Jun Ru's Adventure!- Wuhan

Day 20- Three Gorges--WUST

2009-10-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

20 September 2009

It is the last day on the cruise of our 3 gorges dam trip.

Woke up by the tour guides' morning call, loud knocking of the door at 6am again.
We head to the dining room at 6.15am for breakfast for the last time.

Had the last look of the Left the cruise but it was raining heavily so we had to share umbrellas and walk to the bus which was parked a distance away from the jetty.

They brought us to a supermarket nearby so get some snacks to fill us up on the long journey back to the WUST. I bought Hubei's specialty.

This is nice!

The front view of the box. You cannot there is something edible inside

All the umbrallas outside the rooms!

The 1st time we sent our clothes for laundry. It will be quite tiring to wash 3 days of clothes at one time. My bag of clothes was just 4.50RMB.

Reflection
I felt home when we reached the hostel after the 3days trip to the three gorges. After spending 20days in Wuhan, I actually like it here. I do miss my family and friends in Singapore but I do not want to leave this place too. I am getting used to the life and loving the friends here.

"Where we love is home,
Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration."
~Charles Dickens

Day 19- Shen Nong Xi + Bai Di Cheng

2009-10-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

19 September 2009

It is the 2nd day on the cruise of our 3 gorges dam trip.
Woke up by the tour guides' morning call, loud knocking of the door at 6am.
We have to head to the dining room at 6.15am for breakfast.

We went to explore the cruise and went back to our rooms to rest until we reached our first tourist attraction site of the day, Bai Di Cheng(白帝城)

Where Gong Sun Shu was standing at the mountain and looking at the process of his castle being built. He saw white smoke that looks like a white dragon coming out from one of the well in his castle so he name himself as the “White Emperor”( 白帝) and made a statue of himself and place it at a place called White Emperor Temple(白帝庙) but it was destroy in 1512 and was replace 2 times and name as 三功祠 and then 正义祠 to commemorate Liu Bei and Zhu Ge Liang so there is a saying “白帝城内无白帝，白帝庙祭刘先帝” means that the White Emperor Temple do not have Gong Sun Shu but have Liu Bei.

We get to see the suspended coffin that we might see along the way on this 3d2n journey. When someone dies, it was a tradition where the people will dance around the coffin before its is suspended in the air. It's a special burial custom spread around in ancient nations in the south of China. The coffin will be placed on the sheer cliff where few people could reach. It was mostly distributed over the Three Gorges from Shang Zhou period to MingQing periods. Now there are almost 10 places in FengJie city as the ancestors were probably lived in PuYue region.

2hours later we had to head back to the cruise. I stayed at the top deck the whole journey until lunch with my new friends from LSCT. Enjoying the strong wind and beautiful scenery.

After lunch, I went back to the top deck with my new friends feeling strong wind blowing our faces and taking photos of mountains with interesting forms.

There was one that looks Long Dragon.

Side view of a woman’s face.

A form of a rat.

Shape of a huge shoe print.

We reached our next destination at 2.30pm, Shen Nong Xi(神农溪)
It is 60 Kilometers long, joining the Changjiang River at the entrance of the well known Wuxia Gorge. The Boat Tracker Cultural Travel Site of Shen Nong Xi Stream, which is a national "AAAA" level tour site. It is one of the majestic, wonderful, dangerous and elegant of the Three Gorges.

At night about 11pm the boat passed through the 2nd gate dam. There are five gates to passes through to get to back to the river. I stayed up at the top deck to watch the rare sight of the whole process until the last gate. It took about 4hours to reach the end. The water level decreases at every gate to open the next gate.
Reflection
I get to experience the whole process, of passing through the dams on a cruise! You can never get to experience it in Singapore! I got to learn how the dam works too. It was definitely something to remember.

I just realized some people in china are not well mannered! While we were standing at the edge of the ferry near the stairs, admiring the scenery, this uncivilized lady walked passed us and just spited directly in front of us! She just walked down the stairs like nothing happened. This is how different Singapore and china upbringing. You will get fined for spitting in Singapore which it is normal for them to spit anywhere. They litter, speak loudly and spit anywhere they like. It was totally an unsightly experience which I am still not used to it but i respect their culture.

"Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures."
-Cesar Chavez

Day 18- Three Gorges Dam

2009-10-29T00:44:00.000-07:00

18 September 2009

We had to wake up very early because we need to at 6.30am! The sun was already up at 6am!
But we end up leaving late due to some unexpected delays.

The Journey to our next destination will take about 5hours long on the bus!

Some pepole did not sleep the whole night. So

We went for lunch in a restauran at Yichang (宜昌).

It was one of the best restaurant meal so far.

After 1hour journey on the bus, we finally reached the entrance of the 3 gorges dam!

After passing the gate, we board the bus to the 1st attraction of the 3 gorges dam!

The tour guide explained about the history and layout of the dam project using the model.

It was quite cloudy today, so we cannot really see the dams from here.

So we just went about taking photos before we head to the next attraction site.

The tan zi ling Ridge, at an elevation of 262.48 meters, commands a panoramic view of the Three Gorges Project.

Ascending the visitors’ stand on the top of the ridge and looking southwest can get a magnificent scene of the majestic dam blocking the Yangtze River. The dam has a length of 2309.47 meters, a crest elevation of 185 meters and a maximum height of 181 meters, with the spillway section situated in the middle and two powerhouses and non-spillway sections on both sides.

Looking north visitors will have a bird’s view of the double way 5-step shiplock, the major navigational construction, which cuts into the rock hill on the left bank. The shiplock, with a maximum excavation depth of 170 meters and a maximum water head of 113 meters, allows a fleet of 10,000 tonnages to sail through. The reservoir, with its total capacity of 39.3 billion m-cubes and retains the upstream flood peaks. Installed with 26 units of 700 megawatts hydro turbine generators, the Three Gorges Power Plant boasts of a total generating capacity of 18,200 megawatts and an annual output of 84.7 TWh and may be rated as the greatest of its kind in the world. The body of the visitors’ stand is decorated with a large relief sculpture. With people and water as the theme, it embodies the traditional cultures of ancient Ba and Chu areas and depicts the great undertakings of the Chinese people to harness rivers along the course of history. The concrete four-faced structure opposite the relief sculpture symbolizes the difficulties and dangers of damming the river. A core sample of the dam erecting on the right side of the ridge was dug out from the riverbed, displaying the favorable Geographic conditions of the dam-site. The rare shape stone standing on the grassland in front of the souvenir shop was found at the bottom of the Yangtze River after the river’s enclosure in 1997. It witnessed the geologic and a geomorphic change around this region.The construction of Three Gorges Project has made the long-cherished wish of the Chinese people come true. This great achievement is an embodiment of the wisdom and endeavors of all participants of the work and will render benefits to the future generations with its comprehensive functions in flood control, power generation and navigation improvement.

We reached 185

We had quite a number of photos taken there before we proceed on to our next destination, the memorial park.

After all the visiting to the tourist attraction sites, we head to a local restaurant for dinner.

We head to the Jetty to wait for our cruise.

It was not easy trying to board the cruise and stay together as a group. Everyone were pushing and squeezing like the boat is going to leave anytime.

The cruise was not what I expected, we thought there are ktv rooms or entertainment area but it turn out to be just a simple boat with rooms. Heard some rooms have rats and cockroaches! I was lucky my room seems clean but there was a cigarette smoke smell lingering in the room when the aircon was on. So we had to keep the door and window open to get rid of the smell. Only 4pairs of girls from ngee ann poly allocated at the 3rd floor and the rest at the 1st floor. The rooms' opposite ours filled with china men walking half naked around with their door wide open. Talking so loudly and smoking freely. Most of them were looking at us, so some of them felt uncomfortable. Our MDE guys were nice enough to change rooms with them.

I was so engross with the korean show they were broadcasting but they suddenly changed to some china history drama series. =(

The toilet was quite cramp and the water was brownish. I end up using my bottled water to brush my teeth. You need to hold the flush longer for the feaces to be totally flushed down. The good thing is there is warm water to bathe.

We were still hungry so we had cup noodles before heading to Roy's room to see them play cards and watch tv.

After such a long day and staying up the night before, I went back to my room and watched tv until i fell asleep.

Reflection
I was shock after receiving the sms on my results. I expected it to be bad but it turns out even worst. I guess I did not put in effort this semester. Now I pulled down my GPA n chance to get into local university. There is no point crying over spilled milk too. I have to take this lesson as a wakeup call and push myself to work hard this coming semester onwards!

