrings , nail polish and many many other stuff .

The owner of the shop was very friendly and even tried communicating with us in english .

Hearing Yvette and Qiuyan coughing quite seriously , she even recommended us to buy medicine from a nearby pharmacy .

After chatting for quite some time , we found out that the coat she was wearing was actually made by a company she works in !

She said she made it herself and we were all very amazed .

She even ran all the way to her other shop to get the same coat and ask if I want to purchase it .

In the end , I bought it .

She said that the coats were made in china by them , and they get exported to other countries and are actually sold at 300rmb !

She only charged me 45rmb and still asked if I still want her to lower the price further .

I felt that the deal was already good enough so I told her that there’s no need to lower the price .

We packet our dinner (xiao long baos and dumplings with a cup of tea each) , and went back to our dorm to do our OIE project , which we have to present the next day .

2011-03-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Day 15 !

Woke up early for the factory tour to Wugang .

The tour was a very short one and we get to see how the factory operates , step by step .

I was a little amazed that there were actually female workers there as the job looks kind of dangerous .

We saw how the steel is processed and cut .

After the trip , we went to the back alley to have early lunch .

I finally tried the ‘mala soup’ !

It was quite yummy .

However , I read some time ago from a site , that mala soup in china is actually opium soup .

Truth is , I didn’t know that the soup I ordered was actually mala flavoured .

We then went back to our dorm to rehearse for the ‘CAM and disease states’ presentation which took place at 2pm .

As the previous time , the year two seniors looked professional and confident , no scripts were used .

Hope I can be like them when I graduate to year two !

After the presentation , we went to the back alley and this time we walked a path different from last time .

We went to the back alley many times and yet we did not walk through that pathway until today .

(Many new things not yet discovered !)

All the food sold there looked delicious and there were also few shops selling clothes .

After ‘shopping’ for a while , we went to grab our dinner .

We went to a store selling food that charges according to the weight of the food chosen , which is unusual as stores in Singapore usually charge them according to the type of food chosen .

As usual , the rice portion was very large .

The people in the store were very friendly and started conversing with us .

The owner even warned us about thieves in the area and told us to keep our wallets properly when we’re leaving their store .

We promised to visit them again tomorrow :D

As we were walking back to our dorm , Yvette saw a bag she like along the streets (the things sold were all set on the ground) .

The store owner was very friendly and she turned out to be a student from WUST as well !

We were given discounts and got quite a great deal .

We even ended up exchanging phone numbers .

She even offered to bring us around the area !

We were so glad that we made new friends ! :]

2011-03-21T01:22:00.000-07:00

Day 6 to 14 !

It’s Sunday and we’re having free activities . We spent most of our time doing the herbal supplement project .
We had soup-filled dumplings (xiao long bao) for the first time we arrived in wuhan .

They were delicious and only cost 3rmb for 8 pieces !

At night , we went to the ‘lemon restaurant’ (on the second level) to have dinner , food there was yummy too !
Yvette , qiuyan and me left earlier than the rest as we are going to sing karaoke with chenming and we’re already running late .
Although we only sang for 2 hours , we had fun :D

The next day was the coldest day , so far . The wind was extra strong and my hands were freezing !
And yet , Yvette and me went down to the streets to packet breakfast and lunch in slippers .
We did not go to ‘Huang Jiang Hu Campus’ as qiuyan was not feeling well and we stayed back to accompany her . Most of our time was spent in the dorm .
At night , there was a black out and everyone ran out of their dorms , some holding torchlights .
It was a great experience :D

On day 8, after the OIE lectures , we bought badminton rackets and played . It was fun !

We played badminton too the next day and also went back to xu dong to shop .
For dinner , we ate a german style buffet as suggested by Mr Imran :)
I ate a chicken heart by accident :/

On Friday , we have to get ready to go on a ‘Yangtze river cruise’ and also visit the ‘Three Gorges Dam’ .
The journey there took 5 hours . The movie ‘karate kid’ was played during that time .

On our way there ~

Making our way into the cruise ship ~

The cabin we’re supposed to stay in was not as bad as I expected , what a relief .
Before the trip , almost everyone went prepared with lots of food and water .
Only Yvette , Qiuyan and me went there unprepared . We got worried thinking how were we going to survive there .

The cabin :)

The highest level of the cruise ship ~

Colourful lighted up buildings at night ~

We had our first meal there and we were served with a lot of dishes .
After that , we stayed up waiting for the dam gate to open .
We were told that after the dam gate closes , the water level will rise and the ship will then proceed to the next gate .

The next day , we woke up early but was told that the ship was delayed . We then entertained ourselves by playing card games until 11 plus .
We then got off the cruise ship and transfer to a smaller ship and cruised down the Yangtze river .

We then reached this place called ‘Shen nong xi’ where we went up an even smaller boat that is powered fully by the men there .

At one point , they have to get off the boat and pull it for a distance as the water is too shallow for them to paddle .

The trip back and forth the stream took around 1 hour and there was a ‘tour guide’ on the boat with us to tell us more about the place . She told us that the people living there are called ‘tu jia’ people and since young , they were taught to sing mountain songs . She even sang a song for us !