The long hours on the bus to the three gorges dam was worth it! I get to see the biggest dam! I get to experience living on a simple cruise. It is also a good thing that the cruise does not have much facilities. We get to spend more time with your friends and feeling the river breeze on the bed and slowly dosing off.

"And, very important, don't be discouraged if you are unable to reach your goal when you thought you should. Realign, or rethink your action plan and begin again towards achieving your goal or end result."

-Byron Pulsifer

“The more you practice stepping into other peoples' shoes, the more you'll experience the results and benefits."

-Wendy Hearn

Day 17- 1st Written Test

2009-10-27T02:52:00.000-07:00

17 September 2009

We had our 1st written test at 2pm.

It was not easy. I was wasting too much time trying to understand question 1 and writing too much.

In the end i do not have enough time to complete the last question.

I just pray hard Mr. loh will not mark so strict. =P

I am so NOT excited to know my results which will be out tomorrow. I know i did not fair well for this semester.

We are going to the three gorges tomorrow morning! We will be staying in a cruise!

Reflection

After today, i have learnt that, having test is to make us show how much we have understood about this module. We must learn to organize our time well so that we will not waste the chance to gain more marks. I have to accept the fact that what is done is done and i did my best. Therefore i should not worry so much about the test. ^^

“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or not."
-Thomas Huxley

"Everyone is bound to bear patiently the results of his own example."
-Phaedrus

Day 16- IS+ 1st Presentation

2009-10-26T02:29:00.000-07:00

16 September 2009
We had IS lecture by a teacher from the foreign language school. We learn about Chinese Wedding customs, table manners and feng shui. It is quite similar to Singapore but we get to learn more about it. I was so touched after watching the videos on the weddings. The basic table manners we must know. The seating arrangement is determined by the host in a banquet. The positions can see how important the host sees a person. The person who is paying the meal will be seating in front of the door.

There are five elements of feng shui :
Fire- Passion and high energy
Earth- Norishment and stability
Metal- Clarity and preciseness
Water- Ease, freshness and abundance
Wood- Health and vitality

It is important to balance these five elements in a home. It is believed that your luck will be affected.

After lunch is our 1st assignment presentation.

For dinner, I can finally enjoy the normal roadside food without vomiting.

Reflection
I managed to learn more about the Chinese cultures and their beliefs. It is interesting but I do not agree to some points. For example, the wedding customs in some part of china, the women had to cry for one whole month until the wedding day. The more they can cry, the more their in-laws will be happy. I still respect their belief even thought I do not think it make any sense.

During the presentation, I was still nervous and had difficulty expressing my points. At least I have the chance to expose myself in front of a group of people. I have to learn to conquer my fear. With more exposure, I think I will be able to give a good presentation over time.

“Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it... that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.”

“Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.”
-Dale Carnegie

Day 13-15- Sick

2009-10-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

15 September 2009
Sorry for delaying my blogs. I was not feeling well for the past few days. I had to go on drips in the school’s hospital for consecutive 3 days. Total of 10bottles!

On Day 13- Everyone left for city tour early. Mr. loh had to sacrifice the trip and bring me to the school’s hospital in the morning. I had to take feces test but my intestine was already empty because I could not eat or drink since last night. I will either vomit or diarrhea if I take anything in my body. In the end the test was not successful even after a long period staying in the toilet doing my best. My Dear Mr. loh had to wait helplessly for me.

Next, I had to head to the 2nd floor. I just went up clueless of what will happen. The 1st sight when I enter the room, gave me a really bad feeling. Everyone in the room had tubs connected to wrist and huge bottles hanging above them.

I was asked to sit in front of the nurse who was injecting more liquid into the big glass bottle quite filled to the brim. She asked me to stretch out my arm. My body starts to tense up immediately. Tied a thick rubber band around my right wrist, Tapped and pressed my hand to find my blood vessel. She took out the needle pierced into my skin, with a frustrated look on her face and moving the needle in my skin, freaked me out. Finally, she pulled it out and I thought I was over but she asked for my other arm. I let her do the same procedure to my left arm with fear. The next thing I saw, a bottle with a long tube connected to my wrist. She brought me to a seat and hung 1 more bottle above.

Mr. loh had to rot with me until the 2 bottles are empty. He bought bread for me and sent me back to my room to rest.

After the treatment, I thought I will be alright. Unfortunately, the situation was still the same. I could not rest well, eat or drink. The whole day I was hugging the bin vomiting, staying in the toilet for hours and tossing in bed. It was so uncomfortable and suffering.

Everyone finally returned from the tour in the late evening. My roommates test my temperature and it was nearly 40degrees. I was too weak to move but I had to go to the hospital again. Gloria panicked and carried me on her back and rush down the stairs, Anyu brought the necessities and join us. Halfway to the hospital I could not stand the jerking on her back which cause my tummy to feel uncomfortable again. I requested to put me down and slowly walk my way there. Both of them supporting each side and assisted me all the way to the hospital.

After consultancy and taking temperature, my dear Alvin and Anyu did the talking because their Chinese is better. The nurse brought me to the room beside the consultation room. There were only 2 beds and chairs at the side. I get to lie on the bed with a thick blanket over me. Put me on drip with 3 bottles and injection on the back of my hip. The nurse just suddenly jab the needle on my hips which gave me a shock and it was extremely pain that tears flow down my cheeks. In the middle of the treatment I had to go to the toilet. Anyu, Gloria and eshlyn had to bring me to the toilet. One of them had to hold my bottle of drip, one holding the door and the other guarding outside the toilet. After everything, I went back to the hostel to rest. I was still unable to have a peaceful sleep. I had to keep visiting the toilet and had a nightmare. My suddenly scream in my sleep gave Gloria who was still awake a scare.

On day 14- We are suppose to go for flexsim test. Mr. Loh excuse 3 of us. Gloria and anyu had to miss the test to look after me and bring me for another visit to the hospital. 3 bottles of drip and went out to find porridge or plain digestible food. We managed to get vegetable soup noodles form only one stall and they were nice to reduce the salt n oil. I managed to eat a little to build my immune system.

On day 15- I was much better and went for the last visit for 2 bottles of drip in the morning. I was one of the lucky few to be allergic to one of the new antibiotic. My face started to feel itchy and slowly turn red. Anyu had to call the nurse and she hurry took out the tube and injected something to dilute that drug. Both of them had to hit me to stop me from scratching. They had to leave for the mandarin orange farm with the china student leaders. Dr. Tan and Mr. Loh came to visit me and bring me back to my room. I finally can have a good sleep until they came back. I joined them for the barbeque. I dare not touch the food since I just recovered and do not wish to go through the pain n suffering.

Reflection
The medical treatment here seems different from Singapore even thought they are both using the western medicine to cure patients. In Singapore, they will usually just give me medications in pill or syrup form to be taken daily. In China, they will just put you on drips regardless how minor your illness is.

Without my parents with me, I had to depend on my teachers and friends when I am far away from home. It is important to keep yourself healthy to enjoy the rest of the trip. I am really glad to have friends like my room-mates taking care of me when I am sick. Thank you so much!

"A friend is a gift you give yourself."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."
- Artistotle

"Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend
Unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end."
- John Boyle O'Reilly

"Do not save your loving speeches
For your friends till they are dead;
Do not write them on their tombstones,
Speak them rather now instead."
- Anna Cummins

Day 12- City tour

2009-10-26T01:07:00.000-07:00

12 September 2009
Morning my tummy was not feeling well, I thought it was just a normal diarrhea. Ate medicine and left for tong hu(east lake) at 7am. The view there is something to remember that you can never see in Singapore.

We head to the Hubei Provincial museum at 10.15am. The exhibitions are mainly about the history about china Hubei.

The weapons used for the wars and daily equipment.

In the middle of exploring the ancient artifacts, my tummy starts to feel unwell. Rushed to the toilet and lost track of the tour guild. End up sitting outside the exhibition halls resting.

We headed to Shou garden snack street (首义园小吃) for lunch. Tons of delicious food! They use top-up cards to purchase food.

After a full meal, we walk down to the yellow crane tower (黄鹤楼). It is located on Snake Hill in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Enjoying the fame of 'The First Scenery under Heaven', it is one of the most renowned towers south of the Yangtze River. Its cultural significance led to its being made the symbol of Wuhan City.

We had to walk all the way up the top of the yellow crane tower.

It was not easy for me, having diarrhea climbing up hoping it will not react.

Thank you, Dr Tan for leading me to the toilet.

We finally return to the hostel after a long day exploring the history of china.