Tour guide singing a mountain song ~

The next morning , we checked out at 7 plus and took a bus to visit the power station .
We were taken to a few places and the view was very nice .

Cherry blossoms !

Nice looking plant mini plant !

^_^

Fountain !

Giant book !

Although it was very cold up there , we bought ice-cream as we were told by a lecturer that if we eat ice-cream on a cold day , our body will feel warmer .

For a moment , i thought it was real .

Giant yellow truck !

Mysterious looking place O:

Tadpoles !

So misty ~

The trip then came to an end .
We went to a restaurant to have our lunch . A wedding ceremony was co-occurring and we witnessed them getting married . It was a joyous occasion ! :D
It was another 5 hours long journey from there to our dorm .

On our way back ! :D

WE MISSED OUR DORM SOOOOOOO MUCH !
We were glad to be ‘home’ ^_^
We unpacked all our things and even did laundry before dinner .

The next day , the weather was very very cold and it was raining . I was shivering as we walked from our dorm to the streets to get food . Due to the weather , we spent most of our time in the dorm .

2011-03-12T01:43:00.000-08:00

Day 4 and 5 !

I woke up late and was not feeling very well, Yvette and Qiuyan then went to the cafeteria to buy plain white buns .
We then made our way to the auditorium where we sat and listen to the OIE talk by Ms Grace Tao about 'Business Environment and Strategies of Doing Business in China' for 3 hours .
She also answered some questions at the end such as how the education system in China works, how is marriage in China carried out etc.
After that, we went to the cafeteria for lunch .

Tomato with fried egg rice !

After that, we went back to our dorm to rest before going for lecture at 2pm .

It ended at 3 plus so we went back to the dorm to start on our report .

Later we went for dinner .

Stayed up for awhile to finish the report before going to sleep .

The next day , I did not go for the wuhan city tour as i was still unwell .

Mr Puah stayed back and even cooked dumpling soup for me !

Thank you Mr Puah :)

After they come back from their tour , we went outside to eat with chen ming (a student from WUST) .

We went back to the soup restaurant we went yesterday . Yummy !

After eating , we walked around the streets and bought fruits back to our dorm .

Strawberries !

Cups we decorated ourselves :D

And , thanks Yvette and Qiuyan for taking care of me and forcing me to eat medicine !

Sorry if I spread the cough/flu to you guys :/

LOVE YOU GUYS ^_^

Thanks Shehui , Gracia and Camellia too ! :]

2011-03-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Day 3 !

Woke up at 7.45 and went for lessons on CAM which starts at 9 and ends at 12 .

We decided to try WUST's cafeteria food after topping up the card given to us on the first day .

Chicken drumstick rice !

This plate of chicken drumstick rice cost 7 yuan , which is only singapore $1.35 !

Food there was very cheap and the portion was very big too .

I wasn't able to finish all the rice so i made ..

THIS ! haha .

After lunch , we went back to the classroom where the lesson was held earlier on .

We thought that we were supposed to meet at 1 so we went to the 6th floor to wait for the rest of the students to come .

Part of WUST from the 6th floor !

We later found out that lesson actually starts at 2 !

We then went back to our dorm for a while and also went to the nearby shop to buy more necessitites .

After that , we went to play badminton .

A guy from WUST borrowed the rackets for us from his friends , which turns out to be other school's students (BA) which are also here for oip trip !

After playing for awhile , we returned them their rackets and went to the streets which is near the dorm to explore .

The area was very crowded and smokey and i noticed that there were many stalls selling similar kind of food , they had to compete with each other for business .

However , all the stalls are busy as there were really alot of people there .

We then meet the friend from WUST and he brought us to a stall selling handmade noodles and other food to have our dinner !

He then bring us around the streets .

He also brought us to a indoor basketball court where the female basketballers are having their training session .

They were very good at playing !

We then walked, talked and joked for a long time before heading back to our dorm .

Today was fun ! :D

2011-03-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Day 1 and 2 !

Plan was to meet at 11am at terminal 1 station 8 on 08.03.11 , but i reached there late !

We checked in our luggage at around 12 plus and mine weighed 19.7kg !

We reached Guangzhou airport at 5 plus and took our dinner there .

We boarded the plane to WUHAN at 9 plus at night .

Finally we reach the airport at wuhan !

We went outside to wait for the bus to take us to Wuhan University of Science and Technology (WUST) .

It was very very cold and everyone started to put on their jackets/coats/gloves/scarves.

Shortly , the bus arrived and the guys help everyone to carry the luggage up before boarding it .
The road leading to our dorm ! (It was already 1 plus by then ~ )

We went to our allocated dorms ; unpack , bathe and sleep as we're all tired after a long day of travelling .

The next day , we gathered downstairs at 9am , but we went down abit later and was rushed down by a teacher .

We walked around the school before going out for lunch .

WUST :)

After that , we took a taxi to Wal-mart to buy necessities and snacks .

Red wine flavoured pocky ^_^

We have friends from WUST to accompany us there .

They were very friendly and helpful and one of them even helped us to push our trolley while we're buying things :)

We had dinner with them in a nearby shopping mall before taking a taxi back to the dorm .