I had a slight fever and diarrhea the whole night. I had wake up to visit the toilet continuously and could not eat. I felt so weak and tired but I could not have a good night rest.

My Reflection
After today, I learned endurance and independent skills. I could not concentrate throughout the whole journey, hoping the day will end fast. I managed to endure the pain and discomfort throughout the whole day, quite a distance away from the campus. Independent skill of taking care of myself the whole day without troubling them to sent me back to the campus to rest.

The visit to the tourist attractions was really an eye opening experience. I gained more information about Hubei’s history and get to see the beautiful sight of China. Thanks to all the places of attraction we went, the interest to know more grew stronger within me.

“History is philosophy teaching by example and also by warning. “
-Lord Bolingbroke

“With the historian it is an article of faith that knowledge of the past is a key to understanding the present.”
-Kenneth Stampp

Day 5- LuiLin + Waterfall

2009-09-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

5 September 2009

Its finally the weekend, we are leaving the campus for 2 days to LuiLin!
We had to gather with our backpack in front of the administration block at 7am.

It was a bumpy ride up. the bags above can even fall off .
After 4hours on the bus, we finally reached Luilin.

It was a beautiful sight, the calm river and the shady trees.

We had to buy the straw slippers for our river rafting activity.

After river rafting we had to wash up at the public toilet nearby. I was really surprised to see that they do not have doors for the showering cubical! People have to look into the cubical to check if it is available. The whole time you are bathing, there will be weird eyes scanning your body. There are also spiders and mosquitoes accompanying you in the shower. It is an uncomfortable feeling.

Went to grab some snacks before boarding the bus to our next destination.

We walk all the way to LuiLin’s Waterfall.

It was really magnificent scenery.

After the long tracking exercise, we had dinner at the same place for lunch. The food is as oily and salty as usual.

The pork fats is super fattening and oily but tasty!

Checked in the hotel room 85331 with Anyu.

The hotel conditions and facilities were quite good. After washing our clothes, we head out for a night performance that was on. It felt pretty similar to Singapore’s seventh month performance with LOUD music, Emcee and performances.

They had drama, singing, dancing and fire performance.

After the entire performance, they invited all audience to form a circle around the camp fire and join in the interactive dance, which went something like “left, left, right, right, turn, go go go”. We joined in and had a fun time.

When back to the hotel and glued ourselves to the television until we feel asleep. It felt really great after 5days without television, we can finally enjoy.

My Reflection

At first I thought the drivers love to anyhow horn. It’s really loud and irritating when you are sleeping on the bus. I learnt that they have to horn to warn other drivers ahead that a vehicle is coming because most roads that we were travelling only have one lane.

Looking out of the window in the bus, there are different types of building along the road. There are well developed high buildings, dirty old buildings and in-complete buildings mixed together. It is not as organized as Singapore. Along the way, there was rubbish everywhere.
After this trip, I can see that some part of wuhan is not well developed. The living environment is like the olden days in Singapore. The villagers harvest their crops manually and sell it to make a living. I really feel so fortunate to be born in Singapore. We do not need to work so hard under the hot sun the whole day just to have a proper meal every day.

The best views along the way were the big fields, natural river and gorgeous mountains which Singapore does not have. Singapore has man-make beaches and import food from other countries due to our small area.

I admire the villagers’ skills; they can make slippers out of dried grass. Even though it is not as comfortable as manufactured rubber slippers but it can protect our feet. Unlike us, we are too pampered with the well development, we are lazy to improve our skills to hand-make daily things that we can find everywhere in Singapore.

The river rafting was not a good experience for me and my partner, Gloria. The journey seems endless and we had difficulties controlling the raft due to the current and other rafts in the way.

The first obstacle
The current kept pushing our raft to the rock walls, so we need to use the paddle to push ourselves away from it. I accidentally stuck it into the gaps and unable to pull it out, the paddle whacked my forehead. The second time was Gloria’s turn; the paddle whacked the back of my head. I had to endure the intense pain and control myself from crying.

The second obstacle
Our raft seems to have some needle like thing. Both of us felt itchy and the prickly pain on our leg throughout the 2hours whole journey. Gloria’s ankle seems to be swollen with many fine thorns and it hurts really badly until she cried. I was helpless too.

We had no choice but to preserver and endure to the end.

This rafting experience really trained on our endurance and determination to overcome all the obstacles and race towards the finishing line.

Day 4- WUST Orientation

2009-09-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

4 September 2009

I was surprised how cheap the phone bill is. It's only 1.34yuan(S$0.29) for 7 smses to Singapore and few seconds of local outgoing call! I think the 50yuan worth of value in this card can last this whole 6 weeks!

Today we have to meet at 10am for orientation around the WUST campus.

For dinner, we decide to head down for ‘ma la huo guo’-steamboat. The table and chairs are especially short. 10 of us have to squeeze on 2 tables. It’s just 0.30yuan per stick.

We had 150 sticks altogther with a few plates and drinks. Our whole meal cost 100yuan after negotiating which is only 10yuan per person.

We rushed back to the hostel for briefing on the trip to LuiLin tommorow.

My Reflection

I thought walking to my block for lessons in Ngee Ann Poly everyday is counted quite far and tiring. After the in-charge brought us all the way up to our classroom that we will be having lessons in for the rest of the 6 weeks. I think it will be a really good form of exercise everyday for us.

I feel that we are so lucky to be studying in Singapore. WUST which is one of the best universities in china doesn’t look well maintained. The walls are dirty, door gates; window grills rusty and some door glass broken. It doesn’t seem like a good environment to study in. They are still using chalk board while we are already using white board when we are in secondary school.

It was an interesting experience having steamboat at an average local food stall, 10 people sharing a spicy meal on 2 small tables. We get enjoy the company and perspire at the same time. It feels great to finally drink from a glass bottle; it is not common to find glass bottle drinks in Singapore. It is usually in bottles or aluminum cans that they don’t collect back.

Day 3- Wuhan City Mall

2009-09-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

3 September 2009

We overslpt today woke up at 10.50am because i was busy blogging till 7am. Suppose to meet the rest 11am. I am so sorry to make everyone wait! It wont happen again!!

We head on to the bus-stop opposite the campus. We are heading to the biggest mall in Wuhan. The bus-stop here is not as informative as Singapore; they do not have the bus stop route directory.

My Reflection

Boarded the bus, It was quite a pleasant feeling. There is air-conditioning, clean seats and television just like the new buses in Singapore. The bad thing is the ticketing is kind of unorganized. There will be a lady moving about the bus to collect money from us and give us the ticket according to our destination. It was quite packed in the bus too, she had to remember who came in and squeeze through. The journey to the town mall is just 2yuan(S$0.43) 30mins ride. The emergency exit is on the top of the bus, I wonder how disabled people going to climb out, while Singapore’s is at the side of the bus.

There are so many tall buildings, totally different from the area we are staying. Hardworking people selling food along the pathway, trying to earn a living anyway they can. Just by looking at them, I feel so fortunate to have a stable income family to support me.

The population in china is increasing and more poor people are homeless. Jobs are minimizing and standard of living increasing. People are getting poorer which caused more beggars. Everyone just walked past the old man like he was not there. He probably got abandoned by his ungrateful children. Parents bring us up will love and care, now they are old and helpless to support themselves, it should be our responsibility to look after them. The environment in china is quite bad, when those old folk are abandoned; they tend to fall sick easily. They will not have any money to cure their illness or to buy any medicine and result to death. Their kids would not even care or even know about their death. I will definitely not do this to my parents!

The guang rong bu xing jie mall has a lot of recognized brands like Gemini, adidas, nike, converse, pizza hut, macdonald, Carrefour, puma, starbucks etc.. The price here are a bit cheaper than Singapore.

The construction sites in the mall do not have any safety barriers around it to prevent unaware shopper from getting injured. They do not consider the safety of the customers.

6pm the sun is about to set, we meet up outside the mall and waited for the bus to head back. This is where we use our Singaporean Kia-su attitude. The bus was still so far away from the bus-stop but people still can board as long as the driver stop for you. At this hour many people are rushing back too, so the buses are packed. We did the same, we ran towards the bus!

Lucky me, I get to find a seat again. While everyone struggling squeezing on the bus, I was napping the way back.

For dinner, we went to street stalls oppsite the school. The food is tasty. They will either sprinkle lots of chilli or pepper just to make everything spicy. We were panting but enjoying the food at the same time. Fat red oily lips and a full tummy back to the hostel.

Today is a great experience. Trying the public transport, going to the mall and enjoying street food.

Day 2- Exploring WUST neigbourhood

2009-09-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

2 September 2009

Woke up at 11.30am. Went down to meet everyone at 12pm. We finally have our card to purchase food from the canteen.

My Reflection

The art of crossing the road is not as easy as singapore. They do not have green/red man for pedestrians to cross. We have to look out for the traffic light for the vehicles, when its red light for them, we can cross. Ive yet to master it, i just follow first.

The dangerous part about their way of transport. The motorist do not need to wear helmets and it can even carry up to 4 passengers!

The pavements are just as dangerous, there are even uncovered 'drain holes' in the middle! They even treat it as a rubbish bin. The goverment should do something to correct it. People who are unaware might just trip and fall.

We managed to get our prepaid card at a discounted rate of 40yuan with 50yuan value in it + tissue, thanks to the guide. It is much cheaper to use the prepaid card than auto roaming. Its actually safer if foreigners like us to buy it from china mobile stores and not from road sides, there are higher chances of us being cheated! Please be careful!

There are even pushcart fruit seller along the pathway. The fruits seem cheap and fresh, but remember to wash them before you eat.

We split into groups after getting the prepaid cards. Window shopping and buying our daily necessities.

Water is the most essential, (Warning: The water from the tap is NOT DRINKABLE) It is not as clean and purified like Singapore. So it is important to buy bottle water. 2 strong girls carry 12 bottles of 2.2litres all the way to and up the room! We know how to keep ourselves healthy! We even bought fruits like apple and pears to prevent ourselves from having constipation.

The KFC is cheaper by abit compared to singapore but it is still counted expensive in china. They do not have chilli sauce only Ketchup and chilli powder instead.

The most interesting part for today which is not found in Singapore, is the steet hawkers! They flood the whole empty pathway outside stores every night. It seems unhygenie, the food are display openly. Its safer to try food that they cook in front of you. Most of them are oily and spicy but delicious! They are really cheap, just 5yuan(abt S$0.80) u can have a full meal. I realized they like to use paper bowls regardless its soupy or dry. It get soft easily after some time, so we must eat it immediately. Most of the residents like to eat and walk at the same time.

All of us- Anyu, Gloria, edy and me. When to the optical shop to get uv and light protection spectacles. Its actually quite cheap and fast compare to singapore. After checking our degree, usually they will ask us to wait for a few day later to collect. Surprisingly we jus need to wait for an hour only. Mine was just 422yuan(S$89.80). Didnt want to buy but i forget to bring my glasses, It worth the cost for things that you need daily.

Now i know how green and clean singapore is compared to wuhan. The hawkers jus throw their rubbish on the floor. Locals jus dump their litter anywhere they like. The dustbin seems useless, they just litter around the bin!

Once we got back to our room. Our next step to independence, we learn to be housewives! I cannot imagine how dirty it is under the beds and table! There is even a beetle and seed shells under the table! Sweep and mop the floor, wash the toilet floor, hoping to get rid of the smell. Reorganise our belongs and join our beds. Do some simple laundry, HAND WASH our own clothes!

Overall, I learnt to be indepent and found out interesting things around in wuhan which are different in Singapore. Loving my own country more!

Day 1- Wuhan

2009-09-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

1 september 2009

We had to report in the airport terminal 1 at 5.30am. My family sent me to the airport.

I was surprised to see the our MDE friends stayed up the whole night in the airport just to sent us off!

Thank You So Much!

Those are the pictures we took with them before we board the plane. =)

Our Last good bye...

Si Yao!

Aiden!

ZiYi!

Walking toC16

Mr loh

Gloria and me!

Nas!

Last calls to report to parents

Free calls!

The queue was too long,

Waiting to board the plane

Gloria

Siti

Boarding the plane

China air stewardess

Finding our seats.

Roy

Anyu and erwin

China airlines

My seat number =)

Pork noodles

Fish with rice set

In the plane toilet. =P

Zhong rong gets the window seat =(

Edy is all alone

This is where i put my bag the whole flight

Just arrived in Guang zhou airport

Anyu and Siti

It was on the toilet cubical doors

My boarding passes

Singapore to Guang zhou

Guang zhou to Wuhan

Aliens??

MDE OIP 3rd batch Girls + Mr loh

Alvin!

BPQE 2J Class Boys!

BPQE 2K Class Girls! ^^

Xanier and Shun Qing

Our huge and heavy luggages!

Mine and auyu's

Spot the sentence structure error

Helping us check in the luggages

The power of having guys!

china guardian- mannings

Exploring guang zhou airport

alcoholic drinks and tobacco shop

should be 10yuan per person if you are lazy or too tired to walk

Desserts

MAC menu. Ice creams!

Toy shop

Restaurant waitress are so well dressed!

China flag

Gloria and Me!

Busy taking photos!

Xanier!

-1? where is lvl 0

usually is B1 in singapore.

Mr loh

If fire alarm?

My lunch =)

wang wang niu nai! 6yuan

purified water 2yuan

On the way to the domestic arrival hall

Vending Machine for show only

Strolling to the check point..

IPOD!

No chair

All bottled liquid have to be disposed before entering

This is how she clears the rubbish

So cute! Big head small body!

Astro boy!! My favourite childhood character!!

All so tired from travelling.

Roy and xanier in their dream land

Mr loh sleeping!

Bored bored waiting...

Home sick already?

We cannot wait to board the plane!!

Chinese words with 'han yu ping ying' !

Snack?

Nice view out of the window

In the plane toilet =P

Yuppie! landed in Wuhan!

Long road ahead to the bus!

Still dragging our luggages

Finally! We can rest.

Full moon!

Transporting the luggages in

The bus!

squeezing in the luggages

Not enough space so end up here

Super dark road!

Finally city area

Look at the wires hanging

China taxi

They took the stairs

We took the lift. =P

Outside the restaurant in WUST

It was like this when we just arrived.

13 course dinner! (each person 20 yuan only)

cabbage dish (1 of my liking)

Pork fats with udon noodle in oily soup?

Beans

Steam Fish

pork with green pepper and chilli

Pork liver with green pepper and onion

Egg plant

Popcorn chicken

Cube Tofu with pork blood

Cabbage in vinegar

Cold Noodles with pickled cucumber(1 of my liking)

Ma la(spicy hot oil) with the noodle like beancurd skin

The Tastless soup

Our room!

wow! super 'clean'..!!

Our neighbour! =P

The toilet

Shower

Huge sink!

Trying to find out how to use the shower.

its is actually to pull the hose up

My plug

China 2pin

Cleaning the tables and cupboard with wet tissue

Look at how clean the table is...

A spider dangling!

Anyu to the rescue!

Its die on the floor thanks to the power of shoe!

Our food and drinks storange from home

Our shoes and slippers

Our beds.

It looks o soft and clean.

BUT, its super hard!!

Gloria's RODDIE and My Babies!

The farewell cards

From aiden and bazli

From MDE clan ^^

Thank you so much!

Reflection

Im glad that we have great friends like them. I will definitely miss all my friends and family! I know my parent will be very worried, helping me pack and getting extra stuff they i will need there!

Today is my 1st day travelling to a foreign country without them, my 1st step to be independent! Look after and drag our lugguge to the airports, bus and up to the 3rd floor by stairs!

The room was quite alright but it is kind of dirty and spiders are bigger. My bed sheet have a little stain and the pillow case kind of black and damaged. I guess we are too used to cleanliness and hygenic. We are brought up in Singapore which is well developed and clean.

I am still not used to the toilets in china. In singapore we usually we can just sit comfortably to do our business and throw the used toilet paper into the bowl and flush it. The toilets in china always smells including my own room and have to use water to wash or throw the paper into the bin(if there is).

The food is totally different from singapore! In my opinin, it is quite tasty to a certain extent. BUT its super oily, salty and spicy!!! Its super cheap and comes in huge portions. I think i have to workout more often before i grow fat!

The people in china have the habit of talking very loudly! The cashier talked so loud like we have hearing problem. I know singaporeans are 'KPO' but we are not interested in listening to the person's conversation, he is like shouting over his phone.

Overall, I am still learning to adapt and blend in to the culture of wuhan. It is definitely quite different from Singapore.

Day 0- Singapore

2009-09-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

MDE OIP 3rd batch !

Normal Shot

candid shot

My group!

Group C

We will be leaving singapore in less than 12hrs frm now. I am all packed and ready to go. I am excited to be part of this. I will definitely miss my friends and family in Singapore. Spending almost my whole 7weeks of school holiday in a new and different environment all by myself and the rest of the students going. It will be a start of a new and special adventure in my life that i will never forget. this is where our story begins...